Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book One)

E8 Part 5: Go Big or Go Extinct

Tokyo-3

Shinji felt the Eva shake from the recoil as he pulled the trigger again and again. Bullets the size of artillery shells leapt out from the pistol in his hand as he emptied the clip into his target.

Asuka swatted him in the back of the head. "The hell is wrong with you?! Stop wasting ammo!"

"Oh - um - I - s-sorry." He fired one last shot into the ground. Glancing over his handiwork, he saw the gun had chewed through the pavement below his Eva. A deep, dark hole, large enough to swallow an eight-wheeler, extended down into the earth.

"Okay, looks like the targets have come to a stop," Misato said through the comm. "They're right over Access Point Magnum. Two blocks west, eight blocks south of you."

"Uh... got it!" Out of time, Shinji thought. He just hoped that was enough. He turned back to Asuka and tossed the pistol aside. It fell on and crushed a nearby Toyota parked on the street, immediately triggering the car alarm. He winced.

Unit Two pointed at the discarded pistol. "What, you're not taking it with you?!"

"Why? Guns never work."

She snorted. Her Eva hoisted a pallet rifle. "Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when you need fire support, Gandhi."

He tilted Unit One's head. "Wait. Wasn't Gandhi a boy?"

She growled and turned south. "Let's just go already..."

***

Command Center

"Video coming in now from the fire teams, ma'am," Aoba said.

"Let's see it." Misato turned to the big board. The Doctor looked on from beside one of the other consoles, his arms crossed.

The creature on the screen seemed to Misato's eyes like a bizarre mashup of different insects and animals. Primarily, it resembled a spider, with four spindly legs springing up and out from a central body. The midsection, however, looked like a tortoise shell flipped upside down, its bottom covered with intersecting armored plates. From recesses within the carapace, at least a half-dozen eyes -- actual moving, blinking blue-on-yellow eyes -- stared down at the world.

"Can we get a wider shot?" she asked. Aoba nodded and made an adjustment.

The camera zoomed out to show the spider-thing positioned over a wide, armor-reinforced hatch in the ground. Access Point Magnum was in the middle of downtown, surrounded by buildings they didn't have the power to retract and bordered by one of the city's main highways. In the distance, Misato could see a giant humanoid shape skulking amid the high-rises.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

***

Inside Unit One. Six blocks north of Access Point Magnum.

"Hold up," Misato said. "You've got incoming. One of the Angels just broke off and is heading your way. Dig in and get ready for company."

"You heard the lady, Aerith," Asuka barked.

They hunkered down behind a large warehouse. Shinji dropped to one knee. Wish we didn't have to wait, he thought. I hate waiting. Whenever we wait, I wind up -- ulp, yeah. Right on cue, his hands started to shake.

Ignore it, he thought. Focus on something else. "Um, command?" he whispered. "We're sure we've evacuated all the people around here, right?"

"We're positive, Shinji," Maya said softly. "Security's swept the entire district twice, and one of the UN choppers ran a thermal scan for us. There isn't a civilian within ten blocks of you or the Angels. I promise."