Disclaimer: The Angel of Corporate Rights that is currently occupying my shoulder has informed me that I deny ownership of all NGE intellectual properties. I concur.

Chapter #22 - Nerv Paralysis

Fuyutsuki tossed about in his western-style bed. The sheets were knotted about his long body and a bead of sweat glistened on his brow.

"How...no, you're insane. Surely, even if she...why would she choose to stay? Reside in that...thing?"

'Yui knows that I am dedicated to the survival of our species. Her act was a sign of faith in me.'

"Wait...no. You can't do that, especially not to her!"

'I know you loved her, old man, as she knew. I don't ask you to accept this fate willingly, and I will force you to acquiesce if you require it of me. We are both aware of the ambitious strength of your convictions. Let's not test the accompanying courage.'

"Is this really what your 'new genesis' is based on? The bones of your dead wife?"

Gendo was rarely a violent man, preferring to rely on his patient cunning to express his malice. Though practised in Kendo, Kouzo had never seen it coming.

Unhappily, he sat up as his painful memories of the dead stung his conscience. "One more day," he muttered. "One more day and I can release you both from this world. So let me sleep this final night!" he snapped at the ghosts, and buried his head beneath his pillow.

Red eyes opened to pierce darkness, but saw nothing. Pale lips pressed together for a moment, thoughtful.

"I will not answer. Only tomorrow can ."

The eyes closed again, falling back into an untroubled sleep.

(The St. George dead-man tripped at 0700, and Merlin's block is completely silent after reporting synch signals over the Berlin MAGI link. It must have begun.)

"Shit. Shikigami's feed has turned to gibberish too."

(It's only the end of the world as we know it. No need to swear.)

"And now we can only wait to see how the ending is written. Those bastards may be about to write themselves into a starring role in armageddon."

(Well, either way it's an end. Maybe it's selfish, but right now I'm not sure I care which end it is.)

"Fuck yeah that's selfish. To hell with waiting, get your men in K-L and H-K ready. We've got a job to do."

(No better anaesthetic than an adrenalin rush huh? Fine, we'll go out the way we came in - rebels and rabble.)

"Arse-wipes to arse-wipes, crap to crap. Cool."

Kaji wiped the gritty sweat from his brow with a sleeve and resisted the urge to run a hand through his greasy hair. Reaching into his overcoat he produced a cigarette packet. He shook it, and grinned at the irony. "One last cigarette for the condemned man? Thanks for fuck-all, kami-sama." and lit up.

"Katsuragi! We need the Children here NOW!"

"Hai! It's begun?"

"They've opened with an attack on the MAGI."

"Understood. Hold the fort for five!"

Misato ran from her temporary office, mobile phone at her ear. She scattered a technician as she pelted down a corridor, showering paperwork destined for her inbox all around. The time for words was near at end.

Pillowing her phone on a shoulder-pad, she swore at the innocent device. "Damnit Kaji, the world's about to end and I get your voicemail! It's started, so you better watch your ass. Bye!"

She slid to the doorway to the Pilot's Lounge and swung on the doorway facing.

"Kids! It's showtime, get your asses to the Cage!"

"It's starting...?" Shinji cringed as Asuka's head whipped around from studying the number of poker chips on the table. Shinji's top was half unbuttoned and Asuka's cardigan was on the floor. Only Rei appeared fully dressed.

Misato shook her head. "I won't ask. Let's go!"

Asuka and Rei stood quickly. "What ever happened to paging us?" grumbled the redhead as the girls put and arm each under Shinji's armpits and lifted him out of his chair while Misato dissapeared down the corridor.

"Baka!" Asuka cursed and slapped him about the head.

"Baka." Rei said softly. "Move your posterior."

"He won't even do that for me. Go!"

"Okay, okay, I just..."

"I don't care! Schnell!"

Asuka ran ahead, trying to catch Misato and knowing that Shinji would be following now. Then she found herself being bashed about in the blackness of a sealed barrel. An instant later she found herself under the flickering emergency lights of a Nerv corridor. Asuka allowed herself a pitiful groan as she felt her broken cheekbone.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice. Shinji's whiny voice was pitched a tad higher now.

"Fine, I loved the barrel-roll at kindergarten. Help me up, Professor Klutzen!"

"Shut up. That was Seele's version of a warning shot." Misato grumbled, rising from the floor and checking her pistol.

"Move quickly. They will attack soon!" said Rei, cradling her bleeding nose even as she sprinted off.

The Doctor shook her head. "Sore losers." she declared.

"It does seem to be something of an over-reaction." Fuyutsuki noted dryly. "How much of our defense grid is still there?"

"Well, nothing above the Geofront." Makoto said ironically. "We've lost links to 38% of the inner Geofront defenses during the hack, and a further 19% in the explosion. That leaves us with 215 units, not bad all things considered."

"Meanwhile, the JSSDF has mobilised about 2000 troops and some 800 armoured units in through the civilian access tunnels. That's almost tripled their presence in here...those backstabbing traitors!"

"The defense line was never meant to be used against conventional forces. This could be very, very bad." Makoto commented.

"We need the Evas!" Maya exclaimed, watching the main display with horror. "There's too many of them!"

Fuyutsuki frowned as he studied the display. "Why haven't they attacked yet?"

"The ground units are...just waiting outside our gates. With standard equipment, they can get into the checkpoints in under two minutes." Makoto pointed out.

Shigeru looked grim. "They've mobilised the lake destroyers...I always wondered what they were all about. There's a lot of activity over the Saitoshi range, but they've cut off our sensors."

The Commander pursed his lips. "They want us to make the 'first' move. How childish."

"It's all just a game of chess to them, and this is a minor psychological advantage." Akagi agreed soberly. "Of course, if we wait a couple of days they'll probably be able to get into Mother. Time is in their favour."

"Seal off all access to Dogma except the primary Eva tunnels. Fill the others with Bakelite. We'll hold off until Katsuragi gets the Children ready."

(It would seem they were more prepared than we had anticipated.)

(What's it matter? They're toast, especially without Ikari. This'll be a massacre, if they even bother putting up a fight. It's almost a shame. They should be taken down in a blaze of glory, not cut down like lambs.)

(The Righteous shall rise up. God fights on the side of the heaviest artillary.)

(God IS the side with the heaviest artillary, or so it shall be anyway. Let them have their moment of mercy. It would be fitting for their heroic Children to take to the field before us. Their stand will be remembered.)

(Sentimental fool. Let's get this over and done with, I'm sick of waiting.)

(Patience. We have each waited thus far, so let us observe one last spectacle before our repose.)

(Indeed. Sweetness is all the better for a bitter foretaste.)

Silent, visored men lay low in the scrub and bushes, leaned at the ready between buildings and stood proudly by their purring tanks. The cicadas stayed silent and no bird dared fly in the now natural lighting that struck down through the craggy hole above them, seemingly siting them inside a gigantic crator rather than a safehaven beneath the earth. The remaining trees were now yellowed and browned, the grass unaturally bleached from the ferocity of a thousand N2 bomb attack.

"It seems so quiet out there..." Maya said sadly, watching the video feed with growing dread.

"Alright...and...Unit 01 activated. Okay, all Evas are ready." Ritsuko reported.

(Well, it's been nice knowing you guys!) Asuka chirrupped over the intercom.

"Asuka!" Misato snapped.

(What? It has, you know. Sometimes more than others, I'll admit, but overall good. Except you Shigeru, you suck.)

Said officer smirked. "Only the lucky ones."

Fuyutsuki took Misato's arm. "Let her be, Sub-Commander. She's blowing off anxiety."

Rei's channel opened. (I agree with Asuka. It's been...gratifying working with you all.)

The bridge crew sat aghast. "What, no innapropriate comments?" asked Akagi.

(I'm not in the mood to be comic relief right now.)

Shinji spoke up. (Uhm, yeah. We're proud to fight for you all, after all you've done for us. We'll give them hell for you!) Shinji exclaimed suddenly.

Misato solumnly surveyed her pilot's faces. "Understood. Make me proud, kids. Launch Evas!"

Asuka felt her lower muscles compress as her Eva accelerated through the tubes. Despite the shrieking violence of the launch, she could make out the sounds of war; the squeal of air-born munitions, the bass rumble of explosions as they shook the very structure of the Geofront.

"After we've kicked Seele's butt, let's blackmail Misato into a fancy dinner!" Asuka called out.

(I would prefer seafood. I'm going to have a whole lobster. With truffles.)

"That's the spirit Rei!"

(I thought...)

(Seafood doesn't taste the same as meat.)

(Oh. But how do you know about truffles?)

(Iron Chef. He he uses truffles, wins.)

"Or foi gras. How about you, Shin-chan?"

(Anno...maybe...Sake. I'd like to try it, I think.)

"Uh..."

(Are you planning on seducing Asuka with alcohol?)

(HUH?)

"If he'll share, maybe I'll let him. Here we go!"

"Confirm Evangelion deployment, sir. Their deployment elevators are under load."

"Acknowledged. Pull the main forces back. Ready the JA units."

"Sirs! The enemy is pulling back!"

"Confirmed - all units in the vicinity of Headquarters are in retreat. MAGI alert!"

"It's a trap! Get them back into the elevators!"

Asuka neatly somersaulted out of the elevator harness, landing her red Eva in a ready position with rifle in hand. "I can't see the enemy!" she reported as the other two popped up beside her.

(Get down!)

Asuka's gaze was drawn to the spectacle of two over-sized, jet-black Jet Alone units sprinting down from the hills to the north toward the three prone Evangelions. "Robots!" she cried and started running side-long to get out of their path while firing her rifle. Most of her shots went wide in her panic, but those that hit didn't seem to concern the robots at all. Units 01 and 06 followed suit in hiding behind the city's fortified buildings.

Within a heartbeat the black-painted machines had closed into the city. Their red activation lights glowed a crimson threat as they altered course to match their organic conterparts. Asuka dashed to the outer city limits.

"Stand and fight! Schweinhundt!" She declared, skidding to a stop.

Maya looked down at her console [Classification: no classification. New tag; Jet Black alpha and beta
[WARNING: critical gamma and neutron radiation emmission levels detected: Jet Black units alpha and beta
[WARNING: Diagnosis: unstable fission reactors detected in both units

"Radiation warning! The Jet Alone reactors are unstable!" she gasped.

"Kamikaze..." Misato whispered.

The next thing Rei knew, she'd been flung into the air. She was aware of an explosion of white, which faded quickly to black. She then found herself waking up. Her neck ached, the back of her head felt wet and painful while her chest protested with each breath. She felt hot. Too hot.

Forcing her eyes open, she took stock. She appeared to be partially buried in a flow of molten slag. She painfully dragged Unit 06 up.

(Rei! Are you alright?)

"I'm not sure. Not dead yet." she tasted blood in her mouth.

(Good! Shinji's AT field protected you from the worst of it, but can you fight?)

"Sub-Commander, I'm hurt and pissed off. Try and stop me. Where are the others?"

(Look in the other direction.)

"Oh...I'll assist them."

(Be careful. The residual radiation will burn any exposed flesh very quickly, but your armour should be able to handle it for now.)

Unit 06 walked groggily, but gained confidence as the joints seized by the cooled molten armour surrendered to the inevitable. Rei was aware of the life-support system in her plug fighting to keep her active and easing her out of a mild concussion as she moved, but paid it no mind. She had to move. If the machines helped, then good. The pain was dull enough to help her focus rather than to steal it.

She found Unit 01 crushed against a broken building hundreds of meters from the explosion, and Unit 02 freeing it's leg from a small landslide.

"Shinji? Asuka?"

(The finish on my armour is ruined! I'll need a whole new set, every square millimeter is ruined! It'll take the techs days to buff this out.)

(My head hurts.)

(Dr. Akagi, we'll need another barrel of turtle-wax.)

Rei let the conversation flow around her as she pulled the cable-less power attachment from her back and dug out a fresh one from under a splintered office block. She then made her way over to Unit 02 to assist it's extrication.

Misato's voice range through. (Listen up! You were lucky to get your AT fields up in time, but you miss the next attack and you're toast. Get ready for their next attack.)

(Well sorry for being in the proximity of a couple of nuclear explosions! Gee Misato, could you give us even a hint of what's coming next or do we have to find out everything the hard way?)

"Expect the unexpected."

(Not you too! L-SHINJI!)

Unit 01 reeled backwards, it's lower jaw completely missing. The air thrummed and shimmered from the particle beam's passing.

(Positron Cannon! Find shelter!)

Unit 02 took Shinji's Eva in a dive behind the rubble that had been a geofront complex. Asuka saw with horror the exposed flesh blacken and wither.

(It hurts...)

(They're being aimed by Jet Alone units in the hills! Our defense artillary can't reach them...bastards knew which ones we'd still have. You'll have to take them down yourselves.)

(Oh, of course!)

"How many?"

(Three. We're uploading their positions to your HUDs.)

"I will destroy them."

Unit 06 shot up in a leap from it's shelter. A beam shot out at her, missing by a good dozen meters. "They can't aim them quickly enough if we keep moving." she reported as another shot low when she spun sideways. She sprinted erratically up the brown-and-glassy hill and watched as a beam scorched a trail into the mountain, burning through her new power cable with just it's proximity.

She dove upon the enemy unit and chopped an armoured hand into the Jet Alone's chest. The reactor core split under the impact, simultaneously cutting power to the weapon and overting the chances of another meltdown.

(Good work Rei!)

(ACHHHH! Misato, we're pinned down! Scheist, my arm's burning! It burns!) Asuka howled.

Unit 06 flipped from mid-crouch moments after a beam struck just meters from her position. "Close!" she huffed. "I'm exposed!" she reported, rolling to the far-side of the articifial range as cannon fire slagged the hilltop from the opposite ranges. Shells and mortars rained around her, detonating on and around her AT field. Rei shivered under the onslaught, feeling the soil below her shifting as it warmed.

(Shit, we're in trouble. What about that space-shuttle shield thingy?)

(If Rei can make it to the storage locker by Kenpachi railway station, there's a MkIII particle shield there.)

(Rei?)

"I've got it."

With an enourmous leap, Rei's Eva cleared the crest she was hiding behind. Deploying her shoulder retro-rockets, she jetted erratically about before landing too fast in the suburbs below. Plowing into the soil, she raised up in a plume of black dirt and ripped the rear wall from the munitions site beside her. The concrete-and-steel structure crumbled before her wrath to reveal a mirror-polished delta shape, top-half transparent and perfectly proportioned to shield a crouching Eva.

Holding the shield aloft, Rei sited her prey with beady red eyes.

(That was awesome Rei!) Shinji called out. Unit 01's lower jaw was a blackened mess of partially-regrown features that had quickly died in the radiation-rich environment. Unit 02's arm fared better, largely encased in armour, but the exposed portion remained a red-raw wound. The two bore the pain with fortitude, as did Rei with her own damage.

(Vundebar, my techniques are obviously rubbing off on you Wonder-Girl.)

(That's probably as much thanks as you'll get from Asuka for saving her sorry ass. Nice work Rei!)

(Ooh, those tanks look kinda like bugs. This reminds me of my garden back home in Germany...I loved crushing christmas beetles!)

"They can't approach us anyway - the radiation would incapacitate them too quickly for them to be effective."

(Aww. I wanna go crush tanks! Can I?)

(There are people in them, Asuka.)

(So what? They're BAD people, baka.)

(You don't know that.)

(Enough you two!)

"We should go. We can reclaim territory and maybe force a surrender, and we'll get away from this radiation."

(Yeah! They attacked us, remember.)

(Alright. Maybe it will take some of the pressure off of us here in HQ too.)

The corridor shreiked and rumbled as the soldiers forced their way into the air duct. They would get in, however, only to find a machine gun opening fire. The high-speed, low-calibur turrets whirred like burning banchees and ripped armoured soldiers to bloody pulp. A grenade rolled from one corpse, stopping at the edge just under the MAGI-controlled turret.

Three technicians huddled under a desk, two awkwardly armed with handguns and one with just a crowbar. The door opened and the two with guns raised their weapons. Flames shot through the doorway and enveloped the desk.

The canteen was a mess of bodies, some Nerv personnel but mostly JSSDF troops. Three ceiling-mounted turrets surveyed the area. chewing through any soldiers foolish enough to come into view. However, with so many bodies strewn around even the MAGI couldn't stop a lone soldier from sneaking under and through. Then it was only a matter of time.

Kensuke licked at his parched lips. He was so thirsty, but it wasn't worth the pain. He opened his eye (the unbruised one), only half interested in seeing where the guard was. Touji was lying down, and Hikari was crouched in the corner. Neither had said anything in the last several hours. Come to think of it, neither had he. There didn't seem to be much point. The pen was sparsely populated with sullen teens, and for once they had good reason to be surly.

"Hey!"

The middle-school boy shrunk back reflexively.

"Jeez, I come to take you kids for a little ride outta here and you act like I'm asking you to chop wood."

He looked up. That voice..."Mister Kaji?"

"SAVE ME SAVE ME!" shreiked a classmate, rushing up to grab Kaji in a desperate embrace. He gently palmed her off to a another man dressed in fatigues, a small army following to usher the teenagers away.

The agent grinned through his balaclava, split lip as clearly visible as the crutch he leaned on and the pistol in his hand. "Oh, Kensuke is it? Don't you look a little worse for wear."

"Look what's talkin'." Touji rumbled. "How's the Shin-Man? And the girls?"

Kaji shrugged. "Being ambushed and fighting off the harbingers of armageddon - same as always. Should things stay that way, I'm sure they'd like to see you guys. Fancy a trip to the remnants of Tokyo-3? Assuming the world survives until we get there, of course."

"Uhm, sure. Uh, Mister Kaji?" Kensuke muttered, "Ix-nay on the 'megeddon talk-ay?"

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "Just who taught you pig latin?"

Kensuke scowled. "Things are dark enough as they are."

The Agent smiled guiltily. "Sure. Survival instinct, and all that."

Touji gave him a grateful look as he coaxed Hikari from her huddle on the ground. Kaji leaned down painfully, lifting the silent girl's head and turning her face to his. "Ssh," he soothed. "It's all up from here now kiddo. You've got this young man to look after you, don't let him down." he said, gesturing to Touji.

"Lucky." the boy muttered under his breath, uncurling the fist in his hand.

"I don't...want to go back." Hikari whispered. Touji took her weak form into his arms.

"Shh. Sure, babe. We don't have to go back." he said gently to the top of her head, brown hair tickling his chin. He glanced guiltily at Kensuke, who shrugged back and nodded glumly.

Kaji snorted. "Randall, Ishikawa. Get these two somewhere nice to recoup. Well Kensuke my old friend, let's go."

(Let a real leader take charge, Shinji-kun. I'll take care of their initial thrust, you two back me up!)

"Hey, Asuka...you do remember that I have the highest synch now, right?"

(Only for the last two days - we need real material for this, not the erratic jumps of a boy trying to match greatness!)

"You only had it for a day before that." he muttered. Still, he would let her take point. That was how their respective styled meshed together, her fast, frantic cog to his measured and cautious flywheel. And Rei, despite their efforts to nurture cooperation, still harboured an erratically style, swooping in when she judged the situation to fit.

Misato watched the tactical display critically. (The conventional forces are in retreat. Something's up guys...)

Hyuuga groaned and pulled at the hair at the sides of his head. (When the bad-guys back off, that's never a good sign.)

(Hyah, typically it suggests they've got a major-league badass who eats children for breakfast to introduce.) Shigeru snorted.

Shinji cringed at the mental image and instinctively looked up towards the exposed maw that once had been the Geofront's roof. "Optical zoom..." he muttered.

(Incoming aircraft! Oh my god...stealth Eva transports.) Maya whimpered.

The pilot could hear Misato's teeth clench. (It's the big one. Stand by as we watch their course.)

"They're seperating!"

(Confirmed. MP-Evas have seperated from their transports.)

(That doesn't make sense - they're too far away still.)

(May the Lord have mercy.) Commander Fuyutsuki muttered quietly.

Shinji watched in awe. "They have wings..."

Author's Corner:

And, so the story continues. When will the final chapter be ready? Who knows. Thanks for reading, unless you just skimmed, in which case thanks for skimming. It's all good.

-OMAKE-

"Ssh sweetie, it's safe now." Kaji gently took Hikari's arm, wrapped as it was around Touji's waist, and carefully pulled her to her feet.

Gingerly, the freckled schoogirl accepted the call to upright standing. "Mister Kaji..." she murmered quietly.

Touji let Hikari clutch to his chest. "You heard da man, bebe. We're gonna be okay."

Kaji placed his hands reassuringly on the girl's shoulders. "My men will see you all to safety. It's over now."

Touji's brow twitched. "I got your back, baby. We'll let Mister Kaji here rescue all the other kids too eh?"

"You're in safe hands." Kaji declared, massaging Hikari's shoulders with skillful movements.

"Hey, bub." the boy turned to the spy with a glint in his eye.

Kaji turned an amused smile at him.

The cyborg tapped Kaji's leg with a black anodised fist. The agent shuddered in pain as the hastily patched gunshot wound protested.

"Got anything to say to 187 Newton-Meters in da gut?"

The man winced. "As you say,"

Hikari gave him a withering look. "Asuka would be so ashamed of you." she admonished.

"Yeah, maybe we should let da red baron know 'bout dis."

Kaji paled. "If you need me, I'll be in a monastary somewhere planting chickpeas."

"Eh?"

"I'm buying out my deal with the devil. Just don't send Asuka my way. I'll be good!"

Touji smirked, girlfriend in (robotically augmented) arm as the international triple-agent limped away.

"Wuss."

"The AT field is not impenetrable. It is only impenetrable at our level of entropy. The field may be casts from another universe, a true two-dimensional object in our three-dimensional reality"

- Prof. Ibuki Maya, Todai-4 (extract, 'The physics of transcendental beings', Todai Press 2027)

-fin