A/N: Here is chapter seven of Neon Genesis Striker. A company tries to run out NERV but it's demonstration goes wrong.
Thanks to my pre-reader Makuhari-Fan01
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Strike Witches
Chapter Seven: A Human Work
It's quarter past seven in the morning and in her office Minna sits alone carrying on a phone conversation with a female NERV agent.
(" We believe a group of whistle blowers in Liberion are trying the use the Freedom of Information Act to dig up dirt on us.") said the female.
"I see." said Minna.
("Here in Karlsländ they are individuals and small groups that are pushing for the government here to investigate the practices of NERV. A group of politicians have passed a bill to go ahead with that but it stalled in the Reichstag. Thanks to our influence over several highly prominent politicians it should die there.") said the female.
"Good." replied Minna who then asked, "What about the demands for information?"
("I have only give falsified information.") said the female.
"Perfect." said Minna.
("What should I do about the other thing?") asked the female.
"Nothing else is need." replied Minna who added, "Good work, Ms. Yeager."
Minna then hangs up, places her elbows on her desk, clasped her fingers together then placed them under her nose and smiled.
Meanwhile at the Sakamoto/Miyafuji residence, Yoshika sat at the kitchen table eating her breakfast of toast well Pen-Pen ate fish near by. Then Sakamoto strolled around in crumpled clothes.
"Morning." she says groggy well Pen-Pen continued eating and Yoshika looked away embarrassed.
Sakamoto went over to the fridge and grabbed a beer which, after sitting down, she slammed down in a minute.
"Ah!" said Sakamoto letting out a victory cry as she finished her beer.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that." said Yoshika.
"Relax, we're off duty," replied Sakamoto.
"Are you really coming to school today?" asked Yoshika putting her dish in the sink.
"Of course. It's Parent Visitation Day." replied Sakamoto and just then the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" called Sakamoto getting up.
"It's my friends so I have get going." replied Yoshika, "Besides it's embarrassing when you go you dressed like that."
Yoshika answered the door and found she was correct in her presumption as her friends Lucchini and Hartmann were at the door waiting to walk with her to school.
"Hi Yoshika." said Lucchini and Hartmann together after Yoshika opened the door the popped their heads in and called out together, "Hello Sakamoto."
"Hello girls." replied Sakamoto causing both younger girls to get flustered.
"Let's go." said Yoshika pushing her friends along.
Well Sakamoto watched the girls leave she got was interrupted by a phone call by Perrine.
("Hello Captain.") said the doctor.
"Hey Perrine." replied a distracted Sakamoto.
("I wanted to remind you about tomorrow.") said Perrine.
"I remember." said the still distracted Sakamoto.
("What's going on?") asked Perrine, ("You're not acting yourself.")
"It's Yoshika." answered Sakamoto happily, "She's finally coming out of her shell."
Walking down the sidewalk were Hartmann and Lucchini side by side with Yoshika behind them.
"You're so lucky to live with Sakamoto." said Lucchini.
"You haven't seen how she lives." replied Yoshika, "She's a total slob."
"So naive." said Hartmann chuckling.
At Tokyo-3 middle school, the trio of Yoshika, Hartmann and Lucchini sat by the window well Sanya sat at her desk doing Minna's signature pose except with her finger resting under her lips instead of her nose.
Minutes before class began the waiting of Hartmann and Lucchini paid off as Sakamoto arrived at school catching the attention of most students.
"That's Yoshika's guardian?" asked one student.
"She's smoking hot!" proclaimed another.
Yoshika sat back and watched well Hartmann and Lucchini learned out the window, calling to Sakamoto and flashing her a 'v' sign, which she returned.
"If you knew her personality at home you wouldn't be falling head over heels for her." said Yoshika.
"God you're really naive Yoshika." said Hartmann as set sat on a desk to Yoshika's right and Lucchini in a sit to her left, "You're living with someone as sexy as Sakamoto and you won't even consider making a move."
"It's really sad." agreed Lucchini ans then she and Hartmann grabbed Yoshika and the trio leaned out the window again as Lucchini and Hartmann went back to making catcalls.
"Perverts." said Barkhorn in disgust as she watched the three.
On an airplane flying out to Fuso sat Minna returning from a meeting overseas. She sat alone in a first class.
Halfway back to Tokyo-3 a man from Xing walked up to her. He was in his thirties and worn a black Armani suit and had a gold Rolex watch on his right wrist. He had a copy of the Beijing Evening News newspaper under his right arm.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked.
"No." replied Minna and the man sat down then opened the paper and began to read.
"The UN Security Council approved 4-0 to expand the budget for NERV with only the United States of Liberion abstaining." said the Xing man, "Liberion will come along soon enough though."
"Excellent. Good news Mr. Zhang." replied Minna.
"This means work on more Second Generation Striker Units can begin." said Mr. Zhang.
"Indeed." said Minna, "This will help advance things well."
"What are you going to do about that demonstration tomorrow?" asked Zhang.
"It's all taken care off." replied Minna.
At NERV, Yoshika stood in her Striker preforming a standard synch test but her mind was elsewhere.
"The Striker." Yoshika thought to herself as she underwent her test, "They're weapons that bring destruction to the city and death to the Angel. But when I'm inside I feel so calm and at ease."
"Okay Miyafuji, the test is over. Good work." said Sakamoto over he earphone.
As Yoshika left Sakamoto turned to Amaki at her station.
"How is the clean up of the Fifth Angel going?" asked the Captain.
"It's going slow." admitted Amaki, "Not to mention the cost."
"I swear even with all the redistribution of money to NERV from most other aspects of Tokyo-3 this place is still badly underfunded." replied Sakamoto, "Just be grateful Striker Unit-02 and it's pilot are headed her from Karlsländ right now because if we lost a Striker we couldn't afford to build a new one and then we'd be in real trouble."
After Yoshika has left her Striker she was joined on an escalator by Sakamoto and Perrine.
"So Yoshika." began Perrine, "What do you know about Second Impact?"
"It's all we hear about in school." replied Yoshika, "Second Impact occurred on September 13, 2000 when a meteor destroyed Antarctica causing rising water levels that led to massive floods and political unrest which was followed by months of wars ended on February 14, 2001 with the Valentine's Treaty. Second Impact led to the extinction of hundreds of species of animals and the deaths of two billion people in the Southern hemisphere upon impact. It also tilted the axis of the Earth so Fuso summer year round."
"Correct." replied Perrine, "Except it wasn't a meteor that caused Second Impact it was an Angel."
"What?" exclaimed Yoshika.
"It was the First Angel that destroyed Antarctica those fifteen years ago." said Perrine noticing Sakamoto was looking away trying to forget that day, "The goal of NERV and the Strikers is to prevent Third Impact."
The next morning at the Sakamoto/ Miyafuji residence saw a repeat of the last day with Yoshika at the table eating toast before she left for school and Pen-Pen eating fish. Then Sakamoto entered just like yesterday with one except, she was in uniform.
Sakamoto was wearing a black shirt that ran past her knees, a black jacket with insignia and topped off by a black beret. Yoshika and Pen-Pen were speechless.
"How do I look?" asked Sakamoto.
"Professional." responded Yoshika still a bit awe-struck.
"Doctor Clostermann and I are going to Old Tokyo for some private companies demonstration of it's Angel fighting robot." replied Sakamoto.
On a private jet Sakamoto and Doctor Clostermann flew from Tokyo-3 to Old Tokyo also know as Tokyo-1.
"This was once the thriving capital of Fuso." observes Sakamoto sadly as the plane flew down.
Old Tokyo was destroyed on September 20, 2000 (A/N: my eight birthday) by a weapon of mass destruction that killed half a million people. Now Old Tokyo was a half flooded wasteland used by the military to test weapons. The demonstration was being held in the Budokan arena which had been rebuilt by the Fuso military for such occasions.
Inside the arena different delegations were seated at different tables with Sakamoto and Perrine clad in a purple dress sitting alone in the middle of the room.
"Attention everyone." said a short man standing at the podium, "Before we begin I would like to introduce the Head of the Jet Alone project Mr. Shiro Tokita."
Dressed in a brown suit, Tokita was average Fuso man in his thirties. After mounting the stage with congratulations banners behind him, her peered over the crowd.
"Thank you." said Tokita, "We at Fuso Heavy Chemical Industries are proud to present to you the future in Angel fighting technology. The Jet Alone!"
Pressing a button, Tokita turned on a camera to which showed his creation. The Jet Alone was a massive skyscraper tall robot with a white body and legs. On it's back was a large hatch were the power source was located and were artillery shells could be fired from. Its head was a small mound on the top of the body.
"This is the future before you ladies and gentlemen." cheered Tokita who then asked "Any questions?"
Perrine stood up and was handed a microphone.
"The esteemed Doctor Perrine H. Clostermann." said Tokita, "How privileged we are to have you here."
"Is it true Jet Alone uses a nuclear reactor as it's power source?" asked Perrine, "Don't you feel using a nuclear powered robot for hand-to-hand combat in an urban setting is highly dangerous?"
"It's much safer than a weapon like the Striker that can go berserk possessing children and causing mental instability." replied Tokita showing pictures he had somehow obtained of the battle between Yoshika and the Third Angel were Unit-01 went berserk. Whispers and chuckles could be heard form other people.
"How do plan to make Jet Alone safer?" asked Perrine, "It doesn't have a shield."
"It's only a matter of time." replied Tokita.
"You guys are acting like children." said a bored Sakamoto whose comment fell on deaf ears.
"The Jet Alone is much more stable than the Strikers." said Tokita, "The Strikers act unlike a hysterical woman."
That last comment caused Perrine's anger level to rise, while everybody else except Sakamoto laughed. A few more questions were asked and then came a break before the demonstration.
Waiting for some privacy, Sakamoto and Perrine entered a room full of lockers once used by performers.
"I can't believe that jerk!" yelled Sakamoto kicking a locker.
"Relax." said Perrine calmly with her back to Sakamoto.
"But that bastard ran down NERV and how the hell did he get those pictures?" yelled Sakamoto still kicking the locker, "I wish I could stuff him in this damn locker!"
"He's just a wannabe whose out to get his fifteen minuets of fame." said Perrine calmly.
What Sakamoto didn't is that while Perrine was talking she was also burning a copy of the Jet Alone manual with a cigarette liter.
Back in the demonstration hall the launch of Jet Alone was set to begin.
"Begin activation." ordered Tokita.
The technicians Tokita brought obeyed and the Jet Alone awoke.
"Begin movement." ordered Tokita and the technicians followed suit much to the jubilation of Tokita and the applauding audience.
A few a few minutes something went wrong as the the computers began beeping and 'Danger' appeared on all the screens.
"What's wrong?" asked Tokita.
"We somehow lost control of Jet Alone." replied a technician as the Jet Alone began to rampage through the ruined city, "Nuclear meltdown is imminent!"
"It's acting as bad as the guy who built it!" yelled Sakamoto then asking a technician, "What are the odds is will stop on it's own?"
"The odds are 0.00002%." replied the technician.
"I'm taking over!" declared Sakamoto, "We can use Unit-01 to slow down the Jet Alone and I'll enter it and shut it down from the inside."
"That's crazy!" yelled Perrine.
"It's the only choice we've got." replied Sakamoto.
"I'll be damned if you take over my robot!" yelled Tokita.
"That thing will be in Saitama soon and all the death and destruction it causes will reflect bad on Fuso Heavy Chemical Industries or you! God only help you if it meltdowns in a populated area! If anyone dies then their blood is on your hands!" Sakamoto shot back.
"The password for deleting the internal programming on Jet Alone and shutting it down is 'hope'." said a defeated Tokita.
"Right." said Sakamoto pulling out her cellphone, "Amaki, I need you to bring Yoshika and Unit-01 to Old Tokyo. Bring a helicopter too and I'll explain when you get here."
Twenty minutes later Amaki and Yoshika arrived in a helicopter and Sakamoto, now wearing a radiation suit, joined them.
"Listen Miyafuji." Sakamoto began, "Jet Alone has gone out of control and we need to stop it. You're going to deploy first and fly in front of the robot using your shield to stop it. Then Amaki will fly over it and I'll jump out landing on that hatch which leads to the computer that powers that thing. Once inside I'll delete it's programming."
"Sakamoto you might be killed!" warned a worried Yoshika.
"I'm always ready to die in battle." replied Sakamoto who confidently added, "But that won't be today."
As Amaki got close to the robot the mission began. Yoshika jumped out of the plan and flew in front of the Jet Alone deploying her shield immediately.
"It's time." Sakamoto said to herself before jumping out of the helicopter. Landing on the hatch on the back of Jet Alone, she nearly rolled too far and almost fell off grabbing one of the ladders used to climb inside for maintenance.
"Sakamoto!" cried Yoshika.
"I'm fine." replied Sakamoto who quickly scaled the ladder rungs and into the Jet Alone.
Once inside Sakamoto found the control room quickly but when she typed in 'hope' to delete it's programming it was rejected.
"What the hell?" asked a confused and worried Sakamoto who tried three more times before giving up.
"I'm going to have to push the rods back in myself." said Sakamoto who then ran over to the nuclear rods used to power Jet Alone and tried to push them back in.
"Meltdown is commencing sir!" called one of the technicians, "Meltdown in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
At the last moment Sakamoto got the rods in and not only prevented meltdown but stopped the Jet Alone which powered down.
In the arena everybody was cheering except for Perrine who rested against a wall.
"That crazy woman is lucky she isn't dead." said the Gallian.
"You did it Sakamoto!" cheered Yoshika.
"Yeah." said Sakamoto who then thought to herself, "Jet Alone wasn't supposed to melt down, somebody sabotaged it."
At NERV after returning Perrine, back in her usual attire, stood before Minna and just finished wrapping up her report on the Jet Alone demonstration.
"In summary." said Perrine, "With the exception of the intervention of Captain Sakamoto everything went according to plan."
"Excellent." replied Minna sitting at her desk and in her pose.
The next morning at the Sakamoto/ Miyafuji residence everything was back to normal. Sakamoto was her usual slob self.
"Yeah!" cried out Sakamoto after finishing her morning beer and letting out one of her trademark laughs, "Let me at that shower."
The doorbell rang and it was, as Yoshika suspected, Lucchini and Hartmann.
"Good morning Yoshika." they said together happily, "Good morning Sakamoto."
"Good morning." Sakamoto called from the shower and Yoshika quickly moved her friends along.
"You're so lucky to be living with Sakamoto." said Hartmann as the trio walked down the street.
"I thought so too but she's a total slob." replied Yoshika.
"You don't get it." said Hartmann.
"Get what?" asked a confused Yoshika as the trio stopped.
"Sakamoto is showing you a side of her she doesn't show other people." replied Lucchini, "It means your family."
After thinking about it for a minute Yoshika realized she was right and continued the walk to school more happily than before.
A/N: There is chapter seven and if you haven't figured it out Perrine sabotaged the Jet Alone. Tokyo-1 is our Tokyo. In case you don't know the Budokan is a famous arena in Tokyo and site for such things as the 1964 Olympic Judo competitions and live performances from bands such as the Beatles and Cheap Trick (I encourage you to check out my anime demotivational poster video on YouTube which can be reached through the link on my profile. It is set to "I want you to want me" which was recorded live at the Budokan.). Next time Sakamoto, Yoshika, Hartmann and Lucchini travel out to the middle of the Pacific and meet Unit-2 and it's pilot as well as another member of the 501st (who was made her unofficial debut talking to Minna). Yoshika and the Second Girl don't hit it off but the Sixth Angel arrives and they have to fight together to defeat it. Please review!