NERV
Rei zipped up her jacket and moved to the mirror, studying herself intensely before making a move to leave the locker room. Ritsuko had made a remark during Rei’s examination which had set the young womans mind off. She had noted that there seemed to be something different about Rei recently, that she seemed to be carrying herself a little bit differently, that there was a bit of a ‘glow’ around her.
So, Rei found herself looking back at her own reflection, studying it for any visual evidence of these changes. It was certainly true that recently Rei had felt a little bit different, but she wasn’t aware that other people would be able to tell.
From her perspective nothing had changed, her figure was the same as it had always been, her pale skin had not changed, her red eyes remained red and her Borg implants, the reminders of her past with the collective were ever present on her body. If there was anything visual, then Rei could certainly not see it in her reflection.
Still, Rei did feel somewhat different, something had changed inside of her, and it was easy to figure out why. For the last couple of weeks, she had spent more and more time in the company of people who didn’t treat her with suspicion or disdain. Rei had been present in the company of a group who didn’t see her as a former Borg Drone, as a representative of NERV, they didn’t look at her oddly or strangely, they saw her as herself, as a woman called Rei Ayanami.
For this, she found herself thankful and she found that the feeling of emptiness, that something was missing that usually followed her around had for this brief time been replaced by something else. Maybe it was this that Dr Akagi had picked up on, and forced something of a change in Rei, even if Rei could not see it herself.
That small group of people had taken Rei in without question. It wasn’t just her fellow pilots, Asuka and Shinji. It was Shinji’s friends too, the security officer Touji Suzahara and the engineering officer Kensuke Aida. It was Asuka’s friend, the science officer Hikari Horaki. No one questioned Rei’s presence, sure, Kensuke had asked a few questions related to Rei’s Borg Implants, but the others had shut him up quickly. A moment that had actually made Rei laugh, for one of the few times in her life.
It was these interactions with the others that had given Rei a little extra feeling of confidence and determination in what she was about to do next. She had already approached Commander Ikari about this matter once and his reluctance had been clear to her. Still, this was something she wanted to do, Shinji had been nice to her, and she wanted to do what she could to help him, even a little bit.
After a few minutes of walking, she found herself at the door to Ikari’s office. The confidence she was feeling was slowly being replaced by apprehension. This was one of, if not the first time, she had actually asked for something from him.
All her time here, she had lived according to his or other people's instructions, fulfilling her day to day tasks as was required. Her social life had been non-existent, and she had never thought to ask for anything. Her food was provided to her by replicators, friends had not been a part of her life and computers in her quarters could provide a vast array of reading material.
The apprehension grew. She was actually worried about him saying no. Worried that she might annoy him, or that his denial of her request might upset her.
The door opened and she stepped through. Commander Ikari was on his own, sitting at his desk, reviewing some data on a computer screen. There was a strange object on his desk that drew Rei’s attention, for a moment she felt a weird familiarity when looking at it, but she shook it off. This wasn’t why she was here.
“Rei.” Commander Ikari looked up from his screen towards here, “This is quite unexpected. Did something happy during your check-up? Dr Akagi hasn’t been in contact with me.”
Rei shook her head, “No, there was nothing wrong during my check-up. Dr Akagi had no reasons to be concerned.”
“I see.” He gave a nod, “That is good news, so why are you here?”
“I am here because I wanted to follow up on the request I made previously.” Rei felt the apprehension inside of her growing, “I wanted to know if you have given it any further thought, and whether or not it can go ahead?”
Gendo didn’t reply immediately, instead taking a brief moment to contemplate her answer. With each passing moment Rei felt that feeling grow even more, it was a sickly burning sensation in her stomach. She also found her eyes wandering to the object on Gendo’s desk again.
“You are referring to the dinner you wanted to put together for us, the pilots and the senior staff of the Tokyo, correct?”
“Yes.” Rei’s attention was brought back to Gendo.
“I have... been giving it some thought.” Gendo answered, and Rei prepared herself for his rejection, “Is this something you feel strongly about?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Can you explain why?”
Rei had expected she might have had to justify her request and had gone over this moment many times. Unfortunately, as he asked his question all her carefully prepared answers fell away from her.
She took a moment to steady herself and answer. The main reason for this was getting him and Shinji into the same room, and to allow the two of them to interact outside of anything officer. It was a chance to Shinji to see his father in a different light, and for Gendo, who seemed uncomfortable around his son, to perhaps meet with him in a more relaxed atmosphere.
“I feel that it would be a good opportunity for Shinji to see you in a different way, and for you to engage with him in a setting that is more comfortable for people.” Rei started to explain, deciding to be honest about her reasons, “I have researched many aspects of human culture, and sitting down to dinner is often a good opportunity for getting to know people and understand them more. This is commonly seen in dating rituals and family dinners. I also believe it would strengthen the bonds between yourself, and the senior staff of the Tokyo.”
“I see.” Gendo gave a wry smile as he rose from his seat, “I admit, I am somewhat reluctant to grant your request. The importance of what we are doing here cannot be stressed enough and as you well know, your role in what will come will be very important, this is a distraction we could probably do without.”
Rei gave a nod, she knew the rejection was coming but she couldn’t help feeling disappointed, “I understand.”
“With that said.” Gendo continued to speak, “I can see this is important to you, and I know Dr Akagi is quite keen on seeing you develop your relationships with others. I will grant your request, just this once. Is that understood?”
“Yes, thank you.” She smiled.
Bridge Of Tokyo
Misato leaned back in her seat, listening to the various beeps and movements of the crew that made up the ambiance of the USS Tokyo’s bridge. Keel had departed, shortly after his little ceremony, just as he had promised. He had not overstayed his welcome, but his presence here had left Misato uneasy and agitated.
She knew that him being here wasn’t just some simple relief mission, there was more to it than that. The number of supplies that had moved from the Covenant to NERV did not match their so-called relief mission. Keel himself had been down there to visit Commander Ikari, and his general demeanor during the visit had put Misato on edge.
Whatever his reasons for being here, she had no way of knowing, at least not without significant help from Ritsuko but knowing just how much scrutiny Ritsuko was under, it was unlikely any answers would come soon. For now, she’d just have to deal with her frustration and wait for an opportunity.
“Captain, I’m picking up several signals from the edge of the system. A number of ships have just dropped out of warp and seem to be on course for us.” Aoba suddenly reported from his station.
“How many ships?” Misato asked.
“Twelve.” Aoba answered.
“Yellow alert.” Misato rose from her seat, Ibuki also did the same, the two of them moving towards the centre of the bridge and looking towards the giant viewscreen, which was now showing the twelve ships Aoba had reported. They looked tiny, flying in a circular formation and there was no mistaking what they were.
“Evangelion class ships...” Ibuki spoke, and the air on the bridge became thicker as a sense of dread fell over them all.
“Aoba, shields up... Soya, start to bring us forward to intercept them and Bresha, open a channel.”
“Hailing frequencies open captain.”
“This is captain Misato Katsuragi of the USS Tokyo, unidentified Evangelion class vessels, please halt your course and identify yourselves. This system is currently under our jurisdiction.”
They all waited with bated breath for a response from any one of the ships. They received nothing but silence. The group continued to fly, holding formation and getting closer second by second. The more time that passed, the clearer the ships became to them all, they were practically identical to the three Evangelion class vessels held at NERV except for the colorization of the hull. Each one of these shone a brilliant white, with red markings scattered around them.
“No return signals from them captain, they’re still moving.” Aoba confirmed what they already knew.
“I’ve noticed.” Misato frowned as she spoke again, “Unidentified vessels, please halt your approach and identify yourselves.”
Once again, they all waited and once again they received no answer. Frustrated Misato turned towards her first officer, “What do we do? They’re Starfleet vessels but if they don’t answer us...”
Before Misato could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Aoba calling out, “Captain three of them are charging weapons.”
“Shit, Red alert!” She commanded, “Evasive maneuvers!”
The bridge dimmed to a dull red as the red alert klaxon sounded around them. Misato didn’t move from her position in the centre of the bridge, instead waiting for the first attack to come. Suddenly one of the ships broke formation, sending a blast of its phasers towards the Tokyo. Misato looked on as the Tokyo banked, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the ship, as the blast smashed into its shields causing them to shake ever so slightly.
“Shields are holding captain.” Aoba called out, “But it looks like the others are preparing to attack too.”
“Keep evading them, ready our own phasers and torpedoes. Send word to NERV to bring their planetary defenses online too.”
“Aye captain.”
Misato moved back to her seat, Ibuki sitting down beside her. Ibuki then tapped a button on their seat, “This is Commander Maya Ibuki sending a ship wide message. All hands-battle stations, non-essential personnel are to remain in their quarters until we are clear.”
“What the hell is doing on?” Misato muttered as the ship evaded fire from one of the ships but was immediately hit by another blast. She gritted her teeth as the ship shook again.
“Is it another Angel attack? Another class of ship to mimic what we have?” Ibuki questioned.
Aoba replied, “I’m not picking up any of the same signatures of patterns that we do from the Angel vessels Commander. These are broadcasting Starfleet signatures and are the same Evangelion class we know of, but I’m not seeing anything that indicates where they came from?”
Ibuki frowned, “Bresha, anything on your end?”
“They’re still not answering any hailing attempts. I’m not even sure there is anyone on board, I’m picking up no signals between them or life signs.”
The bridge shook again as another blast smashed into their shields. Misato felt herself getting more irritated, “We’ve given them more than enough time to respond. Evangelion or not, Starfleet or not, we have the right to respond to them now, in kind. Aoba, target the one that attacked us first.”
“I’m locked on captain.”
“Fire.”
Aoba carried out the command, and the Tokyo fired back at its target. It looked to be a certain hit but on the moment of impact, the familiar octagonal ripples appeared all around the ship, and the phaser blast was absorbed.
“An A.T. Field...” Ibuki groaned, “Of course it has an A.T. Field...”
Just at that moment, three more of the ships broke formation and moved around the Tokyo, attempting to flank it. They all fired simultaneously, not allowing the Tokyo to evade at all. The bridge shook much more violently this time.
“Status report.” Misato called out.
“Shields are down to 85% captain, if this keeps up, we’re not going to be able to survive.”
Misato shook her head, “Increase speed, and switch evasive patterns every fifteen seconds. There are a lot of them and only one of us, so we need to be more scattered. Ibuki... I think you know what’s needed?”
“I’ll inform NERV to get the Evangelion’s ready, and make sure the pilots are there.”
Shinji's Quarters.
Shinji’s eyes shot open to the sound of the klaxon the ship suddenly shaking. It took him a moment to realize he wasn’t still dreaming, but instead what he was experiencing in his groggy state was in fact very real. He sat up and looked around, his room a dim shade of red matching the red alert status of the ship.
‘What... what the hell is going on? Is it an Angel?’
He stumbled out of bed, quickly picking up his uniform and other clothes, throwing them on as Ibuki’s voice sounded in his quarters.
“This is Commander Maya Ibuki sending a ship wide message. All hands-battle stations, non-essential personnel are to remain in their quarters until we are clear.”
Shinji finishing putting on his uniform and combadge before wondering what to do next. Was he essential or non-essential? He was technically a part of the crew but was only really needed as an Evangelion pilot. Was he needed now, or should he just remain here?
The ship shook again, this time knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling, thankfully back towards his bed. A moment later he got his answer.
“Crewman Ikari, Ensign Soryu, you’re both required in transporter room one immediately. NERV are expecting you.”
He tapped his badge, “I-I’m on my way.”
He scrambled out of the room, not caring to finish any other of his routine for waking up. It didn’t really seem appropriate given the situation. He got to the door of his quarters and the ship shook again, this time sending him slamming into the wall with a loud thud. Pain shot through him as he gritted his teeth and left the room, out into the corridor where the klaxon was a little bit louder and the shouts of other members of the crew could be heard.
His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest as he tried to ignore the feelings of fear that told him to run away. He had never seen things from this perspective before, always being called down to NERV and safely in his ship before any attacks occurred.
He moved through the corridors, towards the turbolift, as members of the Tokyo’s crew moved back and forth carrying out their own unique sets of orders. He heard various calls from security personnel, talking about the situation and getting into secure positions. There was mention of a fire breaking out on one deck and systems being overloaded in another.
Finally, he was at the turbolift and moving down to the transporter room. The ship shook again, and he was slammed into the walls of the turbolift, before stumbling forward and being thrown to the ground. He yelped out in pain just in time to see the doors open and Asuka standing above him, glaring down.
She smirked, reached out a hand and pulled him back up to his feet.
“Thanks.” he muttered, feeling embarrassed at how she had found him.
“Come on, let’s go.” She nodded down the corridor and started moving towards the transporter room. He still felt frightened, but her presence had calmed him somewhat.
“Do you know what’s going on? Is it an Angel?” He asked her.
“I don’t know, I haven’t heard anything about it. I was on duty in the shuttlebay when everything started. From what I’ve heard, several ships entered the system and opened fire. We’re needed because they have A.T. Fields...”
Shinji nodded as they kept moving, eventually making it into the transporter room. The transporter chief there welcomed them, and gestured towards the transporter pads, “Your position is already locked in. Good luck.”
Shinji and Asuka both took their positions, and Shinji heard Asuka giving the order for them to be transported down.
“Energize.”
A second later, Shinji saw that weird cascade of blue appeared around him and the transporter room faded away.
NERV HQ
Only a few moments later Shinji found himself re-materializing in the NERV transporter room. Compared to the Tokyo, everything felt calm and serene here, there were no dimmed lights and no constant klaxon. For a moment, he felt as if nothing was wrong at all, until he turned to see Ritsuko was there to greet the two of them.
“We don’t have a lot of time, I’ll explain as I walk you both to the locker room.”
“Okay.” Shinji nodded as the two of them followed Ritsuko out of the room and into the corridor.
“Only a few moments ago, twelve unidentified Evangelion class starships arrived in the system. The USS Tokyo attempted to communicate with them, only to receive no response.” Ritsuko explained as Shinji struggled to keep pace with her and Asuka, “As you’ve probably already guessed, the ships then proceeded to open fire on the Tokyo. Unfortunately, the Tokyo is unable to fight back due to the presence of the A.T. Fields on the vessels.”
“Evangelion class?” Shinji asked, “As in the same as our ships?”
“That is correct.”
“Where did they come from? Who is controlling them?” Asuka followed up with a question.
“We don’t know.” Ritsuko answered, “As far as we knew the only three Evangelion classes in service are the ones you pilot, a fourth was due to go into production shortly but it wouldn’t have been completed for months.”
“I-If those are Evangelion class ships... then they have a pilot... right?” Shinji asked, feeling uncomfortable at what was to come.
“That would be a logical assumption.” Ritsuko answered, “Evangelion class ships rely on a pilot to operate them, but the identities of any pilots have not been confirmed as of yet.”
“I... I see...” Shinji lowered his eyes and felt the anxiety within him spike. Going into battle already made him feel nervous and anxious, but the enemies he was up against weren’t people. This was different, there was someone like him piloting those craft and he’d have to hurt them, potentially kill them.
He knew he had to, because they threatened to hurt him and the people that he cared about but he didn’t know if he could.
He didn’t have any additional time to think about it as they finally reached the locker room. Ritsuko spoke again, “Get changed quickly and get to the launch bay, I’ll finish preparing the Evangelions.”
Ritsuko turned and walked away from them without allowing for a chance to reply. Asuka turned to Shinji, Shinji noticing the girl was slightly pale, her left arm shaking, but she smirked at him, “Right Shinji... you ready?”
Shinji swallowed, feeling his hand tightening into a fist and unclenching again, he wanted to speak but for a moment the words caught up. Finally, he was able to offer up a weak, “I can’t...”
Asuka’s stance changed, she stood up a bit straighter and took a step towards him, “Excuse me?”
“I... I can’t...” Shinji repeated lowering his gaze, “Fighting... Hurting... Killing other people... I...”
Suddenly he felt her hand cupping his chin, it was warm, comforting. She brought his head up, her eyes matching his, “Listen to me right now Shinji Ikari, you can... and you will do this.”
“B-But I don’t think I can kill-”
“Do you trust me?”
“I...”
“Do you trust me Shinji?” She asked him again, tightening her hold on him but not hurting him.
“Yes.”
“Then fight for me, as your superior officer, as your trainer and... as your friend... trust me and fight for me.” Asuka’s words are stern, “Because if you don’t, they will kill you, they will kill me, they will kill Rei, the captain and everyone here... including your father.”
“But...”
“I don’t like it either, I don’t want to fight and hurt real people either but it’s between me and them... then I’m doing to make damn sure it’s me that comes out on top. Do you understand?”
Shinji nodded, “Y-yeah...”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Good, now go get ready and meet me back here.”
888
Asuka’s stomach felt tight as she finished putting on her plugsuit, feeling the strange piloting suit tighten around her body, conforming itself to all her curves. She took a deep breath and studied herself in the mirror for a moment. She looked pale, a mixture of lacking sleep and nervousness over what she was about to do.
Much like Shinji, she wasn’t relishing the fact that she might have to kill another person either. She knew, when enrolling to Starfleet, that it’d be a real possibility. Ships engaged in combat, Starfleet had been at war numerous times in its existence. Asuka had shown herself to be an expert pilot during her time at the academy, showing exceptional skill in simulations and combat exercises.
If there was anyone who was most likely to be thrown into this scenario, it was going to be her.
There was also the other possibility burrowing its way into her head. This could be her last battle as well. Death was a real possibility too.
A sudden wave of nausea rushed over her as she stumbled forward, leaning against the wall for balance. She took several deep breaths as the feeling passed.
‘Damnit... I’m not scared... I’m not scared... I’m not scared! I don’t fear this or anything! I’m a warrior! I’m going to get out there and I’m going to fight and I’m going to win! Shinji and Rei won’t even have to lift a finger, I’ll do it all for them. All twelve of those bastards handled by me. I’m not... I’m not scared...’
Finally, the feeling passed, and she took a final deep breath before pushing away from the wall and leaving the changing room. She was greeted by Shinji and Rei, who had arrived already in her plugsuit.
“Well... Look at you both! The two of your ready?”
“Y-Yeah...” Shinji replied weakly. Asuka felt her stomach churn, but she fought it back, trying to push those feelings away.
“How about you blue? You ready?”
“I am prepared.” Rei answered, “I have been informed of the situation regarding the Tokyo. Although I admit, I was not expecting to fight another Evangelion or pilot, I will do what I need to, to protect my friends.”
“Good answer.” Asuka smirked.”
“Do you have any idea who is attacking us?” Shinji asked.
“I do not know.” Rei answered him, “It is peculiar, I sense something different about the ships compared to ours though.”
“Meaning, what exactly?” Asuka asked.
“I do not feel the presence of a pilot within them.” Rei answered, “I can feel the ships out there, but whatever is guiding them does not seem to be present... or at least it is not something I can feel.”
“Wait... You can feel the presence of the ships?”
Rei nodded, “I am bonded to the Evangelion. I do not feel like I could explain it, but I feel them when they are nearby. Whatever is guiding them... I do not know if it is in the ship, I can sense it... sense what it is feeling but I do not know what it is.”
Shinji looked confused, “You... know what it’s feeling?”
“Yes... It feels... sad... and angry.” Rei answered, “It... hates.”
“As interesting as this is... We don’t really have the time for it.” Asuka suddenly cut in, “Pilot or not, we have a mission and if that thing hates us, makes our job easier.”
“Yes.” Rei nodded, “We should go.”
“We should.” Asuka folded her arms and was about to make a movement to leave, but a quick look at Shinji again made her feel another pang in her stomach. She felt her arm start to shake again and she nodded towards Rei.
“You go on ahead blue, I need to have a quick chat with Shinji here.”
“I will see you there.”
Rei left the room, Asuka waited for the door to close fully before letting out the breath she was holding. She was trying to summon up the voice and spirit from back in the locker room but finding it difficult. The churning in her stomach was intensifying and she wondered if she was going to have to sprint to the bathroom.
“A-Asuka... are you alright?” Shinji’s voice broke her from her thoughts, she turned to see him looking at her, concern on his face.
She nodded, “F-Fine.”
For a moment she thought about just leaving and getting to her Evangelion but that feeling that this could be her last fight popped back into her head, that it could be Shinji’s last fight popped into her head. This could be the last time they saw each other.
She thought back to their time on the planet together, Shinji had looked after her when she had been injured. He had protected her when she needed it and without him, she would have died.
“I’m not going to let you die.” She suddenly muttered as she locked eyes with him.
“Huh?”
“I owe you... for saving me on the planet.” She clarified, “I won’t let you die... and I won’t let you get hurt.”
She took a step forward, wondering if she’d regret what she was about to do next. A part of her desperately wanted this, the rest of her fought against it. It was weakness, it was giving in to something and needing someone. Things she swore she wouldn’t do or didn’t need to do.
“I won’t let you get hurt either Asuka...” Shinji’s response was soft breaking through the negative feelings, and suddenly Asuka felt her rush towards him, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace. She held herself to him, as he stood there awkwardly for a moment, before bringing him arms up and around her.
Warmth spread through her as he returned the hug, her soft hands at various positions on her back. Her head leaning on his shoulder and their breathing in sync.
“Don’t you dare think about dying out there...”
“I-I won’t.”
“We are both going to make it...”
Evangelion Unit 02
By the time their ships reached orbit, the knot in her stomach had not eased. Ahead of her she could see the battle unfolding. Just as they had been told, there were twelve Evangelion class ships, all scattered around the USS Tokyo, firing potshots at the ship whilst the Galaxy class vessel dodged phaser fire. Every now and then the Tokyo would fire a blast back, only to see it bounce off of the A.T. Fields.
The Tokyo was an incredibly tough ship, an upgrade on the previous galaxy class vessels. Made using a lot of what Starfleet had learned over the years through various conflicts and deep space explorations. The wars and conflicts with the Dominion, Borg, Carassians, and others had culminated in the state of the art ship but as big and powerful as it was, eventually it’d be worn down.
They had to act quickly and effectively. Asuka took a moment to survey the situation. It was twelve against three, and the likelihood was that their ships would be evenly matched. The advantage the three of them had was all of their combat experience. From observing the patterns of the enemies, they didn’t seem to have cohesion.
In addition to this, between the USS Tokyo and planetary defenses, they had some tough backup. It might be enough to just null the A.T. Fields.
“What do we do Asuka?” Shinji’s voice came through the comm, much to Asuka’s surprise. She was ready to take charge but wasn’t anticipating being asked for her instructions.
Looked ahead again before giving a nod, “We’re sticking together for now. We’re outnumbered but we seem to be a lot better organized than they are. We pick out a target, take it out as quick as we can before moving onto the next one. Hopefully we can thin out their numbers before they realize what is happening.”
“From my observations, I believe it would be wise to target this one first.” Rei’s soft voice was heard replying to Asuka, “It is closer to us and appears to be quite isolated from the others.”
Asuka took a moment to look at the data Rei had sent over, just as the woman had said, the ship was quite far away from the others and seemed like a prime candidate.
“I agree, both of you lock it in as a target.”
“Target locked in.” Shinji answered.
“I have it locked in.” Rei also confirmed.
“Okay then... on my mark!” Asuka narrowed her eyes and began a countdown in her head, also locking in the target and bringing her ship around. She counted down from five to one, “Engage!”
The three ships sped forward towards their waiting target. It was an isolated Evangelion that had somehow drifted away from the others. It was focused on the Tokyo though, not moving too much but firing regular phaser blasts from its fore phaser arrays.
Asuka noted the strange design of the ship, physically it was the same as theirs but the bright white of the hull and the strange red markings around it gave her the creeps. Ahead of her she could see four of the ships circling around the top of the Tokyo, giving her the impression of vultures circling their prey.
Other ships seemed to be positioned at random, dipping in and out of combat, firing at different parts of the Tokyo. There didn’t seem to be a logic to the attacks of the Evangelion’s, they were just overwhelming the ship with sheer numbers. If there were individual pilots, then they wouldn’t be acting as a cohesive unit.
Soon they entered weapons range of the isolated ship. Rei was the first to strike with a barrage of phaser fire sent towards the waiting ship, the blasts were absorbed by the A.T. Field, sending that all too familiar octagonal wave rippling around the ship.
Shinji was next, passing the ship and targeting the same location that Rei did and smashing straight into the field, this time the ripple burnt just a little bit brighter. This one seemed to get the ships attention as it slowly started to turn on the spot and move away.
It was too little too late for it thought as now it was Asuka’s turn to finish the first pass. Her phasers locked onto the same point and cut through the A.T. Field scorching the unprotected white hull of the ship.
As if in sync with her thoughts, Shinji immediately released a spread of photon torpedoes which sped towards the exposed hull. One by one they crashed into the hull, little explosions rippled where they landed before a larger explosion was generated and their first target was sent to oblivion.
“One down! Eleven to go!” she announced with a smirk as she pulled her ship around scanning for their next target. The remaining eleven vessels didn’t seem phased by the loss of one, instead they were continuing their relentless attacks on the Tokyo.
The Tokyo kept moving, evading as best it could, firing weak blasts back in a feeble attempt to fight back. Asuka could see that the shields were weakening in some areas of the ship. The enemy's phaser blasts were breaking through, hitting the hull of the vessel. They needed to act quicker. She scanned the area again, locating a new target.
“Sending data on the next target, you two know what to do!”
She rotated the ship around not waiting for a response from the others. Bringing her speed up to three quarters impulse, she noticed Shinji and Rei were also matching her speed and in formation alongside. Wordlessly, she readied phasers and on getting into range fired several blasts forward. They were absorbed by the field, but this time the target and another nearby ship were quicker to act, pulling away from the attacks against the Tokyo.
Shinji and Rei also engaged in the fighting. Rei’s phasers hitting the front of the ship, and Shinji just narrowly missing as the vessel dropped pitch and increased speed. The other ship that had entered the fray fired towards Asuka, a move she was able to dodge effortlessly.
“Got your attention now, have we?” Asuka snarled as she banked to starboard trying to get herself into a better position around the back of her initial target. She fired phasers in intermittent bursts, hoping to keep its attention.
When the aft of her ship was facing the ship, she fired off two quick torpedoes. She knew they would be ineffective as she bounced into the field, but that wasn’t why she fired them. She wanted to present herself as the biggest threat, keep their attention so Rei and Shinji could act.
It seemed to be working as the vessels picked her as a target. She gritted her teeth as she made moves to evade their fire. Blast after blast was sent sailing past her as she hoped Shinji and Rei would cotton on to what she was doing and flank the following vessels. She banked again, another blast missing her but a second well timed blast catching the top of her shields.
She felt the burning sensation running up her back but continued to press on. A quick glance at her tactical display showed that Shinji and Rei were doing just as she had hoped. A moment later the two of them had fired their phasers tearing through the chasing vessels A.T. Field.
Asuka saw her opportunity at once and pitched up sharply and suddenly bringing her in a loop around the chasing ship. She locked her sensors onto the exposed gap in the field and fired another few torpedoes. Each one slammed into the exposed hull, destroying it instantly, leaving just one chasing vessel left.
No one waited for any communication, all three of them firing phasers immediately and in sync. The A.T. Field fell immediately, followed swiftly by the third ship as well.
“Three down... nine to go.” Asuka announced triumphantly.
“It would seem that we have succeeded in drawing the attention of the remaining ships.” Rei’s voice was heard.
Sure enough, a quick glance at the display revealed that out of the nine remaining ships, five of them had now broken off from attacking the Tokyo and were making their way towards the waiting pilots. The final four were focused solely on the Tokyo, and by the looks of things the Tokyo was in serious danger.
Evangelion Unit 00
Rei felt herself frowning as she dodged phaser fire from one of the three ships that had decided to come after her. All the while she felt that strange presence from before intensifying. Something, somewhere was manipulating those craft, twisting and warping them into beings of hatred, and for some reason they had taken a particular interest in her.
This was no ordinary hatred though, this wasn’t like the hatred she got from members of the NERV staff, not hatred born of prejudice of fear, this was something else, something primal. Whatever it was, it wanted her dead.
The other two vessels that had split off from attacking were currently engaged with Asuka and Shinji. Whatever was driving the vessels was getting smarter and more engaged with the fight. It was as if by reducing the numbers of the vessels, this entity was getting smarter or more focused.
She could also feel something else, whatever this strange thing happened to be, it was suffering. It was in pain. Not that its pain mattered to Rei right now, it was threatening her first friends, and that was something she couldn’t stand down against.
She dodged another barrage of phaser fire, before suddenly taking her opportunity and dropping the speed of her craft to a dead stop and dropping the pitch down. Just as expected all three of the ships sailed right over her and past her. Without giving any of them a chance to react she targeted the one in the center and fired off several focused blasts of her phasers, piercing the A.T. Field and scorching the hull.
Quickly putting herself back up to speed she burst forward and banked, firing more blasts from her phasers, hitting what she hoped, if that ship was truly the same as hers, were key systems. Fortunately for her they were, and the ship was blasted to smithereens.
Another ship was down, there were eight left but Rei could feel herself starting to flag. The strain put on her was already starting to have an effect and she could imagine it was similar to Shinji and Asuka. These enemies were relentless, and even with the damage they had done, they were still far away from carrying out their mission.
As her target exploded before her, she felt that presence from before, a strange familiarity went with it but then there was only an intense feeling of hate and darkness. Her actions had only served to anger it further.
The two remaining vessels that were on her turned around and sent their phasers forward. This time Rei was unable to evade the attacks with one blast hitting her port shields and the other her aft. She felt pain rush through her body as her A.T. Field was swiftly cut down to 16%.
She gritted her teeth and tried to push on, trying to dodge and fire back as pain shot through the left side of her body and up her back. She felt an intense burning feeling the enemies scored another hit and she screamed out. Her A.T. Field had almost been stripped away.
Near to her, she was vaguely aware of another of the vessels exploding, it seemed like Asuka had managed to come out on top of her dog fight and was now moving in to help Rei. Rei knew it would be too late as she pushed on trying to fight back and give Asuka time to get there. She fired everything she could, phasers and torpedoes in desperation as her pursuers stuck to her relentlessly.
It was all for nothing through as she was caught with another blast, her field finally being stripped away. Her entire body was crippled with pain as she doubled over in her seat screaming out and unable to do anything as a torpedo slammed into her ship and everything went black.
Bridge Of Tokyo
“Status report!” Misato called out as she stumbled back into her seat having just been thrown forward from it.
“Shields are down to 12%, I’m getting reports of fires on decks 4,5,15 and 16. Hull breach on deck 23, and severe injuries reported on deck 42!” Aoba replied, “It looks like Ayanami’s ship has been disabled, she’s stable but unconscious.”
“We’ll have to get her when we’re out of this!” Misato called back trying to figure out what to do next.
Next to her Ibuki leaned in, keeping their voice low, “Captain, with all due respect if this keeps up, we’re not going to be getting out of this.”
So far, the pilots had managed to take out five of the ships that had been attacking them, leaving only seven remaining, but everyone was at breaking point. Three of the ships remained in combat with Asuka and Shinji, the remaining four focused purely on the Tokyo.
“I know.” Misato frowned, “Aoba! Is there anything we can do to help them?”
“I’m trying Captain... wait! The one that Shinji is engaged with has it’s A.T. Field down but he’s struggling to get into position.”
“Okay, target that one. I don’t care what you use, phasers, photon torpedoes or quantum torpedoes. Take that bastard out!”
“Aye captain.”
Aoba started the process of targeting the ship, as Soya worked frantically at the helm, trying to evade enemy attacks and get into position to hit the target pursuing Shinji. Misato steadied herself in her seat as the carnage unfolded. Eventually, a full spread of torpedoes was sent hurtling towards the enemy, all of them hitting their mark and taking it down.
Misato released the breath she was holding, “That’s half of them. Maybe we have a chance!”
“Captain the ships attacking us are breaking away!”
Misato breathed a sigh of relief as the shakes and rumbles from enemy phaser fire stopped and not a moment too soon. Unfortunately, this meant that Shinji and Asuka were now going to be out numbered six to two.
“What’s our status?”
“Shields are at 7%”
“Divert power from weapons to shields and take us back towards NERV. Get our shields back up, and then we’ll see what we can do to help Asuka and Shinji. We will-”
“Captain...” Bresha’s voice suddenly cut off any further orders, “I’m picking up a vessel decloaking at the edge of the system... It’s the USS Covenant.”
Under normal circumstances Misato might have welcomed the arrival of another Starfleet vessel, it could have been any ship past or present, from the Enterprise NX class through the E, the Defiant, the Titan, Voyager or even the Cerritos. Any of them would have been welcomed but not Keel and the Covenant, it’s arrival only filled her with a deep sense of unease.
“Captain, it’s charging weapons.”
“EVASIVE MANEUVURES! GET US OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY! NOW!” Misato shouted as she got up from her seat. Barely a second later a bright flash of light was seen erupting from the Covenant directly towards the USS Tokyo.
There was no time for them to fully evade as the blast caught what was left of the ships shields and slamming violently into parts of the hull. The bridge shook, panels erupted into a shower of sparks and smoke filled the air. Misato was thrown to the ground, her wrist landing with a sickening crunch.
She groaned as the shaking stopped and looked around. Her bridge crew were all alive and accounted for, several of the consoles were fried but it seemed the key ones were still there.
“Aoba... Dare I ask, status report?”
“Shields are done for, engines have been knocked out and we’re getting more reports of fires and casualties throughout the ship.”
“Keel... he attacked us!” Ibuki exclaimed, “But why... why did he attack us?”
Misato could offer her first officer no explanation for Keel’s actions. She had known all along he wasn’t to be trusted but had not expected anything like this. NERV and the Tokyo had been charged with defeating the Angels, an objective Keel shared, so why was he intent on destroying them?
Before she could come up with any answer, Aoba spoke again, “It’s charging up weapons again captain. Only... it’s not targeting us, it’s locked onto NERV.”
“Shit!” Misato cursed.
“How long have we got?” Ibuki asked him.
“I can’t tell exactly, but between five and ten minutes?”
“Open a channel to NERV.” Misato ordered.
“Channel is open.” Bresha replied.
“Attention all of NERV, this is Captain Misato Katsuragi of the USS Tokyo. I am ordering an emergency evacuation of NERV imminently. All personnel are to make their way to NERV transporter rooms immediately and prepare to be transported to the USS Tokyo. There are to be no exceptions, do not spent time collecting any belongings, move swiftly.”
Misato turned to Ibuki, “Have the transporter chiefs redirecting them into the useable function rooms throughout the saucer section. Aoba, you’re coming with me.”
“What are you thinking captain?”
“We’re going to separate the ship, get everyone from NERV safely aboard the saucer section and you’re going to get us away from here as far as you can. Aim for the Dominion checkpoint, tell them what has happened, I don’t know if they’ll help but we have to try.”
“What about you?”
“Me and Aoba will provide cover from the Stardrive if it’s needed. Your priority is getting people to safety. Do you understand?”
“I do, good luck captain.”
“I’m going to need it.” Misato nodded as she gestured towards Aoba, the two of them started moving towards the nearest turbo lift, “And Ibuki... Stay alive, and make sure we get a USS Tokyo-B, will you.”
“You got it captain.”
NERV
Fuyutsuki stepped into the office to see Gendo looking at a viewscreen showing what was happening in orbit. He had been following it previously from his own quarters, watching as the three Evangelion pilots fought valiantly against these foes that Keel had seemingly sent after them. In the distance on the screen the imposing form of the USS Covenant loomed.
“Katsuragi has ordered a full evacuation of NERV. Most of our personnel have already beamed up, we had them prepared for such an event. Their ship will be beginning separation protocols soon, we should leave.”
Fuyutsuki stood, waiting for a response from Gendo, for a few moments the commander said nothing and then slowly turned around. Reaching into his jacket pocket, taking out the Key Of Nebuchadnezzar.
In that one moment Fuyutsuki felt something tighten in his chest. He knew what this meant and simply shook his head, “You’re not coming, are you?”
“I am not.” Gendo answered, “The scenario we planned for all these years... has changed.”
He threw the key towards Fuyutsuki who caught it, looking back at his friend and former student with a sense of sadness, “What do you mean? You’re giving up? We can still achieve it, Ikari! You can still see her again! On the Tokyo we-”
“I will see her again Fuytusuki, but not the way we planned.” Gendo cut him off, “She’s still in there, waiting to be released and when she is released... then that’s when I’ll see her, that’s when she’ll come to me. I’ll be waiting for her, no matter where I end up after all of this.”
“But you...” Fuyutsuki wasn’t quite sure what to say, “Everything we’ve worked towards... we can’t just throw it all away!”
“Our work was primarily to stop Keel, that’s all she wanted. She wanted to make sure he didn’t get to the garden and that could still be done.” Gendo answered him, “But the scenario, what we were going to do when we got there... it can’t happen. Your role is different now Professor.”
“I don’t understand, my role was to help you.” Fuyutsuki protested, “My role was to see you and her-”
“Guide him... It has to be him now, he has to be the one to access it before Keel, he has to stop Keel and free her.”
“Who?”
“My son... Shinji...”
“You’re putting all of this on him?”
Gendo nodded, “I’ve been nothing but a horrible father to him for all his life, except for the few years Yui was with me. I was scared of him, scared of what I’d do to him, that I’d turn him into another version of me, or be like my father. So, I didn’t even try. I let someone else handle the responsibility, watching from afar. I saw him grow up, saw what he was becoming and realized that hadn’t saved him at all, all I did was condemn him.”
“You dying won’t change that.”
“I condemned him to be the exact same sort of man I ended up being! I threw myself into my selfish plot, to get Yui back and to hell with the rest of the universe. I thought that she... she was the key to saving me and him. That she could guide us, but it was a fool's errand.”
“You can still guide him yourself!”
“No... I can’t.” Gendo answered, smiling as he did so, “Because it’s already too late for me. I should have died a long time ago, Keel is just seeing to it that it actually does happen this time.”
“Ikari this-”
“Tell him I loved him and that... I’m sorry. Goodbye... my professor... and my friend.”
Fuyutsuki had no further time to protest, Gendo suddenly tapped a button on his desk and the image of the room faded from Fuyutsuki’s view, he found himself second later on the USS Tokyo, surrounded by many other scared and hurt evacuees.
Evangelion 01
Shinji felt the sweat dripping from every part of him, pain rushed through his body as he weaved his ship around, trying to dodge phaser fire from one of his attackers, only for another one to manage to hit his shields.
There were three ships pursuing him right now, the other three ships chasing Asuka. Rei’s ship has been disabled earlier and she was drifting aimlessly throughout space, alive but hurt.
A quick read of his tactical display told him his A.T. Field was weakening, his targeting sensors were on the brink of failure, and he had lost pressure on his bridge. Thankfully no one was on there right now. He fired his aft phasers trying to hit one of the targets, but it was to no avail. All he could do was keep running.
He pushed the speed more, diverting power from life support on a number of his ships decks to engines and weapons, trying to maintain some sort of combat ability. He banked the ship to port, trying to weave around and get behind one of the ships, but they seemed to match him perfectly. He banked to starboard and then port again before pitching up, but the enemies were relentless.
The only thing that brought him any hope was that they had managed to somehow save the USS Tokyo, which seemed to be separating into two parts right now. He watched as its saucer section was slowly moving away from the stardrive leaving it in two distinct parts. In a less stressful circumstance, he might have thought it was magnificent and majestic, right now he just hoped everyone could get away.
Shinji kept pushing forward, all three vessels still on him, when suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw Asuka’s vessel nearby, it had managed to get behind one of her attackers, was readying an attack and managed to take it out.
There was no time to celebrate though as the other two on her spun suddenly, firing back stripping away her A.T. Field and disabling the ship before turning their attention towards Shinji.
“ASUKA!” He screamed out as he pushed his ship more, feeling the anger building up inside of him. His heart was pounding in his chest as he thought about the idea of Asuka being hurt, memories of the embrace she had given him before they had left for battle came rushing back. Her soft touch, the smell of her hair, the gentleness in her voice, it all flooded into his mind as he felt his rage building.
For a moment he felt like something had snapped inside him, he rushed one of the vessels pushing him impulse thrusters as much as he could. His mind working to dodge any phaser fire that was incoming from the three attackers behind him. He dodged one blast, two blast, a torpedo until he was near to the ship that had taken out Asuka.
Putting everything he could into it he fired his phasers at full burst, firing a spread of torpedoes along with it. A moment later the ship had been obliterated, his rage wasn’t dissipating though, and neither was the pain throughout his body. Everything hurt but he willed himself to push him, desperately wanting to destroy anything that had hurt Rei or Asuka.
He felt something trickling from his nose and tasted a horrible coppery taste in his mouth. Yet he kept pushing, making his way towards the next target, he readied his phasers when suddenly the pain in his chest became too much, he lost his grip on the handles on his seat as his chest felt like it was going to burst. He screamed out in agony as the attackers took their opportunity at this lapse.
Phaser fire smashed into what was left of his A.T. Field and then into his engines disabling him just like Auska and Rei had been. He tried to move the ship forward, but nothing happened, all he felt was pain and the taste of blood.
“Rei... Asuka... I...”
He slumped forward waiting for the end to come, this was it, four vessels left, and they were all circling him. He waited for the inevitable when suddenly the ships stopped, they hung there for a moment silent and dead before suddenly turning back towards the Covenant.
He tried to move the ship, to give chase or do anything but it was to no avail, he was dead in the water. He could do nothing but watch the next moments unfold. Suddenly the Covernant lit up again with a bright flash and a terrifying beam of light was sent forward. He screamed out as he saw it hit the exact location of NERV Headquarters before everything went black for him too.
[TO BE CONTINUED]