LNCrawler

Chapter 38: Departure

Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 38:
Departure
A N ALERT broke out in Tokyo-3.
Over the speakers, Hyuga announced. “Victor Two and Victor Three have been sighted on the right-hand ridge of Mount Daikan to the south of HQ. The same location as last time. They might be opening another window.”
Toji was eating a late dinner in the cafeteria. He grabbed a slice of toast from his tray and took off running down the hallway toward the command center, issuing orders over his headset. “Immediately suspend all repair and resupply operations! Instruct all civilians to remain underground as they proceed to the Tokyo-3 shelters. The salt pillar effect might happen again.”
Before he stuffed the toast into his mouth, he said, “Damn it, can’t a guy eat his dinner in peace?”
He turned the corner and nearly ran into a sleepy-eyed Ayanami Rei Six.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, just barely dodging her.
A robot the size of a rice cooker accompanied Ayanami, monitoring her brain waves. The robot snickered.
“What’s the matter,” Six joked, “running late?”
“Nuh-uh!” Toji said. “Six, can you go out in the Eva?”
A pause. “Yeah.”
As he raced to the command center, Toji thought he should give the next set of orders over his headset. But just before he could, he glimpsed new orders scrolling across the unit’s tiny LCD.
The message was from the assistant to the deputy commander and read, “All personnel proceed to pressurized compartments and close all light-blocking shutters.”
Fuyutsuki didn’t miss a beat.
“Shinji,” Toji transmitted, “where are you? How long until you can get Super Eva resupplied?”
<< It’s already done. >>
“Oh, yeah?” Toji blinked. That was fast. Too fast. “Hey, wait a minute! I didn’t hear about that. What’s going on?” He had a sudden realization and lowered his voice. “You were up to something, weren’t you?”
Over the intercom, Ayanami’s voice casually dropped the bombshell. << Ikari-kun was planning to sneak out. >>
To the moon, no doubt, Toji thought. That’s going to be trouble.
He slipped through a thick partitioning door as it slid closed.
“Shinji,” Toji said, firmly, “we’ll talk about this later.”
<< Okay, >> Shinji said, but the young pilot probably couldn’t think about anything aside from Asuka’s disappearance. Now that Super Eva could fly, of course Shinji would want to go after her.
As Toji was considered the situation, Ayanami tossed a rock into the water.
<< It’ll be fine, >> she said. << I’m going with him. >>
<< Wait, you’re what ? >> Shinji said, sounding flustered.
Actually, Toji thought, that might be a good idea. When Maya-san was in the plug with him, Shinji managed to avoid getting swallowed up by Super Eva’s power. What if her presence helped him assert control and come home in one piece?
“Ayahachi,” the deputy commander said, “I’ll take you up on that!”
The two black giants opened the window. It sounded like an earthquake. Indifferent to the laws of physics, the rumbling noise penetrated tremor dampeners and soundproofing alike.
Toji passed through the doors to the command center.
Fuyutsuki was speaking with a technician. “Can you overlay damage control data on the map of the city’s fortified districts?”
“Good evening,” Toji said, observing the situation.
“The re-evacuation is taking longer than I’d like,” Fuyutsuki reported. “Those things are hardly playing fair, opening that window so close…and without any warning.”
Fuyutsuki and Toji frowned at the display, where a map of the city was dominated by blinking red dots, indicating partially destroyed sectors, and patches of black, indicating total destruction.
“Even if we include the sectors under repair,” Fuyutsuki remarked, “we’re still sitting at forty percent.”
“That’s not gonna make this easy,” Toji said. “But Super Eva can deploy right away.”
Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Toji didn’t explain. Instead, he asked, “What’s the launch status of Unit Zero Type-F? Is Six ready?”
“The startup sequence has just completed,” Hyuga answered. “She’s on her way to the lifts. Do you want her sent to the sniping post at Mount Komagatake?”
“Do it. This is going to be a close call.”
DWUM!
An eerie bell clap sounded, and the technicians stirred and fretted.
They knew what that sound meant. Victors Two and Three, the black giants that resembled Armaros but were the size of Evangelions, had opened another window. The picture on the main display was zoomed in on Lake Ashi’s far shore. Through the darkness that was supposed to be there shone a light that wasn’t—a bright blue sky. Last time, it had been day here, and the window had been dark.
If that window leads to somewhere else on Earth, Toji thought, where might that be?
Then he said, “Observation teams, don’t look directly at that window. You’ll turn to salt!”
After opening the portal, the two giants melted into the darkness and were gone.
But the trouble was only beginning.
“They’re coming out!”
“Deputy Commander!” a flustered Aoba called. “I can’t locate Super Eva’s current position!”
“Don’t worry,” Toji replied. “It’s in what’s left of Cage Two. Shinji! Launch Super Eva!”
<< Acknowledged. >>
Super Eva flew up from the massive hole of the cage’s collapsed ceiling. The Eva was equipped with an experimental retractable cannon in its shoulder pylon and the SRL Bizen—a.k.a. Bizen Osafune—a Japanese-style sword as long as the Eva was tall.
Hyuga looked at the status screen, and his eyes widened with surprise. “Um, Shinji-kun? Your weapons are reporting an unauthorized pilot, and they aren’t configured for anyone else. Is someone in there with you? You won’t be able to fire!” He switched his comms channel to the lab. “Chief Ibuki, can you do anything?”
<< He just had to let someone in the plug unauthorized. >> The chief scientist sighed. << That boy is always causing trouble! Hold on. I’ll send over a hotfix. >>
<< Sorry, >> Shinji said.
Ayanami’s voice quickly followed. << We’re going out. >>
Taken aback, Hyuga said, “Shinji-kun, wait!”
But before the command room staff could process their surprise at hearing Ayanami from within Shinji’s plug, the enemy appeared.
“Eyes on the monitor!” Aoba said. “Look at the window. The Angel Carriers are coming.”
Several white arms reached through the blue window, clutching at its edges.
“There’s three,” Aoba reported, “no, make that four!”
The opening was a little small for all four giants to fit at once, but like a knot of snakes, they slithered and wriggled and twisted their bodies through.
Without a moment’s delay, Toji shouted into his headset, “Shinji, do it now! Fly through the window!”
The command center staff gasped as one—they hadn’t been in on the plan—and Super Eva seared the sky with fiery light. As it accelerated, the orange trail grew even more dazzling against the night sky.
As before, the Angel Carriers had come for Super Eva’s heart, but now they sought its wings, too. One—Sandalphon, apparently—took aim at Super Eva and fired spheres of light the reddish-black color of lava.
Super Eva didn’t dodge the larva’s attack. Instead, the Eva continued to barrel ahead, reaching forward with its left hand and projecting an A.T. Field to deflect the spheres. A pair of impossibly giant sharp-fanged jaws appeared from the cocoon of another Carrier standing in front of the gateway. That was Gaghiel, and Super Eva flew straight into its maw and was swallowed up whole. But then the Eva burst out the other side, Bizen sword in hand, slicing through with such incredible speed that the blood didn’t even have time to fountain before Gaghiel exploded into red mist.
“Incredible,” said Fuyutsuki.
Shinji replied with what would be his final transmission before disappearing into the portal. << Fuyutsuki-sensei, Toji, I’ll leave the rest in your hands! >>
“You can count on us,” Toji said. “Except you’ve got the hard part.”
But the pilot might not have heard, as he had already gone, leaving nothing behind but Super Eva’s shock wave rumbling through the caldera.
The remaining Angel Carriers returned to the portal in pursuit of Super Eva’s heart and wings, and the window into the blue sky closed.