Neon Genesis Evangelion: This is (not) Our Fate

by Mr. M.Mars

Sometimes I wonder if all we did was simply delay the inevitable. Sometimes I wonder if perhaps everything we fought for was in vain. Sometimes I wonder if all the trials we faced were just a prelude to something much worse. The sequel to That Which Could (not) Happen is finally here. Though the end appears to be in sight, no one can say for certain what the final outcome will be.

1. 00

Well, I was trying to work on my other story, but severe writers block and a burning desire to get this story going has ultimately won out.

So it's great to see all you guys again, and I hope that you've been looking forward to this as much as I have. For the uninitiated, I feel I should iterate once again that this is a sequel to another story of mine called Neon Genesis Evangelion: That Which Could (not) Happen. I advice you read that before jumping into this, but if you want to go straight into this, then by all means feel free. Just know you that you might be in for a bit of confusion.

I'm hoping to do weekly updates, but I'm not going to guarantee that. It might take me a bit to get into the groove again, but once I get a couple of chapters into it, my updates should become fairly consistent.

Enough of my blabbering though.

Enjoy!

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"Commencing startup." A disembodied male voice filled the inside of the darkened Entryplug. "Synch inhibitors activated. The pilot's synch ratio is settling at sixty percent with a point zero zero three percent discrepancy."

"Bump it down to fifty-five." A woman spoke up, her scratchy voice ringing of authority.

"C'mon, Misato." The pilot whined as one of her slender gloved hands danced across the control panel to her right. "Why do you have to make things so boring?"

"This isn't the original EVA Series you're going against, Asuka." Her commanding officer replied. "SEELE can't spare the money to construct repair nanites anymore. A high synch ratio would be overkill. Besides, if we bump your synch ratio any higher, you'd be at risk of injury."

Asuka squinted her eye and scrunched her features. "Only if Unit 02 gets hurt."

"Regardless, I'm not going to risk you getting hurt on a simple seek and destroy operation like this one. Besides, you'll be working with Shinji and Rei. It's not like there's any need for a high synch ratio to begin with."

The redhead let out a sigh with a mixture of frustration and disappointment, but more so the latter than the former. "Whatever you say, Colonel."

"One minute till launch." The disembodied voice filled the cockpit of Evangelion Unit 02 once again while its pilot settled back in her seat and punched in the command to open the LCL vats.

"Do you want me to go over the briefing with you again?" Misato asked.

"You were going to anyways." Asuka replied with a shrug.

"It's pretty simple. Only seven targets, and none of them appear to be wielding any weaponry. Also, this is a civilian city. So-"

"Make sure not to damage any of the city's infrastructure." Asuka finished with a heavy sigh. "Just like the last four missions."

"Complain about it all you want, but the last thing I want is to get my ass chewed out by the Russian government because you were too careless."

"I'll keep that in mind." The Second Child replied, rolling her eye as the LCL filled the Entryplug.

"Thirty seconds till launch."

"Good luck, Asuka."

"Like I'll need it."

The blackness that filled the visual monitor of Unit 02's Entryplug started to fade away as a vertical line of light began to take shape in the middle of her screen. The light grew wider, eating away at the darkness. Yet as the darkness faded, the light grew less intense, allowing for Asuka to make out a clear view of the Russian cityscape below. From her bird's eye view she could see the billowing of black smoke cloud most of the area. Though SEELE's EVAs had only been here for less than thirty-two hours, they had still managed to do a considerable amount of damage to the city.

Once the belly of the transport jet was fully opened, the massive red frame of Unit 02 began to come to life, but remained motionless as its limbs had been locked down. The crimson EVA had seen quite a bit of work done to it since the Tokyo-3 Incident three years prior. With the utilization of its S2 engine, an unlimited amount of possibilities had been opened up in regards to outfitting the Units.

Though the Evangelion retained its slender form, its shoulder pylons had been reinforced, as had its exterior plaiting. Its joints had been refitted with new artificial tendons made from state-of-the-art alloys, and its muscle fibers had been augmented through a higher distribution of power with its S2 engine. However, despite their best efforts, the two left eyes on Unit 02 were beyond repair after being damaged during the Tokyo-3 Incident. To hide the wound, a large black plate had been placed over it to conceal the gore that lied beneath, much like Asuka's own eye patch.

"Ten seconds to launch."

The redhead cracked her neck, followed by her knuckles. Once her joints were loosened up, she lowered her hands onto the control panels and stiffened her posture a bit. Even if this was going to be a glorified extermination, she still felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach, the same warmth that she always felt before going into battle with her EVA.

"Five. Four."

A devilish grin crossed Asuka's face as she felt Unit 02 begin to rumble, almost as if it too anticipated the awaiting battle.

"Three. Two."

Biting down on her lower lip, she readied herself for the drop.

"One. Disengage the locks."

The heavy bolts binding down Unit 02 opened and allowed the crimson Evangelion go into a freefall. With perfect form, the mech straightened out its body into a dive, cutting through the air like a blade. Though still a considerable drop, twenty-thousand feet really wasn't that much for something as large as an EVA Unit. At the rate she was falling, she knew she would reach the ground in a matter of seconds.

Using her monitor, she scouted out for any of SEELE's EVA Units, trying to determine where to direct her fall. Three appeared to the north of the city, two in the west, and one in the south. The seventh however was nowhere to be found. Determining that the one to the south would be the easiest to take down first, Asuka directed her EVA towards the southern sector of the city.

As the distance between them closed, she could start to make out the white Evangelion's grotesque features. In terms of appearance, they shared the same qualities as their more sophisticated siblings, but the similarities ended there. As Misato had said, they lacked the full power of regeneration like the nine who attacked the GeoFront. They also lacked the intellect of their superior counterparts as well, making them just that much easier to defeat.

"Gotcha!" Asuka snarled, shooting Unit 02's feet forward as she drew closer to her target. By the time the white EVA was able to look up and see the crimson mech's heel approaching its cranium, it was already too late.

Unit 02's foot ripped through the skull of the target as an explosion of gore erupted from the wound. As the now lifeless Evangelion fell, Asuka braced herself for the landing. Though the massive machine was completely unharmed by the fall, it still left a large crater in the epicenter of its landing, shaking the entire city around her.

"Asuka." Misato's voice rang through the Entryplug. "Why didn't you use your parachute?"

"What fun would that be?" She smirked, ejecting the unopened parachute from Unit 02's back. Once the extra weight had been dropped, Unit 02 shot forward towards the west sector of the city, making a point to hop over any buildings that got in her way.

Due to her very loud entrance, she didn't have to look very hard for the two EVAs, as they had already took the liberty of searching for her. Seeing her targets off in the distance, Asuka pulled out a machine pistol from a holster on Unit 02's right thigh and unleashed a flurry of bullets at the two. Though ballistic weapons often did little more than annoy Evangelion Units, it still forced the pair to separate from each other, just as the Second Child had intended.

Smirking, Asuka discarded the pistol and charged the one to her left. Though her enemy was able to sidestep her, it wasn't able to counter the roundhouse kick to the side she followed up with. As her enemy took hold of its abdomen in pain, The Second Child took this opportunity to direct a hard right punch to its trachea, ripping through its throat and nearly severing its fish-like head.

Seeing its partner fall, the other EVA Unit rushed forward with a sickening smile spread across its face. Asuka turned her attention to her new opponent and reached up to her left shoulder pylon, taking hold of her Progressive Knife as its hilt shot out. Without too much thought in it, Unit 02 drew back its arm and flung the knife forward. Flying through the air, the knife pierced directly through the EVA's chest plate, digging into it but doing little to halt its charge.

Frowning, Asuka rushed forward and delivered a hard kick to the protruding hilt of the blade, pushing the knife farther in. Blood red LCL began to gush from the wound after a sickening gushing sound came from the inside of the mech's chest. The humanoid figure managed a few more weary steps before stopping in its tracks as it gazed down at the knife that had now penetrated through its protected core. Letting out one last bellow, the monstrous machine fell limp at Unit 02's feet.

"This is just too easy!" The redhead shouted as she darted for the northern sector. "Hey!" She screamed, making sure her external speakers were on. "Come and get me you sons of bitches!" Far off in the northern end of the city, the three sheet white EVA Units turned their attention to the rushing crimson mech, the lips of their twisted smiles curling with what appeared to be sickening pleasure.

Without any apparent strategy other than a full frontal assault, the trio charged forward as well. However they lacked the speed and strength to match Asuka's Unit 02, even with her synch ratio being almost cut in half. The first to strike had its forearm broken like a twig as Unit 02 caught it with one hand and then delivered a devastating chop with the other.

While the first stumbled back, the other two started to close the distance between them and Unit 02. Asuka readied herself for an attack, but found that this was to all be in vain. Before they could come within striking distance, a familiar ghostly voice filled her Entryplug.

"Center the target." Within a matter of seconds, a loud, concussive bang shook the air around Unit 02 as the head of one of the three EVA Units exploded. "Pull the switch."

"Oh come on!" Asuka snarled.

"Reload. Center the target."

"You bitch!"

"Pull the switch." The second's head erupted into a fountain of gore just like the first, leaving the one with the broken forearm as the only one left standing. "Reload."

Asuka turned Unit 02 towards the origin of the blast and zoomed in with her monitor to find Unit 00 kneeling behind a building with its sniper rifle rested atop the roof. "At least let me kill this o-"

"Center the target."

"Damn it, Wondergirl!"

"Pull the switch."

As the final EVA fell to the ground, Asuka threw a wicked glare towards Unit 00 "What the hell was that?! I had them!"

"I felt this would be more efficient." Ayanami replied, her voice just as quiet and void of emotion as it had always been.

"Well, the last one's mine!"

"I don't see how that would be a possibility." She replied.

"And why not?"

"Look above you."

Asuka turned her gaze upwards to find that a large vulture-like silhouette was circling around both her and Rei. The redhead found herself grimacing at the sight, as it began to bring back many unpleasant memories that she felt were better left completely forgotten.

"Hold on," A male voice entered into the conversation. "I've got it!" Within mere seconds, a figure shot across the sky at an angle, crashing into the flying EVA. With extreme force, the winged Evangelion smashed into the ground as a purple mass pressed into its back.

Once the dust had settled, Asuka and Rei looked over at the heaping pile of gore of what was left of the final target, catching sight of a large purple mech emerging from the crash site. The massive humanoid figure stood on par with both Unit 00 and 02, but its jagged features and its purple and neon green color scheme made it instantly recognizable amongst the three.

"About time you showed up, Stupid Shinji."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Ikari replied, scratching the back of his head. "Ran into a couple of delays."

"Alright, you three." Misato's voice filled their Entryplugs. "All targets have been eliminated, and surprisingly minimal damage was done to any nearby structures. So good work everybody. We'll have a recovery team pick you up shortly."

"Aw, man." Asuka groaned. "SEELE either needs to step up their game or just give up already. These sorties keep getting more and more boring."

"I'd be careful what you wish for, Asuka." Shinji replied.

At first the redhead threw a beaming eye Ikari's way, contemplating as to whether or not she should begin berating him for saying something that could've remotely been insinuating that she was weak. However after being with him for three years, she knew that he would never be so bold as to suggest such a thing. Not to her face at least.

"Whatever." She scoffed, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji ran a towel through his hair for what seemed like the hundreth time, trying to get all of the leftover LCL out of his hair while Misato debriefed the three pilots who had yet to even get a chance to change out of their plugsuits. He glanced over at Asuka and Rei sitting next to him on the bench, finding that they had given up on drying out their hair entirely, instead just choosing to let the salty liquid drip and puddle around them. Letting a sigh escape, Ikari chose to follow suit and dropped the towel by his feet.

Misato stood before them in the small darkened room with a white screen behind her while an audio recorder picked up everything that was being said as she went over the various statistics of the mission with them. Judging by her tone she seemed just as bored as the rest of them, but when operating outside of Tokyo-3, NERV had to make sure all of their bases were covered, especially with the U.N. constantly peering over their shoulder these days.

The Colonel glossed over the details of the mission, and moved on to what they were able to uncover. Much to the pilot's expectations, nothing was learned from this mission. Just like India, Spain, France, and Afghanistan, they were able to find out absolutely nothing about either SEELE's potential base of operations, nor how they were managing to produce this many EVA Units with a presumably limited budget.

"So we still no idea of where these things are coming from?" Asuka huffed.

The lavender haired woman shook her head. "No. Just like the last four missions, the Dummy plugs corrupted before we could learn anything from them."

"What about the EVA bodies themselves?" Shinji spoke up, bringing Colonel Katsuragi's attention his way.

"We would need to gain possession of them and bring them to Maya for her to study."

"And let me guess, the Russians don't want to hand over the corpses to us?" Asuka snickered. "Typical."

Misato closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Asuka, you know as well as I do that NERV needs the government's permission to acquire the EVA bodies."

"Do I need the Russian government's permission to tell them that they can…" The Second Child stopped herself when she remembered that they were being recorded. "Fine." She scoffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eye. "I guess we'll just have to sit on our asses until SEELE makes another attack."

"Anyways," Misato threw a stern glance the redhead's way before duck tailing her comment. "To show our support in the relief effort, I have made arrangements with a representative of the Russian government to use the EVAs for cleanup."

"What?!" The Second Child shot up from her seat, her eye wide and her features tight. "We come all the way over here to save their asses, and now we're going to be their glorified janitors?!"

"Asuka," Misato sighed. "NERV needs to start showing their support to any nation affected by SEELE."

Shinji watched on in awkward silence as the two went back and forth. For a moment he looked past Asuka and exchanged glances with Rei, who seemed to be relatively unfazed by the two arguing. Trying his best to tune it all out, Ikari leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Asuka to finish.

"Scheisse erzählen!" The redhead spat. "I'm an EVA pilot! I will not be reduced to this!"

Katsuragi's eyes dulled and her expression was enough to signify that she was losing her patience. Quietly, their commanding officer made her way over to the audio recorder and flipped the switch before turning back to Asuka. "The reason we're doing this is so we can apprehend the EVA bodies." She snapped in a hushed tone. "It's a hell of a lot easier getting our hands on them if we're assisting with the cleanup."

"Oh." Asuka blinked. "Well never mind then." She said, trying to hide her faint sense of embarrassment as returned to her seat next to Shinji. "I still think it's stupid though."

"Well like it or not, we need those Angel bodies, and this is the only way we can get them." Her guardian replied before flipping the switch back on the audio recorder. "Now that that's taken care of, you three are dismissed until O-eight-hundred tomorrow. Understood?"

"Roger." The three replied in unison.

"Then you may be dismissed." Turning the recorder off once again, Misato shook her head and rubbed her forehead. If it hadn't been for the fact the world was in a constant state of danger at the time, she'd be tempted to say that she missed the days when the U.N. wasn't crawling up their asses all the time.

After the Tokyo-3 Incident, nothing was ever the same. Before, the U.N. would butt out of NERV's business for the most part and let them do what needed to get done. Now things were so much different. Between Fuyutsuki being more honest than pragmatic like his predecessor, and her leaking all of NERV's big secrets just hours before the Tokyo-3 Incident, The U.N. had severely tightened NERV's leash.

Truthfully, it was amazing that NERV hadn't been disbanded entirely. Had it not been for the connections Kaji had within the U.N., Misato knew for a fact that NERV, along with anyone under its employ would've been burned on the spot. Fortunately that hadn't been the case. Kaji managed to convince them that NERV was the only immediate counter they had to SEELE, and that should they ever return, NERV would be able to protect the planet from them just as they had during the Tokyo-3 Incident.

Though it took them almost two years, SEELE did indeed return. To Colonel Katsuragi's relief and strangely enough, her disappointment, it had been one of the most underwhelming returns she could've ever expected. Though SEELE managed to continue producing EVA Units, they were nowhere near up to par with the original Mass Produced EVA Series. It was like Keel was desperately trying to scrape up remnants of his former glory through ill thought out assaults, and that SEELE had its back against the wall, wallowing in its death throes.

And that absolutely terrified her.

It all seemed too easy. The remaining members of SEELE had more money than God, and yet they couldn't even produce a capable EVA Unit. They were collectively the most brilliant minds of the modern era, and somehow they were too lost in their own hubris to realize that they were fighting a losing battle. None of it seemed right to her in the least. She was almost certain that the old men were toying with her, but NERV was completely incapable of effectively pursuing them because of all the U.N.s red tape.

Letting out a sigh, the Colonel shook her head and fell back into a nearby chair. "I need a drink."

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji pulled on his shirt and buttoned up his pants as he made his way out of the boys locker room in this unfamiliar school that NERV had deemed their field base for the operation. Hearing the sound of running water coming from the women's locker room, he took a seat on a nearby bench while he waited for his fellow pilots. To burn the time, he pulled out his SDAT and popped in the headphones, letting the music take him away while he waited.

He always did feel strange when staying at these field bases. Even when he would spend the night in the GeoFront, he at least had some sense of familiarity with it. Here, everything was so alien to him. Even with Asuka by his side he still had trouble sleeping in these places. He felt no sense of security, no sense of that uncanny warmth he always felt when he was home. So this was how he filled the void in these unfamiliar places; with music.

About halfway through the first song, a familiar blue haired girl made her way out of the locker room wearing a plain white tee shirt and jeans. Even after three years, Ikari still hadn't fully gotten used to seeing Rei in something other than a plugsuit or her school uniform. Misato had made it a point to expand the girl's wardrobe, though she still rarely wore anything other than her plugsuit or her uniform. Even to this day, if Rei didn't feel like being burdened by her school uniform, she would just forgo clothes all together as opposed to putting on something more simple.

"Good evening, Shinji." She spoke in little more than a whisper as she approached and took a seat next to him.

"Hey, Rei." The pilot of Unit 01 replied, pulling his headphones out of his ears. "Asuka still in there?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Would you like for me to go while you wait for her?"

"What? No, not at all." He smiled. "You can stay here. I don't mind."

"Sometimes I feel that Pilot Soryu doesn't share that sentiment."

Ikari's smile slowly formed into a frown. Though she had gotten better about it over the years, Asuka had yet to fully accept Rei as one of Shinji's friends. Whenever she was around them Asuka would always make comments about how crowded she felt or how she wished that her and Shinji could be alone. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse than the days when she would simply tell Rei to go away and that she didn't want her around. At least then she was honest with her. Now she would just make constant insinuations until the First Child chose to leave of her own accord.

"Well anyways," Ikari tried to brush off her statement in hopes that he could change the subject. "do you plan on doing anything when we get back to Tokyo-3?'

"No." She said, keeping her eyes directly forward and not giving Shinji even the slightest glance. "What about you?"

The Third Child lowered his head a bit, staring down at his bare feet. "I'll be visiting my father." He murmured.

Ayanami blinked. Slowly her crimson eyes shifted over to the young man sitting next to her as she began to recall something about her former commander that she thought she'd never need to remember again since he was now locked away to rot for his crimes against humanity. "That's right. His birthday is in a few days, isn't it?"

"Three days." He clarified, his tone dry with hints of bleakness.

"You sound like you do not wish to see him."

"It's not that." Ikari murmured, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Then what is it?" She questioned, her crimson eyes fixed on the pilot.

Shinji exhaled. When he tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, this wasn't the way he was hoping it would go. "It's just that even after all of the things that happened between us; after everything he's done, I just can't force myself to hate him." Ikari rose his head back up and met Rei's crimson eyes with his hazel. "I know that he's a terrible person and that he's done so many horrible things, and I really do want him out of my life, but I just can't hate my own father." His words were solemn, but he gave no hints of sorrow.

"I understand." Rei replied, much to Shinji's surprise. "I too used to have trouble seeing Command-… Gendo as the heartless person that he had been made out to be."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"No." Her words came flat with no betrayal of emotion. "After hours of contemplation and thought, I came to realize that he truly is nothing more than a monster and doesn't deserve my sympathy." Her words were cold, almost mechanical. Never before had Shinji ever heard Rei speak this way about someone. Typically the worst she could ever feel about someone was apathetic. Yet his father wasn't even worthy of that to her.

The two sat in chilly silence, Rei's eyes facing the wall ahead of them while Shinji just stared at her with a mixture of confusion and surprise. However, Ayanami seemed to either take little notice of Ikari's attention on her, or just didn't care to acknowledge it.

"Am I interrupting anything?" A voice echoed throughout the hall as Asuka made her way out of the locker room, wearing her A10 Connector Clips and eye patch along with a pair of house shorts and an old yellow shirt that Shinji could recall her wearing to bed many times over the years. He could remember how loosely it fit her when she was fourteen, and though it was still a size or two too big, she had grown into it considerably since then. Even so, Ikari still couldn't help but admire how good she looked in it. She had indeed grown up from a pretty girl and into a beautiful woman, but at the same time Shinji still couldn't help but see her as the very same Asuka he met on Over The Rainbow almost four years ago.

"No." He replied, watching as she grew nearer to him.

"Good." Before anything else could be said, Shinji felt her press her lips against his as she pushed her hands against his shoulders, forcing his back against the wall. He at first tried to protest out of respect for Rei who was still sitting next to them, but found that he either didn't have the power to push her back, or he lacked the will to resist her.

Asuka let out the faintest of moans as she slid her tongue into Ikari's mouth, throwing a wicked glance at Rei while she did. The First Child's expression seemed to indicate that she was undeterred by her, but even so she still chose to leave the two in privacy anyways.

Once she was gone, Asuka let loose. Kneeling down on the bench, she straddled Shinj's waist and wrapped her arms around his head, grabbing a handful of hair. Ikari returned the favor by grabbing her by her waist and pulling her a little closer to him. Once Asuka had had her fun, she slowly pulled her lips away from his, feeling the heat of his breath.

"There sure are a lot of empty classrooms here." She whispered with a wicked grin. "I bet if we were to hide in one of them, no one would be able to find us." The Second Child added, lightly nibbling on Shinji's neck. "Not for a while anyways."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He whispered back.

The redhead stopped for a moment, throwing her sapphire eye up to Shinji. "What's wrong Shinji? Don't wanna do it in a school?" She smirked. "Or are you scared?"

Ikari managed a grin before giving into Asuka's will as she pulled him up from the bench by the collar of his shirt before leading him into one of the many empty classrooms, being sure to block the door from the inside to ensure that no one could accidentally stumble across them.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the far end of the restaurant, Ryoji Kaji and Kozo Fuyutsuki sat at a small table next to a window overlooking the beautiful cityscape of the rebuilt Tokyo-3. Three years ago nobody would have ever thought that the city would ever retain its thriving beauty after all of the damage it had sustained at the hands of the Angels, Yet there it was laid out before the two, a beautiful sea of lights that shimmered under the night sky while countless skyscrapers reached up to the clouds.

"I must say, you were right about the view." The Commander of NERV said as he cut out a piece of pork.

"It's nice to get out of the GeoFront every once in a while, isn't it?" The long haired man replied, turning his gaze towards the window.

"Indeed." He said between bites. "Though Dr. Ibuki is the one I'm more worried about."

"Why's that?" He asked. Maya Ibuki was a name he hadn't heard in quite a while. After the Tokyo-3 Incident, she became NERV's new head of R&D. He found it a bit strange to picture the meek and coy Maya in such a powerful position, but he wouldn't deny that she had the mind for it, as well as the dedication.

"Let's just say that she's certainly Dr. Akagi's protégé."

Ryoji almost frowned at the name, but managed to keep face. It was a name he hadn't heard in some time now, but every time he did all he could think about was that day inside the guts of Terminal Dogma. He wanted to believe that the memory of that incident would fade with time, but he was far too much of a realist to believe such nonsense.

"Works on a never ending schedule, does she?"

"You have no idea." The Commander took a sip of his drink. "She hasn't gone home in three weeks."

"Well that certainly sounds like something Ritsuko would do." Kaji replied. "By the way, how have the other technicians been doing these days?"

"You can spare the small talk, Kaji." Fuyutsuki's tone seemed rather flat, but showed no signs of irritation. "I know you didn't arrange this little dinner just to talk. What's the U.N. complaining about now?"

The agent for the U.N. frowned, looking down at the untouched food laid out before him. "They're wanting a progress report. They want to know how much closer you are to tracking down SEELE's base of operations."

"Tell them to read the last report I sent them, because nothing's changed. Unless Colonel Katsuragi brings back something of interest, then we're still just as clueless as to the old men's whereabouts now as we were three months ago."

"They're not going to be happy to hear that." Kaji sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Then tell them to quit restricting us and let NERV operate under its own authority. Then they'll get the results they want."

"Commander, you know as well as I do that they'll never let that happen. After what Gendo did…"

"I know." Fuyutsuki grumbled, sticking his fork into another piece of pork. "It's like fighting the Angels all over again. All we can do is hold our ground and wait for them to attack."

"Except this time standing your ground is getting you absolutely nowhere."

"Exactly." The elder of the two said. "Between the Dummy plugs corrupting before we can get our hands on them and the U.N. refusing to give us the authority to apprehend the EVA bodies without government permission, we can't do anything else."

"I thought NERV was in talks with India to acquire the EVA bodies from the attack eight months ago?"

Kozo snickered before taking a bite out of his meal. "We still are. If all goes well we should be getting them in about three months."

"Isn't that what the report you sent in six months ago said?"

"It is." He replied. "As you can tell, negotiations haven't been going well."

"I see."

Lowering his fork onto the table, the elderly man folded his hands together and rested them on the table. "However I can tell you off the record that Colonel Katsuragi will be seeing to it that a few pieces of the EVA bodies from this recent excursion will be misplaced during the cleanup tomorrow. I'm sure that you can keep that between us though."

A sly grin crossed Kaji's face. "Before I became a messenger boy for the U.N., lies and deception was half my job description. I'm sure it won't be too much trouble to leave out a few minor details in the next report."

"I figured as much." The Commander lowered his utensils and dabbed a napkin on his lips. "So I take it your visit here will be brief?"

"No." The long haired man shook his head. "I'll be in Tokyo-3 until the end of the week."

"I take it you'll be meeting up with Colonel Katsuragi, then?"

"I certainly hope so." Kaji replied with a smile at the very mention of the name. Fuyutsuki nodded at this, giving no vocal response. "Why do you ask?"

"It would probably do her some good." His tone came out dry, one that betrayed no emotion. "I think this war with SEELE is starting to get to her."

"How so?" Ryoji narrowed his eyes slightly, resting his scruffy chin on the palm of his hand.

"Like I said, with the U.N. holding NERV on a tight leash, our activities have been extremely limited. Not only that, but it seems that the U.N. has completely downplayed the threat that SEELE poses, making it even harder for NERV to gain permission to operate as needed. With Colonel Katsuragi being expected to not only work around such hindrances, but also still provide results, she's found herself in quite a stressful position."

"That's understandable." Kaji said, taking a sip of his wine for the first time since it was given to him. "When I get back, I'll see how many strings I can pull to allow NERV more freedom to operate. However I can't guarantee anything."

"It's better than nothing." The Commander nodded. Looking down at his half empty plate, Fuyutsuki felt his apatite vanish. His mind had begun to cloud with the invasive thoughts that always rang in the back of his mind these days. The brilliant heavenly light that emitted from the Prototype when it awakened and absorbed Lilith, the blood red tint that blanketed the sky, the feeling of dread that overtook him at the sight of the world's eminent doom. Though SEELE's influence was nowhere near what it used to be, he had no doubt that they were just as much a threat as they were three years prior, and the fact that he seemed to be one of the few people who realized this brought chills throughout his body.

The news channels had done little to cover the five attacks from SEELE past thirty second blocks on the six o' clock news, seeing their presence as more of a nuisance than a real threat. However they never neglected to present extended weekly segments on the credibility of NERV and if their existence was even necessary anymore. Even the lowlier NERV personnel had begun to leave to pursue other carries after ither buying into the media, or wanting to get away from the stigma NERV had gained in the public eye.

It was like all he could do was continue to say the same thing over and over again in hopes that somebody would finally listen to him, that someone in power would actually hear out NERV's perspective on the situation. However in the world's eye NERV was nothing more than a relic from a time that the world would wish to forget, and would do everything in its power to ensure that it faded away with the sands of time.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, Shinji!" Asuka called out to the pilot of Unit 01 as her crimson EVA lifted up a massive piece of concrete filled with rebar from a collapsed building that littered the street. "Pick up the pace! I'm getting sick and tired of hauling all this crap!"

"Hold on a second." Ikari replied, wrapping one of Unit 01's massive arms around the headless corpse of a Mass Produced EVA Unit, lifting it over the purple mech's shoulder and carrying the limp carcass to the center of the city where NERV's disposal team was handling the remains of SEELE's EVA Units. "Misato, where do you want me to put this thing?"

The lavender haired woman looked up at the massive robot and scanned across the open plaza they had set up at. With the other six EVA bodies already strewn about the plaza, there was very little room for the sixth. Holding the headset in place, she spoke into the microphone. "Just place it in that open area right there." She said, pointing towards an empty lot just outside of the plaza. "Our team will take care of it from there."

Unit 01 turned its head away from the little spec on the ground that was Misato and faced the lot. "Roger." The Third Child replied, making his way towards the outer edges of the plaza.

"Once you've dumped that, go help Asuka and Rei with removing the rest of the rubble. When you're done, just head back to the school and shutdown. We're going to be leaving in O-six-hundred."

"Roger." He said once again, gently lowering the limp white body to the ground before turning around and returning to the rubble filled areas of the city.

"I know that it has already been said, but Russia thanks you for your assistance." A deep male voice spoke from behind the Colonel. Rearing her head, she found a tall bald man standing before her. She recognized his face, but couldn't place his name. All she could remember was that he was a representative Russia had sent to oversee the operation, but that was it.

"Mr. Representative," She greeted. "What can I do for you?" She tried to sound as mannerly as possible, but she could hear hints of her irritation slip through. It wasn't that she didn't want to speak with him, but that she didn't feel comfortable talking to someone representing the Russian government while she was trying to apprehend remains of the EVA bodies under their noses.

"I just wanted to thank you as well as the rest of NERV for the great service you have provided us with."

"It's our job." She said with an insincere smile.

"I also wish to express that the Russian government is in your debt, and will not give in to the lies that have been said about your organization."

Misato actually found herself feeling a bit surprised. In the past four operations she had led since SEELE's return, this was the first time she had ever heard genuine thanks from a representative of the victimized nation's government. Typically NERV would simply be asked to leave the country as soon as possible the very moment the operation was completed, with nations just wishing to put these attacks behind them and move on. This time though, it appeared that they were truly gracious for the help that NERV had provided.

"Thank you." She nodded, this time with a genuine smile.

"Most other countries say that NERV isn't needed anymore, but I have to disagree with them. After seeing firsthand how swiftly and effectively your pilots handled the situation, I lost all the doubts I had in NERV." The Representative stepped next to Misato as she turned around and watched as the three Evangelions continued removing rubble from the streets and carrying it towards the outskirts of the city where it would be properly disposed of at a later time.

"Well, Mr. Representative, It's our hope to one day make a world that doesn't need NERV anymore."

"That is a world I would fear to see." He replied, watching Unit 02 lift a massive piece of debris above its head and carry it away.

"Trust me, it isn't." Katsuragi's words came out cold and carried none of the warmth she had presented earlier. "No one should ever be able to wield the power of the EVA, but so long as someone does, someone else needs to be able to stop them. That's why NERV is here."

"So when SEELE is defeated, NERV will be no more?"

"I hope." The lavender haired woman sighed. "If anything, those three deserve it."

"The pilots?" He asked, motioning his head towards the three Evangelions.

Misato nodded. "All three of them were given the option to quit piloting after the incident three years ago. Instead they chose to continue in our fight against SEELE." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "Once this is all done and over with, I don't know how I'll ever thank them for everything they've done." The Colonel stopped as she felt a hotness begin to form in her eyes. Blinking hard she got over the feeling and turned back to the representative, presenting herself in the most professional manner she could muster. "Sorry, but I have some matters to take care of. It was nice speaking with you, Mr. Representative."

"Of course, Colonel." The man replied, giving her a nod as the woman made her way away from the plaza and towards the giant headless corpse Unit 01 had disposed of earlier. Turning away from her, the representative brought his attention back to the magnificent machines as they continued cleaning up the war torn city.

Letting out a sigh, the man turned around and headed towards the tent that had been set up in the center of the plaza. The sun was hanging high in the sky, and the heat of this eternal Summer was starting to weigh down on him. As he stepped into the tent, he turned around and took one last look at the Evangelions, admiring them a final time before closing the flap.

XXXXXXXXXX

As the sun began to set behind the mountains off in the distance, Shinji took one last look at the city before boarding the V-TOL. Despite all the work they had done, the city still appeared to be in shambles. At the very least though, it seemed that the blood red LCL that had been pouring down the streets was gone, so it didn't look like a bloodbath had occurred here anymore. Taking in a deep breath, Shinji continued up the loading ramp and made his way into the aircraft along with Asuka and Rei.

"Thank God that's over." The redhead let out, making her way through the cargo hold and towards the upstairs cabin. "If I had to stay there for another minute I was going to scream."

Neither Shinji nor Rei made any comment, instead they just silently followed her upstairs and took a seat in one of the many comfortable leather chairs. Shinji threw his bag in the overhead compartment while Rei silently continued onward towards the back of the aircraft. Before Shinji could take a seat though, Asuka pushed herself past him and plopped down in the chair next to the window. Ikari almost said something, but instead chose to forgo the bickering and fell into the seat next to her.

"Did you hear if Misato was able to get any samples?" Shinji asked, leaning his head back against the soft cushioning of the headrest.

"No." She shook her head. "I haven't heard from her in a few hours." Stretching her arms out, the Second Child lowered her hands onto the armrests, taking hold of Shinji's hand which rested on the one between them.

Ikari glanced over at Asuka, catching sight of her eye patch. Even to this day he felt horrible for what happened to her eye. Despite his best efforts he was unable to save her from that tremendous pain the EVA Series had inflicted onto her, and that scar she carried was a constant reminder of his failure. However, for Asuka's sake he had always kept that feeling to himself. She never seemed to bring any attention to it, and he felt that had become her own way of coping with it. The last thing he wanted to do was do something to hurt his girlfriend's already admittedly fragile psyche.

Realizing he had been staring at it for far too long, Shinji quickly averted his eyes from her and tried to resume the conversation. "I'm sure we'll hear from her eventually."

"I'm sure we will." Asuka snickered. "These days I'm surprised she doesn't give you a briefing on what to make for dinner."

A chuckle escaped from the teenager, but he quickly composed himself. "You know she does that because she has to now that the U.N. is always checking in with us."

"I know." She nodded, using her free hand to pull the seat back to the point where she was practically laying down. "Doesn't mean that it isn't annoying to hear her spout on and on about trivial bullshit." Turning her head, she threw her sapphire eye towards Shinji. "I mean, don't you miss the days when we could do a synch test without having to listen to Misato drone on and on for an hour about our averages and projected synch chart scores?"

"Well…" Ikari found himself in a strange position. He couldn't deny Asuka's point, but he didn't want to sound harsh towards his guardian either. "I don't miss the Angels we were fighting at the time." He could hear a huff come from his girlfriend.

"Of course you'd say that." She replied, shaking her head.

"Attention all passengers, we are beginning takeoff." A voice reverberated through the speakers as the rumbling sound of the turbines started up, shaking the entire aircraft. Once the engines had started to pick up, the massive plane began to rise in a vertical takeoff. Asuka glanced out the window and watched as the ground grew farther and farther away.

"Tschüs, Russia." The redhead said before laying back down in her chair and kicking her feet onto the headrest of the chair in front of her. "God, I hope we never have to come back here again."

Ikari let out a sigh before rearing his head away from Asuka and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as he ever so slightly tightened his grip around her hand. Meanwhile in the back, Ayanami closed her book, unable to focus on reading with the V-TOL vibrating the way it was. She straightened out her back and peered over the seats in front of her, spotting the top of Shinji's head and Asuka's bare feet which remained rested on the headrest of the chair in front of her.

Rei's neutral expression began to slowly shift into a very small frown as she glanced over at the empty seat next to her. For a moment she stared vacantly at the chair, but forced herself to bring her attention elsewhere. Exhaling, she reopened her book once again and attempted to continue reading, doing her best to ignore the rumbling of the aircraft.

XXXXXXXXXX

The humming sound of the holographic projectors buzzed throughout the darkened room as the image of fifteen black slate-like monoliths hovered in a circular formation. Seven of the large plaques shone with crimson lettering reading the seven eyed insignia of SEELE, along a number to signify each individual member they represented.

Numbers 01, 03, 04, 06, 09, 11, and 14 brightly shone through the darkness, the lettering on their slabs glowing a blood red. The rest however were dimmed, their numbers cracked and the insignia broken. Those monoliths were no longer avatars for those eight members of SEELE, but instead their gravestones. Eternal markers for those who lacked the foresight to plan ahead and prepare for the worst possible scenario.

"We received a message from one of our informants in NERV. It seems that they have acquired tissue samples of the seven Evangelions we sent to Russia." SEELE 09 spoke, its voice harsh and raspy.

"It doesn't matter." SEELE 01 replied, His voice quite calm and betraying no sense of worry. "They will find nothing within the cells of those Evangelions but more questions."

"Are you certain of that, Keel?" SEELE 03 asked. "You are certain that it will not lead them back to your location?"

"Gentlemen, I assure you that everything is under control. There is no need to fear."

"What of the retrieval program?"

"The rocket has launched." The Chairman answered. "We will have it back within our possession in a matter of weeks."

"Then that leaves only the embryo."

"And Unit 01, of course." Keel added. "Rest assured that our goal to reinitiate the Human Instrumentality Project are going precisely according to plan. All you need to do is continue your funding and finish the construction of the new Lance of Longinus clones, and I shall take care of the rest."

"What about that child?" SEELE 14 growled. "The Mark 03 still has yet to see field testing."

"The child is almost ready. Just be patient."

Though none of them could tell through the faceless figures that represented each member, there was a unanimous uneasiness amongst them. After the Tokyo-3 Incident, Keel was the only one who was able to maintain his own base of operations at an undisclosed location. The rest were forced to hide in the shadows and could do little more than continue funding the chairman in hopes that he would ensure that their desires were met, just as they had with Gendo. Only this time, if Keel decided to turn his back on them, they had no power to stop him.

"Very well." 14 grumbled with reluctance.

"Now, if you will excuse me gentlemen, I have business to attend to." Flipping the switch on his desk, the monoliths vanished and the lights began to brighten the windowless room. Keel remained motionless at his desk for a moment before slowly rising to his feet, using a cane to keep himself supported.

The cancer had spread faster than his doctors had expected, and as a result he had to be augmented again. However, his old and feeble body lacked the strength to maintain such enhancements, and the results were less than desirable. His body was now nothing more than a walking life support system at this point, and he was the power supply. Though the cancer had ceased progressing, his doctors had informed him that his body would only be able to maintain itself for six months before expiring. He had been told that a month ago.

Time was running out for Keel, and he knew it. Each passing second he spent conversing with his associates was just another precious second of life wasted. He had plans that needed to be set into motion, and they needed to be set into motion soon. Death had become a very real prospect to the chairman of SEELE, but if everything went about as he intended, then his life would be spared and made immortal through Instrumentality, and he would let nothing in either Heaven or Earth stop him from achieving that goal.