Sea of Tranquility Chapter 1: Distant Chaos
"The following is a work of fanfiction. Neon Genesis Evangelion is the property of Studio Gainax, Studio Khara, and Hideaki Anno. Godzilla is the property of Toho Company, Ltd. and Transformers is the property of Hasbro and TakaraTomy. Please support the official release(s).
I do not claim any ownership over the characters present in this piece. I am deeply grateful for their work in creating such incredible characters and without their writing, my childhood and adolescence would have been very disappointing."
The infinite cosmos has no beginnings and endings. There are multiple dimensions where fantasy becomes reality and reality becomes fantasy. In fantasy, there are heroes and villains. In reality, it is difficult to know who is truly good or truly evil or somewhere in-between, unless you live their lives. But, as I said, reality is rather fickle in these parts, and our story, like any story, must have a beginning. Our story concerns three different beings from different worlds brought together by circumstances far beyond their control:
A boy scarred by misery.
An immortal automaton.
A monster born of man.
The story begins outside a rather insignificant rock in the cosmos.
The automaton had many names. Some called him Convoy, others Optimus Prime. He was a virtuous commander of valiant soldiers in a war that lasted for an eternity. Prime had awakened from his stasis a few hours earlier. He had fleeting visions of being gunned down by old nemesis, Megatron.
"Must be a glitch. I'll have Ratchet take care of it later."
The Commander muttered as he moved on to more pressing matters. A shocking image appeared on the Ark's viewscreen. The Earth, which the Autobots remembered as being vibrant blue was now an ominous shade of red. Even more alarming was the fact that the entire bottom of the planet had completely disappeared under an utterly bizarre-looking void.
"It must be a Decepticon plot!" exclaimed Ironhide, too shocked to say anything else.
"They must have attacked while we were in stasis..." muttered Wheeljack despondently.
"Prime, this must be a trick, right? Our friends are fine, right?!" whimpered Bumblebee.
"Sir, Teletraan-1 is working at 100% efficiency. It's no illusion." Ratchet confirmed sadly and sighed. "There's only three billion lifeforms left."
Prime set aside his grief and frustration. He calmly issued orders, as any commander in his place should.
"Scan for any abnormal energy readings. It should point us to whatever caused this. I fear it might be a new Decepticon weapon."
"Understood sir, deploying probes," responds Ratchet.
A fleet of reconnaissance drones launches into the atmosphere. A few seconds later, all of them relay signals but one is abruptly silenced.
"Sir, readings indicate a massive spike in the Japanese Archipelago!"
With their bearings confirmed, the automatons set out to avenge their fallen friends.
"Ratchet, prepare a dropship! Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack, with me!"
Autobots, Roll Out!
On Earth…
Shinji Ikari should have been attending school, like most boys his age. Unfortunately, his estranged father summoning him out of the blue and the giant monster currently attacking the city put a stop to that course of action. Despite the chaos and confusion, he took all in stride. Fate had been unkind to him in childhood when it took away his mother and it certainly wasn't going to stop now. His only consolation was the attractive woman his father had sent to pick him up. Shinji didn't know what to make of Major Misato Katsuragi. On one hand, she looked and behaved more like an eccentric supermodel than a military officer. On the other, her "expert" driving allowed them to outrun the attacking Angel and dodge any stray debris. Shinji was still trying to cope with this sudden turn of events when things got weirder. The car screeched to a halt on the side of the road, shocking the boy out of his stupor.
"Shinji!" Misato hissed in a hushed tone. "Look..."
The duo looked on in disbelief as a mysterious spaceship appeared in the skies over Tokyo-3, like a scene from an old sci-fi movie. It fired a couple of laser beams at the Angel and deployed a team of giant transforming robots who tried to distract it.
Suddenly, a radio crackles.
"Major Katsuragi, is the Child secure?" a familiar voice asks.
"Yes sir, we managed to evade the Angel. But-"
"We know. Return to base immediately. The Vice Commander will debrief you then. In the meantime, make sure to avoid contact with those beings."
Shinji never had the chance to say hello to his father.
"The Child." thought Shinji. "He didn't even bother calling me by my name."
Author's Note: I originally ended this chapter with a lead-in to Shin Kazamatsuri, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Shin. I have sinced moved his section to the beginning of a future chapter to provide a smoother narrative. To everyone who has read or favorited my story so far, I thank you.