Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Star Wars. Just this story.

Authors note: I'm back! You haven't gotten rid of me yet! Mwuahahahahaha! I think I got the dates wrong again. I believe that the last chapter was more like 16 years after Episode III. That makes Luke and Leia around 16. That's an important detail, because Episode IV is only three years away. Also, Shinji going to the Death Star has nothing to do with the Battle of Yavin IV.

But, this chapter isn't as much about Shinji. You all wanted to see Rei again, so here she is!

P.S: Really really sorry about the wait. I've been busy/distracted. And suffering from writer's block.

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"Senators," said Palpatine cooly. "Please calm down. There is no problem."

"No problem?" asked a senator from Bespin, "What do you mean no problem? Naboo's Queen has been killed!"

"I know," said Palpatine. "And while it pained me to order an attack on Naboo, it had to be done. They were rebelling, and threatening to secede. If they had succeeded, other planets and maybe even whole systems would have followed. You do not want to risk another civil war like the Clone Wars do you?"

"No," answered the senator, "But why was the Queen killed?"

"Unfortunately," said Palpatine, "She would not come peacefully. She put up quite a fight, and eventually it was clear that we would never take her alive."

'Lies,' thought Rei contemptuously. 'All of it.'

888

Rei walked down the street. The senate meeting had put her in a sour mood. 'Palpatine constantly deceives the senators,' thought the blue haired girl.' I cannot call him a liar either, as he would ask me to provide proof. And if I said that Shinji was telling me anything, it might put him in danger.' She walked to her apartment.

'The only people who can see through his lies are the rebels,' she thought as she took the elevator up to her floor. 'And they are deemed outlaws.' Rei sighed. 'He says that by killing the Queen of Naboo, he has prevented a civil war. I fear that has only sparked it.' She entered her apartment and sat down on the couch. 'Even now there have been other skirmishes between Imperial and so called Rebel forces.' She got up and looked out the window. Coruscant was busy as always. Traffic never seemed to stop. It was like no one ever slept. However, there was always one moment in the day where everything seemed to stop. Sunset.

Time seemed to stand still when the sun went down. A beautiful twilit moment, Coruscant's sunsets where known all across the galaxy as one of the most breathtaking things one could see. She remembered the day Shinji had asked her to dinner. They had watched the sunset together.

She often thought about Shinji, always wondering how he was doing. She knew he didn't really like being a soldier, but she also knew he was stuck with the job. Thinking of Shinji, she remembered that he was supposed to call today.

Sure enough, Shinji called. It was nice to see him, even if he only was a hologram.

"Hi Rei," he said.

"Hello Shinji," she answered.

"How have things been?" he asked.

"The same," said Rei. "I detest Senate meetings. All they do is argue anymore."

"About?"

"Everything it seems," said Rei. "The senators are now worried about a rebellion." Shinji sighed.

"So am I," said Shinji. "Things are looking... well, bad. I really don't want to fight another war, but-"

"But you are stuck with your job," finished Rei, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Well," said Shinji, "I got a new assignment."

"Really?" asked Rei. "Is there another problem?"

"No," says Shinji, sounding relieved. "The 501st got assigned guard duty."

"Guard duty?" asked Rei.

"Yeah," answered Shinji. "Some kind of space station called the Death Star. I'm not to crazy about the name. I'm not exactly sure what it's for, but I'm guessing it's a prison facility for war criminals or something."

"You mean they haven't told you what it is?" asked Rei, mildly shocked.

"They don't tell me a lot of things," said Shinji. "I guess this must have just slipped their minds."

"Well," said Rei. "You're probably right. Good luck with your assignment."

"Hopefully I won't need it," said Shinji. "If everything goes well, I should be looking at a few months of boredom. After that, I finally get my break."

"I look forward to seeing you then," said Rei. They hung up. 'Death Star?' thought Rei. 'What is that? And why hasn't the Emperor mentioned it sooner?' The whole thing didn't seem right to Rei.

While she would have loved to find out what was really going on, she knew she couldn't. Information like that would be kept secret. And she had a feeling that Palpatine was keeping a close eye on the senators' activities. She knew that every conversation she had with Shinji was being listened to. She was always very careful with what she said. She knew that among all of the senators, Palpatine trusted her the least.

She didn't say almost anything at Senate meetings anymore. She felt that it was probably best not to, as her opinions were usually against what the Emperor's were. However, her fellow Coruscantian senators voiced her opinions for her. They had a very similar dislike for the Empire and its procedures. One of her fellow senators even thought that there was some kind of secret plot to eventually disband the Senate, and that the Emperor would get total control.

Although his theory of exactly what the scheme was was a bit farfetched, she did feel that he may be on to something. Palpatine was definitely up to something. But what?

888

Rei walked down the street. She decided that she needed some fresh air. The days events, and her conversation with Shinji, had taken their toll on her mind. She wanted to clear her head before she got a migraine.

She enjoyed walking around Coruscant. There was such a wide range of different people. She found it entertaining to watch the goings on of everyday life. There was a very wide range of people to watch on Coruscant. And since she was Coruscant's senator, she felt that she should really see how the people she represented lived.

She did her usual people watching for a while. Eventually, the sky started changing colors. The people had thinned out in that area, but those remaining all stopped to watch the sunset. As the sun went down Rei stood there watching, captivated by its beauty.

"Pardon me miss," said a somewhat gruff voice from behind her. Rei didn't turn around.

"What?" she asked.

"As you can see, the sun is going down," said the voice.

"Yes," she said, "And if you don't mind, I'm watching it."

"What I meant was," said the voice, "It'll be dark soon. And this city aint safe at night for a pretty young girl like yourself."

"I can handle myself," said Rei, still not turning around.

"I don't think you quite understand miss," said the voice. "We, as in my associates and I, are offering you our services as protection. If you aren't interested, things could get a bit dangerous for you if you get my meaning." Rei finally turned around, an annoyed look on her face. She faced five men, all which looked somewhat dangerous.

"You are bothering me," she said. "Leave now." She turned back around and started walking home. The man who'd been talking grabbed her shoulder.

"Now hold on there you- oof!" Rei proceeded to elbow him in the stomach again, and then a third time. She brought the back of her fist into his face. As he let go, she roundhouse kicked him in the chest. She was facing the thugs again. The four remaining had shocked looks on their faces. One guy got out of his stupor long enough to pull a knife. He ran towards her, preparing to slash. Rei waited for him to get close, then easily sidestepped him and grabbed his knife-wielding arm. She threw him sideways. He landed on the ground, and stayed there dazed for a moment. He reached for his knife, and Rei stepped on his arm. She grabbed the knife, and kicked the thug in the head.

Two of the three remaining thugs came at her. She sidestepped the first one, and kicked him in the back as he went by. He ran straight into a wall. She punched the second guy square in the jaw as soon as he reached her. The first guy tried grabbing her from behind. She somersaulted over his head and grabbed him instead. She held the knife up to his neck. He tried getting free, but she gave a quick jerk of her arm which choked him slightly. The second guy watched carefully, seeing if there was an opening that he could use to free his buddy from the blue-haired girl's grasp.

She suddenly let him go, and kicked him in the second guy's direction. They collided, and Rei moved quickly. She slammed their heads together, knocking them out. The last guy stood there. Rei looked in his direction, her red eyes showing a dangerous mood. He just raised his hands.

"I give!" he exclaimed. "Just make it quick.." Rei nodded. He was soon flat on the ground unconscious. She dropped the knife. The few people left in the area had all watched in amazement. One of them had just happened to be a journalist looking for a story. He had found it.

888

The next day, the news had an unexpected headline. "Senator thrashes thugs." Shinji read it, surprised. Vader liked keeping up with the latest news, so he made sure that whatever ship he was on could receive news from Coruscant.

"Impressive," said Vader as he read the same thing with Shinji. "Rei Ayanami is quite an interesting girl."

"Yeah," agreed Shinji. "I had no idea she could fight like that."

"Me neither," said Vader. "Of course, she did fight on Geonosis if you remember."

"True," said Shinji. "And she knew what she was doing when she was there, too."

"Those thugs had no idea what they were getting into," said Vader, remembering his own experience being on the receiving end of one of Rei's kicks.

"Nope," agreed Shinji.

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Take that thugs! Yeah, I know, short chapter. Oh well. At least I got to show that Rei can still fight when necessary.

To tell you all the truth, it's hard writing these chapters. for some reason, I'm not really interested in the particular point in time that these chapters are taking place. But, as soon as I get to chapters I like I'll get them done faster and hopefully better.

Hope you liked it anyway!