A Janok Production;
General disclaimer;
The usual..... Some characters and original storyline copyright Gainax
and affiliated companies.
WARNING
This is a Post-Episode 26 story, if you haven't seen up to Episode 26
of NGE I advise you not to read this story. You have been warned, so
no complaints.
**********
NEON GENESIS CHAPTER 2
A Fall From Grace: Out of Eden
VERSE 8
"Our life is short, we know nothing at all;
we pass like shadows across the earth."
Job 8:9
"That was a close one," Major Veitch said as the plane levelled out.
Behind them the giant column of light still speared into the air.
Veitch looked over to Captain Hyuga who was sitting in the pilot's
seat by his side, "Check on the others will you? I've got to sort some
things out in the back."
"Roger," responded Hyuga as Veitch extricated himself from the
co-pilot's seat and began walking towards the rear of the plane.
"Are you two okay?" Veitch asked as he reached the two EVA pilots
sitting in the small cabin behind the cockpit.
"Sure, never better," said the girl with a smile on her face as she
batted her eyelashes mockingly at the Major.
The Major chuckled at that, "You never change, do you Kinuko?"
The nineteen year old winked back at him, "Not as long as there are
big strong men like you around."
Veitch glanced over at the seventh pilot, "How about you Toshio?"
Toshio turned away from the window to look at the Major, "I'm fine,"
he responded then turned back to look at the slowly fading beacon of
light, "but that explosion bothers me."
Major Veitch waved off the pilot's concerns, "Don't worry, the
destruction of the geofront was all part of this operation's plan."
What he didn't add was that the explosion had been planned to occur
three hours later, by which time the remaining seven hundred personnel
would have been evacuated.
"I'll talk some more with you later," he said to them as he continued
his journey down the plane.
The next cabin he entered was his destination; three NERV officers sat
at computer terminals placed along the side of one wall. The three
officers were frantically punching information into their terminals.
"Status report?" asked Veitch as he entered the cramped cabin.
The female NERV officer at the closest terminal turned towards him,
"We've lost all contact with the Magi sir, consequently our systems
are now only working at 5% of our previous capability."
Veitch nodded, "Right," he looked each of the officers in the eye for
a moment before continuing, "As you may have already guessed, we have
lost geofront one, we will no longer be receiving support from that
quarter."
The three officers took that in their stride.
That's good, thought Veitch, If they want to, they can break down
later, right now I need them at peak efficiency.
"But what are we going to do about the computers sir?" asked one of
the male officers, "We are already in a vulnerable position, but if we
are attacked by an Angel with our systems down..." his voice trailed
off.
"There isn't any reason to worry about that at least, we have been
given special dispensation to link directly with Samuel via
satellite," he handed over a small file to the female officer, "Here
are the connection details, will you be able to handle that
yourselves?"
The officers all nodded, "Yes sir."
Veitch looked around the rest of the cabin, "Where is Professor
Takai?" he asked.
One of the male officers nodded to the door leading to the final
cabin, "She went back to check on the EVA sir."
"Fine. I'll be in there having a word with her if you need me for
anything," he said as he turned towards the door.
**********
He was greeted to a very unusual sight as he entered the rearmost
section of the plane; a woman's ankles were sticking up vertically out
of a hole in the floor, the rest of her, being down the hole, wasn't
visible.
Veitch chuckled to himself as he stepped over to the hole in the floor
and looked down, "Need a hand?" he asked.
Professor Takai stopped what she was doing and looked up, past her
legs, at her most irritating colleague.
"Do you mind?" she asked in an exasperated voice.
"Me?" he asked innocently, "Mind? Not at all."
Still standing over the hole Veitch could just make out a couple of
choice curses as they echoed up toward him.
Professor Takai went back to her work.
"Is that any way to speak to someone who was just offering you some
assistance?" he inquired in mild tones.
He chuckled as he caught some of the even stronger phrases generated
by his latest strike in their ongoing verbal fencing match.
"So," he said seriously, "What ARE you doing down there?"
"I'm trying to check the EVA's moorings; with your fancy flying
earlier I need to be sure that everything is in working condition."
Veitch let that one slide, "Why don't you use the computers to check
for you?"
"They aren't working anymore, or didn't you notice?" she responded
acidly.
"Well if you don't mind waiting a few more minutes, you can check them
automatically again once the systems are back up,"
"And just how have you managed that miracle oh most exalted one?" she
asked sarcastically.
Veitch braced himself for the totally unpredictable reaction his next
few words would induce, "I've got them working on establishing a
direct link to Samuel."
The slight clattering sounds that had accompanied Yuri's work ceased
abruptly as she began lifting herself, remarkably quickly, backwards
out of the hole.
"What do you mean your working on a link to Samuel?" she demanded once
she stood before him, "How did you manage that?"
"I didn't arrange it," he said as he looked her over, she wasn't
wearing her standard clothing of blouse, skirt and white lab coat,
but instead a functional yet at the same time rather tasteful
ensemble of black trousers and T-shirt.
"The Director must have been the one to have sweet talked the commitee
into acceptance," his face lost its seriousness, and instead a boyish
grin appeared along with a playful glint in his eye, "By the way, nice
uniform. You should wear it more often."
She didn't even acknowledge his comments as she walked past him to
pick up the white lab coat, which she had dumped by the door.
"Does that thing follow you everywhere Yuri?" Veitch asked in mock
exasperation as he watched her put on her coat.
"That does not concern you MAJOR Veitch!" she snapped.
Veitch shook his head, "Tut, Tut. You shouldn't hide your true
feelings behind all this formality Yuri, it isn't healthy."
Professor Takai glared at him, "If you didn't play around so much,
maybe you would have a better chance at keeping the EVAs that are
assigned to you rather than losing them."
Veitch's eyes lost their playfulness and a grimace replaced his smile,
"That was below the belt Professor Takai," he watched her lower her
eyes in shame, then he added his own blow, "And you have PLENTY of
room to speak on the subject yourself."
Her eyes came back up instantly, now with a hard look of their own.
Veitch raised an arm and made a sweeping gesture at the door, "Now,
if you don't mind, we have work to do."
**********
"I still think you're playing with fire Ikari," said the man in beige.
"It is a political necessity. There is no other option at this time,"
Ikari glanced across at his colleague, "Besides I know how to handle
him, there will be no problems."
The two men were once again sitting at the large desk in Gendo Ikari's
massive office.
"But Ikari," the man in beige said with a hint of worry, "This could
allow his grandfather to regain the good graces of SEELE, if HE
regains the reins of power..."
"As I told you," returned Ikari in a cold calm voice, "I am in control
of the situation. Don't worry."
**********
"What is wrong with her?" asked Michael of the doctor who sat on the
other seat next to Asuka's bed.
The doctor gave Michael an appraising look before responding, "You do
know that I can't tell you everything, client confidentiality you
understand?"
Michael nodded, "Of course."
The doctor leaned back in his seat, "What I can tell you is that she
is suffering from an acute mental disorder; I won't go into the
specifics of what kind of disorder as you probably won't understand."
He glanced over at Michael who nodded for him to go on, "Anyway, as
far as we can determine her breakdown was caused by severe emotional
trauma as a young child and triggered by her being dropped from the
Evangelion pilot programme."
Michael looked sharply at the doctor, "You mean she was an EVA pilot?"
The doctor looked slightly startled at that, "You didn't know?"
Michael shook his head, "No," he patted Asuka's hand with his own,
"When did this all take place?" he asked.
The doctor looked up at the ceiling, "It occurred before third
impact."
"Oh," was all Michael said.
He felt that there was something wrong with the doctor's last
statement, but, for the life of him, he couldn't quite put his finger
on it.
**********
"What's our ETA?" asked Veitch, once again in the co-pilot's seat.
"Without any delays we should arrive at our destination at about a
couple of hours to dawn, 03:00 CET" responded Hyuga instantaneously.
Major Veitch chuckled, "That's one of the things I like about you
Hyuga, you're great with numbers."
Hyuga laughed as well, "If you think I'm good, wait till you meet
Captain Ibuki."
Veitch glanced over at him, "Ibuki huh. Is she as good as her
reputation says?"
Captain Hyuga shook his head, "No, she's even better."
Veitch's face spread into his boyish grin again, "I can't wait to meet
her."
**********
"We've got a large object approaching from the south," said one of the
officers.
"AT Field detected," said one of the others, "Samuel is analysing
now."
"Wave form analysis is... Green?" said the third, "What in the hell is
Green?"
"I was afraid of this," responded Professor Takai, "That new type of
Angel we encountered wasn't unique."
"The Angel is approaching rapidly," said the female officer.
Professor Takai walked over to one of the consoles and pressed a
button, "Major Veitch, we have a problem."
**********
"Connecting secondary contact... A10 nerve connections normal."
"All preliminary contact established, performance nominal."
"Bi-directional circuits are open, synchronisation ratio at 51.3%."
Major Veitch looked over to Professor Takai, "Is it enough?"
Professor Takai shrugged her shoulders, "Barely. If we were under
different circumstances I would strongly recommend abandoning
activation, but..." she looked to one of the monitors showing an
external view.
Major Veitch glanced at the same monitor showing the Angel, which was
rapidly approaching them, "... We have no other choice," he finished.
**********
Michael looked out the window at the large escort plane, which
appeared to be carrying an Evangelion.
He glanced at the doctor, "Why is that one ascending so rapidly?"
**********
"Major we have reached the optimum drop height," crackled Captain
Hyuga's voice out of Veitch's headset.
Veitch nodded to Professor Takai, "Now we'll see what she's truly
capable of." He looked back to the monitor, "Launch EVA!"
"Hydraulic locks opening,"
"All moorings released,"
"The EVA is away sir,"
Michael watched the EVA separate from the black plane above
him.
"Activate systems 25 through 34," shouted Professor Takai.
Michael looked on wide-eyed as two giant panels burst out of
the EVA.
"Wings extended, gliding mode activated,"
The EVA slowed its rapid descent.
"The propulsion system?" demanded the Professor.
"Propulsion systems are within acceptable limits, they are ready to
activate at 10% of predicted optimum efficiency."
"Where's the Angel?" demanded Major Veitch.
"Its still 6km away, but closing very rapidly."
Veitch leaned over the shoulder of one of the officers and pressed a
button on his console, "Toshio."
An image of the pilot appeared on one of the monitors, "Sir?"
"Activate the propulsion system, get yourself between the convoy and
the Angel," Veitch glanced at another monitor, "Do it fast, the Angel
will be upon us in less than a minute."
"Yes sir, activating system now."
All Michael caught sight of was a black blur as the EVA shot
past an incredibly short distance below him.
**********
"Distance from EVA to target; 3km," came a voice over the comm.
system.
Toshio watched as the black object that was the Angel approached him
rapidly. Looking at it, it resembled nothing more closely than a
giant bat.
Major Veitch's voice cracked in across the comm. channel, "Close in
with it as soon as possible, I want you to take it down with one
attack run. It must not be allowed to reach the convoy. Do you
understand?"
Toshio nodded, "Yes Sir."
"OK then, move out."
"Distance from EVA to target; 2.5km"
Toshio leaned forward in his plug seat and felt the EVA accelerate
forwards once more. The Angel maintained its high speed and its
course, which would take it straight through the transport plane.
"Distance from EVA to target; 1km"
"Brace yourself Toshio, you're going to hit it hard."
Toshio felt a massive shudder rip through the EVA's body as it
collided with the Angel. The Angel grappled with the EVA and began to
rake it with its claws.
"Toshio, smash its core." said Veitch in a calm voice.
Toshio looked round desperately, "Where is it? The Angel's too close,
I can't see it."
"The core is on its midsection, right hand side,"
Toshio looked down, "I still can't see it!" he shouted.
"Calm down Toshio, there is still time remaining. The core is on YOUR
left." came the Major's calm tones.
"I see it!" he shouted.
The EVA's left arm pulled back and then slammed into the Angel's core.
There was no visible effect. The EVA pulled back its arm again and
began to repeatedly pound the Angel's core.
Soon small cracks began to appear in the solid core, but as they did
so, the Angel began to release a very loud, high pitch shriek.
Toshio covered his ears.
Veitch's face appeared on the screen to his right, "Toshio, you must
hit the Angel one more time."
"I can't!" Screamed Toshio.
Veitch's face took on an even harder expression, "You MUST! That is an
order Pilot Kosugi!"
"Yes sir," gasped Toshio, uncovering his ears and grasping the controls.
The EVA pulled back its arm one final time and smashed the Angel's
core into tiny fragments.
The shriek still reverberated through Toshio's skull as he watched the
Angel fall away then explode some distance below.
That was the last thing Toshio saw before his world blacked out.
**********
"The EVA is descending rapidly, its out of control," said one of the
officers.
"What?" demanded Professor Takai.
"The pilot is unconscious," stated another officer.
"Bring the dummy system online NOW." ordered Takai.
"Transferring nerve control circuits to the dummy system,"
"System activated, synchronisation ratio is at 39.2%."
"Order it to level off and switch it to glide mode." came Yuri's
clipped tones.
"Yes ma'am."
The EVA pulled out of its nosedive and regained a stable altitude.
Everyone in the control room sighed in relief.
"OK, now the easy part is over," said Veitch, "I hope Hyuga is in the
mood for some fancy flying."
The others stared at him in shock, "Unless you have a better
suggestion as to how to retrieve it before its power runs out?"
He looked round at their blank faces, "I didn't think so."
**********
"Is he ok?" asked Veitch as he stood in the small cabin behind the
cockpit.
The male officer looked up from where he was examining Toshio, "I can
tell you he isn't dead, and that he doesn't appear to be in any
immediate danger, but we need to get him to a medical facility as soon
as possible," he looked down at the still unconscious pilot lying
across two chairs, "My 'in the field' medical training only focussed
on physical injuries, this is way out of my league."
Veitch nodded, "Then we had better hope that it isn't too serious
then," he said in a sombre voice, "We won't reach our destination for
a number of hours yet,"
**********
Once the convoy had left the scene of the ambush and were no longer
in sight, a small unmarked jet broke out of a cloudbank and flew
hastily into the south.
**********
04:00 CET the next morning.
The second escort plane touched down at the military airstrip.
Michael stared at it from the window in one of the buildings set back
a distance from the runway. The other nine candidates sat around the
large room as they waited to begin the final leg of their journey.
Asuka had been taken on ahead to a hospital somewhere, along with
another person he had seen being taken off one of the other planes.
He could hardly believe that it was just two days previously that
Shiro was babbling to him about his irrelevant social agendas. It
seemed to be more like a lifetime ago.
The previous day had raised so many new questions in Michael's mind
that he was left in a semi-dazed state.
The two questions foremost in his mind were;
'Who was and how did he know Asuka?'
And 'What in the world was that Evangelion that had saved them?'
As far as he was aware EVA's had never been designed with the
potential for aerial combat.
As he was pondering these questions the door opened and in walked
Major Veitch, closely followed by a young, blonde woman.
"I hope you had a pleasant trip," said Veitch in a bantering tone,
"We have just one more coach trip ahead of us, then we shall arrive
at our new home."
The blonde girl looked round the room with a faintly disdainful
expression on her face, "We're doomed," she muttered.
Major Veitch looked down at her and grinned, "This embodiment of
optimism beside me is Kinuko Hiramatsu, the ninth EVA pilot," he said
as he looked back at the candidates, "As NERV personnel you will be
seeing a lot of her from now on."
Most of the candidates expressed welcome to Kinuko, who accepted
their comments with disinterest. The only two who didn't were
Michael, who was too preoccuppied to think up a suitable response, and
George, who sat in a shadowy corner, watching everyone with cold
calculating eyes.
"Now, if everyone is ready, it is time for us to go," said Major
Veitch.
**********
The coach pulled in to the side of the road and stopped. Major Veitch
stood up at the front, "If everyone would like to step outside I have
something to show you."
The twelve passengers disembarked and stood at the side of the road at
a lookout point by the edge of a cliff. The sky was rapidly
brightening to dawn ahead of them.
The candidates looked on in amazement as the increasing light level
revealed a giant city towering over the valley below.
Major Veitch raised an eyebrow, "Impressed?"
He glanced at the eleven people standing beside him, "This city is a
fortress designed to stand against the angels."
The light revealed an ever-larger expanse of structures clustered
below them.
"This is our city," the light glinted off the giant structures,
"The city we are sworn to protect."
The sun peeked over the hills on the other side of the valley, causing
the giant skyscrapers in the city to cast massive shadows over the
valley floor.
"This is New Babylon."
**********
To be continued...
"Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all;
it is the pride of its people..."
Isaiah 13:19