Chapter Two: Welcome To NERV

"Did you hear that Marco finally got transferred?" Aleksey asked. Roman raised his eyebrows, "What, Daeletski?"
"Yup. Lucky bastard got that place in Moscow after all." The man said. "I wish he didn't but I'm probably just being petty."

Roman adjusted the direction of the VTOL, gently banking to the right as they headed east, towards the origin of the SOS. Minutes passed as nothing came up on the horizon until eventually, a tiny orange speck appeared. Squinting, Roman leaned forward to try and focus on it, seeing the speck grow as they approached until it was clearly visible; an orange smoke flare pluming into the sky. Around it was a cluster of dark dots which he could clearly discern as survivors. Switching the engines into Hover Mode, he slowed their approach before spinning the aircraft round for a better view. There were six men, clinging to a raft; all waving at the aircraft as it lowered down above them. "Aleksey, drop the rope." He said into the comms.

Nodding, the co-pilot got up from his seat, quickly clambering the ladder to the crew compartment. Throwing open the side hatch, he picked up the weighted end of the safety line before leaning out of the door. "Don't grab the line!" he called out before tossing the cable out, aiming away from the stranded crew. The line was to discharge static electricity the aircraft had built up, which could be lethal to a person in the water grabbing it. The weighted end struck the water with a splash before eventually sitting. Waiting a few seconds, Aleksey called out to Roman. "You're good! Lower us down."

Easing off the throttle, Roman felt a sinking feeling as the VTOL lowered to just above the water, the force of the engines to splash waves away from the craft as the crew one by one began to swim towards it. Reaching out, Aleksey grabbed the hand of the first crew member, hauling him up into the aircraft. Patting him on the back, he gestured to one of the seats before turning back to help the next one on board.

Eventually, all of them were aboard, sitting in the crew compartment repeatedly thanking Aleksey who shut the hatch before heading up to the cockpit as the VTOL took off again. "All accounted for?" Roman asked his co-pilot.
"Six soaking sailors and two badass pilots." Aleksey joked. "We're good to go."

-Two Hours Later-

The UN Trial and Success was a former Navy Aircraft Carrier, but had since been retired and replaced by the new Capital-Class Carriers. Rather than being scrapped, the Trial and Success was adopted by the UN International Coast Guard Committee, serving as a mobile operations base for Coast Guard Aircraft of any nationality. The deck had since been cleared of fighter jets and mid-range bombers, replaced by clusters of VTOLs and helicopters dotted around the corners of the ship, based on their country of service.

Roman sat on the deck of the ship making repairs to the VTOL as Aleksey ran a diagnostics check in the underside canopy. "Careful!" Aleksey shouted to him, banging his fist on the glass. "You'll knock a vent in the intake." He warned. Roman acknowledged this, taking extra care unscrewing the metal cover of the air intake.

The faint roar of another aircraft grew into being heard as Roman looked behind him, seeing a fellow YAGR-3B coming in to land on the far end of the deck. Unlike theirs, the craft was a light grey, its' details highlighted by white and red markings; they were military. Roman stopped what he was doing, turning properly to sit and watch the vehicle come to rest on the deck as technicians rushed toward it. Roman knocked on the glass of the canopy next to him, getting his co-pilots' attention. "What the hell do you think this is?" He asked. Aleksey simply shrugged,
"Beats me."

Watching things unfold, Roman saw the captain of the Trial and Success; Captain Alders, approach the aircraft with his Executive Officer at his side. The door on the side of the VTOL slid open and a handful of soldiers filed out, the four of them immediately standing to attention either side of the hatch, their G-11s pointed to the sky as a figure emerged from the craft. It was a woman in her thirties, with short dark hair and an Admiral's uniform. She began to talk with Captain Alders before the group began to head toward the bridge.

Roman went back to his work. Holding the air intake cover in his hands, he examined the part, finding the tiny split in the mesh at the bottom corner. Prodding the opening with a finger, he winced. "Damn." Tossing the cover to one side, he picked up the new one at his side, slowly beginning to screw it back on to the intake. When he was finished, he got up and moved round to the other side, where he began to remove the other intake for inspection. Losing track of time as he patiently worked away, Roman didn't notice the shadow descending over him from behind. "Lieutenant Roman Petrov?" a woman's voice asked.

Standing as he turned, Roman jumped slightly as he found the military Admiral stood in front of him. She took an ID Badge from her pocket, holding it up to him, which he quickly examined. On the badge was her name and rank, photograph and date of birth. In the top corner of the badge was the Ensign of the Japanese Self-Defence Navy, the United Nations Naval Service Crest and a third insignia which Roman did not recognise. "Junior Admiral Sayaka Akiyama." She introduced herself. "I've been sent to find you on behalf of NERV." Gesturing back to the military VTOL, she smiled, "If you could come this way…"

-One Hour Later-

Roman sat aboard the VTOL in the crew compartment, blankly looking out of the nearby window at the rolling ocean below.
"You're a hard man to find." Akiyama said, breaking the silence. "Wouldn't have expected to find you as a Coast Guard Pilot."
"Its' simple and I enjoy doing it." Roman replied, turning to face her. "But what is this about? Why does the military, or this 'Nerv' want me?" he asked, looking round at the four soldiers in the compartment, who sat and talked quietly to each other.

"It'd be easier to explain when we land." She answered, "You've never heard of NERV?" Roman shook his head. "We're an International Task Force dedicated to scientific research and defence, we have bases all over the world; the US, Germany, China, South Africa and Japan to name a few." Roman shrugged,
"That raises more questions than it answers." He replied quietly, going back to staring out of the viewport as the rolling waves quickly morphed into green hills and tall buildings as they finally reached the Japanese mainland.

Shortly after the Second Impact, when international tensions skyrocketed, the city of Tokyo had been completely wiped out by a nuclear bomb. After the crisis, habitable outskirts of the city had been rebuilt, aptly named Tokyo2. However in recent years, an entirely new city had emerged further southeast where Hakone once stood, the new city soon becoming the technological spearhead of the world; Tokyo3. The large valley was completely filled with endless rows upon rows of gigantic skyscrapers and Towers. Sunlight reflected off of the silver surfaces of the buildings as the VTOL flew overhead, the glare causing Roman to look away. The cockpits of VTOLS were always equipped with anti-glare systems, but the crew compartment viewports were left unprotected; a design flaw he had never really noticed.

The co-pilot emerged from the underside canopy, walking into the crew compartment, over to Admiral Akiyama. "We'll be landing in three minutes, ma'am." The woman nodded, turning to Roman,
"You'll get your answers soon enough, Lieutenant." She said calmly.