Sekhmet: So it's just me today. Israfel is a fun little episode because we ended up splitting it into two because of an improv little plot thing. Israfel is cool because they actually have to split up his fight (or rather, take a second stab at it) and I think that's cool. Still don't like Asuka, still wish she was replaced. Here we GOOOOOO!
Chapter 9: The Seventh Angel, Israphel (Part 1)
"Did you see the new girls?"
"What new girls?"
The ones that transferred in!"
"Oh them. I sure did!"
"The German One sure is hot."
"Yeah, but she's not nice. Not like the French girl."
"Yeah, she's the total package! Nice, hot, AND foreign. I'm drooling."
"Don't forget the Brit. She's got her charms too."
"Yeah, but don't you think she's a little...weird?"
"Sure, but she's smoking, so does it really matter?"
….
"Bonjour!" Adelise said excitedly after being introduced by their homeroom teacher. "Oh it is so wonderful to be here with you all!"
"'ello," Mari said smiling with a wave.
"Guten Tag everyone!" Asuka said in her schoolgirl voice.
"Please take your seats," The homeroom teacher said before pulling down the projector to talk about the 2nd impact ...again.
"So the new pilots are...interesting."
Rei turned away from her window watching to look at Shinji. "What do you mean friend Ikari?"
"Well Adelise is nice. Mari is kind of weird but funny. But Asuka...I don't know." Shinji elaborated.
"Pilot Soryu is efficient," Rei said in her usual way. "She will be effective in defeating the Angels."
"I guess, but does she have to be so…" Shinji asked, trying to think of an appropriate phrase.
"Kinda a cunt?" Isabelle asked leaning in.
"I would say bitchy is more appropriate." Mary chimed in from beside her.
"Friend Jones," Rei said blinking. "You are not normally like this, she took the peach."
"Yes, and that means she can still be a friend. But that doesn't mean that she automatically starts as a friend, only that friendship is possible." Mary said. "I mean, you have to admit she's kinda uppity. That's gotta annoy you a little."
"Pilot Soryu will be useful in our fight against the angels," Rei repeated.
"And your personal opinion Blue?" Isabelle asked.
"Pilot Soryu is not a very nice person," Rei responded instantly.
"I'll take that as a resentful agreement then." Mary said.
"You may take it how you wish," Rei said vaguely.
"Well, she can't be all bad, right? If we get to know her a little better, maybe she'll turn out to be nicer." Shinji suggested.
"I guess you're right. I mean, we've only known her for a week so far." Mary admitted.
"The others are better at least," Isabelle said shrugging as she watched everyone fond over the new students. "At what are we chopped liver?" Isabelle asked Mary giggling.
"Yeah, Adelise is nice. I like her hair, it's pretty." Mary said.
"Friends Isabelle and Jones," Rei said looking at them. "You had best pay attention."
Mary turned around to listen, but since they had retreaded the same lesson over and over she soon ended up in another daydream.
Isabelle simply laid her head down to get a nap in before lunch, Rei took her notes while Shinji split his time between looking at the new pilots and taking notes.
…..
"Ah so much better!" Isabelle said as she leaned against the railings to take in the entire scene.
"Friend Isabelle please come over and eat your lunch," Rei said as she chewed on one of her vegetarian dumplings.
"Yeah, come on, the Stone is nice and warm." Mary said, biting into a peanut butter jelly sandwich.
"It's a long way down if that breaks…" Shinji added. Despite the chain link fence being much taller than any of them, it did look kind of rickety.
"Alright alright," Isabelle sighed as she walked back over to their picnic blanket lunch and grabbing a vegemite sandwich. "I'll eat then gawk," She conceded taking a bit, making everyone shiver.
"Eating is good for you. If there's one thing I learned on the farm, it's to never, EVER skip a meal unless there's a good reason. Not eating can actually make you sick." Mary said, taking another bite.
"Not eating will affect your piloting skills," Rei added worried in her own way. "Bad piloting could be the difference between life and death."
"Right, and a good meal can make you feel really good, I heard." Shinji added.
"Alright alright I get it," Isabelle sighed with a smile that disappeared soon after. "Should we have invited the others?" Isabelle asked.
"Knowing them, they'll find us." Mary said. "They seem like a tenacious bunch."
"Pilots Mercier, Makinami, and Soryu were last seen in the company of Representative Horaki heading to the cafeteria," Rei pipped in.
"Oh. I guess not then." Shinji said.
"Huh. Didn't expect that, but ok." Mary said.
"Oh well," Isabelle said sighing.
"Well it's not like they don't work with us. We'll see them eventually." Mary said.
"Yeah, I guess I didn't think of that." Shinji said.
"We will be going for a synch test today," Rei confirmed and with that agreement the four went back to eating.
….
"So can someone explain to me why this room does not have changing stalls?" Isabelle asked sliding on her plug suit.
"It honestly puzzles me too." Mary said, unfolding hers.
"Ugh what is with the Japanse and no privacy!?" Asuka yelled going around the corner to change.
"Oh don't go queen," Mari cooed making Asuka scream again.
"I don't see a problem with it." Adelise said, slipping into her suit.
"They consider the needs of others over their own. What that has to do with not having stalls is beyond me." Mary said, hauling the material over her shoulders.
"The room is much more open without them." Adelise said. "I enjoy it."
Isabelle rolled her eyes as she pressurized her suit. "It's still annoying," She said pulling a wedgie out of her butt.
"It's fiiine. Everything's fiiiine." Mary said, also pressuring her suit and smoothing out the wrinkles. Adelise nodded in agreement.
"Come on you extras!" Asuka yelled walking out from behind the lockers. "Let's go!" She yelled clapping her hands.
"Don't you call me an extra." Mary said, walking over to the doors.
Isabelle rolled her eyes and left, Mari smiled and draped herself over Asuka whispering sweet nothings into her ear, making her scream. Adelise followed closely behind, barely a care in the world.
…..
"Alright you seven," Misato said looking at the screen as the pilots slid inside their plugs. "Get settled, this is gonna be a long one," She muttered before switching the coms over to Isabelle's. "Hey Isabelle are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Isabelle said blushing as she slid into her seat. "J-Just keep the com window over, so I can see outside."
"Of course," Misato said smiling as she kept their window open while the bridge crew went through the start up.
"We've reached the borderline," Maya said nodding. "Synch rations holding strong."
"Test commencing," Ritsuko said sitting back, only to nearly fall over when the alarm went off.
"Status report," Misato ordered.
"Pattern blue coming in fast to the coast of sector 2," Maya responded.
"Right," Misato said turning on the coms. "We're making this test a field test, get to the cages now!"
"Right!" everyone yelled scrambling out of their test plugs.
…..
The Angel that stood before them looked pretty superficially humanoid. Silver in color, it stood on two skinny legs, it's arms curved upwards to resemble a bow limb and topped with spindly hands. It's face was in the top center of its torso, and it had a blue and orange face plate.
"It's just standing there...menacingly." Mary said. "It's kinda ugly cute actually."
"It's adorable!" Adelise cooed. "It's like it's trying to be intimidating with that tiny face and it's wiggly little hands!"
"Umm sure," Isabelle said shouldering her sniper rifle.
"You can admire the looks after it has been defeated," Rei replied aiming her pistol, happy that her Eva had finally been upgraded to combat standards.
"What's the plan?" Shinji asked loading his rifle.
"Stay back for now and observe," Misato ordered. "Don't engage until-."
"It's dead!" Asuka shouted, rushing forward to attack it.
"Oh my god, she just ran in." Mary said, absolutely dumbfounded.
"Oh dear!" Adelise exclaimed.
"Asuka! You can't just-!" Shinji yelled.
Asuka spun her polearm and slammed it into the top of the angel's head, sliding through it like a hot knife through butter and tearing the core apart. "Simple as that, two for me," Asuka said sticking her weapon in the ground.
It was not as simple as that. The Angel's dual colored mask switched out for two gray ones, and the two halves pulled themselves apart, reforming into two separate clones, one still silver and the other orange.
"The angels not dead!" Maya screamed over the intercom.
"Asuka move!" Misato ordered.
Asuka was able to move out of the way of one of the clone's eye lasers, but it put her in the path of the second clone, who smacked her on the top of the head with its tiny hand.
"Ack! You little jerk!" Asuka shouted as the impact felt like a punch on the top of her head.
"Everyone move in!" Misato ordered.
Adelise and Mari ran in and with a few knife swings, distracted the twins long enough for Asuka to get away for long range support to take their shots.
Isabelle grit her teeth as she started taking pot shots at the blue side, hitting the core perfectly. "Colored rain," She smirked as the thing collapsed.
"Friend Ikari," Rei said firing a few shots from her pistol.
"Yeah?" Shinji replied, taking a few shots and then dodging some lasers.
"Go left I'll go right," Rei said reloading her gun.
"Right!" Shinji said, and the two circled around both sides.
Mary had rushed the orange twin and was trying to cut it across the core, but it used
it's jump to get behind her and blast her in the back before she could turn around. "Oh you slick little bitch!" She growled, rubbing her back in pain.
"I got you," Isabelle said spinning around to shoot the jumping one, only to suddenly get tackled by the now recovered blue one. "Oh you bitch," Isabelle growled drawing her knife and trying to stab the flailing angel while Adelise jumped on its back.
The orange Angel knocked Mary back to the ground with a slap and hauled her into the air, Mary flailing wildly to try and stab it. It carried her over to the shoreline and drove the EVA head first into the ground, effectively immobilizing her. "Oh come on!"
"Mary's down," Mari commented twirling her knife as she slid at the orange Angel and sliced it's achilles tendon, collapsing it. "Could use a hand here."
"I am here," Rei said, double tapping the orange Angel's core, only to get her legs swiped out when the angel regenerated, and then slammed into a nearby mountain hard enough to break the Eva's neck.
"Blue's down!" Isabelle yelled blowing more hole's in the blue Angel's torso while Adelise sliced and diced at its arms.
"Why won't they just die already?!" Asuka yelled, swiping at the orange Angel to no avail.
"Pull back and regroup," Misato ordered.
Mari kicked the orange Angel back and started running back towards their drop point, Shinji's attempts at suppressive fire went largely unnoticed by the twins until one suddenly fired a laser at him, unprepared he sacrificed his weapon and went towards the drop point too.
"AHHH! Adelise screamed as the same angel's laser tore her Eva's head apart, shutting her down.
"Adelise down!" Isabelle screamed as she rolled out of the way. The last three pilots stood there facing the angels with a sense of dead.
"Well," Mari said grabbing a gun. "We're fucked."
…..
The seven pilots sat in their chairs in shame, anger, or in one case indifference, as the Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki loomed over them with his arms crossed. Misato in the corner was shaking her head.
"That was an embarrassment," Fuyutsuki snapped. "The fact the JSSDF had to step in to stop the Angel is even worse!"
"I didn't know it would split!" Asuka said.
"Well maybe if you hadn't disobeyed orders and just ran in…" Mary sighed in exasperation.
"It was just waiting there, begging to be killed!" Asuka said.
"That was not your orders!" Fuyutsuki yelled turning on the projector behind her. "All the EVAs were defeated, and the JSSDF had to drop an N2 Mine on it to stop it, destroying 25% of its mass. But now it's generating an impregnable AT Field, and we can't get to it."
Misato stepped in. "Reports say it will take at least two weeks for the angel to finish its regeneration, in that time we will be working together to fix your teamwork issues."
"Teamwork? I don't need a team, I can do this all on my own!" Asuka huffed.
Fuyutsuki glared at the red headed pilot. "What is your job?" He asked.
"To pilot the EVA?" Asuka replied.
"Wrong/incorrect," Fuyutsuki and Rei answered.
"To defeat the Angels, sir." Mary replied.
"Right/correct," Fuyutsuki and Rei answered.
Isabelle crossed her arms. "Our mission is to destroy them in anyway possible, crucify them, impale them, detonate them, any and all methods can and will be used to add their skulls to our skull throne, the EVA's are just a means to that end."
"Umm, yeah that." Shinji agreed.
Asuka's eyes shined and then ran out of the room in a huff.
"We'll be preparing for an attack in 14 days," Misato continued. "I will bring the finalized plan tonight, dismissed."