Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Scrapped Princess. Those shows are owned by Gainax and BONES respectively. I do not profit from writing this story.
Touji dodged and jinxed his Dragon in an attempt to keep from getting seriously hit. While the number of interceptors was not very high, the pilots didn't appear to be ordinary pilots. 'These are veterans,' Touji thought as he finally managed to score a direct hit.
"Touji, two more coming from above," Gloria alerted him.
Touji reacted instantly. He accelerated and sped in between the two interceptors. As he expected, the two split and attempted a flanking maneuver. He didn't give them time to do much. With a battle cry, he dove down on top of the nearest one with saber blazing. The interceptor attempted to block, but Touji's inertia carried him through and shattered the HI's defense.
Touji brought his Dragon about and blocked the second interceptor's initially weak attack. The interceptor came about and crashed against Touji's saber to throw him off balance. Touji swiped at the interceptor in order to keep it at bay.
"Gloria! Full laser spread!"
The spread caught the interceptor off guard as the beams plowed into its side. In its death throes, the interceptor fired off a last burst. Touji could only watch in horror as the burst broke through his shield and through part of the cockpit. He screamed as he held the blackened stump that was once his left leg.
"Shit," Asuka cursed.
After finishing her last opponent she could only sit back and watch in horror as a dying interceptor's blast broke through and hit Touji's Dragon.
"Greta, status on Dragon 4?"
"Unknown. His life signs are fluctuating and Gloria's AI construct has been smashed. The shield around the cockpit reformed itself after the hit, so I assume that the pilot is still alive."
Asuka turned and looked in the direction of the jump facilities. She made one of the hardest decisions of her life.
"Control, this is Dragon 2."
Hikari replied, "Go, Dragon 2."
"Dragon 4 has been hit; extent of injuries unknown. I… I'm bringing him in. Have a medical team standing by."
Hikari suppressed her emotions long enough to acknowledge Asuka's transmission and call for a medical team. As she finished, she buried her head in her hands and cried quietly.
'I don't care which God is listening,' she prayed, 'just bring Touji home.'
"Sixty seconds to jump gate facilities. Dragon 5, break and begin your run. Dragon 3, fall in behind me and deviate from our present course by ten degrees. That should put you on top of the monitoring station. I'll fly by and draw their fire."
Shinji acknowledged and readied himself mentally. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but feel strange. The feeling seemed fixated on Touji for some reason. Shinji couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it felt like Touji was in danger. He also felt… sorrow? Why sorrow Shinji wasn't sure, but it was kind of like the sorrow of inevitability.
Shinji deviated his course as ordered and turned his sights on the large monitoring station looming in his view. He watched Rei fly by, daring the HI gunners to fire on her. No lasers burst forth.
That's when it hit Shinji. He felt the HI's sorrow. They knew that they had no chance of surviving a fight with these Dragons.
Rei's voice, "Dragon 3, take the shot."
Nothing. Shinji couldn't do it. 'Fight, damn you,' Shinji thought, 'it would make this easier.'
"Shinji, Captain Ayanami wants us to take a shot," Yui told him.
Shinji clenched his eyes shut and fired. The monitoring station exploded and disintegrated. The station was gone when Shinji opened his eyes again. Bright flickers of light confirmed to him that Mana had finished her run as well.
'Why are these invaders so cruel?' Shinji asked silently.
"The battle lines have stabilized. It looks like the HI took most of our Valkyries when they withdrew. They left several behind to stall us," Makoto reported.
"Any word from Admiral Ikari or his escorts?" Misato asked.
"Negative. The surviving escorts report that all of the Orbital Fortress-class ships in the 15th Fleet were destroyed or severely damaged. Several have picked up life pods belonging to the Concordia."
"Colonel Katsuragi," Kaji spoke up, "I suggest you take command of the fleet. We have to assume that the Admiral is dead."
Maya and Ritsuko. Were they dead? Misato shook those thoughts out of her head. "All right, Colonel Kaji. I'll do as you suggest. Mr. Hyuga?"
"Ma'am?"
"Signal the fleet. I'm assuming command since Admiral Ikari appears to be indisposed at the moment. How many Valkyries are we still tracking, Mr. Aoba?"
"Two."
"Let's mop those bastards up. Standing order to the fleet, no ship is to engage in one-on-one combat with a Valkyrie. I want to see a little teamwork out there. Ships that are too damaged to fight should begin recovery operations of any survivors. What about our Dragons?"
"Pilot Soryu returned with Pilot Suzuhara. He was injured critically," Makoto answered. "We haven't been able to raise the other three since they completed their attack run."
"Send Ms. Soryu out again," Misato ordered. "Have her find them and bring them back. Tell her, no more than twenty minutes search time. I'd like to jump out of this mess soon."
Ikari coughed as he struggled to dig himself out of the remains of his bridge. He couldn't see much in the smoky haze. From his current vantage point, he noted that most of his bridge crew was probably dead; their bodies still manning their posts. 'That bitch!' He thought. 'She did this to me.'
He finally tried to stand up, but he stumbled down again. His leg burn with pain and was slick with blood. He started tearing strips of cloth from his tunic to use as part of a tourniquet. As he worked he heard rustling sounds behind him.
"Who's there!" He called out.
From the haze emerged a strangely calm Ritsuko. Her once white cheeks glistened with red blood. The light from the fire on the bridge reflected in her eyes in an angry sort of way.
"Oh, it's you," Ikari said nonchalantly. "Perhaps you can assist me and…"
Ritsuko just stared at him.
"Why hell are you just standing there? Get over here and help me!"
"You can't order me around, Ikari." Risuko reached into the tattered remnants of her lab coat and pulled out a gun. His gun! "You will answer my question. Why was I led to believe that the glitch was a software problem?"
Ikari laughed an uncharacteristic laugh. "You think it matters to me? I'm dead whether you pull the trigger or you leave me here."
Ritsuko fired, grazing Ikari's arm. He grasped it in pain as she spoke, "The hallways are full of smoke. There are fires on every deck. My chances of getting out of here alive are about the same as yours. I…" She paused as she considered her next words, "I felt for you. That's why I have to know."
Ikari winced in pain as he answered, "If it was widely known that a problem existed in the hardware the politicians would have pulled the plug. I didn't know the extent of the problem until I had Nagisa study the data from Vega. Have you no appreciation for the direness of humanity's situation? The Valkyries were necessary. What Nagisa discovered was too dangerous for anyone else to know. That's why I killed your techs and implanted a secret self destruct code in the Valkyries. Those machines were our best chance for victory. You, Dr. Akagi, have sentenced humanity to death."
"Just like you imprisoned Sylvia Mauser? Murdered my techs to hide your secrets? Whose crimes are greater?" Ritsuko shot back. Slowly, she let her finger touch the trigger.
"Ritsuko Akagi," Ikari spoke again, "actually, the truth is… I truly need you."
A tear formed in Ritsuko's eye as she listened to Ikari. "Liar…"
Ritsuko fired a second time.
Shinji felt it as he flew through the serenity of space. His father was dead. 'What am I suppose to do now? What should I be feeling at this moment? I guess I should be sad, but I can't shed a tear,' he thought. The man had treated him poorly after Shinji's mother died.
Ikari simply shipped Shinji off to live with distant relatives. There was no communication between father and son. No birthday cards. The only glimpse he ever got of his father was on the nightly news. "Ikari defeats HI in stunning victory!" The networks back home would proclaim.
"What about me?" Shinji asked.
"Dragon 3?" Ayanami's voice broke in.
"He's dead, Captain."
Rei was silent for a moment. "I don't understand."
"My father is dead."
"Do not think about it," was all the sympathy Rei could muster. "In the mean time, I receive an unusual reading ahead. Dragon 5 volunteered to investigate before rendezvous. Be on your guard."
Shinji activated his weapon system and waited.
"This is Dragon 5," Shinji heard Mana say over his headset. "The sensor reading appears to be a Valkyrie. It seems to be waiting…"
"Dragon 5, is the Valkyrie computer system active? Is it broadcasting IFF recognition codes?" Rei asked.
Mana took some time to get back, "The computer system is active. No IFF broadcast detected."
Shinji eyes widened in horror as he recalled his conversation with Kaoru: "What kind of salvation is this Valkyrie if it doesn't work?"
"Kirishima! Get out of there!" Shinji yelled.
A moment later a piercing scream cut through his headset.
"Dragon 3, we need to go." Rei ordered.
That was the first order Shinji ever wanted to obey. The two Dragons accelerated into the vast expanse of space to rescue their companion. Shinji prayed that he would not be too late.
Maya wasn't certain how long she had been unconscious. One minute she watch helplessly as several Valkyries stopped taking orders and promptly began firing on friendly ships. When the Valkyries finally reached the Concordia she fell out of her seat as the ship rocked and blackness took her.
She awoke to find a room full of dead officers and enlisted personnel. She smelled fire. After regaining her senses, she left the room and headed down the hall coughing and wheezing as she went. The smoky hallways disoriented her and she had trouble finding a life pod. Just as she was prepared to give up a voice called her name, "Maya…"
Ritsuko stood before there clutching a badly singed lab coat. Her once blonde hair was now coal black. Blood trickled down from a wound on her cheek. "Maya, it is you."
"Dr. Akagi?" Was all Maya could muster, unable to clearly express her happiness.
"We need to leave now. The emergency power systems are about to give out. If we head back the way you came, we should find a few life pods." The older woman walked over and helped Maya up. She let Maya lean against her shoulder for support.
"Where's the rest of the bridge crew?" Maya asked as they made their way through the dark hallways.
"They're dead."
Maya slumped slightly when she heard this.
"Don't worry… If we survive I'm sending you back to Earth to finish your studies."
Maya felt relieved by Ritsuko's words.
'Thinking that I can redeem myself if I save her life,' Ritsuko thought, 'Am I really that fickle?'
