Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Scrapped Princess. Those shows are owned by Gainax and BONES respectively. I do not profit from writing this story.


Lieutenant Shinji Ikari was on his third drink of the night. He tolerated drinks fairly well and it took a lot to get him drunk. To Shinji, the number of beers didn't really matter – nor did the fact that every pilot in the joint watched him slam his bottle down onto the counter. Shinji stared longingly at the bar's only view screen. In the year 2315, mankind had the technology to receive just about every known television channel in the universe.

Tonight Shinji was marveling at the oddity that was the ship's bar. It seemed that when everyone else was getting drunk, the bar showed a comedy or a particularly good soap. But, when Shinji got drunk they showed the news. This bar was a place for Shinji to forget those who had fallen, but it seemed that the universe didn't want Shinji to forget.

Shinji wanted to spit at the screen when he saw the image of the news anchor – a greasy blonde-haired Caucasian man. 'At least he's not a million miles from home fighting and dying for some blot on an admiral's star map,' Shinji thought. 'I bet he gets to go home tonight and screw his wife.'

"Good evening. We begin tonight with an update from the front. Initial reports from Fleet Headquarters indicate that Terran forces have retaken the Vega system. Commodore Kouzou Fuyutsuki, a spokesman for the Fleet Headquarters has credited the Seer Sylvia Mauser with providing detailed information on the enemy's movements. According to Commodore Fuyutsuki, Mauser's predictions proved so accurate that the 15th Terran Fleet managed to decimate half of the enemy fleet within the first fifteen minutes of battle. There is no word yet on the number of Terran casualties."

Shinji winced. The other half of the enemy fleet probably put up a better fight than their deceased brethren. 'We probably lost a lot more than they're willing to admit,' he thought.

Shinji continued listening as he started another drink. "People are celebrating the arrival of Captain Beckenham Mauser," the image of a young man in his early twenties appeared on the screen. He was about six-feet tall, athletic in build, and all topped off by a mass of brown hair on his head. A diminutive purple haired girl with pale skin stood with the Captain. "Captain Mauser, the famous D-Knight ace credited with thirty-eight confirmed kills will receive a special commendation from Secretary General George Browning at a ceremony tomorrow afternoon in recognition for his accomplishments in battle against the enemy."

As Shinji watched he felt the presence of another body sit down in the chair next to him. He didn't even have to turn around to recognize the person sitting next to him. "What the hell are you doing here, Lieutenant Suzuhara?" He asked with an edge in his voice.

"Shinji, you have to stop this. You don't have to do this to yourself every time someone gets bagged." Toji Suzuhara pleaded with his friend.

"Damn it, Kensuke wasn't just anyone! I was flight leader. I should have saved him, but I couldn't. I should have been faster. If only that guy hadn't gotten in behind me, then Kensuke would still be here. I failed him."

"Now look, you, Kensuke, and I came up from the academy together. Don't you remember what Kensuke always said? He said that he didn't want anyone to feel bad if he ever got bagged."

"I can still hear him in my mind, Touji. Can you hear him, Touji? You weren't there. You didn't have to watch his Dragoon get chopped in half. You didn't have to listen to him call out for his mother. You weren't the one who could have saved him. I could have saved him, but I was too slow. My finger was on the trigger the moment he was cleaved in two. I could've been faster."

"Don't bla-…"

"ENOUGH! I'm at fault!"

The activity inside the bar stopped momentarily as the fight between the two friends reached its climax. Touji slammed his fist down on the table. "Damn it, you think you're the only one with shame hanging on their shoulders? If I had drink every time something went wrong out here, I'd probably be dead. Look deep inside yourself, Shinji. Are you really going to sit here until you drink yourself under the table?"

Shinji took a long look at the bottle in his hand as he contemplated an answer. Finally, Shinji took a deep swig from his bottle and placed it back onto the counter. He turned and looked Touji in the eye before leaping at him, fists flying as he went. The two found themselves on the ground scuffling about. The patrons quickly gathered around and watched the fight, some even placed bets.

However, the fight was broken up as quickly as it started. Security personnel dressed in black overalls and armed with stun sticks pushed the two friends apart and restrained them. As the haze of the brawl cleared in their minds, Touji and Shinji looked upon a face they wish they hadn't seen – the purple-haired Colonel Misato Katsuragi. She wore a sinister smirk on her face and her eyes pierced into Touji and Shinji like knives.

"Mr. Suzuhara, Mr. Ikari. When I received a call about a disturbance in the bar, how did I know that I would find you two rolling around on the floor? Tell me… Were you two fighting or just trying to get to know each other better?"

A number of chuckles could be heard among the patrons when a grizzled looking sergeant turned and said, "Get back to your drinks. This is ship business."

The patrons grumbled as Touji put on his best smile. "I was just teaching Ikari here the finer points of hand to hand combat. You see we were having this discussion…"

"Can it, mister! Don't you realize that I can have you locked up on charges of disorderly conduct?"

"Yes, ma'am." Touji replied.

"Well, Mr. Ikari? Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Shinji sucked in his gut, stood at attention, and took a step forward. Shinji knew that Touji could have simply turned him in to save his own skin. But, his friend of nearly seven years stood by him. 'What the hell? Lying to the Colonel might be fun. Besides, it wasn't like I want to stay in this war forever', Shinji thought.

"Ma'am, Tou… I mean Suzuhara really was demonstrating the finer points of hand-to-hand combat. I have become a bit rusty and Suzuhara has been training with… with…" Shinji blinked as he realized Touji and Kensuke were always brushing up on their hand-to-hand combat skills. They claimed it helped their reflexes in space combat. "With Aida… ma'am."

Misato looked at the two young men in front of her. She had seen so many people lie in the past that Touji and Shinji's lie was easy to spot. She couldn't let the poor kids off too easy. She cleared her throat, "Ahem. Well, you do know that lying to a superior officer calls for a court martial hearing. However, I see no reason to take such a corrective measure at this time. Sergeant?"

"Yes, ma'am?" The sergeant answered.

"Take Mr. Suzuhara and Mr. Ikari to the brig. I want them punished. Combat training is strictly prohibited to recreational areas. Three days detention for the both of you. I expect only the best behavior from you, Mr. Suzuhara. As for you, Mr. Ikari…"

"Ma'am?" Shinji asked.

"I expect better from the son of an admiral."

Shinji's demeanor changed at the mention of his illustrious father. His father, the ace with more that fifty confirmed kills; his father, the admiral whose combat tactics kept the enemy at bay; and his father, the man who had abandoned his son in favor of his career. "Ma'am," Shinji finally managed with ice in his voice, "I don't have a father."

Misato looked at Shinji for a moment. 'I guess he doesn't get along too well', she thought. 'I suppose that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.' Misato finally responded, "Very well. I still expect the very best from you. Security, take them away."

With that, the guards led Shinji and Touji away as the bar patrons looked on. 'This is going to be bad for morale', Misato thought. She turned to the patrons in the bar and said, "Everyone, I'm sorry that happened. Let's try and avoid those spectacles in the future."

She turned to the bartender and told him, "The next round is on the house." As the patrons cheered, she checked her watch. 'Looks like I still have some time before I have to go to the bridge. I guess one Yebisu wouldn't hurt…'


Lieutenant Maya Ibuki checked her watch. 'Where's the Colonel? She should have been here ten minutes ago', she thought. 'I wonder if she's delayed by that fight down in the bar?'

Maya joined the Terran Starfleet three days after her twenty-first birthday. By her nature, Maya wasn't a violent person. In fact, she always enjoyed working with computers and had wanted to attend school on Earth to train as a computer scientist. Unfortunately, the HI descended on her colony, Arius Eridani, when she was only twenty. She could still see her parents in her mind, urging her on as she ran into one of the last transports to leave the colony.

She never saw her parents again. They failed to make it to the transport. Maya remembered how she saw her colony for the first time from space and watched it burn brightly while her transport ascended. As her twenty-first birthday approached, she found herself without a job to support herself. So, she chose the only job available, enlistment in the Terran Starfleet. Here she was, almost four years at Officer Candidate School had prepared her for her dual position as navigator and executive officer aboard an Orbital Fortress-class battleship, the Vanguard.

When she heard the swish of the bridge doors, she turned to greet a slightly tipsy Misato. "Colonel on the bridge!" Maya called out.

Misato waved her hand playfully. "Cut it out, Maya. You know that I prefer to be informal on the bridge." Misato hiccupped slightly and almost tripped, but she managed to balance herself. "Now, report."

"Ma'am, our escorts report no contacts and I have kept the Gigas on a regular patrol pattern."

Misato nodded, "Did you have the escorts power down and scan using passive sensors?"

"Ah, n- n- no Ma'am. Was I supposed to do that?"

"Basic combat tactics, Maya. The HI will often trail our ships using passive sensors. The response time on the passive sensing system is slower because it uses less power to prevent detection. By powering down suddenly, the enemy looses our position and is forced to power up their sensors in order to reacquire us, thereby exposing their position."

"I'll try and remember that next time."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Besides, this is a secure system. All we ever get are raids. Like the one…"

A red light blinked on the console of Makoto Hyuga. He checked his instruments before reporting, "Ma'am, the Exeter is reporting multiple contacts coming through the local jump gate."

"Have they identified the contacts?"

"Negative, Ma'am."

"Who's patrolling that area?"

"Exeter, Chicago, and Nemesis."

"Have them investigate with Nemesis taking point and Exeter and Chicago in support. I want those contacts visually identify. How far are we from the jump gate?"

Maya looked at her console, "14,000 kilometers."

Misato considered the situation for a moment before issuing orders, "All right, inform the rest of our escorts. Have them begin making their way towards the jump point and plot us an intercept course with last known position of the contacts. Mr. Aoba, alert the Gigas pilots."

Shigeru Aoba turned to Misato. "Ma'am, what should we do about our D-Knights?"

"They are in the brig at the moment. Let's find out how serious this is before we call on them."

"Yes, Ma'am."

'This isn't right', thought Misato as Shigeru followed her orders. 'The HI haven't wandered this close to Earth before in significant numbers. They always preferred to send smaller ships through jump gates first to reconnoiter the area before calling on the rest of their fleet.'

"Mr. Aoba, put the ship on second stage alert, power up the shields, and activate the defensive grid."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Misato waited patiently as Makoto double checked his instruments before reporting. "Ma'am, the Nemesis has visual contact with the unknowns. It looks like…"

"Like what, Mr. Hyuga?"

Makoto's voice wavered slightly as he answered, "It looks like three Orbital Fortress-class battleships, seven Achilles-class cruisers, and eighteen Anchorage-class destroyers."

"Friendlies?" Misato asked dumfounded, "Why haven't they contacted us yet?"

When Makoto's console beeped, he turned a pale shade.

"Mr. Hyuga, you look sick. Is something wrong?"

"Ma'am, we… we're receiving a transmission from the lead vessel. They identify themselves as the TDFS Concordia."

Misato was shocked, "Concordia! What the hell is the 15th Fleet doing here? Aren't they supposed to be in the Vega system?"

"I don't know, but the computer has positively identified the ships. They are all part of the 15th Fleet. Although it looks like they're missing some ships and some of the escorts look pretty banged up."

"Well, let's not keep them waiting. Put them on screen." Misato adjusted her red flight jacket and fixed the collar on her tan uniform before she spoke, "This is Colonel Katsuragi of the Terran Defense Force Ship Vanguard, who am I speaking with."

At that moment, the image of man wearing yellow tinted glasses appeared on screen. His uniform was similar to Misato's, except it was black. The rank insignia on the collar identified him as an admiral. "I believe that is my line, Colonel. I am the ranking officer here."

For the first time in her career, Misato felt a chill travel down her spine. Sitting in front of her with his white-gloved hands clasped in front of him was Admiral Gendo Ikari.


A/N: I watched SP several times and the Vanguard was referred to as a 'Free Mobile Fortress' and 'Orbital Fortress' depending on the fan sub version. Vanguard is also referred to as 'Skid' occasionally by some of the SP characters. I chose Orbital Fortress Vanguard because I thought it sounded better.

D-knights are Dragoon Knights. They pilot powerful mechas called Dragoons, who have the appearance of young girls. Only two Dragoons, Natalie and Zephyris play a major role in SP.

Concordia is a tip of the hat to Wing Commander.

I hope you liked reading WADF. Please read and review. If I see positive reviews for this, I'll continue posting.

Cardinal-Light