Furry Pigeon Productions presents:
But Loyal To Their Own: An Evangelion Elseworlds
By Andrew Lewis
Neon Genesis Evangelion characters copyright Gainax
Full Metal Panic! characters copyright Shouji Gatou
Han Fei, Samuel Roberts and all other characters copyright the
author
All characters once again used without permission
Chapter 3- Sword and Shield
Depend upon it sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight
it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
-Dr. Samuel Johnson.
If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it properly.
--Nick Lappos, Chief R&D Pilot, Sikorsky Aircraft
Tokyo-3
July 30, 2015
4:30 AM Local Time
Mana Kirishima peered through her compact binoculars at the
scene below her in the predawn light. A small tent, suitable for
occupation by one or two people, lay one hundred meters ahead of the
small hillock they'd been lying behind for the past several hours.
Beside her, Sousuke Sagara tapped her shoulder and gestured for the
binoculars. While he took over her vigil, Mana rolled over on her back
with a grumble.
----------
Earlier
"GONE?!"
"Yes, Ma'am" Sousuke replied to Misato's incredulous
exclamation. "There was no evidence of forced entry on the window, nor
the balcony or outside doors." he continued calmly. "Given that
his effects were removed from his room and his ID was left behind, I
would assume he left of his own volition."
Misato cursed herself for a fool for not seeing this coming.
"That would be my guess as well." she replied into her cellphone. "Are
Kirishima and Jongkyu with you?"
"No, ma'am. Petty Officer Kirishima is currently returning from
Miss Ayanami's residence, Sergeant Jongkyu is still at Mt. Futagama."
"Call them. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
----------
The council of war convened shortly thereafter. It was quickly
established that sometime between Shinji's departure of the Geofront at
7:00 that evening and Sousuke's arrival at the apartment thirty minutes
later, Shinji had managed to pack his bags, straighten his room, and
disappear.
"You know, looked at the right way, this is pretty impressive."
Mana commented. "I mean, his room was always unnaturally neat for a
boy's, but still, counting travel time he had barely twenty minutes to
pull this off."
"Mm." Misato grunted, deep in contemplation. "Be that as it
may, we can't have him wandering the streets alone."
Yan nodded. "I agree, Captain. But finding him is going to be
quite a challenge even with his tracking device." the South Korean
waved vaguely out the balcony doors. "This city is warren. He has
literally dozens of possible hiding places in any given city block, and
fifty meters is about all the resolution we can expect in there without
retracting the buildings."
"It gets better." Misato chuckled bitterly. "I checked with
Security, evidently he was never fitted with a tag. 'Slipped through
the cracks' they said." She watched her subordinates' crestfallen
expressions as a difficult task turned into a nigh-impossible
one, and knew her own matched it. "But we have to try." She unrolled a
large scale map of the city on the kitchen table and weighted the
corners with random silverware. "We're the people in this city who
know Shinji best, we should have some chance of figuring out where he
went."
Yan grimaced at the map. "Maybe. Well, he left his ID, so
there's no way he could have left town on an intercity train." He
paused and nodded at Misato's bedroom. "Ditto for a bus, depending on
how much cash he had on him."
Misato shook her head. "He wouldn't, but I checked anyway. He
hasn't gotten a paycheck yet either."
"So he's down to pocket change. That simplifies things a bit."
"That still leaves a lot of ground to cover." Sousuke noted,
mentally removing the residential districts for lack of friendly
contacts, and hotels for lack of money from consideration,
as well as the insides of the shopping streets and restaurants in the
area. "It would be useful to call in support."
"No can do." Misato answered grimly. "The minute we call in
Section Two it becomes official, with official consequences. I'd like
to avoid that as long as possible."
"Ok, then there we have it." Yang turned to Mana and Sousuke.
"You two start on Downtown, I'll take the East block."
And so it began. After splitting up at the station, the four
combed their respective areas, using the train lines to move from point
to point in their search. It was towards the end of the night, as the
train passengers thinned out, that Mana noticed several people asleep
in their seats. Fairly safe, of course, but seriously annoying when
they woke up. They could easily have been aboard for hours, going
around and around...
She removed the small radio from her purse slowly, and depressed
the transmit key as she turned the thought over in her mind.
"Urzu Two, Four here. 'Hiro' had to have used the train in
order to get into town, right?" she confirmed, using Shinji's
unofficial codename.
"Unless he wanted to drag that duffel bag of his with him down
the street." Yan agreed.
"Ok, but what if he got on the train, and -never got off?-"
Eleven stops later, one disgruntled Eva pilot was sighted on
board a Green line train by Misato. Following her quarry to the next
stop, she was met by Mana and Sousuke, soon joined from the Red line by
Yan. The two junior soldiers took up watch on their wayward charge,
and a great sigh of relief was heaved by all.
----------
That was five hours ago. In that time Shinji had left the
train, visited a 100 yen movie theater, and hopped a late bus for the
mountains outside town before wandering around and winding up at the
campsite of the class lunatic. Mana's patience was thin enough to
shave her legs with. She depressed the transmit switch on her
earpiece, the next check in wasn't for another fifteen minutes, but
they were on a clock.
"Two, I don't think these guys are morning people."
"It's still early yet, Four." Yan answered, sounding
disgustingly crisp in spite of the hour.
"Yes Sergeant, but we need him back within the next hour or we
face serious problems." Sousuke pointed out. "Travel time back to
base is nearly fifty minutes."
A few seconds of silence on the radio answered him, before Yan
spoke again. "All right. Use your discretion, but he needs to be in
mint condition. Two out."
The pair wasted no time in leaving their hide and ghosting over
to the campsite. While Mana scanned back over their route, Sousuke
reached inside his jacket and removed a cylindrical object, the bright
'ting' of the clip being released snapped Mana's head back around too
late. The searing light glowed even behind her hastily closed eyelids,
while the ear popping boom ruffled her hair.
"Ok, that's just excessive." Mana complained once her ears quit
ringing.
"It was this or taser him." Sousuke grunted as he dragged a
twitching Shinji out by his ankles.
----------
Light streamed through the cracks between the blinds as Shinji
blinked and rustled under his sheets.
"What in the world?" he said to the empty room.
Slowly, he roused himself, still trying to connect his last
memory of bedding down in Kensuke's tent with waking up in his room in
Misato's apartment. Deciding to make the best of it for the moment, he
shuffled into the bathroom for his morning ablutions, before changing
into his school uniform and making for the kitchen.
Misato was waiting for him, fully dressed for a change, at the
table with a pot of coffee and what looked like a stack of square
hockey pucks on a plate.
"Good morning, Shinji. Sleep well?" she asked nonchalantly,
sipping at her mug.
"Yes. Very." Shinji replied tightly.
"Good." Misato nodded. "I'm glad your adventure didn't have
any permanent effects. Grab a seat." She waited until he did as he
was told, and continued "Corporal Sagara apologizes for using a stun
grenade, he saw no other way to remove you without rousing Kensuke as
well and breaking cover. He'll probably be by later to tell you
personally. I've also called all of you in sick and gave those two the
day off." She sipped again to compose her thoughts. "So, to the real
question. Do you want to be here or not?"
Shinji started in surprise. "I..." he began, before he shook
his head "It doesn't matter what I want. It wouldn't change anything
anyway, since I'm the only pilot you have, I have no choice." He
shrugged. "Besides, everyone says..."
Misato cut him off. "Go home, Shinji."
"But..."
She overrode his protest. "Your bags are in the foyer, we left
them packed. You can be on the train out in an hour. If the only
reason you're here is on your father's and my orders, then we don't
need you." She leaned forward to meet his eyes. "You've done your
duty and then some. Rei will be ready in less than a week, and Eva-01
was her ride to begin with, Dr. Akagi would just have to swap a few
configuration files. And we can set you up with a severance package,
of course." Misato sat back and sighed. "I won't lie, losing a pilot
will hurt us, but better that than having a pilot as insecure as you
seem to be."
Shinji sat, stunned. He'd expected many things when he'd woken
up back in his room here, most of them beginning with a royal ass
chewing, but this was -nowhere- on the list. "Oh...ok." He said
softly as he rose from the table. "I'll go, if that's what's best."
He continued tonelessly.
Misato would later claim that at that moment she could feel her
temper let go, and it was all she could do to restrain herself from
reaching out and shaking her roommate like a rag doll.
"God DAMN it, Shinji!" She slammed her coffee mug down, sloshing
out most of the contents, as she rose to her feet as well. "I have -
had- it with your passive-agressive..." she struggled a moment before
she exhaled an angry breath and continued more calmly to the wide-eyed
boy. "I'm not giving orders. You can leave, -if- you wish, right now.
But if you do, do it because its what you truly want, not because of
what I think." Misato sat back down, after checking the coffee hadn't
spilled into her chair, and reached for a napkin to mop up the remainder.
"But...I'm part of your job." Shinji finally replied in
confusion. "That's why I'm living here in the first place, isn't it?
And why Sagara and Kirishima are right next door?" he continued, more
than a little bitterness.
Misato nodded, both in acknowledgement, and because his look of
betrayal during the previous day's confrontation in the locker room
finally made sense. "All of that's true. But not the whole truth."
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Pen-Pen's fridge. "You've been
here long enough, exactly what is Pen-Pen good for?" She smiled
slightly at his look of surprise. "Not much, right? Why do you think
I keep him, then?"
Shinji shrugged in confusion. "I don't know."
"He was a test subject at NERV Germany while I was there a few
years ago. They would've put him to sleep if I hadn't adopted him, so
I felt sorry for him, sure." she replied softly "But, also, I've
always lived alone. And so I thought that it would be nice to have
someone there, waiting for me to come back. To have a family." Misato
snorted slightly at herself. "There's plenty of apologies to go around
for everyone in this mess, but I'll start by saying I'm sorry you
believed I only wanted you to live here for convenience, or from pity.
I'm not together enough for that. So..." She halted, as tears began
leaking down Shinji's face.
Shinji's gaze was far away, though on what only he could say.
"I...I don't want to go back."
Misato Katsuragi had been called many things in the course of
her career, some of them true, many of them not repeatable in polite
company. Two expressions were conspicuously absent from the list.
One, was incompetent. The other, heartless. She silently hugged Shinji
to her, and waited for him to finish. Only then did she say:
"Then don't."
-----------
Sousuke's gaze appeared to be focused entirely on his
newspaper, not paying any particular attention as he sat several rows
behind his charge for the day, Rei Ayanami. Only on closer examination
did it become obvious that his eyes were constantly moving, taking in
everything his environment presented to him. It was a stark contrast
to the albino girl, for whom the appearance of disinterest in her
surroundings was in fact the reality.
Thus it was no surprise that he was the first to notice Misato
and Shinji enter the train car from the street.
"Sagara, I'm certain I heard myself give you the day off!"
Misato mock glowered from before him as he shot to his feet.
"Ma'am! Miss Ayanami called to inform us that she would be
proceeding to the Geofront, it seemed prudent to accompany her."
Sousuke reported. "I apologize for disobeying your instructions."
"Hm. Well in that case I -suppose- we can forego the court
martial." Misato nodded consideringly. "Very well, I'll take it from
here. You, on the other hand, have a new assignment."
"I am ready to receive it, Captain!" Sousuke barked.
Misato's eyes took on a predatory gleam. "Excellent. You are
to return to your apartment as quickly as practical. Once there, you
are to contact Petty Officer Kirishima, and proceed with her to the
dining establishment of her choice, at which point you will buy her ice
cream."
Sousuke's eyes bugged out in disbelief. "Captain, I..."
"Do you understand my instructions, Corporal?" Misato overrode
him.
"Yes ma'am, but..."
"Then you'd best be about it." Misato said with finality as the
train braked to its next stop.
Sousuke sagged in defeat. "Yes, Captain." With that, he folded
his newspaper, and exited with a confused shake of his head.
After the doors closed behind him, Misato sat down in the seat
next to Shinji and chuckled. "He's improving, I didn't have to explain
about ice cream this time." She turned to the car's other occupant.
"Good morning, Rei."
Rei nodded a fraction of an inch. "Good morning, Captain
Katsuragi."
Shinji avoided her level gaze and mumbled his own greetings,
Rei simply nodded and returned to her textbook.
The rest of the ride passed in silence, Rei silently moving off
on her own errands once the train arrived at the Geofront stop.
"Is she always like that?" Shinji asked once she was out of
sight.
"-I've- never seen otherwise." Misato replied with a shrug.
"You've been going to school with her for two weeks now, don't you
know?"
Shinji flinched slightly. "Well yeah, but I wondered if she's
different outside it."
Misato considered for a moment before shaking her head. "No,
I've only been here a little bit longer than you, but I can't think of
a time she's ever even cracked a smile." She turned the same smile
that had graced her features dealing with Sousuke on him. "But why the
sudden interest?"
"Well...um..." Shinji stammered. "I...if I'm going to be here
permanently I should try to get to know her."
"Good idea." Misato replied approvingly. "Well, I've got her
phone number, so you could always invite her over some evening." she
smirked as Shinji started to relax, and set the hook. "I could also
find out what she likes for breakfast, if you want." she cooed in a
husky voice.
"Misato!" Shinji shouted, face flaming red as outrage and
embarrassment warred across it.
"You're too easy." Misato laughed. "Ah, here we are." They'd
stopped outside the entrance to the hospital wing of Central Dogma.
Misato turned a more serious expression to Shinji when he looked back
from the signboard announcing this fact. "Ok, this should've been
done when you got here, but it seems to have been lost in the shuffle."
At Shinji's quizzical look, she continued. "All senior staff in Nerv
are equipped with a beacon as a preventive measure against kidnapping.
If you're going to be piloting on a permanent basis you need one as
well."
Shinji's expression hardened. "So its a homing tag. Like you
use on wild animals."
"More or less." Misato agreed. "Listen, Shinji. It sucks, I
won't lie. But there are very good reasons for it..."
"Like keeping me from leaving the reservation?" Shinji replied
bitterly.
"Like keeping you alive!" Misato snapped. "Nerv wasn't the
only group working on superweapons like the Evas even before the Angels
returned. There are even more now. Any of them would be delighted to
have a confirmed pilot. Even if you don't really know much about Nerv
yet, you're still a valuable commodity just for that. Some of them
are in places with less than savory reputations for human rights. You
follow?"
Shinji nodded slowly.
"The offer I made before still stands, Shinji. You'll be giving
up your freedom if you do this. Its up to you if the job is worth it."
Misato looked away while Shinji considered. Finally, he sighed.
"Ok, how does it work?"
"That's about the only good news. The tag is about the size of
a piece of gum, it's inserted through an incision in between two ribs
and sits behind the sternum. Takes about an hour. After that, Nerv is
always close to your heart." Misato smirked crookedly.
Shinji winced. "Then let's get this over with."
----------
Rei Ayanami paced the corridors of Nerv HQ, navigating the maze
that was Central Dogma as though she'd been born in it. A scattering
of techs and admin personnel flickered across her view as she made her
way to the locker room. Though she kept her day planner scrupulously
up to date, she had no need to consult it to know she was scheduled for
a mock battle with Pilot Trainee Roberts in thirty-two minutes,
followed by a physical therapy session, and possibly the removal of the
'soft' cast she'd been wearing for the past week after her original was
unnecessary. Following that, she would return to school for the
remainder of the day. It was a schedule much like the one she'd been
following for most of her life, and barring the occasional perturbation
she fully expected it to continue for the forseeable future.
It's architect chose that moment to come into view, flanked two
steps behind and to the right by the greying but spry Deputy
Director Fuyutsuki as they made their way to the command deck. Rei's
expression brightened in anticipation as she bowed politely.
"Good morning, Director. Deputy Director."
"Good morning, Rei." Fuyutsuki answered with a smile. "You're
looking well."
"Thank you, sir." She nodded.
"All is well then?" Gendo Ikari asked
"Yes, sir." Rei replied in what was, for her, a cheerful tone.
"The new pilots are improving at an adequate rate." She grudgingly
admitted, seeing no reason to add anything concerning her own status.
He would certainly know, or in the unlikely event he didn't, inquire.
"Rei, we've had this discussion." Ikari chastened "They are
necessary, for now."
Rei frowned minutely. "I understand, Director."
"Excellent. I trust you'll be available for lunch?" He
favored her with a small paternal smile.
Her expression brightened further. "Of course, sir."
"Until then." Ikari nodded, and moved off with Fuyutsuki,
apparently continuing their previous conversation. She wrestled her
attention back to the task at hand, and with a smooth countenance
returned to her path.
----------
"So anyway, they just got in a model of the Fearless, and it's
even been updated to conform to her newest refit!" Kensuke chattered
excitedly. "It's gonna be so cool, I can't wait to get it tomorrow."
"No kidding." Toji snorted.
Kensuke gave him a sidelong look through his glasses. "Hey, I
don't mention your hobbies, leave mine alone."
"All I'm sayin' is that mine don't involve paint fumes eating
holes in my brain." Toji replied nonchalantly.
Kensuke nodded. "True, I can see how hanging around a bunch of
sweaty guys is a lot healthier. Probably a lot more interesting for
you too."
"Hey!" Toji shouted, drawing a few stares as they wandered down
the street towards their neighborhood. In one of those odd
coincidences that life scatters with abandon, their families had moved
into their apartment complex on the same day, and their parents had
sent them off together to stay busy and out of trouble. Five years
later, they still did as much together as they had that day. The out
of trouble part had been somewhat less successful.
Kensuke snickered. It hadn't hurt that Toji hadn't gotten any
harder to bait since then either. He glanced at a small blue sports
car parked at the curb, and looked again more closely when he noticed
the Nerv transponder tag hanging from the rearview mirror. 'Odd time
for someone to be out, they don't change shifts for another four
hours.' He mused, before Toji's whistle pulled him away from his study.
"Man, you've gotta see this!" Toji exclaimed. "Check out the
babe at the checkout line!" Kensuke complied, and let out a low
whistle of his own. Long, flowing hair so dark it looked purple-blue,
excellent legs, narrow waist and, he saw as she turned from the
register, a rack worthy of the rest of the package. It was no surprise
it took a few seconds to register she had a companion.
"Oh, you two." Shinji greeted woodenly. "You shop here too?"
"Uh, yeah." Toji replied distractedly. "Sometimes..."
Kensuke gave a small shake and returned to his senses. "Do it."
he murmured as he nudged Toji.
Toji grimaced, before squaring his shoulders and announcing in
a painfully earnest voice, "Ikari, I was an idiot."
Shinji stared, while Misato's brown eyes twinkled.
"I had no call for hittin' you that day to begin with, and
after what I saw yesterday I'm even dumber than I thought."
"And that takes work." Kensuke supplied, to a smirk on the
part of both his listeners.
Toji ignored him completely. "So, I wanna square the books."
He lifted his chin defiantly and continued. "Belt me one."
Shinji's jaw dropped. "HUH?!"
"Slug me. I've got it coming, I'm serious."
Shinji and Misato shared an 'Is this guy for real?' look,
Kensuke dropped his face into his palm.
"You're sure about this." Shinji confirmed after Misato
shrugged.
"Definitely."
Shinji shook his head in resignation and drew his fist back.
"Ok, but only one."
He was just about to throw his punch when Toji signalled for a
pause. "And Ikari, make it count."
Shinji smirked, and let his fist do the talking.
NERV-4
Karamay
9:00 PM Local Time
Nami Lin cursed herself for a coward. Here she stood, next to a
boy she'd worked with day in and day out for weeks, who she was
reasonably sure liked her, and she didn't have the guts to push the
issue. Some brave defender of mankind she was turning out to be.
The object of her deliberations was standing staring out at the
skyline as she arrived at the bus stop for their respective rides.
Probably totally unaware of what his mere existence was doing to her
placid, understanding disposition. It was enough to make her want to
grab him by the collar and shake him until his brains rattled.
----------
Han Fei was at the moment in his own world. One that didn't
include Evas, and entry plugs, and simulated mayhem. Plug suits
figured rather prominently, however. As did a certain short brunette.
It is then perhaps forgivable that it took a couple tries before the
voice speaking his name outside his head separated from the one inside
enough to prompt a response.
----------
"Hello Nami." he replied at last, giving no sign he'd
just forcibly rejoined reality.
"Finally!" she glared with obvious impatience. "I said I'm
thinking about putting in some highlights. What do you think?"
"What color?"
"Not blonde, that'd just look wierd, maybe red?" she answered
after some thought.
Han booted his mental photo editing suite and made the
adjustments, oblivious to Nami's reddening slightly under his
scrutiny. After a few seconds, he nodded judiciously. "That could
work. But Tzu will pitch a fit, never mind your Dad."
"Yeah, I'll have to wait until I'm in Tokyo. They can't
complain there. After all, Ayanami's hair is -blue- for heaven's sake!"
"True." Han chuckled "Well, if you need an accomplice, you
know who to call."
The bus rolled up with an electric whine and a soft squeal of
its brakes. It could be said that Nami took a cold, logical look at
her current feelings, planned a course of action, and executed it with
confidence. One would be lying outrageously, but it -could- be said.
Though considering Han's poleaxed expression as her lips drew
back from his cheek and she hopped aboard the bus and gave a cheerful
"Thank you!", spontinaety had its points too.
Nerv-3
Boston
August 4, 2015
6:30AM Local Time
The topic of discussion at breakfast, as it had been for the
three days since the new training arrangements, were the many and
varied deficiencies of one Asuka Soryu-Langley.
"God as my witness, if I have to listen to another of those
'how great am I' speeches I'm going to start tearing my hair out!"
Tessa fumed as she viciously assaulted her hash browns.
Sam growled agreement. "I hear that. But I'm surprised you
still listen to those. I've just been tuning them out for the past
couple days."
"How? I tried severing the connection and her -and- Mao nearly
took my head off. I think it displays somewhere if you cut the link,
and the volume controls are useless."
Sam grinned. "But if you switch your microphone to push-to-
talk instead of voice activated, then you can make as much noise as you
want. I've been using Christmas music lately."
Tessa dropped her face into her palm and groaned. "So you've
been singing 'Deck the Halls' during what's supposed to be a mission
briefing?!"
"I felt festive." Sam cheerfully agreed. "And now that I've
spilled my deep dark secret, I don't suppose you know how to hotwire
the fire control system?" Sam asked half-facetiously. "I've been all
over the weapons and fire control subsystem menus, and nowhere is there
an option to set them to manual control."
"Why in the world would you want to do that?" Tessa asked with
a confused expression. "I didn't think using the Force was quite your
style."
Sam snorted. "True enough, but as good as the computer is out
at kilometer or two, up close, where our weapons are actually -
effective- having to wait that extra second or so is a big
disadvantage. Especially the way -those- two move. So I figure since
I can't do any worse..."
Tessa pursed her lips in thought for several moments. "You're
sure there's nothing in the weapons menus?"
"Checked it twice." Sam confirmed.
"Then pop the breaker."
"Say again?"
"You can simulate a fire control computer failure by popping
breaker..." she thought a moment "seven-alpha. Before you do that
though, make sure to switch to internal guns and kill any zoom or image
enhancement. When the OS detects an abrupt connectivity loss from
that system it tends to hang a couple seconds, switching off those
processes speeds things up a bit. When it comes back, all weapons will
be fixed in boresight mode. Which is what you wanted."
"Huh." Sam scratched at an eyebrow as he considered. "Well,
it can't hurt to try. Thanks."
She waved him off. "Its not a problem. Drill an extra couple
rounds into Soryu and I'll call it even."
"Your wish is my command." Sam intoned gravely.
----------
Now, hours later, she crept through a valley in a low crouch,
scanning by eye and radar for her foe, Tessa used a different
modification to her fire control. She knew full well she lacked
the skill or hundreds of hours of trigger time needed to aim manually
at range the way Sam planned, so a brute force shutdown of the
computer was out.
Fortunately, she had a cunning plan.
At the end of the day there were usually one or two hours of
more or less free time before lights out. Tessa had long had the habit
of wandering the facility during that time while Sam studied; she was a
familiar sight in the observer gallery of the Eva bays or in the small
cube farm where a trio of software engineers did on-site tweaks of the
operating system. While they hadn't been able to reveal much about
their project's inner workings, it was a place to start. And as
Archimedes supposedly said, 'Give me a lever and a place to stand, and
I can move the world.'
----------
Shinji too crept along, about half way up the wall of the
valley, tracking Eva 03's radars as they probed relentlessly for him.
However, shielded as he was by the solid rock of the ridge he sheltered
behind, it had little chance of succeeding. He carefully shifted
himself to his next observation spot, and waited for the opportune
moment.
----------
Tessa wasn't concerned by her radar's lack of effectiveness
because she wasn't paying much attention to it. Mao's advice from her
own experiences, as well as the series of drubbings both Soryu and
Ayanami had given them all the past few days, had made it blindingly
obvious that keeping her eyeballs outside the plug and off her
instrument panel was the way to go. Right now, she was far more
concerned with the fact that it was on at all, since while the Evas
were perhaps the least stealthy weapons ever designed by Man, there
was no point in adding to the problem.
'Ok, now if I was an Ikari, what would I do?' She pondered.
'Historically, the answer to that is 'whatever my enemy -doesn't- want
me to do' so for this Eva that means in close. Unfortunately, in this
terrain that's not difficult' She muttered, eyeing the craggy valley
with distaste.
She understood, and to a point agreed with, the rationale the
Eva's designers had had for deleting the twin 120mm pistols from the
American Evas in order to save weight for additional Maverick guided
missiles. And they certainly had a point that an Eva designed for
surface to orbit defense and marksman work had no business in a knife
fight. She just wished her machine had been better equipped for one in
the 'unlikely' event of it occurring.
'Like the way the Chinese units' head mounted autocannons are
able to swivel and fire straight behind.' Tessa smiled briefly,
remembering how Fei had given Ayanami a nasty surprise by doing just
that during one episode of their joint training. Alas, the American
unit's weapon in that position was fixed to fire forward, and 'only' a
30mm Gatling.
//Anthrax "Pipeline" _Attack of the Killer B's_//
The AT field alarm screamed its warning moments before a purple
streak appeared as predicted. Raising her own field, Tessa attempted
to execute the diving shoulder roll Mao had taught them for this
situation, which if done properly would take her clear of Eva-01's
attack and, ideally, in a position to return fire into its back
as it turned to reengage. The shuddering crash that shook the
simulator was not part of the plan. True, she had the dive down pat,
and was well clear of immediate danger. The 'tuck under and use the
momentum to roll back onto your feet' part was another story, and only
the fact that Shinji had over committed himself in his attack saved
her from being swiftly dismembered. Tessa dragged her dusty, dented
Eva to its feet and readied her rifle, seeing Shinji had reacted with
impressive grace in turning an overshot approach into the setup for a
pistol duel. Only to end up staring down the barrel of an assault
rifle. One with a ballistics computer that had had its workload
reduced from literally hundreds of factors to a mere handful by virtue
of a series of tedious, but fruitful, setting selections. And at the
owner's finger already tensing on the trigger.
The eruption of tungsten fury never came. The two pilots
stared at the crushed portion of the rifle's casing running from the
barrel shroud to the breech, and then at each other. Shinji reacted
first by fractions of a second, leaping to the side to escape the burst
of 30mm shells and the four heavy missiles rumbling in their wake, and
drawing his pistol before he hit the ground. Tessa sidestepped as she
fired, though none of the five hundred rounds in her Gatling's magazine
were tracers, their path was obvious in the shadows cast by the valley
walls. The glowing stream of them seemed to attach itself to Eva-01's
left forearm for an instant before being left behind by its maneuvers,
though not without leaving mangled armor and a ruined knife hand
behind.
Reduced to its pistol now, Eva 01 lined up and rapped out a pair
of two shot bursts, disabling it's opponent's left shoulder joint but
missing the center of mass shot he'd hoped for. Another volley of
missiles answered him, as Shinji once again took evasive action in what
was rapidly degenerating from a battle of maneuver into a bare knuckle
slugging match.
----------
"Damn Damn Damn" Shinji cursed in a monotone, watching his
pistol click empty. Sensing victory in it's grasp, Eva 03 halted to
take advantage of Shinji's need to change weapons, and locked on its
missiles instead of firing them unguided in an attempt to herd him into
its Gatling fire. At this range, barely 500 meters, dodging out of
their kill zone wouldn't be difficult, but the salvo right behind it
would be another story.
Shinji took a long, deep breath of LCL and made a decision.
----------
Eva 03 fired. Shinji immediately dodged to the left, and
charged. Caught off guard, Tessa swiveled back around and opened
fire. Ducking the stream, Shinji closed to two hundred meters, and
used his ace in the hole.
Eva 01's shoulder hardpoints each split and opened to either
side to reveal a trio of exhaust ports. Designed originally as a
system to boost overloaded UN transports from small runways, the
rockets had more than enough juice to change a seven hundred ton Eva's
headlong charge into a thing of an eyeblink.
----------
Tessa clambered from her plug, absently rubbing the spot where
the prog knife had entered, and decompressed her suit. Noting Mao's
absence in the control booth, she felt her abdominal muscles clench as
her imagination conjured reasons why. Bile churning in her guts, she
made her way from the room.
----------
Melissa lay in wait outside the locker rooms, casually leaning
against the wall beside the door. At the padding of Tessa's plugsuited
feet, her head swiveled like the turret of a tank to deliver a stare
that froze Tessa's spine from fifteen paces. Then, incongruously, she
smiled.
"Well done." She eased off the wall and closed the distance.
"If his sync ratio weren't so much higher, you might've nailed him."
Tessa was still adjusting to the Sergeant Major's quickchange,
and could only provide a half hearted "But..."
"What, you thought I'd be pissed you couldn't take a combat
veteran after only three weeks of training?" Melissa asked with a
glint of amusement in her eye. "Be serious. It'd be a miracle if -
you- could even after you're fully trained."
The emphasis wasn't lost on its receiver. "Me?"
"Well, Roberts has a fighting chance against the others as long
as he's smart enough not to let them get close. Which is debatable."
She added after a moment. "And what I've seen of the Chinese indicated
they'll be pretty capable, Lin especially." She shrugged "But you're
probably smarter than than the rest of the newbies put together, and
you haven't come up with a way to use your talents to effect?" Melissa
shook her head and sighed in resignation. "I suppose I shouldn't have
expected so much of you."
Tessa gaped in shock, before her anger began to overwhelm it.
Nearly quivering with outrage and indignation, she answered "I'm sorry
to be such a disappointment, ma'am." her voice taut as a bridge cable
"I will certainly apply greater effort in the future."
"That's good to hear." Mao replied pleasantly, and set the
final barb. "For the record I have my doubts, but who knows, perhaps
the horse will sing." With that, she breezed down the hall, leaving a
steaming Tessa behind.
It was several minutes before Tessa trusted herself to speak.
"Fine then" she snarled as she unsealed her plugsuit and headed for the
showers.
Tokyo 3
August 6, 2015
6:00 PM Local Time
Shinji Ikari was sweating bullets. The bleak grey walls
reflected his estimate of his chances of leaving this room alive as he
stared once again into a set of crimson eyes. As he frantically
searched for an escape route, a smug portion of his mind insisted on
exercising its hindsight perogative.
----------
Earlier
Several boys relaxed on the bleachers bordering the school track
and soccer field, enjoying the shade provided by a combination of
several midsized oak trees and a corrugated steel canopy. Ignoring
his two fellow loafers' banter next to him, Shinji gazed into space in
the general direction of the school fence, lost in thought. Alas, his
companions had other plans.
"Ikari? Yo, Ikari!" Toji waved a hand in his line of sight.
"Huh?"
"What'cha looking at so hard?" Toji questioned as he peered past
Shinji to where he'd just been staring. "You going deaf or something?"
"I think its more he had better things to do than listen to us."
Kensuke weighed in. "If you get me."
Toji smirked. "Somethin' to that." he added as he inched his
head a bit lower and caught sight of the school pool past the edge of
the canopy. "So, which one was it?"
"Which what?" Shinji asked suspiciously. Granted the pair had
been a lot more friendly the past few days, but...
"Which girl, man!" Toji exclaimed. "Come on, dish!"
"But I..." Shinji protested. Inevitably, two of the three girls
in view were Ayanami and Mana, plus some other girl who looked pissed
at the world for some reason.
"Wha'dya you think, Kensuke? Ayanami or Kirishima?" Toji
considered. "We can rule Chidori out, unless Shinji's into S&M." He
shivered theatrically.
"Safe bet." Kensuke agreed, the stories about the 'prettiest
girl no one dared to date' were legendary. "I'd say Kirishima
personally, but..." he trailed off invitingly.
"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said neither." Shinji
commented, without real hope.
"Nope." Toji answered "But as I was sayin', Ayanami might be a
choice. They're both pilots an' all. Bit sullen for me though." he
finished thoughtfully.
----------
Shinji would normally have dismissed the whole thing with the
rest of the nonsense that pair generated, but something about it just
wouldn't die. Once the final bell rang, he gathered up his laptop and
accessories and filed out with the rest of the class. It was cleaning
day for him, so he made for the janitor's closet instead of the
entrance.
'Finally.' he sighed in relief. Shinji began stacking the chairs
and desks aside so he could sweep the floor. The other student
assigned that day, a tall brunette whose name he didn't know, came in
with a bucket of soapy water and a rag and began wiping down the
chalkboard. Shinji tuned out her humming and let the repetitive
motions relax him. He always enjoyed chores like this that let him
turn off his brain for a while, and now more than ever he figured he
deserved a little time to zone out. After this, he would have yet
another training session to deal with, and his roommate's housekeeping
into the bargain after. And, he realized with a sigh, it was Misato's
turn to cook.
'Maybe Sgt. Jongkyu will take pity on me.' he grimaced wryly as
he finished sweeping. He saw the girl had been following behind
mopping and was almost done herself, and stood aside while she finished.
"Thanks for your help." he said quickly, before leaving with his
supplies and missing her disappointed pout.
----------
As expected, Shinji found Sousuke and Mana waiting for him by the
shoe lockers, Mana with her back towards him while she argued about
something with Sousuke.
'No doubt I'll hear about it in detail in a minute.' he thought
as he twisted the latch to his locker.
The echoes faded before the smoke cleared, Mana's mouth still
open in preparation to shout a warning a second too late. The
florescent smoke slowly settled to the floor and walls, revealing
a now Day-Glo orange Shinji Ikari still frozen in shock.
"Damn it Sousuke! I told you!" Mana turned and bellowed at her
accomplice. "That thing is more dangerous to us than the enemy!"
"Had Pilot Ikari been properly informed of the addition it would
not be a problem." Sousuke responded calmly.
"And whose job was that?" Mana asked caustically
"Mine, which I was detained from performing by a person who
shall remain nameless."
Shinji chose that moment to turn from his brief trip to his
Happy place and ask in a shellshocked voice "What just happened here?"
Mana rolled her eyes heavenward and waved at Sousuke. "Go on,
let's see if it makes sense when I hear it again."
Sousuke nodded cordially, most likely missing the sarcasm
entirely. "I recently realized that the shoeboxes of this school are a
significant security risk, I apologize for this oversight. The space
is large enough to fit a directional mine such as a Claymore or similar
device, wired to activate upon opening the door. To correct this, I
elected to install a countermeasure."
"You...boobytrapped my shoebox." Shinji repeated in the same
voice.
"As well as Ayanami's, mine and Kirishima's." Sousuke added with
quiet satisfaction
Shinji turned to Mana "And you knew about this."
"Shinji, I..." Mana began
Shinji closed his eyes "I don't think I want to see either of you
right now." With that, he turned, and walked slowly away.
----------
Sousuke watched the boy trudge away in silence. Mana turned to
him, obviously torn.
"Should we let him go like that?"
"I think we'd better." He noticed Shinji's bag laying where it
had fallen after its owner's ambush and retrieved it on the way out the
door. "Come. We still have a duty, no matter how badly we've erred."
he called over his shoulder as he took up overwatch on the pilot.
Mana nodded, and followed.
----------
Shinji tried to ignore the looks he was getting on the street as
he headed to the train station, but it was no picnic. The mothers
pulling their small children out of his way were hard to take. The
slightly older kids asking him which gang he was in were worse.
"This isn't going to work. I'm going to need more than a
convenience store bathroom to get this crap out of my hair, never mind
my shirt." he grimaced at it's festive new color, which had been
extremely resistant to the plain soap and water he'd tried on it, and
the stiffness in his hair that told him it looked much the same. "At
this rate I'm gonna get arrested." He paused at an intersection and
thought. Misato would be back from the Geofront by now, and explaining
this was more than he could take right now. The terrible two were
probably back in their apartment as well, so that was out for the same
reason. Which left...who?
"I don't know where Toji or Kensuke live, and as for anyone
else..." he sighed. He looked aimlessly around, before frowning in
thought. Ayanami comes from this direction when they walked to school.
And from his map memorization he knew there were only two apartment
complexes in this area, and one was in exactly the wrong direction.
"Well," he worried a piece of his lower lip between his teeth as
he considered. "when you're at the bottom of a hole...."
----------
'Then -you- start digging.' the same corner of his mind finished
the saying in a less orthodox if more appropriate fashion. The rest
of it had no attention to spare.
"Move, please." a soft, cool voice intruded on his meltdown. His
reply jammed in his throat as he began to comply, and realized just
where his left hand had landed to break his fall.
Unconcerned at his catapult-like leap backwards, Rei stood as
well, picked up the offending eyewear that caused the problem in the
first place, and after replacing it on the nightstand began to quickly
and efficiently dress.
"What is it?" she spoke again in the same voice as she completed
the operation and looked at him again.
"I...um..." Shinji struggled and finally unjammed his vocal
ability enough to get out "I left my bag and... my ID somewhere, and
I was hoping you could let me into Central Dogma so I can replace it."
he finished in a rush. "And maybe borrow some detergent?"
Rei considered, and nodded agreement.
----------
Shinji sat on the opposite side of the train car from his
benefactor, and tried not to cringe too hard every time he thought of
her level stare boring into him while he swapped shirts after liberally
dousing his head with soap and isopropyl alcohol to get the worst of
the dye out.
"Get to know her better." he thought bitterly while straightening
his poorly fitted borrowed shirt. "Ask and ye shall receive."
----------
Rei strode purposefully towards the Geofront gate, anxious to be
done with this errand. Unfortunately, the boy behind her decided to
make conversation.
"Your activation test is coming up the day after tomorrow, isn't
it?"
"Yes." She agreed. At least it was a relevant topic, she had
never had any interest in the chatter that passed for communication
for most of her schoolmates.
"Are you worried about it? I heard about the last one." he
continued quietly
"No. I have faith in the Director." She decided to continue for
curiosity's sake. "Don't you?"
Shinji snorted. "Not a chance."
Rei froze. She could -not- have heard that properly. She slowly
turned to face Shinji and confirm his statement, but the expression of
contempt on his face made it unnecessary. Cold fury reared within her,
and only the fact Shinji was out of arm's reach prevented her from
expressing it. After a moment she turned back and continued walking.
Rei replied in her usual soft, toneless voice. "I see."
----------
Shinji thanked Rei hurriedly at the gate and entered the Geofront.
Moving at a near run, he quickly reached Central Dogma and the locker
rooms.
"Still on time, at least -that's- gone right." he gasped as
he reached the door. Dr. Akagi wasn't one to suffer fools gladly, and
tardiness was much the same in her eyes. He pushed the door open, and
nearly fell flat on his face.
"What the?! Huh!" his eyebrows rose once he recovered from his
stumble and looked behind him. There in all its threadbare glory sat
his school bag. A quick check of the outside pocket revealed his ID,
and a note torn from a pink pocket notebook. Pocketing the first, he
smiled at the second before changing to his plugsuit for the tests.
----------
That evening Shinji cleared away the dishes from the table and
tried to ignore Pen-Pen's glare from within his refrigerator. Shinji's
attempt to pass off his helping of tonight's Misato Special had not
been unnoticed, nor had it been appreciated.
The chef glanced up after Shinji finished loading the sink and
left to let the dishes soak.
"So, are you feeling better now?" she asked before he could
disappear into his room.
Shinji paused. "What was the problem?" he asked warily
Misato stretched casually at her seat on the couch and took her
time answering. "Let's just say a little bird told me you had an
interesting day."
Shinji cringed. He'd been debating whether or not to mention
-anything- that happened in the last twelve hours, but it looked like
that decision is out of his hands now.
"Can I say that I -really- don't want to talk about it and move
on?" Shinji asked plaintively.
Misato meditated upon that statement's implications. As far as
she knew, he'd been the unwitting victim of a certain overzealous
corporal, but that certainly wouldn't explain this reaction. Obviously,
she told herself, as a responsible commanding officer she needed to
know about any events that might have a bearing on her subordinate's
performance. The fact she was genuinely curious was just a bonus.
"If you want. Though if you do I won't have your side of the
story." she played a hunch and added "Or any extenuating
circumstances."
That seemed to turn the trick. Shinji sagged and slouched over
to the other side of the couch and sat down.
"Ok," he sighed, and began.
----------
Misato nodded appropriately through the parts she'd already heard
from the Sousuke's excruciatingly thorough report on the incident.
"Ok, its good you felt able to go to a teammate for help. So
then what?" Misato commented when Shinji paused.
Shinji looked down at his hands and continued. "I found her
apartment building, and checked each floor until I found a door with
Ayanami on it. I tried the bell but it was broken, so I knocked and
went in." He paused and asked "Did Mana or Sousuke ever tell you
about where she lives?"
"Ohhhhh yeah." Misato answered grimly
"Right, so you know what that place is like. I heard the shower
turn off and figure she'll be out shortly, and as I'm waiting I noticed
a pair of glasses on her nightstand and picked them up. They had
Father's name on them." A suspicious redness began creeping across his
cheeks "That was about the time Rei came out of the bathroom."
Misato chuckled sympathetically. "And not dressed for company?"
Shinji blushed redder. "No."
"So..." Misato prodded "You're still in one piece, it can't have
been too bad."
Shinji grimaced. "She stared a second, then started walking over
glaring at me all the way. I apologized and tried to leave, but
slipped on something she'd left laying on the floor..."
"And ran right into her." Misato finished, having already
connected the dots.
Shinji nodded miserably.
"Well, on a one to ten scale I'd say your day rated about a
negative five. I take it she gave you something for your problem and
sent you on your way?" Misato queried, fighting to keep a straight
face.
"She went to the gate with me, but yes."
Misato leaned back and considered for a time. "Well, from what
you said, I don't think she's genuinely angry with you. She's a pretty
even tempered girl, as you might've noticed." she noted dryly.
Shinji snorted slightly. "Yeah."
"You'll need to apologize of course, but I think you're in the
clear."
Shinji smiled wanly. "You think so?"
"Pretty sure. Mardukas told me once she used to spar with the
security staff before she got hurt." Misato grinned "No offence, but
if she'd felt seriously angry or threatened she could've tied you up
like a pretzel before you knew what was happening."
Shinji's eyes widened "Oh."
United Nations Space Command
Panama Territory
August 8, 2015
11:00 PM Local Time
The console beeped quietly to itself. The noise was all but lost
among the quiet bustle of the nerve center of the DEW system and
its associated support satellites.
Specialist 2c Walters set down his mug of green tea and glanced
curiously at the display. Currently, it displayed a view of a
nondescript wedge of space approximately half a million kilometers
deep by an equal amount wide pointed directly behind Earth's orbital
track, distinguished only by a small asteroid transiting the area.
The red line denoting its vector twitched. Then again, in the
same direction.
"What in hell..." he wondered aloud, keying open a more detailed
window on the object.
Seconds later, the master alarms blared, and when the object's
new course was projected he had his answer.
Nerv-4
Karamay
August 9, 2015
8:30 AM Local Time
Han faked a right at his opponent before changing to a sweep kick
at the last moment.
Nami rolled with the blow and took advantage of the momentary off
balance moment to land a punishing right of her own to his headgear
before Han could parry. She'd shuffled back a step and set herself
when the PA piped an attention tone for several seconds. Director Li's
dry voice followed the signal.
"Last night, the next angel was detected on intercept,
estimated time of arrival 2:00PM today. The current landing zone
looks like Tokyo again, but just the same this facility is also going
on alert. Further updates will be provided as the situation develops.
That is all."
Han and Nami both turned to Tzu, who had remained aloof
throughout the morning excepting occasional comments.
"You are expecting a noble, inspiring speech exhorting you to
uphold your duties, perhaps?" he asked sardonically "Tend to your
tasks, and others will tend to theirs." He turned an icy stare on Han
"Such as performing a move like you plan to actually hit something. I
don't care how good a kiss she gives, you -will- perform this properly
or -I- will go find a forty year old master sergeant and let you try
that so-called kick on -him-."
Nami went from smirking to bright red in an eyeblink, before both
hurried to comply.
Nerv HQ
Tokyo-3
2:20 PM Local Time
"Its late." Misato commented on their target. "Not considerate
-or- punctual. It doesn't get much worse than that."
"I imagine he didn't get many second dates in college."
Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba cracked wise from his console.
"Not likely." Misato agreed when the nervous laughter died.
"ETA?"
"Another thirty minutes, atmospheric entry in ten." Makoto
reported. "Still on course for us."
"Ok then, sound the alert."
----------
Rei paused on her way from the simulator. Moved by an impulse she
didn't wholly understand, she turned and made her way to the Eva bays,
arriving as Eva-01 completed its checklist and began moving to the
catapults.
While watching it's slow progress, she considered the
Third's known distrust for his father, as well as the
open secret of his nearly being AWOL last week, averted only by the
efforts of a cadre of guards derided by the rest of Nerv Security as
interlopers and amatuers. Another hour's delay in his arrival at
Captain Katsuragi's residence would have placed him at risk of
termination from the program, in addition to possible criminal
penalties. Admittedly, given the captain's apparent fondness for the
Third, the latter was unlikely.
So then, why would he return? He was not a Pilot born and raised
as she and the Second were. He was not bound by the desire to destroy
the Angels as their commander appeared to be. He did not even have the
belief in the Project's ultimate goals that held many of the senior
staff in spite of their own personality conflicts with the Director.
She stared after the departing Eva, but found no answers.
----------
Rei entered the control room just as Ikari launched. Ignoring
the status reports of the bridge staff, she glanced at the monitors
showing Eva-01's progress towards the surface. Turning her attention
to those showing the Angel's progress, she noted the octahedral shape
as being a departure from the norm thus far, and that it had completed
entry to Earth's atmosphere and was currently five minutes away.
Turning again to Eva-01, she saw it's pilot had reached the
surface and selected a heavy rocket launcher, a reasonable choice
given Captain Katsuragi's decision to engage outside the city if
possible, since it had the longest range of the available weapons. The
captain gave her final instructions:
"Remember Shinji, we need to keep it outside the city if
possible. As soon as it clears the last foothills, open fire. And for
God's sake stay on the move."
"Understood." Shinji replied tersely.
"Then good luck." Misato cut the link.
"Trying honey instead of vinegar, Captain?" Doctor Akagi asked
from her station.
Misato loftily ignored her friend, and turned to ask Makoto a
question when Aoba burst out "High energy reaction in the target!
Massive rise in gamma radiation output!"
'Oh HELL' Misato swore as her hand darted for her earpiece.
"Shinji, it's got a particle beam! Get moving!"
Shinji did so with alacrity while simultaneously releasing a trio
of rockets as soon as the Angel came into view. Ducking behind a row
of warehouses, he changed course and emerged from cover in time to see
a blinding flash and a series of fireballs, before a searing spear of
fire drove all thought from his mind.
---------
4:00 PM
Misato opened the meeting. "Ok, we've taken a hit, but we're not
out of the game yet." She glanced down at her summary. "From Eva-01's
experience plus our own tests, we know that the Angel is hard wired
to attack anything that attacks it, manifests an AT field, or moves
within a ten kilometer radius from it. So far it seems to be content
to sit on top of us and drill, but there's no reason to think it's idle
otherwise."
Ritsuko was privately impressed. Knowing what a carefree,
slovenly, general trainwreck her old roommate had been so long ago, and
still was off duty judging from the few times she had visited, Ritsuko
was constantly amazed at the transformation into the stern professional
now presiding at the head of the table. Bringing her attention back
to the task at hand, she delivered her own report.
"As Captain Katsuragi stated, the Angel is currently inactive
save for its drilling. However, it's AT field -is- still up, and in
fact visible." She brought up a video clip of one of the test firings
on the projector screen behind her, showing the ripple effect on the
angel's image. "This field is the most powerful to date, and
successfully resisted the heaviest weapons the defense grid could bring
to bear." Another clip, this time of a rail mounted particle cannon
firing upon the Angel from the edge of the city before being swiftly
annihilated. "Thus far, we have not determined what is powering a beam
of this output, though we have determined it's mechanism for hovering
is linked to it's AT field." Ritsuko returned to her seat, quietly
glad her part was concluded.
"Which brings us to our assets. Commander Mardukas?" Misato
inquired respectfully. Another thing that intrigued Ritsuko.
Mardukas was a former submariner, of all things, and had been added to
Nerv last year the then newly reorganized agency's conversion from
research project to weapons program. Since then he'd acquired the
reputation of a man who suffered neither fools nor incompetents, and
was known to be one of the very few people Gendo Ikari had graced with
the praise 'satisfactory'
For all that, he managed to be surprisingly well liked by his
staff, possibly because in the main they were neither and he treated
them accordingly.
"Thank you, Captain." he replied equally formally. "As of now,
we are approximately three hours from completing the repairs to Eva-
01's chest armor. Frankly, we're extremely lucky its a mere remove and
replace operation, the damage nearly reached one of the functional
nodes." He frowned in Jovian fashion. "Which exhausts all
of the good news. Eva-00 is still experiencing feedback errors in its
neurosystems, and I have strong reservations about certifying it for
combat even if it were designed for such a thing in the first place.
He flicked a glare at Aoba, currently standing opposite him and author
of that very plan. "Given the field strength numbers we have, I also
strongly doubt the ability of the Type 20 to have significant effect
on its own, especially given it's origins as a rebuilt Type 12." he
referred to the make of the ill-fated particle cannon used in the
test.
"But would that be a problem, sir?" Makoto asked diffidently "If
we can neutralize the AT field, then the shot won't have any
interference."
Misato nodded to him. "True, Lieutenant. But consider that it
takes several seconds for a field to manifest and stabilize. Maybe
Rei can play tag with the angel long enough to make that shot, I won't
say she can't. However."
Makoto nodded, the point taken.
"Speaking of." Misato remarked, bringing the meeting back on
task. "Pilots."
"The Third Child is under sedation right now, but his psychograph
checks out within acceptable limits." Maya answered. "The First
Child is currently on standby, we've provisionally cleared her for duty
based on her most recent exam."
'Which was made about half an hour ago.' Ritsuko added mentally.
'Rei was unusually insistent.' She tracked the remainder of the
report, which was summed up by it's concluding sentence. "So any plan
will have both pilots available for action."
Misato drummed her fingers on the table and considered aloud.
"Alright then. So we have about ten hours until this thing finishes
its job with the drill and probably drops a bomb on us. We have two
available pilots, and the -possibiity- of two Evas to go with them."
She nodded to Mardukas, acknowledging his reservations. "And both
weapons of choice have been proven ineffective." she concluded,
remembering the contemptuous ease the Angel had swatted the rockets
out of the sky before turning its attention to Shinji. "I'm open to
suggestions."
"I think the cafeteria has a white tablecloth we can borrow."
Makoto replied. "I know we can find a big enough pole for it
somewhere." Snorts and snickers ensued from the assembled.
"We'll take that under advisement." Misato smiled crookedly.
"But I think there's still a few cards left to play."
---------
Richard Mardukas was a difficult man to impress. An officer in
His Majesty's Navy since the Cold War prior to joining the UN, he would
have scoffed at the idea of pulling together a plan of the scope
Captain Katsuragi had outlined in less than a week, and even that would
be a rush job. Four hours into the op, he was ready to admit his
error. Thus far, she had browbeaten the JSSDF's procurement division -
and- the Japanese Ministry of Energy, all but confiscated hundreds of
electrical transformer vehicles and their crews, seized every watt of
output of every powerplant in Japan and, to finish it off, there was
now a single-stage-to-orbit shuttle that would never fly again
regardless of what happened tonight.
'At least if we fail, it won't be for lack of support.' he
commented wryly to himself while he stood in Eva-00's bay overseeing
the last minute work. Rei announced coolly the current fix was
ineffective, starting another wave of activity at the in-cage
monitoring consoles and the crews swarming over the Eva's head area.
"Sir? The SDF's cannon has arrived. We've got it enroute to
Bay 15." Lt. Aoba's voice crackled over the walkie talkie at Mardukas'
belt. Frowning at the addition of yet another ball to keep in the air,
he replied he was on his way.
"Miss Ayanami, I'm afraid we've run out of time. Are you
comfortable with simply disconnecting the left side audio and visual
connections?" he spoke into the handset connecting to the plug.
"Yes" she replied after a short pause. "The mission should not
require them."
"Very well." he answered in relief. "Power down and get some
rest. We'll get the shield fitted and call you when we need to move
out."
"Understood, shutting down." Rei replied, the Eva slumping
slightly as the muscles lost power.
Mardukas ran an eye over the readouts and nodded to himself
before leaving the cage crew to their work.
---------
Shinji drifted hazily upwards, muzzily rising from
unconsciousness into waking.
"Here again." he groaned once his eyes focused enough to
recognize his least favorite hospital room. That exhausted his
curiosity about his surroundings, he spent the next few minutes idly
wiggling one toe after another as sensation came back in each.
The door clicking open interrupted his explorations, followed by
a meal cart and his fellow pilot. Silently, she precisely placed
each item on the fold out table of his bed before looking up at him.
"You should eat before we leave." she prompted softly.
"So I do have to go out again." Shinji sighed, before a critical
word came to his attention. "Wait, we?"
Rei nodded. "Eva-00 has been cleared for use, as have I." She
withdrew her day planner from the cart and flipped to the correct
page. "Shall I read the operation schedule?"
Shinji agreed, wondering whimsically what anyone reading her
planner would think stumbling across that page after reading list after
list of her groceries or something. She certainly read as if that was
all that the page contained.
Closing the notebook, she looked back up. "We leave in one hour.
Be ready by then." With that, she turned and left.
Shinji stared after her until the door closed. Had there been a
trace of satisfaction there when Rei said she'd been cleared for
action?
"Doesn't matter." he muttered to himself. Lifting the set of
chopsticks from the tray, he began to deal with the 'meal' before
him.
----------
1:00 AM
Misato sipped at a mug of coffee long since cold, listening with
half an ear to her minion's cross checks and status reports as the
final stages of the plan came together. Against all odds and common
sense, only a few last minute checks remained before the plan was
ready.
'If it can be called a plan to begin with.' Misato smirked
behind her coffee mug. 'They'd have busted me out of OCS for even
suggesting this.'
Laying the empty mug aside, she stepped outside into the warm,
humid night. After taking a quick turn through the bustle of the
temporary camp, she found her charges sitting out of the way at the
base of the scaffolding used to access the entry plugs. Under other
circumstances she might've chuckled at Eva-00's shield's suspicious
resemblance to the belly heat shield of a spaceplane, not to mention
the array of scuff marks marring Eva-01's finish.
Both pilots stood as she approached, waving them back down she
began. "We're almost ready to begin. Rei, as you know you'll be in
Eva-00 with the shield. Shinji, you'll be in Eva-01 with the rifle.
Be careful, the shield is rated for seventeen seconds of exposure to
the angel's beam -at best- so make the first shot count.
The pair nodded. With a minimum recharge time of twenty
seconds on the rifle, the consequences of a miss were obvious.
"Any questions?"
The pilots shook their heads negatively. The procedures had
been explained to them in detail before they left the Geofront. It was
a sign of the extreme nervousness Misato felt that she saw a need to do
so again.
"Good. You should get ready yourselves." She smiled wanly.
"And good luck."
Shinji valiantly tried to return the smile, ending more with a
tight grimace. Rei merely stood again and walked towards the ladder,
Shinji following behind.
"So this is it." Shinji sighed, once they were out of earshot.
"Why do we do this?" he complained
Rei was apparently not familiar with the concept of a rhetorical
question. "A link."
At Shinji's puzzled look, she clarified "Because it is a link to
others."
He smirked bitterly. "Like my father?"
"Among others." Rei agreed. "It is all I have. If I were to
stop, there would be nothing left." Shinji imagined she gave a tiny
shiver. "Death would be preferable."
"Death, huh." Shinji mused. "I can understand that. Before I
came here I wondered what the difference was, sometimes. Just going
through the motions because I had nothing better to do."
He looked back over at Rei to find her eyes upon him. After a
moment, she nodded, as if to herself, and spoke. "It is time."
With a last look at the canopy of stars overhead, Shinji
agreed. As he climbed into his plug's cockpit, Rei called his name.
Turning to meet her, she spoke on last time.
"Farewell."
---------
//Within Temptation "Intro" _The Silent Force_//
Rei tuned out the final countdown broadcast over her radio,
instead focusing on the target thirty kilometers ahead. Clearly
visible over the city, it hovered in open defiance of anything the
defenders cared to attempt against it. Thus far the only sign it had
given in the past fifteen minutes was a brief pulse of light around its
equatorial band.
Settling herself slightly in the seat and checking the
restraints one last time, she was left with little to do except wait,
and think. Her last conversation with Ikari the younger had been
illuminating, bringing into focus her observations of the connections
between him and his companions, of the concern Captain Katsuragi showed
him, and he even more obviously reciprocated.
'Perhaps it is enough for him.' Rei mused, while the timer
ticked down. 'Even if he does not realize it.'
Behind her, a soft thump felt in the soles of her feet indicated
Eva-01's joints had locked, the pilot having switched to induction mode
to concentrate on the fine adjustments needed for this task.
Returning her attention to the target, she hefted the shield that was
all that stood between her and the weapon which had reduced Eva-01 to
smoking wreckage in moments. She would fare no better, for Eva-00 was
as ill-prepared for combat as could be imagined. Intended as a
technology demonstrator, it had not been equipped with the layered
armor and lightweight, high strength skeleton of the test and
production models. Instead, it made do with aluminum and steel blanks
of equivalent weight in place of titanium or depleted uranium and
ceramics.
"Rei, we're about to fire. Get ready." the Captain's voice
echoed over her helmet earphones. Laying a pair of fingers on the
glasses case wedged between her thigh and seat, she acknowledged the
reminder with all the equaminity she needed.
"High energy event in the target!" Lieutenant Aoba sang out,
before the world went white.
The JSSDF's laser, rechristened the Type 34, was by any
standard an engineering marvel. Unlike the Type-12 or -20 weapons of
Nerv, which used what was essentially a directed nuclear fusion
reaction to generate their destructive effect, it was based on an older
technology. Designed to destroy satellites in geosynchronous orbit,
over thirty-five thousand kilometers up, it represented the fruits of
decades of research into fusion power. Rather than using a solid
lasing medium as most industrial lasers did, it used a powerful
magnetic field to contain a superheated plasma. When it was jolted
with over one hundred gigawatts of energy harvested from across the
whole of Japan, the result was the most powerful beam weapon ever
devised by mankind.
It was a shame it all went to waste.
'He missed.' Rei noted with disappointment. Shinji was beaten
to the punch by milliseconds, and that made all the difference. Heat
from the passage of the Angel's particle beam warped the atmosphere
between the two combatants like a heat mirage over desert sands, the
targeting computer aboard Eva-01 never had a chance to correct, and the
result was the beam streaking past the Angel with bare meters to spare.
Rei had bigger problems. Her shield held firm against the
onslaught for the moment, but the growing puddle of ablative coating
at her feet told the tale.
----------
"Comeoncomeoncomeoncomon" Shinji breathed from behind the
display visor that had extended from his seat back after he'd locked
down for long-range fire. For once he was thankful for the LCL,
otherwise his eyes would've burned with sweat as he concentrated on the
two slowly converging triangles denoting his weapon's readiness. The
startled cry over his earphones jerked his gaze away from their
painfully slow progress in time to see Rei's shield disintegrate at
last.
"No..." he gasped as Eva-00's armor immediately began to boil.
The lines converged. Less than a heartbeat later, the
Type 34 spoke once more.
----------
Rei floated between light and dark.
'This is nothingness. It is...peaceful.' she thought after an
indeterminate time. Nothing intruded for a period, before a tug at
her awareness came. Sensing she was rotating even without visual cues,
she 'turned' to seek it, without success. Moments later, it prodded
her again, this time with a whisper of something she couldn't make out.
By now she felt a definite presence, somewhere beyond her sight, but
palpable all the same. Finally with a sharp jerk, she returned to the
world. Blearily opening an eye, a blurry figure greeted her
silhouetted in the emergency hatch.
'Director...Ikari?' she whispered. Her eye focused further, and
she saw she was half right. "Ikari!?" she peered closer "But why are
you so sad?"
Her rescuer smiled and squatted down beside her. "Idiot." he
half snorted, half hiccuped as he ran a hand over his eyes. "I'm not,
I'm just...really glad to see you."
"Oh." she paused at this revelation. "I'm not sure what to do
in this situation." she confessed. "I suppose I should also be glad."
"Well then smile!" Shinji suggested while he held out a hand.
"Yes." Rei agreed, and did.
-----------
Shinji froze. He'd heard the phrase 'time stood still' too many
times to count. Now, for the first time in his life, he knew what it
meant. The girl delicately grasping his hand, who he would have sworn
not an hour ago was incapable of emoting, looked up at him with a smile
that for all it's spare simplicity could have lit a stadium.
"Ikari?" she questioned. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh! Um no, let's go." he shook himself and eased under her arm
to add support after Rei unlocked her seat restraints. A solemn look
settled across his face once they'd gotten outside.
"Ayanami? Can I ask a favor?"
She nodded.
"Please don't say goodbye before a mission." He looked down in
embarrassment. "It...just sounds so sad. We might not have much now,
but ..." he struggled a moment while Rei looked on in surprise. "I
guess someday we'll be happy we survived this. Promise me?"
Rei's soft voice was all but drowned out by the clamor of the
search parties' calls, but Shinji heard just the same.
"Yes."
-------------------------------------
Author's notes
If there's one thing that annoys me as a writer, it's rigidly
conforming to a preset scenario. In fanfiction, a certain amount of
that is inevitable, or else you'd do just as well to change the
labeling and call it an original work, but slavishly transcribing what
happens on the screen to a page just defeats the whole purpose of
creative writing to me. With this in mind, I made a rule for myself
when I started this project that I would avoid detailed descriptions of
events that occurred in the anime or the manga of either series, or at
the very least they would be described from a different viewpoint.
The battle against the Fifth Angel and its setup is one of the,
I hope few, exceptions in that it's so critical to the development of
several key characters that I can't just gloss over it and focus on
the aftermath the way the previous one could be, nor could I let
someone else do the exposition since much of the relevent dialogue is
internal. Hopefully, I've managed to make this chapter read as more
than a transcript of Episodes 5 and 6 in spite of that.
And that said, here's what everyone's really been reading this
Far for, the soundtrack:
Opening theme: Pat Benatar "Invincible" _Greatest Hits_
Line 726: Anthrax "Pipeline" _Attack of the Killer B's_
Line 1576: Within Temptation "Intro" _The Silent Force_
Ending theme: Joe Satriani "Big Bad Moon" _Time Machine_
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