Chapter 38
Sawyer Dell stood in front of the screens at NERV Command wearing his combat fatigues. He was fully armed with a pistol as his side arm. He wore his headset and carefully paid attention to the screens in front of him.
This is too odd, he thought to himself. Its too quiet. I can understand why Asuka is sending in reconnaissance. I wouldn't mind getting into the mix though; a little action would be good right about now..
A few minutes later, Major Ikari walked into the Command Center. Sawyer turned his head and smiled as he saw her.
She was dressed in her red and gray plug suit with her pistol as her sidearm as well. Sawyer paid careful attention to the way the uniform hugged her body and smiled. Damn, she looks good in that.
As she came over to him, she picked up a cup of coffee and looked at the monitors having the same uneasy feeling that he did.
"What's the status so far?" She asked.
"Its been quiet." He said to her as he leaned over on the desk.
"Too quiet though." Hope said as she saw on one of the screen showed two jets in the air.. "She's sending in reconnaissance?"
"Yes." Sawyer responded. "She's uncomfortable. I don't blame her. This is the first time that this area has been totally quiet. Its too unusual."
"From my experience," Hope said. ", When its calm, that's when the storm hits."
"Your mother said the exact same thing." Sawyer said with a smirk as he looked at her.
"Do you think she'll send in the strike teams?" Hope asked.
"I'm not sure." He responded. "If so, I'll do what I have to."
Hope breathed in with a pit forming in her stomach. "Don't be a hero."
Sawyer looked at her as he straightened up and stood beside her, gently reaching for her hand and saying softly. "I'll do what I need to. We both have to. Right now, we have to concentrate on what's at hand. We'll be okay."
"I know." Hope said softly as she looked up at him.
"Report, Eagle Eye." Asuka's voice said over the relay.
"We are overhead now." The pilot's voice sounded over the relay. ", We're sending you a live shot of the area."
The screen flickered as Sawyer and Hope observed from the pilot's view a structure surrounded by a thick wall. They noticed some people on the ground moving about but for the most part it was quiet.
"Its pretty much dead." The pilot said. "Nothing really to report on. Energy readings are nominal. There's nothing really going on here…wait…wait…. General
, we're getting something now…."
"What is it?" Asuka's voice asked.
"It's a energy signature of some type. We're scanning now. Relaying data to NERV Command."
"Command to Dr. Ibuki." Sawyer said into his headset.
"Dr. Ibuki." She responded.
"Check the data being sent over from Eagle Eye." Sawyer said. "There's an energy signature that's being scanned. We need you to analyze it."
"Roger. Checking now."
A few minutes later, Dr. Ibuki shouted. "GENERAL IKARI, GET THEM OUT OF THERE NOW!"
"Report!" Asuka demanded.
"ASUKA, ITS AN AT FIELD BUILDING UP TO DETNATION! GET THEM OUT NOW!"
"Eagle Eye this is NERV Command, pull back! Repeat pull back!"
"Roger." The pilot said.
"Commander!" Lt. Fuki said from his terminal as he looked up towards the screen. ", we have confirmation…..there is a threat…..both Eagle Eyes are being targeted……"
"EAGLE EYE BUG OUT!" Asuka yelled out over the relay.
"Acknowledged." The pilot said.
Loud klaxons sounded.
Hope Ikari stood next to Sawyer Dell and fixed her eyes upon the screen, her eyes widening as she saw the read-out.
"General Ikari!"
"Yes, Dr. Ibuki!"
"We have a problem…"
"What now?" Asuka growled.
Her answer came in the form of klaxons sounding loudly and a red siren sounding.
"CODE RED. AT FIELD DETECTED. CODE RED. AT FIELD DETECTED! WARNING: AT FIELD DETECTED. CODE RED – HOSTILE ENGAGING. WARNING: AT FIELD DETECTED. ALL PERSONELL STANDBY"
Asuka breathed in as she knew what she had to do.
"What is it, Sawyer?" Hope asked.
"Eagle Eye to Command…it just came out of nowhere and its in pursuit."
Sawyer took a deep breath as he looked at the read-out on his terminal and then back at Hope.
"Eagle Eye get out of there!" Asuka yelled.
"COMMAND, HOSTILE ENGAGING US! REPEAT! HOSTILE ENGAGING US!"
"Get out of there!" Asuka yelled. "Strike team prepare for detachment!"
"Acknowledged." Sawyer said.
"Sawyer?" Hope asked as she looked at him worriedly.
"Commander," Dr. Ibuki said. ", we have confirmation on source of AT field. Readings are unmistakable. It appears to be…. an angel."
"A what?" Hope asked.
"Are you sure?" Asuka asked.
"Confirmed." Dr. Ibuki said over the relay.
"Eagle Eye, are you clear?" Asuka asked.
"Negative. Hostile in pursuit."
"On screen!" Sawyer demanded.
The screen flicked showing Eagle Eye flying away from the scene and behind it a giant, perfectly circular glowing ball of white-hot energy pursuing it.
"Oh my God." Hope said.
"An angel." Sawyer repeated.
"An angel? SEELE did this?" Hope asked as she stared up at the screen.
"NERV COMMAND…. WE ARE BEING ATTAC…"
A loud, strange piercing screech echoed through the speakers and everyone's headsets as every person in that room cringed from the sound of it. It was deafening and horrifying. Then the sounds of a man screaming in terror accompanied it.
After that, silence……….. as Eagle Eye disappeared from the screen.
"Eagle Eye respond!" Asuka demanded over the relay.
"Hostile has destroyed Eagle Eye." Lt. Fuki said
"General Ikari." Dr. Ibuki said over the relay. ", If these readings are correct then this entity, code name Angel 20, is getting larger."
"Explain." Asuka said.
"Its absorbing energy and able to convert it into an energy it needs for itself.. After it destroyed the jet, it appeared to have absorbed it completely. The AT field has since doubled. " Ibuki said. "This is no ordinary angel."
"Give me a visual." Asuka demanded.
"What the hell is it doing?" Hope asked as she stared up at the screen and watched as Angel 20 changed into a form,
"Report on Hostile!" Asuka demanded.
Hope took a deep breath as she looked at the screen and then said to the officers manning the terminals. "Do we have a better visual of the hostile?"
"It's coming in now." Lt. Fuki said as he bought up the image on screen.
Sawyer and Hope both felt uneasy as they saw it.
"Oh my God." Hope said as she swallowed hard and felt her fists tightened. "What is that?" Hope asked. "Have you ever seen anything like that before?"
Sawyer shook his head. "No."
"Oh my God, Sawyer…." Hope said as she looked at the entity on the screen.
"Classification report." Sawyer said.
"It has a high AT field output. Its basically pure energy." Dr. Ibuki stated.
"How were they able to do this?" Hope asked.
"Beats me." Sawyer said angrily.
"It looks like its turning into…an EVA." Asuka said with a bit of anger.
"What are your orders, General?" Sawyer asked. "Should the strike team move in?"
Asuka was silent for a minute and then replied. "STRIKE TEAMS GO! Commander Dell, report to detachment crew."
"Acknowledged." He said.
"Sawyer!" Hope said as she grabbed his arm.
"It'll be all right." He told her gently.
Hope looked back into his eyes. "Sawyer…" she said in a whisper as her voice trailed off.
Sawyer smiled gently at her as his blue eyes were dancing for her as they always.
She looked back to him wanting to say so much but the words were lost in her throat.
"I love you, Hope Ikari." Sawyer told her gently as he looked into her eyes.
She smiled bravely. "Sawyer." She whispered.
Sawyer put his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. Not caring about military protocol or what anyone thought for that matter, they kissed tenderly as they both held onto one another.
"I love you." She whispered to him as their lips parted. Come back to me. She thought as she watched him go.
Then quickly, Sawyer Dell walked out of the Command Center while Hope nervously focused on the screen in front of her.
"Major Ikari."
"Yes, General."
Asuka was silent for a minute and then said firmly. "Report to EVA Unit 1."
"Yes, General." Hope said as she walked over to a door over to the side of the command center and pressed a button.
"IDENTIFICATION. PLEASE CONFIRM?"
"Major Hope Ikari." She said flatly as a red beam ran across her face and then a beep sounded.
"MAJOR HOPE IKARI. CONFIRMED. ACCEPTED."
The door opened up and Hope stepped inside taking a deep breath.
"STATE DESTINATION, MAJOR."
"EVA Unit 1." She said.
"ACCEPTED."
The elevator proceeded downward and Hope felt her heart beating rapidly inside of her as her fists opened and closed.
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath exhaling slowly as the doors opened.
Hope stepped out of the elevator and walked along a metal bridge and stopped as she stood in front of the huge purple and green mecha in front of her, waiting for its pilot.
Looking up at it, she said firmly. "I'm here."
The EVA's eyes opened, glowing with a white-hot light..
Hope took another breath as she stared up at it and said. "For the hope of the world, EVA, with all of my strength."
Then she stepped into the transfer tube as its doors shut and she found herself being thrust into the bioplug that connected into EVA Unit 1.
Hope quickly seated herself in the pilot seat and then said into her headset. "Begin pre-launch sequence. Commence sync activation on my mark. Mark."
"Acknowledged." NERV Command said as LCL began to flood her compartment.
Hope shut her eyes as she felt the liquid fill the cabin and within seconds it had dissipated.
"Sync activated. You are at 100 percent, Major. You are in the Green Zone."
"Unit 1, control panel." Hope ordered. In front of her several screens appeared and she braced herself in the EVA "Control, ready for launch!"
"Major Ikari."
"Yes, General?" Hope asked.
"We need to you hold off the angel so we can send in the first strike team. Can you do that?"
"Understood, General." Hope said as she turned to walk away
"Hope?" Asuka's voice was gentler this time.
"Yes, Mama?" Hope asked.
"Be careful." Asuka told her.
"I will. Dad is on my side, Mom. I can't go wrong." She said as she clutched the necklace that hung around her neck.
"I know." Asuka said to her, then Asuka's voice shifted back to that of the commander. . "Major, prepare for launch."
"Roger, General." Hope said firmly.
"T-minus 10…9…8…7…"
This is what I've been preparing for, training for, this is the moment I've waited for all of my life.
Dad, please be with me today. I need your guidance and your wisdom to get me through this.
Mama, I love you. You're my inspiration in life. I won't let you down today. I promise.
Souke. Reina. Uncle Touji. I love you all.
"…5…4…3…"
Sawyer, my love, be careful. Come back to me. We have to live up to what we promised each other. We have dreams we need to fulfill.
Today is the day. This madness ends today. I will…win!
For the hope of the world, I am the hope of the future. That is my name. That is my purpose. What mankind has thrown out of balance will be balanced by the destiny of one. I remember, Dad.
"…2…1…0…CLEAR!"
"I know you're with me, Dad." Hope said as she breathed in. "Let's do this together."
"Okay."
"LAUNCH EVA!" Asuka called out from the Command Hub as she watched on screen as the EVA screamed through the launch tube towards the surface.
Looking up at the screen, Asuka thought to herself. Protect her, Shinji. Please, protect her.
"I will."
(I'm very sorry. You all must hate me right about now. I know I left you at a cliffhanger. I need to go over the next section before I can upload it. The proofreader thought it was cool but I just want to take a once over and make sure its what you expect it to be. Okay, out of curiosity…how many of you have an idea what's going to happen next? I'll post more on the weekend. I promise. See ya again real soon. PS Do you want to know how I came up with Sawyer Dell's name? My computer desk is made by SAWYER and my computer is A DELL. When I heard the two names together, I said Sawyer Dell? That sounds like a corporation but I like it.)