[AdEva] All Hope Is (Not) Lost IC

[CrimsonKnight]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/Crimson_Knight06/Forum%20Images/EvaBanner.jpg

"The only way out is through."
-Robert Frost

The Big Sixteen
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?

Adeptus Evangelion, a player-made mod for Dark Heresy. Specifically, the most recent version of Borderline Edition, v1.2. You can find it here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wX11RS2zRxTKV6lm16MBMOT6_0nSHcKUCFg7eSHQWRE/edit) along with some other useful resources.

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?

We're using Borderline Edition. While it has many of the same base elements as the canon universe, this is an AU setting.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?

I am looking for 4-5 pilots and one OD. Alternately, if the pilot roster includes a Team Leader and Technical Aide, this can shift to 5-6 pilots and no OD.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?

The game will be Play-By-Post on this forum.

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?

Eva Pilots start with 400 EXP. Trident Pilots start with 600 EXP. Operations Directors begin with 700 EXP. Pilots with Team Leader, Technical Aide, or Conspirator start with an extra 100 EXP that must be spent towards skills/talents available from that Asset. This experience does not count towards rank progression.

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?

[N/A]

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

No homebrewed or prestige classes other than the Trident Pilot class (detailed below).

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

While I would prefer to have a diverse team of careers and backgrounds, there is no limit on the amount of careers/backgrounds in a given team. Feel free to have more than one A.T. Tactician, Berserker, etc. However, I will not be accepting more than two Trident pilots.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?

Pilot characteristics will be generated by point buy. Roll three times for EVA distinguishing features, keeping the set you like best.

10. Does the--

No.

11. But--

No.

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

I will be doing off-screen rolling for NPCs, and for any rolls that I feel the player shouldn't see, (perception of something unexpected, piercing through a lie, unconscious knowledge checks, etc.) All other rolls for the players will be made by the players, using the forum's dice rolling system. Dice rolls will be made in the dice rolling thread, with the agreed results posted by whoever rolled the dice. You may roll here for character creation.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules

A list of variant rules, homebrew, and the new Trident pilot are listed below.

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?

A medium-to-long character background, with personality traits, subtle or overt. Feel free to make up NPCs to supplement your backstory, whether they will be appearing in the story or not. ODs in particular should flesh out several NERV personnel to interact with/boss around. It gives your characters a sense of history, of having actually existed before the game's start. Additional details may be ironed out with me.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?

Psychological horror, growth, decay. Children thrown into the jaws of war. You fight the giant monsters, you maybe win, you maybe come out of it totally insane. Roleplaying, obviously, is perhaps the single most key element of the game, next to immersion. Well, that, and having as much fun as possible.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

Just the Dark Heresy corebook, Dark Heresy Errata, and Adeptus Evangelion Borderline rulebook.
The Game Plan

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/Crimson_Knight06/Forum%20Images/EvaBanner2.jpg

I'll do my best to provide as engaging and fun an experience as I possibly can, as we explore the themes of isolation, adaptation, and exactly where the line is drawn between humanity and everything else. You can expect harrowing fights, dramatic reveals, heartbreak, likable NPCs, NPCs that will stir the fires of rage within you, and, above everything else, a good time.

In return I expect you guys, the players, to provide me with a unique cast of flawed, complex individuals who interact and react to the world in new and even completely unexpected ways. Make decisions from your characters' point of view, good or bad, and not from a meta standpoint. Believe me, it will be worth it when you find yourself in scenarios you'd never have expected otherwise.
Custom Rules & Errata

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/Crimson_Knight06/Forum%20Images/EvaBanner3.jpg

Borderline: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wX11RS2zRxTKV6lm16MBMOT6_0nSHcKUCFg7eSHQWRE/edit
Variant Rules: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12ejGrntPyVh-d9QBUxLIKTbY7tGUWJY2wC6tZI8L_aU/edit
Homebrew: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15adEBblRe7V4LOJze65ydqUwiNsLLsGW969KyGaz-Z4/edit
NPCs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1motnwanLWHTA8J53h-4GO_YNYnEZ4Es4r5RI6prYXNI/edit
Trident Pilots: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VmpJF-vtjuxwymtSKh3W_3VN29w5SXWs4bEtQDyuQkc/edit
Eva Pilot Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k6HNpzVK1Hs2xeUgY-1825m5SIgKyqtNMV-rsl52E48/edit
Trident Pilot Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eqiLfNcF5M62GULKVQsvzcOu6qqjW82IinTPJ-EfTzQ/edit
Operations Director Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bMXMmj9S22SwiLm4Td53VeMKt_T7doiff3DNDexUyOk/edit


Character Creation

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/Crimson_Knight06/Forum%20Images/EvaBanner5.jpg

EVA Pilots:
Prodigies and Survivors both represent civilians with little to no exposure or experience with NERV or the military. The major difference is that Survivors had to, well, “survive” some hellish or unpleasant childhood. War refugee, street orphan, raised by a crazy survivalist in some backwoods cabin, etc, they were already exposed to extreme hardship and forced to adapt. Though they didn’t receive the Neo-Spartan’s formalized, brutal training regimen, they share the same concept of a harsh upbringing that has already hardened them mentally.

Prodigies, by contrast, had a relatively “normal” childhood compared to all the other characters. They had a balanced family life, or were an orphan who didn’t slip through the cracks of their countries’ child services. That doesn’t mean they didn’t experience their own hardships or abuses, but they at least did so in the “normal” setting of a child growing up, going to school, and having a home of sorts without the hardships the Survivor was facing. They are arguably the most well-balanced mentally compared to the other pilots, but also the least prepared for what is to come. The only reason why NERV would consider using them at all (or, to a lesser extent, Survivors) as pilots is solely due to their Sync Ratio compatibility.

If you're going to play a Prodigy character, I strongly urge you to resist the temptation to make your ostensibly "normal" PC into some kind of child genius or otherwise incredibly talented in some aspect. Aside from a talent with the cello and a high sync ratio, Shinji Ikari was a wholly average kid, skill-wise. Prodigies should be defined by their baggage, their personalities, and how they adjust to this strange and scary new world they are thrust into: NOT by how smart or special they are.

Neo-Spartans are typically wards of the state or some private organization, usually orphans or abandoned by their parents. They’ve spent half or more of their childhoods training to become the next generation of soldiers. Some of them are loners or otherwise resentful at being assigned to a team with untrained civilians who lack their military order and respect for the chain of command.

Manufactured characters have a variety of reason for their creation. Maybe you are a direct clone of an individual person who would have been an EVA pilot only to die or go insane before they could do so. Maybe you're the carefully arranged sequence of fifty seperate genetic donors in an attempt to purposefully create someone with A-10 compatibility. Or maybe you had some other purpose entirely, and your ability to pilot an EVA was an unintended side effect of your creation.

Neo-Spartan and Manufactured characters need to have an extra layer beyond what they are as well: sure you're a badass kid solider, but why do I care about you? What makes you different from the more "civilian" characters? How has being raised to fight a war affected your personality, your psyche, your ability to relate to others? Or how has being raised without a concept of social faux pas and nudity taboos resulted in hilarious incidents you'd like to forget?

I'm not saying your character can't have interesting skills or even be really good at something: but they need the background or interesting personality to justify it, or they're nothing more than cut-out pieces.

Adult Characters (Trident Pilots And Operations Directors):
Operations Directors cannot take Neospartan. The program is simple too new to yield Neospartans of an adult age that NERV would consider placing in a command position. A variant of Neospartan called “Veteran” is available that loses the Fellowship penalty and either the Weapon Skill or Ballistic Skill bonus (your choice) but is otherwise mechanically identical to Neospartan. Fluff-wise, this represents more “normal” military backgrounds as opposed to the Neospartan child soldiers. While they’re not quite as well trained in personal combat as a Neospartan, their maturity and being used to working as part of a military team means they usually get along better with others.

For adults, the Survivor background represents those who made it through Second Impact with their wits or just plain luck as opposed to the military training of the Veteran.

Manufactured adult characters are allowed. Were you originally created to be an Evangelion pilot, but were unable to do so because of an error in your genetic sequence? Was NERV intentionally trying to create a “genius commander” to lead the Evangelion pilots in battle?

Prodigy adults are not allowed, period. Don’t even bother.

For Trident pilots, Neospartan, Veteran, and Manufactured backgrounds are recommended. Given that NERV can simply stick any trained pilot into it without having to worry about A-10 compatibility, they would almost certainly use a military or Manufactured adult pilot they can rely on better.

As far as PCs and NERV are concerned, ODs can have been involved for anything up to multiple years with NERV. Trident pilots can have been involved for up to a year. Manufactured and Neospartan Eva pilots may have up to several months experience training with their Evas. Survivor and Prodigy pilots... yeah, expect to be dropped right into the middle of it without even knowing what NERV, Evas, or Angels are, much less any formal training.
Backstory

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September 13, 2000. A massive explosion occurs in Antarctica, effectively destroying the continent, knocking the Earth out of its original axial tilt and causing widespread, global disasters. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and mass flooding wrecks untold havoc across the planet. Between the initial destruction and the total breakdown of law and order in virtually every country worldwide, over half of the world's population dies over the next year as a result of this "Second Impact" before UN military forces (comprised of the former militaries of the US, Western Europe, Russia, China, and Japan) begin restoring order. Antarctica itself is gone, replaced by a smooth plane of heat-polished stone (or perhaps hardened glass) surrounding Ground Zero of the explosion, and the world's oceans are contaminated by an unknown red substance that proves toxic to almost all marine life, leading to a mass die-off.

Official cause of the disaster is listed as a massive meteor strike containing alien bacterial life responsible for the "red oceans", and only a handful of senior UN officials and the secretive UN research organization GEHIRN know the true cause: an alien organism had been discovered in Antarctica. Codenamed ADAM, The First Angel, upon awakening it had been responsible for the resulting devastation. Investigation of ADAM's original location proves impossible due to an unexplained energy field surrounding Ground Zero emitting what would later be identified as an Anti-AT Field, killing any person sent into it in seconds and interfering with remote-controlled unmanned units to the point of uselessness. GEHIRN manages to gather samples of ADAM genetic material found outside of Ground Zero and begins research into it immediately.

September 17, 2010. An alien organism of unknown origin designated the Second Angel emerges from Ground Zero, making landfall in South Africa where it effortlessly fights it way past the UN military forces deployed to stop it before moving on to devastate Capetown. Finally, the decision to go nuclear is made, and after a sustained barrage of a dozen thermonuclear warheads, the Second Angel is effectively vaporized. Another coverup is made, this time blaming the nuclear explosions and the resulting loss of Capetown on terrorists using stolen Russian warheads, and all claims of a massive creature attacking the city are dismissed as conspiracy theories.

June 3, 2013. The Third Angel emerges and heads north into the Pacific, destination unknown. Before it can reach any major landmass, the UN proceeds to launch a heavy nuclear bombardment, including the first usage of the new N2 mine, an antimatter warhead intended to replace nuclear weapons as it is both more efficient and doesn't produce radioactive fallout. Nearly 50 warheads are deployed before the Third Angel finally succumbs to the nuclear holocaust and dies. One year later, GEHIRN scientists, after analyzing the genetic material recovered from ADAM and the various electromagnetic and radiological survey data observed around the former Antarctica, produce a groundbreaking theory explaining the source of the Angels: Second Impact had not been the result of ADAM simply combusting spontaneously. It was merely a side effect of producing a tear in the fabric of space-time, a gateway for ADAM, or at least part of it, to travel someplace... somewhere. And now, these other Angels were coming out of it.

May 30, 2015. The Fourth Angel emerges and heads north towards South America. All attempts to stop it short of making landfall fail, and after several hours of hitting it with everything they have in their arsenal, the UN military realizes that they are unable to stop the Angel's rampage. By June 2nd, over half of South America's major metropolitan areas are destroyed and 20% of its population is dead, with a massive panicked exodus of people heading north to try and escape the devastation. As the Angel approached Bogota, Columbia, the head of GEHIRN informs the desperate UN military officials that they are ready for an emergency deployment of a prototype Anti-Angel weapons system capable of neutralizing the Angel's barrier long enough for N2 mines to be deployed against the Angel directly. It's name was Evangelion Unit-00.

Despite still being an unfinished prototype and lacking any weapons at all, it works. Though the EVA and its pilot (identity still classified and never released) are lost in the N2 barrage, they are able to weaken the Angel's AT Field enough for the bombardment to do its job. With the secret of the Angels now impossible to hide any longer, popular support quickly swings to the "savior" Evangelion who stopped the Angel in its tracks. Almost overnight, GEHIRN's budget explodes by several thousand percent as the UN redirects all available resources to them to create a full unit of Evangelions to defend against the next, by now considered inevitable, Angel attack. Three months later, GEHIRN is reformed as the paramilitary organization NERV and granted broad situational authority against all future Angel attacks over the protests of UN military forces reluctant to see themselves reduced to a support role against the Angels.

October 4, 2016. The Fifth Angel emerges. UN Naval forces are ready and successfully lure it to Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of South America, where the fortress of NERV-Chile on Cape Horn is waiting with a team of four Evangelions and their trained pilots. The resulting battle lasted less than five minutes and saw the Angel metaphorically dismantled by the coordinated efforts of the four pilots and their Commander overseeing the fight. Not only did the fight end with little collateral damage to the base or the EVAs, but for the first time, they'd managed to capture an Angel body intact. The corpse was swiftly transported to NERV-Bethany in the Arctic Ocean where a joint American/Russian team eagerly begin studying it in earnest. With the discovery of the true nature of the Anti-AT Field surrounding Ground Zero, plans begin to be made for an eventual expedition to Ground Zero once enough Evangelions are operational to leave a suitable guard force behind.

Nov 12, 2017. The Sixth Angel emerges, immediately moving directly towards NERV-Chile where a force of 10 Evangelions and a sizable UN Task Force is gathered waiting for it. Initially seeming immune to all of their ranged attacks, as they approach it cautiously it suddenly reacts violently to their presence. Its shape, a solid sphere of black and white, suddenly begins to expand, and expand, and... expand. Before anyone can escape, the Angel grows to a size large enough to engulf the entire island and everything on it, before it disappears in a blinding flash of light that overloads every spy satellite observing it. When the dust settles, the Angel is gone, along with the island, the base, every Evangelion, every pilot, every backup pilot, the entire senior command staff of NERV, the entire senior science staff of NERV, and a fleet of 40 UN warships (not including their personnel in the base itself).

Panic sets in as people realize that the machines they had expected would save them from destruction were all gone, especially once an anonymous source leaks a video of the battle onto the internet for all to see. NERV begins scrambling to rush its next series of Evangelions to completion even as they scour all available sources for anyone possessing A-10 compatibility, expanding their search to the general public when it becomes obvious that the preferred sources of pilots (Neospartans and artificially Manufactured) will not be enough. Worse, it is no secret that time is not on their side, for every Angel has come more rapidly than the one before it, and they will in all likelihood have less than a year to prepare.

Sep 1, 2018. The Seventh Angel emerges. Time's up.
Setting Information

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North America: Relatively stable. While the axial tilt has shifted its weather around quite a bit (Alaska and western Canada is now quite balmy), it still has plentiful agricultural lands. Though its coastal areas were all devastated, its major industrial areas further inland were mostly untouched by the post-Second Impact tidal waves, leading to the US retaining its superpower economic status. NERV has two major facilities in the US (NERV-Boston, at the former MIT campus, and NERV-Nevada at Groom Lake Air Force Base/Area 51), with a third, NERV-Bethany, constructed on an artificial island close to the former north pole and jointly operated by the Americans and Russians. It has formally annexed Mexico at the request of its government, and the Canadian government, struggling just to provide basic services to its citizens, is now considering whether to do so as well.
South America: Total anarchy even worse than Africa and the Middle East. The already tense diplomatic relations, rampant unrest, and widespread poverty across the continent were only exacerbated by the Fourth Angel's rampage, and most national governments in the region have collapsed. With the loss of NERV-Chile at Cape Horn, the UN has officially written the continent off entirely for the time being.
Europe: A mixed bag. The UK, Spain, France, and the Low Countries were all hit hard by the tsunamis. The Netherlands was all but wiped out, and large portions of the British Isles no longer exist any more. Consequently, European recovery has been driven by Germany. With her strong industry, economy, and science base spared from destruction, she has become the center of a genuine European Union and the world's second strongest economy after the USA, with Berlin-2 not only serving as a glittering diamond of economic might but also possessing NERV-Germany, the largest and most influential of NERV's research facilities, though it lacks the geofronts and defensive capabilities of NERV-Boston and NERV-Japan.
Africa: Not as bad as South America, though that's not saying much, the continent nevertheless finds itself mired in the various small-scale conflicts and tinpot dictatorships that were common even before Second Impact. Only Kenya, Nigeria, and a few other countries could be considered stable at this time. The coastal regions were hit hard by the Second Impact tsunamis, and with many of them lacking any real infrastructure, have still yet to recover. The majority of South Africa has been abandoned due to radioactive fallout from the multi-nuke strike used to kill the Second Angel.
Asia: Russia, China, and Japan remain strong, even while the rest of the continent is still attempting to recover from the tsunamis. As elsewhere, China's coastal regions suffered from the tsunamis, yet its vast interior gave it the economic structure necessary to recover, and it remains a communist state with a capitalist economy. NERV-China, in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, lacks EVA production facilities and consequently dedicates its resources towards producing E-scale weaponry and equipment using designs provided by NERV's research and design facilities.
Though its position in the north spared it from the tsunamis, Russia is initially stricken hard by open revolt and unrest. Eventually, the Russian government falls and a New Soviet Union arises, its military forces quickly spreading outwards to return many of the former Soviet republics to the communist fold until UN and Chinese forces convince them at bayonet point to halt further expansion. They are one of the few countrues to be blessed by the axial tilt, with Siberia transformed into abundant wetlands that eventually overtake China as the world's leading producer of rice. Combined with the untapped resources of Siberia now readily available, she now finds herself the one of the world's leading economies as well as the Asian breadbasket. NERV-Russia is one of the newest NERV facilities, located at the former Baikonur Launch Facility, and it shares responsibility for NERV-Bethany with the Americans.
Japan was hit hard by the tsunamis, yet it a disaster the country was well-used to and prepared for better than most, and it recovers much of the devastated land within several years. Japan's economy recovered and it retained its place within the world's top economies. GEHIRN, the predecessor to NERV, was founded in Japan, and NERV-Japan, in the city of Tokyo-3, is still seen as the most influential NERV facility despite attempts by NERV-Boston and NERV-Germany to claim the title.
Oceania: As you would expect, the tsunamis devastated most of the Pacific island nations, and several of them were completely wiped out. Australia and New Zealand were similarly devastated, and even with most of the New Zealand population emigrating to Australia, the population is still barely half of what it was before Second Impact. Worst, an armada of Indonesian refugees swiftly descended on Australia desperate to find some non-flooded land to call their own, and a bitter wave of violence between the natives and interlopers was only stopped when UN forces intervened. Eventually, Australia agreed to a peace agreement that contained the Indonesians to a relatively small section of land in the west in exchange for allowing UN-backed Chinese immigrants to arrive and take over Australia's mostly abandoned farmlands. NERV-Tasmania has been converted into a fortress similar to NERV-Chile, though after the Sixth Angel, it is decided to keep the Evangelions further away from the former Antarctica, and its purpose is essentially reduced to an early warning station and monitor for the UN Navy's SOSUS nets surrounding Ground Zero.


OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?351911-AdEva-All-Hope-Is-(Not)-Lost-OOC)
Dice Rolling Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?355177-AdEva-All-Hope-Is-Not-Lost)



Player
Character
Background
Career
Machine


AmberVael
The Twelfth Child Arja Patel (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jORPuXVy1KJoWDXt0ZoZlOHnCn4XfcymXzBFGw_6wxo/edit)
Neospartan
Point Man
EVA Unit-15


Gargulec
The Thirteenth Child Sophia Doe (https://docs.google.com/document/d/16_7TGN-NcmT83tUv0q0TodbOlNx5OOpHWW2RK-ad-Eo/edit)
Manufactured
Berserker
EVA Unit-07


Steel Mirror
The Fourteenth Child Lex Morales (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L7cs8cYoORrvv97osnLy_pc9ndcwQ2koUIzijmh0mOM/edit)
Prodigy
A.T. Tactician
EVA Unit-14


Danakir
The Fifteenth Child Samantha McCormick (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MfRjFGeSiRmQnKcjBrXqmOJiHNe0-PFG10FJ9PgzkfA/edit?pli=1)
Survivor
Berserker
EVA Unit-05


Regalus
Lieutenant Isamu Todoroki (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uWh3I0HE4km17jSYrmm2KStBXAUsATSqVW9o-8Eg-WA/edit?usp=sharing)
Veteran
Skirmisher
TRIDENT Unit "Midnight Hound"


Babel Matrix
Major Samuel Kendrick (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zQMvOsWgutIoXCJ4-hll4NlAuriiOnyB-w0QoOnYSo0/edit)
Survivor
Operations Director
N/A

[CrimsonKnight]

NERV-Japan, 09/01/18, 7:48 PM

The evening duty officer leaned back in his chair with a sigh. The bridge was too quiet for his tastes at night, especially on a Saturday evening, yet he could never seem to get a transfer back to the day shift. Granted, it was nice not having any of the senior Command Staff breathing down his neck. Oh, the Vice-Commander had a bad habit of pulling surprise inspections at all hours of the day or night to keep everyone on their toes, but to everyone's relief, he was currently at a conference in NERV-Germany. Still, it would be nice to get a little more excitement out of this job once in a while. Maybe not excitement on the level of what happened to NERV-Chile, but hey, he didn't join NERV to watch a group of monitors tell him that absolutely nothing was-
BWAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

The alarm sent him flying backwards out of his chair and slamming into the ground. Picking himself up ruefully, he avoided the stares of the technicians trying not to laugh at his clumsiness and cleared his throat.

"Alright, alright. Enough chatter. What's the situation?"

The communications officer was hunched over his panel, listening intently to something on his headphones.

"Priority message from NERV-Tasmania, sir. UN Navy reports unconfirmed activity along the Antarctica SOSUS nets. Aircraft and spy satellites are moving now to the area and..."

The comms officer found himself suddenly overridden by a shout from the MAGI operator.

"Sir, SIR! We have a direct transmission over the MAGI network... it's a Black Line Transmission."

The room was suddenly so quiet you could have heard a mouse cough. The Black Line was a direct communications link between the MAGI supercomputers in Tokyo-3, Boston-2, and Berlin-2, and their "eyes and ears" at every other major NERV facility. It was a cable hardline, strengthened and hardened so that nothing including a full-scale nuclear war could cut it, and it was normally reserved for only one purpose.

"Transmission reads: AT Field Pattern Type Blue confirmed on long range sensors. Seventh Angel confirmed."

The duty officer swallowed nervously, then grit his teeth. Well, he was getting what he wanted tonight after all: plenty of excitement. His hand slammed down on the console, and alarm klaxons began to sound off throughout the Geofront.

"Get visual confirmation from NERV-Tasmania of the Angel ASAP. And have Section 2 find the Command Staff and the pilots and get them to the Geofront now. "

EPISODE 1: Chilly Reception

Arja and her grandfather had finished their dinner and were enjoying a quiet evening together when they were interrupted by a loud banging on the door. Grumbling at having some rare time alone with his granddaughter interrupted, Arum walked to the door with a grimace only to stop himself upon coming face to face with the chief of the Section 2 team assigned to keep an eye on him and Arja.

"I apologize for interrupting your evening sir, but you're required on the Bridge. It's..."

"An Angel? *sigh* I was expecting this. Arja."

Dr. Patel turned towards his granddaughter.

"We must go."

Across the city, Samuel and Isamu were relaxing in a hostess bar with the company of several ladies of questionable morals when the old lady manning the register began screeching angrily at the squad of dark-suit and sunglasses wearing Section 2 agents streaming in through the door, forming a protective circle around Samuel and Isamu's table. Their leader, an Australian emigre who tended to spend a lot of his free time in similar establishments, looked almost apologetic to the Operations Director.

"Begging your pardon, Major, but we've got a situation brewing. Your presences are both requested on the bridge."

**************************************

NERV-Nevada, 09/01/18, 04:17 AM

Michel and Amanda hurried down the hallway, their previous fatigue forgotten as soon as they'd received the MAGI report. Michel had the sour expression of one who was sucking on a lemon and not enjoying the experience.

"It's too soon, damn it. She was supposed to have another month of training! We're gonna be throwing her to the wolves when she hasn't even seen the inside of an EVA yet."

His colleague, despite her own misgivings, was maintaining a neutral expression on her face. Someone had to be the calm one, and there was no way in hell Michel was going to be that way when it came to Sophia.

"I don't like it any more than you do, but what choice is there? It's not like we can control when the damn thing decides to show up. We did the best we could for her."

He shook his head wearily.

"Right, like that's gonna make me feel any better about this."

Before she could respond, they'd reached the door to Sophia's quarters, and with a sigh, he opened the door and flicked the light switch on. He eyed the bedroom door for a moment before calling out.

"Sophia? Sophia honey? Please wake up. I know it's really early, I'm sorry, but we need you to get up now. It's urgent."

As they awaited their ward to emerge from the bedroom, Amanda whispered to him.

"It could be worse. She could be as unprepared as those two kids in NERV-Boston."

*************************************************

NERV-Boston, 09/01/18, 7:12 AM

Saturday morning. With no training scheduled, the two girls had taken to enjoying the opportunity to sleep in. Or at least, they normally did, until a grim-faced officer walked in switching the lights to their dorm-room style quarters on and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"On your feet, rise and shine! Let's go ladies, shake a leg!"

[Gargulec]

Yesterday was a good day for the Thirteenth Child. Exhausting in a softly pleasant way. Almost entirety of it spent inside of one of those training contraptions, the instructor - a gruff, but none-the-less kind man named Stevens - familiarizing her with the more intricate controls of an EVA unit, as well as going over the basics again, for tenth or twentieth time. System initialization, synchronization and de-synchronization, movement, configuring the systems running the entry-plug. Repeated over and over again, to the point of it becoming routine. Boring, for some, but Sophia didn't mind. Rest of the day, after the training sessions was finally concluded, she gave to jogging, some talk-show radio buzzing in her ears, until her own breath grew loud enough so that she could scarcely hear the sound of the MP3 player over its volume. She wanted to watch some movie after that, and even managed put a laptop on the table in the front of her couch, but mere minutes after she seated herself before it, a bar of chocolate in her hands, she dozed off from the fatigue, slumping to the side, the movie playing out before her closed eyes until the computer shut down to conserve battery power.

It was how Michel found her - room's lights on, the girl curled on the old sofa, still in her sweaty tracksuit, an empty bottle of mineral water laying beside her. And around that sight - her room. Not exactly a mess, but instead reminding of a motel apartment after two weeks of a continuous stay from one man. Still, short enough to make it look like his, but more than enough to introduce disorder and homely touches to the terminally impersonal interior. In Sophia's case, it was the entirety of her modest belongings scattered around the tables, shelves and floor - the red jumpsuit she tended to wear crumpled over a small pile of books and magazines heaping under an empty shelf, sealed bottle of Powerade on a table by a shadeless lamp, a few other odds and ends that could all fit into a small pouch. Had she more of it, the mess would probably grow unbearable - but Sophia was never one to collect things. Besides, she tried to spend as little time in the quiet of her apartment as she only could.

She twitched, once or twice, after Michel spoke, before springing up abruptly, blinking heavily and rubbing her eyes.

'Uh...' she mumbled incoherently, sliding down from the couch before pulling her up and looking wildly at Michel. As pleasant as it was to cut herself a nap on the sofa, it was hardly conductive towards getting a good night's worth of sleep, and the realizations of what was going on were reaching her only slowly. 'Dream again?' she asked quietly, looking in some other direction, her voice trailing off on the last syllable as her mind was fighting the drowsiness and trying to anchor the girl back to the waking world again.

Blindly, she reached for the bottle at the floor, almost taking a drink before realizing it was empty. Once again, she blinked, then finally turned towards Michel and Amanda.

'Oh.'

[babel_matrix]

It had proven to be a woefully bad idea.

Samuel had caught wind of the phenomenon, that of the hostess bar, amid the usual debauchery of the NERV employee on a Friday night. There, with cheeks red and puffing with the heavy breath of excitement, a technician named Sho Santo demanded that they explore his seedy habit, proclaiming it as pure and innocent as the women who serviced the men there, going to far as to name one of the higher ranking members of Section-2 as a fellow participant. That slurred endorsement had been what brought Samuel to his first, ugly hostess experience. He had come in one of the few suits he had that did not mark him as a NERV representative or U.N. Navy Major: a gray blazer and slacks combination over a navy blue shirt, complete with a gray tie that had been lost to one of the more adventurous hostesses. Now, in the den of his discomfort, he sat stiffly, barely touching the outrageously priced drink in front of him. He wondered now at what illusions he held about what a hostess might be like, having imagined something like a perky new person, a friendly face that he could meet on the weekends that wasn't a NERV employee. It had been an important illusion... a need that remained unfulfilled, and now taunted by the very Section-2 agent who had, unintentionally, indirectly, brought Samuel and Isamu here.

Samuel stood to his full height, almost throwing one of the girls from how she had so generously leaned on his shoulder, and did his best to fix his short, blonde hair. He thought he hid his ire well, but the Australian's expression told him otherwise. More telling, however, were the grim, tight expressions of the rest of the agents... this was not a forgotten training session, or some opportunity for them to be chewed out for coming to this place. These men were solid, stoic... and obviously staving off a terror that flickered in the eyes behind the shades. There was a remote possibility... an inevitability that Samuel only remembered through personal tragedy: the Angels were not finished with humanity. This is it. This moment... it must be this. Were he a more carefree person, he made have pondered the cruelty of his first Angel battle, and perhaps his final moments, being spent smelling of the perfume of cheap actresses pressed against him.

But Samuel had not been a carefree person in almost two decades. Samuel's voice was harsh, professional, a clear indication to Isamu: they were back on the clock. "Isamu, let's go."

[Steel Mirror]

<"Go away, Camila, tell Dad that I fell down in the shower and died and I won't be down to breakfast until later."> Lex managed to groan out her (misplaced) protest in blurry Spanish before rolling over, covering her head with her pillow, and doing her best to go from half-asleep all the way back to the real deal. With her hands jammed up over her pillow, and her pillow crumpled nicely over her whole head, the only thing that could be seen of her was her pink pajama bottoms, her Nerv-issued generic white physical training shirt, and the tips of her light brown hair splayed out from under the pillow and over the surface of the bed like a flattened out dandelion.

It certainly wasn't the sort of response you necessarily wanted from your elite pilot in whom the future of humanity found its last slender hope, but then, she had no idea that this was who she was. For the moment, she was just a slightly spoiled girl who had gone away to a very strange and intense sort of summer camp, and she wanted her sleep.

[AmberVael]

It was a disappointment, but not a surprise. The pattern of the angels was there for anyone to see, so long as they had the data- and Arja had learned enough to piece that together, at least. NERV had been expecting this, and she had been expecting it too; after all, it was the reason for all her training, why they had pushed so hard to have her ready as quickly as possible. So Arja did not complain, but simply got to her feet and nodded. "I understand, grandfather." She marked her place in her book and set it aside, then tugged her sleeves straight as she moved out the door after the others. She was still wearing the NERV uniform she had donned earlier in the day when attending her training, so at least she would look the part for whatever was coming next.

However... it occurred to her that she didn't actually know exactly what was coming next. NERV surely had plans, and she was likely involved in them- but she didn't know the details. Would they deploy her immediately, or try some other tactic first? Had they spotted the angel early enough to set up against it, or was it closing in on its target even now? "Sir, am I to accompany you to the bridge?" Perhaps they intended to brief her or involve her somehow before deploying her... but perhaps not. Perhaps they were simply going to take her down to the cages and get her EVA prepped.

[Danakir]

"You bastard!" the flying shoe sailed past the officer, barely missing his face as the grumpy teenager screamed at him venomously. Looking at the grim man with a glare that could melt steel and bed hair of truly epic proportions, the tired pilot seemed less than cooperative as she continued furiously "We had a deal! I play along with your stupid training and 'team-building' exercises bullcrap and you let me sleep in on the week-end. You can't just…" she threw her hands up as if to admit she already knew her defeat was forthcoming and there was no point arguing.

"I swear, it's like you get some sick thrill from pissing me off." she grumbled incessantly underneath her breath in french as she pushed herself off her bed, stretching out her still sore limbs as she gave her 'instructor' a casual bird flip "Don't look so happy about it. What is it this time? Some kind of drill so you get an excuse to take away my beauty sleep? I bet it's something even dumber than that." even as she berated the older military man she still shuffled toward the bathroom. Presumably to shower and get dressed though her standard NERV sleepwear didn't exactly scream stylish.

Her attitude thus far had made her instructors extra eager to push her to her limits. While it was at least minimally for her benefit, in truth they were hoping to induce some sense of discipline into the rebellious girl. Up to now their efforts had availed them no success but trying brought its own brand of satisfaction. Regardless she yelled from the open bathroom door as she turned on the showers "Make some breakfast at least, you sleazy tyrannical jackbooted sleep-nazi."

[Regalus]

It had proven to be a terribly amusing idea.

Isamu had at been rather surprised when he'd been made aware of Samuel's curiosity in this lesser spoken slice of his native culture, not having pegged the stern colonel as the sort to be fond of the concept; yet it was that same surprise which drove him to accompany the man on this most quiet of Saturday evenings. Beneath the Colonel's veneer of professionalism he felt an almost child like expectation; reminding him of a boy dreaming of his gifts on Christmas eve even and ensuring Isamu's company through this most peculiar cultural exchange.

This was how Isamu was lured into one of the more pleasant evenings by his woefully confused Colonel. He'd met the man wearing his off duty clothing after a long day; simple casual wear in the form of jeans and sneakers worn in conjunction with sleeveless black shirt and a warm jacket. IN all honesty, he probably should have intervened the moment he realized just how over dressed his CO was for this particular venture; but given he'd been seduced into coming here by Sho Santo of all people, he had little doubt the man must have known exactly what he was walking into. He hadn't, much to Isamu's amusement for days to come.

The young man bore a bemused smile through most of the evening, born from his CO's almost constipated demeanor as the poor girls tried their hardest to get the older man to relax to little effect. He actually felt sorry for the ladies who were no doubt growing anxious and frustrated in light of Samuel's stoic replies; the fact the Operation's Director hadn't just walked out made him wonder if his superior was simply shy around women, which would have made coming there the equivalent of walking into a Lion's den. The fact the man had gone ahead and buyed a drink for them all further muddied the issue.

For his part, the young soldier tried to assuage their poor attendants; drawing conversation and cracking jokes in the hopes of easing their worries, an effort that came to the fore when one of the young women asked him as tactly as possible what was wrong with his friend. Isamu assured them that his friend was a rather decisive man usually, if he didn't want their company then surely he would have said as much by then; allowing him to blame the man's condition more on poor adaptation, far too much attention far too soon for the lonely colonel. Their small by play might've born some fruit in a short lived conspiracy to both help his CO relax, and to save their attendant's pride had it not been for Section-2's sudden intrusion into the scene.

The mere sight of the throngs of black suited men and woman was sobering, Isamu's posture straightening in reflex; though he couldn't help but sympathetically wince as Samuel nearly toppled one of his attendants. Isamu could not be sure of what the situation was, but to force Section 2 to intercede so callously it must have been dire.

Nodding to Samuel Isamu turned to the gathered attendants with an apologetically, "It's been a pleasure, but it seems we need to get going. Thank you all for everything, and sorry for all the trouble," he comments in parting with a genial smile as he slips out of the gathering, nodding once to his would-be conspirators before filing out astride Samuel in the company of Section 2.

The moment he walked out of the establishment Isamu's carefree demeanor seemed to vanish like morning mist faced with a storm's gale; leaving only a neutral expression and the keen awareness of the ever growing tension suffusing the party as they made their way into their vehicles. "So what are we looking at?" he inquired to the Australian once they were away from the public eye.

[CrimsonKnight]

Patel Residence

The Section 2 officer looked confounded, as though he actually hadn't considered the question.

"Uh... my orders are to bring you to the Geofront, and Dr. Patel to the Bridge. I don't know exactly where you are expected..."

Arum cut off him before he could waste more time trying to figure it out. "Is the Angel's arrival imminent? Is their a deployment order for the Evangelion team?"

"Uh... n-no sir. Just an general recall order for all senior personnel at this point."

Arum turned towards his daughter with a faint smirk on his lips.

"Then Warrant Officer Patel will accompany me to the bridge so that she receives a thorough briefing of the situation. I trust that will not be an issue?"

The hapless Section 2 officer settled for shaking his head rather than tripping over his mouth again.

"Good. Then let's go."

***********************************
Happy Fun Time Social Club

The Aussie officer shrugged.

"Can't really comment on that sir, I'm just fecking paid to shoot things. All I know is they want the both of you on the Bridge ASAP. Should get a proper briefing there."

He nodded to one of his subordinates who was struggling to keep the furious mama-san at bay.

"Pazu, clear the Major's tab, and include a little extra for disturbing the peace. Let's roll, people."

***********************************
NERV-Japan Geofront Command Bridge

The pilots, operations director, and chief scientist arrived on the bridge almost simultaneously to find Commander Ryuzoji already seated amidst the chaos of shouted reports and data readouts being transmitted from various sources. Both Douglas and Katsuo were already at the stations (the latter looking extremely pissed at having his Saturday night interrupted), and Katherine showed up right on the heels of the group in a very expensive-looking evening dress that clearly hinted she'd had plans of her own as well. Erika nodded as her subordinates all arrived.

"Good, you're all here. Communications, what's the status on visual confirmation of the target?"

"Should be any minute now, ma'am. Their spotter planes are... transmission coming in now."

The readouts cluttering the main display were replaced by a grainy-looking video feed from a UN aircraft. The picture quality was poor... but it was good enough to get a good first look at the monster that had arrived. The Angel appeared to be vaguely humanoid, though lacking any noticeable distinguishing features or digits on its hands and feet. Indeed, it seemed to be nothing so much as a group of crystals formed together in the vague shape of a man. The other instantly noticeable fact about it was that it was casually walking across the water like it was solid ground. The Commander took a deep breath.

"Well... that's something alright. Okay people, Pattern Blue is confirmed. The Seventh Angel has arrived, codenamed "Tahariel" by the MAGI. Current location is about 750km south of Easter Island, so we should have some time to react."

The Comms Officer suddenly piped up.

"Ma'am, incoming transmission from Vice-Commander Saito."

"*sigh* Put him on, Sergeant."

The image of the Angel shrank and moved to the left of the screen, while the image of NERV's least popular senior officer appeared on the right.

"Azuma, I trust you've heard?"

The grim-faced man nodded and lit a cigarette.

"Yes, I'm fully up to date. I'm already in the air on my plane. NERV High Command has officially ordered the Twelfth through Fifteenth Children to be activated effective immediately. I'm on my way now to NERV-Nevada. Assuming the Americans don't f**k it up, the two pilots from Boston-2 should be there by the time I arrive, and I'll take all three of them with me. They're setting up tanker support so I can supersonic the whole way, so I should be able to arrive in six hours or so. Saito, clear."

Erika shook her head.

"Didn't even wait for me to acknowledge his report... *sigh*. Okay, let's find out what we can about this thing before we come up with a plan. Sugimura, what's it's probable vector, assuming it doesn't change course?".

****************************************
NERV-Nevada Dormitories

Michel smiled and handed her the bottle of Powerade from her desk.

"Dream? Was it the one with the pearl again? That's why we had to wake you sweetie... you're going to go on a trip now and face the cause. All the training, all the hours of Sync Testing, all of it was for this moment. You have a special ability, Sophia, and..."

His voice choked up, and he couldn't finish. No matter how you looked at it, they were intentionally sending this innocent girl straight into hell. Amanda placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder and took over.

"So now you have to leave for Japan and do great things... and we can't come with you. It won't be easy, but there will be some good people there to look after you. Dr. Patel, the chief scientist, is a good man. And, you'll even have an opportunity there you never had here: to make some friends with other people your age. So, get dressed, and get your stuff packed. The plane will be here in a few hours."

*********************************************
NERV-Boston Dormitories

The gruff-looking older man puffed up like a toad sitting on a hot plate.

"Excuse me?! Was that lip I heard from you?! Now pick up that goddamn shoe up before I take it and-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH SERGEANT!"

An much older man with a snow-white head of hair and beard in a matching white suit hobbled into the room with the assistance of a cane, and you both recognize him as William Shaw, the Commander of NERV-Boston. Despite his age-diminished height and cane, the military NCO seemed to wilt in his presence.

"You were ordered to merely wake them up, not to berate them like some recruits in boot camp. Outside, now. We can discuss your... reassignment once I've taken care of everything more important."

The Commander watched the back of his subordinate's head with a glower before turning back to the girls with a smile on his face.

"Sorry about that girls. And yes, breakfast will be provided in a little while. Right now though, we're in a major time crunch. The Seventh Angel has arrived, and that means your training timeline is being sped up... drastically."

He looked away for a moment with guilt stamped on his face.

"And by that, I mean you're on a plane to NERV-Nevada within the hour, to rendezvous with the Thirteenth Child and the Vice-Commander of NERV-Japan to head to Tokyo-3 immediately. I'm sorry girls... I wished I could have explained beforehand what's going to happen, but my hands are explicitly tied in this matter. Vice-Commander Saito will brief you over the Pacific. So, get dressed and pack a few essentials in a hurry, we need to get to the airport immediately. I'll make arrangements to have the rest of your belongings boxed up and shipped to you. And as for breakfast, well, I hope you don't mind Air Force boxed meals."

[Steel Mirror]

Lex managed, in the way of tired and surly teens throughout the world, to both get the gist of what was going on and remain mostly asleep at the same time. It took some physical prodding by Commander Shaw before she rose from the bed, did a zombie-walk into the bathroom, and reached for her toothbrush. Well, a toothbrush anyway. She had a 50/50 chance of getting the right one, but not the brain power to bother checking to make sure. She didn't really notice the shower going behind her as she blearily went through the motions of her morning routine, brushing teeth, tying her hair up into a lopsided ponytail, and affixing her lucky cap to its customary spot on top of her head.

She knew that what was happening was important, she just couldn't quite clear the cobwebs away to put put together the pieces. "Another Angel is coming? Shouldn't we be hiding in a bunker then?" She shivered a bit. "Those things are dangerous with a capital Scary."

[Gargulec]

She opened the bottle on a reflex, taking a quick few sips of the theoretically blueberry flavoured drink before shaking her head a few times to know the sleep out of it. Her eyes moved from Michel to Amanda, a flicker of confusion on a calmly expressionless face.

The ramifications eluded her, mostly. The context, so painfully obvious to both of them was lost on Sophia. She nodded to what they were saying, but all of them knew that she did not really understand what was about to happen. The girl knew, ever since her training had started, that one day she would have to leave behind the shelter of NERV-Nevada to go and fight. Her purpose had not been hidden from her. It is what was expected off her, is what she could do for others, and thus, it was what she would do. In her mind, it was all plain and simple. But the wider picture - leaving behind the world she knew, people that knew and accepted her, safety she obliviously cherished - was beyond her ability to understand. And just because of that, she did not worry and did not protest.

'Yes' she mumbled quietly, crouching by her clothing, the bottle landing back on the couch. She started to unzip the tracksuit before remembering she was not supposed to change in front of other people, pausing for a moment, and disappearing into the bathroom, to emerge a few moments later, wearing a deep-red jumpsuit, hanging baggily from her shoulders - it was a smallest one they could find, and still a size too large for her.

For a few moments, she shuffled around the room, shoving her things into a rugged tarpaulin duffel bag, looking as it it could remember the times before the Second Impact. Inside it went a few books, the laptop with a charger, the bag with her jogging clothing, a few other trinkets that she deemed important. Enough to fill the bag to about one-third before she zipped it shut, leaving behind all the little irrelevant things that slipped her attention during packing, such as a toilet-bag.

'Done' she hefted the bag off the floor and onto her back, as if she was supposed to be going already.

It was only then that something that Amanda's words had finally gotten to her, beating through the early-morning confusion.

'You will not be there' she repeated, feeling something clench in her gut. Truth be told, it was the first time she was seeing Michel in days and Amanda in weeks. They were always distant, busy, working on something. But also always somewhere there. Reachable. Separated, but close. But it would be the case for no longer. Wherever she was meant to be going, they would not follow her. 'Oh.'

Something kept telling her that she was supposed to do something with that, say something. Express something. But what? Tell them that she would miss them? Thank them? Hug them? Smile?

'Oh' all that she managed was confusion.

[babel_matrix]

Major Kendrick took the bridge, a mask of stone hiding his mixed feelings upon confirmation of what he feared. He hung on every word spoken, silently appraising the technicians and command aides, many still in plainclothes, as they took their places. Sugimura was even more loosely dressed than most, but seemed dreadfully sober... the way Samuel wanted it. The holograms floating before the bridge's platform gave every visual feed available of the Angel, with analysis and metrics splattering across the images as fast as Sugimura could spill them. There, with every outward feature weighed and measured remotely, the crystalline horror seemed almost understandable; it was a brief illusion.

Waltzing in with heels and a luxurious black gown was Tanaka, whose grin ill-matched the electrified air of the untested NERV staff. "Good evening, Major~," she quietly sang without even giving the man a sideways glance, let alone a salute. It lacked all professionalism, which only made it more jarring when her console awoke with a few strokes of her fingers, revealing a holographic grid of the city's defenses, all armed but remaining on standby. Opposite of her, Warwick reviewed reports regarding the LCL stock on hand in silence.

Sugimura interrupted the odd moment with his report to the Commander. "MAGI analysis confirm: the Angel's present direction of heading has a 99.6% chance of bringing it to the very heart of NERV-Bethany. Estimated time of arrival is difficult to calculate, given the Angel's inconsistent rate of approach."

Samuel narrowed his eyes at the far shots of the Angel's approach. "It appears to be walking instead of levitating..." As if in response, the first live satellite images of the Angel's march appeared... and behind it trailed dozens of small, frozen platforms. With another step, it's foot left another behind. What little Sam knew of thermodynamics, a creature able to instantly freeze only the water directly beneath its feet made no sense... a hallmark of their enemy. He raised his voice for the communications officers to hear him. "Advise the Navy to continue to keep their distance and observe the enemy." Samuel turned to face the Commander. "With your permission, Commander, I would like to buy the Sub-Commander all the time he needs to transport the remaining Units to our location-"

Short-lived klaxon alarms exploded about the screens as the cameras blurred and the Angel's overall form seemed to crouch over the waters. What was first taken to be the snow of static soon proved to be the water in the air freezing, and all across the decks Samuel could spot sailors, already in military-grade winter clothing for a mission this close to Antarctica, scattering to flee into their boats and away from the sudden, unyielding cold. "Sir! Ambient temperatures are dropping at a rate of two degrees a second!"

"Navy command is advising that they're withdrawing before the water freezes them in!"

"Visuals are having a difficult time operating due to conditions-"

The visuals slowly iced over as what little moisture might have been found clinging or hitting the camera lens froze over. Every angle, every picture, blurred with ice, the Angel's now crouching form obfuscated and ever-shifting in the light of the sun. The only image that remained clear, from a satellite too far to be affected, looked on as a blizzard slowly thickened about the creature, hiding it in a growing whirlpool of ripping air and frozen water, until the Angel was hidden away from view. The water froze outward, creating a landscape of white, crystal waves frizen in the middle of their rises and falls. That beautiful, terrifying world crept towards the warships that now desperately fled from it. The catastrophe, watched through blurred lens and satellite imagery, was finally shattered as a pillar of white exploded from the storm's epicenter, leaving a white pillar that was heard as much as felt as every camera feed shuddered until shattering, and finally leaving dead static as their final reports. To the eye of NERV, safely trapped in orbit, it was a skyscraper of snow, exploding upwards from the heart of a freezing nova.

The bridge stared in horror. The cloud of white slowly cleared and fell back to the waters and ice, the temperatures at its outermost edges slowly rising as the MAGI read them in real-time. Another camera feed, this one shaky and seemingly carried up through a staircase, proved to belong to one of the crew of a U.N. warship. A blur of cursing in both French and Arabic marked the sailors as alive and well... but when at last the feed reached the top of the stairs and forced open the door, the diverse crew was joined in the stunned silence that spanned all languages. In awe, the seamen looked at the sight of their armada, of warships new and old, locked in frozen waves. At the core of their formation, where a titan once stood... was now a black pit, with three perfectly straight sides, in the middle of the newly made, frozen wasteland.

The pillar of snow finally cleared, and the satellite image confirmed it: the Angel had escaped them through a tunnel of solid ice it created and dug into the sea. The tunnel, made in what looked like a perfectly equilateral triangle, was curved while seeming to maintain that perfect geometric structure. The alien signature across the sea curved towards the same path it had begun to walk... and what parts of that tunnel were close enough to the surface to be visible indicated that the Angel had far more speed than they had accounted for. The satellite panned, tracing the tunnel until it had dipped too far beneath the waves for even enhanced scans to find it.

The alarms blared in earnest as the MAGI confirmed that the Angel had, indeed, eluded NERV. Samuel tried to keep up, finding nothing coherent coming from the alleged experts in the observation and analysis group nor nothing from his trusted staff. They yelled back and forth, furious typing and orderly, but strained shouts giving him nothing. "Sugimura, I need a report! Where is the target?"

The Japanese man visibly shrugged as he worked, his voice strained. "We don't know, sir! The Angel has fallen out of visual range, and fled too quickly to estimate by sonar... the MAGI cannot give us a new, conclusive ETA on the Angel's approach to NERV-Bethany-"

"They couldn't do that earlier, either!"

"To think I pushed for extra funding for that intrusive MAGI network-"

"The observation crew is doing what they can to find the Angel again, sir, but for now we can only assume it is staying it's course for NERV-Bethany."

Samuel looked at the worthless feeds of frozen warships and a tunnel of ice. It was heading straight for one of NERV's top secret facilities, with barely a defense grid to speak of when compared to the might of an Angel. The Angel was determined in its course... But it doesn't have to be. We could change the Angel's priorities... we've still got our ace in the hole, after all. Even if it was an ace that Samuel didn't understand: the Torch. Despite his ignorance, he had been guaranteed by the Sub-Commander that it would fulfill its purpose... But could Samuel truly trust such a claim? Absolutes were suicide in his line of work. Ultimately, even if it did work, Samuel didn't like not knowing how much time he would end up buying, or giving away, by activating it blindly. He liked the idea of being under-armed for the coming fight even worse. The last Angel had taken a base and a whole team of Evangelions with it... what could this Angel do to one Evangelion and a T-RIDEN-T? His brow furrowed as he considered his options, hands gripped tightly behind his back, blue eyes narrowed on the image of the strange trail left behind the Angel.

He turned from the monitors, walking calmly towards Dr. Patel and his daughter. He gave the younger a brief nod, keeping his focus largely on the Chief Scientist of NERV. His voice came at a regular, indoor volume, which may as well have been a whisper in Dr. Patel's ear... a whisper his daughter could hear. "We will need to activate the Torch. How long until it's primed and ready?"

[AmberVael]

Arja decided it was wisest to keep her mouth shut until spoken to, unless she thought of something important that they didn't seem to address. She was here because Arum allowed it, and was decidedly one of the lowest ranking people in the room- besides, her job was to carry out their plans, not make them (and of course, she felt more comfortable thinking than speaking anyway). Eyes fixated on the angel, taking in everything her superiors said, Arja let her thoughts and speculation take her full attention. Humanoid. Crystalline appearance. Crystalline composition? If it follows known rules, it might be easier to fracture than cut.

She focused on its feet, noting how easily it walked on the surface. If it follows known rules. How does it do that? Unlikely that it actually supports itself on water- wrong shape, probably too heavy. Spreading out surface tension with its AT Field? The video was poor, but when she squinted, she thought she saw something unusual... and her suspicion was vindicated as the higher quality footage streamed in, revealing the ice platforms it was standing upon. As soon as Arja saw that her eyes flicked up to the angel's main body again, examining its surface, coloration, the exact formation of the crystals. Is that ice too?

As the blizzard roared to life and the temperatures dropped rapidly, Arja nodded to herself. The strange shape of the hole and inexplicable burst of speed from the angel just gave her more suspicions and information to work with. A range of cryokinetic abilities then, and that looks fast for bipedal movement. Possible that all we saw was an ice shell around the real angel. Best to fight it away from the ocean and ready sources of water, to limit what it can do. If it is ice or otherwise crystalline, it likely will be easier to shatter it than cut or pierce it; pneumatic weaponry may be the best choice. I could load up with a hammer, I think they have those available.

When Samuel approached Arja snapped herself away from her thoughts and stood straight, giving him a brief salute suited to the situation. "Sir." Since he had said nothing else to her, she said nothing beyond that... but did listen to the cryptic words he spoke to her grandfather. The Torch? It wasn't anything she knew about, which meant they didn't think it concerned her... but Arja was of the opinion that the more she knew, the better. An informed soldier could often make better decisions than an uniformed one, after all. She kept her eyes on the monitors, but most of her attention actually remained on Kendrick and her grandfather.

[Regalus]

Isamu's eyes locked unto the Angel the moment its image arose, as he tried to dissect the image before him to try to find any advantage he could use in the coming battle; even if experience had taught him not to make any judgement on the alien entities based solely on their appearance. Arms crossed, he absentmindedly toyed with the band hidden beneath his sleeve as the full weight of the situation sunk in. Their time of grace had finally run out, and for better or worse they would soon know if any of their preparations would be worth a damn or if they'd be cheated like their predecessor's had been.

The mere thought doubling the tension in his body while reports rained across the bridge, and opting to focus on the task at hand instead. He had been trained for this in a sense, knowing better to fret too much over 'could be's' while dealing with an unpredictable foe.

CQC seemed dubious to the soldier given the massive temperature drops the creature could generate, though if it's composition was anything like real ice than he hoped his T-Riden-T's high impact incindiary rounds would give them the leverage needed to curtail the worst of its effects in the battle. The fact it could make platforms raised it's own set of issues, but he was forced to table the train of thought as one of the worst case scenarios had come to pass.

They'd lost track of the Eva.

In the blink of an eye the bridge had redoubled in motion as all present scrambled to find some way to avert an all but certain tragedy; a seemingly futile effort as the angel slipped through their sensory arrays one by one at ludicrous speeds, cutting swaths through the sea like a heated knife through frosting. The young man felt his own heart dropping as each report came back negative, each a metaphorical nail on their coffin; urging his gaze to desperately scour the visible displays for anything that might be of use, anything that might have been over looked.

The last Todoroki scion understood only the basics of their foe's, and their own, greatest weapon; the AT-Field that allowed them to all but bend the law's of physics over their knee, yet...that influence still bore its consequences. He could see it on the vessels as the crewman fled for cover despite their own protective clothing, and the marked drop in temperature. It wasn't just willing the water into ice in the same way some Eva's could seemingly generate solids panes of force or air, it was actually freezing them in moments; tons, upon tons of sea water flash frozen in an instant.

"Major!" Isamu called out urgently, damning procedure given the urgency of the situation, "What about thermals? It's freezing city sized chunks of the sea in fractions of a second out there; that kind of a massive temperature drop must be something we can pick up on weather satellites or something,"

[CrimsonKnight]

Erika's eyes glanced over at her Chief Scientist at the mention of NERV-Bethany. Arum knew better than anyone just what Project ARK's boys and girls in labcoats were getting up to there... and if the Angel breached its minimal defenses, then nothing they would do from this point forward would matter one bit. And the damned Angel certainly knew that though, as it shifted from its relaxed stride into a more "efficient" mode of transportation.

Arum was staring intently at the new reports when Samuel approached him. "How long to activate? Only as long as it would take you to push a button."

His hand emerged from a pocket to reveal a small transmitter with a single button covered by a plexiglass shield. After looking to the Commander for confirmation, Arum handed it to Samuel. "It was ready before you were even briefed on its existance. It can transmit from virtually anywhere in the facility, though I would suggest you use it here and not put that to the test. Be warned, once activated, disabling it is... rather more complicated. I would use it with the assumption that we cannot do so in any reasonable manner."

Isamu's shouts drew Arum away from Samuel and the transmitter. After a moment, he nodded. Why hadn't anyone thought of that? Because when people thought of tracking something on thermal sensors, it was almost inevitably to spot something much hotter than its environment (whether tracking a person at night or a missile pursuing a jet fighter), not the other way around.

"Lieutenant, that actually may just work. You are correct, a temperature inversion of that magnitude should show up even if the ice formation it is creating is too deep to be seen visually. Satellite Control, I want a thorough thermal sensor sweep of the area north to north-west of the Angel's last known location."

The main display was replaced by a map of the Pacific, replaced shortly with a thermal map that peaked orange at the equator before drifting towards blues at either pole (though with the entire region covered in night, the temperatures were much lower than they would have been during the day). Everything looked exactly as it should... everything except the blue line that looked like someone had drawn it on the display with a blue magic marker.

Erika's eyes widened as the MAGI finally calculated the Angel's rate of speed.

"My god... 1200 kilometers per hour?! That's, that's..."

"A problem, Commander, yes. Based on its rate of advance, it will reach Bethany in just over four hours. Even if we time it perfectly and wait until the last moment to activate the Torch... it will be on our doorstep in six hours."

[babel_matrix]

"Then we have everything we need." A round of surprised looks greeted the suddenly relaxed Operations Director. Arms folded, a hint of a smile creeping on his face, Samuel felt at ease for the first time since they walked into that hostess bar. The air of confidence was good for morale; inside, Samuel was still worrying over the timetable. Saito has never struck me as the kind of man to miss his own prediction... those pilots will be here in six hours. But will they get into the entry plugs before these two face the enemy? Samuel resisted the urge to look at the pilots, focusing instead on every subordinate he instructed in rapid succession. "Tanaka, prepare the grid for interception right on the coast, but also prepare auxiliary defenses we see landfall early. Have the city evacuated into the shelters three hours before the target's ETA. Get them as low and away from it's area of effect as possible; stuff the shelters if need be, I don't want anyone near the surface." Tanaka wordlessly followed the instruction, a red phone tucked between face and shoulder as she rapidly keyed in the new configurations.

"Comms, get in contact with the Navy and see if they can safely set up a mine field on the Angel's path to Bethany before it makes landfall, and then to do the same near the Japanese coast when we calculate the Angel's new route." What will this buy us? A half-hour? Minutes? Seconds? Samuel shook the doubt before it could creep into his posture. The swarm of communication officers split their duties as he turned to Sugimura. "Sugimura, begin the checklist for Evangelion launch, and have maintenance double-time on the Midnight Hound. Put emphasis on making them capable of weathering what we just saw."

"We'll do what we can, sir!" There was a biting exasperation in his tone, but Samuel didn't pursue it.

Turning away from the bridge staff, the Operations Director returned his gaze to the head of NERV's Science Department... and the tension immediately returned to his eyes. He made sure to give no indication of it, but Arja's presence was now a dark reminder of what they were preparing to do: save for Isamu, every soldier in this combat unit was an underaged girl, and he was going to order them all into a freezing Hell. "Dr. Patel, I realize these pilots have yet to come for evaluations, testing, fitting... From the moment those girls are in front of you, how soon can you give me three fully synchronized Units?"

[Danakir]

The voice of Sammy can be heard coming from the shower "Thanks, old man." she called out without the slightest trace of sarcasm, the ****-eating grin plastered all over her face clearly audible in her voice. She doesn't dawdle much under the lukewarm water as she scrubs herself off the sweat from yesterday's training regimen given the Commander's urgent tone of voice. She still felt sore as hell but she wasn't about to give that whipped dog of an NCO the satisfaction of seeing that his bull**** got to her at all. Knowing he was left seething outside the dorm was all the vindication she needed and then some.

Stepping outside the shower and grabbing a towel, Sammy noticed Lex blearily brushing her teeth with all the enthusiasm of a brainless zombie. With her toothbrush no less. Approaching from behind, she slid her arms around her neck and pulled her face down next to hers, glaring at her with a frighteningly intense smile which was visible thanks to the mirrored surface in front of the pair "Morning, sunshine. That's my toothbrush. We already having that kind of relationship?" she pinched her cheek through the foam of toothpaste, waking her up rather more forcefully than she might've liked. "You owe me a new one." letting go of her current chewtoy, she reached for her clothes in a pile nearby so she could get dressed in the usual.

"****ty army cereal? Sounds great, I can't wait." she zipped up her jacket, Dan returning from his morning leak outside the compound only to find the older gentleman waiting on the pilots. He approaches enthusiastically, tail wagging as he barked as if to welcome the senior officer.

"Hey, old man, you're cool. Kinda." she slurred with Lex's toothbrush sticking out of her mouth "Don't keel over while we're out." she whirled around so she could spit out the toothpaste.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex blinked slowly. "What kind of relationsh-aaaaagh my face!" Lex suddenly found some difficulty in speaking through her stretched-out cheek. "I'm sorry! You win! Uncle! Uncle!"

Lex rubbed her cheeks forlornly as the taller girl got dressed and spoke to the old man in the other room. Lex was slow to finish brushing and washing her face, despite the adults' haste, because she was still waking up. And because Sammy was in the bathroom, and even though she apparently had no problem getting undressed in the same room as Lex, Lex was an only child and it seemed kind of embarrassing. Though technically it was Lex who had walked in on Sammy in the shower? But she hadn't meant to. It was just so early.

Feeling awkward and flustered without really knowing why, Lex shut the door and got dressed for the day in record speed. Once she was sure her socks matched and her skirt wasn't on backwards, she opened the door and marched out of the room to join her roommates. "Good morning Dan. You're the only one who doesn't yell at me when I wake up. Good boy!" She laughed as the eager canine greeted her with slobbery dog kisses. "I guess you use up all of your mommy's charm, don't you? Is that why she's so grumpy? You got all the nice and she got all the meanness?"

Lex straightened. "Fine then. Take us to our plane, Commander! Bring on the box-food!"

[CrimsonKnight]

Dr. Patel rubbed his face wearily.

"Impossible for me to say. They've all been successfully tested in Syncronization Test Plugs, but in an actual Evangelion? We could see anything from perfect first time Syncronization to total rejection by either the Evangelion or pilot. Or, Krishnu help us, both.The Evangelions are temperamental machines at the best of times. Not to mention that two out of the three of them are older units that NERV shelved for a very good reason... and the third has a checkered history of its own even if its been expunged from the record."

**********************************

Michel fidgeted for a moment before given in to temptation and enveloping Sophia in a hug.

"I'm so so sorry. If there was any way I could, I would..."

Amanda decided to let him have his moment and turned for the door.

"We have a few hours before you leave, Sophia, the least we can do is give you a good sendoff breakfast. The cooks are already up, so you can have whatever you want. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, the works."

***********************************

Seemingly out of nowhere, Commander Shaw produced a dog biscuit which he offered to the large canine shepard, who sniffed the old man's hand for a moment before giving in and taking the offered treat with a good deal of slobber in return. Shaw was prepared for that as well, slipping out a handkerchief to clean off his now wet hand.

"That's a grand dog you have there, Miss McCormick. I will certainly miss him. Hopefully I do not, ah, "keel over" so that I may see him and you again in the future. Now if you're ready, we must be off."

Outside, a military Humvee was waiting to whisk all of them away to the heliport, where the three of them (and Dan) were all swiftly strapped in and the helicopter darting into the air towards the nearby military airfield. The flight lasted only ten minutes before setting down again near a large military cargo jet. Apart from the air crew and the dozen or so armed soldiers forming a protective ring around the ramp (and clearly waiting for the two girls), the plane (designed to carry up to 200 people in its main cargo bay) was otherwise empty. The old Commander nodded to the squad leader, who waved two of his men forward to grab the girls' bags as Shaw made his farewells.

"Be safe, girls, not that that will be easy where you are going. And be careful around the man picking you up. No matter how competent Vice-Commander Saito may be, he has the personality of a shark. And there are other things... hopefully, nothing that will concern you. Good luck, and godspeed. You will need it, I think."

As the air crew lead Sammy and Lex onboard with the soldiers filing in behind them, their last view of Commander Shaw as the ramp began to raise was of him still standing there leaning on his cane and watching them with worry and care on his worn face. The flight was mostly uneventful, if unbearably noisy due to the pilots pushing the jet transport at its max-rated speed for the entire trip. The MREs served by the air crew were edible, if not exactly flavorful. In the middle of the Nevada desert, the plane set down at the vast Groom Lake military reservation, which, apart from NERV-Nevada (located in the facility formerly known as Area 51), also included a sizeable UN airforce presence. Scarcely had the wheels stopped moving when the soldiers moved the girls and dog off the plane to a nearby terminal (thankfully air conditioned given the scorching heat outside). After being told the plane arriving to collect them would arrive in 20 minutes or so, the two girls were just about to settle down for a short rest when a van pulled up to the door. A couple of NERV staff members exited the vehicle, sheparding a very pale-skinned and lighthaired girl about the same age as the two girls from NERV-Boston. It seemed as though Sammy and Lex would have some company for the rest of the trip.

[Steel Mirror]

From her position in the waiting lounge chair, Lex frowned at the morning outside. She was upside down, her feet dangling over the top of the cheap furniture, her back resting on the seat, and her head hanging off the front with her ponytail dragging across the floor. Dan had already sniffed her face (if it was down on his level, it was meant to be licked, right?), and now she was just killing time and wishing that the ringing in her ears from the noisy flight would die down so she could get a nap.

"Doesn't that seem unfair to you? I mean we were in the air what, a few hours. So it should be late morning, which would mean my body could wake up, and I could start my day. But instead, thanks to the time zone change, it's still early morning! Look outside, the sun has still barely risen here. And if it looks like morning outside, my body thinks it's morning, and now I just want to go back to sleep. Ugh."

She reached inside her jacket, a flight jacket that she had gotten from the crew of the plane when she realized that big military transports got cold at high altitudes, and retrieved the little package of Skittles that she had fished out of her MRE earlier. She ripped it open and waited to see what color candy came out first. It was green.

"Yuck, green. Not a good sign. Today looks like it has all the makings of my unlucky day." No sooner had she said that than a strangely colorless young woman entered the terminal flanked by yet more guards. "That wasn't an omen," she muttered to herself sternly. Icky green Skittle or no, she decided to ignore the portent of bad luck and greet the newcomer warmly.

"Hiya there! Oops, sorry, let me get right side up." Lex kipped her feet back over her head, bent her body in two, and then propelled herself to a standing position in front of her erstwhile slouching chair. She turned around and smiled. "Don't worry, I don't believe the bad luck omens! I bet you're very nice. You don't look like a Vice-Commander, so are you another mystery student like us?" Lex waved her hand in a gesture that included herself, Sammy, and of course the dog waiting with them for the plane flight out.

[Gargulec]

One thing, she was sure about. She liked that hug, smiling into Michel's chest, and yet still forgetting to return it, standing still in the man's embrace until he let her go. Again, a thought crossed her mind whether to thank him - because she was thankful, deeply - but though she opened her mouth to say something, she couldn't find words that would feel right. So she closed it without letting out a single sound, and left her tiny room in NERV-Nevada, perhaps never to return, leaving behind few traces of her presence, beside the opened Powerade bottle and a bar of chocolate she forgot to pack.

The remaining few hours blurred together. There was something to eat, then Michel had to run off, giving Sophia one last pat on her back, then Amanda received a phone-call and disappeared promptly, after sparing a second to say a quiet, but heart-felt "good-bye, write often" to the girl, leaving her sitting alone in the idle hum of the mess room. There, she spent the rest of the wait before the departure, her thoughts slowly vanishing in the subdued noise of the small-talk of staff, whir of air-conditioning and clanging of the plates, all the sounds and sights mingling into that characteristic noise of daily life that Sophia grew to cherish.

Noise that shifted (at some point, lost in her train of thoughts, she barely noticed when) into roaring of a truck's engine as a pair of Section-2 personnel packed her onto a van and then drove her farther from NERV-Nevada than she had been in months, before unloading her in front of the departures terminal, the duffel-bag slung over her back. For a few moments, she stood in the blistering heat, before realizing that she was supposed to enter, and quickly making it into the cool, shaded inside.

At first, the other pilots-to-be slipped her attention - her eyes moved over and past them, the girl instead seemingly focusing on the rather uninteresting architecture of the building, standing still two steps from the door and just looking around, a very faint look of confusion emerging on her face. It was only after Lex called out to her that she faced them again, blinking once or twice.

'Oh' she waved back, more on a reflex than anything. It was the thing that she was supposed to do, apparently. She rememberer someone telling her that.

A new sensation started to emerge inside of her - it felt as if she was standing on an uneven ground, all out of the sudden. The girl acted differently from the people at NERV-Nevada. They would never sit like that. And she spoke differently, too. A tone apart, almost alien, even if she could understand it. How was she supposed to respond? What was she supposed to say? Or maybe she should stay silent, let them continue? Suddenly, she felt lost - and there was no one around that she could ask for tips on how to handle that. She shook her head, hoping to clear the confusion, but it did not help any.

'Uhm...' probably, the best thing was some sort a greeting? Probably? 'Good...' wait, that would be too official? 'Uh... hi.'

[Danakir]

"That's what you're going to complain about. Out of all that's unfair about our situation… that's the part where you draw the line. The time zone." Sammy called out from further in the room, sitting cross-legged alone in the middle of a neatly arranged row of chairs pushed against the sterile white wall. The sound of the round face clock above her ticking could barely be heard over the noise of the air conditioning belching and bellowing cold air into the sealed room. The still cranky teenager's voice seemed to hold annoyance rather than the expected contempt, her sharp gaze settling on one of the nearby guards waiting at the door. Stiff as a board and still as a stone sculpture. She wasn't getting anything out of those jerks.

Next she produced a sharp ringing whistle, Dan's ears perking up as she called him to heel "C'mon, boy." and the obedient pup ran to her side, sitting in front of her happily as she reached out to stroke his head firmly, whispering something to him with the kind of sincere warm smile that Lex didn't often see on the otherwise confident and willful canadian.

Noticing the small disturbance caused by the entrance of the guards accompanying the tiny albino girl, Sammy got up and walked over to get a closer look for herself. On her way past Lex, she'd snatch the green skittle and pop it inside her mouth "It's just a green skittle, you big crybaby. Don't be so picky, it's damn unsightly." she teased her, Dan jumping on the chair next to Lex and sitting there with a goofy smile as if to apologize for his mommy's sourpuss mood. It was hard to be mad at that lovable scoundrel of a dog.

The towering figure of Sammy didn't break stride until she'd made it right in front of Sophia. Standing right there, she gazed up and down the much more diminutive girl unflinchingly despite her freakish appearance. If Lex's perky attitude was uncomfortably awkward, this was completely out of the bounds of what Sophia was prepared for. Eventually the pale girl would notice Sammy's teeth gritting as she turned to one of the security guards with a glare "That's low, even for you scum. She looks like she could be in middle school. What's wrong with you guys?" she sounded more than a tad disgusted.

After a few tense moments she broke her staring contest with the guard to address the speechless bundle of nerves in front of her "Hey, kid. I'm Samantha." she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb "This is my dog, Dan. The airhead next to him with the cap is Lex." her introductions were short and to-the-point.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex winked and touched two fingers to the brim of her cap in a jaunty little parody of a salute. "That's me!" She smiled for a moment more, then shot a glare at Sammy. "Hey wait, how come I have to be the airhead? You didn't even know where Africa was on the map!"

[Gargulec]

Funny, but as imposing as Samantha was, Sophia was not feeling scared. That is not to say that she was comfortable, standing in the older girl's shadow, but it was not fear, rather a sense of of a free-fall. And so, she did not move, just raising her head to meet Samantha's eyes, trying to think of what to say while the girl yelled at the guards. She was not exactly sure why would she do that, but of all things confounding her, that one felt least important right now.

Name. She clutched on that. They gave her theirs, so she was meant to introduce herself in turn. That felt and sounded simple enough.

'Sophia' she blurted, looking back at Lex. 'I'm Sophia' she corrected herself. 'Mystery student?' she rememberer the other question Lex had. Questions were good, allowed her to a grip on the conversation. 'No, I do not think so.'

The phrase "mystery student" was one more confusing bit, but it would clear out in time, she hoped. Maybe that Lex would explain to her what she had meant. At least, she assumed that if she was one, she would probably know that. But maybe that was why it was a "mystery" student? Or maybe it was some by-word for the pilot training she was undergoing?

[AmberVael]

Arja's eyes flicked towards the button her grandfather held just for a second, then back to the monitors. All her attention was on that tiny object in her peripheral vision though. Small. Short range. Transmitting a signal somewhere in the facility then, if only to activate a relay of some kind. Grandfather makes it sound like whatever it is will change the course of the angel... to here? Some kind of incredibly long range AT beacon, perhaps? Arja knew that an AT Field could do something like that, though she'd never done it herself. But from what she understood, it didn't force a response. It was like a flare gun, or a flash of red. You couldn't assume it would actually work, but the operations director seemed to put a lot of faith into this 'Torch.'

Not enough information. The pilot decided. For now, its enough to know that we have some way of attracting angels... some way that is apparently hard to turn off.

The situation with the pilots grabbed Arja's attention, as it sounded much more pressing and dire than the mystery of the Torch. For one, it didn't seem like they'd have any time at all to acclimate to their EVAs, and Arja knew it had been a difficulty process for her. Of course, they said her aptitude was low, but it couldn't be that low if she was actually a pilot now, right? Add to that inexperience, old EVA units, and a sheer lack of time, and suddenly Arja wondered just how much backup she'd even get for this. It might really come down to her and Isamu against the angel- and the last angel had taken out a far better trained and well equipped team. This could be it.

She considered the situation, had a thought, then looked up to Kendrick as she considered whether she should say anything. After a moment's hesitation she looked away again as she decided against it. He doesn't need my suggestions. If its worth doing, he'll think of it before I do. And if he wants my ideas, he'll ask.

[Danakir]

"Why do YOU even know where Africa is on the map? You can't get bloody groceries without me holding your hand." Samantha's retort was swift and ruthless, her glare more than a match for that of her superstitious peer. Turning her eyes back on the small manufactured, she quirked an eyebrow "White hair and red eyes… never seen that before. It's unique." her comment made it somewhat obvious that she hadn't gotten the memo about albinism.

"You've got some steely nerves for a girl your size. Sophia, was it? I guess you're still in shock." she motioned for her to follow as she turned briskly on her heels, walking back toward the rest of the crew without breaking stride. It was as if she'd sized up Sophia and found her to be meek and pliable.

"Look at her. You tell me NERV isn't going too far with this." she traded words with Lex, holding her gaze expectantly.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex shrugged at Sophia as Sammy strode back into the waiting area. "Don't worry, she's just a little bossy. And smelly. And she hits hard. And she is terrible at math or literature or anything academic. And-" Lex cut herself off as she noticed Sammy's stride falter, probably in preparation for some kind of protest. Possibly involving pinching. "Uhhhh but she's actually pretty okay once you get to know her! Just be nice to her puppy. And I guess don't steal her toothbrush." Lex chuckled a bit in an inclusive sort of way, hoping that an excess of friendliness would help put the new girl at ease. Sophia did look pretty young, but then it's not like Lex had any idea what Nerv wanted them all for in the first place.

She glanced back to Sammy at the mention of Nerv, and shrugged again. "Too far? You mean flying us all to Japan? Yeah that's pretty far away, but who knows? Maybe it will be fun! And maybe they'll finally tell us what they gathered us all up for."

[Gargulec]

Silent and dumbstruck, Sophia looked slowly from Sammy to Lex and back again, the duffel-bag still hanging from her arm as the girl was trying to make sense out of what was happening around her, her mind kicking itself to high-gear to decipher the situation.

Samantha - the bigger girl - did not know where Africa was. A strange notion, but Sophia accepted it at face value. And the other girl - smaller - teased her about that. But the older girl snapped at her and she took her words back. Or at least attempted to? It felt that Samantha approaching Lex prompted that. Maybe the girl felt threatened? But why would she feel threatened, actually? It was not that Samantha would hurt her for that? So maybe she just did not want to hurt her feelings? But then again, Samantha did not appear to be someone whose feelings could be touched by that? Or maybe Sophia was getting all the wrong cues?

It felt as if she was falling down, she realized. Losing balance, tripping over something and plummeting towards hard rock bottom. The situation, it just... she could not make sense out of what was going on. Their reactions, their attitude - it felt alien. A world apart from what she had grown accustomed to.

She took a step back without even meaning it.

Samantha was talking to her, too. But in statements, not questions. She directed questions at someone else, and it would be rude to answer them - the girl seemed to recall that much. Samantha described her appearance - there was nothing to say to that. It was unique for a reason, but Sophia had no clue whether Samantha would want to hear that. Besides, she probably should not try to explain her life's story from get to go. There was one question in what she said - but it felt rhetoric, so there was probably no need to answer.

Finally - after a minute - she opened her mouth to say something.

'Oh...'

And then, she closed it shut again.

[Danakir]

She gave Lex a deadpan stare, weighting whether she was being serious "When my drinking buddies used to say 'A sucker born every minute', they were referring to people like you. I want you to know." Lex could likely catch Sammy rolling her eyes, even as she leaned forward to kiss the top of Dan's head and give his head a good rub down "That's m'boy." she mumbled under her breath, letting her words stew in the open all the while.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just cranky because I've been enduring two weeks of her walking on clouds and sunshine. It gets old." she pointed at Lex with her thumb "Plus, she's a toothbrush thief. Can't be too careful around her kind." her voice was dripping with playful sarcasm.

Catching Sophia taking a step backward from the corner of her eyes, Sammy relaxed her shoulders and stood back up her full height "You're pretty quiet. Cat got your tongue?" she snorted as if she thought that was very witty on her part. Seeing the white haired girl's lack of proper response, she quirked an eyebrow "Just say what's on your mind."

[Gargulec]

Now, that was a question. A question that perhaps would allow Sophia to resolve the situation somehow.

For the first time in a long, long time, she felt as if parts of her wanted to run away from the site, back into the pleasantly noisy corner of the mess hall, where everyone would nod to her and no one would actually mind her.

Reluctantly, she raised her eyes to meet Sammy's, feeling as if the girl with her mere presence was pushing her against the glass wall.

'Oh...' she blurted again, trying to think of a proper answer. What was on her mind? Confusion. But that would not be an answer. But there was something that she could say in turn, something that would make for a good answer. 'I'm thinking... why would she steal a toothbrush?'

She immediately regretted saying that. It was probably something painfully obvious that just slipped from Sophia's memory, even as she frantically searched it for cases of toothbrush-related thievery.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex lowered her voice an octave and pitched it in her huskiest, angriest parody of Sammy's cadence and accent. She also mimicked the taller girl's current pose, scowling and jutting her jaw, and generally doing the best Sammy impression that she could manage. "Little girl, when you live long enough on the streets, like I have, you learn to steal whatever you can to get by, because you never know when you'll have the chance to do it again. Why, I can't count the number of times an extra toothbrush could have saved my life! You can use it to fashion a lockpick, or fight off a swarm of feral flesh-eating rabbits, or take the bristles as tinder to start a fire in a barrel and warm yourself over the long winter months in Canada, which I couldn't pick out on a map of North America by the way because I hate learnin'."

Well, nobody ever said Lex was an amazing actor. After one last scowl to really sell her act, Lex giggled and clasped her hands behind her head. "But seriously, you know how it is with roomies. I guess you could say we've seen a lot of each other over the past few weeks. She says she hates it, but I know that my boundless cheer and angelic good nature have started to thaw her out. You should have seen how grumpy she was the first time I met her."

[CrimsonKnight]

NERV-Japan Bridge

Erika turned away from the main board where she'd been staring intently at the Angel's track and returned to her seat.

"Major Kendrick. Now that we have a good idea of the Angel's position and speed, I recommend having the two pilots suit up and stand by for the moment. It's obvious we have a few hours at least before we have to engage it. I would recommend they try to get a nap in, though I can understand if that proves difficult. Or at least do something to mentally relax. It's going to be a long night."

***********************************

Groom Lake AFB

The Section 2 agent sneered at Sammy but didn't bother to reply, merely joining his partner by the door where he could keep an eye on the girls as well as the surrounding area. Both of them ignored the girls' introductions and chatter until the morning quiet was suddenly shattered by a massive sonic boom. Outside, a sleek-looking jet transport was rapidly shedding speed and coming in for a very fast landing. The senior agent listened to a report over his earpiece, then nodded to the other one.

"Time to move them. Okay kids, your ride is here. Outside, chop chop, it's time to go meet the 'Reaper'."

The plane touched down as smoothly as a dragonfly setting down on a lilypad, moving across the tarmac to where a tanker truck was standing by to refuel the minute the plane stopped moving. The Section 2 officers practically shoved the three pilot candidates out the door and into the van before heading towards the still plane. The newly arrived jet seemed monstrously overkill for a small passenger transport. The difference between it and the lumbering four-engine cargo plane that had brought Sammy and Lex to Nevada was like that between a diesel freight hauling locomotive and a electromagnetic bullet train. Its massive twin turbojet engines almost seemed like someone had taken the old SR-71 Blackbird and stretched it out enough to put a few dozen passenger seats in the middle of it. Clearly, NERV liked its senior personnel to travel in speed and style.

The hatch curled open and stairs lowered, and a good dozen or so agents seemingly identical to your own two escorts filed out smoothly, forming a perimeter around the plane in conjunction with the military personnel already deployed. Finally, a Japanese man with a custom tailored suit, hard glint in his eye, and cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth stepped out, shielding his eyes against the morning sun until he spotted the van.

"Let's go, on the plane, now! We have a schedule to keep, and if this plane is not refueled and back in the air in five minutes, someone is getting reassigned to Tasmania!"

[babel_matrix]

The air conditioning of the bridge was, like the consoles and railings and walkways, sharp and oppressively cold. It was a sterile, freezing place, and the sea of bodies pouring into it had yet to help ease its temperatures. But there, in hearing his city may not have the five pilots he believed it would need, was the first time Samuel had to suppress a chill. He was glad he had chosen to have this conversation semi-privately; the staff hardly had to bear the news of how diverse a chance they had at having their guardians prepared for the oncoming enemy. He glanced backwards towards them, and indeed none had lifted their heads or looked their way... save Warwick, headset resting just off his ear, sharp eyes glancing sidelong on a grim expression. He remained silent in his work, a small blessing to the Major. Lips pressed tightly, Sam looked away, nodding softly to acknowledge the Chief Scientist. "Regardless of how many pilots we have to sortie, I need to know what's going to happen to my pilots when they get close a creature that can freeze liquids at that speed in close quarters-" His voice cut off as he caught Arja's gaze. Those tiny seas of brown had purpose behind them; he thought she was going to interrupt them, which would mark both the first time Samuel had ever heard the good doctor's coveted granddaughter speak and an interesting quirk for a child from one of the Programs.

But as if she had seen his surprise, or some motivation he didn't understand, she had turned from him and back towards the information centers. He was about to call upon her when the Commander spoke. "Understood, Commander." Though napping at a time like this... "I'll return shortly, Doctor." That and a curt nod were followed by quick footsteps, and a hand wave to get the pilots moving towards the sortie area. As he came upon Isamu, Samuel kept his expression tight... until they were at last off the bridge, when he bore his first, genuine smile of that unfortunate night. "Good work there, Lieutenant... given your performance, I would say you are at an estimated 40% of the way to me forgiving you for this evening."

[Steel Mirror]

"Yes sir!" Lex stood up straight enough that her heels clicked together, hands at her sides, eyes focused straight forward. She hadn't actually been trained in military discipline, but the Japanese man's clipped, no-nonsense tone seemed to demand a reply in kind. And she was a teenager. She'd seen enough movies to be able to fake it.

She wanted to ask if the fancy plane was the 'Reaper' the guards had mentioned, or if it was the man himself who held the moniker, but she wanted even more not to be assigned to Tasmania so she just held up a hand to block out the glare of the sun and began walking toward the entrance hatch. Maybe they'd finally get some answers inside.

[Gargulec]

Oddly, the arrival of the plane was a bit of a relief for Sophia - at least it freed her from the difficulty of attempting to converse with Lex and Samantha. The thought felt a bit bitter, but it at least slowed down the feeling of having no ground to stand on.

Get on the plane, on the double. Simple order. Like "Sophia, dear, make me a coffee?" or "Sophia, dear, can you help me with those boxes?" or all of those little things she used to be told to do back home. And there was something to following such commands that made her at ease. Without a word, she lifted the bag so that it would rest more comfortably on her back, and, trying not to get entangled by the overly loose legs of the jump-suit she was wearing, jogged towards the plane's ramp.

[Regalus]

Isamu suppressed a proud grin as his suggestion paved the way for others for their countermeasures, an act assisted by the sinking feeling born from realizing just how fast the beast they were going to face was. He dearly hope this Torch did more than just lure the Angel to them, otherwise he doubted he doubted even the Hound would be able to engage the enemy in any worthwhile fashion.

With a sigh, the young man tempered his doubts and allowed them to fall to the wayside; they would do little more than strain him and cloud his mind when he could do little about the issue. This was a job for others, he could do little more than pray they managed to avoid another slaughter. Isamu took some solace in the fact his fellow pilot maintained her preternatural cool, if nothing else she might be one less thing the would-be captain need fret over; a god-send given the condition of the three inbound pilots. Most undisciplined, barely trained, and no prior experience in a cockpit; he had little doubt it would take all of the combined skill of those in the base and a generous helping of luck to forge a miracle from this doom's day recipe.

When motioned to follow Isamu falls in step with Samuel without a second thought, cracks his own wry grin upon upon receiving the Director's comment, "My! How gracious of you! Though I'd wager that was at least a forty-seven. Besides it wasn't that bad; ya might've taken a shining to it if you'd given it a chance," he teased playfully, not minding the distraction from their abysmal chances.

[AmberVael]

The curious attention Major Kendrick focused on Arja made her reconsider whether or not to speak... at least until she heard the commander. There, see? Someone else had things in hand and in mind. Getting ready to deploy while they had the time seemed a fairly straightforward thing to do, especially when they had new pilots coming in that they'd need to focus their attention on. If NERV could shave off any time by deploying the pilots they already had, then it only made sense to do it- it was hardly a suggestion a pilot needed to tender. A slight amount of tension eased from her as the little internal conflict resolved itself, and she stood silently until her director gestured for her to follow. Time to go. Six hours until it hits. It seemed to her that she should probably be nervous, or fearful; after all, a monster was coming to kill her and everyone she knew, and she was supposed to fight it alongside a single soldier and a few pilots unused to their EVAs. Honestly though, she couldn't find it within herself to feel afraid- she knew a little uncertainty about how few people they had to fight, some concern over whether the others would actually make it in time... even a little impatience over the six hour wait, but no real terror.

It's out of my control. I will do my best. If I die, I die, and there is little that could have changed it. We did what we could. She thought to herself. It did seem entirely real that she could die, given the situation. She might not have much longer in the world. Before she turned to go with the Major, she paused before her grandfather and looked up at him for a moment, then lowered her head and pressed her palms together and spoke softly. "Namaste."

With a short, quick, military stride Arja went after the Operations Director and Isamu, then matched pace with them. She took in the conversation silently, wondering just what the two had been up to before the alarms were raised. More importantly though, she wondered just what the situation with her fellow pilots was. That they hadn't been tested with their EVAs before seemed like a bad sign overall- she'd only had a few months to do it, but she felt a pretty stable connection now, and the actual piloting had always come easily to her. Of course, from what she understood her synchronization was still less than optimal. If they were more talented in that area than she was, it might be that they would adjust more quickly, find it more intuitive. But what about piloting? It seemed only logical that if NERV had accepted others from her training program, they would have taken them in at the same time as her... unless they hadn't really completed training that NERV wanted them to get through first. Were they only half trained?

"Sir, may I ask about the exact status of our pilots?" Arja glanced up at Major Kendrick as she spoke the question, wondering if he would see fit to answer. Unlike Isamu, she saw no real reason to avoid focusing on the situation they were in- it was happening, and only by accepting that would they have any reasonable chance of seeing it through.

[Danakir]

"Fancy jet you got there. You overcompensatin'?" shielding her eyes from the sun too, Sammy observed the thunderous jet momentarily. She gave a small snort at Lex's over-eager salute, keeping up with the other pilots once they made to follow the man's command. She really didn't like the guy's face, everything about him screamed sleazeball to her. By the same token, she wasn't in the mood to deal with him or greet him.

"Didn't know you enrolled in the army. You private Lex, codename Sparklebutt now?" she teased her 'friend' with a smirk, even as she used her greater height to help each of them up to the hatch in turn. She didn't seem to have any difficulty pulling them off the ground.

[CrimsonKnight]

Azuma watched the pilots approach the plane with a carefully guarded expression, though he didn't seem all that happy to see them.

"Can I not impress on you the urgency of this situation? Move! Hmm... alright then. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteen Children are all aboard, and we can... what the hell is that thing doing on my plane?!"

That "thing" which had gotten the Vice-Commander so worked up was Dan, eagerly trotting up the stairs behind Sammy. One of the Section 2 agents hurried over and began whispering in Azuma's ear, and after a moment, he began to grit his teeth and mutter balefully under his breath.

"Of all the stupid, unprofessional... fine. But if that mutt so much as thinks of making a mess in my plane, I will gladly dropkick it out the hatch over the middle of the Pacific. Goddamn Shaw and his goddamn sense of humor..."

He turned angrily and stormed up to the front row of the plane, while the Section 2 agents more calmly guided the three girls (and dog) to the seats in the middle of the plane before they themselves took their seats at the rear. The plane was equipped to carry 80 passengers, which seemed a tad overkill for a dozen security personnel, the three girls, and one severely pissed off Vice-Commander. Apparantly his threat to the ground crew had not been in vain, as four minutes and 37 seconds after making it, the hatch was sealed again and the plane was taxiing onto the main runway with its fuel tanks topped off. The pilots kicked in the turbojets, and all aboard suddenly found themselves pressed back into their seats as the plane tore down the runway and into the sky. It continued to pick up speed as it climbed, quickly leaving the airfield behind them until they reached cruising altitude, at an airspeed that any jet fighter would have been proud to call its own, nevermind a passenger transport. NERV executives got the very best in toys.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex kept her head down as armor against the grumpy man's verbal onslaught, and quickly found a seat on the plane. As the acceleration of the vehicle's rapid takeoff died away, she looked back at her two compatriots. Or three, if you counted Dan. Hadn't the Vice Commander said something about fifteen children before? She couldn't see anyone else aboard, unless the Section 2 guys counted as children for some reason.

"Jeez, it's like Nerv gets its jollies out of not telling us anything. 'Go to Japan,' they say. 'Learn to fight with this axe like you lived in the middle ages.' 'Stop drinking so much caffeine before you go to bed.' Don't we deserve to know what's going on? And what happened with that Angel that appeared? Isn't it dangerous for us to be heading into an area where it might be rampaging?"

She grumbled at Sammy, who had heard her complain about this stuff before, but also at Sophia. Hey, there was always the off chance that the quiet girl knew something that she didn't. And the closer they got to their destination, the more she started to worry about what exactly Nerv had in mind for the three of them.

"Sophia, you don't know anything about what they're doing with us, do you?"

[babel_matrix]

At last, the doctor's daughter had spoken up, perhaps only because of his absence. The Major nodded at the youth's request for permission. "Ask me anything at anytime, Patel," he offered, his voice still a degree too relaxed for the situation, "the worst I can do is tell you no. As for the pilots, they're very much your kōhai in terms of Evangelion training, piloting and synchronization testing. When we have time-" Not if. Don't say if we have time. "- I suspect they'll become as initiated as yourself." The trio came upon the elevator that would take them to the sortie levels. Samuel's eyes looked upwards to the ticking number of the approaching elevator, his eyes fluttering between that and the NERV insignia that hovered over their heads. "But until then, I'm counting on you two to bring Operation Melting Point to a satisfactory end."

[Gargulec]

The first few moments of flight and take-off frightened Sophia slightly. Though she would never expect that, she had never flown before, and so the experience - especially given the speed of the NERV's plane - did make her slightly dizzy and worried, before she finally dared to peek out of a window. As a side-benefit of that, however, she managed to miss most of Azuma's spiteful words, focusing on something entirely different than his gripes with the world, his voice tingling in her ear, but not really registering as anything else than idle noise. Not out of disrespect to him, of course. Sophia would never dare to disrespect him.

Calming down from the confusion of both her first real experience with people roughly her age and her first real experience with aviation, she leaned back in the chair, eyelids beginning to drop as she zoned off, thoughts wandering somewhere far away. The muffled thrum of the engines soon drowned out all other noise, and the sleep she failed to get during the night crept back into her.

But before she could doze off for good, Lex asked her question.

There was a certain lag between the other girl addressing her and Sophia realizing that she was being talked to. With a stifled yawn, she straightened, blinking profusely, at first looking in a direct entirely opposite to Lex's.

'Oh' there came a characteristic mumble as her mind started winding up again. 'I...' one more blink, one more quiet yawn, the girl forgetting to cover her mouth until it was already too late. 'Uhm.... they were training us to be EVA pilots, no?'

[Danakir]

All things said, Sammy would've been pretty content letting sleeping dragons lie. Defiant and bullheaded though she might be she knew better than to poke an hornet's nest when it could very well sting back. But then as she tagged along with the rest of the pilots, Azuma just had to go and cross a line. Stopping dead in her tracks and tensing, Sammy smiled at Lex thinly as she grabbed her arm to make sure she was paying attention "Do me a solid and you take Dan with you to find a good seat. I'll be right along in a minute." without waiting to find out whether Lex was inclined to listen, she darted her way past the guards to get close enough to the sharp-tongued japanese man.

Glaring coldly she called out to him "Hey! HEY! Yes, you." she then proceeded to dig right into him "He's not a 'mutt'. His name's Dan to his friends. To you, though, that'll be mister Dan. And he's my boy." she paused for effect "So let's make one thing clear. You ain't going to lay a damn sleazy finger of yours on him or they're gonna start nicknaming you Sushi after what I'll do to your privates. Got that in your head good?" she made a snipping motion. Presumably as the guards reached to get her out of the way, she scoffed and turned around to head back the way she came "Thanks, I don't need an escort." she didn't want to let them have the impression she'd let them get away with this. Ever.

By the time she made it back to the other pilots, she was pretty much snuggling Dan protectively as a mother bear might her cubs. Aside from a terse word of thanks for watching Dan thrown in Lex's direction, she remained quiet… that is until Sophia dropped a bomb on their collective asses.

"What the hell's an Eva?"

[CrimsonKnight]

"Your entire purpose for being here, Pilot McCormick."

Azuma had finished whatever he was doing on his PDA and had apparently been listening to the pilots as they talked. He seemed to have casually dismissed Lex's threat over her dog, and if anything was far more calm and at ease than he had on the ground. Now he brushed a finger across the device, sending a picture to the TV screen at the front of the cabin. It was a group of four giant robots, and it was obvious from the scale of the buildings they were standing by and the tiny people at their feet that these things were absolutely enormous, stretching up dozens of meters.

"The Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon, which I was not responsible for that monstrosity of a name, more commonly referred to as the Evangelion or Eva. It is the single most powerful and deadly weapon that mankind possesses... and your job is to pilot it."

**************************************************

Several hours after the Seventh Angel was first sighted, assuming he hadn't done so already on his own, Samuel was called back to the Bridge. The Angel's track by now had become a long, jagged line stretching north to north-west up the middle of the Pacific. Erika waved to him as he came over.

"It's less than 30 minutes from Bethany, Major. I have confirmation from Vice-Commander Saito that he has all three pilots onboard and is making his way across the Pacific. ETA to arrival is two hours. And we just now finally got the intelligence dossiers on them from the Americans. I thought you'd appreciate the opportunity to receive a short brief on them before they arrive. Dr. Patel, if you please?"

************************************************** *

The image of the Evangelions was replaced by a picture taken from space of a massive explosion centered on Antartica.

"I'm sure you're all familiar with Second Impact. Between the initial destruction of the tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes it spawned and the resulting collapse in governments, wars, starvation, and disease, half of the world's population died. What you may not know is this."

Another click, and the picture was replaced with a rough, fuzzy image of poor quality that nevertheless got its point across: a giant of light, featureless except for two black dots roughly where its eyes should have been, with massive claw-like appendages (or perhaps wings) stretching from its back hundreds of meters into the sky.

"This is ADAM, the first Angel, and it, not a meteor strike, was the true cause of Second Impact. A research team discovered it buried under the ice in Antartica, and it did not take well to being awoken. I suppose we should be grateful that it destroyed itself in the process and only took half of humanity with it, or we'd surely not be having this conversation, or ANY conversation at all, if it had survived."

************************************************** **

Dr. Patel fiddled with a keyboard, and the image of a serious-looking albino girl appeared on the display.

"Sophia Doe, the Thirteenth Child. An artificially created person, courtesy of Project Carmine. It was an attempt to produce a genetic immunity to the Red Water phenomenon from Second Impact. It failed, badly, and she was the only survivor even before the UN shut it down. It wasn't even related to Project E, just a side project of GEHIRN that we were forced into by the UN as repayment for some of our investors. It was decided not to abandon her to the general public just in case she manifested some unusual side effects of the procedure, and she spent most of the last decade at NERV-Nevada under the care of two of Carmine's former researchers now reassigned to Project E.

In the aftermath of the Sixth Angel, she was discovered to have some sort of innate link to the Angel attacks, a recurring dream she'd been having. Synchronization Testing confirmed she was A-10 compatible, and she was added to the Marduk Report one month ago. Her psyche eval indicates a lack of exposure to social situations given the unusual nature of her upbringing, especially in regards to dealing with other children her age.

My biggest concern is her Evangelion. Unit-07 had a very... troubled history. The Eva is extremely prone to oversynching to the point that the original test pilot nearly died in the entry plug, and they couldn't modify the plug to correct it without scrapping the machine entirely and rebuilding it from scratch. The risk was enough that they shelved the unit indefinitely. At least, until now. The proposed "solution" is a Forced Synchronization setup that should hopefully prevent any significant spikes in Synchronization flux. But apart from the fact we haven't tested it yet, it involves a very... invasive connection rig that is far more than just the normal A-10 clips. If we weren't so desperate..."

************************************************** *****

"We've never been able to get near the original Ground Zero for Second Impact. A barrier surrounds it that blocks all remote sensors, including visual, makes remotely-operated vehicles entirely useless, and is lethal to all organic life that crosses it, including humans. So, we watched and we waited. And ten years later, the Angels began to emerge."

The picture changed to that of the Second Angel, resembling nothing so much as a giant centipede with human-like arms.

"The Second Angel. It headed for South Africa, where we discovered it possessed an immensely powerful energy barrier known as the Absolute Territory or A.T. Field. Apart from making them effectively impervious to all conventional weapons, within the spread area of their field they are able to manipulate, twist, or outright break the laws of physics and perform impossible feats.

We were lucky, with this Angel. Its field was still weak enough that it could not withstand a thermonuclear bombardment, and at the cost of Capetown-2, the Angel was destroyed."

The picture changed to another Angel, this one resembling a spider cross-mated with a catamaran multi-hull sailboat.

"We were even luckier with the next one, the Third Angel, as it headed into the Pacific where the UN could safely deploy their new N2 warheads to kill it without any loss of life at all."

Azuma looked at Lex, and for a brief moment, he almost seemed apologetic before his arrogant sneer returned.

"Our luck finally ran out with the Fourth Angel."

************************************************** *

The picture had now changed to a smiling Hispanic girl in a tracksuit.

"Lex Morales, the Fourteenth Child. Born in Bolivia, she emigrated to the U.S. after the Fourth Angel attack thanks to her family's wealth and connections and has enjoyed a surprisingly stable life since then. The most emotionally stable of the three girls, but at the same time, the least prepared for what she is getting thrown into. We need to monitor her carefully to ensure her mental health does not deteriorate under the stress and pressure.

Fortunately, she has the most stable of the three Evas. Unit-14 was almost destroyed due to an accident during the production process, but the core was still intact enough that they were able to rebuild it, and the fractured nature of its core actually provides its pilot with a mental buffer even if it's not as strong as the other Evas. It's a smaller model, but I doubt that will be an issue. And while she lacks formal training, the preliminary results of her Synchronization Testing indicate a very strong potential at A.T. Field manipulation. Most promising."

Erika cleared her throat to interrupt.

"There is an issue of note with her of a political nature. While the pilot readily volunteered for the program without coercion, her family is less than pleased with the decision and have been raising all kinds of hell trying to get their daughter back. And like Dr. Patel mentioned, they are very wealthy and very well connected. I don't think the UN will let it become a major concern, but it could very well involve hearings and the other kinds of political nonsense to justify having her in the program. Ugh, I can hardly wait."

************************************************** **

The picture now changed to one everyone not living under a rock could recognize: the hulking brute, vaguely resembling a giant or ogre out of mythology, that was the Fourth Angel.

"You all know about South America. The UN threw everything they had, including a full-scale N2 barrage, at the Angel and it just shrugged it off. Only in Bogota was it finally stopped, and only thanks to my organization, NERV. We had been studying the remains of both ADAM and the two follow-up Angels for years, and we had been trying to warn the UN of what was coming. Fortunately... we did more than just study."

A new picture changed again, to a small robot (small in this case only in comparison to the Angel towering over it) covered in what looked like jury-rigged armor and equipment.

"Evangelion Unit-00. The original prototype for all future models. The only way to kill an Angel is to defeat its A.T. Field, and the only way to do that is to neutralize it with ANOTHER A.T. Field. In other words, using the genetic material we'd recovered after Second Impact, we made a cybernetic monster to fight the monsters. It worked, at least long enough for the UN to drop a warhead and kill the damned thing, even if we lost our Evangelion and pilot in the process. It was a necessary sacrifice."

The picture now shifted back to the original group of Evangelions they'd seen at the beginning.

"By the time the Fifth Angel arrived, we were ready, with a team of Evangelions ready to meet it. Five minutes later, they'd secured victory quickly, decisively, and with virtually no damage or loss of life. Now the Seventh Angel has arrived, and the Evangelions must be deployed once again to meet it. They are our first, last, and only line of defense."

************************************************** ****

The picture of Lex was replaced by a scowling blond girl in faded, much-worn clothing.

"Finally, the Fifteenth Child, Samantha McCormick. A Canadian national and an orphan, she apparently grew up homeless and on her own. I say apparently because she appears to have slipped through the cracks as far as the Canadian government is concerned to the point they know virtually nothing about her, and she herself has proven... less than reliable at times when it comes to the truth. She lacks any formal education whatsoever, but is extremely self-sufficient and scarily competent at defending herself. I suppose it would inevitable given her rough upbringing, but it does mean she can probably more than hold her own in combat despite lacking formal training. She is, however, going to be a problem child and a discipline issue to deal with. Needless to say, we should do our best to keep her as far apart from the Vice-Commander as we can at all times, given his, ah, strict nature. And... hmm. She has a dog with her. *sigh* Why would they consider that important intelligence data? The Americans can be so bizarre at times.

Anyway, on to her Evangelion, Unit-05. Another unit with a troubled history, though unlike Unit-07 they seem to have mostly worked out the issues it had. The core was abnormal and failed to fully develop limbs for the Evangelion as it grew, and once it was determined that it would never prove powerful enough to fully generate an Evangelion body on its own, they eventually decided to shelve it, possibly for conversion into a testing platform. More recently, a rather novel solution was introduced using data from the TRIDENT project. It has artificial limbs to replace the atrophied stubs of its original, and while normally that would present a grave issue of control with the core, requiring unsafe core depth just to meet minimum Synchonization requirements, the team has introduced a special model "Dive" plugsuit with interface equipment designed to provide a simulated deeper depth level without actually doing so. The result is that it should be no more difficult to operate or at risk for oversynchronization than any other Evangelion, and the side benefit is that its limbs are both much sturdier and will not provide a Feedback risk regardless of damage."

*********************************************

"I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with you, what NERV would want with a group of kids like you. Unfortunately, the equipment for controlling an Evangelion has a insurmountable requirement. Apart from meeting the genetic requirements for being Synchronization compatible, it inevitably fails if the subject is an adult. Only pilots of an adolescent age or younger can successfully Synchronize. We... don't know why. I'm not part of the science team, but even they can't agree why. But the fact is, you are all Sync compatible, verified by testing. And you are here now to pilot the Evangelions into battle against the Angels, or humanity will die. Brutally honest, but I'm not a fan of beating around the bush. If the Angels are not stopped, they WILL kill every person on the planet. The Second and Fourth Angels both intentionally targeted large civilian populations and caused mass casualties. South America still hasn't recovered. We don't know why they hate us so. But you three, and the two pilots already in Tokyo-3, are the only ones who can stop them."

So... any questions?"

**********************************************

"Commander! Angel has just passed the 200 kilometer point from NERV-Bethany. Estimate it will arrive in less than ten minutes!"

Erika nodded to the subordinate, then turned back to Samuel.

"Time to light it, Major. And then prepare for combat in two hours."

[Gargulec]

Sophia listened, quietly focused.

The image of Antarctica, replaced by a wasteland of glass. Although it should be entirely alien, it felt familiar, like something she had glimpsed somewhere, sometime before. She tried to remember her dream, and the horizons there, but as always, when it was not rolling before her eyes, the memories turned hazy and blurry, a mist of light and colour, but nothing solid. Then, the photo flicked, changing into an image of a quartet of EVAs, and the girl bit her lip. So, that was how the machines she was supposed to pilot looked like? Her fists opened and clenched, as if gripping over the test Entry-Plug controls.

Images of Angels flicked, one after another, each of them bringing back a memory of a troubled night and even more troubled day that followed. It didn't surprise her much when Azuma revealed what was to happen should they fail. An end to it all. An end that she had been terrified of so many times before. Every time the dream, every time the same gut-clenching feeling that it would be a catastrophe to shatter the lives of all the people. Watching the news, biting her lip, the worried discussions of the people around her filling the mess-hall with an air of dread and resignation.

There was a question that she needed to ask.

'Uhm...' he she begun. 'Will we...'

She bit her tongue. Of course they would be. They had to be. She felt that, and she had no doubts that Lex and Sammy both felt the same, if a thousand times more. It was up to them to stop the monster, it was up to them to defend others, as they were defended by them. A duty, a responsibility, something that had to be done, no matter what, no matter how. It was obvious to her that there could be no doubt, no hesitation. It was not a choice - it was a matter of what they had to do. Asking about their capability to perform the duty was absurd.

The weight of the responsibility settled smoothly onto her shoulders, as if they were already prepared for that. So, they were meant to fight against an massacre waiting to happen, fight for others. Give all they had in that name. It felt proper. She had received so much from others. It was only proper that she would give that much and more back.

'I... I have no questions, mister Azuma.'

[Steel Mirror]

Lex felt like laughing, but between the expensive plane, the early morning wake-up, and the grim-faced guards, it was clear that this was no joke. Or at least, that this Nerv guy wasn't the one joking. Somewhere, though, Lex was sure that the gods were rolling around in stitches.

"I have a question. Are you out of your damn mind? I thought you were a little unstable when you threatened to punt a puppy, but this is seriously loco. And is there even time? Aren't we like, half a planet away from the monster? In South America it took three days to wreck an entire continent. What do you expect us to do against something like that?"

[AmberVael]

It hadn't taken Arja very long to get ready to deploy; donning gear or a uniform fast was one of the first things she had learned in her training- neither teachers or enemies waited for you to leisurely find and don your socks. So, with two hours to spare she returned to the bridge with the major to hear the final preparations and planning. When she saw they were reviewing the pilots that would soon be joining them, she stood absolutely still and silent near the door to be sure she would catch every word. When her grandfather finished speaking, she juggled all the pieces together in her head. It doesn't sound like Sophia has had long to actually train for this. At most a year, but probably a month given that other comment. They say Lex is the least prepared... but note that Samantha has no combat training at all. No combat training. Formal combat training, at least- it came down to the same implication.

In all my training they taught me how to fight. If they didn't train Samantha, then it is a good bet she hasn't really gone through any significant amount of pilot training at all, if any. It follows that Lex is in a similar situation. And Sophia... I never heard of her, or saw anyone with that description. She wasn't trained in the place I was, or if she was, she arrived only after I left. Arja frowned to herself. They didn't send us EVA pilots, they sent us pilot candidates. They didn't have enough time.

No wonder the major had said he'd be relying on her and Isamu. In fact, if she was right, Arja wasn't sure if they should be deploying these three at all... though she was just as uncertain whether she and Isamu alone could take on an angel.

[babel_matrix]

The situation was never hopeful.

The red flags came up one after the other: an artificial child, a loose cannon, and a political liability. Problems from the past, of the present, and for the future if we survive contact with the enemy. He was wary of using soldiers as pawns, sacrificing life and limb for the mission. But a despair crept upon his mind: what if he had no choice in the matter? These Children might barely manage to move the Evangelion, much less fight a potent enemy... His dependency on the two pilots he knew grew exponentially, and created uncertainty where he tried to steel his resolve. The worrisome furrow on his brow had likely been spotted by Dr. Patel, but the elderly man hadn't addressed it before Erika commanded the salvation of Bethany.

Samuel's body was stiff in its motions. His jacket folded in uncomfortable places as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two leather gloves, black and polished in the glow of the bridge. His eyes seemed distant, unfocused as each hand slipped into a gloves, outlining his knuckles as he made fists to test the material. Without fanfare or a word, he thumbed the remote while watching the malevolent streak heading for Bethany... and waited.

[Danakir]

"Actually, yeah. How the hell can you people tell for sure that this Adam jerk's dead as a doornail if you can't so much as bring a camera on Ground Zero? Sounds fishy to me." she'd remained quiet for most of the presentation, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the story she was being presented with didn't add up properly. She was by no means very clever and she didn't understand everything in that mish-mash of fancy sciency bull they were trying to feed her but she wasn't going to miss something so obvious.

Then she counted on her fingers openly and narrowing her eyes, protested loudly "And that's only six angels. Why'd you skip one? D'ya think we're daft or somethin'?" she was getting increasingly annoyed about what they weren't telling her. She didn't trust them… especially that ****bag who'd dissed her boy up front.

Noticing that Lex was standing up too, she turned her eyes in Lex's direction. She nodded approvingly as the little princess finally grew a pair and argued against the sheer insanity of it all "What do we do… kill it, I guess. They ain't going to let any of us turn back now." she blew some hair out of her face.

"Saving the world… I don't even know anything about that ay-tee field crap." her words echoed with a mixture of resignation and contempt. If she'd been more educated, she might've compared the situation to one of Kafka's novels.

[CrimsonKnight]

There was no sirens or flashing lights after the switch was pressed, no obvious indication at all that anything at happened. For a moment, it seemed as though it hadn't worked at all, and then the blue line marking the Angel's progress unmistakably curved southward away from Bethany on a direct course towards Tokyo-3.

"Vector change confirmed! The Angel is on course for NERV-Japan, ETA is two hours."

Erika had clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them as she stared at the board. Now she straightened up.

"Alright. Now we wait and see who gets here first. If it's the pilots, we can deploy the full team against it as planned. If the Angel gets here first... things become more complicated. Depending on the timeframe, we can hopefully lure it away with Unit-15 and the TRIDENT long enough to get the pilots to the EVA cages. The alternative is we move the EVAs to meet them outside of Tokyo-3... in which case we have to prepare for heavy damage to both the city and the facility itself until they are activated. The latter is the worst-case scenario, but we must plan for it just in case. Dr. Patel, are the EVAs ready to be moved if necessary?"

The bald man nodded.

"Yes, and a team has the pilots' plugsuits ready as well. It'll be hard enough doing their initial synchronizations as it it."

Erika sighed, and accepted a mug of coffee that a junior staffer had just brought to her.

"Then all we can do is continue to watch, and wait. Everything will be determined in two hours."

************************************************

Azuma took a moment to light a fresh cigarette before responding.

"In case you didn't notice, we are already part of the way across the Pacific. This is a supersonic jet, we can get anywhere in the world in short order. We shall arrive at Tokyo-3 in under two hours. With luck, before the Seventh Angel does. And what I expect you to do when we get there, Pilot Morales, is to fight. You were told of there were risks before you volunteered, and you are aware of the stakes, better than the other two girls, I imagine, given your personal history.

I cannot force you to pilot, of course. But by volunteering, you have waived the right to be treated as a mere civilian. As such, I am under no obligation to see to your physical well-being, safety, or survival if you decide you are no longer interested... and make no mistake, Tokyo-3 will be significantly damaged by this attack even if everything goes to plan, and people will die. And I do not have the time or luxary to move you to a safer location until after the Angel is defeated. It is your choice if you wish to huddle in a shelter with the other people not involved and pray the Angel does not grind you under its heel, or fight it from within the armored core of a giant war machine tough enough to withstand a nuclear blast.

As for the First Angel, Pilot McCormick... yes, you are correct. We cannot confirm it is in fact dead. We have only circumstancial evidence at this point to confirm it. But that's besides the point. You are not fighting ADAM today, merely one of its lesser fellows. Do not worry about the AT Field. One aspect of the Synchronization Testing you were all subjected to is that, subconsciously at least, you already have experienced creating and manipulating an AT Field. Those Test Plugs... each of them was initially a failed Evangelion core that was repurposed for testing purposes after proving unsuitable for their original task. It will be unusual, to be sure, but at the same time there will be a familiarity to it, and thank whatever god you may or may not believe in for that.

Finally, I did not mention the Sixth Angel for a very, very good reason. I will explain if you insist, but believe me in my uncharacteristic sympathy when I say that you do not want to know, at least not yet. Certainly not before battling the Seventh Angel. Now, do you still want me to tell you?"

[Gargulec]

Words, so many words. Sophia listened idly, mouth pursed, but truth be told, she was not hearing them. Somehow, it felt irrelevant, all the discussion, the raised voices, annoyance, anger, all hazed by a noxious odour of a cigarette smoke.

So distant, so unimportant. She couldn't really understand, even if she was to put her mind to it, how could Sammy and Lex complain and protest. It was... so petty? Just, if they had to save everyone else, then it was a trivial equation. Them or the world entire. How stupid had one to be to pick the former? There was no choice! They had to fight. Or else everyone would be gone, dead. The girl shuddered at the thought. No, she would not allow that.

The thought had a ring to it, clarity. It was always there, she realized. A quiet conviction, an unspoken promise. She would not allow that. She would sooner die than let others be killed. She lived for others, after all. From their grace, from their good. It was only proper to repay that in kind. The notion sank deeper into her mind, reaching into spaces she had barely explored, some place deep inside her where there was something coiled, something she could not name, but knew to treasure.

And while it would be a lie to say that she was calm - aside from that space deep inside, she could already feel panic set in at the very thought of the burden she was to bear - the thought of attempting to say no did not as much as cross her mind.

[Danakir]

"But there's enough in your hands for you to study him. That's awfully convenient." Sammy's skepticism was palpable, though given the circumstances she couldn't be bothered to pressure her chain-smoking superior further on the matter. "Guess I'll just have to hope your god's ready to deliver for us then, Nerv-boy." she scrunched up her nose, the stench of cigarette smoke annoying and irritating her.

"Don't make a habit of trusting the words of snakes, but I ain't in the mood. If it don't matter to the job, then it don't matter none for now." she waved her hand dismissively, rolling her shoulders a bit as if to try and relax the stiffness in them. "Got any clue how many freaks we've got to stomp before we're done?" at this point, she had more or less mentally checked-out in favor of steeling herself for the struggle to come.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex grabbed the brim of her hat hard enough to curve the sides into touching each other, and pulled it down to hide her eyes. She could hear what the officer was saying, but it seemed far away from her somehow. Almost like it was happening to someone else.

Part of her was on that plane streaking towards a country far from home, far away from even her adopted home in the US. Towards a conflict that she had never imagined for herself, against a foe that seemed more like a story from an ancient legend (or a major motion picture) than anything mere humans could hope to fight. Yet apparently they expected her to do just that. It was surreal.

Another part of her, though, was reliving the last desperate moments of a doomed city. Her family had done the only thing they could do in the face of certain devastation: flee. She could still see the people running through the streets, mad with fear and desperation. She could remember friends, teachers, family acquaintances, the cute guy at the ice cream shop- all of them dead at the hands of a creature so mighty and vast that it probably hadn't even noticed when it snuffed them out. An entire city, gone in moments. And Lex had survived.

She had been the one to be lucky that day, but luck caught up to everyone sooner or later. What goes around comes around, and three years ago she had been the one going. Now it was her turn to give it back.

She took her hat off with one shaking hand, and ran the other through her hair nervously. "You must be really hard up if you are putting us into the field without even an orientation day to learn how to fight. I'm pretty sure I won't even be able to make your big weapon move, much less fight with it." She flashed back to all the physical training and bizarre testing they had subjected her to in the past months. Some of it at least made a bit more sense- sitting in those simulators that looked so much like cockpits, for instance. Maybe she'd have some familiarity with the vehicle after all, though she was hardly an ace pilot. They had flight school for fighter pilots, right? And probably a few practice flights before they sent you into combat? She really hoped that there was some kind of manual for dummies she could read before they made it to Japan.

"But if this is the only chance Japan has got, I'll tr-" Her voice cracked, and she swallowed to steady herself. "I'll do my best. I've experienced what it's like to run away, and I'm not going to do it again. Or at least, not if I have a chance to make a difference."

"Also, for the record, you are a real jerk. Sir. And it's not the risks that bother me," that was half of a lie, "it's the fact that you didn't tell us anything about it until now. If this is so important, it seems like maybe we should have known a bit more about it so that we could be ready." She wasn't quite sure what being ready for mortal combat against a huge monster for the sake of all humanity would feel like, but she knew for a fact that she wasn't feeling it.

[babel_matrix]

Just how eye-catching is our lure, Doctor Patel? Samuel's gaze pulled away from the virtual feeds and looked behind him, watching the Commander's expression as she gave her orders. When at last she finished, Samuel walked up to Arja, his expression grim. "Patel," he said with enough authority to make clear that he was speaking to his pilot, "in that worst case scenario, you're our only chance at neutralizing the enemy's A.T. field. Without that, Todoroki can't get through, and the forces we have ready to defend this city will be useless. I know I said I would be relying on both of you... but we may be counting on your most of all." He let the words sink in before switching his attention to Isamu. "Todoroki, the moment that A.T. field is down, it's your job to keep it from getting to its objective in the city's interior... as well as you can. It may not care if you attack it, so you might have to drag it back... whatever happens, this phase cannot be about sacrifice. I need you both intact and ready to finish the target when the chance is ours. Understood?"

[AmberVael]

"Understood, sir." Arja almost left it at that, but after a pause she spoke up. "You are aware of my synchronization rates. I may not be able to neutralize the angel's field entirely, though I am confident that it will be enough to enable Isamu and I to assault it."

In fact, Arja severely doubted she would be able to neutralize their enemy entirely- but even the first EVA pilot had done enough to achieve success, and they had been on their own. With the support of the other pilots and NERV, Arja felt assured that they would at least have some impact. Whether they would win though... It depends on the angel. NERV has succeeded against most with only minimal fielded personnel. The Sixth angel was the only anomaly. The sixth was the most recent though, and it seemed to Arja that the angels were not only coming more frequently but with greater strength. If the pattern continued they might stand no chance at all; that one notion weighed on her mind, an unavoidable path of logic burned into her thoughts.

[babel_matrix]

Samuel nodded grimly. She understood, even if doubt painted her acknowledgement. The odds were never in our favor.

[Regalus]

Isamu garbed in his flight suit filed in shortly after Arja had, and keeping the growing anxius energy within him in check behind a neutral expression as his future subordinates were listed one by one. They were...not what he had been hoping for. He had been in NERV-Chile, he'd known that the cream of the crop were the first ten chosen to be humanities hope, so he knew however would be coming would likely not be as experienced or as well trained as those brave few; yet he hadn't expected that his reinforcements would be quite this green either, not a single one in their number having received even half the training Arja had.

All thing's considered the revelation didn't change the situation that much in his eyes, from how widely the Angel's seemed to vary between one another it was clear these engagement would be far more about luck than the skill of their forces. For now, the young man could focus on what they could do. Without a doubt they'd be playing it fast and loose until the MAGI got a good reading on their foe.

Noticing the train of thought, the young man proceeded to crush it under the metaphorical heel of his boot. They'd known the odds were crap to start with, no point in dwelling on it so close to the start of the show. It'd probably do more harm then good if allowed.

"Understood Major. We'll hold the fort as long as we can," he chimed in as he placed a hand on Arja's shoulders for support trying to offer her an encouraging smile briefly, "If nothing else, we should be able to give the MAGI enough time to dig up some dirt on this guy," he added, pointing out that regardless of how effective the first phase of the engagement was; it would still bear some fruit. Whatever happened two hours from now, their efforts wouldn't be pointless; given how bleak things seemed, that kernel of achievement might do wonders.

[babel_matrix]

Isamu seemed eager to relax... and if only the situation had allowed it, Samuel would have gladly joined him. "Begin preparations," Samuel ordered coolly. "We can't afford to get blindsided if the target speeds up again." When at last the pilots took their leave, Samuel went to Tanaka's console, where the final plan was being formed in the holograms floating just ahead of her console. On her screen proper, digital correspondence appeared and vanished as quickly as she could type them, at speeds that proved the power of the digital shorthand she had mastered. Orders to military units that were out of position for the new plan, U.N. fleet requests and orders of evacuation, and "secret" correspondence to construction companies to begin mobilizing for the reconstruction contracts, all were started and ended between Samuel's slow steps.

"You don't seem very confident in the Sub-Commander's timetable."

Samuel's steps stuttered as Tanaka addressed him with anything but a whispering tone. A few glances came and went from nearby officers, and Samuel waited for them to die away before speaking. "The situation has changed. If we're going to protect humanity, I need those two ready to do it with nothing but our voices and their power."

Tanaka's fingers slowed their dance, to the point where Samuel could almost follow the messages she formed on the cnosole. With a quick glance, she checked to be sure of the absence of pilots before speaking again. "You really think those two can save us?"

Samuel glanced to where the pilots had headed, confirming their absence himself. As he spoke, he jabbed a finger into the tiny hologram of Tokyo-3, lighting up the poked areas in yellow. "I need you to ensure that emergency extraction routes are prepared as close as can be made to these deployment zones, and have the routes verified with our support fleets. Prioritize the coastal configuration."

"Yes, sir." Her voice had dipped noticeably, and her fingers resumed their old speed as Samuel wandered to other consoles, his posture stern as he did his best to radiate the confidence of a commanding officer.

The answer to Tanaka never escaped his eyes or left his lips. Of course I don't think they can do it... I don't believe the whole lot of them can kill such a thing, with less preparation and training than double their numbers in NERV-Chile... with escalating enemy force. It's a fool's hope in Hell... Above all their heads, the world shone as a semi-transparent hologram. On every other display, the blue line of ice was tracked thermally, but there above was a more sincere image: a blood red line, flying across the globe, streaking towards Tokyo-3, more terrifying than any simulation he attended to allegedly prepare for this.

But what have we, save Hell and hope?

[CrimsonKnight]

Before Azuma could reply, they were suddenly bombarded by the sounds of roaring jet engines as a squadron of strike fighters barreled past the plane at supersonic speed before circling around and forming up into escort positions. Azuma glanced out the window at their blinking red running lights, the only things visible in the night-time sky, before turning back to the girls.

"My job isn't to be nice to you. My job is to stop the Angels by any and all means necessary. If I am curt, then realize that time is short. None of you were briefed until now because it was thought, or perhaps hoped, that we'd have enough time to train you properly. Unfortunately, the Angels keep increasing the tempo of their attacks. Not to mention that if you had proven unsuitable for piloting after being briefed in, then NERV would have had no choice but to confine you to NERV facilities in the interest of maintaining operational security for the duration of the Angel threat. There are... more threats than just the Angels to worry about. But you need not concern yourselves with that. All you should focus on now is the Angel. We arrive in less than two hours. You'd better be ready."

************************************************** **

30 minutes from the Angel's arrival, Commander Ryuzoji ordered the two pilots to their machines to stand by for deployment. Now all eyes on the Bridge were focused on the blue line of the Angel's track and the transponder dot of the Vice-Commander's aircraft. Both of them were now only a few dozen kilometers off-shore. Erika reluctantly made her decision and ordered Communications to contact the Vice-Commander.

"We're ten minutes out. What's the Angel's position?"

"Right on top of you. It'll be ashore just a minute or two before you land, and its estimated point coming ashore is right by the Hakone airport. We have no choice. Reroute to an alternate landing site and move the pilots to Tokyo-3 by VTOL or a secure ground route."

"And add a good hour at least before they reach the cages? We do that, and we'll practically be fighting the Angel at the Geofront itself. Do you even want to comprehend the devastation that would cause?"

"As opposed to getting them killed before they even reach their EVAs?!"

Dr. Patel suddenly interrupted the argument, waving at the screen.

"Commander. We have lost tracking on the Angel."

"We... what?!"

"We are no longer tracking the Angel's thermal signature moving towards Hakone. The MAGI estimates with approximately 92% likelihood that the Angel is converting to a movement form suitable for land combat, and thus has ceased using its accelerated underwater vacuum locomotion method. Even if it continues moving normally immediately, this will delay it reaching the shore by at least several minutes."

"Giving us just enough time to land the plane and board a VTOL for direct flight to Tokyo-3. We'll go with direct landing at Hakone. Make damn sure the recovery teams are standing by, and keep me appraised. Saito clear."

Erika bit her lip, but did not overrule Azuma's decision. The MAGI had signed off on it after all, and Azuma was correct that letting the Angel get that close unmolested could very well turn into a pyrrhic victory from the amount of damage to the city and the Geofront even if they did stop it. Well, the least she could do was plan for the worst.

"Major, move the Trident and Unit-15 through the Linear Rail Network to the Hakone Junction and have them both readied for launch if it proves necessary."

Meanwhile, Azuma's plane began its descent, the pilot shedding as little speed as possible in order to make the landing as quickly as possible. Below them, the harbor was still and quiet in the moonlight. It was a peace that would not last for much longer.

[Danakir]

"Glad you're not even going to hold up the pretence of not being full of horse****." Sammy's scorn was outright palpable in her withering glare, her body language dismissive as she turned around to show Azuma her back. "We're done here. Call me when you've got enough time not to insult my intelligence with obvious lies." she took a few steps away and then noticed Dan waiting at her feet, her lips curling into a smile as she bent knee to hug the cheerful shepherd dog.

"Haven't ever seen anything like those Angels you showed us. Don't look like any beast I've known, does it die the way we do? Do I just tear its ****ing head off?" her voice could cut the air like the edge of a blade right now, even as she gives her boy a well-deserved rub behind the ears. His wagging tail and panting are the only noise that interrupt her words.

[CrimsonKnight]

Erika watched Arum as he sat down wearily and appeared to be brooding as he observed the status reports of the Evangelion and Trident in transit. It didn't take a genius to realize what was bothering him so, and she came to her feet and walked over to his console, offering a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"Arum. I wouldn't dare to tell you how to treat your own granddaughter, but you and I both know you should speak to her while you still have the chance before this battle. Better to feel awkward now than to feel regret later over missed opportunities."

The older man sighed, then nodded.

"Yes... yes, you are correct, Erika. Thank you. May I have some privacy, please?"

She nodded and returned to her chair, and he examined his hands for a moment before tentatively establishing a private link from his console to Unit-15.

"Arja... granddaughter. I wish I were better at saying this sort of thing, but I will attempt to muddle through anyway. Whatever you do, whatever happens, I know you will make me and your parents proud, my dear. Just, please... come back to me. *cough* Grant an old man the selfish wish of not losing the last person in the world who he cares about deeply.

He wiped the handful of tears that had appeared on his face, and when he spoke again, it was with his usual confident tone.

"I expect a detailed after-action report when you get back Warrant Officer. In person. That's all, good luck."

[Steel Mirror]

Lex stuck her tongue out at the officer as Sammy was speaking, then gave him a smile and an innocent look when he turned back towards her. Well, nothing to hope from from that direction. She began to follow Sammy toward the back of the plane, then hesitated.

You'd better be ready, the grumpy Vice Commander had said. Well, that was kind of the point, wasn't it? She wasn't ready. How could she be? She hadn't understood half of what he said!

Still, if she was really going to be some kind of pilot . . . she probably should at least try to prepare. She turned around and swallowed. "Uh, hey," she said to Azuma's back. "Is there some kind of manual or something I could read?"

*****

A few tense hours later, Lex was looking out the windows with wide eyes as they made their final approach. Unfortunately, sitting in a plane while Sammy planned out strategies for killing an Angel in increasingly graphic ways, while the newcomer Sophia sat lifelessly in her seat, was not the ideal preparation for combat. Lex would have rather had some actual training. Or better yet, she'd rather be at home with a needlessly large scoop of lemon sherbet and a game of basketball on the TV. She thought about asking to call her parents, hoping that they could bail her out, but she rebelled at the thought of admitting that they were right to be against her joining up with Nerv. She had gotten into this thing to give back to the planet, she just hadn't quite anticipated the scale at which she would be doing so.

As the plane zoomed down towards their landing, she looked over to Sammy and Sophia. "Either of you know any good luck tricks for a plane about to land?" Of course they didn't. She shouldn't have bothered asking. After a moment of biting her lip pensively, she unbuckled her belt and stood, punching the roof of the cabin twice like her driver used to do every time he ran a yellow light. "Better safe than sorry!"

[AmberVael]

On her way down to the EVAs, Arja paused to speak to the engineers who were getting it ready. "If its possible, I'd like to make a change to the loadout- when I saw the Angel on the bridge it looked crystalline, maybe ice. If we can move the knife to a backup weapon and primarly arm the EVA with some form of impact weaponry we might see more success against it."

After that Arja prepared for launch methodically, mentally going through her training and the steps she was to take as a pilot during the launch sequence. There wasn't a lot for her to take care of, but that seemed all the more reason for her to do it flawlessly. For the most part though she waited in her EVA, slowly adjusting to the strange sensation of LCL and synchronization; it wasn't new to her anymore, but it was still indefinably abnormal to be so closely linked to so alien a machine. With this slight unease added to her uncertainty over the coming battle, Arja felt a rising sense of anxiety that she quickly sought to stifle- she couldn't afford such a distraction, not now. Deprived of the need (or in fact ability) to take deep breaths while submersed in LCL, she focused inward instead and began repeating a silent mantra in her mind that she only stopped when it was interrupted by her grandfather's message.

She felt more centered by the time she opened her eyes to reply. None of her uncertainties had left, but she had them under control and would deal with them as best she could. So it was with her usual calm discipline that she listened and spoke in turn. "I'll do my best to make sure we all get through this, sir." There was a pause as she considered her next words, but when she spoke again it was in the same tone. "Worry about the MAGI for me; after my report I'll want us to go over exactly what I just took to pieces."

[CrimsonKnight]

Azuma turned and glared at Lex.

"Get back in your seat. Now! My pilot may be second to none, but even he has to deal with turbulence, and with an Angel around, the last thing I need to worry about is you getting hurt because you weren't wearing your damn seat-"

His rant was cut short by a massive exposion of light and sound coming from under the harbor. A moment later, a massive form erupted from the waves as the seawater around it began to freeze. The Seventh Angel had arrived... and it was scarcely a kilometer in front of their plane. Even Azuma was momentarily stunned into silence. The lead pilot, fortunately, had the hardened mindset that only came from years of combat experience, and without waiting for orders, immediately brought the plane's nose back up and angeled to the right of the Angel while kicking in the afterburners, pushing everyone back into their seats from the G-forces. Everyone except the standing Lex, who was instead sent flying head over heels backward towards the rear of the plane.

Erika's eyes narrowed in bitter acknowledgement as the Angel appeared. The fact that she had been right was scant comfort at the moment, and after a moment to collect herself, began barking orders.

"Major, prepare to deploy Unit-15 and Midnight Hound. Flight Operations, order the escort fighters in immediately. They are to engage and distract the Angel until the Vice-Commander's plane has reached a safe distance."

The fighters broke formation and closed range with the Angel, sending volleys of missiles and massed vulcan cannon fire into the massive target even while knowing their attacks were as futile as shooting at the sun with its AT Field active. But they hopefully could buy the Vice-Commander and the pilots the time they needed to get away. Or they would, if the Angel didn't have other plans. After futilely swiping at the fast-moving fighters surrounding it, it decided it had had enough of these irritants. It could sense its goal off in the distance, the approaching power of a weaker but still very much threatening AT Field, and the tiny AT Fields just a short distance away that it instinctively knew, somehow, would become a threat as well if it didn't annihilate them now.

Compared to all of those, the buzzing insects now swarming it would get the proper treatment vermin such as them deserved. A loud keening whistle began to sound as it raised one crystalline arm, and its AT Field seemed to solidify around it even as the temperature all around it plummeted far below zero degrees Celcius (in fact, the MAGI would later estimate its core came to within a few degrees of absolute zero, somehow). Then, suddenly, the AT Field pulsed outward, pushing the cold temperatures with it, and suddenly, everything within approximately two hundred meters was suddenly hundreds of degrees colder than they had been a second ago, leaving everything (water, sand, trees, buildings, abandoned vehicles, and everything else) covered in a thick layer of ice in a perfect circle around the Angel. This was followed shortly by the sound of crashing airplanes as all of the fighters, now resembling snowballs more than anything else, all plummeted from the sky, though they were all so cold that none of them managed to explode.

At the edge of the cold wave, the pilot of the transport swore as his engine and hydraulics temperatures all dropped rapidly, and then, abruptly, both of his engines had shut down. The co-pilot attempted an emergency restart to no avail, and worst, the flaps and control surfaces were all moving very slowly as well from the cold hydraulics. They had escaped the direct blast of the Angel's AT Field, yet now they were on a plane that would shortly be falling out of the sky as well.

"Vice-Commander! I am dead stick, we have no power. We have no chance of making any of the alternate landing sites. We have to make an emergency landing. We have maybe three minutes of gliding. And my flaps are shot as well, so any sharp attitude or altitude adjustments are also a no go."

Azuma nodded stoically. Then punched the wall and spent five seconds unproductively swearing as he called the bridge.

"Commander, we're going down shortly. The Angel froze out our engines. We... are in trouble."

Any other time, it would have delighted Erika to no end to see her arrogant subordinate for once at a complete loss of words. But not now, not when he had the three pilots with him.

"Understood. Based on your current heading, your best scenario is to aim for the Mirishima Expressway due west. It's eight lanes wide, and it has a 3.5 kilometer of straight roads without any turns. You won't find anything better in time. And it's close to an Auxiliary Launch Elevator for the Linear Rail Network. It's just big enough to deploy and recover two E-scale units as well as personnel elevators for you and the girls. They'll be waiting for you... especially as the Angel appears to be actively pursuing you at this point."

Azuma blinked twice, then nodded and cut the connection wordlessly.

"Did you get that Captain?"

"Yes sir. Now please get yourself and the three girls strapped in as close to the rear of the plane as you all can. It's the safest part in a crash... and the frozen hydraulics means we can't deploy our landing gear either. This is going to be a belly landing, sir."

What was left unsaid was that, historically, the most dangerous part of a passenger plane to be during a crash was the front of the plane. Including the cockpit. He gave a brief, formal bow to the two pilots for facing their likely deaths in the line of duty with dignity, then turned and headed back.

"Get the children into the back row strapped in as tight as possible right now, and brace yourselves for a plane crash. Is Morales still alright after her idiocy?"

On the bridge, Erika rubbed again at her head wearily.

"You heard what I told Saito, Major. Get the operational units deployed, and have Section 2 standing by to get the Vice-Commander and Pilots underground to the Rail Network ASAP. Dr. Patel, do we have anything useful yet from the MAGI on this Angel?"

Dr. Patel nodded, though his face had taken on the carefully guarded neutrality that hinted he was anything but pleased at what he was about to report.

"Yes. Based on the estimated strength of the AT's Angel Field, they calculate that, even with Unit-15 fully neutralizing it, Lt. Todoroki still has a less than 10% chance of breaching the AT Field. It will take at least two EVAs for us to have a decent chance of getting any attack through."

Erika sat down heavily, acknowledging his report.

"Damn. Very well then. Major, launch Isamu and Arja. Unit-15 and Midnight Hound are to engage the Angel but are to withdraw immediately as soon as the others are recovered. Now if you excuse me, I need to make a very unpleasant call."

She leaned over and dialed a number on her command chair's arm-mounted phone Samuel wouldn't recognize from memory, and after waiting for it to be answered, began to speak in a low tone too quiet to hear.

Arja and Isamu, roll for Initiative.

Lex, Test Agility. On a failure, take 1d10 Impact falling damage.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex caught a glimpse of the ocean ahead as it exploded into jagged mountains of impossible ice, and a flash of movement from something inside the explosion. Something unbelievable large. Then she was tumbling head over heels towards the back of the plane, screaming reflexively as "up" and "down" temporarily became rather flexible concepts.

She came back to complete awareness slowly. The plane wasn't maneuvering as extremely as it had been before, but instead was shuddering and lurching in a way that was not at all comforting. A few security guys were bearing down on her in a huff. She blinked a few times, not even noticing as a sheet of blood dripped down her cheek from a cut on the side of her head.

"Hey, we all lived," she muttered blearily. "Score one for the lucky roof punch! I gotta remember that one . . ." She pumped a fist in celebration, then winced at the pain that shot through her from the simple movement. God, she hoped it wasn't broken.

She complained a bit as the security guys picked her up off the floor and strapped her into a seat. "Watch the hands, big boy. You're way too old for me and I'm really not into mustaches."

The Section 2 agent didn't visibly respond, but she was sure that he was secretly impressed by her flippant mid-danger banter. Instead he went about his duty in a businesslike manner, getting the seats ready for the other pilots as Azuma approached from the front of the plane. Commander Puppy-punt was talking about preparing for a rough landing, and gave Lex a look that portrayed clearly how stupid he thought she was for getting injured. Which was doubly unfair, because it was thanks to her they managed to survive the . . . whatever it was in the first place.

"Make sure the pilots know to punch the roof before they land," she said to Azuma, giving the grumpy old man her best blood-soaked wink. "'S good luck."

[Gargulec]

Fear.

It felt weird. Something Sophia could not entirely describe; a strange sensation of something twisting in her gut, clenching, making breathing harder, making her feel in turn frozen and burning, sweat on her brow even as the temperature in the cabin dropped. Noises and voices around her stretched into an unrecognizable whir of sound, not a single word to be made out of the jumbled static. Even her vision seemed to blur, the edges and outlines disappearing, her head turning around quickly, lip bitten, fists closed.

A sudden turned pulled the breath out of her chest, and with that, clarity came crashing back in. She gasped for air, hearing Lex again, seeing the pillars of ice through the window, a sense of nausea creeping up from her stomach. A few more breaths to the tune of the engines dying and the plane slowing, and finally even the colours returned, and all appeared almost normal again.

She glimpsed bits of the Angel, and the mere thought of it made her balk. In a few moments, she would be standing against it, fighting it, facing it. That thing. That thing that had almost killed all of them, and could just as well finish that work, should they fail.

In her seat, she sat perfectly still, eyes dead ahead, mouth clenched, lips pursed into a thin line. Sat, and waited, afraid that she would not be able to stand up.

[Danakir]

She hadn't managed to catch a glimpse of the looming Angel but that didn't prevent her witnessing Lex's idiocy or the chilling wave of extreme cold that froze everything solid in a 200 meters radius. It was a terrifying and intimidating sight to say the least. But she had more pressing matters, feeling the coming turbulence as the intense chill hit their plane, she watched as Dan started to fly backward with a whine and grabbed onto him desperately.

That part at least was lucky. Without her good sense her boy would've likely been hurt. Catching her break afterward for a bit and calming herself down, she muttered reassuringly to her panting and nervous dog. Looking over at Lex crumpled on the floor afterward, she watched as she stumbled blithely back to the seat next to hers and frowned a bit "You got all messed up." she commented dryly, trying to check her head to see how bad the damage was. Dan who she'd let go of paws at her lap, looking up at her with a whine of concern in turn.

In the chaos, she didn't notice Sophia's quiet freak-out at first, instead focusing on Officer Dog-Hater "Hey… hey! What are we going to do?" she wasn't going to die like this. She'd gone through the worst **** already so… she had to make it out of this plane alive somehow. She put up a confident front for the other two pilots and managed to hold onto her composure, at least for now.

"You alright over there, kiddo?" she poked Sophia's leg with her foot, staring at her stiff face and nearly motionless posture. She had to admit that freaked her out a little, what was wrong with that girl?

[babel_matrix]

"Transfer Unit-15 and the Hound to routes 78 and 80, and prepare for launch." The words the Major spoke spread through the ranks like an incantation, bringing idle hands alive and hurrying those who were already busy.

"Final checklist confirmed up to level 32. Linear Rail routes 78 and 80 locked in. It will take ninety-two seconds-"

"No, we're launching them from their current placement. I've calculated the route, uploading now." The hologram of the Linear Rail System adjusted with Tanaka's commands, showing turns and paths that would prove uncomfortable, if faster, for the pilots. Without a word, the corrected officer adjusted his interface.

"All pilot health monitors report green status."

Warwick nodded at the officer, his eyes briefly raising from his console to meet whoever spoke from his team. "Adjust cockpit and entry plug temperature to increase by seven degrees prior to launch. Tell Otokita he's in charge of monitoring and adjusting cockpit temperatures to the highest safe temperatures possible for the duration of this mission."

"Yes, sir."

"Pressure restored in T-RIDEN-T hydraulic system, engineering reports green status."

"Keep it monitored, and adjust the pilot's input to accommodate for any sudden drop."

The engineer nodded as he worked to adjust the programming. "T-RIDEN-T input has been adjusted; onboard monitoring system reports green status."

"The pilots are ready to launch, Major."

"Power matrix irregularities are below any safety threshold. T-RIDEN-T is locked in for launch sequence, final input test complete. The Hound is ready to launch."

"Internal pressure is nominal. All external restraint gears have been withdrawn, entry plug is holding at position +0.2. Synchronization is steady at 50%. Unit-15 is ready to launch."

Samuel absorbed the reports silently, doing his best to keep up with them as he did with the Commander's orders.

"Damn. Very well then. Major, launch Isamu and Arja. Unit-15 and Midnight Hound are to engage the Angel but are to withdraw immediately as soon as the others are recovered. Now if you excuse me, I need to make a very unpleasant call."

That unpleasant call would come back to Samuel to be questioned... in a different mode, in a different time, perhaps. For now, he typed into a communications console meant for his use to open channels to the pilots. In each of the wildly different cockpits, a hologram of Samuel's stern face and evening business suit appeared. "Your mission remains the same, prioritizing keeping the target away from the plane carrying your fellow pilots."

Had he more time, perhaps a strategy could be laid out with them, a discussion on collateral damage in the process, of good routes to take between buildings. But there was no time, save for one last word:

"LAUNCH!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTD8nWs4QjA)

[AmberVael]

"Understood, Major." Came Arja's simple reply. "I am prepared for launch."

She leaned back from her controls and waited for what was to come. The situation was even worse than she had imagined it when she had first been informed that an angel was coming- over the course of a few hours she had learned that she was the only EVA pilot prepared, that the angel was capable of feats she could barely imagine, and now even her unprepared peers were in danger. It all came down to her now, she was the only one with a weapon that could dare turn back the angel before it was too late. Isamu had her back, but if she fell he wouldn't stand a chance. Half resigned, half determined, she turned her attention inwards once more as she waited for launch.

"Salutations to the one who rises in the eastern mountains and who sets in the mountains of the west. Salutations to the lord of the stars and daily light. Lord of a thousand rays, son of Aditi, salutations to the one who is bestower of victory and prosperity. Salutations to the one who rides the golden steeds." Arja's recitation was quiet, but not silent- a soft whisper audible to those who strained to hear it or had nothing else to hear. But it didn't matter to her if anyone else heard it or not- the prayer was meant for her.

"Launch!"

As the EVA shot up towards the surface, the sound of rushing air and racing mechanisms filled Arja's ears. She spoke a little louder as she continued, raising her voice just enough for her to hear it over the noise. "Salutations to the fierce and terrible one, the mighty hero of flashing speed. Salutations to the one who makes the lotus blossom. Salutations to the Lord of Bhrama, Shiva, and Vishnu, salutations to Surya the sun whose power and effulgence illuminates and devours all, whose form is as fierce as Rudra."

The light from the surface reached her now, and Arja looked up and tensed in anticipation. This was it. This is what she had trained for years for, perhaps her final moments. She mentally groped for the final lines of the mantra, then found them as the EVA emerged into the city. "Salutations to the transcendental soul who dispels the dark, drives back fear and cold, and destroys all foes. Salutations to the first of all lights."

And then it was time to go. EVA-15 emerged from the tunnel, its hulking form towering over the buildings around it. Immense even for an EVA, its jet black armor was layered thickly over it in a manner that only made it more imposing, solid and heavy in such a way as to make other EVAs look spindly and fragile. Azure light gleamed from and eyes with a fierce radiance despite the cool color and its joints shone with the same as they moved; its fingers gleamed as they tightened about the solid hilt of the weapon in its left hand and the shield handle in its right. The weapon it held might have been inspired by a tonfa, but the mechanisms worked into the matte black metal made it obvious that it was far more complex than that- it looked far more like a jackhammer than a carved stick. The shield on its other arm was tall and curved, made of a substance that looked slick and and flexible, something durable that would bend more than break or shatter.

"Activating AT Field." Arja reported as she concentrated on the task. In the space of a few seconds the field flared to life and then spread out, a faint distortion of light the only sign of its progress. The air rippled around her and then held steady as the field stabilized at its normal range. Now lets get its attention.

EVA-15, Bastion, surged forward with startling speed, moving directly towards the angel at an all out run. Its footfalls shook the earth as it stormed at its target to draw the angel's attention away from the plane and to itself.

[Regalus]

"Understood Major," Isamu chorused with Arja, "Midnight Hound Ready for launch,"

With his report done the young man leaned into his seat, hands clenched tight on his controls as he awaited the final system checks to clear; all the while laboring to keep his breath steady and the anxious energy within boiling over, it almost reminded him of his first engagement. That strange mixture of fear and exhilaration of finally being able to see months and years of training about to give fruit, while knowing all to well that it might just as easily die by random happenstance as much as by any mistake he made. He wondered if this had been what those kids had felt when they'd first launched two years ago. He quietly chuckled at the prospect, they had been far more prepared for this than they were; and even that hadn't been enough in the end.

As if by Arja's signal Isamu put those thoughts aside as he a brief murmur drifted in from Arja's cockpit, its steady cadence leaving little doubt to what it was. He couldn't quite make out the prayer in it entirety, but the calmness it was spoken in was nonetheless soothing as it stood in contrast to the myriad of calls and both mechanical and electrical noises that filled his senses.

He allowed his mind to ease as he felt the lurching sensation of the railway system, focusing on not more than the steady beating of his heart and Arja's chanted prayer. The time had come to make good on his promise and fulfill his duty, there was no room for whining about their chances, or reminiscing on the past. Now was the time to act.

Within moments the onyx and silver figure of the Midnight Hound rose from the depths of the earth, it's mechanical form a stark contrast to it's partner's form as it clenched it's riffle tightly; wasting no time in getting into position and taking aim as it's partner rushed their foe. "Target locked," he said in rote.

Now was the time to see if any of it had truly mattered.

[CrimsonKnight]

Spotlights from the circling aircraft (now maintaining a much longer distance after witnessing the Angel casually annihilate everything within close range) illuminated the giant crystal entity as it gracefully moved forward with the poise of a ballerina dancer despite its massive size and foreboding appearance. Onboard the jet, the Section 2 agents had finished strapping in the girls and the Vice-Commander and were strapping themselves in when the pilot shouted tersely over the intercom.

"Here it comes! Brace yourselves!"

Scarcely had he finished speaking when the plane suddenly shuddered violently, two agents who had not strapped themselves in quickly enough being thrown up against the ceiling even as suddenly cut off screams from the front of the plane hinted at the final fate of the two pilots. The plane bounced twice, clipping several light poles with its left wing before it was torn off and the plane continued to slide canted at an angle, windows shattering and cracks forming in the fuselage from the stresses being exerted on it. Finally, painfully, the plane slid to a stop, draped halfway across the median separating the two sets of lanes. The cockpit and nose of the plane was just gone completely, with no sign of the pilots, and one of the guards who'd been flung about was clearly dead with a broken neck, while the other seemed to have gotten away with "just" a shattered leg broken in two different locations.

Azuma fought his seatbelt until it came free and came to his feet, wincing at the bruises and what he suspected to be a sprained wrist from being slammed into the wall at some point during the crash.

"Are... *cough* are the pilots still functional? Somebody get that hatch open now, we have no time to waste!"

One of the less-injured agents not attending to the pilots moved to the hatch, attempting but failing to turn the handle that should have unlocked the hatch. After a few moments spent kicking and swearing at the unhelpful mechanism, he turned to the Vice-Commander in alarm.

"Sir, the hatch is jammed! It's been heavily damaged in the crash!

Outside the plane, a trio of APCs drove up the expressway on-ramp at breakneck speed for land vehicles their size and skidded to a halt around the downed plane. Two of them disgorged infantry squads who began to form a laughably futile defensive line on the other side of the crash. From the third, an emergency rescue team armed with stretchers and medical equipment darted out and headed for the crumpled hatch.

"Damn... break out the welder, Corporal. We'll never get this open otherwise."

From the APC, a set of welding gear and tanks were grabbed and taken to the plane, while one of them banged on the hatch to alert the people inside.

"Stand back, we're cutting through!"

None of the recovery team dared to look eastward despite the rumbling noises of the Angel's footsteps becoming thunderously louder, only to turn as one in surprise as a second set of loud footfalls to the north announced that the Angel would not go unchallenged after all. Evangelion Unit-15 had arrived, with Midnight Hound further back providing cover. The Angel seemed momentarily indecisive over continuing after the weak but potentially future threats it had been chasing with the new, much stronger AT Field before it. After a moment, caution won out and it turned to meet Unit-15, raising one of its arms in challenge. A sliver of crystal seemed to gather from its arm before being sent flying forward at the Evangelion. Just before impact, the crystal shattered into dozens of razor sharp fragments, turning the one solid crystal into a glittering E-scale shotgun round.

On the bridge, the fearful calm had descended into a cacophony of shouted reports as the battle began in earnest. Amidst the chaos, Erika stared at the screen even as she spoke quietly into the phone in a clearly tense conversation. Whatever she was talking about, it seemed as urgent as the Angel battle being broadcast on the main sceen.

Arja: Make a Dodge check, or take 9 Impact damage (after Penetration) to the Body.
Samuel: MAGI is still analyzing data. No results obtained.

Locations:
The expressway is 10 dam south of the launch elevators. Isamu is 2 dam east of the launch elevators. Arja is 32 dam east of Isamu. The Angel is 18 dam east/south-east of Arja moving along the expressway. The plane has crashed on the expressway approximately halfway between Arja and Isamu, making it only 30 dam from the Angel.

[Gargulec]

Fear.

A repetition of sound, of motion. A sudden pain and a feeling of nausea, the seat-belt biting into the skin as it stopped Sophia from being smashed around by the plane's barely-controlled crash. Words and noises making no sense at all. Someone calling her out, an infernal hiss of torn metal, a distant, but audible stomping, an explosion. And a coppery taste on her tongue, coming from a lip bitten to the blood. Absent-mindly, not really understanding what was happening - it all felt far-away, unreal, as if she was in her dream - she wiped her mouth with the palm of her hand, blinking at the red smear.

Pain.

As if breaking through an invisible barrier, she suddenly felt it - the torn lip, bruises, the shallow scrape torn into her arm by the seat-belt, lingering concussion from the rough landing. And with pain, sounds and thoughts came flooding in, spoiling the pure, innocent dread that held sway over her since she had first noticed the Angel's silhouette. The world grew loud, deafeningly so, and bright, blindingly so. The girl struggled with the belt's buckle, fingers slipping from it over and over again as she tried to undo it, her eyes darting to the side, wide with fear, glimpsing at the ruined plane, at the people around her. Finally, the belt clicked open, retracting automatically thanks to a miraculously still functional mechanism. Panting, for she could not draw a deeper breath, she tried to stand up, only to realize she could not. The muscles in her legs were not listening to her. The arms she tried to support herself on were not doing what she urged them to do. She could not stand. She could not do what she had to do.

And then, without even noticing, she realized she was standing.

Calm.

It was a sickening feeling, a sudden sensation of cold, uncaring control, giving her body back, but offering no soothing, no release from panic. In spite of her body, in spite of her mind, she stood up, standing straight at attention, waiting for an order, faint smear of red on her chin.

[AmberVael]

Arja jerked to one side just in the nick of time, barely avoiding the scattering shards of ice. Her eyes flicked after the projectile passing by, and watched it dig deep into the earth. Close one. Don't think I want to get hit by that, either. Time to be evasive.

As she recovered from her lunge out of the way, the new data from the magi streamed in and flickered over her screen as the officers chattered and ordered in the background. She did her best to absorb it all without being distracted from the massive threat in front of her- she didn't doubt that she missed some things, but she got the gist of it. Its AT field was more than she could possibly hope to surmount on her own, and if she closed in on it to try her luck unsupported it might well be the end of her resistance. Understandably, she was ordered to stay out of its range. With a flick of a finger she opened a channel to Isamu. "Lieutenant. I won't be able to neutralize while maintaining distance. Plan accordingly. I am going to try and lure it away from the plane." She had no idea what (if anything) he could do without an opening through its AT field, but figured he'd come up with something.

Quite sure that she had the angel's attention on her now, Arja urged Unit-15 back, zig zagging directly away from the angel with surprising agility without turning her back on it.

Full Action: Run. Arja is going to use about half the movement zig zagging, so she only ends up going about 16 dam backwards and tempts the angel after her rather than just using her full speed yet.

[Regalus]

The bastard has pellet rounds! Isamu exclaimed to himself in shock, from how relatively mundane the tactic seemed compared to his expectations, and by the fact Arja had successfully avoided the opening volley with nary a scratch. All in all, it was a promising start to the jaded veteran; at least until the newly deciphered image reached him.

Flash freezing a 200 meter radius to Absolute Zero while spiting thermodynamics in the eye? Now that was was the kind of chicanery he'd been expecting to hear about; at least they now knew what could get them boned beyond reason before the Angel actually did so.

"Understood. Prepping cover fire for you and the noncombatants, be ready to intervene if it doesn't take the bait," he reported back as he re-positioned himself in order to track the Angel for the slightest signs of a coming attack. Fortunately for him it seemed the Angel was paying him little to know mind, which suited him just fine for now. It was time to see just how many rules this Angel actually followed.


Readied Cover Fire Maneuver: Failed, simple failure.

[babel_matrix]

The bridge could not afford to sigh in relief at the seemingly nimble steps of Unit-15. Behind the Unit, the shards continued their insane paths, most shattering into the ground in splatters of uprooted farmland and dirt roads, while other, more ambitious arcs flew to parts unknown. The MAGI analysis came back, and before Samuel had even laid eyes on it the most critical finds were spilled onto the pilot HUDs: the massive, 20-decameter sphere centered on the enemy, a translucent blue that faded to yellow and then to red as the pilots entered its radius, a brief, flickering overlay of the Angel's more vulnerable form hidden underneath the ice, and its distance from the pilots in the plane wreckage.

Samuel's eyes reflected the blue light of the new analysis, his frown showing his dismay at the estimates fed by the MAGI. "Tanaka, prepare the rescue team with this data," he ordered without looking, "and keep a minimum of three routes set with a kilometer between each of them, in case this thing routes cycled."

Samuel thought to feed the pilots the information personally, only to hear Warwick a step ahead, delivering the dire news to the pilots. No chance of neutralizing it, no reasonable chance of success in close quarters... There was the unspoken, ugly truth before everyone: no matter what they would send to extract the pilots, it wouldn't outrun this Angel if it decided to dash full tilt for the fortress city. Property damage, risk of soldiers, and loss of weapon placements within the city in a futile sparring match with this frozen demon could all be prevented... if he would only order Arja or Isamu to stand her or his ground and risk being the first sacrifice. "Patel, Todoroki: begin a slow withdrawal to the city, staying just outside the enemy's radius." The pilots were already withdrawing... and Isamu took aim... and seemed to be focusing on the space between the target and Unit-15. "Don't tell me he's-!" Samuel's thoughts died as the bridge inhaled as one, watching as the enemy formed another attack-

[CrimsonKnight]

Having felt it partially Neutralize its A.T. Field (even if only temporarily), the Angel stomped after Unit-15 while raising its arm to fire another crystal. Unfortunately for Arja, it caught her right in the middle of a turn and despite Isamu's best attempts to interdict the attack, crystal shards slammed painfully into Unit-15's right leg and torso. It continued to contempously ignore Midnight Hound as one would a rock sitting in the ground. After all, what threat was a pitiful worm without an A.T. Field to a physical god?

At the plane, the rescue team feverishly cut their way through the cabin door with power saws and welding gear, causing a shower of sparks inside the plane, a deafening racket, and a choking acrid smell. The agents helped the Vice-Commander, Lex, and Samantha to their feet as they waited for their egress route to be cleared. At last, the rescue team stopped cutting and dropped their gear for their crowbars. Shoving them into the narrow cut, they leaned heavily until the door suddenly popped free and fell down to the ground, with chilly (but fresh) air blowing into the cabin.

"Door's clear, let's go, let's go, out of the plane! Watch the edges, don't burn yourselves!"

On the bridge, Erika put down the phone gently as though she was afraid it would break, and addressed Samuel with a stern tone.

"Cancel that withdrawal order, Major. The two operational units will fall back to the launch elevators and withdraw using the Linear Rail Network once the pilots have been moved to the personnel elevators leading down to them. A passenger tram is already standing by to receive them. It's much faster, and the military has agreed to provide a... screening action that will necessitate all of them being well undergound when they deploy it."

Unit-15 takes 8 damage to the right leg and 3 damage to the Body. The Angel has moved northwest after Unit-15. Its relative distance to the crashed plane is unchanged.

MAGI Results:
Angel is Average sized.
Angel's exact location and distance to landmarks is known and readily available.
It will take 2-3 Evangelions to fully Neutralize the Angel.
The Angel possesses the Flash Freeze A.T. Power (Full Round Action, 12 ATP, all targets in 20 dam radius if they cannot escape the AoE with a Dodge must Test Toughness or be frozen solid, incapable of taking any actions (including reactions) until they spend a Full Round Action to free themselves. Regardless of success or failure, take 2d10 Agility damage for 1d5 rounds.
Angel possesses the Ice Armor Trait. All AP is doubled, but if a location takes fire damage, it loses all AP.

[babel_matrix]

The glacial chunks slashed past armor, titanium meshing, circuitry and flesh, carving into the lower regions of Unit-15 with deadly shrapnel. The first reports he had read about the "feedback problem" for Evangelion pilots had him immediately lean onto Warwick's chair instead of asking a single engineer about the Unit's status. Warwick only nodded, a silent "OK" regarding his pilot.

The Commander's innuendo for whatever total war-scaled reply they had in mind worried Samuel, but not so much as to skip a chance to withdraw the two pilots. Arja's pained expression, however well she hid it, keenly reflected the mutilation her Unit's frame now suffered. "Pilots, withdraw to the designated launch elevators and prepare for extraction. Fall back, immediately!" Behind him, Tanaka silently drew the routes and forwarded them to the pilot's HUDs. All Samuel wanted, now, was their affirmative... in the face of a temporary defeat, and the pain and damaged already inflicted.

[Steel Mirror]

Lex let the soldiers hustle her out of the shattered plane. The combination of physical shock from the crash and the mental shock of seeing the broken Section-2 agent lying on the floor of the plane left her momentarily unmoored, incapable of taking any action beyond following instructions.

She had survived where others had fallen. Again. She didn't take a moment to count her blessings, or anything like that. She had been so lucky compared to the rest of the world for so long that she hardly noticed it any more. Of course she would survive. She always did.

But she did feel sorry. And, recalling how the agents and pilots had given their lives to try and get her down on the ground alive, she started to feel angry.

The vista that appeared once she finally emerged into the open air was . . . there weren't words to describe it. The monster that she had glimpsed on their initial approach to the bay was standing on one side of the plane, unbelievably large and unbearably close, cloaked in frost and power. Shards or missiles of ice flew through the air, shattering with overwhelming noise in mid-flight and spraying the countryside with frozen shrapnel.

On the other side of the tiny little humans were two massive machines, obviously man-made, though still mind-bending in their sheer size and apparent power. One was retreating, harried the whole way by the impact of those exploding shards. The other was firing some kind of massive cannon, shaking the dust from the ground and ice from frozen surfaces with each blast of fiery fury. The twin trails of ice and fire crisscrossed the air above Lex, making her feel excruciatingly squishable.

Lex turned to her two comrades, and to Azuma who was herding them forward. "Ok, I'm convinced," she said, barely audible above the cacophony. "If it's a choice on being on the ground while this thing rampages, or being in one of those, I'll climb into your giant robot. But I'm going to need an unreasonably large gun."

[AmberVael]

Despite her efforts to evade, the shards of ice pierced one of her EVA's legs and tore it up pretty bad. Arja grit her teeth at the hit but made no sound as she assessed the damage. Hit, but functioning. But only just. Any more stress and the leg will probably give out. It wasn't a good situation to be in against this monster, especially when she desperately needed backup and to keep away from the thing.

Arja forced her EVA to keep moving, continuing to pull back from the icy threat of the angel. Bastion's heavy feet shook the ground and kicked up dust as it moved, the ice embedded in its shin ignored as it pushed on. "Hit, but still operating normally." Arja reported, just before Samuel shouted his orders. She nodded to herself and spoke a short reply as she adjusted course towards the elevators. "Understood."

Bastion picked up speed as Arja made a mad dash towards the elevators. She didn't bother moving evasively this time, and instead counted on her speed and Bastion's armor to see her to her destination. Even if it took out her leg, if she just get there, it'd be enough. She didn't need more than that just now, though she had no idea what NERV would do if her EVA was damaged that badly.

Arja just Runs towards the elevator.

[Regalus]

"Understood," Isamu chirped, inwardly cursing at his failed attempt to cover for the other pilot though it hadn't been catastrophic. If nothing else they'd at least managed to distract the blasted creature long enough. Granted, if Samuel's tone was anything to go buy chances were the pair would be exchanging words soon; assuming the next phase of the plan did at least as well as this one had.

Midnight Night stood guard, sights set on the Ange rail system notl as Bastion made its way towards its elevator in case it attempted to impede the technorganic behemoth's withdraw. If all went well he'd be joining Arja in the rail system not a moment later.


So yeah delaying for Cover Fire if needed, if not then entering my elevator as soon as Arja gets through.

[Gargulec]

Walking a stiff gait, her mind blank aside from the terror numbing it, Sophia followed the others out of the plane, into the cold night outside. She drew in the chill air, then let it out, the sensation refreshing, almost soothing. Enough to make her raise her eyes from the ground, and up to the battle-lit sky.

There it stood, a giant of ice. There they stood, the weapons they were supposed to wield against it. Tremors went through the earth with each step and thunders rolled as the giant weapons were fired. Around them, dozens of lights scurried, spotlights like fireflies, but compared to the might emanating from those beasts, there were nothing at all.

A sudden gust of frigid air preceded an ear-splitting wail of torn steel as a shard of ice bit into the EVA's leg, shearing armor from bone. Yet, the machine stood firm, moving in the same ordered fashion as before.

Sophia exhaled, then took another breath, feeling the dread slowly dissipate, making way for a sensation quite unlike it. Awe.

In the clash of those monsters, against the night's sky backdrop, there was something breath-taking, something that made her stood still, unable to turn her eyes away, watching the fight in focused silence. Once again, silence befell her, and the world, the little efforts, little words, little deeds seemed to vanish around her, leaving her to behold the spectacle that filled her heart with fascination in its purest form; terror and awe in equal measure, taking away any thought of backing off, of turning away.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew what it reminded her off. It was the same feeling that plagued her dreams, the same passion play. There, she felt it watching the pearl's smooth surface, the world refracting and reflecting in its polished gleaming. She couldn't describe it, when she tired, but she knew as intuitively as the back of her hand. An emotion so grand that it filled her entirely, pushing away every other thought, leaving only the experience of terrifying awe behind.

Had she been more knowledgeable, she could draw parallels between that and a mystical trance, the purest of religious experiences. But she was just a teen girl, staring at a sight so infinitely grander than she was that she could not help but to feel only fascination.

[CrimsonKnight]

The Angel cocked its "head" and sent another ice crystal flying in pursuit of Arja, though its aim was off this time as this one went low and slammed into the ground at Unit-15's feet. The Angel was actually puzzled. Running already? It couldn't hope to get away. Soon enough, it would be crushed underfoot.

Almost as soon as the three girls were through the hatch, they found themselves snatched up and carried over to the APC. The second the three of them and Azuma were strapped in, the ramp was raised and the armored vehicles' tires squealed loudly as the driver burned rubber to get to the Linear Rail Network Elevators. He made a hard turn right to squeeze back onto the exit ramp, slamming through bushes and construction signs before bouncing onto the side road and driving straight for the building with the cargo elevator already waiting on the surface. He didn't slow down as they neared, and just as it looked like he might slam into the far wall, he expertly turned the massive military vehicle into a power slide that turned them nearly 180 degrees and brought them neatly to a stop right on the elevator. Someone must have been expecting them, as the doors immediately slammed shut and the elevator dropped down at a brisk rate. The intrepid driver sighed and grabbed his radio.

"Central, this is Recovery Team. All Priority Alphas are in the Transit Network, over. Cover Team, withdraw guys, we're good now."

Above in the sky and on the Bridge radar screens, every aircraft seemed to be retreating from the area now at their maximum speed. All but one supersonic bomber lining up on the Angel...

Angel attacks and misses Unit-15. No new MAGI results due to not rolling.

[babel_matrix]

Behind his back, Samuel gripped his own fist, and tried to not look angry at what the new flight patterns might have indicated... and what might be coming. As Section-2 reported the approach of a single APC that cradled their salvation, he thought to introduce himself in person, to get a measure for the pilots... to do anything but strap them into these war machines with only a high-end video conference to prepare them. But what time was there to do anything else? The bridge watched, perhaps with that same, silent knowing, as the bomber continued its path...

"This can't be right... then why only her? No one else needs to... the other entry plugs-" Warwick's voice was low and heated, a show of emotion sharp enough to surprise Mr. Kendrick. Whatever information poured from his headset had stiffened his body, and at once Samuel recognized the same level of discomfort he felt... but over what? "When we survive this," he whispered, his anger evident in every over-enunciated word, "I'm going to file an inquiry into getting rid of this plug... and if it can be done, I'll then file inquiries to get everyone responsible for its inception put in front however many tribunals I need to see-" His words cut off, likely the result of the other end hanging up.

A comforting hand landed on his shoulder, defusing what was inching closer to an inappropriate outburst. "If there's something wrong with Patel's entry plug..."

Warwick gave a look over his shoulder... past Samuel, and at the Chief Scientist on the bridge. "Unit-07's pilot-" Both men had their attention robbed as new alarms sounded... this time, for the "diversion".

[Gargulec]

They almost had to carry her into the vehicle, hard hands gripping her shoulders as she struggled to stop looking at the shapes and symmetries of the Angel, her heart fluttering, thoughts extinguished by the sheer majesty of the sight unfolding. The rational part of her questioned how could she ever hope to fight a presence like that - a presence keenly felt, even through the armored bulkheads and layers of concrete, sensed in the tremors of the soil as the monster's attacks made impact, in the tense silence inside of the APC, worried glances shot from soldier to soldier. In the air that she breathed, ever so chill. The scared, almost panicked rational mind inside of her head screamed quietly, terrified of the fight that was coming, of the fight Sophia knew she was not even remotely prepared for.

And yet, with every passing second, every breath taken and let out, the girl grew calmer and calmer, the stiffness of a barely-controlled terror loosening its grip as emotions faded from Sophia's face, replaced by a distanced, cold control.

She had to fight, she had to stand; for the sake of others. It was a duty; a duty in its purest sense of a necessity willingly accepted. Therefore, her feelings, her emotions, her fear and her pain were rendered irrelevant, and she had to discard them, abandon, disregard.

And so she would.

[AmberVael]

The shards of ice shattered at her EVA's feet just before she reached the elevator. She cut speed and skidded to a halt just on her exit, then turned around towards the angel and raised her shield defensively, unsure if it would be any defense against the sharp projectiles flung by her opponent but entirely willing to give it a shot. Of course, she'd rather be out of the way entirely. "Ready for immediate extraction." There was a slight pause, then she added, "Emphasis on immediate."

There was no point in sticking around to be torn to pieces by ice when she had little chance of even making a dent on this thing. The more intact she came out of this, the better off they'd be in the second engagement. So Arja stood stock still on the elevator, hoping they'd pull her out before the angel attacked her again.

[Regalus]

Isamu thanked his lucky stars as Arja managed to enter the lift unscathed from the Angel's latest assault, "Seconding those requests," he stated with restrained urgency as he stepped into his own lift; praying to whatever little god maintained the rails that their flight from the field would be swift and soon. The young soldier really didn't want to worry about the logistics of damage to the rail systems during this whole affair; nevertheless the Midnight Hound stood at the ready as it waited to be extracted, hoping to be able to cover Unit 15 if their withdrawal took too long.

[CrimsonKnight]

As the Midnight Hound stepped onto the lift, both of them dropped so suddenly that Arja and Isamu momentarily found themselves in freefall from the descent. The Angel trilled angrily and leapt forward, swinging one arm in a wide slash that shattered the building into a cloud of rubble flying every which way, yet it was one second too late to stop its quarry from escaping underground.

On the Bridge, Erika was now pacing as she waited for the status reports on the pilots. Finally, the confirmation came in.

"Commander! All pilots and the Vice-Commander are now safely in the Transit Network. Remaining ground forces in the area report they need another two minutes to reach the emergency shelters-"

Erika interrupted the man, looking very weary now like she'd just taken a blow to the chest.

"No. We have no more time. Order the military to strike the Angel now."

"B-but Ma'am! We still have personnel in the blast area. If they're not in a hardened shelter..."

"I said no. I'm sorry. This is a direct order: deploy the warhead now."

As if to prove her point, the Angel slammed one arm down into the elevator shaft, ripping an opening into the underground tunnels for it to drop down and continue its pursuit. The Comms Officer gulped, then nodded painfully under Erika's burning glare before hunkering over his console.

"Y... yes ma'am. *cough* Reaper One-Seven, you have a greenlight to deploy."

As the Angel widened the hole enough for its considerable bulk to slide in, it ignored the approaching bomber even as the bays opened and a single large bomb dropped free as the pilot kicked in his afterburners and fled the area at three times the speed of sound. Just as it had finished making itself a way in, the Angel finally noticed the falling object above it, and craned its head upward in curiosity just as the warhead slammed into its A.T. Field.

An almost holy white glow of pure energy engulfed the Angel and the surrounding area. All sensors trained on the Angel were instantly disabled from the massive discharge of electromagnetic radiation, and on the distant cameras still transmitting, the Angel disappeared before the hellish shape of a mushroom cloud until they too shut down from being overloaded. Down below, the two massive robots and the cargo container holding the recovery team APC were zipping speedily away on the electromagnets of the Linear Rail Network when a massive shockwave reverberated through the tunnel, flinging the girls and Vice-Commander Saito to the floor of the vehicle and bouncing Arja and Isamu in their protective harnesses amidst the howl of the antimatter explosion above and behind them.

On the Bridge, Erika was barely concealing her discomfort behind an iron mask of resolve as she listened to the reports come in.

"Successful detonation of N2 warhead against the Seventh Angel confirmed. Unit-15, Midnight Hound, and Recovery Team are safely en route in the Transit Network. Direct feed on the Angel is lost."

Erika nodded.

"Get the feed back on the Angel ASAP. That won't have killed it or even hurt it much, if at all. Do we have confirmation the tunnels are sealed behind our people?"

"Yes, ma'am. The Rail Tunnels have collapsed for at least a half kilometer in every direction from the center of the blast. Bringing up long range visual feed from spotter aircraft... now."

The video came back, revealing an almost perfect circle of destruction from the detonation. In the center stood the Angel, unhurt and unfazed by the collossal destruction. After a moment of seeming to ponder to itself, it resumed its original course westbound towards Tokyo-3.

"Resilient bastard. But at least it can't follow the pilots directly now. What's the damage report?"

"Preliminary reports are still coming in. But we're looking at near total destruction within the affected area. At least one mile of the Transit Network, several Evangelion support structures, and multiple remote sensors are destroyed. Fortunately, the area was mostly undeveloped and already evacuated, so apart from the damage to the Expressway, the affect on civilians should be minimal."

Erika bit her lip, then asked about the one thing he'd glaringly left unsaid.

"And our personnel losses?"

"Three platoons of the military's armored forces were still in the area but may have survived inside their tanks, and all air support units had successfully withdrawn. As for the Recovery Team's escort squads..."

He didn't finish, but he didn't half to. That close to the bomb itself, there was no chance at all that any of them had survived.

"I see... thank you. Major, have your Lieutenants take over for now. It's time for us to go meet our new pilots and brief them. You too, Dr. Patel."

Arum waved at her without looking up from his console.

"I'll just be a minute, Commander, I need to finish going over this analysis first. I'll see you down there."

Erika nodded to Samuel and led the way for the elevator, an unspoken signal causing her bodyguards to not follow the two of them inside. The second the doors slammed shut and they began their descent, her shoulders slumped and she leaned heavily against the wall of the elevator car.

"Goddamnit... I really hate this job sometime. I knew from the moment they went out what would happen to them, and yet... but what choice did I have? The alternative was either a VTOL pickup and risking the Angel downing it or letting the Angel follow them into the Transit Network and sending our mostly untrained team of pilots to fight the Angel in an enclosed space underground or, God help us, the Geofront itself. At least on the surface, we have more space to manuever and control the fight."

It wasn't clear if Erika was trying to convince Samuel or herself, and after a moment, she shook her head and straightened up.

"Sorry. Need to put our game faces on. I shudder to think what state those girls are in after surviving a plane ride and subsequent crash with Azuma... or what we're about to throw them into."

The elevator doors slid open onto the cavernous Evangelion cages, where the bulks of both Unit-15 and the Trident were both sliding back into their normal slots alongside the other three EVAs. The battered looking APC was slowly backing up to a waiting group of medics and technicians. As soon as the ramp was dropped, Azuma stormed out holding a handkerchief to a nasty looking gash across his forehead as he made a beeline for Erika. She nodded to Samuel.

"See to the pilots Major while I deal with Azuma's impending temper tantrum before he decides to make an ass of himself in front of everyone."

[babel_matrix]

Erika's self-assurances slipped by Samuel almost unheard. Samuel's expression had not changed since the N2 warhead's detonation had confirmed his fear, and doomed the lives of some platoons of men and women under their command. Under his command, no matter who dropped the bomb on them. That expression had eyes narrowed as if tired, and lips thin from being pressed too tightly. He marched away with his orders from the Commander without a word letting Azuma pass him. The Sub-Commander seemed all too ready to fulfill Erika's prophecy. By the time he had come upon the APC, just as the first youths began to walk down its battered ramp, the tension in Samuel's body had only barely eased.

To strangers, it may have seemed like Samuel was going to be hard-ass. His tone seemed spirited, almost at ease by contrast. "Welcome to the Geo-Front. I am Major Samuel Kendrick, your Operations Director from this point forward." His eyes scanned their young faces. Sophia Doe. Lex Morales. Samantha McCormick. In his officer career, they made for his oldest trainees yet. "I trust you have been briefed?"

[AmberVael]

As Bastion returned to the cage, Arja flicked through her comms to see if she could get in contact with any of the engineers. She wasn't sure how much time they had, but if it was possible she'd like to get something done about the EVA's damaged leg. "All systems report normal functions, but the armor is completely shredded." She reported to the first person she could find. "Anything we can do to reinforce it now may mean the difference between moving and collapsing if it takes another hit."

While she communicated with anyone who might be able to assist her in a repair capacity, Arja kept her eye on the arriving pilots. She didn't have the best vantage point, but the EVA's sensors were good enough to provide some magnification and allow her a decent look at them while Samuel addressed them.

[Regalus]

As the Midnight Hound settled back to its Cage its pilot stared somberly at the various data feeds which streamed through his screens, focusing on the quick reports and light chatter of the technicians over the line as he tried to avoid thinking to much of what had happened as they left.The loud crash was undeniably caused by the Angel yet the tremor that followed burdened his thoughts.

It was clear that the rail lines behind them had been collapsed all at once, he feared the Angel might have used some new ability but it was easy to deduce otherwise from the chatter surrounding them; it was almost as if everyone was trying to avoid mentioning the actual cause of the tremor powerful enough to shake them even as they sped away from the sight. The answer was obvious to any who gave it serious thought, but for now the soldier put his mind to work on other tasks; mourning would come once the fighting had ended, if they were lucky.

"Hound's all green, no abnormalities detected en route. We should be good to go once it's ammo clip's replaced," he reported as he set one of the exterior feeds to eye the newly arrived pilots with mixed feelings. The soldier could practically tell by the way the trio were carrying themselves in the wake of their emergency transport, they were every bit as green as their profiles implied. So it was that with holding a sigh, the young man opened a channel to se how his freshly bloodied pilot, "How are you holding up Arja? Feedback been bothersome yet?" he inquired conversationally as he tried to gauge how well the young pilot had taken her first sortie.

[AmberVael]

Isamu's question went unaddressed for a while as Arja focused on getting any chance for repairs, but as it became clear that there was nothing else for her to contribute to that she decided she'd address him. With a finger flick she opened a channel to him. "The damage to my EVA has largely been to the exterior, so the feedback has been minimal. But I don't think it will ever be a problem. I have a high tolerance for pain, and my LCL mixture is formulated to lessen it anyway." She sounded calm as ever, though perhaps a bit more distant. Distracted, maybe.

"We can't win against the angel unless we close in." Arja said suddenly, perhaps speaking aloud what was keeping her occupied. "An EVA's AT field has a range to it, and we can't neutralize the angel's field if we're too far away. And without neutralizing it, we can't affect it at all. But if we close in, we're putting ourselves in range of the worst it can do."

[Regalus]

"Any way you slice it things don't look pretty, but we need to make the most of the chance we have," he stated matter-of-factly to the younger pilot, "I don't like it any more than you do, but as it is our only option is to try to take it down as swiftly as possible; and we can only do that if we take down't it's AT-Field, and I manage to pump it full of Incindiary rounds. As it is our most pragmatic tactic is for you and one of the others to neutralize it's field, while the rest of us wail on it before it gets to do any real damage. It's risky as hell, but it's also the only shot we have; best to take it while we can than let the bastard prance his way through," he continued as he stated the harsh truth.

[Gargulec]

The image of the Angel was still clearly etched under her eyelids. She had just to blink to see the creature again, in all of its awe-inspiring terror. But the air around her grew warmer, she noticed, and she was no longer in the carrier, instead walking some hall, words and talks reaching her until she could finally start making sense out of the words she was hearing.

She breathed out, the strange elation of watching the monster leaving her ever so slowly, then gulped, looking towards Samuel. Operations Director.

'Uh...' she uttered in a characteristic fashion, biting her lip and looking to her side, as if expecting support from the fellow pilots.

[AmberVael]

"Yes." Risky seemed too innocuous a word for Arja to mean 'possibly fatal,' and that's how the situation seemed to her. She was confident that NERV didn't want to lose their pilots, but a look at its history showed that it was entirely willing to sacrifice them if it had to. The story of the first EVA came to her mind as she considered what was probably going to be asked of her now. Nonetheless, she had reached the same conclusion as Isamu. "It does seem to be our best chance. If the first two EVAs are disabled, a second wave will remain."

It did enter her mind that maybe the other pilots wouldn't be prepared to keep going if someone else died, but by the time that happened it likely wouldn't be her problem any more.

[CrimsonKnight]

Sammy looked between the other two girls for a moment before rolling her eyes and speaking up.

"Yeah, we got the short version from Vice-Commander Puppy Kicker over there before the Angel decided to crash his oh so precious plane. Get in the giant robots, kick some Angel ass. I'm Sammy, the shrinking violet here is Sophia, and the dummy over there who tried to stop the plane crash by headbutting it is Lex."

She playfully stuck her tongue out at Lex to show she wasn't being serious over the dummy remark. Her levity seemed to vanish a bit in the face of Samuel's grim expression however, and she frowned.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, but is there something in the water here or something that makes you all so frigging serious all the time? At least in Boston the Commander didn't always act like he had a stick shoved up his butt."

A clatter arose from the elevators, where Arum emerged, followed by several technicians pushing wheeled carts, each of them with a uniquely colored plugsuit laid out on top ready for use.

"Major, we have an update on the Angel's position. It will reach the edge of Tokyo-3 in 14 minutes."

Over to the side, Erika and Azuma's argument had swung into full-scale, though Erika had been careful to position themselves far enough away that no one else could hear Azuma's ranting in the bustle of the cages despite the fact he was almost shouting now.

[babel_matrix]

She has no idea. Samantha's joke was innocently made, and the Major reminded himself of that. Samuel's thin smile did not reach his eyes. "You will be given a full report on why afterwards. For now-" The Chief Scientist came in just in time, appearing with the plugsuits and a grim reminder of their time constraints. "You three will suit up and prepare for sortie. Follow Corporal Koiso-" Samuel did not gesture towards the female guard behind him, but she perked up at the sound of her name. By the look of her surprise, she wasn't expecting to be known by name already. "-to the female locker room to suit up and prepare for our last sortie today. You'll be briefed in full once you're in the cockpit."

[Gargulec]

Were Sophia a girl of many words, she'd spent the entire way to the locker rooms babbling like a lunatic, the tension of the first meeting with the Angel living her in an incoherent stream of words that could be considered disgusting - because many of them would be "amazing", "beautiful", "moving" and others hinting at fascination more than revulsion.

But thankfully, she was a quiet child, and she glided after Koiso without making a single noise, only breathing heavily as the elation was starting to become more and more distant, allowing a more focused kind of dread back into her heart.

Without a hint of embarrassment, she stripped as soon as she entered the locker room, hands shaking only slightly, not enough to make it difficult to free her off the characteristic jumpsuit. For half a second, she ran her fingers over the smooth, dark-yellow fabric of her plug-suit, biting her lip slightly, before starting to pull it on. She knew the theory of them, but it was the first time she actually donned one of them. For a second, she struggled with the vacuum lock, and then, with a hiss, the suit pressurized, adhering closely to her skin. She briefly glanced into a mirror, wondering why was she that skinny. True, she did forget to eat sometimes, and Michel was around very rarely to remind her, but she shouldn't be that lanky. Probably?

There was something comforting in the thought, in how ordinary was that. The other notion that occupied her mind slightly was that the suit she was wearing seemed different from the ones that she had seen before. Along her arms and spine, it was adorned with a line of small, metal disks, a very narrow hole driven through the middle of them, as if sockets for something. But she did not think too much of them, quickly leaving the room, walking past Koiso back towards that man that was in command. Samuel, that was his name.