Pilot: Asuka Langley Soryu
Asuka smiled while she leaned against the rail and let the ocean's wind brush past her face.
As she stood on the second highest point of the Oz carrier "Kongo". As she recalled, it was Japanese for "stability" or something of the like. She was amused when she first heard of that, but considered it fitting to such a large ship.
She gazed around her at the many ships surrounding the one she was on. While her precious Unit-02 was placed directly in front of her, she could also make out six battleships to her right and seven more on her left. Positioned around the carrier and the battleships were smaller, yet still intimidating frigates and destroyers. The commanding ship was directly to her left, which was almost half the size of the one she was aboard.
Asuka took some time remembering the short events that brought her there: the commander of this fleet had been against this operation since the beginning. She had a hard time understanding that old man, it seemed as if his only problem was her. Even when she had told him she was to be stationed aboard the same ship as her Evangelion, he objected. She had to get personal permission from Trieze, in which the commander of the fleet was publicly embarrassed by commander Trieze.
Asuka felt truly at ease with Trieze being around. Up until this point, all her problems had disappeared and she was living life the way she had always wanted to. People respected and obeyed her, envied her: she was well known and she could finally demonstrate her great skills and knowledge.
Asuka smirked, she truly enjoyed her life here. Even if the choice was presented, she bemused, she would probably decide to rest here rather than return to Tokyo3. After all, what had her true life given her? What had the old world done for her?
Asuka quickly stopped. She turned away from the ocean in front of her and shut her eyes. She mentally scolded herself, because for a few moments, memories had begun to flood back. Horrible ones, of defeat, of embarrassment, of pain. She knew now, she would never want to return to a world like that. She loved it here and she wanted it to last like this forever. She turned back to the ocean and decided to think about what she would do when they reached their next destination?
"Stop check, all crew members to your positions."
Asuka groaned, she mentally cursed the Naval Commander. At every point where he thought there could be a possible ambush, the ships slowed and defence units were put on standby. As a quick siren went off for a few seconds, notifying surrounding ships of the time, Asuka stepped off the balcony to her quarters. She decided she would catch up on some reading of this age?
Before being flung down half the length of the stairs.
"Verdammt!"
Two nearby officers, noticing Asuka's temper quickly dashed for cover as she hoisted herself up and clutched her ribs. "Damn." She looked around, hoping to find something breakable to let out her anger with. Finding nothing to quell her anger, she stepped outside as calmly as she could and took a look outside.
The calm ocean had suddenly been wakened somehow. Not more than 500 meters away, there seemed to be the residue of an enormous explosion. She also noticed one of the ships tipping at an awkward position out of the water.
Spotting the two nearest personnel of the ship, she quickly yelled at them for information.
"There's an attack!"
"Obviously," Asuka stated sarcastically, "I want information. Who's attacking us, where are they? What are we doing just standing here?"
The officer looked nervously at his partner, being faced with Asuka. The other one looked sympathetically at his partner, but gave him a shrug saying "you're on your own with this one buddy".
Defeated, the officer tried not to look at Asuka as he spoke. "The colonies are most likely launching a sneak attack. We have reports coming in already, but since I'm not at the bridge I can't give you any real info." He tried to act calm in front of her, but he was obviously shaken by the thoughts of an all out battle.
"Then just give me something to work with moron!"
"I don't know! It could just be some depth charges to a full assault by Gundams!"
"Hmph," Asuka looked back across the water, which hadn't changed much, except one ship had now sunk underwater and the others were quickly slowing, "well, we'd better be prepared for the worst right?" The officer once again looked hesitantly to his colleague. Only then did he notice that his friend was nowhere to be seen. He began to step cautiously back before Asuka turned on him again.
"You're not going anywhere yet, you have to do something for me first." Asuka gave him a wry smile and the officer tried to smile back, though his face became somewhat contorted in this act.
"A-a favor?"
"You could say that..."
Quatre sat in painful silence as he watched explosions erupt above him.
His Gundam Sandrock, being completely submerged underwater, was lying in wait for the fleet. Trowa and his Gundam Heavy Arms rested only a little ways away.
They were planning on rushing into the enemy fleet when the explosions first began, but for some reason the orders had not come to mount the attack. Quatre, beginning to feel hesitant, looked over at Trowa.
"Trowa, you get the signal?" Quatre spoke as he gave his instrument panels another glance, making sure no equipment was malfunctioning.
Trowa's voice came over the comm. Channel. "I have not received the 'go' for our operation. Have you?"
"No," Quatre looked upwards apprehensively, "that's the problem."
Both Gundams lay in wait underneath the fleet passing slowly above them. It was almost painful, watching your targets pass you by when you are in perfect range to destroy them. Quatre could easily control his temper though, so he waited in stressed silence.
Thankfully, a voice came through the speakers after 30 seconds.
"We have reports of a massive carrier in the direct center of the fleet. This is most likely their 'cargo' we've been looking for. Units 0 through 13, move to a closer position and wait for additional orders. All other units are to continue holding your positions."
Quatre sat back once again. It seemed as if he would have to wait a little bit longer. He mentally sighed as he watched the ships floating overhead.
"SHE SAYS WHAT!"
The officer almost fell backwards as the general blew up in his face.
At the bridge of the primary battleship, he hadn't expected a very happy reaction from the General. Nevertheless, the officer felt that he was really overdoing it. He, as well, almost wish he hadn't listened to what the female pilot of the new secret weapon had ordered him to.
"You can not be serious." The officer took another unconscious step back as the general tried to compose himself. "Since when is Oz being governed by a Commander who would let a teenager do our bidding. This is intolerable, the freedom she is receiving."
"Uh, sir?shouldn't we," one of the bridge deck crews was quickly silenced by the general's gaze. After a few instants, he turned away to look around at the impressive fleet entrusted to him. The crew was deathly silent as they waited for his decision.
"Well," the general turned back around, "we don't have much choice. Damn her. Though, can you tell me at least if she has a plan?"
The officer tried to read the General's face before launching into a short explanation, trying to decide what to ell and what not to tell him. "She said that she had been?in a similar situation once. She wanted to warn you to keep the crews away from the landing pads on our ship. It seemed as if she wanted room to manoeuvre across them."
"This is absurd!" The General wanted to stop her, but his past humiliation with Commander Kushrenada kept his impulses at bay. Defeated, he gave a firm nod and simply said: "let her do what she wishes then."
The officer, still very red in the face, turned to go. He tried to act as if he didn't want to flee as fast as he could. Chills went up his spine when he heard the General's voice again.
"One more thing?"
"Uh-" the officer turned back around, wincing. "Y-yes sir?"
"Ahem, please leave here immediately and change into your regular uniform?please?"
"Y-yes sir." The officer turned around and dashed out of the command center. Anybody watching would only have seen a blur shooting past, appearing to wear a red dress.
Six crew members aboard the transport cruiser fled the holding bay immediately after Asuka's shouts.
Asuka walked in to the frigate holding bay to find the crew members walking all over and studying HER Evangelion. She had to hold herself back from tearing them apart. One went so far as to try to eject the entry plug.
"Sheisse! Was zur Hölle." Asuka climbed up her Eva's torso after the crewmen who disappeared down the corridors. After her rage had subsided somewhat, a new thought hit her. Could they be trying to sabotage her Eva?
Asuka spent another two minutes searching around and inside Unit-02 making sure there were no destructive devices planted on her Eva. Soon, she heard the traditional siren blaring. Deciding there wasn't anymore time to spend searching, she climbed towards the entry plug hoping that if there were any problems, her Eva's armour would solve them.
She hit the release on the Entry plug and instantly climbed in and lowered it back into the center of Unit-02. As soon as the systems began starting up, she felt safe. She felt calmness pass through her as she looked around her casually. In all the time she spent in this different universe, the one place she would always look forward to being in was her Eva. It was the one connection to the past she had remaining, as well as the fact that just being inside it made her feel protected.
She had learned to control the Evangelion without her plug suit, since it had worn away some time ago. Instead, she was used to wearing tight fitting clothes inside, since anything too loose got in her vision and somehow seemed to get stuck in the curves of her seat.
She did feel somewhat sorry for the officer she stole the clothes of, but her dress would have been too hard to use inside her Evangelion anyway. Actually, in her opinion, he should be grateful that she had lent him the dress.
Her thoughts were then immediately cut-off when a voice cam over her comm.
"Unit-02. Docking bays are opening, take your position on the landing bay." The man continued speaking, almost as a side-comment: "Try not to damage too much of the carrier please."
Asuka smirked. "Roger."
The Eva's systems quickly calibrated around her. She took a few more looks around her, then pulled back her controls and lifted the towering figure of Evangelion Unit-02 out of the confines of the super-class carrier that it had been docked inside. As she brought her Eva to its full height, she marvelled at how far technology had come. On this ship, she actually had space to move around, not much, but this ship was almost three times larger than the one Unit-02 had used to arrive in Japan.
She then listened as the speaker began again.
"We'll give you a steady stream of information Unit-02. It appears as if underwater mines had been constructed directly in our course. We are busy readjusting our fleet's position and planning a different course. One of our battleships has sustained major damage, but no other vessels have been crippled too severely. No enemy units have been detected, but if any arrive, you will be needed on short notice. Remain on standby."
Asuka looked incredulously at the bridge. "What?"
"You heard us, ms. Sohryu. Technically, you are our trump card, we need to lure the enemy in first."
Asuka felt like telling them to themselves, but withheld the impulse.
All she could do was wait, as she already began to hear the noises of a battle.
Treize sat comfortably inside his private jet, flying at a safe altitude. He thought about stationing himself in the convoy, but he decided it might be more worthwhile for him to go immediately to the new base.
He had his portable computer on his lap as he scrolled through many documents. Even though he himself was safe from the battles his soldiers were waging, his face had become slightly tense as he went though information provided by his men.
"Both convoys?captured?" Treize frowned, staring at his computer screen, murmuring to himself. "Secret weapon?larger than mobile suits?" he turned to look out the window as he finished his thought, "that seem to resemble?" Trieze became silent for a few minutes before he came to a decision.
"Asuka..."
"Excuse me sir?" Treize turned his head to see the intercom button being pressed by his elbow.
"Ah, yes. I need a priority message being sent to a few different location please."
There was silence on the other side of the comm for a few seconds before the male's voice came back. "Yes sir, we have a priority stream ready."
"No, it only needs to be a message. Coded, still, of course. I'm sending it to you from my computer, do not look at the contents understand?"
"Yes. One moment? Alright, where to?"
Treize was about to answer when he though of something else as well.
"I want this message sent to both Asuka Langley Soryu and Zecks Marquise."
"Yes sir."
Treize sat back in his chair as he terminated the comm channel. Treize had been worried for a few seconds, but retained his calm demeanor. He had set things up well, and so far everything had gone according to his plans, with the exception of the efficiency of the enemy. He may have to call in a few other arms to aid him.
Wait, no, he thought to himself. Asuka and her Evangelion were his trump cards, not to mention coupled with Zecks. If he wasn't so concerned of world order, he could probably take on the entire Earthsphere alliance.
The only irregularity he needed more information on was the mystery secret weapon(s) the Earthsphere seemed to be using?
Trowa wasn't ready for the sudden attack order.
"All units, you may commence the assault. Your main objective is the capture or destruction of the center carrier. All units, commence the assault!"
As soon as the orders had come through, Trowa's piloting instincts came over him and he immediately brought his systems back to full power. Quatre's Gundam was already launching upwards, as Trowa looked to his side. Trowa doubled his speed and quickly set some extra parameters for his underwater weaponry.
Only a few seconds after Quatre and the rest of the forces, Trowa was in the battle. In those first few seconds though, he could see everything.
The water was perfectly clear above him, sending rays of sunlight down through the depths of the water. Huge black cylindrical objects above him cast shadows downwards, while around them there were bright red and orange fireworks that seemed to be erupting. He watched as Gundam Sandrock accelerated towards the surface and multiple mobile suits he was unfamiliar with approached the enemy ships from underwater as well. He mentally questioned whether or not this entire assault force was comprised of mobile suits.
He came up on the ships fast. He had been waiting right underneath the entire formation, but they had moved slightly so he was positioned somewhere in the inner circle of battleships protection the carrier. He didn't hesitate and as soon as he was within range he launched a volley of torpedoes aimed right underneath the carrier. The explosion was felt more than heard underwater, but didn't do as much damage as he though. Soon, there were many torpedoes and a few types of underwater missiles he hadn't seen before smashing into the ship's hulls around him.
He had only paused for a second, before he was hit hard from both sides. He cursed and instantly destroyed one of the submarines that was lying in ambush farther back from the convoy. The ships had also begun to drop depth charges underwater. Trowa decided to bring his battle to the air. Sweating slightly, he broke through the water and was just in time to watch all hell break loose.
Asuka heard many voices coming from her communications channel inside her Evangelion.
"Repeat, I don't understand, speak slower, argh, SHUT UP! Tell me what's going on out there!"
The noise continued in the background. There were many shouts and obviously it seemed as if there was panic in the control bridge. Asuka was preparing for another scream when he heard the same officer's voice that she had stolen clothes from earlier.
"Pilot Soryu? Come in!"
"Yes, finally, tell me what's going on, can I leave?"
"I don't know, I've just been seated at this station. It seems as if I'll be your operator."
"Huh? Operator? This is no time for jokes."
"No, I was ordered to do this. I don't know if you're familiar, but I'll try to supply you with information and new orders as they're issued. I think it's almost time you get out there though, so get ready."
"Wait, wait, wait," started Asuka, trying to go through all the facts, "did the attack start, talk to me here."
"Huh? Can't you tell from the sounds? We're under attack! The Earthsphere Alliance is attacking from both the air and the water. Most of the forces appear to be mobile suit based. I didn't know they had underwater mobile suits though, they look similar to our Pisces and Cancer units, I don't know if it's a coincidence?"
"Okay, I don't know what those are?" Asuka started, but then she quickly stopped herself. She took a deep breath and inhaled the LCL, feeling her blood becoming instantly oxygenated. The LCL, for some reason, never seemed to run out. At the moment, she didn't want to wonder why her Evangelion always had the orange ooze, she had assumed it was supplied by some sort of plant deeper inside NERV. Right now, she tried to focus on her objectives.
"Okay, let's start over and calm down. What is your name?"
"What? I don't think?ah?" she was faintly able to hear a sigh coming from the other end, "just call me Kojima."
"Alright," replied Asuka, "now what are my orders?"
"You are to wait fully activated. On my mark, you're going to enter the battle and destroy any unfriendly unit. Clear enough?"
"Yes."
Asuka held back on her control sticks inside her entry plug. Unit-02 was lying face first down inside the carrier with closed bay doors only a few meters above her. As soon as they opened she would be ready to go on the offensive.
Her eagerness to rush to battle seemed to be transmitting some sort of response to Unit-02 though, because it's arms seemed to tense up as she prepared to remove herself from the confines of the ship.
Asuka became more frustrated as she began to hear (and feel) stronger explosions resonating close to her. "Okay Kojima, how much longer."
"Not much, the enemies have penetrated far into our defenses. We've already confirmed one Gundam. Jeez, it's pretty amazing actually, it's slicing right through our ships as if they were-?"
"Hey, are you paying attention?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
"God, don't get distracted. Don't forget how awesome my Unit-02 is though. Understaaand?"
Asuka didn't need to hear the reply to understand he was sorry. But she almost missed the comment he added afterwards, almost as an afterthought.
"...and you've got the green light. Go get them!"
"Huh? The attack?"
"YES! They just told me, they want you to start engaging the enemy. GO FIGHT!"
Asuka didn't respond, not that she needed to. She hoisted herself out of the confines of the carrier, smashing and warping the doors that didn't open in time. She pulled up on the control sticks and raised her Evangelion to its full height, out of the carrier.
Asuka smirked. She felt safe inside her Eva, but while she piloted it, she was the Evangelion herself. Only in battle did she feel as if she became one with it.
Her smirk grew wider as she looked around at the carnage surrounding her. A good 20 of Oz's ships were sinking or on fire while still exchanging fire with the enemy. She had a clear view all around her. She saw all the enemy mobile suits, and all the friendly ones. She could even make out those underwater.
The bright red Evangelion Unit-02 couldn't stand out more, being many times larger than any mobile suit, the threat was very obvious to the enemy. There probably wasn't a single person in this battle that didn't notice her. For a few seconds, the huge battle raging around seemed to freeze or go in slow motion. This was a great moment for Asuka, because she was sure everybody's attention was fixed on her.
She decided that now might be another good chance to test out some of the Eva's capabilities. She decided to make the first move:
She stretched out and found the feeling a pulses that were associated with the A-T Field. She concentrated on them and then focused on one enemy mobile suit that had wandered closest to her. She then tried to feel that energy pulsing through her, like monks and their chi, which she had seen on television, or like her martial arts teachers taught her. But, for some reason, she couldn't. Nothing came of it. She froze for a few seconds, shocked, to find that the enemy had suddenly resumed combat, and seemed fiercer than ever.
The enemies around her began furiously emptying their ammo on her, firing everything they could at this new threat. Asuka noticed these and watched as they were either reflected or plain stopped by her A-T Field.
Getting over her shock at her failed attempt she noticed how many enemies there actually were, and how much damage they were doing to the enormous fleet.
"Asuka? Asuka? Pilot Asuka Soryu?"
Asuka was jerked by the voice coming from the comm line. "Huh? What is it?"
"What are you doing? We're barely able to hold them off, we've spotted 2 Gundams now, not to mention the sheer sizes of their forces. It would be great if you gave us some help soon?"
"Oh, yeah, so-?" Asuka's comment got stuck in her through as she felt the entire cruiser beneath her shake and then fall somewhat from a strong impact. Unit-02 struggled for a bit to keep balance, before finally steadying the massive ship again. Asuka felt herself shed a few beads of sweat, she had forgotten that the Eva couldn't operate underwater. Asuka finally felt slightly nervous for the first time in this battle, and through sheer instinct for survival, she panicked.
She brought the huge Arms of the Eva back before swinging them with deadly speed and force through the air straightforward. Slightly in front of the Eva's arms, the surrounding A-T Field seemed to materialize and was knocked by this impact into a zagged line, smashing straight forward through friendly and enemy units.
Asuka was shocked for a few seconds. She hadn't felt anything, just panic. But looking in front of her, it's as if someone had fired a particle beam cannon in a straight line and vaporized everything in the air or underwater in a slight jagged straight line. She could also see steam rising out of the water, where her A-T Field had swung. The effect created by the A-T Field seemed similar to that of a whip. But how, she wondered, did I do it?
It wasn't through Chi, or thought. Could it be, it was the result of my emotions, she tried to deduce.
Both allies and enemies seemed to be in shock, so she gave it another try, determined not to fail this time. She thought of what she wanted, and she tried to associate her emotions with how she had just felt. She was trying to find some sort of feeling, she was sure she would know what it felt like to connect with her A-T Field. Suddenly, it was like being hit in the face by a bright light, she could feel it. She could feel it'' presence around her, invisible, but always there. She wasn't actually sure what it was, it was almost scary, a feeling of suppressed energy it seemed.
Nevertheless, she gave another try at mastering her A-T Field?
Quatre watched the destruction in shock. He had cut down three battleships and no enemy or weaponry seemed to stand up to him. It seemed unfair in a way to him, but he continued to remind himself of what he was fighting for.
But, as soon as that?THING had come out of the cruiser they were ordered to destroy, he had felt immediate terror. It stood up and didn't do anything, which was when orders were barked out to destroy that thing and Quatre, along with the rest of his forces came back to their senses and doubled their efforts to destroying Oz.
Quatre was too far away himself to attack it directly, but he watched out of the corner of his eye what was happening. He watched, almost in awe as missiles, bullets and even beam based weapons couldn't get near it or exploded a little ways away from the actual target. Then he saw as the carrier itself began to become unstable and watched that the huge machine almost comically fumbled above the carrier. It dawned on him and the generals commanding this battle that the new target would be at the cruiser and any ships that the giant monster would use to stay above the water.
"Scheisse!" Asuka began to become impatient. She was trying to find a way to command, or even get some use out of her A-T Field now, but she had only succeeded in feeling it around her. She noticed that this wasn't a very large feat, seeing as she never cared about the A-T Field before this. She was only concerned about using it's destructive power.
Asuka continued to watch the battle rage on around her and let missiles continue to pummel her and the carrier. She strained to carry out the same action she had before, but it wasn't working anymore, she couldn't get it to work.
"Argh! You stupid machine!" Asuka yelled inside the Entry-plug, bringing her fists down hard on her seat. "You stupid, stupid machine! You're supposed to obey me! You're supposed to do what I tell you! You're starting to ignore me again, and I won't have it!" Asuka yelled inside the Evangelion as hard as she could, but she could feel no effect.
The A-T Field didn't come to her, neither did any knowledge. Actually, she began to sense her feeling of security draining away. She didn't know what it was but it didn't feel the same inside her Unit-02 anymore. She suddenly felt alien inside it somehow. She was slightly afraid, because she could remember this happening once somewhere, sometime, in a different world, but not here. She carefully tried moving the Eva's arms and was happy to find that they still obliged to her will.
Suddenly, she was struck by another missile, but this impact was stronger than the others. Was it her imagination?
She looked around helplessly at the chaos surrounding her, more and more frigates were being enveloped in flames while the 2 forces battled each other. Now, it felt as if her A-T Field was no longer as protective or as strong as it was before. But, that doesn't make any sense whatsoever, thought Asuka, there's no way the A-T Field would just stop like that-...
Asuka screamed as she suddenly felt pain course through her. This time it hurt. More and more ammo was raining down on her and now she could begin to feel it. She had forgotten that her Eva's pain was shared with her. She mentally conceded defeat for the moment on the A-T Field stuff, but this battle was far from over now. The fire in Asuka's eyes could almost be seen.
Quatre was closing in on the red Mecha, focused more on his mission than being afraid. Trowa had just broken through the surface to meet a faceful of missiles, before plummeting back into the water. Quatre was going to dive down to help him, but Trowa was back up and spraying destruction before he knew it.
Quatre looked up to see the red mecha moving again, now he was prepared to take it on. Firing his thrusters, he accelerated towards the carrier.
Asuka bent her Eva down and picked up one of the experimental rifles that Treize had so thoughtfully offered to provide, since none of the regular mobile suit weapons could fit the Eva easily. This rifle was slightly bigger than the shoulder-mounted mobile suit artillery cannons, though being much easier to use with the size of the Eva. Easily bringing it up, Asuka decided the first threat were the mobile suits closest to her.
Not bothering to take aim too precisely, she began to fire explosive rounds at any airborne enemy she could find. After a few shots, she began to understand the recoil and the handling of the Eva with this weapon. Unit-02 seemed to configure itself to this weapon the more she fired, and soon she was successfully able to knock down 8 mobile suits from the sky.
Gundam Sandrock was closing the distance between the Evangelion and himself when Asuka noticed him. She didn't think much of the different design, firing off a few rounds at him. When the Gundam easily dodged these shots, she became slighty more interested in taking down this new threat, reading Sandrocks moves and finally successfully hitting him once right in the face.
Quatre grunted as the mobile suit lost altitude and smashed into the water. He regained control easily and accelerated underwater. HE came up to the carrier and rammed into it, sending a jolt through the entire hull.
"Watch it Asuka, the Gundams can take a beating. It's currently under the ship."
"Yeah," came her slightly sarcastic response, "I think I can see that." She stayed where she was and continued to fire at the other enemies before the comm silence was broken again:
"You aren't going to go after it?"
"You imbecile! My Precious Eva can't go underwater!"
"Ah.." Was the only response she got from the other side of the channel.
"Shut up, I'll handle this myself!"
The Eva stopped firing and crouched down, before launching itself upwards of off the carrier. It jumped almost perfectly to land on the nearest Battlecruiser to the right, though crushing its hull slightly. Asuka was impressed, since her first time fighting over water, the ship's hulls were much more easily damaged by the Eva's mass.
Trowa caught sight of the movement and soon decided the Eva was his next target. Quatre felt the lurch of the carrier and heard from the comm that the mecha was moving now. He also heard some interesting information:
"I-it.there9-...yeah! It's no so strong! The shield's weakening on that thing! H-hurry up and blast it!"
"Repeat that please." Started Quatre, seeing if he heard things correctly.
"What? The huge red thing's invincible shield is wearing off, we're landing shots on it for good!"
Asuka swore again as shots pummeled her, she could feel the pain, but even without the A-T FIeld, the Evangelion's fortified armor was another story. Though, now, the odds were being evened a bit.
"Hey, you there? Kojima?" Asuka shouted into the comm channel.
"Yes, yes I'm here, what is it?"
"I'm not sure what's happening, but anyways, give me some support here. Don't think I'm going to do all the work for you guys, get me some cover!"
"Uh, yes, wait, I'll try..."
Asuka watched as the ships around her began to move into a different formation. Good, she thought, for now they were neatly positioned to face outwards at the incoming enemies. Soon, the battleships along with the cruisers and frigates were exchanging fire on even ground with the enemy mobile suits.
Asuka herself was no focused on taking down the two Gundams that had targeted her.
Once again, she found herself jumping from one ship to another while exchanging fire with the two Gundams. Sandrock was hot on her tail, taking swiped and doing damage to the ships she had landed on. The other Gundam, Heavyarms, had put distance between them and was keeping up a continuous stream of bullets and the occasional missile burst to keep her on her toes.
Quatre couldn't help it as he attacked again and again. The red mecha seemed to be triggering something in the back of his brain but he wasn't quite sure what it was.
Suddenly, there was an opening! Unit-02 had stalled on one of the battleships and seemed to have lost balance for a second. Quatre didn't hesitate, pressing on his thrusters and ramming full force into the red mecha with both his swords smashing into the ribs and shoulders.
After recovering from the shock, Quatre saw that the blades had only succeeded in penetrating the armor a meter or two, which wasn't very much considering it's size. What he did notice, was a bluish purple liquid that had started to ooze out of this wound.
Wound?
Quatre didn't get a chance to continue his line of thought.
Asuka screamed with pain, louder this time. She took her left hand and clutched her shoulder, which had begun to feel searing pain. With her right, she lurched forward, and through the Eva's movements, grabbed Gundam Sandrock's head in between it's fingers. Asuka's teeth were clenched in rage as she pressed hard through her fingers and could almost feel the mobile suit's head begin to crunch under her fingers.
Quatre lurched back as a few of his monitors flashed and became static. He could feel his Gundam being crushed by the tremendous force, but as he tried to maneuver with his controls, he found that he couldn't escape it's grasp. One by one, his systems beganblinking red.
At that moment, Trowa entered the battle himself, removing his primary machine gun and taking his Gundam's melee weapon into his hands. Asuka was just able to sense this. She whipped the Eva's torso around and threw Sandrock straight at Heavyarms, successful in knocking both of them through one of the escort carriers and into the sea.
Asuka was panting now, as she clutched her shoulder. As she looked up, she suddenly became aware that the gunfire was becoming less frequent. She could see the enemy units falling back.
Asuka gave a sigh of relief. She used the rest of her force to make her way back to the super carrier and put Unit-02 into a sitting position as she removed the entry-plug.
Quatre felt himself being brought away, probably by Trowa's Gundam.
Inside his crippled mobile suit, all the monitors were blank, so it was hard to see.
He sighed, he wouldn't be able to continue the battle like this. He felt himself becoming depressed and immediately tried thinking of stuff to cheer himself up.
Trowa, on the other hand, was drawing his friend away from the battle. He saw the mobile suits he was fighting along side with running away form the forces. It would seem that they had taken heavy losses. THey had underestimated how strongly fortified the enemy would be. Then there was the huge red mecha Oz was using.
Trowa tried to pinpoint it in his mind, what Oz's secret weapon reminded him of.
It was then that it dawned on him, what the machine resembled. It was like being hit in the face like a brick and made him feel stupid for not recognizing it earlier.
Shinji. Unit-01.
Rei. Unit-00.
He positioned his Gundam just so he could zoom in on the enemy fleet for a few moments. HE saw the huge red Mecha retreating to the large carrier in the middle of the formation. He zoomed in and increased the image further, then took a look at the readings on the mecha's shoulders. HE felt his breath stop.
EVA UNIT-02
Trowa's brain froze. He didn't know what to think. What was happening, what was a mech like this doing with the enemy. Could it be, that this is what his new acquaintances were looking for, the target of Shinji and Rei? Was this their objective? Was this their friend piloting it? Then why was it attacking them?
What was happening to this war?
What should he do?
Okay, I decided not to add comments at the beginning of the story to keep things simple now.
So, I finally wrote the next chapter, but since it's been awhile my writing may have changed. If you notice any irregularities, please notify me immediately. Comments are always appreciated on how I can improve this story.
On another note, someone tell me how Zecks is spelled. Is it Zacks? Zex? Zecks? Zwachiliquabiline? I'm not sure, because there seem to be different answers on the internet.
Lastly, after going through my old reviews, I'm thinking about posting the old version of my fic just for fun? It seems as if people like both of them for different reasons. This one is good because it has (in my opinion) a broader array of emotions and ways to play with the character's feelings. The old one would be perfect for action, since all the Eva's are together and ready to kick $$. Tell me what you think.