Answers:
ANON: Gendo is not as good of a planner as he thinks he is.
Fleightfire: Welcome to the Legend
Fanus: He's hostile to Misato because this is the point where events make him VERY jaded and cynical. And don't worry, I have plans for Gendo.
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Chapter 22: Power
NERV HQ, MAGI Sublevel, 0450
"This is like the third time I've been down here...At least I know what I'm doing, now!" Mari tried to suppress a laughing fit as she quickly cut and restored the power for MAGI-3: CASPAR. She was already on the system's local terminal by the time it rebooted, allowing her to start typing.
She broke in to the boot command line and proceeded to delete 8 drive arrays worth of backed up memory for the dummy plug program.
"And with that, 80 terabytes of dummy plug memory backups are lost in space. Lets see Ritzy restore THAT before the next Angel gets here. You owe me Ryouji...Princess is still in the hospital...How do I con those techs into swapping my Core into Unit-02-"
She cried out in pain as she grabbed her head and collapsed to her knees. Inside her mind she saw...what looked like herself...creating a well-forged Core Exchange report for the UN's Project Evangelion Authority. The words she used in the document became etched in her mind...and as soon as the vision came, Mari was back to reality, her head free of pain and a plan coming together in her thoughts.
= Owww, what was that? It felt like I can either see the future or it was Deja-Vu...Almost like...I've done this before...I know exactly how to convince the UN to give me Unit-02!...I don't know how that just happened, but this is gonna be fun. =
Tokyo-3, 0500
"Can't get up...too heavy...where am I?"
Shinji was still mostly-asleep and struggled to get out of the bed, feeling like there was a 60 Kilogram barbell on top of him.
He loudly sneezed when he felt some hair brush against his nose, the noise disturbing his drowsy companion. = I'm not alone here!? Where the hell am I!? = He looked around through hazy eyes. = Wait...I'm at Rei's apartment? Then yesterday was real...I'm not a pilot anymore...Waitaminute, Rei! What did we do last night!? = He looked down and saw they were both still dressed in their school uniforms and hadn't even rustled the bedspread. = I guess...nothing...I'm not going to lie to myself and say I'm not enjoying this...She's warm, and her hair's so soft... = He started absentmindedly nuzzling the back of her head; he noticed that she smelled like LCL. = That weird girl told me that I smell just like this...Now that I think about it, it does smell pretty good...when it's Rei, at least. =
"...Shinji?...You are still here?..." She half-spoke, half-yawned.
= Oops... = "Yes, Rei...I guess we both fell asleep...Do you want me to leave-"
"No. Stay...but allow me to sleep...I still feel weary from the LCL yesterday..."
He lightly ran his fingers through her hair as he thought out loud. "...Rei? About the dummy plugs...Why do you let them use you for it? We've seen what they're capable of..."
She thought for a moment. "At the time, all I really understood was that I had been raised to obey the Commander's orders...It was not until you spoke to me about 'growth' and rebellion that I realized that I could question what was being done to me. At first, I had no concern for the deliriousness that came with the chamber...When I began suffering from the amnesia it created, I realized that I did not want to lose the memories that made me happy. Memories about you made up a large portion of them..."
"...Then I'm glad I did...we'll figure out a way to stop the experiments..." He pulled her closer to him and they both gave up on consciousness again.
NERV Command Bridge, 0620
Maya, Shigeru, and Makoto had been the first operatives alerted by the MAGI's scans, and were in the command bridge before sunrise.
"It just appeared out of thin air! It must have been using its AT Field to cloak itself as it approached! Contact the Lieutenant Colonel! Prep the Dummy Plug for Unit-01 and retrieve the Unit-00 Pilot!"
This was an entirely different sight than the bridge crew was used to seeing. Until now, the Angels at least looked relatively...alive. This one, however was a living corpse of a nightmare. It levitated its way to the shores of Tokyo-3, its 60 meter tall mummified body was wrapped in tattered and torn bandages, with a bony, visible skull housing two glowing red eyes.
The JASDF began their missile and cannon barrage, to absolutely no effect. Evacuation sirens began blaring across the city as the skyscrapers retracted into the ground. Shinji and Rei were both half-asleep, trying to fight off the morning light entering the room when they heard the first round of attacks. Shinji was the first one shocked awake by a missile explosion. He looked out of her window to see the day's assignment approaching the center of Tokyo-3.
"It's here! This Angel is huge! It looks like a mummy the way it's covered in rotting bandages! Why haven't you gotten a message yet!?"
"It is likely that NERV itself is not yet fully staffed at this hour of the morning."
"Okay, Rei. Call the Commander and ask for his armored car to pick you up. That'll get you to NERV safely."
"Shinji, are you-"
"I'm not going to let you be put in danger, I'm going to call a friend and we're gonna steal Unit-01 before they can activate that damned plug."
He slipped out of the apartment building. Rei noticed that his SDAT player and a letter from Germany were left behind in her room. = Germany? Pilot Soryu is German. What is this? = She opened the letter, found Shinji's medal and a document offering the German government's gratutious praise for his protection of Asuka. = He has not even examined these items...Does he really think so lowly of himself as to refuse praise from others? =
"STATUS REPORT!" Kaji helped Misato and Ritsuko enter the bridge, both women still in pain and under treatment after the explosion at Matsushuiro. He felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket and smirked when he saw the caller ID. He slipped away from the bridge in the confusion, making his way to one of NERV's garages to find his Yamaha R15; he needed to bring Shinji in, and fast.
"Lt. Colonel, it's been confirmed. This thing's the Fourteenth Angel. The missile strikes aren't slowing it down. Ayanami just contacted the Commander and she should be on her way in as we speak...Techs are currently attempting to install a dummy plug in Unit-01."
"Then they're taking too long- WHAT THE HELL?!"
Unit-02 appeared in the launch rails, rocketing towards the GeoFront surface.
"Who launched Unit-02!?"
"...There's no launch record!" Ritsuko answered from her terminal. "It's not using a dummy plug, either! Somebody open a channel and find out who's piloting it!"
"Dr. Akagi, the pilot's disconnected all communications!"
"Then this pilot wants to do it the hard way."
"Oh man, it feels so good to have a plugsuit that actually fits my sizes!"
Mari bounced her more excellent body parts around to feel their fit inside her new suit, bright pink with tiger stripes and the number '05' printed on its chest. = As good a tribute to Unit-05 as any. I still miss it, dearly. =
"Although...I don't like how the Princess rubbed her smell off on all this fresh LCL, puppy boy smells a lot better!...All right then, I've gotta act fast or else HQ's done for!" She hoisted two rifles as the Angel shrugged off a cluster of N2-equipped crusie missiles and blew a hole in the Tokyo-3 armor. She opened fire only to see the Angel extend its AT Field out in front of it, the stream of fire and the field pounding each other into a stalemate.
"...Golly that's a strong AT Field! I'll never be able to break it from this distance...What else have I got down here?...Oh crap not again!" She winced in pain. Her head was filled with a...memory? She saw herself brandishing the Thunder Spear, a plasma torch attached to a blade, like the progressive knife, but this weapon was huge, covering half of Unit-02's height. She saw herself entering specific voice commands into Unit-02, it becoming infinitely stronger than anybody at NERV ever expected. She saw herself challenging the Fourteenth Angel hand-to-hand. = So that's how it's gonna be, all right then! =
She picked the incredible weapon from an equipment elevator and waited for the Angel to begin its descent towards the GeoFront. She lit the plasma and sprinted towards the mummified nightmare. She jumped high in Unit-02 and brought the blade down directly on the Angel's visible core, it being stopped millimeters away by the AT Field.
"POINT BLANK! SHITHEAD!" She fired Unit-02's shoulder rocket launchers, sending four missiles into the field at suicide-close distance. The explosion blasted Unit-02 back into a wall of rubble and destroyed facilities, the Angel still unhurt. = SHIT! = A beam of energy from the Angel destroyed the area she had collapsed on, and she rolled off to the side as the beam ended and the smoke cleared. She retreated to a safe distance and stood Unit-02 up to look at her unstoppable opponent. "Nice try, ugly bastard!"
"Let's get a look at this thing...It's kicking my ass out there...All right, lets see if these funky visions have any bearing on reality. What did I say during...my last fight with this thing? It's worth a try, at least."
"Only one way to find out...NO MORE RESTRAINTS! INVERT CONTROLS! BACKDOOR CODE: THE BEAST!"
Unit-02's viewscreens, motor controls, and life support shut down and rebooted. Massive control rods ejected from the Unit's arms, legs, and back. Mari collapsed and groaned in pain as her muscles and nerves forcefully synchronized to 100% with the Unit. Unit-02 dropped from it's standing posture and landed on all fours, hunched like an animal.
"It's working! It's okay...Unit-02." Mari growled out. "It's just as painful for me...as it is for you!"
"Nothing ventured...Nothing Gained! We can...do this, Unit-02!" The Evangelion Unit roared and blew away its power cable as Mari felt the unrestricted power of the Evangelion surging through her veins.
"HOW ABOUT A RUNNING START?!" She tore through the ground, charging like a bull towards the Angel, jumping and clawing through layers of its AT Field. Another memory unlocked in her head. = It's going to try and stab me with those bandage things...NOT THIS TIME! = Mari punched through layer after layer of the field, watching as the bandages became solid and sharp. = There's what I need to hit! = She jumped dozens of stories high in Unit-02 as she marked the Angel's core with her viewscreens. She felt herself weightless in hangtime as she dove back down through the remaining fields and grabbed onto one of the creature's exposed ribs, the weight of a skydiving Evangelion caused it to bend and snap in her grip, the rest of the ribcage closing over the formerly exposed core. Where there used to be a massive target, there was now a single window to place a shot through.
"...I've got to...find a weapon..." She didn't get the chance. The Angel retracted it's bandages, grabbed Unit-02 by the leg and arm, and sliced it's left arm away.
Shinji had ignored Rei's Section 2's motorcade and was running on foot to the nearest GeoFront lift when a motorcycle roared down to him. Kaji had ramped off of a parked car and landed within sneezing distance of Shinji, who nearly pissed himself at the thought of being crushed by 600 pounds of engine and wheels.
"Get on, kiddo! Mari fixed the dummy system for us, and now your asshole dad can't start it! Unit-01 needs a real man for a pilot, now!"
"Kaji, get me to NERV, then go find Kensuke and Hikari, make sure they're safe."
"You've got it, now let's get out of here!" Shinji climbed onto the back of the bike and Kaji tore away to the NERV upper-city entrance.
"Commander! Dr. Akagi! Unit-01 is still in the entry bays! It's refusing to connect to the dummy system!" Hyuga relayed the Commander's worst news of the day. His personal project, the first goal of Rei's purpose...was failing, repeatedly.
"Fuyutsuki...Take command. I have to go to the Unit-01 cage." He began the long walk to the launch levels, knowing without a doubt that SHE was the one stopping the dummy system from activating.
"Dr. Akagi, Unit-02 has just gone into a controlled berserk state...The pilot is attacking the Angel but it isn't causing enough damage-"
"Unit-02's bestial form. Even it couldn't defeat the Angel. We've reached the limit of the Eva's capabilites-...UNIT-00!?"
Misato was on the verge of panic as she saw Rei lift out of the ground "She doesn't even have a rifle!"
Misato saw that Rei was carrying...A ballistic missile with an N2 MIRV warhead. "REI! DON'T DO THIS! REI!"
Rei and Unit-00 took off running towards the Angel.
"I can do this...For him... So he never has to pilot..." She felt Shinji's SDAT clipped to her plugsuit's waist. "Again!" Rei was nearly silent, but even though her voice lacked volume, her tone told anything capable of hearing her: She was enraged.
"Dammit that hurt!" Mari mined the last ounce of her willpower from her gut and dragged Unit-02 back to life, the wounded animal charging on three legs to where Rei was slamming the missile against the Angel's chest.
"Alright Unit-02, this is it! Your final task: Just ONE. MORE. LAYER!" She grabbed another rib in Unit-02's teeth, ripping and tearing until the cracks in the ribs widened enough that the core was visible through the Angel's skeletal armor. She saw the missile being released from Rei's grasp and felt herself being gripped by the back of her neck and being thrown away from the fight.
"Now Run, Get out of here!...And, thank you." Rei growled over the radio. Mari looked in terror as she watched the missile explode, Rei and the Angel being enveloped in blinding heat and light.
"...YOU! You're the Eva pilot charged with treason! You're under arres-" * Click *
Shinji's weapon was pointed between the gate guard's eyes. "You see the Gun? That's who I am." = I don't have time for this. = "Either you let me in and you don't die, or you hold me up here and everybody on the fucking planet dies! YOUR CHOICE!"
The terrified Section 2 guard allowed Shinji to pass. He took off running towards the Eva cages.
"Why, Yui? Why do you fight me so? Am I really so undeserving of your trust?" Commander Ikari asked the rebellious Evangelion.
"...What's the result of the latest insertion?" Commander Ikari asked one of the nearby technicians.
"Commander...we've tested and retested this plug...there was nothing wrong with it as of last night! Unit-01 appears to be actively refusing to connect to it-"
"The dummy plug didn't work, did it?" Shinji stood at Unit-01's walkway, smirking up at his father, who was visibly exasperated by the endless failures. "Me and Unit-01? We're a lot alike, really. Neither of us were going to put up with what you did to Touji, and this is how it's telling you that."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here because I'm the ONLY pilot for Evangelion Unit-01, and you won't be brutalizing Rei's mind just to have an obedient weapon! Now, you either let me in- or -everybody here dies! You can comprehend that, can't you 'Father'? Or was that Kyoto University education a complete waste of money?"
Gendo scowled. How did his son, a pawn, remove a knight and check the King?
"What's the status on Unit-00!?" Misato was shouting down the bridge crew.
"...My god...Both arms have been blown away. It's just standing there! Rei's an open target!"
"And the Angel!?"
"The explosion...weakened the core...from the looks of it, the Angel is stunned or disoriented...It and what's left of Unit-00 are at a standoff!"
"Then get Unit-01 activated, Dammi-"
The entire facility rocked and operatives were thrown from their positions as the tired Angel turned its attention from Unit-00 to the NERV pyramid. The Angels were not unintelligent. That ball of fire may not have killed it, but it knew it was too weak to continue against its challenger. It knew that a simple object of glass and stonework could not fight back against it.
"Misato! It's on a direct path for...The Bridge! It's headed straight for us!"
"Then everybody evacuate, NOW!"
Too late. The Angel exploded through NERV's bridge viewscreen wall and it's eyes glowed with power, ready to destroy all of its target in a single strike.
A purple fist cut its early victory short, and the Angel was punched into the wall opposite Unit-01's stance.
"Unit-01? The dummy plug wasn't working...IT'S SHINJI!"
The Angel tried, futilely, to wrestle away from Unit-01. Shinji threw the Angel through the wall into the launch platforms, where his left arm was severed by a beam from the Angel's eyes. Shinji's scream was quickly drowned out by his order to Misato.
"MISATO! The catapult!"
"Fire the platform!"
Unit-01 planted the Angel's face against the wall, its bony jaw grinding and sparking as the catapult shot to the surface. Shinji and the Angel sailed into the air, coasting on momentum until they were brought back down by gravity. The Angel landed on its back and Unit-01 landed, fist first, on the Angel's chest, punching and tearing the flesh around from the now completely-visible core.
"You bastard! I'll tear you apart by hand-" Shinji shouted, only to have Unit-01's power supply discharge. He had forgotten to grab a power cable from...anywhere. The Angel wrapped up one of its long bandages and stabbed Unit-01 in its chest, eliciting a torrent of blood from the mouths of Unit-01 and Shinji, who wheezed and coughed around the LCL in the plug.
"Lietuenant Colonel, Unit-01's power supply has been completely discharged, and Units 00 and 02 are too heavily damaged to engage."
"Then...Then...Enter the code into the MAGI to prepare for HQ self-destruct. Do not activate the system until-"
Maya's radio crackled to life with the tired, hostile voice of an angry Shinji Ikari. "You...hurt...Rei. You. Hurt. Rei. YOU HURT REI!"
"Ritsuko!" Maya cried. "Unit-01 is going berserk...Again!"
"What! Just what do I have to do to stop this from happening?!"
Unit-01's eyes lit red, a hateful light glowing behind them. The open stab wounds covered themselves and the Evangelion stood. It began to walk towards the Angel, who shot a beam of energy towards it to absolutely no effect, as Unit-01's AT Field deflected the beam in every direction except Unit-01's position. Unit-01 formed the AT Field into a cone and punched the Angel, the field puncturing the Angel's chest and sending it flying backwards into the hillside.
"Shinji's Sync level is multiplying exponentially! He's synchronizing with the Eva past 160% and climbing rapidly! He's in danger of absorption!"
"WHAT!?" Misato took Maya's radio and screamed. "SHINJI! Stop this! It's not worth losing you! We'll find some other way!"
An unnatural, almost machine-like voice responded. "I don't care if there's another way. This is the way that I am fighting.
The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay..."
Shinji and Unit-01's sadistic chanting continued as Unit-01 stepped its way to the Angel's abused and nearly-broken body. It leaned over it, roared, and tore away one of the bandages from the Angel's body, grafting it onto its own missing arm. Unit-01 grabbed the Angel's core with both hands and began to tear.
"The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay. The Angel will pay..."
"Shinji's at 320%! His plug signal is fading! He's being absored!"
Unit-01 ripped the core away from the Angel, and it exploded in a shower of blood and LCL. Unit-01 held the Angel's core organ against its own, synthetic one. The core from the still-living being overshadowed the disembodied core of the Fourteenth Angel. Unit-01 roared and its armor began to blow away at points, showing off the Unit's featureless, muscular body; green, synthetic eyes; and velociraptor-like teeth.
Ritsuko spoke. "That armor wasn't just for defense! It prevents the Eva's power from overtaking it! It's just as powerful as the Angels, now!"
"400%! I repeat, 400%! Shinji's being absorbed! We're too late!" Maya was panicking and began to go into shock as Aoba and Hyuga attempted to calm her.
Misato stared in panic, and whispered. "Shinji, please don't leave again...I can't take the pain of losing you anymore...Please don't go."
From his stance on a hillside, Kaji observed the creation of a physical god. "Well, Commander," he spoke to himself, "SEELE is going to have a serious problem with you creating a trigger before they did..."
Fuyutsuki observed the events and gave his opinion to Commander Ikari. "I am truly impressed, Gendo. You not only succeeded in awakening Unit-01, but our losses were extremely minimal. You could have easily caused the Third Impact yourself, today."
"Yes, but it was not how I had designed it. The Third Child's interference with the dummy plugs created two gods today. Unit-01 has already decided to obey the Third over NERV."
"And are you really surprised? Where do you believe the true loyalty lies? With the husband or the son?"
"I should consider that an insult, but I know you are correct, Professor."