AUTHOR'S NOTE: First, an apology for not having posted an update so long while my rival posted four. Damn it John, when you update you need to tell me! But yeah, let's get back to my excuse. A couple weeks ago, my machine, Granite Mountain (It's a graphite G4, whaddya expect?), ate a bad system update and died from food- I mean software poisoning. It's still not operational. Damn system updates. So anyways, I'm borrowing my mom's machine to hopefully hammer out an update before she notices.
A few things I noticed from my reviews that need to be addressed: First, my alleged OOC-ness. Robed One, I suggest you go back and *read* chapters one & two, and then re-read the author's note of three. As you'll notice, everyone but Asuka lines up with their character description. Asuka is the hardest of the NGE group to write for, and I'm still working on hers. But for the rest, I believe that they have been in fact in character. Also, I would be pleased if you could stick with reviewing my stories *only in my reviews* and not those of other peoples'. For instance, my rival, TheUnholyTerror. As I recollect, your review of his chapter 4 (magnificent work on the fanfic, terror, btw) seemed more like a shot at my "MASSIVE OOC" than a review of his work. Please, you have my email address. Just in case you don't want to look it up in my profile, you can have it here: tarimko@mac.com . If you want to talk about my "MASSIVE OOC", email me and we'll have a discussion. But repeating the same thing over and over doesn't help me, and I doubt it makes you feel any better.
Second, the halberd. A halberd is in fact a two-handed weapon. However, that does not prevent it from being carried in one's off-hand while the other hand wields an axe. I see no reason why an Evangelion should be different.
Third, my story length. As much as I'd like for my chapters to be longer, I tend to ramble whenever I write at length. This means my chapters are limited to about 1500 to 2000 words. I'm working on it, be patient.
Fourth, the Eva 0 Prototype. Yes, it is new and it is still a prototype. In this instance, EVA-0 is the prototype for the new S2 engine powered Production Model Evangelion. You would want to test that big of a change before creating more, ne? Thus the prototype.
Sorry for the length of this note, I really didn't intend to run this long. Now let's get on with the story!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Evangelion, so don't sue me. Besides, if you do, you won't get anything, for I have nothing. Not even a working computer.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 4: Synchronization II
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The rising sun silhouetted three pseudo-human figures standing on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, holding various vicious-looking forms of weaponry. On some unspoken signal, they all faced into the city and began to move, proceeding towards the destruction at its center.
In the city's center, a winged creature flew rapidly from building to building, wreaking chaos and damage wherever it landed. It grazed a tower and ripped ten floors clear off with its talons, giving an unearthly screech of satisfaction. To the three pilots who approached it, it looked remarkably like a silvery, glowing eagle. It perched on a building and they encircled it, making sure to remain about 30 meters away. Then the waiting began.
Asuka's voice echoed unannounced in NERV's command deck. "Misato, why are we waiting here? It's not moving! We should kill it before it decides to do the same to us!"
"We're waiting because we have no idea what it might do when we attack. We need the MAGI's analysis of what it might do before you can attack it."
"I'm not going to wait behind an overgrown supercomputer so the Angel can leave while we stand here waiting! Evangelion Unit 2, engaging target!" Misato gasped as Asuka threw her axe at the angel and then, gripping the halberd in two hands, charged it, umbilical cable flying out behind her. She leapt into the air, coming down on the Angel in a power dive, halberd leading. And suddenly she impacted the building, and there was a flash of light- and EVA 2 went flying backwards into another nearby building, losing the halberd in the process. The Angel swept off of its perch, its wings unfolding, and its talons grabbing hold of Asuka as it powered up into the sky. Asuka's shoulder blade unfolded and the progressive knife popped out. She grabbed it and brought it to bear on the Angel, but before she could connect, another flash of light ripped the EVA's arm clear off at the shoulder. Gripping her shoulder, Asuka shouted at the Angel in fury and pounded at it with her other fist. It didn't seem to even notice as it continued upwards.
On the ground, the other two Evangelion and NERV were trying to quickly figure out a course of action. Misato's voice came over the speakers of the EVAs.
"All right you two, here's what we're going to do. You both have S2 engines, which means you don't need umbilicals. Unit 1 has its AT Field wings. Shinji, you need to activate them and persue Asuka and the Angel. Take as much weaponry as you feel you can safely use. Rei, your Unit 0 also has wings. Get ahead of the Angel and try to slow it or even knock it out of the sky. Minor damage to Unit 2 is acceptable, but avoid hitting or injuring Asuka. Now go!"
EVA 1 quickly dropped its pallet rifle and grabbed a pallet pistol and a railgun from the weapons locker they had been sent. Orange wings shot from its back and it jumped up once and was gone. In addition to her positron cannon, Rei also grabbed a rocket launcher. As she focused, silvery wings appeared from the back of EVA 0. They fluttered gently and it was gone like a shot.
Meanwhile, Asuka heard nothing as she was still in the Angel's grasp and thus out of communication range. She continued to pound at the Angel, to no effect. She even twisted around and fired the spike launcher in Unit 2's right shoulder blade. All she got for her efforts was a loud "ping" noise as the spikes bounced harmlessly off of the Angel's "skin" and fell to Earth.
Suddenly, the sky around her turned orange and hexagonal, followed instantly by an explosive flash of light. Asuka recognized it as the impact of a positron charge on an AT Field. Before she had time to process the significance of this event, Shinji's voice crackled over her plug's speakers.
"Asuka, Rei just fired on the Angel. Activate your AT Field and hang on!" She paused, a caustic reply on the tip of her tongue, as she realized that if she didn't do what Shinji was saying, she might be blown up with the Angel. She complied.
Rei saw the orange wall of Asuka's AT Field shimmer into place. She didn't even pause as she swung the positron cannon into place on her EVA's arm and emptied its reservoir into the Angel's AT Field. The sky lit up with an explosion brighter than the sun, causing the plug's flare protection to activate. As the filters cleared, Rei saw a disappointing sight. The Angel still remained, intact. And she would have sworn that it looked pissed off.
Shinji was concentrating on finding the best place to rail the Angel when he heard Rei's scream. He ducked under the targeting visor and looked at his screen. The Angel had ripped Unit 0's left arm off with one talon, and was using its beak to shred her wings. Asuka was still helpless, pounding futilely against the talon that encircled her. Without thinking, Shinji swept up the pallet pistol and emptied it at the Angel, then followed it with a single round from the railgun. Lightning crackled around its barrel as it released its pent-up energy into a single slug, accelerating it at near-light-speed into the Angel's head. Shinji waited for it to drop the EVAs so he could catch Asuka.
Nothing happened. The Angel continued to exist, hanging there with both EVAs in its grasp. And it suddenly flashed brilliantly, and Shinji's world exploded.
Asuka gasped as EVA-1 began its long fall to Earth, missing its head, both arms, and much of its upper body. As much as she disliked the weakling, she never wanted him dead. She never acknowledged it, but he had seemed almost family to her. An alarm snapped her back to awareness of her situation. Her EVA's battery pack had only one minute of power left in its reserves. She had to do something now, or she and Rei would join Shinji in the ranks of the dead. She concentrated, trying to use her AT Field as a wedge to drive the Angel off of her. But the Angel refused to be removed, corroding her AT Field easily. It dripped a tendril of its flesh onto EVA-2's chest plating, right above the core. A grab and a wrenching of metal, and Asuka was utterly helpless, her Evangelion's core exposed to the Angel. It could destroy her with one easy blast. But instead, it proceeded to dip the tendril *into* the core. A moment later, Asuka felt it touch her mind.
Misato screamed as she saw Unit 1, missing the upper third of its body, slam into a nearby hilltop with the force of an N2 mine. She collapsed onto her knees as a ball of fire erupted from the explosive force, shattering a nearby building and vaporizing the hilltop.
Asuka screamed as she felt the Angel corroding her mind. She flashed back to the 15th and what it had done to her. Her fists clenched around the handgrips of the plug's seat. She looked at her screen through the red haze that overtook her vision and growled through clenched teeth. "Not again... not again... I won't let this happen again... NOT AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?! GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!" Her rage exploded into her EVA, and the two became one.
In the NERV command deck, Maya gave an astonished shout. "Commander Ikari! Evangelion 2 is reporting a synch ratio of fifteen hundred! Also reading high energy waveforms consistent with an S2 engine, but with pattern red! EVA-2 has gone berserker!" Everyone looked to the screen as one, just in time to see the Tokyo-3 sky light up as if the sun had gone nova. Unit 0 dropped from the center of the blast, catching itself at the last possible second and dropping gently to the ground. It was followed by EVA-2, dropping slowly from the sky, suspended by two blood-red wings. It gently touched down and then collapsed, its wings disappearing with the loss of power. Makoto looked at his board, then turned to face the commander.
"Unit 2 has succeeded in destroying the target. Life signs confirmed for Units 0, 2, and both pilots. Unit 2 has lost all power. Unit 1 is... " He paused, searching for words. "Sir, we have no telemetry from Evangelion Unit 01." Misato stood back up, her eyes red from crying but back in control.
"Until evidence of the contrary, Evangelion unit 01 is to be presumed functional and active. Dispatch recovery teams for all three Evangelions. Maya, I want you to have the MAGI go over the data collected from Unit 2's beserker. Compare it with the data we have on Unit 1. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office." She turned towards the exit and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the Evangelion Unit 1 recovery team reporting in. Life signs confirmed for both the Evangelion and its pilot. The pilot is being transferred to the NERV infirmary. Recovery team, out." The words startled Misato out of her reverie. She was lying on the couch in her office, crying silently. Despite her words on the command deck, she had believed that her Shinji-kun was lost until she heard the team's report. Not even bothering to wipe her tears, she jumped up and dashed to the infirmary.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji was enclosed in one of the intensive care pressure hoods, its monitors steadily reporting his condition to his small audience. The impact of his EVA and the subsequent explosion had shattered the entry plug and boiled the LCL, fracturing two of his ribs and burning him severely across his chest. He had also suffered neural shock from the intense damage to the EVA while he was still in synch. It would probably be a few months recovery.
Rei sat in a chair by the side of Shinji's bed, just as she had when he had been injured in battle with the fifth. She watched him closely, noting the steady movements of his chest as he breathed. Misato was asleep in a chair on the other side of the bed. She had been there for almost ten hours, her and Rei dosing in one-hour shifts. They were keeping watch until he awoke. Rei studied both Misato and Shinji while they slept. She was unsure of her feelings towards either of them. She wasn't even sure why she had chosen to come here and watch over Shinji. It was not a feeling she was used to. As she thought, Misato stirred and woke, forcing her to return to the world at hand.
"Rei, I'll watch him. You should go back to your quarters and get a proper night's rest."
"Hai, Major Katsuragi. Good night."
"Good night, Rei."
Misato sat there for a few hours after Rei had left, thinking about how much the presence of Shinji Ikari in her life had come to mean to her. He and Asuka were like her children, the family she never had, and she loved both of them very much. She smiled softly at him and whispered "Good night, Shinji-kun." Standing slowly and stretching, she slipped out of the room and headed back to her apartment. She knew it would seem empty with both children in the infirmary, but she had to feed Pen-Pen, and besides, it would be good to take her own advice. She was tired, after all - it had been an early morning and a long day.
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Next time, on NGE: Second Genesis:
Touji returns to the Evangelion squadron with the new EVA-03! (No, he really does this time!) Also, meet the Sixth Child, and EVA-04! Only on NGE: Second Genesis!
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End Note: By the time I managed to get to the last section of this chapter, I managed to repair my machine! Yay! So now I'll be able to update faster. Hopefully I can catch up to my rival before the end of spring break, but at the rate I'm going it's not bloody likely. I'm sorry for not including the return of Touji in this chapter like I said I would. I can't find a place for it in this chapter. That's the problem with writing previews - you gotta be able to actually fulfill them. Also, Asuka is still a bit OOC. I honestly have problems handling her character. Tips are welcome. And finally, I'm considering pre-reading. Does it work? Is it any good? Is it even worth it? I'd be grateful if someone could tell me.
Please read and review!
Your loving author (who's given up on finding another closing line)
Sithanas
A few things I noticed from my reviews that need to be addressed: First, my alleged OOC-ness. Robed One, I suggest you go back and *read* chapters one & two, and then re-read the author's note of three. As you'll notice, everyone but Asuka lines up with their character description. Asuka is the hardest of the NGE group to write for, and I'm still working on hers. But for the rest, I believe that they have been in fact in character. Also, I would be pleased if you could stick with reviewing my stories *only in my reviews* and not those of other peoples'. For instance, my rival, TheUnholyTerror. As I recollect, your review of his chapter 4 (magnificent work on the fanfic, terror, btw) seemed more like a shot at my "MASSIVE OOC" than a review of his work. Please, you have my email address. Just in case you don't want to look it up in my profile, you can have it here: tarimko@mac.com . If you want to talk about my "MASSIVE OOC", email me and we'll have a discussion. But repeating the same thing over and over doesn't help me, and I doubt it makes you feel any better.
Second, the halberd. A halberd is in fact a two-handed weapon. However, that does not prevent it from being carried in one's off-hand while the other hand wields an axe. I see no reason why an Evangelion should be different.
Third, my story length. As much as I'd like for my chapters to be longer, I tend to ramble whenever I write at length. This means my chapters are limited to about 1500 to 2000 words. I'm working on it, be patient.
Fourth, the Eva 0 Prototype. Yes, it is new and it is still a prototype. In this instance, EVA-0 is the prototype for the new S2 engine powered Production Model Evangelion. You would want to test that big of a change before creating more, ne? Thus the prototype.
Sorry for the length of this note, I really didn't intend to run this long. Now let's get on with the story!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Evangelion, so don't sue me. Besides, if you do, you won't get anything, for I have nothing. Not even a working computer.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 4: Synchronization II
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rising sun silhouetted three pseudo-human figures standing on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, holding various vicious-looking forms of weaponry. On some unspoken signal, they all faced into the city and began to move, proceeding towards the destruction at its center.
In the city's center, a winged creature flew rapidly from building to building, wreaking chaos and damage wherever it landed. It grazed a tower and ripped ten floors clear off with its talons, giving an unearthly screech of satisfaction. To the three pilots who approached it, it looked remarkably like a silvery, glowing eagle. It perched on a building and they encircled it, making sure to remain about 30 meters away. Then the waiting began.
Asuka's voice echoed unannounced in NERV's command deck. "Misato, why are we waiting here? It's not moving! We should kill it before it decides to do the same to us!"
"We're waiting because we have no idea what it might do when we attack. We need the MAGI's analysis of what it might do before you can attack it."
"I'm not going to wait behind an overgrown supercomputer so the Angel can leave while we stand here waiting! Evangelion Unit 2, engaging target!" Misato gasped as Asuka threw her axe at the angel and then, gripping the halberd in two hands, charged it, umbilical cable flying out behind her. She leapt into the air, coming down on the Angel in a power dive, halberd leading. And suddenly she impacted the building, and there was a flash of light- and EVA 2 went flying backwards into another nearby building, losing the halberd in the process. The Angel swept off of its perch, its wings unfolding, and its talons grabbing hold of Asuka as it powered up into the sky. Asuka's shoulder blade unfolded and the progressive knife popped out. She grabbed it and brought it to bear on the Angel, but before she could connect, another flash of light ripped the EVA's arm clear off at the shoulder. Gripping her shoulder, Asuka shouted at the Angel in fury and pounded at it with her other fist. It didn't seem to even notice as it continued upwards.
On the ground, the other two Evangelion and NERV were trying to quickly figure out a course of action. Misato's voice came over the speakers of the EVAs.
"All right you two, here's what we're going to do. You both have S2 engines, which means you don't need umbilicals. Unit 1 has its AT Field wings. Shinji, you need to activate them and persue Asuka and the Angel. Take as much weaponry as you feel you can safely use. Rei, your Unit 0 also has wings. Get ahead of the Angel and try to slow it or even knock it out of the sky. Minor damage to Unit 2 is acceptable, but avoid hitting or injuring Asuka. Now go!"
EVA 1 quickly dropped its pallet rifle and grabbed a pallet pistol and a railgun from the weapons locker they had been sent. Orange wings shot from its back and it jumped up once and was gone. In addition to her positron cannon, Rei also grabbed a rocket launcher. As she focused, silvery wings appeared from the back of EVA 0. They fluttered gently and it was gone like a shot.
Meanwhile, Asuka heard nothing as she was still in the Angel's grasp and thus out of communication range. She continued to pound at the Angel, to no effect. She even twisted around and fired the spike launcher in Unit 2's right shoulder blade. All she got for her efforts was a loud "ping" noise as the spikes bounced harmlessly off of the Angel's "skin" and fell to Earth.
Suddenly, the sky around her turned orange and hexagonal, followed instantly by an explosive flash of light. Asuka recognized it as the impact of a positron charge on an AT Field. Before she had time to process the significance of this event, Shinji's voice crackled over her plug's speakers.
"Asuka, Rei just fired on the Angel. Activate your AT Field and hang on!" She paused, a caustic reply on the tip of her tongue, as she realized that if she didn't do what Shinji was saying, she might be blown up with the Angel. She complied.
Rei saw the orange wall of Asuka's AT Field shimmer into place. She didn't even pause as she swung the positron cannon into place on her EVA's arm and emptied its reservoir into the Angel's AT Field. The sky lit up with an explosion brighter than the sun, causing the plug's flare protection to activate. As the filters cleared, Rei saw a disappointing sight. The Angel still remained, intact. And she would have sworn that it looked pissed off.
Shinji was concentrating on finding the best place to rail the Angel when he heard Rei's scream. He ducked under the targeting visor and looked at his screen. The Angel had ripped Unit 0's left arm off with one talon, and was using its beak to shred her wings. Asuka was still helpless, pounding futilely against the talon that encircled her. Without thinking, Shinji swept up the pallet pistol and emptied it at the Angel, then followed it with a single round from the railgun. Lightning crackled around its barrel as it released its pent-up energy into a single slug, accelerating it at near-light-speed into the Angel's head. Shinji waited for it to drop the EVAs so he could catch Asuka.
Nothing happened. The Angel continued to exist, hanging there with both EVAs in its grasp. And it suddenly flashed brilliantly, and Shinji's world exploded.
Asuka gasped as EVA-1 began its long fall to Earth, missing its head, both arms, and much of its upper body. As much as she disliked the weakling, she never wanted him dead. She never acknowledged it, but he had seemed almost family to her. An alarm snapped her back to awareness of her situation. Her EVA's battery pack had only one minute of power left in its reserves. She had to do something now, or she and Rei would join Shinji in the ranks of the dead. She concentrated, trying to use her AT Field as a wedge to drive the Angel off of her. But the Angel refused to be removed, corroding her AT Field easily. It dripped a tendril of its flesh onto EVA-2's chest plating, right above the core. A grab and a wrenching of metal, and Asuka was utterly helpless, her Evangelion's core exposed to the Angel. It could destroy her with one easy blast. But instead, it proceeded to dip the tendril *into* the core. A moment later, Asuka felt it touch her mind.
Misato screamed as she saw Unit 1, missing the upper third of its body, slam into a nearby hilltop with the force of an N2 mine. She collapsed onto her knees as a ball of fire erupted from the explosive force, shattering a nearby building and vaporizing the hilltop.
Asuka screamed as she felt the Angel corroding her mind. She flashed back to the 15th and what it had done to her. Her fists clenched around the handgrips of the plug's seat. She looked at her screen through the red haze that overtook her vision and growled through clenched teeth. "Not again... not again... I won't let this happen again... NOT AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?! GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!" Her rage exploded into her EVA, and the two became one.
In the NERV command deck, Maya gave an astonished shout. "Commander Ikari! Evangelion 2 is reporting a synch ratio of fifteen hundred! Also reading high energy waveforms consistent with an S2 engine, but with pattern red! EVA-2 has gone berserker!" Everyone looked to the screen as one, just in time to see the Tokyo-3 sky light up as if the sun had gone nova. Unit 0 dropped from the center of the blast, catching itself at the last possible second and dropping gently to the ground. It was followed by EVA-2, dropping slowly from the sky, suspended by two blood-red wings. It gently touched down and then collapsed, its wings disappearing with the loss of power. Makoto looked at his board, then turned to face the commander.
"Unit 2 has succeeded in destroying the target. Life signs confirmed for Units 0, 2, and both pilots. Unit 2 has lost all power. Unit 1 is... " He paused, searching for words. "Sir, we have no telemetry from Evangelion Unit 01." Misato stood back up, her eyes red from crying but back in control.
"Until evidence of the contrary, Evangelion unit 01 is to be presumed functional and active. Dispatch recovery teams for all three Evangelions. Maya, I want you to have the MAGI go over the data collected from Unit 2's beserker. Compare it with the data we have on Unit 1. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office." She turned towards the exit and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the Evangelion Unit 1 recovery team reporting in. Life signs confirmed for both the Evangelion and its pilot. The pilot is being transferred to the NERV infirmary. Recovery team, out." The words startled Misato out of her reverie. She was lying on the couch in her office, crying silently. Despite her words on the command deck, she had believed that her Shinji-kun was lost until she heard the team's report. Not even bothering to wipe her tears, she jumped up and dashed to the infirmary.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji was enclosed in one of the intensive care pressure hoods, its monitors steadily reporting his condition to his small audience. The impact of his EVA and the subsequent explosion had shattered the entry plug and boiled the LCL, fracturing two of his ribs and burning him severely across his chest. He had also suffered neural shock from the intense damage to the EVA while he was still in synch. It would probably be a few months recovery.
Rei sat in a chair by the side of Shinji's bed, just as she had when he had been injured in battle with the fifth. She watched him closely, noting the steady movements of his chest as he breathed. Misato was asleep in a chair on the other side of the bed. She had been there for almost ten hours, her and Rei dosing in one-hour shifts. They were keeping watch until he awoke. Rei studied both Misato and Shinji while they slept. She was unsure of her feelings towards either of them. She wasn't even sure why she had chosen to come here and watch over Shinji. It was not a feeling she was used to. As she thought, Misato stirred and woke, forcing her to return to the world at hand.
"Rei, I'll watch him. You should go back to your quarters and get a proper night's rest."
"Hai, Major Katsuragi. Good night."
"Good night, Rei."
Misato sat there for a few hours after Rei had left, thinking about how much the presence of Shinji Ikari in her life had come to mean to her. He and Asuka were like her children, the family she never had, and she loved both of them very much. She smiled softly at him and whispered "Good night, Shinji-kun." Standing slowly and stretching, she slipped out of the room and headed back to her apartment. She knew it would seem empty with both children in the infirmary, but she had to feed Pen-Pen, and besides, it would be good to take her own advice. She was tired, after all - it had been an early morning and a long day.
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Next time, on NGE: Second Genesis:
Touji returns to the Evangelion squadron with the new EVA-03! (No, he really does this time!) Also, meet the Sixth Child, and EVA-04! Only on NGE: Second Genesis!
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End Note: By the time I managed to get to the last section of this chapter, I managed to repair my machine! Yay! So now I'll be able to update faster. Hopefully I can catch up to my rival before the end of spring break, but at the rate I'm going it's not bloody likely. I'm sorry for not including the return of Touji in this chapter like I said I would. I can't find a place for it in this chapter. That's the problem with writing previews - you gotta be able to actually fulfill them. Also, Asuka is still a bit OOC. I honestly have problems handling her character. Tips are welcome. And finally, I'm considering pre-reading. Does it work? Is it any good? Is it even worth it? I'd be grateful if someone could tell me.
Please read and review!
Your loving author (who's given up on finding another closing line)
Sithanas