Misato Kisaragi sighed as she entered her office, glad that the latest meeting was over. The black haired general didn't necessarily mind handling all the administrative work that went with running a organization like NERV, but there were certainly days where she'd gladly shoot someone to get away from it all. "Would you like me to get you some coffee, ma'am?" Himiko Yamato asked from the doorway, her ash grey hair held back by a set of golden hairclips. "If you wouldn't mind," Misato smiled as she sat at her desk and called up her desktop. Absent mindedly she checked her computer's progress in cracking the latest section of Gendo Ikari's encrypted files, noting they were at ninety five percent completed. 'Wonder if I should wait?' she mused silently. "I'll be right back," Himiko smiled as she hurried off. Misato stretched her legs out, setting her feet on her desk as she reclined backwards in her chair. It had been a long morning so far, running from a meeting of the city's business leaders to receiving the latest briefings on the mid-east conflicts. She frowned slightly, wondering why the latest reports bothered her so much. Himiko entered carefully balancing a cup of coffee and a donut, dropping both on Misato's desk. "Here you go," she said as she put them down. "Thanks," Misato said as she reluctantly sat up again. "Do you want me to hold any calls for a bit?" Himiko asked. A impish twinkle appeared in her eyes, "Or just tell them you're out?" "Just hold," Misato smiled wryly as she picked up her coffee and took a drink, "I can't let myself play hokey too often." "Right," Himiko nodded briskly, turned and went to the outer office. 'What a woman,' Misato mused as she picked up her donut and munched while she also went over all the paperwork that had arrived while she was out doing the morning meetings, 'I'd be lost without her.' Aoba's latest report on the girl's martial arts training was very positive, with the added note that Asuka was really showing signs of developing a real killer instinct. Rei, on the other hand, was better as a defensive fighter and showed a marked reluctance to hurt anyone. 'Interesting,' Misato mused. She wasn't too surprised to hear that Asuka was doing well at this, all things considered. She had a dark streak in her, one she had not controlled too well in the past, and Misato hoped the girl would have more luck managing it now. Maya's latest budget made Misato wince, but she couldn't really blame the girl. She was currently juggling building a Archangel Unit-2, refitting the transport planes and refining the onboard AI of their first unit, all of which took time and money. She signed at the bottom as she approved the increase in funds, but she knew the UN was going to yelp over it. Yui's final report on the body switch was also less than encouraging. Rather apologetically she explained that without further data on the event she and the Magi couldn't reconstruct the events that caused the switch, nor could they determine what might be needed to reverse it. Of course they would continue to work on it, but at this point they were not expecting any sudden breakthrough. 'So,' Misato wondered as she set the memo aside, 'what do we do if we reach Evangelion Unit 1 and can't remove Shinji from it?' She rubbed her face with her hands, 'Damn it, we can't just leave him there... can we?' "Misato," Himiko stuck her head in the door, "the new representative of Japanese security is here to see you." Misato sighed, "Send him in." "Her, actually," the dark purple haired woman said pleasantly as she walked in carrying a briefcase, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. "Motoko Kusanagi, at your service." the military dressed woman said as she sat down across from her. "Major, I see," Misato noted. "An acting rank," Motoko admitted as she opened up the metal briefcase, "my branch of the service is somewhat more informally organized." "Ah," Misato's mind raced, "Internal Security? Or..." "Public Security," Motoko smiled slightly, "and I can't tell you which section, ma'am. That's need to know." "Fair enough," Misato conceded even though she felt a flash of resentment. 'Remind me to ask my contacts in intelligence about her,' she mused. Aloud she said, "So, you have a briefing for me?" Motoko popped the locks on her case, removing several files as she answered, "Yes, ma'am. A spy satellite managed to capture some images we'd like you to look at..." Misato took the printouts and glanced at then before stopping with a frown. It resembled a Evangelion but more angular, almost awkward looking with glowing red eyes gazing out of a featureless helm. It's primary weapon other than it's strength was a massive axe it carried around with inhuman ease. "A Evangelion," Misato said flatly then frowned again as she noticed odd details on the massive construct. "Yes?" Motoko asked, leaning forward slightly. "Hold on," Misato said as she called up schematics of the various Evangelions on her computer, studying the data as she compared it to the mysterious new unit. "It looks like someone took a mass production unit," she showed Motoko the image, "but grafted on different arms and legs." "It certainly looks like it," Motoko gave Misato a thoughtful look, "are you certain?" MIsato shrugged, "I'll run these images by our scientists, of course, but I've been working with Evangelion for years." "Fair enough," Motoko nodded. She sat back with a frown, "We filmed it coming out of the desert near Saudi Arabia, but where it came from or went to we don't know." "Even with the eye in the sky satellites?" Misato sounded surprised. "Sandstorms," Motoko scowled, "we couldn't see a thing through them." "Damn," Misato sighed. She looked at Motoko thoughtfully, "I assume you want us to deal with this?" "My employer does, yes," Motoko agreed, "whomever is operating that thing is destabilizing our regional interests." "In other words, the government is worried about our oil supply," Misato guessed, rolling her eyes. Motoko hid a smile, "Something like that." Somewhat more seriously Misato continued, "We've been preparing to investigate rumors of a rogue unit, but I never expected to get confirmation this soon. We're not ready." Motoko nodded as she said, "I won't pressure you to move now, I'm well aware of how badly a operation can go wrong if it's rushed." "Thank you," Misato nodded. "But," Motoko added a warning, "I can't promise the government or other agencies won't act if you don't." "Understood," Misato said as the woman left several photos and a data disk on the desk. "I thought you would," Motoko agreed as she closed her briefcase and excused herself. Within a few minutes Misato had called Ritsuko and Maya up to her office, then after a moment's thought added a call to Yui Ikari too. Ritsuko has a faint blush on her cheeks, as did Maya, and Misato wondered what she might have interrupted. 'Sorry,' Misato thought as she passed the photos over, "Take a look at these." "Damn..." Ritsuko muttered. Maya peered over her lover's shoulder, her own eyes widening as she said, "That's the rogue Evangelion?!" "It appears so," Misato agreed as she added, "we just received this data from certain intelligence agencies." Yui Ikari bustled in, her brown hair slightly messy as she smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said, "I was working on a simulation with the magi." "Thanks for coming," Misato said respectfully. "Yui," Ritsuko turned in her seat, "what do you make of this?" Yui Ikari blinked in surprise, "That's the GHERIN design. Is that a archival photo?" "What?" Misato, Ritsuko and Maya blurted out. Yui looked at them with a certain amount of confusion as she explained. "It's a early design of Evangelion developed back when we were still called GHERIN. We used cybernetics for the arms and legs because we were still having difficulties growing Evangelion's body..." "It's not a archival photo," Misato managed to recover her wits enough to say, "someone has deployed it in the Mideast." Maya's eyes shone with excitement, "We'll have Magi call up those files, see if we can find any weaknesses we can exploit." She turned to Yui, "We'll be counting on you, too." "Anything I can do," Yui agreed. "Would you excuse us?" Ritsuko said to Misato as she looked with some amusement at her two eager co-workers. "Go to it," Misato agreed as they hurried out.
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