All characters copyrighted by Gainax, not me.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In this fic, Yui Ikari is NOT part of Unit 1. If you have a problem
with
this, don't read.
Home
Shinji couldn't believe what was happening. It was just like it
was last time. He was faced with fighting, and possibly killing,
another
of his kind. Not just a human, but somebody who could pilot the Eva's.
And not just one, he had to help in the destruction of nine pilots.
Nine
human beings who were just following orders. It was just too much.
His hands started to tighten on the controls in anger. 'It'll be
just like last time,' he thought. "Are those what I think they are?"
he
said through clenched teeth.
Misato was worried that this may happen. She was sure that Shinji
would, not could, never fight the enemy, even though they would
destroy him
without a second thought. 'Odd,' she thought, 'I never thought that he
would be this calm about it. Even though his teeth are clenched, he's
not
yelling or screaming.'
"Yes. They are your enemy," Commander Fuyutsuki said so Commander
Ikari wouldn't have to. Taking a glance over at the Commander,
Fuyutsuki
once again tried to figure the man out. He thought he had Ikari
pegged,
but then the man tossed him a curve ball. For the last few weeks he'd
had
a strange glint in his eyes. Reflecting on that thought, Fuyutsuki
remembered that it started just after father and son had the meeting
in the
Commanders office. 'Shinji must have done something that either made
him
mad, or proud,' Fuyutsuki reasoned. 'What could Shinji have done to
make
him mad?' he thought, knowing full well that nothing Shinji could ever
do
would make the Commander proud.
"You're not serious, are you," Shinji asked worredly, a note of
anger or pain colouring his voice. Commander Fuyutsuki couldn't tell
which
one it was.
"Yes, they are part of the UN strike force, and will do everything
they can to kill you," Commander Ikari said.
"Why do they look different than ours," Asuka asked, hoping to
change the topic of conversation.
"Those are Eva's 5 through 13," Ritsuko said. "They can fly, as
you can see, and those blades are larger, more powerful versions of
your
progressive knives. Stay away from them as much as possible."
"Where did those Eva's come from?" Rei asked. It had been a long
time since someone had heard something from her. Commander Ikari and
Dr.Ikagi were the only ones who didn't just pass it off as her normal
behaviour. They knew something was up, but couldn't get her to talk
about
it.
Ritsuko opened her mouth to answer, but Commander Ikari cut her off.
"We have no idea were they came from," he said, and both Ritsuko
and Fuyutsuki looked at him sharply.
"Ikari, their survival depends on all the information we can give
them!" Fuyutsuki said, trying to sway the Commander into giving up the
information. Commander Ikari only looked at Fuyutsuki out of the
corner of
his eyes. Fuyutsuki saw something in there, and stopped all argument.
He
knew the Commander was right.
"What about their pilots, how did they get them without NERV?"
Shinji asked, and Asuka rolled her eyes. She knew that _he'd_ be the
one
worried about the nonessentials. Of course, Asuka figured that
anything
that didn't deal with fighting was a nonessential. She still failed to
realise that knowing your enemy, and who controlled them, could be
vital in
a fight.
Before answering Shinji's question Misato first looked over at the
Commander, asking a silent question. When he nodded back, she spoke to
the
pilots. "We know nothing about them. We don't know who they are, where
they came from, how they got selected, or even if they have pilots at
all,"
she said.
"Huh?" Toji said.
"They could be controlled by dummy plugs," Commander Ikari said.
"Is there any way to be sure of that?" Shinji asked, suddenly eager
at the idea that he may not have to fight others of his own kind.
Memories
from three years ago flooded his mind as he watched the approaching
enemy.
He remembered staring at the screen that had Asuka's face on it
when she tried to tell him who the Fourth Child was. He remembered the
mix
of emotion that surged within himself when the signal was cut off by
the
possessed Eva. And then suddenly, Misato cut through his thoughts with
an
odd question.
Misato had looked around and knew that the tension in the room
could be cut with a spoon, so she decided to relieve some of that
pressure,
and at the same time, get a nagging question off her mind.
"Asuka, how could you bring yourself to flop all over that guard?"
she asked. Almost everybody in the room gave the answer their complete
attention.
Shinji, knowing how Asuka felt about this particular topic, was
amazed when she didn't 'eep' at the question. She didn't even blush at
it's mention. In fact, she showed considerably more restraint than
Shinji
would've, had he been in her position.
"Well," she said, drawing the word out, "when I outlined my plan to
get in-"
"That was _your_ plan?!" Misato interrupted incrediously. Asuka
only sighed.
"Yes, Misato. It was my plan. Anyway, when I told Shinji about
what to do, he was...skeptical that I could do my part. Well!" she
added
exasperously, "I had to prove him wrong."
Misato only stared at the monitor with Asuka's face on it blankly.
The fact that it was _Asuka's_ idea simply didn't want to make sense.
Ritsuko reached over and poked her friend in the ribs. Misato jumped
and
glared at the smiling woman.
"We'll discuss this later," she said darkly.
"What is the ETA?" Rei questioned.
"Right now, they're are estimated to arrive in twenty-two minutes,"
Makoto said.
"What kind of defences are we going to be given," Asuka said, mind
already trying to come up with plans.
"Unfortunately, we've done all we can for you. You're going to be
on your own, completely," Ritsuko said.
"Not even the defence systems?" Misato asked and Ritsuko shook her
head. Ritsuko smiled blandly.
"The first thing the UN took out was the Intercept System. And
that was the one that was took so long to build in the first place,"
she
said.
"And there was no party," Kaji muttered from far off.
"Oh, shut up, Kaji," Misato said without looking at him. Shinji
heard none of the argument as he was too engrossed in studying the
images
from the cameras. And then a thought introduced itself to his
consciousness.
"With an ETA of twenty-two minutes, that means that they'll have to
stop and land twenty-two times to recharge," he said, somewhat calmly,
like
he was somewhere else, watching himself talk.
Misato's eyes opened wide with this revelation. 'Now we have a
fighting chance,' she thought. 'But how are the UN going to power them
once they hit the ground here?' she then thought. She walked over to
Makoto and Shigeru and started badgering them into getting the
security
cameras in Tokyo-3 running.
Ritsuko looked over at Commanders Ikari and Fuyutsuki to ask them a
silent question. Fuyutsuki looked at Ikari, and he shook his head at
the
same time as he was pressing some buttons inlayed into his desk.
Just as the nine Eva's would've begun their first decent to
recharge, the signal was cut off in haze of static. "Power to the
security
cameras has been shut off," Maya reported.
"How long until they can be restored?" Misato asked, glancing up
only briefly from Makoto's station.
"It will be at least twenty minutes," Maya reported with a heavy
heart. Then a yelling voice cut through the silence that insued.
"The UN forces are beating us!" a nameless guard reported.
"The Eva's have been launched," the Commander said, "fall back to
Central and Terminal Dogma. The rest of the base has been deemed
expendable. But protect Dogma at all costs."
When he finished giving orders, Fuyutsuki looked at him sharply, as
if he was questioning the Commander's decisions.
And then he mentally shook himself to get rid of any remaining
shreds of that type of thought. If he doubted the Commander now, he
knew,
he would forever be second-guessing Ikari's decisions about
everything.
And that could lead to disaster. With the fine line that he and the
Commander were walking, they both needed each other for their plans to
work, but Fuyutsuki knew that Commander Ikari would try to complete
their
plans by himself, and have Fuyutsuki removed if he ever started
doubting.
But that path would only lead to disaster, and Seele would run all
over him and discover their plans, ruining them and proceeding with
those
of their own. Those plans that would result in the destruction of the
entire human race.
'What some people would do to become gods,' Fuyutsuki thought
sourly, then he looked over at the Commander. He knew why the
Commander
was doing his part in the destruction of the human race. 'What some
people
will do to get the love of their life back,' he mused silently.
Toji, meanwhile, was having a war with himself. He couldn't decide
whether or not he should call Shinji up on the screen and talk with
him
about the fight coming up. Then he made up his mind, opened a channel
and
took a deep breath.
"Shinji," he said. "Don't let the past run your life. What's done
is done," he said, trying to will his point across to the Third Child.
"Don't hesitate about attacking them. Do that, and you will die."
"Yes, but if _I_ die, then it'll make amends for what I've done to
you... to your sister... to everyone who Eva ever hurt!" he shouted.
"I
can't kill another human being!
"NO!" Toji shouted back. "If you die, than everyone here dies.
Me, Rei, Misato, Ritsuko, Kaji... and Asuka. We'll all die because you
won't help us!"
Shinji only heard 'Asuka' and 'die'. His mind shut the rest out.
He looked over at the red Eva, and thoughts about it's pilot started
to
intrude into his mind. Then his head started to throb slightly, and
all
thoughts about Asuka fled his mind.
"Please stop this," he said weakly, both to Toji and to himself.
He hung his head low, the pain abating. The Eva followed his motions
and
he was soon looking at the rifle by the huge feet. When he was
launched
and the building holding his rifle opened, he'd refused to grab the
gun.
It fell to the ground. He looked over at one of the weapons
building's.
He looked to his right, but only to see Unit 2 with a spear strapped
to
it's back and a rocket launcher in it's hands.
Then he looked back down at the rifle and knew the truth of Toji's
words. Unit 1 knelt down and picked up the weapon.
Toji nodded at him, glad at the route Shinji decided to take. 'At
least he's now holding the gun,' Toji thought. 'But that doesn't mean
that
he'll use it,' Toji conceded as he shut the channel off.
Shinji's mind was reeling. He didn't know if he could deal with
the fight and Unit 1 at the same time. He didn't know if he could deal
with the knowledge that Asuka would be in danger if he didn't do
anything.
He didn't know if he could deal with anything. Then Asuka's face
appeared
before his on a private channel.
She had been listening in on Toji's speech and Shinji's attempt to
get out of the fight. She knew she had to say something to him, as
this
might have been their last chance to talk privately. Summoning up her
courage, she opened the channel.
Boy looked at girl. Girl looked at boy. Eyes locked together. No
words passed between the two. Shinji didn't know what was happening,
nor
did he care. All he wanted to do was gaze at the face before him.
Asuka had some idea about what was happening, but all she wanted to
do was stare at the intense face before her.
Soon the silence was too much, but they didn't know what to say.
They both opened their mouths at the same time, but then closed them,
waiting for the other to go first. But neither did, so Asuka decided
to
take the lead and opened her mouth. It was also the same time that
Shinji
decided to show some spine and go first.
The sheer timing of the whole event was funny enough to make Asuka
giggle a little bit. Shinji smiled at the giggling girl. But it
stopped
to soon, and they both sobered up fast. Then Asuka started to talk,
and
this time, Shinji waited for her.
"Good luck," was all she said, and then shut off the comm channel.
The whole thing was too much for Shinji, and a single tear welled up
in his
eye. It seemed to hang there for eternity before falling off and
dissipating in the LCL.
"Yeah. Good luck to you, too," he whispered, though no one heard him.
end
Cory Holmes
gholmes@rodeo.sd27.bc.ca
(
geocities.com/tokyo/shrine/3281) (
geocities.com/tokyo/shrine) (
geocities.com/tokyo)