CHAPTER 32: SETTING THE STAGE

Misato was out of town, she had left that morning for the secondary facility at Matsushiro. She didn't tell Shinji why because she didn't need to. It was the activation test for EVA Unit-03. Shinji knew that Toji would be there as well. As she was leaving, after explaining that Kaji would be minding the fort while she was gone, Shinji said "Tell Toji I said 'Good luck, punching bag'?" Misato chuckled and nodded.

The evening, Shinji was sitting at the dining table, reading through a copy of Ender's Game. But his mind was elsewhere. Something about the Unit-03 activation test didn't feel right. Add to that with the latest rumors on the Dummy System; Rei being absent more and more from school; rumors of troop mobilizations in China. This Captain Tokarev guy also didn't sit well with Shinji. And not because of some sub-conscious bigotry. The guy just had a bad vibe to him. "Kaji sure spends a lot of time in the bath," Asuka mumbled as she watched her soap opera.

"Mmm," Shinji muttered in reply.

"You heard about who the Fourth Child is, right?"

"Mmm."

"Never thought he'd be an EVA pilot"

"Mmm." Asuka groaned under her breath at Shinji's responses.

"I kinda wish we had S2 engines for our EVAs," She said in a more upbeat tone.

"Mmm."

"Sure would make battles a lot easier without having to worry about our power supply."

"Mmm."

"Well you're talkative tonight," the German redhead retorted, glaring back over at Shinji.

Shinji pasued for a second before responding with "Mmm."

"Pfeh." The redhead went back to her soap.

"Ah," Kaji exhaled as he exited the bath, robe around his body and drying his hair with a towel. "That was refreshing." It then that Kaji toke note of the uneasy tension in the room. He looked to Asuka who appeared to be focused on the TV, with Pen-Pen half asleep beside her. Then he looked over at Shinji who was brooding while his nose was buried in his book. "Don't tell me you two are fighting again. Or are you only like this when Misato isn't here?"

"Either?" Shinji asked rhetorically, looking up at Kaji with a quirked eyebrow.

"I wanna be happy, Kaji," Asuka whined, magically hitting a note that made Shinji's stomach do backflips. "Especially since you're spending the night."
"Hurg," Shinji faked a barfing sound.

"Oh!" Asuka snapped at the Third Child. "Why-why don't you-!?" She struggled for an insult.

"I'm waiting," Shinji smirked in her general direction. "Still waiting…"

"Go suck a fuck, Shinji!"

"Asuka!" Kaji snapped at her.

"'Suck a fuck'?" Shinji asked with a perplexed look and a sarcastic chuckle. "How imaginative. Tell me, Asuka, how does one 'suck a fuck'?"

"Shinji," Kaji groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'Misato must have the patience of Job to put up with this shit.'

"Why are you asking me?" Asuka shrieked.

"Well, since you were the one to suggest it," Shinji stated matter-of-factly, "I can only assumethat you-"

"Whoa-okay!" Kaji interjected before Shinji could finish. "I got an idea! How about we all just go to bed? Huh? A good night's rest can make all the difference in the world. How about it?" But before either teen could respond he cheered, "Outstanding! Lights out, kids!"

XXXXX

The next morning, Misato and Ritsuko woke up at the Matsushiro facility to get everything ready for Unit-03's arrival. Once the work crews were set to getting the ad hoc facility up and running the duo went to the airfield to pick up the EVA. But, its delivery was delayed. "So, Shinji's taking it well?" Ritsuko asked as she and Misato waited in the transport at the airfield. Unit-03 was currently en-route via polar trajectory from Maine in the northeastern US to Matsushiro, which was well north of Tokyo-3. Due to its route and the state of affairs with certain foreign governments it was escorted by four USAF F-22 Raptors. Even though the flight was wide knowledge within the UN, in case any 'rogue elements' in Russia thought it was a bomber flight, the US wasn't taking any chances.

"As well as can be," Misato replied with a shrug. "I know he's not happy about it. But he knows there's nothing he can really do about it though. And it's got me more worried now than ever."

"What makes you say that?" Ritsuko had her eyes glued to her data pad. She was always going over data. And this experiment would require her best efforts, to the max.

"This is Shinji we're talking about, Ritsuko," Misato said tapping her fingers against the glass. "Don't you remember what happened when he first came here? How agitated he got when Commander Ikari told him to pilot? And then how pissed off he became when Rei was brought out?"

"How can I forget?" Ritsuko rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It's not everyday someone takes your gun, Misato, and then points it at your face." Ritsuko was half-surprised that Misato bore no hard feelings towards Shinji for holding her at gun point. She was even more surprised when the Commander didn't seem to care the next day. When she brought it up his response was 'what about it'.

"And that was over Rei, someone he didn't even know. If anything happens to Toji…the only word I can think of to describe how livid Shinji would become is: feral."

"Don't you think you might be exaggerating?"

"No I don't," Misato shook her head. 'Shinji also got a secretive past that he doesn't seem eager to share. Even now I don't know what all he did during the invasion.'

"Look, he may be a fantastic EVA pilot, and he may be a decent martial artist," Ritsuko was personally unaware of Shinji being an ex-Wolverine. "But he's still just a teenager. What harm can he really do?"

"I'm serious, Ritz. Shinji is the type who can either be your very best friend or your worst enemy. And if he's your enemy, he'll give a whole new meaning to the word 'berserker'." She then looked over at the doctor with multiple PhD's. "You don't live with him or interact with him on a daily basis. But even then there's sides to Shinji that I haven't seen yet."

"I see your point," Ritsuko agreed with a slight hum. "He can get pretty confrontational. And he hasn't exactly been the most chipper individual. Or the easiest person to work with. What with his frequent insubordination."

"I wouldn't really call it 'insubordination'," Misato objected as she returned to looking out the window. "Just opinionated. That and he's not all that enthused about overzealous authority." Sure Shinji ignored orders on more than one occasion, but until the last battle, he's made the right call. And he was a loyal team member to a fault. "You have to earn his trust and respect."

"Speaking of enthusiasm," Ritsuko saw there was no real need to push the subject, so she changed it, "the Fourth wasn't very excited either. He said he still vividly remembered the time when he and his other classmate were trapped inside Unit-01 during that one battle. Said he didn't feel like putting himself in that position again. He even said he respected Shinji for being so willing to continue to do it."

"But he still said yes," Misato groaned.

"Only on the condition that we move his injured kid sister to our private clinic."

"Did he ask that himself?" Misato leered at the head of Project-E. "Or did you make the 'offer'?"

"He asked," Ritsuko sighed. "Yes, I would've pitched it anyways. But seeing how Shinji's been affected by that last battle, signs that he could be on the verge of burning out, don't you think it's prudent to have as many pilots as possible?"

"Yeah," Misato reluctantly agreed. "But that's not the point. And I hate that we have to use kids as pilots." She then looked at her watch. At the same time, Ritsuko received a text on her phone.

"The Fourth Child has arrived at the facility," she announced to Misato. "They're fitting him with a plug suit now. Everything should be ready when we return later in the afternoon." Misato just grunted in response.

"Where the hell is that plane?" As if on cue, said aircraft broke through the clouds on final approach. Beneath the massive flying wing aircraft, suspended in a crucifix manner was the dark blue colored EVA Unit-03. "There he is and he's over two hours late," Misato grumbled. "You know, this is the first time I've ever waited for someone this long."

"That's because you never waited for guys back when you could still get a date," Ritsuko chuckled.

"Oh shut up."

XXXX

Shinji was back on the roof of the school, just finishing his lunch, when Kensuke handed him a thumb drive. "Is this…?" The former Wolverine asked his classmate.

"Yeah," Kensuke said nervously. "That's everything I felt comfortable gathering. It…it's not much but…"

"It'll do, Kensuke," Shinji said standing up. He then noted how pale the spectacled otaku was. "You find something that bothered you?"

"Just about all of it," Kensuke said before heading back into the school.

When he got back to class, Shinji ignored the teacher's monologue and began going through the thumb drive. "Shinji," a note pad opened up when he opened the file on the thumb drive. "I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, if anything at all. But after fulfilling you 'favor' I can't help but give you a warning. I know I've been harping about getting into the action and all but, this is too rich for my blood, man. I honestly hope this doesn't snowball or anything. But, I just felt compelled to give you a heads up. –Kensuke." Shinji glanced over at Kensuke who just looked back and then turned his head away. Shinji then turned his attention back to the file. He opened the first folder tagged 'Bio'.

'Holy shit,' Shinji said to himself as soon as it opened. 'Born 23 March 1984 in Volgograd…Served in the 7th Guards Airborne Division from 2004 to 2011, right up until the Ultranationalist coup." There was a picture of him, taken somewhere in Chechnya, with other VDV paratroopers. 'Nothing on what he did during the coup. Although the 7th Guards were mostly loyal to the Ultranationalist party. Then he was in the 3rd Spetsnaz Brigade from '11 to '16. Suspected to be involved in the Baltimore 200 Massacre, the son of a bitch…' Kensuke had managed to find a partially redacted Russian file, translated into English, about the Baltimore massacre, Tokarev's name was in the midst of a multitude of black lines. No real way of knowing the significance. But it still left a bad taste in Shinji's mouth. '3rd Spetsnaz was confirmed to have had teams scattered through New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Let's see what else?' He scrolled down to the end of the file and saw a picture of Tokarev at an award ceremony in Moscow, a bandage covering the left half of his face. 'Medically discharged in winter of 2016 following injuries sustained in the line of duty. Moderate shrapnel wounds. Probably what caused him to lose his eye?'

Shinji closed the folder and opened the one titled 'decorations'. Not much there that Kensuke found, but what he did find was impressive. Cross of St George 3rd Class, three Medals 'For Courage', at least one Medal of Zhukov and the Order of Zakhaev 2nd Class. 'That last one means he definitely saw heavy fighting on US soil!' Shinji read on and on about Captain Sergei Tokarev, determined to learn as much about this potential adversary as he could.

XXXXX

White House

Washington, D.C., USA

The new President was just returning from the rededication ceremony of the Washington Monument. Symbolically, the ceremony also served as the final act of the reconstruction of the national capitol. The President even moved the lever that lowered the repaired capstone onto the top of the obelisk. The crowd cheered as the seat of American Government was "back to normal". But, looking around, the President still saw plenty of scars from the invasion.

The grass in many areas had yet to grow back, sod had been placed in others, sharply contrasting with what remained of the original lawns. The reflector pool on the Mall was still drained, having been flooded with blood, human remains and waste and other muck as a result of the fighting. Many buildings, though repaired or rebuilt, were still either without power or occupants. And some, like the Smithsonian, were virtually empty of their relics; either destroyed or removed for preservation.

'Two hundred and three years,' the President, who held a Masters in American History from UC Boulder, said to himself. 'Two hundred and three years since the British burned this great city during the War of 1812. And it had to happen right in the middle of the election.' His predecessor, who was just leaving office, had managed to ensure the US military was able to resist the invasion. Barely. But, it was the best anyone could do during such a surprise blitzkrieg. His rival during the election had been killed in one of the opening strikes, leading to the current President's de facto 'victory'. 'Victory? A real bittersweet way to 'win' an election.'

"Gentlemen," the President said as he entered the Oval Office. The SECDEF, his National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of State and the commanding officer of Task Force 141 were waiting for him. "I understand there's some potential trouble brewing on the other side of the Pacific?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. President," National Security Advisor Walter Neill acknowledged. "The People's Liberation Army Air Force's 15th Airborne Corps, about thirty thousand strong, is still in the midst of war games. They keep alternating the state of readiness between the three divisions. Almost as though they're trying to keep the men sharp and ready to deploy at a moment's notice without breaking them. NSA and CIA concur that their training regime is not likely in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan, or the Philippines."

"What leads them to believe that?"

"None of none of their war games involve coordination with any naval elements of the PLA Navy or their Marines. Whatever they're preparing for, it would appear to be a deep penetration air-assault of some type. Furthermore, the Japanese Self Defense Force, specifically their Special Mission unit within the SSDF, are also conducting some rather curious training."

"Theories?"

"Sir," Colonel Marshall spoke up, "Task Force 141 has been analyzing intelligence coming out of both Japan and Central Europe. CIA sources within the UN coincide with what we believe to be preparations of a joint maneuver between PLA and JSSDF. This maneuver, which we do not believe to be an exercise, will be conducted under the auspices of the United Nations."

"The CHICOMs and the Japanese joining forces militarily?" The President asked. "What the hell could be their objective?"

"Tokyo-3, sir," the TF-141 CO replied. "We believe this is all happening at the behest of the SEELE Council. It takes some serious string pulling to get the Chinese and the Japanese to cooperate on anything. It would appear that NERV and SEELE are on the verge of splintering off from one another. And not under friendly terms."

"Mother of God," the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States rubbed his forehead. "And you believe that this is all in an effort to do what?"

"We are not sure, sir, but we do know, from 141 assets on the ground in Tokyo-3, that whatever happens, we cannot allow NERV to fall under the direct control of SEELE. Nor can we allow them to go rogue."

"Recommendations?"

"Mr. President," the Chairman of the JCS, Admiral Rick Preston spoke up, "at the recommendation of Colonel Marshall, we've already directed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Southwest Pacific to begin their deployment training cycle. We've also directed the 15th MEU out of Camp Pendleton to transition into a Special Operations Capable training cycle. Battle group and ESG commanders in both the 3rd and 7th Fleets have been notified to stand by for tasking."

"Admiral!" SECSTATE snapped as she tossed her binder onto the table. "You can seriously be advocating that we invade a sovereign and allied country under the mere suspicion that…"

"No ma'am," Colonel Marshall interjected. "We're placing forces on stand-by alert in the event that an international military force, under the control of a corrupt, and secretive organization, invades, or attempts to invade, that allied nation."

"But surely it shouldn't come to military force!" She had historically been an ardent opponent of using military power as a tool of foreign policy. "There must be diplomatic avenues that can be pursued."

"Madam Secretary," Admiral Preston added. "That risks SEELE being tipped-off that we're onto them. They've gone to great lengths to keep themselves secluded from the world. And the Colonel's task force has gone to equally great lengths to keep their activities from being noticed by SEELE."

"He's right, Carol," Neill agreed. "SEELE has its tentacles all over the place. If they get one whiff of this, the gig is up. And our assets in Tokyo-3 will likely have their covers burned."

"We've just ended one war and now we're about to head into another…" The President mumbled to himself.

"No sir," the admiral shook his head. "Not a war. A police action. Yes, there will be casualties. But, there's no alternative."

"Very well," the President agreed. "Get the pieces moving and the players warmed up. And do keep me informed on any developments."

"Yes, sir, Mr. President." The group stood to leave.

"A moment, Colonel Marshall?" The President stopped the Army Ranger who nodded and took a few steps towards his Commander-in-Chief. "Tell me, honestly," the President asked once the others were out of the room, "Odds?"

"Of success?"

"Of anything, Colonel."

"Sir, the plan we're working on is loosely based on operational plans drafted up in the twilight hours of the Second World War. And casualty estimates for that operation were very high, on both sides. We'll be attempting something similar with fewer personnel and assets." The President paled at the revelation. "But it's a sound plan and we expect to have a degree of surprise on our side. Couple this with the fact that we'll know almost as soon as they do, if we're lucky, before, when those units will be attacking Tokyo-3 and I estimate a high probability of success."

"But not certain?" POTUS asked for clarification.

"I learned long ago sir, on my very first combat tour, never to use that phrase. You plan and plan and strategize all you want on a plan and train the living hell out of your troops, but, in the end, it's just a contest of will and individual skill when opposing military forces clash. And the same goes for the other side, too, sir. They plan and plan and train and train, too." He noted the look on the Presidents face. "But, sir? The men and women of the US Armed Forces are the most motivated people of all the militaries in the world. We're an all-volunteer force for a reason: volunteers, more often than not, make the best soldiers. I have full faith in them and the men and women of the 141."

The President straightened his back, looked in the Colonel's eye and nodded. "I'm glad I had you figured out, Marshall," the Leader of the Free World said with a soft smile. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case. "But, with a mission this important, and on this scale, you'll need the proper, shall we say, accoutrements that come with the responsibility of the job." He took the Colonel's right hand and placed the box in it. The Colonel looked down at the fairly plan dark blue box and opened it. There, sitting on a padding of soft silk, were a pair of silver five pointed stars. Marshall looked back up at the President, who still had his grin on. "Best be getting back to work, General," the President beamed. "There's much to do."

XXXXX

Later that evening, Toji, wearing a black, white and dark blue plug suit, entered Unit-03's entry plug. He hesitated closing the hatch after getting seated. His pace quickened as the plug filled with LCL. He still remembered how horrid the stuff tasted and was not looking forward to tasting it again.

In the command trailer parked two hundred meters away from the pit where Unit-03 was locked down, Misato and Ritsuko stood over the technicians as they ran through the start-up procedures. It was a little weird not to hear the voice of the bridge bunnies, the usual team. "Connector contact verified," a tech stated as the umbilical cable was hooked up to the new EVA unit. "External power within operational parameters."

"Vital signs are coming in. Pilot's pulse is high but stable."

"It's only natural for him to be nervous," Misato observed. "Proceed."

"Diagnostics checks completed up to 1315 on the list," another tech announced before turning to face the Project-E director. "Request permission to engage the start-up sequence."

"Permission granted," Ritsuko said. "Resume the countdown."

"LCL ionization and pressure levels are green. Shifting to phase two."

"All synapses are engaged. Approaching borderline…"

"Checklist complete to 2580…borderline coming up in…2.5…2.3…1.7…1.5…1.0…0.8…0.5…0.2…0.1" As soon as the borderline was passed, alarms began to blare in the command trailer.

"Synchro-graph is crashing! Pulses are reversing!"

"Abort the test!" Misato ordered. "Shut it down!"

"Disengage all circuits!" Ritsuko added her orders to the fray. "Detach the umbilical!" As soon as the umbilical was blown clear of the dark colored machine another alarm howled. "What now?"
"We're picking up high energy readings from within the EVA!" As soon as the tech said that Unit-03 broke free of its restraints, stood up and howled. On the monitors, a blue, web-like substance began growing over the plug hatch.

"No!" Ritsuko screamed, her eyes wide in horror. "It's an angel!" The corrupted EVA then began to howl towards the sky as its eyes glowed bright red.

"NOOO!" Misato screamed as an energy wave pulsed outwards from the infected EVA, destroying the test facility.