[FFML] [Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 41 - The War Situation Has Developed Not Necessarily to Japan's Advantage

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 41 - The
War
Situation Has Developed Not Necessarily to Japan's Advantage
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.

C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Sem
per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)

What has gone before:
About Book 11 of the Tankoubon Manga, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma
out of the house. Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet
EVA pilots Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffrey
Davis.
With the return of NERV Tokyo from the Great White Space, everyone is
celebrating, except Asuka who realizes their enemies are taking a direct
interest in the pilots. Nabiki and Rei are returned to Tokyo separately,
Rei by express, Nabiki aboard the Spruce Goose with cargo for the EVAs.
Shinji, Asuka, Toji and Hikari meet with Yumiwashi.
Rei locates and confronts Jeff on the anniversary of Samuel's death.
She remembers her feelings on the death of Yui Ikari, and how she arranged
Naoko Akagi's death. Jeff wants to be left alone, Rei decides he needs to
talk about events, and doesn't take no for an answer. Including revealing
how he killed her years earlier in Boston.
At the welcome home party for Nabiki and Rei, the Azores mission is
revealed. Ranma will move in with Asuka and Sammi. Three shoggoths, once
fragments of Ritsuko, fight and are defeated by combining Ritsuko, Ranma
and Jeff, there are some side-effects as the trio's personalities
temporarily bleed into each other. Among them: Jeff, under the influence
of Ranma, confronts Belldandy sending her, then her sisters, into a tizzy,
Keiichi managed to defuse it. Ranko, under the influence of the others,
gives Jeff the passionate kiss from the bet he lost to Asuka at the
carnival. Then Asuka and Jeff tickle Nabiki remorselessly. Rei begins
calling Asuka mein Grossfeldmarschall {Groáe}. All the pilots are giddy
from recent events.
To help Misato and Hiro's relationship, Asuka, Rei and Shinji throw
together a Sunday in the park picnic. Asuka invites Keiichi, Belldandy and
Megumi. Megumi volunteers her services and Belldandy's as caterers. They
work through the night to get everything ready.
The baseball captain Usagi and her allies are introduced, and what
they worship before their softball games.
The picnic is a success until Usagi and Yuki decide to test the
pilots. Ranma easily intercepts the batted ball, but transforms and must
leave. The picnic ends. Asuka and Ranma are sulky after the failed
picnic. Asuka also has a letter from Anna reminding her of home, to which
she can never return.
With the aid of a narrow board and two sawhorses, Asuka begins
teaching Ranma both sword fighting, and how to teach. Only he believes his
first class with the others was an unmitigated disaster.
Asuka contracts Keiichi and his sister to construct several bicycles
for the pilots. She shoots a bug and has her second clash with Skuld.
All four senators from Wyoming and Massachusetts begin investigating
the Boston incident and Misato's part in it. Admiral Simson scrambles to
begin his own investigation of what has been happening in NERV before and
after the war. Shinji and Rei console and watch over Misato.
Asuka and Ranma wash each others hair, Shinji washes Rei's. They
discuss children while doing this. Asuka doesn't want the responsibility,
Rei appreciates her advice.
Aboard the Bennington, Jeff meets with one of his patrons and receives
an update on Sharon. Nabiki is coming to realize the differences in the
way the military treats her and the other pilots.
Major ggreg and Adam Smith arrive, to cover their `spying` on NERV,
they will teach Nabiki and Jeff about explosives. Ritsuko investigates the
unusual way Jeff syncs with the EVA, she is terrified by the contact.
Later she realizes the spirits power the EVAs. Nabiki and Maya train to
operate firearms.
Jeff and the Scholarly Dragon teach Nabiki about control of her
dreams, the Scholarly Dragon prevents a dream attack by Usagi and company.
Admiral Simson asks about Jeff siccing the Senators on Misato, he did
so because the Navy stonewalled his investigation.
Nabiki adds hand-to-hand training with the rifle.
Nabiki discusses Hiroko's death with several of her instructors.
Ritsuko looks over Jeff and Nabiki as Nabiki comes under dream attack.
Joma and Ritsuko discuss the desires of made things for their
creators/users.
The pilots and guards reminisce about the events of the previous weeks
with Belldandy, Sora and Megumi while taking a cooking lesson. The day
ends with a bug attack on Keiichi's home being destroyed by the pilots and
their guards.

And they say 'You don't tug on Superman's cape, You don't spit into the
wind, You don't pull the mask on that old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess
around with Jim'
You Don't Mess Around With Jim - Jim Croce

And When the Bad Folks All Get Together at Night
July 18, 1947
They had assembled at midnight. Not for the symbolism, although most
of them delighted in it, but for concealment. Usagi did _not_ want to get
caught, considering what they were planning.
The forest was dark and tightly wooded, again for concealment. The
depressed bowl would hide their actions and disguise the sounds they made.
The ridge that rose steeply in front of them allowed them to climb to the
top to gain an unobstructed view of their handiwork when the time came.
Usagi wore plain, brown robes over her clothes. Others stripped off
their robes and reversed them. The `mystic` symbols, the gilt and lace,
the fancy stones and other shiny bits made Usagi smile. It showed how
little they understood about the power they revered. Glistening junk and
magical pretensions made little difference. She glanced at Yuki and
remembered how the girl had lobbied to perform their rituals 'sky-clad'.
Usagi thought Yuki enjoyed flaunting her body a little too much. She
hadn't needed to stifle the impulse, the others had universally refused.
It had still taken a lot of Usagi's efforts to smooth over that
disagreement. The dark brown robes had been a compromise, Yuki could be
naked under her robes if she wished, Usagi didn't want to consider if that
was what she was doing.
The ingredients had been slowly collected and hoarded for a long time,
there was no better time to use them. She rejected the idea that NERV, the
EVA pilots and the EVAs themselves should be annihilated. They might be
needed later if one of the other `gods` proved difficult. Besides, NERV
wrongly believed that 'clear the Earth' meant nothing would be brought
back. The chosen would spend a time within the Goddess to be reborn to
repopulate the planet. She lamented the arrogant stupidity of people and
some doctrines, false and/or merely malicious.
Tomoe looked around with disdain, Usagi could never figure out how her
little sister could be so different from her. She never knew why Tomoe was
so nasty, she'd never learned that a threat or a negotiation achieved the
same results as her methods. And, you were vastly less likely to a) get
caught b) try to beat up something far stronger than you were, and c)
manipulating people was so much more satisfying when only _you_ knew you'd
beaten them.
The fire pit drew her attention. The ingredients were assembled
there, awaiting her orders and instructions.
This was the perfect time, she could give in to the bloodthirsty
demands of the others and still not destroy all of their `enemies`,
~Misguided rivals,~ she thought. One EVA and three pilots would remain, an
ample counterforce if needed, an easy target on the impossible chance she
was wrong. Also, the sudden loss of three colleagues would make the fourth
available pilot and the two reservists more amenable, she might be able to
recruit all three to the Goddess and then there would be no need to take
further action against them. It would also allow her to finally bring boys
under the Goddess's aegis, another goal she had long and unsuccessfully
argued for.
As such, she had arranged things so there would be no dissent here,
now. All were firm in their purpose. She set the carrier down, heard the
faint scratching at the metal walls.
"Patience, you're getting as bad as Tomoe!" she cooed to it.
"I don't see why we need that . . . thing." Tomoe was so unnerved
she'd completely missed the insult.
"We need 'that thing' to help with the spells and insure the Goddess's
blessings on out endeavors. And afterwards it needs to get out and hunt,
unless you want to catch things and feed them - " More scratching
interrupted her. "Yes, you're hungry, little darling, soon, soon." She
turned back to Tomoe. "And we need to be in accord for the ritual. We
aren't exactly calling up a bunch of sugar plum fairies." Usagi heard the
laughter, saw the anger in Tomoe's eyes. The girl hated being teased, and
any ritual that included their Goddess's greatest blessing always worried
Tomoe.
~Too bad,~ Usagi thought, ~That is why I'm still the leader.~
The other girls had even less understanding than Tomoe, but time was
not on their side, they needed to move quickly or surprise would be lost.
While she had no doubt they were deploying an overwhelming force, they
still needed the element of surprise.
----------------------------------------
The brown robed girls circled the cold fire pit. Again, the lack of
fire was for concealment in the darkness, not for any ceremonial purpose,
Usagi had tried to convince them. Every single one of them, including Yuki
was sure she was just telling them a story.
They chanted the words that were ancient when the world was new. Fire
would draw attention, and the frantic scrabbling in the fire pit of their
Goddess's gift focused their attention on their mission and that they were
succeeding. They wouldn't even have to shed blood, the gift would do that
for them.
Usagi felt an elation beyond her previous experience, saw it mirrored
on the faces of the others. They were performing the mightiest summoning
they had ever attempted, perhaps the mightiest humans had _ever_ attempted,
and their Goddess was smiling on them. Proof of that was the stunning,
unearthly chorus that joined their voices as the chanting reached the
climax.
~Soon!~ Usagi thought as she dreamt of all bowing to the Goddess, ~So
very soon.~
----------------------------------------
The figure watched the circle break up, as the girls stumbled away
from the effort of spellcasting. The forest concealed its presence as it
concealed the girls from most watching eyes. The summonings were
complicated, the results would be questionable, the twisted forces curled
farther as he watched. It had thought these would be ideal sacrifices, now
it realized that it would be useful to see the outcome of their methods.
If they were hopeless, it would still be able to sacrifice all of them for
its own plan.
----------------------------------------
"We have a reading!" Aoba shouted, the energy patterns he'd detected
through the Magi were unmistakable. "Correction, two, no - _three_!_
Three separate targets, send the alert, get the Commander and the Admiral
on the line."
Alarms sounded through the complex, although at this hour few heard
them. Outside, air raid sirens wailed, there they had a much wider
audience.
One thing Aoba had always loved about the night shift was the enemy
almost never attacked at night, night shift normally only supervised
maintenance. He hoped the 'day' crew got here before the pilots. He
wasn't looking forward to having to do the hand off in the middle of the
battle. He really didn't want to try to manage the battle himself.
----------------------------------------
Shinji was still waiting. Misato hadn't gotten home yet, being
interrogated seemed to encourage her drinking. He didn't understand why
she was so depressed, they seemed to be gathering intelligence. Not trying
to arrest her. He'd sat in on the hearing today, they didn't seem so bad.
He had already put away dinner, gotten a nap and waited.
He didn't know what else to do. He had asked Megorofeld-chan, and
she'd suggested 'Give her a kick'. He decided not to ask Megorofeld-chan
for advice on Misato-san and her behavior in the future. He had a bad
feeling Rei-chan was supporting Misato-san because he was, and she was
unlikely to provide him much help making his decision.
He wished he could talk with Nabiki, Akagi-sensei or Raccoon, they
might understand.
He was happy when Hiro arrived and knocked on the door. He was less
happy that he was carrying Misato, who was bemoaning her fate. Shinji
acted as if she wasn't doing anything embarrassing, or saying anything
embarrassing. He fended off her grabs, as Hiro was doing, until they sat
her in a chair at the table, where she put her head on the table and began
to weep uncontrollably. He had brewed some strong tea, he reheated it,
offering a cup with milk and sugar to Hiro who looked tired and a little
disgusted, Misato refused to drink hers. Shinji and Hiro accepted her
drunken denials, until Hiro had enough.
"I bet you can't drink it," Hiro suggested, "Don't feel bad."
She lifted her head, stared hatefully at him with bloodshot eyes. She
grabbed the tea and downed it all in one gulp. She returned the cup to the
table with a look of triumph. The triumphant look froze on her face with a
woozy grin as she collapsed bonelessly back onto the table.
Shinji sighed. "I don't think we'll be able to wake her before
morning," Shinji admitted.
Hiro nodded his agreement, looked like he regretted moving his head.
"Might be a good idea to let her sleep it off."
"Where did you find her?" Shinji asked, he was getting a little tired
of her getting drunk to escape her problems, because he could see the
problems didn't go away. Either someone _else_ had to solve it, or it
didn't get solved and often it got worse. They rarely if ever went away,
and having someone else solve the symptom, didn't solve the problem behind
it. No matter how skilled or elegant the solution, because the person
would resent her or know they were owed.
Shinji glanced at Pen Pen, who'd come out of his fridge to watch the
proceedings. Once he saw no food was forthcoming and there was nothing to
be done, he promptly returned to his fridge. Shinji couldn't blame him, he
was a little bored with the situation as well.
"It isn't as if it's as bad as she thinks."
Hiro glanced at him. "How much have you heard?"
"I went to see. They were questioning her about a Japanese submarine.
She just answered their questions. They weren't even mean about it.
Kensuke, that's a guy in my class who's a military nut, he could have
answered most of the questions," Shinji said, not daring to voice his real
question: 'Why does she keep doing this?'
Hiro only shrugged.
Then Shinji heard the klaxons, "They never attack at night?!" he
exclaimed as he headed for the phone. He'd be told exactly what to do,
they'd drilled him on this.
"Pilot Ikari, I need transport."
"This is Aoba, uh, I, - " came the uncertain voice at the other end,
and the sound of flipping pages. Shinji waited impatiently, he knew what
to expect, but he didn't want to suggest it to the man.
"Transport is being sent, Tomiyo Tendo will be with it."
That _still_ didn't answer Shinji's principal question. "Is this a
drill?" he asked in an exasperated tone.
"No, it's real."
He heard the phone disconnect at the other end. He replaced the
handset on the cradle. "I have to wake her," he told Hiro about the
snoring Misato, "The alert is real."
Hiro paled, glanced desperately at Misato, then back at Shinji.
Shinji sighed, thought of all the stories of how to wake up and sober
up a drunk.
"Cold shower," Hiro suggested, picking her up easily. Shinji jogged
ahead to open the door to the bathroom. Hiro set her in the shower stall
and Shinji sprayed her with icy water. Misato moved weakly.
Both heard Tomiyo's voice.
"Go, I'll help her along," Hiro told him.
Shinji dashed from the room.
----------------------------------------
~This command car has concrete shocks and no springs worth mentioning,
~ Asuka thought as they raced for the base, pausing only to bounce over
every pothole in Tokyo. Her bones shaking, she idly wondered between
bounces whether they were shaking her brain loose, and who would be going
out. ~Me, of course, but what about the others?~ It bothered her that the
others could command multiple EVAs. She was the best with Unit 02 by a
wide margin, she was the best overall, also by a wide margin, but she could
_only_ command Unit 02. ~It isn't fair,~ she thought as she looked over
Sammi, Erin and Horseface. There seemed no bounds to Horseface's
enthusiasm. ~He gets to defend the Earth and become more of a monster
while he does it. Maybe he thinks he can become the 'Angel of Martial
Arts' and become one with the cosmos,~ Asuka lamented, ~But who else would
do it? Anna, Curly? Raccoon or Ice Princess? Better we do it, then go on
from there, rather than destroying anyone else.~ She turned away from the
others.
They entered the base and drove through the wide corridors. The
shocked looks as the car drove through the pristine corridors made Asuka
smile. "Make way for the Heroes!" Asuka called out. She got a dark look
from Horseface. "Cheer up! You may get a chance to die honorably," she
told him, "That will make your day."
He looked even more put out. She laughed at him.
The car abruptly stopped in from of the locker room. Asuka thought if
Erin stopped quicker, she would have pitched them right into the locker
room itself. She staunchly _refused_ to mention this possibility to Erin,
for fear she'd try it next time. As they entered, the view shocked Asuka,
there was Wondergirl, already there, already suited up and ready.
"Should I even ask?" Asuka was shocked. Horseface just shook his
head.
"I ran," Wondergirl told her, "Mein Grossfeldmarschall would not have
it any other way."
Asuka just shook her head as she headed to her locker.
----------------------------------------
You Know They All Call Big Jim Boss . . . Just Because . . .
~Where are the others?~ Aoba thought as he adjusted his console, and
his mind set, he was going to have to help manage this battle. "EVA Units
00, 01, 02 launching. Three targets on widely different vectors."
"Send Unit 02 to engage the target heading for the harbor, send Unit
01 to intercept the target heading towards the Navy Fuel Depot," Gendo
ordered, "Send Unit 00 to engage the flying target. Order Rei to standby
in the ready room."
Aoba gave the orders. "Commander, these are by far the largest
enemies we've encountered," Baker reported, "The one heading to the harbor
is easily three times the size of the first Angel we fought." He got no
answer, and no rebuke.
~I guess that's the best we can hope for,~ Aoba thought, glancing at
Baker.
Asuka in Unit 02, was sprinting to the harbor, Shinji in Unit 01
placed himself between the fuel depot and the attacker. Ranma in Unit 00,
headed towards the flying cloud. Aoba glanced around, he didn't know how
this worked, but he'd let the kids have their head and he'd keep them aware
of the situation and their mission. They knew what they were doing better
than he did. He didn't even know what the targets looked like, and
wouldn't until the Units got close. The command staff was in the dark. It
made him wonder where Katsuragi was, and Hyuga. The kids would be in
combat in a few moments.
"I have visual," Asuka announced, "Switching over. I wasn't able to
intercept them before they entered the harbor, request assistance from the
Navy in a water intercept."
Aoba felt a lump in his throat, two of the immense worms Shinji fought
had slid into the water in front of Unit 02. The Navy was already
maneuvering, along with every merchant vessel, fishing boat and sampan in
the harbor. Some were running toward, some were running away, some were
just running. Aoba heard nothing from Ikari, so he authorized the water
intercept and sent Asuka's request to the Navy. He suspected they had a
lot on their minds right now. The sudden explosion of a coal ship
punctuated that in a way that defied contradiction.
Some nightfighters were up, but their radar couldn't find what the
NERV sensors could clearly `see`. The EVAs continued to advance towards
their targets.
----------------------------------------
"Our enemies are getting wise," Fuyutsuki leaned close to Gendo, who
nodded.
"We've dealt with dholes before, but I don't remember any other
creatures large enough to engage an EVA, we should be able to destroy them
one at a time," he told his old friend. He noted Katsuragi's and Hyuga's
arrival. "I am concerned they must have thought of that."
"Ranma," Katsuragi commanded, "Open fire immediately."
"I figured that. I just want to see what I'm shooting at," Saotome
replied, "Firing."
Gendo stared at the screen, he couldn't pick the target out of the
darkness, but the shining gold ball of Saotome's attack slowly illuminated
the quarry. Like golden sunlight, Saotome's sphere sailed up into the
flying swarm, for that's what it was, many different targets, rather than a
single one.
~That's better news, ~ Gendo thought as the glowing ball revealed more
details. First bit as the ball passed, searching for its target, were
dozens of shantaks, great horse-headed birds on the scale of the legendary
elephant hunting roc, the ball passed dozens of them.
Then it passed something else, like a huge, winged rope, black as
night, invisible in the darkness, Hunting Horrors. The creature reacted
violently to the nearness of the light, although it wasn't even the target.
Gendo noted that, wondering if the creature's phobia of light, or
something else, elicited the reaction. He filed it away for later
analysis. Shantaks were barely-intelligent beasts of burden, the Hunting
Horrors were the harriers of the Outer Gods, both would pursue prey
relentlessly, the Horrors would do so with a cruel intelligence. That also
meant that an Outer God was involved, they were vastly more powerful than
the Great Old Ones. Gendo had hoped to avoid confrontations with those
creatures until the Children and the EVAs had grown in power.
The ball ignored all those it passed and homed in unerringly on the
target, closing along the shortest line. The shantak initially targeted
had climbed, now it dove for the ground, dragging the golden ball along
through anything that got in the way. As soon as it passed, darkness
returned. Gendo hoped the pilots' vision was better than what they were
getting through the Magi.
Gendo watched quietly as the target of the projectile broke from the
rest of the swarm and drew away, luring the weapon into collisions with
trees and buildings, eroding its power.
Only Shinji's target, or possibly targets, remained unknown.
"This doesn't bode well," Gendo commented neutrally.
----------------------------------------
Shinji watched the swarm of flying things scatter when faced by
Saotome-san. The golden glowing ball selected one target and pursued
relentlessly, while the others closed in on Unit 00. Megorofeld-chan was
facing two of what he'd fought on his first sortie, if she was even half as
good as her boasting, she'd win that fight.
He was worried that his enemy, or enemies, were playing a coy game:
they would advance rapidly, until he could intercept, then run away again,
forcing him to close in, at a point not of his choosing. That was okay, he
could also decide not to confront them directly, and keep them away from
the fuel tanks. With the new S type engines, he and the others had six
hours, there was no need for the headlong charges anymore, they could play
a more careful game.
He heard Misato-san's orders to Ranma, and to Megorofeld-chan, for the
moment she seemed to have forgotten him. He approached as he'd seen
Megorofeld-chan move, run then stop, run then see what the enemy did. His
enemy seemed unwilling to let him get a good look at them, he'd only just
been able to discover there were several of them, or it was a really big
one. Some half a mile from end to end. He hoped it was several smaller
targets.
"Why are you hanging back?" Misato-san's voice and image cut through
his considerations.
"I don't want them to get to the fuel dump," he explained.
"Never mind that! It's only two kilometers ahead. Go after it!"
He charged as ordered. The target shifted right as several targets
appeared to the left, he'd run past them and they'd be behind him. He
wished they'd appear long enough for him to get a good look at them.
~Doesn't the military have flares or something?~ he wondered.
"Don't let them get behind you, cut to the left."
Shinji shifted course, he hoped Megorofeld-chan was enjoying her swim,
he was no longer enjoying his run.
He considered the problem, he wished Misato-san would order a switch,
let Megorofeld-chan handle the fliers, as she had against Cthugha's
servants, let Ranma deal with this in and out actions by these things, and
let him deal with the dholes, he'd fought them once, he had ideas on how to
do it again. Ways that didn't involve getting eaten and slicing them open
from the inside.
----------------------------------------
"Can sonar give me a fix?" Asuka asked as she walked through Tokyo
Harbor. She was hampered by the need to avoid colliding with any of the
warships, not for the damage she might do to them, but the damage they
might do to Unit 02. She hated not being able to see her prey, she also
disliked how big it was. Like everybody else, probably in the world, she'd
seen the newsreel footage of Spineless's first battle, getting eaten and
killing the thing from the inside. She'd thought it was an innovative
tactic, then she'd learned it was an accident. That had been pathetic, but
now she had to beat two of them, hiding in water.
She felt more than saw the depth charge launchers and the explosions.
She wished the harbor was empty of civilians, the shock of the blast might
wreck a poorly-made boat. She also didn't want to think about the effect
of a nearby explosion on anyone unprotected in the water. She remembered
Hiroko's warning to Wondergirl.
~That probably goes double for depth charges,~ Asuka thought.
The flashes of gunfire she could clearly see, what the gun flashes
revealed was not encouraging. A few burning ships did not illuminate the
scope of the damaged or crippled boats, the people bobbing in the water.
None of it would prevent her from destroying the enemy, because more,
far more, would be killed by her inaction. That didn't make her happy
about the helpless victims and putting them in greater danger. One reason
she hated these things, she could understand destroying for a purpose,
destroying just to destroy was irrationality.
~I just love my life,~ she thought. One of those things could flatten
a battleship, but the battleships, cruisers and destroyers might be able to
help with their guns and torpedoes. ~If they can _find_ it,~ Asuka
thought, Unit 02 walked forward slowly, a sonic glaive at the ready. She
wished she had some trick to detect the things. She had her AT field
formed into dozens of long thin spines extending out into the water, below
the surface. If one of the monsters charged her, she'd know it when it
impaled itself. While that defended her, she reminded herself that an EVA
wasn't to defend just itself. The fleet was here, so were the fishing
boats and the merchant vessels that fed and clothed and powered the city.
She had to defend them too.
She hated this, was that ripple the creature, or just where several
wakes overlapped for a moment. Asuka watched another explosion, a tanker
this time. The fire continued to form the slick spreading out from the
stricken ship, illuminating the area around it. The few fireboats, all in
U.S. Navy livery, poured water into the vessel. Asuka knew the casualty
count was ratcheting up steadily as she failed to corner and kill these
things. She watched waves capsize several smaller boats, other vessels
dodged the worms and the previous victims, sometimes collisions between or
even among the potential victims. It was a disaster. And she walked
through it like a dispassionate god, ignoring the lesser concerns of
mortals, intent on a `greater` purpose. She moved through the harbor, she
was aware her own wake might swamp the rescue boats, killing those on
board, she was more aware that is she didn't get this thing, they were
going to have a lot of company.
"Sonar, Unit 02, target 353 degrees relative, closing rapidly."
Asuka turned slightly and readied the glaive, she mentally cursed, ~I
should have brought several, then I could throw them.~
The creature shied away, just out of her reach. Asuka chased after
it, only managing to stab at it, then it sped away.
"Maybe getting eaten and slicing the thing open from the inside isn't
as dumb a strategy as I thought," Asuka said as she wracked her brain for
an answer. Asuka stopped and advanced more carefully, waiting for another
opportunity to stab the thing. ~It's comparatively slow,~ she thought,
~Maybe only eight body lengths per minute, but as big as it is that's 240+
kph. I can't move that fast in water, not even at a dash.~ She moved
through the harbor, destroyers and DE's were escorting the fishing boats
and merchantmen out, cruisers moved here and there. She could understand
why, that was the food source for the city. Lose those little boats and in
days the city would starve. She continued to move, continued to search,
trying to sound slightly out of sorts, trying to be bait, hoping the
unusual sound, smell and sight of the EVA would draw the enemy to her,
rather than drive it away.
She heard Misato-`sama` yelling at Spineless, and Horseface shooting
at `birds`. She walked carefully, she admitted to herself that she had the
wrong temperament to be a hunter like this, she needed to be half buzzard
to do that, she'd rather close with it and kill it. If Misato-`sama` had
the smarts everyone said she did, she'd switch Unit 01 for Unit 02.
Spineless could stand and wait better than she could.
~About the only thing he can do better than I can,~ she thought.
----------------------------------------
Ranma watched the target dive for the deck, making the ball run
through the trees. The passage didn't seem to harm the trees, but it did
weaken the ball. He could feel that, feel it coming apart. Worse was when
they ducked behind a building and the ball plowed into it. The first time
that happened, Ranma had been apoplectic. But for whatever reason, the
ball, not the building, took the brunt of the damage. Now it was their
standard tactic.
Ranma couldn't figure out how to make the ball go faster, or pick the
nearest target as it flew, or somehow make it less obvious which one it was
going after. He might as well paint a line between himself and his target,
a little flittering around by the swarm and even the horse-birds figured
out who he was aiming at.
~I'm just not devious enough,~ he admitted, ~That's not a bad thing.~
He wished he had someone who might give him a clue. He did _not_ want to
ask Misa-chan, he didn't know what she thought she was doing, but ordering
ole' Spineless around like a marionette wasn't helping anybody, except the
enemy.
Ranma had heard about the hearings about things Gendo and Misa-chan
had done against the Americans in Boston. ~But he wasn't _in_ Boston with
us, and she was with us most of the time, what could she have done?~ Ranma
knew such speculations were useless, but everything else seemed to be
working against him.
Ranma gritted his teeth as he slashed the air. Again they stayed out
of range of his sonic glaive, ~And when I fire, it chases after one of
them,~ he thought. He watched that one dodge and maneuver while the rest
threw stuff at him, until either the ball ran out of power or it would
evade and the ball wouldn't reacquire. ~It seems an AT field ball has a
maximum range,~ he thought, ~Beyond it would quit chasing a target. How'd
they know that?~
Ranma wanted to know how they knew the vagaries of his attacks better
than he did. Right now, without something to dodge, they flew in a tight
formation, they'd swoop close to the ground and then rise into the air
before he could close on them. They'd swirl around his head, high into the
night sky, even his best jumps couldn't get at them. As soon as he landed,
they pelted him with the debris they had collected. From trash cans and
benches, to jeeps and even a whole truck. It was useless, on both sides.
He was getting angrier. He wanted to fill the sky with his AT field
missiles, but the second would vanish rather than the first.
~I need to improve that,~ Ranma lamented silently, he needed to get
them closer. "Come and get me!" he shouted at them.
"Crap!" he shouted as they swarmed him, he prepared the glaive to
catch one or two before they broke off.
"NUTS!" he shouted as he dodged the barrage of rocks, I-beams, small
vehicles, none of the `birds` came within range.
As they flew back out of range, he wished he could make a flyswatter
like Shinji could, or some of Asuka's tricks. He wondered if Asuka would
be willing to trade opponents, he figured he'd be better at hunting worms,
while Asuka would be better at sweeping them from the sky.
~I have to discover a better way to deal with these things,~ he
thought, ~At least Misa-chan is concentrating on driving ole' Shinji crazy,
I've got enough to worry about,~ he wondered if the anti-aircraft guns
could work on these things. He didn't know how to lure them down into
range to find out.
They landed, he charged them, scattering them before they could
collect their missiles to hurl at him. This time many guns tracked and
fired at them, from tanks, to jeeps with machineguns, to individual
soldiers. But all that fire shut off like a spigot once the birds got
above 50 meters, Ranma suddenly realized that his altered eyesight and the
EVA let him see the creatures clearly, but everyone else was blind.
~Oh good grief!~ he cursed, ~That's why I'm not getting any help,
that's why I'm here, Asuka and Shinji couldn't see them either. I guess
Misa-chan isn't so dumb after all,~ he thought morosely. He wondered if he
could keep them `entertained` until it was light enough to see and been
seen.
~Then these things will be in for a surprise,~ he thought, ~In the
meantime, how do I get these things close enough that I can hit them?~
A few of the horse-birds complained loudly back and forth, the black,
ropey serpents made their cries. Ranma had the eerie feeling the ropey
serpents were _directing_ the others. He wished Raccoon were here, he'd
know how smart these things were, and unlike Gendo, he'd tell them. ~And
maybe if there were four EVAs,~ he thought, ~We wouldn't be having the
trouble we're having.~
----------------------------------------
Rei entered the command deck and glanced around, she heard Miss
Katsuragi warn Mein Grossfeldmarschall to watch out behind her, then
Shinji-kun that one of the enemy was trying to get around behind him. It
was obvious, even to Rei, that the older woman was extremely frustrated.
~She shouldn't be here,~ Rei thought, ~She has been relieved of duty.~
She glanced up at the Commander, if he had no objections, Rei would not
raise the issue.
Rei could understand Miss Katsuragi's frustration, the enemy typically
closed and the EVAs charged, and the battle was over. If the enemy was
unaware of the greater time available due to the S type engines, their
tactics would have been sound.
~But the normal battery life has long elapsed,~ she thought.
Rei had requested, and received permission to return to the command
deck to observe. Rei was confused by the frantic maneuvering and useless
orders, as if the Miss Katsuragi had forgotten the time/power problem had
been solved, or she had forgotten that the pilots knew their jobs.
Rei noted the men were checking their equipment and looking around,
and looking at each other in frustration. They could no than form a
comment, when Miss Katsuragi would shout something to the pilots that
eliminated what they were trying to do. The exact cause of their
frustration, Rei couldn't guess, being countermanded before they could say
anything, the general helplessness of NERV in assisting the pilots, or that
they were absolutely failing at their task and were thus worse than
useless. Rei decided that she would have to pick one pilot, and directly
support them. She analyzed the three battles and realized there was only
one whom she could immediately benefit.
The one who truly needed continuous updates was Mein
Grossfeldmarschall, whose expertise was needed against the fliers. Leaving
the Fourth's superior speed and hand-to-hand capability against those
playing 'hide-and-seek' against Shinji-kun. She wondered how she could
tell Miss Katsuragi her conclusions.
She dreaded that she couldn't, perhaps if someone told her how to, she
would.
All she could do was support the Commander, she took Analyst Ibuki's
vacant station and plugged in her own A10 nerve clip into the Magi access.
The information suddenly available to her was staggering. Despite all
her time at NERV, she had never interfaced with the Magi system. She shook
her head for a moment to clear it, then she concentrated her efforts on
assisting Mein Grossfeldmarschall's efforts. She evidently had a much
better view of the enemies' positions than the EVA pilot did.
----------------------------------------
Asuka wished she had a professional fisherman or a crocodile hunter,
to give her some guidance on how to read the movement of the water, to tell
her where the things were.
"Mein Grossfeldmarschall, one target north northwest 1800 meters
moving across, second target southeast 3.5 kilometers moving away."
Asuka though Horseface had suddenly changed sexes, then she realized
it was - "Wondergirl? Aren't you back at base?"
"Yes. First target turning towards you."
The image that formed wasn't Wondergirl's insipid face, but a
radar-like screen, the `beam` of the radar was the direction Asuka's Unit
02 was facing, the images of the worms were little green dashes. Asuka
hoped they weren't to scale. The ships around were red if military, blue
if civilian and there was a faint afterimage as all the objects moved,
giving a fading `tail` to indicate course and speed.
Asuka had to admit, it was exactly what she needed. But she wasn't
going to admit that to Wondergirl. Except later. In private.
~Great, now I'm taking orders from Wondergirl,~ Asuka thought
bitterly, ~I'm officially in Hell.~
"First target, northwest 1400 meters, second east southeast 2.5
kilometers. First target closing obliquely, second describing an ellipse.
I believe you and target one are the axes points."
Asuka shrugged. ~I wanted another pair of eyes and some help,~ she
thought, ~I've got them. Next time I should be more specific what I ask
for.~
She hoped Wondergirl's proprietary interest would keep the Major off
her neck. The worms were much faster than anything in the harbor, she
wondered if they could use the sensor system to direct heavy artillery
ashore or afloat down on the things. A time-on-target barrage should be
child's play for the Magi to calculate, but she doubted she could explain
it all to Wondergirl in the time they had.
~Maybe later,~ she thought, ~When I congratulate her.~ She smiled at
the thought of Ice Princess and Raccoon as bridge officers. ~They couldn't
be worse that the idiots we've got now,~ Asuka thought.
"Okay, concentrate on range and bearing on the closing target, but
don't ignore the second one, watch for sudden changes in speed or
direction."
"Jawohl," Wondergirl said, "Northwest 1100 meters and accelerating."
~So it's circling, and it doesn't know how far I can project my AT
field. It's trying to attack my right flank rear,~ Asuka slowly bent her
Unit's knees, she'd leap when the creature made its change.
"Wondergirl, how are the others doing?"
"West southwest 600 meters. You are needed elsewhere," Wondergirl
said.
~OOoo,~ Asuka thought, ~For Wondergirl, that's quite an inditement.~
"Southwest, 400 meters."
Asuka's smile became a snarl, ~Finally coming in, at 200 meters . . .
~ Asuka thought as she got ready.
"South southwest 200 - "
"AAAAHH!" screamed as she leapt, her sonic glaive stabbed into the
worm, her AT field trapped part of it. She couldn't get all of the huge
monster. "It's trapped, and IT'S GOT NO AT FIELD!" she shouted, "Tell
them." Asuka shouted, she hoped they get help here.
Asuka watched a tail the size of a battleship rise out of the water
and head towards her. She dodged out of the way, since her AT field was
otherwise occupied. The creature was writhing and pounding on the barriers
that she'd established that held it fast. She hoped they hurried. The
splashes engulfed the EVA in whatever passed for water in Tokyo Harbor.
"YAAAAA! YUCK!" Asuka shouted angrily, "What genius gave these things
working taste buds!" She found the combination of L.C.L. on her actual
tongue and Tokyo Harbor on the EVA's, created a new and fascinating taste
sensation, somehow worse than Misato's cooking.
"Thanks, Wondergirl." ~Boy does _that_ hurt to say,~ she thought.
"Now get me some artillery support!" she shouted into the pick up.
"I am endeavoring," Wondergirl told her.
While Asuka kept Unit 02 doing the dhole two-step, dodging the immense
tail as it lashed about. She hoped everything else had the good sense to
stay clear.
----------------------------------------
"Pilot Langley has trapped one of the worms," Rei turned and told Miss
Katsuragi and the Commander, "She is requesting artillery assistance, she
has neutralized its AT field." Rei was disappointed that neither Miss
Katsuragi nor the Commander ordered artillery or some other fire support.
Lieutenant Baker relayed Mein Grossfeldmarschall's information and request
to the Navy.
Rei waited, and fumed without showing her irritation. She felt better
when Mein Grossfeldmarschall was demanding something, or she was relaying
the Commander's instructions. Sitting and waiting frustrated her
immensely. Didn't they understand she needed instructions, orders, some
idea of the actions she should be taking?
Shinji-kun was in danger, and no one would tell her how to support
him. The Fourth was bumbling and no one would tell her to help him, and
she couldn't get either Miss Katsuragi's or the Commander's attention to
ask permission, neither was paying her any attention.
So she sat, and seethed, waiting for information that would allow her
to do her job, instructions to do something else to assist, or permission
to speak and advise.
Rei also felt jealousy, she was ashamed of it, but it was there. She
was jealous of the Fourth, even Shinji-kun. She heard the Commander and
Miss Katsuragi giving them such meticulous instructions, such a thorough
understanding of what was expected of them, what actions they were to take,
correcting what they were doing wrong or to an insufficient degree. _They_
would resent it, while _she_ sat at her station and wished they could give
her such clear instructions in doing her duty here, rather than giving her
such general goals and no clues how they wanted her to achieve them.
She sat, frustrated, waiting for someone to tell her what to do next.
"Torpedo boats, Tennessee and South Dakota are inbound," Lt. Baker
called back, "The Alaska is maneuvering."
Rei waited for some order from Miss Katsuragi, receiving none, she
relayed the information to Mein Grossfeldmarschall.
" 'Hurry'," she repeated the other pilot's message. Then she looked
at the big status board. "Shinji-kun," she whispered as the enemy charged
him.
----------------------------------------
Shinji watched them charge, they finally closed to visual range.
Shinji had never seen anything like them. Two massive goat's feet/legs
below a barrel that sprouted several tentacles that seemed to vary in
length as they waved in the air. Three of them, each nearly as tall as an
EVA. He'd heard rumors of the army fighting something like them, but he
didn't remember anyone saying they were this big, not the size of an EVA,
but big.
The trio split and charged him from three separate directions. For a
moment Shinji panicked. But he still had some room to retreat, and he bet
he had superior speed.
~And Misato-san won't let me forget about the other ones,~ he thought
as he charged. He was irritated but not surprised when the one he charged
retreated. It didn't turn, it simply ran backwards. He turned rapidly and
headed for the nearest one. Since he was coming in from behind it, he knew
it couldn't retreat, except towards the fuel dump, and he'd catch it before
it arrived.
He closed on the now zigzagging creature and slashed at it with the
glaive. Neither Ranma nor Megorofeld-chan would have approved of his poor
technique, but he severed one of the major tentacles. Shinji grinned as he
closed in. Then the ground leapt up and hit him. He glanced around and
the severed tentacle uncoiled from his legs and headed, like a sidewinder,
after the escaping monster. He stabbed at it, but it evaded his strikes
and increased its rate of retreat as he clambered to his feet. He glanced
around, the other creatures had also retreated. His confusion now warred
with his frustration at these tactics. He knew when the sun was up, the
Army and Navy would have a field day with these creatures, but until then,
he had to `play` with them. He felt his anger growing as he charged after
them.
~When I _catch_ one of these things!~ he thought, ~It is _not_ getting
away. It's not going to get back up!~
"Uh, do these normally do that?" Shinji shifted his glaive in his
hand. They'd stopped, `shoulder` to `shoulder`. He refused to be drawn
into a trap, backing away to continue guarding the approaches to the fuel
dump. He worried what he'd do if chopping them into pieces wouldn't stop
them. He had listened to Ranma and Asuka's struggles, if Asuka could kill
hers, he could expect some help.
~Loud, arrogant help,~ he thought, ~But, I'll take it.~
He lunged at one of them, the glaive at maximum extension, it backed
away instantly. He watched the one with the severed tentacle recovered it,
and the tentacle reattached itself.
Shinji's worry grew. He looked at the darkness around them. The
night would prevent the Americans from using much of their army to help the
EVAs. He'd be alone for hours yet.
Shinji wanted to get angry, to let his anger out and ignore everything
except the target, but he also knew he had the fuel dump behind him, and
two other targets. He heard Rei-chan helping Megorofeld-chan, he decided
if he couldn't help, he'd tune out the distraction.
"Shinji, it's moving towards you, move to your left," Misato told him.
Shinji glanced at the position of all three. He feinted to the front
and took one step towards the left. ~I'm not ready to completely ignore
her just yet,~ he thought, ~What did Megorofeld-chan call this . . . a
delaying action.~ He glanced at the power timer, he had over four hours of
power, he could wait.
"I meant more than one step," Misato-san shouted.
"Sorry," he said automatically.
"You're supposed to follow my orders."
"Sorry."
"They're moving right again, get ready."
"Sorry."
"What have you got to be sorry about?"
"I apologize for saying 'Sorry'," he told her, desperately hiding his
smile.
"I expect you to follow directions," Misato-san shouted at him, "Not
apologize."
"Sorry." He decided to keep one other thing pinned down while the
others dealt with the enemy.
----------------------------------------
But Down Home They Call Me Slim
'Sorry,' Ranma heard Shinji say, again.
~You go get'er,~ Ranma thought as he watched the swarm close in. He
wanted to just jump up and grab them, he wanted to shout his frustration at
them.
~I never feel this way in Unit 04,~ he thought. He wasn't used to
having to hold himself back this way. It was as if the seat prickled or
something. Unit 01 wasn't like that either. He had the feeling of being
almost held back in Unit 04. In Unit 04 he wasn't as reckless as he was
even outside an EVA. Right now, there was almost a heckler trying to push
him onward. It wasn't something he was used to.
~Is this what Rei faces?~ he wondered. It explained why she seemed to
come alive in the EVA. Something was poking her in the butt with a sharp
stick, all the time. Ranma didn't like it. Didn't like having to restrain
himself. Even he realized that he couldn't act precipitously.
~Now, am I acting correctly, or am I restraining myself so that I'm
missing chances I'd normally take to win this?~ he wondered. He didn't
like this at all. He wanted to be back in Unit 04, where he was the one
running forward and . . . something was always whispering caution in his
ear.
The birds had tried dive bombing. Now they were trying a low-level
attack. There was probably a name for it, but he just needed to hit the
center.
There were five of the black, ropey serpents in the practically cloud
of horse-faced birds. He'd seen the rope-serpents `screaming` at the
horse-birds. He'd seen people act that way, including Misa-chan. Little
gestures and postures, 'tone' of voice that said these persons were in
charge. The rope-serpents were in charge. That one, `Misa-chan`, screamed
at _everything_. Nothing was good enough. Another one, `Megorofeld-chan`
raced around checking on _everything_._ Correcting everything.
~`Misa-chan's` my first target,~ he thought. He wondered how Asuka,
'Megorofeld-chan' would react. He didn't want to imagine what Misa-chan
would think about it. 'I killed them first because they reminded me of
you.' Megorofeld-chan would laugh herself sick. He doubted he'd survive
Misa-chan's reaction. His eardrums and shins certainly wouldn't.
He had to time this right. Iaijitsu wasn't in Talhoffer, Hope or
McBane, but it was something he knew. He placed the sonic glaive across
his back, from shoulder to opposite hip as he knelt down. The swarm came
towards him.
"Ranma look out! Get out of there!" Misa-chan shouted.
"I'm sorry," Shinji interjected.
"What are you - " Ranma tuned Misa-chan out and concentrated on
remaining still, drawing the enemy getting closer, closer . . . closer. He
knelt lower, luring the enemy down further. The edge of the swarm began
pelting Unit 00 with rocks and other debris. ~Calm, calm, calm,~ he told
himself.
As the swarm finished passing over, Ranma looked forward at the glaive
as it lay extended in front of him. Ranma smiled in the entry plug as he
stood Unit 00 and looked at the swarm climbing into the air.
Except for one, the lead rope-serpent `Misa-chan` screamed and
thrashed on the ground, its guts split open and scattered on the ground.
Ranma saw no reason to be cruel, he released a massive ball at his fallen
foe. It burned away to nothing as the ball struck it.
Ranma looked at the creatures closing on Shinji. Ranma owed him for
the diversion. Ranma picked out one of them and fired the heaviest ball he
could summon. He watched the golden ball race towards the group.
Suddenly the goat-footed tentacle barrels scattered. The ball's
target raced behind Shinji and kept Unit 01 between it and Ranma's attack.
Ranma watched in horror as the golden ball closed unerringly at Unit 01.
"TURN, DISSIPATE, GO AWAY, _STOP_!_"
"Huh?" Shinji asked as the golden ball enveloped Unit 01, the golden
fire crawled over every edge on the Unit.
"Shinji! SHINJI!" Ranma shouted as the golden light dispersed. Ranma
watched in horror as Unit 01 took a drunken step, tried another in a random
direction, then collapsed to the ground.
"_NO_!_" Ranma shouted as the things closed in on Shinji and the swarm
began another attack run on Unit 00. Ranma took a step, and was pelted by
debris. The attack suddenly came along two then three axes, two sides and
the rear. With him distracted, they were able to use I-beams, end on.
He parried and dodged the attacks, but it prevented him from advancing
to help Shinji. Even if he could have leapt to Shinji's side, it would
open the unmoving EVA to attack by both forces. Hhe didn't think the
barrage would drive off the barrels.
He pounded the controls with fury. They'd taken his best attack and
turned it against his allies. He _never_ wanted to hurt his fellow pilots.
Now he'd injured, if not killed one of them. Even if Shinji was just
stunned, the barrels were closing in. They'd tear the EVA and Shinji to
pieces.
~But if I run over there, both forces will cooperate. All those birds
will have to do is get lucky once,~ he cursed silently. He'd vowed he
wouldn't make a mistake again, after his `showboating` had killed Hiroko.
Now he'd broken his word, and there seemed nothing he could do to make
things right.
~Rei must want to kill me about now,~ he thought, ~If things go much
worse, I may just let her.~
"Shinji! Shinji! Shinji get up! Please get up!" Ranma shouted as
dread filled him.
----------------------------------------
Usagi gestured to the unfolding battle. "There, one down," she said.
"One of theirs, or another one of ours?" Tomoe asked. The other
girls' nervous laughter increased the effect of Tomoe's doubts.
"One of _theirs_," Usagi reiterated, "Saotome's `invincible` attack
was explained to us. We observed it. It was child's play to develop a
counter. Even the Goddess's wisdom was not necessary. Using it against
another EVA _was_ an example of the Goddess's great wisdom. Do any of you
doubt that?" She waited for the nods and embarrassed looking away. "Our
forces were expected to take casualties. You should enjoy this, Tomoe.
They'll tear that EVA to pieces, peel it like a hard-boiled egg. Once they
get to the pilot, they'll crunch his bones to dust." She smiled as Tomoe
paled.
~So you don't mind beating people up, but are squeamish about killing
them, eh?~ she thought of her rival.
"The others will fall soon enough," Usagi said. She reached towards
the carrier, to release her pet so it could go out and hunt, replenish its
strength.
----------------------------------------
And It May Sound Funny, But I Come To Get My Money Back
"Shinji! Shinji!" Misato-san called, adding to Ranma's voice echoing
around the entry plug. Shinji ignored them, lay there unmoving. He felt
very uncomfortable. He didn't know what Ranma's attack did, except made
him feel very restricted, like the time Rei-chan had walked naked through
her apartment or when she'd laid atop him, kissing him and promising she'd
never harm the pilots. It was like his clothes and skin didn't fit
properly anymore. It felt like a terrible invasion on Shinji's part of
something that should have been innermost and intimate, a place no one
uninvited should have been part of. Neither he nor the Unit were damaged
in the least, but the others, the enemy didn't know that. They saw a
fallen target.
At the last game, Megorofeld-chan had pontificated about the best way
to play poker, when she thought 'Spineless' had overbet and almost everyone
had folded. 'If you are winning, let the enemy come to you,' she'd
practically screamed at him, before folding herself. Only Rei-chan had
stayed in the game, her three fives had beaten his two threes, much to
Megorofeld-chan's frustration. But he remembered the lesson, getting the
enemy to react to what they wanted to see. Projecting it had been easy
after Ranma's attack. Now they were finally closing in on the `fallen`
EVA.
He could feel the sweat under his plugsuit as he sat, and waited. He
couldn't move, couldn't tell them he was okay, he knew he could breathe
normally, as long as he didn't touch the controls. But he breathed
shallowly, not wanting to risk moving any part of himself unnecessarily, to
give them any clues he was faking.
~Closer,~ he thought eagerly, ~Come closer, where I can get my hands
on you.~ Still he waited.
They closed slowly, still uncertain, perhaps they sensed his hatred of
them. Ranma was under heavy attack, Asuka was still occupied as the Navy
raced to finish off the one she'd caught. All that made them
overconfident.
Unit 01 leapt up, shoving both arms up to the elbow into the lead
creature's barrel like body. Shinji gave voice to his rage, venting the
reservoir of venom he had built up. His hatred at the uncleanness of these
things. Their existence offended every part of him. He screamed his
hatred as he forced the arms of Unit 01 apart and the monster couldn't hold
together, Shinji tore the creature in two pieces, he instantly slammed his
knees down on one half of the twitching, bleeding creature as he screamed
and tore the other half into tiny pieces smaller than a man.
Shinji felt the pulpy flesh part under the hands of the Unit. Shinji
wanted this thing to hurt as much as these things hurt others. He tore the
pieces into smaller pieces before he threw the fragments across the town.
He kept screaming his rage, he didn't care what the others thought. The
creature battered with less and less force as he disassembled it, reducing
the effectiveness of its counterattack to impotence. He shifted off the
piece beneath him. Drove his hand through it, driving his fingers into the
ground, holding it firm as his free hand tore at it, tearing bits free and
casting them to the wind. The barrel's struggles stopped completely before
he'd finished methodically shredding it.
He was aware of Unit 01 mimicking his own cries of rage. ~Let them
fear,~ he thought, he didn't care, this thing was _wrong_ it had been
taunting him for over an hour, now it would pay for that, for the crime of
existing.
~This is _our_ world!~ he raged inwardly, ~Not yours, no more of you!~
As the last bits flew from his hands and sailed through the air,
Shinji looked through the red haze of rage. Shinji sat back letting the
terrible rage fade, let the awareness of the world around him return. The
others hadn't taken the opportunity to attack him or the fuel dump.
Instead, the other two were in full flight, their tentacles flailing above
them like obscene plumes or maedata, he'd never catch up to them. Many
small flashes dotted the city. One close up let him see a man with a
flamethrower incinerating the bit Shinji had thrown there. He suddenly
felt guilty that he might have flattened someone with the bits he'd
scattered.
Shinji felt the tiredness steal over him as the battle, his small part
of it, had ended. It washed over his guilt as well. He stood slowly,
despite the weariness, he looked around at the battles still being fought
around him.
"You're all right?" Rei-chan asked.
"I'm fine, what orders?" he asked weakly, all he wanted to do right
now was sleep.
Rei-chan smirked. "Miss Katsuragi is indisposed." Rei-chan got very
serious. "You are to proceed to help Mein Grossfeldmarschall with all
speed, there is another of the creatures, it seems to be unwilling to
engage."
"I'm on my way." Shinji felt tired, but he also felt that he'd
accomplished a great deal, their enemies had tried to divide the EVAs, but
it hadn't worked, and now they were winning. He started towards the
harbor.
He wondered if Rei-chan realized she'd given him a direct order.
Relayed from his father no doubt, but Rei-chan had delivered it. But that
was the chain of command. He wondered if she'd be pleased or frightened
when he brought it up later. Of course Megorofeld-chan had ordered people
about, but she was used to it, Rei-chan made a more competent bridge
officer than some of them.
~Although I doubt my father will keep her out of the EVA on that
account,~ Shinji thought as Unit 01 accelerated and raced for the harbor.
----------------------------------------
Usagi heard the silence around her. It was impossible, the Goddess's
Chosen, mightiest of her Dark Young, slain or in retreat. The pilots had
tricked their enemies. Usagi wanted to order a full retreat of all forces,
but the only ones who were compelled to listen were already fleeing. Even
Tomoe was silent. Even the Goddess's gift was silent, subdued by the
carnage.
"Ayanami is a lot more formidable than we expected," Yuki said in a
distraught tone, "They must be holding Ikari in reserve, he's supposed to
be the timid one."
"It doesn't matter," Tomoe said fearfully, "We should get out of here,
we can move more effectively as people. Fighting them force to force
clearly doesn't work."
Usagi smiled inwardly at that, the Goddess's wisdom was vast, she'd
sacrificed one of her own bring more of the faithful in. "Does anyone have
an idea of how to deal with them? As people? Then I'll tell you," Usagi
commanded, all thought of leaving vacated the girls.
"We deal with them at school, some can befriend, some intimidate and
threaten. But someone will watch them at all times until they become
desensitized to our presence. We will pick the ones who most closely fit
our criteria and invite them in, to just our open social gatherings," she
added to prevent protests, although that seemed unlikely, the others were
still cowed.
"That doesn't answer the big question, to what end?" Tomoe demanded,
then uncharacteristically retreated from Usagi's gaze.
"Solicitation, seduction," Usagi told them coldly, "It's clear we
can't beat their machines, we have to beat them. If they want to join us,
fine, if they are merely intrigued, that will serve for the moment. Do any
of you believe we can operate without spies in the pilots' camp once this
Tendo Nabiki returns?" Usagi asked. Not Yuki, not even Tomoe would meet
her eyes. "Then it's agreed. When school starts, we'll begin to bring
some of them into the fold."
"I think that Ranma is intriguing," Yuki said, "But Shinji may be a
better choice, he seems so shy."
~Who didn't see _that_ coming?~ Usagi asked herself without letting
her disgust show.
"I'll see how tough Ayanami is," Tomoe volunteered with a snarl, "We
should also look into their colleagues and their cadres. There has to be a
weak point."
Usagi nodded, now they were discussing the subject she wanted them to
contemplate, and as if the original plan had not blown up in their face.
She let them argue. She was lost in her own thoughts, they'd done their
best, assumed the force necessary and tripled that force. Unless there was
a major change, they would lose. They would probably lose a major portion
of their force. The materials used to summon them had been expended to no
good end. Unless they planned on feeding the pilots a stream of easy
victories to make them overconfident.
"We'll need a new strategy," Usagi said quietly, a strategy she
already had.
----------------------------------------
Asuka watched the salvo of torpedoes go in as the U.S. E-Boats
withdrew, but they detonated on the thing's skin, rather than causing much
internal damage. When she was told Spineless was on the way, she had a few
plans for the pair of EVAs that might be useful. Her glaive was keeping
the thing's head underwater and its mouth pinned shut. This kept it from
using the goo that messed up Spineless the first time, but the thing was
immensely strong.
She saw the battleship coming in. With something so much bigger than
an EVA, it was hard to consider one small or weak, but this one was older
and slower than the South Dakota-class, or the more powerful Iowa-class.
But the heavy battery of 355 mm main guns and the lavish 127 mm secondaries
would be useful, she did wonder why it was closing. Surely it had been in
range for some time. It didn't _look_ like it was going to hit her.
"Whatever you do, turn more star - "
The forward most gun turret fired, one gun, then the other, then the
third.
Asuka felt the hammer blow of _SOUND_ of the guns. One shell missed,
exploding some distance away, the second tore clear through the creature
setting off a paroxysm of lashing about, the Tennessee was out of range.
The third hit the creature, the wound bursting like a boil as the shell
detonated inside the creature.
Before she could react, the second gun turret fired two barrels, the
127 mm guns rapid fired as the ship passed, getting several hits that
didn't penetrate the creature's hide. The aft turrets fired, but the
creature was flailing around, all the 355 mm guns missed. The three shells
that had exploded within tore great holes in the worm, splattering Unit 02
with gore and bloody chunks. Asuka was too occupied to complain, she was
having a much harder time controlling the worm. The battleship remained
out of range as the aft turrets made another attempt to shake Asuka's
fillings loose as they fired again at the squirming worm.
As the warship moved off to turn around, Asuka could hardly move or
speak, the noise had rung the entry plug like a bell, she was certain it
was still ringing. She saw Misato's face shouting at her. She could
barely hear. She was surprised she was still in one piece and that she
still held the worm.
'Asuka are you all right?' she heard Misato shouting. Asuka muted the
woman's voice.
"Wondergirl, tell them _not_ to use the main guns again," Asuka told
her, "The secondaries with armor piercing should be fine, concentrate on
the existing wounds."
"Jawohl," Wondergirl told her.
Asuka shook her head again to clear some of the ringing and deafness.
The A10 nerve clip was supposed to bypass the ears, but she still could
barely `hear` over the constant noise in her ears.
"Wondergirl, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but stick to sending
cruisers and destroyers."
"Battleships are all that is available," Wondergirl told her.
"Battleship_S_?" Asuka squeaked.
"Jawohl, Mein Grossfeldmarschall."
Asuka looked up to see the South Dakota approaching, the main guns
were definitely tracking. Asuka wondered if she was going to be deaf after
this. Asuka glanced at the bubbling wounds on the worm as the tail reared
up to strike, much less tail now, and it had puckered wounds of gunshots
and massive exit wounds from the explosive filling. It hung there
motionless, defiant, a perfect target. The South Dakota fired all six
forward 406 mm guns simultaneously, tearing more holes in the worm.
"Wondergirl!" Asuka shouted over the noise, "Have the Tennessee go
with starshells on the next pass." Asuka glanced over at the ponderous
ship swinging around her in a wide circle, firing salvo after salvo from
her 127 mm batteries, the after turret showed no evidence of being brought
into play.
~Maybe slicing it open from the inside is the only way,~ she thought,
as the noise shook her, ~Quieter anyway. If anyone ever calls me loud
again, I'll know they don't know what they're talking about.~ She needed
one hand and her sonic glaive just to keep it pinned. The other rested on
her aching head, wondering if her brains had shaken loose yet. If the
monster had a brain, she hadn't been able to find it, although a creature
this big might have a completely decentralized nervous system.
The idea that each ring segment of this immense worm would have to be
killed individually daunted her. It also made her angry. She felt the
heat of anger building, but she controlled it, drove it back into the
depths where she could use it without becoming it.
That was the balance she tried to achieve. She'd figure something
out, or the Navy would.
Watching 'rough-tough' woman of alcohol Misato Katsuragi lose her
lunch when `Spineless` tore the thing apart had been worth everything she'd
been through. Asuka wondered idly how Misato had gotten her position, she
didn't seem to be a combat soldier.
----------------------------------------
Well a Hush Fell Over the Pool Room
Ranma targeted one of the horse-birds. He had finally realized they
weren't `supernatural`, just big. A rock, big enough, thrown with enough
accuracy: the thing cawed and fell from the sky. Ranma raced forward and
finished it off with his glaive. He picked up another piece of the debris
that the things had been showering him with. He sighted and threw.
~Anything Goes,~ he thought, he wondered if Mirei and her grandfather
would appreciate that their pitching lessons were now saving the city. The
`ball` didn't take a straight path, the target thought it would miss. Then
it broke suddenly and arced at the last moment, slamming into the
horse-bird. The creature let out an unearthly keening. Ranma had missed,
he needed practice, he'd broken the wing rather than killing it outright.
He summoned his AT field ball and fired. It let out a cry as it died.
Unlike the ropey serpents, the horse-bird simply screamed and fell still.
The birds were circling away, the ropey serpents were still screaming
instructions, but more often screaming at each other. ~Ten thousand
chicken dinners cried out for _VENGEANCE_!_~ Ranma thought.
~They're worse than us,~ Ranma thought, the Meliorist's lessons called
for attacking the enemy's commanders. He sighted and threw an I-beam at
one of them screaming at another, a straight fastball this time. The
I-beam split it in half. An immediate follow up rock smashed the wing of
the other. He caught the falling, writhing, screaming creature with an AT
field ball, burning it to dust. That was enough for the others, they
scattered in all directions. Ranma hurled a few more rocks at the fleeing
rocs. But when he couldn't guarantee a hit, he held off. The idea of one
of his missiles dropping on someone chilled him. He'd ignored that when
they fought Cthugha, and Hiroko had died, Kenta and Seisuke had died. He
wasn't going to be that careless again.
He watched the squawking flock disappearing into the night. ~Maybe
the nightfighters can get them,~ he thought as he stood and watched
occasional flashes of gunfire in the early morning skies. The sun wouldn't
be up for several hours, but Ranma felt the world brighten. He'd mixed
what he knew before with what Megorofeld-chan and the Meliorist, among
others, had painstakingly taught him. And he'd won.
~Nobody could understand how good this feels!~ he thought as he headed
towards the harbor to finish off the creatures ole' Shinji and
Megorofeld-chan were facing. The other two groups had run away, this batch
wouldn't be allowed to.
----------------------------------------
Spineless clearly didn't like what they were doing. He'd caught the
worm's tail as she had ordered, catching it between them. They dragged it
towards the shore. Spineless's disgust grew as he grabbed the pulpy flesh
of the dhole's tail where the shells had riddled and burned it. Part
collapsed under the EVA's hands due to the damage.
~Just get it ashore and destroyed before our Glorious Leader decides
to feed it to us in soup,~ Asuka thought as Spineless nearly lost his lunch
as the flesh pulsed and crumbled obscenely under the EVA's hands. Asuka
was almost used to it at this point, she'd felt it as if with her own
hands.
The massive wounds still bled the brownish ichor into the harbor.
"I really can't feel sorry for it," he murmured, "It didn't have to
attack the boats." He probably hadn't intended to be heard as they dragged
it ashore. Asuka let his uncertainties go unchallenged as she watched him
intently through the `window` that showed his face. Asuka wasn't happy
about what was going to become butchery, the thing was helpless, the other
one was just circling out of range. Asuka was beginning to get worried.
The second one, the _much_ larger one, hadn't attacked. Would it when they
killed this one? She also wondered if they actually had exhausted it, or
if it was playing possum. A long strip of the creature tore loose, hung by
a small section. ~If it stays in one piece,~ she thought as they dragged
the weakly struggling creature onto dry land.
She knew better than to ask. Commander Ikari might know, but he'd
never tell them. Nobody else would have the faintest idea, despite
sounding certain of their answers.
"Hey, Spineless, you want to slice it up while I hold it?" she asked
in a concerned tone, he turned a little green. She laughed at that, he'd
just torn something apart with his bare hands and he was squeamish about
using the sonic glaive to do the same.
~Weird,~ she concluded. She glanced over at Horseface arriving in
Unit 00, he didn't seem to be slowing down as the harbor edge grew near.
"He is on an intercept course," Wondergirl said.
~Probably reading Spineless's mind,~ Asuka thought, ~That girl will
read anything,~ Asuka smirked, ~No matter how boring.~
"You're not going to . . . ," Asuka's voice trailed off as Unit 00
flew through the air.
And landed astride the second monster. Asuka winced at the impact of
the bad landing. ~Well, that EVA's definitely a girl,~ she thought as that
worm went through a paroxysm of bucking and twisting.
"Ride'em Worm-face!" Asuka shouted as she and Spineless dragged the
first one farther on shore. "I have to admire that moron's acrobatic
skill," she said as Horseface twisted Unit 00 to avoid flattening a heavy
cruiser after getting `bucked` off the worm and flying through the air.
"Wondergirl, was he on for eight seconds?"
"No, why?"
"If he'd stayed on for eight seconds, he'd definitely be a wormboy,"
Asuka replied.
"No, not eight seconds," Wondergirl said, "Does that make him a worm
girl?"
"Ha, ha, ha!" Horseface commented when he'd surfaced, covered with mud
and other stuff from the harbor bottom.
"It's charging Units 01 and 02!" Wondergirl warned.
"Spineless, just hold it. I'll get it." She took up her sonic glaive
and his. Suddenly it dodged and headed towards an approaching cruiser
squadron. The cruisers took radical evasive action, reminding everyone a
harbor was a poor place to stage a naval battle. Asuka raced to intercept
the worm.
She cringed as the worm hit one cruiser head-on, crushing the bow and
throwing almost everyone topside off the stricken ship. She passed the
damaged ship, ignoring the secondary explosions that marked its death
throes. She heard the other two ships' warning klaxons as she charged her
foe. Behind her, she heard the guns of the Tennessee and recent arrival
Alaska, firing broadsides directly into the first one. She hoped Spineless
could handle it, she was busy, and, "Horseface get up here and help me!"
she shouted, trying to pursue the thing and keep holding the first one in
her AT field was distracting, and she couldn't afford another distraction.
She had to keep a clear head, or people were going to die.
Horseface raced ahead, this time his impossible leap didn't result in
an attempt to ride it. He landed on it with both feet, drove its `face`
into the mud. It instantly reared up out of it, throwing him aside.
~Let's here it for pollution,~ Asuka thought as it shook itself to
clear the harbor muck off, and she swung the glaive like a baseball bat.
The blade sliced deep.
With head upraised, Horseface began putting his sonic glaive to work,
joined Asuka in her work.
~It dices, it slices, it cleans up easily,~ she thought as they
alternated strikes, like chopping a tree. ~It can't be severed in one
stroke but the two of us cut through it easily enough,~ she thought. The
chunks of dhole dropped into the water to float there unmoving. Asuka
didn't think whatever else was in the harbor would be harmed by the thing's
blood. At the 50% mark, it simply fell back into the water, she and
Horseface silently dragged it back to 'land it' next to the pulverized
corpse of the other one. They didn't shout their victory. It was just a
dumb animal, they'd overwhelmed it.
"Okay you three," Misato told them, "Head back to the base."
"There's lots of people who've fallen into the water," Horseface
complained.
Asuka sidled, as much as a 40 meter, 700 ton machine can, over to the
Coral Sea. "If the Captain or the Admiral can be reached, if they want the
EVAs' help with Search and Rescue, they'd better get on the phone to NERV
HQ," she said over the external loudspeakers, not sending the message on
the communication system.
Horseface was still arguing with `Misa-chan`, "Major, we can help, we
can see in the dark an' pick up people," he offered.
"What part of _order_ did you misunderstand?" Misato asked angrily.
"You have not been restored to active duty and the combat situation
has ceased," Wondergirl said matter-of-factly, even for her, "Your
authority to give orders does not currently exist."
Asuka wasn't sure who was more surprised, ~Wondergirl was just stating
the facts . . . but she was doing so of her own free will.~ She relished
Misato's shocked look.
"EVA pilots, General MacArthur requests all assistance with Search and
Rescue procedures, switch to channel 4 to coordinate operations with NERV
SAR," came over the Coral Sea's loudspeakers and the radio.
"Orders from MacArthur himself," Asuka said, "We stay and help,
switching to Channel 4, that's you too Wondergirl." Asuka switched
frequencies, without waiting for Misato's complaint.
"Okay, Wondergirl, can you find people?"
"Yes."
"Good, you direct Spineless to isolated people, he's so gentle and
tender he won't hurt them."
"Yes," Wondergirl sounded pleased, Spineless looked like he'd either
die of embarrassment or do to Asuka what he did to the Dark Young.
"Spineless, now don't disappoint your girlfriend and bruise them."
She saw Spineless's frown, then his EVA gave her an American style salute.
"Ja wo ri, Mein Grossfeldmar - shardu."
Asuka grimaced, but decided she'd make them pay for that after they
finished here.
"Vas is die odors?" Horseface asked.
~For their crimes against German, definitely pay,~ Asuka thought.
----------------------------------------
Horseface carefully scooped the swimming men out of the water. He had
repeatedly formed an AT field ball that would shoot up and hover, to
illuminate the scene with golden light as bright as the sun, for several
minutes. Asuka used her field as a strainer and carrying case, she tried
not to think about the effect Raccoon's AT field had on her when they were
experimenting. She was collecting dozens of the fallen and getting them
out of the water until she had enough to put them ashore.
The looks she was getting from some of the rescued were beginning to
bother her. But it was too useful a tool to abandon, despite the weird
stares she, actually Unit 02, got from many of the rescued people. She
idly wondered if Raccoon felt that weird when she crawled up on his field
and practically started purring. She didn't feel anything, except the
pressure of the water and the weight of the people. She was glad it only
went one way.
She could hear Wondergirl directing Spineless to the lost and
forgotten. She was especially proud of that. Some poor sailor or
fisherman alone in the middle of a battle, probably so scared he was adding
to the filth at the harbor bottom, then another monster, an EVA this time,
came out of the darkness to rescue him. As far as Asuka was concerned,
NERV needed to polish its reputation.
~Besides,~ she thought, ~Despite his: 'I'm rough, I'm tough, I'm the
best at what I do (beat people up)' I don't think Horseface is really too
comfortable with just fighting and not rescuing people after. You kill the
monster, then you rescue the princess.~ She chuckled at that. ~Wondergirl
is the combat monster, like me, so is Raccoon, the others seem cool to
unwilling at best.~ She knew there was no changing that, you could make
nearly anybody a competent soldier, but not what she, Wondergirl and
Raccoon were. Killers, each with only a code to restrain them. Wondergirl
had to have orders, Raccoon had to have `permission` of his convoluted
ethics, she couldn't kill a human being, nor was she comfortable killing
monsters outside her EVA. Outside her `armor` that marked her as one of
the good guys. These were all thin rationalizations, but they were all
that kept them from really going mad and becoming what they fought.
----------------------------------------
Jimmy Come Boppin' In Off the Street
Usagi knew that the others had long since fled, even Tomoe. She had
the carrier, if anyone asked, she was looking for her cat. What she'd
brought had probably already eaten its fill and headed home. Usagi had to
stay, had to watch. The EVAs had destroyed and driven off the entire force
they had summoned. Now the `heroes` were out rescuing.
Usagi felt empty, the defeat was nearly total. The dholes were not a
great loss, great stupid brutes. One of the Goddess's Chosen was dead,
which was a loss. The Hunting Horrors were depleted. The force would be
insufficient to engage the EVAs again. They might be able to use the force
against an individual pilot, but not mush else.
The others hadn't argued with her final plan to lure the pilots.
Asuka Soryu Langley would be her first target. They would also investigate
the other girls: Ranko and Rei, another group would investigate the boys:
Shinji Ikari and Ranma Saotome. There was no argument now. The teams for
each had been quickly decided. Even Yuki hadn't argued about not being
assigned to one of the boys. Usagi had heard that Miss Langley didn't have
a boyfriend. Maybe Yuki could find out what else she could try, maybe the
redhead liked girls. Yuki seemed to enjoy the challenge, it appealed to
her voyeuristic side, getting `caught` with a girl . . . Usagi left Yuki to
her methods. Tomoe would challenge Ranko Saotome who was an expert marital
artist. The others had their own assignments, the point was to keep an eye
on the pilots.
There were also to be dirty tricks groups to make the pilots' lives
difficult, a friendly face would be most welcome.
The girls had received their assignments without comment. When they
regained their footing after they had time to absorb the defeat, there
would be arguments. Unfortunately, the EVA/pilot combination was more
powerful than any servant even the Goddess could send against them. They
had finally realized what Usagi had been trying to tell them from the
beginning, without seeming to blaspheme. The pilots within their EVAs
_were_ gods. It was a difficult concept that mere humans had created, even
temporarily, a group of gods. The pilots alone were mere humans, the EVAs
alone were just machines.
The real reason they couldn't understand was how could someone walk
away from being a god? Even if they could go back and become one again?
None of the girls understood, but Usagi did. You did it to disguise what
was happening, because with each victory/victim you became stronger. You
didn't announce your apotheosis until none could take it away from you.
She wondered if any of the pilots had mastered powering the EVA from
their own body, or if they could control it from outside the cockpit. She
smiled, she had much to teach them, much she could offer. Especially
presenting a group of young gods to the Goddess, what it would mean to the
Goddess, what it would mean for her. She smiled, especially male and
female, two by two. They were young and fertile, and some bonds were
already beginning to form, bonds that could be heightened. That thought
made Usagi's smile really shine.
It was inconceivable, it was also a clear lesson that they'd never
beat the machines. They'd have to _engage_ the pilots directly. There
were ways of doing this, recruiting a pilot was now more important than
ever. The relative strengths and weaknesses of each pilot paraded through
her mind. The whole experiment had used precious resources to a good end.
They had used a fast, brute force approach, and were thrown back. It was
clear that's what the Goddess was telling them, it was good to know.
No one would argue with a slower, more judicious approach, they also
had the Hunting Horrors and the two Dark Young to call on. Sufficient for
any enemy except an EVA.
She moved through the woods. She would continue to watch the rescue
efforts until the sun came up, then she'd return home. Watching them
rescuing the weak and helpless was an indication of the psychology and the
'morals' of the pilots or their commanders. Determining if the action was
ordered, standard procedure or an innovation of the pilots would determine
how the approach should be handled.
Yuki already thought one of the bridge officers was 'Cute, in a wimpy
kind of way.' Usagi frowned at that, Yuki seemed to enjoy her tomcat
behavior, trading a naked sweaty interval for information, presents, or
simply the thrill of possibly getting caught. Usagi figured she's have
`relations` with anyone, no matter how old, fat or ugly if they were
willing to do it on MacArthur's desk or in the middle of the Diet. Usagi
wondered what Yuki would do if one of the pilots or NERV staff offered to
let her `perform` in the EVA bay, or in some other secret area.
----------------------------------------
The manlike figure with the two hideous faces watched the last girl
leave. It was feeling magnanimous, or it simply didn't care. It had seen
the battle and come to the conclusion that the direct confrontation would
summon the EVAs, a force beyond its current ability to engage.
Several EVAs were even stronger, but not unified. They did not
cooperate. That would prove an ultimate weapon. The girls' foolishness
had sparked an idea, their `Goddess` had servants, to use those servants
appealed to it. Setting things in motion would take time, but the pilots
would never overcome what it would send against them, and they would never
understand why they were failing.
Destroying the summoned creature once it had finished off the pilots
and their EVAs would be simple. It could do so easily, it knew the secret.
When the thing that had imprisoned it before returned, it would have all
the advantages over the former captor.
It slipped off in a different direction from the girls. It did not
fear them, but the thing they had released might have given it some
trouble, killing it would also attract attention better avoided for the
moment.
----------------------------------------
Misato was not happy being called into the Admiral's office,
especially since Ramsey was handling the pilots' debriefing, and she'd been
up all night.
"Miss Katsuragi, why did you override the pilots' request to assist in
the rescue? We have to maintain the goodwill and enthusiasm of the
populace, and those little people who do all the seemingly unimportant
jobs. Having the huge, costly machines actually doing something tangible,
beneficial, understandable to those people gets through the idea that we
aren't 'little tin gods' who don't care about anything except fighting the
Angels."
Misato was furious, he had practically quoted Daimatsu's insults.
"Do you disagree?" Simson stood up.
"No. I agree." She stared at a point over his head. Not meeting his
eyes. Not willing to protest that all the EVAs were _for_ was killing
Angels, they weren't oversized parade floats or goodwill ambassadors.
"Your behavior and orders indicate otherwise." Simson stepped right
up to her, forcing her to look at him, "Either you can't remember what you
ordered, just like you can't remember you were relieved of duty, or you're
lying to me now," he said quietly, "Which is it?"
Misato swallowed, she hated being put in that position, ~If the kids
had just followed orders, if Ayanami hadn't said anything . . . ~
"I think the pilots have a better idea of public relations than their
immediate commander. It strikes me as odd that 'cold' Commander Ikari saw
the wisdom, and 'fun-loving' Katsuragi did not, and still does not. I
would have thought your current experiences with the Senators would have
made it clear. You cannot assume you can ignore everything except your
vendetta. There are other people in the world, you should be more aware of
that, Miss Katsuragi. If it doesn't cost you anything to do something to
improve your standing with the people we're protecting, it isn't an
automatically bad thing to do it. A _major_ should know that. Do you
disagree?"
Misato opened her mouth.
"Of course you do." Simson returned to his desk, "I'm not
recommending disciplinary action, because I can't discipline a civilian."
Misato winced at that.
"Until the investigation is complete, you will turn in your keys and
badge. Security is officially ordered that you will not be allowed to
access NERV and NERV property. I also think you should be grateful I can't
charge you with being drunk on duty. If you were on my staff, I'd lock you
in the stockade until the DT's had convinced you to dry out. There's no
excuse for showing up in that condition."
"Yes, sir," Misato said tightly.
"The core problem, Miss Katsuragi, is the events in Boston. They
could have been dealt with quietly. Only you saw fit to conceal it from
us. Do you think we should continue to conceal it from the pilots?"
Misato looked away. "I don't know, sir."
"With a NERV Branch in Massachusetts, did you really think they
wouldn't investigate the sudden appearance of a swarm of nonhuman monsters?
Especially ones that killed a lot of people?"
"I - " Misato clamped her mouth shut. 'I don't know,' seemed a
terrible answer. She hadn't really paid attention, she was too busy
hunting down the spies who eventually uncovered the operation and destroyed
any chance of the plan working. Necessitating the EVAs. "I thought that
would exceed their mandate," she answered.
Simson scowled. "Those people aren't willing to accept the iron
control 'top is god bottom is shit' you seem to operate under. We expect
people to think on their own and show initiative, and what you and
Commander Ikari released in Boston is a good example of what they _should_
investigate. After all if NERV Security encountered such an event now,
don't you think they'd investigate?"
"If they were ordered to," Misato answered, standing straight, wishing
her headache would stop. Wishing for a drink to make it all go away.
"Unfortunately, you're probably right," Simson said, "That still
leaves the question of what to do about the pilots."
"I don't believe we should tell them," Misato said firmly.
"All right, you won't tell them. Captain Ramsey is telling them right
now, including Miss Ayanami's part. Considering Pilot Ikari _attended_ one
of the hearings, and told the others, how were you going to keep a lid on
it?"
Misato was ashen, she didn't want them to know, she'd never be able to
explain that it was wartime and what they'd hoped to achieve. "I'd advise
against that. Tell them nothing."
"Miss Katsuragi, I gave you the opportunity to explain it, now it's
being done without your input."
"The pilots will get it out of context," Misato stammered, "They don't
need to know."
"That you'd do something like that, or that it was a complete failure
and never would have working in the first place? Commander Ikari admitted
they got it wrong, what you were hoping to do was _impossible_. You were
operating under bad information. Had you succeeded, you would have
released something that would have required an EVA or a battleship to deal
with. The disaster delivered to Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been
visited on Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, etc.," he told her.
She was shocked.
"Do you understand why I might be a little angry about that? If you
_had_ succeeded in paralyzing our foes, the death of a few hundred might
have been acceptable, but that wasn't what you did. And the fact that
information proving you were barking up the wrong tree was available to
anyone who bothered to look."
"I didn't know," Misato said.
"You only followed orders," Simson said angrily, "Miss Katsuragi,
14-year-old kids are seemingly unaware of their mortality. But they _are_
aware of the foolishness and stupidity of adults. Giving them reason to
reinforce such beliefs is not in the best interests of NERV, the world or
hurting Angels. Being considered not so bright is a serious handicap,
being caught covering it up is a red flag to having them doubt on all your
command decisions."
"Then why did you bring up the Boston incident, sir?" Misato asked.
"Because after young Mister Ikari attended portions of the hearings,
and discussed it with Miss Ayanami, they were already speculating, and the
only way to combat rumors is with the truth. To anticipate your question,
the rumors would have had a _worse_ effect on morale and command/control
than the truth. Miss Ayanami's actually speculated your animosity towards
Pilot Davis is due to your failed murder attempt against him. That kind of
wild speculation might pass without comment by Miss Ayanami, but Miss
Langley and young Saotome will definitely take that personally."
Misato wanted to remind him that they were _in_command_, the kids
would do as they were ordered. She doubted that would fly with the
Admiral. Not in the mood he was in. "Yes, sir." There wasn't anything
else to say.
"I suggest you think of how you are going to explain things to the
kids. The Senators have called off today's meeting, in light of the
Angels' attacks." Simson told her, "So I suggest you concentrate on mending
fences. Admitting you can make mistakes worked for Commander Ikari, you
might try it."
"Yes, sir," Misato said. Simson sat down, dismissing Misato with a
wave. Misato stormed down the corridors, she wanted to hit someone and she
wanted a drink, she'd settle for one.
----------------------------------------
Skuld walked out of the temple. She'd been up all night working on a
project. She'd awakened wrapped in a blanket.
~Probably Keiichi,~ she thought angrily, ~As if I'd need one.~ Then
Urd had told her she'd missed the entire EVA battle. She'd slept through
it, and the `Ghost` playing afterwards. She was not happy.
She turned back to the house. "You could have -!" She stumbled and
fell into a deep trench.
"OOWWWW!" She discovered the trench floor was extremely smooth, and
hard.
"Skuld, are you - " Belldandy said, and stopped to stare at the
trench.
Skuld looked at the trench. It was where the curved gravel and
macadam driveway had been, now it was smooth, flat material. It didn't
reach the garage but the curve began just outside _her_ room and led all
the way to the gate.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she shouted at Keiichi, Urd, and Belldandy
who were all staring at the half-meter deep trench. She climbed out and
stared at the others then at the trench, trying to determine what had
mesmerized the others.
"It's a hole. It - " She recognized the slightly curved depression,
and then she screamed. It wasn't just a hole, it was a footprint, an EVA's
footprint.


And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big Jim hit the floor . . . now they say
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim


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