Creation began on 01-07-20
Creation ended on 03-08-20
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Welcome to your Escape: One Step Ahead
Drake Toros sat at his desk in his quarters looking on his computer at the list of Zoids that he admired among the Gun Sniper. They were just a few flying Zoids, some heavily-armored Zoids, high-speed Zoids and Zoids that had a lot of firepower. He didn't have one picked to replace Leena's Gun Sniper when the time came for it to succumb to its end; he just liked looking at a few that helped him to decide on which Zoid that would be his would be the one best suited for as long as he could maintain it. Then, with a sigh, he got up and decided to do another maintenance check on his Gun Sniper, just to be sure that it was running as best as possible for the next Zoid match it might be involved in.
"…And I was like, 'I'd put that knife down if I were you, bub'," he heard Valerie's voice as he entered the Zoid hanger, seeing her with Shinji and Geisha, just sitting in the middle of their Zoids. "I probably made the guy come close to soiling his pants."
Suddenly, Shinji turned his head towards Drake and waved over to him.
"Hey, Drake," he greeted, and Valerie and Geisha looked over at him. "What brings you out at this time of the evening?"
"Just…another maintenance checkup of the Gun Sniper," he explained.
"Again?" Geisha questioned. "But you just checked it the day before yesterday."
"Better safe than sorry when making sure it can do what it can for as long as possible."
Valerie looked at the antique Gun Sniper and got the feeling that no amount of maintenance on it could keep it going if its core was compromised.
"Do you need any help with it?" She asked him.
"No, I got it, but thanks for offering."
As he walked away, Valerie gestured for Shinji to contribute to the conversation they were having in the hanger.
"A policeman once accused me of stealing a bike that I had found lying on the ground," he revealed. "I was just going to take it to the lost and found. Of course, nobody believed me. What was I going to do with a bike? I can't even ride a skateboard."
"That's awful," Geisha expressed; they were each sharing bits of their saddest experiences from their individual pasts, and so far it seemed that Valerie and Shinji had periods in their lives where they either had trust issues or where people accused them of something they thought was true and wasn't true.
"Whatever did your aunt and uncle ever do about the false accusation from the policeman?" She asked him.
"They believed the policeman," he answered, "and did absolutely nothing to brighten my days living with them. They had already made up their minds about me long before that day even happened. I'm not one of their favorite relatives…if they even have a favorite."
"I don't mean to sound cruel, Shinji, but your family, the Ikaris, must either be blind, deaf and dumb or just insane. And another of my sad periods in my past…was some idiot harassing me about my polka-dotted yukata. Yeah, I'm not Japanese, but I love the culture. Well, I guess you would call it a pre-Second Impact culture now. The post-Second Impact culture is…well, uninspiring and dim to perception."
"I couldn't say for certain, Geisha," Shinji told her. "I never bothered to see any of Japan the way you do. What made you fall in love with it?"
"My grandmother gave me a yukata for Christmas when I was little. After that, I just…fell into the culture. I'll admit, I have a mooncake every now and then, despite them not being Japanese, but that's a guilty pleasure when eating other cuisine from the country."
"You'll get no argument from me about it. At least you admire my country's past. I can't…fit in with the present-day Japan. I don't think I'll ever fit in."
"Do you ever…miss Japan?" Valerie asked him.
"No. I mean, I thought I would after a while, but…I don't really miss it at all. I'm hoping my time away from there will be a good thing, even to those that would hate me for leaving."
"I don't hate you for leaving," Geisha expressed. "It's good that you're here. Not many people from Earth would find some measure of joy around Zi."
"Thanks."
Listening in on their conversation, Drake sighed and yelled, "My worst day was when my neighbors poked fun at my grandmother's Zoid being used by me! I challenged them to a match for bragging rights and showed them a thing or two!"
"How did the match go?" Valerie asked him.
"I used precision and strategy over heavy firepower, which they weren't expecting of me! I may use an antique Zoid that focuses mainly on heavy weapons and modifications, but I keep a calm head under pressure! I think I need to weld the cracks in the armor and joints!"
-x-
The JSSDF had to insist that Tokyo-3 be cleared of civilians when this new Angel showed up. There was the suspicion that this one wasn't like the first two that got taken out, since this one had only one distinguishing feature: It looked like a giant diamond with a strange, chorus-like sound it made as it floated towards the city. While NERV was tasked with protecting the city against Angel attacks, their lack of results from lack of action were what gave the military command authority over the operation, so NERV had to play the obedient dog and comply with the evacuation of the civilians instead of sending them to shelters inside the city.
Misato, despite their playing second fiddle to the men in charge, couldn't complain, since one of them asked if NERV had a decoy Evangelion to use against this Angel, since they had no clue as to how it operated. The only decoy they had was a balloon shaped in the guise of Unit-01, the Eva the Third Child was supposed to pilot the day he didn't show up, so they had it sent out over the lake. Her suspicions of someone giving out clues or hints to deal with these Angels every once in a while were starting to add up as someone doing whatever it took to ensure the Angels were dealt with without risking any lives to her, and this included people that some authoritarians had desired around, like Commander Ikari, who was upset at having to listen to the military.
BLAST! The decoy was destroyed the second it raised its fake rifle at the Angel from a distance, leaving the charred pieces scattered around the lake.
"Next," Misato uttered, and a train with a weak missile came out of the side of a hill and fired at the Angel.
It didn't even penetrate the AT-Field, but that didn't keep the Angel from unleashing another blast of energy that took it and the section of hill out, leaving scorched earth behind.
"Based on the data gathered," went one of the NERV personnel members to Misato, who would have to relay this to the military, "this Angel automatically attacks anything that comes within a certain radius of it and whenever attacked by something, it retaliates with its energy beam."
"And what about the Angel's AT-Field?" She questioned.
"It's constantly active. You'd need an Eva to disable it or the entire country's power grid to penetrate it. It's no wonder the JSSDF requested a decoy be used in place of the real deal."
"This Angel's literally a flying fortress. Offensively, defensively, it's almost perfect in its strategy. This is just lovely."
Again, this was something that probably would've turned out differently if Shinji was here. Even if NERV had made a sound argument in requesting that the ZBC force the immediate return of the Third Child to them, there was zero chance of the boy cooperating with them in the midst of an Angel attack, even if he had some training that stemmed from operating a Zoid.
"We don't even know if he'd be able to synchronize with the Eva after becoming accustomed to operating a Zoid," Maya had mentioned at one point.
While Ritsuko was confident that the boy could still sync with an Eva, Misato still had her doubts that he'd be willing after discovering why his father wanted him here. There were just too many variables and not enough information…other than what was being updated in the Zoid profile of the kid in question.
"So, what is the plan to deal with this Angel?" Ritsuko wanted to know from Misato, since the JSSDF couldn't defeat this Angel without destroying the entire city, meaning this operation would eventually fall into NERV's hands.
Since they had time to properly prepare for the Angels after two of them were defeated by the JSSDF, they could resolve the matter more effectively than they could have if they had the Third Child in their custody.
-x-
"Hey, everyone," Nico got the attention of the older members of the Clover Team as she entered the living room area of the hangar. "We just got a challenge request from another Zoid team to move up in Class "B"."
"Alright, who are we facing?" Drake asked, setting down his hand of cards as he and Geisha were playing cards.
"The Yeagerist Team," she revealed, which caused Geisha to frown. "Geisha, are you okay?"
"I was fine before you mentioned that group," Geisha responded. "The Yeagerist Team are a bunch of no-good A-holes and their leader is the worst among them."
"I take it you've met them before?" Valerie, who was laying on the couch, questioned her.
"I'm embarrassed to say I went out on a date with the leader once. He was not a admirer of any culture…unless it was about destroying it. And worse: He had the arrogance to try and take my Fire Phoenix and use it as a personal risk prize against some guy he had a rivalry with. I got in the cockpit and left him after that."
"You really love that Fire Phoenix, don't you?" Valerie questioned her.
"I've had it since I was ten! My grandfather told me where to find it before he died…and I had to climb a mountain to reach its lair. My mother grounded me after I disappeared for three days."
"You had to climb a mountain for three days?" Shinji asked her. "What was this mountain you climbed called?"
"It was Mt. Revival, and it took me eight hours to climb. I took my Zoid joyriding after finding it; it turns out that young children experiencing their first ride in a Zoid tend to lose sense of time because it feels good."
"I wish my first ride in Liger Rogue was like that."
"My first time in my Gustav wasn't as joyful and exciting as I had expected it to be, but the second time was better when I could make it go faster. Drake, what was the best time in your Zoid? Was it the first time? Or was it the second time?"
"First time," he answered her. "I was operating a biomechanical animal that was as big as a house and had the firepower to contend with a few threats. Even though my first Zoid is a hand-me-down, just being able to pilot a Zoid…reminds me of that Latin exclamation of carpe diem."
"Carpe diem?" Shinji repeated, confused.
"Seize the day," Valerie translated, "basically, you focus on what is in front of you today rather than what's beyond the day. Seize the day, break down barriers that stand between you and your goal, and don't look back."
"So…when do we face the Yeagerist Team?" Shinji asked Nico.
"Two days from now," she answered. "They're using two König Wolves and a…"
"Gungyalado," Geisha cut her off, which Nico nodded in the positive. "That's Spinel's most lethal Zoid. He's a take-no-prisoners fighter."
"But if he's using that Zoid," went Valerie, "he has to follow the guidelines revolving around its main weapon usage, meaning he can't use its most potent feature without violating the combat rules if the battlefield is too close to a populated area, no matter how much he wants to win."
"What is the main weapon of the Gungyalado?" Shinji questioned.
"A Charged Particle Cannon like Valerie's Geno Saurer, only more powerful," Nico explained. "But unlike the Geno Saurer, a Gungyalado doesn't need to anchor itself to the ground before firing because it can fly in the air."
"So which of us are going up against the Yeagerist Team?" Drake asked.
"That's the thing… I don't know which of you will have to sit this one out. All four of you are good…and your Zoids are impressive, as well. I don't want to choose one over the other…so I'll let you decide."
This was a new challenge. Against two König Wolves and a Gungyalado, they would likely need a combination of power and speed to win the match. More than likely, they could use the Gun Sniper, Geno Saurer and Liger Rogue, but they could've also used Geisha's Storm Sworder for its flight capabilities. Whichever way they went, they would need to have the advantage.
"How about Drake, Geisha and Valerie take them on?" Shinji had suggested of them, which surprised Nico; she would've expected him to fight for a shot at taking on this Zoid team.
"Are you sure?" Valerie asked him.
"Your Zoid has a powerful cannon with two claws that can triple your ferocity, Drake's Zoid's got an arsenal that he doesn't exhaust and Geisha's the only one with a Zoid that flies," he stated. "Liger Rogue could probably take out the König Wolves, but against a Gungyalado, that's probably just a fantasy…and we don't know how these guys are going to fight."
"Actually," Geisha uttered, "I may know exactly how they're going to fight. Spinel's strategy has always been considered to be a beatdown-based one, focusing on keeping his opponents on the defensive so that they have no shot of fighting back. But in one case, he did leave himself open to attack because he was so focused on who was within his perception that he didn't consider anyone taking him out from behind. One fighter almost managed to beat him that way before the battle ended due to a time limit."
"Well, we have today and tomorrow to figure out the best roster to take down the Yeagerist Team," Nico told them, already wanting to search for this battle in the ZBC archives because they had to record every battle that took place. "Let's see what we can come up with."
-x-
"…So, because Rei has a lower sync ratio than Asuka, Asuka will be the sniper while Rei will be handling defense against this Angel," Ritsuko informed the pilots of the operation against the Fifth Angel once the strategy to best the Angel was found.
To combat the Fifth Angel, NERV was going to use their experimental Positron Rifle to snipe the Angel from a safe distance while drawing power from the whole of Japan, penetrating the AT-Field and destroying the core inside.
Misato had to admit to herself that if they had fought against the Third Angel at the time with Shinji, they would've most likely been forced to rush everything else just to face an enemy that was out to get them.
"You do realize that if this fails, we're history, right?" Ritsuko asked her.
"Yeah," she responded as they were monitoring the deployment of the Evas from Central Dogma. "Still, this is what it is and we can't change that."
"The more we try to change things, the more they seem to stay the same…even when they don't seem the same."
"How long do we have now until the operation starts?"
"Less than an hour left. Japan should be experiencing a massive blackout by now."
"And if we survive this, what is the aftermath plan?"
"If we survive this operation against the Angel, we'll have more preparation time until the next attack. We always need to be one step ahead of the enemy."
-x-
"You were right, Geisha," said Drake to the girl as they all observed the recorded footage of Spinel's battle with an opposing Zoid team that had one of its members nearly get the drop on his Gungyalado before the time limit ran out. "He was so preoccupied with his targets in front of him and using all that firepower that he was unconcerned with the possibility of someone sneaking up behind him. But do you think he's learned to anticipate such a move in the future?"
"Two years since that battle…and he's never won the royal cup?" Nico questioned. "There's a chance that most Zoid teams out there are afraid of facing him and prefer to avoid the Yeagerist Team in favor of other teams with Zoids that don't focus so much on firepower."
"If other Zoid teams have deliberately avoided him, what possible reason could there be for them to challenge us?" Drake questioned with curiosity.
"The gamble my father made with the promise of riches if he beats us?" Shinji suggested; of course, that was the only reason any opposing Zoid team would want to fight them.
"Spinel's gonna have to work hard for his payday," Geisha expressed, evaluating the old footage further, trying to see another option they could take against the Gungyalado.
"We may have to refrain from using either Liger Rogue or the Gun Sniper," Drake stated.
"You doubt your Zoid can survive this match?" Valerie asked him.
"Despite my extensive maintenance and experience with it, my grandmother's Gun Sniper can't take more than a few heavy blows. The harder and heavier the blows are, the greater the risk of putting it down for good."
"Gun Snipers were a common Zoid over two-hundred years ago," Valerie explained, "but then production of them ceased, and I mean, ceased completely, down to the aftermarket-care parts."
"It was one of the first Zoids to be put to pasture?" Shinji asked her.
"People wanted more…brutality over accuracy. So, Gun Snipers and Pteras were among those that were decommissioned first, then Command Wolves and Dibison and Rev Raptors. Only the wealthy and social elite can put them back into production."
"That's awful," Shinji expressed his disappointment.
"Money and power talk around this world and any other world, Shinji," said Nico, understanding his disappointment. "Money and power talk."
-x-
It was a close call, but Asuka had managed to pull it off with just one shot. The Fifth Angel went down just twenty seconds after breaching the Geo-Front. There wasn't anything it could do to retaliate or defend itself against the positron beam that reduced its core to molten pulp, saving the city.
NERV was relieved to be able to see the next day, though this was only as a whole with the majority of the personnel.
Gendo Ikari, on the other hand, looked at this success with just as much disdain as he had towards his son's rebellious behavior towards authority figures…and those that actually supported and encouraged him refuse his responsibility.
Soon enough, with the defeat of the Angel, the lights in Tokyo-3 sprang to life within the next hour, and a phone on a desk rang.
"Ikari," Gendo spoke after answering his phone.
-x-
"The harder and heavier the blows are, the greater the risk of putting it down for good," Shinji recalled Drake's reason for why the Gun Sniper couldn't or shouldn't be used much in the upcoming match as he stood in front that night in the hangar.
Then he looked over at Geisha's Storm Sworder and Valerie's Geno Saurer. After some browsing through the Zoid database, he discovered that these two were among the types that belonged to or could be acquired or maintained by members of the upper-class social elite on Zi, What Nico had mentioned about money and power talking on any world had been proven true, and no doubt those with both could command any Zoid manufacturing facility to return to production on any old Zoid if they felt like it.
"You're ancient, I can understand," he told the Gun Sniper, "but I respect you for helping us get to where we are right now. However the next match happens, we'll all do our best to win it."
"Are you talking to my Zoid, Shinji?" He turned around and saw Drake, dressed in a discolored jumper that he wore as his sleepwear.
"Uh, Drake, I…I…" He tried to explain to him, but Drake raised his left hand.
"Thanks for saying that you respect the Gun Sniper," he told him. "Not many people do."
"This is a team we're all on, right?" Shinji asked him. "I respect each and every one of you, people and Zoids. And…you all actually make me feel like I belong."
Drake nodded and expressed, "You do belong. I can't imagine who'd be in your place if Nico didn't pick you over countless other teens on Earth. And I must admit, your piloting Liger Rogue is a shot in the dark. You're the most unpredictable combination, a fourteen-year-old from Japan whose life wasn't going anyplace of any significance…and a Zoid that nobody else could pilot."
"Thank you."
"That Yeagerist Team won't know what hit them when we face them."
Shinji then retired to his room, taking one last look at the Gun Sniper.
To be continued…
A/N: I think I'll take a break from this to setup a poll for it. Be on the lookout for it.