Chapter 84 116: Sahaquiel (The Sky Angel)

Shouldering the hopes of the world is undoubtedly heavy, but the feedback it provides is intoxicating—it can even serve as a shield against the mental pollution of the Warp.

Think about it: even for Astartes, who are fundamentally different from mortals, if every time they saved a world they were met only with loathing and rejection, their will to fight would eventually crumble. Humans have emotions; those who fight to the death naturally deserve glory and cheers. This is why Shinji never understood NERV's secrecy policy. The pilots were clearly doing a good deed, so why were they denied the world's adoration?

Was it just to manufacture a bunch of socially withdrawn children?

"Quite the grand exit, Asuka. I heard the whole school was cheering to see you off."

Misato Katsuragi stepped forward to tease the three as they arrived in a hurry.

"Hmph! This Young Lady is saving the world; they should be grateful to me." Asuka puffed out her chest, her confidence growing by the day. She looked left and right.

"So, where is the Angel? Let me pilot Unit-02 and mince it into meat sauce!"

"Do not let a sense of gratification interfere with your judgment. These cheers will turn into the most vicious curses the moment you fail."

Shinji's reminder made Asuka's expression stiffen. She realized he made a lot of sense, but she simply tossed her hair with feigned indifference. "Then I'll just keep winning."

As she spoke, she quietly shuffled closer to Shinji.

'If you're so brave, stop leaning on him then' Misato thought, wanting to mock how this "German Win-theory" only seemed to win verbally. However, her expression quickly turned serious.

"The Tenth Angel is different from the previous ones. Follow me to the command center; we'll talk there."

She wasted no time, leading the three directly into Central Dogma. Shinji rarely came here. The moment the doors opened, he glanced toward the upper balcony and, as expected, locked eyes with Gendo Ikari. The bandages on the man's head were gone, and he had regained that "mountain-falling-before-him-without-flinching" demeanor. But his prestige had already been shattered; the heavy, oppressive aura was gone.

'Pretentious posturing.'

Shinji didn't even bother acknowledging him, ignoring the interrogation in Gendo's eyes. Gendo's remaining self-confidence was thinning; it wouldn't be long before his AT Field—his "Heart's Wall"—was completely demolished.

Shinji turned his gaze to the main screen. One look, and he understood why Misato said this one was different.

The Angel had arrived. Its form resembled three linked eyes—an incredibly eerie sight. Shinji had no interest in critiquing the Angel's aesthetics, but the background behind it...

"Space? This thing is in space??"

Asuka, the most impatient, shouted immediately. She pointed at the screen. "That's so cowardly! How am I supposed to kill it if it's hiding in satellite orbit? Wait—the image is lost! Did it come down?"

"Recording: The Angel possesses an awareness capable of interfering with observation. Tell NASA to deploy the next set of reconnaissance satellites immediately," Ritsuko Akagi commanded, patting Maya Ibuki on the shoulder. Maya instantly pulled up a massive amount of data on the screen.

[Angel discovered by Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite at 10:17:22]

[10:30:25: LEO satellites engaged for observation; orbital maneuvering capability confirmed]

[11:03:11: Confirmed Angel awareness of interference; ground-based ultra-long-range warning radar reports coordinates are stationary; remains in orbit]

All data was summarized by MAGI, providing concise results. It was no wonder the Operations Department hadn't rushed the pilots into the EVAs; this time, the Angel was lurking in orbit with no intention of diving toward Tokyo-3 just yet.

"This is beyond the range of all conventional weapons. In other words, we can only stare at each other blankly," Misato rubbed her temples, looking first at Shinji. "The Tenth Angel has been named Sahaquiel. Any thoughts?"

The NERV staff weren't even pretending anymore. Kozo Fuyutsuki immediately looked at Gendo beside him, thinking this was beyond improper—to leave the Commander hanging while asking a pilot for advice. Yet Gendo remained motionless, as if he didn't care about this breach of protocol.

"It's troublesome. Or rather, my greatest fear has finally materialized."

Shinji's expression was exceptionally grave, which immediately made everyone tense up. "Whether it's close-quarters combat or mid-range exchanges, I do not fear the Angels. But the most annoying enemies are those we cannot physically touch."

Sahaquiel was hiding in LEO; no matter how strong his power was, it was useless if he couldn't reach the target.

"By the way, does the Tenth Angel have an attack method?"

"Yes, I'll pull it up for you—"

"Sahaquiel entering attack state! Mass body fragmentation!" Shigeru Aoba shouted. This time, there was no need to pull up recordings. On the screen, the Angel's orange body dripped a piece of itself like liquid. Under satellite surveillance, it plummeted toward Earth.

[Ballistic simulation: Impact point—Kamchatka Peninsula]

[Remote sensing satellite tracking: 10 seconds to impact, 9, 8...]

The command center was silent. They watched as the fragment fell like a meteorite, friction with the atmosphere turning it a scorching red. Then, it struck the Kamchatka Peninsula thousands of miles to the north, releasing a blinding light equivalent to a nuclear explosion.

'Worse than I imagined.'

Shinji immediately grasped the Angel's attack method. Seeing a crater hundreds of meters wide smashed into the wasteland, he realized the destruction brought by gravity far exceeded expectations.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Angel is adjusting its trajectory?"

"Yes. This latest shot was corrected by 27% compared to the previous one. MAGI calculates that within five corrections, it can precisely hit Tokyo-3."

Ritsuko Akagi remained calm as ever. She glanced at the anxious Asuka and added: "Sahaquiel uses its own mass as ammunition, utilizing gravity for its attacks. Theoretically, its power can vary. If the main body itself falls, it will be enough to turn Tokyo-3 into a massive crater."

The supercomputer began a simulation. Shinji didn't need to look to know the impact would be enough to turn the underground headquarters into ruins.

"What does MAGI suggest?"

"She suggests a total evacuation."

'Fine. MAGI is essentially a defeatist strategist. Every time she says humanity is doomed; zero creativity.'

Shinji held back his urge to complain, reaching out to steady Asuka, who was about to speak. He understood her anger. This was truly too cowardly. Everyone was expecting the three of them to solve the Angel quickly so the festival could start. How could they be so helpless?

"I told you, expectation is a double-edged sword. Do not let impulse interfere with reason," Shinji reminded her, then looked at Misato.

"What does Operations have in mind?"

"My plan is to predict the impact point, have all three EVAs deploy their AT Fields at maximum power, and push the Angel back."

Misato's ideas were always grand and crazy, and they were always shot down by Ritsuko.

"Impossible! If the Angel maneuvers during its descent, how could you possibly catch it? Can you take responsibility for the total destruction of HQ along with all three EVAs?"

"Hmph, it's better than waiting to die according to MAGI's suggestion."

"Evacuation is for the sake of a better counter-attack. Even if we lose Tokyo-3, we can still eliminate the Angel."

Operations and Technology began their daily bickering. This time, Asuka joined the protest. She had just boasted to everyone, and now they were telling her to evacuate and let the school be destroyed? She couldn't accept it. Rei remained silent, only quietly squeezing the boy's hand.

Between human subjective will and the probability of mission success, Shinji would choose the latter without hesitation. From an absolute rational standpoint, MAGI's suggestion was logical. The three EVAs should be deployed in Terminal Dogma; since the Angels would eventually go there, the survival of Tokyo-3 was a secondary consideration.

But this Angel was different. It wasn't as rushed or reckless. If the core wasn't destroyed, their bodies would keep repairing. Theoretically, it could stay in LEO and drop "trash" indefinitely.

'Orbital bombardment?'

What a nostalgic term. Fortunately, the yield wasn't that large. If a Cyclone Torpedo were dropped, that would be true despair.

The situation was grim, but they weren't yet out of options.

"Enough. Do not panic yet. Assuming Sahaquiel has orbital maneuvering capabilities, the Operations Department's plan will be difficult to implement."

"Then we issue the evacuation alarm?" Ritsuko was surprised; she hadn't expected the boy to side with her.

"No rush. Tokyo-3 was built with countless resources; it cannot be abandoned so easily." Shinji's reason carried no personal emotion. He simply felt that even if this fortress was destined for destruction, it shouldn't be by the hands of this Sky Angel.

"The Angel might not fall directly. If we evacuate, what if it remains in orbit and continuously fragments its body for orbital strikes? The blast radius would be smaller, but theoretically, it could attack infinitely."

'Ah... right.'

MAGI hadn't calculated for the Angel playing dirty. Based on the behavior of the previous Angels, Sahaquiel had a high chance of cheating. So what if there were twenty-odd layers of armored plates? If it couldn't punch through in one go, it would try ten, a hundred times. Eventually, it would blast a path to Terminal Dogma.

"Attacking won't work, and retreating won't work. Is this a stalemate?" Misato felt a bit dazed. She was out of ideas. How do you fight an Angel playing at orbital bombardment?

"Don't panic. I need more parameters."

Shinji glanced upward. Gendo Ikari had disappeared at some point, likely off to consult with SEELE. He looked back at the screen as another "teardrop" fell from hundreds of thousands of meters.

Difficult, but far from hopeless. I have at least three trump cards left to deal with it.

"First, let's fire back at it. Don't let this xeno carry out its orbital bombardment in comfort."

"Fire back? It's in orbit! What do we use to hit it?"

"Doesn't NASA exist? Load N2 bombs onto sounding rockets and launch them. Also, notify the UN—tell them to send every air defense unit they have. Since when did NERV have to fight the Angels alone? What is the PDF (Planetary Defense Force) for?"

Shinji was dissatisfied with the rigid thinking of these fools. In a total human survival crisis, were they treating the millions-strong PDF as if they didn't exist?

"Also, that Positron Cannon? Bring it to me!"

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