Neon Senshi Evangelion
Twenty Six
"I actually do wish I was the one going in," Rei admitted as NERV set up a command station near the volcano's magma pocket.
"Really?" Shinji looked at her.
"Going into a VOLCANO? In PERSON?" Rei said excitedly. She continued, "Just think of the scientific research."
"Well, I guess," Shinji said dubiously.
"Heathen," Rei teased.
"You could ask to switch Evangelions with Asuka," Shinji suggested.
"Ride in someone else's Evangelion?" Rei looked appalled, "It would be like wearing another person's underwear."
"There is a mental image I did NOT need," Shinji shuddered while Rei just chuckled.
The trailer that was the on-site headquarters was rigged up to monitor the Evangelion, as well as getting a constant stream of data from the volcano. Yui, Ritsuko and Maya were sort of crowded in there, but they would have to manage.
"Rei made an interesting suggestion," Ritsuko noted as they prepped, "record a data stream from the Evangelion for research purposes on geology etc etc."
"That's my little scientist," Yui noted.
"Will exterior sensors survive?" Maya asked practically.
"The AT Field should protect them for a bit," Ritsuko observed. "Once we have to grab on to the Angel, they'd fry."
"Good enough," Yui shrugged.
Up nearer the lava pool itself, Unit-02 was crouched, waiting for the signal to go.
"Asuka, how's the new plugsuit?" Misato checked via radio.
"A bit less comfortable than usual," Asuna noted, sitting in the entry plug.
The armored plug suit was slightly bulkier, with a rigid, square-ish outer shell, and a softer inner suit. A elecromagnetic effect kept a gap between the two suits, which was a vacuum. In theory, heat shouldn't get through to the inner suit.
"Running synch test," Maya's voice came over the speakers, "synch rate nominal."
"Oh joy," Asuka muttered, feeling that odd itch at the back of her head. She could FEEL Unit-02, like a phantom limb, and a faint... something within it.
"Feels normal?" Misato checked.
"All good. So when do we go?" Asuka asked impatiently.
"Hold your horses," Misato said gently, "we want to get solid data on where it is and your best route down to it."
"And the fastest route," Asuka conceded. "Don't want to be in there TOO long."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"they're completely insane," Naoko Akagi muttered as the Jet Alone staff monitored the feed.
"That bad?" Shingo Tsukino blinked as he looked at their senior researcher.
"Potentially," Naoko answered. "They're trying to grab the Angel before it goes fully active," she said, "but we have no idea when it'll hatch."
"It could go active as they try to get it out," Shingo realized.
"And they'll need to extend the Evangelion's AT Field around the Angel to get it out of there," Naoko added, "which will leave the Eva vulnerable to the Angel attacking it if it goes active."
Shingo's eyes widened. "But they'll have the other Evangelions there," he said.
"Unit-00 and Unit-01 can't manage the lava," Naoko shook her head, "not for long, anyway. Asuka's on her own until she can get out of the magma pool."
Shingo nodded with as he asked, "Anything we can do?"
"Jet Alone wouldn't survive the magma either," Naoko shook her head, "and it's not ready to deploy at this point anyway."
"So all we can do is watch and hope," Shingo sighed.
"Exactly," Naoko agreed.
Kodama trotted in as she reported, "Ms Tenoh called in. She is scouting at the site of the Angel retrieval operation."
"Huh?" Naoko blinked.
"Well, if something does happen she can use our emergency line," Shingo noted. "I guess you could say it's good initiative?"
"What can our resident security expert do there?" Naoko snorted.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Haruka Tenoh sneezed, the sandy blond haired woman sitting by her car.
"Bless you," Setsuna Meiou said, using binoculars to watch the site.
"Should we really be out in public together? I thought you wanted to keep our connection a secret," Haruka noted.
"Mari argued fairly reasonably that we might be needed to act, if this goes badly," Setsuna said calmly.
"Hence us being here," Hotaru Tomoe agreed.
"Yes," Michiru Kaoru nodded, taking Haruka's hand.
"The school won't be annoyed at you skipping work?" Hotaru had to ask.
"They closed today, due to rumours about this," Michiru said as she nodded towards where NERV was working.
"So what IS the plan?" Haruka asked Setsuna.
"We don't have much of one," Setsuna admitted, "we watch, if the Angel awakens and it appears NERV can't handle it, we act."
"Short, simple and to the point," Michiru noted.
"Do we transform or not?" Hotaru asked.
"Only if needed," Setsuna said.
(After being at this as long as they had, all the Outers could use their powers without transforming, though somewhat weaker. If they really needed to cut loose, however, they would have to change to Sailor Soldier form.)
"Did anyone pack a lunch?" Hotaru asked as they waited.
"Actually, I brought sandwiches," Michiru noted, and everyone got one.
"Whoop! They're moving," Haruka pointed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The mostly red-ish orange giant moved forward to the edge of the opening, training a power cable. With a visible burst of smoke the cable detached, then the Evangelion jumped into the lava.
"Temperature's... hot in here, but it's not getting through the plugsuit," Asuka reported as she dove into the lava.
(Fire... the flames... gaze into them...)
"Alarms across the board, but we expected that," Yui noted as they monitored the Evangelion.
"The map should be on your heads up display," Maya relayed, "just follow the marked path to the egg."
(Praying before the sacred flame...)
Asuka shook her head, SOMETHING odd stirring in the back of her brain. "Understood," she said aloud, "moving forward."
Using the AT Field, Asuka 'pushed' herself through the magma, the Evangelion gradually making it's way over to the egg.
"Visual confirmation," Asuka noted as it came into sight.
(Unclean! Unclean! Tainted...)
"Looks like it's still incubating," Ritsuko said. "Okay, get closer, then imagine extending your AT Field around it."
Asuka REALLY didn't like the feel of this, but she had no sense of something happening. She eased the Evangelion closer, even as she watched for movement.
"Okay, attempting to grab it," Asuka reported.
Asuka imagined the Evangelion's AT Field reaching out, then wrapping around the egg. Immediately she felt a odd feedback, an itch in her brain, but she could feel she had it.
"The extra sensors just went," Maya noted.
"As expected," Yui shrugged. "Got it, Asuka?" she asked, confirming the readings.
"I do," Asuka said, frowning. "It feels sort of... squishy."
(Burn it! Cleanse it in fire...)
"Haul it up to the surface, we'll have the other Evangelions waiting," Yui ordered.
"We'll keep watch on the readings," Maya added, "anything weird, we'll tell you."
"It's an baby Angel," Asuka grunted as she dragged it upwards, "aren't ALL it's readings going to be weird?"
"Point," Maya corrected, "we'll warn you if it goes active."
"Here's hoping not," Asuka said...
To be continued...
Notes: the bracket bits are Sailor Mars in the back of Asuka's head functionally going 'OH HELL NO' to all this. She's more active as Asuka and her Evangelion are literally bathed in fire aka magma.