NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma
A.T. FIELD
The Evangelion is capable of generating the effect currently classified as an "a.t. field," a kinetic physical barrier capable of blocking all known forms of attack. It can also breach or cancel out a.t. fields generated by the enemy. The Evangelion is currently the only weapon in humanity's arsenal capable of generating an a.t. field.
Despite extensive testing, the full capabilities of this feature are as of yet not completely understood. Nonetheless, rough estimates of the field's strength in various configurations can be made as follows...
Shinji flipped through the NERV manual as Misato and the others on the lift chatted about budgets. It was kind of amazing, honestly, how so many pages and words could reveal so little. Nothing on where the Eva came from, or what the Angels were, or how they managed to generate this AT field thing where nothing else could. For that matter, how had NERV even known what the Angels were capable of before the first one had shown up in Tokyo-3?
***
"We knew about it from Second Impact, of course," Ritsuko said brusquely. Shinji stood just behind her and Misato as the elevator carried them upwards.
Shinji tried his best to keep up. "So you're saying that what actually vaporized Antarctica was..."
"Fifteen years ago, humanity discovered the first of the creatures we call Angels buried in Antartica. In the middle of the investigation, for some unknown reason, it self-destructed, taking the entire continent with it. The Evangelions were constructed as mankind's response to that incident, based on what data we were able to recover."
Was it just him, or did Misato have a strange look on her face? Like she was thinking about something, or maybe trying very hard not to think about something. Shinji looked back to Ritsuko. "Then, the things that we're doing here..."
"Are intended to avoid a probable Third Impact and the extinction of the human race." Ritsuko's voice had a clinical, practiced tone, like she'd said those exact words many times before. "Now, does that answer your question?"
"Err, sort of," said Shinji. "So why do all the history textbooks say it was caused by a meteorite?"
Ritsuko shrugged. "As is often the case, the true facts were concealed."
"But why? I mean, wouldn't it have been easier just to tell everyone the truth?" Shinji hesitated for a second. "And if the Angels are capable of doing something like that, why haven't they just done it to us already? Why are they even giving us the chance to fight them?"
Ritsuko turned to Misato. "By the way, that event will be going forward tomorrow."
Misato nodded, her mind clearly still somewhere else.
***
Above Old Tokyo. The next day.
"It's called Jet Alone."
Shinji sat in the back cabin of the aircraft, bewildered. One moment, he'd been in school; the next, he'd been rushed out of class by five NERV agents, driven to an airfield, loaded onto a huge jet with his Eva - which he hadn't even known they could do, he'd never realized they even made planes that large. And now Misato was showing him a photo of a blocky-looking robot that wouldn't have looked out of place in a cheap forty-year-old science fiction movie.
"It's an experimental weapons platform developed by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries." Misato tugged on the thumb of her glove. She was wearing an odd getup that resembled some kind of spacesuit. "Thirty minutes ago, it went out of control during testing and is no longer responding to radio control. To make matters worse, its onboard nuclear reactor is overheating."
"Nuclear reactor?" Shinji asked, dumbstruck. "Aren't those illegal?"
Misato waved off the question. "The company got special dispensation from the government. We're looking at a possible meltdown within the next fifteen minutes. We need to stop it and shut it down before it gets too close to a populated area. Lieutenant?"
"Ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga said from the cockpit.
"You're to insert Eva Unit 1 nearby the target, then ascend to the safe zone and await further orders."
"Yes, ma'am!"
She turned to Shinji. "Don't worry about the drop. The Type G equipment will take care of everything automatically. Just don't panic and you'll be fine. We'll have about five minutes once we're on the ground. Deploy your AT field, then catch up to the target."
"Yes, ma'am," Shinji said. "Do you want me to... I don't know... try to leg sweep it or something?"
"We can't risk damaging the reactor. You're to drop off a secondary asset, then just do your best to slow it down."
"A secondary asset?"
"That'd be me." She picked up the suit's helmet and slung it under her arm. "There's a hatch on the target's back. I have the passwords necessary to get inside and completely wipe its programming. The reactor should automatically scram itself afterwards."
"But - that's crazy!"
She shrugged. "We don't have any other options. Don't worry about the radiation. Worse case scenario, the AT field will protect you from anything."
"I'm not worried about me! What about you?"
Misato grinned. There was a strange gleam in her eye that reminded Shinji of the Doctor. "It can't be helped. I have to do what I can. Otherwise, I'll regret it forever."
Shinji stared at her, his mouth open. He couldn't think of a single thing to say.
She put the helmet on and sealed it. "So - what's the first thing you do when we're on the ground?"
Shinji swallowed. "D-Deploy the AT field."
She smiled at him through the faceplate. "Good man."
***
Old Tokyo
Something was wrong. That was Shinji's first thought.
The jolt when the Eva hit the ground wasn't as big as he'd expected. He could see the target in the distance, lumbering through the mud flats and ruined buildings. He nervously glanced down at the Eva's right hand. "Misato?"
"I'm fine!" She stood up on the Eva's palm, holding onto its thumb for support. "Go!"
Gripping Misato as gently as he could, Shinji pushed Unit 1 into a sprint. The Eva dashed forward and immediately started to gain ground.
Something was wrong, he thought. Something felt wrong, though he couldn't put his finger on what. Not that he expected dumping a friend into a walking deathtrap to feel right, of course, but... He flicked a switch on his control grip. One of the Eva's secondary cameras zoomed in on the fast-approaching target as it strode through a half-eroded parking garage.
Wait... Was it just him, or did the concrete seem to somehow shift out of the foot's way before it even landed?
On his left, he saw a faded, half-collapsed old billboard extolling the virtues of the new PlayStation 2. He reached out with the Eva's free hand as he passed by and ripped it off its rusted moorings.
"Shinji?" said Misato. "What are you doing? We need to stick to the plan!"
"Just want to see something," Shinji mumbled. He skidded the Eva to a halt and threw the sign at the hulking metal figure in front of him.
"What - WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Misato exploded. "YOU IDIOT! YOU'LL DAMAGE -"
The billboard flew threw the air, straight at the robot's back...
... And bounced off of a glowing yellow symbol that suddenly appeared in mid-air, right in front of it.
There was a stunned pause. "Wait," Misato said. "Was that a -"
***
Jet Alone Mission Control Center, Japan Heavy Chemical Industries Edogawa Facility
" - an AT field?" Ritsuko pushed a heavyset technician out of her way and stared into the monitor.
***
Old Tokyo
Jet Alone stopped in its tracks. It slowly turned around.
Its torso crumpled inwards like a crushed beer can. Steam erupted from its shoulders and back. Its arms suddenly warped and snaked outwards, its hands and fingers disappearing into single sharpened points. The center of its chest caved in to form a hole, reaching deep into the thing's body. And just below its head, a pointed symbol that looked like the skull of a bird shaped itself out of the metal...
***
Jet Alone Mission Control Center
Throughout the half-collapsed control room, alarms screamed and gauges went red. Ritsuko stared at the video feed, her eyes wide.
"Oh - oh, God." Mr. Tokita, chief executive of the Jet Alone project, hugged his stomach, his face pale. "It's an Angel. How could it be an Angel?"
"Supercritical state reached!" one of the technicians shouted. "Reactor temperature at three hundred percent of operational limit and rising!"
***
Old Tokyo
Shinji backed away from Jet Alone as the air around the robot started to glow blue.
Misato said, "Shi-"
That was all she had time for. The eyes of the metal skull flashed. A massive burst of fire leapt out from the thing's heart and consumed the Eva in an instant.