Chapter 42

The door to the NERV Command Center flew open and everyone stood up from their chairs as they saw a very angry, tired and frustrated man walk in.

He was dressed in battle fatigues with a particle rifle on his back and a pistol as his sidearm. He was covered in dust and dirt from head to toe.

He walked to the terminal and removed his helmet as he put on his headset and said. "Commander Dell to General Ikari."

"Sawyer?" Asuka asked as her image popped up on the screen.

"Yes." He responded.

"Sawyer, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Sawyer said angrily. "We were set up. That's the only answer for this."

"I agree." Asuka said firmly. "How did you get out?"

"By blind luck." He told her.

"What's the condition of the strike team, Sawyer?" Asuka asked.

"Most of them are dead." Sawyer said flatly.

"Sawyer, I can't apologize enough…we were all taken surprise…I hope it doesn't undermine your faith in my leadership…."

"Not for a second." He told her with a smile. "Its not your fault." He told her. "We need to find these bastards and stop them! I'm just angry that they took us by surprise. They knew our plan perfectly. It was like they had our plan. They knew our formations."

"I had that same feeling." Asuka said. "It was almost like they could sense exactly where we were and almost as if they had a heads up about a battle plan. There are very few ways that could happen."

"There is one way." Sawyer said as he looked at her. "A leak, General. Someone knows our battle plan. Someone wants to undermine us and distract us from the real reason. We were baited to come out here. Perhaps, Asuka, we were the ones who were really the mice in the hole and they were trying to coax us out."

"Sawyer, get to a closed room and contact me on a secure channel. I need to talk to you." Asuka said firmly.

"Understood." He said as he walked over to his command center and walked through the automatically operated opaque door as he sat at his desk and contacted General Ikari on a closed signal.

"Sawyer, right now, we're on a closed channel. Nobody can monitor us at all." Asuka said.

"What's going on, Asuka?"

"I think General Harris is behind this." Asuka said firmly.

"General Harris?" Sawyer asked. "Asuka, I know how you feel about him. I know you hate the fat bastard but he's been decorated several times for intelligence reconisssance! He's one of the Joint Chiefs! Granted, I hate his ass too but when it comes down to the brass tacks, Harris is one of our best unfortunately. Asuka, where's your proof?"

"Call it intuition." Asuka said. "Very few people have access to the Magi databanks. The knowledge of creating an EVA and all data that NERV recovered from prior angel attacks are in there. I have access to it, the President does, the Japanese Prime Minister and among the others in the world who have been trusted with it, General Harris does as well.."

"Are you inferring that…General Harris is part of…SEELE?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Asuka said firmly.

"Asuka, forgive me for saying this." Sawyer began as he took a deep breath. ", but General Harris couldn't be part of SEELE. I've been monitoring them closely for years."

"Yes, I know, Sawyer." Asuka said. "Who did you originally relay that information to about SEELE? Why was information ignored and pushed under the rug for six months before these little things started occurring? Why is it General Harris knows the movements of SEELE so well? Why is it that only General Harris knows key information about SEELE? It makes sense, Sawyer."

"He would know our strike team formations He would be able to…Asuka, its seems too unreal. General Harris? Of all people, Asuka, he's dedicated his life to the military. The President doesn't like him either but he respects him for his work! Aside from that, General Harris has won several honors! He has a Purple Heart. He was one of the few men that maintained order in the streets during the Third Impact riots. He's received the Medal of Valor."

"Sawyer, do you trust me?" Asuka asked.

"Yes." He said to her.

"Then believe me. I know this is a fact. I have a feeling. It makes sense, Sawyer." Asuka told him. "Think about it, Sawyer. Look beyond the medals, and the past, look at how he systematically has been able to control the flow of intelligence. Look at the way, he's suddenly become the hero and look at his rise to power. Wasn't Harris the secondary choice for one of the Joint Chiefs?"

"Yes." Sawyer said as he breathed in. "The first choice was killed in a boating accident but it was because of a freak accident. General Tully, the first choice, was stranded on his boat during a storm. It was purely coincidental that Harris took that seat. General Harris does control most of the intelligence that we receive…. if he's a traitor, Asuka…then, he's sacrificed so many lives."

"Sawyer, we need proof. We have to try and prove this." Asuka said firmly.

"How?" Sawyer asked.

"I have no idea." Asuka told him. "We need to find something."

"General Ikari, something is troubling me."

"What is it?" Asuka asked.

"Well," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "They knew the way we were going to go in. This wasn't a direct attack, General. This was a diversion. They're after something. If they really were after us, it would have been more covert. They wouldn't' have made the attack so obvious. It was almost like we were…. baited. I have a feeling SEELE is after something."

"I've had that feeling." Asuka said. "What would they be after?"

Then Sawyer's eyes widened as the screen flickered in front of him and he yelled out. "HOPE!"

"Sawyer, I know what they're after!" Asuka said. "The merging of EVA and angel…to bring about…. oh my God! Its Hope they've been after! They want Unit 1! Sawyer, they are trying to bring about Fourth Impact through the merging of EVA and angel!"

"We have to get her out of there! We need to scramble the fighters!" Sawyer said as he got up from his desk and exited his office. He went into the control room and there on the screen Asuka's face came on.

"Get me communications with Unit 1 now!" Asuka growled to her communications officer..

The communications officers tried like crazy to get a signal but nothing was working.

"GODDAMNIT FIND THAT SIGNAL!" Asuka growled.

"Let me help."