Disclaimer: I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...
Chapter 05: "Battle Bots!"
The smell of breakfast flooded the humble Katsuragi/Ikari apartment, Shinji munched happily, yet drowsily on his toast, while Pen-Pen swallowed his fish.
"G'morning…"
"Wark…" greeted both males of the house as their guardian and roommate made her way to the kitchen.
"…Morning…" Yawned Misato as she walked over to the fridge and retrieved her customary morning beer. "Yeeehaa! There's no better way to start a day!"
"You know, normal people prefer coffee…"
"Look, a traditional Japanese breakfast begins with rice, Miso soup and sake." She retorted.
"That's beer, not sake…" he pointed out.
"Shut up…you're not the most common person yourself y'know…" she replied,
"It's pretty surprising to see you awake this early."
"Pen-Pen woke me up to make his breakfast…" he said, "It's amazing how the poor thing survived with you. Besides, weren't you supposed to cook this morning?"
"Are you calling me lazy?"
"And a slob too…" He replied calmly, "No wonder you're still single!" he chuckled, seemingly un-aware of the fuming woman in before him.
"Why you little…" but she was cut of by the door bell that decided to ring at that exact moment.
"I'll get it!" He said quickly, mostly to escape the enraged Misato.
"Good morning Mister Ikari!" Shinji was greeted by his two stooge friends, Touji and Kensuke, who came to pick him up. "We're taking of Miss Misato!" they said, pushing Shinji aside to greet the real reason of their visit.
"Take care!" said reason greeted from the bathroom, weaving her hand through the door, causing the two boys cry in joy, and some naughty thoughts to develop in their minds.
"Err…can we go now?"
Shinji watched lazily from the classroom window as they 'dismantled' the last angel "I wonder what they are gonna do with that…" he thought, "Maybe feed one of those countries affected by second impact? It sure has a lot of meat…" he remembered a conversation with Dr. Akagi and Misato when they told him that the real cause of second impact wasn't a meteor as they say in books, but rather the awakening of Adam, the first angel. He also remembered when they told him that angels where ninety-something percent genetically close to human being and it made him make a disgusted face; however, this didn't stop a certain thought to enter his mind, "I bet they taste like chicken…"
The roaring of engines and the screeching of wheels cut him of his thoughts, "I know that sound…" he muttered looking down at the school parking lot in time to see a familiar blue sports car doing a over dramatic stop.
"Oh my God! She's here!"
The other two stooges rushed towards the window nearly pushing Shinji through it.
"Hello! Miss Misato!" Shouted Touji, while Kensuke recorded the event, causing the purple haired captain to look up and give the 'peace' sign. By this moment, most of the boys had joined in, along with the ones from the other classrooms.
"Such nice boobs!" muttered one of them, voicing the thoughts of the rest. "And those legs!"
"I'll do anything to have a girlfriend like that…" said Touji dreamingly.
"If you can endure her sloppiness…" Shinji pointed out.
"You just don't get it don't you big shot?" Both of his friends chorused.
"You keep the Earth safe and we'll take care of Misato!" They both slapped him hard in the back, nearly sending him through the window again.
"Keep the world safe…" Shinji mussed while the teacher rambled once again about life pre Second Impact. "Yeah, that's supposed to be my job…well, Eva's job…" He thought leaning back on his desk. "But what is actually an Eva anyway…I mean, what kind of robot can actually bleed? And…why do I feel like I belong with it…" Tired of so many questions and the teacher lectures, he opted for taking a quick nap.
Another normal day started in the Katsuragi/Ikari apartment.
Pen-Pen going to wake Shinji up to avoid its owner's food, and the young Ikari going to the kitchen to open a sardine can and letting it on the ground so the 'accursed bird' could eat, and then, since he was already up, make his own breakfast. He opted for a bowl of cereal, and some milk.
"Good morning."
Both bird and boy looked up to greet their guardian, and chocked on their food at what stood before them. "Y-You l-look…formal!" Shinji accused at the older woman, she was wearing a black military dress.
"Hump…to bad I can't say the same about you…" she retorted, pointing at his attire, which consisted in a plain white sleeveless shirt and light blue boxers, his hair was untied and messy.
"Its Saturday leave me alone…" he grumbled, "Where are you going anyway?"
"I'm going to the old Tokyo for business." she answered. "I'll probably be back 'til late so order something out for dinner, see ya." She said as she put up her shoes and walked out of the apartment.
"Good afternoon and welcome to the celebration of completion of the JA project!" greeted the Jet Alone project director, "now we'll be answering your questions."
"I have some questions."
"Ah yes, the famous Doctor Ritsuko Akagi" the director acknowledged, "It's an honour to have your presence here today! What do you wish to know?"
"According to our earlier briefing, this unit is equipped with an internal nuclear reactor, is this correct?"
"Ah yes, its one of the projects most distinguished features!" He affirmed, "One hundred and fifty day operating is assured."
"However, isn't it risky to put a nuclear reactor in a lad based weapon, designed for hand on hand combat?"
"Is more practical than one that works for only five minutes."
"But in an emergency there could be a problem with the remote control."
"But its better than to cause a tremendous mental stress in a person."
"Cut it out Ritsu…" Muttered a rather bored Misato, "This only makes you look childish…"
"And there's also the matter of the manual operation" she continued, ignoring her friend.
"A machine that cannot be controlled is absurd… " The director retorted calmly "The JA project is more reliable than a weapon that can lose control at any moment and go berserk, and its obviously mental unstable pilot, who by the way, it's only a child." He said holding up a document with the pictures of Unit-01 and Shinji during the third angel's attack. "It's surprising that the UN allows NERV to use a minor for such a dangerous activity, and not to mention the immense amounts of money you're receiving, causing whole countries to starve"
"However, NERV is the only one with a weapon that can defeat the enemy" Ritsuko pointed out.
"You mean the AT-Field?" the director questioned, "That's only temporal, as you will see in the demonstration a week after today. Is there anything else, doctor Akagi?"
"No, that would be all, thank you." Replied a rather displeased Ritsuko taking back her seat.
"Do you know anything about that demonstration?" Asked Misato.
"Didn't you get the memo?" seeing that her friend didn't, the blonde explained. "Next Saturday would be not only the first JA activation, but also it would be its first 'real battle conditions' test"
"Oh? And what's it gonna fight?"
"Evangelion Unit-01"
"So you're telling me that I have to either win or tie in a fight with a freaky looking radioactive trash can…with my bare hands?"
"Yeah, that sums it up" Misato replied as they finished dismounting Unit-01's shoulder wings "Oh, and you'll have only five minutes, we're cutting your power source."
"…Oh joy…" he grumbled "you know; we really need to talk more about things like…telling me important facts so I can prepare and stuff!"
"Don't worry about it" The captain ensured "The JA Robot has never been used in battle, so you have experience as your advantage."
The battle was to be developed in an empty lot at old Tokyo, since the city had been abandoned long ago, the risk of causalities was null, also, due to the fact that the JA robot was still a prototype, it didn't had any weapons yet, so it was agreed that the fight was to be a hand on hand encounter.
"Meh…she's right…" he thought as they opened the JA hangar "I just have to keep that thing away with my AT-field 'til the batteries run out…that will be a bit boring though…ok, a few punches and kicks and then the AT-field, easiest tie ever."
"Start the test!"
"Pressure levels nominal."
"Coolant system circulation nominal."
"Releasing the control rods."
"Eva's power cord unplugged!"
"Begin!"
Both Unit-01 and the JA robot took a step forwards "Here goes!" Shinji rushed towards it, his fist raised directly toward the robot's head, but the JA control crew noticed it and parried easily "Ok, he's good…damn it!" he cursed trying to kick on its side.
"Keep it up Shinji, you're doing fine!" Misato cheered as the two mechas exchanged hits.
The director watched the fight with a neutral expression "enter to battle mode level two" he ordered to one of the techs.
The JA's attacks became faster and stronger; Shinji got worried as none of his hit landed, "Fuck! Stay back you damn thing!"
"AT-Field at 36.27 efficiency." Informed one of the techs as the main screen showed Unit-01 stopping the JA robot on its track.
"I guess this battle is over!" Replied Misato, turning towards the director.
He, however, looked unfazed "Activate the EM-field."
"Ha Ha! Easy money…" Shinji chuckled and relaxed on his seat while he holded up his AT-Field and kept the JA at a safe distance. "Now I just have to…what?" he gasped as he felt the Eva starting to move backwards. "What the hell?" He exclaimed horrified as an aqua green force shield appeared in front of the JA robot. "Ah crap…"
"What the hell is going on?" yelled an angry Misato as the screen showed how the JA shattered Unit-01's AT-Field and kicked it through some buildings.
"That my dear Captain is the JA's electromagnetic force shield, or EM-field for short," explained the director.
"EM-Field?" inquired Ritsuko.
"That's right" he said "As you well know, every kind of energy has a polar opposite, which can neutralize it. Our scientists have discovered that this particular wave form or electro magnetic energy can, in theory, neutralize to a 67 an Eva's AT-Field at 100 capacity." He looked over the two women smirking "And it looks like they were right"
"Damn it…damn it…damn it…" Unit-01 lied on the ground, in front of it, the JA stood victorious, mocking him, "Stupid thing thinks it can defeat me…" Shinji grasped the controls, willing his robot to its feet "I'll show it…" he growled, a mad grin crossed his face, "I'll show them!"
The Eva charged towards the JA, both green and orange fields collided violently, both mechas pushing each other with all their might, neither willing to surrender.
"The pressure inside the force shield generator is augmenting!"
"The temperature in the nuclear reactor is increasing at exponential rates!"
"Insert the neutron-deceleration fluid!" ordered the head man, "activate the emergency cooling pipes!"
"Negative!" shouted alarmed one of the techs, "There's something blocking the signal!"
"The compression valve is malfunctioning!"
"Possibility of meltdown is imminent!"
"So close…So fucking close…" The director stared bitterly at the monitor, "Deactivate the force shield generator! Redirect all the coolant to the reactor! Now!"
The aqua-green field shattered, not able to resist anymore the pressure of its orange counterpart. The Eva rammed heavily on the JA, the robot's legs collapsed, not able to support the weight of both mechas. Unit-01 pressed the fallen machine to the ground with its foot and pulled both of its opponent's arms tearing them of. The purple beast was about to deliver the final blow when suddenly its eyes lit off and collapsed on top of the JA.
"It looks like the JA project has been cancelled" Misato smiled confidentially at the director, who chose to remain silent "If it can't hold its ground against an Eva, much less against an Angel."
No one noticed, however, when Dr. Akagi stepped out of the room, and dialled a special number on her cell phone.
"Everything went well doctor?" asked a sombre voice from the other side of the line.
"Yes sir" Akagi replied, "Our little helper wasn't even noticed, everything went according to the plan."
"Did Unit-01 suffer any damage?"
"Nothing we can't fix in a couple of weeks."
"Very well then" and with that, commander Ikari ended the conversation. Dr Akagi put back her cell-phone in her coat and turned back to the command room.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Pacific, a man was typing on a computer, after inputting some last command, the unshaved man relaxed back on his chair, "That was fun" he said, cracking his knuckles.
"Oh Kaajiii" he heard a feminine voice from the other side of his room; he quickly changed the screen on the monitor before the owner of said voice reached him. "Watcha doin?" she said sweetly before hugging him from behind.
"Well, since we're arriving to Japan in a few weeks, I thought that I could get rid of some of the red-tape." He lied.
"Really?" She asked suspiciously, she knew he was hiding something.
"Shouldn't you be in bed now?" he questioned.
"You coming with me?" she whispered on his hear.
"Good night Asuka…"
"Hump…you're no fun…" she pouted letting go of him, "G'night Kaji!" she kissed him on his cheek before turning around and leaving the room.
"Kids…" he chuckled to himself. Turning back to his computer, he checked through the data he 'borrowed' from the JSSDF on the last battle "Was my help really needed I wonder?" he said as he scanned the last reading of Unit-01 before his intervention. "Shinji Ikari…it's going to be very interesting meeting you…"
To be continued.
Ok, that was diferent.
As always, thanks to all who bother reading this thing
and of course, to my prereaders Stormofdragons and Dark Machine.
To Cavalier and Eva-01X, good luck with whatever you're douing, haven't heard of any of you for a while...
Anyway, see ya next time!
By the way! I seriously doubt that i'll be using the EM-Field again.