Welcome to Chapter 12. Before we start, I have a request I'd like to make. I'm at a serious shortage of pre-readers. I have but one, and he has quite enough to keep him busy, and I don't want to bog him down. As of this release (4.20.2003), the pre-read has not been finished yet; this version is but a near-final draft, but it's been a long time, and I can't wait.
Therefore, I plead my case to the FFN members reading my fiction. I need pre-readers for this story (for both old chapter rewrites and new chapters), and for my other story, False Prophecy. If you have experience with pre-reading and think you can help, email me. The address is in my profile. Please help me continue these two stories; I don't want these stories relegated to the growing pile of unfinished fan fictions. Thanks.
And as for the final version, it will be released when my pre-reader gives me the final. Look for it in the near future, as well as a new chapter.
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Asuka stared at the blackness for a long time before finally snapping out of it.
"...Telling me what I feel and what I don't feel. What does he know about my feelings?" she
talked to herself haughtily. However,
deep down inside, a little voice was telling her,
...more than you are letting on...
Asuka let herself be humbled by this realization, and became quiet. She sat down on the dark floor, contemplating how break free from the shadowy pit.
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11-41 Studios presents - -
Evangelion : The Third Impact Trilogy
A new Evangelion fan fiction saga in three parts.
Part 1: Apocalypse
Evangelion/Metal Gear Crossover
Chapter 12: Keep Your Enemies Closer (Near-Final Draft)
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It was 8:30 in the morning. Repairs on the Evangelion Units 01 and 02 began roughly half an hour ago in the secondary Evangelion cage. Progress has been slow, but steady, with Eva-01 97% repaired, and Eva-02 85% repaired.
"I wonder why Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki ordered that the repairs begin in the morning?" a NERV engineer was asking another engineer. "If we had started last night, we might have been done already."
"Yeah, that would make more sense, since we're on a high alert after those attacks," the second worker replied. "But he probably thought it would be best for our safety that the repairs were delayed until morning."
The first worker looked down at his handheld computer console. "Yeah, I just hope nothing happens where we would need the Evangelions."
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Snake was tired. He had been, at a brisk pace, bounding down an endless set of stairs for about an hour. It was 10:40 in the morning, and it seemed that Snake might not be able to get to Central Dogma and Lilith in time.
"Damn stairs," Snake muttered under his breath. "I hate stairs." Finally, he sat down on one of the steps for a minute to rest. The codec called him.
It was Tadokoro. "Snake, what's wrong?"
"I'm just... tired," Snake managed to say between gulps of air.
"You look a bit out of shape, Snake. Maybe you should go back to dog-mushing," Otacon mused.
Snake scowled. "I'd love to, if the snow hadn't disappeared. Damn Second Impact..."
Tadokoro appeared on the screen again. "Well, if you want to dog-sled again, you'd better stop the Third one. Look, the next security gate won't take the card that you have right now. You will have to find some way to get a card that will work. Go down a couple more flights, and you'll see a door marked 'A092.' Perhaps one of the guards there, possibly a lieutenant, will carry one with him. Find the card, and get through. You can do it, Snake." He signed off, and Otacon appeared on the screen again.
"Otacon, what did you find?" Snake asked him.
Otacon shook his head. "Not much, I'm afraid," he said sadly as he stared at his computer screen. "I've only been able to get limited biographical information about Eliza. It's just stuff like date of birth, birthplace, and college transcripts - - stuff like that."
"They must be trying to hide something if this kind of stuff is restricted," Snake said. "Government workers at this level go through comprehensive background checks, so there should be more than that. Try to dig deeper if you can. By the way, where is she?"
"She's not here. I think she's in the mess hall of the sub. Look Snake, I know she seems shady, but you have to try to trust her for now. You're trying to finish this mission, remember?"
"...I'll try, but I won't make any promises," he said curtly. "Snake, out." Snake signed off.
Otacon pushed his glasses up, and returned to the computer he was working to dig deeper into Eliza Akane's past. "All right Eliza, let's see what you have..."
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After spending a half an hour eating something and thinking
about his fellow pilots, Shinji Ikari sat down next to Asuka's bedside, which
seemed to be a habit he would make daily until she woke up. He guarded over her while listening to his
S-DAT player, which he found batteries for that same morning. Occasionally, Shinji would push a stray
strand of hair away from Asuka's closed eyes, or stroke her cheek gently with
his index finger. Once, Shinji's face
inched closer, bit by bit, to Asuka's, as if he were to - -
No, Shinji thought, That wouldn't be right... Frowning, he shook his head, and moved away
from Asuka's face a little bit.
Shinji noticed that Asuka's vital signs monitor showed a few small rises in the graph every now and then, which signified an increase in brain activity. Every time this happened, Shinji got excited, hoping that Asuka might wake up right there and then. However, the heart rate would go back down a few moments after it increased, which killed any extra hope that Shinji mustered for that second. Shinji became weary of this, and walked out of the room. He needed to get away for a second...
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"Ritsuko's dead?!?" Misato's eyes widened as she heard the news from one of the guards. The entire control room was dead quiet, with the exception of Maya's constant cries of sorrow. Misato slumped down on a chair and placed her hands on her head.
I shouldn't have let him escape - -
The guard continued his report. "It appears that Dr. Akagi's body did not have any gunshot wounds, or any sign that she was hurt externally. The doctors say that it appears to be a heart attack."
Misato raised her head up. "A heart attack? No... that can't be! Ritsuko wasn't even in her forties, and I'm sure she was healthy!"
"That's what the - -" The guard was cut off by Maya's frantic sobs.
Lieutenant Ibuki dashed out of the control room. Makoto Hyuga was about to follow her when - -
"Makoto, stop," Misato said. "Leave her alone."
Makoto paused briefly, and then sat back down on his post.
Misato returned her attention to the guard. "Are they sure it was a heart attack?"
"Yes. Pre-autopsy findings show a 95% chance that it was a heart attack."
Misato sighed. Ritsuko was still a friend... despite what she might have done before. "Ritsuko..."
"Umm... will that be all, Captain Katsuragi?"
Misato snapped out of her trance. "What? Oh, wait. Any news about the escaped spy?"
"He is still on the loose. With our limited resources and manpower, the power source for the security cameras won't be repaired until tomorrow, and we don't have enough guards to cover all areas in NERV."
"Just try your best," Misato said blankly.
"Yes, Captain." The guard left the control room to return to his post.
Misato stared at the giant screen in front of her.
I'm taking a chance on you, Snake. Don't blow it...
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Shinji found himself traveling towards the bowels of the NERV facility in one of their high-speed elevators. He did not know where he was headed - - all he knew was that the elevator was going to section A092...
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Snake took a careful count of the number of guards patrolling in the area by cautiously peering from behind corners. This proved to be somewhat difficult without a Soliton device, but it was no problem to the war-hardened veteran. There were ten of them in the hallways right now, but none wore the insignia signifying that one of them is a lieutenant or higher. He ran into an empty room, and locked the door.
(This place appears to be where the sleeping quarters for the guards are,) Snake thought to himself. Inside the room were several bunk beds and footlockers for the guards. Several items of clothing and pornography magazines lay strewn about on a few of the beds. His codec began to beep, so Snake sat down in a corner of the room and answered the call.
"This is Snake," he said as he took a few cigarettes from a small table next to a bed. He ran out of smokes soon after his escape.
"Snake?" It was Eliza.
Snake's distrust for Eliza could be heard in his voice. "Oh- - you. What do you want?" he said rudely, as he put a cigarette to his lips.
"Snake, please, I want you to trust me," she pleaded. "I did what I thought was needed to make this a successful mission."
"..."
"Snake, I want to help you. I want to prevent the Impact as much as you do. All of us need to work together. Please..."
Snake's intuition told him not to trust this woman, but... she had a point, and so did Otacon. He was here to prevent the Third Impact, and he needed all the help he could get. He had to trust her... for now.
"...Fine," Snake answered. "You can help me out here. But from now on, I don't want any secrets."
Eliza smiled. "Understood. Now, Snake, the part of the base that you are in contains officers' quarters and supply rooms, so it was a good idea for the commander to send you here. What room are you in right now?"
Snake lit the cigarette with a lighter he pulled from the same table. "It looks like I'm in the guards' sleeping quarters," he answered.
"Hmm... I doubt that you'll find a keycard in there. A good shot is in the supply rooms, or off one of the officers there with a rank of 1st lieutenant or higher. I suggest that you find a card with the highest security clearance possible, so you won't have to keep making stops like this. However, here's some good news. In the supply rooms, you may find a personal motion detector. It monitors soldiers' heartbeats within a 300-meter area. It doesn't show the field of vision like the Soliton does, but it should still be useful."
"That sounds good. Ok, I'm moving out."
"Good luck, Snake." The codec signed off.
Snake got up, when suddenly, the door opened, and a guard ran in! Snake got into his ready stance, his hand reaching for his holstered Five-seveN... but he was ignored. The guard made a beeline straight to the bathroom door, all the while clutching the seat of his pants. When he closed the bathroom door, Snake let out a sigh of relief, and headed out of the quarters.
I need to get that motion detector...
Due to the lack of power in the area, lighting was sparse in the hallways. Snake took full advantage of this, sneaking from one dark corner to another, searching for the door where he might be able to find a motion detector or a card key. There had been a few close calls - - one in particular where the safest place to hide was behind the back of one guard in order to traverse through a hallway undetected. After a few minutes of searching, Snake found what he was looking for - - a door marked "Supply Room." The only problem was - -
Damn! It's locked, Snake cursed to himself. He would have to find a key card for this door. He quickly ducked back into the shadows nearby and tried to think of a way to get inside.
His war-weary face lit up. Of course, Snake thought. The tranquilizer mode! Snake had almost forgotten about his gun's special function. He drew his Five-seveN, and pulled something out from the barrel of the pistol. After placing this object in a pouch, he procured a tranquilizer dart out of another pouch, and loaded it into the barrel.
As luck would have it, a guard was just about to enter the hallway that Snake was in. The guard would not be able to see Snake from where the guard was. Snake brought his gun up so its sights would line up with the poor guard's neck. The guard walked closer... closer...
ZZZTTT!
The dart zipped out of the gun barrel, and landed on the poor bastard's neck. The barbiturate took effect in a matter of seconds, placing him flat on his back. Snake acted quickly, dragging the body to a dark corner to search it for valuable items. He was only a PFC, and not a rank higher. However, he did find the correct card to open the supply room. Snake hid the body away from sight, and entered the supply room using the card.
What he found inside was a row of lockers, with each locker labeled properly. He took several flashbangs, a few frag grenades, some Five-seveN ammo, and the motion detector he was looking for. He turned on the device, and looked at the monitor that he clipped onto his wrist. After the device calibrated itself to its surroundings, Snake could see the topography of the area, and the location of each guard, marked by a red dot. He could see that the guard that he put under was gone.
This is trouble if he squeals, Snake thought. He turned the device off to save battery power. Snake searched for extra batteries for his detector unit, and for something that could help him get through the door.
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At the same time, five guards surrounded the door of the supply room, their FN P90 sub-machine guns at the ready. One of them forced the electronic lock open, and three of them rushed in with their guns pointed at Snake.
"FREEZE!!!!!"
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The elevator stopped at section A092... and the doors opened to a scene of utter destruction. Remnants of NERV guards and personnel were scattered along the hallways, terrifying Shinji. He saw a guard in a corner, still in one piece - - except for his bowels, which were strewn about his feet. He was still conscious, and managed to utter - -
"He...He's like a ghost..." - - before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he died.
Shinji gasped loudly, stepping away from the corpse nervously. His hands shaking, Shinji did not know what to think or do. He pried his eyes away from the fresh corpse, and something else caught his attention - - a trail of bloody footsteps. Every bit of logic in his body told him to stay away... run, and report this to someone else. But he was drawn to it, in a way he had never felt before.
Shinji clenched and unclenched his right fist several times, and walked in the direction of the footsteps...
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Snake was about to reach for his Five-seveN, when he realized that it was still in tranquilizer mode. Instead, he jumped behind a set of lockers before the three guards opened fire. Snake stayed as low as possible, because he knew that the P90's armor-piercing rounds would make mince meat out of the locker... as well as his body. As the guards kept pouring on the rain of bullets, Snake remembered he still had Captain Katsuragi's automatic pistol. Smiling, he pulled it out from under his vest and stuck arm out from his hiding spot, firing blindly from around the corner. He emptied the rest of the clip, and was answered by the grunt of one of the guards, signifying that Snake hit one of them. Turning on his motion detector, he could see the remaining four guards getting ready to surround him from all possible angles.
"We've got him now," one of the guards exclaimed. "Push forward!" He heard several footsteps, which was followed by a short burst of fire, and an agonizing scream, startling Snake.
A soldier's helmeted head rolled to a stop near Snake's feet, and was followed by frantic screams and gunfire, drowned by the painful sounds that could only be made by dying men. Snake took this time to reassemble his Five-seveN. He stood up, and came out of the corner he was hiding in, to see five blade-ravaged bodies, and one lone man carrying a Japanese nodachi. His body was covered in gunmetal-grey armor, and he wore a mask that had two green glowing eyes. He certainly looked menacing, and the bodies on the floor can certainly vouch for that fact. Snake could feel those unnaturally green eyes figuratively burning a hole in his head, but he wouldn't let himself be intimidated. He spoke up.
"Who the hell are you?" Snake called out to the masked man, pointing his gun at him.
After a long pause, the stranger finally said in Japanese, "I am like you... I have no name..."
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END PHASE 12
Story (c) 2003 11-41 Studios. All characters used in this story belong to their respective owners.