Settling the Books

"Are they trying to balance the books?"

Tao Yu watched the weapons pour out as if they were free. He didn't make Evangelion Unit-00 attack directly, instead propping his head on one hand as he watched Evangelion Unit-01's performance.

Maybe Gendo Ikari, like some certain bastard, had secretly skimmed a huge amount of money for his own use. The ammunition in these defensive installations was probably just there to balance the books.

Otherwise, there was no explaining this pointless effort...

"Could they be firing blanks? With smoke effects?"

After Shinji had fired a few rounds, two energy tendrils suddenly shot out from within the smoke. The smoke from the gunfire had instead become a smokescreen.

Though an EVA's neural controls were responsive, they also lacked conveniences like attack detection and radar. Everything depended on the pilot.

The sudden attack threw Shinji Ikari into a panic, but he still managed to dodge it.

It was just that the Giant Assault Rifle in Evangelion Unit-01's hands was sliced in two.

"Must be nice to have money..."

Evangelion Unit-01's performance also left everyone in the command room speechless.

NERV had been founded to deal with the Angels, so it was understandable that the Angels were powerful. After all, they'd been preparing for this very thing for so long.

But they'd seen Evangelion Unit-01 display its overwhelming strength on its first sortie, wiping out the enemy with a flick of its finger. With expectations raised that high, Shinji Ikari's performance now...

Could only be described as a disaster.

"Minato, step in."

Misato couldn't help saying so from the command room.

When Tao Yu saw Evangelion Unit-01 knocked to the ground and the little whip about to lash out at it again, he stopped waiting.

He'd let Evangelion Unit-01 attack so Yui Ikari could see