PRESENT
ABOARD THE WUNDER
CAPTAINS QUARTERS
"You want him to pilot again?"
"Both Units are far from combat ready as of now, and based on Dr Akagi's estimations, won't be field ready for another month at minimum. The Wunder is virtually defenseless against NERV without a functioning eva unit."
"Using Ikari? How do we know he won't just go right back to NERV?"
The purple haired woman watching the argument between the diplomats remained silent.
"You know that's highly unlikely. We've all read his psych profile, and the interrogations clearly state he was under the impression that WILLE was the enemy at the time of his retrieval. It's likely he would have cooperated, had WILLE done their duty and informed him of the circumstances, rather than antagonize him upon retrieval." The older man paused, the last part of the sentence accompanied by a quick glare sent her way. To her credit, she kept her expression neutral, knowing that as petty as the jab was, it was also completely right. The man turned his gaze back to the others, coughing lightly into his fist before continuing. "Even then, we can soothe any lingering doubts by ensuring he is fitted with a DSS Choker upon capture."
Misato fought the urge to visibly cringe at that last part.
The UN general in the middle remained silent for a moment, pursing his lips in thought. After a few seconds of thought, he turned to her, cooly meeting her gaze.
"You were the younger Ikari's caretaker during his time as a pilot before the impact, is that correct, Katsuragi?" If the current setting hadn't been so serious, she might have chuckled at that, remembering how all things considered, the boy was her caretaker during that time, the boy far more responsible and mature than the alcoholic slob she was back then.
Shaking herself of these thoughts, she refocused her gaze on the man facing her.
"Yes." She kept her tone level, watching as the older general hummed in response, absentmindedly running two thin fingers along his slight stubble.
"Then since you likely have a better understanding than anybody here of him, what is your opinion on this matter?"
Misato swallowed, gathering her thoughts before speaking.
"I will admit, WILLE handled the retrieval of Ikari poorly. We were under the assumption he knowingly started the third impact, and treated him as such. It was only until after his imprisonment that we learned he had not consciously initiated it. As for NERV, he had not known its true purpose until after he had escaped from WILLE."
"And do you believe he would willingly return to NERV again with the knowledge he now has?"
"No." The response was instantaneous, Misato dead certain about her beliefs.
"I see. And do you believe he would be willing to join WILLE if offered?" Misato hesitated, turning her eyes downward, seemingly wrestling with herself. A few seconds later, she turned back up, a determined expression on her face.
"Yes." The general observed her, his eyes piercing into her, seemingly challenging her to say something more. She met his gaze with as much intensity, neither willing to back down. After a few moments, the general blinked and tore his gaze away, allowing himself a slightly satisfied smirk before turning back towards the rest of the group.
"Then it is decided." While nobody in the room was dumb enough to protest his decision vocally, a few of the more stubborn members clearly objected, scowls and furrowed eyebrows visible on more than a few faces.
"Katsuragi." The General turned to her once more, meeting her gaze. "Your new orders are to track down and retrieve the stolen Unit 01. If Ikari is captured, he will be made its pilot. Am I clear?"
"Crystal." The older man continued staring at her for another moment, before nodding in apparent satisfaction, turning to face the others.
"If there is nothing else, then this meeting is concluded."
The holographic screens faded out. The automatic LED lights within her room turned back on, forcing Misato to squint for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the near blindingly bright artificial lights. Shutting off her holographic display screen, she looked down at her desk, grumbling slightly at the excessive amount of unfinished physical and electronic paperwork still on it. Checking her schedule, she was slightly relieved to find that her schedule for the rest of the day was clear. Taking another look at the clutter of unfinished forms and approvals, she decided to put it off for the time being, shoving everything on the center of her desk to the sides. Taking off her visor and cap, she set them to the side, propping her elbows up on the cleared part of the table and placing her head in between her hands. She fought back a slight yawn, the meeting with the talking heads of what remained of the world's militaries and governments having worn down the woman, who had already been running on fumes for most of the day. Mulling over what had happened a minute ago, she grumbled again at the thought of her new orders, already silently dreading the insubordination she would have to deal with among the crew once she gave them out.
Despite her exhaustion and annoyance, she was already mulling over how she would carry them out, and how the hell they were even going to find Unit-01, let alone Shinji. It was clear he was good at covering his tracks, as not a single sighting of the unit had been reported since he had stolen it. Tracking it through technology had been useless, as it was clear he had remembered most of the controls of the Unit, either shutting off or outright breaking the built in tracking, camera, and audio mechanisms. Thermal sensors hadn't picked up anything, so it was likely that at this point, he had found a good hiding spot. With how massive Europe was, it would likely be a few months before they would be able to find him.
The term 'finding a needle in a haystack' came to mind.
Thankfully, it was obvious he didn't plan on helping NERV complete its goals. It had been clearly stated by Shinji during his interrogations that Fuyutsuki, who apparently was still alive and working with his father, had informed him of what the organization had really been made for, and what Unit 01 was meant to accomplish. If the pilot turned fugitive had wanted to finish what he had accidentally started all those years ago, they would have all been long dead by this point.
Sinking her head deeper into her hands she sighed again, whispering to herself.
"What the hell are you planning, Shinji?"
Running her hands down her face, she groaned one last time in annoyance before smoothing out her features, brushing back a stray bang before refitting her cap and visor standing up as she did so. She looked down at her uniform and frowned, running a hand along her fabric to smooth out the few creases that had formed while sitting. Pushing in her chair, she walked over to the steel door and stood in front of the command pad. She reached towards the button to open the door, only to pause, her hand hovering only a few centimeters away from it. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and out, schooling her expression before hitting the button. A beep sounded out, hydraulics hissing as the door opened. Stepping forward, she began her walk towards the command center, preparing to give the new set of orders to the crew.
She just hoped they would take the news well.
ABOARD THE WUNDER
BARRACKS
The door hissed open, the familiar sound catching Asuka's attention. Mari walked in through the open door, turning her gaze to the redhead currently lying down on the bed. Mari's clothes were fresh, the girl's hair still slightly wet from a recent shower.
"Princess."
"Mari."
"So, what's compelled you to suddenly start shamming out of PT the past week? I mean, not that they're gonna actually do anything about it. Can't exactly article 15 one of your only two active pilots, even Captain Grump knows that."
"Orders from Ms. Malpractice. Floating ribs won't be fully healed for another week." She knocked her head with her fist, regretting the action when she had to fight the urge to wince from the pain. "And this stupid concussion means I'm not gonna be allowed to do PT or any real physical work for another month at minimum." Mari's eyes widened in fake surprise, her eyebrows raised.
"No sex for a month? Damn, that's rough." Mari chuckled at Asuka's annoyed groan at the remark.
"Jesus. Do you think about anything else other than who you can sleep with?" The girl leaned against the bed frame, putting a finger to her chin in false contemplation.
"Why wouldn't I? I mean there's so much variation and creativity you can do with it. I mean even with just the positions there's so many." The brunette put up her hand, beginning to count off on her fingers. "There's missionary, there's reverse cow-"
"No, no, just no. You're my sister, that's weird. Stop telling me about this."
"Aw come on, don't you want to get some?" She wiggled her eyebrows at the other girl, ignoring the death glare being sent her way as she continued. "I'm sure the maintenance boys wouldn't mind adding another girl next time we fu-ack!" Mari's sentence was interrupted by a pillow smacking into her face, the pillow, more akin to a brick with padding, causing her to stumble slightly and knocking her glasses off her face. After regaining her balance, she bent down to grab her glasses again, putting them on to see the other girl sitting up in bed with another pillow at the ready.
"If you make me throw my second pillow at you, I'm gonna kill you when I have to get up to grab it."
Mari pouted at the glaring girl, sticking her tongue out as she crossed her arms in imitation anger.
"Party pooper."
Asuka rolled her eyes at the childish actions, deciding to ignore the other, putting the remaining pillow behind her head and lying back down.
"Uh huh. You got me good. How will I ever recover?" She let out a slight yawn. "Now go away, I'm trying to sleep. You can be a shithead to me again when I'm awake."
"Alright, but one last thing before I let you get your little cat nap. New orders from Captain Sunshine and Joy, gotta pass 'em along to you."
Asuka turned her head towards the other, her expression a half and half between annoyance, and poorly disguised intrigue at what the girl had to say.
"What does Misato want now?"
"The UN wants us to nab Unit-01 if we see it." She paused for a second, letting the other girl finish groaning in annoyance before continuing. "And, if we find him before they do, keep the puppy boy."
"And why exactly do they want us to hold onto him?"
"They're thinking of making him a WILLE pilot, if he agrees to it of course."
"Oh, wie wünderbar. How'd the rest of the crew take the news?"
"Pretty sure there's already two people in the brig right now for insubordination."
"Sounds like it's going just great."
"Aw, come on. It's not that bad. Maybe once he's aboard, I can give him a proper 'introduction' to the Wunder." Mari leaned back to avoid the hand lazily swatting in her direction, chuckling as the other growled out another expletive at her.
"Get out."
"Mhmm, sure thing princess." Pushing herself off the bed frame she was leaning against, she stretched, a few joints popping as she did so. She turned back to the redheaded lump in the bottom bunk of their shared bed. "Well, I'm gonna hit the chow hall. You want anything from there?"
"I would like for you to get the hell out already so I can sleep in peace."
"You're no fun."
The other shuffled in their bedsheets, a pale arm stretching out, with the one finger salute pointing towards her.
"God, so bori-" Her sentence was cut short by an ear piercing screech, a loud klaxon alarm beginning to blare through the emergency speaker near their door. Misato's voice cut through a second later, her normally controlled tone laced with a tone of urgency.
"All combat personnel report to battle stations. We are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack! This is not a drill!"
Asuka shot up in her bed, thankful at her own laziness of not having taken off her uniform to sleep as she threw the covers to the side. Fighting through the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her senses, she turned towards the brown haired girl standing next to her, who was staring dumbly at the speaker, surprise written on her face.
"Huh. That can't be good."
ELSEWHERE
THE RED WASTELANDS
Grumbling in annoyance, he pulled the half finished cancer stick out of his mouth, coughing as the familiar sensation of burning pain ignited within his lungs for the third time that day. After a minute of choked breaths, he felt something wet near the base of his throat. Fighting the urge to swallow it back down, he hacked again, bringing it to his mouth before spitting it out on the damp dirt, the wet mixture of bloody phlegm and red earth quickly washed away in the pouring rain.
Reveling in the slight relief gained from spitting out the unwanted material, he reached up, using the back of his gloved hand to dry off the bottom of his face, the worn down nomex material managing to remove most of the offending material still stuck to his false jaw, absentmindedly wiping what had stuck to the gloves on his pant leg. Looking down, he fought the urge to cringe at the new stain that adorned the cargo pants, bright, wet crimson contrasting the faded beige fabric.
Ignoring the poor state of his respiratory organs in favor of the short term dopamine hit of nicotine, he raised the still burning cigarette back for another puff, wet spots now dotting the paper from errant raindrops. The slightly wet stale tobacco crackled loudly as it burned, barely audible amidst the sound of freezing rain hitting his poncho, the heavy droplets having not stopped in their assault on the waterproofed canvas. Exhaling and cursing his luck, he continued to smoke, clinging onto the false hope that it would be enough to distract him from the miserable conditions he was in.
If one had asked him as a child if he had enjoyed the winter, he would have answered yes. While Japan's winters at the time were more equivalent to spring in their temperatures, he did treasure the few times genuine cold had swept through the country. However, if one had asked him now if he still enjoyed the winter, he would answer, without hesitation, that it sucked.
As another fierce breeze blew through the area, his poor health decided to make itself known again. His hand burst into another series of uncontrollable twitches, Shinji silently watching as the shaking freed ash that he had let collect on the end of the cigarette. Once the violent shaking had subsided back into their standard default of occasional, almost imperceptible twitches, he put the substitute field ration back up to his mouth, taking another drag of the cancer stick.
Tilting his head towards the sky, he exhaled a tired breath out of nose, watching as the moisture in his exhale vaporized on contact with the freezing air, mixing itself with the tendrils of cigarette smoke wafting upwards.
It was the dead of night, and save for the rain and the ever present ringing of tinnitus, it was silent. If he wasn't currently tired, wet, and hungry, he might have actually enjoyed his current situation somewhat. While he had never been one for "taking in the view" so to speak, the hillside view he was currently privy to was admittedly a sight to behold, the silhouettes of other mountains visible amidst the moonlit horizon. Observing the stars above, he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, trying and failing to remember the constellations he had been taught in his younger years.
While watching one particularly large star, he blinked when he realized it was moving.
What the Hell?
Flicking his cigarette to the side and pulling up his face covering, he reached down, grabbing the rifle he had left leaning against the tree beside him. Shouldering the rifle, he flicked up the optic magnifier, using it as an improvised monocular. Scanning the sky, he swept his aim around until his reticle finally settled over the light, observing the visible details. As he had suspected, it was an aircraft, and a large one at that, with it's large hull, giant cockpit, and massive wings, almost bird-like in structure. Despite how odd it was, he couldn't help but feel that he had somehow seen it before. It felt, almost, familiar.
Ah, shit.
Why was the Wunder here?
He wished that the reason they were flying above him was that they were passing through, but considering how he had recently stolen one of their more important items, it was far more likely that they were on the lookout for him. Placing the rifle back against the tree, he walked around to the other side of the tree, where he was met with the familiar sight of his pack. The improvised raincover he had made out of scrap tarp had done its job well, the frayed, the uncovered straps of the pack the only part of it that the rain had managed to get to. With a heaving grunt, the few worldly possessions he had were hauled onto his back.
Reaching down to retrieve his rifle, he flinched mid-grab as the sound of a faint explosion reached his ears, clearly having come from up above. Turning back towards the sky, he noticed that another object was trailing the Wunder. Deciding to get a better look, he quickly snatched up his rifle, looking through the sights to see what was happening. As he finally managed to get a picture, he froze, the handguard of his weapon beginning to creak under his grip.
He'd recognize that silhouette anywhere.
It was an Evangelion unit, and it definitely wasn't with WILLE, judging by the way nearly every gun on the ship was currently firing at it. A flash of light burst out in the sky as the Wunder fired at it, dozens of projectiles capable of turning armored battlecruisers into scrap metal flying through the air. Four seconds later, the sky was lit up a second time as the rounds found their destination, sparking off the unit with little effect. After nearly a minute of ineffective fire, the blasts ceased as the cannons sunk back into the ship, its loading systems working to refill its now depleted weapon systems.
Taking advantage of this, the pursuing unit's singular eye glowed a bright purple, the glow growing to a nearly blinding intensity within seconds, before culminating in a beam of supercharged plasma. The ship swerved as it shot out, barely managing to avoid what would have been a direct hit, the Wunder shuddering as the deadly ray still managed to graze the ship, melting through reinforced metal with ease. As the ship's cannons rose back out from their loading areas, a question rang through his mind.
Why aren't they fielding the other units?
There was no reason he could think of for them not to. It was clear that the only thing that could counter that thing was another unit, and yet it continued to fire barrage after barrage of high explosive ordnance at it, the fruitless endeavor barely yielding more than faint scratches on its paint job. By now, both units would have already been long deployed.
After watching the Wunder continue to fruitlessly fire at it for another minute, something became clear.
It wasn't that they didn't want to use the other Units, it was that for whatever reason, they couldn't.
This thought was doubly confirmed when the Wunder swerved again, barely managing to avoid another beam of deadly light from the unit's eye. Another barrage of shells were fired, the unit appearing through the smoke a second later, none the worse for wear.
They won't last much longer at this rate.
Glancing towards the small valley near the bottom of the cliff, he broke into a sprint, mentally cursing himself for what he was about to do.
He needed to get to Unit-01.
ABOARD THE WUNDER
COMMAND BRIDGE
"Sectors J to Z have depressurized!"
"Major damage to the hull!"
Any more callouts from her crew were drowned out by yet another round of deafening booms, her noise canceling headset proving ineffective against the sheer amount of decibels the cannons produced. The more muted noises of a few dozen AA shells pathetically sparking off the reinforced titanium armor of the pursuing unit echoed out a few seconds later, the sound another reminder of how outmatched they were in this fight.
"Loaders just ran out of AP rounds!"
"Have them switch to HE!"
She continued to bark out orders in response to her subordinates' updates, the seasoned crew under her command carrying out her commands to the best of their abilities.
"15 new casualties!"
"Have the medical bay use the mess hall for the extra casualties!"
Misato was beginning to feel the icy feeling of dread creep into her senses as the battle raged, the fight more akin to a prey attempting to outrun its predator than a violent skirmish.
With the two units at her disposal, previous battles had been difficult, but winnable. The sheer power the two units provided, combined with the brilliant tactician she was, had allowed them to escape near certain failure far more times than she wanted to count. The middle finger to ethical science that were the Evangelion Units had been their equalizers, providing hope in an otherwise hopelessness situation.
Now though? Well, she could at least find some semblance of comfort in the fact that their deaths would likely be instant.
"Captain!"
The familiar voice snapped her out of her spiraling, and with her thoughts more clear, she internally berated herself for the mental slip as she turned in the direction of the two pilots that had made their way onto the command bridge. Mari, closely trailed by Asuka, now stood in front of her.
"Why weren't we called to pilot?"
"Neither unit is ready for field use, let alone combat. The ship is all we have." Both girls' eyes widened at her statement, the severity of the situation quickly registering for both of them.
Before either of them could begin to respond, Ritsuko's voice cut through, the panic clearly evident in the normally composed woman's voice especially alarming to the three.
"The S2 engine is failing! We're losing altitude!"
Misato paled.
"20,000 meters!"
She turned back towards the bridge as panic quickly grabbed hold of the crew, most staring in wide eyed terror as the vessel quickly raced towards the ground.
"18,000 m- Holy shit!"
Misato whipped her head around towards Hyuga, watching as he stared in shock at his screen.
"What is it?"
Shaking his head, Hyuga snapped out of his daze, turning to face Misato, his eyes muddled with an adrenaline fueled mix of confusion and panic.
"There's another unit on the ground approaching!"
She turned towards the main screen, and sure enough, there it was. One didn't need the ship's tracking technology to see the outline of a second unit quickly sprinting towards the rapidly descending ship. Fear's icy grip wrapped around her heart as her mind quickly deduced the situation.
This had to have been a trap.
If the crash didn't kill all of them, the second unit was there to finish off what was left. Not a single person was going to survive this. It was clear that the two pilots next to her understood this just as much, their expressions grim.
"20 seconds until landing! Brace for impact!"
They had lost.
She closed her eyes, deciding to wait for the inevitable, only hoping that-
"What the Hell? It's Unit-01?"
Snapping her eyes open at the exclamation, an all too familiar blur of purple and green entered her vision, the behemoth running full tilt towards where they were falling.
"What the Hell is he doing here?" Another crewmember echoed her own thoughts as it rapidly closed the distance towards them.
What was he doing here? Why was he here? What was he planning on doing?
Before she could continue her panicked speculations, the unit skidded to a halt in front of where the rapidly descending ship was heading, spreading its hands out, and bending its knees.
"AT field detected!"
An orange glow erupted from its hands, the hexagonal field spread out between its outstretched palms, and Misato quickly realized what it was attempting to do.
"Five seconds!"
It was going to catch them.
"Brace!"
The ship shuddered and lurched as it impacted the field, its titanium frame groaning as Unit-01's field fought to slow down its extreme weight. Layers shattered like glass as the Unit continued its fight against gravity.
"We're slowing down!"
More incremental drops threw the ship around, before finally, the last layer of the field shattered, the ship going into a freefall for the short amount of distance left. The ship had slowed enough to hit the ground at barely a fraction of the speed it had originally been falling, turning what would have been a ship destroying fall into an incredibly rough jolt.
Standing back up from where she had been thrown on the floor, she turned to see that the rest of the command bridge had also survived the fall, most also beginning to stand back up from where they had been tossed by the impact. She was sure most had already suffered a mixture of heavy bruising and concussions, herself included, if her currently throbbing head was any indication.-
She was already silently cursing at the piles of medical paperwork she would have to fill after this, but they were all alive, saved by the last person she had expected to show up.
Turning her attention back to their current savior, she fought back a flinch as the bolted behemoth turned to face the ship. Rust had eaten away large chunks of the coloring, giving way to a mixture of iron oxide and matte brushed steel. It's paint job was faded and worn, the green and purple color scheme mottled with nearly 18 year old battle scars, a mixture of scratches and dents. Various chunks of armor pieces were missing, damaged parts that WILLE had been in the midst of replacing right before he had grabbed it.
Before she could observe the unit any further, a booming thud echoed out, the other unit having finally caught up to the now grounded ship.
The unit spread it's legs into a low boxer style stance, keeping one hand near its face, while the other hung near low, keeping near its front facing leg. It's fingers hung loosely, ready to grab or curl into a fist at any given moment.
The NERV unit stood up from the crouch it had landed in, rising to its full height, towering over Unit-01, a scythe as long as it was tall attached to its back. Misato's eyes widened as she noted the massive handgun magnetically attached to the unit's side, the already massive firearm having been enlarged even more to specifically accomodate a unit of its size.
The opposing unit reached back and removed the large scythe magnetically attached to its back as it gazed down at the other unit, its hollow, one eyed stare boring into the other.
Unit-01 lunged.
Asuka Langley Shikinami prided herself on her fighting abilities.
At this point, she wasn't even familiar with not knowing how to fight. Since she had been able to walk, she had been shown nearly every martial art and fighting style out there. She was familiar with the smooth flowing throws of judo, had gotten her first black eye learning American boxing, had gotten her first broken bone going too rough in a Krav Maga spar, and had learned how deadly even a measly field shovel could be, thanks to sambo. She had spent weeks going through the painful process of deadening leg nerves for stronger kicks with Muay Thai, her shins and thighs having been mottled with ugly black and blue bruises that took months to fade.
Of course, for the overachieving girl, firearms hadn't taken a backseat either.
With the connections and power NERV had, by the time she was nine, she was already being thrown into shooting courses, being forced to sit through mind numbing powerpoints of the basics of gun safety, the four rules of firearm safety having been burned into her mind. Her morning's for nearly three months had been spent at stuffy indoor ranges, where a short tempered SAS captain had "taught" her basic firearm marksmanship, if one counted screaming and cursing every other sentence as teaching. During those three months, Asuka had quickly learned that firearms were simply one of the skills that was anything but natural for her, four hours daily of punching holes in paper targets only yielding barely passable results, so the girl decided to stick to using her fists.
Of course, training could only go so far.
Her time as a pilot for NERV had given her a taste of the real deal, her switch to WILLE having been the real test. These weren't friendly spars, where if a choke or a joint lock got too tight she could simply tap out. This was combat, where a mistake didn't mean a lost match, it meant a lost life.
Even then, despite how difficult fights could get, there was always just a slight reassurance in the feeling of support, the idea that she still, worst case scenario, had the resources of an entire military operation at her disposal. With Mari, who she had to ruefully admit was no slouch when it came to Eva combat as well, there was an increase in this feeling, the knowledge that someone had her back being far more reassuring than she expected it to be.
Despite how frequently they clashed, Asuka had nothing but respect for Misato. The woman had put up with the worst of her over the years, and had handled the weight of the world on her shoulders with stride. While the woman had become rather cold and harsh in recent years, she didn't blame her. With the stress that the woman dealt with on a daily basis, she was honestly more surprised at the fact that the woman hadn't shot herself yet. Even then, despite that, the woman had proved her worth as a leader, saving her ass far more times than she cared to admit over the years, helping her and Mari cheat near certain death time and time again.
And Mari? She had become a surprisingly large part of her life over the years, the two eva pilots quickly bonding through their shitty situation, the girl's sense of humor a breath of fresh air amidst the nearly suffocating sense of gloom that permeated the lives of the pilots. She had even begun to consider the other almost like an annoying older sister of sorts over time. So, as fate would have it of course, a day after a routine blood test, Ritsuko had brought both of them to her office, revealing that they were related, the brunette being her half sister through a father who clearly had done more than just paperwork on his "business trips." Even though it had taken getting used to, it had only strengthened their bond, the taller girl sticking by her side during even the toughest situations. At times, the carefree girl had been like a lifejacket, keeping Asuka afloat amidst the rolling, chaotic waters that was life after the third impact. The girl was some of the best backup one could ask for.
And as she watched the giant mechanical behemoth in front of her and the rest of the WILLE crew stumble from yet another ground shakingly strong strike, she couldn't say the same for its current pilot.
The Mark 09 unit moved with terrifying speed, its movements slicing through the air like a knife, each hit that managed to land impacting with vicious force. This enemy unit would likely have been a challenge for both Asuka and Mari, even with the full supporting firepower of the Wunder and its crew.
And Shinji was fighting it. Alone.
"Shinji." Asuka startled slightly at the breathy voice, turning to look at the blue haired girl standing next to her, having soundlessly arrived sometime before the landing. Rei's eyes were wide, focused on the raging battle in front of them, the mixture of fear and awe on the normally stoic girl's face clearly visible. Her hands were on the rails of the catwalk, her pale knuckles somehow becoming even whiter under her tense grip. The young woman was trembling, the bluenette clearly not used to the deluge of emotions slowly overwhelming her.
Asuka was not a religious woman, not by any means. She had stopped believing in any sort of God early on, her training as a child left little to no time for her to actually practice a religion. And with the world the way it was, it wasn't exactly easy for her to believe in a benevolent, all seeing entity.
But still, as she watched the battered unit continue to fight, she prayed.
He dived to the side as a purple beam sliced through where he had been a moment prior, ripping through the ground like tissue paper. Stumbling out of the sloppy roll, he stood up and looked back to where he had been, smoke rising from the path the attack had carved out of the earth. That had been the fifth blast so far, and the fight had only been going on for three minutes at best. He dodged another swing of its scythe, narrowly avoiding his unit's arm being lopped off. At this rate, he wouldn't last another minute. He couldn't get within grabbing range without taking a hit. As the unit raised its scythe for another swing, he decided to say screw it to any previous plans and rushed forward, bracing himself for the hit he was about to take.
I'm gonna regret this.
The scythe hit its mark, burying itself up to the hilt in his torso. Continuing to charge forward, he slammed into the unit, throwing his full force into a shoulder charge that managed to knock the larger unit backwards, stumbling as it tried to regain its balance.
Fighting through the nearly blinding pain, he pushed the advantage, slipping behind the unit, snapping a kick to the back of its left knee before it could regain its footing. The unit's leg gave out, forcing it to kneel to the ground. Reaching upwards towards its head, gripping near where a jaw normally would have been in one hand, he planted the other on the side of the top of its head, managing to secure a proper grip after a second of fighting against the unit's struggles. Mustering all the strength he could, he thrusted the back of its head downwards with one hand, wrenching its chin sideways with the other.
He was only met with a few seconds worth of resistance, the sound of tearing giving way to an audible crack, the unit's upper vertebrae having been ripped away from the rest of its spinal column. Letting go of the now deadweight unit, he watched as it collapsed to the ground, dropping the handgun it had begun to draw in the midst of his sudden attack.
Walking over to the now paralyzed unit, he watched as the slight, ever present glow within it's eye flickered one last time, before going completely dark.
It was finally dead.
As the adrenaline in his system faded, the pain in his side made itself known again, and he grunted as he reached down towards the weapon embedded in his torso. Grabbing it firmly, he took a deep breath before yanking it out in one motion, falling to a knee as a flash of white hot pain threatened to send him into unconsciousness. Looking down at his own side within the plug, he grimaced as his fears about feedback were now being proven true, faint wisps of crimson now pooling out of the slight puncture wound below his ribcage. Putting a hand against it to staunch the bleeding, he grunted and ignored another flash of pain in favor of staggering back up to his feet, hoping that he hadn't nicked anything vital. After stumbling for a moment, he managed to get back up on his feet, turning to face the main reason he had endured this injury to begin with.
The Wunder.
The ship was in terrible condition, the wings damaged beyond use. Large, deep gashes were scattered across its hull, the metal around the sites of injury warped and discolored from the intense heat of the grazing attacks it had suffered. It had more in common with a plane wreckage than it did a functional military vessel. It would be a while before it was back in the air, but even so, he was still relieved at the sight of the still breathing crew within the mangled ship.
Aircraft was replaceable. People were not.
Using the magnifiers within the Unit's optical systems, he zoomed in on the command deck that sit within the belly of the ship. A mixture of new and old faces in uniforms were on the deck, most standing still at the sight of the behemoth towering over them.
A catwalk hung above the crew, and he fought the urge to flinch upon the sight of its four occupants. They all stared back at the giant mech, awe tinged with apprehension visible on their faces.
The sound of other propellers growing near broke his focus, and he turned to see the silhouettes of backup UN aircraft making their way towards them. He needed to leave before they got too close.
Turning back to the downed ship, he took one last moment to imprint the familiar faces of his old life into his memory. Turning, he began to lumber away, and by the time the support from the UN landed, Shinji was long gone.
I wish things could have turned out differently.
ELSEWHERE
THE RED WASTELANDS
It had only been at most a day, but when it came to tracking, a day could mean the difference between a success, and a failure.
Thankfully, the rain had not entirely washed out the footsteps of who they had been following, and it was clear that they had likely been carrying a lot of equipment, the imprints of shoe soles in the muddy soil too damp to have been caused by a normal human's weight.
Multiple sets of footsteps sounded out behind him, the group he was commanding quietly following him, the armed men matching his pace. Stopping and holding a fist up, the footsteps stopped, the men halting, waiting to hear what he was about to say. He reached up, pushing the talk button on the communicator built into his respirator.
"Any intel updates?"
"Negative. Thermal readings are still coming through clean. We're alone out here."
Nodding his head in affirmation, he turned to face the half dozen men behind him.
"Spread out, search everything east and west within a half kilometer radius." Circling his finger in the air above his head, he continued. "This is our new rally point, regroup here in thirty minutes. Keep your channels open." He didn't need to say anything more, the sound of hard rubber boot soles impacting muddy dirt echoing out as the men wordlessly followed his orders. Waiting until the footsteps faded out of his hearing range, he headed northbound.
As he swept his gaze across the trees, he paused, a small object visible amidst the dead grass, its bright color illuminated by the light of the late dawn sunlight, sticking out amidst the washed out colors of the forest floor. Quickly sweeping his surroundings, he turned back to the object with a slight sigh, before taking a step towards it.
As he neared, the shape of the object became clear, the object the familiar sight of an orange cigarette filter stubbed out on the ground. Continuing to scan the surrounding area, another discrepancy caught his eye, a clear sign someone had at least been here for a sizable amount of time.
Most of the grass was untouched, still wet with morning dew, save for a small spot near the cigarette. A small patch of the greenery was slightly compacted, and upon further observation, he quickly pieced together that the irregular oval imprint was a dead ringer for the bottom of a rifle buttstock.
Bingo.
Reaching back towards his communicator, he switched to a separate frequency, the radio beeping as he hit the talk button.
"2-3 Actual, this is 2-1, over."
"This is 2-3 Actual, go ahead."
"Requesting a K9 unit to our coordinates." He turned back to face the tree, and the recently discovered item. "We may have just found a new lead on Shinji Ikari."
"Roger that. ETA is 10 minutes. Good hunting, Ryoji."