Cast in Gold - Evangelion/Exalted
- Thread starter Shyft
- Start date
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
Yeah, I caught on towards the end that it must be Mari, with the english accent coming through. I suppose the answer as to how her mech is able to emit an AT field might be, the machine itself act as a conductor/booster, with Mari initializing and forming the field. She might have undergone biological augmentation with material from Adam or Kaworu- its implied that SEELE had developed dummy plugs for the MPEVAs after all, so there is the possibility of access. Or perhaps, she sychronizes with a dummyplug, only to generate the ATF, and then she controls her mecha "conventionally".
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
That's a lot of ends.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Oh, you think this is the end. You're adorable~.
Thank you!
Thank you as well, and yeah; I don't mean to underplay how important a Solar Exalt is or can be, but this sequence was really always meant to be a Teamwork Fuck Yeah moment.
As for cut off, well... The invasion's been going on for about 10 weeks give or take, since the SEELE ninjas.
There has been years of (badly implemented) foreshadowing leading to this point. I am so happy it will finally pay off, even if only weakly, like a damp squib.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So in addition to acutally writing, I'm debating if I should try reposting an entirely new thread for CiG that has all of the scenes/chapters posted in proper order and in one place- FF.net wouldn't be affected by this either way, but I re-read Chapter 38 and i realized that quite a lot of people may not have SEEN most of it.
I'm in no rush to do any of this and I may decide not to. I'd have to resist the urge to rewrite the earliest scenes/chapters as well.
I'm in no rush to do any of this and I may decide not to. I'd have to resist the urge to rewrite the earliest scenes/chapters as well.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
There's no point, only a few chapters are in this thread.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Having finally found a place to stop and take root, Misato felt every inch like a statue. Her limbs were heavy stone and she felt the spreading cracks where she made the mistake of fighting her newfound sedentary lifestyle. It was the kind of tired that made her want to haul her fantastic ass up to that rooftop hot spring and soak. Misato slapped her face and dragged her hands down both grit-smeared cheeks and exhaled. The command center was a riot, boiling with her senior staff fielding calls and executing orders at all sides. Makoto had slumped down in his seat, not even bothering to drop his combat gear from earlier.
That being said, she didn't have to fake the smile on her face or in her voice. "Great work Pilots, head back to base. General Kirishima, I want you to work with General Ishida. We need to get everyone inside the Geofront now while we still can."
On the big screen, Misato watched Shinji give the camera a particularly cheesy thumbs up towards the camera. "On our way, Misato- what about Jet Alone?"
"They're welcome too, though they'll be under guard until we can fully verify." Misato glanced at Maya, who gave her a quick nod of confirmation. "We'll have a spot for them, don't worry."
Over the radio, General Ishida's voice had a particular bark to it, a snappy urgency that reminded Misato of small dogs with lots of fight. "Major Katsuragi, it's a pleasure and surprise to hear from you and the Geofront. It's pretty bad out there."
"How bad, General?" She had to ask, even if it was only to confirm the worst projections.
"As far as we can tell, these things have covered Japan all the way from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and reports from the mainland before long-range radio went down." Ishida declared, and the MAGI provided a map of Japan, cast on the main projector next to the pilot feeds. "It's likely a world-wide event."
Shit. Misato resisted the urge to bite her lip. "Well, we're glad for the reinforcements, General Ishida. We'll make sure you and your people get a chance to rest."
"My staff and I will make everyone is up to speed." Kirishima ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair.
Misato nodded and let the men with stars on their shoulders get down to business. That was fine with her, gladly taking a metaphorical step back while her muscles stiffened with a violent twinge. She couldn't just up and leave, but she could stand tall and play the part of with-it leader. Being a figurehead wasn't so bad for the moment. She wished she could have looked better doing it though.
With the JSSDF taking care of itself, Misato considered NERV's problems. The walking castle was still perched over Tokyo-3, stumbling listlessly but otherwise undeniably present. She was already considering plans on how to take it down, but she needed to talk to her pilots first, and the dozen surviving VTOL pilots who had covered Rei and Kaworu on the approach. NERV owed them a lot more than just a hospital bed.
"So you're telling me it's all screwed? All of Japan" Asuka moaned, coming off a little off-kilter but otherwise fine.
"A little! We found holdouts in places like historical sites, temples, or places with real clever survivors." NERV and the MAGI didn't have a video feed to the Jet Alone Pilot, and their voice was distorted, flanging. They sounded young. "We honestly weren't sure you guys would have even been here, as opposed to salvage. It's been a bad few months for everybody, you know?"
Asuka slumped woozily in her plug, but managed to muster a glare in what Misato assumed was Jet Alone's general direction. "It doesn't engender a lot of trust when one of the first things out of your mouth is saying you were here to loot our corpses!"
Vespa, that was their callsign- crooned sweetly despite the electronic masking. It certainly didn't sound like any military-minded designation outside of eighties action films. There was a distinct possibility that Vespa was a civilian, and all the risks that implied.
Jet Alone's pilot didn't seem to notice Asuka's ire. "Don't be so sore! Given the circumstances, the smash-and-grab we had in mind was supremely respectful!"
* * *
The cages were packed with technicians and engineers at every console and station. Others waited, tense and ready for the order to move. Shinji scrubbed his face more out of habit than anything, before tugging the damp towel off his neck. Of the pilots, Kensuke looked the worst. Nausea had been written plain on his face in bold block letters, and he moaned around the toothbrush in his mouth. Shinji and the more experienced pilots had figured out their own post-deployment coping mechanisms. Asuka and Rei nursed bottles of water, while Nagisa preferred to chew gum.
Soldiers charged in as the cage walls opened to admit their latest guest, ones Shinji recognized as verified Geofront defenders. They could see past Unit-00 and 04, where Jet Alone shambled in. The catapults weren't compatible, so Vespa had to walk in. A knot of senior techs and crew pressed past the pilots on the gantry, and Misato appeared as crowds parted. Shinji had about two seconds to acknowledge the fact that she was wearing the salvaged magical breastplate before she scooped him, Rei and Asuka up in a hug.
"So. Proud. Of. You!" Shinji felt more like an anvil against Misato's hammer, but Asuka and Rei didn't seem to mind the crushing embrace.
Misato took a step back, and even disheveled plus wearing half the battlefield in her hair she never looked better. "Nagisa-kun, Aida-kun, you were both excellent out there."
Nagisa just offered her a graceful little bow, while Kensuke gingerly spat into the mug in his hand. "T-Thank you, Major Katsuragi. I think I'll uh... stick to the labs for now."
"Not all awesome and glory huh?" Asuka gave his arm a playful jab and smirked. "You did good out there, Newbie. We can practice more in the simulators later."
Sheepishly, Kensuke glanced low and away before going back to scrubbing his teeth. "Just... might need a bigger gun next time."
Feeling a silly little grin work its way across his face, Shinji let out a quiet laugh. There wasn't any particular need to speak up yet, but he gave Misato a reassuring sidelong squeeze. An all-clear announcement rang out from the far end of the cages. Vespa was clear to disembark. Misato was the first to pull forward, tugging Shinji along while the other pilots followed.
Jet Alone was an undeniably human work of engineering. He'd heard of a Jet Alone project, and one of the designers had visited NERV a few months ago, maybe a year ago- Shinji wasn't sure. It was before Misato and Asuka had left for the Pacific at least. As for the machine itself, it was distinctly masculine, with narrow hips and broad shoulders at the top of a conical body. A lot of work had gone into the design, but Shinji saw dozens of compromises and strange shortcuts, highlighted by a touch of his personal reserve. Without knowing how an Eva manifested an AT-field, he couldn't even begin to guess at how Jet Alone did.
While he and the others got closer, Jet Alone's turret-head spun around in its neck and ascended, revealing a cavity where an armored sphere rested within. Devices inside the machine pushed the spherical cockpit outside, before a winch and pulley lowered it down to gantry level. A section of the sphere spun around the vertical axis before a ramp unfurled, slamming down onto the platform with a clang and billowing gust of pressurized mist.
Misato's hand settled on her holstered sidearm, while the activity in the cages slowed to an attentive crawl. Shinji and the others were facing the side of the sphere, close enough to see one small hand grip the edge, then another before Vespa appeared. When one long leg hit the ramp, all Shinji could think of was Orpheus in the Underworld while Offenbach's Infernal Galop echoed in his mind.
She- the form-fitting pilot suit made that unimaginably obvious- skipped and gamboled down the ramp on the balls of her feet, trailing cables and pilot harness as she went. Some of her trailing ends popped off of their own accord, complete with electric crackles and metallic pings, but others she had to pull from her arms and spine. The helmet enclosed her head completely, and she scanned the crowd until she settled on Shinji and the other obviously plugsuited pilots.
Bouncing, on her toes and elsewhere, she raised her hands with wave and flanging laugh before she started walking. "I'm Vespa! Lemme- hrk!"
Two more plugs were still socketed into her helmet, and she jerked to a sudden stop. Shinji wasn't sure if she was a teenager or young woman yet, but she acted young at least. Vespa reached behind her head and pulled the jacks out without much fanfare, revealing long spikes as long as his hand. Shinji frowned at that, making a quick estimation of her helmet's dimensions and the likely proportions of her skull...
As she dropped the last cable, Vespa's mask split apart at the bottom into thirds, showing off a cute jaw and a curling, cat-like grin. It took Shinji a second to notice they'd all gotten close enough for introductions, and he was dimly aware of Misato's sly smile and the fitful, plastic crackling sound of Asuka strangling her bottle of water.
"Can't see a thing in this helmet- there we go!" Vespa popped the rest of the helmet off and shook her chestnut brown hair free, letting twin tails fall over her shoulders. Cradling her gear under one arm, she thrust her other fist in the air and beamed. "I am Mari Illustrious Makinami, NHIS test pilot!"
Laughing, Misato added a grin to her introduction, waving at Shinji and the others. "Major Katsuragi, NERV Tactical Operations Director. My pilots."
"Ayanami Rei, First Child." Rei offered the new girl a small, earnest smile. Her voice was almost lost amidst calls for tools and material from all around.
"Right, you were in the orange Eva, who was in the black one?" Vespa- now Makinami-san looked from pilot to pilot, visibly curious. She pulled a pair of glasses out from her suit and put them on with an practiced flick.
With the red-framed glasses in place, Shinji couldn't help but think she looked familiar. The crews all across the cages running emergency maintenance seemed to ignore the light-hearted intruige brewing amongst their elites and command staff, but Shinji knew they were hanging on every word and gesture as grist for the rumor mill. Human nature found strength in the strangest places.
The grey-haired pilot raised his hand, and Shinji was nearly certain the other boy was fighting a full-blow fit of hysterical laughter. He wiped his eyes and nose with a finger and found his voice. "Nagisa Kaworu, Fourth Children."
"Aida Kensuke, temporary pilot. Envy of men, lover of women." The sandy-haired boy mumbled deadpan past his mug and toothbrush, and Shinji felt a smile break out at the wide-eyed look on Makinami-san's face.
Rei eased back in, giving the giggling Nagisa a sideways look before adding "That is not an exaggeration, Aida-kun has the most dating experience of all of us."
"Master of the awkward first impression, too." Asuka huffed at Kensuke before turning to Makinami-san with an offered hand. "Asuka Langley Sorhyu, Second Child and pilot of Unit-02."
"The awesome red one?" Makinami-san's eyes were shining behind her glasses. She grabbed Asuka's hand with a squeal, beaming. "You and it were amazing! "
Asuka seemed to soak up the praise like a thirsty sponge, but then she frowned and folded her arms over her chest, drumming her fingers along one bicep. One eyebrow arched high. "Gotta ask- why Vespa?"
Instead of answering directly, Makinami-san just planted her free hand on her waist and rocked her hips side to side, letting a playful little smirk stretch across her lips. A few of the younger technicians and civilian volunteers hauled long spools of industrial cable across the gantry, giving her an appreciative eye over as they passed. She answered with a flirty little wink, giggling.
"Oh she'll fit in just fine around here." Misato laughed while Asuka let out a miserable, exasperated groan. The older woman crossed her arms under her chest, and Shinji caught her little sidelong glance. He shook his head with a matching, wry grin. Incorrigible.
Kensuke smiled weakly, and his tone was fairly speculative. "So now we have three lady pilots, three gentlemen pilots...?"
"Did we save the tastiest looking gentleman pilot for last?" Makinami-san turned and focused every inch of her attention on Shinji, and he could feel that unmistakable weight of interest even as he faced her. "I hope you're the most senior pilot. Perhaps we could arrange something of a private, joint debriefing~?"
"Oh God," Asuka rolled her good eye let out another overly dramatic, put-upon moan. "Kill me now. Four-eyes, his girlfriend is still lost out there."
The mood in their little section of the gantry floor and the bubbly look on Makinami-san's face evaporated almost instantly. Misato and Rei both shot Shinji a rueful, apologetic looks paired with wan little smiles.
Makinami-san meanwhile stood up straighter, face paling save for two red spots on her cheeks. "I- I'm sorry I didn't know. I'll... I'll help! If something comes up I'll twist Tokita's arm and get out there with you."
"It's okay." Shinji rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "It's not like people can tell I'm involved with someone just by looking. We're going to save her- and everyone else we can."
"I getcha. I can't be afraid to take that risk, have to live a little." Makinami-san winked, bouncing back to beaming cheerfulness fairly quickly. "Your status aside, I stand by what I said though~"
Shinji just laughed at her lilting purr, shaking his head. She was lively, that was for certain. Makinami-san took a moment to stow her helmet in Jet Alone's cockpit before skipping back to chat with Nagisa and Rei, thanking them both for their help with a fire-breathing metal dinosaur king. Shinji found himself towering next to Asuka, noting that her head came up to somewhere around the middle of his bicep.
"What is she," Asuka mumbled under her breath."Made of fetishes?"
To that, Shinji could only give a quiet laugh. "...Like you're not, Asuka."
She looked up at him with a saucer-wide incredulous blue eye. "...Touche, golden boy. I never gave you permission to call me by name, by the way."
Shinji just shrugged, nudging her with an elbow. "I can't just call you Sorhyu anymore. I like you too much for that."
Teetering, Asuka gave off another characteristic huff, but she shot him a toothy, fierce and honest smile. "That's not how you address a superior officer."
While Makinami-san attempted to endear herself to the NERV staff and engineers crawling over her machine, Shinji turned to check what they were doing with the Evangelions. Units 00 through 04 were back in their launch cradles, socketed to power while repair teams cut away damaged armor as fast as they dared. Hot work like that was risky, or so Ritsuko told him. There was always a chance an Eva might scratch a particular itch, be it a saw or cutting torch. Either way, they had to be ready for the next sortie.
"Makinami-san." Misato gently tugged the girl's attention back to her, raising her voice over the sudden screech of industrial tools. "I'd like to hear about how you and your JSSDF associates got here, just an overview for now."
Biting her lip, Makinami-san fiddled with the arm of her glasses. "I'm not the best one to ask, but my NHIS engineering group linked up with the JSSDF stationed out of Tokyo-2, and we came in to Hakone from the south-east over the hills..."
"Hills?" Asuka cut in, pausing as someone ordered an armor plate detatched by explosive bolts. Everyone clamped their hands over their ears before carring on, though Makinami-san was a touch slow. "You didn't pass by the lake?"
The new girl dropped her hands by her side and shook her head. "We had planned to use the roadway into the city, but the ones we found were completely warped and sheared off, like someone grabbed the whole region and twisted."
Nagisa rejoined the conversation with a slight frown. "Twisted around? So are you sure that we're still...?"
She just shrugged. "I'm ambidextrous, so I can' t really say- but! As far as we can tell, its just been you guys here in the little Hakone valley."
At that declaration, Shinji watched as five pairs of eyes turned to stare at him, unmistakably demanding an answer. Makinami-san joined in, though more curious and confused than anything. Honestly, one crisis at a time.
After a long, studied pause, Shinji just threw up his hands. "After all this, yes, I'm sure it's possible!"
That apparently satisfied Misato. She clapped her hands twice and fixed her pilots with a look, nodding kindly to Makinami-san before speaking. "Alright boys and girls, I want you all to get some rest. We're going on the offensive in less than six hours, so I need you all ready to go. Take a bath, eat a big meal, steamy makeouts- whatever you need to get ready, do it."
"Offensive?" Asuka's grin was particularly savage. "What's the plan?"
"Rescue mission; Tokyo-3 Municipal High."
That being said, she didn't have to fake the smile on her face or in her voice. "Great work Pilots, head back to base. General Kirishima, I want you to work with General Ishida. We need to get everyone inside the Geofront now while we still can."
On the big screen, Misato watched Shinji give the camera a particularly cheesy thumbs up towards the camera. "On our way, Misato- what about Jet Alone?"
"They're welcome too, though they'll be under guard until we can fully verify." Misato glanced at Maya, who gave her a quick nod of confirmation. "We'll have a spot for them, don't worry."
Over the radio, General Ishida's voice had a particular bark to it, a snappy urgency that reminded Misato of small dogs with lots of fight. "Major Katsuragi, it's a pleasure and surprise to hear from you and the Geofront. It's pretty bad out there."
"How bad, General?" She had to ask, even if it was only to confirm the worst projections.
"As far as we can tell, these things have covered Japan all the way from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and reports from the mainland before long-range radio went down." Ishida declared, and the MAGI provided a map of Japan, cast on the main projector next to the pilot feeds. "It's likely a world-wide event."
Shit. Misato resisted the urge to bite her lip. "Well, we're glad for the reinforcements, General Ishida. We'll make sure you and your people get a chance to rest."
"My staff and I will make everyone is up to speed." Kirishima ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair.
Misato nodded and let the men with stars on their shoulders get down to business. That was fine with her, gladly taking a metaphorical step back while her muscles stiffened with a violent twinge. She couldn't just up and leave, but she could stand tall and play the part of with-it leader. Being a figurehead wasn't so bad for the moment. She wished she could have looked better doing it though.
With the JSSDF taking care of itself, Misato considered NERV's problems. The walking castle was still perched over Tokyo-3, stumbling listlessly but otherwise undeniably present. She was already considering plans on how to take it down, but she needed to talk to her pilots first, and the dozen surviving VTOL pilots who had covered Rei and Kaworu on the approach. NERV owed them a lot more than just a hospital bed.
"So you're telling me it's all screwed? All of Japan" Asuka moaned, coming off a little off-kilter but otherwise fine.
"A little! We found holdouts in places like historical sites, temples, or places with real clever survivors." NERV and the MAGI didn't have a video feed to the Jet Alone Pilot, and their voice was distorted, flanging. They sounded young. "We honestly weren't sure you guys would have even been here, as opposed to salvage. It's been a bad few months for everybody, you know?"
Asuka slumped woozily in her plug, but managed to muster a glare in what Misato assumed was Jet Alone's general direction. "It doesn't engender a lot of trust when one of the first things out of your mouth is saying you were here to loot our corpses!"
Vespa, that was their callsign- crooned sweetly despite the electronic masking. It certainly didn't sound like any military-minded designation outside of eighties action films. There was a distinct possibility that Vespa was a civilian, and all the risks that implied.
Jet Alone's pilot didn't seem to notice Asuka's ire. "Don't be so sore! Given the circumstances, the smash-and-grab we had in mind was supremely respectful!"
* * *
The cages were packed with technicians and engineers at every console and station. Others waited, tense and ready for the order to move. Shinji scrubbed his face more out of habit than anything, before tugging the damp towel off his neck. Of the pilots, Kensuke looked the worst. Nausea had been written plain on his face in bold block letters, and he moaned around the toothbrush in his mouth. Shinji and the more experienced pilots had figured out their own post-deployment coping mechanisms. Asuka and Rei nursed bottles of water, while Nagisa preferred to chew gum.
Soldiers charged in as the cage walls opened to admit their latest guest, ones Shinji recognized as verified Geofront defenders. They could see past Unit-00 and 04, where Jet Alone shambled in. The catapults weren't compatible, so Vespa had to walk in. A knot of senior techs and crew pressed past the pilots on the gantry, and Misato appeared as crowds parted. Shinji had about two seconds to acknowledge the fact that she was wearing the salvaged magical breastplate before she scooped him, Rei and Asuka up in a hug.
"So. Proud. Of. You!" Shinji felt more like an anvil against Misato's hammer, but Asuka and Rei didn't seem to mind the crushing embrace.
Misato took a step back, and even disheveled plus wearing half the battlefield in her hair she never looked better. "Nagisa-kun, Aida-kun, you were both excellent out there."
Nagisa just offered her a graceful little bow, while Kensuke gingerly spat into the mug in his hand. "T-Thank you, Major Katsuragi. I think I'll uh... stick to the labs for now."
"Not all awesome and glory huh?" Asuka gave his arm a playful jab and smirked. "You did good out there, Newbie. We can practice more in the simulators later."
Sheepishly, Kensuke glanced low and away before going back to scrubbing his teeth. "Just... might need a bigger gun next time."
Feeling a silly little grin work its way across his face, Shinji let out a quiet laugh. There wasn't any particular need to speak up yet, but he gave Misato a reassuring sidelong squeeze. An all-clear announcement rang out from the far end of the cages. Vespa was clear to disembark. Misato was the first to pull forward, tugging Shinji along while the other pilots followed.
Jet Alone was an undeniably human work of engineering. He'd heard of a Jet Alone project, and one of the designers had visited NERV a few months ago, maybe a year ago- Shinji wasn't sure. It was before Misato and Asuka had left for the Pacific at least. As for the machine itself, it was distinctly masculine, with narrow hips and broad shoulders at the top of a conical body. A lot of work had gone into the design, but Shinji saw dozens of compromises and strange shortcuts, highlighted by a touch of his personal reserve. Without knowing how an Eva manifested an AT-field, he couldn't even begin to guess at how Jet Alone did.
While he and the others got closer, Jet Alone's turret-head spun around in its neck and ascended, revealing a cavity where an armored sphere rested within. Devices inside the machine pushed the spherical cockpit outside, before a winch and pulley lowered it down to gantry level. A section of the sphere spun around the vertical axis before a ramp unfurled, slamming down onto the platform with a clang and billowing gust of pressurized mist.
Misato's hand settled on her holstered sidearm, while the activity in the cages slowed to an attentive crawl. Shinji and the others were facing the side of the sphere, close enough to see one small hand grip the edge, then another before Vespa appeared. When one long leg hit the ramp, all Shinji could think of was Orpheus in the Underworld while Offenbach's Infernal Galop echoed in his mind.
She- the form-fitting pilot suit made that unimaginably obvious- skipped and gamboled down the ramp on the balls of her feet, trailing cables and pilot harness as she went. Some of her trailing ends popped off of their own accord, complete with electric crackles and metallic pings, but others she had to pull from her arms and spine. The helmet enclosed her head completely, and she scanned the crowd until she settled on Shinji and the other obviously plugsuited pilots.
Bouncing, on her toes and elsewhere, she raised her hands with wave and flanging laugh before she started walking. "I'm Vespa! Lemme- hrk!"
Two more plugs were still socketed into her helmet, and she jerked to a sudden stop. Shinji wasn't sure if she was a teenager or young woman yet, but she acted young at least. Vespa reached behind her head and pulled the jacks out without much fanfare, revealing long spikes as long as his hand. Shinji frowned at that, making a quick estimation of her helmet's dimensions and the likely proportions of her skull...
As she dropped the last cable, Vespa's mask split apart at the bottom into thirds, showing off a cute jaw and a curling, cat-like grin. It took Shinji a second to notice they'd all gotten close enough for introductions, and he was dimly aware of Misato's sly smile and the fitful, plastic crackling sound of Asuka strangling her bottle of water.
"Can't see a thing in this helmet- there we go!" Vespa popped the rest of the helmet off and shook her chestnut brown hair free, letting twin tails fall over her shoulders. Cradling her gear under one arm, she thrust her other fist in the air and beamed. "I am Mari Illustrious Makinami, NHIS test pilot!"
Laughing, Misato added a grin to her introduction, waving at Shinji and the others. "Major Katsuragi, NERV Tactical Operations Director. My pilots."
"Ayanami Rei, First Child." Rei offered the new girl a small, earnest smile. Her voice was almost lost amidst calls for tools and material from all around.
"Right, you were in the orange Eva, who was in the black one?" Vespa- now Makinami-san looked from pilot to pilot, visibly curious. She pulled a pair of glasses out from her suit and put them on with an practiced flick.
With the red-framed glasses in place, Shinji couldn't help but think she looked familiar. The crews all across the cages running emergency maintenance seemed to ignore the light-hearted intruige brewing amongst their elites and command staff, but Shinji knew they were hanging on every word and gesture as grist for the rumor mill. Human nature found strength in the strangest places.
The grey-haired pilot raised his hand, and Shinji was nearly certain the other boy was fighting a full-blow fit of hysterical laughter. He wiped his eyes and nose with a finger and found his voice. "Nagisa Kaworu, Fourth Children."
"Aida Kensuke, temporary pilot. Envy of men, lover of women." The sandy-haired boy mumbled deadpan past his mug and toothbrush, and Shinji felt a smile break out at the wide-eyed look on Makinami-san's face.
Rei eased back in, giving the giggling Nagisa a sideways look before adding "That is not an exaggeration, Aida-kun has the most dating experience of all of us."
"Master of the awkward first impression, too." Asuka huffed at Kensuke before turning to Makinami-san with an offered hand. "Asuka Langley Sorhyu, Second Child and pilot of Unit-02."
"The awesome red one?" Makinami-san's eyes were shining behind her glasses. She grabbed Asuka's hand with a squeal, beaming. "You and it were amazing! "
Asuka seemed to soak up the praise like a thirsty sponge, but then she frowned and folded her arms over her chest, drumming her fingers along one bicep. One eyebrow arched high. "Gotta ask- why Vespa?"
Instead of answering directly, Makinami-san just planted her free hand on her waist and rocked her hips side to side, letting a playful little smirk stretch across her lips. A few of the younger technicians and civilian volunteers hauled long spools of industrial cable across the gantry, giving her an appreciative eye over as they passed. She answered with a flirty little wink, giggling.
"Oh she'll fit in just fine around here." Misato laughed while Asuka let out a miserable, exasperated groan. The older woman crossed her arms under her chest, and Shinji caught her little sidelong glance. He shook his head with a matching, wry grin. Incorrigible.
Kensuke smiled weakly, and his tone was fairly speculative. "So now we have three lady pilots, three gentlemen pilots...?"
"Did we save the tastiest looking gentleman pilot for last?" Makinami-san turned and focused every inch of her attention on Shinji, and he could feel that unmistakable weight of interest even as he faced her. "I hope you're the most senior pilot. Perhaps we could arrange something of a private, joint debriefing~?"
"Oh God," Asuka rolled her good eye let out another overly dramatic, put-upon moan. "Kill me now. Four-eyes, his girlfriend is still lost out there."
The mood in their little section of the gantry floor and the bubbly look on Makinami-san's face evaporated almost instantly. Misato and Rei both shot Shinji a rueful, apologetic looks paired with wan little smiles.
Makinami-san meanwhile stood up straighter, face paling save for two red spots on her cheeks. "I- I'm sorry I didn't know. I'll... I'll help! If something comes up I'll twist Tokita's arm and get out there with you."
"It's okay." Shinji rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "It's not like people can tell I'm involved with someone just by looking. We're going to save her- and everyone else we can."
"I getcha. I can't be afraid to take that risk, have to live a little." Makinami-san winked, bouncing back to beaming cheerfulness fairly quickly. "Your status aside, I stand by what I said though~"
Shinji just laughed at her lilting purr, shaking his head. She was lively, that was for certain. Makinami-san took a moment to stow her helmet in Jet Alone's cockpit before skipping back to chat with Nagisa and Rei, thanking them both for their help with a fire-breathing metal dinosaur king. Shinji found himself towering next to Asuka, noting that her head came up to somewhere around the middle of his bicep.
"What is she," Asuka mumbled under her breath."Made of fetishes?"
To that, Shinji could only give a quiet laugh. "...Like you're not, Asuka."
She looked up at him with a saucer-wide incredulous blue eye. "...Touche, golden boy. I never gave you permission to call me by name, by the way."
Shinji just shrugged, nudging her with an elbow. "I can't just call you Sorhyu anymore. I like you too much for that."
Teetering, Asuka gave off another characteristic huff, but she shot him a toothy, fierce and honest smile. "That's not how you address a superior officer."
While Makinami-san attempted to endear herself to the NERV staff and engineers crawling over her machine, Shinji turned to check what they were doing with the Evangelions. Units 00 through 04 were back in their launch cradles, socketed to power while repair teams cut away damaged armor as fast as they dared. Hot work like that was risky, or so Ritsuko told him. There was always a chance an Eva might scratch a particular itch, be it a saw or cutting torch. Either way, they had to be ready for the next sortie.
"Makinami-san." Misato gently tugged the girl's attention back to her, raising her voice over the sudden screech of industrial tools. "I'd like to hear about how you and your JSSDF associates got here, just an overview for now."
Biting her lip, Makinami-san fiddled with the arm of her glasses. "I'm not the best one to ask, but my NHIS engineering group linked up with the JSSDF stationed out of Tokyo-2, and we came in to Hakone from the south-east over the hills..."
"Hills?" Asuka cut in, pausing as someone ordered an armor plate detatched by explosive bolts. Everyone clamped their hands over their ears before carring on, though Makinami-san was a touch slow. "You didn't pass by the lake?"
The new girl dropped her hands by her side and shook her head. "We had planned to use the roadway into the city, but the ones we found were completely warped and sheared off, like someone grabbed the whole region and twisted."
Nagisa rejoined the conversation with a slight frown. "Twisted around? So are you sure that we're still...?"
She just shrugged. "I'm ambidextrous, so I can' t really say- but! As far as we can tell, its just been you guys here in the little Hakone valley."
At that declaration, Shinji watched as five pairs of eyes turned to stare at him, unmistakably demanding an answer. Makinami-san joined in, though more curious and confused than anything. Honestly, one crisis at a time.
After a long, studied pause, Shinji just threw up his hands. "After all this, yes, I'm sure it's possible!"
That apparently satisfied Misato. She clapped her hands twice and fixed her pilots with a look, nodding kindly to Makinami-san before speaking. "Alright boys and girls, I want you all to get some rest. We're going on the offensive in less than six hours, so I need you all ready to go. Take a bath, eat a big meal, steamy makeouts- whatever you need to get ready, do it."
"Offensive?" Asuka's grin was particularly savage. "What's the plan?"
"Rescue mission; Tokyo-3 Municipal High."
Last edited:
probably my favorite bits right here, Kaworu can't help himself with the references, and the triumphant return of Shinji's theme music.
They lost me a bit at the end of the conversation there
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Asuka's fetishes are better.
And it didn't trip to me until I took some Japanese in college, but it was a nice subtle sign of how close Shinji and Asuka were in canon that very Japanese Shinji always called Asuka by name alone, with no honorifics. That's a pretty serious sign of closeness. Neither of them ever commented on it, and it's possible Western-raised Asuka never even thought about it, but it definitely meant something on Shinji's side.
I'm loving Mari, especially for the pulling back when Shinji mentions he's got someone still out there and isn't in the mood for flirtation with a new arrival. (The shipper in me wants to see it between Shinji and Asuka, but that may just be seeing what I want to.) Mari's still as cheery and flirty as we could hope, but not heartless.
- Location
- Australia, mate
You and me both, mate.
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
Nice scene setting in this segment, with all the recovery/repair activity going on in the background. I quite enjoyed Mari's introduction. Interesting twist, with the Jet Alone being piloted- is this a mashup of the Jet Alone/TRIDENT mecha from various material, or will we still see Mana Kirishima as well? Can't be too many EVA sized projects though, considering maintaining verisimilitude concerning budgets and resources. Unless Trident ends up being from, say, the US perhaps.
So, a fairly big reveal being the point that the Fae/Raksha invasion is world wide. Does this mean, several portals scattered over the world, or have the enemy been arriving through a single beachhead/LZ over Tokyo 3? And if it's the latter, does Lilith's presence in the basement have something to do with it? After all, some invaders were apparently attracted to Adam, and find LCL intoxicating. What happened to Ritsuko and her team, by the way? I don't think they were mentioned any further immediately post retrieval of ADAM.
If there are other portals, and they are also centered over other NERV sites, that would certainly be very interesting. I don't have enough information to know what the possible connection between the denizens of "Creation" and the Angels/EVAs/etc. might be/signify
The next mission has a whole lot of potential for Drama (with a capital D), considering what Miss Raksha and Mooks has been getting up to, and done.
I'm hoping that NERV 3 manages to take control of the Fortress Beast, and manages to adapt it to the City's defenses. No idea how that would work though. Does that thing actually have a name/description in the Exalted Fluff/Sourcebooks, or did you make it up?
This whole sequence also reminds me somewhat of "Martian Successor Nadesico", with Boson Jumping from Jupiter and all that. Not too mention some pretty funky and esoteric designs of antagonistic mecha.
So, a fairly big reveal being the point that the Fae/Raksha invasion is world wide. Does this mean, several portals scattered over the world, or have the enemy been arriving through a single beachhead/LZ over Tokyo 3? And if it's the latter, does Lilith's presence in the basement have something to do with it? After all, some invaders were apparently attracted to Adam, and find LCL intoxicating. What happened to Ritsuko and her team, by the way? I don't think they were mentioned any further immediately post retrieval of ADAM.
If there are other portals, and they are also centered over other NERV sites, that would certainly be very interesting. I don't have enough information to know what the possible connection between the denizens of "Creation" and the Angels/EVAs/etc. might be/signify
The next mission has a whole lot of potential for Drama (with a capital D), considering what Miss Raksha and Mooks has been getting up to, and done.
I'm hoping that NERV 3 manages to take control of the Fortress Beast, and manages to adapt it to the City's defenses. No idea how that would work though. Does that thing actually have a name/description in the Exalted Fluff/Sourcebooks, or did you make it up?
This whole sequence also reminds me somewhat of "Martian Successor Nadesico", with Boson Jumping from Jupiter and all that. Not too mention some pretty funky and esoteric designs of antagonistic mecha.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Without giving too much away, the castle can be modeled as a Behemoth, which is a sort of catch-all Raksha term for "A weapon that is used in Shaping Combat", which is also a giant monster, or an army. Alternatively, it could be an Artifact Waypoint, which is to say a mobile (tiny) pocket-universe that happens to look like a vehicle. Both of which are real things detailed in the Raksha books.
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
Ah, I just recalled another point I wanted to bring up. The world-wide invasion has pretty much blown any semblance of control over events SEELE still had/might have regained. But what about the Angels? Will we see any Angels coming into conflict with the Raksha? Or the Raksha actively hunting Angels when dormant, or they appear?
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Questions like this are always tough because they effectively demand I spoil my plot.
*Idly discards Raksha/Angel musical number*
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
So, what Charm would I need to convince you spill all your plans for your fic?
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So, what Charm would I need to convince you spill all your plans for your fic?
Now where's the fun in compelling answers?
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Pretty soon really- mostly just trying to find a good place to bring that stuff up without bogging down the narration.
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
One of the main problems would be food. Unless the previous major die off in 2nd Impact and the resulting conflicts over resources et cetera caused the surviving regions (or at least some) to change how their agriculture/animal husbandry prouduct production systems work, i.e. much more local supply, city farms, vertical (inside building several stories tall) farming, hydroponics, city farming, etc, then a lot of the initial population/survivors are screwed anyway.
There would be quite a bit of salavge for the survivors near (but not in, unless there is much better emergency planning) urban areas to to create "stable" concentration of organized survivors.
Huh, picking up the Great Leader of People theme of the Solars, here's a concept that would seem to be right up Shinji's alley- the "Global Village Construction Set" is a real life open source/design project to break down machine shop/manufacturing into about 100 machines that would be able to sustain a community. Not full bootstrapping, starting from nothing, but made with off the shelf standard components and simple to craft/ manufacture frames/housings (from again standard metal/wood supplies).
The project members have already completed some basic things like a hydraulic power block, that can be powered by combustion engines, electric motors, etc, that they then used as the drive for a scratch built tracked tractor/dozer design. A "rammed earth" building block press (for housing), and other things.
Shinji at least would be able to come up with a complete system, with the optimal design(s). The main problem would be distributing the plans, or components, to beyond Tokyo 3- but designed properly, salavage could serve for many componenets...
One big problem, is heavy manufacturing. With without access to an intact steell plants/mills, aluminum smelters, et cetera, its going to be difficult to maintain resisitance world wide for the centers of resistance, since human tech is barely enough give humans any chance against the Hordes. For the Evangelions, it's just as bad, if not worse, can the actually produce EVA scale weapons and armor in the geo-front, and how large are their stocks of materials?
Now I'm picturing Shinji and the rest of the pilots needing to build giant furnaces and anvilsm and having to act as giant black smiths to craft their arms and armor.
There would be quite a bit of salavge for the survivors near (but not in, unless there is much better emergency planning) urban areas to to create "stable" concentration of organized survivors.
Huh, picking up the Great Leader of People theme of the Solars, here's a concept that would seem to be right up Shinji's alley- the "Global Village Construction Set" is a real life open source/design project to break down machine shop/manufacturing into about 100 machines that would be able to sustain a community. Not full bootstrapping, starting from nothing, but made with off the shelf standard components and simple to craft/ manufacture frames/housings (from again standard metal/wood supplies).
The project members have already completed some basic things like a hydraulic power block, that can be powered by combustion engines, electric motors, etc, that they then used as the drive for a scratch built tracked tractor/dozer design. A "rammed earth" building block press (for housing), and other things.
Shinji at least would be able to come up with a complete system, with the optimal design(s). The main problem would be distributing the plans, or components, to beyond Tokyo 3- but designed properly, salavage could serve for many componenets...
One big problem, is heavy manufacturing. With without access to an intact steell plants/mills, aluminum smelters, et cetera, its going to be difficult to maintain resisitance world wide for the centers of resistance, since human tech is barely enough give humans any chance against the Hordes. For the Evangelions, it's just as bad, if not worse, can the actually produce EVA scale weapons and armor in the geo-front, and how large are their stocks of materials?
Now I'm picturing Shinji and the rest of the pilots needing to build giant furnaces and anvilsm and having to act as giant black smiths to craft their arms and armor.
Last edited:
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
It's worth noting that I very specifically based this story on the TV series continuity, which has oodles of cultural legacy code from the Cold War and Japan of the 70s-90s (in part due to the production staff.) Basically, even though the show was produced in the Nineties, their vision of the 2015s was very Eighties.
So cold war; central asset consolidation, hardened underground bunkers, huuuuge mechanical and systemic redundancy. This is a story that was set before the Internet really took off. Remember also that the pilots have clunky brick cell phones, nothing trendy like smartphones.
By that same token, a lot of the problems brought up re: Food, vertical farming, etc are all... I don't want to say they're new, novel or recent ideas, because I haven't researched them personally, but it's safe to say that Japan hasn't gone super-crazy in anything like that.
Like, Japan has tons of empty space, even more than it had before Impact, just left to rot and be overgrown by the wilds just outside Tokyo-3. Huge banks of train cars, stranded ships, and so on. Canonically, 3 billion people died in 2nd Impact- from what? I have no idea. The three major elements that I know of were the tidal waves, the 5-month war that ended in the Valentines Day Treaty, and worldwild crop failure due to climate change.
On that last one, I'm under the impression that GEHRIN in canon, and definitely in CiG, was one of the think-tanks responsible for fixing the food crisis with genetic engineering and adapting crops to the new year-long summer.
Does crop adaptation solve land-area issues? Not really, but it's clear that someone somewhere threw some kind of research megabux into the problem.
It is Likely that Shinji is going to be involved in figuring out the logistical problems- they deal with topics he's familiar with and self-taught in.
Now, the Geofront. The Geofront itself is a wonder of Walk the Walk/Talk the Talk, despite it actually... not being anything really. What I mean is, that Gendo/NERV stockpiled it with legitimately useful things simply because not doing so would actually hurt in the long run. (And they still managed to skimp on above-ground things like civilian shelters).
So for example, NERV has power generation in the Geofront that can safely run the Evas and most of their power needs for the forseeable future- the only needed the combined electrical power of Japan to run the superkilldeath positron beam against Ramiel, in a very specific situation.
I don't think the Geofront is packed to the rafters with sundries and staple foods, but I'm sure it has more than enough to make people believe it can weather a crisis, not unlike the one currently ongoing. Ackowledging that as a writer i have no sense of scale, I don't have numbers on how many people are currently in the Geofront. I can say however that they're missing a significant chunk of the Tokyo-3 population, as they have MAGI census data.
Past that, it does have lots of otherwise unclaimed, potentially arable land. Without fiberoptic transfer of sunlight though, it might not be a very grow-friendly place. And no, Shinji shouldn't spend 8-12 hours of his day full totemic on some high flying platform giving the crops a sunbath.
So that's my current take.
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
Good lord. I had never thought of that. Now I'm imagining some city in the far North that has a captive Anathema tied up on a big pole and constantly flaring totemic so that they can grow winter crops.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
There are more efficient things a Solar could be doing, like creating sun lamps.
Edit: Misread what you wrote- in that case, the captive anathema would eventally break free, because the only way to stop an Exalt from figuring out how to get out of a jam is to kill them.
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
I'm generally not one to nit pick the "sense of scale probelms" in stories, I'm pretty much satisfied if the author at least gives a nod to the "reality" that nothing exists in a vacuum. I often like those kinds of details, but I'm no "spread sheet" artist, nlr do I expect that of the author. book-keeping just takes up time and effort the author could be using to write the story.
I just brought up the themes and issues I did because I was wondering how deeply into details you might be going, and that dealing with the problems might be a angle that Shinji could bring his Solar Bullshit to bear on, and perhaps have an effect the world beyond Tokyo 3.
Oh, and in my previous post, I was more jokingly asking what Charm would serve the purpose of getting someone to spill their plans, than actually hoping you would spoil said plans for the story.
I just brought up the themes and issues I did because I was wondering how deeply into details you might be going, and that dealing with the problems might be a angle that Shinji could bring his Solar Bullshit to bear on, and perhaps have an effect the world beyond Tokyo 3.
Oh, and in my previous post, I was more jokingly asking what Charm would serve the purpose of getting someone to spill their plans, than actually hoping you would spoil said plans for the story.