"Come on we're gonna be late!" Shirane whined as they cut through the thick crowds.
"You're the one that wants to see this movie," Horaki grumbled, looking ahead. At least the Ayanamis' friends made sure that they were not slowed.
"You don't like this movie?"
"Do I really look like I'd want to see a movie about the Battle of Incheon?"
"Then why are you here?" Rei asked.
Horaki sighed. "I lost a bet. Leave it to Miss-Fan girl over here to actually start talking with her crush."
"I was just asking what he thought about the last battle, and anyway, he recommended this movie." Shirane gave a private little smirk.
Just in sight of the cinema, Horaki stopped. "Now you wouldn't be taking advantage of a certain friendship would you?"
"Of course not! And keep walking! We're gonna miss it!"
Horaki sighed. "Only the previews."
"That's good, I can't even bring you guys into the Geo Front," Shinju reminded.
"Next time I'll make the bet over whether you ask him out on a date." Horaki frowned as they resumed their walk. "So why are you here Rei? I mean... you guys actually do this stuff."
"Shinju is here."
Horaki rolled her eyes. "Well yes, but that's because she's deathly afraid of saying no."
Shinju blushed. "The movie might be good."
"Of course it will be." Shirane assured.
"So, how are those books you got?" Horaki asked.
Rei kept walking. "They are informative."
"I didn't think they were your kind of book," Shirane noted.
Tilting her head Rei turned to look at the younger girl. "Fiction is... new to me."
"Right." Shirane then confidently walked up to the ticket window. "Yeah the current showing of Eve of Incheon, we'll need... Oh, Lieutenant Khariton how many of your men will be going in?"
The clerk raised an eyebrow. "That's R-15. Are you girls even thirteen?"
Showing more fluid speed than one would expect from such a large man, Igor placed himself at Shirane's side. "Is problem?" he asked, his accent thickening.
The theater clerk looked up... and up. It was only after a few moments of staring at insanely focused eyes and immense fists that he noticed the man was carrying an automatic rifle, and had well over a dozen, similarly dressed, if a bit smaller, men behind him.
"Er... I'm sorry, Sir, but the movie is restricted. No one under fifteen allowed," the clerk stammered. He had heard the stories about these new Russians...
Igor sniffed. "Little man. You recognize these girls?"
Looking where the giant Russian was pointing, the clerk froze.
"Yes, they Pilots. Your movie will not scare them."
"Of course," the clerk swallowed.
"Movie is important. Relaxation important for soldier. Yes?"
"Right you are..." He looked around, hoping for a manager to push it off onto. At least when Nerv leaned, they were not so... overt. "So... how many tickets do you want?"
"That was a mean trick," Horaki said after they bought the tickets and entered the theater.
"Oh?"
"You wanted to see this movie, but you were too young. So you had Shinju come."
Shirane turned to face her friend. "Like you've never asked Kodama to get you something on a 'special deal'. Anyway, we've still got to hurry, otherwise we'll miss it."
"Fine. fine," Horaki's sigh was cutoff when they entered the theater. The image of an Evangelion being dropped from an immense flying wing dominated the screen.
As they walked further into the theater, Shinju stared at the giant screen. She watched as her Evangelion fell towards the earth. The footage was not new to her, she had seen it many times during the debriefings, but the voiceover was.
"In a daring air-attack, Ayanami Shinju pilots Eva Unit 01 right into the enemy. Despite taking heavy fire she stays the course," a booming, confident voiceover actress intones. "The enemy's defenses defeated, Azazel is now able to provide fire support."
Shinju looked over to see Shirane's eyes gleefully wide as the girl watched N2 missiles explode inside the Angel.
"However the work of our brave Pilots is not done. Pilot Ayanami Rei arrives in the newly repaired Unit 00. Under heavy fire she scales the Angel itself and starts helping her sister finish off the foul invader," the deep contralto, authoritarian voiceover continued.
"The enemy, unable to withstand humanity's might, crumbles, destroyed by the pinnacle of human science and skill. By harnessing the power of robotics, biological engineering and the atom humanity will win this war."
The screen shifted from the Evangelions striding out of the crumbling carcass of Ramiel to an aerial shot of an airbase. Various fighter aircraft, bombers, and transports are arrayed parked in presentation ranks. In the back, Dominating the scene is the black flying wing of an Evangelion transport. "Special Duty Organization Azazel was created to provide aerial support for the war effort. It is in only the most dire circumstances that they are to unleash the terrible power at their disposal."
"I thought they were setup to nuke the Angels," Shirane said as they sat down in some, generously vacated seats.
"Is this what you had us hurry up to see?" Horaki whispered.
"The technological prowess is only part of the story. Both the Evangelion and the Angel Buster missile would be useless without their pilots," the voiceover shifted as the screen transitioned to the dinner event where Zel'dovich lifted up Shinju.
"Captain Andrei Zel'dovich, an Ace pilot who scored seven kills in the brief Russo-Sino war following the Second Impact, recently added two more kills." The screen changed to show Zel'dovich giving a sheepish grin as a second halo was added to his Su-33.
Now the cinema showed a plug-suited Shinju watching as another kill mark was stenciled onto Unit 01. "Not to be outdone, Pilot Ayanami Shinju achieved her second kill in the same battle. However the credit is shared, with the cost of defeat so total all of humanity must rise together to destroy this foe. Also qualifying for kills are Ayanami Rei and Captians Yakov and Borisovich who were critical in killing the enemy.
"The question on everyone's lips is: who will be the first Angel Ace?" the voiceover almost sounded amused at the question.
Noticing Shinju's squirming and blushing, Shirane leaned over. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get it."
The screen now showed a several black and white photos of a giant, but stubby looking gun. "The latest weapon to be deployed is the 914 mm Little David G-mod. This heavy mortar is the largest gun ever built. It out-sizes the German Dora and even Atomic Annie herself. The excessive weight meant the piece was restricted to being an experimental test bed. Eventually it was put into storage, in case its immense power was ever needed.
"The foresight of the US Army paid off. In the hands of Evangelion the Little David's weight became a triviality and with Azazel's support the gun can take on a new role." Now Unit 01 shouldered a modified version of the mortar and fired it like some type of short heavy gun.
"This weapon gives Evangelion the ability to fire a shell weighing over a ton directly at the enemy. The footage you're seeing is merely with training rounds. However it shows the pinpoint accuracy the Little David is capable of, in the right hands. Let's see what happens when Shinju demonstrates the power of a real warhead."
The footage cut to show, once again, Unit 01 shouldering the weapon. The giant explosion at the muzzle and knockback of the immense war-machine were the same, but the difference came when the warhead hit downrange.
Its target was an immense concrete and steel structure. Scoured and chipped from the Angel Buster that had detonated nearby, the bunker was still firmly rooted into the stone of the ridgeline.
A sharp shockwave shot out, carrying tens of thousands of small fragments. This was obscured by the return implosion and the buoyancy driven mushroom cloud. Impassively, the Evangelion withstood the blast-wave and waited for the fires and smoke to clear.
Not only was the bunker gone, but the entire hillside had been shattered and cut through and through by what looked like a giant fist. The warhead had hit the bunker, shattered the concrete and rock and then gone on to blow out the other side. The cavity bisected the ridgeline in a gaping wound. "With this Nerv has the firepower to knock down the enemy, allowing them to close in for the kill."
As the patriotic music swelled - the girls looked at Shinju who practically glowed pink in embarrassment at the eyes looking at her. "I think they noticed you," Horaki whispered to Shinju.
"Uh, the movie's about to start." Shinju looked up and noticed that the short had finished. A movie preview was starting, but the audience's attention was... elsewhere.
"It's the Eva Pilots!" a young male a few rows behind them shouted.
