Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Claimer: The Original Characters (OC's) I created for this fan fiction, such as Ayame Johnson (adopted, in a rather surprising operation military operation and yes she does meet her real family), LTCOL Paul Johnson aka Shadow Paladin, US Army, and the Shadow Stryker Brigade.
Note: Any likeness to any real persons, places, things, etc. is completely coincidental. I'm a honest guy with zero capabilities except for the imagination department and how to piss off (that's make angry, those of you from Europe) elder relatives, and insult cowards as I see'em (Osama bin Laden is a wimpy-little-girl that hides behinds the skirts and diapers of the innocent, some hero-would-be-martyr; quite frankly a die hard Commie has more courage to try Capitalism).
"Two Fathers, Two Children, One Mother"
Chapter Two: "A New Teacher and a New Classmate"
3rd District High School, Tokyo-3, Japan
The principle of the high school came into Class 2-A and the Class Repensentive, Hikari Hokai, immediately called the class to attention. It had been about a week since the 4th Angel's attack. Behind him, a rather sorry looking Shinji Ikari entered and immediately took his seat. Then a man and a young girl entered. The man was foreign as far they could tell, with short silvery-blonde hair, just short of being a military-style. The girl was Japanese looking with light brown eyes and light brown hair, about their age. The principle welcomed the man; they spoke briefly in a different language, the girl stood quietly off to one side. Then in Japanese the students heard.
"Unless its absolutely necessary, I will NOT excuse the Evangelion pilots to attend to matters best left to the military."
All heads shot up and the young girl held a small smile. The two Eva pilots had mixed feelings. Shocked by his bold declaration, one of the two pilots, the red-eyed, blue haired albino, named Ayanami Rei spoke up.
"As a teacher you do not have that authority to deny…" she was cut off.
"There has been an official declaration of war, and even if there has not been, rules of engagement prohibit underage soldiers, which at the age of 14 you fall under, Ms. Ayanami. So by all legal laws and codes of conduct, only an act of the United Nations can change the law."
"But without…" she was cut off again.
"I know who owned those tanks that drew more fire than Evangelion, as well as the commandoes. What? Surprised? (She was, as was everyone else) I knew a couple of guys in an earlier crew that wanted to fight the Angels, but they vanished, so I started to look for them, let me tell you the surprise I got when "NO DICE!" turned up in Japan. It was obviously the JADE Forces. I supplied them with a little ammunition a while back, before they turned on me and I ended up serving a brief time in jail for gun running, but since I was release, with their graces, I've been working to rebuild the world, not supply arms anymore, and I must say how grand it feels to build something, rather than destroying something."
"How did…" again, she was cut off.
"I saw the Internet feed when it first came out. They must have received orders not to interfere with the Unit-01 and the 4th Angel. Which to them is akin to killing a child in front of their eyes to make a political statement. They probably won't be idle next time. But enough of that, time to teach you the finer points off life! Whose up for a little trip to the nearby hills to began a version of teaching I find far more successful?"
"What will we be doing?" Shinji Ikari asked, surprising himself as well as the whole class.
"We will be studying about the difference between the Romans, Persians, Greeks, Chinese, Japanese, etc. from their point of view, by re-enacting many a critical point. This will help you build a base to understand how they lived and thought and worked. Remember, they still thought the Earth was flat and that there were sea monsters! So let's rock and roll!"
"Um Sensei, what is your name and who is the new student," one of the girls asked, to which the Sensei groaned and slapped his forehead.
"I'm Johnny Cain and this is my daughter, Ayame Cain, no questions and no pestering, got me," he gave the class a glare so fearsome, the even Rei was fidgeting badly under it.
"Now let's go, everything is already ready and we will have a fun time, starting with the Romans first, since they built one of the largest empires and one that lasted for centuries using only simplicity and common sense!"
The students followed their new sensei; they had heard how their old sensei was now fighting for his life in a hospital unit. He had been involved in a hit and run, where he was the victim. They walked on in the wooded hills outside of the school grounds until they came to a secluded spot. There they found all kinds of things ranging from odd tools to some form of construction equipment to infantry weapons to siege engines to everyday things and most of all clothing from several different periods.
Kensuke Aida was going absolutely crazy, looking at the different things he was seeing, he knew a lot of the military stuff was just mock-ups, but he still went wild. The teacher laughed and began his lesson, instructing everyone to draw a number from a mock up of a Roman Centurion's helmet. Once they had their numbers he began to assign them names and roles, roles from which they could only hope to claim up from far even further down from. Once everything was set, he had them change into authentic recreations of the clothes from the period. Each person was given pictorial instructions on how to dress and were told to discard all forms of modern dress. Some were nervous, but he said, "To play a part, you must be the part. Until you are the part, you cannot hope to play it. It not like I'm asking you to do this so that NERV Second Branch can get off (kids blushed). I made sure they didn't have any personnel here or cameras, I don't trust them."
Rei began to change in front of everyone, until the sensei said, "Not here! In the changing rooms! Geez, didn't they teach you common sense at NERV!"
As the students filed out after changing, a jeep pulled up and a rather flustered woman stepped out, she was wearing a red jacket and matching black shirt and skirt, she had lavender hair, long and brown eyes looking dangerously at the Sensei.
"What in the hell?" seeing the students, "Argh! I'm here for Shinji and Rei, we need them to mobilize."
"No," the teacher said flatly.
"WHAT?"
"I said no, N and O together spell no, so pack it up and leave please," the teacher turned to his students, but Captain Mistao Katsuragi wasn't done.
"Sorry, but NERV…" she was cut off and given the most terrifying glare she had ever received and not to mention tongue-lashing.
"I SAID NO! UNDER THE RULES OF WAR THEY CANNOT FIGHT IN AN OFFICIAL OR UNOFFICIAL MILITARY FORCE OF ANY KIND! I SUGGEST CALLING THE JSDF AS IT IS THEIR JOB TO FIGHT THE ANGELS!"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN "RULES OF WAR!" WE ARE NOT…"
"THEN ASK YOUR BOSSES AT THE UNITED NATIONS TO CHANGE THE LAW!" turning his back to her and returning his full attention to the students, he felt a .38 caliber snob-nose Smith and Wesson special undercover with tungsten rounds placed against the base of his skull.
"A Second Branch Suit, I might point out I overrode your authority as a teacher should."
"You have no authority…"
"Then I guess the dirt I found on Gendo Ikari comes out. He's some savior; I know quite a few dirty secrets that would also implicate SEELE. I'm certain that JADE can handle everything."
Withdrawing, the two left, but not before Mistao Katsuragi mouthed, "Nice," and, "Keep them safe." Turning back to his class, they all started up their little learning play. They would await the order to evacuate, but they would still learn.
A hundred miles away at the coastline, the 5th Angel began its approach towards Tokyo-3, but was meet with stiff resistance from a small flotilla of battleships and a large formation of fighters. Soon land base artillery began to fire and the 5th Angel, despite its strong defenses was suffering from crippling damage dealt by these massed forces. Instead of the JSDF's and the UN forces' broad attacks using overwhelming firepower, these soldiers chose to aim and overwhelm the angel with massed, but overwhelming and well planned out and aimed attacks.
Several large batteries of heavily armed and armored fighting walkers appeared and began to lay down some serious firepower. The 5th Angel fought back, but the sheer volume of continued well-placed shots began to take its toll. Then light vehicles, armed with missile launchers and light energy cannons appeared with Self-Propelled Artillery (SP for short) and tanks, all equipped with the latest and the greatest and the 5th Angel just began to be overwhelmed. Then the Angel faltered, its AT Fields failing, and then it was killed. The defense had been a success, the defenders had taken losses of material, but by some twist of fate, not personnel, which were harder to replace than the material of war.
That night in NERV headquarters, in one of the private domains of Gendo Ikari, he was listening to the complaints of the committee members, when a new voice broke over the transmission signals.
"Hello gentlemen and I use the term very loosely," the voice said.
"It's been awhile Paul, not since 2001," Gendo said as the committee members were going wild over Paul's breach of their most secure communications network.
"HOW DID YOU…"
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"What do you want?" the committee chair asked as calm as Gendo had spoken.
"For you all to burn in the lowest, deepest pits hell, but hanging you first would be a start," Paul was straightforward.
"You always did say a good hanging of those who deserved it was always in order," Gendo Ikari was as cool as ice.
"Yes, for a reason, but Gendo, Gendo, I hear you've been mistreating Yui's son. I don't like what I hear. Either change or hang with this lot, starting with number 7 and number 8," Paul said.
At that moment cries filled the two said slots as gunfire erupted. Then, after a while of silence, video feed showed the two men begging for their lives as they were read the charges for which they were found guilty of. When both continued to babble and even talk about selling out the remaining members of SEELE's central committee, they were shoved out of their upper floor windows where they died. They had been hung, with a Hangman's Noose.
"Irrelevant information that we already have. Say good bye to numbers 3, 4, 6, 9, and 12 as well, though they will be having a proper trial in front of the whole world," and with that, the transmission was cut and so were the named SEELE members.
"Rather full of himself, isn't he," the leader spoke.
"He must be backed by someone or some organization, but he is listed dead and we cannot do anything to him," Gendo rubbed the bridge of his nose before continuing, "He is also secured in the knowledge that we cannot touch him because of his plain looks, nothing special. He is also very cautious when it comes to fighting in the shadows, but aggressive nonetheless and very good."
"I see, very well, we're see what we can do. As for you, continue with your work and whatever you do, DO NOT fail us Gendo Ikari, because you can be replaced," the SEELE chairman than cut transmission followed by the rest.
"Sir?" Kouzou Fuyutsuki, the vice commander of NERV began to inquire to his commander.
"It appears that indeed he did survive, but with Unit Zero-Two on its way, he can do nothing, not even about it," was all the most feared man in NERV said.
The next day was the same for the students of Class 2-A, except that now they were re-enacting social gatherings in a market place in Rome (mock-up) itself. They were allowed to talk about anything they wanted; provided that it was fit for polite conversation and that they included some topics he had given them. Biggest topic was about Neo-JADE making its debut and easily holding off and defeating an Angel single handedly without the Evangelions. Shinji actually said he was glad that he did not have to go into battle, he was still unsure of himself and was quite terrified of the Angels.
Then the teacher, Sensei Cain clapped his hands and announced that all men of combat age must report for training as a national emergency had occurred. All the male students followed the directions and were soon finding themselves being pressed into service. Sensei Cain went through the ranks, randomly tapping a shoulder and pointing in another direction for each one. He tapped the so-called Three Stooges and then had the ones not tapped put on the armor of the conscripted and for the ones that had been tapped, he showed them how to sign their names in an older western style. Then he directed them to a few friends he had brought along to help. The students tapped on the shoulders found that they had already 'volunteered' for military service and to have the right to vote. They began immediate training, while the others went off and 'fought' a mock battle. Then they came back and would go through the process again the next day, but those who 'enlisted' would have to stay in their positions as they were being trained to fight barbarians.
That night when Shinji got home, he practically fell asleep after dinner. He did nothing between finishing his meal and finding the comfortable darkness of sleep. He didn't even leave his place at the table; he was so tired. That worried Mistao who tucked him into bed that night.
The next couple of weeks were just about the same, but then one morning Shinji and Pen-Pen saw Mistao wake up in full dress uniform. Pen-Pen practically passed out at the sight of his owner being so well dressed at 7 am. Shinji was just as surprised, but somehow didn't pass out at the sight of the fully alert and ready Mistao dressed for a formal function. The two exchanged brief words, before Mistao left for Old Tokyo.
In the middle of class in which Shinji, the other stooges, and the rest of the shoulder taps were getting combat tactics drilled into them. They were told that is how the real Roman Army had been. Then they were told that their training was far from complete, but they had an excellent grasp of the basics. The Shoulder Taps as they had become to be known were pleased that soon they would be finished. That was when Lieutenant Maya Ibuki arrived with scramble orders for Shinji.
"What is going on?" asked Sensei Cain.
"Sir, a new weapon produced by a civilian firm has gone out of control. It is heading to a populated area and its nuclear core is about to meltdown unless we use a plan that Captain Katsuragi came up with, but involves an Eva."
"I hate nukes more than the idea of child soldiers, very well, Shinji will need to change, I can still smell the blood scented whatever you use and I don't want him ruining that outfit."
"He will be given his plug suit at NERV headquarters."
"Yeah, whatever, as long as its not the outfit."
Shinji and his escort were off. At the same time, deciding to be cautious, Sensei Cain ordered the students into a nearby shelter, after they changed off course. Once everyone was safe and accounted for, he left himself and with his daughter Ayame.
A secret underground base not to far from NERV
Base Name: Fort Appleton
A man with silvery-blond hair stepped out of the elevator, wearing full military fatigues andwith silver oak leaveson his collar. His ice blue eyes scanned the Combat Information Center aboard a mighty battleship currently docked in an underground port. At his side a young girl of 14 years stood proudly as two young males, one Russian, the other African, both 14 years of age as well.
"Report," said the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Yes sir! At 1300 hours today, the Jet Alone, currently the prototype unit, went berserk, but we have evidence from a weak, but rather strong transmission still operating from it, that is linked directly with NERV HQ. We believe sabotage sir," the young First Lieutenant who had been on duty reported.
"Launch a retaliatory attack and secure the Jet Alone, yesterday!" the man roared.
"Aye, Aye sir!" was chorused at the same time as simple, "Yes sir!"
'Gendo Ikari, you will pay for this, I will not strike at your bosses, but you directly for this bit of sabotage and for endangering lives."
Down in the hangers three machines were readied for launch with dozens of combat planes and transports. The mission was pretty clear, but even more so. The R&D section of Sack, True JADE, or Neo-JADE, whatever anyone what to call them, had had a hand in the R&D of the Jet Alone. This sabotage might as well had been someone shooting at them; it was just that insulting and serious.
Troops piled into the transports and so did vehicles. Three machines prepared for launch for their first actual combat mission. Then the order came down, "Where Eagles Dare, Justice is There." The combat units were launched.
Shinji Ikari was desperately trying to hold the Jet Alone from continuing its rampage. They were just a few short miles from a heavily populated area. That was when Shinji spotted an aircraft, an E-767 with SACC and JADE markings. The aircraft put a powerful ECM field that stopped NERV's control of the Jet Alone.
Deep inside, Captain Mistao Katsuragi was desperately trying to force the control rods in manually, but that was easier said than done, when they simply went back in by themselves. She looked back and forth and heard a stray message over her radio.
"Jamming…static… NERV lost…static… We… static… General…static… static… static…Johnson mission…static… What…static… Sir… static…"
"Recover…static…static… Inform Double Echo Zero…static…static…static…static… Repeat…static… Inform Ayame not to make contact with her brother Shinji…static… Return to Appleton…static…" Mistao lost the rest of the message, but she was shocked to hear that Shinji's sister was nearby and that her name was Ayame, but then she remembered mention of NERV and a General Johnson.
Now one thing that Mistao Katsuragi knew about in this world was that she didn't know all the generals in the world, but she had a felling that this one was not even officially recognized. Unofficially, he must be one of the best covert commanders in the world. Most likely American, as the message seemed to be a little overly chatty and the name Appleton reinforced that, but it was the rather laid-back communication and lack of harshness in the general's voice. After all, many an American commander had been known for being rough with troops, but outright in-formalness was a common fact in the US military, especially among tight net units.
She had to wonder if NERV had had a hand in this debacle. As she left the machine and exited out, she saw Shinji being held at gunpoint and soldiers swarming all over the machine.
"The password did not work, did it?" a voice asked.
"Yeah, let me guess, my bosses had something to do with it."
"Be thankful that we don't have any of their people in our ranks, Madam Captain."
She smiled and left the troops to secure and take the Jet Alone, but what she had seen when she came around the leg shocked her. Standing not more than 30 meters away was another Evangelion, one covered in Sack and JADE markings with the ID of Double Alpha Fiver. As she stared at the machine, she could she that it was far more advance than their own and also relied more on conventional technology rather than what NERV was secretly using. As she looked on, she saw a military styled paint scheme and hard points for weapons and some kind of packs. She could also see the pilot in a full plug suit, including a helmet. She didn't see much else as she felt a bit of pain on the back of her neck and soon only knew darkness. That was until her Beer-O-Meter was reporting low levels of beer in her body, which brought her back to the land of the living in NERV's Central Hospital.