Judgment Day 4
Judgment Day
By Artemis
Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is a copyright of Gainax co.
Elements of this fanfic are inspired by the movie
"Armageddon" by Touchstones Pictures. Most of the
characters in this fanfic are owned by Gainax co., so
please don't sue me!
Part 4
A sharp wind blew on Shinji's face as he looked around on the
alien landscape. 'W-Where am I?' he thought, 'What is this place?'
He was standing on top of a hill, with the scenery below him
completely covered in a silvery color; a barren desert which glints
silver at the touch of sunlight.
Suddenly, giant crosses mysteriously appear below him on the
silver desert. He tried to focused on the crosses, and horror seized
him as he realized there were people crucified on the crosses; people
that he knew well.
"M-Misato-san . . . A-Ayanami . . . Asuka . . ." he called to
them in a choked whisper, "Toji . . . Kensuke . . . Ritsuko-san . . ."
A larger cross appears, and a familiar face in black and white
plug-suit was crucified there. "A-Adam . . ." Shinji choked, as he
gazed horrified at the battered figure.
Adam slowly lifts his battered face and called out to him,
"Shinji . . . h-help . . ."
Gendo suddenly appears in front of Adam's cross, holding a device
in his hand. "Father . . . ?" Shinji called to him.
Gendo slightly turns his cold gaze towards his son, and turns
back ignoring him. He lifted the remote control-like device, and
pressed it. As a response, a bright white light appeared in the
horizon, and traveled as quick as lightning towards him.
"Father?! W-What . . . Uwaaaah!" he cried as he felt the bright
light enveloped and devoured him . . .
Shinji wakes up with a start when his alarm clock goes off.
Hurriedly, he shuts it off, and slowly sits back on his bedside.
'Another strange dream,' he thought, 'What does it all supposed to
mean?. . .'
Kennedy Space Center, 2nd Day Launch Preparations; 8.15 A.M
Adam paces around on the helicopter landing-pad nervously.
'Where could they be?' he thought, 'They're already quarter an hour
late!'
His thoughts was disturbed a familiar thumping sound of
propellers. He turns around in time to see the red U.N helicopter as
it slowly came into view from the morning sky. Adam's frown was
replaced by a cheerful smile, and he waved excitedly at the approaching
helicopter. His white shirt and black pants flutters along with the
gust of wind that the propellers create.
"G-Good m-morning, Adam-kun. H-how you are?"
Adam blinks at the boy, but then smiles knowingly. "Fine thanks,
Shinji-kun!" he says, "But, I think it would be a lot better if you put
this on" With that, he hands him the communicator. Shinji blushes and
takes it.
"How are you, Asuka?" he says as he turns towards the auburn-
haired girl.
"Do me a favor, will you? Don't talk to me!" she snarls, as she
stares at the elevator's floor indicator, impatient to get away from
this cheerfully-annoying American.
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," he
whispers to Shinji through his communicator.
Shinji nods. "Asuka was still mad at you"
"Is it about yesterday? The time when I nearly hit her?"
Shinji shakes his head. "She forgives you about that one, but
she was still mad about you being an Eva pilot"
Adam doesn't reply. He only looks towards Asuka's direction with
a look of concern on his face. 'Asuka, what's wrong with you?. . .'
Main Briefing Room, Floor B5; 9.15 A.M
". . .and that was our plan to destroy the Angel" said Gendo as
he takes his seat, concluding his speech on NERV's plan. Personally,
he really hates making long speeches, but he gathered that it was
necessary for this occasion.
All of NASA's officials and the high Generals of Pentagon seated
on the table were silent. A minute or two passes before an official
stands up and says, "This sounds rather crazy, desperate, and very
expensive. Haven't NERV faced this type of problem twice, both of
which they were successful in handling them?"
This time, Misato stands up. "This case is rather special, sir,
because our central-computer, MAGI, has confirmed that the new Angel
possessed four times greater of an AT-Field than those other Angels"
she says through her communicator. "Weapons and tactics that we have
used to defeat the other two similar Angels would be useless on this
one"
"Also," she pushes on, "May I remind you gentlemen that the
defeat of the those two Angels were not without major casualties. This
is the best plan we could come up with without having the risk of
losing more lives in our effort"
The official doesn't say anything else, and slowly takes his
seat. 'Well, THAT certainly opened their eyes' she thought.
A general stood up. "What about the pilot's condition? Could
they physically and mentally endure this rather special task?"
Ritsuko whips out a notepad and says, "The pilots have undergone
the required physical and mental tests at 0830 hour, and tests shows
that they are physically and mentally able enough to carry out the
operation"
'With Asuka as an exception, that is,' thought the now seated
Misato, 'I better have a talk with her before we go on . . .'
Special Area B-10: EVA Cages; 9:15 A.M
"T-This is . . ." says Shinji in awe.
"Yep, this is my Eva: Eva-03" Adam says, with a proud tone.
Shinji gazed unbelievingly at the elusive Eva: it was painted
with a basic white with streaks of red, yellow, and blue all over its
armor. The extra armor on its arms, legs, lower and upper body reminds
Shinji of a robot in a classic cartoon series he had seen when he was
young: Gundam Wing. Its face looks almost like those of Eva-00, in
exception of two sharp, yellow eyes instead of a singular, round one.
Its overall breathtaking appearance makes Shinji says the words he has
never uttered on an Eva before: "I-It's beautiful . . ."
"Thanks!" says Adam, "And that's not all." He points to a giant
device attached to the back of his Eva. "See that?" he says, "That's
called a 'Combat Pack'. It works like a backpack for my Eva: it holds
a beam cannon, a beam saber, and a jet thruster on it. What's more,
the Combat Pack has a built in solar-energy emitter in it, so that it
could help the Eva's batteries stay active for two hours without an
umbilical cord. I guess your Evas would have the backpack installed in
two days".
During his explanation, Shinji stood mesmerized at unit 03 while
Rei reverts back to her usual cold expression.
"Hmph, what's so good about it?" Asuka's remark quickly turns
everyone's attention towards her. "My Eva-02 has been in active combat
for 9 full month without those stupid battle packs, and it's a whole
lot better than this one" she says.
"Uh?" is all that Adam can say.
"You heard me!" she snaps.
This time, Adam can't hold back anymore. "Listen, you! I'm
getting sick and tired of your 'high-and-mighty' attitude! Since we're
all in this together as a team, I suggest you do us all a favor and
just drop it!"
Asuka smirks. "Who's gonna' make me?"
Adam was about to retaliate when suddenly sirens blares and all
the red emergency light in the cage flashes. "What was that?" he says,
"What's going on?"
"What's going on?" asks Misato to one of the NASA officials as
all the representatives from NASA and Pentagon empties the room
hurriedly.
"An emergency! The alarms are triggered by one of our special
satellites in orbit!" he replies, "We could find out more in the
control room!"
Misato is about to follow him when he realizes that all of the
NERV representatives are still seated. "Sir?" she says to Gendo,
"Aren't we going?"
"We already know what it is, captain" he replies in his cold
manner without looking back to her.
"An Angel attack . . ." says Ritsuko solemnly as she lifts her
cup and sips her coffee.
NASA Command Center; 9:20 A.M
When the NERV representatives arrives at the command center, they
found an all too familiar atmosphere: people shouting off data from
their computer screen, and a large computer screen animating the
descent of an unidentified object to Earth.
"Feels like home . . ." utters Fuyutsuki.
" . . .And not a good one, either" says Misato. She quickly
rushes to a personnel's workspace and says to her, "What's the status?"
Without looking, the staff replies quickly through her
communicator, "Hercules-1 has confirmed an unidentified object at 0915
hour descending into our atmosphere. 2 miles in diameter, it is moving
at 100 miles-per-hour. We are expecting impact in 3 minutes"
"Where is it heading?" asks Misato.
"Calculations has showed that it would fall somewhere in the
Pacific" The staff's face was pale as she read the next set of data,
"Wait a minute! What the-? It stopped!"
"What?!"
"I-It stopped 1,000 feet above the Pacific! I-It just stopped!"
Misato steps back from the console, and turns around to face
Gendo. "Sir?"
He gives her a nod. Misato understands, and steps up to the
female crew again. "Could you connect my comm to the communication
system of this room?" she asks her. In reply, the crew punches in a
few commands on her console. She turns back at Misato and says, "It's
all yours, ma'am!"
She nods in conformation and speaks through her communicator,
"Attention, NASA personnel! This jurisdiction is now under NERV
command under article B-10, section AS-14. Information passed here
would be considered Top Secret, and you are required to give your full
cooperation until this operation is over. I, Captain Misato Katsuragi
of NERV Branch 2, would command this operation single-handedly. This
operation officially begins NOW!"
She then taps her comm, and the female crew reverts its status
back to one-on-one chat. "Connect all NASA's computers with WorldLink,
and access Branch 2's MAGI system" she commands to her, "Set it up as
the basic OS here" The staff nods, and hurriedly types tons of
commands on her keyboard.
Misato walks back to Ritsuko, who gives her a small applause.
"Well said, captain. A true leader, indeed"
Misato smiles. "Yeah, now if I could only face this a little
calmer . . ."
Eva Cages; 9:35 A.M
"Man, this really bites" says an impatient Asuka, "We've been on
stand by for a quarter of an hour now"
"Well, we do have to follow orders" says Shinji.
"Orders, orders, orders! You're starting to sound like Wonder
Girl over there!" She gestures with her head towards the ever-silent
Eva-00.
"Hey, um, guys?" says Adam, "Is the entry-plug going to be real
cold like this all the time?"
"Why did you ask?" replies Shinji.
"Because I might need to use the restroom if it gets any colder
than this"
"Are you stupid?" shouts Asuka, "Here we are, about to risk our
lives against that Angel, and you guys are talking about going to the
restroom? Man, I wish we could do something soon . . ." At that, the
sirens blared and the red emergency lights flashed.
"Be careful what you wish for . . ." says Rei quietly.
NASA Command Center; 9:36 A.M
"Target is breaking from its stasis condition and is heading
towards us at 100 miles-per-hour and increasing!" shouts Hyuga, "MAGI
estimated impact in one minute!"
"Line cursive confirmed that the Angel's target is clearly Miami,
Florida!" cries a NASA staff.
"Brace for impact" says Gendo, "How is the evacuation progress?"
"87% of the city's population have been evacuated to a safe
distance" says Maya.
Misato draws near Gendo and says, "Should we employ the old
tactic as this Angel breaches through the atmosphere?"
"No need," replies Gendo, "This Angel is different, and our old
attack pattern will not work against it. We could only hope for the
best"
'You bastard! You're going to let those people in the city
die?!' Misato's thought was disturbed by Hyuga's voice.
"Target's blood pattern is changing to Orange!"
"I-It's breaking up!" gasped Maya.
"What?!" shouts Misato in disbelief as she hurried towards Maya's
console.
"Target is breaking up its main body. 2, 4, 8, 16 . . . it's
multiplying by the seconds and increasing in speed!"
"MAGI has detected the presence of another being, covered by the
feathers!" shouts Aoba from his console.
'What the hell is going on?' thought Misato in horror.
"5 . . .4 . . .3 . . .2 . . .BRACE FOR IMPACT !" cries Hyuga.
The deadly whistle grew louder and louder, and finally was
replaced by the boom of explosions as the feathers bombarded the
southern part of the prosperous beach city. As the explosions and
tremors continue, a giant figure the size of an Eva lands amidst the
bombardment. Its humanoid body stood among the dust and flames,
resolute as a conqueror. As if cherishing a victorious moment, it
howls a horrible, blood curdling howl.
Eva Cages; 9:44 A.M
"Let me review the operation again" says Misato to the four
pilots inside their Evas, "As soon as you surfaced, circle the Angel
and prevent it from moving any further. Shinji, Rei, and Asuka would
act as back-up while Adam use the beam cannon to destroy its energy
core, located on the target's chest. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" reply the pilots, in exception of Asuka.
"Why do I have to be a back-up?" she complains, "My Eva-02 could
take this one in a snap"
"You have just regained your normal sync ratio, Asuka" Misato
replies, "Besides, we have to admit that Eva-03 is better equipped for
our current condition. Understand?"
Asuka burns with anger. She was angry of Misato treating her
like a baby that just learned how to walk, but she only replies a quiet
"Yes ma'am"
"Good!" Misato turns to Gendo. "The Evas are ready, commander"
"Proceed with the operation" he replies calmly.
Misato turns and shouts her command. "Eva launch!"
At that, the magnetic-triggers of the Eva platforms switches on
and the magnetic effect catapulted the Evas towards the surface in an
incredibly fast speed.
"W-Whoa, n-not so f-fast!" cries Adam as he experienced his first
real-time combat launch.
As the four Evas races towards the surface, Asuka's will of
insurrection that formed in her mind, fueled with jealousy and hatred,
had became stronger as she planned a strategy of her own . . .
The four Evas arrived on the surface just in time to see the
Angel moving towards them, crossing the water in a slow, menacing
speed.
"Captain Katsuragi, I hope you're seeing this!" says Adam as he
attached the umbilical cord to his Eva.
"I see it," says Misato, keeping her cool on this sudden turn of
event, "Wait until it's 15 miles off the coast, then sick'em!"
For Asuka, Misato's word was a sign to carry out her plan.
"That's just too damn boring!!"
"Asuka?!"
"Wait, wait, wait! Well, I don't WANT to wait! I'm going in!"
With that, Eva-02 ran off with its progressive lance ready. 'I'm
gonna' proof to Misato and everyone that I'm a better pilot than Shinji
the hero', she thought as she charges towards the Angel.
"Asuka, be careful!!" cries Adam and he take off with his
booster, chasing the wild-charging Asuka.
"Adam, no!" shouts Misato. 'Goddammit,' she thought, 'this whole
operation is going to hell!' She presses a button on her comm.
"Shinji! Rei! Follow them! Carry out the plan as best as you two
could!"
"Roger!" replies the two, and the two Evas ran off towards the
direction of Asuka and Adam.
Misato sets down her comm, slams her fist on the table, and grits
her teeth. 'Damn it, Asuka . . .' she thought.
The tall, black and white Angel looks at Asuka's charge
curiously, but realizes the danger as the red Eva jumps up high, ready
to slash it's lance with a combined force of strength and hatred.
"EAT THIS YOU SCUM! HYAAH!" she shouts as brought down the
lance with an almighty strength, which was followed with a loud
"CLANG!".
"I-Impossible . . ." she stammered as her Eva lands back on the
shallow waters (shallow for an Eva, that is). She was filled with a
feeling that she hated, fear, as she sees her progressive lance broke
upon contact with the Angel's AT-Field. "T-This is . . . impossible .
.. ."
She was so fulfilled with shock that she didn't realize that the
Angel had shot out a hand and grabbed her head by its claw. She gasps
in pain as the Angel lifts her up and throws her a good distance away
from it, crashing on the corals as she goes.
"D-Damn it . . ." she stammers, as she tries to get back up. A
black shadow that covers her made her look up, where she sees the Angel
mimicking her jump attack with a massive curved sword.
'I . . . I lost . . .,' she thought as the Angel brought down
the sword, 'This is it . . . for me . . .' With that she closes her
eyes, bracing for death . . .
'Am I . . . dead?. . .' she thought, as she slowly opens her
eyes. In front of her, she sees the white Eva deflecting the Angel's
sword with its beam saber. 'A-Adam?. . .'
"Stay away from her, you bastard!' says Adam as he pushes the
Angel off, forcing it to back down with repeated slashes of his saber.
As the Angel was forced a hasty retreat, Adam jumps back to
shield Asuka from any would-be attacks from the Angel. "Are you okay?"
he says to her.
She was about to say that she was alright when she realizes who
the questioner was. Her shattered plan, her pride, her honor . . .
"Mind your own business!" she replies.
"I was just trying to help!" says Adam.
"I don't NEED your help! I'd do fine by my own!" With that, she
forces her battered Eva to stand back up.
"It doesn't look that way!"
At that, her temper rises. "I don't care how it looks like! I
can take down this bastard by myself! Can't you hear?! I don't NEED
your help! I don't need ANYONE! I DON'T NEED YOU!" With that, she
draws out her progressive knife and charges wildly towards the Angel
with a hateful battle cry, unknown to anyone that she was doing it in
tears.
The Angel anticipates her attack by opening its armored chest,
revealing a giant orb-like device. The orb glows red as it charges,
and shoots out a white beam towards the incoming red Eva.
"ASUKA, NOOO!" Adam activates his booster again, trying to
prevent Asuka's suicidal charge. At the last minute, Adam rams his Eva
sideways against Asuka's to derail her from her path towards death.
However, there wasn't enough time for Adam to save himself. The bright
white light envelopes itself around Eva-03 as Asuka watches with a
mixed feeling of guilt, horror, and fear.
"ADAM!!" she cries.
"UWAAAAAH!" Adam wails in pain as he felt the light pierced him
like a million light swords. The light then explodes upward in the
form of a cross.
When the explosion subsides, Eva-03 was kneeling with one feet in
front of the other. Its armor was charred and smothered with black
burnt marks; it hisses while smoke rises up from the burnt Eva's
armor.
"ADAM!!" cries Asuka again.
'DAMN IT!! This is getting worse by the second!' thought Misato.
"What's Eva-03 pilot's status?!" she says hurriedly to Maya.
"Pilot's vital signs are critical! We have no pulse!" she
shouts her reply.
"Do a heart massage! NOW!"
"Initiating first attempt . . ." At that, she presses a flashing
red button, and a surge of electricity flows through Adam's lifeless
body. It jerks at the push of the button.
"No pulse!" shouts Maya.
"Do it again!"
Maya repeats the process, and again Adam's body jerks at the shot
of electricity, but the result remains the same.
"Still no pulse!"
"AGAIN, DAMN IT!" Misato was starting to let her fear and anger
took hold of her. 'Come on, Adam!' she thought, 'You can't die on me
like this! I promised your father I won't let you!'
Maya repeats the massage for the third time.
"We have a pulse!" she says to Misato, "A weak one, but it's
stabilizing!"
"Prepare a rescue party and the emergency room at once!" she
says with a small sign of relief, "Order Shinji and Rei to distract the
Angel as far away from Eva-03 and this base!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"S-Something's wrong Eva-02's sync ratio!" shouts out Aoba
suddenly.
"Is it dropping again?!" asks Misato.
"No, it's increasing at incredible speed!" replies Aoba, "It's
already over 100%!"
That was another shocker for Misato. "What did you say?!"
Asuka was silent in her cockpit as the Angel walks past her,
tears streaming down from her once resolute eyes. Her thoughts were
running wildly in her head. 'Why? Why does everyone who care for me
must die? Why? What have I done to deserve this . . .this, curse?!
Why? Why?! WHY?!'
As if answering her question, the four eyes of Eva-02 suddenly
flashes white at the end of her thought. The battered Eva stands up
with its arms dangling, its figure lurching forward. The four eyes
flash with hatred at the back of the Angel who was still walking
towards Kennedy Space Center.
"200 . . .240 . . .290%! It's increasing rapidly!" shouts Maya.
"What is this?! What's going on?!"
"It might be affected by the pilot's emotional state," says
Ritsuko, answering Misato's question, "The sync ratio is increasing
rapidly because the pilot's undergoing an intense emotion. If this
goes on, I won't be surprised if the sync goes over 300%"
"Dr. Akagi!" shouts Maya, "Pilot Souryuu's sync rate is already
at 370%!"
The news made Ritsuko drops her cup of coffee.
"Is this part of your plan, Gendo?" asks Fuyutsuki. They were
standing a good distance away from all the hustle so that nobody could
hear them.
"Of course" he replies with a devilish grin as he watches Eva-02
howls in anger with its two mouths on the giant screen, "As I have
always said, Fuyutsuki, two heads are better than one . . ."
To Be Continued
Author's Note: Well, I guess the holiday stress really got into me this
year. I have to do a lot of holiday shopping (and some
last minute shopping!) for so many people that I didn't
have time to continue this story for quite a while.
Fortunately, a reader from Canada really encouraged me
to go on with the fanfic. So, I manage to squeeze
enough time in my busy schedule to wrap up this part.
Millions of thanks for Idane Smith with her e-mails that
kept me to go on. Again, thank you! As always, I would
also like to hear from other readers for their critics &
suggestions for the story, and yes, flames would still
be ignored! Thank you, and see you next time!
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