Chapter 85 117: Get the Hell Down Here!

Shinji's logic was simple: the survival of humanity concerned everyone's fate. There was no room for spectators. He didn't possess the rigid thinking of Misato Katsuragi and the others, whose eyes saw nothing but EVAs.

Actually, his mindset was the most rigid, because it was the core theme of 40K: from the dregs of the underhive to the Astartes, every single person is a gear in the machine of the Imperium. To ensure human survival, everyone contributes their total strength. The idea of Astartes doing everything while civilians watch the show simply doesn't exist.

In reality, Astartes are more like firefighters; every victory is built upon the mountain of corpses left by the PDF (Planetary Defense Force) and the Imperial Guard. Therefore, he never viewed the UN forces as "tax-money thieves."

Every life is a currency; the key is how you spend it.

[Third Air Wing arriving.]

[Anti-Air Units 13, 14, 15, and 19 arriving at preset positions.]

[Pacific Fleet reached coordinates; Anti-Air combat formation deployed.]

[Ohio Base: ICBM silos preheating; MAGI calculating orbital data.]

With a single order, the entire planet seemed to boil. Faced with an Angel invasion, NERV held supreme command authority, and this was the largest mobilization in history.

Air forces, navies, anti-air units, and nuclear silos across the globe moved into position. Coordinating such a command was a nightmare, but these "trivialities" were left to Gendo Ikari. From the look of it, Commander Ikari was doing quite a decent job.

"I suppose he's being put to good use. Gendo Ikari and SEELE still have some value."

Shinji sat in his cockpit, nodding with satisfaction. The purpose of those old men lay exactly in this; otherwise, he would never be able to manipulate the fragmented UN.

However, Gendo's schemes had fallen through. Through the old man named Saionji, Shinji already knew the result of the SEELE meeting. Gendo had wanted to use the Spear of Longinus to snipe the Angel, but he was immediately rejected. As compensation, Chairman Keel and the others agreed to mobilize global resources, placing various international forces under NERV's command.

S-300 and Patriot missiles were erected, phased-array radars scanned the sky, and dense swarms of transport planes and helicopters crowded the air like flies, ferrying people out of Tokyo-3.

The city no longer held civilians; it had become a true fortress. Shinji looked toward First Municipal Middle School; he could see the half-decorated buildings were now empty. Looking up, he saw Hikari Horaki waving from a helicopter.

"Now you understand why being a hero isn't easy."

The comms were silent, save for light breathing. Clearly, the two girls were feeling low; they hadn't been able to cut the Angel into pieces in front of everyone.

"Focus. It is because the enemy is strong that victory is precious. It is because heroes are rare that our existence is meaningful."

Shinji spoke quietly. He didn't need a rhythmic speech to instantly rally their spirits.

"Yeah! If that Angel dares to fall, this Young Lady will mince it into meat sauce!" Asuka poured all her energy into her voice.

Morale was high.

Shinji said nothing more. He looked up and saw a meteor falling toward them.

After five corrections, the Angel had finally completed its calibration. Unit-01 didn't need to do a thing; dense white trails rose from the ground like hundreds of water jets piercing the sky. Dozens of anti-air missile battalions stood ready. Human history had never seen a "No-Fly Zone" of this density.

[High-altitude recon report: Fragmentation mass destroyed; remaining debris self-annihilated via atmospheric friction.]

[Sounding radar search: Angel continuing to fragment; all units, begin data-link guidance.]

[First Fleet: Standard III volley!]

Underground Command was a hive of activity. Searching, scouting, locking targets, and even resupplying ammunition were complex tasks. It wasn't something one person could do, and Shinji didn't need to interfere.

From a distance, the azure vault of heaven seemed to be burning. Humanity was firing at full tilt to intercept the Angel's bombardment, but the effectiveness was beginning to wane.

"Shinji, your 'crow's beak' guessed right again. Sahaquiel is playing dirty." Misato's avatar popped up, her dark circles very prominent.

"The Angel increased the mass of the ammunition?"

"Yes. Even with MAGI's assistance, conventional munitions can hardly intercept them."

"I know. Kensuke mentioned that terminal missile defense is the most troublesome part." Shinji nodded. The "meteorites" were falling at Mach 10+, and with their massive size, it took dozens of direct hits from standard missiles to break them.

"Is the counter-attack ready?"

"America and Russia have launched the first salvo. Recon satellites are in position."

Another image appeared. Shinji saw dozens of "stars" streaking along low Earth orbit. Those were all ICBMs—Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles—carrying powerful nuclear warheads toward the Angel.

[High-altitude probe satellite transmitting data: Target remaining in LEO.]

[ICBM data-link active. Impact in 5, 4, 3...]

There was no sound. Only a series of massive orbs of light rose, looking like a dozen suns igniting in orbit. The recon satellites couldn't even see the Angel's main body. The blinding light was fleeting, and data collection began immediately.

"The AT Field is stronger than imagined. Bombardment of this level only depleted it by 0.3%."

"Should we continue?"

"Of course. We finally found a target for these fusion bombs; should we keep them just so humans can throw them at each other?"

Shinji took a breath and commanded: "Have Gendo Ikari contact the nations. Double the intensity for the second and third waves. Use medium-range ballistic missiles as well."

Because of the "kill one hundred, lose a thousand" nature of nuclear weapons, the warheads in human hands were almost useless for terrestrial war. For dealing with a single target like an Angel, the cleaner and more concentrated N2 bombs were the main force.

Isn't this just a trash-throwing contest? You have trash to drop down; I have plenty of trash to throw up.

Shinji watched it like a grand fireworks show. The nukes detonated in orbit; they didn't even need to hit the Angel directly—they just needed to force it to deploy its AT Field. Meanwhile, the falling "meteorites" were intercepted by countless anti-air munitions, blasted into fragments, and then annihilated by friction in the atmosphere.

[AT Field weakening: 0.1%... 0.1%...]

[Angel unable to self-repair.]

"How did you think of this?" Asuka was flabbergasted. Due to the distance, she couldn't see anything, but the Sahaquiel—which they had been helpless against—was now being harassed into a mess by a bunch of "antiques."

The Angel had held an absolute advantage. The EVAs couldn't reach it, while it could cheat by infinitely dropping parts of its body. If a large enough fragment hit Tokyo-3, it would be no different from a nuclear strike.

"Because I have ample experience in orbital drops and anti-orbital drop operations," Shinji answered matter-of-factly. Planetary defense was a required course. To the people here, orbital bombardment was foreign, but he was long used to it.

Typically, an orbital bombardment fleet would pull back into deep space to refit before a second wave. But the Angel clearly lacked that level of intellect. It followed a very simple logic: The humans are counter-attacking. My attacks are ineffective. Therefore, I must increase output and erase the resistance on the ground.

Calculating the enemy's ammunition count is a high-intelligence move. It merely utilized its biological vents to slowly adjust its posture in orbit. The leftmost "eye" began to slowly detach from the body.

[Large-mass fragment detected.]

"As expected, it's increasing output." Shinji wasn't surprised. These Angels had no wisdom; when they felt one punch didn't kill you, they simply added more force until you died.

A mass hundreds of times larger than the previous "teardrops" began to fall. It was like throwing a mountain from outer space; the gravitational acceleration was terrifying.

[All batteries fire! Do not let that thing land!]

Misato Katsuragi didn't even need Shinji to give the order; she was screaming like a madwoman. From the sky, the land, and the sea, countless engines ignited as missiles of every type soared upward.

The heavens boiled. Dense fireballs erupted at altitudes of over 100,000 meters, but the warheads were too weak. Amidst the flickering of its AT Field, the mass continued to plummet at Mach 10+. This "Mount Tai pressing down" momentum began to cause panic among the ground troops.

"Should we launch N2 bombs for interception?"

"No. The speed is too high; the hit probability is extremely low. Follow the original plan: send them to the Angel's main body via carrier rockets."

Shinji's expression remained unchanged as he looked toward Mount Futago. "Rei, fire. Once it enters the atmosphere, the Positron Cannon won't scatter. Pierce the AT Field and let the conventional munitions take effect."

"Yes."

Atop the mountain, Unit-00 raised the massive Positron Cannon. The auxiliary aiming devices deployed. Guided by MAGI's calculations, the diamond-shaped reticle locked onto the falling object. Due to the haste, the cannon could only draw power from the area surrounding Tokyo-3, but it was more than enough to shatter a portion of the Angel's mass.

"Locked."

"Fire."

Rei Ayanami pulled the trigger. The brilliant beam made the daylight seem dim as a pillar of azure light pierced the sky.

Swoosh—

Sahaquiel's AT Field couldn't compare to Ramiel's. The field was torn apart, and the beam pierced straight through. Without its AT Field, even a mountain would be torn to shreds by human firepower.

[Volley! Shatter it!]

On the tactical map, it looked like a chrysanthemum blooming tens of thousands of meters up. The mass was split into countless fragments splashing toward the earth. Shinji could finally see the Angel's "body" with his naked eye.

Rat-tat-tat-tat...

Hundreds of self-propelled AA guns and short-range missiles began their interception. All firepower was concentrated above Tokyo-3, forming a dense barrage guided by fire-control radar.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth trembled slightly. Ultimately, some "meteorites" hit the outskirts of the city. Like a pyrotechnic finale, mushroom clouds rose one after another, the kicked-up dust forming a thick fog.

"Fire suppression. Three layers of anti-air rings. Let's see how much body you have left to split."

Shinji didn't care about the losses caused by this "meteor shower." The fact that the city proper was virtually unscathed was a pleasant surprise.

"And, I will not give you time to regroup."

[N2 bomb cluster: Hit.]

At the exact moment the Angel "missed its ultimate," a dozen N2 bombs detonated in space. Shinji had once again exploited the xeno's intellectual disability. That pile of nukes had just been bait—he wanted the Angel to get used to that level of power, thereby hiding the N2 bombs whose detonation points were specifically calculated by MAGI.

Just when the Angel thought humans were slowly grinding away at its defenses, it was suddenly slapped hard across the face.

[AT Field depletion reaches 50%!]

This was a heavy blow. One could say another N2 surprise attack would blow Sahaquiel apart in orbit. Unfortunately, this world's aerospace technology was too poor; that had been their full effort.

"It's fine. Make your choice: retreat for the sake of survival instinct, or strike with all your might for the sake of your mission."

Shinji murmured to himself. In truth, there was no need to guess.

[Angel beginning to descend. Breaking orbit. Accelerating.]

[Careful! Sahaquiel's main body is falling!]

Exactly. So far, no Angel possessed a survival instinct. They might become cunning, but they would never retreat. Their so-called tactics were merely a means to complete their mission. When these xenos found their mission difficult to complete, they would stake their lives without a second thought.

"Commendable courage."

Shinji sat up straight. A gargantuan object was plunging into the atmosphere, the pressure it exerted ten times that of the previous attacks.

"See? Now it's in a hurry to risk its life. In my presence, there has never been an enemy who can remain composed, nor can anyone play dirty."

Shinji glanced at Asuka. Unit-01 stood up and took the Power Sword from the truck beside it.

"I didn't ask it to come down. I forced it to get the hell down here!"

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