Re: NemesisZero:
I think the better question is, who in their right mind gets into an Eva in the first place?
"An Evangelion is expensive. It takes years to create one, and the cost is staggering. A country can bankrupt itself creating just one."
Floors zip by as the lift descends into the heart of the frigate.
"So, no two can be alike. It would be a waste of resources. Each one must be unique, for a different purpose. Unit 00 was the prototype."
The lift enters the main cavity. They see the white shoulder strips peaking up.
"Unit 01 was the test type. It was to show how they can function in combat. Unit 02 was the first Production Model. More eyes, more mobility, which makes it a frontline combatant. Its specialty is close range."
The lift clears the opening, and they see it clearly.
"While Unit 04," Kaworu says with a small smile, "Is Heavy Artillery."
The others stare at it. Kensuke begins drooling. The Evangelion is massive, as they all are. But this one is white armor on black, its armor bulkier. Protrusions like bulbs come out from its forearms, from its chest, the shoulder mantle and jet strips curving back and hinged.
Three eyes, two at the sides and one at the center of its forehead glow yellow, none of the cable or tether apparent. It is set in a kneeling position, and Shinji quickly guesses why it is not surrounded by the needed weaponry that would be required in this situation.
"It has weapons built in," he asks.
"Oh, yes," Kaworu cheerfully responds, as he leads them across the catwalk to the waiting Entry Plug, "The arms contain 4.0 caliber chain guns, the shoulders are equipped with high energy laser cannons and the chest mount more or less directs the AT Field as a pulse cannon. There are other weapons as well, but I did not have them mount them for this trip."
"Ah, NERV Germany and its history of wretched excess," Asuka says, folding her arms, "No cables?"
"Internal fusion generator," Kaworu responds, "The S2 is still under development. It has three hours internal power."
He clicks a button on his plug suit, the hatch of the Plug opening.
"Now," he says, "Let us embark, and engage the messenger of God!"
A fine speech, but more or less ruined as Asuka grabs him by the arm and drags him to the plug.
"C'mon, fruit loop! That Angel isn't killing itself!"
"Why would someone need passenger seats in an Entry Plug?"
Ikari puts down the binoculars, turning slightly to Misato.
"Few transports are as fast or sturdy as an Evangelion," he answers, "In case of deep field operations, a Pilot could transport a battlefield commander with them. As well, it provides light evacuation. Mostly it's unfeasible, though, as the Evangelion is more or less run on mental trauma."
In the distance, one of the destroyers splits down the middle, the dorsal fin of the Angel the only thing visible.
"So you'd have to be crazy to ride shotgun," Misato asks.
"Or pilot. Or go anywhere near it."
"So more or less anyone that works for NERV can take the passenger seat?"
"More or less," he says, looking through the binoculars, "Not good. It's fast. From distance, it looks…at least seven hundred feet long."
Standing next to Misato is the third of their group. Long hair in a ponytail, stubble that never disappears, and an eternal smirk, with a briefcase chained to his wrist.
"I've never seen one of those up close," Kaji Ryoji says, "Alright, c'mon. He shouldn't be stalling."
Hands grip the butterfly controls. After a few minutes of struggling, Touji and Ken realized they could breathe in the liquid. Shinji and Asuka grip the armrests of the seats as the entry plug hums.
"Link connection in three…two…"
The plug turns transparent. A computerized voice chimes off data.
"Synchronization holding at 73%. Activating lift."
Sunlight pours through the open ceiling. The lift accelerates, floors passing in a blur, as the three eyes of Evangelion 04 glow white.
The top of the frigate opens, revealing the white Evangelion. The Angel turns in mid run, stopping for a moment before accelerating towards the frigate. The Angel screams, its pitch high and reverberating like whalesong.
The Eva stands, its shoulder strips sliding down and extending sideways, as four vents open on the back. Briefly, they glow, before with a burst of fire and smoke the Evangelion takes off as the frigate splits down the middle and sinks.
And the Eva dives down, ports on its forearms opening as it opens fire.
"Angel is approaching Tokyo-3. Current readings are unable to penetrate outer hull."
Standing where Ikari would usually stand, Commander Sohryu scrutinizes Ramiel with his gaze. Folding his arms, he strokes his chin, muttering to himself.
"Rei, we're prepping to send you up," he says, as the side screen flips to the inside of Unit 00's entry plug, "Prep for sortie."
On a mountain near Tokyo-3, Sakura watches as the diamond approaches. Folding out her lawn chair, she reclines and folds her hands on her stomach.
"This ought to be interesting…"
She can feel, through her connection to Eva, the rush of the wind and pull of G-forces as the mount accelerates up the railings. Her vision clears, staring at the massive diamond floating before her.
It is massive, and terrifying. She does not show fear, though. Instead, she closes her eyes, gripping the butterfly controls, letting her mind expand outwards, past Eva. She opens a portion of her mind towards it, as a light glows from the heart of the Angel…
I AM.
THROUGH LICENSE OF THE ONE CALLED "I AM" I HAVE COME.
THOUGH MY FEET SHALL NEVER TOUCH THE BASE EARTH ON THIS BLESSED MISSION, I HAVE COME.
MY PASSING SHALL BE THE STORM.
MY LIGHTNING SHALL BURN THE DEMON CHILDREN OF LILITH FROM THIS WORLD.
I AM RAMIEL, ANGEL OF THUNDER.
I HAVE COME.
Rei's eyes snap open, as the light glows from within Ramiel. Upon his pronunciation, she hears between her ears his verdict upon seeing the half-breed and lets loose his wrath.
"Fine," she whispers, "Be that way."
Her mind expands. In Central Dogma, her synchronization spikes. And Unit 00 extends its arms and the first blast from Ramiel washes over a hexagonal field, melting the buildings around Unit 00 as AT field meets AT beam.
The Angel was apparently shy, because when it finally did surface completely it was maw to tail as large as the Over the Rainbow. Its surfacing was actually it leaping out of the water, jaw fully opened, chasing the Evangelion as it flies past and cooks the surface of its armored skin with lasers.
The splash washes over the entire flight deck of the carrier, knocking expensive super fighters into the water and tipping the carrier, panic on the bridge save for Doctor Ikari, who simply stares at the magnificent, alien beast.
Inside the Entry Plug, what was joy and wonder has turned to stark screaming terror on the part of Touji and Ken, and Shinji has his eyes clenched shut while Asuka gives orders, which Kaworu ignores.
"Unfortunately, the B-type equipment isn't installed. The C-type was considered enough for the trip."
He's so damn calm, Shinji thinks, as in the corner of his eye he sees the outer edge of the Angel's jaw and realizes they were almost eaten.
"Hold on," Kaworu says.
The Eva turns in mid flight, cutting jets and landing on the face of the Angel. Ignoring the screams of the passengers, the Eva drives its progressive knife between the eyes, blasts from the chain guns blowing open the eyes as it launches off.
Now Shinji has joined in the screaming, watching through the transparent plug as they land on a sinking hull of a frigate, with the Angel charging at them, maw open, roaring like a demon.
"I'd run," Asuka says, gripping the arm rests, "I'd run right now."
"Ye of little faith," Kaworu says with a small grin.
"Faith my ass," Touji yells, "We about to get touched by an Angel!"
"Engaging AT beam."
The Eva braces itself on the destroyer, its jet stripes folding back, then splitting open as a series of chains anchor it to the ground. The chest opens, revealing a black mesh and the red core of the Evangelion, which begins glowing with pulsing light. The light swirls, condensing into a single point hovering before the Eva as Gaghiel opens its gaping maw…
And the entire Pacific fleet is consumed by the light and crack of terrible thunder.
"No word from the Pacific," Ritsuko Akagi says, walking alongside Sohryu, or at least trying to keep up with him as he quickly moves through the corridors from the infirmary towards his office elevator, "Unit 00 will be rearmed in two hours and the Positron Cannon mount is being set up outside of city limits."
Sohryu nods, wrinkles on his brow.
"Please consider my suggestion," she continues, "She-"
"She doesn't come near this base," Sohryu snaps at her, stopping in his tracks, almost spraying Ritsuko with spittle, "That's my rule. She isn't part of NERV! She doesn't get close to this base, these Evangelions, or my pilots! That was the price she paid for what she did!"
He turns and walks to the elevator, stopping as he pumps his fist, gritting his teeth.
"Commander," she says, "Pieter. We were lucky that Rei wasn't harmed by the Angel, but quite frankly I don't know exactly how she works, and neither does Ikari. She's your adopted daughter, but she isn't human. Consider my suggestion."
The elevator door opens. Sohryu walks into it and slams his fist into the button for his office.
"Just find me a way to kill that Angel."
The doors close, as Akagi runs her hand through her hair, groaning.
"Right," she sighs, "Just throw me off a cliff."
00:15 after beam attack.
The Diamond-Angel cuts the beam, much of the ground around Unit 00 melted to glass. A whirring is heard from deep inside the Angel as the surface shifts…
00:35 after beam attack.
Blue diamond legs slam into the ground as the Angel unfolds into a humanoid shape, the voice of Lieutenant Aoba yelling "Holy crap! It's a Transformer!" dim against the sounds of Ramiel punting Unit 00.
1:15 after beam attack.
A sustained volley of every cannon in Tokyo-3 makes the Angel rise up, forming an energy field around it as it converts into Diamond mode again, and begins drilling into the surface.
"Cut display," Fuyutsuki says, sighing as he sits at his desk in the debriefing room, "Any word from the Pacific fleet?"
"Whatever was used on the Angel had the rough effect of an EMP," Lieutenant Ibuki says, turning slightly as Akagi walks into the room, "Communications, including satellite imagery, is blacked out. We can't even get pictures. It will be three hours until systems go online."
"Operations are ready to go," Akagi interrupts, "We have Units 01 and 02 on standby. This may be an opportunity to test the Dummy Plug."
Kozou nods.
"Then let's begin," he says, "We have thirty minutes. Staff will assemble at the sight. And God willing, we won't all die today."
Everything is dark, save for the lights around the operations area. Tokyo-3 is dark. Japan is dark. As explained, the Positron Cannon, the weird thing of pipes and cables, takes the entire power output of Japan for one shot. One shot is, hopefully all they need.
Because if they need more, they're done for.
"Cannon charge at 55% and rising."
Ibuki's voice booms over the outdoor setup, Sohryu alternatively watching the Eva and the Angel. He doesn't like this. If there were more pilots, one could cover Rei.
It was a mistake, he thinks, sending Shinji and Asuka both to the Over the Rainbow. He should have sent one, or simply recruited another Child.
Units 01 and 02 are on one knee, heads bowed. Turning from the cannon and Unit 00, he stares at Unit 01. For a moment, he swears he could see its eyes faintly glow.
"85%. Lining up the shot."
"C'mon," he says, not noticing the gaze Kozou regards him with, "C'mon. Do something…"
"95%. Cannon reaching shot capacity…"
Then the alarms blare and everything goes to Hell.
"Energy build up detected! The Angel is firing!"
A lance of energy drills into the ground, ripping up hills and trees as it slices through the landscape towards them. The force of the blast throws the encampment into chaos, equipment falling, lights falling over as the ground beneath them betrays them. The blast curves, dilating in gravity itself as it homes in on Unit 00-
And splashing against a hexagonal energy field.
A massive artillery blast rocks the shell of the Angel, breaking off its drill and causing it to roll back.
The ground shakes again and the wind roars like thunder. But this time, it is not from the Angel.
This time, it comes from Unit 04 landing in front of the encampment.
"It seems Unit 04 is equipped with a Scramjet. Isn't that wonderful?"
Under its right arm, it releases the Osprey, lowering it to the ground, as it gently places with its left arm the main cannon of a naval destroyer. Falling to one knee, the back of its neck opens and the Entry Plug spins out, a boom lift rising from the encampment as the pilots disembark and the Osprey opens.
"The Angel in the pacific has been dealt with, and the Over the Rainbow is on its way to dock at Tokyo-3," Gendo Ikari says, walking out and stopping in front of Sohryu, who for some reason has a wide grin plastered on his face, "We boarded the Osprey and had Unit 04 carry us here at about Mach 6. By the way, Captain?"
Misato comes to a stop next to Ikari.
"It seems we're arriving just in time to save the world," Ikari says, pushing his glasses up his nose, "What does that make us?"
"I'd say it makes us big damn heroes, Doctor."
"Damn straight," Sohryu says, patting Ikari on the shoulder, "Get Shinji and Asuka into their Evas. They're now on cover fire while Rei takes the shot…and did they seriously take those two civilians into Unit 04?"
"Two potential pilot candidates," Ikari corrects him.
"Judging from how they're screaming, I'm starting to wonder."
The two watch in silence as Section 2 escorts a still screaming Kensuke and Touji to the encampment's infirmary.
"Right," Ikari says.
"Back to work," Sohryu says, patting Misato on the shoulder, "Get them saddled up and armed. We've got four to one odds. And me?"
He points to the Angel as it turns to them once more.
"I want that Angel out of my city."