"Alright, you're doing good, just keep it level..." said the instructor over the radio link, breaking Michael from his concentration. "Not like that! NOT LIKE THAT! Pull up!" He sighed, and turned off the radio. He was doing fine without the instructor, and it wasn't like anything important was in danger.
He closed his eyes, leaned back...
and turned on the front camera of the Taranis drone he'd been given to test. The HUD flashed behind his eyelids, telling him he was about three seconds from crashing. No problem. Up, and roll just to show up the instructor, then bank round past Unit 07. Why don't I show off a little more? he thought, slightly conscious of Rose's presence in the audience. Pull up again, engines off, hit the landing flaps – stall warning, that's what I want, flip over on to the plane's back, lower the gear, about to crash, but I do have enough altitude to pull this off. He focussed, and fired the drone's orbital manoeuvring thrusters. The drone flipped -
-SYNCHRONISATION FEED LOST-
That could be a problem. He'd forgotten that the altimeter showed sea level as zero, not the altitude of the landing platform he'd been aiming for. Said platform was strapped on top of Unit 07's nuclear reactor, as part of some technology demonstration or other. Which is why when he'd tried to flip the drone he hadn't had as much space as he thought he had, and now the drone was probably wrecked. He unplugged the cables from his arm socket, pushing the replacement arm back in as he climbed out of the entry plug.
"What the hell was that?" asked the instructor pointedly as Michael tried to stride past him, fiddling with one of the bolts on his arm.
"I was trying to see if I could do a vertical landing," Michael replied. "It could be useful."
"You were showing off!" said the instructor. Michael winced; he may be in operational command of the task force, but the instructor reported to the Admiral. "A VTOL landing doesn't need a fancy flip or whatever it was you were doing out there. Not to mention that crash..."
"I made a mistake," Michael admitted, "But I think I'm getting the hang of this."
"You started three hours ago. You are not getting the hang of this," the instructor said, firmly. "You can fly, and I admit you can put that drone through some tricks, but you're not even close to qualified."
"I'm going to have to agree," said Rose from behind Michael. "That was nearly impressive... right up until you pancaked the thing right on top of a live nuclear reactor."
"Wait, it's live?" Michael said, eyes widening. "Aren't we down for maintenance?"
"There was some problem or other with the Jet Alone thing, but it's sorted. We got a standby order," Rose explained, "so the techs sealed it back up. It was pretty much ready anyway."
"And no-one told me this because...?" asked Michael. "It's not like I'm supposed to be in command here or anything." He nodded at the instructor, who took the hint and left.
"You were busy," said Rose. "No need to bug you. Now you're out, we'll call the Admiral." She took his hand and pulled him through the building to the command centre.
"I still need that report about that prisoner interrogation," Michael protested as he was dragged along.
"That's where we're going after this," replied Rose. She waved at one of the technicians, who started the video call to the Admiral's ship. There was a short, awkward pause as they waited for him to respond, but eventually Jones' face filled the screen.
"Report," he said.
"Unit Seven is apparently ready for deployment," said Michael, "and preliminary tests of the Anima device were successful. Testing of the Taranis drone... resulted in some damage."
"You crashed it, didn't you?" asked Admiral Jones, pointedly. Michael sighed.
"Yeah, I crashed it," he said. Laughter came from around the room. "That said, it seems to fly pretty well. I managed to do a few flips and rolls. When they fit a couple of missiles onto it, it should still be adequate."
"Alright," said the Admiral. "I'll be linking up with the UN's Pacific Fleet on the way back; there's a couple of paperwork things I need to clear up, so you'll be in command for another week or two past the end of the month." Michael nodded.
"Safe voyage," he said, and signalled the tech to close the link.
Rose led the way to the makeshift cell they'd been keeping their prisoner in. The guards stood aside automatically as the approached – I'll have to reprimand them later, Michael thought – and they strode into the small room. Inside was a table, a chair, and the prisoner, who flinched as the door opened.
"I thought I was getting a report," Michael said, taking note of the prisoner's state; there didn't seem to be any physical wounds on the man, which was good.
"You are. From him," answered Rose. "We had a talk, and he's decided the best way to survive the next week or so is to play nice."
"That's right!" said the prisoner. "Bastards weren't paying me to keep quiet, anyway."
"Hmm," began Michael as he sat on the table, his mind suddenly in overdrive. "An American? Former military, probably a mercenary. I'd say you left the service in... oh-six? Maybe oh-five? Before the invasion, anyway." The prisoner stared at him. "It's the way you all moved when we fought you," he explained, "You're not used to having reliable backup. That told me you were ex-military. The accent's obviously American, and besides you're sitting like Americans always do in these situations – leaning slightly back, arms across your stomach. It's a Hollywood thing, you think it makes you look defiant. On top of that, you don't seem overly resentful. That means you left the service before the invasion, and didn't agree with it."
"Impressive," said the prisoner. "Are you going to tell me who hired me and why?"
"Challenge accepted," Michael said. "Who? I'm going to say NERV or some affiliated body. You wouldn't join up with American resurgents, and the only other organisation that might want us dead is NERV. Why? That's harder, but it's not because they actively wanted us dead. That would be a bonus, but if it was the focus you'd have done a much better job. That means..." His eyes widened. "A distraction. Another operation was going on at the same time. There's any number of possible targets – anything from the uranium in Unit Seven's reactor to the frequency for the Longbow satellites. You wouldn't be able to fire them, but you could de-orbit an entire satellite..."
"There were two teams, yes," confirmed the prisoner. "I have no idea what the other team was doing, but our job was to do whatever they said. Their leader told us to go kill you guys, and the rest is history."
"Rose, if you haven't already get every detail from this guy. I need to go send a message to the Admiral, and find out what exactly they took," Michael ordered as he ran out of the cell.
"See, I didn't tell-" he heard before the door closed.
Shinji sat at the dining table, sketching. He'd never exactly been artistically talented, but he'd had to learn how to draw over the years. After the third or fourth time he'd picked up a bit of equipment from the local garage and found it didn't actually look anything like he wanted it to, he'd bought some pencils and a lot of paper, and had sat down until things on the paper started looking vaguely like they did in his head. The design he was sketching at the moment looked like a child's caricature, but it would suffice.
He looked up as Rei sat beside him, a book in her hands. She'd found his collection of books before he'd gotten back from the Jet Alone deployment (Not that they even needed me, Shinji thought bitterly), and had picked up one of them.
"Nineteen eighty-four?" Shinji asked when he saw the cover. Rei nodded. "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever." She looked confused at that – she was only about halfway through by the look of it. "It's a quote," he explained. "It's an interesting book. I must have read it half a dozen times."
"The concept is interesting," agreed Rei. "What are you drawing?"
"Oh, this?" he said. "I'm thinking of mounting some cameras and other sensors on a quad-rotor drone. Maybe fit a laser system or something too – the MAGI told me the thing I did before the last battle actually had a slight effect, so with a few hundred of these we might be able to weaken an Angel's AT Field enough for conventional weapons to start hurting it."
"It does not look aerodynamically stable," Rei noted. Shinji smiled.
"I'm a pretty terrible artist," he admitted. "But the MAGI should be able to get the general gist." Misato strode through the door of the apartment, and made a beeline towards the beer fridge. Shinji counted the number of beers she downed before finally walking over to where the two children sat. He winced. Five? Must have been a pretty terrible report, he thought.
"I have good news, and I have bad news," Misato began.
"Bad news first," said Shinji, automatically.
"Well, the bad news is that I'm going to have to drag you away from this domestic bliss again the day after tomorrow," she said. Rei actually looked slightly disappointed at that. "The good news is that we're getting another Evangelion unit. The German Branch has finally decided that Unit Two would do more good over here than over there, and this morning the UN voted to make Tokyo-three an exception to the Vatican Treaty. We'll be going over to the UN Pacific Fleet on Monday where we'll guide them in. NERV wants an officer in the fleet because the Commander's a paranoid asshole, and he also decided to send a pilot along in order to, and I quote, "acclimatise the new pilot to their future surroundings." That means you, Shinji."
"The Commander's strategy does not appear to make sense," said Rei. "Pilot Ikari is currently the only pilot in Tokyo-three with a combat-ready Evangelion. If an Angel were to attack the city, we would be effectively defenceless."
"I'm not exactly willing to risk that," Shinji said. "Unit Zero's going to be out of action for a while, and-"
"And if an Angel does attack the city we'll be three hours away. The city can hold for that long, even with the damage done by the last one. The Commander deems the risk acceptable," countered Misato. "Besides, it's an order, one he made clear that you cannot refuse."
"Damn it," Shinji sighed. "Fine. Like I have a choice."
"You'll like the new pilot, I promise," said Misato. "Besides, I've already invited your friends from school along. It should be fun."
"You should not lie, Captain Katsuragi," said Rei. "It is unlikely that Shinji will like Pilot Sorhyu." Shinji glanced at her. "We have met previously. I found her to be remarkably arrogant and abrasive," she explained.
"You say that, Rei, but you're probably going to end up sharing a room with her," said Misato. "The Commander made the point that since we already have two pilots in the same apartment, we may as well make it three." Rei fell silent, considering this information.
"If that is the case, I will simply move into Ikari's room," she argued. Shinji gulped, and moved towards the kitchen. This conversation was going somewhere he did not want to go.
"I'll... just go start dinner, then," he said, excusing himself. Rei looked at Misato with her usual serious expression.
"Did I say something wrong?" she asked. Misato got up silently, walked over to the fridge, and pulled out another six-pack of beers.
Nothing but screaming and roaring and it was right in front of her and they said there'd be air support where's the air support get the shield up but now it's doing nothing and it's using it's own severed arm as a weapon hits her across the face once twice stab it with the knife but it just keeps coming they told me it would hurt why does it hurt this much can't keep going -
Rose woke up, screaming. Weak sunlight filtered through the curtains as she sat up. Again? she thought to herself as she went through the familiar routine. Get out of bed, go into kitchen, grab a drink, turn on the news and wait for Mike to turn up. He knew to give her a few moments alone before making sure she was alright. The fact she'd once put a bullet through his leg probably had something to do with that. He was normally pretty bad at taking hints. It sounds so cruel when I put it like that, she considered while she waited, but he started it. Payback for St. Louis. That was the more vindictive side of her talking, and she knew it.
Michael staggered in, pistol held loosely at his side. "Again?" he asked, the ritual demanding he ask. She nodded, and he held her. She felt... conflicted. On the one hand, this was the boy who'd ripped her limb from limb, who'd torn her nation apart like it was nothing, who deserved a bullet to the face more than anything else. On the other, he'd never been anything but... nice when actually talking to her – or anyone else for that matter. She had a hard time hating him, especially with some of the things she'd found out over the years.
Not that it mattered. It never had.
Admiral Oliver Jones was not a complicated man. Considering the world he lived in, that was quite an achievement. He was not an especially political animal, and he had nothing but disdain for the games MI6 played behind the scenes. It should be noted here that neither of these things prohibited him from playing his own games.
Regardless, when he strode onto the bridge of the UNS Over The Rainbow, he did so with the full knowledge that he was not going to enjoy his stay despite the rather amazing shine of the afternoon sun on the water. Everything about the fleet's mission stank of politics and shadow games, from the fleet's mere existence to the lack of amphibious equipment for Unit 02 to the presence of a certain UN Special Inspector. Luckily, it wasn't his fleet to command, so as far as he was concerned none of that was his business.
"Admiral Borodin. It's good to see you again," he greeted with a salute. His counterpart – a former submarine officer turned surface captain in the wake of Second Impact – returned the salute.
"Admiral Jones. A pleasure," Borodin said. "Have you come to get this bloody piece of junk away from my fleet?"
Jones smiled carefully. "Unfortunately, Unit Two's a lot bigger than Unit Seven. It wouldn't fit," he said. "Even if it did, I've got orders to head back to Gibraltar ASAP. I'll be with the fleet for a day or two, if you don't mind. It'd save a few days in refuelling later."
"Your Lancaster was never designed for the sort of work you've been putting her through. I'd have thought Her Majesty would have given you something a bit newer," commented Borodin.
"She does alright," said Jones. "Besides, it's not like every other ship in the fleet is just lying at port with nothing to do. We've got task forces pretty much everywhere, and even with the American Arleigh Burkes... Hell, you remember Saint Lawrence? We must have lost half the fleet in that battle alone."
"I was on board the Admiral Spiridonov when the American fighter wing came in. We got two, and then one of those damned Hornets put a Harpoon right through the engines," said Borodin, motioning to the exit. "We'll go have some tea while we catch up."
Jones followed Borodin off of the bridge. "You remember that crazy French bastard? Captain... Duval? Durant? I can never remember. Rammed one of those stealth frigates right into the middle of the entire American-" he cut off as he walked into Borodin's back. The Russian Admiral was glaring at an unshaven man who'd appeared in the corridor.
"Inspector Kaji," Borodin spat. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not allowed on my bridge?"
"I thought I'd pay the valiant Admiral Jones a visit," said the Inspector. "There's some paperwork we need to get done."
"Later," Jones said, waving the man off. Borodin pushed past the Inspector, and Jones followed. "So anyway, this French guy somehow manages to get his frigate right next to the American carrier – this was later on in the battle, when things got a little confusing – and he thinks it's the Charles De Gaulle, so he pulls off and only when he's nearly back in our own lines does he realise that it was actually the Carl Vinson. I swear, that French bastard pulled the tightest one-eighty I have ever seen!"
Both of the Admirals laughed as they walked, engrossed in stories they'd each heard a thousand times. Work could wait.
Shinji watched the sunrise on the water as the Mi-8 transport helicopter approached the fleet. He knew it was an Mi-8 because Kensuke hadn't shut up about the damned thing since they'd transferred from a NERV VTOL (apparently a Chinese Z-20, whatever that was) at an airbase on some island that he couldn't remember the name of. Rei would probably know, he thought. Kensuke would, too, but if I asked him...
He'd made that mistake when they'd transferred. When he'd asked why they were getting out of one aircraft to get into another, Kensuke had launched into a massive description of the VTOL and how it was actually quite limited in range. After a while, he'd been tempted to steal Misato's gun and shoot either himself or Kensuke. Toji had just ignored the whole thing. The jock was a bit preoccupied with trying not to throw up.
At least it's a nice sunrise. Normally, he'd have been terrified of the unfathomable depths right below him, but considering he'd spent most of the previous day trying to get his drone design to actually work rather than crash every time the MAGI simulated it, he was more in a mood to just enjoy being outside. By the time Rei had gotten out of the tests Father kept putting her through, it had been late enough at night that the city was almost deserted. He smiled as he remembered the walk back to the apartment. We'll have to do something like that again. It was... nice.
With that thought in mind, he slipped his headphones on, queued up several Beethoven collections and just enjoyed the sunrise.
UN Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji stepped into what was supposed to be a secure, locked room. He had spent several hours making sure that he was the only person who could get in, which made it slightly strange that a grey-haired middle-aged man was currently sitting on his bed aiming a pistol at his face. Being the highly-trained, experienced secret agent that he was, he was able to keep his face relatively still.
"Okay," he began, "I have to know... how?"
"Honestly?" said Admiral Jones, "You left the window open." Kaji sighed, and sat down opposite the Admiral.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Two things. Firstly, did you or yours have anything to do with the raid on my base a few weeks back?" demanded the Admiral.
"I knew about it," Kaji admitted. "No idea what they were after, though."
"I'll take your word for it. Although..." Jones leaned back, the pistol moving slightly to compensate. "That still leaves the matter of a certain item that was stolen from that base. An item we had under heavy guard right up until that day, when we were supposed to launch it into space. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about." He motioned to Kaji's footlocker with his free hand. "That locker's a lot more secure than this room."
"I'm delivering a certain item to Commander Ikari, yes. I don't know what-"
Jones cut Kaji off. "Don't lie to me. I've been playing this game longer than you've been alive. Now, I know you can't give me that... item, and I'd have to shoot you if I tried to take it. So, here's what we're going to do. You will deliver that item as planned, and then you will send a copy of every report you write directly to me. Then, when the time comes... you will get that item back for me."
Kaji sighed again. "I don't suppose I have to ask what happens if I refuse?" he said. Jones shook his head. "Alright. Like I even have a choice."
"A pleasure doing business with you," said Admiral Jones as he stood up and walked out of Kaji's room.
"-and that's the Over the Rainbow!" Kensuke shouted, waking Shinji from his nap. "She's the only Unity-class in service!" There was a brief pause the nerd's otherwise incessant chatter, before he noticed something else to shout about. "Oh my god! That's the Lancaster! One of just two Type twenty-three Frigates that survived the Impact Wars! She's supposed to be the flagship of the Royal Navy's Evangelion Task Force – that thing can carry an Eva on the specially-modified flight deck..."
"A bunch of toy ships," dismissed Misato. "A single Eva could take the whole lot." That shut Kensuke up until the helicopter landed on the flight deck of the weirdly-named carrier.
"Why is it called the Over the Rainbow, anyway?" asked Shinji as they stepped off of the aircraft.
"It was a joke some wise guy made when they were designing the ship," said Misato. "It's a joint British, Russian, German and Japanese design, and there were a lot of political problems with getting it into service. Someone said "It's like the pot of gold over the rainbow, we'll never see it", and the day after that the UN decided it really needed an aircraft carrier that year. It's supposed to be ironic or something."
Shinji stared at Misato. "That... is a pretty terrible reason," he said. Before she could reply, they noticed a redheaded girl in a yellow sundress (I wonder how long it'll take before a gust of wind just so happens to blow by here? Shinji wondered cynically) striding towards them. Shinji sighed. "Great, more people to deal with." Misato glared at him. "It's not like I slept at all last night, Misato," he explained.
"Should have thought of that before you spent the entire night with your girlfriend," Misato whispered, smirking. The incoming girl stopped in front of the group, glaring at each of the boys in turn.
"So which one of you arschlochs is the pilot of Unit One?" she demanded, arms folded across her chest. Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose unconsciously. There goes any hope of her being quiet like Rei, he thought.
"That would be me," he said, raising his hand. "Shinji Ikari." He paused, waiting for the girl to introduce herself. Several seconds of awkward silence ensued. "So... who are you?" he ventured after a while.
"I am Asuka Langley Sorhyu, Pilot of Evangelion Unit Two! NERV has decided to finally bring in their only real pilot to the single most important war on the planet," declared the girl – Asuka. Shinji could almost feel the amusement radiating off of Misato.
"Okay," Shinji replied. Being calm and level was probably the best way to get through this. "It's nice to meet you, Asuka Langley Sorhyu. Now then-" A gust of wind from a landing VTOL swept over them, and Shinji looked away before dust could get in his eyes. He heard the sound of two slaps, and somehow knew exactly what had happened before he turned back. Toji was glaring at Asuka, while Kensuke had gone back to obsessing over all the ships. Two bright red handmarks were visible on their faces.
"And that," he said, exasperated, "is why wearing a short sundress on the deck of a ship is a bad idea." Asuka glared at him, and he got the feeling he was about to receive a handprint of his own.
Before that could happen, Misato intervened. "Alright, Asuka," she said, "Take us up to the bridge."
"No, no, no, no! I will not have NERV taking over my damned fleet!" yelled Admiral Borodin, pushing aside the form Misato was holding out to him. "I had enough of your damned giant robots in the Impact Wars!"
"Relax, tovarishch," said Admiral Jones from the back of the room – something called a "Combat Information Centre" rather than the bridge for some reason. Isn't it supposed to be the bridge? thought Shinji. "They just want to cover all the bases."
"Don't you start," snapped Borodin, "this whole damned thing is your fault."
"Regardless, Admiral," cut in Misato, "If an Angel attacks then as per UN Resolution seventy-two thirteen, all forces flying the UN banner are obligated to help."
"Like that's going to happen," came a voice from behind Shinji, who was doing his best to make himself seem invisible. It wasn't hard, considering the girl they'd come to meet. "I see you're looking as beautiful as ever, Misato."
"Oh please, someone tell me that's not who I think it is," said Misato as she slowly turned around. "Of all the people who could possibly turn up again in my life, it just had to be Ryoji fucking Kaji."
"Don't act so surprised," said the man – Kaji. "We both know we were meant for other."
"Enough!" said Borodin, forcefully. "Get the hell out of my CIC, all of you." Toji took the lead – apparently he got seasick as well as airsick – as they filtered out of the room. Kensuke tried to hang around long enough to get a picture, but a pointed look from Misato ushered him out.
"Hey, Shinji!" called Asuka as he tried to escape somewhere quiet. "Come with me for a moment, I've got something to show you." This is going to end really, really well, isn't it? Shinji thought.
Back in the CIC, Borodin and Jones shared a despairing look. "Anyway," said Jones, "I should be getting back to the Lancaster. We've taken on enough fuel to make it to the depot at Singapore, so we should be okay to make it all the way back."
"Safe travels, tovarishch," replied Borodin as Jones left the room.
"It's... red," said Shinji, lamely. The Evangelion in front of him was impressive, but he honestly couldn't find any other differences besides the colour.
"Damn right it's red!" exclaimed Asuka from behind him. "It's my Unit Two! He's stronger, faster and easier to use than ever other Evangelion in existence!"
"It's... smaller than Unit One," noted Shinji absently. "Unit Zero is, too. Why is that?"
"That's because they left your failed prototype in the growth medium until the Fourth Angel showed up," said Asuka. "He's -" she indicated Unit 02 - "not had as much time to grow. But he's still better than yours, rookie!"
"Does this mean I don't have to take point any more?" asked Shinji. With Rei as the only other pilot, he'd never complained about being the first pilot deployed (mostly because Unit 00 seemed to be in a permanent state of repair), but now they had another pilot...
"Oh, so the little arschloch thinks he's clever, does he?" growled Asuka. "You seem to be pretty lucky, so I think you'll stay there. Maybe you'll take down one or two Angels before I mop the floor with them."
Shinji resorted to sarcasm. "Please don't," he said, "It doesn't work so well. I tried it with the Fourth, I just ended up getting blood everywhere..." He could almost feel the glare drilling into his spine, but before the redhead could say anything else the cargo ship they'd transferred to rocked violently, sending them both sprawling. This time, Shinji managed to avoid an awkward situation, but almost ended up in the weird storage fluid Unit 02 was bathing in.
"The fuck was that?" said Asuka as she got to her feet. Another explosion rocked the ship, and Shinji's heart sank.
"An Angel," he said.
"Battle stations!" ordered Admiral Jones as he stepped into the CIC of the Lancaster. Around him, the crew scurried to comply. A wireframe projection of the battlefield sprung up from the table in the centre of the room, and Jones surveyed the situation. The Diamond's gone, he noted, and it looks like the Bezuprechnyy is taking on water. "It's headed for the Over the Rainbow," he said. "Helm! Position us between the enemy and the carrier!"
The Lancaster's engines span up, pushing the frigate into the combat zone. The rest of the fleet was a mess – each individual ship seemed to be doing whatever the hell it liked without thought for any others. "Get me the Rainbow," Jones ordered, and picked up the phone on the table. "What the hell is going on over there, Vasily?"
All that came over the line was the distant sound of arguing. He swore he could hear that NERV officer's voice again. Sighing, he put the phone back in its cradle and opened up the command channel. "All ships," he ordered, "begin dispersal and submarine chasing manoeuvres. Stop acting like a bunch of headless chickens, you idiots!"
Some of the ships on the tactical plot began to move slightly more intelligently, but it was still a mess. "Any word on what it is?" he asked.
"Sensors confirm an AT field is present," said one officer. Everyone fell silent; all the crew had seen Unit 07 on at least one rampage. "It's underwater, sir," the officer continued.
"Alright," said Jones, resting his head in his hands. "What can I use here..."
"Sir!" called another officer, "Transmission from the Blue Marlin! Unit Two is active!"
"Fucking idiot girl," muttered Jones. "They'll sink the moment they get into the water."
"Ummm... sir?" said the officer, "You might want to watch them on the plot..."
Jones looked up. "What the shitting hell are they doing?"
"This is a really, really bad idea," Shinji protested, trying desperately to keep certain body parts from contacting certain female body parts. "Look, these things don't float too well! It's underwater! Do the maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAA-"
Asuka launched the Evangelion off of the deck of the heavy lift ship, aiming not for the Angel but the Kirov-class battlecruiser that was trying to get away from the Angel. Shinji only breathed out when it seemed like they were stable, only for Asuka to launch them into the air again. This time, they landed on the deck of the Over the Rainbow, where a power cord was waiting.
"Thanks, Misato!" Asuka said cheerfully. "Now, come hither little Angel..."
Almost as if responding to the challenge, the Angel flew from the water. Asuka dove under the gigantic fish, stabbing one of the Eva's knives into its stomach. All that accomplished was dragging Unit 02 halfway down the deck of the carrier before she managed to get the knife free, cursing. One of the destroyers in the fleet tried to take a shot with its cannon, but the shot went wide and slammed into Unit 02's back, knocking it over.
"Shinji!" Asuka yelled as they stood up, "Get them to cut that out so I can kill this bastard!"
Not willing to risk the wrath of the redhead, Shinji accessed the command channel using the NERV override code Rei had given him just before he'd left that morning. "All ships," he said, "This is... this is..." Unit 02 rocked as the Angel made another pass and an anti-ship missile blew the left shoulder pylon off. "This is Evangelion Unit Two! Cease firing on the Angel, you're getting in the way!" he yelled, the pain of the impact coming through even though he shouldn't have been synchronised.
"This is Lancaster Actual," came a voice. "Copy that, Unit Two. Good hunting."
Job done, Shinji sat back. It was time to think of a way to kill the Angel, and Asuka couldn't do it like this. An evil smile crept onto his face as one occurred to him. "Lancaster Actual, this is Unit Two," he said, trying to remember radio protocol. "How many sonar sets have we got in the fleet?"
"That glorious bastard!" cried Jones as he grasped Shinji's plan. "More than enough," he replied. "Just give the word."
"Copy that, Lancaster," said the boy on the other side of the line. "Do it whenever you're ready."
"Sir," an officer reported, "There's an aircraft launching from the Rainbow. No-one's cleared for launch..."
"Let it go," said Jones. "We have slightly bigger fish to fry." He re-opened the fleet-wide channel, and barked "All sonar-equipped ships, prepare to go active on my mark. Maximum power, highest frequency!"
"Ready on your mark, sir!" reported the officer in charge of the sonar set.
"Don't bother," ordered Jones. "We need to see if this works."
The Angel made yet another pass over the carrier, trying to get at the desperate call it could feel within. Suddenly, the call seemed to be coming from far above, but the Angel could no longer focus on its mission. Wave after wave of sound poured in from every direction, each one powerful enough to shake a human body apart. Combined, it was too much even for the Angel to bear. It was even interfering with its senses, rendering it nearly blind.
Nearly.
It could "see" two of the metal boxes that were trying to stop it from completing its mission. Acting on instinct, it pushed itself along at full speed towards the nearest object.
On board the Lancaster, the crew didn't even have time to react. Several thousand tonnes of angry Angel ploughed into the frigate, cracking it in half. The Angel spun, and charged towards the second metal box.
"The Lancaster's gone!" shouted some voice in Shinji's ear as the Angel demolished the ship next to them. "It's headed for the Rainbow!" Shinji felt a chill run down his spine. We can't protect the carrier if it doesn't jump again, he thought. And if it goes down, so do we.
"Fuck that," he said. Asuka turned around to look at him. "Kill this bastard," he said.
Asuka grinned, and they jumped.
The red Evangelion landed on the back of the Angel, forcing it to a stop. Asuka stabbed at it again and again with the knives, but couldn't get through its armour. Shinji wondered why the Angel didn't just dive, before realising the sonar pulses were probably discouraging it. The Angel twisted, trying to swallow the Evangelion... and there was its core.
"You know," Shinji said dryly, "I kind of expected it to be there." Asuka didn't reply, but shoved the Eva's hand down the Angel's throat. Its jaws clamped around the arm, but they ignored the pain and stabbed the knife into the core once... twice... three times... and then the core shattered, and the Angel stopped struggling.
"That..." Shinji began, as the two pilots struggled for breath.
"Was annoying," finished Asuka.