EVA-Trek [NGE x Star Trek] - The Complete First Season (2024)

Welcome back (kinda) to EVA-Trek! We're now in the seventy-fourth day of the Writer's Guild strike as of this posting, with the situation seeming to deteriorate by the day. Not only that, but the actor's guild, SAG-AFTRA has now joined the WGA in striking for fair pay and better contracts effective yesterday. I won't belabor the point of everything going on, but suffice it to say that sh*t is going sideways...

At this rate, it may be a while longer than I predicted before I resume posting regular episodes of the series. Production is still continuing behind the scenes, however. I'm currently working on the first draft of episode 16, hoping to finish it this weekend. If things continue like this, I may be able to post episodes twice a month after the strike is over. Stay tuned to see what happens.

This month presents something a little different. I decided to take a shot at writing in novel format for once as opposed to script format. What follows is partially based on the "unmade pilot" for EVA-Trek. I'd originally planned to just write/draw a one-shot manga for the series and call it done, however (as discussed previously), things expanded significantly. In the spirit of not letting things go to waste, I decided to rework the material from nearly two years ago into this.

And now, on with the show!

He was having that same dream again…

It always hit him around the same time: before and after fighting against those living nightmares, jokingly called "angels." Although, Shinji Ikari never thought anything about them was remotely a joke.

That didn't change the fact that he was being dragged into his personal hell once more by his own brain. It was like being forced to sit down at one of Lt. Hyuga's movie nights to a movie that he was the star of.

He saw his hands around a slender neck, yet he could feel the pulsing of blood through the veins there. His arms quaked from intense effort. A flash of the most brilliantly red hair, so utterly familiar. The feel of a bandaged hand caressing his cheek. The smell of humid air, laden with a faint whiff of blood. The sounds of waves lazily crashed near him.

Shinji finally forced himself to glance at his surroundings, breaking out of the narrative he found himself in. The waves he heard… such a strange color – orange! He'd heard the diffraction of light on the surface of Vulcan, coupled with the ever-present dust, could turn its scant bodies of water an orangish hue. This? This was different. The more he stared, the less he was convinced what he was seeing was even water. Not that he was a scientist, but the density looked off.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea overtook him, as though a sense memory pushed his eyes away. Something further towards the horizon, dark and unresolved, in the corner of his vision filled him with terror. He wouldn't look at it; he couldn't look at it. Instead, he tore his eyes skyward…

Oh, my god…!

A crimson stain far above, like someone painted a brushstroke in orbit, hitting the moon along its arc. He had never seen anything like it in his life… but yet, he had? Somewhere, deep within him, none of this felt like a dream, rather a distant memory.

"Disgusting…"

A voice, not his own, broke Shinji's reverie. He knew that voice… or maybe, he thought he did. It filled him with a pit of shame, hopeless and endless.

"Shinji," the voice range out again. Insistent, beckoning.

Reluctantly, Shinji turned…

The idiot was really pissing her off…

Lieutenant Junior Grade Asuka L. Soryu stood next to her dual-tier bunk bed, frowning at the occupant of the upper bunk in her shared quarters aboard the Galaxy-class vessel USS Nerv. She tapped her foot impatiently against the deck, an effect somewhat undercut by the beige carpeting dampening the sound. It was bad enough that Asuka had been volun-told by her superior officer to share quarters not long after arriving aboard, but to have to deal with the textbook definition of wasted space annoyed her to no end.

Said waste of space had his face half-mushed into his pillow, with a large puddle of drool drying from somewhat rapid breaths, Asuka noted. His eyebrows were somewhat knitted together, as though he were in distress. His own fault, Asuka thought to herself, he takes forever to fall asleep and wakes me up all the damn time. Turnabout's fair play, and all that. Asuka's gaze moved on its own, watching the rise and fall of his… bare chest… that peeked out from the edge of his bedsheet.

Dammit, I really have to check the environmental settings in here. He's been messing with it again, I'm sure of it. She suddenly felt flushed, tugged on the red-trimmed collar of her Starfleet duty uniform and wished the Uniform Code would permit rolled up sleeves on regular duty.

Asuka shook off the thought and frowned once more. She'd already tried to wake him up the easy way… so now it was time for the hard way. Her favorite way.

She took a breath.

"STUPID SHINJI," Asuka yelled at the top of her lungs.

Later, Asuka would chuckle to herself about the near-perfect slapstick routine Shinji unwittingly played out for her. At the current time, she merely frowned as his eyes shot open as if he'd been hit with a Klingon pain stick. He wordlessly sat bolt upright and turned to let his legs hang off the edge of the bed and tried to jump down. Unfortunately, his right hand trapped the sheets around his legs like a cocoon, so Shinji only succeeded in toppling off the bunk. One short scream later, Shinji found himself with a face-full of carpet, having landed painfully on his stomach.

Asuka's impatient foot tapping merely increased in tempo as she watched Shinji groaning in pain, slowly waking up. And once more, she found her eyes operating on their own… tracing their way down Shinji's bare back, and ending on his butt, perfectly molded by the immaculately tailored gray trousers of his cadet's uniform.

Wait, Asuka suddenly thought to herself, why am I focusing there? Damn my eyes. A split second later, Asuka's reasoning center finally activated as she felt the blush light her cheeks aflame with a feeling she couldn't explain. Naturally in this case, there was only one reaction…

"You perverted creep!"

"Dammit, not again…"

Even through the closed door in the living room, Commander Misato Katsuragi was able to hear Asuka's yell, followed by the sharp crack of a slap, and a yelp from Shinji in short order. From there, muffled voices carried on.

Misato sighed into her first cup of raktajino of the day – the best one of the day in her eyes. She mused aloud, "I thought we were supposed to be past interpersonal conflict by now in the 24th century." If this kept up, she was going to need multiple cups of the Klingon coffee she developed a taste for during the time she served at Deep Space Nine. Misato sighed when she realized that would only create more opportunities to be around Nerv's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Amagi. The Doctor was more likely to shove Misato out of the Eva Cage egress hatch than treat her for hypertension.

A warbling voice came from beside her, "Wark-wark." It was Pen-Pen, Misato's penguin… sidekick? Yeah, that seemed to be the best way to describe him. Pen-Pen detested the word "pet," and "friend" also didn't seem right, either.

Pen-Pen was next to Misato on the couch beneath the oblong windows filled with streaking stars as the ship passed by at warp speed. He calmly sipped on a mug of tea she'd gotten for him from the replicator only a few minutes ago. A mug she was seriously considering tossing in his face.

"Oh, shut it, you," Misato angrily hissed at him, "Dr. Amagi is a different matter entirely, and you know it!" To this day, Misato still didn't quite understand how the Universal Translator could make Penguinese sound so condescending. She swore Ritsuko did that as revenge for all those arguments she lost.

In response, the suddenly taciturn penguin merely shot a sharp side-eye at her that spoke volumes more than any words could. No, Misato thought, withering in his gaze, Ritsuko didn't make the translator do that, Pen-Pen's just a dick.

Asuka kept a fast pace down the corridor as they approached an intersection on their way to class, not wanting to look at Shinji at the moment. She grumbled, "it's bad enough I've gotta see you all the damn time at home, but do you have to sleep in nothing but your pants? It's disgusting!" Asuka noticed the occasional crewman glance in their direction at the tone of her voice. Good. Once again, it's the idiot's fault he's being publicly embarrassed.

Inwardly, Shinji wanted to protest. He was so exhausted after they got back from yesterday's sync tests that he only had enough energy to take off his shirt. He'd fallen asleep before getting changed into his pajamas. Outwardly, Shinji just rolled his eyes, by now his typical conditioned response after being around Asuka so much since she arrived a few months ago. Just let her complain until she burns out and stay silent until it's over, was the standard plan that he and his "little" sister, Rei Ayanami, figured out. The only problem with this plan was…

"Tell that to your inability to look above my waist this morning…"

Shinji's mouth sometimes moved faster than his brain…

It was only a low mutter, but Asuka's well-tuned ears picked it up. In the blink of an eye, it was like Asuka loomed over him, taking up the entirety of his vision, one eye twitching, a vein throbbing at her temple, and a dark aura seemingly surrounding her.

"What. Was. That?" Asuka spoke each word deliberately with emphasis. A deadly, final emphasis that could possibly mean sudden death if challenged. A chill ran down Shinji's spine. He would rather go face-to-face with another angel than be on the receiving end of that look.

"Nothing," was all he managed to squeak out. He could feel himself physically shrinking in size. As Asuka returned to normal, even Shinji was smart enough to not dare bring up the light but obvious blush that had now formed on her face.

"Th – that's what I thought!" Asuka would never dare admit to Shinji she was replaying the view of his butt from this morning in her mind. Again. The only natural way for her to cover her tracks, so to speak, was with a swift punch to Shinji's shoulder. "Pervert!"

"Hey!" Shinji clutched his arm, more irritated than in pain from the smack.

"Stop that, Asuka!"

Sakura Suzuhara's voice, loud and angry, approached from the opposite direction down the corridor. Shinji turned to see his… well, Sakura was certainly a friend… but also something more? That was a dangerous question to contemplate, especially when around Asuka for some reason.

Bringing up the rear behind Sakura were her "older" brother Touji (by five minutes, as he always liked to boast), and Kensuke Aida. Touji and Kensuke had become Shinji's closest friends since coming aboard nearly a year ago. Occasionally, he'd hear someone in class referring to the three of them as the "three stooges." Shinji wasn't sure what a stooge was, but he had a feeling it wasn't a good thing, so he didn't want to find out for sure.

That was a thought for another time, because at the current moment, it appeared there was a situation between Asuka and Sakura that Shinji needed to defuse before it blew up in his face. Two fighting, angry Capellan power-cats had nothing on this.

Sakura angrily walked up and barked at Asuka, "I don't care what might've happened just now, don't you hit Shinji!" Sakura promptly hugged Shinji by the arm, her ever-present position whenever she felt like asserting her dominance over others trying to claim him. S-so soft, Shinji always noticed. In a normal situation, Sakura would giggle when Shinji blushed a little at the close contact of her chest against his bicep, but she had bigger fish to fry.

"Yeah, if you wanna pick on someone, you try me," Touji boasted, trying to look tough.

Asuka frowned at the Suzuhara twins, not quite sure which one irritated her most. Maybe the one forcing herself on my idiot – Asuka stopped that thought train right then and there. He's not my idiot, dammit!

Kensuke sardonically jumped on, "so, what did Shinji do this time? Open a portal to Devidia II in the sonic shower? Threaten to sell your image data to the character modelers of Vulcan Love Slave, Part IV?"

"Not like there's much there to model," Sakura added with a sneer, glancing at Asuka's chest.

"You're one to talk…," was all Asuka could utter.

Shinji's panic levels were skyrocketing as he swore he could hear the grinding of Asuka's teeth, followed by the clenching of her fists. His current fantasies of, um, size comparisons would have to wait for another time. Someone was about to get hurt. He desperately gestured to the two girls, "c'mon, guys, can we let this drop for today?"

He looked pleadingly at Sakura. How could she turn down that face? "Fiiiiiiiiiiine," Sakura said, not altogether convincing as she sighed dramatically.

Now it was his turn to look at the Medusa – er, Asuka. "Please, Asuka? Remember what Counselor Makinami ordered?"

There was a twitch of a muscle at Asuka's brow. Counselor Mari Makinami… god, how she detested being in those sessions, and it wasn't even because of her idi – dammit, not that again. She didn't want to follow the advice that weirdo prescribed, but an order from a superior officer was an order. Asuka recited Makinami's words, "pause, take a breath."

Shinji nodded, "right, and let it go. This isn't worth getting us put on report again, is it?"

From his vantage point, Touji could hear the growing grumble from Asuka's throat when she suddenly turned on Shinji, eyes fiery with rage. Just the sudden movement caused Shinji to flinch, moving his body to shield Sakura. But then, Touji could swear he saw something register on Asuka's face. Was it sadness, or maybe guilt? From the Red Demon herself? She turned quick enough to hide her face that Touji figured he'd just imagined it.

Asuka cranked up her typical haughtiness, "Fine!" She turned to Sakura, trying to stay somewhat civil. "I'll lay off for today, Suzuhara. Just stay outta my way if you wanna live."

A very satisfied smile crept across Sakura's face. "I'll do my best, ma'am," her voice dripped with honey and sarcasm. Ignoring the glare that Asuka was now shooting her way, she turned to Shinji, "I have a couple of things to take care of in Sickbay before class starts, so I gotta run. See you later, Shinji!" She took off down the corridor, waving to Shinji before she was out of sight.

Resisting yet another wave of anger, Asuka turned to see the three stooges just standing there. It only served to piss her off even more. "Alright," she barked out, "this isn't a cadet review. Let's get going to class already."

Touji and Kensuke merely rolled their eyes, saying a monotone "yes, ma'am" in unison as they took off down the corridor together, with Shinji bringing up the rear.

Asuka waited a moment, then took a few long strides to catch up with Shinji. She could feel his whole body tense up when she put her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. That… didn't have the effect on him she was hoping for, she noted. Leaning in close, Asuka whispered into his ear, "and you," even she could tell she didn't know what kind of tone she was going for in her voice, but she continued, "I'll deal with you later." With that, she quickened her pace, taking her ahead of Shinji once more.

Well, I'm dead, Shinji thought to himself as a cold sweat broke out down his face. Maybe I should ask Misato to prepare a burial torpedo for me?

It was going to be a long day on the USS Nerv for Shinji.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

Dr. Hitomi Amagi frowned, annoyed as she stared at the balding medical library in front of her. She couldn't figure out why Starfleet Medical programmed the Emergency Medical Hologram to sound so damned condescending. Hell, its default facial expression had enough smug on it for five human beings. It was a big reason she (and a lot of other fleet doctors) hated using it to begin with. If it weren't for –

The doors to sickbay opened, and Sakura bounded in, all smiles. "Hiya, Doc," she excitedly beamed.

"Good morning, Sakura." Hitomi smiled, always happy to see her young assistant/intern whenever she was able to stop by.

Sakura quickly moved to the main medical display on the rear wall that Hitomi was working at, "I see you've already got Emmett fired up."

"Emmett?"

"Oh, just toying around with something to call him. 'EMH' sounds so… clinical and cold, doesn't it?"

Hitomi smiled, "I suppose so." It was a little more than a year ago that Sakura's father had mentioned her interest in medicine during his initial physical. Hitomi was only too glad to agree to let Sakura visit and check out sickbay. Sakura quickly impressed her with obvious drive and curiosity with medicine and physiology. By the time her visit was over, Hitomi had offered Sakura an intern position. Since then, Hitomi wouldn't hesitate to call Ms. Suzuhara an essential part of her staff.

"Are you sure you wanna do this," Hitomi asked as they turned back to 'Emmett.' "We're not going to be using it enough for anyone to have any real interaction with it."

"Him, Doctor," Sakura gently admonished. "He might be a hologram, but he was made into human form for a reason. Why shouldn't we make him more personable?"

"It's not like I'm saying you're wrong, but… the last personality subroutine we tried on him was too… too handsy." Hitomi frowned, remembering the EMH somehow found its way to her chest when she tried giving it less of a bed-snide manner and more of a bed-side manner. She cursed the fact her hand just went through empty photons when she tried to slap its infernal smug visage.

Sakura innocently shrugged, "trial and error. Issues are bound to happen while we fine-tune him."

Hitomi rolled her eyes, deciding she'd play along for now. As long as the next version doesn't go after Sakura, I guess… "Okay, let's try this again." She hit a couple buttons on her tricorder. "EMH personality subroutine overhaul, Mark II."

At the bleeping of a computer chime, the EMH's posture relaxed. He turned, looking at Hitomi with… charm? However, when he saw Sakura, he frowned instead.

"What in blazes is a-goin' on here?" Sakura and Hitomi looked at each other, confused at how the EMH had adopted an American accent, specifically a southern one.

Hitomi turned back to the EMH, "I don't understand your meaning?"

"The kid! What is this, a sickbay, or a daycare?" The EMH's usual disinterested gaze at Sakura had been replaced with open hostility.

Sakura pouted peevishly, "I'm not a kid! I'm her intern!"

"My god, an intern! In my time, we'd never have kids in my sickbay unless they were a patient!" The EMH stalked away from them, shaking his head in irritation as he scanned the room, waving at the LCARS displays. "They keep replacing basic human care with a bunch a' damn computers! I always warned Starfleet Medical that engineers love to change things."

Hitomi turned to Sakura, "what the hell did you use for the baseline?"

Sakura grabbed her PADD, paging through her notes. "I took some bits and pieces from some past CMOs – Phlox, McCoy, Pulaski, and others, but…" Her words trailed off as she caught something in her notes.

"What is it," Hitomi asked, while she noticed the EMH critically eyeing the row of illuminated specimen jars in the corner of the room.

Sakura groaned, "I asked Lt. Hyuga for some help with this, since I hear he's got experience with programming characters, and… he got a bit carried away."

"How carried away?"

"The personality file is twice the number of quads it should be, with no mention of anyone but McCoy, and I see some notes in here from a guy named Felix, too." Sakura shook her head; she shouldn't have gone to Hyuga about this. Makoto Hyuga, Nerv's chief helmsman was well-known aboard the ship as a holodeck aficionado and cinema historian. Most enjoyed the taste he had in those "movie" things he showed every couple of weeks, and the attention to detail was spectacular. But this… this was too much detail.

Hitomi sighed. Back to the drawing board. "Alright, at least this one kept its hands to itself." She called out, "computer, uninstall personality subroutine and deactivate EMH."

The EMH abruptly turned, looking offended as he lifted himself up on his toes a couple times impatiently, "dammit, I'm a doctor, not a –" His words were cut short as the EMH shimmered and vanished.

Hitomi and Sakura shared a disappointed look for a moment. Sakura sheepishly admitted, "guess we'll have to try again…"

"Yeah…" Hitomi really wasn't looking forward to it. "Some other time, however. You're going to be late."

The surprise registered on Sakura's face as she realized. "Oh, crap! Sorry, Doc, I'll see you later!" She started out on a run.

"Next time, though," Hitomi called after her, making Sakura stop for a moment, "don't go to Hyuga."

Sakura sighed, on the same wavelength, "yes, Doctor…"

As the doors closed behind Sakura, Hitomi suddenly had the feeling it was going to be a long day for her.

Bonus artwork - unfinished pages from the abandoned EVA-Trek manga one-shot.

As mentioned prior to the episode, these are the three completed pages from the abandoned one-shot manga. I did sketches for all 15 pages of the planned manga, but the remainder are so rough that I'd rather not subject anyone to them.