Today we are to begin synchronization testing with Unit 13.
Commander Ikari said that if the tests go well he will join us for dinner.
I will do my best.
The morning broke cold and clear and Asuka shivered from head to toe. Her bones aching from countless nights on the ground wrapped in only thin Mylar blankets. General Misato had once joked that the girls looked like burritos in them. Kaji was the only one to laugh. Hikari asked what a burrito was.
"Get up princess, you got a call."
A foot jabbed between her shoulder blades, releasing a string of half-formed German profanity. As if she were some sort of obscene talking doll. Asuka swatted blindly towards the source of the pain, opening her eyes only to watch her jacket fall from Mari's outstretched hand. It landed with a soft thud, covering her face.
"No ranks, right? Then get your butt up and talk to Misato."
Tucked between the legs of her mech suit, its red exterior chipped and worn by time and violence, Asuka glanced back at the other girls. This early and already laughing about something. Her brow furrowed as the communication link chimed on.
"What?"
"You still sound pretty groggy. Should we adjust the dosage of your sleeping pill again?"
Asuka sighed loudly enough to make her impatience known.
"Fine, fine. Anyway, we've been getting some strange readings from ground zero for about an hour now."
"Strange?"
An enamel mug appeared in front of her, the blissful aroma of coffee overpowering her senses. Asuka glanced up to find Hikari standing patiently, even as the wind whipped her ponytails and threatened to launch her own cup skyward. She accepted the drink with a weak smile.
"As in...activation strange."
Misato's words hung in the digital ether between them.
"I know I promised you girls a break after-"
"Send another supply drop thirty clicks southeast of our current location. And try to include some real food this time."
The jagged, newly formed terrain of the lava field, pitch black and reeking of sulphur, stood as a stark contrast to the dusty, windswept plains. But they also stood as a reminder. No matter how long mankind's reign on this planet may last, in time all would be destroyed to start anew. The Third Impact had simply accelerated a process already in motion.
They followed the readout of their ground density scanners precisely, knowing that one false move could send them plummeting into the earth. A place Asuka had no intention of returning to.
Their progress was slow and grueling. Residual heat from the basalt had turned what was an already cramped cockpit into a furnace. Sweat pouring down the faces of the three girls as they struggled to keep their displays free of condensation.
"Come on, why can't we just roll down the windows in these damn things?"
Mari, the only one of the group cursed with poor vision, was forced to continually juggle readjusting her glasses in addition to keeping her lumbering EON on course.
"Structural integrity. The less panels used the stronger they are. Fewer points of weakness."
The question was rhetorical, but the others knew Hikari couldn't leave something with such a simple explanation unanswered.
Asuka suddenly froze, signaling for the others to do the same.
"Damn it...I knew I should've studied the map more. We're gonna have to jump."
"You mean, like, boost jump? Sounds good."
"No, four-eyes. The ground's too fragile. We burn enough thrust to get airborne and this whole place shatters like glass."
"Asuka's right. And there's nothing stable enough to connect your tow line to for support."
"Well, where's the nearest—"
The wide, mechanical hands of Asuka's EON took hold of the bubble separating Mari from the outside world. Even with the steam of each heaving breath steadily obscuring her face, Asuka's eye burned through, drilling directly into Mari's mind.
"You wanna walk ten clicks just to cross on foot? Then go. But I know your main and aux batteries are gonna die well before you catch up. And I will leave you behind. Now I'm gonna jump, then Hikari's gonna jump, and then you're gonna jump. And then we're gonna walk to the supply drop, eat something, and go to sleep. Understood?"
Mari nodded obediently. Even without ranks she knew Asuka was the only one who could really survive out here. There was no questioning that.
After carefully backtracking her steps Asuka silently turned, jogged to gain momentum, and lept. The hulking suit seemed almost graceful as it arched through the air. She landed with a short trot.
"Alright goody two-shoes, you're up."
"I don't...I don't know if I can do this."
"Yes you can. Mari's gonna give you a little push for speed and then when I say so you jump."
"I…"
She felt the weight of Mari's EON slowly nudging her forward.
"Just close your eyes and think of England."
The pneumatic arm hissed moments before thrusting Hikari forward, forcing her to run at full speed. Mari didn't really understand the meaning behind the phrase and knew it would be lost on Hikari, but she still liked it.
"3...2...1...now!"
She jumped. And in that moment, with her eyes closed and no ground beneath her feet, Hikari felt the weight of the world lift from her shoulders. No fear, no anger, no pain, no loneliness. She had done all she could and if this was her time to die, so be it. At least she would finally be reunited with Toji. And that thought was freeing.
She landed, still alive. And all the feelings that had momentarily slipped away returned in force.
"Four-eyes, come on."
Asuka could feel the EON's heavy steps slowly wearing down the rock around them and could see minute fissures starting to form. But there was no other option. They needed to get to Tokyo-3. She needed to get to Tokyo-3.
The crack of a high powered rifle. The dull thud as a single round crashed into the bulletproof glass of Mari's cockpit. Tendrils stretching out from the impact site as sirens and buzzers rang deafeningly in her ears. Gyroscopes within the core of the EON attempted to compensate as she left the ground but the force was too severe. The ground crumbled, the world tilted, and above an unnaturally angled horizon she saw six figures appear.
"Asuka, behind you!"
All she could do was watch. Watch as the giant, almost clownish hands of Mari's EON desperately grasped at the ground as she slid down into the newly formed chasm. Watch as the bullets ricocheted off Asuka's unit, sparks raining down around her like fireworks. Alive, yet unable to move. Just as she had been all those years ago. Watching as the Angel slowly engulfed Toji's Eva unit with him inside. The once mighty beast slowly fading from existence as the amorphous object, black as night against a bright blue sky, indifferent to the tragedy unfolding, continued towards its ultimate goal.
The violent punch of steel piercing steel shook her back. Hikari glanced down to see Mari's harpoon lodged cleanly in her suit's right leg.
"Grab the damn tow line!"
Asuka's battle cry echoed through the air as she unflinchingly tore through the attackers, each of them pleading for their life. But it was too late for mercy. The seven-eyed mask of SEELE they wore reflected all that Asuka hated. The Angels. The Evas. NERV. SEELE. The whole damn world. But most of all, in that reflection she saw Shinji.
The final screams of the lone mercenary, wrapped within the hands of her EON, faded to yelps, then gasps, then nothing. What little resistance there was gave way.
They walked in silence the rest of the day, finally arriving at the supply drop to find it picked clean of anything useful. No one slept that night.