Episode 7: Operation Roaring Thunder

Erika woke up in the HQ's medical wing after witnessing such attack.

"You're awake" said a nearby voice.

She turned to her right and found Kenji standing.

"How long was I unconscious?" Erika asked him.

" about an hour" he responded. "I came to see if your alright".

"What's the status of the angel?".

"It's moving west from here" first child explained. "The commander thinks that it's heading towards NERV's 2nd branch in Area 51".

"Is unit-02 functional?" She asked Kenji.

"It's going through armor repair, but it will be quick" he stated. "The captain will be waiting for us at 8:00 over the border between Nevada and Utah".

"I'll be going then" third child said to him as she left the room.

"The captain has a plan that includes both of our cooperation" first child explained along the way. "That we'll need to work together".

"I can do it on my own" muttered Erika.

"You can't do it on your own" Kenji told Erika as he heard her muttering. "You weren't ready the first time".

"So what? I'll keep trying" third child said back. "If the commander wants you to fight it instead, then so be it".

Kenji then stopped walking.

"Why don't you trust him?" He questioned.

"This again?".

Why will you not trust your own father?" Kenji questioned again.

"It's none of your business" Erika told him.

He then grabbed her arm.

"Let go!".

"Answer my question, why don't you trust him" Kenji questioned once more.

"Why Do you care?!".

"Answer me"orders first child.

She hesitated as Kenji began questioning her emotions. She could see the seriousness in his eyes, almost as if he was brooding.

"I don't trust my father because he never cared for me in his whole damn life!" She exclaimed. "When my mother died, he abandoned me in a boarding school for 8 years! I never knew anything about him and he never bother to know anything if me ever since. That's why I can't trust him".

"You're angry because you believe he doesn't care about you?".

"It's the truth!" Erika yelled. "You're proof of it as well!".

"How?" Kenji asked, unsure of what she was saying.

"Do you think he talks to you to make sure you're alright because he saved you during the field test? He's never that open around people unless they interest him. The sole reason he's interested in you is-

"Is what?".

A moment of silence stood between the 2 pilots.

"Is because.....he wanted a boy, not a weak girl who can't follow orders properly" Erika answered with sadness. "You wouldn't understand".

Third child started look depressed as she said those words. Kenji's expression stayed the same though.

"You're wrong".

"What?"

"You're Wrong in everything you said, third child" he told her. "Your father does care for you".

"How would you know?" Erika retorted. "Because he talks to you about me?".

"Because he ordered me to protect you" he simply answered. "Commander Langford's orders were that I would protect unit-02 and its pilot at all cost, no matter what. Isn't that what taking care means? Protection?".

Erika looked stunned as she heard him say those words.

"He...said that?".

"Your father's more than what you think" Kenji told her as he left towards the elevator. "I'll meet you upstairs".

Third child began wonder his intentions and motives for all of this.

"Could he really care about me?".

Later, the Evangelion were ready for launch, both of them appeared from inside the Cheyenne complex. As they walked towards the pinpointed locations they were supposed to meet, Erika noticed her friends waving at them from afar. By 8:00 they meet up with the captain and Dr. Ackerman.

"Alright, listen to what I have to say" the doctor ordered. "This is a positron rifle. NERV requisitioned it from the U.N research labs. However, it's still an experimental weapon".

"According to our calculations, it can punch through the enemy's A.T field even at this range" added the captain. "It takes 30 seconds for it to recharge after the first shot, so be careful".

"According to the statistics, the angel's core is located in its open center, were it fires its heat ray" the doctor explained. "It's advancing towards us at this direction, our mission is to stop it from reaching the second branch".

"Erika, you'll be the own using the sniper" Whitehall told her. "It requieres a large amount of energy, so the government will provide use with all its electric power towards the generators we installed near the site".

"Yes ma'am" she firmly responded.

"Kenji, you'll be defending her from all attacks. Diversion may also be applied" the doctor told him. "You'll be using a shield for defense. You may use the progressive swords if needed".

"Affirmative" he responded.

"All right then, commence Operation Roaring Thunder now!" Ordered the captain.

The NERV tactical division stayed in the safe zone of the commencing battlefield. The pilots stood watching the storm that was coming nearby. The sound of silence covered the desert mountains of Utah.

"Kenji?" Asked Erika. "Can I as you something?".

"What is it?" He responded.

"Why do you pilot the Eva?".

"Because it's my purpose" he responded.

"Your purpose?" She asked confused.

"I was chosen to pilot the Evangelion to defeat the angels since my youth" he stated. "It's been my purpose ever since".

"But...don't you have other interests? Other things that you like to do?" Asked again Erika. "What about school?".

"I find my education valuable, third child" he tells her. "But the angels are the top priority".

"But what about those around you?" She brought up. "What if...you die?".

Silence remained in the wind as she said that.

"The time has come, the angel's coming".

As first child said those word, Erika started to worry not only about herself, but Kenji as well. Hoping that they wouldn't die today.

Moments later, unit-02 positioned the positron sniper rifle while unit-01 placed its shield near it for protection. A storm was coming, and it wasn't a good sign.

"It's showing a blue blood pattern, its the angel!" Yelled lieutenant Miller.

The clouds revealed a giant crystal like pyramid, It was the 7th fallen angel. The pyramid had a large opening in the center. It's core was visible from the inside and underneath it as well.

"I got only one shot at this, I cannot fail" Erika worried as she looked at the creature.

Unit-02 positioned the rifle and prepared to pull the trigger.

"Fire in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...FIRE!".

Erika pulled the trigger and took the shot. The bullet flew directly into the opening. It's effects were powerful, but it caused no damage towards the angel.

"Blast it! No effect!" Shouted the captain.

"Now it will need to recalibrate for 30 seconds" muttered dr. Ackerman.

"How can it be!? Didn't the rifle punch through!?" Questioned Edwards.

"It must be its crystal body structure" Dr. Ackerman concluded. "It must act like some sort of armor".

At that point, the angel prepared to fire another one of its energy beams. Unit-01 held the shield steadily as the angel fired the laser. As he was holding the shield, Kenji noticed that the angels core was protected by a smaller crystal shell inside of it.

"There's another shell inside of it" he told Erika. "I'm going to try and break it".

"But its too risky! What if you fail!?" She exclaimed back at him.

"I won't" he responded. "Good bye, Third Child".

The Eva struck the shield down to the ground and ran towards the storm. Erika could see him pull out the progressive bladest as he bounced from the nearby mountain and towards the hollow inside of the angel.

"He's going to die in there if I don't destroy that thing quicker!" Third child began to worry. "I'm need a closer shot!".

Unit-02 grabbed the cable and began closing in towards the creature as lightning bolts began shooting from around. As Erika got closer, she could see unit-01 piercing the inside of the crystal shell covering the core. The angel's lightning was frying the Eva as he attempted to crack the shell opened. Murasame didn't care one bit about pain, he only focused on killing the monster before him.

"He must be destroyed...no matter what".

"Third Child.....shoot it" said unit-01's pilot as he struggled with his blades.

The lighting was Burning it's armor.

"What are you waiting for, Erika?!" Shouted the captain. "Take the shot!".

"Kenji can't die, I won't allow it".

Another laser was shot, this time destroying one of unit-02's batteries. Now Erika's time was limited.

"I just....need to get....a bit closer" she said struggling to move through the storm.

As she went underneath the angel, she could see its hollow inside filled with sharp crystals. It was that moment where the core's crystal shell shattered, revealing an unstable amount of energy.

"ERIKA!" Screamed the captain.

"NOW!!".

Erika pulled the trigger once again and killed the seventh angel. The blast caused an explosion that destroyed the diamond shaped being, shattering to pieces as it fell down to the ground like rain. The storm was then cleared out, revealing a fallen unit-01 on the ground. Soon the sky began to rain on only crystals, but blue blood as well.

"Kenji!" Third child yelped as she reach towards its back.

She then pulled out the entry plug from inside and placed it in the ground. She then got out of her Eva and ran towards the plug.

"Please be alright!" Erika thought while she was running.

Once she got there, third child opened the hatch, revealing a semi-unconscious Kenji inside.

"Kenji! Are you alright?!" She at him. "Speak to me!".

Kenji then woke up.

"Is it dead?" He asked her. "Did we kill it?".

Erika started to cry as she heard him say that.

"You idiot! Don't ever say goodbye before going to battle!" She exclaimed with frustration. "You shouldn't....be so careless about your life. Don't you care about your aunt? About those close to you? How could you be so careless about your own life?!".

She fell into tears as she told him that.

"Your...crying" he pointed out.

"Yes, I'm crying!" Erika responded while she wiped her tears. "I can't bare seeing the people around me die, especially if I'm their reason! Don't do that ever again."

First child then looked down in disappointment, failing to understand Third child.

"I'm sorry" he apologizes. " I'm not...good at expressing emotions. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Erika then looked at the silver haired boy straight in the face. She could see how confused he was.

"You could at least...smile a bit more often" Erika told him.

"Like...this?".

Kenji then did something he hasn't done in a long time: he smiled. He showed Erika a bright smile, and she smiled back at him with another.

"Yeah like that".