Neo genezis evangelion 1-6

"Good. Now the next one..."

Another Object A (completely identical to the previous one) appeared about a hundred meters to the left of the previous one. Without waiting for a command from the center, I turn the body slightly to the left, put my left foot slightly forward and press the rifle butt more tightly against my shoulder. Five more shells and another target was hit, and this time I fired only one shell past the target.

"Okay, next one..."

After I finished off the fifth green freak and completed the GG-2 magazine at the same time, I got bored. Do they really think that this kind of training is what I need? Well, in vain, in that case... No, actually, this tactic was useful when teaching a really inexperienced teenager of about fourteen...

I remembered myself at that age. What good would it do if I could tell you the length of the barrel of a variety of assault rifles, as well as their rate of fire, weight, and country of manufacture? I had a very vague idea about tactics at the time, and no computer shooters could help here...

So in general, Shinji was trained quite competently, gradually leading to more complex techniques. Another thing is that at this rate, they won"t teach you anything sensible until the next object A.

"Shinji, why are you standing around? Did you forget the briefing?"

"Aoba-san, I already realized that you just want to bring me up to date so that I can get used to guns and Eva... But I don"t think I need it— just don"t worry, I won"t act like that in battle..."

There was a pause on the other end of the "wire", which must have been extremely surprised.

No, gentlemen, comrades, teach me normal things, not this nonsense. Even my amateur knowledge is enough to understand that this is just an introductory part that can be skipped. Yes, I understand that I am overly forcing events and thereby incurring unnecessary suspicion — no matter how Agent ZIELE is seen in me and quietly removed...

But, damn it, you can"t rely on luck and the Japanese "maybe" alone in battle! Okay, you don"t need much intelligence to control firearms — Eva"s onboard weapon guidance system works just fine, taking into account and introducing a bunch of all sorts of amendments... But a knife fight? In the last battle, I acted purely on scraps of knowledge and my own intuition, but don"t you need comprehensive training here?

"Shinji, what exactly is wrong with this training?" Misato"s voice was finally heard.

"Captain Katsuragi," I said formally to her. "You understand that neither Object A nor I will stand still in a real battle. Moreover, if one of us does this, he will suffer significant damage: a stationary target is an ideal target. This simulator is not bad as an introductory one, but as a basic one it is beneath any criticism. Where is a more accurate imitation of the enemy, where is the opportunity to move and change positions? Not to mention that the idea of shooting an Object A from afar doesn"t seem so great to me — if it"s possible, then why didn"t the UN army destroy it yesterday?"

The new pause turned out to be even longer than the previous one — apparently, there was an active discussion in the command center...

"So that"s it, Second Lieutenant Ikari," Katsuragi"s slightly sarcastic voice echoed in my head again. "Are you unhappy with your workouts? Then put forward your suggestions — an initiative, you know, is a punishable thing..."

"Yeah, so that"s it, right?" I pretended to be offended. "Okay, then, here"s what I think... Either take my Eva out for field testing, or develop a more advanced simulator. It can even be purely computer-based, without the slightest reference to Unit-01, well, it"s not for me to explain it all to you... To develop rifle training only taking into account normal tactics — I can shoot at a shooting range anyway, but I don"t know how to act competently in battle. I need to study the full range of available weapons and practice with them... Although, as I understand it, the most reliable weapon here is cold steel, so it would be advisable to start my training in both hand-to-hand and knife combat... In short, it"s like that."

"Well, Shinji, well, you bastard..." Misato muttered in surprise. "Okay, you"re going to have SOME REAL training, but don"t complain to me later."

"That"s settled," I grinned. Fuu... Got a ride... If we already have the opportunity, we will not only change those around us, but also learn what is not available in that life...

* * *

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Shinji?" Ritsko looked at me with interest, adjusting her thin metal-rimmed glasses. "It seems to have something to do with technology, if Captain Katsuragi told me everything correctly?"

"That"s right, Dr. Akagi." I replied, sitting down on a chair and placing a small thin folder with brief information about the Evangelion weapons samples on the table in front of me.

I had already managed to take a shower, washing off the vile LSL, and change out of my contact suit into my uniform, so I was already in a completely civilized state in Ritsko"s office.

"But if possible, I will first start with a question from a slightly different field, as I am VERY interested in it."

"Well, if that"s the case, then start."

"Dr. Akagi, why is Evangelion powered by cable or low-power built-in batteries? Wouldn"t it have been better to put a small nuclear reactor in it?"

"That"s a reasonable question," Ritsko nodded. "I"ll try to answer it for you... First of all, what do you know about Evangelion-type combat vehicles?"

"Er... That is?"

"Well, that is, their structure and the like?.."

"To be honest, not that much. They seem to be biomechanical organisms — living flesh plus inorganic elements..."

"In general, you"re right, but Eve is inherently much closer to a living organism than to a mechanism. Yes, Evangelion has neither a digestive nor a respiratory system, but it has peculiar analogues of the organs of living beings... Only individual structural elements are made of metal and plastic — parts of the skeleton and armor, but the largest element of this kind in Eva is the A-10 nerve. It is a complex that includes a contact capsule, mechanisms of its fixation and protection, and elements of interaction with the rest of the Evangelion"s body... In fact, A-10 occupies a very large proportion of the entire internal volume of Eva, so we couldn"t equip Evangelion with even the most compact reactor — it just doesn"t fit. So we had to limit ourselves to purely symbolic backup batteries, and put the main power supply on external sources. I hope I"ve answered that question."

"I understood that there was no place for the built-in reactor inside Eva. What about the outside? Well, say, in the form of a satchel?"

"It"s too dangerous, Shinji," The blonde snapped. "You"re not a stupid guy, are you, and you should understand what happens if an atomic reactor is damaged in a fight with an object A? In a city of a million people, it"s just a disaster, isn"t it?"

"Uh-huh," I muttered dejectedly, realizing that the idea of making an atomic Eve had just failed miserably.

Damn it, I was already dreaming! I thought I was the smartest person here... But no! If Evangelion was not equipped with such an engine, then it was impossible. The Jet Elon over there with the nuclear reactor was precisely unmanned... Okay, let"s keep thinking...

"Then what else do you have to tell me?"

"Well, that"s what I came up with after reviewing my impressions of yesterday"s fight... Okay, but first about the existing weapons."

Ritsuko grimaced a little-she didn"t seem to have much love for the means of killing, preferring to tinker with more peaceful technology, in particular computer technology.

"The GG-2 rifle. What"s the use of it? She won"t break through the AT-field, and she"ll be practically useless in close combat, unless you attach a bayonet to her..." I began skeptically. As our calculations show, the long-term maintenance of the AT-field by the Angel depletes its energy reserves, so that the preliminary firing of the target has quite a tangible result. You don"t care if you"re going to fight a full-bodied enemy or if you"re already pretty tired, do you?"

"Hmm, that"s right..." I muttered, scratching my head in embarrassment. That"s what I didn"t know, I didn"t know... "But surely ordinary troops can handle this task?"

"You never know what can happen, it never hurts to be safe..."

"And that"s right... Okay, now the gun. As I understand it now, does it have the same purpose as a rifle, but with the expectation of a shorter firing range? Yeah, then the grenade launchers follow the same article... Okay, then I don"t have any more questions about this part, I"ll go directly to my own thoughts."

"Come on, tell me what you got there..." Dr. Akagi spoke with genuine interest.

"First, the knife. It"s inconvenient to get him in battle! It would be better to place it on my arm, belt, or leg. And to come up with something with the possibility of loss is the same as not doing figs! You can hang several blades, but, in my opinion, it would also be nice to make melee weapons embedded..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in the sense of implanting, say, retractable or folding blades in Eve"s arm, so to speak, as a last resort. Of course, without reducing the role of conventional weapons. It just seems to me, for example, that if my Eve had a couple of such surprises in her fist, it would be easier to cope with the Object A..."

"Hm... In principle, the idea is not bad..." Ritsko thought about it. "You can think about it... Okay, go ahead."

"So, where was I there? Yeah, I remembered... the knife. Why only a knife? If cold steel is the best thing we can do against an AT filde, then why not expand its list? There"s a quantum knife, so why not make a quantum sword? For the middle distance, I think it"s the best..."

"Do you want a sword? Having a sword is not a big problem, but because of this you will have to introduce additional classes..." Akagi warned me.

No, how is it in Japan without a sword, that is, a katana? The disorder...

"I"ll get over it somehow." I waved my hand carelessly. "And finally, what I wanted to say. Maybe we should think about Eva"s ammunition. Okay, I"m not going to carry a rifle and magazines with it, but I can stick a pistol somewhere... Still, I think it"s not always possible to get to the arsenal buildings, so it"s useful to always have something on hand..."

I think so... ha! Yes, I know for sure! All the time, everything will not go according to plan...

* * *

"Guys, meet me. Our beauty and pride is the Third Child of Ikari Shinji!" Misato solemnly introduced me to everyone in the command center.

"Uh-huh, and also — intelligence, honor and conscience in one contact capsule," I grumbled, smiling.

The command room, I"ll tell you, is a thing! Although, in principle, like everything else in the nerve. But there is still an excessive craving for gigantomania, well, this is to be expected — we are in Japan after all! Even during the Second World War, they liked to build something very large and ambitious, such as the Yamato battleship or, say, the Akagi heavy aircraft carrier...

Hmm, by the way, it"s interesting — many of them... people in this reality have some kind of ship surnames. Akagi, Aoba, Hyuga, Maya — I remember exactly, there were such ships in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It"s a good thing I don"t have that last name, because there"s already a lot of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern people and steamboats...

Okay, but I"m going back to the command Center anyway.

A huge room, the size of half a football field, and the height didn"t let me down either... The entire edge opposite from me is occupied by an inhumanly large map screen with small mini-screens on the sides, all sorts of graphs and tables. I don"t know what it"s all about, but it"s probably not for beauty. As I have already understood, the office is not so senile, and it knows how to spend money wisely...

The other part of the room was occupied by the command center itself, pyramid-shaped, rising up in steps. There were a whole bunch of jobs for operators here, but the most important were the places at the top of the "pyramid". There weren"t many people here-Dr. Akagi, Misato, and the inseparable trio of miracle technicians they"d known from the series. All of them turned out to be quite young, no older than twenty-five.

"Lieutenant Ibuki Maya, MAGI operator" a short thin girl with short dark hair and a quiet voice. Unexpectedly for me, she was wearing a beige-and-red uniform that was not familiar from the TV series, but a dark green uniform with gold edging. "You can just say Maya."

"Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba. If you remember, my profile is Eva"s weapon systems," The guy with his long hair looks like a hard-core metalhead. Dressed the same as Maya. It"s probably the uniform of the science department officers... "You can just say Aoba."

"Lieutenant Hyuga Makoto, Analyst," A smiling guy with glasses and a hair brush holds out his hand to me. By the way, he was the only one of the technicians who was not wearing a dark green tunic, but in exactly the same black and gold uniform as mine. "You can just use Makoto."

"Nice to meet you," I am saying this sincerely, having exchanged good health with everyone.

"Well, that"s wonderful!" Misato stated. "Shinji, do you want to watch the technicians work for a while?"

"Of course!" I exclaim enthusiastically. You bet! After all, my success in battle depends on the work of these three...

..Hmm, as it turned out, there was nothing particularly interesting about their work — routine is routine. Maximum activity, apparently, manifested itself only in extreme situations, and usually there is a rather boring atmosphere here. Yeah... Work is not always interesting and entertaining, but rather the opposite...

Maya was fiddling with her computer, it looks like she was programming, reprogramming, or correcting something in the program code — I"m not good at these IT technologies... Makoto was excitedly gnawing on a toothpick (there was already a pile of debris from previous victims in the ashtray on his desk), flipping through a comic book (or is it called a manga here?..) and he giggled softly from time to time.

But what I was most interested in right now was Aoba. The lieutenant was currently sitting at his computer, poring over something that looked painfully like electronic musical tablatures. From the small speakers located on both sides of the flat-screen monitor came soft but powerful music — the band "System of a Down", the song "Know".

If someone looks like a metalhead, behaves like a metalhead, and finally listens to something commensurate with metal, there can only be one conclusion...