Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

“Sure.” Katsuragi Misato answered crisply, waving her hand dismissively. “Mari will be in charge of answering your questions.”

"Hi, your personal secretary is now online!" Mari Makinami stood behind Misato Katsuragi and saluted.

Shinji Ikari could see that Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi, and even Asuka, whom he had knocked unconscious, all had a lot to say to him. But now was clearly not the time for conversation, and only Mari Makinami, this somewhat eccentric girl, was trying to ease the atmosphere.

Shinji Ikari leaped from the third floor, eight meters high. Everyone's eyelids twitched slightly at the sight of this superhuman physical ability, but no one spoke. Mari led Shinji Ikari to the other side, but before their figures had completely disappeared, the alarm in the command room suddenly sounded.

"Huh? Decoys 01 and 05 have been destroyed?" Aoba Shigeru suddenly leaned closer to the computer screen. "It looks like something is approaching from the seabed. Head north and check the target wavelength."

"Yes." Back to work mode, Kitakami Midori was finally able to break free from that deathly silence. "What was that thing? It could wipe out all the bait in an instant!"

"It's blue wavelength! Target identified, codename 4C, it's the Nemesis series!" Hinata Makoto shouted first.

Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Shinji Ikari stopped. At that moment, dozens of target lights displaying blue wavelength signals appeared on the large screen behind him, rapidly approaching the golden light representing the Ship of Hope.

Shinji Ikari understood that the blue wavelength represented the Angels. But to be honest, even the well-informed Shinji Ikari had never seen dozens of blue dots before.

What's going on with the New World? Are the Apostles now doing wholesale too? Buy one get ten free?

There was only one reason he hesitated: seeing so many apostles, he couldn't help but feel a little tempted to try his luck. However, Misato Katsuragi waved her hand as if she hadn't noticed at all, her expression indifferent.

“Mari, take BM03 to the development department’s meeting room. We don’t need you here; we can handle it ourselves,” Misato Katsuragi said.

Shinji Ikari raised an eyebrow. For some reason, she felt that Misato Katsuragi's words were directed at her.

But he wasn't one to be coy. Upon hearing Misato Katsuragi's words, he took the initiative to follow Mari Makinami forward, his figure disappearing completely at the end of the corridor.

As Shinji Ikari departed, Misato Katsuragi's gaze locked onto six rows of blue dots on the big screen, which were now encircling and locking the fleet containing the Ship of Hope.

"Again?" Misato Katsuragi lowered the brim of her hat, clearly not the first time she had faced such a surge of Angels.

“They plan a multi-pronged attack to trap us here.” Ritsuko Akagi turned to look at Misato Katsuragi. “We can’t leave here yet; we can only maintain the main engine’s associated operations.”

In truth, Ritsuko Akagi's gaze held a hint of resentment; she wasn't incapable of understanding her friend's feelings. Misato Katsuragi wanted to prove to Shinji Ikari that, in the fourteen years without her, she was capable of facing the Angels and NERV alone, without his presence.

But that's a bit too sentimental. Even if you want to prove it, at least leave Mari Makinami behind; she's the pilot of Unit 8.

"No problem! All ships, combat readiness level two!" Misato Katsuragi issued the order in a sharp voice, "Target: the entire Nemesis series!"

"Received, all ships, combat configuration two." Ritsuko Akagi sat back in her seat and began her work.

"Prepare for air, sea, and underwater counterattack operations," reported the middle-aged man with short hair, Makoto Hyuga.

"Resupply operations interrupted, crew being transferred!" Shigeru Aoba, sporting a small mustache, picked up his phone and relayed the new order to the escort ship of the Hope Ship.

"Maintain main engine connectivity and check the switches on all power input lines." Bei Shanglv was also giving instructions. "All aircraft are to leave their current airspace immediately and proceed to the second rendezvous point. Drop any unloaded supplies and prioritize the crew."

"All turrets prepare to fire. Three Sages system connected. Activate remote control and linkage system. Prepare for engagement."

Like dragonflies after a rain, aircraft took off from the deck, carrying supplies and crew away from the impending battlefield. Meanwhile, the ship's gray turrets were fully prepared, locking onto approaching targets in the distance.

If Shinji Ikari were to view all of this from God's perspective, he would raise a question—if the goal is to fight the Angels, shouldn't the most important thing be to activate the Evangelion? They are the true final weapons.

However, this was no longer NERV but WILLE, and the enormous horde of Angels before him were not the Angels he knew. Compared to the real Angels, these artificial Angels were at best cheap, low-end versions of what he knew. But their sheer number still posed a deadly danger.

The first phase was completed smoothly and efficiently. Looking at the green markers on the screen indicating completion, Misato Katsuragi felt no joy. She calmly announced the order for the next phase.

"Continue to supply energy to the main engine transmission system and open all valves up to number ninety."

"Coordinate with all air defense systems to prioritize the protection of Unit-01!"

At this moment, Shinji Ikari had followed Mari Makinami to the conference room. The window of this room had a view of the surging sea outside, and with Shinji's Angel-like vision, he was able to see the blood-red pillar of light approaching from afar.

From his direction alone, he witnessed seven crimson pillars of light converging, and within each pillar was an apostle.

At this moment, next to Shinji Ikari, Mari Makinami had one leg propped up on the large walnut table in the conference room, doing stretching exercises.

"Ah, this is such a long-lost feeling of exhilaration! Even doing combat configuration on the bridge is still incredibly exciting!"

"Does this kind of thing happen to you often?" Shinji Ikari asked.

“Of course not. The last time was last year. This is the first time we’ve had such a large-scale siege.” Mari tilted her head, looking at Shinji Ikari standing by the window, her smile somewhat ambiguous. “Let’s forget about that for now. Now it’s just the two of us. Let’s talk about something private! Do you want to take a shower first, or eat first, or ask me a question first?”

"Let's start with afternoon tea. A walnut brownie, some toast with foie gras, and Irish coffee with whiskey. We can discuss the issues later," Shinji Ikari said.

"You really are a young master, but unfortunately we don't have anything here," Mari shrugged. "Supplies are very scarce. If you need anything, I'll make you some noodles."

"Next time, tell me about the current situation first." Shinji Ikari ignored this tempting offer.

Although he also wanted to eat noodles, blanching the noodles, pouring the sauce, and boiling them all took time, and his arrival was still an accident. It would only take about three hours, after which he would be forced to float into the negative universe and return to his original world.

"After the Third Impact, the whole world turned crimson. The situation was terrible for both humanity and NERV; human society was on the verge of collapse. We also broke with NERV. You saw Misato Katsuragi leading former NERV executives to build WILLE, protecting the remaining humans and fighting against NERV. Misato-chan is incredibly busy; I'm worried she might die from overwork..." Mari Makinami lay on the large table in the conference room, looking at the pristine white ceiling. "But for me personally, it might not be a bad opportunity. If Misato-chan really dies, then Asuka and I will be free, right? Then I can go back to my hometown and marry the beautiful upperclassman I love!"

Mari pulled out an egg tart from somewhere and ate it in small bites, her expression drifting. "Thinking about it, I'm actually a little bit looking forward to it... But then I think about how all these years have passed, and my beautiful upperclassman might already be married, or maybe she has a stoic husband and a son with a really nice smell. It makes me a little sad, but I guess marrying her son wouldn't be so bad..."

Shinji Ikari felt that Misato Katsuragi deliberately left Mari to him to answer her questions; she talked too much nonsense, as if she wanted to use nonsense to cover up the real secret.

Based on the information he obtained during his last descent, Shinji Ikari pieced together a rough outline.

Fourteen years ago, he fought an Angel, triggering the so-called Third Impact, which changed the world to its current state. The remaining human forces then split into Wille and NERV, constantly fighting each other. However, judging from the current situation, it's mainly NERV attacking Wille from one direction.

"And this?" Shinji Ikari pointed to the crimson pillar of light that was very close outside the window.

The already imposing object, viewed from afar, now appears up close as a stabilizing pillar on the sea, with rolling waves and a crimson beam of light that dyes both the churning seawater and the sky a fiery red.

These towering pillars of light, however, numbered in multiples, encircling the entire fleet and rapidly approaching at a visible speed. Looking into the distance, one could vaguely discern the outline of a familiar white mask within the interior of each crimson pillar.

153: Fireworks Fourteen Years Late

“Artificial Angels, they’re one of the finished products of the Marduk Project.” Mari leaned against the window, watching the countless crimson beams of light approach. “But even if I told you about the Marduk Project, you wouldn’t understand, would you? Just think of them as their mass-produced Angels. They’re far inferior to real Angels, but their numbers combined are more troublesome than many powerful Angels. Do we really not need to deploy EVAs?” Mari asked with some concern.

“I know, since it’s Project Marduk, there must be mass-produced EVAs too,” Shinji Ikari said.

Mari looked at the boy standing by the window with some surprise. He actually knew about the Marduk Project, but she continued, "There are indeed some. EVA Mark.44A Aircraft Type, EVA Mark.4444C Ground Type, and EVA Mark.44B Support Type are the Nemesis series, which are closer to the EVA aspect than the Angels. And what you see here is 4C, which is more like the Nelithis, a variant of the Angel."

The name comes from Nemesis, the Greek goddess of vengeance, who would punish the arrogant before the throne of the gods. This is precisely how SEELE, symbolizing orthodoxy, inflicts divine punishment on the rebellious Wille.

Leaving aside the technical jargon, Shinji Ikari roughly understands. It's about a technological explosion in this parallel world, where Project Marduk achieved perfect success. Not only did they mass-produce the Nerichis series of mobile suits possessing Angel-like properties (or artificial Angels with EVA-like characteristics), but they also categorized them into aerial, ground, and support types based on their properties.

At this moment, the number of beams of light increased again, not because the number of apostles increased. Rather, when these apostles surrounding the fleet approached to a certain distance, they each linked with the nearest apostle to form new beams of light, creating a crimson-gold net-like structure that would completely and firmly bind the fleet within it.

"The 4Cs before us are clearly naval warfare specialized types. Although they are called artificial Angels, they can be controlled like EVAs." Shinji Ikari gazed quietly at the Angels before him. "Tell me about the near Third Impact fourteen years ago. What exactly happened?"

"This is your real purpose, isn't it?" Mari turned her head and gave him a deep look. However, this was also because Shinji Ikari made no attempt to hide it, making it easy for others to see through him.

“Since Misato-chan has authorized you with this permission, any problems are her responsibility. Rather than words, let’s just play back the video from back then.” Mari skipped to the front of the conference room and snapped her fingers.

"MAGI, project video MELCHIOR-BM03001," Masumi gave the order.

At this moment, the outside world is facing a looming threat from the Angels, but in this meeting room, Mari and Shinji are reminiscing about the past, completely undisturbed.

You should know that MAGI is the Three Sages supercomputer system, but besides the original MAGI at NERV headquarters, there are five copies. They are located in Matsushiro, Japan; Berlin, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Massachusetts, USA; and Beijing, Seres. "Maria said to Shinji Ikari with a boastful tone, "However, the city of Hakone is now gone, and this Ship of Hope carries the original system backup from Matsushiro, Japan. It still feels familiar to you, doesn't it?"

As the command was given, a luminous blue laser beam was projected from the ceiling, weaving into a finely meshed network of beams. As this network of beams slowly swept across the entire conference room, a holographic 3D projection gradually took shape.

The scene suddenly shifts, and Shinji Ikari finds himself floating in mid-air, looking out at thick smoke and a devastated battlefield, the sky torn open with huge wounds, the head of Unit-00, the heavily damaged Unit-02, the underground world billowing with smoke, and the Angels running rampant in the center, dragging the world into an abyss of no return.

This is the underground space of Hakone, and Shinji Ikari would never mistake it, because he had just fought the Angel of Power here not long ago. He could even see the head of Unit-00 lying in front of him. But when he tried to reach out, the headless Unit-00 was easily pierced through, leaving only pale blue interference ripples.

"This is a reconstruction of the scene based on the 3D monitoring in MAGI. The time was 10:05 AM." Mari explained to Shinji Ikari what happened back then in the manner of a professional tour guide. "Considering that you were already in a berserk state at that time, you may not remember it very clearly, so we will reconstruct the scene for you."

But what follows is the main point of the story.

The rampaging Unit-01, to Shinji Ikari's astonishment, broke through the barrier and tore apart the Angel of Power's domain, tearing apart the Angel's now-repaired body with considerable ferocity and ripping out its core.

At this point, there was no need for Mari and Magi's guidance; the scene reappeared before Shinji Ikari's eyes, and he was himself.

After the Devouring Force Apostle completed its restoration, Unit-01 underwent a violent transformation, its original restraints torn apart. A crimson aura, resembling wings, unfurled behind it. As if someone had cast sacred fire into the abyss, its eyes shone with a divine, demonic crimson.

But this newborn son of God was not looking at this world, but at the blue figure hidden within the body of the devoured Apostle of Power.

"I care about this world, and I don't care about myself, but I cannot allow Ayanami to die..."

The boy's pain and anger overlapped with Shinji Ikari's at that moment: "Give Rei Ayanami back to me!"

The moment Unit-01 reached out, Shinji Ikari felt as if he had indeed grabbed her arm. A gigantic Rei Ayanami burst forth from the wreckage of the Power Angel, and the rain of blood transformed into protective wings, swirling around the two of them.

All the memories, all the images, flooded into my mind at this moment.

"I see. It can be completely replenished by simply devouring the core of the apostle. The most important thing is the sacrificial offering, as well as Rei Ayanami and myself."

Shinji Ikari smiled, not because he knew the answer, but because he was happy that he had made the right response back then.

At this moment, all that could be seen was surging white water, where the Apostles were already hidden behind the towering waves. The crimson beam of light had broken through the fleet's first line of defense, whipping up a tornado on the sea surface with the ferocity of a waterspout, pulling cruisers weighing tens of thousands of tons into their attack range like paper boats, easily tearing them into countless pieces.

The fleet's defensive perimeter was completely unimpeded by the naval warfare-specific 4C artificial apostle.

—The ship of hope, in the central command room.

"They're here! Target confirmed: Pillar of Light, but unable to pinpoint the enemy's core area! They're probably lurking beneath the camouflage net!" Aoba Shigeru reported loudly, a habit he hadn't broken even after fourteen years.

"This is bad. If this continues, we'll face a saturation attack." Ritsuko Akagi said with a worried expression. "Captain Katsuragi, I suggest that the fleet disperse immediately. Considering the limited number of crew members and their insufficient training, plus the fact that our ship's assembly is not yet complete. And most importantly, we cannot pinpoint the target's core area."

Artificial apostles are still apostles; if their core cannot be attacked, any attack is like scratching an itch through a boot. In this situation, the ships have absolutely no chance of winning.

"Let's continue our retreat as before. We have no other choice now, Captain!" Ritsuko Akagi suggested in a stern voice.

"Contact is expected in 600 seconds," Shigeru Aoba continued the announcement.

Ritsuko Akagi knew Misato Katsuragi's thoughts during this operation, and also the emotions that arose from Shinji Ikari's return. She didn't want Shinji to look down on her; Misato wanted Shinji to understand that even without him and his Unit-01, she could still lead the remnants of Wille in the past fourteen years to fight against the attacking Angels and NERV.

But now, there is no other choice.

“That’s precisely why we should change the status quo and learn from past failures.” Misato Katsuragi raised her head slightly, gazing at the fleet that was already trapped in the encirclement on the screen. “Vice-Captain, let’s take off.”

"Take off? Wait, are you planning to start the main engine?" Ritsuko Akagi's eyes widened.

"All ships, prepare for takeoff!" Misato Katsuragi ordered. "Ignite the main engines."

This time, the order was not executed immediately as before, but instead elicited gasps of astonishment from the entire audience, because everyone present was well aware of the risks of starting the main engine.

"This ship is not ready for actual combat yet. You need to think this through, Captain Katsuragi!" Ritsuko Akagi said.

"I agree!" Hinata Makoto immediately replied. "It's too dangerous to jump straight into actual combat without even testing!"

“I lack experience in gravity control and have no confidence in it!” The African-American woman with braided hair standing in front of the control panel also expressed her doubts.

"If you can't win, then don't fight. I don't want to die." The red-haired girl lay on the office chair, looking up at the ceiling.

Kitakami Midori bit her nails. "Besides, that person, the Third Boy, is still on the ship. If he wants to cause trouble, given his ability to summon Unit-01, which was sealed in near-Earth orbit by the EVA Mark.44A Aerospace Angel, we're all doomed if he even entertains the slightest thought!"

However, when Shinji Ikari was mentioned, Ritsuko Akagi's eyes flickered slightly, and she suddenly looked up at Misato Katsuragi, who was standing on a high place.

“I know there will be risks, but we will use this ship as bait to lure the target here.” Misato Katsuragi lowered the brim of her hat. “It’s time to learn about the god-slaying power this ship possesses.”