Chapter 35

0500 Zulu

OPERATION SANDSTORM COMMENCES…

It took nearly ten hours to reach the base in the Sahara.

We're all tired.

I hate sand in my boots.

The first day went well.

The briefing was short and sweet.

Command crews are in position.

The strike team is ready to invade.

Now we just have to wait for SEELE to play their card.

If they play an Ace

We'll pull the Joker.

This is it. This is what I've been preparing for all my life. Tomorrow will determine the fate for us all.

Objective 1: Send in the strike team to immobilize SEELE

Objective 2: Stop Fourth Impact.

Objective 3: Try not to get killed.

Easier said then done.

Those were Major General Asuka Ikari's thoughts as she sat back in her chair at the Command Hub reading several reports while she yawned, feeling fatigue setting in.

Seventeen hours today alone.

I'm exhausted.

I'd do anything for my bed back home right about now and a nice stiff drink wouldn't be too bad either.

Tomorrow is the battle for the survival of the planet Earth.

I wonder if they know we're here.

The base hasn't made any aggressive movements yet and that feels odd to me. In the past seventy-two hours, we've observed movement and now silence. Its like the mouse is in the hole, hiding from the cat waiting to strike.

Are they in fear of us?

Should it be the other way around?

Too many questions, I need some rest.

The overnight crew is on the ball.

They'll alert me to anything new.

Getting up from her desk, Asuka stretched and the turned to her second in command as she said, "I'm going into my quarters to rest. Alert me to any new developments."

"Yes, General." The colonel told her as she walked away from the desk and out the door to the desert.

It's chilly out here.

Different.

She stared up in the night sky, looked at the stars and smiled as it bought back a memory.

Those stars are so bright and so beautiful.

It's so bright out here.

Do you remember that town that we came across when I had sprained my ankle, Shinji? That was such a strange day. It was so long ago but those memories we had could last forever.

There we were, walking together, hand in hand along a road to somewhere, and then I said something I had been thinking all along about. Remember what I said? Of course you do, Baka. "We could go anywhere we want in the world. We could even get drunk and run around naked if we wanted to."

I should have known at the age you were, a comment like that was not going to just slip by.

You said something back I didn't like because it struck a nerve, and I started to chase you to beat you up.

Then I tripped and fell.

My ankle was sprained.

You carried me the whole way. I insulted you and cursed at you the whole time that you carried me in the safety of your strong arms through the blaring summer heat.

I knew you were tired and sore.

You didn't stop though, not until we reached that town.

The desert is like that town.

That town was so empty, dirty and dusty and we wondered what was there for us if anything.

You walked right into the first building you saw and it was that empty bar. I couldn't believe you had taken me to a bar. I yelled at you, called you an idiot like I always did and then we made a great discovery. We were so lucky.

That bar became our sanctuary for nearly a week. We had so much fun there. Despite the fact my ankle was hurt, you made it fun. I couldn't believe our luck. God had to have been with us that day. That electric was still on. How? I still have no clue about that to this day. The plumbing was working. How? Beats me. Luck was with us that day.

It was like somebody said to us, "Here you go, Shinji and Asuka, you've been stuck in hell for almost three years with nothing but each other so consider this a small gift from Heaven. Enjoy."

Do you remember that night at the bar, Shinji?

I'm not talking about the first night we were there when you got piss drunk, danced with me in the center of the apartment and then we ended up making out on the couch.

No, I'm talking about that second night we were there.

The night when we sat outside on the front steps of that bar and looked up at the stars? You were smiling with a beer in your hand and I was sitting next to you.

As I'm looking up at the stars now, they are as bright as they were that night. That was such a good night.

You started telling me the stories behind the constellations and that you used to try and make up your own constellations in the night sky. You told me it became your little secret game when we first discovered we were all alone in the world. It was something for you to do right before you fell asleep. You told me you kept it to yourself because you thought that I would think it was stupid.

You were right; I did think it was stupid.

Looking up at that night sky now, I'm seeing the one you told me about. You told me the story of Orion and I remember it well.

I committed that story to memory just as you had told me.

Thinking back though to the first time you told me that story, Shinji. I was in awe listening to you.

"Well," you started out as you sipped your beer. ", I'm not much of a storyteller, Asuka but I'll try."

So, I leaned in really close and I listened to you as you sipped your beer and looked up at the night sky.

"Well, you see, way back when in Greek times, there was a great hunter and his name was Orion. He was the strongest guy around, everybody liked him, everybody looked up to him and no one ever messed with him. He protected everyone. He took care of his people and Orion was known as the "dweller of the mountain." He was like a rock star, y'know? He was famous and all the girls were after him. So, he said to everybody he was going to rid the Earth of all the wild animals who plagued the villages. Well, the Gods didn't think that was cool. So the goddess of Earth, who loved all creatures great and small, thought Orion was bragging too much. So, she sent a deadly, huge scorpion to Orion one night. Now, Orion was a big bad hunter. Nothing scared him. So, with his two dogs, he went out to fight the scorpion!"

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, the scorpion was too much for Orion and as they fought, the scorpion hurt him very badly so much so, that Orion was dying from his wounds.. Now, there was goddess that kind of had the hots for Orion. He never knew it though because she never told him. Orion though kept a secret too. All though all the girls liked him, he was very much in love with that same goddess. So, as he died, the Goddess felt so bad for him that she asked her father, the King of the Gods, Zeus, to put him up in the sky so, he did."

"So they put him in the sky?" I asked.

"Yeah." You said. "The Gods put him in the night sky so that she, and all of the people in his village, could remember his bravery and his sacrifice."

Then as I looked up at the sky I smiled. "I don't see Orion when I look up there."

"What are you talking about? He's right there." You told me as you pointed upward. "Do you see it?"

"No, I meant." Then as I turned to look at you I said, "I don't see Orion. I see you."

You looked at me with that shy smile of yours. That was an odd time in our lives. We weren't quite kids anymore and we weren't adults either.

Your face blushed a little and then you said with a chuckle. "Me? I'm no legend or a great hunter. I'm just me."

"That's what I'm going to call it from now on. I decree that this constellation is now called: Shinji the Idiot; the great bobcat slayer, rescuer of damsels in distress, protector and provider."

You laughed at me as I laughed with you. "Wow. Do you really see me up there instead of Orion?"

"Yes." I told you. "You've done so much for me, and sometimes I don't think I tell you enough that I'm glad you're here with me. Sometimes I don't think I tell you enough…. how much you mean to me. So now, every time I look up there, I'll be reminded of how much you mean to me."

You knew what I meant as you said. "Shinji the Idiot, huh" You asked with a chuckle. "I love it when you call me an idiot."

"Come here, Idiot." I said gently with a smirk.

Then you turned to me with a smile and we kissed gently and tenderly. It was so magical.

The moon was so full that night.

The lights of the stars were shining down upon us as well, and there we were, seventeen years old, making out on the steps of that bar. We sat outside for a good, oh, three hours or so.

Then when we went to bed, the beer must have gotten to you because you were out like a light in a second with that dopey smile on your face as I lay next to you..

Back then I still had that wall up around me, denying that I loved you, denying that I wanted to be with you when all along, it was what I really wanted. I was unsure and afraid. Yet, I kept thinking to myself that I'd lose my strength if I gave into you. I think that night I let the wall down more then I wanted to.

As we all know, that wall came crashing down when I discovered that your love was the source of my strength and I could do anything and be anyone I wanted to be.

Those stars, the way they are twinkling in the night sky now remind of that night.

You were always by my side in those days and after it. I was never lonely as long as I had you.

Since you left this world, I miss you every day of my life. Some days I have felt so lonely. I miss having your arms around me. I miss knowing that the last face I'd see at night was yours and the first thing I'd see in the morning, was your face smiling at me.

Why am I comparing this to now? Because staring up at that sky, I'm seeing that constellation right now and I'm not feeling so lonely.

Even though your gone, I still feel like you're here. I feel like you're beside me now, watching over me, protecting me and just loving me like you always did

Shinji the Idiot, are you here now? Is that you I see up in that sky at this very moment? I miss you so much. I will every day for the rest of my life.

I close my eyes and I can see your face. I'll do what I promised I would do, Shinji. I'll go on with my life. I will.

I will win this battle, I swear it to you on my life and then I'll do all of the things that I promised I would do. This tour is my last.

After this, I am Asuka Soryu Langely Ikari, everyday all around middle-aged woman. No more being the General.

I'll spend time with my children and wait for the grandchildren, and then I'll spoil those kids rotten. I'll tell them all about us, what we did, what we were like, how we fell in love, all the good times and all the bad times too. Our legacy will know where they came from. They'll know all about us, Shinji.

This is why we cannot lose.

We have to save it for the next generation of Ikari to come into this world.

Hope, Souke and Reina will have rich and full lives.

I'll give up my life for it if necessary but I'm not going to die here in the sands of this desert. No, that's not going to happen.

Tomorrow I am going to win.

I am to make SEELE rue the day they ever trespassed against our family. I am going to make them remember the name of Shinji Ikari for all of their days, and as much as I want to kill them all….I won't.

I'll arrest them, send them to jail and let the inmates have at them. I'll go to their trials and listen to the sentencing. I'll let the governments decide the fates of SEELE

I won't be the executioner.

She continued walking past soldiers who saluted her and whom she saluted back. She walked over to a nearby trailer and opened the door, walking inside of it and locking it behind her.

Breathing out, she unbuttoned her fatigue top and removed it, standing in a tan tank top with her dog tags hanging out and a small gold chain where a gold ring hung from it.

She walked over to the small bed in the trailer and sat on it, breathing out while she removed her combat boots. She lay back on the bed, stretching out her arms and allowing herself to fall into slumber while her hand clutched the gold ring that hung around her neck.

While she slept she breathed out, a word.

"Baka."

"I'm here."

"Stay with me." She said through her sleep.

"Always."

She began to dream of yesterday.

She had awakened to the rays of the first morning light and changed into her desert combat fatigues. She walked over to the dresser and smiled as she picked up Shinji's picture.

She traced her fingertips on the picture for a moment and then bought it to her lips as gently kissed it goodbye.

While Shinji was alive, right before she would leave to go work, she would go up to him, smile, kiss him good-bye and she cupped his cheek and then leave to go to work as he would watch her go with a wide smile.

It was something she was used to doing, so his picture now served that purpose.

She sat the picture down on her desk, smiled and then walked out of her bedroom. She had a quick cup of coffee that morning and then opened up the backdoor.

She breathed in the fresh new morning air of the dawn.

She looked out into the distance seeing the sun start to rise from behind the giant mountain that watched over the valley where she lived.

Her eyes focused to a helicopter landing in the distance as the doors to it slid open and waited for her to board.

She turned to the smiling faces of her son and daughter. Both of them hugged her. She told them both how much she loved them, how proud she was of both of them and she vowed to return.

Hope had just come out of the door, dressed in the same desert fatigues as her mother; she smiled at her. Beside Hope a handsome, tall American also dressed in combat fatigues stood beside her, holding all of the duffel bags.

Hope turned to her sister and hugged her good-bye, giving her a smile and a nod of approval. "I love you, Little Sister."

Reina smiled at her and replied. "I love you too."

Then Hope looked to her brother, her best friend, she hugged him and he told her.

"You'll do all right."

"I love you, Souke." Hope whispered as she looked into his face and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I love you too." Souke told her as he smiled bravely at her.

Then, Asuka turned towards the helicopter and breathed in as she looked back at Hope and Sawyer with a nod

Sawyer and Hope nodded back. .

Together, the three of them, The General, The Major and The Commander, walked towards the helicopter and got inside.

Asuka turned to look at her house and her two children standing in the distance waving at her.

She smiled at them and then climbed inside of the helicopter.

The doors were shut. She looked out the window, placing her hand on the glass and kept her eyes on those two smiling faces waving at her.

The helicopter lifted off of the ground. It went flying high into the sky heading towards the NERV Command Center in Kyoto.

Then, her dreams changed to something else.

She heard. "…. What mankind has thrown out of balance, will be balanced by the destiny of one."

She saw the day that Hope was born. She was lying in bed, covered in sweat but more happier then she had ever been in her life as she held their newborn daughter. Shinji was kneeling by the bed, looking on with her. There were tears in his eyes and a wide smile. .

Shinji had gotten her through the labor and the birth. Throughout the labor and the birth, Asuka had been, for the most part, a bitch.

When she heard the first cries from their daughter, Asuka's heart started filling with a love that was unmatched to anything she ever knew or felt before. Then, upon setting her eyes on the wailing child for the first time, she was amazed and in awe of what her and her husband had bought into this world together.

This baby was so much more then just another person. She was their hopes, their dreams, their beliefs, and all that they were. Their love had formed her and now, they could only think of one name that seemed to fit so right.

"Hope." She whispered to him as she looked into his eyes. "We could call her hope. Hope for the future. Our hope for the future."

"Yeah." Shinji had said to her with a smile. "Hope Ikari. Our Hope. I like it."

"…. The hope of the world makes it possible for the destiny of one to be fulfilled."

"Destiny…. of…. one. " She said through her sleep.

Then her mind shifted to Hope, as an adult, inside of the EVA screaming as loud as she could. "Daddy…help me! Daddy, help me!"

"No…No, not Hope...Hope…." Asuka said in a worried voice through her sleep as she tossed and turned, fighting off the nightmare that was plaguing her.

She was seeing quick images.

They came at her fast.

Asuka only knew one thing.

These images were frightening to her because with the images came the sounds of her daughter in trouble. "…MAYDAY! MAYDAY!…"

"No." She said through her sleep. "Shinji, no…don't…let her fall. Protect her, Shinji."

"…Daddy, don't leave me! Don't let me die alone!"

The image changed and she saw herself standing in a fog wearing her full dress uniform. It was dark and she didn't understand it.

Then as she turned, she smiled and tried running towards what she was seeing only to be stopped by an invisible barrier that wouldn't let her get through.

"Shinji!" She cried out in the dream. "Pro…. tect her…please?"

Standing beside Shinji was a little girl and as she looked at the girl, she realized whom it was she was seeing.

"I'll be okay, Mommy." The little girl told her with a bright smile while her blue eyes twinkled at her. "Daddy is by my side. The destiny of one will be met."

Asuka smiled down at her as she watched. .

Then, she saw light start to come and the ground shift to green, fresh, soft grass. She was outside and she was back home.

She was standing outside on a bright spring morning, she heard a little girl giggling and then turned.

She smiled and she laughed as she saw Shinji, in his early twenties, with a little toddler with bright red hair on his shoulders.

"What's that big thing over there called?" He asked his daughter with a smile as he pointed to the large tree in front of them.

"Thaa…..a big tree!" Hope said with a wide smile.

"What's that up there?" Shinji asked her as he pointed overhead.

"Sky!" Hope said as she looked up happily.

"What's in the sky?" He asked her.

"A birdie, Daddy." Hope said to her father.

"What's it doing?" Shinji asked her.

Hope looked up and said with the biggest smile. "FLY! I wanna fly, Daddy!"

"Do ya?" Shinji asked with a smirk.

"Yeah! Go fly, Daddy! Let's go fly!"

Taking her down from his shoulders, he held the toddler up in the air and spun around in a circle with her making noises like a plane as he smiled while she laughed loudly.

"Again, Daddy!"

"Hope, remember this okay? What mankind has thrown out of balance will be balanced by the destiny of one."

"Okay." Hope said.

"What did Daddy just say?"

"Balance by destiny of one." Hope repeated with a smile.

"That's right. Never forget it, okay? I'm gonna always tell you so you never forget it. You need to remember that. Okay, Hope?" he asked her.

"Uh huh." Hope said.

Then he smiled at her and spun her around again making her laugh loudly. Her smiled at her as he held her and listened to her laugh. Looking back at his daughter, he laughed loudly as he said to her. "Who's my princess?"

"Me! Me!" Hope said with a laugh.

"Who's that over there?" Shinji asked her as he pointed.

"Mommy!" Hope responded with a big smile and a laugh. "My Mommy!"

"Yes," he told her as he smiled back at Asuka. "Mommy."

Asuka returned his smile and her eyes shined for him. "Protect her." Asuka said to him in the dream.

"I will."

"Protect her." Asuka said through her sleep as she started to breathe heavy.

"I will. I swear to you. She'll be safe."

Asuka's breathing became normal as a smile crossed her lips and her sleep became peaceful.

"I…. love you…Shinji."

"I love you too."

(The scene talked about in this chapter, where Shinji and Asuka are sitting on the steps of the bar looking up at the stars, was in the first draft of After Impact that I finished. Right before I put After Impact on this site, I cut the scene out because I thought it revealed a little too much too early. When I found my first revision of After Impact the scene was in there, and I used the last part of that scene for Destiny of One. I have decided though to leave that scene is After Impact Uncut when it debuts on my site in its entirety. Stay tuned we're almost to the end. As always thanks to Nic, SteamedDumpling, Maya, BigDave, Yoko, Rich, Jonny and my bud Kaji, aka Roy. Thanks to you all….Maya, good suggestion about adding in some stuff from After Impact. I think people enjoyed that. Thanks for the suggestion. )