IX – "Once more unto the breach"
"Roger that", Asuka confirmed as she absorbed the tactical summary along with her orders while simultaneously trying to ignore the rather unpleasant, low-level but persistent pain-like sensation coming from Unit-02's body. "Well, let's hope the idiot doesn't mess it up so much that I have to intervene."
As if on cue, Shinji's voice came over the comms: "Unit-01 ready to intercept the Angel."
"Don't get yourself killed idiot", Asuka called to him over a local channel. "Killing you is my part."
"Don't worry, Asuka", Shinji replied in a tense, focused voice without the venom that would normally accompany a retort directed at her. "I'll be fine."
'Yeah, right', she scoffed internally. 'You'd be lost without me', she added – and quickly shelved that thought as unproductive and somewhat contrary to how she wanted to feel about him. Fortunately for her attention and focus – and unfortunately for her ability to perform in battle – she had to focus on walking immediately after being deployed: the legs of Unit-02, despite looking all right on the surface, felt more than a little bit wobbly. 'Shit. There goes my hope of saving the idiot. I'll have issues standing still while firing in this crappy state, let alone run', she realised with growing anxiety. 'Or dodge, for that matter…'
"Unit-02 in position", she reported a moment later and took a good, assessing look at the situation. 'Scheiße. This doesn't look good…' was the conclusion as she saw the Unit-01 in the first line, aiming its rifle towards the cloud of dust and debris that was growing beneath the slowly cracking dome of the Geofront. Unit-00 was only a few hundred metres away from Unit-01, its weapon aimed in the same general direction. The number of spare weapons surrounding the Units was also worrying. 'Let me guess, they judged the bastard so strong, that they think we'll need an equivalent of an artillery division to reach it? It would be nice if this was in the tactical briefing… and why aren't we firing already? There's enough ammo here to level the city, if we catch it by surprise when it's busy digging through… no, stop, this would be too risky, we could accidentally bring the whole dome on our heads…'
She took a deep breath; as eager as she was to fight right now, she also knew that acting against orders – and thus disrupting the plan the command had for them – could easily endanger not only her but also everyone else involved in the battle. And no matter how angry she was with Shinji, putting him in danger was definitely not something she would ever want to do. 'Murdering him myself, fine, that's my prerogative, but definitely not letting him be killed by some–'
She shook that thought off – and to avoid having its return, she focused on all the routine things that should be done before the fight: scanning the battlefield, locating possible alternative firing positions, defensive spots, and retreat routes, checking the positions of reserve armaments depots, orienting herself in regard to areas that needed additional attention, like the HQ – and only then refocused on the growing cloud of debris at the Geofront's ceiling.
That, of course, made the thoughts return, so she took another deep breath and flipped the channel to Unit-01 open. "Hey, idiot", she blurted out. "Promise me you won't get killed."
"Hey, worry about yourself", Shinji shot back in a determined and surprisingly focused voice. "I'll do my best to protect you, but please don't make it harder."
'That cheeky – oh, if he survives this whole mess, he's getting an earful for that', she huffed to herself. Annoyed and angry as she was, though, she had to admit that this was exactly the right answer to give on his part; the kind of answer she would gladly accept from him.
Regrettably, any further thoughts on the matter had to wait; Major Katsuragi's message from the command centre left no doubt that the battle was on: "Final layer breached! Target emerging! Engage at a distance for as long as possible, melee only if there's no other choice!"
"Roger that", Asuka replied, almost in sync with Shinji and only minimally later than Rei did – and her stomach twisted into a knot as she saw the projectiles explode without as much as slowing the still-obscured target.
"We are neutralising its AT Field, aren't we?" Shinji's confused and increasingly worried voice came over the general comm.
"I am not certain", Rei replied with her usual, level voice; Asuka could swear there was a hint of worry in her tone as well – and this did not put her at ease. "We should wait for its approach. Otherwise, we are wasting ammunition."
"Okay", Shinji confirmed – and ceased fire, resuming his ready stance.
As the smoke, dust, and debris cleared, Asuka could take a good look at the strangely rectangular Angel slowly descending from the top of the dome to the ground level. The empty eye sockets of its – for the lack of a better word – face seemed to coldly watch the Evangelion units, almost as if it was judging them; it looked not just weird, that was given among the Angels, but almost unnerving. "Das Ding sieht aus, als hätte jemand versucht, ein abscheuliches Monster zu zeichnen und auf halbem Weg aufgegeben", she commented in an annoyed tone. "Hat es überhaupt Arme?"
She came to regret that question a scant few seconds later when the stubby outgrowths suddenly deployed thin bands that immediately struck against Unit-01 and Unit-00 with horrifying speed and precision. Asuka watched in horror as both Units made their dodges – made them well but not perfect. "Unit-00 mildly damaged", Rei Ayanami reported in a focused but clearly pained voice. "Left arm remains attached but no longer responds."
Before Asuka could react to that, the bands unrolled and struck once more – and this time, both Evangelions managed to dodge on both strike and retreat, moving to Angel's opposite sides. "We can't let that continue, it will cut the cables at some point, on accident if not on purpose" came from the command centre in Major Katsuragi's concerned voice. "We must engage it in melee… wait, what is it doing?"
The Angel, without changing the direction it was facing, retreated about a hundred metres away, its back now less than fifty metres from the wall of the Geofront, both encircling Units now in its field of vision again. "Shinji! Rei!" Major Katsuragi exclaimed. "Move separately! Encircle it! Asuka, move behind Rei! We need to have two targets, opposite sides!"
"Wait, what – oh" came from Asuka over the questions from other pilots as she realised what the plan was.
"Do it! It can attack in a cone, not in all directions!" the Major explained in a hasty voice. "Force it to focus on one of you! One dodges, the other attacks! Asuka, don't pose a target, you can't dodge in this state!"
"Roger that", Asuka confirmed and started to move. For a moment, a stray thought appeared in her mind: 'Is this thing confused, or what?'
She did not have much time to think, though: the Angel turned abruptly towards Unit-00 and Unit-02 as they moved towards their designated positions. Asuka tensed in anticipation of a strike – but she was still not the target. Both bands struck against Unit-00; it made the best possible dodge, aided by a few timely-delivered shots from Unit-01 – but it was not enough.
"Left leg struck", the command centre reported in the voice of Maya Ibuki. "Unit-00 is no longer stable, the blood pressure is dropping. Loss of operability in less than five minutes."
Asuka could hear Rei's protests over the comms – but she saw the damage with her own eyes; Unit-00 was down, and she was now on her own on this side of the battle. The irony of the fact that right now her survival depended on coordinating with the boy she has been avoiding for the last few days was not lost on her.
But this concern would not stop her, not make her hesitate. She braced herself – and when the order came to take Rei's place, she only grinned. "Finally."
...
Shinji Ikari was not happy with the situation.
He was, of course, never happy with any form of combat, be it a confrontation with an Angel, a verbal fight with Asuka, or a disagreement with Misato. But while some time ago that would have meant that he resigned himself to the situation and only tried to make it out alive, now it meant that he was simply doing his best to finish this properly – so he could go back to his relatively peaceful life. The fact that Asuka's life – or, at the very least, her well-being – hung in the balance as well was only adding to his determination.
Of course, the fact that it was about her life did not mean that he was going to accept her attitude.
And so, when "Hey, idiot, draw fire. I'll finish it off, and then we can go eat" came to him over the comms, he only rolled his eyes.
"And what do you think I'm trying to do?" he replied in an annoyed tone as he moved his Unit closer and did his best to extend the AT Field against the Angel. To his annoyance – and fear, as he would openly admit if asked – the Angel seemed to have changed its tactics; after yet another unsuccessful attack with the bands, it turned its head towards him – and fired a beam from its eyes.
'Damn it' flared in his mind. His dodge was successful – the beam took a moment to charge and its use was openly telegraphed by the glow growing in the Angel's eyes – but the collateral damage the attack caused made Shinji realise he could not let it be fired too much, lest there would soon not be much of the Geofront left.
And so, he was borderline elated when he realised that Asuka did not waste the time he was trying to buy her; he noticed a strong shimmering in the field behind the Angel, followed by the field parting – and a moment later, beheld impossible-to-miss explosions that, while redirected away from the Angel's torso, cut deeply into one of the stubby arms.
Shinji Ikari was not a bloodthirsty person – but a part of him smiled at the sight of a shower of ichor, tissue, and shattered bone, followed by an ear-piercing, horrific sound coming from the Angel.
That joy was short-lived, though: "Asuka, careful, it's still–" came over the general comms – and before he could react, the Angel turned abruptly towards Unit-02 – and the band from the undamaged arm shot towards her.
...
Asuka, revelling in her triumph, realised far too late that she just made a mistake unbecoming of a veteran she saw herself as: she stopped paying attention to an enemy that was still standing. Worse – to an enemy has just been injured, and thus made far more dangerous.
She heard the interrupted warning just before she felt a constricting force of something wrapped around her Unit – and realised with a sinking feeling that it was one of the Angel's bands. It was not exactly painful, but it was immobilising her arms and rendering her effectively helpless. 'Scheisse!' was about the only thing she managed to think of as the band pulled her from her feet and high into the air; the fact that it no longer held her was only a minor comfort in comparison to the fact, that she was, right now, flying fast towards a very hard ground.
'Not. Good.'
...
Shinji Ikari froze at the sight of Unit-02 caught and thrown like a broken doll; a part of him was telling him that the Entry Plugs were built to protect the pilot and that Asuka was relatively safe – but another quickly told him that this was far from a certainty.
This series of thoughts lasted just for about two seconds, though; the sudden awareness that Asuka might have been hurt and that the creature responsible for that was right in front of him led him to a quick, logical, and merciless conclusion – and a wave of anger rose within him, replacing any fear or doubt. He could hear a guttural scream, only to realise that it had to be his own – and he started to charge towards the Angel that was just turning back to face him.
He was registering some voices, most likely orders from the command centre – but those did not matter.
The thing that just hurt Asuka was right here, right in front of him, and he was not going to be stopped.
The hand of Unit-01 darted towards the skull-faced head of the Angel and caught it in an iron grasp – but he did not stop there; he kept charging and pushing the Angel until its back crashed against the nearby wall of Geofront, its AT Field flickering increasingly at all points of contact. A crunching sound that followed would be unpleasant, if not outright horrifying, to most people – but for Shinji, this was a sound that brought satisfaction, a confirmation that he hit the target just right. With one hand holding the Angel's head against the Geofront's wall, Unit-01 delivered a violent punch to the torso; the AT Field kept shimmering in an increasingly chaotic manner, losing strength with every second.
Another wave of anger came upon Shinji – and he delivered another blow. And another. And another. And another.
He let go of the damaged head; Angel's skull-like visage was shattered and covered with dark ichor. He paid this no heed, though; the blows to the torso, now delivered faster and faster with both arms, held the Angel in position by their sheer force.
The sound of cracking bones, armour, and rock behind the Angel became one in his ears; the Angel's AT Field was almost gone, reduced to pitiful, tattered shreds on the edges.
All that was left in Shinji was the anger, channelled through Unit-01, leaving horrifying marks on the broken body of the creature.
...
Asuka's eyes snapped open after a short moment of unconsciousness. She tried to move – and this has immediately proven to be a serious mistake.
She was aware that her own body was most probably in quite a good shape – after all, LCL was known to provide a lot of cushioning and the Entry Plugs, as long as their integrity was not compromised, provided almost perfect protection to the inhabitant – the problem was that she was still quite well-synchronised with Unit-02, and thus felt every bone fracture and every twisted joint. She was able to break the fall somehow, but it was still a fall from a great height – and Unit-02 was not in the best condition to begin with. 'Fuck. I'm being useless again! At least I managed to hurt the bastard… let's see what use the idiot made of that…' she decided and started to half-limp, half-crawl towards the nearby hill. It hurt, of course – but she was quite determined to see what was going on; the fact that the comm channels were quiet only made her more curious – and worried.
And once the sight unfolded before Asuka's eyes, she immediately knew it was worth the effort. The second thought that appeared in her head – right after "you go, boy!" – was gleefully calling him "that idiot bastard that finally found his balls". The feeling of pride was rising in her chest as she watched Unit-01 hit the Angel repeatedly. "He's not even using weapons… I wonder what made him go like – oh."
A sudden realisation made her feel both very warm – and kind of ashamed. Of course, she did not have much time to dwell on that feeling; the brutal beatdown has taken an unexpected turn.
"Oh. And he grew some teeth, too…"
...
The jaw of Unit-01 cracked open, its head raised high; Shinji let out a roar, perfectly mirrored by Unit-01, a roar that carried over the battlefield and slowly turned into a chilling howl. He grasped the Angel's half-crushed head again, pushing it against the wall and holding the Angel in place once more. The fingers of the other hand dug deep into the outer layer of the Angel, ignoring the final, barely flickering sparks of the dying AT Field. Another sound of cracking bone and metal was followed by a large piece of Angel's armour just casually tossed aside.
Unit-01's hand reached deep into the Angel's exposed body; Shinji's fingers closed around the soft flesh of the creature, tore it out, and cast it aside. A moment later, another handful of bloody tissue followed, then another, and another, and–
Shinji was remotely aware of some odd, high-pitched sound, oddly resembling a wail; it took him a while to realise that this was a cry of the creature he was currently tearing apart with his own hands. Under different circumstances, he would have been surely horrified by this – but right now, nothing really mattered except the creature's death and his vengeance. Any attempts at resistance – like its ineffectual try to use the band from the remaining arm – ended up in yet another brutal blow and another fountain of alien ichor.
'You hurt her! You will never hurt her again! Nobody will!' rang in Shinji's mind, over and over. 'Die!'
Suddenly, a stray thought appeared in his mind, a realisation that punching and tearing was simply not enough, that he wanted to do more – and he happily followed that instinct without a second thought. The metallic taste of blood and raw flesh filled his mouth as Unit-01 dug into the alien flesh, rending skin and muscle alike, crushing bone and tissue alike, tearing it apart, chewing it off, and swallowing the chunks. The Angel was most likely still alive – but it mattered not.
The unbelievable feeling of triumph and the dark satisfaction of the vengeance well executed were all he felt at this moment.
And he revelled in it.
...
Asuka expression was inscrutable. On one hand, she was happy to see the Angel that harmed her and her beloved Unit die in such a brutal fashion. On the other, she was a little bit worried for Shinji; trying to eat your opponent was not exactly a hallmark of sanity. On the third, she has just gained a lot of respect for him – and she was somewhat flattered by the fact, that he did something like that in an attempt to avenge her. On the fourth, she hoped that this display of savagery will not convince Misato – or even the Commander – to make Shinji step down as a pilot on the basis of questioning his mental health.
She shook her head. 'No. History is written by the victors, and you don't put someone who just triumphed on a trial! This is a success, a huge success', she rationalised. 'They already chewed him out for hesitation last time, so they should be happy with his bout of violence. And our orders and purpose are more than clear: we are supposed to kill the Angels. And this one looks pretty much killed', she noticed with grim satisfaction and a wide smile emerging on her face. 'If I wasn't already madly in love with that damned idiot, I would've fallen for him here and now', she admitted to herself; the carnage she was just watching made her happy in this dark, but welcome way. 'Let's hope he realises we're meant for each other, no matter how much bad stuff is between us, and we can live happily–'
An ear-piercing roar interrupted her musings – and suddenly, she could not help but stare wide-eyed at Unit-01, its AT Field taking a form of a shining aureole around its body. This lasted just for a few moments – but Asuka could not help but being awed by the beauty of the spectacle.
'I must make him teach me this trick', she noted to herself as she watched Unit-01 slowly fall to her knees over the eviscerated carcass of the Angel, the light that surrounded it slowly fading. 'It's a cool trick…'
...
The times after a battle always felt somewhat surreal. The carnage, the emotions, the whole adrenaline rush – all that was very recent, but at the same time, belonged to the past. And it was too soon to start analysing things; that would happen during debriefings. Most of the time, time just after the battle was a lull, a moment of peace between the heat of the battle and the heat of the debriefings.
What started to worry Asuka was the fact that she was not being retrieved – and since she switched her Unit to preservation mode, she had limited ability to perceive her surroundings. But the radio should be working, and she should be hearing the general chatter – but so far, nothing was coming, and her calls were not being answered.
She was slowly suspecting that some freak accident caused the NERV HQ to be destroyed in the moment of triumph – and her brain started to construct increasingly darker scenarios based on that. She was around 'I am going to die here, suffocating in the increasingly murky LCL' when she was raised on the radio.
"Asuka, do you read me? Asuka, please reply", suddenly sounded in the concerned voice of Major Katsuragi.
"I'm here, Major", she replied. "What took you so long?"
"Technical issues", Major's voice was more than concerned, Asuka realised; she sounded almost disturbed. "Can you walk?"
"I can try", Asuka checked the vitals. "Well, more like limp and crawl. And not very far, unless you bring me a cable."
"Roger that. Proceed to the closest retrieval point then, Lieutenant Ibuki will send you the coordinates", the Major ordered. "If you manage on your own, great; if not, just call for a power outlet."
"Roger that, heading that way", Asuka replied and slowly restarted Unit-02's systems, raising it from the hill, careful not to incur any further damage. "How's Shinji?"
"We… don't know yet", Major Katsuragi admitted hesitantly.
"What do you mean, 'you don't know', don't the Plugs have their own sensors? He's alive, right?" Asuka asked, her stomach quickly turning into a ball of ice. 'There was no explosion! I saw his Unit just sit down!'
"We're working on it", Katsuragi replied, her tone measured – but Asuka knew her well enough to tell that she was not very certain of her words; she sounded almost insincere. "Head to the retrieval point and come to the main lab once you're able to" followed in a tone that told Asuka everything she needed to know.
"Roger that", she confirmed, any happiness from the victory now turned hollow, replaced by cold, dreadful feeling – and a single thought in her head: 'If he dares to die, I'm going to murder him!'