A/N: This is actually the second half of Chapter 56. It was so ludicrously long, that I decided to split it in two. Enjoy! And for those that may have been wondering, I don't believe in the faint-hope clause as you'll soon find out.
By now Rei had managed to finish off the soup Shinji had managed to bring her. Just as Shinji said it would, it tasted good indeed. Somehow, the fact alone that he had visited had given her the strength to be able to properly grip the thermos in her hand, as she would have had difficulty prior to his visit. Rei knew that people called this a morale boost, a boost in their tasking abilities due to an outside factor.
A smile slowly crept its way onto her face when she saw Shinji return to her hospital room. This time, instead of uncertainty, she saw complete certainty on his face. From the look on his face, the conversation he had with his father went well.
"Did the Commander tell you what you wanted to hear?"
"Not exactly," replied Shinji as he stopped by her bed. "He told me that I already knew and that I had to make a clear and absolute decision without my emotions clouding my judgment."
Rei nodded, seeing that the Commander had seen her point and asked another question, "Were you able to make a decision based on the criteria you had?"
"Yes. I was," Shinji firmly answered. He took a deep breath and let it out before he answered.
"Rei, you are a very important person to me. I'll even go as far to admit I had a crush on you at one time. But with Father, I've come to some understandings. As much as I do love you, it would only be the love shared between a brother and sister."
"So you see me as your sister then. I can accept that," said Rei as she softly smiled, the way she did during the battle against the fifth. "Then you are my brother." Shinji smiled widely at the sight of his sister's beautiful smile. It was truly a sight to behold. It made Shinji thankful that he knew her. However he now wonders, would that same ethereal appearance in that smile would still be the same when her human DNA would assert itself.
"The love I for isn't the same as Asuka, but I vow that our love will still be eternal. Rei let me be the first to say, welcome to the Ikari family, Rei Ikari." As Shinji spoke, he slowly encircled his arms around Rei as he embraced her in a warm hug. On the other end, Rei mustered all of her will to wrap her arms around her newfound brother. After a minute or so, Shinji and Rei broke the hug and looked into one another's eyes.
Shinji smiled widely to see to care in her eyes. It was something he could enjoy everyday of his life, along with the beauty that his love Asuka had. One of sisterly love, the other one only finds in true love.
Shinji let out a sigh as he spoke again, "Sorry but I have to leave now Rei. You are my sister, but Asuka may get the wrong idea. We have to let her get used to this or there'll be problems."
"I… understand," said Rei with what Shinji could swear was disappointment in her tone as she looked down at the floor. In concern Shinji tilted her head back up towards his to see she was smiling again.
His smile widened further as she said, "Thank you … for visiting, otouto-chan."
"I'll visit you tomorrow onee-chan. I promise." Rei nodded as they hugged each other for a moment before Shinji left the room, leaving the two of them in higher spirits than ever.
(Hey, hey, Shran here, just to let you guys know, the term Rei used means younger brother whereas Shinji address her as older sister. Note this is most likely the only time you'll see Japanese terms.)
Once he left Rei's room, he began to wander the halls of NERV, with peace and content on his mind. Feeling tired already, and hoping to get some rest before being called to the EVAs in case of a potential emergency, he walked towards the sleeping quarters. However, he runs into another important girl in his life.
"Whacha doin Shinji?" asks Asuka.
"Just going to the barracks to get some rest. If something goes wrong with Misato's operation in America, it'll be up to us to defend the planet. And I don't want to do that while tired."
So Asuka, apparently decides to follow Shinji to the barracks, unaware of whether she wants to get some rest herself, or just spend some time with Shinji before they get called to action. A thought came to her, "What exactly are they planning to do again?"
Shinji thought for a moment about what Maya had told him about the plan, then gave his answer, "They're putting Zack and Elly in space, and they plan to land the EVAs on the Black Angel or comet. Next they drill a hole into the comet, stick an N2 mine inside, and blow up the comet before it impacts the earth.
Once Asuka finishes listening to what Shinji said, he notices she seemed to be lost in thought for about a minute or two. "Asuka?"
"What's up?"
"You seemed to be lost in thought there for a moment," said Shinji. "Everything okay?"
"Everything's fine dingdong," answered Asuka playfully. "It just reminded me of a movie I saw when I was still in Germany. An American movie, so I needed the subtitles. But it reminded me of this very plan. Just can't put my finger on what movie it was." She takes Shinji's left arm and holds it to her chest, and leans her head on his shoulder,"Anyways, let's get some sleep."
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Florida – NASA Center
"Alright!" said Zack from within his entry plug in Unit 05. "We're going to the final frontier!"
"Yeah!" declared Elly, who was trying to be brave like Misato told her. "Let's rock and roll!"
"Remember the importance of your mission you two," said Ritsuko who had a frown on her face. "You'll have to fly around the comet and land on it from the tail. So once you get behind it, you'll have to bust your ass to get on it as it's moving pretty fast. We've gone over the procedure on how to drill the hole and arm the N2 mine. I apologize for having to tell you two that you're on your own once you plant that mine."
"Okay, thanks for breaking the bad news to us Doc. Shows how much you guys care about us," replied Zack sarcastically. "Anyways, just give the word, and we'll save the world again for everyone."
Ritsuko shrugged before looking to the technicians, "Is everything ready for liftoff?"
"Yes ma'am. Units 05 and 06 are in excellent condition, all thrusters providing liftoff support are all in working order."
"And the E-type equipment on Units 05 and 06?"
"In perfect working order ma'am," answered the chief technician again. "And Unit 06's A-type armour is properly fitted."
"Good." Ritsuko looked at the screens which displayed Unit 05 and Unit 06. Unit 05 still had its general green colour, but was fitted with extra plates of armour which were coloured to protect it from the extra hot atmosphere. The extra thrusters and wings were also coloured white. It reminded Ritsuko somewhat of the EVA Series. In one hand, Unit 05 held the warhead which contained the N2 mine, and in the other hand, was his progressive sword. The pistols were holstered around the EVA's waist.
Unit 06 was vastly different from the way it originally looked. Instead of its usual pink colour, it was covered in what could be defined as black armour plating, which would give Elly more protection than what she could get out of her EVA originally. Like Unit 05, Unit 06 also had the extra white thrusters, despite that they were thicker because of the extra power needed to get the heavier EVA off the ground. The white wings topped off her E-type equipment. In one hand, was Unit 06's progressive sword. The drilling equipment was holstered on its left arm. The positron rifle was attached to the back of the wings, utilizing her for distance combat.
"You're the Director of Operations Misato," said Ritsuko. "When you give the order, the countdown will initiate."
Misato was silent for a moment. She knew that once she gave the order, she would be potentially executing an order that may possibly send two innocent (well maybe not completely innocent) children to their deaths thousands of miles above the earth.
Zack saw the distress that was on Misato's face once Dr. Akagi had finished talking, and figured she could use a boost in morale. "C'mon! Misato! We'll be fine! Once we trash this rock, we can go home, and I'll make Asuka's life a living hell again! We believe in you! Just like you believe in us… sometimes!"
"Yeah!" put in Elly. "And I'll try to steal away her Shinji again! Just like old times! But we can't do that until you order our asses into space! You have almost all our confidence!"
Zack and Elly then began a "Misato" chant in an attempt to fire her up.
Since the technicians were American, they didn't understand Japanese dialect, but they knew the kids were cheering the Major on in getting her to give the order. Thus they joined in.
Misato was taken aback by the amount of support and confidence the others had in her. She looked to Ritsuko, who now had even joined in this little cheer. Boosted by the vote of confidence, she raised a hand silencing the room. Taking a moment to remember the English phrase for 'initiate the countdown', she spoke, "Initiate the countdown!"
Zack waited patiently as the countdown began from forty-five in English. This was it. Time to blow the shit out of another Black Angel. This would likely be six down, and eleven bastards to go.
Everyone just listened as the loudspeaker counted down the final few numbers: "10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! We have liftoff!"
And with that, the thrusters ignited, carrying the two giants into the sky. To the eye watching from below, it would seem they were going slow, but then realize that they were moving at astounding speeds as they flew up higher and higher.
Within about two minutes, the EVAs had breached the exosphere of the planet and were now officially in space. The thrusters were designed to be able to carry them for another twenty minutes before disengaging.
Ritsuko now came on the com. "Okay you two, we're going to remotely activate your EVAs. Just try to relax yourselves, and follow basic activation procedures."
"Roger," said the two in unison.
And thus, the two waited patiently as the technicians prepped to active the two EVAs. Trying to concentrate, while under the stress of the G-Force that was still outputted from the thrusters was not an easy task at all.
But patience indeed won this struggle, as Evangelion Units 05 and 06 were activated and under the control of the pilots. Once they had control, they opened the wings of the E-type equipment, and with the continued assistance of the thrusters, sped off towards the comet.
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Sprint Canada Satellite
A hooded man watched as the two Evangelions sped off towards the comet that intended to destroy the planet. Somehow, any sensors could not detect that he was standing on the satellite watching these events unfold.
"Ah, so they really think they have the perfect plan to defeat Nebuchadnezzar," he chuckled aloud. "But then again, if I were one of those pathetic humans, I may have considered the very thing myself."
He continued to watch as the sight of seeing the EVAs was getting harder and harder to see against the Black Angel. "If only you kids really knew what you are up against. There is much more to Nebuchadnezzar than meets the eye."
In a change of subject, he took out a cell phone and dialed a number into it. A few rings could be heard before he heard someone answer. The man went right on the offensive. "Do you have any idea how close you were to blowing your cover?" He takes a few seconds to listen to whatever the party on the other line before talking again. "I'm only going to say this once: If something like this happens again, you'll be the next one to fight the Evangelions!" And with that, he hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.
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A few hours had passed since takeoff. Since Zack and Elly could no longer use the thrusters, they had to use the E-type equipment to fly towards the Black Angel. They could see it and it seemed so close, but in reality, it would likely be another few hours before they even came within range.
Ritsuko could hear the two chatting back and forth over the com. Usually she would not like causal chat over the com, but with how long this was taking, she decided to let it slide this time. Boredom due to everyone waiting for the two to successfully fly to the Black Angel was beginning to set in, as some were reading books, others quietly listening to music, and even Ritsuko was losing herself to a magazine she had brought over from Japan.
"Losing yourself to boredom, are you?" It was Misato, and she seemed rather cheery.
"Well, look around you Misato," said Ritsuko. "I'm not the only one. And the interesting part hasn't even happened yet. Speaking of which, how come you're not so bored?"
"Because I just called home," replied Misato. "Maya said the kids are staying at NERV because the commander requested that they do so. Ivana is at the firing range, and Shinji and Asuka are both taking a nap in the barracks. And Rei's recovery is doing well."
"Somebody homesick?" teased Ritsuko.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well why else would you call home? Unless you were homesick or worried about the kids."
Misato hung her head down in defeat. "Okay you got me. I am kinda bored. And I wanted to check on the others to see how they were doing. And I heard rumours that they may have found the Eighth Child. And I mean the actual Eighth Child."
"Really?" asked Ritsuko, as this was the most interesting thing she had heard in the last two hours. "Do the commanders know who the Eighth Child is?"
"Unfortunately no. Maya said that's all she knew. You'd have to ask Commander Ikari or Fuyutski when you get back."
2 and half hours later
"Okay Misato, I think we're coming up to it," said Zack over the com. "Damn, that thing's getting close."
"Well look at this way," replied Misato. "It's moving faster than you guys are. So land on it, blow it up, and you'll be home before you know it."
Ritsuko now interjected. "You two had best be ready. You're likely to experience both extremes of temperatures while landing. Your plugsuits will regulate the temperature as best you can, but be ready for anything."
"Understood," replied Zack and Elly in unison.
"One more thing," put in Ritsuko. "The gas and dust surrounding this comet is very dense, meaning that once you get inside that dust/gas barrier, your com may fizz out with us. So be ready for that. Also, watch out for meteors from within the tail of the comet."
"We'll be careful," said Zack.
"Like he said," replied Elly.
Everyone watched as the two EVAs moved closer to the comet. Unit 05 and 06, once they got within range, began a counterclockwise orbit around it. Like Ritsuko said, there were smaller asteroids indeed in orbit around this large body of rock and ice. Zack and Elly had to fly around a lot of them, with Elly almost getting smoked by a few small asteroids.
"Elly…be… areful," said Ritsuko.
"You're breaking up. I can barely hear you," Elly shot back.
"Never mind Elly," interjected Zack. "We knew this was going to happen. Let's focus on flying, and leave the bitching to them."
"Okay. Do you know what we gotta do next?"
"Yeah, once we get to the tail, we fly inwards. This way, thanks to the dust and gas barriers, we'll have some shielding from the sun while we work. Then we'll work on blowing this rock to hell."
And so the two continued on their course. And according to their charts, they had arrived at the tail of the comet. And as Zack instructed, they began to fly inwards. It was difficult to see, as they had to continue their contention with small asteroids. And the gas and dust made visibility lower than usual. They may not be the brightest of folk, but with sheer determination and some EVA skills, Zack and Elly had successfully navigated the tail of the comet and could see its layout from the inside. It looked like they thought it would. Something like a barren wasteland that one would see on Earth.
They descended slowly, looking for the best spot possible to begin their drilling project. Once they agreed on a spot, they continued to descend towards it. It was an open spot they picked. One could be able to see all around them quite well. Zack and Elly did not know what was on this comet for sure. Sure this comet was the next Black Angel, but something with a landscape like this could be breeding grounds for lesser demons and anything else that planned on making Zack and Elly's life a living hell.
"Alright Elly," started Zack as he placed the N2 mine inside the drill and armed the bomb. "I'm gonna be the lookout for anything else that may be prowling around, you focus on drilling. Got that?"
"Got it." Elly sure didn't mind letting Zack be the scout. Between the two of them, he was definitely the better fighter.
And so began the drilling. Whatever type of rock this surface was made of, it seemed fairly easy according to Elly. Probably because that the comets out there were a mix of rock and ice. Drilling through rock was tough, but the friction created from the drill could help melt the ice, thus taking away from the problem slightly.
"Say Zack, how long until this comet strikes the Earth?"
"Hopefully it won't come to that. But at the current speed it's moving at, I'd say two hours," replied Zack as he had a look around the comet, making sure nothing was out there to surprise them. "But this should only take an hour or so. We got a state of the art drill, and it's got a bomb in it that'll blow this bastard to kingdom come."
And within the hour, they had finished drilling it into the comet deep enough. And thus, they decided to make their break for it. This wouldn't give them too long to escape.
"Okay, here's the plan," said Zack while they flew back into the comet's tail. "We fly for about forty-five minutes, and then Dr. Akagi will detonate the N2 mine, and use our AT Fields to defend ourselves from the debris. Got it?"
"I do," replied Elly. "But how will we survive the blast?"
"That's the luck factor kicking in," answered Zack. "Let's keep flying!"
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NERV HQ Florida
"Comet will enter the Earth's atmosphere in thirty minutes," reported a technician.
"Any sign of Units 05 and 06?" asked Misato.
"The Hubble Telescope hasn't located anything yet coming from the comet's tail," replied another technician.
"Well what are we going to do if they don't emerge in time?" was another question from Misato.
"Then we use the remote beacon we have here, and detonate the bomb," was the cold answer from Ritsuko. Before Misato could respond, the false blonde spoke again, "They knew the risks of the mission Misato. But our priority is to defeat the Black Angels. And they knew that they may die doing this if they don't escape the explosion. But we can still hope that they'll escape."
Misato was getting more worried as each minute passed by. As much as it would have to be that the kids' lives be sacrificed if they couldn't escape in time. Soon it was twenty minutes till the detonation would commence. That equaled five minutes for them to escape.
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"C'mon Elly, we can make it!" called out Zack to his girlfriend who was following him. They flew for what seemed like forever, and they still hadn't escaped with minimal time remaining.
"Zack… I… can't do it," replied Elly. "I'm only holding you back. Go on… and don't worry about me," her fears about letting him down getting the better of her. She had brought Unit 06 to a halt. Zack could see tears were beginning to stream down her face.
"Elly, I'm not leaving without you," said Zack boldly, stopping Unit 05 to talk to Elly. "You've done phenomenal so far. We're either gonna die together, or we're gonna survive together. I love you Elly. And if you want to stay here because you think escape is futile, then I will stay too. If you think we still got a shot, then let's go for it. Either, way, wherever we go, we're going together. So what's it going to be?"
"Zack…"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go piss off Asuka!" declared Elly.
"That's the spirit! Let's get the hell out of here!"
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"One minute to detonation," muttered Misato to herself. Still no sign of those kids. Perhaps they died trying to escape already. Or maybe they were trying to beat the clock. "Please hurry…"
The countdown had begun at thirty. Misato by now could no longer look, and had begun to hide her face in Ritsuko's coat.
The doctor knew how Misato was feeling. Completely helpless. And that feeling had overwhelmed her friend. But regardless, she had to give the order… "Detonate the N2 mine…"
On the screen, was the comet, which did not change for about a minute, before it was consumed by a massive explosion. The whole screen went white for about thirty seconds before a visual could be seen. There were chunks of debris here and there. For the most part, the comet had been completely eradicated. But the worst part was, there was still no sign of the kids anywhere. They had indeed completed their task but at the cost of their own lives.
"Jesus Christ Misato! We're ya trying to burn our asses off?"
"What?" said a shocked Misato. "Who said that?"
"I did! Damn you were cutting it close!" A visual came up on the screen. It was Zack and Unit 05. And he seemed alive and well.
"Nice try Doc!" A visual of Unit 06 and Elly came up. "You tried to kill us and you failed!" Now her and Zack were both laughing. This got everyone else laughing too.
Once Ritsuko had finished laughing, she got serious again. "Alright guys, I'll tell you the landing procedure now…"
"Look out Zack!" Elly suddenly said.
On screen, everyone watched as Unit 05 was pushed by Unit 06. Suddenly, Unit 06 was hit by what looked like a fireball.
"AAAAHHHHH!" the pink haired girl screamed before passing out from the pain.
"What the hell? Elly!" said a worried Zack as he saw Unit 06 smoking from the seemingly deadly attack. Looking where he saw the fireball come from, his face was a combination of shock and anger at the sight he saw. "Impossible…" he muttered.