Lieutenant Asuka Langley opened up with her main gun,
fireballing several battlepods as the red trimmed fighter dove right
through the enemy ranks. The battlefield that the skies had become was
almost filled with the bobbing and weaving enemy mecha along with the
Evangelion fighters of the Earth's defending forces.
An explosion that was just a bit too near Asuka's plane for
comfort startled her, then the communication systems came on. Sergeant
Rei Ayanami's face looked out of the view screen calmly as she
maneuvered her fighter expertly, but a bit of red was on her cheeks.
"Watch yourself," she said simply, "we don't want to lose you."
"Thanks," Asuka shot her a grin, her own cheeks reddening.
Shinji's face appeared on the screen, a slight frown on the
dark haired Sergeant's face. "So where are the Angel suits?" he asked
grimly, "All we seem to be running into are the battlepods."
"Strange," Rei frowned slightly.
"I don't like it," Asuka had to agree. She switched
communication frequencies over to the command band, contacting the
bridge.
"Yes?" Ritsuko crisply replied.
"Can you give me an overview of the situation?" Asuka asked,
keeping an eye on the battle around her as she talked.
"Heaviest concentration of battlepods are in your area,"
Ritsuko consulted her control panel, "and there's only a light attack
in the north east sector."
Asuka's eyes narrowed in thought, "Any fighters engaging
them?"
"Just our automated defenses," Maya called out from her
station.
Asuka suddenly began to curse in both English and German, then
falling back on Japanese when she ran out of other words. "Baka! This
is just a distraction," she loudly cursed, "they're trying something
elsewhere!"
Listening in on the conversation Misato called up the overall
situation on a computer console set by her command chair, finally
nodding grimly. She looked up at Ritsuko, "Are there any forces we can
quickly move there?"
"We'll go," Asuka's voice came through loud and clear.
"Whatever they're up to, they won't succeed. You have my word," she
vowed.
"Go," Misato ordered.
With those simple words Asuka broke away from the fighting,
Shinji and Rei following close behind her. Sudden bursts of tracer
fire arched up into the sky as the ship's automated defenses worked to
blast the battlepods out of the air, tactical systems working to get
solid target locks. Identification systems in the Evangelions diverted
most of the firepower away from their path, but they still had to keep
their eyes open.
The three fighters in red, blue and with the skull and
crossbones reached the north east sector in a few moments, the ship's
scarred, battered hull moving quickly right below them. "Shit," Shinji
cursed softly when they saw what awaited them.
There were five Angels, five of the fast, heavily armed
humanoid fighting machines that the enemy used so sparingly.
Accompanied by a dozens of battlepods they advanced towards the
relatively undefended part of the ships' hull.
"Are we in trouble?" Rei's calm voice asked.
Asuka kept her fighter pointed right at the flight of Angels,
accelerating towards them. With a flip of a switch she brought her
missile pods up and running, then prepared her main cannon for use.
"Like hell," she growled out, and opened fire.
"There's a battle cry," Shinji smiled, following her in guns
blazing.
"You don't get to die today, Asuka," Rei's eyes seemed to be
lit with a new passion, one they hadn't seen in there before, "I won't
let you."
"Then let's take these bastards out," Asuka smiled.
The three fighter planes devastated the battlepods' formation
in their first attack run, but the Angels were waiting, ready for
them. They threw out bursts of firepower that were almost the equal of
the Evangelions', and only the swift reflexes of the pilots saved them
all from a fiery death. The five Angels tried their best to break
through the guards of the three pilots, but somehow Asuka, Rei and
Shinji were always there to cover each other's back.
BOOM!
The Angel exploded in a cloud of fire, bits of debris raining
down on the sea far below them. "Scratch one," Rei reported calmly,
maneuvering away from where she and Shinji had managed to catch it in
a crossfire.
"Scratch two," Asuka's voice had a feral excitement in it,
having managed to defeat an Angel all on her own. A delayed charge on
a missile distracting it, then Asuka getting below then opening up on
it with her Evangelion's cannons.
Shinji smiled grimly as the three Evangelions shifted to their
EVA mode, "It looks like we're on even odds."
All the mechas hovered there for a few moments, three
Evangelions and Angels gazing at each other across such a short
distance. A short burst of static on their three pilot's
communication's screens, and an unfamiliar face appeared there. Short
green hair fell into her intense eyes, eyes that studied all three of
them.
"Who the..." Asuka blinked.
"I'm impressed, Micronians," the green haired woman finally
said, "but such valor will not save you. We will reclaim Zor's vessel,
and the Protoculture within it."
"Zor?" Rei looked at her oddly, "Protoculture?"
"We happen to like the ship right where it is," Asuka said
crisply, "and whatever Protoculture is, I wouldn't hand it over to
you."
"You're their leader, aren't you?" The green haired woman
looked at her intently, then smiled. "I am Mirya, and I look forward
to killing you," she said.
Before any of the Evangelion could react the Angels were gone,
racing away at incredible speeds. "Should we pursue?" Shinji asked.
Asuka hesitated before smiling slightly, turning back towards
the ship. "No. We've done them enough damage for one day, I think."
Ritsuko frowned as the three planes descended to the flight
deck, one leaving a trail of smoke behind it. 'I thought they made it
through the battle with the Angels all right,' she thought. 'we can't
afford to loose them, they're the only ones who've beaten an Angel.'
With remarkable skill the damaged plane came down smoothly,
the others rolling to a stop beside it. The canopy of the damaged
fighter popped open, and remarkably fluent swearing came out as it's
pilot climbed out, holding a bloody shoulder.
'Asuka,' Ritsuko noted before moving forward to help the girl
down. "Are you all right, Lieutenant-Commander?"
"Got clipped by out own damn guns, ma'am," Asuka growled out.
She seemed to blink in surprise, "What did you say?"
"You've been promoted, Langley," Ritsuko smiled slightly. She
was just a bit surprised when Shinji and Rei quickly moved in to take
Asuka's weight, Rei looking at her wing-leader worriedly. "All of you
have, actually," she looked at the two wingmen, "lieutenants."
"Thank you, ma'am," Shinji threw an awkward salute, helping
support Asuka.
"Thank you," Rei didn't even salute, her focus on her injured
friend, and on the bloodstain spreading on her shoulder.
"Get her to the medics," Ritsuko stepped back, and the two all
but carried Asuka off. 'Interesting,' she mused as she watched them
go, 'very interesting.'
Back to Neon Genesis Evangelion Meets Robotech Index - Back to Crossovers Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction