Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 20: Optimistic Apathy
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

Ten Tridents. Even if Tristan had all the weapons he could want, there was no way he could handle ten Tridents attacking him all at once. UNIT had thought out their strategy pretty clearly before calling Unit-08 out to play. He felt as though he was walking on eggshells. Just one bit of body language too much and everyone was going to be dead. Why UNIT didn't realize it didn't seem to make sense, but then, how could you argue with someone who is following a dictatorship called Trine?

Tristan spotted a truck approaching. NEC already provided everything they needed to deal with the exchange. Soldiers, an APC with their prisoner, mobile radar, and UNIT's generosity was not going to be taken for granted.

"Pilot Nevril, can you hear me?" Misato called.

"Loud and clear, major. It looks as though our hosts are not trying to jam up our communications at the moment."

"That's how it would seem. But everyone present is on full alert. We have our backs against the wall."

"Figuratively and literally." Tristan murmured. UNIT had decided that the deal would occur at the northern face of the ridge. They could provide Unit-08 as backup, but it couldn't bring weapons. Of course, they never specified that he couldn't be loaded down with carbon flak and progressive knives, however. Fat chance they would be of any help. All it would take would be one Trident to turn and shoot the truck that Shinji was in and it would be all over. "Okay, we know this is a set up, so what is the plan?" Misato gave an audible sigh.

"We don't have one."

"What?"

"We have just as much, if not more to lose if we do not follow UNIT's request. That means we know we are in a situation in which we cannot win should they decide they don't want Unit-08. We have to rely upon their word." Tristan laughed dryly.

"Even Shinji knew that they don't have a single honourable bone in their body."

"Regardless, as soon as we trade Rei for Asuka, we-"

"What the Hell? Asuka? I thought we were getting Shinji first!"

"The commander wanted us to retrieve Asuka first."

"I admit that Asuka is just as important as Shinji, but as a military asset, a pilot with a higher synchronization ratio is far more desirable to regain."

"The commander didn't give me a choice." Tristan growled in his throat. That bastard was doing it to them again. First it was letting Asuka go after the friendly fire incident without even a psychological analysis, and now this. What was the commander not telling them about Asuka?

"Alright, fine, so we take back Asuka then what?"

"We start going back up the ridge and pray that they do not shoot at us on the way." Tristan cursed. "I'm sorry, but that is all we can do."

"Alright. Guess we can only bank on their good faith." The UNIT truck finally reached its destination and turned its back to the Evangelion and the entourage.

Tristan was not at all surprised until he started noticing members on both sides climb out of their vehicles, save for the Tridents.

"Misato, what's going on?"

"UNIT ordered all personnel not driving the Tridents or Evangelion to disembark. They don't want any tricks. Their paranoia is understandable. They only have two pilots."

"Three." He corrected. "They wouldn't want Unit-08 unless they were going to use it. They have at least a third pilot available to use it along with the other two that they're going to start recovering after this fiasco." Misato was surprised that Tristan had made such a sound observation. "Major?"

"What is it?"

"Why is Madison in with the rest of the troops on the mobile radar?"

"We couldn't afford to send our more experienced specialists out there. UNIT may try and bomb the base during a ECM attack."

"Good Lord, are you people trying to kill everyone I know?" Tristan cried.

"That's not the point, Second Lieutenant, this is war!"

"The Hell you know what war is you-" Misato cut out the communication channel. The technicians around her simply stared at her as she slowly shook her head. Misato understood that Tristan was upset, but there was nothing she could do, given the situation. Tristan understood the context of UNIT demanding Unit-08, but didn't seem to comprehend that she was stuck following her orders. It felt as though the E-NERV commander had sent his lambs after the lion. They had made an irreparable mistake coming here, and everyone here was going to suffer for it. Misato just wanted to throw up.

Tristan, meanwhile, slammed his fist down onto the console, staring out at the unbeatable group of Tridents. Misato and the commander had willingly sent them all to die. Tristan closed his eyes and took a breath. They were facing the impossible, and now there was no way to get around it. If Misato's optimism pulled through, they would probably run back to NEC to face either a firing squad or medals of honour. If they died, they would get those medals posthumously. Tristan hated both outcomes, but here he was.

"Pilot Nevril, until after this is over, I am cutting you off of all communication channels. You are now just hearing my orders on a one-way frequency. You need to know what is going on at least."

"How charitable." Tristan grumbled.

"The UNIT forces have announced that they will now begin the exchange."

Madison and the other soldiers stood at attention, facing a much smaller number of UNIT soldiers and personnel. But it was clear they were heavily outgunned, looking up at the gang of Tridents. NEC must have underestimated the strength of UNIT in the area that was the only reason they could have been put into this situation.

The UNIT pilot was in chains and shackles, basic POW fatigues worn over her plug suit. She was quiet, not speaking a word, as was lead from the Personnel Carrier to an area where she was clearly visible. Across the perpetual no man's land between the two forces, the troop transport opened up and two soldiers pulled Asuka down.

The German girl had a look of anger and grim determination as she regarded the troops that were pulling her around. But it was the reaction to seeing the UNIT pilot that surprised Madison. Asuka's face lost its entire colour; her eyes became wide, and her jaw slack. It was as if she saw a ghost.

Looking at the UNIT pilot again, it did seem as though she was a ghost, with such pale skin and strange coloured hair. The look in her eyes was strange; the two pilots seemed to recognize each other. Madison, intrigued, began to wonder just who the UNIT pilot was to elicit such a reaction. But more than that, where was Shinji?

From the junior technicians position, she could see directly to the back of the transport truck that UNIT used to deliver Asuka, but no other prisoners were inside. What had they done with Shinji? Madison swallowed hard, and felt her mouth become even drier.

"Those handling the prisoners, on my mark, you will release your captive and allow them to cross to the other forces. Neither side shall interfere as the two captives return to their respective sides. The exchange is over after this and all NEC personnel are hereby ordered to return to your base of operations and prepare for the second exchange. We expect your full cooperation, and remember that any sort of violent action on your part will sentence your other pilot to death." Madison's brow furrowed in confusion and she glanced sidelong at her commanding officer. What about Shinji? Wasn't he going to be released also?

The girl looked up as she saw the exchange begin. One of the UNIT soldiers motioned for Asuka to start walking and she did so, slowly, watching the UNIT pilot as they crossed paths and following her with her eyes once they had passed. Once she was in arms reach, one soldier reached for Asuka and guided her towards them.

Something glittered in the corner of Madison's eye and she looked to the forests for the source. At first, it didn't seem like anything there. She was about to dismiss it as her imagination, until a small stirring of the leaves allowed her to catch sight of the outline of a person against the trees with a long item pointed in their direction. Ice crawled into Madison's heart as she realized that it was a rifle.

The reaction of everyone present was sluggish, obviously because Madison was someone who no one would notice. She was a kid after all. However, seeing the technician sprinted towards the red-haired pilot was not something that could be ignored. The soldiers on both sides immediately tensed up, expecting the tensions to burst. It cracked and burst, but there was no reaction.

The air was filled with confusion for a full second. Where were the wreaths of fire and the flying, molten shrapnel of the conflict? The sound of a NEC soldier crying out in surprise and horror was what tipped everyone to start down at the form of Pilot Asuka and Technician Madison. Both were lying prone, and a pool of blood started forming under them.

The nearest soldier, still a kid himself, stared the fallen pair and then up to his comrades and then at the enemy. Both sides were shocked into not even reacting. The air was as thick as water and everyone seemed to be drowning, just staring at each other in stark amazement.

Not a bomb, but words were what cut the silence, punctuated by the cough of automatic gunfire. The young soldier, overflowing with righteous fury, opened fire on the UNIT soldiers. From there all Hell broke loose.

The head of a Trident exploded as a volley of carbon flak riddled its head. The other nine quickly reacted by raising their guns, but already Unit-08 was upon them, seeming to make an effort to stomp on any UNIT vehicles it could manage to reach.

As gunfire blazed just over their heads, the soldiers on UNIT and NEC's sides alike immediately went to attend to their pilots. The UNIT pilot was practically hurled into the back of the truck as it lurched forward and started down the road like a bat out of Hell. Paramedics on the NEC side, rushed to the two fallen women. One of the rescuers didn't even make it to his destination before being dropped.

There was no cover, not for the soldiers, and it was the American Civil War with accurate, automatic weapons. The destruction was a blur as frantic men and women attempted to drag the wounded away, while at the same time, trying to save their own lives and find cover behind even the smallest outcropping.

All the while, Tristan simply stared at his targets, he knew what had just happened, but it had yet to sink in, still sliding on the surface of his mind while his body went into auto-pilot, the cumbersome Unit-08 seeming to pounce upon its foes.

The first thing to click in was that the Tridents were not functioning normally, and seemed to only shudder and swing its legs at Tristan, rather than utilizing the rapid-fire cannons that would surely nail down the boy's coffin. It was an observation that he couldn't wonder nor give answers to. Rending open one machine after another, he raced through his adversaries until less than half were no longer functioning.
Next were the aches and the stinging sensation from the gunfire that managed the belch out of the Tridents. Third was the sound of Misato's voice as she screamed into the headset. Radio chatters and background noise at her end, muffled out her orders. Or perhaps it was that Tristan didn't comprehend what she was saying. In the boy's mind, he knew something had went wrong, but the notion that Madison and Asuka had been killed...

A stone ground inside Tristan's skull, signalling the concept finally solidified and became reality. There was no reasoning, no words to describe why he felt the way he did. What he felt, however, was white, hot rage. On Misato's end, she didn't need to hear Tristan's voice to tell that he was screaming. Unit-08 trembled as its hands grasped a Trident's neck so hard, the armour on the throat to buckle. Throwing its torso to the side, Tristan managed to cause the heavy monstrosity to crash down into it's back. Slamming a foot down on the base of the neck, he wrenched the head from the body and hurled it into the direction of another Trident.

The pilot of the target managed to duck down from the article, but was unable to react as Unit-08 slammed its body into it with enough force to cause it to rear back. The heavy fists cam crashing down on the machine's shoulders causing it to lean forward and down on Tristan. He shoved it away with enough force to cause it turn away. The Evangelion wrapped its arms around the Trident's leg and pulled hard, the screech of metal indicating the loss of connection to the limb.

A claw clamped down onto Tristan's back, pushing backward, he felt to the arm's force lessen and then he swung a first, connecting with the under slung cannon and causing it to reel backwards. Another shot of carbon flak caused the foe to fall down and stay down.

There was a pause, and Tristan snapped his eyes back to the infantry battle and saw both forces already beginning to withdraw. But the last two Tridents remained; ignoring the Evangelion they turned their guns towards the retreating NEC convoy. Tristan's reaction was too slow, as he saw the weapons prime. The wreath of fire that surrounded the Tridents' heads astonished the pilot. The two weapons slumped down. Tristan murmured something in confusion.

"Fall back to base, Second Lieutenant." Misato barked. Tristan hesitated, still trying to get his mind over what happened. What had happened? The boy blinked again, trying to come to terms with defeating ten Tridents on his own. How? He looked down at his hands, although he couldn't see it, he could feel the aching in his muscles. "Now!" He looked up and started for the ridge.

The rumbling thunder caused Unit-08 to cease its accent and turn to look to the north. A column of smoke slowly spiralling up into the sky.

What was going on?

The soldier had barely any time in order to react. The soaked cloth was forced against his mouth and nostrils and the fumes from the chloroform were quick to send him into a state of unconsciousness. His attack gingerly set down his limp form on the stone floor, and turned, crouching down and motioned for his comrade to climb up as well. Once inside the corridor, their pressed their backs against the wall and looked down both ends of the passage. The first gave several curt motions, his comrade nodded and they split up, moving as quickly and as quietly as they could.

The second of the two invaders glanced at a map penned on his hand, got his bearings, and quickly moved down several corridors before coming one hall paired by two soldiers. He peered around the corner for a few seconds before slipping back and considering his options.

"Hey you!" Someone barked. Looking back the way he came, the infiltrator spotted a soldier coming towards him. Not even considering the results, he raised his sub machine gun and opened fire, tearing his finder down. Immediately he heard his comrades that had been guarding the door start approaching, crouching down, he waited until his saw the kneecap of one of his enemies. Firing upwards at his head, his target dropped. The sound of surprise betrayed exactly where his comrade was behind the corner. Reaching around with the weapon, he fired a blind burst and heard his target's body hit the ground.

The gunner slowly rose and listened carefully, trying to determine if anyone else was approaching. Nothing. Turning the corner he stepped over the two bodies of the guards. He stopped however, and knelt down to feel the pockets of both troops. In the front pocket of the second soldier was what he was looking for. Considering the number of wounds in the man's chest, it was fortunate that this, the key to the door, wasn't damaged.

Sliding the key into the lock, the infiltrator smiled as the latch gave and he pulled the door open without any resistance. Halogen lighting made it very difficult to hide in the room, but whom he was looking for wasn't trying to hide, or if he was, he was doing a fairly poor job of it.

The boy was about sixteen, a teenager, but still very boyish for a young adult. His head was down close to his knees, his hands covering his ears. No doubt the gunfire startled him.

"Shinji?" The boy looked up and blinked. "It's time to go."

"Go? Go whe-" The kid stood up and blinked, startled by the vision of his rescuer, or so now he thought.

"Shigeru?" The man nodded.

"That's right. Now there's no time for waterworks we have to get moving."

"What? What happened to you? I thought you were dead." Shigeru poked his head out of the door of the room and glanced around. Before looking back at Shinji.

"Sorry, I'm afraid not. Now come on, we have to get going."

"To where?"

"Out of here. Now let's get going." Shigeru grabbed Shinji's arm and pulled him through the door and into the hall. Shinji blinked and stared down at the two slain soldiers.

"Y-you..."

"Killed them. That's what bullets do. Quit stalling Shinji, only after we're out of here can I start answering your questions." Shinji closed his mouth and looked away, his footfalls keeping in time, as he was lead through the complex. However, at just about every corner they had to stop and Shigeru peered around. Shinji remained silent, having noted the weapon in his rescuer's hand and the fact that he had killed three men; Shinji knew that his companion meant business now.

They reached the entryway Shigeru and his companion used to get into the facility. Nothing stopped them on the way, but Shigeru was aware of several close calls. He pulled open a vent for an air duct, set close to the floor and motioned for Shinji to enter. The boy did so and was soon followed by Shigeru who carefully pulled the vent cover back into place.

"Stay quiet and move slowly. We have to get to the landing pad." Shigeru rasped. Shinji did so, following his rescuer carefully through the vents. By this time Shinji's body started entering autopilot mode, these new realizations, this new environment and events spinning around him. He was confused and so fell into the best thing he knew what to do, follow orders and not make his thoughts known.

How common, and how base of him. Shinji chastised himself for showing such weakness, but at the same time, it was probably for his best interest. Shinji had been captured by UNIT and with how they were brandishing their guns, they were not so concerned about keeping their captives alive. At this point, a thread around Shigeru's through tied Shinji's life. If something went wrong, they were both going to die. There was no doubt about that.

Slipping away from conscious action to automation in following Shigeru and his orders, Shinji's thoughts lapsed into others things to fuss over. Fuss wasn't the right word however; rather there were more concerns. Hikari was alive, but not only that, she was a pilot. A pilot working for UNIT. Not only that, but she turned a weapon against her own friend Asuka. What had changed the class representative? Why would she betray her friend and former classmates? But then again, there were things that Tristan was capable of hiding from Shinji. Were there larger lies that he chose not to reveal?

Were Shinji and Asuka really going to be marked for death when the war was over? There didn't seem to be much of a point in doing so. If they wanted to ensure that the Evangelions could be used, they needed pilots who could be able to use them. But then again, Shinji and Asuka had lost their Evangelions in the middle of UNIT territory. Was there any chance that the NEC could recover them from enemy territory with only one Evangelion versus an almost limitless supply of Tridents? At least, they seemed endless. Every sortie, there they were, more Tridents constantly being sent after them. They were supposed to be a match for the Evangelions, but in the end they were nothing but fragile playthings.

Shinji grew concerned as he wandered just how many pilots that UNIT had available for its weapons. It couldn't be possible to gather than many people to fight for them. Could it? Compared the actual population that NEC recognized, it would seem as though Shinji was facing a giant. And now the only weapons that the NEC had were now in the possession of the foe. When and if Shinji managed to get back to the NEC, how much would be left with the advantage that UNIT would have?

Shinji never realized it until now, that the battle that had occurred not more than 24 hours ago, was going to make or break any chance for the NEC winning the war. With the failure of their gambit in the Amazon, Shinji now saw the defeat of the NEC as a very clear possibility. What would happen when that came to pass? Would anybody be spared from the invasion? Considering how they would manipulate the valiant into facing their fiery end with a UNIT harrier? It was a frightening prospect.

Shinji took a sharp intake of breath as he felt a hand come onto his shoulder. Coming out of his trance, he looked at the concerned face of Shigeru.

"You were starting to scare me."

"Sorry." Shigeru didn't respond, looking out of the wire mesh next to him and narrowing his eyes. Watching something in the distance.

"What is it?" Shinji breathed.

"We've got a snag. "

"What?"

"Our pilot isn't here. He's late... Damn, I knew I should have been the one to set the bombs."

"B-bombs?" Shigeru looked to his charge.

"If this facility isn't gone, then the NEC way station is finished." Shinji furrowed his brow. "No alarms, nothing. This place is going to have to go out like if it were sitting on an N2 mine."

"But, the people here..." Shigeru shook his head.

"We can't worry about that. My job is to get you out of here and ensure that the NEC isn't crushed here." Shinji hung his head.

"But we've already lost Unit-05 and Unit-06. We can't recover them. The NEC is going to be-"

"Hey." Shigeru shook Shinji's shoulder. "Don't say anything like that. It's not over yet. There are still some things we can do and try and win this. Don't give-" The clatter of a wrench caused Shigeru to stop his speech and peer out the ventilation grating again. He licked his lips nervously and slowly scanned the room beyond. A man in dark fatigues was standing at the far side of the room, and Shigeru immediately recognized him and smiled. "Took him long enough."

Removing the grating, Shigeru climbed out and then helped Shinji do the same. The man in dark clothing, a UNIT infantry uniform saluted them.

"Cut the crap, we have to get our bird in the air and out of here before the whole place comes down." The soldier gave a lopsided grin and nodded, not speaking a word as he motioned for his companions to follow. Shinji looked around and realized that he was in a hangar, large enough to house four harriers. The soldiers immediately stopped at one and quickly climbed the maintenance ladder to the cockpit. He smiled and gave a thumb up to Shigeru. Shigeru motioned for Shinji to follow him up the ladder. By this time, the soldier was seated in the front of the tandem fighter. The soldier then grinned at Shinji.

"Glad to see you again, Shinji. Don't make a fuss, we can do that later." Shinji recognized the voice, and felt a chill run down his spine. He looked from the soldier, now pilot and back to Shigeru. Who simply responded with a shrug and a motion to get in. Complying and holding his questions until another time, Shinji climbed into the back, onto Shigeru's lap.

"Is this safe?" Shinji asked as Shigeru pulled the straps across himself and Shinji.

"We could have gone with a helicopter, but we'd be outrun by any harriers. Okay, we're all set back here." The pilot nodded and sealed the cockpit before priming the engine. He pulled out a small remote and pressed it, signalling for the hangar doors to slide open.
The aircraft pulled into the runway and immediately the radio crackled to life. The pilot responded, speaking quickly in jargon that Shinji didn't understand. There was a pause, and then a sound of surprise and an angry question from the control tower. The pilot laughed and started a vertical take off. An air raid sounded, but already the harrier was off the ground and heading away.

"How long do we have?" Shigeru asked the familiar pilot.

"About thirty seconds?"

"You don't sound too sure."

"I was... Delayed." Shinji was puzzled.

"Are you talking about the-" It sounded like distant thunder, and the harrier shook. Shigeru and Shinji leaned over to look behind the aircraft to see a fiery pillar rise from what was left of the base. The pilot chuckled.

"I guess they really did have an N2 mine in there."

"So what would you call this?" Shigeru asked.

"Mission successful. The base is gone and now we rescued the prisoner. The NEC should be able to get out of this mess now."

"Wait... Shigeru, are you and he part of the NEC?" Shinji finally blurted out.

"Well not exactly." The pilot looked back at Shinji, giving his lop sided smile. "Technically I should be a ghost." He raised the goggles up from his face and winked at Shinji. The boy became a little paler, but he smiled. What a pleasant surprise it was.

The second can finished, Tristan crushed it under his foot. Taking a breath, he looked skyward and into the starry sky. The red scar shone down on him, bathing the land in a haze of red, the silver moon glistening behind it. He chuckled to himself; he often got poetic when he was tipsy. He smiled at the marred sky and opened another beer. He raised it in the air, a toast to the heavens before taking a slug.

He sighed and brought his view back down to earth. Sitting on the concrete steps of his apartment complex, two crushed cylinders of aluminium in front of him. His head was starting to get hazy, his eyes wandered to the street, and he scanned the lonely avenue. Darkness was the only thing that inhabited the buildings on the other side of the road. Tristan raised his wristwatch and checked the time. Twenty, perhaps twenty-one hours had passed since the bloody event.

The Second Lieutenant closed his eyes and frowned, remembering the affair and the explosion of violence around him. Even in the most powerful weapon in the world, and there over fifteen people had lost their lives to the UNIT arsenal. Sixteen if- Tristan forced the notion out of his mind. It didn't matter. He did the best he could. At least, the NEC still had Unit-08. Even though they had to abandon Unit-05 and 06, they still had a fighting chance. He took another sip and looked down at the beverage. But not with an intoxicated kid like him.

Tristan prepared to throw the half-finished can away when he noticed a dark car roll up in front of the apartment. NERV intelligence agents? Unit-08's pilot rose to his feet and watched intently as the suit in the passenger's side stepped out, regarded him and then stepped to the back door and opened it. Intrigued, Tristan took another sip from the can. He then froze with the beer to his lips as a familiar person stepped out.

The suit gave a few curt words to Asuka, who gave a nod before walking across the grass to Tristan. The black car lingers for a full minute, before slowly pulling away from the curb and into the darkness. Asuka frowned at Tristan and his completion of almost half of a six-pack of beer. Tristan lowered the can from his mouth and gave a small smile.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"Why aren't you at Tower Four?"

"Why? What for?" Asuka frowned.

"Because of Madison. She's-"

"In critical condition. I know. That's what a high calibre bullet does when it goes through your chest."

"What? How could you be so cold?" Tristan examined his beer for a second.

"Regardless of whether she lives or dies, there is one of two results. My presence doesn't mean anything to ensure she survives. That's the job of the doctors. I'm better of not worrying."

"So you're going to ignore her?" The second lieutenant sighed.

"What do you expect me to do? Mourn?"

"Well at least avoid getting yourself more drunk than you already are."

"I'm not drunk... Look, don't you think that I had a hard day too? For God's sake, I thought you both died down there. Hell, other people, human beings died to save your ass."

"And so you remember them by getting shit-faced. How noble." Tristan sat back down on the steps and finished his third beer, crushing it in his fist and smashing it with his foot.

"That's not fair. Do you evening realize what is going on? We lost two Evangelions, Shinji is nowhere to be found, he might be dead after that explosion I saw during the battle, and all you can do is rag on me about some clingy little New Zealander?"

"She's your friend!" Asuka cried. Tristan gave a snort. They both looked away from one another, but after a time, Asuka turned to face the lieutenant. "I know you didn't mean those things."

"Mean what?"

"About not caring about Madison. It might be the alcohol in you talking, but you're sort of right." She sat down next to him. "I guess... I guess there's no sense worrying too much about her."

"Damn, now that you say it, I sound like a total bastard." Asuka didn't respond, looking skyward.

"I shouldn't waste my energy worrying... But what if Madison dies. She saved my life."

"Then we mourn the loss of another soldier and we award her posthumously for giving her life to save an NEC pilot."

"That's too impersonal, even for you."

"Didn't you say that we should dwell on that?" Asuka looked away.

"What about Shinji?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't care whether he lived or died. Hell, as far as I'm concerned you hate him."

"We made amends while we were waiting for rescue."

"Oh?" She nodded. Tristan contemplated this for a moment.

"So that means..."

"We're friends." Tristan frowned. "You don't seem worried about him." She looked down at her feet.

"Actually, I am almost sick over it. But, it's not something I should dwell on. After all, we're at war, and people die."

"You're still too calm." He commented.

"It must be the drugs. That and I am very sure that he's okay."

"'He's okay'?"

"Yeah."

"You're making me consider something that I will regret. Another beer." Asuka laughed, but it quickly subsided.

"God, look at us. People are dying all around us and our best friends are in danger, and we're just sitting here."

"Well what do you think we can do? We're the last two people in the NEC who can pilot an Evangelion, that of which we are left with one, and we are talking about a miracle for the sake of both Shinji and Madison. You just have to cope with the feeling of being helpless."

"So you drink in order to get over it."

"No, but for some reason I decided I might as well try it."

"Why?" Tristan shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea." Tristan chuckled. "So they let you out pretty quickly." He observed.

"All they had to do was a couple of drug tests, treat a bruised wrist, and deal with shock. It could have been worse." She paused. "Were you scared?"

"Huh? Scared? About what happened?" She nodded. Tristan thought about it for a moment.

"Yes, I did. I honestly thought you and Madison had been killed. But I'm not really sure why I didn't react the way I should have. I just started attacking the Tridents, and I felt like I was just in the drivers seat. Misato thought I was going berserk even thought I was still in full control of Unit-08."

"I see... You seem proud of that."

"On the contrary. I scared me to realize that I could be so vicious."

"How so?"

"I dunno... I'd probably be more insightful if I was stone cold sober."

"Can't hold your liquor?"

"Three beers on an empty stomach. You figure it out." Asuka looked up at the sky.

"The stars are beautiful."

"If you could ignore that red arc... I hate it, it's just a reminder of how terrible the world has become." Asuka lowered her gave and stared at the darkened buildings across the street.

"What else could have happened? The world won't go back to the way our parents had it as kids." Tristan winced at those words.

"That's not what I meant to say. Actually... I just wondered whether it was worth humanity being reborn again, just face even greater hardships than before. Look around you Asuka, there is pretty much northing left of the world the Second Impact generation or we could recognize. There are now only relics of the United States, Germany, China, and every nation in between. If the human race continues on from this point, what they would know about those places were going to be the relics they walk upon.

"The only difference between this and the worst case scenario of the Cold War is that NERV has offered an alternative to anarchy."

"It sounds like you're giving up." Asuka remarked. "Are you that much of a hypocrite?" Tristan thought about it for a moment.

"You're right, I shouldn't be the one moaning about things. I can't change the fact they are like this. But then, you can't help but wonder what life could have been like."

"Or what it will be like in the future." Tristan smiled.

"I guess the best thing I can hope for is that I will have a little bit of my youth left by the time that happens."

"I think we both had our share." Tristan grunted in agreement. He debated whether he should start on a fourth can.

"So why did the service drop you off here rather than at your apartment, I thought they were competent enough." Asuka shrugged.

"Misato probably thinks I've had a traumatic experience and wants the pilots together I'd imagine. As if you are some stable base upon which I can pin all my confidence on." Tristan chuckled.

"She knows better than that." Asuka shrugged. Tristan picked up the last three cans and stood.

"Well, you're welcome to stay if you really need to." She considered the offer for a moment and then stood up herself.

"Maybe."

"Suit yo-" Tristan fell backwards against the door to the apartment. He groaned and touched his head.

"Are you alright?" Tristan gave a week laugh.

"The beers just hit me again." Asuka frowned. "Don't worry, I'll just have to sleep on the couch with a bucket near my head."

"But I was going to sleep on the couch." Tristan looked at her incredulously.

"Don't be ridiculous. Use one of the beds. I don't plan on being an asshole, nor am I going to ruin my shits by puking all over them. Anyway..." Tristan turned and opened the door to the building. He motioned for Asuka to enter. She did so and he followed in.
Once inside Tristan's apartment, Asuka looked around. She jumped back as she noticed an avian head peer over at her from over the couch. Pen-Pen gave a perplexed grumble. Asuka blinked, clearly confused as well. Tristan closed the door and passed by her, telling the penguin to move before flopping down on the couch. He regarded Tristan for a few moments before looking back at a confused Asuka.

"Right, I guess I forgot to mention, Pen-Pen's been living with me for a few months."

"But... I thought only humans-"

"Guess not. Besides, Shinji mentioned seeing bluebirds the other day. Guess things are returning to normal." He then sighed and stretched out on the couch. Taking the hint, Pen-Pen turned off his program, climbed off the couch and wandered into the kitchen. Asuka watched him go and sighed. She heard Tristan fiddling with a trash pail and yawning.

"Yeah, normal." She approached the couch and leaned over the back. "Tristan, I've been-" She stopped, noticing that the second lieutenant had already fallen asleep. "Of course." She reminded herself. Standing up again, she looked around the apartment. Her mind was foggy from the drugs the doctors had pumped into her, and she was exhausted. Could she make it back to her apartment? She thought against it, better to pass out here than in the middle of the street.

Asuka opened one of the bedrooms and glanced around. The place was immaculate, and the only thing to suggest that it was Tristan's bedroom, was the closed laptop sitting on the office desk. Asuka stepped to the window and peered out and at the moon, the stars, and the red ribbon.

"Normal." She whispered. She removed her coat and draped it across the back of the desk chair and sat down on the foot of Tristan's bed, temporarily her own, it would appear. Her left hand was now wrapped in bandages from her injury today, and her right hand and left eye were still damaged. As if she had to check anymore that she was still slightly crippled. So many changes.

How could she have known that she would have died? That she was faced with a battle that she could not win. The completed EVA series. She frowned as something clicked in. At first she had ignored the statement and the reality she was surrounded by. How could she be piloting Unit-05, when that was one of the Evangelions that she faced at Tokyo-3? Even Tristan denied that the Evangelion series wasn't completely present during Third Impact. Then what was it that Asuka faced out there? I frightening thought crossed Asuka's mind. The only answer that came to mind was that those were Angels.

That hypothesis had to be impossible, thought, considering the fact that even Shinji admitted to killing the seventeenth Angel. That boy, Kaworu, the one who was in her dreams. But she never knew him. She had never met him. So how could she have known what he looked like? Asuka covered her right eye and stared out the blurry lens of her left. How?

Asuka sighed and leaned backwards onto the mattress. She was too tired to worry. She adjusted herself onto the bed and looked out at the sky again.

"Be careful, Shinji." Asuka whispered, before sleep overtook her.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes
This was a hard chapter to right. Probably because I had to fit two action scenes and some important dialogue, plus the reintroduction of more original series characters. You probably know who the pilot of the harrier is, so there really isn't any need for introduction, besides, Shinji's initial reaction seems kind of standard so there's no point in repeating it over and over again.
The last section of this chapter was probably the most strange one for me to write, namely because once again I make the characters laugh at their predicaments, but also I just couldn't see either of them with any sort of serious angst. It could be that they have become jaded to the violence that's surrounding them. Or it could be the booze and drugs as mentioned before. Another excuse that I came up with on the fly.
As for the drugs that Asuka was probably on, I would imagine it would be something like a painkiller or Valium, something to calm her down should she be suffering from stress. If I had someone bleeding on top of me and hearing gunshots over my head, I'd be kind of wired as well.
More than anything, this chapter doesn't move so much as resolve scenarios and set up for new ones. I imagine that the next chapter will have a much stronger impact. Hope to see you then.