Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ CHANGING DARKNESS ❯ Ways of destiny ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

CHANGING DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT

Book 1: Changing Darkness

Chapter 14: Ways of destiny

On the next day, still tired from the ordeal with the EVAs, Tenel Ka felt something that lightened up her
spirits. She felt it nearing, entering the atmosphere, and landing in the woods surrounding the city.
Finally, she wouldn't be alone any longer, could share the crushing responsibility this mission had became.
Without hesitation, she drove out of the city, ensuring on her way that nobody followed her. Guided by the
Force, it was easy to find her master and the other Jedi.

Hiding her relief, she walked to the well-known ship and greeted Luke Skywalker, leader of the new Jedi
order.

"Master Skywalker."

He bowed back. "Tenel Ka. I assume you have a lot to report."

"Yes, I have, Master."

After this short exchange, they walked aboard the ship, when the princess of Hapes and Dathomir greeted the
others, before the most important ones gathered in the central room of the old ship. There, she told them
about this planet, the technology, the goals of SEELE, the reasons for the existence of NERV and the EVAs.
This part of her report hold very little new information, was only a confirmation of earlier reports, just
with some added details.

It was Wedge, who spoke what some of them thought. "Sounds more like Ssi-ruuk technology than Vong."

"Which leads to the question if the Ssi-ruuk are starting to work together with them." added Pash Cracken
gravely.

"Unlikely." countered Wedge. "The Vong are hating all technology, the Ssi-ruuk are forcing life itself into
it. There is no way that they would work together."

"Which is beside the point for now anyway." interjected Kyp. "What about the imperial officer?"

"He is here,’ stated Tenel Ka. She knew that very few would automatically knew who was meant, but those
were all that needed to know anyway.

Before Kyp could ask further, Luke interjected. "What are his plans?"

"I don't know," the Jedi-princess confessed. "He has a scenario running, and it is something big. That he
works on the demise of the Jedi order comes hardly as surprise, but that's only a very little part of the
things he has his hands in. During my time with him here, I can now say for sure that he only reports to
Thrawn himself. The ship he primarily uses is a new design, which we have very little clue of. He knows
that the Vong will most likely intervene when we try to take this planet, yet he is not concerned by that."

"And he has six Star-Destroyers in orbit." disrupted Corran Horn the report. Stunned silence was his answer,
before Wedge asked: "Are you sure?"

"Definitely. As we flew here, I tried to feel for presences in the most likely places, and found them."

"Why didn't you say that?" demanded Han to know.

"They were no threat. But one thing is sure. He has enough military power here to overtake this planet with
ease. Which means nothing else that we have to bring in some reinforcements as well."

"Maybe. But first we need to determine what is really going on here." calmed Luke down.

So, Tenel Ka had to report the not so good parts of her stay on this planet. How bad they were deceived by
SEELE, that the Sith had now an apprentice with frightening potential, and that she herself had acquired
an apprentice because the Sith played her like a piano. She told them of the clones, which were liberated
and now onboard the imperial ship, about the souls in the EVAs, and about Naoko in the MAGI.

"So, he controls almost everything, and you did nothing to prevent it." Kyp surmised dryly.

"Which is now not important. We are here to prevent the end of the galaxy. At all costs. And for this, we
need to work with him, not against him. We have not enough forces to fight against the Vong if they decide
to show up, and we know not enough to try to thwart all imperial plans, simply because we do not know them.
It would be wiser to try to bring him back to the light, than trying to intervene an operation that could
do us more good than harm." Luke answered serious.

"Siding with a Sith? Never!" shouted Kyp back.

"A realistic plan. Whatever will happen should lead to a full-fledged war between the Empire and the Vong.
This should give us enough time to consolidate our forces, and be prepared for the next round." Wedge
pointed out.

"If the Empire isn't strong enough to win their war, and takes us on next. Intelligence reports are
indicating that Thrawn is planning something big. He had only a fraction of the resources he has now as
he nearly destroyed the Republic. Now, he prepares for a new war. And he would never take such a risk,
if he wouldn't be confident to win. Alone the fact that he has promoted several new Admirals, along with
a new row of Generals makes clear that he will put a lot of new units into action soon." Pash pointed out.

The arguments flew through the air for some time, before Luke stopped them. "We can guess and think, but
we do know nothing. Before we can take action, we have to learn enough to not make grave mistakes. This
is what we should debate now, not war plans that are years in the future, if they ever will happen."

The discussion went on deep into the night, but a course of action was finally found.

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It was after the morning training, when Rei was stopped by her master. This was not unusual, as he often
gave her instructions or comments on her performance at this time. This time however, he handed her a CD.

"This is your first mission as Sith. An individual has become quite a nuisance. You will find all
information on this problem on the disc. Handle it soon, in an appropriate manner."

He didn't need to say what was quite clear to her. Act like a Sith. This was more for her than just a first
mission, it was also a test if she was worthy of becoming a follower of the Dark Side. She nodded, and
walked away.

While she herself had no PC to watch the data on the disc, the school laptop was capable of viewing the
data, which were three short movies, and two .txt files. Before she opened any of them, she ensured that
nobody could have access to her computer via the school net. To do this, she had to perform a highly
sophisticated act of defense. She pulled the network plug. After this she decided to read the text first.
Conveniently, the files were numbered, so it was an easy guess which she should read first.

At first, she was confused. The file contained logs of the MAGI, about access rights and violations of
those. The technobabble said her nothing. It were the conversations between the MAGI and the target,
which were the more interesting part. She wondered briefly how anybody could use such a stupid screen
name like the one she read in this file, but the content of the conversation was more important than a
little bit of amusement. It was nothing else than several warnings to cease all activity, and despite the
threat of severe repercussions, they were all ignored. Instead, Naoko get a load full of stupid remarks,
and boasting about the greatness of hacking skills that didn't even exist. After this lecture, Rei already
knew perfectly what she had to do with this person. She just needed a name, then she could find and
eliminate the target.

The second text were once again several warnings, but this time not from the Naoko, but from her master.
She had to fight to suppress an angry frown as those were ignored too. Whoever it was, the target deserved
no small amount of pain.

Then, she watched the videos. And after five seconds, she knew her target.

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After school, Rei decided to take immediate action. She confirmed that the target was alone, then she
started her way to his home. At the beginning, she had very mixed feelings about the prospect of killing
someone. Already as she got the mission, she knew that this would be the case. Her master told her often
enough, that there is only one crime, and one punishment. Getting caught, and death.

During her way to the apartment where the target lived, she contemplated how she should make the kill.
That wasn't a simple matter, as it should not only punish, but also have style. Rei needed a few minutes,
then the answer became clear. In fact, there was only one way of doing it, and sending her master the
message she wanted to make clear: that she was worthy of becoming a Sith.

Rei reached the apartment and pressed the doorbell. It didn't take long, and the door opened. She was
greeted by the freckled face of nobody else than Kensuke Aida.

"May I come in?" she asked calmly, ignoring his surprise, along with the perverted gleam his eyes got as
he recognized her. She remembered well her first day at school, and how he tried to hit on her, because
all other girls had already rejected him. She also remembered his mocking as she didn't react to his
advances. No, she would have no problems of fulfilling her mission.

Kensuke led her directly into his room, where he offered her a small plastic chair, while he himself used
a rather oversized office chair. Rei had to admit that this fitted his personality rather well, as did
the three computers, the large stashes of PC and video games, and the playboy posters on the walls.

"What can I do for you, Rei?" he asked smiling.

She suppressed a frown, as she had never admitted him to use her first name. "You tried to hack the MAGI."
she dead panned.

This had some effect on the young wannabe-hacker, as he gulped, before he smiled again at her.

"I didn't only try, I did it," he boasted. "But I had hoped that you are here for another reason."

Rei ignored the last sentence. "Trying to hack the MAGI is a capital offense against NERV, which is
severely punished."

"Only if they get me," he countered, self-confident.

"You were caught," pointed Rei out. "You received several warnings to cease your activity, yet you ignored
them."

"No, I wasn't." he answered. "All I got were some hollow threats from a computer generated thing. Later,
it even tried to convince that our Sensei would have something against my hacking. As if he would care
about NERV. Such answers are computer generated threats that are randomly sent over the outward connections,
to keep rookies at bay."

"If you weren't caught, then, why would I be here?"

"To see me, of course."

Well, he had a point here. She really had come to see him. What he didn't knew however, was the fact that
he was easier to kill as long as he stayed in her field of vision.

"And why should I tell you about your attempts at hacking?"

"Because you admire my skills?" he asked hopefully, blinded by his raging hormones.

"No." she stated clearly.

Disappointed, he stood up, and opened the door of his room. "Then, you should probably go."

With one fluid motion, she drew her light sword, ignited it, and drew it over his belly. The slash didn't
cut him in half, it opened his belly. With a soft *splorch*, his intestines landed on the floor. Caught up
in shock, he looked at the mess on the floor, not able to comprehend what had happened, and what the pile
around his feet was.

Rei watched with mild interest how he started to comprehend what had happened. His long wail hurt her ears,
but this was a price she was willing to pay. He sunk down on the floor and whimpered. Knowing that this
could take some time, she took her school supplies out of her satchel, sat down at his desk, and started
to do her homework.

After the initial shock, the pain was immense. It wasn't so that his organs laid only on the floor, a good
part of them was damaged as well. The foul smell of insufficiently digested food filled his room, along
with the strong stench of blood and other body fluids. After a while, he tried to grab his organs and put
them into him again, but they were so much, and it hurt too strong to be able to accomplish the task. It
was after this desperate attempt, as he realized that Rei was still here. She sat on his desk, and made
homework. It was such a calm, normal scene, just a few meters away from his place of dying. It was then,
that he finally understood that he would not survive. Using a large amount of his remaining strength, he
asked a final question.

"Why?"

The blue-haired girl looked at him, then answered. "You were warned to cease your activity. If you had done
so you would live. You never understood that each action has a reaction. You ignored the warnings, so you
were punished."

It wasn't hard to guess that he would ask another question, so she answered it beforehand. "It was me,
because I need to learn to kill. Contrary to your perceptions, the pilots are very poorly trained for
survival on the battlefield. This is now rectified, and part of this training is to accept to kill others.
Due to your actions, you were an ideal testing subject." Then, she spoke her last words to him. "I did not
do it out spite, because you mocked me. Such things are too unimportant to be reacted upon."

During the haze of pain, and despite his now rapidly fading strength, her words hit him more than she ever
could imagine. They destroyed the last remnants of false superiority, shattered his most cherished dream,
and told him that he wasn't even worth to be killed because of himself.

Rei continued to make her homework, stopped after she heard a last deep breath, followed by the silence of
death. She looked at a watch, noted the time it took him to die, then used her handy to call a sweeper team
from Section2. There was no need to hamper Kensuke's fathers abilities as technician by confronting him
with this corpse. Officially, Kensuke Aida would be missing.

Without waiting for the team to arrive, she left. She knew that they were very versed in this line of work.
There would be no traces left.

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After coming home, Rei took a shower, then she wanted to eat. Asuka heard and intercepted her.

"Where were you?" the redhead asked.

"I had to accomplish a test," she answered.

Asuka looked hard at the other girl, clearly feeling that whatever it was, Rei was not happy about it. But
she couldn't help her if she didn't say her what was wrong. And she knew better than to try and interrogate
her. If Rei didn't want to tell, she wouldn't. Still, she could try to direct her thoughts to more pleasant
things.

"Can we really make the trip this weekend?"

Rei nodded. "Yes. Everything is prepared, so you will meet your sisters soon. If you wish, Tenel Ka can
accompany you. It is also possible that there will be some other guests too."

Happy about the chance to meet her other selves, or whatever they really were, she looked forward to it.
Only the add-on about other guests irked her a little bit.

"What other guests?"

"I do not know. My master told me that he had felt the arrival of some individuals he knows, and that it is
possible that we will be accompanied on this trip. Maybe your master can give you more information."

Asuka wasn't satisfied with this answer, but accepted it. There wasn't anything she could do anyway.

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On the next morning, Rei reported her action to her master. He only nodded, didn't even question her decision
to let the corpse vanish. He concentrated on other details.

"How long?"

"3 hours, 23 minutes, 47 seconds." answered Rei.

"What did you do during this time?"

"Homework."

Not far away, Asuka and Tenel Ka trained. They both stopped, as they felt a wave of satisfaction and pride
from the Sith. The Jedi-princess looked at her apprentice, who had asked her earlier what Rei could have
done.

"Whatever Rei had accomplished yesterday, it was something evil."

Asuka expected this answer, but it still wasn't what she wanted to hear. She had hoped for another answer.
Because she had no chance during the training, she used the little break to finally asked if Tenel Ka knew
something about new visitors, which could accompany them aboard a starship.

Tenel Ka was not surprised to hear that her evil counterpart already knew about the arrivals, but his
assumption that they would like to see the clones for themselves, and indicating that he would allow that,
were. It was frustrating for her to know that he was a step ahead, again. Well, she would tell her master
about this fact. He would surely use this opportunity.

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The weekend approached fast, and it came as no surprise that Rei and Asuka weren't the only ones whose
wanted to see the clones. Tenel Ka came as well, and she wasn't alone.

"Skywalker." greeted the Sith, only to be answered by a nod.

"I had expected more than just you." the follower of the Dark Side added.

"There is no reason to." replied Luke calmly. "I just want to see if the rumors are true."

"What rumors? Those about our new troops, or those about our new technology?" came another question, this
time, it sounded amused.

Luke simply grinned. "All of them, of course."

The three females followed the exchange of words. Tenel Ka showed no reaction, but Asuka and Rei were
surprised. Only Asuka showed it in her facial expression, but the Force betrayed all two of them. They had
heard often enough that Sith and Jedi were enemies. Having Tenel Ka and the Sensei working together was
already weird, but this was the greatest existing Jedi-Master. Both vowed to ask later what this was all
about.

With a gesture, the Sith invited the four guests in the Lambda shuttle, which he ordered down for that
purpose. Before he entered it, he took a few steps to one of the nearby bushes.

"If you want to tag along, this is your last chance."

The bush moved, and it didn't take long before a certain purple-haired, female NERV Major crawled out of
it. She grinned sheepishly, before glaring at him again. She stood up and entered the shuttle too, followed
by the Sith. As she came to the end of the ramp, she paused.

"This does not mean that I don't want to kill you."

This comment was ignored.

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The journey to the ship behind the moon was short, the view that presented itself to them was spectacular.
The 'Sword' was not alone. It was flanked by three ISD's, which dwarfed her clearly in size. Dozens of
fighters swarmed around, obviously in a small maneuver. For the three terrestrials, it was an awesome sight,
for Luke, it was somewhat disappointing. The ISD's were old ships, long known to the Republic. And their
fighter compliments were composed of Avengers and Defenders. Those made the ships more dangerous, but it
weren't the new models he had hoped to see. Only the smallest ship, their target, was of interest for him.
Its lines showed that it was made for brutal attack, and the heavy weaponry it displayed confirmed that
pretty clear. While much smaller than the other ships, it was surely much more dangerous.

To his disappointment, the hangar was empty. They landed smoothly, and were greeted by a squad of storm
troopers. Even with their helmet on, it was easy for Luke to feel that they were clones. They escorted
the small group to the barracks for ground troops, where all the Reis and Asukas resided for the time being.

As the six people entered the mess hall, they were greeted with an interesting sight. One of the Asukas
held one of her sisters in a choke hold, continuously yelling that she would kill her. The three
terrestrials gaped at this sight, and Asuka's face went red with anger and embarrassment. But before she
could do anything, one of the Rei's came to them.

"Hi. I'm 99of100." After this, she gestured to a few of her sisters, whose separated the two Asukas. As
soon as this was accomplished, she looked at the newcomers. "Sorry for that, but Sour-You takes her name
sometimes too seriously."

"Sour-You?" asked Asuka.

"Yes. Fitting, isn't it?" confirmed the blue-headed clone.

"And why do you only have a number?" Misato asked.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm a Trekkie." That explained, she gestured them to follow her. She brought them to
the only empty table in the hall. As they sat down, one of the Asukas joined them immediately.

"Sorry that you had to witness one of Sour-You's rampages. It won't happen again." she said.

While Asuka didn't like the idea that one of her sisters seemed like a violent maniac, the other extreme
didn't sit well too. "And who are you? Sorry-You?"

The redhead smiled overjoyed of them. "You already heard of me?"

Asuka only wanted to cry.

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While Asuka got acquainted with some of her sisters, and Rei did the same, with Misato watching and
wondering, the three others left the barracks and went to a more secluded place.

"I'm surprised that they aren't already forced into the military." shot Tenel Ka at the Sith.

"Contrary to the Republic, where you use the stupidity of the masses, we are giving all intelligent beings
individual choices. We tell them about the history of the galaxy, and which options they have. After this
is done, they can freely decide to do what they want."

"You mean that you feed them so long with propaganda until they can't think straight anymore, then they
can decide in which part of the military they want to serve." accused the red-blond Jedi.

"No. Actually, three of them already asked if a medical career would be possible, another one wants to
become a painter, and two want to become mechanical engineers. And two opted for a military career in
the fleet." the Sith admitted.

Before Tenel Ka could answer to that, Luke intervened. "The Empire has changed under Thrawn."

"More than you can imagine." confirmed the Sith. "It is a long way to finally reach the goal of a unified
Empire, which is strong due to its unity, but Thrawn knows how to achieve his goals."

"Which is the reason why you are loyal to him." Luke guessed correctly.

"Not only I. Thrawn opened the military ranks to non-humans and females already before Bilbringi. As he
came back, despite your assassination of his clone, he made it quickly clear the he would follow this line
of politics. And he went further, by changing the imperial constitution considerably."

Luke flinched at the accusation of assassination, especially because it was correct. "I have heard of that.
Equal rights for all intelligent beings, and all genders. I also heard that he had to eliminate some high
ranking officers whose opposed this change of politics."

"Yes. The Empire knows how to treat traitors and the likes."

Both Jedi knew exactly what the Sith really meant with that statement. Tenel Ka kept silent, and Luke
decided that a change of topic was in order. "I'm disappointed to not be able to see some of your new
fighters. I have heard a lot about them."

"You will see them soon enough. It is most likely that this system will become a battleground."

"Vong, or Ssi-Ruuk?" asked Luke.

"Vong. Do not be blinded by the biomechanical design of the EVA's. They are biological entities, not
mechanical ones. Our foes know exactly that the shield technology which was developed here could become a
severe danger to them. They will do anything to stop me from gaining it."

Luke sighed. "You expect an invasion?"

The Sith nodded.

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If the beginning was weird, things didn't go better for the three visitors from Tokyo3.

Misato, confronted with so much Rei's and Asuka's had a hard time believing this sight, especially without
the support of alcohol. She sat there and looked around, but her mind was in a complete shutdown. Still,
she had it the easiest.

Rei had it harder. As she saw her sisters for the first time, they just started to develop their own
personalities. Now, they had almost completed this task. Each of them found her own interests, her own
style, her own way of living. They had all accomplished a task she was very far away of accomplishing it
too.

But of all three, Asuka had the hardest time. While Sorry-You was quite nicely to talk to, she was also
a painful reminder how things could have been. Asuka was well aware that her sad past had a large
influence on her life. She realized that during her training, and it didn't suit her well. Her appearance
as competitive, spoiled bitch was something she never wanted to be, yet she acted this way almost naturally.
But it was all a facade, to hide the hurt she felt in the core of her soul. Seeing now her sisters, without
this emotional baggage, living freely and happy, hurt her deeply. More than one time, she had to fight
upwelling tears. They were what she always wanted to be. Happy girls.

Misato soon decided to talk with some of the clones, to get information about how they were treated, and if
they were prodded in any way concerning their future. She didn't trust the Empire. Not only that it was not
a Democracy, it also allowed people in leading positions whose forced others to give up drinking. This was
too much cruelty for her likings. Still, the clones were treated good. They got a highly advanced education,
and were free to make their own decisions. While the Empire made the difference between themselves and the
Republic pretty clear, it did not seek to sugarcoat their own appearance. Those girls were fed with less
propaganda than all populations on earth itself. At least as far as she could tell. A long talk with one of
the Reis, whose called herself Rini showed her then a complete different side of her arch enemy. Their
education was planned by the Sith, and regularly, he communicated with them and asked if they had any wishes.
So far, they were all fulfilled, as long as they were within reason. Also, each of them had received an
account on the Imperial bank, where enough money was stored to let them have a comfortable life, without
having to work ever. As soon as their education was finished, they could do with their money as they
pleased. And Misato's dark look on the Sith started to crumble again.

For Rei, it was frustrating to see that her 'life- and soulless' sisters had in fact more life than she ever
had. They had a better grasp on their emotions, and knew how to express them freely. Things she still had to
learn. Their lives were safe and secure, they had a bright future ahead of them. Her own spoke of blood and
death, as she had to go down the path of revenge first. Maybe afterwards, she could have something similar.
Her master had promised to her that she would not end on a never ending journey into darkness and despair.
She believed him. And she knew a first step in this direction. Sadly, this step was not cooperative. So she
had to wait. If she could have hoped, she would have at least a silver stripe on the horizon of her existence,
but hope was something she still had to learn.

Asuka talked the first few hours mostly with Sorry, then with a few others. They were well, and in way better
shapes than she herself. Especially emotionally. Even Sour-You, which was louder than she ever was, had a
better grasp on her emotions than herself. She was a cripple in this regard. This was the sad truth she had
learned on this day. She hid her hurting soul behind a false facade, hid her positive emotions behind a
barrier of false superiority and hollow taunts. And the little she still had, were crushed behind layers of
morality, which were inflicted upon her by a father who didn't love, nor even like her.

As the day came to an end, it was time to go to sleep. They knew in advance that they would sleep on the
ship, so it came as no surprise as 99 and Sorry led them to their quarter for the night. What came as
surprise was their good-bye for the day.

"Have fun, and don't sweat about any noise. All walls are sound-proof. Otherwise we couldn't have so much
fun." That said, they shortly kissed, before walking to a nearby cabin, where they entered together. Rei
noticed this but didn't comment on it, while Asuka blushed heavily. The next surprise came upon entering
the cabin, as it was dominated by a double bed. It seemed as if anyone wanted to force them together.

"We can part the bed, if you wish." stated Rei dryly as she saw the heavy blush on Asuka's face.

Asuka shook her head. She slept best in the other girls arms, there was no need to hide it. So, they spent
another night together, holding each other and finding comfort. One of them accepted it as simple truth,
the other fought with her imprinted morality.

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It was strange for Asuka. It was almost a fast-forward in her life. She saw her training progressing, saw
the battles against the Angels, and their final defeat. Yet all was hazy. She knew that this was what she
witnessed, but there were no details at all. Only the feeling of safety whenever Rei entered the picture
was clearly recognizable.

She knew that they were friends, but not more. This relieved her to no end. Together, they fought and won,
and together, they made their way to the stars. They had missions on several planets, sometimes together,
sometimes apart. The latter made no sense for the redhead, until she was able to hear a few clear sentences.

"You cannot always work together. Not only that you are in different orders, you also are not bonded in any
way that would demand that you are together on your missions."

It was the voice of her master, and it spoke firmly, as if she scolded her.

Suddenly, she found herself alone on a mission. She was victorious, managed to defeat her foes. A wave of
pride washed through her, as it showed her that she would be the best. She celebrated her victory, as she
saw this disrupted by a call. A sense of dread filled her suddenly, as she saw how the future self of her
ran to her ship and started immediately.

The scene shifted again, this time to another planet, which dark appearance made it look like a foreboding
place. She landed and jumped out, ran into a temple, whose structure was mostly collapsed. She saw strange
creatures she was unable to identify, but her future self seemed to know them. She talked frantically with
one of them, was then led into a small room. A lone figure occupied it, laid motionless on a bed. She walked
slowly to it, then looked down.

It was Rei. Sweat ran over her face, and she was paler than usual. With a feeling of pure terror, she
understood what was happening. Rei was dying. As if mocking her, the scene was suddenly running at normal
speed, and she could hear every word.

"She had no chance. She fought alone against three of them, and one hit her in the back. We found her too
late to counteract the poison. We can do nothing beside easing her pain," told her an alien voice.

Her future self looked down at the motionless figure, who slowly opened her eyes. Blood red met sky blue.
Nobody dared to talk first, then it was finally she, who started to talk.

"Rei." she whispered sadly.

The blue haired girl forced a small smile on her face. "Do not fear for me. Soon, I will become one with the
Force, as is the fate for every living being."

She shook her head, unable to comprehend this event. "Why?" Then again. "Why? Why did you go alone?"

"I had no partner," replied the fallen Sith in a broken voice.

Tears ran over her face. "I don't want to lose you, my friend." she sobbed out.

She had to wait for an answer, as Rei took her remaining strength to say it. "Sayonara, my love." Then, she
closed her eyes.

With a shocked expression on her face, she stood there for a long time. Thoughts about the past ran through
her head, showed her that she could have avoided all of this. She could have chosen a life in happiness,
instead of one alone. She could have saved Rei this way, as this would never have happened, if she would
have accepted the love of the other girl.

Her musings were cut short, as a strange feeling forced its way through her body. She looked at Rei, and
saw how the body slowly became translucent. It faded away in front of her eyes, until nothing was left.
Unimaginable sadness and anguish flooded her brain.

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"NOOOOOOOOO!" Asuka cried out loud as she awoke. A cry of pain, anguish and sadness, which spoke of a
terrible loss.

It awoke Rei, and the girl sat up and looked at Asuka. "What is wrong?"

She looked at Rei, unable to answer. What was that? A dream, a nightmare, a vision? Asuka was sure that she
could live with the first, but what if it was the latter? With unseeing eyes, she stared ahead trying to
comprehend what she had seen. A strong sense of urgency forced her to think fast, as she knew, she had to
make a vital choice. Now.

Heavily breathing, she sat there, not registering anything around her. Not even as the Sith and her own
master came in, alerted by Rei, she reacted. She didn't hear the words, nor did she react at Tenel Ka's
gently try to reach her through the force. The Sith was with his strong slap as unsuccessful as the others.

Asuka didn't know how she remained in this stasis, but as she came back to reality, Rei, Tenel Ka and the
Sith sat at the small table the room included. The Jedi was the first to see that Asuka was back, and sent
her soothing thoughts through the Force, calmed her this way down, at least to a degree.

"What?" Asuka asked breathless, then tried again. "What had happened?"

"You had a vision." answered the Jedi, whose felt an immense wave of terror extruding from her apprentice
at this revelation. Whatever Asuka had seen, it terrified her. Tenel Ka wanted to ask what she had seen,
as she felt a hand on a shoulder. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. And he was right.
Now was not the time to torment Asuka with such questions.

Rei made her way to the German girl and sat down beside her, took her carefully in an embrace. There was
no resistance, not even as she laid her down.

The Sith and the Jedi took this as their sign to leave. There was nothing they could do, at least not now.
So they left, and went their respective ways to their own quarters. So, Tenel Ka was unable to see the
small smile on the face of her evil counterpart.

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It was early in the morning, as Asuka left the warm embrace of Rei. She had thought long and hard over her
options, but felt herself unable to make a sound decision. She needed help, but who should she ask? Normally,
there would have been no one. Asking Rei was impossible, as the red-eyed girl had already said her part, and
was involved. She didn't trust the Sith, and she didn't trust the Jedi, because Rei was Sith. Hikari wouldn't
understand, Shinji was useless, as well as Misato. Maybe Kaji could help, but after it was clear that she
never had a chance with him, she wasn't willing to talk with him about such private matters. Beside, who could
have been better than herself? And she had more than one to ask for another point of view, which maybe helped
her making her decision.

She had seen where Sorry-You slept, and knocked against the door. It didn't take long before a still
half-asleep redhead opened the door and looked in surprise at her. "What do you want?"

"I have some questions to ask. Important questions." she added, to get her point clear.

Sorry-You nodded, and gestured her to come in, which she did. "Wanna something to drink? Tea, coffee?

"No." declined Asuka.

They sat down on a couch, then Sorry-You immediately asked: "So, what's wrong?"

Asuka told her copy what was going on, explained her the entire situation without hesitation or holding back.
If she couldn't trust herself, who else could she trust? Sorry-You listened silently, didn't interrupt her
original, although surprise was on her face easy to see. Only after Asuka was finished with her tale, she
started to talk. "So, you and Rei are not a couple?"

"I just told you that." Asuka answered irritated.

"Sure, but I need to clarify some things."

"No, we are not."

"Yet you sleep in the same bed, already dependant on each other to rest?"

"Yes."

"And she has offered you to become your lover, but you cannot because of some rules you have gotten
indoctrinated?"

"Yes." admitted Asuka.

"O-K." replied Sorry-You flabbergasted. And she had thought that the original had always to be better. "Let's
try it this way: I give you a hypothetical situation, and you try to tell me how to act."

Asuka looked unconvinced at her clone, then nodded approvingly.

"I am deeply in love with another person. It is not lust, nor is it just liking. It is nothing less than the
love of my life. I can act upon those feelings, as I know that they will be reciprocated. So, a safe and
secure future together lays in front of me. I just need to do it. But there is a problem. I was told that
it is wrong to love this person. That it would be against some rules that were written thousands of years
ago. Rules that are only a matter of belief, as science had long ago proven that such a love is not unnatural,
nor a danger to my health. I can have a happy life with my love, of being bound by rules I was never asked
if I wanted them. What should I do?" Sorry-you asked.

"Screw the idiots and be happy." answered Asuka immediately.

"Then why don't you do it?" asked Sorry-You back.

Asuka was at a loss of words, then, finally, she stammered: "I ca..can't."

Sorry-You looked at her original and shook sadly her head. "Sorry, but you are an idiot."

The German redhead flinched, but didn't deny this accusation.

"I'm afraid that I can't help you, if you are unable to act after your own opinion." Sorry-You stated
disappointed.

Asuka sighed, but accepted her decision. She had gotten her answer, had gotten the needed help, but it wasn't
enough. She muttered a "Thanks.", then she stood up and walked to the door, as Sorry-You had an idea.

"But maybe another one an help you."

Asuka looked hopeful at the clone, then nodded.

They left the quarter together, and Sorry-You led them to another quarter, where she pressed the doorbell. An
annoyed shout was the answer, which indicated that the tenant has awoken.

"Tell her your problem as you did to me. Then ask her what you should do. She will help you." Instructed
Sorry-You, before she retreated back to her own room. Normally, she wouldn't have done something cruel, but
there was no other way. Still, she stood true to her name, as she really felt sorry for Asuka.

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Asuka told this other version her problems, and the reaction was immediate. Before she could react, an angry
fist was planted into her face.

"I don't believe it. That's impossible," shouted the volatile redhead that just punched her so called
'Original'.

Asuka managed to avoid a following kick and took cover behind a chair, where she gained valuable seconds to
regain her composure. As her clone attacked again, she was able to intercept the incoming punch and use the
momentum of her assailant to whirl her on the floor, where she pinned her down. "What's wrong with you?" she
asked angrily, but this was nothing compared to the fury of the clone.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you is the question, you dumb bitch. I absolutely refuse to believe
that I stem from such an idiotic brat!"

Asuka whacked her a good one, then asked: "And that's enough reason to beat me?"

"Sorry-You brought you here, which means that talking surely wouldn't work." This statement made, the clone
bore the knuckle of her index finger in one of Asuka's knees.

Asuka shouted and drew her knee in reflex back, which was exactly the wrong thing to do, which she learned
an eye-blink later, as she flew through the air. She had luck and landed halfway on the bed, so, beside
some bumps on her legs, she was fine. At least before the clone that surely was named Sour-You landed on
her back and pinned her down. Asuka tried to use the Force to smash her away, but in her state of panic,
she was unable to concentrate enough to do so.

"And when talking doesn't work, it is time to beat some sense into you." Sour-You declared darkly.

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As Rei awoke, she was surprised to not see Asuka beside her. Her friend was surely in no shape to wander
around. But before her concerns could have solidified, the door opened and Asuka walked in. Rei's eyes
widened in shock as she saw the shape in which Asuka was. Battered and bruised as if she was in a long
and hard fight. Her left eye was swollen shut, blood dribbled from her nose and the corner of her mouth,
her right cheek was swollen too, and she held two teeth in her hand, at which she looked sourly.

Asuka tried to grin cock eyed at Rei, but grimaced in pain as her bruised lips hurt badly. That bitch-clone
of hers had a hell of a punch. She looked at the blue haired girl and saw the concern in her eyes. For
others, it would have been impossible to see, but to her, Rei couldn't hide anything. Because she knew her,
better than anybody else. Because she understood her, as they were in the same boat. And those she did
because she loved her. So, she went straightly to her and took her in an embrace. Then, she did something
that elicited a strong reaction out of Rei, strong enough to be seen by everybody, as her red eyes widened
in shock while her cheeks flushed dark red. Asuka saw this only as she broke the kiss, but her hand
remained on Rei's butt. "Sorry that our first kiss tastes like blood, but after a visit in the sick bay,
we can really make out."

It took Rei long seconds before she was able to react. "What has happened?"

"I searched for help and found it."

Rei blinked. "Help?"

"Yep. It can be found in the most unlikely places, and come in the most unusual ways." Asuka answered happily.

"This we can agree upon." came Rei's dry response.

Asuka took her hand from Rei's butt and tousled her hair. "It's nice that you are concerned because of my
appearance, but I truly needed this."

"You still have not told me what had happened."

Asuka kissed Rei on the nose, then started to explain. "You know that I had a problem with being with you.
I asked my other selves for help. While Sorry couldn't help me, Sour was able to."

"I don't understand."

"We had a disagreement about the importance of morality and happiness. She won the morality issue, and I
the happiness one."

"And that means?"

Blue eyes met red ones in a look full of love and passion. "That I'm yours, and you are mine."

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The entire day went by in a blur. In the sick bay, they met Sour-You, whose growled at Asuka, which was
responded in kind. Then they grinned at each other. Breakfast followed, then they had a tour through the
ship and were showed how their clones were educated. It was during the latter activity as Asuka finally
understood the difference between herself and the other redheads. It was a small, but albeit important one.
They had the possibility to make their own choices. After they received the basic knowledge or reading,
mathematics, basic biology and living in general, they were not forced to learn things that didn't interest
them. They were able to search for their fields of interests, and follow them.

Lunch was with the others, where Asuka's problems during the night were not mentioned. Misato did surely not
know of them, and Asuka was content of this way. She had no wish that everybody knew of her stupidity.

Afternoon was spent with the clones, where Asuka decided to ensure that Sour-You acted after the advice she
punched into her. During their epic battle, both of them learned important things. Asuka learned that
morality was unimportant compared to real life. It was an abstract concept, an idea where nobody really
knew where it came from. It was useless to follow it, especially if it hurt. There was no guarantee that
the entire concept wasn't some weak idea of an old, impotent pervert, who used it to get back against all
who still were able to get a hard on. And Sour-You learned that she had to take risks and to open up to
gain happiness. Too afraid to act upon her own feelings, because she feared humiliation and rejection,
Asuka had shown her that it was worse to loose happiness because of stupid pride. She was an expert in this
field, after all.

So, Rei and Asuka followed Sour-You as she went to another Asuka-copy and greeted her. This one, with blond
colored hair, didn't respond too kind to this. "Still not finished with beating everyone who talks with me?"

Sour-You flinched, but didn't back off. "I had my reasons. Very important reasons."

"And those were?"

Sour-You gulped and did the bravest thing in her entire life so far. "Because I love you. I do not like
seeing you with others, as I want you for myself."

The blond clone blinked, then smirked. "And why should I want to be yours?"

At this point, Asuka and Rei left, as Asuka knew what she had wanted to know. She had found her happiness
through the cold words and hard punches of Sour-You, as did she because of hers. They had helped each other,
an nobody was in each others debt. That Sour-you was succeeding was a given, as the blondie only played
'hard to get'.

Much to soon, evening came, and after a last dinner with the officers of the ship, where the earthlings were
directly confronted with several aliens, whose looked alien too, they had to leave. It was a hard good-bye
for Rei and Asuka, as both had found friends among their clones, and they didn't know when they would meet
them again. It was Tenel Ka who cut this short, as she reminded them that sorrow and pain were feelings of
the Dark Side of the Force. Before she could make a lengthy speech in a try to convert them to the way of
the Jedi, Rei tugged on Asuka and entered the shuttle. She was not in the mood for a lecture about light
and darkness. That reminded her too much about lectures about good and right, morality and immorality.

Directly after the start, they saw how the ship cloaked itself again.

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This time, it was Luke who gave the report. "I have good and bad news. The Empire is most likely able to
defeat the Vong."

"And the good news?" asked Kyp.

"Those were the good ones. The imperial officers weren't subtle when they talked ill about our ships,
fighters and equipment. We have to expect at least three new classes of SD's, called 'Champion',
'Challenger' and 'Aggressor' class. Also, new cruisers, frigates and corvettes, as well as a new destroyer
class that is placed between frigates and cruisers. Also, they have new starfighter designs, one of them
called 'Pulsar'. It is the only ship where I saw real data about, which I brought along."

Luke inserted the data crystal in the reader on table in the middle of the room, and soon, a holograph
showed the new imperial fighter, along with technical specifications.

Tycho whistled appreciative, while Wedge's and Corran's eyes widened surprised. It was no wonder that all
other participants of this meeting looked at them.

"The nine wings have six fast-firing lasers, two more than an XJ. Plus three fast firing ion cannons. Add
to this six proton torpedoes and twelve concussion missiles, along with a tractor beam, and you have a
very heavily armed space fighter, stronger than anything we have. It is faster than a Defender, but not by
much, and has the same maneuverability. The hull is heavier armored, the shields equal to our newest B-Wings.
Nothing I would like to fly against." commented Wedge.

"It are still the pilots, whose are counting." said Jaina.

"Which leads me to another topic." interjected Luke. "In our fights against the Vong, republican forces are
suffering significantly higher losses than against normal enemies. While we can argue that this is due to
their strange weapons, we have seen statistics that are showing clearly that imperial forces does not suffer
this problem."

"Why not?" asked Jaina, and Wedge answered after he had sighed annoyed and angry. "They are flying
differently."

"What do you mean?" asked Kyp.

"We often laugh about the way imperials are flying their new, shielded crafts. As if they would still be
flying their old TIEs. This is because of their training. An imperial pilot learns flying in those old
crafts, then they are trained in the newer and better ones. But the truth that you have to be careful in
an unshielded craft is already branded into their brain. When they fly against the Vong, and loose their
shields, they automatically fall back into their old training and fly like TIEs, using their maneuverability
to avoid hits. Our own pilots have never learned how to fly this way. They loose their shields and continue
to fly the same way as if they would still have shields. This way, they die. We should have thought about
that a long time ago. A X-Wing without shield is like a TIE, just not as maneuverable." he explained the
source of his anger.

"I assume that our dark friend has nudged you in the right direction?" wanted Corran to know.

Luke smiled. "No, he blatantly told me about the incompetence of our military, the stupidity of our flight
instructors, and the useless waste of fighters due to this circumstances. 'The easiest answer is always
those, which is the easiest overlooked.' he said, followed by the dry comment that it is still a remarkable
sign of incompetence that nobody in the republican forces managed to gain this insight."

"And he has damn right with that." Wedge stated grimly. "At least we veterans, whose have fought against
the TIEs, should have known this.

"True. But this does not mean that the Empire will win a full-out war against the Vong." stated Kyp. "Even
with their new ships and fighters, they would stand no chance. They cannot have them in significant strength,
or we would have already seen them."

"Ha." snorted Kam Solusar. "If the Empire hides entire fleets, it wouldn't surprise me."

"They hide at least one." aided Luke the older Jedi.

"Ok, they have new ships and fighters, what about ground troops?" demanded Page to know.

"Massive changes in weaponry, troop structure and mission designs. Practically everything new. We watched
some troops training, where they used high power blasters, swords and shields," answered Luke.

"Swords and shields? Makes sense against the Vong." commented Page. "Anything about new walkers?"

"No new walkers, but a new kind of unit. They spoke very little of them, I only heard that they exist. They
should have shields, heavy armor and weaponry."

"Sounds like a new kind of tank to me." said Pash.

"So you think that they will start a war and win?" This most important question came from Mara.

Luke answered. "Yes."

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While Luke talked with his friends, and Rei and Asuka went sleeping, because they were too tired for a first
time, the Sith received bad news as well.

Naoko had sent him the file of a new student. That in itself wouldn't be a problem, but that a file from
the JSSDF was attached too, was one. This meant more interference in his plans. He was not amused.

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Preread by bmatsea
Useful comments and encouragement to write by Kuracao
Domo arigato.