Fan Fiction / Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ NGE - Terminator ❯ Different points of view ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Steve VADER 
The battle against the first TERMINATOR.
And decisions based on it.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Sci-fi / Hentai | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.01.2005 | Pages: 11 | Words: 9.9K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Completed
The battle against the first TERMINATOR.
And decisions based on it.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Sci-fi / Hentai | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.01.2005 | Pages: 11 | Words: 9.9K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Completed
NGE - TERMINATOR
Chapter 3 - Different points of view
After long hours of marching on the bottom of the sea, the surroundings changed. Reaching a depth where the
sunlight was capable of sustaining life, several kinds of underwater plants slowed him down.
What they were wasn't in his data banks. So they had to be unimportant.
Not long later, the first reflection of the sun was able to be seen. Soon, he would arrive at the shore,
then march straight towards his goal.
Step after step, he got closer to leaving the water. His way led him continuously upwards.
At a depth of only 20 meters, he changed his sensor view to the normal visual range. There was no need
to use radar and sonar anymore.
A little bit later, his head broke the surface of the water. Several waves washed over him, until he was
so high out of the water that they were unable to bother him anymore.
The sight which presented itself to him would be labeled spectacular. At least by beings which would be
able to classify it as such. He wasn't.
A line of tanks and armored vehicles stood on the shore. Above hovered several VTOLs, and behind him were
several navy ships. But all of this was nothing compared to the three large robots behind the ground
troops.
Covered in blue, purple and red armor, they stood tall above the other war machines, degrading them to toys.
For the Terminator, this was a convenient event. His target was here. He would kill him ASAP.
The robots itself were a problem. Armed with oversized weapons, they had also AT-field generators. Able
to nullify his own field, and destroy him.
His programs searched for the best of fighting them. Nanoseconds later, his plan was set.
Overwhelming odds, the sure fact that he wouldn't survive this encounter didn't matter to him. Such things
weren't covered in his programming. Only the goals counted, only the fulfillment of those were important.
So he marched on.
After he left the water, 105mm shells from the frigates behind him impacted against his AT-field.
This was surprising, as his programming was sure that his field should have been nullified by now.
Obviously, this was not the case. His chances of reaching his goal rose for 4.8 percent.
He ignored the ships. His target lay on land, and so he spared his abilities for use against the ground
troops.
More shells impacted against his shield, bounced harmlessly off. Missiles also wasted their chemical fury
against this impenetrable defense. All of this was ignored.
Suddenly, the fire stopped. He continued to march on. His logic circuits were sure that this meant only
a change in the direction the fire comes from.
The circuits were right. After a half minute, the ground troops opened fire. Armor piercing shells,
missiles and thousands of bullets were wasted against him.
The time for a counter strike had come.
He folded a part of his AT-field to an arrow, sent it at nearly light speed against the troops. The first
attack destroyed two tanks, one of it detonated spectacularly. He continued this line of attacks,
destroying a complete platoon of tanks, and a long line of armored vehicles of different types.
Resistance was still strong, now it came mostly from the infantry.
Against such small targets, his line of attack was inefficient. A change of tactics was in order.
Instead of an arrow, he folded his AT-field to a 20m long razor blade, swept with it, one meter above the
ground, over his close vicinity. Dozens of soldiers died, cutting in half above their waist.
The ground troops started a full retreat. Only spare fire clashed against his shield, while the VTOLS
made the heavy cover fire. Changing back to the AT-arrow, he shot two of them down.
Then, the other two also fled. Only the three robots remained. His AT-field still fully functional, the
chances for a successful mission increased again for 0.9 percent.
Also, he calculated a chance of 6,43 percent that those robots were unable to create AT-fields of their
own. Otherwise, they would have had already used it against him.
If this was true, his chances for success would climb to 87.4 percent. He marched towards the three robots.
After covering nearly half of the distance to the large machines, a strong wave of AT-energy washed over
him, blinked his shield out of existence. His chances of accomplishing his mission dropped to 21.73
percent, not that it mattered. He would resume his attack anyway. As long as he had the ability to fight,
he would do so. This was his programming, and he had to follow it.
But not all was lost. The possibility of encountering AT-technology was anticipated, and he had several ways
of countering it. While he had no shield anymore, he could do other things with it.
His processors searched for the best solution as oversized shells from an equally oversized rifle detonated
around him, sent him uncontrolled flying through the air, again and again. Shrapnel ricochet from his armor,
unable to penetrate it.
Finally, his foes understood the futility of using those weapons and ceased fire. Finally, he landed with
a loud thump on the ground. He recovered quickly and stood up, ready to continue his fight.
Unable to generate a flow of AT-output, he used another possibility of using it. He spiked the power of
his S2 organ, sent an AT-spike against the nearest target. If another detonation beside him wouldn't have
interrupted his targeting, he would have destroyed the core of the red mecha, which was the closest to him.
Instead, it hit the left foot of it, penetrating the armor and making a nice hole into it.
What followed would have made him laugh, if he would have been able to do it. Gripping the injured foot
with both hands, the red mecha jumped on one leg around and made movements that resembled those of
a biological life form cursing.
The chances that this unit was out of battle were 6.09 percent. Irrelevant. His target was the purple one.
He fired another AT-spike, this time perfectly aimed at the core of Unit01. But only a few meters before
the target, it hit an impenetrable orange wall. The blue robot erected it, saved its companion this way .
Preparing himself for another attack, his sensors were too focused on those two, too focused to notice the
furious attack of the third one. And as a large red fist smashed down onto him, it was too late anyway.
With the kinetic energy of thousands of tons, he was hit from straight above, rammed up to the waist into
the loose ground. The structural integrity of his skull was reduced to nothing, as it was nearly flattened.
Secondary processors in his body overtook the work from the destroyed circuits that once were in his head.
While the sensory input was also reduced to almost nothing, he was able to gather enough data that he was
dug out and grabbed at his feet. New waves of system-errors rushed through his battered processors as
he was bashed against the ground, again and again, like a little doll.
The last thing he noticed was the black sole of a big red foot that ascended onto him at high speed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
While the Terminator still walked underwater, Shinji had a strange start of the day. Woken by the alarm
clock, he was faced with cafeteria food for breakfast.
Normally, this would have meant severe displeasure for his taste buds and digestive system, but much to his
shock, it was actually edible. The company from Rei, Asuka, Mana and Misato was also much more than he was
accustomed to, which reinforced the unfamiliarity of this morning.
The way to NERV HQ was also different, as they had only a short walk to do. The pilots went immediately
to the changing rooms, while Mana and Misato made their way to the Ops.
Boarding the EVAs, as well as the starting procedures were the same as always, as was the elevator ride
up to the surface.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Proceed to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." came Misato's instructions.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question, faster than Shinji was able to ask it for himself.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it."
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it with
the knife."
"If it works, do it."
Before more could be said, the signal was terminated.
The three biomechs moved to their positions, where they received new power plugs, then all they had to
do was waiting. And even that not long.
At the estimated time, the machine broke the surface of the water. Shinji zoomed the picture in, to see his
supposed killer. A skeletal face greeted him, with burning red eyes. The entire machine looked almost
human-like, only without skin. And instead of muscles and organs, it had hydraulics and electronic innards.
As he looked into the red optics, that held the promise of his death, Shinji shivered. Up until know,
he doubted the danger of such a small machine against an EVA. Compared to an Angel, it was chibi at best.
Now, he rescinded this opinion.
The navy was the first who opened fire. Their frigates and destroyers opened fire, which bounced
harmlessly against the machines AT-field. The Terminator did nothing else than calmly continuing his way.
No counterattack, not even a sign that he was attacked signaled that it was aware of its surroundings.
As it reached an imaginary line of 50 meters from the water, the ships stopped their useless bombardment,
and the ground forces started their assault. Tanks, artillery and infantry weapons fired their bullets and
shells at the intimidating machine. For long seconds, Shinji started to hope that Mana was maybe wrong with
her tales of the threat from this thing. It didn't react again, so how dangerous could it be?
"AT-spike!" announced his sensors and shattered this calming line of thought.
Several tanks exploded. The Terminator had made it's first strike, and showed how dangerous it was.
In rapid succession, tanks detonated or were rendered useless by gaping holes that went through their entire
hulls.
"Retreat to line 2, retreat to line 2!" sounded the orders from the JSSDF command over the comm-lines,
taking the tanks, which were useless against the Terminator, out of the battle.
Now it was up to the infantry.
As Shinji heard this, he wondered the stupidity of this command. If tanks, which are heavy armed and
armored, were useless against this machine, what could infantry do?
His question was soon answered. Dying.
The Terminator didn't fire AT-spikes anymore, but something akin to AT-blades. Dozens of soldiers died in
seconds, sliced in pieces by this frightening aggressor.
The infantry was ordered back too, and the VTOLs started their attacks to cover their retreat. The soldiers
needed to be out of the way before the EVAs could start their battle, otherwise a lot of soldiers would die
under the large feet of the biobots.
Two of the VTOLs were shot down during their short engagement.
The EVAs stood up and straightened themselves. Now was the time for their battle. Shinji realized that it
was always their battle. That Mana was right. She didn't underestimate the power of the Terminator, didn't
have to tell them fairy tales to boost up her importance.
The threat was here, and it was as worse as she had outlined. No more instructions from the HQ came, so
they stepped closer to attack.
Disabling the machines AT-field was easy, as it was weak compared to those of the EVAs. But what now?
Stepping on it like Asuka suggested wasn't surely a wise choice of action.
The sound of an EVA-sized assault rifle cut his musings short. Her temper got the better of Asuka again,
and she fired an entire clip on the little machine.
The Terminator flew through the air because of detonations that were triggered by shells bigger than
he himself was. And no damage was done. As Asuka's clip was empty, he simply stood up again.
"AT..." started the senor alarm again, only to be outdone by another heavy explosion from Rei's rifle.
This sent again the Terminator through the air, but a little bit too late. An AT-field spike had hit
Asuka's Unit02, damaging its left foot.
"OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! My toe! My toe!" yelled Asuka in pain, distracting Shinji in this particular
moment. He only realized this as another AT-spike bounced against an AT-field in front of him.
And it wasn't his. His eyes widened in realization that Rei just saved his life.
02 still jumped comically around, while Shinji and Rei took ready stances against their foe. Shinji eroded
the Terminator's AT-field, while Rei covered them both with her own.
Shinji had no clue what to do now, and no orders came. Second after second went by, in something that
resembled a stalemate. He feared this small machine, feared it too much for a direct assault.
Asuka was another matter. She was pissed. Royally pissed. And she needed an outlet. And what could be better
than the source of her bad mood?
While Shinji didn't know what to do, and Rei was busy protecting him and her, she was forgotten. From all
combatants. Only as her fist crushed on the Terminator, they all saw that she was back again.
However, she wasn't finished. Shinji watched in awe as he pulled the machine out from the ground, grabbing
his feet and crushing it again and again with full force against the ground.
"All activity of the Terminator has ceased." announced the new, just yesterday added sensors.
Shinji sweat dropped as he saw that this didn't stop Asuka. Instead of ceasing her assault, she fired the
now dead lump of metal against the ground, then jumped up and down on it.
Only as nothing more than a metallic plate, only several millimeters thick remained, she ceased her revenge.
The battle was over.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
Changes.
Everything was changing.
If Rei would have had a choice, she would have let things as they were. In order. Only commands to obey.
No thinking, no emotions, no changes.
She was insecure how she should cope with the new surroundings, the new future, the new people in her life.
Insecurity made her uneasy, and insecurity came with change.
Now that she had some time to think over her new future, she started to realize how much of her world
was shattered, needed to be rebuild with an entire new foundation. How much she had to work on herself,
how long and uncertain the way in front of her really was.
She awoke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. It took her some minutes until she recollected the
events of the prior day and remembered where she was. In an apartment in the underground complex of the
geofront, as the surface was currently to dangerous.
Because of assassins from the future, which had the mission to kill the Third child, then herself, and
finally the Second. Only to ensure the happening of 3I and the inability to make a truce with the Angels.
The shower was familiar. A small cubicle with walls of frosted glass and standard armatures. A place where
she was able to relax for a short time.
Too soon for her taste, she was finished.
Breakfast was loud and nothing she would have endured out of free will. With 5 persons on the table, along
with lots of unfamiliar food, Rei found herself completely lost. At least the others were kind enough
to not talk to her. Or maybe they had just forgotten her.
The way to NERV HQ was short, and Rei nearly sighed as she was once again in the familiar surroundings
of the HQ. The changing room, the cages, the bridge. Places she knew.
She boarded her EVA, felt the well known sensations as she was connected with Unit00.
The start was easy, the orders clear and simple. After the launch, go to the destined location and wait.
Thus she did.
Rei switched the pilots channel of her comm off, as Asuka ranted about the stupidity of the JSSDF, the
dumbness of a machine that would fight her, the great Asuka, and the fact that she wasted precious time
of her life waiting for an enemy she would simply step upon.
Rei waited in silence. She used this time to think. Think over the information she got from her future
self, think over the outlined future she heard of.
Several aspects of it were intriguing, but so far, it was too far in the future to help her over her
immediate problems. Her creator was dead, and everything else changed too.
The murderer was now an ally, the future even more dangerous than it was with only the Angels attacking.
At the predicted time, the machine broke the surface of the water and stepped on land. Greeted by
artillery-fire from several ships, it stepped forward.
It was the first time that Rei saw a real robot. The EVAs were biobots, not only machines. The Terminator
was a machine. The Second often compared her to a doll, and to a robot, but she never understood why.
Sure, for a large part it was her stoic behavior, but was this all? Rei wasn't sure of that.
Maybe today, she could learn what the Second meant.
The Terminator ignored the naval forces, was too focused on his goal to let his attention be diverted
by something that posed no danger to him.
As the ground forces opened fire, this changed. Those forces stood between him and his goal, were a
hindrance on his mission. So he removed those obstacles.
Rei observed the robots usage of the AT-field closely, surprised of the offensive capabilities of it.
Tanks detonated, infantry was slain, VTOLS shot down. For each enemy, the Terminator used an appropriate
and effective way of attack.
The clear logic behind this behavior forced Rei to respect the machine, its behavior was perfect. Ruled
by cold logic, it followed its mission, no matter what. As she would have done too, if things hadn't
changed.
After the retreat of the JSSDF, the EVAs went into battle. Without a plan, and only very vague orders,
they encountered a foe that was the embodiment of Rei's own craving for perfection.
The EVAs neutralized the small robots AT-field. Now without his defense and primary weapon, it was rendered
helpless. Time to capitulate. But it didn't. It continued its march towards its goal.
Unit02 opened fire, sent shells bigger than the robot itself against the Terminator, which was tossed
through the air like a small doll. After the clip was empty, it stood up again.
Rei's eyes widened. Not so long ago, she would have done the same. Not caring if she lived or died, only
her purpose counted. Now, she hadn't a purpose anymore beside acting as kind of communicator.
Deliver a real nephilim to end the war with the Angels.
Rei shot at the Terminator, sent him into the air again.
Asuka's cry of pain came over the emergency frequencies that remained always open. The Terminator managed
to counter the EVAs by using energy spikes to form AT-spikes rather than folding the field itself.
A perfect adaptation under those circumstances. The machine was much more dangerous than she would have
thought.
A look on her sensors confirmed that 02 was only lightly damaged, and that Shinji still neutralized the
robots AT-field. Given the Terminators ability to attack nonetheless, they were dangerously open to any
attack from it. Rei decided that 01 was more than enough to counter the Terminators AT-field, and used her
own for protection.
Not even a second too late. Only milliseconds after she raised the field, another AT-spike from
the machine bounced off. If she wouldn't have done this, the spike would have hit the core of 01.
It would have reached its primary goal, despite the fact that it would never survive the blast of an
exploding EVA. A suicide attack.
A spear of cold fear shot through Rei's heart and mind. It wasn't different from her purpose. She wouldn't
have survived it, it was a suicide mission for her too. And she would have followed it. Mindless, as
if she was programmed too.
This realization led to a chain of thought that shattered her perception of reality completely.
Because Asuka was right. Until yesterday, she was a robot. Like a programmed machine, she would have
fulfilled her mission, even if it meant her own demise. Without emotion, without future, without hope,
she only lived for her purpose, her own end. Nothing else mattered.
And for the first time in her life, she realized how cruel her creator was to her.
Her thoughts still occupied, she continued to defend 01 and herself. Shinji brought his unit closer to her,
to make it easier for her to defend two units.
As 02 crunched the robot with its fist, a small sigh escaped Rei's lips. She had learned a lot today, maybe
too much for one day. She needed time to think over those revelations, to try to understand them.
Her eyes widened slightly in shock, as the Terminator still wasn't destroyed. Asuka grabbed it, pulled it
out of the earth only to smash it again and again against the ground, but it still didn't capitulate, didn't
give up. It had its mission, and whatever it would cost, it would try to fulfill it.
Like she would have done. Rei shivered in her entry plug.
Asuka smashed the robot a final time against the ground. It was nearly dismembered, but still used its
sensors on 01, to search for a fatal weakness.
Only as Asuka flattened the Terminator by jumping up and down onto it, it was finally over.
Rei had learned a lot during this battle. The closed-mindedness of the machine, the frightening resolve to
fulfill its duty resembled herself to a very large extent. While Rei doubted that Asuka knew how close she
was with her hurtful words, they were the simple truth.
But contrary to the machine, she could change. She wasn't programmed, she could learn. The death of her
creator gave her a new chance. And a future.
This meant a lot of changes for her. For her mind, her view of the world, everything. While she preferred
the stasis of her old life, she knew now that everything was better than being a robot.
Changing was often painful. But pain was good, as it showed her that she was still alive.
And she wasn't alone, the message told her this.
With new determination, Rei decided that she would take her chance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
For Asuka, the day started like most others. She woke up, stretched a little bit, then got up and changed
from her nightshirt into her normal attire. This done, she left her sleeping room, only to find herself
before a closed door to the bathroom.
She banged several times against it, but to no avail. She had to wait for long minutes, until the door
finally opened and revealed Mana, which came out in a calm and rather slow pace. Asuka would have smacked
her a good one for her slow motions, but now she had more pressing matters to attend.
After her morning hygiene, she joined the others on the table and was confronted with food from the NERV
cantina. Hesitating she took a bite and was quite surprised that it tasted acceptable. In fact, she was
surprised that it tasted at all.
After the meal, Mana requested that she waited with contacting her mother. Her explanation that nobody
knows how 02 would react, that it would be too dangerous so close to an upcoming battle. Asuka agreed
with this logic. She would reach out to her mother later, in a controlled environment, under better
circumstances.
The way to NERV, the changing into the plug suit and the starting procedure were the same as always, only
the way to the HQ was much shorter than normal.
As she arrived with the two others on the surface, she heard the orders to go to a destined place and wait.
In her opinion, only a waste of time. Sadly, Misato never followed her suggestions, so she had to follow
those stupid orders.
And this time, Misato hit a new all-time low. As she confronted her with the question on how to destroy the
target, she got the most stupid response she ever got. Well, if she really finished the Terminator off by
stomping on it, she would make sure that the credit for the successful battle-plan go to her.
And not to some drunkard that was unable to formulate something that sounded like a real plan.
As the Terminator reached the shore, she took a close look. A metallic skeleton with eyes like Rei. Not
very impressive. However, this doesn't mean that it wasn't at least able to deal with the JSSDF forces.
The navy was ignored, and the ground forces destroyed. Even Asuka had to admit that the little machine's
usage of the AT-field was impressive. Not that it mattered. They would neutralize it, and that would
be the end of the story.
Once the JSSDF was out of the way, Asuka immediately opened fire with her rifle. A grin filled her
entire face as the Terminator flew through the air like a rag-doll. She definitely liked this kind of enemy.
Small, weak and defenseless, it was easy prey.
Confident in her victory, she stepped forward after her ammo-clip ran empty. Determined to step on the
Terminator like she had earlier suggested, Asuka ignored all thoughts of defense and unnecessary risks.
She cried loud as a sharp pain shot through her great toe of the left foot. It felt as if someone had
shot a hole into it, and as she hopped around, she saw that this had really happened.
Anger flooded her brain, blocked all rational thoughts out. Only the end of the enemy counted. It had hurt
her. It had damaged her precious 02. And worst of all, it made her look like a clown. It would pay dearly.
That the others went onto the defensive was ignored. Only the end of the enemy was important.
As she closed in with 02, a smug grin spread over her face. The dumb machine had apparently thought that
she was out of battle. Well, she would show it otherwise.
Her fist hit the robot with full force. As she retracted it, Asuka saw that the small robot was still in
action. She grabbed it and dragged it out of the ground, held it by the legs and smashed it against the
ground. It was a stupid little doll, and that was the way she would treat it.
After dozens of heavy impacts, the thing was still somewhat operational. Stopping this line of action,
she shattered it a final time against the ground. Well, if the smashing hadn't worked, she would destroy
it otherwise. With large jump, she brought the full weight of 02, along with a lot of kinetic force to bear
against her enemy. The first jump already finished the Terminator, but Asuka didn't stop. She jumped up
and down on it until there was almost nothing left. Only then, she stopped satisfied.
Her pride was restored, her pain avenged.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
For Misato, it was a miserable morning. Not only that she wasn't in her apartment, but worse, she had no
beer. So it was no wonder that she wasn't in a good mood, especially as she saw Mana as the first person
of the day. While she didn't hate the girl, she wasn't happy with her presence either.
Nobody would like it if someone brings a message from your future self that tells you that you are a
stupid alcoholic with lots of dumb luck.
The breakfast was awkward, as there were way more people than normal present. Rei and Mana were those
additions. The first weird at best, the second simply unwanted. She felt the need for her morning beer,
but there was none in this damned apartment.
The way to the HQ was short, but without the driving that should have woken her up, a very somber event.
No, Misato wasn't all too happy about the changes in the last 24 hours. Not even an adrenaline kick
was possible without driving her car, the only halfway acceptable substitute for alcohol.
The pilots were stuck in their cockpits and launched, at least something that functioned well.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Walk to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." instructed Misato.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it." replied Misato, fully satisfied with this plan.
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it with
the knife."
Yep, that sounded quite fine. Thinking was so hard, and this plan of action was as good as any other.
"If it works, do it."
Misato cut the lines to the Eva's just in time, because Mana exploded in inquiries and insults on her
ability to command. Not willing to let such insubordination happen, Misato fired back, several times until
a full fledged argument was underway. Too focused on her verbal battle with the girl from the future, she
ignored the screen that showed the battle itself.
As Mana tried to get to the communication console, she stopped her by holding her pistol pointed on the
girl's face. She was the Director of Operations, and such a little lunatic would not overrule her orders.
Sure, the Terminator existed, but that didn't mean that she was right with the other things too.
Deprived of alcohol, Misato was too confused to act as she should. Ignoring the battle, she didn't do
her job, didn't help the pilots defeating this terrifying enemy. Instead she pointed her weapon at a girl
that tried to help her.
Mana on the other side followed the battle on the monitor, muttering quietly under her breath.
Hyuga announced that the battle was over, and Misato put her weapon back in its holster and took a look
on the monitor. The sight of a damaged Unit 02, along with burning tanks and dead soldiers went like
a glowing spike through her brain. As she realized that she had failed to fulfill her job, she had to fight
tears that threatened to run over her face. She looked at Mana, but the girl wasn't here anymore.
The cold truth was that of a complete failure. And now she would have to face the consequences.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
Mana was the first who was up on this day. Accustomed to getting up early, as all soldiers did, she took
her time performing her normal tasks on the begin of the day. The only difference was that she hadn't to go
to a mess to get breakfast. Instead she had to wait for it. Knowing that it would take more than one hour
until the next one would arise, she decided to use this time to study the battle-records of their fights
against the Angels that had attacked so far. Especially since the tactics interested her, as she had always
doubted that they were so bad as the history books said.
While she read, her opinion of Misato declined to a new all-time low. The so called 'Director of Operations'
did much drinking, but never directed anything. It was as if her main reason for existence was standing
around, drinking lots of beer and teasing her ward. This would have to change.
Mana was already in a bad mood as the day hadn't even started for the others.
Rei was the next one who started the day. As the girl came out of her sleeping room, they greeted, without
hostility, but also without other feelings in their voices.
Shinji was the next, and while Mana tried to be more friendly, it came out somewhat forced. And Shinji
himself replied unsure of the situation awkwardly. As he vanished in the bathroom, Mana sighed. Her day
was getting better and better.
This streak continued a half hour later, as her intestines voiced again their opinion about time-travelling
and their abuse as delivery box. She reached the toilet just in time, but as she just dropped her panties
in a haste, someone banged against the door. Loud shouting in different languages made clear who it was,
as if the constant banging wasn't enough. A spike of anger flared up in Mana, and she did the rest of
her tasks in the bathroom at a rather slow pace. She could be annoying as well, and she had learned from
the best, an Asuka with decades of training in being annoying.
As she left the bath, and an angry Asuka hushed inside, Mana couldn't suppress a smug grin.
In the meanwhile their breakfast was delivered. She sat down with Shinji and Rei and waited for the others,
as her object of detest made her appearance. Misato came out of her room, hair dishevelled, looking like
a zombie. Asuka had just left the bath as Misato slowly made her way to it.
"Is she always like that?" she asked, and Shinji answered with a tired "Yes.".
Growling, she concentrated on her food again, which was better than what she had back at home. Her visit
in the kitchen yesterday was surely a good idea. Especially the threatening of the so called cook of
treating him like Gendo. At least something that went well.
Back from the bath, Misato went in the kitchen and to the refrigerator. She opened it, and a disappointed
moan filled the entire apartment. It was easy to guess why this has happened, and the young soldier's face
darkened again.
Before they walked to the HQ, she convinced Asuka to wait with contacting her mother.
At least one little accomplishment on this shitty day.
The way to the HQ was without incident, and while the pilots went changing into their plug-suits, the M&Ms
marched into the command center. The bridge crew was already assembled, ready for duty.
They monitored the preparations of the JSSDF to stop the Terminator, as the armed forces, drunken from
their success against a 70 year old plane, were sure to defeat the machine all by themselves.
Tanks and artillery moved into position, soldiers dug their one-man holes, and several navy ships cruised
on the sea, in firing range of the shore.
Mana would have liked to order them away, which wasn't possible. But still, the possibility to tell them
to take positions that wouldn't hinder the movements of the EVAs would have been possible. Misato however,
did nothing.
The EVAs were launched, and as soon as they reached the surface, Misato gave her commands.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Walk to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." instructed Misato.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question.
Mana asked herself at the same as she heard those orders.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it." replied Misato, fully satisfied with this plan.
And how? The Director of Operations should come up with a complete battle-plan, including the way of
defeating the enemy.
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it
with the knife."
"If it works, do it."
That was too much. She stomped to Misato, who shut the comm off.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you completely insane. A Terminator is a killer-droid, not some plushy."
"I do my job. I tell the pilots what they should do!" fired Misato back.
Mana seethed with anger. "You do nothing. You have no plan to defeat the Terminator, you gave no
instructions how they should do that, you did nothing beside agreeing with a sarcastic comment! What do
you think what your job is? Standing around and look good? For fan service, you are definitely
overdressed!"
"They will still follow my instructions and win. And that's all that matters. We don't need a self-
proclaimed savior from the future to tell me how to do my job!"
"Your penguin would do a better job!"
"Against a threat that is an ant compared to an EVA, he would surely be sufficient!"
What the hell was that dumb, purple haired, alcoholic bitch thinking? The entire position of the DoO was
beyond Mana's comprehension.
"You saw the data about the Terminator. It is threat that is more dangerous than an Angel!" she tried for
the last time to discuss the facts with Misato. The Major however, suffered too much from her alcohol
deprivation to react properly. Instead she insulted the young soldier further.
"Oh yeah. Your data from the future. Your great wisdom. You know nothing! Bringing some fake data, along
with stupid messages that you claim to come from our future self. That's all bull!"
That was too much.
"Major," Mana begun icily "yesterday, the Commander of NERV gave me the rank and the clearance to overrule
any other officer of NERV in case of an emergency. You are clearly not able to fulfill your duty without
some booze, so I hereby relieve you of your duty. Leave the Ops immediately and report to the medical
facilities."
"I AM NOT AN ALCOHOLIC!" yelled Misato.
"This debate is over. GO!" commanded Mana, and took some steps in direction of the comm-console. An all
too familiar *click* stopped her, and a look confirmed her knowledge. Misato pointed her weapon directly
at her head.
Complete silence ensued in the Command Center, as nobody dared to move. And the only persons with the
ability to stop Misato weren't here. Fuyutsuki sat in his office, working hard on a plan to keep the UN
and SEELE at bay, while fighting the Angels and doing as much as possible to ensure the birth of the
first Nephilim. And Ritsuko was in her lab, busy with the new data she got.
Mana thought over the possibility of taking the Major out, but her position was too bad to do anything.
The nearest cover was several meters away, the same went for the nearest object she could kick or throw to
take Misato out. While the Major was heavily suffering from the alcohol withdrawal, it was clear that she
had no chance to do anything and survive. She had to wait and to hope that the pilots were able to fight
on their own.
During the entire fight, which Mana watched on the screen, Misato never lost her concentration in pointing
her weapon toward her. Of course, her real duties suffered, as she never looked at the screens, never
observed the battle, never gave instructions to the pilots. Only as it was over, Misato looked, and saw
what she had done. Unit02 was damaged, the pilots shaken. Destroyed tanks and dead soldiers lay scattered
on the beach. As she saw this, Misato realized what she had done. Too late.
The moment the Major took her weapon down, Mana left the Command Center. The Major would have to pay
dearly for her behavior. So she went straight to the office of the Commander.
She would demand an immediate relief of Misato from her duties, and placement in a clinic that specialized
in treatment of alcohol addicts. Further she would lose the guardianship over the second and third child.
If the Commander wouldn't follow those demands, she would remove Katsuragi permanently. The woman was
a danger for everyone on the planet. Her career was over.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
The mood of the pilots was after the battle very somber. Asuka brooded over her bad performance.
She jumped around like a clown out there, and all because nobody really told them how dangerous this thing
was. Mana warned them, but was easily dismissed by Misato. And that they had no communication with
HQ during the entire battle didn't sit too well with her either.
Shinji was shaken too, because if Rei hadn't acted, he would have been dead. Things like that naturally led
to some serious thinking.
Rei was quiet as usual, so nobody noticed that her brain was running in overdrive. The revelations she made
during the battle forced her to think over her life, her future, her entire being.
She was also a little bit worried about the lack of communication with the HQ, but this only occupied
very little of her thoughts.
After the EVAs stood secure in their respective hangars, the pilots gathered on the gantry, waiting for
someone to tell them what the hell had happened. That Misato wasn't here was surprising, that nobody else
beside the techs was here was disconcerting.
They waited for a few minutes, and Asuka already wanted to hit the showers, as Maya Ibuki came to get them.
The serious and dark expression of the normally rather caring Lieutenant heightened the concerns of the
pilots. Maya led them not to the showers, but instead to one of the great conference rooms. They entered,
and were greeted with a sight that wasn't appreciated. Misato, handcuffed and in tears sat in there,
Fuyutsuki, Mana and Dr. Akagi were also inside.
"Take your seats." instructed the Commander and pointed to three seats opposite of Misato. Mana went in
front of the room, were a large screen hung.
"This is s debriefing of the recent battle against the Terminator, along with a briefing of the events
concerning the lack of help during the aforementioned battle. After this, you will be informed about
several measures to ensure that such a mess won't happen again." announced the mahogany haired girl.
The screen played the entire battle, Mana criticised the errors she had found.
"The entire set up of the battle was bad. The positions of the JSSDF hindered you, so you couldn't make
a fast and direct assault against the Terminator. You followed your orders and waited. The JSSDF was
beaten, and as soon as they were out of your way, you started the fight. While I can understand that
you had no help from HQ, your performance was the worst I've ever seen. All three EVAs were busy with
eroding an AT-field that was a fraction of one of their own, leaving the units themselves vulnerable.
Then 02 opened fire with a weapon that was not suited to deal with such an enemy, helped the Terminator
more than damaging it, as Asuka obscured the view to the target with smoke and dirt.
After her ammunition ran out, 00 did the first correct action in the battle, by trying to snipe the
target out. Hindered with targeting, confused by the entire commotion, she missed, but still saved 02."
"WHAT?!" yelled Asuka.
"If the shot hadn't thrown the Terminator again off the ground, the AT-spike wouldn't have hit the toe,
but the core of 02. You know the consequences of such an event." explained Mana.
Asuka nodded stunned. This was something she hadn't thought of.
"With 02 temporary out of action, the Terminator concentrated on his primary goal, unit 01. It was once
again 00 which stopped it from success, as it spread its AT-field over itself and 01, saving 01 from a
direct hit in the core. 00 and 01 took then a purely defensive posture, which was not advisable. One
attacking, while the other was defending would have been better. Their luck was that 02 had recovered
from the hit and took the action in its own hands, by crushing the Terminator with a blow from its fist.
At this point, the Terminator was still able to fight. Pilot Soryu did the right thing as she dug it out
for further attacks, as questionable the way of them was. After she smashed it a final time against the
ground, the Terminator was defeated. If 02 would have stopped the assault then, we would have had the
chance to retrieve some useful information from it. Instead, Soryu gave us a comic-like appearance and
jumped up and down on it. For this she can apply for a role as guest star in the Bugs Bunny show, but
on the battlefield, such behavior is misplaced."
Asuka blushed, but didn't comment. She knew that she was more guilty than the others, as she had received
tactical training in Germany. After the contact with HQ was lost, she should have taken command and made
a suitable battle-plan. She did the same only a week ago against the ninth Angel, so the failure today
hurt even more.
Rei and Shinji didn't comment anything. Both knew pretty well that they had failed.
Mana continued. "And now is the time to show you why you haven't had contact with HQ."
Misato's quiet sobs filled the room as the three shocked pilots saw what had happened in the Command
Center. As the tape was over, the reaction was quite different. None at all from Rei, at least non
visible. Shinji looked at his guardian with a sad expression on his face, while Asuka's was a mix of pity
and disgust.
After nearly a minute, Fuyutsuki broke the silence. "The fallout during the battle cannot be overlooked.
We almost lost two EVAs, and our only chance to end the war. Captain Katsuragi has served well so far, so
she won't be court-martialled. She is to be relieved from her duties as Director of Operations and will be
sent to a facility that is equipped to help her with her problem. Because of this, she is also relieved
from guardianship over the second and third child. New arrangements will be made during this day.
That would be all."
With a quiet nod, he signalled the two security officers to bring Misato away. After she was out of the
room, he continued. "I think you all understand that her problems were the reason for her actions today.
She will be treated, and then receive a new position in this organization. She is ill, and cannot be held
responsible for todays events."
"She nearly killed us." Asuka stated coldly, dropping the temperature in the room for several degrees.
Shinji looked shocked at her, not only for her harsh words, but also for the amount of truth in them.
"Not out of spite, or because of ill will against you. She is ill, and it was our responsibility to not
see this and act sooner." defended Ritsuko her friend. "Do not hold it against her."
Asuka glared at the blond doctor, but didn't reply. She had enough of this topic.
"Now go to the changing rooms and wash, then report to the Lieutenant Hyuga in the Command Center.
Dismissed." ordered the Commander.
The three pilots stood up and left the room, obviously shaken by the things that happened today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
They showered in silence and reported to Hyuga, who sent them to the NERV recreational center, where they
should wait for new orders. The three pilots went there, and killed the time with different activities.
Rei went swimming, Asuka played the only available video game, and Shinji was brooding.
Hours went by, and the three ended in the pool-chairs, doing nothing. As Asuka snorted again, as she did
several times in the last hour, Shinji spoke his first word since they entered this room.
"Why are you so angry at Misato?"
"Are you dumb? She nearly killed us. We could have died today, just because of her. It was all her fault."
"She didn't nearly kill us." Shinji replied. What then happened, surprised Shinji and Asuka immensely.
"Asuka is right." Rei spoke, shocking the two. Asuka grinned satisfied at Shinji, as Rei spoke again.
"But she is also wrong."
The German girl narrowed her eyes as she heard this.
"What do you mean?" inquired Shinji,
"The actions of the Captain could have lead to our death. In this, Soryu is correct. But it wasn't entirely
the Captain's fault. I have received combat training, as did pilot Soryu in Germany. We should have
been able to make a plan of our own and be successful. But we did not. We only reacted, never acted.
Our failure endangered us as much as the Captain's actions. If we had acted accordingly to our training,
we wouldn't have had the problems, nor the amount of danger."
"So, only little Shinji wasn't at fault?" spat Asuka.
"Pilot Soryu, did you receive combat training and tactical training in Germany?"
"Yes." admitted Asuka.
"As did I here in Japan. Shinji has only primary combat training, nothing else. So, he is the only one
without experience in such situations. Therefore, he wasn't at fault."
Asuka scowled at the third child, but nodded nonetheless. "But Misato still nearly killed us."
"Only because we failed too."
After this short argument, silence ensued once again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
An undisclosed amount of time later, Aoba came, told them to dress and go to the Commander's office.
The pilots did this, and were surprised that there were several others too. In fact, almost the complete
commanding staff of NERV was assembled.
The arrival of the three pilots completed the gathering, and Fuyutsuki issued orders to each person in the
room.
"Lieutenant Aoba, you will take over the command over the retrievement and rescue units from Lieutenant
Hyuga. Lieutenant Hyuga, in exchange for this, you will take over the paperwork from Captain Katsuragi.
New Director Of Operations will be Captain Kirishima, who has several other duties as well. Therefore,
her new position will only take affect during combat, when she will take Command, and for the training
plan of the pilots."
Aoba and Hyuga nodded, saluted and left the office.
"Lieutenant Ibuki, you are hereby promoted to Captain. You will take full responsibility for the Magi.
Also you will get another duty, but more of that later."
Maya nodded and waited.
"Captain Kirishima. Aside from your responsibility as DoO, and your duties as bodyguard, you will also have
to work in the labs to help Dr. Akagi with the new technologies."
Mana simply nodded and waited too.
"Dr. Akagi, you will help the newly promoted Captain Ibuki to take over from you, then you will
concentrate on research and development of the data we have gotten from the future."
Ritsuko nodded and left the office.
Fuyutsuki looked then on the pilots. "For you three, there are some changes as well. First off, your
new commanding officer is Captain Kirishima. Also, you will be relocated to a quarter inside the geofront.
School is suspended, as there are more pressing matters to attend, started with advanced training.
Any questions?"
"No." replied Rei, the others kept silent.
"Your new quarters will be sufficient for 6 persons, so this problem should be solved." continued the
Commander.
"Six?" shrieked Asuka.
"Six." confirmed Fuyutsuki. "The pilots of Units 00, 01 and 02, Captain Kirishima, as she has to protect
the pilot of 01, Miss Horaki, whose will be trained as pilot for 03, and your guardian."
"Who is our new guardian?" asked Shinji timid.
"Captain Ibuki, you will be the new guardian. Since the training regime is stepped up, there should be
no side-effects on your other work."
Maya's eyes widened, but confronted with the determined look of the Commander, she nodded.
"Your belongings are already relocated. Tonight it should be ready to move in. Until then, eat dinner in
the cafeteria. Dismissed."
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
On their way on the cafeteria, Shinji mumbled under his breath, which caught Asuka's interest.
"What are you saying, baka?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I heard you muttering. So spit it out."
Shinji blushed. "I.. I said five females."
"Oh, and that's bringing your hentai side into overdrive."
"N...no." he protested weakly.
Instead of tormenting Shinji further, Asuka had a better idea.
"Five girls and a male housemaid. Doesn't that make five and a half girls?" she asked innocently.
Shinji blushed and wanted to protest, but his quiet attempt was drowned in the laughter of the others.
"Yet he is still a hentai. I volunteer for keeping him in check." offered Asuka, who only met Mana's
shaking head. "Nope, that's my responsibility."
"And why?"
"I will sleep in his room, so I have the best control."
"You'll sleep in his room?"
Asuka's outburst caught also Rei's interest, who wasn't too fond of the fact that Kirishima would sleep in
the same room as Shinji.
"It is my duty." Mana stated, and ended this way further inquiries about the sleeping arrangements.
Their arrival in the cafeteria also stopped the conversation, as they all were hungry.
So they were busy eating. Their moving in into the new quarters would come soon enough.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
Preread by Yagami
Useful comments and encouragement to write by Kuracao and Akhorahil
Domo arigato.
Chapter 3 - Different points of view
After long hours of marching on the bottom of the sea, the surroundings changed. Reaching a depth where the
sunlight was capable of sustaining life, several kinds of underwater plants slowed him down.
What they were wasn't in his data banks. So they had to be unimportant.
Not long later, the first reflection of the sun was able to be seen. Soon, he would arrive at the shore,
then march straight towards his goal.
Step after step, he got closer to leaving the water. His way led him continuously upwards.
At a depth of only 20 meters, he changed his sensor view to the normal visual range. There was no need
to use radar and sonar anymore.
A little bit later, his head broke the surface of the water. Several waves washed over him, until he was
so high out of the water that they were unable to bother him anymore.
The sight which presented itself to him would be labeled spectacular. At least by beings which would be
able to classify it as such. He wasn't.
A line of tanks and armored vehicles stood on the shore. Above hovered several VTOLs, and behind him were
several navy ships. But all of this was nothing compared to the three large robots behind the ground
troops.
Covered in blue, purple and red armor, they stood tall above the other war machines, degrading them to toys.
For the Terminator, this was a convenient event. His target was here. He would kill him ASAP.
The robots itself were a problem. Armed with oversized weapons, they had also AT-field generators. Able
to nullify his own field, and destroy him.
His programs searched for the best of fighting them. Nanoseconds later, his plan was set.
Overwhelming odds, the sure fact that he wouldn't survive this encounter didn't matter to him. Such things
weren't covered in his programming. Only the goals counted, only the fulfillment of those were important.
So he marched on.
After he left the water, 105mm shells from the frigates behind him impacted against his AT-field.
This was surprising, as his programming was sure that his field should have been nullified by now.
Obviously, this was not the case. His chances of reaching his goal rose for 4.8 percent.
He ignored the ships. His target lay on land, and so he spared his abilities for use against the ground
troops.
More shells impacted against his shield, bounced harmlessly off. Missiles also wasted their chemical fury
against this impenetrable defense. All of this was ignored.
Suddenly, the fire stopped. He continued to march on. His logic circuits were sure that this meant only
a change in the direction the fire comes from.
The circuits were right. After a half minute, the ground troops opened fire. Armor piercing shells,
missiles and thousands of bullets were wasted against him.
The time for a counter strike had come.
He folded a part of his AT-field to an arrow, sent it at nearly light speed against the troops. The first
attack destroyed two tanks, one of it detonated spectacularly. He continued this line of attacks,
destroying a complete platoon of tanks, and a long line of armored vehicles of different types.
Resistance was still strong, now it came mostly from the infantry.
Against such small targets, his line of attack was inefficient. A change of tactics was in order.
Instead of an arrow, he folded his AT-field to a 20m long razor blade, swept with it, one meter above the
ground, over his close vicinity. Dozens of soldiers died, cutting in half above their waist.
The ground troops started a full retreat. Only spare fire clashed against his shield, while the VTOLS
made the heavy cover fire. Changing back to the AT-arrow, he shot two of them down.
Then, the other two also fled. Only the three robots remained. His AT-field still fully functional, the
chances for a successful mission increased again for 0.9 percent.
Also, he calculated a chance of 6,43 percent that those robots were unable to create AT-fields of their
own. Otherwise, they would have had already used it against him.
If this was true, his chances for success would climb to 87.4 percent. He marched towards the three robots.
After covering nearly half of the distance to the large machines, a strong wave of AT-energy washed over
him, blinked his shield out of existence. His chances of accomplishing his mission dropped to 21.73
percent, not that it mattered. He would resume his attack anyway. As long as he had the ability to fight,
he would do so. This was his programming, and he had to follow it.
But not all was lost. The possibility of encountering AT-technology was anticipated, and he had several ways
of countering it. While he had no shield anymore, he could do other things with it.
His processors searched for the best solution as oversized shells from an equally oversized rifle detonated
around him, sent him uncontrolled flying through the air, again and again. Shrapnel ricochet from his armor,
unable to penetrate it.
Finally, his foes understood the futility of using those weapons and ceased fire. Finally, he landed with
a loud thump on the ground. He recovered quickly and stood up, ready to continue his fight.
Unable to generate a flow of AT-output, he used another possibility of using it. He spiked the power of
his S2 organ, sent an AT-spike against the nearest target. If another detonation beside him wouldn't have
interrupted his targeting, he would have destroyed the core of the red mecha, which was the closest to him.
Instead, it hit the left foot of it, penetrating the armor and making a nice hole into it.
What followed would have made him laugh, if he would have been able to do it. Gripping the injured foot
with both hands, the red mecha jumped on one leg around and made movements that resembled those of
a biological life form cursing.
The chances that this unit was out of battle were 6.09 percent. Irrelevant. His target was the purple one.
He fired another AT-spike, this time perfectly aimed at the core of Unit01. But only a few meters before
the target, it hit an impenetrable orange wall. The blue robot erected it, saved its companion this way .
Preparing himself for another attack, his sensors were too focused on those two, too focused to notice the
furious attack of the third one. And as a large red fist smashed down onto him, it was too late anyway.
With the kinetic energy of thousands of tons, he was hit from straight above, rammed up to the waist into
the loose ground. The structural integrity of his skull was reduced to nothing, as it was nearly flattened.
Secondary processors in his body overtook the work from the destroyed circuits that once were in his head.
While the sensory input was also reduced to almost nothing, he was able to gather enough data that he was
dug out and grabbed at his feet. New waves of system-errors rushed through his battered processors as
he was bashed against the ground, again and again, like a little doll.
The last thing he noticed was the black sole of a big red foot that ascended onto him at high speed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
While the Terminator still walked underwater, Shinji had a strange start of the day. Woken by the alarm
clock, he was faced with cafeteria food for breakfast.
Normally, this would have meant severe displeasure for his taste buds and digestive system, but much to his
shock, it was actually edible. The company from Rei, Asuka, Mana and Misato was also much more than he was
accustomed to, which reinforced the unfamiliarity of this morning.
The way to NERV HQ was also different, as they had only a short walk to do. The pilots went immediately
to the changing rooms, while Mana and Misato made their way to the Ops.
Boarding the EVAs, as well as the starting procedures were the same as always, as was the elevator ride
up to the surface.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Proceed to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." came Misato's instructions.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question, faster than Shinji was able to ask it for himself.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it."
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it with
the knife."
"If it works, do it."
Before more could be said, the signal was terminated.
The three biomechs moved to their positions, where they received new power plugs, then all they had to
do was waiting. And even that not long.
At the estimated time, the machine broke the surface of the water. Shinji zoomed the picture in, to see his
supposed killer. A skeletal face greeted him, with burning red eyes. The entire machine looked almost
human-like, only without skin. And instead of muscles and organs, it had hydraulics and electronic innards.
As he looked into the red optics, that held the promise of his death, Shinji shivered. Up until know,
he doubted the danger of such a small machine against an EVA. Compared to an Angel, it was chibi at best.
Now, he rescinded this opinion.
The navy was the first who opened fire. Their frigates and destroyers opened fire, which bounced
harmlessly against the machines AT-field. The Terminator did nothing else than calmly continuing his way.
No counterattack, not even a sign that he was attacked signaled that it was aware of its surroundings.
As it reached an imaginary line of 50 meters from the water, the ships stopped their useless bombardment,
and the ground forces started their assault. Tanks, artillery and infantry weapons fired their bullets and
shells at the intimidating machine. For long seconds, Shinji started to hope that Mana was maybe wrong with
her tales of the threat from this thing. It didn't react again, so how dangerous could it be?
"AT-spike!" announced his sensors and shattered this calming line of thought.
Several tanks exploded. The Terminator had made it's first strike, and showed how dangerous it was.
In rapid succession, tanks detonated or were rendered useless by gaping holes that went through their entire
hulls.
"Retreat to line 2, retreat to line 2!" sounded the orders from the JSSDF command over the comm-lines,
taking the tanks, which were useless against the Terminator, out of the battle.
Now it was up to the infantry.
As Shinji heard this, he wondered the stupidity of this command. If tanks, which are heavy armed and
armored, were useless against this machine, what could infantry do?
His question was soon answered. Dying.
The Terminator didn't fire AT-spikes anymore, but something akin to AT-blades. Dozens of soldiers died in
seconds, sliced in pieces by this frightening aggressor.
The infantry was ordered back too, and the VTOLs started their attacks to cover their retreat. The soldiers
needed to be out of the way before the EVAs could start their battle, otherwise a lot of soldiers would die
under the large feet of the biobots.
Two of the VTOLs were shot down during their short engagement.
The EVAs stood up and straightened themselves. Now was the time for their battle. Shinji realized that it
was always their battle. That Mana was right. She didn't underestimate the power of the Terminator, didn't
have to tell them fairy tales to boost up her importance.
The threat was here, and it was as worse as she had outlined. No more instructions from the HQ came, so
they stepped closer to attack.
Disabling the machines AT-field was easy, as it was weak compared to those of the EVAs. But what now?
Stepping on it like Asuka suggested wasn't surely a wise choice of action.
The sound of an EVA-sized assault rifle cut his musings short. Her temper got the better of Asuka again,
and she fired an entire clip on the little machine.
The Terminator flew through the air because of detonations that were triggered by shells bigger than
he himself was. And no damage was done. As Asuka's clip was empty, he simply stood up again.
"AT..." started the senor alarm again, only to be outdone by another heavy explosion from Rei's rifle.
This sent again the Terminator through the air, but a little bit too late. An AT-field spike had hit
Asuka's Unit02, damaging its left foot.
"OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! My toe! My toe!" yelled Asuka in pain, distracting Shinji in this particular
moment. He only realized this as another AT-spike bounced against an AT-field in front of him.
And it wasn't his. His eyes widened in realization that Rei just saved his life.
02 still jumped comically around, while Shinji and Rei took ready stances against their foe. Shinji eroded
the Terminator's AT-field, while Rei covered them both with her own.
Shinji had no clue what to do now, and no orders came. Second after second went by, in something that
resembled a stalemate. He feared this small machine, feared it too much for a direct assault.
Asuka was another matter. She was pissed. Royally pissed. And she needed an outlet. And what could be better
than the source of her bad mood?
While Shinji didn't know what to do, and Rei was busy protecting him and her, she was forgotten. From all
combatants. Only as her fist crushed on the Terminator, they all saw that she was back again.
However, she wasn't finished. Shinji watched in awe as he pulled the machine out from the ground, grabbing
his feet and crushing it again and again with full force against the ground.
"All activity of the Terminator has ceased." announced the new, just yesterday added sensors.
Shinji sweat dropped as he saw that this didn't stop Asuka. Instead of ceasing her assault, she fired the
now dead lump of metal against the ground, then jumped up and down on it.
Only as nothing more than a metallic plate, only several millimeters thick remained, she ceased her revenge.
The battle was over.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
Changes.
Everything was changing.
If Rei would have had a choice, she would have let things as they were. In order. Only commands to obey.
No thinking, no emotions, no changes.
She was insecure how she should cope with the new surroundings, the new future, the new people in her life.
Insecurity made her uneasy, and insecurity came with change.
Now that she had some time to think over her new future, she started to realize how much of her world
was shattered, needed to be rebuild with an entire new foundation. How much she had to work on herself,
how long and uncertain the way in front of her really was.
She awoke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. It took her some minutes until she recollected the
events of the prior day and remembered where she was. In an apartment in the underground complex of the
geofront, as the surface was currently to dangerous.
Because of assassins from the future, which had the mission to kill the Third child, then herself, and
finally the Second. Only to ensure the happening of 3I and the inability to make a truce with the Angels.
The shower was familiar. A small cubicle with walls of frosted glass and standard armatures. A place where
she was able to relax for a short time.
Too soon for her taste, she was finished.
Breakfast was loud and nothing she would have endured out of free will. With 5 persons on the table, along
with lots of unfamiliar food, Rei found herself completely lost. At least the others were kind enough
to not talk to her. Or maybe they had just forgotten her.
The way to NERV HQ was short, and Rei nearly sighed as she was once again in the familiar surroundings
of the HQ. The changing room, the cages, the bridge. Places she knew.
She boarded her EVA, felt the well known sensations as she was connected with Unit00.
The start was easy, the orders clear and simple. After the launch, go to the destined location and wait.
Thus she did.
Rei switched the pilots channel of her comm off, as Asuka ranted about the stupidity of the JSSDF, the
dumbness of a machine that would fight her, the great Asuka, and the fact that she wasted precious time
of her life waiting for an enemy she would simply step upon.
Rei waited in silence. She used this time to think. Think over the information she got from her future
self, think over the outlined future she heard of.
Several aspects of it were intriguing, but so far, it was too far in the future to help her over her
immediate problems. Her creator was dead, and everything else changed too.
The murderer was now an ally, the future even more dangerous than it was with only the Angels attacking.
At the predicted time, the machine broke the surface of the water and stepped on land. Greeted by
artillery-fire from several ships, it stepped forward.
It was the first time that Rei saw a real robot. The EVAs were biobots, not only machines. The Terminator
was a machine. The Second often compared her to a doll, and to a robot, but she never understood why.
Sure, for a large part it was her stoic behavior, but was this all? Rei wasn't sure of that.
Maybe today, she could learn what the Second meant.
The Terminator ignored the naval forces, was too focused on his goal to let his attention be diverted
by something that posed no danger to him.
As the ground forces opened fire, this changed. Those forces stood between him and his goal, were a
hindrance on his mission. So he removed those obstacles.
Rei observed the robots usage of the AT-field closely, surprised of the offensive capabilities of it.
Tanks detonated, infantry was slain, VTOLS shot down. For each enemy, the Terminator used an appropriate
and effective way of attack.
The clear logic behind this behavior forced Rei to respect the machine, its behavior was perfect. Ruled
by cold logic, it followed its mission, no matter what. As she would have done too, if things hadn't
changed.
After the retreat of the JSSDF, the EVAs went into battle. Without a plan, and only very vague orders,
they encountered a foe that was the embodiment of Rei's own craving for perfection.
The EVAs neutralized the small robots AT-field. Now without his defense and primary weapon, it was rendered
helpless. Time to capitulate. But it didn't. It continued its march towards its goal.
Unit02 opened fire, sent shells bigger than the robot itself against the Terminator, which was tossed
through the air like a small doll. After the clip was empty, it stood up again.
Rei's eyes widened. Not so long ago, she would have done the same. Not caring if she lived or died, only
her purpose counted. Now, she hadn't a purpose anymore beside acting as kind of communicator.
Deliver a real nephilim to end the war with the Angels.
Rei shot at the Terminator, sent him into the air again.
Asuka's cry of pain came over the emergency frequencies that remained always open. The Terminator managed
to counter the EVAs by using energy spikes to form AT-spikes rather than folding the field itself.
A perfect adaptation under those circumstances. The machine was much more dangerous than she would have
thought.
A look on her sensors confirmed that 02 was only lightly damaged, and that Shinji still neutralized the
robots AT-field. Given the Terminators ability to attack nonetheless, they were dangerously open to any
attack from it. Rei decided that 01 was more than enough to counter the Terminators AT-field, and used her
own for protection.
Not even a second too late. Only milliseconds after she raised the field, another AT-spike from
the machine bounced off. If she wouldn't have done this, the spike would have hit the core of 01.
It would have reached its primary goal, despite the fact that it would never survive the blast of an
exploding EVA. A suicide attack.
A spear of cold fear shot through Rei's heart and mind. It wasn't different from her purpose. She wouldn't
have survived it, it was a suicide mission for her too. And she would have followed it. Mindless, as
if she was programmed too.
This realization led to a chain of thought that shattered her perception of reality completely.
Because Asuka was right. Until yesterday, she was a robot. Like a programmed machine, she would have
fulfilled her mission, even if it meant her own demise. Without emotion, without future, without hope,
she only lived for her purpose, her own end. Nothing else mattered.
And for the first time in her life, she realized how cruel her creator was to her.
Her thoughts still occupied, she continued to defend 01 and herself. Shinji brought his unit closer to her,
to make it easier for her to defend two units.
As 02 crunched the robot with its fist, a small sigh escaped Rei's lips. She had learned a lot today, maybe
too much for one day. She needed time to think over those revelations, to try to understand them.
Her eyes widened slightly in shock, as the Terminator still wasn't destroyed. Asuka grabbed it, pulled it
out of the earth only to smash it again and again against the ground, but it still didn't capitulate, didn't
give up. It had its mission, and whatever it would cost, it would try to fulfill it.
Like she would have done. Rei shivered in her entry plug.
Asuka smashed the robot a final time against the ground. It was nearly dismembered, but still used its
sensors on 01, to search for a fatal weakness.
Only as Asuka flattened the Terminator by jumping up and down onto it, it was finally over.
Rei had learned a lot during this battle. The closed-mindedness of the machine, the frightening resolve to
fulfill its duty resembled herself to a very large extent. While Rei doubted that Asuka knew how close she
was with her hurtful words, they were the simple truth.
But contrary to the machine, she could change. She wasn't programmed, she could learn. The death of her
creator gave her a new chance. And a future.
This meant a lot of changes for her. For her mind, her view of the world, everything. While she preferred
the stasis of her old life, she knew now that everything was better than being a robot.
Changing was often painful. But pain was good, as it showed her that she was still alive.
And she wasn't alone, the message told her this.
With new determination, Rei decided that she would take her chance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
For Asuka, the day started like most others. She woke up, stretched a little bit, then got up and changed
from her nightshirt into her normal attire. This done, she left her sleeping room, only to find herself
before a closed door to the bathroom.
She banged several times against it, but to no avail. She had to wait for long minutes, until the door
finally opened and revealed Mana, which came out in a calm and rather slow pace. Asuka would have smacked
her a good one for her slow motions, but now she had more pressing matters to attend.
After her morning hygiene, she joined the others on the table and was confronted with food from the NERV
cantina. Hesitating she took a bite and was quite surprised that it tasted acceptable. In fact, she was
surprised that it tasted at all.
After the meal, Mana requested that she waited with contacting her mother. Her explanation that nobody
knows how 02 would react, that it would be too dangerous so close to an upcoming battle. Asuka agreed
with this logic. She would reach out to her mother later, in a controlled environment, under better
circumstances.
The way to NERV, the changing into the plug suit and the starting procedure were the same as always, only
the way to the HQ was much shorter than normal.
As she arrived with the two others on the surface, she heard the orders to go to a destined place and wait.
In her opinion, only a waste of time. Sadly, Misato never followed her suggestions, so she had to follow
those stupid orders.
And this time, Misato hit a new all-time low. As she confronted her with the question on how to destroy the
target, she got the most stupid response she ever got. Well, if she really finished the Terminator off by
stomping on it, she would make sure that the credit for the successful battle-plan go to her.
And not to some drunkard that was unable to formulate something that sounded like a real plan.
As the Terminator reached the shore, she took a close look. A metallic skeleton with eyes like Rei. Not
very impressive. However, this doesn't mean that it wasn't at least able to deal with the JSSDF forces.
The navy was ignored, and the ground forces destroyed. Even Asuka had to admit that the little machine's
usage of the AT-field was impressive. Not that it mattered. They would neutralize it, and that would
be the end of the story.
Once the JSSDF was out of the way, Asuka immediately opened fire with her rifle. A grin filled her
entire face as the Terminator flew through the air like a rag-doll. She definitely liked this kind of enemy.
Small, weak and defenseless, it was easy prey.
Confident in her victory, she stepped forward after her ammo-clip ran empty. Determined to step on the
Terminator like she had earlier suggested, Asuka ignored all thoughts of defense and unnecessary risks.
She cried loud as a sharp pain shot through her great toe of the left foot. It felt as if someone had
shot a hole into it, and as she hopped around, she saw that this had really happened.
Anger flooded her brain, blocked all rational thoughts out. Only the end of the enemy counted. It had hurt
her. It had damaged her precious 02. And worst of all, it made her look like a clown. It would pay dearly.
That the others went onto the defensive was ignored. Only the end of the enemy was important.
As she closed in with 02, a smug grin spread over her face. The dumb machine had apparently thought that
she was out of battle. Well, she would show it otherwise.
Her fist hit the robot with full force. As she retracted it, Asuka saw that the small robot was still in
action. She grabbed it and dragged it out of the ground, held it by the legs and smashed it against the
ground. It was a stupid little doll, and that was the way she would treat it.
After dozens of heavy impacts, the thing was still somewhat operational. Stopping this line of action,
she shattered it a final time against the ground. Well, if the smashing hadn't worked, she would destroy
it otherwise. With large jump, she brought the full weight of 02, along with a lot of kinetic force to bear
against her enemy. The first jump already finished the Terminator, but Asuka didn't stop. She jumped up
and down on it until there was almost nothing left. Only then, she stopped satisfied.
Her pride was restored, her pain avenged.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
For Misato, it was a miserable morning. Not only that she wasn't in her apartment, but worse, she had no
beer. So it was no wonder that she wasn't in a good mood, especially as she saw Mana as the first person
of the day. While she didn't hate the girl, she wasn't happy with her presence either.
Nobody would like it if someone brings a message from your future self that tells you that you are a
stupid alcoholic with lots of dumb luck.
The breakfast was awkward, as there were way more people than normal present. Rei and Mana were those
additions. The first weird at best, the second simply unwanted. She felt the need for her morning beer,
but there was none in this damned apartment.
The way to the HQ was short, but without the driving that should have woken her up, a very somber event.
No, Misato wasn't all too happy about the changes in the last 24 hours. Not even an adrenaline kick
was possible without driving her car, the only halfway acceptable substitute for alcohol.
The pilots were stuck in their cockpits and launched, at least something that functioned well.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Walk to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." instructed Misato.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it." replied Misato, fully satisfied with this plan.
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it with
the knife."
Yep, that sounded quite fine. Thinking was so hard, and this plan of action was as good as any other.
"If it works, do it."
Misato cut the lines to the Eva's just in time, because Mana exploded in inquiries and insults on her
ability to command. Not willing to let such insubordination happen, Misato fired back, several times until
a full fledged argument was underway. Too focused on her verbal battle with the girl from the future, she
ignored the screen that showed the battle itself.
As Mana tried to get to the communication console, she stopped her by holding her pistol pointed on the
girl's face. She was the Director of Operations, and such a little lunatic would not overrule her orders.
Sure, the Terminator existed, but that didn't mean that she was right with the other things too.
Deprived of alcohol, Misato was too confused to act as she should. Ignoring the battle, she didn't do
her job, didn't help the pilots defeating this terrifying enemy. Instead she pointed her weapon at a girl
that tried to help her.
Mana on the other side followed the battle on the monitor, muttering quietly under her breath.
Hyuga announced that the battle was over, and Misato put her weapon back in its holster and took a look
on the monitor. The sight of a damaged Unit 02, along with burning tanks and dead soldiers went like
a glowing spike through her brain. As she realized that she had failed to fulfill her job, she had to fight
tears that threatened to run over her face. She looked at Mana, but the girl wasn't here anymore.
The cold truth was that of a complete failure. And now she would have to face the consequences.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
Mana was the first who was up on this day. Accustomed to getting up early, as all soldiers did, she took
her time performing her normal tasks on the begin of the day. The only difference was that she hadn't to go
to a mess to get breakfast. Instead she had to wait for it. Knowing that it would take more than one hour
until the next one would arise, she decided to use this time to study the battle-records of their fights
against the Angels that had attacked so far. Especially since the tactics interested her, as she had always
doubted that they were so bad as the history books said.
While she read, her opinion of Misato declined to a new all-time low. The so called 'Director of Operations'
did much drinking, but never directed anything. It was as if her main reason for existence was standing
around, drinking lots of beer and teasing her ward. This would have to change.
Mana was already in a bad mood as the day hadn't even started for the others.
Rei was the next one who started the day. As the girl came out of her sleeping room, they greeted, without
hostility, but also without other feelings in their voices.
Shinji was the next, and while Mana tried to be more friendly, it came out somewhat forced. And Shinji
himself replied unsure of the situation awkwardly. As he vanished in the bathroom, Mana sighed. Her day
was getting better and better.
This streak continued a half hour later, as her intestines voiced again their opinion about time-travelling
and their abuse as delivery box. She reached the toilet just in time, but as she just dropped her panties
in a haste, someone banged against the door. Loud shouting in different languages made clear who it was,
as if the constant banging wasn't enough. A spike of anger flared up in Mana, and she did the rest of
her tasks in the bathroom at a rather slow pace. She could be annoying as well, and she had learned from
the best, an Asuka with decades of training in being annoying.
As she left the bath, and an angry Asuka hushed inside, Mana couldn't suppress a smug grin.
In the meanwhile their breakfast was delivered. She sat down with Shinji and Rei and waited for the others,
as her object of detest made her appearance. Misato came out of her room, hair dishevelled, looking like
a zombie. Asuka had just left the bath as Misato slowly made her way to it.
"Is she always like that?" she asked, and Shinji answered with a tired "Yes.".
Growling, she concentrated on her food again, which was better than what she had back at home. Her visit
in the kitchen yesterday was surely a good idea. Especially the threatening of the so called cook of
treating him like Gendo. At least something that went well.
Back from the bath, Misato went in the kitchen and to the refrigerator. She opened it, and a disappointed
moan filled the entire apartment. It was easy to guess why this has happened, and the young soldier's face
darkened again.
Before they walked to the HQ, she convinced Asuka to wait with contacting her mother.
At least one little accomplishment on this shitty day.
The way to the HQ was without incident, and while the pilots went changing into their plug-suits, the M&Ms
marched into the command center. The bridge crew was already assembled, ready for duty.
They monitored the preparations of the JSSDF to stop the Terminator, as the armed forces, drunken from
their success against a 70 year old plane, were sure to defeat the machine all by themselves.
Tanks and artillery moved into position, soldiers dug their one-man holes, and several navy ships cruised
on the sea, in firing range of the shore.
Mana would have liked to order them away, which wasn't possible. But still, the possibility to tell them
to take positions that wouldn't hinder the movements of the EVAs would have been possible. Misato however,
did nothing.
The EVAs were launched, and as soon as they reached the surface, Misato gave her commands.
"The Terminator will reach the shore in about 40 minutes. Walk to the shore that is highlighted on your
NAV-display, and take position behind the JSSDF forces. They will engage the machine first, and only if
they fail, you'll have to take action." instructed Misato.
"What action?" came Rei's quiet question.
Mana asked herself at the same as she heard those orders.
"Nullify it's AT-field, then destroy it." replied Misato, fully satisfied with this plan.
And how? The Director of Operations should come up with a complete battle-plan, including the way of
defeating the enemy.
"And how? Stomp on it?" came Asuka's annoyed response. "The thing is so small, we surely can't stab it
with the knife."
"If it works, do it."
That was too much. She stomped to Misato, who shut the comm off.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you completely insane. A Terminator is a killer-droid, not some plushy."
"I do my job. I tell the pilots what they should do!" fired Misato back.
Mana seethed with anger. "You do nothing. You have no plan to defeat the Terminator, you gave no
instructions how they should do that, you did nothing beside agreeing with a sarcastic comment! What do
you think what your job is? Standing around and look good? For fan service, you are definitely
overdressed!"
"They will still follow my instructions and win. And that's all that matters. We don't need a self-
proclaimed savior from the future to tell me how to do my job!"
"Your penguin would do a better job!"
"Against a threat that is an ant compared to an EVA, he would surely be sufficient!"
What the hell was that dumb, purple haired, alcoholic bitch thinking? The entire position of the DoO was
beyond Mana's comprehension.
"You saw the data about the Terminator. It is threat that is more dangerous than an Angel!" she tried for
the last time to discuss the facts with Misato. The Major however, suffered too much from her alcohol
deprivation to react properly. Instead she insulted the young soldier further.
"Oh yeah. Your data from the future. Your great wisdom. You know nothing! Bringing some fake data, along
with stupid messages that you claim to come from our future self. That's all bull!"
That was too much.
"Major," Mana begun icily "yesterday, the Commander of NERV gave me the rank and the clearance to overrule
any other officer of NERV in case of an emergency. You are clearly not able to fulfill your duty without
some booze, so I hereby relieve you of your duty. Leave the Ops immediately and report to the medical
facilities."
"I AM NOT AN ALCOHOLIC!" yelled Misato.
"This debate is over. GO!" commanded Mana, and took some steps in direction of the comm-console. An all
too familiar *click* stopped her, and a look confirmed her knowledge. Misato pointed her weapon directly
at her head.
Complete silence ensued in the Command Center, as nobody dared to move. And the only persons with the
ability to stop Misato weren't here. Fuyutsuki sat in his office, working hard on a plan to keep the UN
and SEELE at bay, while fighting the Angels and doing as much as possible to ensure the birth of the
first Nephilim. And Ritsuko was in her lab, busy with the new data she got.
Mana thought over the possibility of taking the Major out, but her position was too bad to do anything.
The nearest cover was several meters away, the same went for the nearest object she could kick or throw to
take Misato out. While the Major was heavily suffering from the alcohol withdrawal, it was clear that she
had no chance to do anything and survive. She had to wait and to hope that the pilots were able to fight
on their own.
During the entire fight, which Mana watched on the screen, Misato never lost her concentration in pointing
her weapon toward her. Of course, her real duties suffered, as she never looked at the screens, never
observed the battle, never gave instructions to the pilots. Only as it was over, Misato looked, and saw
what she had done. Unit02 was damaged, the pilots shaken. Destroyed tanks and dead soldiers lay scattered
on the beach. As she saw this, Misato realized what she had done. Too late.
The moment the Major took her weapon down, Mana left the Command Center. The Major would have to pay
dearly for her behavior. So she went straight to the office of the Commander.
She would demand an immediate relief of Misato from her duties, and placement in a clinic that specialized
in treatment of alcohol addicts. Further she would lose the guardianship over the second and third child.
If the Commander wouldn't follow those demands, she would remove Katsuragi permanently. The woman was
a danger for everyone on the planet. Her career was over.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
The mood of the pilots was after the battle very somber. Asuka brooded over her bad performance.
She jumped around like a clown out there, and all because nobody really told them how dangerous this thing
was. Mana warned them, but was easily dismissed by Misato. And that they had no communication with
HQ during the entire battle didn't sit too well with her either.
Shinji was shaken too, because if Rei hadn't acted, he would have been dead. Things like that naturally led
to some serious thinking.
Rei was quiet as usual, so nobody noticed that her brain was running in overdrive. The revelations she made
during the battle forced her to think over her life, her future, her entire being.
She was also a little bit worried about the lack of communication with the HQ, but this only occupied
very little of her thoughts.
After the EVAs stood secure in their respective hangars, the pilots gathered on the gantry, waiting for
someone to tell them what the hell had happened. That Misato wasn't here was surprising, that nobody else
beside the techs was here was disconcerting.
They waited for a few minutes, and Asuka already wanted to hit the showers, as Maya Ibuki came to get them.
The serious and dark expression of the normally rather caring Lieutenant heightened the concerns of the
pilots. Maya led them not to the showers, but instead to one of the great conference rooms. They entered,
and were greeted with a sight that wasn't appreciated. Misato, handcuffed and in tears sat in there,
Fuyutsuki, Mana and Dr. Akagi were also inside.
"Take your seats." instructed the Commander and pointed to three seats opposite of Misato. Mana went in
front of the room, were a large screen hung.
"This is s debriefing of the recent battle against the Terminator, along with a briefing of the events
concerning the lack of help during the aforementioned battle. After this, you will be informed about
several measures to ensure that such a mess won't happen again." announced the mahogany haired girl.
The screen played the entire battle, Mana criticised the errors she had found.
"The entire set up of the battle was bad. The positions of the JSSDF hindered you, so you couldn't make
a fast and direct assault against the Terminator. You followed your orders and waited. The JSSDF was
beaten, and as soon as they were out of your way, you started the fight. While I can understand that
you had no help from HQ, your performance was the worst I've ever seen. All three EVAs were busy with
eroding an AT-field that was a fraction of one of their own, leaving the units themselves vulnerable.
Then 02 opened fire with a weapon that was not suited to deal with such an enemy, helped the Terminator
more than damaging it, as Asuka obscured the view to the target with smoke and dirt.
After her ammunition ran out, 00 did the first correct action in the battle, by trying to snipe the
target out. Hindered with targeting, confused by the entire commotion, she missed, but still saved 02."
"WHAT?!" yelled Asuka.
"If the shot hadn't thrown the Terminator again off the ground, the AT-spike wouldn't have hit the toe,
but the core of 02. You know the consequences of such an event." explained Mana.
Asuka nodded stunned. This was something she hadn't thought of.
"With 02 temporary out of action, the Terminator concentrated on his primary goal, unit 01. It was once
again 00 which stopped it from success, as it spread its AT-field over itself and 01, saving 01 from a
direct hit in the core. 00 and 01 took then a purely defensive posture, which was not advisable. One
attacking, while the other was defending would have been better. Their luck was that 02 had recovered
from the hit and took the action in its own hands, by crushing the Terminator with a blow from its fist.
At this point, the Terminator was still able to fight. Pilot Soryu did the right thing as she dug it out
for further attacks, as questionable the way of them was. After she smashed it a final time against the
ground, the Terminator was defeated. If 02 would have stopped the assault then, we would have had the
chance to retrieve some useful information from it. Instead, Soryu gave us a comic-like appearance and
jumped up and down on it. For this she can apply for a role as guest star in the Bugs Bunny show, but
on the battlefield, such behavior is misplaced."
Asuka blushed, but didn't comment. She knew that she was more guilty than the others, as she had received
tactical training in Germany. After the contact with HQ was lost, she should have taken command and made
a suitable battle-plan. She did the same only a week ago against the ninth Angel, so the failure today
hurt even more.
Rei and Shinji didn't comment anything. Both knew pretty well that they had failed.
Mana continued. "And now is the time to show you why you haven't had contact with HQ."
Misato's quiet sobs filled the room as the three shocked pilots saw what had happened in the Command
Center. As the tape was over, the reaction was quite different. None at all from Rei, at least non
visible. Shinji looked at his guardian with a sad expression on his face, while Asuka's was a mix of pity
and disgust.
After nearly a minute, Fuyutsuki broke the silence. "The fallout during the battle cannot be overlooked.
We almost lost two EVAs, and our only chance to end the war. Captain Katsuragi has served well so far, so
she won't be court-martialled. She is to be relieved from her duties as Director of Operations and will be
sent to a facility that is equipped to help her with her problem. Because of this, she is also relieved
from guardianship over the second and third child. New arrangements will be made during this day.
That would be all."
With a quiet nod, he signalled the two security officers to bring Misato away. After she was out of the
room, he continued. "I think you all understand that her problems were the reason for her actions today.
She will be treated, and then receive a new position in this organization. She is ill, and cannot be held
responsible for todays events."
"She nearly killed us." Asuka stated coldly, dropping the temperature in the room for several degrees.
Shinji looked shocked at her, not only for her harsh words, but also for the amount of truth in them.
"Not out of spite, or because of ill will against you. She is ill, and it was our responsibility to not
see this and act sooner." defended Ritsuko her friend. "Do not hold it against her."
Asuka glared at the blond doctor, but didn't reply. She had enough of this topic.
"Now go to the changing rooms and wash, then report to the Lieutenant Hyuga in the Command Center.
Dismissed." ordered the Commander.
The three pilots stood up and left the room, obviously shaken by the things that happened today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------
They showered in silence and reported to Hyuga, who sent them to the NERV recreational center, where they
should wait for new orders. The three pilots went there, and killed the time with different activities.
Rei went swimming, Asuka played the only available video game, and Shinji was brooding.
Hours went by, and the three ended in the pool-chairs, doing nothing. As Asuka snorted again, as she did
several times in the last hour, Shinji spoke his first word since they entered this room.
"Why are you so angry at Misato?"
"Are you dumb? She nearly killed us. We could have died today, just because of her. It was all her fault."
"She didn't nearly kill us." Shinji replied. What then happened, surprised Shinji and Asuka immensely.
"Asuka is right." Rei spoke, shocking the two. Asuka grinned satisfied at Shinji, as Rei spoke again.
"But she is also wrong."
The German girl narrowed her eyes as she heard this.
"What do you mean?" inquired Shinji,
"The actions of the Captain could have lead to our death. In this, Soryu is correct. But it wasn't entirely
the Captain's fault. I have received combat training, as did pilot Soryu in Germany. We should have
been able to make a plan of our own and be successful. But we did not. We only reacted, never acted.
Our failure endangered us as much as the Captain's actions. If we had acted accordingly to our training,
we wouldn't have had the problems, nor the amount of danger."
"So, only little Shinji wasn't at fault?" spat Asuka.
"Pilot Soryu, did you receive combat training and tactical training in Germany?"
"Yes." admitted Asuka.
"As did I here in Japan. Shinji has only primary combat training, nothing else. So, he is the only one
without experience in such situations. Therefore, he wasn't at fault."
Asuka scowled at the third child, but nodded nonetheless. "But Misato still nearly killed us."
"Only because we failed too."
After this short argument, silence ensued once again.
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An undisclosed amount of time later, Aoba came, told them to dress and go to the Commander's office.
The pilots did this, and were surprised that there were several others too. In fact, almost the complete
commanding staff of NERV was assembled.
The arrival of the three pilots completed the gathering, and Fuyutsuki issued orders to each person in the
room.
"Lieutenant Aoba, you will take over the command over the retrievement and rescue units from Lieutenant
Hyuga. Lieutenant Hyuga, in exchange for this, you will take over the paperwork from Captain Katsuragi.
New Director Of Operations will be Captain Kirishima, who has several other duties as well. Therefore,
her new position will only take affect during combat, when she will take Command, and for the training
plan of the pilots."
Aoba and Hyuga nodded, saluted and left the office.
"Lieutenant Ibuki, you are hereby promoted to Captain. You will take full responsibility for the Magi.
Also you will get another duty, but more of that later."
Maya nodded and waited.
"Captain Kirishima. Aside from your responsibility as DoO, and your duties as bodyguard, you will also have
to work in the labs to help Dr. Akagi with the new technologies."
Mana simply nodded and waited too.
"Dr. Akagi, you will help the newly promoted Captain Ibuki to take over from you, then you will
concentrate on research and development of the data we have gotten from the future."
Ritsuko nodded and left the office.
Fuyutsuki looked then on the pilots. "For you three, there are some changes as well. First off, your
new commanding officer is Captain Kirishima. Also, you will be relocated to a quarter inside the geofront.
School is suspended, as there are more pressing matters to attend, started with advanced training.
Any questions?"
"No." replied Rei, the others kept silent.
"Your new quarters will be sufficient for 6 persons, so this problem should be solved." continued the
Commander.
"Six?" shrieked Asuka.
"Six." confirmed Fuyutsuki. "The pilots of Units 00, 01 and 02, Captain Kirishima, as she has to protect
the pilot of 01, Miss Horaki, whose will be trained as pilot for 03, and your guardian."
"Who is our new guardian?" asked Shinji timid.
"Captain Ibuki, you will be the new guardian. Since the training regime is stepped up, there should be
no side-effects on your other work."
Maya's eyes widened, but confronted with the determined look of the Commander, she nodded.
"Your belongings are already relocated. Tonight it should be ready to move in. Until then, eat dinner in
the cafeteria. Dismissed."
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On their way on the cafeteria, Shinji mumbled under his breath, which caught Asuka's interest.
"What are you saying, baka?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I heard you muttering. So spit it out."
Shinji blushed. "I.. I said five females."
"Oh, and that's bringing your hentai side into overdrive."
"N...no." he protested weakly.
Instead of tormenting Shinji further, Asuka had a better idea.
"Five girls and a male housemaid. Doesn't that make five and a half girls?" she asked innocently.
Shinji blushed and wanted to protest, but his quiet attempt was drowned in the laughter of the others.
"Yet he is still a hentai. I volunteer for keeping him in check." offered Asuka, who only met Mana's
shaking head. "Nope, that's my responsibility."
"And why?"
"I will sleep in his room, so I have the best control."
"You'll sleep in his room?"
Asuka's outburst caught also Rei's interest, who wasn't too fond of the fact that Kirishima would sleep in
the same room as Shinji.
"It is my duty." Mana stated, and ended this way further inquiries about the sleeping arrangements.
Their arrival in the cafeteria also stopped the conversation, as they all were hungry.
So they were busy eating. Their moving in into the new quarters would come soon enough.
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Preread by Yagami
Useful comments and encouragement to write by Kuracao and Akhorahil
Domo arigato.