DISCLAIMER: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the characters associated with the series. GAINAX owns the rights to this series.
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Chapter 03 - Combat
"Target approaching at rapid speeds!"
"JSSDF VTOLS have engaged the target! ...target seems unaffected!"
"Captain Katsuragi! We just got a call from the UN ordering us to mobilize the Evangelions!"
Misato scoffed. "Idiots. Wasting tax dollars when they could have just sent us out from the beginning." Activating the comlink, Misato said, "Shinji! You are go for launch. You ok in there?"
"Ready."
"Start launch sequence!" commanded Misato.
Truth be told, she was more than a bit worried. Shinji had had only a day of training and she feared it might not be enough. Added to that, he had just undergone his first day at school. That should have been stressful for anyone, let alone someone who had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Misato had only known Shinji for a short amount of time, but she had tremendous respect and admiration for him. A fourteen year old charged with serving as the last frontier for mankind. As the last line of defense. Even with that huge burden upon his shoulders, Shinji still had to endure the regular stresses and insecurities of a growing teenager. However, what was amazing was that Shinji acted as though he didn't mind at all. On the contrary, he was always cheerful and very approachable to anyone. Misato already knew for a fact that most of the crew on the command bridge regarded Shinji with the utmost respect, even after just one day of training and despite his young age. Not to mention a certain computer technician, who seemed to have a little crush on the boy. Shaking her doubts and musings out of her head, Misato concentrated on the task in front of her. Keep Shinji alive. As NERV's Tactical Operations Commander, she had the duty of making sure she did everything possible short of piloting the EVA herself to guarantee the safety of the pilot and the defeat of the target. If she could, she would rather be out there piloting the EVA and putting her life on the line rather than have to force Shinji to. But she couldn't. So instead, she would protect Shinji to the best of her abilities in the best way she could.
"The course is clear. All green. Evangelion Unit 01 is ready for launch."
Misato steeled herself. "Shinji, you ready for this?"
Shinji opened up a video link and gave Misato a wink, smiling, "Let's give it hell, captain."
Misato spared Shinji an encouraging smile before focusing her attention back on the holograph.
"Evangelion Unit 01. Launch!"
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Toji watched Kensuke as his friend fidgeted with the video camera that he always carried around with him. Everyone had been hurried down to the underground shelters when the emergency alarm had sounded. He could see most of his classmates sitting nearby, talking and laughing as if there weren't anything going on above. Toji wasn't stupid. He knew the new kid - he was pretty sure Shinji was his name - had to put his life on the line to protect the city, and possibly the world. He also knew he probably deserved the punch he got from Shinji, because without the EVA pilot, his sister, not to mention himself, would probably be dead or worse at this point. But he didn't regret the exchange of blows. He had felt the need to do it, and he had done it. That was all it was.
"Hey Toji" whispered Kensuke, who had finished playing with the settings on his video camera. "I gotta talk to you for a sec." When Toji nodded, Kensuke dragged him over to the class rep, HIkari Horaki. As the class representative, Hikari was in charge of keeping the students of class 2-A organized although Toji thought she took the responsibility way too serious. Still, she had a pretty nice body and a cute face - when she wasn't yelling at "Suzuhara" not to be stupid, that is.
"Hey Class rep," Kensuke said, getting her attention. "We gotta use the bathroom real quick."
"Now? You guys should have gone hours ago!"
"I know, sorry class rep. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go. Ya know?" replied Kensuke with an apologetic grin on his face.
Hikari sighed. "Alright, but make it quick ok?" she said, with what seemed to be a worried glance over at Toji.
She probably thinks I'm going off to make more trouble.
"Sure thing!" replied Kensuke dragging Toji off to where the bathrooms were. Once he was sure no one was listening, Kensuke rounded on Toji with a wide grin on his face. "Dude, we gotta go up there man."
"Up where?"
"Up to the surface! I bet there's a huge battle up there right now! I gotta see this!"
""Are you crazy?" shouted Toji. "We'll get killed up there! Didn't you see what happened to Mari?!"
"I know, but even if I die, I want to see the thing just once! Come on!" begged Kensuke. "We can look after each others' backs and if you think it's too dangerous once we're up there, we'll come straight back down!"
Toji sighed, resigned. This was going to be a very, very bad idea...
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"Alright Shinji, we're just going to start off with a bit of reconnaissance. We just want to see what this thing can do, so keep your distance." ordered Misato.
"Roger that."
The angel looked like a giant...bug. There was no other way to describe it, really. It looked like a giant bug with tentacles. And harmful bugs had to be crushed. Shinji fired a burst at the angel, aimed directly at its core, but about 50 meters away from the target, the bullets hit an invisible barrier and dropped away, useless.
"Misato, the angel has an AT Field up!"
"I see it too Shinji, keep your distance for now!"
So Shinji kept his distance. Or tried to. The long tentacles of what seemed like energy beams kept dashing out at Shinji, trying to slice him open like it had done with all the buildings around them. Not only that, the thing was fast! Every second it seemed to be gaining on Shinji as it pursued the EVA. Cursing, Shinji continued dodging in and out among buildings, using them as cover, as he unloaded useless bursts of fire into the angel's AT Field. Unfortunately, the limited supply of buildings eventually forced Shinji to back out of the vicinity of the city in order to buy himself some time and minimize the damage caused to his surroundings.
"Misato! How long do I have to keep my distance?" shouted Shinji, tired of running away from the angel. Before she could answer though, Misato was horrified to notice two civilians on the hills right in front of the EVA directly in its path.
"Shinji watch out!" yelled Misato.
Shinji saw the two civilians as he was about to take the next step, which would have landed right on top of them, and twisted to avoid them just in time. However, doing so caused him to lose his balance, making the EVA fall hard onto the nearby hills. To make matters worse, the angel used this opportunity to slice off the umbilical cable connected to the EVA, cutting off Shinji from the external power source.
4.59...
Everyone on the bridge jumped out of their chairs simultaneously, instantly going to work on how much time the EVA had left, what the distance to the next external power source was, how far the target was, etc etc, yelling out commands and requests for data. The entire bridge fell into a cacophony of organized chaos. Within moments, a calculated projection of where the best strategic location was to reconnect the EVA, how long it took to get there, and which course the EVA should take in order to minimize the chance of interference by the target was made. The immediate emergency having been taken care of, the bridge crew handed the report into the waiting hands of Captain Katsuragi and sat back in their seats to observe the rest of the battle nervously, ready at any moment to spring back into action.
While this was happening, Shinji zoomed in his screen to find out that the two civilians were none other than his classmates, Kensuke and Toji, the latter of whom had so nicely punched Shinji in the face just a few hours ago.
IDIOTS!
Realizing there was no possible way he was going to be able to fight with them out on the surface, Shinji activated the on-board plug release and yelled out at the two boys frozen solid from almost having been crushed by a skyscraper-sized mecha. "Get your asses in here now!"
Ritsuko paled at that. "Shinji! What are you doing?! The EVA is a highly classified weapon! You can't just let civilians inside the plug!" she yelled.
"Sorry Doctor, I don't have a choice." was the only reply Shinji gave as he helped the two boys into the plug.
As soon as they were inside the plug, Shinji re-secured the hatch and synced back with the EVA.
3.24...
"First off. You guys are idiots. Secondly, you can breathe through this liquid so don't hold your breath. And third, shut up and stay still if you want to live." growled Shinji. Kensuke and Toji could do nothing but nod vigorously as they continued to consolidate their terror at what was happening.
"Shinji! You don't have much time! There is a secondary power source in sector 12 of the city, at your fastest it should take about a minute to get there. Get to it!" commanded Misato.
2.52...
Without a word, Shinji started sprinting towards the building, still trying to avoid the angel's onslaught of attacks, which seemed to be even fiercer than before. Struggling to run as fast as he can and avoid the reaching tentacles at the same time, Shinji tripped on the rubble of one of the destroyed buildings and fell forward. The angel, sensing the EVA's temporary vulnerability, struck.
"Shinji watch out!"
But it was too late. Shinji cried out in pain as the angel penetrated the EVA's chest. Watching from behind the cockpit seat, Toji looked at Kensuke with a horrified expression on his face. He had not known that Shinji would be able to feel whatever the EVA felt. Kensuke returned the expression, just as shocked as he was.
"Shinji! Are you alright?" yelled out Misato. "Pull yourself together! It's coming at you again!"
Gritting his teeth, Shinji forced his EVA to get up, ignoring the blinding pain in his chest. As soon as he did so, the angel sent out another thrash of attacks, intent on keeping the Evangelion down. The attack missed Shinji by a wide margin. Shinji got the Evangelion to its feet and abruptly, the pain in his chest vanished. Sighing in relief, Shinji got the EVA back in motion towards the power source only to find that the last attack had not been meant for Shinji at all. It had targeted what Shinji was going for!
"Tower 2 destroyed! No more towers in Unit 01's immediate vicinity!"
"Shinji's sync rate has dropped down to 57.3%. Internal nerve connection has been severed at the precise location of puncture! He's not feeling a thing!"
"Impossible!" exclaimed Ritsuko. "No one can control their own sync ratios! Much less hold partial connection to the EVA!"
"Seems like that's all he's been doing, making the impossible possible." murmured Misato, just as astounded by the update.
0.37...
EVA Unit 01 stood back up, now facing the angel. Looking at the data displayed on his screen, he noticed that he only thirty seconds left. It wasn't enough time to get to the next power source and for all he knew, the angel could destroy that one as well before he got there. Plus he was thoroughly annoyed with all this running. He could hear Misato yelling in the background, ordering him to retreat, to take the nearest elevator back down to the hangar, that it is way too dangerous to risk the only Evangelion Unit functional at this point with a race against time, but he ignored her. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on the angel and said, "Hang tight you guys, this is going to be bumpy." As Kensuke and Toji did as Shinji asked, Shinji took a nearby piece of rubble and heaved it at the angel. The angel responded to this by slicing up the huge piece of rock into pieces, chunks of it flying everywhere. Smiling, Shinji took another, bigger piece of rubble from a nearby pile and heaved it using as much strength as the EVA could muster. As he did so, Shinji charged with the momentum of his throw, trailing right behind the flying boulder.
0.06...
As expected, the angel used its laser charged tentacles to decimate this boulder as well, spraying debris and dust everywhere. And through this, Shinji charged, using all his might to jump straight into where he knew the angel would be standing.
0.03...
The EVA twisted in the air like a drill in order to gain more momentum and force as it shot through the air through the debris. Mid twist, Shinji pulled out his prog knife as it hummed to life...
0.01...
...and he jammed it into the angel's core. It was almost a perfect reenactment of the simulation training that he had done the night before, with bits of improvisation added into it. The angel thrashed wildly, trying to throw the purple behemoth off itself while Shinji twisted the blade.
0.00.
Unit 01's external powered down, and Shinji no longer could see what was happening. He noticed he had been holding his breath and released it. His hands were calloused from having held on to the controls so tightly. But he had done it. He had defeated the angel. Behind him, he heard Kensuke and Toji finally release their breaths as well. "Wow" was all Toji could muster. Kensuke nodded, agreeing with whatever sentiments Toji was feeling.
"I know right?" Shinji said, giving both of them a relieved grin. After a moment, Kensuke returned the grin, and Toji as well, albeit with a little reluctance. The three of them knew, at that moment, staring at each other through LCL after having experienced a near-death situation together, that a bond had formed between them.
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After the medical crew arrived and had examined both Shinji and his two new friends, Misato appeared on the scene. She stalked up to the three of them with a furious expression on her face. Stopping in front of them, she turned her glare on Kensuke and Toji. "You two. Wait right there. I will deal with you in a moment."
Then, her expression suddenly softened as she turned her attention to Shinji. "Are you ok Shinji? That was quite a blow you received." Kensuke and Toji goggled, envying Shinji for the positive attention he was getting from this breath-taking raven-haired beauty. Shinji, on the other hand, was just relieved to find out she wasn't going to kick his ass for ignoring her orders during the battle and replied that he was fine and that the pain had only been momentary. He had judged too soon. As soon as Misato verified that Shinji was not hurt and was, in fact, fine both in body and mind, she slapped him across the face. Hard.
"How dare you ignore my orders to retreat!" yelled Misato. Eyes widening, Kensuke and Toji tried to slip away as Misato unloaded on Shinji about the importance of obeying orders on the field and how he could have endangered the entire city with his recklessness. "You two! I told you to stay where you are!"
Toji and Kensuke froze. So for over 30 minutes, they were forced to stand there and watch sympathetically as Shinji was scolded for his inconsiderate and dangerous actions in the battlefield. Shinji, on the receiving end of this brutality, listened calmly because, well, what else was he going to do?
Then, all of a sudden, Shinji's vision went white as pain such as he had never felt before in his life crashed into his chest. Shinji must have collapsed because he could faintly hear Misato screaming for a medic, that Shinji had collapsed, but it all seemed so far away. His world was nothing but pain; everything else seemed inconsequential beside the agony.
Then, thankfully, blackness claimed him.
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A/N - End of Chapter 3. Sorry if I'm a bit delayed in uploading the next few chapters. March Madness is here! Read and Review please! Oh, and I'm still looking for Beta Readers. :D