Unknown location

"Lord Sammael, we have finished processing the data acquired through the drone before it was destroyed."

"Speak."

"There is an extensive underground installation located underneath the target area. The drone has confirmed the presence of a Sealing Weapon inside, but the Lilim did not use it against the drone for some reason."

"Perhaps they did not consider it a sufficient threat."

"Maybe, although they did attempt to ambush the drone with a nuclear fission weapon. The drone's self-repair measures counteracted the damage within but a short timeframe, yet it suggests a notable level of intelligence on the locals' part."

"What is the technological development of these Lilim?"

"High end of low. The drone detected numerous spacecraft in orbit around the planet, all of them carrying nuclear fusion power sources. Their general-purpose weaponry seems to be based on a combination of kinetic and explosive weapons, none of which posed any threat to the drone. Inside the underground facility, however, the drone has detected dark energy."

"Dark energy?"

"Indeed, even though their technological development should be insufficient to possess it. We also found a large installation in high planetary orbit with a strong exotic matter signature, along with smaller signatures scattered across major urban areas throughout the planet. The waveforms indicate controlled spacetime manipulation."

"Their level of technology is highly inconsistent. This is most puzzling."

"We also have confirmation of the Angel-scale entity Shamshel reported. Two of these entities working in tandem is what destroyed the drone, despite their offensive capabilities being highly primitive and insufficient for the task."

"How?"

"From what I can tell, one of them triggered the drone's defense protocol on purpose while the other used a spacecraft's assistance to rise into orbit before dropping back down and landing on the drone at terminal velocity. It was a crude tactic, but the drone was not in combat mode at the time and thus did not rate the second entity as a threat until it made contact. Once the drone attempted to maximize its offensive power, the Lilim destroyed its core with a precision attack."

"Are we certain these entities are Lilim?"

"Yes, my Lord. The light of their souls is an exact match."

A pause.

"You have something to say. Say it."

"Shamshel's theory that the Eternal performed Exaltation on the Lilim to create these Angel-scale entities is sound, but... what if the Beast is responsible? And with the Sealing Weapon present, She might be aware of us attacking Her Spawn."

"Do not fear the Beast, Harachel. While the Doors of Guf remain closed, She will sleep Her deathless slumber. Despite our differences, the Eternal taught this to us for a reason. A more pressing concern is the Eternal's intention for this world. Did the drone confirm Tabris' presence?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"He certainly is tenacious to have survived the destruction of his physical body. I could have made use of him."

"He appears to have bonded his soul to an immature Lilim. How the Lilim surprised the process is unfathomable, but its soul is still present and in control of the body. Which brings us to these Angel-scale entities."

"What of them?"

"According to the drone's close-range scans, these entities are at least partially artificial. There are mechanical devices of some kind that are grafted into the creatures' flesh, powered by a dark fusion power source externally attached to the creature's back. The data is confusing, but... it appears that there is an indigenous Lilim inside each creature's largest mechanical device, somehow controlling the creature like a biological vehicle and wielding the creature's power as its own. And yet the creature itself appears to be sentient, even though its soul is... I cannot say for certain. It is as if a Lilim body is carrying a soul that is not that of a Lilim. Yet it is not an Angel either, nor is it like any of the other Spawns. Is... this might be what the Eternal is interested in?"

"Perhaps. We need to know more about these entities. How many are there?"

"Aside from the two active ones, the drone detected three more inside the underground installation. One of them appears to be in the middle of gestation while another is seemingly dormant. As far as I can tell, that is; this is not my area of expertise."

"Forward the data to Bardiel, then. He will know what to do."

Another pause.

"...for the sake of these Lilim, I hope that madman will find nothing... interesting."

"That is none of your concern, Harachel. Do as you are told."


Geofront, AEL Headquarters
November 7, 2041
1211 hours

"I've got to hand it to you, Shephard. That was the ballsiest plan I've ever seen."

"I came up with it on the fly, sir."

"I'm not kidding. Sneaking one of those Evangelions out of the city, attaching it to the bottom of the frigate, hauling it up into low orbit, then dropping it right on top of that bastard? And it actually worked? I almost didn't believe it even after seeing it myself."

Shephard just shrugged at Calhoun's image on the monitor. – "Sometimes you just have to think outside the box, sir. We couldn't hurt it any other way and I'd rather not wait around for its next move."

"Good thinking. Some of the generals weren't pleased at that stunt with the nuke, but this should quiet them down. And involving the navy was a smart move, too; they saved some face with this success."

"Speaking of which, kudos to the frigate's navigator and helmsman for nailing the drop trajectory."

"I'll make sure this goes into their files. As for you..." – Calhoun made a gesture of tipping an imaginary hat. – "Keep it up."

"Yes, sir. Do you need a cleanup report?"

"No, I'll let the doctor's crew handle it. Which reminds me, let her know not to bother with the alien. We'll get a tarp there and cover it before the sun comes up. Hopefully this one will dissolve just like the other one and we can sweep up the remains."

Shephard raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. – "Where did you find a tarp large enough?"

"Where do you think? Every sheet in the nearby bases is being stitched together to make one. This is gonna cost us a lot, but at least it's government money, right?"

"Yes, sir." – Shephard then glanced aside and murmured – "Though I'd appreciate it if they'd made sure the AEL is buying real coffee instead of this relabeled decaf crap..." – under his breath before turning back to the screen, where Calhoun was watching with a slightly amused expression. – "Sir. Am I to assume then that the info blackout is still in effect?"

"Yes. To be honest, I think it's a waste of effort to try hiding something that big... but Keel seems to think otherwise. He might be up to something, he might not be; either way, curfew's probably going to lift this afternoon."

Shephard half-expected his superior to remark on his breach of protocol, but being proven wrong was not unexpected either. He knew of Calhoun's reputation: a Black Mesa security guard who somehow escaped the facility against all odds and – if his memoirs were true – even made a short trip to Xen in the process. He was, by all rights, a completely ordinary guy who got caught up in events way above his head and ended up going from nameless corporate security guard to fugitive to partisan to undercover agent to de facto commander of a city-wide uprising. Being made into commander-in-chief of the Confederate Armed Forces wasn't his choice either; the government wanted a war hero to fulfill that post.

Naturally, their first choice was the only person who outdid Calhoun in the war heroics. And outdid him by a large margin. If Barney Calhoun was a legend, Gordon Freeman was a mythical demigod who inscribed his name into the pages of history before he even reached the biological age of thirty. Shephard had no idea what was true and what wasn't, but the established-as-true facts in the official history books were incredible enough: a shellshocked research assistant with glasses and a dusty, over twenty years old suit of powered armor designed for handling hazardous materials, taking down literally hundreds of Combine troops by himself, blowing up a major military base, wrecking the Combine seat of power on Earth and somehow surviving a nuclear explosion at point-blank range in the process, then blowing up the whole city for good measure and safeguarding a critical data file that ended up saving Earth despite repeated attempts by the Combine to intercept the delivery – all within less than a week of surviving another half a week at ground zero of Second Impact where, in addition to the aliens, an entire brigade of US Marines was personally gunning for him until they got chased off by an even bigger alien force while Freeman merrily gunned down several dozen marines and destroyed multiple tanks and attack helicopters, in addition to whatever alien got into his way, finally capping it all off by traveling to Xen, searching out a house-sized flying alien that could teleport things with its mind and beating said alien to death with a crowbar.

Gordon Freeman was not just a badass. He was a memetic super-badass, eclipsing even Audie Murphy whom Shephard heard about in his youth. And when the Confederacy asked him to be their military commander, he refused it out of hand and went back to his home on the Moon as if to say 'I'm done with this shit'.

Or, as some people suggested, he yearned for a life of seclusion because he couldn't find his place in this new world.

Thus, the Confederacy had to look for someone else and Calhoun accepted... mainly so that they'd stop pestering his old buddy. Shephard didn't know what Freeman was thinking and didn't care all that much. In fact, if one were to ask him what he thought about the man, Shephard wasn't sure he knew what he'd say. While many people borderline worshiped the "One Free Man, the Opener of the Way" even before his actions against the Combine... there was no forgetting that he was the one who started it all, the one who inserted the xenium sample that started Second Impact.

The one who pulled the trigger of the gun pointed at the head of the world.

He was just doing his job, acting on orders from his superiors. Superiors who were only acting on orders from their own superior, whom they warned about the potential consequences of the experiment and who dismissed those concerns for reasons he kept to himself. If anything, Wallace Breen was infinitely more responsible for the world going to hell in that week than Freeman was and Shephard knew that.

He knew Freeman wasn't to blame – yet part of him still wanted to lay blame on the bespectacled theoretical physicist, for lack of anyone else to blame. No matter how many years went past, Shephard could not forget the sight of the dead bodies of his fellow Marines, most of whom he knew personally from boot camp. It becomes much harder to face death when there are names that go with the faces and in Shephard's memories and nightmares, the faces were legion.

He knew the years he spent in that institute were noted in the classified parts of his personnel file. He did not try to hide it; after all, he would've had no need for psychiatric counseling if he hadn't seen anything. PTSD had to come from somewhere and his discharge papers gave him a clean enough bill of mental health to join the military, so there was that.

Of course, there were things that weren't in his file. Such as how he kept waking up screaming in the middle of the night even after Asuka was born, waking her up too more than once (and drawing Kyoko's ire in the process; after all, sleep-deprived toddlers tend to be extra cranky during the day).

Or how he still slept with a gun under his pillow even to this day.

If there was something he saw in his dreams even more often than his fellow Marines, it was that man. Even after he was discharged from the asylum, he still caught himself unconsciously following with his eye anyone wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase.

'...rather than continnnually subject you to the irresistible human temptation of telling all, we have decided to... convey you someway you can do no possible harm, and where no harm can come to you. I'm sure you can imagine there are worse... alternatives...'

Those words, that voice and that disjointed, just plain wrong manner of speech has burned itself deeply into his mind. More than once did Shephard wonder whether he should've just died that day or gotten swallowed up in the Eye of Xen like his family – at least he would've gotten off easy that way.

'...but there is still the lingering matter of... witnessses, I admit I have a fascination with those who adapt and survive against all odds – they rather remind me of myself, if for no other reason, I have argued to preserve you for a time...'

He didn't know what that man's game was, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. If it weren't for the vortigaunts, he would still be... wherever the hell he put him. No, Shephard was well and truly prepared to take all of his secrets to the grave. Not to satisfy that man but because he knew very well he'd be chucked right back into the asylum or worse, get lynched for having been a former member of the Hazardous Environmental Combat Unit, Freeman's famed nemesis from Black Mesa.

Only Kyoko ever knew about him; after all the nightmares and night terrors, he had no choice but to come clean to her about his past. In fact, Shephard had a hunch that her understanding is what kept him sane long enough to marry her. Understanding helped by the fact that she was a scientist and thus had the mindset to analyze his experiences instead of dismissing it as insane rambling.

Understanding which he sorely missed after her death.

Asuka was the only thing that kept him going since then, the only thing that gave his life direction. And Shephard knew that if that man showed himself in front of him ever again... there was a full magazine of 9mm bullets with his face on it.

When he finished the debriefing and left the office, Yui was waiting for him outside, once more busy with her tablet. – "I trust everything went well?"

"Yeah."

"My offer to get you a permanent office for your sessions with your superiors still stands, colonel."

"I'm not working here, so it wouldn't be fair for your people."

"Fair enough. Is there anything I should know?"

"Yeah. Calhoun says they'll handle the alien's carcass, so don't bother with it."

"Alright. That takes a substantial load off my crew." – She finished her work and looked up at him. – "While you were busy, I was talking with President Keel. He managed to secure financial assistance, which I'm putting to use to expand our operations."

"What's on your mind?"

"First, we're getting Unit-02 operational. It's the final prototype model, optimized and streamlined for mass-production. From here on out, Project Evangelion is basically complete; all we need for full-scale production now is infrastructure. We still have some R&D avenues we'd like to explore in the meantime and with the extra funding, we can get started as soon as Unit-02 is commissioned."

"Avenues like... what, exactly?"

"Advanced synchronization patterns, software upgrades... mostly these two. In fact, Unit-03 is about to finish its gestation period and reach the point where we can begin full-scale cybernetic augmentation; I'm hoping we can use it as a testbed for whatever we come up with in the meantime. Don't get your hopes up, though; I'm not expecting it to be combat-ready for nearly a year from now."

He nodded. – "Alright then, let's talk about Unit-02. How soon can you get it working?"

"A month, two at most."

"And the pilot?"

"I'm looking into possible candidates. Nothing you need to worry about." – Yui replied a bit edgily.

Edginess which Shephard noticed. – "I'm not worried, I was just asking. Did I do something you're mad about?"

Yui just sighed and started walking, forcing him to follow. – "No, colonel. It's Rei I'm angry at."

"What did she do?"

"She undertook that orbital drop operation with a cracked rib."

Shephard winced. – "Yikes. The g-forces were that bad?"

"No. She was already injured when she launched, but is refusing to tell me where she got it. And Sanada also knew about it, but didn't tell me until after the fact."

"Maybe he didn't want you to worry."

"It is his job to keep me informed about Rei's health. That's what he gets paid for." – she retorted.

"And how would've Nagisa wasted that alien by himself?"

"I know it was necessary to deploy her, colonel." – Yui cut him off. – "That isn't what I'm angry about, it's that they both kept me out of the loop. And as you probably know yourself, a leader is liable to make bad command decisions when acting on faulty knowledge. I'm responsible for every single person within this facility and it's incidents like these that tend to end badly. It's Sanada's job to keep me informed and it's my job to make decisions based on that information. If I had known, I would have swapped the Evangelions and had Nagisa undertake the drop, even if it would've had a higher chance of failure."

"I see your point. How's your girl, by the way?"

"Sanada all but dragged her into the infirmary as soon as she left Unit-00. She's under medical leave until further notice, which Sanada and I jointly decided on."

"Better hurry up with Unit-02, then."

"I have that under control, colonel." – Yui repeated. – "Is mister Nagisa at home?"

Shephard nodded... not that she could see it. – "Yep. Still out like a light when I left."


Chapter rewrite finished on 16/02/27.

There's precedent in canon in the form of Misato that seeing Second Impact from up close is quite the jarring experience and it's not any different here either.

Unlike the exploits of Freeman and Calhoun, Shephard's tale I'm envisioning as a case of "the greatest story never told". Possibly the only thing that makes Shephard any less badass than Freeman is that Shephard was actually a trained soldier by the time of Black Mesa, so he was very, very slightly better prepared. Even so, I figured that an experience like that would leave its mark on anybody, much less someone with only three years of life experience as an adult under his belt.

There is also the very realistic expectation of apprehension. Public opinion about Black Mesa being what it is by 2018, a former HECU member has every right to live in fear of being found out and lynched, or at the very least tried and imprisoned for war crimes he hasn't committed and cannot disprove... human vindictiveness and desire to have someone, anyone, available to be held responsible and punished being a sad reality.