All characters copyrighted by Gainax, not me.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In this fic, Yui Ikari is NOT part of Unit 1. If you have a problem
with
this, don't read.
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Unit 2 charged at Unit 8. Adrenaline, the product of the idea of
being in a fight, pumped through Asuka's body. All of her training as
an
Eva pilot had come to centre around this fight. A growl started to
roll
off her tongue when the two behemoths made contact.
Unit 2 swung it's right arm in a wide arc, but Unit 8 simply
stepped aside and brought it's large sword-like weapon down in a
slash, a
blow that would have severed the arm of Unit 2 from it's body. With a
terrified yelp, Asuka hurriedly moved the limb and opened the comm
lines.
"Are you just going to stand there?! Get over here and take some
of the others!" she yelled to anyone who was listening. Rei didn't
answer
as she was already moving towards Unit 6.
"Six more seconds, Asuka," Toji said. Asuka didn't know that six
seconds could take so long; it seemed like eternity to her as she
tried to
get her footing back and start her attack again. Instead of her
finishing
the attack, two very long, dark arms appeared from nowhere and started
to
drag Unit 8 away from the red Eva. Suddenly freed from the fight, Unit
2
stumbled a bit, and then looked over at the black Eva, now grappling
with
the white one. She gave him a brief thumbs-up, and then started to
advance
toward another enemy, wondering why, for the life of her, she was
thanking
Toji. She didn't get an answer.
Shinji watched all this, still undecided about how to attack. He
didn't want to fight another human, and he most certainly didn't want
to
cause lethal damage to the pilot. 'How do I do this?' he asked
himself,
unsure of his ability to control his anger. Right now, it was all he
could
do not to start shooting madly with his rifle, attacking everything
that
moved. He wanted to fight! He wanted to crush his enemy! 'Just like I
once crushed an entry plug?' he shot back at himself. But then, he saw
something move to his left. Turning to focus on it, he saw that Eva
Unit
10 had flipped Asuka's Eva onto it's back and held it's blade high
above
it's head, ready for the killing blow. Shinji's anger boiled over. It
was
trying to hurt Asuka!
When her Eva was flipped over, it crashed into a building,
demolishing it. Rubble covered her Eva's legs. She could wiggle out,
but
it would take time. Looking up, she saw that she didn't have the time
to
get out. She was going to die. Asuka Langley Sohryu closed her eyes
and
prepared for the end. At last, she could rejoin her mother! Misato
closed
her eyes, tears starting to form, as she whispered,"Sorry, Asuka," as
there
was nothing she could do but watch. Maya turned, hoping to block out
what
was going to come. Kaji just turned his head, silently weeping. The
giant
blade started to move downward...
Asuka was ready for the pain, but it never came. She opened her
eyes when a loud sound came instead. She saw the Eva's weapon vibrate
like
it'd been hit by something, and then she looked over to where the
impacts
had come from.
Shinji had squeezed the trigger of his rifle and didn't let it go.
He screamed as he emptied the whole clip into the Eva's weapon. Then
Shinji got control of himself back, the red fading from his view, and
looked onward at the carnage that he'd caused. He tried to kill
another
human! He tried to kill him! He was no better than a tool! Shame
rising,
he dropped the rifle and watched as Unit 2 climbed out of the rubble
and
started to attack Unit 10 with her Prog Knife.
Everyone in Central Dogma breathed a sigh of relief and turned
their attention back to the screens. Misato looked over at Kaji and
saw
the relief in his eyes. Realising how close she'd come to loosing one
of
the pilots, not to mention one of her best friends, her mind started
to
shut down. She numbly reached over and took one of Kaji's hands in her
own. She needed some reassurance that everything was going to be
alright,
that things would work out fine. Kaji squeezed her hand in his own.
She
squeezed back, letting him know that she understood what he was trying
to
say.
Unit 10 tried to parry the attack with it's own weapon, but it was
completely destroyed by Shinji's attack. The Prog Knife contacted the
other blade and was only slightly impeded before it continued it's
flight
into the enemy's shoulder. Asuka, happy at being alive, was only dimly
aware of Shinji's Unit 1 detaching it's umbilical cable and joining
the
fight.
'Wait a minute,' Asuka thought, 'I'm _happy_? Why? Is it because
he saved me?' Unfortunately, she couldn't answer her own questions as
the
fight suddenly got more intense as Unit 9 joined Unit 10 in it's
attack on
Unit 2. Unit 9 swung it's blade in a diagonal, from the bottom left to
the
upper right of Unit 2. Asuka had to turn her attention away from Unit
10
in order to survive. The delay allowed Unit 10 to remove the knife
sticking from it's shoulder and turn the weapon back on it's owner.
Seeing
that she had two opponents to now deal with, she knew she was
outclassed.
Though she would never admit to anyone that she thought that way.
"Somebody! Get over here! This is getting tricky!" she yelled
over the comm lines, pausing only to dodge a swipe of Unit 9's blade.
Shinji, now free to join the fight, watched Asuka fend off the two
attacking Eva's, frozen in his place by not knowing how to proceed.
Knowing that he had to help Asuka, but also aware that he couldn't
bring
himself to hurt the pilot of the two Unit's, he didn't know what to
do.
But then, Unit 2 got it's arms pinned behind it by Unit 9, and Unit 10
started to punch Unit 2's stomach.
Asuka felt every blow that her Eva suffered. The pain! The pain!
Spots started to swim before her eyes. Her vision turning first red,
then
black. Her eyelids started to close. Suddenly the pain stopped, the
spots
starting to fade from her vision. She opened her eyes but could only
see a
blur of incomprehensible images. The blur started to resolve into
figures,
but they were still incomprehensible.
She blinked a few times and the images in front of her became clear
enough that she could see what was happening. Unit 0 was grappling
with
Unit 10 while Unit 3 was in close-quarters combat with Unit 9.
'Wait a sec, there's somebody missing...' Asuka thought, but then
answered her own thought. "Hey, Shinji! Get your purple-plated butt
over
here! Now!" Shinji started to move towards the fight, but Unit 5
looked
at him from halfway across the city. 'It's not looking _at_ me, it's
looking _behind_ me!' Shinji thought and whipped his Eva's head
around, but
only in time to see a wall of white flying at him. There was a jarring
impact, and then... nothing.
After shaking his head for a few moments to clear his vision,
Shinji looked down, hoping to see what was causing an odd feeling of
weightlessness. But all he saw here his feet rising off the ground.
Then
he looked up and saw that one of the enemy was above him, carrying Eva
1
high into the sky. He figured out what happened. 'That Eva must have
flew
at me, slammed into me, and then picked me up. But where is it taking
me?'
"Shinji!" Misato cried. He wasn't saying anything, he wasn't
crying out, he wasn't doing _anything_! "What is his condition?" she
quickly asked Maya, frightened that he may have been hurt in the
impact.
Her hand tightened on Kaji's until he was certain that some of his
bones
were going to break.
"Heart rate is above average, blood pressure is rising, brainwaves
are normal. I'd say he's just nervous," Maya answered, and Misato
loosened
her grip on Kaji's hand.
"Switch to external cameras! Find out where it's taking him!"
Misato ordered. Then she looked liked she had just realised something.
She couldn't figure out what the odd mass in her hand was. So she
looked
down, and saw that her fingers were intertwined with Kaji's. Then she
remembered grabbing his hand a few minutes ago. For some reason, she
had
blocked out the memory. 'I'll deal with it later,' she promised
herself.
On the screen, Unit 1 started to thrash about, attempting to break
free. But Unit 6 had too good a grip on it and wouldn't let go, so
Shinji
started to punch his Eva's hands at Unit 6, but the leverage wasn't
there,
and the attack was nothing more than futile. Shinji only hoped that he
could deal with this new problem when they landed.
However, for Asuka, Toji, and Rei, the fight wasn't going as well
as it could be. The other eight Eva's had surrounded the three Nerv
war
machines and were taking turns. Misato had ordered that the three
pilots
position their Eva's in a circle with their backs to each other. This
way,
they could repel any attack made from any front. Unfortunately, it
also
made for a stalemate, which would eventually break down, with one side
winning.
Asuka had timed how long the battle was taking, and by her
reckoning, the enemy would have to do something to recharge their
internal
batteries. But they were doing nothing. They were just pressing the
attack like they didn't have to worry about power, batteries, or other
things that most Eva's did. "Misato! Their time is running out!"
"We see that, Asuka! Everybody, prepare for an all-out attack when
they shut down!" Misato ordered. "Hyuga! Give us a twenty-second
countdown before they stop!" she ordered.
"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen..." Makoto started at the appropriate
moment. On the screen, the three Eva's seemed to tense up, preparing
to
attack.
"Everybody, ready?" Misato asked.
"Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen..." Makoto droned in the background
while Asuka was fighting Unit 7. 'Only twelve seconds to go. Then I'll
show that Shinji who's the best around here. That should really get
his
attention,' she thought to herself. 'Wait a sec, why do I want his
attention?' she added. Unfortunately for her, since her mind was not
on
the battle, Unit 7 managed to slip an arm under her guard. Her Eva was
grabbed by it's shoulder pylons and thrown to the ground yet again.
"Eight, seven, six, five..." continued Makoto.
'I _know_ I'm better than this! What's going on?' Asuka yelled at
herself, hoping to find an answer. 'If this keeps up, Shinji'll just
think
me a dorky, egotistical little girl who can't pilot,' she continued on
with
herself.
"Three, two, one. The enemy Eva's have drained their internal
batteries dry," Makoto announced. On the screen, the two standing Nerv
Eva's started to charge.
Unit 2 reached up for Unit 7's head in an attempt to both get up
and cause some damage to the offending target.
Unit 7 grabbed Unit 2's wrists and started to twist them.
"Misato! Something's wrong! They're not shutting down!" Asuka
yelled over the pain in her wrists.
"What the hell?!" Misato shouted. "What's gong on! How's that
possible?"
"My god! They're self-powered!" Ritsuko answered.
"They're _what_?! How in the hell's that possible?" Misato asked,
disbelievingly.
"I... I...," Ritsuko faltered, not wanting to lie to Misato and the
others. But then she remembered what the Commander ordered. "I don't
know," she finished quietly, forcing the words out. She really did
hate
lying to her friends, but... if they found the truth... Ritsuko knew
she
would never be forgiven. 'What kind of friend am I?' she asked
herself.
"Misato! We've got problems here!" Asuka shouted. She kicked one
of her Eva's legs out and clipped one of Unit 7's knees. Unit 7
dropped
the ground like a stone, releasing Unit 2's hands. The enemy started
to
step up their attacks. All seven of them charged over their fallen
comrade
and lunged at the Nerv Eva's, launching an all-out attack, not holding
back
anything.
It was like they were planning on using their self-poweredness as a
cover for an attack. "Maya! Can you break into their comms channel?"
Misato asked. Maya didn't answer, already setting to work on her task.
"Major! What are you thinking?" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki asked, his
voice echoing from his position on the highest control tower.
"Sir, it was as if they were planning on waiting until we found out
about their ability to operate without an external powersource. We
need to
find out how they did that. If they have pilots, then they must be
communicating. If we can hack into their comms systems, we'll be able
to
hear those plans," Misato replied. "We're-"
"Major!" Maya interrupted. "There are no transmissions coming from
the enemy!"
"What! Are you sure?"
"Positive, ma'am," Maya reported. As if in defiance of her words,
Eva Unit 5, the only enemy that it's head curving down, paused in it's
attack, looked briefly at the other Mass Production models, and then
focused it's gaze at Unit 3.
"What just happened?" Fuyutsuki inquired.
All eight of the Eva's started to attack Unit 3. It was if they
knew that Toji had the least experience of all the Eva Pilots.
Toji only had enough time to retract his arms to their normal
length before he was beset by attacks. Unit 7 attacked from it's
position
on the ground, reaching for Unit 3's legs. Unit 0 charged to Unit 3
and
stomped on Unit 7's arms. There was a sickening crunch as one of the
limbs
snapped.
But it wasn't enough. Even as Unit 7 clutched at it's arm, two
more Units took it's place. Asuka was just beginning to get off the
ground
when something slammed into her Eva's back. She had no idea what it
was,
but it _hurt_. She swivelled around to see what was going on. She got
one
good look, then yelled out: "Toji! Wonder Girl! Look out!"
Toji turned to see what was going on, only to have something hit
his Eva in the head. It felt like some giant fist had flew into his
head,
and Toji recoiled in the seat a little. He shook his head to ward off
the
pain, and got a look at what had caused the impact.
He saw a long barrel with some sort of boxy thing behind it. He
saw the initials "UN" stencilled on it's sides. 'Oh, great. Can
anything
_else_ go wrong?' he thought.
"A UN ground-based missile unit," Rei said, unearthly calm.
"Everybody! Deploy your AT Fields!" Misato shouted. The three Eva
pilots all raised their fields in record time. The next missile that
was
fired at Unit 3 shredded in mid-flight.
"Major! The enemy Eva's are deploying their own AT Fields! The
phase-space is being neutralised!"
"How long will their armour hold up," Misato said.
"Those missiles won't do much damage on their own, but they'll
create confusion," Ritsuko answered.
"Confusion! Hell, they hurt!" Asuka shouted, ducking under another
missile. The projectile flew past her Eva's head and smashed into a
building. Again, the red Eva was showered in rubble. 'What's wrong
with
me? I'm better than this! I know it! Even Shinji and Toji are better
than this!' she thought to herself. It was that thought that gave her
the
key. 'What do I do? What can I do? I have to win! Show those jerks
whatfor...' her thought trailed off as a great blade nearly sliced
Unit 2's
head from it's body.
And it would have if Unit 0 hadn't threw a chunk of building at
Unit 10, knocking it's aim off. Asuka could only stare at the blade,
the
weapon that had nearly cost her her life. 'I need to concentrate!' she
thought, then a memory pounded it's way into her mind.
****
"Asuka! Do you know why you lost!" the instructor bellowed at the
eight-year old girl. Asuka had just pulled herself out of the entry
plug,
preparing herself for the post-test analysis.
'All he ever does is yell. Why don't they get someone who'll be
nice to me?' the girl thought mournfully.
"Answer!" he barked. He'd seen too many of his students get killed
in battle by stupidity, or not being ready, so when he was approached
about
teaching a young girl how to fight a war, he accepted readily, and
threw
himself into the work. _This_ time, he was going to make sure his
student
was going to be ready for everything, spending every day of his life
making
her ready for whatever was going to come. "There were too
many bad people?" Asuka answered, a little fear creeping into her
voice.
She hated being yelled at.
"No! What were you thinking of during the fight?"
"How impressed you'd be when I won, about my birthday, about what
Kaji'll buy me for lunch, about-"
"That's it, exactly!" the instructor interrupted. "You were
distracted! That's why you lost!"
"But I always think of other things," Asuka protested, tears
starting to form in her eyes. He was disappointed! After all the work
she'd put in, he was disappointed. "It's never stopped me before!"
"Look," the instructor said softly, lowering his voice to normal
volumes. "When you're outnumbered, you can't afford to be distracted
by
anything. When surrounded by superior forces, you need to cast aside
all
thoughts and just go with it."
"You... your _not_ angry with me, are you," Asuka asked
disbelievingly, sniffling a little.
"No," the man said, a sad smile touching his lips, "I could never
be angry with you. Hungry? Where do you want to go for lunch?"
****
With a supreme act of will, Asuka forced all thoughts of Shinji,
what they'd done, what they could do, out of her mind. She tossed them
out. She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths, then opened her
eyes. When she was ready, she went with it.
"Major! Asuka's synch ratio with Unit 2! It's rising!"
"What!" Ritsuko asked. She leaned over Maya and started typing,
using both hands. Maya knew from experience how good the Doctor was at
typing with _one_ hand, never mind two. As data started to scroll on
the
screen in front of her face at an incredible speed, she started to get
anxious. The displayed information showed that it was Asuka, not the
technology, who made the jump possible.
"What's her new synch ratio?" Fuyutsuki asked after a few moments.
"It jumped from 65 percent to... 78 percent!" a tech reported.
Fuyutsuki looked down at Commander Ikari. Nothing. Not even a twitch
of
the eye. He didn't even blink.
'Does _nothing_ surprise this man?' he asked himself. 'Is this
what he's become? A lifeless husk of a person?' he thought. 'Is this
what
Seele made him become?'
On the screen, the red Eva again dragged itself out of the rubble,
but this time, didn't immediately attack. It just stood up, and
waited,
and she didn't have to wait long before she was attacked by an Eva.
Actually, the blow was meant for Unit 3, but it missed and continued
right
into Unit 2 from behind.
"Asuka, get out of the way!" Toji yelled. But Unit 2 was already
swivelling around to catch the fist in mid-air. Unit 2 continued
twisting
around, dragging the Eva's hand and arm with her. She kept pulling
until
that Unit 13 faced off with Unit 2. Unit 13 attacked with it's blade,
swinging it from bottom to up. Unit 2 stepped aside and lashed out
with
it's hands when the blade was at the top of it's arc. Asuka managed to
land three blows to the Eva's neck before Unit 13 could react and
parry
them.
Toji watched in amazement. A few minutes ago, it seemed that Asuka
was going to be the first to fall. Now, it looked like she could go on
forever. A sharp pain drew his attention elsewhere. It felt like
someone
had just jabbed a red-hot poker in his arm. He turned to look at what
had
happened, and drew a breath when he did. Unit 12 had swiped at him
with
it's blade, and actually made a rather deep cut while he was
distracted.
Inside the entry plug, he clutched at his arm, feeling his Eva's pain.
His vision started to fade.
The other enemy Eva's seemed to sense his growing helplessness, and
started to move on his position again. Except for Unit 13, who was
still
locked into hand-to-hand fighting with Unit 2, all the UN Eva's
started to
redouble their efforts. Attacks started coming in from all sides, with
no
warning. Every time he would block one, two more would land.
Even with Rei and Unit 0 making their own attacks on the enemy,
Unit 3 would not last long under those conditions. Unit 13 made a big
mistake, it reached for it's enemy instead of attack with it's blade.
Asuka made the most of this mistake; ducking under the arm, she ran
forward
and slammed her Eva into the other one, knocking it off balance.
Now free to move, she ran over to Unit 3 and started attacking
everything white that she could see. Unit 2 started to spin like a
top.
Attack, rotate, attack again, rotate again. Soon there was red
everywhere.
For a short while, Commander Ikari allowed himself the feeling of
hope. Hope that he might not have to do what he was contemplating.
"What
are chances that our Eva's will be victorious?" he asked.
"Less than thirty percent, sir," Shigeru answered.
"And the chances of the pilots living through the confrontation?"
"Less than twelve percent for all three, fourteen for two, eighteen
for one," Maya supplied after a few moments of furious typing.
"Rei..." the Supreme Commander started, hopes dashed, "... go get
the Lance," he finished, forcing the words out. This was the last
resort
before destroying everything. Both Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki looked at him
sharply.
"Is that really necessary?" Fuyutsuki said.
"The numbers all say the same thing: the pilots need help. The
Lance is the only thing that can provide such help in time."
"Excuse me, sir, but _what_ Lance?" Misato asked. Ritsuko was
still staring at Commander Ikari when she answered.
"It's a weapon. A weapon so powerful it can only be used once or
twice, and that's not counting all of it's drawbacks."
"If it's that dangerous to use, why are we?"
"Because that's the only thing that'll give the pilots a fighting
chance of getting out of this alive," Ritsuko replied, grateful about
not
having to lie again.
"Oh, right," was the answer. Unit 0 broke off it's attacks and
started to run away, back to the Geofront.
"It will take five minutes to retrieve the Lance and return," Rei
said, not having any objections about her becoming a wielder of the
Lance
of Longinus. She knew exactly what was most likely to happen to her
when
she did wield the most powerful weapon the human race has ever known.
Once inside the Geofront, Unit 0 sprinted right for the pyramid
that was Nerv Central Dogma, pausing only for the massive door to open
and
allow her access to Terminal Dogma and the long hallway that lead to
the
Main LCL Plant.
"Bring Unit 1 back onto the screen," Misato ordered.
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