(Chapter 3;The Wall of a Mind)
"Reactor temperatures normal; output surplus plus three percent." The bridge buzzed with activity. "A 10 connections engaged." Finally the requirements were met. "Activation successful, units 03 and 04; launch!"
When one would expect the evas to launch upwards on ridiculously expensive catapults to do battle in a convertible fortress city made for the evangelions deployment and power needs. Instead the two reactor laden giants slowly made their way out of the cage restraints and shuffled to the megalithic doors. This was not a geofront, this was a converted open-air military facility. Eva 00, on the other hand, stayed put in the cage. Having not yet been fitted with a continuous delivery reactor and lacking receptacles for tethered deployment, unit 00 was unfit for the search and destroy mission at hand.
Tentatively, Rei spoke to commander Holston, "Am I not to assist the others in finding the angel?"
"You're unfit for combat, both in training and eva. You'll be stationed here, in the unlikely case that units 03 and 04 are unable to continue, you will retreat to point Credo to preserve the eva." She replied absently "Yes sir." Her tone void of diction. Recalling the battle against Matarael, Rei was used to being backup, often backup to the backup as Soryu put it. It was never her wish to take the lead in an operation or steal anyone's credit, a concept that had no part in battles against apocalyptic monsters. That is what she was like. Before long she had completely zoned out in the plug, watching slivers of blue float up through the bubbling lcl.
Well there goes any chance of the wall being built. Trump sulked, still grounded by the looming angel threat beneath the ground. Compounded by the realization that the unit 00 restoration had cost nearly the entire wall construction fund, he took to twitter, thumbs blazing as he found others to blame for his presidential ineptitudes. Nearing the character limit, his furious typing slowed as he had a wonderful idea. I terrible, wonderful idea. "Mattis, get me the commander on a secured line." he barked. Almost jumping out of his seat, Mattis moved to fill the president's request. "We haven't lost our pieces here just yet."
"He wants what!" was the general reaction on the bridge after hearing Trump's demands.
"Activating an eva for personal use, this is insane." Holston was not hearing that noise. Mattis' voice reciprocated courtly "Surely you recognise the president's authority in this situation. Unit 00 and it's pilot are still property of the US Army Corps of Engineers. And he has requested, the immediate launch of unit 00." Tensions rose as technicians realised Trump did indeed have the authority to launch and command an evangelion. Holston slammed his hand onto the table but before he could protest, Trump but in, "The United States of America will not have a foreign agency operating on our soil that refuses to acknowledge the perfection of the democratic system." "Well even if unit 00 was activated, it is not combat ready or equipped with any sort of onboard power. Your new toy would last all of five minutes." Checkmate he thought, but his confidence was short lived. "I'm always prepared" his overconfidence was sickening to rest of the bridge. "Have unit 00 launch and move to the east. We'll have a mobile power solution." prepared Mattis chimed in. He wasn't sure what the president intended to do with the eva, but he should've seen this coming, whether they were grounded or not the Donald always had a plan. I should've told them in advance, unit 00 may be longer outside their jurisdiction. Audibly groaning, Holston commed into the entry plug. "Ayanami, prepare to launch. Your orders will not be coming from the bridge, please open comms to channel 71."
"Yes commander" delivered deadpan without hesitation. "See to it that the evangelion's power is not misused." He added before closing the line.
"ALRIGHT!" The voice boomed over the newly opened channel. "I've got a plan, a secret plan, to stop these aliens dead in their tracks!" Rei nearly jumped in the plug, his presence overpowering the lcl-induced calm. Lights flickered and hydraulics groaned as unit 00A came to life, it's single red eye burning a hole in the monitors of bridge. The calico beast pushed apart the scaffolding encasing it and began making it's way out of the cage, on the path of the other evas that had left not long before. "Where are you going! We deploy east! Come connect to the mobile power delivery." Waiting her turn, Rei spoke up "This is the direction in which we presume the angel is." "Heh, what?" Speaking louder, but still barely audible. "This is the direction of the angel." "You can't fight an angel, it's not weaponised yet" He must realise that is an eva's purpose, to be a weapon. Yells filled the plug again as Trump elaborated. "Aliens yes. Angels no… I do have an operation in mind for you. WE WILL STOP THE ALIENS." Ego exuding from every thing he yelled. Ego, his soul is alight with it. Her crimson eyes followed another hair drift by her in the heaving lcl. Even more than him.
Two giants lumbered about in the scorching Arizona sun. From a distance they could be mistaken for hikers, save for how shiny they were. The darker of the two did a small kick, throwing up a hail of dirt and rock. "What did that do?" Gabe whined. "I dunno, this is just sooo booring." Tad was tired of sitting in the uncomfortably warm entry plug, walking in 14 mile zigzag. "Well we gotta find that angel." Gabe was mostly dedicated to the cause, whereas Tad just wanted the glory of taking an angel down. "It's gotta be… under the ground… or maybe invisible." "Why are we even out here! Cause' of dust storms. THERE'S NOTHING BUT DUST HERE." Tad was unintentionally gesticulating the entire eva as he spoke. The comm buzzed in from the bridge, "Just stay on pattern, you two are doing great." Before disconnecting, Tad spoke up; "So, where's de other one. Why doesn't she hafta do this with us." After a brief pause the static ended. "Unit 00 is still property of the US, and the president ordered it's use on a private operation." "The President! Wowee, an' he's got an eye for the babes aswell." Gabe meanwhile stacked rocks with his evangelion, making a glorious 25 foot cock and balls for all the arizona tourists to enjoy. "Gotta be better than what we're doing." he mumbled.
Reluctantly the two continued combing the desert for the elusive 13th angel, making sure to complain the entire time.
1350 hours; US Mexican border
The journey had been long, tedious, yet anything but quiet. The static never returned as the acting commander and current US president filled the plug with his voice and presence. One might question the sanity of both parties after 6 hours of Trump talking at you, but she had completely relaxed. Being uncharestic of Rei to relax, especially after receiving many earfuls from the boastful and satiric man in charge, one of the tokyo-3 transfers panicked as she realized the child had not moved one muscle in hours. "OH GOD SHE'S DIED!" she screamed out in the room preoccupied with the operations of their own child soldiers. People turned their attention to the unit 00 readouts. "Telemetry offline. Pilot's status unknown!" More technicians abandoned their stations and made their way to the desk cluster assigned to unit 00. A new comm link opened to the interior and they collectively yelled into the transfer's headset. "Pilot Ayanami, respond!" No movement was detected from the limited link they had to the cockpit, her hair had floated in front of her face, casting darkness over closed eyes. And yet unit 00 was still ambling forward.
"Who's that!" A voice came through. "This is my evangelion and I'd like to have UNINTERRUPTED contact with it's pilot." The group of technicians boiled around the desk to watch a potential argument between Trump and the technician, and of course to assure that the pilot was actually alive. She was almost screaming now "Eject the plug! Deactivate! DEACTIVATE!" "Do nothing of the sort!" Trump flared "The operation hasn't even started yet. There is work to do, Ayanamee." She was seething now, but before she could start chirping the president a new one, commander Holston pulled the headset from her head. "We are concerned the pilot is unconscious, or at least unable to continue. We are requesting deactivation of unit 00 and sending a medical team to retrieve the pilot That is all mister president." He squinted, hoping the stubborn man would at least cease his selfish game if there was a life tied into it. The entire time, the conversation was being translated through the lcl, and Rei had not spoke or moved.
The president broke the silence. "Rei. You Are on site, commence operation No Hombres, No Problem!" As if pulled from the abyss itself, Rei convulsed once before regaining a grip on the controls, adding a "Yes sir." before kneeling the evangelion in place. A hundred collective sighs could be heard just at the second channel closed. There the goliath squatted motionless before a fence that extended endlessly in either direction. As far as she knew, the operation was just a to guard a fence. A fence is not a wall. She thought. Disconnecting the power cable from the diesel locomotive she had just dragged the past 300 miles, she reset the cable into a nearby transformer station. Strange, the power comes from over the fence Her eyes followed the cables into the distance.
The afternoon continued to be much of the same, unit 00 baking in the sun motionless. The bridge had since returned to their own operations, with some taking note on how the First practically died every time the comm goes quiet for awhile. Not enough to cause a panic but certainly making many wonder of her well being. When things had calmed down and no one was looking, the transfer re opened the comm line to unit 00's plug. "Rei" she spoke gently. No response. "Rei" a bit louder this time. No response, she had seemingly died again, this time her eyes frozen open, staring into the camera. She was becoming more disturbed by her crimson eyes, unblinking, her iris' appearing to churn like a sea of blood. I'm gonna need help after this. Checking either side of her monitor, she opens a channel between unit 00, 03, and 04. Hopefully this breathes some life into that shell. Better than me trying to talk at least.
"Hey, who's this" Noticing the private channel widget opened to his left, Gabe turned his attention away from unit 03 trying to prove it could fit it's whole hand in it's mouth. "Oh! Hello fellow pilot, how's the presidential mission going." Rei had come to her senses but didn't respond. Tad joined in. "What's he having you do? What's Trump really like?" "Or is it confidential." Both boys had mile wide grins, glad to have someone else to talk to, or at. Or perhaps it's that it took all of 5 seconds for both boys' gaze to center on her chest.
"It's of no consequence that I share my mission." She finally speaks up, "I am guarding the perimeter." "Is the president with you?" "No, he is still at NERV." Stuffily, Gabe adds "Aren't you really hot, like really really hot?" A deadpan "No" is the only response. Silence returns as neither party has much to look at outside the evas, though Tad still has unit 03's hand jammed in it's mouth. Holston breaks the silence "Alright pilots, back to the task, this is an angel hunt." The line instantly disconnects. The two boys turn their attention back to the breasts-I mean guest. "So Miss Ayanamee" Tad speaks slowly "Are you wearing anything under that-" "JESUS TAD you MEGALOMANIC-" "Oh stuff it!" Tad growls "You can't white knight in yer literal 200ft tall mechanized armor" Gabe jumps as unit 03 fakes a punch to it's face. Stumbling over it's own feet, the silver beast swings around and kicks the black giant in the shin. Tad yells out "IT'S A JOKE YA SPAZZ" Gabe spits back "Oh wow, the spazz card, real mature." The argument continues as neither notice the blue headed girl floating limply the plug. Additionally, neither notice the wall of dust approaching. Rei snaps back from the brink only to say "Ahead of you." Staring down the approaching wall, the last thing to be communicated between the units was a "Show us your tits." before the signal cut out. The whirlwind of sand and glass buffeting the goliaths.
(End of chapter 3)
So it's been a little while, and also woo I hit 5k words. Hopefully production will increase. Also I found out with the previous chapter 3 (That only one fragile soul read before I took it down) that the image idea is out the window. I suspected as such, no pictures on fanfic.
Anyways, a little glimpse into how I write. I have a list of plot points I want to include, I start writing a chapter that will connect or flow me into another point, redoing it to be the best read. I end a chapter when I feel like it, not when I've hit a word or story quota. Example: originally this chapter was gonna make it all the way to the next point, but instead I added more characterization because it felt better, and it'll better contrast what I have coming.