Unit-01, launch

The night wind was unusually loud, perhaps because it carried humanity's furious roar of defiance against extinction.

The island nation had fallen into darkness, without a single light piercing the night, making the stars overhead seem especially bright.

Electricity had been cut off to homes and industrial facilities nationwide, with all of it diverted to a hill northeast of Tokyo-3.

Each shot from the Positron Cannon sniper rifle required a staggering amount of electricity to generate enough destructive power to pierce an Angel's core. To that end, NERV had requisitioned Japan's entire power supply.

The seconds ticked by until midnight finally arrived. As humanity anxiously awaited either extinction or another day, Ramiel at last underwent a new change.

Until then, no matter how the densely arranged train cables around him were connected, or how the human troops assembled in the distance stirred in readiness, Ramiel remained unmoved.

He simply continued piercing layer after layer of fortifications with the rainbow-colored drill extending beneath him, advancing straight toward NERV headquarters.

But amid this seemingly peaceful scene, humanity actually launched an attack. An enemy had entered his retaliation range!

The next instant, the observation aircraft dispatched by NERV withdrew. Several missile launch ports opened in the ground, followed by a barrage of missiles that filled the sky.

The missiles converged toward the center in a circular pattern, while Ramiel, already transformed into something resembling a Ferris wheel laid flat, fired a beam cannon.

Ramiel · Third Form

The beam struck a missile, then swept across the sky in an elegant circular arc, beginning at the point where that missile exploded.

In an instant, a chain of explosions lit up the sky, wiping out every missile.

That was not the end. After eliminating the threat, Ramiel turned his attention back to the ground.

His particle beam cannon swept across the earth, destroying every missile silo in blazing explosions.

"The third First Attack System has been vaporized!"

"He noticed after all. Proceed as planned. Don't give him a moment to catch his breath and see through our intentions. Keep attacking!"

At Misato Katsuragi's command, a volley of automated artillery fire erupted from the mountains.

The Sixth Angel shifted into a prismatic form, his rainbow-colored AT Field becoming visible as the shells struck it.

With calibers starting at four hundred millimeters, these were already among the largest and heaviest fixed artillery pieces. They were no longer firing ordinary shells, either, but specially made N2-charged armor-piercing shells and pulse shells.

Even so, against the Sixth Angel's AT Field, these pinnacles of human weaponry were either deflected or reduced to slightly brighter fireworks.

Ramiel · Fourth Form

Before a creation of God bearing the name of an Angel, even humanity's greatest physical might seemed so insignificant and clumsy.

Humanity's feeble, tickling resistance subsided, and the Sixth Angel's counterattack followed immediately. He transformed into something resembling three stacks of pages gathered together, with the sole opening exposing his core serving as a gun turret.

Each burst of his beam cannon wiped out an artillery position.

Ramiel · Fifth Form

"Battery two has been hit!"

"Power room eight has been vaporized!"

"The fourth First Attack System is beginning its attack."

"Battery five has been destroyed."

On the command center's main screen, the dots representing the various positions turned from yellow to red one after another, marking their destruction.

Yet Misato Katsuragi remained calm as she watched the attacking forces being steadily destroyed. This was her plan.

The key was to make the Sixth Angel expose his core, which required him to change forms.

She had never expected these missiles and artillery pieces to hurt the Sixth Angel. They were merely bait.

"How are things on First Lieutenant Ayanami's end?" Misato Katsuragi asked, staring at the icons turning red in succession on the screen.

"The positron accelerator is charging. Focusing rotation count exceeds 38,000 seconds. Voltage operating index at 0.079 percent."

"No issues with the automated power supply lines. Fourth connection, no issues. Ready to fire!"

Misato Katsuragi nodded. "Good. Release the final safety!"

"Positron Cannon loaded," a technician responded.

Rei Ayanami lay prone in Unit-00 at the mountain firing position. In her hands, the Positron Cannon was an enormous sniper rifle.

Electricity flowed through the cables into nine power supply terminals, each dozens of meters tall, behind Unit-00. With assistance from the Magi System, the Type G Equipment designed specifically for long-range combat helped her track every transformation Ramiel underwent.

EVAs normally fought using standard Type B Equipment, while Type G Equipment was another specialized EVA combat loadout: the complete ballistic calculation system currently fitted to Unit-00's right arm.

This equipment had extremely poor mobility. Once fitted with the system, the unit could barely move, which was why conventional weapons were needed to conduct feints and lure the Sixth Angel into changing forms.

"Beginning final input of firing parameters. Correction for Earth's rotation rate and gravitational deviation, plus 0.0009. Automatically tracking the target."

"Positron acceleration underway. Power supply terminals one through nine ready to transmit. Final corrections to the positron acceleration tube complete."

Rei Ayanami gripped the controls tightly as Misato Katsuragi's countdown came over the communicator. When the order to fire arrived, she pulled the trigger.

Still occupied with humanity's conventional weapons, Ramiel suddenly felt something strange stir within him-as though something threatening was gathering!

He could not see it, but he could sense that exceedingly dangerous energy.

Almost instinctively, Ramiel thought to evade, but a fleeting flash suddenly streaked across the ink-black night sky and pierced straight through his exposed core!

His core shattered. At that instant, Ramiel's body seemed to react to some stimulus.

The blue crystal instantly turned black and contracted, then sprouted countless spikes like a hedgehog. Blood-red fluid sprayed from the hideous wound.

"It worked!"

An operator sprang to his feet in excitement, ready to cheer, but Ramiel's spikes soon retracted, and he returned to his original regular octahedral crystal form.

"Did we miss?" Misato Katsuragi asked in bewilderment.

"No. The Magi System shows that the Sixth Angel's core was completely penetrated. This is... we hit the wrong one!" Ritsuko Akagi said, stunned.

"Just like when Ramiel's second form split his core into four parts, those were all energy projections of the core! Prepare the second shot. I'll have the Magi System correct the data!"

"High-energy reaction inside the target!" a technician shouted.

At some point, Ramiel had transformed into an enormous five-pointed star. A rainbow halo surrounded his red core as energy surged.

Ramiel · Sixth Form

"He's found Rei!" Misato Katsuragi's eyes widened.

At that moment, everyone seemed to sense it, their hearts pounding. The next strike might be the most terrifying attack Ramiel had launched since his arrival!

But a boy's voice came over the communicator, echoing through the command center.

-"Unit-01, launch!"