Greetings once again my loyal readers! I bring good tidings; not only have I got something to present to you this time, I can confirm that writing is proceeding at a reasonable rate. By some miracle, Sovvy-chan has gotten his arse into gear…what black magic have you lot conjured to make this so?
I believe I said something last time about "new first chapter?" Regarding that, I have a few hundred words for your perusal (worry not, the chapter is quite done.) We begin with Shinji Ikari running into the authoritarian and unkind nature of Sovereignty's world, as his legendary luck dictates.
This can only go well.
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From the moment he bumped into uniformed malice, Shinji Ikari knew he was in bottomless trouble. Kenpeitai did not understand forgiveness.
Not a few moments before, he'd been "happily" making his way home from a late grocery run. Head down and drenched in rain, his mind refused to stray from a question that had dogged him all day.
What does he want? After all this time?
Now, gaze snapped up and body rigid, his heart hammered like thunder against a tightened chest. Two khaki uniformed secret policemen stood in front of him, one greying the other still youthful.
There'd been a coffee cup in the younger's hand; now steamy black liquid was splashed over his tunic. Beneath that brimmed cap, burning coals glared down at him. A snarl slowly spread across those canine-like features.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" He barked.
Shinji raised his hands in appeasement. "S-sir, I'm so sorry-" A savage right hook cracked into his jaw.
"Sorry!?" Clenched white teeth glinted in the dim streetlights. "I'll make you sorry, you little shit!"
Vision consumed by stars, the world seemed to spin. Shinji teetered and tottered until a solid mass slammed him to the ground, backpack crushed beneath him. His head smacked against the pavement, trapped between it and a barrage of savage punches that fell as swiftly as hail. Limbs full of lead, he couldn't think. Every blow shattered his thoughts as it did bone; something warm and wet started to splatter across his face with each strike.
"That's enough!" A gruffer voice, the one of the elder, commanded.
The Kenpei's assault trailed off, with one or two blows more to Shinji's nose for good measure. After what seemed an eternity, the teenager allowed his eyes to crack open and look up at the two men who towered over him. Great throngs of people on the pavement passed by as if they were there but weren't. Their shoes splashed in reddening rain water.
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Hopefully that was good!
Meanwhile, in terms of the Refaed I've some ideas which haven't fully manifested as lore yet; these mostly concern their history. Whilst doing this I have undertaken the likely foolhardy mission of converting the flippant use of their H-Fields into a magic system of sorts.
The culture that holds pre-eminence over the Refaed survivors is that of the Aldnar ("Ash Folk"). They are a people that came from a merging between the Aesnar and the Tarudh ("Fire Born"). The former are the original inhabitants of the mountainous, cold and volcanic northeast of the ancient supercontinent on which Refaed civilization was mostly concentrated; Aesnar are descended from the first Refaed civilization.
The Tarudh herald from across the sea. Their old home was supposedly destroyed in a great battle with "giants." Multiple waves of settlers (according to legend) have come and failed to colonize the continent, with only the most recent being successful.
Initially, the Tarudh inhabited land to the south of the Aesnar, a place of forests and green hills. After a while, they fell afoul of another civilization called the "Rjornus" (their age's equivalent of the Romans). The Rjornus drove them over the mountains into Aesnar territory.
The Tarudh would be to the Aesnar what the Normans were to the Anglo-Saxons. They'd be a new, ruling class that would try to impose their culture and language upon the people they subjugated.
However, as it was with the Anglo-Saxons, much of pre-existing Aesnar culture clung on and wormed its way back into prominence. Though elements of the Tarudh tongue (Great Song) are mixed in, the language is fundamentally Aesnar (Northern Voice) in nature.
A welcome change (as far as I'm concerned) will be the inclusion of more members of Nethrin's (renamed Netzach, just to remind people. I know I've probably said it before but a month is plenty of time to forget) court, namely those heralding from the other Refaed civilizations.
We've also got Taredh (renamed Tabris/Kaworu) dropping in on one of the last surviving Aldnar story tellers regaling a group of enraptured children with the history and myths of their people. You will all finally get the glorious Seraphim lore you seek in such scenes.
On another note, one thing I'm a bit annoyed with OG Sovereignty over is how I managed to forget my initial outline of Shinji. When I first envisioned this version of him, I'd intended to keep him himself except somewhat more bitter. His experiences and extra two years of development have allowed much of his angst to evolve into anger; as much as he wants to get that "thumbs up from daddy", he is quietly and unhealthily seething away. This bitterness will help contribute to his loneliness as he's both quite wrapped up in his own troubles and his mannerisms give others the impression he has no interest in them.
Now, for some answers!
Don't worry about not having any new material to show us. I know from personal experience that Uni can eat away all your time.
Nakisawame and the idea behind it is a very fitting name for the new Japanese capital. Definitely go with that one. Going the 'middle road' with "Asuka von Zeppelin" is fine with me. I can see why people would be passionate about this.
Showing us a bit of Shinji's upbringing is not a bad idea. I have very rarely seen that happening in Evangelion fanfics. As long as you limit it to one chapter it would be a good opportunity to better understand how Shinji became the way he is.
Personally I think your version of Gendo was very good. He is supposed to be evil, with only the barest hints of his humanity showing through and even that just serves to make him more dangerous. But as a said I have faith that whatever you plan to do will be good. Also thank for the info on AI's.
That it can. It's absolutely infuriating but we all know what must come first in such situations.
I'm rather glad the name has gone down so well. Seems I can get some things right! And yes, the middle road is often the best; I wouldn't want to overdo it.
Worry not, I won't be spending too much time there. The actual upbringing itself will be slowly revealed over the course of the story whilst we'll open with how he's "living" in the days before Gendo summons him. And it really is a good opportunity, isn't it?
Speaking of Gendo, he is absolutely not a nice person, that much is true. He has a deeply unpleasant goal and is more than happy to use deeply unpleasant means to attain it. However, I would regard those as "evil" enough and I don't really need to go any further in terms of depicting that like I did. Even if it was only a little bit, I think I went overboard in OG Sovereignty. And no problem for the info, you're welcome.
I looked over your new list of nations for the rewrite. Could you give details on how the situation in Cypern and the South and North Pole are/will be?
Ah yes, there's been one or two changes since then and I'm just not going to finalize what I've come up with until the last update before August (doing research into the geopolitics of the world in 2000 has been enlightening. For example, Yugoslavia would have been around for Impact). Some things remain constant, though. For example, Cyprus is currently a British Crown Colony. The Empire dominates the Mediterranean via the control of Gibraltar, the Balearic Islands, Malta, Crete and Cyprus. As for the North and South Poles, they're sort of gone. Antarctica got Impacted and the energy unleashed into the atmosphere raised global temperatures which melted the Arctic; global sea levels rose by sixty metres. Until the frantic damming initiatives of the early 2000s, vast swathes of land were swallowed by the sea…which means "goodbye Netherlands and Belgium."
As a final gift, I have created a lore segment and some technical specifications of the Susanoo class FCV. This vessel is designated as a battleship.
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Susanoo class battleship
FCVs represent the greatest development of military technology yet. In 1999, the mere idea that great flying weapons platforms would become common within twenty years would have been laughed off by anyone.
The first-born child of these new breed of monsters was the classic British "Repulse" class battlecruiser; they were built to be sleek and fast to counter a tremendously powerful foe across a massive front and police a vast Empire. It's slightly younger cousin, the Susanoo, was built as a battleship.
The Third Sino-Japanese War left Japan triumphant but shaken. By sheer weight of numbers, the Chinese had swept aside both their navy and air force before landing troops to pillage, rape and slaughter on the mainland. It had already been long resolved for this to never happen again when Marshal Motichka launched her coup. Her subordinate, Air Marshal Daiki Naka, believed he had a solution. Inspired by the rapidly expanding British Imperial Air Fleet, he envisioned a squadron of heavily armed warships forming a ring of steel between Japan and her enemies. Setting up an "Air Defence Development Committee" in June 2009, he utilised whatever schematics he could get his hands on to make his vision a reality. Across Japan, the private sector responded to his calls for blueprints.
Kotai Industries submitted the winning design of a three-hundred-metre-long behemoth armed to the teeth and covered in thick armour. Unlike many of their competitors, Kotai chose to make their blueprint more aesthetically pleasing; this design would be the iconic downward facing curved sword shape. It's designer, Akiya Ito, found himself handsomely rewarded by the Military Council for his work. Kotai itself was issued an order for eight of these new battleships.
As the corporate giant had neglected to give it a proper name, Daiki christened this new toy "Susanoo." The name of the Japanese Storm and War God was to invoke their divine, destructive power.
Aside from a few issues, chief among them having to rearrange the brand new Heavy Manmitsu Reactors to maintain structural integrity and prevent overload, the ships were built quickly. The first, the HIJMS Kawachi (so named after the first Japanese Dreadnought) was launched on 1st January 2011 as part of New Year Celebrations. Almost immediately the Japanese people fell in love. Like HMS Hood had been for the Royal Navy long ago, she became a symbol of Japan's power and pride. Her launch would cause a domino effect throughout Asia, with everyone from the nascent Republic of China to the Kingdom of Thailand scrambling to create a counter.
Ironically, upon the completion of the initial order and the full two squadrons being put into service, they had little to do. The Vatican Treaty of 25th December 2012 brought the long Years of Fire to an end, leaving only a few smaller colonial conflicts to rumble on. Nevertheless, the Military Council was so impressed with their new air fleet, they put in orders for more. Motichka refused to let National Defence slacken in any way, utterly convinced major conflict would break out once again. Strangely, it seems construction intensified (a full dozen Susanoos sat in the construction yards in 2015) at approximately the same time Nerv took prominence. Those more conspiratorially minded believe Nerv is building superweapons and the Japanese Military have no intent of letting Commander Ikari outstrip them. There is little evidence for this, though.
By now, there are a full six squadrons of Susanoos. Any nation on the planet would pause for thought at the mere idea of attacking Japan now, although this seemingly isn't enough. Reportedly, the Military Council has issued further orders to Kotai for the construction of an entire fleet of multiple classes, carriers meant to be among them. But what is clear, is the Susanoos will form the core of this battlefleet and continue their unflinching role in the defence of the Japanese Home Islands. No matter the storm, Japan's mighty ring of steel will not be broken easily.
Armies of the World Magazine, Issue no:144, 15th April 2017
First put into service: 2011
Number in service: 24, divided into 6 battleship squadrons
Compliment: 1500 sailors, officers and marines
Length: 300 metres
Propulsion: Two Fukijawa type-1B Heavy Positron Engines
Armament: One Type-15 Capital Class Particle Cannon, twelve 20inch rail guns in four turrets (two mounted underside), twelve Orochi (so named after the eight headed dragon of Japanese legend because it can strike in any direction) CIWS, sixty VLS (Vertical Launching System) Cells, and Takeida-30 and Takeida-120 (so named after their maximum range in kilometres and after the current Grand Admiral) positron missiles.
Armour: 14inch belt
Power: Three Heavy Manmitsu Reactors
Shielding: Primary and secondary Defensive H-Fields, primary and secondary Scrambling Fields (the ultimate ECM)
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Until next time, my dear readers.