Thanks to Dany for the site. The site is good, but I can't read French that well. However, the pictures will be very useful. And Ghost140, Mana is a character from the Evangelion game Girlfriend of Steel/Iron Maiden. I wanted the game but couldn't find it while I was in China. Instead I picked up a game where you are Rei's guardian and plan out her days and such, though I don't remember exactly what it was called. Also, what is the name of Mana's friend, another pilot? What are those machines she pilots called? I'm just going to call them Trident for now as that's what another author used, but I do need to know if I'm wrong or right. And I must say, NERV certainly knows how to make promotional posters. Have any of you seen that picture of Misato on a NERV recruitment poster? A fan might have done it, or it was official. I don't really know.

Adaptation

Scenario 5: Old Friend, New Adversary

Mana was eating a small snack as Shinji sat across from her. She occasionally looked up at him and found that Shinji had not averted his gaze. A light blush appeared on her face as she thought about it. In truth, she had never really lost interest in Shinji. But now, it was rather apparent it was too late. After she finished eating, Shinji spoke.

"I assume you are still the pilot of that machine."

Mana nodded. "The project was never scrapped, and they've perfected a piloting system for it."

"I heard that the Japanese government was unwilling to let such an important project be cut. Is your friend still a pilot?"

"No." Mana shook her head. "The pilot system had to be custom-built and I was chosen. Right now, I don't know where he ran off to."

"Ah. I assume that thing has something like an AT-Field."

"Unfortunately, that is something that was never perfected," Mana admitted, "Our unit isn't equipped like an EVA, and is nothing like one. It is mostly mechanical, with some bio-parts integrated into it."

"Then how exactly are you going to defeat an Angel," said Shinji, "The only way to neutralize an AT-Field is with another one. Or did the SSDF forget that?"

"They didn't. They also remember that Unit 01 took out one of the Angels with a powerful positron cannon."

"You're going to snipe at it."

"In a way, though the total power we will use will be far greater than that you were supplied with. The Chinese government is preparing to send us the necessary power."

"That's if the Angel stays in place."

"So far the Angel hasn't moved," Mana pointed out, "We have a pretty good shot at it."

Shinji shrugged. "Fine. But if you screw up, there's going to be a very large mess to clean up."

Mana sighed. She had heard that Shinji had changed, and hoped that they were just rumors. But apparently, they were true.

"Why are you suddenly so distant?" she asked.

"As you said, I've grown," Shinji replied, "Besides, having your friends dead doesn't help."

That was certainly true. Mana had heard that Shinji's Delta Force squad had been killed by an Angel, but the details were still sketchy. Maybe she could get Shinji to confide in her. It would be nice to start going out with him again. She was sure the Shinji she knew was still in there.

"Well, get some rest. You're going to need it."

Shinji left Mana in the cafeteria and went to the command center. The Chinese general nodded as Shinji approached him.

"How is the power up coming?" he asked.

"We're setting up the conduits now. Do you think it'll work?"

"These new Angels are proving to be incredibly unpredictable," Shinji replied, "I can only pray that it works."

"True."

Shinji actually knew this Chinese general. He had met him when Shinji was still second in command of NERV. There was a mutual respect between the two, but not much more. Shinji checked his watch. It was time to make sure everything was still running at NERV. Did Asuka know who the pilot was?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Please please please please." Asuka was begging to whatever god or being ruled over the world. She had just found out that Mana was the pilot and needless to say the Second Child was not happy. At the moment she was trying to contact Shinji.

"Any luck?" Hikari asked, her head popping up from behind.

"No," said Asuka, "Apparently their comm. officer doesn't know where Shinji is since he left the command center. Oh, congratulations, but the way."

"Thanks," Hikari replied, "I'm just not sure how I got pregnant."

"Did the two of you use contraceptives on your wedding night?" Asuka asked, grinning.

"Umm, no," Hikari admitted, a deep red blush appearing on her face.

"That explains it. So, what are you going to name it?"

"Well, Hitomi if it's a girl, and we haven't decided what we would name it if it's a boy."

"Hmm. All I can say is good luck, I guess."

Suddenly Maya's face appeared on a comm. box.

"Dr. Soryu, it's General Ikari. He's established a link with us."

Asuka nodded and ran down to the command deck with Hikari close behind her. Shinji was talking to Toji when they appeared.

"If it does not work, then I'll have to take care of it myself."

"How are you supposed to take on something that powerful?" Toji asked.

"Don't know yet. You're the tactical officer."

Toji grimaced. "Right."

"Shinji!"

Shinji looked over and saw Asuka. She had an, interesting, expression on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Shinji asked.

"Not really," said Asuka, "So, do you know who the pilot of that SSDF unit us?"

"Mana," Shinji replied, "Yes, I had a small talk with her."

"She isn't going to be sticking around for a long time, is she?" Asuka asked.

"As far as I know, she's only here to pilot the unit. After that, she may be called back if we have to handle another large Angel like the one in China. Otherwise, I don't see why she should."

"Good."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Asuka, are you jealous or something?"

"Humph. Why should I be jealous?"

Shinji smiled and shook his head.

"Anyways, she's planning to take out this Angel like we did with the fifth. But be ready for anything and report any change with the Angel's status."

"Of course," Toji said.

Shinji signed off.

"Think it will work?" Hikari asked Toji.

"Don't know," Toji admitted, "I've read over that mission before. It was a good idea, but very risky. Rei was hurt badly in it."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yui Ikari and Kyoko Soryu were working down in the labs with the suit Shinji had brought back. They recognized some of their designs and concepts, and both were surprised that NERV had been able to produce something like this. Most of their ideas had been theoretical, but apparently during the time they were trapped in the EVA, technology had advanced enough to produce this. Shinji had warned them that there were potential glitches that they had to find before it would be safe for human usage. That was the current goal of the two women. However, a little gossip on the side didn't hurt.

"Asuka certainly isn't too subtle when it comes to Shinji," Yui said.

"I know. She tries to stay with him and acts as if she's afraid Shinji will abandon her."

"He kind of did when he defected to the US. I would never have expected my own son to do something like that so coldly."

"Well, Asuka just needs time to recover," said Kyoko, "You think they'll get married?"

"Maybe. Both seem to need someone to care for them, and they're almost a perfect match. I wonder what Shinji's going to do about all this?"

"Sleep with her," Kyoko joked.

Both women had found out from the gossip running around the base that Shinji and Asuka had slept with each other before Shinji's abrupt departure. Both were just glad that Asuka had never gotten pregnant. They turned their attention back to work.

"Let's run a charge through this circuit again," said Yui, "Something's off about it."

"Okay. So how is Fuyutsuki? You said you were going to check up on him."

"Oh, he's okay. He's retired and the UN gives him a nice monthly payment for his services in facing off the Angels, and I assume to keep quiet."

"Ah. From what you told me, I'd think he would go back to teaching."

"He probably would have, except that he's too tired in his old age. Don't get me wrong, he's still a man of considerable vigor, but after everything he's gone through I think he just wants to rest."

Kyoko nodded as she ran the charge through the circuit. Yui looked at the reading and sighed. The only problem they had run into in the entire suit was in this circuit. This thing was being extremely stubborn.

"What exactly is the circuit for?" Kyoko asked her friend.

"I think it's the relay between the core and the rest of the suit, so it's vital that we get it to work."

"Shinji had said that the thing wasn't ready," Kyoko pointed out, "This is the only thing that isn't ready. We may have to design a brand-new circuit for it."

"That's true," Yui conceded, "Try sending a signal through it, but not a current. We already know that doesn't work."

Kyoko shrugged and sent a radio signal through the circuit. Neither woman expected anything to happen, but to their mutual amazement there was a response. The core started glowing.

"Did you see that," Kyoko said to her friend.

Yui nodded. She quickly reset the transmitter.

"Try one on a different frequency," she suggested.

Kyoko did just that and this time the arm moved.

"So that's what the problem was!" said Yui, "This thing receives orders in the form of radio signals. All we have to do is set up a system that translates nerve impulses into radio waves."

"Going to be a little tricky," Kyoko noted, "It'll take a while but we might be able to shorten the time if we got Maya down here."

"I'll get her down here," said Yui, "Now, let's get back to work on this thing."

Kyoko nodded her agreement and looked back down on her laptop screen. For some reason, the circuitry on this suit seemed very familiar. She wasn't sure why, but it seemed important. When she had time, she would investigate further.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The Angel is still stationary," the Chinese officer reported.

Shinji nodded. The massive Angel had settled down and seemed to be waiting for something. The SSDF technicians had hooked up a large positron cannon onto the back of the Trident and feeding power into it. They were going to attack in a few minutes. NERV Command back in Japan was monitoring all this using satellites and Shinji suspected that the US Army was also watching the events.

"Power transfer is complete," another Chinese officer said, "Trident is locking onto target."

Shinji simply stood there and watched. The Trident looked like a T-Rex without a tail, though the head wasn't exactly shaped that way. The cannon mounted in its back reminded Shinji of an old anime that his daughter liked called Zoids. Well, if this worked, he'd have one less Angel to think about.

"Positron cannon charged and ready," Mana reported, "Awaiting orders."

"Fry it," Shinji said over the radio.

Mana pressed the button and a beam of white light shot out from the cannon. There was a strong recoil that forced the Trident to dig into the ground, but the beam struck the Angel. It came into contact with a powerful AT- Field and seemed to bend it. Unfortunately, the beam was not able to penetrate it.

"Shit," Shinji muttered, then in a louder tone, "Mana, get the hell out of there. That Angel's going to rip you to pieces if it catches you."

Mana activated the wings and shot backwards away from the Angel. Unfortunately, the attack had roused the Angel and it uncoiled itself. The creature shot forward, its jaws wide open as it roared. Shinji could see everything Mana was seeing from the camera installed on the Trident, and noticed that the green core inside the creature's mouth was starting to glow.

"Mana, that thing has some sort of energy weapon. Be ready to dodge."

A second later the Angel fired a green beam of light that shot off one of the Trident's legs. The power cable was still attached to the Trident and another round was ready. Mana opened fire and this time it at least punched through the AT-Field. The beam struck the red core on top of the Angel's head and caused the creature to crash into the ground. Suddenly the Angel's tail shot out and whipped the Trident. It caused the large machine to crash and Mana screamed out in pain.

"Mana! What's her status?" Shinji asked.

"She's unconscious," a Japanese soldier said, "We have to retrieve her."

"What about the Angel?" the Chinese general inquired.

"It's silent at the moment," Shinji observed, "Get her out and try to retrieve the Trident. We have to get it fixed for another shot at that Angel. Otherwise, we might lose this time."

"Yes sir."

Shinji walked over to the Japanese tech and leaned down so that his face was level with hers.

"Can someone else pilot the Trident?" he asked.

"Yes, but we have to modify the programming. Even with a compatible pilot, it would take a while."

"Then see if I'm compatible."

The tech shook her head. "Impossible. The piloting system was designed for women. We would need another female pilot to do this."

Shinji nodded and stood back up. He turned his head and looked towards the comm. officer.

"Get me NERV," he said.

The comm. officer patched him in and an image of the NERV command bridge appeared. Four boxes appeared on top of the image, each one holding a senior NERV commander. Asuka, Toji, Rei, and surprisingly, Yui, were waiting for him to speak.

"I need someone to come here and pilot the Trident," he said, "It'll have to be a woman though."

"Why?" Asuka asked.

"Mana was injured and I don't think she'll be ready to pilot when she wakes up. So, who's it going to be?"

"I'll do it," Asuka volunteered immediately, surprising no one.

"Is the suit ready?" Shinji asked his mother.

"No," Yui replied, "We just started on the control software."

"Fine. Rei, report to China."

This caught several people by surprise.

"What! Why?"

"Because Rei can generate an AT-Field without the assistance of the suit, and you're going to need an AT-Field if you hope to take this Angel down."

Asuka absorbed the news. She accepted it, but that hardly meant she was happy about it.

"Fine. Rei will be there in an hour or so. Right Wondergirl?"

When Asuka turned to look at Rei she had already disappeared, on her way to China.

"Asuka, you're coming with the suit," said Shinji, "The SSDF had three Tridents, remember?"

"Wait, are you saying the three of us are going out there like the old days?"

"Kind of," said Shinji, "Rei will neutralize its AT-Field while you use the positron cannon to take it out. A rather simple operation. Got it?"

"Yeah. I'm on my way."

Asuka ran off down to the corridors.

Hikari appeared in one of the boxes.

"Shinji, are you sure Asuka and Rei can handle this?" she asked with a touch of worry in her voice.

"If they fail I'll be there to help them," said Shinji, "Even without an EVA, I can still project my AT-Field. Just trust me on this."

Hikari hesitated but finally nodded. Shinji then terminated the communication.

"How long will it take to rewrite the software on the other two Tridents?" he asked.

"An hour or so," the tech responded, "Will the Angel stay put for that long?"

"It had better," said Shinji, "The Angel did take some damage, and all we can do is hope that it was enough."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Asuka and Rei got off the NERV plane and found Shinji waiting for them. Standing behind him were two Tridents, one parts of it painted in blue and the other with parts painted in red.

"I had them do some touchup," he said, "so the two of you could tell which was whose."

Asuka's had a large cannon mounted on the top and power cables stretching out for quite a while. Rei's was the standard model, armed with lots of missiles and a Vulcan cannon, though what good it would do against an Angel was questionable.

"Shall we go?" Shinji asked.

The two women nodded and were handed pilot suits. They changed in the locker rooms and emerged wearing a rather strange plugsuit. They boarded their respective units and took some time getting used to the controls. Instead of the steering controls in front of them, there were two joysticks on each side of them that they would have to use. There were also a lot more buttons and switches. They familiarized themselves with the controls and took off. A VTOL craft landed behind Shinji and he got on.

"Keep them within visual range," he ordered the pilot.

The craft took off and shot after the two units. Within a few minutes they were in sight of the Angel. It was in its coiled position again, but when it saw the Tridents, it uncoiled and roared. Rei dove in first, activating her AT-Field. The Angel fired another green beam from its mouth but Rei's AT-Field deflected it. She then inverted hers to try to erode the Angel's.

Asuka settled down and targeted the Angel. Its AT-Field was still active so it was suicidal to try shooting it now. The cannon was charged and ready, but Rei had to bring down the Angel's AT-Field.

"You'd better do this right, Wondergirl," Asuka muttered.

Rei dodged another attempt by the Angel to shoot her down. Strangely, the Angel did not take flight and chase after her. Instead it kept firing from the ground. Perhaps its wings were damaged. Rei opened fire with her own weapons and the missiles struck the AT-Field. They weakened the Field even more until Rei found a hole in it and ripped it open.

"Now Asuka!"

Asuka pulled the trigger and the cannon let loose another bright white beam. This time the Angel was unable to dodge it and the beam struck the Angel head-on. The beam shredded the Angel's body and cracked the core inside its mouth. The creature started shuddering and convulsing as cracks started appearing all over its body. Its two tusks broke off and shattered into little pieces as light burst out from under its skin. The green core fragmented completely and the red core was starting to break apart as well.

"It's going to blow!" Asuka yelled.

The two Tridents and Shinji's transport quickly retreated from the battlefield. Moments later, a huge cross shot into the sky as the Angel exploded.

"What's the Angel's status?" Shinji called back to command.

"One second, sir. The explosion is blocking some of the satellite cameras. Wait, we have a picture. There are some fragments of the Angel, but otherwise it is dead."

Shinji could hear cheering on the other end and smiled. Those soldiers certainly deserved to celebrate the victory. He looked over at the two Tridents. Asuka and Rei had done magnificently, and he couldn't have been more prouder.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shinji, Asuka, and Rei got off the plane and were greeted by the applause of many NERV officers. Asuka bowed and broke out into laughter. Kyoko hugged her daughter, glad that she was safe. Yui looked over her son to make sure he hadn't hurt himself or anything. Shinji told her not to worry.

Three other transports had arrived carrying the Tridents. They would be on loan from the SSDF as NERV might have to deal with other threats. However, there was an unexpected bonus to getting the Tridents.

"Hi Shinji."

Shinji looked over and saw Mana. She walked up to him shyly and smiled. Before either had the chance to speak, Asuka burst in.

"What are you still doing here?" she demanded.

"Well, let me see," said Maya, "There are three Tridents and only two female EVA pilots. I guess you need another pilot. I'm here on loan from the SSDF."

Asuka's eyebrows twitched and she might have done something rash had Shinji not put a hand on her shoulder. He sighed. This was going to get very interesting.

End of Scenario 5

I've been playing Diablo 2 a lot and that's the main reason why I haven't updated.

Z98