THE RED WASTELANDS, GERMANY
The faint hiss of hydraulics cut through the quiet of the large room, oxygen rhythmically pumping in and out of the small machine positioned on the their back. A small beep echoes out, bouncing off of the polished wooden floors and walls of the darkened office, followed by a robotic monotone.
"Apixaban. Five milligrams, administered."
The singular occupant of the room turns, observing the small datapad connected to their wrist. Nodding to themself, they swing their head back to the dimly lit monitor in front of them. Reaching towards the off white keyboard on the desk, wrinkled hands gently tap its keys, the door at the end of the office clicking as its lockset automatically engages.
The lights within the room dim, automated window blinds forcing out the remainder of the early late dusk sunlight. An artificial breeze gently sways their hair as holograms appear opposite of them, three large monoliths, red colored numbers standing in contrast to their blackened exteriors.
Gently clearing their throat, they turn their gaze upwards to the objects.
"I assume you are all already aware of our current problem at hand?"
The lettering on the monolith numbered '03' glows faintly, a baritone voice echoing out of it.
"Yes, and I assume you already have a solution prepared?"
"Of course. While we may need to keep them alive, we can certainly make them less of an issue."
The second monolith began to glow, a thickly accented voice accompanying it.
"And how exactly can that be done?"
The person sighed gently, clearing their throat yet again before responding.
"As you may have heard, WILLE has recently decided to compromise with our… problem. If they are willing, they will be offered a commission as an officer upon capture, provided they agree to it."
The final monolith finally broke their silence, agitation audible within their voice.
"Working for WILLE? Are you out of your mind?"
"No. With the Wunder being the only mobile Forward Operation Post currently operational, his placement within it is guaranteed, and with that, comes full surveillance."
"And how do you know that they'll accept it?"
Forcing themselves to suppress a smile, they turned towards the monolith.
"We don't. If he turns down the offer, he'll be moved to a maximum security prison of our choosing. Either way, he will be within our control."
"Then in that case, I only have one question left, if I may." At the others nod of approval, they continued. "How do you plan on capturing them?"
"That is information that you are not privy to, but know that it has already been addressed. The youngest Ikari will be retained." Reaching towards his keyboard yet again, he tapped a few more keys, the holograms fading out as the dimmed bulbs flashed back to life within the room.
Sighing deeply, he reached towards his right, grabbing the small phone built into his desk. Punching in a set of numbers, he waited for the dial tone, bringing the receiver to his ear as a gruff voice answered.
"Staff Sergeant Collins speaking."
"As above." He could hear the other pause slightly, likely checking their surroundings, before responding, their tone hushed.
"So below. What do you need sir?"
"Give me a direct line to General Houghton. I'm calling in a favor he owes me."
"Understood. Hold one moment sir." He sat back in his chair as the phone line went static, the soft leather chair creaking under his shifting weight. A small beep echoed out, the indication that the phone line had finished transferring.
Lorenz smiled.
ELSEWHERE
WASTELAND SLUMS
He was beginning to regret taking up this contract.
Gnarled, callused knuckles slammed into his temple, blurring his vision and sending waves of pain throughout his head. Refocusing his vision, he blinked rapidly, attempting to blink away the blood that was slowly dripping down his face, courtesy of a split eyebrow.
A grunt brought his attention to his front, and he wearily raised his head to his tormentor.
The masked figure grunted again, gesturing his head downwards, towards the small data tablet held within their hand. He mentally sighed at the migraine already beginning to form.
"What? You want me to open it or something?" The other nodded, and he scoffed, continuing to play his part as he received another painful blow to the skull as consequence.
"You know I can't do that. They'll have me dead before sunrise if I tell you anything."
He watched as the other's shoulders rose and dipped, watching as their mask caved in and out ever so slightly with their deep sigh. Turning, they walked towards the corner of the derelict room, where the combat equipment the other had stripped off of him had been put.
Watching as the other messily rustled through the equipment, his breath caught as he watched them untangle and pull up a weapon sling from the mess, his issued shotgun coming along with it.
"Look, I don't know much, I'm just a grunt to these assholes."
The other ignored him, instead pressing down the slide lock button and pulling the pump back slightly. The brass of a shotshell seated within the chamber glinted slightly in the dim lighting, and nodding to themselves, they shut the action back into battery.
Turning back around, the other strode back to him, stopping only an arms length away from him.
"Y-you're bluffing."
Remaining silent, the other instead only clicked off the tang safety, shouldering the weapon, aiming downwards towards his left kneecap. His breath hitched as their finger moved from resting on the side of the receiver to the trigger, gently pulling back on it.
His resolve broke.
"Okay! Okay, okay! I'll give you the password! Just don't shoot, Jesus!"
The man lowered the shotgun, reaching and grabbing the tablet on the table beside him. Clicking it on, he turned his gaze back towards the man still tied down to the chair.
"It's 1493."
Entering the passcode, the other's face was lit up by the tablet's dim light as they began to swipe through the data stored within. They continued browsing through, before they paused, their eyebrows furrowing.
"I suppose you found those coordinates?" The lack of response was all the answer he needed.
"Look, I've been to that place, and that place is crawling with people. It's practically a fortress."
The other man pulled out a notebook and pen, placing the tablet on the table and copying down the numbers displayed on the tablet.
All according to plan.
"They'll know, if I don't report within an hour they'll know something's up, trust me, you don't want to do this." A blatant lie, command blatantly disallowed them from setting up comm lines thanks to WILLE having full control over most stations.
The other ignored him, finishing up copying the numbers before clicking the tablet off, shoving the pen and notebook back into his pockets. Tossing the tablet to the floor, they stomped on it, shattering the screen and rendering it inoperable. Seems he was going to go regardless of his warnings.
They had fallen for the bait, hook, line and sinker. He had played his part, given the pertinent information, been the sacrificial lamb for them.
He suspected that he would be seeing his wife from this point on behind a prison visitation window, but he could at least take solace in the fact that she wouldn't have to worry about food or water for a very long time. Sighing, he dropped his head down to the floor.
"Alright, let's get this over with already. There's a WILLE prison camp only a mile or so south of here."
His interrogator did not move to untie the bindings to his legs as he expected, remaining still. A lump settled in his throat.
"Are you going to untie me?"
He watched as the man in front of him continued to remain unresponsive, shadowed eyes seemingly distant, deep in thought. Nodding to themselves, they turned to face them, their right hand fingers gently wrapping around the pistol grip of the weapon slung around their shoulders.
"Look, i've given you everything I know, I don't have any-" He drew in a sharp breath as the other leveled the weapon with his center mass, finger gently resting on the trigger.
"Please, you don't have to do thi-"
A deafening boom cut off the rest of his sentence, the sound reverberating off of the dense concrete walls that surrounded them, muzzle flash painting the room a bright yellow as the other pulled the trigger.
Bone, organ and muscle were all torn through with ease, the numerous projectiles indiscriminate in their devastation. Crimson and chunks of an unidentifiable origin painted the floor behind the man, choked, gurgled gasps escaping his lips as his body fought to cling on to life, his brain continuing to fire off signals to muscles and ligaments that had not yet realized their fate.
Shinji watched as the man's movement gradually slowed, a mixture between a yawn and a gurgle escaping their lips, a final death rattle as the other stilled, eyes glazing over as the last vestiges of life exited their being.
Ejecting the spent shell, he turned towards his equipment, silently reshouldering his pack. Looking back towards the cooling body, he sighed, watching as crimson gently puddled beneath them, seeping into the cracked concrete. Fishing out his notebook again, he observed the sloppily copied coordinates, mentally marking them as he turned towards the exit.
He had a job to do.
ELSEWHERE
THE RED WASTELANDS, FOB ALPHA
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Lorenz is an important man, and we have good reason to believe someone is after him."
"So you pulled an experienced infantry and tracking team from a field op to play bodyguards for him?"
"Look, I don't agree with it, but the orders came down from top brass, and your team is the only one we could deploy on such short notice."
"And why, from what you've told me, is this man so important?"
"From what I've been told, he's some sort of monetary benefactor of WILLE. Likely helps bankroll some of our expenses. And thanks to recent intel, they suspect either local bandits, or some of SEELE's mercs plan to raid his residence within the week. In case you meet the latter, I want you to tighten up your ROE, and try to take them alive first. I've already let the armorer know to prepare some less-lethals for your crew. Hopefully we can capture at least one, and see what we can find out."
Kaji heaved a deep sigh, fighting the urge to ignore the "No Smoking" poster on the wall of the office.
"Alright. When do you want us to move out?"
"As soon as possible. The earlier, the better."
"If the coordinates are right, I can have my men there by 0300 at the latest."
"Well then I have nothing else to say. You're dismissed." Nodding, Kaji forewent saluting his superior in favor of simply turning and leaving, knowing the other wouldn't mind his disregard for rigid military etiquette.
Leaving the meeting hall, he began his trek towards the rec center, various fog lights illuminating his path. As he neared, he watched the more observant men of his squad notice him approaching, the sound of grunts and barbells slamming slowing as he neared. As he slowed to a stop, the last of his men were already standing at attention, waiting to hear his orders. Pulling out a cigarette with one hand and gumming it, he fished for a lighter with the other as he began to speak.
"Gear up and head to the armory. We need to be out of here by 0100. I'll brief all of you on the way there." Pointing to the two closest to him, and then towards the motor pool, he continued. "You two, get those MRAPs fueled up and running."
A chorus of "Aye sir!" rang out as he finally managed to find his lighter, their footsteps fading away as he went to light the cigarette. Pocketing the lighter, he took a deep drag, watching as his men moved about, in various stages of preparation. Letting his thoughts wander for a minute, he frowned.
There was more going on than what he was being told.
ELSEWHERE
There was something almost revolting about how clean this place was.
The mansion, a monument of opulence and greed, stood in stark contrast to the various slums and shacks that it overlooked below the hillside it sat atop. Clean, polished, lacking the signs of wear and dilapidation that were so commonly seen throughout the remaining colonies of humanity.
Its exterior was clearly old, likely over a century, but well maintained. Various workers milled about, a servant of some kind carrying food on a tray visible through one of its polished windows. A security guard was posted near the front door, a kevlar vest wrapped around his torso and an automatic carbine clutched within his hands.
Quietly scaling the chain link fence that surrounded the building, he hid himself within a decorative bush. Unslinging his shotgun, he thumbed up the loading gate, quietly letting a shell fall into his hand, chucking it across the paved driveway, watching as the brass end hit the driveway, rolling down the slight decline of the concrete.
The trick worked, the guard immediately swinging their head and rifle to face the new noise, checking around them before slowly moving towards the thrown object. As quietly as possible, he shuffled out of the bush, quietly covering the distance between him and the mansion front door. Wrapping his hand around the doorknob, he turned it, finding to his surprise that it was unlocked. Gently pushing open the door he looked around, and seeing the coast was clear, entered, closing the door behind him.
"1-1, this is 1-2, armed combatant has entered sector Bravo."
"10-4. Moving into position."
The bottom floor was empty. After clearing what all turned out to be empty auxiliary rooms, his eyes met upon a large double door within the main hallway, the only closed door he had seen so far.
Quietly approaching it, he gently turned the knob, gently pushing it open just enough to peek inside.
Clear from both sides.
Opening the door and closing it behind himself, he was met with the sight of an empty office, the only furnishings visible being a wooden desk and chair, two monitors sat atop it.
"On my mark."
Ensuring he was alone, he approached the desk, being met with the sight of numerous camera feeds displayed on the monitors.
He froze at the sight.
Numerous men armed with rifles were stacking up alongside the door to the office, the muted, earthy tones of the camouflage adorning their clothing and body armor removing any doubts of their intentions.
They had known he was coming.
One of the doors gently creaked open, and he swung his weapon up to see a small cylindrical object impact the floor.
"Breaching."
A loud bang echoed out, painfully loud to his ears as his vision went white. Two sharp sensations hit his chest, and he groaned in pain as fifty thousand volts of electricity froze him in place, the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching just barely audible through the immense ringing in his ears. The shock suddenly ceased, the weight of another man impacting him before he could regain his bearings, slamming him to the floor, a knee digging into his back as a hand grasped his wrist, wrenching the weapon out of his hand.
"Help me hold him down!"
"Get those damn cuffs on him!"
Slamming his head upwards, he was met with the sensation of bone impacting cartilage, a scream of pain confirming that his hit had made its mark. More hands grabbed him as he continued to struggle, hands wrenching back an arm, a cuff placed on the exposed wrist.
"Get the sedative!"
Wrenching free his spare arm, he drove his elbow upwards, the swing missing as more hands pinned him down, a sharp pain impacting his thigh moments later. Lethargy overwhelmed his senses, and he felt his eyelids closing against his will, unconsciousness overtaking him within seconds.
"TOC, this is entry team. Suspect secure and ready for transport."
"TOC to entry team, copy." Turning off his communicator, Kaji turned back to his men, watching as one of them put two fingers to the unconscious man's neck.
"Pulse is good."
"Alright, one of you, help me bring him back to the truck. Anybody injured, have the medic take a look at you before we head out. Everybody else, secure the rest of the building, make sure there aren't any stragglers before we report back."
Buddy carrying the prisoner back to the truck, they dropped him in the corner seat. Nodding his thanks to the other, he decided to take a seat across from the unconscious individual, lighting a cigarette as he did so.
"Alright, time to see who SEELE sent along." Reaching over and gripping the cloth adorning their face, he pulled upwards.
"Aw, Hell." At the sight of the other's familiar face, he took a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaling in exasperation.
"Of course it's you, Shinji. Why wouldn't it be?" Rubbing a hand down his face, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a phone. Dialing a number, he put the phone up to his ear, taking another deep drag of his cigarette as the dial tone finished.
"Hey Rits, been a while. Listen, are you alone? I'm gonna need to call up on that favor you still owe me."
ELSEWHERE
ABOARD THE WUNDER
Quietly humming to herself, she turned a page in her book. With the Wunder having been grounded for repairs, the medical bay included, she had been relieved of her current duties for the time being, and had been using the sudden surplus of spare time to catch up on some reading.
So enraptured in her novel, that she didn't catch the sound of her door opening.
"Suzahara."
"Hmm?" Sliding a mark into the page she was reading, she turned her gaze upwards to see who the voice belonged to.
"Get your field medical kit and come with me. Something's come up." Ritsuko's tone left no room for questions or argument, and having worked with the woman for years, she knew better than to test her luck. Standing up, she grabbed her shoes and kit, sitting back down on her bed to slide the footwear on. After ensuring the fitment was correct she began to stand back up, only to be forced back down by a hand. At the younger woman's confused expression, Ritsuko spoke again.
"Until I say otherwise, nobody else can know about this for the time being, not even Katsuragi. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yeah." The hand retracted from her shoulder, and the woman backed away.
"Then pick up that bag, and follow me."
Making their way through the various halls of the Wunder, Sakura had to force herself to walk unnaturally fast, the taller woman taking no care to try and slow down to the others' shorter stride distance.
"Where exactly are we heading?"
"Observatory bay. This area hasn't been used in years, and security tends to ignore patrolling this section when we're grounded."
"Then why are we heading towards it?"
"You'll see."
After a few minutes of continued walking in silence, the older woman stopped suddenly, forcing Sakura to skid to a halt to avoid colliding with her.
"We're here."
Walking up to a door, Ritsuko reached up towards it, knocking once, then twice rapidly, then once again.
The door opened, a middle aged man standing behind it, their long hair tied into a ponytail, a holstered handgun clipped to their belt. Turning their gaze towards Sakura, they smiled slightly.
"Brought a little helper?"
"Something like that. How is he?"
"The sedatives are starting to wear off, he's been showing signs of movement. The IV you put in him seems to be feeding fine, and vitals look to be stable, so it's just a matter of waiting for him to wake up at this point."
"Understood. You should leave before someone sees you."
"Fair enough." The door automatically closing behind him, the man strolled past the two, vanishing out of sight as he turned a corner.
"...Who was that?"
"Nobody important." Lighting the cigarette that had been present on her lips, the older woman took a deep drag, exhaling deeply, before turning towards Sakura.
"Can I trust you to stay steady through this?"
"I-"
"I can not have you panicking during this, can you promise me that?"
"Y-yes. Yes, I can do that." Ritsuko stared at the other for a second, seemingly attempting to detect any signs of doubt. After a brief moment, she nodded to herself, pressing the button to open the door.
"Alright. Get inside."
She was greeted with the sight of a dimly lit makeshift hospital room, the only furniture visible at first glance being a steel table, chair, and a small cot, where a person lay, hooked up to an iv drip and vital monitoring system. Turning her gaze to the person's face, she bit back a sob, a mixture of horror and recognition dawning on her.
"I-I-" Ritsuko's hands gripped her shoulders, spinning her around to look the other in the eyes. The older woman understood the younger woman's surge of emotions, having been in the medical field herself longer than Sakura had been alive. She had been the same way in her starting years.
"Sakura." Her tone was soft, gently squeezing the younger woman's shoulders. "I know. Trust me, I know how you feel right now. But we can't help him if you panic now. So take a deep breath, and work with me. Alright?"
The girl nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat and blowing out a shaky breath.
"O-okay." Gently releasing her hands from the other girl's shoulder, Ritsuko continued.
"Good. I've already finished up most of the initial tests, so for right now, all I need you to do is swap out his IV bag. There's a spare on the table over there. Can you do that for me?"
Sakura nodded, grabbing the spare IV bag, making uneasy steps towards the unconscious occupant of the room, she reached towards the stand, pulling out the old one and inserting the fresh one.
"W-what happened to him?"
"His face? I don't know. We can ask him when he wakes up, which shouldn't be long."
Nodding, Sakura turned to look at the other again, noticing how a few strands of shaggy hair had fallen over their face. Reaching down to brush it to the side, a low groan startled her, the small woman letting out a slight 'eep' in surprise as her hand recoiled back.
The two women watched as the man's eyelids fluttered open and shut repeatedly, before remaining open. Dark blue eyes scanned the ceiling, their hands flexing open and shut as movement gradually returned to them. Their arms attempted to move, being jerked back in place by cuffs that kept them connected to the bed. Their eyes widened at the sight, and they began to pull their hands more forcefully, chains jingling as they continued their futile effort of escaping.
"You're going to hurt yourself doing that." His head snapped to face them, finally taking notice of the two previously silent occupants of the room.
"It's been a while, hasn't it Ikari?"
Shinji kept his gaze firm on Ritsuko, slowly nodding his head in affirmation.
"Before you panic, you're within WILLE custody within the Wunder. I need to have some basic checks run on you before we can move along with anything else." She watched as the other's eyes widened in realization.
The woman hesitantly watched as the other turned to her, boring their gaze into her, anger clearly visible, before a slow nod was given in affirmative. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding in, she turned to Sakura.
"Good. Sakura, test his vision." The smaller woman nodded, pulling out a small penlight clipped to her apron and walking towards the side of his bed.
"Okay, stare straight ahead for me."
As the younger woman conducted her battery of tests, Ritsuko picked up a clipboard, speaking up.
"I know you don't want this, but the more you work with us, the easier it will be for everybody involved."
"Good. Now follow the light for me." Ritsuko flipped a page as Sakura spoke, beginning to read off of her notes.
"Other than some joint issues and an excess of scar tissue, there doesn't seem to be anything major. Your thorax wound is already mostly healed up, and while a CT scan might prove me wrong, it doesn't seem like any organs were nicked, or you would have been dead by now, judging by how far developed the scabbing is. Your left ring finger seems to have healed fine as well, although it's been rewrapped with clean gauze as a precaution."
"Alright, last ones. Look up for me."
"Height is 197 centimeters, with a weight of roughly 92 kilograms."
"Now look down. Good." Stuffing the light back into its intended pocket, she turned towards Ritsuko. "His eyesight is fine, no issues there."
Nodding, she flipped the pages back into place, putting the clipboard to the side.
"Now your vocal chords are almost entirely scar tissue, and considering how you haven't spoken once since we've met, I assume they haven't been used in a long time." Pausing, she took a drag of her cigarette, tapping off the ash.
"However, they aren't completely unsalvageable. The DSS choker currently fitted around your neck has been outfitted with an electrolarynx device to help you speak. In time, with that device's assistance, your vocal cord muscles will eventually be trained enough to be semi-functional again, without the need for it. Now, try and speak for me."
Flexing what remained of his lower 'jaw,' he breathed in deeply, before exhaling.
"Hello?" The word itself was hesitant, lack of practice having made his native language feel foreign on his tongue.
Sakura couldn't help but let out a slight gasp at the sound of him, his tone weak and raspy, the word seemingly having had more breath than voice behind it. She watched as he tried to massage his throat, clearly in some form of pain from the action.
"Yes, it's supposed to hurt. You've done the vocal equivalent of sitting straight for 2 years and trying to stand for the first time. And while I'm far from one to judge, I'm sure those cigarettes you've been huffing down," She nodded to the various items of his that were splayed across a smaller table within the corner of the room, a lighter and bright red pack of cigarettes visible within the haphazard pile. "Haven't been any help for you either. You're going to have to relearn a lot of forgotten muscle memory."
A muffled ringing echoed throughout the room, and the blonde woman pulled out her phone, opening the alert on it. Stubbing out what was left of her cigarette on the nearby table, the woman sighed.
"They need me at command. I'll be back within an hour. Until then, Sakura, I trust you can keep a handle on this?"
"Yes ma'am." Ritsuko didn't bother responding, instead pocketing her phone as she swiftly exited the room, the door opening and subsequently closing behind her.
As the door hissed shut, Sakura lunged, wrapping her arms around his large frame before he could even react, burying her face in his chest as heavy sobs wracked her petite frame.
"I'm so glad you're okay!"
Panic grips his frame, like an icy hand that has curled its fingers around his very being.
"-I-I thought you were dead, I mean, we thought you were dead! and then-"
Terror fills him, his arms trembling, grey and red filling his vision.
"-you just showed up out of nowhere-"
His instincts scream at him to attack, to fight, a deafening voice in his ears yelling at him to run, fight.
"-a-and they won't say it but they all miss you-"
Cold, rough, concrete floors. Rusted iron cell bars. Rough hands, gripping him.
"-and y-you just decided to fight that big unit NERV sent at us-"
His nails dig into his hands, the pressure exerted enough to begin to draw blood.
"And I know she won't admit it, but Katsuragi was so worried-"
What?
Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, he looks down to the small woman clung to his chest, her tear laden eyes filled with concern, thin arms barely able to wrap around his torso as the teenager continued rambling.
What the hell was I thinking?
"You scared me s-so much!" She lightly beat her fists against his chest, the punches lacking any real force or anger behind them. "Stupid, stupid, idiot!"
Leaning back, the smaller woman untangled herself, sniffling as she wiped her tears away with her uniform sleeve. Angrily jabbing his chest, the woman's expression turns angry.
"Don't you ever scare any of us like that again! Got it!"
Ignoring his still racing heart, he forced out a raspy chuckle, ignoring the burning within his chest and throat that the action had created.
Smoothing out her uniform, Sakura sniffled, forcing away the last of her tears as she pulled out her PDA to check the time.
"Well, it's almost dinner at the mess hall, I can bring you something. I'll be right back."
Before he could respond, the girl was gone, the steel door closing quietly behind her retreating figure. Realizing it would likely be a while before the other would return, he decided it was best to at least try and get comfortable while he waited.
Heaving a sigh, the bed frame creaking slightly as he laid back within it, he let his head sink slightly into its pillow, the scratchy sheets and controlled temperature a luxury he had long since forgotten how dearly he had missed.
Letting his gaze wander across the rusted steel panels of the ceiling, he let himself enjoy this slight reprieve for the time being, for however long it would last.