(AU) Evangelion: Sovereignty

[Lord Sovereign]

My utmost apologies, chaps, but I won't be able to update this week. My reason for this? University work, lots of bloody University work that has made it quite difficult to write. Not much of a reason, but there it is.

So, in an attempt to make it up to you all, the segment I put up next week will be at least two thousand words in length. Will that do, or is more required?

 

[Neepa]

As long there is progress I approve

 

[Void spirit]

Just survive all that work to eventually continue story. Length of future chapter, less important.
Good luck.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Sorry about the delay, let's give you about fourteen hundred words or so as compensation (posting in two parts).

XXX​

Delay the inevitable all you will, Vooren. It shall avail you none. Sahaquiel snarled. This pathetic show of defiance was a waste of time, the enemy's fate had long been sealed by now. The only logical choice was capitulation, yet they refused to countenance it. Do you not understand? We wish only your subjugation, not your total destruction!

Sahaquiel. Boomed the telepathic voice of Lord Netzach's Fist. Calm yourself, remain focused. Your brothers and sisters perished because they were distracted. Do not make that mistake.

I am well aware of how they died, Fist. I let that drive me. The much larger Divine shot back, not in the mood for Haniel's lectures.

The Fist had many qualities, not least his intelligence. Unfortunately, however, he didn't know his place. Always unafraid to speak his mind, Haniel would not have survived in earlier courts. Father, it would seem, had a fondness of the impudent and loud mouthed. This was something many old Rulers of their age never understood; why did this force of nature require the opinions of his inferiors?

This was something Sahaquiel himself pondered, having seen first-hand the power of Netzach. The Divine ethos, that might always made right, was the very core of their race. The Royal Fist lacked in might; thus what right did he have to command him?

Tearing his mind away from such distractions, the gluttonous Seraph looked down upon the vessels impeding him. Their power was not half of Ramiel's, yet it was enough to slow him. For what purpose though…were the Vooren buying time for something else to interfere?

My Heir, to your left. The Fist offered, putting aside the overweight Prince's disdain for him. As one who possessed a rudimentary grasp of what mankind called "telepathy", Haniel could sense the thoughts of others. They hurt quite a bit at times.

After all my years of loyalty, you still look down on me for my station. Though you lack his malice, you really are Yesod's son. The Fist pushed his feelings away.

Glancing in the indicated direction, Sahaquiel saw four large craft coming his way, flanked by dozens of VTOLs. In those huge swept wing Strato-Bombers, he sensed four individual sources of powerful energy.

I see you, Knights of NERV. The Eclipse snarled. In all their benevolence, the Gods had offered him vengeance on a silver platter; he would not refuse them.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

"Hey." Asuka's voice caught the attention of all but one, ironically who it was directed at. Having gone white as a ghost, Samuel kept licking his lips and squeezing his control sticks. To Shinji's eyes, he looked terrified.

"Sam." Trying again with softness yet unheard, the redhead got his attention. He looked at her face on the vid-link, shame all too apparent. "Feeling alright?"

"No." The aristocrat shook his head. "Not in the slightest."

Shinji tilted his head. The cocky, arrogant and humourful nature of the Imperial had evaporated the moment they were airborne. Fortunately for himself, his Eva had never felt more comfortable and thus he didn't feel ill.

"Deep breaths, relax." Somehow, Asuka's tone was stern yet soft. "You're in an Eva. No matter how high you fall, you won't get hurt. A-T fields are good for that kind of thing."

Breathing as deeply as he could, Samuel smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. It's not helping too much."

"Not to intrude or anything, but what's going on here?" Curiosity piqued, Shinji couldn't help himself. He'd simply never seen the Imperial Major this shaken before.

"I…" The Second Child's sapphire gaze had more than a hint of concern. It was as if she wanted to put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't think that's my place to say."

"Meadow-san appears to suffer from Acrophobia." Rei calmly observed, all eyes turning on her. "Am I correct?"

In total resignation, Samuel sighed and nodded his head. "Yes…yes…very astute."

"What does Acrophobia mean?" Shinji pressed on. That word was alien to his tongue.

"Fear of heights." Asuka answered him. "As in chronic. A phobia is an irrational, all-consuming fear you can't do scheisse about."

"Oh…"

"Jah."

The blonde aristocrat ran a hand through his hair and winced in embarrassment. "It won't get in the way of what we have to do. I can just about cope with it these days."

"There's no shame in being scared, Samuel-san. Means you've got your wits about you." Shinji chuckled gently. It was a sobering thought to know others, no matter how well trained, felt fear as he did.

Heh, the girls are making us look like delicate flowers. Rei doesn't really understand and Asuka…I think fear is afraid of her. He pushed those thoughts aside when his hud started flashing.

Immediately accessing it, the meek boy was met with a vid link from Misato. Soon enough, she was patched into the other pilots' comms.

"Alright, Pilots. You are now in visual range of the Seraph and will be engaging shortly. From here on out, we will be maintaining constant communications with you via radio." She smartly relayed.

"Then what is the point of a hologram call, if that is the case?" Rei pondered aloud, her emotionally stunted mind struggling to understand.

To that, the purple haired woman raised an eyebrow and the right side of her lips. "Courtesy call of course. Besides…I wanted to see how you were holding up." She frowned at Samuel.

Meeting her gaze, the Imperial forcibly retook control of his features. "Just a childish fear, ma'am. It won't be an issue."

"You're a tough guy, Samuel-kun. You'll do just fine." Her smile broadened at his sigh.

"What is it with you people and your honorifics? They are utterly unnecessary at the best of times."

"To be fair, Samuel-san, your culture's lack of honorifics is just as strange to us." Feeling a need to stand up for his culture, Shinji cut in.

A little too pale to debate the matter, the Imperial raised a weak eyebrow and let the subject drop. A lecture on the Empire's glory and mission to civilise the world would have to be for another day.

Rei quietly observed the exchange and ruminated on it. She'd listened to both mind and words, to understand their positions as best she could.

So different. Not only are they from opposite sides of the world, they are separated by history and culture; Britain and Japan could not be more unalike in many regards. The same logic can be applied to Germany… The albino had been feeling the shimmers of Asuka's thoughts, recognizing faint bemusement. Not the same cultural superiority felt by either Shinji or Samuel, but derived from culture nonetheless. The redhead saw the Japanese way of life as strange. Culture, Nationhood…these falsehoods divide humanity. The Commander's Scenario shall liberate all from these imaginary lines.

A sudden series of massive jolts slammed into their craft. What sounded like a flak bombardment roared around them, followed by the Strato-bombers pulling evasive manoeuvres. Shinji had to grip his control sticks tighter than ever before, only just forcing back the nausea rolling through his stomach.

"It's opening fire?" Sounding incredulous, the Children of Eva weren't sure if Misato was talking to them or herself. "Prepare for immediate action, Pilots!"

"Got anymore advice for us, Misato?" Asuka grit her teeth, adrenaline and excitement pumping through her veins.

"Yes. Keep yourselves safe…" Fumbling with her words for a moment, the purple head forced a smile. "we'll go out for dinner tonight, you'll all have earned it." The hologram faded away.

"We're coming in hot, prepare for deployment, eta fifteen seconds." Their wing commander barked, his hand on the lever to open his bomb doors. Directly flying over was out of the question, but they could use momentum to throw the Evas at the enemy.

Forcing his breath under control, Shinji flinched when a massive shudder rolled through his bomber. An engine had been strafed…along with the cockpit.

There was coughing over his private comms for a moment, his own bomber pilot attempting to get in touch. "Damage is critical, we're deploy-" The coughing grew wet and violent, downing out all other words.

Acting on impulse, the Third Child's eyes widened. "What about you, are you alright-" before he could finish, the bomb doors had been thrown open. The Strato-Bomber pulled sharply to the left and released the clamps holding Unit 01. In the blink of an eye, he was hurtling through the blue sky towards the Tenth Seraph.

Behind him, his bomber fell apart under the stress of its maneuverer and the deadly accuracy of the Seraph; not one of its Pilots ejected.

 

[Void spirit]

Do you not understand? We wish only your subjugation, not your total destruction!

Click to shrink...

Yeah... That's a problem here. Lack of understanding here on what is going on.

Those who have it trough luck, were able create EVAs so humanity could defend, but any other knowledge... they kept mouth shut on source of information and content of it.

Otherwise... culture clash and so on, subjugation is still bad. They likely have plans of bringing humans back to stone age. What with no need of tech and how much environment was changed by it...

"To be fair, Samuel-san, your culture's lack of honorifics is just as strange to us." Feeling a need to stand up for his culture, Shinji cut in.

Click to shrink...

Oh great... million orders, titles, rituals (tea or any other), then honorific... Lets also split language in two, royal and commoners, while at that...

Can we just have a small simple conversation?
Which doesn't take hours to get past introduction by listing all numerous titles and each side judging whom is superior to whom, according to 100+ rules, to decide proper honorific?
Duels of honour starting for smallest, honest mistake?

 

[Neepa]

Yay updates!

Is Sahaquiel in free fall or levitating in mid air waiting to drop once over target? As it is written it seems more like levitating than free fall.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Yay updates!

Is Sahaquiel in free fall or levitating in mid air waiting to drop once over target? As it is written it seems more like levitating than free fall.

Click to shrink...

His decent is being slowed quite a bit by constant Positron bombardment from five FCVs of the Japanese State Air Force.

 

[Neepa]

Ooooooohhhhhh. Right! there was that.

 

[Void spirit]

His decent is being slowed quite a bit by constant Positron bombardment from five FCVs of the Japanese State Air Force.

Click to shrink...

WHY! WONT! YOU! DIE! THIS! IS! JUST! PLAIN! RIDICULOUS!!!!

Above is probably everyone's reactions in HQ considering how much firepower are they throwing at it, nukes for example being nothing...

Hmm Brings question of seraph warfare in own time. How they defended own towns from opposing seraph army, what little infrastructure they had, for example.

Don't remember what was most destructive anime angel in area of effects attacks. Seemed to be mostly melee or concentrated beams? Not as much city killer radius explosions?

• Brokenly strong defence, while attack were claws, swords, teeth and sniper rifles? So not much destruction of environment and buildings?
• Or who cares for buildings, as they were primitive in technology, so everything was much easier to replace then modern sky scrappers and other technological items.
• Then there is third idea of seraph being able to extend own AT fields to create shield domes above structures? With possible side effects, like weaker from shielding much larger area, so few seraph have to work together? Or any other idea to build more sturdy structures.

While they are shown as some viking like guys, have some buildings, their shapeshifting ability and how overpowered negates need or defense of buildings.
For example walls are paper thin to their beams, not high enough for fliers of whom some can get to orbit if repeating anime, or someone could try tunnel underground. Among some ideas.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Well, bugger, I've made quite a mess.

As you've no doubt noticed, my updating pattern of late has been both erratic and almost non-existent. This is partly down to my own laziness, but mostly because of a realization that I haven't known what to do with.

I did not plan this out properly.

I had the plot mostly figured out (until my proof reader pointed out how daft some of my ideas were), but I fell flat on my face with the characters, and in some respects the world building. Fact is, I didn't get a notepad and put down character arcs or very important details about the world. This coupled with the sheer size of what Sovereignty would have become, has left me with an oil pan fire I frantically tried to put out, only to burn the bloody house down.

The truth of Benjamin Franklin's words (despite being an arch traitor to the Crown. The matter of 1776 will be settled!`) have become utterly apparent to me. "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

The same is to be said of all my current fics. I was overly enthusiastic and thought I'd got things mostly under control, but as I've explained…I really didn't.

On top of everything else, I've had a change in outlook on life. Beforehand I never thought I'd amount to much with writing, having an attitude of "that'll do" and starting out fics to "fix" things I hated. Now, since I undertook a huge change in my lifestyle that has lost me almost two stone in weight, "that'll do" simply won't suffice. As a writer, I'll never be entirely happy with my work, but I want to feel a tinge of satisfaction when I'm about to put up a new chapter. Not to mention my fics aren't merely "fixes" anymore; I feel they've blossomed into their very own things, which again requires a discarding of the "that'll do" attitude.

They deserve better.

Does this mean, however, that Sovereignty will go on the same pile as Nobody Dies or Shinji and Warhammer 40k? Of course not, giving up is for wusses. This is no announcement of a hiatus, this is a declaration of rebirth.

Henceforth, I am restarting all of my fics so I may give them the thought and love they deserve. Through this I can give you, my dear readers, the higher quality you deserve. Coupled with an improvement in my prose (after a few years of writing that becomes inevitable) and a recognition that "bigger is not more" (so that'll mean smaller chapters) we may have something just about decent on our hands.

However, this will take time. I want to spend a year thinking things through and writing, before I'd like to present my reforged fics. This doesn't mean I am going silent, far from it. From now, 5th August 2018 to 5th August 2019, I will be doing a monthly Q and A. Not only will your glorious Emperor answer your questions as best he can, he'll give you updates on progress and snippets of what is to come.

The first Q and A is what you see before you.

Before you ask any questions though, some further information. As part of Evangelion Sovereignty's restructuring, it will no longer be called that.

I brought up a while back that I intended to try and split the behemoth story into four "books," and I shall run with this idea. The series shall be called "Sovereignty of Evangelion," and the four books shall be as follows.

· Arrival

· Wrath

· Testing

· Culmination

I'm planning for each one to come in at under two hundred thousand words, but there could be exceptions to this.

All my fics will be getting an update such as what you've just read, and I'll put it up in all the places they are posted. I refuse to just vanish off the face of the Earth and leave you in the dark.

Now, I am equipped with knowledge from past mistakes, a better understanding of the writing craft due to reading quite a few books on the matter, and a proof reader (an irritable and uncompromisingly blunt grammar Nazi who's somehow managed to put up with me. Otherwise known as, precisely what I need). With all this in hand, what else could this project meet with but at least some modicum of success?

By the way, the Q and A bit begins now. Fire away, my dear readers!

 

[Malevolo]

Okay as one of your first supporters and knowing that S2 engines are biomechanical marvels, they still (probably) need souls to function. In that vein, as to not spoil the further mysteries we will probably get (and body horror), it's accurate that some level of unethical medical practices happens?

The second question is, with the amount of power the S2 can provide, would't it be interesting for humanity and some of the countries to have some off-world colonies?

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Okay as one of your first supporters and knowing that S2 engines are biomechanical marvels, they still (probably) need souls to function. In that vein, as to not spoil the further mysteries we will probably get (and body horror), it's accurate that some level of unethical medical practices happens?

The second question is, with the amount of power the S2 can provide, would't it be interesting for humanity and some of the countries to have some off-world colonies?

Click to shrink...

Hate to disappoint, but no, there is no unethical medical practices involved in the creation of these kinds of S2 engines (which will be renamed in Sovereignty of Evangelion). Evidently I hadn't made that clear, so my apologies.

There are reasons, pretty dark reasons, for that. That was one of the things I actually did have figured out, come to think of it! :lol

 

[Malevolo]

Hate to disappoint, but no, there is no unethical medical practices involved in the creation of these kinds of S2 engines (which will be renamed in Sovereignty of Evangelion). Evidently I hadn't made that clear, so my apologies.

There are reasons, pretty dark reasons, for that. That was one of the things I actually did have figured out, come to think of it! :lol

Click to shrink...

Damn, and here i was thinking of babies being used in contact experiments.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Damn, and here i was thinking of babies being used in contact experiments.

Click to shrink...

What in the flying fuck...no, bad Malevolo, get back in your corner.

 

[Malevolo]

What in the flying fuck...no, bad Malevolo, get back in your corner.

Click to shrink...

No, I'm not going back into my corner! You're not Dad!

Anyway every time i use this idea for contact experiment people get grossed out... but think with me, wouldn't babies basically synchro with anyone in the entry plug?

 

[Lord Sovereign]

No, I'm not going back into my corner! You're not Dad!

Anyway every time i use this idea for contact experiment people get grossed out... but think with me, wouldn't babies basically synchro with anyone in the entry plug?

Click to shrink...

I am not Dad, I am your Emperor.

 

[Malevolo]

I am not Dad, I am your Emperor.

Click to shrink...

mumble mumble will talk to Fabius Bile them, he probably will hear me mumble mumble

 

[Neepa]

To start at the ground level:


1. What is the "gift" each of the two "Fruits" offers?

2. How does this "gift" manifest?

3. What are the objectives of the various factions?

4. Why do the Angels even fight (background lore)?

5. Origin of the Units (slightly different than other fics due to your Angel version)?

6. Contact experiments?

7. The problem of S2 engine abundance in your fic without the Units being fitted one?

8. The overall Scenario/Plan for Instrumentality (if it even exists here) and how Rei/the Pilots or the Units factor into that.


You do not have to answer these directly, but I raise them to underline their importance (atleast to me they are).
Why you ask? Well..

You so far established the Angels as a kind of cousin proto-race and civilisation to humanity possesing the Fruit of Life in contrast to the Fruit of Knowledge which humanity does have.
By that you are effectively digging yourself a narrative grave as you now have to fill the Angels with "everything". "Everything" here is lore, characters, character interaction, emotions, motives, factions and so on.
They now have become much more than dumb punching bags with little overall depth for NERV and the characters, and also more than plot devices(or whatever the trope is they represent).
Now they throw more than one punch. Now they do not simply attack to be dealt with. Now they got true depth as any other fictional race.

If you do not want to hit Hideaki Anno levels of shadowy half mystery, making your readers read between the lines at unhealthy levels resulting in questions which would never be answered, you have to do this.
Another thing to look out for is how they fit or interact into the subplot of NGE you undoubtedly adapted to your own means.

I know where you are coming from. I myself tried and failed at creating an NGE fic. Although mine didn't reimagine it I tried to clean up all the shadows of Anno and write a continuation of episode 24 onward with a minor divergence to alter the overall course. Also the reason I switched to Rebuild. SOO much easier.....


tl,dr: By making the Angels what you made them to be you stand infront of a mountain of very hard work and planning trying to fit them into the murky water of the NGE plot and subplots.
LET alone interacting with it in a worthwhile rich manner.


I do not envy you right now.

 

[Void spirit]

4. Why do the Angels even fight (background lore)?

Click to shrink...

Isn't it here them being stuck in some pocket dimension, only one can get out at time?
So they wish to get back to Earth and rule again like once in past?

7. The problem of S2 engine abundance in your fic without the Units being fitted one?

Click to shrink...

I was thinking that Eva's have them, too, no 15 minute battery limit? I might have to re-read story.


So my questions would be

• Origin of Angels.

Not sure if there was supposed to be some material out of anime mentioning extraterrestrials and terraforming? So how it works here.

• WHO and HOW trapped angels here for million of years.

How someone learned to create pocket dimensions and mechanics for that. Why not just kill loosing angels? Best bet seem to be other angels, yet why is that faction not still alive, letting humans to exist... existed yet? And if any human existed in that time... Well, no way they had enough power to fight angels, then fall back to cave man stage.

Edit: There is idea of dinokiller asteroid, but... they surely could survive hit and following changed environment. They laugh at nukes. Also would create different thinking in survivors. No need to willingly get in pocket dimension, and they would not be trapped, having to find some object to let everyone out.

• Source of prophecies that predict return of angels.

Mechanics behind seeing future, AT field or other concept being involved.
As well as that great precision in when angels will finally attack, their order and abilities. How they led to Eva creation and any tech based on them.
When were they made? Soon after trapping angels in prison, or far in future by some primitive shaman high on drugs?

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Well it's a little bit late, but the Monthly Q and A is here. I am delighted to inform you the first few chapters are in the preliminary stages of completion and the sheer amount of unnecessary wording I've chopped out is staggering. The first chapter on its own has been practically cut in half. The world has been given an overhaul, less "Super States" and more "Superpowers with a variety of other smaller nations" and the geopolitics are more solidified than they were in the original. Things have been renamed (S2 Engines, Cores, etcetera have become Manmitsu Reactors. A-T fields have become Hawking Fields and so forth.) There is also the addition of HMAC's (Humanoid Mechanized Armoured Cavalry) which are basically mecha of a military nature. Energy weapons and rail guns are more common, the latter becoming a standard fire arm for infantry across the world. In short, technology is a bit more advanced here.

The Seraphim have received an overhaul and a half, right down to the number of appearances they make (I'm treating you to four Seraph battles in Arrival instead of three). I've also built the foundations of their mythos, history, cultures, and a far better realized language (they are the Duarudh now, instead of "Gettolfgar" or a mouthful like that). Said language takes a basis in something like Old Norse, whilst having evolved into something like Gaelic. And that's just for the "Usinrudh" variety of them, there'll be three other Duarudh cultures (so far).

The plot of the first book is almost entirely hashed out now, only requiring some finer details. We're looking at about fifty chapters or so (aren't I good to you) with plenty of sumptuous lore, far better worked out character arcs and some superior prose to what I had two years ago when I first wrote this.

Now, there were some replies to my last update in the review section, and I shall address them. This is a Q and A after all.

Spoiler: Neepa's Questions

To start at the ground level:

1. What is the "gift" each of the two "Fruits" offers?

2. How does this "gift" manifest?

3. What are the objectives of the various factions?

4. Why do the Angels even fight (background lore)?

5. Origin of the Units (slightly different than other fics due to your Angel version)?

6. Contact experiments?

7. The problem of S2 engine abundance in your fic without the Units being fitted one?

8. The overall Scenario/Plan for Instrumentality (if it even exists here) and how Rei/the Pilots or the Units factor into that.

You do not have to answer these directly, but I raise them to underline their importance (atleast to me they are).
Why you ask? Well..

You so far established the Angels as a kind of cousin proto-race and civilisation to humanity possesing the Fruit of Life in contrast to the Fruit of Knowledge which humanity does have.
By that you are effectively digging yourself a narrative grave as you now have to fill the Angels with "everything". "Everything" here is lore, characters, character interaction, emotions, motives, factions and so on.
They now have become much more than dumb punching bags with little overall depth for NERV and the characters, and also more than plot devices(or whatever the trope is they represent).
Now they throw more than one punch. Now they do not simply attack to be dealt with. Now they got true depth as any other fictional race.

If you do not want to hit Hideaki Anno levels of shadowy half mystery, making your readers read between the lines at unhealthy levels resulting in questions which would never be answered, you have to do this.
Another thing to look out for is how they fit or interact into the subplot of NGE you undoubtedly adapted to your own means.

I know where you are coming from. I myself tried and failed at creating an NGE fic. Although mine didn't reimagine it I tried to clean up all the shadows of Anno and write a continuation of episode 24 onward with a minor divergence to alter the overall course. Also the reason I switched to Rebuild. SOO much easier.....

tl,dr: By making the Angels what you made them to be you stand infront of a mountain of very hard work and planning trying to fit them into the murky water of the NGE plot and subplots.
LET alone interacting with it in a worthwhile rich manner.

I do not envy you right now.

Worry not, all of those questions will be answered. However, as you've guessed, the answers would be quite spoilerific so I'll say no more for now.

What? Since when was the opportunity to sperg out with law "digging a narrative grave?" :lol I love lore, I love world building and creating the backstory of the Duarudh (even their own bloody creation myths) will be an absolute joy for me. Presentation of that backstory will be the key factor here, however, and a lot can go wrong in that matter. On the bright side, my god I've gotten better at figuring out characters and their motivations.

As to further allay your concerns, I'm devoting five chapters to the Duarudh perspective in Arrival, which means a bit more time to flesh them out. Hopefully, with all this in mind I shall implement them a bit better this time.

Well, let it never be said I don't rise to a challenge. Wish me luck!

Spoiler: Void Spirit's Questions

So my questions would be

• Origin of Angels.

Not sure if there was supposed to be some material out of anime mentioning extraterrestrials and terraforming? So how it works here.

• WHO and HOW trapped angels here for million of years.

How someone learned to create pocket dimensions and mechanics for that. Why not just kill loosing angels? Best bet seem to be other angels, yet why is that faction not still alive, letting humans to exist... existed yet? And if any human existed in that time... Well, no way they had enough power to fight angels, then fall back to cave man stage.

Edit: There is idea of dinokiller asteroid, but... they surely could survive hit and following changed environment. They laugh at nukes. Also would create different thinking in survivors. No need to willingly get in pocket dimension, and they would not be trapped, having to find some object to let everyone out.

• Source of prophecies that predict return of angels.

Mechanics behind seeing future, AT field or other concept being involved.
As well as that great precision in when angels will finally attack, their order and abilities. How they led to Eva creation and any tech based on them.
When were they made? Soon after trapping angels in prison, or far in future by some primitive shaman high on drugs?

I'll repeat what I said to Neepa here, worry not. All this will be answered, just not here. Copious amounts of spoilers would be involved. However, I believe I made it semi-clear in OG Sovereignty that the "Seraphim" are every bit as native to Earth as Homo Sapiens and were the dominant species some 1.5 billion years ago…when there shouldn't have been life at all. Yet they seem to have somehow been the apex lifeforms of a world populated by apex lifeforms...now that's a question you can all dwell on.

Right, next time we convene I should have some lovely snippets for you all and I think I'll show off some bits of character sheets as well. Until then, my dear readers!

If any of you have questions, fire away.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Well, this is a bit bloody overdue! I have no excuses (aside from helping my mum move some things around in her sitting room. She was having a new carpet put down, you see) First off, I fear one of the promises I made last time I'll have to renege on. In specific where I said, "I'd put up some character notes", because I reckon you lot would much rather see that play out in the actual story and some of it's a bit "spoilery."

As for the rest, I shall be able to carry through. I've completely worked out the list of nations in the world seventeen years after Second Impact, and it really is different from what OG Sovereignty had. Here it is (categorised by continent.)

Asia

· State of Japan

· People's Republic of China

· Russian Empire (the eastern half of a divided Russia, born from the uncharacteristically peaceful way the Second Civil War ended.)

· Kingdom of Thailand

· Vietnamese Republic (These last two threw off Chinese rule in the aftermath of the Third Sino-Japanese War.)

Americas

· American Principate

· United States of Columbia (broke off in the Second American Civil War)

· Empire of Brazil (Reconstituted)

· Republic of Chile

· Argentine Republic

· Oriental Republic of the Uruguay

Africa

· Arab Republic of Egypt

· Second Ethiopian Empire

· Republic of Kenya

· Republic of South Africa

· Republic of Cameroon

· Federal Republic of Nigeria

· Republic of Ghana (All the remaining African States have a defensive pact, in reaction to a second Scramble for Africa on the part of Continental Europe as a way of preventing further British expansion.)

Middle East

· Islamic Republic of Iran

· State of Israel

· Republic of Turkey

Europe

· Imperial Isles of Britain (the nation itself. Put together with all its oversees territory, it is simply the Empire of Great Britain)

· Sixth French Republic (if you're wondering why Belgium isn't on here, it's because France annexed the ruined nation it in all but name after the The Euro-Britannic War.)

· Kingdom of Spain

· Portuguese Republic

· German Empire (Berlin did to Holland what Paris did to Belgium. All whilst reclaiming a whole load of Polish territory that was once German as compensation for providing aid during the Euro-Russian War.)

· Kingdom of Sweden

· Swiss Confederation

· Republic of Austria (a protectorate of the German Empire)

· Hungary

· Czech Republic

· Slovak Republic

· Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

· Republic of Bulgaria

· Hellenic Republic (Greece)

· Kingdom of Italy (in the chaos of a world filled with suffering and war, the past can be an attractive place. Conservatism won out, and a scion of the House of Savoy was called to fill the long empty throne as a constitutional monarch.)

That's all of them. It's a damn sight shorter than the list would have been in 1999, but that's for reasons you're likely familiar with by now. This is a Lord Sovereign story after all!

Another change I've made is in terms of SEELE. As part of a massive overhaul of this organization, they have been renamed. SEELE is now the "Holy Path", to further amp up how much of a religious order they are. The top title of the Path is "Hierophant" as if that doesn't hammer the point home.

Now, one or two questions of my own. I'm thinking of renaming one or two things. Firstly, Tokyo-3 itself…who calls a City, "Tokyo-3?" The closest we get to that is "New York." In SoE (Sovereignty of Evangelion), Tokyo-2 would have been Kyoto and I have no idea why they'd rename such an ancient city, so it should remain as Kyoto. Therefore, Tokyo-3 doesn't quite fit to my mind. Do you think "Hakone City" or something along those lines could work?

And here's a controversial one; I'm thinking of changing Asuka's name. My reasons are as thus, in SoE both her and her mother identified far more with their German heritage than their Japanese. This makes me think that Kyoko would give her daughter more of a European/German name than "Asuka." I was thinking "Anna" could work nicely, especially with her family name of "von Zeppelin" (the Soryu part might just disappear altogether.) So, what do you think, Asuka Zeppelin Soryu (as it was in OG Sovereignty) or Anna von Zeppelin? Or something in between, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

As for a nice segment of story, I just feel so damn generous that I shall give you about a thousand words. Behold, the opening of Sovereignty of Evangelion: Arrival.

XXX

"The truth is irrefutable. Second Impact changed this world forever and for the better. Its wrath and ruin swept the old order and all its corruption away, allowing our glorious nation to rise from the ashes and show all mankind the righteousness of our creed. The strong must rule the weak for the betterment of all.."

Princeps Henry Abrams, Chicago Rally, 4th July 2004

The survivors called it Second Impact.

On the 13th of September 2000, according to official reports, a meteor descended upon Antarctica. The ensuing cataclysms killed four billion.

Seventeen years later, the ice caps are gone and the world is gripped by perpetual summer. Meanwhile, new empires bloodily carve themselves into history. Technology has leaped forward, bettering our lives whilst enhancing our ability to wage war.

Man's trials are not over, however.

From the shadow of Impact comes its deadliest legacy. Seraphim, beings of unfathomable power awoken after eons of slumber, come to reclaim what was theirs. In doing so, they will exterminate what remains of Humanity.

All is not lost, though. As ever in such times, the unlikeliest heroes arise to meet the challenge.

Unfortunately, the Seraphim may not be our greatest concern. Something moves in the shadows, its dark goal spanning time immemorial.

XXX
​

6th May 2017

He sat alone, head leaning against the hard-plastic window, bag obviously placed on the seat next to him. Around him was a sea of chaos, of passengers squashed together like tinned sardines. Everyone from Ministers of Parliament to those visiting relatives in the Capital, made the commute. The train, sleek, advanced and seamlessly running along anti-grav rails, already looked as if it had seen better days. Litter sprinkled the floor like salt on a meal, the chocolate wrapper by his feet testament to this.

Despite having his earphones mercifully jammed in, Shinji Ikari could hear his surroundings. Inane gossip and screaming children caused the fifteen-year-old to rub his brow. Every utterance was like a knife to the ear.

Couldn't they have driven me from Kure? It would have been quieter…He futilely turned up the volume on his Walkman. Alas, one of the little ones behind him was getting very upset about something.

Sighing, Shinji watched the world go by to take his mind off things. The golden sun, that life giving fruit in the heavens, bore down on the world with its unrelenting rays. No fluffy clouds obscured its power, bathing Kanagawa Prefecture in light.

Rolling hills were covered in thickets of forest, hiding the occasional crystal blue lake. All was under the watchful gaze of distant Mount Fuji. Emerald green fields stretched out intermittently, the occasional settlement even less so. Most were ancient villages and towns, the wooden, pointed and curved roofs marking them out. One or two were modern, cream concrete blocks and grey roads built upon refugee centres thrown up immediately after Impact.

I was born in a place like that. If I'm going to be staying around here, might as well pay Atami a visit.

Mozart flowed like a sweet river into his ears, enhancing the beauty of rural central Honshu. Despite all the screeching "brats", Shinji focused on what zipped by outside. It was more than enough to consume his attention.

"Hello." Shinji frowned, thinking he'd heard something.

"Hello." Blinking and looking to his left, he saw a plump middle-aged woman in train staff uniform, pushing a trolley. Immediately, he paused his music and removed his earphones.

"Sorry." He forced a smile.

"No trouble. Would you like anything?" She smiled back, far sweeter than he could ever manage.

Shinji looked over the various packets of sweets, crisps and cake on there, then shook his head. "I'm alright. Made myself a packed lunch and got some tea from the station."

"There's chocolate bars waiting to go here…"

"I'm fine. Really." Out of sight, his foot fidgeted in annoyance.

Her brow wrinkled, as she seemed stuck halfway between moving on and staying. "You know I've been on this train since Kure too? You've been sitting by yourself all the way."

Shinji's wish to be somewhere else slammed into a wall of overwhelming warmth. He lowered his cerulean gaze, chest tightening. "I didn't have anyone to travel with. Anyway, we're close to my stop, no need to worry."

"If you're sure-"

"I'm sure. But thank you for checking on me." He cut her off with a lazy wave of his hand.

It's nice to know someone cares.

Nodding reluctantly, she moved on. Shinji was alone again, pondering what to do next. With all the noise around him, the young man was tempted to put his earphones back in. That, however, would run the risk of being caught off guard again. Deciding against it, he opened his black bag and retrieved a hefty tome with fading red cover.

A childish, infatuated grin spread across his lips. Shinji felt as if he were seven years old again, holding this for the first time.

Best book ever.

He could count the number of books on his rotting bookshelf back home with one hand, though they were all special in their own way. This, however, was precious beyond the rest, one of his treasures. Others had grown up watching Gundam or Dragonball; his great fictional journey had been to Middle Earth, with Tolkein as his guide.

Picking up where he left off, Shinji delicately turned the well-worn pages. Reaching up, he plucked his insulated plastic cup of tea from its holder, and gently put the hot liquid to his lips. Warmth shivered through him, contenting the young man. Never mind wailing children, he had a good book and a nice drink.

Lifting his angular head, Shinji tried to picture the Shire in the heart of rural Japan with little luck. Still, although it had lessened, his smile had not faded. Even though it was a symptom of unyielding thirty-degree Celsius temperatures, it was a beautiful day.

XXX​

Was that any good? Because I personally found it to be quite a bit better than OG Sovereignty's beginning. Now we don't seem to have any questions (although I've no doubt the above propositions will be answered quite vigorously.)

Well, almost two thousand words this time. Hopefully it shall keep your interest until next month. In the meantime, I need to put up updates on my other stories as I fear they'll be getting similar treatment to Sovereignty (long breaks for me to put everything together properly). If only I'd planned it out better in the first place…alas.

Until next time, my dear readers.

 

[Void spirit]

About Asuka name change, what happened to father? I don't remember it from anime nor here if anything was mentioned.
Abandonment, death by accident, or?

Guess somewhere in paper trail or characters off hand comment can still be put mention of word Asuka and Soryu in relation, even if going just by Anna von Zeppelin. To avoid confusion about who is this "new character".

Depending on father's reason for missing... from aggressive dislike of Japanese name and denies it... to just not care, didn't really impact her life.

Not that important personally. More interested into origin of seraphs and their motives, how much internal sense they will make. Along with source of prophecies.

And SEELE now as Holly path rename... Isn't SEELE supposed to mean Soul?

He futilely turned up the volume on his Walkman

Click to shrink...

Survived since days of old cassettes, CD... and survived even apocalypse to use what ever memory medium they use in Sovereign...
Huh, for some reason am just surprised to see company still alive.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Copied over from Spacebattles as it's relatively similar to what was put here.

XXX​

Right, quick explanation as to where your glorious Emperor has been for the past few months. Essentially, my University workload intensified and I found myself at "update day" without anything to really show for it as I'd been busy with Uni. This has had such a knock-on effect that all I can do is answer your questions. However, they may still provide quite a bit to chew on. (Especially given the rather detailed responses I got from fanfic.net)

"Hakone City" would definitely work, though I suppose another possibility could be something like... "New Tokyo"? After all, in Eva, the full name is actually New Tokyo-3 (if I remember correctly), and the '-3' part clearly wouldn't be applicable anymore.

Honestly, I'm not really leaning one way or the other name-wise, but I do like your idea here.

On the topic of that, I've answered this in a response to one of the people on Fanfic.

"Well, I have found a name from Japanese mythology that would make sense in a Post-Impact Japanese context. "Nakisawame," was born from the tears of the great Japanese father god Izanagi after his wife, Izanami, expired after giving birth to Kagutsuchi (essentially the Japanese fire god.) In short, from tears comes new life. For a capital city built in the aftermath of an apocalypse that claimed some seventy million Japanese lives, I find the name very fitting. The Holy Path would have absolutely no input on the naming of the city, as many Japanese would raise an eyebrow at their new capital city having any Christian or Western connotations."

Overall, the idea seems to have gone down well.

Hm.

Okay, while you've definitely provided some good reasoning behind such a change, I... sorta feel like the Eva pilots' given names are kind of an big part of Eva stuff. I suppose it... could work, just...

Not so onboard for this one, really-- I'd probably stick with Asuka.

You and some commentators on fanfic seem to have a bit in common. Here's what I've put down for there.

"About Asuka's "renaming," I have received many responses from the different parts of the internet I post to. It's mixed to say the least, with both sides having a point. Thus, I've decided to "steer a middle course" so to speak. How does "Asuka von Zeppelin" sound to you?"

It's been quite a while since I read the start of Sovereignty, but even without going back to compare things, I'd say yeah, it's good! I like it!

It is really rather nice to know that my writing abilities have somewhat improved since then. Although, quick admission time. Whilst this chapter will absolutely remain, it will not be the first chapter anymore. What happened was I did a classic Sovvy-chan and almost barrelled off before I was ready. Thankfully, I yanked the reigns and slowed down, realising there was still some more planning I needed to do. Writing will be commencing in earnest today in actuality, but for much of the past month I have been writing notes and reformatting them like a madman. Now, I have the basic framework (which still needs a bit more fleshing out. Outlining is not something one should rush) which I feel is vastly superior to what came before. Part of that is finding what I believe to be a better starting point, as in seeing Shinji's lonely life in Kure and him agonizing over his father's recently arrived letter.

Hmm... AT field being barrier of soul as I remember of Evangelion...
What if for some individuals field was... less well defined here? Fuzzy? Guess person losses sense of self, so needed for Instrumentality if this is still goal of Holy path/Seele to be forced upon population?

H-Fields (renamed A-T Fields and all) are more evolutionary and inbuilt in nature, sense of self doesn't come into it too much. The Holy Path are still planning/on track to return us all to nothing though.

Other side effects being:
Death, madness... or person not locked in current time and space, allowing scrying of distant locations, past and future?

None of those I'm afraid. A H-Field in essence is like a second skin that keeps life from falling apart on a structural and spiritual level. There's a hint of soul magic to it, but not much.

Say from cryptic Delphi oracle to authors of dead sea scroll warning of incoming seraph. SEELE having few such individuals to update prophecies, even if precisions and clarity is hard to get?
As original work before this restart did have human capable of shapeshifting as seraphs for SEELE leader.

The Holy Path's philosophy is built off the "Megiddo Scrolls" (decided to provide a new name because "Dead Sea Scrolls?" Really? Come on, Anno, you can be imaginative than that) which they use as a guide on both matters of their plans and a more religious nature.

I presume you mean Kasch Laberenz? He's getting a bit of an overhaul here too, but in the original, whilst he isn't a Seraph, the red eyes and pale skin was his true form which he'd learned to mask over the centuries. I thought I'd made that clear, but maybe I didn't.

As for your post here, Void Spirit, quite a bit of that is somewhat spoilerific so I'll have to be a bit quiet on that, aside from "SEELE" meaning "Soul." Yes, Seele is german for soul, but the Holy Path is a rather different organization to SEELE. They aren't too similar, which is what I believed warranted a full on name change.

To my deepest and greatest regret, that is all I have for now. However, I intend for things to get back on track with my Q and A updates soon enough. Until then, my dear readers.

Happy New Year!

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Greetings once again my loyal readers! I bring good tidings; not only have I got something to present to you this time, I can confirm that writing is proceeding at a reasonable rate. By some miracle, Sovvy-chan has gotten his arse into gear…what black magic have you lot conjured to make this so?

I believe I said something last time about "new first chapter?" Regarding that, I have a few hundred words for your perusal (worry not, the chapter is quite done.) We begin with Shinji Ikari running into the authoritarian and unkind nature of Sovereignty's world, as his legendary luck dictates.

This can only go well.

XXX
​

From the moment he bumped into uniformed malice, Shinji Ikari knew he was in bottomless trouble. Kenpeitai did not understand forgiveness.

Not a few moments before, he'd been "happily" making his way home from a late grocery run. Head down and drenched in rain, his mind refused to stray from a question that had dogged him all day.

What does he want? After all this time?

Now, gaze snapped up and body rigid, his heart hammered like thunder against a tightened chest. Two khaki uniformed secret policemen stood in front of him, one greying the other still youthful.

There'd been a coffee cup in the younger's hand; now steamy black liquid was splashed over his tunic. Beneath that brimmed cap, burning coals glared down at him. A snarl slowly spread across those canine-like features.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" He barked.

Shinji raised his hands in appeasement. "S-sir, I'm so sorry-" A savage right hook cracked into his jaw.

"Sorry!?" Clenched white teeth glinted in the dim streetlights. "I'll make you sorry, you little shit!!!"

Vision consumed by stars, the world seemed to spin. Shinji teetered and tottered until a solid mass slammed him to the ground, backpack crushed beneath him. His head smacked against the pavement, trapped between it and a barrage of savage punches that fell as swiftly as hail. Limbs full of lead, he couldn't think. Every blow shattered his thoughts as it did bone; something warm and wet started to splatter across his face with each strike.

"That's enough!" A gruffer voice, the one of the elder, commanded.

The Kenpei's assault trailed off, with one or two blows more to Shinji's nose for good measure. After what seemed an eternity, the teenager allowed his eyes to crack open and look up at the two men who towered over him. Great throngs of people on the pavement passed by as if they were there but weren't. Their shoes splashed in reddening rain water.

XXX
​

Hopefully that was good!

Meanwhile, in terms of the Refaed I've some ideas which haven't fully manifested as lore yet; these mostly concern their history. Whilst doing this I have undertaken the likely foolhardy mission of converting the flippant use of their H-Fields into a magic system of sorts.

· The culture that holds pre-eminence over the Refaed survivors is that of the Aldnar ("Ash Folk"). They are a people that came from a merging between the Aesnar and the Tarudh ("Fire Born"). The former are the original inhabitants of the mountainous, cold and volcanic northeast of the ancient supercontinent on which Refaed civilization was mostly concentrated; Aesnar are descended from the first Refaed civilization.

· The Tarudh herald from across the sea. Their old home was supposedly destroyed in a great battle with "giants." Multiple waves of settlers (according to legend) have come and failed to colonize the continent, with only the most recent being successful.

· Initially, the Tarudh inhabited land to the south of the Aesnar, a place of forests and green hills. After a while, they fell afoul of another civilization called the "Rjornus" (their age's equivalent of the Romans). The Rjornus drove them over the mountains into Aesnar territory.

· The Tarudh would be to the Aesnar what the Normans were to the Anglo-Saxons. They'd be a new, ruling class that would try to impose their culture and language upon the people they subjugated.

· However, as it was with the Anglo-Saxons, much of pre-existing Aesnar culture clung on and wormed its way back into prominence. Though elements of the Tarudh tongue (Great Song) are mixed in, the language is fundamentally Aesnar (Northern Voice) in nature.

A welcome change (as far as I'm concerned) will be the inclusion of more members of Nethrin's (renamed Netzach, just to remind people. I know I've probably said it before but a month is plenty of time to forget) court, namely those heralding from the other Refaed civilizations.

We've also got Taredh (renamed Tabris/Kaworu) dropping in on one of the last surviving Aldnar story tellers regaling a group of enraptured children with the history and myths of their people. You will all finally get the glorious Seraphim lore you seek in such scenes.

On another note, one thing I'm a bit annoyed with OG Sovereignty over is how I managed to forget my initial outline of Shinji. When I first envisioned this version of him, I'd intended to keep him himself except somewhat more bitter. His experiences and extra two years of development have allowed much of his angst to evolve into anger; as much as he wants to get that "thumbs up from daddy", he is quietly and unhealthily seething away. This bitterness will help contribute to his loneliness as he's both quite wrapped up in his own troubles and his mannerisms give others the impression he has no interest in them.

Now, for some answers! As no one really feels the need to ask too many questions here, I'll just put up what the chaps at FF.net have said.

Don't worry about not having any new material to show us. I know from personal experience that Uni can eat away all your time.

Nakisawame and the idea behind it is a very fitting name for the new Japanese capital. Definitely go with that one. Going the 'middle road' with "Asuka von Zeppelin" is fine with me. I can see why people would be passionate about this.

Showing us a bit of Shinji's upbringing is not a bad idea. I have very rarely seen that happening in Evangelion fanfics. As long as you limit it to one chapter it would be a good opportunity to better understand how Shinji became the way he is.

Personally I think your version of Gendo was very good. He is supposed to be evil, with only the barest hints of his humanity showing through and even that just serves to make him more dangerous. But as a said I have faith that whatever you plan to do will be good. Also thank for the info on AI's.

That it can. It's absolutely infuriating but we all know what must come first in such situations.

I'm rather glad the name has gone down so well. Seems I can get some things right! And yes, the middle road is often the best; I wouldn't want to overdo it.

Worry not, I won't be spending too much time there. The actual upbringing itself will be slowly revealed over the course of the story whilst we'll open with how he's "living" in the days before Gendo summons him. And it really is a good opportunity, isn't it?

Speaking of Gendo, he is absolutely not a nice person, that much is true. He has a deeply unpleasant goal and is more than happy to use deeply unpleasant means to attain it. However, I would regard those as "evil" enough and I don't really need to go any further in terms of depicting that like I did. Even if it was only a little bit, I think I went overboard in OG Sovereignty. And no problem for the info, you're welcome.

I looked over your new list of nations for the rewrite. Could you give details on how the situation in Cypern and the South and North Pole are/will be?

Ah yes, there's been one or two changes since then and I'm just not going to finalize what I've come up with until the last update before August (doing research into the geopolitics of the world in 2000 has been enlightening. For example, Yugoslavia would have been around for Impact). Some things remain constant, though. For example, Cyprus is currently a British Crown Colony. The Empire dominates the Mediterranean via the control of Gibraltar, the Balearic Islands, Malta, Crete and Cyprus. As for the North and South Poles, they're sort of gone. Antarctica got Impacted and the energy unleashed into the atmosphere raised global temperatures which melted the Arctic; global sea levels rose by sixty metres. Until the frantic damming initiatives of the early 2000s, vast swathes of land were swallowed by the sea…which means "goodbye Netherlands and Belgium."

As a final gift, I have created a lore segment and some technical specifications of the Susanoo class FCV. This vessel is designated as a battleship.

XXX

Susanoo class battleship

FCVs represent the greatest development of military technology yet. In 1999, the mere idea that great flying weapons platforms would become common within twenty years would have been laughed off by anyone.

The first-born child of these new breed of monsters was the classic British "Repulse" class battlecruiser; they were built to be sleek and fast to counter a tremendously powerful foe across a massive front and police a vast Empire. It's slightly younger cousin, the Susanoo, was built as a battleship.

The Third Sino-Japanese War left Japan triumphant but shaken. By sheer weight of numbers, the Chinese had swept aside both their navy and air force before landing troops to pillage, rape and slaughter on the mainland. It had already been long resolved for this to never happen again when Marshal Motichka launched her coup. Her subordinate, Air Marshal Daiki Naka, believed he had a solution. Inspired by the rapidly expanding British Imperial Air Fleet, he envisioned a squadron of heavily armed warships forming a ring of steel between Japan and her enemies. Setting up an "Air Defence Development Committee" in June 2009, he utilised whatever schematics he could get his hands on to make his vision a reality. Across Japan, the private sector responded to his calls for blueprints.

Kotai Industries submitted the winning design of a three-hundred-metre-long behemoth armed to the teeth and covered in thick armour. Unlike many of their competitors, Kotai chose to make their blueprint more aesthetically pleasing; this design would be the iconic downward facing curved sword shape. It's designer, Akiya Ito, found himself handsomely rewarded by the Military Council for his work. Kotai itself was issued an order for eight of these new battleships.

As the corporate giant had neglected to give it a proper name, Daiki christened this new toy "Susanoo." The name of the Japanese Storm and War God was to invoke their divine, destructive power.

Aside from a few issues, chief among them having to rearrange the brand new Heavy Manmitsu Reactors to maintain structural integrity and prevent overload, the ships were built quickly. The first, the HIJMS Kawachi (so named after the first Japanese Dreadnought) was launched on 1st January 2011 as part of New Year Celebrations. Almost immediately the Japanese people fell in love. Like HMS Hood had been for the Royal Navy long ago, she became a symbol of Japan's power and pride. Her launch would cause a domino effect throughout Asia, with everyone from the nascent Republic of China to the Kingdom of Thailand scrambling to create a counter.

Ironically, upon the completion of the initial order and the full two squadrons being put into service, they had little to do. The Vatican Treaty of 25th December 2012 brought the long Years of Fire to an end, leaving only a few smaller colonial conflicts to rumble on. Nevertheless, the Military Council was so impressed with their new air fleet, they put in orders for more. Motichka refused to let National Defence slacken in any way, utterly convinced major conflict would break out once again. Strangely, it seems construction intensified (a full dozen Susanoos sat in the construction yards in 2015) at approximately the same time Nerv took prominence. Those more conspiratorially minded believe Nerv is building superweapons and the Japanese Military have no intent of letting Commander Ikari outstrip them. There is little evidence for this, though.

By now, there are a full six squadrons of Susanoos. Any nation on the planet would pause for thought at the mere idea of attacking Japan now, although this seemingly isn't enough. Reportedly, the Military Council has issued further orders to Kotai for the construction of an entire fleet of multiple classes, carriers meant to be among them. But what is clear, is the Susanoos will form the core of this battlefleet and continue their unflinching role in the defence of the Japanese Home Islands. No matter the storm, Japan's mighty ring of steel will not be broken easily.

Armies of the World Magazine, Issue no:144, 15th April 2017​

First put into service: 2011

Number in service: 24, divided into 6 battleship squadrons

Compliment: 1500 sailors, officers and marines

Length: 300 metres

Propulsion: Two Fukijawa type-1B Heavy Positron Engines

Armament: One Type-15 Capital Class Particle Cannon, twelve 20inch rail guns in four turrets (two mounted underside), twelve Orochi (so named after the eight headed dragon of Japanese legend because it can strike in any direction) CIWS, sixty VLS (Vertical Launching System) Cells, and Takeida-30 and Takeida-120 (so named after their maximum range in kilometres and after the current Grand Admiral) positron missiles.

Armour: 14inch belt

Power: Three Heavy Manmitsu Reactors

Shielding: Primary and secondary Defensive H-Fields, primary and secondary Scrambling Fields (the ultimate ECM)

XXX​

Until next time, my dear readers.