Update update! Come get your update here!

Shinji reveled in the feeling of hot water. The shower was just what he needed. The warm water worked out the stiffness of his muscles. His arm and knee were back up to full strength. His mind began to wander as he relaxed under the therapudic warmth of the shower.

FLASHBACK

"Are you sure it's safe to be driving here?"

"Of course Shinji! We're not to far from the Hunter's HQ, what do we have to worry about?"

The car came to a screeching halt as an explosion tore away part of the rear end. Both Shinji and his guardian looked to see the Helmet of a once gone Maverick. Vile ripped away the roof and gazed upon the pair.

"What do we have here? Some human germs in a can? I was hoping for some sport!"

The next thing Shinji could recall was pain and a wet snapping sound. "SHINJI! SHINJI!"

End Flashback

"Shinji! Hurry up in there!"

The Hunter snapped back to reality. He had not thought back to that day in a long time. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling slightly. With a calming breath he steadied his nerves. He came very close to dying that day. If Zero hadn't come and saved him, he would be buried next to his one time guardian Mr. Anderson. He would never have met Maya and the others. Maya would most likely be dead at the hands of That Bastard Stag. Filing his feelings for later, he exited the shower. "Maybe I'll pay a visit sometime in the future. I haven't paid my respects since the funeral."

The Day was slow. He had received an E-mail from Zero informing him that Iris was up and normal. He was bored out of his mind working on his master's degree in cybernetics. Several IM attempts were beginning to irritate him. He has said it before and he'll say it again. "I hate people my age."

Shinji's fingers danced across the keyboard until another window popped up.

Pilot Ikari?

Shinji let his face show his surprise. Rei was not one to begin a conversation.

Ikari Yes Rei?

Have You recovered from the pain medication?

Ikari Yes Rei I have. Are you ready for Unit 00's reactivation?

I am prepared. The activation is still a week away.

Ikari Your not afraid it might hurt you again?

I have faith in the commander's work as well as you being there.

Shinji frowned. He lacked that conviction in anything that was attached to his father. God he wished he was back with the unit. Things were so much simpler then.

Hunter HQ

Signas was not a happy reploid. The orders he had received were ludicrous. He had little choice. Second impact made the Maveric Hunter Program part of the UN. He had no choice but to follow these orders.

"Alia!"

The navigator looked up, "Yes sir?"

"Call everyone together. We just got our newest orders from the UN."

The blonde reploid frowned at her bosses choice of words. "Understood."

The Hunter commander let out a heavy sigh. This was not going to be easy. There would be few who might like the newest directive. He made the short trek to the mess hall. The massive structure was a little war worn and the paint was slightly faded. Every hunter had stepped forward when they tried to repaint the place. Everyone was dead set on keeping the place the way it was. Sections of the wall were new from when sigma finally succumbed to the virus. "I'm going to miss this place."

Signas Watched as all base and hunter personnel filed into the massive room. He looked at the remaining hunter units with pride. When the base started out there were a full 15 units of 50 hunters. Now there were four solid units and what they called ghosts. Units reduced to less than a handful by the wars. Still recognized but considered decommissioned, the remaining members bore their unit patches with pride.

"As of tomorrow, this base will be closed. We are being transferred from our home here in Oregon to NERV, Tokyo-3 branch. This decision was made by The UN Security Council. We will all be under the command of NERV Commander Gendo Ikari. It does not matter where we are placed. We are all sworn to defend the world from the Mavericks. This family has survived worse; we have weathered scorn and suspicion. We will survive a bit of moving."

The Hall was in shock. Many were refusuing to believe what they had heard. "Commander! They can't do this! All of our equipment! Some is too large to be moved!" Douglas voiced his opinion.

At this statement the entire engineering division nodded and began to protest. While not the most hardy of warriors, they made the advancements and toys of the hunters. Every single one of them were a force in their own right. Signas had to act fast.

"I understand. We are going to have new equipment at our disposal. That which can not be moved will be replaced. "

This quelled the almost riot. The most silent of units were the ladies. The human unit, Zero's unit, were whispering amongst themselves. One stepped forward "Did you say Gendo Ikari?"

"Yes,"

"As in the moron who got requiem transferred. The one who has Shinji now?"

Signas, were he capable of it would be sweating bullets, "That is correct."

The entirety of the combat units was now on their feet ready to move out. That was all they needed to hear. They missed Shinji. One young man had gone beyond the call of duty and against standing orders to pull one of their own out of danger. He was constantly checking on everyone. When amongst hunters, Shinji was a happy normal person. Around strangers or in a foreign area however, he was short and to the point.

"A transport convoy will arrive to begin hauling the larger equipment in one hour. All personnel are to report to their rooms and to pack their belongings. We will begin transporting everyone when tear down is complete."

Everyone began moving at a harried pace to begin packing. Zero looked at Iris, "Why don't you send Shinji a message telling him we are coming?"

Iris smiled, "I'm sure he'd like that."

Illumina Site

A control chip was being fitted into a massive body. The reformatting has failed and Iris's brother lived on. He remembered his duel with Zero. HE would now see if Zero had taken good care of Iris…

Hunter HQ (not for much longer)

Aki was Shinji's stand in when he was transferred. The 26 year old human hunter watched over Shinji when he first started. The two had hit it off quickly and were like brother and sister.She worried when he was sent to Tokyo and watched the footage of the Eva in action. That was her little brother and they put him in that awful contraption. Look at how they armed it! She was going to find the person who hasn't come into the current century and beat them senseless.

Back at NERV, Ritsuko Akagi began sneezing.

While not commonly known, almost all hunters had a photo album. Aki was no exception. She looked to the open page. A picture of a small boy with blue eyes and a messy mop of brown hair caught her eye. It was a picture of Shinji still in the hospital from the near fatal run in with Vile. She smiled, "If you knew back then what your life would be like would you still have joined Shinji?"

Tokyo-3

Shinji saw the incoming E-mail. Confused as to why Iris would send him a message he opened it up and was dumbstruck by the contents. As his brain slowly began to work again a smile began to work it's was across his face. This caused those around him some fear. So far to their knowledge, Shinji Ikari did not smile. When his smile broke into a grin people began moving away out of fear that their class mate had finally snapped.

"MR. IKARI! Do you find something pleasant about the maverick wars!?"

Said person came back to reality. "Tanaka-sensei, you of all people should know that one."

The teacher blinked and thought for a moment. "I suppose I would. Very well, return to your study Mr. Ikari."

Shinji looked back at the screen to reread the message. Not believing his eyes.

Shinji, The UN is making the Hunters Transfer HQ to Tokyo-3. We will be in the city later today or early tomorrow. Can't wait to see you again!

Iris

Shinji closed his laptop and began packing things up. Screw being in this dump, he was heading back to Maya's and getting ready to see everyone. The lunch bell rang and he began walking to the exit. It was looking at being a very busy week.

It had been several hours before the first personnel began being teleported to the Geofront. Large canisters holding parts, equipment and small vehicles all formed from the beams of light that began raining down. Various Hunters in full gear began organizing the equipments and moving it to the waiting hover sleds. Soon the more prominent figures showed up. Two were in the middle of a debate as they were transported. The heated debate between X and Zero was an old one. "I'm just saying he needs to talk to people his age. He doesn't need to be around us all the time."

"He's around real people! Aki and the others are human beings too."

"People HIS age."

"People my age are very stressful to be around. They are loud and ignorant. I've told you this before X."

Everyone stopped and took notice of Shinji. Dressed in a new pair of jeans and a black t shirt Maya forced on him. A lazy smile graced his face. His speaking up was a mistake however as several of his former teammates rushed him and began talking excitedly. Zero turned to X, "We are his family, as much as both of us would wish different. I just gave in and watch over him X."

X frowned. He did care for the boy. Every hunter adored Shinji. His heart told him Shinji needed friends outside of their barracks, away from all the war and death. It saddened the blue bomber to think about it. Now Shinji was facing a different war. A war against an enemy they had no information about. X swore to help Shinji through this. The Evangelions were alright for some combat but they were woefully underequipped for a long war.

Most of the equipment had been loaded and moved allowing for more idle small talk. Never one to be shy with a question, Zero let loose with his interrogation. A small flurry of questions were thrown at the boy. Finally Zero came to his last important query, "So you staying in the NERV Barracks Shinji?" Zero asked.

"No. I'm actually staying with an old friend. Maya took me in actually."

Dead silence met the declaration.

Hello loyal readers. I expect to put another update for another story sometime in about two weeks.