Evangeli-Moon
Two
The hollow 'egg' of the Geofront contained both the sunken city of Tokyo-3, NERV and a massive amount of land around their headquarters. Sunlight was channeled down through the earth into the Geofront via mirrors and tunnels, generating a light very nearly equal to daylight. Plants and even animals flourished around them, and parts had been converted into something like a park.
Pounding down a trail the woman known as Misato Katsuragi ran, her long black hair flowing in the breeze. She didn't like running, in fact the thirty-something woman hated it with a passion, but she liked donuts and snacks, and she could only have them if she ran off the weight. Passing through a section of trees Misato saw NERV headquarters up ahead, and above them the massive dome where the buildings of Tokyo-3 would hand once they were retracted.
"Major!" Makoto Hyuga waved a greeting as she came into sight, the young man smiling, his short brown hair blowing in the breeze. He took the opportunity to study her as she jogged up, her long died back black hair held back in a ponytail. She also had a good figure, a shapely woman who occasionally caused him to have trouble sleeping.
"Hey," Misato gave him a slightly guilty smile, taking the towel he offered and wiping off some of the sweat. She was well aware of his crush on her and tried to treat him as gently as possible, being friendly without getting too close. "Thanks," she told him, her sweat strained muscle shirt clinging to her body revealingly.
"You're welcome," Makoto answered, trying very hard not to look at her breasts or her ass in those tight shorts.
The two set off back to NERV as Misato asked, "Anything I need to know?"
"Ritsuko is working on the recovery of the angel Sachiel," Makoto noted, "but after it exploded not much was left."
"Hmm," Misato frowned. There had been some hope that they could recover viable biological samples for testing, but Sachiel's self destruction had killed that idea. Still, Yui was a miracle worker, and if anyone could get data from carbonized remains, it was her.
"Rei gets her cast off today," Makoto looked amused as he added, "and she's eager to get back into Unit 00 again."
"That girl is way too enthusiastic," Misato noted dryly.
"Other than that we have a military coordination briefing today," Makoto checked his organizer, "and Maya wants you to interview the backups for us Bridge Bunnies."
"Bridge Bunnies?" Misato looked amused as she looked at the blushing young man.
"Aoba called us that as a joke and Yui heard him," Makoto said, blushing, "she's insisted on calling us that since them."
"I'm not surprised," Misato laughed as they entered a ground floor entrance of NERV. "All right," she said as she left him, "I'm gonna go get changed. See you up on the bridge."
"Right," Makoto trotted off.
Misato smiled as she walked to the lockers by the changing rooms, checking out her uniform then using the walk in showers to get clean. A few minutes later she emerged in the simple jumpsuits NERV staff wore, dark gray with black edging. In her case she also wore a red jacket in defiance of regs, with her captain's bars on her jacket collar.
As Misato walked to the elevator she wondered for a moment what her younger self might have thought of all this, then firmly shook the thought away. She had been found in Antarctica by Gendo and a GEHRIN research ship, and after she had awakened had been mute for nearly a year, her memory blasted into swiss cheese. She had known some things, like how to speak Japanese and read, she knew details of common life, but her past was gone, as was any sense of her own identity. Unable to identify her and not wanting to simply call her 'Jane Doe' they gave her the name of a dead girl, Misato.
The elevator hissed open and Misato stepped out onto the bridge, taking in her surroundings thoughtfully. There was the Magi computers down below their level, the three bridge stations ahead of her, the giant view screens and one level above them, the platform where Yui, Gendo and old man Kozo offered suggestions and comments.
"Captain," Maya Ibuki smiled warmly, the brown haired girl turning in her seat. Officially a assistant to Yui and Ritsuko she doubled up on bridge duty, managing to balance out both jobs. Misato was honestly quite impressed with her, though she tried not to show it too much.
Makoto smiled in welcome, and beside him Shigeru Aoba nodded slightly. The long haired young man had a oddly irreverent side that Misato liked, and was apparently a fan of old style rock and roll. He kept a certain degree of reserve with both staff and command, something Misato had tried to break down without success. Still, he was good at his job which she could respect...
"All right, no emergencies so we're on standard watch," Misato told them. She looked at Maya, "Do you need to assist Rits?"
"I have my station rigged to assist her with any computational needs she might have," Maya said respectfully.
"Fair enough," Misato nodded. She smiled, "I'll be in my office, doing interviews. Call me if anything comes up."
As Misato left to the office just off the bridge, the three figures returned to their work. "Hey, Makoto," Aoba murmured, "is she as hot as I heard in her jogging clothes?"
"Hotter," Makoto sighed.
Maya sighed, "Boys."
Aoba and Makoto exchanged looks then Aoba noted, "I bet if Ritsuko was out jogging like that, you'd be holding a towel for her."
Maya blushed furiously, "I would not! I mean, of course I would, but not that way you..."
Back in her office Misato began the boring process of winnowing through candidates through interviews. Several of the men and women had applied for either the money or possibility of promotion. Others had wanted the job for personal reasons, or out of a hatred for the Angels.
Misato soon sorted the applicants into several broad categories, which helped immensely. First were those simply too abrasive to work with. While NERV wasn't a lovely place they worked together pretty well, and she didn't want to bring in someone to disrupt it. Second were people who's motives she felt would create difficulties: they did not want a revenge driven person being given access to the N2 mines, for instance. The final bunch were applicants she considered as 'possibles' and would follow up on next.
"Yui, you busy?" Misato asked as she used the internal video lines to connect with her lab.
Yui Ikari drank from her coffee and put it down. "Just waiting on a analysis," she said cheerfully, "what can I do for you?"
"You worked with Satsuki Ooi in the labs, right?" Misato asked. "What do you think of her?"
Yui thought about it a moment as she took another drink. "She's very calm and level headed," she answered, "if a bit of a flirt. She's very good at her job and I like her."
"You mind if I steal her for a bridge shift?" Misato asked politely. She might be operations manager of NERV but everyone knew who ruled NERV with a iron fist wrapped in motherly love, and she did not want to piss Yui off.
"As long as I can have her back occasionally," Yui chuckled.
"Will do," Misato agreed.
Disconnecting Misato checked out the references of both Kaede Agano and Aoi Mogami, quickly deciding both women would work out. She contacted all three via internal NERV mail to let them know they'd be taking bridge shifts, then decided to sneak out of the office for some fun.
Shinji Ikari was a serious young man, looking even more serious as he practiced in the simulator against Angels. Using a combination of guess-work and data from SEELE they had created enemies for Shinji based on projected Angels, and every day he was in here after classes fighting them along with his sister Rei.
Misato sat in the control chair and tied into the sim, noting he was taking on a humanoid shaped Angel. 'Better and better,' she thought, using the override to take over the Angel. As Shinji used a rifle to try and shoot her Misato ducked behind a building, watching as bullets exploded harmlessly.
Unit-01 advanced cautiously, swinging his rifle back and forth warily just like Shinji should. Covertly Misato made her way behind him, then lunged forward as her Angel avatar blasted at the power cable dangling from the back of the Evangelion.
'Now he just has a minute or so,' Misato smirked as Unit-01 wheeled around and opened fire even as she scrambled for cover once more.
Unit-01 charged forward trying to find her, hoping to strike before she could hide from him again. Shinji hesitated, reaching for the shoulder mounted sheath for the progressive knife, then drew his hand back as he swept the streets warily.
Picking a larger, more stable building Misato carefully scaled it, counting on the fires burning around the city to conceal the sound. She reached the top and braced herself, smiling grimly, then leaped off. "Banzai!" she yelled.
Unit-01 spun around, but it was too late as he was hammered to the ground, the very Earth shaking with the force of it. He fought wildly but Misato kept him pinned, smiling ferally as the time ran down and his batteries exhausted themselves.
Finally a tone rang through Shinji's cockpit and Misato's control room, "Evangelion defeated."
Misato went out of the office and down to the simulation cockpit, watching as Shinji climbed out. "I should have guessed it was you," Shinji sighed. "You fight dirty."
"Thank you," Misato grinned. More seriously she said, "Honestly, Shinji, we have no idea how the Angels think. If they have even a limited ability to learn from their mistakes..."
"We could be in trouble," Shinji conceded.
"Besides, you pulled that on me when you were five," Misato punched him on the shoulder, "consider it payback."
"You're never gonna let me live that down," Shinji sighed as he toweled off the LCL.
"Nope," Misato grinned.
"You gonna be home for dinner?" Shinji changed the subject as they walked towards the changing rooms.
"Unless something happens here," Misato shrugged. "You know how it is."
"Well, try," Shinji gave her a look, "it's been a while since we've had you, Mom, Dad and Rei all in one place at the same time."
Misato reached over to mess up the shorter boy's hair, "Do my best, squirt."
To be continued...