Back at the staging base in Siberia, Keel Lorenz was in his office, sitting behind his desk and reading one of several reports for the day, when he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Come in," the old man said.

The door slid open and a robed man entered. He then stood before the desk and cleared his throat.

"So?" Keel said.

"There is a development in the situation," the acolyte said. "The Prime Minister has declared martial law, which means they're acting ahead without our authorization."

Keel frowned. "What?"

"He has placed the military on full alert, including those pre-positioned around Tokyo-3, which means at any moment they could attack. We have also intercepted and decrypted a fax that was sent to NERV headquarters." The acolyte then produced a sheet of paper and placed it on the desk, which Keel picked up and read.

"So… He wants Ikari on a silver platter and NERV to surrender everything," Keel said. "Well, fine, let him have it and if possible, make things easier for us should they're done with destroying the base and everything in it."

The acolyte nodded. "Master, what do you wish to for us to do next?"

Keel reached out for the phone on his desk and began dialing the number for Colonel Quaritch.

"Yes?" the man at the other end of the line answered.

"Prepare your men," Keel said. "We will attack tomorrow at dawn."

"They are already at standby, sir," Quaritch answered. "We also know that the Russian Pacific Fleet has left Vladivostok yesterday morning and due to arrive near Sagami Bay by 0900 hours tomorrow, with the ballistic missile subs coming in there first. The Japanese will assume that the fleet will be on their annual readiness exercises in international waters, but not until we give them the order to attack."

"Good," Keel approved. He then made a mental note to set up a final meeting at the holographic conference room at two in the afternoon; he intended to confront Gendo Ikari, not knowing that his enemy has already been removed from office.

END OF EVANGELION: BLOOD AND WATER
THE FINAL SEASON
CHAPTER 43: UNILATERAL DECLARATION OF DEFIANCE
An alternate path fanfiction by soulassassin547
Written on 11/24/2011 22:18 a11/p11

The immense auditorium, located two levels below the ground, was spacious enough to accommodate as many as 10,000 people in one sitting. It had seen its share of big events, including concerts, academic lectures and symposiums, film showings, and other special occasions.

At this moment it was now full, with everyone on their feet, talking and speculating, debating and arguing the uncertainty they were facing. Some of them voiced their concerns and fears, worried about their families or for their own lives. Others nervously talked of the impending assault, with the Jietai now in full control of the country.

Backstage, Misato stood before Commander Fuyutsuki, wearing a grim expression on his face, the burden of official responsibility now on his shoulders. The Children flanked her as they listened to their conversation; the other officers and division chiefs likewise ringed around them, ready to take mental notes.

"So Colonel," Fuyutsuki said. "It seems that the Prime Minister is acting ahead of schedule."

"That's right, sir," Misato replied sourly. "Probably one of the spies gave him forewarning and even told about this morning's uproar. Yes, he's in Keel's payroll, but judging from his initial moves, I'd say the government is acting independently of SEELE's control."

Director Hamamoto stepped forward and added, "There's something I like to say about Oda's phone, sir."

"Yes?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"We found that one of the numbers in his phone has been traced to an unlisted number, which is somewhere in Tokyo-2," Hamamoto reported. "That phone turned out to a number belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, which explains why the Prime Minister has gone forward on his own initiative."

"So we're too late, right?" Misato said. "He pushed the panic button."

"Damn late yes, like we're locking the barn door after the horse got away, but time is still on our side, even if we only have a day left to prepare," the former naval intelligence officer said.

"We can speculate further," Fuyutsuki said to Misato, "but for now we have to keep on eye on the Jietai, and at the same time I hope you have finally come up with a contingency plan for this eventuality."

Misato nodded. "It's in my head since two days ago, sir," she said. "I studied this scenario just after I reckoned that the Committee would be doing something really nasty on us, what with the evidence Kaji had on them, including their future objectives."

"I see. How this plan of yours be executed?"

"Basically, what we need to protect, sir," Misato replied, "are several: the MAGI and the command center, the Evas, Lilith down below Terminal Dogma, and of course, Adam. These must not fall into enemy hands should they attack in force, and we're not going to let them have it all with their dirty paws. So I'm going to give them the truth and explain everything to them," she said, pointing at her would-be audience outside, before she turned to Makoto. "Get my laptop and the projector ready."

Makoto nodded. "Will do," he said.

Now Misato walked onto the stage and stood behind the rostrum. With a video camera trained on her (for live video streaming, just in case if some can't attend the meeting), she then shuffled her notes and tapped on the microphone, which quickly took the attention of her would-be audience, as they were hushed into near silence.

At the same time Makoto was busy setting up the projector at the far end of the auditorium, hooking it up to her laptop before turning both of them on.

"Good morning, people," Misato spoke aloud, her voice carried over by the PA system. "Today, as you are aware of the situation we're facing right now, I understand that some of you have doubts, fears and feelings of uncertainty, so it leaves me no choice except to explain carefully."

Several people in the audience were loudly asking her what was going on.

"Early this morning," Misato continued, "an Angel attempted to make contact with Lilith, but failed after being neutralized by Unit One, and at the same time, former Commander Ikari was arrested for treasonable acts which could have brought us to catastrophe.

"However, about thirty minutes ago, and as most of you have known, the Prime Minister has declared martial law, and also sent us an ultimatum demanding the surrender of this base and the Evas under our possession. As of now, any rights and special protection we have in the name of the United Nations has been rendered null and void, and should we do not comply with their demands, they shall use lethal force with extreme prejudice."

Immediately explosions of outrage and disbelief went up in reaction:

"They WHAT?"
"It can't be! That's not our government!"
"They can't do this to us!"
"Impossible... Are they mad?"

But Misato held up her hand to calm them down.

"Let me finish, ladies and gentlemen," she said. "The government isn't the only party asking for our surrender, for we have the Human Instrumentality Committee to deal with."

Again, most of her audience wondered what she was talking about.

"The Committee, also known as SEELE, our supposed benefactors providing us the money to maintain and operate the Evas, have decided that we're dangerous, expendable and therefore they're preparing to assault this base."

This time the auditorium exploded in anger and disbelief, forcing Misato to take off one of her shoes and use it as a gavel, repeatedly pounding its heel hard on the rostrum.

"Listen to me!" Misato pleaded. "I have not come here to give you a really bad scare, but you have to bring your ears to understand what we have to do with this double threat. I'm not joking, I'm not making this crap up, we have the proof of their treachery, the threat is very real and we have to calm down first and put our heads together, so again just listen!"

Now her audience quieted down, which allowed her to sigh for a moment and take a deep breath.

"Thank you," Misato said in a calm voice, before continuing. "According to available intelligence, all confirmed by other parties, with the government's A801 order that effectively voids all of our rights, protections and privileges, should we refuse cooperation, either one of these forces will use all means necessary; they will throw anything they have, including N2-tipped missiles, chemical or biological weapons just to capture this base. As if all that isn't enough, SEELE will launch their Evas against ours."

As Misato had expected, more shocked voices came from her audience as the screen now presented several pictures of the Mass Production Evas, now digitally enhanced for clarity.

"While the Jietai lay siege on this base," she continued, "we believe that, apart from SEELE's private army possibly to be air-dropped, nine of these enemy Evas will be landed by their carriers to attack our Eva units, and each of these invaders are most likely to be powered by S2 Engines and controlled by Dummy Plugs of their own design, and furthermore, they will be armed with false Spears."

Murmurs of incredulity came up.

"With a combination like that, it wouldn't be long before we'll be facing hell, but we still have the fortune of having enough time to prepare ourselves for the worst," Misato spoke, before she gestured to Makoto to bring up the digitized tactical map representing the entire Hakone region, shown on the white screen using a projector connected to her laptop.

Arrows and lines intersected the map, marking the paths in red where the JSDF would be taking in their wake of destruction, while blue squares and lines represented NERV strongholds and defense lines.

"The most likelihood for a spearheading attack would be against our communication links coming in and out of this base, any satellites we have currently in orbit, and the MAGI itself, which could be attacked by SEELE hackers, and I can't let out the possibility that elite units would be sent in to neutralize our defenses and communications by stealth. Their electronic warfare aircraft would also flood the whole area with ECM, effectively voiding some of our sensors and radar, and they would follow it up with anti-radiation missiles to destroy or disable them."

The projector now displayed the full order of battle, listing the current order of battle of JSDF units pre-positioned at the moment.

"Judging from the disposition of their forces," Misato said, "I'm sure that they'll send in at least three or four hard-core armored and infantry divisions through Nagao and Hakone Pass, and blow up the defense lines in Gora and Komatagake, plus several squadrons from Mishima and other airbases to lay down some bombs and missiles, and possible naval bombardment from either Suruga or Sagami Bay. Afterwards, they will send forward the infantry and armored units, destroying anything in their path. With that amount of firepower, it's enough to level everything here to rubble and leave nothing but a howling wilderness."

Now the audience once again erupted in debate and colorful commentary.

"But first," Misato spoke, quieting them down again. "We have to negotiate with the government; we have to explain to them everything, we have to convince them of the dangers that SEELE could do, and release all of that information to the rest of the world by exposing their complicity and their conspiracy to endanger mankind."

"You mean we want the government to turn to our side?" one of the men from the audience asked aloud. "Sounds impossible, ma'am."

"We have the proof that SEELE is responsible for Second Impact," Misato said as she hefted Kaji's steel box onto the rostrum, before whipping out the SD card. "I also have the digital version of these documents in this box, and we will send all of them to every news agency, government and whistleblower on the face of the planet. All of what's inside this box will change their minds, to bring the world to stop their nefarious scheme."

"And where is Commander Ikari?" asked a man in a lab coat, a ranking division chief.

"I'm sorry to say this, but for those who haven't got the word," Misato said. "Commander Fuyutsuki is now in charge, starting today."

Someone from the audience, a ranking major from the security forces, raised his hand and asked, "So, Colonel, what do you want us to do?"

"Good question," Misato said. "Here's how we should do."

She began to explain that the defense of the Geofront would involve several tight rings of protection, placing the Pyramid in the center.

The first line of defense required the blocking of roads, passes and tunnels, using explosives to create landslides or destroy them completely, thus forcing the enemy to find another way in.

Next was the protection of the exposed main gate, with heavy weapon emplacements and fortifications; with the other gates obliterated with explosives, and leaving one or two gates intact, this would create a deadly funnel for attackers, as they stumble into the kill zone.

Should the gate defenses could not hold up against the enemy and thus fall and forcing a retreat, the third line would require the construction of a no-man's land, with a clearing two hundred meters wide, an anti-tank ditch, followed by an array of hedgehogs, concertina wire, abandoned vehicles, and debris from the buildings that fell into the Geofront.

Near the perimeter of the Pyramid, they will have to position defensive missile and artillery emplacements, the former to protect the complex from air attacks, the latter to shell the enemy. Machine gun nests will have to be created to deal with enemy infantry, with wide fields of fire for which to inhibit their movement.

But if this perimeter be breached, they will have to withdraw and turn the labyrinth of the complex into a nightmarish entanglement, with more traps and hidden defensive emplacements to keep the enemy at bay, and if necessary flood and block the occupied corridors with Bakelite.

Meanwhile, armed and prepared, the Evas will be launched to deal with the enemy Evas and destroy them immediately, using any available weapons, until none of them should be left standing.

"Now if there's so many of them, how could we fight them off?" a young officer asked afterwards.

"I propose that anyone with actual combat experience or at least able to pick up a gun and shoot should volunteer," Misato replied. "We need more to help defend this base, as our security forces are insufficient to hold the enemy at bay."

"And what about those who cannot?" another questioned.

"We will try later to negotiate with the government, if they could listen to us, to allow safe passage for noncombatants," she answered. "We cannot afford to put some of our people in harm's way, but should things don't work out well in our favor, the only other option is to evacuate noncombatants down below Central Dogma, at Level 42. That's where the discarded Evas are stored, but it's well-protected and should be easy to defend.

"Those volunteering to defend the base will be issued with weapons and then be trained as quickly as possible," Misato went on. "SRT units will also be deployed at our most vulnerable spots around the complex. Furthermore, some of you may have any knowledge that we could use to make improvised weapons to supplant the ones we have in limited quantities, so I need volunteers with good experience in creating bombs and jury-rigged arms. Finally, we will have to make do with anything in our inventory to keep this base from being captured."

Briefly Misato turned to Fuyutsuki, who was standing at the backstage, and noted that the old man looked as if he wanted to say something, so she announced, "The Commander would like to have a few words for all of us, so this would be a great opportunity for him."

Without a word Misato walked away from the rostrum, and then Fuyutsuki took over her spot, adjusted the microphone, and cleared his throat.

The last time Fuyutsuki confronted a sizeable audience was back when he conducted lectures in the University of Kyoto. Vividly, he remembered one of those times, a day in September and a year before the Impact, standing behind a lectern, his eyes all on his listeners, with half of them preparing to jot down notes, another half almost dozing on their desks, and a small percentage at the back, boys whispering about their girlfriends, last night's drinking session, and of course, some sex on the side.

He could also recall the suit he wore then, a gray suit, necktie and polished leather brogues; the lectern before him was filled with notes he had written last night, matters on metabiology he would like to expound and dissect with his pupils' participation.

For a moment, he flicked his wrist to check on his watch, a stainless-steel Seiko that his parents gave to him as a gift upon receiving the diploma some twenty years ago, before they died in a bus accident five years later.

The hands on the dial told him it was seven-fifty-five in the morning, and then his eyes darted to the wall clock at the far end of the room, comparing them, and became satisfied with their synchronization.

Just as he was about to speak, Fuyutsuki could sense, rather than hear, the door open. He turned to the left to see Yui Ikari walking in; she was wearing a brown sweater, black skirt and a pair of leather boots.

"Good morning, Professor," she said before bowing. "I apologize for being a bit late; got myself caught in traffic."

"I see," Fuyutsuki replied. "You're just in time, Miss Ikari."

Relieved, Yui smiled at him. "Thank you, sir."

Now, more than fifteen years later, Fuyutsuki was once again facing an even larger audience, but this time to address a very urgent crisis not seen in mankind's existence. Thus the speech will have to be brief and direct to the point, simple and easy to understand, yet should be able to galvanize and uplift spirits of those with feelings of despair and doubt.

He had to be in the shoes of embattled Churchill, no doubt about it, and so he straightened out, took a deep breath and spoke.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he said calmly, like a concerned father talking to his children. "I have a reason to be here right now, by the grave urgency of the problem we're up against.

"First of all, I am a mere teacher then and still a scientist to this day, a man dedicated to pure science, not warfare and destruction; I am never enamored with violence nor wished for it, preferring that I devote my time and effort in the exploration of the unknown and, like all scientists, to pursue and impart knowledge for the benefit of humanity's advancement.

"But, like a priest whose village is threatened by bandits, I could not stand by as a mute witness worthy of a docile sheep; I could not afford to watch my villagers cower in fear and unable to fight back, as their homes are ransacked and burned, and as their wives and daughters raped and killed before my eyes.

"That is a vision that I do not wish to see," Fuyutsuki said, as his eyes surveyed the audience. "I intend that I do not want anyone under my command be needlessly killed for nothing, all the while the Committee prepares the tools to hasten the Human Instrumentality Project, a false hope which brings about the end of our existence as we know it, an abyss which we may not be able to escape from.

"Instead, like a shepherd endeavoring to protect his flock from wolves with a slingshot and a bag of stones, it gives me no choice except for us, you and I, to take arms and defend ourselves, should the world does not believe in the truth of the Second Impact, the true objectives of Chairman Lorenz and of SEELE, and the penultimate goal of Instrumentality: the destruction of mankind by means of devolution into a single protoplasmic entity.

"Hence, what they are about to do would be an act of treason on a global scale, declaring war on humanity and life itself, so those who have the courage to stand up and fight to end their scheme once and for all, I am with you, not as the Supreme Commander of NERV, but as a citizen of humanity, a commoner among many; I shall devote every cell of my mind and body for this final battle, should it ever to happen and all peaceful and diplomatic efforts, warning governments of the world with the truth we have to end this madness, do not bring fruit.

"I understand that the coming hours will be difficult, for we will labor in preparations; if violence erupts, there will also be the possibility of some of us will die, but should we, even I, die trying to stop them from making their plans happen, it would be at least a consolation for our souls, should we ever have the ability to remember, that we have tried our best to defend mankind's existence.

"So I hope, just as you do, not for a perfect, sinless world that is wholly pure and yet empty, but rather a world in which we can all live in, with our hearts beating, no matter how much it is stained in sin… and considering that tomorrow will be the birth anniversary of one of the greatest martyrs in history, we will embody hope for the rest of the world, we will bring peace on our terms, we will fight, not against tyranny or persecution, but total extinction.

"If we ever emerge victorious, that will be the finest Christmas gift to the world for us to give! We will move on, we will survive, WE WILL LIVE!"

Only then Fuyutsuki heaved his chest with great relief, glad that he did the first step in boosting spirits, as the auditorium exploded in cheers, whistles and applause.

By the time Fuyutsuki returned to the backstage, he was greeted with more applause, with some clapping their hands on his back, congratulating and thanking him, for there was a leader who promised to stand alongside them. He then had to receive handshakes offered to him, which he profusely accepted; even he felt his spirits upraised, infusing him new energy and will that could sustain him for the hours ahead.

"Sir," Hamamoto said as he shook the new Commander's hand. "That's a great speech you came up with!"

"Thank you, Director," Fuyutsuki said.

Hamamoto nodded. "You know, sir, I'm not in doubt about you at all; you have now my respect. Let's show the bastards what we can do."

Fuyutsuki chuckled. "That's fine," he replied, before he turned his attention to Misato, who was standing alongside the Children under her command. "Colonel," he said.

"Yes, sir?" Misato said.

The old man gave her a wistful smile and replied, "You're the woman with the plan, so let's get started right now."

Misato saluted at Fuyutsuki. "Yes, sir… and it's a honor for me to serve alongside you," she said.

Now the old man brought his eyes at Shinji and the rest of the Children, and he said, "As for you, young man…"

Shinji blinked. "Pardon me, sir?"

"There will be always people like her and me and the rest of us who will stand along with all of you Children," he said before offering an open hand.

"Thank you, sir," Shinji said as they shook hands. "I'll never forget that… and I promise I'll not run away this time."

Author'sNotes:Sorry if it's short and I focused mostly on both Misato and Fuyutsuki, but I want to set the tone for things to come, and what they would be expecting. Furthermore and always there are distractions left and right, and thus it took much willpower to concentrate on writing.

Fuyutsuki's speech was inspired by two movie speeches, both from Independence Day and Armageddon, as well as those famous wartime speeches in history, especially those of Churchill and Roosevelt, who needed to rouse their nations from shock and terror.

More to come, people… and as always, thank you for reading and your faith, they always remind me that there's a fic that needs to be given a proper closure.