Neon Defender Evangelion
by Sean Newton

Opening Credits:
Theme: _Robotech Main Title_

  Start: The Third Angel streaks past a quartet of space destroyers,
closing on one of them and raking its upper hull.  Decompression
and secondary explosions ripple along the damaged hull.  Deadly
particle beams lash out at the Angel from the destroyers, missing,
while the far weaker point-defense lasers harmlessly strike the AT
Field of the Angel.
  Fade to: A cluster of children stand together.  Behind them, two
older women are dressed in slightly-revealing casual clothes and a
labcoat, respectively.  The children are all in plugsuits, for they are
Evangelion pilots, and they are happy, for they've just completed a
training mission, and it is time for a rewarding dinner after a hard
day's work.
  Cut to: Mecha launch from a mixed force of Terran destroyers and
cruisers, rushing headlong into the face of their giant Zentraedi
opponents.
  Fade to: The bridge of the battleship Macross, where its
commander, a black woman with short black hair, gives the order
to fire the main gun.
  Cut to: Fire raining down through the roof of the GeoFront,
hitting the NERV pyramid.
  Quick Fade to: Evangelion Units 01 and 02, standing, with energy
rifles, over the prostrate form of their vanquished enemy.
  Fade to: A green-haired Zentraedi female, inside power armor,
rockets past a starship, the lunar landscape clear in the background,
the Earth just beginning to rise.  It is obvious that the starships is
sitting upon the lunar surface.
  Cut to: A series of explosions rip through the heart of a fleet of
Zentraedi ships.
  Cut to: A man of average height, wearing glasses, with blonde,
almost brown hair, holding an energy pistol on Gendo Ikari.
  Fade out.

Neon Defender Evangelion
Episode 0:1
Opening Moves

<< "Catastrophe", _Robotech Perfect Sountrack_ >>

  The battle had gone poorly for the members of the United Nations
Planetary Defense Forces.  First to face its fury had been Space
Fleet, when four destroyers had tried to stop it in space.  Two of
them were now so much floating space debris, and it had made it
past them, making planetfall in the Pacific Ocean, a few hundred
kilometers east of Tokyo-3.  The next to face it had been Valkyrie
fighters of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force, hitting it with
anti-warship missiles.  All of the missiles hit, yet failed to cause any
damage.  Then the Mechanized Forces had their chance to strike,
unleashing a full regimenty of hovertanks upon it.  Again, the attack
failed.  It continued its relentless march to Tokyo-3.  Now, there
was one last chance to stop it short of the city, to buy some time for
a more effective defense.  A single large aircraft passed over it,
dropping something before rapidly flying away.  Seconds later, a
blinding explosion took place, the rumbles shaking the land for tens
of kilometers.  For the first time in seventy years, a nuclear bomb
had been dropped in anger.  The only question was, would it be
enough...

  "Recon aircraft approach target zone now," a young junior officer
announced from one of the consoles.  The short, dark-haired haired
man paused a moment to push his glasses back up before reading
additional information from the console.  "Telemetry is good. 
Bringing data up now," Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga reported,
tapping in a key sequence.  Another holographic display took form
alongside the others that filled the open space at the front of the
Operations Center.
  The three dimensional representation of the terrain was vastly
different than it had been minutes before.  Where once there had
been the broad, gentle hilltop, now there was but a vast crater,
perhaps a hundred meters in diameter.  All of that was quite
striking, but the thing that truly had the attention of everybody in
the Operations Center was the high energy signature displayed at
the center of the crater.  It had survived.
  "It's a damned demon!" blurted a red-faced Mechanized Forces
general officer.
  "I don't believe it," a JASDF general added, his mouth wide open
in disbelief.
  "Visual feed now," Hyuga interjected, swithcing the
energy-over-terrain display with a visual relayed from the
reconnaissance aircraft.  Their were more gasps of shock this time,
for the image was a terrible one.
  The Third Angel, Sachiel, stood in the crater, bloodied but
unbowed.  The Space Fleet, the Mechanized Forces, and the
Japanese Self Defense Forces had failed to do more than injure the
invader.  General Arima, commander of the defense, sighed as that
fact penetrated his mind, the full implications making him pale ever
so slightly.  He cleared his throat and slowly rose to his feet,
turning as he rose in order to face the Director of NERV. 
"Commander Ikari, it appears that we are unable to deal with this
matter.  Therefore, I am turning over command of this operation to
NERV.  Do not fail, Gendo Ikari."
  Gendo pushed his glasses back up his nose before he responded to
Arima's words.  "NERV was created for just this task, General. 
The matter will be dealt with."
  Arima gave a small, somewhat approving nod before he put in one
last parting statement.  "See that it is, Commander."
  Fuyutsuki waited until the non-NERV personnel were gone before
he reacted.  Once they were gone, though, his restraint ended.  He
turned to Gendo.  "What are we going to do?  Both of our
operational Evangelions are in cryostasis, and we've never gotten
Rei to synchronize well with either unit."
  "Doctor Akagi is already preparing Unit 00 for re-activation.  Rei
will have to synchronize with it," Gendo Ikari state simply.
  "And if it isn't?" Kozo Fuyutsuki persisted.
  There was no pause before Gendo made his reply.  "Then we will
employ additional N2 mines and either destroy the Angel or keep it
from recovering until such time as the Evangelions are ready for
use."  
  A few meters away, Misato Katsuragi almost gasped in shock. 
Such a course of action would wreak havoc upon Tokyo-3 and the
surrounding countryside.  Additional nuclear devices would harm
the Angel, maybe even kill it, but the collateral damage was going
to be hideous.  She shuddered.  It was too terrible to contemplate, a
lifeless wasteland for kilometers and kilometers.  The image of that
blast, from the N2 nuclear mine detonating, it was impossible to
keep the image from popping up in her mind, again and again.  It
brought back to her those horrible minutes, years before.  The end
of her childhood, really, as her father's research team died in a
brilliant explosion, and he stuffed her into the escape capsule,
sacrificing himself to see her away to safety.  Seeing her father for
those last few seconds, as the capsule hatch closed, had been almost
like having part of her die.  Misato promised herself she'd do
everything she could to stop another such explosion from being
necessary.  To do that, though Rei had to synchronize with the
Evangelion, or Misato would find herself watching yet more
destruction and devastation, looking on as pieces of her died, one
by one.
  "Captain.  Captain Katsuragi.  Captain Katsuragi!"  The loud
shout from the command level drew Misato's attention away from
her own grim musings.  "Yes, sir?"
  "Captain, begin preparations for deployment of Eva 00."
  Misato cleared her throat.  "Yes, sir!  Begin launch preparations
for Evangelion Unit 00," she ordered the three junior officers
manning the consoles.  "Shigeru, maintain surveillance on the
Angel.  The second it moves, I want to know about it."

  The small cafeteria inside NERV Headquarters was empty of
people, save for a teenage girl with light blue hair, seated
motionless at one of the dozen rectangular tables.  The only
indications of life were the occasional blink and the steady, soft
sound of breathing.  Despite the fact that the room held a rack of
magazines and several newspapers were left on the tables, the girl
merely sat there, unmoving, alert yet uninterested.  Likewise, the
television mounted in the corner of the room was silent, turned off. 
Rei Ayanami had no interest in reading the magazines or watching
television.  To be precise, she had no interests at all.  She merely
was.  Kozo Fuyutsuki's appearance in the room triggered no
interest or curiosity in her.  She didn't turn her head, even.
  "Rei," he said.
  "Yes," she responded.  Ther was no other discernible reaction,
which Kozo still found hard get used to, even after so many years.
  "The Third Angel has arrived.  You must pilot Eva 00."
  "I understand."  Rei did understand.  The Evangelions existed to
defeat the Angels.  She existed to pilot an Evangelion.  Therefore,
she existed to defeat the Angels.  There was an Angel, therefore,
because she existed, she must defeat it.  She stood and pushed the
chair back in.  "I will go to the entry plug now."  With those few
words, she left behind the cafeteria, and a slightly bemused Kozo
Fuyutsuki.  Rei disappeared from his sight, into  the labyrinthe
corridors of NERV Headquarters.

  The recon Valkyrie that was holding station on the Angel hovered
motionless in Guardian mode, its various sensors and recorders and
cameras focused on the Angel.  While the pilot wasn't particularly
happy about this particular assignment, she consoled herself with
the fact that at least the Angel hadn't attacked her Valkyrie.  Alas,
her relief proved short lived.

  The visual from the recon aircraft was abruptly replaced by static. 
"Captain Katsuragi!"  Aoba Shigeru shouted, drawing Misato's
attention away from watching over the launch preparations.  "I
think it's moving."
  Misato felt as if a fist had punched her in the stomach.  The
situation was bad and getting worse, and she had to handle it,
quickly.  She gave Aoba a sharp nod.  "Right."  She turned back to
Hyuga.  "Hurry up with getting the launch systems ready.  And
make sure the weapons buildings are ready to be accessed.  We're
going to need them real soon."  Actually, she thought silently, they
were needed immediately, but without an operational Eva, they
were useless.  "Maya, status on Eva 00?" she demanded.
  Maya Ibuki didn't look up from her console as she answered. 
"Doctor Akagi reports Eva 00 is out of cryo-stasis and that they are
preparing to insert the entry plug now."
  "Tell Ritsuko to hurry," Misato told the younger officer.  "Or else
it'll be too late."  She could feel her stomach churn as she waited for
the launch preparations to be completed.  There was little she could
do herself to speed things up, which only made the waiting worse.

  "Insert the entry plug," Ritsuko Akagi ordered the technicians, and
the mechanical arms aligned the slender tube of the entry plug with
the open hole atop Eva 00.  As soon as it was lined up, the arms
gave it a push, and the plug slid into place.  There was a loud clank
followed by the sound of metal scraping metal, and then the head of
the Evangelion rotated shut, closing over the entry plug.  "Begin
the activation sequence," she said.  "I'll monitor from the
Operations Center."

  It was time, Rei knew.  The loud metallic scraping sound told her
that entry plug was in place now.  The controls and displays lit up,
indicating that the power connections to the protoculture power
cells was operational.  Rei Ayanami had been through this process
thirty-seven times in the past, and this time was no different from
any of the other times before.  Then, like nineteen times before, the
LCL fluid began to fill the entry plug, immersing her form in the
lukewarm amber liquid.  "Begin synchronization," she heard the
distant voice of Maya Ibuki instruct her.

  "Rei has cleared the borderline," Maya announced. 
"Synchronization now at twenty percent and rising."  A holographic
display showed the waveforms for Ayanami and the Evangelion, the
two waves coming slowly but steadily closer.  "Synchro rate now
twenty five percent and rising."
  Misato let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. 
The first attempt at deploying the Evangelion for combat was going
far better than the last activation test had gone, weeks before. 
Ironic, but at least the Eva was working when it was needed.  
  "Launch path is clear, Captain Katsuragi."
  She nodded absently at Makoto Hyuga's report.  Her mind filed it
away for later, but it was too intent on the synchro rate to pay it
conscious heed immediately.  Unless Rei reached at least fifty
percent synchronization, Eva 00 would be unable to generate an AT
field to counteract the Angel's.
  "Synchro rate now forty percent and rising," Maya reported.
  A far off rumble made Misato wince.  Sounds from outside had to
be quite loud to penetrate NERV Headquarters.  Like a nuclear
blast, for instance.  "Aoba, what was that?"
  A worried expression crossed the officer's face.  "The Angel...  It's
firing some sort of beam at the city.  Severe damage in the third
district."
  Misato's blood ran cold.  Her eyes flickered rapidly back to the
synchronization display.  Only forty-four percent.  The synchro rate
continued to climb, but slower than before.  Forty-six.  Forty seven. 
Misato blinked.  It wasn't rising.  "Come on, Rei, you can do it..." 
Suddenly, the synchro rate jerked up to sixty percent.  Rei Ayanami
and Eva 00 were reeady to face the Angel, and not a moment too
soon.  Misato only hoped it wasn't a moment too late, either. 
"Prepare for launch," she ordered.  It was time to confront the
Angel.

  Rei felt the restraints pull away from Eva 00, releasing the
Evangelion from its storage bay.  At the end of the hangar, she
could see the protective doors sliding away from the launch
catapult.
  A communications holograph sprang to life, Misato's face
appearing before Ayanami's eyes.  "Rei, the Angel is just entering
district three now.  We're going to launch you through district three
access five."  There was a brief, hesitant pause.  "And Rei?"
  "Yes?"
  "Good luck."  Misato cut the communication then, leaving Rei
slightly puzzled.  The young pilot shrugged off her confusion and
starting walking Eva 00 towards the launch catapult.  The massive
biomechanoid walked down the long hangar, the assembled
technicians cheering as it moved.  
  Rei checked her systems readouts.  Power was nominal, the
protoculture cells at near full charge, giving her enough power for
just under an hour of operations.  The laser rifle in her right hand
had a full one hundred shots left in its battery.  The progressive
knife was secure in its place in the left pylon.  Everything was in
readiness.  With no hesitation, Rei stepped the Eva onto the launch
catapult.  Misato's next word rang through the entry plug, her loud
order echoing out of the speaker and through the LCL fluid.  It was
clear and concise.  "Launch!"  
  For Rei Ayanami, it meant one thing.  It was at long last time for
her to face the Angels.  

  It was a quiet morning in Nevada. Only a standard watch crew
remained in operations, the rest of the facility having returned to
normal after the events of the previous day and night.  Except in the
office of Grand Admiral Henry Gloval.  Aside from the Grand
Admiral himself, the office was occupied by Fleet Admiral Richard
Hayes and Field Marshall Otto von Schwerdtner, the commanders
of the Space Fleet and the Mechanized Forces, respectively.  There
were also three others, all in PDF uniforms, with Intelligence
Division insignia.  All six officers had been at the base, awake, for
over thirty hours.  The muted video footage of an Evangelion
preparing to enter played in the large screen that dominated one
wall of the office, relayed directly from Tokyo-3.
  It was the youngest of them, a man of average height, wearing
glasses, with blonde, almost brown hair, who spoke first, breaking
the awkward silence as the launch order was given, and the
Evangelion shot up towards the streets of the city so far away.  The
young man took one last glance at the footage, then turned back to
face the others.  "And so it begins," Sean Newton commented
softly.  "God help us all."

<<"Decisive Battle", _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ >>

  The hatch opened, and Rei Ayanami stepped the Eva out into the
night-cloaked streets of Tokyo-3.  She had to find the Angel,
quickly, before it found her and before it could cause anymore
damage than it already had.  She would find the Angel and she
would destroy it.
  She looked around, trying to find any visual indication of the
Angel's presence.  There was nothing to be seen.  Sachiel was
hidden from sight.  Then, suddenly, it was right there, directly in
front of her.  She rushed to bring the laser rifle into firing position,
but she was seconds late, and Sachiel struck out at her, hitting the
Eva in the chest and knocking it back against a building.
  Rei gasped in pain.  She felt as if she'd been kicked in the stomach. 
Hard.  She bit her lip hard to keep from sobbing, then struggled the
Evangelion back to its feet to meet the follow up attack, but Sachiel
had disappeared once more.  Worse, the rifle had flew from the
Eva's hand during the fall, and was nowhere to be seen.

  "The Evangelion hasn't sustained any damage," Ritsuko
announced, looking over Maya's shoulder at the console.  "Rei is
still functional, as well."
  "She's lost her rifle," Hyuga reported.
  "Open weapon building three-two," Misato ordered.  "And
Shigeru, find that Angel."  She noticed then that she was tapping
her foot and stopped.  At least things weren't going that badly.  Not
yet, anyhow, a pessimistic part of her brain added.

  Rei grabbed the rifle from the nearby weapon building even before
Misato had given her the order to retrieve it.  She checked it
quickly.  One hundred shots in the battery.  Good.  She clicked it
off of safe and started searching for the Angel.  It had to be
destroyed before it could cause more damage.
  Misato's voice came over the speaker then.  "Rei, we've located
the Angel.  Five blocks south and two blocks west, heading due
west."
  "I will destroy it," Rei told her, bringing her Evangelion into a
headlong run down the street.  She brought the rifle into ready
position and turned the corner, firing.  Her first shots went wide,
missing the Angel.  The fifth and sixth shots merely impacted the
Angel's A.T. Field.  She had forgotten to spread her own A.T.
Field!  Quickly, she concentrated, trying to get it to spread,
watching as the Angel took notice of her attacks and began to turn
to confront her.

  "Look, Rei's A.T. Field is neutralizing the Angel's," Maya pointed
out.
  Ritsuko shook her head.  "No, not neutralizing it, her field is
eroding it," she corrected, watching as the pattern of the two
Absolute Terror Fields began to waver, then steady into the pattern
that indicated ineffectiveness.  "There, its eroded.  She can destroy
it now."

  Rei Ayanami heard the words from the Operations Center and
then her training took over.  Target in the center, pull the switch. 
In rapid succession, Rei emptied the laser rifle into the Angel, and it
collapsed to the street in a heap.
  She walked over to the black and white mound of swiss-cheesed
Angel, prodding it with her foot.  It didn't move.  Rei lowered the
Eva's now-empty laser rifle.  Far off to the east, the sun began to
slowly rise above the peaks of the mountains and hills, the first rays
of sunlight shining down into the city.  The battle was over.

<<"Victory", _Robotech Perfect Soundtrack_ >>
 
  A cheer rose up in the Operations Center.  "She did it!" Makoto
Hyuga shouted exuberantly.  "She did it."
  Misato sighed in relief.  The first battle was over, though she
knew with certainty that there would be more to follow.  A small,
satisfied smile lit her face.  They'd done it.  "Begin recovery
operations," she ordered.

  "Thank God," von Schwerdtner mouthed as he watched the image
of the Angel fall on the display.  
  Gloval nodded.  "Yes."  The Grand Admiral stood.  "I think its
time we all got some rest."  The other began to file out.  He called
to the youngest of the officers to stop.  "Lieutenant Newton, I want
your report on this no later than fifteen hundred hours tomorrow."
  Sean turned back to face Admiral Gloval.  "Yes, sir.  I'll draft a
preliminary before I go to sleep."  Sean yawned.  "Sorry, sir. 
Anyway, I'll make sure everything's written up by fifteen hundred."
  "Good."

  The recovery lift came to a stop at the Evangelion hangar, and Rei
walked Eva 00 back to its bay amidst the cheering of the
technicians and staffers who lined the catwalks to watch.  None of
that made any impression upon Rei, save for some minor confusion. 
She walked it backwards a few steps, and the restraints engaged it,
locking the Evangelion into place.  The movable catwalk slid into
its proper position seconds later.  Rei powered down Eva 00, then
activated the entry plug disengage system.  
  The head and armor above slid away, clearing the way for the
entry plug to slow rise, emerging from the body of the Evangelion
and allowing Rei to exit through the hatch.  She found Misato
Katsuragi standing on the catwalk, waiting for her.
  "Good work, Rei.  And thank you," Misato said to her.
  Rei blinked, confused.  Words of praise and gratitude?  They were
unfamiliar to her.  She'd heard them used for others, but for herself,
never before.  She existed to pilot the Eva, to destroy Angels. 
Without that, her life had no meaning.

Closing Credits: As per Evangelion.

Neon Genesis Evangelion characters and story copyright by
GAINAX and ADV.
Robotech characters copyright by Harmony Gold.

This is a non-profit fan work intended for non-commercial distribution.