Gundam-Evangelion Crossover

by Keiichi Morisato

The Gundam in the title of this fic DOES NOT and WILL NOT pertain to Wing. I just don't see how and why Wing and Eva would be connected. Anyway, UC is much better than AC. Go figure.

4. Amuro, Again The Winds of Jabrow Jaburo...

As soon as an unconscious Shinji was brought to one of Nerv's emergency rooms, the Angel continued on its slow course until it stopped somewhere in the middle of Tokyo. The Angel soon grew a narrow, drill-like mechanism from under it and started to drill away at the city's cement under it.

Ritsuko: What's the enemy started doing?

Makoto: It's drilling towards the geofront--towards Nerv HQ!

Ritsuko: Damn, it's trying a direct attack against us!


********************
A Mobile Suit Gundam / Neon Genesis Evangelion crossover
written by Lloyd Barrieses (kachiko00@yahoo.com)
Mobile Suit Gundam (c)1978 Yoshiyuki Tomino/Bandai/Sunrise.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (c)1996 Gainax/Project Eva./TV Tokyo/NAS.
All rights reserved.

This fanfiction owned and authored by Lloyd Barrieses. Any attempt to
steal this fic (i.e. putting your name in the credits) shall be met with
appropriate punishments. I'm serious, folks.
********************

[Act 4]

Episode 7, "Amuro, Again"
-------------------

The Alexandria wasn't doing very good either; Titans Sergeant Jamaican Danningan had apparently sent some forward troops in the form of one Irish-class support cruiser containing a number of GM mobile suits and a few RMS-108 Marasai's. The ship had been reported to Jamaican to be vaporized upon nearing the coast of Tokyo by something that appeared to be a blue transparent thing that looked like an 8-sided die. In his career in the Federal Forces, and now with the Titans, he had never heard of such a weapon ever being developed by either them or the AEUG. He realized he was, in a way, pinned to a corner and thought carefully what he should do next.

Jerid: So what do you think we should do, eh Sarge?

Jamaican: We wait, Jerid. I'll have you know that some of our informers also told us that blue thing out there was also giving the AEUG's new weird-looking purple mobile suit a hard time with some kind of a particle beam attack.

Kirkricon: So you think we should let the AEUG do that blue thing in while we wait then we strike after they beat it?

Jamaican: Yes, that's what I'm saying. We couldn't risk any more ships or mobile suits to this new kind of enemy we have here.

Jerid: Tch...and I was really waiting to kick AEUG butt real bad right now...especially one of their biggest assholes Camille Vidan. I'll see to it that *I'll* be the one to kill him, Sergeant.

Jamaican: Patience, man. We still have to retrieve those stolen Gundam Mk-II's and we can't really afford them to be destroyed by your arrogance and impatience, Lieutenant. The last thing I want to have is to have my ass fried by Colonel Bosque because one of *my* men failed to obey my orders. Do you understand, officer?

Jerid: Yeah, whatever...

Jamaican: Anyway, you people will still have to stand by for further instructions or until at least that blue thing over there's done with, all right? This little backwoods Japanese fishing port that the Alexandria's in right now may not be the most pleasant of places but I'm sure no one would ever see us here.

Jerid: Well, if all we're gonna do here is wait, then I'm off. I ain't gonna stay here and watch those AEUG punks do some little freak show here in Japan. I'm going back to Jabrow, Sarge...there may be some more excitement there than here, if you know what I mean. And besides...that new purple-haired chick might just do the job for me. She's one of our new recruits, right Sarge?

Jamaican: You mean Rosamia? Jerid, she's not a "new recruit" per se, these people from upstairs sent her to us just yesterday and I'm assuming she might be on the service for quite some time now. You're right on that note that she might be a good pilot to add to our ranks, but I don't really trust anyone who's been sent to us from Augusta Laboratories...

Kirkricon: And here I thought you wanted to kick that boy's arse so badly, Jerid. Man, what's gotten into you suddenly? You did tell me once when we were on our way back here to Earth you wanted to "avenge Lyla's death" or something like that...right?

Jerid: ...never mind. The people upstairs want me in Jabrow anyway...well, I guess I'll see you then.

Kirkricon: Yeah, and bring me home some hot Latin chicks while you're at it, eh?

---

And as Jerid's mini-dropship launched off from Japan into the former Federation base in Jabrow, South America, the Alexandria and its crew sat patiently waiting off-shore for the AEUG's next move...or at least until the Angel went away.

Afternoon soon dwindles into twilight. In Nerv HQ, Captain Misato Katsuragi was discussing strategy with some of the Nerv technical staff about the Angel's status. She had just found out that while the Angel automatically attacks anything hostile to it within a certain radius, its particle cannon destroys it with 100% accuracy.

Nerv crew A: We've confirmed this on the basis of a report to us this afternoon that one of the Titans' support battlecruisers had apparently been destroyed by the Angel. It was reported to have been an Irish-class, much similar to the AEUG's Mont Blanc and the Radish.

Misato: So that means we can't get the Eva close enough to neutralize its A.T. field for melee combat. We will just have to worry about the Titans later, for all I know they might just be waiting for the AEUG to come out of our "rats' hole", if you will. What about the enemy's A.T. field?

Nerv crew A: It's still active. It's so powerful that you can actually see the phase-shift space with the naked eye.

Misato: It's practically perfect in both attack AND defense. This thing's an impregnable flying fortress. Now, what's the situation on its drill?

Makoto: Ma'am, it appears to be a drill bit with a diameter of 17.5 meters, currently drilling towards Nerv HQ. It's reached the #2 armored plate separating us here underground in the geofront from Tokyo.

Misato: What's its estimated time of arrival to reach HQ?

Makoto: Tomorrow morning at 0006 hours. By that time, we believe it will have cut through all 22 layers of armored plating and reached Nerv HQ.

Misato: Less than 10 hours, then... /Dr. Akagi, what's the status of Unit-01?/

Ritsuko: /The chest is completely melted down to the third armor plate. We're lucky that the functional center wasn't damaged. We'll have the armor swapped out in two to three hours./

Misato: /What about Unit-00?/

Ritsuko: /Reactivation is no problem, but there are still feedback problems./

Misato: Damn it! Eva Unit-00's just not battle-ready! (sighs) All right, what about Shinji? How's he doing so far?

Makoto: No physical damage. The nerve pulse is a bit unstable, but it's within acceptable parameters. He's still under sedation.

Misato: (shakes her head) Tsk, tsk...doesn't look good, does it?

Makoto: Shall we raise the white flag?

The 29-year-old girl turned towards her subordinate officer with a little grin and after playfully toying around with the pen she was holding, pointed it towards him.

Misato: Mmmm....nice idea! But before we try that, we've gotta try everything we can. We'll have plenty of time to regret our decisions when we're dead.

---

Chris walked around back and forth inside one of Eva Unit-01's large alternative transport elevators thinking about the events of the day. She just could not believe Nerv would just put them on standby, but upon hearing from Misato herself about what the Angel could potentially do, Chris just bit her lip and waited.

Chris: These things keep getting worse and worse each day, huh?

Amuro: I know, Christina. I'd even doubt if we could even take a peek at it, it'd blow our mobile suits' heads off.

Camille: Well, if it's that dangerous, why in the world do we have to fight it? It's not like it's also our job as well to defeat these Angels...

Amuro: But it *is* also our job, Camille. Well, at least not too directly. We're just here to give support to Shinji when he needs it and, like what Captain Bright told me earlier, we'll stage a counterattack against these Titans if they ever do come out. I'm sure everything will be fine.

Walking away from them for a while, Camille put in one of his quarters in a nearby vending machine and got his can of Diet Mr. Pibb. He looked around the streets of Tokyo and wondered how in the world did some of the buildings here just "sank" to the ground. He had never seen anything like it in all his life of living in space.

Camille also wondered why these streets of Tokyo were so...empty all of a sudden. He had been hearing things on TV once or twice that Tokyo was quite a busy place to be in. Anyway, he thought, he must be going back to where Amuro-sempai and the rest are.

The blue-haired boy finally came back and gave each of his comrades a can of Diet Mr. Pibb. He drank some from his can and looked up at the 18-meters-tall mobile suits that were before him.

Apolli: Hey, I didn't ask for "Diet"!

Camille: Well *excuse* me, Lieutenant Apolli. It's not my fault the machine ran out of regular ones. Besides, the regular ones are a little too...umm, sugary for the recommended daily dosage.

Apolli: Well, you could have gone for root beer instead...

Amuro: (drinks) Mmmm...this stuff's good! Haven't tried any soda drinks for a long time now...hey, thanks for the cool drinks, Camille!

Chris: Mmhmm, I'm sure Bernie would like some too...

Camille: Umm, well, thank you...

Amuro: By the way, Christina. Whatever happened to your fiancé Bernard?

Chris: (grins) Oh, Bernie's good, yeah! He's uhh...he's living in my condo back in Dublin and is spending his time preparing for our wedding!

Amuro: Why's he not with us, anyway? He could be a good addition to either the Kalaba or the AEUG, I've heard he was once a Zeon mobile suit pilot...

Chris: He was a *rookie* pilot, sempai. I'd doubt if he could be a great addition to us, but I'm sure he'd be good. Heh heh, I never knew it was him piloting that Zaku I fought back in 0080 until I accidentally turned on that communications radio link and he heard me yelling back there! (giggles)

Camille: So you've known him even before you fought against him in a dogfight?

Chris: You could say that, but I didn't know he was a Zeon soldier when we started going out together. He's such a sweet guy...you know, Camille, if you and Amuro-sempai and even Apolli and Roberto here ever get to know him I'm sure you'll all get to be very good friends! (giggles)

Camille: (grins) Heh heh, and I'm sure he thinks you're the coolest girl in the world too. Well, this is me giving you an advanced greeting of good luck on your wedding day, eh?

Chris: Thanks, Camille! Hey, what about *your* lovelife, Camille? How are you and that cutie Fa doing, hmm?

Camille: Well, you've probably seen her in the past few days that the AEUG and the Kalaba have been together. She's doing good, actually...when she's not drinking that regular Mr. Pibb stuff... (leers at Apolli)

Apolli: Now what the hell's wrong with regular Mr. Pibb? I think it's perfectly delicious and sweet too, unlike that Dr. Pepper stuff that's been out in the markets lately...

Camille: Oh, nothing's wrong with it, man. It's just that Fa gets a little more than umm...hyper when she drinks that Mr. Pibb stuff. No, let me rephrase that, she gets ditzy...and when she gets ditzy, I have to get patient and relax when she starts dragging me all over town to go shopping. Geez, I remember that day when...

Chris: (pats Camille on the back) Awww, poor baby. Well, you'll just have to deal with it because she IS your girlfriend, after all. One thing, though: you may have to tell her to stay away from regular Mr. Pibb because I *have* been hearing that that stuff has too much sugar in it.

Apolli: It does NOT--!!

Roberto: Lieutenant...umm, maybe you shouldn't behave that way over some crummy soda drinks, okay? If Commander Quattro hears about this I'm sure he'd--

Amuro: Heh heh heh heh, you guys are funny, eh? Well, that's good, at least we'd conserve enough of our energy to fight against the Titans if they ever do come here. I guess this is gonna be a long wait, so have your fun while you're at it.

And so Amuro's comrades chatted with each other, mostly about their day-to-day experiences with people, their past experiences with their current military affiliations, and some other stuff. Amuro looked at the Angel through a pair of binoculars and thought about how such a thing could exist. He never believed in space aliens anyway ever since he was a kid, but the current situation has quite taken a different impact on him. Somehow, his Newtype senses tell him these Angels aren't just your ordinary run-of-the-mill space aliens...

His gaze turned towards the moon and his thoughts turned towards his own life experiences as a soldier in the Federal Forces. Once a mere stubborn, cowardly, 15-year-old lad who had just been pulled into service between the Zeon and the Federation, nothing much has changed now that he was 22 years old. His cowardice and stubbornness almost got the best of him back during the time he was put under house arrest in Cheyenne, Wyoming just days ago. This has been proven when four of his old friends in the Pegasus White Base took a little visit to him...

[Flashback]

Frau Kobayashi (née Bow), wife to Amuro's fellow mobile suit pilot in the glory days of the Pegasus White Base, Hayato Kobayashi, former crewmember of the said Federal Forces battlecruiser and close friend to Amuro, took her now-teenaged adopted children Katsu, Retsu, and Kikka, who were themselves once merely helpless orphaned children on the White Base, on a visit to Amuro before heading off to their home in Japan. Frau was worried for Amuro as he had been kept under house arrest by the Federation for reasons unknown to her. Amuro had sarcastically commented to Frau that the Feddies might be afraid that the AEUG might get a hold on him and use him as a weapon against the Federation.

Katsu sighed as he expressed his displeasement about all that has happened to Amuro so far. He sees all of this as Amuro just going with the flow and not fighting back like he used to do in U.C. 0079, even when Amuro was pinned to a corner and would have no other choice but to run away. Amuro's apparent pacifist attitude had decreased Katsu's view of the older person as a great and honorable hero.

A few days later, someone disguised as a Federal Forces officer "visited" Amuro while it was nightfall and had narrowly escaped with him amidst tight security. At first, Amuro didn't really want to escape. These seven years of not being in the service had further decreased his spirit and will to fight, and he felt it wouldn't really help if he went against the Federal Forces--or in this case, the Titans--at this time.

But Katsu's words haunted him to no end until that day that this unknown spy in a Federal Forces had come to "rescue" him. Maybe this was a sign for him, he thought, that someone is definitely repeating history once again. This time, this someone was from the Earth Federation and not from the Zeon. The tables have truly turned in these seven years that he has been "away".

And now, as Amuro, the spy, and his companions were speedily escaping from Cheyenne, from Wyoming, and finally from the U.S. West Coast, he had taken upon himself that someone out there must know they must take action. He wasn't exactly sure if these rumors of what the Titans did on Side 3 were true, he just knew something had to be done.

[End Flashback]

---

There was that same darkness enveloping him once again. Shinji turned his head around and saw a faint vision of himself when he was but a young lad of six or seven.

Shinji: W...Where am I...?

There were two, three other familiar figures who were with the young Shinji and it looked like the other two, who were older than him and the other figure, were talking to Shinji.

Young Shinji: Oh, it's you, Uncle, Auntie! (looks at the other figure sourly) You had to come too, Asuka?

Uncle: Hello, Shinji!

Auntie: Shinji, we have something for you...

Young Asuka: Hmph! I jus' wanna see what yer up to again so I can murderize ya! Bleahhhh! (sticks out her tongue at Shinji)

And then there was shown to him an image of a small cottage near the four figures. The younger version of himself seemed happy; but he almost knew too well what was going to happen.

Shinji: It's...it's my old study room...heh, now that I think of it, it's pretty primitive for spacenoids to make wooden study rooms anyway...but still...

Uncle: You're going to work here from now on, Shinji. It's pretty cozy here since you're going to be in the garden.

Auntie: Yes, and that's because we'll be enrolling you in junior high next year. Aren't you glad? Too bad Asuka's uncle here told her she was going to school on Earth, she really wanted to get into school with you!

Young Asuka: (blushes) I did NOT! I dun' wanna go to skewl wid Shinji! He's much too messy when he does this n' that!

Young Shinji: (smiling) Thanks...thanks, auntie. Thanks, uncle...an' no thanks to YOU, Asuka.

Shinji: And after that, I told myself that I'll work better when I'm alone. I did well on my own, actually. I never really needed my dad anyway...

And there was an image of a younger version of him again, walking down a certain road in his home colony when he was still living in Side 7. He happened upon a certain part of the road and saw a bicycle that looked like it was abandoned by its owner. The bike looked like it was still intact, so he thought maybe--

Federal Forces MP: Hold it, kid. That your bike?

Young Shinji: N...no, b-but someone had thrown it away, an' I found it just lying there, so I--

Federal Forces MP: It's not nice to lie.

Young Shinji: (sweating and shaking his head) Honest! It's the truth!

Federal Forces MP: That's what they all say, kid. Let's have a little trip at the station, is that okay with you?

And there was an image of that same younger version of himself sitting on a chair across a rectangular table. The younger Shinji was being questioned by another Federal Forces MP, probably the chief in in this district of the colony. Shinji knew all too much how he felt that day.

Federal Forces MP: Name?

Young Shinji: Shinji Ikari.

Federal Forces MP: And your address?

Young Shinji: .....

Federal Forces MP: Who's your guardian?

Young Shinji: .....Gendo Ikari.

A door slammed open near Shinji and his very worried aunt rushed to his side.

Auntie: SHINJI! What did you do?! You should have *told* us if you wanted a bike!

Young Shinji: (looks away) No...

Auntie: Your father gave us enough money for that...

And as the memory of his aunt's voice faded away, Shinji had felt the bitter feelings for his despicable father he had felt that day. That's not what happened, he told himself over and over again. That's not what happened, Auntie...

Shinji: Dad...you wouldn't have come to pick me up even now. But if Mom were alive...would she have come for me...? Mom...

---

Tears streamed down Shinji's face as he found himself waking upin a hospital bed. To his surprise and as he said the word "mom", the first person he had seen eye to eye by his bedside was...

Shinji: ...! Ah...A-Ayanami...!

Rei kept her silence as she poured some milk from a carton to a glass and prepared Shinji's meal. Shinji though it was almost too much like...wait a minute. Was he buck naked? Oh my god, he thought, now Ayanami's seeing *me* naked! Aaaargh!

Rei: Here's some food. They said to get you to eat something once you woke up.

Shinji: (sits up, covering his nakedness with a hospital blanket) ...I...I don't really feel like eating anything.

Rei: I think you should eat something before we go. We will leave in sixty minutes.

Shinji: (looks at Rei, puzzled) ...huh?

---

Misato: /How's the positron rifle coming?/

Somewhere else in Nerv HQ, Nerv technicians and some few AEUG technicians and engineers as well were busy assembling and making final adjustments on some kind of a large rifle-like weapon made seemingly and especially for the Evangelion Unit-01's use against the fifth Angel.

Nerv technician A: /I swear we'll make it happen in three hours. You have the word of the technical development department on that! Just leave it to us!/

Misato: /All right./ How's the outlook on the energy system?

Makoto: It's currently 3.2 percent behind schedule, but we'll make it by 2310 hours--somehow.

As always, when an anti-Angel operation was underway, the two grand pooh-bah's of Nerv were standing above their underlings in an elevated place in Nerv HQ's main control room. Fuyutsuki, the elderly second in command, who was standing beside a seated Gendo Ikari, rubbed his chin in thought of Misato's battle tactics against the Angel. Gendo, however, was doing yet again his trademark "hands clasped at the edge of his nose" and just simply observed what his captain will have been doing.

Fuyutsuki: I'm amazed the JSSDF Labs let you requisition that positron rifle! And then to requistion EVERY watt of power in Japan for a sniper shot at extreme range...you've come up with a rather bold plan, Captain Katsuragi.

Misato: (turns towards him) It was the most effective option, sir, given the time remaining to us. If we can't neutralize the enemy's A.T. field, our only chance is to punch through it with a concentrated high-order energy point!

Gendo: I see no reason to oppose you, Captain Katsuragi. Go to it.

And as Nerv prepared for battle, the Angel was still consistently drilling away to the underground Nerv HQ. Six hours and forty-five minutes remaining to contact...it's all the time Nerv has got.

---

Rei: Here is the schedule for the operation that will begin at 0000 hours tomorrow. Shall I begin? "Pilots Ikari and Ayanami will assemble at the cage at 1730 hours. At 1800 hours, Eva Unit-01 and Unit-00 will be activated. 1805 hours, launch. At 1830, arrive at the temporary base on Mt. Futago. Await further orders. Commence operation at midnight."

Shinji: (sighs) ...I have to get back in that thing...? After what I just went through...?

Rei: If you don't want to, why not just run away again?

Shinji: ...!!

Rei: I can pilot Unit-01. It won't take long to rewrite the personal data.

Shinji: (stares hard at Rei) .....

Rei: (begins to leave the room) Well, then. I'll see you in sixty minutes. Make sure you eat something.

Shinji just shivered in his hospital bed as he saw Rei leave the room. As he twiddled the hospital food around with a spoon and fork without any hint of enthusiasm as far as getting back to pilot Eva Unit-01 was concerned, he thought of what might happen next if he had battled the Angel for the second time. It didn't matter if Rei were with him this time, it was just that once again, there was that fear of getting hit by that particle beam attack and, the possibility that he might be killed this time.

---

As Tokyo was still a really big city by the time of U.C. 0087, the helicopter flying above had no need to worry about the Angel eliminating it. The helicopter was announcing the imminent blackout throughout Tokyo and throughout all of Japan at midnight. The announcement was all over the news as well, but this didn't really seem new to Kensuke Aida anymore, who was in fact watching TV through the TV feed of his digital video camera. They were once again, on the rooftop of their school, anticipating Eva Unit-01's launch from underground.

Kensuke: (sounding impatient) All RIGHT already, we get the idea! They don't have to keep yakking about it.

Toji: Yo, Kensuke! You sure about da time? We're s'posed to be evacuated by now!

Kensuke: I took a peek at Dad's data. This is definitely the right time!

Rumblings from under them had started, and when it came to, they saw Eva Unit-01 from across a hill walking towards a certain direction. If this was an anime presentation, there would have been hearts on Kensuke's eyes right now.

Kensuke: (sounding very excited) There it is!! A-a-a-a-an Evangelion...!! Wow, and there's Unit-00 too! This is just so COOL!! Hmm...what do you suppose that big shield that Unit-00's holding for...?

Toji: Hmmm...so Ayanami's with him this time...'EEEEEEYYYYYYY YOU TWO!!!!!!! KICK SOME ASS!!

---

Night was falling deeper as the Angel was still keeping a constant pace as to drilling its way towards Nerv HQ. Secondary and tertiary adjustments were being made for the power transfer from all of Japan into Nerv HQ and finally into the positron rifle as the first part of the execution of Misato's plan.

Mt. Futago was just a small distance away from the Tokyo city proper, but it provided just that much defense should this anti-Angel operation be executed successfully. Misato and Ritsuko were briefing Shinji and Rei, who were once again clad in their skintight plugsuits, about what they're supposed to do in the execution of this particular operation.

Misato: All right. Listen carefully to what we're about to say. This long thing here is what we'll call a "positron rifle". Nerv requisitioned from the Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force research labs. It's still pretty much an experimental weapon, though. According to our calculations, it can punch through the enemy's A.T. field even at this range. However, it's a precision instrument, not intended for field operations--AND a system we've thrown together in a big hurry. Hopefully the AEUG might be able to help us in upgrading its system so we can be able to use it in field operations but we'll worry about that later. Now about Unit-00's large shield: we've jury-rigged it from teh bottom of a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that was given an ultra-electromagnetic coating. It can withstand the enemy's beam for seventeen seconds. Shinji, you will be the gunner in Unit-01.

Shinji: Yes, ma'am.

Misato: Rei, you will be handling defense in Unit-00.

Rei: Yes, ma'am.

Misato: Rei, this is because the synchro rate between Shinji and Unit-01 is higher. Precise operation is absolutely necessary this time.

Ritsuko: Now, Shinji, positrons are affected by the Earth's rotation, magnetic field, and gravity--they WON'T travel in a straight line. Don't forget to correct for that.

Shinji: But I haven't trained for stuff like that yet.

Ritsuko: Don't worry, just do it by the book. Just pull the trigger when the markers are centered on the target. The computer will do the rest.

Shinji: What if my first shot misses...?

Misato: It would take twenty seconds to cool, recharge, and fire the second shot. We anticipate a counterattack within that time. If you can't dodge it...it's all over. In teh last extremity, Rei's shield will have to protect you.

Shinji: (thinking) If the shield lasts for only seventeen seconds...I guess there *is* no second shot.

Misato: It's time. Get ready, you two.

Shinji and Rei: Yes, ma'am.

---

Total darkness soon envelops Japan. Shinji sat next to Rei, a gap separating the pedestals they were sitting upon. Both of them looked over the horizon, a faint bluish-violet light outlining the shape of the mountains. Shinji turned his gaze towards Rei, who, as usual, seemed to just blank out staring into nothingness.

Shinji: I guess we may be dead soon...

Rei: Why?

Shinji: ...h...how can you be so calm? You've been put through so much danger already. Why do you pilot it...?

Rei: ...because...it's my link.

Shinji: ...to my dad...?

Rei: I have nothing else...it's like I was born to pilot an Eva. If I stopped being a pilot, I would have nothing left. That's the same as being dead.

Shinji: The same as being dead...? Well, then...I guess I was like that before I came here.

Rei: .....?

Shinji: I hated everything. I was totally apathetic...I just didn't care. But I put up a quiet front, playing the good little kid. I...I guess maybe I was just going through the motions of living.

The boy was once again plunging into deep introspective thought. Wh...why am I telling Ayanami all this? he asked himself. Because we're in the same situation...? No...maybe it's because...maybe it's because Ayanami has even less than I do. I...I don't know how...but it sure feels that way...

Rei: (looking at her watch) It's time. (stands up to go to her Eva Unit-00) Let's go.

Shinji: Hm...? Oh, sure...

Rei: Ikari-kun...

Shinji: ...what?

Rei: You won't die. (turns towards him) I'll protect you.

The albino girl left Shinji agape with wonder as she climbed up to the entry plug of her blue Eva Unit-00. This little talk with Rei added much to Shinji's sense of an air of mystery surrounding the girl.

Rei: Goodbye.

Shinji: .....

And the clock struck twelve.

---

Makoto: This is it.

Misato: /Shinji, all the power in Japan is in your hands. Are you ready for this?/

She didn't really have to remind him, Shinji thought upon himself as he tried to relax. Evangelion Unit-01 was lying on its front like a true blue sniper with the positron rifle aimed at the Angel's distance from Mt. Futago.

Shinji: /Yes, ma'am!/

His fellow Eva pilot was ready as well, just in case everything would go wrong. Final adjustments to the power transfer into the Eva-01's positron rifle was ongoing as they speak, and at the same time, powerhouses across Japan hummed as they transferred all of their power into Tokyo. Shinji gulped as he realized this was going to be one of the biggest nights of his life.

Misato: Commence Operation Yashima!

---

Camille looked through Amuro's binoculars as this all was taking place. He was just so amazed at what Nerv has done for Shinji's Evangelion Unit-01; it was aiming at the Angel with some kind of a sniper rifle with some large cables connected to it. Quite clever weaponry, he thought. Maybe he could apply this concept of a long-range sniper rifle to the "Zeta Gundam" project he had been doing? It was sort of a far-fetched idea, but it could work.

Camille: An internal power source could probably help...

Apolli: You talking to yourself again, Camille?

Camille: (leers at him) Shut up, man. I was just taking mental notes on what I could do with what Shinji-kun is doing right now. And don't you make any freaking bad jokes about that word "mental" again, got that?

Apolli: Geez, Camille. No need to get so cranky about it...of course, you're the one who mentioned the word "mental" in the first place. I know Newtypes were just so good when it comes to ESP kind of stuff but I never guessed that--

Amuro: That will be enough of you two. Apolli, you should stop bugging Camille here and just "sit down and watch the show from afar", so to speak. And Camille...you know, if you want to take down notes on something, at least just put them on paper, okay? We don't really want anyone to think you're nuts or anything...

Camille: Ehhh, whatever...

Chris: What are you looking at anyway?

Camille: Miss MacKenzie, Amuro-sempai, I was just wondering if I could apply the concept of a long-range rifle to one of my projects, the "Zeta" Gundam. It'll be similar to Miss MacKenzie's GM Sniper Custom's sniper rifle, but it'd be having longer range and more firepower to it. What do you think...?

Amuro: Sounds interesting, actually. This "Zeta" Gundam project of yours, I understand, is still in its blueprint stages, right? I'd say it's brilliant, to say the least. A combination of the Rick Dias' armor and the Gundam Mk-II's mobility...it would definitely be a top seller among technicians in the Federal Forces and most probably, the Titans as well.

Chris: Hmm, I'd think it's pretty interesting as well. Oh, heh heh, I'm speaking as a layman, of course. I wouldn't really reach up to both your levels of intelligence! (grins at them impishly)

Camille: Uh huh...well, anyway, everything's getting more interesting by the minute...I got this gut feeling it's gonna start any...time...

---

Misato: ...NOW!! Fire now, Shinji!!

After it had been confirmed that the countdown to the point that all energy would be transferred into the positron rifle and that Shinji's guided target system had been confirmed to have a zero-error level, Misato immediately ordered Shinji to fire at the Angel after also receiving reports that a "high-energy reading from within the target" had been detected.

Shinji clicked one of his levers, and Eva Unit-01 followed in synch with his movement. A thin, narrow stream of light went out from the rifle and had speedily gone its way towards its target. The Angel had done likewise with its own concentrated beam attack. Just when it looked like the two beam attacks were about to meet, nature interfered a little by way of the Earth's gravitational and magnetic pull, making the two beams of light go AROUND each other and totally miss their respective targets.

There was an explosion just a little distance away from where Unit-01 was, and likewise with the crystalline Angel. The Nerv staff that had put up a fairly medium-sized tent as their temporary control room braced for the impact that the Angel's beam attack had caused.

Shinji: (grits his teeth) Damn it, I missed!

Sirens went off in the Nerv staff's temporary control room as the Angel's drill had finally made its mark. Misato yelled orders to Shinji to reload and make preparations for the second shot, reminding him to let the positron rifle's barrel cool down for a bit. Shinji did as he was told and changed positions just a bit across Mt. Futago.

Maya: I'm getting another high-energy reading from the target!

Misato: (thinks) Damn it! It's too soon!

While he was just preparing to fire his second shot, Shinji screamed bloody hell as he tried to brace himself at the Angel's imminent attack. Misato was right, it *was* too soon, and Shinji awaited his doom "at the Angel's hands", so to speak, if this particular Angel had any hands at all.

Shinji opened up his eyes to see something blocking the Angel's attack from him. He was just too surprised to know who it was, but after a second or two, realization slowly sunk in as the light from behind his savior's shield illumnated its this, humanoid savior.

Shinji: (gasps) A...Ayanami...!!

Ritsuko: The shield isn't going to last!

Misato: Are we ready to fire?

Makoto: Ten more seconds!

Viewing his crosshairs which were already locked, the Third Child waited impatiently for the signal for him to fire at the Angel. He gasped as he saw Eva Unit-00's shield melting and finally giving way, the Angel's particle beam slowly frying the blue Evangelion.

Shinji: AYANAMI!!!!!

Misato: /FIRE, SHINJI! FIRE *NOW*!!!/

Pulling the lever on his right hand, the Third Child did as he told, putting all of his anger into it, and his Eva Unit-01 followed. There was a massive explosive noise as the positron rifle fired its second shot at the cerulean Angel. This time, the Angel didn't have any time to form an A.T. field, making Shinji hit his mark, leaving a small dent in the Angel which fell to the ground in flames.

Misato, Ritsuko, Maya, and Makoto: WE *DID* IT!!!

Makoto: Captain Katsuragi, Ma'am, we've just received word that the enemy bore has stopped--directly above HQ! It's fallen completely silent!

Soon enough, the blue Evangelion Unit-00 fell hard into the ground, looking like a human being who had just fainted. Worried for Rei's life, Shinji instinctively and forcibly took off the protective casing keeping the other Eva's entry plug inside and pulled the latter off of the Eva's back. He lay down the test tube-like entry plug, which had force-ejected the LCL from within itself, into the ground and had ejected his own entry plug from Eva Unit-01.

Shinji rushed towards Rei's entry plug and banged his hands on its locked hatch.

Shinji: Ayanami, you okay in there?!

He took it upon himself and forced the hatch open, totally ignoring the searing pain that the emergency lock did for his hands. As soon as the entry plug's hatch opened, Shinji went inside immediately to see if Rei was all right.

Shinji: Ayanami! H...hey, Ayanami! (tries to shake her into consciousness)

The First Child opened her eyes slowly as she heard her name being called. It was quite a familiar voice, but still, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. As she was coming to, Rei Ayanami's weak voice called out a name...

Rei: ...Commander...Ikari...? Ah...it's...you, Ikari-kun...

Shinji: Ayanami! I...I'm glad...I'm glad you're alive...real glad...

Rei: Ikari-kun...you're...you're crying again...you were crying yesterday, in your sleep...why are you so sad?

Shinji: (wipes off his tears) Dummy...*that's* not it! I'm crying because I'm happy...happy you're alive. Don't you see?!

Rei: (turns away slightly) ...because you're happy...? S...so you cry when you're happy, too...I'm sorry, I...I'm not sure what expression I should make at a time like this. Even though I should be happy...

Shinji: Well, if you're happy...you should smile, Ayanami. (grins slightly at her)

The Third Child helped his fellow Eva pilot to stand up and finally get up and out of the entry plug. And as if it was out of the blue, the pale-skinned, ice blue-haired girl with ruby-red eyes held his hand in response and smiled at him. It wasn't quite a cutie-girl smile, nor was it a false, cruel one.

Rei Ayanami's smile was purely innocent and was just so beautiful.

But she blinked a little as she had noticed Shinji looked like he was dumbfounded by it all. Shinji shook his head and slung her hand across his shoulder and just helped her out.

Rei: What's the matter?

Shinji: (tries to hide his reddened face) Uh...it's nothing...

A beautiful full moon illuminated both of the Children as they walked towards the Nerv temporary control room tent. They were both silent for a long while...

Shinji: Ayanami, you should stop saying "goodbye" when you leave on a mission. It's too sad. We might not have anything besides the Eva program or even the AEUG right now...but, well, as long as we stay alive...someday, we'll be glad that we survived.

Rei: ..... (looks at him and smiles again)

---

Misato: What the hell did you say?!

Makoto: Ma'am, we're detecting a small squadron of five or six unidentified mobile suits coming this way! They've even got...oh my God...it's the Alexandria just off-shore, and it looks like it's in a position to make offensive fire at this direction!

Misato: OH, SHIT!! It's the Titans! Lieutenant Hyuga, inform Lieutenant Amuro's mobile suit squadron of this invasion and tell them to prepare for a counterattack! Ritsuko, get our emergency teams to retrieve Rei. I'll go out there and tell Shinji to get back into Unit-01!

Ritsuko: But Captain Katsuragi, it's much too dangerous out there!

Misato: Don't worry, I'll go with the emergency teams once we've got Rei back! I'll see you later!

---

Camille: ...!!

Amuro: Here they come!

Chris: I've been waiting for this!

Apolli and Roberto followed suit, climbing into the cockpits of their own black Rick Diases and all five mobile suits came out of Eva Unit-01's transport elevator to make for a counterattack against the Titans.

They all ran towards Mt. Futago to give support to Shinji and Rei, but by the time they had gone there, the purple Evangelion Unit-01 was already standing, its full 40-ish meters of height towering over them, and an ambulance rushed past their mobile suits of about 18 to 20 meters in height.

Amuro: /Shinji, are you all right?/

Shinji: /Yeah, Amuro-san, I'm just okay here! Damn it, they picked the wrong time to attack!/

Amuro: /Indeed. How about the other Eva, what are you going to do about it?/

Shinji: /Misato told me to tell you that we should protect it along with the positron sniper rifle if the Titans ever attempt to get it. Amuro-san...I...I don't know if I should go on with this.../

Amuro: /You're still worried about killing those people in the mobile suits?/

Shinji: /No, it's not that. It's just that...I-I couldn't put it into words, but.../

Amuro: /You'll get used to it in a while. Like I told you, if you don't fight back, all they'll do is run over you and you might just be killed, Shinji. One doesn't run away when in a battle; one has to give it all he's got, even if it means eliminating your enemy, whether it be the Angels or the Titans. Look, if you're not up to this, it's okay--/

Shinji: /Amuro-san, I think I'm up to this right now. I just have to deal with the fact that I will be killing people from now on...and what's more, this has truly been an exhausting night for me.../

Camille: /And these people you are about to kill, Shinji, have done so much evil practically almost all around the colony system...and I have this feeling that's not even the half of it. You think these people deserve your mercy, Shinji?/

Shinji: /...I already said I'd *do* it, Camille-kun./

Amuro: /Very well, Shinji. Let's go./

---

Shinji's five companions in mobile suits led the way to this second part of the battle as their mobile suits had boosters installed behind them. The Third Child followed behind, looking every now and then to the abandoned Eva Unit-00 if someone else was "picking on" it.

Amuro radio'ed all of them to stop and all of them should hide in some strategic position somewhere along the coastline and that Shinji would act as a decoy to deceive their enemies. He further explained this was to be somewhat of a split between an ambush and a counterattack against this coming amalgamated wave of the Titans and also probably the Federal Forces.

The purple Eva Unit-01 stood in a defensive stance as Shinji saw a small horde of reddish mobile suits speeding their way across the waters and towards his direction. He could faintly recall his discussion with Kensuke the other day about a few of the newest models of mobile suits that the Titans have produced with the help of none other than the infamous Anaheim Electronics. He was a bit surprised as he had always thought Anaheim was an ally of the AEUG, like what Quattro had once told him...anyway, he had deduced that this small horde of mobile suits might be RMS-108 Marasai's, judging from their appearance. Shinji had even recalled Kensuke telling him that the Titans might not be using their own Zaku II's anymore...

He squinted a little bit as he focused his sights on what appeared to be two or three flying mobile armors accompanying them. Now this type of mobile armor, he hadn't recalled discussing with Kensuke--it looked like a weird-looking jet plane and it was *flying* to boot. Shinji readied himself with his defensive stance and his progressive knife as the Marasai's closed in on him.

Amuro: /Get ready, Shinji! Here they come!/

---

Kirkricon tried to relax himself inside the cockpit of his new Titans-issue ORX-005 Gaplant mobile armor. This mission wouldn't really be the same without Jerid around...but anyway, he thought he might be able to pull this one off without any assistance...or at least without any assistance from Jerid. He shook his head at the fact that he was stuck with being assigned a wingman he had considered to be a newbie to battle. What's more, his new wingman was a nice-looking woman in her middle twenties with wavy, long, purple hair. This girl wasn't Lyla, but the moment he looked at her eye to eye, he immediately knew she was no pushover.

There was that, and the fact that she came from Augusta Laboratories, a Georgia-based research facility sponsored mainly by the Federal Forces, made the Titans lieutenant think twice about his new partner's ability as a pilot. He had heard rumors that Augusta, while doing some esoteric studies about the origin and nature of Newtypes, have done some weird experiments involving the brainwashing of chosen individuals and making them into "artificial Newtypes". Kirkricon had high suspicions that this girl, Rosamia Vadam, might actually be one of those "artificial Newtypes".

Kirkricon: /Hmph. I don't know about what the people upstairs are thinking, but I trust you might be one of the best choices that Augusta had sent to us. Rosamia, are you sure you want to fight with me against the AEUG?/

Rosamia: /...of course. I know of nothing else but to fight the AEUG./

Kirkricon was rather surprised at this girl. Did he hear it right, that she knew of nothing else than to fight? There must be something going on inside Augusta...but he didn't care anyway. This terrorist group known as the AEUG must be stopped at all costs.

Kirkricon: /Very well said, Rosamia. Now let's get going and squash 'em all!/

The Titan lieutenant's fellow mobile suit pilots cheered at this battle cry and had further raised their morale by a certain notch, but he had also noticed that Rosamia's voice was not among them. Quite a mysterious girl indeed, this Rosamia...

---

The battle that ensued was fast, furious, and bloody. Amuro, Camille, and the others had done quite some kills with the small regiment of Titan and Federation Marasai's, but it wasn't without difficulty as the enemy mobile suit pilots were quite skilled themselves. And there was also the fact that the Marasai's had some kind of edge over the usual Zaku's that the Federation had come to use these past years in terms of mobility and performance. Six AEUG pilots against thirteen Titan and Federation pilots was quite an unfair battle indeed. Camille had thought while he slashed away at an enemy Marasai or two with his Mk-II's beam saber, if Quattro and Emma were only here he would have...

Kirkricon and Rosamia transformed their flying Gaplants into their respective normal mobile suit modes and got into the action, taking potshots at the twin black Rick Diases with beam gun attacks. Apolli and Roberto dodge and retaliate with Zaku II-esque bazooka attacks but they too, miss at their appointed targets.

Compared to his Eva Unit-01 which was twice an average mobile suit's height, Shinji tried to catch up at his opponents that were like little children skating around him in roller blades what with the Marasai's moving around the place with some help from the boosters attached to their backs. But then, Shinji knew better than to just be a sitting duck in the middle of a battle: he kicked the head off of one of the Marasai's that was getting next to him and started to fight back at the Titans.

It was quite difficult for him, though, as he hadn't been trained to fight mobile suits in the first place, much more with these new models of mobile suits that he had thought to have been equipped with apogee boosters or vernier thrusters or whatever Kensuke might have told him a while ago. He thought, these guys are practically zipping all over the place...and I...I *feel* like I'm just too heavy...

Shinji: (thinking) Well, no matter! I don't want anybody pushing me around like this! Nggggraaaaaarrrghhh!!!

As if by sheer luck, Evangelion Unit-01's foot slowly but surely came down hard on another Marasai just as it was coming to him. The Gundam Mk-II and the Rick Diases were doing their finishing rounds on the rest of the Marasai's, but were having difficulty as to the Gaplants. Kirkricon and Rosamia were doing a little hit-and-run thing with their AEUG opponents as they had, almost in unison, once again converted their Gaplants into flying mobile armor mode, taking potshots at whatever they could take their aim: buildings, enemy units, it didn't matter.

Rosamia: (emotionless tone) Center target. Lock in. Fire at target...

Kirkricon: /Hey, you ought to be doing better than that, little lady, if you want to hit something. You're one of those "artificial Newtypes" anyway, why the hell can't you hit something?/

Rosamia: /...sorry, sir. It won't happen again./

The purple-haired beauty set her beam rifle's aim on the white Gundam Mk-II as it jumped up high into the air, thanks to its vernier thrusters, and as it was coming down with an assault against one of the remaining Titan Marasai's with a beam saber.

As the blue-haired Newtype slashed away at an enemy Marasai, Camille sensed the flying Gaplant's imminent beam rifle attack and dodged it, the pinkish stream of light just grazing across his Gundam's head and destroying a nearby building. He followed suit and ran around, trying to snipe the Titan mobile armor with some assistance from Amuro and Christina acting as cover. He had quite some difficulty sniping the MA-mode Gaplant as it flew around the city like a true-blue jet fighter, but he took potshots at it anyway, even though for the most part he was missing his target.

Apolli and Roberto were doing their finishing rounds on the remaining Marasai, valid proof that they, as former Zeon mobile suit pilots, weren't just some pushovers, even though they weren't Newtypes themselves.

Roberto: /Pathetic excuses for Titans, aren't they, Lieutenant Apolli?/

Apolli: /Indeed. I'd almost wonder wh---AAAAAGHHHH!!/

The AEUG lieutenant never saw the other flying Gaplant closing in beside him and shot his Rick Dias three times straight in the cockpit. Roberto cursed under his breath as he saw his comrade's mobile suit just explode in an instant and seeing that Apolli had no time to push his "eject" button in time--if it *had* one in the first place.

Kirkricon was more than enthusiastic to destroy all of them, after what the AEUG has done to his small platoon of Titan and Federation mobile suits. At least, he thought, they weren't hitting him or Rosamia. So far.

Amuro separated from Camille and Chris and took aim at Kirkricon's Gaplant. It truly has been quite a long time since he had been involved in these types of battles, but he was so sure of himself that he wasn't getting rusty...at least not yet. With some assistance from Roberto, who was firing his Rick Dias' beam rifle at the Titan flying mobile armor, he took aim with his own green Rick Dias' bazooka and fired at Kirkricon.

It was all so swift and deadly as Kirkricon had almost narrowly dodged Amuro's and Roberto's joint attack, but didn't, and in an instant everything went up in white light and fire from his mobile armor's explosion. Surely, before he died, he must have known his opponent was none other than the legendary former-Federation now-AEUG captain Amuro Ray himself.

While generating an A.T. field, Shinji picked up two of the remaining Marasai by their feet while they were wildly shooting at Evangelion Unit-01 with beam machineguns to no avail. Shinji slammed the two Titan mobile suits at some nearby buildings quite hard, feeling the impact of their explosions in his "hands" through the direct sensory link that his Eva Unit-01 had provided, and tried to hurl the mobile suits' remains forcibly at Rosamia's Gaplant.

Being an artificial Newtype herself, Rosamia had anticipated this and dodged the attack. Then...it all came to her in a flash. That's...a boy inside that huge purple mobile suit, she thought...but she somehow sensed that the boy wasn't the one who was dangerous, but the mobile suit itself. Visions of herself being conducted as an experiment in a familiar-looking laboratory suddenly came back to her; the brainwashing she must have gone through must be pretty tough, but Rosamia just couldn't remember it all.

Even more grim visions of the impending apocalypse had come to her as she kept her gaze at the Evangelion Unit-01. A bloody scream resonated within herself.

Rosamia: (thinking) Th--I--it's--th, THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!!! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Seconds later, when she came to, she soon finally realized she was outnumbered five to three, and with a shocked, shaking voice, radioed her remaining companions in their Marasai's to retreat for the day, firing a signal flare into the air and launched towards the Alexandria.

Soon enough, there was coming from the direction of the Titan flagship a shower of beam attacks heading towards the remaining AEUG mobile suits and Eva, which they had dodged by ducking for cover.

Camille, Chris, and Amuro still tried to snipe at the Alexandria and the escaping Titan mobile suits, but the closest they got to hitting either one of them was grazing them.

Chris: (angrily) /Damn, we lost them!/

Amuro: /Whew...this was sure a lively evening, wasn't it?/

Camille: /Yeah...that other flying mobile armor...I...I bet there's something about the pilot...something, or someone really dangerous...I, I heard her screaming like she was so scared of.../

Amuro: /You...sensed something, Camille? And did you just say the pilot was female, and that she sounded like she was scared?/

Camille: /Y...yeah, I guess so.../

Amuro: (thinking) How come *I* didn't see it coming...? I've got this feeling he's more powerful than Lalah...or Char...or the three of us combined. This boy just doesn't know it yet...

Amuro: /Shinji, can you hear me? Are you all right? Shinji...?/

Shinji: (after 20 seconds of silence, then gulps) /Y...yeah. I'm okay.../

---

Quattro: So the Titans have tried a direct assault on us, even though you people were quite exhausted already. Dirty tactics are to be expected of these criminals in uniform.

Bright: What do you think we should do, Commander?

Brex: You would know what to do as well as I would, Captain Bright. We will prepare for a counterattack and launch for Jabrow in 10 hours. Our informant, Officer Reccoa Londo, has managed to get herself a high-frequency radio and told us that Jabrow's defenses are quite down at the moment, since the federation concentrated their defenses at space, more specifically, at Gryps. And oh, Captain Bright...one of your former crewmembers was with her too. I believe it's one chap named...Kai Shiden, do you remember him?

Bright: Kai's with one of your--our--officers at Jabrow? But I thought he just worked for Reuters now...he told me when we all parted and went our separate ways...anyway, it's good to hear from him again. I wonder how he's been...

Hayato: (thinking) Kai...so you're back, old friend...

Amuro didn't say anything as he kept his stare at the lean, handsome man in red and in sunglasses, even though his thoughts had returned to the old days upon hearing that his friend in the Pegasus White Base was still alive. One question, though, rang in his mind.

Why was his old enemy, Char Aznable, here in the same room with him? And more importantly, why was he his ally this time?

Quattro: If I may be excused, Commander, I'll just be going to the little men's room.

Brex: Oh, you don't have to ask permission from me, Lieutenant.

Quattro walked down the halls just outside the briefing room and searched for the nearest men's room, which he finds not so far from where he was. After taking his much-needed leak, he washed his hands and then his face.

He wasn't quite surprised as he looked up the mirror in front of him and caught the sight of Amuro standing behind him with crossed arms. It was obvious that the 22-year old redheaded Captain wasn't looking very pleased that Quattro--or in this case, Char--was here in the first place.

Amuro: Char.

Quattro: Well, well...if it isn't you, Amuro. It has been seven years, hasn't it?

Amuro: What are you doing here?

Quattro: Heh, I'm not exactly under oath here now, am I? I'm expecting you would know already, but with that question, I may have to admit that I'm obliged to answer. As you probably know by now, the Zeon have failed in our first attempt to exterminate the Earth Federation. It was pretty embarrassing on my part, that I have failed to defeat you, Amuro. But at least, my revenge on those who have killed my father has been executed, and now the Titans are starting to show their true colors. Aren't you the least bit sympathetic for those innocent civilians who died at 30 Bunch?

Amuro: I know about it, but I haven't regarded it more than just a fancy rumor until now. It's very sickening that the Titans, being as they are the right hand of the Earth Federation, second only to the Federal Forces, should do this act of terror. I regret that I haven't done something about it, but what could I do? Wyoming wasn't a home to me anymore, it was a prison...but Char, you still haven't answered my question--

Quattro: You just wouldn't let me finish, Amuro. And I would have no need to, since I know you know what we, the AEUG, are fighting for, right?

Amuro: ...but why?

Quattro: (pauses for a moment) I've head of these rather uninteresting stories about you, Amuro. Personally, I think it's pathetic for someone like you to just sit back and watch the Titans destroy everything in their warpath to supremacy. Actually, one of the reasons I came back to Earth is to laugh at your pathetic little ugly face once I see you again, you little twerp. Heh, I was thinking you were afraid to join in on the action because you might hear Lalah's voice haunting that thick head of yours again...

Amuro: (leers at Quattro for a moment and frowns, one eyebrow raised) You...you freaking big old motherfucking fogy, you just came here to hurl insults at my face? Jesus *Christ*, Char...you're even more pathetic than *I* am! And what the hell's the deal with me "hearing Lalah's voice in my head" so that I'd be too wimpy to join the Kalaba and...and your AEUG, huh?! With that, I'd think you've got an even more weird imagination than how I've known you to have!

Quattro: Whatever. Anyway, what's done is done. I wouldn't even care anyway even if you were to be my superior officer, Amuro. Just one thing I'll remind you...(points one finger at Amuro) don't ever, EVER get in my way, understand?

Amuro: (snorts) Heh, as long as you don't get in MY way, everything's cool.

Quattro: (pauses for a moment to wipe his trademark sunglasses) Do you actually believe these Nerv people? All their talk of..."Angels" invading Tokyo...it's all too amazing and preposterous to me.

Amuro: I had thought so too, until I had fought one of them myself. These things are HUGE, Char. There's that, and it almost as if they're actually alive, too. But what could these "Angels" want with Nerv?

Quattro: (blinks) Alive? You mean they're like these typical "aliens from another planet"?

Amuro: Yeah, roughly....but that's just coming from my experience on battling one of them. Why?

Quattro: Hmm...the idea might sound silly, but it's not so surprising. When I was in Side 3 I've heard a lot of fancy tales going on about the Second Impact not being what it appeared to be, that the impact of the colony drop wasn't actually the one that destroyed most of the Earth's population. There was actually something in Antarctica that had made a cataclysmic explosion prior to the colony's arrival in the Earth's *atmosphere*...looks like history isn't really giving us the hard facts now, is it?

Amuro: (rubs his chin) I guess you're right on that one, Char. But what could the events that happened in Antarctica mean?

Quattro: (shrugs) Who knows? Nerv...or someone other than Nerv we still don't know about...they might be hiding something. By the way...whenever the "little ones" are around, please don't call me "Char". "Lieutenant Commander Quattro Bajina" will be fine. Well, I'll see you at the briefing room...twerp. Heh heh heh...

The curly redheaded Kalaba captain tried hard to hold back his scornful feelings towards his old rival in red as the latter just so casually walked out of the men's room and away from Amuro's sight into the Agama's briefing room. Silently, Amuro just cursed Char--Quattro--out of his frustration for the man and tried to wash it all away with faucet water. His thoughts wandered over to how the imminent (to his own point of view) war between the AEUG and the Titans would escalate into. He frowned at the possibility that this war might be worse than that which happened in UC 0079, and wondered why he had offered his services, this time, *against* the Earth Federation, in the first place. Millions of lives will once again be lost, he thought. Why won't it all end? Did mankind reach the point where it is now too greedy for its own good?

He chuckled a bit as his thoughts had focused on the newer threat, the "Angels", as Nerv officials would put it. Quite appropriately named creatures, these Angels might be the solution to the problem at hand. At this point, Amuro had a grim thought...

Maybe there's actually Someone out there Who wants to end mankind's foolishness and greediness.

---

And so the Kalaba and the AEUG had ten hours to prepare for the assault on Jabrow, South America, one of the Federation's few strongholds on Earth, provided that no more Titan assaults would happen in Tokyo that morning. AEUG Supreme Commander Brex Forra wasn't very sure if he could use the Evangelions, though; Nerv Captain Misato Katsuragi told him on behalf of her superior officer Gendo Ikari that they might need the Eva's lest another Angel attack might occur.

Brex: (puzzled look) Huh? But I thought Commander Ikari had already left things up to you, Captain Katsuragi...

Misato: (rubs her chin in thought) You're right on the part of me being given the responsibility for the Eva's, Colonel. Hmm...maybe we could do something about this, since right now Rei needs a lot of recovery to do after her battle with that Angel. What if maybe if Captain Amuro Ray, Lieutenant Christina MacKenzie, and Shinji would stay here in Japan for the time being while Lieutenant Commanders Quattro and Emma, Camille, and the rest of the Agama crew would go on to Jabrow as planned?

Emma: But that's...

Brex: ...the same thing as before. I know. (sighs) Well, things like these can't really be avoided, can it? Since the Kalaba are the original people assigned to assist Nerv on its anti-Angel operations, I suppose it's all right if the AEUG should go to South America as it is. All right, like what Captain Katsuragi had said, who were originally from the Kalaba are going to stay here in Japan along with Evangelion Units-01 and 00. Captain Katsuragi, I will advise you to be prepared as we, the AEUG, always are, if ever there should be either another Titan assault or an attack from the Angels.

Misato: (nods) Umm, right...err, can I call you "Colonel", sir?

Brex: Anything will be fine, Captain, since technically you're not really under my command as Nerv still isn't "officially" allied with the AEUG, the Kalaba, or both. Lieutenant Emma, please inform Lieutenant Quattro tha--oh, he's back already.

The automatic sliding door closed quietly behind the blonde man in sunglasses wearing his trademark red AEUG uniform. As Quattro entered the room being addressed by his chubby elderly superior officer, he covered his mouth and made a little "ahem".

Quattro: What is it you wanted to tell me, Commander?

Brex: Please inform Camille and the others in the Agama to be ready for departure in less than 10 hours and make all necessary repairs on our mobile suits and GM-II's before we launch for Jabrow.

Quattro and Emma: Consider it done, Commander.

Brex: Right. And umm...while you're at it, please try to loosen up for a little bit. Ten hours is still a long way from now, you know, but we still have to be prepared just in case, all right? Dismissed.

The old AEUG leader saluted back to his underlings who had saluted him at the mention of the word "dismissed". Quattro and Emma soon left the room, following Hayato on his way out as well. Bright, however, chose to stay in the briefing room for some additional instructions that Brex might tell him.

Brex: Well, that certainly solves the problem. Now, Captain Bright...what do you say we go for another little round of shogi? I'd say I can beat you this time....

Bright: (blinks) Colonel, with all due respect, I don't think you really learned from our last game, did you?

Brex: (raises an eyebrow) Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? You were lucky the last time we played, and that's final!

Misato: (sweatdrops and makes a silly face) Ummm...what do *I* do here, sirs...?

Brex: Huh? Oh, Captain Katsuragi, you may leave us for Nerv HQ now. I have no further instructions except for some...discussion I'd like to have with Captain Bright Noah here...(glints at Bright)

Bright: (blinks innocently) What did *I* do now?!

Brex: Oh, just shut up and get the shogi board and pieces from the chest over there!

Misato: Eh heh heh, umm, if you will excuse me...(walks towards the automatic sliding door behind her and leaves the room) Jesus...they're playing shogi at a time like this? What kind of...oh!

Misato never saw Amuro just in front of her and bumped into him accidentally. They both lost their balance and fell to the floor, and anyone who might have seen their present situation right now would think the pretty 29-year-old Nerv captain was actually "doing" the average-looking 22-year-old Kalaba captain/mobile suit pilot. His eyes having been widened by surprise, Amuro gulped real hard and tried to re-evaluate what was happening, even now that Misato's c-cups are pressing against Amuro's chest. He couldn't even try hard enough to wipe off the redness in his face right now.

Amuro: Err...umm...(thinks) Oh my GOD! She's all over me! She's so soft and she smells just too good...I...I think I'm going to have a nosebleed...ughh...

Misato: Eeek! Sorry about that! (rises up quickly and helps Amuro up as well) I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...

Amuro: Umm, it's okay, really! Heh heh heh heh... (scratches the back of his head after picking up Misato's papers that fell to the floor)

Misato: Eh heh heh heh! Umm...you're Captain Amuro Ray from the Kalaba, right? I've heard a great deal about you...

Amuro: Uhh...yeah! That's my name! (offers Misato a handshake) And if I'm not mistaken, you're Captain Misato Katsuragi from Nerv, right?

Misato: Yup, it's just me, li'l cute old Misato! Heh heh heh heh! Umm, so you're going to Jabrow with the rest of your AEUG pals and umm...?

Amuro: Ah, no. Actually I and my other people from the Kalaba Forces will be staying around here in Japan with you guys from Nerv to lend some protection from any more attacks from the Titans or the Angels or anything...

Misato: Umm, thank you, I guess...but it's not really necessary for the Kalaba or the AEUG to help Nerv against the Angels...I mean...

Amuro: (gives Misato her papers) Hmm?

Misato: (looks at her watch and accepts the documents from Amuro) Gah, I must be wasting a lot of your time with my blabbering! Eh heh heh heh, I think I must go back to Nerv HQ immediately, Commander Ikari must be waiting for me right now. Umm, well, it was a pleasure to have finally met you, Captain Amuro Ray! I'm...leaving now. Bye-bye! (walks off quickly in a silly manner and waves at him)

As he was waving back to Misato, Amuro couldn't help but wipe the sweat off his brow and chuckle a little bit as he saw the silly older lady walk away from him. Somehow, he has this strange feeling that he's seen her before...it almost just feels like a "past life" experience sort of thing. He tried to shake off the thought that he definitely needed wear some sort of a tuxedo with a black cape behind him...

The same thoughts plagued Misato as she drove off her blue Sentra from inside the Agama and into her destination which was a transport pod system within the geofront that led to Nerv HQ. Aside from the fact that she thought the legendary RX-78-2 Gundam pilot was oh-so-cute and that she was surprised with her penchant for younger guys, she sort of felt she had a past life with him. She shivered at the sudden thought of herself wearing some skimpy schoolgirl's sailor outfit and a tiara and some sort of magic wand to match.

Misato: Geez...I must be watching too much "Sailor Moon" lately...I have to cut down on the anime for a while...

---

And since they still had a lot of time in their hands, Misato told Shinji to go relax a little bit and "have fun" in Tokyo City while they're waiting. Shinji just shrugged and went out with his friends Kensuke and Toji to go scan the city for something interesting. Shinji mentioned something about the Eva's and the Kalaba not being required to prepare for departure, but Misato told him this was a "just in case" situation, much to Shinji's displeasure. He reasoned out that he hasn't had time to sit back and rest for a long while.

Misato: And that's why I'm giving you time off to rewind! Okay, off you go now!

Shinji: (grumbles) Yeah, whatever...

Misato: Oh, and don't forget to bring us home some yakisoba while you're at it! After what we've gone through, I haven't had time to cook our food anymore, so just buy some or we won't have dinner, okay?

The Third Child blinked. She wasn't going to cook dinner tonight? He slapped himself, pinched himself even, if this was all a dream or not. He soon realized that it wasn't as he rubbed the red hand mark on his face and grinned. Shinji rejoiced within himself that he wouldn't have to go through Misato's HORRENDOUS cooking for one night. He immediately switched back to his usual "sullen boy ridden with angst" face and went on his way.

Misato: Take care, okay Shinji?

It's a miracle that Misato even had the time to make observations on a video tape shipped to the main Nerv HQ in Japan from one of their headquarters in Germany, but the details on the observations will have to be put on a special probe for later.

The tape showed a red Evangelion unit engaged in battle with what seemed to be the sixth Angel: the battle was being shown at sea with the red Eva using old-fashioned water-borne battleships and aircraft carriers as footholds. The red Eva had proven itself, at least to Misato, Ritsuko, and Rei, to have some sort of exceptional prowess in battle as the tape showed further footage of the battle against the whale-like Angel: the pilot seemed to have anticipated the Angel lunging at the Eva from underwater and waited for it to do that with the Eva's progressive knife extended. All three of them saw the monstrous Angel being sliced in half by the red Evangelion, its blood splattering all over the place. Rei, as usual, wasn't even the least bit pleased or surprised at this...like she had emotion for anything at all.

Rei: .....

Misato: Well, the pilot seems to be a very good one, does it Professor Akagi?

Ritsuko: Yes, and it was all over when two battleships fired at it with missiles at point blank range. The Angel never even got the chance to generate an A.T. field as Evangelion Unit-02 defeated it in such little time as thirty-six seconds. The Second Child's abilities, no doubt, surpass that of Shinji's own as we could see right here--evasive maneuvers, decision making, piloting skills--whatever angle you look at it, she's perfect.

Misato: But why was the Angel even there?

Ritsuko: It could have been after Unit-02. It was being transported here to Japan anyway.

Misato: So where's Unit-02 now?

Ritsuko: Cage No. 5--cold storage. Asuka's checked into a hotel near here.

Misato: We never knew Asuka could be this good...even better than Shinji or Rei, even. It's as if she's one with her Eva or something to that essence...

Ritsuko: In any case, Asuka should be coming here to Nerv HQ within those ten hours that the AEUG had allotted for their departure to Jabrow. If it would have been up to me, we would have let the Eva's go along with the AEUG to South America, but you'd never know when another Angel is going to appear.

Misato: My thoughts exactly. Hmm... (looks at Rei VERY curiously)

Rei: .....

Ritsuko: (blinks) Misato, why in the world are you looking at Rei like THAT?

Misato: (chuckles and grins as she also has a mental image of Shinji) Well, from what we'd know of Asuka, she could be the most *normal* one of our bunch of three exceptional Eva pilots, since she HAS already finished school from a German university at fourteen. Heh heh heh heh!

Ritsuko: (leers and chuckles) You are an idiot, Captain Katsuragi. I wouldn't really think so if I were Shinji, since he's lived around her since childhood, from what I've seen in their profiles.

Misato: (frowns) Awww, she called me an idiot again, Rei! What do you have to say about that?

Rei: .....

Misato: .....

Ritsuko couldn't help but giggle at her colleague and friend.

Misato: Well, in any case, I'll be introducing her to the whole staff and to Rei here, since there would be no need anymore to introduce Asuka to Shinji, but that task should be done after we go through the official procedures. Heh heh, this is something for you and Shinji to look forward to!

Rei: .....

Misato: (looks curiously at Rei) Don't you ever talk?

Rei: ...you're stepping on my foot, ma'am.

---

Kensuke: I didn't know there were Eva pilots other than you and Ayanami, Shinji. Did you?

Shinji: I didn't. But I have this weird feeling that Ayanami knew...

Toji: Oh yeah...speakin' of Ayanami... (gets Shinji in a headlock) You little quack, wat's dis stuff I've been hearin' dat you n' Ayanami are getting along quite well?!

Kensuke: Yeah, I've heard about that too, Shinji! What the hell's the deal with that?

Shinji: (blinks) Me? With Ayanami? Have you two gone nuts or something? Where in the whole fricking universe have you gotten that information?

Kensuke: (tries to look stern) We have a lot of sources, Shinji. Besides, from what we've known of Ayanami she's never talked to ANYONE for no reason at all!

Toji:, Yeah, *reliable* ones, at dat. Speak up now or do I hav'ta force it out of ya, y'li'l creep?!

Shinji: You two idiots, I have no idea what the hell you're talking about!

Toji: (leers) Oh yeah? Den why's yer face all red wen we mentioned Ayanami? Somethin' happened between youse, didnnit?

Shinji: Geez...my face is red because you're *strangling* me, you big dope! And absolutely NOTHING happened between Ayanami and me! It's the truth, I swear!

Kensuke: Dammit, why does Ikari get all the good points? Can't you be satisfied living with a beauty like Misato...?

Toji: (unhands Shinji, still leering at him) Well, y'better treat us ta somethin' if ya expect us to believe you, y'li'l runt!

Shinji: Now hold on there, brother. Why do *I* have to pay for your food? I don't even have enough money to buy *myself* a decent meal nowadays...and this money I have right now isn't really mine! This is Misato's and she asked me to use this ONLY for our dinner tonight!

As Toji and Shinji continue to bicker over financial matters involving the fate of their respective stomachs, Kensuke's gaze turned towards quite a beautiful sight at a video arcade they just happened to pass by that morning. It was a pretty redheaded girl about their age wearing a *very* flimsy pale yellow spaghetti-strap one-piece dress with a flowing skirt, its hem cut down just an inch or two above her knees. The girl was apparently trying to get her prize at one of the patented UFO catcher games inside the arcade.

Kensuke: (points at the girl) T...Toji, look over there!

Toji: Uhhh..whaa? WHOA, WHADDA BABE!!!

Kensuke: She is TOTALLY my type, man.

Toji: Yeah, an' she almost looks like she's some kinda movie star or somethin'!

The third member of their group of three, however, wasn't quite pleased as his two companions were at the sight of an extremely pretty 14-year-old redheaded girl. He felt more like his jaw was going to drop to the floor. He felt more like he was...terrified...of the girl as he immediately recognized who she was.

Shinji: (eyes widened in shock) A...A...Asuka...

Toji and Kensuke immediately caught sight of Shinji just looking at the girl like they were and leered at him evilly. Testosterone took over and they started to make a mock beating of the poor boy.

Toji: Aargh, yer not allowed ta LOOK, Ikari!!

Shinji: Why the hell not?!

A gentle breeze soon swayed the redhead's skirt as if it was going to reveal what was under it, and Toji and Kensuke couldn't help but to take a peek at her. Shinji just shook his head and cringed in terror if ever Asuka saw these two numbnuts peeking at her.

Much to her misfortune, however, the UFO catcher's claw dropped the plush doll that Asuka was supposed to have as a prize. Soon a loud "ACH!" could be heard from her, hinting at her German ancestry and started to kick at the UFO catcher machine, hinting at her displeasure of the situation.

Asuka: SCHEIßE! What the hell's wrong with this damn machine?!

As Shinji wasn't surprised at all by his old friend's outburst of emotion, Toji and Kensuke were just too shocked for words and started to walk away from the scene.

Toji: Now, too bad about her personality. Let's just go home, y'two.

Shinji: (thinking) Jesus Christ, she's even become worse than Misato...

Kensuke: (after a long pause) Just once, I wish a girl like her could order ME around! (drools and starts to have hearts "sprout" from his eyes)

Asuka caught wind of all the bickering behind her and turned a pryingly pissed-off gaze at the three boys. She had immediately recognized one of them and ran towards him as if she was about to hug him, much to Toji and Kensuke's stupefaction.

Asuka: Shinjiiiiiiii!

Shinji: Oh, no...here it comes...err, hi, Asuka! You're finally here in Japan! But how come I--OWW, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!

The redhead had just done a well-placed punch at Shinji's gut and gritted her teeth. She didn't quite go with Shinji's expectations of Asuka actually hugging him just because they haven't seen each other in weeks. Shinji just curled up in pain as Toji and Kensuke gazed at the boy's withered form.

Asuka: You never change now, do you, Shinji?! Still the same old PERVERT you used to be, I see! And you've even brought your two idiot minions with you, how could you do this to such a poor, innocent girl like me?!

Shinji: (holds his gut in pain) Owwww...poor and innocent...? Somehow I think you're being dishonest again, my little redheaded freakazoid friend..."poor and innocent" doesn't really describe you, Asuka...guys, this is my "friend" from my old home in Side 7, Asuka Langley Sohryu...

Asuka: (crosses her arms) Hmph! Just be thankful I didn't want to kick your sorry little ass again, wimp! (looks at the two boys) Each of you, give me a hundred yen, now!

Toji: What?! What the hell for?!

Asuka: I'm out of tokens. It's not much, just a hundred each.

Toji: You *crazy*?! Why do we hav'ta do that?! Ikari, you big loser, she's YOUR friend, YOU give her 100 yen!

Shinji: No fricking way, Toji!

Kensuke: Cool, she's shaking us down...!

Asuka: Well, *hello*, it's a peeping fee, numbnuts! You three perverts saw my panties, didn't you?

Toji: Well, err...not yet...umm, no dat's not--

Asuka: Oh, puh-LEASE! Don't tell me you don't have *any* money with you. (snorts) Hmph, of course, if you *are* broke, that could explain the way you dress. Pathetic.

Toji: (grits his teeth) Ya bleach-brained BITCH! What did ya say?!

Kensuke: Uh-oh. This is bad...

Toji: (grabs a hold of Asuka's forearm) Dontcha git on no high horse jus' 'cuz ya think yer cute! I'll teach ya some manners!

Asuka: Ewwwww! Don't TOUCH me, monkey-boy!

Kensuke, and especially Shinji, tried to hold back Toji's state of being pissed off from Asuka, and in the struggle, Asuka accidentally bumped into some ugly bald guy who was playing some shooting game behind her. The guy shouted, "OH, NOOO!" as the words "Game Over" flashed on the video screen and totally lost it.

Asuka: Oops! Sorry!

ugly bald guy: (turns around to face Asuka and points an accusing finger at her) Ya t'ink "sorry"'s gonna cut it?! Finally got to da last level and t'anks t'you, you blew it all up! So whatcha gonna do about it, girlie?!

Kensuke: Now THIS is bad! Hey, Toji, do something!

Shinji: Yeah, that bald dude's got YOUR accent, come on!

Toji: Wat does DAT have ta do widdit?!

ugly bald guy: (picks up Asuka's chin) Yeah, yer *gonna* be sorry...!

The ugly bald guy never saw the sole of Asuka's shiny low-cut red shoes hit his jaw quite forcibly, sending him reeling to the ground. Toji and Kensuke were once again too shocked to get a grasp of what's happening and just watched on. Shinji, however, just stood by and watched boringly as he anticipated what's to become of this ugly bald dude...or his companions.

Now THIS was getting way out of hand.

ugly bald guy: Hey, guys...wanna come git a piece of this bitch?

companions: Oh, yeah! Heh heh heh heh...

Asuka: Hmph! I expected a jerk like you would DARE call your fellow losers for back-up against a mere KID like me! Oh my goodness, LOOK OVER THERE! It's Ranma Saotome!

Asuka pointed towards a certain random direction, to which the goons' gazes had so stupidly followed. The feisty redhead shouted, "OPEN WIDE!!" and kicked one of the goons in his crotch. Asuka then started to pick off the goons one by one with elbows to the gut and backhand punches and whatever else martial arts moves one would perceive Asuka to have known.

As Toji dragged Kensuke, who was just so paralyzed at Asuka's display of "coolness", out of the scene, another group of goons appeared in front of the three boys.

Goon A: Wait up!

Goon B: Where d'ya think YOU'RE goin'? We're not through with YOU yet.

Shinji: Now just wait a minute there--

Toji: We ain't got nuttin' t'do wid' dis!

Goon A: Shut yer yaps!

One of the goons then punches Shinji full-force in the face, making the boy fall to the cement just as hard. As he tried to pick Shinji up for a second shot, Asuka was already cartwheeling her way like an acrobat towards the goon's direction and lands a point-blank roundhouse kick to his face. Once again, Toji and Kensuke were just stupefied at Asuka's martial arts prowess and stared on as the girl whacked the rest of the goons with a chair.

Asuka: And you call yourselves MEN?! Where are your balls?!

Toji: (whispering) Did she come from the circus or sumthin'?

Kensuke: I don't know, but she's just so COOL! It's like love at first sight, Toji! Ooh baby I love--eh? What the...there's cops at five o'clock! (points to three police cars heading towards their direction)

Asuka: Ach, crap! (starts to run away) Smell ya later, Shinji!

Toji: (tries to help Shinji up) Hey Ikari, don't sleep on da sidewalk, we better git outta here! Dey'll tink it's OUR fault we messed up dis place!

Shinji: (rubs his cheek) Oww...I think I lost a tooth...

Kensuke: Wow...she's so fast...so cool. Hey Ikari, why don't you introduce me to your cute pal there one of these days, huh?

Exhausted from what had happened so far, the three of them stopped running and panted like dogs as soon as they knew the police cars weren't there anymore. The three had decided to part ways for the moment as Shinji had told them he had to go back to Nerv HQ to do some "stuff he had to do".

Toji: Ya gonna be okay, Ikari?

Shinji: (rubs his bruised cheek and looks back sourly at Toji) Uh...yeah. Somewhat. Later, guys...

Kensuke and Toji: (waves at Shinji) Yeah, man. Later...

---

Toting the grocery bag containing his and Misato's dinner for the evening, Shinji bit the tip of his Nerv ID card and grumbled at the "luck" that he just had experienced...and it all happened in just a matter of half an hour. Shinji wondered why in the world he was the only one who got hit in that fight earlier...and almost gagged as he saw Asuka's image just whooping those goons' asses. Truth to tell, he wasn't even the least bit surprised that Asuka knew a lot about martial arts...he could just faintly remember her showing him her karate tournament trophy when they were both ten-year-olds...he'd just never seen her in action like that.

Shinji: Asuka's sure gotten more worse than a bitch the last time I saw her--uh--urk!

The Third Child stopped in his tracks as he was getting to the entry gate into Nerv HQ. Shinji's jaw just dropped to the floor as he saw an all-too-familiar cute and sexy figure clad in a flimsy yellow dress with long, red hair kicking the hell out of the ID card-swiping machine yelling, "WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH THIS DAMN MACHINE?!"

Asuka: They just issued this card! Why won't it take it?!

Shinji: (points at the figure, trembling, terrified voice) I...it's you!! What the hell are YOU doing here, Asuka?!

The fourteen-year-old German-Japanese redhead slightly turned around to see her old plain-looking "friend" of the same age and raised her eyebrow at the sight of the boy. Shinji seemed to be more shocked as he caught sight of a Nerv ID card similar to his own being held by Asuka.

Asuka: Well, well, what do we have here? It's Mister Wimpazoid himself, Shinji Ikari, in the flesh! And that should be MY question, what the hell are YOU doing here?

Shinji thought it better to explain it all by showing Asuka his own Nerv ID card, but her reaction wasn't quite what he had expected. It was as if his redheaded friend's eyes had bugged out from learning the fact that Shinji Ikari was indeed the Third Child and a *fellow* Evangelion pilot at that.

Asuka: Y...you're the Third Child?!

---

Asuka's earsplitting scream that resulted in that discovery had reverberated all throughout Nerv HQ and probably throughout the geofront itself and the AEUG battlecruisers it had presently given shelter to. Camille blinked and looked curiously for a while at Emma whose eyebrows had met in wonder and tried to hold back a snicker.

Emma: What do you suppose *that* was?

Camille: Asuka had just landed in Japan and into Nerv headquarters. (shakes his head) Tsk, tsk...I fear Shinji's gonna have the time of his life again...

Emma: (nods) Oh, you mean that nice German-Japanese girl who was with Shinji we met weeks ago? Strange, I had always thought Asuka was actually nice to Shinji...

---

And so, there was only five hours left before the AEUG would leave for Jabrow, even though Supreme Commander Brex Forra was more than ready to launch, since almost all of his men and ace pilots have already prepared themselves for another big battle. Bright had suggested that they leave immediately and hope to catch the Titans by surprise, which Brex had immediately accepted and done faster than anyone can say, "Captain Nemo is Nadia's father".

There was only so much awe if one were to see the Agama and the Radish launch from the underground Nerv geofront and slowly elevate itself into the low atmosphere. Brex had chosen to let one of the Agama's support ships, the Mont Blanc, stay in Japan as the Kalaba's--and eventually Nerv's--default "base of sortie operations".

Too bad, though, Misato and her coop hadn't been there to witness the Agama's and the Radish's launch out of the geofront, for she was introducing their "new" Eva pilot, the "Second Child", Asuka Langley Sohryu, into the rest of her colleagues. She had thought, however, that there was no need for Asuka to be introduced to Shinji since Asuka had known him since they were children.

Misato: So, umm, this must be VERY exciting for you, Shinji, since Asuka's here and she's going to be one of us now, right?

Shinji: (whispers to himself) Yeah...about as exciting as a cabbage...

Asuka: (raises an eyebrow and whispers to Shinji) I *heard* that.

Misato: Oh my goodness, I see you two are having a very neat conversation already. You must miss each other so much! (giggles) So, Shinji...where in the world did you get that bruise on your cheek?

Shinji: (gulps and sweatdrops) Uh...w-what? Oh, th-this was--

Asuka: (runs towards Shinji) Oh, I'm so sorry! Did that happen before? Misato, some punks were picking on me while I was shopping in the city...Shinji happened to pass by and saved me!

Asuka then stood beside Shinji and pinched his buttocks so much that it really hurt and just leered at him with quite a horrifying stare. Shinji couldn't say a single word what with Asuka looking at him like that once again.

Misato: (blinks) You *did* that, Shinji? Well, that's nice, it's very unlike you to show some chivalry...

Asuka: I'm VERY grateful, Misato! (smiles and giggles, then whispers at Shinji smirking at him evilly) Snitch and I'll make you *pay* for it, got that?

Shinji: ...!! (thinks) Oh my Lord...what have I gotten myself into this time...?

---

Episode 8, "The Winds of Jabrow"
-------------------

The purplish glow of the huge Sephirothic Table of Divine Names embedded onto the ceiling and floor seemed to glow a little brighter inside Gendo Ikari's rather large "office" somewhere inside Nerv HQ.

Gendo: So, we meet again, Kaji Ryouji-dono.

Kaji: So we have. Actually, as you've noticed, I'm way ahead of schedule as to my arrival here in Headquarters. But that's not the reason I came here...

Gendo: I have noticed that. Does the...Committee know of your arrival?

Kaji: Heh, of course. But they will have yet to see how this..."baby" of ours has become.

The mysterious 30-year-old Nerv agent, whom one from the AEUG would immediately recognize as just merely one of the anti-Titan organization's representatives for their numerous financiers, carefully lay his familiar metallic suitcase over Gendo's rather large office table. Opening the suitcase, Kaji showed its contents--the fabled "Adam", or rather known to Nerv and the "Committee" behind it as the "first Angel"--to his Supreme Commander. Gendo wasn't the least bit surprised at what he saw, as he had expected the seemingly "helpless" larva-esque form of the Angel to grow--mutate--in such little time. "Adam" was now about the size of a large vegetable such as a papaya, and for some reason, it made the Nerv Supreme Commander's lips make that familiar smirk once again.

Kaji: What do you think?

Gendo: It looks good, I'm afraid. Let me remind you that the Central Dogma will always be ready and waiting if ever any...sudden developments should occur.

Kaji: Indeed.

---

And since it was about lunchtime, Misato decided to treat her three "lively" 14-year-old Eva pilot companions to a fancy canteen just somewhere inside Nerv HQ.

Misato: (takes a beer can) Grab whatever you want, kiddies! The pickings are quite slim, though...

Shinji: (looks sourly at Misato) Umm...are you allowed to drink on duty, Misato?

Misato: Oh, shush up, Shinji! One doesn't count! (seats herself down on an empty table) Nice fight with the Angel, Asuka! We saw it on videotape...umm, I'd heard the rumors about an amazing Second Child head and shoulders above our little newbie, Shin-chan!

The three Children seated themselves as well and started to chow down on Misato's treat as they had that little discussion with their 29-year-old superior officer.

Shinji: (raises an eyebrow and thinks) "Shin-chan"?! What the hell...?!

Asuka: Oh, I *can't* be *that* good! Tee-hee! I mean, *really*...I still have *so* much to learn! (smiles innocently at Misato)

Shinji: (face turning blue with gloom) .....

Rei: .....

Misato: (leers at Shinji) Why the doom and gloom, Shinji? I thought you'd be happy to have a new colleague...

A few seconds later, Misato was just surprised at what had suddenly hugged her behind her back. She struggled to let go of whoever it was who was hugging her and shrieked a little.

Misato: Ack! Wh--what the--who's there?! Cut it out!

However, much to Asuka's delight, the Second Child's eyes lightened up at the familiar figure who was "making fun" on Misato at the moment. It was almost like Asuka was so happy too see the tall, handsome 30-year-old Japanese man with a semi-long ponytail and stubble on most of his chin...

Asuka: (smiles widely) Kaji-san!

Misato: WHAT...?!

Kaji: (lets go of Misato) Still drinking in the middle of the day, huh...? Y'know...you're *gonna* get a gut. (grins suavely at her)

Misato: (gets away from Kaji) Wh-what are YOU doing here?!

Kaji: (picks up Misato's chair) That's a nice way to say hello--when we haven't seen each other in forever. I, uh, I accompanied Asuka here on a business trip from Germany.

Asuka: (clings to Kaji's arm) Awwww, where've you been?

Misato: (crosses her arms) Well, good for *you*. If you're done with business, can't you be on your way?

Kaji: Heh, 'fraid not. No plans to leave for the time being.

Misato: (stares evilly at Kaji) I see...

Kaji: (looks over to Shinji) Are you Shinji Ikari?

Shinji: Uh...yeah, I am. How'd you know my name?

Kaji: (chuckles) You're famous...at least in *our* biz! (pats Rei's head like a puppy dog) I know Rei too, of course. The Third Child who piloted an Eva in battle--with absolutely NO prior training...and who's defeated THREE Angels AND had battled with the Titans on different occasions to boot, fancy that!

Asuka: (slightly worried voice) Wow...but *I* defeated the fourth...

Shinji: B...but...it was just *luck* that I won...

Kaji: "Luck" is a part of ability, Shinji. It's your natural gift.

Shinji: (gasps and looks at Kaji) ...!

Asuka: .....

Kaji: So, I hear you're living with Katsuragi?

Shinji: More or less, yeah...

Kaji: (grins innocently) Does she still sleep sprawled all over the bed?

Asuka and Misato: .....!!!

Rei: .....

Shinji: Yeah, I go wake her up every morning, and she's so--

Misato: WH-WH-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?! In front of children, no less! Aaargh!!

Shinji: (blinks at Misato) Huh? Why's it wrong in front of children?

Misato: .....

Kaji: (walks away from the canteen and laughs briskly) See ya later, Katsuragi, kids! (waves at them)

Misato: AAARGH, go away! (thinks) This is a nightmare...

Shinji: ....?

---

Later that day, while the Agama and the Radish were so smoothly passing over certain islands of the Pacific Ocean on their way to Jabrow, two individuals locked in their cell were waiting for the right time to hatch their plan of escape once the AEUG land there. The whole of the former Federation base in Jabrow, South America was just swarming with Titan soldiers. The original pilot of one of the old Pegasus White Base's prototype mobile suits, the Guncannon, now "merely" a Reuters journalist, Kai Shiden, almost got caught red-handed fidgeting around with Jabrow's telegraph and fax system on his informing the AEUG of his and the said resistance group's Chief Petty Officer Reccoa Londo's situation in Jabrow. Things have not been very well, what with the two of them being detained there.

Reccoa: I just hope they'd be here anytime soon...

Kai: Don't worry, they will. They're your people, aren't they?

Reccoa: Yeah...

Kai: Hmm... (looks out his cell) If this is the price of snooping around in the affairs of the Titans, I wonder what actually *exposing* their dirty work would do for me.

Reccoa: Aww, you're being so sarcastic again.

Kai: Heh. Well, I suppose that's what seven years of not engaging in military activities does to you, eh? You know, I've just been wondering about one of your high officers, this "Quattro" guy. You did say he wore red threads all the time, right?

Reccoa: (blinks) Yes...and what's it to you?

Kai: Oh, nothing. It's just that I, uh...I remember somebody really nasty that me and my dudes in the White Base met seven years ago who also seemed to have a weird fascination for the color red. Ever heard of Char Aznable, Reccoa?

Reccoa: Of course, who doesn't know who the "Red Comet" is? Wait a minute...are you thinking what I'm thinking...?

---

Afternoon had soon come. The journey to South America from Japan wasn't exactly a very pleasant one: the AEUG had experienced some little ambushes on their way, so Quattro (Hyakushiki), Emma (Quattro's red Rick Dias), Camille (Gundam Mk-II), and Roberto (black Rick Dias), along with a few of their other unnamed AEUG pilots in GM-II's, warded them off with just a bit of difficulty, as they were low on resources and mobile suits.

All people at hand in the Agama and the Radish were prepared, amidst their very few losses in terms of their late ace pilot Apolli and weaponry and ammunition, to make their planned assault on the fabled Federation base at Jabrow, South America. Engineers, a very few of them (who also knew about mobile suits) coming from Nerv and dominantly from the AEUG, were scurrying around doing repairs on the four ace pilots' mobile suits and the two AEUG battlecruisers. As soon as Bright personally announced over the Agama's PA system that Jabrow was just ahead, Quattro and the others boarded their respective mobile suits and prepared for launch.

Camille: /So we're finally getting to Jabrow.../

Quattro: /Yes. This is just the beginning, Camille. We've yet to perform the whole show, so to speak. How do you feel, Lieutenant Emma?/

Emma: /Actually, I feel kind of nervous right now. I mean, this is going to be one of the biggest days in my life, I'm actually making operations *against* Jabrow instead of defending it./

Quattro: /I see your point. Well, you *are* formerly from the Titans, anyway, but somehow I don't really see you having any regrets about betraying them./

Emma: /Why should I have any regrets at all?/

Quattro: /Right. Emma, Camille, Roberto, get ready. Any time now and our first wave of attackers from the GM-II squad in the Radish will have taken flight and landed near the Amazon River. We will be following in a few minutes and take out whatever they'll have left for us./

Camille: /I'm pretty sure that big quack Jerid Mesa will show up again...by now he will have known that one of his companions is already dead and I'm pretty sure he'll be thinking I killed one of his pals. Let him come to me.../

Emma: (blinks) /You sound pretty determined to settle your score with Jerid, Camille. Well, if you're ready to die, that's okay--from what I've known of him, Jerid seems to get a little more "proficient" in piloting an MS whenever situations like these occur. Too bad for him, though, I've also noticed he trashes every MS he's gotten into whenever he's in battle.../

Camille: /Well, Jerid Mesa is one big pathetic jerk, if you ask me. I'm not afraid to die...not just yet./

Bright: /We're clearing the way for you now, people. All of you will launch immediately as soon as the hatch doors open. The Commander's counting on you, Lieutenants Quattro and Emma, Camille, and Roberto--/

Fa: /But why can't I go with them? I know as much in piloting an MS as Camille does, he taught me back in Side se--/

Camille just shook his head as he heard Fa's voice in the direct audio link connecting them to the Agama's bridge. True, she had some knowledge about MS piloting as much as he does, but it's just that she hasn't had any experience yet, whether it's on a simulator or much less in actual battle. All of the ace pilots could just barely hear Bright's and Fa's muffled voices in the PA system.

---

Bright: (still covering his hand on the microphone) Fa, haven't we had this discussion before? You will just, for the time being, stay here on the bridge and help out on the ship's navigation! You will get your chance in being one of our pilots later, understand?

Fa: (throws up her hands in wee frustration) Aww, all right! Geez, I was just making a suggestion... (goes back to her work in the bridge controls)

Brex: (looks at Bright) Captain, you didn't have to be so hard on the kid. And try to lower your voice down a little and stay calm, all right?

The British captain of the Agama blinked. This was the somewhat the same situation that he had with his now-fiancée Mirai Yashima back in the White Base seven years ago. Bright had thought to himself, was it *his* fault that his voice sounded angry all the time? Why didn't everyone give him a decent break, just for once?

Bright: (looks back at Brex) Commander, sir, with all due respect, I *am* calm!

---

Soon enough the second wave of AEUG mobile suits were launched from the Agama. There was already a fierce battle going on outside the said AEUG battlecruiser between their own small squadron of "outdated" GM-II's and the Titan defense perimeter that they, along with the remnants of the Federal Forces soldiers who had been assigned to Jabrow, had apparently prepared for the AEUG's arrival. Especially when one of the Titan ace pilots at hand, piloting his own black Gundam Mk-II, was less than delighted at the sight of his mobile suit's white AEUG "twin".

Jerid: And the freaking girly-boy shows up once again! This time I'm *really* riled up, I'll make you pay for what you did to Kirkricon and Lyla, Camille Vidan!

---

The first wave of GM-II's from the AEUG had suffered quite some casualties in their battle with the Titans' seemingly upgraded GM's within the thick, dense forest surrounding the Amazon River, the infamous South American body of water which was part of the few standing Federation strongholds, Jabrow.

This overpowering struggle which favored the Titans at the moment was with the help of another small squadron of assorted models of MS'es in the Titans' arsenal; in this case, this small squadron had in it six new Marasai's, five Zaku-II's, and a lone ebony Gundam Mk-II.

The battle's tides have more or less turned at the appearance of a second wave of mobile suits from the AWEUG, this time, there was Quattro's Hyakushiki, Camille's ivory Gundam Mk-II, Emma's crimson Rick Dias, and Roberto's own ebony Rick Dias. Four ace pilots were all that Brex Forra needed to make this mission a success; he had full trust in his pilots since they had made their reputation from among allies' and enemies' ranks, especially with the one in the gold-colored Hyakushiki, Lieutenant Commander Quattro Bajina. Brex once again realized that the Red Comet would once again make his mark in history.

As always, Jerid waited for the right time to ambush Camille and camouflaged his black Gundam Mk-II lying down in a sniping position within the standing timbers along the Amazon River. He aimed his beam rifle at the white Gundam Mk-II's head and after waiting for the right time to strike, he pulled the beam rifle's trigger in sadistic glee.

Camille immediately sensed imminent danger behind him and made his Gundam Mk-II barely dodge the beam attack as he finished mauling away at an enemy Marasai and a Zaku-II. He knew immediately who would fire at him while his back was turned: it just had to be Jerid Mesa. Camille searched for his perennial thorn in the flesh from within the dense foliage of the forest and finds him as the black Gundam was trying to have at him with a lunge of its beam saber.

Camille: /So we meet again!/

Jerid: /Don't you ever learn, you snot-nosed brat?!/

Camille: /You SHUT UP, motherfucker!/

The white Gundam barely dodged the black Gundam's beam rifle attacks as Camille trusted his mobile suit's guidance system to help him in descending into the forest. Charging towards the white Gundam, Jerid muttered curses as he resolved to just go for a melee attack on Camille, picking his beam saber handle from behind his Gundam and activating it.

Camille reacts to this by whacking the butt end of his beam rifle at the hand of the black Gundam which was holding the beam saber, giving him time to retrieve his own beam saber and engage Jerid in an impromptu swordfight between two Gundams.

As Quattro's Hyakushiki blasted away at two unfortunate enemy Marasai's respective cockpits, he signaled for Roberto and Emma to fire at something that he might have mistaken for a Musai-class battlecruiser "just off his range of vision".

Emma: /But what could a battlecruiser be doing here in Jabrow?/

Quattro: /Just go and check it out. You'll never know what's hidden behind these trees in the Amazon until you look at it, right?/

Emma: /Roger that. Let's go!/

Showing their respective experiences as seasoned mobile suit pilots, Emma and Roberto easily blasted and slashed their way towards a certain direction in the southeast to see if Quattro was right--and he was. There it was, a Titan Musai-class battlecruiser looking as if it's ready for launch. As soon as Roberto saw Emma's Rick Dias do a nodding motion, he prepared to fire at it with the remainder of his bazooka's ammo as Emma did and aimed at the Musai carefully.

Camille didn't need his Newtype perception to notice that Jerid wasn't giving it 100% in their fight. It was more like Jerid was the one distracting him rather than the other way around as he had noticed the Titan ace pilot was becoming more focused on only dodging Camille's attacks rather than countering them.

Camille: (thinks) Come on, what the hell's wrong with you?! Fight me, dammit!

Jerid: /Come on, boy. Can't you do anything better than that? You're too SLOW for me!/

Camille: /I'll show you SLOW!/

The young AEUG pilot suddenly had some sudden rush of whatever it was that kept him running and charged towards his cocky opponent, intent on yanking the black Gundam's head off, then its chest cockpit. Jerid was almost too shocked at this that his instincts made him react by punching the other Gundam's head, which action he had so successfully failed to do. At the right time, Camille activated his Gundam's beam saber handle as made an upwards slash at whatever body part the black Gundam had protruding--in this case, its left arm.

Jerid: (thinks) Aww, FUCK! He cut off my arm! God DAMN it all!

Through static, he heard a fellow Titan officer tell him that it was "time to fall back and head to the ship". After a minute of silence he affirmed the message and prepared himself to retreat from this battle, signaling his few left comrades to do so as well.

As there were only five moderately damaged GM-II's left on the side of the AEUG, it seemed that the resistance group was winning the battle all too easy; some of the Titan mobile suits were retreating towards a certain Titan battlecruiser that looked like it was about to launch off. Quattro never let this opportunity pass by and ordered Emma and Roberto to infiltrate Jabrow with as few casualties as possible while he fired at the escaping Titan mobile suits with the Hyakushiki's bazooka launcher.

Camille: /HEY! Where the hell do you think you're going?!/

Jerid: /Heh...gotta "catch a train", you know. Seeya later, Camille Vidan!/

The blue-haired boy's brow became wrinkled at this thought. He would never see Jerid running off from a fight just like that; there just had to be some reason why Jerid just escaped off like that. Camille gritted his teeth as he just let Jerid slip away from him and fired wildly at the few remaining escaping Titan mobile suits.

Camille: /Hey Quattro.../

Quattro: /Hmm?/

Camille: /Why do you suppose these guys would escape from us? They've got us outnumbered, as you've probably seen when we first got here, right?/

Quattro: /I'm wondering myself, Camille. Anyway, let's just move in and take in some civilians into the Agama and the Radish...Emma just radioed me and she said there were a lot of people here in Jabrow waiting for us to "rescue" them./

Camille: /Civilians? Hmmm...this makes it all the more suspicious...anyway, let's go rescue those civilians!/

---

Still seated inside the cockpit of his white Gundam Mk-II, Camille moved in on his own inside Jabrow and explored the revered former Federation base with the sudden thought of someone familiar was still inside. He, along with his fellow AEUG pilots, never thought this base would just be too easy to penetrate as his Newtype senses led him to a familiar-looking redheaded young woman and some Puerto Rican media reporter. He immediately opened the door to his cockpit and called out his redheaded AEUG comrade.

Camille: Miss Reccoa!

Reccoa: (points at him) Hey, look it's Camille! Hey Camille! It's good to see you again!

Kai: And our knight in shining armor finally comes. Reccoa, is he from the AEUG?

Reccoa: Yeah, that's Camille Vidan, one of our best pilots...he's the one I've been telling you about! (takes Kai's hand) Well, come on, let's go! We don't want to get caught in the middle of an N2 mine explosion--

Camille: (sounds a bit shocked) W...what do you mean "caught in the middle of an N2 mine explosion"? You mean...you mean there's a bomb here?

Reccoa: (climbs up the Gundam's outreached hand) Yeah, and from what we've seen earlier back there... (points to a random direction) ...it looks like it's gonna blow about an hour from now...

Kai: (follows Reccoa into the Gundam's cockpit) So let's get the hell out of here, quick!

---

There would be not avoided some speculation from among the AEUG pilots and those in the Agama and the Radish as to why this mission has been all too easy as they rescued the said inhabitants of Jabrow into the AEUG's care. Brex had personally met up with some of the civilians and had a little talk with them--to discover the same thing that Camille had found out from Reccoa and Kai from one of the people he talked to.

Brex: (shocked) An N2 mine?! My God, we've been tricked! Let's get out of here, quick! Henken, radio the bridge to--

Henken: Sir, we still have to wait for *all* of the civilians and Camille as well to have boarded the Agama and the Radish!

Brex: Is that so? (rubs his chin in thought) We don't have much time, and our ships can only hold so much weight...

Henken: /...is that so? Yes, thank you./ Commander, we have just detected a Garuda-class transport plane headed this way. Hayato Kobayashi of the Kalaba seems to be heading this..."Audomura"...and he's offering a transfer of the civilians to his ship, sir!

Brex: (sighs) Thank heavens! Tell Lieutenant Kobayashi to get here as soon as possible!

Henken: right away, sir! (runs away to the Agama's bridge)

Brex: So the Titans have anticipated us coming here to Jabrow, eh Captain? That's very unacceptable, but I should have thought of it beforehand. There's no crying over spilt milk...and we must make it better next time...

Bright: Yes sir.

Brex: But then, we have no more time to blame ourselves. The Titans have gotten better than we had first expected, and all we can do now is wait for...another one of your former pilots in the White Base.

Bright: (rubs his chin) Yes...but it's just so strange why and how Hayato had known we were going to be in this kind of situation...

Brex: Well, maybe it's just that the Kalaba has as many informers here on Earth as we have in space.

A few minutes later, as soon as Camille's Gundam Mk-II had boarded the Agama, Brex ordered that the Agama and the Radish should rendezvous with the said Garuda-class Kalaba transport plane "Audomura" and escape from Jabrow immediately before the said N2 mines explode. Brex was almost happy with the fact that Reccoa was back with them in the AEUG. He was one of the first people to greet her with a handshake inside the bridge.

Brex: It is very good to see you again, Officer Reccoa Londo. I thought we weren't going to see you again...

Reccoa: (handshakes back) Eh heh heh...it's nothing, Commander. (grins impishly) But I couldn't have done it and survived without Mr. Kai Shiden here...

At the mention of his name, the lanky, gray-haired Puerto Rican media reporter, who was talking to Captain Bright Noah at the moment, just smugly waved at the plump AEUG supreme commander and grinned at Reccoa. Kai Shiden was just too glad to be out of Jabrow.

Kai: Hey, it was nothing, okay Officer Reccoa? (turns towards Bright) Well, it's been seven years since we've seen each other, eh Captain?

Bright: (nods) Yeah...yes it has. We've had such a time when we were still in the White Base. You know what, I've seen Amuro just half a day ago in Japan. It seems he's working with Hayato in the Kalaba assisting some weird organization in Japan called "Nerv" or something like that...

Kai: "Nerv", eh? Heh, I guess the Angels have finally come...oh, and in case you're wondering why I know about these Angels, well, as you've probably known by now, Captain Bright, that the media nowadays seems to have its own..."network of spies", to put it bluntly. You know, being a media reporter's quite an interesting job...you get to know a LOT of secrets that the Federation's hiding. And these secrets, mind you, captain, aren't actually the kind that you'd be pleased to know about.

Bright: Hmm...is that so? Well anyway, are you going to stay here in the Agama for a while or not? We need all the help we can get, and since you've had some experience with my leadership in the One-Year War, well...

Kai: (shakes his head) Naah, I'd rather not...at least not directly. And it's not because I'm being... like our old friend Sayla would put it, "cowardly" again or something to that idea, no, no. It's just that, well, you know, I already have quite an "interesting" job right now.

Bright: (raises his eyebrow at him and stares) Right...

Kai: Oh, by the way...Captain, have you heard of that..."suspicious activity" going on around the old Zeon asteroid base "Axis"?

The word "Axis" definitely got Quattro's attention as he was talking it out with Reccoa and Brex. What would Axis be doing in the Gryps War *now*? He turned around slightly to hear what the former pilot of the Federation mobile suit Guncannon was talking about, who was gawking back at the Red Comet.

Bright: Axis? Hmm...I've heard of some Zeon survivors taking their refuge in Axis during '83 and they started that Operation Stardust thing with Delaz, Gato, and Garahau spearheading the whole thing, but from that time, I've never heard of Axis anymore. Hmm...you seem to know something that we don't. Spill it out, Kai.

Kai: Heh, I knew that was coming. Well, Axis seems to be taking up its arms again and is preparing for something really big, as if they're forming another league of Zeon soldiers much like what the Delaz Fleet had left off...much like a new Zeon movement thing going on, you know.

Brex: (walks toward Kai and Bright) I couldn't help overhearing your little conversation, Mr. Kai Shiden. Another Zeon movement, you say? But what would they have to do with the Gryps War anyway? If my guesses serve me right, they couldn't possibly be against the Titans the way we are.

Quattro: It looks as if their leader has chosen to strike at the right moment, right, Commander? Maybe they had known that our whole situation with the Titans is slowly getting into chaos so they're preparing to do something really nasty.

Kai: Oh? And how would *you* know?

Quattro: I just *know*.

Kai: (whispers) I'll accept that alibi from you, Red Comet...for the time being, that is.

Bright: Well anyway, as always, we should be prepared for any developments from the respective sides of both the Titans and Axis Zeons, Commander. As much as I would hate to do so, if we could get the Axis Zeons as our allies...

Brex: I wouldn't bet on that, Captain. Although almost 40% of the AEUG are composed of Zeon survivors, I don't think an alliance with these people would make any things better for us. For all I know, these people might even be the cause of our downfall if ever that dreadful day happens.

Quattro: I agree, Commander. I would much rather the AEUG should do things only within ourselves than seek help from...unreliable personalities such as these upstart Axis Zeons. Like what Captain Bright Noah said, we should always stay on guard if ever things go ugly from here on.

Bright: So where are we supposed to head next, Commander?

Brex: I've been thinking of taking a visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to transfer and launch the civilians in the Audomura into a space colony somewhere in Side 6, Captain, since Side 6 for the most part has stayed neutral all throughout these seven years.

Bright: That's right, and we should lend assistance to the Audomura since it could be a potential target for the Titans as the Audomura, being a Kalaba-sponsored transport carrier, is also considered somewhat of an AEUG ship by the Kalaba's connections with us. All right, Officer Torres, set the Agama's next course for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on the double!

Torres: (makes some adjustments on the navigating wheel) Sir, yes sir!

---

A flock of birds fly by and with the Agama, the Radish, and the Audomura. Camille, Fa, and Emma gazed out one of the few windows of the Agama as Jabrow went up in a big red explosion as a result of the N2 mines that have been planted inside the old Federation military base, the impact of the explosion shaking the Agama for a bit. As Fa snuggled close to him, Camille began to realize more and more that these Titans aren't something to be toyed with. Emma already knew this for a fact and thought this might not even be the beginning of the Titans' supposed extensive dastardly secret plans. What these plans might hold, she just didn't know.

Quattro looked at the same explosion through the Agama's bridge's viewing window, lost in thought about this new potential threat. So the few surviving Zeons in Axis have finally come into play again, he thought as memories of old started coming back when he was still donning his Char Aznable persona. But who could it be this time, he asked himself. He had some strong suspicions that it might be something...or someone...in his past who would want to gain the Zeonic supremacy once again. It was still *too* early for all of this.


To be continued
---

My apologies go out to Andrew Huang and Co. (The Sound and the Furry Productions) for shamelessly using some references to his "Neon Genesis Evanjellydonut" works without permission. (Author kneels and bows his face to the ground.)

Well, with that finished, I'd like to comment that it's a sunny noon of July 11, 2001 as I finish writing this Act and, honest to God, I have not been feeling very happy with how things are going between me and the world. Not that anyone would care anyway, so I'll just shut up.

I'd also like to comment that I now have (own) a video CD of "The End of Evangelion" that I have bought with my hard-earned money last Wednesday. Having been watching the movie for about an infinite number of times already, I start to ask myself for the first time, "Duhhh...what did it all mean?"

Anyway, thanks go to all those concerned in the production of this fic, especially my cute and pretty girlfriend Rachel who's served as my inspiration through it all. You know who you are. I'd also take the time to thank you, the reader, for taking the time to read this load of crap I call "my masterpiece".

Act 5 coming soon. Again, C&C's are welcome, NO FLAMES PLEASE. Till then, "Believe in the sign of ZETA...beyond the hard times from now."