Evangelion: Project Ragnarok IC

[Hypersmith]

Back in control of his own movement once more, Fahd spins his chair about and looks at his options, determined to make the most of the short time before new partners are found. Miyako and Nakao will likely be inseparable for the rest of the night, even if he could maneuver between dancers to get to them. The chance to meet them will have to come later. Might as well give them the chance to have a night in peace - and glean if Freyja is just unhinged, or if acting that way really protected John. Giving chairs a wide berth, he cuts in front of his target, engaging breaks and standing shakily, back heavily stooped and neck craned to compensate, and extends a hand to Yume with a disarming smile.
"How about we retry our introduction on more even terms?"

[Syless]

A smile appears on Miyako's face. A somewhat sincere one, for once. The thought of being protected is something special. "I trust you. As long as Freyja doesn't try and drag us into to the waiting arms of one of the giants, hoping that they'll play along... I'd rather be your copilot, any day." She moves along to the beat, trying her best to not fall out of step, keeping her eyes locked with Nakao. She doesn't want the dance to end.

[fibericon]

"You don't need to apologize to me..."

Yume (obediently?) follows Evan's lead, taking a seat as he offers it. Their dancing was equally bad, and she's glad she hadn't opted for open toe shoes this night. Still, as far as injuries went, this is nothing.

He's looking somewhere else. Of course he is. I can't hold anyone's attention. He probably knows I'm not interested in him... in guys... Maybe this was just a pity dance. Or maybe he wanted to close his eyes and pretend I was someone else. But at least look at me when I'm right in front of you! I'm worth that much!

Her inner stewing is broken by Fahd's interjection, and she blinks a few times in surprise before taking his hand. She has a firm handshake, but her voice is soft. A lack of confidence? Has something taken the wind out of her sails?

"I am Yume Matsuo."

[Hypersmith]

Fahd continues to smile, his grip firm enough. He takes his seat once more."Fahd Badr. I got here rather recently. Haven't really had the chance to meet the rest of the pilots." He shakes his head, smiling still. "Been a rather wild start. Are the rest of the pilots always this... intense?"

[Volthawk]

Hana smiles and nods as Masami bows and thanks her. He really does go for the over the top and melodramatic, doesn't he. It's kinda cute.”No, thank you. I'll see you around, Masami. I enjoyed this.” She turns and walks away, pleased with how this went.

When Freyja takes her hand, Hana gives her a warm smile too, although her mind mostly tries to unpick what the other pilot meant by that statement - she read it as some kind of innuendo, but wasn't quite sure enough about the specifics to follow it up with anything.“Oh, so that's what you call it? I'd love to dance, Freyja.” From what Hana had seen and heard of the girl over various brief meetings and her time staying here, it was best to go with the flow around Freyja, or you'd get dragged along anyway. To that end, when they start dancing Hana lets her lead them, and just works with whatever happens - it'd probably be a more elegant dance if Hana led, but it wasn't the time for that. If nothing else, indulging Freyja helped to make them closer and established some trust, which would be necessary in the future.

[fibericon]

Yume nods, listening to Fahd. She sighs and looks over at Evan, then back to him. Her face is impassive now, or tries to be.

"I honestly don't know, Pilot Badr. I don't spend much time with the other pilots, outside of my morning jog, so I'm afraid I don't have any relevant information for you. Perhaps Pilot Braun has more insight?"

She looks over at Evan, trying to get him involved with the conversation, but not realizing all she's done is push herself out of it.

[aturtledoesbite]

Freyja can at least avoid stepping on toes, though given her steel boots, this is likely more Hana's cautiousness in making sure Freyja doesn't get the opportunity.

But there's a distinct feeling that the dance isn't what Freyja has in mind, exactly. Not with a sly smile like that. "He seems charming, from what I could see. Pray tell, what manner of midnight promise did you make with the boy, to have him so love stricken?"

She seems to be under the impression that Hana plans on absconding with her prior partner at some point to go...grow apples.

[roko10]

Evan, having just undone his sneakers to crudely massage his abused feet, looked up in surprise at Yume mentioning his name to Fahd.

”Ah, right!” he answered, somewhat belatedly, to Fahd’s question. ”I’m afraid that I don’t know much either: I was transferred here just a few weeks ago. That being said, however, most of the pilots here are pretty nice, though as you can see, Freyja can be awfully... melodramatic at times.”

“Still, though, they seem like a pretty competent bunch of pilots,” he continued, now looking at Yume, “so I think that everything will work out fine for us. Right?”

[fibericon]

There's nothing wrong with Freyja. 'Melodramatic' isn't applicable here. Why would he insult her for being driven by passion? Should I argue? But then they would push me away. No one likes that. And she doesn't need me to defend her, does she? But I can't agree with them. That would be wrong. Maybe I should just... pretend I didn't notice? I'm sure they're not paying too close of attention anyway. This is polite small talk. This is a requirement of the social contract.

She casts her gaze downward and replies, "I have faith in the system to produce and select competent pilots. They wouldn't send us into battle blindly, or with less than we need. General Akie is brilliant, and can allay any concerns you might have, if you'd like to speak with her."

[Volthawk]

Hana giggles in response to Freyja's question. So that's what she's after. Well, she has no issue indulging her. “Oh, I haven't had to make that sort of promise. Not yet, anyway. No, he was already quite taken with me and took the occasion as an opportunity to finally ask me. Quite a nice surprise, don't you think?” She returns Freyja's sly smile. “How about you? Surely someone has caught the eye of the goddess of love by now.”

[Hypersmith]

"I can chat with Akie some other time. I'm sure she'll be all over us once we get started anyhow. And please, call me Fahd, no need for formality." He turns to address Evan. "We'll need stronger faith in each other than that in this coming time. Valhalla is nice and all, but surely you want to know the person who's going to be guarding you from a giant beyond just that?"

Taking in the twos demeanor, he decides its best for him to provide the incentive and hope they follow. He clasps his hands together and continues. "You guys plan to stay till the end of the ball, or leave and unwind before tomorrow? I'm personally looking forward to getting into a good book. Gives me something to look forward to finishing after all this."

[aturtledoesbite]

Freyja doesn't even need to consider the question. "Why, I love everyone, dearest Idunn." For a brief moment, Freyja's gaze toward Hana becomes so intense, even Masami's actions would have been considered subtle in comparison. But it's gone as quickly as it comes.

"And yet...love that is easily given has little meaning."

[Volthawk]

Hana’s smile doesn't go away when Freyja responds. This could be fun. "Oh, is that so? Well, there's nothing wrong with that - not everything has to have a deep meaning, after all. A person has to have their fun, in the end, and some things are all the sweeter because of it. Don't you think?"

[aturtledoesbite]

"Quite. And it can be fun indeed when the meaning appears deeper than it is...which gives me an idea. Let us see if your prince seeks only fun, or something more..."

Freyja winks at Hana, changing the dance into a far more...intimate one. She guides the duo around to make sure the boy that Hana was with can see them, too.

At the last moments of the song, Freyja guides Hana into a rather-close dip. Their faces are ever-so-close; from Masami's point of view behind Freyja, it certainly seems like the two of you finished with a kiss.

It would be a simple matter for Hana to lean her head back a fraction of an inch to avoid such a thing actually occurring while still maintaining the illusion...if she so chooses. Or...

[Volthawk]

Initially, Hana raises an eyebrow at her statement, unsure of what Freyja is planning. When she changes up the dance, it all becomes clear, particularly when she notices that they're now in Masami’s view. So that's her game. Well, she'll play along. It was worth seeing how he reacts for future knowledge, and she's still quite enjoying this.

She more than just plays along with the new, more intimate dance, getting closer where she can and giving the whole thing her best flirtatious attitude. When the song ends and Freyja brings them into a dip and close together, Hana smirks, seeing what the idea is. Well, they can do better than that. Rather than lean back, she moves in for a long kiss, keeping herself there so Freyja would have to be the one to break away. When she does, however long it takes, Hana gives her a grin and a wink. “Well, if tonight is a sign of how life will be here, I think I'll quite like it.”

[roko10]

"Thanks, but I think I'll stay here for just a bit longer," Evan responded to Fahd. Feeling a little better (his feet aren't numb anymore, at the very least), he went off in search of a drink for him and (maybe?) Yume. It wasn't that hard to find where all the drinks were, and soon he was on his way back with two glasses of cider-

-aaaaand then he sees Freya and Hana making out with each other. Which caused him to drop both of his glasses in shock. And then panic. Oh. Oh! Oh god! I knew it! Does Ma-, sorry, Mr. Ikeda know about this?! Should I be sad that he gets his heart broken or happy that at least he knows that woman was just playing him?! Freyja, why are you even playing along with her?!?

Alright, Evan, calm down, he thought to himself. I should probably go and talk to Frey- nah, she's wearing plate armor and I don't want to cripple myself before tomorrow. Maybe I should go try and talk to Mr. Ikeda? Console him for a bit? Yeah, that works. That works right?

And so, Evan made a beeline towards Masami, bumping into multiple people along the way -"sorry sir, excuse me ma'am"- until he found him. Unfortunately for Evan, he did not plan out what he should say to Masami.

"Imsorryformshanasbehaviorsirishouldvewarnedyouabo utherwhenisawyoudancingwitheachothersirsheSULLIED THE NAME OF THE VALHALLA ORGANIZATION!", he finally blurted out breathlessly.

Spoiler: Non-Motor Mouth Dialogue

Show

I'm sorry for Ms. Hana's behavior, sir. I should've warned you about her when I saw you dancing with her, sir. She SULLIED THE NAME OF THE VALHALLA ORGANIZATION!

[fibericon]

Yume shrugs. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Would that be weird to say? It's all she has, so...

"I haven't thought that far ahead. If-"

Her head snaps around when she hears the commotion from Evan.

Why is he apologizing for her? Is he responsible for her behavior? That would explain why he kept looking at her. We all have our orders. But what exactly is he apologizing for...? Oh! Oh, wow.

Yume giggles, covering her mouth. Looking over at Freyja and Hana, she sticks two fingers in her mouth and whistles loudly.

"The heart wants what the heart wants!" She calls out, laughing, "Don't bother trying to stop it now!"

[Hypersmith]

Fahd twists about to catch the view, delighting in how pure the feelings around him feel. Flustered Evan trying to apologize, and Yume looking quite pleased. These are the pilots he was looking for. Teens. Just teens. He is silent, simply taking joy where others find it. He twists his chair about, lesser conversation lost.

"Intrigue on night one. Won't this be an interesting stay..."

[Elfbird]

Masami is waltzing with a European girl in a shimmery green dress whose golden hair is piled atop her head in ornate braids. She shoots Evan a dirty look when he intrudes, but Masami regards him coolly and steers the waltz into a circle around Evan so they can talk.

"You are one of Ms. Mitsurugi's fellow pilots, if I am not mistaken? There's no reason to cause a fuss. After all, this is a night for doing away with regrets, is it not? Though I do admire your sense of responsibility; I trust our future shall be in most reliable hands. Now, we cannot have one of our shining stars on the dance floor without a partner."

Without missing a beat, Masami deposits his partner in Evan's embrace and glides away.

Your new partner gazes at you with mixed anger and disgust that pretty much says "I hate every inch of your lowborn guts," but even so she takes the lead and - with surprising strength for her slight frame - manhandles you through the steps. You spot Masami getting a drink off on the side of the hall.

---

Every door to the ballroom crashes open. Automatic gunfire shreds the chandeliers and upper windows, showering the room with glass. Men and women in casual clothes - no uniform or shared colors at all - pour in around the doors, twos and threes breaking off to grab hostages. You can't see all of their weapons - best to assume they're all armed in some fashion.

"GET DOWN! HANDS OUT! ON THE FLOOR, ON THE FLOOR! NOBODY MOVE! YOU TWITCH, WE SHOOT!"

Most of the attendees either immediately drop to the floor, or freeze up until someone nearby drags them down. A number of Valhalla's men-in-black are in tactical positions, guns out, but lack the numbers and firepower to launch an immediate counterattack.

Evan: another gala attendee dives on you and your partner, shielding you both with her arms and body. "You're too important to risk here," she whispers in your ears.

Hana (and Freyja): Masami and your mother were both grabbed as hostages, each held by two insurgents while a third trains a gun on them. Your father is on the ground nearby.

Nakao and Miyako: you are close enough to the stage to hear Commander Kitazora murmuring from her hiding place behind the curtain. Seems she's handling several conversations at once, from the half you can pick up.
"... pilots: top priority. Negative. ...gative. We...reinforce... ...see. ...handle... ...Warhorn... all costs. Allfather out."

Yume and Fahd: a server was passing behind you when all hell broke loose; you two are now covered in carbonated apple juice and glass fragments. You're also covered by the tablecloth, which the server accidentally caught when he dove for cover.

[Vrock_Summoner]

As chaos breaks out and people start going down on the floor to protect themselves, Nakao quickly and forcefully pushes Miyako both to the ground and in the direction of the nearest table, going down with her. Hopefully before the soldiers can get a clear visual on the room, Nakao silently gestures to Miyako and hurriedly points under the tablecloth, using her other hand to lift it up just a bit for Miyako while using her own body to block line of sight to where Miyako would be crawling.

[aturtledoesbite]

The attack causes Freyja to break off the kiss first. Unfortunate. She notices what Nakao and Miyako are doing and figures that's a good idea for Hana; she hefts the girl toward a table, hopefully hard enough for Hana to slide underneath it.

For her part, Freyja stands still after that, not dropping, but also not trying anything too stupid. She glares at whatever insurgents there are in her line of sight. She knows that she can't really fight them, but if the insurgents are focused on her, they're less likely to pay attention to any of the other pilots. The best course of action right now is going to be to wait for an opportunity. Now if only she could figure out what form that opportunity would take...

[Syless]

Miyako hesitates. If something happens to Nakao because she was protecting her... but Nakao will be fine, right? But... there's something weird about these attackers. Why would...? She'd have to ask some questions later. If they make it out of this. They will, right? The rest of them are too important to die. Miyako goes ahead and crawls under the tablecloth, worriedly staring at Nakao, hoping she'd get safe herself.

[fibericon]

Yume grabs two pieces of broken glass, trying to find the ones that can be most easily wielded, and dumps them in Fahd's lap. She turns and stands, her hands up.

"Don't shoot, he can't get on the floor without assistance. I can help him but don't shoot us in the meantime."

[Hypersmith]

Shards. Confrontation. Does she plan to fight. To use me to kill? This isn't what we need. This isn't right, this isn't-

-An icy breath.

Calm.

The wheelchair allows a way out. They likely want us. Nothing else here is worth this. Hostages prove that. Multiple distraction opportunities. Tablecloth can tangle me. I can fall, give others a chance to run or hide. My priority is to keep others safe, and keep the pilots out of their grasp. With luck, they won't recognize me. He tips his head down, speaks gently to Yume. ^{"Whatever you do, don't provoke violence. Stall as much as possible. It's our best chance."}

[roko10]

Well, drat. Evan thought to himself. I mean, the entire gala wasn’t going so hot, but this is kind of a whole other level.

He then scans the room, more because of morbid curiosity rather than anything else, since he’s, well, stuck under a suicidal lady. Boy, that’s a whole bunch of men with guns. Probably better if I don’t make them angry, or else I and both ladies here get shot. Not something you want. Just stay calm. Help is probably already on the way. Trust in Valhalla. Trust in Valhalla.

“Please, don’t panic.” he then whispered to his partner. “Help is most likely already on their way.”

[Elfbird]

After a few moments, the screams and gunshots deteriorate into muffled whimpers and oppressive silence. Freyja and Yume get several guns trained on each of them.

A wiry middle aged man emerges from one of the clusters of insurgents, two big men with assault rifles attaching themselves to him as he strolls up to the stage, collecting a dropped microphone on the way. Something makes them pause; the big men fire a brief burst into the curtain, which is followed by a wet thud. The wiry man nods slightly, then continues to take his place at the center of the stage. He speaks with a strong lisp.

"Good evening, ladieth and gentlemen! Allow me to congratulate you on being thelected today to make a very spethial donathion - to Wiley Pete'th After-Crithmath fund! Hereth how thith will go: you relakth there on the floor, and Thanta will come collect all of your valuableth, and then we can all go home happy that thith unpleathant buthineth is over! Doethn't that thound nice? And again, it really helpth if you thtay thtill - it'd be a thame to get blood over all your nithe clotheth. O-oh, one more thing! We want to give thpethial thankth to you brave pilotth, tho pleathe cooperate with the people who come for you. Now, letth all have a wonderful night!"

The man and his bodyguards remain on the stage while another man in a Santa Clause costume emerges from the group at the far end of the hall, carrying an empty trash bag. He proceeds to the nearest attendee, speaks to him, then helps him sit up a bit and empty his pockets and jewelry into the trash bag. Guns follow Santa's progress from the edges of the room, but nobody else goes with him.
A few others break off to begin collecting the pilots.

You notice that, aside from the man on stage, most of the insurgents seem oddly tense - paleness, lip-biting, aimlessly glancing over their shoulders... More like victims themselves than people who completely outnumber and outgun their targets.

Spoiler: Freyja

Show

A thug swaggers toward you, one hand in his pocket.
"What've we got here, hey? You a cosplayer? Little outta style there, aintcha? Hey, hey, you speak Japanese? Boss said down on the ground!"
With that, he withdraws a taser from his pocket and lunges at you! You react quicker and try to introduce you fist to his gut, but he twists aside and the electric arc makes contact with your metal armor! It leaves you numb and tingly, but the contact is too brief to down you - mainly cut short by the bullet through your attacker's head, courtesy of an S2 agent's handgun from cover.

A number of weapons swing in the S2 agent's direction, but the man on stage raises his hand to hold fire.
"Now now, there ith no need for that!"
He addresses Freyja.
"I apologithe for my aththothiate's motht impolite behavior, miss pilot. Your armor really ith quite fething! Would you conthider coming quietly now? That looked like a rather nathy thock."

Spoiler: Yume and Fahd

Show

Three thugs come toward you two; two get duct tape ready while the third covers you with her rifle.
"That's fine, that's fine - you two won't be sticking around here anyway."
The speaker comes beside Yume and roughly pulls her arms down to start taping tightly behind her back, while the other more gently - almost apologetically - starts taping Fahd's wrists and ankles to his wheelchair.

Spoiler: Evan

Show

A pair of thugs approach where you and your dance partner are pinned under the woman, pointing guns.
"Nice try, prettyboy. Let's get you up; the other two can stay right down there."

They pull you out from under the woman by the shoulders, though from the way their eyes flicker, they're much more interested in manhandling the ladies than they are a freak.

Spoiler: Nakao

Show

From your position covering Miyako's escape to cover, a thug comes up behind you and yanks you up by the wrist.
"Come along, then. It's not your fault; blame the people who made you a monster."

Spoiler: Miyako and Hana

Show

You two remain hidden under your respective tables. Nobody comes looking for you. Do they even realize not all the Einherjar pilots are accounted for?

You, having a bit more space to think, also start to realize that things aren't adding up. What kind of petty thieves have this much manpower and firepower, let alone commit it all to a robbery? How did they even get in to such a secure compound? ...And how are you and your loved ones going to make it through this in one piece?

[aturtledoesbite]

And to think, Valhalla staff won't give her a sword. Maybe Freyja can get them to reconsider after this. But for now, they weren't actively hostile. Help was probably coming, but they needed time.

Fortunately, she was in just the position to make some. Once she shakes off this shock, anyway.

"And where, exactly, will we be going? I'm afraid we can't be out late tonight; tomorrow is a busy day for us," she gestures at the other pilots with that last part. Even after everything, she still manages to carry some defiance in her voice.

[Elfbird]

The man - Wiley Pete, you guess - waggles his finger at Freyja.
"Ah-ah-ah, that'd be telling! But not to worry; you and all your friendth can take tomorrow off. Take every day off! It'th Crithmath! We've already told your bothh it'th okay, tho enthoy~"

[Syless]

There's nothing for Miyako to do but hide under the table. She's not fierce like Freyja. She's not noble like Nakao. She's not strong like Yume. She's nothing. And what little she has is about to be taken from her. It's not fair. If anyone was going to be taken it should be her. Let Nakao stay here, let Miyako go in her place. But things don't work like that. If Miyako moves, they'll both be taken. And then there will be no one left to pilot the Eins. Even if one pilot may as well be the same as none... Miyako can't even pilot alone.

In the end she's just a scared teenager under a table, hiding her tears. She's supposed to be superhuman. Supposed to save the world. How pathetic.

Please.

Please let someone save them.

[fibericon]

They're taking the pilots? No. That would cripple the program. Yume grabs a piece of glass from Fahd's lap and lunges at the gunman.