"Welcome everyone," the host smiled charmingly, his tuxedo hugging a slim form, "my name is Kaworu Nagisa, and I'll be your host tonight! This is the night you've all been waiting for, the beginning of the Miss Macros Pageant!" A wink, "Don't we all love those men.. I mean, women in uniform?" "He's quite flamboyant, isn't he?" Captain Misato Katsuragi noted from where she sat in the audience for the rehearsal. The officer was dressed in a casual black dress, her uniform coat over top and her black hair flowing over her shoulders. "Put him in a dress, he could probably enter," Kaji wryly agreed, smoking a cigarette quite illegally in the theater. "Oooh, bad mental image," Misato winced. "Now, from Macross herself our first entry, Mana Kirishima!" Kaworu waved as the girl walked out from the sidelines. A young lady with short red hair emerged, her dress a summer style number with light fabric that flowed around her. "Hello," she smiled shyly, "my name is Mana, I'm from Yokohama and transferred to Macross shortly before we all ended up here." A smile, "I'm a military test pilot, love to cook and hope to have children later in life." "Everybody give a big cheer for Mana," Kaworu waved. "Mana," he smiled down at her, "are you seeing someone?" "N... no," Mana blushed. "Well you can trust me when I say you'll be snatched up after this," Kaworu winked as Mana retreated off stage.. "Poor kid," Ritsuko Akagi murmured from where the blonde officer sat on the other side of Misato. "I'm surprised you're not back stage with Maya," Misato noted. "Maya sent me out here," a blushing Ritsuko admitted, "she said my fussing around made her nervous." "Can't blame her for that," Kaji conceded. "Next up is the blonde bombshell of stage and screen," Kaworu gestured boldly as he cried, "Satsuki Ooi!" Satsuki strode out confidently, her blonde hair bouncing down her back as she smiled and waved at the imaginary audience. "Hello Macross," Satsuki smiled sweetly, "I love to sing and dance, and look forward to entertaining you." "Is it really fair to have a ringer like this in the contest?" Misato wondered. Kaji shrugged casually, "Contest had to be open to everybody or there would have been complaints." "So, what should we be looking forward to from you?" Kaworu asked leadingly. "Just wait for the swimsuit contest," Satsuki winked, "I'll blow you away." "She is such a slut," Ritsuko sighed as Satsuki scampered off stage. "Rits-chan," Misato scolded teasingly. "Too bad Ayanami couldn't be in this rehearsal," Kaji noted, "I'd love to see how she'd respond to THAT." "She's a bit busy," Misato frowned. On the bridge a remarkably nervous Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga sat in the captain's chair, his glasses gleaming as he watched the busy activity on the bridge. "Why did I get left in command?" he wondered aloud. "Cause Misato knows you're reliable?" Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba said with a grin, the long brown haired man standing at the fighter ops station. "Or she knows she can dump the job on you and won't complain," Kozo Fuyutsuki noted with dry amusement, the older man sitting in the second in command chair. While technically outranking both younger men he was a engineer and scientist, and was therefore not in the line of command. "Sir," Motoko asked tentatively, "what's it like, working with Gendo?" "Interesting," Fuyutsuki answered calmly. Outside, a wave of Evangelion fighters soared by, the fighter patrols scouring the skies above the SDF-1. "Keep up, damn it," Asuka Langley said coldly as she radioed a lagging pilot, "dropping out of formation could get you killed." "Understood, ma'am," a pilot stammered back. "Go easy," Rei Ayanami said to her quietly on a private frequency, "he's barely gotten his wings." Asuka sighed, "Right. I just don't think I'm the sort of person to help whip into shape these young pilots." "Could be worse," Rei offered as the squads again preformed the training maneuver. "How?" Asuka asked as she saw the one pilot fall behind again. Rei grinned, "You could have just shot him." "Trust me," Asuka grit her teeth, "I'm thinking about it." Raising her voice and switching to a public channel she roared, "Get in formation or the Zentradi won't HAVE to kill you, Ill do it MYSELF!" "Yes ma'am," a chorus of terrified voices called back. "Remind me not to piss her off," Shinji Ikari noted as she guided his own team of pilot trainees. He flew with his usual precision and grace, and even with him holding back the youngsters were barely keeping up. "Do you think it's PMS?" a woman pilot offered nervously. "No, she's like that all the time," Shinji grinned. "I heard that," Asuka growled at him. "Oops," Shinji sighed. To be continued... Notes: Mana Kirishima is from the Girlfriend of Steel game and Satsuki Ooi is a "bridge bunny" character from another Eva game.
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