Rebuild of Third Genesis
Chapter Twenty
"All right," Satsuki addressed the command staff, "we got a update from the United Nations on the situation in Europe and the Mideast. It's not good."
Satoko Shinden sat beside Misato for the briefing. She had skimmed the data earlier, but was looking forward to seeing how the NERV intelligence analyst would handle it.
"Hit me," Misato sighed.
"Regional conflicts have spiked up significantly since the UN pulled peacekeeping forces out of the area," Satsuki said briskly, "and there are signs that someone sold them equipment designed by NERV or possibly GEHIRN."
"Seriously?" Ritsuko sat up, surprised.
"I thought we kept our tech pretty well under wraps," Misato agreed, also sounding surprised by the news.
"Not well enough, it seems," Satsuki shrugged. "Israel is deploying a modified heavy tank using a neural interface piloting technology, one likely reverse engineered from Evangelion tech."
"Wouldn't that likely cause feedback issues?" Maya Ibuki wondered thoughtfully.
"They fried a few pilots before they could make it work," Satsuki agreed grimly.
"Any idea how they got it?" Misato asked. She had arguably been in charge of intelligence under Gendo, so she felt a bit personally insulted this had happened.
"Illegal sales from within NERV or GEHIRN," Satsuki said, "I'm digging into it now, but there were some suspiciously high amounts of money going through Gendo's Swiss accounts."
"Son of a bitch," Misato muttered, shaking her head.
"He was that," Satsuki agreed. She continued, "There are also indications that SEELE or at least what's left of it, is active in the region."
Satoko Shinden looked thoughtful. "Active as in militarily, or...?" the UN rep asked.
"All of the above," Satsuki answered. "They appear to be developing both military and political power in the region."
"They don't want US to get involved in this, do they?" Misato had to ask.
"No idea," Satsuki answered, pointedly looking at Satoko.
Everyone else also looked at her as Satoko made a face. "Gee, thanks for passing the buck," she addressed Satsuki.
"No prob," Satsuki answered, deadpan.
Satoko smiled reluctantly back. "Would it be possible to deploy a Evangelion there?" she asked Misato.
"No idea," Misato admitted, "Rits?"
"It's... remotely possible," Ritsuko admitted, "we've nearly got Unit-2 ready. The armor will be the complicated bit. But we need a means to power it remotely, not to mention dealing with the environment in the Mideast."
"And there's actually hauling it from Japan to the Mideast," Mana noted. "I don't think our transport planes have the range."
"Point," Satoko admitted thoughtfully.
"And frankly, and Asuka would argue with me on this, the Evangelion isn't really a precision instrument," Misato noted. "Want us to go in a break things, sure we can do it. But if you want a single target or something like that...," Misato shrugged.
"Definitely don't let Asuka hear you say that," Satsuki smiled.
"Putting that aside, I don't think the UN would ask you to step in," Satoko said seriously, "at least not until other options are eliminated."
"Honey, get the Eva ready just in case," Misato joked with Ritsuko.
"Don't call me Honey unless you want Mana on your ass," Ritsuko noted.
"I would not," Mana yelped indignantly.
"Don't tease your girlfriend in public, please," Satsuki smiled, "we single ladies might get jealous or something."
"You people," Satoko shook her head wryly.
Misato just laughed. Shaking her head she addressed Satsuki, "Anything else we need to be briefed on?"
"Not at this point," Satsuki said, "but I'll send you my full report."
"Yay, more paperwork," Ritsuko deadpanned as Maya stifled a giggle.
"All right everyone, back to it," Misato said, "and thanks for the time." as everyone left the meeting room she got up and stretched, then smiled as Satoko lingered. "Yes?" she asked as they walked out together.
"Is it me or is everybody kind of manic today?" Satoko asked.
"Overtired plus lots of coffee," Misato shrugged, "Ritsuko is pushing her staff as much as possible, trying to get Unit-02 up and running again."
"I appreciate that," Satoko noted, "but do they really need to push so hard?"
Misato shrugged slightly, "Well, without a Evangelion we are pretty much defenceless, you know."
"That bad?" Satoko asked, a bit surprised.
"With the geofront ripped open we can no longer hide the city under armor," Misato noted, "and the automated defences are pretty much wrecked. And even when they were functioning, conventional weapons were pretty much useless, hence why I haven't pushed to rebuild them."
"There is a comforting thought," Satoko shuddered a bit.
Misato reached out to gently pat her arm. "At least there's no known threats out there," she comforted her. With a wry smile she added, "You eventually get used to living under the undefined terror of a unknown threat."
"Gee, thanks," Satoko smiled back, putting a hand over Misato's. There was a moment as they walked, the warmth of one hand over another, that made Satoko feel almost like she really belonged there.
So of course, the moment was ruined.
"MISATO!" Mari roared as she hurried up the hall, her long brown hair swinging.
"What is it this time?" Misato sighed as Satoko gave her a apologetic smile and hurried off.
"The showers are on the fritz again. How hard is it for a multi billion dollar earth defence agency to keep the water running?" Mari demanded, exasperated.
Misato rolled her eyes, "Considering someone stuffed towels down the drains last week..."
Mari looked artfully innocent, "Really? I am shocked. Shocked, I say."
Misato gave her a withering look. "Yeah... anyway, it will be fixed by the end of the day, I think," she told her.
Mari pouted, then she shrugged. "Can we be excused from training until they're fixed?" she asked shrewdly.
Misato made a face, but she knew you needed a shower after being dipped in LCL. "Okay, no synchronizing training but I still want you and the others in the combat simulators."
Mana grinned in a slasher smile kind of way, "You'd have to pay me to stay out of those."
As Mari bounded off Misato sighed to herself. "That girl loves her job WAY too much," she muttered, heading towards her office.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"There is no way in HELL you are getting me back into one of those," Toji noted as they walked together to the arcade.
"Not even for a scooby snack?" Mana teased.
"Huh?" everyone looked at her.
"Western humour. Never mind," Mana waved that off, the tech geek looking embarassed.
"I got the reference," Asuka comforted her.
"As did I," Rei added with a slight smile. "Though I fail to see the resemblance between Toji and a large, fictional dog."
Hikari sighed, "Never mind..."
Asuka hid a smile, then continued, "I was thinking we hit the arcade for a bit, then Rei and I will ditch you lovebirds and you can go make out at the movies or something."
"Hey!" Toji yelped, blushing.
"And what about me?" Kensuke Aida complained.
"Well, you could join in the make out session..." Rei offered.
"Hey!" Hikari yelped that time.
"Sorry, Ken," Asuka teased, "looks like you're forever alone."
Ken just rolled his eyes. "One of these days," he predicted, "I'll meet a compatible girl who loves Evangelion as much as I do."
Mysteriously, Mari felt a chill run down her spine. Then she shrugged it off and went back to killing simulated Angels.
To be continued...
