Answers:
Bird of Hermes: I can't promise a happy ending, this IS Evangelion, after all, but I'm glad you're enjoying this interpretation of the canon.
Fanus: Not paranoia, just hate. The collateral damage rate for drone strikes are roughly three times higher than piloted planes. I have no problem whatsoever with the efforts to ban drone usage. Human pilots are intelligent and intuitive, a nerd with a drone that's 12000 miles away from him isn't.
textdumppp: Congratulations. Here's your Internet! Now, I told myself that I wouldn't alter the storyline, only try to improve it, and that means no radical changes. This is a fix fic, plain and simple. And, for the record, you're wrong. The German Air Force is still referred to as 'Luftwaffe' and it still uses the Iron Cross as it's official identification.
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Chapter 15: Darkness
Ritsuko, Maya, and Shigeru came out of the cheap topside laundromat, complaining about prices and their collective lack of a social life. The trio happened to meet Professor Fuyutsuki on their monorail back to headquarters.
"Professor! What a pleasant surprise seeing you on the surface!" Maya greeted him with her cheerful non-work voice.
"I wish it could be pleasant, Lt. Ibuki, but I just sat through a meeting with our inept City Council. I can't understand why we have to listen to those buffoons; they don't even have a reason to exist anymore!"
"Our own government having no reason to exist? Sir, I never imagined you would lean so libertarian."
"It's not a political philosophy, the MAGI have made every meaningful decision for the council for the last 10 years."
"Our MAGI? Why is a military supercomputer running a city?"
"Because it's a better decision maker than the current administration. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get what little sleep I can before reporting the Council's doings to the Commander; I had to force myself to stay awake while those idiots rambled for hours." He covered his head with a newspaper and fell asleep on the way into NERV's terminal.
Shigeru commented on the scene. "We're watching a Ph.D holding evolutionary biologist sleep on a metro train like a bum."
Shinji was on hold for a short eternity trying to reach his father's office.
"Ikari here."
"Um, yes dad-"
"Shinji, whatever it is, make it quick. I'm extremely busy today."
= Well, he hasn't hung up on me, at least... = "Well, Dad, you see... my grades are doing better in school-"
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi already told me you were improving, is that all?"
"Well, no...It turns out that I'm doing well enough to start taking Advanced Vocational Courses, but I have to go through a parent-teacher conference before I can enroll-"
"Shinji, I already know that I don't have the time to do it. When you're topside, Katsuragi is your guardian. She'll be the one to talk to. Now, I have business to attend to. Be on time for the sync tes-"
= Did my phone just go out? =
'EMERGENCY! SEQUENCE FAILING!'
Ritsuko was overseeing the unmanned activation of the newly-repaired Unit-00.
"We can't get Unit 00 Reactivated because of one damn circuit! Reprogram neural connection GTT11001 and prepare to restart the test!"
"Yes ma'am. We're reconnecting the umbilical power now, reducing connection bandwith by 0.6. Reactivating in 3..2..1. Power ON!
Every electrical appliance in the test chamber went out.
Ritsuko stared in utter confusion. "Uh...We didn't do it...?"
"WAIT UP! HOLD THE ELEVATOR!" Kaji sprinted up to Misato's closing elevator, managing to get one arm in the door.
"I...haven't run...that hard...since college." He got his composure back between gasps. "We had a late night, yesterday. How are you doing Miss Katsuragi?"
"I'm hungover as usual so don't bother me."
= She's already got her claws out, nice. =
The elevator halted between floors, the overhead lights went out, and the emergency battery lights emitted a dull red glow.
"Did the power just go out?" Kaji asked.
"If it did, backups will switch on any second now..."
They waited.
Kaji decided to crack a joke in the near-darkness. "If this lasts, I'm blaming Ritsuko."
"So your dad couldn't come to parent conferences...so what? Listen, Third, you're never going to get any respect from anybody if you take every little thing personally. He's the Commander of NERV. He works 25 hours a day, 8 days a week!"
Three teens were walking through the sweltering November afternoon heat, the new rotation of the planet placing Japan in a state of endless summer.
"Can you believe this heat?!" Asuka groaned "Back in Germany we still have winter! Another reason the Fatherland is completely superior to Japan!"
They made it to NERV's surface entrance where Asuka shoved Shinji and Rei aside after they repeatedly tried to run their passcards.
"I've got the newest ID, mine'll work. Idiots...What the hell!?"
"We are locked out...why?" Rei spoke up.
"Commander, all communication lines are down and we've been unable to activate backup power."
"We have three backup power systems...there's no way that they could all fail...unless..."
"Dammit the emergency phone's not working!"
"Anything else we can do, Sunshine?"
"Not in the mood, Kaji. All we can do is wait for the power to come back. We're suppossed to be triple redundant...unless-"
"Unless somebody here in the Geofront got into NERV's engineering levels and sabotaged every power system." Kaji finished her sentence for her. "It's brilliant, in a corrupt and demented kind of way..."
"Dr. Akagi, what is your intrepretation?"
"Disabling the power would allow an infiltrator to map the complete security layout of the GeoFront. Cracks, Codes, ID Swipes, all of it. The MAGI is running off of our battery cabinets; firewalls and active intrusion detection are still online, and I can run a high CPU priority loop program on it to stop data mining, but I'll have to run it by hand."
"It's our best security option now, Doctor, make the climb down. New Directive! Any electrical device running on our battery backup that isn't the MAGI is getting shut down!"
"Sir, that includes climate control and oxygen rebreathing-"
"Do it!"
"Yes, Professor."
The Professor looked to the Commander. "If an Angel attacks now, we're completely exposed."
Japan Air Self Defense Force Officers were reviewing the latest radar developments.
"Unidentified object approaching Tokyo-3."
"Has NERV responded to this yet?"
"Negative sir, all communications with Tokyo-3 or NERV HQ have failed. We can assume that this is the 'Tenth Angel'"
"Preflight a T-41. You'll be delivering the report to them by hand. I want you off the ground in 15 minutes."
Asuka doesn't like being confused. "Nobody's answering any calls whatsoever! And there's three of us so it can't just be one of our cards. How do we get in?"
"It would seem that none of the facilities work; this is odd." Rei brought out her emergency protocol workbook. "We will have to walk down one of the emergency shafts to the GeoFront's ground level."
"Rei," Shinji argued, "that's 300 meters down!"
"There are several tunnels with a safe walking grade. They were installed as emergency exits into the upper city."
"Ohh nooo, Wondergirl, you are not taking over here! I'm in charge and we're going to...um...walk down one of the emergency shafts to the GeoFront's ground level...Don't look at me like that!"
Makoto Hyuga occasionally let his well-known attraction to Misato get the better of him. Today he was doing her errands for her when he heard a loudspeaker message being broadcast from a small plane flying low and slow above his head.
'A suspected Angel is approaching Tokyo-3, all civilians please proceed to available shelter space.'
"The next Angel attack! I have to get to HQ!" He ran to the nearest monorail station to find the station empty and the nearest electric train dead on the tracks.
'Vote for Takahashi! The only Candidate that cares about the truth!' A propaganda truck drove nearby as Hyuga ran into the middle of the road.
"Hey you idiot! get out of the road!"
Hyuga walked up to the driver's door and held his NERV ID up to the windshield. "By order of the United Nations, I'm officially commandeering this car!" = I've always wanted to say that! =
Hyuga's transportation was careening down the empty highway as they approached the NERV checkpoint, with the road gate still down. The young female campaign worker was panicking as the truck's driver was living his dream of being an action movie driver.
"Stop the truck we're gonna crash!"
"No way! That gate's made of wood; we're going right through!" The driver was laughing maniacally as they burst through the gate.
"Asuka, you've taken us in a circle." Shinji said as they came through a door they've already opened.
"All you do is complain, Third! Stop being so negative!"
"Me?! You've got absolutely no idea where we are-"
"Silence, please." Rei heard the sound of wheels and an engine deep in the facility below them.
"What is it, First?"
"Listen."
Shinji and Asuka heard Hyuga's voice over a megaphone. "The Angels are coming! The Angels are coming!"
"If there is an Angel approaching, then we must not waste time. We can shortcut through the ventilation system."
"We can what through the where, Wondergirl? I am not slithering through hot and greasy machinery!"
"We look idiotic!" Asuka growled as she slithered through the hot and greasy machinery.
"...You know, I don't get it."
"Get what, Third?"
"Angels are messengers from God, right? Why would we want to fight them?"
"The term 'Angel' is but a name, Pilot Ikari. They are, in reality, extraterrestrial beings. They are not spiritual messengers."
"You shut up, First, Shinji asked me! We're fighting them because they attacked us first!"
"Asuka, Rei's answer is probably right, too."
"She wasn't part of that conversation. She isn't part of this one either!" She glared at her quiet counterpart as they came to a fork in their path.
"We turn right here, now come on!"
"I believe the correct direction is to the left."
"Do not contradict me, doll! Shinji, tell her that I'm right."
Shinji froze with a deer in the headlights expression. = If I agree with Asuka, then we'll get even more lost; if I tell her that Rei is right, Asuka will kill me! = He gave the bravest, most intelligent answer he could muster.
"Oh...um...well...I'm not sure..." = Smooth, Shinji =
"I'M in charge, here, and I say we go right!"
"Asuka, why are walking up? Shouldn't we be going down?"
"Because we are! If you know so much better why didn't you speak up earlier?!" Asuka walked to the nearby door and opened it to come face to face with a giant spike leg slamming into the ground. She screamed and slammed the door "Great news, I've visually confirmed the Angel's presence. Now we're aware of our opponent!...Don't look at me like that!"
"We do not have time to continue backtracking. Follow me." Rei took the lead and walked back where they came from.
Asuka's misplaced jealousy was on full display for all the world to see. "Slow down, First. I've got questions for you."
"Then ask them while we are moving. We do not have time to slow down."
"How's it feel to be the Commander's favorite?"
"Asuka," Shinji actually spoke up; "This is not the time." She ignored him and continued her antagonism.
"How much special treatment do you get? Let me guess, 5-star apartment? Dinner at the Commander's table? How much does he pay you?" Rei ignored her and kept walking until Askua ran around her and blocked her path.
"Stop acting so smug! You're always so perfect and superior, you hate the thought of working with someone who actually earned her position here, don't you!?"
Shinji heard Asuka's baseless criticism and felt sick. = Rei's just absorbing all of Asuka's hate! Dammit Shinji do something! = Rei spoke before Shinji worked up any nerve.
"I do not act superior. I am not treated any better, either. I know that for a fact."
= Rei just defended herself...from Asuka! = Shinji thought in amazement as they came to a recently caved-in tunnel. "There's no way we're getting through that wreckage, and I'm not moving any of it, Asuka."
"We will need to break into another ventilation duct."
Asuka was bristling by this point. "You really will do anything to stay on top, won't you, Doll-"
"Asuka, SHUT UP." She whipped around to see the cold expression on Shinji's face. "The only person who cares about being number one is you. Rei and I just want to kill this thing and go back to having a normal day. Leave. Rei. Alone."
"You...you...you little shit!" Asuka swung a fist at Shinji only to have him easily step out of the way.
"You can attack me all day, but you won't hit me unless I decide to allow you." = She's just like Touji, she has absolutely no self-control. = Shinji thought as he avoided Asuka's aimless attacks until she swung herself tired.
Rei was dismantling another vent while her thoughts became occupied with the two pilots. = Shinji...= It was becoming more comfortable for her to think about him. =...he is taking Pilot Soryu's abuse...just to stand up for me. He has done so much...giving...for me. Why? =
"Start the isolated Diesel generator, we'll charge the Unit's internal batteries and attach the Lithium external packs. Between the two power sources, that should give them 11 minutes of fighting time." Commander Ikari stated to Ritsuko down in Evangelion storage.
"Sir, we need to refrain from using the battery packs, they're too much of an explosion hazard!"
"We have no other sources of power. It's a risk we will be forced to take. All Right, Men! Grab a lift cable and pull! We need every hand in the chambers to open the armor hatch!" Commander Ikari took a position on the lifts with the maintenance crews to open the entry plug shafts.
Ritsuko ordered her engineers to begin the plug connection. = When are those damn kids going to show up?...Am I hearing...voices? =
A garbled sound came through the overhead air duct. "Don't you look up my skirt you pervert! I DIDN'T!"
A few moments of bashing and rattling later, and Shinji fell through the duct with Asuka throttling him, her crushing him to the ground when they fell. Rei landed gracefully beside them.
"You three! It's about time! Commander, they're here!"
He looked down at the pile of kids under the air vent. "Prepare the plugs for manual entry! Open the hatches!"
Shinji climbed up and went to Ritsuko. "We're here, but if the power's out..."
"Your dad has been personally overseeing the manual launch. He's still preparing the Units now."
"MY dad has been..." Shinji looked up to the maintenance catwalks in wonder.
"Get plugged, we're going to have to use the Evas to force away the restraints."
Commander Ikari gave the final order. "Remove all restraints and bolts! Evangelion Units will be leaving on foot!"
"This is embarassing!" Asuka shouted over the radio. "We're crawling like insects!" Above the exit shaft, the insectoid Angel began spilling it's acidic tears onto the launch door, dissolving it. The highly-corrosive liquid spilled down into the shaft, onto the climbing Units. Asuka felt Unit-02's armored boot dissolve and screamed as she and it fell down the shaft, colliding and taking Units 00 and 01 with her. They crashed to the bottom of the shaft.
"We've wasted 7 minutes of power! How do we get to this thing?" Shinji worried out loud.
"The Angel appears to know that destroying this shaft is the fastest route to Terminal Dogma." Rei analyzed. "Its acid is corrosive enough that it will not need to blast or drill its way down."
"Then how do we kill it without it dissolving us first?"
"I've got an Idea!" Asuka cut in. "Raise AT Field to Max Power!" The tunnel shook as the shield grew. "Unit-02 is the newest and strongest. After I climb up to neutralize the field, I'll get out of the way and Shinji will unload on this thing when scans show the fields are down. Wondergirl, you keep him fed with ammunition."
"Pilot Soryu, you will be placing the newest Unit at risk with your plan. I should go and neutralize the field."
"And let you get all the glory? Yeah right!"
"Rei, don't worry, if Asuka wants to wreck Unit-02, I say more power to her." Shinji commented dryly.
"I hardly plan to wreck my Unit-02, Shinji. Then it's settled. Get to your positions!" Asuka shouted and started climbing up the shaft. "Shinji' I'm getting close and the fields are coming down!" She climbed up to spitting distance from the Angel and flipped to a prone position, balancing in the shaft.
"Wait! Asuka! Don't turn your back to the Angel! The battery pack's exposed!"
The warning was too late. A large volume of acid spilled onto the battery's shell, dissolving it and exposing the electrified Lithium to the atmosphere. A plume of plasma and flame shot up from the battery, simultaneously burning Unit 02 all across its body and burning the Angel's abdomen, causing its flesh to crack and break open, exposing the core to the volley of fire. Asuka screamed in pain and tumbled down the shaft to be caught by Shinji.
"Ayanami! Asuka's on fire! Come on, help me carry her back to the chambers!" They quickly dragged Unit-02 back to the Eva storage for Ritsuko to see the residue from the Lithium explosion.
"What the hell happened?!"
"Dr. Akagi," Rei answered, "Unit-02's Lithium external battery was dissolved in some form of acid, it exploded and lit both Unit-02 and the Angel on fire. The Angel is burning alive as we speak."
Above them, there was the sound and shockwave from an Angel-sized explosion.
Ritsuko gave her analysis. "Unit-02 is going to need hazardous materials treatment and extensive repair. How's the pilot?"
"It stings, but I'm OK." Asuka answered.
"Then I hate to do this to you, Asuka, but Unit-02 is going on reserve until it's decontaminated."
"I understand. Dammit."
"How long will this power stay out?" The Commander asked from his position in the Eva chambers, just as the lights came back on.
"Please open, I have to pee!" Misato cringed as she tried to open the elevator's emergency hatch.
= Please open, I'm on the bottom! = Kaji thought to himself as Misato was balancing on his shoulders.
"Are you looking up my skirt?!"
"No, as a matter of fact, I'm not."
"Oh. Well, thanks, I guess."
The power came back, the elevator rocked, the pair collapsed into each other's arms, and Kaji started laughing at the absurd situation. Misato eventually giggled and hugged the man trapped under her. It wasn't like anything more strange could happen after all that.
The door opened for Ritsuko and Maya to find two laughing idiots sprawled out over the elevator floor.
"Perverts."
The city was getting power back in slow stages.
"You know, without all the city lights, the night sky is so bright, you can see every star in the sky." Shinji mused out loud.
"Mankind fears the darkness, and scratches it away with fire." Rei answered him.
"Please, Wondergirl, you underestimate mankind. Sometimes darkness is a good thing. If you're in darkness, your eyes become stronger. If your enemies are brought from the light into darkness, they're blind. They can't see you, but you can still see them. And that's how you can defeat them." Asuka challenged Rei's philosophy with her own.
Deep in NERV's poorly-lit sublevels, a female figure with long, twin ponytailed hair slipped out of the shadows after restarting the complex's power substation.
"Sorry for the damage, Unit-02, but if I'm going to save this place, I have to learn it inside and out...now I wonder where Mr. Inspector is?..." She made her way back up to find her international contact.
A/N: Look up some Lithium battery videos on youtube (and please don't try it at home)