"All right," Asuka Soryu Langley said flatly as the orange haired woman tightly gripped the controls of Archangel, "let's try this again." The screen they were watching showed a split image, Asuka on one side and the almost eerily human looking Archangel bio-mechanical construct on the other side. "Prepare unit Alpha for launch," Maya Ibuki said calmly. "Open tertiary connections one through twenty five." "Right," Makoto Hyuga nodded, his glasses gleaming as he confidently activated the required systems. He had only recently returned to NERV but seemed to be settling in nicely, as well as adapting to his former co-worker being in charge. "She's taken well to command," Ritsuko noted proudly from where the blonde scientist stood by Misato on the upper deck. "Maya certainly looks more relaxed at it than I felt," Misato confessed, the black haired woman watching the goings on intently. "You never showed it," Ritsuko smiled. "Thanks," Misato shrugged. Raising her voice she asked, "How does it feel, Asuka?" Asuka smiled back slightly, "No headache so far." Rei Ayanami gave a relieved smile from where she waited on the command deck and murmured, "Thank goodness." "Open up the next twenty five for secondary connection," Maya ordered. "Any systems problems?" Yui Ikari asked, looking strangely out of place as a boy in a lab coat. "The new virtual barriers for Asuka may generate some problems." "Nothing yet," Satsuke Ooi answered, her long blonde hair gleaming as the technician monitored the various systems. "Kaede, Aoi?" Yui asked the other techs, getting positive results from both women. "Medical monitors show green," Maya murmured then looked up, "Asuka?" "Itching to go." Asuka quipped. Misato chuckled softly, "Remind me to pout itching powder in her plug suit." Ritsuko gave her a look, "You wouldn't." "Wanna bet?" Misato smirked. "Bad girl," Ritsuko chided. "All right," Maya said firmly, "first stage connection, go." "This is where there were problems last time?" Makoto asked softly as he pressed the correct set of keys. "Correct." Yui answered softly. "Asuka?" Rei asked, studying her girlfriend intently. "No headache," Asuka sounded relieved as she asked, "did that feedback wobble turn up again, ma'am?" "No readings on feedback," Kaede said, pushing up her own glasses as she checked the readings to be sure. "Medical monitors also read clear," the third tech, Aoi, said crisply. "Release locks," Maya commanded, "Unit Alpha, you're free to move out." "Aye aye." Makoto grinned as he went to work, switches releasing the support structure that helped keep the usually depowered Archangel upright. With a shudder the massive booms pulled back, then with a almost inhuman grace the Archangel moved. Rei moved forward unconsciously as she watched the Archangel take it's first few steps. "It's beautiful," she murmured. Yui sweatdropped. "Anyway,:" she said briskly, "Asuka, you all right in there." "Yes," Asuka growled as she made the Archangel pace around the underground enclosure, "for the third time. What do we do now?" "Back into the locks for now," Maya said briskly, "on the weekend we'll deploy the Archangel outside the city so you can really practice maneuvering it." "I'm looking forward to that," Misato murmured. "So we can move forward on operation: Shinji rescue?" Ritsuko asked teasingly as they watched Asuka carefully move the Archangel back into place. "More like recovering Unit 01. Getting Shinji out of it will be a whole other set of problems," Misato her answered grimly. She looked up at Ritsuko and asked, "Has Yue had any luck researching Gendo's files?" "Some preliminary notes relating to the creation of the Rei clone were found," Ritsuko revealed, "but not much else yet. There's still a massive amount of data to dig through." "That's why I haven't done much with those files." Misato grumbled as Maya supervised the shutdown of Unit Alpha, "Gendo seemed to be a compulsive notes taker. His journal was thousands of pages long...." "We should dump it on mom," Ritsuko offered. "The Magi?" Misato blinked, "Yeah, I suppose so. I just hope she doesn't hit anything too upsetting in there." "She's accepted Gendo's a sleeze," Ritsuko shrugged, "at least that's what the conversation Maya overheard implies." "What, between her and Yui?" Misato looked a bit startled. "Is it me, or is there something disturbing about their being friends?" "It's not just you," Ritsuko admitted. Meanwhile, Asuka smiled as she took a towel from Rei as she climbed out of the entry plug for the Archangel. "Thanks," she smiled as she toweled the LCL off. "You're welcome," Rei said with a smile before stepping close and giving the still damp Asuka a firm hug. Asuka pulled her close even as she murmured, "What was that for?" "I was worried," Rei explained simply. Asuka blushed a bit, feeling that odd tingle of pleasure inside that she got knowing that someone cared. "So was I," she conceded as they waked off, "bleeding from the nose the last two tests was not fun." "Well, at least we know it works," Rei sighed as she cuddled close to Asuka's side. Asuka slid a arm around Rei as they walked through NERV headquarters. "Yeah, now on to the next bit," she sighed, "training with Aoba. Can we just go home now?" "You're not looking forward to being beaten by our new hand to hand instructor?" Rei asked her teasingly. "Hell no," Asuka sighed.
Back to Third Genesis Index - Back to Neon Genesis Evangelion Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction