Rebirth of the Evangelion
Trieze smiled inwardly as he stared at the masterpiece of carnage created by his 2 new weapons. While his entire base was untouched, the perimeter and beyond was ash, rocks and melted snow. Add plenty of mobile suit limbs to the mess and that pretty well sums it up.
"General?" Trieze referred to the comm on his desk once more.
"Yes Commander?"
"I want a salvage team sent out straight away. They may plan a retaliatory strike on us, so make a quick sweep of the area for something useful."
"What are we looking for?"
"The techs know. Oh, and please put control on the line."
"Y-yes sir." After a brief pause another voice replaced the General's.
"Control."
"Yes, I know, did you get the data?" came Trieze's carefully controlled voice.
"All of it sir."
"...and?"
"With regular energy levels, we recieved a 38 output. Though, when the mecha-...excuse me, 'Eva' became operational, it exceeded an output ratio 79. I believe we have found a crucial factor in the development of our weapon."
"Indeed. Continue with the research, I am expecting positive results. Where is the Eva currently?"
"It has just entered the hangar."
"Good, send the pilot to me directly if you will."
"Yes sir."
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Shinji sat on the edge of the same bed as Quatre. Across from him sat Rei and Trowa, who were both browsing the information on the computer screen in front of them. None of them were currently speaking, for the events they had just witnessed were shocking enough.
All four of them were able to witness most of the battle that occured in the north via the colony satelites. The storm was a factor for visibility from space, but it cleared relatively fast, making it easy for them to witness the whole battle.
Shinji started going through the events in his head. It doesn't add up to anything, he thought. Asuka is definitely alive, but what is she doing with our enemies? Why didn't she contact us? How are we going to contact her?
"So, it's true about Oz's secret weapon then." Both Shinji and Quatre looked up to see Trowa speaking. "Though,...that red mecha is related to you isn't it?" This time he stared at Rei for an answer.
"That is correct, yet we have not been in communication with her during the time we have arrived here. What we need to do is rejoin with her." Rei's voice, though not loud, held determination.
"Excuse me, but what are you suggesting?" Quatre rose a bit off the bed now. "We cannot just mount an attack against Oz. Our orders come from the colonies, we target strategic points in order to remove Oz's support, piece by piece."
"It is true," Trowa agreed, "though the Gundams are many times more powerful than any Oz design, we can still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Gundams do not possess impenetrable armour, and with enough firepower, we can be easily overwhelmed."
"Plus," said Quatre, "there is no guarantee your friend is still willing to side with us, let alone you. You do not seem to be able to comprehend the risks we would take in putting all of our trust in people we have met less than 2 days ago. If she has just fought our allies, what makes you think she would join us just because of you?"
There was a brief but tense silence surrounding them before Shinji, astonishingly enough, was the one to break it. "But...what is Asuka doing there in the first place? Why is she with the enemy?"
Rei sighed, but carefully explained the situation to him. "Sohryu is in a different position from us. These Gundam pilots were our first acquaintances and it would be safe to say that they first wanted to side with us because of our Evas."
"Okay..."
"Oz must have done the same thing. They must have cast an illusion into her making her believe that they are the good side and that she should aid them in their conquest. You understand?"
"Yeah, sorta, but wouldn't that mean?..."
"I am aware that these people could be doing the same thing," she gave the 2 other teenagers in the room a glance, "but I have already decided that they are no threat to us." Rei left it at that as she gave Shinji a look before Quatre spoke again.
"Oh, okay...I see you think we're...ahem...trustworthy...ahem...so, now we should get back to the fact that we are currently debating."
"We were having a debate?" All heads turned towards Rei who's face only showed the slightest sign of confusion. Sweatdrops formed on a few of their heads.
"It's true," Trowa then began, recovering, "there is no real debate. We cannot go out of our way to save your ally. Just like you have your orders and objectives, we have our own as well. Though, if you're willing, we could work out some sort of deal."
Shinji said nothing, so Rei spoke: "What kind of trade are you willing to make."
"It's simple, we will give you limited aid to rescue your friend, and then you will aid us in completely destroying Oz's headquarters."
"Hey, wait now." Shinji tore himself from his thoughts and got up. "Just a minute ago you were saying you wouldn't even be able to go up against them main base of...this enemy."
"Yes, because you were insinuating Trowa and I were to destroy Oz."
"Then why do you agree now?"
"Simply because if your Eva's were to join the battle, we could easily overwhelm them."
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"The seperatist colonies are making such stupid mistakes." Duo cursed for the upteenth time since they were held up inside an abandoned hangar. "Why did they just have to choose THIS TIME to-..."
"Quiet, there's somebody coming." Heero quickly swatted Duo to stop his rambling and almost got a punch in return if Duo hadn't heard the sounds of footsteps drawing nearer. "You know the plan."
"As always..."
The footsteps became louder until there was a hiss of a sliding door being opened.
3 guards in Oz uniforms stepped through the doorway. 2 of them held rifles while another had one slung around his back holding a flashlight up front. The hangar was dark, most of the light came from the doorway.
"Hey, let's get some light in here Dan." This came from the guard on the left of the group.
"God dammit, you get the light. We're wasting our time in here, there's no terrorist group going to bomb a 3rd class hangar!" The guard holding the flashlight stepped back and turned towards the person on the left, showing that it was indeed him speaking. There was not much light to make out their actual facial expressions.
"Hey, don't get cocky, we have our orders. Find a light switch, punk, and throw it already."
A barely audible sigh almost echoed through the hangar as one guard broke away form the 2 others and moved his hand up the wall before he found a switch. "Here, got it, but I still think we're wasting our-..."
Lights flared to life around the entire hangar to reveal 2 teenagers standing 45 degrees to the right and left of the guards with handguns already pointed firmly at them.
"Oh Shit-..."
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Asuka was in a joyful mood as she rode the elevator up to the same floor as the commander.
She had once again proven herself useful; she once again shown that she had purpose to someone and she was being praised for it. Things were once again going her way. All the commander could do now was praise her for her handywork.
"Ah, Ms Sohryu. Sit down please." As Asuka left the elevator, she found that she was already in front of Kushrenada's office. Without ado, she walked quickly across the room and sat down in front of his desk.
"Yes sir?"
Trieze smiled but otherwise betrayed no other emotion. "I am pleased with the outcome of your battle." Asuka suddenly tensed; She saw Trieze's hands beggining to move up into a pose she had seen done too many times by a certain ruthless commander of NERV. Thankfully, he crossed his arms on his desk and she sighed and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Whew...Um, thank "
"Though," Trieze's voice now became a bit harder. "You could have been much more efficient. We do not have limitless power supplies in the north, you could have disposed of them much sooner. Why did you hesitate in the hangar and why did you only fight at half your original speed?"
"Huh? I mean, when did I ever go faster?"
"We have much data stored on the first battle we had with you. Your Eva's movements were much quicker then."
Asuka thought back and remembered how she had been in a state of panic and had only thought about surviving. Could it be, she thought, that it was her state of mind that affected the workings of her Eva? Plus, now that she thought about it; she could barely control Unit-02 before she woke up in this new dimension. Now it was succumbing to her every command. What changed? Why was she able to control it suddenly? "Mamma?"
"Excuse me?" Trieze's eyebrows arched, though he did not think he heard her properly. Asuka immediatly became taken aback by what she had just blurted and bowed her head.
"Um, nothing, just thinking."
"About what, may I ask? There is no problem with you being open with me."
"Well..." She was not ready to divulge certain information to even a person like Trieze just yet. "My Eva does not quite work like any other machine. Well...since I control it with my brain I guess, depending on my state of mind it will react differently."
"Ah, so if you feel the intense need to survive, your Eva will work faster as if it were also suddenly filled with adrenaline?"
"Um...maybe?"
Trieze was silent for a moment, then: "Well, that's all for now. I respect the fact that you don't know all the secrets about your own special machine(if that is what it is), though if you do remember some useful information, please don't hesitate to tell me. I'm your friend, remember that."
"Y-yes...I will, commander. Thanks."
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Shinji sat back down in his bed. All four of the teenagers had continued their discussion a similar way to how presidential debates would look like. It was obvious which side would win, but the argument was still prolonged out. Finally, they had planned to settle the rest in the morning.
"Rei?"
Rei turned around as she sat down on her bed to look back at Shinji. "Ikar-...What is it Shinji?"
Shinji went through his words in his head before he spoke them: "Well, uh, you see...I'm just kind of curious about something."
" ... ... Something?"
"Uh...yes. Um, I was curious as to why you said you trusted these...people already."
"You are concerned that I have had a lack of judgement concerning them?"
"No! Not that...just, you said you trusted them and I'm curious as why that's so. I mean, we've just met them right? Remember how long it took for you to actually start talking to me?"
"Yes."
"And ...?"
"Yes?"
"Ahem." Sweatdrops. "The point is, why do you trust these Gundam pilots so suddenly?"
"I am sorry Shinji, but my reasons will remain to be my own for this period of time."
Shinji was caught a bit off guard by this comment. There was very little he knew about Rei, but was it possible that she had already known about these events? What did Rei know that he and Asuka didn't? "Um, okay, that's alright. But Rei, when this is over, please tell me anything you're hiding right now if it's alright. Okay?"
"That would be acceptable."
Rei turned around and slipped under her bed's covers. It was a few more moments before Shinji actually fell into his bed. His thoughts were once again moving at a mile a minute. Plus, the conversation with Rei he was hoping to solve some answers for him...proved to make it even harder on him.
"Good Night Shinji." Shinji looked over slightly shocked at Rei's words, but smiled nonetheless.
"Thanks, you too."
He tried to think of the last time someone had actually said that to him.
Still, what was he missing? In the past 72 hours, there was still too much information for his brain to fully comprehend all at once. There were so many questions unanswered and he wanted to know why this was happening to him.
Shinji curled up on his bed and lay there, his temporary feeling of warmth fading. The universe around him suddenly felt much more cold.
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"Beta 413, status?"
"Beta 413 here, we have repaired most artillary. We should be ready to move soon enough."
"Echo 716, status?"
"Echo 716 here, we're not going anywhere. Our forces look like Shi-..."
George Walker closed his comm. line exasperatedly. It hurt him to look around at his forces. It seemed as if no mobile suit in his unit got away unscathed. Most were intact, but many were also badly damaged. It was more of a miracle they got out of there alive. The entire attack force was never ready for such a counter-offensive.
His thoughts were interrupted when a new voice came through his command Leo's comm. line. "Major?"
George straightened his back and flipped a switch. "George Walker here."
"Ah, thank god. Well, at least we have a major that survived."
"Well praise the lord." Walker's words held silent venom in them.
"Hey," the voice also dropped it's tone a notch, "I know most of you think it's intelligence's fault for dragging it's ass, but I'm sorry to say that it's not."
"Then what is the purpose of this little ?"
"It's simple. You are an adequate military technician yourself. We need input on this new threat. All our forces are already on Earth, plus there will be no way to evac you guys without having a huge risk of transports being shot down."
"Hah, I see. You're saying we've been stranded now?"
"No, but we are incapable of Evacing you guys anytime soon. You'd better get comfortable unless you have any good ideas about how to defeat an enemy with more units, more firepower and more technology on their side than us."
George almost laughed at this comment. "Hah," the major stiffled his laughter as the answer he believed in came to him. "This is just great. Just great. They've turned the odds on us now. I should have never agreed to this mission."
"That's out of line-..."
"It doesn't matter. I still have an idea."
" ... ... What is it?"
There was a few seconds silence on the comm. line: "We can use our own trump cards against them, unless you're still holding that useless grudge."
"What do you want Major?"
"I highly suggest you make some new friends fast. If we could get a Gundam to create a diversion for us, we could attack them from opposite sides and destroy them easily."
"Best plan yet Major, but it still has horrible odds in our favor."
"Well then, I guess we could just bow to Oz and let them take control. Then our lives won't be at risk anymore."
"You made your point Walker. Out."
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"Here it is!" Duo pressed a few keys lightly and gave a silent whoop of joy. "We're in, restricted access authorized!"
Heero let an almost invisible grin form on his face. "Do you have the access codes?"
"Sure do! Here," one blue card was handed to Heero, "we can use these to access the hangar. With these uniforms, nobody will suspect us!"
Heero gave the stolen Oz uniform a quick dust off. "That's fine."
Duo laughed. "Whew, after all this work, we're getting pretty damn close to our goal. So, you up for checking it out right now? Or you want to have lunch first?"
Heero didn't answer, but walked out of the door. "I don't need to answer that question."
"Heh, shoulda' known."
A/N Thank you once again to Steve VADER for prereading. Any other prereaders are welcome too if you would like to contribute. The story may be progressing a bit slower, but there will be plenty of action going on later. I'm seriously deciding whether to redo the first 4 chapters first though.