Behind the one way glass, Captain Amagi and a handful of stationed guards watched the three mysterious strangers talk in a dark room, the only source of light coming from the glowing monitors. Amagi folded her arms and she bent over, squinting at one of the monitors that was transcribing their conversation in real time. She could hear them clearly through an audio feed coming through a headset she had on, but she wanted to read it to make sure she was getting everything right.
Her eyes rapidly flickered through the scrolling text. She cross referenced it with the things she had heard them say before. Connecting the dots. Putting the pieces together.
Tokyo-3
Angels
Second Impact
Ayanami

Just as she thought.

None of it made any damn sense.

"What the hell are these people talking about?" she gasped in exasperation.
"I think these guys are just nutjobs," one of the guards said sipping his coffee.

Episode 3

Under the Wings of Mother Hen

"We need to speak with Ayanami Rei," Shinji said.

The two stared at him for a few moments.

"What, you mean like right now?" Toji asked.

"I mean, now is probably the best time," Shinji shrugged, "Like I said, we're in an underground base underneath where Tokyo-3 would be. My money is we're in the Geofront and if we are going to communicate with her, this may be our only chance to get this close. Maybe it'll help with connection or something, I dunno."

"Okay, fair, but how? What are we going to do, chant her name 3 times in that one way mirror over there?" Toji stuck his thumb over to the glass panel.

"Hey, no need to be so sarcastic, Suzuhara," Asuka said, "She's been bothering us this much already, we could probably just sit in a circle or something and think about her and she'll waltz in."

"Oh yeah, a seance sounds like a much better idea than the mirror one."

They had all been pretty equal in height 10 years ago, but Toji was easily the tallest of the three now, beating Shinji by a couple inches and Asuka by a good head or two. His now stocky build only accentuated their new size difference.
But Asuka stepped up to Toji without hesitation, the same as she had when they bickered all those years ago. She had her arms crossed, brushing her thumb against her nose, looking up at him with that unamused expression.
Before Asuka could get a snarky retort out, Shinji stepped up in front of her, between the two. He gently put his hands on her shoulders, giving them a good rub.
"Now, now. No need to get upset, Asuka," Shinji sang, backing her up away from their old acquaintance that could probably bench press the both of them.
"Remember, this isn't the Toji we knew, we can't trust him quite yet," Shinji whispered under his breath. They didn't know what he's been through or what he's had to do.
"Who said I trusted him," Asuka growled, but he felt her shoulders relax in resignation.
Shinji sighed.

"But listen, we do need to try something," Shinji said, turning to Toji, "And sorry to sound biased, but Asuka's right. Ayanami has been the one coming to us. So the best thing we can really do is sit and wait."

Shinji waited for his reaction, seeing if he would blow up or argue. But Toji simply rolled his eyes, "I guess I don't really have a better idea. You know, I liked it when you were on my side."
Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji and stuck her tongue out at him.


Amagi and the guards with her watched as the three people sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and closed their eyes. And then just sat there.

"What is this?"

One the guards scratched the back of his head, "so should we go interrogate them now? I don't think we're getting anything particularly useful out of this..."

Amagi raised a finger, "give them a second."
The guard simply shrugged and went back to sipping his coffee. He was paid by the hour.
Amagi had seen her fair share of people in these interrogation rooms. And a fair share of them legitimately had a screw or two loose . But the way these people spoke didn't feel like pure nonsense. Even though what they were saying seemed incomprehensible, they were collected and present. There was an understanding between them. Like they knew something she just didn't. Her intuition was telling her to let this play out a little more.

So they watched.

And watched.

And watched.

The drone of the computers. Men sipping their coffees. Air flowing through the ventilation above them. Amagi kept her eyes on them like a hawk the entire time, making sure she didn't miss a single moment.

Suddenly, an alert ping shattered the still air. Amagi head snapped over to one of the monitors in the corner flashing an alert message. One of the guards swung his swivel chair over to it, and Amagi was right by him, looking over his shoulder
"What is it?"
The guard at the monitor knitted his eyebrow, "we're getting an energy spike reading from... the Terminal Dogma?"

There it was.

"How high?"
"Nothing critical, it's up 5% past normal range and holding steady," he turned to her, "you really think it's them?"

But Amagi didn't answer. Her eyes were back on the three people in the interrogation room. She felt the hair on her neck stand up as a chill went down her spine. All three of them opened their eyes and looked up in front of them simultaneously. Perfect unison, not a word spoken between them.

Ikari Shinji opened his eyes.
Asuka Langley Soryu opened her eyes
Suzuhara Toji opened his eyes

Ayanami Rei opened her eyes.


"Ayanami," Toji said breathlessly, staring at the girl now in front of them.

"Would you look at that," Asuka said in disbelief.

The three of them carefully got up to their feet, as if any disturbance in the air would carry her away.

She was really there.
Ayanami Rei was standing in front of them. But they could tell she wasn't really. She had a ghostly aura about her. Her skin emitted a faint glow, her feet didn't seem to be touching the ground.
As for her looks though, she seemed the same as he remembered her back then. Pale complexion, fair blue hair, deep red eyes. She had on their old Middle School uniform. Her countenance in that cold neutral gaze.

"Are you Ayanami Rei?" Shinji asked. He said it in a whisper.

I am not Ayanami Rei

The girl in front of them didn't open her mouth. She seemed to speak directly into their mind. But it didn't feel intrusive or external. It was as if Shinji conjured the thought himself.

I am me. But this is the form of me that lives in you.

"You brought us here, why?" Asuka asked, getting straight to the point.

There exists the universe. There exists many of the universe that live in parallel. Each born after a decision. A branch in time. A branch in space.

In the beginning, there was the first decision.
Seeds of Life, sent to planets to give them life.
In 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999…% of timelines. One Seed of Life lands here on this place you call Earth.
A white moon. Adam. Angels. Them.
The rightful heirs of this planet.

Images flashed through Shinji's mind. Giant eyes. Inky black limbs. Skull shaped heads. Beings of light.

But there are some universes where this does not happen.
Another Seed of Life lands.
A black moon. Lilith. Lilim. Me. You.
And in one in a trillion from that, the Lilim become the dominant species.

More images. Lush green jungles. Painted deserts. Bright, vibrant plains. He saw schools of fish gliding over rich reefs. A flock of birds soaring through rugged mountains. Crowds of people going about their daily lives in the city.

But this universe is almost completely unique.
There are Three Seeds of Life.
A red moon.
Naga.

Webbed, mucoid skin. Bulging eyes. Razor sharp teeth.

Three Seeds of Life on one planet. Something impossible yet inevitable in the face of infinitesimal chance.

You are aware of the power of one Seed of Life...
More images continued to fire through Shinji's mind. He saw 4 huge wings of light burst through the atmosphere of Earth. He saw an entire continent of ice wiped out. The annihilation of all life around it. A shift in the planet, twisting the climate. Heatwaves in December, cities being retaken by the ocean.
Second Impact.

You know the power of two...
Shinji was once again confronted with the titanic face of Ayanami Rei. Her hands overshadowing the entire country of Japan, Her wings shrouding the entire world. She had in the palm of her hands all of the souls on Earth. Instrumentality.
Third Impact.

The power of three is magnitudes above both combined.
An energy so massive it exceeds space and time. It endangers not only this universe, but yours as well.

Shinji saw the giant Angel from his apartment balcony. He saw the flood of LCL outside his window. He saw the blinding rays of light in his living room.
He saw something trying to get in.
Fourth Impact.

Instantly he understood that the visions he was having back in his world weren't just hallucinations. Through Lilith's eyes, he was seeing real events unfolding through the torn fabric of reality. Things from an alternate dimension bleeding into his own.

"How do you know this all happens?" Toji asked. He must have been seeing similar images.

Because it already has.
The one you know as Adam awakened and succeeded in taking the other two Seeds of Life in this universe triggering Fourth Impact. This universe as well as yours were doomed to die.
But as time and space crumbled, and the barriers between universes disintegrated, I could feel myself in your worlds. In you. A bond. And my final act, my last will, was to bring you here using the chaos around me.
To stop the cataclysm.

Children of Lilim, Children of Lilith, Children of Me.
You I know. You I trust. You I am.
Three of me in Three of you.
Three spaces, three times, one bond.
I ask of you once more…

And that was it.
Shinji blinked, and just like that, Ayanami Rei was gone.

Earlier, Shinji had guessed that this was a place without any Angels. It seems he was wrong.
This was just a place without any Angels yet.


Before the three could discuss what they just heard, the door opened and Captain Amagi entered the room.
"Alright, I think that's enough alone time. Anyone want to tell me what just happened here?" Amagi said, clasping her hands together.

The three exchanged strained glances. They were wondering that themselves.

Shinji spoke first, trying to piece everything together as he spoke.
"Captain Amagi was it?" Shinji asked, "Can I ask you what day it is today?"
"Uhm, August 7th" Amagi said.
Shinji made a gesture, as if prompting her to continue.
"...2025?"

"Oh man..." Toji said.
Shinji nodded thoughtfully. The last moment he remembered in his dimension, dancing with Auska in his apartment, was on September 21st 2025. When Ayanami mentioned a different time, she didn't just mean a different timeline. They had actually gone back in time too.

"Why is that important?" Amagi asked.

"This is going to sound crazy, but you need to hear us out," Shinji said, "We come from the future of an alternate dimension..."
Shinji said his words carefully, deliberately, keeping a close eye on Amagi to make sure she was following.

Amagi gave him a disingenuous look, but she had to remember that they did somehow magically appear in highly guarded and restricted military areas and that they did appear to be communicating with the being in Terminal Dogma,
"Okay, I'll humor you. Future parallel dimension. Continue."

"We come with a message," Shinji said, "In the near future, the world is going to end."
"Oh yeah?" Amagi said, "when?"

"Around September 21st, maybe," Shinji said. Based on what he heard, it sounded like Lilith managed to use the Impact itself to bring them here. So the last thing he remembered in his dimension must have been around when it happened.

"How?" Amagi pressed.

"Well, do you know what Angels are?" Asuka asked.

"I'm guessing you're not referring to Christian mythos, so no."

"Okay, so correct me if I'm wrong. Around this time in the year 2000, did you find something in Antarctica? You know, another Geofront perhaps? Another seed of life like the thing below us in Terminal Dogma?" Shinji asked.

Amagi nodded cautiously. This was supposed to be pretty classified, "yes."

"It should have had a lance inside it that was suppressing it. Did you happen to remove the lance?"

Amagi slowly nodded, another wave of shock washing over her, "yes."

"When did you remove the lance?"

"...15 years ago…"

oof
Asuka, Shinji, Toji all made very visible signs of distress, as if they took a physical blow. Asuka put her hands to her face, Toji threw his hands in the air. Shinji just sucked air through his teeth.

"Well, I guess that's to be expected. August 7th is when the 1st Angel attacked in our timeline," Asuka sighed.
"You mean the 3rd Angel?" Toji asked.
"What? Oh, shut up. That's semantics, you know what I mean," Asuka rolled her eyes.
"And I'm pretty sure it was August 9th," Toji said.
"Hmmm, I don't think so," Asuka turned to Shinji, tugging on his sleeve,"It was the 7th, right, Shinji?"
Shinji folded his arms and creased his eyebrows as he looked up in thought, "Uhhh, I thought it was in September not going to lie."
"What the hell? Shinji you were there!"
Shinji threw his hands up defensively, "it was a long time ago and it is not exactly a memory I hold dear to me."
"Well it couldn't have been September because September 11th is when we killed the 7th Angel. Remember we had to do all that synchro-drifting-one-mind shenanigans for a whole week?"
Shinji nodded slowly, "...right."

"Okay, I remember that too. So let's work back from there," Toji suggested, "When did we all meet on Over the Rainbow?"
"September 1st"
"September 2nd."
"I don't remember."

The three answers were said in perfect, dissonant unison. Amagi watched as another wave of dissent descended among the three supposed prophets.
Through the chaos, Asuka began to beat on Shinji, "You don't remember when we first met?"
Shinji tried in vain to shield himself, "hey, no offense but…"
"Don't…"
"But our first meeting..."
"Don't say it, Ikari..."

"..."
"... wasn't exactly a memory I hold dear to me either-"
Asuka started hitting Shinji again.
"See, this is why! you were so mean to me back then too," he feigned a sob, protecting himself from the blows.
"Stop flirting for a second and listen," Toji interjected, "It had to be the 1st. I remember you guys did a week of training before fighting the angel. So that brings us to the 4th. And then me and Kensuke got at least two days worth of pictures, so that brings us to the 2nd. And then Soryu transferred to our school the next day after Over the Rainbow. Which brings us to the 1st."
"...what pictures?" Asuka frowned.
"Oh shit… Did I say pictures? uhhh."

"Can we," Amagi said, taking a sharp inhale through her nose, "please… focus."

Shinji straightened up, clearing his throat, "My apologies."

"So these Angels. You're saying they are the ones that will bring about the end of the world?" Amagi prompted, trying to get them back on track.

"Right," Shinji said, "they are similar to these Naga you fight, except they will be much more powerful. If we can't stop them, they will trigger an event known as Fourth Impact that will be detrimental to not just here, but where we are from as well. That's where we come in."

"Fourth?"

"It's a long story."

"And you are trying to say that the first of these Angels will begin their attack today?" Amagi asked.

"Or... two days from now, I guess," Shinji shrugged looking over at Toji. He flashed a thumbs up and an approving nod.

But just as he did, the room was suddenly flushed in deep red lights and they heard the shrill jingle of Amagi's communicator begin to ring.

The four people all froze and exchanged glances. Toji still had his thumbs up.

"Or, you know... today."

Amagi pulled out her communicator and furiously read through the messages that were flooding in. Without looking up, she began to briskly head to the exit, " We'll continue this later."

Shinji and Asuka began to follow her out the door.
When Amagi realized they were right behind her, she turned around putting a hand up, "what do you think you guys are doing?"

"We're going to help you?" Asuka said, "that's kind of why we're here."

"Oh, I don't think so," Amagi said shaking her head, "I have no evidence yet that you people are even sane and even if you are, no offense, but you don't seem very reliable. You will stay here and maybe if I find it necessary, I'll be back for your assistance."

"If you never fought an Angel before, I think we could be very helpful," Asuka said, "save some time and money. Maybe even lives?"

Amagi turned around and began walking for the exit, ignoring their pleas.

"Captain, do you know what an AT field is?" Shiji called.

"We'll continue this later," She repeated sharply.

"Okay, one last thing," Shinji said.

Amagi turned to look at him.

"An N2 mine will stop it for about an hour."

Amagi glared at him as the door closed between them.


Trumpet Call

"Hey, let us help you, you idiots!" Asuka yelled at the glass panel, waving her arms in the air. "Why would she not even hear us out. So stingy. Reminds me of Misato."
She walked back and crouched by Shinji who was sitting on the floor up against the wall in thought.
"Maybe they can just beat it," Asuka shrugged, "I mean they threw you in there when you were like, what, 14? And you hadn't even piloted an Eva before."
"Kind of true but not actually. I got thrashed. Berserker had to kick in," Shinji said, "besides, it might not be so simple. When I watched that pilot fight, he was very skilled, but I don't think they know how to use AT fields."

"Really?" Asuka asked, "That does complicate it a bit."

Shinji nodded, "The Naga definitely do not utilize any kind of AT field or if they do, it's very weak. Conventional weapons seemed to have a pretty good effect on them."
He recalled how just before the Eva stepped in and saved him earlier today, the tanks seemed to have been doing some damage to the Naga.
"So that should put Eva at a huge advantage. But when I was in the entry plug, there didn't seem to be any indication he was using one either. He resorted mostly to dodging attacks instead of blocking it."

Asuka mused, "Well do you think they can even use it in the first place? What if these Evas are different than ours? What if they can't?"
"They should," Shinji said confidently, "those are definitely Evas."
"So we still have a shot," Asuka said.

"You know, I'm amazed how into this you guys are," Toji called over. He was sitting on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed.
Shinji and Asuka looked at eachother. Then back to Toji.
"What do you mean?" Asuka said.
"Fighting Angels!" Toji remarked in frustration, "We already did all that shit back then, why the hell are we doing this again? How are they going to just throw us into this mess? It just ain't fair."

"Didn't you hear Wonder Girl? If we don't, all hell breaks loose."
"I mean, that's what they told us back then too and it still sucked didn't it?"

Shinji nodded understandingly, but he had already asked himself these questions. "Well, do you have someone waiting for you back in your time?" Shinji asked.
"Uh, maybe."
"Is it Hikari," Asuka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe." He answered a little too quickly. "I have my sister too."
Shinji smiled, "Back then, I didn't have a reason to fight. Yeah they told me I was 'saving the world' or whatever, but there was still a disconnect. But it's different this time around. Now I do have something I'm really willing to fight for.
"I already got into an Eva again, something I thought I would never have to or want to do again. So parallel worlds, fighting Angels, I'm all for it. If not for these people, then I do it for her."
Shinji smiled looking over at Asuka. Asuka responded by giving Shinji a slow meek slap across the face, beet red, "please don't say embarrassing things."

"Your flirting is going to be the end of me, if the Angels don't get me first."
Toji sighed, shaking his head. He looked over at Shinji, "You've really changed, you know?"

Shinji gave a small chuckle, "you think so?"


There wasn't a clock in the room, so the three could do nothing but sit in the blood red light and wait for something to happen.

And finally it did.

The door opened, and Amagi once again stepped into the room. Shinji, Asuka, and Toji all got up to their feet expectantly.
Based on her expression, it didn't seem like good news.

Amagi didn't say anything. She just wagged her finger, gesturing them to come with her and silently trotted out the exit again.
The three former pilots exchanged glances and followed.

After a few minutes of rushed walking, Amagi swiped a keycard and they entered a boardroom filled to the brim with people. The air was drowned out in chatter and they struggled to squeeze their way through the room.

Gruff military officers, decorated with scars and medals, muttered in low voices amongst each other.
Technicians and scientists shuffled through paper togethers, trying to make sense of what they were reading. Runners scrambled around, passing along notes and reports

Only one person seemed to really acknowledge their entrance. He stood up out of his chair as they walked in.
It was the pilot Shinji had met, Shokaku Shinji.

"Captain! Are Hojo and Chitose, okay?" he asked.

Amagi nodded, "hey relax. Yes, we extracted them a couple minutes ago. We're going to bring them to the hospital, but they're fine."

Shokaku nodded in relief. "What is going on? Is this the Naga?" He gave a curious glance at the three people she entered with, "who are these guys? Wait, I know you…"

"You'll see soon enough," Amagi said.
She turned to the three again, "take a seat over there," she pointed at a couple of chairs lined up at the front corner of the room. The three shrugged and obeyed.

"Alright everyone!" Amagi called. She grabbed the nearest stack of reports and slammed it against the boardroom table. The blunt sound of the impact reverberated through the room, commanding silence.
"We don't have a lot of time, so I'll get you up to speed quickly," Amagi said. An aide handed her a remote and she stood at the front of the room next to a wide screen which showed them a map and grid.

"At about 1540, Oshima Station picked up an unidentified target about 20 klicks South East from its position. At 1550 it was deemed hostile after destroying Oshima Station."
The screen switched to a picture of a humble radar station that had been stomped to the ground. Shinji could see shifting in the room as interest was piqued.

"The target breached through the Sagami Bay minefield shortly after. It sustained two waves of torpedo bombings with no apparent damage. It made landfall at about 1600 where it engaged the 25th and 28th Armor Division and the 12th Artillery Division with air support. Again no effect on target.
"Units 03 and 04 moved in to engage the target at 1612. At 1630, both pilots were forced to emergency eject and abandon the units. Target shortly cleared the NDZ after at 1637."
Another picture appeared on the screen of an Eva unit smashed through a building.
This one got a bit more of a reaction. A wave of muttering fluttered around the room. People leaned forward in their seats now, eyebrows furrowed.

"At 1640, a state of emergency was officially declared in Hakone and citizens are currently being evacuated to designated shelters. At the same time, we detonated an N2 mine 2 kilometers south of the Niizaki River which seemed to have reduced the target to 82% vitality, but was incapable of fully incapacitating it."
Another picture flashed showing a blurry aerial picture of a thick pillar of smoke rising out of the now smoldering land. Shinji could make out the blurry silhouette of a towering humanoid creature.

"It seems to be regenerating at a rapid rate. Estimated time for it to be moving again is about…," for a brief moment, her eyes flashed directly at Shinji, "...1 hour. 1735. It is projected to reach Hakone at 1750. Current time is now 1657."

The murmuring had now cycled back into a stunned silence. They had just been told that all their trump cards were spent and they had less than an hour to come up with something.

"Have we tried hitting it again while it is regenerating?" one of the generals asked.
"Two waves of short range ballistic missile launches have been fired since the N2 mine detonation. Every single missile hit the target. No effect."

"Well, what does the MAGI suggest?"
"All options appear inconclusive except … self destructing the base…"

"Well Captain, I certainly hope that's not what you're proposing."
"No, of course not!" Amagi said.

"So then do you have any idea of what to do? With the Commander out, you're the next in line to deal with these kinds of operations," a general growled.

"It's complicated," Amagi tried to explain, "this isn't what we're typically used to dealing with. This isn't Naga, this is a new enemy. And that's where these three come in." She gestured toward the trio of strangers that had been sitting in the corner.

Shinji almost reeled with so many eyes turning towards him. It felt even more nerve-wracking than running from the Naga. He scanned the room looking at all these people sizing him up. Judging him. His eyes eventually found the floor very interesting.

"This might be hard to explain now, but I believe these people have knowledge that will help us defeat the current enemy."
She looked over at them and gestured with her head, egging them to introduce themselves.

"I am Asuka Langley Soryu," Asuka announced first. She stood up and took a bow, "I'll be in your care."
"I am Toji Suzuhara," he said, following suit, "Pleasure."
"Uhm, hello, I am Ikari…" Shinji awkwardly stood up.
He felt the weight of dozens of gazes on his shoulders, in his head. His mind felt like static. His eyes frantically bounced around the room at all the people. So many people.
But then he happened to lock eyes with Shokaku in the back corner of the room who was looking up at him intently. Curious about the person he saved and was now here in front of him again.

Maybe it was a panicked impulse. Maybe it was the nerves of all the people. Maybe it was because the pilot's name was also Shinji and he didn't want to say he was Shinji too. Maybe being in a place like NERV and fighting angels made him think about him for the first time in years. Maybe he still had some repressed things to work out. There was a lot of maybes as to why he said what he said, but nothing could change that he actually said it.
"I am Ikari Gendo," Shinji said, "I'll be in your care."

Toji looked over at Shinji with a face of complete bewilderment as he took his seat again.
Asuka didn't look much different.
But the show went on.

"You're telling me these uh, young sports are somehow experts on this unknown enemy?" One of the generals said, "How is that so?"

It was a fair point. Not only were they young, they didn't exactly look the part either. Shinji was still in his ruffled up clothes from the Naga incident, dried up and stained with LCL. Toji was donning a simple dull tracksuit. And Asuka, with her red dress, looked like she was here for a Sunday drive.

"Well let's hear them out. What have you got for us?" Amagi said, turning the floor to them. She prayed in her mind that she was right about these people. She whispered "you said you could help?"

All eyes were now back on the three. Shinji awkwardly cleared his throat and looked over at Asuka and Toji to see if they would take the reins. He was shocked to see they were already looking at him.
"Me?" Shinji mouthed, gesturing to himself.
"You were on a roll back in the interrogation room," Toji shrugged, "seemed to have the best idea of everything happening."
He glanced over at all the people again.
"Uhm, Asuka, why don't you do the speaking?" Shinji said sheepishly, "This is… I can't…"
Luckily, Asuka was way ahead of him. She squeezed his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring nod.

She shot up on her feet and took center stage. "Hello everyone. We are qualified and I can give you a long explanation of how, or I can just prove it to you. Considering how much time we have, I'm guessing you'll want the latter option, no?"
There were a couple scoffs in the room, but no one objected.

"This new enemy you are fighting is called an Angel. Now I am under the impression you have been fighting things called Naga for some time. Angels are different. Although they don't seem to come in as high of numbers, they are much more powerful. Angels are capable of generating something called an AT field, a kind of shield that will render conventional weapons to minimal viability as you may have seen. I'm wondering if any tech guys picked up data on that?"
All the eyes shifted to the row of military technicians in the back. They all nodded slowly.

"Okay, so what can we do about it?" one of the generals asked.

"Glad you asked. Luckily there is a countermeasure. The only thing capable of fighting Angels...," Asuka said, turning to look at Shokaku, "...are Evas."

Shokaku frowned as he realized she was directing the attention at him. But before he could say anything, the war room broke out into a frenzy of shouting.
"I thought our new expert would give us a more creative solution. You know, one we haven't already tried."
"Let her finish, she might be onto something."
"Why are we wasting time listening to this again?"
"Captain, where did these people even come from anyways? Can we even trust them? "

One general got to his feet and shouted above the others "Has this girl been paying attention? Evas? We already had two Evas fight it, and they couldn't do anything either."

Asuka grabbed the same stack of reports Amagi had and once again slammed it against the side of the table, but harder. It sounded like a gunshot. The room was swallowed up in silence. "Neat trick. Sir, if you feel so inclined, you can go leave this room right now and start shooting missiles at that thing while we finish talking here. You'll contribute roughly the same amount as you are now, I promise you."
The general next to him cleared his throat, stifling a laugh, as he took his seat again, silently fuming.

"It's a fair question though, what can the Evas do that gives them more of a chance?" Amagi asked.

"Because Evas are also capable of projecting an AT field," Asuka said, "These Angels come from that thing you dug up in Antarctica," Asuka let a mischievous smile creep on her lips, "And I happen to know that's where Evas come from too," she sang.

The mood seemed to change after Asuka said that. A tension in the air that Shinji could feel tighten around his neck. Any doubt that these generals had with Asuka seemed to vaporize. She certainly was knowledgeable on this subject matter. And not a single person in the room seemed to like it. If looks could kill, Asuka would have died to a thousand daggers. But Asuka stood firm, meeting them all in the eye.
Shinji nervously scanned her body, making sure there wasn't actually a red dot trained on her or something.

"Jesus, remember how I said you've changed Shinji?" Toji whispered, leaning over to him. Shinji nodded.
"Well, she hasn't."
Shinji chuckled, "In our time, she's working with the provisional government that is leading the restoration of Kyoto," he said, a bit of smug pride leaking into his voice.
"Makes sense. So she's used to yelling at people in suits."

"If our pilot here can manage to form an AT field, he can fight the Angel on equal footing," Asuka said, "And that's our only chance."
Everyone simply nodded in agreement. They had no other plan anyways and they were running out of time. Questioning would have to come later.

"How many units do you have?" Asuka asked.

"He's all we have left," Amagi said, referring to Shokaku.
"He's all we need," Asuka said, "Pilot, do you think you are up for this?"

Shokaku nodded confidently, "I'm your man."

"Then let's lift off as soon as we can."


A door opened and Shinji, Asuka, and Toji followed Amagi into the huge command center.

Shinji felt like he should have been surprised to see that it looked the exact same as the NERV Command Center. Shinji had actually only been in the Command Center itself a small amount of times, but he instantly recognized the multi-tiered room.
Earlier, he had heard them mention the MAGI and sure enough, he could even see the three supercomputers systems posted in the level below him.
Shinji looked up at the top level, half expecting to see his father's looming figure there. But the Commander seat was empty.

They were on the same floor where Hyuga, Aoba, Ibuki would have been posted, but of course, three different faces were in their spots.
They had set up a cheap folding table with 3 plastic chairs for Asuka, Toji, and Shinji near the back of the level. Amagi stood directly in front of them.

"Status report," Amagi shouted.
"Time is 1740," one of the techs said, "Target is on the move again along a projected path to Hakone. ETA 13 minutes."

"And Unit 01?"
"Deploying now."


They deployed him right outside the huge walls of Hakone, alone.
The giant Eva rested on a knee, pallet rifle in hand.
A sole defender waiting for the sole invader.
The sun was already setting. Shokaku watched the sky melt from a blue, to a hazy lavender, against the soft yellow of the sun.

"Angel's ETA is in 10 minutes."

Shokaku took a deep breath. They had 3 Evas in the Eastern Branch that deployed in rotations of 2, changing every week. He had just finished his rotation earlier today and was ready for a week off when this all happened. Now he was back in Eva, alone for the first time in years.

"Okay, Shokaku, nice to meet you," Asuka's voice buzzed in from the comms.
"Pleasure is all mine, Ms. Soryu."
"The Angel will have a giant red core that you'll see on its chest. That's your target. it's its life source. Break that, you beat the Angel."
"Simple enough," Shokaku said, "and what about this AT field?"
"This is going to be the hard part," the AT field isn't a function programmed into the Eva. It comes from you. You need to connect with the Eva and project it from inside yourself."

"We have visual on target. 1000 meters out."

Shokaku wished he had time to practice or something, but it seems the moment was here.


"Putting it up on the main screen now."

The towering figure of the Angel appeared flickered on the screen.
"What a funny looking guy," he heard one of the techs say.

Broad shoulders, long arms, jagged ribs, dark empty eyes.
There was no doubt.
This was the Third Angel
Sachiel.

Shinji thought he'd have a more visceral reaction seeing the Angel so close again, but he found himself strangely calm.
He looked to his right to see Asuka licking her lips, her face laser focused.
He looked to his left to see Toji. Even though he knew he couldn't trust him quite yet, he really didn't seem like a bad guy so far. It felt good having his company again.

They could do this.

"Are you ready, Shokaku?" Shinji asked.

Shokaku nodded and gripped his controls sticks, "Let's fight some Angels."

TO BE CONTINUED