The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
The Order is an extraterritorial entity that answers to no country and in turn has no international recognition.
In an early draft, they would've married... with Kaworu spelling out the marriage proposal on the sky with the fireballs of several hundred nukes detonated in space. I felt that was way too pretentious.
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The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Well then, the Order is no different in its situation than any real-life geopolitical entity that possesses de facto sovereignty over its territory (especially ones that managed to successfully repel any and all attempts so far by existing sovereign states to prevent them from seceding) but has limited to no diplomatic recognition by the world's de jure sovereign states. In other words, nothing can really stop them from conducting marriages under their own laws; that the rest of the worlds' governments will refuse to acknowledge the legality of such marriages when it comes to their own laws concering marriages involving foreigners is of no consequence to that, and isn't without precedent (e.g. anyone from a country where polygamy is legal can at best bring along only one of his/her multiple spouses when visiting a country where polygamy is illegal).
That said, you've already said that Asuka and Kaworu aren't exactly the kind of couple that we tend to think of when the word "couple" is used, and thus do not have much incentive to get married. Other people, however...
Also, ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
at earlydraft!Kaworu's epicness. I think we have a trope for what he did there, actually.
edited 4th Sep '15 12:22:54 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
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Actually, I think I can go ahead and stop the chapter there. It gives me a nice, clean mini-arc to progress through until the mission briefing.
Now I need to do something more for the PR chapter... >_>
...
...time to reread the fic itself so I can remember what was going on other than the battle!
Mind you, "de facto sovereignty over its own territory" in the Order's case really means that no government is able to exert control over them because their headquarters is a flying fortress packing enough dakka to atomize everything the entire rest of humanity can throw at it. They are untouchable both militarilynote , politicallynote and economicallynote .
You can imagine how powerful an N.G.O. Superpower is when it can successfully pull Gunboat Diplomacy on two actual superpowers at the same time.
edited 4th Sep '15 1:43:05 PM by amitakartok
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
That's impressive... but how/where do they get the raw materials for their industrial machine, like mineral ores, rare metals, and that sort of thing?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
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Asteroids, probably.
Indeed.
The asteroids targeted for harvesting are loaded into a chamber (optionally broken up into smaller pieces beforehand) where nanites break them into raw chemical elements that all get stored separately until needed.
This is also the basis for the crew's economic model. The Order issues requisition credits that, aside from being the ship's legal tender, can be redeemed for direct access to the ship's nanite foundries; basically, you can directly order stuff custom-built for you instead of buying it. The price depends on what elements are required for the manufacturing order, with the elements' value free-floating depending on the ship's current stocks of the element in question (ie. the price goes up as the stores are used up but goes back down when the stores get topped by a harvest).
This is why they don't trade: with their foundries being able to churn out top-quality goods at dirt-cheap prices, they could easily undercut and bankrupt entire industries. That, and the ship refuses to share the tech with anyone else. The governments, on the other hand, don't give a damn about the economic implications because the ship's manufacturing capabilities would be a complete game-changer for any military that gains control of it.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Wait, so why are the governments diplomatically hostile to the Order, then? You'd think they'd do their damnedest to suck up to such an overpowered force that can wipe the floor with any of them if they so much as gave it a reason to flex its muscle against them... and that's without using their actual military forces.
... And how and why the fuck did those governments even allow the Order to be so much more powerful than all of them combined? Were they all led by a George W. Bush, or something?
edited 4th Sep '15 2:55:56 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
For one, the Order is not playing the diplomatic game. You know, empty niceties, flowery assurances of friendship, symbolic gestures purely for PR purposes and all that crap politicians do all the time? They don't do any of that because they are not led by politicians.
The Order is, at its core, a highly-organized vigilante group with access to weapons of mass destruction. They do their own thing and don't ask for permission from anyone, so they're treated as a pariah state. That is, whenever anyone even takes them seriously.
Their military power is actually quite a bit more limited than it seems. Yes, Evas are individually superior to Tridents in almost all regards, but by that point Tridents have been mass-produced into the thousands, so the Order is massively outnumbered. They have their awesome flying fortress, but it's one-of-a-kind and can't be in multiple places at the same time, so their force-projection capabilities are nearly non-existent at first. To illustrate the disparity, imagine the SDF-1 Macross being sent up against the collective military force of present-day humanity.
With that said, their counterintelligence did a great job concealing the exact size of their armed forces. Massive WTF ensued from all around when they finally played their hand, fielding multiple carrier battle groups and well over a hundred Evas.
There is one thing that prevents the Order from fully cutting loose: a chronic but severe shortage of manpower. That force in the previous paragraph? That's literally their entire military, with zero reserves held back. And they're an all-volunteer force (only partly in the case of Eva pilot candidates), not a drafted one.
Fandom Heretic
So basically, they're Celestial Being?
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... Now I'm wondering where does the Order gets its manpower from, and how it replenishes battlefield losses. I mean, it's not like it can recruit from the populations of the world's countries like XCOM does, since the governments are all hostile to it.
edited 4th Sep '15 4:34:39 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Simple: their fortress houses the entire population of what used to be Tokyo-2 (plus their descendants). About a million people. The large majority of these are just civilians, however, unaffiliated with the Order other than living onboard their ship.
What differentiates these people from others is that all of them have been in close proximity to Third Impact. As a result, all of their children are weakly psychic. One of the ongoing projects of the Order's R&D division is researching this phenomenon and how it affects synchronization with an Eva (as many of their pilots are from that generation).
Actually... I can't think of any better analogue, so let's just roll with that.
edited 4th Sep '15 4:50:07 PM by amitakartok
Recruiting exiles? That's working for MSF and Diamond Dogs. Or, ahem, detain enemy combatant, and then "convince" them to join you.
To be fair though, half of it working since they have Big Boss.
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amita despises Metal Gear for some reason, though. It's why I didn't bring up Outer Heaven as another potential analogue.
I'm not familiar with it in general. It's not that I hate it, I just find everything I heard about it terminally lame.
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One of these days, you should give it an honest go. Emulate the PSX game, or something. Or, hell, even just watch an LP or two.
Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons Of Liberty is pretty much the Evangelion of video games...
I mean, hell, you indulged in a Metal Gear meme just last page!
edited 4th Sep '15 6:57:49 PM by EvaUnit01
Venom Awakens
I gave one of my OCs the KNIFEGUN fighting style on a whim, both when piloting and on foot. XD
Standing on the edge of the crater...
Wait, hold on - that was an Adeptus Evangelion fanfic, not a "Shinji&W H40k" fanfic. Gotta check it out, after all.
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
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In any event, I [shockingly] have more things for people to look at and judge me about!
Segment 1 of the next chapter.
Shinji snapped to salute. "Captain Takamachi, sir! I was permitted to graduate, and am expected to report for duty in three days at 0700, sir."
Nanoha's smile was dampened by the news that her youngest charge would be disappearing again so soon, but she still felt proud that he was able to achieve something. Fate and Vivio are really going to be disappointed that he's going off so soon, though... "Be at ease, operative. My first order as your superior officer, is for you to relax, and try your best to enjoy the time off until your mission. There's no need to be so distant when you're with family, am I clear?"
Shinji frowned at that last part, but eased his posture and nodded. "...sir. Yes, si- I mean, Nanoha." Yes, I do need to keep distant from you all. But you can't see that. None of you have ever been able to. ...Why?! You're all smarter and wiser than me, so why can't you understand the same things I do?!
Nanoha's smile became slightly more strained, seeing that her charge still didn't seem to regard her as family. Why is it that I can't get it through your head that you can trust me? Am I really so terrible to you? "Come on, let's go home."
"...yeah." I shouldn't, but I'm not brave enough to tell you 'no'...
For some time, the car ride succumbed to an awkward silence. Eventually, Nanoha tried to start up some conversation. Knowing that Shinji hated talking about himself, she tried to find another topic. "So, who were some of your instructors, Shinji? Anyone I'd know?"
"The officer presiding over my graduation interview was Commander Suzuki." Why do you care?
"Ah, I remember Suzuki. We had to run a few conferences together. She seemed like the kind of person to raise a lot of red flags on psych eval, but her heart's in the right place." Then again, that goes for a lot of people in Special Operations... so even if it bothers me, I guess it makes sense that you'd do well in that kind of crowd...
"...she struck me as being a very capable officer. I look forward to serving under her."
Nanoha laughed, and slightly turned to Shinji with a teasing smile. "After this long, I might have figured that you went for the ice queens."
Shinji blankly looked at her. "...I don't get it."
Nanoha's cheer promptly cut out, and sighed in depression. "I was kidding."
"I knew that. I just don't understand why it's supposed to be funny." What, was that supposed to imply that I don't like you or something? That's stupid. You're one of my parents. You're smart, attractive... you're strong... everyone looks up to you. You know how to deal with people properly instead of fumbling your way through conversations... How could I ever possibly dislike you, when you're everything I want to be? ...everything I'm not.
Shinji lowered his head to the side, and turned to look out the window. Everything that I can't ever be...
"You just thought to yourself something to the effect of [I can't], didn't you? You need to believe in yourself more."
"Wha-?"
Coming to a stoplight, Nanoha reached over and ruffled his hair a bit. "When you were younger, you always used to say that you couldn't do things. And it's true, that you had some disadvantages compared to the rest of us. But you're wearing that dress uniform, and you're carrying the papers for a mission with you. You went in there, and after four years of hard work, you turned [I can't] into [I did]."
Shinji turned his eyes away from her and mumbled, "...I guess I did, didn't I..."
Nanoha pulled the boy close and gave him a one-armed hug, with a smile as bright as the sun. "I'm really proud of you."
Shinji's cheeks reddened in embarassment, and he started trying to squirm away from his mother's grip. After struggling in futility for a few seconds, he eventually relented, and just allowed himself to be held. "...thanks, Nanoha. That really means a lot to me." More than you can ever, ever know.
Nanoha chuckled, and gave the boy his personal space back. Even if we still haven't managed to bridge the gap between his heart and ours... he's a really good kid.
At that time, the road signal changed. Accelerating back into the flow of traffic, Nanoha eventually asked, "So, Vivio's birthday is coming up soon."
Shinji froze, his blood turning cold.
"Now, I know you'll be on your mission before then, but if you've thought of anything you might like to get for her, I can pass it on for you."
"...I haven't." oh my god what do I do what do i do what do i do what do i do what do i do
Nanoha hummed in thought. "Fate probably hasn't done her shopping yet either, given that she's spent a lot of time in deep space on the job lately..."
The Ace of Aces snapped her fingers. "I know! I can send the two of you out together."
Shinji wanted to scream in terror. What came out instead was a meek, "...okay."
Time until mission start: 62 hours
Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... Why is Shinji so terrified of going out shopping with Fate, who is apparently implied to have not decided yet on a birthday gift for Vivio, too?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Fandom Heretic
Imagine if Gabriel asked Abraham to literally go with God, birthday shopping for Jesus.
...it's sorta like that.
Anyway, here's a bit more. This segment probably isn't complete, and I'm not quite as satisfied with it.
Shinji glanced at the redhead as she went into the kitchen, wondering why she was telling him this.
"In any case, your room should be pretty much exactly the same as when you left. If you want to change into something a bit more comfortable, go ahead. Meanwhile, I'll get dinner ready."
There was a momentary pause, before Nanoha stuck her head back out to look at him. "If you're hungry, I can fix you a light snack..."
Shinji remained silent for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks."
Indeed, the two-story house hadn't changed very much, compared to what Shinji remembered from four years ago. Some of the furniture might have been moved around, and the walls may have been painted a different color, but it still had the same warm atmosphere from back then. This place deserves better than me, but it still welcomes me despite that. ...Why?
His room, however, was still the same. The walls hadn't been given the new paint job yet, and he could effortlessly navigate the room with his eyes closed. There wasn't any need for that, though. After flipping on the ceiling fan, he reached into a nightstand, and pulled out a music player with a speaker. Pulling up a playlist of preferred classical Earth music, he set it to play at random and began climbing out of his uniform.
After a few seconds, the player chose a song, and eerie music began to fill the air. The title was A Night On Bald Mountain.
"Why thank you, Mussgorsky. I was hoping you'd make this foreboding feeling of mine even worse."
Having slipped into some casuals, Shinji flopped down on the bed. The music continuing to drift through the room, he absently raised his hand up to look at it. I got the result I wanted... but all this time, I never once managed to spare a thought for something that simple. I wanted...
The hand slowly curled into a fist. I wanted to try and pay them back for everything they've done for me, but I couldn't think about anyone but myself.
"I'm garbage. I don't deserve to live."
"You might think twice before you go saying things like that again, you know."
"Uwah-!" Shinji nearly jumped out of his skin in shock, and hit his head against the wall. "Ow! Damn!"
Scowling at Nanoha's general direction while rubbing the sore spot on his head, Shinji muttered, "I thought you were cooking."
The Ace of Aces shrugged. "It needs to simmer for a little while. You're what I really need to keep an eye on."
Shinji remained silent.
"Even after all this time, I still haven't gotten a full grasp of how your head works, Shinji. But despite your best attempts at trying to keep me in the dark, I've still got a few things figured out. You need to stop holding yourself to such ridiculous standards, Shinji. We're all only human. We're not perfect."
No, but you are. Those were the words that Shinji wanted to say. Tried to, even. What came out instead was a petulant-sounding, "...but I want to be perfect." All the kindness you invested in me... I want it to pay off for you. I want to show everyone that taking me in wasn't a waste of your time and effort...
edited 5th Sep '15 11:09:02 AM by EvaUnit01
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Man, the Mid-Childan civilian government and the TSAB really need to invest into educating their members about how to handle complete muggles among their society who don't have anything to compensate for their total muggleness, like poor Shinji. They shouldn't wait until Poor Communication Kills happens right under their noses.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.