"... Exactly, Ikari. That's the key skill to hitting for contact- being able to put the ball into play where you want it." Cicadas chirped away in the nearby trees as Viper ran his forearm over his damp brow. "Since you're not a great power hitter, but you have some footspeed, I want to try to get you up in the lineup, towards lead-off or hitting second. It's where..."

The screech of rubber panicking to grip the road cut Viper off. All three of them- Viper, Dice, and Ikari cut their heads around in a rapid spin to find Katsuragi's car, nearly against the backstop fence. She had pulled herself halfway out of the window. "Viper, Dice! Get in, Blue Squadron just went on alert!"

Ikari heard the slightly off-key clink of wood impacting packed dirt, and looked around. Just in a flash, the Blue Squadron pilots, who had been relaxing after a round of practice in one of Tokyo-3's many parks, had disappeared into the cabin of Katsuragi's growling transport. A slight shiver tickeld his spine as he found himself suddenly, but familiarly, alone. He almost didn't hear Katsuragi calling to him, ordering him to head to NERV headquarters to meet the others. His head shook clearingly, drawn from his empty moment and filled again with sudden purpose. He nodded vigorously, and trotted off for the train lines to HQ.

Alarm klaxons began to wail across Tokyo-3 as Katsuragi punched the accelerator, pinning Viper across the narrow back seat, arms twisted around oddly as he tried to get into place. Dice glanced over at the Major, her eyes narrowing slightly, processing the clues that fell quickly into place. Before the proper conclusion coalesced in her mind, however, Katsuragi presented it. "We've detected an Angel on the way to Tokyo-3. It just so happens to fall in your area of expertise, so to speak, and with the bosses away and leaving me in charge, I think it's best to call you in to assist in saving the world." She flashed her best winning smile.

Viper just shook his head as he pushed himself into a proper sitting position, just in time to get thrown back against the stiff cushions as Katsuragi rocketed down the long straightaway leading to NERV's airfield.

--

Whitman and the rest of Blue Squadron had already made it to the briefing room when they arrived. "Good, you made it in. Thanks, Major." He smiled slightly, just barely cracking his face. The smile was clearly for the pretty girl, not his hard to find lead pilot and section leader.

The room darkened as Katsuragi slid the door closed behind her on the way out. The screen at the head of the room flashed a display of a large eye, with vaulting wings extending away from its eerie, unblinking core. Behind it was the dark, cold starscape of open space, and just below rose Earth's blue curve.

"Blue Squadron, this is an Angel. No smartass remarks, Viper." Viper's mouth popped closed, cut off at the pass. "Our friends at NERV kindly informed us that it's named Sahaquiel, which is all Hebrew to me." He punched a button, and the view shifted again, this time to a view of a segment of the Pacific, a roiling impact crater dug into the very water. "Sahaquiel seems to be planning to bomb Tokyo-3 from orbit. Luckily for us so far, it has rather poor fire control. Parts of it are falling off and dropping into the ocean on each orbit it makes overhead. Unfortunately for us, it seems to be learning how to plot ballistic drops for orbit by.. well, eye." He paused. Thankfully, no one laughed. He didn't want to be one pilot short.

"Because NERV lacks good ground to orbit weapons platforms- they planned to do all their fighting on the ground- we've been asked to assist, being the only trans-atmospheric capable units in place with the proper weapons." He glanced over at Song, who seemed to have shifted slightly in her seat.

"Um, sir- does that mean Archangel?" She asked. Everyone had caught her ever so slight movements, forcing some sort of response. It was the bane of having everyone know you that well.

Whitman shook his head, and a couple tension releasing gasps floated from the audience. "No. First, we don't want to give NERV a close up look at that, for.. various reasons." He cleared his throat. "Secondly, we only have a few of them, and NERV graciously supplied us with the weapons for this particular run. Third, no one wants to know just how a gigaton level anti-matter weapon exploded in low earth orbit will interact with the interesting bits of earth's magnetosphere."

Shadow jumped in. "Probably will wreck every bit of electronics and electricity in line of sight."

"Which is quite a lot, of course," Book followed.

Whitman nodded quickly. "Exactly. Like I said, we don't want to find out, particularly not the hard way. Instead, we'll be using NERV's N-2 weapons. These will be a bit tricky to use. Originally designed for use as a freefall bomb, we've had them refitted with rockets to give them some push in orbit, but not much. As for guidance, well, we're having a hell of a time getting this thing to turn up on any sort of active sensor, and it doesn't seem to give off anything that we can detect passively. That just leaves the old Mark I eyeball. That's really going to make all of this tricky."

Another slide appeared on the briefing screen. "We'll boost you up to a higher orbit, above the Angel. This means that the Angel will be moving faster than you, and will come up behind you. When it's in position, you'll accelerate and drop down to its orbit from above, firing the N2 Rockets with a little assist from God's own Gee. We expect the N-2 weapons to deliver a multi-megaton experience, so don't fly too close or you won't bring back your multi-billion dollar spaceplane, and someone's going to have to pay for it."

The screen went white behind Whitman. His shoulders hunched, as if suddenly loaded with a heavy burden. "We don't get a lot of chances on this one. You'll carry one N-2 each, They're heavy, and we need as much Delta-V on this mission as we can get, even if it's only in Earth orbit. You'll have a lot of mass to move, and may have to make multiple moves up and down to get the right shot. Remember, you'll have only limited computer assistance, little detection capability beyond what your eyes can give you, and the enemy is refining its solution on every pass." He paused for a breath. "You don't have much time." He lifted his head up and grinned wolfishly. "Hell, if this shit were easy, NERV wouldn't need us, now would they?"

"No, they wouldn't," chuckled Viper.

--

Viper knew he couldn't really feel the heat from the fusion reactor in the fuselage of his 'Warden, but it spread lightly across his back all the same. Probably some sort of feedback rig from the ANSRS system, building neuropathways in his brain to make him feel warmer, safer whenever he lit off the teakettle.

Wonderful, he thought. My plane's rewriting the sensation centers of my brain to make me feel good about starting this thing up. Better not tell anyone, since they might want to do something about it.

The bright blue water of the Philippine Sea spread brightly below him as the rest of Blue Squadron fell into formation around him. Overhead, he knew, the Angel was going to be over the horizon soon, and dropping another test shot against Tokyo-3. Their flightpath had been plotted to take them around the danger zone, based on how well it seemed to be correcting the fall of its own shot.

"Viper?" queried Shadow, a hint of anxiety pressing into his voice.

"Go ahead, Shadow."

"I see something. Twelve O'Clock high. Big fireball." He was definitely concerned now. Viper tossed his gaze skyward.

"Is that..."

"Sahaquiel's next shot? Yes, yes it is. Headed straight for us."

"Blue Squadron, break left and form up on me!" Viper ordered, snapping his plane over and pulling it into a power climb, both maneuvers well off the planned flightpath to orbit. The burning ball roared past them, its shockwave buffeting the the 'Wardens roughly.

Viper's eyes followed it into the ocean, where it disappeared in a boiling, rolling cloud of steam. Tall waves pushed out from the impact point, rushing away rapidly, tops whipped white with an eager desire to plant that malicious energy somewhere... useful. "That seemed closer than it should have been."

"Affirmative, lead," responded Bookworm. "Rough calculations show we're going to get one, maybe two shots at this."

Viper shook his head as the sky went from blue to purple, turning black as the atmosphere disappeared in their wake. It never could be simple and according to plan, could it?

–

"Here it comes!" Dice called, nearly shouting over the radio. She always did have the sharpest eyes in the squadron, particularly in space.

"Alright, then- hold on, and remember. We just get one chance at this. Load up Shadow's updated ballistic program, and follow me!" Viper stated, authority rolling through his voice. He quickly picked out the Angel from the blue backdrop below it, following it with the 'Wardens telescopic cameras. His mind, on it's own, picked out just the right moment to go, just by sight, by feel, by instinct. He jammed the throttle open, and the Warden responded with instant acceleration, driving them into lower orbit, matching speed with the Angel as it moved to overtake them. A quick adjustment, on the fly, brought their paths closer to merging in the great void above Earth. A glance over at Shadow's program, a flick to bring the 'Warden closer in line with the projected path. Still, he had to judge just the right moment to twist the N-2s tail and send it onward. That moment arrived quickly, and Viper launched his rocket, the Stormwarden shaking as the N-2 detached awkwardly from the rail.

"Viper, Bombs away!"

Soon, the rest of Blue Squadron released their rockets, and, in tight formation, cracked their throttles wide and dove straight for the welcoming atmosphere around Earth. Viper tracked the rockets by radar, superimposing them over his view of the Angel. They weren't going to get hits, but they had the thing bracketed tightly.

Just as the skin of the 'Warden began to heat up from the friction of hyperadvanced polymers meeting air, his cockpit polarized suddenly, blocking out the intense light from several detonating N-2 mines above them. Even at this distance, the 'Warden quivered as the shockwaves ripped through the thin thermosphere. And when the shudders on the cockpit reopened again...

...The angel remained. Viper swore. Loudly. Repeatedly. "Ground Control, this is Viper. No effect, repeat, no effect."

"Copy, Viper." Whitman let no emotion creep into his voice. "Divert to Area 51. We'll fly you back to Tokyo-3, if there is one, later."

–

Luckily, NERV had prepared for this potential outcome and the EVAs began their deployment to intercept the falling Angel.

–

Gendo Ikari felt an involuntary shiver twist down his spine. The Antarctic always did make him shiver, change in climate or no. It didn't have much to do with the weather, but the past. Even sitting once again in his office at NERV, he could occasionally feel the icy grip on his spine, and his recent return had brought them back with a vengence.

It seems that the introduction of Blue Squadron was causing some problems with the the progression of the scenario. He needed more data, more time to make adjustments. Luckily, it seemed, the Angels would cooperate. If the Dead Sea Scrolls were trustworthy. He picked up his pen, and began preparing for the next phase of his inquiry into Blue Squadron.