Warning: violence (warning: understatement). Naval terminology in sparse use.
Bulkhead: Watch any movie set on a modern ship or a sub. Those metal frames every few yards in the hallway is a bulkhead. Watch your head and don't trip.
Chapter 20
Somewhere over the pacific…
"I will never ever, in a million years, be able to pay you back for this, Major."
"Hey check your belts back there, got a little chop coming up." Came the pilots voice.
"Not sure you'll feel the same way by the time we land Mr. Aida." Misato said as she checked Shinji's harness.
"Oh I don't get airsick Major. Hey Toji, you need another bag over there? Sell ya one for a thousand yen."
Toji gave his friend the one finger response. Soy milk over cereal was just fine going down, but was a billion times worse than old fashioned cow's milk coming up.
Viral pulled a few more paper bags from behind his seat and shoved them into the bigger boy's hands. He wasn't getting vomited on.
Istanbul, some weeks before…
His name was Ryoji Kaji, and he was a man on the run.
The thugs, a trio of enforcers, has caught sight of him in the casino and given chase. Not a bad little bunch of track stars, they had kept up with the tuxedo'd spy through a dozen twists and turns and laughed as he skid to a halt when he realized the alley he had just ducked down had no exit.
Kaji turned to the three men, each at least a foot taller and a foot wider at the shoulders than himself.
"Now fellas, I'm sure we can reach an understanding here. This is about that card game, right? Look I know bad luck gets us all, I know I've walked out of enough joints dead broke. Tell ya what, lets split it, four ways, more than enough to go around, what do ya say?"
"I think we will take it from your corpse and split it three ways before we tell Mustafah you are dead, Mr. Kaji."
"Oh you know my name then?"
"Yes, and many other things." Said the one in the center, the apparent leader, as his comrades moved to Kaji's sides.
"Well see that changes things. You know my name, now you gotta die."
They laughed at that. The two lackey's kept laughing until Kaji slammed the leader's head face first into the wall. Kaji pulled the newly dead man back and threw the body to his friends, keeping the pistol the leader had had in a shoulder holster. Comrade number one didn't see the gun that killed him when Kaji fired twice into his skull. Two more shots took out comrade two's knee caps and a lightening fast kick threw the gun from his hand when he tried to draw it.
Kaji struck the last living one with the pistol, driving the back of his head against the brick wall with the muzzle of the weapon pressed against his left eye.
"Alright my friend, this is how it is going to work. I ask the questions, you answer the questions, and you go to the hospital instead of the morgue, understand?"
He understood. He was very helpful when Kaji asked about Mustafah's contacts with the Chinese ministry of state security. He was especially forthcoming about how Mustafah was smuggling a special package for the Chinese men tonight.
Kaji thanked him with a bullet.
He flew commercial back to Germany as Ryoji Lee, first class of course, after he paid Mr. Mustafa a visit. Lufthansa stewardesses were always so accommodating.
"Master Kaji, you're back!" Asuka squealed as she jumped into a hug when he returned to their apartment at NERV-2, formally known as Ramstein Air Base. He wrapped his arms around her and spun around to her joy before putting her down.
"Oh my favorite student in the whole wide world! Where you good while I was gone?"
She latched onto his arm and laughed. "Of course! And aren't I you're only student Master?"
"Even if I had a thousand, you'd still be my favorite Asuka."
They both laughed. It was stupid, it was corny, but they had been saying it for seven years now.
"So did ya bring me anything?"
Kaji smiled and pulled a black and gold casino chip from his pocket and flipped it like a coin. Asuka snatched it from the air.
"Should you ever find yourself in Istanbul, stop by the grand hotel, nice casino there."
Asuka giggled "Well if we go I can treat you to dinner."
"Anything exciting happen while I was gone, liebchen?"
"Nope." She said as she rubbed her cheek against his arm. "We had kind of a fun discussion in youth group and I got another ten pages done on my thesis. I'm just happy you're back."
Kaji reached over with his other hand and stroked her cheek. "I missed you too."
"Well of course I missed you Master, but I need to start getting things packed for the trip aaaaaand some of it is kinda heaaaaavy…"
Back in the VTOL
"Excuse me Major, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course Mr. Aida, what is it?"
"So I know we are friends with Shinji and all, and don't get me wrong I am super grateful to be here, but… why? And why do we get uniforms too?"
Toji and Ken were wearing the same olive drabs as Shinji, the shoulders of which now bore the NERV flash, a shield split diagonally red and black.
"Well I suppose there is no harm in telling you, not like you can back out now. You are decoys, just in case anybody gets any ideas about taking out Shinji. I'm sorry if you feel betrayed."
Toji, still green, laughed when she apologized.
"He protects all of us, to protect him is a privilege. Hear that Ken, we're bodyguards?"
Kensuke shook his head. "All that griping about Samurai and when you finally get your chance you spend it face in a barf bag."
Shinji had actually been feeling closer to Toji the whole flight. He had only kept it under control by meditating. Nobody had tried talking to him, so he figured they thought him asleep.
"Just passed fifty click perimeter, prepare for landing."
Major Katsuragi pulled down a radio headset. "This is Major Misato Katsuragi, NERV tactical command. What is the location of the second child… and where are services being held Petty Officer, I'm a ground pounder?… thank you." Misato hung the headset back on the hook above them.
"Oh you boys are in for a treat…"
Within a few minutes, they had landed on the super carrier Over The Rainbow, formally the Harry S. Truman as the midshipman who was escorting them below deck explained. It was Sunday and they were going to the forecastle. Ken explained to Shinji and Toji that it wasn't a castle at all, but where the anchors were hauled up. Aside from the hanger deck, it was the largest single room on the ship.
As they wound through identical grey corridors, they began to hear the echo of the service below through open bulkheads.
Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me…
Shinji could tell it was a single voice singing, though he didn't understand the words. There were no instruments and had he remembered a bit more of his music education, he might have described the voice as a soprano.
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see…
They came out onto one of the catwalks that overlooked the forecastle. They could not see the singer until several sailors moved for Misato. Shinji saw a young girl, she looked his age, at the head of the room on a little stage. She was white with light red hair, almost blond, with a red ribbons holding it back. She was wearing a long yellow dress with a blue knit cardigan and her hands were clasped together in front of her.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved…
"Ken..." Shinji said and was immediately shushed by the crowd around him.
"What?" Ken whispered back in Japanese.
"What is she singing about?"
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed…
"It's a song about going astray and find your way back to god, its Christian."
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come…
"Its about no matter how far you have gone, how low you have sunk, no matter what you've done, its never too late to get back on the right path."
Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
The men and women who filled the cavernous room were veterans of the impact wars. The conflicts that followed second impact, and continued to this day, left more dead than yet lived today. These people knew what it was to have left the path of righteousness. In the deepest parts of their souls, they held onto the belief that what they had done could be forgiven. They had fought and killed, and many died, not for an idea, not for god, not for country. They had fought for the survival of themselves and the people back home. That their families might have resources and live through the next winter, that they would have food and not starve, that they might have clean water. Many had joined their service to make the world a better place. Instead they had taken from it for the comfort of themselves and those they loved. Kensuke had found faith so recently, but he understood the soldiers, marines, and sailors around him and how dear their wish was.
Shinji did not understand the words, but he could see in her face and hear in her voice an overpowering conviction. It wasn't just a song to her. He could hear and see that she had seen the dark and was telling her god, personally and directly, that she was trying to do better.
He thought then for a moment about himself. He hated so many people; he thought forgiveness impossible for what they had done to him. If they apologized, if they promised to do better, could he forgive them? He wasn't sure.
As her words filled the room, Shinji considered himself as Shiva, looking down upon the Earth. If this girl spoke to him this way, what would he say? Would he condemn her to whatever hell she had earned, or would he give her another chance? It would depend on what she had done he supposed, but then where to draw the line? What was beyond foregivness and for what could it yet still be sought? And if the chance was given, then what was necessary to earn it? He wanted to discuss it with Rei when they were again together. If Shiva could forgive, then why couldn't Shinji Ikari?
Shinji looked to Misato and was surprised to find her with her hands clutched together and eyes tightly shut, mouthing the words. He knew Misato, he understood why she felt guilty about him. He had never held it against her, he would forgive her anything. He loved her, he realized in that moment, as one loves family. He couldn't imagine holding anything against her if she truly wanted to do better, no matter how bad she got.
That was it, he decided as the girl's voice faded over the final words and applause filled the room. He had never understood the message of the Christian god before. He had thought what was the worth of something given freely to everyone, surely it had no value. He got it now though, what people saw in it. Their god loved each of them the same way he loved Misato. He cared for them and would forgive them anything, so long as they tried to be better, because he loved them.
As Shinji followed Misato down the steep stairs and saw her and the girl run to embrace each other, tears in their eyes, he felt a sudden sadness, emptiness. The mass of people surrounding him all believed in this beautiful idea, that they could all find forgiveness in the arms of a loving god. Shinji was a god, one who reduced himself to take on human form. Who would love him no matter what?
"Oh god Misato, its so good to see you! I missed you so much." The girl said in English.
Misato squeezed Asuka to her breast. She had forgotten faith in all the work and excitement these past few months. The guilt she had felt had been crushing until she heard Asuka's voice again. It had reminded her that forgiveness was always there, it always within her reach, she need only try for it.
"I missed you too Asuka."
"Oh here, I should return this." Asuka said and reached behind her neck. Shinji noticed the simple cross pendant she wore. It was plain metal, it looked like just steel, and had four short arms. She took it off and pressed it into Misato's hands.
"Oh Asuka, you don't have to…"
Asuka shook her head and pressed harder. "I needed it back then, but… I dunno what it is, but I can feel you need it now."
Misato put the necklace on and slid the pendant beneath her collar.
"Alright, Asuka Langely Soryu, meet Shinji Ikari!"
Shinji was not prepared for the hug. Well he supposed it was meant to be a hug. The girl was taller than him and nearly took him to the deck.
"Um, nice to meet you?"
When she let go of him she stepped back and bowed.
"Forgive my manners, it is very nice to meet you Ikari-san" She said, now in Japanese. She spoke without an accent, but in that way newsreaders often do. It was not that she spoke like a native, it was more like the words lacked a personality.
"I saw the tapes of your fights with the angels, you and Ayanami-san were amazing. I look forward to working with you." She said and held out her hand. He took it and they shook and further introductions were made. First Toji, then Kensuke, at who's eyepatch she stared.
"Wonderin' about the eye?" He asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry to stare!"
"Its alright, been getting it a lot lately. Was rough, but this guy dragged me out of there." Ken said and slapped Shinji on the back.
"Out of what?"
"You know, the attack? Buncha Russians with-" Ken began then stopped when Misato grabbed him by the shoulder and put a finger to her lips.
"Oh, um, sorry Major."
"Asuka, there was an incident at the same time as the Jet Alone test, we have tried to keep it low key. Fortunately, Mr. Aida's eye was the only friendly casualty."
"Oh um, okay, you'll have to tell me all about it later."
The final introduction was Viral, who kept his hands crossed across his chest and did not bow or take her hand.
"Um, Mr. Viral, or is it Viral-san, um…"
"Master, Sensei, whichever you prefer. Who taught you to breathe?"
"I already have a master, Viral-sensei, and he taught me to breathe correctly."
"Whats his name?"
Asuka put her hands on her hips and threw her head back to look into Viral's eyes, chest to chest with him. "My master is the great Ryoji Kaji."
Viral smirked and chuckled.
"Skinny guy, bout my height, never learned to shave right, sound like the guy? He still have that stupid pony tail?
"Yes." Misato and Asuka responded in unison, both annoyed. Asuka was bothered by how disrespectful he sounded. Misato was annoyed his name was even mentioned.
"Well, looks like I got a whole lot of stuff to unteach ya before we get home girl. Don't worry though, we'll make you a daughter of Sinanju yet."
Asuka had a rather good retort lined up when Misato got between her and the rude man.
"Oookay, Asuka why don't you go show the boys your eva. Viral, a word…"
She was interrupted by the woop of a siren and the voice of the loudspeaker filling the ship.
GENERAL QUARTERS GENERAL QUARTERS
BLUE PATTERN DETECTED ANGEL INBOUND ANGEL INBOUND
EVANGELION PILOTS REPORT TO FLIGHT DECK FOR TRANSPORT
ALL OTHER NERV PERSONNEL REPORT TO BRIDGE
Asuka grabbed Shinji by the wrist and started running for the stairs. Misato hurried the boys along with her and Viral followed behind to make sure they didn't stray.
Shinji didn't mind being led, he figured the girl knew where she was going. They were soon on the flight deck. The sailors got them into a helicopter quickly and they were on the deck of another ship less than a minute later. Shinji found himself being drug along again.
"You know I can just follow you right?!" It was awkward getting dragged down the steep stir ladder things.
"No time for mistakes! I have an extra plug suit, it may fit weird but it should work."
"No need!" Shinji said as they came into the vast cargo area of the ship. Asuka turned when he stopped and found Shinji pulling a canister a little bigger than a can of tennis balls from a pouch across the back of his belt.
"New standard issue, plug suit in a can. We're supposed to carry them around with us now."
"Nice! I have to carry mine in a duffle."
Said bag was pulled from a container on the catwalk overlooking the prone evangelion, which was covered in brown tarps.
"You better not peek at me!"
"Really? That's what you care about right now!?" Shinji said then yanked the tab near the lid of the canister. The top popped off with a hiss and landed somewhere down the catwalk going by the metal on metal rattle, Shinji didn't look. He was already stripping off his uniform.
"What you aren't going to change right here are you?"
"There is a giant monster that needs killing, I'm not going to waste time to cover my ass!" Just to prove it, he pulled his pants down, shorts and all. Asuka's reaction was so good Shinji considered going to for his NERV phone to take a picture. Looking down at his clothes, the naked boy barely ducked the swing from Asuka.
"You idiot! An angel is attacking and you're the one fooling around and making fun of me for trying to preserve a little modesty!"
Shinji shot through the gap of the roundhouse kick that followed, pivoting on the balls of his feet to end up facing Asuka's back. Still, of course, naked as the day he was born.
"Oh thanks for turning around ma'am, now I can get dressed without worrying about you peeking."
See gaijin bitch, you people don't have the corner on smart ass, he thought
Getting the eva to turn on was another fight.
"Dammit, think in German!"
"Oh I am sorry, I don't know your language, maybe if you say it slowly and loudly enough I might understand!"
Asuka growled again "Switching language to Japanese."
"Misato said you have some new batteries installed in this thing, how much life can you get out of them?"
"Its about a two hundred percent increase, so maybe fifteen minutes."
"We are getting better than that with partial f-type equipment, what the hell?"
"Crusader's set wasn't finished yet, okay! We have to get back to the Over The Rainbow, they have the power hook-up."
"Crusader?"
"Yeah, that's his name, don't make fun of it. Alright, ready for final start up and go."
Shinji felt the soft buzz across his A-10 clips as the connection was made. He felt Asuka's presence, but it felt small. Like he was there and thinking and doing and she was a dog or something, not equal in stature or understanding.
Shinji heard her mutter and looked behind him. Her being taller, he had ended up on her lap. She had her hands together with her eyes closed and was mouthing words. It took him a second to realize she was praying.
"Oh father who art in heaven, as we go into battle against your fallen angels, give us the strength to make right that which has gone wrong in the world…"
Shinji grabbed the control yokes and grinned. Whatever she was saying, he had his own little prayer. The words didn't matter, it was more a cadence thing that made his body react and he didn't have to worry about anybody else hearing it.
As the cargo bay doors parted, Shinji willed the eva to stand and as he felt his head rise into the sky, he began to speak.
"I am created, Shiva, the destroyer, the earth shatterer, the transformer. The god-warrior made whole by the master of Sinanju!.."
The tarps fell to the deck and into the water as Unit-02, Crusader, rose to its full height. Armored in crimson and gold, its four emerald eyes flashed in the sunlight. Shinji could feel the systems as if they were his own body and flexed the forearms, sliding long progressive blades out from the wrists then back under the "skin". With a groan the evangelion turned to the West, where it felt the enemy approaching. He could feel another set in the legs but even as he entered his elevated state he knew poking holes in the boat was a poor idea.
"Shinji, we need to get to the carrier."
"These people, these ships, they are under my protection! WHO IS THIS DOGMEAT THAT CHALLENGES ME?"
Misato's voice came over the radio. "Unit 02, report to over the rainbow, we have a bridge of ships coordinated, you should be able to…"
NO.
So the destroyer spoke and the cockpit went red with warnings as all communication systems shut down.
"Sh-shinji?"
Crusader raised one foot from the bull bottom of the cargo hull and placed it on the lip of the ship's side, causing it to list slightly. Shinji could feel how the angel was moving in the water, he could feel the thrum as its AT field moved like a giant screw, pulling the water around it and pushing it out behind. The thing was the size of the ship on which the eva stood but was moving like a bullet.
All could see the great bow wave approaching now. It was as tall as some of the ships' radio masts. Within it the great white beast was visible, all teeth and glowing red eyes. And behind it, indistinct in their multitude were a million points of light. Gaghiel was coming and it was heading straight for the evangelion.
The wave broke over the outlying ships, capsizing them, as the great beast breached. It left the water, its great mouth filled with rows of gigantic teeth spread wide. Behind it, flooding onto the decks of every ship, were legion miniatures and variations, snapping their jaws and whipping bladed fins.
The giant flew through the air towards the crimson eva and made to bring its leviathan jaws down on it. Orange light stopped its fight and shattered teeth. As the beast fell back to the water, Crusader leapt from the ship as it rolled under the resulting wave and onto the beast. It drove one long blade from its arm into the flesh to anchor itself. Shinji brought Crusader's fist down on the stone mask that rode the top of the beast and shattered it, but found only bloody flesh beneath.
Gaghiel thrashed and threw the red eva into the water then dived, purple blood trailing in the water behind it.
Back on the Over The Rainbow, things were going about as well.
Misato was down to twelve rounds left for her USP, a round short of a full mag. NERV issue was .40S&W but on a UN boat it was 9mm NATO all around. The fish things were unending. Every conceivable size and shape, all of them with big nasty teeth or beaks or what the fuck ever, crawling, slithering, some even walking down the corridor.
Viral had gone off to clear a hallway and never came back. He was either dead or just decided to clear all one thousand feet of it.
Three more lurched through the bulkhead and Misato put them down clean. At least it was pretty clear where the head was on most of them. One round each, have to save ammo. When one got back up she put two rounds into center mass and it slumped over, convulsing and spewing purple blood over the walls before it finally stopped moving.
After minutes of silence, Misato stood from her cover behind a bulkhead. With her weapon still pointed downrange, she checker her magazine. It was a habit she had gotten into after realizing that you really do lose count sometimes. Seven rounds left. She had been on the bridge when the first wave hit the deck. She had forty rounds on her today, thirty-nine in three magazine and one in the chamber. There were definitely more than thirty-three of those things and more waves had come.
She knew it was big when she heard the scraping on the deck approaching. Locking the magazine back in, she pointed in and waited for whatever it was to come around the corner. When the trunk of blue flesh wrapped around the bulkhead she waited. Its just a limb, wait for the body. Eight more feet of muscle followed before the shell came into few.
It was a really big clam. Misato nearly laughed when its shell butted up against the bulkhead on all sides. It was way too big to ever get through. At least it blocked anything else from coming down.
Major Katsuragi did not consider that it must have passed several bulkheads to get to this point. When the foot found purchase around a door frame and began to pull, she was shocked to see the bulkhead begin to bend and split. As the shell began flex open and shut little by little, it looked like it was just eating the metal.
Misato brought her weapon back up and fired two shots at the gap between the shell plates. One round ricocheted off the shell and if the other hit anything, the beast didn't slow down. Instead, it started to probe the corridor with the huge foot. Misato fired twice more. The trunk of flesh was getting too close, she was losing her cool. Both round bounced off the shell.
One round left. Fuck.
She briefly considered ending it there but pushed the thought from her mind. There was always a way to fight on. As the clam tore through the bulkhead and started to pull itself closer though, hari-kari by gunfire did begin to become a more attractive option.
"Heya Major. If you wouldn't mind moving to the side Ma'am." It was Kensuke. He must have gotten into the marine detachments armory. The other boy, Toji, was right behind him. Misato pressed her back against the wall and they both walked right by. Both were carrying rifles and extra magazines.
"Boys, what the hell are you doing, get back here!"
"Don't worry Misato, we caught one of these things a while ago, we got this." Toji said as he gingerly stepped over the big blue clam's foot.
"Dude, she's an officer, you gotta call her Major." Kensuke said as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and took a grenade from a pouch. They were about a yard in front of the slowly advancing clamzilla.
"Whatever man."
"Not whatever, she is a professional woman who has earned her rank in a male dominated field, show some damn respect. Okay, you want to shoot or dump?"
"I don't care."
"Fine I'll shoot and you dump." Kensuke tossed the grenade over the tongue-like foot and Toji caught it. "Besides, I already lost an eye, you should risk your hand anyway."
"Oh by the gods you are going to be going on about that till you have grand kids. Oh let me tell you the story of when Grandpa lost his eye fightin' the Russians."
Misato was aghast. They were bickering. They were handling live grenades and guns and they were bickering. And they were fourteen years old. She was not sure which part was worst.
"Hey Major, you probably want to get in cover, this got a little messy whereabouts you are standing last time." Ken yelled back down the hall.
"Wait, what are you going to do?"
"Well see we figured out last time this big dumb bastard can't hear or see anything, its all touch and only on the foot. It is called a foot in mollusks." Ken slapped the side of the hard shell with no result just to prove his point. "I'd call that a size fluffy, maybe even a damn. Its easier to show then explain though, so please Ma'am, get in cover."
Misato did and Kensuke raised his rifle while pulled the grenade's pin and held it over the foot, right in front of the edge of the shell. Toji held out his other hand and counted down with his fingers: Three… Two…One.
Ken fired a three round burst into the foot and Toji shoved the grenade through the gap in the shell and pulled his hand away just in time as the foot withdrew and the shell snapped shut. With the shell shut, there was just enough room for the boys to slip by behind the clam.
Five seconds later, the shell slammed back open, denting the steel walls of the corridor. The sound was like thunder echoing in the corridor and purple guts painted the wall fifty yards down the hall. When Misato stepped out of cover she could barely hear, but she could tell by the boys lips they were still going back and forth.
They were pushing the shell shut again before walking back towards the major. She only then noticed their boots and pants were coated with purple gore up to the knees. Her hearing was coming back.
"Okay its agreed, we call that move the terminal shuck. Hey Major y'alright?" Ken asked. Toji held out his hand and helped her up.
"Figured ya might be running low so I grabbed these for ya. " Ken said and held out an M9 pistol in one hand and several extra magazines in the other. "No forty to be found. They are starting to make some good headway on the hanger deck, what say we head down and help out? I mean, you know, if you want, you're the officer. Dad and I were building a model of one of these babies so you tell me where you want to go and I will get you there."
Back in the water, Shinji could feel the beast circling. Crusader was slowly sinking.
"Crud crud crud, we don't have any way to maneuver in the water without a tether. The b-type equipment isn't buoyant either, we can't swim."
Asuka's prattling was not helping either.
Be silent.
"This is your fault! Thanks to you we are going to either get eaten or sink deep enough to be crushed by the pressure. Idiot!"
I SAID BE SILENT!
"How are you even talking like that?"
I do not care to share, now be quiet and think about a drill.
"A…drill?"
A screw, a drill, an augur, whatever you wish to call it. That is how the beast is moving so quickly. It has formed the light of its soul into a drill to move the water around it. I aim to do the same.
"Oh! Yeah, okay um drill drill…drill…drill… Think drilly thoughts"
She was still speaking, even the sound of her voice was annoying at this point, but at least the thought noise that had been making it hard to concentrate was gone. He knew how it felt to bend and shape the field after Ramiel, it was this turning bit that was giving him trouble.
Shinji concentrated on the first thing he felt whenever he entered his peak state: The blood moving within his own body. The AT field had to act like a pump, to move the water, just like his heart. Shinji closed his eyes and concentrated on his heart beat. In and out, push and pull, gather and release with more energy. Draw the energy back in, make a cycle. The cycle builds, the energy increases. One drop of water thrown out with enough energy can move a giant.
And the eva lurched in the water. Not very far, not very fast, but he had done it.
Think about ending the living mistake which we hunt… and drills, don't stop thinking about that, its working.
The eva began to move in stuttering lunges at first, then long, powerful strokes, before he finally got it under control and could move in smooth constant motion, slow as it was. As Shinji felt the beast turn towards them, he knew it was time to try it for real.
You pray to a god you cannot see. Watch now as one in your very presence brings salvation to his people.
Sailors not fighting the fish spawn could see the orange glow from the surface before a bow wave sent the entire fleet out of formation.
Crusader tore past the angel and in the space where their fields touched, thrust one of its long knives into the beast's mouth. As they shot past each other, the angel was left with a long gash from the corner of its mouth back to its tail. Shinji made a sharp turn around and screamed past the angel again, this time cutting it low across the belly. More sharp turns and more cuts sent the massive shark swimming for the surface.
Yes, that's right. Rise, rise!
Crusader dove down, far enough that Asuka began to panic as the groans of armor collapsing reached the entry plug. The red and gold eva then went straight up, passing the angel and leaving it with one last cut, gored from tail to jaw.
The entire fleet moved again as the evangelion broke the surface and shot into the air. A mile, two miles into the air, and the evangelion whipped its body around to face the blue sea.
Thou art an enemy of the rightness of the universe!
Crusader drew back one fist and the orange light of the AT field glittered about it.
You pervert the dharma by your very presence!
There was a bang and clouds all around parted. The eva did not fall towards the water. Falling is act of nature as gravity takes hold. Crusader flew straight towards the water as the fastest thing ever launched from a naval vessel. The hypersonic impact with the water's surface met the nose of Gaghiel a millionth of a second before it breached the surface.
Shinji had figured the angel was hiding the core somewhere within itself. Why bother looking when you can just destroy the whole thing?
As Crusader traveled through the angel's body, Shinji expanded the same AT field that had kept the eva from shattering on impact with the water. It tore through the angel's body and simply erased the core as it turned the angel's body into bloody shreds.
Successive waves set the entire fleet, even the massive carrier Over The Rainbow, adrift, pitching and rolling as their crews continued to fight their own enemy.
The hanger deck had been a disaster. The first wave of creatures had been little more than bigger, air breathing sea creatures. What followed them, crawling up the hulls of even the largest ships, walked like men. Their heads were like anglerfish, and they had razor sharp claws the size of a man's arm. The sailors and marines had been pressed back to the very end of the hanger deck, right behind the forecastle and the prow of the ship.
Even with the marine detachment's weapons and the officer's handguns, there were not enough guns or bullets to go around. Sailors held wrenches and pipes as blunt instruments and some enterprising individuals had used duct tape to put knives on the ends of whatever poles they could find to make spears.
When the double shockwave hit as the evangelion finished the angel, there was a pause in the combat. Man and fishman retreated back to their fellows and lines of battle were formed with barely ten strides separating them. The sound of claws on deckplate mixed with the clicks and metal sliding on metal as weapons were reloaded and readied.
Toji and Ken were standing in front of Misato. Both had rifles pointing forward, and Ken had a knife gripped in two fingers on his left hand while the other three held the weapon's handguard.
"Major…" Toji said, not taking his eyes from the sights of his weapon. He spoke english. It had become reflex as they fought with the mostly American men and women around them.
"Yes Mr. Suzahara?"
"If for some reason you get out of this, and I don't know, I want you to tell Shinji something for me…" Toji started and was cut off by an elbow to the ribs from Kensuke.
"Don't start that bullshit, we are living through this."
A sailor turned around to face the boys. "What the fuck are you little shits talking about? This isn't some fucking movie, this isn't a last stand. That's it, I'm done."
The sailor threw his weapon, a machine wrench, to the ground. He pushed past his comrades and threw his hands in the air.
"I surrender, and so does everyone who isn't a goddamn idiot behind me! Don't kill us, we-"
The lone sailor didn't even get to finish. The front of his face was gone. As his body slumped to the floor, Major Misato Katsuragi stepped forward, flanked by Kensuke and Toji. She still held the pistol out straight and the last bit of smoke left the barrel as she stepped over the dead sailor.
"If you can understand me, listen well. Any who fight with the angels, be they man, beast, or something else, are enemies of NERV. NERV does not surrender. NERV does not give up. NERV does not tolerate cowardice. WE are the artifice of man built to fight a cruel universe. WE are the undefeated army! WE are the champions of mankind!"
With that Toji unslung his rifle and passed it to the line of battle behind them. The fishman had stepped back. Just a step. It spoke a loud message though. They were afraid.
Both boys stepped forward and Kensuke turned to Misato. "Well said Major, please step back."
As she looked into his one blue eye, Misato thought about just how insane this was. What was even more insane to her was that she simply nodded and stepped back behind the line.
Seeing Asuka again had reminded her that redemption was never far away. All one had to do was reach for it. The child soldiers around her, and she had realized that Suzahara and Aida were just that, were the products of manipulations by uncaring adults for their own reasons. She included herself in that group, people who had taken their childhoods to turn them into weapons. She saw what her redemption would be now. She would lead them and make sure that they were not wasted. She would help them fight on, to survive, so that one day they could stop fighting and when that day came she would be there to help them find what they had lost. She was going to hell, she accepted that, but nobody will be able to say she didn't try.
One of the fishmen stepped forward and swung its claws at Toji. Toji caught it at the wrist with one hand and snapped its forearm in two with the other. Another punch to the side of the head crushed its skull and the slimy body slid to the floor. Ken took another who dared step out, using his rifle as a lever under its arm to pull it down then slicing its neck to the bone with his knife.
"I don't think they brought their best man."
"Naw I think you are right Ken. No weapons, no uniforms. Probably just every poor schmuck they could pull off a farm, or out of his house, you know?"
"Yeah, like they are each an individual, probably just want to make it back to their families. Potters, sculptors, smiths, you know that sort of thing."
"Yeah, I know exactly… Hey you know who we brought?"
Kensuke moved behind Toji and turned to the line of sailors and marines.
"OY! Men and women of the Over The Rainbow! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?"
The resounding cries of "WAR WAR WAR" and the pounding of weapons on deck made Ken happy. He had hoped they had seen that one. He turned back to see the fishman stepping back into an even tighter group.
They had relied on psychological warfare, the shock of the surprise attack and their huge unit outside to make up for poor fighters and no equipment. Amateurs. The human race had been fighting everything in existence, including itself, for at least five hundred millennia now. To bring anything less than your A-game was just insulting.
Guttural screams that echoed through the hanger deck from the opposite end of the ship was a universal signal and the line charged forward. Toji and Ken were at the tip of the thrust. Ken soon discarded the rifle and was pitting his blade against claws and teeth.
Toji snapped bones and crushed organs with every strike. In that moment he felt more alive then he had in years. He had risen as a young star in the world of karate in its native land but no matter how big the trophy, he always felt unsatisfied at the end of the day. Winning a bout was like stroking one off and stopping cause you got distracted right at the end. Holding back to just put the other guy down ruined it. Winning by points was even worse. This felt good though. This was right. This worked. It clarified everything, it made his vision and his mind clear.
As Toji grabbed two fishmen by the necks and slammed them down to the deck to snap them, he had an epiphany. Shinji had told them about what it felt like to come to peak, for his body to enter a kind of super state, where everything just WAS. No confusion, no dilemma, just everything as it should be. This, Toji was sure, was what he meant. This is what Kensuke had meant when he said fighting, even losing his eye, had felt right because he did it well.
Toji threw back his head and screamed a war cry before grabbing another clawed arm and ripping it from the socket.
At the opposite end of the cavernous hanger deck, there was a competition in progress.
"That's seventy eight you damn fraud!" Viral said as a floating knife hand strike tore a fishman's torso, head, and one arm from the rest of it.
"Viral, Viral, you gotta get with it, I got one oh seven and one oh eight right here!" Replied Ryoji Kaji, tossing two dead fishmen aside, their heads gone and replaced by bloody purple stumps. His dark slacks and blue dress shirt were caked in purple gore. The tie was a complete loss.
"Ha, lying as usual! Did you convince them five was eight while you were at it!" Viral snapped back and took another with a roundhouse kick. They were running away from the pair now, towards the crowd on the other end. Good, thought Viral. The major and them could be the anvil, they'd be the hammer.
They met in the middle half an hour later. Hands were shook and without any reservation, hardened warriors, and there was no other kind among those aboard after that day, embraced with tears in their eyes. Two fourteen-year-old boys were raised on the shoulders of veterans as their own.
With the last of its power, the evangelion called Crusader had hauled itself aboard the very cargo ship it had launches from. The ship listed to one side with the giant's legs still beneath the waves. Within, a very scared young woman looked into the glowing eyes of what she claimed to fear and love in equal measure.
It is written with each appearance of angels, before they introduce themselves or state their purpose, they always give the same warning as they show mortals but a fraction of the divine presence which they represent. Each time they say "Fear Not" and they do so with good reason.
End
Author notes: Woohoo, back to the fun stuff.
I am fully aware marine detachments aboard navy ships are a rarity these days. Due to the prevalence of symmetric warfare following impact, I am making the jump that they made a comeback.
Regarding the summary of the message of Christianity:
-I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN. If I significantly screwed up, let me know and I will try and fix it. I am trying to give your religion the same respect I am giving Hinduism in this story.
-Some well read readers might recognize Shinji's initial thoughts on the value of the Christian god's love. Hails to you.