A/N: Well, let's keep rolling along!
It had all happened so fast. One day, they were all having fun, being regular people. But the next day, NERV was thrown back into First Stage Alert. Apparently, there was another enemy that would threaten NERV. But where was it?
"You're not going to believe this Ma'am," said Shigeru. "We've found the target!"
Ritsuko Akagi looked at the monitor. "But how? How could it have gotten up there without us knowing?"
Now Misato looked at the monitor. "250 miles above the earth! It's orbiting the earth?"
"Apparently," said Makoto. "It also has a strange looking satellite."
Maya now spoke up. "According to the MAGI, that's a SEELE designed EVA. And the strange satellite is a missile cannon. And the cannon is armed with a very powerful nuclear warhead!"
Everyone gasped. The danger was now much more severe than before. The damage caused by a nuclear bomb would be catastrophic.
"Couldn't we shoot it with the positron rifle?" asked Misato.
Ritsuko sighed. "No. It's way too far away. Even if its AT Field wasn't as strong as the 15th Angel's it's just too far away." The phone rang. "Yes. Understood." Ritsuko turned to the staff. "We are now on Second Stage Alert."
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EVA Launching Bay
The Children had already suited up, but there was no order to launch yet. Misato then came in to brief the Children.
"Kids, I'm not sure how we will handle this one. There's an EVA currently in space."
"What does that mean?" asked Shinji.
"It means to attack us from outer space," replied Misato. "It has a satellite in position to fire at NERV. It will be firing a nuclear missile."
Just like in Central Dogma, the kids gasped too. They also knew the dangers of a nuclear attack. Then Ivana spoke up. "So how will we handle this threat?"
"It's slowly orbiting earth," said Misato. "It will be in range of NERV within 26 hours. Our best bet for the moment is to launch the EVAs in certain locations around NERV to catch the missile and use the AT Field to contain as much of the blast as possible. Success of this plan is not absolute but it's the best we have unless we find something better. This could possibly be the end of NERV, as we know it. You are to go into your entry plugs right now."
"Why do we have to go now?" asked Asuka.
Misato explained. "When you go into the entry plugs, we are going to freeze you inside the plugs."
Toji was a little spooked at the thought of being frozen alive. "F-F-Frozen?"
"Don't worry. It's completely safe. We'll simply freeze the LCL. That will put your bodies in a state of suspended animation. You can stay frozen for up to 48 hours if necessary. When we need you, we will unfreeze you."
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NERV HQ- Battle stations (Nuclear Countdown 25:00:00)
"Now," said Ritsuko. She had given the order for the pilots to be frozen in suspended animation.
"Yes ma'am," said Maya. "Lowering temperature now."
On the visuals for the pilots, they felt the sensation of feeling really cold, then their vitals slowed down until their entire body's production came to a complete stop as a result of being frozen by the LCL.
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Gendo Ikari's Office (Nuclear Countdown 23:59:24)
Gendo Ikari had called all high-ranking personnel into his office. No one knew what was on the Commander's mind unless he chose to speak it.
"Commander, have you come up with an idea?" asked Misato
"Yes we have. But it will not be an easy task," replied Gendo.
Vice-Commander Fuyutski too this time to speak. "Our solution is this. We put an EVA into space and attack directly."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Misato.
"We've been in contact with the Canadian and American governments," replied Ritsuko. "Canada and the United States have been working closely with space technology. The Americans can get an EVA into space. Canada can provide the equipment we need to support an EVA when it reaches space."
"How many EVAs can we send?" asked Misato again.
"Just one unfortunately," replied the VC.
"The chosen pilot for this operation is the Sixth Child, Zack Harper," said Gendo.
Ritsuko spoke up again. "The United States will provide us with three of its NASA shuttles: Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor. It will take three shuttles to get the EVA into space. Canada will provide us with Type-E equipment, making it possible for an EVA to fight in space. And Unit 05 has been designed to be able to use the Type-E equipment. So the only thing left to do is to wake Zack up from his state of suspended animation."
"Wake him up," ordered the Commander.
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The last thing Zack remembered was being in his entry plug. Then the LCL got really cold. Then nothing. Suddenly, the LCL started feeling warm again. But all his body parts felt really numb. As the LCL warmed up, he could feel his body again. He opened his eyes. There was Misato on the other side of the com. "H-H-H-Hey M-M-M-Misato." He was still obviously very cold.
"Rise and shine Casanova," said Misato in a cheery voice. "We've got a job for you."
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"Woohoo! I get to go into space!" Zack was happy at hearing the news.
"This isn't a field trip you know," said Ritsuko. "You're the only pilot going up there. So your success or failure will impact the entire fate of NERV."
"Party pooper."
Ritsuko just remember something. "Oh yeah Zack. The Canadian government made this plugsuit for you."
Zack was a tad confused. "What's the difference between this one and the one I use? It's still green."
"Just put it on and I'll explain when you get back."
Two minutes later Zack came back with the new plugsuit on. "Hey cool! There's a Canadian flag on the back! Now I feel like I'm really representing Canada!"
Ritsuko explained the functions of Zack's new plugsuit. "This plugsuit is probably one of the best we've ever come up with. This plugsuit examines your body temperature and makes sure you won't be too hot or too cold. The flag was just an extra feature."
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NERV HQ - EVA training room (Nuclear Countdown 21:02:56)
"How's he doing?" asked Misato. Her and Ritsuko were watching Zack on the (repaired) virtual simulator.
"He's still having difficulty getting the hang of it. Being able to use the many jet thrusters to go wherever you want isn't as easy as it seems. But he is slowly doing better. We do have a problem though."
"What could that be?" asked a curious Misato.
"With all the functions, it will take up a large amount of power. He'll only have one hour of power with the battery pack we can give to Unit 05. And after that, he'll only have the usual five minutes."
"And that means…"
Ritsuko finished. "It means we will have to launch it when the cannon gets rather close to being able to fire upon us. He won't have a lot of time to stop these terrorists."
A thought just came to Misato's mind. "Oh and what about the other pilots?"
"They'll be kept in suspended animation until two hours to blastoff."
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(Nuclear Countdown 4:25:21) (Countdown to Blastoff 3:15:21)
Overtime, many things had happened. EVA Unit 05 was transferred to America. Unit 05 and its pilot would be launched from Area 51, The United States' most secret military base. During this time, NASA had arranged for the three space shuttles to be sent to Area 51.
"So we'll set it up like this," Ritsuko was telling the engineers how to have the shuttles take Unit 05 into space. "Have the shuttles surround Unit 05 in a triangle, and with all three attached to it, there should be enough power to get it off the ground."
A/N: In this fanfic, Ritsuko knows English.
Misato felt really out of place here. She didn't understand one word of English. So she was really confused when she heard the Americans speak in English. The only people here that knew Japanese that she knew were Ritsuko and Zack. And Ritsuko was busy explaining how to blast Unit 05 into space. And Zack was getting some rest before he went into Unit 05.
To kill some time, Misato took a look at Unit 05. It had lots of extra armour on it. Probably to protect it when it would leave the earth's atmosphere. And it had jet thrusters built into its feet, its back, its shoulders, and it would also be equipped with a positron rifle and a progressive sword for distanced combat and up-close combat.
Suddenly, she heard a voice. In Japanese too! "Hey Misato!"
She turned around. It was Zack. He had his plugsuit on and already seemed raring to go. "Zack. Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Nah. Can't sleep even if I wanted to. I just can't shake the butterflies in my stomach. I just wanna get this over with."
"Same here."
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NERV HQ- Briefing room (Nuclear Countdown 3:10:00) (Blastoff 2:00:00)
The kids had all been awoken from suspended animation. They were briefed on what was going on. Asuka was jealous of the fact that Casanova was going into space. But they were then all led into a room where they could watch the space battle. (Courtesy of Rogers.) It was on a big-screen TV too. But they were told that if Zack was defeated or they had 30 minutes before a nuclear attack, they were to get in their EVAs and try to catch the nuke before it would hit NERV.
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Area 51 (Nuclear Countdown 1:12:00) (Blastoff 0:02:00)
It was almost time. Everything was ready. The shuttles were set. Unit 05 was ready to go. Zack was more than ready to fight. The only thing that kept Zack from the next frontier was the stupid countdown clock.
Ritsuko came on the com. "You ready Zack?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Keep in mind that until you get into space, the G-Force will make it difficult to move for a few minutes. And once you get into space, move west along the equator while in orbit. You should be able to catch up with the enemy EVA within 40 minutes. Understand?"
Zack gave his usual mock salute. "Yes ma'am!"
The com signed off. Not long after, the countdown began. "30! 29! 28! 27! 26! 25! (skip ahead to 10)10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! We have liftoff."
The three shuttles' rocket boosters began to activate. They then slowly lifted off, taking Unit 05 with them into the air.
'Ritsuko was right,' thought Zack. The G-Force was tough for anyone to handle, especially a 14-year old kid. But he wouldn't let it get the better of him. He knew it would only last a few minutes. Then he'd be in space and be weightless. But to his disappointment, he remembered that the LCL in the plug regulated the gravity. 'So much for floating'.
After a few minutes, the G-Force stopped. Zack then realized he was in space. He remembered what he had to do. He activated the leg and back thrusters, and sped along the equator, hoping to find and destroy the son of a bitch.
"Unit 05 is now orbiting the earth and is in pursuit of the enemy EVA," said an Area 51 technician. "And the shuttles are orbiting in the opposite direction and are making their returns."
'It's all up that philanderer now,' thought Misato.
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Space - 250 miles above the earth. (Nuclear Countdown 8 minutes, 19 seconds)
Zack continued his orbit. He had 20 minutes of battery power left. Then he spotted two strange looking things floating in space. There was his target! The EVA appeared to see him and started shooting at him.
Misato came on the com. "Unit 05! Prepare for combat!"
Unit 05 evaded the attacks and returned fire with his own positron rifle. After several rounds of shooting at each other, they EVAs charged in for melee combat. Zack drew his progressive sword. To his surprise, the enemy EVA had one too. So now Zack had about 18 minutes left on his battery pack and he wasn't making any progress in penetrating his enemy's defense. He attacked with an overhead cleave. The EVA blocked and tried a horizontal slash. Zack then used his shoulder booster to rocket out of the way. However, the EVA fired a disruptor missile from close range!
"Oh my god!" shouted Misato "Zack are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm okay. But that sure didn't tickle."
Suddenly, a technician spoke up. "The battery pack has malfunctioned." That was the doomsday message everyone had been dreading. Zack now had only 5 minutes to stop the EVA and then stop the satellite.
Zack tapped into his rage and assaulted his opponent with a flurry of assaults. He had less than 5 minutes, so he chose to attack in a berserker fashion.
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Gendo Ikari's Office
"This doesn't look good," said Fuyutski. "He's got less than 5 minutes to save humanity. What if he fails?"
"Then it will be the eventual extinction of the human race," replied Gendo Ikari.
The VC spoke up once more. "Is there any other way should the Sixth fail to stop the satellite?"
"There is another way, but I'm not sure he'll be able to harness it."
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EVA Timer (2:00) (Nuclear Countdown 5:00)
Zack kept up his assaults. He tried his best not to look at the clock that symbolized his doomsday countdown. He had to stop it at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his life.
He tried a vertical slash, but the EVA saw it and sidestepped it, and kicked him in the side. He then tried a spin-slash, but that failed too.
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Tokyo-3 - Inside EVA Unit 02
From Asuka's point of view, it seemed the inevitable was happening. Zack was going to lose this battle. She looked over at Shinji who was in Unit 01. A tear came down her eye. The last two days were the best days of her life. She was finally with someone who she genuinely loved, and who genuinely loved her the same way. And now with this nuke attack looming, it seemed like the end. 'It just isn't fair!' she thought to herself. When NERV got destroyed, SEELE would invade, and would most likely kill them all.
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Slowly but surely, Zack was wearing down his opponent. The EVA gave its all, but could not break through someone who had something to fight for. The swords clashed again, but then Zack tried a gutsy move. He apparently let his opponent push him back, but as he advanced, Zack sidestepped to the side, pulled out the progressive knife, and stabbed the cockpit! The EVA began shaking violently as a result and dropped the sword. Now facing an apparently defenseless opponent, Zack proceed to take 4 more cuts, cutting the EVA into several pieces. The result was an explosion.
"All right! Now for that satellite!" he said aloud. But then, the EVA's power just died out! He checked the clock. HE WAS OUT OF TIME! "OH FUCK!"
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Shinji was horrified at what he saw. Zack's EVA had run out of power. And he wasn't able to stop the satellite. It was going to fire in less than 3 minutes! And then the end of NERV was imminent. He looked at Asuka. He felt sick to his stomach. He wouldn't be able to protect her like a man should do. Shinji wanted to be able to do something, but he wasn't sure what would do.
Then he heard a voice. "The EVA doesn't just respond to hate. It can also respond to love as well." It sounded like his mother.
"M-mother?"
"You need to protect her."
Shinji was confused. "Her? You mean Asuka?"
"Yes."
"How do I do that? I want to save her and everyone. But I don't know how."
"Listen to your heart. It will respond to you."
Shinji's eyes open with a look of realization.
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This looked like the imminent end now for sure. Asuka had resigned herself to a fate to die all alone without anyone at her side. She felt horrible all over. Suddenly, as she looked outside, Unit 01 began acting strange It appeared to be doubled over as if in pain. She heard Shinji scream over the com.
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"This can't be! How could Shinji's sync ratio be at 500?" Maya was horrified at the data that appeared before her.
"What? 500?" Even the Vice-Commander was surprised.
All the while, Shinji continued to scream.
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Nuclear Countdown 1:00
Asuka watched in horror. Unit 01 was doubled over still. She could hear Shinji's scream still. He appeared to be in extreme pain. Then Unit 01 floated into the sky. Suddenly, it spread out its arms and legs. What she observed next shocked her. Unit 01 had grown orange spectral wings! When the transformation was over, Shinji's screaming stopped.
The purple EVA landed back on the ground. The behemoth bent its knees, and using its angelic powers, took off into the sky at an astounding speed.
30 seconds left
Unit 01 continued to fly up. Whether the heat was too much for Shinji to handle or not didn't seem to stop him. Asuka could hear his scream once more as Unit 01 blew through the atmosphere.
15 seconds left
Unit 01 blew through all the atmospheric stages as if they were nothing. It was truly an amazing sight to see. It quickly passed through the exosphere, officially putting him in space.
7 seconds left
Unit 01 was almost within attacking range. But could he make it in time?
6!
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
What happened right before the nuke launched was Unit 01 plowing right through the satellite like it was nothing. The satellite with the nuke created a large explosion. But luckily, since they were still in space, the radioactive particles would never enter the atmosphere.
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NERV HQ - Battlestation
"The satellite has been destroyed," said Makoto.
"Look! Unit 01 is taking Unit 05 back down to earth!" said Shigeru
"And Shinji's sync score is still holding at 500!" reported Maya.
Everyone watched as Unit 01 flew back through the atmosphere carrying Unit 05 and eventually landed outside Tokyo-3. Then it suddenly collapsed!
Asuka brought her hands to her mouth in horror. Usually something bad alwayshappened to Shinji when his sync ratio hit 400, let alone he's never done 500 before!"No! He can't be dead!" She activated Unit 02 and went after Shinji and Zack. By the time she got there, she saw Zack had gotten out of Unit 05 and was trying to force open Unit 01's entry plug. But coming through the atmosphere made it really hot. But then Asuka used Unit 02 to rip the top off the plug so they could free Shinji.
Zack then quickly pulled an unconscious Third Child out of the entry plug and tried to slap some life back into Shinji. Asuka then got out of her Unit 02 and also tried to wake Shinji up.
"Hey Shinji! You in there!" said Zack. "Shit. He's notbreathing!"
"Shinji! Shinji! Wake up! Please! Wake up!" shouted a hysterical Asuka. Shinji wasn't responding."SHINNNNNNNNNNJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"