As evening approached, the sky gradually darkened.
The sky turned a deep, blackish crimson, casting the cross on the church roof into shadow.
Over on Asuka's side.
Unit-02 and Unit 0 stood side by side on the surface.
"Second Tank Squad deployment complete."
"Understood. Hold your position."
"Auxiliary laser review will begin shortly. Please transmit the intelligence."
"Confirmation complete. Transmitting through the C Circuit."
The Headquarters Base staff and their equipment had all reached the surface, where they continued analyzing the Angel's data to aid the rescue of Shinji and Huang Zhetian.
A list of functions appeared on the screen as it scanned the Night Angel above the surface.
Inside the temporary command room.
After typing at his keyboard and recording all the data, Aoba Shigeru relayed the United Nations' message to Misato behind him. "United Nations forces have completed the encirclement."
Misato was observing the Angel in the sky through binoculars. Without turning around, she asked, "What about the shadow?"
"It hasn't moved. It stopped expanding after its diameter passed six hundred meters. Can the ground forces really help?" Hyuga answered first, adding a question of his own.
Misato lowered her binoculars and said coldly, her face expressionless, "They're only trying to put pressure on us."
Suddenly, Misato heard Asuka's voice and looked toward her.
With her back to them, Asuka stared at the ground consumed by the Night Angel and began making snide remarks.
"Honestly, what can you do with those two? Going off on their own and ignoring the battle plan. They brought this on themselves."
"He only did well on yesterday's test, and suddenly he wanted to set an example for me. Hah."
"And Zhetian was just as bad, stupidly following him in there. Happy now? They're both idiots who let it go to their heads."