____________________EVANGELION_________________

________________GOD'S________WINGS_____________

"Shinji! Hey Shinji! Wake up!" Someone was shaking him. Hard. He didn't like it. "Shinji, come on, I know it's Saturday, but I need you to wake up!"

Groaning, Shinji tried to roll over away from the person trying to get him up, but instead caught a face full of sunlight, which sped up the journey to alertness. Giving up any chance at some more sleep, Shinji slowly stood up and turned to his roommate and guardian, Misato Katsuragi.

"Misato? Why did you wake me up this early?"

Misato smiled. "Why not, you're usually up by now."

"I am, but you're not." Misato's face scrunched as Shinji continued. "Besides, it's Saturday."

Misato stood up, her face again smiling. "I thought we could have a little fun." Shinji got worried real fast at her statement. "A little boat cruise, but we have to get moving if we want to make it."

"Boat cruise?"

"Yeah, the transports carrying Eva unit 02 have just left. The helicopter leaving from here to intercept them takes off in about an hour. You need to get up and ready to leave."

Shinji stood, walked past Misato to his closet, and pulled out some of the school clothes that he usually wore in his daily activities. In fact, there wasn't much besides school uniforms in his closet.

"Hey, Misato . . . why are we going?"

Misato sat on his unmade bed and grinned. "Well, the official reason is to transport an umbilical cable for Unit 02 for use in an emergency and to have Headquarter Personnel on board. The commander actually gave the order for me to go, and suggested that I bring you along. The unofficial reason is to get out of town for a while, meet the Second Child, and have some fun!"

" . . . It's just a cargo ship, right?"

"No, silly. They've got a huge fleet of battleships, aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, and submarines guarding the Eva."

"Sounds something that Kensuke would like."

"That's a great idea! Why don't we invite your friend along? I'm sure he'll enjoy this!"

"Um, sure . . ."

Misato looked at his worried face, confusing playing on her features. "What's wrong, Shinji? Are you worried that Kensuke will say no?"

"No, it's just . . . that . . ." Shinji looked away from her in embarrassment. " . . . I've never been on a ship before."

Misato smiled, but caught a look at Shinji's alarm clock and started. "And you won't get to now if we don't hurry! Get dressed; I'll call Kensuke for you. His number's on the fridge, right?"

"Um, yeah." Misato walked out of the room, closing the door behind her to give Shinji some privacy to change. "Misato calling him to go look at military equipment. She just made his day . . ."

~0~

Shinji decided that the view was good, but lacking something. There was a tugging on his soul, like it was trying to tell the young man something. It made him feel like he was missing out something great, but he didn't know what and riding in this cargo helicopter would not satisfy him.

Kensuke, however, looked like he was in heaven. His camcorder was always filming, taking in as much as he could. Shinji also knew that his pockets were full of extra storage discs and at least three batteries. In fact, Shinji noticed from time to time that he gave himself a pinch, to 'make sure this wasn't a dream' according to him.

Misato, sitting in the copilot's seat, wore a bright smile and looked like she anticipated winning the lottery. Shinji knew that wasn't true, as she had bought at least fourteen tickets for this week's drawing and didn't win a single yen.

"Awe man! Look at that, Shinji! Below us!"

Shinji and Misato looked down at what Kensuke as pointing at. There, below the clouds, was a HUGE fleet. Shinji couldn't count the number of ships below them, as they seemed to stretch across the water past where he could see.

Shinji turned to the Major up front. "Misato, is this your little boat?"

"Yep!"

"That's the pride of the UN combined fleet, the super carrier 'Over the Rainbow'! It's a vintage model from just after the Second Impact!"

Misato smirked. "Actually, I'm surprised that crusty old relic can still float!"

"It's not so bad! Oh man! There's five . . . six . . . seven battleships and all kinds of destroyers and . . ."

Kensuke rattled on, but all of this wasn't very important to young Shinji. They would be landing soon, so he decided to take in the view one last time before they sat down on the carrier's deck.

He didn't notice the young figure of a girl watching the landing helicopter from an overhanging deck.

Kensuke bounded out of the copter the microsecond the door opened, nearly knocking the guy who opened them down on his butt, and zoomed around the deck, taking in as much as he could while repeating how cool and awesome it was. Shinji stepped out next, stretching his muscles out from the long, turbulent ride. Misato was last, but misjudged the door's height and now was rubbing a large bruise on her head where she hit it.

"Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool! Look at all those antenna and missiles and gun pads! It's enough to make you want to cry! Hey, Shinji, come over here!"

Shinji was jerked to the side away from Misato as his friend dragged him to some nearby fighters, ready for duty.

"You're going to love these hot mammas, Shinji! Check this out, this one is one of those old F-14 Tomcats!" Kensuke pointed to a rather large fighter that stood, strapped down to the deck. "These things were the first fighters to use the variable wing system. Oh, and that one's a F/A- 18! A Hornet!" Kensuke grabbed Shinji again and moved him again. "These things came out right before Third Impact! They're twice as fast and maneuverable, with firepower to match! The thrust capability on these things allows them to accelerate to near supersonic while completely vertical!"

Shinji wasn't too interested in what Kensuke said. He had to admit the fighters on the deck looked sleek and impressive, but there was something about them he didn't like. Maybe it was because they looked just like any other fighter plane he had seen.

Those thoughts were washed away when he looked past the rows of F/A-18s. Behind them was another fighter he had never seen before, and it was quite different from the other fighters.

It was painted white, with yellow and black trimmings and gleamed in the sunlight. The plane was as large as the Tomcat, and under it's fuselage a dozen missiles hung, ready to be fired. But the most different aspect of this plane was that the ends of the wings were not wingtips, but turbine engines at least as large as the other two engines in the fighter's torso. There was also another vent for a fifth engine, but this one pointed to the plane's front instead of the back.

Shinji didn't know what it was about this fighter that really made it different to him from all the others. He stood there, and all other sounds seemed to disappear as he looked and admired it.

Then a hawk appeared on one of the rudder fins of the plane. Its wings were spread, blocking the sun and it screeched at Shinji. Then, it was gone as quickly as it came.

Shinji stood there, fixed on the spot where he thought the hawk had been, and wondered if it had even really been there at all. He didn't notice that his name was being called until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Shinji jumped at the sudden pressure on his shoulder, surprised. "You just going to stand there all day?"

Shinji turned to face the person, an apology on his lips, but it was sucked back into his mouth and down into his stomach when he saw who had spoken. In fact, he felt his feet turn to lead and a lump the size of a grapefruit in his throat.

The girl stood in front of was beautiful enough to feel like you've been hit by lightning when you see her. Her eyes, a light blue, sparkled with pride and energy. Her soft face was matched with long, silky red hair, held into a simple design by two red neural interfaces Eva pilots wear. The yellow sundress she wore showed off shapely thighs and plenty of cleavage.

The girl snapped her fingers in Shinji's face, and waved her hand in front of him to try and get a response from the startled boy, but none came. She sighed. "Great, he's deaf and dumb. Just what I needed. Humph."

Misato walked up behind the girl, and glanced from her to Shinji and noticed how his mouth was working, but no sound was coming out.

Misato poked Shinji in the shoulder a few times, but didn't get any response. She smiled up at the red head. "Asuka, I think you broke him."

Asuka smirked. "I always have that effect on boys . . . although I think the prospect of meeting me would have been more interesting them some stupid plane." She stood out straight and proud, looking down at the gaping Shinji with an expecting eye.

"Well . . . are you going to say something Third Child?"

"I . . . I . . . I . . ."

Asuka's eye twitched at Shinji's stuttering. To remedy the situation, she balled her hand into a fist and brought it down on the unfortunate boy's head.

Bonk! "It's nice to meet you!" Shinji finally got out.

"About time. No wonder they had to call me in, your so afraid you can't even talk to a gorgeous girl like me. How in the world could you stand up to an Angel?" Asuka glared down at the boy.

Shinji blushed and decided that the carrier deck as a lot better to look at right now.

"Figures. You're such a dork."

Shinji groaned. Fortunately, Misato decided to intervene. "Alright you two, stop that. I have to go meet the captain, and I can't have you two wondering and arguing like children."

Asuka turned her nose up at the idea. "I am not a kid anymore, Misato! You can tell by looking at me that I'm an adult!" Asuka turned to point her finger at Shinji's nose. "BUT don't think that's an invitation to stare at me all day or I'll leave you at the bottom of this ocean!"

"Y . . . Yes, ma'am . . ."

Asuka scowled at his response. "Ma'am!?! Do I look like an old lady to you, Third Child!?!" Asuka turned on her heels to follow the retreating Misato into the command tower.

Shinji looked as if he had just broken a glass ornament. "S . . . sorry, Asuka." He then quickly followed after the red head so not to get separated from his friends.

~0~

The Admiral, Shinji decided, had a distinguished sense of sarcasm and irony or perhaps never seen what an Eva or Angel could do. Misato was to the point that she was sounding just like the monotone Ritsuko, and her right eye was beginning to twitch.

Asuka looked proud that the entire UN Navy was guarding her, and was reluctant to had her over to Nerv until they arrived in port at New Yokosuko.

Kensuke was acting like a fly, zooming from place to place, trying to get every bolt and dab of paint recorded in his camcorder. If Shinji was right, he was on his fifth disc and nearing his sixth.

"Hey Purple Pussycat, long time no see!"

Shinji and Asuka turned to see a man leaning in the door of the bridge. His shirt was not completely buttoned, and he needed to shave. However, his smile was alluring and bright.

Asuka looked positively ecstatic to see him. "Kaji!" she cried in a high- pitched voice reserved by women for those special men that were often the subject of crushes.

Had Shinji been paying attention, he would have noticed that all the color had drained from Misato's face, not to mention she looked like all the beer in Japan had just been dumped into the ocean.

"Mr. Kaji, I must insist that you stop inviting yourself onto the bridge!" Apparently Misato's group had not been the only thing pestering the poor Admiral. Shinji could now begin to realize why the Admiral was so uptight.

This Mr. Kaji that Asuka was now latched onto like a vice grip seemed to have a stressing effect on Misato as well as she quickly gathered up her papers and shooed everyone, including Kaji and Asuka, out of the bridge. She turned back to the Admiral, requested to be escorted to the port, and herded group out.

Kaji smiled. "So, who's hungry? They serve some decent stuff at the cafeteria right now. . ."

Misato grumbled a negative. But Asuka perked up, "I would love to!"

Shinji's stomach chose that moment to growl, and Misato stood there, staring at him as if he had just betrayed her to the Angels. Shinji smiled nervously, and followed Kaji, Asuka and Kensuke down the stairs towards the cafeteria. Misato reluctantly followed the boy.

The cafeteria was mostly empty, being nowhere near the usual eating times of the crew. Kaji lead them to a table made for six. Misato sat down first, and Kaji across from her. Asuka pushed Shinji out of her way to sit next to Kaji, and Kensuke pushed Shinji over to sit next to Misato. Shinji sighed and sat in the last available spot next to Asuka.

Kaji grinned at the grumpy Major across from him. "So, do you have a boyfriend right now, Misato?"

"I don't think that's any of your business anymore."

"I'm hurt. Ouch." Kaji leaned back, acting like he was stabbed in the chest. He stopped for a minute, realizing another strategy he could use, and leaned forward to look at the young Ikari. "I hear you're living with Katsuragi."

"Um, yeah, that's right . . ."

"So tell me, is she still so . . . wild in bed?"

Four heads in that room all had the same shocked expression on them. Mouth open, eyes wide, and hands thrown up in the air as if they just landed on a hot plate. Misato was the first to recover, slamming her hands down on the table so that the dishes awaiting food rattled.

"Just what are you trying to imply but that?!?" Misato's face was right in Kaji's, and as red as Asuka's hair. Shinji had never seen her so furious.

Kaji was unphased by Misato's threat, as he turned back to Shinji. "No, she hasn't changed at all, has she?" Misato turned to the boy, a look of fear and embarrassment on her face.

Shinji scratched his head in embarrassment at being asked that sort of question. "I . . . guess so, but how do you know my name?"

"Well, I ought to know you! The famous Third Child, who piloted an Evangelion in combat with no prior experience or training, and the only person to successfully defeat an Angel." Kaji continued smiling at the young man, and Asuka turned a venomous stare at Shinji.

However, the stares or glares, in Asuka's case, were lost on Shinji as Kaji's statement put his mind a thousand miles away. 'Famous?' Flashes of the battle, what he could remember of it, played in his mind and tormented him.

Shinji surprised everyone at the table when he promptly stood up without a word and walked out of the cafeteria, his head staring at the floor and hands in his pockets.

"How could I be famous? All I did was stumble, fall, and get innocent people hurt." Shinji said to himself. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and wasn't concerned about getting lost on this gigantic ship.

However, Shinji found himself outside and once again right in front of the same fighter jet that had interested him earlier. He stopped and looked at it, wondering why he was so drawn to it.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing?" The voice surprised Shinji and he started. He looked to the source of the sound to find a young man, probably a little younger than Kaji, but with black hair cut in a military haircut and trimmed mustache, and wearing a flight suit walk up to the boy.

"I said, what are you doing here, kid?"

"OH! Um, I was just, um, looking . . ." Shinji stammered, hoping that he didn't do anything that he wasn't supposed to do. He wondered if he should have stayed with the others.

"That's OK, but who are you?"

"Um, Shinji Ikari. I came here with Misato . . ."

"Nerv?"

"Um, yeah . . ."

The man smiled. "It's alright. You'll probably be seeing a lot of these babies in the future." Shinji looked at him curiously. The man continued, "These new fighter jets are here to replace the VTOL assault carriers that were used in the last Angel attack. Those damn things didn't even but a dent in the Angel, so the UN decided to try these things. Of course, they're designed to support Evangelions, not replace them."

"What's so special about them, if I can ask . . ."

The man gave Shinji a reassuring smile. "Sure, but I'm being rude. I'm Lt. Mike Midcaf, call sign Viper."

"Call sign?"

Viper laughed. "Pilots call themselves by a name they made up, their call signs, over the radio so in case the radio transmissions are intercepted the enemy won't really know who's talking. Kind of like a nickname, and it's been a tradition for a lot longer then I've been around."

Shinji nodded in understanding. He never was given a nickname in his life, but that doesn't mean he didn't know what it was.

Viper continued on. "This piece of art is the F/A-27 Sky Hawk." Shinji looked up at the Lieutenant in surprise. The hawk he had been seeing, and now this jet shared the same name? It had to be a coincidence.

"You can see the extra thrusters on the wings. They allow the Sky Hawk to accelerate twice as fast as any other aircraft, and maintain speed for longer periods of time, while it's single forward thruster can be used as a braking thruster and makes the fighter VTOL capable. It's cockpit uses voice-commands along it the usual computer interface, and a targeting system that's revolutionary. But the best feature is the modular weapons system."

"Modular?"

"Changeable. It can be equipped with AmRam Missiles and Sidewinders like normal fighters, but the Sky Hawk can also be equipped with a thruster package to allow it to achieve escape velocity and reach space, or an Agni- class cannon similar to the one's used for Evangelions."

Viper leads him away from the fighter Shinji was staring at and pointed to another Sky Hawk. This one was just like the first, expect that this one had a large cannon nearly as long as the fighter itself attached under the wing, and a large block attached to it's right wing thruster.

"This, Shinji, is the Launcher Hawk. It carries only two AmRams, but the Agni Cannon is powerful enough to punch through a battleship."

"What that on the thruster?" Shinji said, pointing to the large, unwieldy- looking block of machinery opposite the cannon.

"A generator. It acts like a counter weight for the Agni cannon itself, since they couldn't attach it under the belly of the craft, and helps power the cannon. The cannon won't have a lot of punch using just the power provided by the engines."

"So you've actually fired this thing before?"

Viper smiled. "No, just in simulators. We've actually only taken the Sky Hawk into the air. The Launcher Hawk is going to be tested in a few hours, through. If you're sticking around, you can come to the deck at 1400 hours to watch it."

"Fourteen hundred, that's two o'clock, right?"

Viper nodded. "Yep."

"Shinji Ikari!" Both men cringed at the sound of the stern voice. Shinji turned to see Misato storming up to him, followed by Kensuke who was still taping everything, and Kaji with Asuka latched onto his arm. Misato's face looked like a cross of the commander's expression and Godzilla's.

"Where have you been, young man, taking off like that and worrying the heck out of me. Do you know what did of trouble you could have been in by wondering away like that?!?"

Viper decided to intervene. He saluted the woman and asked, "Are you Major Misato Katsuragi?"

Misato glared at Viper. "That's right, who are you and what were you doing with my Shinji?"

"My name's Midcaf, call sign Viper and I was just showing this wonderful young man the new F/A-27, ma'am. In fact, I was just going to ask him if he wanted to see the simulators my squadron uses for practice."

Misato glared at the young man, but Kensuke's ears perked up at the offer. He grabbed the Major's sleeve and tugged on it. "Please, Misato, I would love to see one of those! Maybe I could even try it out! Please, pretty please."

Asuka watched the exchange between Kensuke and Misato. She didn't really care, but looking at Shinji, she got an idea. Something good to impress Kaji and make Shinji look bad. A grin came to her face and she let go of Kaji, who didn't notice her as he stared at Misato, and Asuka walked up to Misato.

"Misato, we don't we?" She looked at Shinji. "We've got some time to kill before arriving at port." Her use of the word kill frightened Shinji's very core.

Misato looked from Asuka and Kensuke, and sighed in defeat. "Sure, why not . . . lead the way, Lieutenant."

"Certainly, ma'am."

Misato's eye twitched as she was once again addressed as 'ma'am'.

~0~

The simulator wasn't what Shinji was expecting, although he wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Four of them stood in a line down a large corridor. Each one was at least at large as his room, and shaped like a dome with a seat that could slid up into the simulator's cockpit in the back. All four were connected to control stations by large wires that crisscrossed across the ground.

Viper lead them into the room, but first stopped to check some papers that here hanging near the control station and nodded. "Well, it doesn't look like anyone's signed up to use the simulators for a few hours. However, if one of the pilots comes in he gets priority." Shinji nodded, Kensuke head bobbed up and down numerous times, and Asuka just scowled.

Viper nodded. "Four of you can use the simulators at once. I assume you three want to use them . . . so we have one extra. Do one of you . . . ?" Viper glanced at Misato and Kaji, the former trying to ignore the advances of the latter.

Asuka grabbed Kaji's hand and raised it for him. "Kaji will! I would love to blow him out of the sky!"

Everyone in the room sweat dropped at the girl's enthusiasm. Viper laughed, and led Shinji, Kensuke, Asuka, and the resigned Kaji to the simulator's seats. Once there, he stood over Shinji but talked to all four of them.

"Alright, you need to strap on your helmets and make sure that they are on securely or else the targeting computer won't be able to target correctly. Once you do that, use the level on the right side of the seat to make the seat move forward until you're comfortable."

It took Shinji a moment to get his helmet on correctly, but sliding his seat was easy. He did, however, have to raise it a little to accommodate for his lack of height and extend the petals at his feet so he could reach them. The cockpit was dark, with the only light coming from a small bulb behind the boy.

Viper's voice sounded next to his ear, coming through speakers in his helmet. "Alright, I assume that you know the basics on the stick and rudder petals." Yeahs greeted him over the COM, confirming the assumption. "Ok. Now, on your left are the thruster controls. Hold the handles with your left hand, and the stick with the right. There are two, one for each side of the aircraft, although you can turn the wing thrusters off with the red button behind them. The smaller lever controls the forward thruster. Move it in synch with the two main thrusters to perform a Vertical Takeoff. Now, give me a moment, I'm starting the sim."

The light behind Shinji went out, and the cockpit's gauges lit up. They're seemed to be a lot, and it made Shinji nervous. How was he going to handle all of this?

However, those thoughts were driven when the dark area outside the cockpit turned into a view reminiscent of the aircraft carrier's flight deck. In fact, looking around, he could hardly tell the difference.

Whistles came across the waves again, but he heard Kaji telling Viper how realistic it was.

"Alright, now that's done, you can go ahead and try a vertical takeoff. They're a lot easier than a regular takeoff on a carrier."

Shinji grew nervous. He was already going to take off? That seemed a little too hasty for him; he didn't know this stuff!

Off in the distance, he thought he heard an explosion and a cry from Kensuke was heard on the radio. "Alright, it looks like Kensuke didn't make it. You have to keep the levers even with each other, or your thrusters will be mismatched and you'll crash. Also, that you're wing thrusters aren't on until you get off the ground. Hold on, Ken, you'll have to give me a moment to reset your fighter."

Asuka's laughter came over the com. "Hey, camera boy, you suck. I had no problems."

'Asuka's already up? Well, all right . . .' Shinji sighed and gripped the thruster handles nervously. The red button was glowing, indicating that the wing thrusters were off, so Shinji moved the three handles slowly forward. He felt the simulator shake some as the ecstatic engines revved, filling his ears with a whining noise.

It was funny, but he kind of liked the feeling of the plane vibrating underneath him.

Then he noticed that he was a little higher than he was a moment ago, and Shinji was filled with a sense of achievement. However, he didn't know what to do next.

Viper came to his rescue. "Ok, everyone's up. Now, turn on the wing thrusters and slowly pull back the lever for the forward thruster. Once you reach a speed of sixty knots, your forward thruster should be at zero power."

Shinji frowned. "How do you tell your speed?"

"Stupid, just look at your altimeter!" Shinji grimaced, because of the force in Asuka's voice and the fact he had no idea what an altimeter looked like.

"Shinji, just look at the Head's Up Display in front of you. Your speed is indicated in the lower left. Altitude on the left, weapon status on the upper left, and thruster output on the right."

"Ok."

Shinji pulled back on the forward thruster, and he could feel the craft moving forward.

Kaji's voice came over the com. "How do you simulate the G-forces in this?"

"The simulator tilts, allowing gravity to push on the body. It's just like those simulated roller coaster rides."

Shinji noticed that his speed was nearing sixty knots, so he pulled backed on the forward thruster and pushed in the other levers hard. He was suddenly knocked back as the jet gained speed. In fact, he could feel blood leaving his head.

Shinji grimaced and pulled back on the throttle. He hadn't expected that.

"Alright, you guys. At this rate, you'll meet each other in about five minutes. I'll use that time to tell you how the weapons work. The simulated planes are equipped with four long-range AmRam missiles, and four faster, more maneuverable but short range Sidewinders, plus a four-barrel machine gun. You can see the display on the top right. You'll see a switch on the right side of the stick. You use it to switch between the weapons."

"Next, the targeting system. The helmet is important because it is linked to the fighter's computer. Three micro lasers on it track your right eye's movement. It will target anything you look at. Also, you can verbally tell the computer what is friend and foe. Just look at the other fighter and say 'target' for a hostile, 'friendly' for a comrade. The radar is displayed by the two displays above your HUD. The right for things behind you, and left for targets in front of you. In fact, you should see three red blips on them right now. Those are your friends' fighters. Plus, the brighter they are, the closer they are. Red for enemy aircraft, orange for enemy ground unit, yellow for missile, blue for friendly aircraft, green for friendly ground unit."

"Now, finally, defensive systems. The F/A-27s are equipped with both chaff and flares, along with ECM jammers. You can release the chaff and flares but hitting the appropriate switch on your right, or by verbally saying 'chaff' or 'flare'. However, keep in mind that they will only fool infrared missiles, or the Sidewinders. The radar guided AmRam can only be fooled by the ECM. It works automatically, but rarely fools the missile. Therefore, if an AmRam is fired at you, you're basically screwed."

He heard Asuka groan. "Well, that's nice to know . . ."

"Alright, I think that covers everything. You should meet each other about . . ."

A bright flare caught Shinji's attention. It was to his left, and contrasted greatly with the blue sky.

"Er, now, I guess. Sorry about that, Kensuke. Nice shot, Mr. Kaji."

Shinji panicked and checked the radar. One fighter off to his right, and one . . . Shinji found out the other fighter's location quickly when his missile lock warning came on.

"Flare! Flare!" Shinji rolled his fighter and dropped altitude. He felt the shockwave as the missile exploded, and realized that it didn't hit him. It must have hit a flare.

"Looks like you got lucky, Third Child. You won't get so lucky again!"

Shinji grimaced. Just what he needed, a scorned redhead with a lot of missiles behind him. This just wasn't his simulator.

Flashes of machine gun fire caught his attention. Fortunately, they were off to starboard, and he rolled to the left to avoid them. Asuka's fighter roared past him, pulled up to gain altitude and come around for another pass with her machine guns.

This time he could feel the bullets pierce through him, and although everything seemed ok, he didn't want a repeat of the experience.

"Come on, you coward! You're moving like a slug, Third Child! Give me a challenge, you idiot!"

Shinji could feel more machine gun rounds pound into him, and Asuka's verbal attacks grinding into his skull. She roared past again, passing only a few feet between their fighters. The shockwave produced by Asuka's fighter pushed his own fighter into a roll and dive.

Red warning lights flashed all around his cockpit as Shinji realized that he no longer had control of the plane. He desperately tried to stop the barreling fighter and pull up, but nothing seemed to work right. His altitude indicator was scrolling numbers down very quickly, and he could see the ocean approaching very quickly.

"So much for the famous Third Child! Now, where are you Kaji?!?" Asuka said in a sing-song voice.

Shinji was plastered to the seat from G forces, and his stick was unresponsive.

'LEAVE!!' Father . . .

'You're a boy, you know! Act like it!' Misato . . .

'Idiot!' Asuka . . .

"AAARRRGHHH!"

Shinji felt fire in his stomach, grabbed the throttle of the falling aircraft and jammed it forward, and pulled the stick to his breastbone. The fighter leveled out, and the nose rose into the air. He could make out missile explosions as Kaji and Asuka duke it.

He could make out one of the fighters. "Target."

A red bracket appeared around the fighter. Shinji selected sidewinders, and fired the moment he got a good lock. Off in the corner of his mind that was still paying attention to the com waves he heard a cry of surprise from a male, but it didn't reach him.

Flares from the fighter were successful in fooling the missile, but the pilot wasn't paying attention to where Shinji was maneuvering. As the enemy fighter came about, Shinji opened up with a perfect machine gun shot. His bullets pierced the fighter's fuselage and cockpit before exploding in flames.

"Damn you Third Child, Kaji was mine! I'll kill you for good this time!"

Shinji let loose an unintelligible yell, and swerved around to find the remaining fighter. He was surprised to see that it was already behind him and very close. His missile warning was already screaming she had a lock.

Shinji pulled back on his throttle and hit the forward thruster, slowing his jet down considerably. Asuka streaked past him before she even realized he was slowing down.

Shinji's HUD screamed a solid tone, and he let loose a missile. When Asuka barrel rolled to avoid, fired two more sidewinders at her maneuvering fighter.

Asuka never saw them. The two missiles converged on her fighter at the same time, turning her into a large flaming ball before she could even scream out. The first missile wondered around until dropping in the ocean.

~0~

Three sweating guys and one sweating girl stood in front of the control station looking at Viper. He reviewed the data from the simulation and decided the best way to give it.

"Alright, here's the final tally. Kensuke, you shot down Shinji zero times, Asuka zero times, and Kaji zero times. You were shot down by Shinji zero times, Asuka four times, and Kaji twice. Ouch." Kensuke moaned. He was the military genius here; he thought he would have at least gotten one kill. Now Asuka was laughing at him.

"Next is Kaji. You stayed back a lot, and only shot down Asuka twice and Kensuke twice. You were shot down by Shinji twice."

The unshaven man smiled. "I figured I'd leave the playing to the young ones."

Asuka smiled deviously. "You mean you were too afraid to face me."

Viper smiled. "Ok, let's see here. Asuka, you shot down Kensuke four times. Kind of picked on the weak ones, eh?" Kensuke balked at the man's statement and Asuka's eye narrowed. "Anyways, you were shot down by Kaji twice and Shinji three times. Not a good takeoff/landing ratio, you know."

Asuka puffed out her chest. "Well, it was only a simulator. Besides, I'm a lot better at Evangelions. That's what I'm best suited for. These fighters are a thing of the past, and really . . ."

Viper ignored the girl and looked to Shinji. "Shinji, very impressive. You shot down Kaji twice and Asuka three times. An instant ace if this were real life, and were never shot down. I have to wonder if what you said about never flying is really true. It seems you could fly one of these things right now if you wanted."

Shinji meekly smiled. It just felt natural to him, even if he had never been in a plane before. He just listened to his instincts. Really, he couldn't have been that good.

Asuka was glaring at him hard, and if looks could kill he would be dead on the spot.

~0~

Shinji decided he didn't like how the second child was giving him the cold shoulder and silent treatment. He didn't do anything besides beat her on a stupid simulator, so why was she doing it? She was certainly hard to figure out, and Shinji hated it when people were angry at him.

Shinji stood out on the carrier's deck, looking at the wreck of the F/A-27 Launcher Hawk. He had been standing out on the deck during its test.

The generator attached to the fighter's right wing had overloaded, exploding while the fighter had been setting down for a vertical landing. The end result was the entire wing was missing, the fighter's right side melted and the pilot down in sick bay.

It scared Shinji as he looked at the fighter for reasons he didn't know why.

It was getting late. He could see the sun beginning to set as the 'Over the Rainbow and one of the cargo ships pulled into port. The rest of the fleet waited, as there wasn't enough dock space to accommodate more ships aside from the flagship and the cargo vessel carrying Unit 02.

Shinji tried to stay away from the angry Asuka as he, Asuka, Misato, Kensuke, and Kaji came down the boarding ramp unto the docks. They barely set foot on dry land before a Military jeep pulled up beside them.

To their surprise, Ritsuko stepped out of the jeep and face Misato, a worried look on her face.

"Major, we have a problem. The fourth Angel has been spotted and his headed for Tokyo-3."

"WHAT?!? Why wasn't I informed immediately?"

"Your cell phone is off." Misato grabbed her purse and pulled out her cellular phone, grimacing when she realized that the doctor had been right.

"Anyways, Misato, the fourth Angel is now heading for Tokyo-3 by low altitude flying. It will be approaching the city from the north. I've brought orders from the commander to sortie Unit 02 and intercept the target."

"Ritsuko, how in the hell is Asuka supposed to intercept it! There's hardly any power in the Eva right now!"

"I've brought some emergency power batteries with me from headquarters, that will buy her an extra thirty minutes of operation time. We don't have a choice."

"Again." Misato said with a scowl.

"Yes. Asuka, get suited up. The batteries are being installed now, and should be ready by the time you get into your plug suit."

Asuka looked like she had just won the lottery, and smiled with evil anticipation. "Yes Ma'am!" She took off back onto the carrier, and five minutes later was running back wearing a skin-tight plug suit. Ritsuko took her over to where her Eva was waiting for her.

Shinji stood on the carrier's deck, looking over the Eva. He could barely make out the entry plug being inserted into the back of the biomechanical beast. He watched as it's eyes glowed, indicating it's activation.

Strangle feelings stirred in Shinji as he watched the back of the red Eva takeoff at top speed to intercept the target. He gave a small smile as he thought 'I bet she picked the color herself.'

But another thought found its way into his brain, and it stuck like maple syrup.

He may never see her again. She's going off to risk her life, and he was doing nothing.

He did nothing before. Now Touji's sister was in the hospital because of it. Because he was too scared of the Angel to do anything. He had been lucky to survive.

'Is there anything that I can even do to help her?' He didn't have an Eva. He hadn't even seen Unit 01 ever since he exited the entry plug after the Third Angel. Nerv simply didn't trust an Eva that had eaten its opponent.

Shinji turned around, looking rejected because, even through she may hate him, he didn't want to see her hurt. And there wasn't anything he could think of to help her.

That is, until he looked up.

There had been two Launcher Hawks aboard the 'Over the Rainbow'. The first was in pieces and melted. The second now stood directly in front of him. And it gave him a crazy idea.

"It seems you could pilot one of these things right now, if you wanted." Viper's words rang in his mind. Fear and excitement ate away at Shinji as he thought about it.

"I would probably be in more trouble than ever. Misato would have my head if I did this. Asuka, well, I don't know what she would think. But most everyone would be mad at me."

More worry came across his mind. "An experienced pilot flew the first one, and look what happened. I'd be risking my own life foolishly. How can I expect to use it correctly if the other pilot couldn't?"

"My sister's in the hospital because of you!"

"But . . . If I could help save even just one person, wouldn't that be reason enough?"

A silhouette of a hawk appeared across the sun, and Shinji made up his mind. Making sure none of the other crewmen saw him as he climbed up the ladder and grabbed the helmet that was sitting on the seat of the plane. He sat down, adjusted the seat forward and up, and extended the rudder petals as high as they could go.

Shinji closed the canopy and strapped on the helmet, making sure it was secure on his head. He reached down to the switch to start the engines, but paused for a second. It was the moment of no return.

'Misato is going to kill me.'

He flipped the switch.