/The Last Exodus/

- Lawless Priest -

Offerings +

Shinji Ikari laid the last of the bouquet of flowers down on the graves before standing again before the gathered survivors of the town of Markir. Out of 160 only 28 people had made it out alive. 28, the largest group of survivors that they had had in any of their previous rescue missions.

And despite the dismal nature of the situation, the people themselves were just glad to be alive. They stood in a field a few miles out of town, where the grass was still green as they buried the dead that they could find and placed markers for those they could not.

With the evening sun in his eyes Shinji kept his gaze back toward the town, trying to piece together why the Demons would show up there. Even from his vantage point on the little rise he could see what was left of the town was covered in dirt and dust, giving its destruction age and making it all seem like the ruins of some ancient city.

'But why? Why would they waste their time out here in the Outer Rim.'

It didn't make much sense. Besides a few scattered towns like Markir used to be, there was nothing there. Nothing worth the time of full Demon armed parties.

"Yo Ikari, you coming?"

"Huh?" Shinji turned to the speaker, broken out of his internal questioning.

"I said are you coming? Aoba's here for the pick up. We're taking the survivors with us." Suzuhara was saying as he walked up beside the other young man.

There was a silent moment as each took one last look at the dead town, both lost in their own dreary thoughts concerning this and future missions before they turned back and headed towards the others wordlessly. Each feeling and acknowledging the unspoken vow to make sure what just happened would never happen again with the slightest of nods.

"What do you think is going to happen to them?" asked the taller of the two while he pointed toward the rag tag bunch of townspeople.

"They have to stay with us for a while back at HQ so we can treat them and make sure of their safety until we can find a safe place for them to settle again."

"A safe place to settle? And where exactly would that be boss?" Aida commented as he joined up with the group on their way to the survivors.

"I don't know yet, that's up to the Major, but we can't just leave them be without making sure that those bastards won't be back."

"But we can't guarantee that, Ikari." Toji said thoughtfully. "There may not be anywhere else safe left."

"But we have to try. And that's what matters." Shinji said as they made it to the crowd.

They could see the people crowded around the caravan with Shigeru Aoba and Makoto Hyuga directing them. The two men, dressed in the black and red uniforms of Sentinel, the rouge militia force that they worked for and the only real police force armed enough to protect those who needed it on the Outer Rim. Of course nowadays, Shinji wondered if they did have enough power to stop the armed bands of Hellspawn roaming the countryside alone or if they would eventually fall as well, leaving the Rim left to the bloodied hands of the enemy.

Power was all good and well, but if you didn't have the right amount you were just wasting your time. And Sentinel couldn't afford to waste it's time. Innocent people tended to die otherwise.

The large line was thinning by the time the three young men reached the armored transport vehicle. Six armored wheels on each side lay underneath the thing along with four fully maneuverable chain gun turrets on top and two small missile launchers were hidden inside, just in case, to protect it's precious cargo. The techs back at HQ called it the War Beetle. A dumb name, but those guys were whackouts anyway, and it just went to show just how much they needed to get out.

None the less, the thing's name aside, the Beetle was the standard transport vehicle in Sentinel's employ. And it did it's job well. The 28 townspeople of the now lost town of Markir would fit within the metal insects confines easily and with room to spare.

'Which is great,' Ikari thought, 'I would be terrible if there wasn't enough room. It wouldn't be like we could just come back for the others later.' That would not be acceptable.

"Shinji-sama!"

"Huh?"

The young brown haired youth had all of two seconds to ponder who had called him before an explosion caught him on his left side, blasting the air out of his lungs while sending him crashing to the ground.

A strange noise floated over his head, changing pitch constantly and truly confusing his sense of sound, impaired by his fall. It was a test to open his eyes again, but the sight before him didn't do much for his sense either. A familiar pair of brown orbs blocked his view of the sky and it took him a while to notice the rest of the person's face and a bit longer to place a name to it.

"K-Kira?"

"Shinji-sama! Are you ok? You look hurt. Those demons didn't get you did they? Oh please tell me your not hurt? You can't be hurt! You can't be!"

The speed of the questions left the young man dazed and slightly dizzy trying to find an answer for them. And well, then there was the weight on his chest crushing the life out of him.

"Haha! You know girl if you don't get off him soon, you're not going to have much of a Shinji-sama to care for, hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha, Sama! She called him Shinji-sama! That's so kawaii!"

Laughter... that was the sound that woke him, that broke him from his dazed state. The laughter of two dead men if he was ever to regain his footin- "Whoah!" Shinji didn't even have time to finish his thought before the weight on him was gone and he was being yanked to his feet amid the cries of more laughter.

"Are you alright Shinji-sama?"

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs and to get that annoying ringing out of his head, Ikari couldn't help but sigh. "Shinji, my name is Shinji, Kira. Just... Shinji."

"Oh, ok." the younger girl blushed. "Um... well, actually my name is really Mana, but everyone calls me Kira."

"Oh, well, um... what should I call you then?"

"You can call me whatever you want Shinji!" The girl practically beamed up at him, which only made the two giggling fools behind them burst out again, but Shinji ignored them. They'd get theirs soon enough.

"Uh... " It was around then that Shinji really took notice of the girl that he had saved. Curled up in a ball the way she had been before and with the whole attack and all he really hadn't paid much attention to the people around him, but he could have sworn that the she was 14 or close to 15, but clearly Kira was older. Most likely it was her small stature that threw him off, but he was positive that 14 to 15 year old girls couldn't have a bust that well developed at that age, so that had to put the young miss Mana at somewhere close to 17 to 18.

And with the way she was looking at him, those hungry eyes of hers knew damn well just how developed she really was. Which was probably why the blue eyed soldier gained a nervous stuttering problem and became quite aware of the rather... revealing nature of the plugsuit he was wearing.

"Y-you should probably, h-head back to the caravan, y-you know, to uh... . We'll be um... leaving soon."

Kira only smiled at that, a smug kinda smile that made to him twice as nervous.

"Of course Shinji-sama. Whatever you say." The way here voice grew so confident all of a sudden didn't seem too much like a positive thing for him. Especially after that last fleeting look she gave that was divided between his striking blue eyes, and well... the rest of him. At least he didn't have to turn around.

'I'll be damned if I go out like that.' Shinji thought as he glared at the smirking fools beside him.

"Come on you two. We have work to do."

"Of course Shinji-sama, whatever you say, hahaha!"

"Don't make me hit you, Aida."

/TLE/

The halls of Nerv HQ were very busy this evening as countless men and woman strode down its passages, each one anxious for news of the situation. The city had just survived its first Angel battle and had taken more damage than its people had believed possible. Many had only second or third hand knowledge of the damage left after the first Angel attack some thirteen years ago. So of course the citizens had no clear idea what to expect.

But many thought that this might have been more than they were willing to take.

Knight Sergeant Hikari Horaki was not one of those people. It didn't matter how much damage the Angels did, she would still be there ready to fight them when they returned. She had come too far and lost too much to them already to just pack up things and run off to some safer location.

As if there were any, truthfully.

No, she had a mission, no... a duty, to see them dead and she would not walk away this earlier in the game.

Her being an Eva Pilot and having higher access clearance was well known to many of the other officers and soldiers littering the halls hunting for any bit of news of what was going on. So it wasn't that much of a surprise to her to be stopped by her fellow peers for information.

The fact that she was in her stark white and red trimmed dress uniform did sort of make her standout too, which didn't really help either.

But there was a limit to everything and Hikari was quickly reaching hers. You'd think after the first few she ran into who grilled her would end up telling the others and give her a little piece, but damn, to have every person who saw her run up and stop her, immediately wanting the latest scoop was not what she needed right then.

Which was precisely why she found herself in her current predicament of trying to make her way to the Throne room where she had been summoned by using the back ways. Of course, this round about path she was taking would only take her twice as long to get there but she probably would never have made it the other way, so...

'I just hope Asuka's ok. The pain we feel while in the Armors might not be real, but she had to be hurting from having that thing try to rip her arms from her sockets.' The pig tailed young woman thought to herself. She knew her friend would deny having felt anything more than annoyance from the Angel but Hikari silently prepared herself just in case she had to weather the Germanian woman's pride to get her to the infirmary.

'That girl can be so stubborn at times, I swear.'

Asuka's pride aside, she had done a wonderful job defeating the Angel. It would have gone better if they didn't have those other stolen Eva Armors to deal with but you had to take the bad with the good.

'Karou Nagisa...'

An image of the charming platinum haired young man came to mind, his crimson eyes filled with hidden mirth. 'What's going to happen to those two now? Nagisa did help in the attack, but they 'had' tried to steal the Evas. What's the King going to do with them?'

She didn't have the answers, but she would found out soon enough.

"Bout time you got here, Horaki." Asuka called out as Hikari entered the chamber outside of the Throne room.

Somehow the red head had found the time to change out of her plug suit and get into her dress uniform as well, looking nothing like she had just returned from the ravaged battlefield barely minutes ago. Returning a forty story tall battle mech took time so Hikari knew there wasn't enough for her friend to be able to get her suit to look 'that' good. Sometimes that girl just amazed her.

"You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get here, but whatever. How are you Asuka? I'm sorry I couldn't be out there with you but..." Hikari tried to apologize.

"I know, I know. They told me what those cow brain fool techs did to your Eva. But don't worry about it. We'll kick the next one's butt together." Hikari couldn't help but smile along with her friend, but she still noticed that the other pilot hadn't answered her first question. She'd let it pass for now... for now.

The heavy foot steps of armored men caught the two's attention as the soldiers came from around the hall's bend

A contingent of armed Knight Guards was coming their way with the two renegade Eva pilots in toe. Apparently they had been allowed to shower but were still dressed in their plug suits. Both looked no worse than when she had last saw them. The girl Rei just was as enigmatic and apathetic as before and of course her companion was in a good mood, that crooked half smile still in place. He even gave them a brief wave and a wink when the girls came into view, as if the men with the rather sharp weapons surrounding them were only there for show.

"Ms. Sohryu, Ms. Horaki it's a pleasure to see you two again. You're both looking well." he said, while giving them the once over, his gaze lingering slightly longer on Hikari, finally landing on her eyes. That blasted smirk of his face seemed to brighten a bit more, if that was even possible. This earned him a snort from Asuka and Hikari an elbow in the ribs for blushing.

Rei said nothing, her gaze frozen forward, seeming to ignore the pensive look Asuka was giving her and the armed guards as well.

One of the guards went forward and announced their presence and soon the group was being led through the Throne room doors.

/TLE/

The ride back to Sentinel HQ wasn't all that eventful. Well, if you didn't count the young woman constantly clinging to Shinji's arm or the not so shy looks the girl kept throwing him or all of the knowing smiles the townspeople gave the two or the constant jokes and laughs had at Ikari's expense or the serious blush that seem to be a permanent fixture on the young man's face the whole trip, then yeah... it was an uneventful trip.

And as the War Beetle's tires made the hill top, with the sun's fleeting shadow behind them as it made its silent journey beneath the horizon, the green fields that surrounded the seemingly abandoned bunker in the valley below could be seen.

"It's good to be home." Aoba said as he leaned back in his chair to stretch.

"Yeah... " his buddy Hyuga couldn't help but agree. He always felt better after long missions when the sight of the valley was in view, lifting the weariness from his bones gained from their usually rather depressing findings in the Outer Rim Settlements. But today was a different story.

"About time... I thought we'd never get here." Ikari Shinji said from his seat behind the two older men. He had taken to riding most of the trip up front with them in a foolishly naive attempt to escape the attentions of a certain brown haired young girl.

"Haha, still trying to get away, eh Ikari?" Makoto asked the young soldier while he sulked in his seat.

"Nah, he's got bigger plans. Don't worry Shinji, we'll get home in time for you to get 'more acquainted' with your new lady friend." Shigeru replied before Shinji could open his mouth.

"Hey! It's not like that!"

"Sure..." The two grinning men answered back.

"Gahhh! You people are hopeless."

"Haha, calm your nerves Shinji." Makoto called back.

"Yeah, lighten up. You've got the attention of a nice pretty girl. There's nothing to be uptight about." and Shigeru added.

"Or are you nervous that you won't be able to perform at your best tonight?"

"It would be a shame to disappoint the young girl."

"Is everyone in this place a pervert or something?" the young Ikari couldn't help but to sigh in frustration.

"Haha, everyone but you obviously." Aoba laughed as they made their way towards the hidden entrance of their subterranean base at the valley's bottom.

"I must say though, that it's nice to see so many smiling faces again." Hyuga said thoughtfully while he leaned back into his seat with his hands behind his head with a far away look in his eyes.

"Yeah, usually the ride back is so depressing. It's good to know that we were actually able to really help someone this time." Shinji replied as the three sat in comfortable silence with each of their thoughts focused inward.

"I just wonder what the Major's going to say when we make it back with all of these people?"

"You'd think she'd be happy?"

"Well you can be the one to tell her lover boy. It'll give you a chance to be with her alone and who knows, maybe I don't know... ask her out." Shigeru laughed as his pal began to vehemently refute having any such feelings for their Commanding Officer while Shinji just smiled at his red faced elder.

'It's good to be home.'

/TLE/

The small troop strode their way through the Throne room doors and into the white stone floored chamber inside. Majestic marble statues of the Seven Ranks of the Knights of Nippon, the guardians of the Nerv Empire stood at attention facing opposite of each other lined the walls of the antechamber and the path to the King.

His Majesty, King Gendo Ikari stood with his back turned speaking with his advisers on some matter, before his surprisingly almost stark like throne seat, that he gained by bringing order and hope to a world thrust into chaos by his keen military instincts and the strangely made sword at his side that always seemed to be found on his person.

Many had followed him into battle, brought together by the loss of their loved ones and the destruction of their once peaceful lives during the Angel War. Each one angered that the pervious ruler ship had not been able to provide them the protection that they had promised.

And when those who were charged with the safety of their nation fled in terror, forsaking their nobility in exchange for their lives while leaving their subjects to their own pitiful devices, it was because of the actions of one man that the people of Nippon were able to stave off the chaos to build a new future.

It was because of this that the multitude of the Nerv Empire revered their King. Cold the man may have been, but his determination was unmatched.

And that was something Asuka could respect. A man who stood up for his beliefs and followed through with his goals no matter the odds was worth her service. But he could have been a little more open though. That stare of his could really get to a person. Not Asuka of course, just people in general.

But the Germanian women was looking for more in a man than just determination. She was looking for perfection and she saw exactly that in the form of one Ryouji Kaji, who happened to be at the Kings side along with Head General Kouzo Fuyutsuki. The weathered General beckoned them forward and so they came.

One of the Guards announced them once they reached the steps that led to the throne and everyone present bowed, even that punk Nagisa gave a small one but his companion stayed her unrespectful butt up. 'I'd put her in her place if we were anywhere other than here. I swear some people...' These thoughts fled quickly and for a brief moment Asuka felt a stab of nervousness as the King passed his frozen gaze over them all.

But all of that changed in an instant.

"Rei?" Gendo said quietly in faint astonishment. This was certainly a surprise to him.

"Okasan..." Rei responded just as quietly as if it were of no consequence to her.

"What? You mean... but she can't be..?" Asuka and Hikari stood together in confusion. Looking to the General and Kaji for understanding, but none was forth coming as they too were focused on the girl Rei and King Gendo.

"Why are you here Rei? Why now, why did you try to steal the EVAs?" his voice was as gruff as usual but the underlying tension was there to those who had ears.

"Because I have a duty to perform."

"A duty...?" his brow drew down slightly and his eyes narrowed a bit, the older man stared hard at his daughter.

For a brief moment King Gendo Ikari trembled so slightly you'd have figured it to have been a delusion of the mind. Whether or not it was, was irrelevant in any case for the moment passed quickly and the King had the renegade EVA pilots sent to solitary confinement until further questioning.

He turned to leave but before he exited he stopped and gave Asuka a brief compliment on her engagement of the Angel which of course lit her fire to have received praise from the King Himself, his reputation aside. But Hikari's trained mind was still focused on the previous scene. She had not known that the King had had a living relative. It was always assumed that he lost his family during the Angel War like some many others, so where had Miss Ayanami been all that time?

And more importantly, why come back now?

/WRW/

The room she was in wasn't necessarily dark but it was dark enough. The cold wood of the single chair in the room that was bolted to the floor in the middle of the room did not serve to ease the aches in her weary body, but more than likely added to them, as was its intended purpose.

Of course if the young girl who sat in that Spartan inspired room actually bothered to concern herself with such thoughts, the mystery was lost in her stony eyed gaze and offered little evidence to confirm either in any case.

Her thoughts lay more in the past rather than the current. The mission's success and the unexpected Angel attack played through her mind as she reviewed her decisions and their outcome. SEELE would probably disapprove of her capture, but that was of no concern to her. They would soon have their Eva Armors and she would continue to fight the enemy on her own, so things had not truly deviated from the original plan too much.

But the girl Asuka would be prove to be a problem. She would mostly get in her way and Rei could not have that. Not when she was so close to completing her goals.

And Nagisa, what was his game? Would he stay and fight as well? How could anyone possibly tell what patterns motivated the actions of the platinum haired youth? Ayanami Rei was not among that number.

But she didn't have long to ponder these thoughts for long as the expected visitor arrived.

Rei sat still as the code hearted man stood in the door way. Neither said anything for some time but he eventually broke the silence with a simple question that any who would have heard it would have been surprised at the speaker.

"Are you well?" His manner was gruff, his speak abrupt, but the slightest bit of a sigh could be heard if you listened hard enough.

"I am in satisfactory condition." Rei's reply was not as gruff but just as abrupt and to the point.

"You have been... cared for?" A minor pressure cold be seen beneath his solid like features, one that was building up to a point. Yet there was no worry or doubt in his expression, but a marginal bit of nervous energy emitted from the older man.

"Hai."

This time there was a pause before he spoke as if the speaker wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer to his next query.

"Were there any undesirable... complications?" His voice had gone cold at that.

The next pause lasted only a heart beat, but it was enough to make the taller of the two clench his fist.

"There was nothing that could not be weathered."

"I presume it was SEELE who held you?"

"Hai."

"Are you loyal to them?

The Red eyed girl merely looked at the man who was her father, the cold anger in her eyes and the slight frown on her pale lips were enough to make him clench his fist even tighter yet at the same time relax.

He had his answer.

"You will be released but under armed guard. Accommodations will be found for you."

"Understood."

"Rei?"

"Hai."

"Will you do your... 'duty' along side Nerv?"

"I will complete the task I have been charged, with or without any outside help. Nerv or Seele matter not in the course of things."

"I see. I expect you to cooperate with my people. As you know, we can not afford to fail."

Neither said another word again for some time. But on his way out King Gendo Ikari left her with one final passing word.

"I have sent for Shinji. The time of the Last Exodus is upon us." And with that he was gone, leaving the young pilot to herself and her barely contained hopeful thoughts, thoughts that she struggled for a brief moment to keep in check. It would not do to let her inner desires consume her. She would wait patiently and calmly for what she had dreamed of since the day she had been taken that night so many years ago during the First Angel attack.

"Soon brother... soon."

AN: more shinji next chapter and more trouble between Asuka and the blue haired princess runaway. /AN

/priest/