GASLIGHT EVANGELION

[TEAM_DERRICK]

Kewl

[Myrdraxxis]

Jul 19, 2010 21:31:27 GMT -5 Mizagium said:

People are looking, and at least 3 people cared enough to review it, so...on Fanfiction...yes.

well...for YOU perhaps.....but yeah, I'd say it's going well.

[Mizagium]

It's only a prologue (heavily plagiarized) and one chapter. Word has to get around first.

[TEAM_DERRICK]

If we can nail the Ramiel fight, then we'll be golden.

[Mizagium]

TESLA DEATH RAY

[TEAM_DERRICK]

exfsdfsdafsfsfsdf

[Mizagium]

historical in-jokes!

[TEAM_DERRICK]

GO MAN GO!

[Mizagium]

~ This World of Ours... ~

Shaun awakened to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. Unpleasant smells filled his nostril: the stench of disease and death and decaying flesh broke through the smothering antiseptic sprayed every few hours. He wrinkled his nose and tried to think of something else, but could only return his mind to the Entry Capsule of the Evangelion, and so laid, body and mind, in the hospital ward of NERVE headquarters.

He was dressed only in a simple hospital gown, so somewhere along the way someone must have undressed him. For some reason that thought made him uncomfortable and embarrassed. The bed was far beneath the quality he was accustomed to, being the son of a lord, but he was so exhausted from the fight with Sachiel that he was glad to have a bed at all to lie in. Daylight streamed in through the curtains that covered the only window. He suspected it was artificial sunlight generated in the Geofront and not the real light from the sun. That made it difficult to know what time it was since no chronometer was present in his room.

Shaun laid there for several hours, nibbled on the tray of food left on the table beside his bed, and eventually got dressed. No one came to check on him during the whole time, so guessed there were orders to let him be. Just like father, he thought mildly and began pacing the sterile-white room.

When he could stand it no longer, he left. He passed a handful of nurses and orderlies in the hallway, but was otherwise alone. After a few minutes of wandering the corridors, he became lost. Every new hall looked exactly the same as the one before. The large identification painted on the wall might have been in German for all he could understand it.

Section H4.

Shaun shoved his hands into his pockets irritably and felt something. He produced a piece of folded paper from his pocket - one he was sure hadn’t been there the previous night. Upon opening it, he found it to be a map of NERVE. Quickly he located his location and began to trace a path outward from there. His eyes stopped like a fly in amber when he was the designation CAGE 7.

That’s where Eva is.

-

The Eva was just as Shaun remembered it from his last visit here. The walkway was roughly level with the Eva’s head; the span of the walkway was about equal to that of the Eva’s shoulder width. Leaning over the rail, Shaun could see the torso, arms, and legs of the Eva extend down to the base of the cage. Although he didn’t experience vertigo from heights, the sheer size of the automaton made his head spin. Humans made this, a machine that dwarfed cities and could defeat advanced alien societies single-handedly.

Shaun sat against the far rail, pulled his legs to his chest, and studied Evangelion Unit-01. Lifeless eyes and the lack of a visible mouth created the illusion of a comply mechanical automaton, but Shaun knew that was false. He had been ¬inside Eva. He knew it was alive beneath that bronze and brass armor.

“But that’s impossible,” he whispered to himself. “Machines can’t be alive. It was just my imagination.” Alive or not, it felt alive when he fought the Angel; it unsettled Shaun to know (or think) that the machine he piloted might have a mind of its own.

Lord Gendo stepped cautiously onto the walkway where his son sat, feeling the structure shake slightly under his feet. “There you are, Shaun,” he said. “No one was sure where you’d gone off to.” As he approached – again cautiously – he noticed his son studying the Eva. Misreading the situation, he said, “Marvelous isn’t it?”

Shaun shrugged his shoulder just so.

“You know, the Eva’s revolver is actually a modified artillery cannon; the design is basically the same, and very little modification was necessary to let it become a giant handgun. When we asked the engineers to do it, thought, the thought we were crazy.” He laughed nervously. “I suppose it’s a good thing they listened to us, eh?”

Shaun responded by burying his head farther into his knees.

“You did a good thing, Shaun,” Lord Gendo tried desperately. “You defeated the Angel and saved the city. You should be proud; I am.”

Shaun said something but it was muffled.

“What?”

“I said I don’t think I can do it again.” Shaun lifted his head up, still staring at the Eva. “Piloting it, I mean. I can’t do it again.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because!” He let that word hang between them long enough to make his father shift nervously. “I don’t…think I can control it. When I was fighting with it…I don’t like to fight, father, but when I was in the Eva, that didn’t matter. I did want to fight. I wanted to kill the Angel, even thought I knew I didn’t like fighting.”

Lord Gendo feared mental contamination of his son by the Eva, but quickly dismissed it because if that were so, Shaun would not be expressing such reluctance to pilot the Eva now. If it were true, he would be chomping at the bit to be back in the pilot seat, to fight something – anything. Thankful for that, he still had to convince his son to return to the Entry Capsule the next time there was an Angel attack – and there would be more.

“Look, Shaun,” Lord Gendo began, but his son cut him off.

“Remember when you asked me if I was in control?”

When the Eva went berserk, Lord Gendo remembered. “Yes. You answered that you were.”

“Well, I lied. Or I think I did. I’m not sure now, but at the time I thought I was in control because I could get it to move the way I wanted it to, even though it was out of fuel. Now, though, I’m not sure who was in control. It responded more to my thoughts than my controls, and even then I can’t be sure that they were even my thoughts; like I said, I don’t normally like fighting.”

Lord Gendo sighed and dropped wont to his son’s level. “I think it was the heat of the moment, Shaun. If you hadn’t fought, Sachiel would have killed you. Even those who dislike fighting will defend themselves in threatened.”

“Maybe.” Shaun seemed to relax at the admission.

Lord Gendo placed a hand on Shaun’s shoulder. “Son, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to keep piloting Unit-01. There are going to be more Angels, and also the Germans to defend against.”

“Dad – “

“You might not like it, but London-III needs you. All of England needs you. And besides, you won’t be alone, not for long at least. Once the other pilot has recovered, she’ll be out there fighting alongside you.”

“Okay,” Shaun said after what seemed like an eternity of silence. “I’ll do it, I’ll defend the city in the Eva.”

“Thank you, Shaun,” Lord Gendo sighed. “I’m sorry but it has to be you; you’re the only one who can pilot Unit-01.” He glanced up at Unit-01, but quickly turned away; the memories were too painful. “Would you like to meet her?”

“Who?” Shuan looked up at his father in a way that reminded Lord Gendo of when he was just a child, before the Martians came.

But he still is just a child, he reminded himself. “The other pilot.”

-

[Mizagium]

((not finished))

[Mizagium]

Adam, Derrick, we're doing something right. this is the latest review I got

"Your fic is WIN if for no other reason than ya turned Rits into the horrific
alien monster she deserves to be!

I applaud."

from Tasermon's Partner

[Mizagium]

[[Alright, here's what I have. Where I ended it, I think would work for the end of the chapter, since it feels like a natural break, and is almost 7 full pages on Word. If I went on, it would just be about school, but there might not be enough material for the fight against the Fourth Angel, Shamshel to fill a similar number of pages.]]

Shaun awakened to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. Unpleasant smells filled his nostril: the stench of disease and death and decaying flesh broke through the smothering antiseptic sprayed every few hours. He wrinkled his nose and tried to think of something else, but could only return his mind to the Entry Capsule of the Evangelion, and so laid, body and mind, in the hospital ward of NERVE headquarters.

He was dressed only in a simple hospital gown, so somewhere along the way someone must have undressed him. For some reason that thought made him uncomfortable and embarrassed. The bed was far beneath the quality he was accustomed to, being the son of a lord, but he was so exhausted from the fight with Sachiel that he was glad to have a bed at all to lie in. Daylight streamed in through the curtains that covered the only window. He suspected it was artificial sunlight generated in the Geofront and not the real light from the sun. That made it difficult to know what time it was since no chronometer was present in his room.

Shaun laid there for several hours, nibbled on the tray of food left on the table beside his bed, and eventually got dressed. No one came to check on him during the whole time, so guessed there were orders to let him be. Just like father, he thought mildly and began pacing the sterile-white room.

When he could stand it no longer, he left. He passed a handful of nurses and orderlies in the hallway, but was otherwise alone. After a few minutes of wandering the corridors, he became lost. Every new hall looked exactly the same as the one before. The large identification painted on the wall might have been in German for all he could understand it.

Section H4.

Shaun shoved his hands into his pockets irritably and felt something. He produced a piece of folded paper from his pocket - one he was sure hadn’t been there the previous night. Upon opening it, he found it to be a map of NERVE. Quickly he located his location and began to trace a path outward from there. His eyes stopped like a fly in amber when he was the designation CAGE 7.

That’s where Eva is.

-

The Eva was just as Shaun remembered it from his last visit here. The walkway was roughly level with the Eva’s head; the span of the walkway was about equal to that of the Eva’s shoulder width. Leaning over the rail, Shaun could see the torso, arms, and legs of the Eva extend down to the base of the cage. Although he didn’t experience vertigo from heights, the sheer size of the automaton made his head spin. Humans made this, a machine that dwarfed cities and could defeat advanced alien societies single-handedly.

Shaun sat against the far rail, pulled his legs to his chest, and studied Evangelion Unit-01. Lifeless eyes and the lack of a visible mouth created the illusion of a comply mechanical automaton, but Shaun knew that was false. He had been ¬inside Eva. He knew it was alive beneath that bronze and brass armor.

“But that’s impossible,” he whispered to himself. “Machines can’t be alive. It was just my imagination.” Alive or not, it felt alive when he fought the Angel; it unsettled Shaun to know (or think) that the machine he piloted might have a mind of its own.

Lord Gendo stepped cautiously onto the walkway where his son sat, feeling the structure shake slightly under his feet. He adjusted his monocle and continued on. “There you are, Shaun,” he said. “No one was sure where you’d gone off to.” As he approached – again cautiously – he noticed his son studying the Eva. Misreading the situation, he said, “Marvelous isn’t it?”

Shaun shrugged his shoulder just so.

“You know, the Eva’s revolver is actually a modified artillery cannon; the design is basically the same, and very little modification was necessary to let it become a giant handgun. When we asked the engineers to do it, thought, the thought we were crazy.” He laughed nervously. “I suppose it’s a good thing they listened to us, eh?”

Shaun responded by burying his head farther into his knees.

“You did a good thing, Shaun,” Lord Gendo tried desperately. “You defeated the Angel and saved the city. You should be proud; I am.”

Shaun said something but it was muffled.

“What?”

“I said I don’t think I can do it again.” Shaun lifted his head up, still staring at the Eva. “Piloting it, I mean. I can’t do it again.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because!” He let that word hang between them long enough to make his father shift nervously. “I don’t…think I can control it. When I was fighting with it…I don’t like to fight, father, but when I was in the Eva, that didn’t matter. I did want to fight. I wanted to kill the Angel, even thought I knew I didn’t like fighting.”

Lord Gendo feared mental contamination of his son by the Eva, but quickly dismissed it because if that were so, Shaun would not be expressing such reluctance to pilot the Eva now. If it were true, he would be chomping at the bit to be back in the pilot seat, to fight something – anything. Thankful for that, he still had to convince his son to return to the Entry Capsule the next time there was an Angel attack – and there would be more.

“Look, Shaun,” Lord Gendo began, but his son cut him off.

“Remember when you asked me if I was in control?”

When the Eva went berserk, Lord Gendo remembered. “Yes. You answered that you were.”

“Well, I lied. Or I think I did. I’m not sure now, but at the time I thought I was in control because I could get it to move the way I wanted it to, even though it was out of fuel. Now, though, I’m not sure who was in control. It responded more to my thoughts than my controls, and even then I can’t be sure that they were even my thoughts; like I said, I don’t normally like fighting.”

Lord Gendo sighed and dropped wont to his son’s level. “I think it was the heat of the moment, Shaun. If you hadn’t fought, Sachiel would have killed you. Even those who dislike fighting will defend themselves in threatened.”

“Maybe.” Shaun seemed to relax at the admission.

Lord Gendo placed a hand on Shaun’s shoulder. “Son, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to keep piloting Unit-01. There are going to be more Angels, and also the Germans to defend against.”

“Dad – “

“You might not like it, but London-III needs you. All of England needs you. And besides, you won’t be alone, not for long at least. Once the other pilot has recovered, she’ll be out there fighting alongside you.”

“Okay,” Shaun said after what seemed like an eternity of silence. “I’ll do it, I’ll defend the city in the Eva.”

“Thank you, Shaun,” Lord Gendo sighed. “I’m sorry but it has to be you; you’re the only one who can pilot Unit-01.” He glanced up at Unit-01, but quickly turned away; the memories were too painful. “Would you like to meet her?”

“Who?” Shuan looked up at his father in a way that reminded Lord Gendo of when he was just a child, before the Martians came.

But he still is just a child, he reminded himself.

“Meet who, father?”

“The other pilot.”

-

Rachel Adams slumbered beneath a thin hospital sheet in a room much like the one Shaun had awoken in. Her forehead was wrapped in bandages and one eye was covered by gauze. Nothing was bloody, but Shaun suspected that was because her wrappings had been changed recently. Her breathing was labored, as thought each time she inhaled, she caused herself pain.

“What happened to her?” Shaun asked in a whisper.

“She was injured in the latest German attack on London-III, only a short two weeks ago.” Lord Gendo explained. “Rachel was our only pilot at the time, so we sent her out. She performed beautifully, just like she’d been trained to do, but the Germans… She repelled the attack, but she and Unit-00 were severely damaged in the process.”

Rachel turned in her sleep, revealing a bandaged arm in a sling beneath the sheets. Her breathing quickened and became more painful; to Shaun it appeared as though she were having a nightmare. His father calmly stroked her faded blond hair until she quieted and returned to a peaceful sleep.

“What did this?” Shaun asked finally. “What kind of weapon has the power to damage an Eva this much? Even fighting the Angel, I didn’t receive this much damage.”

Perhaps, Lord Gendo thought, but Rachel doesn’t have the luxury of activating a berserker mode if all of her Eva’s fuel is consumed.

“Shaun, you know how Unit-00 was used by the British in the war?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it wasn’t the only one there was, it was simply the only unit owned by the crown.”

“Father, what are you – what do you mean?”

Lord Gendo inhaled deeply before continuing. “When the Martians arrived, Britain and Germany were already locked in a war of dominance over Europe, had been for years. When the aliens came, we had to reluctantly unite to face this new threat – or there wouldn’t be a Europe to conquer afterward.

“So we, Germany, America, and Russia fought the Martians’ tripods with everything we had. At first we managed to stall their advance; entire nations became battlefields. It was…horrible. And then they initiated Second Impact by launching a meteorite at the South Pole.”

“Why the South Pole,” Shaun asked. “Wouldn’t it have made more sense to hit one of us, one of their enemies?”

“Perhaps, but they weren’t simply invading for the hell of it, son; they wanted a world to live on after it was over. Hitting Antarctica was a demonstration of their power intended to frighten us into submission. But they didn’t count on good old human determination and ingenuity, Shaun.

“Myself and handful of other stole some of the Martians’ technology, a good bit of which is in use here in NERVE. Most importantly was the manipulation of life-threads to create artificial life. You see, at that point, we had the capacity to built giant fighting robots, much like the Evangelions, except that’s what we got: giant automatons. You know how flimsy they are, Shaun: a good whack and it breaks apart.

“That’s where the life-threads came in. A large automaton with biological components would be both more durable and more flexible in combat.”

“So why hadn’t the Martians used that technology for themselves?”

“You know, that’s a very good question. Rheetsko and the others working here refuse to answer the question. My guess? They simply hadn’t thought of it, and are embarrassed to admit it.

“In any case, Shaun, we created Evangelion Unit-00 to combat the tripods. But so did the Germans. They were part of the team that stole the technology, and so possessed the capacity to make Evas. They made two in the space of our one, but each of theirs was of significantly lesser quality to ours; they rushed it. Both were destroyed in combat, but even so, they pushed the tide of the war in to humanity’s favor. Without them, though the Crown hates to admit it, we would not have succeeded.

“Now, for you original question, Shaun: Rachel was injured in combat with the latest German Evangelion Model, the Mark.06. Rachel defeated the German force, but the Mark.06’s pilot defeated Rachel. Rather than finish her off, he retreated.”

More Evangelions, Shaun thought miserably. “Am I going to have to fight this Eva pilot?”

“There is a distinct possibility, son,” Gendo said softly.

Instead of dwelling on it, Shaun moved on. “What was the original war between Britain and Germany about?”

Lord Gendo shrugged. “Honestly? I have no idea. I don't think anyone truly remembers what we're fighting for anymore. More or a less over land and influence, from what I gather. This war has been going on so long, it has almost gone beyond the point of reason.This is just simply Act 2, with the invasion having been the intermission.”

“Can’t they find someone else to attack?” Shaun asked bitterly.

“Not likely. Most of Europe is theirs anyway, with France only just holding onto their independence, thanks to Napoleon’s campaign at the beginning of this century. America exists a whole ocean away and is staunchly neutral, and Russia is, well, Russia.”

Shaun gave him a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“Ever looked at a map, Shaun? Russia is huge. Imagine trying to invade a country of that size.”

“That’s true. All they’d have to do is move into Siberia and no one would ever reach them.”

“And,” Lord Gendo went on, “They’d eventually get stuck in a Russian Winter.” He shivered. “Russian winters are brutal. Any army caught in one would be ruined and forced to retreat. Russia is like one giant shield.”

“You’d have to be stupid to try it,” Shaun said. “Stupid or arrogant.” They lapsed into silence and he found himself watching Rachel sleep. Somehow she reminded him of his mother, the French scientist, Yvette.

“Father,” he said slowly. “When you said that the Evas were partly biological, does that mean that - ?”

“No, Shaun. The Evas are not alive.” He answered quickly and shot his son a hard stare that marked the end of the discussion.

“Let’s go, Shaun.”

“Where to?”

“School. I have to get you enrolled before you can attend.”

Shaun made a face of disgust. “You mean I still have to go? I thought being an Eva pilot would get me out of having to go.”

“No such luck, son. Even heroes need their schooling. You’ll have a bit of leeway with projects and homework, since after school you’ll be doing drills in the Eva down here, but you still need to attend.” Lord Gendo stopped suddenly in his stride, realizing something. “You won’t know anyone in school, will you?”

“No,” Shaun said, shaking his head.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Shaun.” He rubbed his eyes, letting his monocle drop and hang from its chain. “Promise me you’ll make some friends.”

“Okay. Sure, dad.”

Lord Gendo watched his son walk ahead of him, lamenting at the lies he had had to tell him. Having practiced them so many times in the mirror, he had a hard time himself remembering which parts were true, and which were lies intended to maintain secrecy.

Please forgive me, Shaun.

[TEAM_DERRICK]

*clapclapclapclapclap*

Beautiful.
Great job man!

[Mizagium]

Is that a good stopping point?

[TEAM_DERRICK]

I think so.

Also, can Martian Tripods be proto-evangelions?

I figured that it would be a natural jump to make Martian tripods (Martian Evangelions) into human Evangelions.

[Mizagium]

Sure. but the Martians still refuse to answer any questions about their technology, unless the Germans torture them.

Besides, I haven't specified what parts of Lord Gendo's History of World were fabricated.

[TEAM_DERRICK]

Fair enough.

I want to thank you for all the great work you've put into this.
Keep it up dawg.

[Mizagium]

Submit any changes ASAP. I would love to have this up tonight.

[Myrdraxxis]

modded all I want. Go for it.

[Mizagium]

chapter three is up