Chapter Two: Neon Genesis Again

The morning air in New Tokyo-3 was always warm, and whether or not that warmth felt pleasant was undeniably up to the person taking it in. For Jing-Kai, he felt strangely awkward, standing up on the roof of the apartment complex he was assigned to. The rest of his team lived in the same complex, most, being married men, with their families. Jing-Kai also had to live next to der red-head. It was quite unfortunate she happened to be a long-time friend of Shinji's. Ah well, Jing-Kai thought to himself. At least she didn't bother him much, and he had returned the favor with much enthusiasm.
   Six in the morning. There were people outside already, attending to their daily errands, while Team One was still in bed. Jing-Kai smiled a little and wondered if his people were getting too loose with all these overseas jobs. Rainbow used to average four to five missions a year. The last few years, however, with the reconstruction of the world about (some began to declare that the universe was in its Reconstruction Age), terrorists hadn't had the time or targets to make too much trouble, so as a result, Rainbow began sending its two teams out on foreign non-combatant missions. While this was well and fine for the Americans on the team who had been part of the United States' Joint Special Operations Command, some, like the German sniper Dieter Weber, the senior member of Team Two who recently retired from the counter-tango game, had scoffed at the idea of "baby-sitting" nations which had too much free time. The past six months had seen Team One on its turn to do the baby-sitting, and eventually, with all the moving around and plain talking that was happening, daily training had become somewhat more lax for its soldiers. The men had even gone down to a local bar the evening before to talk about things happening in the city, the nation, and the world in general.
   Well, now Jing-Kai resolved to get his team back to its top shape. With the secondary base of operations NERV had sitting next to it just for Rainbow, Team One would make the most use of it. Besides, on this trip, the boss Edward Price would be along to command Team One, and he'd watch hell freeze over before he saw one of his teams get fat and bored on the job. The boss did not reside with the men, however, and so there would be no aging man going around from door to door in the mornings to ask for laps.
   "Nice weather," commented Joseph from behind.
   "Yup. Everyone ready to go?"
   "Good to go, sahr!" was the reply, accompanied by the sound of Joseph's heels clicking together.
   "Shut up," Jing-Kai grinned.

Shinji woke up to the sound of the kitchen, the sounds of cooking -- more specifically, the sounds of Misato cooking. Smiling, he rolled unto his back, and smothered himself with his pillow. He lay still for about five good seconds before the pillow was promptly swept up out of his arms and Asuka declared, "We're going out for breakfast; get up -- get up now."
   Two minutes later...
   "Hey! I was just trying to lighten the mood!" bounded Misato from inside the door, out which Shinji and Asuka had bolted.
   As soon as the sound of pounding footsteps dissipated, Misato took off her apron, and, beaming, opened the fridge, pulled out a beer, and sprawled out on the couch. "Ah," she sighed. "A quiet morning at last."

Shinji felt genuinely good this morning. It was as if that brush with death had never happened. The morning air was arguably as good as the evening's at times, and this was one of those mornings. The air embraced him and cleansed his system as he breathed. The streets were accentuated by the morning light, and the day was beginning to open. Like the mornings from days ago, Shinji followed Asuka to wherever her mind took her. Also like the mornings from days before, they were outside because Shinji had not waken up early enough to cook (he had become accustomed to sleeping in while not attending college) and Misato had taken the space instead. Of course, to make up for such an error, Shinji paid for these breakfasts. New Tokyo-3 was not yet busy, the atmosphere not yet buzzing.
   The two (or rather, Asuka) decided to visit the local okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza) stand for breakfast. Shinji agreed with the choice evenly, seeing as how the stand was not too crowded at this time, and he was getting hungry at the mere sight and sounds of the stand.
   "Hey Shinji, Asuka asked suddenly, after a few minutes of silence, just staring.
   "Hm?"
   There was a slight pause. So slight, in fact, that Shinji probably imagined it. "You feel up to a drink tonight?"
   As the sizzles brought on more and more anticipation, Shinji smiled slightly to himself.

"Hey, Asuka," Shinji slightly burst out.
   The maglev train had been running smoothly for over and hour now. In other words, Shinji and Soryu had missed their stop, the result of talking too much about the future -- college? EVA project?. Ironically, it was a question that the lietentant had posed. The result was two high school graduates on a train during a autumn afternoon.
   But the strangest thing about in the picture was the fact that Asuka had not only asked him the question, but that she had also answered the question as well. The conversation was predicatably consisted of Shinji listening more than speaking, and vice versa for the redhead. What was not as predicatable and certainly more profound was the fact that Asuka was even talking to Shinji about such things. He supposed it was to be expected; Shinji supposed that much of it was his fault, spending most of his time with Touji and Kensuke since they both returned to the vicinity of where Tokyo-3 once stood. Asuka had done the same with Hikari Horaki, who made it back to the heart of Japan the first of the three. Both had been too busy, engrossed with, and euphoric reuniting with their friends that as the next few years journeyed by, the two Children did not even see on another very often, sometimes willingly.
   Aida Kensuke had arrived to his new home eleven days after Hikari Horaki returned from her departure. Those eleven days found Shinji alone (as Asuka was then frequently out of the apartment) in a strange mix of anticipation and dread. What would have changed between him and his friends? It had been many months, and school -- the thing that linked them together at the most prime level, had passed. By the time Kensuke greeted a bewildered Shinji Ikari at the door, the pilot had not yet come to terms with his feelings, but in the end, he was glad to see Kensuke, and relieved that he was smiling as he stood at the door, his camera still dangling at its side. Kensuke, like the class representative, had fortunately not become involved personally with the cursed Evangelion Project, and so had been affected or changed much during the time they were gone. Kensuke would later show that his otaku side was still strong and proliferating when he would meet Major Jing-Kai Won, who would say nothing more than what he used to do, not what he did now (for some odd reason that the man wrote off as being "top secret," which only served to set Kensuke off even more). Meeting Touji was, as Shinji had anticipated and dread, a more internal conflict. Accepting Touji's condition -- Touji's permanent condition -- was something Shinji never fully completed. For a time, it was as if every motion and emotion the once-tempersome guy performed and showed was tired, as if Touji himself was easily wearied. As for the boy in black (Touji still wore the same jumpsuit that was his trademark in his days as a normal child), he first declared that he had merely matured, or so he supposed, since his time away from Tokyo-3. Shinji would later learn the ultimate reason behind the depressive mood burdening his friend. It would make the Shinji feel even worse for some time. But time healed such wounds between friends given the attention they received, and by a year's end, the Three Stooges found themselves together again when roaming the local stores, arcades, parks, and new high school. With all the attention demanded by his new social life, Shinji was even more reluctant to approach the pilot of Unit 02. Then when Mr. Jing-Kai Won was recalculated into the picture...
   Shinji shook his head. No wonder Asuka was just as apathetic towards seeing Shinji in the hallway by the bathroom. He himself never did feel comfortable around Asuka -- before Third Impact, and after it even more. Perhaps it was the way she had become so quiet and mute with him from that day on, as opposed to the way things were less than a year before. Well, while the girl never told him anything of real importance, at least by even yelling at him, it was mutually felt that the two shared some form of communication between them. Shinji understood that the events revolving around Third Impact had also hit Asuka, though for him, that day (days?) had been one of comtemplation, a moment of realization. For him, Third Impact was not fully awful by its end. Still, he could not grasp or understand Asuka, what happened to her, to make her so pacified towards him. Of course, he had theories, but they were undeveloped theories, just guesses. Shinji had never really considered losing Asuka from the sphere of his existence, not even then. He remembered that during evenings when he considered whether or not it was approaching time to head home, one of the factors that often tipped the decision for the Third Child was the fear that the Second would be home. Yes, Shinji Ikari feared Asuka. He did not fear any violence from her, but that he would be ignored, he supposed -- something reminiscent of everything he feared as a child, the reason EVA and all the evil behind it became his life, the reason he accepted it and even longed for it.
   Somehow, all these ideas, events, and as-are's boiled together and that German girl in the room next to his became an embodiment of these things Shinji feared. There was nothing else to her but the past, and as she was the only existing main piece of a component of the past he feared or hated, or both, she stood for all of it. From arrival to graduation to this subsequent summer, Shinji had nearly forgotten Asuka by apparent accident and subconscious intent. That is, he had forgotten any strings that were attached between the two of them since their junior high school days. It was as if entering high school without the Evangelion Project constantly looming over their heads cleared away that cloud from the past, and as a result also cleared away anything else that the two could point to and say they shared. Without EVA, the two pilots were strangers whose past together was not quite represented by something good. And now she was speaking to him again.
   "Huh?" the red-haired NERV recruit asked while taking in a breath after all her banter.
   Asuka had noticed this alienation before anyone else had. By the end of the original Evangelion Project's time, Soryu had made it back into the world without anyone she could call friend, but a few she might later call family at times. That latter count stood at two before Hikari knocked on their door one evening with a shy smile and greeting, as if a stranger. The pilot had even lost connection with the class representative.
   All this was probably the result of indecision and confusion on Asuka's part following the evening she woke up in the midst of being strangled. Third Impact. What was Third Impact, at any rate? It seemed that the world did not know, had no explanation for its existence, could not prove that it had existed at all, and most of all, did not want any information regarding the subject. For Asuka, however, she knew what it was firsthand, and was one of the few people who could identify it in an fashion at all. By even then, however, the event was nothing anymore; all that matttered was what she would do now. Asuka did not know, and could not figure the answer out. She had to start over in many ways, the first regarding her greatest weakness -- identifying with herself and her feelings towards just about everything before attempting to form any plans, goals, or dreams. It took some time before any official constants could be established in the German's life, as it was for many others. One constant was that Evangelion Unit-02 was not to be rebuilt, and as a result, Soryu Asuka Langley's career as a pilot was effectively ended. Misato had been taken on the responsibility to break the news to Asuka. She was both mildly surprised and possibly expectant of the Second Child's reaction -- which was to say, nothing.
   Nothing, was what Asuka first thought to herself. In some senses, however, that sense of nothingness felt more like a sort of freedom, of release. Back then to the question of what to do then. The first answer presented itself obviously. Shinji returned to school, while Asuka had not, given her past German education. The result was a state where the day consisted of Asuka being alone for most of the day (and she suspected that, given her lack of any signs of living, the radical change in living style from before, she had dissuaded her housemates from feeling any comfort towards her), followed by an evening where Asuka was blocked off from the rest of who might be her only family. Almost, immediately, Asuka realized that she had to gain back some of what she had lost, or she really would be, have, and feel nothing. Misato only smiled with a hint of understanding when the red-haired girl spoike up one evening and asked to reattend school. While this decision did not successfully form any connection between her and Shinji or Misato, it kept her from fading away, and she was once again recognized by fellow teenagers in the city (due partly to the fact that there were very few teenagers anyway). Asuka made no friends -- it simply was not her forte. In fact, with the absence of the First Child (everyone believed she had not survived the assault on the NERV complex, especially after a non-nuclear bomb had swallowed the city and the girl named Ayanami Rei did not have an Evangelion Unit to take cover in), the strange girl who stood out but could easily disappear, her title was assumed by the German girl.
   Asuka spent her days staring blankly at oblivion, always trying to make some sense out of her life, to put some broken pieces together, to figure out what she was and what she would do. Sometimes the girl smirked to herself without anyone noticing, wondering if this theoretical line of thought was how Wondergirl used to spend her attention in class. Asuka wondered about the First Child a great deal, because no one who knew anything -- namely, Shinji and Misato -- had told her anything. Then again, Asuka had not asked such a strange and potentially sensitive question, even, because she did not expect them to answer it yet. But as the question called Rei became something of a pet project for her ponderings, Asuka felt some sympathy for the girl, because it made more and more sense that Ayanami Rei did indeed spend her days wondering about her existence, as Asuka did now. At any rate...
   The next thing Asuka did some weeks later was apply for an officer position at NERV, an organization whose scientific side was not becoming as considerably and weighty as its military reputation. Of course, Asuka opted to remain in her field and join a position occupied with the second of the two branches NERV's employment offerings provided. Eventually, the afternoons in NERV's hallways and dogmas did link to some faint links between her and the lone Evangelion pilot. They were acquaintances, the only one each other head. Still, silence drifted between the two, beause even greetings between the two Children were awkward. Each was actually wondering what the other thought of themself, and the result was strict verbal attrition between the two.
   Thankfully, Langley's break came when Hikari Horaki, Asuka's friend from her first days in Tokyo-3, stood at the door and smiled as the German girl walked up to see who Misato had told her to see. There was, of course, the small fibers of tension, embarrassment, reluctance, and stretched ties to decorate the renewed relationship between the two friends, but they were easily cut, and Asuka became the Asuka who the freckled girl saw as a confidant again, while Hikari was a name quickly comfortably spoken from the redhead's voice. But, as Asuka frequently thought aloud to Horaki, she felt disconnected with whom she lived with, and strangely enough, she did not feel like moving, either. Misato was a strange mix between a mother, sister, boss, and baby to Soryu. Shinji was constantly gone, away with his friends, who showed up quickly after Hikari arrived in the new city being built. The class representative, showing a degree of wisdom and knowing, said nothing and instead listened as Asuka thought her way through her problems on her own. And so Asuka had decided to ask Shinji a quick question, one that she and Hikari constantly discussed upon. She had no idea the conversation would carry on for so long, much less that it would be even too long to miss their stop. Asuka would have blamed Shinji for old times' sake, plausibly, but decided against it since she had done the more speaking. Besides, things weren't so bad this way.
   "Can we get off and buy a drink? I'm thirsty," Shinji inquired, looking at Asuka directly for an answer. It was possibly the first time he had looked at her and held his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time. Of course, he inevitably broke off his stare and directed it towards the floor. Asuka, however, did not mind, and, to both their mild surprises, expressed nothing of the contrary. A few short bursts of thoughts towards this little change, and Asuka answered.
   "Me, too," the girl replied, and for now, she decided to look out the window until the next stop.
    No, things weren't so bad this way at all.

"Yes," Shinji finally responded, with some relief in his tone. "I'm thirsty." The boy nearly choked while he said the last part; he had not meant to think aloud, or so loud, even. Without turning his gaze an inch from the okonomiyaki heating up on the grill, the Third Child decided to pretend he could not feel himself grow embarrassed or irritated as fires lacerated about his spine, skull, and self-confidence. It was too bad, too. The girl sitting next to him had smiled for once during these past few days.

Jing-Kai stood sharply at non-attention. His team had lined up at the running course and were ready to go out on their daily five-mile morning run. Everything was perfect here, except that the place felt a bit too new. But the air was cool down in the crater, there were trees and shrubs about, giving the place a touch of nature's presence, and it was quiet. What was more, the lake off in the distance was blood red, the way it had been immediately after Third Impact. Shinji had said that he was glad that the government had not taken on the project to clean the lake. Jing-Kai had not asked why, but he was glad that that was the case right now. It served as a reminder that there was still a job for people like his men to do in the world. All this combined had made the air thin and easy to breathe in. Everything was perfect.
   "Sorry to bother you, Major, but could I get a word in with you?" The Major Katsuragi spoke evenly.
   Ah, crap. The babe. Jing-Kai turned and bowed slightly upon seeing her walking up to meet them. "Good morning, Katsuragi-san."
   "Good morning," Misato smiled easily. "I was wondering if you could do me the favor of letting some of my people and I follow you around this morning." Behind Misato were twelve men in NERV shirts and sweats. They shone with respect and some anticipation. Jing-Kai turned back to his guys, who didn't say anything, but whose postures gave their approval.
    Hm. Knowing Misato, she probably did not tell them who Jing-Kai and his buddies were, but that they were just more advisors visiting the NERV complex. Not many people were supposed to know about the outfit they were in, and it had been pubically wondered when the little fort upon whose dirt Jing-Kai's foot currently stood upon would be opened. So it was obvious the group of men in military issued shirts and pants were slightly more special than the advisors who frequented NERV before them. It was a good thing there was no sign that proclaimed "Rainbow" at the gates. But Misato was a smart woman, and Jing-Kai respected the major enough to trust her.
   Why not. It'd take some of the pressure off of his guys, but not too much, as Jing-Kai was sure that somewhere someone would start a show-off contest. Of course, that would be most fun to see happen, and so the Team One leader gave a single sharp nod, and they were off.
   Nearly an hour later, Team One had had twenty mintues to stretch, work out a bit, and wait for the NERV bunnies to "hop up," as some of the more jolly members of the team had put it. But some of those men were quite fit. Two had been able to keep up the pace until the very end, five had made it within a couple of minutes after Team One. Misato, on the other hand, was not impressed enough, despite the fact that she had been one of the last to finish the course.
   Shooting was no contest. Rainbow members were members only after being able to prove that they could do what they did without fail. Jing-Kai was actually not the best shooter (or runner, for that matter), on his team. The latter title went to Joseph, the other Asian (he and Jing-Kai were the first and as yet only Asian members of Rainbow) from Rainbow's group, while the former went to an Englishman (of which made up a third of Rainbow) named Harold Reilly. One of the taller guys, Harold, Jing-Kai believed after a few days training with him, could probably perform surgery with a sub-automatic, blind-folded while whistling. In fact, Captain Reilly had been whistling as he unloaded shot after shot from his .45 Beretta -- some opera song the guy happened to like from one of his frequent opera runs. All while punching a nice little semi-ragged hole into the silhouette target five meters away. Somehow, the man made singing while shooting look professional (of course, Harold did not whistle in the bustle of an assignment, just before and after).
   After the shooting range, Misato ordered her people to take the day off and resume their normal duties tomorrow. Misato, on the other hand, had something to something to request of Jing-Kai in front of the team.
   "I'd like to follow you guys some more for these next few weeks. Don't wait for me. In fact, pretend I'm not here. Could we do that?"
   Jing-Kai wished they could. Pretend that she wasn't there, that is. But frankly, Misato would be a distraction to their exercises, thus Jing-Kai had to tell her so. And so the belligerent woman asked to the watch what they did for just the rest of the day, and to use the Rainbow place in the late afternoons or early mornings, even. This was satisfactory, since by then the men of Rainbow would be at their desks, pouring over masses of military documents. And so it was said and agreed upon.

"So," the man said with a bored tone, emphasized by a clucking sound made by his tongue. "You are the one the old men described as the 'deliverer' for this feat. Hm?" The man was old and moderately fat, propping his boots up on a wooden table.
   Before him stood what looked like an ordinary child -- Japanese, by her appearances. She was dressed in civilian clothing -- or what would have been considered civilian attire many years ago in this Republic of China. By the General Cheng's guesses, she may have had a small bit of knowledge regarding espionage. But as of yet, that was Cheng's only extrapolation for now. Those men who called themselves Zay-lei had given him nearly no information, other than that with this child's help the Chinese would be able to rid themselves of the wretched Evangelion weapon the Japanese ran to when provoked, not only militarily, which would have been at least slightly fair and not completely devoid of honor, but politically as well, the cowards. This child would somehow be able to give them the freedom they needed to begin with the grander scheme China had prepared for.
   "So, then," the general said, clucking again. "Tell me, how is it that you can help my people?" Cheng had to hold back from smiling at the lunacy involved here. A random party addresses him a week before, telling him they spoke in the republic's favor, giving no name, location, method of contact, or agenda other than the claim that they had an advisor who would be able to help them. Of course, immediately, General Cheng, with a sound knowledge revolving around international history and politics, suspected a small ploy, which, if it was, would be utterly stupid. The general, in this wrecked Buddhist temple devoid of life in a mile's radius, whose detachment of soldiers were patrolling the immediate area, was ready to order this girl shot should he find himself wasting his time and resources to conduct this hidden meeting. A young woman, a child -- this simply must be a joke. Not a very funny one.
   "I will take you to the pilot's home, and kill him." The child's Mandarin was natural, as if she had learnt it since her birth, which, given the lack of information Cheng had on her, might very well be the situation.
   The aging man laughed, lifting his boots off the table and leaning forward in his seat. "I know everything I have to to kill the boy myself if I wanted to." His tone dropped to a threatening one. "What do I need you for?" he asked, eyes narrowing, a frown showing.
   Without moving an inch from how she stood, the pale girl replied, "I promise that you will need to use only a few soldiers."
   "To kill a frail boy?" the general spat, clearly annoyed. "I would not need many soldiers, if any, to accomplish that." He stood up and walked towards the messenger, and glared down upon her. "So I ask again, what do I need you for?"
   "You will not be fingered," the woman said, still having not moved in the least from where she stood. Here General Cheng paused. The People's Republic of China had been preparing to attain the glory it so rightfully deserved before the Second Impact and the trouble that came with it coerced the masses into uniting around the entire planet against a foreign enemy that had never been the republic's worry, and thus had not been its interests. Had the idiots who did whatever it is that they did and unleashed the storm that would melt away an entire continent been just a bit more discreet in theis idiocy, by now the Chinese government would be swimming in its superiority upon the rest of the world. Because it was stolen from them, everyone was an enemy to China. Japan, which had halted the Chinese rise to power and caused it so much shame in the great wars, was the most immediate enemy. And, with its toy robots to brag about after the floods, the glory and reputation that should have been the motherland's was swiped under itself by the ant to the east. The People's Republic of China would gather the power it deserved. The country was ready, overflowing with resources in every department, with goals and plans laid out, yet all this was held in check and denied by the existence of a machine and a single boy.
   So of course, the government knew that the boy had to perish before the world could be conquered, before the pitiful islands and undeveloped lands around the country could be enveloped by the great Chinese tide looming in the distance. Killing the boy was not the difficult question, but doing so without the rest of Asia and Europe mobilizing against them was. China would need a pre-emptive gain at the outset of its large-scale campaign to ensure decisive victory. Though no war had been fought among humans for twenty years now, the Tiger was not so proud to believe that only it would be ready for those conflicts to spark again. This girl was promising the thing that the Chinese military desired above all else. Freedom from the Evangelion presence's oppression, and still freedom more to start its righteous war whenever it wished. The mere thought of such a dream made the general giddy, but he quickly got a hold on himself, and decided to continue questioning, since this little messiah was saying no more on her own.
   "How will you do this?"
   "You do not need to know."
   You promise us victory, but tell us nothing towards how? Cheng sneered in his thoughts. "What plan are you proposing?" he asked, restating the question.
   "I have told it to you."
   "You told us that you will take us to the boy's home, and that you will kill him," the general was on the verge of shouting due to the complete foolishness of the situation. "Is that your plan?"
   "You have no more questions?" This girl seemed devoid of reaction and emotion, servng only to anger the man more and more. For a few seconds, General Cheng had to fight to keep his boiling anger from expressing itself.
   "You are not a soldier," he finally said, softly but with rage behind it. "You are obviously not a tactician, either. I do not believe you hold any political sway, either. You have told me nothing, not even who you are, and you are wasting my time."
   Again, in the same steady voice: "I do not want to be known. I have told you what I need, and what it will give you."
   Cheng was not the most even-tempered of military personel, and he would be the first to admit it. It was unfortunate that this child in front of him, a Japanese child, did not know this.
   "Shoot her," Cheng ordered aloud, waiting to see what the girl would say. She said nothing, and instead took a breath (the greatest sign of any mortality she had displayed yet) and shut her eyes gently. After a few seconds of waiting, Cheng nodded, and his man, who had his gun's safety off, fired a single shot, aimed towards the girls shoulder from the side. What happened next was unexpected by everyone within the dusty temple walls, except the girl, who up until so far, seemed to have expected everything, or at least was not unexpectant of anything.
   The round hit a translucent fiery light, and was flung away, driving into the concret ceiling. Cheng eye's immediately narrowed and he nearly took a step back, but refused to show surprise or fear. The soldier planted a foot back and steadied himself. After a second's contemplation, he unloaded his sub-machine gun's contents, and his mouth hung slightly agape as every individual bullet sprung away. He lowered his grip and aim, and turned to his superior officer for an order, advice, or something.
   Bao Cheng had, by then, accepted what he was seeing as truth. It had been so long, and the last time he saw such a phenomenon was on recording, nearly five years before. "A... T..."
   Now he was beginning to understand. This girl was something else. She was guaranteeing that Cheng would lose no men in any assassination operation, and thus they would be able to conceivably leave no trace of their ever being near that boy Ikari's apartment. It would be easy to use non-descript equipment that would not hint at Chinese involvement in any of such a tragedy. In fact, one of the first campaigns that would have been executed was that the hinting would point towards either Russia or India, the two greatest obstacles in conquering the entire of Asia, anyway. It would seem that from what little the woman had said before that she knew this. She would be able to deliver. But what would she even need China for? Why would she even care about the whims of a nation the rest of the world had nothing to fear from or even consider? Of course, because, as men higher above Cheng had informed him a few days ago, there were supposedly some supermen in Japan now, at the interest of the pilot's safety. This would indeed make an attack slightly more difficult, as far as a few men, which was what the girl was requesting, went, theoretically. But already, while Cheng was putting all these pieces together, he was planning, and planning quickly, characteristic of one of China's commanders. But first, the rest of the pieces: she did not want to be known, or revealed is what she meant in this case, by doing what she had just done again. She was a secret weapon of some sort, and for now, Cheng would not ask questions, since she would not answer, and he wanted to remain in her interests for now, so he would not do anything to provoke her such as revealing her, if such an action would yield any attentions. She needed Chen's men to make it look like normal men had killed Ikari, though they would not have to directly. Cheng had little doubt that this girl could indeed commit the murder she intended; he had no reason to doubt, and he now had a hint that suggested there was no question to be asked. No, the soldiers that would be sent for this particular mission would be responsible for destroying any resistance, and with the girl's assistance, victory in that aspect could be guaranteed, given planning on the general's part. So this Zay-lei was sending over this creature in the people of the republic's interest, were they? Cheng was not blind enough even with the sort of anticipation he was feeling at the moment to believe it. It was more likely that they had their own reasons for ridding the world of the pilot and his craft. He would have to report to his superiors in hopes that they retrieve more information, but all those procedures were routine constants -- what mattered was that his nation finally had its chance.
   "When will your party contact me again?" Cheng finally asked, calming down from his anger, shock, and rapture. he motioned for the soldier to stand down.
   "They will speak to your leaders tomorrow." Ah, so they knew that General Cheng would talk to his higher-ups, did they? Whoever this Zay-lei was, they had an awful lot of information, and a plan. Again, Cheng reminded himself to be weary of such unexpected gifts, and that an enemy of his enemy was a friend who could one day be his enemy, too. Somehow, the general wanted to be sure that his party was the greater of the two friends.
   "Then we have only planning until things are set in motion, if you are who you say you are, and for what you say you are for." The general was referring to this mysterious party which had humanoids with A.T. Fields amongst its ranks.
   "I am not a tactician," the girl said, with what might have been a small hint of amusement. "Any planning is entirely for your side's well-being."
   General Bao Cheng grinned slightly as he sat back down, and prepared. Prepared to end this meeting, to begin designing a mission layout, to report to a higher ranking officer, to speak with this woman again to brief her of the said layout, he prepared for everything. Cheng then told himself to work carefully without rush. After all, there was still relative peace on surface of the world, and thus there was all the time in the world.

Colonel Eddie Price looked a very rugged fellow, but in truth he was as easy-going as they came. He also happened to be a very patient and discreet CO, and was the senior of the original Rainbow boys, the ones who went in shooting. In fact, Ed had the bragging rights that went along with tagging the organizations first kill in service. Retired, Ed still trained with the teams often, doing his best to keep up. Despite his age, Price could still be tough, gruff, and would probably jump at the chance to lead a mission or two if he were given the chance. Jing-Kai was glad to have Eddie as the guy he answered to, and would easily point to him as one of the best officers in general anywhere in the world.
   "Good afternoon to you, old boy," Jing-Kai greeted, taking a seat with a satisfying sigh. One of the great things about Rainbow was that since it was secret, it was small. Since it was small, everyone knew everyone. And because everyone knew everyone else so well, rarely were formalities one would expect of military men shown between Rainbow troopers.
   "Nice day so far?" Eddie asked in reply, swiveling back and forth in his chair a bit, hands clasped at his waist, thumbs drumming curiously together.
   "You bet. The guys are still tops, and they'll be at their own tops in a week or two, I guarantee it." Jing-Kai shifted in his chair and assumed the same position as the colonel had, and added, "And the food, well, you know how my tastes are towards the stuff they have here in Japan." Jing-Kai smiled, and Eddie grinned, his strong chin jutting forward confidently. Jing-Kai, before he had become a Rainbow operative eight years before, had always wanted to visit Japan. In fact, the real reason he took the stint with the German GSG-9 group was not because he wanted to take part in training at the German mountain school there, as he officially said, but because he hoped to be in one of the common transfer groups that headed to New Tokyo-3. That unfortunately never happened. After a month in Rainbow's loop, he had told nearly everyone about his desire to visit the place. So of course, the first chance he got to head to New Tokyo-3 after the Third Impact incident he volunteered personally to Eddie with enough enthusiasm to blind him.
   Eddie rolled his tongue around his cheeks and tapped his desk a couple of times, leaning forward with enough vigor to make his chair squeak. He took a deep breath and let it out, asking, "You know why you're in my office right now, Don't you?"
   "Of course. It because we've got to do better than those guys upstairs at NERV expect us to do." Because it was obvious no one thought the thirteen men who had moved in a few days before (ten shooters, one doc, one techie, and one CO) were much more than some sort of sideshow going on in the crater. While it was tactically wise to keep things that way, Rainbow had to actually exceed that expectation by far to live up to its name. It was a matter of political and military hype, lives, and, of course, personal pride. To be in Rainbow meant that one did not settle for less than the best he could achieve.
   "That's correct. And frankly, right now we're pretty fucked, lad." Eddie pulled out a number of charts and tables. "Number one: we have no idea what we're up against, which is obviously quite different than what has happened in the past." Although the term counter-terrorism leads one to believe that the profession dealt reactively, the fact of the matter was that every mission in the history of Rainbow's existence had been planned for ahead by many hours. Rainbow was force to be called upon only as a final resort, and thus by the time the calls that were required to summon a team were made, enough had happened for Rainbow to be ready to act shortly after arriving at the mission site (though even then, usually Rainbow did not move out for hours after its arrival). In the case of NERV, Rainbow did not have such a liberal time table to work with. So number one: not only would Rainbow likely have to react agressively, but to what they would have to react would probably require some sort of impromptu planning that was a special op task commander's nightmare.
   "Number two: assuming we can face whatever is thrown our way, NERV headquarters is a lab rat's dream." The complex happened to be the size of a fortress, and a very fancy fortress at that. It would be hell to memorize the layout of the base, and Jing-Kai knew that right away that the people he'd be talking to about this problem would be the janitors who frequented the nooks and crannies unimagined by most of NERV's employees. Jing-Kai had studied the assault made less than a week ago with a passion, as most of Rainbow had. Shinji and Asuka had been extremely lucky, Asuka especially. Lucky that Misato and her team happened to be stationed close enough to the battle site, getting there in time to whisk them away before Asuka took a bullet in the head. Lucky that the team that had arrived less than a minute later was composed of armed men who happened to be close enough to trap the bastards by their only escape route so that they couldn't turn tail and run before they were inevitably caved in upon. Rainbow, had they already been in New Tokyo-3, would not have made it in time. They would have been loaded in personal carriers headed for the front doors that would lead to NERV's lobby, some twenty floors and half a mile away from the action. This meant that somehow, Rainbow would have to go out of its normal way and proactively move, not just wait for the go command from the guys upstairs. That meant anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, escort, hostage rescue, air operations, ground operations, sub-level operations -- the list of possibilities went on. While each and every member knew how to do their respective jobs given any of these scenarios, Rainbow, with over twenty years of service in its record, had been established as a group of highly specialized specialists. That law had to be and would be broken. Worse even, the people who pulled the kidnapping (murder?) run had been professionals who knew what they were doing and where they were going. Team One would be a group of professionals, and while Jing-Kai was confident he and his people could have taken those last buggers head on without a single loss, the fact that his boys would have gone in blind lowered that confidence considerably.
   "Number three -- I'm pretty sure you can guess number three." Eddie sat back in his chair and stared at Jing-Kai in the eyes.
   "Sometimes, you're holed no matter what you do." Because if the party which had such military capability as it had shown decided to go nova and throw in everything they had, or even just enough, Rainbow really would just be a sideshow.
   "So let's see," Jing-Kai said, leaning on to the desk, holding his fingers up. "We're jacked in terms of opposition, location, and the X factor." The "X factor" referred to the way God's dice rolled. The major counted his fingers one more time quickly. "Yep, that's everything. Sounds like fun."
   Eddie grinned his grin again, scratched his chin and cheek, and layed out the largest chart he had -- a bird's eye view layout of the crater. "Let's get to it, then."

"She has spoken to the Chinese," a voice declared victoriously.
   "Are you ready, then, to pull the strings?" Seele-01 queried.
   "Of course; everything is happening to the plan. Our little wonder will go for Ikari."
   "Actions in that land of simpletons will be easy to manipulate."
   "Soon," a third voice said, "the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01 shall be in our hands."
   "Then Complementation will be ours, in time."
   "As it was written. It is inevitable."

Author's note: Okay, here is a list of things I thought I'd mention while I was writing this chapter and fic in general. Consider these to be footnotes, or something.
   - Chinese names, like Japanese names, have the family name in the front. In this fic, I will sometimes refer to Jing-Kai as Won Jing-Kai, and sometimes Jing-Kai Won. This will depend on whether or not the reference is casual or formal, respectively (I think). Just, don't make a bother about it, heh?
   - The reason a great deal of the past is told rather than descriptively shown is because the present is now. The story is now. The background was then, an idea, what's more. The previous chapter drew out certain events because they were physical events. So with the maglev flashback scene, the dialog and stuff physically happening is drawn out, while the thoughts even further behind it are documented. This is because I don't want to have to illustrate about pasts within pasts within pasts. It would be too troublesome for me, and too confusing to the audience (and me, too, hehe).
  - As you all may have noticed, the only ACC to be major will be Jing-Kai, while all other characters and references to Rainbow will be treated as background for the most part. This is probably a prudent decision, and it will mean two things. First, I'm trying to organize the fic so that Jing-Kai represents Tom Clancy influences, while Shinji represents Anno influences (though the other characters in Anno's story will not be treated as "background," or course). Now the EVA universe is the sphere which surrounds both charges -- I mean, ideas (damned physics). Applicably, this means that when Jing-Kai or something else from the Tom Clancy side is seen through the lens of someone from Anno's story, the scene will be written with Anno's style -- some introspection, more description, more idea-driven. Conversely (damn you, too, Calculus), when Shinji or something dealing with Neon Genesis Evangelion is seen through the perspective of someone from Clancy's influence (this will be Jing-Kai probably all of the time), the story becomes more technical and event-driven. In short, I'll be incorporating two styles of description in my own style of writing for the greater being known as the story. Damned calculus and physics -- this whole explanation so far reads like a formula or something, which I suppose it is. Hm ... AAAAAAAAA... At any rate, secondly, because Jing-Kai will be background material in EVA-vision, his interaction with characters other than the EVA character-in-question's perspective will not be told. It'll be like what Touji and Kensuke do without Shinji -- that it, it doesn't matter pertaining to the story, so it won't be told. In other words, I'm being lazy and a coward (pertaining to the web of relationships all these characters weave). These interactions probably won't be mentioned much from Clancy-vision, either, because I'm such a slacker (official reason: because I want the readers to use their imagination, since writing is about showing, not telling). Hehehe... English, eat your heart out.