EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 17 The Sixth Apostle Attacks——!
"EVA Unit-01! EVA Unit-02! Launch!"

Following Misato Katsuragi's order, the two EVAs were launched rapidly towards the ground under the action of the catapult device.

Inertia caused the LCL solution to surge inside the plug, and each time it brought Shinji Ikari a burning pain like being burned by fire.

But Shinji Ikari, who has experienced it once, is now almost used to it.

"Hey, second-generation official, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale and ugly?"

Asuka's voice came from the left earphone. In order to facilitate observation of teammates' situations, both of them could see each other's appearance inside the plug on the screen of their plugs.

Naturally, Asuka didn't know about Shinji Ikari's rejection reaction to the LCL solution. She thought Shinji Ikari was afraid because he was facing a strong enemy.

"You were boasting so loudly just now, but now you're scared? Don't worry, the elites have the responsibility to protect the ignorant, so if there's any danger, I'll protect you..."

Unfortunately, Asuka's typical tsundere speech was interrupted by a sharp alarm coming from the control room before she could finish.

“…! The target is moving! A high-energy reaction is occurring inside the target!”

That was the voice of NERV's intelligence analyst, Aoba Shigeru.

"What did you say?!"

Looking at the report submitted by Aoba Shigeru, Misato Katsuragi had a bad feeling.

"The energy particles around the tip are accelerating! They're starting to shrink!!"

"It's a particle cannon!! Hey, you two! Be careful..."

Misato Katsuragi's exclamation had not yet ended. While she was stunned, the two EVAs were ejected to the ground.

And what greeted them was——

The azure cube suddenly began to wriggle as if it had transformed from a solid into a liquid.

The core of the center, originally protected by a solid cube, was exposed, and the surrounding fortresses became accelerators for melting death, heating up, converging, and condensing the purple-brown light that symbolized destruction again and again, accelerating it to the highest speed.

"Eh…?"

Asuka had just seen everything clearly when she was blinded by the purple-brown light and was completely unaware of the imminent deathly silence.

"Asuka!! Turn on the AT field to full power! The target is you!!"

Shinji Ikari's heart-wrenching roar came from the headset.

At that moment, what Asuka was thinking was...Ah, this pretentious second-generation official can also be so panicked.

With an inexplicable smile on her face, the next moment... Asuka's vision was filled with a stream of purple light that blocked out the sky.

"Di——"

Without a moment's hesitation, Shinji Ikari quickly pulled out the Petrified Spark Prism... But the flickering flame, like a candle in the wind, was still unable to ignite this dormant hope...

However, Shinji Ikari is not the only one who is doing his utmost to prevent Asuka from meeting a tragic end.

"A23A24A25 defensive barriers—all popped out!!"

Katsuragi Misato's firm voice came.

At the moment before the purple-brown light was about to sweep over Unit 2, three thick metal barriers rose from the ground, becoming Asuka's hope of survival.

Although... a multi-meter-thick all-metal barrier would melt silently in less than a second under the Sixth Angel's particle cannon, the three protective walls still bought the two seconds between life and death.

"Get out of the way! Asuka...!"

Katsuragi Misato screamed. However, before Asuka, who was briefly dazed, could even react, Unit-01 had already used those two precious seconds to sprint to Unit-02's side.

At this moment, all three barriers melted, and at the same moment, Unit-01 hugged Unit-02 tightly.

...I couldn't roll to avoid it because the surrounding residents hadn't been evacuated yet. No matter which direction I dodged, the residential area behind me would turn into a living hell.

The only evasive direction that won't cause any innocent casualties is... up!!

Unit-01's legs slammed into the ground, causing a tremor comparable to an earthquake. Using this powerful leaping force, Unit-01 leaped into the air, carrying Unit-02.

Just as Shinji Ikari expected, the Angel, realizing the target's jump, immediately reversed the direction of the light and chased after Unit-01 in mid-air.

"Drink!!"

When the laser was about to engulf the two machines that could not avoid it in mid-air, Shinji Ikari kicked Unit 02 as expected.

Just the right amount of force separated the two machines in mid-air, and the laser missed them by a hair's breadth, passing through the space between the two machines and disappearing into the other side of the blue sky.

Not only that, Ikari Shinji even calculated the landing locations of the two... Unit-01 and Unit-02 both fell onto an empty street, without causing any unnecessary casualties.

"The control is so precise!?"

Even Ritsuko Akagi, the director of the technical development department, was stunned. She didn't expect that Shinji Ikari could make EVA perform movements with precision far beyond that of humans.

Not only that, the moment it landed, Unit 01 somersaulted up, holding the rifle that had been dispatched to it in its hand and suppressing the Sixth Angel with crazy firepower regardless of its accuracy.

The same as the Fifth Angel… no, it should be said that it was far stronger than the Fifth Angel. An absolute domain, along with the squirming of the Sixth Angel's size, appeared before the Apostle, withstanding the hail of bullets from the Type 01 machine gun.

However, by switching to defensive mode, the surrounding components were switched from the accelerator that had previously fired the particle cannon to the original barrier cube. This allowed Unit-01 to temporarily avoid being hit by the terrifying continuous beam attack.

"Asuka! How are you?! Can you still fight?!"

He did not dare to slack off for a moment, pulling the trigger frantically and suppressing the Sixth Apostle with firepower without sparing any ammunition.

Shinji Ikari yelled into the communicator, and it took a long while before he received a frightened response from Asuka.

"I-I...I'm fine! That's right! I...I'm fine! I'm special! I...I can still fight!!"

The clear realization that she had nearly died, coupled with the contrast between Shinji Ikari's outstanding performance and her own ugly performance... made Asuka's heart as turbulent as the waves of the ocean.

Only by using this self-hypnotic suggestion, repeating it over and over again, was he able to barely drive Unit 2 to grab the spear that popped out from the side.

Unit 01 uses long-range weapons that do not rely on AT force fields to suppress the fire, while Unit 02 uses close combat weapons to break through the AT position of the apostles and attack them. This was the strategy decided at the beginning.

As a result, the second-generation official perfectly fulfilled his responsibilities, but he made a fool of himself again. This time he must...

"Asuka, Shinji-kun, come back. Return to the base via the A8 retreat route."

“————Huh?! Why?! Why?! I don’t want it!!”

Katsuragi Misato's voice was filled with solemnity, which aroused Asuka's extreme dissatisfaction.

"Shinji-kun's probing attack just now allowed us to analyze the parameters of the Sixth Angel's AT field... According to MAGI's calculations... the success rate of Unit-02 alone breaking through the Sixth Angel's AT field is... 0%."

(End of this chapter)