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| Returning home |
The world of Tokyo III was a fortress.
Largely in the hands of the Adeptus Mechanicus, its factories rivalled even those of Mars in producing war machines and weapons. Its continents were covered with trenches and razorwire, artillery emplacements and surface-to- space missile silos. In the sky hung great orbital forts, titanic warships and countless fighter crafts, in-between veritable clouds of orbital mines.
Fortifications were built upon fortifications. The vast population struggled and lived in the shadows of near-fossilized cooling towers of plasma cannons and laser batteries. Even the imperial temples and cathedrals were dwarfed next to the monstrous barrels of the ancient weaponry. Trenches and tunnels as old as the Imperium itself criss-crossed the interior of the planet.
Four Imperial Guard regiments were stationed on the world, along with multitudes of Tech-Guard, the Mechanicus' own army. An Imperator titan guarded the Lord Commander's palace, a titan which had been touched by the hand of the Emperor himself while he still walked among men.
Tokyo III could repel any foe. It was the most heavily defended world outside the Cadian Gate, and military hub of the Segmentum Obscurus. Home to the Segmentae's highest military leader, the Lord Commander Obscurus, Gendo Ikari.
Shinji's father. Who suddenly and for no apparent reason wanted him back.
Shinji was standing inside the Tokai arrival hall, watching dust drift by in the dim light shining in through the high-set windows. The great hall was completely empty, except for a few pigeons nestled among the gargoyles on the walls. The train tracks stood abandoned, their ancient coils of magnetic wire humming quietly in the gloom. On a great stone tablet in the far end of the hall, words glowing with a dull yellow light announced that no trains were leaving or entering Tokai in the near future.
Why had he even come here? Shinji looked down at the object in his hand, a roll of parchment bearing the seal of the Lord Commander. It held three words and a picture. The words were 'Come. Gendo Ikari', and the picture was of a woman named Katsuragi. Shinji sighed. He hadn't even seen his father in more than a decade. What was he hoping for?
He studied the picture for what must have been the tenth time since he arrived in Tokai. It showed a rather attractive woman, dressed in the loose- fitting black robes of the Sororitas. Her dark hair was cut in the simple way favoured by the sisterhood, ending just below the jaw line, framing a serene-looking face. Around her neck hung a small I-shaped pendant, the holy symbol of the Ecclesiarchy. Scribbled across the surface of the picture was a sentence saying 'I will be picking you up. / Misato Katsuragi.'
Shinji smiled back at the face in the picture, but it failed to reach his eyes. At least he was used to having Sisters around, having been raised mostly by various imperial servants.
Somewhere in the distance, the tolling of a bell could be heard. Shinji looked up from the picture, and found himself staring into a pair of strange eyes. Across the hall stood a girl his age, her skin pale, almost white, her hair a discrete bluish colour. Her face was void of all emotion. All this only helped to accent her intense, blood-red eyes.
They stared at each-other for what seemed like an eternity. Then Shinji blinked, and the girl was gone.
Startled, he scanned the room for her. Finding nothing, he lifted his gaze to the western windows, just in time to see a trail of fire descending upon him.
A split second later the wall was smashed asunder as a blazing chunk of metal came roaring down from the heavens. The floor and the tracks were torn to shreds as it bounced and tumbled like a bizarre toy upon impacting with the ground. With the inhuman wail of metal against stone the object grinded to a halt not five meters from were Shinji lay cowering, arms over his head.
As the debris stopped falling, Shinji slowly looked up from his spot on the floor. The thing in front of him was almost as huge as the locomotive that had carried him into Tokai, but charred beyond any hope of recognition. It was smoldering, and in places still burned with white-hot flames.
As he slowly came to his senses, he could hear as well as feel the ground shudder under the impact of more things falling from the sky.
"Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji gasped in surprise and spun around to face this new voice, managing to place himself in a rather awkward position on the floor. In the now open gates of the arrival hall, looking down on him, stood sister Katsuragi, and there wasn't anything remotely serene about her. In her left hand was a bulky pistol, the barrel by far wider than Shinji's wrist, and the way she handled it suggested that she barely noticed its presence. There was something in her eyes that Shinji couldn't quite place, and a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Been waiting long?"
Shinji blinked twice, too unnerved by resent events to really know what to say.
"Er…no."
"Good." The Sister motioned with her free hand for him to come with her. "What do you say we get out of here before we get one of those things in the head, eh?"
Shinji scrambled to his feet, snatched up his small satchel, and followed her as she left the building.
Outside, it was raining fire and brimstone. Streaks of flame tore across the sky, and above them the heavens were filled with flashes and thunder. Occasionally one of the descending flames would smash into the sides of a towering cathedral or cooling plant, throwing clouds of fire into the air.
Sister Katsuragi had a bike waiting for them, its engine already running. It was made in the same bulky design as the Sister's weapon, and seemed to have more armour-plating than actual bike. Despite this, it was capable of quite impressive velocities, something Shinji quickly became aware of as he placed himself behind Katsuragi and the pair took off.
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Inside the Geo-front fortress, a number of high-ranking Guard officers sat staring into the giant screen at the far end of the fortress' command bridge. Around them, tech-priests raced to and fro, speaking hurriedly to each-other in their own ancient language, ordering around servitors to perform a multitude of tasks. Spread throughout the room were also a handful of ordinary staff personnel, most of them looking quite nervous about being so close to the enigmatic servants of the Machine God.
On the screen, they could see their forces being swept away by the onslaught of the alien horde. The brutish, green-skinned creatures were no match for the disciplined Guard as long as they could keep their distance. But the invaders were overwhelming the guardsmen in the landing areas, and once the fighting degenerated into bitter hand-to-hand struggle the humans were chanceless.
That was not the main problem, though. A warship was already on the move in high orbit, waiting to unleash its load of plasma warheads over the area.
No, worse were the two great engines of war that the aliens had brought with them, and which seemed to repel all attacks made against them. Two crude, gargantuan things of steel and iron, resembling nothing as much as walking mountains. Their surfaces were covered with cannons, guns, arcane death-rays and great wrecking devices. Painted in bright, colourful patterns, each machine was topped with the mockery of a head, with a heavy, jutting jaw and great cannon-barrels where the eyes should be.
And all attacks simply bounced of their ironclad hides.
As the rain of death started, annihilating guardsman and alien alike, the two giants simply trotted along, as if the plasma missiles were indeed no more than raindrops.
The officers looked at each-other, and then nodded in unison.
"Deploy the Foehammer." they said.
On his dais above them, Gendo Ikari smiled at their ignorance.
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Zooming down a broad avenue, Shinji finally got a chance to catch his breath and go over the events of the last few minutes in his head. It summed up to one sentence.
"What is happening?!" he shouted over the rushing air.
"Hm?" His driver glanced back at him, taking her eyes, Shinji noted nervously, completely of the road. "Alien invaders." she stated matter-of- factly. "Their dropships are making suicide runs through our orbital defences. As you can see…" Shinji was suddenly jerked sideways, as the bike veered to avoid a chunk of falling stone. "…most of them don't make it."
Aliens? Shinji shuddered. He knew nothing about them, and wished for it to remain so. All he knew was that aliens were evil incarnate, being outside the holy light of the Emperor. 'The Enemy Without' he remembered them being referred to, as opposed to mutants, 'The Enemy Within'. He had a nagging suspicion that there had been a third enemy, but he couldn't for his life remember what it was. Thus far gone in his musings, Shinji's train of thought was interrupted by the fact that he was almost stepped on.
A great, elephantine foot came crashing down in front of them, covering the width of the road. Sister Katsuragi swore out loud and tried turning the bike sharply to the left, but failed miserably. The bike fell over on the side, sending driver and passenger rolling across the ground, and skidded the last few meters into the gigantic foot, smashing into it with a metallic bang.
As he opened his eyes, Shinji could see the Imperator towering above him.
Its feet were bastions, its shoulders were fortresses, its arms were cannons so great that no armour could withstand them. It was the greatest weapon known to man, and its eyes glowed red with righteous fury. It was the Foehammer, it had seen the ancient battlefields of northern Africa, and it was going to send the aliens fleeing back into the void.
So, in slow, enormous strides, the titan moved away from them, seemingly wading through the sea that was the city.
Katsuragi was quickly on her feet, shouting unpleasant and, for a Sister, quite unsuitable things after the retreating war machine. Having thus vented her anger somewhat, her face suddenly got a look of concern as she turned her attention to Shinji, who was still on his back on the ground.
"You okay?"
Shinji slowly sat up, prodding various body parts. Although his entire body felt like one large bruise, nothing seemed broken.
"I think so."
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The officers stared at the screen in horror.
The Foehammer had managed to cripple one of the alien machines, a large part of its lower hull and right leg torn away. The other one had a few dents and burns, but had received no serious damage.
In return, the Foehammer was no more. Its powerful arms were ripped off like the wings of a fly, its mighty torso beaten to a pulp. Collapsed on its side, its eyes shone no more. Those of the crew that had survived were making a desperate last stand from inside the lower legs, but it was just a matter of time before they were overrun by the green tide of aliens swarming out from the hideous engines of war.
"The machine spirit has silenced." a tech-priest finally said, breaking the stunned silence. "The Foehammer is dead."
"The imperial staff may leave us." Although not loud, the Lord Commander's voice rang throughout the hall. "We have no more need for you here."
Knowing full well the reward of failure, the present officers panicked, and cacophony erupted.
"My lord! There are still reserves left! We can overcome this!"
"We can have an armoured company mobilized and ready in…!"
"The fleet! The fleet will…!"
With a single gesture, the Lord Commander silenced them.
"You may return to your respective regiments. If you feel you are in need of assistance to do so, I can have the Arbites escort you."
A few seconds passed, then the officers rose, gathered their personnel and marched out under silence, choosing to preserve what dignity they had left.
Up on the dais, Fuyutsuki leaned closer to the lord.
"What will you have done with them?"
"Nothing, of course. They are all very capable men."
"And when will you let them know that?"
"No sooner than I need to. Fear is a great motivator."
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"Can you believe what they did to this bike? It's been in service for almost three generations. It survived the entire Badab war without a single scratch. And now look at it!"
The bike was indeed not a pretty sight, as it now travelled through the city in a less angst-producing speed. It might have survived the Badab war, but the foot of a titan was more than it could handle. Its right side was bumped up pretty bad, and the engine was making strange noises every now and then.
Katsuragi had proven quite talkative, once they had been able to hear each-other, and she had chatted away quite happily for the last fifteen minutes. Not that Shinji was really listening, his thoughts elsewhere.
"Sister Katsuragi?" he finally asked.
"Yes?"
"You work for my father?"
"Well, yes and no." She smiled a crooked smile. "I serve, as all members of the order, under the Ecclessiarch. But I guess you could say that I lease my services to Lord Commander Ikari. Why?"
"Well…" Shinji hesitated, not sure how to put his words. "You just don't seem like the type of person I would associate with him." Then he quickly added "I didn't mean it as an insult!"
This caused the woman to laugh heartily.
"Don't worry, Shinji." She flashed him a smile. "I'm not insulted, quite the opposite." Then she suddenly became serious again. "You don't get along very well with your father, do you?"
Shinji sighed.
"No. Not really."
"Oh well, like me and my father sometimes, then."
Shinji nodded sadly. Then he remembered something. All Sisters were orphans raised by the order, thus the father she was referring to was most likely the Emperor.
"Er…sister Katsuragi?"
"Hm?"
Realising that it was not his place to preach proper reverence to a member of the Adepta Sororitas, Shinji decided to drop the subject.
"Nothing."
"Okay. Oh, and Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"Call me Misato, everyone else does."
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Being lost, Shinji concluded, was not such a bad thing after all. It postponed the inevitable reunion with his father, for one thing.
They had been walking through the winding corridors of the Lord Commander's palace for what felt like hours, and since passing the outer gates they hadn't seen a single living creature. It was eerie, the way these great halls just stood empty and abandoned. In some places, the dust had been knee-deep.
"I knew I should have brought my armour." Misato complained for the fifth time in just under ten minutes. Her armour, she had explained, contained communication devices with which she could have called for assistance.
Currently, they were making their way down a long, dimly lit hallway. In the far end was a set of gates, standing slightly ajar. Set between the columns supporting the arching ceiling were narrow windows, revealing that this had once been the outskirts of the building. Now, all that could be seen through them were other corridors, dark and silent.
Suddenly, without making a sound, a figure emerged from the shadows beyond the gates. It was tall and hooded, dressed in a whitish robe that concealed all features. Behind it other forms could be seen waiting. Shinji gasped and took a step back, while Misato halted and raised her gun halfway up from her side.
A few, tensed seconds passed, then a feminine voice said:
"Lost again, Misato?"
"Oh, Ritsuko, really!" Misato tried to sound scorned, but her relief was evident. "Why do you always sneak around like that?"
The newcomer lowered her hood, and revealed a middle-aged woman, her face tensed up in unconscious concentration, and looking slightly irritated. Mingled in her blond hair were thick, multicoloured strands of some strange material.
"You should have been here half an hour ago."
"Well, I sort of took a wrong turn somewhere…" Misato tried to cover her embarrassment with a smile. "It's the lack of lighting, you see."
The other woman glanced at the ceiling, and a yellowish light flickered to life above them.
"Better?"
"…yeah."
On the other side of the gates, Shinji could now see four thin creatures. They were human in appearance, but had most of their body parts replaced by machinery and tools. He recognized them as servitors, the half-machine, half-human slave-caste of Mars. They were the property of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
As the company left, followed by the staggering servitors, Misato introduced them.
"Ritsuko, this is Shinji Ikari. Shinji, this is Magos Ritsuko Akagi."
"Pleased to meet you, Shinji." The Magos looked over her shoulder and graced him with a smile.
"Pleased to meet you, Magos Akagi." Shinji replied, a little unsure. He couldn't remember what Magos meant, but knew that it was an important Mechanicus title. He was confused by the fact that the Magos had gone out herself to fetch them, instead of sending a servitor. His father couldn't possibly think that highly of him.
"So, how is the battle going?" Misato asked after a while.
"Not in our favour." Akagi shook her head, the weird threads in her hair jingling. Shinji suddenly realised that they were cables protruding from the tech-priest's head. "We have lost the Foehammer, along with almost an entire Imperial Guard regiment and three Tech-Guard companies."
"And my sisters?"
"The Lord Commander is keeping them in the palace."
"What?!" Misato cried out, shock and anger in her voice. "What's he thinking? We've faced these creatures before, we can take them out like…like…"
"No, not these aliens. This time it's…" the Magos glanced at Shinji, then back up at the Sister, "…them."
Misato blinked.
"Them?"
"The Enemy Beyond."
There was a moment of silence.
"Now? Why wasn't I informed earlier?"
"We weren't sure…until the Foehammer went down."
"But…now? Rei's still in the Apothecaria. She's so bad that half the time she doesn't know her own name, let alone how to pilot. We have no- one…else…" A shocked expression flashed across Misato's face "…do we?" She stared at the tech-priest, who nodded. "No! You can't be serious! He's had no training! It took Rei seven months to get where she is now, and you know where that is, don't you?"
"Have faith in the machine spirit." Akagi replied calmly.
"Machine spirit? Ritsuko, this isn't one of your laboratories, this is war! Those who lack faith loose the war, yes, but so do they who lack soldiers! And we have no soldiers!"
"Then pray to the Emperor that this boy grows into a soldier real fast!" the Magos, now angered, answered. "For the Machine God has provided us with weapons. And that," she concluded, "is what we have."
Shinji, feeling like the involuntary centre of a discussion he was unable to follow, looked from Misato to the tech-priest. They were expecting him to do something for them. No, correction, his father was expecting him to do something for him. He should have known all along. Something he was never going to be able to do.
They trudged on in silence, Misato looking miserable and Shinji feeling like it. Akagi led them on, walking a few feet in front of them. In a matter of minutes they came upon another set of gates, this one guarded by two Sisters in heavy, black armour.
"Sister-Captain." they greeted Misato as the company came up to the gates.
"Sisters." She nodded in recognition to each of them.
One of the Sisters touched a small device situated at the neck of her armour, and spoke into it.
"Captain Katsuragi and a company of two seek entrance."
Shinji glanced at the servitors. They obviously didn't count.
Slowly, the gates opened, being hauled into the walls by some ancient machinery. In the darkness beyond Shinji could see a multitude of lights flickering, like lost fireflies. He thought he could hear a low chanting emerging from inside.
The Magos ushered him inside, followed by Misato and the four servitors. Then the gates closed, leaving them surrounded by the star-sprinkled darkness and its murmur of voices. There was a strange scent in the air, something Shinji couldn't quite place but reminded him of the temple back home.
Then a cold white light beat down from above, and Shinji found himself staring into a massive face.
It was a titanic, inhuman face, its eyes black holes and its forehead adorned with a great horn. Its sharp chin jutted out, and above it a thin, jagged line revealed the possibility of a mouth. The head to which this face belonged had the half-dome, half-cone shaped form of ancient battle helmets. The head in turn was attached to a thin, dexterous body, of which only the shoulders emerged from the lake of red liquid in which the titan was submerged. The thing was coloured in a weird purple and black scheme, and seemed to emit menace even as it stood there.
Shinji and his companions were standing on a pier of sorts, right in front of the enormous face. And all around them, throughout the room, tech- priests and their servitors were milling about, carrying lights and censers and chanting the praise of the Machine God.
"This is the Evangelion, Shinji." Akagi said, a look of fearful reverence on her face. "Mankind's greatest weapon, greater even than the Imperator. It has taken generations to create…"
"And you want me to pilot it?" Shinji asked, shoulders slumped, defeat in his voice.
"Yes."
The voice had come from above. Shinji looked up, and saw his father standing in an alcove in the wall above the Evangelion. He had discarded his lordly regalia in favour of a simple naval uniform, void of all decorations. He wore a pair of round glasses, making his eyes invisible in the sharp light, and a thin beard trailed his jaw line. And in Shinji's eyes, he was more intimidating than any number of Evangelions.
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In the battered streets of Tokai, the two alien war machines stood uncontested. The Guard had made a hasty retreat, leaving the invading savages to roam free in the area. The only imperial presence were a few servitors fitted with cameras and monitor equipment, who prowled the empty streets in an attempt to keep the intruders under surveillance.
The damaged machine was a hive of frantic activity. Hundreds of the green- skinned creatures swarmed over its surface, wielding crude welding-torches, hammers and spanners. Repairs were going at an incredible pace. In places, the metal even seemed to heal itself.
Its companion was wandering around seemingly at random, venting its bloodlust at anything that happened to come in its way, be it humans or buildings. Its right eye was an inferno of crackling energies, the muzzle of an extremely primitive but highly destructive electric weapon. Every now and then, it would turn its ugly head and blaze away with this weapon at an especially offending tower or stretch of road.
Around this sparkling eye, the aliens had painted a great set of eyelids. In place of lashes, it had arrows pointing out in every direction. This arrow-design reoccurred on several places on both machines, but was somehow different in style and obviously a later addition to the original paint job.
After half an hour of frenzied repairs, the damaged machine took a first, shuddering step on its brand new leg, its exhaust pipes roaring.
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"It's impossible! I can't do it!" Shinji clenched his teeth and stared into the liquid before him, thus avoiding his father's eyes. "You can't make me!"
The chamber rocked under the force of a nearby bombardment, and dust fell from the ceiling. The attacks had been getting closer and closer during the last few minutes.
"Yes, Shinji, I can." The Lord Commander's calm voice betrayed the authority he indeed possessed. There was no doubt that he could have anyone on Tokyo III do whatever he pleased. "But I won't. I'll leave the decision to you. If you won't do it, you can always be replaced."
"This isn't what I came here for!"
Gendo Ikari looked down on his son, and Shinji could hear the question before it passed his father's lips. Asking him, 'Then what did you come here for?'.
But he never heard it. Instead, the Lord Commander simply nodded.
"Very well." He motioned for someone standing in the shadows behind him. "Fetch Rei. The spare pilot is obviously useless. Magos, reconfigure unit one for Rei."
"Yes, Lord Commander." Akagi replied, exchanging worried glances with Misato before turning to instruct her servitors.
Shinji stood, eyes on the ground, incoherent thoughts running through his head. Useless and replaced, as always.
Within a minute, a metal slab was wheeled in, accompanied by a swarm of apothecaries in white-red robes. Shinji gasped as he saw, lying on it and heavily bandaged, the girl he had seen earlier in the arrival hall. Same pale skin, same blue hair, and same intense red eyes.
The entire thing came to a halt, and the girl was helped to sit up, wincing in pain as she did so. Shinji stared at her. They were going to send her out there, instead of him. Because he was useless.
Suddenly an explosion shook the entire chamber, and threw everyone to the floor. A large section of the ceiling gave way under the sudden stress, and a chunk of rock came crashing down towards the pier were Shinji stood. In a futile gesture he threw his arms over his head and knelt on the floor, clenching his eyes shut.
The dust settled, and Shinji realised he was still alive, and that people were shouting around him.
"It moved! It moved!"
"It's a miracle!"
Shinji looked up, and saw the palm of a great hand stretched out above him.
"The machine spirit intervened to save the child!"
Around him, the tech-priests had gone into a veritable frenzy. The Evangelion's arm was hovering over the assembly, having torn loose from its restraints. And above, Gendo Ikari watched with a smug smile on his face.
Shinji looked around, and saw the pale girl lying limp on the floor. He dashed up and ran to her side. Helping her into a half sitting position, he could see blood soaking through her bandages. Lying in his lap, her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at Shinji with a look of confusion.
"Perturabo...?" she whispered, stretching out a hand towards him. Then her face was contorted in agony as pain once again overtook her body.
Sitting there, with this suffering girl in his arms, Shinji realised that he could not bear to have her go through even more pain because of him.
"I mustn't run away…" he whispered to himself, over and over. The he raised his voice. "I'll do it! I'll pilot this thing!"
"I see." the Lord Commander said, still smiling. "Magos, abort the reconfiguration. Get the new pilot in place."
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Shinji soon found himself sitting completely nude inside a capsule inserted into the neck of the Evangelion. It had been flooded by an orange liquid that, besides from being completely disgusting, was fully breathable. It reminded him eerily of blood. Heavy cables were connected to his wrists and neck, stretching his skin uncomfortably whenever he moved to much.
"Shinji?" He suddenly heard Misato's voice ring inside the enclosed space.
"Y-yes?" he stuttered, looking around.
"We'll activate the Evangelion now, it might be a little confusing at first."
"Okay."
Suddenly, strange colours and patterns were swirling around him, and an urgent feeling that he was upside-down overcame him. Then, as quickly as they had come, the strange impressions were gone, and Shinji was looking out through the eyes of the titan.
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At the command bridge, the tech-priests were gathered around the terminal were Maya was surveying the data from the Evangelion and its pilot. The conversation taking place was held in Tech, the archaic language of Mars.
All nerve-links closed, critical point passed.Maya said, staring at something only visible to her. Bundles of fibre connected her to her terminal. Setting up synchronization. She paused. He's got 46 percent synch-ratio.
Without any training? That's incredible!
The machine spirit is strong. Akagi simply stated.
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The Evangelion was a strange machine. It looked human, more so than the bulky shape of other titans, and aside from the rectangular blades that protruded from its knees and shoulders, its armour was lean and flexible. Despite this it had a feral, almost predatory look to it. A strange air of animalistic hunger seemed to surround it.
None of this was on Shinji's mind, though, as the Evangelion slowly rose from its deployment shaft into the streets of Tokai. As he came to a halt, he found himself standing over the corpse of the Foehammer, its dead eyes staring accusingly at him.
In the distance, the twin alien machines turned as one and set their burning gaze on this new predator.
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| Returning home |
The world of Tokyo III was a fortress.
Largely in the hands of the Adeptus Mechanicus, its factories rivalled even those of Mars in producing war machines and weapons. Its continents were covered with trenches and razorwire, artillery emplacements and surface-to- space missile silos. In the sky hung great orbital forts, titanic warships and countless fighter crafts, in-between veritable clouds of orbital mines.
Fortifications were built upon fortifications. The vast population struggled and lived in the shadows of near-fossilized cooling towers of plasma cannons and laser batteries. Even the imperial temples and cathedrals were dwarfed next to the monstrous barrels of the ancient weaponry. Trenches and tunnels as old as the Imperium itself criss-crossed the interior of the planet.
Four Imperial Guard regiments were stationed on the world, along with multitudes of Tech-Guard, the Mechanicus' own army. An Imperator titan guarded the Lord Commander's palace, a titan which had been touched by the hand of the Emperor himself while he still walked among men.
Tokyo III could repel any foe. It was the most heavily defended world outside the Cadian Gate, and military hub of the Segmentum Obscurus. Home to the Segmentae's highest military leader, the Lord Commander Obscurus, Gendo Ikari.
Shinji's father. Who suddenly and for no apparent reason wanted him back.
Shinji was standing inside the Tokai arrival hall, watching dust drift by in the dim light shining in through the high-set windows. The great hall was completely empty, except for a few pigeons nestled among the gargoyles on the walls. The train tracks stood abandoned, their ancient coils of magnetic wire humming quietly in the gloom. On a great stone tablet in the far end of the hall, words glowing with a dull yellow light announced that no trains were leaving or entering Tokai in the near future.
Why had he even come here? Shinji looked down at the object in his hand, a roll of parchment bearing the seal of the Lord Commander. It held three words and a picture. The words were 'Come. Gendo Ikari', and the picture was of a woman named Katsuragi. Shinji sighed. He hadn't even seen his father in more than a decade. What was he hoping for?
He studied the picture for what must have been the tenth time since he arrived in Tokai. It showed a rather attractive woman, dressed in the loose- fitting black robes of the Sororitas. Her dark hair was cut in the simple way favoured by the sisterhood, ending just below the jaw line, framing a serene-looking face. Around her neck hung a small I-shaped pendant, the holy symbol of the Ecclesiarchy. Scribbled across the surface of the picture was a sentence saying 'I will be picking you up. / Misato Katsuragi.'
Shinji smiled back at the face in the picture, but it failed to reach his eyes. At least he was used to having Sisters around, having been raised mostly by various imperial servants.
Somewhere in the distance, the tolling of a bell could be heard. Shinji looked up from the picture, and found himself staring into a pair of strange eyes. Across the hall stood a girl his age, her skin pale, almost white, her hair a discrete bluish colour. Her face was void of all emotion. All this only helped to accent her intense, blood-red eyes.
They stared at each-other for what seemed like an eternity. Then Shinji blinked, and the girl was gone.
Startled, he scanned the room for her. Finding nothing, he lifted his gaze to the western windows, just in time to see a trail of fire descending upon him.
A split second later the wall was smashed asunder as a blazing chunk of metal came roaring down from the heavens. The floor and the tracks were torn to shreds as it bounced and tumbled like a bizarre toy upon impacting with the ground. With the inhuman wail of metal against stone the object grinded to a halt not five meters from were Shinji lay cowering, arms over his head.
As the debris stopped falling, Shinji slowly looked up from his spot on the floor. The thing in front of him was almost as huge as the locomotive that had carried him into Tokai, but charred beyond any hope of recognition. It was smoldering, and in places still burned with white-hot flames.
As he slowly came to his senses, he could hear as well as feel the ground shudder under the impact of more things falling from the sky.
"Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji gasped in surprise and spun around to face this new voice, managing to place himself in a rather awkward position on the floor. In the now open gates of the arrival hall, looking down on him, stood sister Katsuragi, and there wasn't anything remotely serene about her. In her left hand was a bulky pistol, the barrel by far wider than Shinji's wrist, and the way she handled it suggested that she barely noticed its presence. There was something in her eyes that Shinji couldn't quite place, and a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Been waiting long?"
Shinji blinked twice, too unnerved by resent events to really know what to say.
"Er…no."
"Good." The Sister motioned with her free hand for him to come with her. "What do you say we get out of here before we get one of those things in the head, eh?"
Shinji scrambled to his feet, snatched up his small satchel, and followed her as she left the building.
Outside, it was raining fire and brimstone. Streaks of flame tore across the sky, and above them the heavens were filled with flashes and thunder. Occasionally one of the descending flames would smash into the sides of a towering cathedral or cooling plant, throwing clouds of fire into the air.
Sister Katsuragi had a bike waiting for them, its engine already running. It was made in the same bulky design as the Sister's weapon, and seemed to have more armour-plating than actual bike. Despite this, it was capable of quite impressive velocities, something Shinji quickly became aware of as he placed himself behind Katsuragi and the pair took off.
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Inside the Geo-front fortress, a number of high-ranking Guard officers sat staring into the giant screen at the far end of the fortress' command bridge. Around them, tech-priests raced to and fro, speaking hurriedly to each-other in their own ancient language, ordering around servitors to perform a multitude of tasks. Spread throughout the room were also a handful of ordinary staff personnel, most of them looking quite nervous about being so close to the enigmatic servants of the Machine God.
On the screen, they could see their forces being swept away by the onslaught of the alien horde. The brutish, green-skinned creatures were no match for the disciplined Guard as long as they could keep their distance. But the invaders were overwhelming the guardsmen in the landing areas, and once the fighting degenerated into bitter hand-to-hand struggle the humans were chanceless.
That was not the main problem, though. A warship was already on the move in high orbit, waiting to unleash its load of plasma warheads over the area.
No, worse were the two great engines of war that the aliens had brought with them, and which seemed to repel all attacks made against them. Two crude, gargantuan things of steel and iron, resembling nothing as much as walking mountains. Their surfaces were covered with cannons, guns, arcane death-rays and great wrecking devices. Painted in bright, colourful patterns, each machine was topped with the mockery of a head, with a heavy, jutting jaw and great cannon-barrels where the eyes should be.
And all attacks simply bounced of their ironclad hides.
As the rain of death started, annihilating guardsman and alien alike, the two giants simply trotted along, as if the plasma missiles were indeed no more than raindrops.
The officers looked at each-other, and then nodded in unison.
"Deploy the Foehammer." they said.
On his dais above them, Gendo Ikari smiled at their ignorance.
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Zooming down a broad avenue, Shinji finally got a chance to catch his breath and go over the events of the last few minutes in his head. It summed up to one sentence.
"What is happening?!" he shouted over the rushing air.
"Hm?" His driver glanced back at him, taking her eyes, Shinji noted nervously, completely of the road. "Alien invaders." she stated matter-of- factly. "Their dropships are making suicide runs through our orbital defences. As you can see…" Shinji was suddenly jerked sideways, as the bike veered to avoid a chunk of falling stone. "…most of them don't make it."
Aliens? Shinji shuddered. He knew nothing about them, and wished for it to remain so. All he knew was that aliens were evil incarnate, being outside the holy light of the Emperor. 'The Enemy Without' he remembered them being referred to, as opposed to mutants, 'The Enemy Within'. He had a nagging suspicion that there had been a third enemy, but he couldn't for his life remember what it was. Thus far gone in his musings, Shinji's train of thought was interrupted by the fact that he was almost stepped on.
A great, elephantine foot came crashing down in front of them, covering the width of the road. Sister Katsuragi swore out loud and tried turning the bike sharply to the left, but failed miserably. The bike fell over on the side, sending driver and passenger rolling across the ground, and skidded the last few meters into the gigantic foot, smashing into it with a metallic bang.
As he opened his eyes, Shinji could see the Imperator towering above him.
Its feet were bastions, its shoulders were fortresses, its arms were cannons so great that no armour could withstand them. It was the greatest weapon known to man, and its eyes glowed red with righteous fury. It was the Foehammer, it had seen the ancient battlefields of northern Africa, and it was going to send the aliens fleeing back into the void.
So, in slow, enormous strides, the titan moved away from them, seemingly wading through the sea that was the city.
Katsuragi was quickly on her feet, shouting unpleasant and, for a Sister, quite unsuitable things after the retreating war machine. Having thus vented her anger somewhat, her face suddenly got a look of concern as she turned her attention to Shinji, who was still on his back on the ground.
"You okay?"
Shinji slowly sat up, prodding various body parts. Although his entire body felt like one large bruise, nothing seemed broken.
"I think so."
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The officers stared at the screen in horror.
The Foehammer had managed to cripple one of the alien machines, a large part of its lower hull and right leg torn away. The other one had a few dents and burns, but had received no serious damage.
In return, the Foehammer was no more. Its powerful arms were ripped off like the wings of a fly, its mighty torso beaten to a pulp. Collapsed on its side, its eyes shone no more. Those of the crew that had survived were making a desperate last stand from inside the lower legs, but it was just a matter of time before they were overrun by the green tide of aliens swarming out from the hideous engines of war.
"The machine spirit has silenced." a tech-priest finally said, breaking the stunned silence. "The Foehammer is dead."
"The imperial staff may leave us." Although not loud, the Lord Commander's voice rang throughout the hall. "We have no more need for you here."
Knowing full well the reward of failure, the present officers panicked, and cacophony erupted.
"My lord! There are still reserves left! We can overcome this!"
"We can have an armoured company mobilized and ready in…!"
"The fleet! The fleet will…!"
With a single gesture, the Lord Commander silenced them.
"You may return to your respective regiments. If you feel you are in need of assistance to do so, I can have the Arbites escort you."
A few seconds passed, then the officers rose, gathered their personnel and marched out under silence, choosing to preserve what dignity they had left.
Up on the dais, Fuyutsuki leaned closer to the lord.
"What will you have done with them?"
"Nothing, of course. They are all very capable men."
"And when will you let them know that?"
"No sooner than I need to. Fear is a great motivator."
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"Can you believe what they did to this bike? It's been in service for almost three generations. It survived the entire Badab war without a single scratch. And now look at it!"
The bike was indeed not a pretty sight, as it now travelled through the city in a less angst-producing speed. It might have survived the Badab war, but the foot of a titan was more than it could handle. Its right side was bumped up pretty bad, and the engine was making strange noises every now and then.
Katsuragi had proven quite talkative, once they had been able to hear each-other, and she had chatted away quite happily for the last fifteen minutes. Not that Shinji was really listening, his thoughts elsewhere.
"Sister Katsuragi?" he finally asked.
"Yes?"
"You work for my father?"
"Well, yes and no." She smiled a crooked smile. "I serve, as all members of the order, under the Ecclessiarch. But I guess you could say that I lease my services to Lord Commander Ikari. Why?"
"Well…" Shinji hesitated, not sure how to put his words. "You just don't seem like the type of person I would associate with him." Then he quickly added "I didn't mean it as an insult!"
This caused the woman to laugh heartily.
"Don't worry, Shinji." She flashed him a smile. "I'm not insulted, quite the opposite." Then she suddenly became serious again. "You don't get along very well with your father, do you?"
Shinji sighed.
"No. Not really."
"Oh well, like me and my father sometimes, then."
Shinji nodded sadly. Then he remembered something. All Sisters were orphans raised by the order, thus the father she was referring to was most likely the Emperor.
"Er…sister Katsuragi?"
"Hm?"
Realising that it was not his place to preach proper reverence to a member of the Adepta Sororitas, Shinji decided to drop the subject.
"Nothing."
"Okay. Oh, and Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"Call me Misato, everyone else does."
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Being lost, Shinji concluded, was not such a bad thing after all. It postponed the inevitable reunion with his father, for one thing.
They had been walking through the winding corridors of the Lord Commander's palace for what felt like hours, and since passing the outer gates they hadn't seen a single living creature. It was eerie, the way these great halls just stood empty and abandoned. In some places, the dust had been knee-deep.
"I knew I should have brought my armour." Misato complained for the fifth time in just under ten minutes. Her armour, she had explained, contained communication devices with which she could have called for assistance.
Currently, they were making their way down a long, dimly lit hallway. In the far end was a set of gates, standing slightly ajar. Set between the columns supporting the arching ceiling were narrow windows, revealing that this had once been the outskirts of the building. Now, all that could be seen through them were other corridors, dark and silent.
Suddenly, without making a sound, a figure emerged from the shadows beyond the gates. It was tall and hooded, dressed in a whitish robe that concealed all features. Behind it other forms could be seen waiting. Shinji gasped and took a step back, while Misato halted and raised her gun halfway up from her side.
A few, tensed seconds passed, then a feminine voice said:
"Lost again, Misato?"
"Oh, Ritsuko, really!" Misato tried to sound scorned, but her relief was evident. "Why do you always sneak around like that?"
The newcomer lowered her hood, and revealed a middle-aged woman, her face tensed up in unconscious concentration, and looking slightly irritated. Mingled in her blond hair were thick, multicoloured strands of some strange material.
"You should have been here half an hour ago."
"Well, I sort of took a wrong turn somewhere…" Misato tried to cover her embarrassment with a smile. "It's the lack of lighting, you see."
The other woman glanced at the ceiling, and a yellowish light flickered to life above them.
"Better?"
"…yeah."
On the other side of the gates, Shinji could now see four thin creatures. They were human in appearance, but had most of their body parts replaced by machinery and tools. He recognized them as servitors, the half-machine, half-human slave-caste of Mars. They were the property of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
As the company left, followed by the staggering servitors, Misato introduced them.
"Ritsuko, this is Shinji Ikari. Shinji, this is Magos Ritsuko Akagi."
"Pleased to meet you, Shinji." The Magos looked over her shoulder and graced him with a smile.
"Pleased to meet you, Magos Akagi." Shinji replied, a little unsure. He couldn't remember what Magos meant, but knew that it was an important Mechanicus title. He was confused by the fact that the Magos had gone out herself to fetch them, instead of sending a servitor. His father couldn't possibly think that highly of him.
"So, how is the battle going?" Misato asked after a while.
"Not in our favour." Akagi shook her head, the weird threads in her hair jingling. Shinji suddenly realised that they were cables protruding from the tech-priest's head. "We have lost the Foehammer, along with almost an entire Imperial Guard regiment and three Tech-Guard companies."
"And my sisters?"
"The Lord Commander is keeping them in the palace."
"What?!" Misato cried out, shock and anger in her voice. "What's he thinking? We've faced these creatures before, we can take them out like…like…"
"No, not these aliens. This time it's…" the Magos glanced at Shinji, then back up at the Sister, "…them."
Misato blinked.
"Them?"
"The Enemy Beyond."
There was a moment of silence.
"Now? Why wasn't I informed earlier?"
"We weren't sure…until the Foehammer went down."
"But…now? Rei's still in the Apothecaria. She's so bad that half the time she doesn't know her own name, let alone how to pilot. We have no- one…else…" A shocked expression flashed across Misato's face "…do we?" She stared at the tech-priest, who nodded. "No! You can't be serious! He's had no training! It took Rei seven months to get where she is now, and you know where that is, don't you?"
"Have faith in the machine spirit." Akagi replied calmly.
"Machine spirit? Ritsuko, this isn't one of your laboratories, this is war! Those who lack faith loose the war, yes, but so do they who lack soldiers! And we have no soldiers!"
"Then pray to the Emperor that this boy grows into a soldier real fast!" the Magos, now angered, answered. "For the Machine God has provided us with weapons. And that," she concluded, "is what we have."
Shinji, feeling like the involuntary centre of a discussion he was unable to follow, looked from Misato to the tech-priest. They were expecting him to do something for them. No, correction, his father was expecting him to do something for him. He should have known all along. Something he was never going to be able to do.
They trudged on in silence, Misato looking miserable and Shinji feeling like it. Akagi led them on, walking a few feet in front of them. In a matter of minutes they came upon another set of gates, this one guarded by two Sisters in heavy, black armour.
"Sister-Captain." they greeted Misato as the company came up to the gates.
"Sisters." She nodded in recognition to each of them.
One of the Sisters touched a small device situated at the neck of her armour, and spoke into it.
"Captain Katsuragi and a company of two seek entrance."
Shinji glanced at the servitors. They obviously didn't count.
Slowly, the gates opened, being hauled into the walls by some ancient machinery. In the darkness beyond Shinji could see a multitude of lights flickering, like lost fireflies. He thought he could hear a low chanting emerging from inside.
The Magos ushered him inside, followed by Misato and the four servitors. Then the gates closed, leaving them surrounded by the star-sprinkled darkness and its murmur of voices. There was a strange scent in the air, something Shinji couldn't quite place but reminded him of the temple back home.
Then a cold white light beat down from above, and Shinji found himself staring into a massive face.
It was a titanic, inhuman face, its eyes black holes and its forehead adorned with a great horn. Its sharp chin jutted out, and above it a thin, jagged line revealed the possibility of a mouth. The head to which this face belonged had the half-dome, half-cone shaped form of ancient battle helmets. The head in turn was attached to a thin, dexterous body, of which only the shoulders emerged from the lake of red liquid in which the titan was submerged. The thing was coloured in a weird purple and black scheme, and seemed to emit menace even as it stood there.
Shinji and his companions were standing on a pier of sorts, right in front of the enormous face. And all around them, throughout the room, tech- priests and their servitors were milling about, carrying lights and censers and chanting the praise of the Machine God.
"This is the Evangelion, Shinji." Akagi said, a look of fearful reverence on her face. "Mankind's greatest weapon, greater even than the Imperator. It has taken generations to create…"
"And you want me to pilot it?" Shinji asked, shoulders slumped, defeat in his voice.
"Yes."
The voice had come from above. Shinji looked up, and saw his father standing in an alcove in the wall above the Evangelion. He had discarded his lordly regalia in favour of a simple naval uniform, void of all decorations. He wore a pair of round glasses, making his eyes invisible in the sharp light, and a thin beard trailed his jaw line. And in Shinji's eyes, he was more intimidating than any number of Evangelions.
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In the battered streets of Tokai, the two alien war machines stood uncontested. The Guard had made a hasty retreat, leaving the invading savages to roam free in the area. The only imperial presence were a few servitors fitted with cameras and monitor equipment, who prowled the empty streets in an attempt to keep the intruders under surveillance.
The damaged machine was a hive of frantic activity. Hundreds of the green- skinned creatures swarmed over its surface, wielding crude welding-torches, hammers and spanners. Repairs were going at an incredible pace. In places, the metal even seemed to heal itself.
Its companion was wandering around seemingly at random, venting its bloodlust at anything that happened to come in its way, be it humans or buildings. Its right eye was an inferno of crackling energies, the muzzle of an extremely primitive but highly destructive electric weapon. Every now and then, it would turn its ugly head and blaze away with this weapon at an especially offending tower or stretch of road.
Around this sparkling eye, the aliens had painted a great set of eyelids. In place of lashes, it had arrows pointing out in every direction. This arrow-design reoccurred on several places on both machines, but was somehow different in style and obviously a later addition to the original paint job.
After half an hour of frenzied repairs, the damaged machine took a first, shuddering step on its brand new leg, its exhaust pipes roaring.
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"It's impossible! I can't do it!" Shinji clenched his teeth and stared into the liquid before him, thus avoiding his father's eyes. "You can't make me!"
The chamber rocked under the force of a nearby bombardment, and dust fell from the ceiling. The attacks had been getting closer and closer during the last few minutes.
"Yes, Shinji, I can." The Lord Commander's calm voice betrayed the authority he indeed possessed. There was no doubt that he could have anyone on Tokyo III do whatever he pleased. "But I won't. I'll leave the decision to you. If you won't do it, you can always be replaced."
"This isn't what I came here for!"
Gendo Ikari looked down on his son, and Shinji could hear the question before it passed his father's lips. Asking him, 'Then what did you come here for?'.
But he never heard it. Instead, the Lord Commander simply nodded.
"Very well." He motioned for someone standing in the shadows behind him. "Fetch Rei. The spare pilot is obviously useless. Magos, reconfigure unit one for Rei."
"Yes, Lord Commander." Akagi replied, exchanging worried glances with Misato before turning to instruct her servitors.
Shinji stood, eyes on the ground, incoherent thoughts running through his head. Useless and replaced, as always.
Within a minute, a metal slab was wheeled in, accompanied by a swarm of apothecaries in white-red robes. Shinji gasped as he saw, lying on it and heavily bandaged, the girl he had seen earlier in the arrival hall. Same pale skin, same blue hair, and same intense red eyes.
The entire thing came to a halt, and the girl was helped to sit up, wincing in pain as she did so. Shinji stared at her. They were going to send her out there, instead of him. Because he was useless.
Suddenly an explosion shook the entire chamber, and threw everyone to the floor. A large section of the ceiling gave way under the sudden stress, and a chunk of rock came crashing down towards the pier were Shinji stood. In a futile gesture he threw his arms over his head and knelt on the floor, clenching his eyes shut.
The dust settled, and Shinji realised he was still alive, and that people were shouting around him.
"It moved! It moved!"
"It's a miracle!"
Shinji looked up, and saw the palm of a great hand stretched out above him.
"The machine spirit intervened to save the child!"
Around him, the tech-priests had gone into a veritable frenzy. The Evangelion's arm was hovering over the assembly, having torn loose from its restraints. And above, Gendo Ikari watched with a smug smile on his face.
Shinji looked around, and saw the pale girl lying limp on the floor. He dashed up and ran to her side. Helping her into a half sitting position, he could see blood soaking through her bandages. Lying in his lap, her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at Shinji with a look of confusion.
"Perturabo...?" she whispered, stretching out a hand towards him. Then her face was contorted in agony as pain once again overtook her body.
Sitting there, with this suffering girl in his arms, Shinji realised that he could not bear to have her go through even more pain because of him.
"I mustn't run away…" he whispered to himself, over and over. The he raised his voice. "I'll do it! I'll pilot this thing!"
"I see." the Lord Commander said, still smiling. "Magos, abort the reconfiguration. Get the new pilot in place."
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Shinji soon found himself sitting completely nude inside a capsule inserted into the neck of the Evangelion. It had been flooded by an orange liquid that, besides from being completely disgusting, was fully breathable. It reminded him eerily of blood. Heavy cables were connected to his wrists and neck, stretching his skin uncomfortably whenever he moved to much.
"Shinji?" He suddenly heard Misato's voice ring inside the enclosed space.
"Y-yes?" he stuttered, looking around.
"We'll activate the Evangelion now, it might be a little confusing at first."
"Okay."
Suddenly, strange colours and patterns were swirling around him, and an urgent feeling that he was upside-down overcame him. Then, as quickly as they had come, the strange impressions were gone, and Shinji was looking out through the eyes of the titan.
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At the command bridge, the tech-priests were gathered around the terminal were Maya was surveying the data from the Evangelion and its pilot. The conversation taking place was held in Tech, the archaic language of Mars.
All nerve-links closed, critical point passed.Maya said, staring at something only visible to her. Bundles of fibre connected her to her terminal. Setting up synchronization. She paused. He's got 46 percent synch-ratio.
Without any training? That's incredible!
The machine spirit is strong. Akagi simply stated.
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The Evangelion was a strange machine. It looked human, more so than the bulky shape of other titans, and aside from the rectangular blades that protruded from its knees and shoulders, its armour was lean and flexible. Despite this it had a feral, almost predatory look to it. A strange air of animalistic hunger seemed to surround it.
None of this was on Shinji's mind, though, as the Evangelion slowly rose from its deployment shaft into the streets of Tokai. As he came to a halt, he found himself standing over the corpse of the Foehammer, its dead eyes staring accusingly at him.
In the distance, the twin alien machines turned as one and set their burning gaze on this new predator.
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