"I feel like we spent all that time preparing just to watch from the sidelines..." Ritsuko was a little speechless.
"You really never know what life will throw at you..."
The three Evas in the air saw a brilliant burst of fireworks explode across the sky. Once it was over, Misato contacted them.
"No need to fight. The Angel has already been destroyed..."
"Huh? What happened?" Asuka sounded a little disappointed as she held the Spacium Cannon.
Shinji opened the team's secure communications channel. "They're Zero's comrades."
"Shinji's" voice suddenly changed. "They're the new Guard I put together-Ultimate Force Zero!"
"That idiot Zero's teammates sure know how to steal the credit..." Asuka felt relieved, but she was still a little disgruntled.
"New friends?" Rei was simply curious.
"I'll go ask them once we get down."
The members of the Guard had already made telepathic contact with Zero and were waiting for him in space.
After Unit-01 landed, Shinji climbed out of the Entry Plug. He exchanged a few words with Misato, then found an out-of-the-way spot, secretly transformed, and flew into space to meet them.
"I missed you so much, Zero!" Guren rushed up and punched Zero's chest a few times, pretending to be angry.
They had certainly been among those most worried when Zero disappeared. Not only had they searched for him themselves, they had also gone to the Guard every few days to ask for news.
When they finally received news of Zero, they had wanted to set out immediately. Only Zoffy and Hikari had managed to talk them out of it.
Zoffy had given them a full account of Zero's condition and the Human Instrumentality Project. Once their shock wore off, they were all furious, but they then promised to follow Zero's orders in everything they did.