-1-ZOMG! It's been a while hasn't it?

-Sorry, this unfortunate thing called real life took me away for a while. That and other stories that desperately needed to be updated (and to think, this story isn't as bad in the update department as my other fics. Which is sad).

-Anyways, I'll again try to keep these AN's short, but chances are, they might wind up being longer than I hope (which I know, besides my bad grammar and story telling skills, long ANs are something most of you hate). I'll keep all the story related issues at the end of this chapter. Right now…

-At the moment, I do not have a beta reader. I know I had one before, but well, since I'm not all that fast of an updater on my side (at least for this story), I'm pretty sure I lost him as such. So, I guess it is now an open position, in case anyone wants to fill in that role… in the mean time, all corrections will be handled by me, and I'll make sure to take extra precautions for such.

-Also, one reviewer noted that it was kind of cliched and possibly OOC to have Al reading/watching mangas/anime. To an extent I agree but, at the time, I couldn't figure out another way to have Al spend all his extra free time until Ed goes full force on his research. Al's problem of course is the fact that he is just a suit of armor (I mean, he stands out in his own world. Eva? Big time). Now that time is near, you'll see Al join Ed in his research a lot more, and hopefully more towards a better characterization.

-And one LAST thing, after reading and catching up on the manga, I'm now certain that I will combine both elements in the manga and anime. Anime takes priority, but some ideas from the manga might pop up here and there.

-Without another word…

Roy and Riza's Apartment

"Damn it! Another Angel!" Riza threw the remote at the TV. Which was currently broadcasting another Emergency News Broadcast. "Why couldn't it had happen just one day later…"

Suddenly, a sharp musical tone began playing on the coffee table. Said sound came from a slim black cell phone that was currently resting next to her Glock 22 pistol.

Riza blinked questioningly at the phone before tentatively picking it up. She was certainly not used to the ringer that, played music before. All the phones that she had grown accustomed to all had the same 'bell' ringer. Instead, this one played, what appeared to be classical music. Other phones she encountered played music that was, more 'modern' she assumed, even one that she recognized as the opening music for one of her favorite shows. However, she was too intimidated to try and fiddle with her phone to change it.

She was also not accustomed to a phone that did not have a dial. All the phones back in Amestris were either rotary phones, or the 'older' ones that connected directly to an operator. Instead, this one had small buttons that substituted for the dial. Speaking of size, something as small as this new object. A phone that could literally fit inside your pocket.

As she picked up the object, she noted that the display simply read 'Nerv'. Another unusual thing to her since, these are pretty much the only phones she's aware of that actually 'tells' you who was on the other line. To an extent granted.

Putting her surprise and wonder aside, she knew something was off when it displayed 'Nerv'. Normally, if this was protected line, Nerv would not be displayed. Heck, if her phone was not programmed by Nerv itself, it would probably have displayed another location, or an entirely different organization. As it were, this call was coming from an unprotected line. And she knew only one moron who would use said line to call her. She pushed the talk button and placed the phone to her ear. "What do you want 'honey'?" She said, with the last words spoken with much contempt.

"Um… eh…" Roy stuttered out before finally answering. "I just want to give you the heads up that the power will be cut for a time. Sometime between 11:30 PM and tomorrow morning." Roy nervously replied. "So um, prepare for that."

"Power outage?" Riza blinked before her eyes narrowed. "Why's that?"

"It's… Nerv's way of trying to defeat that Angel." Roy said.

"Why would that cut the power? And are you sure you're supposed to be telling me this?" Riza frowned at her 'superior's' seemingly lack of foresight.

"Let's just say that, what Captain Misato is planning, requires a lot of energy." Roy continued. "And um, in a few hours, everyone would know about it anyways. It isn't like I exposed anything that the general public won't know anyways."

"Captain 'Misato' is it?" Riza said as her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, Captain Misato. What about her?" Roy said, as he felt he was missing something.

"Never mind." Riza shook her head as a headache threatened to take hold of her. "Is there anything else I should be aware of? After all, what you just said, I would've found out in a few hours anyways right?"

Mustang coughed on the other side of the line. An apparent effort to clear his throat. "Well the real thing I wanted to talk about was… um… there is this issue that is coming up and um… uh… well, never mind. I'll tell you later." Roy said in a happy sing song voice. "Bye!"

"Mustang? What is it? Mustang?" Riza heard a sharp click. "MUSTANG!!!"

Nerv Headquarters

Roy, Ed, and Armstrong all stared at the massive weapon parts that were currently under construction in the hanger. They peered down a balcony that was over looking the hanger. From all appearances, it appeared to all be regular sniper rifle parts, which were currently under construction by the Technology Department Division 3, Nerv Headquarters… blown up a thousand times. Granted, people on the ground probably do not feel the same sense of scale that they have on the balcony. Massive cables, large metallic pieces that look like shipping containers on the ground, large pipes, and so on were strewn all over the ground.

"Just imagine if Hawkeye saw that." Roy said, his eyes wide. "Probably ask to be an Eva pilot, and if that didn't work, kidnap and impersonate one of them just for this mission."

"Not before Winry examines every single part in this room first…" Ed said blinking at the sheer scale of it all. Not to mention the amount of technical know how that probably went into producing something of this scale.

"If this was developed by an Armstrong, it would have made any of us proud!" Armstrong said, wiping a tear away.

Roy and Ed stared at Armstrong with disbelief.

"Guess it's a good thing they didn't." Ed said.

"Eh hem." Armstrong coughed into his fist. "With all things considered, if this does not beat that monster, nothing will."

"And we'd all die in this world without anyone on our own knowing what really happened to us." Roy said with a frown.

"All of Japan has been given the notice." Misato said walking up behind them. "And we got all this for the cannon, and the largest network of power cables to power it in such short notice." Misato proudly stated.

"You know, I have to admit…" Ed said as he stared off into another part of the room. "I'm impressed you could accomplish all this in less than a day. Heck, less than nine hours."

"Guess there is a certain urgency to the matter when the whole world is at stake." Misato smiled before her expression darkened. "Though we are just a bit behind schedule last I heard. But we should still have enough time to take down that Angel."

"And are you sure this weapon will be enough to take it down?" Roy said as he waved his arms around the room of massive pieces.

"Of course!" Misato raised her right index finger. "According to the Magi, we have around an eight point seven percent chance of succeeding."

"Eight… PERCENT?" Roy, Ed, and Armstrong cried in shocked in unison.

"Eight point SEVEN percent." Misato corrected. "Keep in mind, those are pretty good odds coming from the Magi. You should have seen what they thought of our odds were during the first two Angel attacks…"

Ed lowered his head. "Why do I get the feeling it's going to be like this for the rest of our stay here?"

"So, what about the other aspect of the plan?" Roy said, changing the subject a bit. "Mainly, the pilots."

"Well…" Misato lowered her eyes a bit. "Rei was able to transport the SDF's positron cannon here without incident. So, in terms of her moving into position with her Eva, it should be fine. Shinji though… he… still hasn't woken up yet. He should soon though."

"For the sake of this world…" Ed shook his head sadly. "He has to."

"Of course this still leaves the question about whether or not he will even fight." Armstrong said in a questioning manner. He slammed his fist together. "If only he was raised as an Armstrong…"

Images of Shinji having massive muscles and ripping off his shirt flashed before Misato. Causing a chill to course through her spine. "Ooooo. That, might have been a good thing… him not being raised by… you. As for him fighting? Oh, I'm sure he will. He… seems to pull through for us right when we need him." Misato eyes shifted to the side. "And we still have time. Last I heard, the drill has just penetrated the eighth defensive layer. It still has seven more layers to go."

"That's um, really reassuring." Edward said as he rolled his eyes. True, eight… well, seven layers of protection was still something. However, given how fast it was going through the layers, it did not mollify the tense feeling around here either.

"Hmph." Roy sounded. Though his mind began wondering towards the other pilot in the matter. Especially a few mysteries about the girl that still bothered him. Well, mysteries besides the fact that the Commander was having her live in probably the most dangerous place in the city. 'From what little info I can gather, Rei Ayanami had spent most of her life at Nerv. Her family is a complete mystery besides the fact that her real parents are apparently 'dead'. Here at Nerv, she seemed to be completely isolated from everyone given her attitude and personality. Everyone except the ever caring Commander himself. Nerv was created with the intention of fighting these Angels, so they knew confrontation with these monsters was going to happen. Right? But how? And how did Rei Ayanami somehow become the 'first' child pilot to begin with? Are the criteria to become a pilot really that stringent? And that 'training accident' certainly would not have helped build up the case that she was 'qualified'. What exactly is going on here?' Roy contemplated as he frowned.

Edward eyed Roy who appeared to be lost in thought. "Something on your mind Second Lieutenant?"

"Huh?" Roy said as he blinked as Ed's voice intruded on his thoughts. "Oh um…" Roy crossed his arms and appeared to harden. "I was just thinking about what our next move should be. Well, at least what we should do if this 'fails'."

"For the most part, there isn't much anyone here can do if they fail since, chances are, we'll be all dead. Heheheh…" Misato tentatively laughed as she rubbed the back of her head. "But we did put in some redundancy measures just in case the on-site alchemy test failed."

"Redundancy measures?" Edward said with an eyebrow raised.

Misato nodded. "Yup. Though… I'll let Ritsuko take over here. You can find her in Hanger 8."

-Later…

Hanger 8, Nerv Heardquarters

"So you want to know about our defensive measures right?" The blond doctor said as she took a sip from her coffee. She, along with Maya and the alchemist, were standing on a metallic walkway just as a robotic arm moved slowly next to them. "Well, just turn to your right, and it's right here!" Like a magician exposing the girl that disappeared next to him (or her in this case), she gave a single wave of her hand at the huge object next to her.

Ed, Armstrong, and Roy all turned to the huge triangular black object that was hanging next to them beyond the railing. As they continued to stare at it, only one thing came to their mind.

What the one thing was, was spoken by none other than the shortest member of their group. "What is that thing?"

"That…" Ritsuko said with a huge smile. As if she was somehow proud of showing off this, thing to the 'other worlders'. "This, is a shield."

"Oh." Ed said as his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "So, the only thing the great Doctor Ritsuko can think of as a 'back up' in case Shinji's first attack fails, or that using our alchemy failed with the Evas is… a shield."

The dyed blond woman's smile faded as she stared daggers at Edward. "Well using a shield is about the only thing we can do at this point. We're talking about a VERY high energy beam being directed towards the Evas."

"And this shield…" Maya verbally pointed out, "was a hand-me-down from a single stage surface to orbit rocket. In other words, the space shuttle."

All three alchemist took on the role of looking dumbfounded again.

Maya blinked confused by their bizarre reaction. "Was it something I said?"

Ritsuko sighed. "Think of it as a ship that was designed to leave Earth's atmosphere. Above the Earth's atmosphere is empty space. Now, think of the atmosphere as the ocean. On the surface, the water pressure is shallow and not as significant. As you go deeper into the ocean, water pressure itself will increase as the 'weight' of the ocean above you increases.

Back to the atmosphere, the same could be said as the top layer of the atmosphere are made up of light gasses. The deeper you go, heavy gasses like oxygen and carbon dioxide reside. Given the concentration of the gasses that make up the Earth's atmosphere at each layer, the angle and the speed required to reenter it safely will result in a lot of resistance, creating heat and friction the deeper it penetrates the atmosphere." Ritsuko took out her clipboard to show what she meant. She first held her clipboard vertically. "Too steep the angle and it will go through the Earth's atmosphere at a very high speed and is impossible to slow down before you hit the Earth's surface." She then angled the clipboard around 10 degree. "Too narrow, and it will skip the surface of the atmosphere like skipping rocks on a lake. Any of you tried that before?"

Armstrong nodded. "Yes. Instead of sinking right away, at the right angle, the rock will skip the surface before it sinks. Depending on your skill level, and the length and the size of the lake, you could possibly even make the rock skip to the other side."

"Well, the same principle applies to the Earth's atmosphere as well." Ritsuko added. "Of course, now we're back to his shield." Ritsuko angled her clipboard at around 45 degrees. "To slow down the decent and not bounce off the atmosphere, it has to be at the right angle, and has to survive the intense heat that will occur due to the resistance. After all, the atmosphere was designed to stop most outer space objects from reaching the Earth's surface. Ever seen those shooting stars? Without the atmosphere in place, those shooting stars, which are really rocks that have been traveling around the solar system, world have reached the surface, putting everyone in danger. Given that the speed they are traveling, it would be equivalent to a bullet being fired from a gun."

"I think I heard something like that in school." Ed said as he rubbed his chin. "Of course, that was in relationship to that so-called Second Impact…"

"Well, there are limits to what the atmosphere can't keep out." Ritsuko started to shift her eyes to the side. "A big meteor about the size of Tokyo 3 would do the trick. Not to mention an Angel… but let's get back to 'our shield'." Ritsuko quickly said as the conversation threatened to spiral into a long winded elementary lesson. Not something you want to get into when time was not on their side. "To summarize, in order for this vehicle to survive reentry from the intense heat that will occur, a special electromagnetic base coating was applied. This coating is designed to survive the heat so the occupants that would be in this ship, would survive all the way down to the Earth's surface."

"Well, then this should be a wise move on Nerv's part then." Roy nodded after hearing Ritsuko's long winded explanation. While he still had no clue about what this, Space Shuttle thing is, at least he now knows what this shield was. "And since in a way the Angel's attack was energy based, this should do the trick."

Ritsuko nodded. "For at least seventeen seconds."

A sudden eerie silence descended the room. As a sweat drop seemingly appeared on the back of all three alchemist.

"Seventeen… seconds?" Ed's eyebrow began to lightly twitch.

Ritsuko raised her hand in a disimpassioned way. "This is why we were hoping that Shinji succeeds with the first shot. And if alchemy does work, maybe we won't have to worry about this shield at all."

"That…" Roy said as he stared at the triangular black 'shield', "is a pretty big if."

-Later…

Hospital Waiting Area

After a short briefing with Misato, the alchemist were allowed to wait in the waiting area of the hospital. The waiting area was large and airy. Something none of them have seen before in the largest hospitals back in Central. However, despite it's size, the place was almost like a ghost town with the only occupants being the alchemist. The rows of chairs ahead and behind them all sat empty. A testament, they believed, to the continued depopulation of Tokyo 3 as the Angel crisis continued.

As they all waited for Shinji's prognosis, the alchemist passed the time by discussing the mission briefing.

"Operation Yashima is it?" A sitting Edward said as his arms were draped over his legs. "What's Yashima again?"

"An ancient name for this country as far as I know." Roy said as he leaned back on one of the pillars that dotted the waiting area. "Makes some sense I guess. Ya is part of yama which means mountain in their language, and shima means island…"

"If you don't mind Second Lieutenant, but I don't care about the etymology of the word." Ed closed his eyes for a second as it seemed the weight of the situation was getting to him. And he was no where near the positions of power, or on the frontlines to deal with it either. "I mean, at the moment, they haven't told us anything about Shinji's condition."

"Hmph." Armstrong nodded. "I'm concerned that we are again asking too much from Shinji Ikari. Even if he does wake up, we are somehow expecting him to be a marksman the first time he holds that massive weapon this organization is making. A few months ago, he had no clue what an Eva was, and how to move around in one."

"And it took years for Hawkeye to be the 'legendary sniper' she is today." Roy added. "Then again," Roy leaned away from the pillar and eyed Armstrong. "From the point Shinji Ikari entered that Evangelion, he has also defeated two angels and in essence, saved the city and possibly this world twice. For someone who had no formal training, you can almost call it a miracle of sorts."

"Yeah." Ed said as he straightened up his position. "With all these miracles happening, you'd think some divine force was watching his back."

"And you'd think these people would be more religious too." Roy said as he glanced at one of the doorway that lined the hospital's waiting area. For a second, he thought he saw something move behind the small window that resided on the door.

"Then again, if Nerv or whatever organization continues to call them 'Angels', most people probably think the trouble we're in is due to God." Ed countered as he shrugged his shoulders. "After all, of all the names that they could use, they used a term reserved for the 'messengers of God'. The general population is probably completely confused on whether God is trying to save them, or destroy them." Suddenly, following that line of thought, Ed was reminded about another potentially 'explosive' situation. "Speaking of facing the wrath from someone… how did your 'wife' take the news?"

"Eh?" Roy said stunned. "What news?"

"About you wanting to adopt the first child of course!" Ed said in a teasing manner.

"Oh that?" Roy said as he tried to recompose himself to appear as confident as he usually appeared. His right hand was holding the back of his head, and he puffed out his chest to make him appear as big as possible as he tried to speak in a coherent fashion. "Well, I… haven't told her!"

This answer amused Ed even more. A massive grin appeared on Ed's face as another opportunity to torment his 'arrogant' superior presented himself. "What? The great Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, can't handle a little girl? Too much of a woman for the womanizer?" Ed was trying to suppress a laugh that was threatening to escape. Since if he started, he'd have a hard time stopping.

Roy frowned and glared at Edward for a second, before sighing in defeat. "It isn't that! I mean, it isn't like I'm her superior officer anymore. She is, after all, just another civilian in this world."

"Hmm. I haven't seen you like this before Second Lieutenant. Why would your and Hawkeye's change in status stop you?" Armstrong asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not you too!" Roy growled at Armstrong before turning his head towards the door. "I mean, our position in this world is different now. A relationship between an officer and a civilian is also, different. I can't just order her around and expect her to follow orders. Besides, it isn't like I have decided to take this girl in or anything. I still need approval from you know who, and that is a big if given that he feels that putting her in a dangerous place is perfectly fine." Roy's eyes began turning away from the door when, speaking of said girl, the door swung open and revealed a mop of blue hair. "Huh?" He then darted towards the door and stared at the girl.

"Something wrong Mustang?" Armstrong said noticing his superior's odd behavior.

"Miss Ayanami?" Roy said, stopping the girl in her tracks.

Rei Ayanami paused for a few moments before she slowly turned her head towards the one addressing her. "Yes?"

"Where exactly are you going with that cart?" Roy questioned. He noted that the blue haired girl, that was wearing her school uniform (which was probably the only set of clothes she had besides the Eva pilot suit), seemed to be pushing a cart that carried a tray full of food. The three small tray holders on the top including what looked like eggs cooked sunny side up, bread, and what looked like mash potatoes to Roy. The bottom two areas held a carton of milk, and some type of rectangular substance that, at the moment, Roy had no clue what they were. He assumed the darker of the three items was meat but, he has been wrong in the past concerning the exact makeup of the supposedly edible matter.

"To Pilot Ikari's room." Rei said nonchalantly. The same monotone voice that the alchemists had gotten used to from her.

"Pilot Ikari?" Ed repeated as his eyes lit up a bit. He suddenly raced towards where Roy was standing, nearly knocking the 'taller' man aside. "Wait, does that mean that Shinji Ikari is now awake?"

"Yes." Rei replied without a single change in her expression.

Roy and Edward waited a second or two, and before both realized that, the expressionless Rei was not going to say anything else besides that. Rei, for the most part, apparently only answers the question directed at her, and does not expand on it. Something both alchemist probably should have known already. There have been exceptions to this, after all, she wasn't a complete robot. Though this was obviously not one of them.

"Okay…" Roy said before rubbing his chin. "Um, I guess we're just surprised that we haven't heard about it till now."

"He work up just ten minutes ago." Rei answered. "This food was prepared ahead of time in the case that Pilot Ikari would regain consciousness. I was given the order to take this food to him, and give him the mission briefing."

"Looks like they were expecting him to awake." Ed frowned a bit at this.

"His injuries were not severe." Rei said in her standard tone. "His recovery was not in question."

"Except maybe the time when he would wake up would be in question." Roy noted.

"And another miracle seemed to be in play." Ed said with his arms crossed. "At least, that is how I look at it." He then eyed the food and the small booklet that Rei held in her hand. He assumed that the booklet contained the mission briefing that Rei talked about. "Though I had a feeling the ones command believed that this was going to happen in time anyways."

"That is not correct." Rei countered. "Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi were not convinced that he would regain consciousness in time. And if he did, whether he would agree to pilot."

"Hmm. So they are giving him a choice whether to pilot or not?" Armstrong spoke up as he approached them from behind.

"Neither Captain Katsuragi, or Doctor Akagi can force Pilot Ikari to do his duty." Rei said without even the slightest bit of concern in her eyes. "However, in the event that Pilot Ikari were to reject his duty, I would pilot Unit 01. Doctor Akagi would have to rewrite Unit 01's personal data files."

"And let me guess, the mission's chance of success drops considerably since you never used Unit 01 before." Roy said as he lightly shook his head at the absurdity of the situation they were in. 'According to Misato, Rei Ayanami's test showed that she would not survive combat if she was the sniper. But, all she would be doing was shooting right? Not hand to hand combat. Then again, aiming and holding the weapon would be probmatic if she couldn't use Unit 01 properly. And even without that concern, if this young girl were to pilot as the sniper, no one would protect her.' He then looked into her eyes and his frown deepened. 'But from the looks of it, the complete lack of self-preservation, it wouldn't matter to her. Damn conditioning!'

"Heh." Ed sighed. "Well, we've been here long enough to know that is how this organization operates. They give you a choice, but it's a choice between fighting, and the end of the world. As bad as I thought our military acts, at least I had more choices then that."

"Hmm. No argument from there." Roy nodded. While he admits to doing a lot of horrible things in the past due to 'orders', it was his own prerogative to follow them. Failure to follow them would have resulted in a court marshal, and time in prison. Granted, if it was a major offense, it would have resulted in his execution. 'Or turned into one of those Chimeras.' He mentally added. But even in those cases, the decision to follow or not to follow those orders, did not mean the end of the world either.

As the alchemist seemingly found themselves at a loss to continue this conversation, or strike up a new one, Rei continued to silently stare at each of the alchemist for a while before she finally spoke up on her own. "Can I continue my duties now?"

"Yeah. I guess…" Roy said before something clicked in his mind. "Oh wait, I wanted to ask you something?"

"Yes?" Rei said, and stared at him expectantly.

"Um…" Roy opened his mouth before closing it again. He then stared at his wrist watch before finally answering Rei. "Never mind. I'll tell you after the operation is finished."

"Very well." Rei said, and turned around and pushed the cart down the hallway. Continuing her trek down to Shinji's room.

As Rei departed from their view, Edward saw another opportunity to pounce. "You can't even say anything to her too?"

"No." Roy said with contempt as he knew exactly where this conversation was heading. "It's not that…"

"Mustang is terrified of women! Mustang is terrified of women!" Edward teased in a high pitched voice as he continued to tease Roy. He waved his arms around to emphasized his point. "Now I know how to take down Mustang. Bring him a 'real' woman." Edward began to giggle.

Roy glared at Edward. "And what about you and Winry?"

"Eh?" This caused Edward to stop dead in his tracks. "Well, um, she…" Ed narrowed his eyes at the sudden change in subject. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Roy grinned at the apparently touchy subject for Ed. "Nothing. But it still got you to stop didn't it?"

Ed growled at Roy.

"And as for why…" Roy frowned as he stared at where the blue haired girl went off to. "Whether or not she is the main attacking member is irrelevant. She is still putting her life in danger. While I might hate the fact that her psyche seemed to have been 'engineered' into an apparent apathetic and detached soldier, given the situation that is being thrust onto her, this might be the best state of mind for her to be in if something went wrong."

Armstrong looked down at his superior questioningly. "Is that what you truly believe Second Lieutenant Mustang?"

"I see you have gotten used to my new rank already." Roy commented before answering the question presented to him. "As for her, no. It is not something she, Shinji, or any other pilot's state of mind should be. Soldier or not, she's only thirteen or fourteen, and being selfless for the sake of 'duty' should have its limits. But we don't have time for her to be adding questions in her mind." He then looked un into the ceiling and imagined the Angel's drill continuing down to its ultimate goal, Nerv Headquarters. "This will all end midnight tonight. One way, or the other."

Surgical Ward 3, Central Hospital

In the hospital room, a lone bed was currently occupied by a brown haired boy. The bare, undecorated walls gave the room a sterile, almost cold feel. Though the large window was letting in the 'sunlight' fill the otherwise desolate room with a bit of warmth, in the otherwise impersonal room.

At the moment, Shinji, who just woke up, peered over and listened as Rei gave a briefing of the mission behind a cart with a food tray on it.

"…they will stand by and await further orders." Rei said as she read off the briefing in her little booklet. "The operation will begin promptly at midnight. With initial alchemy compatibility testing before the final phrase of the operation commences." Rei closed the book, and reached under the tray. "Here's a new one." She threw a freshly packed plug suit at him.

Shinji sat up and stared at the plug suit in front of him. His head dipped lazily a bit as the last vestiges of sleep still remained.

"Don't show up half-asleep looking like that." Rei said.

Shinji eyes widened at bit as he stared at Rei due to her apparently 'odd' statement. Suddenly he looked down to note what he was wearing, or more appropriately, what he was not wearing. "AH!" He frantically began grabbing at the bed sheet and pulled them up as close to his chest as possible. "Sorry."

After a moment, he then looked up from his position as bits of Rei's speech entered his mind. "Alchemy…"

"Part of the operation would be an real world test to see whether or not alchemy is compatible for the Eva." Rei said.

Shinji downcast his eyes. "So they want me to test this 'science' already." He said in a barely audible tone.

"Incorrect." Rei replied, causing Shinji to shoot his head back to her. "I will be the pilot that will be doing the field testing of alchemy. Your duty is to neutralize the Angel."

Shinji's eyes widened considerably. "But, isn't that dangerous? We, I never used alchemy in an Eva before. I'm still surprised that I could even use it at all."

"My safety is not important." Rei said nonchalantly. "It is the orders that were given to me. And I will follow through."

"What?" Shinji replied, his eyes widened to as far as they could go. "What do you mean?" His mouth quivering as he spoke those words.

"It was an order from Commander Ikari." Rei continued. "I'm leaving. Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi will be waiting at the cage." She turned around promptly walked out of the room. "Goodbye." She said, before the door closed behind her.

Shinji gasped. "Wait, Rei… REI?!" Shinji reached out to the now closed door. After a few seconds, he dropped his hand and looked forward. He then stared at the food that was left for him. His eyes dropped as he knew what he had to do.

-Later…

Shelter

"So we spent all that time in the hospital for nothing." Ed growled. He sat on a blanket that was spread across on the floor. "After we saw Rei Ayanami leave, the orderly came over and told us we were not allowed to see Shinji. Commander's orders."

"Really?" Hikari said as she sat crossed legged next to him. "That stinks. If I were in your position, I would have demanded to see him to see if he was okay. Even if it was just for a minute."

"Oh we did that." Ed said as his mind wandered back to the events. "Except if we had done that, the muscle men around the orderly would have made sure we didn't get very far." Ed shivered a bit as he remembered their faces. "One threatened to take my remaining arm and leg off."

"Ooooo. That's not good." Hikari said frowning. "I guess there was no way you could have messed with those guys."

"Ptttf." Ed began to grin. "That threat was nothing actually. I could've easily taken him on. And if muscles were all that big of a deal, we had Armstrong on our side!"

"Hehehe." Hikari giggled as she knew who he was talking back. She only met him a few times, but it was hard not to miss him given his height and size. "You got a point there." She then frowned as she thought of what they could have done. "But you still didn't cause too much trouble right?"

Ed began to shiver a bit. "The muscle men wouldn't have been a problem. It was what they mentioned next that made sure we didn't cause any trouble." Ed began to sweat. "They said that Doctor Akagi is going to make sure that there wasn't any trouble at the hospital. They said if we caused a ruckus, and she hears about it, she's going to dedicate her life to ensure that we would be living in a never ending nightmare."

Hikari blinked in surprise at Ed's sudden change of expression. "Is she really that scary?"

"Believe me…" Ed said as an image of Ritsuko's demonic smile flashed before him. "There is a reason why we believed their words in an instant."

"Hehe." Hikari sighed as a smile appeared on her face. "The important thing is that you're all safe right? And you're safe right here." Her bright smile was then replaced with contemplation as she thought of something. "Speaking of safe, I wonder where those boys are? We're in a State of Emergency, don't tell me that they are still on the rooftop waiting for those machines to come out?"

Ed frowned. "I shouldn't be here either. I should be at the Nerv Command Center making sure Shinji and Rei are okay."

"Oh yeah." Hikari shot her glance back at Ed. "I was wondering why you were here. I mean, you do work for Nerv right? I thought maybe they'd at least, let you watch… or something." Hikari was not sure how high up he was at Nerv. Especially given that the world never even heard of Nerv before the Angels arrived. Given that Edward, who came all the way from Germany just to be at the 'front lines', she assumed he had a somewhat high and important position there.

"About that…" Ed scowled as he remembered the orders that were given to him. "Doctor Akagi basically said that since I'm a student, and that they only needed two alchemist to watch…" Ed mumbled the last part before he spoke in his normal tone again, "I should mingle with other students. Or something."

"Heh. I guess that makes sense." Hikari said with wonder. Somehow ending that discussion instantly. "Anyways, I'm still happy that you're here." Hikari smiled at him.

Ed flopped back onto the blanket and sighed. "I guess there isn't much I can do now. And just hope everything turns out for the best."

"Heh. Yeah." Hikari sighed. "Oh, and it appears your older brother is really popular around here."

Ed raised his head just enough to see his brother, and the apparent wave of admirers surrounding him. The students, and even some adults were all commenting on how amazing and strange it was for a man to be wearing full body armor. Even if he had 'health' reasons for staying in that armor. A number of them were even poking it to see if it was the real deal.

Al then turned to Ed and gave him a little wave. "Uheheheh…"

Ed dropped his head back to the mat. "Well, I just hope when this operation is over, there is still a day to look forward to."

-Later…

Mount Futago

It was 8:11 PM, the Angel's drill into the earth above Nerv Headquarters has reached the seventeenth layer. At the rate and speed it was going through the layers, the estimated time it will reach headquarters was three hours and fifty-five minutes. The road leading up the mountain was jammed with power generator trucks. Power was sent from all over Japan to this one location in the hopes that one shot, at most two, would take down that Angel.

On the mountain side, Ritsuko and Maya watched as Unit 01 lowered the massive cannon in front of them. The massive cannon being the Eva Positron Sniper Rifle, formerly Strategic SDF Lab's Automated Positron Rifle. From above, anyone would have said it was a standard sniper rifle, blown up a thousand times or more.

"This is a piece of precision machinery, so handle it carefully." Ritsuko said through her headset.

-Later on the ground…

After placing all the necessarily equipment in place, both Shinji and Rei stood in front of the weapon next to Misato and Ritsuko. They stood in front of the stadium lights that blanketed the area in blinding white light.

"This thing wasn't built for field operations. Will it really work?" Shinji said his concern out loud as he stared at the weapon in front of him.

"There is no choice. This is a makeshift solution." Ritsuko answered. "Theoretically, it should all work out. However, we're still not sure if the cannon barrel or the accelerator will hold until we try firing it." She then looked back at Unit 00.

Unit 00 was standing above a transmutation circle drawn dirt in front of the lake's shore. Given the many variables and the basic unknown result that will happen with this test, like the idea of absolutely nothing happening at all, it was determined that a simple 'basic' alchemic experiment should take place. The design was a basic alchemy design that was meant for beginners. Two triangles, a smaller one with the top angle pointing upwards, and a bigger one with the point pointing downward thus creating an awkward looking pentagram, with the bottom arm much bigger than the others. Two circles, one touching the points of the smaller triangle, and another slightly bigger one, ran parallel with the smaller circle.

"I'm more concerned about the alchemy test." Ritsuko said with a frown. "There are just too many variables that could go wrong."

"Shouldn't we cancel the test then?" Shinji said concerned.

Ritsuko shook her head. "No. Besides, that's for the commander to decide since this was his idea. And, I am confident our failsafe plan is sufficient if the worst case scenario does play out." Ristuko then sighed. "Still, I'd be surprised it nothing goes wrong today. I just hope it isn't something that I should be concerned with."

"About that…" Shinji said before Ritsuko cut him off.

"Before you say anything, we should give you a rundown of the operation." Ritsuko said.

Misato and Ritsuko were giving a basic mission briefing to the two pilots in front of the blinding stadium lights that lit up the makeshift base. Shinji for the most part, already knew his role due to Rei giving him the briefing at his bedside. Misato and Ritsuko was simply filling in the details that Rei's briefing lacked.

"…remember to make adjustments for these deviations. You must penetrate the core precisely." Ritsuko said to Shinji.

"But I've never practiced this!" Shinji protested.

"Don't worry. Just do what the manual says. When the indicators converge in the center, pull the trigger." Ritsuko answered. "The computers will handle the rest. And once you fire it, it will take time before you can fire again for cooling, reloading, and replacement of the fuses." Ritusko then looked at Rei. "Given that the only role Rei would be playing is defensive and testing to see whether alchemy can work with the Evangelions, needless to say you must hit it the first time."

"Then, if I miss and the enemy shoots back…" Shinji said, refusing to be placated. "If alchemy fails and…"

"Don't think about unnecessary things right now." Ritsuko said in a stern voice. "Just thinking about destroying it in one shot."

Shinji lowered his head. 'This… is like last time. I have no choice.' Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice behind him.

"I…" Rei said softly. "I just need to defend Unit 01, correct?"

"Yes. And test whether alchemy will work." Ritsuko added. "You will be in contact with the Second Lieutenant Mustang and Warrant Officer Armstrong during this test."

"Understood." Rei answered.

"Rei…" Shinji said as the way she spoke concerned him. "Wait," Shinji quickly said, causing Ritsuko to take notice. "You said that, since her sync ratio isn't as good as mine, then she won't be able to aim the sniper weapon properly. What about when she uses…"

"Shinji, I told you not to think about unnecessary things right now." Ritsuko retorted. "And if it makes you take your mind off of this matter, the alchemy Rei will be doing will be a very basic transmutation of turning the water in front of her into ice. It shouldn't put Rei under too much stress even with her sync ratio."

"But umm…" Shinji trailed off.

"It's time." Misato said as she crossed her arms. "Both of you, get changed."

Type 14 Large Mobile Command Car

The truck, that doubled as a mobile command center, was filled with computers, chairs, and of course, Nerv staff. And technically, both Mustang and Armstrong were a part of Nerv.

"So what you're saying is…" Roy said as he put on his headset. "All I have to do is give instructions to Rei when the time arrives." While this type of headset was new to him, especially the fact that it was 'wireless', he could not say that it was all that unusual either. He's used one a few times while working with Hughes during 'covert' communications. Amestris might be behind the times compared to this world. But they were not extremely far apart either.

Maya nodded. "When they get into position, just push this button on the headset, and you should be talking directly to Rei."

"And what about Armstrong?" Roy asked noting that he was simply standing behind him.

"He's here for… moral support." Ritsuko answered for Maya. A grin appeared on her face.

"I feel so honored." Armstrong said as sparkles appeared around him. Though he began to frown as he thought of something. "However, I do not believe Mustang or I can truly give her proper instructions."

"After all," Roy said jumping in. "It's one thing having the capability of doing alchemy which she had already proven. It's another thing using alchemy through an avatar… in this case, a machine. Even if most of this machine's parts are organic."

"It would be like using a cat with automail parts as a go between in making alchemy." Armstrong said as he continued to frown in disapproval. "Besides the ethical question of forcing a poor and cute and cuddly cat to go through that, I have a hard time imagining it would even work."

Maya nodded as she shared much of their concern. "This is why we gave her that shield. If something were to go wrong, or if the test simply did not succeed, that shield will be there to protect her."

"That it true." Roy said though he was still not convinced. 'Back up plan or not. I don't think it will be enough. I hope she makes through.'

Changing Room

Shinji pushed the button on his plug suit. The air rushed out, and his plug suit became skin tight. As he looked behind him, he could see the silhouette of Rei changing. She was apparently taking off her panties at that moment, which caused Shinji to quickly look away, his face now sporting a shade of red.

As Shinji got over his blushing, his expression sank as he thought about the mission in front of him, and what Rei said earlier. "We might die doing this," he said to Rei without looking in her direction.

Rei began zipping her plug suit up. "Why do you say that?"

Shinji sat silent for a while. Unable to answer Rei's question.

Rei pressed the button on her plug suit. "You won't die."

"Huh?" Shinji shot towards her direction.

"Because I'll protect you." Rei said as she looked up. "I told you my safety is not a concern. No matter what happens."

'She said it again. And also, no matter what happens? But…' Shinji's eyes widened. "Wait. What about…"

Shinji hears the door slam shut ahead of him. Not realizing she was already on her way out when he got up.

Shelter

Edward sighed. He did not belong here. He should be out there giving support to Shinji or Rei. Instead of keeping his 'classmates' company in this underground tomb. 'At least the electricity is still on…'

At that moment, all lights in the place shut down, plunging the windowless underground bunker into darkness.

'…never mind.' Edward thought as he sighed. He then thought of something. 'Hmm. You'd think they had a backup generator or something. Well, since no one is looking, maybe I can sneak out and…' Suddenly he felt someone grab and hug him. Tightly. "Gah!" His eyes widened as he realized who was hugging him.

"Oh Edward! I'm scared!" Hikari's voice rang through Edward's ear.

Edward gulped as he tried to stay focused. "You know this was coming right? They planned a widespread national blackout."

Edward felt Hikari nod.

"But still, who knows what might happen here!" Hikari said. "I… didn't think it would be this dark down here too. Shouldn't there be some emergency lights at least?"

"Hmm." Edward tapped his chin with his free hand. "You… have a point there."

"Brother?" Al said in the darkness. His word interrupting Edward's thoughts. "Do you think Shinji will be alright?"

"Before I wasn't sure but…" Edward sighed. "Now… after two Angels under his belt, things should be looking up right?" 'Besides, like the other two times. Failure is not something that I want to think about.'

Mount Futago

Shinji sat on the massive metallic holder that kept his Eva in place, and Rei did the same with the holder on her Eva. These holders also gave easy access to the Evas when the time of activation arrived. All around them, the nation darkened as the blackout spread. The only lights were the one on site. The floodlights behind them and the blue hue of the Angel in front of them, and the stars above them were all the illumination they had for miles. Both were crouched down as they looked upon the city in front of them.

After listening to the wind swirl around them, Shinji decided to speak up. "Why do you pilot this thing?" 'And please don't say it is to protect me.' Shinji mentally added.

Rei looked down at her feet before responding. "Because I'm bound."

"Bond?" Shinji asked surprised.

"Yes, it's a bond." Rei replied.

Shinji blinked a few seconds before he looked forward. 'It can't be to the Eva. Then…' "With my father?"

"With all people." Rei answered quietly.

Shinji contemplated Rei's words. 'So she is doing this to help everyone?' "You're very strong, Ayanami." Shinji said with a hint of jealously in his voice. Not jealous in Rei's position, but jealous that, while he was near terrified at the role that was given him, Rei seemed to take on her part without any problem. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be concerned about your health."

After a short pause, Rei spoke up. "I do not understand. If I die, it would simply be an equal exchange would it not?" Rei said as she stood up.

"Huh?" Shinji said at the sudden turn in the discussion. "What do mean by that?"

"I have nothing else." Rei said in a quiet voice. "Equivalent Exchange. Isn't that what the alchemists believe in?"

"But…" Shinji stood up after hearing her last question. "This isn't what they meant. And that doesn't mean that you…" Shinji could not finish his sentence. His mouth remained open, but the words he wanted to say refused to come out.

A quiet few seconds descended upon the two. "It's time." Rei finally said as she moved towards her Eva. Effectively ending their conversation.

Shinji attention remained at Rei as she entered Unit 01.

-Later…

Type 14 Large Mobile Command Center

"The time is now Zero hundred hours." A Maya said through the intercom.

"Looks like it is show time." Roy said as he sat up in his chair.

"Nearly half a day of work all coming down to this." Armstrong commented. "A few seconds that could determine whether there will be a tomorrow."

"Commencing operation." Makoto sounded at his station.

Misato nodded and then looked forward at the image of Shinji displayed on the computers. "Shinji, we're entrusting you with all the electricity of Japan. Good luck."

"Yes, ma'am." Shinji replied through the intercom.

"And Rei…" Ritsuko followed. "Remember that this is merely a test. If there is no reaction within the first ten seconds of the test, abort and use the shield."

"Understood." Rei quietly replied.

Misato crossed her arms and gave her orders. "Initiate primary connection…"

Misato gave the orders transferring power from all over Japan and into the temporary substation at Mount Futago. The technicians at their command post following through her orders. Technically, from the activations of the power generators to the cooling of the system have all been completed with no noticeable problems. Everything appeared to be a go.

"Release final safety lock." Makoto said as he typed in the commands.

Outside, they see Unit 01 'cocking' the rifle, loading the in the fuse like it was a regular ammunition round. One the size of one of the stages of the Apollo spaceship at least.

"Error correction for rotation and gravity is plus 0.0009." Makoto relayed.

"The computers should be doing most of the work." Misato mentioned. "If all goes well, all he has to do is fire and be done with."

"Everything appears to be in place. Star the clock." Ritsuko ordered to Makoto.

"Yes ma'am." Makoto replied and began a second countdown sequence. Ten seconds started counting down.

"Rei, begin the test." Ritsuko said through her com-link.

"Understood." Rei replied.

"Second Lieutenant Mustang, I leave the rest to you." Ristuko patted him on the shoulder.

"Yes Second Lieutenant! Make us all proud!" Armstrong appeared to wipe a tear away from his eye.

"Yes ma'am." Roy said. His eyes then narrowed a bit in disbelief by the 'moral support' he received. He then pushed the button on his headset. "Rei can you hear me?"

"I can." Rei replied with an even voice.

'During this time, the pilot 'syncs' with that machine. If this is to work, than somehow, that machine must be considered an extension of their body.' Roy contemplated before he relayed what he believed was what the blue haired pilot needed for this test to 'succeed'. "Rei, try to imagine that… Evangelion as a part of you. If you do, than imagine yourself alchemizing the water in front of you."

"Understood." Rei said.

Staging Area

Shinji Ikari, using Unit 01, was in position. The headgear that contained the screen showing the field of vision and the computer's targeting software was robotically placed on top of his head. He could see two triangles closing in on the target as they calculated what it would take to make the perfect shot.

Next to his unit was Rei and Unit 00. Unit 00 was bent down and with one hand placed on the pre-made alchemic circle.

Right now though, Shinji was simply focused on the task at hand.

"Voltage is 0.2 short of critical." Makoto relayed through the intercom.

In the distance away from the staging area, steam began rising above the cables that hooked up the generators that powered the weapon. Electrical discharged crisscrossed the field of turbines.

"Seventh and final connection engaged!" Makoto relayed. "All photo-fuses electron fuses, commence convergence! Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle!"

Shinji gritted his teeth as the seconds ticked by. The intensity seemingly increase with each moment.

In comparison, Rei appeared to be calm and collected as she tried to pass down her elementary alchemic abilities to the Eva. Her eyes were closed as she began to concentrate.

At that moment, the transmutation circle began to glow. The water in front of her began to swirl.

Type 14 Large Mobile Command Center

"It's working!" Ritsuko said in a near ecstatic voice.

However, as she said that, the reaction in the alchemic circle began to dissipate.

"Not enough apparently." Roy frowned.

"Damn." Ritsuko frowned. 'It must be due to her lower sync ratio. If she only had a little more…' "Three seconds left. Rei, prepare the shield…"

As she said that, all of a sudden, huge flash crossed across the computer screen. When the light subsides and the image returns, most of the room was in awe.

"Whoa." Maya said amazed as in front of their screen, they could see what appeared to be a massive, and thick, ice shield of some sorts surrounding the Evas. With just enough room for Shinji to fire through without hitting it.

Ritsuko continued to blink as she herself could not believe what she was seeing. "Needless to say that is much better results than we had expected."

"We'll plan the party later." Misato commented as she scowled. "However, we still have to defeat that Angel!"

"Seven seconds till the cannon is ready to fire. Five, four…" Makoto said as he continued the countdown.

Suddenly they began to see what appeared to be lights flashing around the thin sides of the Angel. Like the lights flashing by an electronic board.

Maya turned from her seat and yelled back at her commanding officers. "High energy output detected from the target!"

"What did you say?" Ritsuko said incensed.

'Shit! The Angel must've realized what is happening when Rei created that ice shield!' Roy scowled. "Rei! Try and reinforce the shield!"

"Understoo…" Rei started her reply.

The computers flashed goindicating that Shinji was ready to fire the rifle.

"Fire!" Misato's voice drowning out everyone else's.

Unit 01

Shinji pressed the buttons on his Eva's controller. This contracted the Eva's trigger finger, triggering the 'rifle' to fire.

A massive energy beam launched from the rifle and shot straight at the Angel at a high speed.

However, at that moment, the Angel fired it's own high energy beam. The bright purplish beam met Shinji's, causing both beams to curve to the side.

A massive boom could be heard on the far end as Shinji's beam was diverted and sliced through one building that was not sunk into the ground, as the one behind it exploded in steel and concrete. When it made contact with the ground, the massive energy burst exploded upward, which while still massive, minimized the ground damage as it only destroyed a part of Tokyo 3 that was left exposed on the surface.

The Angel's beam…

Type 14 Large Mobile Command Center

BOOM! The Angel's beam slammed into the ice shield at an angle. Large cracks could be seen on the Eva's side of the shield. A massive cloud of steam rose on the Angel's side as the majority of the ice shield vaporized. An explosion caused the ground to rumble. Which further cracked the remaining ice shield. What remained was quickly turning back into liquid.

The windows shattered as rocks and other loose material flown up and whirled around. The shaking was throwing the occupants who were not already seated in the truck around like rag dolls. And those that were seated had to hold onto the consoles that were fixed to the floor in the hopes that they would not fall out of their chair. Or worse, get their head cracked open on the console.

"Are you okay doctor?" Armstrong said as Ristuko fell on top of him during the incident. He was gingerly holding her as when truck was rocking.

Ritsuko frown. "Yeah I'm fine. Could you… stop holding me."

"Sorry." Armstrong got up and bowed his head. "It was not my intention to… disrespect you in any way."

Maya looked back at the two and gave a slight frown at the scene.

Misato however was more concerned about what was going on outside of the truck. "We missed?"

"Shit." Roy said. "If we missed then…"

As the computers began to go back online. They confirmed the worst.

"The enemy drill has broken into the Geo-Front!" Makoto vociferated.

"This means we have to get a second shot ready." Roy slammed his fist into the console.

"Fire two! Hurry!" Misato ordered.

Unit 01

Shinji cocked the 'rifle', discharged the spent fuse and loaded the second one in.

Type 14 Large Mobile Command Center

"Replacing fuses! Initiating recharges!" Makoto relayed.

"I can't see anything. All I see is steam!" Shinji said through the intercom.

"Don't worry." Ritsuko commented to help placate the boy. "The computer knows where the Angel is, you don't have to worry about it."

"Barrel cooling in progress." The female technician said that sat next to Makoto. "Resume positron acceleration."

"What about the ice shield?" Ritsuko said behind him.

"Ninety percent of the shield is gone." Makoto said viewing the image of the area.

"Should I order Rei to make a new one?" Roy questioned.

Ritsuko shook her head. "Not enough time. That last blast should've wiped away the transmutation circle." She then frowned as she realized something about the Angel's attack. "And I hate to say this, but the ice shield itself wouldn't have been sufficient in stopping that attack. We were lucky the attack veered off as it did since it would gone through it without any problems." She then turned to the monitor. "Rei, raise the space shuttle shield and prepare for a second attack."

"If all goes well there won't be a second attack." Misato growled.

'That wouldn't have been a concern if the first attack made it through.' Roy thought in contempt, before later chiding himself since he knew that Shinji had no way of knowing that Angel would fire at that exact moment. "Rei, can you hear me? Set up the shield…"

crackling sound

"What's going on?" Roy said as the only thing he heard was static.

Suddenly, an error message appeared on the computers.

"What?" Ritsuko's face paled. "It's coming from Unit 00!"

Outside, they see Unit 00, with the spaceship shield, appeared to be slumped over behind it. It's head leaning on the shield that appeared to have been forced into the ground.

"Unit 00's battery is drained!" Makoto relayed.

"What?!" Misato cried out. "How can that be? We still have… wait no…"

"The alchemy test." Ritsuko sounded what was on Misato's mind.

"Damn it!" Roy eyed Makoto. "How long before Shinji can fire again?"

"Another high energy reading coming from the target!" Maya relayed. Her voice showing a bit of strain.

"Oh no!" Misato shifted her attention to the computers.

"Unit 00 is standing right in front of Unit 01. That means that Unit 00 will get the blunt of the attack!" Ritsuko cried out.

"No!" Roy said raising to his feet.

Unit 01

"WHAT?!" Shinji yelled in shock as he heard the conversation in the cockpit.

Suddenly, he saw the high energy beam from the Angel racing towards him again.

No, not at him.

The beam strikes Unit 00 almost dead on. Shinji was suddenly surrounded by a wave of purple light.

"Rei!" Misato yelled through the intercom.

Shinji's eyes were closed for a second as his cockpit was bathed in light. At least that was what he had expected. He opened one eye to see that something was blocking most of the light. That something was Unit 00.

"Rei… she somehow got the shield in place before her battery was completely drained." Misato said through the intercom.

However…

The shield was only able to give up so much protection to a slumping Unit 00. The shield was placed in the ground as a way to protect Unit 01. Not Unit 00. The unprotected armor that protected Unit 00's internal structure were melting. The top of Unit 00 began to burn.

"Ayanami!" Shinji yelled at the image in front of them.

"Even if Unit 00 still had power, the shield can't hold out much more!" Ritsuko relayed in fear.

"Damage to Unit 00 appear to be reaching critical levels!" Makoto followed, though he was not sure if this was really the case. Truth was, without receiving any information from Unit 00 directly due to it being without energy, they only had Shinji's camera to go by. And seeing the exposed armor was completely gone, and exposed flesh rendered to ash, only the worst could have been assumed.

"Aren't we ready yet?!" Misato yelled out her impatience.

"Ten more seconds!" Makoto followed.

"Do we even have that amount of time?" Roy said next.

Shinji gritted his teeth. He knew Rei's time was running out. But he had to wait for the computer to recalculate and retarget onto the Angel. As the triangle and circle in his viewer moved closer to its target, Shinji's impatience began to wear on him. "Hurry up!"

At that moment, images of what Rei said before appeared in his head.

'If I die, it would simply be an equal exchange would it not?'

"No. That isn't fair. It isn't fair!" Shinji shut his eyes closed for a second as tears threatened to fall. "This is not equal!"

Unit 00 continued to slump further down. More of its inner structure was becoming exposed.

A ping was heard in Shinji's headset.

"NOW!" Roy voice boomed in his headset.

Outside Unit 01

Unit 01's trigger finger contracted. A massive beam shot past Unit 00 and straight across the lake. Ripples waved out from the beam as this time, nothing got in the way of the beam.

The beam sliced through the Angel as if that massive structure was made of nothing more than paper-maché. A massive explosion could be seeing leaving the Angel's back side.

The massive floating Angel, that was now burning, began to sink towards the ground.

Unit 00 collapsed on the ground. Blood seemed to be seeping from the now unprotected 'head', 'arm'. and 'back' of the Eva.

"Ayanami!" Shinji yelled at the fallen Eva.

"Quick! Get a recovery team to Unit 00 now!" Ritsuko's voice sounded through the intercom.

Shinji up righted Unit 00 with Unit 01. As he was doing that, half of Unit 00's right arm fell of. The armor on Unit 00's upper torso was almost completely melted off. The exposed 'flesh' was burnt. Shinji was not sure, but he knew that at least the upper portions of it was now basically ash. After taking out what was left of the armor that covered the plug, the plug instantly shot out from the back. As it did, the LCL sprayed out from four holes from the plugs. He was thankful that, as badly damaged as that area was, it did not forcibly eject the plug when the Angel attack was at its worst.

Shinji, with Unit 01, pulled out Unit 00's plug and dropped it on the ground. He had Unit 01 knelt down to the ground. Afterwards, Shinji deactivated the plug and ejected it. As the LCL began to drain, he first tried to forcibly tried to kick open the hatch of the plug. As the hatch finally unlocked and opened due to still receiving energy from the Eva's battery, he quickly jumped out slid down Unit 01's back. After coughing up the liquid LCL for a moment, forcing the last of the liquid out of his lungs as quickly as possible, he ran up to Unit 00's plug and grabbed the manual override handles that unlocks the plug's door during an emergency. Even with the scolding heat of the door handles, Shinji did not care. The only thought on his mind was that he needed to get her out. The heat that was melting the plugsuit's gloves was nothing compared to what he thought Rei was going through.

The hatch popped open. He grabbed the top of the hatchway and shot his head into the plug. "Ayanami!"

Rei was slumped over, seemingly unconscious at her seat. Her hands were still gripping the controls.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Shinji cried out. "Ayanami!"

Rei's eyes began to open. She raised her head to look at Shinji.

"Are you hurt? Are you in pain?" Shinji said as tears began to form around his eyes.

Rei's image began to focus on him. "I was no longer synced with Unit 00. So I felt no residual feedback."

A smile appeared on Shinji's face. "Don't say that you have nothing else. I mean… not everything that is given, something has to be taken away. Life isn't something you're supposed to give away!"

Rei continued to stare at Shinji.

"And don't say goodbye." Shinji continued. "Don't say goodbye on a mission because, it's too sad."

Shinji suddenly broke down and cried. His tears dropped down into the LCL at the bottom of Rei's plug.

"Why are you crying?" Rei asked. After no response from Shinji, she looked away from him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to do at a time like this."

Shinji looked up at her. "You can just smile. If you want, you can think of it as 'equal' exchange." Shinji said smiling brightly at her.

Rei looked at Shinji, and an image of Gendo appeared in her head. Her eyes widened.

And then soft smile appeared on her face.

-Later…

Shelter

The lights began to flicker on. Though it was more than a few hours after the Angel fell to the ground before power was again rerouted back to the rest of the nation.

"Is it over?" Hikari said as she looked around the area. She arms were still tightly hugging Edward.

"If the lights are on, the answer is probably yes." Ed said in a strained voice. He was still sweating bullets given the very close contact to the Class Rep.

"Oh, well…" Hikari let go of Edward and scooted a few inches away from him. "I knew our Shinji Ikari will come out on top in the end! Luckily I kept everyone calm in those tense moments."

"Rigggggggggggggggght." Ed said sarcastically.

"Well…" Al said in the next mat next to him. "Looks like Shinji came through again!" He gave Edward a thumbs up.

"Yeah." Ed replied, giving Al a thumbs up.

"We should throw a party for him later today! Or tomorrow." Hikari yawned. "Probably tomorrow since I stayed up all night to make sure everyone was okay." She plopped down on the mat.

'More like kept me awake this whole time.' Ed thought frowning. Though he had to admit, he would have probably stayed up all night anyways too since he would have been worrying over Shinji this whole time. Now that a new day was here, maybe… things will be better.

At least, that was his hope in all this.

-Later…

Commander Ikari's Office

"How is the damage on Unit 00?" Gendo said in his typical posture at his desk.

"It looked worse than it really is." Ritsuko answered as she looked over the papers in her hand. "It'll take more time for the organic parts to heal, but only the outer exterior of the unit was damaged. Except for the arm which, thankfully is regenerating fairly quickly. Now it will take time to rebuild the armor surrounding them once they are all healed. Those carrying the purse certainly won't be happy about that. But given Rei Ayanami's last minute thinking by placing the heat shield into the ground before the power completely ran out, it could've been a lot worse."

"And how is Rei Ayanami?" Gendo continued.

"Rei Ayanami was not injured during the attack." Ritsuko stated with a slight frown. Only allowing a little of her animosity towards the little girl show. "If there is one thing to be thankful for, when the battery power was drained, it broke the connection between Rei Ayanami and Unit 00. She felt no pain during the attack."

"I see." Gendo then took a short pause before he moved onto the next topic. "And what about the test? Do you consider it a success or a failure?"

"Well…" Ritsuko tapped the side of her clipboard with her pencil. "I wouldn't go so far as a failure but, the fact that it drained the battery power much faster than our 'five minute window' did take us off guard."

"So the source of the alchemic energy used to alchemize matter came from the Eva's internal energy source?" Gendo questioned with a bit of disappointed in his tone.

Ritsuko shook her head. "No. At least, not completely. According to the scientist that looked over the data, the amount of energy needed to create that ice wall would have been greater than that found in the internal battery. Even if her battery pack was full at the time, it wouldn't have been sufficient to create even a tenth of the ice wall. Much less create that arc that surrounded the Eva's position."

"Intriguing." Gendo's interest returned. "And have the alchemist provided a theory on where this 'extra' energy came from?"

"Warrant Officer Armstrong and Second Lieutenant Mustang both presented theories that their scientist believed, was the source of the alchemic energies." Ritsuko flipped through a few pages until she saw the summary of their explanations. "According to the first theory, the energy is derived from the energy of the earth's crust. Tectonic shifts, the movement of the magma, and so on. The alchemist uses this energy, with the help of a transmutation circle, to change one object into another. This is the more accepted of the two theories on where this energy came from."

"And the second one?" Gendo asked.

"The second one, as relayed by Mustang, is that the energy came across the 'gate' and in turn, came from the other world. In other words, energy, from one parallel world, like the souls of the dead, was used as the energy for their alchemy." Ritsuko explained. "Obviously, most scientist on his world dismiss this controversial theory as fringe, blasphemy, and a fairy tale cooked up by the anti-alchemy extremist as a way to stop people from using alchemy."

Gendo grinned at the last theory. "Of course. It's always better to believe that when they transmute a rock into a clay doll, it wasn't used at the expense of someone's soul in a parallel world. It's nice to justify that this science is harmless with no moral consequence, even as this science preaches equal exchange."

"Of course you do have to wonder, if the latter theory is correct, than when Second Impact hit, then they must've been flooded with alchemic power." Ritsuko stated. "Supposing that this was the world was the source of the energy. And not a 'third' world that's more similar to theirs, time wise at least."

"No matter." Gendo said. "Doesn't matter which theory is correct. What is important is that we now know that the energy does not come from the Evas themselves."

"We're still looking into whether the reason the energy from the battery is due to some sort of 'start up' energy. In other words, the energy that was required to even begin the transmutation." Ritsuko noted. "If true, than that would still limit our ability with this science."

"Very well." Gendo said. "Still, even if it meant it can only be used when they are plugged in, the test with Rei Ayanami and Unit 00 can still be considered a success, and is now a number one priority in terms of research."

"Hmm." Ritsuko closed her eyes as she remembered another matter that Gendo had to deal with today. "Speaking of Rei Ayanami, what did you tell Second Lieutenant Mustang when he brought up the issue about her, residence?"

"I told him I accepted." Gendo stated.

Ritsuko blinked, a bit surprised by the answer. "Huh? You accepted his request?"

"I was against it at first since I had my own reasons for putting her there." Gendo grinned. "And when I told him no at first, he threatened that if he did not gain guardianship of her, that he would refuse to work with us and he will do everything in his power to prevent me from having the Philosopher's Stone."

Ritsuko smirked. "I'm surprised he wanted to do this. I never considered him to be the 'caring type'. Still, did Mustang believed he has any leverage in this world? We do have the other two of course. And even then…"

"Let me finish." Gendo said stopping Ritsuko in her tracks. "He then went on to say that, whatever reason I have in keeping her in that place should pale in comparison to what I'm about to offer. If Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse Elric discover something about the Philosopher's Stone that he'd feel would be, detrimental to his cause, he would be bound to keep it secret from Nerv. However, if I accept this new living arrangement for Rei, he would ensure that all of Edward and Alphonse Elric's findings on the Philosopher's Stone will make it to me. And of course, now Second Lieutenant Roy Mustang will also answer to me concerning his own findings about the Philosopher's Stone."

"Alphonse?"

"Yes. Apparently he isn't simply a suit of armor." Gendo grinned. "But a well trained alchemist in his own right. And like Edward Elric, despite his age, he is also well versed in the understanding of alchemy."

'Well, I knew Gendo would've found out anyways. I didn't think it would be this soon though. And from Mustang of all people.' Ritsuko thought before continuing. "And if you believed Mustang about Alphonse, then that means you're going to bring him down here?"

"No." Gendo replied. "Edward apparently believes that his brother is safe from Nerv, and in so believing, will work on the Philosopher's Stone, no questions asked. I'll let him continue believing that for now. After all, if we assume that Alphone would be with him on the research anyway, no need to add animosity between Nerv and him if there is no reason for it."

"And you believed Mustang when he told you all this?" Ritsuko looked at Gendo questioningly. "You believed that he will betray his comrades only for Rei."

"No." Gendo replied with certainty. "I can tell Mustang is a man that knows how to work the system. I'm sure he was trying to manipulate the situation towards his liking while still not hurting his comrades. I'm sure he sees this as some sort of chest match. And he made a move believing it to be in his favor."

"And you accepted anyway knowing this?" Ritsuko questioned, still not sure what he was thinking.

"Of course." Gendo continued to grin. "At the very least, it would be interesting to see how Second Lieutenant Mustang and his 'subordinate' will be able to take care of Rei Ayanami. And now… I have his word. If the one he was going to betray was me, I'm sure Second Lieutenant Mustang will still make it seem he is on my good side. Still, if the Philosopher's Stone is what the say it is, one way or the other, I will have control over it. And if it ever appeared that he reneged on his promise…

I'll ensure the full weight of Nerv will be bearing down on his shoulders."

-------End of Chapter 12

Wooohooo! I did it! I did it! I finally finished Chapter 12. SORRY about the long delay. But well, real life simply got in the way.

Anyways, a few things. Yes, those 'theories' on how alchemy gets its energy came from both, the anime and manga. The anime one being that souls from another world are used, while the manga one uses the energy from the earth theory. I added both of them since it gives a nice question on which alchemy works for this particular world.

Second, those 'long' winded speeches, aren't there simply because I wanted more a bigger word count. I just, well, like explaining stuff. Partly because I believe the alchemists are behind the Evangelion's time, and that this is a written format. While I can take some liberties since I don't have to recreate this world, doesn't mean I should leave everything to the reader's (or the alchemists') imagination either. :-P

Not to say I'm completely happy about them since yeah, I think they are a tad too long either. I might fix them in a rewrite (great, I finished a chapter, and I'm already thinking of rewriting it. --), but, since I see nothing overtly wrong on this end, here it is.

-Next Chapter… Rei is now living with the Mustangs… um, Mustang and Hawkeye. How will life go there? And now that alchemy is proven to work with the Evangelions, what's next? Until then… later!