Logs, unedited.

[Merc]

Session Start: Sat Apr 03  2010

<Merc> It is the year 2015, fifteen years after the occurance of the global cataclysm dubbed "Second Impact" occured. Humanity has begun to recover from the event though, and reconstruction throughout the world is still an ongoing process. One such view of humanity's ability to recover is Tokyo-3, a bustling metropolis with advanced technologies...and a hidden secret. [OOC - More]
<Merc> To most of the world, Tokyo-3 stands to be the future capital of Japan, replacing the current Tokyo-2 in standing, however it's true purpose is that of a battleground for a future encounter that will test humanity in ways beyond that of Second Impact. Deep below the city lies an underground complex hosting the organization created to spearhead the operation for the continued survival of humanity, Nerv. [OOC - More]
<Merc> It is here where this story begins, as two women walk one of the many nondescript passageways of Nerv's headquarters, chatting nonchalantly as they speak about things involving the organization's secrets. "I can't believe you, Misato. Did you really mail that boy that sort of picture?" the blonde female states in an exasperated note, her white science coat flowing behind her as she steps along briskly. [OOC - More]
<Merc> "Why not? I'm sure Shinji-kun will appreciate it, he's a teenage boy, you know, Ritsuko," the other female replied with a smirk, keeping pace with her companion as they turn a corridor. "Besides, Kenji approved, you know." [OOC - More]
<Merc> "I'll bet he did. Was it his idea, or yours?" Ritsuko asks as she stops in front of a door, sliding a security card on the pad to the side, making the door open up. Inside sits a young lad typing away on a computer looking over schematics. His appearance is quite similar to that of the blond scientist who frowns at the sight. [OOC - More]
<Merc> "Kenji, what are you doing? I told you, you're here as a pilot not a research scientist. Stop messing with my work!" she admonishes as she steps right behind him, and hits the off switch on the monitor.
* Akagi_Kenji jumps slightly and glances over his shoulder, nervous at being caught.
<Akagi_Kenji> "But, uh.. I'm just trying to help you out, Rits... I mean, come on, you're the director. The least I can do is lighten your workload by checking over the little stuff?"
* Akagi_Kenji chuckles nervously.
<Merc> Misato giggles. "This is what, the fifth time you've caught him staring at the eva schematics? Don't sound surprised, Rit-chan, it's not like he's not authorized anyhow..." Ritsuko frowns at this, and turns to look at her companion again, with a dry stare. "Aren't you supposed to be picking up someone else?"
<Merc> Turning back to Kenji, her look is still not pleasant. "That would be Maya's job, regardless, not yours. You remember her, don't you? My assistant?" Pausing, she looks around the room. "Where is she, by the way?"
* Akagi_Kenji eyes the room shiftily..
<Merc> Misato mouths 'Coffee...say coffee' at Kenji from where Ritsuko can't see.
<Akagi_Kenji> "She, uh.. Had an errand to run, I believe. I think she's running some last minute files to a few of the other sections and giving some of the research teams their last minute assignments.."
<Merc> Ritsuko smiles. "Good, at least -someone- knows what they're supposed to be doing around this base. Misato, again, aren't you supposed to be picking someone up?" The scientist places her hand on Kenji's shoulder. "You know, maybe you should go with Misato. Get to know your coworker?"
<Merc> "Get out of my hair for a few hours while you're at it?" she mutters under her breath, though not bothering to keep her tone particularly quiet.
* Akagi_Kenji sighs.
<Akagi_Kenji> "But I just.. Alright, sis. I suppose if that's what you want."
<Merc> Misato skips towards Kenji, wrapping her arm around his neck, and dragging him towards her chest, almost choking him in her hold as his head squishes against her breasts while she musses up his hair. "Cheer up, Kenji. C'mon, let's go meet Shinji and you guys can start becoming best friends! Like me and Rit-chan!"
<Merc> Ritsuko just scoffs as she takes Kenji's old spot, sitting in front of the computer as Misato starts dragging Kenji away from the room.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm.. Maybe I'd feel better if I stayed like this for a while? The warm and comforting affection and all?"
<Merc> The door shuts quietly behind them as Ritsuko ignores the pair, only focusing on the sound of the keyboard as she types away. "So how -did- you get Maya out of Rit-chan's office so you could sneak onto her computer? Find any juicy porn by the way?" Misato jokes as she lets go of Kenji, and looks in both directions of the corridor, as if deciding which to take...and invariably selecting the wrong one for the garage.
<Merc>  What a horrible sense of direction on that woman.
* Akagi_Kenji grabs part of her jacket and tugs her the right way before explaining.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I just gave her Sis' panties from yesterday. The black lacy G-String you got her."
<Merc> She raises an eyebrow. "You're JOKING. Maya? Ritsuko's panties? Are you kidding me?" she asks in a disbelieving tone, following along as Kenji occassionally tugs her when she starts to veer the wrong way.
* Akagi_Kenji grins and shrugs.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I dunno. I figured it was as good an excuse as any other. And if it turns out to be true, I figure it gives you a chance to talk Maya into going shopping for underwear and teasing her."
* Akagi_Kenji pulls out his PDA and punches in a message, angling it so Misato can't see it, to Maya telling her what he told Ritsuko..
<Merc> "Eh, maybe," she replies with a noncommittal tone as she spies her car and she skips towards it, hugging it. "How's my baby doing?" she asks the car with a smile. "Hey, hey, doesn't it look so pretty now that I finally got it restored, Kenji?" she asks as she unlocks the door and steps into the driver's seat.
<Akagi_Kenji> "It is indeed a beauty comparable only to you, Misato.. Though the rear seems a little too big for aerodynamics..."
* Akagi_Kenji grins at her before ducking into the back seat.
<Akagi_Kenji> "In both cases."
<Merc> "Brat." Misato slaps him in the back of the head, and quickly begins shifting gears as she uses the other hand to put on her sunglasses and slams the accelerator, the car starting to weave in and out around the pillars supporting the garage as well as all the other vehicles present as she heads towards the car train that will take them out of the Geofront.
* Akagi_Kenji grins.
<Akagi_Kenji> "So, you talk Rits into letting you teach me how to drive yet?"
<Merc> "Pfft, like you're getting a car before you're 18. What's the hurry?" she asks, waving away his question as the car skids into the car train's opening just before the door closes. "Whew! Made it!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Your driving skills are just so amazingly inspiring, Misato, I can't wait."
* Akagi_Kenji deadpans.
<Merc> "I know! I don't get why Rit-chan won't get in the car with me anymore!" Misato answers back with a shocked annoyed expression as she sighs. "I mean, if I -sucked- at driving, I'd get it, but not when I'm so awesome!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Indeed. So, this Shinji guy. I haven't had a chance too look over his records yet, between work and training. What's he supposed to be like?"
<Merc> Misato shrugs. "No idea, honestly. I just know he's the commander's son. Which is kind of surprising in and of itself. Can you even imagine Commander Ikari being married?"
* Akagi_Kenji blinks, looks out of the windshield and tries to imagine it..
* Akagi_Kenji shudders.
<Akagi_Kenji> "God no. The only two types of women I can see that could put up with that are a saint of a woman.. Or a female version of him.."
<Merc> "Eww, female commander Ikari. That's...horrifying, is what it is. Hopefully Shinji isn't like that. He actually looked like a pretty sweet kid from the picture I have of him."
<Akagi_Kenji> "I don't think I could stand a Gendo my age..
<Akagi_Kenji> "
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm.. Though, I gotta say.. The idea of a 14 year old with the Gendo beard is pretty amusing.."
<Merc> Misato digs into her purse and pulls out a folded up printout with a picture of a boy trying to smile at the camera, though it looks a bit strained and his eyes look somewhat melancholy. "Here's a pic of the kid, smartass. I doubt he's old enough to grow facial hair, you know."
<Akagi_Kenji> "I'd imagine I could have guessed that, you know. I'm just saying, it'd be funny to see.. *takes the picture* Hmm.. You're right, seems like an okay guy. Looks uncomfortable, though.."
* Akagi_Kenji pulls out a pen and scribbles a cartoonish Gendo beard on the picture before handing it back to Misato.
<Merc> Misato giggles. "I'm going to show this to him when we meet him. He really does look more like the commander, although he's missing those sunglasses of his.." she states as she folds up the picture and sticks it back in her purse, as the car train's door opens. Shifting the gears on her car again, she drives out into the sun as the door closes behind the car. "Alright, we should be there in about...5 minutes or so."
<Akagi_Kenji> "We could stop on the way and see if can find a set of the sunglasses.
<Akagi_Kenji> "
<Merc> Turning to look at the clock, she looks surprised. "Huh, looks like we might be there a bit early. Hopefully his train will have arrived early too, or we'll be stuck waiting for him instead of the other way around," she comments before nodding at Kenji. "That might be an idea, too! It'll give him something to bond with his dad over, right?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "It'd be amusing to see, at least. I can't really picture Gendo bonding with anyone. It still throws me for a loop when I see him and Rei together.
<Merc> "Hey, watch it. Just because Rit-chan and I don't mind you calling us by our first name, you shouldn't do so with the commander," Misato admonishes. "Keep in mind, he -is- the commander, that means he has the power to keep you or kick you from the evangelion program as he sees fit. I doubt he would, but we do have more pilot candidates than evas right now."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Aye, Ma'am, understood. Sorry Captain, I'll try not let it happen again... I'm not so worried about piloting, though.. I was originally supposed to get shuffled into a research team, after all.. That plan seems to have backfired on me, though.."
<Merc> "Brat. You only have to call me by my rank when we're on official capacity," she smiles as she ruffles his hair again. "And it's a good thing you got into the eva program, honestly. Like you said, Rit-chan doesn't seem to like having you hovering over 'her' work. If she hadn't hated her mother so much, I'd think she wanted to just hog onto the remnants of her work to herself."
<Merc> "At least with your status as a pilot, she can't quite just kick you out. And she's certainly tried, you know..."
* Akagi_Kenji slumps to the side, propping his chin on his hand, elbow on the arm rest and makes a sound half way between a grunt and a sigh.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I know.. She's the reason I tried so hard, you know.. After.. Mom.. I just don't wanna end up like all those other families and drift apart. Figured working with her would help.. Seems to have done the exact opposite, though."
<Merc> Misato looks sympathetic. "Cheer up, things will get better," she tries to reassure him. The car comes to an abrupt stop as Misato parks the car, the car swerving into the parking spot, leaving some skid marks as she steps out of the car. "Well, there's no train here, so either he hasn't arrived yet, or we're stuck waiting for a bit," she notes as she looks towards the rail tracks by the station.
* Akagi_Kenji nods and gets out, stretching a bit before wandering to the front of the car and laying on the hood, enjoying the sunlight.
<Akagi_Kenji> "So, I was thinking.. Next pay day I was gonna take Sis out for dinner, night on the town type of thing.. She works entirely way too much and I hardly ever see her smile any more.. But I think I pushed my luck today.. You wanna be my proxy on this one?"
<Merc> "Just ask her out, you'll be fine, you sissy," she comments as she rolls her eyes, and begins pulling at the edge of her dress, adjusting her clothing. "Wait here, I'll go check if he's here yet."
* Akagi_Kenji cracks an eye and admires the view as Misato walks off..
* Akagi_Kenji begins humming the tune to a marching song as he goes back to enjoying the warmth of the sun.
<Merc> Misato shows up again a few minutes later, huffing as she stomps towards the car. "The whole place is empty! It's like an abandoned station or something, there isn't even anyone to let me know when we can expect the train or what..." she complains.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm.. That's unusual.. You'd figure we'd have been informed if they shut the station down.."
<Merc> "I'm sure it's the right place, it's just...unmanned," Misato notes as she gestures towards the station. "It's just weird is what it is. Hang on, I'm going to call Rit-chan and seeing if she knows what's going on."
* Akagi_Kenji nods and goes back to humming the tune again, tapping the hood in time.
<Merc> That said, the woman digs into her purse and pulls out a cellphone, flipping it open and dialing a number. She waits on the line for a few seconds before an answer comes through. Kenji can't really hear what's being said on the other end. "Ritsuko? We're here at the station, but it's empty. No Shinji or even any personnel. What's up?"
<Merc> Misato is on the phone for a few seconds, just making confirming 'U-huh...' noises every now and then, rolling her eyes as well from what Kenji can see. "Oh, hey, I see the train arriving. I'll talk to you later, Rit-chan," she notes as she just hangs up the phone. "Well, your sister wasn't a lot of help, but it looks like Shinji's train is here."
<Merc> "You want to wait here, or shall we go both greet him?" she asks of her companion.
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs and gets up, continuing to hum and gestures for her to lead the way.
<Merc> The train is slowly coming to a stop in front of the station as Misato smiles and puts away her cellphone, before walking towards the station again.
<Merc> Standing ahead of them is another young man looking around confused, holding something in his hand as the doors to the train slide shut behind him. He happens to spot both Misato and Kenji as they approach and a look of recognition pops into his face as he looks again at the item he's holding.
* Akagi_Kenji grins at the sight.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Looks like he likes the picture."
<Merc> "Ikari Shinji?" Misato asks with a pleasant smile. "I'm Captain Katsuragi Misato, this here with me is Akagi Kenji. How was your trip into Tokyo-3?"
* Akagi_Kenji waves with one hand, the other in his pocket and grins.
* Ikari_Shinji blushes slightly and quickly puts the photo in the back of his pants pocket, shouldering a small duffel bag. "It was fine, Katsuragi-san. Long and peaceful."
* Ikari_Shinji turns his gaze on the boy next to the Captain and blinks. "Ah...who are you?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Akagi Kenji, in the employ of NERV. Lock and stock, you could say."
* Akagi_Kenji bows to Shinji with a grin.
* Ikari_Shinji gives a shy smile and bows in return. "Nice to meet you, Akagi-san."
<Merc> "Well, let's get going, you two. We can save the introductions for when we've got air conditioning," Misato suggests as she points back towards her car. "You didn't bring anything else with you, did you, Shinji?"
<Ikari_Shinji> "Ah, there was a cello--but it was back in luggage and I'm not sure where to pick it up." Shinji said uncertainly, shuffling his feet.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm. Should be unloaded in the cargo area. Should be towards the ticket area, right Misato?"
<Merc> "Maybe. I'd guess the train's driver would be the one to unload it since there wasn't anybody else around here earlier," Misato comments with an unsure nod, even as the train starts to pull away. "Well, if it'snot there, we can have someone mail it to your dad's place after you get settled in."
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs and heads off towards the train to look for the cello.
* Ikari_Shinji nods quietly and follow Kenji, craning his head to search for his beloved cello.
<Merc> Captain Katsuragi also follows, the group quickly finding a cello. "We're in luck. Kenji, be a dear and play the role of muscle. I'll go get the car started."
<Merc> With that statement, she starts moving onward to the car, getting it started and the air conditioning on.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Oh, of course. Anything for my dear and lovely commanding offer."
<Ikari_Shinji> "That's ok, Akagi-san." Shinji says quickly, darting in to grab his cello.
<Ikari_Shinji> "You don't have to carry anything for me."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Eh? Bah. Just hand it here. She *really* is my commanding officer, actually, and I might as well treat it as an order. Better than getting the stink eye over it."
* Ikari_Shinji shifts his duffel bag to his left hand and lugs the cello with both hands to his side.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Really, it's fine. I'll talk to Katsuragi-san if she says anything." Shinji says quietly, shuffling along to the car.
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs.
<Akagi_Kenji> "At least give me the duffel bag. That way I've got *something* to count in my favor."
* Ikari_Shinji silently holds out the duffel bag, unwilling to argue.
* Akagi_Kenji takes it and slings it over his shoulder, heading off to the car, humming the tune again.
<Merc> After the stuff gets dumped in the trunk and both youths are inside the car, Misato starts driving off back towards base. "Well, again, welcome to Tokyo-3, Shinji. Glad to have you onboard. Kenji, toss him the Nerv manual, I think I left it in the glove compartment."
* Akagi_Kenji pops the compartment open and digs through it, finding the highly censored document and hands it to Shinji.
<Akagi_Kenji> "For what it's worth, at least.:
<Akagi_Kenji> "
* Ikari_Shinji takes the booklet and begins skimming it, becoming increasingly inredulous at the distinct lack of useful information in it.
<Merc> "Hush, you. It's a good start," Misato reprimands.
* Akagi_Kenji snorts.
* Ikari_Shinji is quiet, still shy around his new acquaintances. The pages of the booklet rustle as he reads.
<Akagi_Kenji> "So, Cello, huh? You any good?"
* Ikari_Shinji looks up, blinking. "Oh--I'm ok, I guess. I did play in a recital or two..."
<Merc> Clearing her throat, Misato adjusts her rear-view mirror to get a look at Shinji. "A musician, eh? Bet you're popular with the ladies, Shinji!" she teases.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Huh, cool. Aoba might be interested in talking to you. He's more of a metal head, but I've heard him listening to some of that metal-classical hybrid stuff."
* Ikari_Shinji blushes a beet red and dives back behind the booklet, a muffled voice exclaiming, "Not at all, Katsuragi-san!"
* Ikari_Shinji peeks around the corner of the booklet at Kenji's musings. "Metal-classical...hybrid?" He sounds puzzled.
* Akagi_Kenji nods.
<Merc> "E-heh, did I embarrass you? Sorry, sorry! But it was sure a surprise to hear about you, Shinji. Never knew the commander had a son, and then out ofthe blue I get ordered to pick you up," Misato explains her situation. "I bet you must be excited to be meeting your dad again, though, right?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Yep. Pretty good stuff, actually. Classical orchestra mixed with electric guitars and distortion. Pretty alright stuff."
<Ikari_Shinji> "My father...will I see him today?"
<Merc> "Well, he's always busy, so I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine so," Misato cheefully replies.
* Ikari_Shinji nods, slightly subdued. "Akagi-san? Perhaps I could listen to some of that music you described? It sounds...cool."
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Sure. I don't have much, a couple songs. Aoba is the one you'd want to talk to about it."
<Ikari_Shinji> "Who is Aoba? Does he work at NERV with you?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Yep. He's one of the technicians.. Can't really say much more until you're offical and all."
<Ikari_Shinji> "Oh. All right." Silence resumes as he returns to the booklet, reading.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hey, Misato?"
<Merc> "Yep?" Misato answers as she waits in front of the car train terminal for the next trip back into headquarters.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I saw you miss that double clutch in-to the 540 back there. You're slipping."
* Akagi_Kenji sighs.
<Merc> Misato simply rolls her eyes. "I think -I- know a bit more about how to do things than a snot-nosed brat," she drawls as she flicks her finger at Kenji's head before moving the car into the car train. "Alright, next stop, Geofront. You read about that in the manual just now, right, Shinji?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Ack, keep that away from me. I don't know where it's been!"
* Ikari_Shinji nods, commenting, "It's hard to believe it's as big as it says in the manual."
<Merc> "It's pretty impressive, though you're going to miss out on part of what makes it really impressive, right now. One of those 'until you sign on' deals," Misato notes as the geofront comes into view. It really is incredibly impressive, though it's certainly more impressive when you can see the almost upside-down city submerged during a combat simulation. Then again, it's a mixed blessing to not have to be in combat, whether simulated or not.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Whoa!" Shinji exclaims, pressing his face to the window! "So awesome!"
* Akagi_Kenji chuckles.
<Akagi_Kenji> "So, what're we doing for lunch, Misato?"
<Merc> "You're on your own for lunch. I'm giving Shinji the grand tour around Nerv. Well, after stopping by Commander Ikari's office, anyhow."
* Akagi_Kenji grunts.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Great. I'd try to get some work done, but I think I pushed my luck with Ritsuko for the day already.. Got no training scheduled, either.."
<Merc> "Go hang out with Rei?" Misato jokes.
<Akagi_Kenji> "She's doing better, then? I guess I wouldn't mind talking with her.. Might be able to figure out a new angle on the problem, but she seems to like me about as much as Ritsuko likes seeing me in her lab."
<Merc> "Rei really is a weird girl, isn't she? And no, she's really not doing that much better, but she should get better soon, and we'll have Shinji aroudn to help now, I hope. Anyway, I'll drag Shinji off to meet his dad. Later, Kenji," Misato says as she parks her car in the garage and steps out of the car. "You can leave your things in the car for now if you want, Shinji.'
* Ikari_Shinji glances at the trunk, as if to confirm that his only belongings in the world would be safe, then turns and nods. "All right, Katsuragi-san. Or...should I call you Katsuragi-taichou now?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Well, at least I'll stop by Aoba and see if he's got any of that music on him for Shinji. I'll see what I scrounge up after that.. I'll see you later, my lovely and beautiful commanding officer."
* Akagi_Kenji throws one hand up in a wave and wanders off..
<Merc> "Okay, follow me, Shinji," Misato suggests as she heads off in the direction of Gendo's office. Surprisingly, she gets it right.
* Ikari_Shinji follows, making sure to stick close so he doesn't get lost!
<Merc> They actually do get lost a few times, not that Shinji would know for sure (although he does suspect they'd passed some corridors more than once). Soon enough, they do end up at the right place, if Misato's look is anything to go by. "Alright, here's your father's office. Good luck, Shinji. You want me to walk in with you and get business over with, or leave you some time alone to spend with your dad?" she asks pleasantly.
* Ikari_Shinji swallows slightly, but seems to visibly steel himself. Straightening his shoulders, he smiles at Misato. "It's fine, Ms. Katsuragi. I'll be fine by myself."
<Merc> Misato smiles again, and gives him a thumbs up before swiping her card through the reader. "Well, I'll be waiting out here to give you the tour afterwards. Good luck!"
<Merc> The door opens silently, the room in front of Shinji pretty dark, the only source of light being in the far back from a desk where a figure sits waiting and watching.
* Ikari_Shinji nods, determined not to back down, and walks into the room.
<Merc> The door closes behind him, thrusting him into further darkness now that the light from the corridor is shut away. The figure behind the desk looks up, glasses shining with what little light is available as they seem to pierce into Shinji's body. His hands rest on the desk, forming a bridge covering his lips, resulting in a surprise from Shinji as the figure speaks. "So. You're here Shinji."
<Ikari_Shinji> "It's been several years...father." Shinji struggles to keep his compsure. Longing for a family reunion and feelings of bitterness were warring for dominance in him.
<Merc> Gendo Ikari unfurls his fingers as he stands up, snapping his fingers as the room is bathed in light, momentarily blinding Shinji. He turns towards the wall behind him, no, the large glass window, and stares out of it. "Do you know why you're here, Shinji?"
<Ikari_Shinji> "No, father." He reaches into his back pocket, not the one that has Misato's picture in it, and draws out a folded piece of paper. It had obviously been ripped apart then taped back together. "You wrote me. So I came."
<Merc> You think you see a glimpse of a smile as he turns his head towards you, but as fast as it appears, it vanishes, if it was ever there. "I...no, Nerv...Nerv has need of you, Shinji. So I sent for you," he says crisply before turning back to stare out of his window, his eyes apparently focused on something down below his office.
<Ikari_Shinji> Shinji's mouth tightens into a thin line and his grip tightended on the letter, threatening to dislodge the carefully placed tape. "You only sent for me because you *need* me?" He asked, not quite believing his father. Or wanting to.
<Merc> "Because -Nerv- has need of you," Gendo corrects his son, putting emphasis on the name of his organization, never turning to look back at his child. "Nerv is an organization dedicated to safeguarding all of humanity. And you, Ikari Shinji, are needed by that organization."
<Ikari_Shinji> "I thought..." Shinji looked down at the polished floor, trailing off. "...what am I needed for?"
<Merc> "To safeguard our future, didn't I say this?" Gendo states. This time, he turns to look at Shinji. "Come. Stare at the instrument Nerv has built for your use."
<Merc> He motions to Shinji to come look out the window with him.
* Ikari_Shinji silently walks to his father's side and gazes out the widow, letter crumpled to a small ball in his fist.
<Merc> The back of a purple metallic monstrosity is in view from that window...a giant robot? "Evangelion Unit Zero-One. You will be it's pilot, Shinji. To protect humanity from something worse than Second Impact," Gendo states quietly, though you can hear a hint of...something? in his tone. It's hard to get a fix on what that was.
<Ikari_Shinji> Forgetting his bitterness and disappointment, Shinji gapes in awe at the behemoth. "I...I'm to use *that*!?!"
<Merc> "Correct."
<Ikari_Shinji> "But I don't even know anything about making something like that work! I'm just a kid!" Shinji tears his eyes away from the window and looks up at his father.
<Merc> "You will be instructed."
* Ikari_Shinji falls silent at that.
<Ikari_Shinji> "If I stay and learn...will that make you happy, father?"
<Merc> Gendo remains silent for a minute, before turning around, and walking in a slow gait towards the door, pressing a button on the side, to open the door. "Captain Katsuragi, please show the Third Child around the facility, and draw up the paperwork for his employment." No word of answer is given to Shinji's question, as he stares at his subordinate, who stands at attention.
<Merc> "Oh, uhm, yes sir!"
<Merc> "Shinji, c'mon, lets get the tour started then! I guess you decided to work for Nerv after all, eh?" Misato calls out to Shinji.
<Ikari_Shinji> Head bowed, Shinji makes his way across the room and through the door, ignoring Misato and exiting out into the hallway.
<Merc> The door silently closes behind them, leaving Misato a bit dumbstruck. "Uhm...Shinji? Are you alright?" she asks, looking a bit worried as she looks at Shinji's expression. While he hadn't looked happy about meeting his father when he walked into the office, he looked like he was coming out worse than he went in.
<Ikari_Shinji> "I'm fine, Ms. Katsuragi." Shinji looks up at her, careful to keep his face devoid of any negative emotion. "My father asked that you give me a tour. I guess we should do that, then."
<Merc> ***

[Merc]

Session Start: Sat Apr 10  2010

<Merc> <Merc> "Shinji, c'mon, lets get the tour started then! I guess you decided to work for Nerv after all, eh?" Misato calls out to Shinji.
<Merc> <Ikari_Shinji> Head bowed, Shinji makes his way across the room and through the door, ignoring Misato and exiting out into the hallway.
<Merc> <Merc> The door silently closes behind them, leaving Misato a bit dumbstruck. "Uhm...Shinji? Are you alright?" she asks, looking a bit worried as she looks at Shinji's expression. While he hadn't looked happy about meeting his father when he walked into the office, he looked like he was coming out worse than he went in.
<Merc> <Ikari_Shinji> "I'm fine, Ms. Katsuragi." Shinji looks up at her, careful to keep his face devoid of any negative emotion. "My father asked that you give me a tour. I guess we should do that, then."
<Merc> Misato raises an eyebrow, but nods. Putting on a smile, she fumbles with a paper in her hand as she tries to make sense of the map. "Hrm...let's see, do you want to start at the cafeteria? I don't know if you're hungry or anything..."
* Ikari_Shinji shrugs listlessly. "I'm not all that hungry, but if you are we can eat, I guess." Shinji replies quietly.
<Merc> "Eh, not that much. I'll just grab a beer out of a vending machine along the way. Hrm...want to head towards the evangelion hanger? I take it you're cleared to know about them by now if you've accepted entry into the pilot program," Misato notes, mostly to herself as she starts heading down the corridor in what looks to be the right direction for her.
<Ikari_Shinji> "That sounds fine, Ms. Misato." Shinji, despite himself, is curious about the large humanoids that his father essentially bullied him into piloting. It was something outrageous; something that only happened in pre-Impact manga or anime.
<Merc> "Did your dad tell you a lot about the evas, Shinji?"
* Ikari_Shinji shook his head slightly. "He didn't say much." He turned aside, muttering, "As usual.", under his breath.
<Merc> "Ah, well, Ritsuko, she's the head scientist around here and Kenji's sister, can tell you a lot more," Misato replies as she turns around a corner, smiling as she spots an elevator. "Lucky!" she exclaims under her breath as she heads towards it.
* Ikari_Shinji shakes his head at Misato's exercise in futility. "Are you sure you know where we're going, Ms. Misato?"
<Merc> "Of course!" Misato replies while making a face as she presses the button for the elevator. "You need to have more faith in me, Shinji! I'm the person who is in charge of operations around here, you know!"
* Ikari_Shinji pales slightly. "Umm...is that so?" Privately he thinks to himself that he's screwed beyond belief. How can someone who can't even find their way around a building with a map be an effective commander?
<Merc> As the elevator door slides open, Misato nods. "Yep. I'm the operations director around here, so once the Angels start attacking, I'll be planning out the strategies for the eva pilots," she clarifies as she hits the keypad to go two levels down.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Why did you take this job, Ms. Misato? There aren't very many girls I know of that like fighting." Shinji eyes the level indicator, not comfortable with looking his new superior in the eye.
<Merc> For a moment, Shinji feels as if Misato stiffens in front of him, but when she turns to look at him, she doesn't look as tense, although the smile on her face looks a bit forced. "Oh, you know. Who can't get behind saving the world, right?" she laughs a little awkwardly as the door reopens at their new floor.
<Ikari_Shinji> Shinji, intimately familiar with the signs of someone who very much wished to talk but say nothing, said nothing in return.
<Merc> It seemed Misato did know her way around this part of the base, as she quickly leads them to a large door. Sliding her card and pressing a combination to open the door, she turns to warn Shinji. "Try not to be scared, and remember, it's just a robot, alright?"
* Ikari_Shinji nods silently in assent, not trusting himself to words.
<Merc> The door opens in front of them as she finishes her statement, the lights all on, a gigantic purple behemoth appearing to stare at Shinji as the two enter. Despite the knowledge of it just being a robot, Shinji feels almost as if those empty eyes are piercing into him, making him feel small.
<Merc> "Eva Zero One, meet Ikari Shinji. Shinji, meet Eva Zero One."
* Ikari_Shinji hunches his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible, even as he gazes at the giant biomecha. "So this is my father's work."
<Merc> A splashing noise comes from in front of Shinji. "And your mother's as well," a new voice states, startling the boy. "A lot of people were involved in it's creation, really." [ooc - more]
<Merc> "Gah! Ritsuko, what are you doing here?" Misato asks as the both of you stare at the blonde in a blue bathing suit and with scuba gear pull herself out of the sea of red liquid, taking off her mask.
* Ikari_Shinji blinks then shakes his head. He's fast becoming used to the strange going ons at NERV. "Ms. Misato?" He inquires, looking meaningfully at the curvy blond.
<Merc> "Ah, Shinji, this is Akagi Ritsuko, I mentioned her earlier," Misato introduces Shinji as she turns to Ritsuko, mouthing silently 'what are you doing here?'. Ritsuko seems to cooly ignore her as she looks over Shinji as she sets her air tank on the ground and stands upright, droplets of liquid still falling down her body. "So you're the Third Child," she states as she stares at Shinji.
* Ikari_Shinji bows politely. "Yes. Nice to meet you." That's all he offers. The woman's seemingly haughty attitude irritated him slightly. He tried to quash the feeling within him. He only mostly succeeded.
<Merc> She nods in approval, apparently comfortable with his greeting. "It's good that he got in so fast, I'd shudder to think what would become of us if he'd, say, arrived in the middle of an angel attack. We should be able to get him fitted with a plugsuit soon enough and see how he syncs with both units," Ritsuko analyzes the situation outloud as she looks towards Misato, who makes a face.
<Merc> "I hope you're not planning to use him as a pilot so soon, you know how long it took Kenji and Rei to get high enough scores to make the units work, and Kenji can't even sync with 01 at all," Misato notes.
<Ikari_Shinji> "I'm a fast learner. And who is Rei? Another pilot?" Shinji wondered, turning back to face the mecha.
<Merc> They both nod at that. "Thought we mentioned her earlier... though I suppose you might have been distracted with thoughts about your dad," Misato answers. "Anyway, right now there's five official pilots working for Nerv. We have an organization, the Marduk Institute, that hunts for people that meet the requirements to theoretically pilot eva units. You were the most recent find, Shinji."
<Merc> "Indeed. It's our hope that you'll be able to pilot Eva unit 01. So far only Ayanami Rei has proven capable of synchronizing with it, having another pilot for it would help tremendously, especially as she's currently...unavailable," Ritsuko chimes in. You vaguely remember Kenji mentioning a Rei and some injuries now, after Misato's comment of mentioning her before.
* Ikari_Shinji stares up wordlessly at the mecha. "Ms. Misato? I think maybe I'm a little hungry after all." He says without turning.
<Merc> "A little too much?" the blonde asks with a small smirk, looking amused as she grabs a clipboard on the wall, and begins jotting down some information. "Well, after you guys finish, have him come by my lab, Misato. We'll get him fitted up," she states as she starts leaving the room.

[Merc]

Session Start: Sat Apr 17  2010

<Merc> * Ikari_Shinji stares up wordlessly at the mecha. "Ms. Misato? I think maybe I'm a little hungry after all." He says without turning.
<Merc> <Merc> "A little too much?" the blonde asks with a small smirk, looking amused as she grabs a clipboard on the wall, and begins jotting down some information. "Well, after you guys finish, have him come by my lab, Misato. We'll get him fitted up," she states as she starts leaving the room.
<Merc> Misato and Shinji soon find themselves in front of Ritsuko's office. It's only been a few minutes after their earlier encounter, having simply stopped at Nerv's cafeteria to grab some sandwiches on the way. "The sooner you get this over with, the better. It's important to see where you stand, Shinji," Misato had admonished Shinji when he'd tried to delay, suggesting eating at the cafeteria. [ooc - more]
<Merc> Now Misato knocks on the door as she gnaws on one end of her sandwich. "Come in!" the voice calls from inside as the door slides open. Ritsuko is typing on her laptop, sipping from a cup of coffee, while in one corner Kenji sits looking annoyed and with a somewhat reddened ear. He probably got caught sneaking onto his sister's computer. Again.
* Akagi_Kenji motions his head towards Ritsuko and rolls his eyes at Misato.
* Ikari_Shinji looks at Kenji curiously, still nibbling on his own sandwich.
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs.
* Akagi_Kenji clears his throat.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Sis, they're here."
<Merc> Misato just grins at Kenji, as she walks towards Ritsuko, leaning on her shoulder. "I brought you your pilot for testing. Get everything ready for the sync test?"
* Ikari_Shinji blinks. "Sync test?"
* Akagi_Kenji stands up and walks over to Shinji.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Yeah. It's a test that determines if you can mentally sync up with the organic portions of the Eva. Higher the score, the more you think, you do while inside."
<Ikari_Shinji> "Oh." Shinji thinks for a moment. "So the Eva is sort of like an avatar?"
* Akagi_Kenji hums.
<Merc> Ritsuko nods curtly as she stands up. "Thank you, Misato. We do have everything ready, we'd just need to head to the operations room while Shinji gets fitted up," Ritsuko replies to Misato as Kenji explains the sync test.
* Ikari_Shinji is startig to look slightly nervous. "Umm...fitted up? With what?" His sandwich lies forgotten in his hand.
* Akagi_Kenji chuckles and pats Shinji on the shoulder.
<Merc> "Kenji, while you're making yourself useful, take him to the changing room, and get him fitted up. He should already have a locker with his A10 clips and plugsuit inside. Once he's dressed, you know where to take him," Ritsuko tells her brother as she looks back to Misato. "C'mon, we'll wait for them at the operations room."
<Akagi_Kenji> "It's sorta this kinky bondage gear my Sis came up with. Something to give the ladies of Nerv some eye candy."
* Akagi_Kenji accepts the items with a grin.
* Ikari_Shinji pales slightly. "B-bondage gear? Eye candy!? What kind of place is this?"
* Akagi_Kenji guides Shinji to a changing area in the lab and hands him the 'clothing.'
<Merc> ooc: Edit note for logs
* Ikari_Shinji cranes his head, looking at the rows of lockers. "So...which locker's mine?"
* Akagi_Kenji stares Shinji in the eyes, and speaks dead seriously, "It's a place of hopes and dreams, Shinji. Are you man enough to capitalize on it?"
<Merc> There's a number of lockers in the room, though it's probably the one with a 03 engraved in it. He was designated the third child, after all.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Should have your name on the locker, already. The A10 clips attach on your head; they help bring your thoughts closer in sync with the Eva. The suit is actually pretty useful; it's got a lot of monitoring systems in it. Read body temprature, pulse, blood pressure, all kinds of things. There's also some.. Safety equipment built into it."
<Ikari_Shinji> "I see." Shinji is quiet, accepting. He walks over to the locker with the 03 on it and opens it, revealing the items inside.
<Merc> The locker has two shelves, one in the upper area and one near the bottom, and a rack with a hanger just below the upper shelf. The hanger itself has a rather loose blue and white outfit that doesn't look like it'd fit. Oh, and there's this headband with triangular ends. The A10 clips perhaps?
* Ikari_Shinji looks a bit confused at the plugsuit. "This is supposed to fit on me? It's too big!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "It's all pretty simple to use. Just attach the clips to your hair, and strip  down before you put the Plug Suit on. Once you've got it on, there'll be a button on the wrist that'll make it fit better."
<Ikari_Shinji> "Ah." Without another word, Shinji starts unbuttoning his shirt. He stops at the second button and looks rather pointedly at Kenji.
* Akagi_Kenji rolls his eyes.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Fine, fine. But trust me, it won't matter either way soon."
* Akagi_Kenji turns around and heads out of the room and waits for Shinji.
* Ikari_Shinji mutters, "I'm not even going to ask. I'm beginning to think I've made a big mistake here."
* Ikari_Shinji undresses and awkwardly clambers into the plugsuit with a minimal amount of stumbling and fumbling. He clips the A-10s in place and takes a deep breath before walking out of the room, the tight plugsuit sitting oddly in places he wasn't used to feeling clothing.
* Akagi_Kenji inspects Shinji as he comes out to make sure everything is in place.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Alright, looks like everything is making contact where it should. Come on, lets get you to the test plug."
* Ikari_Shinji nods. "Lead on, Akagi-san."
<Merc> Kenji quickly directs Shinji to a room filled with an orange liquid that smells like blood, reminding Shinji of the behemoth he got to see up close earlier, Evangelion Unit-01. The room, however, seems only to house six cylindrical tubes. A scratching noise briefly is heard as the speaker blares into life. "Step into the third cylinder, Shinji," the voice speaks out.
<Merc> All of the cylinders have doors that can be reached by a walkway atop the orange liquid, each door having a number on it.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Alright, here you go. I'm going to head up to the control room and give them a help. See if I can work on some of the data flow. Good luck!"
* Akagi_Kenji gives Shinji a solid pat on the back and heads up.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Thanks. I'm sure I'll need it." Shinji gives the other boy a nod and makes his way to the door with the 03 on it. He takes a deep breath and steps inside. No turning back now.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Oh! One more thing! First breath is a killer, but make it a deep one!"
<Merc> As Kenji departs, the door to the cylinder closes, plunging Shinji into darkness. Before he can puzzle his meaning, the cylinder quickly begins to fill up with a liquid entering from the bottom.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Wait, what?" Shinji cries out. "What is this? Misato! I'll drown!"
<Merc> The speaker flares up again as Misato voice speaks up this time. "Don't worry, Shinji, that stuff is perfectly safe," Misato tries to calm him down, without really explaining anything. "Once your lungs are filled with LCL, your blood will be oxygenated directly. You'll get used to it," Ritsuko's voice adds.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Get used to it!?! But--but!" Shinji starts to panic as the liquid rises up even more!
<Merc> The cylinder completely fills up as Shinji takes his last gulp of air, doubting the two females. He can't hold it in for long though!
<Merc> Finally, he can't hold his breath any longer, and the liquid begins to enter his body, giving Shinji a nauseating feeling. It doesn't just smell like blood, it has a blood-like taste to it too. As he adjusts to the sensation, the cylinder begins to light up before he's flooded in colors until the place he's in suddenly resembles what he'd imagined a cockpit of a mecha to look like, with a clear view outside of the cylinder.
<Merc> At this time, Kenji finally makes it into the operating room, where his favorite females are all crowded around Maya's station, looking at the numbers as Shinji starts synchronizing with the test data from the evangelion.
<Merc> Ritsuko looks up and simply warns Kenji "Don't -touch- anything, Kenji..." before turning back to looking at the data.
* Akagi_Kenji admires the view for a second, then slinks over to Aoba and bends over his shoulder to whisper to him.
<Merc> ooc: Shinji, roll empathy+human perception+d10
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hey, Aoba.. The new guy's being thrown to the wolves here. Just arrived today and they've got him in this thing.. But I think we can toss him a bone. Turns out the guy is a musican. Cello.. I mentioned that Neoclassical stuff you hooked me up with to him, he seemed interested."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Think we could stream something into the test plug for him? Try to help him relax?
<Merc> ooc: roll cool+d10, Kenji
<Akagi_Kenji> "
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 7+d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=3]
<Merc> "Sorry, Kenji, you heard the boss lady," Aoba states as he focuses on his keypad, looking unconvinced by Kenji's fast talking. "I'll lend him some CDs afterwards, but we don't want to interfere with his testing, probably."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Come on, look at the guy. If he tenses up any more, he'll be sore for a week. Just something low-key to help him relax a bit. The more he relaxes, the better his sync will be, right?"
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+8
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=8]
<Merc> ooc: roll a d100 now
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d100
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 95 > [d100=95]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 6+d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=4]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d100
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d100=6]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 6+3+d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=4]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d100
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 80 > [d100=80]
<Merc> Before Aoba can say no to Kenji again, Kenji is distracted by his sister's whistle. "Oh my, impressive, Shinji," she says. "Before you're even connected to an eva unit, you're standing at 30.5% sync ratio." [ooc - more]
<Merc> "30.5%? That's way above the required minimum isn't it?" Misato adds in wonder. Kenji feels a twitch of annoyance at hearing them praise the new kid. His initial activation was 15.6%, just -below- the needed amount, although he'd increased his sync ratio since then to 46%, 66% if he was connected to unit-00.
* Akagi_Kenji whistles.
* Ikari_Shinji swallows, feeling slightly nauseous. "That's good...I guess?" Shinji's stomach is feeling a little queasy. "I feel sick."
<Akagi_Kenji> "New guy's got the stuff, it seems. Seems like all he needs now it pilot and weapons training. Things are looking up!"
<Merc> "The question now is, will he be able to synchronize with either of the evas?" Dr. Akagi ponders as she taps her lips. "Hopefully we won'thave a problem like Kenji's inability to sync with 01." Her assistant, Maya, turns to look at her boss and notes, "Commander Ikari seems positive he will be able to sync with unit-01, though..."
<Merc> ooc: Note, shinji can hear Maya's comment.
* Akagi_Kenji approaches the three, not touching anything but eyes scanning over the data.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Father did say that he was giving Unit-01 to me." Shinji murmurs thoughtfully, absentmindedly focusing on the sensations of the LCL and the sync test.
<Merc> "Well, we'll have to see if he's right. We won't be able to test his synchronization with Unit-00 since it's still in lockdown," Ritsuko states as a few people wince, remembering just -why- the prototype was in lockdown. "But we should be able to prep a connection to unit-01's core. Excuse me, Maya..."
<Merc> Maya moves away from her station as Ritsuko takes her seat, and begins typing speedily, the screen changing as Kenji also watches now.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm..."
* Akagi_Kenji nudges Maya and whispers to her, "You get my text earlier?"
<Merc> Pressing a button for the microphone, Ritsuko informs Shinji, "We're going to connect you to Unit-01, Shinji. Relax and just try to work with the sensation. It may be a little disorienting the first time."
<Merc> Maya just nods and makes a shushign noise at Kenji, distracted as she watches her boss do her impressive work, resetting and adjusting the core's settings for the readings they've been getting from Shinji's plugsuit.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Yes m'am." Shinji nods, even though he can't actually see anyone.
* Akagi_Kenji nods and goes back to taking in the data much like the others.
<Merc> The cylinder's look changes once more as Ritsuko types, before settling again into the same look as before, almost making him think nothing had changed. Except that now he feels a subtle...pressure, almost, as if the liquid had gotten heavier? "Remember to relax, Shinji, your sync ratio is lowering right now..."
<Merc> ooc: roll empathy+d10
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=4]
<Merc> All of those around the station watch as the synchronization bar steadily begins to climb, before settling around 40.5%, occassionally going down and up a small amount, but generally averaging it's time there. "This will work..." Ritsuko mutters, as she grabs a clipboard and stands from the chair as she jots data in it. "Maya, start the cooldown procedure and let Shinji know we're done. I'll be taking these results to the Commander."
* Akagi_Kenji leans back to look at Aoba with a grin and mouths, 'Do it!'
<Merc> 'You do it!' Aoba mouths back, pointing at the still empty station, apparently wussing out on earning Dr. Akagi's wrath.
<Merc> Maya does seem to be lingering to look at Ritsuko's departure.
* Akagi_Kenji rolls his eyes, snaps forward and lets his fingers fly over the keyboard much like his sister, though noticably slower and reroutes some Symphony X into the plug before grabbing the mic to the plug.
<Akagi_Kenji> "And now, a prize for our hero! Enjoy, man, you earned it!"
<Merc> ooc: roll intelligence and mecha tech
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+8+6
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 20 > [d10=6]
<Merc> Immediately after Kenji hits the enter key, the lights flash as a claxxon begins flaring loudly.
<Merc> "Kenji!!!" Misato exclaims.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I didn't do it."
* Akagi_Kenji glances around.
<Merc> Music begins playing seconds after, but the claxxons continue, as Aoba stumbles as he stares at his monitor. "Code pattern: blue, detected! It's an angel!"
* Akagi_Kenji noticably lets out a breath of relief.
* Akagi_Kenji locks eyes with Misato.
* Ikari_Shinji cranes his head frantically around the cylinder. "What's going on? What's happening?!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Unit 00 is in stasis... What do you need me to do, Captain?"
<Merc> "What? That's even -worse-! We can't have them attack now of all times!" Misato grabs her forehead and presses against it, looking onward in frustration. "Get your sister, and the commander if you can, Kenji. There's not much you -can- do while Unit-00 is in lockdown. Now we have to decide between an unexperienced pilot...or an injured one."
<Merc> Misato looks at the microphone in frustration, not sure how to tell Shinji what's going on.
* Akagi_Kenji takes off like a shot, following after Ritsuko.
<Merc> "Dammit!" she curses again, as she turns to Hyuga. "Hyuga, give me the angel's location."
<Merc> The first lieutenant nods as Misato sheds her more playful persona, and brings up the main screen, showing a towering creature approaching the city. "Captain, JSSDF is telling Nerv to stand down. They'll be engaging it first," Makoto Hyuga informs Misato as he pulls off a set of headphones off where information was fed to him from.
<Merc> Misato grumbles. "Maybe they can slow it down while we figure out what to do wth our situation," she notes as she finally presses the button for the microphone. "Shinji, we have a problem. One of the creatures you're supposed to be fighting decided to show up early..."
<Ikari_Shinji> Shinji's stomach lurches. "Oh no." He whispers. "I haven't even had any training! How am I supposed to fight this thing!?!"
<Merc> Misato pauses, hesitating, but presses the button again. "...I'm sorry, Shinji, but you may have to. You just showed you can sync with Unit-01."
* Ikari_Shinji swallows noisily, about to be violently sick. "You've got to be kidding me. Going up there would be suicide! I haven't even *gotten into* the thing yet!"
<Merc> At that, Ritsuko and Kenji return, as a panel in the ceiling opens and Gendo appears, a platform lowering itself so he's in the operating room as well. "The third angel has made itself known. Why is our pilot not in the evangelion still?" he demands quietly as Shinji begins his tirade.
<Merc> "...I see."
* Akagi_Kenji looks up at Gendo and at his Sister and approaches her.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Want me to try to talk to him? I'm the only one here who knows what syncing is like, I might be able to do something."
<Merc> The cylinder is meanwhile emptying itself out, and the door opens, letting Shinji stumble out. "Shinji, you -will- pilot the evangelion unit. That is what you were called here for, was it not?" Gendo intones.
<Merc> "Give it a shot, Kenji..." Misato requests.
* Akagi_Kenji grabs the microphone.
* Ikari_Shinji flinches at his father's voice, panting heavily from the discharge of LCL.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Kenji, listen. Pay attention. Right now, you're the only person on the entire base who can make that Eva function. No pressure, right?"
<Merc> ooc: Shinji* log note edit
<Ikari_Shinji> Shinji paled even further, if that was at all possible. "Just...me?"
<Akagi_Kenji> "But look around you. Think of how many people are in this base. Every last one of them has dedicated themselves to supporting the Eva. And right now, *you* are the Eva. You've got all of us to help you, man. There's only two other people who have synced with Eva here: Rei and me. Neither of us can make Unit 01 work, but *you can.* Misato, Ritsuko, and *I* will be right here with you, every step of the way."
<Akagi_Kenji> "*You can do it,* Shinji. You can, I know it. We're right here with you, man."
* Ikari_Shinji swallows, closing his eyes. He takes in Kenji's words, mulling over them in his mind. When his eye open, they are brimming with a kind of tentative determination. "It's why I was called here. I'll do it. I'll pilot the Eva."
* Akagi_Kenji slumps in relief and makes sure to key off the mic.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Holy shit, thank god he bought it."
<Merc> Gendo Ikari purses his lips as he watches the interaction. He had expected having to 'motivate' Shinji himself. "Kenji, can you go lead him to the eva cages? He's still new here, so he's likely to get lost," Misato requests once more.
<Akagi_Kenji> "No problem, I've give him a quick run down of the weapons loadout on the way."
<Merc> Pausing, before Kenji can leave, "Oh, and suit up after that..." Misato adds. "Misato, you've got to be joking! Unit-00 is in lockdown for a reason!" Ritsuko protests.
* Akagi_Kenji leaves to lead Shinji to his Eva.
<Akagi_Kenji> "If we're gonna go out like this, you at least want a nice view as you go, eh? Alright, anything for you my Captain!"
* Akagi_Kenji grins and bolts out of the room.
<Merc> Misato takes a deep breath and looks at Commander Ikari as Kenji vanishes. "Commander, you and I both know Unit-00 did not go berserk until that test with Rei..."
<Merc> "Misato, that's my brother you're asking to ride that deathtr..." Ritsuko clams up as she tries to calm down, and turning to the commander. "Commander, we have no way of knowing if unit-00 won't react adversely with the fourth child. Rei had successful tests before that happened. We can't have an unexperienced pilot like the third child handle -two- crisis at once."
<Merc> "Dr. Akagi... your emotional outburst is unbecoming of you," the imposing figure in charge of them admonishes, but he seems to follow it by stroking his beard. "But your warning has merit. Pilot Akagi will be on standby unless absolutely needed."
<Merc> Dr. Akagi flinches, but Misato nods. "That will do for now..."
<Merc> ***

[Merc]

Session Start: Sat May 08  2010

<Merc> As the two pilots head towards the eva hangers after a quick stop for Kenji to also get suited up, the JSSDF attempts to deal with the angel on their own. Things do not go well for them, however, and the use of an N2 mine did nothing more than buy them time to retreat...and pass on the torch to Nerv headquarters. As the generals transmit command over to Gendo Ikari, Misato relays the news to the running pilots.
<Merc> "They've bought you a few minutes to get used to moving the evangelion unit, Shinji. Hopefully, also enough to get Eva-00 battle ready, so Kenji might be able to assist you. But get there fast, and use the time as best you can," Misato orders over the com system
<Merc> The two arrive at the door to Eva-01's hanger bay as Misato's order ends.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Alright, Shinji. The key to this is mental. You have will your Eva to move.. It's like visualization, just focus and concentrate. Take it slow at first, basic movements, but be ready for the Angel to come at you any time. We'll deal with weapons when you get the movement down. Just remember: the entire staff of NERV is here to support and help you. Any questions?"
* Ikari_Shinji taks a deep breath. "I...guess not. I'll do my best." Shinji's hands are trembling with nervousness, despite his desperate attempts to still them. He glances aside at Kenji. "We'll be okay...right?"
* Akagi_Kenji claps Shinji on the shoulder roughly.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Sure! We're a hundred feet underground and have over a dozen layers of armor in-between us and it! We'll be just fine!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "You, however.. Well, that's more up to you than anything else. Don't worry about it so much!"
* Ikari_Shinji laughs, a little breathlessly. "It's nice to know I've got a friend who cares." Shinji's tone is dry, but he seems more relaxed.
* Ikari_Shinji gives Kenji a nod and without another word, steps through the door to the hangar.
* Akagi_Kenji lets out a breath and turns back to go back to the Command Center.
<Merc> As Shinji enters the hangar, lights turn on, with a set of stairs leading towards the entry plug, waiting for insertion.
* Ikari_Shinji swallows nervously and ascends the stairs to the entry plug.
<Merc> As Shinji settles in the capsule and the systems turn on, going operational, Misato's voice sounds out from the communication's systems, as a window pops to his side, with an image of Misato. "Good, you're in the entry plug. We're inserting you into the evangelion unit and preparing to sortie. We're still working on getting Eva-00 unfrozen, and battle ready, so hopefully you'll have a hand if you need it."
<Merc> As she says this, Shinji feels movement from the entry plug being inserted, and a sort of weight on his mind as he starts to sync with the unit.
* Ikari_Shinji closes his eyes, gripping the controls tightly, concentrating on the feeling.
<Merc> OOC: Shinji, you sync ratio currently stands at 43.3%.
* Ikari_Shinji nods to himself. "Ok, I can do this." He opens his eyes and stares resolutely through the viewscreen. "Pilot Ikari of Unit 01, awaiting orders."
<Merc> "Just do your best and come back alive, Shinji. That's all anybody is expecting from you," Misato says with a warm smile, before her face turns serious as she turns to someone off on the side, yelling out in serious tone. "Launch Eva Unit-01! Also, keep me appraised on 00's status!" Shinji feels a burst of pressure on his body as the evangelion is catapulted up to the ground above.
* Ikari_Shinji grits his teeth, the massive G forces pressing down on his body!
<Merc> As buildings come into view along with the blue sky, off in the distance, Shinji can see helicopters and other military air units flying away from where a cloud of dust is settling around some form, currently hard to make out, though it shouldn't be too hard to guess what it is. A small map screen loads up on the opposite side of Misato's window, a red pinging blip on it.
<Merc> "Shinji, we've marked where one of the combat storage units is located. Head there once you get used to moving in the evangelion, and pick up a rifle. You also have a progressive knife stored in the shoulder pylons of your unit if you need it, but for now, your priority is to get used to the evangelion unit, and getting armed with a ranged weapon, understood?" Misato orders.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Yes sir." Shinji nods as he shifts his grip on the controls and settles back into the seat.
<Merc> "What a good little soldier he's turning out to be, isn't he?" Shinji can hear the voice of...Dr. Akagi (he thinks?), stating in the background, as Misato gruffly turns. "Rit-chan (yep, it was dr akagi), no joking right now. Focus on getting 00 operational."
<Merc> ooc: roll d10+MR+mecha piloting to try stepping about, Shinji.
* Ikari_Shinji scowls faintly at the voices as he concentrates on walking!
<Ikari_Shinji> OOC and yes, I know. Just looking up appropriate values
<Ikari_Shinji> d10+8-2 I SHALL WALK!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+8-2 Let's try that again
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=5]
<Merc> As Shinji attempts to walk, he takes one step alright, then another...before he begins to trip, the evangelion awkwardly flailing as it slams into asphalt, smashing a car, and three others starting to blare their alarms. "Okay, good attempt," Misato says, even as she winces visibly on the screen, making you doubt how truthful she might be. "Just keep in mind that you're going to have a different center of gravity in the unit..."
* Ikari_Shinji grunts, holding a hand to his head to steady himself from the crash. He grits his teeth and yanks on the controls again. "Get up. Get up and *walk*!"
<Merc> Meanwhile, back down in the geofront, Kenji steps into the hangar for unit-00, where various workers are rapidly moving left and right, yelling out orders as they try to remove the bakelite casing around the unit along with various other restraints. "Pilot Akagi, we're still working on getting Unit-00 ready," one of the workers stops to say as she stops giving out orders to give Kenji some heads up.
<Merc> "We should be able to get the bakelite casing all removed in 5...no, 3 minutes or so," he adds. Kenji can see that some of the red resin has already begun melting from where various workers are applying high heat to the solidified red object around the unit.
* Akagi_Kenji nods to the worker.
<Merc> ooc: he for both.
<Akagi_Kenji> "If you can clear out the Entry Plug, I might be able to speed it up with the Eva's strength as the bakelite weakens."
<Merc> The worker nods. "We figured as much, and we've cleared most of the bakelite around the entry area, so you can go wait in the entry plug in the meanwhile. We'll let command know as soon as the plug can be inserted. Hopefully, the unit won't go berserk again, but if it does, at least it'll be encased in bakelite somewhat, so you shouldn't end up in the same situation as Ayanami." How cheerful and encouraging.
* Akagi_Kenji nods and heads up to the Entry Plug and gets in, taking a moment to force himself to relax and focus on his tasks, making a mental checklist of the proceedures and running over the weapons depot locations.
<Merc> OOC: okay, now Shinji can make his new roll
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3 IT'S ALIVE!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=7]
<Merc> Back above in Tokyo-3, Shinji has begun to get a good feel for controlling the evangelion unit. He still has a few moments where it doesn't act as desired, but by and far, he's at least not tripping and causing destruction in town. He's also made it to where the blip on the screen is located, where a giant casing has risen up. "Alright, looking good, Shinji," Misato encourages as she walks him through the set-up of the pallet gun.
<Merc> "Once you've got the weapon set-up, I want you to head towards this location, and switch the umbilical cable if you still have time. It's closer to the angel, so you should have more mobility without restriction. Be prepared for the angel attacking before you have a chance though. If it does, just try to hold it off as best you can until Kenji can come up and assist. It looks like we should be able to launch unit-00 in a few minutes."
<Merc> Another spot in the map, nearer the blue dot begins pinging red as Misato relays her commands.
<Merc> ooc: Roll another MR+Mecha Piloting roll. Based on that, we'll see if you make it to the new power source before angel attacks.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Understood." Unit 01 cradles the pallet rifle carefully in its hands and begins clumsily making its way toward the blue dot on the HUD.
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=2]
<Merc> Clumsily indeed. Shinji's lack of experience shows, as the unit does move particularly fast, and before he can even reach the new power source, a roar is heard from the cloud of dust, as all the dust explodes outward, revealing a huge unhuman creature, resembling a sphere with lots of spikes and six metallic legs stretching from its sides.
<Merc> It begins to move in a haphazard way, almost drunk, no pattern to its movement before it begins speeding toward Evangelion Unit-01.
<Merc> ooc: Initiative
<Merc> roll d10+5
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 14 > [d10=9]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=1]
<Merc> ooc: Just +6. No mecha piloting to this roll
* Retrieving #Tokyo-3 modes...
* Merc changes topic to 'Iofiel (14) > Shinji (7)'
<Merc> Then angel skitters towards Shinji, rocketing as its legs collapse into the sphere and it begins rolling towards the eva, it's spikes destroying much along the way as it attempts to bowl over its opponent.
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=5]
<Merc> ooc: roll dodge, if that fails, parry
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3 Dude, a ROLLING ANGEL?
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=7]
<Merc> As Shinji instinctively jumps off to the side and the angel slams into a building, knocking it over, then angel uncurls as it lands, it's spider legs skittering as it continues moving randomly around the evangelion with no rhyme nor reason.
<Merc> ooc: sec on your action, cutting back to Kenji
<Merc> Kenji meanwhile feels the entry plug finally moving, as his systems light up. A screen turns on, as Misato turns to look at the new screen on her end. "Kenji, Shinji has just engaged with the angel. Do your best to get Eva-00 running, -without- any problems, so you can get up top and assist him."
<Merc> ooc: Do a sync roll, Kenji.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Affermative."
* Akagi_Kenji closes his eyes and focuses..
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=1]
<Merc> ooc: okay, ew, crit fail. roll another d10, and subtract that from the 7.
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Merc> As the unit's eyes light up, Kenji suddenly finds a lot of his systems beginning to show error messages and red warning screens as the bakelite immediately around the unit begins to crack and a roar is heard. "EVA UNIT-00 IS GOING BERSERK!" Kenji can hear Maya screaming out from the command center. He can also hear his sister yell out "DAMMIT MISATO, I WARNED YOU!" as he sees Misato wincing and biting her lips.
<Merc>  "Kenji, -please- get Unit-00 under control somehow!!!" she asks desperately.
* Akagi_Kenji grinds his teeth and focuses, trying to get Unit 00 to respond to commands..
<Merc> OOC: Shinji's go
* Ikari_Shinji brings the pallet rifle to bear, hastily aiming down the sights and pulling the trigger, blasting away at the Angel!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+2+2
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=8]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 8 > [d10=1]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d10=6]
<Merc> ooc: *wince*
<Merc> For all that Shinji is spraying bullets at random, luck seems to be with him as every bullet in that spray hits the angel in various places. With another roar blasting air away, it begins skittering towards Shinji again before again pulling its leg inward and beginning to roll like a ball of destruction towards Shinji.
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 8 > [d10=1]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 2 > [d10=2]
<Merc> ooc: you're rolling against a 6
<Merc> ooc: roll dodge
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=9]
<Merc> Shinji effortly dodges away from the bouncing ball of destruction as it slams into another building! This shit isn't as hard as it looked at first!
<Merc> ooc: effortlessl
<Merc> ooc: effortlessly* (gah!)
<Merc> Kenji meanwhile keeps attempting to prod the unit back under control somehow, before it breaks through the bakelite and he ends up in a condition like first child.
<Merc> ooc: sync roll again
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=6]
<Merc> He feels the unit beginning to respond to him a little, but it's still fighting hard, as it tries to break itself free, one of it's arms managing to do just that, clawing at the bakelite as the various Nerv workers flee the hangar, and stretching outward, as if trying to reach for something. Still, he might be beginning to get -some- control for all that it's fighting him.
<Merc> ooc: roll empathy+piloting
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=3]
<Merc> Unit-00 roars as it slams its fist into the bakelite, creating another crack and Kenji feels the unit escape his brief control. Dammit.
<Merc> ooc: shinji
* Ikari_Shinji lets out a yell as he fires the pallet rifle again, trying to take the Angel down for good!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+2+2
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=8]
<Merc> This time the angel's random movements manage to confound Shinji, however, and not a single bullet lands. The angel meanwhile attempts a different tactic as it skitters towards Shinji, but rather than rolling forward, it continues towards Shinji, two of its legs hanging in the air like hands...or grapplers, as it attempts to crash into the evangelion that way.
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d10=10]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 3 > [d10=3]
<Merc> ooc: rolling against a 20
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=6]
<Merc> ooc: You can attempt to parry it away.
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+5+3 I PARRY THEE!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=7]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+3 I PARRY THEE, Mk II!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=9]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 2 > [d10=2]
<Merc> Shinji seems surprised by the unusual tactic and fails to dodge. Attempting to hastily parry it by slamming the rifle against it to redirect it only causes the rifle some damage as the angel slams into Shinji, lifting the evangelion upwards by the torso, and squeezing as it does damage to the unit...and to Shinji as well, who feels a burst of pain at the sides of his ribs.
<Merc> ooc: 2 kill damage to torso. 1 hit damage to your own chest.
* Ikari_Shinji cries out in pain, clutching his ribs involuntarily.
* Ikari_Shinji grits his teeth through the pain and tries to escape the Angel's ruthless grasp!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+2 I AM EVA-HOUDINI!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=7]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=9]
<Merc> Kenji hears a cry of pain as a window pops up and he can see Shinji's pained face as Misato's own window shows her concern. "Kenji, Shinji's run into some trouble! The angel's got a hold of him!" she states the obvious as he hears his sister screaming out orders in the background.
<Merc> ooc: sync roll again
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=5]
<Merc> ooc: now empathy+piloting
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=6]
<Merc> ooc: huzzah!
<Merc> As the situation itself worses, Kenji grits his teeth and somehow does what's needed, the evangelion trying to fight against his commnads, shattering the last of the bakelite...as all the warning messages turn green and he regains control of the unit, somehow, and possibly entirely too temporarily, though there's no way to really tell. For the moment though...SUCCESS!
<Akagi_Kenji> "MISATO! The lift, while I can!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Better to be beserk up there than here!"
<Merc> "I'd rather you didn't let it go berserk again, you lunatic! Bad time to lose control of your systems, you had me and your sister worried!" Misato lets loose a sigh of relief as a spot in his screen gets highlighted, the liftoff rails. "Get going and go help Shinji!"
<Merc> ooc: roll initiative to see where you show up
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 14 > [d10=8]
* Merc changes topic to 'Kenji (14) > Iofiel (14) > Shinji (7)'
<Merc> ooc: You get to act right now if you want. The angel/shinji are within reach for you this turn from your location
* Akagi_Kenji grits his teeth, getting a grim smirk as he activates one of his personal modifications to Unit-00 and queues up some suitable music before lunging into the melee, intent on ripping the Angel away from Shinji by slamming Unit-00's fists into it's side in a haymaker.
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3+1
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=3]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=4]
<Merc> roll d10+7 parry
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d10=10]
<Merc> The angel twirls so that Unit-00 slams it's fist into Unit-01!
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Merc> Shinji feels a slight pain as he's punched, hard, in the left arm.
* Ikari_Shinji winces as Unit OO wails on his arm. "Ah--why are you hitting *me*!?"
<Merc> The angel meanwhile ignores the reaction of the two pilots as it bends its legs and then launches itself into the air, taking Shinji along for the ride.
<Akagi_Kenji> "Blame the Angel. More important things to do right now."
<Merc> ooc: Attempt to escape, Shinji, before it attacks!
<Merc> ooc: escape grapple check!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+2 GAH!!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=3]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=9]
<Merc> As Shinji frantically attempts to escape the angel's grasp, the creature begins to spin again, and dive bomb towards Kenji, with Shinji at the bottom, spinning wildly, and probably getting nauseous.
<Merc> roll d10+5 dive bomb attack!
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 9 > [d10=4]
<Merc> ooc: Kenji dodge/parry that as needed.
<Merc> ooc: If you make the dodge check, I'll give you a bonus to parry to try to minimize damage to shinji.
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=1]
<Merc> ooc: ew. Roll d10. If it's a 1, you can still dodge!
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 1 > [d10=1]
<Merc> ooc: parry roll now
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=6]
<Merc> As Kenji moves out of the way, he takes the chance to grasp Unit-01, and yank it to the side with him, so when the angel impacts the ground, leaving a sizeable hole in the road, it was not at least Shinji who took damage in that attack...although he is still held tight against the angel.
<Merc> ooc: Shinji
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+8 I am Eva Houndini?
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=10]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10 Woo, crit!
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=10]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=5]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d10=6]
<Merc> ooc: so a 12 vs a 34.
<Merc> ooc: Yeah, you're getting free
<Merc> As Shinji grits his teeth, the eva unit does the same and RIPS out one of the angels legs as it breaks itself free!
<Merc> ooc: Kenji
* Akagi_Kenji takes advantage of the opening Shinji gave him via the missing leg and tries to follow suit!
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3+1-2
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=10]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 2 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d10=4]
<Merc> Unit-00 feeds some of its bloodlust as it also rips out one of the angel's legs! The angel roars again as it skitters out of the crater it created, down to 4 legs, and begins to roll as it launches itself...past both evangelions, and impacting against a building, causing it to collapse towards both units.
<Merc> roll d10+5
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d10=1]
<Merc> roll d10+5
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 8 > [d10=3]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 1 > [d10=1]
<Merc> ooc: Dodge against a 5 for Kenji, against an 8 for shinji
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 19 > [d10=10]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+3
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d10=9]
<Merc> Kenji easily gets away from the collapsing building, as does Shinji. Kenji shows off with some acrobatic moves though. That show off.
<Merc> ooc: Shinji's turn
<Ikari_Shinji> With another wordless shout of defiance, Shinji attempts to pump the Angel full of superheated lead!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+10
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=5]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 8 > [d10=1]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 1 > [d10=1]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 4 > [d10=4]
<Merc> Again, the angel is pumped with a burst of bullets, driving it back somewhat!
<Merc> ooc: Kenji
* Akagi_Kenji charges in again, planning on ripping off another leg.. Limiting it's mobility seems to be working, and if it ain't broke...
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3+1-2
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d10=9]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d10=10]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d10=6]
<Merc> The angel skitters away from Unit-00, onto its dismemberment plan!
<Merc> Skittering around Unit-00, it attempts to bowl it over, hoping to have better luck than with Unit-01, perhaps.
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=3]
<Merc> ooc: roll our defense, Kenji
<Merc> ooc: your*
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10+6+3 (dodge)
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=1]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 3 > [d10=3]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 4 > [d10=4]
<Merc> The giant spiked ball slams into Unit-00's chest, slamming the unit into a building as the angel bounces off and begins skittering randomly as it decides what course of action to take next.
<Merc> OOC: 1 hit of damage to the chest area for Kenji.
<Merc> ooc: actually, wait. 2 hits of damage.
<Merc> Kenji's ribs feel like they've cracked.
<Merc> ooc: Shinji, go and we'll call it at the end of this round.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Kenji!" Seeing his fellow Pilot in distress, Shinji drops his pallet rifle and engages his prog knife. Time to take it out once and for all! With a roar of machinery, Unit 01 charges the Angle, attempting to impale it!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+2+1
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=7]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=9]
<Merc> roll d10
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Merc> As Shinji dashes forward, he slams the prog knife into the foot of one of the legs, dismembering it, and leaving the angel crippled and down to only three legs to stand on!
<Merc> *** Pause ***

[Merc]

Session Start: Sat May 22  2010

<Merc> <Ikari_Shinji> "Kenji!" Seeing his fellow Pilot in distress, Shinji drops his pallet rifle and engages his prog knife. Time to take it out once and for all! With a roar of machinery, Unit 01 charges the Angle, attempting to impale it!
<Merc> <Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+2+1
<Merc> <Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=7]
<Merc> <Merc> roll d10+7
<Merc> <Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=9]
<Merc> <Merc> roll d10
<Merc> <Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d10=7]
<Merc> <Merc> As Shinji dashes forward, he slams the prog knife into the foot of one of the legs, dismembering it, and leaving the angel crippled and down to only three legs to stand on!
<Merc> <Merc> *** Pause ***
* Merc sets mode: +v Penuche
<Merc> ooc: It's your turn, btw, Kenji. You'd just gotten slammed into a building, taking 1 hit of damage in your chest.
* Akagi_Kenji grunts in pain and readies himself, going after another one of the things legs..
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+1
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d10=9]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d10=10]
<Merc> The angel screeches as it quickly skitters off to a side, dodging Kenji's lunge for one of its few remaining legs. Bending its legs, it launches itself into the air again and begins to spin rapidly before launching itself back down towards Eva-00's head.
<Merc> roll d10+5
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=8]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=4]
<Merc> Kenji barely manages to move out of the way as the angel makes a meteoric landing in the spot he just barely vacated, chips of asphalt and concrete pelting his machine as the angel digs its way out of the hole it created in impact.
<Merc> ooc: Shin
* Ikari_Shinji grits his teeth in concentration, glaring at the Angel through the viewscreens! He darts forward once more, hoping to catch it off guard and rip it a new one with his prog knife!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+6+1+1
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 9 > [d10=1]
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 3 > [d10=3]
<Merc> roll d10+7 vs 6 >_>
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=3]
<Merc> Again, Shinji's inexperience shows, as Eva-01's legs stumble, and the knife goes stabbing straight into the small space between Eva-00 and the angel still extracting itself from the crater. Just a few feet to the left, and he'd have gotten the angel! Of course, a few more feet to the right, and Kenji would have been in need of a new head.
<Merc> ooc: Kenji
* Akagi_Kenji launches Eva-00 at the Angel, ignoring it's legs this time and trying to simply hit it hard enough to stun it so Shinji can get a good shot in..
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+1
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 9 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d10=5]
<Merc> For a three legged menace, the angel is nimble and it quickly skitters out of the way. Rolling into a ball again, it screeches in the ground, throwing loose gravel everywhere as it starts to roll down the street, away from the two evangelion units!
<Merc> "...is it running away?" you can hear the incredulous tone of Misato's voice as her face twists in anger. "It's running away?" she growls. "Chase after it, you two!"
<Akagi_Kenji> "Err.. Shinji.. Give me a Prog Knife. Whatever it's up to is going to be bad.."
<Merc> ooc: temporarily free actions.
<Ikari_Shinji> "Ahh...I'm not sure if Unit 01 has more than one prog knife." Shinji glances to his right on the viewscreen, hoping to see Misato pop up and help him out.
<Merc> "Each shoulder pylon has one, Shinji," Misato explains, though she looks pained as she looks to the side, probably focusing on the map of the area. "If you two are going to do anything, hurry it up. If it keeps going onward, it'll hit the city limits in a few minutes, and you won't be able to catch up to it without resorting to battery use."
<Ikari_Shinji> "Right." Unit 01 reaches up and extracts the other prog knife from his left shoulder! He tosses it to Kenji and without another word, springs off in pursuit of the Angel! "Come on, Kenji! We can't let it get away!"
<Merc> You two can hear Dr. Akagi make a noise in the background. "You think that's it's plan, Misato?" she asks. "I don't know, but it's either that or running away to lick it's wounds and heal until it can come back stronger. Neither is a good possibility," is the reply given, Misato's eyes focusing on the pilot screens as she stares at both Kenji and Shinji.
* Akagi_Kenji grunts, scoops up the rifle and takes after the fleeing Angel, trying to avoid stepping on as much personal property as possible.
<Merc> The angel, meanwhile, is not taking near the same sort of precautions, simply bowling over cars, small buildings, and anything that come across it's path. Thankfully, it's running in the direction that Shinji had originally launched from, so his power cable is no longer in danger of being stretch to its limit, though it's put some distance between itself and the evangelion units already. [ooc - more]
<Merc> Being lighter and faster, Kenji's evangelion unit overtakes Shinji's, and begins speeding towards the angel, slowly catching up. It's just as the city's borders come into view that Kenji catches up to the rolling ball of destruction!
<Merc> ooc: Kenji, go.
* Akagi_Kenji slides down to a knee and takes aim as best he can, hoping to injure the Angel enough to stop it.
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=1]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d10=6]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 15 > [d10=8]
<Merc> The shot ricochets off the spinning creature! It's no good! The angel is almost to the city's border!
<Akagi_Kenji> "Fuck! Misato, do we have anything more long-range than the pallet rifles handy? I'm going to continue persuit and try to slow it down!"
* Akagi_Kenji hefts Eva-00 to it's feet and takes off after the creature again,
<Merc> "Negative. We never really considered an angel would try to flee, of all things. We do have a power cable station near your location, we're currently bringing them up so you can switch to it, but one of you would have to chase after it in battery mode to try and slow it down so it stays in range of the cable."
<Akagi_Kenji> "I'm faster, Shinji find another weapon's locker and get a rifle, that'll increase your range. I'll try to run the damn thing down."
* Ikari_Shinji will try anything to keep the Angel from escaping! He comes to a full stop and whips the prog knife from his hand, trying tp aim squarely for the spinning mass of the rolling behemoth!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+1+1
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=3]
<Merc> The angel just barely dodges out of the way of the incomming attack, though it at least slows down the creature some as it uses up some time it could spend putting further distance to instead shift away from the attack.
<Merc> ooc: Kenji
* Akagi_Kenji once more takes aim and pulls the trigger, hoping against hope to hit..
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 14 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=3]
<Merc> A spray of bullets blast into the angel! Four bullets seem to have struck it as it stops spinning and roars, skittering briefly on it's three legs awkwardly before turning back to the two mechanical units and flinging itself towards Kenji! "Yes! Good going, Kenji!" Misato screams in cheer even as a gigantic spiked ball of death looms over Kenji's viewscreen.
<Merc> roll d10+7
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 9 > [d10=2]
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3
<Penuche> Akagi_Kenji invokes Penuche's magic: < 13 > [d10=4]
<Merc> Kenji easily scrambles out of the path of the enraged being's path, fully expecting a counterattack if it hit!
<Merc> ooc: Shinji. Angel's within range now, you still have one prog knife on you.
* Ikari_Shinji takes the other prog knife in hand and lunges at the Angel, hoping to incapacitate it for good! "Nice shot, Kenji!"
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6+1+1
<Penuche> Ikari_Shinji invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d10=2]
<Merc> roll d10+7
* Serith bats the dice around for Merc --> [ 1d10=4 ]{11}
<Merc> The angel sidesteps away from the attack!
<Merc> ooc: Kenji
* Akagi_Kenji continues to hammer at the Angel, trying to keep it off balance..
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3+3
* Serith bats the dice around for Akagi_Kenji --> [ 1d10=5 ]{17}
<Merc> roll d10+7
* Serith bats the dice around for Merc --> [ 1d10=6 ]{13}
<Merc> Another spray of bullets impact against the angel's body, two of the bullets impacting two of its remaining legs! The creature stumbles, before rolling to the ground...and it explodes the last remaining leg off itself before the spherical shape cracks twice! [ooc - more]
<Merc> The creature slowly begins to float in the air, the previous shell they had been having so much trouble with now resembling nothing more than spiked armor around the floating orb, a mixture of sinewy pink muscle and nerves interconnecting between the spiked plates and a shining red orb dead center of the creature. With a pulse of air as it roars, it begins spinning again, slamming towards Kenji again!
<Merc> roll d10+8
* Serith bats the dice around for Merc --> [ 1d10=6 ]{14}
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3
* Serith bats the dice around for Akagi_Kenji --> [ 1d10=3 ]{12}
<Akagi_Kenji> roll 1d10+6+3
* Serith bats the dice around for Akagi_Kenji --> [ 1d10=10 ]{19}
<Merc> For all that Kenji has avoided being taken in by surprise by the creature's actions, this transformation has left him briefly stunned! Too late to dodge, he instead raises his rifle and brings it up between himself and the angel, slapping it slightly off course, but destroying the rifle in the process.
<Merc> ooc: Shinji
<Ikari_Shinji> "Misato! What's that giant red thing in the middle of it? Is it the heart or brain?" Shinji eyes the red mass, thinking that the red orb is a fairly obvious target!
<Merc> Misato briefly turns to look to Ritsuko, from what Shinji can see. He can hear a stream of technobabble from the blonde that goes over his head, though Kenji does understand it, as does Misato as well as she stops her friend's explanation to turn back to Shinji, give a thumbs up and exclaim, "Ritsuko says it's the weak point! Go for it, Shinji!"
<Ikari_Shinji> "Got it!" With another almost reckless lunge, Shinji attempts to pierce the red orb and end its rampage of destruction!
<Ikari_Shinji> roll 1d10+6
* Serith bats the dice around for Ikari_Shinji --> [ 1d10=8 ]{14}
<Merc> roll d10+7
* Serith bats the dice around for Merc --> [ 1d10=3 ]{10}
<Merc> Seeing no way to avoid Shinji's charge, it quickly attempts to bring up it's AT field! Knowing Shinji isn't entirely aware of all the mechanics of angels, Misato shouts out, "Shinji! It's bringing up it's AT Field as a shield! Try to take it out with your own by..." she stumbles here, looking unsure for a second before shouting, "...by focusing on disabling the angel's!" [ooc - more]
<Merc> Shinji can hear someone slap their forehead in the background, probably Ritsuko. Not hearing any better ideas though...
<Merc> ooc: roll sync
<Merc> ooc: d10+empathy+human perception btw
<Ikari_Shinji> roll d10+8
* Serith bats the dice around for Ikari_Shinji --> [ 1d10=5 ]{13}
<Merc> As Shinji concentrates in the middle of his charge, he feels the knife stabbing straight into a force field right in front of the angel's core, pulsing in the form of an octagon-shaped ripple. Drops of sweat fall down his Shinji's brow as he focuses on his target, of ripping through the AT Field and stabbing the core. [ooc - more]
<Merc> Slowly, the knife begins to penetrate through the barrier as he hears cheers from the command center, the AT field falling apart... And as the knife makes contact with the orb, a burst of light blinds him. [OOC - more]
<Merc> He thinks he is screaming...
<Merc> ***
<Merc> It's the day after the fight with the angel being designated the third angel. Ritsuko looks worried ever since she started reading a report labelling the angel Iofiel, though Kenji has his own concerns. The angel had self destructed right as Shinji made his attack, probably hoping to take his enemy down with him. Thankfully, Eva-01's AT Field had been up at the time, and protected him from the worst of the damage, but he was still unconscious.
<Merc> Right now, Kenji was heading there with Misato, to check up on the new kid, see if he'd awoken yet.
<Akagi_Kenji> "So, Misato.. What are you going to tell Shinji when he wakes up?"
<Merc> "'Good job, kid. You just saved the world' seems like a good start," Misato replies. "You did a good job up there as well, Kenji, by the way, even if you did let the rookie take all the glory."
* Akagi_Kenji shrugs.
<Akagi_Kenji> "I'm not here for the glory. We won, that's what counts, not who makes the killing shot. Besides, my beautiful commanding officer knows how heroic my actions were, that's enough for me."
* Akagi_Kenji smirks at Misato.
<Merc> "Flatterer. Good attitude to have in combat though," Misato comments as hits the button to call up the elevator. "Oh! Has Ritsuko given you any trouble over Eva-00 going berserk at activation, Kenji? She really did seem worried back then..."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Er.. Not yet. I think she's gathering data to support the next ass chewing, though."
<Merc> "She has seemed busy overseeing the data from the battle with the third angel," Misato agrees as they enter the elevator and she presses the key for two floors up, where the medical area is located and Shinji should be resting peacefully.
<Ikari_Shinji> Shinji's eyes flutter open and he is assailed with the utterly dull and blank image of a whitewashed hospital ceiling. Flashes and snatches of the battle flit through his thoughts. He lies there for a few moments, simply breathing and staring straight ahead. "An unfamiliar ceiling..."
<Merc> The room is pretty empty right now. Quiet too...
* Ikari_Shinji sighs. "This is crazy. Me of all people, piloting giant robots and fighting monsters."
* Ikari_Shinji chuckles in a self-deprecating manner.
<Merc> As Shinji chuckles, the door to his room opens, and enter both Kenji and Miss Katsuragi. "Oh, you're awake! Good, we were starting to get worried!" Misato exclaims with a relieved look, as she comes closer to Shinji. "How are you feeling?"
* Ikari_Shinji raises himself to a reclining position, just a little sore. "I'm...fine, I guess. Did we kill it, Ms. Misato?"
<Merc> "Well, technically speaking, it killed itself, apparently self-destructing according to Ritsuko, that was Dr. Akagi, erm, Kenji's sister, that is, if you don't recall. Then again, it probably did it because you were about to kill it and it wanted to take you down with it," Misato explains with a smile as she ruffles Shinji's hair. "But yeah, good job, kid. You just saved the world."
<Akagi_Kenji> "I think a kiss for the hero is an appropriate reward, Misato."
<Merc> Misato grins, and nods, as she scoots closer to Shinji and...kisses him in the forehead. "Well, there you go, mister hero."
* Akagi_Kenji chuckles.
* Ikari_Shinji blushes to the very roots of his hair. "Th-th-thank *you* Ms. M-misato!" He stammers loudly, giving Kenji a half-hearted glare.
<Akagi_Kenji> "We'll save the real thing for when you get an actual kill."
<Merc> Misato chucklesas she ruffles Shinji's hair again. "Well, anyway, really how -are- you feeling, Shinji? You need us to call one of the doctors or anything? Or just feel like getting out of here?"
* Ikari_Shinji shrugs. "I'm fine, Ms. Misato. Just a little sore. Really...I just want to get out of here."
<Akagi_Kenji> "Hmm.. How about a victory meal? We'll get you out of here and go catch a meal. My treat. I'll even pay for your meal too, Misato, if you can convince that work-a-holic I call sister to come."
<Merc> "Sure, that's fine. First, let's step out while Shinji gets changed out of that hospital gown. I think they left your clothing..." she stops to look around the room and nods as she points to a nearby chair with his folded clothing and leaning on the leg was his bag and instrument case. "...over there."
* Ikari_Shinji gives Kenji a shy smile. "I'd like that. Food sounds pretty good right now." He slides out of bed and makes his way over to the bag that Misato pointed out. He waits patiently for them to leave the room.
* Akagi_Kenji holds the door open for Misato with a bow and leaves behind her.
* Ikari_Shinji exits the room himself a scant few minutes later, cradling his instrument case with care.