Creation began on 03-28-19

Creation ended on 12-31-20

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Imperial Escalation

There were only ten Shingu that were made from the Emperor of the generation that desired to create artifacts that could exceed the Imperial Arms, but ten of them were better than a regular sword, shield, spear or dagger. And with each relic being in the possession of the royal guard's strongest men left the Emperor feeling slightly less endangered by the mere possibility of Night Raid or the Bullet of Salvation invading the palace to take him out.

Such Shingu included Kiriichimonji, the sword that cut inflict wounds that couldn't be mended, but those wounds had limitations that those with Imperial Arms could undo without much effort.

Prometheus, dual pistols that could manipulate the bullets it fired in various angles, but could only be fired sparingly due to the decline in its accuracy.

Yocto-bottoms, a specially-made fabric in the form of trousers that could augment the strength and speed of the legs of whoever wore them; this Shingu's performance was dependent upon the user already being a capable with their lower body, the stronger their legs before wearing it, the stronger their legs would be upon wearing them.

Trisula, a pole arm that could extend to varying distances so it could be used to attack enemies.

There was even Mjolnir, a small hammer capable of releasing electrical discharges when it was slammed against something or someone.

These relics weren't powerful, but they were all the Empire had to defend the palace while the Emperor was preparing to use the royal family's Imperial Arms as an absolute last resort.

It's possible the Empire will die, thought Esdeath as she saw the ten guards practicing with the Shingu out on the courtyard. We will not survive if this continues to persist. Our forces are spread too thin and the enemy has increased in both strength and unpredictability. Who knows what they're up to right this moment, probably plotting their next move against the Empire's forces. And the Bullet of Salvation, he's probably playing the most important role in some of Night Raid's plans.

-x-

With his face now on the walls to inform the people that lived in the capital city, Shinji had to hide his face whenever he was out in public and had to be accompanied by one of the members of Night Raid the people knew nothing about. But while this was a hindrance to him, it would have to serve as a means to not attract attention while he was out and about making use of Shambhala for later in the event that Night Raid would be in situations they would have to escape through him using it. And so here he was, marking Lubbock's bookstore as a safe spot to relocate to through Shambhala, allowing them to get there and hide if necessary.

"Are you almost done, Shinji?" Lubbock asked him as he finished registering the place through Shambhala for Night Raid.

"Yeah," he told him. "We're set here."

"Where to next?"

"Next is…wherever the next location that needs to be marked," Shinji told him, using Shambhala to teleport himself back to the hideout so he could head out to the next location to register as a safe zone for the group.

The front door to the store opened and Lubbock saw some potential customers.

"Good day," he greeted them, "how may I help you?"

-x-

The Revolutionary Army, augmented with the recently-stolen Imperial Arms provided by Shinji, were prepared to take on the military of the Empire and end the war for control of the nation's future.

"So, one of Night Raid's newest members actually took all of these Imperial Arms from the Empire's weapons vault?" A soldier asked.

"That's right," answered Najenda as she wielded Stormbreaker. "The Bullet of Salvation acquired all but three of the Empire's Imperial Arms. Be advised, however, that this does not make our job any easier. So long as the Emperor is alive, we cannot take control of the Empire and end the corruption. We take out their military, then the Emperor himself, and the Empire falls for us to rebuild its government."

"This kid, the Bullet of Salvation," spoke another soldier to Najenda, "is he strong?"

"Is he strong?" She responded; in her mind, the boy was strong, but not in the way that this soldier was thinking, not about strength or speed of durability…but in a different sense. "It depends upon your perception of what he's capable of. Based solely on what we were able to ascertain about him, he's as human as you and I are, but augmented from the leftover remains of everything used to create the original Imperial Arms. He may not impress some that see strength, speed or a willingness to kill as a means to achieve victory…but he is stronger than most should expect if they were to face him."

"A member of Night Raid that can't or won't kill, but is still an ally in the war," said another soldier, "can't be that much of a weakling if he was able to take the other Imperial Arms from the Empire. That, in and of itself, is a huge win."

You got that right.

And with the increase in people in the Revolutionary Army with Imperial Arms at their disposal, their chances of securing victory against the corrupt Empire were raised astronomically. Victory and the promise of a new system of peace were within their grasp, and they owed it to this boy and all their fallen friends, allies and all the people that were unjustly murdered to end the madness they were surrounded by.

-x-

Shinji walked through the halls of the original Night Raid hideout, seeing that it had been left alone after the initial attack on the group by Dr. Stylish and his group of augmented drones with the Imperial Arms they took from their bodies. Leaving a marker around for Shambhala to enable its use in transporting people to and from anywhere else he had been to and left a marker at, he felt a danger was upon the Revolutionary Army because of his actions. But he understood that this was a war, and that in any war, there was going to be this sense of dread hovering over every last one of them until it was ended. And yet, that didn't stop his heart from beating an unsteady rhythm because of who in his memory was representing as his deepest, darkest dread right now: Esdeath, holding up Sheele in front of him…and then impaling her through the back with an ice spear, sending the woman's blood spraying across his frightened face.

"Gah!" He gasped, realizing that what he saw hadn't happened just yet…and steeled his resolve to make sure that it wouldn't happen. "Stay focused, Shinji. If everything goes right for the Revolutionary Army, then Esdeath will be defeated and the Emperor removed from power and the old government torn down to establish a new one with the people's interests in mind."

He stopped in front of Sheele's old room and stepped inside it. Taking only what few possessions they had before they left the hideout, Night Raid had left only the most meager of things behind after the place's secrecy was compromised. There were no books or maps or any weapons that were of any use for anyone. If anyone were to claim this location for their own purposes, it could've been used as another base of operations or as a home for some family.

Crack. He looked down and saw a small, framed photograph under his left shoe.

Is this one of Sheele's? He wondered as he reached down to pick it up, turning it over. "Whoa."

It was quite old, probably several years, and in the picture were five people, a man, a woman, two boys and a girl, all with purple hair. The man was on the left beside the woman on the right, with both boys on either side while the girl was in the middle with a happy smile.

This must be her family, before she ever joined Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army, he thought as he removed the photograph and put it in his pants' left pocket. She must've forgotten about it when we left. I'll return it to her.

-x-

The operation to end the war was a two-pronged strategy: The Revolutionary Army would deal with the military might of the Empire, and Night Raid would deal with whatever forces were available to defend the Emperor and then apprehend the boy to remove him from power. If they played their cards properly, the war would be over within two or three days, the majority of that time being used by the Revolutionary Army to wear down the Empire's forces. This would leave the rest of the enemy forces limited for Night Raid to deal with and either secure or destroy the three remaining Imperial Arms they possessed.

"Are we ready?" Akame asked Mine.

"We're almost set," she responded. "We just need to wait on Shinji to show up."

"I'm here," they heard Shinji's voice as he appeared from behind a corner in the new hideout, looking out of breath.

"Were you able to mark every location necessary to move us around?" Leone questioned him.

"Yes. I'm ready to get us wherever we need to go first."

"Hey, Shinji," went Tatsumi to him as he sheathed the sword key for Incursio, "if we win this, we'll never have to fight again."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed with him on that.

"Let's go end this," said Bulat, wearing the armor of Grand Chariot.

Shinji held up Shambhala and activated it, opening a portal to Lubbock's bookstore.

"Let's go meet the Emperor and settle this," he told the other members of Night Raid, and they walked through the portal.

To be continued…

A/N: I hope that y'all look forward to the next chapter in the future, and have many opinions on the potential outcomes. The primary focus will be on the matter between Night Raid and the forces protecting the Emperor, with the Revolutionary Army being a minor focus. Until next time, everyone.