Author's Notes:
First of all, before starting this chapter of this story of mine, I would like to 'officially' say sorry to Agent Regina (although I have already said sorry to her privately) for not mentioning her in the previous chapter of this story of mine. But unfortunately, I saw her review only after I have already uploaded the previous chapter of this story of mine, and I prefer not to edit any chapters unless I am revising the whole story. Sorry about all this once again, Agent Regina.
Secondary, I would like to thank all my reviewers – Agent Regina, RichardRahl and scifimimi once again. Thank you, wonderful people, for reading and reviewing this humble story of mine!
Agent Regina, personally, I believe that there is no need to know much about Babylon 5 reality in order to read and enjoy this story of mine; especially since, as some could already notice, this story of mine is going to be a very alternative universe comparing to the original Babylon 5 universe. Also there are some aspects of Babylon 5 universe, which I haven't seen detailed especially well (like Soul Hunters and their spaceships for example), and so, I was forced to make them up on my own (probably completely messing up some aspects of the original Babylon 5 universe in the process). But, anyway, I am very glad that you enjoyed reading this story of mine, and I will do my best to write the next chapter of this story of mine as soon as possible, although, as you can possibly guess, I cannot really promise anything.
Yeah, RichardRahl, unfortunately I indeed have some rather serious problems with English grammar. And also from time to time I indeed tend to rush ahead a little bit, especially when I know what I am going to write and when I know that some people are waiting for an another chapter of mine. However, I will try to take your advice to heart and will try not to rush ahead this time.
Heh, scifimimi, I kinda thought that this story of mine will be a little bit difficult to be understood unless you have seen Neon Genesis Evangelion animated series and especially The End of Evangelion animated movie. However, I am very glad that you actually enjoyed reading this story of mine, scifimimi! Anyway, since all the necessary elements of Neon Genesis Evangelion reality (i.e. Asuka, Shinji and devastated Earth), were already introduced into this story of mine, I don't think that you will have any serious problems with understanding and enjoying this story of mine, scifimimi, especially since this story of mine will lean more and more towards Babylon 5 reality with each new chapter, as you have possibly guessed already. Although, as I have already said, this is going to be a very alternative universe comparing to the original Babylon 5 universe. Still, I hope that you will enjoy reading this story of mine, scifimimi!
Oh, I have another thing to add. As some of you possibly know, due to the great amount of stars in the galaxy and even greater amount of planets in the galaxy, star faring races usually don't give names to any particular planets, they give names only to the stars. And so, planet's name consists of name of the star, which this planet is orbiting, and the number of this plant counting from the star. For example, planet Earth, which is the third planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol Three. Mars, which is the fourth planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol Four. Merkuri, which is the first planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol One, or more often Sol Prime. Word 'Prime' in planet's name symbolize that the planet is first to the star, which this planet is orbiting. Moons' names are consisting of the name of the planet, which they are orbiting, plus letter of that symbolizes their number from the planet. For example, our Earth's only moon is officially named Sol Three A, while Mars' two moons are officially named Sold Four A and Sol Four B. Sorry for troubling you with such details, people, I just wanted to shed some light to this situation before proceeding with this chapter of this story of mine, because in this chapter of this story of mine some people will possibly name some planets in such an alien way. However, as it is with any rules, there are exceptions, and in some rare cases some planets are actually given 'non-standard' names. For example, in the original Babylon 5 universe, all the planets of the Sol system seem to actually retain the names given to them by the human race; however, in this alternative Babylon 5 universe of mine, all the planets of the Sol system will be called by more 'standard' names, as no contacts with human race by any of the alien races has ever took place before.
Also, just as it has always been made before now, all text in italic type is alien speech, translated to English language in this story for your understanding, but untranslated to any human language in this story's reality.
Yet another thing is that, as I have already said a few times, this is a very alternative universe of Babylon 5, and so, don't be surprised if you will find quite a few things very different from the original Babylon 5 reality. Also, please keep in mind, that I have seen Babylon 5 quite a long time ago, to be more precise, somewhere around five years ago or so. And I had no chance of seeing Babylon 5 since then, well, except for a few episodes of the fourth season (I don't remember this season's number for certain, but I think that it is the fourth season; anyway, it is the season in the end of which Captain Sheridan leads his 'rebellion' against President Clark), which I fortunately have recorded. And so, I simply don't remember certain events or facts of Babylon 5 reality to depict them correctly. That's one of the main reasons why this fanfictional story of mine is going on in a very alternative universe of Babylon 5. The other reason is that with Earth devastated and almost whole (except for Asuka and Shinji) human race 'saved' (i.e. imprisoned) by Soul Hunters, the history will take a dramatically different turn. And needless to say, the station Babylon 5 itself doesn't exist, at least, not yet. Yet it is quite possible that something like Babylon 5 will be built in nearest future.
And finally, happy anniversary to this story of mine, people! As some of you possibly noticed, exactly one year have passed since I first posted this story of mine!
Okay, and now, without further ado, let this story continue!
Another encounter, slightly more pleasant oneShinji sighed, as he looked upward into the sky. It was an evening already, and the sky was getting dark quickly. Shinji managed to find some chips to eat and some soft drinks to drink, and so, he wasn't especially hungry to thirsty anymore, at least for now. But Shinji's abdomen still hurt from Asuka's earlier blow.
"I guess, I deserved it after all." – though Shinji gloomy – "I have indeed done something horrible… Something I shouldn't have done. But still, I really hoped that she would be able to kind of forgive me…"
*The Beginning of Flashback*
"I can't believe it!" – shouted Asuka, interrupting Shinji – "I fought, I suffered, and then you just threw away everything, I fought and suffered for! Just like that, as if didn't worth anything! You are disgusting! I hate you! It would be better, if I wouldn't save you at all! It would be better if you wouldn't be born at all!"
*The End of Flashback*
"…But, I guess, it was kind of foolish of me to hope for something like that." – concluded his gloomy thoughts Shinji – "Perhaps, I am indeed a baka after all."
For some while Shinji thought about what he is going to do from now on, but he quickly realized, that he couldn't really do much. With Asuka and her Devil Ship gone, there was no way for Shinji to travel around much without risking to get stuck somewhere in the wastelands without food and water. For as much as Shinji have seen, the wastelands were covering the better part of Earth's surface after the failed Third Impact. Then Shinji thought about what Asuka is going to do from now on, and also quickly realized, that even though Asuka was able to travel around more or less freely in her Devil Ship, she couldn't really do much anyway. It was unlikely that any humans remained on the Earth after the Third Impact, or any living beings at all for that matter. So, he and Asuka were the only living beings on the Earth right now…
But suddenly, a male voice interrupted Shinji's gloomy thoughts, and even though this voice certainly didn't belong to Asuka, and even though Shinji couldn't understand what this voice was saying, Shinji instantly felt his spirits rise.
"The source of the signal is somewhere near here. And this is certainly a sentient life form. Yes, here it is!"
Shinji turned to the sound of this voice, and instantly saw a pair of human being approaching him – a young man and a young woman. Though both of them seemed to be rather young, Shinji realized that both of them are at least a few years older then he is. And this made him feel somewhat better. Perhaps, they would know what to do from now on, as they are adults after all.
The young man was dressed in black uniform of somewhat military design, at least as much as Shinji could judge it. To Shinji the young man seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, hardly more. The young man had deep brown eyes and black hair, which was set into a strange hairstyle, which looked liked a rather short crest. The young man carried some kind of device is his hands. This device didn't look like a weapon, more like a scanner of some kind, but Shinji also didn't fail to see, that the young man also carried some kind of strange-looking pistol upon his belt.
The young woman looked to be slightly older then the young man, somewhere around eighteen or nineteen years old, probably even as much as twenty years old. She had quite attractive face, but her overall appearance was rather spoiled by the fact that her head was completely bold with exception of a single lock of chestnut brown hair at the back of the young woman's head. In addition to gloomy and worried expression upon the young woman's face, this fact didn't make the young woman look especially attractive. The young woman was dressed in simple but still elegant black dress.
"Ummm… who are you?.. Ummm… I mean you have survived the Third Impact?" – asked Shinji in both surprise in confusion.
The young man and the young woman looked at Shinji, then they looked at each other.
"What is he saying?" – asked the young man.
"I am not sure." – replied the young woman – "I think, that he asks something about who we are, and he is also speaks something about surviving some kind of blow or strike… I don't really know, but I think, that he most likely means the explosion of our mothership."
"But you studied the language spoken on Sol Three, haven't you?" – asked the young man.
"Yes, I have." – replied the young woman – "But they have many different languages on Sol Three, and I mostly studied only the primary of them, the one they call English. And this is the language they call Japanese. I know it a little bit, but I don't know it much, especially since it is very complicated. I'll try to speak on English language with him."
"Do you speak English?" – asked the young woman in somewhat good English, turning back to Shinji.
Shinji didn't, and so, Shinji simply shook his head, showing that he doesn't understand what was asked of him.
"Problems?" – asked the young man.
"Yeah." – replied the young woman – "He doesn't seem to understand English at all."
"But, could you?.." – spoke the young man, but left his question unfinished.
"I guess, I could." – replied the young woman – "I don't want to do it, but apparently it is our only choice to communicate."
After saying so, the young woman surprised Shinji by walking up to him. Slightly embarrassed by this whole situation, Shinji backend away from her.
"Please, don't resist." – said the young woman softly in English.
But of course, Shinji couldn't understand her, and so, he backend away a little bit more.
"Apparently, he is not going to make it easy for me." – thought the young woman – "Well, then I don't have much of a choice…"
The young woman reached for Shinji's mind with her own mind, knowing that she would have to break Shinji's mental barriers to be able to communicate with him without any language. Shinji meekly tried to resist, but the young woman was both surprised and somewhat pleased to find Shinji's willpower very weak. As she didn't have much experience in such kind of opposition, the young woman simply pushed through. Shinji screamed.
"Calm down. Calm down. It's over now. Everything is alright now." – spoke a soft voice in Shinji's mind.
"Who are you? What did you do to me?" – asked Shinji aloud in Japanese.
"I don't understand your language." – spoke the same soft voice in Shinji's mind – "So please, just concentrate upon what you would like to say, and your thoughts will reach me."
After everything Shinji has seen and has encountered recently, Shinji couldn't be surprised much by anything. And comparing to some of the others things, which has seen and has encountered recently, some kind of telepathic communication wasn't really strange or surprising at all.
"Who are you?" – asked Shinji mentally.
"My name is Millie, and my companion's name is Sandro." – replied the soft voice in Shinji's mind, which obviously belonged to the young woman – Millie.
"Well, my name is Shinji" – mentally introduced himself Shinji mentally – "Two of you somehow managed to survive the Third Impact, didn't you? But how?"
"Well, I suppose it is going to be of some shock to you." – replied Millie mentally – "But Sandro and I came here from another planet. That's why we have no idea of what has happened here."
Shinji simply nodded in slightly absent way.
"Was it supposed to shock me?" – thought Shinji a little bit absently – "After the Evangelions, the Angels and finally the Third Impact? I guess, that there is nothing left that could possibly surprise me anymore."
Millie smiled to Shinji, as if she could somehow hear his thoughts.
"I understand, that these are probably painful memories for you, but I would like to know more about this Third Impact, which you were talking about." – said Millie mentally then – "However, I would like Sandro to hear that too, and while I certainly could simply translate your thoughts to him, I believe, that there is a better way…"
Then Millie suddenly turned to her companion, who was waiting patiently nearby, and spoke aloud in her native tongue – "Sandro, we do have some translating devices back in Stiletto, don't we?"
"Yes, a couple of them, Lady Millie." – replied Sandro without hesitation – "As far as I know, both of them are currently set to translate from Centauri language to one of the languages spoken on Sol Three, most likely this English language, which you were talking about, and vice versa. However, I am not sure about how much good would they do to us. Reprogramming them to translate from and to this Japanese language, which you were talking about, without good knowledge of both Japanese language and Centauri language would be pretty difficult, to speak more precisely impossible."
"Don't be so sure about that, Sandro." – said Millie, smiling to her companion slightly – "I am quite capable to communicate with native, his name is Shinji, by the way, and I am pretty sure that together we will be quite capable of reprogramming one of our translating devices to translate from Centauri to Japanese and vice versa. Don't give up until you try, Sandro. Now, let's go back to Stiletto."
"Alright, Lady Millie." – said Sandro, as he began to walk, leading the way back to Stiletto.
Shinji looked after the departing Sandro, apparently slightly unsure about what to do or even think about it, until Millie mentally spoke to him once again.
"We are returning to our ship, where we have a translating device for you, Shinji." – said Millie's voice inside Shinji's mind – "It will take us some work to program one of these device for you, but in the end you will be able to communicate with us freely. You don't mind, I presume?"
"Nope, not at all." – replied Shinji to Millie mentally.
"Well, follow Sandro and me then." – said Millie's voice inside Shinji's mind, as Millie began to walk after departing Sandro.
Shinji sighed slightly, and began to walk after Millie and Sandro. He didn't seem to have anything better to do, did he?..
Author's Notes:
I am sorry for this chapter being very short (heh, especially with various Author's Notes taking almost a half of this chapter), people. Well, at least it took me quite little time to write it, only a couple of week, which is indeed quite little comparing to how long it usually take me to write a chapter.
Well, as usually, people, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines in your review, I will be very happy and grateful. It makes me truly happy to know that at least some people are reading this story of mine. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, I'll repeat myself, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so!
However, people, please avoid using the review options only to advertise others stories, for this makes me feel like people are reviewing this story of mine without even reading it, and besides, as I have already told you, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories.