Excerpt
From the diary of Ja'Ren
New Millennium (N.M.) 3106
Explorer IV archives.
"The distress signal came from an uncharted sector of space, The probe was damaged and appeared to be at least 50 years old. At the time, the archaic nature of delivery failed to attract much notice; it was common for crews in distress to rely upon older probes if the communications unit was damaged. But the garbled content of message did. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Our only choice was to investigate the signal. It was one that would lead us to a ruined world.
Prologue A voice from the stars
N.M. 3102 August 7th
Shinji Ikari looked up over the faint glow of the campfire, at the face of his sleeping sister. 'Sister? When did I start thinking about her like that?' he poked one of the logs with a piece of twisted metal they had found, the faint whisper of the wind the only sound in the silence. His eyes swelled with tears as memories of when he'd lived Misato came unbidden to his mind 'Damn you...!' his mind screamed silently at the man who had twice ruined his life; Gendo Ikari. 'Always alone... because of him. Did he take pleasure watching people suffer? Or was it simply a means to an end?' so many questions unanswered.
His father had taken everyone he'd loved; Misato, Kaji and Rei. He'd loved her, he knew that now, he knew it was the reason she had appeared to him during the third impact, saving his sanity and his life. He remembered how happy he'd been when the five of them, along with PenPen, had gone to the beach for four weeks one summer, all of it gone now. 'We're truly alone now, we are all that's left alive on this god forsaken rock' he thought bitterly.
Reaching around his neck he felt the comforting weight of the wooden cross. He still had Misato's rosary. Funny really, he'd never thought of her as a catholic. She'd certainly never gone to church. 'What does it matter now...'. "Shinji? You really should try to get some sleep" Asuka's whisper startled him "You awake?" "Yeah, it looks like your not the only one fond of staring" she said, the shadow of a grin lighting her face. She got up, gently pushed Shinji down, and then went back to her side of the campfire. "But seriously, try sleeping," she said with a soft sigh and then almost whispering, "Und Versuch, der die Sterne zählt, für sie ist die Engel, die Leben Wunder bringen... And try counting the stars, for they are the angels that bring miracles to life..." with that she turned over and fell asleep. Shinji starred at the stars, looking nowhere in particular, before he too at long last fell asleep. And if one could have seen across the borders of space and time, past our own universe, then they would have seen, in the middle of a nebula, the graceful form of an Explorer.
Aboard the Explorer IV
In an unlit room stood a young man, arms clasped behind his back, the only light coming from the faint teal glow of the nebula around him. He moved slowly, as one lost in thought with just the faintest glimmer of a smile on his face. His thoughts were interrupted by soft footsteps and as the door opened he crossed his arms and leaned against the railing, smile growing as he watched the slender figure enter the room. "Knew I'd find you here Ja'Ren..." said the figure as she stepped into the faint light, a wry grin on her face. "Hard day, eh?. You look like hell" he said as eyeing the circles under her eyes and slumped shoulders. " Wanna tell me about it Cass?" "Nothing unusual just a very long day. Mostly red tape... sometimes I wish I could just kill those bureaucrats " "Same here, love" he said as he put an arm around his wife's shoulder. "What about you?" "Same shit different day. Ah the joys being in command" he said stroking his thin beard.
They stayed that way for a while, bathed in the relaxing glow and enjoying each others company, neither saying a word. The sudden chirp of Cassandra's communicator interrupted the silence and the gruff voice of Harry Benton was heard by Ja'Ren. "Cassandra, is Ja'Ren with you?, cause I need both you up here right now. We've detected a distress signal"
10 hours later
The rumor about the distress signal had spread around the ship like wildfire, now the crew waited anxiously to hear the captains announcement. As the intercom crackled to life all movement aboard the ship ceased, the possible loss of an Explorer was a cause for serious concern. Many had family and friends serving in the corps. "As many have doubtless heard, about ten hours ago we detected a faint distress signal from an uncharted sector. The message was faint and very garbled, however we managed to retrieve the IDF coordinates. We know where the signal is coming from and as per standard procedure we will investigate and attempt to pick up any survivors" he announced "So now might be a good time to write your wills" he added with a grin. The crew couldn't help but chuckle, the young commander could have a twisted sense of humor at times. He was a man whom they knew they could trust their lives to. When he had arrived two years ago, at age 26, they had been skeptical at the prospect of someone so young as captain. But in the two years since then he had earned the love and respect of his crew. Though anxious no one doubted his abilities as commander.
Signing off, Ja'Ren let out a sigh of exhaustion. The faint message didn't make any sense, and the coding was of a type that went out of use 50 years ago. He slumped down in a chair, his head resting in his hands, he simply couldn't get the strange message out of his mind: "Third Impact............[static].........madman, evangeli.........[static]...crash...............year.........angel.........ner...Hel.........[static]" -----END TRANSMISSION
New Millennium (N.M.) 3106
Explorer IV archives.
"The distress signal came from an uncharted sector of space, The probe was damaged and appeared to be at least 50 years old. At the time, the archaic nature of delivery failed to attract much notice; it was common for crews in distress to rely upon older probes if the communications unit was damaged. But the garbled content of message did. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Our only choice was to investigate the signal. It was one that would lead us to a ruined world.
Prologue A voice from the stars
N.M. 3102 August 7th
Shinji Ikari looked up over the faint glow of the campfire, at the face of his sleeping sister. 'Sister? When did I start thinking about her like that?' he poked one of the logs with a piece of twisted metal they had found, the faint whisper of the wind the only sound in the silence. His eyes swelled with tears as memories of when he'd lived Misato came unbidden to his mind 'Damn you...!' his mind screamed silently at the man who had twice ruined his life; Gendo Ikari. 'Always alone... because of him. Did he take pleasure watching people suffer? Or was it simply a means to an end?' so many questions unanswered.
His father had taken everyone he'd loved; Misato, Kaji and Rei. He'd loved her, he knew that now, he knew it was the reason she had appeared to him during the third impact, saving his sanity and his life. He remembered how happy he'd been when the five of them, along with PenPen, had gone to the beach for four weeks one summer, all of it gone now. 'We're truly alone now, we are all that's left alive on this god forsaken rock' he thought bitterly.
Reaching around his neck he felt the comforting weight of the wooden cross. He still had Misato's rosary. Funny really, he'd never thought of her as a catholic. She'd certainly never gone to church. 'What does it matter now...'. "Shinji? You really should try to get some sleep" Asuka's whisper startled him "You awake?" "Yeah, it looks like your not the only one fond of staring" she said, the shadow of a grin lighting her face. She got up, gently pushed Shinji down, and then went back to her side of the campfire. "But seriously, try sleeping," she said with a soft sigh and then almost whispering, "Und Versuch, der die Sterne zählt, für sie ist die Engel, die Leben Wunder bringen... And try counting the stars, for they are the angels that bring miracles to life..." with that she turned over and fell asleep. Shinji starred at the stars, looking nowhere in particular, before he too at long last fell asleep. And if one could have seen across the borders of space and time, past our own universe, then they would have seen, in the middle of a nebula, the graceful form of an Explorer.
Aboard the Explorer IV
In an unlit room stood a young man, arms clasped behind his back, the only light coming from the faint teal glow of the nebula around him. He moved slowly, as one lost in thought with just the faintest glimmer of a smile on his face. His thoughts were interrupted by soft footsteps and as the door opened he crossed his arms and leaned against the railing, smile growing as he watched the slender figure enter the room. "Knew I'd find you here Ja'Ren..." said the figure as she stepped into the faint light, a wry grin on her face. "Hard day, eh?. You look like hell" he said as eyeing the circles under her eyes and slumped shoulders. " Wanna tell me about it Cass?" "Nothing unusual just a very long day. Mostly red tape... sometimes I wish I could just kill those bureaucrats " "Same here, love" he said as he put an arm around his wife's shoulder. "What about you?" "Same shit different day. Ah the joys being in command" he said stroking his thin beard.
They stayed that way for a while, bathed in the relaxing glow and enjoying each others company, neither saying a word. The sudden chirp of Cassandra's communicator interrupted the silence and the gruff voice of Harry Benton was heard by Ja'Ren. "Cassandra, is Ja'Ren with you?, cause I need both you up here right now. We've detected a distress signal"
10 hours later
The rumor about the distress signal had spread around the ship like wildfire, now the crew waited anxiously to hear the captains announcement. As the intercom crackled to life all movement aboard the ship ceased, the possible loss of an Explorer was a cause for serious concern. Many had family and friends serving in the corps. "As many have doubtless heard, about ten hours ago we detected a faint distress signal from an uncharted sector. The message was faint and very garbled, however we managed to retrieve the IDF coordinates. We know where the signal is coming from and as per standard procedure we will investigate and attempt to pick up any survivors" he announced "So now might be a good time to write your wills" he added with a grin. The crew couldn't help but chuckle, the young commander could have a twisted sense of humor at times. He was a man whom they knew they could trust their lives to. When he had arrived two years ago, at age 26, they had been skeptical at the prospect of someone so young as captain. But in the two years since then he had earned the love and respect of his crew. Though anxious no one doubted his abilities as commander.
Signing off, Ja'Ren let out a sigh of exhaustion. The faint message didn't make any sense, and the coding was of a type that went out of use 50 years ago. He slumped down in a chair, his head resting in his hands, he simply couldn't get the strange message out of his mind: "Third Impact............[static].........madman, evangeli.........[static]...crash...............year.........angel.........ner...Hel.........[static]" -----END TRANSMISSION
