Asuka shows up in this one. =D


-}+{-


May 2010

"SPARTANS!" Chief Mendez shouted with a young girl with red hair in a tight ponytail stood beside him. "This is Cadet Asuka-T02. She will be training with you for the next six months."

Shinji glared. Another temporary cadet trying to run with the Spartans. The last one only lasted a few weeks before begging to leave.

It wasn't that the Spartans abused the cadets. They welcomed them, tried to treat them as part of the group as best as they could.

Problem was that the Spartans had been training together constantly for almost six years now. They knew each other.

They knew each others strength. They knew each other's weaknesses.

They knew what each other liked and didn't like. They knew how each other thought.

They knew what roles each Spartan could do.

They didn't know the temporary cadet.

They didn't know what roles to give her without compromising the mission.

"T02 will rotate through the units as we decide, starting with Unit 01." Mendez continued. "She's not as strong or as fast as you, but she's intelligent in her own way. Your mission over this week is to learn how to use her effectively, and welcome her as part of the team."

T02 didn't like that order. She wanted to be the one giving Spartans orders.

John bumped Shinji's shoulder. Calm down.

It was reassuring to know your teammates were looking after you when you couldn't look behind you and check.

Shinji shrugged. Thank you.

"T02, go join Unit 01." Mendez ordered the girl. "Your next mission is simple." He continued as she ran over to Shinji and stood in front of him. "Units 02 and 04 shall join with Unit 01 and undergo course 172. Tango Company will be your opponents. Units 05 through to 25 are to run to the classroom. Dismissed."

Shinji frowned. Unit 03 had been going for separate training a lot recently, but that wasn't what bothered him.

Shinji hated escort missions.

He hated Tango Company.

They hated the Spartans.

And he had to deliver a package against enemies that actually wanted to hurt them.

A package who wasn't aware of her position as an escort.

Keeping her safe was not going to be easy.


Asuka charged forward as soon as the bell rang.

Kelly rushed forward and tackled the girl as a gunshot rang.

Asuka looked down in horror as Kelly got the girl to her feet.

Shinji let out a sigh of relief.

They weren't using live rounds this time.

Not yet at least.

"CHARGE!" John shouted, aiming their battle rifles loaded with blanks into the trees, firing as they ran for the building that was meant to provide cover.


John looked at his team. Nine Spartans, including him, and one little girl.

She'd recovered from the shock at least, but that wasn't the problem.

Her hair was too long and bright.

She clearly took care of it and had great pride. Kelly often said that a girl's hair was her life, and she'd fought tooth and nail to keep it during the initial haircuts.

T02 was not going to let go of it.

She was a walking target.

Shinji grabbed the girl and rubber her head into the dirt. "HEY!" she screamed, trying to fight him off.

He let her go and grabbed his gun, glaring at the girl.

She realised that she'd just exposed their position.

But that boy had no right to do that to her hair.

John frowned. That girl was far too proud.

"Five teams." John decided. "Shinji and Sam, red. Kelly and Linda, green. Asuka and James, alpha. Fhajad and Fred, bravo. Kohta with me, blue."

T02 looked at the European Boy who crouched next to her, gripping his rifle calmly.

"Red will cover alpha, green to cover bravo." John continued, tilting his head, as if to crick his neck. "Kohta and I will clear a route, go on our command."

Asuka nodded, wiping the worst of the mud from her hair.

She was unhappy that Shinji was guarding her back.

Good.

Escorting the package was only their secondary order.

Hazing comes first.


James knew that the Tango Troops were behind them.

He also knew that neither Shinji nor Sam had taken any action against them.

This was it.

He braced himself for the butt of the rifle against his head.


Asuka woke up tied to a chair, water in her face.

With half a dozen adult soldiers standing around her.

James was tied up in the corner, badly beaten.

Asuka could tell that he didn't get those wounds resisting capture, James was knocked out before Asuka was.

These guys…

They beat a tied-up nine-year old kid that badly?

Why?

Her head was tilted back and a sack was shoved over her face as someone forced her jaw open.

Then came the water.

It was freezing.

They were drowning her.

Air. AIR!

NEED AIR!

She fought against her restraints like hell.

AIR!


Shinji and Sam arrived at the brow of the hill that gave a good view over the building that served as the Tango company prison for this game.

The two Spartans used the scopes of their rifles and checked out what was going on inside the building.

It wasn't good.

Sam furrowed his brow. "I can't believe we had to let them do that to James, but now they're water-boarding her?" he spat in disgust. "They really aren't happy that we beat them all the time, are they?"

"This isn't hazing anymore." Shinji decided, changing the ammunition of his battle rifle. "Let's go."


THUCKTHUCKTHUCK

Screaming.

No more water.

Air.

Someone's fighting.

Air.

The fighting stops.

Air.

Light.

"You okay?" a boy asked her.

Air.

"She's in shock." The boy said, turning to the other. "How's James?"

Hands free.

Air.

"Broken bones all over…" another voice whispered. "Damn…"

Air.

The boy nodded. "I'll take Asuka, you take James. Let's go."

Air.

"Did we have to use Live Rounds, Shinji?"

Being picked up. Over the boy's shoulders.

"No-one does that to one of us." The boy carrying her said. "She's a pretty girl too. Remember Peru?"

The other boy fired another shot into someone who wasn't dead yet. "Good call." He told the boy carrying Asuka.

Air…


2015

Shinji put down the list of requests the Red Ranger had for their meeting tomorrow.

It was outrageous, but all easily doable.

The main point was that the Red Ranger wanted him to show up in Ranger gear.

Shinji picked up his phone.

There were six numbers on it: Misato's, Kensuke's, Toji's, NERV's, a dead friend's, and his fathers.

He'd never called his father before.

He'd been instructed not to do so unless he had a reason to call.

Well, now he had a reason to call.


Gendo Ikari picked up the phone.

He didn't say anything, he just let the caller say what they had to say.

_\_ "The Red Ranger is trying to assert dominance over me and NERV." _\_

"Is that all you called about?" Gendo replied. "Don't waste my time with what I already know."

_\_ "I called to ask your permission to lead a counter-operation." _\_

Gendo raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

_\_ "Sir." _\_ Shinji nodded. _\_ "Chief Mendez taught us that the key to politics in warfare is the game of 'Silly Beggers'; or being uncooperative without actually obstructing the political enemy." _\_ he explained. _\_ "I wish to make an equally outrageous counter-move in response to the Red Ranger's demands." _\_

Gendo listened to the boy's suggestion.

It was interesting.

Basic, but the boy showed promise.

He felt… pride? As a father?

"Do as you will Sergeant Major." Gendo told his son. "You have my permission."


Shinji grinned, pumping his fist as he made another phonecall. "Toji!" he shouted when the boy on the other end picked up. "Remember that favour you owe me?"


"An MIG-55 D transport helicopter!" the Green Ranger shouted, holding his video camera to his helmet. "I'd never have had the chance to fly in one of these if it wasn't for this!" he turned to face the boy sitting next to him. "Man, this is what friends are for, right Green Ranger?"

The Green Ranger sighed. Opposite him, the Green Ranger grabbed the Green Ranger's helmet. "Knock it off Aida!" she shouted. "We're here on a mission for Shinji, remember?"

The Green Ranger rubbed his head. "Yes President… I mean Green Ranger…"


"Whoa!" The Green Ranger shouted. "Four aircraft carriers and five battleships!"

The two other Green Rangers pulled him back into the aircraft. "Knock it off!" they shouted in unison.

"But… the pride of the UN Navy!" the Green Ranger shouted. "Over The Rainbow!"


Asuka looked through her binoculars into the landing gyrocopter.

Three Green Rangers.

Not good.

She turned around and walked into the ship.

Ikari had called her out.

He was playing her.

He really was one of those kids from that place.

Now the question is: Are one of those three the real Green Ranger, or will he come from another route?

Because he will come.

No fun for him if he doesn't come.


"AWESOME!" The Green Ranger shouted once he was on deck. "AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME THIS IS WAY TO AWESOME! REAL MEN SHED TEARS OVER THIS KIND OF THING!"

"Major Katsuragi!" the Naval Captain shouted, approaching the woman and the three Green Rangers. "What kind of stunt is this?"

"The Green Ranger's playing a game with the Red Ranger." Misato sighed. "It's how they say hello."


Asuka growled.

Her plan for her big entrance was already down the drain, but that much was to be expected.

So right now, it's a game to see who finds who first- her or Ikari.

She walked into the changing room and locked the door behind her.

She tied her long her into a pony tail she opened the door of her locker.

Naval servicewoman' uniform.

Should buy her a few dozen minutes to avoid detection at any rate.

She pulled off her sundress to get changed.

Just as it covered her head, she felt cold metal against her throat.

A harpoon.

And he waited until she blinded herself while changing.

Definitely Shinji-108.

Still, she had an ace up her sleeve.

Or, more specifically, a Power Morpher in her dress.

She slowly brought the rest of her dress over her head, hands gripping the machine inside as she slowly turned to look at her opponent.

He was wearing a wetsuit that did little to hide his muscle.

His swimming goggles did, however, hide his face.

Asuka knew she couldn't take him in a normal fight.

Maybe as the Red Ranger if she got the first hit in.

"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"DRAGONZORD!"

"TYRANNOSAURUS!"


The aircraft carrier shook.

"They wouldn't…" Misato whispered in horror as she realised what was happening inside the Over The Rainbow.


The Dragon Dagger parried the Power Sword.

It was a one-handed blade, European in design.

Worse than that, he knew that hair.

"T02." The Green Ranger nodded.

"Eins-Acht." The Red Ranger replied. "I see you finally stopped being Ein-Siebzehn's lapdog."

"We're in Japan, do you have to count in German?" Green asked Red, applying more force to his parry.

Asuka glared behind her helmet. A knife in reverse grip has a power advantage over a one-handed sword any day, but Shinji had grown huge over the past five years.

She couldn't match him in strength.

She couldn't match him in combat experience either- Asuka had been trained as an academic genius first, soldier second.

Perhaps she could beat him in agility?

"We're not in Japan yet!" she said as she sprang a knee up, but he caught her thigh before her leg rose three inches.

The Ranger suit shortened a human beings reaction time to a quarter, but those reactions were still impossible for a normal human in the suit.

Are the Spartans really psychic?

Well, there was one area where she could definitely beat him.

She held out her hand and launched him through the wall using her AT-field.


Shinji threw himself in the air and landed on the battleship closest to the Over The Rainbow and began scanning for the Red Ranger.

She'd depowered and was changing into the naval uniform very quickly.

By the time Shinji found her, she had left the changing room.

She was better at using her AT-field than he was.

Much better.

So why did she sacrifice that advantage by leaving her suit?

Shinji hopped over the water onto the Over The Rainbow, landing on the deck and deactivating his suit.

He tore off his goggles and pulled out of his drysuit to reveal the gray trousers and white vest underneath.

Asuka may be hiding with her hair tucked inside a cap, but she didn't know Shinji's face.

It was cat-and-mouse.

Shinji was good at this.

"There you are." Misato told him, grabbing his shoulder. "What the hell's going on?"

Shinji saluted. "Major. The introductions between the Red Ranger and I are going as planned, but are still underway. The others aren't needed to still wear the decoy costumes."

With that, he turned and ran along the deck, leaving the dumbfounded Major behind.

This game was too good to miss out on.


Asuka frowned at the image that Kaji had given her from his NERV file.

The Green Ranger she met earlier was definitely a Spartan, but his jaw didn't quite match the photo she had.

It was slightly wider, older.

Come to think of it, his entire build was like that of a post-pubescent, not someone her own age.

She checked the image again. If she had to estimate an age, ignoring everything she already knew about him, she'd say he looked seventeen. Maybe.

Almost like an older brother, but that was impossible.

The one she met was Shinji Ikari, no doubt about it.

Did those last five years of training speed him through puberty?

She folded the paper and put it inside her jacket pocket.


Shinji looked up the stairs and saw a young woman walking down the grated staircase.

That build.

Wearing a cap and jacket in this heat.

That's Shinji's target.

He saluted. "Captain Soryu!" he said, playing the part of the respectful soldier perfectly.

"At ease." She said, walking down the steps. "You do realise that most soldiers do not accept a fourteen-year old girl as military officer?"

Shinji didn't.

He never had that problem before.

To him, command was absolute.

This woman was his superior officer, but his actions were permitted as they were teammates.

Hazing was important when a new member joins the team.

His last move failed.

She's leering at him from the top of the flight of stairs.

She was hazing him now, and it's hard to breathe under that glare.

No, that's not it.

His throat's actually being squeezed.

AT-field to choke?

Even outside the suit?

She was good.

He pulled the gun from the back of his pants and pointed it at Asuka.

She recoiled in fear? Surprise? Something?

Shinji pulled the trigger.

Asuka ducked.

Her hat now sported a bullet hole.

He tossed the gun aside and ran up the staircase.

She recovered and dove out of the way, but Shinji reacted in time to catch her shoulder with one hand and pull her back towards him.

Your move.


Unfortunately, the move was made for her.

Marines and navy personnel rushed into the corridor and pointed guns at the man who was attacking the First Child.

"HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" one man shouted, gun trained on Shinji Ikari's back. "STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL NOW!"

Shinji ignored them, focusing only on the girl in front of him.

What's she thinking?

Is she thankful of everyone coming to her rescue?

She didn't call them here by screaming, even though she had plenty of cause to assume sexual assault.

No, they came in response to Shinji's gunshot.

She didn't plan this.

How will she use this?

"Step away from her NOW!"


A bunch of sailors charged into the stairwell and pointed guns at Ikari-108.

"HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" a Chief Petty Officer shouted, gun pointed at the boy's head. "STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL NOW!"

Girl? How many times did Asuka have to remind these bozo's who outranked who here?

Groan. Never mind them, what's this freak gonna do?

He better not think that she called them. It was his fault for using a gun.

What kind of idiot uses a gun against their teammate?

Granted, he wasn't aiming for her, but still…

What were his reactions outside the suit?

Asuka decided to test them.

"Step away from her NOW!"

Shinji glanced away from her and she drove a knee into his groin.

Shinji deflected the worst of the kick with his own leg, which gave three of the marines a perfect opening to rush him.

Or so they thought.


Misato opened the door to the ships hold an hour later. "How many times do you intend to get yourself arrested like this?" she asked the prisoner inside.

"I did go quietly Major Katsuragi." Shinji nodded. "How's Petty Officer Smith?"

"He'll live." Misato sighed, opening the door for him. "You really need to learn to hold back more."

Shinji picked the second lock of his handcuffs with the broken hinges of the first lock as he stood up.

"You're lucky Asuka was so understanding with you." Misato sighed. "She said that she dared you to shoot her hat off, then you ran after her before everyone came in."

Shinji considered the situation from her angle. "That would technically be true Major Katsuragi." He said. "Yes, that's exactly what happened."


She led him into the dining room where Asuka, Hikari, Kensuke and Toji were sitting with a man Shinji didn't recognise.

"KAJI?" Misato shouted as the man waved at her with a smile.

Alarm bells rang in Shinji's head. "Ryoji Kaji?" he asked.

"Oh, you know me?" Kaji asked him, standing up.

Brown hair. Ponytail. Right

Shinji owed Kelly a favour.

He rammed his fist into the bastard's gut, knocking him to the ground.

Shinji pushed him over and got ready to smash his smug face in.

Someone shouted something, but Shinji didn't care.

You didn't abandon the team.

You just didn-


2003

The aftermath of Second Impact.

Hell.

Cities were buried under tidal waves.

Disease, starvation, war… every year, another horseman rode until one day, three billion people were dead.

Kaji's parents were two of them.

He had to look after his brother Goro.

Orphans were everywhere.

The government rounded as many of them as they could, but what could they do with them?

The Spartan program hadn't begun yet, so they dumped them in mass shelters.

Hundreds and thousands of people in these shelters.

There wasn't enough supplies to go around.

People were brawling just for a space on the floor to sleep.

So Kaji gathered some kids and escaped.

They stole to survive.

But everywhere was another group's turf.

Pickings were slim at best.

One day, they found a military base.

Their security wasn't all that great.

The kids took little at a time to avoid suspicion.

Only what they needed, nothing more.

Kaji was the oldest.

He was the biggest.

He wasn't as sneaky.

He got caught.


They beat him.

He didn't talk.

They broke his bones.

He didn't talk.

The shoved his head in freezing water.

He didn't talk.

They put a gun to his head.

Kaji was broken.

He was terrified.

He talked.


They went to the location he gave.

Kaji knocked out one of them.

He ran.

He ran to the hideout.

He ran to warn his friends.

His brother.

His family.

He ran to warn them that they were coming.

He ran to warn them that they were going to die if they didn't run too.


He got there just as they were leaving.

He got there just as the sun went down, surrounded by the corpses.

He got there just as his brother died.

He got there too late.

He broke down.

He was too late.

He betrayed them.

He lived because they died.

He screamed.


What if Shinji had been Kaji?

What if he was broken?

What if he betrayed the team?

What if he ran to save them?

What if he stood alone amongst the corpses?

What if he was the last one?


He'd suffered enough.

"Kelly's alive." Shinji whispered, lowering his shaking fist. "She forgives you."

Kaji's eyes widened.

Shinji saw hope and fear in those eyes.

He was right.

The two of them stood to their feet.

"Thank you." Kaji told him, turning around to walk into the corridor as he wiped blood from his lips.

His shoulders were shaking as he closed the door behind him.

"Kaji..?" Asuka asked, before turning to Shinji. "What the hell?" she shouted, grabbing Shinji's collar. "What did he ever do to you?"

"Nothing." Shinji admitted. "Kelly-087 was a friend of his, wanted me to pass a message on."

Misato gently thumped Shinji's shoulder. "Eeh, the guy deserved it." She laughed.

He flinched from the gesture.

No, it was a coincidence.

Misato stared absently at the steel portal with which Kaji left through.


Kaji cried, smiling as relief flushed through his body.

"Kaji?"

Asuka.

Kaji wiped his fingers and thumb through his face and rubbed his nose so she wouldn't notice. "Hey, Asuka." He grinned. "So, how're things between you and the Green Ranger?"

"Why'd he hit you like that?" Asuka asked him.

"It's how real men say hello." He lied with a smirk. "So, who won?"

Asuka leant on the railings and pouted. "Dunno yet." She said. "He got arrested, sure, but it was on his terms." She growled. "That IDIOT!" she shouted. "He hasn't been here two hours and he's already got the entire boat under his control!"

Kaji chuckled, then thought of something. "Hey, you trained with him for a while, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah." She shuddered. "The kids at that place were absolute war machines."

Kaji frowned. "Did you know a girl called Kelly?" he asked.

"Huh?" Asuka asked. "Kelly-087? Yeah, I knew her."

Kaji smiled, muttering a silent prayer of thanks for the first time his charge's eidetic memory wasn't used against him. "Was she… happy?"

"What, was she your sister or something?" Asuka asked him, curious about his sudden interest.

"No, no not really." Kaji smiled. "Anyway, you just gonna let him think he's better than you?" he asked, appealing to the girl's pride. "Come on, you haven't lost yet."

"You know what?" Asuka realised. "I haven't." she turned around and slapped the man on the back. "Thanks Kaji! I'll make sure he knows who the best is!"

Kaji forced a chuckle as the girl ran off before turning back to the water.


Shinji wandered through the corridors of the Over The Rainbow, looking for the armoury.

"Hey, Ikari!"

Shinji turned around and dodged the fireball that Asuka launched from her power sword. "Come with me." She told him.

"Is that an order, Captain Soryu?" he asked her.

She sighed. "You are so straight laced, you know that?" she told him. "What if I said it wasn't?"

"I'd probably come anyway." Shinji shrugged, walking towards her. "So, where we headed?"


They were headed for a large aircraft carrier behind the Over The Rainbow- the one that carried the Tyrannosaurus.

"Not bad." Shinji admitted as Asuka lifted up the cloth covering the massive Zord.

"That's not all it is." Asuka bragged, leading Shinji under the massive tent where the Tyrannosaurus was resting in a pool of molten mercury. "This is the real main body of the Megazord!" she bragged. "Your Dragonzord's synchronisation with the other Zords is nothing compared to the king of the dinosaurs!"

"I see." Shinji nodded. "So it would be more agile in combat."

"Damn right it is!" Asuka bragged. "This is the fastest Zord there is, right after the Sabre-Tooth-Tiger, but that little cat just doesn't have the power to back it up."

Shinji nodded. A more agile Zord would help, but he was concerned with the lack of upper body limbs the tyrannosaurus had compared to the Dragonzord. Of course, with Takenaka dead, they couldn't activate the Mastodon for fusion.

The ship shook.

"An underwater shockwave." Asuka realised. "Something nearby just exploded."


Asuka and Shinji rushed out to the side of the ship to see the starboard-most ship explode into purple flames.

"That's not normal." Shinji commented. "Looks we're under attack."

"An angel?" Asuka asked. "A real angel?"

Shinji realised at that second that Asuka, for all her skills and pride, hadn't yet fought a single angel.

She leered back to the Zord with a dog-like grin on her face. "Cha~ance." She smirked.

Shinji glared. "That captain… He's exceptionally prideful, isn't he?" he asked as another ship was destroyed. "He's not going to let Misato take command of this battle."

"And?" Asuka asked, pulling her Power Morpher from inside her dress.

"Meaning he's going to waste the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of navy personnel." Shinji snarled. "And he won't listen to us either, so our best chance is to kill that angel before he realises that torpedoes don't work and half the fleet is dead."

Asuka held out her Morpher. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"DRAGONZORD!"

"TYRANNOSAURUS!"


"So, the AT-field can't be penetrated by this kind of firepower…" Kaji muttered as the fleet began to die around him.

He glanced at the briefcase chained to his wrist.

He knew his orders…

He shook his head.

Those kids wouldn't die on him this time.


Shinji followed Asuka into the Tyrannosaurus' tent. "Can you take a Co-pilot?" he asked her.

"You've been inside a Zord cockpit, haven't you?" she asked him. "You know how much space they don't have!"

"Thing is, we're at sea, and the angel is an aquatic enemy." He told her. "Our best bet is for you to get close while I jump in and stab it to death."

Asuka humph'ed. "You just want the glory to yourself."

"If the Dragonzord was here instead of the Tyrannosaurus, you'd be the one jumping out and killing it. Oh, wait." He remembered. "I can control the Dragonzord from the outside. Can you do that?"

She glared at him. "Whatever, it doesn't matter." She decided. "Come on, you can sit in the back and watch me kill it. You can witness my magnificent piloting up close!"

Asuka turned back, as if to glare at him. "Just don't distract me."


"That's weird…" Misato commented as the angel took down another ship. "It's almost as if the angel is looking for something…"


"An angel attack wasn't part of our deal." Kaji said into the phone.

_\_ "That's why you have a Zord with you." _\_ Gendo replied. _\_ "I even sent you my best Ranger as a reserve in case Germany's wunderkind wasn't all I've been told she is. If worst comes to the worst, you can escape by yourself." _\_

Kaji sighed. "I know that." He said. It wasn't as if he hadn't had practice doing that already.


Shinji's first impression of being inside another Zord's cockpit?

It was small.

That said, however, the Dragonzord in Battle Mode's cockpit was larger than most, so perhaps he was just getting spoiled.

Asuka began performing to vocally initiate the subroutines in German, much like Lt. Ibuki, Hyuuga and Aoba did for Shinji back at NERV. Shinji made a mental note to learn how to do that himself.

Red sirens flashed. "What happened?" Shinji asked.

"Thought noise." Asuka growled. "I told you not to disturb me!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're thinking in Japanese, aren't you?" She snapped. "Think in German dammit!"

Shinji raised an eyebrow.

"You think in languages?" he asked.

That explained a lot to both Rangers.


The Tyrannosaurus leapt into the air as the ship carrying it was destroyed by the angel. It landed on another ship as the cloth whipped around its body in the sea wind.

"Alright, get ready to jump." Asuka said.

"Which reminds me." Shinji told her. "There's an upgrade of some sort for you on the Over The Rainbow."

"What!" Asuka shouted. "What kind of upgrade?"

"Unknown." Shinji replied. "I wasn't paying attention then."

"Schiessen." Asuka swore, jumping to another ship as the cloth flapped away.

One more jump and she landed on the Over The Rainbow. A team of technicians quickly motioned her to maneuver onto a steel platform, where machinery and a team of helicopters swiftly equipped a set of fins to the Tyrannosaurus's tail, and propellers to its legs.

"Nice, we can go underwater now." Shinji nodded.

"Yeah." Asuka agreed, pushing the Tyrannosaurus into the water.


The angel, Gaghiel, was beige and vaguely fish-like, in the same way that Pen-pen was vaguely chicken-like.

Still, the aquatic gear really helped the Tyrannosaurus swim through the water, but with one problem:

No weapons.

The angel was limited in its attack too, but it didn't exactly seem that interested in the Zord for once.

No, what it wanted was something on one of the ships.

That, or it thought that the Zord wasn't a threat due to its low attack capabilities and just wanted to kill all the humans first.

"Don't you have any weapons you can use underwater?" Shinji asked Asuka.

"Well, claws are out, we can't jump, and, oh yeah, fire breath doesn't work without oxygen to ignite!" Asuka hissed at him.

"Then that just leaves the original plan." Shinji said. "You get close, I jump out and stab it to death."

"Can you breathe underwater in that?" Asuka asked.

"No." Shinji shrugged. "I'll just have to be quick."

Asuka glared, her hands shaking.

She hated being trapped underwater.

She didn't want to drown again.

"It's core's in the mouth." Shinji pointed as the angel charged for them. "Ram it!"

Asuka had a better idea.

The angel's gaping, fanged mouth opened as it loomed towards them.

She let the angel bite down on her Zord, ignoring Shinji's warnings to dodge..

They were trapped, quickly being crushed… and the angel's core was wide open.

With a grin hidden under her visor, Asuka lunged, and her Zord surged forward, biting down hard on the core with its progressive fangs.

The Gaghiel screamed and shook, trying to spit them out, but Asuka kept a firm grip on the core, struggling to keep it within the jaws of her Zord until it finally gave up and shattered.

With a final, echoing wail, the angel died.


Asuka laughed. "So much for that Mosasaur!" she laughed. "Who needs your help, huh?"

Shinji smiled awkwardly behind the helmet, but then he noticed the sound.

The better idea won the battle, but it came with a price.

When Gaghiel bit down on the Tyrannosaurus, its teeth left holes in its body.

Particularly in the cockpit.

Water was flooding in.

"Alright, don't panic." Shinji told her. "It's not a submarine. It can take water as you surface as long as you're not an idiot about it."

Asuka was hyperventilating.

There was no issue of running out of oxygen in the cockpit.

The problem was water pushing the oxygen out.

The problem was that the only one capable of moving the Zord had been waterboarded.

She was terrified of drowning.

Shinji knew how she felt. He'd been tortured more than a few times himself to train himself for torture resistance, but not Asuka.

She got the full blast of it when she was nine years old.

All the counselling in the world could cure her fear of water.

They could make her swim.

They could make her dive.

They could make her pilot a submarine.

But they would never erase that fear.

That need for air.

He needed her to calm down.

He only knew one way to do that.


"Why the hell did you just hit me?"

Shinji backed off. "You were panicking, so I-"

"Shut it!" Asuka growled, rubbing the back of her shoulder.

He didn't hit her hard, fair enough, but it still made her jump.

Damned Spartan.


"Well, that was an eventful journey!" Kaji laughed as he placed the steel briefcase on Gendo's desk. "Was it caused by this, I wonder?" he asked, opening the case.

Inside was a black Power Morpher with an unclear symbol emblazoned on the coin.

"It has already been restored to this." Kaji stated. "I'm certain it's still alive. That is the point of the Instrumentality Project of Mankind, isn't it?"

Gendo took the Morpher. "Taken from the first Ranger ever, ADAM." he said. "You may leave."

"Actually, I was hoping you could point me in the right direction about something." Kaji said. "Seeing as I didn't, ya know, use that to restore my own Ranger Powers?"

Gendo raised an eyebrow. "The SPARTAN project." Kaji clarified. "She's there, isn't she?"


"Man, I'm glad I won't have to deal with her again." Kensuke sighed. "What a total-"

"Aida!" Hikari shouted. "Don't be rude!"

"Hey, I'm just glad I'm not Shinji." Toji laughed, patting his mate on the shoulder. "You have to work with her!"

Shinji smirked, then raised two fingers to eye level.

Then he pointed them to the front of the class.

"Aw hell naw." Toji and Kensuke groaned in unison.

"My name's Asuka Langley Soryu!" Asuka greeted the class. "Charmed, huh?"


May 2010

Chief Mendez glared across his table at the handcuffed Shinji-108.

"I'm having difficulty understanding your actions." The Chief told them. "I can understand your anger at your teammate's treatment, but you killed two soldiers, injuring four others."

"I killed two people that wanted to hurt the team." Shinji stated. "My orders were to welcome T02 as part of the team and to treat her as such. She is a weak link and needs to be protected. A girl without the same experience as us needs to be protected sir, not tortured."

"She was sent here to be toughened up, Spartan." Mendez told the boy.

"And she will." Shinji said. "But if you put us through course 172 on our first day against hostiles using live rounds, we would have died sir. I am not the team leader, but I will not accept any unnecessary harm coming to any of the Spartans sir."

Mendez looked at the boy. "Petty Officer John-117 is in your Unit, is he not?" he asked.

"Yessir." Shinji stood ramrod straight.

"Do you look up to him?"

"He cares for the Spartans sir." Shinji reported. "He is a good leader."

"You're avoiding the question 108." Mendez smirked.

Shinji processed his answer before replying. You didn't lie to the chief.

"I... see myself as level to him sir." Shinji answered. "He is a good friend and my superior officer, but because of our relationship as friends I often come to disagree with his orders and provide my own suggestions."

Mendez nodded. "Do you care for the Spartans, 108?" he asked.

"Yessir."

"Well then." Mendez sat back in his chair. "You are hereby promoted to the rank of Petty Officer Second Class." he decided. "Make sure that you continue to advise 117 well."

"Yessir." Shinji nodded.

"You are dismissed 108." Mendez added, gesturing to the door. "Sam-034 will also be cleared of all but minor disciplinary charges as yourself."

"Thank you sir." Shinji nodded, turning to leave.

"And, Spartan 108?" Mendez added as Shinji reached the door. "Make sure to keep that temper of yours in check. It's a great asset during battle, but don't allow it to cloud your judgement again." He said. "Tango company will be targeting your blood specifically from now on."

"Yessir."


-}+{-


Yeah, just because it's a fanfic, doesn't mean anyone's getting a free pass to sanity. Not even Kaji gets away with it.

And I REALLY like how Shinji's shaping up.