Japan is quite a lovely place again after the upheavals of 15 years ago. But the peacefulness of the country side will be shattered forever. On a train bound for New Tokyo 3, Shinji Ikari, a 14 year old boy contemplates his life as if he were going to his death.

"My future has turned into an empty dream of hopelessness, stale meaninglessness, where each day is but a mockery of life, images in a mirror, a shadow world. The view from the window of the train as it speeds along is a blur beyond reach, beyond feeling, that I can only passively watch and never touch. Although I'm 14 years old I feel weary of this world, this life. But I suspect that even death would be no different. Neither life nor death matter; they both possess a neutral formlessness. My teachers told me to be "serious". Whether writing compositions or anything else, I was a constant source of irritation to them, like a fly on a dog's back. My existence offended their own sense of being. So their treatment of me reflected their heart felt desire to be ride of me."

This would have been early spring. The world is quite different in 2015, 15 years after the destruction of the East Antarctica and the invasion of the Angels. Humanity had recovered though the population had stabilized at half of that prior to the Second Impact. Attacks by the Angels had been sporadic, as if an army were sending out scouts to probe the defenses of the victim. It was for certain that the Angels knew more about Homo Sapiens than vice versa. The Angels, their purpose, their motives, were as foreign now as in the first terror attack. With each new attack the Angels demonstrated a growing appreciation for UN Force strengths and weaknesses. They were learning about us, but why?

As Shinji looked out from the window of the train speeding toward his fate, the scene was a tranquil spring day. In the world of 2015 every day was spring in the middle latitudes. With Antarctica gone, Earth's climate had changed. The extremes of temperature, precipitation and the like had vanished. Earth had become as expressionless and withdrawn as Shinji himself. Today was different though for one reason. A few kilometers east of the train carrying Shinji, in what was the city of Tokyo once thrived, now a bay of the sea, a third Angel was coming. Its purpose like the rest, a mystery. This encounter however would change the life of Shinji, and the lives of others, forever.

The shattered remnants of the buildings of Tokyo give testimony to the horrific events of 2000. Partly submerged by the sea, toppled to and fro like large dominoes capped with vines and mangrove trees, the buildings are like pinnacles. Between them an Angel glides silently beneath the waters. Scavenger fish swim close to it, waiting for the spoils of a carnage to come.

Along the highway of the coastal hills, tanks and mobile artillery units of the UN Northeast Asia Defense Forces are stationed. Their turrets point seaward. A great wall of a new century. They wait for for the coming on slot. Today they will make a stand knowing that the most they can do is to give others time.

A kilometer from the front line, in the sea among the remnant buildings the water explodes into the morning air 100 meters or more. A line of anchored depth charges announces the arrival of the Angel.

NERV HQ, Battle Control Room, 1st Reconn Ofc:

... the shape of the approaching object is unclear form telemetry. Once it breaks the ocean surface we will have it on visual.

2nd Duty Ofc:

OBJECT CONFIRMED! ...remote video locked on target. Telemetry coming in.

3rd Duty Ofc:

... it's turning toward the primary monitor pod. It's going to ATTACK!

Command Over PA:

1st Ofc, switch to secondary... spin up the GPR Satcom, current coordinates, ... Quickly before we loose primary