She'd never been to this hole before. It was dark and dank, but the music was good. Fuck, it's Ikari!
Misato's thoughts drifted off, as she caught herself bobbing to the timing of the plucks on the bass. He's pretty good. I wonder how he got this gig?
The performance was interrupted by several cell phones receiving calls and text messages. Shinji reluctantly answered his, "Hello? ... yeah, several are here. ... I understand."
Standing up from his chair, he announced to the club, "Sorry folks, but my first job needs me. Duty calls!"
The crowd quickly emptied, leaving Misato and Shinji nearly the last to leave. "You may as well come with me, Ikari. I -am- your commanding officer, you know." She nearly gave her signature wink, but chose to merely pluck her car keys from her jacket pocket.
Having read the reports from Section 2 about the 'incident' five years ago, Misato knew she shouldn't trust the boy with any information. Her instincts told her nothing, leaving her with nearly boundless curiosity concerning Shinji Ikari. "Will you really do it again?"
He tried his best not to look at her, but even the reflection in the car window was nearly impossible to ignore. Legs of a goddess. How could Kaji let himself screw up things with -that-? Hearing her voice, he was brought back to reality. "Hmm? Yeah. There isn't much of a choice, is there."
She kept her focus on driving, "I suppose not, but why just go along with this?"
He took a deep breath, exhaling on the chilled glass. "To fight the Angels, we need something of equal or greater power. The only choice is the Evangelions. Seeing as NERV seized my company and equipment, you have everything the Angels will be after."
"What do you mean by 'everything'. As far as I know, Section 2 only brought back you, Hyuga, Unit 01, and a ton of documents, both paper and electronic." She nearly wanted to stop the car. What did they not get in New York? And why did that tip off my intuition...?
He widened his eyes and grabbed the door handle, as their vehicle accelerated and began weaving through traffic. "Oh dammit! They didn't bring a silver-white, -heavy- briefcase back with them?!"
She continued her reckless driving, barely keeping the car on the street. "No! I even watched them... with Ritsuko... when they unloaded the plane and then... the... cars here at headquarters." She slammed on the brake and pulled hard left on the wheel, skidding her car to perfectly stop on an express car carrier.
Shinji couldn't open his teeth and felt his heart pounding hard. He calmed himself after a moment, "You've-... done -that- before! Let's not do that again, alright?"
Almost as if a weight was lifted from her mind, Misato felt herself relax just a bit. Enough to lift her right hand for a 'V' and express her trademark wink. "Don't count on it!"
Arriving at the Bridge, Misato immediately went to an open terminal, typed something, and printed it. "Get me a secure line to Commander Ikari."
Maya spoke up, almost in protest to the Captain, "His current location is under a strict communications blackout, Ma'am!"
Ritsuko curiously peeked at Misato's paper, seeing only the large characters 'A-4r'. "Fuyutsuki's meeting is under similar orders. For the first time, you're in charge of NERV, Captain."
Only turning her eyes to her old friend and colleague, Misato smirked just-so. "I need a secure line to the Third Branch in Germany, immediately."
Moments later, an older woman greeted the Captain. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Captain?"
"Both Commanders are under comms blackout. As third in command of Tokoyo-3, I need you to personally verify the contents of container three dash four zero one. Only contact me if anything is out of order." Misato's tone was firm, but not harsh.
Her opposite number nodded and ended the call. I hope you're wrong, Shinji. God dammit!
A moment later, her fears were affirmed. The German officer was transmitting. Upon accepting the connection, Misato was only greeted with a shaking head. Misato scrunched up her face in anger, Now I have to do something the Committee would never approve! Gendo, don't bite my ass off for this. Misato silently prayed to herself. "Captain, what is the current build status of Unit 02?"
NERV's Third Branch commander, Captain Irma Kluge awaited the shorter girl who ascended the stairs. "Asuka, I'm sorry Liebkind isn't completed for his first mission."
Dressed in a red plug suit and matching red nerve connectors, Asuka merely bounced on her heels. "It won't matter, Ma'am! We'll get the job done!"
"I know you will, child. Don't scratch the paint job, we've only begun to pay for it." The woman placed a hand on Asuka's shoulder and smiled.
The girl's giddy demeanor deadened for a moment, but returned unfazed, "I've never been to New York. I hear they have some fantastic shops, though! ...wonder what I'll get Misato..."
"Dear, you won't have time for shopping. Besides, you know full well the Angels announced their return there."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to forget the image of the Empire State building with its East face completely on fire."
Asuka grumpily crossed her arms. Arshloch gets a chance and he obliterates the damn thing. How the fick do you follow -that- display? Looks like I get to find out! Her mood significantly brightened, the girl turned to the red giant behind them being lifted to the surface. "Liebkind, we're going to New York!"
"Blood pattern blue, Angel confirmed! The target is floating one hundred meters above the ground, velocity eight meters per second." Hyuga noted, reading data from his console. "Every shot fired at it just bounces off its outer shell, and the target lashes out with a whip, destroying the vehicle that fired."
Misato smirked at the video feed and Hyuga's words. "I see that. Do we have any N Two mines handy?"
"No Ma'am! No aircraft carrying N Two mines within the predetermined acceptable range." Shigeru Aoba answered, looking over the current distribution of military forces within five hundred miles on his terminal.
Last resort first? I like those odds. "Is Unit One ready?"
"Unit One loaded into fourth catapult. Safeties off, locks are ... secure." Maya double-checked the computer's readings. "Eva is ready for sortie."
I hope this works. "Launch Eva!"
There was a loud metallic crash as the final safety preventing the catapult from its task opened. For a moment, nothing happened. NERV HQ was silent, except for a barely noticeable hissing coming from below the platform beneath the purple behemoth. We broke it already? Shinji thought to himself, as a second, but deafening metallic crash cracked Ritsuko's glasses and shook the complex; Unit One rocketed toward the surface at break-neck speed. Everyone on the bridge heard the radio: Shinji was screaming in terror.
Fourteen hours. If he survives the fight, he'll have another kill. Gott verdammt! "Can't this thing go any faster?!" Asuka was getting antsy. Sure, it was a long flight to begin with, but taking the Eva along actually made the flight last three hours longer, due to the mass of the armor package installed.
The pilot tried to ignore her, focusing instead on making the trip on one tank of fuel. "Command, this is Rot Siebzehn."
"Go ahead Rot Siebzehn. We read you loud and clear." A woman's voice answered
"Okay, request refuel at point seven nine of current ETA. Time is definitely an enemy here, Command."
"Understood Rot. Request ... granted under special orders from JSOC. Good luck, Rot. Command out."
"Hey Asuka, you hear that, we'll make up a little time!"
Great, less time to figure out how to upstage the hurensohn. She put on the best half-assed smirking-smile she could, "Wunderbar."
"Open the doors or Shinji will die!" Misato picked herself up; she was still shaking.
The bridge bunnies furiously rattled their keyboards. Maya practically screamed, "There's no time! We can't open that door!"
"Then open -all- of them!" Misato ordered.
Ritsuko simultaneously had a demand of her own, "Release the final locks! Let the Eva decelerate!"
The Angel was surprised by all of the hatches it could now get through, but any choice was instantly forgotten. The catapult's sled slammed into place, breaking free and launching into the sky above and followed by a slightly slower, purple blur.
I'm - slowing down? Shinji inhaled and was finally able to see his surroundings. He could see a great deal of Tokoyo-3 from this vantage point, including nearly a hundred miles of ocean, indicated by various hash marks overlayed on the screen. "Oh- shit," he uttered under his breath, finally seeing the Angel below him clearly waiting for its prey to return.
"Shinji! All the weapons we had loaded for use are deployed." Her voice was calm and collected. Misato took a breath hoping to help him calm down. "It will get the first shot, just make sure you get the last!"
A quiet alarm was accompanied by an orange bar on the heads up display, indicating the apex of the short-lived flight. The computerized voice wasn't there, however, but Hyuga took up the reins. "Velocity of Evangelion has terminated. Target unchanged, no reactions or emissions detected."
