II – Taking the lead, the first time
.
"Distance is approximately 25000"
"Here it comes. All Evas, start positions", Katsuragi ordered. All Evangelions dropped to one knee in response; Shinji held his finger on the cable ejection button.
"All we have is a roughly estimated trajectory from optical sight-"
"Oh. Shit", Doctor Akagi's voice came in the background, loaded with dread.
"What is it?" Katsuragi turned her attention away from the pilots.
"This… I… MAGI estimates have changed…" Ritsuko's voice betrayed she was on a verge of panic. There was a moment of silence as the comms were cut.
Shinji clenched his teeth. This was not good.
Seconds passed. He looked up at the ball of fire, rapidly approaching the surface. Suddenly he realised he knew where it was likely to impact.
"Misato?" he called, his tone uncertain.
"Stand by", came a reply in a perceptibly shaking voice. He did not like that shakiness. Something was telling him the command centre was not going to be much of a help.
"It's going to hit soon, we can't wait!" he called out in unusually stern voice, much to his surprise.
"Stand by", the reply was even shakier. 'They won't have it in time', a thought came to him. 'It's up to me and me only. I must lead them', another followed.
"Damn it! It's coming closest to me! I'm taking the lead!" he shouted over the comms, at the same time starting to run towards the growing fireball. The ground began to shake.
"Finally, for once…", Asuka spoke up in vitriolic tone as she ejected the umbilical cable from Unit-02 and started her own run scant two seconds later.
"What was that supposed to mean?" he asked in annoyed voice, speeding up.
"That you could man up once in a whi-" Asuka tried to reply, only to be cut by Misato's angry voice.
"Shinji! Asuka! What are you doing?"
"Misato, I see where it will hit, trust me!", Shinji replied with certainty that surprised even him.
"Major Katsuragi, your orders?" Rei Ayanami requested, showing hints of confusion.
"Damn it", came a barked reply, followed by a few seconds of silence. "Rei, assist them. Shinji, I rely on your judgement."
"Roger that", Rei and Shinji replied in near-unison.
"Misato!" in Ritsuko's voice was the last sound that came from the command centre before the comms were cut again.
Unit-00 started its sprint towards the point Unit-01 had marked on the map.
...
The command centre was silent, save for the beeps of the machinery and single voice calling the distance.
"Distance 12000… Distance 10000… Distance 8000…"
...
Asuka's face was grim and determined, her will focused on one thing: getting there. She refused to acknowledge the fact that there was no way she would be there in time to catch it. The ground was breaking under her feet as she ran towards it, the cars were being flung aside, the buildings broke from the sheer force of her movement.
...
"Distance… zero?"
The entire remaining NERV staff realised they were holding their breaths. By all conceivable metrics, they should currently be in the middle of the process of being vaporised by high-velocity, AT Field assisted impact of an Angel.
But for some reason, it was not happening.
...
The Angel-turned-fireball was hanging scant metres from the ground, just above a hill, held up by an increasingly visible barrier. Shinji's words were punctuated by gasps. "I… will… not… let… you… kill…"
Asuka kept running, straining Unit-02 muscles beyond their safety limits; needles of pain were shooting through her legs and she was aware that she was most likely damaging the Evangelion. Making out the silhouette of Unit-01, she dimly thought it resembled some sculpture she saw recently… or maybe some mythical figure?
There was no time to think of it. There was team morale to be upheld. "Don't you dare die there, idiot!" she yelled angrily just before reaching Unit-01.
Unit-02 threw her hands up and extended her own AT Field. The strain on Unit-01 lessened visibly, but this only levelled the playing field; the Angel continues to press on, its unrelenting eyes staring unblinkingly on those who dared deny it its prize.
...
"Unit-01 and Unit-02 on the impact site. Unit-00 approaching", a tense voice of Maya Ibuki reported.
"Do we have any visual?" Misato inquired, her voice equally tense.
"None, any sensor that was out was fried few seconds after the AT Fields collided", Maya replied.
"Hold on there, kids… it's all in your hands", Misato whispered.
...
"Wondergirl, would you please hurry a teeny bit up? It's getting a little bit heavy", Asuka stated, somewhat panicked tone contrasting the flippant wording.
"Incoming. Field at maximum on arrival" came the dissonantly serene voice of Rei Ayanami. The twenty seconds it took Unit-00 to join the fight felt like an eternity both pilots who were holding the sky from falling on their heads.
Once it did, Unit-01 let go of the sky and started to tear into the AT Field of the Angel. Seconds later, Asuka screamed and grasped the knife, going for the opening Unit-01 created. The unblinking eye of the alien abomination cracked and bled unholy ichor; the AT Field it generated suddenly disappeared.
"All to me, keep the AT Fields close!" shouted Shinji over the comms a second later. Asuka, to her surprise, obeyed instinctively. She pulled Unit-00 with her and hugged Unit-01 tightly.
Darkness and pressure surrounded them for a moment, followed by a blinding blast and wave of heat, perceptible despite the AT Fields.
...
"I believe we have survived" a dispassionate voice commented. Evangelion systems permitted audio signals only in the reserve power mode.
"Yes, I think so… it still hurts" groaned a boy's voice.
"Hey, be glad, idiot, that means you get another chance", grumbled Asuka. "But, in the meantime, could you get off me?"
"It's not that I can move-" Shinji protested.
"But you could-" Asuka tried to say something, but seemingly lot the track of thought for a moment.
"Asuka?" Shinji probed after several seconds of silence.
"What? Why are you suddenly so concerned?" Asuka barked back, her voice dripping with venom. "You want to protect me? Very noble of you, very manly of you, someone who could not even man up enough to-"
The comment was cut short, but the line was still open for few more seconds before going silent.
"Asuka?"
"Pilot Soryu has deactivated her communication unit, Ikari. I believe it was deliberate", Rei chimed in, her voice impassionate as usual.
Shinji blinked. "But… why?"
"Unknown. It is unusual of her to interrupt her own aggressive reply." Rei's voice remained unchanged despite forming something that could be, by her standards, considered a joke.
Shinji chuckled.
"Well, I guess it's just two of us now, waiting to be rescued", he quipped.
"Yes."
The silence that fell after that was only a little awkward.