Chapter 4 Threat from China
It was coming, the newest Angel. Shinji could feel the anxiousness in the pit of his stomach. Another battle. He took some comfort that he was not alone out there this time.
Asuka had a long spear, and Draven had opted for a battle axe. The weapon that had been delivered with the parts needed to repair his Danner. Shinji preferred the basic rifle. This wasn't a video game, he didn't enjoy combat the way the others seemed to. He wanted to destroy the angel and go back to base. Ayanami had agreed to spend time with him, and he wanted to get back to her as soon as possible. The thought of her in the plug suit made his heart beat faster. Did that make him the pervert Asuka accused him of being?
The Danner stood next to Unit-01 and Unit-02 stood on the other side of Unit-01
Draven sat at his controls cursing the plugsuit. He hadn't been able to change to his usual pilot uniform. Having acted only as a decoy during Operation Yahsima, not being allowed to help with Jet Alone, and not having the Danner handy when that oversized guppy attacked the fleet, he was glad to finally get back into the battle.
Out of the corner of his eye in the far right of the cockpit, he noticed a display screen with a covered switch beneath it
The screen displayed the words "Engage Twin Drive System"
Twin Drive System? He thought. There is only a single Drive System in this thing The Drive System was an experimental engine that powered his Danner. Early plans for the EVAs included the Drive System as well but the AT field put too much strain on it. How did it work? Draven didn't know.
I've spent the last few years in this mecha, why have I never seen that before? He wondered
"Eyes forward everyone, it's here" Misato spoke over the com system
It appeared in a huge water spout. The large creature reminded Shinji of his first opponent except this one was gray. Before either boy could make a move Asuka charged in, jumping on sunken buildings like stepping-stones
"Cover me," she said
"Cover you?" repeated Shinji
"Ladies first!" exclaimed Asuka rushing forward.
"Who's a lady?" asked Draven
Shinji fired his rifle as Draven followed the Unit-02. Asuka brought her spear down, cleaving the angel cleanly in half.
"Damn, she is good," said Draven as he moved to catch up.
Asuka's glory only lasted a moment, the two sides began to twitch and shed the outer skin like a snake to reveal a pair of angels, one gray and one orange.
"THAT'S A LOAD OF BULL" shouted Misato crushing her headset.
"Asuka get down" shouted Draven as engared the orange half in battle.
"Fall back" ordered Misato obtaining a new headset.
The gray angel attacked Asuka, it grabbed her spear and tried to wrestle it away from her
The battle was chaos. EVA-02 struggled with the gray half, fighitng to get the spear out of the Angel's grip so she could stab it. The Danner was pushed back by the orange half, ending up between EVA-02 and EVA-01
Several shots from Shinji's rifle struck the Danner and orange half
"HEY" shouted Draven "Watch where you 're shooting!"
"You're in my line of fire!" replied Shinji
Draven struggled with the orange half. He needed to keep it closer to shore.
Gotta stay near the EVAs Draven thought If I get too far away, this thing's AT field will start working again
Asuka had managed to flip the gray angel on its back, reclaiming her spear As the beast got to its feet shots from Shinji's rifle hit their mark. The angel turned its attention to the purple robot and charged it
"Get back here, Damn it" shouted Asuka chasing her enemy.
The angel was fast, faster than he had thought, Shinji barely had time to toss his rifle and pull his Prog Knife from the shoulder holster. The angel slammed into Unit-01 as Shinji drove his Progressive Knife deep into its core.
The angel staggered back and stopped moving
Asuka saw what should have been her victory stolen by an under-trained idiot.
She turned her attention to the orange half. Draven had managed to hack off one of the arms and was trying to dissect the rest of it when Asuka charged at the battling giants.
"Will you just die already" Draven muttered to himself, over the comm link he heard the crazed scream of the German pilot.
"What the...?" Draven turned "Oh hell!"
The Danner stepped out of the way just as Unit-02 charged past to skewer the angel's core.
The angel convulsed on the spear and then was silent.
Asuka tossed her long red hair back, "That is how you deal with an angel"
"What the hell are you doing?" shouted Draven appearing on Asuka's display "Were you trying to spear me with the angel?"
"Stay out of the way of the real pilots" Asuka replied smirking
"Oh, that's it!" Draven yelled, "Let's go!"
The Danner held up its fists, ready to fight
"You want a piece of me?" snapped Asuka "Fine!"
"That's Enough! Returned to base all of you" ordered Misato "NOW!"
Knowing better than to disobey her, the three battle machines started walking back to their transports.
"Hey guys," said Shinji who had turned to look at the angels. "Does something seem off to you?"
The other turned to look at the dead bodies
"Shouldn't they have exploded or something?" asked Asuka
"They don't always, that squid thing Shinji and I fought just kind of died standing up" answered Draven "All that happened was its core turned gray"
Shinji was looking at the angels carefully, Draven's answer bothered him. He hit the magnifier and zoomed in on the angels
"The cores are still red!" he exclaimed
Before either of the others could voice a response, a massive AT field threw them backward.
"What the hell?" said Draven, the pilots watched as a brown mass covered the angel's bodies as if they were wounds that had scabbed over.
"OK, now what? Shinji asked
Far from the battle, in a building near Shenyang China
Several men sat around a conference table
"NERV has failed to destroy the angel, " a tall man said throwing a report on the table
"Bah, they always were useless, using children to fight" another man replied.
"Now is our chance to do what NERV struggles to do" the tall ma replied
"How?" asked a third man
They looked to the man at the head of the table, the one in charge. He was older, with many military medals decorated in his uniform. The leader sat back a moment before giving the order "Send in Godinner"
Back in Tokyo-3
Misato laid out the plan. A synchronized attack on both halves of the Angel by EVA-01 and EVA-02. Music would be used to help keep them in sync.
So began seven days of hellish training.
"Thanks again for cooking this week," said Misato as Draven chopped some onions and added them to a pan on the stove.
"No problem" Draven replied "Bro taught me how to cook once I could be trusted not to burn myself or the apartment down. Plus I've been doing it for myself for years."
"Still I'm glad we have someone else qualified," said Misato
"Well the last thing we need is our pilots getting stomach cramps right before the battle," Said Draven
"What is that supposed to mean" Misato shot back angrily
A buzz from the other room saved Draven from having to answer that question.
Asuka swore "I don't need this turtle! I can handle this myself!" she said
"You know better than that" Misato responded "It is useless to fight the two halves of this Angel separately, They must be defeated together and for that, you two must be in sync. Besides, given your performance in that battle, all of you could use some teamwork training"
Before Asuka could think of a response a loud explosion shook the apartment.
"Now what the hell is going on?" asked Draven
Misato's phone rang, and the apartment was silent as the children listened.
"What's going on? What? Attacking the angel? Whose orders? Damn it contact Rei and have her head to HQ, I've got Draven here. No Asuka and Shinji still need to train"
Misato hung up the phone "Draven, we're moving out., You two, keep working on your training"
A few minutes later found Misato driving her usual style towards the base, Draven ridding shotgun, wishing he could have walked to NERV.
"So what going on?" he asked the crazed driver
"Seems some private company from China is trying to show off their weapons. "
"Private company?" asked Draven not believing anyone would be stupid enough to step on NERV's toes
"I don't know" Misato answered "All I know is that they are a weapons manufacturer from China"
They found Ristuko, her cute assistant Lt Ibuki already in the control room, and for some reason Kaj
"What's the status?" asked Misato
"A large robot is heading for the Angel. explained Ritsuko looking over the report " It appeared just outside the city a few minutes ago. Ground troops are trying to slow it down with little success. If it reaches the angel, the attack could cause the angel to renew its attack earlier than we predicted."
"Damn it, Shinji and Asuka aren't ready yet" complained Misato
"Which is why Commander Fuyutsuki has ordered Danner and Unit-00 to mobilize and stop it"
Said Kaji,
"Defending an Angel?" questioned Draven "That's something I never expected to do"
"Just get ready to move out" ordered Misato "It's up to you and Rei"
Rei eased herself into the white plug suit. She had been in her apartment when the call that she was needed at NERV. She hadn't been told why, just to get suited up and ready to launch EVA-00. Her plans to spend time with Shinji had been put on hold while he prepared for the next angel battle. Shinji and Pilot Soryu were going through Synch training, learning to move as one to a piece of music. Rei had wondered why not she and Shinji, had performed well during Operation Yashima. What was the uneasy feeling she got while watching them progress in their training? Rei pushed the thought out of her mind, right now she needed to focus on a mission.
Upon arriving at the Cage area she found Pilot Dunway waiting for
her. He was leaning against the railing near his Unit and smiled slightly as she walked up.
"How's it going Ayanami?" he said friendly with a wave.
Rei was not used to others noticing her or asking about her well-being, except for Commander Ikari and Shinji
"I am well" she replied
"Good," he said smiling, "Looks like it's just you and me this time"
"Pilot Soryu and Shinji are still training"
Draven nodded "Yeah they're still at it,"
"Rei, Draven get into your units and prepare to move out, we'll deployed at the edge of the city. It should be far enough from the Angel to avoid and damage" ordered Misato through the intercom system
"Time to go," said Draven as he moved to his machine's cockpit.
As EVA-00 and Danner were moved to the correct launch shaft, the pilots were briefed on their enemy
"The machine is from the Shukuyu Industries," said Misato
A visual came over the monitor screen. It shows a robot, easily as tall as the Danner but not as wide,
The color scheme was mainly black and white, it held a huge Qiang, a Chinese spear
Draven let out a string of swears upon seeing it
"I'm guessing you know this machine," Misato asked
"Yes, I do. It's called Godinner," replied Draven "I've met the pilots"
"It has multiple pilots?" asked Ritsuko
"Two of them." answered Draven "They go by code names Sonic and Horn. Horn is a huge guy, has little common sense, and is a bad tempter. Sonic is a woman with, a big ego with more in her chest than in her brain"
"Sounds like my kind of woman" combined Kaji, receiving angry stares from all females present.
"I wouldn't try Kaji" answered Draven "Horn is very protective, he might just snap your neck for looking at her wrong."
"So by all means hit on her," said an irritated Misato
Godinner was moving towards the Angel, tearing through the ground troops and automated defenses
"You guys will be at the launch point soon, get ready," said Misato "Draven as soon as you guys get up there, cover Rei so she can get to the power stations, otherwise you're only going to have a few minutes to win this.
"You ready?" Draven asked Rei over the private comm
"Yes" Rei replied simply
"No need to look so serious, this will be a walk in the park compared to our usual fights," Draven said grinning
"Are you not scared you will die?" Asked Rei
Draven let out a laugh "Against these idiots? No way, Besides with you for backup, this will be easy"
Draven didn't see the slight tint of red appear on Rei's face. She wasn't used to being complimented like that. Pilot Dunway was strange too. They shot up through the laugh shaft. Once at the surface the Danner maneuvered to place itself between EVA-00 and the Godinner. The Chinese weapon came to a stop in front of the Danner
"What the hell are you doing?" A large angry man appeared on the comm screen of the Danner and Unit-00 "Get out of our way!"
"Horn, you oversize idiot" snapped Draven, "why are you in Japan?"
"Well well," said Horn smugly "if it isn't Serwan's little brother. What's up, kid? Trying to play with the big boys?"
"We're doing what NERV has failed to do" a woman appeared on a second comm screen. Short dark hair and a chest bigger than Misato's. "Destroying the Angel"
Rei had reached the weapons building, grabbing two rifles she tossed one to the Danner. "Look NERV has this covered, you two are just going to make things worse. Now scram" said Draven
"WHAT!" shouted Horn "You got a lot of nerve little boy."
"Never mind that Horn "Sonic said "We can get past him easy, all he's got for backup is the prototype , remember the file we saw"
The larger man chucked, "Right the one controlled by that little blue doll, what a..." Horn was interrupted as Draven fired his weapon at Godinner's shoulder
"That's a warning shot!" snapped Draven "Keep your damned mouth shut and leave"
The Godinner charged forward thrustung its spear at the Danner. Draven side-stepped the Chinese robot and countered with a right hook.
"Now cool off," said Draven "You two are only going to make things worse"
It was too late, the Chinese pilots were out for blood. They swung their spear, knocking the rifle from Danner's hand. Butting the American robot in the chest with the handle then bringing it up to meet Danner's face. The blue robot fell backward and then rolled away from Godinner's falling weapon
Danner got to its feet, as Godinner attacked again. Draven was able to catch the handle of the spear before the Chinese pilots could cleave open his robot's head. They struggled, each trying to get control of the weapon, stepping on the abandoned buildings. Riffle fire hit Godinner's already damaged shoulder.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Sonic, she turned to see EVA-00 with smoking coming from its rifle.
"You blue bitch!" yelled the busty pilot, grabbing it weapon of the Danner's grip. Godinner now charged the blue EVA. Rei stood her ground calmly as the crazed robot swung it massive qiang in effort the cleave the EVA-00 in two. Her AT field blocked the attack, the Godinner stepped back
"What the hell is that?" asked a stunned Horn
That moment of confusion was all Draven needed, he grabbed Godinner's arm with the damaged shoulder and began to squeeze and twist. The other robot tried in vain to get its arm and weapon free. With a vicious yell, Draven ripped the arm off of Godinner, taking the spear with it.
The one-armed robot stumbled backward as Danner took hold of the qiang
"You little shit" spat Horn.
"I warned you," Draven said simply, then thrust the qiang core at rough he though the power generator would be. The robot fell silent.
NERV took the two Chinese pilots into custody, charging them with endangering public welfare among numerous other crimes.
Draven changed back into his street clothes and to his surprise, Rei waiting for him outside the changing room.
"Oh Ayanami, I didn't expect to see you still here"
"You are going to Captain Katsuragi's home are you not?" she said quietly "I wish to check in on Shinji"
"oh hell," Draven said hitting his forehead with his palm, "I still need to cook tonight, "
He looked at the blue-haired beauty "Why don't you join us? I'm sure no one would mind...well maybe Asuka but she gets overruled"
"If it is not a problem" replied Rei
"None at all," said Draven "Uh any special preferences I should know?"
"I dislike eating meat," Rei said quietly
"Ah," said Draven "Easy enough to work around, Do you mind garlic?"
"No"
"Good,"
They walked in silence for a short time before Rei decided to ask something she was wondering
"Pilot Dunway" she began, as Draven turned "Why did you fire that first shot at our enemy today?"
"Hmm?" Draven said "Oh that. Horn pissed me off. I don't like people insulting my teammates or my friends"
"Friends?" asked Rei looking at him curiously. "You would consider me a friend?"
"Sure, if you don't mind that is," Draven said shrugging
Rei froze a moment and studied the American. Friends? No one has ever called her that before. First Shinji wanted to spend time with her outside of NERV and school, now this one wants to call her friend. Were all teenage males this strange? Perhaps she would observe the ones at school more closely
"I do not mind" she replied
"So if we're going to be friends then there on small thing," Draven said interrupting her thoughts
"What?
The young man smiled "Enough with 'Pilot Dunway', just call me Draven"
"Very well, Draven "responded Rei you may call me Rei"
"Shall we go Rei?" Draven asked smiling "I've got a dinner to make, ever had Italian food before?"
A few days later Shinji and Asuka showed off the fruits of their training, resulting in the shortest Angel battle yet. Draven and Rei were with Misato as the two danced their way to victory
It went well, Draven along with Kaji and Hyuga cheered them on, right until the final kick that destroyed the angel.
"They need to work on their landings," said Draven once the dust had cleared
Asuka's voice came loud and clear over the comm system
"What are you doing on my Unit-02" she yelled at Shinji
Rei looked at the scene and spoke to Draven "Is not Pilot Soryu the one on top?"
"Yeah, probably the way she prefers it" answered Draven
Asuka was still yelling "You pervert I know you tried to kiss me while I was sleeping"
"You cheat you were awake!" answered Shinji
"Oh my god I was kidding did you really try to kiss me?" wailed Asuka
"No..no I stopped"
"PERVERT!" shouted Asuka
"Who'd want to kiss a psychopath like you anyway? Shinji shot back
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" yelled Asuka getting madder. "Oh, I get it you'd rather be kissing that blue-haired Wondergirl right?"
Shinji's response was lost among the laughter of the control room
Rei nudged Draven "Do you think Shinji attempted to kiss Pilot Soryu?"
Draven shrugged " Who knows, he might have."
"Do you think he wants to kiss me?" Rei asked
"Probably" answer Draven "Not that I blame him."
Rei felt her face get warmer, the idea of Shinji wanting to kiss her, and Draven agreeing that it was a good idea. She was going to need help understanding these feelings. Dr. Akagi was too scientific and Pilot Soryu didn't seem like a good choice either. Rei knew Captain Katsuragi had enough experience with males, perhaps she was the one to ask. Rei would ask her later, from the look on the Captain's face she would be busy with reports for the next few days.