Chapter 8: Long Night of Solace
/Whatever the Cost
2300 Hours, April 25, 2575
Sol System, Earth District 11, Tokyo-3
Misato Katsuragi massaged the side of her temple in an attempt to alleviate the pressure that had slowly begun to build in the past hour. According to the live data-relay, displayed as a holographic representation of the GeoFront's armored shutter levels, the Angel had already breached through the first three armored layers. The Command staff were gathered around it.
"Sit-rep?" she asked, annoyance masking her weariness. Her eyes shot to the other side of the table where Ritsuko and the Command Platform's crew stood.
Maya briefly consulted her COM pad, a new image of the Angel appearing. "Based on what we've seen and from examining the extensive damage inflicted on Unit-02, the needle weapons seem to be filled with the same acidic substance the Angel first used against the Second Child. The 'blast' is simply the hard outer shell of the needle point making contact with another hard surface – not unlike the Guided Munitions Launcher favored by the Old Covenant."
Ritsuko reached out, highlighting the petal-like folds of flesh. "It also seems that the Angel is capable of regenerating these rather rapidly. While the Evangelions can readily withstand several barrages – it nearly cost us a Unit and its pilot."
She flipped the image to reveal its underbelly, along with city-cam feeds of the earlier battle. "The acid itself, however, is another story – capable of melting through an Eva's 213 centimeters of Titanium-A3 plating with ease. We're doing what we can to patch up Unit-02 and make it combat-ready again, but the integrity of the armor around its midsection will be weak until we can conduct more thorough repairs to the organic components. If Unit-02 had been hit in a more vital location or been under the acid pour a few seconds longer, it would have put the Eva and its pilot out of commission for some time. We should have our pilots avoid contact with it at all costs."
Misato nodded to the image. "What about those arms it grew?"
It was Hyuga that answered her next, "The three Angels we've encountered so far have shown an incredible degree of adaptability to new threats and environments. This was a remarkable response to the Eva's superior close-quarter capabilities. As seen immediately after the encounter with Unit-02, it successfully discarded and regenerated the damaged left appendage, before breaking Unit-00's right arm and heavily damaging the neck and upper torso."
"However," Ritsuko supplied, "we have noticed the Angel has shrunk from its original size, suggesting that it may only regenerate the tissue it has available, assumedly sacrificing structural integrity."
"Okay," Misato sighed, leaning back and folding her arms, "so it's incredibly effective at long range and highly adaptable at close range – enough to contend with three Evangelion units..."
CQC wasn't completely out of the question, but the fact that the Angels could apparently alter their forms at-will didn't help in the slightest. Dammit. First Shinji, now Asuka – how could she be expected to defeat the invaders if no one followed her orders? Misato huffed, finding her long hair all too annoying and electing to tie it up in a tail. Now wasn't the time to punish or reprimand the girl – they still had an Angel to kill.
"Magi, what's its current status?" she asked.
The Magi stood on the platform nearby. "At the moment, it's using the very same acidic component that damaged Unit-02 to melt through the Tokyo-3 Null Zone. I estimate it will breach the GeoFront in approximately 7.5 hours."
Aoba patched in an overhead view of the small hole at the center of Tokyo-3. Strange, pulsing organic growths had begun to attach to the walls of the tunnel the Angel was burning, like some sort of grotesque spider's web. "We've already tried aerial strikes and tactical bombardment. Its A.T. Field is simply too strong for conventional means."
"Of course," Misato almost scoffed, fingers tapping furiously on the holo-table. "We still have two Evas in mostly optimal condition. If all of them attacked it at once from above – it doesn't seem like it would be able to use those spikes without injuring itself."
The Master Chief stepped forward. "Once down there – they'd have no immediate fall-back route, and if we needed to eject the plugs at any point, there's no guarantee they would make it out of the tunnel."
Misato looked to the tall figure who stood off to the the side, the glow of the surrounding terminals barely lighting up his face. The Chief had been largely silent throughout the entire ordeal, giving little in the way of advice despite being a tactical adviser. But he did have a point.
"I have to agree," Ritsuko said, "I feel melee should be avoided if possible, considering its adaptability. If we can destroy it at range, we should. That would also minimize damage to the Evas."
Misato raised an eyebrow, unsure if the woman was advocating it because she thought it was the most logical, or if she wanted to spare her precious Evas from any further damage.
Hyuga, arms folded with a fist under his chin, stared down into the hologram. "The biggest issue is with its primary offense. If we had a decent shield to absorb most of the damage, a ranged attack might work. But we'd still have to get close enough to neutralize its A.T. Field since none of our weapons can pierce one on their own."
Aoba shrugged. "We don't need a shield – we just need to distract it from whatever we hit it with."
"What about our positron rifles?" John asked.
Maya shook her head. "We tried it earlier, before the briefing in fact. One: not enough power to draw from and two: low energy output to begin with. The volleys just dispersed across the A.T. Field."
"Might I suggest this?" Magi said, the other holograms falling away to make room for what looked like ship schematics.
"Sarissa? The Brusilov's particle cannon?" Misato asked, looking to Ritsuko.
The UNSC had not begun clean-up protocols, and were still recovering survivors from the wreckage. Even if they did attempt to exert a lock-down over the area, at the moment NERV had the authority to seize and requisition any weapons or materials they deemed necessary to destroy the Angel.
"I think it may be the most promising option at this point, if it's in anywhere near functioning condition. Our own positron rifles just don't come anywhere close."
"Do you think it's salvageable?" Misato asked.
"Possibly... most of the smaller and arguably more vital components are probably beyond repair. I'd need to know what kind of condition it's in before I can guess on a time-frame to make it operational again, if at all." Ritsuko said.
"Alright. The Angel's attack route?" Misato looked to Aoba.
Aoba tapped a few keys, several branching lines zig-zagging down towards the GeoFront, one in specific highlighted red. "The Magi's projections show that the Angel will breach just above Headquarter's lakefront. This will at least minimize the damage to our surrounding facilities."
Ritsuko nodded. "If we're going to dedicate resources towards this – I would recommend modifying the cannon to produce a sustained beam, as opposed to the pulse-firing the UNSC has utilized. If we could manage to neutralize its A.T. Field and then take a shot – it should be more than enough to disintegrate the core, which should be optimally exposed when the Angel breaches the GeoFront."
Misato sighed – too many shoulds were entering the conversation. She needed certainty, solid facts. But she supposed that was too much to hope for when dealing with the Angels.
"Alright," she snapped, dispelling her doubts, "from this point on, we'll begin Operation Goliath. Let's get to work."
Roughly three hours later they had managed to air-lift in the components from the Brusilov. Misato had also sent a formal request to HIGHCOM Alpha-4 for the operational test data on the cannon. She was told it would be transferred shortly, but she swore to whatever God was out there, some heads would be rolling if they sent her redacted files.
"What am I looking at here, Ritsuko, and what do you need?" she asked, gazing up at the hulking mass of machinery. Some parts of the ship had to be cut away to bring in the pieces, since the weapon had been grafted into the ship's super-structure. Hell, taking it apart had consumed far too much time on their schedule as it was, leaving them only four hours to get it operational. Thankfully, they had the Huragok – who were not normally seen outside of the Evangelion Cages – working on it too. Their bulbous, glowing figures floated over the length of the ship-sized weapon, adjusting and rearranging things in blurs of motion.
"Well, a power source, first and foremost," Ritsuko answered, a comlink snagged in one ear while she typed rapidly across her PDA's screen, "this cannon ran off of the Brusilov's Deuterium fusion reactor. It won't be too difficult a task to link it with one of our secondary reactors here in Hakone."
"What about... everything else?" Misato asked, waving at the mess of machinery and equipment before her. Almost the entirety of their Engineering and Maintenance Departments had been summoned to the GeoFront to get the thing together. Everyone else was administering repairs to the Evas to make them combat ready again.
"Thankfully, the cannon's particle accelerators were still intact, however some internal components vital for routing and tracking energy were fried. We'll have to scrounge up materials from NERV-3 and dismantle the two positron rifles here at Headquarters to replace some of the hardware. There are some other problems too," Ritsuko paused and Misato suppressed a groan, "being a Neutral Particle Beam, Sarissa was designed with exoatmospheric combat in mind. It can still fire in atmosphere, the fact that it isn't subject to manipulation by electromagnetic fields is a significant advantage, but it will have a limited range. Having to pass through all of the natural gases in the air will cause much quicker beam degradation."
"That didn't seem to be an issue when the Brusilov fired it."
"That's because Sarissa uses a pulse-firing system. Which reminds me: the biggest issue we're going to have is with the blooming effect."
Misato frowned, "Explain."
"It occurs when the particles repel one another, spreading energy elsewhere as opposed to the target – it can be as harmless as the energy dispersing or as detrimental as the energy releasing before it can be focused." she paused to gesture up at the thing, "this beam utilizes a short pulse that finishes before blooming interference can occur. But, as we've seen, a pulse is not going to be enough to destroy the Angel. The only way to circumvent this within our current time-frame would be mocking up a phase conjugation mirror."
Misato didn't even want to ask what that was supposed to mean. "That'll stop the blooming?"
"Yes, after that, our only concerns will be cryogenic operations and thermal management."
"Good," she said, turning to Maya standing a little behind her, "how's Unit-02?"
"Thankfully, most of the damage to the Eva's body was only on the first few skin layers. The armor is ruined, but we have enough in spare parts to patch it up."
Misato nodded, turning back to the Cannon. She didn't need to know about 01 or 00, while the latter's broken arm was troublesome, she had been assured it would be repaired by the time of the operation. Internal integrity would be weak though, since the Eva's organic body would not have enough time for the replicated bone to settle. Her eyes cast up to the GeoFront ceiling, miles and miles above. The lights of the suspended housing blocks made it look like the night sky.
Misato turned to Aoba. "When the Angel comes close to breaking through, I want all of the residential buildings back topside."
"Understood, and the beam platform?"
"Set it up on the other side of the lake."
Aoba nodded and turned to start directing the tech crews who had just surfaced through one of NERV's many access tunnels.
"Captain?" Misato turned, spotting the N-Sec officer that had called her, "Commander's on the com for you, ma'am!"
"Take care of the rest, please," she said to Ritsuko, who was already walking off towards the waiting transports. Misato marched into the observation facility-turned-command-post, bustling with people and murmurs of voices. She stepped through the CIC to the tactical holo-table and the large screen across from it, upon which were the words CDR Ikari: SOUND ONLY. Mendez and the Chief were already waiting nearby.
"Sir," Misato said once she was in range, "I apologize for the delay in contacting you, but we're on a tight schedule," she said, nerves jumping in her throat.
"No, this is why you were left in command in my absence. One-one-seven has already updated me on the use of the experimental particle cannon. Can it be made operational in time?"
Even though the Commander couldn't see them, she fought to keep from glancing at the Chief, and stood a little straighter. "Doctor Akagi has assured me it can be accomplished, if only for one firing. It is my belief that will be more than enough for our Evas to deliver the killing blow."
"I see... if it is not made operational?"
"Then we fall back to plan B. The Evas will deploy inside the GeoFront and sortie against the target."
"Very well, Captain. Inform me when the Angel has been dealt with," he said and the signal was terminated. Misato's shoulders sagged a little as a sigh passed through her nose. All at once the command post seemed confined and packed. It was like a pressure on her ribs and she needed to be elsewhere. So Misato stepped out into the relatively fresh GeoFront air, almost wishing she had a cigarette.
The Master Chief followed her out, having little to do until she started getting down to business and organizing the rest of the operation.
"Not too bad, all things considered." Misato sighed, resting her hands on her hips as they watched NERV's collective scurry about.
"We'll see," John said.
Misato studied him, the so called Hero of Earth. "You don't have faith in them, do you?"
The Master Chief's answer was evident in his silence and her temper flared. She should have expected this sort of behavior from the man by now, though. The Children's abilities to pilot and fight in the Evas, when she took a step back and considered everything, was nothing short of incredible. Even as she entertained that line of thought, however, she felt a bit of doubt begin to ache in her stomach.
She did have faith in them. They could defeat the Angels. She just... couldn't trust them. The realization startled her a bit, soon giving way to no small amount of guilt. That made it no less true. They didn't follow her orders and they stumbled over tactical operation. If the last few battles had taught her anything, it was that a dozen things could go wrong, no matter how thoroughly she planned it. If she was out there on the battlefield fighting with them, things would be different.
But she couldn't. She had to settle for standing in the Command Center, hoping that the Evas strength and the pilots wills could prevail.
Without realizing it, Misato's hand had come up to fiddle with the cross hanging from her neck. A severe sense of loss wormed its way into her heart as she contemplated it, heavy and intoxicating in its embrace.
She had to have hope.
She had nothing else.
The crane squealed as the engine kicked it into motion, sliding a fresh red armor plate to cover up the fragile beige flesh beneath.
"I suppose even our best is no match for the Angels." Proto said, idling on the holo-pedastal beside Rei, where she stood along one of the maintenance walkways. He was right, Unit-02's combat simulation statistics and synchronization ratios were the best out of the three of them. Rei would have spent her time honing her own skills in the simulators, but the Commander deemed her time necessary elsewhere.
"Proto..." she said, a curious thought fluttering across her mind, "can you tell me what an Angel is?"
It was something that had always puzzled her, but never more so now that they were fighting them. It had been irrelevant to consider it at the time. She'd went to school, of course, and should have known something of cultural and religious beliefs on them – but had never done the homework or paid much heed to the lessons. It seemed trivial by comparison to her tasks at NERV.
Proto's cloaked shoulders shifted. "According to human belief, Angels are beautiful and benevolent beings that serve as messengers from Heaven. In some of the texts, Watchers are fallen Angels."
"Why did we name those that seek to destroy us after them?" she asked.
"According to the mythos, the arrival of the Angels heralds the end of man..." he trailed off a bit, leaving the implications for her to consider.
These Angels then were messengers of evil? The thought resonated with her, but at the same time felt inherently wrong. It was not because they were alien – as many people hated the Old Covenant races for the atrocities committed during the Great War. The aliens that hunted humanity now were mysterious in purpose and intent. If they were messengers, as their name suggested, what was the message? Who sent them to deliver it?
Was destruction truly all they came to offer?
Normally Rei did not waste time with such idle speculation and, in the end, useless contemplation. But this line of thinking had woken her in the night. Filled her legs with a restless desire to be elsewhere and haunted the blackness of her dreams. At times she felt she knew the answer, as though it were on the edge of her thoughts – as though all she had to do was reach out and grasp it. But it always escaped her, like trying to grab at the early morning mists.
"Human ingenuity," Proto said abruptly, "call it vain if you wish, or hypocritical even, but is it not an incredible feat of your kind's intelligence to utilize their very destroyers to survive?"
"My kind?" Rei asked, genuinely puzzled.
"You are human," Proto said, giving her a look that suggested she should have been able to come to that conclusion on her own, "whatever else you may be, that facet is irrefutable."
Rei considered his words but was not sure she agreed. Her hesitation suggested as much and Proto shrugged, turning his head to look at the Eva again. She had never felt a kinship with others. Such bonds outside of Eva were useless and unnecessary. It was not her purpose to share this supposedly innate sense of community and camaraderie. She was meant for other things; other purposes. What did ingratiating herself with others serve to do, for that matter?
"Have you spoken with her yet?" Proto asked, nodding to the monolithic war machine.
Rei considered the red giant, head quirking slightly as she peered into its green eyes. "She requested my friendship, but as the Commander did not order it, I did not think it necessary."
"Child..." Proto sighed, sounding exasperated, "is being alone what you wish?"
"I am not alone."
They fell into silence at that. Rei had not meant for her voice to sound hard, but it was not an untrue statement. Proto had always fretted over her relationships with others, but she did not need them. She had him and the Commander.
"I will not be here forever," he finally said, looking up at her, "nor will the Commander. Someday, you will have to be without."
"My purpose does not reach beyond what he intends."
She sensed he had more to say, as he remained quiet, but contemplative. Truthfully, she did not want to discuss the topic any further – and she did not have to say it either, Proto knew her well.
"Very well." he said, a hint of resignation in his voice. She felt a slight pang of something in her chest, but decided to ignore it. At times he was an enforcer of reality, and at others, hopelessly optimistic. He envisioned some other life that she was not meant to live. Perhaps that was one of the things that made him endearing to her.
Rei continued to watch the reassembly of Unit-02 for a while longer.
Heartbeat.
The world was bright and shapeless, making it hard for her eyes to stay open. Breathing came slow, but was gradually accompanied by sound – and a profound sense of self, of being. It spread through her chest and down her limbs in tingling flutters of nerve.
She was met with the ceiling above, white and pure and clean. A heaviness pushed down on her stomach like a sickness. Blinking, several times, her mind recalled the moments that had brought her here, struggling to put the black splotches of memory into some sort of context.
Unit-02, searing pain and blue fire. A flurry of light bristling with the cracks and screeches of battle.
Asuka sat up in the hospital bed, drawing her knees up and feeling the sheets sliding softly across the bare skin of her legs. Everything smelled like cleaning chemicals – and the air was so chilled it seemed to freeze her nostrils with every intake. The room was a private one; the walls the same sterile and bland white, broken only by the green and blue machinery placed about in an ordered manner. Despite the clicks and whirls from the status monitors, her ears started to ring with white noise – as though she were in another world and another place.
Another time.
"Good work."
She felt her innards twist, her chest seizing sharply. Her features creased into a scowl and her hands gripped tightly to the sheets around her ankles. She tore at the monitoring cables latched to her body, throwing them disdainfully to the floor below. She stopped at the slim needles sitting just under the skin of her right arm, filling her veins with ice.
How had she ended up here? She had swore to herself she would never end up in a hospital again. She leaned forward, folding her arms around her knees and staring at the wall across from her bed.
Kyuzo flared to life nearby, appearing to sit on the edge of a table to her left. He didn't say anything for a while. Asuka didn't acknowledge his presence, continuing to glare straight ahead. The Warkaster let the time slip away to the low hum of the machines, patient.
"Unit-02 is ready when you are," he said eventually, feeling that her quiet rage had subsided enough. There was no pity in his voice. No superficial concern. Kyuzo had always been like that – because he understood. The A.I. had been her companion since she was nine and the day of their first meeting came vividly, though the smile couldn't seem to reach her lips.
Asuka unbent her knees and sat with them crossed, hands running over her bangs and through her long hair.
She wouldn't lose this time.
"Well, it isn't pretty, but it'll do the job," Ritsuko said, passing Misato the data-pad with all of the specifications. She gave it a cursory reading before deciding it was over her head. She had to agree with her friend, though: the thing was just ugly. The barrel itself was about two-thousand feet in length, scorching from the damage it had sustained on the Brusilov still evident in many areas. It made the slapped on parts from the positron rifles seem even more out of place. As if someone had taken a UNSC sniper rifle and mashed on a bunch of Forerunner parts and called it a day.
It didn't need to look good to kill an Angel. So long as it functioned properly, she could care less.
Ritsuko began walking along it, the weapon looming a good hundred feet over their heads, towards the 'stock'. "Now, because of the size of the weapon and the limited amount of time to prepare a proper cooling system, the Magi's calculations in best-case-scenarios show we will only be able to sustain a beam for approximately 11.83 seconds."
Misato scoffed, "Only."
"The problem isn't how long we can sustain the beam, but how long it'll take to fire another shot. There's also the matter of the frame – ours won't be able to hold everything together for more than three shots, at most."
Misato grimaced. "How long inbetween firing?"
"We've managed to cut it down to 90 seconds," Ritsuko said, decidedly pleased.
It sounded quick, but the course of a battle could change in a moments notice; it was a bigger limitation than she'd hoped to have. "So we have to make the first shot count," she said, already wondering which of the pilots she would have fire it. At the bulkier end of the cannon, a massive array of concrete and steel had been constructed to brace the Eva against the force of the recoil.
"No pressure."
The padded seats of the briefing room were comfortable – and Shinji briefly entertained the idea of taking a nap, the heavy weight on his eyes doing little to dissuade him. Rei was sitting on the row below him, looking remarkably awake. Or, rather, she didn't look tired. She just looked like she always did, he supposed.
Both Misato and Scarlet had insisted he try and take a nap a few hours ago before they had moved the Evas. "You'll know if the Angel attacks," Misato had said. But he hadn't gotten any sleep. There was just too much going on for his bristling nerves to rest. Now he was paying the price for it, as sleep began to tug at his eyes every so often.
Scarlet was still off in one of the external networks, overseeing whatever preparations were being made with Unit-01. Asuka was still in the hospital, as far as he knew. Would she be able to fight the Angel with them? They hadn't told him how bad it was, but she had been rushed to the emergency ward – the very same place he had stayed after his first battle.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Asuka entered the briefing room, clad in her crimson plugsuit and appearing uninjured.
"A-Asuka," he blurted, but stopped at the look she sent his way. What was she mad at him for this time?
"I'm... I'm glad you're okay." he ventured when she didn't say anything.
"Save it, Third."
He winced. "I'm sorry."
Anger flashed across her face as she collapsed into a seat. "Just shut up," she spat, crossing her arms and doing her best to pretend he wasn't there.
Fine.
The door at the left of the room parted with a sharp hiss, and Misato came marching in – followed by several command staff Shinji recognized. They took up seats on the second or first tier. Doctor Akagi took up a place near Misato and the Master Chief was the last to enter. Shinji jumped when he saw him, though the man seemed not to notice him at first, taking up residence in the corner next to the door.
Shinji cast his gaze elsewhere as the soldier's eyes found him.
The screen behind Misato lit up. "Since I'm assuming Kyuzo brought you up to speed, Asuka, we'll get started with the briefing for Operation Goliath."
"With the Angel breaching through the 19th armored layer, it will be reaching the GeoFront in roughly one hour. In that time, Ritsuko has rigged the Brusilov's Particle Cannon to fire a continuous beam – one strong enough to penetrate the Angel's A.T. Field and destroy its core. Any questions?"
Misato looked pointedly at each of the pilots. "Good. The gunner position will be taken by Unit-02. Unit-01 will be dropping into the entry-shaft to neutralize its A.T. Field – if we time this right, you won't have to engage it for long."
"I'm not taking the gunner position," Asuka said, "send me to neutralize its A.T. Field."
Misato shook her head. "Ritsuko says Unit-02's armor integrity isn't in optimal condition, the Eva might not survive the encounter."
Asuka scowled. "So in other words, you think I'm going to lose again."
Misato's expression hardened. "You lost because you disobeyed my orders and launched preemptively. If you think I'm going to forget about that–"
"Third can barely make his Eva move without tripping over himself! I'm the best combat pilot you have – I can neutralize its A.T. Field."
Misato considered her for a long moment, holding her with hard brown eyes. Asuka stood her ground, staring with just as much stalwart ferocity. Shinji's chest began to swell at the almost palpable tension twisting and writhing between the two, and he tried to disappear into the cushion of his seat.
While her stance was vexed, Misato's voice was even and collected as she said. "You're right Asuka. We need a clam and level-headed operator for the cannon. You'll take the A.T. Field position, Shinji will fire the cannon."
Shinji risked an apologetic look towards Asuka, but was only met with a glare.
"That leaves you, Rei," Misato said, attempting to adopt a more chipper tone, "you'll be on standby near the cannon, in case Unit-02 or 01 need backup."
The girl nodded. "Understood."
"The rest of you are up to speed – get to your posts. Pilots; standby with your Evas and await further instructions."
Everyone stood, though Asuka was the first out. Shinji was on his feet, trying to remember the way out of the temporary command station to reach his Eva again.
"Shinji," he jumped, turning to Misato. The look on her face was unreadable, but there was a flutter of something in her eyes, something unfamiliar. She stared at him, and he waited for her to give orders, or perhaps tell him he had done badly in the battle. Eyes finding some place else to look, he wondered what he had done.
Misato sighed, a grimace touching her lips. Not a moment after, her shoulders stiffened, as if she had reached some resolution. "I just wanted to say: good luck," a hand almost reached out to touch him, but then withdrew as she moved past him and left the briefing room.
He made a bit of a face, unsure if he was gladdened or... disappointed. Was she his Commander, or his Guardian? There was never a definitive line with Misato. At home she was one person and at NERV she was another – and he understood neither of them.
Stepping out of the briefing room, Shinji made his way out of the secondary observation post. All at once the daunting realization came to him, and he nearly felt the same panic as when he first deployed earlier in the day. His heart raced, and his feet were rooted in place. At least he wasn't on the ground shaking and muttering incoherently.
But soon he would be manning the cannon.
He would have to kill the Angel.
What would happen if he missed? What if something went wrong with the cannon? What if it didn't work?
A figure in the corner of his eye pulled him out of his daze, drawing his head up. The Master Chief stood upon an upper deck of the observation platform, his gaze set firmly upon him.
Cold eyes. Piercing blues that always made him feel so small.
Shinji wanted to look away, but all in the same moment he was waiting for the Spartan to say something. To admonish, to command – to yell. But when it became clear that neither of them had anything to say, John turned back to the view of the Evas looming high over the tree tops in the distance.
Released, Shinji climbed down the command platform, a technician from the briefing room waiting for him. Hyuga? He thought, remembering the face, at least. The man offered him a slight smile. "I've hitched us a ride to Unit-01," he said, nodding to the waiting armored warthog nearby.
The ride was short, but surprisingly bumpy, no thanks to the rather careless driving from the tactical-glasses wearing security officer. Arriving alongside the boarding platform parked next to the Evangelion, Hyuga delivered an unexpected slap to his back. "Give 'em hell, bud."
Shinji was not sure how to respond to that, so he hopped out of the warthog and made for the Evangelion.
Toji shifted and crossed his legs, bouncing his knees. If not for the amount of people crowding their shelter, he might be up pacing.
"Anything?" he asked, glancing at the other occupants.
"Nope," Kensuke said, a little louder than necessary. Toji grimaced and took the hint. They'd been sitting down in the shelters for hours and NERV had essentially left them blind, deaf and dumb as to what was going on. The only thing they knew for sure was that it was an Angel attack – otherwise they wouldn't be in the shelters.
"It must be bad this time." Kensuke muttered, making sure no one overheard.
Toji fixed him with a hard look. "What makes you say that?"
Kensuke stowed away his PMP. "They've had the shelters on emergency lockdown for eight hows now."
Toji sat back a little. He was sure everyone else was wondering the same thing. For all they knew Tokyo-3 was gone and the world was already ending. They would come out days later to find everything had been reduced to a barren wasteland and would have to survive in the ruins of civilization.
"I'm sure the captains would know if something happened," he said.
Kensuke cocked an eyebrow. "Would they? All the radios do is tell them when it's all clear. What if the Evas–"
"He won't lose." Toji said, temper flaring.
"How do you know he hasn't already?"
Neither one spoke after that, sitting in the murmur of quiet conversation, waiting for the message from above.
The air inside the GeoFront was crisp and clean, cooling Shinji's lungs with every breath he took. His legs dangled off of the platform he had decided to rest upon, for the time being. Looming high over the pines was Evangelion Unit-01, locked in a kneel as mechanics made final preparations. In front of it sat a large apparatus to support the massive cannon that was currently being mounted by several industrial cranes. Beyond the scaffolding was Unit-00.
Scarlet had transferred temporarily into the local networks to oversee the preparations being made for Unit-01.
So, for the time being, he was by himself, waiting for everything to happen. Well, not really by himself.
For perhaps the seventh time, Shinji glanced to his right where Rei sat several feet away upon the supply platform with him – elevated above ground from the depths of NERV HQ. One leg dangled off of the edge, while the other she held close to her chest. Even in her plugsuit, the girl managed to look tiny and frail. She looked nothing like Asuka; a proud fighter in her plugsuit. That was not to say Rei was not pretty, just in a different way, he supposed. That, and she was quiet, another way she and Asuka were wildly different.
He could honestly say he appreciated that part of Rei. While he knew little of the girl, and she made him feel tremendously out of place – it was because she was so... well, just so quiet.
With Asuka... every moment with the redhead was taxing. She was just such... well, she was a real bitch. He immediately felt ashamed for thinking such a thing while his fellow pilot had nearly been killed. She was just... hard to deal with. Every moment she was around she found something to rail on him about, but despite how much she seemed to hate him, she just wouldn't leave him alone. And now she was just mad at him and he didn't even know why.
Then with Rei... well, it was... different. Not humiliatingly so, like when he didn't know how to keep a conversation going. She just, didn't really responded to much of anything.
Realizing he was staring, Shinji glanced away to the ground below, kicking his leg against the side of the platform. He looked to her again, swallowing down his throttling doubts.
"Rei?" he asked quietly, glad he didn't stutter.
"Yes, Pilot Ikari?" she asked, continuing to stare over the tree tops.
He hesitated, hoping he was not crossing a line with her. "Why... do you keep piloting?"
Shinji had heard about the stories by now. How she had been horrifically injured during her first activation test. Then they had made her try again against the Third Angel, barely healed from her last ordeal. They sent her out in Unit-00 the same night he had been made to pilot. Then against the Watcher, she had tried to fight in Unit-01, only to be beaten again.
To be put in the hospital... again.
Why would she do that? Why would she keep putting herself through that kind of pain?
"Because I have nothing else," she said, as if answering his inner thoughts too.
"What do you mean?"
"It is a bond..." the girl said, trailing off as she seemed to struggle for the right words. "Without Eva... I have no purpose."
No purpose? He wondered. She didn't have family or anyone? His father seemed to care for her... maybe not as much as he had originally thought. It shouldn't have surprised him.
"I wish I could be that strong," he said quietly, shrinking a little.
"Desiring it and attaining it are not one and the same."
"Huh?"
"Come," she said, standing and casting her gaze towards the GeoFront ceiling, "it is almost time."
Shinji watched her climb down and walk purposefully towards her Eva. When she began ascending the mobile Insertion Engine, Shinji climbed down from the platform too. Crunching through the pine needles, he climbing up the steps to his Eva. The entry plug was clasped firmly by the Engine and he reached a hand to the holo-pedestal next to it – but caught himself.
"Uh, Scarlet? Are you ready?"
"Yank me," she ordered, and Shinji quickly complied. Freeing it from the pedestal, he clicked the data-crystal into the slot at his wrist and Scarlet instantly appeared.
"Are you ready?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"N-not, really," he said with a grimace, "I mean... I just... have to be, I guess."
Scarlet offered him an endearing look, a slight smile coming to her pale lips. "Truer words are rarely spoken – but at least with more bravado. Something to work on, I suppose," she said, holding him with that look. It made him fidget a little, but after several glances elsewhere, he gave her a wan smile. While the prospect of jumping down a huge shaft towards an alien monster was terrifying, being saddled with the responsibility of killing it was no less imposing.
His heartbeat was all too present again, as though it had grown three times in size and was too large for its bodily constraints. It soon swelled with a burning resentment as he continued to stare at the open plug.
It was like a coffin.
"Calm yourself," Scarlet cooed, "I'll be right with you."
Shinji's vision focused again and the air seemed cooler in his lungs. I mustn't run away.
So he climbed inside, the hatch sliding shut as he settled in the command chair. The chamber flooded, accompanied by the familiar start-up procedures and checklists. He still didn't really understand the technical jargon, but he had a bit of an inkling. Especially after Scarlet had made him study the Eva's functionality more thoroughly.
The neural apparatus came online, and that light fluttering pressure washed over his mind and sent shivers down his spine – the entry plug's motor humming softly in the backdrop.
The idea of being inside the Eva was still alien and foreboding, but at least he wasn't alone. Truthfully, he never really felt alone inside the Eva – he always felt it within him whenever he connected to the machine. But it was intangible, like the feeling of nostalgia from a forgotten dream. Scarlet had a shape and a voice, something more familiar.
As the Eva completed its start-up, Shinji was given the go ahead to get into position. He carefully maneuvered alongside the mounted cannon, settling Unit-01 back against the wall-like bracing structure they had constructed. The measurements were exact, because the stock of the cannon lined up flush with Unit-01's right shoulder pauldron.
The communications line Scarlet had him attached too suddenly elicited three loud beeps, interrupting all other transmissions.
"All units, all units: commence Operation Goliath and transfer all traffic to NERVCOM. Repeat: commence Operation Goliath and transfer all traffic to NERVCOM."
There was several moments of silence across the band, before Misato's voice spilled over the channel.
"Evangelion Units, sound off."
"Unit-02, in position."
"Unit-01, in position."
"Unit-00, in position."
Shinji looked to his left, where Rei and her Eva were kneeling in wait, plasma rifle in hand.
"Remember Asuka, all we need you to do is neutralize its field." there was a pause over the radio, and not even Asuka offered a retort.
Time seemed to stand still.
"Jump!"
"Roger!"
A mission timer appeared next to him. Shinji made note of it, but was more focused on adjusting everything for the Particle Cannon. It was only minor adjustments Shinji could manage, Scarlet was handling the targeting relay.
"Unit-02 is descending – five minutes to contact," an HQ operator reported.
"A.T. Field at maximum!" Asuka said after a time, her voice coming through with a bit of static. Shinji's fingers flexed around the control sticks. The seconds ticked away, painfully slow, and he waited with bated breath.
"Contact!" Asuka bellowed over the frequency, causing Shinji to jump. There was brief relay of a struggle, then someone from HQ cut in.
"Progressive knives engaged."
Shinji searched around his HUD, trying to remember the proper thought transmissions for the Eva's communications. "Scarlet, can you link footage from Unit-02?" he asked.
The A.I. answered by summoning up a small window to his right of what looked like a camera feed from Unit-02's left shoulder. The image was fuzzy and subject to relentless bouts of static. But he watched as a struggle broke out between her and the Angel. Sparks flared across the image as her prog-knives made contact with something – something bright and orange.
"Target status?" Misato asked.
"Its A.T. Field is weakened, but not neutralized."
"Asuka," the woman called, "focus your field!"
"I'm trying!" she cried back. There was crashing, and then Shinji's feed was cut as the camera was hit by something.
"Geocity Barrier breached," Magi announced.
Shinji's hands tightened involuntarily. He kept listening, kept watching the optically painted target zone – afraid if he even blinked he would miss his shot at the Angel.
"Steady," Scarlet urged.
The ceiling shook and cracked, dislodging several support structures and sending them crashing into the GeoFront waters below. Then the silver ceiling began to glow orange, disintegrating as vats of the acidic liquid poured into the pristine and crystal lake. Then the Angel came into view, and Shinji's heart jumped as the red of Unit-02 became visible, thrashing and struggling atop it.
The entry plug HUD pinged as it locked onto the Angel's core.
"Fire!" Scarlet cried.
Shinji's teeth ground together as he pulled the trigger. The Eva responded in kind: light flickered and snapped around the weapon – the negatively charged particles rocketing through the air near the speed of light with a loud, air-shaking crack! The pines around Unit-01 flattened and burned away. The beam persisted, glowing a blazing white-blue as it blasted across the ceiling, obliterating steel and glass.
The haze of smoke and debris began to clear, steadily, agonizingly. The sensors would be down, briefly, due to the EMP shock-wave from the beam. Shinji peered into the fog, struggling for a moment as he willed the optical zoom feature into effect.
The Angel appeared through the mists, plummeting down into the Lake below – Unit-02 with it.
"Asuka!" Shinji cried, having only seen the Eva for a moment. The comms were still down. Everything was still for long seconds – in the distance he thought he could see Unit-02 moving through the rising steam of the Lake. But there was something else...
Something else moved, twisted and discolored from the orange acid swirling and tainting the water. The Angel Ramiel rose, its form morphing and shaping unnaturally. Echoing across the space, he heard its bones snap and its flesh break. From the unwieldy growth he assumed was its head, a vaguely humanoid form burst forth, arms breaking free of the main body. Below, one of its legs jerked and folded into the main body, the other two stretching and bulking with muscle.
The transformation happened in mere seconds, and the Angel had fluid stained blue-steel armor, a flat, beady-eyed head and long, powerful limbs. The damage it sustained from the beam showed in some places, where it had not been able to replace the ruined flesh, stretching it grotesquely on the left side of its torso and across its hunched shoulders. Nestled in its abdomen was the red core.
All at once the radio came back online, voices bursting into the plug.
"The target is still operational!"
Shinji glanced to the counter for the rifle – /Equalizing Pressure.../
As the steam cleared, Unit-02 became visible, pulling itself up from the waters. No sooner had it gained its footing than the Angel turned sharply towards it and leaped forward. It crashed into Unit-02, much to the vocal dismay of the pilot. A brutal struggle broke out across the lakefront – loud metal crashes echoing throughout the expanse.
"Unit-00 – support Unit-02!" Misato cried and the Eva charged forward.
"I can help too!" Shinji yelled, nerves twitching as he watched his fellow pilots fight.
"No," Misato snapped, "you need to stay on the gun. The Angel's A.T. Field is neutralized – we can kill it." there was a pause as she presumably turned to a bridge tech to ask: "how long until he can fire again?"
"Ninety seconds!"
Ramiel brought a fist down upon Unit-02's shoulder pylon, breaking it into a dozen pieces. Unit-00 stopped and sent several plasma bolts blasting into its back, triggering the heat-sinks along the barrel.
The Angel screamed as its flesh was ripped away by the super-heated plasma, turning to the new threat. Its arm stretched out, misshapen palm splitting down its forearm and to its elbow to reveal a thin and jagged row of spikes. They shot forward in blinding streaks of yellow – digging into the Eva's armor and riddling holes in the rifle.
A red, spiked fist crashed into Ramiel's head, sending it staggering back with a pained shriek.
"Come on," Shinji hissed, glancing at the timer – 01:17
Unit-02 brought its left fist up to catch it in the gut, hoping to pierce the red orb. The Angel stepped back, still recovering from the blow, but focused enough to bring its long and powerful left arm up to slam into Unit-02's shoulder.
Asuka received it readily, adopting the imposed force to her advantage as she planted her right foot back – arms raised and ready to strike. She paused for a moment, and Scarlet zoomed Shinji's view. Upon the Angel's shoulder was one of the spikes from Unit-02's first sortie, jutting out of its upper chest.
With only a seconds hesitation, Unit-02 pressed the attack. The Angel's right arm lashed out and Asuka put her Eva's left arm up, intercepting the blow but also allowing the Angel to grab hold of the limb. With a howl of exertion, Asuka used her left arm to pull the Angel's weight towards her. The beast was not prepared for it and was rewarded with a hard fist cracking against its skull-plate. Before it could recover from the dizziness it was likely experiencing, Unit-02 brought the same fist up and rammed it down hard on the spike – driving it deeper into the Angel's body and causing red blood to splash against the crimson Eva.
Its pained cry was shrill and piercing as it dove its head forward, splintered skull-plate smashing into Unit-02's head. Unit-00 came in as 02 stumbled, shattering a bridge to pieces as it rushed to sink its prog-knife into the Angel's side, just barely missing the core. Releasing Asuka from its grip, it smashed an armored elbow into Unit-00's face, cracking the gem-like eye. A leg rose close to its body as it turned, foot smashing hard into 00's chest as the pilot struggled to recover.
No sooner had it delivered the strike than Unit-02 crashed its joined hands down into the Angel's head. There was the rattling crack of bone and tearing of flesh, but the Angel seemed possessed by an untamed fury, fueled further by the Eva's persistence.
It turned, low to the ground and pushed up as it met with Unit-02's mid section, hugging its body to the Eva and driving it into the ground along the lake-front. The Eva sank into the earth as it pressed the machine down with all its might, that thick, grotesque ooze spilling free from its core once more. Unit-02's armor fell away in heaps of molten slag and Asuka's barely stifled screams dominated the comlink.
Another glance at the clock – 00:55
One of Unit-02's arms parted, revealing the nozzle of a plasma-thrower. It spewed blue fire into the Angel's upper chest, melting flesh and scorching bone. It shrieked and drew back, body hunched low as it prepared to redouble its efforts. Unit-00 interceded, pressing the attack against the Angel as she slashed the prog-knife at it.
Unit-02, shakily, tried to get up to rejoin the fight – before the back-plate burst open and Asuka's entry plug went rocketing far from the carnage.
His eyes followed it, the plug tagging it with a status marker.
"She'll be alright, stay focused." Scarlet said sternly. Shinji reluctantly pulled his eyes back to the battle.
In the savage melee, Unit-00 had managed to keep hold of its prog-knife and, left arm upraised, Rei made several well-placed jabs, unwilling to get too close again. Blood pouring from its fresh new cuts, the Angel thrashed its arms at Unit-00, who managed to block one with her left arm, though the secondary blow crunched into 00's armor at the waist. In response, Rei jabbed the prog-knife deep into its arm and pulled, tearing the appendage open, but snapping the knife as the tension applied went unchecked.
00:39
If the Angel were capable of making an expression, Shinji imagined it would have been twisted in rage. Its good arm lashed out like a whip, snapping around Unit-00's throat. It lifted her up with impressive strength – and hurled her through the air, sending the Eva impacting hard across the GeoFront floor.
Then Ramiel turned its gaze on him. Shinji's heart seized with sheer and utter terror, as he was helpless to fire his only defense. His arms felt frozen in place, a terrible shiver traveling from up his limbs and down his spine.
He tried to swallow his fear, as Rei and Asuka had.
The Angel lifted its hand, flesh parting to allow the needle-like projectiles to whistle forth with deadly accuracy – but not before Unit-00 came barreling forward, arms wrapping around its waste as she attempted to tackle it to the ground. The attack succeeded in diverting its aim, but some of the needles impacted against his shoulder. An intense burning flared across his skin and he grit his teeth before a cry of pain could escape.
"Twenty seconds – Rei, get us a clear shot!" Misato shouted.
Unit-00 further attempted to wrestle the titan, but it struggled furiously – its legs bulging with strengthened muscle. It brought its fist down hard on Unit-00's back, crushing the armored hatch encasing the entry plug.
She won't be able to eject!
Rei endured the onslaught, right arm lashing out to grab onto the Angel's. They struggled like that for a long moment, but the Angel's might was greater. It broke Rei's hold with the resounding crash of metal as something gave under the pressure in Unit-00's upper right arm. As the Eva's grip loosened, the Angel took the same arm and brought it down on 00's head.
As the Eva staggered back, a hail of artillery shells came crashing into the Angel's form, peppering its beaten and mutilated body with waves of fire.
00:05
Unit-00's arm snaked up under the Angel's own, the other wrapping tightly around its neck. The target indicator pinged loudly as it finally locked.
"Fire!" Scarlet shouted.
Shinji pulled the trigger – the cannon howled and snapped, the second shot proving too much for the improvised array to bear. The beam sailed forward still, scorching tree and earth as it raced to deliver death. An ear-splitting sound like a thousand mirrors shattering at once wailed across the GeoFront as the light blasted into the Angel's core with explosive force.
Rei's scream dominated the comlink as the beam tore through the Angel and into her Eva. The kinetic energy sent both the Angel and Unit-00 ripping and tearing across the GeoFront floor. All at once it stopped and 00's operational status ceased to flare – the words /Emergency Disconnect/ sliding across the waypoint marker.
"Rei!" he cried as both her and the Angel collapsed to the ground in smoking heaps. The Angel rested half-way in the lake, its red core blasted to oblivion, leaving behind a burnt and torn husk.
"The target has gone silent!" Command reported, elation in the operator's voice.
Misato immediately began shooting off orders, but Shinji didn't hear any of it. He lifted Unit-01 from the Particle Cannon, knocking what was left of it to the ground below. In a dozen large, plug-shaking steps, Shinji was face to face with the carnage and destruction of the battlefield. Massive gouges in the Earth marked the struggle that had taken place, large sections of forest entirely uprooted. Much of it had been laid to waste by the cannon, leaving only ashen remains with heat waves rising as high as Unit-01's knees. Unit-00 lay unmoving, a gaping wound punched through its stomach and side, smoking from the burned flesh and half-charred innards. Unit-02 was slouched in the water farther down the shore line, the blue blood from its wounds spilling into the lake and swirling about with the orange acid.
Scarlet began to speak. "You did–"
"Please stop," he whimpered, staring down at the two bloodied and broken Evas at Unit-01's feet.
A hidden panel in the ground began to part, revealing a large flatbed transport that would be taking the Units back down to the cages. Mendez flicked off the comlink at his ear, done managing the security lockdowns topside for the moment. He was faced again with the gaping hole in the side of the observation post he and John had been watching the battle from. The smell of the impacted pine tree filled the place. Beyond, hazmat crews were busy at work, cleaning up the acidic leftovers – and perhaps wondering how to go about purging the lake.
Unit-00 was descending on the flatbed, soon to be followed by Unit-02. Unit-01 hadn't sustained enough damage to warrant priority, for once.
"It could have been worse." he said, noticing the Chief had been rather on edge throughout the battle. It really could have been, considering the damage the pilots had endured this time around. It was damn lucky none of them had been hospitalized again, at least no longer than the typical day or so.
"It could have been better." John said evenly.
Mendez sighed. "You can't expect so much from them," he said. The Angels were incredibly powerful, it was a miracle they had even been able to create machines that could stand toe-to-toe with them.
"They're our first and last line of defense. More should be expected from them. You always expected the best from us." John said, a subtle bite creeping into his words.
Mendez raised an eyebrow. "These pilots aren't Spartans."
John had no response to that.
Even after all these years, he still held onto that black and white distinction between civilian and soldier. That wasn't entirely where it came from, he knew. Mendez understood John was restless – hell, he was cooped up in his goddamned office most of the time. But the man kept to himself – a lot. Gone was the young soldier with a fierce sense of pride in himself and his work, along with a bit of dry wit.
"Best head down to the Command Center," Mendez said, marching with purpose past the bustling Self-Defense forces and the scurrying clean-up crews outside. If there was any job here he didn't envy, it was the Maintenance Department. Damn good work they did, but goddamn awful when you considered the nature of the materials they had to handle disposal of.
"Is everything ready?" John asked. Mendez scoffed, wondering why the Spartan bothered, not even he micro-managed that much.
"Yes – the details should be on your PDA," he said instead. It was surprising to him how easily he could fall back into old habits... and submit to new ones. Hadn't he already done all of this before in a life centuries away? Well, it wasn't quite the same he supposed. These Children weren't being taken from everything they knew and loved to be turned into... something else. What they had planned was all just for show, people would die, but given all that they had done and all they were striving for, he couldn't bring himself to feel any guilt. Even still, "Are you sure this is the right time to be doing this?"
If John was annoyed, it didn't show. "They won't come to harm," he said, pausing, "but we'll postpone the operation for two days from now."
"That'll at least let the post-operation buzz die down a little."
"When is the Commander due in?" John asked, only a step or two behind him.
"Three days," Mendez answered brusquely. They soon hitched a ride with some of the Security personnel heading back to the Command Bunker in HQ, nothing in the way of conversation flowing between them. It never really had, not like with his other sons, Kurt or Frederic.
The elevator ride down to Central was quiet, the methodical tick-tick of the level counter filling the silence.
"Rather fortunate the Third Child decided to stay," Mendez said, glancing at the super-soldier.
John nodded. "For the time being."
"Yeah," Mendez grunted, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Listen, son–"
"Has Roma found him yet?" John asked.
Mendez closed his mouth, both irked and curious at the interruption. He eyed the Spartan, but inevitably relented. "No," he said quietly, shifting his feet, "man's a goddamn ghost... knows how to stay hidden."
John only grunted in response, and no more words passed between them as they reached Central. In retrospect, maybe the reason he held such an endearment for the super-soldier was because of how much he was reminded of himself. The man was damn stubborn, ever since he was a little roughneck on Reach.
Stubborn enough to close himself to the world.
The 9th Ward was remarkably quiet in the urban night, untouched as it always seemed to be in the relentless tides of destruction. A place of solitary rest.
Asuka dropped her dishes in the sink, opting to throw them in the washer later. Instead she meandered back to the rigidly shaped but comfortable couch, plopping down on its cushions and folding her legs beneath her. She watched with mild interest as the most recent battle in Tokyo-3 was recounted on the TV, although the broadcasters conveniently left out the part where the Brusilov and its fleet had gotten their asses handed to them. It wasn't like when Third had lost. The UNSC had won that time, practically shouting it over the rooftops afterwards.
Something sour twisted her stomach at the memory, so she began flicking through the channels, looking for anything that she wouldn't kill brain cells watching. She eventually found something bearable – a station that played a lot of old movies. It was the old old kind of movies too – crummy quality and in shoddy color.
This one was strange; something about a scientist who kept his daughter in a garden – having injected her with some sort of plant extract from his garden. One that killed people when they touched her. Weird. She thought, but inevitably became enraptured by the archaic story. It was full of melodrama and over-exaggerated movements. She snorted, but didn't change the channel. As it went on, a man named Giovanni fell in love with her, alas he could not touch her – else the woman's toxic skin would kill him.
To solve this dilemma, the scientist drugged him to treat him with the same thing as his daughter, so they could be together. Horrified by what the scientist had done, Giovanni had some professor whip up an antidote. Drinking it in front of the woman, it only ended up killing him.
Asuka's face had slowly begun to form into a glower as she watched the woman drink the rest of the antidote too, killing herself. Wracked with grief, the scientist grabbed the toxic plants in his garden, the touch of it killing him.
Asuka scowled, flicking to another channel and tossing the remote across the couch. "What a stupid movie," she hissed.
Her nerves tingled, patches along her stomach flaring painfully. She bent over a little, but fought with gritted teeth to keep her expression still. Sometimes she felt voids where there should have been organs. This time at least, it was only skin-deep.
As the ghost-pains subsided, she looked about her apartment, the television fading into dull noise. The place was furnished with bland paintings and furniture. The boxes from her move-in were still present and about. Some of them were open and over turned, their contents scattered across the floor. Some of the dresses thrown about near her room were torn, various make-up kits and perfumes scattered across the kitchen counter-top; some tossed to the floor, even.
It made her blood boil.
Her Eva was the best.
She was the best.
"Stupid," she spat.
Asuka wouldn't have cared so much if her defeat hadn't been so humiliating – twice no less. She was better than the First and Third – Second was just a designation, she was greater than them in skill. All First had done was stumble around with her prog-knife and Third just had to aim the stupid gun.
She had subdued the Angel. She had met it blow for blow before–
Asuka's teeth ground together, hard enough to hurt. But she didn't care, she deserved it. She deserved so much more for losing. She almost hated Kyuzo for betraying her. Unit-02 had still been operable, but he had ejected the plug anyway.
"Stupid little girl."
Misato released a long-building sigh as she entered her apartment, tossing her shoes in the corner and shuffling down the hall into the kitchen. She was surprised to see it rather clean, her eyes finding a head of brown hair in the living room beyond. Shinji's eyes met her as she threw her jacket and keys on the table. It was a miracle to find him out of this room.
Misato pinched a couple of beers in her fingers and crossed into the living room. She offered Shinji a meek smile as she plopped down on the far end of the couch. Distantly, she registered the TV was on, flicked to some news channel. Snapping her first beer open, she stared on without really seeing it. The Fifth Angel was dead and clean-up, as she was beginning to expect, was a nightmare. The Magi estimated it would take at least a week to repair the hole the Angel had tore through Tokyo-3. The entire lake would have to be drained and the water purged. However, people were more or less happy this time around that their homes were still intact. Mostly.
Her head swiveled to Shinji. "Hey... good job, today," she said.
He gave her a glance and nodded, solemn expression unchanged. She almost sighed, instead turning back to face the TV screen.
Unit-02 had taken a beating – and that was to say nothing of Unit-00. But they had won, hadn't they? This was no different than any other battlefield she'd fought on. Those cold, endless nights in frigid ship bays that grew quieter after every battle. She took several long gulps of beer, frowning as the can left her lips nearly empty. She felt in her heart that it shouldn't have been like that, not for Shinji. She had welcomed him in her home, thinking it might somehow be better than being alone.
So what was she? A Commander, or a guardian?
The line wasn't so clearly defined anymore. The two were beginning to merge and she knew it was affecting her decisions. He didn't hate her, nor feel uncomfortable in his own home. But she wasn't exactly his friend either.
You don't need to be his friend. You're just his guardian, nothing more.
She cast another glance at him, and the decision was practically made for her. Misato stood up, leaning over to turn on her haphazardly set up stereo system.
Her mother had been fond of old 20th century music and had listened to it a lot when she was young. The acoustics sounded like chicken scratch, but it was apart of what made the ancient music endearing. It was just so pure and unfiltered, and Misato started to dance. The rhythm slowed a little as the singer began and she sang along with the words – "Here we stand... roads apart – hearts broken in two, two, two..." she leaned towards her bewildered roommate.
"Shinji, dance with me!" she demanded, grabbing his hands and pulling him up off the couch. He resisted and tried to pull away, his stuttering protests swallowed by the music. It only widened her smile, much to his annoyance. She started to dance again, jostling his arms up and down to get him to move with her.
"Sleepless nights... losing ground I'm reaching for you, you, you..."
Agitation marred his boyish face, but then the music picked up – and there was no escaping as Misato sang: "Feelin' that it's goooone – can't change your mind! If we can't go ooooon – survive the tide – love diviiiide!"
Trapped and being pulled side to side, Shinji began to move on his own, jerking awkwardly to the music. As the guitars picked up she lifted one of his hands and spun him around, laughing. She grabbed his hands again, folding her fingers with his, but he didn't pull away. They sidled back and forth, twisting and bobbing with the music and whacking their shins on the coffee table.
Soon, Shinji's grin was wide enough to rival her own and for the first time in a long time, Misato's heart was smiling.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: Chapter 9 will be posted in a week or so, mostly because it's alot shorter than any of the other chapters. It's more of an intermediary piece than anything. Like, it doesn't really advance the plot much on its own, but it possesses some components vital for a smooth transition to chapter 10 that won't actually fit in said chapter without making it unnecessarily long.
