All three of us were on the conveyor stairs heading to the GeoFront. I really ought to not have been surprised anymore by the deadpan silence that followed us like a plague in the air.

Shinji had never suffered the incident. That was certainly a bit of..."character development" I was glad to have prevented. God knows a fourteen year old, any fourteen year old, was already sexually frustrated enough even without a bombshell like that dropping on them.

Heh.

What that meant however was that Shinji wasn't even looking to start a conversation with her, which in the original timeline led to the slap. Whether that slap was a good or bad thing was up in the air as well. I couldn't predict an entirely new path like this, or what turns it'd take. I was all-knowing on a certain range of events, not psychic. Kinda like Seelee really.

Since comparing myself to the masterminding old men was a very dark, lonely and useless path to go down then, I focused instead on my fellow pilots. Shinji was his usual self, thought from what I could tell at least, he was somewhat on edge. Not really surprising considering what had just happened.

As for Rei, she remained all the same: about as readable as a wall.

Of course, I already knew what was going through her head, more-or-less: she may not have shown it except in subtle queues, but she was probably as nervous about this as she could be about...well, anything. The glasses case she was clutching was proof enough of that.

The original timeline had ultimately ended well for her, but...I couldn't help but wonder if my experience with Rei I would have an impact on her own piloting ability. I had told the soul inside on mostly even terms that she needed to be more cooperative, but well, this was still Eva. Reality was bound to fuck me in the ass sooner or later.

Still, if it came to that, I'd just have to make due. In the meantime, I still had to look forward to the Angel of Thunder today.

"Terminating procedure. We're done for the day. Good work Kano."

I went through the same familiar ritual I did every time now as the LCL drained and the plug was spun outside the back of the Eva. How that thing didn't just cut through the spine and sever important parts of the central nervous system was beyond me, but then again I knew nothing about Eva biology and Angels pulled weirder shit on a daily basis anyway.

I also didn't understand an Eva's mind even remotely. It was something ethereal, to dip your own soul into a vaster being. Something that made your own mind seem like a pinprick in the abyssal depths. And in those depths, as you dipped ever closer to the true, absolute darkness in the Eva's heart, you felt the light of your soul starts to suffuse. The boundaries of individuality started to break down. It was all rather distracting, and off-putting, yet simultaneously comforting.

Still, even through that, I'd tried to whisper thoughts into the plug about Rei. Chances were, after this, I'd never pilot Unit 00 again. Maybe it was stupid doing it, but well, it was better than nothing. Doing this, it felt like I was at least giving the girl a better fighting chance. Whether she needed it or not, who could know.

I descended from the plug only to see Rei there, as stoic as ever. Still, just as with the goading of Unit 00, I wasn't about to give up.

"Hey Rei. So uh, good luck with your test. I hope you ace it."

At first, she seemed to ignore me, much like she had up until then. That is before I heard a quiet voice behind me, almost lost in the din of machinery and construction:

"Pilot Kano. You've tried to socialize with me far more than anyone before. Why?"

I would've been shocked how bluntly she put it had I not known who I was talking to. I was just about to list the usual reasons: "we're pilots, we gotta stick together" or "you're one of the few that can truly understand". Hell, maybe even throw in a "you're a cute girl" or something.

But something about the way she said, and that it was her specifically that said, made me think harder than I ever had about it: why was I trying to help these people? After all, from my own perspective, they were all fictional characters. One after the other, they were all their own demons born out of a depressed mind.

Yet, in the here and now...they were just people. They acted like people, they weren't robots consigned to a script, following every order like obedient automatons. They shifted, they changed. It made the show seem like a variety of cascading effects rather something scripted, and most of all it made me give a damn when realistically I shouldn't have.

So beside my self-preservation and their own survival? I answered for the thing I ultimately always believed in:

"I just want to be friends."

And help people.

"With me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

And at that, I could tell the conversation veered off. I was sure she was struggling with her own conflicted feelings about the ordeal in her own way. In the meanwhile, of course she didn't show any of it, having only a momentary lapse before proceeding to her Eva. I sighed as I left the bridge.

Rei's test came and went, much like in the show itself. There had been the nail-biting, tense moment where the critical mark had been passed, and Unit 00 had been successfully activated. I heard it was with an incredibly impressive sync ratio to boot.

I'd like to think I was partially responsible for that.

Then with painful and dreadful inevitability, the announcement came: Ramiel, the Thunder of God, had arrived.

And with that, a whole new level of panic overcame me, aside from the usual one that preceded an Angel fight. Namely, how was I going to save Shinji from getting his chest nearly pierced straight through by a skyscraper-sized laser?

I could point out how sending an Eva immediately against such an unconventional target would be strategically unsound, but then Nerv's strategy basically revolved around "throw an Eva at it and see what happens". I didn't think I was going to break that. Just as I was getting proper nervous and jittery however, before Shinji was inserted into his Eva, something happened.

"The JSSDF is scrambling jets!" Makoto shouted from across the bridge.

"Isn't Tokyo-3 our jurisdiction exclusively?" Ritsuko commented dryly.

"It should be. What are those damn idiots doing?"

"Ma'am," Shigeru shouted. "We're detecting a high energy reaction inside the target!"

"What'd you say?!"

"The energy torus is accelerating and amassing upon itself!"

And soon enough we saw on the computer monitor what I knew would happen to those jets. They had apparently scored direct hits with their missiles, which of course, did nothing. Afterwards, the blips representing them winked out of existence, each one followed by the section of the city between them and the giant octahedron turning a bright red, indicating massive damage.

As the bridge fell into silent disbelief, one word that I knew would be uttered soon enough on a room away from me burned itself into my mind:

Flying fortress.

The next few hours were a frantic mess, where I only paid half attention to the things going on.

The scale of Operation Yashima became plenty evident in the hours that followed, as Nerv HQ buzzed with activity like I'd never seen it before. The ranks of personnel themselves seemed to swell as specialists were most likely brought in for what Misato was planning.

I was at last called for something as Misato herself told me to get in Unit 00.

"Why? Am I fighting that thing?"

"Not exactly," she said with a smile. "We just need you to get something that we need to kill it."

I was surprised I was the one being chosen to move the Positron Cannon, though I guess if I had to chose between the pilot who actually had combat experience with the Eva and was relatively stable versus the one who didn't and had made it go berserk her first time activating it, I'd pick the former too. As I entered the Entry Plug however, I couldn't help but steal a glance of Rei.

The walk to the JSSDF's R&R division was tedious, even though it wasn't long. Situations where doom was imminent had a way of setting your nerves to jitter. I did become aware of how much I should've been fanboying about walking around in an actual, real fucking Evangelion at that point.

But I was too jaded at the moment to keep my mind on that. It instead went to the operation ahead. Would they pick me over Rei? How would that impact her relationship with Shinji, or even me? Hell, would I even survive to worry about that?

"Kano, watch your step!"

I was jolted back to the present by Misato's voice, and I just noticed the Eva's armored boot had come dangerously close to a few armored personnel carriers moving alongside us.

"Eyes on the road pilot."

"Uh sorry, ma'am. Momentary lapse of attention. It's kinda hard to see you all from up here."

That wasn't the only reason, truly, but walking around in such a gigantic machine did create a surreal effect. Just seeing things so small was disorienting. Every step had to be carefully planned and executed to not crush something along the way.

Becoming aware of my Eva again however, did remind me of something:

"Say, why isn't Shinji doing this? His Eva was already activated, right?"

"Unit 01 is currently being fitted with G-type equipment for the upcoming operation," Ritsuko answered through the intercoms without missing a beat.

Huh. Yet another insertion of a Rebuild feature in this universe, which I'd all but figured was the original timeline so far. It was weird how that happened.

"We've arrived," Misato announced as her convoy stopped just in front of a storage facility very much like all the others we'd seen thus far. I was beholden to her conversation with the incredulous crew in possession of the cannon, before being told to move it carefully.

So I peeled the roof off and grabbed everything I was pointed at.

"That is very delicate machinery. Be careful," I was told through the intercoms by Ritsuko for what felt like the thousandth time, but I wasn't really paying attention. Returning to Tokyo-3, nightfall was beginning. Everything was coming together.

"Shinji, you're going to be the gunner. The reason for this is your high synchronization ratio, as well as Unit 01 being the only one compatible with G-type equipment at this time. In order for the shot to impact, we're going to need as much precision as we possibly can get."

"But Ritsuko, I've never practiced with this before."

"Don't worry. Once the target is locked on, the Evangelion's and Positron Cannon's targeting computers have been designed to take into account everything from the curvature of the Earth to gravitational acceleration. All you need to do is pull the trigger."

Shinji didn't seem all that convinced I noted.

"Also, if you need to reload the cannon, you will need to wait for the unit to first cool off and then replace the fuse before reloading. In essence, you only have one shot."

"But what if I miss, or the Angel fires on me first?"

"Shinji, don't even think about that. All you should focus on, is lining your target up perfectly and pulling the trigger."

Ritsuko was finished with her part, so Misato saw it fit to turn me and Rei, and I couldn't help but note the uncomfortableness of the lights glaring down on us. Or maybe that was just my mounting dread from what I knew came next.

"The pilot of Unit 00 will be..."

Here it comes.

"Rei."

...Or not?

Misato must've noticed my confusion as she addressed what I would ask before I even had a chance to look uninterested:

"Kano, you may have more combat experience, but Rei's sync ratio is higher than yours even after all the weeks of improvement you've gone through."

"Indeed. Although a feedback loop exists with Rei's synchronization currently, we cannot avoid the fact that this operation will require precision and speed. Losing out on even a bit of that could be disastrous," Ritsuko added.

"That's right," Misato said, as she turned to Rei. "Unit 01 will be immobile while hooked up to the Positron Cannon. We've provided your Eva with a specially-designed shield that should hold out against the Angel long enough for Shinji to take another shot, should the situation resort to that."

"So...I am to protect Pilot Ikari, yes?"

"Correct."

"Very well."

"Kano, you will be stationed alongside us in the Mount Futago temporary base."

"Yes ma'am," I could only say, as one feeling of dread lifted, only for another to take it's place.

To reference an overused metaphor, it was the calm before the storm through and through. As the massive octahedron in the distance foretold, reflecting all lights around it, which I knew would soon flicker out.

The atmosphere betrayed the true nature of the operation: collected on the surface, but tense inside. The smell of engine oil and scorched metal was thick in the air, despite the high winds present on the mountain. The chatter of the staff was short and concise, but slips of nervousness made it through. Curses, confessions, the occasional outburst.

Everybody seemed to feel like they would die here. I wouldn't dissuade them, even if I could maybe see what came after all their fears.

"What are you doing out here?"

I turned my head to see Misato approaching. I myself was sat on a large rock protruding from the ground, some ways away from the main component of the temporary base.

"Nothing. Just...thinking. I'm not exactly useful for much right now."

"Well, we better head in soon."

"...Yeah, you're probably right," I said, as I got up and stretched.

"You're oddly calm," she commented suddenly.

"I just have a good feeling I guess. I believe in them, as well."

"Wish it were that easy for me," she said, and suddenly all the exhaustion of setting this monumental task up showed on her features.

Was she letting herself be vulnerable for once? That didn't feel like Misato at all, yet here it was. I guess there was something to be said about what stress did to even a hardened individual.

"Misato," I began. "We will win this. No ifs and or buts. I trust in you, and everyone else. And I especially trust in Shinji and Rei."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, before sighing, a small but beautiful smile gracing her lips.

"I guess you're right Kano. Sorry, it's just easy to lose perspective when you've been up since 8 AM with no coffee," she finished with a sheepish smile.

"Hug?"

"Ah screw it, why not?"

It had to have been the weirdest embrace I'd ever been in, but still, I was surprised by how much I'd missed it. Basic human contact like it was so easy to forget, along with it's importance. I was just glad for the height difference, for if I had been, say, Shinji's height...Well...

She'd tease me to oblivion for having my head in her...Alright, bad thought, abort.

We separated, and with one last glance at Ramiel, we made for the command van.

"Initiate primary connections!"

A flurry of keyboard strokes and a variety of technobabble followed Misato's order, as I could hear the hum of nearby and distant machines coming to life. The lights had all blinked out some time before then, giving Ramiel an almost ethereal, dream-like quality, if it hadn't had that before through it's sheer alien nature.

"Initiate secondary connections!"

Yet more technobabble followed, along with numerous checks and computer noises, while I could tell that the whir of machines in the background had grown greater.

"No problems detected with tertiary connections."

"Disengage final safety locks!" Misato barked.

"Final safety locks released."

And with a flurry of final checks, the countdown began to Unit 01 firing.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."

Why isn't it firing back? It's supposed to notice at this point.

"5, 4, 3..."

Something was wrong.

"2, 1! Maximum charge!"

"Fire!" Misato shouted.

With a crack like a bolt of lighting, I saw a massive spike in the energy readouts as the entire van shook.

"Direct hit on the Angel!"

"We missed the Core!" Maya shouted, as new data likely popped up into her system.

"How?!"

"The Angel swerved!" Makoto answered. "It knew the shot was coming! It's pierced straight through it, but it's already regenerating!"

"It's energy torus is accelerating, it's going to fire!"

"Damn it! Shinji!"

That was the last thing I could hear clearly before I was thrown clear into a wall, my ears ringing from a nearby impact, that shook the entire van even beyond it's initial slamming and made my teeth chatter.

"Fuck...fuck...fucking Hell," I swore audibly, or at least I thought I did as the pain burned through my body. The others had already gotten up, or resumed their jobs, and I could see how their lips were moving, but couldn't hear anything properly.

Then the ringing started to subside, and I could pick up bits and pieces: "Angel", "cannon", "recharge", "Rei", "torus".

I had an idea of what was going on, but without being able to read the incomprehensible tactical feed, I was both blind and deaf. It made me feel helpless, and angry. I couldn't do anything to help, as another shockwave rocked us. But this time, I was ready for it.

And that's when my hearing returned properly, just in time for Shinji to scream like a madman through the intercoms, as the Eva fired another round. The booming rocked us once more, as the heat from the Positron Cannon could almost be felt through the confines of the van now.

And then there was silence.

Whether it was seconds or minutes, not a soul in the temporary command center uttered a word, or even breathed.

Then Makoto broke that silence:

"Direct hit! Target has gone silent."

A pause followed, before the van and the intercoms linking to the rest of Nerv erupted in cheers. I crashed down on the ground, even if I was smiling. It had been an exhausting few hours.

The damage done to the mountain side was monstrous, while those done to all the systems used in the operation even more so.

But through it all, even beyond the molten, slagged form of Unit 00 and the less damaged but still visibly burned Unit 01, Hell even beyond the gigantic Angel corpse eclipsing the whole city in the background, I saw something that made my smile bigger.

Rei, Shinji, both of them looking relatively unscathed. They were holding hands as rescue crews separated them, and I couldn't help but be happy that that moment had still happened. It was something that would give both of them something to care for if they didn't already.

And well, those moments would save us all, right?