Chapter 11: Europe’s Triumphant Rally

Chapter 11:
Europe’s Triumphant Rally

 

NIGHT SHIFT BEGAN in the command center.

“Any luck?”

“We’re not getting anything from the North American surveillance sites, either.”

There were fewer people now compared to the afternoon. Communications operators whispered among themselves in the lower deck, debating whether they should wake up their superior, who’d retreated to the nap room for the day. Network dropouts and overloads had become a daily problem, given recent world events.

“Euro media’s live broadcast is doing all right, at least.”

The main display showed a parade on mute. Fuyutsuki had decided to peek into the command center before retiring to his personal quarters, and he pursed his lips when he saw the television broadcast playing in a sub window. A hail of confetti fluttered about the Atomium in Brussels.

“The Europeans are holding a victory parade?”

“The moon is still expanding, and the Lance of Longinus is still circling the Earth,” one of the night shift operators remarked. “I’m not sure what this parade’s about.”

People filled every corner off the street. The blue EU flag flew high in the center, surrounded by the flags of its member states.

“I suppose they just need one,” Fuyutsuki said. “The Longinus Phenomenon turned one and a half million of their people to salt.”

European rapid response soldiers rode their armed vehicles through the streets, a smile on every single face.

“Hey, those are the new maser vehicles! They’re huge!”

By the time the young operator finished saying this, the maser cars were lying on their sides. For a moment, it appeared to be a trick of the camera, but upon closer inspection, the sixteen-ton vehicles really were lying on their sides, like a bunch of cardboard boxes.

“Wha?”

“Is it an accident?”

If only.

The camera shook and rumbled as dust clouds rushed the lens at terrifying speeds. Eventually, the feed cut back to the studio, but things had descended into such panic that even the studio cameras were left abandoned. The frame switched to standby before finally playing stock footage of Heurtebise returning from space.

“What just happened?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps a whirlwind? See if you can dig up more information.”

The internet would’ve been buzzing with theories right about now, but the worldwide communications crisis had severely limited such speculation.

Fuyutsuki shouted to the comms officer on the lower deck. “Get on the priority link to Nerv Germany if the media can’t come up with anything.”

“About that, sir,” the officer began, “We haven’t been able to reach them for the last thirty minutes. They might be experiencing some hardware trouble.”

“What?!”

Toji tumbled into the command center, looking significantly worse for wear. He’d been watching the broadcast in his quarters, on the off chance he might see Hikari in the parade. He’d seen the exact moment when rejoicing had turned to panic.

“What the hell is going on?!”

The feed had returned and was now playing footage through a camera whose correction software was being pushed to its limits. As it panned sideways, it showed the beautiful cityscape. In the distance, a black giant loomed, shrouded in fiery smoke.

“No!”

Armaros!

His armor looked a little different, but it was still covered in black scales. People ran through the streets, tripping over and trampling each other. The image shook as the camera was knocked to the ground.

On the way down, it captured an image of Armaros’ left arm, which now looked like a grotesque chainsaw. A ray of light shot out of it.

The Atomium, a monument that had been erected for the World’s Fair, exploded.

Screams filled the air, half of which were calling for their hero, the Euro Eva, Heurtebise. But the artificial angel didn’t appear. A family in the rubble cried out for Hikari to help them. Toji felt as if he was being torn apart watching them. Mercifully, the footage ended.

Fuyutsuki put out an emergency call for Misato.

“Suzuhara,” Asuka whispered. “We’re going to school now.”

What happened to Hikari? Where’s Heurtebise? Why is Armaros…?

As frazzled as Toji was, part of him remained Acting Deputy Commander of Nerv.

“Hang on,” he said, in a voice inaudible to Fuyutsuki and the rest. “We can’t go to school at night. The BLS Layer only activates during school hours, since that’s the setting of Shinji’s dream.”

“Is now really the time to worry about that?” Asuka asked.