Chapter 56:
Midnight Raid

 

“SWITCH OFF THE LIGHTS at hole fifteen, please. It’s too bright.”

“This is Mount Daikan command. Copy that.”

Lieutenant Colonel Kasuga’s voice came over the speakers. <<Mount Daikan command to Akashima. Endo, move into battle position.>>

“Akashima. Copy that. Standing by.”

South of Lake Ashi, to the west of Mount Daikan, lay a golf course that had been repurposed by the JSSDF. Here, the mechanized giant Akashima was stripped of its equipment. Its N2 turbines roared as power surged into its heavy limbs.

A loud whistle indicated that all personnel should watch their step as the robot was undressed. Various travel locks were released and waterproof coverings removed. The containers on its arms were unloaded and set upon three layered palettes usually reserved for heavy machinery.

“Checking gyro calibration.”

“GC check green.”

“I really wanted to catch up with I-409… The guys at Nerv Japan are going to laugh at our poor planning, Lieutenant Colonel,” Endo complained. The pilot of the Akashima watched as mechanics armed his mecha.

<<Let’s hope it’s a false alarm, warrant officer. We have a job to do before we can plant our flag at Yomotsu Hirasaka.>>

“Copy that,” Endo said, looking at the container that stored an oversized Hinomaru. The JSSDF had devoted all their efforts to search and rescue. Meanwhile, the Air Force and Marines were currently staking out Yomotsu Hirasaka Island.

Military forces from other nations also had their eyes on the newly formed island, though they deployed their armies under the pretense of the UN’s emergency forces. They filled the waters near the Ogasawara Islands, and Japan had to show their sovereignty over the territory.

That was where Akashima Corps, JSSDF’s anti-Angel unit, was supposed to come in. They were currently stationed on the southern side of the Hakone caldera, which was now a piece of land between the Izu Peninsula and Honshu. They were supposed to send Akashima plant their flag on the new island.

Akashima, the JSSDF’s mechanized giant, could fly over the ocean using the ground effect. But the seas were running wild due to the reduced gravity from having the moon so close, so long-distance travel over water was out of the question.

The giant catamaran submarine, I-409, which usually supported Akashima and carried the giant on its back, had been sent ahead. It was the modern iteration of I-404 and I-405, equipped with greatly increased reserve buoyancy and joined by a bridge wing.

They’d received reports from I-409 about an unknown mass several hundred meters long, which couldn’t be detected by their radar. Whatever it was, it was huge, and it was speeding toward the Izu Peninsula.

Japan had yet to enter a state of emergency, because the object only spread out in two dimensions. It could just be stray bits of material or oil leaks from the seabed after the fall of Yomotsu Hirasaka. Politicians and scientists agreed for once, and they refused to send people into a panic over some underwater debris.

But Kasuga had decided to send Akashima out anyway.

<<Can’t we just let Nerv handle this?>>

Endo was still sulky. He’d been woken up far too early in the morning for this operation.

“Nerv Japan has lost Super Eva, and the Evas they do have are all heavily damaged. They won’t be leaving Mount Daikan Airport any time soon.”

Lieutenant Colonel Kasuga looked over the control panels at the Mount Daikan command center. One of them blinked and changed to a different color. A recon chopper was phoning in.

“This is Spotter 3. Object has been sighted. It’s moving toward Izu Peninsula.”

 

The JSSDF recon chopper couldn’t explain what it was seeing. The strange mass had been indistinguishable from the surface of the sea, but all of a sudden, its center began to squirm and rise.

“Spotter 3 to Mount Daikan command. Object is no longer two-dimensional. It looks like a snake…or some kind of fish.”

The clouds were dark and heavy, and visibility was low. Even so, they could see that the specimen ramming itself against the cliffside was about seventy to eighty meters long. Its efforts were eventually rewarded, as it made it over the rock face.

“Hey…that thing has legs!”

The chopper pilot and the Mount Daikan command personnel had all seen this creature as children. They recalled the pages of their animal encyclopedias, particularly the section on gilled creatures turning into lunged creatures.

“Aquatic life’s first landfall…”

The beast walked on, consuming trees as it moved.

“We have visual confirmation that two more of those things have landed on Mishima Coast, southwest of Mount Daikan!”

Siblings of the monster attacking Izu Peninsula were making their way to the Hakone caldera.

The Akashima launched without waiting for further orders. Its turbines revved up, and it started dashing, shifting into ground effect mode. The giant was still too low to the ground, however, and it scraped against the rocks. It activated its auxiliary rockets, and by the time the shift was complete, it was flying low and sliding down the slope.

<<Endo!>>

“Civilians are moving back to Susono and Iwanami!”

There was a large residential area near Susono and Iwanami, which had now become a coastline. Tokyo-3 had taken in refugees whose homes might be affected by the erratic weather activity. They stayed inside the caldera on UN-leased land, but some of them had started going back home.

Nerv’s greatest fears came to pass as the command center was flooded with emergency calls from local police.

 

“Seventy percent of the city is now combat ready!”

Nerv Japan had issued the emergency order throughout the Hakone caldera after seeing footage from their drones and receiving a call from the JSSDF.

“Why didn’t the quantum flow inclinometers react?!” Fuyutsuki asked Maya over the monitor. He was in the command center, while she was still in the cage, looking tired but not exhausted.

<<Because they aren’t universal sensors. They only account for quantum dislocations, which means that ordinary movements don’t cause enough quantum noise for them to respond. Did you not read the report?>>

Someone was in a rebellious mood.

“Maya, get up here, please,” Misato cut in.

<<I have things to attend to here. Besides, I can monitor the situation just fine—>>

“We’ve got calls coming in from local municipalities!” Aoba said.

“Tell them the subject may be an Angel-class threat!” Fuyutsuki yelled at Aoba instead of Maya.

Back on the top deck, the elevator doors behind Misato opened.

“You guys can’t be here!”

“And who are you to decide?!”

Toji was at the head of the mob, though he was being pushed by Asuka, who was still in her surgical gown. In fact, Mari, Rei Trois, and Rei Six were all in surgical gowns. Six was even followed by her screening robot and Azuchi, the golden retriever.

“Girls, you’re still under observation!”

“What is this…?”

The main screen displayed the newly set up port town to the west of the mountain, near Mikuni Pass. The exposure had been cranked up so they could see better in the dark of night. A black, lizard-like creature was slithering about the buildings.

“What’s an enemy doing here?” Asuka muttered, growing angrier with every word. “Shinji and Hikari killed Armaros…so what is that thing doing here?! I thought this was supposed to be our happy ending?! What am I supposed to do with Unit Two?!”

The city had been converted into a battlefield, but all was silent. Their guided missiles could reach outside the caldera, but people were living there.

Trois made a suggestion. “Commander Katsuragi, equip Unit Zero with terrestrial armaments. I’ll go, even if I only have one arm to work with.”

“Both units are still being repaired,” Toji said. “Eva-0.0 has had its core removed because it lost an arm.”

“Six?” Misato called out to her, still not looking back.

“Yeah?”

“Good, you’re not sleepy yet.”

“My mouth stings.”

“I know its hind legs are still damaged, but I’ll go in the Allegorica if I have to. I’ll stand by in the cage.” Trois was adamant.

“I know you’re compatible, but Six is the only one who knows how to operate the Allegorica system.”

The monster on the screen charged the convoy of refugees and began eating them. It wasn’t clear if it had planned to do this or if it had just tripped. The beast seemed confused.

“Is it a bio weapon made specifically to target humans?!” Aoba asked.

Mari, gripping Asuka’s hand, whispered, “It’s just hungry…”