Alarms blared throughout the Command Center as the personnel manning their stations were tapping keyboards at a furious pace, shouting various pieces of information with each other, and both making and receiving frantic phone calls, which created a cascade of noise within the chamber.

"Will somebody turn that damn alarm off?" Aida yelled. The alarm ceased seconds later.

"Good. Do we have a visual on New Palmyra?" he said.

"Satellite should be in position in three minutes," Bertain replied.

"Have there been any further communications from the city?" Burke asked.

"Not since their initial distress call," Matsu replied.

"That was over twenty minutes ago, and now all communication is dead," Burke said. "What could have happened? Their defenses are as good as ours."

"Not sure," Aida said. "We do know the Wunder is on its way there. Hopefully, we'll get some answers when they arrive."

"Even at top speed, it won't be there for another hour," Burke said. The main doors opened and Kaji, along with Shinji and Joanna, entered the chamber.

"Any word?" Kaji asked.

"Afraid not," Aida answered. "We'll have satellite visual in about a minute, and the Wunder will be there in one hour. There might be some surface ships or subs in the vincinity, but we haven't received any word from them either."

"Very well," Kaji said, "and what about us? Are we ready for battle ourselves?" He pointed his thumb at the two Eva pilots in the room.

"That, I'm not sure of," Aida said. "There is nothing in our scans suggesting that we are in immediate danger," Aida said. "Our weapons systems are at 70 percent readiness, and both Evas 10 and 11 are ready for launch. If something is going to happen, we're as ready as we are going to be."

"Satellite in position," Bertain said.

"Bring up a visual," Burke said. "Let's see what's happening." Seconds later, the image came on the main monitor, showing nothing but the red ocean.

"Are you sure you have the correct coordinates?" Aida asked.

"Longitude and latitude are correct," Matsu replied. "We should be looking over New Palmyra."

"Then why is it gone?" Burke said.

"Can we increase magnification?" Aida asked.

"Increasing now," Lithgow said. At first, there was no change in what they were seeing except the rate of magnification that was posted on the right hand corner of the screen. They then saw specks of material on the surface of the water. Further magnification revealed to them pieces of metal, wood, and other material strewn everywhere.

"Debris," Burke said.

"The whole city was destroyed?" Matsu said.

"That's what happened," Aida said. "So what destroyed an entire city in less than twenty minutes?"

"Whatever it was, it still has to be in the area," Kaji said. "Begin a search using all available resources. Transmit any findings to the Wunder and all available ships in the area."

"Yes sir," Bertain said. Joanna was looking at the monitor, struggling to see something in particular.

"Uh, what are those multicolored things in the water?" she asked.

"Huh?" What do you mean?" Shinji asked her.

"I mean, there's a whole bunch of small things in the water that are all sorts of colors," Joanna said as she pointed at the ones she could see.

"Could you increase magnification?" Kaji asked.

"Sure thing," Matsu replied. The image magnified further, revealing what they were.

"Those...those are bodies miss," Bertain said. Their clothes, whose colors caught Joanna's attention, could now be seen. Joanna stood there looking at the men, women, and children who were floating on the water for several seconds, her legs beginning to tremble as she brought her hands to her mouth, whether it was to keep herself from screaming or throwing up was anyone's guess. Shinji then noticed Kaji signaling to him to get her out of the Command Center now. He nodded before pushing her to the exit as she was still transfixed by the horrible sight, her feet refusing to to move until Shinji used enough force to get her walking.

"Poor kid," Burke said as he and Kaji watched the two leave.

"Don't blame her," Kaji replied.

"Transmission from Wunder," Bertain then said. "They're requesting that we process some data they've gathered in our computers."

"That's odd," Burke said to Kaji. "Their systems should be able to do it."

"Acknowledge and begin receiving the data," Kaji said. "Get Hood up here," he then said to Burke.

"On it," Burke replied as he picked up the phone.

"Could it be possible they want to check our conclusions against theirs?" Lithgow asked.

"That's what I'm thinking," Aida replied, "but what did they find that they need to check their work with us? This is giving me a bad feeling." Hood then entered the Command Center.

"I just passed by Joanna and Shinji," he said as he proceeded to his terminal. "She looks like hell."

"She's seen it," Kaji replied. "We have data that needs analyzing."

"Give me five minutes," Hood said. At the same time, Burke walked over to Kaji.

"What do you think?" Burke asked him.

"There's nothing to think about," Kaji replied. "We just have to wait. You have to remain calm in these situations."

"A city of six million people gets destroyed for no known reason, and you're saying don't be a worry wort?" Burke said.

"I'm not saying that you can't worry. I can't say that I am not anxious over what's going on," Kaji said, "but I am saying that we can't let it control us."

"Analysis complete," Hood then announced before Burke could get another word in. "I've checked their data, and compared it to the limited data we have picked up in our own right, and…I'll transfer the info over." Within seconds, it was in their tablets. The two looked at the results in silence.

"Is…Is this real?" Kaji stated, the hand holding the tablet began to tremble a little.

"We are the ones confirming it," Hood replied.

"Stand down from first stage alert," Burke said. "Remain at second stage and transfer this information to all relevant departments…and I highly recommend that if you have family, you should contact them as soon as you can."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Everyone's pretty much panicking here," the holographic projection of Kusanagi said. "What do we got?"

"It's not looking good," Kaji said. "New Palmyra was destroyed by an army of Evangelion Mark 06s."

"What number of enemy units are we talking about?" Kusanagi asked.

"Readings taken by the Wunder and confirmed by us put the estimates at around five thousand units," Burke answered. Kusanagi sat there with a blank expression on his face for several seconds, causing some in the room to wonder if there was something wrong with the holographic transmission.

"How…How were they able to avoid detection until now?" Kusanagi then asked.

"Apparently, they dove deep below our sonar and other detection systems," Misato talked through a view screen, Ritsuko sitting right beside her. "Eva's are capable of withstanding the pressure of the ocean depths."

"I should like to add sir that as we now know what to look for, we can track their movements," Ritsuko then said.

"They also have a unique formation they are moving in," Misato said. The holographic emitters embedded within the table activated and showed a large pattern of hexagonal shapes, appearing as a giant honeycomb from a distance.

"They have formed themselves into hexagonal shaped patterns," she continued. "This potentially suggests some sort of hive mind at work.

"And it makes for a perfect defense system," Aida said. "Every potential angle of attack is covered. There are no obvious weak points to their formation."

"Where is it going then?" Kusanagi asked.

"There doesn't appear to be a general direction they are going in," Burke said. "While they did destroy New Palmyra, they seem to bypassing Caledonia IV, so it doesn't appear that they are randomly destroying cities."

"We have done some computer modeling and we made some projections," Ritsuko said. The map showed a funnel shaped projection that took them straight to Japan and New Constantinople. "ETA to NewCon is in five days."

"But wouldn't this be overkill?" Kusanagi asked. "You only would need one tenth or maybe one twentieth the number to do the job."

"That suggests sir that NewCon is not the primary target," Misato then said. "Using the projections we showed you, the only reason that we determined requires that many Evas would be this." The screen then showed an image of a large black corkscrew-shaped object laying down on the corefied earth with Mt. Fuji in the background.

"The Black Moon," Kusanagi said.

"We estimate that there would be enough Evas to be able to lift and carry it," Ritsuko said.

"To where?" Kaji asked.

"We don't know," Misato replied.

"I think it is safe to say that Nerv has declared endgame in this damn war," Aida said.

"Whatever the truth is, we cannot allow these Evas to roam free," Kusanagi said. "I want all available resources we have to bring to bear against them. I'm talking air, land, and sea."

"We also have to deal with the civilian populations of not just NewCon, but there are other cities that are in the projected path. They need to be evacuated," Burke said.

"We'll develop evacuation procedures in coordination with those cities," Kusanagi said. "Of course, you'll see to your own city."

"I've already ordered a general evacuation and for all non defense rebuilding halted," Kaji said. "I want to keep all workers here working on our defenses for as long as we can."

"Very well," Kusanagi said. "Is there anything else about this matter that I should know about?"

"We're investigating some matters that might have a connection to the crisis we face. You'll be informed when we find out," Kaji said.

"Very well," Kusanagi said. "All of you will be receiving orders shortly. Keep me informed." Kusanagi's hologram disappeared.

"Is it right to assume assume that the matter Shinji told us is one of the matters you're investigating?" Misato asked.

"Yes it is," Kaji replied. "I decided no to inform the upper brass at the moment until we understand this more."

"What about the Ayanami," Ritsuko asked. Kaji looked to Burke, who pulled out a manila envelope. Opening it, he pulled out a sheet of paper that had a drawing in colored pencil. The drawing was of what appeared to be a sandstorm, except that pink and orange lightening bolts were coming from the storm and that there were buildings in the foreground. Several of them were being destroyed as the wall of blowing sand hit them.

"According to her, this was drawn around twelve hours ago," Burke said. "That was about three hours before the attack on New Palmyra. And she says that was from a dream she had earlier that day."

"Son of a bitch," Aida muttered as he took a closer look at the drawing.

"What about Shinji? What did he dream about?" Misato asked.

"According to him," Burke said looking at his tablet, "he dreamed that he was looking up at the sky and seeing the stars going out, that darkness then descending to the Earth an d absorbing everything in sight."

"So what are we going to do about Shinji?" Aida asked.

"I've advised Shinji that should keep a dream journal by his bedside," Hood said. "Other than that, we could put both him and the Ayanami to extensive tests, but I'm not sure we can take the time to run them with the current emergency."

"So this is where we are," Kaji said. "We have five days before they hit us, and many things could happen. We're going to have some sleepless nights ahead of us, so relax when you can."

"That won't be here," Misato said. "Orders just came through for us. I might not be back for a while. Could you tell Miyoko for me?"

"Of course," Kaji said, "and I'll keep you informed as far as her evacuation is concerned."

"Thank you," Misato said, followed by the screen going dark.

"Does anyone else have anything of importance?" The room was silent. "I'll have a staff meeting at 0600 tomorrow. Dismissed." Everyone stood up, but Burke noticed Kaji motioning him not to leave as he was looking at his own tablet. He sat back down when everyone else left.

"What is it?" Burke asked when it was the two of them."

"We just got out orders too," Kaji said. "It appears General Clayton will be coming over to take full command of our response. They're pulling resources from across the world for this one."

"That's good to know," Burke said, "but that's not the reason you wanted me to stay."

"Correct," Kaji said. "I want to read to you what he wrote to me." He took a swallow before he began. "'Due to the gravity of the emergency we find ourselves facing, we need to be ready to initiate all plans and procedures to preserve lives and peace of the human race, including those of last resort.'" Burke sat there for a minute taking the words that were spoken. When they sunk in, he turned towards Kaji.

"Is he saying…" Burke began.

"That's how I'm interpreting it," Kaji said. "He's telling us to be ready to activate Arbiter."

"I can understand if this was happening to every city on the planet at the same time," Burke said, "but that is just…"

"They're scared," Kaji then said. "The thing about people is that when they're backed into a corner, they'll do anything to survive, even if it means doing something foolish."

"So what do we do?" Burke said.

"We'll need to bring Katsuragi into this as soon as as she can, but there's no telling when the Wunder will be able to return."

"Why?" Burke asked.

"Two reasons. One is to help us formulate a plan to deal with these damn things. The second…is that I want her here because if Arbiter is going to be initiated, Shinji will need to be briefed on it, and I promised her she'll be there with him when the time comes."

"You think that's the right decision?" Burke said.

"No choice now," Kaji replied. "Aida was right, Nerv just declared endgame. We need to think of our own finishing moves."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Well, I guess this it." Miyashima stood in front of Shinji and Miyoko with a small bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hopefully you and your family will be able to come back when this is over," Miyoko said.

"Maybe, yeah," Miyashima said. "What about you?" What did your mom say?"

"There's an old friend of hers making all the arrangements. He's the Commander of the Wille base here. I met a few times, and he seems to be an okay guy."

"Do you know where your Mom is now?" Shinji asked her.

"He said he couldn't tell me where," Miyoko replied, "but he also said she has been really busy preparing for the upcoming battle."

"And Shinji, I mean, what the hell can I say," Miyashima then said. "I'm still in shock about what you told me, you being a... oh, what the are they called again? Eea...something..."

"Evangelion," Shinji enunciated the word. "They're usually called Evas for short."

"Eva, that's eaiser to pronounce," Miyashima said.

"Yeah, I suppose that would come across as a shock," Shinji said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, I figured with what's going on, it wasn't worth keeping a secret anymore."

"And then you tell me Joanna is a pilot too," Miyashima continued. "I didn't think she had it in her."

"She's tougher than you think," Shinji said. "There are also two other female pilots as well."

"Damn, you're full of surprises," Miyashima said. "I have to ask…" he paused for a second to form his words. "Are any of them hot?" Miyoko glared at him while Shinji could only shake his head.

"Do you have anything else but girls on your mind?" Miyoko asked.

"They are pretty," Shinji replied. "Besides, you already met one of them.

"Did I? Miyashima asked. "It can't be any of the girls at school. You would have told me." After a few seconds of silent thought, a smug grin appeared on his face.

"It was that girl," he proclaimed. "The one that was in your apartment back when you first started school."

"Yeah, that's her," Shinji said with a sigh.

"Tell me," Miyashima got closer to Shinji so didn't have to talk so loud. "Have you seen the others naked too?"

"I can still hear you." Miyoko growled those words.

"I…don't think this is the reason why we're talking here," Shinji said.

"Heh, I suppose so," Miyashima chuckled as he looked at his watch. "Well, my train is leaving in a couple of minutes, so I guess it's time to go. You have my contact info, right?" Both Shinji and Miyoko nodded yes.

"Good, and uh, Shinji," Miyashima said.

"Yeah," Shinji could have sworn that his friend looked more thoughtful than he had ever seen him.

"People like you and the other pilots, you'll be the ones that have to deal with those fuckers threatining the city, right?" Miyashima said.

"Yeah, Why?" Shinji replied.

"You guys better kick their ass," Miyashima said. "I'm counting on you."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Shinji said.

"Hell, I'd pilot one of those things if I could, myself."

"What?" Miyoko said.

"It's very dangerous," Shinji said. "You can die."

"If it means I can live in peace, I'll take the chance," Miyashima said. There was a several second pause between the three.

"Well, my folks are wondering where I am," Miyashima then said, "I'll see you guys around." He then turned around and made his way down the corridor, turning back to make a quick wave before turning the corner out of sight. Shinji and Miyoko gazed at where he was for a few seconds.

"There he goes," Shinji said.

"Yep," Miyoko replied. "He wasn't a bad guy or anything. I will miss him. I won't miss his jokes or his wannabe playboy attitude, but he's a person I won't forget easily. Now that I think about it, I don't think I would've ever talked to him."

"Is that right?" Shinji asked.

"It is," Miyoko said. "We never really talked much, but I'm really glad I met you, and I won't forget you either. "I'm sure Mom will keep me in the know about everything you do, but I'm getting this feeling that we won't see each other again, at least in person."

"Maybe once the danger passes, he could come back," Shinji said. "Maybe everyone can."

"Maybe," Miyoko said, "but will things go back to normal? I don't think so." Shinji didn't reply as they went out of the train station.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next morning, Shinji was sitting on a bench within the base grounds, writing in the dream journal the dreams from the pervious night, what he could remember of them. there had been nothing unusual since the dream warning of the attack happened. Most of the dreams he had, he either didn't remember or they were almost complete nonsense. Hood had told him that many dreams people have are like that, so he shouldn't worry too much if he couldn't. As he finished writing what he could recall before flipping through pages from the past couple of nights, he saw Aida walking up to him.

"Hey," he said to Shinji.

"Oh," Shinji said as he closed the book. "How is everything?"

"Been nothing but meetings since this whole damn thing began," Aida said. "I think I got about six hours sleep in the past sixty."

"Must be tough," Shinji said.

"Damn straight it is," Aida replied. "How are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess," Shinji said.

"Just wanted to check," Aida said. "I mean, a lot of things have been happening, and I'm not talking about the possibility of us getting annihilated."

"I haven't been thinking about that," Shinji replied. "Other things have been on my mind."

"The dreams, huh?" Aida tapped his finger on the journal cover.

"Yeah," Shinji said. "I haven't had any since the last one, but I don't understand why I'm having these dreams in the first place."

"I don't know why either, but I hope that we might be able to use it to help us win," Aida said. "There has to be a reason you're having these dreams."

"If you say so," Shinji said. Aida stood up and motioned for Shinji to do the same. The two then began to walk.

"We're bringing in forces from all over the world, the largest concentration of military might in human history," Aida said. "I may be older, but there's a part of me that's getting as excited as I would when I first met you. It's going to be a hell of a sight."

"And what about the Evas?" Shinji said.

"Units 02 and 08 will be assisting the Wunder, and you and Joanna will be remaining here on reserve," Aida replied. "I mean, we can't rely on just two Evas, that's 2500 to one odds."

"But with all four of us there-" Shinji tried to say.

"It will still be 1275 to one," Aida said. "Look, this is the best strategy we got against the numbers we're facing. If there are problems, you and Joanna will be going in. Until then, all we can do is wait."

The two had made their way to the base's outer walls when they saw someone sitting on a bench outside one of the main gate. As they got closer, they saw that it was two people, a woman and her child. Closer still, and they saw that it was Hikari and Ichiro.

"What the…" Aida muttered as he went ahead of Shinji past the gateway and approached the two.

"Why are you guys here?" He then asked Hikari.

"Well, I was hoping that I was able to see you," she replied.

"Uh, yeah sure." Aida signaled to the guard to allow the two in as Ichiro ran past her mother, and hugged Aida.

"Hey there buddy," Aida said tussling the boy's hair. "Let's head over to a place where he can play," he then said to Hikari. A few minutes later, they were sitting on another bench, Ichiro playing on the playground equipment.

"I didn't know there was a place like this on the base," Hikari said as she watched her son go up and down the slide.

"Yeah, it was for the kids that were part of the daycare here," Shinji said. "They were evacuated yesterday. Never got the chance to say goodbye."

"I remember you talking about them," Hikari said. "It's sad that you weren't able to say goodbye. In fact, that's kind of what I'm here for. You see, I've been hearing certain rumors that are going around where I work, and I'm even hearing them at the stores and our apartment building.

"Rumors?" Aida cocked his head. "What kind of rumors?"

"That all the top people will be evacuated in that large flying ship Wille has and everyone else will be left behind," she said.

"That's crazy," Aida said. "Evacuations take time, and we're doing it in an orderly fashion to ensure that everyone, and I mean everyone, will be able to leave before there is any danger. You tell that to the people you have been hearing it from. I guess I'll also have to make a little side trip to our media relations office to make that message perfectly clear."

"I'll tell my neighbors and everyone else willing to listen, and I know that you guys would never do anything like that," Hikari said. "And yet, the whole thing has me thinking."

"About what?" Shinji asked.

"I wanted to ask you, in case something goes wrong. Can you get Ichiro to safety, make sure he can leave before anything bad happens to this city? If he can get away, even if I'm not able to, I can live with that." Hikari took a breath before continuing.

"I-I know this sounds completely selfish of me. There are other mothers with children in this city, but I just want to see him live. I want him to have a future." She looked at Aida with tears in her eyes. "I guess that makes me a horrible person, huh?" she said. Aida gave her a gentle hug in reply.

"No, you are just a mother who loves her son," he added as he released her from his hug. "Look I can't pull those kind of strings. The best I can do is try and see if I can push the evacuation of your residential area forward, okay?"

"Yeah," Hikari said. "I'm sorry for putting this on you."

"Don't worry about it," Aida replied, "and I promise you that every civilian will be evacuated, and I do mean all of them."

"Sure," Hikari said wiping the tears from her eyes.

"We'll-we'll try our best," Shinji said.

"What he said," Aida said. "Did you know he piloted again in the battle a few weeks back?"

"What, really?" Hikari said.

"Uh, yeah," Shinji said, the embarassment showing on his face.

"Then…I know I'm in good hands," Hikari said. "Come on honey, we have to get going," she then said to Ichiro. The three headed back to the gate as the boy ran back to his mother.

"I'll try to get in touch with you before you evacuate," Aida said to her, "but there's no guarantee I will."

"That's all right," she replied. "Thank you both for all that you have done for us." They reached the gate, and just before the two could leave, she crouched down to her son.

"Go say goodbye to them, she said to him. "They have to go stop the bad guys." Ichiro looked at both Shinji and Aida for several seconds, then beaming a huge smile, ran to them and gave each of them a hug. Shinji then found Hikari standing in front of him.

"I know you'll do well like you always have," she said as she gave him a hug as well. Shinji froze for a few seconds at this unexpected gesture, then put his hands around her and returned the hug. Mother and son went through the gate while the other two watched them leave."

"What now?" Shinji asked.

"Well, the big show begins in about seven hours, so we need to prepare, he said before cracking a smile. "We're the ones that beat the bad guys, remember?"

"Right," Shinji said as the two headed back into the base.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"All right," General Clayton said as he paced in front of Kaji's desk in the Command Center. "What's our status?"

"All units are in position," a staff officer, one of several that came with the General to oversee the operation, replied. A large table was installed in the pit area where those officers were for the battle. It projected a wireframe holographic image of the enemy Evas colored red. Above that projection were images of several fleets of ships moving into position around the Evas, these colored blue. Above them were large fleets of aircraft, the same color. On one side of the table, a wireframe image of the shore with tanks, artillery, and missile batteries could be seen as well.

"And what of the enemy?" Clayton then asked.

"Maintaining present course. ETA to landfall in twenty-three minutes."

Shinji could see on the main monitor a live feed of the the shoreline with more ships in the water than he had ever seen before. He could see a combination of jet fighters, attack helicopters, bombers, and gunships from several nationalities poised in a standby position in the skys above as well. Among the aircraft was the Wunder, with Unit's 02 and 08 on her top deck, weapons in hand.

"What did I tell you, huh," Aida said to Shinji. "Impressive, don't you think?"

"But against all those Evas," Shinji said "Can their weapons get through their AT Fields."

"Not really," Burke replied. "Ninety percent of those forces are more for bluster and diversion than anything. "It's really the Wunder, her attached Eva Units, and what N2 and Anti-AT weapons we have that's going to do the damage."

"You also have to admit that with that much concentration of power, at least some of that will do some damage to them," Aida said.

"We'll have to see about that," Kaji said.

"Okay, let's begin," Clayton ordered. The new staff then began to issue a barrage of orders to bring 1500 ships, 10,000 aircraft, and 40 army divisions to bear against the invading Evas. Within minutes, a roar of fire came from the ships and shore based systems. Missiles that were launched from distant submarines breached the water's surface and after flying for some distance, dove back into the water before striking their targets. This was followed by the aircraft, in a series of swarm attacks, began their attack droped bombs and torpedoes, a mixture of covnentional, Anti-AT, and even a few N2 charges, towards their targets. Even the Wunder flew near the surface, opening its main guns into the water in front of them, its two Evas unloading into the water as well. For several minutes this continued. Shinji couldn't tell if they were making any progress against the horde or not as there was no way of telling.

Then they saw a shimmer in the water, as ifa a wave of light passed through it from the bottom up. Seconds later, massive crossed shaped explosions erupted from every ship, destroying them. The enemy Evas began to surface as if a green sludge were ozzing out of the red water, the ones in the front ranks opened fire on the ground forces in front of them with their pallet rifles.

The Aerial forces, with the Wunder in the lead, went in for another strafing run. Some of the enemy Evas projected AT Fields while others used it as a base to jump up towards the armada. They shot or smashed planes and helicopters while screams and frantic calls to pull up could be heard over the communications systems, the horrible screams making Joanna cover her ears and close her eyes. Shinji put his arm around her to at least try to comfort her. While they saw Units 02 and 08, along with the Wunder's AA batteries, shooting down the enemy Evas that were launching towards the ship. Some of them landed on the top deck, with both Unit 02 and Unit 08 shooting and engaging in hand to hand combat with the intruders, all the while the Wunder ascending into the air. It was at that moment the live feed cut out. The table showing the holographic images of each aircraft dissapeared, indicating their destruction.

"What's happening down there?" Clayton asked.

"Naval forces are effectively wiped out," a staff officer replied. "Surviving aerial groups are falling back to a safe distance. Ground units are continuing to engage, but there is no effect."

"Can we reestablish some kind of visual with the battlefield?" Kaji asked.

"Bringing up satellite visual," Matsu answered. The image came up seconds later showing the battle from above, seeing all the ship wreckage strewn about the water. They saw the Wunder firing at the lead enemy Evas, joining those of the ground forces as they were engaging with the Eva army, which had now began streaming onto the shore while maintaing their hexagonial formation. Shinji was glad that the Wunder and its crew was all right, though he wondered to himself what other danger awaited them.

"Message from General Xie," one of Clayton's officers said. "They are holding, but don't believe they can last much longer." Clayton took a breath through gritted teeth.

"Order a general retreat," Clayton said. "Keep fire as they do so. Don't let the sons of bitches see their backs." He then turned to another officer.

"Get it ready," the General said. His subordinate nodded in reply before picking up a land line phone. They saw the Wunder fly away from the battlefield towards open water as well as the ground forces that were still engaging the enemy Evas.

"Status?" Clayton demanded.

"Enemy units are covering sixty percent of the target area," the officer replied.

"That's the best we can do," Clayton said. "Are our forces out of the way."

"Yes sir, they're clear of the blast zone."

"Then pull it," Clayton said.

"Yes sir, Initiating blast in ten seconds…five seconds…two, one." The monitor showed the ground rising up in a circle shape tens of kilometers across, raising a cloud of dust in its wake. Several seconds later, the blast area itself collapsed, creating a massive crater.

"Magnify on the crater," Clayton said. "I know we didn't get all of them, but we had to have done something to them." The image on the monitor magnified, showing the ground littered with the bodies of the Evas. Some of them began to stand up, then more, then many more after that. Within five minutes, the Evas were marching over what relative few were destroyed in the blast right out of the crater.

"Sir…" one of the subordinates said to the General. "What are your orders."

"Order a full retreat," he said. "Have all available forces rendezvous here at New Constantinople.

"Yes sir," the subordinate replied. Clayton then turned towards Kaji.

"Commander, it looks like we have to make some major decisions in the next 24 hours. I'll keep you informed." Clayton made his way towards the exit, but before he left, he stopped right in front of Shinji and turned to him.

"Well Major, I'm expecting good things out of you very shortly." Clayton then patted Shinji hard on the shoulder before he walked out of the Command Center. Shinji looked at Joanna, who shrugged in reply. Kaji stared at the exit Clayton went through for a few seconds. He glanced towards Burke who was looking at him in turn. He gave a quick nod to Burke, who then went over to Matsu's station.

"I need you to monitor all communications channels," he said in a quiet voice. "We're looking in particular for any communications regarding General Order A-801 and any operations related to it. It's an order that hasn't been issued yet, we just need to know if they are going to."

"Yes sir," Matsu replied. "May I ask what is this general order about?"

"No, you may not," Burke replied.

As Burke was dealing with Matsu, Kaji remained at his desk, imputing the authorization codes to access the Code 47 emergency channel, which was for commanding officers of all Wille ships and bases. He selected The Wunder and chose a written message, as he was in no position for any audio or visual communications at that moment. He looked at the clock above the monitor, which displayed the time as 16:42.

Kaji typed, 'My office, 24:30. Bring Ritz. Shinji will be there,' and hit send. He waited a few moments before his terminal began to chirp. Her reply was one word: 'Acknowledged.'

"Thank you Misato," Kaji said to himself. He looked up to find Burke giving him a thumbs up. He hten got up and went to Shinji.

"Shinji," he said. "We need you to stay up late tonight….

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Are you calm?" Ritsuko asked Misato as the two were walking down one of the base's corridor.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Misato replied.

"Because you have a history of not being calm in these situations," Ritsuko said.

"Well I am," Misato said, "but…I do understand why you're asking. Whatever this plan is, we have to remain calm, as much for Shinji's sake as for our own."

"Depending on what this plan is, that might be easier said than done," Ritsuko said. They approached the lobby, where the junior officer manning the desk escorted them into the office. Kaji was behind his desk while Shinji and Burke were sitting on one of two couches that were facing each other.

"Glad you can make it," Kaji said to them as he stood up. "Can I get either of you two anything to drink?"

"No thank you, I'm fine," Misato replied while Ritsuko nodded the same answer.

"I'm-I'm glad that you guys are okay," Shinji said. I saw what happened."

"Thank you," Misato said, a warm smile on her face.

"I'm also glad you two are all right," Kaji said as he sat back down. "Please have a seat." The two ladies sat on the couch opposite Shinji and Burke. When they were settled, Kaji spoke once again.

"You guys took quite a beating huh?" he asked.

"Not as much as some, that's for sure," Misato replied.

"Our estimates showed we were able to destroy a maximum of three percent of Nerv's Evas," Ritsuko said.

"With a loss of nearly seventy percent of our forces," Burke added. "Horrible math any way you put it."

"However, we did some analysis, and we think there might be a way to defeat them," Misato said, "but I don't believe that is the purpose of this meeting, right?"

"You are correct," Kaji replied. "We're here to discuss a matter that has been hanging in the air for a good while, and it involves you Shinji."

"What, me?" Shinji said.

"Yes, indeed," Kaji said. "When it became known that you had been recovered from inside Unit 01; a plan, that was eventually code named Arbitor, was formed by several senior officials in Wille, myself and Stanley here among them. It was left to me to be in charge of implementation of this plan, as you and I know each other, and one of the things I had to do to make that possible was to bring you here to New Constantinople."

"Did Misato know about this plan?" Shinji asked.

"No," Kaji answered. "This was limited to myself, Burke, and several senior officers including General Clayton. While I do have the authority to bring Katsuragi and Akagi here into the loop on a need to know basis, Clayton and the other senior officers would be displeased that I'm doing so."

"Why didn't they want us to know?" Ritsuko asked.

"Because they felt you would oppose it," Kaji said. "You and Katsuragi were focused on the Wunder being the key to victory. This fact, along with the nature of the plan itself made them not to trust you.

"Then why didn't you tell us?" There was anger in Misato's voice. "You had the authority."

"Because on that point they were right," Kaji said. "Your encounter with Shinji when he was recovered from Unit 01 and your experience with 4th Impact confirmed their suspicions, and I can't say I blame them."

"Then what is this plan?" Shinji then spoke up. "What does it have to do with me?" Kaji took a breath.

"The plan was designed to be our last resort. If activated, you were to purposely initiate an Impact event, not to destroy humanity, but to save it." The room was silent for several seconds.

"What?" Shinji said. "how could I even save-"

"I think I told you this when we first met, but I once described an Eva as an engine that can manifest the will of it's pilot, right?" Burke said.

"I kind of remember, Shinji said. "I think you said when I awaken an Eva, it will give me what I desire most, or something like that."

"Yeah, that's about right," Burke said. "You can will the Eva to save everyone on Earth. The plan is as simple as that."

"Are they insane?" Misato said. "That goes against everything we're fighting for. We would be no better than Nerv."

"That is why it is an option of last resort," Kaji said. "It would only be activated either if Nerv was on the cusp of victory, we win but Earth becomes so uninhabitable, humanity won't last another generation, or Nerv initiates an Impact themselves. Otherwise, we fight on as we have been."

"And you two were going along with this?" Misato said. "Why?"

"Because we know desperate things were getting," Burke answered. "Did you know that there was some talk of implimenting it as soon as they got their hands on him? However, there was no guarantee that it would go the way they wanted it to, that it might even be something more to Nerv's liking. Lucky for everyone, we convinced them away from that."

"They...They really want me to do something like that?" Shinji asked. Both Misato and Burke thought he sounded dazed.

"We said the plan was called Arbiter. Do you know what an Arbiter is?" Kaji asked.

"No," Shinji replied.

"It's just a fancy word for judge, you know like for a court," Burke said. "We called it that because you would pretty much be the judge of all humanity."

"That's…that's too much," Shinji said.

"We know it is, Shinji. We know it is," Burke said.

"And that is why we tried to take the burden off him," Kaji said to the two women.

"How?" Ritsuko asked. Kaji then turned towards Shinji.

"Shinji, before you came to this city, would you say that you have had a negative view of humanity for most of your life?" he asked.

"I…I suppose so," Shinji replied.

"And now?" Shinji thought about it for a minute.

"Well…I would say that even though there are both good and bad people in this world, I think that it's fine being around other people."

"And that would be my point," Kaji said to the two ladies. "By letting him live his life, going to school, having friends, all that, that would make the best case for humanity."

"I suppose if this plan starts up, you would try to awaken Unit 10," Misato then said.

"No, Wille already has an awakened Eva at its disposal," Kaji said. Misato stared at him in confusion for a seconds before she had an idea of what he was talking about.

"Wait, are you trying to say-"

"Our scientists determined that using Unit 01 would be the most beneficial to their goals," Kaji said.

"If they expect us to give it up, they have another thing coming," Misato said.

"I don't believe they're going to ask you," Kaji said.

"What? Are they going to try to take it by -"

"Iron Sky," Burke then said.

"What was that?" Ritsuko asked them.

"That's the code name for the operation to take Unit 01," Burke said. "I've seen the operational outline, the forces needed, and an estimate of expected losses among other things. They thought this through."

"Fucking hell…" Misato rubbed her forehead.

"Why did you decide to tell us at this time?" Ritsuko then asked.

"Because I believe they are about to set the plan in motion," Kaji replied.

"What makes you say that?" Misato asked.

"Clayton made it clear that this was the direction they were taking," Kaji said. "The fact that we are facing our biggest crisis since 3rd Impact, and that we suffered a massive defeat while barely putting a dent in them does give a good impression as well."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Misato said. "Do we confront the general staff?"

"No, that's not a good idea" Kaji answered. "You said yourself that you have a plan, right?"

"A rough idea of one," Ritsuko replied. "It should be doable though."

"I figured you would," Kaji then said. "If you two can refine that plan, we might be able to convince the general staff to go along with it."

"And what if they don't?" Misato then said. "What if they insist on going through with this Arbiter plan?"

"Then you'll only have the forces under my direct command at your disposal," Kaji answered, "but keep in mind that you would have four Evas under your command."

"A woman with four Evas…" she muttered. "It could still work, but it would be difficult. I have to ask though what made you two change your minds?"

"It's not that we changed our mind per say," Burke then said. "We're still believers in the plan."

"Then why…" Ritsuko began.

"The difference is that we don't believe things have gotten that bad as of yet," Kaji said. Let's try at least one more thing before it comes to that."

"I see," Misato said. Ritsuko then looked towards Shinji, who was sitting on the couch, looking down on his feet.

"Shinji, what do you think of all this?" she asked him. He remained silent for a few seconds before he answered.

"I have a question," he then said, not looking up.

"Sure, what is it?" Kaji asked as Burke turned towards him.

"You said earlier that living my life was making the best case for humanity or something like that."

"Yeah, that's right," Kaji said.

"Does…does that mean it's all fake?" Shinji asked.

"Fake?" Burke looked at him in confusion.

"I mean, is everything that I've gone through for the past year just a setup to get what you want?"

"No," Kaji said. "The only thing we have engineered for the plan was getting you into school and having you be the liaison offcier for Joanna, and the first one we decided not long after you arrived here."

"He's right," Burke then said. "Everything else that's happened to you either was something out of our control or were things that were created by or decided by you. I mean, you were never supposed to get in an Eva until the plan was activated, but look what happened. We never expected that you would pilot Unit 10."

"I don't know how much I would defend them, but during your time at Nerv, I can assure you there was much more engineering of your day to day life in Tokyo 3." Ritsuko said.

"I'm not so sure…" Shinji murmured.

"Look, you thought that the life you lived for the past year was fake, right?" Burke then said. "But the people you met, such as Joanna, Katsuragi's daughter, even that one kid from your school. Miya-something or other. They were real. The memories you have of them were real. The experiences you had with them, and…the feelings you have of them, good or bad, they were real. No amount of plotting could create all that, not by Nerv, and not by us. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"I do," Shinji replied. He paused for a couple of seconds before he spoke again. "W-Would it be all right if I took some time to think about things?"

"Absolutely," Kaji said. "There is some time yet. Besides, it's pretty late, and you should get to bed."

"Right," Shinji said as he got up off the couch. Misato got up as well and walked over to him.

"I just want to say that whatever decision you make going forward, we will back you, no matter what. Okay?" she said.

"And remember, no one has decided anything about Aribter yet," Kaji added. "Even then, everything is up to you."

"Okay," Shinji replied, a tired smile came upon his face. After giving a bow to the others in the room, he left. There was silence for a few moments.

"So, what do we do now?" Ritsuko asked the two men.

"Get a working copy of your plan laid out," Kaji replied. "We'll present it to Kusanagi and other senior staff. We'll bypass Clayton."

"You're taking a real risk here," Misato said before a smirk came on her face. "Maybe, I'm starting to rub off on you."

"You think?" Kaji said. "Is it possible to have something we can brief the pilots and other important people on by say 07:30?"

"That won't be a problem," Misato said.

"I'll call Aida, bring him into the loop," Burke said. "I would like to have his input here on this."

"Sure," Misato said. She stood there for a second, looking at the other three. "You know, it's nice to be on the same page for once.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The conference room was quiet, despite the senior staff of both the Wunder and the Tower seated around the main table, and the junior officers leaning against the walls. The Eva pilots were present as well, at least the female ones.

"Okay, if everyone is here, we'll begin this briefing," Misato then said.

"Uh, we are missing a pilot here," Mari raised her hand.

"Major Ikari is not required to be at today's meeting," Aida said. "If he is needed, we will brief him then."

"It also is highly likely that he might be assigned to an independent mission," Burke added. Asuka and Mari looked at each other while Joanna looked around the room, trying to glean any information from other people.

"To begin with, the Eva army will reach the New Constantinople area within 36 hours." Ritsuko said. "However, we don't know if the city will be under direct threat or if they will ignore it on their way to the black moon."

"It's a moot point anyway as it will be here where we'll make our stand," Aida added.

"We've developed a plan that we believe will lead to their destruction, despite the odds against us," Misato said. She then began to explain the plan in detail, with Ritsuko and Aida adding tidbits here and there. When she was finished speaking, the group looked at her in silence, some looking at each other to confirm that they heard everything right. She couldn't tell if it was due to amazement or the audacity at such a plan.

"That's it?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Misato replied.

"It seems too damn simple," Asuka said.

"Our projections determined it has a high degree of success," Ritsuko said.

"If nothing goes wrong," Asuka said.

"It does seem like it's something out of an action movie," Mari then said. "I'm in."

"I should've seen something like that coming from you," Asuka said to her.

"It-It's not like we have a better plan, do we?" To everyone's surprise, it was Joanna who said those words. Asuka stared at her in amazement while Kaji, Burke, and Aida smiled to themselves.

"Really Princess, your juniors should be looking up to you," Mari said.

"Shove it," was all Asuka deemed to reply to her.

"The operation is to begin in seventeen hours," Misato said. "We will board the Wunder and launch in five hours. That is all." The lower level officers began to stream out of the room leaving the pilots and the upper heads still in the room.

"Shinji never came," Burke said to Kaji.

"Give him time," Kaji said. "We still have a few hours, and even if he decides after that, we'll have him work with Joanna."

"Would he trust us though?" Burke asked. "When you think about it, we were manipulating him."

"For his own ends, not ours," Kaji replied. "When it came down to it, we tried to help him find happiness, so when the time comes-"

"If he decides to do it," Burke said. "There is a chance he might not have anything to do with us anymore."

"Then that's his decision," Kaji said. "It was always his decision in the end."

"Then why are you so damn optimistic?" Burke asked.

"Because ever since this damn mess started all those years ago in Tokyo 3, Shinji has always tried to do the right thing. It was often things that he didn't want to do, sometimes he had to be convinced, but he did the right thing. I'll admit that very same desire was used against him and against the world he was supposed to be saving, but that drive has not been extinguished. Stomped on for sure, but not completely out.

"We'll know for sure in a few hours," Burke said. "By the way, how did the General staff react to the plan?"

"They gave their approval, though it had to take some convincing," Kaji said. "They're giving us all the remaining N2 and Anti-AT Field weaponry that they have."

"That can't be a lot considering how much we were throwing at them yesterday," Burke said.

"They also made it clear that if this operation fails, Arbiter is on," Kaji then said.

"Can't argue with that," Burke said. The door then opened and Shinji walked in.

"Hey," Mari called out to him. "You made it."

"Uh, yeah, Thanks," Shinji replied. He took a seat right next to Kaji, who turned to face him.

"Were you able to think things through?" Kaji asked him. Shinji nodded yes.

"I'm sorry that I took so long," he added. "I needed the time."

"Don't worry about it," Burke said. "We took that into account."

"Thanks," Shinji said. He paused for several seconds before he spoke again.

"I believe that while you did hide things from me, you guys were trying to ensure that I was happy."

"Yes, that's true," Kaji said.

"And I do thank you," Shinji continued. I...don't know if going through with this Arbiter plan is a good idea or not, but there are a couple things that helped me make my decision on what to do next. A couple of days ago, when the evacuations first began, I had to see off my friend Miyashima."

"That was his name," Burke said.

"Ahem." There was an edge in Kaji's voice.

"Anyway, Katsuragi and I saw him at the train station, and he said. something to me. He said that he would have gotten in an Eva and fought them if he could, A then yesterday, there was an old classmate from Tokyo 3 that came to see Aida, I just happened to be there too. She was asking, no, begging us to help her save her son. I've been thinking that maybe they are willing to fight for their own lives, in their own way. If that's true, then maybe I need to fight in the way I know best, not just for myself, but for people liek them too. I like this world to keep going, so I want to do what I can."

"That's great. Thank you," Burke said.

"Are you sure about this?" Misato asked.

"Sure," Shinji replied.

"In that case, we need to get you up to speed," Kaji said. "Katsuragi, since the other pilots are still here, is it possible to go over the briefing again, for the Major's sake?"

"I could use another briefing myself," Asuka said. "I'm having trouble believing what I heard."

"No problem," Misato replied.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Wunder rose into the afternoon sky and flew over the city, Aida and Joanna watching from a window near the top of the tower until the ship was out of sight.

"Wish you were there?" Aida asked her.

"Yeah," she replied. "It must be scary for them."

"They have been in lots of battles," Aida said, "but I can understand if some of them are unnerved, the odds being what they are, of course. Keep in mind that even if you're not with them, you still have a role to play in this plan."

"I know," Joanna said. "It's just...I don't know, it fells like I should be there with them. "I mean, after the way I acted, I owe it to them."

"What do you mean?" Aida asked.

"I-I couldn't stand it, when I first saw all those bodies, and then during the battle, seeing all that. At least Shinji didn't have to take me out."

"Listen," Aida said. "Your reaction was completely normal. "I've seen plenty of scenes like that, and it doesn't get any easier. Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, you managed to shut Shinkinami up, so your strogner than you think you are."

"If you say so," Joanna said, unconvinced. "Do you think we'll get through this all right?"

"The only thing I can say to that there is a chance. Get some rest, our show going to begin in a few hours, and there is still a lot for us to do."