NOVEMBER 17, 2015
4:58PM
TOKYO-III
JAPAN STRATEGIC SELF DEFENCE FORCES SPACE CENTER
"T-minus 120 seconds to launch."
"Oxygen systems on, life support ready, first stage fully prepared."
"Pilot secured, status is nominal, though heartbeat is a bit high."
"Bah! Of course it would be! It is a space launch after all. You never know if you will or won't make it to orbit!" Asuka was taking the piss out of this situation quite a lot, much to the annoyance of Ground Control.
The Pilot, Shinji Ikari, sat waiting in the crew capsule. For once, he was flying solo, without the guidance of his friends Asuka Langley Soryu or Rei Ayanami. Missions where he didn't fly solo succeeded, so why shouldn't this one? At least he had Misato at Ground Control behind his back.
"You've got this Shinji! Everyone here at Ground Control believes in you!" Misato always said this at the beginning of every space launch, though Shinji felt the impact of this one a lot more.
"Pfft, that's debatable." The redhead with a short temper did not have faith in Shinji's ability to steer a rocket, since he had never flown solo before. She did however worry about his safety. A little bit.
"Pilot Soryu. What will you do if your *ahem* encouragement throws him off? You will be at fault."
"Shut it, Wondergirl! You don't know anything about flying solo!"
Rei Ayanami chose not to answer, as pissing off the redhead only seemed to create more problems.
"The silence in this tin can is rather deafening."
"Pah! Are you missing us nagging at you all the time? Pathetic!"
"Nope, in fact I prefer this silence over anything." He stifled a chuckle when he saw Asuka get pissed at his statement.
"T-minus 60 seconds to launch."
A large pit began to form in Asuka's stomach. Something about this did not feel right. She began to think scenarios in her head over and over, wishing that this scenario will be the one where Shinji does not die. Unfortunately for her, Misato noticed.
"Hey, Asuka. What's up?"
"Nothing! It's just…" Asuka felt incredibly embarrassed at the fact she was concerned about the lone pilot, but she saw Misato as trustworthy, and decided to tell her. What could possibly go wrong?
"Alright. Don't tell him this but… I am worried about him." Misato's blank face turned into a devilish grin.
"Awwww! You are so CUTE!"
"M-MISATO!"
Shinji wondered what was going on, as all he heard was Asuka blurt out "Misato". He figured she was teasing Asuka again, and thought nothing of it. He did wonder what she was teasing her about though…
"T-minus 30 seconds to launch."
Shinji had been mentally preparing himself for this launch for a while now, yet he still didn't feel ready to launch yet. He knew he could pull this off, it was so easy before, but why now? Why does he not feel confident?
"Ms Katsuragi, don't you think Ikari is acting a bit strange?"
"I'm surprised you noticed Ayanami, but yeah I agree. He doesn't seem confident enough."
"It is most likely the stress of flying solo and having no one to back him up. I must join him."
"Ayanami, we can't do that. Shinji must go on his own, even if it hurts."
"I see." Even if Rei got this result, she was still anxious about the launch.
"T-minus 15 seconds to launch."
"YOU GOT THIS SHINJI! YOU CAN DO IT!" Misato's overly enthusiastic attitude contrasted to the general silence of the Control Room, however most people shared Misato's sentiment.
"Beginning countdown. 10… 9… 8… 7… 6…"
"Ignition sequence start, prepare firing of Solid Rocket Boosters."
"4… 3… 2… 1…"
"Solid Rocket Boosters are firing, Core Stage throttle 100%, liftoff is confirmed." Everyone collectively sighed in relief at Ground Control, including Shinji. He felt the force of multiple G's push against him, but by now he had gotten used to it.
"Confirm separation of Solid Rocket Boosters."
"Roger, separating boosters." This was the first time the solo pilot ever separated the boosters. Unsurprisingly, it went well. Shinji's hope for a good mission had substantially increased after a successful launch, however, he was still cautious. Asuka, Rei and Misato watched from Ground Control, eager for a good mission.
"Man, I hope I get to orbit quickly, I do not want to botch this flight." Shinji's muttering to himself could be heard back at Ground Control, and Asuka felt even more worried about his well-being.
"Confirm separation of Core Stage, fire Interim Stage."
"Affirmative, separating Core Stage, firing Interim." Contrary to the boosters, he had done this multiple times, and, unsurprisingly, went off without a hitch. By about 3 minutes after launch, he had reached space. Ground Control (including Misato, Rei, and Asuka) were relieved.
"Performing orbital burn."
Another minute later, Shinji had achieved orbit. Now he was to wait until the opportunity to perform a Trans-Lunar Injection. Thankfully he had enough fuel to do it. However, he had never done it before, only Rei or Asuka had done it.
"Uhhhh, how do I perform a TLI again?" Instead of Ground Control radioing him back instructions, he heard a single voice in particular that sounded like…
"Shinji, you idiot! You need to wait for the optimal position to do it first!"
"And how exactly do I know when the position is?"
"Yeesh! Have you never paid attention to me or Rei at all? I'll tell you when you get there."
"Okay."
According to Asuka, the position was in around 10 hours. Luckily for Shinji, he had enough life support to sustain him for over 7 days.
"TEN HOURS!? I can't wait that long!"
"Yes you can! You're a grown boy, and you've done this before!" Misato had listen to him whine before, so she had gotten used to this by now.
"Only for around 4 hours!"
"What's the difference? 4 hours feel like 10 anyway!"
"Not to me it doesn't!"
"Look, Shinji. You NEED to wait! Otherwise, you won't even have enough fuel to get back here!"
"Fine!"
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
1:48 AM
IN ORBIT OF EARTH
LAUNCH SYSTEM UNIT-01
Shinji had sat in the same position for over 7 hours, barely moving a muscle. At times he moved to eat or drink, but most of the time he was sulking in the same position. By around the 6 hour mark, he was sound asleep, and most of Ground Control had gone to sleep, for around 2 hours. Asuka was the only one there to watch over him.
"Jeez, he hasn't moved for ages. Wonder if he's asleep? I guess 10 hours is a long time…" Asuka then noticed the radio microphone, and pondered whether she should annoy him or not.
"HEY IDIOT! WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPYHEAD!"
"GAH WHAT THE F-" Asuka was laughing her head off by this point, and Shinji's startledness turned into both being annoyed and finding it funny.
"Are you the only one there, Asuka?" Asuka then realised what was coming.
"N-NO! Misato is here too!"
"Oh really? Are you suuure?"
"Y-YES! REALLY!"
"Prooooove it!" Asuka proceeded to call Misato, which, predictably, went to voicemail. She used that as proof.
"She's here!"
"Ain't that her voicemail?" Asuka was incredibly embarrassed at this point. Shinji was laughing harder than Asuka was before.
"Dohh! Alright FINE! I am here by myself! Happy now?"
"Hmmmmm… I'll think about it…"
"You are such an IDIOT!"
Unusually, Shinji seemed to enjoy Asuka's company, for once. It made the 10 hour wait less dull with her around. He was surprised, however, that she stayed to watch over him. How ironic.
NOVEMBER 18, 2015
3:34 AM
STILL IN ORBIT OF EARTH
LAUNCH SYSTEM UNIT-01
Eventually, the 10 hour wait was up, and everyone had returned to Ground Control.
"Hey, Shinji! I better uphold my promise! To perform a Trans-Lunar Injection, all you gotta do is accelerate until I tell you to stop."
"Is-Is that it?"
"Yup! No strings attached."
"Alright then, throttle to 100%."
Over the next 2 minutes, Shinji pondered to himself if he should even trust Asuka. But, then again, assuming the interaction hours earlier was true, she wouldn't purposefully endanger him. Right?
"Aaaand…. STOP!"
"Throttle 0%" Thankfully for Shinji (and everyone else at Ground Control), the Injection succeeded.
"Heh, guess you aren't a bad co-pilot after all, Asuka!"
"Eh? Who would even say such a thing about me?"
"Oh, I can think of one person…" As soon as Shinji said this, Asuka knew immediately who it was.
"AYANAMI!"
Shinji sat back and watched the ensuing argument, until Misato stopped it a minute later, unfortunately.
"So, how long will this take?"
"About… 3 days."
"Alright, guess that's easy."
"HEY! Weren't you the one complaining about waiting just TEN hours before?"
"Well at least I'm actually moving, ASUKA!"
"YOU WERE MOVING IN ORBIT YOU IDIOT!"
"I MEAN GOING SOMEWHERE THAT ISN'T EARTH!"
"Well you could have been more CLEAR!"
"YOU TWO! Stop bickering! We don't need a fragmented fraternity this late into the space project!" Shinji listened to Misato's plea, since he didn't start it, while Asuka sat in her chair with crossed arms for the next 30 minutes. Misato was surprised at how childish Asuka really was, in contrast to her constant bragging about how "mature" she was.
Over the 3 day wait, Shinji mostly spoke to Asuka, she was willing to give up sleep for the solo pilot. Shinji wondered why she did this for him, didn't she have her sights on Kaji? Guess not.
NOVEMBER 20, 2015
2:12 AM
IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE
LAUNCH SYSTEM UNIT-01
"Hey, Asuka?"
"H-huh? What?"
"Did you fall asleep?"
"Uhm… Nope! Not at all!"
"Okay, I just… wanna ask you, something."
"Yeah, yeah what is it?"
"Why… are you here?"
"Hmm? What does that mean?"
"You are literally giving up sleep just to watch over me."
"Oh, that? Uh… yeah. So I can make sure you don't accidentally throw yourself off course."
"That's fair… but I can handle myself easily."
"Nahh… I doubt it." Shinji was beginning to see through Asuka. Something about her behaviour at that moment was not aligning right with her usual behaviour Shinji usually experiences.
"Well, what IF… I, theoretically, lost course and got shot into space?"
"What kind of idiotic question is that? Of course you couldn't…"
"Ever wonder what happened to Apollo 18?" Asuka immediately knew what he was talking about, as the same thing happened to Apollo 18. Apollo 18 had somehow drifted off-course and was flung into orbit around the Sun. Miraculously, the crew managed to return.
"Well yeah, I know about Apollo 18. But I doubt you are that dumb to fling yourself into solar orbit like that. Besides, if that even happened, you could return easily."
"Sure sounds nice, coming from the person who calls me an idiot every day."
"H-Hey! I don't call you an idiot EVERY day! Like, maybe twice a week?"
"Nope. EVERY day." Asuka verified the validity of this and sure enough, she did call him an idiot every single day. She had been defeated, once again.
"You are a cocky SOB aren't you?" Shinji chuckled at this statement.
"I sure am! Anyways, I'm gonna go back to sleep."
"Alright, goodnight Shinji."
"Night Asuka."
NOVEMBER 21, 2015
3:17 PM
NEAR THE MOON
LAUNCH SYSTEM UNIT-01
"Alright Shinji, you know how to perform a lunar orbital burn, right? For this one, we won't send you down to the surface. So you can rest easy in Unit-01, okay?"
"Yes ma'am. So, how do I do it?"
"Keep an eye on your Apogee and Perigee indicators. Slow down to a point where the Apogee and Perigee are about the same. Make sure you don't accidentally slow down enough to the point you're on a one way trip to the Moon!"
"Alright, I point… retrograde, right?"
"Yep! Exactly."
"Yes ma'am. Pointing retrograde and executing burn." The burn lasted about 3-4 minutes. During this time, he did exactly what Misato asked, and executed it perfectly.
"Congrats, Shinji! You're now orbiting the Moon! Now go do the science experiments."
"Roger. Do I need my helmet for this?"
"Uh… I don't think so? Put it on just in case."
"Alright."
Fortunately for Shinji, he was the one always doing the science experiments. He was surprised at the fact he always did them, considering Asuka was smarter than him.
"Alright, that's one done." He turned his attention back to the fuel gauges, which he forgot to check when he finished his burn. He then determined he had enough to get back to Earth. It was there he discovered an… anomaly.
"What the… hell? 130% pressure on Tank 4? That can't be right." Shinji radioed Ground Control.
"Shinji to Ground Control, there's something wrong with Tank 4. Pressure is at 130% and rising." The people at Ground Control were confused. This had never happened before, and not to a verified bonafide fully functional lander+capsule.
"Errr, I don't think it's anything to worry about. Just keep on doing the experiments."
"Uhhhh.. Okay." Asuka was mortified, but before she could speak to Shinji, Ground Control closed the circuit.
"SHINJI!"
"ASUKA! WE CLOSED THE CIRCUIT ALREADY!"
"WELL REOPEN IT! HE IS IN DANGER!"
"WE CAN'T! IT'LL TAKE MINUTES TO RESTORE A CONNECTION!"
"I. DON'T. CARE. NOW OPEN IT RIGHT NOW!" Shinji was completely oblivious to the impending tragedy. He had done 3 experiments when he realised Tank 3's pressure gauge was at 127%, and Tank 4 was at 174%.
"What the… Okay, I better fix it myself." Unbeknownst to Shinji, he had only sealed his fate in attempting an unguided fix.
"Okay… pressure's going down. Guess I better continue the e-" An extremely loud sound punctured his left eardrum, and the next moment he knew, he was in deep trouble. The pressure going down was actually the fuel tank about to spontaneously combust. Before Shinji knew it, a large gaping hole was ripped in the back of the ship.
"SHIT!" Shinji clung onto the damaged vessel, becoming victim to explosive decompression. Thankfully, he had put his helmet on, but he couldn't hear anything at all. He attempted to open a comms channel to Ground Control, thanks to his helmet, all the more while still clinging onto his ship.
"Tokyo-III? Tokyo-III, come in!" Ground Control eventually came in, but with a different voice from what he was expecting. It was Asuka.
"SHINJI! FIX THE TANKS NOW!"
"Asuka, it's too late for that now."
"What? What do you mean it's "too late"? Are you tricking me?"
"No, I have a probl- SHIT! LOSING… GRIP!" Shinji could not hang onto the limping craft any longer, and he flew away from the capsule. He had left his jet-pack in the craft, and he found himself precariously floating above the moon.
"S-Shinji? SHINJI? SHINJI! ANSWER ME! PLEASE!"
Despite the pleas from Asuka, Shinji found himself unable to answer.
A/N: My first attempt at a oneshot. Sorry that I couldn't get Roman Odyssey Chapter 6 out sooner, but, you know, writers block!
EDIT: Fixing some errors.
-nbcman67