- Pronouns
- He/Him
As Strypgia points out, Leliel did escalate this conflict massively by dragging the multiverse into it. Which has rather annoyed Lilith.
49 seconds in.
Broken Wings [NGE]
- Thread starter Teen Spirit
- Start date
49 seconds in.
Quadhelix
Professional Windmill Hunter
:lol Hallelujah! :lol (This is probably premature, isn't it)
(Amusing side note -- I was planning on adding a picture of rays of sunlight coming through the clouds. Then I remembered that, in an Eva thread, rays of light from heaven, accompanied by a chorus of "Hallelujah," has a significantly different connotation that it does elsewhere.
)In any case, I wonder how many of her Bad Decisions up to this point have come out of Misato thinking, basically, "The option that will let me sleep at night is the weak option, therefore the coward's option -- I'm a Hard Woman Making Hard Decisions."
I wonder if that's a good sign -- that at least some people are calling her "the Soryu kid" instead of "Zeruel," "the Empress's Angel," or some other moniker that emphasizes her angelic nature instead of her human identity.I have to admit, I have a hard time reaching a solid conclusion on whether Leliel managed to make the situation worse by dragging in the Eva pilots. On the one hand, it looks like she precipitated the conflict when she might have caused less trouble simply by going to WILLE, or the Empress, or somebody, and telling them, "Hey, BTW, Angels are still around, and they're planning something." On the other hand, I'm not sure how helpful that would have been when all of the existing Eva units were effectively scrap -- I mean, I suppose WILLE could have started trying to recruit Angels to take on the other Angels, but I'm not sure how effective of a plan that would be without WILLE tipping their hand.
Still, when you reach the conclusion "tear a hole in the fabric of reality in order to unleash the forces of the multiverse on an unsuspecting world" is your least-risky option, I think it's probably time to give a careful reassessment of your options.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's honestly hard to say if Leliel made the situation worse or not. Certainly she have done things better. By giving the Evangelions to WILLE she gave them probably the best asset for dealing with the Angels, but in doing so it caused Okito to leap off the deep end in sheer panic. And the angels are terrified of the Evangelions. Misato's Zealotry has helped Ramiel's argument a great deal but it's only because the threat Misato poses is backed up by Three Evangelions.
Before this all started most Angels assumed Ramiel and Okito were talking out of their asses or this was something decades down the line.
Then there's the fact that Leliel has kidnapped 5 people and forced them into a fight they never asked to be part of.
- Location
- Australia, mate
"I'm helping!"
You could just have the Angel do a Mako Mankanshoku speech.(Amusing side note -- I was planning on adding a picture of rays of sunlight coming through the clouds. Then I remembered that, in an Eva thread, rays of light from heaven, accompanied by a chorus of "Hallelujah," has a significantly different connotation that it does elsewhere.
Sorry, but now all I can think of is a Civilisation game where the top brass of NERV are the people you see on a diplomacy screen.
"Greetings from Ikari, Supreme Commander of the Geofront. Our words are backed with EVANGELIONS!"
- Location
- local group, mikyway, sol,sol-3,north america
https://78.media.tumblr.com/2af918d20f06fdef5d9355ca2b7d59af/tumblr_nq8lomPGVC1rjr6wxo1_1280.jpgOkito's the younger twin?
Quadhelix
Professional Windmill Hunter
I mean, on the one hand, that's a fair point. On the other hand, all five of them were already trapped in life-or-death battles of one variety or another, so it sort of seems like less of a kidnapping and more along the lines of Crappiest-Rescue Angel Leliel-chan.
There was an Evangelion faction set for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, but when I went to find it to show here, I found that the site that used to host it is now a dead link.Given a choice between this:
This:
Or this:
Which do you think Misato's likely to be driving?
We never did settle the "which generation of Mazda Cosmo does Misato drive" argument.
Do you think that you could please weigh in and settle this, Teen Spirit?
I'm asking because I am considering an inter-fanfiction Wacky Race, and I would like to include representation from this fic in it. Do any other characters drive interesting cars (note that they don't necessarily HAVE to be sports cars). Ria doesn't have a car of her own yet, does she?
What about the Ikari Era, what cars do they drive there?
Edit: She's not driving the Eunos Cosmo, is she?
Mazda Cosmo - Wikipedia
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm really not a car person so I don't know how much help I can be on this. At best I can say Misato drove the red one.
- Location
- supernatural
You need to make a side story about this, it's to good to not to see.
rofl:
- Location
- Surrey
You need to make a side story about this, it's to good to not to see.
That's literally just a Campus Apocalypse reference.
Chapter 16 Part 6
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Dimitri paced around his quarters, which in reality were little more than a slightly dressed up cell. He was trapped, unable to escape. More importantly, liberating the other Leliel seemed impossible right now. He had gone over every route he could think of. There was no way he could find and get to Leliel without assistance, and assistance required trust. Something he could not afford at the moment.
None of the others could be trusted, not even Sandalphon. If he did trust them and they betrayed him, or got careless, Ramiel would find out. And then his entire plan would be shot and more than likely, Ramiel would make it clear how... displeased he was.
Strangely, Dimitri was missing having Sachiel around, a sentiment he had never had once felt before and likely never would again. At least with that idiot around, he knew none of the other Angels would hurt him. Now, that was far from certain.
The steel door to his quarters shook with heavy knocking. Wearily, Dimitri opened it a crack.
Iruel was standing outside, a toothy half smile across his face. Dimitri looked him over through the small crack. He was thinner again, skin hanging on his body like a deflated balloon.
"What do you want?" Dimitri asked sharply.
Dimitri wanted little to do with the Angel of Fear at the best of times. This was not the best of times.
"I need your help," Iruel said evenly.
Dimitri narrowed his gaze.
"Why on Earth would I want to help you?" he questioned.
Going to WILLE again would seem like a safer option than helping Iruel.
Iruel pushed the door open, nearly knocking Dimitri over.
'Oh sure fine, walk right in. Wasn't like I had that door closed for a reason!' Dimitri thought.
The two stared at each other as Iruel closed the door behind him. Neither liked the other. Dimitri didn't hate him as much as Ramiel or Okito, but he was a close third. The fat bastard always seemed like he was up to something.
More so than the other Angels, at least.
"You'll help me because I'll help you," Iruel's voice dripped with false charm.
Dimitri found himself off put by the offer. Why would Iruel want to help him?
"I don't need help. I don't exactly have anything planned," he said flatly.
"Come come, dear Matarael, we both know you want that other Leliel out of here." Iruel chided
Matarael slammed his arm against Iruel's neck, pressing him against the wall.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't melt you right now." Dimitri threatened, his eyes blazing red.
If Iruel knew what he was doing he was screwed.
"I wasn't spying on you," Iruel insisted.
Dimitri glared at him "I don't believe you."
"You worked with Leliel," Iruel pointed out "You're here against your will and you tried to join WILLE. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that you'd want that girl out of here."
Dimitri backed off. Iruel gingerly rubbed his neck for a moment.
"And you expect me to believe that you want her out of here as well?" Dmitri snarled. To say he was skeptical would have been a profound understatement.
"I do actually," Iruel said as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his pants pocket.
Dimitri was profoundly confused.
"So what, you're siding with the Lilin now?" he snarked.
"Oh no, nothing that simple. It just so happens Leliel being out of here suits my needs as much it suits yours," Iruel said as he inhaled, the unpleasant smell of cheap tobacco filling the air.
"Just like Okito being captured served yours?" Dmitri observed.
It was pretty obvious that someone had set Sachiel up during that invasion, and who had more opportunity to do that than Iruel?
"The Third Angel's removal served everyone's interest, even if Ramiel refuses to realize that." Iruel noted dryily.
"You realize I have no reason to trust you in the slightest," Dimitri replied.
"Good," Iruel nodded. "Trust is useless here. What I'm offering is a deal based on mutual benefit. You want Leliel out of here, and Leliel not being here serves my interests quite well. So helping you serves me as much as it serves you."
If he was turning his back on Ramiel, and he had no apparent interest in helping the Lilim, what exactly was his plan?
"What are you offering?" Dimitri asked, dismayed that he was even considering any of this.
"Ramiel and the others are leaving soon for a plan of theirs. Security will be lighter around here for a few hours at least. I'll make sure you find the right doors open to you, and security... lighter than expected," Iruel explained.
He trusted the man less than he trusted a starved fox locked in a hen house. But the offer was undeniably tempting.
"If you're using me I will do everything I can to make sure you die, slowly," Dimitri said bluntly.
Iruel nodded. "Good. If you have the will to do that, you have the will to get the other Leliel out of this bunker."
This was a rather unexpected turn for Dimitri. It now seemed he actually had a chance to escape, to get out of here with Leliel and get back to his family. His mom no doubt was worried-
"Wait, what 'plan'?" he asked. "What is Ramiel doing?"
Iruel left, his only answer a knowing smile.
/
"So Asuka and you are on good terms again?" Ria's mother asked as they sat with Shinji in the break room.
Ria shrugged. "Sorta. More we're willing to start over."
"Well, it's progress," Asuka replied.
More progress than she had expected, if truth be told. While her other self was still in many ways an egotistical blowhard trying to cover up her own insecurities, she was in many ways now far more mature than Asuka herself had been at that point in her life.
"I take it my other self hasn't made the same offer?" Shinji asked.
Ria shook her head sadly. "Not even so much as a peep."
Shinji hated being lied to and misled, more so than most people. Asuka couldn't exactly blame him for being upset, even if his reaction was extreme.
And they were still keeping the truth from them on so many other things. The truth of the Evas, and everything about Rei for starters. One of these days they would have to set it right.
"Yo," a cheery voice said.
Asuka turned to see Kodama walking in, only her hair was a shocking blue in color.
"Hey, Koda," Ria said casually, before turning and staring wide eyed at her. "Wait, what did you do to your hair?"
"Ehh, I was trying out a new look," Koda said casually.
Koda walked up towards Ria and stuck out her hand. After a moment, Ria gave her an awkward fist bump.
Koda smiled broadly. "Alright. So what's up, Big Z?"
Ria glared at her. "Please don't call me that. Bad enough my girlfriend keeps emailing me angel puns. All of them." Ria smiled at the thought, though.
"Right, right, sorry," Koda said sheepishly.
"So why are you here, anyways?" Ria asked. "Thought we agreed to meet up downtown?"
Koda gave a half shrug. "We did, but my other self called and yelled at me, and that weirded me out, so I just needed to get out of the hotel room."
Asuka nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, dealing with another you is always awkward, particularly when they're angry at you."
"Agreed," Shinji added.
"So I figured might as well met up with you early. Was going to go down to see the trainwreck you call Okito but he's apparently a mess right now." Koda went on.
"Wait," Shinji interjected, "They let you in?"
That was surprising. Koda's existence and nature wasn't exactly a secret to WILLE.
"Well, they didn't want to at first. But my fath- Err, I mean Mr. Suzuhara intervened on my behalf at the front desk," Koda explained.
"Oh, I heard you got tased." she added. "Sorry to hear about that."
"Yeah, attempted assassinations suck," Ria said bitterly.
"No arguments here," Koda said sympathetically. "I remember the first time I encountered Shinji, er... well the Shinji from the Catholic school universe. He nearly shot me in the face."
Asuka stared at the girl in confusion. What the Hell had gone on in Koda's universe?
"Wait," Shinji said, "Touji let you in?"
That was unexpected. Touji hadn't exactly been friendly since Ria was found out. And he had to deal with everything Okito did to his family.
Koda nodded "Yep. Which reminds me, he actually wanted to talk to you, Mr. Ikari. I think it's half apology, half congratulating you on punching out that guy."
An apology, from Touji? Was it about Ria? Why was he apologizing to Shinji and not to her?
It was a step in the right direction at least.
"I'll... see him in a bit," Shinji said, rather puzzled.
"So how's Kyoko doing?" Asuka asked, concerned for her sort-of younger daughter.
"Moody," Koda replied. "Trying to convince her to at least see a movie with me or something but no go so far."
Well that was disheartening. Maybe they could try signalling Leliel again, beg her to let Kyoko go back home.
Asuka's thoughts were interrupted by a nearly deafening crack of thunder. They all jumped out of their seats in surprise.
She turned to see an all too familiar ball of glowing energy hovering high in the air, above the ruins of the last full battle.
"Damn it," Ria hissed.
"Son of a bitch!" Koda spat.
The ball expanded then disappeared as though the wind had blown it away.
Asuka stared in shock. It wasn't Shamshel that had appeared, or Sahaquiel.
The Angel above them was a figure of sharp angles, with a dazzlingly blue exterior shell.
It was Ramiel. The Fifth Angel had come to Japan.
None of the others could be trusted, not even Sandalphon. If he did trust them and they betrayed him, or got careless, Ramiel would find out. And then his entire plan would be shot and more than likely, Ramiel would make it clear how... displeased he was.
Strangely, Dimitri was missing having Sachiel around, a sentiment he had never had once felt before and likely never would again. At least with that idiot around, he knew none of the other Angels would hurt him. Now, that was far from certain.
The steel door to his quarters shook with heavy knocking. Wearily, Dimitri opened it a crack.
Iruel was standing outside, a toothy half smile across his face. Dimitri looked him over through the small crack. He was thinner again, skin hanging on his body like a deflated balloon.
"What do you want?" Dimitri asked sharply.
Dimitri wanted little to do with the Angel of Fear at the best of times. This was not the best of times.
"I need your help," Iruel said evenly.
Dimitri narrowed his gaze.
"Why on Earth would I want to help you?" he questioned.
Going to WILLE again would seem like a safer option than helping Iruel.
Iruel pushed the door open, nearly knocking Dimitri over.
'Oh sure fine, walk right in. Wasn't like I had that door closed for a reason!' Dimitri thought.
The two stared at each other as Iruel closed the door behind him. Neither liked the other. Dimitri didn't hate him as much as Ramiel or Okito, but he was a close third. The fat bastard always seemed like he was up to something.
More so than the other Angels, at least.
"You'll help me because I'll help you," Iruel's voice dripped with false charm.
Dimitri found himself off put by the offer. Why would Iruel want to help him?
"I don't need help. I don't exactly have anything planned," he said flatly.
"Come come, dear Matarael, we both know you want that other Leliel out of here." Iruel chided
Matarael slammed his arm against Iruel's neck, pressing him against the wall.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't melt you right now." Dimitri threatened, his eyes blazing red.
If Iruel knew what he was doing he was screwed.
"I wasn't spying on you," Iruel insisted.
Dimitri glared at him "I don't believe you."
"You worked with Leliel," Iruel pointed out "You're here against your will and you tried to join WILLE. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that you'd want that girl out of here."
Dimitri backed off. Iruel gingerly rubbed his neck for a moment.
"And you expect me to believe that you want her out of here as well?" Dmitri snarled. To say he was skeptical would have been a profound understatement.
"I do actually," Iruel said as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his pants pocket.
Dimitri was profoundly confused.
"So what, you're siding with the Lilin now?" he snarked.
"Oh no, nothing that simple. It just so happens Leliel being out of here suits my needs as much it suits yours," Iruel said as he inhaled, the unpleasant smell of cheap tobacco filling the air.
"Just like Okito being captured served yours?" Dmitri observed.
It was pretty obvious that someone had set Sachiel up during that invasion, and who had more opportunity to do that than Iruel?
"The Third Angel's removal served everyone's interest, even if Ramiel refuses to realize that." Iruel noted dryily.
"You realize I have no reason to trust you in the slightest," Dimitri replied.
"Good," Iruel nodded. "Trust is useless here. What I'm offering is a deal based on mutual benefit. You want Leliel out of here, and Leliel not being here serves my interests quite well. So helping you serves me as much as it serves you."
If he was turning his back on Ramiel, and he had no apparent interest in helping the Lilim, what exactly was his plan?
"What are you offering?" Dimitri asked, dismayed that he was even considering any of this.
"Ramiel and the others are leaving soon for a plan of theirs. Security will be lighter around here for a few hours at least. I'll make sure you find the right doors open to you, and security... lighter than expected," Iruel explained.
He trusted the man less than he trusted a starved fox locked in a hen house. But the offer was undeniably tempting.
"If you're using me I will do everything I can to make sure you die, slowly," Dimitri said bluntly.
Iruel nodded. "Good. If you have the will to do that, you have the will to get the other Leliel out of this bunker."
This was a rather unexpected turn for Dimitri. It now seemed he actually had a chance to escape, to get out of here with Leliel and get back to his family. His mom no doubt was worried-
"Wait, what 'plan'?" he asked. "What is Ramiel doing?"
Iruel left, his only answer a knowing smile.
/
"So Asuka and you are on good terms again?" Ria's mother asked as they sat with Shinji in the break room.
Ria shrugged. "Sorta. More we're willing to start over."
"Well, it's progress," Asuka replied.
More progress than she had expected, if truth be told. While her other self was still in many ways an egotistical blowhard trying to cover up her own insecurities, she was in many ways now far more mature than Asuka herself had been at that point in her life.
"I take it my other self hasn't made the same offer?" Shinji asked.
Ria shook her head sadly. "Not even so much as a peep."
Shinji hated being lied to and misled, more so than most people. Asuka couldn't exactly blame him for being upset, even if his reaction was extreme.
And they were still keeping the truth from them on so many other things. The truth of the Evas, and everything about Rei for starters. One of these days they would have to set it right.
"Yo," a cheery voice said.
Asuka turned to see Kodama walking in, only her hair was a shocking blue in color.
"Hey, Koda," Ria said casually, before turning and staring wide eyed at her. "Wait, what did you do to your hair?"
"Ehh, I was trying out a new look," Koda said casually.
Koda walked up towards Ria and stuck out her hand. After a moment, Ria gave her an awkward fist bump.
Koda smiled broadly. "Alright. So what's up, Big Z?"
Ria glared at her. "Please don't call me that. Bad enough my girlfriend keeps emailing me angel puns. All of them." Ria smiled at the thought, though.
"Right, right, sorry," Koda said sheepishly.
"So why are you here, anyways?" Ria asked. "Thought we agreed to meet up downtown?"
Koda gave a half shrug. "We did, but my other self called and yelled at me, and that weirded me out, so I just needed to get out of the hotel room."
Asuka nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, dealing with another you is always awkward, particularly when they're angry at you."
"Agreed," Shinji added.
"So I figured might as well met up with you early. Was going to go down to see the trainwreck you call Okito but he's apparently a mess right now." Koda went on.
"Wait," Shinji interjected, "They let you in?"
That was surprising. Koda's existence and nature wasn't exactly a secret to WILLE.
"Well, they didn't want to at first. But my fath- Err, I mean Mr. Suzuhara intervened on my behalf at the front desk," Koda explained.
"Oh, I heard you got tased." she added. "Sorry to hear about that."
"Yeah, attempted assassinations suck," Ria said bitterly.
"No arguments here," Koda said sympathetically. "I remember the first time I encountered Shinji, er... well the Shinji from the Catholic school universe. He nearly shot me in the face."
Asuka stared at the girl in confusion. What the Hell had gone on in Koda's universe?
"Wait," Shinji said, "Touji let you in?"
That was unexpected. Touji hadn't exactly been friendly since Ria was found out. And he had to deal with everything Okito did to his family.
Koda nodded "Yep. Which reminds me, he actually wanted to talk to you, Mr. Ikari. I think it's half apology, half congratulating you on punching out that guy."
An apology, from Touji? Was it about Ria? Why was he apologizing to Shinji and not to her?
It was a step in the right direction at least.
"I'll... see him in a bit," Shinji said, rather puzzled.
"So how's Kyoko doing?" Asuka asked, concerned for her sort-of younger daughter.
"Moody," Koda replied. "Trying to convince her to at least see a movie with me or something but no go so far."
Well that was disheartening. Maybe they could try signalling Leliel again, beg her to let Kyoko go back home.
Asuka's thoughts were interrupted by a nearly deafening crack of thunder. They all jumped out of their seats in surprise.
She turned to see an all too familiar ball of glowing energy hovering high in the air, above the ruins of the last full battle.
"Damn it," Ria hissed.
"Son of a bitch!" Koda spat.
The ball expanded then disappeared as though the wind had blown it away.
Asuka stared in shock. It wasn't Shamshel that had appeared, or Sahaquiel.
The Angel above them was a figure of sharp angles, with a dazzlingly blue exterior shell.
It was Ramiel. The Fifth Angel had come to Japan.
[Screams Geometrically]
This is gonna be a tricky fight. No time to set up anything like Operation Yashima, even if they already had a portable Positron Cannon and blast shield on hand, which they probably don't. I don't think the cannons in the defense net can draw enough power to punch through Ramiel's AT Field, even assuming Iruel doesn't screw with the system again, which he probably will. Hmm. Maybe if Koda goes full Angel she might be able to get up close enough to shiv Ramiel before he realizes she's not Okito? No, that won't work, she'd only get one shot at best and I seriously doubt Sachiel could one-shot Ramiel even if his AT Field was down.
- Location
- Australia
Koda can laserface as well, you know.
Remind me which angels can't laserface?
Matariel, Leliel, and Sandalphon.
- Location
- supernatural
This is what I am imagining what an infected Hikari looks like when the truth is reveal.
Minus the plus suit.
Minus the plus suit.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I mean they have weapons on par with the Positron cannon Asuka tried to use in the Arael fight. And admittedly something like Operation Yashima wouldn't work now because Ramiel would attack Unit-01 as it was setting up.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Ew. And I guess using his 'Imma hacking Angel!' powers eats at him directly?
Yeah, that's one Hell of a bomb to be sitting on... Especially if they ever figure out a way for them to go back. How fast would canon have gone off the rails if Shinji and Asuka had #1) had a good reason to lean on each other as trusted friends, and #2) known all about SEELE, the Scenario, the Angels, and Rei's nature?
Look, Campus Apocalypse was a weird ride...
Awakening burns a lot of energy. Burning his fat reserves like that is probably helpful for extending his up-time and reducing how many calories he needs to consume to quiet the gnawing hunger afterward.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If they found a way back...well for starters Misato would probably come along with them, and probably bring a few others as well, to make sure Gendo Ikari is dealt with and the kids aren't immediately in danger. But even if Just Y!Asuka and Shinji had to go back by themselves, things would derail immediately even with what they know now.
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- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Oh, definitely. Hell, just telling Misato alone what they know might get her to shoot him immediately, between 'He's planning to end the world' and 'He and his friends set your dad up to die, along with 3 billion other people'.
Chapter 17 Part 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Chapter 17: Astraphobia
Seeing Ramiel in his full form was a surreal experience. There was nothing organic about its shape, no soft edges or curves, nothing resembling flesh. In his true form, Ramiel looked more like a machine than anything else.
Still, for Shamshel it was a glorious sight. Today was the day she had been waiting for. Today they would make the Lilim pay, today they would save Sachiel.
Regret pained her. Okitio may have been an oaf, but he was a friend. A friend Maria hadn't been the best to. A friend she could have saved if she had been by his side during the assault.
Something still bugged her about that mission. What was Ramiel trying to gain by kidnapping the true pilots? And why had none of them been able to save Okito?
She tried to push it out of her head. She had greater things to focus on.
She stood up, a few of her toes hanging over the edge of the building and it was quite a ways down. Not as far as the fall down WILLE had been, but far enough to hurt.
She took a step back
"Are you ready?" Israfel asked through her earpiece.
"I'm ready," Shamshel confirmed. "You know, Leliel is probably going to pull something again."
Part of her wondered if they were insane for doing this as long as Leliel, the real Leliel, was out there.
"Even if she can. We're prepared this time. There will be no surprises this time," Israfel insisted.
/
"What do we have that can actually hurt the damn thing?" Misato asked urgently as she walked in the Command room.
"We just finished an Eva-Scale Positron Rifle. It's pretty much the same as the Mark 2 we used back in the day." Ibuki replied.
"That requires being attached to the city's power supply and with the set up required... whoever used it would be a sitting duck," Sub-Commander Soryu observed.
"We're a sitting duck right now and he's not attacking," Misato noted.
"Because he's baiting us," Soryu replied. "Or he knows if he actually kills us the Government is going to respond to every Angel attack with N2 Mines."
Ahh yes, nothing like knowing that if they failed the back up plan was desperate scorched-earth tactics.
"Have the Positron Rifle ready to launch but keep it in reserve for now," Misato ordered. "Have Unit-00 equipped with the Sniper Rifle. Have Unit-01 and Unit-02 given a standard heavy loadout. We don't know what other Angels are going to appear, and at this point we have to assume they will."
There's no way it was just Ramiel attacking. Others would appear. Maybe two, maybe a half dozen. Misato wasn't going to depend on another miracle to save them.
Particularly since those miracles came from the Angel Leliel.
The Command Room was alive with activity now, every station manned and operating.
"How many defenses worth noting are operational?" Soryu asked.
"Two Positron Cannons are functional," Maya replied.
"How protected are they from another hack?" the Sub-Commander said.
"The cannons will only fire with an order from WILLE or the Government and multiple redundancies have been installed," Maya explained.
The security was probably why only two of them had been rebuilt, just too time consuming.
Between the two turrets they might be able to break Ramiel's AT-Field, giving the Pilots a chance to actually get at the Angel himself.
"Unit-02's Synchronization Rate is holding at 70%," a tech called out.
"Unit-01 and Unit-00 are each holding at 75%," another added.
Misato looked around, Ritsuko was very curiously absent. She must have been held up or something.
Misato turned her attention to the Pilots.
"Are you all ready?" she asked over the radio.
"Let's get on with it," Asuka groaned.
"Ready, ma'am." Shinji replied.
"We are fully prepared, General," Rei said.
Misato was quitely grateful they had waited so long to attack like this again. Any sooner and they would have been stuck deploying them one by one.
She braced herself for what was about to come, breathing in deeply.
"Evas, Launch!" she shouted.
/
'This was how things should be,' Asuka decided.
No more angst, no more bullshit or confusion. Just the smell of LCL, her connection to Unit-02, and the looming thrill of battle.
Asuka was in her element now. She was where she belonged, on the battlefield.
Unit-02 rose to street level, Shinji and Rei arriving behind her. Ramiel hovering in the air ahead of them, no sign of it preparing to attack or do anything. It was just hovering there.
Asuka had reviewed video of the original operation against the Angel plenty of times. If it wanted to it could have blasted them the moment they appeared. It was waiting though. But for what?
As if on cue the tell-tale orange ball of light that signaled the arrival of another angel appeared below Ramiel, then another light appeared to the left of him, then another above Ramiel, then one more close to the first ball of light.
Four more Angels appeared on the battlefield. Among them were the all too familiar forms of Shamshel and Israfel. The newcomers were a massive glowing double helix ring floating above Ramiel like a demented halo. It was Armisael, one of the last Angels to appear.
The other resembled some massive Pre-Cambrian creature. A flat, fish-like greyish green body with two long claw limbs, two goofy looking eyes set to the far left side of what passed for it's head, and a very fish like tail. Only the tail seemed to be mutating from the moment it appeared, separating into two legs.
'Is that the Angel I saw in the Volcano?' Asuka wondered briefly.
"Oh Scheiße," she heard her other self mutter over the radio.
"What?" Asuka asked.
"Do not let Armisael near your Evangelions at any cost," she warned. "It can merge with and corrupt them."
"We are aware of that," Wondergirl replied evenly. "But thank you for the reminder."
'All right, 3 on 5. Not great but I got this, we have this.' Asuka assured herself.
The Angels, save for Ramiel, charged towards the Evas, Israfel splitting into it's two different colored halves. Shamshel glided along the ground, it's whips spinning as it moved, slicing up new construction. Armisael condensed itself into a single solid structure and plunged towards them like a massive glowing worm. Sandalphon ran on unstable legs, almost comically crashing into buildings and stumbling as it moved.
Asuka readied her two black swords, a feral grin appearing on her face. Besides her Shinji leveled his magnetic crossbow and Ayanami fired two shots out of her sniper rifle.
The shots hit their target, bringing Sandalphon crashing to the ground, a small chunk of it's torso blown off.
Then Asuka heard it. The unmistakable whine of something charging filled the air around their Evangelions.
"Scatter!" she urgently ordered.
The three Evangelions immediately separated, diving in three different directions.
A moment later the space where they had been was hit by a blast of energy from Ramiel.
Shamshel lunged towards Asuka as the twin halves of Israfel went after Shinji. Armisael spun in place above Rei as Sandalphon made it's way towards her.
'They're trying to seperate us,' Asuka realized.
A glowing whip of light struck near Asuka, ripping a half finished department store apart.
Asuka charged Shamshel, her swords at the ready.
The familiar charging whine of Ramiel's laser filled the air.
With a grunt of frustration, Asuka rolled Unit-02 out of the way, narrowly dodging the blast. Which only gave her a fraction of a second to get of the way of the attack Shamshel launched immediately afterwards.
/
Misato watched the scene repeat itself a number of times. Every time one of the pilots would get a chance to strike at one of the Angels, Ramiel or one of the others would lash out. Not at full power, just enough to be a threat, forcing the pilots to break off or dodge. Never giving them the chance to go on the attack or reorganize.
Misato found herself almost admiring the tactics. But that was buried under mountains of hate and worry.
They needed to go on the attack. They needed to kill one of these bastards.
There were the Positron Turrets. But the moment they used them, Ramiel would likely immediately destroy them. And that was assuming they weren't somehow corrupted.
When they used them they needed to make them count.
"What are they doing?" Soryu wondered.
"What do you mean?" Misato asked.
"The Angels…. They aren't pressing the attack. They aren't even trying to cut their umbilical cables. They're just... keeping them busy. So what are they trying to do?"
She was right, they may have denied the Evangelions any chance to attack, but they weren't capitalizing on that advantage at all. At the rate things were going, the Angels would run out of energy and be forced to retreat before they inflicted any damage.
'So what is their game? What are they trying to do with this attack?'
/
Ria paced up and down the hallway. Her nerves shot, fear and raw anger dueling within her. She wanted to kill Ramiel. She wanted to kill all of them, but it was painfully beyond her.
"I've done this before," Koda said. "It's not going to warp you or turn you into something you aren't."
"You're asking me to break into the Vault," Ria countered. "The General will not approve of giving me any part of our original bodies."
"Why do you care about that?" Koda asked.
"Because I don't have the time to fight my way there and I don't want Misato trying to argue I've gone rogue!" Ria shouted.
As much as she would love to get into that fight, as much as she felt a coward for staying here, the Vault was fortified and protected, even for her it would take some time to get there.
"Oh good, there you are."
Ria turned to see Dr. Akagi approaching them, a plastic bag with an unidentifiable thumb sized chunk of grey bone in her hand. Ria felt weird staring at the bone, deeply unsettled for reasons she couldn't place.
"You were looking for me?" Ria asked, puzzled.
Why would Akagi be looking for her, and now of all time?
Ritsuko spoke in a hurried tone "We don't have time so I'll be blunt. There's nothing in our arsenal that can hurt Ramiel, nothing that we'll stand a chance at setting up, anyways. We need an equally strong Angel to fight it. To put it simply we need Zeruel."
Ritsuko tossed the bag to Ria. Ria caught it. There was something intensely familiar about the bone, Ria found herself longing for... something.
"Is that...?" Koda said in naked shock.
"Yes. That is a chunk of Zeruel, specifically its bone mask," Ritsuko explained
Ria stared at it shock, nearly fumbling and dropping it before grapping onto it tightly.
This... this was her. Her original self. One of the few remaining fragments of the Might of God. It was just inert bone now, but Ria could almost feel the history of it. The assault on Tokyo-3, the battle inside Geofront.
Her death.
"You're giving it to me?" Ria was beyond confused.
"I don't trust you as much as the Sub-Commander does, but I do trust you far more than the General does," Ritsuko said calmly. "I know you want Ramiel and the others dead as much as I do. Now get out of here. You have to transform outside of WILLE or else this will raise far too many questions."
"I... I'll stay here and make sure no one tries to free Okito." Koda said.
"A smart move," Ritsuko agreed.
"Make sure you get your blood on it," Koda added nervously.
Ria looked at the bone again. "Will it hurt?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Koda replied, nodding.
Strangely that brought Ria comfort as she sprinted down the hall.
It didn't take her long to get outside. Soon enough she found herself standing on top of a half ruined apartment block. The wind whipping at her hair as she stared at the battle unfolding ahead of her.
She looked down at the bone, held gingerly in her hands. She was thrilled and terrified at once, so close to what she once was, yet hanging on the edge, hesitant to go that one step more.
'Stop being a coward. You need to do this, there is no other way,' she told herself.
Ria grabbed the bone like a knife,
"I am Zeruel, the Might of God," she chanted as she raised it up, her eyes closed. "I am the Fourteenth Angel, God's strength made manifest. By my hand Evas fell, by my hand cities burned. And by my hand Ramiel shall die!"
She drove the bone deep into her hand. Blood flowed freely, dripping onto the concrete below.
Sparks of electricity danced around her body as she shook in agony.
Her eyes opened, deep pools of black with blazing red irises. Then she rose into the air, seemingly weightless as the electricity enveloped her.
It grew outwards, expanding rapidly in moments into a huge ball of light.
/
Asuka caught the light of another Angel manifesting out of the corner of her eye.
'Gott in Himmel! Another one?!' Asuka thought as she sliced the tip off of one of Shamshel's whip arms.
'So who is it this time? Arael, Bardiel, that Tabris one?'
Asuka dodged as she heard Ramiel charging for another shot.
To her surprise, it wasn't aimed at her or Shinji or Wondergirl. It struck the still forming Angel.
Even more surprisingly, the shot bounced, deflecting upwards into the sky.
The fighting ground to a halt as the Angels stared at the newcomer.
The figure that emerged from the energy looked almost absurd. A bit taller than an Evangelion, but bulkier. With a small bone mask for a face and massive bony shoulders that jutted sharply off it's body. It's arms were large flat grey things, like segmented sheets of paper. And it's color scheme was garish mix of black, white and orange, with a massive red core in the center of it's chest.
It took a moment for Asuka to match the thing before her with the photos she had seen of all the Angels.
"Oooh..." Asuka said as she made the connection.
Zeruel had joined the battle.
Seeing Ramiel in his full form was a surreal experience. There was nothing organic about its shape, no soft edges or curves, nothing resembling flesh. In his true form, Ramiel looked more like a machine than anything else.
Still, for Shamshel it was a glorious sight. Today was the day she had been waiting for. Today they would make the Lilim pay, today they would save Sachiel.
Regret pained her. Okitio may have been an oaf, but he was a friend. A friend Maria hadn't been the best to. A friend she could have saved if she had been by his side during the assault.
Something still bugged her about that mission. What was Ramiel trying to gain by kidnapping the true pilots? And why had none of them been able to save Okito?
She tried to push it out of her head. She had greater things to focus on.
She stood up, a few of her toes hanging over the edge of the building and it was quite a ways down. Not as far as the fall down WILLE had been, but far enough to hurt.
She took a step back
"Are you ready?" Israfel asked through her earpiece.
"I'm ready," Shamshel confirmed. "You know, Leliel is probably going to pull something again."
Part of her wondered if they were insane for doing this as long as Leliel, the real Leliel, was out there.
"Even if she can. We're prepared this time. There will be no surprises this time," Israfel insisted.
/
"What do we have that can actually hurt the damn thing?" Misato asked urgently as she walked in the Command room.
"We just finished an Eva-Scale Positron Rifle. It's pretty much the same as the Mark 2 we used back in the day." Ibuki replied.
"That requires being attached to the city's power supply and with the set up required... whoever used it would be a sitting duck," Sub-Commander Soryu observed.
"We're a sitting duck right now and he's not attacking," Misato noted.
"Because he's baiting us," Soryu replied. "Or he knows if he actually kills us the Government is going to respond to every Angel attack with N2 Mines."
Ahh yes, nothing like knowing that if they failed the back up plan was desperate scorched-earth tactics.
"Have the Positron Rifle ready to launch but keep it in reserve for now," Misato ordered. "Have Unit-00 equipped with the Sniper Rifle. Have Unit-01 and Unit-02 given a standard heavy loadout. We don't know what other Angels are going to appear, and at this point we have to assume they will."
There's no way it was just Ramiel attacking. Others would appear. Maybe two, maybe a half dozen. Misato wasn't going to depend on another miracle to save them.
Particularly since those miracles came from the Angel Leliel.
The Command Room was alive with activity now, every station manned and operating.
"How many defenses worth noting are operational?" Soryu asked.
"Two Positron Cannons are functional," Maya replied.
"How protected are they from another hack?" the Sub-Commander said.
"The cannons will only fire with an order from WILLE or the Government and multiple redundancies have been installed," Maya explained.
The security was probably why only two of them had been rebuilt, just too time consuming.
Between the two turrets they might be able to break Ramiel's AT-Field, giving the Pilots a chance to actually get at the Angel himself.
"Unit-02's Synchronization Rate is holding at 70%," a tech called out.
"Unit-01 and Unit-00 are each holding at 75%," another added.
Misato looked around, Ritsuko was very curiously absent. She must have been held up or something.
Misato turned her attention to the Pilots.
"Are you all ready?" she asked over the radio.
"Let's get on with it," Asuka groaned.
"Ready, ma'am." Shinji replied.
"We are fully prepared, General," Rei said.
Misato was quitely grateful they had waited so long to attack like this again. Any sooner and they would have been stuck deploying them one by one.
She braced herself for what was about to come, breathing in deeply.
"Evas, Launch!" she shouted.
/
'This was how things should be,' Asuka decided.
No more angst, no more bullshit or confusion. Just the smell of LCL, her connection to Unit-02, and the looming thrill of battle.
Asuka was in her element now. She was where she belonged, on the battlefield.
Unit-02 rose to street level, Shinji and Rei arriving behind her. Ramiel hovering in the air ahead of them, no sign of it preparing to attack or do anything. It was just hovering there.
Asuka had reviewed video of the original operation against the Angel plenty of times. If it wanted to it could have blasted them the moment they appeared. It was waiting though. But for what?
As if on cue the tell-tale orange ball of light that signaled the arrival of another angel appeared below Ramiel, then another light appeared to the left of him, then another above Ramiel, then one more close to the first ball of light.
Four more Angels appeared on the battlefield. Among them were the all too familiar forms of Shamshel and Israfel. The newcomers were a massive glowing double helix ring floating above Ramiel like a demented halo. It was Armisael, one of the last Angels to appear.
The other resembled some massive Pre-Cambrian creature. A flat, fish-like greyish green body with two long claw limbs, two goofy looking eyes set to the far left side of what passed for it's head, and a very fish like tail. Only the tail seemed to be mutating from the moment it appeared, separating into two legs.
'Is that the Angel I saw in the Volcano?' Asuka wondered briefly.
"Oh Scheiße," she heard her other self mutter over the radio.
"What?" Asuka asked.
"Do not let Armisael near your Evangelions at any cost," she warned. "It can merge with and corrupt them."
"We are aware of that," Wondergirl replied evenly. "But thank you for the reminder."
'All right, 3 on 5. Not great but I got this, we have this.' Asuka assured herself.
The Angels, save for Ramiel, charged towards the Evas, Israfel splitting into it's two different colored halves. Shamshel glided along the ground, it's whips spinning as it moved, slicing up new construction. Armisael condensed itself into a single solid structure and plunged towards them like a massive glowing worm. Sandalphon ran on unstable legs, almost comically crashing into buildings and stumbling as it moved.
Asuka readied her two black swords, a feral grin appearing on her face. Besides her Shinji leveled his magnetic crossbow and Ayanami fired two shots out of her sniper rifle.
The shots hit their target, bringing Sandalphon crashing to the ground, a small chunk of it's torso blown off.
Then Asuka heard it. The unmistakable whine of something charging filled the air around their Evangelions.
"Scatter!" she urgently ordered.
The three Evangelions immediately separated, diving in three different directions.
A moment later the space where they had been was hit by a blast of energy from Ramiel.
Shamshel lunged towards Asuka as the twin halves of Israfel went after Shinji. Armisael spun in place above Rei as Sandalphon made it's way towards her.
'They're trying to seperate us,' Asuka realized.
A glowing whip of light struck near Asuka, ripping a half finished department store apart.
Asuka charged Shamshel, her swords at the ready.
The familiar charging whine of Ramiel's laser filled the air.
With a grunt of frustration, Asuka rolled Unit-02 out of the way, narrowly dodging the blast. Which only gave her a fraction of a second to get of the way of the attack Shamshel launched immediately afterwards.
/
Misato watched the scene repeat itself a number of times. Every time one of the pilots would get a chance to strike at one of the Angels, Ramiel or one of the others would lash out. Not at full power, just enough to be a threat, forcing the pilots to break off or dodge. Never giving them the chance to go on the attack or reorganize.
Misato found herself almost admiring the tactics. But that was buried under mountains of hate and worry.
They needed to go on the attack. They needed to kill one of these bastards.
There were the Positron Turrets. But the moment they used them, Ramiel would likely immediately destroy them. And that was assuming they weren't somehow corrupted.
When they used them they needed to make them count.
"What are they doing?" Soryu wondered.
"What do you mean?" Misato asked.
"The Angels…. They aren't pressing the attack. They aren't even trying to cut their umbilical cables. They're just... keeping them busy. So what are they trying to do?"
She was right, they may have denied the Evangelions any chance to attack, but they weren't capitalizing on that advantage at all. At the rate things were going, the Angels would run out of energy and be forced to retreat before they inflicted any damage.
'So what is their game? What are they trying to do with this attack?'
/
Ria paced up and down the hallway. Her nerves shot, fear and raw anger dueling within her. She wanted to kill Ramiel. She wanted to kill all of them, but it was painfully beyond her.
"I've done this before," Koda said. "It's not going to warp you or turn you into something you aren't."
"You're asking me to break into the Vault," Ria countered. "The General will not approve of giving me any part of our original bodies."
"Why do you care about that?" Koda asked.
"Because I don't have the time to fight my way there and I don't want Misato trying to argue I've gone rogue!" Ria shouted.
As much as she would love to get into that fight, as much as she felt a coward for staying here, the Vault was fortified and protected, even for her it would take some time to get there.
"Oh good, there you are."
Ria turned to see Dr. Akagi approaching them, a plastic bag with an unidentifiable thumb sized chunk of grey bone in her hand. Ria felt weird staring at the bone, deeply unsettled for reasons she couldn't place.
"You were looking for me?" Ria asked, puzzled.
Why would Akagi be looking for her, and now of all time?
Ritsuko spoke in a hurried tone "We don't have time so I'll be blunt. There's nothing in our arsenal that can hurt Ramiel, nothing that we'll stand a chance at setting up, anyways. We need an equally strong Angel to fight it. To put it simply we need Zeruel."
Ritsuko tossed the bag to Ria. Ria caught it. There was something intensely familiar about the bone, Ria found herself longing for... something.
"Is that...?" Koda said in naked shock.
"Yes. That is a chunk of Zeruel, specifically its bone mask," Ritsuko explained
Ria stared at it shock, nearly fumbling and dropping it before grapping onto it tightly.
This... this was her. Her original self. One of the few remaining fragments of the Might of God. It was just inert bone now, but Ria could almost feel the history of it. The assault on Tokyo-3, the battle inside Geofront.
Her death.
"You're giving it to me?" Ria was beyond confused.
"I don't trust you as much as the Sub-Commander does, but I do trust you far more than the General does," Ritsuko said calmly. "I know you want Ramiel and the others dead as much as I do. Now get out of here. You have to transform outside of WILLE or else this will raise far too many questions."
"I... I'll stay here and make sure no one tries to free Okito." Koda said.
"A smart move," Ritsuko agreed.
"Make sure you get your blood on it," Koda added nervously.
Ria looked at the bone again. "Will it hurt?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Koda replied, nodding.
Strangely that brought Ria comfort as she sprinted down the hall.
It didn't take her long to get outside. Soon enough she found herself standing on top of a half ruined apartment block. The wind whipping at her hair as she stared at the battle unfolding ahead of her.
She looked down at the bone, held gingerly in her hands. She was thrilled and terrified at once, so close to what she once was, yet hanging on the edge, hesitant to go that one step more.
'Stop being a coward. You need to do this, there is no other way,' she told herself.
Ria grabbed the bone like a knife,
"I am Zeruel, the Might of God," she chanted as she raised it up, her eyes closed. "I am the Fourteenth Angel, God's strength made manifest. By my hand Evas fell, by my hand cities burned. And by my hand Ramiel shall die!"
She drove the bone deep into her hand. Blood flowed freely, dripping onto the concrete below.
Sparks of electricity danced around her body as she shook in agony.
Her eyes opened, deep pools of black with blazing red irises. Then she rose into the air, seemingly weightless as the electricity enveloped her.
It grew outwards, expanding rapidly in moments into a huge ball of light.
/
Asuka caught the light of another Angel manifesting out of the corner of her eye.
'Gott in Himmel! Another one?!' Asuka thought as she sliced the tip off of one of Shamshel's whip arms.
'So who is it this time? Arael, Bardiel, that Tabris one?'
Asuka dodged as she heard Ramiel charging for another shot.
To her surprise, it wasn't aimed at her or Shinji or Wondergirl. It struck the still forming Angel.
Even more surprisingly, the shot bounced, deflecting upwards into the sky.
The fighting ground to a halt as the Angels stared at the newcomer.
The figure that emerged from the energy looked almost absurd. A bit taller than an Evangelion, but bulkier. With a small bone mask for a face and massive bony shoulders that jutted sharply off it's body. It's arms were large flat grey things, like segmented sheets of paper. And it's color scheme was garish mix of black, white and orange, with a massive red core in the center of it's chest.
It took a moment for Asuka to match the thing before her with the photos she had seen of all the Angels.
"Oooh..." Asuka said as she made the connection.
Zeruel had joined the battle.