Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book One)

E4 Part 4: The highway of diamonds

Inside EVA Unit One. Mt. Takahata.

Sometimes, it seemed to Shinji that the waiting before a battle was worse than the fighting itself. Then he remembered the fights that he'd been in, and waiting didn't seem quite so bad. He tightened his grip on the controls.

The entire valley had gone still. A vast column of smoke and ash rose high above the mountains north of Uenohara. Shinji focused the Eva's cameras on the end of the pass that led into the town's center.

"All units, hold fire until signaled," Misato whispered over the comm.

There was the distant sound of an explosion. Then silence again.

"Here it comes," Lieutenant Hyuga's voice said quietly.

Shinji strained his eyes. He thought he could maybe see the trees moving...

It rounded the last hill and came into view.

Jet Alone had changed since Old Tokyo. For one thing, it was on fire. Its head and most of its right shoulder blade had vanished, replaced by a pyre of white-hot flame. Large sections of its skin had dissolved, exposing the metal skeleton underneath. Its formerly beige paint job had turned as black as pitch. And all around it spread a vast grey fog of ash and sparks and small bits of metal.

But it was still moving. It dragged its tentacles alongside of it as it marched. As Shinji watched, it strode through two houses on the hillside without so much as a pause.

Shinji felt his hands start to shake. It was strange. He could never remember what this kind of complete, all-consuming terror felt like when he was outside of the Eva's cockpit. Maybe, he thought, he just didn't want to.

***

NERV Mobile Command Post, Mt. Takahata

"Target approaching kill zone," Lieutenant Hyuga said. On the screen over his head, a satellite image tracked the enemy as it strode across Uenohara.

Misato waited until it reached the highway. "Shinji, Rei," she said. "Now."

The Evas spread their AT fields over the valley, locking down and limiting the Angel's.

"EMP generators, go."

The generator trucks spread throughout the town self-destructed, throwing out a vast burst of energy. Several monitors in the van went to static as a number of unshielded cameras went offline.

"All units, go!"

The tanks opened fire. Simultaneously, the work crews on the fire engines let loose streams of high-pressure water on the legs and ground beneath Jet Alone, where the foam ran three meters deep. You've got a choice now, Misato thought at her enemy. Stop the tank shells with your AT field, or stop the water. Which is it gonna be?

"Target has ceased movement!" Lieutenant Hyuga barked.

"Heavy Lift Division!" Misato shouted. "Go!"

***

Inside Eva Unit One

Shinji watched as the helicopters charged in from the east and west sides of the valley, towing in their wake the pieces of the Fifth Angel. The team from the east reached the target first. Its half of the crystal dropped perfectly on top of Jet Alone, wedging itself over the robot's left side.

As the team from the west approached, the Angel pulled its right foot free from the ground and twisted itself to the side. It fired. The beam rammed into the advancing section of the crystal. The tow cables snapped. The piece fell to the ground, far short of the target, crushing a school beneath it. The western helicopters, suddenly buoyant, pulled up and dodged, missing the eastern team by what looked like inches.