Thunder

NERV's Base
3rd Surgical Wing

Shinji awoke, feeling a residual pain on his chest. Carefully, he touched the skin, discovering with relief he wasn't actually burnt. Even so, everything hurt.

He lied back down on the bed. 'What did that Angel hit me with? I had never felt so much pain.'

'At least we're still alive...' He took a few seconds to get his bearings. Once more, he was in the Geo-Front's Hospital, he recognized the design of the rooms. There was a bit of ambient noise, the normal level he would expect. Far away, he heard the squeek of a wheel. Probably a cart with medical stuff...

The door opened. Rei Ayanami entered the room, pushing a cart. There was a covered tray on it.

"Hi, Ayanami. What happened?" He sat up, moving carefully.

Rei put the tray on the moving table. "The Angel attacked EVA-01 with a high energy emission, causing grave damages to the chest armor, and raising the LCL temperature in the Entry Plug. You lost consciousness; Unit-01 suffered damages to its armor, and is being repaired down at the cages."

The young pilot uncovered the tray. Good news, it was food. Bad news, quite a good chunk of it was irrecognizable. Except for a fried egg and a piece of bread, the rest was a set of paste blocks, the only difference was the color.

Shinji was about to push away the table, when he noticed the tiny gesture of impatience on his coleague's (and in a way, sister) face.

"I'm here to brief you on the timetable for Operation Yashima. It will begin at 00:00 hours."

'Oh, crap...' Shinji's tiny hopes that the Angel had been neutralized while he was out crashed down. Rei sat on the chair next to the bed, and pulled a little book from her skirt pocket. She passed several pages until she found what she looked for. She read a series of times and events.

To be brief, a double operation. Him as sniper, Rei as defense, with a shield to protect him. Rei got a plastic bag from a side compartment of the cart, and threw it over Shinji's legs. "Oh, yes, your new plug suit, and don't show up like that."

It took Shinji a few seconds to realize what she had meant. Suddenly, he noticed that under the sheets, he was completely naked. He covered himself quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

Rei didn't seem to care. "Your food."

Shinji took a moment to think. On one hand, he wasn't hungry; on the other, he wouldn't let Rei face the Angel alone, and that would be several hours later. Hesitantly, he bit the bread. "I don't really want to do it, Rei." An expression of disgust flashed on her face, she took breath.

Shinji cut her off. "But I won't leave you alone," he exclamed firmly. Rei stared at him for a little while, and watched him eat for almost half a minute. Satisfied, she pushed the cart away. "I must go, Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi are waiting for me at the base. We must leave in an hour. Goodbye."

Alone again, Shinji whispered, before attacking the food, "No. I won't leave you alone."

At dusk, a small group of student had gathered on the school's roof, cheering the Evangelions as they appeared, from a hidden door at the side of the mountain.

From the EVA-01's cockpit, Shinji saw them on the roof, he smiled at seeing Toji and Kensuke on the first line of the gathering.

"Hey, it's looking this way!" Unit-01 had turned its head a bit. It seemed to be looking at them. A little nod from the giant detonated a new round of cheers. The huge robot pointed at the door of a near-by refuge. The students got the hint.

Toji and Kensuke were the last to get down, still pumping their fist on the air.

Carefully, EVA-01 set down the positron rifle prototype. "This thing wasn't built for field operations, Dr. Akagi. Will it work?"

"We have no other alternative. We don't even know if it will hold on under stress. It's the first time it's used with such an amount of energy."

The last details of the plan were set. Shinji would be the sniper, Rei the defender. Shinji had a better synch score than Rei, so he would be a better choice. An extra problem was that the beam would be affected by a whole series of factors; gravity, planetary rotation, magnetic fields... Even so, he had to hit the core on the first shot.

At least, he would have a visual guidance system on. All he had to do was center the markers on the target, and pull the trigger. The aiming system would be managed by the MAGI. If a second shot was needed, he had to wait until the weapon's temperature went down, and change the fuses in the meanwhile.

At least the fuse changing itself would be simple. Almost like reloading a shotgun. Shinji asked a guard to show him how to do it.

Mount Futago
NERV's Temporal Base

The darkness was almost total. Only NERV's portable generators provided light at a tiny part of the country. The electricity from all Japan was channeled into titanic capacitators, holding the millions of kilowatts to be used in a single discharge.

From their two high platforms, Shinji and Rei watched as the last touches were finished, waiting for the moment to board their EVAs.

Shinji looked at his partner. "Could I ask you something?" Rei stared back in silence, waiting for the question. "Why do you pilot EVA?"

"I'm bonded to it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bond."

"A bond to whom?"

"To everybody."

"Me too?"

Surprised, Rei blinked twice. "Yes. You too. That bond is everything I have."

Shinji sighed. "No. It's not the only one. You have a bond to people through the EVA, but you have bonds to people without it."

Rei opened her eyes, staring at him. Shinji continued. "We met because of the EVAs, but we know each other without them. We have met in person. That is a bond that doesn't need EVAs to exist."

An alarm buzzed in the plugsuit controls at their wrists. Rei got up first. "It's time. We must go. Goodbye, Shinji Ikari." She stepped in her Entry Plug.

Over the Geo-Front, Ramiel still drilled. Soon, the last armored layer would be penetrated.

From all over Japan, millions of kilowatts were routed to NERV's temporal quarters. As the black-out expanded, towns, cities and whole prefectures plunged into darkness. From space, it almost looked like darkness was devouring the country.

Nervously, Shinji loaded the rifle, waiting for the order to shoot. Behind him, scores of machines he couldn't even guess their workings, buzzed and crackled, full of electric energy.

A screen over Shinji's face showed an image of Ramiel, floating serenely over the Geo-Front, drilling its way in. A triangle and a three points star shape danced on the screen, trying to converge over the target. Once they did, Shinji would shoot, and hopefully, destroy the Angel.

For a moment, the image on the screen covering Shinji's eyes dissolved into static snow. He almost hit it to try to recover the image. But the random pixels soon resolved into a shadow. A fragmentary silhouette. The silhouette of a man with a high collared cloak and a fedora.

The Phantom Stranger.

Surprised, Shinji inhaled a longful of LCL. A far away voice whispered "The Angel's shot will ruin yours. Wait."

The screen went back to normal. Dots of light danced on Ramiel's borders. From the mobile HQ, Makoto Hyuga started a countdown. He was on 6 when Maya almost yelled "Rising energy levels on the target!"

Shinji reacted, "Rei! Cover me!"

Rei obeyed immediately. Unit-00 jumped in front of Unit-01. A tremendous heat enveloped them. The light almost blinding them. A huge shockwave rocked the mobile HQ. Misato was the first one to recover. "Did we fail?" The energy from Ramiel's shot dissipated. Unit-00's shield had resisted for almost 15 seconds under the heat and energy. It smoked, and was starting to melt. But still held on.

Ramiel's discharge of energy stopped, it would need a few seconds to shoot again.

Makoto shouted "The enemy has penetrated into the Geo-Front!"

Maya added "Energy rising in the target!"

"Shinji! Shoot!"

Before Ramiel had the chance of a second shot, the targeting markers finally joined with each other. Shinji and Unit-01 pulled the trigger.

The positron beam hit exactly at the center of Ramiel's core, a firestorm exploded from the exit hole. The crystaline prism fell slowly over the city. The drill broke, and remained hanging from the Geo-Front's ceiling.

At Mount Futago, Unit-00 fell on its knees, dropping the half-melted shield. Around it, an expansive part of the woods had been either vaporized by the heat, or unrooted by the shockwave.

"Ayanami!"

The answer was slow coming, and painfully hesitant. "I'm... fine..." but the EVA fell down on its face.

Unit-01 ripped off the hatch on its partner's back. Carefully, it extracted the Entry Plug.

A few moments later, Shinji opened the emergency hatch, unknowingly mimicking Rei Ayanami's rescue by the Commander, a month or so before. However, the insulated gloves of his plugsuit protected his hands from the heat. Still, the LCL over them vaporized on contact with the scalding handles of the emergency hatch.

Desperately, he peeked into the plug. "Rei! Rei! Are you alright?"

The pilot had fainted for a few seconds. Her skin had a sickly gray tinge. Moaning, she raised her head. Her eyes focused slowly on him.

Shinji held her hand in his, smiling, but two tears shone on his eyes. "Please, never say goodbye before a sortie. It's like you don't expect to come back. It's sad."

"Is that why you are crying?"

Shinji wiped his tears. "No. Its because we're alive. And you are okay."

"I'm sorry. I'm confused; I really don't know what to say or do."

"I... I think smiling would be fine. Rei."

Surprised, the bluenette stared at Shinji's eyes, noting how alike his features and Commander Ikari's were.

A tiny smile appeared on her lips.

Shinji helped her to get out the plug. Ayanami felt dizzy and stumbled.

Shinji's reflexes kicked in, stopping her fall, and his catching her became, without neither knew exactly when, a hug.

They stayed like that, sitting, hugging each other, until the recovery team found them.

"Your attitude intrigues me, Ikari."

The Commander steepled his hands in fron of his face. A disgusting smile appeared on his lips.

"Manipulating the Third Child will be easier than it was foreseen. He starts to show a bond to EVA-01 and Rei."

"Don't you think a relationship between them will cause problems later?"

"Doubtful. Rei knows her purpose, and won't deviate from it."

Fujutsuki thought of answering. But he kept his council. They kept playing in silence.

Neither realized invisible eyes watched them.