Ah, reviews, I like them.
Weapon-VII, Asuka was a captain in the Rebuild of Evangelion, and she's been specially trained on her own. Shinji, on the other hand, is a foot soldier. A bloody fantastic foot soldier, but the fact is that Asuka was commissioned, and Shinji wasn't. Bear in mind, Shinji's at the same rank as Master Chief, and he's pretty high ranked as it is. Asuka's just higher ranked because she was.
Lichte, shout quietly.
Also, I'm watching Fullmetal Panic. Prepare for an increase in humour, but no derailment.
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September 2013
Shinji was still adapting to his augmented body, and he was concerned.
He had free time now, something that was a rarity before, but now he had a few hours to himself a day, as did all the remaining Spartans.
Shinji took it as another of the Chief's tests, to see who would slack off and who would keep working.
Still, rest was important. Shinji was getting tired easier than before, both mentally and physically.
On top of that, he was taking in over five thousand calories a day, but he was still hungry.
He ran a calculation through his head with his height and weight against his age. The number still didn't seem right, so he factored in the changes due to the metal in his muscles and the ceramic in his bones against his post-pubescent body, but he was still taking in more than he should.
He then derived the sum through long division, trying to work out the flaw he'd made in his calculation, but couldn't find one.
He then realised that he did all that in his head in under a few seconds.
"That'll be the cybernetic implants." John said, reading his brother in battle like a minefield. "Or something. Our brains are faster and more efficient, so Fhajad and the others that washed out are working for the UN right now."
"That's good." Shinji agreed. "We all want to serve. You alright?"
John looked at the wall. "I just killed two ODST's." he said.
Shinji watched his friend as he recounted how he got into an argument with four men in the gym, and a commanding officer ordered the five of them to fight it out in the ring. John incapacitated the four of them within seconds, killing two of them and causing severe damage to the other two.
"We're Spartans." Shinji told him. "We fight. We don't lose."
John nodded, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We're shipping out." He said. "Some terrorists in Afghanistan need bullets in their heads."
Shinji nodded, following his commanding officer to the airport.
2015
Shinji ran at a decent pace during PE, but sped up when he heard a massive "ORA!" behind him. He glanced to the side as a sprinting Ryoma grinned, covered in sweat and with an expression of anguished determination masked by a massive grin. "COME ON SPARTAN!" the Spartan-III shouted, pushing himself to his absolute limit to keep up with Shinji, who was just starting to break a sweat.
"They're running at least twice as fast as everyone else." Aida sighed to no-one in particular. "Honestly, are they even trying to hide the fact that they're super-soldiers?"
Ryoma roared, leaping in the air as the running track reached a bend. He landed a good fifteen metres ahead of Shinji and lapped Toji with a grin.
Then Shinji blitzed past him.
"That idiot…" Asuka groaned from the school swimming pool above the running track. "Getting so worked up over something like that…"
"Ryoma does that." Mana explained, walking up to Asuka. "He shouts as loud as he can and puts everything he has into whatever he's doing, and everyone else runs with him to keep up."
"That's probably why they sent him here." Asuka sighed. "Make sure the real Spartans don't get lazy."
Mana glared. "You really don't like the III's, do you?"
"You're just not as good." Asuka replied.
"Please." Mana spat back. "You were only a Spartan for six months. You weren't even augmented."
"I didn't need to." Asuka replied with a smirk as an orange light flickered in her fingers. "I can use my AT-Field."
Mana smirked.
"We don't need to." She said, turning around and walking back to the pool.
Asuka glared at her back.
"Petty." Rei muttered.
"COME ON!" Ryoma shouted pumping his fists as he appeared in the Megazord cockpit. "WHO KICKS ASS? WE KICK ASS!"
Rei merely nodded as Asuka and Mana smirked, then returned to their monitors. "This is Red Ranger." Asuka reported. "Megazord combination was a success, repeat, a success."
_\_ "Great work." _\_ Ritsuko told the four Rangers. _\_ "Now try walking- careful, you're each controlling a part of the body." _\_
Asuka nodded. "Blue, Yellow!" she ordered. "Work in synch. Black, swing arms to ensure counter-balance."
The Megazord shuddered, but walked.
Asuka grinned.
"Alright, that's the boring shit out the way." She said. "Let's do some combat training."
_\_ "Alright then." _\_ Ritsuko replied.
"Serious?" Mana shouted as a wall lowered into the ground.
The Dragonzord spat flames from its nostrils as it snarled at the Megazord.
"Uh, is it just me, or does that robot look pissed?" Mana asked.
"That's Shinji's Dragonzord." Asuka replied, typing in orders for the other Rangers to follow in order to get the Megazord into a Kung-Fu tiger stance. "No biggie."
_\_ "Bear in mind that your Zords were found in the Yellowstone Geofront, whereas the Dragonzord has a Geofront to itself." _\_ Ritsuko reminded them. _\_ "Do not take your opponent lightly." _\_
Gendo smiled as he hung up the phone. "How is she?" Fuyutsuki asked him.
"MJOLNIR is progressing on schedule, and Cortana is ready for testing." Gendo replied. "How was the Megazord testing?"
"Successfully, though they were defeated by the Dragonzord."
Gendo smirked behind his fingers. "Tell me about the teamwork between the rangers themselves."
"Shinji has a constructive working relationship with Asuka, our planned rivalry non-existent." Fuyutsuki reported. "However, they still focus on each other as opposed to Rei, so this is still within the scenario."
Gendo nodded. "How do Green and Red perform with Black and Yellow?" he asked.
"Like bitter rivals." Fuyutsuki said. "Asuka truly hates Mana, and the vice versa, though Ryoma seems to enjoy pushing your son's buttons."
Gendo smirked. "It won't be long until it is the other way around." He said. "My son seems to be using his brain now."
Fuyutsuki let out a short laugh. "What?" Gendo asked.
"Your son." Fuyutsuki quoted. "That is the first time I have heard you refer to him as such."
Gendo looked up, the light shining from his glasses. "Dismissed." He said.
Fuyutsuki smirked as he turned to leave.
The bastard had a heart after all.
Shinji bought a drink of water from the machine during his break.
He turned to see the Black Ranger approach him from the corridor. "Sergeant Mana." Shinji noted, bending to the ground and picking the water from the machine.
"Can I ask you something?" Mana asked him.
"You can ask." Shinji replied, opening the bottle.
"Have you and the Red Ranger… you know… kissed?"
Shinji glanced at her as he glugged. "No." he said. "Why?"
"Aren't you to going out?" she asked. "And you do live together. I would have figured you would have..."
Shinji looked at the ceiling. "No." he replied. "I haven't."
Mana smirked, swinging on the balls of her feet. "So… do you wanna?"
Shinji glanced at her again. "Captain Soryu and I aren't like that." He said. "Please don't make any assumptions."
Mana walked up to him. "Scared?" she asked.
Shinji lowered his drink. "Of what?"
"Intimacy." Mana replied. "Opening up to people. Letting people see that you're human behind all that muscle and gun. Of kissing."
"No." Shinji said. "I am not."
"Oh really?"
"Really Sergeant."
"Prove it." Mana said, standing between him and the machine. "Right here, right now."
CRUNCH
Lieutenant Hyuuga watched in horror as the massive monster walked through Tokyo-03.
The Ninth Angel.
It was huge, walking like a massive six-legged spider covered in eyes.
He revved the engine of the motorbike Takenaka gave him.
Hopefully he could get to NERV before the angel.
The angel screeched, and the world shook.
The street lights died, and the bike sputtered and died.
"Wh-WHAT!" Hyuuga shouted. "YOU'RE SHITTING ME!"
Shinji's hand smashed through the plastic glass of the vending machine, breaking the wall behind it as glared at Sergeant Mana Kirishima as light faded in the corridors. "I would like you to keep your inappropriate thoughts to yourself, Sergeant." He snarled, his nose barely touching hers as his Ranger costume sparked and vanished. "Spartans keep their thoughts out of the gutter and ON the job. Am I Clear?"
"I-I-" Mana stuttered.
"AM I CLEAR SERGEANT KIRISHIMA?" Shinji barked.
"Yessir!"
Shinji pulled his fist from the vending machine and walked away in his school uniform. "One of these days, it'll be the Yellowstone Morphing Grid that suffers a power failure." he muttered, then looked back. "What are you still doing here?" he asked Mana.
"H-huh?"
"That was an EMP, Sergeant." Shinji pointed out. "We're under attack. Get to your Zord."
He turned around again and sprinted down the corridor and into the darkness.
He missed Asuka standing around the corner.
But even if he had seen her, he wouldn't have been able to read the expression on her features.
"More terrorists?" Kaji sighed, leaning against the elevator wall. "We had a power cut LAST week!"
"This isn't a cut." Misato said. "If it was, then the reserve power would have returned by now."
Kaji looked at her. "How many reserves does NERV have?"
"Main, backup, and standby." Misato said. "Three systems. They can't all fail at the same time."
"So, we have problems." Kaji said. "Think our terrorists hackers left a little present from last time?"
"That's probably the case." Misato sighed, jabbing her thumb against the door-open button uselessly.
Kaji sighed. "And knowing our luck, an Angel will attack now."
"The air's getting stagnant…" Ritsuko sighed, fanning herself in the heat. "To think that this place represents the pinnacle of technology on this planet…"
"But look at the commander and vice commander." Maya said, turning in her chair. "The heat isn't getting to them at all…"
Gendo sat in his chair, letting his bare feet soak in the bucket of water behind the desk.
"It's lukewarm." Fuyutsuki remarked, getting an affirmative grunt from the elder Ikari in reply.
Shinji didn't change his course as he noticed he was being followed in the darkness.
He continued as normal for five paces, then spun around and aimed his handgun at his follower.
"DUDE CHILL!" Ryoma shouted, wrenching the gun out of his face. "Just following you coz you know where you're going."
"We're under attack." Shinji said, lowering the gun. "I can't morph. Get to the Zord chambers."
"What about you?" Ryoma asked.
"I'm headed for the command room." Shinji said. "I'll be providing support on the surface for this mission."
"The Geofront was designed to be a self-sufficient society, even when isolated from the outside world." Fuyutsuki commented. "Theoretically, it's impossible for all the power sources to fail simultaneously."
"Which means that this was done deliberately, correct?" Ritsuko replied.
"Their purpose is most likely to investigate this facility." Fuyutsuki nodded.
"So they could determine the HQ's structure through the progress of the restoration?"
"This was not an internal attack." Gendo Ikari stated. "Rather, this was caused by an EMP charge from above."
"What makes you say that?" Maya asked.
"No… I felt it too now that you mention it." Ritsuko agreed. "But how? N2 mines don't have an electromagnetic field strong enough, and there are no more nuclear weapons."
There was a screeching noise as the metal blast doors were forced open by a young boy's hands. "Shinji!" Maya shouted.
"Sergeant Major Ikari reporting Sir!" Shinji saluted as he squeezed through the narrow gap. "Allow me to report!"
"Proceed." Commander Ikari stated as Shinji stood with his hands behind his back.
"Sir." Shinji nodded. "The Ninth Angel launched an EMP attack on NERV, knocking out all electronics including the Morphing Grid, and I am thus unable to morph." He said. "Please allow me to lead the other Rangers in the attack, acting as support in proxy of the Central Dogma team."
"What evidence do you have that this was caused by an angel?" Gendo asked.
"Sir." Shinji saluted. "It's looking for me. I felt it in the back of my mind three times since the blackout."
Gendo nodded. "Proceed." He said, standing upright. "Fuyutsuki, I'll leave everything to you. Lieutenant Aoba. Gather as many NERV employees as you can. We'll deploy the Megazord manually."
"Manually?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"We have a diesel reactor for such emergencies." The Commander stated. "Go."
"But we don't have any Rangers." Fuyutsuki said as Gendo climbed down the ladder.
"We will." Shinji said, turning to his father and scratching his neck.
- Which Morphing Grid are you on? – his fingers asked.
"The Blue, Red, Yellow and Black Rangers will engage the enemy." Gendo ordered. "Green Ranger, take to the armoury and find a communicator that hasn't been damaged by the EMP field, then track down the angel. Contact us when you have found it so we may deploy the Megazord."
That answer was good enough. "Sir." He saluted, forcing the blast doors open and setting off at a run.
The four active Rangers arrived at the docking bay to find the majority of the NERV staff prepping the Zords by rope, with Gendo Ikari leading the pull of the Tyrannosaurus.
"There you are." Ritsuko said. "All of you, get in your Zords and await Sergeant Ikari's order."
"Ikari?" Mana asked.
"The Green Ranger's on the Tokyo Morphing Grid, so no power here means he can't morph." Maya explained. "So Shinji's finding the Angel and he'll provide support in our place from the battlefield."
_\_ "Found it." _\_ Shinji called into the Ranger's headsets. _\_ "It's directly above NERV, and it stopped as soon as it found me." _\_
"Rangers Deploy!" Gendo shouted as Shinji relayed his location over the headsets. "Yellow and Blue Rangers move out first, Tyrannosaurus and Mastodon Gattai and follow. Gattai to Megazord once you reach the surface."
"SIR!"
Shinji stared down the angel. It was a big one, but that may be because it's the first one he's had to face outside a Zord.
He could feel it staring at him, scrutinising him for any recognition.
Shinji drew a combat knife and got ready to defend himself from the angel's legs.
The angel roared, squirting acid from its eyes at Shinji. He rolled out of the way and charged.
_\_ "Sabre-tooth Tiger and Triceratops are en-route, eta three minutes!" _\_ Ryoma's voice shouted from Shinji's pocket as Shinji stabbed an eye on Matarael's leg. _\_ "Tyrannosaurus and Mastodon will follow with a delay of three and a half minutes." _\_
Shinji tapped the walkie-talkie to confirm he got the message, then jumped back and retreated.
The angel followed him, and Shinji turned around to lead the Angel away from the evacuating civilians.
"Shinji!" Hikari shouted, but Shinji just kept running.
Matarael was ignoring the humans, targeting Shinji specifically.
Interesting.
Shinji drew the Jericho 941 he'd pillaged earlier from behind his shirt and opened fire upon the angel while holding the knife in his grip. The bullets ricocheting from the AT-field back towards the retreating Shinji, who focused only on keeping the angel's attention away from the civilians.
He ran out of bullets and discarded the weapon, drawing instead two SIG Sauer's and firing at the angel in controlled bursts to keep Matarael's attention.
_\_ "Incoming Spartan!" _\_ Ryoma laughed as the rolling Triceratops burst through a trap door in the street, ramming one of Matarael's legs as the Sabre-Tooth Tiger leapt from the hole and lunged for the angel's main body.
Shinji pocketed the two weapons and picked up his walkie-talkie. "The eyes shoot acid, and it's not using the legs as support." He said. "It's floating, the legs are weapons."
He heard Ryoma swear and rolled out of the way as a leg stabbed out at him. "The angel's also very interested in me specifically for some reason, so try to take its legs out before Black and Red get here."
_\_ "Better plan." _\_ Ryoma shouted, sweeping a paw under Shinji and throwing him onto the Sabre-tooth Tiger's back. The angel immediately launched a burst of acid at the mechanical beast, but it leapt away as the Triceratops opened fire on the angel.
Shinji reloaded his guns. "Blue, stay near and work down its AT-field." He ordered. "Yellow, tear its legs out of the sockets, and I'll try to find its core."
_\_ "Understood." _\_
_\_ "Hold on tight psychoman." _\_
Shinji knelt on the Tiger's back as it flew into the air locking his legs in place as he fired. Blood and acid burst from the holes as a wave of red blood washed over him as the Tiger tore off the leg of the angel.
Two massive black arms tackled the angel, smashing it into a building. "GET BACK!" Shinji shouted, pocketing one of his guns for the walkie-talkie. "It cries acid!"
Indeed, acid slipped down the Tyrannosaurus's AT-field as a large limp forced the Zord back along the street. "Blue, Red, Yellow, prepare for Gattai." Shinji ordered, leaping from the Tiger's back. "Use the tank mode for now and attack from a distance."
The angel screeched and stabbed its leg at Shinji, who barely dodged it as the Triceratops and the Tiger rushed to the Tyrannosaurus, who sat down and raised the Mastodon's arms which turned around in their hinges and became cannons.
The Sabre-tooth Tiger and the Triceratops slammed into place and completed the transformation to the Tank Mode Megazord.
"Don't shoot." Shinji ordered, ramming a gun into one of the eyes on Matarael's legs and shooting before jumping back. "Ram it down the hill, then bite its torso with the Tyrannosaurus head."
The Tank Mode Megazord charged forward, driving over the hole in the ground that lead directly into central dogma and ramming the angel Matarael. Once the Tyrannosaurus bit down, Shinji barked a new order. "TRANSFORM TO MEGAZORD!"
The Megazord stood up, rising as it changed stance and its full battle capabilities emerged, dragging the angel up with it. The angel screamed as the Tyrannosaurus head tucked into its chest, dragging the chunk of angel flesh with it and from the body, exposing the core inside.
"Can you see it?" Shinji asked.
_\_ "Visual of the core confirmed." _\_ Mana stated, drawing one of the Megazord's arm back for a punch.
"Legs and Torso, move with the arm to put some power into the punch." Shinji ordered as the angel screamed in pain. It was the screech of the beast's death throes as the Megazord slammed it's massive metal fist down on it, fracturing the core and crushing it.
Shuddering, Matarael knew it was dead, its life ended at the hands of these humans, lead by that creature just like all its brothers before it.
But it would not go quietly. With the last of its strength it lashed out with a massive black limb, heading right for the monster.
Shinji wheeled to the side and the limb shot past him, then he stabbed it with the knife in the hand carrying the walkie-talkie before firing his SIG Sauer point blank into an unblinking eye.
The limb collapsed to the ground as the angel died. "Good job Rangers." Shinji stated. "Let's get back to base."
The EMP devastated most of Tokyo-03's electronics, but power quickly returned to the Geofront once Matarael was defeated. However, those above ground were not so lucky.
Fourteen people died in the hospital, either on the operating table or in the ICU before power was restored.
Due to power breaking, nine people died because ambulances gave out.
Because of the lack of sirens, thirteen further people died as a result of the angel and the battle.
Of course, out of the five Power Rangers, Shinji was the only one who knew the numbers.
He was the only one who could take it.
"We're lucky that Central Dogma's pyramid protected the Magi from the Angel's EMP." Maya told Ritsuko happily in the corridor once power was restored.
"Most of the data above ground within a mile was destroyed." Ritsuko agreed, pressing the button for the elevator. "Thankfully, we kept back-up copies of all important data below ground, but I'm sure that some will complain about the loss of their computers."
"Well, that's what insurance is for." Maya smiled as the door opened to reveal a dishevelled Misato laying ontop of Kaji.
"This- this isn't…" Misato protested lamely.
"My my." Ritsuko smirked. "You can't be alone in a tight space for even one hour without getting into each other's pants?"
"NO IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Misato shouted, standing upright as Ritsuko laughed.
"It's ironic." Ryoma pointed out later as they sat on the hill where the battle once raged, now peaceful as they stargazed. "No lights in the city, and the lights in the sky become beautiful."
"But without the lights, it doesn't feel like anyone lives here." Mana pointed out, and as if on cue, power returned to the city. "See? I feel much more comfortable now."
"Man has always feared the darkness." Rei said. "So they carve it away with fire."
"That's the most I've ever heard you say in one go." Asuka said, staring at the night sky in the grass.
"So, is that what makes mankind the special species?" Mana asked. "We make stuff to change the world to suit us?"
"That why the angels attack?" Ryoma added, almost to himself.
"There's no way we can know that." Asuka sighed.
"Actually, you might be onto something there." Shinji said. "The angels adapt to the battle, but we humans adapt the battle to suit out needs. We adapt too, but we stand against them with our fire and our pointy sticks, and we win. It's only natural that they fear."
"Those things, scared of us?" Mana laughed. "You're getting ahead of yourself Spartan."
"You've never been in an actual war, have you?" Shinji asked. "Have you ever heard the scream a man makes when he's dead but still breathing?"
"Yes." Rei said. "I see the similarity."
Ryoma laughed. "So, the alien bastards are scared, huh?" he asked. "We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish, without a fight." He stood up. "We're going to live on. We're going to survive. Today… we celebrate… our Independence Day!"
"Ugh, you have seen that movie too many times." Mana groaned.
"I love that film." Shinji smirked.
"What, they let you watch movies at the Spartan camp after I left?" Asuka laughed.
"Nah, saw it in Afghanistan." Shinji explained.
"You're gonna have to tell me that story at some point." Asuka said, looking back up at the sky.
"Yeah." Shinji sighed. "Some other time."
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Yeah, it's gonna be a fun story, depending on who you ask. You'll like it, someone else won't.