Episode 4: Non-Staggered Monster AttacksOpening Song: Cruel Angel's Thesis again.
Inside the W-E's CockpitLogan was miserable, having to make such a choice. He really would have preferred to handle more staggered monster attacks, but that wasn't on the table any longer. It was going to have to come down to whom he thought needed more help, and that was Shinji. He'd been encouraging him to ride the Eva for practice for entire weeks, and he'd not even need his whole hand to count the amount of times he'd done it on fingers. Logan cringed, realizing that he hadn't really upheld his promise to train with Kim either, but he had an excuse. It was just today that his huge gray and white big brother was at full operating capacity. There was no time for regrets. He just had to contact Kimb and tell her he couldn't help her right away. She'd understand, she was a tough girl. Right?
“Adam, start up comms with the Pterodactyl Dinozord. Private, please.”
The interface said nothing, and just contacted the girl's mecha for maximum efficiency. Her helmeted head (and the rest of her surrounding cockpit, of course) appeared on the Wonderchild's view screen, and she shot a thumbs up to Logan. It looked like her camera was down on the panel below her, unlike Logan's which was to his left in the creamy white glossy pit of cock. She asked, “What's up, Corg'? Ready to show King Sphinx he really stinks?” Ah, right right, she'd taken to calling him Corgan as a nickname.
Doing his best to bury his anxiety and feeling of frustration over having to deliver the news, he just dished it out. “Kim, I can't help you yet. There's an Angel attacking, and Shinji would be lost without me. Can you hold the enemy off and keep the airport safe until we can join you there?”
“Duh? I'm the Pink Power Ranger, I've done it before! Even the first monster I ever fought got beat by this awesome Zord! You better hurry though, or that Sphinx will be sent back to Egypt before you even get there!” She pumped her fist, and concluded her link with Logan. Presumably to focus on the battle, or something. Logan trusted her implicitly, at least when it came to piloting. She'd shown off a few aerial maneuvers to him one day last week, while he'd watched from the very hills and mountains he was about to head to.
Using his controls to open up a direct line to both Eva 01 and NERV command, Logan asked “Shinji, are you ready?”
The response took a couple seconds, while the Third Child just glumly stared downwards and away from the camera. “Yeah, I'll launch.” It sounded about as convincing as a timeshare investment scam. That kid was one bad actor.
“Yeah, you will!” Misato beamed at both of the younger men through a camera being used in some kind of tactical room Logan obviously hadn't been allowed into yet. “Listen closely pilots, here's the tactical situation. The Angel is on a collision course with the city just like Sachiel was. Luckily, we've got time to intercept it before it can make landfall on the actual Tokyo-3 city limits. You'll be sortieing together this time, riding adjacent launch pads. Logan, you'll have to be careful to position yourself just right since we haven't had time to modify one for your size.”
“Do we have footage of the enemy?” Logan asked, paying close attention to everything the captain said. Finally the professional he saw early on was showing through, and he almost forgot the frivolous lush she was on her time off.
“Yes.” It appeared on Logan's screen and presumably Shinji's as well, quite abruptly. The focus of the video in front of him was definitely an Angel, but it was drastically different from Sachiel. Instead of a humanoid like Bones and the Second Angel, this thing appeared to be an insect! A long, slender insect that was floating through the air outside the city. It didn't look like it even had wings, but it did seem that there were a pair of eyes atop its upper side. “This is the Third Angel, which HQ has designated as 'Shamshel',” Misato explained. “Aside from unconfirmed analysis that it may be hiding a pair of arms on its underbelly, we have no way to know fully what kind of battle techniques it may use. Sachiel used blades hidden inside his arms, so expect secret strategies!”
Logan smiled and answered, “Acknowledged. Shinji, this doesn't even look that bad. We'll be fine if it's just a bug.”
This was not a lot of comfort for the teen, who just said, “Yeah.” He was obviously rattled even by the footage of the flying magenta creep. Frankly, Logan was also. There was something about its lengthy rectangular body and fat, rounded head that made it unsettling. The difference was that the Ambassador knew how to keep it hidden.
“Logan's right - you'll be fine this time Shinji! Don't worry about the fact that the Angel can fly and Eva can't. We'll be sending you up into battle with the new, patented Pallet Gun! It's a combat rifle, so be a 'good soldier' for us, 'kay?” Misato seemed excited, and Logan agreed that she should be. The Pallet Gun looked much like a sleek assault rifle, but mecha sized! He even wished he had one.
“Yeah...” Shinji said, sounding rather unconvinced despite his cool new weapon. The two mecha stood up together, and the 01 was directed out of the liquid that it was usually held in. Both pilots directed their machines onto individual launching pads, which turned out to be high pressured lifts attached to the wall. This was it – time to head out into the city and take on Shamshel. Adam helped with positioning the Wonderchild just so, and Logan figured there would be some sort of countdown to let them know when they'd be shot to ground level.
“Launch Eva!” shouted Misato, and both of the giant robots were fired through a narrow metal passage and up to the streets of Tokyo-3! It was an incredibly fast launch, and Logan was unprepared for exactly how quick a shift it would be. Thankfully, Adam kept the W-E steady and both Logan and Shinji made it without incident.
A little shook at having been blasted so abruptly, Logan admitted over comms, “I definitely prefer launching from the Embassy. Wow, though!” He tried making light of the situation, but neither the command room nor Shinji had any kind of reaction for that. Maybe, he thought, he should have tried to sound a little more grateful. Well, that wasn't what was really important at the time. What was more crucial was getting out of the city as fast as possible, which they started to do. Normally that would be done by car or train, but these guys had to get going on mecha-foot. These robots are the vehicles, they don't ride other vehicles.
Thankfully, Shinji was at least able to walk a little bit better by now. Logan observed that he no longer let the 01's arms hang at its sides lazily while it ambulated, making the process more balanced and effective. At least he'd listened to some of the piloting advice the older man had given him since they'd moved in together! Now he just needed to take his other advice and actually embrace piloting his cool giant mecha, instead of pretending like he could stop at some point. Easier said than done.
As it had during the Second Angel event, the sound of the raid siren was permeating all of Tokyo-3. It was unmistakable, and the populace was well aware of the implications. There weren't cars on the round or passerby to watch out for, only the two mecha striding across the city in silence. Cold shining steel and concrete surrounded them, but not for long as they were headed up and out. Tokyo-3 would be completely safe as long as Shamshel didn't make it in. This was very important to Logan, who knew that both the safety of his city and the reputation of the United Arms were riding on his success. It was probably important to Shinji too, but Logan didn't feel like discussing it. That might cause undue pressure on the kid, which he didn't want.
Thinking it would be awesome if the Wonderchild had a little black car (much like his, which had been repaired since its crash), Logan realized this wouldn't be necessary. They were already reaching the outskirts of Tokyo-3, and to his surprise Shamshel was already in visual range from there. This was largely due to the soft and rolling hills nearer to the city not blocking view like the further mountains would, but it was unsettling to the Ambassador. He said to his roommate, “Shinji, we're going to have to do this quickly. We've got a nice battlefield right here, but it's not as far as I'd have liked.”
Still not 'excited' to be fighting, Shinji nevertheless looked like he was trying to be ready. He firmly said, “Yes. It won't get to Tokyo-3, no matter what. How should we attack?”
Logan stared at the magenta monster for a moment, realizing that it definitely had something on its chest. It was tucked in, though, and he couldn't tell what it was. It was airborn, but not by a huge amount. It was gliding along at a smooth clip, not like the beats of wings or anything so crude. This was no Sachiel, that was for sure.
Choice Time>Okay, shake and bake! Logan should launch himself above Shamshel with the verniers and target the top of the thing, while Shinji fires from below with the Pallet Gun!
>Okay, shock and awe! Bugs are usually vulnerable from their underbellies, right? Logan should charge the triangular trio of Frontal Array bursts, and fire them in sync with a barrage of Pallet Gun bullets!
>Okay, weird ideas! “Shinji, throw me!”
Second Choice Time: Think up a cool name for the trio of electricity bursters on the Wonderchild's chest, currently called the Frontal Array.
