Chapter 12: Black Fragment

Chapter 12:
Black Fragment

 

<<The quantum flow indicator’s the only thing that picked that up?!>>

“No echoes on the radar and lidar. Clear of emissions and reflections.”

But they all felt the small, hazardous object’s approach. The search for the orbiting Eva-00 Type-F Allegorica was put on hold as they frantically prepared the gamma-ray laser cannon for operation.

As the unit’s N2 reactor kicked into emergency protocol and clanged to life, its pilot, Trois, set her course according to the quantum flow indicator.

“Unit Zero, Trois to command. Adjusting course to avoid impact. Object will be identified after adjustment. Seventy-five percent chance of being a Q.R. Signum.”

<<I knew it! This is Hakone to Trois. You’re free to fire as long as you don’t point that cannon toward Earth. Weapons free! I repeat, weapons free! Blow that thing out of the sky if it tries to take you over like Quatre’s Eva!>>

The cannon trigger dropped into position on Toji’s command.

An avalanche of population inversions occurred in the cannon’s gigantic triple-nuclear excitation unit, producing lasers that converged upon a single point.

The electric field produced a massive, distorted thud as thirty-six thousand capacitors lost their charge all at once.

The cannon fired, though the motion was terribly subdued in outer space. Still, a blinding light spread into the far distance as fragments scattered like shattered glass.

“Signal lost. Q.R. Signum neutralized.”