Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam or Evangelion
Yeah I know, 'he's updating it now?' hopefully interest isn't dead. I just got a burst of inspiration, and I realised I needed to update some of the fics I've neglected.
I almost considered rewriting this, using a different setting, of a world where there were multiple Evangelion pilots (as in more than the three active ones we see) it would have been a full on war with a squad of Eva's fighting multiple Angels and would have been very different from the Eva we know. But I thought know and stuck to this instead.
Gundam Evangelion Purpose
Chapter 2: Annoying kids
It was the year 2015, fourteen years after the second impact that devastated the world. In the aftermath of that event, an organisation was put together to prepare the world for the eventual arrival of forces that would threaten it once again. Nerv was an organisation consumed by shadows, not even the world as a whole was aware of its true purpose. It was supposed to preserve the future of humanity, in a way it was, but people would probably disagree with how those behind Nerv intended to carry out their mission. Gendo Ikari was the commander of Nerv's forces in the city of Tokyo-3, a technological paradise that also served as the central battleground for the fight against the Angels. He was a man in his forties and like the people he reported to he was well aware of the impermanence of his life. The man pushed his glasses up his nose and picked up the ringing phone on his desk. His expression remained passive, as if he had nothing to worry about, as if he cared about nothing. The truth was far less simple than him being a cold man.
"Yes, as expected Unit 5 is no more, don't worry the cargo is on its way," he explained.
Gendo Ikari was the perfect man to lead Nerv, after all Nerv was built on secrets and Gendo had some secrets of his own.
"Wow, I can't believe this, it sure is good having a famous friend Shinji!"
Shinji Ikari raised his eyebrows in confusion, but also a mix of embarrassment. The brown haired boy didn't often get complimented. His friend Kensuke Aida was a military buff, obsessed with all things related to the armed forces. Which was surprising considering the boy didn't look at all built for the military life, having thick curly hair and wide framed glasses. His excitement was bought on by the fact that they were riding a helicopter (at least Shinji thought it was a helicopter, he could barely hear what Kensuke was saying over the noise).
"I figured it would get boring being cooped up in the mountains all day, so I organised this little date for you guys," the supervisor of their trip spoke from the co-pilot seat.
"Really Miss Misato, is that what this is?" Shinji's other friend asked.
It was easy to figure out why Toji was excited. Toji Suzuhara was Kensuke's opposite yet also his best friend. He was a sports oriented student, tended to act tough and wore a jogging suit over his uniform. Shinji felt his two friends were fairly interesting, as opposed to him, someone stale and average. Likewise his guardian, whom Toji and Kensuke seemed to like was also interesting. Though they didn't know her the way he did. Misato Katsuragi was in charge of the Evangelion command team, she made all the battle plans and was ultimately responsible for pilot motivation and organisation. She was a serious woman when in command, but outside of the base she was a reckless driver, sloppy at home and took very little care of herself. Before Shinji had arrived at Tokyo-3 she only ate instant food.
"I bought this hat just for this trip Miss Misato, I'll never take it off," Toji said dreamily.
Shinji rolled his eyes, 'if only they knew' he thought.
"Wow, it's the fifth fleet," Kensuke practically leant out of the window, aiming his camera at the masses of ships floating across the ocean.
"Is that where we're going?" Shinji asked.
"Yep, we'll be landing on that cute little boat down there," Misato smiled.
"Little, that's the flagship of the pacific fleet, over the rainbow," Kensuke said.
"Military nerd," Toji muttered.
Shinji's confusion began to fade somewhat, though he still wondered why Misato's business required him to be there. It was still an escape from work at Nerv, from having to get into an Evangelion.
Evangelion, the designation given to the primary weapons against the Angels. Whilst the N2 mines have the destructive force to level a city, they are nothing to the armour of an Angel. Only the Evangelions have the strength to tear through the armoured flesh of an Angel and rip apart its core. There are currently two Evangelion units stationed at Tokyo-3. Evangelion Unit 00, the prototype Evangelion, orange and white armoured but incapable of equipping specialized equipment, at least for now. Evangelion Unit 01, the test type deployed early for full combat scenarios, black and purple armoured it has twice utilised some kind of beast form and on its most recent sortie wielded a rifle capable of drawing power from all of Tokyo-3. But there is a special nature to these machines, as well as a requirement of their pilots.
Gekido suddenly opened his eyes, finding himself on a bed, gripping his right eye. He sighed as he got off the bed, his flight suit was in a bag outside the cell and the guards had given him only enough time to change into the only clothes he had on him. As soon as he had gotten off the jet, the captain had him confined to the brig whilst they confirmed his story. He had of course given them the bull shit that he was special forces, once they realised that they would probably send a specialist to get information from him. Gekido smirked to himself, a few seconds in the world and he had already pissed the military off enough to get him in a cell.
'Not even Natarle was this severe,' he chuckled.
"Remembering someone are we?"
Gekido looked at the other side of his cell and saw a man in his early twenties standing before him. The man had a relaxed pose, his hands were in his pockets and his sleeves were rolled up. He had brown hair, tied into a scruffy ponytail and his chin had barely been shaved, leaving dirty stubble.
"An old friend," Gekido said.
"A woman?" the man asked.
"Yeah, but its not what you think."
"Your mother?"
"She wishes!"
The man laughed at the comment and when both men were silent they analysed one another. Gekido could only guess that the man saw someone with a gruff demeanour. He saw someone who wasn't military, but was clearly part of some agency. This man was a spook, someone who got people's secrets and protected his boss's secrets, or at least that's what Gekido thought. The man's demeanour clearly wasn't a façade, a defence of course but by no means a façade. People could use humour as a defence and the wise cracks would define them, become them, much like with Mu and Andy, they were both defending themselves with casual attitudes because they were in general casual people.
"You have one very advanced jet up there, we tried to transfer it earlier but we cant get inside, I'm assuming its attuned to your biometrics," the man explained.
"A little more complicated than that but it's a good guess, and I'm guessing you're the friendly hand, the good cop whose gonna get answers from me or else I'll be tortured for it," Gekido said.
"A good guess, though it's also a lot more complicated than that."
Gekido chuckled; he very rarely had his own words thrown back at him. This spook was clearly quick witted and intelligent.
"But enough of the mystery, 'Kevin Hunter', my name is Ryoji Kaji, you can call me Kaji if you'd like, tell me do you know what's on this ship?" he asked.
Gekido narrowed his eye at Kaji. The man was looking for a very specific answer. Clearly he was trying to determine if Gekido was a spy after that specific object.
"I'm assuming you've got it in your room, in a protective case and that it's something very important to your bosses," Gekido explained.
"It's a little more complicated than that, but a good guess," Kaji said and smirked as Gekido raised his eyebrows at him.
'Again he uses my own words, what the hell?'
"You're not as subtle as you think, any educated person would know that you're not here under orders, you came here to find out whether I'm after what you've got…how about I give you some honesty, you wont believe it but its still honesty," Gekido paused and looked to see that he had Kaji's full attention. "My real name is Gekido Kuzunagi, I'm from another world!"
Kaji raised his eyebrows; perhaps in shock or perhaps to say 'this man is clearly insane'. Gekido saw the flicker of amusement in the man's eyes but Kaji slowly leant against the bars and put a hand to his chin, intrigued by what he had heard so far.
"Really? That's an interesting idea, your jet is certainly different from any the military has ever produced, as is that plug suit I saw you wearing," Kaji said.
"Plug suit? What's that?" Gekido asked.
"You mean it's not a plug suit?"
"It's just a regular flight suit, but I understand the suits of your era were pretty primitive by comparison," Gekido smirked.
"So you're from the future, or another world, which one is it?" Kaji asked.
"The future of another world, I know its kind of hard to believe but its true, my jet only reacts to my biometrics, in other words it'll only open for me. There's an object in there that will prove I'm from another universe," Gekido explained.
"Or you could be looking for a convenient way to get back to your jet and escape," Kaji said.
"That too, but seriously I think the information on the Purpose's hard drive will open your eyes a little, so long as your computers aren't…too primitive," the pilot explained.
Kaji put a hand to his chin and began thinking about what Gekido had said to him.
"Tell you what," he finally said, looking over Gekido's flight suit, it truly was like nothing he had seen before. "I'll have a talk with the admiral and see about letting you out under intense guard, would that do?" he asked.
"I suppose its fair," Gekido crossed his arms together as he leant against the wall.
Gekido closed his eyes as Kaji walked away. The man had a smirk across his face. He found Gekido to be very interesting and had a feeling he would be quite the game changer. That was if Nerv didn't lock him away forever.
"Give me a break, first we get a ridiculously grandiose assignment, then we have a madman land on our ship, now we have to baby sit school children," the admiral of the fleet huffed as he looked upon humanity's last hope, Nerv.
Misato hugged her arms as she walked on the deck, feeling the eyes of the crewmembers on her and the children. Kensuke was running across the deck, looking at the jets and aircraft placed upon it. His wonder and awe was a reminder to Misato of the carefree times she used to have. The days before the Angels started attacking humanity, the days before she was consumed by her need to avenge her father. She smiled as Toji chased after his hat; the wind had been keeping it from him for some time. It came to a halt on the foot of a brown haired girl. Toji let out a growl, ignoring the girl as he crouched down and pulled on his hat.
"Why Hallo Misato," the girl said in a veiled friendly tone.
"Hello Asuka, wow you've really grown," Misato said.
"Yeah and I've really filled out too," the girl added.
Misato looked the girl over. Last she saw of Asuka she was training with the third branch of Nerv in Germany, a little girl with a dark attitude. Now she was becoming a young woman and clearly wore her dress to show her developing body. A sudden rush of wind blew the dress upwards, giving Toji a view of Asuka's pants. The girl let out a string of curses in German as she slapped each of the boys.
"What the hell was that for?" Toji asked, clutching his red cheek.
"It's the viewing fee, quite the bargain nicht?"
"Its over priced, but don't worry," Toji grinned as he yanked his pants down, "Here's your change!"
The look of momentary horror across Asuka's face was quickly replaced with fury and she once again slapped Toji.
"Scheisse idiot," she snarled, storming past Toji and looking at the other two boys. "So which one is the famous third child?" she asked.
"Its Shinji," Misato said, placing her hand on Shinji's shoulder.
Asuka walked up to the boy, looking him in the eyes.
"He's not much to look at," she said, causing Shinji to frown. "So you're the daddy's boy who got put in the test type?"
"And who are you?" Shinji asked.
"This Shinji is the second child, Asuka Langley Soryu," Misato said.
It was then that Shinji's eyes crossed over to the jet. At least he thought it was a jet, it was bigger than the planes and certainly looked tougher, having an overall larger wingspan and what looked like bigger guns. Kensuke practically screamed as he scanned the craft with his camera.
"Oh boy, is that a support unit for the Eva? What do those guns spew out? How fast can it go?"
"Why is the paint scheme off?" Toji asked, halting his friend's questions.
"Yeah, it looks like someone was lazy with the paint spray," Kensuke said.
"We don't know," Asuka said, lazily turning away from Misato and her charges. "It landed on here a couple of hours ago, which is probably why Nerv doesn't know about it yet, the captain hasn't made the time to report it. Crews have been trying to break into it but its no good, as soon as the pilot came out the thing shut tight, idiots, it obviously reacts only to the pilot's biometrics."
"Biometrics?" Shinji looked at Asuka in confusion.
The girl turned to Shinji and looked him in the eyes. She had her hands on her hips, trying to look superior to the boy if not more mature as well.
"What are you stupid?" she asked, in Misato's eyes the maturity part flew off the ship.
Asuka had studied at a level that was beyond Shinji's class, she already had a university degree and was on paper an air force captain. But she was still just a teenager, competitive, arrogant to the point where she thought she had all the answers yet she hadn't experienced enough of the world to truly know it. Misato shook her head as Asuka went on to patronize Shinji even more by explaining the process the jet (in theory) used to open its cockpit.
"You see if you were the pilot you would stand in front of it," she pushed Shinji in front of the machine, causing him to hit his head on the nose cone.
"Hey, watch it," Toji growled, balling his hand into a fist.
"I'm sorry Asuka but you're too harsh, I just wanted to know how it worked," Shinji said.
"Shinji you don't have to apologise, besides its simple the machine scans the pilots body, possibly a finger print or retina and then it opens, a lot of the military locks from before second impact had them," Kensuke explained.
"Military nerd," Toji said.
Ignoring the jet (despite her immense curiosity as well) Misato took the children up to the bridge. There she zipped up her jacket and put on her beret, appearing as confident as she always did but with just a little more professionalism for the formality of her job. She appeared respectful to a degree but in actuality had little respect for the military. When the first angel attacked Nerv a lot of time was wasted (one could argue bought as well) when the air force and army bombarded the city in an attempt to stop the angel. She and Shinji were almost killed that time, and millions was wasted on repairs, not to mention a lot of families were left without fathers and sons. Even though Nerv had defeated three angels and averted a nuclear disaster (caused by people who again doubted Nerv) the military still thought of Nerv as a joke.
"We agreed to escort your toy and Miss Soryu to Nerv-Japan, despite the new powers Nerv has been granted the UN Navy still maintains jurisdiction and authority over this matter," the admiral explained.
"I understand however in an emergency I hope you understand that Nerv can claim authority over the military," Misato said, as an order and not a request.
"My you're as confident as always," a voice said at the doorway.
Whilst the boys looked at the new arrival lazily, Asuka put her hands to her chin and gasped like a girl with a crush (fitting considering she did have a crush). Misato however widened her eyes, partly in horror, another part shock and then her eyes narrowed into a hateful glare.
"Kaji," Asuka said, her voice drifting as if she was in a dream.
"Mr Kaji I must insist you stop inviting yourself onto the bridge," the admiral said.
"Well when I heard an old friend was here I simply had to come up, I have to relay some information from the prisoner you see," Kaji said.
"What information is that?" the admiral asked.
"Something that falls into Nerv jurisdiction I'm afraid, information concerning the angels," Kaji traded a look with Misato and despite how much she hated him she caught the meaning.
Kaji wasn't someone who was often serious. When he was it was only in the most dire situations. Whatever the prisoner had to say was something Misato had to hear, that was what Kaji's eyes were telling her.
"I will take over custody of the prisoner then," Misato said.
The admiral grumbled something in anger before looking between Kaji and Misato.
"Very well Major, whatever incident the prisoner causes is on you and Mr Kaji," he said.
"Good, I want to remain informed of our distance from Tokyo-3," Misato said in a no nonsense tone as she led her charges out of the bridge.
Kaji stood with his hands in his pockets, grinning as Misato walked past him. The four children and the major looked at the man stood at the bottom of the stairs, surprised by his appearance.
"It seems you don't need to feel guilty then about breaking out Mr Kuzunagi," Kaji grinned.
"Cell doors don't open after two kicks, and guards don't go down after a single punch," the man said.
Misato analysed the young man, purely from a military view point she could see he was a fighter, he carried himself with confidence and an aggression he kept well hidden. The hood of his jacket concealed some of his features, though Misato could see that he had dark hair and looked to be no older than nineteen. Once she got a look at his face the woman in her told her he wasn't too bad on the eyes, though he seemed more like the gruff bad boy she would have had a fling with back in the day. He kept his hands in his pockets and raised his eyebrow as he looked at the children.
"Wait, you knocked out the admiral's men?" Misato asked, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"I showed restraint," Gekido said. "For me at least," he muttered under his breath. "So what is this take your kids to work day?"
"These kids aren't mine," Misato said.
"I can see that, why have children been let onto a naval ship in the middle of a mission?" Gekido asked.
"Well Shinji and Asuka are part of the mission actually, and Touji and Kensuke are so cute and charming," Misato said, putting on a smile.
Gekido took his hands out of his pockets and looked down at Asuka and Shinji. They were the same heights his adopted siblings had been though other than Shinji both looked very different from his Japanese brother and sister. The teens seemed uncomfortable under his gaze and Gekido spotted Misato's hand lingering around the zip of her jacket. He could tell she had a pistol concealed inside it.
"Okay, let's talk somewhere more comfortable then," he said, putting his hands back in his pockets and waiting for Misato to take the lead.
Both Shinji and Asuka had similar thoughts running through their heads. They felt like Gekido was sizing them up, Shinji felt nervous over it. The man's gaze reminded him in some ways of his father, though less cold and more angry. Asuka too felt anger, looking at Gekido felt somewhat like looking at a mirror. His nationality was difficult to determine, even Kaji had difficulty with that and he had been all over the world. He was pale and thin, not stick like but it was clear he had lost a bit of weight recently. Shinji thought he was Japanese, Asuka thought he was American, one thought he was intimidating, the other thought he was interesting. Both kept their eyes on him as they walked to the elevator.
"This isn't what I had in mind," Gekido growled.
Despite his protests Misato insisted on taking one trip. She and the other children were stuffed into the elevator, she and Kaji would have been face to face if not for Gekido being in between them, Shinji was being pushed by Touji and Gekido into Misato's chest, though the Major was too focused on Kaji.
"What are you doing here anyway?" she demanded.
"Accompanying her," Kaji indicated Asuka, "I'm on a business trip of sorts."
"Talk about careless," Misato muttered angrily, her face suddenly turned to one of horror, a look Asuka shared.
"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE TOUCHING!" they yelled.
"I CAN'T HELP IT!" Touji and Kaji retorted.
Gekido's eyebrows twitched as he raised his head.
"Whose hand is that?" he asked.
When no answer came he narrowed his eyes at Misato.
"Lady if I had a weapon I wouldn't keep it down my pockets," he said.
"I'm not looking for a weapon," Misato said.
"Really, you're that kind of woman then?" Gekido eyed Misato sceptically.
"Oh she can be," Kaji grinned, causing Misato to glare at him.
'Well there's no sexual tension here,' Gekido thought sarcastically, looking between Kaji and Misato.
When the elevator stopped (much to everyone's joy) the group sat at a table with coffees ready. Gekido had just a water, Misato had been unwilling to let him have something he could use as a weapon. She had a dead serious expression on her face and kept her arms crossed. Though it was probably more to do with the fact that Kaji was sitting opposite her. He was resting his chin on his hands, looking like a love struck boyfriend as his feet subtly tapped hers.
"So are you seeing anyone at the moment?" he asked.
"I don't see what business that is of yours," Misato said, harshly 'touching' Kaji's foot with her own.
"I'm hurt, ow," he said, sitting back and drinking his coffee.
Gekido sat at the end of the table, between Misato and Kaji. As annoyed as he was by the tension between them he focused somewhat on the children. The first two whom seemed normal (despite being a little annoying) didn't seem at all uncomfortable. They had introduced themselves earlier and Gekido noticed Kensuke's fascination with the ship's interior, Touji seemed to be set between boredom which was understandable, fascination with Misato which again was understandable and disdain for Asuka, the reason why Gekido intended to find out later. He leant back in his chair and coughed, drawing the adult's attention away from one another.
'Finally,' the children thought, having grown equally annoyed by what they only assumed was flirting.
"Gekido Kuzunagi at your service, mercenary, investigator, explorer and occasional do-gooder, I've got some marvellous things to tell you in exchange for whatever you can tell me, a question for a question if you will," he explained.
"Sounds fair to me, what do you know about the Angels?" Misato asked.
"Nothing, what are the angels?" Gekido asked.
The people at the table (except for Kaji) looked at Gekido as if he had grown another head. He remained impassive to their criticising looks.
"How can you not know the angels?" Touji asked.
"Yeah what are you stupid?"
"Know more than you Miss Soryu, even at my age," Gekido spoke in perfect German, shocking Asuka and puzzling the others. "Besides that's not how this works, I ask a question, you answer it and then you ask me a question, I've already answered yours," he explained.
"Well that sounds very fair, let me explain it my friend, the angels are simply put a force of unknown origin seeking to carry out another impact," Kaji said.
"Our turn, you told us you had information on the angels, what do you really know?" Misato asked.
"Nothing, I lied to Kaji and said I had information on the enemy, he's the one who said angels. Next what are Evangelions, I've heard that name whispered around here and I've been wondering what they are?" Gekido placed his hands on the table and kept his eyes on Misato.
She wasn't intimidated by his sudden closeness, which amused Kaji.
"The Evangelions are biomechanical robots built to destroy the angels, they're the only thing capable of beating an Angel because they generate an AT field like them," Misato explained.
"So you really don't know anything then? Too bad, I'll probably ask a scientist if I get the opportunity," Gekido said, taking a note to find out what AT fields were as well.
"Why would you not accept the simple explanation?" Misato asked, then chided herself for remembering
"Because there's always more to it than that," Gekido tilted the water down his throat and put the cup on the table. "The Evangelion is being transported halfway across the world, an entire fleet is transporting it and yet I've neither seen nor heard any sign of a pilot, whose the pilot?"
Asuka stood up proudly, putting her hand on her chest as if making an announcement.
"That would be me, Asuka Langley Soryu, the first real Evangelion pilot," she said.
Gekido didn't know if he was supposed to be impressed but he wasn't.
"Evangelion Unit 2, so there's an Evangelion Unit 1 before that right?" Gekido asked.
"And Unit 0, Rei pilots that one, I pilot Unit 1," Shinji said.
"Rei, how old is she?"
"Same age as Asuka and me, why?" Shinji asked.
He and the other children gulped slightly as the young man's shoulders tensed. The pupils of his eyes seemed to narrow, 'targeting' Misato and Kaji.
"Kids, the adults and I need some time to talk," he snarled.
The children looked to Misato, whom nodded her head.
"Don't go off too far," she said.
Gekido lifted up his hood, revealing more of his face, and the collar he was still wearing from his flight suit. It was wrapped across his neck, and the lower back of his head. Removing his personal computer from his cargo pockets, he placed the computer on the table.
"Those kids, why were they picked as pilots?" Gekido asked.
"That's classified, now I get two questions, why did you ask the children to leave? And what the hell is that?" Misato pointed at the collar.
"I admit I'm curious too, it looks as if something plugs into it," Kaji said.
"I told them to leave because depending on the answer you give me to the previous and next questions, I'll do something to you I'd rather not do in front of kids," Gekido explained.
He tapped a few buttons on the computer, bringing up a hologram of an Earth Alliance battleship. Then he showed an image of a colony, and then images of the debris field around Earth, and finally the multiple images of himself with teams he had worked with.
"How do you have grey hair?"Misato asked.
"Yeah, cause blue's a natural colour," Gekido retorted.
"He has a point," Kaji said.
Misato shot a glare at Kaji before looking at the images. She saw the technology on the battleships, real versions of concepts she had heard of. The images of space were beautiful, and the colonies reminded her of the mechanics of Tokyo-3's shifting landscape. She then saw the images of Gekido and the people he worked with. In some images they wore military uniforms, space suits of some kind, one in civilian clothes. But Gekido was never with the same set of people, it was always a different group in every photo.
"I don't have a complete understanding of the technicalities, but only children of Shinji's age, those born the same year he was can pilot the Evangelions, the Evangelions form a direct link with the pilot's nervous system, they synch with a pilot's mind and body, adults can't synch with them, probably the chemistry of an adult body is different," Misato explained.
"So basically you built a machine that has to have a child pilot, did you have any input in its development?" Gekido asked.
"None whatsoever," Misato said.
The lack of hesitation in her voice was all the evidence Gekido needed. He put his computer away and looked to the corner.
"You guys can come out now," he said.
The four children stepped out of the corner, Asuka with her arms crossed and Shinji scratching the back of his head, sheepishly.
"What were you going to do to Misato-san if she said she was involved in the development process?" Shinji asked.
"I was going to beat the shit out of her," Gekido said, smiling casually.
The children widened their eyes in shock, whilst Misato leant across the table, glaring at Gekido's peaceful expression.
"Really? You'd beat a woman up?" she asked.
"If you had done something that had warranted someone hitting you, it would be sexist not to hit you," he stated.
"Makes sense," Kaji shrugged.
"Okay, let's stop the whole question for a question thing, what do you intend to do with the information I've given you?" Gekido asked.
"Obviously I have to leave it to my superiors," Misato said.
"I understand, you've got a job to do."
A few months ago, he probably would have been angry or frustrated about it. But he understood Misato's power completely, she was a soldier who answered to an authority. He was an unknown, someone who showed loose evidence of being from another world. A world of technology that eclipsed what Nerv had, short of the Eva's of course. Gekido adjusted the top of his hoodie, covering the device across his neck.
"What do you intend to do?" Kaji asked.
"Fight the angels of course," Gekido said.
Asuka laughed at this notion, causing Gekido to look at her.
"Most Angels are as big as skyscrapers, that little jet of yours could fly circles around the military, but against an angel, it's a joke," she said.
"The angels have weaknesses right? I'll just have to find it and destroy it," Gekido said.
"That simple?" Shinji asked.
"When you've stripped away all the complications, sometimes life can be pretty simple kid!"
Shinji looked down, thinking of those words. So far, life had been anything but simple. Although lately, the complications got easier, like piloting. Before Shinji always struggled to pilot, but now he was much more confident in his skill and why he had to pilot Unit-01. As the day went on, Gekido spent more time on the bridge with Misato and Shinji's friends. Shinji however was dragged away by Asuka. She had insisted on showing him Unit-02. The girl appeared more angry than before (if that was possible). She lifted up the yellow sheet covering her machine, revealing it to Shinji.
"That's an interesting paint job, I didn't know it was red," Shinji said.
"That's not the only thing that's unique about Unit-02," Asuka took a hold of Shinji and pushed him into the chamber.
It was filled with LCL, with the Eva lying inside of it. Once again, Asuka made an effort to stand at a higher position than Shinji, on the Eva's head.
"Units 00 and 01 were the prototype and test type respectively, explaining why a novice pilot could use them so effectively, but..." Asuka grinned as she swung around. "My Unit 02 is the first real Evangelion, it's the final production moDELL!" Asuka screamed as the ship suddenly shook.
Gekido grabbed the two kids that nearly fell over. Toji and Kensuke he remembered their names being. The sailors suddenly began moving to their posts, as the captain ordered them to prepare for a fight. Misato looked over some of the instruments, her eyes suddenly wide with shock.
"It's an angel," she said.
"What equipment do you have for fighting submerged targets?" Gekido asked the captain.
"Don't interfere, the sea is our jurisdiction, if it's really an Angel then we shall deal with it," the man said.
"Where are Shinji and Asuka, we need to deploy Unit-02," Misato said.
"Give me a break, I will not rely on children to fight our battles for us!"
Gekido gained a new respect for Admiral 'give me a break', the man was determined to fight the Angels. It became apparent to him then, it wasn't just the man's pride, but he didn't want to rely on children. This 'war' or 'crisis', whatever the Angels were, had become a recurring problem and the children had been forced to solve it. Gekido looked down at Shinji and Asuka, both were moving back inside the deck, Asuka with a triumphant look.
'Classic child soldier mentality, treat the fight like a game, make a person want to fight,' Gekido grinned, his own mentality as a soldier taking over.
He looked to the water, seeing a giant hump speeding around one of the ships. Then he saw it, or at least the top half of it. The sixth Angel, Gaghiel, an aquatic angel as big as a ship. It emerged from the water like a shark, the missiles striking it did nothing to its skin.
'A personal force field,' Gekido thought.
"There's no way they'll penetrate its core without an AT field," Kaji said.
He watched the battle, thinking of all three pilots. Shinji and Asuka were obvious, and he suspected that there was more to the traveller's jet. As Misato argued with the admiral about jurisdiction, Gekido slipped away. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and then broke off into a run down the corridors of the ship. The young man continued running up a set of stairs, coming to a halt when he saw Asuka.
"WHAT THE HELL! WHY ARE YOU NAKED!" Gekido yelled.
"Another pervert, what is it with boys?" Asuka pulled her plug suit up, pushing a button on the wrist.
Gekido watched in shock as the plug suit tightened around Asuka's body.
"Wow, keeping in shape is a thing of the past with suits like that," he commented.
"Hey idiot are you ready?" she asked, looking to the next set of stairs.
Shinji emerged from them, hugging his arms as he blushed. Gekido put a hand to his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.
"She made me put it on," Shinji said.
He was dressed in the same type of red uniform Asuka wore, the same female variant. Gekido shook his head as he walked past both of them, messing up Shinji's hair with his hand.
"Leave it to me kids, there will be nothing to worry about," he said.
Walking out onto the deck, Gekido looked to the Purpose. The sailors were too busy fighting to care about him. He climbed into the jet, connecting the main computer to the uplink collar. Music began to play over his speakers, causing Gekido to look up.
"The Jaws soundtrack, really?"
Nothing seemed to respond, but Gekido continued as if someone truly was there.
"I'm not going to say it, no matter what kind of opportunity is presented I will not say it," he said.
He activated the Purpose's view screens, looking to his left in shock. The Evangelion had risen from its place, and Gekido was astonished by its size and appearance. It seemed less like a machine, and more like a giant in armour. The lines across its helmet make it look like a monster with its mouth closed. Then the realisation had hit him, Asuka had ignored his request. He tuned his radio, adjusting it to a frequency, what he heard filled him with doubt even more.
"If you're going to think please do so in German," Asuka growled.
"I don't know any German," Shinji retorted.
"Asuka, why in the world do you have Shinji in there with you?" Gekido asked.
"Mr Kuzunagi, we appreciate your help but this is a Nerv matter," Misato said.
"Don't worry I've got plenty of nerve," Gekido grinned.
Misato shook her head, sighing as Toji and Kensuke laughed.
Unit 02 still had the yellow cloth on it, giving it the appearance of a cloak. Gekido looked at his radar, narrowing his eyes at the head source. Suddenly, Asuka jumped upwards, just as Gaghiel emerged. The Angel jumped over the battleship, knocking the Purpose off with its lower jaw.
"GEKIDO-SAN!" Shinji yelled.
"Now's my chance," Asuka said.
She flipped in midair, moving the Eva like an extension of her body. It wasn't far from the truth, the Eva's synched with pilots to such a degree, that the control of the machines was better than that of a simple mobile suit. Jumping from one ship to another, Unit-02 threw aside its cloak, landing on the nuclear carrier. Installed on the ship was an umbilical plug, which Asuka connected to her back. The Eva's previously limited performance time was increased, as it drew power from the ship's engine. In the water, Gekido remained alive within the sinking Purpose. He opened his eyes as he felt something bash the Purpose's side. Rebooting his main camera, Gekido looked to the surface, and at Gaghiel.
Data collection, complete, calculations carried out. Digital files recovered, psyche and lab reports compiled. Data analysed, conclusions met. Nerv is the agency that fights the angels, it is the agency that has put years into a single solution, a solution that willingly puts children in danger. Tokyo-3 is the centre of the conflict, all Angels so far have appeared there...reanalysing data from current attack. Analysing pilot memories, Kaji, carrying unknown object. The attack is not coincidental, the pattern has not been broken. There is something in Tokyo-3 of interest to the Angels, the same thing Kaji has been assigned to carry.
Conclusions have been made Gekido, pilots have suffered from psychological trauma, they have been deliberately assigned to pilot the Eva's because of these traumas and their age. Unable to determine exactly why Nerv came to this conclusion, why Nerv has chosen this solution. More, human and direct investigation is required by pilot. Conclusion has been made Gekido, you must get involved, you must infiltrate Nerv. Eliminating current attacker is the best solution to begin infiltration and gain trust amongst Nerv personnel.
Gekido...please, save the children!
Gackt-Ai Senshi
Gaghiel jumped towards the Eva, ready to drag the machine underwater. Suddenly, both the Angel and the humans of Nerv and the fifth fleet widened their eyes. A pink beam erupted from the water, slicing through the Angel's side.
"Mein gott," Asuka gasped.
"A particle beam so powerful it can break through an AT field?" Misato backed away from the console in shock.
A smile spread across Kaji's face as he put on his flight helmet. He held the metallic case tightly and tapped his pilot's shoulder. The mini copter flew off of the carrier, but Kaji couldn't help looking back at the mist of blood left in the water.
'Gendo's going to be very interested in this, it seems the old men may have one more obstacle in the way of instrumentality,' Kaji thought.
"We may have no choice but to pursue the Angel, we'll use Unit 02 as bait and the umbilical plug as a fishing line," Misato explained.
"Not necessary lady," Gekido said over the radio.
Within the water, Gekido's vernier thrusters kept the Purpose from sinking any lower. The Purpose's eyes glowed as it rotated, looking for its target. Gekido moved his eyes to each view screen, seeing the faint outlines of the Angel's body. He pushed a few buttons above his head. Outside of the cockpit, mechanical arms on the Purpose's shield began to remove the long barrel off of the rifle. In its place, the arms attached an expanded short barrel. Gekido spun the machine around, raising both the Purpose's arms as Gaghiel lunged towards it. Becoming trapped between the Angel's needle like teeth, Gekido looked into its mouth.
"That looks important," Gekido said, seeing the red orb lodged in the Angel's skin.
He bought both shields around, shattering the teeth. Grabbing one, the Purpose dragged the makeshift blade across the surface of Gagheil's skin. If it hurt the creature, it didn't show it. But the Purpose had clearly become a nuisance, as the Angel began swimming around, heading back on the offensive course.
"The opportunity may be here, but I'm not going to say it," Gekido said as he raised the rifle.
The Purpose's V-fin slid over its eyes and Gekido targeted the Angel.
"Must resist the urge," Gekido snarled.
The speed of the Angel increased, as if it had heard an unspoken challenge, and was responding in kind. Shinji looked at the water nervously, wondering what would happen to the new interesting person he had met.
"Must resist!"
The Angel got closer, close enough to grab at the Purpose's leg. It opened its mouth and lunged forward.
"Oh to hell with it, SMILE YOU SON OF A..."
The Purpose fired its beam rifle, sending a blast flying straight down Gaghiel's throat. It tore through its head, and pierced the core. Suddenly, the water began to boil, and a glowing pink cross shot out of the sea, signalling the Angel's end. There was silence as the Purpose emerged from the water, fully transformed for all to see. A little bit above 50 feet, the Purpose barely touched an Evangelion's knees. It landed on the carrier, deactivating its thrusters.
"Gekido Kuzunagi, Gundam Purpose has eliminated the target," the proud pilot said as he set the suit into a kneeling position.
Toji looked out of the window of the bridge. He was in awe, but there were stars in Kensuke's eyes, as he marvelled at the machine and the technology behind it. The chest opened and Gekido stepped out, the wind blowing his hair.
"Gekido Kuzunagi," Asuka glared as she said the name.
Shinji stared at the Purpose with his mouth open. He felt something beyond awe, remembering how the Purpose emerged from the water, the light from its thrusters resembling a pair of wings.
"Gundam," he whispered. "Gundam Purpose!"
Next Chapter 3: Arrival and examinations and "a bastard of a father who needs a beating", oh my
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time Gekido is introduced to Nerv, and many of the characters there, including the guy who the title directly references :)
Next chapter might get a quicker update, but no promises unfortunately.