Evangelion: You Shall (not) Win This Time
Episode 27: (calm) Before the Storm/Altered Episode 17 Brings a (brief) reprieve
(Warning: All intellectual properties belong to their respective original creators/current copyright holders. EVA to Studio Khara, Reality Warpers to Yoshi3000, you get the idea.)
(Opening Theme: "Reverse/Re:Birth" by Hiroaki Iwagana and Asaya)
Bishops was alone with Kaji within the confines of what used to be Gendo's office with only one question coming out of him: "Did Asuka squeal about my mission to you?"
"You know, I'm a bit upset that you underestimate my investigative capability when it wasn't that hard to put the pieces together. Think: you show up out of nowhere and eventually take over the joint, take Shinji and his friends under your wing, slowly but surely building up a private army of vigilantes, then the "alien invasions" start because you made a petty enemy with poor tactical skills, then a group of "alien refugees" come seeking safe haven out of nowhere, most of which look exactly like characters from a popular manga with you acting chummy chummy with the leadership, and all the while whenever there's a human sized counterpart of an Angel running about causing havoc, you're miraculously nowhere to be seen at HQ. You look me in the eye and tell me that you don't think that's normal."
"You're right, it's not normal." responded Bishops before adding "But now I want you to think of everything that's changed for the better since I've entered the picture. Lilith's dead along with the twats who wanted to use its power in order to instigate the apocalypse, technology has advanced beyond what would've been expected from a pre-Second Impact world, and those kids now have a fighting chance of living a good life once everything here is over and done with. I've done what I did for the sake of making sure that what SEELE and Gendo wanted didn't happen. Yeah, I've made my fuck ups in the process, and chances are highly likely that I'm gonna make a whole lot more. But I'll keep fighting for the better future that NERV promises the world, not for my own power fantasy bullshit, but because if I didn't interfere, than once the last Angel fell, the whole of mankind was gonna be in for one bad final day. Which leaves one last question: are you onboard with what I wanna do, or am I gonna have to run you over?"
Kaji's answer: "When and where do I start training to do all the out there shit you do?" as Bishops answers "Report to the settlement that the refugees have set up first thing in the morning. I'll make sure that our allies will be there to start you on the fundamentals of Ki control and supply you with modular training weights. You'll be asked to wear them at most times sans bath or shower time. Welcome to the Knights of Ryujin." before extending his hand which Kaji grips as a sign of comradery.
The next morning, the remainder of the Knights were already in the heat of training within the GARD in preparation for whatever problems may come with the altered canon of episode 18, for each of them knew that that particular episode serves as the keystone to the show's endgame. Toji charges at Bishops for a haymaker as the level 10 Warper blocks the strike with his elbow with his ward asking "Hey boss, I've been meaning to ask since we were doing that Hyper Time training, Are we gonna let EVA Unit-04 stay intact and let Kaworu use it, or are you gonna blow it up like in canon? Just asking so we know what's what."
Bishops answered "I'll deal with Unit-04 personally later, but have you and the others gone over the plan on what to do with Unit-03 once Bardiel possesses it?", to which Toji responded "So once I'm in the plug and do the activation, use Instant Transmission to GTFO before Bardiel makes themselves known so you can let Shinji and the others go full ham on it while you, me and the other members of the team fight the Kaijin if it shows up, and if the Angel itself pulls a fast one and stops me from just teleporting out of the Entry Plug, You give the order for Rei and Asuka to hold the giant freak of nature down while Shinji cuts me open a path for me to eject the plug." before attempting to go in for a knee to the gut of his mentor, only to have his leg grabbed and swung into a clashing Strasberg and Keita. Meanwhile, Shinji and Kaworu were in the midst of a high speed sparring duel when the renegade Angel decided to ask his associate some questions regarding the events of the episodes prior.
"You said that after you were dogpiled by the duplicates of yourself we're currently assuming was the Angel's herald, your memory went blank until you awoke in the hospital, correct?" with Shinji dodging an uppercut and replying "Exactly, your point?" while going for a midair flip kick.
Kaworu responded "I'd like to draw some comparisons with you to prior events where such memory blanking has happened to you to see if there's a correlation and possibly a way you can fully master your Divine Ki reserves without the need of the seal." as he lobbed a dodgeball sized orb of concussive Ki towards the Third Child who dodged the attack and asked "You think that me beating the Angel was caused by me tapping into more reserves than the seal could handle?" as he managed to land a knee to the spinal cord of his opponent, sending them down towards the ground, only for Kaworu to quickly recover before landing on the floor and answering "It's a stretch, but it does have at least some components that could prove this theory true. Tell me, have you noticed anything regarding the seal after you woke up from the battle? Say, if it seemed any….weaker?"
Shinji's response: "A little bit, but I don't think it's at the point where I absolutely need to get it retouched up." as the two continue their match on the ground as Kaworu "Hmmm, and can you remember any other time that your memory blanked that might be connected to that energy's usage?", to which the Third Child answers "A few times that I can think of right off the bat. There was the time me and Larky were fighting that Jase guy who rigged the city to blow, and the time I was fighting that other version of me from another universe at the resort, and when I first absorbed the Metsu Sol Emerald….those are the only ones I remember off the top of my hat at the moment."
"I see." replied Kaworu before adding the question "And when the energy surge happens, how would you explain how it feels and appears mentally? Does it feel like a massive tidal wave is crashing right into you with you resisting, or does it feel like something else?"
Shinji answered "I haven't considered how it feels exactly, but that wave allegory is kinda spot on." while going in for a charging knee that Kaworu grabs and delivers a Judo flip and responds "I'll take what we've discussed and come up with a few ideas to share with you later."
(P.O.V. Shift)
Training had wrapped for the day as Bishops had made his way towards the place where his Warper Journey began: New Nevada, but he wasn't there to gamble and gorge at New Las Vegas. No, he was there for more important matters. NERV's US base, the current housing facility for Evangelion Unit-04 and the target for Bishops' next course of action to keep canon close to what happened, but still heavily altered. Thankfully, most employees were out of work that day due to being Veteran's Day, giving him free reign to do what he needs to do while giving the employees an out. The workers who were still around: the cleaning crew and a handful of researchers. An easy amount of people to quickly get out as Bishops made his way to the PA system and made the announcement to set his plans into motion.
"Attention all employees still on base, operations will be closing early today in order to enable all staff to be rested for the testing of Unit-04. I repeat, operations will be ceasing early today in order to enable all staff to be rested for the testing of Unit-04. Have a nice day."
Now obviously if you're working for a secretly evil organization unknowingly developing the tools meant to instigate the apocalypse, you'd be itching for any chance to take the day off. These employees were no exception to that statement as they began basically rushing out the doors to freedom, giving the level 10 Warper the perfect opportunity to dispose of one his multiple problems. Bishops made his way to the outside hangar where EVA Unit-04 was being contained and with a prompt usage of Ki, disintegrated the biomechanical monstrosity akin to how it was destroyed in canon, being ever so sure to stay out of sight of any cameras to cover his tracks. And with that, one less problem was in Bishops' way.
(P.O.V. Shift)
The campaign of the Lilac Storm pirates in Earth Dimensiom CMLZ-443-UX7 continued to prove itself to be a fierce fight as the war between the Bean Troopers and the RN/Gourdian aligned Squirrel Troopers was nearing its climax. The Gourdians had decided they had enough of the incompetence on display by their organic warriors, and opted to bring in a Hail Mary pass in the form of a large scale satellite cannon, capable of breaching a planet's core and destroying it in a single shot. Obviously this cannon had to go, and everyone was in the midst of what could be considered as the battle that would decide the entire war. The battle was being fought on two fronts per usual: on the terrestrial front, we had Kabuto and Ginyu leading the newly united Bean Troopers under the co-leadership of now general Hoohah in an attempt to take down Mucus once and for all. Meanwhile, the remaining pirates along with the Eds engaged in a vicious battle against the Gourdian forces defending the cannon while also preventing them from dropping additional reinforcements to aid the Squirrel Trooper forces. The Super Spiral's Triumph had just finished dealing the killing blow to a Gourdian destroyer as word of the planetside assault was reaching the bridge.
"We're encountering heavy resistance, but are managing to hold our own." went Kabuto before asking about the status of the extraterrestrial front.
"The Super Spiral's enemies are many, but we shall prevail." responded captain Rei before adding "The pilot trio is working their way towards the cannon as we speak while we provide covering fire. Continue to press the advantage as much as possible."
With the pirate crews dealing with larger vessels, the Ed trio were left to deal with fighters while making their way to the main weak point of the cannon: the energy emitter. Since the powerhouse Ed was armed with the most equipment on his fighter, he was the one doing most of the Gourdian destruction as Eddy and Double Dee rushed towards their target while picking off the stragglers.
"Jeez, these buckets of bolts just don't know when to call it quits." went Eddy as Double Dee responded "We're dealing with machines built by one of our former associates bent on multiversal domination, given how long we've been dealing with this on our own, the tenacity our artificial foes are programed with should be well known by now.", earning a "Already been involved with that, sockhead, don't need the play by play. How much further are we to the mark? Pretty sure monobrow can only hold off the majority of those tin cans for so long."
The genius Ed's answer: "We're nearing firing range, I need you to get in close with your VF-31's blades and do as much damage to the emitter casing as possible so my I can deal sufficient internal damage with my sniper rifle."
While his friends were in the midst of performing their part of the plan, big Ed was going to town on the Gourdian opposition, proclaiming "Foolish robot scum, you are no match for me! For I am Lothar, slayer of the mechanical forces of evil and injustice for all!", proving his point by having his VF-1 transform into its Battroid mode and chucking a Category: Dragon Squash Droid into a squad of fighters, wiping them all out in one attack.
Back to the planetary front, the Bean Trooper forces were somehow gaining the upper hand as high commissar Mucus seethes in the confines of her command chair.
"How are those pathetic Bean Troopers managing to turn the war around?!" went the barely keeping it together warthog war chief before going "We had the full support of the Gourdians and had managed to nearly conquer the entire planet, and now we're losing because a trio of fighter pilots and a group of space pirates decided to get involved!"
It was then that the voice of the water buffalo general emerged from the viewscreen.
"High commissar Mucus, this is general Hoohah of the Bean Trooper united army, this is your final chance to surrender quietly. Your Squash Droid reinforcements are being torn to shreds and you're little doomsday device is being destroyed as we speak. I will accept nothing less than you giving up unconditionally."
The tyrant's response: "It'll be a cold day in hell before I surrender to a Bean! My troopers and I will fight to the last woman, and I'm damn well sure you realize who I have on my side."
Hoohah knew that if this conflict continued long enough, his daughter Patsy would eventually meet her doom if she hadn't already, which is why he needed to end things here and now. The water buffalo answered "And it'll be a colder day down there when I let my little pumpkin fall because of a delusional warthog with aspirations of being a big shot. Prepare to meet your maker."
In the stars above, the fighting between the Lilac Storm armada and the Gourdians continued at a furious pace as both sides were taking hits and returning them in earnest. A Gourdian destroyer had managed to strike a blow on the hull of the Crimson Wind, knocking around the crew with Asuka opening comms towards both the Eds and the other pirate crews.
"I don't know how much longer that it's gonna take to deal with that stupid cannon, but you better make it quick before we all get turned into drifting debris!"
"We're trying!" responded Eddy as he and Double Dee were both dealing with their primary target and a surprise Gourdian defense troop so they can finally blow the accursed thing up and go home. The shortest in stature of the Ed trio managed to grab a Gourdian fighter and opted to drag it across the hull of the cannon, dealing some damage to the machine when his machine was struck in the leg by a lucky shot from another Gourdian combatant. Double Dee and Ed were quick to witness this and swiftly retaliated. The three were in a position where they knew they had to act quickly, lest they be meeting with a Yanma judge in the afterlife, so with one swift combination of a fierce stab, a well timed sniper shot as the cannon began charging and a Kawamori style missile barrage, the mission proved successful as the Gourdian WMD exploded with debris falling to orbit, one particular piece managing to strike a significant area. Right as news of her ace in the hole's destruction was reaching Mucus, the enraged dictator warthog's early stage tantrum was quickly struck down, taking her and multiple Squash Droids with it. Cause of death: falling space debris from the very thing that was supposed to end her the war. Upon seeing this, an incoming comm came to the bridge of Hoohah's vessel:
"So uh, this is Squirrel Trooper Gretchen, I got a message for commander Hoohah if he's still kicking from his daughter. Our leader's dead and I'd rather not kill my own father, we give up."
With that, the Bean/Squirrel war was finally over as the survivors rejoiced while the remaining Gourdians, few of them that there were opted for a tactical retreat. As the pirate crews were about to celebrate for themselves, a certain toaster pastry opted to put a stop to those plans for the time being.
"Sisters, we must return to the realm of the Super Spiral at once." went Parvati as the captain asked "And what reason have we to interrupt the will of the Super Spiral?"
The oracle of the Blue Lilith's answer: "The pastry, it was birthday cake flavored: an omen that grave misfortune shall befall our lord's champions."
"Very well." responded the captain as she turned to the rest of her crew and declared "Inform the other members of our armada, we set out for the home dimension of the Super Spiral at once.", earning a "What about the damage our ships' took during this slugfest?" from crewmate Nora as her leader answered "There is a starport on the way to our destination, we shall make the needed repairs there. Now set course and prepare yourselves for a possible long term battle."
With the Lilac Storm armada leaving the forces of Bean and Squirrel to pick up the pieces of their brutal fighting, the stage was near set for a major clash that would signal a significant turning point for Bishops and his forces in the war against Gendo and RN. But will the tide turn in the Knights of Ryujin's favor?
(Ending Theme: "Aozora ni Naru" by Jon Hashimoto- Kamen Rider Kuuga OST)
Current List of Power Levels:
Desmond Bishops: 210,100,000 (Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)/ 10,505,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50 Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)/(Super Spiral Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)/ 210,100,000,000 (Super Spiral 2 Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)
Shinji Ikari: 101,600,000 (Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)/ 3,759,200,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x37 Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Mana Kirishima: 100,100,000/ 5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Musashi Lee Strasberg: 100,100,000/ 5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Keita Asari: 100,100,000/ 5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Rei Ayanami (Rei III): 151,100,000 (Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Toji Suzuhara: 100,100,000/ 5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Kensuke Aida: 100,100,000/5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Sakura Suzuhara: 100,100,000/ 5,005,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Hikari Horaki: 5.2
Misato Katsuragi: 5
Wynn Miyabi: 90,100,000 (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Eria Aoi: 90,100,000 (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Lyna Hikari: 90,100,000 (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Asuka Langley Sohryu: 90,250,000/ 4,512,500,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Mari Illustrious Makinami: 85,250,000/ 4,262,500,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV.6)
Ryoji Kaji: 6 (Warper Status: LV 4)
Pen Pen: 3.25
Shigiru Aoba: 4
Maya Ibuki: 4
Mokoto Hyuga: 3
Ritsuko Akagi: 4
Jessabelle Musashi: 100,100,000 (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Fuytsuki Kozo: 3
Gendo Ikari: 500,000,000 (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Ami (Earth Dimension SJ-12639706): 195,100,000/9,755,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50) (Warper Status: LV. 6)
Kaworu Nagisa: 150,100,000 (Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed)/7,505,000,000 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: x50 Metsu Sol Emerald Absorbed) (Warper Status: LV: 6)
Johnny "Gourdar the Never Ending" 2x4 (Earth Dimension EEE- Sigma-1451-B): 25,000
Dr. Frog (Earth Dimension LOSE-1018-Tau): 3,500,000/120,000,000 (Battle Suit MK.2 Overclock)
"Johanna": 200,100,000/0,000,000 (Ability Absorbed)
(Author's Note: Yes, I'm back, after spending the remainder of November and a good chunk of December moving and dealing with holiday burnout. I'm back. The chapter's name is more so a reprieve for the Knights compared for the Lilac Storm armada. Enjoy it, because next time is altered episode 18, and with it come the beginning stages of some major changes that'll affect everything in the universe and possibly the multiverse.)