Summary: An error in the Space Bridge Project sends Coby, Lori, and the Convoys into the Eva Universe. Why are the Rumbles that Coby and Lori pilot so similar to the Evas? Is there a connection between the Angels and the Transformers? Will they survive?
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Transformers Galaxy Force, but they are interesting stories.
Chapter 20
"You drive like my grandmother!" Nitro Convoy yelled, passing yet another car as several police sirens wailed behind him.
"You're going to get us killed, or worse, arrested!" Asuka shrieked, though she had to admit that while Nitro Convoy drove faster than Misato, he was nowhere near as reckless. He actually drove very smoothly, and she didn't even feel in when he swerved.
She needs to sort out her priorities, Nitro Convoy thought to himself. "Geofront entrance shaft: dead ahead." He sped up.
"Idiot! It's still closed!" Asuka yelled in horror as the metal door got closer and closer. She closed her eyes, waiting for the crash.
"FORCE CHIP! IGNITION! MACH SHOT!" Nitro Convoy's twin blasts cut the door down easily, and he drove right through, heading down the long ramp that circled the edge of the Geofront.
"Second Child, I'm warning you now, next time you relieve yourself in my seats, I will eject you."
"The Symbiocons are generating as much power as possible. Sorry, but there's only enough for life support, the MAGI, and a few other vital systems. We'll have to use flashlights to find out what happened, and until the power is back, we can't launch an Eva," Coby reported.
Gendo glared from behind his shades, his hands folded in front of his mouth hiding his grimace. "You managed enough power for every system for 30 seconds. Why?"
"Initial surge," Lori answered. "It's like a light bulb, it uses more energy when turned on than required to stay on."
"Commander, how long is it going to take before we find out what happened?" Ritsuko asked.
"Recovery teams have already been dispached," Gendo said. "It will be a matter of time."
Coby's communicator buzzed and he answered it, "Pilot Hanson."
"Finally, I got a signal," Megalo Convoy said. "I'm outside one of the Eva shafts, number 34-A, I think. What happened down there?"
"I'm not sure, but I believe its sabotage," Coby answered. "The Symbiocons are providing power for necessary systems."
"Well, the Soushireikan wanted me to help fix the problem, so if you open the shaft, I can get down there and assist," Megalo Convoy stated. "He also wants to warn you that an Angel is coming, and that he, Flame Convoy, and Live Convoy are trying to hold it off."
"Tell him to remain on the surface to engage the Angel until we can launch an Eva," Gendo said.
"Hey, bastard, I can hear you," Megalo Convoy said. "Nitro Convoy's on his way with the Second Child. Where are Shinji and Rei?"
"Somewhere in the facility," Lori said. "It looks like Asuka's going to get the solo mission she always wanted."
"We're going to go find them," Coby said. "Have Galaxy Convoy Soushireikan send any information he has on the Angel to this communicator." He turned and gave it to Ritsuko. "If this leaves your hand at any time, I will know. Do not give it to anyone." He and Lori took off to search for the two half-angels.
"The Angel is like a spider with eyes covering its entire body. Every eye produces acidic tears, and the tear glands almost completely surround the core. This gives it a powerful defense, in spite of its weak AT Field. The acid neutralizes any type of energy beam, so the Transformers can't get a clear shot, not to mention that every time they puncture a gland, it sprays acid at them until the Angel heals. Because of this, they've been acting as a distraction, cutting at the Angel without puncturing a gland, but it does little to slow this Angel down. Their concentrating on the legs, but they grow back at an alarming rate. What we need to do is vaporize the Angel all at once, acid, glands, core, and all, or Japan is going to loose a good percentage of its land mass to the acid," Ritsuko said.
A freshly showered Asuka sulked in her plugsuit. "Are you saying that for my first solo mission, I can do nothing?"
"No, we have a plan," Misato said, smirking. "Asuka, did you ever go bowling in Germany?"
Coby secured the bandage around Rei's head, "Good thing you didn't move her, Shinji. Had you tried to help her in the dark, she might have bled to death, in spite of her S2 organ." He and Lori had managed to find Shinji and Rei, and quickly began performing first aid that would have impressed an emergency rescue operative.
"She's suffering from internal bleeding. Her S2 organ isn't replacing the blood fast enough. We need to do a blood transfusion, or she'll go into a coma before we can fully treat her," Lori said.
"How can we do a transfusion?" Shinji asked.
Reaching into a pouch on his utility belt, Coby pulled out a small device and a bag of medical needles. Securing one on the tip of the device, he put it into her arm. "This device will tell me everything from her blood type to her genetic code," Coby explained to Shinji. The device beeped it was done. Coby looked at the results and swore. "AO+? That's almost impossible!"
"Clone Defect!" Lori breathed in amazement. "Rei's a clone of someone!"
Shinji's eyes widened, "Who?"
"Don't know," Coby said, removing the needle. He muttered a phrase, obviously using a SD Field Technique, and the needle incinerated. "Shinji, do you know your blood type?"
"No," he answered truthfully.
"Hold out your arm, we need to find out," Coby said, preparing another needle. Shinji did so, about to ask why when Coby answered his unasked question. "AO+ is a blood type that can only occur in a living clone, and as a result it is not very stable, compatible with only very specific blood types, such as C, a manufactured blood type. Lori and I don't have a compatible blood type, as we're both AB+. You're our best shot." He stuck the needle into Shinji's arm, the sensor tip reading everything before the device beeped. Coby removed the needle and incinerated it as the one before and looked at the results. "A-. You're compatible. Hmm, that's interesting."
"What is it?" Lori asked, preparing some equipment.
"Rei's ratio of difference to an Angel isn't 99.89, like a normal Human, but 99.95," Coby said. "Shinji, your ratio of difference is 99.93."
"Probably side effects of having S2 organs," Shinji remarked as Lori pulled up his sleeve and began swabbing his arm. "Are you really going to perform a transfusion?"
"We could perform just about any surgery if we had a clean room," Lori remarked, shifting one of the glow rods so that she could see better.
"There's more," Coby continued. "Rei's genetics have been manipulated. And by these readings… Shinji, do you have a picture of your mom?"
Shinji reached into his shirt pocket, using the arm that Lori wasn't fussing with, and handed the only picture he had to Coby. It was one his aunt and uncle had given him when he came to Tokyo 3.
Coby held the picture next to Rei's face, "See a resemblance?"
The only thing keeping Shinji from running in terror was the fact that he knew he wouldn't get far with Lori's grip on his arm as she continued working. "They … they…"
"Look alike," Coby finished for him. "Don't worry, Rei isn't a clone of your mother, but someone definitely manipulated her genetics to try and make that so. Physically, the two of you share enough similarities in bone structure, skeletal structure, and other such attributes to be considered twins. Genetically, however, you can't even be considered cousins, because in spite of your similarities, you share an average amount of DNA that every Human shares. Someone tried to turn Rei into a clone of your mother, without realizing that the clone will always have the base genetics of the egg donor."
"Shinji," Lori said, breaking off the topic. "I'm going to warn you, the transfusion will hurt somewhat, but you need to endure it."
She was making an understatement. It hurt a lot!
"OOOOOOWWWWWW!"
N2 mine in hand, Asuka approached the Angel, still feeling angry. "I'm going bowling with an N2 mine." She looked at her timer, since she couldn't count on external power.
3:45
Almost in a bored way, she set the fuse and rolled the mine just as she was told to. Her aim was true. The bomb knocked through a leg, as planned, causing the Angel to trip and fall, the N2 mine pinned between the ground and the Angel's center. It exploded, vaporizing the entire Angel, and any acid it might have had.
"Too easy! I want a real fight!" she whined, unheard by anyone.
"And she gets the Spare!" Flame Convoy laughed, not knowing that Asuka could hear him through her Eva's systems.
"You dumb animal! I'm going to kill you!" Asuka roared.
She tried until her batteries ran out, something that in the future, whenever he was feeling down, Flame Convoy would remember and quietly chuckle to himself.