June 22nd 2015
GDI Extraction Convoy
Outskirts of Tokyo 3
Watching the shifting lines and triangles on the LCD display Mcniel could only take guesses at what the higher ups had planned after what he learned from his squad Lieutenant was a combined Ion Cannon strike on the target designated as "ANGEL-03" which was represented as simple red triangle against an ordinance survey map as the swarms of green triangles that marked GDI units moved around it.
Like most adults who had been children through the first Tiberium war, the Ion Cannon was often portrayed as the Defence Initiatives Gladius from the sky and that image had left a lasting impression in the minds of a generation. The lance of blue-white light that speared through the sky and obliterated the Brotherhood of Nods Temple Prime had been one of the most viewed videos on the fledgling internet regardless of the fact it was a fuzzy 320x200 pixel video converted into macromedia Flash of all things, at least back when it still existed.
Back in the days before Second Impact, before the internet had become a military or scientific resource only. In the time where home computers where still a thing, alongside consumer electronics, digital media and mobile phones.
Dead and forgotten alongside things like international holidays, a fishing industry and coastal cities.
As a result, those blurry and almost forgotten pixels where another ghost of a dead golden age.
The implications however, that whatever this thing was had somehow taken multiple hits from the GDI's space borne scalpel that had rooted out dozens of human cancers from the Earth filled him with dread, even over the shoulder of his CO within an armoured amphibious cocoon that could withstand a direct hit from an Obelisk of Light . . . he felt cold, and vulnerable.
What made him feel worse however, was the fact that for reasons he could not figure out this teenager his squad had been sent to retrieve somehow tied together with whatever the hell that thing on the screen was and he didn't like where that kind of maths added up. His own half-described childhood was a dark history in which NOD had rooted out hundreds of families for certain sets of genetic codes for a project that they thankfully didn't get to complete thanks to the receiving children being saved by GDI. Now he felt as if he was knee deep in the past repeating itself . . . but he was supposed to be one of the good guys.
So why the hell did he feel as if he was an accomplice to the kidnapping of this kid.
To say that it left a foul taste in his mouth was an understatement.
Watching the screen zoom and pan across to the convoys current position however, he could at least see that his team was not purely responsible for directing one lone kid through a goddamn war zone.
A flight of Orca Bombers was taking another strafing run at whatever the hell the enemy target was, and he was not surprised when the red triangle did not waver or disappear afterwards. After all – something that could take multiple Ion blasts was not going to be taken out by a handful of VTOLS with high explosives.
Watching the sea of targets form and split however, he did catch sight of a ZOCOM team deployment towards the target before another designator was headed towards the convoy at high speed, but not under GDI control.
NERV-46-KTSG-HMLR
The lieutenant leaned into his display as a voice spoke to him through his headset unheard by Mcniel.
"Rodger – we'll meet you at south south east 86 degrees, personnel transfer and return. Ikari Heavy out."
The C.O turned to the drivers cabin and yelled across the instructions "SOUTH SOUTH EAST 86 DEGREES. SIX KLICKS AND HALT!"
"YES SIR!" came the confirmation from the cabin.
"Mcniel" the officer said without turning to look over his shoulder.
"Sir?"
"Wake the kid – Kitsuragi is gonna want him to have a full shake down before he gets to Tokyo 3"
"Yes Sir" Mcniel replied as he turned to the sleeping teen before he gently shook Shinji by the shoulder.
"Shinji?" He asked as the auto-translator kicked in once more, giving the soldier the strange dual-tone of speaking "Wake up Shinji"
"Hmm-wha?" Was all Shinji could mutter in confused reply.
"Wake up man, we're about six kilos out from meeting your handover contact"
"Six Kilos?"
"Oh . . . sorry . . . we're Six Kilometres out and she's in a fast mover so it won't take long for the change over"
"Oh . . . " Shinji half-understood the military nomenclature but wasn't entirely sure how to reply, as such his standard shy reply took precedence and he continued into " . . . that's. Nice? I think"
Mcniel patted him on the shoulder as he lifted himself up to sitting.
"You want a coffee or something before we get there?"
"Uhm . . water . . please?" Shinji answered.
"It'll be hot – the water recycler only gives out hot water for coffee and ration packs I'm afraid so you'll have to wait for it too cool"
"Oh . . . okay" Shinji replied.
A few moments later he was handed a paper cup full of fresh, boiling hot water.
"Just don't burn yourself man, not worth the paperwork" Mcniel said as he pulled his face into a smirk, then turned away to re-don his GDI trooper helmet and the large assault rifle Shinji had not seen him carrying on his first meeting.
A short while of confused curiosity later, the vehicle came to a halt and Shinji could hear a high pitched whining noise not unlike anything he had ever heard before in his life as Mcniel and his commanding officer left through the rear doors of the APC.
He heard muffled voices alongside some translated tones for a few minutes before the CO returned, saying nothing to Shinji as he returned to his seat and issued more orders and confirmations in American accented English.
Another minute or two later Mcniel replied with a sly smile on his face as he quickly said "Eyes up dude, you're gonna enjoy this"
Shinji only had a hairs breadth of a second to question the statement before she entered the APC.
"Officer on deck!" Mcniel announced, and every soldier in the vehicle rose to their feet, turned and saluted the newcomer.
It took every ounce of his being to somehow not make his teenage jaw drop.
She was stunning.
Later on in life, Shinji Ikari would come to question if this was indeed the point where he developed something close to being a fetish for women in uniform.
His eyes darted from point to point, almost scared to stay in one place in case she accused him of something he would later regret.
The boots, going up to the obviously long legs in combat trousers, his eyes moved up to the waist and torso as he looked across the outer kevlar – the split opening just at the point of cleavage, hinting at what laid below. The arm raised in salute led his eye to her face, with the point of her chin, the freckles, the purple hair tied back for the moment in a neat ponytail underneath a beret which matched the rest of the GDI gold uniform.
If he knew what was to come, he would perhaps feel even more guilty than he was feeling right now at this moment as she snapped of a crisp salute and handed what was one folder of a pair to the teams Lieutenant who opened it without asking questions – it seemed to Shinji to be two pieces of paper, one being a new set of orders and the other a map grid with co-ordinates.
He only asked the one question, which sounded more like a statement "Through field 337-Lima?"
Kitsuragi replied only with a nod before he then turned to the Drivers cabin again.
"Wheels up, East south East, 52 degrees for 7.5 Klicks to friendly AO" he said aloud, the Driver replied once more with a simple "Yes Sir" as Mcniel and the other trooper closed the rear doors and the APC set off once more.
Moments later as the convoy began it's new journey towards a little known secondary base somewhere just outside the region loosely defined as the Tokyo 3 extreme defensive line Misato Kitsuragi sat down next to Shinji Ikari.
"Shinji, My name is Misato Kitsuragi, Major Misato Kitsuragi – on loan from the Global Defence Initiative Japanese Division to your Fathers organisation within the UN known formally as NERV" she began with a look of seeming compassion on her face "and I've been told to give you this."
The look of compassion dropped, she now looked impassive but now cold. Obviously she knew of the envelopes contents.
Shinji opened the manilla casing with an idle thumb and opened the contents.
The first item was an identical set of documents to the ones he had already been handed, this time signed off in triplicate by his father.
Another set of documents followed on yellow and purple paper – custodianship orders that he didn't bother to read because the last item dropped from the envelope into his waiting hand.
It was an incredibly rare item to see in this version of 2015. In this world, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, IBM, AMD and dozens of other high technology companies had been folded and absorbed into other organisations such as Heckler and Koch or Lockheed Martin alongside other organisations such as Hyundai, Rolls Royce, Rover and other heavy industry organisations like JCB.
As a result consumer electronics had never even passed by the gate of 1998, let alone the Second Impact of 2000. Disposable consumer electronics where an utter oxymoron in a world that would never had been able to sustain them regardless.
So to see the obviously military designed, chunky and heavy, rubber padded 12 inch touch screen tablet was as alien to Shinji as watching an utterly alien object in ours.
"It's a touch screen tablet" said Misato "press the screen to open the video file, I just hope you can hear it over the engines"
"It's fine" Shunji uttered as he pulled his SDAT music player out of a trouser pocket and detached the 3.5mm headphone jack "I have these" he said as he held the headphones up for Misato to see.
"Well in that case . . . you have a whole new world to see . . . " Misato introduced as Shinji pushed the jack into the tablet and then slid each pod into his ears. With a simple tap he opened the only video file on the display.
"Hello, My name is Ignatio Mobius" Began a tall white man with scruffy blonde hair in badly accented Japanese "And I am one of two head scientists of Project Evangelion"
"And my name is Ritsuko Akagi" said the other Japanese woman with auburn hair cut to shoulder length "And I am the other of the two head scientists of Project Evangelion"
"And together" they both said in sync "This introduction video is for new pilots of the joint project effort, Global Defense Initiative and NERV Evengelion Combat Cyborg System.
A few bland infographics passed before his eyes before the image finally settled on a display readout of something called the EVA SERIES and a figure who's height somehow reached at least 200 metres tall.
Only at this point did Shinji actually think to himself what in the ever loving fuck he had gotten himself into.
A moment from Scythe himself.
Hokay – so I had to rework this idea halfway through for the general purpose of the crossover.
This is a world generally hardened for war as well as two apocalypses in less than 20 years, of course they are going to have a pilot orientation program to be given to new recruits before they arrive.
Even if the people who made the orientation videos have no fucking clue that said pilots are determined by destiny rather than random determination.
But the forces of the GDI, even if they aren't all knowing – are at least going to have prepared various methods and means of introducing shit in front of the pilots instead of a direct introduction, ominous lighting and telling Shinji to get in the fucking robot.
I'll be building more into this idea as I move through – the whole idea is to weave the two universes together, and that includes mindsets on top of settings and characters.
So . . . more tippy tapping writing to come in the future.
. . . In the mean time, Tarrah for now
