A few words before we begin:
I like this story. I really do. There are just some parts of it that I can't
stand. You know, those little details that the original EVA just loves to
stick into our minds. Definitions, yah? I do, however, know that if we were
to play completely by the "rules" set out by the series, this fanfic
wouldn't exist. Neither, for that matter, would the greater part of the EVA
fanfics out there (including my own).
(Read: I'm gonna nitpick a bit, if you don't mind. Mostly just at the
technical aspects . . .)
Anyways, here we go . . .
Note:
The source I'm using is a book called "EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd
Edition." It's copyright Eva-keyword Project 1998, ISBN4-89350-327-8.
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
The Bond
By Rob Barba
Series initiated by James Lee
Neon Genesis Evangelion is copyright Gainax and ADV
<snip>
Under the water, in the ocean sector known as the Kanagawa Trench, the
battle between EVA Unit 02 and the oceanic angel continued, unabated.
Above
them, a combined American, Australian, Japanese, and Russian fleet under
UN
command poised above what was once the Ishikawacho district of Yokohama,
wondering what was the fate of the Evangelion unit. The fleet had already
lost five American BOORDA-class destroyers and the recently
re-commissioned
NEW JERSEY; eight Japanese SHIRANE-class destroyers and the four SHIROGAMI
attack subs; the main Australian ship, a FREEMANTLE-class cruiser; and
from
the Russian contingent, a pair of SEYMONOV heavy cruisers, and about six
KRIVAK-class frigates.
First off, it's not a "combined American, Australian, Japanese, and Russian
fleet under UN command." It's *the* UN Pacific Fleet, only some of the ships
were originally from those countries. (see below)
(Source: EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd Edition)
In the CIC of the carrier USS RONALD REAGAN, ADM Benjamin Shearen, the
Commander of the US Seventh Fleet and the admiral in charge of this
fiasco,
turned to the other principals in this situation, but there were three
that
were of the utmost importance: LtGen Sandborn "Sandman" Gregory, the USAF
general in charge of air support; RADM Bridget Austin, COMCARGRU-5 and
commander of the combined surface forces; and CPT Katsuragi Misato, the
OPS
Officer of NERV's Branch-1.
"Damn it to hell, Captain Katsuragi," Austin snarled at her. "My forces
are
getting annihilated out there, and all you're saying is 'Trust the EVA?' I
would rather trust the guns on the IOWA and the KUZENOV--at least those I
can see working!"
Gregory took that as a signal. A commanding look on his face, he turned to
the COMMS officer and shouted, "Get me CINCUNC at New Yokota. I want the
USAF 313th Fighter Group armed and ready to cover JASDF's 45th Bomber
Squadron and VFA-286. I want all of them armed with Mk 62 ASROCs and I
want
them to scrub everything below us."
Austin, already itchy, followed his lead. "Patch to all surface forces: I
want them armed with either NATO-equivalent AVRAAMs or Mk 62 Block 2
ASROCs. Japanese and US ships are to commence full AEGIS integration; have
the KUNEZOV and the ANATOLY-class destroyers see if they can find a way to
link up with our systems. The Aussies will have to settle for a verbal
command. Fire on General Gregory's command."
Yeah, I know you wanna play around with military terms and everything, but
definition-wise, it goes off canon . . .
Known members of the United Nations Pacific Fleet present during the 6th
Angel attack:
Illinois (BB-65): Equipped with Kingston Valve (used to destroy 6th Angel)
Kentucky (BB-66): Equipped with Kingston Valve (used to destroy 6th Angel)
Udaloy (DDG-01): Behind OTR.
Kongo (DDG-173): Aside OTR.
Over the Rainbow (CVN-075): Originally US Pacific Fleet Ship "United
States." Renamed after joining UN Pacific Fleet. 332.9m long. Mothership.
(Apparently this was ship Misato was on.)
Novorossiysk (CV-010): Mothership.
Kirov (CGN-021): Ahead OTR.
Ottello (???)
Titus Andronicus (???)
Tempest (???)
SU-27k: Vertical-liftoff plane
Yak-38 (revised): Fighter
(Source: EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd Edition)
She tugged harder on the control sticks, but
to no avail; all she got for her efforts were a visual display of error
codes in Japanese and German.
The programming of the EVA is set so that only one language besides English
will be displayed at any one time.
(Source: EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd Edition)
Does 'SYNC: 200%' mean anything important?"
The display wouldn't read like that. It'd read "Synchronization Rate."
Time stood still. Then, it seemed to turn to feed again, but instead
apparently powered down. Overhead, the Combined Strike Wing flew by as it
aborted its attack run.
Combined Strike Wing ---> UNAF (United Nations Air Force)
(Source: EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd Edition)
Austin was having no more of this. Signaling to the pair of Marine
sentries
on guard, she hissed, "Place Captain Katsuragi under arrest and escort her
to Conference Room 2, where she is to remain until she is handed over to
NERV authorities."
It'd probably read 2nd Conference Room, but I dunno . . .
Today Aunt Rei took me to NERV Branch-1Z, at New Zama, where she works
as Commanding Officer of the 3rd Terrain EVA Battalion.
Here, we step out of the domain of "canon" and into the realm of "things yet
to be . . ." I'm on *much* shakier ground here, but . . .
or the way she just
slides into her combat EVA for her regular training sessions with her
troops.
Um, troops? In EVAs and everything?
It? funny. Though there? no need for war machines any more since our
planet is now at peace, all our Army, Air Force, and
Submarine units are all EVAs. True, they?e mecha and not the
biomechanical
organisms that my parents, my aunt and their friends
once piloted against the Angels, but they?e still pretty awe-inspiring.
Ooookaaaay . . .
Now my question is "why?"
The EVAs were created like they were for the sole purpose of using AT-fields
against enemies of similar size and with AT-field capabilities. In the
absence of angels, why in the world would anyone waste money (Quote: "The
building of a single EVA is enough to bankrupt a few small countries.") to
mass-produce them? Even given that the technology is different, the costs
would still be tremendous . . . It'd be worth it if the now-mechanical EVAs
still had AT-field capabilities, but again, why have that in the absence of
angels? Unless it was like an arms-race . . . One country had them, (hence
the possible "enemy of similar size and AT-field capabilities) and in order
to "defend" themselves, all other countries capable of doing so began
producing them . . . And there's still the question as to whether the EVAs
still have AT-field capabilities; logically they shouldn't, as in the canon,
all generation of AT-fields were done by organic entities . . .
I'll just put the on your tab, eh? "To be explained . . ."
We'll see whether or not these tangles get explained later on. Maybe the
referenced "War of Ascension" . . .
repulsor grid at the Terran History Museum in New Paris.
Expansion into space? Hmm . . . maybe that would explain the common usage of
EVAs . . . same as the Labors in Patlabor; to handle large-scale
construction projects . . . or does "Terran" mean land-bound?
The 10A and 10B models are transformable and look
like those aircraft in the video shows from the last
century, and the oceanic Unit 11s are more like frogs than the original
EVA
units.
If the mental interface is still in place, I wouldn't wanna be a pilot for
either of these. How can human motor skills be applied to a frog's body? (Or
an airplane for that matter . . . I can imagine how painful the
transformation must be . . .) Of course, you can easily circumvent this with
a little explanation.
which showed a dismal 30% and 28%, respectively for the pair.
I believe the redline was about 10%. (Fact: The EVA can't move if sync is <
10%.) I don't know the actual number, though.
I do know that there was only one instance where the sync was > 100%.
"Well, look at Rei. She? holding at 94.3%, and staying steady. If
anything, emulate her."
That looks a bit high . . . I don't think it was ever that high . . . Then
again . . .
Note: It's not *written* anywhere just what "average sync" usually is, but I
get the impression that it was around 60%. IIRC, in one instance, Shinji got
95%, and Ritsuko was acting as if he'd grown a new head . . . (It could just
be my memory, though. I don't have the script handy as of this moment . . .)
Misato spoke up. "Yes, sir. We have two candidates available at the
high school, with theoretical operations indexes of 89.3%
and 86.4%. At Branch 2, there are two students who meet the
qualifications,
with 84.3 and 97.9% indexes, respectively. And at
Branch 3 in Munich, there is one student who barely meets the criteria, at
75.2%." My recommendation is that although we have a
student who is probably a more natural pilot in America, time is of the
essence, and we can? afford to spend the time retraining and
enculturating him into one of our EVAs. There isn? any time, because we
don? know when the next Angel will strike."
Um, it's a canon fact that all candidates for the 4th Children are in Class
2-A (and most probably have been there since the day the series began).
Anyone else would have been automatically placed on the list of candidates
for 5th and 6th. (Source: EVANGELION Jargon Lexicon 2nd Edition)
(Course, you should know that . . .)
crash catch-up course worked like a charm, and he was now averaging a
respectable 92.3%. Today would be the first day that he
Um . . . still higher than I'm comfortable with, but . . .
It was very
clear to me then, at that moment, that despite the fact that I am the
granddaughter of Gendo the Manipulator, who my family really is, who ended
up steering my parents and aunt to the people they became.
I really don't know what this sentence means. There seems to be a missing
subject . . .
Los Angeles-2, Nevada, United States:
Out on the farthest reaches of what was once eastern California, lay
the
newest part of the state of Nevada, the 15 counties that made up the
section
of Nevada known as the California corridor. Mankind had built there after
the San Andreas faultline had slid beneath the waves, taking a massive
chunk
of the Western US with it. Cities such as Los Angeles-2, New Francisco,
New
Honolulu, and San Diego-2 were the successors to their original towns,
having the pace and feel of their predecessors, though those were lost to
the bottom of the sea so long ago.
The largest city on the West Coast, Los Angeles-2 was known for not
only
its posh Nuevo Beverly, glamorous New Hollywood and trendy Westwood-2
districts, but also had as part of the city two of the largest bases on
the
West Coast, Joshua Tree Naval Base, and Edwards Air Force Base. While
Joshua Tree was the home of the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet
and
Combined UN Fleet Operations--COMUNFLEOPS, Edwards was also no less
special.
It housed both the Headquarters for the US Air Forces Pacific, but also
had
as a tenant command, something a little less known, the North American HQ
for NERV, commonly called Branch-2.
#1:
There's way too many "New's" and "2's." It just sounds really cliche.
#2:
Why is an angel attacking Nevada? Obviously the Geofront has a reason to be
attacked (Black Moon/Adam/Lilith/Lance), but why Nevada? There's nothing
there except the EVAs. Of course, that could be a reason in and of itself --
eliminating possible threats . . . But if this were the case, the angels
would have attached every single EVA construction site in the world while
SEELE was constructing the MP EVAs in the original series. You're gonna have
to come up with a reason why they didn't attack SEELE's bases in the
original.
Out in what was left of the New Watts district, a giant
plastic-looking
object was setting the financial district of the city ablaze, turning it
into so much ash and cinder. The object in question was a chromed torus
with a star-like light in its center hole. Occasionally, that star would
fire a bluish-white beam that would incinerate any ferrocrete building
that
happened to be in its path.
Um, you changed the angel? How did the divergence manage to extend all the
way to the form of the angels? Oh, and the thing about the
"extraterrestrial?" We don't have any indication that the Angels themselves
originate from outer space, only that Lilith and Adam did. Note: As you
know, the angels originate from Lilith and Adam. In all likelyhood, they
were created after Lilith and Adam arrived on Earth, just like humans were.
(Humanity is, after all, the eighteenth angel.)
Kendra Chapel, Lieutenant, US Navy, looked at her CO and said, "I hope
so. Raven seems a little ready for combat--of course, when is she *not*
ready? Carter is sardonic about it, but he'll manage. The only one I'm
worried about is Wendy. She's not at her peak, but she's the only one who
can pilot Unit 03."
Ok, so suddenly we introduce the whole previously unknown 2nd branch
characters with no warning whatsoever. Gawd, for a moment there, I was
wondering how the cast got to Nevada so fast . . . gotta be a little more
subtle.
In the far corner of the display, three new images came into view,
colored black, gray, and white, respectively. Units 03, 04, and 05. Unit
04 seemed to be moving faster than either of the other two, and definitely
on a combat course with the Angel.
Unit-04 is platinum, but you probably knew that already. Is Unit-05 Mass
Production Model?
'Studer' drive--an S2 Derivative system. Based on what research we gave
Cute. S-two-derive. Hehe . . .
The 7th Angel, code named Maruiel, was so far unstoppable.
[Secret Dead Sea Scrolls] (URA SHIKAI BUNSHO)
A document that seems to be used by Seele for the direction of their
actions. Following what was recorded in "Secret Dead Sea Scrolls", Seele
built EVA and fought the battles against the Angels. It seems that this same
document also recorded all invading Angels.
(Source: Patrick Yip's RCB)
Should have brought this up earlier. If the angels are recorded in this
text, and the text doesn't change, neither should the angels, right?
Plus,
unlike that psycho Raven, Wendy was actually nice--and she was kinda
cute....
The character relationships of the 2nd branch cast are beginning to look
familiar . . . too familiar . . .
bodyslamming it and pushing the silvery EVA out of the path of the beam.
Ah, so you did know. :)
"Which is why I'm here to tell you this: you're being released into my
custody, Raven."
That was different. ^_^
Misato shifted in her seat, much to the amusement of Ritsuko. God,
she
hated conferences, especially these teleconference ones. As the Acting
Base
Commander in Commander Ikari's absence, she was required to deal with it;
Ritsuko only here for advice purposes.
Where's Fuyutsuki? (Waldo? Where are you?)
Double-checking the term the American was using for a Child, Misato
said, "Well, we've identified a new...Candidate...on our end. If it is
okay
with your superiors, we'd like to use her. It would give her practical
training in an EVA until we can begin construction on a new one, and will
supply you with a pilot in the interim."
<<I'll have to check with my higher ups, but I don't forsee a
problem,>>
Lieutenant Chapel answered.
Hehe, just a nitpick, It's Children.
manufacturing facility. If Blue Patterns (what the Americans were calling
DEFCON-1) had been detected up there, the situation was in horrid shape.
No problem with pattern usage, but for future reference, the AT-field
patterns:
Pattern Blue: Angel
Pattern Orange: Unknown
Pattern Sepia: Pilot
Pattern Green: Sync pattern
Pattern Red: AT-field extremely weak, ego-borders becoming undefined.
Overall:
No big comments about the story except for those "unanswered questions." You
gotta give some explanations for them. That's all . . .
SeventhOne