Evangelion 2.0 (Game Thread)

[Terratina.]

More and more pilots grabbed the shields and soon there stood three pilots at the front. Others still were recovering from the initial water blast. V-3 acknowledged the green-eyed girl's help but shook his head in response to the pushing as he said, "Hold position and wait for the others." They had to stick together in this exercise, the exercise was designed to punish vainglorious characters who just pushed ahead and ahead without thought of the consequences. In this case, if the duo charged ahead, a blast from the water cannon would just sent them back to the start. At the moment, V-3, Lillian, Gale formed a three-shield front and with a total of nine pilots they could form a formation like a three-by-three grid (like the one used in tic-tac-toe.) with the three holding the shields at the front and the ones in the middle and the back pushing the shields forward.

Of course, there was room for other possibilities as well. For example, four pilots in the front and middle and one pilot in the back. Or even five at the front and four in the middle, with no third row. Then again, there were downsides to those formations and the clone would rather have shields with an equal number of pilots behind them, just so the force being applied to the shields would be roughly equal. In short, it was the neater option. Iggy seemed to agree as well, his words echoed V-3's thoughts. Though, Iggy was being too impatient. "The formation has to assemble before advancement is possible..." V-3 muttered as he switched his arms 'round to match Iggy's description of how it should be. Good thing he had another person nearby to bear the brunt for a sec.

 

[Dogmatic99]

So it's like a water party? that could be fun! Jamie thought, images of that game where people get strapped to bungee cords on boucy castles but he only ever saw them on the TV channel that showed all those weird Japanese TV shows. They looked like a lot of fun though and he was sure he could do it.

If this is with water though then shouldn't we wear swimming trunks or-

"BLUGHGHHURULUGH!!!" Jamie could only make a noise somewhere between a yelp and a gargle as a spray of water hit him full on in the front and sent him splaying out with the others. It felt like getting punched in the chest... only worse cus it was everywhere! And now he was wet!

"...Three men wide, three men deep. Shields front, press your front runner forward, unified march! FORWARD!"

"I know hat those are!" Jamie yelled without thinking, apparently buzzed up on high water preassure energy.

Quick as can be he took up a position by Iggy the confidence giving cartoon boy and linked their shields together while placing his free hand on Iggy's shoulder for support. Jamie put on his bes fighter face and braced himelf for what was to come. All he knew right now was that he was going to be brave and prove that he could do this, that he could be a pilot!

 

[Pappytech]

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

"...Well what the hell is that- Bleghk!"

Tammy's question was washed away by the veritable deluge of water slamming into her face, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying back a good three meters. When the cannon finally switched targets, the girl took the opportunity to spit up most of the fluid that had been sent down her unprepared gullet, and drew a few harsh, ragged breaths as soon as her lungs were cleared. Christ, Nerv wasn't pulling any punches here; if she and the other pilots didn't finish this soon, they were going to be black and blue for a week.

Struggling through her soaking wet clothes, the girl more or less squelched her way across the training field, her waterlogged shoes and socks sticking uncomfortably to her feet. Scooping up one of the shields strewn around, she immediately planted it in front of her, a preemptive defense in case the cannon swung her way again.

Now to just stand here, and wait for somebody else to come up with a plan...

"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!"

...Well, that'd probably work. Iggy was undoubtedly one of the more deranged pilots around, but there was no denying the kid's smarts and head for strategy. In a situation like this, Tammy supposed that she could do worse than listen to him.

So, gritting her teeth and tucking her shoulder into the shield, she picked up the hunk of plastic a few centimeters and charged forward as fast as her heavy clothes would let her. Though it took her a few seconds, she eventually reached the rest of the slowly growing formation, and took her place in the center of the second row, right next to Daria and behind Lillian. After a few desperate moments of pointless flailing, Tammy realized that Daria didn't have a shield to lock onto, and simply leaned into Lillian's back.

Of course, Tammy knew that the position must have been uncomfortable for the Canadian, but there really wasn't anything for it. The group needed to advance, and that meant pushing. It didn't stop her from trying to shout out an apology though.

"Sorry about this, Lillian!" she cried out, hoping that the older pilot would be able to hear her over the crashing sound of the water cannon.

 

[Rogue Trooper]

"They had machine guns instead of water cannons."

?In the case of the IDF, it doesn?t surprise me Ma?am; you Israelis are a hard bunch and you have the record to prove it. However, the IDF never had to train and prepare for a war?against the dreaded forces of communism? Karl responded jokingly

He then returned his attention to watching the young pilots and after a short moment of watching their efforts Karl was unimpressed.

?Pick up the pace team? Karl shouted into the microphone his joking nature being replaced with anger ?This is not a fucking game; lives will be saved and lost because of your decision as a team. One slow and uncalculated mistake could lead to half of you in the fucking dirt and then I would have to explain to your families about how you failed in your duties. Move and operate as a team and do it quickly?.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Amira smirked at Karl's joke as she watched the pilots form themselves into a little phalanx to battle the incoming water. It was commendable and she noted Iggy as well with hatching the plan. It seemed the loud one was the one getting all the attention which was both good and bad.

"Now let's see who's going to be the hero..." Amira said as she drew out a deactivated M67 grenade. To the naked eye, it looked like any other grenade which was good for what Amira had in mind. She pulled the pin and threw the grenade in the middle of their little phalanx. With perfect aim, the grenade sailed gracefully towards the formation.

"Watch your spacing!" Amira yelled as her lobbed grenade landed at their feet.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Mark, who hung at the back of formation to provide support, his usual role, disliked the exercise from the start. It was his duty to fight with these people to protect all of humanity, he wasn't petty enough to let his utter distaste for them compromise that. Regardless, he was flying more-or-less on autopilot during the exercise, bringing up the rear and keeping the others from being pushed back...then the grenade fell in front of him.

As his eyes saw it drop into the center of the formation, Mark's mind was drawn back to the first of the games, before they trained him to pilot the Eva. It was because of those games that the next action he took was practically reflex, as Mark grabbed the grenade and lobbed it towards the "enemy", over the group and at the water cannon.

However, the reflex cost him. While he was careful enough not to push anyone out of their position, he was no longer in the right place to keep them steady if they were pushed back.

 

[Redryhno]

Jacoline watched from beside the Operations Director at standing rest, watching the pilots below struggle against the strength of the water cannon. The woman in charge of this facility then threw a grenade, not loaded with anything actually dangerous by the way she threw it and it fell into the midst of the children below.

One of the pilots, Neo-Spartan by the way he had reacted, promptly picked the grenade back up and threw it back at the water cannon. A foolish move if ever there was one, seeing as the explosive was not packed with anything, little more than a hollow shell, fell short of the mark and into the water stream. He had only succeeded in creating an actual weapon where there had not been one before. Luckily, it didn't cause any damage to them besides possibly bruising one through the force of the blow against the shield and shattering. However, there was always a downside to good news, that she had learned all too well, and it was two-fold. One, the grenade had shattered, spraying bits of metal all around the area, not only making the all-too slippery floor even more treacherous, but the force of the impact coupled with the water behind it, had caused a crack in the shield of one. Not to mention he was now out of position as well.

"Are you certain that some of these children have had actual combat training, Colonel Uli? It did not seem to cross that one's mind that the explosive would be better suited being thrown elsewhere than directly at his enemy."

 

[EmperorZuma]

Idiot!

Mark cursed himself as he quickly backed up and braced to keep the others from paying for his mistake. He didn't figure that the water cannon would suddenly track a simply grenade over the mass of people right in front of the damn thing. Then again, he didn't really think about the consequences of his actions in an instinctive move like that at all. He was sure that someone was going to have choice words about that compulsive reflex later, but he had to drop his distractions and focus on the now.

Turning his shield sideways, Mark kept up a strong rear at the cost of protection. Letting the spray scratch at his face, Mark decided it was better sufficient penance to keep the group pushing forward while getting nicked by the water.

 

[hiei82]

Seeing the incoming projectiles, D-18 jumped out from cover, pushing the most vulnerable member Mark (due to his having thrown the grenade) - as well as any other person caught in the line of fire - back into their own cover. The action wasn't without cost however as a single shard passed into and through her lower thigh as she rolled back into cover. It was an acceptable sacrifice.

"Suggestion: three pilots to a shield; where one cannot push forward, three can." she offered, getting to her feet.

 

[Asclepion]

"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!"

Locking shields, the pilots slowly advanced against the oncoming spray. Working together as a group to press forward, combining their shields into a shield wall and moving as one. Water crashed against them, but the pressure from behind drove the phalanx of pilots further down the passage.

If the Evangelions intend to survive this fight, they are going to need to defend each other.

 

[Pappytech]

Out of the corner of her eye, Tammy spotted a spherical thing bounce along the ground, coming to a stop somewhere in the middle of their makeshift formation. At another time, she probably would've stopped to examine the object, buuuuuuuut considering the situation that probably wasn't the best idea. Ignoring the ball, she continued to strain forward, pushing into her shield and, by extension, Lillian.

Some of the other pilots, however, managed to find time to multitask. Tammy could dimly hear Mark moving around and grunting as he scooped up and tossed the ball forward. And mere seconds later, just as a hard cracking sound filled the air, she saw (and felt) Daria suddenly jump up and push a few people around. Still, when she finally came back into cover, the Arab pilot had some more advice: "Suggestion: three pilots to a shield; where one cannot push forward, three can."

"Mmmmmph," Tammy grunted in reply, struggling to keep moving forward as she turned to face the other girl. "Do you think we can get that to-"

Trailing off mid sentence, Tammy stared in horror at Daria's leg, and the crimson fluid oozing down her leg. "Christ, Daria!" she exclaimed, all but dropping her shield as she moved closer. "You're bleeding!"

Luckily, hemophobia wasn't something Tammy had even been particularly bothered by. Years of scratches, scrapes, and the occasional bloody nose had taught her how to deal with all manner of minor injuries. But a gash the size of the one going through Daria's leg was anything but minor.

And all of this damned water wasn't exactly helping things!

"Hey!" Dropping out of the formation and doing her best to avoid the cannon's aim, Tammy desperately waved up at the officers, trying to attract their attention. "Someone's hurt! Can you turn the water off!?"

 

[hiei82]

"Someone's hurt! Can you turn the water off!?" Tammy screamed out, trying to get her medical attention.

Daria acting quickly. "Negative. I will be fine." she said, quickly tearing a strip of cloth from her pant leg and wrapping up the wound. It wasn't a perfect wrap given the water, but it was hardly her worst work. It took a few seconds to get it tied off, stuck behind a small shield as she was, but when she was done, the wound was temporarily staved off. "I will continue." she said, pivoting on her good heel and leaning into the shield she was behind to push it forward.

 

[Pappytech]

"Negative. I will be fine."

"What?" Tammy replied, stupefied by Daria's assertion. Mutely, she watched as the other pilot made herself a makeshift bandage and wrapped it around the wound, stemming the bloodflow for the time being. Not exactly the neatest treatment in the world, but it looked strong enough to hold for a while. "I will continue."

Tammy couldn't pretend that she knew a whole lot about advanced first aid. She was fairly certain, however, that performing more strenuous effort with an injured leg was a pretty bad idea. Frustrated, she turned to the officers one last time, and shouted, "Shut off the water!" Then, spinning around, she ran back over to the formation, ducking low to avoid the spraying water.

Crouching down next to the other pilot, the girl took a nervous look at Daria's bandage. The already soaking wet cloth was slowly being stained scarlet; just glancing at it made Tammy wince in sympathetic pain. "You have to stop," she said, trying to talk over the sound of crashing water, "before you hurt yourself even worse!"

Awkwardly, Tammy tried to figure out what to do with her hands. Was she supposed to put pressure on the wound? Try to hold Daria down so she'd stop moving? Even if the other girl was injured, Tammy seriously doubted she could actually overpower her. Eventually, she just let the limbs fall limply to her side as she continued to plead for her fellow pilot to stop.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Are you certain that some of these children have had actual combat training, Colonel Uli? It did not seem to cross that one's mind that the explosive would be better suited being thrown elsewhere than directly at his enemy."

"That pilot was trained to do so out of training and duty and for that I am proud of his actions." Amira said quite proud of what Mark had done even though it ended up with one of the pilots being injured. From what she could see, some piece of shard had injured Daria but the pilot toughed it out which was also commendable. But she was just happy she did just that. "These pilots are no longer children, sadly. But there is no wrong time to teach the values of sacrifice, duty, and perseverance. We cannot replicate anything they might face in those EVAs but we can replicate the foundations of what makes great men and women. Even right now, we are instilling greatness into these children because they need it. Whether we like it or not, these children are the only things we have left to rely on when the Angels come. It's okay if they make a few mistakes here."

Amira looked back on the children as they struggled through the water cannons. They could have stopped at any moment, given up at the sight of the cannons but they still stand. Even battered and wet, these children still stand.

"Shut off the water!" Tammy said, shouting to them in a pleading attempt to stop the water cannons.

"The cannons will stop once the flag is captured." Amira said, coldly into the microphone.

"What becomes hard in training becomes easy in battle." Amira commented.

 

[Redryhno]

"Shut off the water!"

"You are in a combat squad simulation, Ms.O'Neal,"Jacoline announced to her from the balcony, still at standing rest,"Combat does not wait for one to heal their wounds, you will continue with this exercise, or you will all fail."

 

[Asclepion]

Although they noted her willingness to fight until the end, there would nothing gained by sending injured pilots against the Angels. By now, the leading edge of the phalanx was almost directly in front of the cannon. Water cascaded off the shields in all directions. They held under the pressure, long enough to reach out and pull the flag over, taking it as they retreated back.

...

Back at HQ, Daria's leg had been bandaged. She rejoined the other exhausted and wet pilots. Jacoline Van Niekerk was with them.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Amira was in her office, decorated with badges and honors from her time in the IDF followed by pictures of her alongside several of her comrades. Other than that the fairly spacious office was bare of anything fancy or eye-catching, a need for the unnecessary was squashed out of Amira's head while in the IDF but there was something else inside her head. She watched the replay of the training again watching the pilot's actions more closely this time from multiple angles. The prodigies were still struggling with it all but that was to be expected. The Manufactured remained indifferent as they should. Then the Neo-Spartans remained true which was a good thing. But actions of a few demanded a short meeting.

Amira chimed into the intercom. "Send Ensign Gauthier and Warrant Officer Johnson to my office once they are properly dried, please."

 

[Terratina.]

With a final burst, it was over. V-3 looked at his fellow pilots, they all looked like drowned rats. V-3 figured he also looked like that, but it didn't bother him. Practically half of the pilots' time was spent in fluid anyway. It was interesting that both the Operations Director and the Head of Nerv Security both wanted Daria to go on, despite Tammy's protests, but, in the end were overruled by a officer V-3 wasn't famaliar with. Then again, maybe it wasn't so interesting since Daria was ordered to break off because of health concerns. It reminded the clone somewhat of his time at Nerv-Germany being a test pilot. Testing an Eva to its limits was hard on him and the Eva being tested, no wonder his superiors paired him with an Eva known for its self-destructive tendencies and shipped him off to Britain - better to have him there with the risk of getting one unit destroyed, than having three or four out of commission because of test run 'accidents'. With naught to do, the clone ran his hands down his shins in an attempt to squeeze some water out and awaited the assessment of their performance, or whatever other lectures lay in store for them, apart from the recent call on the intercom. It didn't concern him, so it wasn't important. V-3 focused instead on getting his breath back.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Mark kept to himself as he dried off after the training exercise. Had the situation been just a little different, he would have relished the injures the robotic Daria sustained, but not this time. She got hurt because of his instinctive reaction, not by any malicious act or something that was simply out of his control. Instead of simply calling the whole thing a waste of time and shrugging it off, he now felt burdened with guilt, and shame.

He certainly wasn't surprised when a wage-slave drone came in and told him the Director wanted to see him. So, without uttering a word in protest or even glancing at his "teammates", he marched to the Director's office.

When he arrived, he clacked the metal bit of his heels together and saluted. "You wanted to see me, Lieutenant Colonel?"

 

[Redryhno]

"I am Captain Jacoline Van Niekerk,"The woman in the pristine uniform announced to the wet pilots gathered before her,"You may call me Captain or Niekerk, Head of NERV Security and specially assigned to the care of you Eva pilots. Be thankful that the Operations Director believes that some of you are essential to this facility, or else I would have made certain you were not allowed to pilot an Eva again after the Angel Kushiel attack. However, I still hold the power of the security of this facility, and will not hesitate should I consider one of you a serious risk."

"Send Ensign and Warrant Officer Johnson to my office once they are properly dried, please."

"I did not give you permission to leave yet Pilot Johnson,Pilot Gauthier"She said as the boy attempted to leave,"You are to sit and listen, that is an order."

After a few moments of silence and the NERV officer's hard stare, she continued after clearing her throat.

"Now, whether or not you believe yourself above the rules, know that there are a handful of you that I would personally ground indefinitely were it not for the Operation Director's....confidence, not the word I would unofficially use, in you, but there it stands. Backgrounds are unimportant, you are Eva pilots, but should I consider you a security risk, or a danger to those around you, know that the Director may run this facility, but I am the one in charge of ensuring the safety of the people of London-2 and the inhabitants of this NERV underground. In terms that I am sure the least mentally fit among you can understand, I am your final stop if you go off the grid."

From behind her, sitting on a desk, were two stacks, one over-sized envelopes, the other folders. She took the former and began handing them out, each with the name of one of the pilots, she explained what was within each,"Inside you will find three things. One, a single sheet of paper, each with the name,rank,Eva Unit Number, and a brief description of your fellow pilots should you still not know them. Two, a single card, with enough credit to allow you to buy basic luxuries should you wish them. And three, a key that will open your new home nearby. Myself and a handful of other NERV personnel have been living there for a period of time in preparation for everyone's arrival. You have each been paired with a family unit which is also indicated by the key within, Lillian Diana Chloe, you have been assigned to my apartment as you are of age and have been granted a small job within NERV HQ should you wish it."

With all the information passed out, Jacoline began again at the front of the room, shoulders again parallel with her knees,though her gloved hands were crossed,"The rest of you will continue your studies as though nothing has happened in your lives outside of the norm for those born post Second Impact. You will eat, sleep, and live beneath my eye, and those of the Operations Director. Do try to keep the pranks to a minimum if you would please,"She brought the folders to beneath her arm and began heading for the door,"Leave the sheets of paper with the pilot id's with one of NERV security when, and do not reveal your status as an Eva pilot to anyone, should your code to enter the Geofront be used without your knowledge, both you and the party responsible will be held accountable."

At the door, she turned and stood to the side,"Dismissed, Johnson,Gauthier, you are both free to go. Oh, and one more thing everyone, allow me to officially welcome you to London-2."