Asuka looked out of the window of her hospital room at the
artificial sky, feeling her whole body aching. She didn't particularly
like being shot, not in any way, shape or form. There was a soft sound
of tapping coming from over by the door, and Asuka looked over to see
her two wingmen standing there in the doorway. Rei looked oddly
worried, compared to her normal cool manner, while Shinji seemed more
nervous.
"Come to see the baka who got shot down by our own weapons?"
Asuka asked, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
"You're no idiot," Rei said softly but intensely as she
swiftly moved over to help her up, "you should know that by now."
"She's right," Shinji agreed, taking a bouquet of flowers from
behind his back and then putting them into a nearby vase. He flushed
slightly at Asuka's curious gaze, "The flowers are from Minmei and the
staff of the Little White Dragon."
"Ah," Asuka nodded slightly. "The docs say I'll only be in
here a few more days, thankfully," she said, shifting to make her
injured shoulder a bit more comfortable. She fixed them with a look,
"You two keeping out of trouble?"
"Of course," Rei said mildly.
"Sure," Shinji agreed innocently.
Asuka looked at the two of them warily, then she sighed to
herself softy.
Rei opened up the curtains a bit more to let in the artificial
sunlight, then she looked over at Asuka. Curiously she asked about a
bit of gossip she heard, "Did one of the bridge crew really come down
here to apologize?"
"Maya, yeah," Asuka made a face.
The dark haired young woman had been very nearly been in tears
when Maya had come inside the room. The bridge officer had quietly
explained to Asuka how the weapons systems under her command had been
the ones responsible for Asuka's plane being shot, and how very sorry
Maya was about it happening...
"It took me nearly ten minutes to convince her it wasn't her
fault just to get her the hell out of my room so I could get some
sleep," Asuka complained.
Shinji hid a slight smile. He had seen the gentle smile on
Maya's face later on that day, and after striking up a conversation
the young lady had spoken to him admirably about Asuka, how she had
comforted her and made her understand that it hadn't been anyone's
fault. 'The boss ain't quite as nasty as she would want people to
think,' he mused.
"And what are you smiling at?" Asuka asked him with a scowl.
"Nothing, nothing," Shinji shrugged.
"Huh," Asuka gave him a suspicious look, then looked away.
"Has there been any more angel appearances?" she finally asked.
"Nothing," Rei shook her head firmly, "there's been a few
skirmishes with battlepods, but the Angel suits have been
conspicuously absent."
"I don't like it," Shinji admitted, "I think that they're up
to something."
"Wouldn't be that surprised," Asuka calmly noted. She fixed
her two wingmen with a fierce look, "If you two end up having to go
out there, be careful. I know the kind of trouble that you two can get
into on your own."
"We'll be careful," Rei agreed with a impish smile.
Shinji checked the flowers one more time then walked to the
door, "I gotta go, boss." He smiled wryly, "I have a date with
Minmei."
"Good luck," Asuka gave him a grin, "you're gonna need it."
Shinji chuckled as he headed out, but she noticed that Rei was
lingering.
The blue haired young woman looked oddly uncomfortable
standing by her bedside. Rei took a deep breath, "Asuka, I..."
Up on the bridge there was an odd sound in the background, a
low buzzing noise. Slumped down in the command chair Misato snored
softly, her black captain's hat pulled down over her eyes, her uniform
badly rumpled by the posture.
Makoto watched her a few moments, his brown hair falling into
his eyes. "Should we try to wake her up?" he finally asked the others.
"I wouldn't be too worried about it," Ritsuko said calmly,
"she's always awake when we need her." Dropping her voice she looked
over at Maya to ask, "Are you feeling any better now that you've gone
to see Asuka?"
"Yes, sempai," Maya blushed sweetly. She pushed her messy hair
up out of her eyes, "She was very nice, actually."
"She had better be," Ritsuko muttered under her breath. The
blonde puffed out a soft breath, "But I was pleasantly surprised to
see how she works with her wingmen."
"How so?" Makoto asked curiously from his position.
"We all know how odd Rei has been, since her accidental
exposure to raw robo-technology in Gendo's lab," Ritsuko said to them
quietly, "but she almost seemed human again, the way she fussed over
Asuka when she was first hurt."
"I noticed Shinji's been a bit more.. normal, too," Maya
nodded thoughtfully. Shinji had been raised by distant relatives when
his mother died, only being reunited with his father by his being in
Macross city when the spacefold happened.
"Gee, I wonder if Asuka could help change Gendo, too," Makoto
said thoughtfully.
Ritsuko and Maya exchanged a long look. "Well, she's not a
miracle worker," Ritsuko chuckled to herself softly, looking away with
a blush.
"She's not all that bad, though," Misato surprised them all by
speaking up. She didn't change her posture at all from where she
slouched in the captain's chair, "Tactical report?"
"Enemy ships are still pacing us, maintaining standard
distance. No battlepod squadrons breaking off, no cruiser movements,"
Maya reported.
"Just like the last few days," Ritsuko noted.
"Yeah," Misato agreed, one dark eye shining as she looked out
the window at blue sky. Softly she whispered, "What the hell are they
up to?"
Out beyond the reach of the SDF-1's weapons the enemy fleet
trailed behind them, maintaining quiet order. Within the massive lead
ship their was an odd feeling of mustiness, of disrepair. Everything
ran, but only just barely.
"Commander," Mirya stood there at attention, the green haired
woman almost rigid, "I request permission to attack!"
The shadowy figure looked out at the vessel, "Your plan?"
"A tactical squad will attack the outside of the ship," Mirya
explained crisply, "while I and one other will attempt to break
through their defenses. We will explore the interior, and try to
discover the location of the Protoculture."
"Zor's great work," the commander looked out at the great ship
they followed. He frowned, "I still do not understand why they have
not used it's full power against us."
"I don't know," Mirya admitted. She looked thoughtful, "It
could be that they do not fully understand the power sealed away
within it."
"Or it could be that their technicians are idiots," the
shadowy figure mused.
On board the SDF-1 Gendo Ikari sneezed suddenly.
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