Thanks for the C&C from the last chapter.  This chapter ran longer than I
expected, so I've split it into chapters 2 and 3.  3 should be posted either
this evening, or tomorrow.  Now, Enjoy!  If anyone has any problems with
Wordwrap, mail me and I'll send a copy that SHOULD have the wordwrap
working.

Neon Genesis Evangelion:

The End is the Beginning.

Chapter 2

An EDF Production.

Written by Helix and Rune.

aka Travis Carr and Jonathan Lloyd.

"The source of the LCL is still a mystery even to this day. It is apparent
that Nerv took the secrets of the liquid with it to its death, but it is
known that under each EDF compound, a lake of LCL forms. Whether or not this
is a property of the Evangelions or not has not been determined..."

Dr. Wright, "Evangelions, an Essay."

Ryan stared in shock at the man who was currently standing in the front of
all the recruits, teaching the Evangelion Orientation course. Blinking a few
times to clear his head, Ryan looked around at his fellow students, all of
whom were paying either rapt attention to the Lieutenant Commander, or were
taking notes. Except for Rei, of course, who was watching Samuel with a
combination of desire and adoration on her face.

Ryan shook himself, still a little shocked from seeing his older brother
present, and turned his attention back to the lesson. Sam was not going
anywhere, if nothing else, he was more closely bound to the EDF than Ryan
himself was.

The class continued, and Samuel Johnson continued through the long process
of identifying the Evangelion parts that until now had been only words in
the cadet's minds. Ryan stood there with rest of the cadets, absorbing words
like entry plugs, Prog-Knife Sheathes, Emergency Eject systems and the like.
Finally, when one too many students had fallen asleep on their feet, or
leaning against the rail in some cases, Sam stopped lecturing.

"Alright, that concludes the Evangelion Reference Section for today. Next
we're going to examine some pilot gear," he reached over and stabbed a
button on the platform, which lurched into motion, moving across the lake
towards a nearby pillar. "There will be a variety of gear that you will use,
both within your Eva and without. Your standard issue of equipment will
include your plug suit, an a survival/repair kit. Your plug suit helps you
to interface with your Eva, while the kit is if you are brought down away
from the assistance of a base or your support crews." The platform came to a
rest within the pillar, settling down gently. Sam gestured the cadets to
walk towards a nearby double doorway.

Finally the class had managed to shuffle, with some grunting and groaning,
into the locker room. Sam shouted that everyone should find a stall, and get
into one of the plug suits located there. There was once again a groan, and
then the room emptied as everyone found an appropriate locker/changing room,
and stepped in. It just had to be Ryan's luck that Rei Ikari had chosen the
stall next to him.

"This class is so BORING." Rei complained in her stall. "I swear, if it
wasn't for that dream who's teaching it, I don't know how I could stand it."
Ryan heard a sigh, then a click and whooshing sound as Rei compressed her
plug suit. "Oh well... its not like I haven't heard most of this from mother
half a million times."

Ryan grunted as he pulled on his plug suit. "Why do these things have to be
so darn heavy?" he grunted as he worked his leg past the knee joint. "I
thought that these suits were supposed to be COMFORTABLE, since we'd be
stuck in them so much."

"Well, what do you expect? These ARE combat plug suits, not the old fashion
skin tight kind." Rei stated. Ryan looked up to see her leaning over the
partition between the stalls. He gave a short yelp and pulled his plug suit
on even faster.

"Just what in the devil are you doing?" he shouted, finally working his suit
around his shoulders. "Haven't you ever heard anything about privacy???"

Rei twirled a lock of hair around her finger, with a slightly bored
expression on her face. "What, its not like you have anything to hide is
there? What, are you embarrassed or something?" In fact Ryan's face was
blazing red by this point, and he finally snapped his plug suit on. With a
hiss of air, it conformed to his body.

"No, its just that I don't exactly feel comfortable with girls looking in on
me when I'm dressing." Especially a cute girl, Ryan thought as he walked out
of his stall. Rei walked out beside him, still twirling a lock of her hair.
"You can understand that, can't you?"

"I suppose..." Rei admitted. "But its not like it's 25 years ago again. I
mean, they even desegregated the dorms, so why not the locker rooms?"

"Probably because the dorms have enough bathrooms for people to change in
peace..." Ryan started as Sam called for attention again. Sighing, he walked
away towards the from of the classroom to hear what the Lt. Commander had to
say.

"Alright, your probably wondering why these are different from the standard
issue plug suits that you've probably seen pilots wearing. These are Mark 2
suits, different from the Mark 3 suits that the pilots wear. The Mark 2
suits utilize armor plates within the suit to protect your directly from
harm. The reason that we can't issue Mark 3 suits to you is that they
require you to have at least a 20% sync ratio, due to the bio-organic
components inside the suits... Walking can be hard enough, let alone
fighting in one, so for now you'll stick to the Mark 2s." Sam talked on for
another five minutes on the differences between the original Mark 1 suits
worn by the original Evangelion pilots, and Mark 2 and 3 suits. Ryan
listened for about half the time before he got bored with the lesson and
started to look around at his fellow cadets, a prospect that he had been
setting off for too long. Rei apparently had a small group of friends that
she was talking softly with, occasional fingers pointed at other cadets, or
more often, the teacher. A good portion of the cadets were listening to Sam,
but then there was the other half. People either adroitly examining the
equipment around them, staring off into space, or talking quietly amongst
themselves. The boy that Ryan had talked to earlier turned towards him just
as Ryan looked in his direction, and smiled slightly before turning back to
the lesson. Ryan shook his head, about to turn back and listen to Sam when
an ear splitting cry rent the air.

"PAPA!!! HI PAPA!!!" Rei shouted, jumping into the air and waving her hands
at the man just arriving from the platform. He wore a combination of flight
suit and formal uniform, common to all high ranking EDF officers. But what
drew Ryan's eyes was the confidence in his step, and the air of assurance
that seemed to radiate from him. An air that had inspired almost an entire
world to unite behind this man in the war that was threatening their very
existence...

"Supreme Commander on DECK! ATTENTION!" Sam shouted, and to their credit,
the cadets all snapped to attention. Including Ryan, who currently on the
front row watch the man walk over to Samuel.

"At ease. Hello Sam." the man extended his hand to Samuel, who clasped it
warmly. "Are these our new recruits?"

"Yes they are, Commander Ikari. And this lot looks promising, too." Sam
turned to the cadets. "At ease, Cadets." He turned back to Commander Ikari.
"I take it that this is an informal visit?"

"Yes, I wanted to see how this new batch was doing. Obviously very well... I
may have to stick you as the permanent teacher in a few years." The
commander grinned broadly, glancing at Sam to see his reaction.

"Um, yes sir... of course you would, but surely there isn't someone who
could do this better...?" Sam was a little flushed at this comment. After
all, he didn't want to spend his entire post combat career teaching
CADETS...

"No, I think that Mishui will fit that post better. Don't worry Sam, I won't
stick you with a desk job that quickly. But what ARE you doing teaching this
class? I thought that Mizuhara was scheduled today."

"Well sir, have you ever bet one a sure thing?"

"I see. So where are you going next?"

Sam grinned. "Next on our schedule is to introduce the cadets to the miracle
of link connection liquid. Although I never quite understood that particular
method of introduction..."

"Apparently some people suffer severe bouts of mania when they are
introduced to it in a entry plug due to claustrophobia. This seems to work
better..." he shrugged. "They tell me it works better. Although it wasn't
how I had my first experience with it though... Any ways, carry on." He
saluted to Sam, who returned the salute, before watching the commander walk
off. When Ikari had reboarded the lift, Sam let out a slow sigh.

Ryan turned to one of the other students. "Who was that?"

The student looked at him in surprise. "You mean you don't know? Thats
Supreme Commander Shinji Ikari, the Third Candidate. The fact that he
checked in on us is a great honor..." there was a squeak from Rei. "Or it
could be the fact that his daughter is here, also. My names Keith. What's
yours?" Keith extended his hand to Ryan.

Ryan clasped it warmly. "Ryan Fusha. Nice to meet you Keith. So... what's
this Link Connection Liquid they were talking about?"

"Apparently its some sort of oxygenated liquid used by the pilots of the
Evas." Keith shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure what it is, but
apparently there's a small lake of this stuff beneath every base. They must
use a lot of it to run all the Evas."

Ryan considered that. "Interesting..." he was about to add something to his
statement when Sam called them back to order.

"All right everyone, listen up. I want you to move to the platform outside
this room, and then we'll move to the final portion of todays lesson." Again
there was a movement of people, and finally everyone managed to cram
themselves back onto the platform. Ryan jumped slightly as a steel cage
snapped around them like a steel trap, but Sam was apparently unworried.
Finally the lift gave a shudder and began descent down a long, dark shaft.
The trip lasted several minutes, and Ryan reflected on what Keith had said
about the LCL. A lake of it beneath each of the bases? Then it was likely
that they were descending to that lake, for some reason or another.

Sam finally turned to the cadets and started speaking. "Alright, your
familiarization with the LCL process will be commenced soon. When we get to
the beginning of the familiarization, everyone should force all the air out
of their lungs."

Ryan was wondering what was going on when the lift shuddered, apparently
striking something below. Then,a yellowish liquid began to seep through the
slatted floor, slowly filling the shaft that they were traveling down. Ryan
stepped back a bit, looking at his brother for askance for what to do...

...



Next Chapter:

The continuation of Chapter 2.  Ryan's room mates arrive.

Sam meets with his brother.

Ryans training continues, as the enemy attacks the base.

And some fanservice?


Jonathan Lloyd
Rune

"The only thing necesary for evil to triumph,
is for good men to do nothing."
Alucard, Symphony of the night.