"Did it work!?"
In NERV headquarters command room, three UN military defense leaders watched the Angel get swallowed by explosive fire and smoke. They clenched their fists and shouted.
With mines that powerful, nothing on Earth could withstand them.
Even the mountain was leveled. It had to have worked!
"Wha... what!?"
But after the smoke cleared, the Angel only had minor injuries—and they were healing at a visible rate.
This enemy completely exceeded their understanding.
Some invisible force field surrounded its body, rendering all their missiles useless. Even the N2 Mines detonating at point-blank range only slightly slowed its movement. No substantial damage at all.
Against an enemy this powerful, even nuclear weapons probably couldn't kill it completely—not to mention nukes couldn't deliver concentrated strikes like N2 Mines.
Their ace weapon had failed. The blow to morale was devastating.
"Looks like... we have no choice but to leave this to you." One leader sighed after accepting reality. He stood and looked at the middle-aged man standing by on standby.
The Japanese man wore a black jacket, brown-tinted glasses, and white gloves. His thick beard framed his face. His presence carried a unique oppressive weight.
He was this base's true commander. According to their intelligence, this facility was built specifically to combat Angels.
They'd wanted to prove they didn't need these people to fight Angels. But the facts showed conventional military forces were completely helpless. Now they could only trust NERV.
"Gendo Ikari, I hereby transfer full operational command to you." The leader addressed the man. "Show us what you've got."
He stepped aside from the command position.
Gendo's lips curved into a faint smile. "Rest assured."
They had the giant general-purpose humanoid decisive battle weapon Evangelion—EVA for short—designed specifically to combat Angels.
He'd already sent Misato Katsuragi, Chief of Operations for NERV Tactical Operations Department First Division, to retrieve their pilot. Once the pilot returned, they could deploy EVA against the Angel.
That pilot was his own son—Shinji Ikari.
Before that, he needed to verify EVA Unit-01's status one more time. This operation couldn't afford any mistakes.
But he'd barely taken half a step when a technician's panicked voice rang out: "The Angel's recovering rapidly. It's expected to continue advancing toward this base after recovery. Also... an unidentified flying object has breached the atmosphere and is falling at several times the speed of sound!"
"We're detecting extremely strong energy readings!"
"Estimated impact point... directly where the Angel is located!"
"What!?" The UN military leaders' eyes widened at this news. They stared intently at the virtual screen ahead.
Even Gendo's confident expression vanished. He strode over quickly.
Behind him, an elderly man opened his previously squinted eyes. "An unforeseen development...?"
"The unidentified object is decelerating as it approaches ground level!"
"One thousand meters from the Angel... five hundred meters... one hundred meters!"
"Contact!"
Following the technician's commentary, they saw a red sphere of light plummet rapidly from the sky on screen, striking directly at the Angel standing in the post-explosion mountain area.
"BOOM!"
The unidentified object's landing caused violent tremors and kicked up massive clouds of dust.
"Object has landed... unable to analyze its physical composition. It appears to be a humanoid giant." Through the dust clouds, the technician could only make rough assessments.
"What about the Angel?"
"What happened to the Angel?" Gendo stared at the screen, demanding answers from the technician.
"The Angel... we're not detecting the Angel's life signs!" The technician responded in disbelief.
Gendo's composed expression turned deeply grave.
This was completely beyond expectations.
As the dust gradually settled, they saw clearly—a giant with a body composed of red and silver. Slender limbs. A blue circular crystal embedded in its chest.
Adam!?
No... impossible. Not Adam.
This is some special life form we haven't encountered yet...
Gendo's first thought was Adam, the divine creator of life, but this being had obvious differences.
His brow furrowed deeply.
Until now, everything had gone according to his plan. The Angel's appearance, humanity's weapons failing, even everything that would happen afterward—all within his calculations.
But with this mysterious giant's appearance, he realized his future plans might face massive disruption.
"What is it trying to do...?" Gendo watched the giant, speculating on its intentions.
But after the dust completely cleared, the giant's form vanished into thin air.
Only the Angel's shattered corpse remained scattered across the ground.
"It disappeared?"
"Find it! Locate this giant immediately and contact field personnel to search!" Gendo commanded the technicians sharply.
"Yes, sir!" The technicians responded in unison.
Gendo's instincts told him this giant's appearance was definitely bad news for him.
On site—
The city outskirts affected by the N2 Mine explosion.
A blue sedan raced through streets reduced to rubble.
"Where did he go!?"
"Damn it... searched everywhere and still nothing." Inside the car, a young woman in a fashionable black bodycon dress muttered to herself. Her gaze continuously swept across damaged buildings, searching for something.
"Please be okay... Shinji."
She clearly remembered her superior's orders, but never expected the Angel would attack at this exact moment—the same day Shinji Ikari arrived in Tokyo-3.
"Ugh... what am I going to do?"
Shinji Ikari was their designated EVA Unit-01 pilot. How could she explain if something happened to him?
Just as her heart was sinking, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure in ruins leveled by the explosion's shockwave, curled up on the ground.
"Found him!" She recognized her target immediately. She floored the accelerator and sped toward him.
After closing in, she drifted to a stop, tires screeching, then shoved the door open.
"Shinji!"
"You're Shinji, right?"
Misato Katsuragi reached the boy on the ground and carefully lifted him up.
"There's a girl too?"
After lifting Shinji, she discovered the girl protected in his arms.
The girl appeared uninjured, breathing steadily. Shinji's clothes were severely torn and he looked terrible—but strangely, the exposed skin showed no wounds. Very odd.
"Need to get them to a hospital fast..." Misato couldn't assess their exact condition by sight alone. She quickly loaded them both into the car and sped toward NERV base.
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