Apotheosis Echo: Re(verb - it)erations

by StriderInCosmos

The end has passed, and a storm looms over a broken world. At its edge, a Captain who cannot fully chart her course plunges in regardless. Within the lightning, a Priest sees his gods, and hopes to draw them to the dying Earth he wishes to gift to them. Against the rain, a Soldier and his family seek to dispel the tempest. The storm looms, and the End is nigh. But what End?

40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Breath Before Armageddon

The hardest part of any operation is always the wait.

It's a concept, almost an axiom, that all of us, to some extent or another, understand. But it never makes the waiting any easier.

I can see it in every person here. The tenseness, like a coiled spring, that everyone shows to some extent or another. The forced conversations and smiles, the quiet moments together, out of sight, just in case it all goes wrong. I've heard and seen it all before. But it doesn't make the determination I have to ensure that all goes well any less for it.

- From the personal journal of Daniel Theisman

NHS Gebet, On Approach to Calvary Base, May 14th, 2028

Kozo Fuyutsuki stood on the bridge of the vessel he'd been placed in command of, watching as the Black Moon his ship was in an escort pattern with began to dip towards the waiting shell over Antarctica. Finally, the smaller end of the apple core-like Moon brushed against the shell, tearing a gash of deep red like a wound in its wake as it began to slowly, slowly descend.

'Here we are again.' Fuyutsuki mused. 'The cursed ritual ground of Second Impact. How fitting, to bring another ritual to this place.'

The Vessels were ready. Unit-13 was on track to be activated. And now, Ikari left the defense of the upcoming ritual in his hands. 'It's almost amusing, really. Everything so far has still, even to this point, gone as SEELE would have wanted it to.'

But he knew there was going to be a vastly different experience than even Ikari had planned for.

'I wonder,' he mused idly, 'how the others are preparing for what is about to come?'

. . .

AAA Wunder, Low Earth Orbit

Young Shinji Ikari looked up at the purple giant that had come to define so much of his life. As it had been so many years ago, the walkway that he stood on was at about eye level with Unit-01, and looking into its eyes, seemingly blank yet with hidden depths, felt… appropriate, somehow.

"Shinji."

Shinji looked over at Rei, wondering where they'd found a Plugsuit for her like the one she'd worn 14 years ago, an almost pure white that contrasted strikingly with her blue hair. "Yes?"

"Is there a reason that you wanted to arrive here before Daniel did?"

Shinji looked at the grated floor for a moment. "I guess… I just wanted some time alone with… my family."

It was silent between them for a moment, the busyness of the bay wrapping them in a blanket of white noise before Rei nodded. "I see."

Again, it was silent. "Thank you, Shinji."

Shinji blinked in confusion as he looked over at her. "What for?"

"For doing your best, now and then, to help me become more than I was. Even with everyone else's help, your initial push, as it were, helped me try to become more… human."

"You already were to me, Rei."

Rei looked over at Shinji, smiling slightly. "I see."

They heard someone coming up the ladder and found Daniel finishing his climb, walking over to stand next to Rei. "Good morning, you two. Didn't expect to find you both up so early."

"With what's coming, it's hard to get a decent night's sleep," Shinji said with a shrug. "Even if it's all too familiar now."

Daniel nodded before taking a deep breath and looking at Rei. "Alright. Are you ready to go back in?"

"I shall have to be," Rei replied, taking a quiet breath. "Will this process be… painful?"

Daniel shook his head as he extended his hand. "Not at all. Just take my hand, and we'll become a light that will pierce the core of Unit-01."

Both Shinji and Rei frowned slightly at the wording of it, but Rei took Daniel's hand slowly regardless.

Daniel leaned forward slightly to look at Shinji. "We'll be back soon, okay?"

Shinji nodded, and then his eyes widened slightly as Daniel and Rei… dissolved, becoming pillars of prismatic light that drifted forward, then down, flowing past the chest of Unit-01.

It had all happened so quickly that Shinji barely had time to process it before another beam of light, singular this time, emerged from Unit-01, resolving itself into Daniel, standing before him with a slight smile as he spread his arms, equally slightly. "Ta-da."

Shinji blinked. "Ta-da? Was that supposed to be a… magic trick?"

Daniel shrugged. "If it walks like magic, quacks like magic…"

Shinji smiled slightly. "Then the distinction's kind of useless sometimes, then?"

Daniel smiled warmly in return, Shinji suspecting that he'd found what he was looking for. "That's the spirit. We get so caught up in the science and minutiae of Interfacing sometimes, I think. Too often, we lose the perspective that, at the end of the day, we're doing the sorts of things that we hear in stories, faerie tales."

"Stories like mine, right?" Shinji's smile faded as he said that.

Daniel's smile faded in turn as he sighed quietly. "Yeah. You're not wrong. But on the whole, Shinji… you were an inspiration."

"To try not to screw up the universe you were in on accident?"

"To be kind. To help others see the good in themselves, especially when they couldn't see it themselves."

Daniel walked forward and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "You have grown strong and wise, and I am very proud of you."

Shinji nodded. "Thank you," he said softly.

"Always, Shinji."

Shinji frowned slightly as he saw Daniel's lips twitching as if he was trying to stifle laughter. "Is something funny?" he asked rather innocently.

"Well…" Daniel seemed to consider his words for a moment. "It's a story for after we've made the world beautiful again. A somewhat decent one, if nothing else."

Daniel nodded. "Well, I've got to go get some of the others ready. You coming with?"

Shinji considered the offer for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet. I'd still like some time alone… with mother."

Daniel nodded silently, making his way to the ladder down towards the rest of the engineering bay.

Then, seemingly unbidden, a question leaped into Shinji's mind as he turned. "Daniel? Where did Rei get her Plugsuit anyway? I would have thought they'd have left those behind."

Daniel looked back at Shinji, smiling slightly. "It was in storage in the captain's quarters. Katsuragi seems to have kept one spare all these years."

He paused. "She also kept one of your old Plugsuits, Shinji. I think, even with all these years between, a part of her still held out for the day that you might need it."

Daniel proceeded to disappear from sight, leaving Shinji with much to mull on in the shadow of his mother and sister.

. . .

Mari Makinami sat in the bay with Unit-08, Mariah Marlowe at her side. Most of the crew that worked on the brilliantly pink Evangelion knew what was happening now, and knew to leave the two of them alone. It would have been rude to cut into their conversation, after all.

What Mari saw was a sight well divorced from the hard, mechanical surrounds of their bay in the Wunder. Instead, with a trick that Mariah had taught her double, they sat on that beach in Borneo that Mari had come to cherish for how distant and peaceful it now was, lounging in a sun that shone down with a gentle, if simulated, heat.

The waves of the ocean lapped on the shore, the quiet rumble of it adding to the calm breeze that gusted overhead. It was, for all intents and purposes, the picture of paradise.

And yet, Mari still couldn't shake the anxiety that had doggedly been gnawing at her since all of this started to come to a head. The worst part was that she just couldn't figure out why. Thus, a little time with her daughters (in one way or another), to either figure it out somehow, or at least get away from it for a while as they chatted idly about what those outside the bounds of the Eva had been up to, much to their all-too-literally captive audience's wonder.

Then, at last, it clicked. Here of all places, as she looked at Mariah, her Mariah. Whatever she was going to say next died on her lips as she saw the girl she loved, all grown up, and began to wonder.

"Mother?" her Mariah said, concern scrunching her face just so in a way that felt all too familiar to Mari. "Is there something wrong?"

"You can tell us, mum." the other world's Mariah said encouragingly. "After all, there's not a soul in here watching us. Except us. Y'know?"

Mari nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess…"

She trailed off as she tried to put what she now knew into words. "All this time… I've spent who knows how long in this time slinky, as you put it, trying to be… something. A scientist. A spy. An Eva pilot. I've even been in charge of the science branch of NERV once, during one of the weirder loops. Once this is all done…"

Mari shook her head. "I have no idea what comes after. And that scares me now a lot more than it ever has before."

"I guess that makes sense." the other Mariah said quietly. "I need to get back and see my mom at some point too. After everything that's happened to her… maybe she'll appreciate a nice vacation here."

"But it's not just that, is it Mother?" her Mariah asked gently. "That's just the start of it."

"I mean," Mari said after a moment, "of all the things that I've done, all the ass that I've kicked, you're still the greatest part of my life. And… I barely know you."

"What do I do once this is done?" Mari asked as she fully looked over at her Mariah. "After everything we've gone through, how do I even attempt to be a parent? I'm able to pilot an 80-meter tall war machine, but if you ask me how to actually act like a responsible adult at this point… I might just accidentally end your world after saving ours."

Mari sighed quietly as she looked down at the sand. "I don't know. Maybe once we're done… I'll find someplace like this. Try at a nice, quiet retirement so that you can find a way through life without me potentially messing it up."

"Mother…" her Mariah said, and Mari looked up as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Why would I want a life without you? I've spent so long in here, waiting for the day I finally get to hug you again. Please, don't take that away from me."

Mari looked back at the sand, ashamed. "No, you're right. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." her Mariah said, and Mari could hear the slight smile in her voice. "Besides, I'm going to have far more catching up to do in terms of 'adulting' than you are. I'd appreciate your help."

Mari smiled. "Thank you, darling. I'll… I'll try."

. . .

Young Shinji sat against his bunk on the floor, looking at the Plugsuit that he'd managed to get from his world's Misato. It was just as he'd remembered, the lettering and colors on it faded somewhat, and he looked intently at the '01' that was on the sternum of the strange chestplate that had made the suit markedly different from Rei's.

Even seeing it this far removed, memories, some good, many far less so, streamed into his mind. Emotions that he hadn't felt for what seemed like ages welled to the surface. But where he'd impotently given in to them before, he now examined them with the benefit of distance and perspective.

Many of those emotions, he felt, were entirely reasonable reactions, simply exacerbated by the fact that he'd felt them in an Evangelion. A part of him still wished he'd somehow gotten to his father's office before he'd been knocked unconscious. Others, he looked at with regret. Would Misato have become the woman that she had been if he'd simply said goodbye to her?

But regardless, it all led to this. To the decision to put this Plugsuit back on, and get into Unit-01 one last time.

A part of him still rebelled at the idea, agreed with those who whispered behind his back, and gave him glances with narrowed eyes. What would happen if he failed? If he simply ended the world himself, like he'd almost done every time it counted?

"So."

The voice, familiar to him now, jerked his attention up to Asuka, this world's Asuka, standing there in a Plugsuit that looked almost like a carbon copy of her Eva's current color scheme. "Oh. Hi."

"I'm guessing you're agonizing over whether or not to get in the Eva like Daniel's said you should." Asuka continued as she walked over to his side, sitting down next to him.

"I mean, with a track record like mine, a little concern isn't out of the ordinary, is it?" Shinji said somewhat dejectedly.

He was somewhat surprised when she smiled slightly. "Well, at least you're thinking about it with a clear head this time. Hopefully."

Shinji shrugged slightly as he looked back at the Plugsuit. "Well, as clear of a head as I can get right now, at least."

Shinji looked over at Asuka again after a moment's silence. "So, what are you doing here? I would have thought that you'd be going and running some tests on Unit-02 to see how it feels."

Asuka shrugged. "Already did that. Feels just like it did back when I first piloted it against that Angel in the bay."

"That was such a weird Angel."

"Weirder than most."

The two shared a chuckle at the gangly thing that Asuka had killed with such grace.

"You were amazing to watch back then," Shinji said. "I managed to catch a view of it with Misato's binoculars. I was shocked anyone could do something like that with an Eva. It kind of made me want to meet whoever was that good."

"Probably regretted that afterward, huh?" Asuka said with a grimace.

Shinji sucked his teeth for a moment, remembering her sweeping him off his feet in the least romantic way possible. "Just a little. The worst part honestly was how rude you were to Rei. I could take that sort of talk. But to attack someone else who didn't even deserve it… I couldn't stand that."

"Oh, Shinji," Asuka said quietly, in a tone that Shinji had rarely heard from her. It was a soft thing, quiet but loud enough for him to hear the tenderness in her voice.

He waited for a few moments before she continued. "You know, the one thing I hated about you back then was that you didn't seem to have a purpose. You were just plopped into the most important position in the world and didn't seem to take it seriously enough. At least, to me. I mean, purpose was everything back then. I was built to pilot the Eva. You… you didn't even seem to think it was important."

"Then time went on. We faced the Eighth Angel. I got to know you and Rei, at least as much as I let myself then. And…"

Asuka paused as she shook her head. "I actually found myself… liking you."

Shinji looked over at Asuka. "Really?"

"Yeah, actually. I tried to resist it at first. You were an idiot. You were foolish. You were reckless. But you were also kind, and considerate, even when I was an absolute asshole. I started wondering. Then we talked that night, back to back."

Asuka smiled slightly, then the smile faded. "But that was then. So much has happened since."

"Yeah. You're right." Shinji nodded. "We've both changed so much, even though it barely looks like it."

"Yeah."

Asuka was silent for a moment. "But if you manage to save the world, then there's probably going to be plenty of time to figure things out, I think."

"Even with Kensuke?" Shinji said with a slight smile. "He's been good to you."

"He's been an older brother, really. Somebody who can be patient with me. Not a lot of people were willing to do that, especially when it was early on."

Shinji nodded after a moment's silence. "It'll be strange, really."

"What will?"

"Looking as old as we are. If we manage this… we could undo the Curse of the Eva."

"Huh." Asuka paused. "I guess I hadn't thought about that."

She looked over at Shinji. "Well, seeing as you're talking like that, think you can get my eye back when you save the world?"

Shinji sighed quietly even as he smiled slightly. "Well, I can at least give it a shot."

. . .

Toph Beifong had the sense that something was up when Mari Makinami texted her, largely out of the blue, to meet with her. For as friendly as she was, they ran in largely different circles. The mystery only deepened with the stipulation that she bring 'all her bender and non-bender friends from her universe'.

So, now, here they sat in one of the mess halls, waiting somewhat anxiously for Mari to arrive.

Finally, Mari walked in quickly, hurrying to a table and sitting at it. "Thanks for all coming together, guys. It really means a lot to me."

"I'm glad that it does," Sokka said. "But, uh… what do you need our help with that couldn't be explained in your message?"

Mari paused for a moment. "Damn it. I thought I put the context in there."

She shook her head. "Well, you're here so I can explain. Anyways, I need your help to get my Sensei out of the NERV ship that he's in."

"When did NERV take a prisoner?" Toph asked incredulously. "That's hardly been their style… ever."

"Well, it's Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki," Mari said quietly. "He needs to get off that ship, and he's too damn resigned to his own fate to try and escape himself. Not that there are any escape pods or anything that I know of on these kinds of ships…"

"Okay," Zuko interjected, hands raised slightly. "Wait. He was your teacher?"

"It's a long story that I'd love to tell you later," Mari said. "But he's still stuck on that ship anyway, and after providing us with the information he has, I say he's more than deserving of a chance to be helped himself."

"Have you talked to the Captain about this?" Mai asked. "We're happy to help, but we're scattered all over the ship's different divisions. If she, or even Daniel, could give you some more help, it could make all the difference."

Mari sighed quietly. "I tried talking to Misato. Both of them, even. There's too much invested into what's coming up to divert into an operation as small-scale, relatively speaking, as this one will be."

"And," Mari said quietly, "Daniel actually pointed me to you guys. Said that once things kicked off, you'd need something to do. Even gave me the plans for the ship so that we could brainstorm."

It was silent for a moment before Aang chuckled softly. "Well, once things get started, it's not like I'll have much in the way of logistics to worry about, to say nothing about the rest of us. What were you thinking?"

Mari smiled, wide and relieved, as she pulled up a holographic map of the ship. "Alright. Here's the deal."

. . .

Hikari held Toji's hand as they sat in the mess hall, watching patiently as Mavuto and N'Kani took what ingredients were left, along with what cookware hadn't been thrown out, and made them a rather simple affair. "How's it coming?" Toji asked. "It smells delicious."

"It comes along as it does, Olcani," Mavuto said with a patient tone. "My grandmother's ugali is not a dish to be rushed. Nor the stew to go along with it."

"As fascinating as this is," Kozo Fuyutsuki said, Naoko waiting patiently by his side, "I'd hate for it to be interrupted by the operation and the end of the world."

"I think we have time," N'kani said with an easy smile. "After all, Miss Makinami told us all that we have until the afternoon. Plenty enough time for some brunch. At least, as long as Mavuto's reverence for his grandmother's food doesn't become something of a Sunday mass."

Mavuto elbowed N'kani, who chuckled. "At least I know how to cook something beyond instant meals, university boy."

N'kani rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Reheating meals is a scholastic tradition."

"I made my own food in school, thank you very much." Mavuto shot back with a grin. "Even with the generous grant money that went towards the New Central African Republic, I still had to make do."

"New Central African Republic?" their final guest said, leaning back in her chair. "What happened to the old one?"

Mavuto glanced back. "Rolled up into the new one during the African Conflicts, bubblegum. Well, joined it, really. After the end of the old world, even years afterward, it still took time to realize that there was strength in community. That whatever tribe we were, our best hope was in putting aside our differences and working together."

He paused, taking in the seemingly ever-wide-eyed look that Midori gave him, and looked over at N'kani. "And I don't know about West Africa, but I think we've been doing nicely for ourselves since."

"Except in football." N'kani grinned.

Mavuto sighed heavily. "Your teams always paid off the referees, and everyone and their mother knew it."

He paused, looking down at the food. "Ah. But why let a good argument spoil a good meal? It seems we're ready."

Soon, everyone was plated up, with doughy ugali, composed of boiled maize flour, accompanied by a hearty beef stew, and after a quick lesson on dining etiquette from Mavuto, the assembled group dug in.

As they ate, N'kani glanced over at Midori. "I understand Hikari and Toji. I even understand Mr. and Mrs. Fuyutsuki to some extent. But you are a mystery to me, far beyond this world. What brings you to this table, Ms. Kitakami?"

"Well," Midori said after a moment, "my mother was a student of anthropology. Our home was covered in pictures of artifacts, of people from places she'd been before Second Impact wiped most of them out. It rubbed off on me to some extent."

"Then I could guess that the Maasai people no longer exist here?" Mavuto asked quietly.

Midori shook her head. "Not really, no. Most of Africa wasn't protected when Near-Third Impact hit. That made it a mostly barren wasteland except for South Africa."

"Huh," N'kani said with a quiet chuckle. "Figures they would ride it out."

"So, in a sense…" Midori paused. "Continuing her work, as it were, gives me a chance to connect with her again, even though she's gone. She always said… that every person in the world was special because everyone had something to teach us."

Mavuto smiled. "Your mother was wise beyond her years."

"So," N'kani said, "what would you like to know about our peoples?"

"From Toji and Hikari here, I gathered you, Mavuto, were of the Maasai people, from around where Kenya was. I'm going to guess the food was a dead giveaway even if they hadn't told me. But they didn't tell me about you, N'kani."

N'kani nodded. "Well, I'm from the state of Nigeria, which in my world is part of the West African Union. I grew up in the city of Gombe and went to New Abuja University. I joined the military to pay for school and send money back to my family, where I got into piloting helicopters. Then, I was commended by my government to join the Evangelion program. My guess, though, was it was a lottery system. Anyone could have gone."

"And yet," Mavuto said, "you're the one that pulled my ass out of the fire time and again while we were on Rift duty. You've been a good partner to have at my side, kicking ass."

N'kani shrugged. "Well, it's a living, as some might say. But I'm glad to be doing good."

"Were you alive during Second Impact?" Midori asked. "What happened to your countries if you were?"

"Well, we were young," Mavuto said, "but we were alive then, yes. The lucky ones, some might call us."

"Or the unlucky, depending on your perspective," N'kani interjected.

"That too," Mavuto replied. "But, after Second Impact happened, and the trade flowing into Africa as a whole dried up… it was chaos. Some people figured out that making alliances would be the smart thing to do, offering honey instead of a speartip. They were the smart ones. Otherwise…"

"Almost every day, there was news of a new conflict," N'kani said quietly. "Small things at first, coming as people could muster up the troops and supplies needed to fight. Then they kept getting bigger and bigger. Everyone else was too busy with their own problems. Even the extreme religious groups dedicated to spreading religion and terror in equal measure began to make their pilgrimages to various holy sites, convinced it was the end of the world. Soon enough, the first big war kicked off between the DRC and an alliance of the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Angola. That's when the UN finally stepped in with its Armed Response Force. The outside world was finally paying attention to us."

"When did the wars stop?" Midori asked quietly.

"About 2012 was when the last one died down," Mavuto said. "Of course, I'd been out of soldiering for about a year beforehand and started trying to get an actual education."

"I wonder if something like that happened here." Midori mused. "I wasn't even born until 2008. Now, though, with Third Impact having scoured almost all our records of the time before then… well, it's almost like history died in 2015."

It was silent at the table for a few moments, then Kozo shook his head. "I don't know much about the area," he said, trying to change the subject, "but what language, besides English, do you speak, Mr. Okomah-Mordi?"

"It's a language called Hausa," N'kani replied, smiling slightly. "I might be the only one in this world that speaks it, but it is my family's language. A piece of home, you might say."

"What does it sound like?" Midori asked, her eyes wide with wonder that had dispelled the gloom.

N'kani smiled slightly as he checked the time. "Well, I think there's enough time for a small demonstration."

. . .

Shinji Ikari-Soryu held his wife's hand as they relaxed, at least as best they could, in one of the mess halls of the ship that had been converted into something of a lounge, a holographic screen on one wall showing the outside view of space as recorded by one of the hull cameras. Several pieces of comfortable furniture and gaming tables, what remained that hadn't been moved into some storage at Village-3 at least, were scattered around the room.

It was nice to just sit here and be with Asuka for a little while longer, and the company they kept for the moment certainly helped things.

"So," Asuka said to Kotone Suzunami, "what do you do when you're not saving the world?"

Kotone, a somewhat short girl with a head of strawberry-blonde hair and alert brown eyes, fidgeted slightly. Shinji wondered for a moment as to why. "Well, I'm usually a content creator, publishing different kinds of media on the internet or taking commissions."

"What kind of media?" Shinji asked.

"Well, all sorts, really. Online fiction, videos, some music content I dabble with, artwork and animations for commissions. Most of the money I make goes to the orphanage where I grew up."

"And the military just… lets you do this?" Asuka asked, a brow arched.

"Apparently," Keita said with a slight smile, shifting himself off of leaning on Arantxa, "Kotone's something of a PR darling. Went into the public relations branch of the SSDF and gave them a pretty thorough briefing on how to better use technology and up-and-coming social media platforms to integrate with Interfacers and other services full of our generation. Made plenty of friends along the way, too."

"Oh please," Kotone said, blushing slightly. "I just like doing what I'm doing. If it's a good look for the Eva corps, then all the better."

"Maybe you should talk to Midori and Sumire sometime after this," Shinji said with a slight smile. "Midori produces music, and Sumire writes stories herself. Maybe you three could swap techniques or stories to one degree or another."

Kotone's eyes gleamed as she nodded. "That sounds great! I always love getting to know other storytellers."

The conversation ambled on from one topic to another for a little while longer before Shinji looked at Kotone. "So," he said with a slight smile. "Have you rotated through being with HERZ yet?"

Kotone nodded. "I was part of the last group to spend time as part of the HERZ detachment. It was… wild."

"How was properly seeing the inside of the Geofront for the first time?" Asuka asked with a slight grin. "Seeing as you really only saw the inside of the medical wing."

Kotone shook her head. "It was… downright magical, looking at everything from that height."

Before she could continue, the door opened, and all looked over to see Hyuga and Aoba walking in somewhat wearily, newly fitted Plugsuits squeaking slightly as they paused in front of the group. Aoba held in his hand a guitar case, one that Shinji guessed held a glimmering blue-bodied guitar, the man's prized possession along with something he'd become used to playing alongside.

"Oh," Kotone said almost without thinking, "hello, Commander."

It was silent for a moment, Kotone blushing slightly as Hyuga's mouth hung open. "I, uh…" he said after a moment. "Am I really a commander where you're from?"

Asuka sighed quietly. "Well, take a seat and we'll tell you. Sorry to interrupt whatever jam session you might have had in mind, Aoba."

"Please," Aoba said with a slight grin as he landed in one of the nearby beanbags, "this is going to be way more interesting to hear than the same three songs I've been practicing recently."

Hyuga took a seat, a little more slowly, in a chair he pulled into the rough circle that the pilots had made. "So, how did I become commander of… HERZ, I'm guessing?"

"Got it in one, Hyuga," Asuka said with a grin. Shinji was perfectly content to let her tell the story. It'd be more interesting to watch, anyway.

"So," she continued, "as opposed to simply staying as a First Lieutenant, there was some upward movement for you and Misato. After a couple of Angels, she got promoted to a Major, and during Iruel…"

Asuka paused for a moment. "Well damn, I guess that Angel doesn't exist here, does it? Anyways, an Angel composed of nanomachine-like things tried to infiltrate and hack the Magi. Misato gave you the lead on making sure we could take down the thing's physical body while Doctor Akagi fixed the Magi. Commander Ikari promoted you to Captain."

"Wow." Aoba grinned. "You made it all the way above us other bridge birds. I hope it didn't go to your head too quickly."

"Oh, come on, Shigeru," Hyuga said with a roll of his eyes. "It probably didn't mean that much then, anyway."

"Actually, it did," Shinji interjected, glancing over to see Asuka grinning wickedly. "Because you became a captain, NERV sent another First Lieutenant to take your place."

Hyuga frowned slightly at the expression that the two of them began to share. "And who was that?"

"Her name's Adira Faez," Asuka said with an overt innocence. "Ex-special forces, painter, general woman of mystery. And you always liked mysteries, from what I can tell."

Hyuga blushed openly. "Is that all?"

"As far as details we know go, yeah," Asuka said with a shrug. "You two liked each other, NERV got dissolved, HERZ got formed, then Misato stepped down and made you, who'd become the leading major of the Operations Branch, the commander, with Faez your second."

Aoba chuckled openly. "Would that I could have seen the wedding." he mused rather absentmindedly.

"It was actually pretty sweet," Asuka said glibly. "You two were adorable."

Hyuga had his chin resting on his hands, looking at the ground while Aoba grinned. "Hey, if she's ex-special forces, maybe she's around here somewhere."

"I don't know if it would work now," Hyuga said quietly. "So much has changed, the circumstances of us hitting it off is almost impossible now."

It was silent for a moment as Hyuga's expression began to fall. "Hey," Shinji said calmly. "Even without that, after Misato, you were one of the best commanding officers we had. When we went into battle, we knew you had our backs."

"Yeah, man." Asuka piped up. "You're awesome at what you do. Whatever else, you can take pride in that."

Hyuga nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks, you two."

He paused, chuckling softly. "Of all the people to hear encouragement from, Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley were the last ones I expected."

"What can I say?" Asuka said with a slight shrug. "We aim to be heroes. It's a simple thing, some days."

. . .

Rei Nagisa strolled through one of the newly made storage bays in the belly of the ship, a recent addition spurred by their need to carry the cargo that was stored within. She walked hand in hand with Kaworu, several other friends accompanying them. All in all, it was a strange thing for Kaworu to call a 'date', even with the wry grin she'd seen on his face. Either way, it gave her a chance to catch up with those she'd trained, and those that they, in turn, brought into 'the business', as Misato sometimes called it.

"How is your husband, Howard?" Rei asked the man, trailing behind somewhat.

"He's doing decently," Howard said with a shrug. "Keeping in touch with Chad is kind of difficult here, but I think he should be settling into one of the government colonies popping up on Luna. I think it's the one by the Sea of Serenity."

"That's good to hear," Orien said. "He's a civil service worker, right?"

"Head of water treatment," Howard said with a proud smile. "He's always said his dream was to walk on the moon someday."

"An unsurprisingly common dream." Galina, who had accompanied Orien, said with a nod. "The stars have always been so frustratingly out of reach for the common man until now. My great-grandfather was on the shortlist to be a cosmonaut before the Soviet Union started to fall."

"Wow. Did he live through Second Impact?" Howard asked.

Galina shook her head. "No. But I think to see his great-granddaughter striding across the stars so easily would have made him proud, and a little envious."

"I would think so," Howard said. Then, he smiled slightly. "And how are things between the two of you?"

"Oh, going as nicely as they can in these circumstances," Galina said flippantly.

She trailed off as they came to a stop in front of one particular item stored here in the bay, whistling softly. "Now, how the hell does that work?"

Rei looked up to see a long staff, capped at both ends by massive saw blades. "I don't know," she admitted with a slight shrug. "But I'm confident that the NERV-Euro branch engineered it to do so."

"Well," Orien said, "I'm sure that Saveli wouldn't mind giving something like that a try."

They continued their walk through the weapons storage bay that held the weapons that Unit-02 and Unit-08 would be using. Other than them, it was empty, leaving them to peruse the bay to their leisure.

Marie, walking with Brynne, stopped for a moment in front of a massive network, likely backpack-mounted, of missile cells as the others started to go on ahead. "So," Marie said quietly, "how's getting used to everything going?"

Brynne took a deep breath. "Doing my best. But even with all the study I've done, the deployments I've been on, this…"

"It's a lot, I know," Marie said. "I get the feeling. But I think you'll do just fine."

"Are you sure?" Brynne replied. "I mean, I know you've put a lot of effort into training me, but trying to stop the literal end of the world while it's happening…"

Brynne shook her head. "I don't doubt you've got my back, but I can't help but feel we're a little in over our heads."

Marie was silent for a moment. "You studied the Angel War, right?"

"To some extent, yeah." Brynne's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you want to know what Shinji Ikari's synch score was the first time he stepped into an Evangelion?"

Brynne was silent for a moment. "What was it?"

"Under 50 percent."

Brynne's eyes went wide, and Marie chuckled. "I know, right? That score couldn't even be finetuned like we have it now. It was a matter of training and, frankly, luck. The latter, Shinji had to depend on in spades, because he didn't have any of the former the first time. They didn't have many weapons more advanced than the Pallet Rifle and Progressive weapons until all the pilots were brought together in Tokyo-3."

Marie looked out at the pilots that had gotten ahead of them, focussing on Rei and Kaworu. "And yet, with the deck stacked against them, they faced every Angel that was thrown at them and won. And now, we have advantages I'm sure NERV would have dreamed of having back then."

"Like being trained by people who had fought in the Angel War," Bynne said meaningfully.

Marie nodded. "Yeah. In one way or another, we've all been trained by the best of the best, the pioneers. In some ways, I'm sure at least Shinji or Kaworu would say, we've surpassed them."

She gently punched Brynne on the shoulder. "So stay confident, but not too cocky, and we'll be making another miracle here. I know it."

. . .

Misato Kaji walked the halls of the Wunder, her husband by her side, and what Ryoji liked to call 'the old contemptibles' following behind. They took in the ship with a somewhat detached interest.

"It's fascinating, really," Yui said, looking around her. "For all the familiar concepts we've seen at work in the science of this ship, there are some remarkably novel applications."

"That there are," Naoko replied. "If the Spirits we had in the Valhalla system back home weren't as powerful as they were, the idea of a massive-scale network was tossed around."

"Well," Ryoji said, "with all our rebranding to be 'massive-scale', I'm surprised we didn't stay on theme."

A gentle chuckle from some, a roll of the eyes from others, was the response that Ryoji got before Misato, a slight grin on her face, gently elbowed her husband. "Come on. We already sound like something out of an old '70s anime. We don't need the help."

Ryoji shrugged. "Ah, well…"

Before he could continue, he ducked under a lip in the hallway as he stepped over it, something he'd done several times before. "Damn…" he said as he glanced back at both Gendo and Kozo doing the same as him. "You can really tell sometimes that this ship was made for someone Rei's size."

"Perhaps that might become useful, should we get boarded." Gendo surmised. "Any large people or armatures that find their way aboard would likely find themselves stifled to a certain extent."

"I don't know, Gendo," Kozo said warningly. "The White Cells around here seem to make their way about the ship in decent order."

Before anyone could continue, they heard the gentle thumping of heavy footsteps up ahead, pausing as one of the White Cells in question, this one painted with a uniform gold, rather expertly painted eyes lending it an almost goofy look, began to pass them. Gendo and Ryoji both regarded the thing as they looked up at it, slightly hunched though it was as it ducked under the lip with a seemingly practiced ease.

"I don't quite know what I was expecting," Ritsuko said as she held Maya's hand tightly, "but C-3PO was not anywhere close to being on the list."

"Shows that the crew has a sense of artistic style, at least?" Maya said with a shrug. "Even with the paint job, it still feels… powerful."

The others nodded as they continued on their little walk. "How are things going on your end, Ritsky?" Misato asked.
"As well as they can," Ritsuko said with a quiet sigh. "We've broken through a decent amount of programming blocks, and young Rei, at least before she got…interred, has been directing people on the… well, the unshackling of the ship."

"What do you mean by that?" Ryoji asked.

Misato looked back to see the rest of the adults in various states of discomfort. "Let's just say," Maya said, her face paling slightly, "that this ship is a lot more 'alive' than you might think."

They were largely silent for a moment before they entered the engineering bay. Most gave them a somewhat wide berth, many still eyeing who they now knew to be Gendo with some suspicion. Even with all her history with the man behind her, the looks had begun to grate at Misato.

They came to a stop at Unit-01's gantry, the limbless, dormant giant somewhat obscured by the connections and platforms that surrounded it. The group was silent for a moment as they regarded it.

"Well…" Yui said after a moment. "There I am, I guess."

After a moment, she shook her head slightly. "I hope that, whatever happens, I understand what needs to be done. I would say that I do, but…"

"This is a different universe, after all," Gendo said quietly. "But regardless, this is where Shinji's fight will be. And if there's anything that I am certain of, it's that he understands. And that he will be able to do what needs to be done."

"I have to admit," Misato said quietly, "it's still kind of strange to hear you talk like that."

"It's still strange to me as well," Gendo admitted. "But I must become used to it. Because, at the end of it all, it is the truth."

. . .

Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki focused again as he watched the Black Moon slide into place, then stop, hanging in the air with an uncanny silence. Below it, the ritual ground, where Unit-13 rested for the moment, hung just above the place where the Second Impact had occurred.

'How poetic.' Fuyutsuki mused. 'Even with your soul gone, Ikari, you still have a penchant for dramatic irony, don't you?'

The vessels were in position, and Unit-13 was waiting. Now, the rest of the players simply needed to come onto the stage.

Then, a rapid beeping drew his thoughts back to the present. "What is that sound?" he asked no one in particular.

"Unknown anomalies have manifested approximately 3 kilometers away." an Ayanami in one of the command center seats said.

"Show me."

A screen folded out in front of him, flashing on to show him what must have been a view from the rear turret of the craft he was on. Several prismatic tears, seemingly diagonal to them had opened up, several more following after them as ships slowly slid out of the fissures in space.

"My god…" Fuyutsuki said, his horror accompanied by a two-tone notification.

"At least 3 vessels match the signature captured over NERV-Euro's Paris branch." the Ayanami unit said tonelessly. "Several larger variants, some larger than this ship, are being recorded as well."

'Wherever you are,' Fuyutsuki silently pleaded, 'get here as quickly as you can. For all of our sakes.'

"Turn about and bring the other vessels into a protective formation," he said after a moment to gather his nautical terminology. "Prepare all cannons for long-range fires. And signal Commander Ikari to inform him of the threat."

This was going to be far more than any of them had anticipated. But Fuyutsuki was hardly in the mood to let whoever these intruders were try and take control of things for themselves.