(A/N Okay, so now that things are back on track, I can finally give you the weekly cahpters you've come to expect...for the time being anyway. I can probably keep up with this pace for about a week until school starts. Than you may be waiting longer per chapter until next summer and/or winter break. Now, on to the good stuff. I have to thank J. Alana for her continued support of my story, that's one of the great author's down, many more to go. Thank you Herald of Light, I'm glad you found something to like in here. There's so much more to say, but I'll let my story do the talking for now.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, Evangelion, or Ace Combat. Still no news from the front lines, I'll get back to you next week once the air raids stop!

Chapter 8

Revelations

(POV -Unknown- 'Blaze' -Unknown-)

Stepping in through the sliding door, I find myself in a dark room. Even though there are windows all around the far side of the room, no light succeeds in piercing their gloomy shell. On the ceiling above, a symbol of which I have no familiarity with has been drawn. Taking a few steps forward, I stop at a respectful distance from the desk in front of me. Seated behind the desk sits a lone figure, his details hidden in the gloomy darkness in which only his outline remains. Beside the desk stands another figure, just as obscured in the darkness as the other.

A moment of eerie silence ensues before a voice from the desk sends its way out across the room, saying, "Do you have anything to say for yourself and your actions in Europe?"

Standing at attention, I respond quietly with, "I have nothing to say at this time Commander. I followed all orders as closely as possible, sir."

"You do realize that we wanted the other pilot alive," rang out the voice of a female, the other figure standing next to the commander.

"Carrying out that objective was next to impossible, Ma'am. Not only were the actions of the enemy threatening the local populace, but the life of one of our own pilots,' I explain adding, "And also, his plug failed to eject properly when the cover was removed."

"So you're saying the unknown pilot was…" The commander says.

"Killed by the shock of plug removal," I finish.

"You also realize that you changed course during your decent," States the woman explaining, "The building you smashed through had a confirmed 42 people inside with several more still in the streets. Your actions were…"

"Necessary," I interrupt going further myself, "My suit had picked up the transponder I had set on Pilot Ikari after picking him up from the hospital. Changing course was the only possible way to get their in time; otherwise he may have been captured…or even killed."

Another pause followed my statement, as the standing woman leans down and whispers something into the Commander's ear. Not wearing my armor at this time, there was no way I could pick up what she had said, but I at least can tell something had been said. After they return their unseen gazes back on me, the interrogation continued.

"And on the subject of pilots, as you already know, you had retrieved two pilots that day, yet you refuse to acknowledge that Pilot Ikari has broken UN protocol by leaving the country," States the commander.

A chill ran down my spine at the thought of children being pressed into such matters. The fact that I myself had been in such a situation, back during the training of the SPARTAN soldiers, led me to understand military protocol at a young age. It's not easy being a kid following Military orders.

"I refuse to acknowledge on the grounds that he is just a child, and that incarcerating him for any period of time would be unnecessary, since he aided us in the locating and returning of Pilot Soryu," I explain.

"Yes, that is true," states the female obscurity, "thanks to Shinji's efforts, we are now treating Asuka's physical wounds and she is on her way to a full recovery Commander. However…"

"However what Doctor?" asks the unseen Commander

"She has fallen into a catatonic state once more. For the last 24 hours, she has refused to respond to any of the staff, or even to myself for that matter," She explains.

"What do you mean by 'once more,' if I may ask ma'am," I call out having just barely caught that bit of info.

The woman sighs as if a whole load of history, a load of history I wouldn't want dumped on me, was about to be unloaded in full force. I brace myself on the inside for anything she may say, waiting for any possible clue that she would begin soon.

Slowly, it comes out, "The pilot we know as Asuka wasn't always like the state she's in now. For all it's worth, I can tell you that what you brought back to us is nothing more than a shell of her former self. She used to be prideful in her piloting abilities, confident that she was the best at it. The word 'defeat' wasn't even in her vocabulary."

The woman removes a pair of glasses from her face and her shadowed head seems to move, its gaze apparently shifting to some unseen wall. She gives another sigh before going on.

Continuing, "Her pride and self arrogance hadn't been a problem through the first few battles. However, before continuing, I must ask if you have read the file on 'Angels' that I gave you 2 weeks ago."

I nod my head in affirmation, having read every file I could get my hands on in order to fully understand what has happened, is happening, and will happen at NERV. Currently, I have requested for security tapes of the facilities and any footage of the angel battles that had taken place. Any intelligence I can get my hands on will help my group move forward and maybe eventually get us home.

This thought leaves a flicker of hope glimmering deep within my soul, a glimmer that was hidden by the darkness this room cast upon it. Before I can look for it further, I notice that the woman has continued.

"As you may have read, the angel battles became more difficult as time went on," She begins explaining, "Asuka never actually won a battle on her own, every victory we've accounted her for always had some assistance from Shinji involved."

"So what you're saying is she never really defeated an angel by herself," I state out of my current understanding.

"Not true," says the commander, "I heard that she had defeated the angel found in the volcano on her own."

"Yes, but if Shinji hadn't dived in, we would have lost her for good," Replied the woman continuing with, "In any case, she only seemed to shrug these off as minor favors. What really contributes to her condition was an attack on her mental state by the 15th angel."

"I read the file on the 15th angel, but it never stated which pilot was attacked. Are you saying that Pilot Soryu was the victim in that battle?" I ask.

"Sadly yes," Answers the woman, she bows her head in either shame or sadness before continuing, "Another angel battle later and it was found that she could no longer pilot. Synchronizing with Unit-02 became impossible for her and she ran off, only to be found by Section 2 later on attempting to kill herself. She fell into a coma shortly after securing her."

'Something isn't adding up here,' I think to myself, 'If that was when she fell into her withdrawn state, than how could she have ended up in Germany. I feel like something's being hidden here and it's something I'm not in on.'

"So that's it than, nothing else contributed to the state she's in now? Nothing else happened here before I arrived?" I ask one last time, giving the woman a chance to tell the full truth.

"Yes, that's all," she says bluntly.

Staying silent, I wait just a few more moments to see if she'd add anything to the speech. With nothing said in this passage of time, I decide to pick up the discussion for any additional and possibly useful topics.

"Is there anything else that needs discussing or are you finished trying me," I ask looking back and forth between the Commander and female Sub-Commander.

"Yes, there's the topic of storing and locking your Eva's down in the hangers," says the Commander.

"Yes. As you know…um Blaze," She pauses, as if calling me by my call-sign were unusual, before pressing on, "Because your Evas' armors weren't designed using our building procedure, your locks don't fit our restraints."

"And you want me to give you the schematics so you can fix the problem, are I right?" I ask going from attention to crossing my arms.

"Exactly."

"Well since I know you're not hiding anything from me," I say, the woman seems to wince at my emphases on 'hiding,' "I'd be more than happy to share the files."

"Good. You're cooperation will make the process a lot smoother," Finishes the Commander, "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," I say, combined with attention and salute.

I turn around and begin to make my exit, leaving a mental note that I will have to infiltrate their central database later. I can't just let them get away with lying to me like that. Maybe I can also find something about the 'Third Impact' while I'm looking.

The door shuts behind me as I walk out back into the light; I push my curiosity aside for the moment and pull up my list of things to do.

(POV Kouzou Fuyutuski)

The man we call 'Blaze' walks out the door, no doubt by his last few phrases that he suspects Dr. Akagi's lies. It took every ounce of control just to keep from bursting out and telling the full story. But that would have just caused more problems and suspicions would have grown out of control. The lights come on and she walks over to the other side of my desk and takes a seat. There is still more that we need to discuss.

"I thought I had told you to no longer keep secrets from our trusted staff," I tell her.

A moment passes before she says, "I'm sorry. I guess it's just an old habit rearing its ugly head again."

"Yeah, well you better make it up to him or we may have further problems in the future. No doubt he's planning how to crack our database right now," I explain, knowing full well what happened the last time secrets were kept at NERV.

"If we reveal everything at once, we won't know what he'll try to do. If we let it out slowly, he can take it all in with ease and it may work out better for us," Dr. Akagi tries to explain.

"Aside from trust issues, I have two more matters I need to discus with you," I state, pulling from my desk two separate documents. Looking at the names printed on each one, I throw them on the desk for Dr. Akagi to read.

She picks them up and gasps before saying, "You're kidding, and they want us to do this."

"The UN is panicking at this point. They don't trust that four new pilots have appeared literally out of the blue," I explain while adding, "They feel it's a safety measure that will help put the numbers in our favor."

"Does that mean reinstating Shinji and Asuka as well," She asks, now raising her voice in apparent concern.

"If need be, the UN wants them back in the pilots seat, but only if they're physically capable," I tell her.

"I see," she says, pausing for a moment, probably collecting her thoughts before continuing, "And what has the UN done about The Committee."

I chuckle at the thought of SEELE and how the UN had put the fate of all humanity into their hands. The UN is probably running around wondering where their most trusted advisors to us have gone. Unfortunately, the UN had found the one person they had been looking for; the one they believe had started it all. Gendo Ikari!

"Nothing for now. They're too busy concentrating their efforts on Gendo's impending conviction," I say.

"Maybe the basterd will finally get what he deserves," Akagi says in a small yet angry tone.

'Don't be so hasty Doctor; you never understood his motives towards doing what he did. He may have done terrible things but he still had a soul…just a very sidetracked one,' I think to myself, not saying any of it out loud for fear of getting way off topic. There was still more to be discussed.

"Before we talk again about Gendo, I need you to look over this," I say, pulling out another file from my desk. Already knowing what was on it, I throw it to Dr. Akagi without so much as a second glance.

Taking another moment to glance at it, she continues to look as she asks, "So it's been approved?"

"Not yet, the final verdict comes in next week. If it is approved, all of the major facilities should be ready by August, assuming little in the means of delays," I state.

"How long do you think it will take to fully complete," she asks.

"Our technicians estimate a year if construction works all of the way through it," I answer.

"So we may have a chance to rebuild after all this," She says, a glimmer of hope flashes in her eyes.

"Don't get your hopes up, we're not out of the hot water yet," I state, to her in-particular.

"Yes, I'll just be thankful once my interrogation is over with. What about you?" She asks.

"They already came to me. Probably wanting to get to me sooner since I was always with Gendo," I explain.

"Not to change the subject, but a thought just occurred to me," Starts Akagi, she waits until I give her the nod to go ahead and continue, "If the UN wants the pilots back, how do you propose we get Asuka back in action."

I knew what she was getting at. It would be hard to get a pilot who doesn't even so much as respond to human contact, much less open up her own mind, to synchronize with an Eva. But we had one last trump card to make it work. Putting on my best smile, I sit back in my chair and look back to Dr. Akagi and explain.

"We want to be honest with our pilots now, am I right?" I ask to which Dr. Akagi nods.

"I'm listening," She says.

"Let's say you start with her?"

(POV Kei 'Edge' Nagase)

Having just walked through the hallways of the NERV hospital, I come to the place that was the source of recent news. Seeing the door ahead, I detach my helmet from my armor and stow it under my right arm. Stopping at the place, I pause for a second before looking in. Peering in through the window on the door, it is then that I see what Blaze had been talking about the night he came back.

Sitting on a chair, amidst the white light against white washed walls sits a young 14 year old girl. She just sits there, staring at the door, a blank expression worn across her face, mostly held deep within her eyes. Her red hair just lies across the back of the chair and her arms are crossed in her lap. The girl doesn't so much a stir at my presence in the window, the only movement in her body being her steady breathing. Sadness washes over me seeing the young girl in a state like this.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I quickly turn just in time to hear a familiar voice.

"Hey Captain Nagase," the voice says.

Recognizing the face of the man it belonged to; I immediately ease up and welcome him with a nod. It was Captain Marcus Snow, or in our group, the one we call 'Swordsman.' He isn't wearing his armor today, but instead has on a brown leather flight jacket with a white shirt on underneath combined with jeans. Surprisingly, despite being in armor just as often as us, it has done nothing to pale his dark black skin.

"Hey Marcus, you come to see the girl too?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah, I had to see for myself what Blaze was talking about," he says, a look of disappointment washes over him as he looks through the window and finds that what Blaze had said turned out to be true.

"I can't believe it either," I tell him, but when I don't receive a reply, I add, "Why would they use children for things like this?"

"Maybe it's because they had no one else," comes Snow's reply.

"It's so sad the way they've ended up, dried up and no longer useful to anyone. Not even to themselves," I state, sadness finding its way into unfamiliar places. Wondering why this was, Snow comes up with the answer.

"Was the UNSC so different with us?" he asks rhetorically.

Silence follows Snow's statement, neither of us able to find a way to explain our childhood predicament any more different than theirs. So many similarities, yet for each similarity, there was also a vital difference. Unable to stand the suspense for much longer, I ask Snow the one question bothering me the most.

"Do you know…what they're going to do with her next?" Comes the question, each word painfully weighed out.

"I can't say for certain Kei," answers Snow, his usually strong empathic voice now softened and filled with sorrow.

We continue to stand at the window, peering in watching the girl. Although I know it may never happen, I silently pray that she do something, give any sign that she can recover and move on from this terrible place. There was no way she could be asked to pilot again, nobody could possibly be so cruel as to force her to do that. She could probably move on with her life if she could just snap out of this trance.

Suddenly, I hear a trio of footsteps falling against the hard flooring. Snow and I both turn at the same time to find three people running in our direction. Looking closely, I find the Sub-Commander at the front of the group, leading what looked like two doctors. Hoping that she wouldn't stop at this door, that thought was quickly pried from its hiding place as the group halts in front of us.

The Sub-Commander looks up to Snow and says, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave, we need to treat the patient in that room.

Snow crosses his arms and replies, "And just how do you propose on treating a catatonic patient?"

"That's none of your concern. Now move, we have much work to do here and much of it's a long-shot," She says.

Snow steps aside with a questioning look on his face as he allows the Sub-commander and two lackeys through the door. The door opens but they don't shut as the three walk in and step up to the young girl. A few minutes pass as the group talk indistinctively amongst themselves.

Finally, the Sub-Commander walks up to the girl and whispers something into her ear. Snow and I watch in combined shock and amazement as the girl unexpectedly moves her head and looks into the Sub-Commander's eyes. The Sub-Commander whispers into her ear again. The girl looks up, Snow and I lean in to listen and barely catch the girl's first words today…

"What did you say?"

(A/N Well, I'm happy to say that it was fun to explore some new view points for the first person narrative. Kei will be a lot of fun to explore since she's like an adult female Shinji...except she can kick ass when need be. Kouzou will be another story, but I don't plan to use his view too often. Well, I hope that this chapter answers a few questions...and springs up even more in there place. Evil laugh)

Till next week
-Razgrizblaze1