Chapter 16: Sudden Turn

Chapter 16:
Sudden Turn

 

THE MOON’S REVOLUTION had been significantly reduced, thanks to its increased size, and it once again aligned with the spatial lens over Yomotsu Hirasaka. The great pillar of seawater reappeared, shooting into space, as the moon siphoned the Earth’s materials. This was the second time this had happened.

Even with two reconnaissance aircraft, the JSSDF Akashima had lost sight of the four-legged giant beast with Eva-02 plastered to its head, which was absurd considering the sheer size of the thing. The beast as big as a mountain had disappeared as if it had dissolved into the Earth itself.

Many nations had surrounded the Pacific Ocean, three of which had approached the island using large, amphibious submarines. The North American Alliance, the South American Coalition, and the Chinese Far East Collective all landed on Yomotsu Hirasaka, and a force of about ten thousand began making its way to the center of the island. Half of them were researchers, while the other half carried N2 bombs.

Heurtebise’s transformation into Armaros had not been widely disseminated, mainly because of the Europeans’ own disbelief. But news of the black giant’s reappearance had spread like wildfire, and the rest of the world soon heard of the horrors that had occurred in Europe. They prepared themselves for the violence that was to come.

If Yomotsu Hirasaka was discovered to be the vanguard of the apocalypse, it would need to be blown to pieces.

The Akashima, JSSDF’s anti-Angel unit, was now calling on all nations to withdraw from the island.

“You are encroaching upon Japanese waters protected by international law!”

Over the hills leading to the mountain at the heart of the island, the Akashima and Shrikes One and Two were engaged in a standoff with offensive aircraft that appeared to share the Platypus-2’s N2 graviton floater platform.

In fact, these three nations had approached Japan several times to seek their cooperation, but the government of the archipelago hadn’t responded.

Part of it was the chaos at the heart of the government due to the recent disasters, but it was also the fact that Nerv Japan had been given more authority to respond to such disasters in a timely fashion. The attempts to limit Nerv’s actions in Japan had backfired.

“Do these Japanese not realize this is an emergency?” A gunner from the U.S. Navy’s aerial platform disengaged the Akashima from his sights, though he kept his hands on the console so he could lock on to it again if need be.

“The Chinese Far East Collective probably think they can do anything so long as they have their Evangelions.”

“Hah! They needed Germany to buy them time when Armaros whooped them back in Europe!”

 

Back on the island, soldiers and scientists of different nations discovered a dreamlike world as they advanced. They found colonies of young plants with vibrant colors, and even identified species that were thought to have gone extinct ages ago.

“This is supposed to be a chunk of moon rock.”

They’d come to destroy this abomination but instead found themselves awestruck.

“This is brilliant.”

“Paradise!”

Their emotions stood in conflict with their mission.

How had so much greenery cropped up on a rock that had fallen from outer space?

Soldiers set up observation towers to record the devastation left by the N2 bombs nanoseconds after they destroyed this utopia.

Each held the tools of destruction in their hands, and some peered through the lens of the terminal to record the moment Paradise was brought low by human hands. Perhaps there would come a moment in the future where the data would prove useful.

If any of them survived.

As the soldiers advanced around a great wall of rock, they came across another startling sight in a deep valley.

“Isn’t that the thing intel told us about?”

“Bingo!”

They looked upon a large, gray cube, shining like glasswork.

The Ark.

It was a collection of terrestrial life information that had disappeared after Armaros transported it away from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa.

The Ark turned slowly, concealing its true form as the main method of jump-starting the Human Instrumentality Project.