"Well... that was a hell of a trip," I mumbled, as space reasserted itself outside the viewports. Makoto smirked, and over my shoulder, I heard Nabiki snort once as she hovered over the communications officer.
"So, where are we this time?" I asked, looking at the sensors station below me and to the left.
"Stationary orbit around a planet... Earth, or this Universe's equivalent, My Lord. At least according to star charts. SHODAN and the Helm are working on achieving a geostationary orbit 'facing' the planet."
"Kickass. What's Earth look like this time around?"
"One moment, My Lord... once we've completed this orbit, we'll be able to.. There! Holographic representation coming up now."
Standing, I made my way to the holoprojector as a large globe took shape in the air. I frowned as I failed to recognize any of the landmasses. Where Antarctica usually rested was a reddish body of water that faded to the standard oceanic blue, and floating above the projection the words "Axial Discrepancy Detected."
"Holy..." Nabiki said, pointing to a lumpy island off the east coast of a large landmass, "That's Japan!"
"What?" I asked, frowning as I realized its position, if not its shape was just about right. Stepping around the map, I realized that all the larger continents were where their analogues would be... if they each lost miles of coastal lands.
"Antarctica melted?" Makoto asked, softly, crouching to look up at the remnants of the frozen continent.
"Multiple electromagnetic contacts detected from the surface," SHODAN said, sounding somewhat smug, "Multiple encryption types detected, attempting to decrypt communications on frequencies commonly used by the world's militaries around the turn of the millenium."
"Okay... can someone project outlines of where the coastlines would be on normal Earth?"
"Yes, Lord Kyle."
The holograph shivered for a second, and white lines appeared over the oceans where borders I'd expected were now, apparently, a couple hundred feet underwater.
"Well... It's safe to assume we aren't in your universe, Mako-chan," I said, softly.
"Where are we then?" Nabiki asked, straightening up and crossing her arms.
"I don't know... I don't really recognize this... Well, maybe Waterworld, but that was completely submerged... despite the fact that there's not enough water on the earth to actually do that..."
"So.. wait. You mean you have no clue where we are, whatsoever?"
"Not really. I don't watch every show, read every book, play every game, and rent every movie... Hell, I'm actually rather picky about what I like."
"Well.. shit," Nabiki said, to which I nodded. She frowned, and when I quirked a brow at her, she shrugged, "It's familiar, but I'm not sure why, yet," she said, shrugging. I nodded, and thrued to look at the wallscreen as SHODAN began speaking.
"Interestingly, we've been detected and scanned by an unknown form of electromagnetic identification," SHODAN suddenly announced. "The scan originated somewhere on the island of Japan, and communications in the area have begun to increase... decryption complete."
"So what're they saying?" I asked, after a moment of silence from the AI.
"-think it's an orbital Angel?"
"They detected your curse!?" Makoto asked, looking shocked.
"I don't think-" I started, shutting up when the communications continued.
"Possibly. Inform Misato and have them prep the Eva's... I'll see talk to Commander Ikari when he returns. Fuyutsuki out."
"Signal origins confirmed. Both were within a city standard civillian communication channels continually refer to as Tokyo-3."
"Tokyo... Evangelion." I hissed, looking at the holograph and scowling, "of all the lousy places... a damned mecha series."
"You know where we are?" Makoto asked, following me as I stormed over to my chair.
"Yeah, not as much as I suppose I should, but I know the series.. or know of it."
"So... you've never seen it?" Nabiki asked, smirking.
"There's been a sudden drop in power output from the Tokyo-3 area," SHODAN stated, suddenly.
I glanced at the earth, then shook my head, not really caring, "a couple clips in anime music videos," I continued, "a crapload of merchandise... Rei Ayanami's home series.. and... I know there's a guy, Gendo Ikari, who I think is a bad guy..."
"How informative," Nabiki mumbled.
She opened her mouth to say more, but I cut off her beratement before it could go anywhere, "hey! I just know there are giant robots. I dislike giant robots... to the point of hating them."
"Aww, whats wrong, someone hit you over the head with a transformer when you were a kid?" Nabiki asked, trying to lighten the mood. I just growled at her, then looked out the window as the Earth moved into view. I knew the ship was rotating and not the Earth, but since I couldn't feel the motion, it looked more like the planet was moving.
"I remember reading that the end of the series was pretty bad..."
"Bad like, nothing was resolved?" Makoto asked.
"No, bad like, there are only two human beings left on the planet," I said, frowning. Makoto and Nabiki both remained silent at that, and I nodded, "yeah."
"Are you sure that's how it ends, though?" Nabiki asked.
"No. I read that in a fic... but since other parts from series I know were referred to correctly, It wouldn't be too big a surprise if that was right... damned mecha..."
"Well, maybe we have to prevent that?" Makoto suggested, looking out the window at the changed Earth.
"Why?" I muttered, staring at the Earth. Nabiki scowled, and I sighed, "Fine, fine, lets.. beam on down, and say hello," I muttered, standing up.
"I'm going to check something... I might be able to..." Nabiki mumbled, walking out of the bridge before I could question her. I shrugged, then turned towards Archer, "You, Bowen, and another, going down."
"Yes, Milord."
Fifteen minutes later, A row of metal, garage-style doors materialized in front of me. Turning, I nodded to Makoto and the Officers I'd taken with us. SHODAN had beamed us in to the origin of the original communications.
The doors were all painted with a funky half-leaf and NERV, which I dimly recalled as the name of the main organization in the series. A moment later a blue car pulled up to a slightly wider door that was likely meant for vehicles. Instead of swiping a card in the prominent reader, she looked at us and frowned.
"What are you five doing here? This is a restricted area."
I blinked, wondering how to start this. Cocking my head to the side lightly, I decided on finding out if she was the person SHODAN had mentioned we look for, "Are you... 'Misato?'"
"That's Captain Katsuragi, of NERV, to you."
"Oh.. sorry, Captain. I'm the owner of that ship in orbit you were called in about. I figured I'd come down and talk to you all before you did anything rash."
"Anythin..." she stared at me blankly for a moment, then frowned, "Look, kid, I don't know what kind of joke you're playing, but you're trespassing on-"
"Damnit, I hate this series already! SHODAN, six to the Thunder, and arm the bridge crew."
"Wha-" Captain Katsuragi's complaint was cut off as all of us dissapeared, reappearing on the Thunder's bridge a moment later.
"WHAT THE HELL... just... hap..." the purple-haired Captain trailed off as she realized she was looking down the barrel of a blasters. I wasn't sure she recognized their design, but their intent I knew, was rather obvious to anyone with any experience with firearms.
"Well, Captain... welcome to the Jupiter's Thunder," I said, smiling. Tearing her eyes away from the weapon, she looked at me, her eyes widening in recognition, before she suddenly looked past me, and at the Earth beyond.
"OH MY GOD! ARE WE IN SPACE?" She shouted, making me wince. I nodded, and she paled, looking around, seeing the bridge for the first time, before looking back at me.
"But.. are you human?"
"I hope so..."
"Then.. but... " she suddenly paled more, " I'm dead, aren't I?"
I blinked, "Umm... no. Like I said, you're on the Jupiter's Thunder, my ship."
"But... Shinji! I have to go back," she suddenly said.
"Well, can you assure us you and NERV won't attack if we let you go back?"
"Not attack? You just kidnapped me!"
"You were about to blow me off! What was I supposed to do?"
"Call... our Public Affairs office is listed in the phone book," she said with a straight face. Makoto started snickering at that, I just sighed.
"I'm so glad you're thinking this through clearly, Captain.. err.. "
"Katsuragi," she said, frowning at our mirth.
"Right... Misato Katsuragi?"
"Captain Katsuragi. Operations Director at NERV. I-"
"Sudden spike on the bio-sensors, Kyle," SHODAN interrupted. An officer at the sensors station suddenly shouted in surprise, before turning to me.
"My Lord, something huge just appeared outside that Tokyo-3 City. Whatever it is, it's registering as alive..."
"Can you get me a visual?" I said, turning towards the large screen on the rearward wall. It flickered to life, and I gasped. It looked like some sort of Daddy-long-legs spider, only it had four legs, instead of eight, and it's body was covered in eyes.
"An Angel," Misato gasped. I snorted, "hardly, that looks more like a demon to me." Misato shot me an 'are-you-stupid' look, and I frowned.
"You have to send me back. I'm needed at NERV."
"But.. is that thing a problem?"
"A problem? Where the hell have you been the past few months?" she shouted, not noticing the weapons-carrying officers stiffen behind her.
"In another universe! Next stupid question?"
"... Stu.. what the hell is wrong with you all?"
I rolled my eyes, "weapons, light turbolaser blast that thing," I said, turning back to the screen.
Behind me there was a flash as one of the batteries fired, and on screen, a green bolt of energy shot down at the creature, only to be stopped by an invisible shield a dozen or so meters above it.
"Target is shielded," the weapons officer said.
"SHODAN, anything from.. err.. NERV?"
"All communications in the Tokyo-3 area ceased during the power failure... Sensors indicate the NERV center you acquired the Captain from is currently without power."
"What's that thing keep saying?" Misato asked, looking up for hidden speakers. Apparently, the Captain didn't understand English as well as I'd imagined an officer would.
"NERV is powerless, at the moment."
"NERV is the only hope humanity has! Better than that puny gun your ship is packing," Misato said, scowling. I glared at her, then spun towards the sensors officer.
"How for outside the city is that 'Angel?'"
"A little over a kilometer and a half. But it's moving fast, and there's an underground structure a kilometer in it's path, on the edge of the city."
"Fine, Weapons, heavy barrage."
"Yes, Milord."
Turning to the window, I grinned as suddenly the right side of the ship reached out with over a dozen beams of green light, all heading for the Angel. Turning back to the screen, I watched as the thing's shield managed to stop about half the shots before they suddenly ran through the space the shield had occupied, and burned through the creature's body.
"My god..." Misato said, wobbling slightly.
Smiling smugly at her, I decided to gloat, "at eleven miles in length, if you think I'd have only one light turbolaser, you aren't much of a military officer."
"I.. do you know what this means?" Misato asked, rhetorically. Suddenly, she straightened up and turned to me, bowing, "I'm sorry."
"Um... what?" I asked, surprised by her sudden sincerity.
"I.. no, NERV, is in your debt. You stopped an angel without using an Eva, or suffering anything more than a few craters in the country side."
"Oh.. well.. now we're talking." I said, grinning. Misato looked out the window at the Earth outside, and then turned to the ceiling.
"Was that teleportation you used to get me up here so fast?"
"Yes," SHODAN responded. Misato nodded, and then turned to look at me, "Can you get me into NERV? I have to tell them about... this," she said, looking around at the bridge again.
"Umm... I suppose. Can we come with you?"
"Well, not usually, but I doubt there's much we can do to stop you, so It's probably better if you do come with me..." She said, sounding uncertain, but resigned to her fate as a tour-guide.
"Keen. SHODAN?"
"One moment... power has yet to be restored. Teleporting in would be unwise, as the sensors detected powered doors inside NERV. However, when power was up, the structure was shielded so much the Thunder's teleportation system couldn't penetrate much more than four levels. I suggest going to the surface, and having the Captain escort you in once power is restored."
"Right. To the shuttle bay."
"My Lord?" Captain Archer asked, suddenly.
"What? I beam around all the time. I'd like to try out the shuttle. Besides, with a TIE-Fighter escort, I can rest assured that, even if SHODAN can't reach us, we still have an upper hand."
"Understood, Lord Kyle. Your shuttle will be ready when you arrive at the bay."
"Alright.. lets go see," I paused, scowling, "the robots."
As we made our way down the black reflective corridors, passing saluting officers and enlistees frozen at attention, Misato was apparently impressed.
"Woooow.... Ooooh!" and other 'I'm-impressed' sounds and words escaped her lips. Finally, she turned to me, "So that creepy voice that only speaks in english... who's that?"
"Oh, that's SHODAN. The ship's computer."
"That's an AI? It sounds... err... umm," she trailed off, probably realizing SHODAN could hear her.
"Yeah, I programmed her that way... She does an exelent job though, and her voice, unlike standard AI voices, is easy to distinguish."
"No kidding." the Captain grumbled, watching a mouse droid as it wheeled by.
Arriving in the Hangar Bay, I made my way towards my shuttle, surprised to see a string of TIE-Defenders slowly loop by outside the force field. Shrugging it off, and gently reminding Misato that we had to get her back to NERV, our group crowded into the shuttle's passenger area, which, I realized upon entering, wasn't at all as I'd expected.
From my limited experience with these shuttles, I remembered, or, really, had thought I remembered the seating being lined up against the wall bench-like, with a narrow corridor in between them. However, this shuttles was carpeted, the large, conforter-style seats upholstered in black leather, and to the side was a small drink bar and fruit stand that sat inside an aesthetically-pleasing transparisteel storage bin.
"Cushy," Misato mumbled. I nodded.
"Remind me why we never take the shuttle around?" Makoto asked.
"Honestly? I don't know... but that's going to change, I think," I replied, softly. Captain Archer informed us that there were a couple small beds in the back, and we all took our seats.
"Wait!" Someone shouted from outside. a moment Later, Nabiki came up the ramp, a folder full of papers in one hand, and a cocky grin on her face. Before she'd finished strapping in, the ramp had started closing.
With a rumble, the shuttle lifted off, and began it's trip down to Tokyo-3.
"So, Nabiki.. nice of you to join us," I said. She smiled at me, then nodded to Misato, before grinning at Makoto and handing me the papers.
"And these are...?" I asked, flipping the file open. At first glance, I knew they were printed webpages, the adress at the bottom of the page indicating Nabiki'd pulled them from my computer's history folder.. then I realized what I was looking at.
"Hey! Character summaries? Episode guides? Why-"
"Why'd I have this stuff?" Nabiki asked, finishing my sentence for me. I nodded, and her smile grew predatory, "unlike you, I didn't write off this series due to it's... title characters. Considering how many people on your world thought it was the ultimate series, I thought I'd check up on it... and I'm glad I did."
I grunted, a grudging note of acceptance, and started skimming the papers, frowning when I got to the later episodes, and quirking a brow when I read the summary of episodes 25 and 26.
"What the hell?"
"Yeah, apparently, a lot of people said that, because the next page contains a movie summary, which... well.. you were right."
Flipping to the next page, I quickly skimmed the summary, shooting Misato a blank look as I read about her death, then blanching as I realized just what I likely had to look forward to if I didn't intervene.
"Great... interfere, or it's LCL for everyone... Third Impact?" I said, suddenly, looking up at Nabiki. She nodded, and I went back to reading, ignoring the gurgle Misato made. I remembered the term 'Second Impact' from somewhere, and figured the End of Evangelion's somewhat apocalyptic ending was obviously another one of those 'Impact' things.
"Would you mind explaining what the hell you two are talking about?" Misato growled, finally. Glancing up from the character bios, I caught Nabiki's eye, then nodded towards Misato, before continuing.
Nabiki began explaining our origins to an attentive and apprehensive Misato, and Makoto started reading the papers I'd already looked at, while I finished reading up on the characters.
"Geeze," I said, sitting back when I'd finished reading the last page, "what a motley crew... does anyone in this series not have problems, or a shitty past?"
Misato shot me a nasty look, but turned back to Nabiki, and I grimaced slightly as I remembered her scarring past.
"Damn." Makoto said, as she finished reading. I nodded, her summary not at all dissimilar to mine. "So, how should we do this?"
"Well... I dunno... I doubt we should charge in recklessly, but, yeah, we need to do something."
"Can I...?" I glanced up at Misato, who was staring at the papers Makoto had placed back inside the folder Nabiki had handed them to us in, and I frowned.
"I dunno... it's not.. well... it's not good," I said. Misato frowned, and I sighed, "Well.. do you believe everything Admiral Tendo just told you, about... well.. us?"
"Not totally, but the proof," she said, looking around her at the shuttle we were in, "is a bit hard to dispute. And if I'm listed in those papers anywhere, I can quickly figure out if they're right or not."
"True," Nabiki mumbled. Glancing at Makoto, who just shrugged, I handed the bundle to the Captain, wondering how she'd react. After a few minutes of reading, in which her expression went from one extreme to the other, she looked up and wiped a tear from one eye.
"If this is true..." she said, softly, clencing the papers so tightly her knuckles were white, "If... Commander... Sub Commander... hell, even Ritsuku are... and Rei! Not to mention..." she trailed off, and I could feel her tensing all over, before she finally sighed.
"If this is true..." She said, turning to me. I just nodded softly, and she let out a big breath of air before throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling, unmoving.
"All this time I've been working to stop this from happening, and now... Everyone I take orders from seems to want it to happen."
"Well, now you know most of the important tidbits, right?" Nabiki offered, helpfully. Misato gave a short bark of cynical laughter, before turning to look at her, "I doubt I can convince the UN of Commander Ikari's intentions with a bunch of papers..."
"Not really," Nabiki said, taking the papers and pointing to a paragraph, "if your ex's package to Gendo was Adam, like it says here, then Gendo probably already has the first Angel implanted in his hand."
Misato nodded, then looked down at the papers again, "Well.. with... err... 'Lillith' in the basement, and Commander Ikari's hand, that should be enough to start an investigation..." she said, slowly.
"There you go. Your best bet is to give this to," I took a paper and skimmed it quickly for the name, "Kaji, since he's a double agent working for Japan."
Misato growled, but before I could say anything, the intercom squaked, "Lord Kyle, we're approaching the designated structure. There appears to be a flat surface for vertical arial transports, would you prefer to land there?"
"Err.. one second," I said, before turning to Misato, "can the Helipad on NERV handle this shuttle?"
"What?" She asked, frowning at me. Switching to Japanese, I repeated my question.
"Probably," She replied. Quickly giving the pilot approval, I turned back to her, "You know... how is it that you can't understand English, but you can read it?"
She frowned at me, "I can read it because everyone in Japan is taught how to read English, and a lot of the papers I recieve from the UN aren't translated. However, conversational English..." she trailed off, and I nodded.
"So, you sort of understand what we're saying?"
"Sometimes. Your AI is really hard to understand, and, as I'm sure you complained while learning Japanese, you all talk too fast."
"Err.. something like that," I said, looking towards the boarding ramp as the shuttle shuddered once.
With a hiss, the ramp began to lower, and Misato made her way out first, yelling something to the guards who'd more than likely appeared when they realized the shuttle was landing. They lowered their weapons slowly as she spoke, and then she turned and waved us down.
Walking out into the sunlight, I grinned at the guards, who looked at us warily, then to Misato, who was whispering to the guard standing by the door. After a moment, the guard nodded and headed inside, and Misato made her way back over towards us.
"What's up?" I asked, nonchalantly.
"Alerting the guards inside that you are coming in, and not to impede us," she replied. I shrugged, then followed her through the door.
"Oh.. right... powerless... on second," I said, digging out my communicator and calling the ship. A moment later a set of flashlights appeared at our feet, and I grinned, handing them out before flipping them on.
"Ouch! Damnit, don't shine that in my eyes! It's like looking at the sun!" Nabiki said, when I turned mine on. Misato snorted softly before heading down the stairs, the rest of us following her quietly.
NERV, apparently, enjoyed automated systems, as SHODAN had mentioned, because every hundred feet or so we'd have to manually open thick metal doors that looked like something I'd be more likely to find in space.
When questioned, Misato shrugged, "It's for security purposes," then she stopped and pointed at the stack of papers in my hand, "According to that, these are rather useful, so I don't see much reason for complaint."
Archer bristled, but I waved him back, smiling at the Captain, "don't worry, Captain Katsuragi, when this is all over, this entire structure should be rendered useless... though what is done with it is up to.. whoever's left in charge."
With a shrug, she continued downward into the building, ocasionally passing a guard who nodded once and let us by.
"Misato, how'd that guard alert everyone if all the doors we've come to are closed?" Nabiki asked, after the third guard.
"Radios. Unfortunately, with all the metal reinforcing the walls, their range is limited inside unless the MAGI amplify them, so the guard I sent off is running arounf the perimeter radioing inside, and havint the guards inside relay that message further in, and down."
Finally, we reached a door that didn't have a manual override.
"This is the main door to the Eva cages... But..."
"Hey, this grate's been ripped off the wall.. think someone went this way?" Makoto said, pointing towards a duct on the wall.
"I'm not sure..." Misato said, as Captain Bowen started inside. A moment later, Nabiki had entered, then Makoto, quickly followed by me, Misato, and finally Archer.
"Someone's come this way recently. the dust has been disturbed by... three people. Kids, from the size of the marks," Captain Bowen called back.
"I guess the kids read their emergency instructions," Misato mumbled, before yelling forward, "Follow the tracks, and we should come to the Cages!"
I resisted the urge to kick her in the head for screaming in the duct, and started moving as Makoto began again.
"There's a drop here... and voices coming from below."
"Who's up there?" Someone called from ahead.
"It's Me, Katsuragi, and.. err.. Guests. We're coming out!" Misato yelled. A moment later she yelped as I 'accidentally' crushed her fingers. Moving foward, I watched Makoto look below for a moment before dropping to the floor below, then I crawled to the edge of the duct and jumped myself, landing in a crouch.
The effect, however, was ruined as Misato plummeted on top of me, sending both of us to the floor in a heap.
"Have you been drinking at all?" I asked, finally, scowling as I climbed to my feet.
"Not enough," Misato grumbled, making her way over to a blonde in a lab coat. I stared at her, wondering whether I should be surprised or not, then shrugged, folling after dusting myself off.
"Misato, what the hell do you think you're doing, bringing civillians in here at a time li-"
"Can it, Akagi, I've had a pretty good day go downhill in a hurry, and I'm fairly certain it's going to get worse before it gets better."
"Ak- What the hell happened?" The blonde asked, obviously surprised by the outburst.
"Everything... or should I say, everything's going to happen," Misato spat, looking around the room suspicously.
"Well, I don't know what happened, but we've got a possible Angel in high orbit, and the damn thing is-"
"Eleven miles long, yeah, I know. I was just there. And it's not an Angel. But it killed one in about ten seconds," Misato said, walking over towards a big blue piece of machinery.
At least, at first glace I thought it was machinery. I gasped as I realized it was a giant armored head; an Eva's head. Misato was cut off suddenly by a lightly-bearded figure in black.
"C-Commander?" Misato said, straightening up. Glancing at the figure, who, to my surprise, was wearing a pear of sunglasses in the darkened room, I got my first glimpse of Gendo Ikari. He was tall, though not as tall as me, but just as lanky as I was, though he hid it well in his uniform.
Glancing at the guards, Gendo nodded, and they stepped forward, weapons raised. Looking around, I realized, as did Makoto, Nabiki, Archer and Bowen, that we were surrounded.
"Not so fast, Ikari," I said, stepping in front of Makoto. Gendo looked at me, his expression never changing, and I smirked, ignoring the ice in my stomach, "Before you drag us away, maybe you should tell everyone about your pet project downstairs.. or tell your son where his mother is... or maybe, you can tell us all why you have the first angel grafted to the palm of your hand."
Ritsuka gasped behind me, and Misato glared at the Commander, now that his gaze wasn't on her. Gendo, thanfully, had frowned, and I smiled more, "As soon as I'm done here, I'm going after SEELE, too, so don't think I don't know about your friends, either."
"Kill them," Ikari said, siftly. I winced, leaping twoards a thick group of guards and seeing Makoto do the same out of the corner of my eye. Nabiki, apparently having expected as much, had dragged Ritsuko to the floor, and Bowen and Archer were both firing, red blaster fire dropping guards before they could thrun the safeties off on their weapons.
Landing behind three guards, I quickly dispatched them with a hard blow to the back of the head, and a slight shudder when they hit the deck with a thud.
"Hope you're just sleeping," I muttered, leaping at another group, a moment before I heard the first bullet fly.
As quick as Makoto and I were, and as good as Bowen and Archer were with their weapons, when the last guard fell, and someone shouted "Hold it!" we all turned as one to see Gendo standing, arm outstretched, pointing a pistol at Makoto, who paled slightly.
"Resisting arrest," Gendo said, before he grinned. I Crouched to dive, moving as fast as I could, but I knew I was already too late when the weapon went off before I'd even left the ground.
-----------------------------
Authors Notes: Holy geeze... been a while, eh? Sorry about that. Been busy.. and going to get busy in the future soon, too... but I couldn't leave everyone hanging forever, so I decided to start on this, in hopes that it keeps me thinking about things other than "real life.
As for this one.. well.. being utterly clueless about Evangelion back when I started writing this, I thought it'd be fun to do an SI into a series my avatar had no real understanding of... I kind of chickened out and gave myself a cheat-sheet of sorts, but still, my avatar doesn't KNOW the characters like I do, and as such... well... There will be trouble ahead... and of course, I'll endeavour to resolve this cliffhanger... eventually. Heh.
"So, where are we this time?" I asked, looking at the sensors station below me and to the left.
"Stationary orbit around a planet... Earth, or this Universe's equivalent, My Lord. At least according to star charts. SHODAN and the Helm are working on achieving a geostationary orbit 'facing' the planet."
"Kickass. What's Earth look like this time around?"
"One moment, My Lord... once we've completed this orbit, we'll be able to.. There! Holographic representation coming up now."
Standing, I made my way to the holoprojector as a large globe took shape in the air. I frowned as I failed to recognize any of the landmasses. Where Antarctica usually rested was a reddish body of water that faded to the standard oceanic blue, and floating above the projection the words "Axial Discrepancy Detected."
"Holy..." Nabiki said, pointing to a lumpy island off the east coast of a large landmass, "That's Japan!"
"What?" I asked, frowning as I realized its position, if not its shape was just about right. Stepping around the map, I realized that all the larger continents were where their analogues would be... if they each lost miles of coastal lands.
"Antarctica melted?" Makoto asked, softly, crouching to look up at the remnants of the frozen continent.
"Multiple electromagnetic contacts detected from the surface," SHODAN said, sounding somewhat smug, "Multiple encryption types detected, attempting to decrypt communications on frequencies commonly used by the world's militaries around the turn of the millenium."
"Okay... can someone project outlines of where the coastlines would be on normal Earth?"
"Yes, Lord Kyle."
The holograph shivered for a second, and white lines appeared over the oceans where borders I'd expected were now, apparently, a couple hundred feet underwater.
"Well... It's safe to assume we aren't in your universe, Mako-chan," I said, softly.
"Where are we then?" Nabiki asked, straightening up and crossing her arms.
"I don't know... I don't really recognize this... Well, maybe Waterworld, but that was completely submerged... despite the fact that there's not enough water on the earth to actually do that..."
"So.. wait. You mean you have no clue where we are, whatsoever?"
"Not really. I don't watch every show, read every book, play every game, and rent every movie... Hell, I'm actually rather picky about what I like."
"Well.. shit," Nabiki said, to which I nodded. She frowned, and when I quirked a brow at her, she shrugged, "It's familiar, but I'm not sure why, yet," she said, shrugging. I nodded, and thrued to look at the wallscreen as SHODAN began speaking.
"Interestingly, we've been detected and scanned by an unknown form of electromagnetic identification," SHODAN suddenly announced. "The scan originated somewhere on the island of Japan, and communications in the area have begun to increase... decryption complete."
"So what're they saying?" I asked, after a moment of silence from the AI.
"-think it's an orbital Angel?"
"They detected your curse!?" Makoto asked, looking shocked.
"I don't think-" I started, shutting up when the communications continued.
"Possibly. Inform Misato and have them prep the Eva's... I'll see talk to Commander Ikari when he returns. Fuyutsuki out."
"Signal origins confirmed. Both were within a city standard civillian communication channels continually refer to as Tokyo-3."
"Tokyo... Evangelion." I hissed, looking at the holograph and scowling, "of all the lousy places... a damned mecha series."
"You know where we are?" Makoto asked, following me as I stormed over to my chair.
"Yeah, not as much as I suppose I should, but I know the series.. or know of it."
"So... you've never seen it?" Nabiki asked, smirking.
"There's been a sudden drop in power output from the Tokyo-3 area," SHODAN stated, suddenly.
I glanced at the earth, then shook my head, not really caring, "a couple clips in anime music videos," I continued, "a crapload of merchandise... Rei Ayanami's home series.. and... I know there's a guy, Gendo Ikari, who I think is a bad guy..."
"How informative," Nabiki mumbled.
She opened her mouth to say more, but I cut off her beratement before it could go anywhere, "hey! I just know there are giant robots. I dislike giant robots... to the point of hating them."
"Aww, whats wrong, someone hit you over the head with a transformer when you were a kid?" Nabiki asked, trying to lighten the mood. I just growled at her, then looked out the window as the Earth moved into view. I knew the ship was rotating and not the Earth, but since I couldn't feel the motion, it looked more like the planet was moving.
"I remember reading that the end of the series was pretty bad..."
"Bad like, nothing was resolved?" Makoto asked.
"No, bad like, there are only two human beings left on the planet," I said, frowning. Makoto and Nabiki both remained silent at that, and I nodded, "yeah."
"Are you sure that's how it ends, though?" Nabiki asked.
"No. I read that in a fic... but since other parts from series I know were referred to correctly, It wouldn't be too big a surprise if that was right... damned mecha..."
"Well, maybe we have to prevent that?" Makoto suggested, looking out the window at the changed Earth.
"Why?" I muttered, staring at the Earth. Nabiki scowled, and I sighed, "Fine, fine, lets.. beam on down, and say hello," I muttered, standing up.
"I'm going to check something... I might be able to..." Nabiki mumbled, walking out of the bridge before I could question her. I shrugged, then turned towards Archer, "You, Bowen, and another, going down."
"Yes, Milord."
Fifteen minutes later, A row of metal, garage-style doors materialized in front of me. Turning, I nodded to Makoto and the Officers I'd taken with us. SHODAN had beamed us in to the origin of the original communications.
The doors were all painted with a funky half-leaf and NERV, which I dimly recalled as the name of the main organization in the series. A moment later a blue car pulled up to a slightly wider door that was likely meant for vehicles. Instead of swiping a card in the prominent reader, she looked at us and frowned.
"What are you five doing here? This is a restricted area."
I blinked, wondering how to start this. Cocking my head to the side lightly, I decided on finding out if she was the person SHODAN had mentioned we look for, "Are you... 'Misato?'"
"That's Captain Katsuragi, of NERV, to you."
"Oh.. sorry, Captain. I'm the owner of that ship in orbit you were called in about. I figured I'd come down and talk to you all before you did anything rash."
"Anythin..." she stared at me blankly for a moment, then frowned, "Look, kid, I don't know what kind of joke you're playing, but you're trespassing on-"
"Damnit, I hate this series already! SHODAN, six to the Thunder, and arm the bridge crew."
"Wha-" Captain Katsuragi's complaint was cut off as all of us dissapeared, reappearing on the Thunder's bridge a moment later.
"WHAT THE HELL... just... hap..." the purple-haired Captain trailed off as she realized she was looking down the barrel of a blasters. I wasn't sure she recognized their design, but their intent I knew, was rather obvious to anyone with any experience with firearms.
"Well, Captain... welcome to the Jupiter's Thunder," I said, smiling. Tearing her eyes away from the weapon, she looked at me, her eyes widening in recognition, before she suddenly looked past me, and at the Earth beyond.
"OH MY GOD! ARE WE IN SPACE?" She shouted, making me wince. I nodded, and she paled, looking around, seeing the bridge for the first time, before looking back at me.
"But.. are you human?"
"I hope so..."
"Then.. but... " she suddenly paled more, " I'm dead, aren't I?"
I blinked, "Umm... no. Like I said, you're on the Jupiter's Thunder, my ship."
"But... Shinji! I have to go back," she suddenly said.
"Well, can you assure us you and NERV won't attack if we let you go back?"
"Not attack? You just kidnapped me!"
"You were about to blow me off! What was I supposed to do?"
"Call... our Public Affairs office is listed in the phone book," she said with a straight face. Makoto started snickering at that, I just sighed.
"I'm so glad you're thinking this through clearly, Captain.. err.. "
"Katsuragi," she said, frowning at our mirth.
"Right... Misato Katsuragi?"
"Captain Katsuragi. Operations Director at NERV. I-"
"Sudden spike on the bio-sensors, Kyle," SHODAN interrupted. An officer at the sensors station suddenly shouted in surprise, before turning to me.
"My Lord, something huge just appeared outside that Tokyo-3 City. Whatever it is, it's registering as alive..."
"Can you get me a visual?" I said, turning towards the large screen on the rearward wall. It flickered to life, and I gasped. It looked like some sort of Daddy-long-legs spider, only it had four legs, instead of eight, and it's body was covered in eyes.
"An Angel," Misato gasped. I snorted, "hardly, that looks more like a demon to me." Misato shot me an 'are-you-stupid' look, and I frowned.
"You have to send me back. I'm needed at NERV."
"But.. is that thing a problem?"
"A problem? Where the hell have you been the past few months?" she shouted, not noticing the weapons-carrying officers stiffen behind her.
"In another universe! Next stupid question?"
"... Stu.. what the hell is wrong with you all?"
I rolled my eyes, "weapons, light turbolaser blast that thing," I said, turning back to the screen.
Behind me there was a flash as one of the batteries fired, and on screen, a green bolt of energy shot down at the creature, only to be stopped by an invisible shield a dozen or so meters above it.
"Target is shielded," the weapons officer said.
"SHODAN, anything from.. err.. NERV?"
"All communications in the Tokyo-3 area ceased during the power failure... Sensors indicate the NERV center you acquired the Captain from is currently without power."
"What's that thing keep saying?" Misato asked, looking up for hidden speakers. Apparently, the Captain didn't understand English as well as I'd imagined an officer would.
"NERV is powerless, at the moment."
"NERV is the only hope humanity has! Better than that puny gun your ship is packing," Misato said, scowling. I glared at her, then spun towards the sensors officer.
"How for outside the city is that 'Angel?'"
"A little over a kilometer and a half. But it's moving fast, and there's an underground structure a kilometer in it's path, on the edge of the city."
"Fine, Weapons, heavy barrage."
"Yes, Milord."
Turning to the window, I grinned as suddenly the right side of the ship reached out with over a dozen beams of green light, all heading for the Angel. Turning back to the screen, I watched as the thing's shield managed to stop about half the shots before they suddenly ran through the space the shield had occupied, and burned through the creature's body.
"My god..." Misato said, wobbling slightly.
Smiling smugly at her, I decided to gloat, "at eleven miles in length, if you think I'd have only one light turbolaser, you aren't much of a military officer."
"I.. do you know what this means?" Misato asked, rhetorically. Suddenly, she straightened up and turned to me, bowing, "I'm sorry."
"Um... what?" I asked, surprised by her sudden sincerity.
"I.. no, NERV, is in your debt. You stopped an angel without using an Eva, or suffering anything more than a few craters in the country side."
"Oh.. well.. now we're talking." I said, grinning. Misato looked out the window at the Earth outside, and then turned to the ceiling.
"Was that teleportation you used to get me up here so fast?"
"Yes," SHODAN responded. Misato nodded, and then turned to look at me, "Can you get me into NERV? I have to tell them about... this," she said, looking around at the bridge again.
"Umm... I suppose. Can we come with you?"
"Well, not usually, but I doubt there's much we can do to stop you, so It's probably better if you do come with me..." She said, sounding uncertain, but resigned to her fate as a tour-guide.
"Keen. SHODAN?"
"One moment... power has yet to be restored. Teleporting in would be unwise, as the sensors detected powered doors inside NERV. However, when power was up, the structure was shielded so much the Thunder's teleportation system couldn't penetrate much more than four levels. I suggest going to the surface, and having the Captain escort you in once power is restored."
"Right. To the shuttle bay."
"My Lord?" Captain Archer asked, suddenly.
"What? I beam around all the time. I'd like to try out the shuttle. Besides, with a TIE-Fighter escort, I can rest assured that, even if SHODAN can't reach us, we still have an upper hand."
"Understood, Lord Kyle. Your shuttle will be ready when you arrive at the bay."
"Alright.. lets go see," I paused, scowling, "the robots."
As we made our way down the black reflective corridors, passing saluting officers and enlistees frozen at attention, Misato was apparently impressed.
"Woooow.... Ooooh!" and other 'I'm-impressed' sounds and words escaped her lips. Finally, she turned to me, "So that creepy voice that only speaks in english... who's that?"
"Oh, that's SHODAN. The ship's computer."
"That's an AI? It sounds... err... umm," she trailed off, probably realizing SHODAN could hear her.
"Yeah, I programmed her that way... She does an exelent job though, and her voice, unlike standard AI voices, is easy to distinguish."
"No kidding." the Captain grumbled, watching a mouse droid as it wheeled by.
Arriving in the Hangar Bay, I made my way towards my shuttle, surprised to see a string of TIE-Defenders slowly loop by outside the force field. Shrugging it off, and gently reminding Misato that we had to get her back to NERV, our group crowded into the shuttle's passenger area, which, I realized upon entering, wasn't at all as I'd expected.
From my limited experience with these shuttles, I remembered, or, really, had thought I remembered the seating being lined up against the wall bench-like, with a narrow corridor in between them. However, this shuttles was carpeted, the large, conforter-style seats upholstered in black leather, and to the side was a small drink bar and fruit stand that sat inside an aesthetically-pleasing transparisteel storage bin.
"Cushy," Misato mumbled. I nodded.
"Remind me why we never take the shuttle around?" Makoto asked.
"Honestly? I don't know... but that's going to change, I think," I replied, softly. Captain Archer informed us that there were a couple small beds in the back, and we all took our seats.
"Wait!" Someone shouted from outside. a moment Later, Nabiki came up the ramp, a folder full of papers in one hand, and a cocky grin on her face. Before she'd finished strapping in, the ramp had started closing.
With a rumble, the shuttle lifted off, and began it's trip down to Tokyo-3.
"So, Nabiki.. nice of you to join us," I said. She smiled at me, then nodded to Misato, before grinning at Makoto and handing me the papers.
"And these are...?" I asked, flipping the file open. At first glance, I knew they were printed webpages, the adress at the bottom of the page indicating Nabiki'd pulled them from my computer's history folder.. then I realized what I was looking at.
"Hey! Character summaries? Episode guides? Why-"
"Why'd I have this stuff?" Nabiki asked, finishing my sentence for me. I nodded, and her smile grew predatory, "unlike you, I didn't write off this series due to it's... title characters. Considering how many people on your world thought it was the ultimate series, I thought I'd check up on it... and I'm glad I did."
I grunted, a grudging note of acceptance, and started skimming the papers, frowning when I got to the later episodes, and quirking a brow when I read the summary of episodes 25 and 26.
"What the hell?"
"Yeah, apparently, a lot of people said that, because the next page contains a movie summary, which... well.. you were right."
Flipping to the next page, I quickly skimmed the summary, shooting Misato a blank look as I read about her death, then blanching as I realized just what I likely had to look forward to if I didn't intervene.
"Great... interfere, or it's LCL for everyone... Third Impact?" I said, suddenly, looking up at Nabiki. She nodded, and I went back to reading, ignoring the gurgle Misato made. I remembered the term 'Second Impact' from somewhere, and figured the End of Evangelion's somewhat apocalyptic ending was obviously another one of those 'Impact' things.
"Would you mind explaining what the hell you two are talking about?" Misato growled, finally. Glancing up from the character bios, I caught Nabiki's eye, then nodded towards Misato, before continuing.
Nabiki began explaining our origins to an attentive and apprehensive Misato, and Makoto started reading the papers I'd already looked at, while I finished reading up on the characters.
"Geeze," I said, sitting back when I'd finished reading the last page, "what a motley crew... does anyone in this series not have problems, or a shitty past?"
Misato shot me a nasty look, but turned back to Nabiki, and I grimaced slightly as I remembered her scarring past.
"Damn." Makoto said, as she finished reading. I nodded, her summary not at all dissimilar to mine. "So, how should we do this?"
"Well... I dunno... I doubt we should charge in recklessly, but, yeah, we need to do something."
"Can I...?" I glanced up at Misato, who was staring at the papers Makoto had placed back inside the folder Nabiki had handed them to us in, and I frowned.
"I dunno... it's not.. well... it's not good," I said. Misato frowned, and I sighed, "Well.. do you believe everything Admiral Tendo just told you, about... well.. us?"
"Not totally, but the proof," she said, looking around her at the shuttle we were in, "is a bit hard to dispute. And if I'm listed in those papers anywhere, I can quickly figure out if they're right or not."
"True," Nabiki mumbled. Glancing at Makoto, who just shrugged, I handed the bundle to the Captain, wondering how she'd react. After a few minutes of reading, in which her expression went from one extreme to the other, she looked up and wiped a tear from one eye.
"If this is true..." she said, softly, clencing the papers so tightly her knuckles were white, "If... Commander... Sub Commander... hell, even Ritsuku are... and Rei! Not to mention..." she trailed off, and I could feel her tensing all over, before she finally sighed.
"If this is true..." She said, turning to me. I just nodded softly, and she let out a big breath of air before throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling, unmoving.
"All this time I've been working to stop this from happening, and now... Everyone I take orders from seems to want it to happen."
"Well, now you know most of the important tidbits, right?" Nabiki offered, helpfully. Misato gave a short bark of cynical laughter, before turning to look at her, "I doubt I can convince the UN of Commander Ikari's intentions with a bunch of papers..."
"Not really," Nabiki said, taking the papers and pointing to a paragraph, "if your ex's package to Gendo was Adam, like it says here, then Gendo probably already has the first Angel implanted in his hand."
Misato nodded, then looked down at the papers again, "Well.. with... err... 'Lillith' in the basement, and Commander Ikari's hand, that should be enough to start an investigation..." she said, slowly.
"There you go. Your best bet is to give this to," I took a paper and skimmed it quickly for the name, "Kaji, since he's a double agent working for Japan."
Misato growled, but before I could say anything, the intercom squaked, "Lord Kyle, we're approaching the designated structure. There appears to be a flat surface for vertical arial transports, would you prefer to land there?"
"Err.. one second," I said, before turning to Misato, "can the Helipad on NERV handle this shuttle?"
"What?" She asked, frowning at me. Switching to Japanese, I repeated my question.
"Probably," She replied. Quickly giving the pilot approval, I turned back to her, "You know... how is it that you can't understand English, but you can read it?"
She frowned at me, "I can read it because everyone in Japan is taught how to read English, and a lot of the papers I recieve from the UN aren't translated. However, conversational English..." she trailed off, and I nodded.
"So, you sort of understand what we're saying?"
"Sometimes. Your AI is really hard to understand, and, as I'm sure you complained while learning Japanese, you all talk too fast."
"Err.. something like that," I said, looking towards the boarding ramp as the shuttle shuddered once.
With a hiss, the ramp began to lower, and Misato made her way out first, yelling something to the guards who'd more than likely appeared when they realized the shuttle was landing. They lowered their weapons slowly as she spoke, and then she turned and waved us down.
Walking out into the sunlight, I grinned at the guards, who looked at us warily, then to Misato, who was whispering to the guard standing by the door. After a moment, the guard nodded and headed inside, and Misato made her way back over towards us.
"What's up?" I asked, nonchalantly.
"Alerting the guards inside that you are coming in, and not to impede us," she replied. I shrugged, then followed her through the door.
"Oh.. right... powerless... on second," I said, digging out my communicator and calling the ship. A moment later a set of flashlights appeared at our feet, and I grinned, handing them out before flipping them on.
"Ouch! Damnit, don't shine that in my eyes! It's like looking at the sun!" Nabiki said, when I turned mine on. Misato snorted softly before heading down the stairs, the rest of us following her quietly.
NERV, apparently, enjoyed automated systems, as SHODAN had mentioned, because every hundred feet or so we'd have to manually open thick metal doors that looked like something I'd be more likely to find in space.
When questioned, Misato shrugged, "It's for security purposes," then she stopped and pointed at the stack of papers in my hand, "According to that, these are rather useful, so I don't see much reason for complaint."
Archer bristled, but I waved him back, smiling at the Captain, "don't worry, Captain Katsuragi, when this is all over, this entire structure should be rendered useless... though what is done with it is up to.. whoever's left in charge."
With a shrug, she continued downward into the building, ocasionally passing a guard who nodded once and let us by.
"Misato, how'd that guard alert everyone if all the doors we've come to are closed?" Nabiki asked, after the third guard.
"Radios. Unfortunately, with all the metal reinforcing the walls, their range is limited inside unless the MAGI amplify them, so the guard I sent off is running arounf the perimeter radioing inside, and havint the guards inside relay that message further in, and down."
Finally, we reached a door that didn't have a manual override.
"This is the main door to the Eva cages... But..."
"Hey, this grate's been ripped off the wall.. think someone went this way?" Makoto said, pointing towards a duct on the wall.
"I'm not sure..." Misato said, as Captain Bowen started inside. A moment later, Nabiki had entered, then Makoto, quickly followed by me, Misato, and finally Archer.
"Someone's come this way recently. the dust has been disturbed by... three people. Kids, from the size of the marks," Captain Bowen called back.
"I guess the kids read their emergency instructions," Misato mumbled, before yelling forward, "Follow the tracks, and we should come to the Cages!"
I resisted the urge to kick her in the head for screaming in the duct, and started moving as Makoto began again.
"There's a drop here... and voices coming from below."
"Who's up there?" Someone called from ahead.
"It's Me, Katsuragi, and.. err.. Guests. We're coming out!" Misato yelled. A moment later she yelped as I 'accidentally' crushed her fingers. Moving foward, I watched Makoto look below for a moment before dropping to the floor below, then I crawled to the edge of the duct and jumped myself, landing in a crouch.
The effect, however, was ruined as Misato plummeted on top of me, sending both of us to the floor in a heap.
"Have you been drinking at all?" I asked, finally, scowling as I climbed to my feet.
"Not enough," Misato grumbled, making her way over to a blonde in a lab coat. I stared at her, wondering whether I should be surprised or not, then shrugged, folling after dusting myself off.
"Misato, what the hell do you think you're doing, bringing civillians in here at a time li-"
"Can it, Akagi, I've had a pretty good day go downhill in a hurry, and I'm fairly certain it's going to get worse before it gets better."
"Ak- What the hell happened?" The blonde asked, obviously surprised by the outburst.
"Everything... or should I say, everything's going to happen," Misato spat, looking around the room suspicously.
"Well, I don't know what happened, but we've got a possible Angel in high orbit, and the damn thing is-"
"Eleven miles long, yeah, I know. I was just there. And it's not an Angel. But it killed one in about ten seconds," Misato said, walking over towards a big blue piece of machinery.
At least, at first glace I thought it was machinery. I gasped as I realized it was a giant armored head; an Eva's head. Misato was cut off suddenly by a lightly-bearded figure in black.
"C-Commander?" Misato said, straightening up. Glancing at the figure, who, to my surprise, was wearing a pear of sunglasses in the darkened room, I got my first glimpse of Gendo Ikari. He was tall, though not as tall as me, but just as lanky as I was, though he hid it well in his uniform.
Glancing at the guards, Gendo nodded, and they stepped forward, weapons raised. Looking around, I realized, as did Makoto, Nabiki, Archer and Bowen, that we were surrounded.
"Not so fast, Ikari," I said, stepping in front of Makoto. Gendo looked at me, his expression never changing, and I smirked, ignoring the ice in my stomach, "Before you drag us away, maybe you should tell everyone about your pet project downstairs.. or tell your son where his mother is... or maybe, you can tell us all why you have the first angel grafted to the palm of your hand."
Ritsuka gasped behind me, and Misato glared at the Commander, now that his gaze wasn't on her. Gendo, thanfully, had frowned, and I smiled more, "As soon as I'm done here, I'm going after SEELE, too, so don't think I don't know about your friends, either."
"Kill them," Ikari said, siftly. I winced, leaping twoards a thick group of guards and seeing Makoto do the same out of the corner of my eye. Nabiki, apparently having expected as much, had dragged Ritsuko to the floor, and Bowen and Archer were both firing, red blaster fire dropping guards before they could thrun the safeties off on their weapons.
Landing behind three guards, I quickly dispatched them with a hard blow to the back of the head, and a slight shudder when they hit the deck with a thud.
"Hope you're just sleeping," I muttered, leaping at another group, a moment before I heard the first bullet fly.
As quick as Makoto and I were, and as good as Bowen and Archer were with their weapons, when the last guard fell, and someone shouted "Hold it!" we all turned as one to see Gendo standing, arm outstretched, pointing a pistol at Makoto, who paled slightly.
"Resisting arrest," Gendo said, before he grinned. I Crouched to dive, moving as fast as I could, but I knew I was already too late when the weapon went off before I'd even left the ground.
-----------------------------
Authors Notes: Holy geeze... been a while, eh? Sorry about that. Been busy.. and going to get busy in the future soon, too... but I couldn't leave everyone hanging forever, so I decided to start on this, in hopes that it keeps me thinking about things other than "real life.
As for this one.. well.. being utterly clueless about Evangelion back when I started writing this, I thought it'd be fun to do an SI into a series my avatar had no real understanding of... I kind of chickened out and gave myself a cheat-sheet of sorts, but still, my avatar doesn't KNOW the characters like I do, and as such... well... There will be trouble ahead... and of course, I'll endeavour to resolve this cliffhanger... eventually. Heh.