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?

26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Hammerfall

I remember the sight of Village-3 on a screen before we arrived here. It seemed so… idyllic. It's a place where I could put down roots. Just be with Daniel and make something peaceful with our families, made and found, and just... help in the small ways I love the most.

But our power, our responsibilities, leave that sort of dream a distant one for now. Now, I fly to protect places like that. To protect the people of this world, their hopes and dreams, from those that would destroy such things.

How Daniel did that alone, for so long… I still can't fathom it.

- From the personal journal of Eleanor Theisman

Village-3, March 25th, 2028

Young Shinji Ikari was actually coming to enjoy waking up on his own time, as he sat up and stretched from the futon that he lay on. The chance to be alone, without a pressing need to do something important, was now almost comfortable, and it had given him at least some time to think. Not much. But even that was an improvement over the constant noise and moving in the Wunder.

He looked around the living room and saw Asuka playing on her Wonderswan. Had she packed it with her before she'd sortied? Whenever she'd gotten it, she still looked at it intently as intermittent beeps and 16-bit music played over it. Apparently, her efforts were frustrated, shown by her tossing it gently onto the table with a sigh.

Then, she caught Shinji looking at her, and raised a brow. "What? I lose sometimes too. It's not like you get a monopoly on it."

Shinji sighed as he looked around. "Where's Kensuke?"

"Ken-Ken gets up at 6, so he's already out working on something or another." a brief smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "He's useful like that. At the very least, it makes it so no one comes around here asking for him."

She nodded over at a plate of food packets and granola bars. "There's your breakfast. I'm not exactly a gourmet chef, even after the meal we cooked. Eat up."

Shinji rose up and walked over to the table, sitting across from Asuka as he began to pick at the food before him. He wasn't hungry, really. He hadn't been since before Terminal Dogma. But like Kaworu — the older Kaworu — had said, he couldn't overcome this without the strength eating gave him.

'But what's the point?' he pondered as he chewed on the last remaining granola bar on his plate. 'All my strength's ever gotten me is the destruction of the things I love. What good is being strong?'

He glanced across at Asuka, who frowned slightly at him before he looked away. What could he even say to her? What was she even thinking about?

They both had whatever trains of thought they were on derailed as they heard a knock on the door. "I thought you said no one came around here usually," Shinji said slowly.

"Usually," Asuka muttered as she stood, nearly stomping toward the door and opening it quickly. "What do you…"

She trailed off as they both saw Daniel standing in the doorway, smiling slightly. "Well, good morning, you two," he said as he glanced in. "I'm guessing Kensuke's out and about?"

"Hi. Uh…" Asuka looked back at Shinji, who shrugged. "Yeah. Ken's out right now. What do you need?"

"Well, I'd like you both to follow me." Daniel stepped away from the door before pausing. "Though… You'll probably both want to change here. Casual clothes aren't really going to work where we're going."

Shinji was terribly confused, even as Daniel took a duffel bag off of his shoulder, handing it to Asuka, who took it after a somewhat shocked moment. "There are changes of clothing for both of you in there, so don't feel the need to fight over anything."

Daniel leaned against the doorway as Asuka took the bag back to the table, opening it to reveal thick denim jeans, sweatshirts, and what looked like hiking boots. "What are we doing with these?" Shinji asked as they divided the clothes amongst themselves, Asuka taking her bundle and going back to her room.

"Making something," Daniel said with a smile. "And, hopefully, learning a few things along the way."

Shinji, quite uncertain but quite certainly mystified, took his bundle to the bathroom and began to change. After doing so, he emerged to see Asuka waiting for him, tugging at a sleeve that was just a little too long, next to Daniel. "Alright," Daniel said, "follow me."

They walked a little ways behind him as they took the path down from Kensuke's house, taking in the sounds of nature around them. It was a bright day today, the sun in the bright blue sky and the clouds few, but billowy. It was almost painterly, like the sky had already forgotten that the world had almost ended a few days ago. Or simply hadn't cared in the first place.

They began to cross over the paddies and crop fields, and Shinji watched the workers toiling away as they planted, harvested, and… 'Wait. Is that Ayanami?'

He stumbled to a stop as he watched Ayanami, who he was sure was Ayanami, working with several other farmers as they planted rice. It was almost surreal.

"What are you staring at, Idiot… Shinji…" Asuka was, apparently, at his side as they watched Ayanami, along with the Nagisas, planting or helping with the process. Then, Ayanami stumbled, falling into the water as the others laughed in good nature at the sight of it.

"Is that what we're going to do?" Shinji asked as Ayanami was helped out of the water by one of the regular farmers.

"As much as I'm sure they'd appreciate the help," Daniel replied, "my skills do not lie in farming. Come along. We're close to our destination."

After a moment more of watching, Shinji, with Asuka in front of him, continued to follow Daniel. He couldn't help but be somewhat confused as they came to a stop in front of a stout building, smoke rising out of its chimneys and the sound of metal pounding metal ringing out from within. "Daniel, I don't doubt you mean well," Asuka said, "but what the hell are we doing in front of a blacksmith?"

"Follow me and find out." Daniel flashed them both a slight, mysterious smile as he walked through the door. The smile reminded him a little too much of Kaworu, but he refocused on the open doorway, a dimness obscuring much of the interior beyond, and began to step through.

"You're actually okay with this?" Asuka said behind him incredulously.

He paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, it's not as if I have much else to do at the moment."

It was silent for a moment, then Asuka sighed. "Alright. Lead on."

The two of them walked in, their eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dimness of the space before they found Daniel near the back, standing in front of an anvil.

They approached the anvil and stopped, seeing what looked like two stacked sandwiches of metal, some shiny, some dull. "Are we making something out of these?" Shinji asked.

Daniel's smile grew wide as he rested his hands on the metal sandwiches. "Got it in one. We are going to be embarking on the task of forging swords from these billets."

It was silent for a moment, and Shinji was sure that both of them were shocked speechless. "I'm… not exactly cut out for this sort of stuff," Shinji said, raising arms which he knew were thin, with delicate fingers that were well used to playing a cello or piano.

"On the contrary, kids," Daniel replied, "you're more cut out for this than ever before. You have the strength, the precision, needed to do this kind of work without a struggle. Though, that somewhat undercuts the exercise that you can get from it."

"Okay, so… again, why?" Asuka said, a brow raised critically.

"Well, for one, it's better than only sitting and stewing in order to deal with something. Trust me. I know. And it'll get your bodies and minds active as we put your Interfacing to the test, building your skill with it."

He paused for a moment. "And, a long, long time ago now, during my solo traveling, I met a blacksmith. A gentleman by the name of Andre of Astora. He was a humble sort, stuck to what he said he knew, but he was wise in his humility. After spending a while around him, depending on his services to keep me alive, I asked him to teach me how to forge a sword."

"I'm guessing he said yes?" Shinji said slowly.

Daniel nodded. "He did." He was silent again for a moment, looking off into the middle distance. "I still have that first sword, too."

He shook his head slightly as he refocused on the Children in front of him. "Anyway, his first words to me before I even touched a hammer were to tell me that the act of forging a sword is more than simply making a tool. It is a process of revelation. Of exploring your capacities."

"Sounds like a lot of mystic mumbo-jumbo to me," Asuka said as she rolled her eye.

"I haven't been able to prove him wrong yet." Daniel shrugged. "Neither him nor any other blacksmith I've come across."

"So, as long as I've got you here, we're going to create something. It's not going to be perfect, but it's going to be yours, however much beating on the metal we'll have to do."

"And while we're doing it, I hope you'll learn the lesson that this process teaches you. To start off, these billets are the two of you…"

He walked over to a wall, took down a decently sized hammer, and walked back to the anvil. "And this, and every other tool, flame, and oil that touches these blocks of metal," he continued as he tapped the head of the hammer against each metal sandwich, "is life."

Shinji and Asuka blinked, then Asuka narrowed her eye. "I don't exactly find the comparison flattering, Daniel. Considering all we've been through and that."

"Then you've scratched the surface of it, Asuka." Daniel seemed, of all things, pleased by Asuka's annoyance. "Keep the comparison in the back of your mind while we're working. Because this is going to take a little while, doing it the way I learned it."

"And… how is that?" Shinji asked, suppressing a slight groan like the one that Asuka didn't bother to hide.

"The old-fashioned way."

. . .

Burbank, New Pacifica

"Ship gravitation systems are online!"

"Initial data-link to fleet vessels established. Running final handshake protocols."

"Achiral System is coming through. We are clear to lift off."

Commander Ryoji Kaji stood in the middle of the controlled chaos that was the bridge of the Wunder and pondered for a moment if he was really up to the task of keeping all of this in order. Heaven knew he was only an Interior man, a spy of what was nowadays the highest order. Hardly commander material.

Which is why he treated the intel that he'd gotten from Ms. Makinami so seriously. If they were going to have a massive force fall on their heads once they'd lifted off, it was going to make a road trip to Paris very difficult indeed.

But, he mused, that was what made an organization like WILLE so important. Because while he couldn't run this ship, Misato and Ritsuko certainly could. And while he certainly couldn't use magic, Mrs. Theisman was very on top of that. Along with her ship, it seemed.

"Alright," Misato said as she looked over at him, "we're ready for liftoff. Unit-08's arms are fully functional, and, hopefully, we're ready for whatever assault NERV decides to throw at us. Permission for liftoff?"

Ryoji nodded. "Granted, Misato. Let's get this show on the road."

Misato nodded in turn after a moment, clearly still a little weirded out that her husband, of all things, was above her in this chain of command, and turned back to the rest of the bridge. "Wunder, launch!"

With a keening hum, the ship began to slowly lift into the air, Ryoji watching one of the screens closest to him intently as it showed the rest of the fleet rising into the air with them. At the bottom of every ship, at least one Enchanted Shield of Virtue, or the majority of them anyway, was attached to the bottom of the ship. It would make protecting the ship an interesting affair going forward, and put a much bigger job on the helmsman.

It was quiet after a few moments as they got underway, those on the bridge seeming to hold their breath as they began to cross the Black Mesa facility in New Mexico from more than a little ways away, radar scans showing an impossibly clear patch surrounding where the base peeked above ground that was about a mile or two wide. They all waited for a bogey, one of the strange white 'Herald Units' to possibly pop up and come racing after them. But, thankfully, there was no aggression from the base in question as they soared past.

More than a few sighs of relief rose around the bridge as they left the base behind. "Y'know," Misato said somewhat contemplatively after a moment, "I've always wondered what Black Mesa was. Weren't they working with NERV's US branch on Unit-04?"

"Among other things, from what I can recall," Ritsuko replied. "Black Mesa was, surprise surprise, a black site dedicated to all sorts of American research. They were getting close to something big in terms of material science on some strange crystal before Second Impact basically shut them down."

"How interesting." Ryoji mused. "I wonder how that would have played out."

"Probably something boring, at least relatively so to us, that would have never been released to the general public in any decent timeframe." Ritsuko shrugged. "That's black-site science for you."

"I wouldn't say that, Ritsuko."

Several pairs of eyes turned to Eleanor, who stood on the bridge next to Ryoji with a somewhat grim expression on her face. "I've been to the World Engine that seems to be the origin of Black Mesa as a concept. That strange crystal you mentioned, Ritsuko? It would open up a portal to another inhabited dimension with an alien civilization. With all the complications that come with them being hostile."

It was silent for a moment as all on the bridge considered her words. "You know," Misato said after a moment, "at least we only had to deal with 13 Angels. They didn't have an army or an occupation force to deal with as well."

Ryoji glanced over at Eleanor, who gave him a somehow knowing look that he couldn't pin down the reason for. Then, before any of them could continue, Ryoji's phone gave a quick tone, drawing Misato and Ritsuko's attention to him as he got the phone out of his pocket, and read the text that Mari had just sent him.

"From our dear old Sensei," Ryoji read aloud, "be advised: Erbsünde joining up with attack group. About 5 hours ETA to your position. Will relay if anything else changes. Good luck."

A chill fell over the command staff on the bridge. "Another of Heaven's Keys." Misato mused grimly. "That's going to make things worse. Especially if the technical specs I remembered are on those things."

Ritsuko nodded. "What I'd give to have some of that weaponry on our side."

"The Gebet is also in South America," Ryoji said, looking over at Eleanor. "There's a decent chance it might join the party as well. Can your ship track it?"

"If it's not somehow hiding from us," Eleanor replied assuredly as she pulled out what she called a clear-pad, "though I doubt that's the case."

She stretched the screen to the size of a tablet, and Ryoji could almost see Ritsuko drooling in envy as she worked, angling the screen toward them all after a moment to show them a map of the world, a red triangle marked 'Gebet' somewhere over what had been the country of Peru.

"It's pointed right at us," Misato said darkly.

"It's also been on patrol around the area since it lifted off several months ago," Ritsuko remarked coolly. "It's why we haven't been able to make a Safe Zone there in the first place."

"Even still," Ryoji interjected, "I think it's better to be safe than sorry. There's a good chance this thing might decide to join the party."

"That there is," Misato said, pausing for a moment before she looked over at Eleanor. "Good thing we have our own backup. How quickly can your ship get here?"

"In seconds," Eleanor replied. "And I can make sure my pilots are ready and waiting."

"That's good," Ryoji once again interjected, "but… perhaps we shouldn't be too hasty in playing our hand."

Ritsuko nodded. "Yes. If we allow them to approach us on the supposition that we're only one major vessel, then we can use the… Val, correct?"

As Eleanor nodded, Misato picked up on Ritsuko's line of thinking. "We can sandwich them in between our ships." she began to smile slightly. "It's nice to be able to do that."

Ryoji nodded. "That it is. Mrs. Theisman, get your pilots and ship ready to move at a moment's notice. When the attack hits us, put them behind enemy lines. We'll sandwich them from there."

"I'll make sure everyone's ready to go," Eleanor said as she turned back to her tablet, which she shrank to the size of a smartphone as she began to place a call.

"I just hope it's enough for what we could be facing," Ritsuko said, the slightest hesitation in her voice.

"With what we've seen, Ritsuko?" Misato said, a slight smile on her face. "I think we'll be just fine."

. . .

"Okay, Shinji, get ready to hammer."

Shinji held the hammer in his hands, shifting his grip somewhat uncertainly as he watched Daniel holding the metal, shaped by his own hammering beforehand, in the forge. A part of him had been… somewhat disappointed when after only a few hits, the metal had cooled, and he had needed to place it back into the forge, once, then again, then again. Even holding it was an arduous task, one that Daniel said would eventually combine with him hammering on it himself.

"Are you sure I'm going to be strong enough to do it?" Shinji said uncertainly. "I mean, I know I can be, but… can I control it?"

"I'm sure you can," Daniel said, glancing over at Shinji with a slight smile. "Because I'll be keeping track of your strength through a connection between our souls, like when I helped you regain your hearing."

Shinji nodded slowly, and Asuka sighed from behind him. "I'm sure newbie Shinji finds this fascinating, but I don't see why I'm sticking around for any of this."

"Because we'll start on yours when Shinji's done making the first fold in his. It's going to be back and forth until I step out of helping directly, and have you two working together on these."

Shinji looked back at Asuka, sharing the incredulous look on her face. "You mean you're just going to hand us these hunks of metal, in front of a blazing hot fire, and around all sorts of heavy tools, just to try and teach us some vague lesson?"

Daniel tilted his head slightly, a small grin on his face. "Come on now, Asuka. You can't tell me this is the most dangerous thing you've ever done."

Asuka opened her mouth, then closed it with a sigh. "Damn you for being right," she grumbled.

Shinji almost missed Daniel's chuckle over the crackling flames, then felt the somewhat strange sensation of Daniel connecting his soul to him. "Alright, Shinji. Get ready. This is coming out now, and we're going to make our first fold."

Shinji turned back to the forge and watched as Daniel pulled out the length of glowing red, almost utterly white metal that the seemingly simple sandwich had become, and set it on the anvil. "Just like I showed you. Put a rhythm to it, and we'll fold it over on itself if the tempo's quick enough."

Shinji looked down, the heat rippling off it visible as it splashed against his face, making him grateful that some goggles had been provided by the man in charge of the blacksmith as he began the process of hammering the metal out. Like Daniel had said, an even tempo was almost easy to settle into, and he could almost hear a tune out of the strikes of the hammer, slowly but surely lengthening the metal as Daniel turned it every few strikes.

"A little stronger," Daniel said without speaking, gently encouraging him to tune his strings of strength as he placed a blunt, blade-like tool halfway over the billet, allowing Shinji to make a cut that they would use to fold the metal. "Not too much, though. You can't cheat at this sort of thing and get something good. Besides, you'll get plenty of muscle to woo the ladies with."

Amusement was evident in those last words as Shinji began to bend the metal over the side of the anvil, each strike bending it another few degrees lower. He was hopeful, and perhaps somewhat glad, that the exertion that flushed his face would have hidden any blush of embarrassment.

The length of metal, now at nearly a ninety-degree angle, flipped up and slid back across the anvil's surface. Shinji wasn't entirely sure how he was ready for it and didn't even miss a beat, but they were close. The metal still glowed a brilliant orange-red, and every few hits sent it down a few more degrees. Just a few more hits…

Then, it was fully folded over, a few more strikes ensuring the metals fused with each other just before the glow began to leave them. Shinji found himself panting from the effort, his arms aching as he let the hammer down to his side and stepped back.

"Good job, Shinji," Daniel said with a smile. "You've made the first fold. We'll stop here today, as we need to start on Asuka's before the day's out."

"Wait a minute," Asuka said as Daniel and Shinji waited for the metal to cool completely. "How many folds are we going to be putting into these blades?"

"For the western-style blades we're making? About a dozen before we start on the blade-making process proper. I did say this was going to take a while." Daniel paused for a moment as he took the now mostly cooled metal and set it aside, retrieving Asuka's billet. "Now come on, Asuka. If there's anywhere where I encourage you to hit something harder, it's here."

Asuka sighed quietly as she took the welded rod that held her billet, and hoisted it into the fire with seemingly little effort. Even still, it seemed… odd to see her doing something that was so slow, so seemingly graceless. She bore the task without much in the way of complaint, a few grumbles here and there the only fire she seemed to show. It was… weird. Very weird.

All the same, she began the first fold far more quickly than Shinji had, the metal clashing together and undergoing what Daniel had called 'forge-welding' in short order. The hammer was set on the anvil, And Asuka turned to face Shinji, hands on hips. "As ridiculous as this is," she said, the slightest hitch to her words, "that wasn't that bad. You've got some competition here, and I'm going to make sure you gotta work hard to catch up to me."

She smiled. It was slight, and he was sure that she wasn't smiling at him, but even still, it felt… special. 'Does she really think I can keep up with her, though?'

"There's something that tells me getting another anvil is going to make this interesting," Daniel said as the metal in front of him cooled. "Even still, you're here to learn first and foremost. You have no need to stress about or rush anything here. The next few days are going to be the hardest you're going to hit things. And the hardest you're going to be hit back by the effort."

He smiled in turn. "But I think you'll get the hang of it. Now, let's get some dinner. We've got busy days ahead of us."

. . .

Mari Makinami was about to be very, very busy, she was sure. She clicked on her Plugsuit in her quarters, uncaring of Rei's presence as she changed and felt comfortable in her second, salmon-pink skin. "Well, bluebird," she said as she did a little shimmy to settle into the Plugsuit, "wish me luck. Heaven knows I'm going to need it."

Rei nodded. "I will do so. This threat that Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki has told us about seems to be quite a pressing one."

"You know it," Mari replied as she made her way to the door. "Shame you don't have an Eva handy, Rei. It'd help out a lot here, I'm sure."

Rei was quiet for a moment. "I am unsure of that. I was not very well trained during my time with Unit-00. Besides my effort to destroy the 10th Angel, I was well behind the other pilots in skill."

"It's good, Rei." Mari paused at the door as she turned to smile at her. "Besides, I'd have your back. Just like you had mine back then."

Then, before they could really savor the moment, the alarm sounded, and Mari opened the door in a flash. "Looks like I'm on! Wish me luck, Yui!"

She was running down the hallway and well on her way to Unit-08 before she realized fully what she'd said. 'Well, no time to take it back now. You're still around though, Yui. Thanks for keeping us up in the air.'

She reached the gantry for her Eva, Eleanor waiting by her Entry Plug in a very spiffy, armored-up Plugsuit that matched her Eva's colors. "What's the situation?" Mari asked as she stepped into the Plug.

"The attack is about 10 minutes out," Eleanor began with a grimace. "Unfortunately, the Gebet decided to join the party too."

Mari winced. "Great. Another big evil skyship. Glad you guys are dropping in, at the very least." she paused for a moment as the hatch began to close with Eleanor's input. "That is the plan, right?"

Eleanor smiled as the door paused for a moment. "The whole gang's going to be here."

Mari thought she couldn't feel giddier as the Plug sealed around her, and she felt the process of her Evangelion activating thrum through her as she connected with it. Her arms still felt on the edge of fuzziness, like she'd laid on them awkwardly for a few hours. Even still, she noticed the pressure of her new, kick-ass braces as the connection points dotted her arms. Several machine guns, cannons really, popped up on a display as she finished the activation process, showing their link to the two prominent triggers on her joysticks.

A comm screen flashed on as the world came into view, the command bridge before her as the gantry began to rotate her out to the surface of the ship. "Alright, Mari," Misato began. "We're beginning to turn to face the main attacking force. It's going to be a little difficult to shoot at them directly, as we're going to be using the ships to shield you from any long-range attacks."

"I'm fine with whatever keeps us alive, ma'am." Mari tilted her head as Unit-08 breached the open air, standing up as the gantry released her. "Any idea when our out-of-town friends might be showing up?"

Another panel popped up, this time showing Eleanor in her Plug. "When the Gebet gets within striking distance. All the other pilots are ready and raring to go, but for now, we should be able to keep the main force busy."

She looked over across the way and found Unit=10 (an odd way to say it, that) standing on the main body of the ship, a sharp, almost blade-like shield on its left arm taken from one of the Enchanted Shields of Virtue that they'd used. She'd have had to find her own after things got up close and personal if she didn't already have her braces on.

As she watched, one small drone, then another, seemingly made of whirring clockwork and coral that were thin, bladed almost like her shield, came into existence, floating a little over her Eva's head. "Whoa," she said as a swarm of a little over a dozen of the things soon came into being. "That's a neat trick."

"With how many enemies we're going to be facing, we're going to need the numbers on our side." Eleanor paused for a moment as Unit=10 looked down at the braces that Unit-08 wore, orange in the sunlight before terminating in two clusters of four cannon barrels, two pop-out sets of industrial claws hidden at their ends where the Eva's hands were enveloped. "How are your arms?"

"They're alright, all things considered," Mari mused as she raised them. "I'm going to be bunk at any sort of long-range, but once they get into my reach, it's going to be fun."

"Let's hope it doesn't get that dire." Doctor Akagi interjected. "5 minutes to contact. The Büse is still 15 minutes out. The main force should be within visual range now."

Mari and Eleanor looked out over the sky, and Mari could see the black, fuzzy cloud rapidly closing in on them. She magnified her view, a window on her screen showing the space inside it growing more and more detailed, soon allowing her to pick out their individuals, all swarming like flies around the ship that came towards them. She could pick out the screams of the Mark.04As on the edge of her hearing, the sound drifting in with the breeze.

As they settled into position, the ships of the fleet, so often on the same plane as their flagship as if they were still floating on the sea,

Her gaze drifted to a group of what must have been those new prototypes that Sensei had talked about. They were odd ducks compared to their companions, slate grey compared to the purples and greens that surrounded them. They looked like quadcopters, outriggers connected to strange 'propellers' that looked like someone had shrunk down several shoulder pylons and set them spinning. The 'front' of the thing was two strange masks taped together, their eye holes surrounding a strange spear, two tines not unlike the Wunder's spiraling out from a dull crimson haft.

Then, she took stock of their largest, likely deadliest threat. The vessel known as the Erbsünde. It looked quite a bit like the Wunder did, but it was all in black, armor completely covering the parts that would have been otherwise exposed, its twin tines long and sharp compared to the rather blocky ones on their ship. Along with the set of wings that she expected to see, another pair swept out toward the front of the ship, framing what she thought might have been the turrets, spherical and slightly inset into the tines. Where the radar dishes were on the Wunder, strange crystalline spikes stabbed into the sky, patterned with an almost rippling effect in an odd contrast to the rest of the ship.

"Fuyutsuki detectors are spiking!" Hyuga shouted from off-camera of the bridge feed as the screams grew a little louder. "ETA on main force is 1 minute!"

Mari took a deep breath and raised her arms, a quick button press extending the claws that took the place of her hands as she readied herself to fire. To her right, a flowing rod of sea glass, blue and green and nearly black, appeared in Unit=10's hands, a massive ax blade cascading out of the end as she pointed it at the approaching foe, two pieces near the head of the ax floating just a little off it as a third piece of sea glass, glowing now, appeared between them. 'That's gnarly.'

There was little time to think about it though, as the now nearly deafening screams were almost drowned out by the thunder of the Wunder's guns, the missiles and cannons of the rest of the fleet joining in as streams of Anti-At Field rounds went soaring into the sky. Mari joined the symphony of destruction in short order as she let her cannons roar, catching from the corner of her eyes as a stream of prismatically glowing rounds from Unit=10 cut a line through many of the fast, but none-too-nimble 04As. In seconds, both of them were forced to dodge and weave as the Marks began to zip past. She'd have tried to reach out and give one of them a good smack, but braces could get a little too mangled, and that would leave her in none too great a place, wouldn't it?

Even still, the 04As exploded around her, the new quadcopters managing to weave and dodge between what their AT Fields didn't block. 'Nimble little jerks.' she groused as she laid down a withering field of fire on a group that approached her. A few tanked the shots with likely quite weak AT Fields before they went up in (relatively) small fireballs. A few dodged, and one darted straight down at her head, the spear thingy it wielded looming large in moments.

She raised her AT Field almost on instinct, then yelped as she got pushed aside, Unit-08 falling to the deck as the spear darted past where her head had been and slammed into the wing. "Careful, Mari!" Eleanor shouted as Mari saw her deflect another coming at her with her greataxe. "Those are Lance copies! They'll go straight through your AT Field!"

"What?" Mari said incredulously as she got Unit-08 to its feet. "That's just rude!"

She turned to see a little over a dozen Mark.06Hs landing on the wing a little ways away from her. Some of them carried the familiar Pallet Rifles, tipped with Prog bayonets. A group of four held those same Lances, whatever they were, low, advancing toward them. Mari raised her arms, claws at the ready, and was only able to take a few steps before she noticed the horizon beginning to tilt. That she didn't fall on her ass despite the personal gravity she was in was a testament to how focused on the charging Evangelions that looked to skewer her.

'Well, fortune favors the bold!' Mari thought as she clacked the power claws together, Unit-08 charging toward her foes as they leveled their Lances at her. Accompanying her charge, several of Eleanor's drones zipped past her, slamming into four of the 06Hs that leveled Pallet Rifles at her and taking them out of the fight before she even arrived. She batted the Lances that stabbed out at her aside, letting her AT Field deal with the stray rounds from the others as she dodged more than a few jabs.

As she caught a thrust in a power claw, aiming down the Lance's length to unleash a hail of fire on the poor 06H that stood against her, tearing into the head and chest and causing it to collapse, a thunderous boom sounded above her head, and she danced back to get some space between her and the remaining 06Hs in order to look up.

Past the swirling school of ships that passed over her, the Erbsünde swam overhead, seemingly turned upside down compared to them, the turrets opened up like eyes showing brilliant purple pupils as they flashed and buzzed again, three ships diving into the way as massive explosions, ones that might have been on par with the 10th Angel's, hammered against the ships and their Shields.

"Uh, guys?" She heard a new voice chime in on a new comm pane as she caught Unit=10 leap into the fray with the 06Hs. "The Büse? It's accelerating, and fast. It'll be at your position in 3 minutes!" Why was that voice familiar to her?

Eleanor tsked as she wove her way through the 06Hs, burying her ax deep into the side of one in front of her as a powerful shot tore through the one behind it, tearing out the ax to bat away the Lance copy that jabbed at her, smacking the poor fool with the flat of her blade. "Alright, fine then. Ken, bring the Val out and have the pilots drop onto the Wunder's hull! The Val can keep our new friend off our backs."

"Dropping into the fight in 105 seconds!"

It was a long, hectic 105 seconds, and Mari spent it bouncing from Mark to Mark, more and more landing on the deck or swooping in to try and clip her. She danced back from another one who wielded a Lance copy, finding herself surprisingly clear of any other enemies for the moment. "Hey, come on!" she shouted at her opponent over her loudspeakers, beckoning it toward her with a wave.

It took the bait, thrusting in for a hit that would go through her core and her Plug if it connected. 'Come on, you couldn't have made this easier!'

She twisted out of the way of the strike, ending up beside her foe as she grabbed the haft of the Lance copy with her claws, the grip sure even as the two of them struggled to take control of the Lance. Finally, she ripped it free from the Mark's grasp, slamming the butt of the Lance into the Mark's stomach and awkwardly flipping the bident over, cursing quietly as it almost slipped from her grasp before ramming it home into the 06H's chest, sending it slumping to the deck.

"Alright, here we come!"

There was a thunderous pop and a flash of light, a hollow tearing sound diverting the attention of their enemies long enough for Mari to turn and get a good look at the long, sloping slash appearing in the air behind the Erlosüng.

From that tear emerged a swarm of missiles that dove into the now thinned cloud of Marks, detonating with perfect spherical explosions. Then, following after, a sleek, chisel-like ship emerged, surrounded by a network of floating pods, beginning to roll as it passed over the enemy vessel, lances of prismatic energy slamming into, and even punching through, the ship's AT Fields and scoring hits along its armor. As the ship fired back, the spheres of energy, ones that she'd seen crack through some of the toughest armor she'd seen, were stopped dead in their tracks, rings of light surrounding them, then consuming them slowly.

On its top, or what she assumed to be its top, stood a sight Mari would have never thought she'd get to see. As one, six Evangelions pushed off the saucer section at what she assumed was the back of the ship, wings of light and water and ice and leaves unfurling as they shot and stabbed and slashed their way through the cloud of Marks, appearing almost like ancient heroes and gods as they touched down around her and Eleanor.

As they landed and the fight began anew, the ship passed over them, righting itself (comparatively speaking) as it did and beginning to fire those missiles and cannons at what was likely their other arriving company.

She turned her focus back to the fight, picking out shark-girl easily enough and bounding over toward her as she raised her Lance copy, slamming down the bladed bident on a passing quadcopter thingy that was aimed right for her friend's back and sending it to the deck. Shark-girl turned and sent a trident (terribly on point, that) right through the quadcopter.

"Hey there, shark-girl!" Mari said through her loudspeakers as she stabbed a passing 04A, the action ripping the Lance copy out of her hands as it spiraled away and into the ocean… above them. She tried not to think too hard about that. "Long time, no see!"

It was silent for a moment as they both engaged other targets, shark-girl and Mari going back to back as they covered each other in making a sea of destroyed enemy Marks.

Then, she heard shark-girl's voice out loud for the first time. "On your left, Mari!"

She looked over, instinctively ducking, then flinched as a shot went past her head with the sound of… a beat drop? In an instant, she saw the two 06Hs that were dashing toward her blown back by a wall of visible, colored sound, the waves of red and green and tan throwing them off the ship entirely even as it physically crushed them.

Mari turned and found… Unit-08.

Or, well, it looked somewhat like her Eva. It was the same three-horned head, down a few eyes, and the color scheme was wildly different, green and tan and red, but… 'Is that me?'

The Unit-08 lookalike before her, a slightly curved sword in one hand, gave her a thumbs up before it leaped back into the fray. She still wondered, but that was a question for later. It looked like it was just about to become manageable. She could see clearly, or at least as clearly as she could through the spinning Shield ships, the ship that had jumped out of… wherever it had come from, swirling through the air as it dueled the Büse with cannons and missiles, a few stray shots from the NERV ship's cannons breaching through whatever shielding it had and splashing over the hull of the ship. It was a tough bird, though, lances of fire like deadly rainbows slicing through the AT Fields that stood against it and allowing missiles of seemingly wild variation to dart in and slam into the ship.

She turned her focus back to the battle around her, and couldn't help for the briefest of moments marveling at the sight. Marks were being tied together by literal branches, leaves growing on their bodies. The bright white one danced through the air on pads of flashing light above the 06Hs that stood below it, a glaive slashing down at them with near impunity. Metal and thunder and water and, of all things, a clay dragon combined into a symphony of nigh magical destruction that cut down their foes in seconds, a sight that left Mari breathless. 'Can I do that?'

She returned to the fray, losing herself in strike and counterstrike, dodge and weave and try not to fall over the side of the ship as she leaped across its hull. Then she blinked, and wondered where the time had gone as the battle seemed to be coming to a close, the ships of the fleet returning back to their standard pattern surrounding the ship as the two dark vessels of NERV slipped away, what few Marks remained accompanying them.

"Good work, pilots," Eleanor said as the Evas around her began to clean up the space around them. "Let's get things in order around here. Mari, you go and seal up some of the hull breaches. Mana and Mayumi will go with you to help out. Hikari, you'll be with me while we patch up the ship itself. Toji, take Ichigo and start cleaning up the bodies that are still on here. Keep a quadcopter around for the doctor to study, and keep an eye out for anyone that might come after us. We might be clear of the big fight, but I don't want anyone to get the drop on us."

As she spoke, the Unit-08 look-alike went towards a long series of gashes and holes made by shells or energy blasts, shark-girl and the golden demon-looking one accompanying her. The tree-man and the one that looked like a painted Mayan statue walked over to a rather shockingly large pile of bodies of various types.

"Uh, Ms. Eleanor?" Mari asked as Unit=10 turned to face her. "Anything I need to do?"

"You should be good to go if the commander decides it," Eleanor said with a smile as she knelt down with the white, almost angelic-looking one to a gash in the wing that was bleeding.

Mari glanced at the comm screen that showed the command bridge and found all of them looking more than a little shell-shocked, slack-jawed even in their expression of apparent awe. "Come back in, Mari." Captain Katsuragi finally said. "We'll go ahead and get back to being underway to Paris."

"Good job, Mari," Ryoji said with a thumbs up. "You made us proud out there."

She saw Katsuragi blink, then nod. "Yes, Mari. Good job."

"Well, well. Been a while since I heard that from you. Ryoji really is a good influence on you, isn't he?'

Mari smiled. Things were getting interesting, in a good way. She was looking forward to talking to Rei about the juicy developments. Then she blinked. 'Wait a minute. She did say Mari, didn't she?'

That was going to be quite interesting indeed.

. . .

Eleanor smiled as she watched Unit-08 walking back to its gantry, her comm screen blinking out as she glanced over at the command bridge. "I'll be tuned out while me and mine help patch things up out here. We'll be in when we're done."

"Acknowledged, Major Theisman," Ritsuko said. "Our regards for catching one of the new Marks for us. Along with a few of those 'Lance copies'."

Eleanor nodded, then muted the channel as she got to work Mending the biological parts of the ship, skin, muscle and bones slowly knitting back together as Hikari helped her in another section of the ship.

"So is that it, then?" Mari Marlowe said through her link, Eleanor glancing up to see her patching up the inorganic parts of the ship in quick order. "The secret's out, and we can finally start helping out around here more?"

Eleanor considered the question for a moment, then sighed quietly. "Yeah. I'd say it is."

"Well, at least we can just go ahead and rip the band-aid off then," Toji said as another Mark disappeared into a bed of flowers, the petals drifting away on the wind.

"That we can…" Eleanor again began to ponder as she moved on to the next gash in the wing, closer to the main body of the vessel. If they were ripping off the band-aid now, then they'd need to make sure that command could be integrated. Having singular command of Outbound Operations, requiring WILLE's command staff to run just through her, would be both tiring and possibly dangerous in the line of fire if she got caught out. They would need to get far more familiar with each other than they had been up to now if she wanted to trust that they could all work to the best of their abilities.

"Alright, kids," she said as she came to a decision. "You'll be coming into the Wunder with me once we're done out here."

There were more than a few double-takes that she saw on her screens, and the effect was more than a little amusing. "Are we just doing a meet-and-greet, or…" Mayumi said, clearly still quite hesitant about the idea of being among so many strangers.

"No, Mayumi," Eleanor replied with a sympathetic expression, "we're going to be bunking with them for a while. We need to make sure that Captain Katsuragi and the rest of WILLE have a good grasp of our capabilities if we're going to be working together officially from here on."

Mayumi sighed quietly, then nodded. "Alright. Shame we're going to be away from the Val."

"Now I never said anything about the Val leaving. Or being unavailable to go to, at that." Eleanor smiled slightly as she pulled up a link to the Val's bridge.

As Kensuke's face appeared, she wasted little time. "Kensuke, go ahead and bring the ship up alongside the fleet. I'll contact my minder Percival up on the Errant and have him lay low while taking over sensor duties."

"Got it, Major," Kensuke said, the wheel spinning as he swung the ship around. "So I guess we're going loud and proud then?"

"As proud as we can be. You'll be joining us when we're done out here. We're going to introduce ourselves to the command staff."

Kensuke nodded as he zipped up a jacket that had been hanging open. "So I should go find my beret. Got it."

A chuckle rippled through the comms. "Do we have to worry about getting ours, Eleanor?" Hikari asked.

"No need. We'll go in Plugsuits. Give them all a show they won't forget."

"I thought Daniel was usually the one for showmanship," Mana said with a slight smile and an equally slight arch to her brow. "This seems to be a little much for you, from what I've seen."

"Well, Daniel's rubbed off on me some. What can I say?"

They all finished their tasks in short order, the Frame Titans disappearing off of the body of the Wunder while their Frame Plugs disappeared shortly after, leaving the pilots standing on top of the ship, staring out into the setting sun. They stood there silently, appreciating it for a moment before Eleanor called up the Val. "Amaya, is Kensuke ready?"

"Yes, he is," Amaya said with a somewhat amused tone of patience.

"Good. Teleport us and him to the main meeting room of the Wunder. I'll feed you where."

She did so through a Pneumaic link, then ended the call. In a moment, the world fuzzed, fading slightly as the sunset and the meeting room blended before the room snapped into focus. She nodded as the pilots took some seats for themselves and rang up Ryoji. "Hey there," Ryoji said as he answered.

"Hey there, yourself. Meet us in the main meeting room just behind the bridge. I've got some people I want the command staff and the Children to meet."

It was quiet for a moment, but she could tell she'd piqued Ryoji's interest. "Alright, then. I'll get them there. Meet you there."

"See you." She ended the call, taking a seat at the table that allowed her to look at the door, folding her arms, and leaning on the table. Now, all that was left was to wait.

It didn't take much of that, the door sliding open and the command staff and pilots of WILLE streaming in. Before they took a seat, they stood there for a moment, taking in the pilots and their Plugsuits, along with Kensuke in his uniform as he sat between Mayumi and Ichigo.

Eleanor stood. "I believe we have introductions that we need to make."

She looked up and down the table. "These are the Suzuharas, the Aidas, Mana Kirishima, and Mariah Marlowe. All but Kensuke, as I'm sure you can tell, are my fellow pilots, and Kensuke is the captain of the Gwynivere's Valiant Daughter."

As the pilots and Kensuke exchanged greetings, Mari walked around the table, coming to a stop in front of Mariah. As she stood, looking down slightly at her copilot, Eleanor could see… shock in Mari Makinami's eyes. "Mariah… it's… you?"

Mariah nodded. "Yeah. Are you…"

The question was cut off by a fierce hug. "Oh, Mariah," Mari whispered, and Eleanor, along with everyone else, saw tears streaming down her face. "I knew you'd grow up like this. It's so good to see you. To… to hug you again."