"If I didn't know it was an Angel sent to destroy us, I would think it was rather cute." Maya cocked her head as she stared at the screen. A massive, sprawling, yellow mass with a large eye stared down at Earth. Still staring at the main screen she said, "Although, the mass spectrometer indicates it's a huge, living bomb."
Ritsuko tapped her pen, changing to another image, "Over the last fifteen hours, it's been detaching masses from its main body and sending them down toward us."
Shinji narrowed his eyes at the image of the mass having impacted the ocean, "The Angel is learning how to throw." Image after image showed impacts closing in on Japan, on Tokyo Three, specifically.
The Scientist tapped her pen again, bringing back the first image of the Angel at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, "The Magi estimate the next impact will hit land."
"We've evacuated all non-essential personnel, but this thing is going to be a P.R. nightmare if it destroys a section of the city and we do nothing till the main body rains fiery death on us."
Kensuke shifted nervously and gulped, "What do you want us to do, Major?"
She looked at Rei and Ken, "I want you two up on the surface immediately. Plug in and wait till the Magi give us something of an idea where the next shot will land."
"You want us to block it with our A.T. fields? Or rather, our hands." Rei gazed at the image of Sahaquiel coldly.
"That's right."
Wonder Boy lifted his free hand, "Shouldn't Asuka and I be out first? To date, data indicates that A.T. field strength directly correlates to a pilot's sync ratio."
Misato peered aside at Ritsuko, who said quietly, "He's right you know. But, they both have proven to be the fastest on their respective Evangelion's feet. Tough call."
The Major looked over the pilots with a scary-looking grin, "I want you two ready to go on a split-second. If that Angel does something we aren't expecting, I want it met with extreme prejudice, got it?"
All four of them looked at the Major and straightened. They said in unison, "Yes ma'am!"
After they left, Misato looked at Ritsuko again, "They must have been practicing that."
Shinji sat in the plug of his Eva, once again on Catapult Five. He couldn't hold back a smirk, "There ain't no rest for the wicked."
Maya had run off to the coffee machine in the mess hall. Taking out her NERV card, she uttered in annoyance, "Money doesn't grow on trees."
Unit Zero and Unit Four held position near the beach along the Pacific Ocean, waiting for the Angel's next nugget of death.
Kensuke let out a breath of LCL, watching the pattern swirl before him, "It's surreal to actually be here. Can't pretend it isn't real now."
A video from Unit Zero popped up in his display, "You'll be safe in your Evangelion."
Misato stood on the bridge. Waiting for the Angel to drop down and kill them all was murder, "Probably the safest place in the world is inside an Eva."
Not soon enough for Misato, an alarm blared and the computer voice of the Magi chimed in, "A.T. field-ehanced gravity bomb released from target. One hundred four seconds to arrival near Tokyo Three. Alert. Flight path is prediction only. E.C.M. jamming from Target interfering with sensors. Visual tracking only operating mode."
"Dammit! We can't get confirmation where it'll land, guys. Your guess is as good as mine right now. Be ready for anything!"
Another alarm blared and the voice started again, "Warning. Second gravity bomb detected. Estimated drop zone updated to broadcasted map."
"Rei, Ken. Do you have the first one?"
"Yeah, I got it Major! Rei can run off for the next one, I'm sure it'll be more powerful... and like Shinji said..."
"I read you, Ken. Rei, get going."
"Already under way." Rei ran off to the new predicted drop zone. Unit Zero didn't sprint, there were too many civilian buildings in the way; the Albino tried her best to avoid property damage, let alone if anyone was dumb enough to have stayed behind.
Kensuke strained holding back a near-nuclear blast impacting his A.T. field. As the pain from the blast faded, he heard something, Do you ever look deep down, inside?
He blinked, "What the?"
I feel like... I'm frozen in time.
He muttered to himself. At least, he thought he was alone in this Eva, "Tell me I'm going crazy..."
What am I?
The young man shut down the Eva and meditated, You're an Evangelion.
The disconnected voice wondered, Evangelion?
Rei caught the second bomb, as the Angel above released another upon the city. Shinji was deployed, but he waited until almost the last second to run out and catch it. Asuka yelled at him, "The fick were you waiting for? Me to kick your ass and shove you out?" When a fourth bomb was dropped, the Red Devil made sure no human property was damaged by walking out and having her A.T. field deployed while waiting for her bomb.
We fight to protect humanity. I direct you as a pilot, and you ensure we stay alive.
A symbioses? I... see. What is it we are protecting humanity from?
The Angels. They're the children of the first Angel, Adam.
Adam's children? Ah yes. I have a memory, a picture, of information about them.
They want humanity dead so that they can habitate Earth.
I will fight with you, Kensuke Aida. Let us destroy this unforgiving enemy together. Pilot and Eva.
Without Ken trying to reactivate the systems, the Evangelion awoke with a roar, staring right at Sahaquiel.
"Eva Unit Four has reactivated. Pilot's synchronization ratio jumped up to one hundred twenty percent." Maya stared at her screen in awe. No strain, but what happened while it was silent? Ritsuko's thought echoed Maya's.
"Warning. Visual tracking of Target has been lost." The computerized voice didn't, could not lie. The Angel was no longer registering on the monitors.
Misato yelled, "Look out guys! That fucker is cloaking itself with its A.T. field!"
Shinji looked up to where the Angel had been, "I can barely make out an outline of its field. I'll draw it up and help try to predict its path."
Asuka stated coldly to him, "No last-minute heroics, arschloch!"
"Not if I can help it, mein liebe."
Asuka's face reddened; she was glad she wasn't transmitting video.
As Wonder Boy sent out the data he was seeing to the Maji to be processed, their computerized voice beeped in again, "Gravity bomb spotted. Warning, rough visual estimate indicates seventy percent increase in estimated impact yield."
The Red Devil groaned, "You would try harder on my arse!"
The Red Giant gingerly jogged over to the indicated area on her HUD map, unfolding her A.T. field when it came to a halt. Asuka made sure the field formed above her, instead of sprouting from the Eva's entire form. That act alone probably saved NERV twenty-eight million Yen.
Shinji made notes of what he saw of the Angel's A.T. field distortion against the blue sky. With the constant updating, he found himself gasping, "That field will be strong enough to make an American Trident missile's multiple warhead look like a banana cream pie to the face."
"Verdammt! Bist du sicher?!"
With a sigh, he had to admit, "The Magi just confirmed my readings."
"Mein Gott."
Unit Two looked due south to Unit One, who glanced back. Asuka's skin had paled a shade, "Whe-"
"Right... there," The Purple Behemoth pointed to a slightly taller building near the center of the group of Evangelions. A disconnected, but familiar voice seemed to coalesce beneath Shinji within the entry plug, She's feeding them information.
Wonder Boy blinked, Am I going crazy?
No, not yet at least. Thank God! I think Lilith herself is giving Adam's children useful data on how to kill us.
It does make sense, kind of. That area is nearly a mile east of the Pyramid. Which puts that spot at the edge of the bowl of the Geofront. Probably the least armored.
That's what I was thinking. On to something more pleasant... it's good to see you, Shinji! I'm glad you've survived this long.
It's only because of you and Gen... dad, really. I was a pistol of a kid. At least I ended up in year-round schooling and got a couple of Masters degrees out of the deal. Ended up borrowing... you, where you reside, and some other things, and Hyuga. Without him and the handful of people I had fired back in New York the day Sachiel showed up... I think a lot less people would be alive today.
I know you're right, Shinji. I'm proud of you, my boy. Now- -how 'bout we go save the world?
Asuka made her way there quickly, but carefully. Shinji, Kensuke, and Rei all had relatively straight shots to the slight hill the building stood upon, "Ken, Rei. Go help catch. I'll be back in time."
"Where the hoelle are you going, Wonder Boy!? Don't leave me to die!"
As Unit One jogged off, Shinji looked skyward, "I'll be back in a flash."
Unit Two stared in Unit One's direction; Asuka felt her heart sink just a little. I- if I'm going to die, I want you here.
He will be. Nobody's going to die today, except that Angel!
Asuka widened her eyes, Mama?!
Yes, dear. Shinji needs you, needs US, to slow that Angel down.
Yeah, but-
Here it comes. Fight, my little Asuka! I know you know how!
Shinji set up a secure connection to Hyuga's terminal, "I'm going to need a spear."
Moments later, the three Evangelions' A.T. fields were spread in unison awaiting a massive-A.T.-field-clad Sahaquiel. Ken's field sprang forth in concert with his Eva's hands, smashing at the Angel's field. The target's momentum barely slowed at all until Rei and Asuka combined their fields simultaneously.
That's when a Purple Blur came from nowhere, smashing it's own A.T. field into that of the Angel, shattering the incoming field in a brilliant flash of glistening energy shards. Immediately after the field burst, the Blur followed up the attack and threw itself at the Angel's eye, thrusting forth an Eva-sized spear. Without the will to hold its shape, the Angel's body went limp against the combined A.T. fields and exploded a split-second later. The blast barely registered to seismometers within the Geofront. None of the Evangelions were moved an inch, except for Unit One, which landed neatly in a large, four-way intersection at the farthest end of Tokyo Three.
All three bridge bunnies sat stunned at their respective screens and Misato just sat down on the floor as Ritsuko's brain rebooted, letting her break the silence with an elated grin plastered on her face, "There wasn't one of them with a synch ratio below one hundred eighty percent when that Angel nearly landed!"