Prologue
Tokyo 3 - Human Fortress
Tokyo 3 would have appeared an ordinary city to the normal spectator on most days, complete with high rise buildings, busy highways and masses of people populating the streets. Today was not one of those days. The only occupants of the deserted streets were two humanoid monsters of steel, the size of mid-sized sky-scrapers and a huge black and white striped sphere that was hovering over a hundred feet in the air with a circle of pure black underneath .
Tokyo 3 was once again under siege by the unknown beings called 'angels'. And once again its unlikely defenders had been called to the city's defence.
For most citizens this had become something of a routine and they thought nothing of it while they waited in their shelters to once again go about their lives after the threat was over.
For the staff of the organization that was directing the efforts of defending the city, no battle was routine though. Equipped only with three 14 year old pilots, their every move had to be planned to guarantee victory. The fact that one of the monstrosities that were called EVA had been swallowed by the black circle along with its pilot didn't make things any easier
And yet, behind the scenes, there was another group of people. A group who knew a lot of what was going to happen and who had their own plans concerning the human race and the entities called angels: SEELE and Ikari Gendo. For them, defeating the angels was a necessary sacrifice they had to make before their final scenarios could be implemented.
It was exactly this group of people fate decided to screw over big time by making one little change at a critical moment...
***************************
NERV Headquarters - 10 minutes until scheduled launch
"What do you mean launch the attack now?! Shinji still has got over ten minutes!"
"I suggest you contain yourself Major Katsuragi! I am well aware that the pilot's life support hasn't run out yet."
Getting a grip on herself with obvious effort, Misato ground out between her teeth. "If I may ask, why are we launching prematurely?"
Once again folding his hands in front of his face for maximum mystery factor Gendo 'bastard' Ikari gave the major a cold look. "You should not question my decisions. I have my reasons and that should be enough for you. Now begin the operation!"
Misato gave a court not before almost tearing the phone from Dr. Akagi's hands, who had been watching the argument in silence. "The schedule has been changed. Begin operation now!" Before the poor sap on the other end could reply, Misato had already cut the connection and started staring at Gendo. 'Bastard, asshole, motherfucker....'
It was very fortunate for her Gendo didn't know what she was thinking, although he could probably guess. Instead the commander of NERV watched in fascination as the main screen on the command bridge displayed the group of bombers that would drop all remaining N2 mines at their disposal into the circle of pure black that had swallowed Unit 01. Behind his stone faced mask his mind was awhirl with thoughts while watching. Katsuragi had been right in that there was no reason to start the operation sooner than planned.save for this very strong gut instinct Gendo had gotten all of a sudden that it would be a good idea to move up the schedule. Normally Gendo wasn't a person of instincts, but on those few occasions his gut told him something, he listened. Up to that point of time it had always served him well.
********************
Somewhere else, fate was laughing its ass off. "This is going to be so much fun to watch!"
********************
Several other persons on the bridge couldn't share Gendo's optimism, especially Ritsuko Akagi. As head scientist she did the numbers and knew without a shadow of doubt that detonating nearly one thousand N2 inside the angel would pretty much reduce Shinji's chance for survival to nil, which had been why they had waited this long in the first place. So the good doctor had very good reason to wonder about Gendo's motives, knowing how important Shinji and EVA 01 were to his plans, she couldn't understand why he would run the pretty high risk of losing both sooner than he had too.
The same was true for Gendo's second in command. The old man may not have known the numbers like Ritsuko but he knew of Gendo's plans just as well as her and could understand that an explosion of the planned magnitude would either vaporize or severely damage Unit 01.
The other members of the bridge crew didn't know of Gendo's plans, they just found his attitude sickening.
And Misato, well...
'I'm gonna rip his fucking heart out and shove it up his ass and then.. '
I think you get my drift.
*******************
Finally the aircraft were in position and their cargo was dropped. Rei and Asuka watched from a safe distance as a thousand little specks descended and were swallowed up one after another by the black mass that made up the angel's shadow.
Nothing happened several moments after the last mine had vanished, when suddenly the black circle shrank in on itself in the blink of an eye, only to vanish completely like it had never existed
In the main control room Maya confirmed what everybody had seen. "Blue pattern has vanished. The angel is gone."
Hearing the crisis was over, Misato was quick to contact the pilots. "Asuka, Rei? Any sign of Unit 01 or Shinji?"
"No sign of Unit 01 or pilot Ikari Major."
"I can't see _anything_ . Either those bombs really vaporized everything in there or it isn't here.
By now Misato was looking a little frazzled. "Come on. There has to be some sign of him!"
Asuka snorted. "Will you stop whining already? That's only what he deserved for running off like he did. Stupid baka; always playing the hero!" Strangely her voice sounded a little strained at the end.
In the control room Misato gripped the console as hard as she could. '.I need a drink.' Decisions made, the major marched out of the control room without saying anything else, the first tears already falling.
By then, even Gendo was getting a little concerned. On screen the only visible thing were the two EVA's. "Dr. Akagi, where is Unit 01?"
Ritsuko looked at the screen with a calculating eye, masking her own surprise. "All the calculations indicated that at least _something_ of Unit 01 should have survived that blast, which should have been ejected after the angel was destroyed. Obviously that has not happened, so my best guess would be, either it was destroyed inside the angel.or the point of exit was somewhere else"
Gendo raised and eyebrow "Which means?"
Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't have a clue."
Next to Gendo, Fuyutsuki Kouzou watched with just a little bit of satisfaction as the man's mask of indifference fell for just a moment to reveal sheer surprise underneath. 'Well, well my old friend.it seems your scenario has just taken a very different course than what you expected...or SEELE for that matter.'
End Prologue
********************
Author's notes:
Well, that was the prologue. Pretty open ended huh? Well, that was my intention.
As usual I want to thank my pre-readers RanShin, NuStrike and kuracao for their input. Next time you guys will have a little more to read over! That's a promise.
Tokyo 3 - Human Fortress
Tokyo 3 would have appeared an ordinary city to the normal spectator on most days, complete with high rise buildings, busy highways and masses of people populating the streets. Today was not one of those days. The only occupants of the deserted streets were two humanoid monsters of steel, the size of mid-sized sky-scrapers and a huge black and white striped sphere that was hovering over a hundred feet in the air with a circle of pure black underneath .
Tokyo 3 was once again under siege by the unknown beings called 'angels'. And once again its unlikely defenders had been called to the city's defence.
For most citizens this had become something of a routine and they thought nothing of it while they waited in their shelters to once again go about their lives after the threat was over.
For the staff of the organization that was directing the efforts of defending the city, no battle was routine though. Equipped only with three 14 year old pilots, their every move had to be planned to guarantee victory. The fact that one of the monstrosities that were called EVA had been swallowed by the black circle along with its pilot didn't make things any easier
And yet, behind the scenes, there was another group of people. A group who knew a lot of what was going to happen and who had their own plans concerning the human race and the entities called angels: SEELE and Ikari Gendo. For them, defeating the angels was a necessary sacrifice they had to make before their final scenarios could be implemented.
It was exactly this group of people fate decided to screw over big time by making one little change at a critical moment...
***************************
NERV Headquarters - 10 minutes until scheduled launch
"What do you mean launch the attack now?! Shinji still has got over ten minutes!"
"I suggest you contain yourself Major Katsuragi! I am well aware that the pilot's life support hasn't run out yet."
Getting a grip on herself with obvious effort, Misato ground out between her teeth. "If I may ask, why are we launching prematurely?"
Once again folding his hands in front of his face for maximum mystery factor Gendo 'bastard' Ikari gave the major a cold look. "You should not question my decisions. I have my reasons and that should be enough for you. Now begin the operation!"
Misato gave a court not before almost tearing the phone from Dr. Akagi's hands, who had been watching the argument in silence. "The schedule has been changed. Begin operation now!" Before the poor sap on the other end could reply, Misato had already cut the connection and started staring at Gendo. 'Bastard, asshole, motherfucker....'
It was very fortunate for her Gendo didn't know what she was thinking, although he could probably guess. Instead the commander of NERV watched in fascination as the main screen on the command bridge displayed the group of bombers that would drop all remaining N2 mines at their disposal into the circle of pure black that had swallowed Unit 01. Behind his stone faced mask his mind was awhirl with thoughts while watching. Katsuragi had been right in that there was no reason to start the operation sooner than planned.save for this very strong gut instinct Gendo had gotten all of a sudden that it would be a good idea to move up the schedule. Normally Gendo wasn't a person of instincts, but on those few occasions his gut told him something, he listened. Up to that point of time it had always served him well.
********************
Somewhere else, fate was laughing its ass off. "This is going to be so much fun to watch!"
********************
Several other persons on the bridge couldn't share Gendo's optimism, especially Ritsuko Akagi. As head scientist she did the numbers and knew without a shadow of doubt that detonating nearly one thousand N2 inside the angel would pretty much reduce Shinji's chance for survival to nil, which had been why they had waited this long in the first place. So the good doctor had very good reason to wonder about Gendo's motives, knowing how important Shinji and EVA 01 were to his plans, she couldn't understand why he would run the pretty high risk of losing both sooner than he had too.
The same was true for Gendo's second in command. The old man may not have known the numbers like Ritsuko but he knew of Gendo's plans just as well as her and could understand that an explosion of the planned magnitude would either vaporize or severely damage Unit 01.
The other members of the bridge crew didn't know of Gendo's plans, they just found his attitude sickening.
And Misato, well...
'I'm gonna rip his fucking heart out and shove it up his ass and then.. '
I think you get my drift.
*******************
Finally the aircraft were in position and their cargo was dropped. Rei and Asuka watched from a safe distance as a thousand little specks descended and were swallowed up one after another by the black mass that made up the angel's shadow.
Nothing happened several moments after the last mine had vanished, when suddenly the black circle shrank in on itself in the blink of an eye, only to vanish completely like it had never existed
In the main control room Maya confirmed what everybody had seen. "Blue pattern has vanished. The angel is gone."
Hearing the crisis was over, Misato was quick to contact the pilots. "Asuka, Rei? Any sign of Unit 01 or Shinji?"
"No sign of Unit 01 or pilot Ikari Major."
"I can't see _anything_ . Either those bombs really vaporized everything in there or it isn't here.
By now Misato was looking a little frazzled. "Come on. There has to be some sign of him!"
Asuka snorted. "Will you stop whining already? That's only what he deserved for running off like he did. Stupid baka; always playing the hero!" Strangely her voice sounded a little strained at the end.
In the control room Misato gripped the console as hard as she could. '.I need a drink.' Decisions made, the major marched out of the control room without saying anything else, the first tears already falling.
By then, even Gendo was getting a little concerned. On screen the only visible thing were the two EVA's. "Dr. Akagi, where is Unit 01?"
Ritsuko looked at the screen with a calculating eye, masking her own surprise. "All the calculations indicated that at least _something_ of Unit 01 should have survived that blast, which should have been ejected after the angel was destroyed. Obviously that has not happened, so my best guess would be, either it was destroyed inside the angel.or the point of exit was somewhere else"
Gendo raised and eyebrow "Which means?"
Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't have a clue."
Next to Gendo, Fuyutsuki Kouzou watched with just a little bit of satisfaction as the man's mask of indifference fell for just a moment to reveal sheer surprise underneath. 'Well, well my old friend.it seems your scenario has just taken a very different course than what you expected...or SEELE for that matter.'
End Prologue
********************
Author's notes:
Well, that was the prologue. Pretty open ended huh? Well, that was my intention.
As usual I want to thank my pre-readers RanShin, NuStrike and kuracao for their input. Next time you guys will have a little more to read over! That's a promise.