Chapter 16: Toji’s Battle
Chapter 16:
Toji’s Battle
Toji’s Battle
A
T A STRATEGY MEETING
in Nerv Japan, the assembled staff decided that the mission to rescue Kaji would proceed unofficially. Acting openly would gather too much unwanted attention.
The great global calamity continued apace; pulled in by the subduction of the Indian plate, the Arabian Peninsula had begun rotating counter-clockwise. When Commander Katsuragi collapsed, the decision was made to use an aid mission to the peninsula as a cover for the rescue operation.
To himself, Toji remarked, “Sure, right after you tell me not to leave, you go out of commission.”
The next steps fell to Toji. He had to carry out his duty; time was pressing. He sent out Kaji’s rescue team, assigned Maya and her staff to develop Super Eva’s flying unit, and requisitioned several UN heavy VTOL planes—stripped of weapons and ammunition, and laden with food supplies—and flew north.
Sporadic skirmishes were breaking out across the mountains of northern Honshu. Finally asserting their sovereignty, the JSSDF were on the hunt for the abandoned and isolated remnants of the European airborne troops, who had taken to hiding in the backcountry.
Toji convinced the JSSDF to withdraw, and he took a few people to doggedly search the mountains for survivors. Whenever they found any, they notified the soldiers’ home countries and took them into safe custody. On the surface, he was performing humanitarian work in accordance with international law, but Toji understood that his actions could be used as leverage for the coming negotiations with the Eurozone.
By going in person, he was also able to learn more about the attackers. Apparently, their invasion had been patterned after the Crusades, and Toji saw several soldiers wearing protective charms made with salt.
Toji’s squad came under fire a few times, but the far greater threat was the frequent earthquakes.
The plague of locusts had eaten the mountains bare, and though a significant portion of the trees’ root networks had survived, the ground dried out faster than Toji had expected. Every tremor could easily have caused a secondary landslide.
Some soldiers refused to come with him; for them, he left several VTOL planes on the barren mountaintops along with this message:
“Get to Hokkaido on your own. You can make it that far. Go to the assembly point and wait for the JSSDF to send a rescue team. Previously evacuated European troops are also gathering there.”
At the end, he let some emotion—and his western Japanese accent—into his speech. “You’re not gonna let yourselves die in a place like this!”
With each soldier he rescued, Toji felt like he was one step closer to the Euro-II’s pilot—to Hikari.