Evangelion 2.0 (Game Thread)

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

The clean-up after the attack was always more messy than the actual attack. Papers and papers had to be signed, read, retorted and exchanged. NERV was still a company after all and business was business. As the Operations Director, she reviewed the damages caused by EVA and angel alike with an emphasis on the Angel. Its carcass was stripped clean then broken down and transported to secret facilities for research. The remnants of the swarm were burned and disposed off but some were shipped alongside the Angel's dead body.

Next was damages to the city. Most of the damage was centered around the breeches caused by the swarm and Kushiel but for the most part, it was superficial. London had recovered from worst and they would have no problem fixing some holes in the ground or broken buildings here and there. Some turrets needed fixing, some barriers needed repairing but otherwise it wasn't so bad.

Then pilot evaluations. Teams of officers and scientists come forward and give their observations of each pilot that had seen combat. Unit-77 had been noted as decisive in the effort in bringing down Kushiel and also had good control of his EVA despite it going berserk. She expected as much with his Neo-Spartan training. The next few notes were for the clones. She was well aware there were clones in the strike team but as long as she did their job, she saw no problem in having them along for the ride. What she worried for was the prodigies who had never seen real combat. She respected their raw talent but Amira needed that talent fine-tuned for any situation. She didn't want to end up pulling the plug on the prodigies that lose their focus.

After all that was said and done, Amira went for a run around the Geofront several times to finish what had been interrupted. She continued her running and once she was done, she headed off to the gym. She was told that the pilots would be at some sort of orientation or get together as to get a better feel for each other. Amira made a note to stop by once her workout was finished.

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

Iggy sighed as his new buddy vanquished the last of the persistent itches. He moved this way an that to guide her hand to just the right spot (just because someone was doing you a solid, didn't mean you couldn't still be helpful), sighing and offering a sound not unlike a little purr. The itch faded in a few moments and Iggy sprang up from his crouch, beaming. He hopped, caught the edge of the briefing table with one hand, and flipped himself into a fine hand stand, because hand stands were fun. He walked about on the heels of his palms, stopped beside Tammy, cocked a gun shaped hand at her, and winked, "It was nice meeting you too! You are a good person, Tammy. I was gonna make a poem, but it's really hard to think up when upside-down, so here is an invisible voucher for one free Iggy hug and poem. Not cash refundable."

The young pilot continued his inverted journey around the conference table. None of the other pilots seemed content to introduce themselves just yet, so Iggy took the initiative, still upside down, he made his way to the center of the table and saluted, "Okay, I'll go next! Igander Gauthier a.k.a Iggy! a.k.a Sir Captain Badass of Awesomington, age... 15 I think, from NERV base REDACTED, Canada! I ride the Wendigo! I look forward to many, many more glorious battle with you all!"

The boy jumped from the table to the floor, and proceeded to shadowbox, as though any prolonged period of stillness might just kill him. Iggy couldn't really fathom the apparent sluggishness of the other pilots, riding 77 always left him energetic, or in a coma, but more often than not, energetic. This bunch looked in need of a nap, but naps were for later, now there should be playing, much playing! Iggy spoke in happy pants as he lashed out and beat into submission his oldest opponent, gravity, "Hey! Know what! We should play... volleyball! Oooo! Or basketball! Iggy got maaaaad moves on the court. Or kickball! Anything with a ball really, even fetch! Even though 'fetch is a demeaning activity and inappropriate for an officer in the employ of any civilized military force!' Pfft, what does any CO know? See so long as you take turns, Fetch is just Catch! And Catch is okay!"

 

[hiei82]

"Hey! Know what! We should play... volleyball! Oooo! Or basketball! Iggy got maaaaad moves on the court. Or kickball! Anything with a ball really, even fetch! Even though 'fetch is a demeaning activity and inappropriate for an officer in the employ of any civilized military force!' Pfft, what does any CO know? See so long as you take turns, Fetch is just Catch! And Catch is okay!" the talkative pilot known as Iggy said, taking center stage. D-18 wasn't quite sure what to think of him until she caught sight of his ID card. He was an Ensign and therefor of higher rank.

She looked at him for a moment and said "Is that an order Ensign Gauthier?" she questioned.

 

[Terratina.]

Water dripped from the shower, a shape rose of the mist, and grabbed a towel.

V-3 was done in the shower, and quickly dried himself off and got dressed. While doing so, he cradled his head. V-3 told himself that was just a leftover sensation from the battle. Unit-39 had decided to headbutt the little bugs in the battle, and V-3 still felt that. It was just a desperate attempt to shield Unit-77 from those hostiles, at least it would have been if Todestrieb had steered itself towards a self-destructive path of slowly trying to crack its skull with the bugs' tough shells. The roar of disappointment still echoed in his mind, but for the clone, that roar marked mission success - one Angel dead.

It took a certain pilot to steer an armoured, death-seeking monster. One that didn't mind the prospect of death, or dying and could face all aspects of Thanatos with a smile. V-3 was such a pilot. He knew he was replaceable, he knew the others weren't, and he took comfort in the fact that he would probably die protecting the others. At least the fight was over and no pilots had been killed. At least all he had to concern himself with was the prospect of playing ball games. The private turned towards the one that had asked the question, wondering whether she was like him. V-3 would have replied in the same way, in the same serious tone.

Instead, he chose to ask a different question, "Debrief is still in progress; would such a thing be allowed during this time?"

 

[Rogue Trooper]

Karl walked with a happy grin on his face as he made his way towards the debriefing room. The battle with the angel had been an overall success and damage done to the city of London had been relatively light. This was quite an achievement for the team especially since for some, it was their first time piloting their Eva in an actual combat situation. Karl hadn?t read the after action evaluations of the pilots; so he could only assume, that for the new bloods of the team, their experience at fighting their first angel wasn?t too damaging. Although you could never be sure with kids; Karl had heard a few stories that after a few combat runs with their Eva, pilots would begin showing signs of combat fatigue or Posttraumatic stress which was a common mental health problem for soldiers which had seen several tours of combat.

However Karl put that thought to the back of his mind when he reached the door of the debriefing room.

As soon as he entered the debriefing room; Karl was met with the unusual site of Unit-77 or Iggy as he was called shadow boxing around the room and shouting about wanting to play sport. Karl stood there in the doorway slightly baffled at the site, but then he broke his silence by chuckling and finally speaking:

?So is this some sort of post angel combat ritual then? Karl chucked scratching his chin ?I have to admit it?s?unique but if you?re so desperate to play sport, I guess we could play some football. I used to be pretty good in my early years?.

 

[Dogmatic99]

That went well, right? And I did okay, I didn't mess up or hurt anyone I wasn't supposed to. Jamie was mostly in a world of his own in the showers. This had been his first piece of combat experience and he just wanted to beleve that he'd helped in some way. It had all been over so fast and it seemed like everyone knew what they were doing except him. He shot up a few bugs though, that was good.

He kept quiet for the most part, trying to stay out of sight during critical parts of the changing process. Once he was dried off and dressed he joined the others in the walk to the debriefing room. Well he followed them anyway, everywhere looked the same in NERV; Jamie had no idea how anyone could find their way around this place.

Jamie took his seat off at the side of the conference room and wrapped the sleeves of his jumber around his hands in an attempt to keep warm. he was still kinda damp from the shower and the air conditioning wasn't helping. Of course neither were his nerves. This was like first day at school but a million times worse, he wondered if 67 would get a laugh out of this too. One of the pilots seemed to be doing their best to liven up the place but for Jamie the most amazing thing aboutt hem was that they were an older kid who was somehow shorter than him. That wasn't ho things were supposed to work. At least they started people talking and breaking the awkward silence.

He tried to listen to what Iggy said but it was a lot to take in and he was talking so fast. Iggy seemed funny at least, none of the others had tried to crack a joke when he'd heard them talk and some of whatt he pilot said could bring a tentative smile to Jamie's face. he was kind of like a cartoon character. Which made it all the more surprising when the girl from Dubai took him so seriously.

"Um, I'm Jamie, I'm thirteen and I'm from London... here." He gave a little wave to the nearby pilots. Jamie never had been great at meeting new people and these ones were all practically grown ups.

 

[DragonofDecay86]

Gale managed to tear his gaze away from the sandy-haired girl in time to see the colonel walk in, followed by a timid looking child who followed him in and sat on the left side of the room. The kid couldn't have been older than fourteen, and his pale green eyes seemed to dart around the room before he spoke up.

"Um, I'm Jamie, I'm thirteen and I'm from London... here."

A small wave followed the comment, and Gale nodded making sure to memorize the names and ages of all the pilots who had already spoken. It appeared that they were all trying to get to know each other, something that Gale didn't particularly care for, especially when it would come his turn to tell the others his name. Gale sighed and stretched back in his chair, his head tilting to one side as he stretched. A small yawn came to his face which he managed to contain with some difficulty, and he looked around once again at the other pilots as his mind wandered.

I haven't managed to go and complete my daily workout... I wonder if there'll still be time after this meeting is over? I suppose I should introduce myself, but will it really matter?

Gale mentally smacked himself for thinking such a thought, the cold chill that had crept up his spine slowly sinking back down into his chest. Gale slouched back in his chair, his shoulders slumped somewhat yet his blue eyes still glowing their same icy color. He glanced once again around the table, his eyes stopping on a few of the members before turning back to look at the girl who spoke first and the colonel.

 

[Pappytech]

"It was nice meeting you too! You are a good person, Tammy. I was gonna make a poem, but it's really hard to think up when upside-down, so here is an invisible voucher for one free Iggy hug and poem. Not cash refundable."

"Um... Okay?"

Tammy could only stare at Iggy as he flipped and hand-walked away, not quite processing the strange boy's actions. He was certainly an oddball, but at least the pilot seemed to friendly. Though she felt perturbed just listening to his ramblings, Tammy didn't feel particularly threatened. Maybe he was alright after all?

"Is that an order Ensign Gauthier?"

"Debrief is still in progress; would such a thing be allowed during this time?"

"I have to admit it's...unique but if you're so desperate to play sport, I guess we could play some football. I used to be pretty good in my early years."

Somehow the conversation had turned towards sports, specifically football. A topic that Tammy didn't particularly care for, and one she couldn't find the energy to participate in. Let the kids with enough power go tucker themselves out if they wanted to; she had no interest in kicking a ball around with them, at least not now.

Wearily shaking her head, the girl turned her attention back to a few of the other pilots, the ones that hadn't introduced themselves yet. It looked like the younger one was speaking up, and Tammy strained to hear him over the other conversation.

"Um, I'm Jamie, I'm thirteen and I'm from London... here."

Huh... Was that why he looked kind of familiar? Tammy had heard about the pilot for the UK's other Eva unit, but had no idea that he was this young. Well, if Nerv thought he was old enough to climb into an entry plug, then who was she to say otherwise? "Hey Jamie," she replied, matching his wave with one of her own, "nice to meetcha."

As she lowered her hand once again, the girl noted that the other silent guy was staring at her. Gazing back at him, she cocked one of her eyebrows, waiting for him to say something or look away.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Mark leaned back in his chair as he quietly sighed. I thought that this was going to be a debriefing, not some circlejerk with a bunch of socially-retarded pilots. People were talking, introducing themselves, but it all flowed into one ear and automatically sorted into some metaphorical file in the back of Mark's head. The only thing he actively noted was the obvious mental state of the Eva pilot he saturated with positrons...he was clearly nuts.

 

[CJ1145]

Wet feet made strange noises as they walked across the cold floor. A contented sigh told the others that another pilot had joined them. D. Waters smiled, saying "There's nothing to match a hot shower, is there?" Though its arrival might have been disappointing for some. Its manner of dress did nothing to solve the ongoing debate of its gender. Waters wore a long-sleeved gray shirt, and over it a bright pink vest of some sheer fabric. Tight blue jeans, stained wet from being pulled on right over a shower were covered by a lopsided miniskirt. This garish getup would have looked terrible on any other human being, yet the barefooted pilot pulled it off disturbingly well. Waters carried a juice box in its hand and sucked on the straw before waving to the others.

"It's a pleasure to be working with you all!" it said with a kind smile. "My name is D. Waters. I grew up in Copenhagen, but I guess my new home is here in London."

Another sip from the box.

"Anyway, I'm just really excited to be here. You were all fantastic to see in action."

 

[Terratina.]

The clone's thoughts went back to the purpose of the debriefing - introductions. He mentally scolded himself for being somewhat inefficient in carrying out that order. Then again, V-3 thought that the whole thing was unnecessary. NERV staff and pilots had ID cards for a reason. He briefly inspected his own. Underneath text and a barcode was his 'name' placed in small rectangle of sorts. It read:

Ortwin Fromm-Coenders

. A joke of name chosen to conceal his true nature. Someone, somewhere had fun choosing it for him. Anyone with knowledge of Germanic names could see the joke.

However, it wasn't like any of the other pilots or the NERV staff had such knowledge and the whole pretence was just for those that didn't know about the cloning program. V-3 was happy just being V-3. He accepted what he was. V-3 caught himself trailing off and pulled his gaze from his ID card. His train of thought was derailed by the entrance of a very strangely dressed pilot. The clone was puzzled by the choice of attire. Not practical at all. Nevertheless, the objective had to be accomplished and V-3 introduced himself, partially replying to Waters, "Ortwin Fromm-Coenders; Germany."

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

"Is that an order Ensign Gauthier?"

Iggy very nearly tripped over himself at the sound of rank and last name strung together. That usually only happened when Iggy was in trouble for something (or many things, many things was a distinct possibility), but to hear those words in conjunction with a request for orders? When not in the heat of battle? Oh dear sweet god, the prospect was horrifying! Iggy paused his routine for a moment scuttled over to where Daria sat, peering into that somber, vacant face for a long moment, looking for sarcasm, looking for the joke. He found none.

"Umm... well, no. I'm not gonna order you to play, just... you know, if you want to. Ooohh! But... ah, I do have one order!" Iggy chuckled for one moment and stroked his chin pensively the next, he brightened up and invaded the placid pilots personal space once more, "I order you... to have fun! For at least one hour before lights out, do something you like to do! Best. Order. Ever!"

His job as a responsible officer complete, Iggy continued his shadowboxing once more. One of the other pilots expressed concern about ball playing during debriefing. This was of course incredibly silly, all good military personnel should know how to multitask!

"So is this some sort of post angel combat ritual then. I have to admit it's...unique but if you're so desperate to play sport, I guess we could play some football. I used to be pretty good in my early years."

"Officer on deck!" Iggy straightened immediately and snapped a sharp salute. This man was familiar enough. Iggy knew his picture from the debrief files he'd received as part of his transfer, and begrudgingly read through when the plane ride across the pond grew intolerably boring. He relaxed after a moment and offered the man a grin. The colonel seemed a friendly enough sort, which was great, high-ranking officers without large sticks up their collective bung holes was always cause for rejoicing, "With respect, sir, I never needed no angel attack to put the play in me. And football is awesome! Oh that'd be great! But first debriefing, yes? Gotta see what we did good, what we did bad, what to expect from the next one, and like such.

It seemed most of the pilots has arrived, a few even willing to surrender names and birthplaces. That was good, good to get folks talking at least, though a few remained stubbornly silent. Ah well, they'd break eventually, they always did. Iggy noted with some despair that even though at least one of the pilots was younger than he was... all of them were taller. The lad heaved a sigh, puberty was a cruel and terrible mistress, though Iggy was sure he'd triumph in the end! Ah... and then there was D. Oh dear, D. It was sort've like it fell into a clothes hamper and stumbled back out content, which was an okay way to choose and outfit, but certainly put Iggy's few funds in all the more precarious a situation. He muttered off hand to no one in particular, "Skinny dipping, that's definitely gonna have to be a thing at some point."

 

[DragonofDecay86]

Gale looked away as the sandy-haired girl finally glanced at him, his eyes finding their way back to some of the other pilots who had introduced themselves. His thoughts roamed to some of the other pilots, his mind wondering how some of them could have come into piloting Eva.

That girl can't be trained for it, after all she barely did anything during the fight. Come to think of it, most of these pilots couldn't have been trained for this. The young child must have been just brought in as well, there was no way the HQ would allow such a small child to have already completed his neo-spartan training.

It was then that a strangely dressed, well Gale didn't know what to call it exactly, walked in the room dressed in the oddest set of clothing Gale had ever seen put on another human being.

"My name is D. Waters. I grew up in Copenhagen, but I guess my new home is here in London."

"Anyway, I'm just really excited to be here. You were all fantastic to see in action."

What a strange person...

Gale sighed to himself and looked back at the girl whom he now assumed a prodigy. He glanced at her a few more seconds before turning back at the others and finally spoke up, his voice coming out curt and crisp, yet with a softness not expected from someone with his background.

"Gale Edwards - America. Pilot of Evangelion unit-75 or 'Reaper'." Gale gave a small half-wave to the other at the table and settled back down to observe the other pilots and their antics.

 

[Asclepion]

Days later:

The Evangelions had defeated an Angel. The destruction was being rebuilt. Humanity had won another victory.

But many of the Pilots were new arrivals, unused to each other. Watching their interactions, it was determined at the highest levels of NERV that the Pilots were in dire need of more unison. So one day, after their morning routines, they were called out to the field around NERV HQ.

Their superiors watched on, and spoke:

"This lesson is based on the pilots being unable to work together because they cannot work toward a common goal. This will be a grueling exercised designed to force you to work together to succeed. You will be given a number of plastic shields that can be used to defend yourselves. The goal of the exercise is to reach the flag.

One shield is a piece of metal. Two shields is a wall."

The flag is at the end of a narrow passage with only one exit. A modified water cannon, the same kind used by riot police, is positioned between the pilots and the flag. However, the pressure of the water cannon is such that even a physically fit pilot is not strong enough to prevent themselves from being pushed to the ground by it. Simply remaining standing under the brunt of the cannon requires strength, and moving forward even more so. If the pilot falls down,the pressure of the water likely pushes them back and negates any progress they have made.

The test begins. A torrent of water crashes into the pilots, knocking them backwards and sprawling them on the ground.

 

[Athol]

"This lesson is based on the pilots being unable to work together because they cannot work toward a common goal. This will be a gruelling exercised designed to force you to work together to succeed. You will be given a number of plastic shields that can be used to defend yourselves. The goal of the exercise is to reach the flag.
One shield is a piece of metal. Two shields is a wall."

As fast as she was knocked down, Lillian was up. Dashing forwards, she snatched up a shield as she ran; she twisted and turned as best she could to avoid the brunt of the cannon when it swung towards her, and used the shield to defect it as best she could when it hit.

At about 10 meters from where she?d started, she slammed the bottom of the shield to the ground and braced herself behind it. "C'mon people!" She shouted. "MOVE! I can't win this on my own!"

 

[Terratina.]

V-3 groaned as he got knocked down by the water. He dug his hand into the ground and pulled himself back up on his feet. After that, he made a dash for the shields and grabbed one. V-3 made another dash and bunkered down next to Lillian. He made sure that he was close enough so that the shields overlapped around the sides. "In position." He stated and waited for the other pilots to do the same. Part of him wondered about how many litres of water they were wasting for the sake of teaching the important of teamwork to the pilots. As a Pointman, he didn't need the lecture and so he simply worked towards getting the whole thing over and done with. The objective was simple, the method of reaching the objective was simple... The only thing that complicated matters was the matter of whether the other pilots would work together or not.

 

[DragonofDecay86]

"This lesson is based on the pilots being unable to work together because they cannot work toward a common goal. This will be a grueling exercised designed to force you to work together to succeed. You will be given a number of plastic shields that can be used to defend yourselves. The goal of the exercise is to reach the flag.

One shield is a piece of metal. Two shields is a wall."

Gale barely had time to register those orders before he was thrown back by the torrent of water that blasted out of the water cannon at the end of the passageway. Gale landed hard, his left shoulder smashing into the ground before the rest of his body landed. Gale managed to duck and roll with the force of the water, landing on his feet and his good arm. Gale looked ahead to see one of the girls had already recovered and planted her shield a few meters ahead.

"MOVE! I can't win this on my own!"

Gale nodded mostly to himself as another of the pilots sprung into action, grabbing a shield and planting it beside the girls. Gale darted forward, keeping low and the strain off his left shoulder that was throbbing. Gale ducked underneath a blast of the water, and managed to pick up a shield and plant it on the other side of the girls, making sure to overlap it the same as the other boy had done.

"Shield planted." Gale said through slightly gritted teeth, moving his arm around to discover that it wasn't broken, yet it was sore as all hell.

 

[hiei82]

*Flashback*

"Umm... well, no. I'm not gonna order you to play, just... you know, if you want to. Ooohh! But... ah, I do have one order!" the Ensign said, taking a long pause, and finishing with "I order you... to have fun! For at least one hour before lights out, do something you like to do! Best. Order. Ever!"

For her part, D-18 wasn't sure what was fun and how to have it, but she would try.

*End Flashback*

She was still thinking about "fun" to some degree when the test began. Sure, she'd been listening to her new orders as well - Objective: get flag. Purpose: learn teamwork. It seemed simple enough; not like this "fun" order which had thus far eluded her. To date, she'd had not chance to speak with the Ensign regarding more details that would allow her to complete the mission.

It was because of her aberrant thoughts that she failed to notice the gushing water until it smashed into the side of her head, knocking her over and sending her a few feet back. She was fairly certain she'd injured her head in the tumble, but couldn't tell with all the water.

Avoiding the direct stream, she got back up into a crouching position and moved behind Ortwin, pushing on the same shield from below to try and push it ahead. Where they couldn't move the shield's by themselves, they might be able to as a team.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Amira smiled from cheek to cheek as the pilots were tossed into their test. These pilots needed to act as one if they had to defeat the Angels. The better the coordination, the better the chances they had in defeating another angel and prolonging humanity for another sliver of time. There was a downside to all this bonding and it is the event of one or more of them dying at the hands of the Angel menace. Casualties are expected even with the best odds and Amira feared that just one of them dying could have a dire effect on the entire team. Having them rely on one another exacerbated that problem. But there were perks to teamwork.

"Come on, this is nothing compared to IDF training! Humanity is at stake and you are not going to let a few water canons get in the way. How do you think the next angel is going to act?!" Amira blared on the microphones. She leaned to Jaeger who was also close at hand, observing the pilots. "They had machine guns instead of water canons."

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

The first spray of water pounded Iggy square in the chest and took him clean off his feet. He landed face first on the turf, struggling to find a bit of breath and using what little he found to cackle like a madman. Oh that was a bit of a dick move, their handlers could've at least allowed them to get the shields first. Meh, at least they were kind enough to use water and not live ammunition and that put them leagues above the handlers back home. Iggy clawed at the ground for purchase, found it and lunged towards the pile of plastic shields. He plucked up the first one he could reach. He tossed the shield along the ground towards the growing cluster of young pilots already dug in. He dashed after the shield, counted off the seconds and threw himself to the ground, knees first, landing atop the shield and sliding across the lawn. He could feel a fine mist from the spray of the water cannon as it surged over head, streaming past the spot where his skull had been a few moments before. His impromptu slip and slide kept him going for a few more meters, and a haphazard dash found him safe behind the growing wall of pilots.

Iggy's blood sang to him, sang of motion and violence, as the familiar battle frenzy took hold. He reigned the worst of it in as best he could, this was not a true battle after all, the target didn't bleed. The frenzy still sounded on the edges of his voice, as though he'd burst into laughter at a moment's notice, "Alright, people! Who remembers their military history?! Phalanx! Synaspismos! Left arm bears the shield, right arm lock with neighbor's shield arm and brace shield interlock point. Three men wide, three men deep. Shields front, press your front runner forward, unified march! FORWARD! Spartans represent and show 'em how it's done! Someone give us a marching count and let's get this parade moving!"

That was an awful lot of shouting, and Iggy honestly wondered if would pay off. Not all of these folk were military, and even the other Neo-Spartans came from different forces, different methodologies and ideologies. Iggy's answer to this was simple. Scream enough sense and somebody was bound to either comply, or come up with something better.