X-X-X
Chapter 13
X-X-X
Ugh, this feels super weird. Shinji folded his arms, trying not to look as tense as he felt. Dammit, Soryu, it doesn't take that long to get changed! Ayanami was done ten minutes ago!
Abruptly, as if waiting for the exact moment, the door slid open to reveal a fully dressed Asuka Langley Soryu.
"Ready? Let's go."
"Y - hey, wait!" Shinji hurried after the German pilot, struggling yet again to keep up with her severe pace. "Where are we going?"
"The northeast stairwell."
"What?" Shinji frowned in confusion. "This place has stairs?"
"Yeah, I was shocked too. Come on."
By the time they reached the stairs, Shinji was breathing hard - though not quite entirely out of breath. Guess all the racing to keep up with my over-motivated fellow pilots has been doing me good, he thought idly.
Just inside the stairwell - which was so immense it faded into distant darkness at the limits of vision, both up and down - they encountered the elusive third member of their clade, leaning casually against the wall. She didn't even look winded.
"Hey," Mari said lazily. "That was quick."
Asuka stared. "Wh- how- how did you beat us here?!"
The English pilot smirked. "Ducked through server block AS43338. The techs get mad at you for stepping on the cables, but they know they can't stop a pilot."
Asuka deflated. "That makes sense, I guess," she muttered.
"Anyway." Shinji straightened. "So, uh. Has Soryu told you what's going on?"
Mari chuckled in the easy way she often did. "Yeah, we're digging up a scandal implicating NERV Command in the routine abuse of a pilot, right?" She shook her head. "I'm proud of you, princess. Fighting in the name of justice for a girl you profess to hate."
"What do you mean, profess?" Asuka cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing at all. Did I even say that? Gosh, these stairwells sure do echo. Must be all the concrete." Mari shrugged. "Anyway, back to important stuff. Do you two clever cats have solid evidence to show?"
"Well… not with us, no, other than at least one photo of Ayanami's place," Shinji said haltingly. "But we could get more easily enough. It's appalling there. She's still a minor; there's got to be a case for at least abusive neglect."
"Well, that's something," Mari said thoughtfully. "More would be better, though. Judges like detailed evidence, military judges more so than civvies. What about you, princess?"
Asuka idly pressed two of her canine teeth together, before admonishing herself and straightening her posture. "Well, other than repeating more of what Shinji already covered, there's the ridiculous list of medication she's on," she said. "I don't know how easily we could prove medical malpractice, though."
"That wouldn't be easy even if she wasn't exclusively under Doctor Akagi's care," Mari murmured.
"Actually, I think it might be possible to rope the good doctor into our cause on this one. Not easy, but possible."
Mari and Shinji both shot her a strange look, and Asuka grinned. "Everyone has a weakness," she said confidently. "And I have at least one major secret I can hold over her head. Ever taken the time to watch how Ritsuko acts when she's around our dear captain?"
X-X-X
The sun had long since set, and by Asuka's best guess it was approaching midnight. To get enough sleep for full function in school tomorrow - fucking Mondays, am I right - she should have gone to sleep more than an hour ago. However, tonight was looking like yet another night of insomnia.
Had more and more of those, recently, a dark thought whispered. Seems like no matter how good you get, the stress still starts to bite eventually.
The fact that she was planning on effectively taking NERV itself to court in the near future probably wasn't helping, either.
Groaning softly, Asuka reached over to grab her phone.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: Hey, Hikari. You awake?
[Horaki Hikari]: I am now, I guess. What's up?
The phone screen glowed back at her, suddenly accusing.
Was zur hölle was I thinking? I'm invincible, everyone knows that. I can't start whining at my classmates over my pathetic little troubles. 'I can't sleep' - big fucking deal. Lots of people suffer from insomnia. No reason anyone else should have to hear about it…
[Horaki Hikari]: Soryu?
[Horaki Hikari]: You still there?
Fuck. Nothing for it now…
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: Yeah, I'm still here.
[Horaki Hikari]: Can't sleep?
Yet again, Asuka cursed her luck. Of course she had to pick friends that were both sharp and perceptive.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: yeah.
[Horaki Hikari]: wanna talk about it?
No, she didn't. She didn't just talk about her problems; even Mari had to pry them out of her by force.
But I doubt I can get away with being cagey now… she'll know something's off if I clam up suddenly. And I don't need to lose any friends right now, especially friends that aren't in NERV. Fuck.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: haven't been sleeping as much, recently.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: I dunno, maybe the stress of being on active duty is stacking up.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: I'll be fine. It's not really a problem.
Even as she sent the message, she winced at how forced it sounded. There was nothing for it now, though.
[Horaki Hikari]: if you're sure.
Asuka let out a sigh of relief, thanking whatever gods that were left that Hikari hadn't decided to press the issue.
[Horaki Hikari]: but, you know you can always talk to me about anything, right?
The German pilot rolled her eyes. Yeahhh, I'll get back to you never, thanks. Time to move this conversation to other topics.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: Sure.
[Soryu Asuka Langley]: Hey, as an aside, can you help me with my kanji homework on Saturday? There are still some things I'm just not getting.
[Horaki Hikari]: Sure! Come over any time.
Asuka smiled, rolling over on her bed and closing her eyes.
I didn't think I'd make any friends at all on assignment in Japan… I guess going to school was good for me after all. She rolled her eyes. Though I'll never fucking admit it. Honestly, making a college graduate go back to high school… madness…
Though her mood had lifted considerably from the brooding darkness earlier, sleep still eluded her. After a few minutes, she idly reached for her phone again.
[Ace Pilot]: Hey Shinji, you awake?
[Conscript]: Yeah. What's up?
[Ace Pilot]: Can't sleep. You too, huh?
[Ace Pilot]: The usual bullshit. This… thing with Blue has me tense, too.
[Conscript]: You and Mari, what's up with your nicknames?
[Ace Pilot]: Oi, is that any way to talk to your CO?
[Conscript]: We're off duty. I can talk to you any way I please.
[Conscript]: It beats 'first', I guess. Suits her.
[Conscript]: You doing okay? Misato's still not home, which means she's probably pulling an all nighter. We could go into the living room and you could kick my ass at Mario Kart.
Asuka felt herself tense.
More and more people seemed to be asking her that, lately. "Are you okay?" Of course! She was the great Asuka Langley Soryu! She was strong, unbreakable even. She didn't need concern. She could, and would, fight until she was killed.
But death takes more forms than you know…
A frown crept unbidden across her face. Where had that thought come from?
Brushing the worry aside, she began rapidly typing into her phone. Fun as it sounds, I'll not succumb to weakness so easily. Besides, he's my subordinate now. We can't be friends-friends. It's against the rules, or something… right?
Before she could hit send, however, her phone screen abruptly went completely black. Asuka felt a jolt of anxiety, her throat closing up in a rising wave of awful, familiar stress.
Oh, no. Please. Not now.
A heartbeat later the phone buzzed, emitting a shrill ringing that definitely wasn't its normal ringtone. The menacing red of the NERV logo appeared on the dark screen, with the familiar EMERGENCY tag in the same shade.
Outside the apartment complex, the deathly quiet night air of of Tokyo-3 was split by the wail of a siren - a siren that had become uncomfortably familiar to Asuka in recent weeks.
Of fucking course. Well, when duty calls…
Asuka leapt out of bed and raced for the door, barely stopping to throw a coat over her pajamas.
X-X-X
Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari, director of the NERV-J branch and absolute monarch of the global organization that was NERV itself, didn't sleep much even during the quiet idle hours when his kingdom had little of interest going on.
He reached for the glass of water on his desk, palming a yellow tablet into it as he drained the remains of its contents.
"Report," he said, his voice just a touch harsher than its usual flat menace.
"Yes, sir." Misato was a picture of discipline, standing straight and radiating an aura of command. "At 11:47 PM on Monday, the short range AT detector grid on the western coast picked up a powerful signature in the sea of Japan. Preliminary analysis has its trajectory as heading towards the Nagano city metro zone. Evangelion Pilots are inbound for deployment as we speak."
"Nagano," Fuyutsuki mused. "The Matsushiro facility?"
"Uncertain, sir, but it seems likely. Dr. Akagi is en route from the genesis dogma radiolab; I expect she has a clearer answer based on their data."
Gendo looked back up at the big screen, his face blank as ever. "That suggests they may be refining their strategies," he said quietly.
"Mm." Fuyutsuki nodded. "Matsushiro holds nothing of direct interest to them, but NERV-J will be crippled if we lose our auxiliary facilities."
The main door of the control room hissed open as Ritsuko strode imperiously onto the floor, a lit cigarette in her mouth and a nervous Maya trailing in her wake. "The anomaly is not moving rapidly, but I advise we deploy with all due haste," she rattled off sharply. "Second stage analysis indicates that this entity's AT field is very strong - at least half again as strong as Gaghiel's. If it decides to weaponize its AT potential, it could easily KO an Evangelion in no more than two or three hits."
Misato turned back to the big screen, which was showing a bewildering array of data sheets. "That's not good," she murmured. "Two of our Evangelions aren't even back to full battle capacity… including our best Evangelion."
"And a pallet rifle isn't likely to do much against an AT field that strong." Ritsuko's voice was hard. "It'll require close quarters combat to bring it down."
"Do we have a visual?" Misato's eyes were focused on the data readouts.
"Aye aye, ma'am. Bringing it up now." Several data displays compressed down, and a camera feed appeared.
A murmur passed through the control room at the oddity displayed. The object was perfectly cubic, each side as long as an Evangelion was tall, and inclined so that one of its corners pointed straight down. Its surface was mirrored, and it was suspended high above the ocean by an unknown force.
"Our odds are never good enough, but I never thought we'd literally have the dice against us," Misato murmured. A strange expression flickered across Ritsuko's face - a cringe at the mediocre pun, mixed with a smile.
The captain turned away from the screen, looking up to the Commander's unapproachable upper level. "Commander, requesting permission to deploy my Evangelions. I intend to assign Pilots Soryu, Ikari and Ayanami to this mission."
"Doctor Akagi," Gendo said. "Your input?"
Ritsuko had already become engrossed in her ever-present tablet computer, and seemed to be listening with only half an ear. However, she looked up at the Commander's request.
"I recommend holding Pilot Ayanami on reserve with Pilot Illustrious. It will make the fight tougher on the deployed Pilots, but I would not risk leaving the Geofront with less than two ready Evangelion units at this time."
Gendo laced his fingers, leaning forward slightly. "With three Pilots, we have better odds of swiftly and decisively ending the battle. Explain your reasoning."
Ritsuko didn't even look up from her work this time, tapping away almost disinterestedly as she replied. "The anomaly is not yet close enough for my new toys - that is, Section 3's new high-performance telemetry arrays - to accurately read. Without that information, I cannot know if this AT anomaly is the primary blue pattern, or if we are looking at a seraph."
Gendo didn't move a muscle. "We have not found evidence of the presence of any other angelic entities at this time. Two of three angels so far have attacked alone." Though no-one could see it, he narrowed his eyes behind their orange-tinted filters. "This anomaly's AT field is more than strong enough for it to be a fully fledged angel."
"You have my recommendation, sir," Ritsuko replied bluntly. She glanced momentarily at Misato, then looked up properly, amending herself. "My secondary course of action would be to do nothing at all, other than perhaps prepare all cages for launch, and wait for the anomaly to make landfall before enumerating the Pilots we will sortie."
The Commander met Ritsuko's eyes, his own narrowing slightly. The doctor, however, did not back down; it wasn't the first time she had butted heads with Gendo, nor would it be the last. He didn't trust her loyalty and didn't like the fact that she had such privileged access to all of NERV's boltholes and secrets - but, at the end of the day, he needed her. With the death of her mother, Ritsuko had become the sole living expert on many critical branches of Project Evangelion. Even Gendo's own considerable intellect paled before her sheer mass of knowledge.
"Very well," Gendo said at length. "Captain Katsuragi, you are hereby authorized to deploy the second and third children against the anomaly. You have command of this operation."
"Sir, yes sir."
X-X-X
"Captain, can you get me an engagement range estimate?"
"Not without sending something out on a suicide mission." Misato's voice was cold.
"If the answer's no, we can attack blind," Asuka replied, her tone equally devoid of inflection. "But I like our odds a lot less. I can guarantee it'll get the first shot in."
On the comm video feed, the captain's shoulders lowered slightly. "We'll get you an estimate. Sit tight;we're going to see if a drone can get its attention. If we're lucky, there'll be no need for a human air force pilot to die on this exercise."
Asuka didn't move a single inch from her firing position, crouched behind a beachside dune with Moloch's pallet rifle raised to her shoulder. Her right eyes stared down the ironsights, their optic implants on maximum zoom and light enhancement.
The distant speck on the horizon - invisible to the naked eye, in the pre-dawn darkness - was clear enough to Asuka. A hovering cube, rotating slowly as it advanced. It wasn't moving terribly fast, but it didn't seem to be deliberately taking its time either.
"Why are you the one who gets to be in cover for this?" Shinji complained. Asuka glanced over at where Ishtar was hovering in the corner of her HUD, then at the comm video feed from Shinji's entry plug.
"I dunno. You tell me, Mr. 'One point two AT strength factor'." Asuka tried to keep a mocking tone out of her impression of Ritsuko's voice, but she doubted she succeeded entirely. "Maybe because you're piloting the Evangelion with the toughest energy shielding that NERV can deploy? Oh, and the fact that your autotargeting suite is actually functional and calibrated, since Ishtar wasn't dragged out of active repairs for this."
"I guess that's a point," Shinji replied grudgingly. "Ugh. How long till it sees us, again?"
"The drone's inbound," Misato said. "Sit tight."
"Oh, I see it," Asuka murmured. "Ishtar, I'm relaying my tac map."
"Thanks." Shinji exhaled slowly, and Asuka watched the tension trickle out of his posture. His expression betrayed no emotion.
He's becoming more a soldier every day. I used to see that as a good thing, and speaking as a military officer it is a good thing, but… it was never fair that he had to. Gah, suddenly my 'conscript' jokes don't seem as funny anymore.
"Drone entering bombing range in fifteen seconds," Misato announced. Her voice sounded strained.
On Asuka's tac map, the fast-moving speck that represented the drone swooped over the anomaly in a lazy arc.
"Drone has fired its payload." Lieutenant Hyuga's voice, this time.
Asuka narrowed her eyes at the HUD feeds, but they resolutely displayed no change. The zoomed-in optical display showed a brief, bright spark on the cube's surface, but the explosion left no mark.
"It didn't even blink," she murmured. "Was zur hölle?"
"That's not good." Misato looked away from the comm feed, barking orders out over the control room. "Get me an F-2A on the same target. Instruct the pilot to break off as soon as they fire."
Asuka and Shinji stared at their tac maps, barely even breathing.
"Hey, Soryu."
Asuka's eyes flicked to the comm screen, but she gave no reply. Shinji was apparently alert enough to notice even that subtle gesture, though, because he met her eyes in a similar near-motionless manner.
"Would you say it's the waiting that sucks more," he murmured softly, "or the adrenaline fueled terror of actually fighting them?"
Asuka couldn't stop a humorless smile from crossing her face. "Definitely the actual fighting," she replied, her voice equally soft. "The waiting gives you anxiety, but it's the actual cuts and burns that linger."
A moving dot appeared on her tac map, inching towards the anomaly's location.
"Second reconnaissance skirmish is underway. Sit tight."
Asuka clenched her fist, trying to stop herself from drumming her fingers on the control column. The nervous tension was almost palpable.
Abruptly, a third comm feed popped into existence on Asuka's HUD - one displaying Ritsuko's face. "We've got a lock on the anomaly with the short range high-performance arrays. No points for guessing it - that's a seraph, not an angel."
"Scheisse," Asuka hissed. "Any sign of its mom yet?"
"Not so far, no. We've moved all sensor grids to active scanning, but it'll be a bit before that will tell us anything useful."
On the other comm feed, Misato's eyes narrowed. "The F-2A is en route. Hold position."
All eyes, both in the control room and in entry plugs, were glued to the tactical map display. A subtle flicker of movement in a comm display caught Asuka's attention - Maya's hand sneakily reached toward the lit cigarette in Ritsuko's mouth. Before the younger woman could seize her target, however, Ritsuko's own hand caught her wrist.
"Don't." It was too quiet for the comm mic to pick it up, but Asuka could easily read her lips. "Not now."
Hyuga's comm window appeared briefly. "F-2A entering attack range in fifteen seconds." Then it blinked away again.
Scheisse, all these comms. Am I on a battlefield, or in a fucking conference call? Asuka ground her canine teeth together. Welcome to the bureaucracy of command, Lieutenant Langley-Soryu. You had a taste fighting Gaghiel; now it's permanent.
The attack aircraft abruptly appeared in the corner of Asuka's night vision optics, closing quickly. She minimized the other displays with a flick of the mind.
Two comms opened in the minimized display in the same heartbeat. "Ten seconds -" came Hyuga's tense report, overlaid with Maya's panicked voice crying "AT Energy spike detected!"
Then a lance of fire cut the night sky in half, almost blinding the Evangelion Pilots through their light-enhancing night vision optics. Asuka winced, reeling from the residual flash in her retina.
"Report!" Misato barked.
"Some kind of energy weapon." The initial urgency was gone from Maya's voice, replaced with machine-like precision. "Preliminary assay has it as something like the third Angel's AT attacks, but significantly stronger. The radiolab is already working on a deeper analysis."
Asuka didn't need to hear the details to know what had happened to the unlucky pilot of the attack aircraft. A strike with that kind of brute force wasn't even likely to have left a black box.
How dare you. hurensohn, you just killed a human being. She took a moment to indulge her anger, letting her veins boil with red-hot fury. I hope you brought your best. I was going to fucking bury you anyway, but now I'm really going to enjoy it.
"Engagement range appears to be no less than fifteen kilometers. Watch yourselves, Pilots."
"And it knows when it's being attacked by a person, not a drone," Asuka murmured. "This just keeps getting better and better."
"How are we gonna take this thing?" Shinji leaned forward in his seat. "If pallet rifles aren't going to scratch it, how are we supposed to attack? Clearly we can't just walk up and tackle it."
"I don't know," Asuka muttered, gritting her teeth. "Doctor Akagi. Do you think that AT laser beam is powerful enough to punch through a hill?"
"Uncertain. From the preliminary readings, that depends on the hill on question."
"Well, dunes are what we've got," Asuka replied. "Ishtar! New plan. Move twenty paces up the beach and then get behind a sand dune. With that fucking cannon it's got, I'm not so sure your AT field will save you."
"Yes ma'am." The massive purple Evangelion stood from her marksman's position and strode the the northeast, stopping and dropping to a crouch behind the nearest tall embankment of sand.
"It's picking up speed." Hyuga looked as tense as he sounded, hunched over his terminal with narrowed eyes. "ETA to engagement range with Moloch is eight minutes."
Waiting… Fucking waiting again. Asuka clenched and unclenched her fists. Keep it cool, Asuka. Stay frosty. Don't psych yourself out - you're not gonna get ambushed, you can just chill out for a few.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out…
X-X-X
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,151 times.
"Hey. Ayanami, yeah? Can I call you Rei? It's fine if the answer's no."
Rei, who had been staring blankly at the primed entry plug of Unit 00, turned to see a taller figure clad in a green and khaki plugsuit - the Fifth Child, Pilot Mari Makinami Illustrious.
"I… guess I'll take that as a no. Anyway, I'm curious - your Eva here, Asherah, isn't she the first Evangelion prototype?"
The first successful one. The failures lie alongside my dead self in the graveyard in terminal dogma. "Yes," Rei replied, her voice flat.
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,195 times.
"That's pretty cool," Mari continued, without missing a beat. "Mind if I look inside? Don't worry, I'll just be a minute."
"Please do not." The Rapture uplinking hardware is classified. Dr. Akagi has recommended that Pilots other than myself be restricted from observing it.
"Why not?" Mari blithely ignored Rei's request, stepping up onto the catwalk and then into the cockpit. "Woah, weird. Looks totally different from my entry plug."
Of course… a recommendation is not an order. Knowing too much of Eva invites the risk of being silenced, likely via execution, but I cannot stop Pilot Illustrious from taking that risk if she so chooses. Rei remained silent as Mari examined the interior of the entry plug; the other pilot looked back briefly with a questioning look, but Rei's meticulously flat affect offered no answer.
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,262 times. Familiar though it was, the thought didn't feel like her own. Strictly speaking, it never had been - Rei had long known it was a function of the ancient soul within her, reacting reflexively even as it slept to the presence of life it had spawned. Recently, though, it had become less of an idle ticking to occupy herself with when she was doing nothing else - and more an incessant droning that sometimes threatened to drown out all other thought.
"What are all these cables for?"
With an effort of will, Rei came back to herself. "They are part of an obsolete entry plug design," she replied.
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,280 times.
"Oh, and Asherah needs an older model of entry plug because her prototype systems are more primitive?"
That is correct, although it is not the only reason.
"Hey, Ayanami? You okay?"
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,295 times.
"All my required functions are within acceptable parameters."
"I'm gonna take that as a no." Mari stepped away from Unit 00's entry plug and, with slow steps, walked over to where Rei stood. "Seriously, I'm trying to decide whether you're about to go catatonic or just keel over and pass out. No one with 'acceptable parameters' looks like they just snorted the world's largest dose of oxycotton."
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,335 times.
Rei tilted her head back, just far enough to meet the taller pilot's eyes. "Your concern is misplaced, Pilot Illustrious."
"Oh, psh, call me Mari! And, frankly, I don't believe you."
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,356 times.
"I am not unwell, Pilot Illustrious."
For half a second, Mari's eyes narrowed, but the moment passed; it seemed she had decided to let the matter go. "Well. If you say so," she replied. "I hope you're real sure, though. You'd better not drop the ball if we get deployed."
This body is 10.55 years old and its heart has beat 443,694,384 times.
The PA system crackled. "Evangelion Units Zero and Five to red standby. First and Fifth children to their entry plugs."
Mari looked up. "Must be heating up out there," she muttered, turning away from the other pilot and striding towards the cage's side door. "Catch you on the field, Blue."
The English pilot waved over her shoulder as she said her goodbye, but Rei did not return the gesture. Mari didn't look back as she left the cage.
X-X-X
"Scheisse!"
Asuka cursed as the beach sand slid under Unit 02's feet. Fortunately, she was already dropping to her knees; she fell prone, and the seraph's death ray vaporized only empty air and the sand on the crest of the dune.
She dropped her pallet rifle and pushed herself up, maneuvering Unit 02 back into a crouch. Shinji was already dashing towards the angel, and each step of the purple Evangelion kicked up a huge plume of sand.
"Ishtar, be advised I can only give you three or four seconds of warning before the seraph fires." Maya's voice was tense. "Stay ready to dodge on my mark."
"Acknowledged!"
Asuka stood up and started sprinting towards her target in the same motion. Her hand reflexively went for her prog-knife, but she checked herself; the energy blade would be of little use until they could bring down the seraph's nigh-invincible AT field.
Output level 1: 19:45 minutes to shutdown. 4:59 minutes to red line.
Reaching her target, Asuka drew back a fist and struck - then bit back a shriek of pain as her wrist nearly broke from the strain. A blue ripple played over the seraph's AT shielding, but it stayed strong.
"Ishtar!" Asuka yelled. "I need some magic over here!"
"On it!" Shinji ceased his own efforts with his prog-knife, sheathing the weapon and slamming Unit 01's hands into the seraph's AT field. Asuka heard him grunt with concentration, and the faintest sheen of orange rippled over the barrier of blue light.
Asuka drew back and struck again, eliciting the telltale echoing sonic boom of an arm pivoting several dozen meters of armor with muscles that could exert effectively immeasurable force. The sync feedback felt like punching the world's heaviest professional boxer dead in the chest - but the seraph's AT field collapsed, rapidly peeling away from the break point.
Asuka twisted her shoulders, striking with her off hand. While marginally weaker, the left hook had no energy shielding to contend with, and landed dead-center on the flat of the seraph's cuboid body.
The blow produced one of the loudest noises Asuka had ever heard. Not the loudest - it wasn't quite on the level of the report from the boosted AT ray she and Rei had inadvertently created in the training field, nor was it comparable to unshielded exposure to a thermonuclear shockwave at close proximity - but more than enough to make her cringe and shake her head to dislodge the residual ringing in her ears.
We constantly handle artillery-grade armaments, and face enemies with similar arsenals. I think it's high time we had dynamic sound filters put in our Evas… or, if that's already a thing, it's high time they were upgraded for real combat.
The seraph shrieked, letting out a distorted and inhuman wail that echoed across the beach. Asuka grinned as she took in the result of her attack - a long, narrow crack split the face of the cube from edge to edge. A viscous, bright blue liquid leaked from the injury.
Then the cry deepened, and the rivulets of blood began to steam.
"Mark!" Maya yelled. "It's charging its weapon!"
"Scheisse -"
Asuka strained her Evangelion to its limit, fighting to throw herself sideways without slipping on the treacherous beach sand. She was only partially successful.
Several pinpoints of light gathered at the closest corner of the seraph's body, growing impossibly bright in the space of a split second.
Then the world went white.
X-X-X
Most of the staff in the control room - even the Commander himself - were focused intently on the big screen, where the battle cameras showed the red and violet Evangelions facing down a massive hovering cube. The room was locked in a tense silence, broken only by the occasional barked command from Misato or update from the support staff.
One head was not turned towards the big screen. Instead, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was watching the screen of her tablet computer, and the phone in her other hand.
"... Where?" Her voice was quiet, but hard. "Of course. Is it - yes. Do you have that confirmed? Alright. Update me if anything, and I mean anything, changes. Over and out."
Ritsuko pocketed her phone, and turned to look up at the Commander's lofty station. "Sir, the radiolab has confirmed another AT signal in the pacific ocean. A significantly different one." She glanced briefly at the tablet. "While I cannot yet absolutely confirm it is the primary pattern, it is in excess of half again as strong."
The Commander inclined his head downwards, focusing his attention on the doctor. "Elaborate," he said harshly.
"ETA is… hmm, looks like a few hours yet before it reaches Tokyo-3. Which, should have said, is its projected destination. The MAGI currently have it positioning flush over the geofront at 0545 hours."
On the auxiliary level, several staffers clamored at once. Lieutenant Ibuki shouted a warning to the deployed pilots, and the big screen lit up with a bright fireball in every battle camera. Misato didn't even twitch, remaining a perfect picture of composure.
The Commander remained equally still, although he now appeared entirely uninterested in the battle at hand. "An angel of that caliber would fatally injure an Eva with a single shot… to speak nothing of its defensive capabilities. It will require a new strategy." He inclined his head downwards a fraction of an inch. "Call all command staff to the briefing room as soon as the ops director can spare her attention. If you have any inspiration in the mean time, feel free to act upon it."
"Yessir." Ritsuko jotted a note on her tablet, then continued tapping.
I've got some ideas about that already, but… She shook her head. Well, they say unique problems call for unique solutions.
X-X-X