Proof that I have no life.
This is for a online friend who really wanted to see it. It's probably deeply flawed, as it is a rough draft. That online friend will have to take what she can get. Still, I hope it's at least amusing.
Chapter One: Not For Honor
Shinji Ikari waited.
He was good at waiting. Although he grew bored with it occasionally, he never complained about it. Lest this be mistaken for some sort of philosophical enlightenment on his part, it should be said up front that he really wasn't assertive enough to complain. He also lacked the social skills required to obtain an audience for complaints. So while he was capable of making negative remarks about the situation, they were usually more resigned than outright whiny.
"Well, I guess he's not coming."
Case in point.
The "he" in question had sent him a letter in a very official-looking envelope three weeks ago. It was strange. The man apparently worked for Shinji's father of all people. And for some reason the elder Ikari wanted to get in touch with family. This was unexpected, as Shinji had fully expected never to see his father again.
That had been surprising enough, but there was more. Apparently he was needed for "urgent matters of international security" such as "the admirable service of defending humanity." Many fourteen year old boys would have been thrilled to get a letter like that. Shinji, who was far more pessimistic than the average teenage male, had wondered if that meant he was going to be put on trial for spying. Or something. He wasn't sure what could prompt someone in power to write to him concerning international security, but he was sure it couldn't be good.
He was slightly worried about the lack of any human beings. Tokyo 3 was supposed to be a fairly large city, but the train station he was waiting outside of was deserted. He couldn't see anyone on the street either. He wondered if everyone here went to work at exactly the same time, or if everyone had been abducted by aliens, or if someone had threatened the entire city with a nuclear weapon and everyone was hidden in an enormous bomb shelter with enough food to sustain them for the next century. He was nearly right on the third try, but it was completely accidental.
Just then, his musings were interrupted by a speeding vehicle. He looked up just in time to dodge. This was an unnecessary action as the car missed him by ten feet, but one he would have taken again under the same circumstances. The car's front passenger door was thrown open.
"Sorry I'm late! Get in!" The voice inside the car seemed to consist of three parts drill sergeant, two parts ronin samurai, two parts grandfatherly patriarch, and one part raving lunatic. The man the voice belonged to looked worn, battered, and exceedingly terrifying. What had once been a right eye was covered with a patch, and the skin that Shinji could see had a few interesting scars. He was old, but it took anyone meeting him for the first time a few moments to realize it, as his presence and demeanor combined with wear from combat and general aging seemed to hold him fixed in his early sixties. His expression suggested a distinct lack of friendliness.
"Um... are you..."
"Get in the damn car!!!"
Shinji didn't argue.
"Door closed, seatbeat on?" Shinji nodded. The driver took this as a signal to step on the gas like an urgent matter of international security was following them. Then a siren began to sound, and Shinji wondered if they were, in fact, being followed by an urgent matter of national security.The squadron of fighter jets flying overhead did nothing to allieviate his anxiety.
"So," the driver said conversationally as they headed toward the highway, "Shinji Ikari, right?"
"Yeah," Shinji said. "You're Jonathan Gillespie?"
"Jack to my friends and Please Don't Kill Me to my enemies. No one actually calls me 'Jonathan'." He looked thoughtful for a second, then said; "Nearly forgot. There's some reading material for you in the glove-box, kid. Look it over."
Shinji took out the rather intimidating looking file and started to read. However, he was quickly distracted by the giant monster tearing a path through a nearby suburb.
* * * * *
At eleven twenty-six a.m., a little less than half an hour before Shinji had been picked up, the being known as Sachiel had risen from the water covering the ruins of old Tokyo. It was a massive humanoid figure, covered in green armor-like scales, sporting three wicked claws on each hand, a strangely avian mask covering any face it might have had. At slightly less than sixty meters in height, it was not quite as tall as Godzilla.
Shinji stared.
"It wiped out an entire tank battalion that was waiting for it," Jack noted grimly. "They didn't even scratch the thing, so the men in charge are sending jets after it. That won't work either, but it might buy us a bit of time."
There was an explosion as cruise missiles connected with the creature, then a shriek, like a screaming bird of prey. Then more explosions, and two fighters fell to the ground, reduced to burning wreckage.
"Or they might just die horribly as soon as they get within range of it, wasting good soldiers and massive amounts of taxpayer money."
"What is it?" Shinji asked. He had a sinking feeling about the reason for his summons.
"Heh, you're cool under pressure. That's good. The thing behind us is an Angel. Capital 'A,' because lower-case letters just didn't seem to cut it."
"An Angel?"
"That's what they call it. You'll get the full explanation later." He swerved, then proceeded to take a very sharp turn at rather more than forty miles an hour. "Sorry about that, but you'll thank me when we're safely out of here."
"We nearly fell off a cliff!"
"They're going to use an N2 mine on the thing. It's like an atom bomb, only not radioactive. If you want to roast, than you can walk."
"What?!" Shinji screamed.
"Everyone's in the shelters, and their stuff should be insured. Of course, this is just another attempt by the goddamn politicians to justify themselves, but we have to let them. I hate government jobs."
"It... won't work?" Shinji asked.
"Probably not. Brace yourself, it's coming."
From behind them came an unbearable light. A second later came the deafening explosion, and Shinji wondered for a moment if they'd been hit by the shockwaves. As the car left the surface of the road for a brief moment, struck the ground, and began to skid, he realized that he had called it perfectly.
* * * * *
Not far away, Jack's much hated politicians, two generals sent by the UN Security Council, were cheering their success.
"Did you see that?!" the first exclaimed. "That's the power of our N2 mines!"
"Do you know what this means?" the second chimed in. "It means that the Evas are no longer necessary!"
Below them technicians monitored the battle from NERV HQ's Magi supercomputer system. The N2s had knocked out the massive viewscreen that the entire bridge could view the battle from, but with any luck it would be back up shortly. Then they would see whether or not they had succeeded.
"Continuing radio wave interference from the explosion!" one of the techies announced. "We're still standing by for target destruct confirmation!"
"Against a blast of that force? Can there be any doubt?" the second general laughed.
"We're picking up energy readings from ground zero!"
"What?!"
"Visuals are back online!" An entire wall lit up, showing a view of the huge crater created by the blast. And the Angel standing in its center, rapidly regenerating.
"An entire city..." one of the military men whispered, "was just destroyed for nothing."
Below them stood Commander Gendo Ikari. The result was nothing less than what he had expected. To his left stood Sub-Commander Kozou Fuyutsuki, professional second highest face on the totem pole. To Ikari's right stood the FOXHOUND agent codenamed Psycho Mantis, his face hidden from sight by a gas mask.
"They are within five minutes of the Geofront, and they are perfectly unharmed." Mantis said aloud.
Above them, one of the generals hung up a phone.
"Ikari, we've just recieved word from HQ. Effective immediately, command authority for this operation has been transfered to you," he said, the words obviously hurting him on the way out. "We'll be frank, the U.N. Army admits that our weapons were ineffective against the target. But do you really think you have a better chance of winning?"
Gendo adjusted his glasses, looked up, and smiled. It was, hands down, one of the most disturbing smiles in existence.
"Do not be concerned. After all, this is the purpose of NERV's existence."
* * * * *
"Well, we're here, and we're alive," Jack said mock cheerfully as they drove into what looked like a very large elevator. "And your dad owes me some money for auto repairs." The poor car looked like it had been through hell and was making a rather unnerving clicking noise, but at least it hadn't been totally wrecked. Shinji made a note to look into the model for when he got his driver's license. He looked around.
"So, this place is Special Agency NERV?" he asked.
"Ah, you've been reading the file I gave you. I've gotta say, I didn't expect you to actually look through it while we were fleeing for our lives."
"I..."
"But it's good that you did. This is NERV's Japanese headquarters, to be precise. NERV is an unpublicized organization under direct U.N. control. I've taken a long term assignment for it, and am considered trustworthy enough to know some of the classified stuff, even though I'm not technically a member. Your father is the commander of the whole operation."
"So... you're both in 'the admirable service of defending humanity'?" Shinji asked. His sarcasm was only slight.
"Was that a quote from the letter I sent?"
"...Yeah. You didn't write it?"
Jack sighed. "My kanji literacy is okay, but not good enough for formal letter-writing." He had the decency to look vaguely guilty, then added, "I did sign it myself though." The elevator began to move. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments.
"Mr. Gillespie?" Shinji asked.
"I already told you to call me Jack."
Was that what you told me? Shinji thought. Aloud he asked, "Why does my father want to see me?"
"You'll be able to ask him yourself soon. You dislike him?"
"I..." Shinji hesitated, "it's not that. It's just that this is inconvenient. And weird. He hasn't talked to me in three years, and then he calls me to come and see him?"
Jack didn't say anything. He pointed to the light they were heading towards.
Shinji took one look and fell back in his seat. The view here could do that to a person. Their elevator was a large platform on rails, he'd already figured that out. What had caught him off guard was the two thousand foot drop in front of him. And the sunlight. Underground.
"This is all one big underground chamber?! It's amazing!"
Jack laughed. "They call it a geofront. From the floor to the ceiling of the dome it's about nine hundred meters high. And they say it's naturally formed. Well, except for the buildings, obviously."
Shinji looked up at the buildings lining the ceiling.
"That's Tokyo 3," Jack said, answering the unasked question. "This is the place in the wilderness that has been prepared for us. Mankind's last fortress against the stars of heaven. In here we hide, from here we plan our counterattacks."
"Against that thing we met on the way?" Shinji asked, already knowing the answer. He had a bad feeling about his being called here.
"You got it."
Shinji's heart sank.
* * * * *
They were met near the entrance by a rather impaitent-looking blonde woman in a lab coat. Jack scowled.
"You're a bit late," she said nonchalantly.
"I can't be more than five minutes behind schedule, Akagi," he muttered, "and I got the Third here safe and sound. What do you want from me, blood?"
"We have some of that already. I was just sent down to show the Third Child to Unit-01. So, is this him?"
Shinji answered for himself. "I'm Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you." The woman actually smiled in response.
"I'm Ritsuko Akagi, from the First Engineering Division - the head of Project E. Pleased to meet you. Follow me, Shinji. I've got something to show you before you see your father."
Something to show me? Shinji wondered. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know, but he followed her anyway.
* * * * *
"Commander!" one of the technicians called out. "The Angel is advancing! It's broken through the final defense perimeter! It's adjusted its progression vector by five degrees and is still approaching!"
Gendo waited stoicly to hear what he already knew. That was okay though, he liked things to stick to the script. If he had ever examined himself critically, he might have found that this was, in fact, one of his major faults, However, introspection wasn't his strong suit either.
"Predicted target confirmed! It's Tokyo 3, Commander!"
Perfect.
"All right," he said, "first wave personnel to battle stations!"
The "Yes sir!" he got in response was enthusiastic and slightly scared. This was fine by him. He turned to the sub-commander.
"Fuyutsuki, it's in your hands now."
"Yes sir," Fuyutsuki replied. Gendo, however, was already on the lift heading down to Unit-01's hanger.
His first encounter with his son in three years... the sub-comander thought. Beside him, a ruined face smiled beneath its mask.
Look at it this way, Mantis replied, would it really be so bad if the kid were to punch him just once? You'd laugh as loudly as I would if he were to come back up here with a broken nose.
That's a treasonous thing to say, Mantis, Kozou thought back. He couldn't keep the slight smirk from his face though.
* * * * *
By the time Fuyutsuki's voice echoed over NERV's loudspeakers, Shinji, Jack, and Ritsuko were crowded into a small boat, going down an underground waterway that might or might not have been man-made. Shinji wondered how well the tunnel would hold up if the Angel attacked them. Maybe it wouldn't do that though.
"First wave personnel to battle stations! Repeat, first wave personnel to battle stations! Initializing Unit-01 to repel ground attack!"
Or maybe it would.
Jack looked moderately amused. Or horrified. Possibly both.
"So," he said, "the N2 didn't kill it?"
"No. It's only suffered minor surface damage, and it's still advancing. It apparently possesses an AT field." Ritsuko said. "I thought you were upset that they'd even use an N2 mine at all?"
"Yes, but I was hoping it would do something." he replied. "I don't like the idea of sending the Third out untested."
"We're going to have to though. Rei has no chance of winning a fight in her condition."
"Ummm..." Shinji began. He already knew that he was the "Third" they spoke of, although he wasn't quite sure what that entailed. He was getting the distinct impression that whatever it was wasn't going to be fun at all.
"I know that. But we don't even know if the thing will start for him yet."
"What's going to start for me?" Shinji asked.
Ritsuko started to reply, but Jack quickly cut her off.
"I'll take this question, Doctor." He turned to Shinji. "You've seen the thing out there. You know as well as I do that it doesn't like us at all. We can't let it tear through city after city until it gets bored. You follow me so far?"
"Well, yeah..." Shinji mumbled.
"So you have to kill it." Shinji's eyes widened. "Oh, don't give me that look kid, I don't like having to depend on you to save us all either. But there are only three people alive who can do it. One's in Germany, one's in our medical wing barely alive, and the last one is you."
"But," Shinji said, "I don't know if I can..."
"Try. That's all we want. If you really can't do it, there's no hard feelings. If it does work, you'll have the best weapon in the world to work with. We aren't sending you out as you are, believe or not." Shinji seemed a bit calmer now, so Jack continued. "Really, just think of it as a big, Angel-killing gun. All we need is someone to pull the trigger. No big deal, right?"
Shinji nodded. Just a big gun. Anyone could take a gun and shoot someone.
"We're here," Ritsuko cut in. "This is it."
They pulled up to a small dock and got out. Dr. Akagi opened a door for them.
So it was a special metaphorical trigger that only a few people could pull? Maybe it was activated by psychic powers or something? Had he been living with psychic powers all his life, and simply never noticed them? He didn't think so. They walked out onto a bridge of some sort.
The room they were in was massive and dark. There was a large outline in the center of it, but he couldn't make it out...
"Watch your step," she cautioned. Then she turned on the overhead lights. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the glare, Shinji nearly choked.
* * * * *
Although it would be a mistake to anthropomorphize the Third Angel too much, saying that Sachiel was enraged at the moment would have been more or less accurate.
It had only been literally "alive" for a matter of hours. It didn't like it. Before today it had simply been; an abstract ideal form coresponding to a real world object. Now it could think, and that was a horrific shock. It didn't like thinking. With thought came free will. With free will came choice. With the power to choose came the ability to choose wrongly. This was something that Sachiel had never had to worry about before, because Sachiel had never, in fact, been able to worry.
There was the reassurance that it wasn't totally on its own. There was the mission. Burned into its mind, such as it was.
But it had been attacked. And it had been hurt. The damage was only cosmetic (the bird mask had been cracked, so it had been shifted aside to reveal a second, smaller mask), but it had... hurt. Funny that a message alerting a body to problems should be so distracting.
And then there was something else, harder to pin down. When the small things beneath it had began their mostly ineffectual counter-assault, it had taunted them, only using half its strength to deflect the attacks aimed at it. It had struck at the flying things sent to pester it with its claws, only using its deadly beam cannon to destroy them after it had gleaned sufficient amusement from their attempts to dodge. Then the terrible light had come, and Sachiel had barely gotten its barrier up in time, and there had been pain. And then for some strange reason, the knowledge that it had been hit hurt as well.
Sachiel had not been badly damaged, but it wanted vengence nonetheless. Thought and emotion were disturbing things.
* * * * *
It was big. That was Shinji's first observation. Assuming it had regular human proportions (only the head and shoulders were above water), it was as tall if not taller than the Angel.
It was armored. That was Shinji's second observation. It was very obviously designed to take and give a lot of punishment.
It was very, very purple. That was Shinji's third observation. As rediculusly stupid as that thought was under the circumstances, it was there. Even heroes don't always think heroic thoughts, and Shinji wasn't all that heroic to begin with. He was however, good enough at putting things together.
"A giant robot?!"
"The term 'robot' originally refered to the idea of a man created by artificial means," Ritsuko answered. "This indeed is a synthetic android, a golem created by man, and our ultimate weapon. Its code name is Evangelion. This is Unit-01, the test model."
It was horrifying. A demonic face set in armor. Souless eyes set over a perpetually grinning mouth that sported evil-looking steel teeth. A single horn jutting out of it's forehead gave it the final touch. It didn't really look like a robot as much as it did a restrained demon.
"This... is my father's work, isn't it?" Shinji asked.
"Correct."
The voice came from a balcony above Unit-01. The source was a thin, bespectacled man of just above average height, whose voice seemed far too big (not deep, just... big) to belong to him. Shinji recognized him immeadiately.
"Father!"
If Commander Ikari noticed his son's half greeting, half plea, he gave no sign.
"Shinji, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.
"You're going to ride in her. You're going to fight the angel!"
"What?!" Shinji screamed.
Jack was impassive. Someone else might have intervened on the boy's behalf here, but he wanted to see what the younger Ikari was made of.
"You haven't even come to visit me in three years! And now you call me here to order me to my death?! You can't be serious!" The look of fear on Shinji's face was turning quickly to one of rage.
"It isn't a death sentence," Gendo responded, his face impassive. "I wouldn't have sent for you if I didn't think you could win."
"I can't do it! I've never been in a fight in my life! And even if I could, why would I want to fight for you?!"
"You're the best candidate we have. The only candidate we have."
"I don't understand!" Shinji wailed.
"You aren't required to. Just get inside."
"You ignored me, walked out on me, and now you want me to just do as you say?!" Shinji was actually begining to cry now. Gendo sighed.
"If you don't do as I say, all of humanity will perish. It is no exageration to say that the fate of every man, woman and child on Earth rests on your shoulders."
Shinji was silent. Gendo started to say something else, but he was cut off by a voice from the room beneath him.
"Let me talk to him, Comander Ikari." It was Jack. Gendo actually smiled a bit at this, though he didn't look amused.
"As you wish, Gillespi-"
"Big Boss to you, Ikari. Respect for one's coworkers is important in operations of this nature." Gendo frowned, but said nothing. Jack (Big Boss, who had come up with that name?) turned to Shinji.
"Shinji. Listen to me. I know you can't stand him." Jack glanced back at Gendo. "I don't blame you for not wanting to do a damn thing for him. But you have to pick your battles. Refusing to fight isn't going to do anything but make everyone very afraid for the little time they have left to live.
"We have a girl in the infirmary right now. She's our only other possibility for a pilot. Her ribs are cracked, one of her arms is in a sling, she nearly lost an eye... for a while we didn't think she was going to live. But she's the one who has to get in that thing if you don't. She'll fight. And she'll be killed. She won't last half a minute as she is now. And once that thing is done butchering her, it'll come here and kill the rest of us."
There was a long pause. Shinji thought the old man was done. But he continued, and for the first time Shinji could see that Jack was old.
"If I could do it myself, I'd be in there. But I'm stuck in here, waiting for your decision. It's your call, Shinji. Will you do it?"
Shinji hesitated. As he began to reply, the earth shook.
Over the loudspeaker: "The target has located the geofront!" Another enormous rumble, and the lights briefly dimmed. Gendo sighed.
"Leave the coward alone, Big Boss." He turned to an intercom beside him. "Fuyutsuki," he began, "wake-"
"I'll do it!" Shinji cried.
Gendo paused. Ritsuko gave the boy her best encouraging smile. Jack merely regarded Shinji with his good eye before passing judgement.
He's usable.
* * * * *
After being given basic instructions concerning the giant's controls, Shinji was shown to a detachable cockpit that resembled a massive pill. Once he was inside that, it was quickly placed into an opening on the Evangelion's back. He felt a slight twinge of claustrophobia as he heard the armor seal shut behind him. Despite never having had any particular fear of tight spaces before, he sincerely hoped he wasn't going to have a panic attack. Fortunately, he was far too angry at his father to actually lose it over being effectively trapped inside a massive war machine that was shortly going to be subjected to the assault of a very angry quasi-divine being.
My father never needed me, Shinji reflected bitterly, but now he's built a robot that needs me? Some joke.
Right. So it doesn't make any sense. So what? I'm not afraid to die, and I will not let Father call me a coward!
"Flooding the cockpit!" one of the techs announced.
Shinji heard the words of course, the radio comunications system in the Eva was designed to let him know what was going on outside and vice versa, but he'd begun to tune out the seemingly endless technobabble of the doctor and her assistants. As a result, he was a bit surprised when a thin, yellow-orange liquid began to... flood the cockpit.
"Aaaah!!! What's going on?!"
"Don't be alarmed!" Ritsuko replied. "Once your lungs are saturated with the LCL, you'll be able to undergo direct oxygen exchange!"
Shinji continued to choke and sputter as the liquid rose past his lips. Big Boss, perhaps deciding that Dr. Akagi's words hadn't been as comforting as they could have been, decided to rephrase them.
"Shinji, it's breathable! You won't drown!"
As the stuff had already risen above his head, Shinji had no choice but to take his comanding officer at his word. Sure enough, it didn't kill him, although the first breath made him cough just a bit as he got used to it. Also, as it filled his sinus cavities, he realized that the stuff smelled a little like blood. It tasted slightly like blood as well. Not enough to make him sick, but it was unpleasant.
The technicians ran through a list of undoubtedly important things, but Shinji didn't understand a word of it. He was waiting nervously for the words that would send him out to fight the Angel. Even if he had been listening, he wouldn't have heard Ritsuko, who wasn't speaking into the radio at the moment.
"This is incredible!" Ritsuko said as she looked at the screen showing Shinji's condition. "Synchronization errors are within 0.3%! It's going to work!"
"There were doubts?" Big Boss asked, a slight edge in his voice.
"Not serious ones," she replied. "We were absolutely sure nothing like the incident with Unit-00 would happen, if that's what you were wondering."
"Actually, I was just talking about his ability to sync." He grimaced. "But it's always nice to know that our ultimate weapon isn't going to go on a rampage through headquarters and kill us all."
A large hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to face Vulcan Raven. It was hard for Big Boss to look commanding when the person he was trying to command was more than a foot taller than him, but he tried anyway.
"Yes?"
"Everything checks out, sir. We're officially in charge."
"Thank you." He turned back to the control panel. Had anyone been looking at his face closely, they might have noticed a slightly disturbing smile flicker over his features. It was only there for a second though, just before he gave the orders he'd been waiting to give for more than a decade.
"Evangelion Unit-01, prepare to launch!"
Above them, the geofront suddenly shook. The Angel Sachiel was closing in for its final assault.
The techs ran through their final proceedures quickly. The massive restraints that held the Evangelion in place were pulled back.
"Godspeed, Shinji," Big Boss said.
* * * * *
Sachiel. Literally meaning "God is my covering," the name did not imply much in the way of offensive power. According to tradition, the Angel was primarily assocciated with water, although it had also been considered by various sources to be the angel of Thursdays, the planet Jupiter, and luck with money. It was not usually considered an angel of massive property damage, but to look at its attack, one might conclude it was trying to change that.
Now directly above the geofront, it struck at the ground beneath it, daring its foes to come out. It understood that the time it had been prepared for was now at hand.
It ceased its assault, and was very quiet for a moment as it stared at a spot in the street about two hundred meters in front of it.
Then the elevator gates opened, and Evangelion Unit-01 emerged to do battle.
"Shinji," Big Boss called over the intercom, "try to get full control of your Eva before engaging the target. Just concentrate on the concept of moving your arms. Flex your hands. There's a knife in your left shouder blade. That's going to be your primary weapon. Make sure you can use it."
Shinji did so, even drawing the blade and waving it around. Big Boss winced at his horrible technique. Sachiel watched with what looked like interest, though it made no move to attack.
"Alright, now let's try walking."
From the bridge, they watched as Unit-01 took it's first tenative steps. They heard Shinji muttering to himself over the intercom.
"Walk, walk, walk, you stupid thing..."
"Shinji," Big Boss said, "calm down. You're perfectly safe in that thing. No reason to be nervous."
Shinji didn't acknowledge him. Instead he continued talking to his Eva. "Alright now slow down, stop... Stop!!!"
Unit-01 showed no signs of stopping. At this rate it would be within melee range of Sachiel within a few brief moments.
"Come on you stupid thing, stop!!!"
"Shouldn't it be stopping?" Big Boss asked.
"Eva is designed to carry out the will of its pilot, yes," Dr. Akagi replied, "but the sychronization process doesn't necessarily place control in the hands of the concious mind. Any number of factors could be affecting him subconciously."
"So he doesn't really want to stop?"
"Yes and no. On a concious level, he wants to stop, but his subconcious mind is conflicting with that. For some reason even he may not be aware of, he wants to keep going."
Big Boss groaned. Fifteen years of working with Psycho Mantis had given him an excellent grasp of psychological disorders, issues, and their effects. As if on cue he heard Shinji's voice scream in frustration.
"Alright, charge!!!"
Unit-01 charged.
As the Evangelion didn't have lips and its head was armored, it didn't have facial expressions. However, to the onlookers in the command bridge, it suddenly seemed to become more...
More what? Vicious? Uncontrolled? Dangerous? Feral? All of the above?
Before Big Boss could decide, Sachiel broke Unit-01's arm.
Chances of me continuing this are slim, but actually bettter than for my Trigun fic that got killed by canon. Honestly though, aside from two or three interesting ideas, that one deserved to die. Tell me what you think, as long as what you think isn't "Hur hur, fanfiction." I know.
~Chaotic Neutral
Chapter One: Not For Honor
Shinji Ikari waited.
He was good at waiting. Although he grew bored with it occasionally, he never complained about it. Lest this be mistaken for some sort of philosophical enlightenment on his part, it should be said up front that he really wasn't assertive enough to complain. He also lacked the social skills required to obtain an audience for complaints. So while he was capable of making negative remarks about the situation, they were usually more resigned than outright whiny.
"Well, I guess he's not coming."
Case in point.
The "he" in question had sent him a letter in a very official-looking envelope three weeks ago. It was strange. The man apparently worked for Shinji's father of all people. And for some reason the elder Ikari wanted to get in touch with family. This was unexpected, as Shinji had fully expected never to see his father again.
That had been surprising enough, but there was more. Apparently he was needed for "urgent matters of international security" such as "the admirable service of defending humanity." Many fourteen year old boys would have been thrilled to get a letter like that. Shinji, who was far more pessimistic than the average teenage male, had wondered if that meant he was going to be put on trial for spying. Or something. He wasn't sure what could prompt someone in power to write to him concerning international security, but he was sure it couldn't be good.
He was slightly worried about the lack of any human beings. Tokyo 3 was supposed to be a fairly large city, but the train station he was waiting outside of was deserted. He couldn't see anyone on the street either. He wondered if everyone here went to work at exactly the same time, or if everyone had been abducted by aliens, or if someone had threatened the entire city with a nuclear weapon and everyone was hidden in an enormous bomb shelter with enough food to sustain them for the next century. He was nearly right on the third try, but it was completely accidental.
Just then, his musings were interrupted by a speeding vehicle. He looked up just in time to dodge. This was an unnecessary action as the car missed him by ten feet, but one he would have taken again under the same circumstances. The car's front passenger door was thrown open.
"Sorry I'm late! Get in!" The voice inside the car seemed to consist of three parts drill sergeant, two parts ronin samurai, two parts grandfatherly patriarch, and one part raving lunatic. The man the voice belonged to looked worn, battered, and exceedingly terrifying. What had once been a right eye was covered with a patch, and the skin that Shinji could see had a few interesting scars. He was old, but it took anyone meeting him for the first time a few moments to realize it, as his presence and demeanor combined with wear from combat and general aging seemed to hold him fixed in his early sixties. His expression suggested a distinct lack of friendliness.
"Um... are you..."
"Get in the damn car!!!"
Shinji didn't argue.
"Door closed, seatbeat on?" Shinji nodded. The driver took this as a signal to step on the gas like an urgent matter of international security was following them. Then a siren began to sound, and Shinji wondered if they were, in fact, being followed by an urgent matter of national security.The squadron of fighter jets flying overhead did nothing to allieviate his anxiety.
"So," the driver said conversationally as they headed toward the highway, "Shinji Ikari, right?"
"Yeah," Shinji said. "You're Jonathan Gillespie?"
"Jack to my friends and Please Don't Kill Me to my enemies. No one actually calls me 'Jonathan'." He looked thoughtful for a second, then said; "Nearly forgot. There's some reading material for you in the glove-box, kid. Look it over."
Shinji took out the rather intimidating looking file and started to read. However, he was quickly distracted by the giant monster tearing a path through a nearby suburb.
* * * * *
At eleven twenty-six a.m., a little less than half an hour before Shinji had been picked up, the being known as Sachiel had risen from the water covering the ruins of old Tokyo. It was a massive humanoid figure, covered in green armor-like scales, sporting three wicked claws on each hand, a strangely avian mask covering any face it might have had. At slightly less than sixty meters in height, it was not quite as tall as Godzilla.
Shinji stared.
"It wiped out an entire tank battalion that was waiting for it," Jack noted grimly. "They didn't even scratch the thing, so the men in charge are sending jets after it. That won't work either, but it might buy us a bit of time."
There was an explosion as cruise missiles connected with the creature, then a shriek, like a screaming bird of prey. Then more explosions, and two fighters fell to the ground, reduced to burning wreckage.
"Or they might just die horribly as soon as they get within range of it, wasting good soldiers and massive amounts of taxpayer money."
"What is it?" Shinji asked. He had a sinking feeling about the reason for his summons.
"Heh, you're cool under pressure. That's good. The thing behind us is an Angel. Capital 'A,' because lower-case letters just didn't seem to cut it."
"An Angel?"
"That's what they call it. You'll get the full explanation later." He swerved, then proceeded to take a very sharp turn at rather more than forty miles an hour. "Sorry about that, but you'll thank me when we're safely out of here."
"We nearly fell off a cliff!"
"They're going to use an N2 mine on the thing. It's like an atom bomb, only not radioactive. If you want to roast, than you can walk."
"What?!" Shinji screamed.
"Everyone's in the shelters, and their stuff should be insured. Of course, this is just another attempt by the goddamn politicians to justify themselves, but we have to let them. I hate government jobs."
"It... won't work?" Shinji asked.
"Probably not. Brace yourself, it's coming."
From behind them came an unbearable light. A second later came the deafening explosion, and Shinji wondered for a moment if they'd been hit by the shockwaves. As the car left the surface of the road for a brief moment, struck the ground, and began to skid, he realized that he had called it perfectly.
* * * * *
Not far away, Jack's much hated politicians, two generals sent by the UN Security Council, were cheering their success.
"Did you see that?!" the first exclaimed. "That's the power of our N2 mines!"
"Do you know what this means?" the second chimed in. "It means that the Evas are no longer necessary!"
Below them technicians monitored the battle from NERV HQ's Magi supercomputer system. The N2s had knocked out the massive viewscreen that the entire bridge could view the battle from, but with any luck it would be back up shortly. Then they would see whether or not they had succeeded.
"Continuing radio wave interference from the explosion!" one of the techies announced. "We're still standing by for target destruct confirmation!"
"Against a blast of that force? Can there be any doubt?" the second general laughed.
"We're picking up energy readings from ground zero!"
"What?!"
"Visuals are back online!" An entire wall lit up, showing a view of the huge crater created by the blast. And the Angel standing in its center, rapidly regenerating.
"An entire city..." one of the military men whispered, "was just destroyed for nothing."
Below them stood Commander Gendo Ikari. The result was nothing less than what he had expected. To his left stood Sub-Commander Kozou Fuyutsuki, professional second highest face on the totem pole. To Ikari's right stood the FOXHOUND agent codenamed Psycho Mantis, his face hidden from sight by a gas mask.
"They are within five minutes of the Geofront, and they are perfectly unharmed." Mantis said aloud.
Above them, one of the generals hung up a phone.
"Ikari, we've just recieved word from HQ. Effective immediately, command authority for this operation has been transfered to you," he said, the words obviously hurting him on the way out. "We'll be frank, the U.N. Army admits that our weapons were ineffective against the target. But do you really think you have a better chance of winning?"
Gendo adjusted his glasses, looked up, and smiled. It was, hands down, one of the most disturbing smiles in existence.
"Do not be concerned. After all, this is the purpose of NERV's existence."
* * * * *
"Well, we're here, and we're alive," Jack said mock cheerfully as they drove into what looked like a very large elevator. "And your dad owes me some money for auto repairs." The poor car looked like it had been through hell and was making a rather unnerving clicking noise, but at least it hadn't been totally wrecked. Shinji made a note to look into the model for when he got his driver's license. He looked around.
"So, this place is Special Agency NERV?" he asked.
"Ah, you've been reading the file I gave you. I've gotta say, I didn't expect you to actually look through it while we were fleeing for our lives."
"I..."
"But it's good that you did. This is NERV's Japanese headquarters, to be precise. NERV is an unpublicized organization under direct U.N. control. I've taken a long term assignment for it, and am considered trustworthy enough to know some of the classified stuff, even though I'm not technically a member. Your father is the commander of the whole operation."
"So... you're both in 'the admirable service of defending humanity'?" Shinji asked. His sarcasm was only slight.
"Was that a quote from the letter I sent?"
"...Yeah. You didn't write it?"
Jack sighed. "My kanji literacy is okay, but not good enough for formal letter-writing." He had the decency to look vaguely guilty, then added, "I did sign it myself though." The elevator began to move. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments.
"Mr. Gillespie?" Shinji asked.
"I already told you to call me Jack."
Was that what you told me? Shinji thought. Aloud he asked, "Why does my father want to see me?"
"You'll be able to ask him yourself soon. You dislike him?"
"I..." Shinji hesitated, "it's not that. It's just that this is inconvenient. And weird. He hasn't talked to me in three years, and then he calls me to come and see him?"
Jack didn't say anything. He pointed to the light they were heading towards.
Shinji took one look and fell back in his seat. The view here could do that to a person. Their elevator was a large platform on rails, he'd already figured that out. What had caught him off guard was the two thousand foot drop in front of him. And the sunlight. Underground.
"This is all one big underground chamber?! It's amazing!"
Jack laughed. "They call it a geofront. From the floor to the ceiling of the dome it's about nine hundred meters high. And they say it's naturally formed. Well, except for the buildings, obviously."
Shinji looked up at the buildings lining the ceiling.
"That's Tokyo 3," Jack said, answering the unasked question. "This is the place in the wilderness that has been prepared for us. Mankind's last fortress against the stars of heaven. In here we hide, from here we plan our counterattacks."
"Against that thing we met on the way?" Shinji asked, already knowing the answer. He had a bad feeling about his being called here.
"You got it."
Shinji's heart sank.
* * * * *
They were met near the entrance by a rather impaitent-looking blonde woman in a lab coat. Jack scowled.
"You're a bit late," she said nonchalantly.
"I can't be more than five minutes behind schedule, Akagi," he muttered, "and I got the Third here safe and sound. What do you want from me, blood?"
"We have some of that already. I was just sent down to show the Third Child to Unit-01. So, is this him?"
Shinji answered for himself. "I'm Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you." The woman actually smiled in response.
"I'm Ritsuko Akagi, from the First Engineering Division - the head of Project E. Pleased to meet you. Follow me, Shinji. I've got something to show you before you see your father."
Something to show me? Shinji wondered. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know, but he followed her anyway.
* * * * *
"Commander!" one of the technicians called out. "The Angel is advancing! It's broken through the final defense perimeter! It's adjusted its progression vector by five degrees and is still approaching!"
Gendo waited stoicly to hear what he already knew. That was okay though, he liked things to stick to the script. If he had ever examined himself critically, he might have found that this was, in fact, one of his major faults, However, introspection wasn't his strong suit either.
"Predicted target confirmed! It's Tokyo 3, Commander!"
Perfect.
"All right," he said, "first wave personnel to battle stations!"
The "Yes sir!" he got in response was enthusiastic and slightly scared. This was fine by him. He turned to the sub-commander.
"Fuyutsuki, it's in your hands now."
"Yes sir," Fuyutsuki replied. Gendo, however, was already on the lift heading down to Unit-01's hanger.
His first encounter with his son in three years... the sub-comander thought. Beside him, a ruined face smiled beneath its mask.
Look at it this way, Mantis replied, would it really be so bad if the kid were to punch him just once? You'd laugh as loudly as I would if he were to come back up here with a broken nose.
That's a treasonous thing to say, Mantis, Kozou thought back. He couldn't keep the slight smirk from his face though.
* * * * *
By the time Fuyutsuki's voice echoed over NERV's loudspeakers, Shinji, Jack, and Ritsuko were crowded into a small boat, going down an underground waterway that might or might not have been man-made. Shinji wondered how well the tunnel would hold up if the Angel attacked them. Maybe it wouldn't do that though.
"First wave personnel to battle stations! Repeat, first wave personnel to battle stations! Initializing Unit-01 to repel ground attack!"
Or maybe it would.
Jack looked moderately amused. Or horrified. Possibly both.
"So," he said, "the N2 didn't kill it?"
"No. It's only suffered minor surface damage, and it's still advancing. It apparently possesses an AT field." Ritsuko said. "I thought you were upset that they'd even use an N2 mine at all?"
"Yes, but I was hoping it would do something." he replied. "I don't like the idea of sending the Third out untested."
"We're going to have to though. Rei has no chance of winning a fight in her condition."
"Ummm..." Shinji began. He already knew that he was the "Third" they spoke of, although he wasn't quite sure what that entailed. He was getting the distinct impression that whatever it was wasn't going to be fun at all.
"I know that. But we don't even know if the thing will start for him yet."
"What's going to start for me?" Shinji asked.
Ritsuko started to reply, but Jack quickly cut her off.
"I'll take this question, Doctor." He turned to Shinji. "You've seen the thing out there. You know as well as I do that it doesn't like us at all. We can't let it tear through city after city until it gets bored. You follow me so far?"
"Well, yeah..." Shinji mumbled.
"So you have to kill it." Shinji's eyes widened. "Oh, don't give me that look kid, I don't like having to depend on you to save us all either. But there are only three people alive who can do it. One's in Germany, one's in our medical wing barely alive, and the last one is you."
"But," Shinji said, "I don't know if I can..."
"Try. That's all we want. If you really can't do it, there's no hard feelings. If it does work, you'll have the best weapon in the world to work with. We aren't sending you out as you are, believe or not." Shinji seemed a bit calmer now, so Jack continued. "Really, just think of it as a big, Angel-killing gun. All we need is someone to pull the trigger. No big deal, right?"
Shinji nodded. Just a big gun. Anyone could take a gun and shoot someone.
"We're here," Ritsuko cut in. "This is it."
They pulled up to a small dock and got out. Dr. Akagi opened a door for them.
So it was a special metaphorical trigger that only a few people could pull? Maybe it was activated by psychic powers or something? Had he been living with psychic powers all his life, and simply never noticed them? He didn't think so. They walked out onto a bridge of some sort.
The room they were in was massive and dark. There was a large outline in the center of it, but he couldn't make it out...
"Watch your step," she cautioned. Then she turned on the overhead lights. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the glare, Shinji nearly choked.
* * * * *
Although it would be a mistake to anthropomorphize the Third Angel too much, saying that Sachiel was enraged at the moment would have been more or less accurate.
It had only been literally "alive" for a matter of hours. It didn't like it. Before today it had simply been; an abstract ideal form coresponding to a real world object. Now it could think, and that was a horrific shock. It didn't like thinking. With thought came free will. With free will came choice. With the power to choose came the ability to choose wrongly. This was something that Sachiel had never had to worry about before, because Sachiel had never, in fact, been able to worry.
There was the reassurance that it wasn't totally on its own. There was the mission. Burned into its mind, such as it was.
But it had been attacked. And it had been hurt. The damage was only cosmetic (the bird mask had been cracked, so it had been shifted aside to reveal a second, smaller mask), but it had... hurt. Funny that a message alerting a body to problems should be so distracting.
And then there was something else, harder to pin down. When the small things beneath it had began their mostly ineffectual counter-assault, it had taunted them, only using half its strength to deflect the attacks aimed at it. It had struck at the flying things sent to pester it with its claws, only using its deadly beam cannon to destroy them after it had gleaned sufficient amusement from their attempts to dodge. Then the terrible light had come, and Sachiel had barely gotten its barrier up in time, and there had been pain. And then for some strange reason, the knowledge that it had been hit hurt as well.
Sachiel had not been badly damaged, but it wanted vengence nonetheless. Thought and emotion were disturbing things.
* * * * *
It was big. That was Shinji's first observation. Assuming it had regular human proportions (only the head and shoulders were above water), it was as tall if not taller than the Angel.
It was armored. That was Shinji's second observation. It was very obviously designed to take and give a lot of punishment.
It was very, very purple. That was Shinji's third observation. As rediculusly stupid as that thought was under the circumstances, it was there. Even heroes don't always think heroic thoughts, and Shinji wasn't all that heroic to begin with. He was however, good enough at putting things together.
"A giant robot?!"
"The term 'robot' originally refered to the idea of a man created by artificial means," Ritsuko answered. "This indeed is a synthetic android, a golem created by man, and our ultimate weapon. Its code name is Evangelion. This is Unit-01, the test model."
It was horrifying. A demonic face set in armor. Souless eyes set over a perpetually grinning mouth that sported evil-looking steel teeth. A single horn jutting out of it's forehead gave it the final touch. It didn't really look like a robot as much as it did a restrained demon.
"This... is my father's work, isn't it?" Shinji asked.
"Correct."
The voice came from a balcony above Unit-01. The source was a thin, bespectacled man of just above average height, whose voice seemed far too big (not deep, just... big) to belong to him. Shinji recognized him immeadiately.
"Father!"
If Commander Ikari noticed his son's half greeting, half plea, he gave no sign.
"Shinji, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.
"You're going to ride in her. You're going to fight the angel!"
"What?!" Shinji screamed.
Jack was impassive. Someone else might have intervened on the boy's behalf here, but he wanted to see what the younger Ikari was made of.
"You haven't even come to visit me in three years! And now you call me here to order me to my death?! You can't be serious!" The look of fear on Shinji's face was turning quickly to one of rage.
"It isn't a death sentence," Gendo responded, his face impassive. "I wouldn't have sent for you if I didn't think you could win."
"I can't do it! I've never been in a fight in my life! And even if I could, why would I want to fight for you?!"
"You're the best candidate we have. The only candidate we have."
"I don't understand!" Shinji wailed.
"You aren't required to. Just get inside."
"You ignored me, walked out on me, and now you want me to just do as you say?!" Shinji was actually begining to cry now. Gendo sighed.
"If you don't do as I say, all of humanity will perish. It is no exageration to say that the fate of every man, woman and child on Earth rests on your shoulders."
Shinji was silent. Gendo started to say something else, but he was cut off by a voice from the room beneath him.
"Let me talk to him, Comander Ikari." It was Jack. Gendo actually smiled a bit at this, though he didn't look amused.
"As you wish, Gillespi-"
"Big Boss to you, Ikari. Respect for one's coworkers is important in operations of this nature." Gendo frowned, but said nothing. Jack (Big Boss, who had come up with that name?) turned to Shinji.
"Shinji. Listen to me. I know you can't stand him." Jack glanced back at Gendo. "I don't blame you for not wanting to do a damn thing for him. But you have to pick your battles. Refusing to fight isn't going to do anything but make everyone very afraid for the little time they have left to live.
"We have a girl in the infirmary right now. She's our only other possibility for a pilot. Her ribs are cracked, one of her arms is in a sling, she nearly lost an eye... for a while we didn't think she was going to live. But she's the one who has to get in that thing if you don't. She'll fight. And she'll be killed. She won't last half a minute as she is now. And once that thing is done butchering her, it'll come here and kill the rest of us."
There was a long pause. Shinji thought the old man was done. But he continued, and for the first time Shinji could see that Jack was old.
"If I could do it myself, I'd be in there. But I'm stuck in here, waiting for your decision. It's your call, Shinji. Will you do it?"
Shinji hesitated. As he began to reply, the earth shook.
Over the loudspeaker: "The target has located the geofront!" Another enormous rumble, and the lights briefly dimmed. Gendo sighed.
"Leave the coward alone, Big Boss." He turned to an intercom beside him. "Fuyutsuki," he began, "wake-"
"I'll do it!" Shinji cried.
Gendo paused. Ritsuko gave the boy her best encouraging smile. Jack merely regarded Shinji with his good eye before passing judgement.
He's usable.
* * * * *
After being given basic instructions concerning the giant's controls, Shinji was shown to a detachable cockpit that resembled a massive pill. Once he was inside that, it was quickly placed into an opening on the Evangelion's back. He felt a slight twinge of claustrophobia as he heard the armor seal shut behind him. Despite never having had any particular fear of tight spaces before, he sincerely hoped he wasn't going to have a panic attack. Fortunately, he was far too angry at his father to actually lose it over being effectively trapped inside a massive war machine that was shortly going to be subjected to the assault of a very angry quasi-divine being.
My father never needed me, Shinji reflected bitterly, but now he's built a robot that needs me? Some joke.
Right. So it doesn't make any sense. So what? I'm not afraid to die, and I will not let Father call me a coward!
"Flooding the cockpit!" one of the techs announced.
Shinji heard the words of course, the radio comunications system in the Eva was designed to let him know what was going on outside and vice versa, but he'd begun to tune out the seemingly endless technobabble of the doctor and her assistants. As a result, he was a bit surprised when a thin, yellow-orange liquid began to... flood the cockpit.
"Aaaah!!! What's going on?!"
"Don't be alarmed!" Ritsuko replied. "Once your lungs are saturated with the LCL, you'll be able to undergo direct oxygen exchange!"
Shinji continued to choke and sputter as the liquid rose past his lips. Big Boss, perhaps deciding that Dr. Akagi's words hadn't been as comforting as they could have been, decided to rephrase them.
"Shinji, it's breathable! You won't drown!"
As the stuff had already risen above his head, Shinji had no choice but to take his comanding officer at his word. Sure enough, it didn't kill him, although the first breath made him cough just a bit as he got used to it. Also, as it filled his sinus cavities, he realized that the stuff smelled a little like blood. It tasted slightly like blood as well. Not enough to make him sick, but it was unpleasant.
The technicians ran through a list of undoubtedly important things, but Shinji didn't understand a word of it. He was waiting nervously for the words that would send him out to fight the Angel. Even if he had been listening, he wouldn't have heard Ritsuko, who wasn't speaking into the radio at the moment.
"This is incredible!" Ritsuko said as she looked at the screen showing Shinji's condition. "Synchronization errors are within 0.3%! It's going to work!"
"There were doubts?" Big Boss asked, a slight edge in his voice.
"Not serious ones," she replied. "We were absolutely sure nothing like the incident with Unit-00 would happen, if that's what you were wondering."
"Actually, I was just talking about his ability to sync." He grimaced. "But it's always nice to know that our ultimate weapon isn't going to go on a rampage through headquarters and kill us all."
A large hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to face Vulcan Raven. It was hard for Big Boss to look commanding when the person he was trying to command was more than a foot taller than him, but he tried anyway.
"Yes?"
"Everything checks out, sir. We're officially in charge."
"Thank you." He turned back to the control panel. Had anyone been looking at his face closely, they might have noticed a slightly disturbing smile flicker over his features. It was only there for a second though, just before he gave the orders he'd been waiting to give for more than a decade.
"Evangelion Unit-01, prepare to launch!"
Above them, the geofront suddenly shook. The Angel Sachiel was closing in for its final assault.
The techs ran through their final proceedures quickly. The massive restraints that held the Evangelion in place were pulled back.
"Godspeed, Shinji," Big Boss said.
* * * * *
Sachiel. Literally meaning "God is my covering," the name did not imply much in the way of offensive power. According to tradition, the Angel was primarily assocciated with water, although it had also been considered by various sources to be the angel of Thursdays, the planet Jupiter, and luck with money. It was not usually considered an angel of massive property damage, but to look at its attack, one might conclude it was trying to change that.
Now directly above the geofront, it struck at the ground beneath it, daring its foes to come out. It understood that the time it had been prepared for was now at hand.
It ceased its assault, and was very quiet for a moment as it stared at a spot in the street about two hundred meters in front of it.
Then the elevator gates opened, and Evangelion Unit-01 emerged to do battle.
"Shinji," Big Boss called over the intercom, "try to get full control of your Eva before engaging the target. Just concentrate on the concept of moving your arms. Flex your hands. There's a knife in your left shouder blade. That's going to be your primary weapon. Make sure you can use it."
Shinji did so, even drawing the blade and waving it around. Big Boss winced at his horrible technique. Sachiel watched with what looked like interest, though it made no move to attack.
"Alright, now let's try walking."
From the bridge, they watched as Unit-01 took it's first tenative steps. They heard Shinji muttering to himself over the intercom.
"Walk, walk, walk, you stupid thing..."
"Shinji," Big Boss said, "calm down. You're perfectly safe in that thing. No reason to be nervous."
Shinji didn't acknowledge him. Instead he continued talking to his Eva. "Alright now slow down, stop... Stop!!!"
Unit-01 showed no signs of stopping. At this rate it would be within melee range of Sachiel within a few brief moments.
"Come on you stupid thing, stop!!!"
"Shouldn't it be stopping?" Big Boss asked.
"Eva is designed to carry out the will of its pilot, yes," Dr. Akagi replied, "but the sychronization process doesn't necessarily place control in the hands of the concious mind. Any number of factors could be affecting him subconciously."
"So he doesn't really want to stop?"
"Yes and no. On a concious level, he wants to stop, but his subconcious mind is conflicting with that. For some reason even he may not be aware of, he wants to keep going."
Big Boss groaned. Fifteen years of working with Psycho Mantis had given him an excellent grasp of psychological disorders, issues, and their effects. As if on cue he heard Shinji's voice scream in frustration.
"Alright, charge!!!"
Unit-01 charged.
As the Evangelion didn't have lips and its head was armored, it didn't have facial expressions. However, to the onlookers in the command bridge, it suddenly seemed to become more...
More what? Vicious? Uncontrolled? Dangerous? Feral? All of the above?
Before Big Boss could decide, Sachiel broke Unit-01's arm.
Chances of me continuing this are slim, but actually bettter than for my Trigun fic that got killed by canon. Honestly though, aside from two or three interesting ideas, that one deserved to die. Tell me what you think, as long as what you think isn't "Hur hur, fanfiction." I know.
~Chaotic Neutral