Neon Genesis Evangelion: Jamais Vu [IC]

by **Rupudska** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:40 pm

Japanese airspace
12:00 AM Japan/Korea time
August 21, 2021

Asuka Langley Sohryu had been in hell for a little over ten hours. She had entered it upon entering the Lufthansa 797 in Frankfurt the previous night, and judging by the flight time, would be there until it landed at Tokyo-3's airport. She silently cursed Gendo Ikari, her ultimate boss and chief of NERV, for not allotting money in the NERV budget for their own long-range personnel transport aircraft.

That wasn't the reason she was in hell, though. The reason was that, somehow, she had managed to get seated in front of and behind two families with screaming infants that simply would not shut up. On a red-eye, international flight. For eleven hours. In Economy class, because her seat in First had been ruined by the person who sat there last getting alarmingly sick on it, and the only seats left were in Economy. Being next to her three fellow European Apostles did nothing to help this - they had decided to move back with her due to their curious aversion to sitting near a ruined seat.

And because God simply hated her, Asuka (and the other pilots) got stuck in the middle column. And being as cramped as she was, she couldn't even play Fallout 5 on her laptop. No plug, either - the nearest plug was in the row ahead, and she wasn't about to ask the parents of Screamo Jr to plug it in for her - again. She had asked shortly after takeoff only for the two of them to explode at her in what she guessed was either Finnish or Estonian. She spoke neither, so she didn't bother trying to ask if they spoke German, or at the very least English. The row behind her also had a plug, but the family behind them was Turkish - she recognized that immediately, and since her Turkish was best described as 'a sick mockery bordering on racism' she decided not to bother. That, and it was already getting late even for her, and she wanted to catch whatever sleep she could.

She didn't get much. But at least now they would be landing soon. In 15 minutes, in fact. After that it'd just be a quick drive (for her) to the Geofront.

New Shinjuku Station
Tokyo-3
12:03 PM Japan/Korea Time

An unremarkably pristine subway train trundled into the station's sixth platform. On board it was the Third Apostle, Shinji Ikari - along with hundreds of other passengers arriving from throughout the Kanto region. The station personnel looked nervous, far more so than the passengers - it was as if they knew something that the civilians therein did not. Were Shinji not aware of NERV's headquarters being located almost directly under downtown Tokyo-3, he would find it odd - there were no delays at the time, and the ride was uneventful. As it was, he probably found it concerning. But he had more pressing matters to deal with than hopefully-paranoid station workers. He was supposed to meet his future superior officer, Misato Katsuragi, in less than half an hour. And it was a bit of a walk to get to the meeting place.

In the distance, barely audible over the noise of the station, a Renault engine could be heard approaching from the direction of the Geofront's main entrance.

NERV Hospital Wing
Geofront
12:06 PM Japan/Korea Time

A plain metal gurney burst through a pair of doors, pushed by a pair of doctors. Upon it was Rei Ayanami, and she was looking very much worse for wear. She was... conscious, and still had all her limbs fully attached, which was the most good that could be said for her.

"God fucking dammit, I told them not to go through with this test again! Especially what happened last time! We're lucky she still has her head attached," said the elder of the two doctors.

"Yeah, well, RnD's gotta RnD. Doesn't change in any field," the younger replied. The elder merely grumbled something about a Dr. Akagi and her being too spineless to stand up to NERV's director. The two doctors continued on without speaking, the silence marred by an occasional groan of pain from Rei and the endless squeaking of the gurney's wheels.

By the time they reached Rei's usual hospital room, the 797 with the European Apostles had just touched down. At the same time, the elder doctor got a call from none other than NERV's director, Gendo Ikari.

"Be ready to take Ayanami to the Trident pens. With as many pilots as we have, it shouldn't be necessary, but be ready nonetheless."

He swore. "Listen you soulless piece of-"

"She's still capable of piloting, is she not?"

"Barely, but-"

"That's all I need to hear." The elder doctor turned a shade of red for a moment, then seemed nearly ready to burst a vessel when Ikari simply hung up on him.

"That. Bastard."

Nippon International Airport
Outskirts of Tokyo-3
12:15 PM Japan/Korea Time

The 797 had just pulled up to the jetbridge when the alarms began, accompanied by an announcement.

"Attention: All non-UN personnel are strongly advised to enter the emergency shelters. A state of emergency has NOT been declared yet, however the UN has strongly advised for all non-UN personnel to prepare as if one was. The retractable skyscrapers will be dropped in ten minutes. Repeat..."

NERV's UN-provided sergeant Tina Freeman was among those in the terminal. She had been sent there in order to escort the European Apostles to the Geofront as quickly as possible. And judging by the rate at which people were pouring out of the airport, she'd have to do so quickly. UN VTOL gunships were already approaching the airport.

Geofront
Central Dogma
12:18 Japan/Korea Time

'It' was being monitored on its approach to Tokyo-3. At this point it was still in the water, but with all the sunken and partially-sunken buildings it was too dangerous for UN ships to pursue it. Fuyutsuki and Gendou stood at the command room balcony's edge, looking with near but inequal levels of disinterest at the UN generals below. They talked excitedly about how they wouldn't even need NERV or its Tridents, or even its XCOM. They seemed to think that their massive array of bombers, gunships, missile and cannon artillery and tanks would be enough to stop this submerged threat.

And were it Godzilla, they could be right, Gendou thought. But he knew damn well that it wasn't. So did most of NERV's high command by this point. All signs pointed to it being an Angel, they just hadn't received full confirmation.

And until they did, the generals could talk all they wanted. He checked the time on the lower corner of the screen. Misato should've been either at her 'meeting-place' with Shinji or near it, if the UN hadn't held her up. Which it probably had, as she made no efforts to hide her driving skills at any time, even when it was unnecessary to do so.

He mentally corrected himself. Especially when it was unnecessary to do so. He turned to Fuyutsuki.

"Is XCOM ready to assist?"

"At a moment's notice."

"Tell them to be ready to launch as soon as the first Trident gets sent up."

E P I S O D E 01: F O R T U N A T E S O N

by **Occupied Deutschland** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:21 pm

NERV Hospital Wing
Geofront
12:06 PM Japan/Korea Time

Pain

Rei clutched her hands over her head, wishing that somehow the act could shield her from the screaming pain. Unfortunately, it couldn’t. She finally let out a long, high-pitched breath as the burning, melting feeling flared for a moment, and then her whole body relaxed as it abruptly slackened. She couldn’t remember if that had happened last time or not. Couldn’t even remember if there had been a last time for her. The pain seemed familiar…

Does not bother me at all!

For the first time since the needle had entered her arm, Rei began to take note of her surroundings. The hospital room was plenty familiar by now. Of course, it had even seemed familiar the first time she’d been there. She really did not like the room. Like so much else that felt familiar it seemed to mock her with some unspoken criticism, some silent insult, that she couldn’t grasp.

Rei purposefully stopped herself from thinking about that. She couldn’t be bothered to at the moment. It would not help. Instead, she listened with half an ear to the doctor beside her speaking with someone on the room’s phone. He did not sound pleased.

Rei winced as the doctor slapped the phone down, and felt only slightly relieved when he offered her a slightly apologetic smile.

“Pain.” Rei muttered, straining slightly to raise one hand so she could point to herself. She knew, somehow, what to expect as an answer, but tried anyways.

“I’m sorry. I’d give you something, but you might need to pilot and the Commander...” The doctor shrugged slightly, clearly disapproving of the situation but unwilling or unable to do anything to change it. Rei remembered why, despite not being as bad as the scientists, she’d never much liked the doctors.

Keeping that thought to herself she tried to ignore the still-present pain. Desperately, she tried to relax onto the gurney as best she could to lessen the tension in her head and neck. She tried to take the situation as a good sign. If They wanted her to be on-hand to pilot a Trident, then she wasn’t being completely replaced by Them. That felt good.

by **Wisconsin9** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:36 pm

Nippon International Airport
Outskirts of Tokyo-3
12:15 PM local time

"We don't have time for this," Freeman muttered in English. A squad of armed UN soldiers walking through a major international airport was bound to get looks, but when the evacuation warning came through they were mobbed by what felt like every tourist in sight, asking where the shelters were or if there was actually any danger or if their flights would be delayed. She wasn't interested, not when there was work to be done.

"Zhang, Naitou, Colter," she said, "translate for me. Ladies and gentlemen!" she yelled, still speaking English, "If I may have your attention!" After a moment, the crowd stilled and quieted, focused on her. "Thank you! Please follow the airport signs and maps to the nearest shelter." She paused for a moment, as the soldiers next to her translated her instructions into Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. "If you need help, please talk to airport security staff." Another wait for translation, then the crowd started to disperse. A handful were more persistent, but the soldiers ignored them—there was no time to deal with problems on an individual basis.

"You received the message about VIPs?" she asked the gate agent in broken Japanese. The woman behind the counter nodded. "Good," said Tina. "We'll head down and escort them." Without waiting for a response, she turned and marched down the bridge. "Zhang," she said at the bottom, "take teams two and three. Tell the VIPs to move, and keep the civilians sitting until they're off, then grab their overhead. If we're in the air before you're off, head to shelter. Naitou, clear the tarmac. Transports are down in two minutes. The rest of us'll escort them out to the VTOLs."

In-fucking-credible, she thought as her squad carried out its orders. Half of us playing babysitter, half of us playing valet. This is gonna be just fucking great.

Pixiv · by **Wolfenium** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:59 pm

'Why am I doing this?'

It was a question that had haunted Shinji since that fateful summon came. Fourteen years... fourteen years was how long it took for his father to utter a single reply, and true to his cold, perhaps workaholic nature, it had to do with NERV, and everything that Shinji had tried to put behind since. Stepping onto the platform, his legs felt heavy yet pulled by a magnetic force at the same time. It felt like a conflict of wills, one compelling him to defy a man that stopped (if ever) regarding him as his own flesh and blood; and another, powered by curiosity, for what Gendo would possibly want with him. Clutching his heart as the nervous station attendants looked on, Shinji cold not help but hope that the summon meant something dear. But he knew too well he was in for a lot of disappointment, but he could not see any other option but to try. It was a faint, even false hope, but the young, virtual orphan still willed himself to think otherwise.

Pulling his backpack in front of him as he took out the letter, Shinji could only grimace at the grim, ruined nature of the document. The letter seemed official, though thoroughly blacked out besides a scrawled out one-liner by the old man. Taped together from several pieces, the letter appeared to have been torn apart, the handiwork of an aggravated young man wishing to put his past behind. But Shinji himself felt bound to the command, the memory of that nightmarish incident and its long aftermath still haunting him. And judging by the NERV employee pass tagged to the letter, Shinji could only imagine what machinations were going through the old man's mind when he predicted his arrival. Gendo was banking on his answer, and he was right.

"I should hurry," he muttered, checking his watch as the clocked ticked away. The meeting spot was a fair distance away, and from the looks of it, the coming launch from the base below foretold action, one that would paralyze traffic indefinitely. With only his legs to aid him, he began to jog out of the station. Slowly, but surely, the lad picked up the pace. Hopefully, his escort was not some sort of weirdo or mindless crony of Gendo, whoever this 'Katsuragi' was.

Slowing down as he reached the deserted bus stop that marked the meeting point, Shinji could not help but think there might be a mistake. The bus stand appeared rusted and worn out, as was the plastic seats and shelter as a whole. The roof appeared to have even corroded into a cheese-like facade, with glaring holes opening the way for the sunlight to glare on any unsuspecting passers-by. Then again, this was the condition that was plaguing the world since the Second Impact. It was hard to blame anyone for the decrepit state, expect maybe the Angels themselves.

"Is this really the place," he muttered to himself, looking up the travel brochure he took earlier at the station. He was about to get his answer very soon. If he survives...

by **Mefpan** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:05 am

Nippon International Airport
Outskirts of Tokyo-3
12:16 PM local time

Japan. So they had finally arrived, that was more or less what went through Aleksandra Navarin's head. It had started innocuous enough at first, with them all ditching their original first class seats on account of them reeking suspiciously like a mixture of regurgitated stomach acid and some kind of ineffective cleaning agent, which meant they had sat out the flight in economy class. Which, in turn, meant that the Fourth Apostle was not particularly capable of getting comfortable, let alone sleeping through the trip by virtue of having to dodge errant elbows belonging to most inconsiderate fellow passengers coming her way - a consequence of her swapping seats with the Second Apostle, quickly decided on after she attempted telling the crew (and everyone else in First Class, incidentally) just what she'd thought of the service personnel. The decision probably saved them some headaches, even if the German redhead seemed rather frustrated regardless which Aleksandra assumed was more likely than not her standard mood.

Luckily for Aleksandra, Salvation wasat hand. The helpful light at the front of the cabin winked out, indicating that the plane had now officially stopped and they were allowed to open the seatbelts again. With a click, it came loose and she stretched, sighing. Eleven hours of doing nothing productive at all; by this point she would have accepted any sort of excitement to shake her mind back awake, but she decided that there was no particular need to tempt Murphy even further, meaning that any thoughts to that effect would definitely absolutely certainly be kept to herself.

So with a moderate amount of interest and only an average level of exhaustion, she made to leave the plane along with her fellow Apostles...stepping right into a hurrying, scurrying mass of people, being directed pretty much everywhere and beyond by U.N. officials.

...and that was when she spotted NERV uniforms waiting a short distance away, too, suggesting that whatever problem was afoot that scared the U.N. personnel present was a whole lot more relevant to them as Apostles. So much for getting some time to collect themselves. Aleksandra just sighed.

Goddamnit.

by **Malshan** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 2:53 pm

Japanese airspace
12:00 PM Japan/Korea time
August 21, 2021

Gustav woke with a start, knocking the Japanese for Utter Morons book from where it had been perched on top of his chest. He had spent the majority of the flight (after changing seats along with the other Apostles onboard) studying up on basic phrases and attempting to drill into his head the strange system of honorific terms that the Japanese appeared so fond of. Gustav knew going to Japan would present a significant challenge; dealing with the language barrier was going to be tough enough without having to fight a war besides. The only high point that he was anticipating was learning the new terrain and seeing what kinds of munitions that NERV was going to clear him for.

The young man yawned and stretched the best he could within the confines of the packed airplane. He had luckily gotten an aisle seat and was able to stretch out his long legs for a second or two. Then a hostess bustled down the aisle and he withdrew them hastily. Rubbing the residue buildup from his eyes after his unintentional nap, Gustav glanced around at the rest of the jet, taking in the still screaming children ahead of them and the rather annoyed looking people in the row next to him. Eleven hours was definitely a pain in the derriere, but it was manageable. At least, for those with the mental capacity to entertain themselves.

About ten minutes later, the jet began descending and landing on the airstrip in Tokyo-3. Five minutes after that, the jet finished taxiing to the terminal and the "fasten your seat belts" light clicked off. Gustav sighed and yawned again. Despite the difficulty that surely lay in the future, he was excited for the challenge.

Gustav didn't have to wait long. Soon after the light turned off, the door opened and the jet was swarmed by officials dressed in the neat uniforms of U.N. officers. Gustav spotted a few NERV agents among them and immediately snapped fully awake. "Well..." he said in French, not knowing if anyone would understand him, "looks like we've got a job already. Or does NERV always roll out the party wagon for new arrivals?"

by **Greater Istanistan** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:23 pm

Nippon International Airport

Pushing through the crowd, Melania noticed a different uniform than the standard UN and JSSDF patterns in the midst of the crowd Ah! Those were the Nerv soldiers, probably there for the pick-up. Presumably, they were the welcome crew promised by the official summons to the First Branch for deployment. The state of emergency was unexpected, but Melania guessed that it was probably somehow related to the Angels. Ew. Getting out of Base was good, but at the same time she wasn’t exactlylooking forward to being Nerv’s weapon against the mystic monstrosities from beyond. Especially not if she had to work with the people she’d just spent several hours not talking to. Goddamn foreigners.

In this mob, Melania realized, it wouldn’t be too hard to simply disappear. She could simply stop resisting the flow of the people and be out of the airport before Nerv or the other Children even realized she was gone. She could go... Where? West. Sure. There was Kyoto to the West, and she could easily go there to acquire a fake ID and papers, before heading out further to Hiroshima. She’d heard about masses of refugees from the remnants of South-East Asia and Indochina massing thre at a place called Dejima, and could disappear among them, where the police rarely went. Maybe she could get a boat out to one of the uncontrolled flooded zones, or Africa. They’d never get her there. She’d be free. Someone else could save the world, and she’d be out of the boxes.

But judging by the uninspiring view of the other potential pilots she’d seen on the plane, Melania wasn’t sure they could really manage that. And could she escape Nerv? Really? And would an escape from them basically be a movement into another, different series of confinements. She could do it, and it would probably be better than Nerv.

Still, it would be a shame if the world ended long before Melania could see all of it... Damn, she hadn’t even had the mysterious thing known as “smarties” yet. She’d heard a guard talk about them once. And she had no idea what they’d actually taste like, given that whatever “candy” was had been banned. Nutrition paste. So much nutrition paste. Gross. And she’d completely missed out on so many other things as well. No, Melania decided. The world couldn’t end until she’d found out exactly what was supposed to be so great about Star Wars. She’d lived in a box long enough, and wasn’t going to let everything outside it disappear before she had a chance to take a good look around.

Melania started out of her brief daydream, then shoved onwards. It was difficult to get through the panicked throngs of people, and none of them seemed to have any qualms about pushing her around to reach their own destinations. As she struggled onwards, Melania almost wished she could just unfold her AT field and push everybody away, so that she could be left alone for a minute. This kind of a massive violation of personal space was definitely not something she liked – although she’d heard stories about “subways”, some sort of underground tube transport that sounded infinitely worse. She made a note to avoid such a thing. And airports. The feeling she got from being completely at the mercy of the mass was... Unpleasant? Yes. That was it. Melania didn’t like that. Another idea to file away.

Once again, she was snapped out of her introspection, but this time by the French apostle. It was so annoying when other people didn’t wear name-tags. Back at Base, everyone always did. Made it easy to recognize them, but here Melania, for the first time, had no real context. Her French was terrible, having picked most of it up off one or two Francophone guards, but she tried her best.

“Um.... Je pense Nerv est... Est... Urgh! Merde! Tabernac! Fils de putain! Je... Ne rien parlay.. French? Sorry.”

She grinned ruefully at the other Apostle. This was going to be a bit awkward. Still, the ability to publically and prolifically swear was definitely a new thing. A fun thing. So, as they approached the XCOM pickup squad, Melania offered her comrades her first words of proper conversation with them.

“Sonuvabitch! That plane ride was complete shit!”

by **Rupudska** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:48 am

Greater Istanistan wrote:“Sonuvabitch! That plane ride was complete shit!”

"Tell me about it," Asuka half-moaned half-whined. She seemed ready to shift from whining into a tirade about the service, with complaints ranging from the typical ones like airline food and crying little monsters, to Lufthansa's smoking policy and the fact that the pillows on board were probably older than the plane and most likely hadn't been washed since they came onto it.

But a yawn interrupted her before she could stop, and she decided against it. There were more pressing concerns at hand, for example her luggage that was still on the plane. Hopefully NERV was going to let the planes at the airport get out of Tokyo-3 before... whatever had them so impatient could reach it, Angel or otherwise. She knew she should've sent her personal belongings in before her. There was a lot of it, after all. A few trucks full, in fact. She would probably be told to downsize. Well fuck that. Just because Japanese housing prices were exorbitant and the Japanese housing industry was in the shitter didn't mean good houses were unreachable. Especially when NERV was paying them exorbitant amounts of money.

"We may as well find our babysitter, then," Asuka said in her natural German. She motioned for Melania to follow her as she made her way in the direction of traffic, where she assumed whomever NERV had sent to retrieve them would be.

As if Asuka and the others couldn't find the entrance to Geofront themselves.

by **Wisconsin9** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:14 pm

Nippon International Airport
Outskirts of Tokyo-3
12:21 PM local time

"This way," Freeman told the Apostles as they left the plane, pointing not up the ramp towards the airport but at the door that led out and down to the apron. The two VTOLs that had just touched down—and the three gunships still hovering over the terminal—were the latest in a long line of things that the airport's administration had bitched at her about, like the high priority that had been put on getting the plane in on time, or how someone, somewhere had told them that they needed to keep everyone else trying to land a certain distance out until the transports were clear. It was a lot of fuss for four people nobody had ever heard of.

"Zhang," she said in Chinese, speaking into her headset as they started walking down towards the tarmac, "We've got them and are heading for the transports. Doesn't look like we're going to have room for you. Get yourselves to shelter before the shit hits the fan."

"Understood, ma'am. Good luck."

"You too. Stay safe." By now they had reached the bottom of the steps, fifty meters from the transports. She tightened her grip on her rifle and picked up her pace slightly, moving between the Apostles and the terminal. The rest of her team did the same, recognizing from experience that if anything was going to happen—not that any of them expected something—it would be here. Nothing did happen, of course. The Apostles and their escorts loaded onto the transports without incident. Freeman's team was with Sohryu and Kato, Naitou's with Lupan and Navarin.

"Let's move," she told the pilot, once everyone was strapped in and the Apostles had headsets on. The man nodded, and the engines roared. With a jolt of acceleration, the VTOL lifted off, spun, and starting moving off towards the city. She glanced down at her watch. 12:24. The whole thing had taken longer than she'd have liked, but there was no helping it.

by **Occupied Deutschland** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:45 pm

"Take me down to the pens now." Rei said as she pushed the back of her head into the moderately soft gurney below it. The action slightly relieved the pain in the back of her head, though it quickly relocated to the center of her skull. She had dealt with worse.

The doctors exchanged a look. The older brought a thumb and forefinger to his eyes, "The Commander only ordered us to be ready to move you. Wh-"

"Take me down to the pens now." Rei repeated as if it was a recording of the first time. She interrupted whatever reason the doctor was going to give. It wasn't important anyways. Her recovery would either occur or it would not. Hopefully the former. In the meantime if she might be needed to pilot, it would significantly reduce the time to deploy if she were already nearby instead of in the hospital room.

It'd also not give any reason to be replaced. The thought rose, unbidden, from the same place deep in the center of her brain that was currently screaming in pain. She wasn't completely sure why it was so insistent. Perhaps because of Them arriving today.

The elder doctor shook his head and did nothing to move the gurney. The younger shrugged and looked down at the tablet in his hands. They both quickly focused back on her when she slid--dropped, really--one leg off the gurney. It flopped onto the floor and was joined moments later by its sister. She forced herself to a sitting position, ignoring the pounding in her neck and head.

"I will be going down to the pens now." Rei said as she shakily rose to her feet. Her neck seemed to scream in agony and was joined an instant later by a thrill of horror down her back that made her buckle a knee. She felt herself begin to stumble forwards.

Pain, pain, pain...

She was caught by an arm on her shoulder that quickly turned to support. The grey-haired doctor who'd saved her from the fall mumbled something under his breath she pretended not to hear because they involved derogatory terms for the mentally ill doctors were not supposed to use, and he forced her to lean back where she had been.

"Come on, lets get her down to the pens. We don't want her to hurt herself."

That made things much easier. She'd half worried she was going to have to try and crawl into the room's air-vent after the two had left and make her way down to the pens from there. She was certain her sometime hiding-spot would eventually lead there, though she didn't know where that certainty came from. She must have studied a blueprint of the base at some point. But crawling would have been most unpleasant in her current state.

"See you next time." Rei mumbled to the ceiling of the room as it disappeared behind the door-frame. She adjusted herself on the bed and ignored the odd looks the doctors gave her at the words.

The elevator ride was mostly uneventful. The two doctors briefly made clear between themselves that they were doing what they were doing solely to prevent her from injuring herself, 'getting their stories straight'. Rei amused herself and put on a small light-show by slowly stabbing every floor button within her reach on the elevator's control pad. The doctors loudly sighed when they noticed this and moved the gurney slightly so the panel wasn't within reach.

All according to plan?

Rei wasn't sure when she had come up with a plan. She wasn't clear, precisely, on why it involved pressing the buttons in an elevator. Nor did she even know what that plan actually was, but she felt like somehow things were going according to it.

But then again, as the doctor had said, she was a 'nutbar'. English was such an interesting language for idiomatic expression!

The elevator doors opened, and Rei carefully kept her face blank as she was rolled forward and to the edge of a catwalk that led to the Tridents. She would need to walk at least a short distance. Perhaps it was just a drill? If so, her quasi-bullying of the doctors could probably be excused as mere enthusiasm. If it was not, it just became easier to excuse. She would find out in the coming minutes.

by **Greater Istanistan** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:13 pm

It wasn’t like Melania didn’t want to talk to the other Apostle – it’s just that she didn’t know what to say to her. She’d received all the training she’d ever need for slaughtering mystic monstrosities, piloting gigantic robots, and manipulating badly-understood metaphysical forces for combat. She had been thoroughly instructed in several obscure martial arts forms which translated well to AT fields and giant robots. But small talk?

Not prepared.

Still, this silence was becoming rather awkward, and she didn’t really feel like even trying to talk to the XCOM troopers. Back at Base, it had been forbidden, and she didn’t have any experience or ideas of how to even begin a conversation. So Annoyed Girl it was. Melania racked her brains – how was she supposed to start up a conversation? Find a common interest and extrapolate, was the logical conclusion. Except she had no interests – hard to build them in a concrete bunker – and mentioning the weather – reportedly a highly effective icebreaker in days gone by – was completely pointless, considering that it hadn’t actually changed since the turn of the century.

Oh! They were both Apostles. That was some common ground. Giant robots. She could talk about giant robots. Everyone liked giant robots! Maybe. OK. She could use that.

Breathe in, breathe out. If she kept her cool and treated this conversation exactly like she treated a combat test, she could get through this. Stay calm, think ahead, and adapt as circumstances change. This wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe she could even make a friend!

“So...” she ventured nervously, “have you ever actually piloted a Trident? I haven’t – I’ve used lots of simulators, and I got fairly good in them, but I don’t know how it really properly translate into real life and I’m honestly kind of worried that all my simulator experience will be completely useless, so I was wondering if you had any real idea of how....”

And then Melania realized that what she’d said couldn’t even really be called a logical sentence, and firmly drove her palm into her forehead. She took a moment to regroup, then concluded.

“How it feels to pilot one.”

Nervously, she readjusted the straps fastening to the side of the VTOL - too tight! - and awaited a response.

by **Rupudska** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 9:53 am

12:28
Above Tokyo-3

What sleep Asuka had tried to get on the VTOL was of lesser quality than what sleep she had gotten on the airliner. It was noisy, rough, and the seat may as well have been bare steel. No amount of rear-cushioning would have made it comfortable. The view wasn't much either. The skyscrapers that could retract had done so three minutes ago; though she supposed that the window was too high and too far away for her to have seen much of interest.

If she were claustrophobic, she'd be frightened. As it was, she was just annoyed.

Greater Istanistan wrote:“So...” she ventured nervously, “have you ever actually piloted a Trident? I haven’t – I’ve used lots of simulators, and I got fairly good in them, but I don’t know how it really properly translate into real life and I’m honestly kind of worried that all my simulator experience will be completely useless, so I was wondering if you had any real idea of how....”

And then Melania realized that what she’d said couldn’t even really be called a logical sentence, and firmly drove her palm into her forehead. She took a moment to regroup, then concluded.

“How it feels to pilot one.”

Asuka grunted in half-reply.

"I did, once. I would not call it 'piloting' though, it was more of a glorified 'drive around the parking lot to get the 'feel' of it'. Definitely better than the simulators, but I would not say it compares to the real thing. I was not allowed to go above 100 kilometers per hour, was not allowed to leave the testing area, I was not even allowed to use any weapons in the area, just pick them up and put them down."

She adjusted her own seat strap. It was unpleasantly tight.

"Disappointing, really. I had at least hoped to get some real in-mech combat training of some sort. But I was expressly forbidden from putting any 'unnecessary stress' on the Trident."

Wolfenium wrote:Slowing down as he reached the deserted bus stop that marked the meeting point, Shinji could not help but think there might be a mistake. The bus stand appeared rusted and worn out, as was the plastic seats and shelter as a whole. The roof appeared to have even corroded into a cheese-like facade, with glaring holes opening the way for the sunlight to glare on any unsuspecting passers-by. Then again, this was the condition that was plaguing the world since the Second Impact. It was hard to blame anyone for the decrepit state, expect maybe the Angels themselves.

"Is this really the place," he muttered to himself, looking up the travel brochure he took earlier at the station. He was about to get his answer very soon. If he survives...

12:33
Tokyo-3

"Today at 12:30, a state of special emergency has been declared all over Kanto and Chubu districts around Tokai district. Please take refuge in the designated shelters. Repeat. Today at 12:30..."

On and on the overhead loudspeakers droned, audible over the roar of the gunships, the rumbling of the tanks and trucks milling about, and the skyscrapers sliding into the earth. An impressive feat, but then the Japanese were experts in public loudspeakers. Alas. If Misato was in one of the trucks, she had made no indication of her presence to Shinji, as they passed by him walking without so much as slowing down.

Other than the VTOLs and land vehicles though, Shinji's stay at the bus stop had thus far been quiet.

It was rudely interrupted by that thing's arrival.

It burst from the ocean to the east, accompanied by a strong wind throughout the city. A squadron of gunships appeared from behind a hill, backing up in front of the thing's advance.

Central Dogma

"The IMO is continuing to approach the Geofront."

"We have visual confirmation. Transferring it to the main screen."

The thing appeared on Central Dogma's enormous screen, surrounded by buildings. It looked about curiously before swatting away a gunship that had drawn too close. Fuyutsuki winced, though Gendou made no external reaction.

"They finally arrived, then," Fuyutsuki finally said, as the UN generals below them gave the order to open fire on the thing.

"Yes, they have."

"Angels."

12:34
Tokyo-3

A pair of AGM-176 Griffin missiles roared over Shinji's head as they headed for the Angel, joined by several others that all struck their target - Sachiel made no attempt to avoid them. Instead, it lifted its hand and impaled a gunship on a spear it extended from its arm. The gunship emitted a burst of flame, then fell in two pieces a few meters away from Shinji.

Squealing tires announced Misato's arrival. Her blue Alpine A310 drift-slided next to him and nearly knocked him over when Misato herself threw the door open.

"Kept you waiting, huh? Get in! The other pilots are already at the Geofront!"

by **Mefpan** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 11:34 am

Greater Istanistan wrote:“So...” she ventured nervously, “have you ever actually piloted a Trident? I haven’t – I’ve used lots of simulators, and I got fairly good in them, but I don’t know how it really properly translate into real life and I’m honestly kind of worried that all my simulator experience will be completely useless, so I was wondering if you had any real idea of how....”

“How it feels to pilot one.”

Rupudska wrote:"I did, once. I would not call it 'piloting' though, it was more of a glorified 'drive around the parking lot to get the 'feel' of it'. Definitely better than the simulators, but I would not say it compares to the real thing. I was not allowed to go above 100 kilometers per hour, was not allowed to leave the testing area, I was not even allowed to use any weapons in the area, just pick them up and put them down."

The Fourth Apostle looked around the passenger compartment of the VTOL she'd been led into along with her fellow pilots, lamenting the absence of easy-to-access windows even though she did understand that they would be an unnecessary addition from a military standpoint. On the social side, the silence apart from the roar of the VTOL had not been exactly pleasant either, but then the Apostle from...Poland, if she recalled correctly from the hasty introductions made before the flight, had finally broken the rather awkward silence that'd defined most of the trip to Japan.

"...da, same here. I think I got less time in than you", Aleksandra motioned towards Asuka Langley Sohryu, "I was put into one mostly to see if I could activate it at all. To answer your question though, there is some slight sensory feedback to aid battlefield awareness I suppose, but other than that, I couldn't say. Barely any sim time worth mentioning either. I was attached to a peacekeeping unit. I doubt the Motherland parted with me entirely willingly there. As comrades said in broken German, 'This scary Russian girl, is make Chechen bullet scare and turn around in air.' Glorified shield duty, really."

Aleksandra yawned, shifting around in her seat a little, comfortable surface that it was. Much more comfortable than a BTR-80 filled to capacity rolling across bombed roads driven by a suicidal jackass, at any rate. Plus, there were no passers-by applying elbows to her face, so she wasn't about to complain about a lack of cushioning when the comfort had increased so drastically elsewhere.

"So. Anyway. What do you think is this hurry for? I thought they had planned the scenic route for us", she said, digging around in her pocket to produce a small brochure on NERV that she'd been handed (as, presumably, had the others) and waved it around for emphasis, "so why hurry now? Think something actually serious might be going on? I'd love to know."

Though, she really doubted they'd get any actual information beyond their own speculations from the NERV personnel with them...until after they'd been goaded into signing god (hah, as if) only knows how many non-disclosure agreements and whatever else was waiting for them. Still, maybe, just maybe the pay was worth the sudden change of scenery. Well, wait and see, she supposed.

Pixiv · by **Wolfenium** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 7:02 am

Rupudska wrote:12:33
Tokyo-3

"Today at 12:30, a state of special emergency has been declared all over Kanto and Chubu districts around Tokai district. Please take refuge in the designated shelters. Repeat. Today at 12:30..."

On and on the overhead loudspeakers droned, audible over the roar of the gunships, the rumbling of the tanks and trucks milling about, and the skyscrapers sliding into the earth. An impressive feat, but then the Japanese were experts in public loudspeakers. Alas. If Misato was in one of the trucks, she had made no indication of her presence to Shinji, as they passed by him walking without so much as slowing down.

"Huh," mused the mildly surprised young man, looking over at the convoy passing the hapless lad beneath the blaring announcement, "I wonder what's that all about?"

It did not felt much like an earthquake to him. The mild shaking on his feet clearly pointed to the convoy as the source than any tectonic movement; and an tsunami warning would have followed an earthquake one if the former was the case. A typhoon warning was also ruled out in his ticking mind, given the obvious clear skies over his head. But whatever it was, it was hard to think this was not a big disaster. But the cause still eluded him. Was it some sort of nuclear meltdown or something?

Shinji did not take long to get his answer.

Rupudska wrote:Other than the VTOLs and land vehicles though, Shinji's stay at the bus stop had thus far been quiet.

It was rudely interrupted by that thing's arrival.

It burst from the ocean to the east, accompanied by a strong wind throughout the city. A squadron of gunships appeared from behind a hill, backing up in front of the thing's advance.

Exploding from the waters just off the coast in the distance, the shockwave of the Angel radiated through the waters onto the city. Shuddering the feet below him, Shinji made a quick grab of the bus stop railing as he tried not to trip from the force. Looking out, he could see the facade of the massive being far into the distance from his spot. It looked grotesque, spindly, with a freakish mask-like face stuck on its torso.

"W-What is that," the shocked lad stuttered wide-eyed as he tried to get a grip. Strangely enough, he did not feel as scared as he should be, the monster's twisted appearance echoing an ominous familiarity towards him. Nonetheless,Shinji could not help but grip his heart as he tried to restrain his agony. But it was not just fear that had seized him. It was anger, as if the forewarning had Gendo's fingerprints all over its microphone.

"Don't tell me... It's that again?..." Shinji uttered in a cringe, "is that thing why you hauled me back, Father? Just to see to Mother's work again?..."

He could already feel his heart breaking up. He should not have gone back. After what happened, why did he have to face whatever took his mother again. He wanted to forget. He wanted to forget it desperately. But every part of the fiasco showed very much that Gendo wanted him back in, and it reeked of callousness towards his life, just as it had with his mother.

Rupudska wrote:12:34
Tokyo-3

A pair of AGM-176 Griffin missiles roared over Shinji's head as they headed for the Angel, joined by several others that all struck their target - Sachiel made no attempt to avoid them. Instead, it lifted its hand and impaled a gunship on a spear it extended from its arm. The gunship emitted a burst of flame, then fell in two pieces a few meters away from Shinji.

Before he could contemplate, the frightening body of the creature was already making its way towards the mainland. Ducking a bit as the missiles roared over the boy's head, Shinji could see the missiles make their mark, though the hideous monster did seem to hold still anyway. True enough, the daunting giant shrugged off the damage like feather tosses, extending its arm to puncture a gunship in quick succession. Watching the aircraft come down just a few feet, the lad was finally jolted back to his senses as his feet instinctively staggered away from the blazing wreckage.

Rupudska wrote:Squealing tires announced Misato's arrival. Her blue Alpine A310 drift-slided next to him and nearly knocked him over when Misato herself threw the door open.

"Kept you waiting, huh? Get in! The other pilots are already at the Geofront!"

Slightly startled, Shinji looked bewildered as the car slid to a halt in front of him. Calling from the vehicle, the young female driver appeared to be addressing him, as if she guessed right away who he was. Absentmindedly, he muttered, "other pilot?... Wait, you must be Miss Katsuragi-Ah!"

But the explosion from the wreck quickly cut short the words, the boy rushing away from the gunship as he hopped in the woman's car.

"Sorry," Shinji stated, still feeling quite confused, "but I assume my father-no... Mr Ikari sent you here? What do you mean 'other pilots'? Am I supposed to pilot something?..."

by **Malshan** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 1:58 pm

Mefpan wrote:
Greater Istanistan wrote:“So...” she ventured nervously, “have you ever actually piloted a Trident? I haven’t – I’ve used lots of simulators, and I got fairly good in them, but I don’t know how it really properly translate into real life and I’m honestly kind of worried that all my simulator experience will be completely useless, so I was wondering if you had any real idea of how....”

“How it feels to pilot one.”

Rupudska wrote:"I did, once. I would not call it 'piloting' though, it was more of a glorified 'drive around the parking lot to get the 'feel' of it'. Definitely better than the simulators, but I would not say it compares to the real thing. I was not allowed to go above 100 kilometers per hour, was not allowed to leave the testing area, I was not even allowed to use any weapons in the area, just pick them up and put them down."

"...da, same here. I think I got less time in than you", Aleksandra motioned towards Asuka Langley Sohryu, "I was put into one mostly to see if I could activate it at all. To answer your question though, there is some slight sensory feedback to aid battlefield awareness I suppose, but other than that, I couldn't say. Barely any sim time worth mentioning either. I was attached to a peacekeeping unit. I doubt the Motherland parted with me entirely willingly there. As comrades said in broken German, 'This scary Russian girl, is make Chechen bullet scare and turn around in air.' Glorified shield duty, really."

Aleksandra yawned, shifting around in her seat a little, comfortable surface that it was. Much more comfortable than a BTR-80 filled to capacity rolling across bombed roads driven by a suicidal jackass, at any rate. Plus, there were no passers-by applying elbows to her face, so she wasn't about to complain about a lack of cushioning when the comfort had increased so drastically elsewhere.

"So. Anyway. What do you think is this hurry for? I thought they had planned the scenic route for us", she said, digging around in her pocket to produce a small brochure on NERV that she'd been handed (as, presumably, had the others) and waved it around for emphasis, "so why hurry now? Think something actually serious might be going on? I'd love to know."

Gustav, having picked up on just a few tidbits of the conversation, broken words and phrases here and there, combed through his dictionary while constructing a simple sentence to add to the conversation. He would learn (quickly, he hoped) how to better understand and speak to his fellow pilots, if only to make the flow of communication easier. Japanese appeared to be a widely common language for all of them and, despite Gustav's natural affinity for such things, he was having a bit of trouble picking it up.

He spoke haltingly, referring back to his dictionary and inserting words in english here and there to aid his response, "Ah....'Trident', yes?" he said in English. Switching to Japanese, he spoke the phrase he constructed, albeit with poor pronunciation and a thick accent, "Have...constructed 'Trident'. Build team. French government...design and build."

Gustav shook his head, knowing that he was butchering the language. He continued, "NERV, 'Trident' to....'fight' Angel, yes?" He gestured to the group and to the heavily armed VTOL. "Fight...Angel, yes?"

by **Rupudska** » Sun Nov 08, 2015 10:27 am

Malshan wrote:Gustav, having picked up on just a few tidbits of the conversation, broken words and phrases here and there, combed through his dictionary while constructing a simple sentence to add to the conversation. He would learn (quickly, he hoped) how to better understand and speak to his fellow pilots, if only to make the flow of communication easier. Japanese appeared to be a widely common language for all of them and, despite Gustav's natural affinity for such things, he was having a bit of trouble picking it up.

He spoke haltingly, referring back to his dictionary and inserting words in english here and there to aid his response, "Ah....'Trident', yes?" he said in English. Switching to Japanese, he spoke the phrase he constructed, albeit with poor pronunciation and a thick accent, "Have...constructed 'Trident'. Build team. French government...design and build."

Gustav shook his head, knowing that he was butchering the language. He continued, "NERV, 'Trident' to....'fight' Angel, yes?" He gestured to the group and to the heavily armed VTOL. "Fight...Angel, yes?"

"Makes sense to me," Asuka said as she climbed out of the VTOL. "Why else would they not even give us the time to go to our own new homes here?"

There was also the fact that they had called them to Tokyo-3 with rather short notice. That in itself was suspicious, but Asuka didn't know enough about detecting Angels to find it any more than odd. For all she knew, NERV could predict the appearance of Angels down to the minute.

She whipped out her phone and called Ritsuko.

"Hello, yes? We have arrived at the Geofront... yeah, we were about to head to the Trident pens... wait what?"

She stopped right at the edge of the helipad circle.

"What do you mean we don't even have clearance to launch yet? Just how far up their own arses are these generals that they will not let clearly superior units take on clearly superior enemies? Scheißkopfen!"

Wolfenium wrote:Slightly startled, Shinji looked bewildered as the car slid to a halt in front of him. Calling from the vehicle, the young female driver appeared to be addressing him, as if she guessed right away who he was. Absentmindedly, he muttered, "other pilot?... Wait, you must be Miss Katsuragi-Ah!"

But the explosion from the wreck quickly cut short the words, the boy rushing away from the gunship as he hopped in the woman's car.

"Sorry," Shinji stated, still feeling quite confused, "but I assume my father-no... Mr Ikari sent you here? What do you mean 'other pilots'? Am I supposed to pilot something?..."

"That's right," Misato said, as she drift-turned onto an empty street in a way that was at once terrifying and impressive. "Commander Ikari had me pick you up since VTOLs aren't allowed near the train stations, and this was the next fastest way."

"There are, at the moment, seven other Trident pilots, all of whom are either on their way to the Geofront or already there. You'll be piloting a Trident as well."

by **Occupied Deutschland** » Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:10 pm

Rei brought herself to her feet. The world spun, her knees shook, and a spike of pain traveled along her spine. She closed her eyes until the vertigo passed and rested a hand on the gurney for a moment. They weren’t exactly subtle anymore, were They? Supposedly, in the past, They had needed to be subtle about what They did.

Reaching a hand out, Rei patted the gurney she’d just forced herself off of. It had been a good gurney. It hadn’t broken or buckled under her painful writhing, and the squeaking from its wheels wasn’t its fault. It couldn’t oil itself. It had done its job well. It deserved respect for that. At least, she thought it did. Or maybe she just thought that she thought it did? It was hard to tell sometimes. In either case…

“Thank you.” She said, letting her hand rest on the gurney for another moment as she mentally prepared herself for the remainder of the short journey.

It was perhaps thirty regular-length steps to the edge of the catwalk that wormed its way through the Trident pens. It took Rei twice that. With a very soft sigh of relief, she placed both hands on the railing when she reached it and dropped her entire upper-body onto the metal bar. Were she the type to drink, the stance might have resembled the kind of loose and miserable posture she would adopt halfway through regurgitating a liquid dinner. She was not the type to ever drink, however, so that thought did not enter her mind except to be noted as not entering her mind.

Rei had the inexplicable urge to vomit. It passed after a moment. At least piloting usually eliminated her headaches for a little while, whether they were from injuries, hangovers or experiments. The trade-off wasn’t exactly phenomenal, but it didn’t physically hurt. Right now, Rei physically hurt. She couldn’t even work up the energy to hum, and instead just remained motionless against the railing beside her Trident, waiting. Eventually someone would either tell her to get in the Trident for the next part of the drill or let her know the drill was over. She had waited for hours before, she could do it again. It would be more miserable this time, but she could still do it. She felt like she had to.

Presumably They were testing her against Them, the new arrivals. That was not a good thing for teamwork, but was effective at inspiring competition. They always had liked playing competitors against each other to serve their own ends, after all. Of course, if They were testing her against Them, she’d won rather handily since none of Them had even arrived yet. Rei wasn’t sure if she should be slightly proud of that or slightly ashamed. She settled on neither. No matter what, she just couldn’t feel proud of conforming to what the Illuminati-New-World-Order wanted her to do.

Pixiv · by **Wolfenium** » Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:22 pm

Rupudska wrote:"That's right," Misato said, as she drift-turned onto an empty street in a way that was at once terrifying and impressive. "Commander Ikari had me pick you up since VTOLs aren't allowed near the train stations, and this was the next fastest way."

"There are, at the moment, seven other Trident pilots, all of whom are either on their way to the Geofront or already there. You'll be piloting a Trident as well."

"Wait, hold on-ひいいい," the boy yelped in a cringe as he was interrupted by the sudden turn, "n-nobody told me I was going to pilot anything!" Gripping the side rail as Misato made another turn, he retorted, "all the man wrote on that letter was 'COME', along with a whole mess of blotted out words! Nobody told me anything about what Trabant or Geo-front! This is unreasonab-うわあ！"

It was clear his mind had trouble getting up to speed by the mess of events happening. The giant monster, piloting a what-it's-called... Some reunion Shinji was getting at this rate. Of course, he never expected it to be jolly by any account. He just did not foresee a monster attack happening.

But something else popped into Shinji's head as they began to reach the Geofront. If Gendo wanted him to pilot some machine to fight the monster, how was it he knew it was coming? It was just another layer of mystery that was piling on the man since he vanished from Shinji's life, and it sunk deep, a rusted nail at his consciousness.

by **Mefpan** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:13 am

Rupudska wrote:"Makes sense to me," Asuka said as she climbed out of the VTOL. "Why else would they not even give us the time to go to our own new homes here?"

There was also the fact that they had called them to Tokyo-3 with rather short notice. That in itself was suspicious, but Asuka didn't know enough about detecting Angels to find it any more than odd. For all she knew, NERV could predict the appearance of Angels down to the minute.

She whipped out her phone and called Ritsuko.

"Hello, yes? We have arrived at the Geofront... yeah, we were about to head to the Trident pens... wait what?"

She stopped right at the edge of the helipad circle.

"What do you mean we don't even have clearance to launch yet? Just how far up their own arses are these generals that they will not let clearly superior units take on clearly superior enemies? Scheißkopfen!"

"JSSDF is afraid of Trident, of NERV, I assume. Neither are part of chain of command; they are also foreign, even if operating under the flag of the UN. They wish to maintain their independence, relevance. We are the new, the old is afraid of being replaced. They are willing to try and prove that they can fight this enemy, no matter the cost. Will send good men and much needed material to their deaths in an attempt to affirm their right to be on this battlefield, if enemy capabilities are comparable to a Trident unit's.

I cannot say how far exactly they will go, but...am only glad Japan is not nuclear power, is all I can say."

Aleksandra came to a halt next to Asuka, looking at her immediate surroundings though not exactly paying much attention to them.

"Waste is punished harshly in the Russian army, a remnant of the Impact wars and the famines, I was told. Material, men, territory, anything you can think of. Say, does Japan also award wasteful officers with bullets? Might make them care more, if failure to cooperate means death for officers also."

Again, she shrugged. Most psychologists would likely blanch at her casual attitude to summary execution and the like, but she didn't really care. She was the Motherland's apostle, after all.

by **Rupudska** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:56 am

Wolfenium wrote:"Wait, hold on-ひいいい," the boy yelped in a cringe as he was interrupted by the sudden turn, "n-nobody told me I was going to pilot anything!" Gripping the side rail as Misato made another turn, he retorted, "all the man wrote on that letter was 'COME', along with a whole mess of blotted out words! Nobody told me anything about what Trabant or Geo-front! This is unreasonab-うわあ！"

It was clear his mind had trouble getting up to speed by the mess of events happening. The giant monster, piloting a what-it's-called... Some reunion Shinji was getting at this rate. Of course, he never expected it to be jolly by any account. He just did not foresee a monster attack happening.

But something else popped into Shinji's head as they began to reach the Geofront. If Gendo wanted him to pilot some machine to fight the monster, how was it he knew it was coming? It was just another layer of mystery that was piling on the man since he vanished from Shinji's life, and it sunk deep, a rusted nail at his consciousness.

12:42

Misato, of course, was not paying attention. She was too busy ~~having fun showing off her Formula One level driving skills to someone that wasn't Ritsuko for once~~ focusing on the road and the drive to Geofront. It wouldn't be much farther now. In fact, once they were over this hill, they'd be within viewing distance of the entrance... why were all the bombers and gunships just standing there?

"Hang on..."

She pulled the Alpine to a stop at the top of the hill, just off the road. Getting out, she retrieved a pair of binoculars from the glove compartment and stood by the side of the car facing away from Sachiel.

"Are they...?" The bombers and gunships pulled away from the monstrosity at as high a speed as they could muster. They were.

"Aw CRAP! N2 MINE! GET DOWN!"

Mefpan wrote:"JSSDF is afraid of Trident, of NERV, I assume. Neither are part of chain of command; they are also foreign, even if operating under the flag of the UN. They wish to maintain their independence, relevance. We are the new, the old is afraid of being replaced. They are willing to try and prove that they can fight this enemy, no matter the cost. Will send good men and much needed material to their deaths in an attempt to affirm their right to be on this battlefield, if enemy capabilities are comparable to a Trident unit's.

I cannot say how far exactly they will go, but...am only glad Japan is not nuclear power, is all I can say."

Aleksandra came to a halt next to Asuka, looking at her immediate surroundings though not exactly paying much attention to them.

"Waste is punished harshly in the Russian army, a remnant of the Impact wars and the famines, I was told. Material, men, territory, anything you can think of. Say, does Japan also award wasteful officers with bullets? Might make them care more, if failure to cooperate means death for officers also."

Again, she shrugged. Most psychologists would likely blanch at her casual attitude to summary execution and the like, but she didn't really care. She was the Motherland's apostle, after all.

Asuka began to slowly back away from Aleksandra, though at a rate slow enough to make it look like she was merely trying to regain personal space, which was odd because she already had plenty at that point.

"Umm... no... neither the Japanese Army nor the German Army nor UN forces do that. I have heard of some African pseudostates doing that, but never actual nations."

She continued on towards the entry door, then paused. "Would it not be wasteful still to use bullets on 'wasteful officers'? Would it not make more sense to instead use, say, rope? Or a blade? If they are so focused on saving ammunition, why would they use execution methods that require ammuniti-"

Asuka was interrupted by a loud boom and the ground shaking violently, enough to cause the VTOL to tip over. No-one was injured, but it was decidedly frightening.

"What the shit was that?" she asked to no-one in German. "Did they just drop an N2?"

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