Sakura hesitated for a long moment.
"...Yes, sensei..."
Looking down at her lap, her face bright red, she held the paper out to the teacher.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens.Typical smug overconfident marketing type. Gabe really couldn't stand people like him. ...Alright, time to put him on the spot and see if he knows what he's talking about.
"So what kind of battle testing has this thing undergone so far? I would assume you wouldn't plan on throwing a giant walking nuclear reactor into the middle of a populated city if you weren't absolutely sure it could beat an Angel in combat."
edited 15th Sep '11 6:33:11 PM by CombatC122
The presenter's response was quick, and very concise. "There have been hundreds of simulations, each one proving that Jet Alone will be capable of having a one-hundred percent success rate against every target that requires elimination."
The presenter's tone was very smug. He seemed confident in everything he said.
Thankfully for Sakura, the teacher did not look at the picture, and instead began to return to his seat. As he walked, Akihiko caught the briefest glimpse of it, and blinked. He had no idea what Sakura had been trying to draw from the brief glimpse.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."It would have been a miracle if Akihiko had been able to figure it out from that quick glance, considering how badly drawn it was.
But some might be able to guess what manner of thing she'd been drawing, considering how embarrassed she looked about it.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens."I would be interested to see just where you got the data for these simulations. The Angels that have attacked thus far have been unknown targets using a different mode of attack each time. There's little doubt based on your specs that Jet Alone is more than a match for most conventional weaponry, but these assaults so far have been far from conventional. You'd need data that even NERV doesn't have to be absolutely sure."
Gabe didn't look it, but he was feeling just as smug as this bozo. He'd spent much of his time after the first Angel attack at American NERV doing nothing but running hypothetical scenarios with Luci, and only a few of those had yielded even a fraction of usable data.
"That's where Jet Alone's remote control comes in," the presenter replied. "As opposed to a single pilot who is under a great deal of mental stress, Jet Alone is remotely controled by a full team of technicians. They can assess the situation and change tactics, to ensure that, no matter what the target is, it will be eliminated."
The teacher sat back down and resumed his lecture. Akihiko immediately faced forward, part of his mind still puzzling over what he had just seen. What was it?
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."After a few minutes, Sakura managed to look up. Akihiko didn't seem to have noticed what the drawing was...
She sighed in relief.
She just hoped that no one else would see it.
Or be able to decipher it, for that matter.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens."Hmm..." Well, fair enough, Gabe supposed that would satisfy the laypeople in the room. The dummy plug system would probably make this toy of theirs obsolete long before they'd be able to put it into mass production of course, but no point in letting that little fact slip out here, particularly since Gabe wasn't too keen on getting himself court martialed for divulging secrets.
Of course, neither Gabe's face nor voice gave any hints of these thoughts away. As far as anyone could tell, he was as emotionless and neutral as Akihiko.
A the back of the confrence room was a young woman in a JSDF uniform, with the complete cap as well as a pair of sunglasses. Her brown hair was hanging down just past her shoulders.
What was odd was that her uniform was completely lacking any rank pins, but she had a JSDF Military Police officer behind her at ease, as if acting like an escort. She was watching the presentation with the detachment of someone who was totally bored with it.
She then held up her hand.
βIf this thing is supposed to beat an Angel, why don't we just have NERV deploy an Eva against Jet Alone and see who wins?β
Bold question from whoever that was, although Gabe didn't bother to look to see who asked it just yet. Of course, he could think of quite a few reasons why that would never happen: the safety of the child pilots and the counterproductivity of turning two weapons meant to defend humanity against each other, among many others. Still, he sat quietly, watching to see what would happen next.
"Well, as awesome as that would be," said Kazumi, jumping to her feet, "Wouldn't it be better to, um, y'know... Work together? I mean, I know we have to have this rivalry thing going on, I mean there's always some rivalry between the old guard and the new hotness, but, um... Yeah, uh..."
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, before saying what was really on her mind.
"...Can't we just see Jet Alone in action first? Can we? Pleeeaaase~?"
"Jet Alone, of course, would win," the presentor replied. "It's far more cpable, and its power source is-"
He trailed off when Kazumi asked her question, initially unsure of what to make of it. "Because... because the Evangelion units are unpredictable and dangerous. They must be phased out, with Jet Alone as their replacement."
Eventually, class ended. The day was over, at least that's what Akihiko currently believed. Of course, he was always prepared if an angel attacked.
edited 16th Sep '11 4:47:23 PM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up.""But, uh... Isn't Jet Alone powered by a, um... Nuclear reactor?" Kazumi asked back. "I mean, I assume that it's tough and all, but without an AT-Field, an Angel would find it a lot easier to breach its defences, and, um... Well, a breached nuclear reactor is pretty dangerous, wouldn't you say?"
She rubbed her neck again. "I mean, the Evangelions may still have some kinks in their systems, but, um, at least they don't run the risk of meltdown, right?"
"There is no risk of a meltdown with Jet Alone," replied the presnter, his tone growing far sterner. "It is constantly monitered and the reactor has fullproof blast shielding. We're confident that it will be able to stand up to anything it's put up against."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."Gabe sighed exasperatedly.
"Look, it doesn't matter whether Jet Alone could beat an Evangelion. The idea of a fight between the two is frankly absurd. They are both ultimately tools to fight the Angels, are they not? Regardless of which one would win, even the winner of such a battle would very likely suffer damage that would need to be repaired. Would that not be a liability if a real Angel were to show up? Oh, and also, the only Angel we have battled so far that was even remotely Eva-like was the Third. We have absolutely no idea whether this thing's ability to win in a straight-up fight would even be useful against any radically different strategies the Angels may employ. So again, even if this thing is powerful enough to beat an Evangelion, that fact is completely irrelevant."
These people really were just after their paychecks. If they truly had an interest in saving humanity, they'd be considering absolutely every single option, even failure.
edited 16th Sep '11 8:46:49 PM by CombatC122
It had taken several hours, but Sakura's headache had finally gone away.
That doodle, though. It was still sitting on the teacher's desk. She didn't think anyone had seen it yet, but anyone who was curious about what had been confiscated could take a look.
This was not acceptable.
She nonchalantly strolled up to the teacher's desk... then grabbed the drawing and bolted.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens.The woman sighed.
βIt was merely the only way to actually test if Jet Alone could defeat an AT Field, and produce actual data. Unless someone is hiding a magical device that can produce one that can be tested, only an Evangelion can produce an AT field.β
Taihou Ysanne was actually very annoyed with the whole presentation. Clearly, the designers of the first unit couldn't actually see what combat was like. Things got dirty and things broke. That...toy of theirs wouldn't last five minutes against even the second unit, let alone an Evangelion or any of the Angels.
Even though Gabe still didn't like the idea of a head to head fight between an Eva and Jet Alone, this woman did have a point. Any simulation they could run pitting this thing's specs against an AT Field would only be theoretical, and therefore imperfect. He was positive these corporate goons probably only used a rough approximation of AT Field data in their calculations to make them look good, but even a more accurate scenario using NERV's much more comprehensive data would leave something to be desired.
Gabe finally looked over to see who had been making these suggestions. ...JSDF, huh? He knew NERV wasn't exactly very popular among the state militaries, but still, this woman's exasperation didn't quite seem directed entirely towards them. Odd, considering she did seem to be defending Jet Alone earlier.
"Jet Alone has many ways to compensate for damage, and it is far more safe and easily-controlled then an unstable weapon piloted by a stressed pilot who's mental stability is weakened every time they're in the cockpit!" snapped the presenter, clearly taking issue with the line of discussion the conversation had taken.
Akihiko stared after Sakura. Why had she panicked so much after snatching whatever had been on the desk? The teacher hadn't even had much of a chance to react, shooting to his feet and calling after the girl.
Akihiko merely stood up and headed out the classroom door, past the other students.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."Once she reached the relative safety of the hallway, Sakura slowed to a halt. Good. Now she could dispose of the evidence without anyone finding out. At least not in such an embarrassing fashion.
She carefully folded up the paper, slipped it into her pocket, and nodded.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens.Standing about twenty feet away from the door, her hands in her pockets, Sakura turned away and made for the nearest trash can, trying her best to look natural.
Turns out she's bad at not being suspicious.
Nil, a new sci-fi/horror story that you should read and review! (Updated 4/something) ''The gate opens.

"Ah, Major Musashi Akio. I assure you that, when it's ready for deployment, Jet Alone will be equipped with a full armament of anti-'angel' weapons," the presenter replied, not once losing a beat despite the line of questioning.
From second NERV table, Ritsuko cast a cold glance in Akio's direction. She'd intended to be asking the questions here.
"It will be capable of eliminating any target on it's own," the presenter continued. "As for your concerns about its power source, Jet Alone's internal nuclear reactor is safely contained. There is absolutely not reason to worry about destabilization. And it can certainly last for more then five minutes."
The teacher sighed.
"Hand it over, Saiki-san. We can't have you drawing away the whole class and not paying attention," he said, his tone tired.
edited 15th Sep '11 6:16:03 PM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."