Once again a long ass chapter for you guys, right now I'm trying to find a good medium for chapters and with this one being like 7k I'm worn out. So I'm gonna head off to bed at 1 pm and hope the overnighters didn't ruin my sleeping schedules. 8)
-Anesti-zoi
Ps. no reviews posted this week considering that you guys knocked it out of the park with 10 fricken reviews 8D luv u guys (no hetro)
Another thing If you guys have the time, check out a story called The Proposal of Evangelion, it has a great writer, and a amazing story. The author is named Hedgestar.
"Dialogue"
'Typing/Phone' (Not a lot of this)
Thoughts
"Language Swap."
Angel's/Evangelion Dialogue
WARNING THERE WILL BE A BIT OF OOC IN SOME CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY
I DON'T OWN EVANGELION ( STUDIO KHARA AND GIANAX DO)
Evangelion
You can (not) find Peace
Chapter VIII Scarlet Strike!
Arc II Revelations
Shinji looked out to the horizon of Tokyo-3 inside the plane, the sunset lingered over the skyline of the mountains and hills. It reminded him of the train, that horrible train he dreamt of when something went horribly wrong.
If I dream now will I see it?
His mind argued with itself, What about the Nemesis Units?
Yes what about them?
What if they are aware?
What should we do?
...We need the others
His eyes narrowed in frustration, Four and seven? But, it could-
He felt something itch in the back of his head, We have to.
"Excuse me sir."
He turned to the intruder of his discussion, "Would you like a snack?"
Shinji lazily glanced at the woman's assortment of pretzels, junk food, and drinks, "I'll take a pack of rice crackers and a water."
The stewardess followed his order, pulling his crackers and water out, "Hope you enjoy the flight."
"Thanks."
She walked away. He rubbed his temples, then looked over to Misato, who sat with Ritsuko. He absent-mindedly chewed on his rice cracker, while watching her. She seemed distraught about something and after thinking about it, she probably was worrying about those new units like he is.
He stood from his seat, pocketing his cakes, and walked over to her.
"Hey."
Her eyes bounced to his, "Oh, hey Shinji."
"Are you ok Misato?"
She snickered, "Oh, Shinji's trying to keep me company, is it because Rits is in wonderland over there?"
The bottle-blonde peeked from the lines of the book, "I heard that."
Misato pshawed her colleague, "Any who, what were you saying Shinji?"
Shinji handed her a hand full of crackers, "Are you alright?"
She took a couple, tossing them into her mouth, "Yea, I'm fine."
Shinji shook his head, "Your worried about them aren't you?"
She rebounded her eyes to him, "The Körper Units?" he nodded, "Yea, I've been thinkin' about it."
Shinji puffed and placed his hand on Misato's shoulder, "I promise that this won't interrupt our operations."
Misato looked up to him, his confident smile beaming down on her, "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I won't let them get in your way."
My way? Could he? No. She nodded, "Alright Misato, see ya."
He walked to his seat. Resting against the chair's cushions, he gazed out to the world before him. The sun continued descending past the earth's crust, he wondered why he never took the time in the past to enjoy such beauty.
Perhaps Rei and Mizu are bringing the best out of me now. He pursed his lips, No, I am I, unholy and tainted. I don't have a good side, just me. But... whether beast or human, I'm sworn myself to protect those who I love.
The pilot studied the callous texture of his palm, then flexed it into a fist, And I won't fail.
Shinji and Ritsuko rode with Misato to NERV's trolley to HQ, where they dropped off Ritsuko. They were readying to leave, when Shinji gave Ritsuko a look that she understood very well. Shinji and Misato left, with Ritsuko hurrying to her station.
Misato sped away, her usual erratic driving was absent now. Her steering wheel swayed not even the slightest bit, he knew something was up. He studied his guardian, deciding that he shouldn't intrude.
Parking in their apartment complex, Shinji undid his seat belt and opened the door outside. He felt something grab his arm, he turned to Misato holding on him.
"Shinji..." she softly bore her caramel eyes into his cobalt ones, "can we talk?"
He responded, "Of course Misato."
She breathed deeply, "What did you mean on the plane? That they wouldn't get in my way?"
Shinji blinked a few times, "Well, I know of your driving force, you could say."
"Oh," the lavender haired woman tapped her finger against the collar of her bomber jacket, "who told you?"
He shrugged, "Nobody, when I met with my father he gave me a file on you, so that I could know a bit more about you," he lied.
"I see..."
Shinji watched his superior, Misato hang her head, "But..." she looked up to him, "you need to realize that vengeance isn't all it's cracked up to be. It can consume you, twist you, and turn you into something that even you can hate..."
She tilted her head and he continued, "The same thing can happen when you feel sorrow, you think about your mistakes and what you could have done differently." He laughed, "It can drive you crazy if you let it get to you. So Misato," he gently removed her hand and held it with his own, "I ask you as your soldier, ward, and friend, don't let it get to you, ok?"
She felt her eyes stinging, finally allowing the tears to flow, she sniffled, "Ok Shinji."
He smiled warmly, "Thank you."
She whipped her nose and reached for her car keys, "Hold on a sec."
She turned to Shinji when he spoke, "I'm gonna head to HQ to speak with Gendo and pick up Mizu and Rei, you should check and see how Mari is doin'."
Misato nodded and stepped out of the Alpine, "Alright, just be careful."
Shinji slipped into the seat, "Ok, I will. I'll be back in no time."
He smacked the car into drive, waving to Misato, he drove away from their complex.
The ride to HQ was uneventful and boring, he enjoyed it. It gave Shinji time to think, to analyze, and most importantly, to enjoy the silence.
Placing Misato's car into park, Shinji stepped out, after locking the doors, and walked to the terminals that lead to HQ. Retrieving his ID card, he swipped the plastic through the scanner. A green light allowed his passage, swinging the steel doors open. He stepped on the escalators, allowing them to guide him into Geo-Front.
After passing through a seemingly infinite amount of corridors and hallways, he finally made it to an elevator. He pressed the button to his father's office. He stood patiently in the six by six box, the nostalgic music filled his ears, Ah, Beethoven you never cease to calm the mind.
The elevator opened with a ding, he walked into the meager room that lead to the cavernous void of the Commander's office. He walked pass the, now present, receptionist, she began to protest until he flashed his ID. She backed off, Shinji finally made it to the door. He slid it open and what happened next was very unexpecting.
At the end of the office two men stood at his father's desk, while the Commander himself sat in his chair. He knew both the men, one being his mother's sensei, Fuyutsuki, the other a rather new acquaintance.
"Lieutenant Strasburg."
The jarhead turned to him, "Ah, Shinji you're here."
Shinji ignored him, "Commander, Sub-Commander how were both of your trips?"
Gendo held his laced gloves over his mouth, "Very good, we attained the knowledge of the Mark 0.6's advanced growth and gave the results to Nevada Branch for construction of Unit-03. Along with the recovery of the Lance and the First."
Shinji's brow furrowed, "How did you get that kind of intel?"
Fuyutsuki chuckled, "Very carefully."
Shinji acknowledged that as an acceptable answer, he returned to a more pressing matter, "Why is he here," his finger pointed accusingly at the lieutenant next to him.
Gendo smirked underneath his gloves, "His forces are a gift from the old men, you could say."
SEELE? "That's weird."
Strasberg walked next to Gendo's desk, "The JA sabotage was a joint effort between NERV and Körper. We used the confrontation to test Claymore, our most capable combat machine. Oh, and the Units are being shipped here as soon as possible."
Shinji stared intensely at the lieutenant, "Father may I speak with you in private."
Gendo's stance didn't sway but, his mind did, "Yes, Fuyutsuki, Strasberg your dismissed."
Both men nodded and walked out of his office. Gendo, after the door closed, released his hands, he gestured for Shinji to come closer.
"Is there something wrong?"
Shinji sighed, "The new Units, they're... the Nemesis Series."
Gendo continued his evaluating gaze, "What is that?"
"One of SEELE's creations, artificial angels if you will."
Gendo became very confused, "They have that kind of technology?"
"No, they don't."
The conversation went deadly silent, "...So, how are we to deal with this?"
Shinji paced the front area of the Commander's desk, "First, I need a full status report."
Gendo nodded, he pulled a stack of folders from his desk and read them off, "Unit-03 is nearing completion at ninety-three percent. Unit-02 and it's pilot are nearing dock and will be here in an hour's time or so. Further more, Operation Gaius is twenty-eight percent finished."
Shinji absorbed the reports, Thank god she's ok, "Father, do you remember that one thing I told you about?"
Gendo nodded grimly, "Yes I do however, the old men won't approve of this."
"Screw them they still need Unit-01. We hold all the cards Commander, and there's not a damn thing that they can do about it."
"True," he placed the folders back, "but still..."
"Trust me."
Gendo stared him down, "... Very well, you have my blessings."
"Thank you," he began to walk out.
"Shinji," his son turned to him, "don't sink my headquarters."
He smiled widely, "I'll try."
The elevator dinged, it opened to the Eva Cages. Shinji walked out and found the lockers. He hastily pulled his plug suit on his body with his A-10 chips, he clamped the suction buttons and raced out of the room, back to the cages.
He looked up to the observation booth, where Ritsuko and a team of bridge bunnies stood readily, "I see you got the message."
"Well when you gave me the Commander's gaze, I could only guess what you meant."
"Heh, fill up the plug when I get in."
Dodging tacticians and workers he finally found Unit-01's plug and climbed in, "How we looking Rits!"
Her comm. screen blipped next to him, "We can get you down into Terminal Dogma in 2.4 minutes, you'll just have to bear with me."
"Well, let's try to cut a few seconds off that."
He was finally there, moving Unit-01 to the salty earth below him, it's cable still attached. Pillars spiked from the white ground, he breathed deeply and increased his sync slowly.
"Rits how's it holding up."
The scientist turned her head to his chat window, "Your sync is remaining at one hundred and eighty-four point six percent, are you sure this will work?"
Shinji nodded, "If anything happens, activate the D mode."
She calmed herself, If he can't hold it then we're so~ dead, "Begin Operation Dirac!"
The pilot griped the yolks tightly, he checked the harmonics one last time, "Inverting A.T. Field, A.T. Field max power."
His shadow's darkness and circumference grew until, he began sinking. His calm and stoic features soothed the techies worries of an unstable bridge. The bridge watched as the Eva dove into the abyss. It finally sunk below the shadow, it trembled. No later than a second and something came out. A large robotic arm, with a dull red and grey paint job, it looked as if it could fit a Eva. Then more came.
A double ended spear, a scythe, and finally Shinji. In his Eva's arms were two titans. The one in his left, bore silver and red highlights, the other a sunshine yellow beast with orange touch-ups. The silver machine's skull-like head and red nose piece were intimidating. The yellow's however were more... honorable. The two pairs of visors on its head and the lower jaw gave the bio-mech a samurai look to it, the arms instead of having just its unusually thick tibia fins, also wore gauntlets.
"Ritsuko I introduce you to Evangelion Unit-04 Production-type, and Unit-07 Special Combat Environment-Type."
Ritsuko was dumbstruck, "T-That's amazing! How- "
"I'll explain later, what you need to do now is make me about... I dunno twenty or so plug suits for me to take later."
Rits nodded dumbly, he began to walk to the shafts with the two Evas in arms, "Another thing repaint the arm to green and attach it to Unit-05's left arm. It should be compatible."
She grinned wildly, Wow, were not dead!
Shinji took a quick shower and rubbed the sticky LCL off his body. He turned the handle down, he dried himself hastily, not caring for the plug suit, he threw it into a vacant locker. Shinji swiped his card through, opening the door to the rest of HQ.
He sprinted to the next trolley out, barely making it to the train. The cabin slowly rose to the uppermost levels of the Geo-Front. It finally breached the steel dome, only a few more levels until the drop off. The last leg of the trip was agonizing for Shinji, who was dealing with his persona splitting again.
The cabin dinged, allowing it's passengers from its clutches. He calmly walked away and towards his, well Misato's car. He approached the navy blue A130, he clicked the unlock button on his keys. The car chu-chinked, he pulled the handle and slid into the car.
He turned the ignition on, and placed the car into reverse, Lets pick Mizu and Rei up first. Then Asuka.
He parked in front of an apartment complex similar to his, Shinji began walking up the stairs to meet Mizu and Rei. He finally found Kensuke's home, Number 41, and tapped the buzzer.
A voice came from the other side, "Who is it?"
"It's Shinji."
"Oh ok!"
The door swung open, Hiru stood in her underwear along with a button-up shirt that didn't belong to her, "Rei and Mizu are in the living room."
He nodded, "Where's Kensuke?"
"Oh he's uh, ...tied up at the moment."
Shinji wondered, "Is that metaphorical or literal?"
"That's a secret"
Shinji sighed, "Can you bring him out please?"
"Sure, well come on your letting all the cool air out." She grabbed his arm and drug him into the housing block.
Mizu slapped her card hand down in defeat, "I should have never thought you how to play poker Rei."
Mizu groaned after Rei set her bluffed cards down, only containing a pair of duces, "Playing a game like this requires strategy, naturally the use of a 'poker face' is a highly regarded tactic."
Both paused the game when Shinji walked in. They calmly stood up from the game and walked over to him, smothering him in hugs.
"Aw~ you guys are so cute."
Shinji looked over to Kensuke, "Oh, my military otaku finally decided to show up," he teased.
"Hey! I like that kind of stuff, I can't help it!"
"Pssh, anyway we need to head out, there's a new pilot arriving at dock."
Kensuke wrapped his arm around Hiru, tugging her against his side, which she grappled, "Alright, well be safe."
Shinji walked his duet outside, Mizu gave her goodbyes and Rei even thanked Kensuke for his hospitality. Fortunately his father's shift extended for the day mysteriously. Shinji knew why, Benefits of being the son of the Commander, anything can be done.
They piled in, Shinji told them to hop in the back, they didn't argue.
Driving to the dock, Shinji filled them in on the pilot's name. Rei silently consumed the new info, he swung the car into Tokyo's docks. Waiting for them, none other than the Over the Rainbow carrier, along with the entire Pacific Fleet. In the distance Unit-02 lifted from the storage area by a crane. It heaved the titan to a land carrier that led the Geo-Front.
"So where's the famous Third Child?"
Shinji smiled from ear to ear, he turned to his left where a certain fiery pilot stood. She hadn't changed a bit, her yellow sun dress waved in the afternoon wind. Her creamy skin gleamed in the light of the sunset, along with her roux hair, that twirled in the air. If she didn't wear the A-10 connectors in it, they'd allow her hair to fly aimlessly.
"Shinji Ikari, you must be Miss Soryu," he held his hand out.
Shs smacked his hand away, which moved Rei closer a few paces, until Mizu held her back.
"That's Captain Soryu to you rookie."
He continued smiling, "Alright Captain, your baggage should arrive at Misato's home in a day or so."
She crossed her arms, "It better."
The night of Asuka's arrival, the normally docile apartment they lived in turned into their own personal hell. First, she complained about the Japanese's rooms being too small. Then she questioned why Shinji slept with two girls, Misato said that they never did anything, so she didn't care. Regardless, the proud pilot called him names like baka, and pervert, which to everyone's surprise, including Asuka, Shinji laughed at.
Mizu knew why he didn't mind but it still baffled her that he dealt with her. Rei ignored the fiery German to the best of her abilities but, every once in a while she would add her unemotional two sense.
Mari's introduction to the new pilot was, well to say the least... explosive. Almost immediately the two were at each others throats. Then Asuka started bragging about her perfect bust.
Oh Dayam~
The teal eyed pilot busted more than a few blood vessels, then the banshee screams ensued. Needless to say the first night wasn't that awesome.
During the wee hours of the morning, Shinji woke up. He looked over towards the time, 3:12, he felt Mizu move, as she woke with him.
"Oh, hey Shinji."
He ran his fingers through her hair, "Hey, I'm gonna head out early today, can you fix everyone breakfast?"
She nodded, "Wait, what about lunch?"
"Don't worry about that, I'll handle it."
The monsters were back, they took her from Mama, she felt their teeth dig into her abdominal flesh, the phantom pains coming from her, now obliterated left eye, burned. They ripped a tore away from her insides, stretching her organs into the sky. She began her mantra in pain.
I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you, I'll kill you.
She agonizingly raised her hand to the sun, continuing, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you.
The final moments came, it raced down into her hand and everything went black.
Mizu stayed up until the rest of the girls woke. Rei woke first, not feeling Shinji next to her. Mari stumbled out when her alarm went off. And Asuka still slept on the inflatable mattress she brought. Mari argued whether they should leave her be, Mizu attested to leaving her though.
Mizu quickly made a rice breakfast for everyone, then she headed out to the official girls room to wake Asuka up. Her hand slid the shoji door open quietly, she stopped when she heard something.
"...mama."
Shocked, she quickly found the source, Asuka laid in her bed, curled into a ball, shedding a few tears.
Her soul is tearing...
Mizu rubbed her shoulder, saying that it was time to eat. Asuka rose after a bit of persuasion and walked out with Mizu into the kitchen where they ate.
"Still can't believe that we don't have any lunch, baka."
Mari pinched at the base of her nose, "Chill out Asuka."
The red-headed pilot glared, "Fuck you."
Mari threw her hands up, "Whatever Princess."
Rei and Mizu trailed behind the two bickering pilots in silence. The girls finally arrived at the junior high. Walking through the gates and doors of the school, Asuka barged into class 2A-1 with Mari, Rei, and lastly Mizu. The red-head immediately sat away from the other three, who sat near the center.
Mari threw her bag into the desk next to Mizu's, "She is such a bitch."
Mizu sighed, "Well everyone has issues, I guess."
"That's true an all but it doesn't give her an excuse to act shity to everyone."
Mizu glanced behind her, towards Asuka, "Perhaps..."
In another part of the room, the class representative waited for the sensei's arrival. He was later than usual, which made her worry. But today was a strange day, the new student ignored her when she said hello, which confused her a bit. The door suddenly open, out of pure reflexes she rose from her seat.
"Rise!" the class followed her, "Bow!" they began bowing but, then stopped.
Confused, Hikari looked at the door way. Three figures stood there, two suited men with sunglasses and earpieces, the other a well-known person in the class.
"Shinji?"
He walked in casually, wearing a tight material on his legs and a large, blue hoodie, he also held a laptop underneath his arm, "Hello Miss Horaki."
"Why are there agents sitting outside our door?"
He looked back, "Oh, them? Their helpers, by the way," he turned to them, "bring the boxes in."
The agents scrambled in with the boxes in hand. They placed them next to the teacher's desk. Shinji then laid his laptop down on a vacant desk.
"Now that we're all set up, you all know me as Shinji Ikari correct?"
The few people who responded, nodded, "Well today I'm the Third Child. Pilot of Evangelion Unit-01."
A few people felt confused, except the pilots and Mizu, "Since the government passed the Japanese Freedom of Information Act, NERV is releasing top-secret information... like this classroom."
The first time in their lives the class fell to absolute silence, "Every single one of you can pilot Evangelions. Now, I don't expect many of you to accept this job without knowing the situation, so I'll explain."
To his surprise Asuka didn't interrupt his hour-long power-point on the Angels, Evas, and NERV. They may have been pretty-uped descriptions but, they got the job done. Many people remained silent, while others rose their hands.
"Yes Akiyuki?"
"How much will we get paid?"
Asuka saw her chance, "Ha! We don't its voluntary!"
With a few audible groans, Shinji replied, "As a matter of fact, Pilots Ayanami, Makinami, Soyru, and myself will be receiving wages now."
He took out a paper and read it, "Pilots will receive, along with the pilot barracks/dormitory, gym, and pool, a total of..." he read the paper slower, "twenty-five million yen a month."
The sound of a few mouths dropping left a satisfying grin on his face, even more so Asuka gaping at the new wage, then Toji stated his excitement, "Holy shit!"
The silent class now erupted with Q&A, after finishing the questions, he asked if anyone didn't want to try. Not a single hand raised.
"Well since everyone is trying, then I'll save some time in explaining a pilots best friend," he pulled his hoodie off, "the plug suit."
His bare chest hit the air, the top of the suit fell over like the top of overalls.
"Now when using a plug suit, since you guys don't have custom fits, you'll have to use the default male and female body types. Once you pull the plug suit over your legs, place the chest cavity on your own, and then clamp the back piece to the front. The suit will still slack to your body so, reach down to your wrist and activate the suction." He tapped his, conforming the material to his skin, which caused a few girls to eek.
"Same process with the girls, now that you know how," he nudged his agents, "the teams will be split into four squads consisting of," he pulled a blue stack of plug suits out, "Cerulean," then another stack of red, "Scarlet," a pile of purple ones, "Violet," and finally a stack of green, "and Emerald."
Shinji walked over to Mari with a wrapped package, "And this is for you, Makinami."
He placed the parcel on her desk, Mari took it and ripped into it, "SWEET!"
The class huddled around her, in the wrapping was a new pink plug suit that actually fit, "How'd you know?"
"Eh, I visited Rits this morning and she suggested it, so thank her. Ok now," he read off the pilot names, "Soyru will lead Scarlet squad, Ayanami will be Cerulean's, Mari will be Emerald's, and I'll be Violet's team captain."
"Any questions?"
A trolley full of junior high students traveled into the Geo-front, with their new plug suits in hand. All the students felt an unprecedented amount of excitement from this new experience they were going to experience. Shinji stood in the front with Mizu, while the other girls worked with their teams.
"Hey."
Shinji looked to her, "What is it?"
She smiled, "Thank you for getting S-2 to pick up Hiru."
Smiling, Shinji looked over towards Kensuke, who held Hiru in one arm and his purple plug suit in the other, "I thought that he'd need it."
"Well, thank you anyways."
Their carrier reached the desired local, Shinji led the group to the Evangelion Cages. The room was dark as the class of twenty or so potential pilots entered.
"And to class 2A-1, I introduce," he flipped the switch revealing the quicksilver titan, "Evangelion Unit-04 Production-Type."
The class stared in awe, Rei however, studied the mech vigorously.
Mari's ears perked up, "Wait a sec, when did we get this Unit?"
"Well that's still classified, along with the other Eva's transport."
Mari stuttered, "A-Another one?!"
Asuka spoke out with her rival, "Yea that's impossible! How can two Units appear out of nowhere?"
"Classi~fied," he chimed, "Anyways, the Evangelion you see before you has a sister Unit still in development in Nevada Branch. It's called Unit-03."
He gestured towards the door, "The next room holds a real surprise, for everyone."
They piled in again, all the Children waited in darkness, in anticipation. He flipped the lights on, in the new waves of awe, he gave a proper introduction of the yellow and orange Unit.
"This is Evangelion Unit-07, it specializes at close quarters much like Unit-02, spike launchers on the forearm fins, knee joints, and left shoulder pylon, allow for this Unit to combat swiftly and gracefully." he turned to the group, "The right pylon contains a new progressive weapon, the Prog-Sword. And once again, the blade is similar to Unit-02's box cutter knife."
"Now that we introduced the possible Units for everyone to pilot, all pilots applying for the job, will have to partake in three test," more groans, "The first is rather simple, disrobe."
Their voices joined into one, "WHAT!"
"You heard me, disrobe and equip your plug suits."
A girl named Haruka spoke out in protest, "Why the hell should we do that?!"
Shinji sighed, shaking his head, "Ok, since nobody has imagination, then allow me to help you," he tapped a button on his phone, then the klaxons activated, "we're being attacked by an angel right now. Unless you're battle ready in less than one hundred and twenty seconds, then the entire population of Tokyo-3 will be exterminated. And if that doesn't motivate you, then every five seconds you delay an estimated five thousand people will die, and I won't turn the alarms off until everyone has dressed themselves."
More groans and gripes, "Well come on you've guys already have a twenty-second delay."
They fell silent, Kensuke inwardly steeled himself, "Damnit!"
He grabbed his glasses with his teeth, ripping his shirt off. Once his shirt fell to the ground, Toji built up the courage to follow his friend, and tore his shirt away. Soon the rest followed, they would take turns being nude, the ones fully exposed hid behind a few kind souls, who shielded their bodies. Finally, all their plug suits clinged to their bodies.
"Nice work guys," This may work out well
"Now that the situation is handled," he clicked the klaxon button, "part two, sync test."
Shinji mulled over the results of the quick test, he set the clipboard down on the computers he sat on. Ritsuko still dug her head into the new data, she calculated that the average sync rate, excluding the veteran pilots, was between sixteen point three, which couldn't even move an Eva, to twenty-five point eight.
Unfortunately, the highest scoring pilots worried him. Toji scored a respectable twenty-nine point four, Kensuke received a thirty point two. And surprisingly, Hikari scored the highest, a thirty-two point seven.
Since a quarter of the class couldn't even move an Evangelion, the next test will be easier to execute.
"Ok." Shinji stood up, "Now the final test, a combat simulation."
The color clad pilots turned to him, "You will split back into your teams, around one person from each team scored a too low of a sync to pilot, so we're down to four pilots a team."
"So, team captains," he turned to the team leaders, "you will have access to the scores to choose who you will bring into the sim."
Mari, Asuka, and Rei walked over, looking at the results, they took color coördinated markers to the names. Mari chose the highest scoring pilots, along with Rei however, Asuka took a different approach. She took only one pilot, Toji.
Shinji knew exactly what she was doing, She's using a Gideon force, interesting.
Again, he led the reduced group of pilots into the sim room. Mizu, Hiru, and Rits followed suit, they finally arrived in the jerry-rigged sim area. Twenty plugs angled against the walls, half of their length rested beneath the LCL pool. Shinji made his way to the nearest purple plug, while the other teams headed towards their own.
"Alright everybody ground rules; absolutely no headshots, even with your low syncs, they will hurt and/or kill you from neural shock. Second, if you go in for close range kills, stab for quick and painless kills. Finally, and most importantly, do not intentionally harm a downed pilot unless they don't surrender, if you feel that your mental and physical safety is in danger you can bail out anytime."
The group nodded, while Asuka cursed under her breath.
The latches opened, the pilots climbed into the cockpits of the virtual war machines Shinji gave a quick brief over the comm. usage via thought, which the potential pilots picked up rather quickly.
Shinji checked his teams statistics, including Kensuke's, who, at the moment, was gagging on LCL, "Ok Rits, Violet's good to go."
Mari, wearing her new, comfy plug suit, relayed, "Emerald ready."
Rei looked over to Hikari, who held a spot on her squad, "Cerulean is fit for combat."
Asuka skimmed through the readings, only pausing to scrutinize Toji's sync, "Puterrot, bereit."
Ritsuko typed at inhuman speeds, Mizu and Hiru stood alongside her, "All systems go, VRTY-3 has completed loading, begin mission start."
Light filled Kensuke's plug, for some odd reason he couldn't see. He figured that the LCL fogged up his glasses but, when he removed them, he found that the LCL wasn't the issue but, the glasses. His vision didn't suck ass! He looked out into the virtual battlefield, he saw Unit-01's circuit meshed body and opened the team chat.
"Dude, Shin-man I can see!"
Shinji began, "Uh, Kensuke?"
"Yea?"
The team captain began to scroll through a list of weapons, "Pick your poison."
"Oh," Ken concentrated on the load out screen before him, "Shinji, what's a Sonic Glaive?"
"A big ass axe."
"Sweet, I'll take that."
Another teammate by the name of Junki asked, "Why does this stuff smell so god-awful."
Shinji, still sorting through the selection, replied, "It's blood."
"Haha, really what is it?"
Shinji looked at him, "It's blood."
"... Oh... why the hell are we breathing in blood?!"
"Because you'd have to hold a crazy ass sync to not need it." A screen appeared at the end of the plug.
'Mission Objective: Eliminate Hostile Combatants'
Asuka turned to Shinji's channel, "You ready Thrid Child?" she asked mockingly.
'Launching in.'
He saw her, "Are you?"
'Three...'
"Of course Dummkopf."
'Two...'
He smiled.
'One...'
Just like old times.
The screens blared, 'GO!'
A few minutes into the sim and Mari was already in danger. Asuka, along with Toji, blitzed Emerald squad in section B-12. Even with her new arm she wasn't able to hold back both of them, her once handy lance now hindered her. Asuka charged her, dodging the massive lance in her way, she swung her prog-knife with a back hand maneuver.
Mari felt a knife dig into the backside of her ribcage, as the plug ejected from the battle, she cursed, "That bitch knifed me in the back!"
Soon after her demise, the rest of Emerald followed, each picked off by Toji or Asuka.
He pierced an other Eva's chest plate with his Unit-03 body, "Yea! Another kill baby!"
Asuka opened a chat window to her charismatic squadmate, "Shut the hell up! This isn't a game!"
Toji argued, "I've played a lot of simulations, this is basically a game."
She stopped arguing with him, knowing that he was stupid.
In another conflict on the battle appeared, Cerulean found Violet encamped at the intersection of streets. Rei told her squadron to advance carefully, she knew with the high cover the skyscrapers provided would protect them from fire.
Hikari eased up first, she almost tiptoed on the pavement below her in Unit-04's circuit body. She loomed over a patrolling Unit with knife in hand. She whispered to herself, telling her that this was a sim and it wouldn't hurt anyone. Finally mustering up enough courage, she dropped from the building, landing on the now immobilized Eva. She quickly shoved her knife into its back.
"Good work Hikari."
The brunette turned to Rei's chat, "Thanks," she whispered, almost inaudibly.
Her celebration soon ended, when a shadow loomed over her, "Oh crap."
She looked up to a wire mesh Unit-07, it brought its fist down into her cheek. Hikari recoiled, suddenly it sat on her torso with a large war axe in hand. She grabbed the handle and held it, the pilot called for reinforcements, Rei responded quickly, saying that she was on her way.
"Hurry Rei! I can't hold on much longer!"
Unfortunately, she lost her grip, the axe cleaved into her core and broke both objects. Hikari ejected, holding her chest piece tightly.
"Ouch."
Rei raced into Hikari's last known area, she noticed the pilots readings disappear and lost her most valuable pilot. She checked on the other two Units in her squad still remaining, they were still stationed at their assigned positions. Satisfied, she continued searching the city for Charlies.
A Unit pounced her out of nowhere. She felt it pin her to a building, she quickly slammed her knee into the Eva's groin area, which effectively back the attacker up. She pulled a pistol out and fired. The first round hit the collar-bone, the second pierced the third rib and tumbled through the lungs, finally the kill shot entered the core like nothin', the pilot ejected from her sim cursing.
Kensuke noticed another casualty, "Hey Shinji, we lost Haruka."
"I see," he darted his eyes between the lines of data streaming to his cockpit, "ready for a counter-attack."
Kensuke nodded, he opened his right shoulder fin, he unsheathed his sword. From the handle, the blade extended until it reached its full length.
"Ready."
Shinji acknowledged, "We're moving out."
Asuka, with Toji, barged into the city haphazardly after Asuka demolished the remaining enemies in Cerulean. Toji dashed into cover behind building, he waved two hands to advance. Asuka followed, she slammed her shoulder into another one and copied her teammates gesture.
Toji moved forward, coincidently he smashed against another Eva, Oh damn.
He tumbled backwards, falling on his rear. He quickly picked himself up, and saw the cyclopean Unit.
"It just had to be Rei didn't it?"
Rei readied her knife until she heard something approaching her. She turned to Units-01 and 07 closing in. She back pedaled into waist-high cover, and unholstered her pistol.
"Kensuke! We're walking into a shitstorm get ready."
He turned to Shinji, "Roger!" his knee joints, tibia fins, and shoulder pylon hissed, prepping the spikes.
"Don't worry about Asuka and Rei I'll handle them, just take Toji out as fast as you can."
"Ok!"
Kensuke heaved his yolks forward, Unit-07 ran clumsily forward. Shinji raced towards Rei first, ignoring Asuka as she charged him. Rei saw his advancement, she flipped the safety off, with the pull of a trigger, she fired. The round left the barrel with deadly precision, it raced towards his core. He didn't sway, the bullet reached a few meters from his Eva's skin, when it finally splintered against his octagonal shield.
He diminished the space between the two, his pylon opened. Shinji reached the sheathed blade with his right hand, savagely ripping it from the shoulder fin. He jumped over the buildings blocking his attack. In one graceful move he landed on Unit-00 and placed the blade over the core. Rei tried fighting back, she pointed her hand cannon against his core but she was too late. Shinji saw her move, with quick reflexes, he carved the vibrating blade into the smooth glassy surface.
He tuned his channel to her own, "Sorry Rei."
She ejected from the sim, faintly smiling, "It is ok Shinji."
Back in VRTY-3, Kensuke faced off with Toji. The ebony haired jock distanced himself from Ken, who had a distinct CQB advantage over him. The two paced in circles around each other.
Toji smiled, "Heh, come on Ken whatcha got?"
Kensuke continued paring, "Oh I have a lot Toji," he beckoned him with two fingers.
Both broke the stand-off, Kensuke charged forward with his blade reversed into a defensive stance. Toji pulled his prog-knife out to met his blade, the two sparked on contact. Toji's blade sunk through the Kensuke's halfway through. They locked hands, that's when Toji realized his mistake.
SHIT, the knee joints!
Just as his found his flaw, Kensuke rammed his knee into Toji's chest. Then a click, followed by excruciating pain coming from his chest. The red clad pilot didn't have much time, then he noticed Kensuke's mishap too. He reactivated his knife a cut through the other, straight into his core.
Both ejected, Kensuke looked over the catwalk to Toji, and gave him a thumbs up, while they walked to the other pilots.
The streets below were quiet, too quiet. Shinji calmly maneuvered through the buildings and complexes, he heard a ding, turning to the source, he saw nothing.
He continued moving forward, "Gotcha!"
He looked up, the transparent Unit-02 appeared above him. Asuka jumped down, her blade ready.
"Not so fast," he raised his hand, the momentum from her fall caused her Eva to crash in a bone shattering impact against his A.T. Field.
She felt like her legs were on fire, she clutched her VR Evangelion's shattered knees, "Verdammt!"
He saw her injuries and set her down gently with the A.T Field, "You can eject if it hurts too much."
She seethed, "Niemals!"
She crawled on the ground, using her knife as leverage her dragged herself on the ground. She was so close to her objective, it was killing her. Asuka reached forward one more time, her blade sunk into the electronic grid.
Shinji watched as she crawled forward, she finally grabbed his foot. He could tell she exhausted herself, as he bent down, she slowly raised her blade to him, he tenderly plucked the blade from her grasp. He sat on the ground and hauled her into his lap. He held her back with his right arm, using his hand to support her head. He took the blade in his left and hovered over the core.
He paused, then sank the blade into her chest. She watched helplessly as the simulated vitals fell. And then she remembered her ace in the hole.
Her pylon flipped open, revealing her second blade. With all the mental strength she had left, Asuka grabbed the blade from her fin and sunk the blade into Shinji. He felt it.
His breathing became hard, the clear, ionized LCL began to turn red. He looked down below his ribcage where a three-inch incision cut through his skin, he knew it went deeper. He clutched his chest in pain, he felt the angel blood enter his body, slowing the bleed out temporarily. Then he heard them and smiled.
The first stigmata has been marked.
"Ha! I win!" Asuka leapt from her plug, she looked across the LCL pool, "Come on Third. It wasn't that bad, you did get beat by the best."
She continued mocking him, until Mizu and the class came running down towards the plug. Mizu was crying, Mari was distraught, Rei was visibly shaking. Ritsuko raced to the plug, along with a medical team in pursuit.
"Hey guys I won!"
Toji turned to her in disgust, "Who cares! Shinji's hurt!"
She watched in horror as they pulled him out, his white chest plate, stained red. His eyes glazed, he weakly stared across the pool, right into her eyes. He smiled, his teeth bloody, his strength only allowed one word to leave his mouth.
"Sorry..."
END OF CHAPTER 8 SCARLET STRIKE! TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR [Chapter 9 Psalm 62:1 & 77:18]
