Unexpected Author Note!

Just a quick note pointing out that I will also work on getting a NME Redux restarted in the coming future. "Starting" over (but with most material kept intact) after Chapter 28, after Leliel. The fic is not dead, I swear! If people wish to discuss ATF or NME and maybe help me in reorganizing things, then you can find a Discord server invite at discord. gg / XzSbedufht (remove the spaces, obviously)

Shinji sat on the upholstered chair, posture sunk down, plugs from his music player in his ears, and looked straight ahead into nothingness. Gentle afternoon sun rays fell into the room from the window behind, bathing Rei into a golden light.

He had been shocked when he had first seen her in her current state. Her arms, laying bare next to a tightly wrapped light blue bed cove, were covered over in over in grizzly, ugly burns. Ritsuko had said they would start the LCL therapy the next day and nothing of those scars would remain, but it had still been a shock.

He had stayed here for two hours now. Despite her wounds, it had helped. Seeing her breathing, seeing her move a little in her sedation, just seeing her face. Sleeping peacefully, she still had the same aura of serenity as she always did... but more importantly, the same feeling of familiarity. She was alive, and everything would get back to how it was.

This was worth fighting for, no matter what would come.

Just seeing Rei allowed Shinji to come down again from the emotional tumult of the last few hours. The entire command deck had bowed to him, and Asuka. He had won something in a confrontation with his father. And he had agreed to go out and fight. All in a matter of just two, three hours. Now, afterwards, he didn't know what to think of it, what to feel. The whole experience had been too emotionally draining. It was good to now just relax, and not think.

Though, again looking at Rei, it had been worth it. He would take care of her, as he had told Kaji. He would get her out of that hole she was currently living in.

Everything had turned out pretty well so far. Of course the actual fight was still upcoming, but... maybe this time they would fight for something worthwhile. In fact, the only thing Shinji felt kinda bad about was that he wasn't feeling bad.

Asuka's demand to get Misato fired had been a surprise to Shinji... but try as he might, he hadn't seen a fault with it. He had wanted to find a fault, but he had just felt... done. Whenever he had bad thoughts about a person, he felt guilty. After all, who was he to judge? But somehow, this hadn't happened here. Their guardian, the person with whom they had lived, now kicked out, Asuka and Shinji taking blatant, naked revenge... and Shinji felt nothing about that.

What she had told Shinji still haunted him. That she had kept him here simply due to personal drama. That she had played with his life to get some personal vindication. That all his suffering and trauma had never been about the defense of the world, but just Misato's personal wishes. That had been such an overwhelming realization for him that now he wasn't feeling any guilt. He was just done with Misato.

But isn't that terrible? Not feeling guilt at such an act... and thus he felt bad for not feeling bad. But that was a less strong feeling, almost a feeling-by-proxy, something that his mind told him but not his guts. It didn't weigh up against the knowledge that Rei lived, would get healthy again, and would finally get out of her hole.

Of course it was a bit silly that Shinji kept sitting here now. It wasn't like Rei would even be aware of his presence, and it wasn't like that he could help her recovery. But it was peaceful here. Quiet. The right location for Shinji to calm down again, to find his inner balance again...

...the room's thick door opened in one big swing.

However, as Asuka entered the room, she looked just exhausted. Not physically, she looked... well, like she was done as well. She hardly paid attention to the door or the room in front of her. Behind her, Kensuke came in.A bit belatedly, Shiniji realized Asuka was holding his hand.

"Ah... Shinji. Still here, hm?" It sounded like Asuka was trying her very best not to let that sound aggressive or belittling - but also like she still had to consciously try. Her posture, with her arms at her hips, certainly had something mocking.

"It's quiet here," Shinji answered.

"Yeah, I... I guess," Asuka answered. She and Kensuke sat down on chairs forming a row at the room's wall opposite to Shinji, a good bit away from Rei's bed. "How is she?"

"Still unchanged," Shinji told her over Rei's bed. "But Ritsuko said that is a good sign. She isn't getting worse and the therapy starts tomorrow."

"I..." When Kensuke spoke up, both Asuka and Shinji turned their heads to him, which made him shrink back a little into his chair. "I... mean, I saw Asuka's hand when it was injured. But... I always thought... Well, I know 'sympathetic pain' is just like the real deal, no difference. But I didn't think you pilots would get lasting injuries."

"It's not the first time," Shinji said darkly and looked down. He remembered that moment when he was trapped in his entry plug, trapped in his synch connection, and everything hurt hurt hurt...

"Hey!" Asuka stood up and walked up to Rei's bed, straight opposite from Shinji. She put her hand on the bed's railing and leaned forward, towards Shinji. Her grip was hard. "You said it. She'll be alright again. And once this fight is finished - when have you ever been actually activated as reserve pilot? The one time that happened, the Commander was even dead set against it."

Pulled out of his unbidden memories by Asuka's forceful intervention, Shinji looked up with a melancholic half-smile. "Yeah." Then he sighed. "But that means it will be you who has to fight again."

Asuka went back to the row of chairs and sat down next to Kensuke again, this time taking hold of an entire arm of his. She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. But it'll be different this time. I'll make sure of that." A weak grin, but still a predator's grin. "Or I'll walk again."

Shinji shook his head. Asuka had always been so withdrawn and unenthusiastic during all her time here. But now she had developed an energy that Shinji could only admire... or truth be told, be jealous of. He didn't think he could show so much activity.

"The first step is already done," Asuka continued. "I talked with his father. He had given me his phone number... well, that's weeks ago already. I don't think he expected I'd actually call, though."

"It was a shock!" Kensuke declared. He still looked somewhat awkward at Asuka's public displays of affection, but he had his hand on her arm now, too, just... awkwardly. "And then to be called here, in these classified areas. Man, the Geofront. I had wished for years to come here, to see the EVAs and the technology and the hardware..." For a moment, that was the old Kensuke. The over-enthusiastic geek, obsessed with everything military and Evangelion. But then he sighed. "Didn't quite expect it like this, of course." He blushed a little bit harder. "Asuka gave me a tour. It was still nice seeing it all."

Asuka scoffed a little, but it seemed her scoffs were getting progressively softer. "It was a way to procrastinate for me. I wanted to tell my story, but, uh..." Kensuke padded her hand, if with some uncertainty.

Ah. Even Shinji could pick up the meaning here. It explained her current state. If she had truly just told her life story to Aida senior... yeah. Shinji could understand how that would be emotionally taxing.

"How... how did it go?" Shinji asked.

Asuka looked uncomfortable. "As good as it could, I suppose. I wasn't allowed to mention any NERV Japan officers besides Misato, and nothing what happened here in the Geofront." She wrinkled her nose. "Your... the Commander wants to filter the information. I don't care. It will still make the public aware of... well..."

"What you're doing for us," Kensuke ended the sentence for her. She nodded.

"And I suppose your father is alright," Asuka told him. "I mean, he wasn't pushy or anything, but still had good questions. Still... it was... uncomfortable." A pause. "It was good you were there."

Shinji couldn't help but smile a little at how thorny, bitter Asuka had gotten so soft towards Kensuke. Not that he couldn't understand it, especially right now. But it was good to see that Asuka had that as well.

"Though we in turn might have made your father a tad uncomfortable," Asuka added with mirth in her voice.

Kensuke blushed. "I did notice how he kept staring at our hands. I guess that sort of thing is a bit more usual in Europe."

"What... what will happen now?" Shinji asked. "I mean, we'll fight, yes, but... with your story?"

"Asahi Shimbun will have a special evening edition today." A small grin on Kensuke's face. Some pride in his father's workplace. "They're not what they used to be, or so my father keeps telling me, but if put to the test they still can do it in an afternoon. That way, the, ah, your, uh, Commander Ikari can't suddenly change his mind after the fight. And it will drive up attention for the main story, that will be released, well, hopefully within two days."

"The Commander has also promised me a public celebration, of course," Asuka added. "I wonder how that will turn out. But whatever happens... it won't be like the old times. We've made sure of that."

"Ah... you did all the work!" Shinji pointed out. Asuka's formulation surprised him and made him feel guilty. Surely she should get all the credit.

"You showed me that this is even possible at all," Asuka countered.

Asuka had said so before, but Shinji still couldn't believe that he should have had such a large influence on her. Instead he just shook his head. "It's... I mean... it's not how it's all supposed to be, is it?"

Asuka looked at him oddly, so it was Kensuke who asked, "What do you mean, Shinji?"

"Well... when we all just did as we were told... when we simply went into... into battle, to protect the world and all..." Shinji began to explain. "Everyone is saying that is good behaviour, don't they? To be altruistic, to help others, to not make a fuss. And we did all that. But we got nothing in return. All we are getting now... it's because we were selfish. Refused. Even threatened. Only then did people begin to care."

"People took you for granted," Kensuke answered after some hesitation. His voice sounded serious... maybe even guilty. "I as well. If you are piloting anyway, why should we greatly care about that? It's... it's a fucked up way of thinking but it seems it is the one that comes naturally."

Asuka nodded. "Well. Lesson learned. Even if it did take too long."

Kaji leaned back against the wall and took a deep drag from his cigarette. Outwardly relaxed, he kept eying the two Section 2 agents in the room, a waiting/living room in front of the two sleeping rooms that had been assigned to him and Misato. Open to the Headquarters' corridors, but with seating arrangements, tables, a large, bright window and even plants for decoration. One of maybe hundreds of those rooms in the Geofront, next to hundreds of austere sleeping rooms and thousands of storage room. The size of the facility was unfathomable.

House arrest. It made sense, given the circumstances. Misato would only be allowed back into her apartment after the angel fight, simply because that was where Shinji and Asuka still had most of their belongings. And Kaji had ended up as a sort of collateral damage of that decision.

Only another pull from the cigarette prevented Kaji from swearing. This was the end of his investigations, he knew, at least for now. He had expected the risk of dying during his mission, of course, but to be simply cut off from all information sources...

He wanted to be angry at Misato for having them brought into this situation, but looking at how torn up the Colonel (for now still Colonel) was, he didn't quite manage that. And getting angry at two fourteen year olds felt pathetic to Kaji.

It was his own fault, really. It should have been so easy for him to keep Asuka and Shinji in line. Not that doing so was something he was proud of, but it was something that had been necessary. NERV knew of only four people who could pilot Evangelion after all. But for some reason, his usual silver tongue had failed at Shinji. It seemed that Rei of all people had pre-empted him in some way. And then that attitude had spread to Asuka, and Kaji's rhetoric had failed yet again.

Kaji sighed. He was disappointed in himself, and in them. It's the post-Impact generation. They never experienced what we did. Never learned what necessities are. He drew another drag. Is that what I'm feeling? Jealousy? But he could not be angry with them for doing what probably was best for them. As it was, he was discontent and fed up, but with no clear aim for those feelings.

He looked over to Misato. His former girlfriend sat on an armchair at a seating arrangement some distance away from him, and her posture was completely slumped down, with her head nearly on her chest, and her now loose hair covering her face. He felt like he needed to say something, but his usual easy way with words was failing him. Ultimately, this turn of events had been entirely unpredictable even for him.

"Hey," he finally called over. "You look like you could use one of these." He held up a cigarette between his fingers.

Misato looked up just enough to see what he was holding. Then she ignored his offer entirely. "Kaji... have you seen... did you observe anything off during Asuka's time here in Japan?"

Kaji grunted, trying to process the question. "Well, we both know how she developed here..."

"Yes," Misato answered. "And I'm just... I don't know what could have caused it. Asuka was never..." Words failed her, and she began looking down again.

Kaji took one last drag from his cigarette, and then crushed the butt under his heel. A bit petty, but all he could do against Section 2 right now. "Asuka never knew that walking away was an option. That's what happened. Shinji happened." He had to almost bite his tongue to avoid saying 'your pilot'. "If she had realized that in Europe already..." A melancholic grin. "Well, we always made sure she never would, didn't we?"

Now Misato looked up. There was a pleading expression on her face. "So you're saying she would always have turned against us?"

"Katsuragi... we fucked up," Kaji told her. "Not just you. I as well, all her other guardians, NERV who instituted her upbringing. We all totally fumbled how to raise a fourteen year old girl. NERV always just treated her as a weapon, and we as her guardians..." He made a face. "We may have tried to make things better for her, here and there, but in the end, we went along with it all didn't we?"

"You make it sound like we deserved that outcome," Misato said in a slow, hollow voice. "Asuka turning out as she did as karma for how she was raised."

Kaji shook his head. "The world doesn't care what anyone deserves, Katsuragi. It doesn't work that way. Ultimately, people look out for what is best for themselves. That's why we did to Asuka what we did, isn't it? To Shinji, too. Because it was the best for us to have children defending our lives. Their actions now may be disappointing and harsh... but ultimately, they ended up doing what is best for themselves, too."

Misato stood up and turned away. "A harsh world view."

Kaji was about to say something to that, something ironic and with a smile, but that smile died when he and Misato saw someone coming around the corner.

Both regarded Ritsuko with glances and furrowed brows, but said nothing. So it fell on the scientist to start the conversation. "I... wanted to see how you are doing."

Misato looked straight at her. "Do you really care?"

Ritsuko looked down. "I do. You can at least believe that."

"You could have spoken up," Misato told her, stood up and stepped right up to the scientist. Her voice was even, very controlled, but that surely with some effort.

"To what end, Misato?" Ritsuko shot back, now a bit more lively. "What would have changed?"

"You watched us get fired. Get escorted off the bridge, and you said nothing." Misato accused her. "You realized what had happened. And you were the one who set Asuka and Shinji on that path. With your 'talk"."

Ritsuko looked unimpressed. "I admit, Shinji's outburst surprised me. But as it so happens, I like living. Do you?"

Misato cupped her left elbow with her right hand and looked away. "It didn't need to happen like it did."

Ritsuko just shrugged. "No, but at that point it was too late for anything else. For what it's worth, Maya agrees with you, complaining about the 'brats"." A lopsided grin appeared on Ritsuko's face. "But only once they were out of sight."

Almost against her will, Misato now grinned darkly, too. "She still bowed."

"So did you," Kaji pointed out and walked up to the two women. "This all... it's just a matter of necessities. It did need to happen like it did at that point. Or else..." He shrugged and grabbed into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes.

Silence ensued. Ritsuko now took out a cigarette, too. As she fumbled with that, she said, "For what it's worth... I do want to help out my oldest friends if I can. What will you two do now?"

Misato scowled. "For now, I am suspended from my position. Kaji is with NERV Europe, officially, so he just got all access authorization for NERV Japan revoked. Neither of us knows what will happen to us."

"That sounds like it could be worse," Ritsuko commented and took a drag from the cigarette.

Misato and Kaji looked at each other. "How do you mean, Rits?" Kaji finally asked.

Ritsuko breathed out smoke. "The Commander could have made a big show of firing you. To further mollify our pilots. He didn't. You 'suspend' someone if you want to keep them, but on the down low." She shrugged, which with her was moving one shoulder ever so slightly. "I have no way of knowing what he has planned, of course. You were higher in the chain of command than me, Misato. But given you aren't officially fired, I'd say he still has something planned for you."

Kaji rubbed his chin and smiled. "Well then, when did you become such a plotter, Rits?"

She stared at him. "Some of us just don't make a great show out of it, you know."

"But it still means for now we are in limbo," Misato concluded. "And we certainly will have to leave the city."

Ritsuko blew out smoke. "Limbo is better than damnation, isn't it?"

Kaji grinned and blew out smoke as well. Misato furrowed her brows and stated, "Damnit, one of you give me a cigarette. I guess it's one of those days."

Kaji was just opening his pack of cigarettes again, when he spotted someone walking in an adjacent corridor. That son of a bitch. He grabbed the pack tight again and ran past a surprised Section 2 guard. The agent was about to run, too, but Kaji had already come to a stop, right in front of Mr Aida.

"Oh. Mr Kaji. This is a surprise," Mr Aida said. As always, he looked like the typical salary man, just less professional than the archetype: Harmless, jovial face, round glasses, thinning hair a bit unkempt, always looking like he wasn't quite sure where to go next. His voice was superficially friendly, but there was something below that surface. It was probably not difficult to guess how displeased Kaji was.

"I bet it is," Kaji replied in a carefully controlled voice. Behind him, the Section 2 agent came to a halt and was watching the conversation carefully. "I take it your quick change of sides is paying off for you?"

Mr Aida looked at him. "Mr Kaji, I thought we are all on the same side here. Defending the city against the angels."

"Don't play coy," Kaji shot back. "You dropped me like a hot potato once you had your better informant." He didn't care that the Section 2 agent was listening in. At this point, there was nothing for him to salvage anyway.

Mr Aida's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Ah well, I am sorry for the inconvenience. But I hear you will now work elsewhere anyway."

In some aspects, Mr Aida was very Japanese. Not showing negative emotions, often talking indirectly, and all of his rare attacks were passive-aggressive. Kaji felt like taking a more direct approach, though.

"Which you could have prevented," he accused the accountant. This case was quite different to Ritsuko's. "You could have talked to Asuka. You have influence over her. Or to the Commander. If only for the sake of our cooperation."

"Oh, I'm just coming from a talk with the Commander, in fact," Mr Aida replied. "Unfortunately, I couldn't make time for other subjects. The talks about remuneration for the pilots took up the entire length." A superficial smile appeared on his face. "Ah, but that is youth for you isn't it? They naively demand means to support themselves, but have no idea what that means." He shook his head. "Somebody had to point out how much compensation they are owed."

Kaji made a face. Another hidden attack: Saying that he and Misato had never pointed that out to Asuka, or to Shinji. His voice got a bit harder, but remained even as he offered a reply in the same style. "Well, I am glad an accountant could help them with that. That's really a very lucky fit. I wouldn't have thought such a fit possible in the world of high stake negotiations."

Or in other words: Accountant, beware, and stick to your numbers.

Mr Aida shrugged. "Oh, I was just lucky, I suppose. Working at a newspaper gives you a lot of ideals, but unfortunately, I am usually busy with just bills, supplies and expenses."

"Ideals, hm?" Kaji took that meaning as well. He couldn't evel blame Mr Aida for holding him to be below those ideals. "What about loyalty, then?"

Now Mr Aida did frown at him. "I hear some of the, ah, initial talks today asked much the same question." Then he returned to a non-committal smile and shrugged. "Well, if you ask me, loyalty always has to be a two-way street, hm? Good day, Mr Kaji."

And with that he walked off again, his gait a sort of exhausted waddle.

The alarm clock kept blaring as Shinji slowly came to his senses and opened his eyes. He ignored it. An unfamiliar ceiling. All white and flat, with a minimal lampshade around the light. Small, too, though he had gotten used to that in Misato's storage room.

This is it. He had dreaded this awakening. The new day. The battle would be upon him now. In fact, the only reason he had even been able to sleep at all was because of the sleeping pills he had requested from Ritsuko. The scientist had looked unhappy with that request but had admitted one time use wouldn't do any damage. And they needed a well rested pilot.

Shinji sat up on the bed's edge, still very slowly, almost grudgingly, very unwilling to begin the day. The wall was just a metre away from his face, that was how small the room was. Then he sighed and turned off the alarm. There was no further delaying. It was the same as it ever been, in all of his fights. He didn't want to, but he would go out there, and he would get into the the entry-plug.

Asuka was already outside, in the waiting/living room outside their assigned quarters for the night. She was standing at a window panel that went from the ground to nearly the ceiling and looked outside, evidently completely lost in thought. Between yesterday's confrontation and the upcoming battle, Shinji wouldn't even dare to guess about what, and he also didn't want to disturb her. So, he just sat down on one of the seating arrangements.

This caused Asuka to notice. She turned her head around in a measured way, and looked at Shinji, but still didn't say anything.

Shinji gulped. "So... have they told us when we... what the schedule for the sortie is?"

Asuka raised an eyebrow. Her gaze now had unmistakable traces of 'are you stupid'. Or at least, Shinji felt very judged under that gaze. "For all the enthusiasm you showed yesterday, you don't seem to have listened very well."

"Err..." Shinji could only voice.

Asuka turned around fully. "As I told the Commander, I am leading the mission. I am setting the schedule." She raised her head high, dwelling on this moment. And truth be told, Shinji was in fact suitably impressed. "I told Ritsuko to have the bridge crew and other personnel stand ready starting at 9. She estimates that the angel will not reactivate earlier than 13, and potentially only as late as 16. So this should give us enough time."

"...ah." It seemed Asuka had been busy the evening before, which only made Shinji even more impressed... but also made him unsure about what to say.

Again, Asuka raised her eyebrow while her mouth quivered. "What is it with you anyway? Sometimes you show more will than me, but most of the time you're still just a little boy."

"Hey!" Shinji protested now, all other worries forgotten for a moment. "I'm not..."

Asuka's mouth was still quivering. "It's alright. I heard you say Mari told you something about not putting puppies into entry-plugs? Yeah, well, maybe she was right for once."

And what is that supposed to mean? Was that meant positively? Negatively? Mari had meant it positively, and Shinji was fairly sure he had a strong rapproach with Asuka, but he still couldn't quite tell. So he just looked at her confused.

The moments of silence that followed felt quite awkward to Shinji, so he eventually spoke up again, "Uh... I guess we should get breakfast then?"

Asuka looked at him strangely, which made him feel self-conscious. "...I guess. We could go to the nearest cafeteria. They have employee kitchens here, but it's not like I can make you prepare food while you're also fighting. I'm not Misato."

And with that she turned to go. Shinji caught up to her in some big steps and tapped her shoulder. "Uh... so, where are those kitchens?"

Asuka genuinely smiled at that.

...and it was not like Shinji would have liked to come under the gaze of people right now anyway.

Asuka had never been to Gotemba before. She didn't know the picturesque ghost town. All she could see now was a wasteland. There weren't even ruins, just some heaps of rubble among grey soil everywhere. The western parts of the city were still standing, but most of it had turned into a three kilometres wide, dusty, lifeless sink of several craters. The eastern end of that sink had filled up partially with rocks and soil again, a bomb-induced landslide of the remnants of the hills that once led up to Tokyo-3's caldera wall.

Just about a hundred metres from the end of that landslide was the only remaining major large object in the sink: The angel. Or rather, its neck and head were at that position, with its torso spanning another 160m behind it. It lay there entirely lifeless and unmoving, but the sensors of Unit 02 registered a very strong AT field. Its body looked bizarre: Over and over riddled with perfectly circular holes - though most had closed again.

They had to finish the job before the angel would be done with regeneration.

Per Asuka's request/order, Shinji in Unit 01 was staying about 30m behind her. Loath as she was to admit it, the boy often had demonstrated better synch-rates than her... but he wasn't as well trained. He didn't have the same honed combat reflexes, the same experience with weapons, the same trained kinaesthetic sense. He had been allowed to have a childhood after all, at least of sorts.

And seeing that they only had two units in this fight, and seeing how easily the pilots of the first sortie had been dispatched, they had to be very careful indeed. It had to be Asuka in front. It was a sound tactical decision, and not about her winning all the glory. Or so the girl was telling herself.

"Approaching 200m close to target," Asuka reported... no, told the bridge. She no longer reported to the bridge, at least not for this fight. The bridge existed to provide her information. That way round.

The two units approached in a slightly cowering position, both holding shields in front of them - or the Multivariable Metamolecular Defence and Deflection Engine 'Aegis' as Ritsuko had called them. Another point in Asuka's favour: She had already trained with the device, while Shinji hadn't. It was unclear, of course, if even something reverse engineered from Ramiel's material would be a proper defense against the angel, but it was in any case better than nothing.

Mari and Rei had been equipped for offense, so now the second sortie was equipped for defense. Which left just one problem...

"How is it looking, Ritsuko?" Asuka asked over the comms. "Any progress?"

"Unfortunately, no," Ritsuko answered. "We still have no idea where the angel's S2 core might be. Energy distribution is completely even across the whole body." A short pause. "It is maddening, actually."

Which meant they couldn't just go up to the angel and stab it. They would probably have to hack at it for a good while until they could find the core, and what if it repeated its trick, even in its inert form? Then there would be no more pilots to take over anymore.

"Hrm." Asuka didn't like this. She was normally not the type to do "slow and careful", but she really didn't want to screw up her first command. Of course, she also didn't want the angel to break through to the Geofront, but honestly, the former consideration took up more of her mind. "Shinji... we'll approach to 100m and start firing with the pallet rifle." A pause, before she added, "To see how inert the angel really is." She had always hated when Misato hadn't explained her orders, after all.

"Uh, right," the boy confirmed. Then, after a pause. "Say, Ritsuko... you said Rei's and Mari's therapy would start today. Shouldn't you attend to that?"

"I can't exactly divide myself up." Ritsuko's voice sounded surprisingly sharp, like a reprimand. "I can only be either there, or here. And my medical teams have team leaders I trust... while the bridge just lost its highest-ranking officer."

"Oh." Shinji fell silent at that.

"For a reason," Asuka muttered, but left it at that. Ritsuko's logic made sense, but the European girl couldn't shut up entirely.

Eventually, the two Evangelions stood next to each other and began firing. Asuka couldn't see any changes. "Ritsuko?" she asked.

"No effect," the scientist confirmed. "No movement or change in energy distribution on part of the target, either. It's still inert."

"Hrrrm." It seriously annoyed Asuka. If only they could find out if the angel was still able to do its electric tricks - an idea hit her. It was risky, but... "Advancing further," she announced. "Shinji, stay behind. Aim, but hold your fire."

When Asuka had halved her distance to the angel, she opened her pylon compartments and extended the units energy whips. "Asuka!" Ritsuko warned her.

"I am not about to engage it," Asuka told her in a haughty voice. She did give it two, three lashes... and then rapidly throttled down her synchronization to nearly nothing and blew off her pylons. Breathing in air from the remaining pain, she nearly missed what happened next.

The pylons were still in midair, the compartments open and the energy whips hanging out, still touching the angel, when electric arcs suddenly raced up them. Once again, they engulfed the whole plasma stream, and caused an explosion in the compartment.

Immediately, Asuka ramped up her synch-rate again. "So much... ah... for that." She had avoided the worst, but with the synch-rate up again, her shoulders still hurt now. "No engagement at melee range."

"That's your idea of a safe experiment?" Ritsuko asked over the comms. While her voice had started high-pitched, she ended on a more sarcastic note. More shock and surprise than genuine scolding, which caused Asuka to grin.

"It worked, didn't it? Tell the crew that we'll need all the heavy weaponry down here," she told the provisional head of the bridge.

Of course, even then, it would be difficult. Even the rocket launchers had shown little effect against the angel. Only melee had, but that was a trap.

"Supplies en route," Ritsuko confirmed.

So they had to wait, probably for half an hour to an hour. Well, it was half past ten now, they still had over two hours until...

Suddenly, growths began to appear all over the angel's body. Rapidly expanding and even moving tumours, swelling up the angel's body, which was now rocking back and forth.

"Ritsuko!" Asuka shouted.

"Energy spikes!" Ritsuko reported. "Energy source... absolutely unknown. The angel... it is regenerating at an astonishing rate!"

The tumours began to smoothen out, one after the other. And wherever they had all damage to the angel was gone.

"Asuka, Shinji, get back, it's coming alive again!"

This was not a situation where Asuka would quibble about who was in command. Being closest to the angel, she used her unit's jets to jump an EVA's length backwards, while Unit 01 simply backed off carefully.

In one smooth movement, the angel burst to live again. It turned its bestial head around towards the Evangelion units, and at the same time began walking again - towards them. Shinji and Asuka backed off further, but the angel seemed much more lively then it had been before.

Ritsuko confirmed that. "Speed considerable higher than measured before. I'm detecting high amounts of residual regeneration energy throughout the body."

That bode ill. It seemed Mari and Rei had gotten the easy fight, actually. "Shinji, up the rocks," Asuka commanded. "The angel might have trouble with them. We need the high ground." Of course, actual centipedes had absolutely no problem with heights or even vertical walls, but with a 160m long variant this could be different. Asuka was hoping that, for once, the cube-square law would hold.

The two units walked backwards, face always towards the angel, and tried to get away as quickly as possible, stepping up from rock to rock up the landslide. There weren't many of them larger than an Evangelion, so thankfully, it didn't require any climbing.

Asuka was still looking for a vector of attack. She did not dare fall back too quickly. For one, she didn't want this to turn into a full on retreat, and second... well. Someone had to stand between Unit 01 and the angel. She hopped up from rock to rock, facing the angel, and used the boomerang repeatedly, always with zero effect.

Suddenly, the blue electric arcs began appearing on the angel's neck again. No! They danced there for a bit, and then went up the neck, up the head and down the snout... and then the angel fired a beam of electric power.

Below Asuka, the rock her Evangelion had just stood on simply burst. Only a timely start of her jumpjets had saved her. She barely had come down when the next electric burst was aimed at her, and then the next.

"Ritsuko!" she shouted between clenched teeth "What the fuck is that?"

"Same thing as before," Ritsuko pressed out, her voice all concentration. "Its hugely heightened power levels. It doesn't need touch or melee weapons as conductors anymore."

It soon turned out that the angel had no problem walking up rocks just like a real centipede. And while Unit 02 had jumpjets, Unit 01 didn't. If the angel ever caught up to Shinji, he would have little defence... and since he did, in fact, not have jumpjets, his distance to the angel and Unit 02 got smaller and smaller.

Another high jump by Asuka - and as she came down again she saw another energy burst building up along the angel's neck. Shit. Unit 02 landed on one knee and, in desperation, held the Aegis shield in front. The energy beam hit Aegis...

...blue electric power hitting the medieval knightly shield, on and on and on, while Asuka could only cower behind it...

...and the stream ended. The device had held. Asuka breathed out haggardly in relief.

Unit 02 jumped up again, and resumed its ascent up the landslide. Again the angel spew electricity at her, and this time she used Aegis deliberately. The energy beam was strong enough to illuminate all surroundings, even over the near-midday sun, casting Unit 02 into a shadow behind its shield... but the Unit didn't budge.

Instead, Asuka had it get up, and took a closer look at the enemy. All around was just devastation and destruction, which Asuka could see in Unit 02's clear 360° view, except for that one beast in front of her. And...

"Ritsuko, did the angel just get slower?" she asked.

"One moment... confirmed," Ritsuko told. Her second sentence sounded impressed. "Speed reduced by 6%."

Which wasn't much, but this was the only speed variance of the angel ever except for its powerup. Which means...

Unit 02 jumped high again to evade the next beam. High enough that when it came down again it had to immediately seek shelter behind its shield. But during the jump, Asuka's Evangelion hand had reached for the belt compartment... and now that the beam was over, the Unit immediately stood straight again, and the Aaron staff darted forward.

It was an one-handed spear now, and it hit. A critical connection at the neck. Once again, blood sprung forth from it like from a fountain. And the spear was safely behind the shield again before any electric shocks happened. Those bursts must deplete its electricity pool!

"Asuka!" a sudden shout thought tore Asuka out of her thoughts. Shinji!

The angel had changed its course. Almost caught up to Unit 01, it now tried to bypass Unit 02. Again, electric arcs began racing up its neck...

Unit 02 jumped sidewards, shield extended to full length, right into the beam of fire. Asuka was mid-air when the beam connected to the shield, right in front of Unit 01. The electricity's sheer kinetic energy was enough to push Unit 02 back mid-flight, right into its purple counterpart.

...large mechanic hands propped up Unit 02 under its shoulders. But before she could even process that, Asuka shouted "Get down now!". And fortunately, Shinji did. The next beam hit, and now both units hid behind Asuka's Aegis.

This was too much. "Retreat, Shinji!" Asuka ordered.

"Wh-what?" Shinji stammered. Asuka could see the comm holoscreen from Unit 01 at the edge of her vision. Shinji looked confused.

"Unless you can work with Aegis you're dead weight here." She needed Shinji able to strike, but out of the angel's range. An idea hit her. "Flee north, along the mountain wall. I know NERV has an airfield there. Ritsuko, get him airborne!"

A series of especially steep rocks impeded the angel, giving it no clear line of sight for another shot for the moment being.

"What do you m..." Ritsuko began to ask, confused.

"Get him onto an EVA carrier and have it circle over the battlefield!" Asuka said... and then actually charged forwards, towards the very edge of a cliff - shield first, right into a beam. "Now run, Shinji! Fastest possible speed to the airfield!"

Almost blinded by the bright electricity wavering around the edges of her shield, she couldn't see if Shinji was following her order. There was a pang of guilt of having ordered him around like, well, like Misato, but it stayed at that one pang - next thing she did was to hack at the angel again, Aaron now being a hand-and-a-half axe that angled its way around the shield.

More blood sparkling in the sun. But the injuries didn't even seem to so much as impede the angel. They needed to find its S2 core, but nobody knew where it was. If they couldn't...

Suddenly the angel turned. Northwards. To where Unit 01 was fleeing. "Hey!" Asuka had to get its attention again.

She focused on Aegis and had it change its form to a large round shield, with a sharp pointy boss in the middle. Hopefully it will still hold at direct contact. And then she charged - and shield bashed right into the beast's flank.

For the first time, the angel showed some reaction. Its first half dozen of leg pairs reared up, before it turned that mighty body towards Asuka again. Unit 02 jumped back again, and the shield took on the form of a large kite shield again.

"Ritsuko, status of Unit 01?" she asked.

"Nearly two clicks away from the battlefield and still running," the faux-blonde reported. "EVA carrier lift-off from Geofront in twenty seconds."

Two kilometres was a good distance, but on the scales of Evangelions and angels less than one what would think. She had to keep the beast occupied.

Unit 02 jumped up the landslide one pile of rocks after the next, always the Aegis shield in front of her, frequently ducking behind it, and then always striking at the angel with the various weapons the Aaron staff could turn into. It was exhausting - not so much physically, but mentally. If she got just one timing wrong...

After some time, the neck and upper torso of the beast had been cut at so many places... many fountains of blood had dried up again, and yet it seems there was a constant aura of blood droplets all around the angle. But it didn't even seem to slow it down, or only after it had fired beams of electricity. Asuka had cleared the landslide and was now at the upwards slope of the mountain wall, and still the angel just kept coming.

She needed to find a way to defeat that thing for good. Where is your S2 engine, beast? She looked at the angel from behind the rim of her shield, but she could only see geometrical lines and a dragon-like snout.

"Unit 01 in the air," Ritsuko reported. That was something at least. In the air, Shinji was safe from the angel, but could be dropped in as reinforcement at any time. Her trusty squire in her struggle against the dragon.

...hmmm...

An idea hit her. A desperate one, but better than nothing. "Ritsuko, get the JSSDF on the line. Tell them to bomb the terrain around the angel."

"...Asuka?" Ritsuko just asked back.

"I know they can't hurt the angel!" Asuka shouted back impatiently, while ducking behind Aegis again. "Just blow up the terrain!"

"The JSSDF..." Ritsuko began.

"Don't give me crap about NERV losing face!" Asuka interrupted her. "I know NERV has the authority to utilize them!"

"The Commander does," Ritsuko specified. "So don't expect a too prompt response."

"Understood," Asuka growled. Then she cut the comms on her end and ranted, "Bunch of amateur idiots. Never heard of combined arms? Goddamn, abusing kids is all they can do, how they fuck did they even get funding. I bet it's all nepotism up there, just like with Rei, I swear I'll..."

And as she ranted she jumped, she ducked and she struck against the angel again. It was just so typical that everything ended up resting on just her again!

It took ten whole minutes of nerve-wrecking activity, of Asuka timing every strike just right to not end up burned to crisp by electric power, until something happened. Asuka was glad about the plugsuit filtering out her sweat into the surrounding LCL. Something about one way membranes or something of the sort. Finally, Ritsuko announced, "Bomber squadrons airborne."

Asuka activated her jumpjets, and now landed a good distance away from the angel... and moments later the first bombs hit. Whenever the smoke and debris cleared, the angel appeared entirely unaffected, but the the ground around it was gradually being blown to smithereens.

"Try to hit the rocks under it!" Asuka shouted into the comms.

"Asuka... what's the aim here?" Ritsuko asked.

"I need to have it toppled over!" the girl responded with zeal in her voice.

After all, if Shinji was her squire and she was the errant knight, holding out her shield to defend against the fiery breath of a dragon, and the angel certainly looked the part... well. Everyone who had ever read the old stories about dragonslayers knew the vulnerable part was the belly. Or at least, for European dragons. Her dragons.

It wasn't exactly the most scientific line of thought, but it also wasn't like there was any alternate logic.

More explosions happened in front of Asuka, their blasts so powerful that even Asuka in her 80m war machine felt a strong wind pushing her back. Explosions left and right, and fires starting in the dry forests here at the mountain slope. Soon, the fire raged to all sides of Unit 02... but the trees didn't even reach its waist.

The angel, though, seemed considerably less effected. Whenever Asuka got a clear view of it among all the detonations, it was still crawling upwards. But it didn't always have a clear path anymore. It had to weave and wind as the soil and rocks around it literally disappeared into thin air.

Flanked on both sides by explosions, fires reaching her unit's boots, and the wind carrying flame and cinder in the air, Asuka narrowed her eyes. Its gait was getting unsteady.

Smoke passed in front of her cockpit again. Unit 02 carefully walked backwards... when suddenly, the smoke got brightly illuminated. Asuka both jumped and put Aegis in front of her. Once again, the beam hit her midair, and this time, Unit 02 was thrown back onto the ground. Trees were torn up and fires waltzed out as the Evangelion's momentum made it tumble along the mountain slope. Asuka groaned, disoriented for the moment.

"Asuka!" Ritsuko shouted. "It's charging up its beam again! Faster than usual"

For a moment, Asuka barely registered the scientist... but when she did, she brought up Unit 02 into haphazard kneeling position, supported on its left arm behind its back, and held Aegis in front again with the right arm. Electric energy flared up to all sides of her, reigniting trees already dried up from the previous fires... and then the beam was cut short as even more bombs landed around the false centipede.

Asuka got up... and could see how the angel was precariously balancing on a single large rock. This was her moment. Holding the shield in front of her, she charged down the slope with a mighty, inarticulate warcry. One again the shield boss' spike hit the dragon, right below its neck. And this time, Asuka pushed. The angel reared up, tried to kick and push back, but Asuka remained steadfast.

"Ahhhh!"

Sudden pain filled up Asuka's mind. Her arms felt burnt. An electric discharge! So close to the angel, even Aegis only offered little protection. Why am I still al...

"Energy discharge at a fraction of previous strength," Ritsuko reported.

It must have been a panic reaction, Asuka realized. Discharging the electricity before its pool was fully filled up again. Motivated by the thought, Asuka grit her teeth and fought through the pain. She had to hold. She had to push the angel off this rock.

"Kyaaaahhh!"

Another discharge of energy, weaker this time. Asuka just pushed on, but between all the pain and very real injuries, she felt her energy fading.

...another bomb came down, right behind the angel. For a moment, Asuka nearly lost balance. She had to start her jumpjets not to fall forward, onto the angel. But the entire back half of the rock had been blown away by that bomb, so the angel's upper body was now falling down... and caught by momentum, soon it's entire body was sliding down.

On its back. And there was something glittering between all the smoke and dust in the air now.

Asuka tried to get up from the prone position her jet jump had left her in, but soon faltered to pain. She growled and took to the comms. "S2 core visible and exposed. Stop the bombings and drop Shinji. Drop Shinji!"

She hated this. She hated this. It had been her fight. It should have been her kill.

...but at least this time it happened under her own decision. Her command, her responsibility. Her very own decision.

Still unable to get Unit 02 up, the Evangelion sitting in a half-prone position, she looked up into the sky and saw purple bolt of lightning coming down. Shinji's own warcry filled the comms. His Evangelions held a spear, no, the length of an entire lance tightly gripped by by both its arms. The boy had no experience in aerial maneuvers, but that didn't matter. He just had to fall down.

Asuka just hoped he would think of cutting synchronization after his inevitable crashlanding.

Unit 01 landed on the ground. Even without an explosion, the sheer impact caused a plume of smoke larger than any of the bombs had produced. Asuka couldn't see what had happened, but shortly afterwards, a rainbow appeared in the sky.

Exhausted, she cut her own synchronization and breathed out bubbles into the LCL. There still was pain, and she had no doubt there were burns on her arms. But they had won. She had won.

...why do I still feel empty, then?

Her arms hurt.