"We're getting a report from the Federation ship Hakone, the armada has reached its destination sir."

"Put it on screen." Gendo Ikari ordered, adjusting his glasses with a gloved white hand. The large screen at the front of the command room sprung to life, changing from a star map to a view from a Federation starship. Several other screens around it also came to life, showing the full size of the imposing armada. It was an unholy union of Federation, Klingon, Jem'Hadar, Romulan, as well as various other ships from Alpha/Beta/Gamma quadrant races.

"So many ships… all for nothing." Fuyutsuki muttered into Gendo's ear, "So many lives will be lost for a pointless show of strength."

"Indeed." Gendo answered coldly.

To Gendo's left stood representatives of the four main superpowers that had contributed towards this Armada. A Starfleet Admiral, a member of the Vorta, a Klingon general and finishing up the group was a member of the elusive Tal Shiar. Between those four groups at least seventeen ships had been contributed, five Federation starships, five Klingon battlecruisers, five Jem'Hadar fighters and two Romulan warbirds. The other groups had donated between one to three ships each, bringing the size of the armada up to around thirty.

"Hakone reporting in, they're picking up a new vessel entering the system."

"Tell them to open hailing frequencies and broadcast the message we agreed in, there is still room for diplomacy here." The Federation admiral spoke.

"Hah." The Klingon general barked, "Diplomacy? We will not be showing them any quarter! Klingon ships, ready weapons."

As he gave his order the new vessel came into view, drawing awe from all occupants of the command centre, except it seemed, for Gendo Ikari whose expression remained unchanged, his hands folded neatly in front of his face. If anything, you could say there was the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.

"So, this is it? The first ship the Angels are going to throw at us." Fuyutsuki murmured to himself.

The vessel on screen was a visibly imposing hulk of a ship, roughly one and a half times the size of one of the warbirds, it was by far the largest vessel in the system. It's main hull was rounded, with the rear curving inwards. At the very top of the hull was a large, blood red, half sphere, held in place by greying fragments resembling bones. At the front of the ship was a circular skull like figure, it's two disc-like eyes holding within a jet-black nothingness and the jaw formed into a long beak-like shape, completing the ships skeletal resemblance.

There was nothing on the ship to indicate weapons, engines or any other sort of system, there were no lights and there was no answer to their hails. There was no comparison to anything any of them had seen before either, this didn't look like a ship that had been designed, but rather something born from a nightmare.

"One measly ship, do they dare to mock us?" The Klingon roared, "I thought you said this was a threat to us Ikari? This is nothing more than a distraction, Klingon ships, attack!"

The Klingon ships could be seen to start moving forward but no sooner had they sprung to life then so to did the unknown vessel. It didn't move, but there was a bright flash followed by three phaser-like bursts from the hull of the ship. Two of the Klingon vessels were instantly vaporized by the fire, their ships going up in a unique cross shaped explosion, the third vessel narrowly managing to dodge out of the way so as to not take the full hit but leaving it still severely damaged.

The rest of the fleet needed no further orders from the command centre as every other ship now sprang into action. It was the Hakone, a Sovereign class ship that led the charge for the Federation, letting forth a hail of quantum torpedoes towards its target and managing to avoid an attack by the skin of its teeth. The other four Federation ships followed suit, firing a dizzying array of torpedoes and phasers whilst also trying to dodge the attacks from the enemy vessel.

The two Romulan Warbirds clocked themselves as next the five Jem'Hadar ships moved in. Their tactic was not too dissimilar to the Federation ships, attack in waves, unloading all weaponry they could onto the hull of the enemy in a desperate attempt to destroy it. The Jem'Hadar were backed up by the remaining Klingon Birds of Prey.

Behind the vessel the Romulan Warbirds uncloaked to unleash their own torrent of torpedoes and phase cannons. They were backed up by the other participants in the Armada. Time passed as the fleet continued its sustained attack on the vessel, attacking in waves, cloaking and uncloaking and staying the hell away from the phaser attacks from the ship.

After the initial shock of the two Klingon vessels being unceremoniously destroyed the mood in the command centre seemed to be changing. There was perhaps a sense of optimism, and the Klingon general, he had witnessed his men and women die in glory, so he wasn't angry about losing his ships. Perhaps they would get through this, after all, how much could one vessel handle?

"It looks like perhaps we won't be needing your new toy Ikari." The Federation officer turned his head smugly towards Gendo, "We have this under control."

As he said those words the fleet continued their relentless assault, firing phaser after phaser, torpedo after torpedo, mine after mine at the enemy. As more time passed the sense of optimism was growing to frustration as each attack seemed to just bounce off of the vessel.

"This shielding… it's frustratingly persistent." The Vorta mused.

"It's an A.T. Field…" Fuyutsuki answered, "Impenetrable by conventional weapons."

"We fought and defeated the Borg!" The Federation Admiral snapped back, "These will fall as well!"

Almost as soon as those words left the admirals lips, he started to regret them. The two Romulan Warbirds had cloaked again, presumably to get into a better position and at this point the enemy ship had been lying dormant for some time. No one dared to say it but maybe the tide was turning, perhaps one of their attacks had knocked the vessels weapons offline!

That optimism started to fade on witnessing the ship beginning to glow, all four representatives could see what was going to happen but before any of them could give the order for evasive maneuvers the glow stopped. It was too late! A bright spherical shockwave was sent out by the ship, one by one, no matter how fast, each of the ships in the fleet were caught up in the pulse and one by one they all exploded much like the Klingon ships at the start of the fight with a bright, brilliant and bizarre white cross shaped explosion.

When all was said and done all that remained, somehow, were three quarters of a Romulan Warbird, a Jem'Hadar warship and half a Klingon Bird of Prey. No further orders were uttered as the three ships on screen did not try to retreat, instead in one final move of desperation they each began moving towards the enemy vessel. The probe recording this battle for the command centre retreating from the scene, the last thing it caught before going offline was the sight of the final three ships crashing into the enemy and one more deadly bright white cross.

Silence filled the command centre, not one person daring to speak, all their eyes were glued to the screen in a mix of fear and astonishment. This one single ship had managed to wipe out an entire armada of thirty ships from a mix of various superpowers. Thousands of lives had been lost in little under ten minutes. Not since Wolf 359 had they seen destruction and experienced terror on such a scale.

"That has to have done it… Surely it can't have survived that." The Vorta representative broke the silence, their voice betraying their belief in what they had said, "Get that probe back online, I want visuals!"

"B-Bringing the probe back online." A fearful technician near the front of the room answered.

When the probe came back online all it did was serve to confirm everyone's fears, the ship was still there and surrounding it were the scattered remains of the armada. All ships, obliterated by this one fearsome entity. There had been little change, the skull-like mask at the front had some signs of visible damage and the orb at the top of the ship was now pulsing, some of the fragments around it also showing signs of damage.

"What is the status of the ship?" The Federation admiral asked, his voice shaking.

"It's holding for now; initial analysis shows an eight point three seven two reduction in the hull."

"We barely even put a dent in it…" Fuyutsuki said, "Do we know what it's doing now?"

"I'm not sure… Long range scans are faint but it… I think it's regenerating! Yes, out probe is showing very minute activity in the hull." The officer replied.

"In which case we might have bought ourselves some extra time." Fuyutsuki mused, "What's the estimate on it arriving here."

"If it's repairing itself to one hundred percent and it tracks at the speed we recorded previously, then it should arrive in the system in… seven days."

Fuyutsuki nodded, there was nothing more he had to ask or say regarding the situation, all he could feel was a sorrow at the needless loss of life. The four representatives were now chatting among themselves. It didn't take a genius for figure out what they were talking about, it was just as Gendo had predicted. A ridiculous display of power followed by failure.

"Ikari." The Federation admiral spoke, "It would seem it is time for you to show us what you are capable of. We are handing over control of this operation to NERV."

"Although I fail to understand how you will succeed where we have failed, it is far better than us throwing more of our, already limited resources at the problem. Do what you must Ikari, but know this, we will be watching you." The Romulan representative narrowed her eyes as she spoke. Whether she was speaking out of fear or to intimidate Gendo, he remained unmoved.

Instead he rose from his seat, adjusting his glasses once more with a gloved hand, "I understand, we will now take command of this operation. Rest assured you have nothing to worry about, defeating the Angels is exactly what NERV was created for."

USS Tokyo

They had been in flight for just over two weeks, so far it had been an uneventful journey. They had stuck to their route, cleared the checkpoints and avoided contact with anyone. For Misato it felt like a missed opportunity, this was a new ship with a fresh crew and they were bypassing so many worlds. There was so much they could have learned but there was also the looming Dominion to keep them in check.

As for her guard, she had not seen or heard anything of the young Shinji Ikari since their dinner together the first night he was onboard. She knew it was none of her business, Shinji was an adult and able to make his own decisions but something about him concerned her.

Her discussion with him just dug up a story of a man who was existing. He had no real direction in life, his job he had gotten because his uncle was friends with the owner of the restaurant. He seemed to have little to no faith in his own abilities, he didn't really confirm whether or not he liked what he did. Misato was almost certain that Shinji hadn't made use of any of the facilities on the ship.

She of course, recognized that things probably hadn't been easy for him, there was a lot mentally that affected him but that just raised more questions. Why had his father left him so many years ago? What did his aunt and uncle do to help him? Did Shinji reject any help?

'You're an interesting one Shinji Ikari...'

She started to sip her coffee just as a communications alert went off.

"Go ahead." She replied.

"Captain, we're approaching the final Vorta checkpoint. You might want to come and take a look at this."

"On my way." She let out a sigh as she placed the almost full coffee cup back down on her desk. 'Just as it was getting good to drink as well.'

As she stepped out of her ready room and onto the bridge she was about to ask, sarcastically, why a simple checkpoint was enough to pull her away from her coffee. A quick look at the viewscreen revealed all she needed to know. This wasn't just a checkpoint, this was an armada, a vast array of Jem'Hadar ships. The sort she had nightmares about back in the academy.

"Yellow alert." Misato ordered.

"Aye captain." Replied Aoba.

"Bresha, hail them. I'd like to find out why we seem to have such a welcoming committee"

"Opening a hailing frequency now captain."

Misato had only just managed to take her seat when the face of a Vorta, another Weyoun, appeared on screen. Unlike the others there was no cheery demenous, just a solemn expression. Misato felt one hand grip the arm of her seat tensely.

"Captain Katsuragi, we have been expecting you."

"Yes, it would seem you have been." Misato answered, "Quite the number of ships you have there, is there a problem?"

"There has been... an incident. Nothing for the Federation to concern itself with, just a few local issues." He replied, "We will proceed with the scans as agreed and let you through. I would however advise that you carry out your business at NERV and return yourself to Federation space as soon as possible. For your own safety, I hope you understand?"

'Was that a threat? At this point, but why?'

"Don't worry, we have no intention of overstaying our welcome in the Gamma Quadrant. Plenty of space in the Alpha or Beta quadrants to explore, might even try for a trip to the Delta if we find the time."

"Very good." Weyoun replied completely deflecting Misatos attempt at a joke. "Please try to understand, what I said wasn't a threat but a warning. When you pass this checkpoint, you are no longer in Dominion territory and as such, we can no longer offer you our protection."

"I'll keep that in mind, Katsuragi out."

Misato fumed as she sat back in her seat and the now familiar process of the Dominions scans took place. Only now instead of a Vorta ship and two Jem'Hadar fights she was staring out at a fleet of the Federations deadliest enemy. She turned to her first officer, Maya did not look impressed either.

"Got under your skin too, huh?"

"You could say that, what do you think? Is this some impressive display of power by them? 'Be careful Federation, we have you by the balls."

"Perhaps." Maya answered, "Or maybe something has gotten them nervous. Why would the Dominion need to mobilize so many ships? We know how much damage just a single Jem'Hadar fighter can do but that many... they could take on an entire race with that."

"Nervous... Why would the Dominion be nervous?"

"I don't know... But if there is something that makes them nervous, then maybe we should take notice of what Weyoun said and be done here as soon as possible."

Shinji's heart was pounding in his chest as he exited the turbolift and stepped into the transporter room. He had been summoned only moments before, told that they had finally reached their destination. After three weeks and two days they were here, the colony his father had lived at for fourteen years. Standing in the middle of the room was Captain Katsuragi, her smile warm and friendly, behind her were three officers Shinji didn't recognize. There was a human woman, maybe around the same age as he was, a human man and an Andorian male.

He felt awkward as he approached Katsuragi, he felt like he had been a burden on the ship and its crew, despite him having stayed in his quarters for the whole journey. That in turn also made him feel guilty, because he felt like he had been ungrateful towards her with her offer of hospitality. He also became very self-aware of his own appearance, he was wearing pretty much the same thing he had been when he came on board.

This thought in turn led to his own feelings of being pathetic, for owning little more than plain shirts, black trousers and pyjamas. He should have more than that, he should be taking more pride in himself but he just didn't care, or didn't see the point.

Everything in his mind seemed to be conspiring to put himself in a negative space, it wasn't uncommon for Shinji to be like this, after all he had grown up berating himself for so much. He blamed himself for his father leaving, always thought he wasn't good enough and worthless, he had wanted to prove otherwise but then thought what would be the point?

"Are you ready Shinji?"

He nodded, although within himself he was screaming no. Of course he wasn't ready for this, nothing could adequately prepare him for this moment. In just a few minutes he'd be transported to that planet he had seen from his quarters, he would see his father again. It was a reunion fourteen years in the making. What would Shinji even say? There were questions he wanted to ask, there were things he wanted to know, emotions he wanted to get out but he knew what was going to happen already. He was going to freeze up.

He walked past Misato and positioned himself on the transport pad. The three officers taking up positions around him, Misato standing in front of him. This was the last time he'd say this ship, only now had he wished he had taken the time to see more of it. Only now did he want to explore it, to see what it could do, to visit its holodeck or lounge, to… interact with its crew.

"Five to beam down, energize." Misato ordered.

Shinji saw the shimmer of light in front of him, this was followed by a strange warm sensation that spread throughout his body. This continued as the room vanished and suddenly the realization of what was happening to him set in. It was a strange feeling, to be aware that your body was being deconstructed and reconstructed. Logically he knew it was safe, millions upon millions of transporters were used every day within incident. Before any form of panic could set in, a new room was materializing in front of him.

He clenched his hand into a fist a couple of times, a nervous tick he had developed over the years now also serving to tell him he had been reconstructed correctly. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that his hand was not now attached to his head. Finally, he took a look around this new transporter room.

It was darker and more forbidding then the environment on the ship, the warmth of a Federation starship had given way to metallic greys and functionality. Colourful LCARs displays had transformed to drab monotony. The rooms most striking feature however was the logo of NERV hung above the entrance, it was a fig leaf cut in half and sat on an angle. The lets of NERV positioned to its left, circling the base of the logo were the words, "God's in his heaven, All's right with the world."

"Captain Katsuragi, welcome to NERV." An older man with greying hair stepped forward. He was wearing what Shinji presumed to be the uniform of this colony, "My name is Kozo Fuyutsuki, I am the colonies sub-commander, and I assume that this is Shinji Ikari."

Shinji stepped forward off of the platform, watched keenly by Fuyutsuki. He felt a strange fleeting sense of recognition as he studied the old mans face and heard him introduce himself. It was almost as if he had heard that name once before, but whatever sense he had it was gone in an instant. Shinji shook the man's hand, "I… I am Shinji, Is… my father here?"

Kozo nodded, "He is indeed, I can imagine you're eager to see him."

"Y… Yes…" Shinji answered, not quite believing his own words. Was he eager to see his father again? That nervous feeling within his stomach was only swelling when he thought about it. The reality of the situation was starting to get to him, this was going to happen. When he was on board the Tokyo it still felt like it might not, like it was a dream he'd wake up from.

"Captain Katsuragi, allow me to escort you and your team."

Shinji saw Misato nod and followed her and Fuyutsuki out of the transporter room and into a lengthy corridor. The corridor was just as cold and metallic as the transporter room was, it was so far away from the warmth of the USS Tokyo that Shinji really started to regret not making the most of his time on the ship.

'Maybe outside of this… it's better, I mean this is some sort of station where people work right?'

As they walked Shinji started to wonder what was going to happen to him after he had seen his father. Was NERV to become his new home? Did his father just want to see him and then Shinji would leave? Or was this goodbye to Earth and the life he had known?

What was it he wanted? He knew that he wanted to see his father again, he had wanted that for a long time and he wanted answers to his questions. Yet, he was also comfortable in the life he had and being away from it just didn't feel right.

"Captain, let it be known that both myself and commander Ikari appreciate you and your crew bringing Shinji to us at such short notice, I also apologize for any inconvenience you may have faced. I would like it to be known that yourself and your crew are free to take advantage of the colony and what it has to offer during your stay here."

"Whilst I appreciate the offer, we don't intend to be here for very long. It is, after all, a long way back to Federation space."

"I understand."

Silence followed as the group continued walking through the maze-like corridors of NERV. Finally, they reached another door, the sign indicating it was a conference room. Kozo held up a security card to a panel and the doors slid open, revealing a large, brightly lit room with a long circular table within.

"Captain, I am afraid your security team will have to wait outside."

Shinji saw Misato frown, "What about Shinji, he's a civilian?"

"Shinji is fine, I am, after all the one who summoned him here."

Shinji felt a chill go down his spine upon hearing that voice, it was a voice that he had not heard in fourteen years. He looked through the door to see the man at the opposite end of the room. Strangely he didn't seem all that different to the one in Shinji's memories. Maybe a little bit older, a little bit greyer but it was the same man. His eyes hidden behind dark framed glasses, gloved hands, the short brown hair and the neatly trimmed facial hair.

"Father."

"Hello Shinji, it's been a while."

His voice was cold and so devoid of emotion a person might mistake him for a Vulcan. A part of Shinji wanted to explode at him, to run across the room, grab him and pin him up against the wall! To demand answers, why had he been summoned like this? Why hadn't he been in contact in fourteen years? Why did he abandon him? Why weren't his first words, 'I'm sorry'?

Instead, all Shinji could do was lower his eyes, freeze up and say nothing as he was guided towards a seat between Misato and a Klingon. When seated he took the time to observe the other occupants of the room, next to the Klingon was a Romulan, next to her a Federation admiral and next to her a Vorta. Fuyutsuki took up a position on one side of Shinji's father, on the other side was another human woman. She was wearing a long white labcoat, Shinji could spy a black Federation uniform underneath. It bore a badge with an insignia not dissimilar to Misato's but not identical either.

"Akagi…" He heard Misato mutter under her breath, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Shinji turned towards Misato, keeping his voice as quiet as he could as he inquired about the blonde-haired woman in the lab coat, "Do… You know her?"

Misato nodded, "You could say that, "We were close friends back at the academy. Ritsuko Akagi, one of the best minds in the Federation. Last I heard she was at Starbase 515, researching advanced nanomedicine. I tried to get her for my crew but… it wasn't to be."

"Oh…"

Shinji was about to prepare a follow up question but before he could even think of one his father started to speak, "Now that our guests have arrived, we can begin. Dr Akagi, would you please let everyone know of our situation."

"Of course." Ritsuko stepped forward and the lights in the room started to dim, in the centre of the table a holographic display came to life and displayed a ship of some sort. Shinji had to do his best to not gasp at its image. It was unlike any starship he had seen before. It was a nightmarish image, as if someone had created it with the sole aim of scaring people. Even a Borg cube didn't seem quite as intimidating as this.

"Approximately one year ago, NERV received a transmission from a system which was estimate to be located six thousand light years from here. It was in a language unfamiliar to us at first and one that took some time to translate but on doing so we were able to gather two pieces of information. One of which was a date, todays date and the other was one word, 'destroy.'"

Shinji was wondering if the others in the room could hear his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. He felt a sense of nausea as he looked around the room, surely his father hadn't brought him here just to hear this? Why did he have to hear this?

"We took it to be a warning and as per the agreement with the Dominion for operating in this system it was brought to the attention of the Vorta. This information was then promptly passed onto the Federation, then the Klingon and Romulan councils. It was highly classified known only to certain representatives and an agreement was put in place to investigate as best we could. Over the course of the last year we have made numerous attempts to communicate with those broadcasting, our attempts seemingly in vain as further messages have been variations on the same word, 'destroy', 'kill', 'eradicate', 'exterminate' and 'genocide.'"

Ritsuko paused to allow Misato to ask a question, "Not exactly friendly sounding, are they?" Do we have any idea who they are? Gamma quadrant is Dominion territory, surely our Vorta friend here must have some idea."

The Vorta started to answer, "Whilst you are correct that the Gamma quadrant is mostly Dominion territory, we do not occupy all corners, there are places that… even the Dominion do not venture. There have been numerous… stories, shall we say of early Dominion explorers heading in that direction, never to be seen again."

"Stories?" Misato raised an eyebrow, "Forgive me but that sounds like nothing more then the sort of legends you tell to frighten children. Do we have any confirmation of these expeditions?"

"We are talking about incidents dating back millennia captain, we do not have records for that time yet the Founders have long memories and one does not question the Founders in such matters." The Vorta answered.

"So… they're scared of whatever is coming?"

"The Founders fear nothing but they are smart enough to know when to exercise caution."

Ritsuko suddenly cut back in before anything else could be said, "Moving on, our attempts to communicate seemed to go nowhere and there was an acknowledgement that whatever was coming was not friendly. Long range scans did pick up something coming and so plans were put in place to have a fleet of ships ready for when it arrived. An armada made up of Klingon, Romulan, Jem'Hadar, Federation and a number of other allied ships were sent out. That was seven days ago."

Shinji's stomach lurched once more as Misato asked her next question, he didn't need a trained officer to tell him the answer though, "What happened to the fleet."

"Destroyed." Ritsuko answered, "Every last one of them."

"And the enemy ship?"

"Minimal damage, they bought us a bit of time but that is about it."

Shinji's nailed were digging into the palm of his hand as he clenched his hands tightly into a first. The room fell into complete silence leaving him to think about the lives lost in that fight. It was… unfathomable, thousands of lives… all gone in an instant. Why had he been brought here? Was it to be told this? Was it to just… die?"

"I think I understand now… the fleet of Jem'Hadar, the urgency of the mission and my ship being called." Misato nodded, "Okay, if you'll allow me the time then I can prepare the Tokyo to begin evacuation procedures. The timing might be tight but we can manage it, how long do we have?"

"We are not evacuating NERV." Gendo replied.

"Not evacuating?" Misato answered, "Commander, I appreciate NERV is not a Federation colony and you are all free to do as you see fit but there are hundreds of lives here. It would be in your best interests to evacuate."

"Forget it Captain, we have already made the suggestion ourselves." The Vorta answered her, "Whilst we appreciate relations between our peoples are strained, the aid the Federation has offered us over years has been invaluable and we repay our debts. We have offered to take the people of NERV to another planet or even back to the Federation, yet Ikari is convinced he can succeed where we have failed."

"Impossible." Misato replied, "It took down an armada of the best we all had to offer. You know nothing about it, if all those ships can't defeat it then how can you possibly?"

"Because we have been preparing for this moment." Ritsuko answered her, as she did a new ship appeared on the display, "This is the experimental ship Evangelion Unit 01, operated by a single pilot and backed up by a skeleton crew of three."

Shinji ran his eyes over the new craft, much like the enemy vessel this too didn't look like anything he had seen before. It was a dark purple diamond shape, with two nacelles protruding from either side of it. Around the ship were various marking and dark green plates. Compared to the other ship it was minute. He wasn't an expert on starships but he was sure this wouldn't stand a chance.

"You believe… that one ship can succeed where so many failed?" Misato asked, clearly not believing for a second it stood a chance.

"It is barely the size of a Defiant class vessel! Also, there is only one, how can it possibly manage!" The admiral spoke up.

"Admiral, you seem to forget that your Federation Defiant was made for combat with the Borg. Whilst the ship we are facing is impressive it would still be dwarfed by a Borg cube, I do not foresee size being an issue." Gendo answered her, "As regards your question Captain, it is not a matter of belief. The Evangelion was build specifically to combat this thread, this is why NERV exists."

"Made to combat it? Wait, so you knew about it in advance? How? Why wasn't someone told sooner?"

Misato was quickly cut off by him, "Captain, I appreciate you must have many questions and I can provide answers but time is of the essence. We do not have long left until it arrives here and we risk losing this colony but also the rest of the galaxy. If NERV falls, so too does the Dominion, then the Federation, the Klingons and what is left of the Romulans. Even the Borg… will not be able to stand up to this."

Misato was clearly not satisfied with his answer, but she did not challenge him any further. Shinji was feeling more and more out of place here. This was no place for him, he belonged on Earth, he was supposed to be at work today, chopping vegetables, making soups, seasoning dishes, he wasn't to be sandwiched between a Klingon general and a Starfleet captain whilst hearing about the threat to the galaxy!

"So why are we here, if not to evacuate NERV?" She finally asked.

"Our ship needed a pilot, one that you have brought to us." Shinji's blood ran cold as his father looked at him, "Shinji, you will be its pilot."

"Me?"

Shinji had no time to protest further, the Klingon general suddenly stood up, "Preposterous! You mean to tell us this civilian is the pilot of your secret weapon? Is this a joke Ikari?"

"I assure you I am not joking, Shinji will be the pilot." Gendo replied with a coldness to his voice that seemed to take even the Romulan by surprise.

"M... Me pilot it?" Shinji stammered out an answer as he too started to rise to his feet. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him, "Is this... Is this why? Tell me... Why did you call me here?"

"Because I had a use for you."

"But... I can't... I... I've never even seen this before... I've never even been in space before until I got on board the Tokyo. How can you expect me to pilot something I know nothing about? How can you expect me to defeat that thing out there?"

"All you have to do is sit in it Shinji, not-" Ritsuko started to speak, perhaps in an attempt to reassure him but she was cut off by him.

"After fourteen years... FOURTEEN YEARS... I thought... maybe you wanted me here..."

"Shinji..." Misato's hand came to rest on his shoulder, "He's right, how can he pilot it? He's had no training even in the most basic of shuttles... What makes him better than any of my crew?"

Gendo seemed to ignore Misato's questions, instead further addressing Shinji, "If you're not going to do it then leave, I have no use for a coward."

"I... I can't..." Shinji stared a hole through the table in front of him, he was aware of the tears filling up in the corners of his eyes. This was humiliating for him, to be seen like this in front of so many people.

"in which case..." Gendo tapped his combadge, "Medical, the pilot has proven himself useless. Prepare Rei..."

"Sir... Are you sure? Rei is sti-"

"That was an order, bring Rei to the briefing room."

Shinji finally lifted his head to face MIsato, "I... I'm sorry I... I can't... I don't know..."

"I know, let's get you back to the Tokyo." She glanced over at the Federation admiral, "Admiral, I think you and I need to have a word regarding this situation."

The admiral nodded solemnly, "I know captain, believe me... I did not know of this either."

As Shinji and Misato turned to leave the door to the briefing room suddenly opened and in stepped two nurses wheeling a gurney. On top of it was a young woman, around the same age as Shinji. At first glance Shinji got that striking sensation of familiarity again, the same one he experienced when meeting Fuyutsuki. That feeling was soon washed away on seeing the condition of the woman.

This was the person who was going to pilot that ship, she looked like a mess. She was attached to a drip, her arm wrapped in a tight bandage, the rest of her body covered up by a white bodysuit. She was pale, blue haired with bright red eyes and seemingly in a lot of pain. Around one eye was a Borg implant, or at least the remains of one.

"Rei, you will pilot Unit 01, do you understand?" Gendo phrased it like a question but there was no mistaking that this was an order.

Rei slowly started to sit up, hissing with pain as she did. When she spoke, there was no emotion to her voice, there was no protesting the order, "Yes."

"Ikari, this woman is in no condition to do this!" The admiral protested.

"Our other option is a coward!"

"It is you who is the coward!" All eyes turned in surprise at the sudden proclamation of the Klingon general, "First you offer up your family to fight something he is unprepared for and now you offer up an injured... drone. You are without honour!"

"There is no one else." Ritsuko quickly cut in, sensing the Klingons anger tipping over, "If it isn't Shinji then it has to be Rei. The Eva will accept no one else..."

Shinji had no time to think about Ritsukos remark as just at that moment the complex was suddenly rocked by a loud explosion. Everything around him stated to shake as the occupants struggled to keep their balance. He looked ahead of him to see the gurney start to tip. Without any hesitation he darted forward, his arms out stretched trying desperately to get to Rei before her already injured body collided with the hard floor.

He ignored the pain shooting through his own body as he managed to get himself into position just in time. The girl fell, ungracefully into his arms, crushing him but cushioning her fall. He let out a yelp of pain as the room stopped shaking. When he was sure he had gotten her he shifted around, cradling her carefully, her body twitched and spasmed as she let out a scream of pain. Suddenly there was a wetness on one of his hands, he pulled it away to see the unmistakable sight of blood from one of Rei's re-opened wounds.

'I... She... She can't do this... She can't do this but... I... I can't either... I don't know how but... I can't let her! I have no choice I... I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away'

"I... I'll do it." Shinji forced the words out.

"Shinji?" Misato asked behind him.

"I'll pilot the ship." He said, his voice not shakign as much this time, "I don't know how but I... I'll fight... I'll do it."

He felt the eyes of all the rooms occupants land on him once more as he continued to cradle Rei. There was a hand that came to rest on his should, only it was not Misato's, it was more solid and he looked around to see himself gazing up at the general. With no further words the general leaned down, picking up Rei as if she was nothing and placing her back on the gurney. A moment later he unceremoniously pulled Shinji to his feet.

"You would fight, yet you know not how?"

Shinji nodded, "I... I will try, I have to, I can't let her do it..."

"You have the heart of a warrior Shinji Ikari. With your captain's permission I will prepare you for battle, may you fight well and if you die, may you die with honour and may Sto'Vo'Kor hold a special place for you!"

Authors Notes: Hello everyone, I just wanted to quickly check in and say a big thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read the story so far and left feedback, it really does mean a lot. Just wanted to say a few things about this particular story. It is something I've had in my brain for quite a while, I actually wanted to write it after finishing Braver Than We Are last year but I was a bit burnt out on writing and just didn't have that itch anymore, yet this idea always remained. I would plan things out, note it down with the hope that I'd eventually come back to it. A few weeks ago that desire to write finally came back and I started writing this up finally.

So what is this story? Well as is obvious it's something of a crossover with the Star Trek Universe, the basic idea is to take the characters/ideas of Evangelion and translate them. It's not a direct crossover where two casts of characters meet from differing universes, this is translating those ideas into Star Trek, so asking what would an Eva be if it was in the Star Trek universe, who would Misato be? Who would Shinji be? Etc. I know sometimes crossovers like this can be a bit off-putting, but I really hope you stick with it and enjoy it. :)