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Title:            Full Metal Evangelion Book 1 Chapter 6

Author:            Dead^Meat   ( deadmeat@bhlegend.com )

ICQ:            7790861            (Auth. req – state who you are when you ask)

Dates of revision:            2002-12-01 v 0.05 (Started)

                      2003-06-22 ch6 publish version 1.0

* Disclaimer: Characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion have been used without permission. All characters contained in this work are copyright GAINAX, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision and Manga Entertainment.

* Quick-list of various Japanese words/phrases used, and it's translation.

Baka       = idiot

Hai        = yes

Hentai     = perverted, pervert, someone perverted

* Reading:

"d" - Denotes speaking

'd' - Denotes thinking

_d_ - Denotes punctuation

|d| - Denotes sound effects

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Chapter six: Something unexpected

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The landing was what one would have expected from a veteran pilot, as the plane shook only once when it's wheels hit the ground, but then the pull of gravity hit them for a moment as the plane aggressively reduced it's speed, soon coming to a complete stop.

Sitting quietly and waiting, the Nerv agents waited patiently to see what would happen next, ignoring the nervous buzzing of their agitated classmates.

After a while, a truck carrying stairs came by, extending its built-in stairs up to one of the exits, where a terrorist was waiting.

"Welcome to Korea, boys and girls." The same voice as before mocked them through the anonymity of the planes speakers, but one could easily imagine the a grinning man behind the voice.

"So, I'm sure you're curious as to what will happen now. Well, for most of you, not much, just sit around and wait patiently like good little boys and girls. We will be releasing some of the flight attendants soon, and they will be serving a meal. Isn't that awfully nice of us?"

"Other than that, we will need two volunteers to make our home-made ransom video. And the volunteers are … hrm … one Asuka Langley Sohryu, and one Hikari Horaki. Well, let's give them a round of applause, I say!"

A cheerless, forced applause filled the compartments as the students all looked up and around, to see who the unfortunate volunteers were.

Touji and Shinji were roused up to high alert, after hearing their respective charge's name being called up. 'This ain't no coincidence,' both of them believed.

Turning around in their seats, they saw one of the terrorists approach the pair of girls, and waved them up with his gun. Standing up, Asuka immediately locked eyes with Shinji, and he saw her gently put on the locket he had given her weeks ago.

'Good. Then I can use my tracking device.'

Mouthing "Don't worry, everything will be fine," to Asuka, he hoped that she wouldn't freak out and do something unnecessary, and smiled grimly back at her, his eyes burrowed in an angry frown. They soon broke eye contact.

As Hikari was about to pass by, staring glumly down on the carpet, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed hold of her arm. Bewildered, she looked up and stared down into Touji's troubled eyes. Still pulling on her arm, she wondered what Touji was thinking, then felt cold metal around her wrist. 'It's a bracelet! Touji has given me a bracelet!' Blushing, Hikari stared back up into Touji's eyes, who mouthed "Don't take these off, and don't worry," and then she was forced to move on by the terrorist.

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"Come on, Shinji!" Touji urgently whispered. "We've got to go and save them!"

"No, not yet." Shinji replied, eyeing the guards armed with old AK47s. Russian weapons. "We go after things have started to settle down, and they've become lax with security."

"Perhaps, but aren't you worried? We don't know what they're doing right now, or how they're being treated!"

"Of course I'm worried. But I'm sure they're safe. If they wanted to kill Asuka and Hikari, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to do this. On the contrary, they want them safe, and alive."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. We go, now?" Touji asked again, his face twisted in an odd, worried frown.

"… Let's go."

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"Where are you guys going?" A voice they knew well asked them, from behind.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down, or they will find us!" Touji urgently requested, and pulled Kensuke down to them.

"We're going to rescue Asuka and Hikari, Kensuke, but I think you should stay on board." Shinji recommended, while screwing loose a panel at the back of the plane.

"What? Why? I want to come with you!"

"Well, because it's dangerous!" Touji promised.

"I'm not afraid to die."

Both Shinji and Touji stopped whatever they were doing, and took a good, long look into the eyes of their fellow classmate. Then they shook their heads.

"Yes, you are. Please, leave it to us. Besides, who's going to protect our classmates while we're out there, hiding in the shadows?" Shinji asked.

"That's true …" Kensuke admitted sadly, then shook his head. "Anyway, who are you guys? First you jump on me on Asuka's balcony, in a black combat gear, aiming at my head with a gun. And now this!"

"… We might tell you later. Anyway, go back to our seats and occupy it, so it doesn't look too vacant. Good luck."

"… Yeah, good luck to you too. I'll see you soon."

"Mmm, soon." Shinji nodded to Kensuke, then Touji, and climbed into the dark opening, into the gloomy entrails of the hijacked plane.

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"Where are you taking us?" Asuka demanded, struggling against the handcuffs binding her wrists. Neither of her guards, who walked briskly alongside her, answered, or even acknowledged her question. Irritated, she stomped on the guards' foot, and tried to leap away as he gave out a yell of surprise, but was easily caught by the other guard.

Firmly held at the elbow, she was forced to move forward, resulting in her being half-dragged across the intensely illuminated airport strip. Hikari stared at it all, herself being dragged forward as well, completely helpless against the overwhelming guards.

After walking for a while, in silence, they soon approached two small, similar looking mobile-barracks, raised above the ground, with a small stairway connecting to the entrance. Realising that they were about to get separated, Asuka squirmed even harder, trying to wriggle herself free from her captors.

"Let go of me! Let go!" Asuka screamed, but it was all futile.
Both girls desperately tried to maintain eye contact for as long as possible, but they were inevitably ushered into their own, sparsely lit barrack.

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Running crouched. Step step step. Oil barrels. Stop. Hide. Peek out from the side. Turn back to Shinji, catching his eyes. Move my fingers. Circle. Two extended fingers. Movement counter-clockwise. Thumb and ring-finger out. He nods. Another peek confirms my guess. I sign back to him, then promptly run away, staying in the shadow. He's right in my trail. Good.

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Once inside, the guards took off her handcuffs, then pushed her further in, exiting to guard the outside. Looking around, Hikari stared at the various computer screens flicking between graphics and spreadsheets, showing all kinds of technical information she had never heard of. Noticing the mouse-pad, she shifted it slightly, revealing the logotype on it.

"S-E-E.."

"Miss Hikari Horaki, I presume?" A female voice said from the darkness, surprising her. Hikari immediately turned around, facing a blond woman wearing glasses and a lab-coat, holding a clipboard in her hands.

"Please come this way, so that we may begin."

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"No way! I won't lie down in that weird bed! I won't let you touch me! Now let me out of here!" Asuka bellowed, picked up a keyboard, ripped the cord off and threw it at the young scientist trying to calm her down.

"Please, Miss Asuka Langley! Please calm down! I'm just doing my job! I promise you, it won't hurt at all!"

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you have a go first, huh?" The suggestion was strengthened by a flying mouse that narrowly missed the scientist.

Sighing, the brown haired woman raised a radio to her mouth, and asked for assistance. Immediately, a guard from outside clambered in, and easily caught Asuka once again.

"I would have preferred not doing this," the scientist said regretfully, holding a small gun in her hands, "since it has not been fully tested yet, what the effects and side-effects could be like, but I guess I have no choice…" Raising the gun, she pressed the muzzle against Asuka's wildly struggling arm, and pulled the trigger.

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Synchronising their watches, they rechecked the distance and direction towards the two girls, and confirmed their suspicion. Both took another peek towards the direction given by their locators, noting that there were two guards standing outside the left one, but only one outside the right.

"The girls must be in those barracks, Touji. You fix up some kind of diversion, and I'll go free them." Shinji urgently whispered into the ear of his colleague.

"What? No way, I'll be the hero today! You fix the diversion, and I'll go save them!"

Shinji just stared, long and hard, into Touji's eyes, who soon relented.

"Ok, fine. Give me ten minutes."

"Ten minutes it is."

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Sedated, the body of Hikari Horaki lay limp and unmoving on the flat part of a large machine. It was illuminated by a single, dangling lamp right on top of it, casting yellow ray upon the twitching face of the girl. The female scientist in charge tied the young subject up, securing her wrists, ankles and head, then pressed a button, which caused the makeshift bed to pitch upwards, raising her torso. Pulling a cotton cap on the girl's head, the scientist proceeded with attaching a headgear on her, from which several thin wires were connected to the machine.

Checking that everything was in order, the woman nodded to herself, checked the list, and then turned towards the nearby shadow. On cue, a man emerged out of the deep shadow, and joined her beside the Neuro Extrico.

"Everything in order, Dr. Ritsuko?"

"Yes, sir. Everything going as planned." Dr. Ritsuko replied, and hung the clipboard on the machine.

"Good. Keep me posted." The man said, and turned away, a disturbing smile on his face.

Shuddering slightly, the woman stared at her superior, making out the outline of his tall build, pulling on a long, dark cloak, then proceeded to the door.

"S-sir…" Ritsuko stammered, but held her tongue. Watching him exit from the barrack, she sighed deeply, then turned towards the young girl in her care.

"Now then…"

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Setting up the small, portable satellite-dish Shinji had dug out of his bag, he pulled a retractable wire from it, and connected it to his watch. Feeling the warmth from the small scanner at the back of his watch, he knew that it had just read from the microchip operated into his wrist, and was just now connecting to the global net. Attaching the Palm-PC to the base of the satellite-dish, he made contact with the Geofront, identifying himself and logged on into the network.

Reading the coded message displayed on screen, he nodded to himself, then switched to map mode with the PPC-pen, marking noteworthy locations for the Commander to review. Having received a confirmation message, and further orders, he terminated the connection, and flipped the dish close.

Sensing someone approach, Shinji pressed himself tight against the only protection he had, which was a group of oil barrels, and waited patiently. Soon, he saw a weak outline in the dark run quietly towards him, rapidly making signs with his hand. Releasing the tension, Shinji shuffled away, making space for Touji who came back with a pistol and a semi-automatic assault rifle.

"This one's for you." Touji quietly whispered, handing his friend the gun. "Ran into a guy, he was alone so I took care of him. Regarding the diversion…" Touji proceeded to give a brief description of his plan, which Shinji nodded acceptance to. In return, he told Touji of the Geofront, and their deadline.

"Right, got it. Then we should begin in two minutes. Quick note, there're some old, unoccupied MW-90's over there, in that hanger. I suggest we head there afterwards. Anyway, let's do this!"

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Cursing, the man roughly tied her up to the NE-machine, before leaning dazedly against the wall, finally falling quietly on the floor. The woman shook her head sadly, and then laid the gun on the table next to her.

"Oh well, I guess we don't need it anymore. You'll have to do without."

"Gladly." Asuka sneered, struggling against the rope tying her down.

"What do you guys want with me, anyway? Can't you just leave me alone?"

The female scientist ignored her question for awhile, adjusting the system according to the situation, then replied.

"Did you know that the human brain has an incredible way of storing data? It is beyond what we could ever accomplish with microchips and neural-waves, at least with the current system. The grey matter that we all possess, inside it are not only what we need to see, to hear, to talk and to feel. No, inside it we store everything we have ever witnessed, as well. Our memories.

From birth to this day, we store everything in there, everything our eyes and senses catches. But if everything is stored inside us, how come we can only remember bits and pieces? Well, it's because we don't know how to dig into our minds, searching for that particular tidbit that we are looking for. At least, we didn't know, until this machine was invented."

Tapping on the machine, the woman proceeded with pulling a cotton cap over her head, and then started attaching a headgear on the girl.

"You can't do this! My memories are private! I won't allow you to violate my memories!"

"I'm afraid we have to. You see…" Staring into the eyes of the redhead, she smiled unnervingly. "…someone stored vital data in your brain, and we kind of need it for the future of our organisation, to accomplish our goal. And I'm afraid, I won't let anything disturb our plans."

Dropping her smile, the woman pressed a button, and the barrack was filled with a girl's scream.

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"One minute left until the fireworks starts, let's go!" Touji said, flipping off the safety on his assault rifle.

"Ok. Take care."

"No worries, bro, I won't die; after all, I'm still a virgin!" Flashing his friend a perverted grin, he leaped off.

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'Pictures. Blurred pictures. Moving pictures. Turning. Rotating. Changing. A house. In grey. A garden. In grey. Dolls. Grey dolls. Lots of dolls. Grey. Animals. Damn, grey animals. Grey. Torn up. Doll. Red. Grass. Grey. Grass. Red. Grey. Death. Beautiful, grey sky. A shovel. Grey. Dirty hands. Grey. A hole, filled to the brim. With. Red. Death. Crying. Grey tears. Crying. Grey salt. Regret. Dirtied hands. Red. Hurt. Mother. Red. Burning red cheeks. Men. Grey men. Coats. Journey. Laboratory. Shiny. Sterile. Cold. Dark. Trapped. Tied. Man in grey beard. Machine. Man without beard. Scars. Deep, red scars. Smile. Cold. Sterile. Hurt. Head. Hurts! Hurts a lot! It hurts!!!'

Data search in progress. Listing. Download. File zero one zero nine, the Moriam's theory. File one zero five nine, Loure's theory. File five nine six five, Conversion tables class A. File five nine six six, Conversion tables class G. File six zero three zero, *censored* manuscripts 14514B. File six zero four zero, Nieldahl's prophecy theory. File one five four seven, Case Evangelion. File two five eight eight, Case Elohim. File six four zero one, Restoration of SEE-

Suddenly thrown out of the system, her body did the only thing it could think of.

She screamed.

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Bewildered, Shinji quickly released Asuka from the machine, catching her as she fell sobbing from the bed. Holding her in his arms, he stared furiously up at the woman sitting in the corner, tied up.

"What have you done with her?" He bellowed, raising his gun, aiming at the one who made Asuka cry.

"It's too late, boy. She is finally remembering."

"Non sense!" After a quick decision of whether or not to kill the woman, he holstered his gun and turned towards Asuka.

"Asuka! Asuka! Please, calm down! I'm here now. Please!"

Embracing her gently, he hushed her, drying her tears with a handkerchief, speaking softly into her ear, trying to ignore the dulled sounds of explosion coming from outside.

"I'm sorry, Asuka, but we need to leave now. Please, stand up."

Standing up, he pulled the quiet Asuka up to him, and dragged her towards the exit.

"Now don't be afraid. The explosions are taking place far away from us. They're currently rescuing our classmates. Unfortunately, we need to take care of ourselves, but we'll manage. I will protect you."

Pulling the door open, they faced the music of destruction, and a large wardroid towering in front of them.

"What the hell took you so long? We need to move, move!"

"Right."

Shinji looked back at Asuka, who looked terrible, and started to drag her towards the hangar.

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"Stay here, and don't move, alright? Did you hear me?" A voice she recognised, but couldn't quite place, urged her. Bearing a headache that could kill, she nodded just to get rid of him, and silently dropped down on the ground.

'Dolls.

Death.

Red dirt.

Screaming.'

Holding her head, she tried desperately to calm down, calm down and find her mind. Find herself. Find myself. Myself. Me.

Slapping herself, Asuka endured the pain, tried to focus on the pain in her cheeks, and ignore everything else that went on in her mind.

With swollen, puffy eyes, she found herself staring up at a big wardroid, from which a voice she immediately recognised asked her if she was ok.

Shinji.

"I- … I'm … fine…"

"Good, now please stay where you are, I'll be right back to pick you up." Nodding, Asuka stared as the wardroid moved creaking out of the large hangar they seem to be hiding in. Having been left by herself, Asuka closed her eyes and hugged her knees, trying to forget. Forget everything.

"Oh dear."

Whipping her eyes open, she looked up at a young man her age, clad in a cream jump-suit, topped with white, wavy hair, resting his arms at his waist while smiling mysteriously. Having stared out after the wardroid, the young man finally turned his down gaze towards her, and she found herself staring up into deep red, intense eyes.

"He still haven't got any manners, have he? Leaving a lady like this, he should have known better. But, I guess I have to forgive him. And you should too, he's still such a boy at heart, so we shouldn't blame him."

Not understanding, Asuka just stared unblinkingly into those red orbs of his, not reacting even when he tossed a woollen blanket to her.

"Take care of Shinji. He needs someone to do so, while I'm not around." Nodding once, the young man easily broke his gaze with her and walked away.

"W-wait! Who … who are you?" Asuka managed to ask.

"Just an old friend, dear. An old friend."

And then he disappeared into the shadow of the hangar, as if swallowed by the darkness.

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Upon his return, he found Asuka still cowering by the wall where he left her, covered in a woollen blanket. Opening the hatch, he leaned out of it and reached out his hand towards Asuka.

"Asuka, please climb onboard." To his surprise, she did so instantly, reaching for his hand and he pulled her up. Making sure she was seated somewhat comfortably in the narrow compartment behind the pilot's seat, he then closed the hatch.

"Ok, erm, we're going to head for the others in our team now, that is currently rescuing our classmates on the plane. Likely, they're boarding another plane we borrowed, and we need to catch up to it, it won't wait for us. Touji!" The last part, Shinji cried into the intercom.

"Yup? It's clear, come on out."

"Right, we'll-"

"Shinji…" Asuka's whisper silenced him immediately, and he turned around to look at her.

"I-… umm … how's … Hikari?"

Clicking on the intercom, he forwarded the question to Touji, who muttered a bit about 'dangerous situations' and 'should've asked later', but he raised the mic voice, and soon the two of them could hear a slow, rhythmic breathing.

"I found her like this, deep in sleep. Tried to wake here, but she won't respond. Probably sedatives or something. Now hurry up!"

Turning around again to get Asuka's accepting nod, he fired up the engine and moved out.

As the cockpit moved from side to side, rolling around like a rowboat on a windy ocean, Shinji asked his subject whether she was seasick or not, and if he could speed up a bit. Getting no reply, he assumed that it was ok, and pushed the throttle to the max.

Pulling on the headset, Shinji tuned in on the enemy channels, and tried to listen in on their location, as they chattered feverishly in loud voices, accompanied by explosions. Tapping the radar, he checked that no other units were nearby besides Touji's unit, which he now ran parallel to.

Seeing the carnage in front of him, he grimaced slightly, feeling something that he haven't felt for a long time. It was such a change, from the peaceful, ordinary life of a student, and that of a hardened soldier.

Noticing a blip closing in on their location, as it rounded a warehouse corner, Shinji instinctively switched on the missile and took a pot shot.

Two missiles hit the military jeep at the same time.

"What in the?!" Touji exclaimed, took on an attacking position and aim, but did not shoot. Shinji, on the other hand, just stared.

From behind the jeep, another large wardroid emerged, but this one wasn't like anything they had seen before.

Tall and dark, with a sleek contour rounding off the semi-human shape, it's most distinctive mark was the huge, round, red eye in the middle of it's chest.

Taking on an offensive form himself, he hesitated about what to do, until a familiar voice called out from the strange wardroid.

"Guys? Is it you?"

"Kensuke! What the hell are you doing in _that_ thing?!"

"I found this in one of the hangers, and just thought I'd help you guys!"

"Well, you better get out of there, before the owner gets back! Come on, get out and we'll carry you to the plane."

"Listen to him, Kensuke. It's dangerous out here, you could get killed."

Waiting impatiently, the silenced reigned the distance between them, until Shinji and Touji heard an audible exhale, as if sighing.

"Oh alright. Well, move closer so I can jump over."

Their tension released, Touji approached the wardroid to help Kensuke get out while Shinji turned his unit around to keep an eye out.

Hearing a loud metallic bang, and Touji cursing, Shinji turned his unit back around and faced a missle.

|BOOM|

The cockpit shook violently as the missile hit one of its legs, practically severing it off the torso and causing the whole unit to fall over.

Covering his head, he did his best to protect it as they crashed down onto the ground. Feeling several bruises on his body, he quickly ignored them and turned back to check up on Asuka.

"Asuka, are you alright?" Seeing her holding her head, she looked calmly up at him, which for some reason unnerved Shinji more than the missile could ever have.

Facing the monitor again, he pushed on all the buttons, but nothing worked. They would have to abandon the wardroid.

Opening the hatch, Shinji shakily stared up at the pulsating eye covering his narrow field of vision. Soon, a voice boomed out of the aggressor.

"My my, mighty old Shinji, how I could have easily killed you." It was a voice he recognised, yet not anymore.

"K-kensuke! What are you doing?!"

"Now now, don't be afraid. I won't kill you, if you hand me the girl, that is."

"Who are you?! You're not Kensuke! You can't be!" Shinji exclaimed furiously, not trusting his senses.

Chuckles. Chuckles filled the chaotic wind sweeping through this lonely part of the battlefield.

"He he, I guess the rumour about all these intelligent NERV employees was false, if you're so stupid. The name's Kensuke Aida, pilot of this Elohim number 3, and your bane. Farewell, Shinji-kun. It was nice meeting you."

Raising a long arm to pick up, and likely crush Shinji in its grip, Shinji braced himself for what to come.

|CLANG|

Another loud, metallic clang reverberated in the air. Looking up, he saw Kensuke's unit being speared and pushed back by Touji's.

"Come on, you fool! Get out of here! Get Hikari as well!"

Nodding, Shinji turned around and roughly pulled Asuka with him out of the cockpit. Back on the ground, crouching with his back to her, she climbed up and held on tight, as Shinji leaped off in a run.

Ignoring the creaking and clashing of two metallic monsters, he dashed forwards towards the prone body lying fifty meters away, flickering off and on his field of vision as the light spread by the consuming fire swept through the night. Stopping by the slumbering girl, he brusquely picked her up from the ground, grunting from the effort required.

Steeling his muscles, he also steeled his lungs, holding his breath to preserve the image of strength projected by his mad dash through the fluttering darkness. An arm was suddenly raised beside his head, pointing at something in the open hangar next to them.

A jeep.

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Grunting, Touji held on as best he could, feeling the gravity first release, then fiercely take hold of the metallic shell entombing him, as his unit was swept up into the air by a powerful blow.

Crashing down on an old hangar, the building was flattened by the sheer mass of the marred wardroid, its hull covered in burn marks and scratched paint. Quickly opening the hatch, Touji emerged coughing, spitting blood on the hot casing.

Ducking back down into the cockpit, he cracked a sealed compartment and punched in a number, then pulled the lever next to the keypad. Having armed the device, he snatched up his assault rifle and leaped out, abandoning the wrecked wardroid.

Hastily looking around, he confirmed his guess. Kensuke was coming for the kill.

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Hurriedly going through the lockers, Shinji found a few grenades, smoke grenades, rope, crowbar, canteens and a pistol with ammo, all of which he rapidly shoved into a military-green sack. Rushing back to the jeep, he shot a quick glance at a peacefully sleeping Hikari lying in the back of the jeep, then up to Asuka who sat beside her, staring into Shinji's eyes with an emotionless expression. Worried, Shinji wondered what the heck had happened with the girls, but thought no more of it, as more immediate matters lay at hand.

"Brace yourself."

Jumping into the drivers-seat, he hesitated with his thumb floating above the ignition-button, wondered if the jeep would start, or if they were all doomed. He pressed the button.

The jeep growled angrily as the engine sputtered to life, and the tires hissed at him as he burned rubber, speeding towards the tall dark monster that was about to kill his best friend.

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Fire licked at him, touched him, caressed his unprotected skin as he pressed himself against a turned over file-cabinet. Feeling his skin prick by the slow cooking, he sat motionless, enduring the pain, the god-awful pain, all the while keeping track of time the best he could.

Taking a quick peek, he saw it. Yes, there it stood, tinted in reddish colours as the fire it had breathed life into cast its wavering light all over the monster.

Deciding that he was medium rare, and good enough to eat, he launched himself from the kneeling position, and ran. Ducking in and out of broken down rooms, he hastily orientated himself to the backdoor, and kicked it open.

Laughter.

"Foolishness. Thinking that you can outrun an Elohim. If you didn't know it, Touji-kun, then I shall tell you. Elohim's are the masterpiece of centuries of research and development. Elohim's will conquer the world, and erase any puny resistance raised in pitiful desperation.

Elohim's will kill, maim and slaughter, all for the greater good, for our reason of living, for SEELE's liberation of this our unfair imprisonment! Elohim's will shape our future. No, Elohim's _are_ our future! And it is yours as well, whatever future will be left, that is! Ha haha!" Turning around, the Elohim's torso leaned forward, over the broken, outdated wardroid that was it's past, and reached with it's gigantic, swelling arms towards the fleeing Touji.

"Now die."

Hoping to god that his count was accurate, he threw himself to the ground, covering his head with his arms.

And he waited for what seemed like centuries.

And then he flew once more.

For what seemed like an eternity.

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* Author's note:

*sigh*

Finally, released. Don't expect the next chapter in at least two months, since I'll be going off to work abroad for a while, during which I may or may not have Internet access, nor access to a decent computer to work on this fic with.

Scheduled for release last week, sorry for being a bit late. Been busy with IRL stuff and my HnG fanfic, as well as preparing for my trip, but at least it was worth the wait, wasn't it?

I assure you, I'll do my best to make it even better :)

There are several pre-readers for this chapter, among whom are Trex, QC, b4k4n3 and of course, Weltall Elite. Appreciate all your help, thanks guys :)

Last, but not least, I thank you, dear readers, for your time and attention.

Please tell me what you think about FME, either in FFN or to my e-mail, deadmeat@bhlegend.com, or at least give me a few minutes of your time by writing a comment. I never get bored of reading them, and when I get stuck somewhere, I'll just take a quick glance and feel like I want to write again :)

Cheers, and I wish you all a very nice summer!

/DeadMeat

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Preview of chapter 7:

"Sir, all the passengers and staff accounted for, except for two students and two field agents. The plane is ready to leave, Major, shall I give them the order to evacuate?"

Looking slightly indecisive for a brief moment, Major Misato Katsuragi bit her lips, then gave her order.

"Ready our troops for withdrawal, retreat in tactical order in five minutes. We will give them that time."

"Yes, sir." Briskly turning around to give out the order, the older captain turned back and gave her an sympathetic smile.

"The kids will make it. If not now, then later. They're tough cookies to crunch. I'm sure of that, and if you forgive me for suggesting otherwise, I hope you do too."

"… Thank you, Captain Fuyuma."

After dismissing the captain, she walked off to her helicopter, which stood with whirling rotors by itself on the almost deserted airstrip, shimmering in the early dawn-light and waiting to take her back to the surfaced Geofront.