Author's Notes:
Yes I'm not dead! So I stayed up late to finally get this out. *Looks at time* Yup will upload at around 0145 Hours EST. See? I love you guys that much. Fuck sleep, uni students run on caffeine! Specifically Tim Horton's coffee for me! GO CANADA!
Well as is decided by the poll the AN is now prior to the story content. The way I'm gonna do this is in 4 parts. First is general ramblings, status update on my writing habits (I am not gonna call it a schedule, it would be an insult to schedules everywhere) and this story. Any kind of announcements like this will be here as well.
HOLY HELL! Thank you to all those who checked out my previous story! 940 views, 13 reviews, 38 favs and 39 follows as of time of writing this sentence! I am really touched guys and girls, seriously I was really apprehensive and scared about uploading and all of the positive support is much much appreciated.
*Bows in gratitude*
And welcome new readers! Enjoy the madness wuhahahaha!
And with new guns and gadgets being mentioned as always feel free to google what they look like.
Author's Question(s)!
Ah my favorite part, this won't be a regular though...maybe. Anyway here I'll ask yall for opinions for the story or just to sate my curiosity. Feel free to answer in a review or PM!
Any guns you want to see in the future? (Must be cool looking, practical, and not too mainstream). I will use your ideas if I like them and put them into the story (not with Shinji though as I've set his weaponry as of this chapter)! And give you a shout out of course, credit where its due.
Ok so I chose Shinji's weapons carefully. The Sig was b/c I love the sig (I shoot my uncle's real steel P226 and own a WE airsoft P226) so of course I gave him a kick ass custom! The AS VAL was because it looked cool and not too mainstream (i.e. not a M4, M16, AK, etc) and has a built in suppressor which makes sense in context to Shinji. The rounds it fires are also sub-sonic so no cracking sonic boom and are armor piercing. MP7A1 gave him a good smg that fires armor piercing rounds and is small and compact enough to be stuffed into objects so he can carry it. The S&W .500 magnum and PGM Hecate II was because A) they look cool as fuck and B) I want some guns that show that the cyborgs do NOT CARE about recoil. The rocket launchers? Bah I thought it might be funny so chucked them in the bag.
Basic Q&A:
Here I'll address any questions as long as there is NO spoilers in the answer! Both from reviews and any PMs if I feel that answering them here would be more beneficial. Not many questions this time around.
When will the next chapter be up? (Two anonymous): So yeah two anonymous readers asked this and the answer is NOW! Haha! But in all honesty if you want an instant reply to that kind of question, log-in or create an account so I can respond! Seriously though I read a LOT and am currently playing through Persona 3 FES on the PS3 in prep for Persona 5, also catching up on anime as I've been to busy to watch while at school and combined with my fickle moods and I would say I will try to get one out a month. And that's not just laziness I swear! I do try to make these in the 5-7000 word range minimum (yes at around 10,600 words without this AN this is a looong chapter for me) and I try to make it good. First I write for myself, selfish I know, and I try to live up to my standard for writing. Plus I reread my stuff a lot prior to the upload.
Do you like guns? (PM): Ok I WILL KEEP PM answers ANONYMOUS so don't fret when I do answer them here, I just do this to keep any possible repeat questions down. Yes, yes i do. I shoot them at the range sometimes (not often though as I live at home as a uni student to keep living costs down and my family are not gun people and therefore tag along with my uncle when I can), I play airsoft when I can and I admire them from a mechanical/engineering and craftsmanship perspective. I also like swords and knives, weaponry in general I guess.
SPOILER TALK:
Here I'll answer any spoiler questions and just babble incoherently about this chapter in general so pls READ THIS AFTER YOU READ THE STORY CONTENT, the words won't disappear if you ignore them for now friend. Seriously its in the name so don't be mad about what you read here, and don't worry I will only discuss THIS chapter, light future plans and sometimes the PREVIOUS ones as well.
No spoiler questions so i will just ramble incoherently. Ok so this chapter became waaay longer than I thought it would be. Seriously, I thought I might have to insert filler to get it to 7ish thousand words but nope I didn't. Here I wanted to start off with the London raid from another perspective. Shinji's perspective last chapter was designed to be somewhat clinical, he's just going through the fight with no real emotional reactions, to him it's natural. No need to freak out or fuss.
After that I wanted to show exactly what Shinji is bringing, needless to say I had a good time putting together his armory ahahahaha.
Then the flashback, here I just wanted to have some fun describing where the cyborgs and handlers live and give examples of other cyborgs and yes their names (and Elsa's personality) are GSG references..oh and so is Elsa's handler. Then we got more back story on Shinji and the reaction of his new "sisters." I've always seen Maya as a soft and very kind person so of course she was most affected and has really resolved herself as a result, hence her behavior at the command bridge. Expect that protective aspect of her to grow btw and she will be in the story a lot, I love her as a character and love to see her in fics. She'll be the softer mature sister to Misato's loud and drunk party sister. And Misato fans don't worry we'll see more of her next chapter.
As for Shinji I wanted to show more of his...lets call it duality. To strangers he is cold, shown when he almost gives ol' Rits a heart attack and then later he tries to comfort Maya with his touch. He's not emotionally dead, he just doesn't show it loudly. Hell even a lot of his emotional thoughts end with him questioning himself and when emotions appear on his face others question what they saw. Expect Maya and Misato lowering his conditioning doses to change that as we go.
Ah the boot-up sequence, my FAVORITE part I've ever written, funny how I came up with the idea on the spot. I've always loved those scenes in movies, videos, shows, anime and games. Going through the checklists as you bring your war machine of choice to life, pure nerd fantasy. Hope you liked it. And no you won't see the whole thing again, Shinji's already done it but bits will come up. Mostly during combat but also as Unit-01 is tweaked for Shinji some few things will change and bits will be seen.
As for the battle itself between Unit-01 and Sachiel I had hella a lot of fun writing and thinking it up. Again I wanted Shinji's view of the battle to be almost clinical as he just...well goes through the fight. His moves and what he plans to do. He also gets hurt for the first time in the story but no real emotional response, conditioning has dulled that part of himself. I also wanted to show that Shinji will have to WORK for his Angel kills. Humans he can just overpower with his implants but the Evas and Angels are on a more fair playing field, and in many ways the Evas are at a disadvantage. In return these fights will be harder, he WILL get HURT unlike his infantry fights where he is the 14 year old Japanese Terminator.
OOooops this went on for forever. Will try to shorten it next chapter.
*Author's Notes END*
CHAPTER 1: ANGEL SLAYER! SACHIEL ATTACKS!(AN ENEMY IS AN ENEMY, IT WILL DIE)
Southern Outskirts of London, UK
He'll protect me he said, a 14 year old kid just said he'd protect me and I actually feel safe. Either that says something sad about you Maya or that Shinji is really good with dealing with other people…I'm sure it's the former.
Truthfully Agent Ferro didn't give us a cover story, and also I've been too nervous on the half hour drive that I couldn't really pay attention to anything. Well I did pay attention to Shinji going over the pistol he lent me; he was surprisingly good at explaining things and answering questions. He also offered me two extra magazines, hopefully I'll never have to use them, I was never the best shot during training.
That said the P226 felt more comfortable than my NERV issue Glock 17, maybe I'll get one when we get back, if anything it'll make the monthly mandatory small arms refresher courses more comfortable. Besides officers are allowed to purchase, with private funds of course, a different side arm and I might as well take advantage of my rank's privileges.
Taking a deep breath I look at Misato-san, who was doing much better at staying composed than myself, and she gives me a quick nod and we move up to and knock at the door. A voice answered us from the other side of the door and he asks us about who we are and what we want. We reply with some messily jumbled together story. Something about a homeless man, way too much alcohol, and Misato added something about a homeless man having intercourse with a lawn gnome for some reason.
Needless to say he wanted us gone, but we needed that door open and continue to barrage questions.
Eventually he door slammed open and a gruff looking short man, he was shorter than even me, stormed out. When he turned around to slam the door shut I cursed internally. When he turned around I saw a pistol tucked into the back of his pants, oh no. He grabs me by the collar and from the corner of my eye I see Shinji looking angry and-wait? Did his eyes flash red?
CRUNCH! SPLAT! SNAP!
Shinji was a blur, one moment he was a few metres away and the next he wasn't. If not for that horrifying sound I don't think I would've realized what happened. I see the body of the man who grabbed me spinning 720 degrees, his head turned almost a full rotation and his head was caved in, blood and white bits of bone and teeth flew like shrapnel.
Then Shinji opens his guitar case and retrieves a strange looking…rifle?! With a thick tube for a barrel, a silencer I guess and vaguely resembled an AK.
Why am I even surprised he that he didn't carry an actual guitar?! He had all those magazines on his vest after all, damn after lending me his pistol I forgot what he is.
No Maya, don't think like that. You saw it, it was faint and almost unreadable but you saw him worry for you, lend you a pistol and express genuine happiness when he told you what it meant to him. He is human.
Watching Shinji kick down the door and fire a short automatic burst before storming in I can't help but think taking him in isn't a good idea, that he was too dangerous, that he wasn't human.
No, he is, just remember that smile and that blush Maya.
Damn this crazy world, damn the world that made a shy kid into…that. And here we are about to drag him back with us to pilot a giant biomechanical robot we don't really understand against foes we don't really know anything about. Foes that may be, no will be, borderline god like.
I think I may need to join Misato-san for my first drink at this rate.
The sounds coming from the apartment were…quiet strangely enough. Shinji's rifle barely audible through the walls and I think I heard a few…bodies hit the floor.
Then a scream came, a blood curdling scream that froze both Misato and I. I know that wasn't Shinji, I've seen him move, seen him when he's in this…this 'lethal mode' and I know that he won't scream.
"MAMAAAA!"
That scream made me turn to Misato and we shared a look. A sad look, then we turn to the body of the man who grabbed me and looked at him. His face caved in, blood oozing out of the wounds where bone poked through the skin, it almost made me puke. Looking at Misato she gave me a look and it conveyed all she wanted to say, 'if there is a God then may he have mercy on that poor soul.'
A few more sounds followed, audible from the hallway, Misato and I were ordered to stay outside until Shinji cleared the apartment. Now I can see why, I would get in the way with my lack of skill and practice while even Misato looked like she knew that even with her training she wouldn't do him any good either.
Adults using kids as weapons to fight our wars, damn this world.
"Clear!" A voice called out, Shinji's voice, and…did he sound happy? Not shy and reserved happy either like earlier, no, instead this was jovial and excited?
I followed Misato to the door and she turned to enter she froze, coming up behind her I-oh my god.
Oh my God.
They were stumps.
In front of us across the entry way and in the living room sat two men on a sofa, their heads were gone above their lower jaw leaving a bloody stump with a bits of skull and teeth on the lower jaw being the only proof that they were once whole. The wall behind them was painted red with white specs sticking to the red liquid; their clothes were soaked in blood.
I stagger a few steps into the entry way and fall on my knees and hands and I vomit and cry.
Violently.
HHHHHHH
Maya did not take seeing those two bodies well, then I again I can't say I did either, I don't think she had the chance to see the shock on my face. Poor girl is crying and vomiting her guts out, I don't think she realized what she would see when she agreed to come on this trip to act in place of Ferro. I don't think I did either.
I let Maya…finish and compose herself as I continue walking in. There were a few guns lying around the apartment, around a half dozen AK-47s and a couple of hand guns are scattered around for easy access, they never had the chance to use them. In the middle of the living room was a man lying on his back and as I walk over I almost vomited too.
His neck, or what was left, was squashed flat like he didn't have any bone there, blood came out of one side where the skin split from the pressure of being crushed, a visible boot print was on the skin. It looked like someone stepped on a hot dog, a bloody hot dog.
Following the bloody boot prints I look up and see Shinji, a visible and expectant smile on his face. He was unharmed, not a scratch on him during his assault, only one bloodied boot (and of course his weapon and vest) were the only proof of his role in the attack.
That smile though, that felt wrong. It reminded of that look a puppy gave you when it ran back with the ball or the stick you threw, 'praise me praise me!' it said. He just killed around a half dozen people in comba-no. It wasn't combat, it was a one-sided slaughter. They didn't stand a chance from what I saw. All that violence and he looked so…happy, so god damn happy.
"Good work Shinji-kun," I say while forcing out a smile, and he gave a warm smile in response before noticing the lack of my compatriot.
"Where is Maya-san?" He asks with concern.
"GUAH!" Speak of the devil.
"Maya!" He screamed as he runs past me to check on her.
I can hear her tell him that she'll be fine and I hear them converse but pay them no attention as I see a man in boxers lying down the hall at the entrance to the bedroom, blood pooled around him. Well if Ferro wants me to see what I'm getting then it's time to see right Misato?
I carefully walk down the hallway to avoid the brass casings so as not to slip or trip on them and turn left towards the kitchen. Lying down on her back was a woman in a blue sun dress, arms and legs spread out as the force of gunfire knocked her down. She had several holes in her chest, while a pot of tomato sauce was knocked over and spilled all over her, blending in with the blood. Turning around and seeing into the washroom I stiffened.
It was like a scene from a horror movie, the shower curtain was COVERED on the other side with blood, bullet holes shredding sections of the thin material and giving me a glimpse of two bodies lying in a bathtub filled with red liquid.
These four never saw it coming.
Taking a breath…ok many breaths to compose myself I turn around and see Ferro standing in the living room and looking at me, behind her Maya was sitting on the floor with her back against a wall as Shinji was fussing all over her with a handkerchief that he was using to wipe her face. It made me smile a bit.
"Ready to go?" Asked the agent.
I take a last look around and see Maya stand up.
"Yes, let's go."
HHHHHHH
Next Day, 1600 hours
NERV Transport VTOL, Over the Pacific Ocean
I really wish NERV had civilian transport VTOLs, seriously these military transport VTOLs have no sound insolation at all. That's it! I'll demand the commander to purchase one of these things, I'm the operations director damnit, I should be able to recommend vehicles and equipment for requisition.
Looking at Maya sleeping across from me and her…our new 'little brother' sleeping with his head resting on her shoulder and her head resting on his I can't help but smile. They look like real siblings.
Also I can't help but wonder…how the hell can these two sleep with all this noise? Shinji I could understand, I'm sure there's some kind of upgrade or something that lets him sleep with all this noise…I wonder if I can get that?
Maya though…well I'm just glad that she's calmed down. After the mission at the apartment complex she couldn't look at Shinji for around an hour. It took her a few more hours of talking to from Ferro and I to calm her down completely and after being reminded how Shinji went to go and see if she was ok she started to treat Shinji-kun normally again.
Well as normally as a shy woman can treat a shy and emotionally stoic teen cyborg assassin.
Speaking of Shinji-kun I look at the pile of luggage across the aisle and I can't help but shake my head. The kid has a lot of luggage, seriously for someone so stoic I'm surprised of all the stuff he had to bring with him. Then again it's not all luggage that normal people would bring with them.
Two of the large luggage bags were filled with clothing and personal effects. Most of his clothing was actually quite similar, various dress dress shirts in different colours, ties of different colours and patterns and pairs of blue and black jeans made up a majority of his wardrobe. Seriously was Ferro trying to dress him up to look like a stereotypical hit man? The rest of his wardrobe consisted around a dozen hooded zip up sweatshirts, undershirts, several really comfortable looking pajamas, a few t-shirts, a suit, a few pairs of shorts and of course his socks and underwear.
Oh yeah and combat vests, combat pants, various holsters and a pair of Oakley combat gloves, all must haves for this season.
As for personal effects he brought a few framed photos, a 9-inch combat knife, a 6-inch combat knife, one of the best first aid-kits I have ever seen and of course a gun cleaning kit and a lap top. The lap top was actually really nice, a custom made computer made as a gift made by some of the technicians and scientists at The Agency. Good to see that even if they were used as…well weapons; the children were still loved by at least some of the staff at The Agency.
As, mostly, normal as those two bags were it was the next large luggage bags that put his belongings apart from those of normal people. One of them was filled with…well guns. A lot of guns, seriously I think some of the guys at the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force would drool over them.
Looking over at the two largest luggage bags Shinji-kun is bringing, labeled "exercise equipment" to excuse the heavy weight, I can't help but wonder how I got suckered into bringing that much firepower. Inside the purple one was a small armory. Stored inside was a PGM Hecate II sniper rifle chambered for the legendary .50 caliber round. The high-powered bolt action sniper rifle was now disassembled to fit into the bag. Also inside is a Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver, the monstrous handgun was chambered for the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge, would usually be used for hunting things like grizzly bears and elephants. Apparently the cyborgs all carry them to shoot out car engine blocks with special armor-piercing high-explosive dual-purpose ammunition and the only reason they're 'dual purpose' is because something that big will obviously be effective against people.
And OF COURSE he also has a few M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapons, single use 66mm rocket launchers, inside for God knows what reason!
The contents of the bag were rounded out by various accessories, mostly scopes and suppressors.
In the red bag was enough ammunition to last a squad of JSSDF soldiers going in a war for DAYS, along with a few grenades of various types.
The young cyborg's luggage was rounded out by two music instrument cases. One was a guitar case, one that Maya and I were already familiar with and inside was the AS VAL assault rifle he used at the apartment complex raid and a brand new Heckler & Koch MP7A1 sub-machine gun…a present from Agent Ferro.
I really wish the woman had a normal person's sensibility on gift giving.
The last case was a cello case which had inside…a real cello. A real honest to goodness wood cello, no hidden blades or guns or explosives…or at least that what they told me. Hmmm maybe I'll ask him if I can listen to him play.
I can't help but let out a sigh, I mean the pistol he keeps on his person I could understand but…how in the world was I talked into bringing that much firepower?!
HHHHHHH
*Flashback to 2200 hours the day before Misato, Maya and Shinji depart*
Shinji and Agent Ferro's Room, U.K. Agency Dormitories A.K.A. "Hogwarts"
Maya and I traveled to the facility, after she calmed down that is, where the Agents and their handlers train and live (outside of work and vacations as I was told) to help Shinji pack up and go over any details with his soon to be former handler. The place was actually really nice, far more home-ish than anything at Tokyo-3. The base, or as the kids like to call it "Hogwarts" was a large British style mansion surrounded by acres of lovely forests and a lake at the back with training facilities located a kilometer west. It was…picturesque to say the least.
I have to admit I'm going to feel a bit guilty taking Shinji away from somewhere this nice.
Once we arrived Shinji went off to start packing while Ferro gave us a tour. Maya and I even had a chance to talk to some of the other cyborgs at the cafeteria (where the food was so much better than the crap NERV serves may I add!)
One was a quiet girl named Elsa, her handler according to Ferro was a seedy guy called Lauro. She was…quiet and stoic, kind of like how Shinji was when we first met but much worse. She was polite and soft spoken but went off to her room as soon as she could, if it was because of shyness or because she just disliked us was anybody's guess…probably both. We never got a chance to talk to her handler though.
The second girl was a named Angelica, a good friend of Shinji-kun as they went through training together and frequently worked together. Her handler recently died due to cancer and she just finished recovering from mental shock of losing her handler. And I don't mean the usual grief, according to Ferro losing a handler could easily render a cyborg catatonic because of the conditioning, whatever that was. That said she was a sweet girl, friendly and strangely outgoing, a surprising difference from the other two cyborgs I've met, and a rarity from what Agent Ferro told me.
Speaking of the good agent she told us that she's planning to retire from The Agency and open a café, apparently it was a dream of hers and Shinji. She also planned to take Angelica with her and adopt the girl and help her transit to civilian life.
Now Maya and I are in Ferro and Shinji's room packing up his things and going over final details with Agent Ferro.
"No I am not letting him bring all those….things!" I shout at the good Agent. Seriously why in the world would he need to bring all those guns?! "Maya ba-"
"Please keep your voice down, Angelica is sleeping next door," interjected the young cyborg as he set on his bed.
"Maya back me up here!" I say, quieter this time of course.
"I agree with Misato-san, while I understand carrying his side-arm, I do not see the need to bring a small armory of weaponry, little brother," the Lieutenant proceeded to give said back up.
"I do not think what I'm bringing is unreasonable Maya-nee," replied the young cyborg.
"Shinji-kun, using only a few examples, you want to bring a high-powered sniper rifle, a hand gun that can bring down an elephant, and light anti-tank weapons," I deadpanned. Seriously what the hell did they want to do with all that? Fight the Angels on foot?
"It seems I'm losing this argument sister," Shinji pointed out while looking behind him at his handler. Also I could have sworn he was…pouting? A little bit?
"You have permission to use that," she replied.
And he turned around to give us….oh God.
Calling it a puppy dog face would be the understatement of the century.
Someone THAT dangerous shouldn't be able to give a look like that!
HHHHHHH
*Flashback End*
Right, that happened.
Seriously that look was unfair.
Thank God he has to ask me for permission to use that now, that was pure weapon–grade cuteness and sadness.
I wonder if that would work on the angels?
After that conversation and after Shinji was asleep we talked about how to take care of Shinji-kun. For one Shinji-kun would have to move in with either Maya or myself, considering his father's personality I doubt he would want to live with his son anyway. Along with the fact that Ferro had made it clear to Shinji that Maya and I are his new handlers (and apparently imprinting us on him in the process) it shouldn't be that hard to pull off. Maya and I decided that it would be best to have Shinji stay with me, while we both can have irregular work hours Maya's are by far the worst with frequent late nights being spent maintaining and adjusting equipment related to the Evangelions. She did agree to move in next door to me though in order to be closer to our "little brother" as she now prefers to calls him. It seems that after getting over the shock of the violence earlier today she's gotten attached to the young Ikari.
I do wonder if it's because of the few flashes of his kind and shy personality or because of feeling pity for the boy, probably both.
Ferro also handed us an instruction manual for Shinji, and I'm not joking, it was an honest to goodness manual for the cyborgs. It was mostly meant for daily care and contained very little classified data, recommended diet and exercise regimens mostly. It also had notes on the effects of the conditioning, mostly on the very protective behavior they show towards their handlers, reminders on how they can easily interpret mundane actions as threats and react with lethal force. The booklet also had a number of suggestions on helping them calm down and acclimatize to new environments and peoples along with how to use (ugh I hate how that word is used here) them properly in combat (mostly what to expect in their behaviours).
It also mentioned a safety feature that Maya noticed earlier when she saw Shinji's eyes flash red. According to the manual that happens when a cyborg gets angry and…well snaps and is about to react with lethal force. Due to a few incidents of lethal overreactions by the generation zero and one cyborgs some kind of optical implant was installed alongside optical upgrades to warn handlers and give them a chance to order their cyborg to stop if they think it's necessary.
It also made a note to remind handlers that most of the time cyborgs do not kill in anger.
Agent Ferro also had a few gifts for Maya and me.
For Maya she gave a FN Five-SeveN pistol. It was apparently Shinji's idea after he saw how awkward his new "sister" was with his own pistol (although according to the woman in question it was still more comfortable than her Glock) so he asked if Ferro could arrange for Maya to receive one. It was, admittedly, a good choice in my opinion. The gun's polymer construction made it strong and much lighter than most other pistols. The 5.7x28mm round had low recoil suitable for Maya's petite frame and lack of experience. It could also pierce body armor, add that with a 20 round capacity and you got a good gun for shooters like Maya, it was a perfect match.
Even if she wasn't a gun person it was easy to see how happy Maya was to see that Shinji cared a lot for her.
Hm I wonder why he didn't get me anything?
After that though were the…off the books presents, things that were being given to Maya and I with the trust that we will never tell NERV about them because they are so integral to Shinji's wellbeing and someone like the commander couldn't be trusted with it.
Hell Ferro could have gotten into a lot of trouble if some people in The Agency heard she told and showed us some of the stuff she did.
The first and arguably most important was a bottle of murky white liquid with a rubber stopper for the lid, it had a simple label stickered on that said "MEDICINE."
It was the drug, or more specifically the cocktail of drugs, that The Agency used to…brainwash the cyborgs, the conditioning I kept hearing about. I don't care what pretty words others might use but that's what it was, brainwashing. It is true that it wasn't all bad, the stuff keeps Shinji's implants from being rejected by his body; if they were to be rejected he wouldn't survive.
If that's all it was I would be singing the praises of that stuff to the heavens.
Sadly it has unsavory side effects. For one it made the cyborgs emotionally attached to their handlers, it imprints an unconscious reaction into them. According to Ferro some cyborgs, like Shinji, are aware of the effects and aren't sure themselves how much of the love they feel for their handlers are their own and how much is because of that damn drug.
Not that they care according to Ferro.
It can also dull emotions in higher doses, and will dull any unpleasant reactions to anything that would normally emotionally scar kids, things like the brutal violence cyborgs see in combat. And lastly it shortened their lifespans to around 20 years of age, according to Ferro the gen 3 implants didn't require the component in the cocktail that shortened their lifespans and gen 2s like Shinji could get them to replace what they have…sadly development on them is extremely slow going. Not good news with Shinji at 14 years old and some of the older gen 2 cyborgs dying as early as 17.
Needless to say Maya and I weren't ok with any of that.
Neither was Ferro apparently. While the conditioning was required to keep his many implants, some were combat upgrades and some were replacement organs to fix the damage from the car crash all those years ago, from being rejected his current doses were much larger than the minimum dose required to live; even if it's what The Agency labels as their minimum dose for active cyborgs.
So we made a plan, it was simple really, to give him increasingly smaller doses every day. While everyone would prefer we give him the minimum dosage to live from the get go and give him some semblance of normalcy and hopefully keep him going long enough for the gen 3 implants to finish; the drug was also highly addictive and either a too low too sudden dose or going 24 hours without a dose could cause a lethal withdrawal.
Fucking hell, drug addicted cyborg ninja assassin with possibly only 2 or 3 years left and soon to be giant robot pilot…I need a drink when we get back to Japan.
The doses are going to be easy enough to give at least; just a small dose mixed in with a glass of water every night and a larger dose in a syringe if he goes into withdrawal. Hell we don't even have to worry about it being detected by NERV since the body absorbs it so quickly so for once luck was on the kid's side.
The last thing she gave us, or more like let us borrow as we couldn't take it with us, was a laptop with files on his training, every single mission Shinji ever participated in and every single time he was injured and what was done and how long it took for him to recover. Needless to say we were shocked, the kind hearted Maya even more so. The training wasn't that surprising after what we've seen him do but the mission and medical reports were hard to read, hell by the end of it Maya was sobbing and she would probably be crying loudly if her new sibling wasn't already asleep.
The mission list was…extensive. Literally hundreds of missions over the years that spanned every corner of the European Union and they ranged from assassinations to raids to all out assaults. And the list of injuries was just as shocking although not as long. Multiple accounts of bullet wounds, stabs and cuts with some of which requiring replacement of artificial bones and/or muscles; both lists were so long that Maya and I couldn't read them all and mostly skimmed through it. Agent Ferro did point out one job before we called it a night, one that made even her sick. It happened around two years ago, it was an assassination mission where the target locked herself into a secure hotel suite.
She had a thing for young boys, needless to say The Agency jumped at the chance to use her vice against her.
After reading through that report I was only too happy to accept a drink from Ferro, Maya just sat at the edge of Shinji's bed and held his hand while silently crying.
"Captain Katsuragi, message coming in from NERV HQ," I hear the pilot call out on my headset and brought my thoughts back to the current mission.
"Shoot"
"UN and JSSDF naval forces have detected possible Angel approaching Japanese seaboard. MAGI computers are working to confirm. Target's ETA to Japan is 6 hours. Commander wants you three at the command bridge on arrival."
"Damn, what's our ETA?"
"ETA to Tokyo-3 is two and a half hours ma'am."
HHHHHHH
Tokyo-3, Japan
Misato-san, Shinji and I are now on one of the subway trains that go from the surface and streets of Tokyo-3 and down to NERV HQ at the bottom of the Geofront.
"Misato-san what about the luggage?" I ask.
"Don't worry, we'll come back for it later," she calmly replied.
"But what about his…exercise equipment" I ask her being careful about what I say, don't want security over hearing if there is a camera here, which there probably is.
"Oh don't worry it's just weights and stuff right? What will be a problem is registering the weapons he has on him," she said while gesturing at Shinji.
Well I guess we aren't going to mention the armory Shinji has in his luggage…probably for the best actually. That much firepower would make people nervous, besides he won't use it without Misato and myself telling him to anyway.
That and filing the paperwork for all of it would take forever and a day.
"Shinji-kun, here take these. Make sure to memorize the serial number on that card ok?" Said Misato as she handed Shinji his "Welcome to NERV" package, it wasn't much, just a booklet with some of the less important classified information on NERV and his NERV I.D. card.
Rays of light enter through the widows as the train enters the Geofront.
"Woah," I hear a small voice in awe beside me and I turn and see a face on my little brother that I can't help but smile at. His eyes were wide open and his face was in sheer wonderment. "A real Geofront!"
Misato and I couldn't help but smile at him as he got up to get a better look out of the window, it's the first time we've ever seen him really act like what he is, a 14 year old kid. I guess even a battle hardened veteran couldn't help but be in awe at the sight in front of him.
Heck I can't honestly say that I'm not impressed with the Geofront, even after working here for the past few years it's always a beautiful sight to behold on your way to work, pity only NERV employees are allowed to see it. The Geofront is a massive underground cavern, a dome, roughly 6 kilometres in diameter and a kilometre tall. At the north end was a sizable fresh water lake with a Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force destroyer floating on the surface, why someone put it down here and how it got there is anybody's guess. In the middle of the cavern was the black pyramid that is NERV Headquarters although the internal structure descends far below where the eye can see. All around the HQ building and the lake was a green lush forest. At the top of the roof of the dome was a flat roughly 1.5km diameter space where skyscrapers hang from the ceiling like icicles, normally they make up the core of downtown Tokyo-3 but are retracted underground to protect them when the angels attack. Mix that with the spiral patterns of train tracks on the white dome's walls and the sunlight filtered in through the ceiling and it looks like something from a fantasy, a hidden underground paradise.
Mankind's last hope against the angels.
As we reach the terminal at the bottom that leads to NERV HQ I lead them down the maze of hallways to the command bridge. Looking back at Shinji I had to suppress a frown, his face was the same stoic face I saw when we first met. True he didn't express or talk much, when he did it was usually kept short and to the point but I saw bits of what I think is his true self. Shy, easily embarrassed, protective and one who fusses over other people, now he was in "work mode," I can see him eyeing every corner and turn and his body was tense and ready to act.
Deep breath and focus Maya, keep walking…that's a problem for later, preventing the end of humanity comes first.
Misato wanted to lead, probably in an attempt to act as the oldest of Shinji's sisters but knowing how new she is and how bad her sense of direction is I doubt we would get to our destination on time…if at all.
As we enter the command bridge, a large room with a large monitor covering an entire wall with three computer terminals at the bottom for use by us technicians. Behind that was enough space for the other personnel there to stand such as Misato the operations director and a bench was off to the side for any of the pilots who may be on stand-by in the future. Behind that was the elevated space for the three UN and JSSDF generals to sit and above and behind them sat NERV Commander Gendo Ikari and Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki.
I stop as I see someone come walking over to us with Shinji stopping on my left and Misato beside him. The woman coming the greet us was dressed in a white lab coat and had blonde dyed hair cut to chin length, my boss and senpai, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi the head of Project E and NERV's Research and Development Division.
"Hello Maya, welcome back," she greeted me.
"Thank you senpai," I responded and she turned to Misato-san.
"Misato, you're late, you were supposed to arrive this morning," she chided as she walked up to Misato to get in her face. I saw Shinji tense up as a stranger got to close to one of his sisters and I gently took his hand to give it a squeeze to tell him it's ok.
"Sorry Rits, you know how airports can be ahahaha," the black haired woman responded with an awkward laugh. Misato and senpai had been friends since college from what I've heard so I'm sure she knew that was true. I knew now too, Misato got us lost at the terminal for HOURS.
"And is this the Third Child?" She asks shifting her attention to Shinji who responded by giving her the cold calculating look Misato and I saw when he first saw us. Visibly uncomfortable she turned to me and gave him and I holding hands a quick glance.
"Well Maya I'll handle your duties for the time being seeing…Shinji-kun here seems to be uncomfortable with so many new faces," she said with a hint of tenseness. Can't blame her, if looks could kill, that look my little brother is giving…well all the new faces he's seeing would probably kill everyone present with the exception of Misato and I.
Although I could have sworn I saw a genuine look of fury when his scanning eyes saw his father, Commander Ikari.
"Of course senpai," I nod back. Watching her walk over to my seat at the middle computer terminal with Shigeru Aoba on her left and Makoto Hyuga on her right I can't help but sigh, I guess when we're off work we have to start working with Shinji on his people skills.
"JSSDF 79th Armored Regiment deployed on the highway facing the sea and prepared to intercept as per your order generals," I heard Aoba call out.
"MAGI have finished analysis! Blood Type Blue detected! Target is now confirmed and classified as the Third Angel. UN call sign: Sachiel!" Exclaimed Hyuga.
I feel a tug on my left hand and look down at my little brother.
"Yes little brother?"
"I have a question, sister."
"Mhm?"
"What is an angel?" He asked me quietly.
Taking a second to think about how to explain it I give my answer," well we don't really know much about them to tell you the truth. We don't know where they are going to come from or why but we do know they will destroy humanity if we don't stop them." Might as well be truthful, he's gonna find out sooner rather than later working here anyway.
"I see," he said, as fond of short replies as ever and I turn back to the screen.
"Sister?" I hear him ask.
"Yes?" I say back but keeping my eyes on the monitor.
"Is that the enemy I must destroy?" He asks me and I take a deep breath before responding.
"…Yes."
And that's where our short conversation ended and we both watched the monitor with all our attention and I'm sure Misato is doing the same…well Shinji is probably keeping some of his mind on keeping his sisters safe.
"Target approaching, ETA 60 seconds," Aoba calls out.
And sixty seconds later a giant black humanoid figure burst out of the water. It was…a strange creature that's for sure. It was around 40 metres tall with long slim limbs, its arms ending in four long fingers and there was some kind of spike on each elbow. Its massive shoulders had a white bone like armor plate covering them and on its thighs it had what looked like gills it used to breathe with. The monster lacked a head or neck and instead just had a bone white mask for a face with to black eyes and a bird like beak; on its chest was a large blood red orb with three rib like protrusions on each side.
The JSSDF tanks, Type-74s, opened fire on the Angel with their 105mm guns and a mix of dense tungsten kinetic penetrator darts and high-explosive anti-tank rounds struck home. It was a wasted effort as they did no damage. The angel responded by smashing the tanks underneath its feet, simply walking over the homogeneous steel armor hulls like the carapace of insects.
I couldn't help but cringe as the regiment was destroyed one vehicle at a time. I could hear the crews screaming in pain as they were crushed to death or burned to death or tried to drag a comrade out of the destroyed vehicles. But I can't be sick here, I can't be weak here. I need to be a good sister for Shinji, a strong sister, I can't undo the hell that he's been put through and I can't shield him from the monsters he'll face so I'll at least be strong. I can't turn away now.
Turning slightly and I can see Misato with a deep frown on her face, not surprising since we guessed that conventional weapons would do nothing against the angels. Shinji on the other just watched with an almost clinical interest, analyzing his future foe.
"79th armored…has gone silent," someone said.
"DAMNIT!" I heard one of the generals shout.
As the angel made its way inland, in an almost relaxed walk, it was intercepted with UN Air Force VTOL gunships and they opened fire with their under-wing mounted rocket pods and chin mounted chain guns blazing automatic death into the angel. Hydra-70 70mm folding fin aerial rockets and 30mm depleted uranium armor piercing incendiary rounds slammed into the angel and caused it to stumble a step back. But that was all it did and soon enough the angel was following them into a town. Munitions designed to open tanks like sardine cans did nothing else to the monster as it extended a searing white hot spear the length of its forearm out of its right hand and started swatting the aircraft out of the sky like flies.
"We're not scratching it!"
"Damnit wh-" *BZZZZT*
And again I can hear the crews dying, more and more of the radio chatter descending into static.
Don't look away Maya!
I guess Shinji noticed my discomfort and he gently held my hand a little tighter.
"Artillery batteries open fire!" A general ordered as the aircraft started to break off.
And far and away from the angel's path UN Army M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer batteries and M270 rocket artillery batteries fired at their target. 155mm high explosive shells and 227mm rockets with high explosive warheads struck the angel and the surrounding area exploded in a festival of light and fire.
Again it did nothing, well not nothing; the buildings around the angel didn't survive the barrage. Good thing the evacuation order sounded well before the angel arrived.
"Damn waste of tax payer money," I head Misato mutter to which I could see Shinji giving a small nod, I guess even now he understood how much normal weaponry affected the angels, not much.
"Firefox, this is Godfather, proceed on bomb run," a general called out, from the UN Air Force I assume.
Funny how adults pick stuff up slower than kids.
A United Nations flight of four of the new Russian Tu-200 Bear-2 bombers each carrying a single 50,000 pound earthquake bomb dropped their payloads and blasted the entire town into oblivion. I even saw a direct hit.
Silence filled the command bridge as the smoke cleared…to reveal an intact Sachiel and a devastated town, if you can even call it that now.
Then a massive halo formed on top of the angel and flashed bright yellow as it propelled itself up and away from the town, it's massive "hop" landing it around 20 kilometres away from the previous battlefield and that much closer to Tokyo-3.
As it touched down another squadron of VTOL gunships intercepted and started to fire, albeit at a farther distance than before, and the angel gave chase…or seemed to at least, it was still moving at a rather lackadaisical rate.
Not to take the small reprieve for granted I walk over with Shinji to the pilot's bench and sit down with Shinji while Misato went to grab some coffee at the nearby coffee maker.
Sipping some coffee I can't help but be worried about Shinji facing that monster, all that firepower and nothing.
As we finish our drinks I look over at the top corner of the large monitor at the tactical map and see what the generals have planned, they've placed an N2 mine in the angel's path. Makes sense, N2 weapons are the most powerful conventional weaponry that mankind has ever created, all the power of a nuclear weapon with none of the radioactive fallout.
And as the mine was triggered a small star was born on the surface of planet earth for a split second as a blinding flash of light engulfed the screen that was followed by the image of the explosion and the resulting mushroom cloud. It was devastating, swaths of trees were either snapped or had all their leaves blown off, those close enough but too far to be caught in the explosion combusted from the flash of searing heat.
"YES!"
"TAKE THAT YOU MONSTER!"
Two of the generals celebrated.
"Well it looks like you won't be needed after all," said the third as he turned around to gloat at the commander.
"Electro Magnetic Pulse incoming, will lose visual feed for 10 seconds," I could hear Akagi senpai call out and static covered the monitor.
*BZZZZT*
While I'm almost sure that thing survived, I really hope I'm wrong.
"EMP receded, putting visual up on the main screen."
And of course I'm wrong…I'm starting to see why Misato drinks so much…but wait the war with the angels only started today? Okay maybe I don't know why Misato drinks so much.
"DAMNIT!"
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"Fucking demon."
On the screen was a huge crater several kilometres in diameter and most of it was still in various phases of being molten and cooling with the epicenter being white hot and slowly changing to yellow as you move away. The very edge of the crater was covered in green glass and as it cools the rest of the crater will be the same, a testament to the destructive power of N2 weaponry. But alas in the middle where it was still white hot was The Third Angel, it's skin was severely burned, it's bone like armor charred and it's face mask was cracked. Not that it mattered, underneath it a second face mask with a smaller beak was pushing its way from underneath and moving the old face aside as a sickening snapping sound could be heard from the display. Its flesh was healing too, new flesh was growing and being woven into the wounds.
I think I'm gonna be sick.
And just like that I could feel Shinji giving my hand a squeeze again. Turning to him, he was still glued to the monitor but I whisper a "thank you" to him anyway.
"It has an A.T. Field as we guessed," I could hear the Vice-Commander say, "regeneration abilities as well. Impressive."
*BZZZZT*
And just as he finished a flash of light came from one of the still emerging face's eyes and the screen went to static once again.
"Observation drone destroyed, switching to higher altitude drone. MAGI confirmed energy spike prior to loss of visual signal. Switching in 10 seconds," I could hear Aoba say.
"A beam weapon? It seems they are evolving," commented the vice-commander. Does he have to say it so….complementary?
"Well it seems like we have no option but to hand this over to you Ikari," I could hear the general in the middle say with obvious animosity.
"Do you think you can handle this?" Another asked.
"Of course, this is the reason for that NERV exists. If we do not defeat the angels then mankind is finished," replied the commander while fixing his red tinted sunglasses.
As the general leave, probably to retreat to their own bunker, Misato walks forward to stand behind senpai.
"Orders sir?" She asks as she spins around to look up at the commander.
"Prepare to launch the Evangelions."
"B-But sir! Unit-00 is still frozen! Unless…you want to use Unit-01?!" She asked while blinking, obviously taken aback. I could see senpai also giving the commander a tentative glance back. I'm not surprised, Unit-00 is out of commission due to going berserk during the last activation test and Unit-01 is notoriously temperamental.
"We have no choice on the matter, Captain."
"Sir but Rei is still injured!"
"You have brought a spare have you not?"
A SPARE?! How…that…UGH!
Thank god Shinji isn't staying with the commander, now I know why Misato-san calls him the "Bastard King."
Deep breath Maya.
"COMMANDER!" Well it seems Misato just snapped.
As Misato continues to argue I feel Shinji tugging my hand and I turn to face him.
"Yes little brother?"
"What are the Evangelions and how many pilots do we have for them?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.
"The Evangelions or Evas for short are 40 metre tall biomechanical…robots you could say. They are our only hope against the angels little brother. Because of the cost of building, maintaining and repairing them the only fully complete units are the prototype Unit-00 and the test type Unit-01 but Unit-02 is almost finished in Germany. For pilots we have Rei Ayanami, who is injured from an incident in a test in Unit-00, the others are Captain Asuka Shikinami Langley of the European Air Force and you."
"Is that why I'm called the Third Child?"
"Yes. Only children born after second impact can pilot the Evas…I'm sorry," I said but I almost whispered the apology.
"Why apologize?" He asked with his head slightly tilted to the other side.
"Never mind," I shake my head. I can lecture him on the finer points of guilt and emotions later I think to myself as I see Misato and Akagi senpai walk over to us.
"Maya take Shinji-kun down to the Eva cages, we have a plugsuit that should fit him as well so take that. We don't have much time so try to give him a basic run down on the controls," said senpai.
"Yes ma'am," I reply back and standing up and Shinji does so as well.
"Good luck Shinji-kun, beat that thing up and I'll get you a reward ok?" Said Misato with a wink to which he replied with a nod.
"Ok come with little brother."
And I lead him out of the bridge.
HHHHHHH
2 hours and 15 minutes later
"Here, this is your plugsuit it should make piloting the Eva more efficient," I tell him as I hand him the folded up plugsuit. Taking the Neural Clip, a device like a cat ear head band with two ceramic like nodes, out of my coat pocket I hand it to him as well, "this though is necessary to pilot the Eva. When you put on you plug suit it should be baggy so just press the button on the right wrist and that should vacuum seal it."
With a quick nod he walks in and soon comes out dressed in the all-white wetsuit like skin tight plugsuit with the neural clips sticking out on top of his head.
"How does it feel?" I ask him as he I take his folded up clothes from before as well as his pistol and holster and extra magazines.
"In some places it's a bit tight but mostly it's comfortable, like wearing my own skin."
"Sorry little brother but we haven't had the chance to make one specifically for you yet and seeing as all the other pilot are girls…well its lucky that we could get one out for you as is," and he replied with a nod.
"Later we'll get one custom made for you and you can pick your colours…actually I think they would be ok if you wanted a repaint of your Eva since Asuka asked for the almost complete Unit-02 to be repainted red."
"My Eva?"
"Well the one of the reasons pilots are so rare is that they have to be matched with an Evangelions by the Marduke Institute, technically another Child could operate another's Eva but it won't nearly be as effective," I reply with a shrug.
"Oh by the way, have you thought of a reward yet? I know Ferro rewarded you after a mission but we don't know how she does it so we decided to let you," I ask him partly out of curiosity and partly to take my mind off sending him into the unknown as we walk down to Unit-01's pen.
He tilts his head slightly to the side, something I noticed he does when he's thinking or curious/confused, while thinking up his response. It's a cute habit, one of the few of his I don't mind him having.
"I want pouches and holsters built into my plugsuit for my weapons," he said as he gestures down at the suit in question.
"I'll see what we can do," I reply and I can't help but shake my head in response. Boys and their toys I swear.
As we walk into the cage I can see the 40 metre tall Evangelion Unit-01. Its frame is tall and somewhat skinny, the physique of a runner. It's armor was mostly purple with neon green segments and black highlights. It's head incased in a purple armor resembling a cross of a demon and a samurai helmet with grey jaws clamped closed and one purple horn. After seeing pictures of Unit-02 and seeing Unit-00 in person I will always say 01 is the most intimidating.
As I lead him to the entry plug, a long white pod that that is inserted into the Eva's back and acts as the cockpit, I can't help but feel apprehensive and…guilty.
"Shinji-kun," I call him before he steps inside.
"Yes Maya-nee?" He responded with his back facing me.
"Please just…make sure to come back."
"Order Acknowledged."
HHHHHHH
Evangelion Cages, Unit-01 Pen
As I sit down in the entry plug and the hatch closes I take a deep breath, game on.
Taking a minute to look around the metallic orange walled entry plug and it's kind of…empty actually. The seat is comfortable enough, sized for teens and not adults, makes sense from what Maya-nee explained. There are two control sticks, one for each hand with a trigger for each and a button on the left side of the seat. Other than that no buttons or displays. Well then again this thing is supposed to be controlled with my mind so I suppose that makes sense.
*VOooooooowm*
I can feel the plug rotate and slide into the back of my Unit-01, kind of like the feeling one might get on a fast descending elevator. As I can feel it come to a stop I can hear the dull thud of the armor panel that covers the entry plug port close in place.
The metallic orange walls of the plug flash white as text scrolls up in front of me. I suppose the plug's walls serve as a panoramic display, impressive.
[THOUGHT PATTERNS DETECTED]
[ERROR!]
It said in Japanese. Seeing the button I was told about on the left side of the cockpit I press it and just like Maya-nee said a keyboard popped out from the left side of the seat and flipped over my lap and I type to resolve the issue.
[SET THOUGHT PATTERN LANGUAGE ENGLISH]
…
[CONFIRMED]
Good now it's in English, my Japanese may be flawless but I'm just more used to this.
…
[NERV]
[UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL AGENCY]
[GOD'S IN HIS HEAVEN ALL'S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD]
[ENTER SECURITY CLEARANCE QUALIFICATION:…]
Ok so according to Maya-nee I just type in my NERV personnel serial code…
[ENTER SECURITY CLEARANCE QUALIFICATION: SIERRA-JULIET-BRAVO-1-1-7]
[VARRIFYING]
[STAND BY]
[ACCEPTED]
[LEVEL 2 CLERANCE]
…
[TOP SECRET]
[UNITED NATIONS]
[NERV]
[INTERNATIONAL PROJECT EVANGELION AGENCY]
…
[PROJECT-E]
[EVANGELION PRE-PRODUCTION SERIES]
[EVANGELION UNIT-01]
[TEST TYPE]
[STATIONED: NERV HEADQUARTERS, TOKYO-3, JAPAN]
[!]
[NEW USER DETECTED]
[PREPARING OPERATING SOFTWARE]
[NO CUSTOM SETTINGS DETECTED]
[PREPARING DEFAULT DRIVERS]
[PLEASE WAIT]
….
[DEFAULT USER SETTINGS]
[USER INTERFACE SYSTEMS-GREEN]
[LIFE SUPPORT-GREEN]
[NEURAL LINK SYSTEMS-GREEN]
[OPTICAL/AUDIO/PHYSICAL SENSORS-GREEN]
[OPTICAL/AUDIO/PHYSICAL FEEDBACK-GREEN]
[BIOMECHANICAL MUSCLE SYSTEM-85% OUTPUT- GREEN]
[BIOMECHANICAL NERVE SYSTEM-GREEN]
[ARMOR STATUS-GREEN]
[EMERGENCY INTERNAL BATTERY-100%-GREEN]
…
[EXTERNAL POWER AMBILICAL CABLE DETECTED]
[POWER MODE: EXTERNAL]
[PRIMARY POWER….]
[CONTACT]
[EVANGELION TEST TYPE UNIT-01: ONLINE]
…
[PRIMARY PILOT REGISTERED]
[WELCOME PILOT]
[SHINJI IKARI]
[SIERRA-JULIET-BRAVO-1-1-7]
As the keyboard stores itself away the walls flash a myriad of colours and they finally display the inside of the cage, what the Evas eyes are seeing.
Well this is cool, can't help but remember all those games Ferro-nee and I sometimes play with the giant robots…and what was that anime she liked to watch…Gundam?
Well if anything turning it on was fun.
Still I would prefer to have the targeting computer ready but I guess I'll just make do with the knives. If anything according to Miya-nee Unit-01 was just barely made combat ready. Hopefully more gets done before the next monster arrives.
A window opens off to the side that says "AUDIO ONLY" and I can hear the voice of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.
"Usually Maya would be the one providing primary support to the pilots but for today you're stuck with me Shinji-kun," she says. "Now we'll start flooding the plug with LCL."
I nod and the orange fluid starts to fill the plug. I stay calm; it will oxygenate my lungs directly so I won't drown.
As I breathe it in I can feel that it's warm, body temperature warm. And it tastes and smells like…blood?
"After this we'll install the function in your OS to let you fill the plug manually just in case. Now prepare for A-10 nerve connection in 3…2…1…contact"
I feel myself seemingly ripped from my own body…it's not an unpleasant feeling though, just strange. While I can see the inside of the plug I can also see from the Eva's eyes. I can feel the muscles in its body as I flex them and feel the power they have as they flex against the flexible plastic composite armor. Everything looks so…small.
As I move my head side to side Unit-01 does so as well. We are one.
"How does it feel?" She asks.
"It feels…good. Warm, like it wants to keep me safe," I truthfully respond. I can…feel the Eva's will or something vaguely similar. It's faint and feels almost shy and apprehensive like me when I meet someone new but also familiar and somewhat protective.
Strange.
After a short silence I the doctor spoke again.
"Ok good…sync ratio at 70%?! Good job Shinji-kun! We'll also let you do that connection by yourself once we customize Unit-01's settings for you…well you're as ready as you can be, good luck."
"Ready Shinji-kun?" I hear Misato ask.
"Of course."
"Good, we'll put you right in front of the Angel's path," and I know she's nodding to herself, "Eva Unit-01 LAUNCH!"
Urk!
God knows how much G-force pushes me into the seat as Unit-01 is shot up through the ceiling along the Eva Deployment Elevators towards the streets of Tokyo-3 and I can't suppress a small smile on my face. This is like a roller coaster. That sensation along with the adrenaline and the feeling of testing with a new weapon would make any cyborg a little excited.
Using the neural commands I think up a command that blinks up on the right side of the plug in my vision's periphery as I think up my plan.
[EVANGELION ELEVATOR RESTRAINTS]
[UNLOCK: YES/NO?]
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I heard Misato-nee ask.
"Killing my target."
As I look up I see the door open. Good.
[YES]
[RESTRAINTS UNLOCKED]
As the elevator snapped to the surface I make Unit-01 jump and the combined force rockets us up and past the tops of the buildings in the area and I land on top of the tallest one I find, a twenty story tall office building. I land hard as I could hear the windows underneath shatter.
I take a quick look around and take in my bearings, I'm on the edge of Tokyo-3 which would explain why there are building still above ground, only the tallest sky scrapers in the downtown core are worth the expense of building in the retracting feature I guess. Well with everyone in the shelters I shouldn't worry about property damage.
*THUMP THUMP*
Looking down and in front of me I see my enemy.
"Unit-01 moving to intercept," I announce as I force the purple titan into a lunge down into the Angel and I could hear the roof crumble and crack from the force.
*SLAM*
I impact the angel with the force of a meteor and send it down and it slams into the building behind it, destroying much of that side.
I'm impressed with how easy Eva-01 is to handle even though it's my first go, it feels just like getting used to the artificial muscle implants.
Taking a quick step back to give me some space, I spin Unit-01 backwards to the right to deliver a titanic back spin kick.
*BANG*
Damn, the kick was stopped by some kind of yellow-glowing hexagonal barrier but the force was still enough to push it onto the street to its right.
"That's the A.T. Field! You have to generate your own to negate it Shinji, imagine a wall in front of you!" I heard the Doctor shout out and I do just that.
Right the Absolute Terror Field, the Angels' ultimate defense as Maya-nee explained.
"Unit-01 is generating an A.T. Field!" I heard a male voice say.
"It's negating the Angel's own field!" I heard the Doctor shout.
Good, time to press the attack.
I move in and draw the left arm up and spin to the left and elbow the Angel to the face.
*SLAM*
And now a right punch!
But it didn't connect as the Angel grabbed the right forearm with both of its arms...and my eyes widen in surprise. The Angel's arms muscles tripled in size and I can feel th-
*SNAP*
PAIN
PAINPAINPAINPAIN
IT HURTS!
I grit my teeth and bear it, I know it's just neural feedback but it feels so REAL. Well I've had worse.
[RIGHT SIDE PROGRESSIVE KNIFE DEPLOYED]
The Eva has two tall and thin rectangular pylons attached to the top of each shoulder, and inside each is one progressive knife, an Eva sized combat knife (a single bladed one in Unit-01's case) with a vibrating blade that cuts its targets at the molecular level. I wonder if I can have one Shinji sized?
Putting the thought aside I reach with the left hand and grab the knife from the now opened right shoulder pylon and slash it across the angel's arms. A high peach scream comes from somewhere on the creature as it recoils in pain and I kick it on the chest and throw the knife at its left leg to gain space and hopefully slow it down.
*FLOP*
Good I've also severed the right arm from the elbow.
Looking at the Eva's right forearm and I can see the flexible composite armor is broken half way down the forearm as the rest of the arm and hand is now dangling, just flopping about. Flesh, muscle and a snapped bone visible from the wound, a small trail of red…Eva blood I'll call it stains the street but it seems the wound itself isn't bleeding much anymore.
The Angel lunges at me with its left arm like a cobra and I grab it by the wrist and-fuck!
*HISSSS*
Moving Unit-01's head to the side I barely dodge the one remaining super-heated spear as it shot out of its palm, grazing the head armor and burning it as I feel a burn start to develop on the right side of my face.
My sync ratio must have shot up for that to happen.
Putting that aside I bring the left leg straight up and swing it down like an axe.
*SNAP! BANG!*
The left leg cratered the street and is now covered in the Angel's purple blood and I kick it back with the right leg to open the distance to give me time to put my end game into action.
Giving the severed arm a small toss I grab the still exposed and still white-hot spear.
*HISSSSS*
I can hear the armor covering the left hand start to sizzle and melt from the heat.
*SNAP*
Unlocking Unit-01's mouth I make it and bite the arm and with a pull of the Eva's own arm and pulling back with the head in the opposite direction I attempt to free my new spear.
*rrRRIIIIIiiip!*
The impromptu spear now free I open the jaws and drop the arm with a wet thumping sound.
Giving Sachiel no time to recover I rush it. Seeing a flash from one of the eyes I force Unit-01 down into a feet first slide and dodge the beam which impacts a building and causes a cross shaped explosion.
Skidding with its right leg between both of my Eva's own I lift the left leg up and to the right between the angel's own legs and swing it back down to the left while pushing up with my Eva to send it back first onto the pavement and my Unit-01 mounting it. Not one to be stunned again its eye starts to light up but I impale the spear right under the mask at an angle and twist and tilt it forward to rip the face mask off.
*SNAP!RIIIIP! SQUISH! HISSS!*
The mask now held on with only thin strip of flesh I can see a small river of purple liquid flowing from the wound with the spear sizzling the flesh it contacted.
Knowing it can regenerate quickly…
[LEFT SIDE PROGRESSIVE KNIFE DEPLOYED]
Letting go of the spear I grab my last knife and hear the now comforting sound of it humming to life. Flipping it over to a reverse grip I stab the glowing edge into the red core just like Maya-nee instructed. Sparks fly as the blade made quick work until it's down to the handle. Seeing the Angel twitch I stand up my purple destroyer and slam the right foot down onto the knife with monstrous force and in a blink of an eye the core cracks.
The Angel didn't even have time to react.
Dead, my foe's body started to bubble up and I try to step back but it pops and disintegrates into a red liquid which covers my Eva and the surrounding buildings. I can even hear a small drizzle of the stuff like water but at least it didn't explode.
Still, not my cleanest kill.
"Unit-01 has terminated the Third Angel. Requesting pick-up and coordinates to nearest elevator," I talk for the first time since the beginning of the engagement while looking at the half vaporized and half melted remains of the elevator I used on the first place.
Silence is all that answered me, was the communication equipment damaged?
"This is Misato, sending coordinates now…medical team is on stand-by at the cages…Maya will meet you there," she responded after around a minute of silence. Her tone was…I don't know what it was…surprise? Stunned?
Strange.
Oh the coordinates are here….let's see…
"Roger, coordinates received, Unit-01 is returning."
NEXT ON TOY SOLDIER-CHAPTER 2: SCHOOL DAYS! (ARE GRENADES ALLOWED AT SCHOOL?)