Chapter Four: Arrival of Friends, Arrival of Family.
A convoy moved through the pre dark darkness, forty vehicles with the same destination. All of them were massive, built to carry loads in the hundreds of tons each and set on dozens of tires. They carried within them machine shops, computers, weapons, armor, and troops, all of the necessary assets for a military presence, all of the things one would expect if an entire base was moving in. Well not an entire base their were only some two hundred and fifty personnel, a token number compared to the thousands employed by NERV.
They were met at the outskirts of Tokyo-3 by a Section Two detail, they had been tracked by satellite all the way here and now they would go through a final clearance level before being admitted to the GeoFront. A full half of section two was waiting when the vehicles were quietly parked at an above ground search station. Everything these people brought in would be closely checked before being allowed to enter, they couldn't stop them from bringing in weapons but any N2 mines or conventional nuclear weapons would be stopped before they could become a threat.
It was under these circumstances that Sub Commander Fuyustuki met with the Convoy Commander , a tall black haired man, wearing a black suit, and black cloak, he managed to pull the strange image off without being gothic, he was just dressed in all black, it was what he wore, nothing more.
"Operative Captain Shiiro Tanaka and MESSIAH third maintenance unit reporting." The man saluted Fuyutsuki politely.
"At ease."
The man took a relaxed stance and extended an arm. Fuyutsuki shook firmly. "So this is the maintenance equipment for the Mark Strife and Mark Ziel?" Fuyutsuki noted the long line of vehicles, headlights bathing the tarmac in harsh light in the pre dawn dark.
"Yeah, this is it, close to four thousands tons worth of spares, the full metal overcoat for the Mark Strife, half a dozen hand held weapons, machining equipment, and the security personnel and their equipment." Tanaka agreed, eye running across the lead three vehicles.
"Will you be able to get it all underground by this afternoon?" Fuyutsuki asked as the section two men began to go from vehicle to vehicle, checking under tarps, sizing themselves up against their opposite numbers, and awaiting admittance into sealed cargo containers.
The man smiled, "Oh we'll be all set up by this afternoon." He snapped his fingers.
The large rigid container being carried by the second truck unfolded into shadows. There was a faint whine and then a dull thud, as something, two something's, stepped forwards from the shadows.
Each was five meters tall, with a dull gray and tan color pattern. Section Two agents shifted and aimed at the machines uncomfortably as they observed their environment through a set of cyclopean sensors in their heads.
"Sanchez, Valentine!" Tanaka shouted to two of his foreign personnel, "Get those AMS units over to the lifts we'll use them to manhandle the equipment."
"Sir, Yes Sir" Both pilots replied simultaneously, their AMS amplifying their voices
The machines marched forward to the lift elevator where the first of the trucks was already being unloaded.
Fuyutsuki wasn't sure if all the things he'd seen in the last week had just desensitized him, or if he was just too tired to care. Their was nothing Section Two could do to stop those things, but they couldn't stop Yumi either it wasn't like one more thing on the list was going to hurt. "How many of those things are their?" He asked out of curiosity.
Tanaka turned to him. "We brought twenty four total."
The two machines began to lift a set of crates onto a cargo lift as more of the same humanoid vehicles disembarked from three other transports, soon a small army of giants were at work handing odd loads into the elevators where they would be taken down to the warehouse sectors by NERV's internal transit system.
Fuyutsuki was mildly impressed that this was going so smoothly the Section Two Agent's and their opposite MESSIAH security operatives seemed to mesh well seeing that each stage of transport was thoroughly checked, the UN had all but ordered NERV to play nice while hosting the other organization within the Tokyo-3 GeoFront, and frankly this was going to probably give NERV an excuse to requisition more money for ground force security.
It had already been like the twelve days of Christmas in the last week, VTOL squadrons, main battle grade infantry equipment, and a silent nod from the UN with an increase in NERV's budget. They may not have liked it but NERV was still one of their branches, and the UN watched after its own.
Fuyutsuki continued to watch the scene unfold as machinery was moved with remarkable efficiency, 'This is either going to be a beautiful friendship or a cold war.' He thought darkly.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Yumi was awoken the next morning as her futon became intolerably warm in the early morning light. She shook her head muzzily as she looked around trying to focus on what had happened . . . She'd tapped in the Mark Ziel's Grid link during the battle against the 4th. She remembered, an odd sensation right before her reflex programming took over. A burning excitement within her chest . . . As if . . .
There was a soft wrapping at the door. "You awake, Yu?" Shinji asked softly.
"Uhuh, I'm up." She said sleepily, realizing just how dry her throat and mouth felt, like she'd been sucking on a cotton swab.
She rose slowly realizing just how stiff she was, she moved carefully, stretching with extreme care. With the enhanced structure of her muscles and the flanged levers embedded in her bones, a normal human being could not begin to comprehend the ungodly pain she called a cramp.
She trudged out of her room still feeling muzzy as she headed down the hall to the bathroom, PenPen stared at her curiously. He liked his two new flat mates, the kind one always made sure to give him his fish on time, and the energetic one had yet to fail to give him a pat on the head and an after dinner snack when she got up in the night.
Yes these two were good roommates.
Yumi stripped out of the sleeveless shirt and the pumpkin shorts she slept in as she turned up the hot water. The bath worked at least some of the stiffness out but it did nothing for feeling dead tired when she came back out drying her hair.
She heard a slight humming as she entered the Kitchen, Shinji was busy with a skillet, his S-DAT player on as he hummed the tune to some old music, Beethoven, she thought, but Yumi had never been particularly good at attaching names to musical pieces. She knew better then to bother him while he was cooking, especially if oil was involved, the last thing she wanted was to cause him to burn himself . . . Again.
As Shinji finished with breakfast and set the plates, and PenPen's fish down, the door to their guardian's room opened. "Yumi . . . Shinji . . . Goodmorining." She mumbled as she walked past them and into the kitchen.
They both now knew what was going to come next . . . -SNAP- "YEEEEEEAAAAHHaaaaaaa!"
Shinji stared at his guardian and held up a mug of something black brewed in a vacuum percolator set up that Misato thought looked like a chemistry set. "Might I advise coffee?"
Misato lowered her beer and leaned over the table as Shinji continued to work. "Do you have a problem with tradition?" She asked, sounding irritated, "Don't you know a traditional Japanese breakfast consist of steamed rice, miso soup, and a little sake!"
"But . . . That's not Sake." Yumi said pointing to the Yebisu can in Misato's hand.
"Grrrrr . . ." Misato glared at the girl with a look of deep indignation.
Shinji just smiled as he continued to cook, laying out some bacon and eggs. Not necessarily very traditional but hey what could you do?
Neither of his roommates seemed to care as they dug into the dishes with full abandon. "You shouldn't stuff yourself like that . . ." Shinji noted to both of his female companions. Misato glanced up for the a second before going back to work on her breakfast, Yumi ignored him outright other then a slight head bob of acknowledgment.
He sighed as he finished putting away the dished, cursing as he realized that two women with a combined body weight of little more then a hundred and ten kilo's managed to eat through everything on the table. "Some of that was for me you know." Shinji mumbled as he removed a granola bar from the cabinet.
Yumi looked up thoughtfully before marching into the kitchen and pulling a stack of bentos from the fridge.
"Why are there three?" Shinji asked.
Yumi glanced at him, "I thought it would be good to bring one for Ayanami."
"Hmmm, Ayanami?"
"Yeah, she seems nice, and she doesn't look like she has many friends." Yumi said as she took the lunch boxes and stacked them on the table.
Shinji cocked his head slightly, "Hey Misato, what do you know about Rei."
"Not much," Misato said as she took another swig from her Yebisu. "She was already living and training in Tokyo-3 when I got here. I think she's been the First Child since before she can remember, that's what she said when I asked her."
"I thought you were supposed to be the Operations Director, doesn't that mean you should know more about a pilots background?" Shinji asked.
Misato looked at him suspiciously, "Well, other then your little side job working for a secret organization, Lieutenant, Section Two has a file on you the size of a novel. But Rei's file is only seven pages . . . Her past was completely deleted when she was selected as a Pilot. Ritsuko has never said anything but I'm pretty sure she's an orphan."
Shinji frowned, as he thought about that. 'An orphan . . . That can be a hard life . . .' Shinji in a way had been very lucky, even all but disowned by his own father he had built a strong bond with members of MESSIAH's staff, mostly in the none combat sections, but a few Ground Security personnel called him friend. And, after those first three lonely years he had his friend Yumi at his side.
So he had been able to compensate for his fathers neglect through a family made of the people he worked with, lived with, and trained with, a true bond that could be painful but also worthwhile. To think Rei had never experienced something so simple as a family . . .
"So who watches over her anyway?" Shinji asked.
"You know, I'm not really sure. As long as I can remember Rei has lived alone. Section Two keeps an eye on her but I can't think of a time when she had anyone with her." Misato admitted, "If I had to venture a guess I'd say her Guardianship is probably in the name of the Commander or Sub-commander." Misato finished.
Shinji frowned as he finished washing the dishes, he had made it his new habit to keep the apartment clean after al thel effort he and Yumi had put into it. How the hell one woman could be so god damn good at Jenken Shinji didn't know. Yumi did however, that's why she had thrown the games. It wasn't fair for Shinji to get stuck with all the work because Misato knew the most probably combination Shinji would choose in each progressive game based off of his past reactions to her own choices. Yumi was actually a bit surprised, the only other person she knew who would bother to do that was her mother. She had thought it a thoroughly useless talent, though now she was seeing possibilities . . .
"I guess that explains a lot about her, she's an extreme introvert, only somebody traumatized by my father could be like that." Shinji commented.
Misato was a bit surprised be how often he insulted his father, hell he did it on a regular bases, but then again she had no right to stop him.
Shinji walked back past her and went to grab his bag out of his room before glancing over his back at Yumi. "You coming?"
Yumi was a tangle of limbs and clothes as she struggled to get her satchel, her PE clothes, and the lunch boxes. Shinji ended up taking the bentos for her and they were off.
Misato smiled as they left, 'Shinji having Yumi as a friend is good for him, those two get along well. Its like they were made from the same cloth.' She took another deep swig from her Yebisu and then headed for the shower she was going to be late if she didn't hurry.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The school day was as Shinji had expected more or less. When they got to class Yumi immediately homed in on Rei's seat like a seeker missile intent on giving her the lunch box. Shinji sat down and furiously avoided looking at either Kensuke Aida or Touji Suzuhara, if he had he would have noted that Touji was not looking at him hatefully today.
Unfortunately he did notice the way that Kensuke hammered right into him with questions about Yumi, NERV, the Mark Strife, and about half a dozen other various subjects that really did not involve him. Shinji was tempted, truly and sorely tempted to withdraw his ever present stun baton from his equally ever present jacket and silence him. But that was only the tiny violent part of his nutritionally deprived mind speaking.
"Look Aida, if I give you one fun bit of information will you please leave me alone?" Shinji asked.
The bespectacled boy nodded excitedly.
"We're receiving a bunch of maintenance equipment from another base today if you want you can meet some of the staff they can tell you anything that's not classified." Shinji said simply, their really wasn't a lot of information like that but Kensuke would be happy knowing the Strife's exact weight and height, neither of which was particularly top secret after its debut.
"Really!" The boys eyes were saucers.
"Yeah I know a few of the techs coming in if there from the 3rd Detachment get'm to come out for a drink sometime this week'n you can talk shop." Shinji grunted as he withdrew a small book from his pocket and continued from where he had left off.
"Oh man this is awesome, just too cool!" Kensuke continued.
Shinji sighed and pulled one more thing from his pocket. He tossed the disk to Kensuke.
"What's this?"
"It's a video edited version of what was on your Camera, five minutes of battle footage that isn't classified, you filmed it, the stuff on that disk isn't a security threat, do with it what you will. Just be quiet!"
Kensuke looked like he was ready to kiss Shinji, the other boy didn't notice as he continued to read from his book. 'Ah yes here I am.' He thumbed the page and continued to read through Endymion.
The bell rang soon after, the class went through the normal stand, bow, sit, and then was bored to tears by another lesson about second impact.
Yumi as always remained attentive, making her and the class representative the only two people to actually be giving the teacher any attention at all. Everyone else, Shinji and Rei included were busy starring out windows, reading, writing, hacking into encrypted data files . . .
Kensuke was definitely going to have to ask Shinji about this, from what he had gathered EVA's required an extension cord during combat. The Mark Strife had had no such cord attached to it during its battle, therefore he was tempted to conclude it wasn't an EVA. Not to mention some of the other kids had parents that actually worked with the machines, and neither the Mark Strife or the smaller Mark Ziel matched the descriptions of the EVA's.
In fact Kensuke had been a little surprised to learn that there was more then one series of robots in Tokyo-3 but he guessed it made sense, from what he had heard nobody had really been sure how the Angels would fight so it would make sense for more then one type of robot to be deployed against them.
This would be something to ask Shinji about, did that mean he worked for another organization? Or did NERV have the funding to build so many different machines? It was all so fascinating and exciting, what an incredible time to be alive, a war in his own back yard, and with weapons that should have only been in the sanctum of Anime, and Science Fiction, no less!
He continued at his quiet ticking away but couldn't get much deeper into the NERV data files then things that were only lightly encrypted. He figured he probably wasn't doing anything in a high enough security section of the mainframe to call any attention to himself.
This was how things went until the class finally, blissfully, changed from History to Mathematics, something several orders of magnitude more interesting then listening to the fifty seventh retelling of their Sensei's life before Second Impact.
'It's no like its true anyways . . .' Shinji thought to himself. One of the things he had learned as an Operative was the falsity of the causes of Second Impact, even he didn't know what had caused it. That was still above his security clearance, but he did know it tied in with the Arcadian Technology used in the Mark Fear, Mark Strife, Mark Ziel, AMS, etc. Somewhere in there was a link between Second impact and the technology that MESSIAH employed that much he was sure of.
He stopped his musings as the Sensei called him up to do a particularly hard equation. Cursing himself for not paying attention until now. He glanced at it and sighed in relief, he'd done this one before. Solving it was pretty straightforward.
The entire class passed as such until the lunch bell rang, leaving Shinji mildly surprised when Yumi homed strait in on Rei to eat with her. He considered getting up and going to talk with them, Yumi was his only friend here, and Rei would be learning from him so it would be good to build a friendship with her as well. But . . . He wanted to see how Yumi acted, this was one of the first times she's been in such a position and he didn't want to interfere with her interaction with Rei uninvited.
Rei looked up mildly surprised by Yumi's sudden appearance once again at her side. It was . . . Strange, nobody else had been so insistent on being close to her. It was like the girl was drawn to her attempts to fade into the woodwork.
Yumi handed the bento to Rei. "What is this?" She asked
"A lunch box." Yumi said surprised, "You didn't bring much to eat yesterday so I didn't want you to go hungry today too."
Rei starred at the box for a few moments before quietly opening it and starring at the contents in turn. She felt compelled to speak. "I do not . . ."
"Hmmm?" Yumi leaned forward.
"Eat meat." Rei finished.
This would have caused most people to deflate but Yumi was undeterred, she opened her own lunch box, scan the contents of both and then swapped the various meat servings with the vegetable ones in her own resulting in one Bento with meat and rice, and one with vegetables and rice.
Rei starred for a few more moments and began to eat without a word. Yumi doing the same beside her. Rei considered, she had been told to observe Shinji, and now Yumi after her fight the day before, so if Yumi was willing to stay in close proximity then her task was easier.
Shinji smiled as he observed the quiet meal. Well quiet on the part of Rei, but Yumi kept talking about everything she had seen in the last few days. It was good to see, Rei was pretty far back in her thick, dense, shell but even she seemed willing to interact, and if anyone could pull her even this far out it would be Yumi. That girl would never force something on anyone and that was exactly why she could make friends with introverts.
'That's why she could make friends with me.' Shinji thought only to himself. It was the truth, three years of thinking there had been something that made him defective and undeserving of love or kindness had made him turn in upon himself, but Yumi had never once give up on him. She, the Colonel, Tanaka, and Rico, had all made him a stronger person. And though he held himself to harsh standards he no longer hated himself. He glanced to Touji Suzuhara's seat, well, he didn't hate himself when he didn't deserve it, anyways.
The bell rang again and school continued as usual leaving Shinji to his lessons once again. He really wasn't listening he had other things on his mind, the maintenance unit would be setting up by the time he got back to NERV. It they had a security detachment then he could at least finally rest in peace when it came to keeping the Mark Strife and Mark Ziel secured. He could also finally focus on tactics and training to fight in the Tokyo-3 environment. And, train Rei. That would be the tough part, getting that girl to open up.
Maybe . . . If Yumi could draw her out of her shell . . . Yeah that girl needed a friend, and it would benefit her greatly if she could open up to at least one person.
'Relax Rei, no matter what the Strife and I will keep you safe no matter what.'
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Though her training was not to begin yet Shinji said he wanted Rei to undergo familiarization with the basic layout of the Mark Strife. To this end, Rei trailed behind Shinji and Yumi as they proceeded towards the warehouse sector that had been turned over to MESSIAH.
To say the least the path leading to it had undergone a startling metamorphoses. Section Two had at least four checkpoints along the rout with a final barricade twenty meters from a dog leg that led to the MESSIAH section of the GeoFront.
Shinji met up with Misato here noting the odd presence of LAW's beside the newly constructed barricades. "Hey Misato, what are you doing down here?" Shinji asked.
Misato nodded to him slightly, "Your security detachment isn't letting anything through their cordon without permission from a MESSIAH officer." Misato said, "They really are no fun." She pouted.
Shinji shrugged, "MESSIAH Ground Troops are extremist by the book when it comes to security, trust me you won't get a flee past them under any circumstances."
Misato grinned and winked at him, "Like I said, Too by the book, no fun at all."
Shinji laughed slightly, he really did like working with Misato, she was definitely a fun guardian, though frankly it seemed more like he had custody over her and Yumi with how he had taken the role of cook, made, and primary trash collector.
"Well I suppose I can accommodate one more person, anyone else coming?" Shinji asked. Misato shook her head, "Ritz gave up trying to use her authority to get through she seems vaguely pissed about something but I'm really not sure what."
What Ritsuko was pissed about was the fact that MESSIAH coded the OS for EVERY FUCKING COMPUTER in limited access ROM. Even the Mark Strife and Mark Ziel, which did involve a lot of write able memory by their very nature were nuts that the MAGI had yet to crack. It was driving her insane.
Misato followed him down the hall to the dog leg. He poked his head around the corner and turned back to her with a slight smile. "Please don't panic at what you are about to see." Shinji stated calmly before leading the two non MESSIAH personnel around the turn. Bringing them face to face with two lesser Giants.
Rei seemed unaffected, she had already been informed of the unusual weapons in the possession of MESSIAH's security force. They were of limited numbers and could be neutralized in the areas they could maneuver in through bakelite flooding. They were a viable, but minor threat.
Misato seemed considerably less okay with the sudden appearance of the two walking tanks.
"What the HELL are those?"
"AMS, Armored Maneuvering System, you can think of them as heavy duty combat body armor." Shinji explained as Misato eyed the rather large sub machine gun like weapons each machine was wielding.
"Are you sure its safe to have things like that in such a confined space." Misato asked. It was truth, this corridor was designed for heavy transport, the ceiling rose to six meters and yet these machines could almost have reached up and touched the ceiling.
"Don't worry, an AMS can't move without a pilot, they're completely safe." Shinji reassured. 'That that may be a good reason to worry.' He added to himself, he didn't even trust himself with the Mark Strife, and an AMS was far easier for someone to get their hands on.
"That's what I'm worried about." Misato muttered as they came to a halt before the two machines. A security guard in black body armor, covered from head to toe in combat gear with only the tips of his fingers exposed conversed with Shinji in what Misato thought sounded like German but was too quick for her to follow. The man nodded then gave Shinji a thumbs up and let the group proceed.
They emerged into what to Misato seemed an impossible change in the environment. The warehouse no longer had the harsh lighting of NERV's overhead lamps, instead soft buttery light glowed from long strips across the upper catwalks providing sufficient lighting to read comfortably without casting harsh shadows or creating optical illusions from light intensity. Workers swarmed, all over the Mark Strife and Mark Ziel, another pair of AMS were busy reattaching the Strife's upper body armor after Shinji had engaged the Angel in a 'shirtless' boxing match.
She could still see the coal black skin, and the way the machines muscle skeleton emulated a simplified version of the human muscle structure. She noted something else odd, AMS units were scaling the walls, rigging what looked like long planters filled with vines and other creepers along the walls. Misato even now could tell this place would pretty soon more closely resemble a garden than a hangar.
Shinji seemed to note Misato's confusion. "It's a comfortable environment, no?"
Misato nodded, glancing between Yumi and Shinji, they didn't seem surprised at all by this. Though Misato had to admit this place seemed peaceful, like a garden or a well manicured park on a late afternoon, despite the dozen or so AMS units working alongside technicians in orange overalls, hauling up ammo feeds, weapon pods, armor components.
Rei didn't show it but all of this DID interest her to some degree. It was an environment that she had never witnessed before and it provided an interesting sensation. When she had been ordered to undergo pilot training with the Mark Strife she had felt a deep empty sensation where her stomach was supposed to be. 'Anxiety.' Rei noted, she had become familiar with that term after her first encounter with the massive blue eyed machine before her.
Now though she felt some of that stress lessen as she looked about, this place was not yet complete and judging by the division of labor likely would not be for several more days. Yet it was oddly soothing. 'Interesting.' Rei thought.
"Hey Shin, been a while." A voice shouted from beneath them.
Misato gaped and Rei starred on imperceptibly startled but untroubled, as a black clad man came floating up beside the catwalk, apparently suspended in air. Misato did a double take. The man wasn't floating, he was standing on top of a metal sphere approximately two meters in diameter, Misato guessed, which floated beneath him.
"Tanaka!" Shinji and Yumi shouted as the man shifted his weight slightly bringing the floating machine over the catwalk before dropping down to a cross-legged position atop it.
Yumi almost jumped in his lap as she hugged him. "Hey hey" the dark haired man shouted as he pulled Yumi off of him and looked her over. "You've gone off and grown up on me!" He said, sounding betrayed and sliding off of his unusual transport device. "Like a stock of corn."
"She'll always be the little Yu you let ride on your shoulders." Shinji said as he came up and gave the man a heartfelt embrace like two long separated brothers.
"You've been growing too." Tanaka commented as he looked him over running a hand through the boys hair. "Though I see that whiney voice of yours hasn't gone away yet."
"You should hear him when he gets stuck making dinner late." Misato teased taking the chance to punch through and make fun of Shinji a little more.
"Hey!" He whined in defense.
"See, like I said still whiney." Tanaka commented.
"How long as he been like this?" Misato asked.
"As long as I've known him." Tanaka replied, Shinji's eye began to twitch before his mind came to a sudden conclusion.
"Is Rico here too?"
Tanaka nodded, "Yeah he's working down on the ground level if you want to go meet him." Tanaka grinned as Shinji and Yumi disappeared towards the lifts to get down to the ground level. He then turned to the two NERV members. "I apologize for not introducing myself. Operative Captain Shiiro Tanaka of MESSIAH Ground Security, a pleasure to meet both of you."
Misato nodded back, "I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi, NERV's tactical adviser, and this," She gestured to Rei. "Is pilot Rei Ayanami, currently designated pilot for Unit-01."
Tanaka bowed forward slightly taking Misato's hand and kissing it softly, "An honor to make your acquaintance." And then as if to prove he wasn't just doing it to try and gets in Misato's underwear he proceeded to do the same with Rei.
Standing back up fully he nodded to both females. "I hope we will work well together Captain Katsuragi, Pilot Ayanami, if you would like I can start explaining some of the changes we've started to make here, along with some operation parameters on the Mark Strife, Mark Ziel, and the AMS support units."
Misato nodded blushing very slightly at the man's polite behavior. She wasn't one to fall for this kind of thing but it was nice to meet a guy willing to at least try to be a gentleman during his first meeting.
Tanaka grinned as he sat back down on his odd chair/transport/ball.
"Erm, first off, what . . . Is that thing?" Misato asked, eyeing the sphere large enough to sit on comfortably as Tanaka did now.
"Oh, this is a drone, there basically a simple AI running an affector wrapped around a power supply, they repel of the earths magnetic field to stay aloft. We mostly use them as errand boys, transport machines, messengers, and security units. Their pretty useful." He commented as another on the machine, this one only slightly larger then a basketball drifted by overhead, a small paper lantern hanging beneath it adding its own pale light to the soothing blue of the glow strips.
"I suppose you kind of take them for granted after you have them around for a while." Tanaka finished.
"Yeah I guess . . ." Misato frowned before eyeing the greenery. "And . . ."
"The plants, it's a long story, but for some reason its standard operating procedure for a MESSIAH hangar to be a virtual garden. Wait until the arm bushes in the top row grow to their full size in about three months the branches'll interlock and we'll have a habitation level for dormitories."
Dormitories? Misato wonder, looking about the space, it was pretty big, mostly empty, a storage area easily as large as the EVA cages. Misato noted just how much was changing here, terraces, offices, subdivided hangars for the AMS squads, workshops. They were cramming the equivalent of a whole new base in miniature into the tiny fraction of the Geo Front allotted to them.
"Isn't this a bit . . . Impractical?" Misato asked. "And how did you get permission to set that stuff up."
Tanaka gave a little shrug, Misato guessed that was where Shinji had gotten that habit from. "This section of the GeoFront was turned over to us by the UN, what we do here is up to us. If you'll note we've already disconnected all of the MAGI terminals and systems. NERV's computer network holds no sway here."
Misato nodded impressed. "You guys work fast."
"AMS were originally developed to help with construction, and our techs don't fuck around."
"Hmmm, any way we could borrow some of those things for city repairs?" Misato asked sweetly.
Tanaka smiled watching a pair of AMS carrying another armor plate between them. "That depends on whether you'll set me up with the arrogant bottle blond that came by earlier." Tanaka said.
Misato laughed, "Ritsuko? I don't know if she'd go out with anyone, she's a workaholic."
Tanaka sighed, "Sad, and such a lovely woman too . . . Well, I suppose I can lend you the AMS as long as we can set up some rotations, and I suppose if we can trade some favors back and forth we'll probably get along pretty well."
"Oh?"
"Well, you're the NERV tactical officer right?"
Misato nodded, "Yeah my job is to handle anything pertaining to EVA field operations." 'Like the paper work.' She added grimly to herself.
Tanaka turned to watch Shinji now nearly forty meters bellow them conversing with another man, most definitely a foreigner, tall, broad, Latino with short brown hair. "How did Shinji get that black eye anyway?" Tanaka asked in a more subdued voice.
Misato glanced over the rail, the man had taken Yumi into a big embrace and was swinging her about. "I didn't get all the details but he got beat up at school."
"Shinji? Beaten up. Not unless the little bastard who did it is a fucking martial arts master."
"I don't think he fought back, the kid who attacked him . . . His sister was hurt in one of Shinji's battles."
Tanaka nodded, "Yeah, that would make sense, Shinji's never taken harming others well . . . He's not a killer, he's not a soldier, he's just a kid who knows he has to fight."
Misato glanced around to find Rei absent.
Rei hadn't gone far, only a few steps, she stood before the Mark Strife, as she had four days ago, though now the soft diffused light gave the armored heady a gentle shading of light and shadow so different from the way she had seen it under the harsh lights.
But the eyes were the same, those twin, solid blue orbs. She kept starring at them, the perfect opposite of her own crimson.
The night air whipped past at an impossible speed as she descended the other one, the enemy fallowing her downwards towards a large bole like indentation in the earth. The enemies weapons were expended, what more could it hope to do, but it still had its weapon of choice. That lance, those cursed lances which had become the bane of her kind. She snapped around to aim, it through . . .
"Rei . . . Rei."
Rei snapped out of her daze as Misato stood beside her, that had been a little worrying she'd never had to call Rei like that in the time she had known the girl.
"What were you thinking about?" Misato asked.
Rei starred at the Mark Strife trying to recapture that feeling. She rubbed at her side slightly, right beneath her ribs. "It is, nothing." Rei whispered simply.
"What do you think of these people Rei?" Misato asked, checking to be sure Tanaka was out of earshot. He was down at the other side of the catwalk conversing with one of the technicians.
Rei did not speak for several seconds, the Commander sometimes asked her questions, but those were usually rhetorical or at least the expected answer was obvious. Rei took those seconds to formulate her own opinion on Shinji, the Mark Strife, Yumi, and MESSIAH in general.
"They seem, adept." Rei said simply.
"At what?" Misato asked.
"At what they intend to do here." Was all Rei said in reply.
Misato stared at the Mark Strife's blue eyes with Rei. "It just seems strange that somebody else could develop such affective weapons, how do you think this will factor into our battle plans?" Yeah it was usually the kind of question Misato would have reserved for Asking Ritsuko, but with the bottle blond absent it fell upon Rei.
"The addition of two more units will greatly improve our tactical flexibility." Rei commented, tactics she knew and understood, the Commander had suggested several books on meditation along with several books on infantry tactics he felt she could translate to EVA combat. "I am, confident, that the Mark Strife and Mark Ziel will be affective against the Angels."
"You make it sound like they were built to fight the Angels like EVA." Misato said.
"Perhaps." Rei said softly.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Two days later. Rei shifted a little uncomfortably in the Mark Strife's diver pod . Shinji had continued to explain the operation of the machine to her, startlingly similar to EVA. Even providing her with a pilots manual, stripped of any non essential information and still highly classified. The manual had emphasized a pilot be comfortable, well rested, and relaxed both physically and mentally when they were first learning to pilot.
Rei didn't have much experience with any of these, perhaps being at mental and physical ease, but she had never tried to summon these mind states at will. And she only felt greater anxiety as she hesitantly placed her hands, one still bandaged, onto the control sticks. "Alright Miss Ayanami." The voice of one of the technicians observing her progress announced from a control box now built into the wall of the warehouse.
"We're going to let the Strife connect with your nervous system only at the superficial level. Don't worry, at worst you should only feel a slight sensation of vertigo."
"Understood." Rei replied.
The pod pulsed to life its spherical inner surface projecting a perfect representatiojn of the world from the Strife's point of view.
Rei felt a slight falling sensation for a moments and shifted uncomfortably, ready to pull her hands from the controls the second the Strife tried to touch her.
Shinji stood next to Tanaka and Ritsuko who had come to observe the training exercise.
"Look at this, even at a ten percent linkage rate her cross interference is clear up at thirty percent." The technician mumbled shocked.
Tanaka shifted his weight, arms crossed before him, "How the hell can she be creating so much cross interference. Hell a random guy of the street can pilot better then that. Are you sure she's a viable candidate Shinji?"
Shinji tapped a finger to his temple in explanation. "The Strife trusts her, and that's enough for me." Shinji echoed the words that the Colonel had once said to him.
"Do you mean you can converse with that thing?" Ritsuko asked.
Shinji nodded, "After a fashion, and it is not a thing, it is the Mark Strife, nothing more and nothing less. It would not call you a thing, it expects the same respect in return."
Ritsuko blinked. "So . . . It thinks?"
Shinji nodded, "Yeah, it has its own will and conciousness, I suppose you could say it even has its own heart and soul."
"You shouldn't personify machinery Shinji, no matter how good it may be." Ritsuko said.
"No, I'm not personifying, I've been inside of its mind Ritz. It has allowed me there, just as I allow it within myself. I . . . Suppose you could say it's a bond."
"EVA is similar." Ritsuko noted. "A pilot has to synchronize with the EVA in order to operate it. Though I suppose the Mark Strife is more temperamental in that reguard."
Shinji turned to her, Ritsuko froze, she had never had that gaze placed upon her. Though she knew it for it was one she had often thrown at others. In Shinji's eyes she could see that he was absolutely convinced that she could not understand.
"Ritsuko, when I say I am bonded to it, I don't just mean I use it. If the Strife is in danger I must come to it. And If I am in danger the Strife must come to me. That is the essense of what we are as individuals."
"The teleportation?" Ritsuko asked.
Shinji nodded, "Translation through the spacial medium. It homes in on me, just as the Mark Ziel would seek out Yumi."
Ritsuko nodded, she was starting to see that these things were something far grander then she had first thought.
Shinji was already studying the read outs once more. He opened up the comlink with the diver pod. "Ayanami."
"Yes." The voice was neutral.
"May I ask you a question?"
" . . . Yes."
"What calms you."
Rei blinked slightly. "Please explain."
"What do you do that makes you feel at ease, Ayanami?"
Rei considered. "I feel at ease . . . When I swim."
Shinji thought, he personally didn't like swimming, it wasn't that he couldn't. He'd been forced to learn but he felt . . . If someone was obsessed with the water and its vasteness they could lose themselves. It frightened him a little. Even so.
"What about it makes you at ease?"
"I do not understand these inquiries . . ."
"I apalogize, but please answer the question."
There was a silence that left Shinji wondering if Rei had spontaneously died on them.
"It is . . . Soothing . . . Calm . . . Quiet . . . The sense . . . Of drifting . . . In a world where . . . Nothing can hurt you . . ." Rei finished haltingly, it was the closest she had ever come to answering such a question directly.
"That's good Rei, now I want you to think of that feeling, of swimming, and drifting, the play of light on the waters surface, the calm and peace you get from it."
There was a long pause, nearly as long as several moments before.
"Cross intereference has gone down by twelve percent." The Tech reported.
Shinji nodded. "Very good Ayanami, we're going to increase the linkage to fifteen percent and focus on lowering your cross intereference to less than ten percent. Then we will move foreward, understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
Shinji frowned. "Ayanami, you do not need to call me Sir, if you want you can call me Shinji."
"As a superior officer, I am not permitted to call you by your first name, Lieutenant Ikari."
Shinji gave up shaking his head. 'We'll . . . Work on that.'
The tests proceeded from their for the next half hour. By the end of it all Rei wasn't looking to bad. Her cross intereferenc in just that hour long session went down to twenty two percent at a fifteen percent linkage rate.
As she emmerged from the diver pod a happy looking Yumi handed her a bottle of water. Rei blinked a few times before taking a sip. "Good work Miss Ayanami." Yumi said.
Rei starred at her and nodded simply before procceeding towards the hangar exit, she had to report to the commander and proceed to the EVA cage for further testing before Unit-01's scheduled activation in one months time.
Yumi watched her leave. "How strange."
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"More please." Rico requested as he downed another plate full of dumplings, Shinji's cooking skill had become wide and varied since the last time they had met.
Yumi brought over a second serving, as Tanaka, Rico, and Misato sat around the dining room table. "How are things going with Rei?" Misato asked.
"She's, still having trouble linking with the Strife, its kind of like she's afraid."
"Rei, afraid?" Misato sounded shocked.
Tanaka shrugged, "Everyone has there phobia's maybe Rei is afraid the Strife will try to hurt her."
"But I don't get it, it should be like synching with an EVA, right?" Misato said.
"Not quiet." Shinji thought about it. "I haven't synched with an EVA but from what you people have said an EVA doesn't have any recognizable will of its own."
"Like the Mark Strife? I've been meaning to ask you about that Shinji, you can talk to it, can't you."
Shinji shifted a little, "Well, not so much like a conversation, more like a I can understands its intents and feelings.
"Ah, kind of like PenPen." Misato replied as she lifted said avian from the floor into her lap. The bird warked starring at Tanaka and Rico.
"Yeah kind of." Shinji agreed laughing slightly. "That's actually a pretty good analogy."
There was a slight knocking at the door. "I'll get it." Yumi said as she rushed to open the door.
"Uhm, Hello Miss Toyama." Kensuke Aida said, shifting slightly. Touji Suzuhara stood at his side quietly. "Uh, can we come in."
Yumi nodded admitting both into the living room and closing the door. This had not gone unnoticed by Shinji, instead he went back to focusing on his cooking, spicing it a little more. He didn't say a word as both boys gawked at the group at the table. Especially the hot babe that was apparently Shinji's guardian. Unfortunately their reaction to the other two was . . . less positive.
"Eh, so you're the kid who beat Shinji up?" Rico asked as he stood. He easily towered over either boy. Touji paled a little as the big man began to crack his knuckles, knuckles on hands big enough to encompass his head.
"Why are you two here anyway?" Shinji finally asked. Interupting Rico's fun.
Touji turned to him and finally spoke himself. "I . . . You didn't hurt my sister intentionally."
"Of course not!" Shinji said coldly facing him with a look of anger in his eyes.
"I was asshole man, I want you to hit."
Shinji starred at the boy like he was an idiot. "I'm not going to hit you, you were right, I hurt someone. I don't deserve to be forgiven for that."
"LOOK I'M NOT GOING TO BE SATISFIED UNTIL YOU HIT ME!" Touji shouted surprising everyone.
Shinij looked at him coldly for several more seconds then nodded. "Is that truly what you want?"
Touji nodded.
"It'll make you feel better about this?"
Again a nod.
"And you won't hold this against me?"
"Look do it already." Touji complained.
Shinji sighed. "Very well." One second Touji was standing the next he was flying backwards his nose crushed into his face, blood spraying from it.
Misato starred shocked, "SHINJI!"
Yumi was surprised as well, Shinji had never acted so violently. But her faith in him was restored quickly as he went into the kitchen and came back out with an ice pack. Handing it to Touji.
"Yu bro mah noze." He said dazed.
"Yeah and if we don't take care of it you might have some problems, hold still."
"Yu bro mah noze!" Touji sounded more shocked this time.
Shinji brushed the boys hands from his face looking at the blood poring from his nose. He took Touji's broken nose and snapped in back in place, eliciting a soft curse from the boy. Shinji handed him a wad of paper towels and the Ice Pack once more. The boy accepted them stupidly.
Kensuke's jaw had nearly hit the floor, Shinji had just taken Touji down with one hit. Combined with how he dodged if Shinji had really tried Touji would have been cut to pieces in a fight.
"Yu pun' harr" Touji muttered as he wiped his nose. Shinji was already pulling out a first aid kit with some medical tape.
"You learn to leverage your weight when you don't have much strength." Shinji explained. "You'll want to get this checked by a doctor to be sure it heals properly."
Touji accepted the help quietly before Shinji helped him to his feet. "How about you two stay for dinner." Shinji suggested smiling a little sadly but still sincerely.
Touji looked at him like he was nuts.
"Really!" Kensuke asked.
Shinji nodded. "You two were the ones who decided an eye for an eye was good idea, well that debts paid then, and we'll have plenty tonight since I'm already cooking for five."
Both boys nodded in agreement. Free food was always a plus.
The antics of the fallowing meal amused Shinji to no end as Touji tried some of the spice peppers Rico had brought. He looked like an N2 mine had gone off on his tongue. Rico and Tanaka enjoyed the time with there young friend, once charge, now subordinate, always comrade.
Misato was starting to think she could enjoy being around these people as she started on a third Yebisu with a slight snap hiss of the lid.
Yumi sat next to Shinji feeling comfortable in his presence and happy that this situation had been resolved.
Touji and Kensuke left that night knowing that they were welcome back any time. Rico and Tanaka left only slightly later.
"That reminds me." Misato said looking to Tanaka and Rico.
"Meet us tomorrow we're going to go take a look at the remains of the angel Shinji defeated when he got here. Ritsuko says she may have some information on what we're facing."
Tanaka nodded , "We'll be sure to be there."
The two men left with a slight wink and bow, it was time to sleep.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Completion of the Mark Sin, mass production units is as follows.
Units Beelzebub and Bandersnatch have exceeded 36 completion. Units Azazel, Samael, are currently at 52 muscle skeletons completed to the second layer. Pilots have already been selected through our ties with the educational systems and militaries in Australia, Canada, and Korea."
The man nodded as his companion completed her report. They stood now before the Mark Fear, its black armor covering it from crested head to hardened toe, and liquid blue eyes starring down at them.
"Ironic to think that SEELE's simple disinterest in the less powerful countries of the world has allowed us to move under the radar."
"Too true." The woman agreed.
"Still that also puts us at a disadvantage sir, we estimate at least eight mass production units are being built by SEELE, but other then the Mark Fear we only have the MP prototypes even now, and the other projects are not even close to completion."
"Truth." The man agreed starring up at his old companion, the eyes of man and machine locked.
"That is why . . ." He continued. " . . . I will be heading to the Canadian base to oversee the final activation of the Eldridge."
"Sir? Its near completion already!" The woman sounded shocked.
The man shook his head. "No, even putting our backs into it now she is less then sixty seven percent comlete, but we're accelerating the completion schedule. With any luck she'll be able to move and fight when we need her."
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather put those resources into completing the Mark Sin units?"
The man shook his head. "No, the resources we are putting into the Eldridge would be of no use on any other project, I'll be leaving the Kyouto base in your capable hands Doctor Toyama."
"Of course Takashi." She said, using the mans first name to show she wished to address him as a friend. "Stay safe Colonel."
"I will." The man agreed, smiling, "After all, I still need to see that idiot of a son of mine one more time. I need to be sure he doesn't still blame himself for his brothers death."
The woman nodded. "May your journey be made swiftly and safely Colonel, and may we meet again soon." With that the woman headed back to her office there was still so very much left to do.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Messiah Mecha
AMS (Armored Maneuvering System.)
Height: 5.2 meters, MP. 5.4 meters, Command.
Weight: 7.8 tons, MP. 8.1 tons, Command.
Power supply: Transmission power from fixed energy tap, limited endurance Cold Fusion reactor (Flight pack only.)
Armament: 25mm Sub machine gun, 35 mm Assault Rifle, 55 mm high velocity sniper rifle, Lancaster Affect Staff, Lancaster Affect Sword.
Special equipment: Aquatic operations packs, heavy armor pack, flight pack, bombardment pack, sniper pack.
Affector drones.
Height: 1.5cm to 3meters in Diameter.
Weight: 4 grams to one hundred and fifty kilo's.
Power Supply: Transmission power from external power tap, internal capacitor (larger models.)
Armament: 5.56 millimeter SMG, .50 cal Machine Gun, 44 mm grenade launcher. (Security models only.)
Special equipment: AI
Next Chapter: Unit-01 is finally activated just in time as the 5th Angel makes its appearance, the Strife takes a direct hit from the Ramael's particle gun but with a little ingenuity and a helping hand from the AMS corps Misato and Tanaka come up with a plan to penetrate the defenses with the Ultimate in Giant Robot Packed heavy artillery.
Next Chapter, A Gunman's War in Tokyo-3.