Kaiju Slaying For Death And Profit Ch 22

WHOOOO! GOT IT DONE!

I have...way too much caffeine in my system.

BUT STREAK UNBROKEN BABY!

Is taking ibuprophen bad if you drink it with a caffeinated drink?

Questions for later.

Chapter 22! A direct continuation of last chapter! Where stuff happens!

I'll be honest. I gave it the best editing run I could. But I am kind of having trouble forming coherent sentences and I think I'm not far from a caffeine crash. But the important thing is, I did not let overtime break my streak! Hell yeah!

Here is chapter. I hope you enjoy. Please drop me a comment letting me know how I did. I'm gonna go to bed.

=][=

[Dispatch rescue teams and the Third Group! I want this taken care of before the SSDF arrives!]

Maya let the reports wash over her cognition as she triple checked the Pilots (and especially Shinji’s) vitals.

“Unknown moving object confirmed at the explosion site!” Aoba called out.

“Pattern orange!” Hyuga called out. “We cannot verify if it’s an Angel!”

“Battle stations, condition one.” Director Ikari called out in his unflappable stoic tone, and Maya was almost able to hide her disdainful frown.

Working close to the Director and Vice Director had become a lot more difficult ever since learning that they were trying to initiate a version of the Third Impact. Sacrificing the whole of humanity for some unknown purpose.

“All personnel to condition one battle stations!” Aoba relayed.

“Prepare for surface-to-surface engagement! Air assets on standby!” Hyuga said.

Maya flicked her mic on. “Launch all Evas! Emergency deployment to interception point!”

The following twenty minutes were spent in tense semi-silence in the main command hub, status updates from the various squads and departments ringing out in a well-rehearsed, controlled chaos.

Aoba turned back. “The Third Group has arrived at Matsushiro! Whatever caused the explosion has moved on! Unit 04 is secure, they’ve begun rescue operations!”

“What about the rescue teams?” Vice Director Fuyutsuki asked.

“Equipment failure caused a delay! ETA six minutes!”

Vice Director Fuyutsuki looked like he’d bitten into a lemon.

[Oi, anyone at the Control Room.] Maya started as Shinji’s voice filled her headset.

She hurried to secure the comm channel. “Yes? This is Ibuki Maya, how can I help you, Shinji?”

She turned a questioning look to Aoba, who shook his head. “Sorry, but no, negative radio contact.”

Maya bit her lip. “Sorry, not yet, we have…” she ‘cut in line’ for information requests. “Air assets en-route, we’ll have a visual in roughly three minutes.”

[Okay, the moment you have anything, let me know.] Shinji ordered.

“Will do!”

Maya glanced impatiently at the drone display, her fingers itching, as if by sheer will she could make the machine fly faster.

“We have visual of the target at Nobeyama Heights. Patching through to main display.” Aoba called out an instant before the main display flickered to show…Evangelion Unit 03 walking alongside railroad tracks.

Maya’s eyes widened, she felt faint.

An Eva? An Eva caused the explosion at Matsushiro?

“We should have known.” Spat the Vice Director, snapping Maya out of her horrified stupor.

How…How could he have known? Why was he not surprised!?

“Send shutdown signal.” The Director stated. “Activate emergency entry plug ejection.”

Maya mentally shook herself. Questions later, Angel now. She isolated Unit 03’s data and sent both the commands. She waited several seconds as the computer sent back a number of errors. “Negative! Unit is not responding to either the shutdown or ejection code signal!”

“Pilot vitals?” The Director asked.

Maya glanced to the part of her display she’d set aside for that information. “We aren’t getting much. I can confirm an elevated heartrate and…I think respiration. But the signal is being jammed, I cannot read the Pilot’s corruption index!”

“Evangelion Unit 03 is hereby declared a total loss.” The Director stated. “The Target will be designated as the Eleventh Angel.”

Maya turned around, feeling faint. “But sir, the Pilot—!”

The Director cut her off. “As planned, set up a defensive line at Nobeyama and destroy the target.”

Maya grit her teeth, closed her eyes, and tried to think. The Pilot was still alive, there must be some way to rescue the Pilot!

So, she turned back to her screen and opened a communication line to the trapped Pilot’s only hope. “Shinji, the Target is Evangelion Unit 03, it’s been taken over by an Angel. Here is all the information we have on it. We do not have much, but we can be certain that the Pilot is alive in there. Something blocked the plug ejection signal.”

[Well shit, that complicates things. Thanks for the info, Maya.] Shinji said and cut communication.

Maya felt elated at having been of some, albeit limited, help.

[Alright ladies we’re doing this one by the numbers.] Shinji said to the other two pilots gruffly. [Rei, find a sniping point, the moment you see an opening, put a round in it. Asuka, you and I will trade off fighting in hand-to-hand, our objective is to make openings for Rei. Keep your AT field ready and don’t let whatever this thing is get any weird goo on you. It took over an Evangelion and until proven otherwise I’m going to assume it was a viral vector.]

[What if it’s memetic?] Asuka asked. Unusually taciturn for her.

Against all odds, Maya found herself choking back a laugh as quiet chuckles rang out across the Control Room. Shinji’s confident tone helping unwind the knot of tension in her shoulders.

On the main display, she saw the silhouette of Unit 03 appear over a hill, carelessly walking over and ruining acers of rice fields that were used to feed the city, everyone in the Control Room held their breath, the view on the screen shifted as Units 01 and 02 split up and flanked 03, the corrupted Evangelion pausing, its head swinging back and forth as if trying to decide which of them to keep in its field of vision.

Unit 02 hefted an Evangelion rated spear, while Unit 01 secured its grip on the haft of the Evangelion rated harpoon and began to twirl the enormous chain attached to it.

[Firing.] Rei said calmly a moment before there was a massive boom and a 457 mm round detonated…against the hill behind the rogue Eva. Unit 00’s vision tilted up to see Unit 03 soaring through the air, arms extended and mouth wide, a terrible, animalistic, tortured roar shaking the ground.

Until a harpoon struck it on the side and lodged somewhere inside it, Unit 01 twisted its whole body, carving a deep trench into the rice field and ruining a large section of it as it yanked the Evangelion/Angel by the harpoon’s chain, all but slapping it out of the air and sending it crashing to the ground, unleashing a tidal wave of mud and ruined crops.

[Way hay and up she rises!] Shinji snarled in English, before Unit 03 was suddenly right in front of him. [Bitch!]

Unit 03’s fist rebounded off Unit 01’s AT field with such force the shockwave shook the cameras of the circling drones. It sunk its hands into Unit 01’s AT field, its fingers glowing with an AT field of its own.

“It’s corroding Unit 01’s AT field!” Maya called out a mere instant before Unit 03 heaved and tore the AT field apart, only to be met by Unit 01’s foot as Shinji delivered a brutal font kick that sent Unit 03 skidding back.

A second 457 mm round detonated against its chest making it stumble back a step, only for the tip of Unit 02’s spear to puncture out of its chest accompanied by Asuka’s roared, [Sterb!]

Unit 03 roared and threw a mule kick into Unit 02’s chest that sent the Evangelion tumbling back, Asuka’s shouted [Arschloch!] Reverberating through the Control Room.

“Unit 02’s right pectoral chest-plate is cracked, thoracic cage in in right hypochondriac region has hairline fractures!” Maya called out.

The third and fourth rounds were fired but ricocheted off Unit 03’s AT field and whined into the air.

“Unit 00’s magazine spent!” Hyuga called out. “Air assets en-route to deliver a fresh magazine! ETA twenty seconds!”

“An ax has been prepared for Shinji! Transport en-route, ETA one minute!” Aoba shouted out.

Unit 3 tore the harpoon out of its side and cast it at Unit 00. Unit 01 dove to catch it, but was too late, the haft slipping just past its grasping fingers, the Evangelion falling face first into the muddy rice fields.

Unit 00 flinched and used the sniper rifle to block it, the javelin tore through it, its point coming to a quivering stop two meters from Unit 00’s optical receptor.

Unit 00 studied its ruined weapon. [Oh! D-Damn?]

Unit 01 paused in the act of standing up, its head whipping to look at Unit 00, the violent motion flinging several metric tons of mud off its chassis. [Did you just curse?]

[Y-Yes, you and Asuka did it and…I felt left out.] Rei answered in a small voice.

[I’m proud of you.] Shinji said, and Rei’s synchronization rate jumped six percent.

And then Unit 01 was kicked so hard the shockwave generated exposed the soil. Shinji let out an explosive huff of breath from the sympathetic link as Unit 01 was sent skipping over the ground and was embedded into the nearest hill.

[Shinji!] Rei screamed, drawing Unit 00’s Progressive Knife and getting in between the rogue Evangelion and Unit 01.

Unit 03 roared and charged, and stumbled and fell as Unit 02’s spear tore through its right knee joint. [Vergiss mich nicht, du wertlosser Quacksalber!] Asuka shouted, having cast the spear like a javelin.

The corrupted Evangelion roared and threw an arm back, it bent wrong and elongated, whipping around to strike Unit 02 across the face, sending it reeling.

[Was zum Teufel!?] Asuka gasped as Unit 02 slipped in the mud of the rice fields and almost fell. Unit 03 slammed its fist down on the spear, shattering it. It tore the spear head out of its knee and threw it at Unit 00, which barely got its AT field up on time to block it.

Unit 03 stood back up, its right leg trembling as it held its weight. Its other arm emitted sickening cracks that reverberated like canon fire as it elongated. It shot out toward Unit 00, serpent swift, and was batted aside as Unit 01 crashed full on into its elbow, shattering it and exposing the gleaming yellow bone as it tore through the meat and armor of its arm.

Shinji drove the Evangelion forward like an out-of-control locomotive and delivered a brutal punch with its right hand that shattered the armor plating of Unit 03’s jaw and two of Unit 01’s Metacarpophalangeal joints. Unit 03 retaliated by lunging forward and trying to bite out Unit 01’s throat, but Shinji reacted in time to interpose his machine’s left forearm, the plate cracking and its bone bending under the pressure.

Unit 03’s unbroken arm whipped forward, but was halted as Unit 02 rejoined the fray with its Pilot’s shouted, [Ich hab dir gesagt, du sollst mich nicht vergessen, Arschloch!]

The three machines began beating brutally on each other, AT Fields crackled as they corroded each other, armor plates shattered, bones fractured, ligaments tore, and all throughout it the three biological robots…no…the three Angels roared death and defiance at one another.

Even outnumbered two to one, it remained a stalemate, Unit 03 fighting with the ferocity of a cornered animal and managing to keep the two Evangelions fighting it in concert at bay as the damage accumulated on the three of them.

Until, that is, the mute form of Unit 00 stabbed Shinji’s harpoon into its shoulder and threw itself to the ground, dragging the more advanced machine down with it. Units 01 and 02 took full advantage of the opening provided and beat on their downed opponent until Evangelion/Angel blood contaminated several acers of rice fields.

[Alright stop!] Shinji shouted, physically interposing Unit 01 between Unit 02 and the target.

[What? Why!?] Asuka demanded.

“Pilot 01!” The Director barked. “You are to continue until the target is decommissioned!”

[Yeah yeah, one sec.] Shinji said, kneeling over the brutalized Evangelion, and drew Unit 01’s progressive knife. [Now that we have it subdued, I’m gonna cut the entry plug out of this thing before we kill it.]

Maya smiled; she knew Shinji would save the Pilot!

“Don’t bother, the Pilot is corrupted. Killing it will be a mercy.” The Director stated, much to Maya’s horror.

“We are using tight beam communications you simpleton.”

[Now that’s just mean. ANYWAYS!] He activated the Progressive Knife and aimed it at Unit 03’s spine. [Time to rescue me a Pilot.]

Maya’s console began shrieking shrilly, her screens lit up and flashed red, what she saw made her feel faint. “We’re receiving telemetry from Unit 03! The Pilot has suffered severe Stigmatic Wounds! Condition critical! His Corruption Index…” Maya had to choke back the urge to vomit. “The Corruption Index is at a dangerous threshold!”

[Shinji…Shinji it hurts.] Said the weak voice of a boy. With the severity of the injuries her panels displayed, Maya was amazed he was awake.

On the viewscreen Shinji’s eyes widened. [Uhh…Wait, you’re my classmate, the guy with the glasses! Rei, what’s his name?]

[Aida Kensuke.] Rei supplied.

[You…don’t even know my name?] Aida ground out.

[I’m bad with names!] Shinji defended. [Seriously! What does NERV have against nametags! Anyways, try not to move I’m about to cut you out.]

“Shinji, stop talking to it and destroy it already!” The Director demanded. And Maya could not stop herself throwing him a dirty look.

[What!?] Aida asked shrilly, Unit 03’s struggling increasing.

[I said don’t move!] Shinji demanded, trying to aim the knife. And Maya realized the Pilots were not in the communication loop for the damage reports so as not to overwhelm them with information. Aida had said himself ‘it hurts’ not ‘my limbs are broken.’

Maya broke protocol, consequences be damned, and inserted herself into the communications loop. “Shinji wait!” She implored. “The Angel has forced high synchronization with the Pilot! He’s got multiple lacerations, broken bones, and perhaps a concussion! You may sever his spine if you’re not careful!”

[Okay, that makes things slightly harder.] Shinji muttered his face on the screen morphing into a mask of concentration.

“Shinji, by this point that thing is more Angel than Human!” The Director growled. “You will destroy it immediately! That’s an order!”

[I don’t want to die!] Kensuke cried, Unit 03 fighting harder.

[You won’t die dumbass!] Shinji barked. [And if you stop moving you probably won’t end up a quadriplegic either!]

His words, however, did nothing to calm the hurt, terrified boy. [I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!]

Maya’s console released yet another set of shrill beeps, but this one was far more familiar. “K-Kensuke’s synchronization is rising! Two-hundred and thirty percent! Two-hundred and fifty! Two-hundred and ninety! Three-hundred and ten!”

[Calm down dumbass!] Shinji snarled as Unit 03’s limbs squelched and regenerated, its thrashing such that three Evangelions were having trouble keeping it pinned.

Unit 03 raised its head off the mud, the Evangelions’ feeds all went white at the same time that they lost every drone in the vicinity of the conflict.

“What just happened!?” Director Ikari demanded, his voice for the first time sounding strained.

“We have reports of a powerful blast, equivalent to a low-yield N2 mine!” Aoba called out.

“The rescue teams nearby on standby are nonresponsive!” Hyuga shouted. “They might have been taken out by the blast!”

Maya’s screens finally began updating again as a tenuous link was re-established between the Command Room and the Evas. “Pilot 00 is unconscious! Pilot 02’s neural pattern indicates she is dazed! Pilot 01 is conscious, but his heartbeat and hormonal levels indicate he is under duress!”

“Reestablish a visual link.” The Director demanded.

“On it!”

It took the better part of a minute for the nearest viable drone to fly into range, but when the link was reestablished, Maya gasped. On the main screen, she could see Units 00 and 02 sprawled out in a crater that was steadily filling, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say refilling, with water.

Unit 01 was on its back, the rogue Evangelion sat on its hips, its legs intertwined with Unit 01’s. Unit 03 had grown four extra, disconcertingly human-looking arms, it was holding Unit 01’s arms pinned to the ground using two arms on each, and the hands of its last and original set were wrapped around Unit 01’s throat.

Shinji didn’t make it easy on the corrupted Eva, Unit 01 bucked like a wild stallion, but any time he managed to destabilize the Angel, it would let go with one of its six arms to maintain its balance, before going right back to pinning Unit 01, denying it the opportunity it needed.

Enough drones arrived into the airspace to form a proper relay, and Maya once more had access to the lion’s share of data from the Evangelions.

“Unit 00’s spine has suffered a severe fracture! Unit 02’s left leg is broken, Unit 01’s chest is nearly caved in!” Maya dutifully informed.

“What’s the status on the Pilots?” The Director asked.

“Rei is still unconscious; Asuka appears to be semi-conscious. Shinji…Shinji is fighting, sir.” Maya said.

There was a moment of silence while everyone in the Control Room was forced to see the Miracle Pilot’s machine be slowly choked to death.

“Prepare an N2 mine drop.” The Director ordered.

Maya blinked. “B-But sir! The Pilots! They’re in no condition to create an AT field! They’ll die!”

“The Evangelion will survive the mine drop, if necessary, we will get new Pilots, get it done.”

“S-Sir.” Hyuga answered and began the process of contacting the relevant NATO authorities.

Maya felt powerless to help, forced to sit there and twiddle her thumbs, that is, until she saw that Units 01 and 03 were in active conversation with each other. Blinking, she tapped into that communication.

[Glasses kid! Fight it! I’m trying, to save, your life!] Shinji growled out as he struggled.

[I’m bad with names!]

[Can we please stop talking about how bad of a person I am and get back to getting you out of there!?]

Maya stopped following that conversation. Pilot 03 was too far gone, he was delusional, or the Angel had corrupted his mind to the point that he could not understand what was being said to him, either way, she could do nothing to help there.

She looked through NERV’s systems and realized that Hyuga was having severe technical difficulties. She couldn’t be certain without taking a much closer and more obvious look at the ‘problem’, but she felt the hands of Naomi, Hana and Kaede at work slowing him down. But all the time they bought Shinji would do nothing unless they could find some way to make an opening for Shinji to use.

She made a secure communication channel to Aoba. “Hey, Aoba, are there any ground assets we can leverage? Artillery? Surface to surface missiles? Anything?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aoba glance at her through the curtain of his long hair before his voice whispered in her ear, his lips barely moving. [No, the area around Nobeyama is a quagmire. The only assets we can leverage easily are air assets. Anything we send that direction won’t arrive before air assets with the N2 mine drop.]

Maya bit her bottom lip. “Aoba…if you think of anything, let me know.”

He nodded minutely. [I will, but anything that has a chance to do anything in time is already deployed.]

Maya blinked as he disabled the communication line.

Already deployed…Most of the drones were wiped out during the N2 mine equivalent explosion, the few drones they still had were needed just to keep the Control Center in the loop. They could try a few kamikaze drones, but none of the ones available had the firepower to stagger, let alone damage an Evangelion or an Angel.

Maya looked over her controls again. She had support options, but most of what she could do to directly affect the pilots was administer drugs and influence the Plug Suit’s life support functions.

[Oh fuck ew ew ew ew ew!] Shinji screamed. Maya turned to look and saw that some viscous fluid was dripping from the gaps in the armor of Unit 03’s arms. Shinji’s biometrics were going haywire.

Maya analyzed the readouts and fought the urge to ball her hands up into fists. “The Angel is infecting Unit 01’s arms! The nerve ganglia are being taken over!”

“Sever the arms. Now!” The Director ordered.

Maya turned to look at him in disbelief. “But sir! That’ll leave Shinji defenseless!”

“That won’t matter for long, do it!”

Maya swallowed and turned around. “Severing neural link! Kaede I need you t—”

“I said cut the arms off!” The Director barked. “Now!”

Maya flinched. She wanted to disobey…but she would not be of any help to Shinji if she was removed from her station. “Roger.” She answered in defeat and sent the signal to the explosive charges in the Evangelion’s joints.

On the main screen, they saw the twin flashes, Unit 01’s arms were severed at the shoulder before the corruption could spread up its nervous system. Maya had expected Shinji to scream, at ninety-six percent synchronization, he would have felt that. But the excruciating pain merely made him grunt.

Unit 03 was taken momentarily aback, its four fleshy, unarmored arms wringing the severed arms of Unit 01. [They betray You. They betray You for You are not of Them.] The Fourth Children said, his voice strangely calm. [Yet You would sacrifice Yourself for Them. These who are unworthy. These who Stole the Cradle.]

[Not this shit again.] Shinji growled, still bucking Unit 01’s hips in an attempt to dislodge the Angel. [Fuck. Off.]

[Because, like I told the last jackass. It’s the job! Humanity is better than the worst of its kind! Humanity invented kindness! There is no kindness in the natural world except what humanity inject into it! And I won’t allow you or your misbegotten kind to snuff humanity out due to the sins of a small group of evil cowards!]

Shinji was…conversing with the Angel? The Corruption Index scanner was unresponsive, Maya had no way to corroborate that the Angel was speaking through Pilot 03, but this could be the first documented, verifiable case of an Angel communicating with a Human.

“N2 cluster mine drop in two minutes!” Hyuga called out.

Maya felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. And looked frantically at what she could possibly do. Someone, some asset, anything!

Her console beeped, and on the screen she saw Unit 00 twitch.

A desperate idea formed in Maya’s mind and she did not stop to analyze it, there was no time. She brought up Asuka’s life support readings, boosted them to maximum, gave her an unsafe dose of epinephrine and activated the heart massage function. Asuka woke up with a ragged scream as the electric shock sent pain coursing through her system and her blood pressure shot up to unsafe levels as her heart was artificially forced to race.

Maya made a secure comm line with Unit 02.

[Mama?] Asuka asked groggily.

“No time!” Maya snapped. “You need to get up and kill the Angel! An N2 cluster mine is about to be dropped on you!”

[Scheiße!] Asuka snarled and threw Unit 02 to its unsteady feet, not feeling the pain of the broken leg thanks only to the injected stimulant. She charged at the still struggling Evangelions, picking up Unit 00’s ruined rifle and raising it over Unit 02’s head like a club, she swung it down with all of Unit 02’s considerable strength the instant she was in range of the Angel. [Halt die Klappe, friss Scheiße und sterb endlich!]

The Angel attempted to put up an AT field, but Unit 01 corroded it into static before it even finished forming. At the last instant, the Angel let go of Unit 01 with all six of its arms, it successfully blocked the descending weapon at the cost of four of them being broken.

It roared in victory as it pushed Unit 02 back, its broken leg incapable of supporting it, a victorious roar that was choked off into a sanguine gurgle as Unit 01 slammed its head forward and bit down on Unit 03’s neck. There was a crunching snap so loud that the aerial drones picked it up, and the Angel’s body beneath the neck fell limp.

[I’m sorry. Pilot.] Shinji panted as Unit 01 twisted and drove the Angel into the mud. He levered the armless Evangelion painfully to its feet and raised its right foot to hover over the Angel’s head. [I’m sorry…I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you, after all. Your death will bring about a better world.]

[They will resent You.] The Angel said. [They cannot understand You. They will come to fear and hate You. Yet You would sacrifice for Them still?]

Shinji chuckled.

And without warning, he brought Unit 01’s foot down onto the Angel’s head with such force that it buried it in the mud, compacting the dirt beneath it until it was hard enough for the weight of Unit 01 to crush the Angel’s skull and rupture it like an overripe melon.

Maya looked over her telemetry and inserted herself into Shinji’s communication loop. “Mr. Shinji…it…it’s not dead. It’s slow, but it is regenerating.

[Of course it is.] Shinji sighed and raised the Evangelion’s foot again and began the arduous process of pulping Unit 03 into paste, one stomp at a time.