The future. Peace and prosperity have run amuck for the last 30 years.
Too bad it's all going to end. Why? Perhaps that ominous shape breaking the 
waters of the Pacific has some thing to with it.

   Nearing the coast, the shape rose from the ocean's dank and dismal
depths. And it wasn't pretty, mind you. No, it was quite a sight. Sixty-five feet
tall, it lurched onto the shore. Hunchbacked, the thing stood as if there were
very few bones in its body. Mainly black, except for the white shoulderplates,
gilled legplates, extended ribcage, and the beaked faceplate upon which rested
a pair of black circular sensors. The most unusual feature was the blood red
orb that was nestled behind the ribcage. 

   Rotating its facial plate, it turned towards the southern end of Tokyo.
Within minutes, it was attacked by an joint UN/JSDF attack force. Since it
had no time to deal with such minor inconveniences, it cheerfully activated its
forcefield, and went on its merry way. Needless to say, this did not sit well
with the combined forces, and thus total chaos and mass destruction ensued.




                YUSHA BENGOSHA EVANGELION
        "BRAVE DEFENDER EVANGELION"
               
                              Episode one: The Coming of the Defender

                          By Ash

                Standard disclaimer stuff here



   Since it was Sunday, and there was to be no school today, four friends
decided to make a day of it and explore the nearby mountains. They were a
strange lot, three boys and one girl, yet despite what life and they themselves
threw at them, their bond remained strong.

   Leading today's expedition, is a boy dressed in baggy, if not oversized
jungle fatigues. Though they seem out of place on his small lanky form, he
wears them in way that shows that he has some idea of what's going on.
On his freckled face there was an expression of joy and wonderment. Turning,
he slid his glasses up his nose and called to the boy behind him, "Shin! Tell
the others we're almost there."
   
   "Sure thing, Ken!"

   Hi, my name's Shin Ikari. Actually, it's Shinji, but that sounded childish.
That's me second in line wearing the Gundam T-shirt and jeans. Ahead of me
is Ken Aida. He's a military otaku, but he's not annoying about it. Behind me,
the lovely angel with the exquisite blue hair is Rei Ayanami. It could be said
that we're sweethearts, Rei and I, I mean. But I digress. Bringing up the rear
in the black athletic wear and sour expression, is Touji Suzuhara. He's not a
bad sort though, it's just that he's been going through some tough times with
his family, and he hasn't been taking it well at all. We're hoping that this hike
will get his mind off of his troubles.

   And while I'm at it, there is a fourth member to our little circle, Hikari
Horaki, although she couldn't make it today. She has this ability to break up
any argument between Ken and Touji, although Rei isn't quite sure which one
Hikari is sweet on. Perhaps she just hasn't gone that far.

   We've lived in Kaiju Town all of our lives. Kaiju Town is famous for being
one of the few places outside of Tokyo that has been partially destroyed by a
daikaiju or a mecha.

 ***************************************************************  

   Elsewhere, in a dark subterranean chamber, a figure cloaked in shadows
sat watching a holotank. Inside the 'tank, an image of the monolithic creature
laid waste to southern Tokyo.

   A hand reached out of the shadows and clasped an ornate goblet. Around
the wrist was an equally ornate gauntlet. The hand moved back into the
shadows, promptly returning moments later.

   "*Excellent. If all precedes on schedule, then the Great Leader will be
released from his thirty year sleep. Very shortly this world will be ours.
Bwahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahhahahhahaha!*"

   The laughter echoed out into the cavernous chamber.

 ***************************************************************

   Several hours later, Shin and his friends were hiking towards whatever
Ken had wanted them to see. After an hour and a half of 'almost there', Touji
had 'almost had it' with Ken. Shin and Rei decided to sit down and watch the
show. After a few minutes, Rei turned to Shin and asked, "shouldn't you
break them up? I think Touji's about to lose it."

   "No, not yet. Besides, Touji needs to let off some steam. You can't deny
that Ken deserves this in some small way, ne, Rei-chan?" Shin replied,
smiling.

   Rei held a hand up to her mouth and nodded, giggling.

   Noticing that Touji was getting ready to throw a punch, Shin got up to
break up the fight. Walking towards them, he was knocked aside by a blast of
air from a tiltrotor that had crashed nearby. Fires sprouted up all over the
place. Ken and Touji stopped arguing and stared for a moment, watching as
the fires began to spread. Rei went into momentary shock.

   "Rei!" called Touji, "Come on! We have to get out of here!"

   "But what about Shin?"


   "He can take care of him self. We, on the other hand, should move it be
things get... toasty."

   "No! I have to find Shin!"

   Touji, realizing that there was no time for talking, picked Rei up and
tossed her over his shoulder. She immediately began to cry and pound on his
back with clenched fists. Dragging a shocked Ken by the collar, he made his
way to an area that wasn't already on fire. Shin, he thought. You are going to
owe me bigtime for this.

 ***************************************************************  

   Not too far away, the black monstrosity stopped. Taking a moment to
assess the swarms of aircraft that annoyingly buzzed around it, it realized that 
the forcefield just wasn't going to cut it. Thinking for a minute, it shrugged
and extended an arm at a particularly pesky group of aircraft. A circular area
at the center of its hand shuttered open like a camera, and a lance of pure
energy stored in the arm shot out and pierced a tiltrotor.

   Exploding, the wreckage flew outward and struck nearby aircraft, causing
them to crash. Seeing this, the other craft withdrew to a safe distance. Now
that the pesky insects had stopped bothering it, the monstrosity took a step.

 ***************************************************************

   Shin awoke to the sight of a humongous inky black foot coming down
towards his general vicinity. Panicking, he rolled to the side just as the foot
touched down. Staring in shock and horror, he watched as the monolithic
creature walked off.

   Getting up, he shook his head to clear it, and took a look around. Behind
him was the creature, clearing the forest before it. Ahead and to the right of
him, a fire raged, and to his left a large gaping hole. Weighing his options, he
decided that whatever was in the hole was much better than what was around
him. So he jumped.

   Landing on an angled surface, he slid for several feet before coming to a
stop at the bottom. The chamber in which was currently standing in was dark,
save for small fires and showers of sparks that poured from exposed wiring.
Exploring for a few minutes, he found a passage at the end of which a soft
light emanated. Entering it, he walked down the until he reached the end.
Shielding his eyes from the sudden brightness of the light, he found himself in
a damaged, yet highly advanced cybernetics lab. Looking around, he saw
some familiar corporate names; Sony, Gibson AMT, and Pioneer.

   "Unnnhhhhh..." groaned a voice behind some wreckage that showered
sparks onto the floor. Investigating, he saw a hand poking out from under a
crushed computer bank. Moving the wreckage out of the way, a look of shock
crossed his face, when he saw the face of the man buried beneath the
wreckage.


   "Dad?"

  ***************************************************************

Eyecatch featuring an SD Rei, Shin, and Hikari looking on as an equally SD
Touji chases a SD Ken.
"Evangelion!" shouts a voice.

 ***************************************************************

Eyecatch featuring the purple armored Evangelion mecha crossing its arms. A
group shot featuring Shin and some others in pilot suits and two others in
unsual uniforms in back, and supporting characters to the right, slides over to
the right side of the screen.
"Evangelion!" shouts the same voice as before.
 ***************************************************************

   Kneeling down, Shin checked to see if his father was alright. The eyes of
Gendo Ikari, Shin's father flew open. Shin jumped back in shock. "Son?"
Ikari asked, regaining his faculties.

   Shin sat up, panting from exertion. "Dad, don't do that to me. You nearly
gave me a heart attack."

   "S-sorry. Come...here."

   Shin did as he was told.

   "A kaiju went by, yes?"

   "Hai."

   "Damn. >koff< Son, there is... something you must do."

   "Yes, Dad?"

   Reaching into his sport coat, Gendo pulled out something that appeared to
be a remote control. "Take...this. Inside is... a key."

   "A key? To what?"

   "A >hack< ship. With it, you...can link with a mecha." >koff<

   "A mecha?"

   "Yes. The... Evangelion. A very special mecha."

   "But Dad, I haven't had training to pilot a mecha!"


   Staring at his son for a moment, Gendo coughed and smiled. "Don't worry
son. I installed a Gibson system." with that, he closed his eyes.

   "That's goo- Dad? Are you alright? Dad!"

   Shin hung his head in grief. "Don't worry, Dad I, I'll do it."

   Gendo's hand moved and slid his broken glasses up his nose. "Where was
I?"

   Shin looked up and asked, " Dad, you're still alive?"

   Gendo eyed his son warily and said, "of course I'm alive. You must stop
the kaiju before it opens the Vault."

   "Vault?"

   "Yes. Thirty... years ago, there was... an >koff< invasion. We... won, but...
had no other... choice than to... seal their... leader in a... vault outside of...
Kaiju Town."

   "Forbidden Valley!"

   "Yes... the remote will... tell you everything. And son?"

   "Yes Dad?"

   "If I don't make it, tell your mother... that I... love her." with that, he
passed out again.

   "I will, Dad. I will."

   >vnnnn!<

   Shin turned and saw a group of what appeared to be paramedics enter the
room. One of them pulled him out of the way, while the others lifted his
father onto a hover gurney.. When they had him on the gurney, they turned
went out the way they entered. Shin blinked and wondered if he was
dreaming. A beeping sound told him otherwise as he saw that he still had the
remote in his hand. 

   Looking at it, he saw flashing light next to a button on the remote. Pushing
it, a panel in the floor opened up, causing Shin to fall into a shaft. >whoosh!<
Propelled at high speeds by unknown means, Shin yelled to keep from getting
sick. Just as quickly as the ride had started, Shin shot straight up into a room,
feet first.

   Looking down, or up in his perspective, Shin saw that if something didn't
happen soon, his head would hit the floor. Hard. Suddenly, a polearm
extended from the wall. Grabbing it, he swung around for a few seconds until
he came to a complete stop.


   Dropping to the floor, he surveyed his new surroundings. At the other end
of the room, just as his father had said there would be, was the ship. It was a
beauty. Dad, he thought. You've outdone yourself. The ship was detailed in
black and purple, with green stripes that interlocked at angles by the wings.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was modular, indicating that it was
capable of some sort of transformation. And it's all mine, he thought. Ken
would die if he saw this.

   Another beeping sound emanated from the remote. Looking at it, he
pushed the button that was next to another flashing light. The canopy of the
ship opened. Investigating the cockpit, he found pair of metal gloves and
shoes. Shin smiled. It was the Gibson Pilot System. Pulling the system out of
the cockpit, he went about the task of putting it on.  As he locked the last
clamp into place, he remembered what his sensei had said about the system
last year.

*The Pilot System suit analyzes the wearer and then works with and finally
amplifies the wearer's movements and reflexes. When used as the control
system for a mecha, the system correlates the user's movements that are
copied, puppet-like by the mecha.*

   Pressing a stud on the left gauntlet, a ring of light ran up his arm. In its
wake was a black bodysuit that fit closely, but not tightly.  Looking at the suit,
he retched. Gah, he thought. Black -and- puce? I am definitely going to have
to change this later. 

   Climbing into the cockpit of the ship, he sat down and examined the
layout. To his left, a small depression that was the same size as the remote
was nestled into the side. Placing the remote into the slot, the cockpit lit up,
and Shin could hear the peasant hum of the engine. Below the remote was a
joystick, and second joystick was directly to the right of it.

   "Cool. Just like the game center." he said as the canopy closed. Before
him, a pair of doors slid open and Shin tapped the accelerator pedal. The ship
shot out of the chamber like a bullet. Seconds later, another set of doors
opened, and the flew out of the side of the mountain.

   "Yeehaah!" cried Shin as he was assaulted by G-forces. Reading his
instruments, he saw that the ship was going straight up, and pulled back on a
joystick.  pulling the ship out of a loop, he banked left and got his bearings.
Once he saw where he was, he swung the ship around the mountain.

   Another alarm went off on the remote, and after pushing the
corresponding button, something amazing occurred. On the surface of a
nearby lake, the water began to bubble and rise, causing the shores to
overflow.  Rising higher and higher, the top of this water spout opened, and a
head burst forth.

   The head looked as if it could a ship or a tank in own right from the rear.
In front, a horn-like protrusion was set into what appeared to be the forehead.
The face had a slightly bestial look that was overshadowed by the heroic lines
of the helmet.
   
   The water continued to spill down until the robot's entire form was
revealed. Much of it was encased in purple and black armor, but had orange
and green pauldrons, gauntlets, and plating about the legs. The pauldrons
were attached to an elaborate backpack arrangement on the back of the robot.
In the center of the backpack was a cavity that Shin surmised was where the
ship would fit.

   Flying to the rear of the robot, he activated the ship's VTOL jets. "How do
I get this thing to fit in there?"  Almost as if cued by his words, the top of the
remote flipped open, revealing the key card. A pair of speakers popped and
after a short tone, Shin heard the voice of his father.

   /If you are listening to this, then something has happened to me. To
activate the control craft codename; 'Star Wing' s transformation sequence,
place the keycard into the slot on your right,/

   Shin did so.

   / This ship and the robot before you were built for one purpose only. To
defend. Remember that, now Yuke! Yusha Bengosha Evangelion!/

      The wing began to shift and rotate, parts began to lock into place, forming 
a new configuration. Shin found that the cockpit was now in a position where
he was standing upright. When the transformation ended, the Star Wing
locked into place on the Evangelion's back.

   After a moment of darkness, Shin found himself floating in a chamber lit
in an orange light. A view of the surroundings before him appeared as the
robot's eyes activated. Tilting its head back, the Evangelion roared. Not a
bestial howl, but a battlecry of valor, courage, and.... hope.

   Shin felt a rush as he gained control of the mecha around him through the
system feedback link. Flexing his arms, the mecha did the same.

   Looking around, he saw the black monstrosity entering the forbidden
valley. Turning, he went into a crouching leap that sent him into a loop that
allowed him to land in a crouching position a short distance away from the

kaiju.
      
   Standing, he pointed in the direction of the kaiju and announced, "Foul
beast! You shall go no further! So sayeth the yusha bengosha
Evangelion!"

   The kaiju turned to see what was keeping it from fulfilling its orders.
Seeing the Evangelion, it shuttered its circular optical sensors in such a way
that made it appear to be blinking. A cursory scan of this obstruction, which
was currently going through a series of hand motions, revealed that the
forcefield wasn't going to be of any use now. Shutting the field down, it
focused all of its energy around its facial plate, and then released it as a wide-
spectrum pulse of energy.

   The Evangelion raised its arms to shield it from the blast. There was a
brief flare of light as it deflected the pulse away. The battle had begun.

                                                                       End Episode One              

 ***************************************************************
                         Next Episode:

     The Evangelion faces the mysterious kaiju as the fate of millions
     hangs in the balance.
     Who is watching the battle beneath the Tokyo Research Institute?
     What is that Ken wanted to show his friends?
     And will Shin be able to last long enough for the Evangelion's 
     Special Weapons System to power up?
     Find out in the next exciting episode of:

                     Yusha Bengosha Evangelion
               "Shooting ReignStar"