Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV Anime and Manga), End of Evangelion, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, and the Evangelion Rebuild series are owned by Hideki Anno and written by Yoshikuki Sadamoto. I own no characters, locations nor elements, or songs from the original Manga, Anime, or Rebuild/EoE movies. I own only OC Shiro Ikari. Please support future Evangelion Rebuild releases.
That Said, Please Enjoy The Show!
Chapter 20: Falling Angels
NEVEC Headquarters, Old Nevada
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
"Ngh…. Ugh….." Shinji's mind was a haze, eyes slowly opening as the faint sound of a heart rate monitor drew close. After a few seconds, his vision came too; another unfamiliar ceiling… yet it felt better to look at now. "Ugh…. white… ceiling… another medical bay." He groaned with a strained, dry voice which caused him to cough. Where was he? What happened? The last thing he recalled was…. Shiro being in Unit-01 and…. "Katsuragi…. That bastard, she...?"
There was a sudden gasp and the sound of a tray falling that caught Shinji's attention, his gaze looking to the nurse who'd entered. "Oh my God... you're awake!" She exclaimed with shock, before looking out the room. "Get me the Commander, hurry!"
"Command...? Shiro?" The boy murmured, growing more awake and slowly pulling himself up... only to half-near fall on his left side. "Ack, what the-?!" He froze, having looked to his left side to see... a stump. A stump where his arm should have been. It was gone. "W-H-Wha-What-What-WHAT-?!"
"Mr. Ikar! You have to calm down!" The nurse told him, moving to his side as Shinji grew more frantic.
"C-Calm?! Oh, I'm P-PERFECTLY calm!" he sputtered, growing dizzy. "I...I-I can't breathe, I... I-I-my-I-ARM... ARM-MY FUCKING ARM!"
Quickly the nurse forced him back to lay, holding him back as two more doctors came in to help. Shinji nearly screamed at the increase in people, shaking violently and thrashing with terror as the image of his 'arm' flashed: Blood, Explosion, Red eyes, Katsuragi, A hand reaching out…. and pain. So… Much… Pain. The brown-haired boy struggled only more, with phantom pains making him spasm badly. "130 BPM and rising!" One of the nurses cried out.
"He's losing consciousness! Give him a sedative - NOW!" One of the doctors shouted, holding Shinji down still as he struggled and thrashed like a wild animal. He would have gotten free had the tiny prodding of a needle stopped him, adrenaline and strength easing as the boy fell back into his bed. "There…! Strap down his arm and legs; we can't risk him getting out or doing damage to himself!"
"I've got it, I've got it!" Another shouted, quickly covering Shinji's legs.
"Ugh…. S-Sh-iro…." Shinji mumbled out before he once again fell unconscious
Command Center, NEVEC Headquarters
Staff and workers moved at a rapid pace, monitoring the base/global battle net as reports on the White Suns repairs came over several screens. At the top of the command tower stood Shiro, his face masked by his now black and dark blue biker helmet, dressed still in his black leather jacket and Plugsuit. He stood not far from the command table, in a back room with a small round platform with six curving screens facing him and an additional one in the middle.
On the screens were the Vice-President and 4 members of the Joint Chief of Staff; the head of the National Guard Bureau, Naval Operations, Air Force, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Additionally, there was also Musashi who was flying to Washington at the moment of the meeting as well as a large middle screen displaying a large room with three windows, a dark wooden desk, and a black chair facing away. "Ah, Captain Ikari! Welcome back." The Vice-President greeted the man, who removed his helmet entirely.
"Sirs," He nodded. The group was taken aback at first by his appearance; the most recent reports label his physical appearance to match that of the late Kaworu Nagisa. But clearly, the update was fast considering his new facial appearance. "My apologies for our long-awaited meeting, gentlemen." He started with an apologetic bow. "The recent repair plan to the White Sun, as well as the overseeing of my brother's injuries have taken up most of my time in the past few weeks."
"From what we've gathered from Sub-Commander Strasberg's latest report, your newest member Shinji Ikari is currently in critical condition, yes?" A Chief member questioned.
Shiro answered without hesitation. "Correct. Because of his injuries, we fear he… may have begun developing signs of physiological trauma. Because of this, we are effectively taking him off all future operations in regards to Evangelion, WILLE, or NERV." He stated.
"Understandable. While we do give our condolences to your sibling, we ask that you continue - start from the most recent operation."
"Of course sir." Shiro nodded. "45 weeks ago on October 28th, NEVEC launched our first direct mission -codenamed Redress- against WILLE since our joint-operation in 2025. Our goal was to establish a hidden spyware connection within the WILLE flagship, AAA Wunder to capture data and operation planning in regards to their upcoming missions and Evangelion Unit-01. Our operation revealed that WILLE has not only moved to engage Section-31 in the European Dead Zone but also has integrated Unit-01 into the Wunder's main engine as a power source."
"So our assumptions during the 5-year break were spot on." The Air Force Chief member stated.
"Yes. We also learned of the capturing of Neo-NERV's former pilot of the Mark.09, a clone of Rei Ayanami designated 'Q'. They'd attempted to interrogate her in regards to knowledge about Neo-NERV's possible upcoming operations, but she admittedly knew nothing. With her discovery, we learned of a possible connection between herself, the original 3rd Rei Ayanami clone from 2015 and Shinji; they all share a unique connection of sorts to Unit-01 S2 Engine."
"Interesting," The Naval Chief hummed. "Is it possible that this is a similar connection to you and Unit Null?"
"No," Shiro shook his head. "In fact, I believe this connection may be stronger in comparison. Shinji explained that he in a sense 'felt' Rei-2 within Unit-01, and had a sort of vision of her calling out to him; like a sort of telepathic or neural connection to Unit-01, which he could have potentially gained during his 15 years within S2 Engine."
"As I'm sure you're aware, Captain Ikari - Shinji and the Ayanami clone were not the only ones within Unit-01; the Tenth Angel known as Zeruel was also absorbed into the EVA's core." The mere mention of the Angel sent a wave of silence throughout the meeting. Not a lot of people knew it was there when NERV and Japan fell, and even then there wasn't a lot willing to admit it helped further the chaos. Most just looked for the most human thing they could blame, and that was made pretty obvious by WILLE. "Could it be possible that he's connected to Unit-01 because of the Angel? A sort of infusion of himself and it?" The Chairman questioned.
"It's…. possible, however, I personally doubt it. He's shown no signs of the hyper-regenerative healing the Angels possessed, nor the ability to form or see his own A.T Field like that of Kaworu Nagisa or the Mukatte clones. Granted he's unconscious, but we still would have detected something; if not that, then at least the base Blood Type Pattern systems would have alerted us."
The Chairman nodded in response. "Unfortunately, it's one problem after another." The Vice-President sighed. "But for now, let's focus on one thing at a time. Shiro? Please, continue."
"Of course, sir. With the discovery of Shinji, Rei-Q, and Unit-01 connection I opted to investigate this potential connection, and also implant our spyware system within Unit-01 itself to remain oblivious to Katusragi's knowledge."
"Yes. We've read this as well from the report given by Dr. Aida. The report stated that while he and Rei-Q remained within the engine command station, you and Shinji entered the reactor core itself." The Vice-President stated. "From what we understand, Captain Katusragi herself led a group to confront yours and was the cause of Shinji's critical wounds, before Unit-13 was used by Sub-Commander Strasberg and TRIDENT pilot Kirishima to help you escape. However, we do not know what occurred during your entering the reactor."
"Hm…" Shiro's gaze fell to the floor, his hand clenched around… something. He'd held onto it since his exiting of Unit-01's core. "Well, to be honest, sir… I'm not sure myself. I thought I saw a hand try to grab Shinji from the Entry Plug, so I shoved him out of the way and was dragged in myself."
"And? What did you see?" This is it, our make or break moment. Shiro thought, gulping as he finally raised his hand and spoke. Here's to nothing… or all of it.
Command Center, 30 minutes later
Toji and Kensuke stood by one another, the former pacing around the doorway. "Man, I don't like this." He said with dread.
"What? The fact Shinji's in a near-comatose and Shiro's finally got his face back? Or is it that WILLE now knows Shiro's back and that we've got Unit-13 with us?" Kensuke asked, working on his laptop on the command table.
"I don't know… all of it!" He sighed. "Well, that's not true… not the Shiro's face part, just… just all of it. I mean we just got back on our feet and we've already been knocked back down like it was nothing."
"Well it's not like we're able to do much anyhow; even WITH Shiro and Shinji back in action, we're still outnumbered by NERV's EVA forces, Section-31 and WILLE. It's not like we'd win the war as soon as they got back."
"I know that, dumbass! But still, it just… it doesn't feel right. Like, I'm so used to seeing Shinji or Shiro kicking ass or yelling or something that.." Touji looked down a bit. "Seeing them like… like this, it-"
"It's weird?" Kensuke nodded at his friend's words, a small frown on his face. "I know. But you gotta remember both just got back not long ago, Shinji's already got enough pain and trauma because of that jerk-face Katsuragi, and she just made it worse; and as for this meeting thing, well we don't really have much of a choice. It was either we report everything we've been up to or create a ." Kensuke replied, looking at his phone as he read over another report on the White Sun.
"Still it feels off. Talking to a general or a commander is one thing, but... The heads of the US forces AND the head honcho? I'm tellin' ya something's off!"
"True, it is a bit weird knowing Shiro's talking to President Sears, but not like we're making a deal with the devil or SEELE or something out of proportions," Kensuke gave Touji a look. "Ever since the last president was taken out, the U.S governments more or less had our backs since NEVEC started - hell, even before that too!"
"Yeah, I know that but… Well… Japan had the same situation too." Touji murmured, crossing his arms as Kensuke sighed. He made a fair point sadly; because of his influence, Gendo somewhat ran the government better than it did. He got away with a lot of stuff because of his position at NERV, and SEELE didn't help that power hungriness he had. And he was honestly thankful that even in the same position, Shiro had his head on right but…
It didn't make the feeling go away.
Finally, the door opened and Shiro himself stepped out, helmet over his head. It'd become his signature appearance over the weeks, as he refused to so much as remove it around staff or even friends after their return. He didn't want to show himself, not yet.
Not without him.
"Hey, guys! Glad to see you here." He greeted them.
'Sup, boss!/Shiro." Touji and Kensuke nodded to him. "So, how's it looking?" The former asked. "Are we getting evicted or anything?"
The masked man shook his head. "Nope! We got the go-ahead to follow up with our potential new lead; granted Musashi and Mana area heading for Washington to guard the capital, but still! We got our work cut out for us." He told, before raising his hand where a black string was held. "We got work to do."
"What are your orders, Captain?" Kensuke asked, shutting his laptop and standing curiously as Shiro handed him a... wedding ring? "Huh-?"
"Before you ask - I'm not asking you out," Shiro called out, hiding the smile under his helmet as Touji snickered quietly. "It's actually the opposite; I'm asking you to find where this ring came from, where it can lead us."
"Any uh particular reason why?" The otaku raised it to his eyes; dark silver with a blue gem on the front. There a melted, burnt mark on one side, and the other side a line of words: 'We'll make a miracle through human will.' "Whose was it? or is?"
"Not important," Shiro replied, shrugging. "Well, not now anyhow. But what I want you to look at is the inner half of the ring. Kensuke did so, looking to see a small line of sorts, cutting through several red numbers and blue dots. But the line was what caught his attention; it was black and white, with multiple lines going through it like…
"A.. A bar code?"
"Yep. I doubt it'll turn up a lot, but I want to look into it; find the manufacturer and where it came from." Shiro explained. "I know it's not an 'EVA-size' request, but it's… well, something I might have to look into. Something NEVEC may have to look into."
"Well I could definitely run it through a scanner; it may take some time considering it looks a bit deteriorated, but yeah. I could totally find something!" Kensuke nodded at him. "I'll let you know when I got something. And I'll have that report on our… new project sent to you as well."
"Sweet! Knew I could count on you." Shiro looked from Kensuke to Touji. "T, I'm gonna need a bit of help here. There's gonna be a lot more surveillance needed; we gotta make sure we're up to date on security and that any logins into any operations from now to 15 years ago are verified." He ordered with a slightly sterner tone. "We keep this strictly on a high-rank personnel basis; no one outside of us nor Musashi or Mana is to know anything about this."
"You got it, boss." The black-haired man nodded. "And um… what about Rei, what do you want me to do about her?"
Shiro had turned to leave as he'd spoken, pausing in his steps. "I… Hm…" he hummed. He wasn't sure honestly; as of now, Rei-Q had shown no signs of hostility towards him or the staff. In fact, it was the opposite. She was very open to asking questions, answering as best she could, and willing to help when asked. But for the most, she remained on Level-02, in the Medical Center with Shinji as he recovered. "Don't do anything. I don't want to bulk down on security or push her into a corner considering she's done nothing to cause us to do so. So for now, keep her on a need-to-know basis."
"Right." With that, Shiro gave a final nod before he left.
Shiro's Quarters, Level-01 Personnel Quarters
The room was dark when he stepped, removing his helmet just as the door shut. He looked around; it felt like ages since he'd come back to it. Just inhaling the room's cool air made his chest tighten up and his heart clench. "...Lights." He found his voice again, and the room came to life. "Hm… It's like I never left."
Similar to most rooms on the base, Shiro's room was lit by built-in lines of light around the floor and ceiling, creating a soft blue glow. On the far left was his bed, with a wall, mounted charging station just above it, a small silver table where his helmet would charge on the side, and a closet with several racks inside. On the far wall sat his desk, a glossy black L-shaped desk with several drawers and large T.V screens on the wall above. On the desk was his computer, connected to his report tablet as well.
But he paid no mind to any of it, setting his helmet down and connecting it to the table. He made sure the door was locked… before he walked to his desk and sitting down. He began looking over the newest report in regards to the EVA's reconfiguration when... he paused, inhaling deeply. Calm down, calm down... He told himself, looking to his somewhat twitching hands. After a moment or so, exhaled and began working on a response.
It wasn't even fifteen minutes later before Shiro found himself laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. "I wonder... is this how Shinji felt when he awoke in the hospital?" He murmured, looking to his for a moment. "Same ceiling... and yet I feel... different." No. If he had to be honest, he knew Shinji had it much worse when it came to things like this; funny though, it seemed like now it was catching up to him.
He sighed, pulling himself further onto the bed as all sorts of emotions ran through him now. Dammit…. Dammit… Dammit…. DAMMIT! He shouted in his head, though in tone it came as a mere whisper. "Dammit… Dammit… Dammit… Dammit... " He repeated in unison, his mind flashing each time to the moment he stepped out of the core.
All the shouting.
The demanding.
The scream.
The explosion.
The gunshot.
Shinji.
"Christ, haven't we lost enough already…." He muttered, putting a hand to his shoulder as he glared upwards. Shiro's gaze moved to the wall across from him where a plethora of photos he'd saved over the years was taped up; himself and Vincent, the time he spent at NERV-US and HQ, his reunion with Shinji. Even the more recent once after Near-Third Impact when he was with WILLE alongside Asuka, Mari, the others….. and her. "First she left, then our old man... next it was my best friend, then my brother... and now you're trying to take him away again!" His glare hardened, blue eyes glowing a slight yellow tint as he growled. "But you won't... I won't let you."
Section-31 Air Base, Old Spain
Little did Shiro know he wasn't the only one sulking in shame-mixed rage.
Far across the ocean and wasteland that was a good half of Europe, resting within the Province of Huesca sat a massive military base of sorts. It was built deep into the ground, protected by the natural formation of the Peña Falconera as large and small ships sat in docking.
One ship, in particular, sat alone in its own hangar, as staff as soldiers moved around and worked furiously to meet extremely small crunch times. Deep within the Vindicator sat Commander Cypher, the lights off and the blinds were drawn in his room as he worked and fumed in thought.
Fuming over the fact his group was outdone by WILLE and Katsuragi, fuming at the fact enemy forces were now expanding arsenal with all sorts of new toys just outside their command city, fuming over the many losses RIVR Company faced after it all.
Fuming at their humiliation. His humiliation.
And he HATED it.
They'd unfortunately been pushed back by WILLE and the UN forces on the borders of Neo-Spain and Neo-Germany, and even with KURO Company's support near Spanish territory, they weren't able to get far.
"Fucking shit, man…." He grunted, fixing his shirt. His bomber jacket rested on the chair behind him, with Cypher himself dressed in a white shirt underneath a loose black dress shirt, with military gray pants and black flight combat boots. His hair was let down, and a mess considering he hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep for the past week or two with his piloting visor covering his irritable gaze. "Huh… I guess this is what Gendo felt like when he ran NERV hehehe….?"
His sarcastic giggling was cut off as a staff member entered the room. "Boss, you need to see-!" The '16'-year old's face switched to a snarl and he immediately ripped the piloting visor off, throwing it right at the man's face. It smacked him hard with a painful crackle, sending to the floor as he screamed in pain.
He groaned, and it only pissed the blonde off more. "What the fuck do you want?!" Cypher barked harshly, gesturing around the many reports and papers scattered across the large room. "Can't you see I'm busy dealing with other shit!"
The technician groaned, looking up to his commander with his good eye. "A-Aughhh…. W-We received a communications signal originating in the Pacific Ocean; th-he ID verification matches Broadcast System 0001000." He sputtered out, covering his bleeding nose and mouth.
Cypher paused at his words, lowering the broken lamp he'd been itching to throw. "...Huh. Really? Well, why didn't you just say that!" He huffed, tossing it aside. "Jeez, is it already that time again?"
"T-Th-The other Commanders are on call….demanding a response from… the caller." He managed out, before falling back unconscious.
"Seriously? Oh great, now I have to take the blame for some apparent ghost story. I swear it's probably fucking Sylux or Gendo, as always. Fine, let's get this over with!" He exited his quarters, swiping his piloting visor and the technician's comm piece before walking into the corridor.
"Cole, did you send that document to the Commander as asked?" A voice called on the other side and he cheekily raised the comm to his ear.
"Oh yes he did," Cypher said coolly, lip twitching at the silence received. "And I'm not Cole. And that's SIR to you."
"C-Commander?"
"Yes, hi. What's our current status?" He demanded, checking his visor to look for damage.
"T-The 300 MK.44A's are being rearmed with Anti-A.T Field Rounds and close-quarters missile tanks. The MK.21's are also being loaded with ammunition as we speak, a-and the remaining 2,000 troops are accounted for."
"And our guard count?"
"200 on the clock, Commander. The outpost is functioning at full capacity."
"Excellent, and the Armada?"
"What ships we haven't lost have been crewed, rearmed, and being fueled to your standards, including the Vindicator."
"Great. That's… That's great.." He rolled his eyes and tossed the comm piece aside as he continued into the base, passing by troopers either arming up or sharpening their "senses" in their personal 'quarters'. It was one of the few things Ikari demanded during the first years of Section-31; he didn't want anyone that was too out there messing around with anything vital. Not that any of them minded-hell, some of them didn't even speak human at this point.
Most of the ones who were really out there stayed deep in the forest and outside the base itself, away from the more prominent working soldiers. Once the 'youthful' commander passed through the cage areas, he came to a stop at a bulkhead door, groaning as it opened to reveal a large hexagon-shaped room. The front and side walls were covered with display screens that showed the perimeter feeds and refueling times, consoles centers were positioned on both floors, and a large holographic station sat in the epicenter.
He stepped forward, the room darkening as the technicians working stopped and lowered their heads in respect. "This had better be good - you guys caught me before lunch." He growled into the mic. "Alright, who sounded the alarm?"
"Usually it's you isn't it, Cypher." A sarcastic voice came from a holographic figure to his left, Sylux of Section-31's KURO Ground Company. Unlike him, the man was older, with shoulder-length gray hair and matching eyes, dressed in a white dress shirt with a black windbreaker jacket, grey pants, and dress shoes. "And now you're saying it's not? how very strange…."
"Oh, kiss my ass Sylux." Cypher didn't like a lot of things in the world, but he fucking loathed Sylux. He acted like an arrogant prick, and it was no surprise considering he was one of the few remaining blood relatives of SEELE. "Laugh it up. I'm not exactly in the mood for a get-together considering I've been trying to regain control of the Dead Zone."
"First off, you wish! Second, you mean YOUR Dead Zone sector, right? Because both myself and Canti still have control of ours."
"God, I fucking hate you…."
"Hey now, no need to be so hostile!" Canti's carefree tone came as her hologram came to life. She was by far the youngest of them, with cat-like facial features, salmon-colored hair in a bob cut turned flare, and dark green eyes. She wore a dark maroon coat with a white scarf, a pair of silver goggles, black pants, and white boots. "We're all friends here, guys!"
She commanded Section-31's MUTO Naval Fleet and was the one Cypher enjoyed speaking to the most. Like him, Canti acted less psychotic and more like a kid having the time of her life. And he could respect that, not to mention she could get shit done in comparison to Sylux's forces and NERV-Sorry, Gendo's forces.
"No, you and I are friends Canti. Me and Sylux?" The blonde spared a single glance to the man, who had an eerie smile on his face. "Yeah, forget it."
"Well, we can discuss our relationship problems later. Now where the hell's Ikari at?" Sylux questioned.
"Knowing him? Probably hiding in a creepy, dark corner."
"I… Will not deny that." Cypher chuckled, and as he did the final hologram rose.
"It's almost pitiful to know you keep tabs on this channel… How stagnant it must be." And there he was, the king douchebag himself- Gendo Ikari, dressed in his usual dark commander's outfit, red visor and somehow resting on a desk he should have lost along with old base months ago.
"Of course it's you." Sylux tsked, falling back into his own seat. "To think, this was an actually important meeting. Nevermind."
"Cute how you think I'd waste time calling you all for entertainment," Gendo stated sharply.
"Wouldn't surprise me…" Canti looked at her phone in boredom. "You haven't exactly talked to us in a good while."
"Can we please get on to the point so we can get on with our lives?" Cypher begged, looking to the unreadable Gendo. "Ikari, what do you want?"
"As you are no doubt aware, the destruction of Neo-NERV Headquarters was… devastating. And with the loss of Old Paris to WILLE, I have no doubt the Dead Zone will soon fall into the UN's hands once again."
Needless to say, that caught everyone's attention. "W-Woah, woah, woah now! Let-Let's not go jumping the gun an' all here!" Canti suggested, looking around the table in concern. "I mean yeah, we lost the Storage Facility, but WILLE's too busy gloating about their victory and repairing their EVA's to worry about us."
"Even so, the UN itself isn't; we've seen this first-hand considering Spanish forces are beginning to push back ours," Sylux noted, sparing a glance to Cypher as he continued. "Not to mention they've already been pushing deeper into France, and the Neo-Russian Alliance has held their ground when we tried forcing our war to them."
"So we're losing a bit of ground. So what?" Cypher bemused, looking over to an irked Sylux. "What's wrong, Sy? Sad you won't be able to conquer Rome as you wanted?"
"I could care less; my forces have already begun falling back to the Himalayan and Matsushiro Bases. Canti doesn't have to worry considering her fleet simply is practically invisible, Gendo's… somewhere. The only one who has to really worry is you considering Katsuragi will look to take you out first."
"You say that like you're jealous!"
Enough!" Gendo barked, regaining everyone's attention. "The point is we are losing ground more and more. Soon Section-31 will be rendered useless, as will our remaining Production Facilities. That said, it is the time to commence the next phase."
A small moment of silence filled the air as the trio took in his words. They all knew what this meant. "Hm…" Sylux leaned forward, a now serious look on his face. "Well...If you're serious about this… then perhaps this loss could work in our favor."
"Could, should, will I say!" Canti said to them happily. "If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that Katsuragi is nuts when it comes to outshining us and NEVEC. And if what I hear is true, then they're already bringing the knives closer to their throats. WILLE winning will only boost the UN's ego and Katsuragi's beliefs. She'll think her little army is invincible and the second she does, well…" The young girl's smile seemed to widen at an eerie length. "It'll all fall apart."
Gendo fixed his posture, nodding in agreement. "My thoughts exactly. And with both groups smashed, we will be able to commence Recalibration."
Cypher smirked. "Welp, now it's just a matter of striking when the iron's hot-" He stated, pausing as he felt a small tremor… and the base alarms began blaring. "And it looks like we're right on time too!" He cackled with glee. "Ah, fate can't be such a cruel fucking bitch!"
"And what about you two?" He looked to the other pair. "Want to join in on the fun?"
"Knowing me, and I know you do, I'll be swimming close by!" Canti replied as her hologram went off.
Sylux shrugged. "You and Canti usually have your fighting in control. I'll only show up if it looks like you're losing." With that the gray-eyed man vanished, leaving the last two commanders alone.
"So what do you want, huh?" Cypher asked the silent man. "Going to tell me off or-?"
"Be grateful I still have a use for Section-31." Gendo cut him off flatly. "If it weren't for the fact you hold some of our more experimental units, I would've disbanded your army of nobodies by now."
"Hey, screw you old man!" Cypher growled, making Gendo glare back at the response. "It's your fault we're in this mess. You lost your two strongest Evangelion AND Neo-NERV HQ in one moment, and you did nothing to preserve the Council! Face it, every time something good happens in our favor, you lose it."
"What are you getting at, Cypher?" Gendo's voice grew colder as he spoke, not that Cypher cared. It brought joy to see the old man upset, and better yet he was unable to harm the youth in any way.
"It means you're either that most pathetic military commander on Earth or you're doing this purposely to make us lose." He stated simply.
"Are you threatening me, Commander?" Gendo asked.
"No, simply pointing out how I see things currently."
"Well from my perspective, it seems our losses are due to our inability to communicate with one another. You didn't even realize NERV was destroyed till the Black Moon was pulled from the surface."
"Wonder why that is…" Cypher darkly answered.
"Just don't forget who put you in this position, Commander," Gendo remarked, fixing his visor as his hologram ended. Cypher grit his teeth; he fucking hated Ikari. He went on and on about how it was his actions that got SEELE and Section-31 so far like he was the second coming of Christ or something! It drove him mad in rage, especially considering how weak Gendo truly was, how insufficient his army was!
"Blind son of a bitch… Oh, I'll show him… I'll show you just how powerful I am compared to that trash pile you're hiding in!" He garnered, pointing towards a technician as the lights came back on. "You!"
"W-Me?!" The tech cried out.
"Yes, you! Tell the captains to ready all of our units and ships immediately!" He ordered, marching out as men began to rush to action. "Have the defense grid at the ready, and Unit-16 ready for launch!"
"Yes, Commander!"
"And on the double, dammit!" He barked, coming up as men and machines began to move into high alert. He was not happy, not with the way Gendo treated him, not with the way Sylux treated him, not with anyone! (Well, maybe not Canti). "Oh, Ikari… Think you can just talk shit about us like we're nothing huh…? Oh, we'll see about that…."
A/N: Hello everyone, KnightOfZ3R0 here once again! And man, this has been a long-awaited chapter. One which I have been working on for a while, but I never really could flesh it out up till now. It sort of just set itself into place. And I know there wasn't exactly any fighting here, but I promise there will be soon. That aside, I want to apologize for this VERY late chapter; 2020 has been... a year, to say the least, and I'd honestly wanted this to be finished by Christmas, so...
Happy Late Christmas present! Hehehe! Or would it be, Happy New Years Present? I dunno now...
The point is I know it's been a really rough year for all of us, if not the worst. Ever. Of all time. But I'm hoping and praying that 2021 will be a great year and a new page to turn for all of us. And not, you know... 2020: Episode 2.
So here's to 2021, and more Evangelion! I can't say when Chapter 21 will be released yet, but I promise you it's being worked on along with chapter 5 for Code Geass. That Said, This Is The KnightOfZ3R0 signing off!