*********************
Hyuga's report came back that it would require at least 60 Terra-Watts of power to break through the A.T. Field. Misato however simply smiled and said that she knew of a source of plentiful energy
"Captain; may I ask exactly what that source is?" Hyuga asked
"My dear young friend, we're standing on it," she said
Hyuga looked down for a minute
"The ground?" he asked sceptically
"No, Japan herself, take all the energy from all the power-stations and charge it into one weapon" Misato explained
"And where are we procuring this weapon?" Shinji asked as the two adults discussed plans for cables and sub-stations spanning the whole length of Japan
"Ritsuko is taking care of that with Asuka" Misato said off hand
Maya approached Misato with a report
"The progress of the drilling the Angel has under taken is slower than first thought. But it'll still break through to the Geo-Front a little after midnight" she said
"Okay, we have a schedule to keep now; let's move it" Misato shouted
*******************
200 miles away, at a JSSDF Weapons Depot, Ritsuko, Fuyutski and Asuka were procuring said weapon
"We're here on behalf of Nerv to commandeer the new Positron Cannon for use against the Angels" Fuyutski handed the young lieutenant a piece of paper making sure he knew how high from the top that order came from
"Yes sir, but this is highly irregular" he said
"We'll try and return the weapon in the condition in which we received it" Ritsuko said and pulled out a radio
"Okay Asuka, grab the crates one by one" she said into it
"Roger" came the crackled reply
At that moment, the roof of the building was removed and Asuka, using her Eva, reached in and picked up the crates that held the parts for the sniper cannon and loaded them onto flat beds to take them back to Nerv
"Hey, watch it Asuka. This shit is expensive" Ritsuko hollered down the radio
"How are we going on the substation and relay points?" Fuyutski asked
"Well, Misato has assured me that we're on schedule, in fact I heard from Matsusaka that the cables already stretch from one end of Japan to past her middle" Ritsuko said
"Good. With a progress rate like that, we'll have the relays set up and still have a few hours to set up the Evas and weapon" he spoke to himself, but loud enough for Ritsuko to hear
*******************************
Rei was listening to Trunks recount seeing her powers; they sounded fantastical
"I slowed down time?" she asked, her voice level
"Yes, and then you placed some odd field that I didn't recognise around our stupid hit-man and let him blow himself up" he added
"Then why do only you and I remember it?" Rei asked
"Another of your powers appears to be the ability to manipulate a person's memory" Trunks put forward his theory
"Can I control these powers?" she asked, now very worried but Rei's voice remained level
"I think that these powers manifest only at times of high stress and emotional feeling, or danger" Trunks said
"What drew that theory?" Rei asked
"You perceived, rightly, that the assassin's explosives were dangerous to you and those around you. To prevent the bomb harming people you awakened your dormant power and stopped him" he explained
Rei digested this possibility and looked out the window; she knew Nerv officials were coming to see her soon for a possible interrogation as to the failure against the Angel; normally she was apprehensive about the visits but never allowed that to be seen. However, even with her bedridden state, she was still able to blow a small house up with her new strength
[And if I can't defend myself…] she looked at the now deep in thought Trunks
[We'll see how they fair against Trunks] she had to smile as she thought of the faces of the officials seeing Trunks transform
However instead of the usual people, Ritsuko and Misato came to see her: Ritsuko smiled at Trunks and said hello: Misato on the other hand, kept her distance from him. In fact she could feel Trunks's gaze on her: his black eyes felt like missiles. Rei saw that Trunks was making the captain uncomfortable and turned to him
"Stop that" she said, Trunks smiled and walked outside. That left Misato a little confused
[I thought he was like, all powerful?], she couldn't work out why such a powerful being took orders from such a frail looking person
"Ritsuko; what just happened?" she asked
Rei chuckled at the captain's bemusement
"You have a lot to learn about my step sister, Misato" Ritsuko whispered and sat down
"Rei, I believe this is yours" Ritsuko said and handed the rose, now replaced by a fresh one
Rei blushed and took the rose, placing it beside the other one, which although wilted still looked nice: Misato looked on in awe: she'd never seen Rei blush before: and it seemed in some strange yet fitting way that something as simple as a rose would solve a problem she thought more complex than the Gordian Knot and then it finally well and truly hit home for Misato: Rei Ayanami, was in love
[And I couldn't even feel happy for her. Asuka too] Misato felt a little ashamed that she'd only seen negative things about the presence of the two objects of the two female pilot's affections.
"Yeah, Shinji and Asuka are working on a plan as we speak to destroy the Angel; we may need your help, however if all goes to plan, you can remain behind and rest. Despite his head knocking, Shinji's fine. A fighter's head on his shoulder" Misato rambled a bit
"Misato, get to the point" Ritsuko sighed and winked at Rei
"Yeah; we're going to use, a high power sniper cannon to try and kill the Angel, Shinji will be on the gun, Asuka will be defence. You will be back up" Misato said in short
"And?" Rei asked if there was any more information
"No, now if you'll excuse me: I have to go and humble myself" Misato said and went to find Trunks
After Misato walked out; Ritsuko burst out laughing, surprising Rei
"What is so funny?" she asked
"Misato has just realised that she was being unfair to some people and has gone to apologise" Ritsuko explained
"Oh. Who was she being unfair towards?" Rei asked
"Well, Goten and your boyfriend" Ritsuko replied
"How was she being unfair towards them?" Rei asked
"Well she thought that you and Asuka were in danger from them. The simple act of leaving a rose has convinced her otherwise on the matter in Trunks's case" was the answer Rei got
"Oh" was all the very confused Rei said
Misato found Trunks outside the hospital he was humming to himself while he sat on a garden wall. Misato approached him carefully and quietly until she felt it was safe to get his attention
"Trunks" she said
Trunks lazily turned his head around to look at the captain and stared right at her, not deviating like most men did to other parts of her body but Trunks went straight to the eyes
"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked
"No, I came to, apologise to you" Misato said, already embarrassed to be apologising to a young boy
"Why?" Trunks didn't know Misato had done anything to him that warranted an apology
"Well, I kind of had my reservations about you, being who you are. What you are and so on, I never actually gave you a chance to see what you were like normally" Misato wanted to dig a hole to hide in now
"Oh. I see" Trunks said and got off the wall
"So yeah, sorry" Misato fumbled
Trunks had to chuckle a little at the behaviour of the human, it was most odd
"Don't worry about it" was all he said, until as he walked inside he drew parallel with Misato
"If you and Ritsuko want a demonstration of my power, meet me in the woods a few miles out of the city the night after the Angel is destroyed. Feel free to bring the kids" he whispered and went back into the hospital to see Rei again
Misato thought for a minute and decided that she would take him up on that offer; Ritsuko would most likely join her also. And as for the children, well, they'd tag along whether they were welcome or not. She smiled wryly and got in her car to return to Nerv HQ
**********************
Asuka and Shinji were taking a sync test while waiting for Rei; she was being discharged in a few minutes. Their sync rates were about level with each other at 79%
"Okay, now an accuracy test" Maya said
The pair were given light rifles and put up targets in the virtual range about the same thickness as the Angel's core, they had one shot to try and get it right
"Read; aim, and fire!" Maya said
They pulled the trigger and let loose a single shot.
Aoba pulled up the results and had laugh: although Asuka was the better pilot with more training than Shinji, Shinji was a lot more accurate with a weapon than she was by the look of this test
"Okay, run the simulation 5 more times, the one with most accurate shots is our gunner" Maya said to Hyuga
"Gotcha" he said and did as he was asked
The simulation was run, and each time, Shinji's accuracy improved while Asuka's just remained lousy.
As they got changed, Shinji gloated over the results to Asuka who was on the other side of the partition
"I thought you were an expert pilot, Asuka" Shinji said
"You're dancing with death little man" she warned
"And yet I was more accurate than you, shocking state of affairs" Shinji continued
"You must love flirting with danger" Asuka said, smiling over sweetly and cracking her knuckles
"Oh no, the one among us who flirts with danger is Rei" Shinji countered
"And you work that out, how?" Asuka asked
"She's Trunks's girlfriend isn't she?" he answered a question with a question
"So, Goten in my boyfriend. They're the same type of person" Asuka said
"No, Goten is more like a big puppy and he's a nice guy. Trunks on the other hand is like, a hawk. His eyes are sharp at all times, and he's as dangerous as one too" Shinji reasoned
Asuka had to admit, Trunks made her a little edgy when she was near him without Goten. But she also knew that he was sweet in his own way; she saw how happy he made Rei; and Asuka, despite her misgivings on the other girl, was going to let her be
"Fine, if you say so Shinji, but that little distraction isn't going to stop me from killing you when I get dressed" Asuka called out in that honey laced voice
"You'll have to catch me first" Shinji said and bolted out of the change room past Asuka, to show he had a head start
Asuka groaned as she remembered her dress often flew up in this place and running didn't help either. Asuka wanted to catch and kill Shinji, but she wasn't about to give the under-sexed and most likely horny Nerv staff a free show. So Asuka bided her time and resolved to get him when they got home later tonight
"I shall get you Shinji Ikari, just you wait" she said to herself, baring her teeth at the same time
At that moment, Rei walked in to get changed for her sync tests; Asuka said hello
"Soryu" Rei replied with a curt nod in a more light voice than she usually had
Asuka saw Rei place two roses on her locker shelf; Asuka had no problem working out whom they were from and just left Rei alone. As she walked Asuka wondered if maybe that was half the problem that she had with Rei; she always wanted to be alone and never really participated in anything, until now. She sighed; the next few hours would essentially decide if humanity would live or not
"I don't know why I'm bothering to go home, I may as well stay here and get ready for the operation" Asuka said to herself and went to one of the lounges that the base had.
******************
Shinji made his way to Hikari's house to tell her he loved her: he had this terrible feeling that something was going to happen tonight and he wanted her to know how he felt in case he didn't make it
"Think good thoughts Shinji, or else you may actually not come out of this ordeal unscathed" he said to himself
He approached the door and knocked on it, and after about half a minute, Kodama answered the door and blinked
"Shinji, what are you doing here?" she asked
"I need to speak to Hikari, please" he said
"Oh, ah, okay" Kodama said and went to find her little sister.
While she looked for Hikari; Shinji found Nozumi was looking at him with big brown eyes and blinking
"Hi" she said with a big smile
"Hi" Shinji returned the smile, although it wasn't as big
"Are you my sister's boyfriend?" she asked
"Which sister?" Shinji asked, smiling as he played along
"Hikari" Nozumi cried out after she thought for a minute
"Yes, I am Hikari's boyfriend. My name is Shinji" he said
"You're cute. I see why Hikari likes you" the young girl may only be in primary school, but she was still very clever
Shinji blushed
"Thank you" he said
"Nozumi, are you saying naughty things to Shinji?" Hikari asked as she approached the doorway
"No" she replied and walked off, but she whispered something in Hikari's ear before she left sight
'That's your job" she giggled and ran off before Hikari could catch her
Hikari shook her head and then shot Shinji a glare when he started giggling at her
"And what is so funny, Mr. Ikari?" she asked
"You're sister, she's funny" he said after a few breathes
"Oh, and what am I?" Hikari asked, crossing her arms
Shinji looked up and down, taking every square inch of the girl in and analysing it and he came to a single conclusion, which he made known
"Enchanting" he said, making her blush
"You always did know how to sweet talk a woman" Hikari chuckled
Without wasting a second, Shinji stepped up to Hikari and kissed her, taking her by surprise. Kodama walked past and saw this
"Oh get a room" she said
"Don't be mean" Kenji said and gave Shinji the thumbs up
Kodama dragged Kenji to another room before he could doll out his manly 'pearls of wisdom' on the subject of women. Shinji broke the kiss but continued to hug Hikari, who was shaking her head at the antics of her siblings
"I love you" Shinji said
Hikari looked Shinji in the eye: she was glad he told her, but something was bothering him and she knew it. Hikari ran a finger down his cheek
"Promise me something Shinji: never come and say goodbye to me, or I will kill you myself" she said to him
Shinji nodded and thought to himself for a minute, another quick reflection on his new role
"I'm making history Hikari" he said
"Be careful, or you just won't make history, you'll be part of it" she said
Shinji produced a long velvet box from his jacket pocket and handed it to Hikari
"I realised earlier today that it was our 2 year anniversary today" he said as Hikari opened the box
Inside was a gold necklace with a rose shaped pendant on it: Hikari drew in a short breath as Shinji helped her put it on. It was a perfect fit
"It's beautiful, thank you" Hikari said and hugged Shinji again
Shinji looked at his watch: he had 2 hours left
"Okay, I gotta go now; I'll see you in a few hours" he said and began flying to a Nerv entrance
"You better not break that promise Shinji" Hikari called out
"I won't" he replied before he left her hearing range
***********************
In the mobile command unit on top of Mount Futago; Operation Mishima was put into action:
"Okay, Rei you're back up so if Asuka can't continue defending Unit 1, you step in with the axillary shield to continue" Misato said as she spoke
"Yes ma'am" Rei said
"Okay Shinji; you are the gunner: the rifle you're using is a modified canon and has all the power in Japan behind it, literally. It also takes about a minute to recharge and cool, so the first shot has to count" Misato explained Shinji's role to him
"No problems" he replied
"Okay Asuka, as the main defence, you will have the shield we procured from the old Space Program. If Hawkeye here misses, get your ass in front of him until the rifle is ready for firing again" Asuka, lucky last had her role explained
"Goody gumdrops" she muttered
"What was that?" Misato asked
"I said; affirmative" Asuka lied
"Okay, to your Evas" she ordered
Asuka and Shinji snapped to attention, saluted and in perfect unison, said
"Yes, Drill Sergent" over pronouncing the last part before bolting to the Evas
Misato's eye twitched as she watched them run and laugh, Rei silently jogged behind them. The rest of the command crew watched in good humour at the action: if anything, those two just broke some serious tension among the crew and they needed it too.
******************
On Mount Futago, the three Evas sat and beside each one was a tower of scaffolding upon which a platform sat. The pilot of each Eva sat on the platform for a few minutes before either one spoke
"Asuka, why do you pilot this thing?" Shinji asked
"Well, I don't really know. When I was young they tested me in Germany, and I was the best candidate, so I was selected" Asuka replied
"What about your family; did they object to this?" he asked
"Not really, my mother was the principal designer of Unit 2. Here, I'll show you" she beckoned him over
Shinji flew across to Asuka's platform and she pointed to a small engraving on the side of the head:
'Hope, for family, mankind and Asuka'
"She engraved that herself when no one was looking. I think in her heart, she built it for me rather than the rest of the human race" Asuka said and chuckled
"I see" Shinji said and flew off, he was going to ask Rei the same question
He landed on the platform and saw that Rei was looking up in the sky; he craned his neck and saw a yellow light high up in the sky
"That Trunks?" he asked
Rei nodded and the turned her head towards her fellow pilot
"Is there something I can help you with, Pilot Ikari?" she asked
"I actually wanted to ask you why you pilot the Evangelion" he answered
"Oh" Rei nodded and thought for a second
"It's my gift. At first I thought it was a bond to all living beings, but now I know it is my gift to all living beings that cannot fight themselves" she said
Shinji took that answer in and thought about it, before he left though, Rei asked him a question
"Why do you pilot Eva, Ikari?" she asked, fixing Shinji with a penetrating stare
"At first; honour. You were injured and unable to do it yourself so I couldn't let them send you out, you would have died" he said
"And now?" Rei pressed
"To prove to my father that I am not worthless, like he thinks I am" Shinji admitted
"I see, thank you, Ikari" Rei said and looked at the chronometer on the plugsuit's glove
"It's time to go" she said
"Okay, be careful out there Ayanami" he said and flew to his own Eva
Before Rei got into her Eva, Trunks landed on the platform and smiled at her
"I second that advice; please be careful" he said ruffling Rei's hair
Rei smiled and as fast as she could, tried to nail Trunks across the face but he blocked the strike
"Eager aren't we?" he said, kissing her hand
"I'll see you in the ring, when this is over" she said and hopped into Unit 0's cockpit
Trunks looked over and saw that Goten was saying goodbye to Asuka in his own special, Son, way, acting like a big puppy and making goo-goo eyes at Asuka before kissing like she was going off to die. That's when it hit Trunks: that may just happen to any of them
[Rei, I love you] Trunks thought as hard as he could, hoping their still developing bond would work
A few seconds later, he found out
[I love you too] it was Rei's voice
**************
Misato looked at the clock in the command trailer, 2 minutes to midnight
[I wonder if this is how D-Day soldiers felt] she wondered
Hyuga looked up from his console
"All Evas are in position and awaiting orders sir" he said
"Okay, 30 seconds. Shinji, prep the rifle. Maya, begin connection power" Misato ordered
Shinji cocked the rifle and the power cells began to charge up as the electricity flowed through miles upon miles of cable to the single item: the sniper canon
"It'll be ready for firing in 20 seconds" Aoba said as he checked his readout
"Good. This may go off without a hitch yet" Misato said
Unfortunately she spoke to soon as Ritsuko announced that the Angel was charging its own weapon for firing
"The Angel's particle beam will fire in 10 seconds!" she cried out
"Aoba?" she asked
"5 seconds" he replied
Outside, Shinji was doing everything short of magic to make his crosshairs line up
"Come on you bastard" he muttered and swore as the targets seemed to slow their convergence
BING
"You're mine" Shinji said and pulled the trigger
A huge beam of purple energy leapt forth from the rifle's barrel and sped towards its target. But at that exact moment, the Angel's own beam fired. When the two beams met, their opposing magnetic properties caused them to both veer wildly off course, striking behind each one's respective target
"Shit!" Shinji cursed as he readied the barrel for shot number two
Asuka realised this was her que and quickly positioned herself in front of Shinji so as to keep him from getting shot
"Some aim, 3rd Child" she spat sarcastically
"Shut up, I can't compensate for weird science shit like that" he retorted as the rifle recharged
Meanwhile, the Angel being unhindered by technology; began to ready his own beam again. This time, he was ready well before Nerv and fired, hitting the shield and nearly launching Asuka from her spot on the ground
"No wonder they call this little shit the Angel of Thunder" Asuka muttered as she dug her feet in and grit her teeth
"Come on you shit of a weapon" Shinji was cursing the gun to cool quicker as Rei took action
"Soryu, your shield is nearly destroyed, pull back and allow me to take your place" Rei said
"Set up behind me first, then I can move and the 3rd won't be blown to kingdom come" Asuka replied as the shield began to melt to her Eva
Rei complied with the sound reasoning and had just set herself up behind Asuka when the primary shield gave up the ghost and Asuka copped one in the chest, sending her over a hill and flat on her back
She groaned out something along the lines of 'you dammed son of a bitch' before passing out
Goten saw this and was not happy, so he flew as fast as he could to his fallen partner
"Asuka!" he cried out
Trunks watched him go and turned his attention back to the fight, Rei was holding up well to the onslaught she was faced with
"Ah ha" Shinji said as his onboard computer said the rifle was ready
Readjusting for the opposing magnetic forces created by the Angel's own beam with the on board targeting system, he fired. The beam arced perfectly over the enemy and went straight through it, blowing a huge hole out of the back of the Angel
"Eat that!" he cried in triumph as the Angel, whose drill had at that moment broken through to the Geo-Front
Rei dropped her shield and went to help Asuka, when she saw something that truly gave testament to the sheer physical strength of the Saiyens: Goten was at the arm of Unit 2 and with a mighty yell and burst of his own Super Saiyen power, he flipped the giant over onto it's stomach, allowing the Entry plug to eject. Without wasting time, Goten grabbed the super heated capsule and carefully but quickly brought it to the ground and began to open it
"Open up you piece of crap" he growled as he tried to twist to the handles.
When it became clear that they were fused with the wall; Goten shrugged and ripped a section of the wall off. Asuka lay unconscious in her chair
"Asuka, wake up!" Goten was frantic
The red head groaned and opened her eyes to see a really something that would forever remain in her mind: Goten, the powerful and hardened warrior; was scared and his eyes bespoke his terror
"Hey, calm down" Asuka cooed in his ear as she was hugged rather tightly by the over emotional boy
"I thought I'd lost you" he mumbled
[Like I lost mum and dad and Gohan] Goten kept that to himself
"Come on, help me out of this thing" Asuka grunted as she tried to get up, but the bulk of a certain someone was stopping her
"Come on" she said, louder this time
"Oh, sorry" he mumbled an apology and helped Asuka out of the plug
"Ah Goten, I know you meant well, but how do I explain that a chunk of my plug was ripped off?" she asked after observing the damage
"Don't worry. I'll say that I ripped it open for the official report" Shinji said as he scaled down to check on his team mate
Asuka groaned about her sore limbs and Goten promised her the best massage she'd ever get on the planet for an evening activity
"Thanks Asuka, that was the bravest thing I've ever seen, Rei too. Man I felt like an ass" Shinji said
"Well so you should, you were sitting on it the entire operation" Asuka burst out as Rei and Trunks came down the see what the commotion was about.
All they saw were three laughing teenagers. Trunks saw that Rei joined them and was even chuckling herself, a little. He smiled and looked at the sky
[There's hope yet, and where there is hope there is strength] he thought before going over to share in the joke and keep Rei company
