Part 2: Eisen-One.
"… and it looks like all three are armed with some sort of rapid fire chain gun," Shadow concluded. He fiddled with the sensor displays, working through the extensive spectra available to him through his personalized senor suite. While he worked, the rest of Blue Squadron turned lazy racetracks in the sky high over Hokkaido, their engines optimized for absolute minimum fuel consumption. It was rare they had a chance to get this much information on their opponents, and they intended to exploit it- two orbits of Earth didn't take much fuel out of a Warden.
Shadow continued. "Based on energy output and heat readings, I'd say Unit-01 is the main threat, then Unit-02 and Unit-00. Of course, we know how much pilot skill matters. I can't find any evidence of emplaced anti-air weapons or anything else out there. We seem to have caught them far enough from Tokyo-3 to isolate them."
"Thank god for small favors, right, Lead?" replied Dice, clearly anxious to come to grips with the Evas and glad to avoid any external interference.
"Yup. Now, we'll wait a little bit," said Viper. The squadron's autopilots had been slaved and coordinated on his flight path, keeping them in formation as he turned ragged, slow racetracks through the sky, turning them slowly into the Evas.
"Wait? Who are you, and what have you done with Viper, you NERV plant!" laughed Songbird as Viper began programming his GPS navigation computer.
"They're still loitering up there, moving slowly towards the engagement envelope," Hyuga stated. His fingers brushed through his hair, damp with sweat despite the powerful air conditioning that supplied NERV's command center. Blue squadron had spent the last several hours in a holding pattern, flying it raggedly and inching towards the Eva's engagement range. At this rate, it would be dawn before they engaged.
"They seem to have impressive endurance," Akagi responded. She had come in to see how the exercise had gone and invite Katsuragi out for a drink, only to find the affair still ongoing.
Katsuragi settled back in to her chair with a sigh. "Well, I've heard that Stormwardens have fought battles as far away as the Asteroid Belt, and they engaged in fights around the Moon all the time during the Quindoc War. I just didn't expect this, based on the psychological abstracts and predictive models."
"Not just the machines, the pilots," Ibuki chimed in. "All the synch ratios are hovering right at the horizon for our pilots, but I'll bet the ANSRS telemetry data shows a different story." She kept an eye on the Synch Ratio display, but the direct image feeds from the Eva cockpits told the story: the stress of the wait and the boredom of inactivity were clearly getting to them. Unfortunately, there was no way to stand them down effectively- at this range, if Blue Squadron flipped over suddenly and went to maximum acceleration, they could be on top of the Evas before they came back up, given the potential issues involved in manning and activating an Eva. "Even Rei's synch is dangerously low, and Asuka's going to drop off the scope any minute now."
Dull silence threatened to encroach upon the command station like a coming darkness, prompting Hyuga to fight back. "These Stormwarden's stealth systems are really something. They're circling slowly over Kamchatka at the edge of the atmosphere, and we can barely detect them. We have to keep a manual track on them, and the only hard data comes from when they cycle their active sensors." His voice betrayed a certain sense of wonder about their elusive foes.
Katsuragi stood slowly, reaching into her pocket to check for change. If this situation persisted, she would need caffeine to stay awake long enough to give effective tactical guidance. The situation came up often enough to warrant an array of vending machines in the hall. She glanced absently at the doorway, when a tall, lean figure in a bleached white uniform fixed her gaze.
"Whitman-shosa, shouldn't you be over in your command station?" she asked, clearly puzzled. How could he exercise tactical control over an engagement without all the functions of a nerve center?
Whitman's only response was a slight grin, which grew wider as an alarm klaxon shattered the looming silence.
"Multiple hypersonic contacts over the Philippine Sea! Multiple tracking stations showing six high speed contacts, altitude 5 meters, on course for the Evas!" Panic rose in the reporting voice. "They'll be on top of them in seconds!"
Whitman chuckled from the doorway. "Looks like the beer's on your team tonight, Major Katsuragi."
"They've got us for certain, Blue Lead," reported Shadow.
"Roger. We're at the India Papa anyway. Blue Squadron, attack formation, climb to five-zero-zero, attack speed," commander Viper as he simultaneously pulled back on the stick and throttle. The sudden shift slammed him back in the seat as the 'Warden jerked quickly up to the required altitude. The rest of Blue Squadron acknowledged the order and followed him up. The shift in altitude opened up a broader vista below him, including the three tall, humanoid figures, standing relaxed in a clearing near a hill. The hill protected them from the north, where the sensor ghosts still circled. The figures began moving jerkily, but were reacting too slowly to the reality unfolding around them. "Viper, Tallyho!"
"Dice, Tallyho!"
"Short, Tallyho!"
Viper made a slight adjustment on his stick, putting the pipper square on the purple chest of Eva-01. As soon as it flashed green, Viper flicked the trigger at the speed of instinct. Heat blooms started to grow across the chest of the Eva as the pulses vaporized the armor plastered across the skin of the beastly craft, leaving it lurching on its feet. Oddly enough, the only movement he could spot from the giant figure was the head turning towards him, as if staring at him in mute disbelief. He kept the laser cannon cycling for as long as he dared before risking a collision with the Eva or a controlled flight into the terrain accident. He yanked back on the stick, throwing the nose high as he jammed the throttle forward, trying to put as much distance between him and the targets he left behind.
"Viper, Twenty Mike-Mike!" The call was, admittedly, a little late. He jerked the stick around randomly as tracers from the Eva's guns zipped around him.
"Dice, Twenty Mike-Mike!'
"Short, Twenty Mike-Mike!" He sounded a little more panicked than the rest. Short presently explained, "I'm a dot! Took a hit, extending northbound, back to roost!"
Viper twisted in his seat as his 'Warden rushed away from the engagement zone at the speed of heat. Short's fighter had twisted off to the north, trailing smoke as he made for the upper atmosphere and relative safety. Viper reckoned that, since he was still climbing, his damage was survivable.
"Shadow, Rifle!"
"Songbird, Rifle!"
"Bookworm, Rifle!"
Viper immediately spun his head towards the Evas as the other element released their missiles. He had been as shocked as anyone that today's ROE had authorized the compression nukes for terrestrial combat, but, given the Eva's noted toughness, he wasn't about to pass up such a potent weapon. Shadow's analysis of the briefing material before the flight had confirmed it was the best way, fallout be damned.
Barely a second after the call, Viper's canopy polarized to block out most of the blinding, pure white light that surrounded the Evas. Eighteen micro-sized stars flashed around the tall figures, burning furiously for a short few seconds before dissipating.
Much to Blue Squadron's consternation, one Eva emerged from the sudden appearance of hell on earth.
"Shit," muttered Viper as he threw his 'Warden into a ballistic arc towards the stratosphere.
NERV HQ burst into a flurry of activity as the shock of Blue's sudden assault abated.
"The MAGI confirm Eva-01 and Eva-02 destroyed!" Began an excited voice. "The pilots are… gone," it concluded somberly.
"Eva-00 suffered minor damage. Pilot synch ratios are high!"
"We got one! Radar confirms one Stormwarden departing to the north. High altitude, it's above out weapons systems."
"Five contacts headed for the stratosphere, out of weapons range. They're not departing the engagement zone."
"MAGI review concludes that Eva-01 and 02 failed to deploy their AT Fields to defeat the nuclear weapons, due to low pilot synch rates. Eva-00 barely made it," Ibuki concluded the series of reports.
Katsuragi slumped back in her chair. Calling the results of the last few minutes an epic disaster surely underestimated the case. She considered her options for a few seconds, not sure if Blue Squadron would suddenly turn back in on Ayanami in Unit 00. "We have no choice. Unit-00 will proceed to the nearest retrieval point. How close is it?"
"Ten minutes," Hygua confirmed.
"Roger," Ayanami confirmed. She kicked her Eva towards Tokyo-3, as fast as its legs would carry her.
"I can confirm Bookworm's analysis, Blue Lead. Some kind of energy spike came over my sensors as well right before the missiles detonated. It seems to have rendered them useless. I don't think we can overcome it before we're bingo fuel," Shadow confirmed with a hint of disappointment. Blue squadron always swept the enemy, and the idea someone would get away from this, despite the success of their first attack, stuck in everyone's craw.
Songbird chimed in, "Blue Lead, I have an idea. This Eva's powered by an electrical umbilical, right?"
"That's right, Song," Bookworm confirmed.
"Well, then, if we cut its power, it'll run out of juice quickly," concluded Song.
Shadow punched some figures into his computer. "That seems right. Though, they're bound to have reserve umbilicals available, and I can't detect them." He paused. "And the target is still on the move. It appears to be making a retreat."
"Does the field cover the whole umbilical?" asked Dice. Shadow confirmed the negative. "Then, what're we waiting for?"
Viper flipped the variables over in his mind for a few seconds, seeing the plan congeal in his mind's eye. "This is how we go. Book, you're on Shadow's wing. I need you two to jam NERV's sensor array. I want them to have as little warning of our attack as possible. Dice, you and Song get ahead of the target. When NERV deploys their reserve umbilical, obliterate it. I'll cut the current umbilical. Questions?" There were none. "Let's roll, Blue."
The displays in NERV central turned to static. "We've lost sensor contact over the engagement zone! They're jamming us in multiple spectrums!"
Katsuragi surged out of her chair. "Rei! They're coming in again!"
Viper's 'Warden shuddered as a heavy slug ripped through the fuselage. He felt the plane buck and surge under him as he rode it in fast. Tracers continued to zip around him as alarm lights and buzzers filled the cockpit. In spite of the cacophony, he kept his attention focused on the power cord running across the ground. He made minute adjustments to the 'Warden's course as it screamed towards the ground. He flicked the trigger, sending burning flashes of coherent light across the sky. A pair of bursts found the umbilical, melting the cord and snapping it under the tension in a spray of arcing electricity.
"Cord's cut!" Viper called as he yanked the stick back, skimming over the ground at high speed as he began to address the screaming alarms.
"Copy, Blue Lead," replied Shadow, sensing that tactical direction fell to him and his sensor suite, given the smoke flowing out of the rear of Viper's ship. "Dice! I just detected a new target ahead of the Eva. It looks like they've deployed another umbilical. I'm sending the coordinates."
"Copy, Shadow," she replied coolly. Dice's 'Warden screamed towards the tower that had shot from the ground ahead of Eva-00. "Twenty Mike-Mike!" she called as her lasers shredded the thin stand holding the umbilical.
Eva-00 continued to surge forward, racing towards each umbilical as it deployed. Fire spat from the gun cradled in its arms at the darting, agile cranes that smashed every umbilical as soon as it came out of the ground. Alarms flashed as the countdown continued to march to zero, and then Eva-00 lurched to a stop.
"Viper, Rifle!'
"Dice. Rifle!"
Maya's head hung over the console. "Eva-00 destroyed. No sign of the pilot."
Katsuragi turned back to the door. Whitman smiled like a proud father. "See you at the karaoke bar, Major."