shinji's rebirth

CHAPTER 6

returning to GEHIRN was the worst mistake misato katsuragi ever made the fortress was swarmed with union ships, and several very angry politicians

"this is colonel misato katsuragi, commander of this fortress, what can we do for you" misato said trying to be diplomatic since all they had at their disposal was two functioning evangelions and a single heavy-cruiser to their name, curtesy of her own actions

"i am jedi master mace windu, acting commander of this force, you have no right to claim the fortress commanded by commander shinji ikari, and we will be taking it back as well as the gladius unit which you have aboard your ship, failure to comply will result in you being considered hostile" mace windu said

"shinji ikari is a criminal to our society" ritsuko said

"are we in your territory, no we are in intergalactic union space, here he is a war hero, and to many the great messiah, i  cannot, will not, allow harm to come to him, least of all by fools like you" mace windu said annoyed, one of the last jedi to convert to the faith of the fallen, do to him being such a staunch traditionalist, but seeing how much his people thrived he too made the change, and was devout follower of the faith as a result

"why, why is he so important to you" misato asked, he paused

"allow us to show you" mace said, he then cut the channel

"ma'am several ships are moving into formation with us" midori said

"i guess we're going with them" misato said

"like we are being given a choice" ritsuko said, misato nodded

they were led to the intergalactic union capital world of alderaan

they were told that shinji had insisted it be on a world such as alderaan the capital, for he did not care for the city worlds around the galaxy, coruscant being a key example as to why, they remarked at the beauty of the world, which mace windu nodded to, as they walked to came to an empty pedestal 

"this is the main reason we brought you here, and by the end we hope to have your help in completing this project" mace said

"what project" misato asked

"we wish to have a statue of the avatar of the abyss, in it's original form when it first started, lord ikari did not wish for such a statue to be built, and so he ordered the only other individual who knew what it looked like to not aid us, and he himself refused to give out such information" mace said

"why" ritsuko asked

"have you done your research into the faith" mace asked, both women shook their heads

"while we worship azrael, we truly follow it's pilot, lord ikari, our scripture speaks of learning from hardship which he had endured, and showing that despite it all, he became one of the most skilled pilots and military commanders in history, his skill is only second to his kindness, he started to union to help a specific group of children who were being used as he was used, he introduced them to what was the united federation of planets, of which he had previously served as a captain for, that's what began his journey to create the union, he brought many many dimensions together, that would not have been possible without the silent one, and because of that we received aid during the separatist war, he brought anakin skywalker back to the light aided in the execution to the sith lord darth sidious, and that's just the aid he's give to my old order, if we speak on the united federation of planets he led our own fleets to starfleets aid against the borg and the dominion, and during our war with the separatists he reminded us who we were, we were protectors, we were supposed to be what he strived to be, he surpassed us in this" mace said

"wow" misato said

"you said your scripture speaks of learning about hardship how do you do this" ritsuko asked

"physical pain, we would never dare do emotional harm to those within our faith, our lord would strike us down in an instant should he learn of such, and we'd deserve it, but our acolytes do go through certain ceremonies to understand at least a glimpse of the pain our lord endured but physically rather then the much worse emotional pain" mace said

"i see" ritsuko said

"and your people willingly allow themselves to be tortured" misato asked

"we do not go quite to the level of torture we are not evil sadists, nor are we fanatics like our lord tends to believe, we are simply people who worship our chosen god, but essentially yes, if we were to force those who worship our lord, then he would strike us down, just the same, it is the only reason why we were aloud to grow into what we are now and individuals such as myself were converted into the faith, lord ikari believes in free will above all else, that we know for a fact" mace said

"i see" misato said

"show us" ritsuko said

"why did you think i brought you here, one of our larger temples are here" he said as he led the way