Shinji stood on the transporter pad clad in his plugsuit. Captain Katsuragi, Dr Akagi and a handful of staff had already beamed onto the Evangelion, there was just him left. Prior to the briefing, Asuka had made some attempts to heal up his injuries. A quick glance in the changing rooms mirror had revealed she had managed to get half of it right, there was still some swelling and the inside of his mouth still stung like hell. He was sure that both Katsuragi and Akagi had noticed. Neither of them had said anything during the briefing but the looks he had gotten from the two of them seemed to indicate they knew.

The briefing itself was quick with Shinji being in the briefing room for barely ten minutes before being sent to the locker room to get changed. Another Angel had been detected; initial scans had indicated it was of a different class to the previous one but they expected it to have similar functionality. It was estimated that it would reach NERV within two hours and so Shinji had been given the goal of piloting the Evangelion to intercept the ship and destroy it.

Captain Katsuragi would be taking charge of the operation on the bridge of the Evangelion. Tactically it didn't seem too different to the first battle. They would intercept the ship and Shinji would listen to Misatos commands and carry them out. It was thought that now that Shinji knew how the ship operated and had some very basic training in a shuttlecraft that things would work out a little bit better.

'Lock on with phasers, fire and deplete shields… hit with torpedoes when shields are down… Lock on with phasers, fire and deplete shields… hit with torpedoes when shields are down…'

"Hey Shinji." He jumped at the sound of the voice and nervously turned around to see Asuka glaring at him from the entrance. She marched up to him, and stopped just short of stepping onto the pad herself and looked him up and down, "Try not to embarrass us out there. Remember, I'm going to be watching, show me you're more capable than that pathetic display I saw last time."

Shinji gave a meek nod back at her causing her to shake her head and walk away. She exited the room and he looked around the room one more time, his eyes resting on the NERV logo above the transporter chief's station. It was time to go he supposed. There was no one here to see him off, no Misato or Akagi, no Asuka or Rei and certainly not his father. There wasn't even General G'Bakh shouting about honour, glory and striding through the gates of Sto'Vo'Kor.

"Ready when you are crewman." The transporter chief spoke.

Shinji nodded, "Um… Okay sure… Erm… Energize?"

888

When he rematerialized, he found himself greeted by a smiling captain Katsuragi. He gave a nervous nod at her before stepping off of the transporter platform and following her into one of the ships corridors.

"The rest of the crew are already on the bridge Shinji. Do you remember what I told you?"

'Lock on with phasers, fire and deplete shields…'

"Yeah… I do." He replied.

"Good." She answered as they finally arrived at their destination, "You've got this Shinji. Follow my instructions and we'll be fine."

"Y-Yeah…"

Shinji stepped through the door into the pilot's chamber. He paused for a moment, looking at the cockpit in the centre. It was the third time he had been in this room, the first for the fight against that thing they called an Angel and the second for the sync test.

He felt sick as he took those tentative steps towards the seat. His legs were trembling as he positioned himself into the seat and the memories of the last battle came rushing back to him. He had agreed to do this, but in all honesty, it was the last place he wanted to be. In barely a few moments the fate of everyone on this colony and even further afield would be in his hands.

'This is insane… how can I do this…'

He took a deep breath and grabbed the left handle. With his right hand he tapped a few buttons on the panel in front of him, bringing the screens to life and giving him a link with the bridge. He could see Misato standing in the centre, Ritsuko by her side and the other members of the ship's crew in their positions.

"I… I'm ready.'

"Great stuff, your crew are all in position and they're bringing the ships systems online. LCL filtration is beginning now."

Shinji prepared himself for the influx of the orange liquid. First came the rounds of it flowing overhead and then the soft hiss as it started to be let into the chamber and pool at his feet. He closed his eyes and let the foul smelling LCL fill the room and wash over him. He held his breath as he felt it creep up to his chin and then let it out when it had completely covered him.

Around him the walls cycled through the various colours and he was once again greeted by the launch bay. It was a strange sensation to look around and no longer see anything of the ship he was in. In a way, he felt exposed as he sat there watching the engineers walking around the room. He looked towards the entrance and saw the figure of Asuka standing there glaring at the ship. He glanced from her to the observation window and saw, much to his surprise, Rei standing there only she wasn't looking at the ship, she seemed to be looking directly at him.

'She can't see me, can she?'

He had no further time to dwell on the question as Misato's voice was heard once more, "All systems are online. We're being transported to the launch pad now."

Shinji nodded and looked back from the monitor to the observation deck window, Rei had vanished. He looked towards the entrance to see Asuka was still stood there. He guessed that she was serious about watching him. Soon however, she moved out of view as the ship started to move. First it was rotated on the spot to face the launch bay entrance, and then it was moved out into the open air.

What followed was the only pleasant part of this entire experience and Shinji felt that he might actually enjoy it, were it not for the knowledge of what was to come. As the ship rose up into the air, he allowed himself to take in the view. He looked down at the lush green forests and the endless blue skies and for a moment allowed himself to believe that he too, would be just as still and safe as they seemed to be.

Unfortunately, the endless blue skies soon gave way to the cold void of space as he was positioned in orbit by the transport craft. His stomach tightened that little bit more as he readied himself for the final stage, the connection with the ship itself.

Shinji leaned back in his seat and tried to empty his mind. He slowed his breathing and tried to focus on something, anything that he liked. He remembered the sync test and the thoughts about his cello playing. He let his mind think about the various times he had played the cello to calm himself. Barely a moment later he was greeted by that same familiar sensation from before. He could feel it hovering over him, embracing him, connecting with him; wanting to protect him. He let the warmth spread through his body as he accepted the connection.

"I… I'm ready." He announced.

888

"Piloting a super advanced starship like that! He doesn't know how lucky he is!" Kensuke let out a sigh as he slumped back into his seat, "And what about that Soryu? She really is something isn't she? I mean, I had heard the rumours about her but up close she's…"

"Lucky?" Touji cut him off angrily.

"Well yeah! Lucky! He gets to be on the cutting edge! He's fighting in these battles to be a hero! That's why I joined Starfleet! To be a hero, to follow in the footsteps of Kirk! What about that ship too? Damn, I'd love to see that up close, maybe one day captain Katsuragi will let me be on its crew."

"The only lucky thing about it, is that that bitch stepped in before I could give him what was coming to him." Touji growled, "He's lucky he isn't lying in a hospital bed right now! Or did you forget what he did to my sister?"

"He didn't…" Kensuke started to speak but the glare from Touji was enough to make him decide to leave that thought alone, "Look, don't you think you were a little hard on him? I mean, he is only a civilian."

"Then why agree to pilot it in the first place?" Touji fired back, "Why not let someone else do it who wanted to? Why not hand it over to the Soryu bitch that you're so fond of?"

"You heard him, he said they gave him no choice." Kensure shrugged, "I'm just saying, I don't think you had to hit him like that. You heard the report and Sakura even said so herself, it wasn't his fault. We serve on a starship… that's the risk we all take."

Touji said nothing and sulked in his seat as Kensuke resumed piloting the shuttlecraft back to the waiting Tokyo. Their little division had gone on long enough, he had agreed to go down to NERV to hopefully see the facility and get a glimpse at the ship, not for some revenge mission for Touji. He did understand his friends' anger, but couldn't help but feel it was a bit misplaced.

"I'm plotting a course for the Tokyo and… wait a minute, I'm detecting a ships signature from nearby."

Kensuke suddenly straightened up in his seat and quickly worked at the controls to get a look at the ship. His mouth dropped open in awe as the ships display shown the source of the signature. This had to be it, the mysterious ship that Ikari was the piloting.

"What the hell is that thing?" Touji asked.

"What do you mean? That's it! That's the ship! They must be doing some sort of test or… even better, what if it's going into combat? I've got to see this! I have to!"

"Kensuke, let's just get back to the Tokyo. You can read the reports about it later." Touji protested.

"Reports? Do you really think that's enough? Remember the last report, all they said was that a battle had taken place, nothing else, no footage, no images of the ship or anything!" Kensuke replied, "No, I've got to see this in person! I'm going to mask our warp signature and take us in closer to follow it! We can stay hidden from tis sensors!"

"What do you care so much?" Touji asked, "it's just a dumb starship!"

"Dumb?" Kensuke proclaimed, "Are you joking? That thing took out an enemy that wiped out an entire armada! It has to be one of the most powerful ships every created! Who knows what sort of secrets it has? We have to see it up close, it might be our only chance!"

"Didn't you want to get back to the Tokyo a moment ago?"

"Yes, well that was before this happened! Come on Touji, aren't you even just a little bit curious?" Kensuke pleaded, "Look, I accompanied you to confront the pilot, the least you can do is accompany me. Besides, you beat him up pretty bad, shouldn't we try to support him if he is going into a fight?"

"Whatever." Touji finally gave in, "Just make sure we're not seen."

Don't you worry about that! I'm an expert at this. Old survival tricks my grandad taught me!" Kensuke moved to reassure him. He quickly got to work at the console, powering down any of the shuttles non-essential system and working to mask the warp signature. Unless someone was seriously looking for them, which he doubted, then they should be fine.

Kensuke piloted the shuttlecraft silently as they started to follow this new craft. Touji was still struggling to see what was so special about it, to him it just looked like any other Starfleet vessel. More time passed as they moved out of the system into deep space, it was at that moment an alert flashed up on screen.

"Another ship… it must be going into a fight?"

"What the hell is it now?" Touji groaned with annoyance as he sat up.

He did not have to wait for Kensuke to answer him as the display now shown another ship. Nervousness crept up inside his stomach as he looked the new inhuman ship over. If this ship they were following looked like a typical Starfleet vessel, then the new one was the complete antithesis of Starfleet.

The main hull of the ship was a half cylindrical shape, the front resembled a head-like structure. It was bulbous, reminding Touji of some form of giant squid. Along the cylindrical hull were a number of greying, bone-like tendrils, giving it the look of an exposed ribcage, except so much more uneven than a ribcage would be.

As the base of the ship, the tendrils hung off of it, each one forming points that swayed freely as the ship glided through space. Along the top of the hull, close to where the head was, was a pulsating red sphere.

The nervousness had grown to fear, he could feel the sweat forming on his forehead as he realized what Kensuke had brought the two of them into. This area was about to turn into a warzone. He didn't know what to do, all that ran through his head was the image of Shinji falling to the ground after he had hit him. Now, the only thing standing between him and certain death was Shinji.

He suddenly felt very stupid, very small and very very afraid.

888

Shinji raised his head to look at the Angel. For a moment he thought he was going to be sick but he managed to force the feeling away. He was terrified, his hands shaking as they gripped the control levers. Everything about this moment felt wrong, he shouldn't be here. Surely there was someone more suited for it, people like Asuka or Suzahara.

He took a few deep breaths, once again picturing himself playing the cello. Imagining a piece of music in his head, the sound of the chords he played as he moved the bow back and forth. The ship started to move forward, he took a glance at his display, three quarter impulse, just as Misato had ordered.

The ship kept moving forward and in the stillness of space his thoughts changed from the playing of his cello to that of Suzahara and his sister Sakura. Shinji could remember Sakura quite clearly; he could picture her cheery face as she accompanied him on his first 'mission.'

The subject of the officers that had accompanied him had been a bit of an elephant in the room. No one had really told him what had happened to them and Misato had not really made a point of mentioning or introducing him to the other officers on board this time. It was suddenly dawning on him that he had other people to protect on board this ship other than Misato and Ritsuko, it was dawning on him that there were lives at risk at NERV if he failed and lives throughout the galaxy at risk.

It seemed insane and once again he wondered if he was about to wake up, safe and sound in his bed back on Earth but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He had been here for over a month and all of this was so terrifyingly real. This was a real fight and he had to win.

He wondered what Misato and Ritsuko were doing right now, what commands they may be issuing to those crewmembers onboard the ship. Were they scanning the Angel right now? Trying to formulate a strategy or find some sort of weak point?

"Shinji, we're seeing your sync rate start to fluctuate. Try to remain as calm as possible." Dr. Akagi's stern voice suddenly came over the comm system.

"I know it seems difficult Shinji." Misato added in a softer tone, "I know you're scared as hell right now but we're on board with you and we're with you every step of the way. We have a better idea of what we're up against and you've even had some practice this time. You've got this Shinji. Just listen to us, listen to your crew. We are Starfleet, you are not alone."

Shinji nodded and took another deep breath and tried to focus his mind back on the cello playing. He breathed in and out slowly, once more visualizing him sat in his room back on Earth. A singular chair set up in the middle of the room. A stand with sheet music upon it, a pen resting on it for him to write the notes down. Shinji, sat on the chair, his left-hand fretting notes and chords, his right hand holding the bow and gliding it along the strings.

There was one final thought in his head as he continued to cross the distance towards his enemy.

'Father… Are you watching? Do you even care? Are you proud of me? Do you hate me?'

As the thought went through his head, he felt the air around him thicken and get warmer. It was almost as if the presence he felt was reacting to those thoughts of his father. If was wasn't mistaken he thought he could sense anger.

"Good work Shinji, your sync rate just jumped up by five percent and is stable." Misato's voice came through again, "Now, maintain course and keep your shields up! Our initial scans have identified what we think is a weak point on the Angel's structure but we need to get through the A.T. Field first. We're going to transmit some co-ordinates to you now. We want you to focus your fire there, weaken the A.T. Field with the ships phasers and when you're through then fire a full barrage of torpedoes."

"O-Okay…" Shinji answered nervously as he pushed the ship further forward and brought it to the red alert state. On his display he watched as shields were immediately raised to 100% and all his weapons systems sprang to life, forward, port and starboard phaser arrays came online, his aft and forward torpedo bays were being reported as fully functional.

Ahead of him the imposing figure of the Angel was getting closer and larger. It had still not moved any further forward from its initial position when it entered the system. If not for the pulsing red orb and squirming and snapping tendrils then he might have thought it was already dead.

Suddenly, he saw a glow being emitted from one of the tendrils towards the front of the ship. Remembering the advice Misato had given him, he sped the ship up and banked hardly to the port side. Just as he started banking, three bright streams of light jetted forth from the Angel. Each beam had been aimed at the Evangelions prior position.

Shinji stayed the course, and watched as each one of the beams shot past the ship by the narrowest of margins. Almost immediately he readied his own phasers, bringing the Evangelion into position and preparing for an attack of his own. He pushed onwards, the front and starboard phaser arrays charging up.

He waited until his computer reported a lock and then sent forth an attack of his own. The first orange beam from his phasers moved shot forward, colliding with and being absorbed by the Angels mighty A.T. Fight. As it hit, Shinji saw huge ripples of octagonal light illuminate the Angel showing the extent of the protective field.

A second shot followed and this was followed by a third as Shinji exhausted the energy in his phaser banks. Each shot smashed into the same location on the Angel's A.T. Field. They were all absorbed but each time they hit the light from the field seemed to grow more and more intense.

Growing in confidence he pushed on, his starboard phasers were now completely drained and in need of recharging so he brought the speed of the ship down to bank sharply and position himself for an attack on the port side. He fired, once more at the agreed upon co-ordinates. The first beam picked up exactly where the previous had left off, smashing into the A.T. Field, the net of octagonal light once more rippling through space. A second beam also collided, Shinji was almost certain he could see cracks appearing in the illumination, almost as if he was punching his way through a window.

Without waiting for the second beam to finish up, he sent forward a third. This time the beam hit the shield of light, the octagon burnt bright white for a brief moment and then seemed to completely shatter! Both of the remaining phasers on the port side burst through, hitting the top of the Angels cylindrical hull, scorching the area around the pulsating red orb.

For a brief moment Shinji felt elation and like celebrating, but he knew it wasn't over yet. There were several bright flashes as parts of the Angels structure exploded, sending up a number of cross shaped explosions. Shinji brought his ship around, aligning the front of the ship with his forward torpedo launchers.

"Shinji, we've broken through the A.T. Field!" Misato's voice came through, "You know what to do! As soon as you can, unleash a volley and finish this bastard!"

Shinji nodded, "Lining it up now."

"Captain…." A voice came through that was unfamiliar to Shinji, another crewman, "We've picked up another vessel in the sector!"

888

EVA-01 Bridge

"Another ship? Get it on screen immediately!" Misato gave the order as she rose from the captain's chair and took a few steps forward. Why was there another vessel in the sector? What sort of person would just stumble into a clear battle like this? Also, how had it gotten here undetected?

It took a second for the screen to show the vessel but after a brief moment the new craft was on screen. Much to Misato's horror it was a shuttlecraft from the USS Tokyo.

"That's one of yours." Ritsuko glared at the screen.

"Yes, I am aware of that." She fired back, "Hail them! Now!"

"Aye Captain." Responded one of the crewmen, "Hailing frequencies open."

"Shuttlecraft Ogata, this is Captain Katsuragi, you better have a damn good explanation for just what the hell you're doing out here!"

It took barely a second for the occupants to respond and the view screen to change showing the inside of the shuttle. The small part of her that hoped for it to be a malfunction or maybe a stray alien species had hijacked the shuttle died instantly. It was two of her ensigns, both of them looking very scared and more than a little sheepish. Anger welled up in side her; this was an embarrassment she did not need.

Misato did recognize the pair, both Ensigns and fresh out of the academy. The first one was Kensuke Aida, a member of her engineering team. He was supposed to be a bright young man with a very promising future. The other man was Touji Suzahara, both he and his sister had been assigned to the Tokyo. Sakura, had been part of the team that had travelled down to NERV and was onboard the Eva during its first fight.

"C-Captain…" Touji stammered, "We can explain…"

"Save it!" Misato snarled as she cut him off, "We can deal with that later. Get yourselves back to the Tokyo, immediately!"

"Yes captain." They both muttered as the feed cut out.

She could feel Ritsuko's eyes on her, but she didn't turn to meet her partner. This was embarrassing for sure but they were still in the middle of a fight. Dealing with this now would be a distraction. She kept her eyes on the viewscreen, watching as the shuttle started to pull away.

"Captain, we're detecting a build-up of energy within the Angel!"

Misato had no time to order Shinji to perform any sort of evasive manuevure before a huge flash of light suddenly erupted from the middle of the Angel's hull. She cursed under her breath as anxiety started to kick in. Things had been going well, too well. She braced herself for impact but none came, instead she watched as she shuttle suddenly banked hard, it's aft getting scorched by the beam of light.

"Status report on that shuttlecraft! Now!" Misato ordered as she went back to her seat. She looked across at Ritsuko who had not moved from her chair yet but was looking at Misato, her eyes somewhat sympathetic.

"Shields are down to 12%, the shuttle is intact but…" The crewman paused to check their information, "Propulsion has been knocked out, they're dead in the water."

"Shit." Misato said as she dug her nails into her seat and started to consider their options. She couldn't let her crew die but having Shinji deviate from the plan now means the Angel could get back into the fight. It would also mean lowering the Evangelions shields which, even for a brief moment would open them up to certain doom.

Misato sighed, "Hail the shuttle again."

The channel was reopened and the two ensigns appeared on screen again. Both were considerably more shaken than last time.

"Suzahara, Aida." Misato started, "Sit tight, I'm going to order the Tokyo to your position now to rescue you. Do whatever you can to mask your position and boost your shields."

"O-Okay." Aida answered.

The channel closed and Misato was just about to give the order to Shinji to continue on with the plan but suddenly the Eva started to bank and turn towards the shuttlecraft.

"Shinji, what are you doing? Stick to the plan, the Angel is your priority!"

"I can't!" Shinji answered immediately, "If they get hit again, then they'll…"

"I'm sending in the Tokyo!" Misato replied, "They'll both be fine, you have your task Shinji!"

"No… I won't let anyone get hurt because of me… I can't leave them…"

The channel to the pilot's chamber was closed and Misato once again cursed under her breath. Shinji must have found out about what had happened to Suzahara's sister. She had been briefed a few moments before the operation about some sort of incident at NERV involving him and Touji but didn't know the details. It didn't take a detective to piece things together though; she had seen the mark on his face from where he had been hit as well as the poor job Asuka had done of patching it up. Suzahara was there on the shuttle and there had been discussions about his stubbornness and hard headedness when he and his sister were assigned to the Tokyo.

Everything seemed to have been going so well and now in the span of two minutes it was in danger of falling apart. All she could do was watch and feel powerless as Shinji took over complete control of the ship and continued moving towards the waiting shuttlecraft. She could see the Angel readying another attack and she didn't need the crewman to tell her where it was aimed.

The ship sped up and banked to port, there was a bright flash as the beam from the Angel collided with a solid orange light from the ship.

"SHINJI!" She called out, leaping out of her chair. Around her everything shook, consoles popped and sparked around her as her crew were thrown about. Around her sirens sounded as a crewman shouted out that their shields were now down to 43%

She was knocked off balance as another beam from the Angel rocked the ships shields, the sounds of explosions were accompanied by Shinji's screams as he pushed through absorbing each one of the attacks from the enemy. Misato suddenly felt a warmth behind her as Ritsukos arms came around her helping her to her feet.

"Captain, we're within transporter range of the shuttle. Shinji has them locked on." Came the report.

Misato held her breath as she saw another shot get sent forth by the Angel. If Shinji was bringing them on board now then it meant one thing. For one brief moment they would have absolutely no shields, if he messed this up then it was over. She turned to Ritsuko, looking her in the eyes as the beam approached their position, "I love you."

888

Touji's heard was pounding rapidly in his chest as he opened his eyes slowly, his hands still raised in an attempt to shield himself from the bright light. There was a slight sense of relief that he and Kensuke were not dead, but had somehow managed to survive and were now on the bridge of the Evangelion. That relief soon faded when he locked eyes with captain Katsuragi, and suddenly the fear of impending doom was upon him once again.

He turned his head slowly towards the viewscreen, just in time to see what was left of the shuttlecraft explode into a million pieces. His stomach tightened, that could have been him. He turned once more to see Kensuke, who had gone silent and deathly pale.

"Captain, our shields are down to 43%." Spoke one of the crewmen, "We're battered but… we're holding up."

"Good." Katsuragi answered, "Shinji, can you hear me? We got Suzahara and Aida safely on board, now I want you to retreat back to NERV. We'll rendezvous with the Tokyo, and they combined with the planets defences can finish this thing off."

Touji was about to let out a sigh of relief on hearing those orders from the captain but he got halfway through it when he realized the ship was not turning away from the Angel but was moving towards it.

"God damnit Shinji! What the hell are you doing!" Katsuragi snarled, "I ordered you to retreat!"

"N-No… I can't!" Shinji's voice sounded over the comms, "If I retreat then… it puts more people are risk… they could be hurt… I…"

Touji wanted to say something, he wanted to call out and tell Shinji to not be stupid and to listen to the captain but fear had completely taken his voice. He had never considered himself to be someone who was easily frightened. He was strong and athletic; he was on the security team but now… he was so very scared. He could only imagine what Shinji must have been going through right now, especially knowing what was at stake.

He could feel the ships speed increasing, he watched as a beam was sent out from the Angel but the Evangelion managed to swiftly dodge out of the way.

"What… What's going on?" He heard Kensuke call out.

"Captain, Shinji has full control of the ship and he's… redistributing power from all non-essential systems to the shields. He's given us a boost to 63% but… the way he's going he's going to burn us out before long."

"Ikari! You heard her goddamnit!" Touji finally called out as another blast from the Angel was dodged and the Eva returned fire, "She told you to retreat! This is…"

"No!" Came the answer, "I won't… I have to stop it! If I don't then… more people are going to be hurt!"

As Shinji finished his reply another blast was sent forward, the ship banked to starboard but this time it was unable to dodge out of the way. There was a loud crash and Touji winced as he heard Shinji scream out in pain.

"What the hell… that hurt him?" Touji asked.

"Shinji it directly hooked up to the ship, when it gets attacked it creates a feedback loop." The woman next to captain Katsuragi explained, "He seems to be rerouting all systems, booting the power of the ships shields and even setting up additional ones around the bridge and other essential areas."

As the women finished speaking the ship was rocked by another hit, on the viewscreen Touji saw a ripple of orange hexagons flash in front of him. He stumbled backwards as another shot smashed against the strange shield.

"Shields are holding stead at 55%!" Reported one of the crewmen.

Touji heard more screams of pain from Shinji as the battle continued, the ship returned fire scoring hit after hit on the Angel's immense hull. The Angel would return fire, his shots colliding with the shields and causing Shinji to scream out. His screams were harrowing, each one causing Touji to cringe as he realized what was happening, Shinji was taking on all the pain so that they wouldn't get hurt.

As they got closer to the Angel, Touji could see more and more of its grotesque form. Never in his craziest dreams or nightmares could he envision something such as this. Was this the same as the ship they had fought previously? What race did this thing even belong to?

More phaser fire was sent towards the Angel. All he could do was look on as the attack scored the top of the ships hull. The bone like tendrils atop the beast exploding in bright cross shaped explosions of light. Immediately afterwards a full spread of torpedoes was sent forth. Torpedo after torpedo smashed into the Angels hull, hitting either the bright red orb or the area around it.

There were more explosions and then, a bright flash of light erupted from the Angel. Once more the ship shook violently, this time knocking Touji off of his feet and causing him to land harshly onto his shoulder. Pain shot through him, and there was a ringing in his ears caused by the loud sounds of a console popping and sparking next to him.

He lay still for a few moments, the bridge in complete silent. No one dared speak a word as he slowly and painfully shifted himself around and got back to his feet. There, on the screen was the sight of the Angel. He had stopped moving, the tendrils still and the orb pulsated no longer. Even though no one seemed to want to say it, it would seem that they had won.

Silence hung over the bridge, as everyone kept their eyes on the dead form of the beast waiting to see if this was some trick or some calm before the storm. It was as if by saying that it was over, they might somehow coax it back to life but deep down they knew it was done. He didn't feel good about it, and this feeling only got worse then the silence was broken by the sound of a person, a man in a chamber some decks away, crying softly.