Creation began on 11-23-21
Creation ended on 07-28-22
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Welcome to your Escape: The Battle Concludes
NERV had clearly underestimated the Clover Team. It was more than just the Zoids they had that gave their team an edge against the Eva Team and its Blade Ligers. It was their sense of teamwork and adaptability. This alone made Gendo nervous about the prospect of losing this battle. Even though it was only one battle and not a second one.
One of the Blade Ligers was sent flying backwards by the Genosaur's Charged Particle Cannons, causing its operational system to freeze up.
"Damn pilot!" They heard the l Blade Liger pilot utter out, defeated. "We're just employees of a man that hates his own son for personal reasons!"
"Even if you say your involvement isn't personal," they heard the responding Valerie say, "the mere fact that you work for the guy that has it out for Shinji…makes it feel like it's personal. Your boss is not a good person."
"Ouch," went Hyuga in Central Dogma.
The two remaining Blade Ligers regrouped and tried to double team Shinji's Liger Rogue, circling them in opposite directions.
"What will Shinji do?" Misato wondered, seeing the Liger Rogue turn its head left and right as it observed the two opponents…and then opened its back to reveal a cannon.
"He can't expect that to do much harm," said Ritsuko, and the Zoid fired its beam cannons at the Blade Liger running on the right, missing it by several inches.
"Is that the best you can do, boy?!" One of the two pilots questioned Shinji.
"Stay on me," Shinji's voice replied.
Suddenly, several rockets were seen hitting the Blade Liger on the left! It was sent flying backwards and onto the other Blade Liger!
Drake and his G-Rex had intervened and backed Shinji up.
"You got this, Shinji!" Drake told him, and Liger Rogue's front legs started glowing.
"We got this," Shinji uttered as the Liger leapt into the air. "Laser Claw Strike!"
The Liger Rogue struck down on the two Blade Ligers and caused sparks to fly from their sides. The immense weight from the attack must've caused several gears and bolts to crack, as well. When it jumped off the pair, it roared in victory over their maiming.
"Battle has concluded!" The Judge announced. "The winner is the Clover Team!"
Gendo fumed over this result, but due to the fact that he was forced to follow the rules this time, he couldn't do anything else to hurt Shinji.
Beep. The tablet he was using to monitor his son's profile received an update directed towards him, and he looked at it. He couldn't help but feel insulted by what was posted.
"From Shinji to Gendo: I refuse to be manipulated by the likes of people like you! I'm not some puppet you can just direct to your liking! If you can't accept that, then you truly have no concept of what it means to have free will and alternatives." The message read, and Gendo balled his fists; he couldn't do anything short of yelling out in disgust towards Shinji.
"Oh, wow!" One of the personnel expressed. "That's one way to declare oneself a person."
-x-
Valerie climbed out of her Genosaur and met up with Shinji and Drake on the battlefield after the match concluded.
"You two were epic!" She told them.
"You were very badass yourself," Shinji replied. "That cannon attack after you knocked the Blade Liger away with your tail was stone-cold awesome."
"Drake, how'd you get G-Rex to move that fast? It looks too heavy to get around much, even after it was repaired."
"The outer armor is a composite alloy designed to withstand heavy attacks, but it doubles to protect the joints, which are heavily tightened to enable it to run close to eight miles on its legs. Almost twenty if I made it use its arms in tandem with its legs." Drake explained. "Whose team aiming for the Royal Cup?"
"Our team!" Shinji and Valerie cheered.
Over in her Gustav, Nico and Geisha simply smiled at their teammates.
"Those three are like people that just won a bowling tournament," Geisha expressed.
"We just won against a Zoid team that was more for show than to actually face another team," Nico replied. "No Eva was seen in action for the second time, so this was a real match and resulted in a real victory. We advance further towards the Royal Cup."
But Geisha had to ask a question that had its own factors of risks.
"But Shinji's father," she stated, "he's not going to let this setback stop him at all, is he? Every time we win a match, every time Shinji refuses to do what he wants him to, he can become more and more unwavering towards his independent and rebellious drive. He'll likely come at us in an unexpected way, won't he?"
"Not if he wants the repercussions to be severe," Nico responded. "No matter how much he hates Shinji, he can't lay a finger on him or the rest of us. The ZBC has to ensure the protection of everyone participating in the goal to reach the Royal Cup and achieve "S" Class status. If Gendo, NERV or anyone disregarding the rules because of any reason, political, financial, religious or just personal, like a vendetta, comes after any one of us, the consequences of having done so won't be ignored."
"And if they knew…and still chose to do so?"
"Then they'd have to be really stupid…or just outright suicidal…to commit to such a drive."
Nico then returned her gaze upon their three teammates. Particularly towards Shinji; she really was proud of his progress after he arrived on Zi to see her and discover what had been waiting for him if he had stayed on Earth and met his father. He was just a young man that had no ambitions and no drive towards life, but now he was a young man that wanted a life of his own, unbound to his past. Only those given more than an inch of inspiration and a mile of motivation could get to where he was…and with the Royal Cup and all that could be obtained on the line, she wanted him to reach the top.
"You four are remarkable," she expressed.
-x-
A week went by since the rematch, and all NERV had to show for their faults was dealing with the Angel that appeared two days after the Eva Team lost to the Clover Team. It had been a large one and not only such, but was an explosive one, to boot, requiring all of their Evas to defeat. They succeeded in doing so, but the victory aftermath only to seemed to make Gendo angrier towards his son for choosing a game over protecting the human race from imminent destruction. This alone left Misato worried about his mental state if he was left in charge any further than he was right now.
"You wanna talk about it?" She heard Kaji behind her in the hallway.
"It seems like each time we survive an Angel attack, the commander just directs more animosity towards Shinji for not being involved," she told him. "Lately, it seems as though his dislike of his son has turned into outright hatred along with a death wish towards Shinji."
"It's not like he'll just come out and say what's on his mind," Kaji stated to her. "Whatever he feels toward his son is whatever he feels, for better or for worse. Although, I don't think anyone that has this much hate for their own child that they had very little contact with could go and feel that they were being wronged by him. It was Ikari that chose to withhold information from his son, to have very little to do with his upbringing after his mother died. He only has himself to blame for his kid's rejection of him."
"And if I were to say that it is likely that he'll try to do something that doesn't bold well for anyone, whether it's here in the Geo-Front, above us in Tokyo-3…or on Zi?"
"I'd ask in what way, Katsuragi?"
"That he no longer desires to have the boy brought back here to pilot. That I don't believe he plans to have him brought back in one piece, directly or indirectly, at all."
Kaji gave her a look that was asking her if she was just kidding…and she didn't show an ounce of humor in her gaze or tone.
"If I were you, I'd take it up with the sub-commander and request an audience with the UN Committee," he suggested. "If Ikari is thinking of making an attempt that would be detrimental towards any of us if it went sideways, then he may need to be looked at. Even if it's all because of a dispute of sorts with his son, it's not something that should hinder NERV's objective to deal with the Angels. Trying to get the Third Child to return to Earth through a gamble-based tactic is a secondary concern over the primary one. And personally, I think we're past the point where the boy would be useless to us, even if it's what his father wants."
Misato sighs and accepts his sense of reasoning. No matter what they did, their priority had to be dealing with the Angels, not trying to force a fourteen-year-old boy that never had any training to pilot an Evangelion…and had more or less chose a different path than one that was most likely to lead nowhere for him…except towards an early grave.
-x-
"…The nerve of those guys to demand a rematch to the rematch," said Valerie as she, Drake and Shinji were sitting in the hangar watching a meteor shower with Nico and Geisha, cans of coffee in their hands.
"They're gonna have to wait a few days until their Blade Ligers are repaired before we can even consider accepting another match from the Eva Team," Nico told them.
"They all looked older than I am," Shinji expressed.
"They were NERV employees in their mid-twenties. More than likely picked because they know what to expect from piloting a Zoid."
"They were impressive, though," Drake said, finishing his fourth can. "But they need to build up their confidence before facing us again. They should face teams like the Umbra Team or Resurgence Team."
"What about the Chargers Team? Or the Titan Team?" Geisha suggested as she popped open her third can. "Any team that isn't the Yeagerist Team."
"No, those teams have been around for years," Nico explained. "They're pros at this point. The Eva Team facing any of those teams is overkill."
"A trio of men with a death wish?" Shinji asked her, finishing his third can.
"Yes."
Shinji then turned around to look at Liger Rogue. The Eva Team was a Zoid team that existed only because NERV and his father were trying to get him to return to Earth against his will. There was no loss for the Clover Team, but it didn't change anything between himself and his father; Gendo wasn't going to stop trying to get him to pilot the Eva, something he'd sooner run from than bend over backwards for, and so long as his refusal, persistence and several thousand light years between them in the Milky Way, there was a large degree of space. But he wanted to win the Royal Cup, to be a winner, to walk away from his past and never look back.
"Hey, Shinji?" He heard Valerie say his name. "Cold feet?"
"Hell, no," he told her. "I want to be seen as a champion, not a wuss!"
"Heh-heh. Okay, tough guy. I don't see any wusses out here."
"Uurgh!" Nico burped, getting their attention. "Uh, Shinji, are you sure there was no hot sauce in that teriyaki pasta you made this evening?"
"Positive," he replied.
"Then it must've been the bread I had with it. I knew that sourdough wasn't good."
"Yeah, that bread felt like it was past its expiration," added Drake. "It didn't taste right."
-x-
Gendo stood in front of Unit-01, silently angry at Shinji over his persistence at refusing to do as he was expected to do. His entire scenario was dismantled by this little girl that the boy worked under in this despicable game he was playing on some other planet, and nothing he seemed to try was working at all to get things back on track. Everything he took steps to ensure that could be achieved by the Evas didn't go as he planned, as there were different outcomes that were more positive for the people than negative for the pilots that were present. And worse, those men that were Zoid enthusiasts, despite their compatibility with the Blade Ligers, were clearly no match for these people that were not organized, not known for anything of any actual significance, and were brought together by some kid looking to show off that she could play with the adults…and there was no telling how much information she provided the Third Child with about NERV when he chose to go see her instead of coming here.
Instead of doing as he was told, he abandoned us, he thought. He abandoned you, Yui. He chose a game over his responsibilities to preserve the future…and he needs to answer for that.
For a man that wanted little to nothing to do with his son, Gendo wanted much in the way of payback, even if it was one-sided and the boy was light years away from the planet. But his grudge towards Shinji was degrading, unwavering, like a progressive disease if left untreated.
"Ikari," he turned to see Fuyutsuki, who was with Captain Katsuragi, "the Committee demands an audience with you. Now."
-x-
Three days went by after the last match, and Nico was performing her diagnostic checks on the Zoids. So far, all the specs on Valerie's Genosaur and Drake's G-Rex were up to date and no flaws could be detected, and Geisha's Storm Sworder had a lag in its takeoff capabilities that needed to be corrected. This left the full body scan of Liger Rogue to be performed.
"Miso soup, Nico?" She heard Shinji behind him in the room as she sat by a small computer with a large, holographic display of the four Zoids the Clover Team used, and turned to face him, seeing him holding a thermos in his left hand.
"Yes, please. Thank you," she answered; she hadn't eaten since breakfast four hours ago and wanted to avoid being hangry. "Where's everyone else?"
"Drake's in the forge building new armor for his G-Rex," he explained as he sat down on her right, "Geisha's in the common room watching the news, and Valerie's in the exercise room running on the treadmill."
"Well, to each their own."
"Whoa." Shinji went as he saw the holographic x-ray of Liger Rogue in front of them. "Is that…Liger Rogue?"
"Internal structure underneath the exterior framework?" Nico questioned, seeing a series of cables and plating surrounding a sophisticated skeletal system similar to those possessed by big cats, complete with what looked like a nervous system. "Yes. Biomechanical, from the organics in its bones to the nano fibers in its plasma circulatory system to provide it with power to move its limbs. The DNA-based computer that makes up the secondary brain of Liger Rogue aids in its core being able to communicate with whoever's in the cockpit. Impressive, no?"
"I just…never imagined Rogue would be so…sleek on the inside."
"Sleek" wasn't a word Nico had expected Shinji to use, but it was a word that seemed to fit with Liger Rogue after it was refitted with new armor after its initial participation in their first Zoid match and its previous got damaged.
Beep! Something inside Liger Rogue was detected by the scanners and Nico moved her mouse along the screen to click onto the highlighted section of the Zoid's back, just above where the core was located.
"That's odd," she went, and the highlighted portion was enlarged to reveal a strange, metallic skull connected to two more skulls that looked like they were surrounding a smaller Zoid Core. "Oh, my."
"What is that?" Shinji asked her.
"I've never seen an anomaly of this sort before."
"You're saying something like this hasn't turned up in any other Zoid?"
"None that I've studied. This is…unlike anything I've seen in Zoids before."
Nico tried to bring up the detected portion of Liger Rogue and see if any other Zoids in the global database had anything like it in their bodies. The search took three minutes…and only one comparison was found.
"That…doesn't look anything like what's in Liger Rogue," Shinji stated as they looked at the image of what was discovered and classified to have been found inside a Liger Zero and a Berserk Fury over a century ago.
"No," agreed Nico, "but it's similar. There's a similarity between them…but the one inside Liger Rogue seems…older, more complex to have been made artificially. Hold on, let me see if I can check for carbon and a thermoluminescence."
Two additional scans of the Zoid came back with a startling discovery.
"No way. How long did you say your parents had this Zoid again?" Shinji had to ask her.
"Since before I was born," she answered him. "Years before I was born. They bought it from a guy that had it and couldn't use it."
"Except…the carbon and thermoluminescence scans indicate that this…this thing inside Liger Rogue…is older than a few years…by…a lot more than just a few years."
"Zoidians have a longer lifespan than regular humans. One reported Zoidian woman lived to be three-hundred-eighteen before dying from natural causes. A Zoidian man lived to be two-hundred-seventy before he was killed in a home invasion over thirty years ago. But Liger Rogue is…almost… Well, in terms of human history, this Zoid is the equivalent of ancient history."
"Ancient history…revived and on the battlefield."
"Still…Liger Rogue likes you, Shinji, for better or for worse. This doesn't change the fact that it's shown to be a capable Zoid because of you; nobody else has ever been able to operate it, which means your relationship with it is unique. A conundrum of the world we live in."
"Nothing that's…a hazard that could happen, right?"
"If it did something out of line, I'd put an end to it until we could do more research. Until then…and until I let my parents know about this, which I have to…it's still safe for you to pilot Liger Rogue…until we know for sure what this unknown black box is."
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, this is updated, and now something unexpected has happened. Gendo's slipping, there's something inside Liger Rogue that makes it a mystery, and NERV has achieved another victory against the Angels. The Royal Cup comes closer to being a reality and the Clover Team aims to make it to the top. What do you think will happen in the future?