Daniel Jess Gibson
6th February 2005, 04:05 AM
[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.
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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
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.
----------------------------------------
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