Chapter 9: March of Angels (Center Ranks)

Then there was the power outage and the attack of Matarael. The Angel itself was more a nuisance than anything, but its timing was uncanny. It took full advantage of the fact that few sensors could detect it, and that besides the Evas, there was nothing there to stop it. Of course, it wasn't the only one taking advantage of the loss of power. Not by far.

Tokyo-3, September 2015

It was a calm morning today. Shigeru Aoba appreciated that as he stood outside the laundromat he, Ritsuko, and Maya had come to in order to wash their clothes. They would do it from home, but their work simply didn't allow them the time.

This was the least of Ritsuko's worries as she extracted her clothing from the dryer. "I don't mind this laundromat, but the amount of money we're spending here is murder on a budget." she mused.

Maya looked across as she nodded in agreement. "It would certainly be nice to have the free time to at least wash our own clothes. But we're about the business of saving the world, after all." she said ruefully.

Aoba chuckled as he entered. "Well, at least we still have some free time to go home, now that the laundry is done."

Ritsuko and Maya both nodded appreciatively at this. "That we do." Maya said gratefully.

They made their way to the subway, boarding the next available train. To their surprise, they found Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki, absentmindedly leafing through the day's newspaper.

"Oh, hello, Deputy Commander." Ritsuko said, causing Fuyutsuki to lower the newspaper slightly, gazing at them over the top of it. "Good morning sir." Ritsuko then said, taking a seat next to him.

Maya and Aoba were far less relaxed, coming as close to attention as they could with their clothes in their hands. "Good morning, sir!" they both said as professionally as they did on the job.

Fuyutsuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Good morning to you." he said with a constrained sigh as he turned back to his newspaper.

As the four NERV employees sped on, Ritsuko attempted to start a conversation. "You're up early this morning, sir. We don't usually see you on our way."

Fuyutsuki nodded slightly, still intent on his paper. "Yes. I was up topside in the city proper, acting on Ikari's behalf." he replied with a tinge of annoyance.

Ritsuko nodded, turning to look at Fuyutsuki. "That's right. Today was a regular council meeting, right?"

Fuyutsuki sighed as he leafed over to the next page. "It was a mostly meaningless chore, as usual. Nothing to talk about with any sort of excitement."

He shook his head. "Ikari likes to put most of the meaningless things under my purview so that he can do what he needs to. Or wants, really. If it wasn't for the Magi, this city would be a lost cause." he muttered.

Ritsuko nodded, glancing at the front page of Fuyutsuki's newspaper. "So, the city elections are coming up soon, then?"

Fuyutsuki shook his head as he finally let down his newspaper to look at Ritsuko. "The city council is a mask, really. The Magi is what really ensures everything runs smoothly."

"Wait a moment," Maya asked, head tilted slightly, "which section of the Magi takes care of city admin, then?"

Fuyutsuki looked up at the young assistant. "You and I both know we're talking about the most advanced biocomputer on the planet, Ms. Ibuki. Built on the basis of one of the greatest minds of the 3 most recent generations. Its three interlinked sections control everything. City management and defense, communications, most any sensor stations within 10 miles of the city, Eva unit C&C. It does all this by majority vote."

He scoffed slightly as raised his newspaper again. "It's a better representation of democracy than most any city council ever could be."

Maya blinked as he said this. "So, all the city council does is rubber stamp the Magi's decisions then?"

Fuyutsuki nodded. "When it's the least wasteful, most efficient form of governance, it just makes sense, does it not?"

Maya hummed at this. "Truly, we are a city of science." she said with a slight smile. "We're living in an age where science seems able to solve all of our problems. Why not this?"

Aoba rolled his eyes. "Man, what a cliche thing to say. Science solving everything. If only." he muttered.

Fuyutsuki was silent for a moment. Then he looked back over at Ritsuko. "I understand that you'll be conducting tests on Unit-00?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Yes, sir. At 1030, we'll be conducting endurance tests, see how well it does."

Fuyutsuki nodded in turn. "Well, I have high hopes for your success."

Those memories were far from Ritsuko's mind as alarms flashed, and the Unit slowly stirred from its restraints. "Abort the test. Open all the circuits now." she said, keeping her voice as under control as she could. The techs complied quickly, and the room was gradually cloaked in darkness, Unit-00's head slowly dipping.

After a moment, the techs spoke again. "Circuit switch-over complete. Restoring power now."

As the light came as gradually as the darkness did, Ritsuko stood over Maya's shoulder, peering into the monitor of her station. On it, columns of connections spooled out, all marked in green except one.

"This must be our problem, Doctor." Maya said. "The conversion rate efficiency is somehow always below 0.008 of theoretical values. It bugs me, and I don't know why."

Another tech spoke up from his station. "Well, it's just within the measurements of our instruments. So, what do you want to do?"

Ritsuko looked back up at the orange and white titan, a pondering look in her eyes. "We'll start by just lowering the conversion rate by 0.001 and go from there with the same settings."

"Roger." Maya nodded as she and the other techs set to carrying out the task Ritsuko had placed before them.

Ritsuko nodded in turn. "Alright, let's begin the reactivation test again." she said somewhat wearily.

As they began again, Ritsuko pondered silently on the last activation test. And what it nearly cost them. What bestial soul did her mother put in that thing? And why did it hate everyone so much? Or did it hate someone in particular?

Her reverie was broken by the gentle cough of Maya. She turned to look at her student. "Yes, Maya?"

"I was thinking," Maya said after looking at Ritsuko, "what if there was something Rei could do on her end? Raising her synch score somehow might alleviate some of the problems we're facing."

"Perhaps, Kouhai. Perhaps." Ritsuko cupped her chin thoughtfully as she continued to gaze at Unit-00. She wondered where she might find inspiration for such a task. Perhaps she should start by looking at the other two Children…

In another part of the Geofront, a pair of elevator doors slid open in front of Misato, revealing a long hallway, and the man who desperately ran towards them. "Hold the door please!" Kaji said, his ponytail swishing from side to side as he ran.

Misato stared at him for a moment, then slowly reached for the button marked 'Close Doors', pushing it gently. As the doors came inches away from fully closing, Kaji's hand, outstretched as he leaned forward, came in between them at the last second, as he heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, that was quite the hustle to get here, huh, Misato?" he said while he caught his breath.

Misato simply turned away, suppressing an annoyed growl. Great. Now she was stuck in here with him. At least the elevator ride wouldn't be too long, she thought, as the car began its smooth descent.

Kaji looked back at her. "Well, then. Someone hasn't had the greatest morning ever, have they?" he asked with a wry smile.

Misato rolled her eyes. "I got to see your face this early in the day. It hardly helps things." she grumbled.

"Ouch." Kaji said, his smile becoming easy. He fell silent after no reply was forthcoming.

After a moment, the floor display darkened as the elevator slowed to a halt. "A power outage?" Kaji said, more than a little surprised.

Misato turned to him. "Come on. Don't be ridiculous. That could never happen."

The lights then disappeared, the deep red glow of emergency lights taking their place. "For once, Misato," Kaji said after a moment, "I wish I was."

"Well, that's strange," Misato said with no small amount of confusion, "maybe there was some kind of accident?"

Kaji smirked in the dim light. "Perhaps Ritsuko botched an experiment somehow?"

Back in the test chamber, the air was filled with the whir of computers all powering down. As silence settled in, all eyes turned to the shadowed form of Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. "What?" she said defensively after a moment. "It wasn't me." she paused for a moment. "At least this time." she said more softly.

In the elevator, Kaji shrugged. "Regardless, what do you make of the situation?"

Misato shrugged in turn. "Well, power should come back on soon. The backups shouldn't be affected by something like this."

On the bridge of Central Dogma, chatter raised up to a fever pitch. "Sir," a tech said to Fuyutsuki, "None of the backup circuits are coming online."

Fuyutsuki looked over at the tech with shock in his eyes. "That's impossible!" he leaned over the side of the central bridge, looking down at another tech working feverishly. "How many circuits are still working?" he shouted down at one of the technicians.

The tech looked up, putting her hands to her mouth to cast her voice as much as she could. "Most all of the circuits are down! The only ones that are still up are the old ones past number…" she paused as she looked back down for a moment. "Number 2567, sir!"

Fuyutsuki grimaced. This meant that most everything was going to be down and be down for quite a while. They couldn't afford that in the slightest.

Daniel heard this too. He had been on the bridge maintaining his station when the power went out. Knowing what happened next, it had the potential to be a disaster if the Children didn't reach their Units in time.

But then something else came to mind. An old report, all the way from Germany. If the LCL thieves were Interfaced like him, and, as he had discovered in a very close call, could be detected as a Pattern Blue, wouldn't the best time to sneak into the biggest producer of LCL in the world be right now? He had to make sure.

He stood from his position on the bridge and turned to Fuyutsuki. "Sir," he said, as the Deputy Commander turned to him, "I'm fairly certain the Evangelion security is not at risk, but I'd rather be sure. There are a bunch of maintenance tunnels that span the Geofront. I'm going to go take them and go down to the Eva bays, make sure that none of the security measures have been breached."

As he turned and walked away, Fuyutsuki spoke up. "Mr. Theisman, they should be inoperable. We should be just fine."

Daniel turned and looked at Fuyutsuki seriously. "Well, sir, if there's anything I've learned as a mechanic, it's that the things we create have an uncanny ability to surprise us at the worst of times. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Fuyutsuki considered this for a moment. "Well," he finally said, "I can't exactly fault that logic. Go ahead. Report back in when the power comes back online."

Daniel nodded, then saluted. "Yes, sir." Fuyutsuki simply waved him off.

As he exited Central Dogma and ensured that the place that he picked was sufficiently abandoned, he began to create an Expression, designed to act as a sort of spiritual sonar. If the thieves were here, they would light up like stars due to their own Expressions. As the Framework for it was completed, Daniel released the Expression.

The Expression burst out from him like a wave, illuminating the souls, and the Frameworks those souls produced, like outlines of light. Each person's soul, the core of their being, created amazingly intricate Frameworks to interface with body and mind, becoming a repository and expression of their individuality. Looking at one was like looking at a piece of art, totally unique and breathtaking in its intricacy.

He 'saw' hundreds, thousands of such souls, the workers of the Geofront laboring to restore power. And far, far below where he stood, three bright and lonely lights glowed in his vision. Down near Terminal Dogma. Down near Lilith, perhaps the only true producer of LCL.

"Honey," he thought through his link to Eleanor, "we've got some out-of-towners who look like they're trying to get at the LCL here. They've been a nuisance to NERV before in Germany. I'm going to go stop that from being the case here."

He felt and appreciated the immediate understanding Eleanor showed. "Well, if there's ever a time to let loose with some Expressions, it's now. Go get them, honey. I'll be on standby."

Daniel smiled as he fixed the general location of the thieves in his mind and began to create another Expression's Framework. This one was going to be more finicky, more intricate in design. Achieving point-to-point teleportation was, by nature. It was why he had devoted so much time to studying it carefully, after all.

As the mental and spiritual part of the Frame was finished, he created a Control Surface, a (somewhat) physical object to help the Expression manipulate the physical world. In this case, the Control Surface took the form of an open book, seemingly composed of a starfield, upon which a figure, which would represent him, rested.

The Expression finished, he felt the terribly familiar glow of the mark of a bared sword blade appear on his forehead as he activated the Expression, Metos energizing and turning into Flux to power it.

'Well,' he thought, 'here goes nothing.' as he held the book by its covers, and closed it quickly.

A rustle of paper and the smell of an old book, personal touches instinctively added to this Expression by his soul, filled his hearing and smell as a mirror image of the open book sprang into existence under his feet, closing around him with the book.

As the image of a starfield faded from view, he found himself in a different hallway, looking up its length as three figures crouched before a closed door. They jumped as he appeared, and as they turned to him, he could see the marks on their foreheads, cupped hands holding the air beneath a small diamond. These were foot soldiers. Cannon fodder, really.

One of their number, in a familiar nasal voice, called out to him. "Well. We didn't expect anyone else to be joining us."

"You're right, Tavis." Daniel said simply. "You didn't. But here I am."

One of them finally noticed the mark on his brow and the woman that did cursed. "Shit! It's you!" The other thieves' eyes widened along with hers.

"Yeah," Daniel said simply. "It's me."

Shinji Ikari walked with the other two pilots, a glum look on his face. He had been on a call with his father before something went wrong. Then again, it was already going wrong, as usual.

Asuka glanced back as they walked, the sound of birds and insects in the thick summer air underlying her voice as she spoke. "Well, maybe Commander Ikari was just really busy."

Shinji shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed more like he was cut off than simply hanging up."

Asuka sighed, looking back. "Look, you're a pilot, Shinji, as close to a 'savior of humanity' as anyone is gonna get. You don't need to worry about little details like your father being an ass."

Rei was simply silent behind them. They didn't know. And they didn't need to know, so Dr. Akagi and the Commander said.

As they reached the subway, Shinji swiped his ID nearly on instinct, and nearly ran into the closed doors. He blinked, and then looked around, noticing all the lights in the station were dark. "I think the power's out here."

Asuka rolled her eyes, then looked around. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. One of these has to work." she went up and down the line, swiping her ID at every terminal. None offered any sort of reply.

After trying each of the stations, she rejoined the group, an exasperated look pointed at the doors. "Damn it, of all the days for a power failure, it had to be in the middle of summer, didn't it?"

. . .

Elsewhere, in a rapidly warming Geofront, Misato pressed the buttons of an opened panel in the elevator car somewhat futilely, as Kaji stood staring at the doors. Misato sighed after a moment. "There has to be something major going on. I can feel it."

Kaji looked down in uncharacteristic seriousness. "What's the power setup here?"

Misato looked back at him. "It's triple redundancy: main, auxiliary, and backup. If we went from main to nothing like I think we did here…"

Kaji nodded. "This smacks of sabotage to me. Someone must have thrown the breaker if it simply couldn't trip like that."

Misato looked down as she considered the implications. This could be bad. Very, very bad.

. . .

Up on the command bridge of Central Dogma, Commander Ikari unknowingly echoed Kaji's thoughts, while Fuyutsuki lit a candle taken from a surprisingly large store of them. In front of them, a barebones sensor map had slowly come into existence, the last vestiges of power used to maintain the Magi which displayed it.

"Our greatest concern would be an Angel attack. We are severely unprepared for that right now." Fuyutsuki said as he looked up at the map, his face underlit moodily by the candle he had just lit.

As he said this, a tech shouted out as a blip appeared on the sensor map. "We have an object on the radar! Scanning now!"

Gendo shook his head slightly, a small smile on his face. "Sensei, if I may speak frankly, you have the damndest timing sometimes."

Fuyutsuki rolled his eyes as he placed the lit candle in a candle holder. "What I'd give to not." he said in exasperation.

Daniel stood silently as the three thieves stood to defend themselves. In a moment, small handles, Control Surfaces of their own called Grips, flashed into existence as they brandished them. They shuffled their positions as they waited for him to attack.

He needed to make this quick, and he needed to keep this quiet. That meant the best way would have to be some good old-fashioned fisticuffs. As he thought this, specialized Vent Frames for neutralizing and removing the excess Flux he held began to glow on the surface of his back as he took off the jacket of his NERV uniform, tossing it aside as he channeled Metos into the Frame of his soul.

Darkness almost became day, and his muscles tensed as supernatural strength and speed came to them. As he looked at the thieves, time seemed to slow as he took in every twitch of their muscles.

Stillness reigned all too briefly, then Daniel flew forward.

His first target was a man, a little shorter and stouter than him, who seemed to barely have time to blink before two blindingly fast punches to his chest knocked him to the ground, the hits knocking the air out of his lungs before he even hit the floor.

The other two seemed to move towards him slowly. Their pace was getting faster though. They had caught on to his enhancement and were doing their best to match it.

The woman and Tavis tried to encircle Daniel, the woman getting behind him as he focused on Tavis, who got in his face, swinging a knife-like blade seemingly made of slightly glowing mist.

Daniel dodged, then pushed him back with a kick, positioning himself so that his assailants were on his right and left. Stillness came again to all for a second as the combatants sized each other up.

Daniel knew he couldn't keep this up for long. Even with the Vent Frames helping keep the Flux buildup in check, there were other things he needed the Metos for. Something had to give, and soon.

Before the two thieves could make a move, the man who Daniel had knocked down earlier got to his feet, shoving his companion aside. "Abed, no!" he heard Tavis shout as the man charged at him, swinging the blade he held.

Daniel batted it away, turning the motion into a left hook that caught the man, spinning him around. Daniel grabbed at him from behind, his right arm locking around the man's right shoulder, while his left snaked around his throat. Then Daniel squeezed. Hard.

The explosive crack that rang out signaled the man's neck breaking, shattering really, as he slumped to the floor, lifeless.

"No!" the woman shouted. She then shouted wordlessly and began to charge as Daniel turned to face her, the woman's blade poised to strike down at him.

As the blade came down, Daniel raised his arms over his head, the block colliding with the woman's wrist, stopping the blade inches away from his face.

Suddenly, a lance of pain arced through Daniel's side as Tavis drove his blade into Daniel's back, causing Daniel to shout in pain. After a moment, his block of the woman's blade changed into a grip on her arm, as he bodily threw her into the wall next to him, a dull crunch ringing out as her impact dented the wall.

As she fell, Daniel turned to face Tavis. As he did, the woman ran past him, grabbing Tavis and pulling him back. "Tavis, Tavis," she said with more than a little desperation, "we can't stay. We have to go."

Tavis struggled for a moment, then stilled as he nodded. "Alright." he grumbled as he pushed the woman off him. He stared at Daniel for a moment as his companion started to create an Expression. "Now we know where you are, fallen one. We'll return. But we'll deal with you first. All in good time."

Tavis smiled as three glass-like figurines appeared in the woman's hand. She crushed them, shattering them, and it seemed the image of the thieves shattered too as they disappeared.

Daniel walked forward, observing the pieces of 'glass' as they slowly faded away. They were gone. For now.

As he turned and slowly returned to some semblance of normal human capabilities, a deep, burning sensation drove him to his knees. The blade, he realized, was poisoned.

He tried to use his soul's Frame to destroy it, but the burning sensation simply spread. They must have made the poison with Interfacing. He could resist it, but he would not be able to destroy it. He needed to get out of here.

"Eleanor," he thought, rising to his feet for a moment, the pain then driving him to one knee, "I'm going to… damn… I'm going to need help getting out of here. One of them nicked me with some sort of poison. I think I know what it might be."

In a moment, the smell of the sea and the sound of lapping waves filled the corridor, and Eleanor stepped out of the image of a passing wave. She picked up her pace as she walked towards him, eyes filled with concern.

"What did they get you with?" she said, helping him to his feet.

Daniel shook his head, his vision blurring as he thought he saw Eleanor in her old combat armor from the war, then blinked and saw her as she was. "It's an old Scion poison. It won't kill me. But it's going to be hell for the next couple of days."

Eleanor looked at him with shock as she summoned the Control Surface for her next teleportation Expression, two entwined figures made of coral. "You mean…"

Daniel nodded shakily. "I do. They're here."

Eleanor's eyes filled with shock as she gripped the figures, her hand seeming to become a swirling tide of water. "Then this world is in far more trouble than they think."

Daniel nodded again. "And don't I know it."

The Expression created an image of a swirling vortex of water that surrounded them. As the vortex slowed, then disappeared, the hallway was left empty once again, save for the smell of the fresh sea.

Up above on the surface, the Children tried to make their way towards the Geofront, knowing that if the power was out up here, then the Geofront would probably have a handle on the situation. They found themselves in a long corridor, each of the doors on either side silent and unyielding.

"Come on, even here, on NERV property?" Asuka growled. "This is ridiculous. That means the Geofront is probably offline too." she sighed.

Rei pushed the button of the door she was at over and over, then turned back after a moment. "This likely means that the Geofront is in a state of emergency. That makes our presence there even more necessary. We will need to be ready, in case of an Angelic threat."

"Yeah, yeah, Wondergirl." Asuka said with a roll of her eyes and a sarcastic tone. "I'm sure the Angels would be smart enough to somehow know we don't have any power and attack."

Rei looked at Asuka and nodded. "I would be too."

After a moment of tense silence, Shinji piped up with an uncertain tone. "Okay. How about we try to contact the Geofront? They should be able to direct us to where we need to go."

Asuka and Rei both nodded as they looked at Shinji. "Not a bad call, Shinji." Asuka said. "There's some phones here. Let's try them."

Shinji pulled out his smartphone, Rei pulled out a flip phone, of all things, and Asuka tried the direct landline. All were silent.

"I have no connection." Rei said as Asuka hung up the landline with a click.

"Neither do I. Even the emergency line is down." Asuka said.

Shinji put his phone back in his pocket. "So, what do we do next?"

Rei responded by sitting down and opening her bag, pulling out a sealed set of instructions, emblazoned with red and yellow stripes. Asuka, seeing this, hastily tried to follow her lead. Shinji stood there, more than somewhat confused. "What are you two looking for?"

Asuka looked back up to Shinji in annoyance. "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to get at the emergency instructions we've been provided! Why aren't you?"

Shinji scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Because they didn't… give me any?"

Asuka groaned as she continued digging. "Every day, it's something new you have no idea about, isn't it?"

Rei, who had finished studying her plans, looked up. "There are a variety of ways into the Geofront that do not require power."

Before she could continue, Asuka nodded her head. "I agree. But before we go, we need to know who will be leading the group through all this." she pointed a thumb at herself. "I would most likely be the best leader. Does anyone think otherwise?"

Shinji and Rei looked at each other, more than a little confusion in their eyes.

Taking the silence as acceptance, Asuka turned on her foot, hands on her hips. "Very well then. Onward, to the Geofront!"

After a moment of silence, Rei once again spoke up. "Of all the routes that lead the way to the Geofront, the one behind us, Number 7, would be the quickest."

Asuka frowned and sighed, but still turned around. "Thank you for your guidance, Wondergirl. Let's go that way then." she said with a sardonic tone.

As they did, they approached a door, closed to them like all the rest. "Well, that's annoying." Shinji said with a sigh. "Yet another closed door. Wait…" he trailed off as he noticed the mechanism next to the door.

"Yep, a manual release," Asuka said with a grin directed towards Shinji, "which should be no problem for a big, strong man like you. Right?"

Shinji rolled his eyes as he began to wind the door open. "Because clearly, neither of you are bigger than a scrawny 15-year-old boy." he muttered under his breath.

Asuka's eyebrow rose. "What was that, Shinji?"

Shinji jumped a little. "Uh, nothing, nothing." he said quickly, as the doors finally opened wide enough to slip through one by one.

The long, dark corridor was lit only by emergency lights, and two of the three figures that stared at it couldn't help but feel somewhat apprehensive. "Well," Asuka said after a moment, "let's go get to the Geofront."

Deep in the Geofront, in an elevator that was really getting quite hot, Misato had taken off her jacket now, sitting on the elevator floor opposite Kaji, and was airing out her shirt.

"You know," Kaji said with a wry grin, "if you really wanted to, you could take off more than just your jacket in here."

As Misato clutched at her shirt, Kaji rolled his eyes. "It's nothing I haven't seen before. You and I both know that very well."

Misato grabbed at her jacket, angrily putting it on and zipping it up. "If you're trying to get in my pants, Kaji, it's not going to work."

Kaji simply rolled his eyes. "Okay. Message received, loud and clear."

They both sat in silence for a while then. As they did, Misato looked at Kaji with a suspicious eye. What she saw surprised her somewhat, as she saw him looking down at the floor, a melancholic look in his eyes. She wasn't used to seeing that. What could he be thinking about?

Then she remembered what Daniel had said at the onsen. 'He knows more about loss than you might think.' she had puzzled over what that had meant after the fact. If there was any time to ask, it might as well be now.

"Kaji," she said, pausing as he blinked and looked at her, "what were you thinking about?"

Kaji blinked, then softly snorted as he nodded. "Well, you got me thinking about my brother."

His brother? Misato had never heard him mention any family. "I didn't know you had a brother, Kaji." she said, softly.

Kaji nodded again. "I don't really talk about him much. It hurts, really."

He looked around at the walls. "I guess that now is as good a time as any to explain."

He shifted into a more comfortable position, then started his story. "Growing up after Second Impact was hard here. You probably know that much. The chaos, the wars, the riots, and the police actions. It really was hell on Earth."

He paused for a moment, then continued. "I lost all of my family except my younger brother, Akio. He was stubborn, willful, and had a bleeding heart, especially for other kids with lost causes. Got him in as much trouble as it got him out of."

Kaji smiled. "That's how we formed our own little gang. Orphans, castaways, the lost, all scrounging for food during the shortages that swept through. We had a decent run of it. Then we got stupid. Decided that picking at a military base was a good idea."

Kaji fell silent as he kept Misato's rapt attention. After a moment, he continued. "We each took turns sneaking in and taking what little we could find, and only as much as we could get away with without being noticed. One day, it was my turn. I don't know what happened, but for one reason or another, I got caught. They beat me for hours, trying to find out if there were others, where they were, who we might have been working for."

"After a while, I just… cracked."

Kaji was silent for a time. The implication of what had happened hit Misato like a truck.

Then, her fears were confirmed as Kaji went on. "After a while, I escaped. I still don't know if they let me or if I simply got lucky. When I made my way back to our hideout… they were all dead. The bastards had killed them all. They were just kids… he was just a kid…"

Kaji sighed deeply. "I lost a part of my soul that day. And I went through life with a hole in my heart where Akio used to be." Kaji paused as he looked intently into Misato's eyes. "Then I met you."

Misato gasped softly as Kaji went on. "You reminded me so much of him. You were strong, you didn't take anything from anyone… and you were so kind. Meeting you… filled that hole I had begun to ignore."

Kaji looked down for a moment, and then met Misato's gaze again. "So why did you leave?" he whispered.

Misato's breath caught in her throat. For a moment, she didn't see Kaji sitting across from her, she saw… no. Not yet.

Misato looked down and to the side. "Because you reminded me of someone, too. And it hurt too much for me to talk about. It still does."

Kaji waited patiently for Misato to continue. When she didn't, a small, sad smile came across his face. "Well, when you're ready, I believe you owe me. A story for a story."

Misato snorted softly, slightly smiling. "Okay. I think I could do that. Maybe."

Kaji nodded, and the elevator car became silent once again.

In the sweltering, candle-lit Central Dogma, Commander Gendo Ikari stared at the sensor map, showing the Angel growing ever closer. Fuyutsuki stood beside him, then spoke up after a moment.

"I've been thinking for a moment, Commander." he paused as he waited for the Commander to slightly nod for him to go on. "The Geofront is designed to be a completely self-sufficient habitat. Theoretically, it should be impossible to cut all the power at once like this."

"Which means," Ritsuko spoke up from below them, "that there is a reason for this blackout."

Gendo finally spoke. "The most likely intention of those who would attempt such a thing would probably be to study our methods."

Ritsuko spoke again. "They could learn a lot from simply watching how we restore our power."

Fuyutsuki sighed. "Whatever the case, they've caused a lot of trouble. Especially with an Angel over our heads."

Ritsuko turned to face Gendo. "I'll have the Magi run some decoy programs, make it difficult to watch us and our protocols. It'll slow us down by about an hour, but we're close to restoring power." she turned to Maya. "How long does the Magi say we have?'

Maya looked down at the tablet she held, uplinked directly to the Magi systems. "About an hour and a half right now, ma'am." She tapped in a few command prompts, and the system worked quickly. "Magi says the sort of programs you're thinking of will only slow us down by about 35 minutes or so."

Gendo nodded at Ritsuko. "Make it so, then."

Ritsuko nodded. "Yes, sir." She turned back to her work.

Fuyutsuki tsked. "To think that we were breached not by Angels first, but our fellow man."

Gendo nodded slightly. "Sensei, the fellow man has always been man's first enemy."

Fuyutsuki shook his head. "So it would seem."

Deep in the corridors of the Geofront, after hearing the voice of First Lieutenant Hyuga proclaim the presence of an Angel, the Children had continued to walk. Now, however, they were crawling in one of the larger networks of air ducts. This shortcut was taken on the advice of Rei, of all people, who seemed to know her way around the system uncannily.

Asuka shook her head as she crawled. "Man, of all the times for an Angel to attack, it just had to be when we weren't at our Evas. And of all the shortcuts I've taken, this has to be the most uncomfortable." she said in an exasperated tone.

Silence traveled with them for a moment before Shinji spoke up. "So, why Angels?"

"What?" Asuka said with apparent confusion. 'What do you mean, why Angels?"

"I mean," Shinji said after a moment, "why do we even call them Angels? Angels are supposed to be heavenly messengers, right?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Who cares? They're here, they want to destroy us, and we have to destroy them. Simple as that."

Rei, who was ahead of them, leading the way through the vents, stayed silent. 'Simple for you, yes, but too simple. Compared to what I know. What you can't know.' but still, she carried on.

Finally, they extricated themselves from the vent, and continued to walk, eventually coming to a branching path. After a moment's consideration, Asuka nodded. "We go right."

Rei spoke up again. "I believe the quickest way would be to the left."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I don't believe I asked you, but I'll take it into consideration."

She turned to look at Shinji. "What do you think, Shinji?"

Shinji was silent for a moment. "Hmm… well, it's not like we can't turn around and try the other one if the one we take fails…"

Asuka nodded. "Very smart, Shinji. Let's go."

She then turned and began to march down the corridor to the right. Shinji and Rei glanced at each other, then followed.

As the corridor slowly sloped upwards, Shinji sighed. "We need to be going down, don't we? We should probably turn back."

"Not yet," Asuka said, glancing back, "at least until we can confirm that this isn't the right way."

"However," Asuka said, as all of them saw a dim red light at the end of the slope, "I have a good feeling about this one."

As they reached the door, Asuka stepped up to it, bracing herself against the frame, and delivered a mighty kick. The door, however, had other ideas, as it barely budged. Asuka glowered at it, then primed yet another kick. Then another.

After a moment glaring at the obstinate door, she turned to Shinji and Rei. "Not a word of this. To anyone else. Got it?"

Shinji gulped, and both the Children in question nodded, some more quickly than others.

"Good." Asuka said after a moment, turning back to the door and rubbing her hands together before gripping the frame once again. She put all the strength she could into this last kick, and with a shout, the door finally swung open, revealing a city street in broad daylight.

Asuka sighed for a moment before a massive, black, insect-like leg came crashing down in front of them, the impact shaking all three pilots to the floor.

As they got up, the leg moved away, and the Angel's pill-like body, covered in what looked like eyes, came into view. One seemed to stare directly at the pilots as it passed, and Asuka froze for a moment, before jumping up and straining to pull the door shut.

As the door finally closed with a dull thunk, Asuka put her back against it, breath heaving with effort as she looked at the other two Children.

As she composed herself, she stood from leaning against the door. "Alright. We've made visual contact on the Angel and confirmed that it's in the city. We'll really need to hurry now."

She turned to Rei with a slightly grumpy look. "Now, I've been taught a good leader takes the advice of those below them. Rei, you said that the path to the left was the more likely way, correct?"

Rei nodded slightly. "Yes. It is."

Asuka nodded assuredly. "Very well. Lead on then, Wondergirl."

In Central Dogma, the quiet hustle of work was quickly interrupted by the screech of tires. A van, bearing a political slogan and a speaker system, had somehow made its way directly into the heart of the Geofront.

That reason soon revealed itself, as First Lieutenant Hyuga leaned out the window, the receiver for the speaker in hand. "There is an Angel directly overhead!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the massive room. "Recommend an immediate launch of the Evas!"

As the clamor in the command center began to rise in volume, Commander Ikari rose to his feet. "Fuyutsuki," he said in his usual cool and collected voice, "keep an eye on things here."

Fuyutsuki looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "Sir?"

Gendo barely turned his head. "I'm going to go down to the Eva cages to prepare for launch."

Fuyustuki's eyes widened in disbelief. "Captain Theisman went down to check on them a few hours ago. He still hasn't reported back. Besides, we still have the better part of an hour before the power comes back online."

His eyes widened still further after a moment. "Unless you plan to do it manually?"

As Gendo gripped the ladder, he turned to face Fuyutsuki. "We have emergency diesel generators and enough technicians to provide adequate manpower for the manual necessities of such a task. And if Captain Theisman is indisposed for whatever reason, First Lieutenant Theisman will have the training necessary to complete the task without him."

Gendo looked over to Ritsuko and Maya. "Doctor Akagi, First Lieutenant Ibuki. Come with me."

They nodded and followed, and as the three went down the ladder, Fuyutsuki sighed. "We still need the pilots, Ikari…"

The pilots in question stared at yet another branching path in silence. After a moment, Rei walked down one of the paths. "This way." she said, her voice echoing in the empty halls. After a moment, Asuka rolled her eyes, then followed, Shinji behind her.

After a moment of walking, Asuka made her way beside Rei, an amused glint in her eye. "So, you seem to know these tunnels and vents pretty well. Are you secretly a delinquent or something?"

Rei simply continued to look forward and walk. "No. I am not a delinquent. I am a pilot of NERV."

The amusement in Asuka's eyes became scorn. "So, what? You're the commander's pet then? Shacked up in a cushy penthouse right by the Geofront, a few multivitamins and a nice smoothie to start the day?"

Shinji's eyes widened. She really didn't know what she was talking about. But before he could say anything, Rei coolly replied. "I do not live in or near the Geofront. I currently live in Ayashibahara Residential District, on the orders of Commander Ikari. And there are no multivitamins among my current medications."

Asuka's eyebrow rose. "Medications? Are you sick or something?"

Rei continued to stare ahead. "No. I am taking my medications to ensure that I am able to follow orders."

Asuka's eyes widened as the scorn left them, shock taking its place. "So, you're a… a doll?"

Rei stopped, and Asuka and Shinji almost collided with her. She turned to them; her brows furrowed ever so slightly.

"I am not a doll." she said, the slightest tone of defensiveness in her voice perhaps the most expression either of them had ever seen out of her. She then turned and continued walking.

Asuka and Shinji stood there for a moment, puzzled and with concerned looks on their faces. Then they slowly began to follow. No one spoke for the duration of their walk.

Gendo, Ritsuko, and Maya emerged into the Eva bays, which were already bustling with activity. As they looked around at the preparations, they found the ones at its center. Eleanor Theisman was a maestro in the middle of a symphony of steel and sweat, directing those around her to unlock by hand and tool the massive cages that confined the Evas.

As they made their way towards her, they found another figure, slumped beside her. Daniel Theisman had lost the jacket of his uniform, his white shirt soaked with sweat, and his face was pale.

Ritsuko made her way to Daniel's side. "What happened?" she said, looking him up and down, and focusing on the small, bloody patch in his back.

Daniel shook slightly as he spoke. "I found intruders in the maintenance hallways on my way here." Ritsuko and Maya's eyes widened, while Gendo's hardened.

Daniel continued after a moment. "I figured they were probably the ones responsible for all this, and I decided to follow them and see where they were going. They noticed me, we had a fight, and I got stabbed in the back with a knife. It had some sort of poison on it."

Ritsuko checked the area of the wound, then stood to look at Daniel. "What are the symptoms thus far?"

Daniel looked up, and he saw Ritsuko's face. A bullet wound had appeared on her forehead, and her face seemed serene as a rivulet of blood slowly made its way down her face. Daniel couldn't help but stare for a moment.

Ritsuko blinked. "Daniel?"

Daniel blinked rapidly, and Ritsuko's regular face, filled with concern, reestablished itself.

"From what I can tell," he said after a moment, "Intermittent fevers and chills, muscle tremors, and vivid visual hallucinations."

He paused for a moment, then continued. "I think I've seen this stuff before. A Brazilian bioweapon developed during the Impact Wars. The guerrillas called it 'Mordida de Alma'. The Soulbite. It doesn't show on any medical scans, and it doesn't kill. But I won't be able to do much useful in the meantime."

He shook his head. "This stuff should have been destroyed after the war ended. But I guess some slipped out of Brazil."

"Damn." Ritsuko said. Gendo made his way to her side, looking intently at Daniel. "Do you have a guess at where they were going?" he asked.

Daniel paused for a moment. "Deeper," he then said, "down towards… Terminal Dogma and LCL production, I think."

Ritsuko's eyes widened again, as did Gendo's. "We will deal with the security breach when the time comes," Gendo said after a moment, "but right now, we must deal with the Angel."

He turned to look at Eleanor. "You seem to have things well in hand. Where am I needed?"

Eleanor stared at the commander briefly, then looked upwards. "There's some pulley teams up there that I'm sure would appreciate the extra muscle."

Gendo nodded. "Very well. I'll make my way up there." He turned to Ritsuko and Maya. "How much longer until we have power?"

Maya looked down at the tablet she had carried from the command center. "The Magi says we have about 45 minutes until power is restored."

Gendo nodded. "Get in touch with Central Dogma over the radio. There should be some here that can connect to Fuyutsuki." He turned and began to make his way towards the pulley team pointed out to him.

. . .

Deep in the vent systems connecting to the Eva cages, the Children continued to crawl. Asuka had had enough of these vents, and she made no secret of it. "This is absolutely ridiculous." she growled as she trudged along.

She turned her head towards Shinji, who was behind her. "If you try and peek up my skirt, I swear that your face is going to be black and blue."

Shinji, whose head was studiously down expressly to avoid such things, nodded. "I figured, Asuka."

Asuka gave a satisfied humph. "I thought as much."

After a moment, Rei paused, causing Asuka and Shinji to stop. Then she scooted ahead a little farther, as Asuka and Shinji followed. "We're here." she said simply, as she kicked at the edge of a panel.

The closed, wide vent grill dropped, and Shinji and Asuka along with it, as the two Children fell into a pile near Ritsuko and Maya. Rei dropped down after them, landing on her feet with the grace of a gymnast.

As the Children struggled to their feet, Asuka looked over at Daniel, concern immediately falling over her face like a storm cloud as she jogged over to him. "Daniel, are you okay?"

Daniel looked into her eyes, and they widened with fear, somehow getting still wider as he glanced at Rei and then back to her, before he blinked several times, shaking his head. "I'll be fine in a little while, Jünger," he said, calling her by a pet name neither had heard used for a long while, "but right now, you need to get ready to head to the surface."

Up above them, Gendo turned to his team, drenched in sweat. "Alright, prepare the Entry Plugs for insertion!" A chorus of compliance greeted him, and the men around them set about the work of opening the Entry Plugs.

Shinji, having gotten to his feet and dusted himself off, walked over to Ritsuko. "How are the Evas?" he glanced over to Asuka and Daniel, noting Daniel's sickly appearance. "And what happened to Daniel?"

Ritsuko nodded her head at Daniel, then the Evas. "Daniel's going to be okay. Something happened while he was coming here to check on the Evas. And the Evas are ready to go, and only waiting for you, thanks to Mrs. Theisman."

Shinji looked at the silent figures behind Ritsuko. "Even with no power?" he asked after a moment.

Ritsuko smiled slightly. "We did it all by hand." She looked up. "Your father had the idea, and it seemed Eleanor was thinking ahead of him."

Shinji followed her gaze up to look at his father, straining with a group of mechanics to open the Entry Plug hatch of Unit-01. It was almost inspiring to him, really, to see his father doing something he never expected him to do as a high and mighty commander.

"He had faith that you all would come in time." Ritsuko said after a moment of silence." Now, it's time for you to get in the Evas, pilots."

With the pilots ensconced in their Units, and the rumble of diesel engines filling the air, Gendo, who had joined the group of Ritsuko, Maya, Eleanor, and Daniel, turned to face them. "Before we go up, we need some idea of what we're up against. Ibuki, do you have a connection to Central Dogma?"

Maya nodded, holding up a two-way radio. "Deputy Commander," she said, "speaking into the open mic, "we're here, and the Units are ready to go. Has the Angel done anything? Over." the radio clicked off with a tone.

In Central Dogma, Fuyutsuki watched with a camera feed with growing unease, showing the angel situated over one of the access vents connecting the Geofront to the surface. It… cried, or at least looked like it did, and its 'tears' hissed and steamed as they hit the metal and concrete below it.

"It's using some sort of corrosive acid to try and eat through the layers between Tokyo-3 and the Geofront proper. The acid appears to be incredibly strong." He looked over to a tablet linked to the Magi on the low wall in front of him. "The Magi reports that it has already eaten through 2 of the armor plates in the last 4 minutes."

"That means," he looked away from the tablet, doing some quick mental math, "we have about 40 minutes until it breaches the Geofront." he paused for a minute. "Oh, over." he said, absentmindedly.

Gendo nodded as he heard this. "Alright. How much longer until we have power?"

Maya looked down at her tablet again. "About 25 minutes, sir."

Ritsuko nodded as Maya said this. "It'll be cutting it close, but as long as we can get the Evas to the surface, we'll have umbilical cables waiting for them."

Eleanor nodded. "And the battery packs we've given them should last long enough to allow them to get to the surface as well."

Gendo nodded. "Very well then." He turned to look at the Evas, all lined up and ready to go, though still restrained. "Alright," he said, raising his voice to reach the crews, "remove lockdown bolt 1!"

Without any of the power which was usually forthcoming, the process had become much easier to understand, as technicians raised fire axes above pneumatic hoses, severing them cleanly in one swing. Locks began to slowly disengage one by one, the bolts sliding out punctuated only by the grunts of the men whose effort made it so.

After a moment, all the bolts were disengaged, and Maya spoke from behind a pair of binoculars. "Pressure is zero. The Units are standing clear, sir."

Gendo nodded, then spoke again, this time to the pilots. "Pilots, you'll have to break free of the restraints under your own power. Evas, launch!"

Massive hands grabbed at the various constraints, pulling and pushing as quickly as they could to undo the locks and gain the freedom of movement. As they did this, the command staff, along with Daniel and Eleanor, departed back towards Central Dogma.

After much effort, the Evas were finally freed. Following the map that had been transmitted to them by the Magi, the Units made their way with all haste to the surface, what few weapons they could easily take in tow. As they crawled through a usually massive space in a fashion not too dissimilar to their previous travel, they split up, taking separate paths that would surround the Angel.

In the now sweltering area of Central Dogma, the sensor screen and camera feed on the Angel had been joined by a countdown to the restoration of power, one that now read 17:46:25 as the number continued to dwindle. Besides those sparse screens, nothing else gave any current indication of the unfolding situation to the rest of the tensed bridge crew.

In time, the Units finally touched sunlight, and clambered out onto the streets, staying well away from the Angel. Now, the time had come to wait for the moment to strike. Asuka glanced at a display that came courtesy of the Magi, now reading 12:22:57. She pulled up another display, a split-screen showing the faces of Rei and Shinji.

"Alright," she said as they stood quietly waiting, "here's the deal. This thing looks pretty spindly. It shouldn't be too hard for one of us to just pop out and shoot it. I don't know why we didn't just shoot at it while we were still underground, but here we are."

"And in about," she glanced over at the screen, "10 minutes or so, I'm going to pop out of cover, kill it with my Pallet Rifle, and we can all go home. Sounds good?"

Shinji looked uncertain. "Well, this is still an Angel, so we really should still be cautious of what it might be able to do…"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I know that. Which is why I'm shooting at it from behind cover."

Deep in Central Dogma, the people within were sweating without regard to the heat now, as they listened to the pilots talk, and watched the countdown silently. Every so often, a small chime from a tablet connected to the Magi would sound, announcing that another armor plate had been breached by the Angel's powerful acid.

Slowly, as the number of armor plates between them and the Angel grew thin, the countdown entered its final minutes. "5 minutes to power." Maya said into the darkness, heard by the command staff and the rest of the bridge. They watched as the Angel continued its slow, sure assault, and as the countdown went from minutes to seconds, all involved held their breath, many without realizing it.

00:05:00...

00:04:00...

00:03:00...

00:02:00...

00:01:00…

As the timer finally hit zero, light entered the massive room with a whir, and as the blessed coolness of air conditioning began to whir from the air vents, more than a few cheers went up.

Fuyutsuki nodded, a small sigh of relief escaping his own lips. "At last. We're ready to fight this thing properly."

Gendo slightly nodded beside him. "All Units." he said. "Power has been restored. Prepare for combat!"

Elsewhere in the Geofront, Misato had finally had enough of her confinement in a powerless elevator. Which was how she had come to sit on Kaji's slightly swaying shoulders as she tried to open the ceiling access panel from the inside. "Come on," she said quietly, "just open, you stupid thing! My bladder is killing me, and I wouldn't be surprised if Kaji could say the same!"

Kaji rolled his eyes and stayed silent. After a few moments more of valiant effort on Misato's part, the elevator shuddered to life and began descending again, and Misato and Kaji swayed from side to side for a moment before crashing down in a heap on top of each other.

As they groaned in the now almost painfully bright light, the elevator dinged as the doors opened. After a moment spent untangling themselves, Misato exited into the hallway leading to Central Dogma, Kaji following behind.

In the distance, they heard the chatter and noise of a very busy command center, which drew them both towards it with increasing speed. As they burst in, they saw the holographic map alive, a layout of the city being displayed on it, and various camera feeds, showing the spindly Angel in all of its terrible majesty, and the Evas surrounding it.

As they made their way up to the command bridge, Ritsuko turned to look at them. "Well, it's about time you showed up." she said, only slightly sarcastically.

Misato rolled her eyes. "We got stuck in an elevator. Not terribly much one can do about that."

Ritsuko's eyebrow raised as she considered the rumpled state of their clothing, but said nothing.

"Alright," Misato said, taking stock of the situation, "fill me in on what I need to know."

. . .

On the surface, as the timer reached zero, satisfaction was evident on at least two of the pilot's faces as they all gratefully reached for umbilical cables that had appeared in towers out from under the ground.

Plugging in, Asuka readied her Pallet Rifle as she moved from building to building, closing on the Angel. "Alright," she said, reaching an optimal position, "let's pop this bug and be done with it."

As Asuka raised her rifle to aim at the Angel, one of the eyes on its side moved, seeming to focus on her. With an echoing screech, a jet of acid shot Asuka from the eye that looked at her, and it moved with impossible speed as it zipped forward a short distance.

Asuka ducked behind the building just in time, the jet of acid clipping the edge of the building, melting everything it touched. Asuka looked at the damaged building with shock and indignation. "Nobody said these verdammt things could move that fast! Shinji, Wondergirl, box it in! I'll get into position again!"

Shinji and Rei both moved to try and intercept the spindly Angel, but all they received was a bolt of acid and the sight of it speeding away for a moment before it stopped.

In Central Dogma, shouts of surprise were evident among the crew, and even Misato and Ritsuko's eyes widened in amazement. "How is it moving that fast?" Misato said in amazement.

"I think it's utilizing its AT Field to strengthen its body in order to do so. It doesn't look like it can do it for very long, from what we've seen thus far." Ritsuko postulated.

In the back of the command deck, Daniel and Eleanor watched, and their eyebrows went up silently as they thought exactly the same thing. 'Well, that's new.'

As Shinji tried to move on it again, he got the same result once again but was too slow to dodge this time, as the acid bolt clipped his thigh. Pain shot through him for a moment, and then steadily burned within his leg, driving Unit-01 to a knee for a moment as it grabbed at its wound. "Don't get hit," Shinji said through clenched teeth, "I wouldn't recommend it at all."

Asuka rolled her eyes as she hid a slight snort at what he said. "Well, that much was obvious, Shinji."

Rei piped up. "It is obvious we need a new plan. I recommend that we take a moment to study its movements."

Asuka looked at Rei through her display of her. "And risk it getting through to the Geofront? No way. We have to kill it, and we have to do it now."

"Hold on," Shinji said as he brought Unit-01 back to its feet, "Rei has a point. If we watch it, we can figure out if it's trying to use the same spot it was in before. And it doesn't look like it can keep up its speed for long. If it's using its AT Field for it, then it can't be that strong of a defense."

Asuka rolled her eyes and growled softly. "Well, seeing as there's a majority... " she sighed. "I guess we'll be Angel watchers for a moment."

"We can help you with that," Misato chimed in. "We have camera feeds all over the city. We can watch it while you come up with a plan." Each of the pilots nodded in turn as she said this.

They got behind cover as best they could and tried to stay out of the Angel's line of sight, as it made its way back towards the spot it occupied before the Evas surfaced at a leisurely pace.

"Okay," Shinji said after a moment of study, "we know it's moving towards its original position. We need to surprise it somehow."

Rei spoke up after a moment. "We could try and grab its legs as they pass by. That may immobilize it."

Asuka nodded. "Not too bad of a plan, Wondergirl, but we'll need to do it in the right way. If we just grab the first legs we see, it'll just stretch out, and that is going to make for a difficult shot. We need to ensure that it stays as much in one place as possible."

"Right," Shinji said, pulling up a link to Central Dogma. "Misato, do you think you can help us do that?"

Misato, looking at the holographic reconstruction of Tokyo-3 which showed everything's position, smiled. "Why, yes, Shinji, we can help with that."

She looked down from the command bridge to the rest of the bridge staff down below. "Alright, calculate that Angel's trajectory, then calculate positions needed for two of the Evas to grab legs diagonal to each other!"

A chorus of compliances presaged a redoubled effort to track the massive, spindly Angel's course, and Misato turned back to the link with Shinji, Asuka, and Rei. "You should have your positions soon. Right now, I recommend you move ahead of the Angel, and ensure you have the time needed to set up positions." The pilots nodded, a chorus of rogers prefacing a speedy, yet cautious move ahead of the Angel.

After a brief amount of time, a display blossomed into existence in the pilot's view, showing positions two of them would have to reach in the next 10 minutes. "Alright," Asuka said as they continued to make their way, "I'll go ahead and squash this Angel. Shinji, you and Wondergirl take the legs, line up my shot."

Shinji hid a sigh but nodded. "I can do that."

Rei only nodded slightly. "I will get into position."

Asuka smiled hungrily. "Excellent. Let's do this."

Slower now, but surely, they all got into the places outlined on their displays. Then the most stressful part began. They waited.

They listened, as the sound of the Angel's footsteps got closer and closer. Watched, looking at the massive black legs that towered over everything, slowly rising and falling as their owner seemed to crawl towards its original position. Felt as the slight vibrations of its footsteps intermittently rumbled through their bodies.

"Remember," Misato said, breaking the silence, "you'll need to strengthen your AT Fields. That will be the only way to withstand its acid for any amount of time."

"Duly noted, Misato." Asuka said. "Okay, you two," she said to the pilots, "get ready. Here it comes."

Rei watched as the front legs passed her by. "The front of the Angel has passed my position. Prepare yourself, pilot Ikari."

Shinji nodded, waiting for the moment when a massive leg would come sweeping towards where he hid.

Right on time, two towering black legs rose and lowered themselves right in front of Shinji and Rei. Asuka wasted no time. "Now!"

As one, Shinji and Rei encompassed the spindly legs in crushing bear hugs, causing the Angel to emit its warbling shriek as it began spraying acid everywhere in its vicinity.

Asuka emerged from cover, shouldering her Pallet Rifle, and setting the pill-like body of the Angel square in her sights. "Man, I've been waiting for this." she muttered in satisfaction. She squeezed the trigger, sending round after round into the essentially defenseless creature.

After the barrage ended, the Angel's shriek died into a whimper, as its body crashed to the ground, legs leaning into each other in a tangle.

In Central Dogma, a cheer went up among the bridge crew, and even Fuyutsuki proffered a polite clap. "I must say," Fuyutsuki mused, "we truly have proven our worth today, haven't we?"

"That we have, Sensei," Commander Ikari said, surprising Fuyutsuki, "that we have, indeed."

As the Evas all walked out to surround the bullet-riddled Angel, Asuka sniffed proudly. "As much as I would like to claim the kill of this Angel my sole property, reality dictates that I must give you guys some credit in helping me take this down. So, good job in helping me."

Shinji blinked for a moment. "Well, I mean, I guess that makes sense..."

Asuka turned to the image of Shinji, brow furrowed in slight ire. "What do you mean you guess it makes sense? Of course, it does!"

Shinji stammered for a moment before Rei interjected coolly. "She is right, pilot Ikari. We did assist her in achieving her kill of the Angel."

Asuka's ire turned to Rei. "I didn't ask you to defend me, Wondergirl! I can do that just fine myself!"

Rei simply nodded. "My apologies, pilot Soryu."

Asuka nodded as she sniffed. "That's what I thought."

In Central Dogma, Daniel and Eleanor listened to the pilot's conversation. After a moment, Eleanor turned to Daniel, squeezing his hand gently. "Are you doing alright?"

Daniel looked up at her, simply staring silently for a moment before he smiled. "With you here, I couldn't be anything else."

Eleanor smiled, then looked at the display of the pilots, her smile becoming a little sadder. "They have a long way to go still."

Daniel nodded. "Nothing gave any indication that they didn't. But…" he was quiet for a moment. "It's better. Than it could have been, I mean." he looked at Misato and Kaji, who had gotten a little closer together seemingly without noticing. "And not just for the Children, either."

Eleanor followed his gaze, her smile still on her face. "Yes. Not just for them, either." She squeezed Daniel's hand again. He squeezed back. The Children did indeed still have a long road to go. But this time, they didn't have to go it alone.

Apotheosis Echo will return in (Rear Echelon).