While launching the fighters Kiyan loosed all of his arsenal at a few of the attackers. His gravity cannons spit out forced point singularities or tiny artificial black holes. Fps as they were called. These orbs of gravity were only visible as black points of warpage as they twisted the light behind them. A corvette was one of the ships in the front that was in the path of an fps. The small ship's shields collapsed and its armor rippled as the fps was attached to its mass. The ship twisted towards the black hole until it made contact and lost containment. There was a flash as hot as a young star and a gravity blast that ripped half of the craft to sheds. Several more fps found targets as they too sought out the nearest points of mass. A couple of the larger ship's shields buckled around the fps impact and left a hole in the protective bubble. Two or three were crippled by the following blast. These were finished off a moment later as a torrent of plasma flooded through the breach and liquefied the remaining armor. The damage soon overwhelmed these fighting machines and they exploded finishing their own destruction. Some of the exploding ships were contained in their own shields before they dissolved attesting to their strength. The larger ships survived the fps blasts shields intact. Kiyan found that these also could be melted through in time if he focused plasma on a single points on the shields until the capacitors responsible for those sections overloaded and failed.
Together the five battleships could hold back the assault. The temporal generators were proving more than capable of maintaining shield strengths while charging weapon systems. After blazing fire at each other the drakken suddenly switched tactics. Their fleet maintained their level of fire but a third of the fleet split off on each side. Kiyan was left trying to deal with the body of the fleet while the two battleships to either side turned their attention to the flanking drakken groups. Kiyan was about to lend his active fighters to help strengthen their flanks when he saw the swarm of fighters launching from the drakken carriers. He scanned the net quickly and found that the second line of ships had split behind him and were focusing on their flanks.
Kiyan watched the ships to his fore front and suddenly became suspicious. He pulled his fighters into defensive formations on both sides and launched a couple more drop ships to replace fallen craft. Kiyan held his gravity cannons until the bulk of the fighters were in range. When he finally let the cannons loose the black holes twisted towards the fighters. He watched as the swarm split in attempts to avoid the deadly singularities but it was of little use. The fps blasts tracked down a couple fighters each before destabilizing and shredding any nearby fighters but unfortunately only a handful of fighters were destroyed for each fps. Kiyan retargeted the plasma cannons and began firing in a grid pattern where the fighters were located. He utilized every spare canon at his disposal for the onslaught. The first volley slammed into the fighter swarm resulting in at least a hundred fighters exploding. A new volley from the gravity cannons ripped several more to pieces.
The fighters somehow detected the grid that Kiyan was firing on and began to slip through the holes. Kiyan compensated by randomly adjusting the grid parameters. By this time the fighters that remained came close enough for the point defense systems activated. A ship the size of the Avenger had a lot of anti-fighter and missile laser turrets studding its surface. Kiyan sicked his fighter wings on the remaining enemies that evaded his point defense and turned his focus back to the larger ships. Several corvette class ships were close on the heels of the fighters when Kiyan managed to scan through the massive amounts of debris from the fighters. The FPSs weren't as accurate because of the scattered mass but several did find targets. A renewed hail of plasma finished the last of the immediate threat. Kiyan contemplated moving forward to see through the metal cloud ahead of him or staying put to limit the gaps between himself and the other battle ships.
Sensors detected a few dull thuds coming from behind the planet from the demise of a couple ships that strayed into the mine field. Kiyan could see sensor scans from the other ships so he saw that the remaining large ships on the other side of the cloud were powering forward in an attempt to rush past the Avenger. At the same time Jeremy and Fred presented a possible way to use the attack against the drakken. Both Luke and Alec confirmed the calculations a moment later and Kiyan set the plan into motion. He took five of the drop ships and flew them into the cloud that was blinding his sensors. Inside the cloud he placed them in a pattern that would distribute the greatest amount of damage caused by explosions. After activation their cloaks he began charging their warp drives. From the side views he could see from the other ship's sensors, Kiyan calculated the approximate location of the approaching fleet. About the time that the ships had entered the cloud Kiyan fired a volley of Singularities and activated a massive warp frame. The combined gravity of the warp frame and the Quantum singularities sucked the debris field and most of the ships into a subspace pocket universe. With the sudden increase of matter in the pocket universe and the gravitational influence of the black holes, everything collapsed. Under the sudden compression matter converted to energy and dissipated into subspace. There was a sharp static screech before Kiyan deactivated the subspace com receiver. The few ships that were still in front of Kiyan spun violently as they tried to regain stability. Only one or two managed to stabilize themselves and open fire before Kiyan reduced them to dust.
More thudding caught Kiyan attention as he looked to see if anyone else needed assistance. To one side Athena was pounding a dozen ships to dust with Alefgoren. On Kiyan's other side the Odyssey was smashing the last of the fighters with Seth's Black Fang.
“I'm detecting a warp frame.” Kiyan heard Theo at the same time that he received the same sensor data.
“Where is it opening?” One of the frigate captains with lesser sensors inquired.
Kiyan ran the calculations quickly and predicted the warp frame off to the group’s right. He had hardly transmitted the data before the ships flashed into view. Unfortunately the new location was at a point not covered by the defending fleet.
“The warp magnet must have need destroyed by the last group.” Seth hissed in annoyance as the huge battleships sprang into motion. Their size meant little with the inertial dampening tech and monolithic engines. Being as fast as and more agile than a ship a tenth the size soon had them speeding toward a clash with the new fleet. The element of surprise wasn't on their side any more.
“They are charging weapons.” Alefgoren gave the warning over the net. Kiyan was about to reinforce the facing shields when he realized that the large ship sized rail guns weren't aiming at them. Even worse the drakken appeared to be aiming at earth. The protectorate ships were too far away to block the weapons if they fired. If even a fraction of the energy reached populace centers thousands would die. Kiyan wondered for a split second if the prediction about earth's sky raining fire could be averted.
“I need full access and control of all the battleships.” Theo didn't bother explaining his demand. Kiyan felt Kendra hand over control just before he himself gave Theo what he wanted. Seth and Alefgoren didn't hesitate long either. Kiyan sensed massive equations involving the ships speed and trajectory being computed with the combined power of the network. Angles and positions along with gravitational formulas followed quickly. In perfect order each of the gravity cannons fired at a single point. Each shot compensated for distance from the target point and speed of the projectile. Kiyan watched in awe as the miniature black holes smashed into each other and stopped moving. Ripples in gravity lashed around making even the mighty battleships quiver from the force. Kiyan regained control an instant later from the exhausted Theo. The Avenger and every other ship in the sector were hurdling towards a stable black hole. The mass was above the point where it would have dissipated with a flash.
Unlike popular belief black holes don't simply suck in all matter and energy that crosses their event horizon and retain that energy for eternity. All black holes emit Hawking’s radiation. Levels of radiation being released are inversely proportionate to
the mass of the black hole. In different words that means that the bigger the black hole the less energy lost. That is why the small black holes shot at the drakken ships would dissipate with a flashy burst of energy. The black hole that Theo had formed would take months to dissipate. Before then every planet in the system including the sun would have increased the mass and extended the life of the black hole by millions of years. Kiyan wasn't sure what had been accomplished. He pulled the ship into a steep curve to avoid running into the black hole himself. One of the blocky thoran vessels sped past unable to alter their course. Their shields were up and they would soon be outside of the range of the teleporters if the continued at that pace. Kiyan wasn't the only one that had seen their ally's peril. Seth who was closer to the black hole and still somewhat ahead of the stricken vessel unloaded a broadside into the shields of the spinning ship. The shields flickered and failed under the sudden strains. A moment later it was outside of transporter range and tumbling into the patch of distorted space. Seth sent the message that all the thoran crew had been beamed into a closed hanger bay.
When the drakken finally unleashed their weapon charges, while the protectorate ships were trying to escape the gravity, understanding dawned in Kiyan's mind as the purpose of the black hole. Every shot fired raced towards earth before suddenly veering sharply into the singularity. Not a single shot escaped the gravity well. The drakken ships that were charging on a full head of steam apparently didn't have the technology onboard to repurpose their kinetic energy like the Assurian inertial dampers could. They were caught by the black hole but were unable to make even the feeblest changes in trajectory. Ordered formations crumbled as they tried to escape their doom. Watching the drakken ship disappear into the event horizon Kiyan remembered what threat the black hole that had just saved earth presented. Memories of how he had gotten rid of part of the drakken fleet flooded his mind.
All the other commanders in the network snapped into action as Kiyan relayed his plan. Every warp capable support craft on the field of combat that could be remotely controlled streaked towards the menacing black hole. Assembling as close to the gravity well as they could Kiyan uploaded a simple program into each computer. He watched as the program took control and the ships became twisted by the gravity distortions. He waited with bated breath like every one of the assembled commanders to see if his plan would work. Already damage had been done to the solar system. A yawning warp frame opened around the black hole and slowly closed. The black hole was gone with all the ships that Kiyan had sent into the gravity as well. Minor warp frames flickered in and out of existence as energy flooded through subspace. If anyone had been traveling in warp through subspace in the area they would have been spit out. If they had been unfortunate enough to be in the epicenter they would have been crushed. Some of the warp frames left plasma or clouds of gas as energy transformed back into matter.
“Orbits have changed.” Kendra simply stated an effect of the battle.
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Tyler snapped awake as the alarm on his tablet activated. The sudden flash of clarity was followed rapidly by a wave of drowsiness. His bed suddenly felt comfortable and the desire to simply roll over and go back to sleep was almost overpowering. The alarm still going off was the only thing that kept him from falling back to sleep. Last night at his brother's wedding reception was extracting its vengeance. Tyler wasn't one to drink but last night had spun into a blur after tasting that punch. Sitting up to reach for his tablet made his head swim.
“That punch must have been spiked.” Tyler groaned to himself. There were several of his brother's friends that could have been responsible. His own brother might have committed the treacherous act. Tyler turned off the alarm and tried to rub the cobwebs out of his brain. Recalling some of the stories he had heard from such punch spiked evenings he peeked through his fingers at his apartment scared of what he might find. Only seeing his own tuxedo rental scattered across the floor he breathed a sigh of relief. Getting up and making his way to the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was still partially gelled but the other half was messed up from sleeping on it. There was a curious red smear on his neck. Shaking his head reminded him of a dull throbbing sensation. A large glass of water would help that and a quick shower would take care of the rest.
After the shower and a quick breakfast Tyler prepared to leave. Grabbing his jacket, security pass, tablet and glasses he made his way for the door. Reaching out for his keys Tyler stopped when he saw an empty spot next to the door where the keys normally resided. A cursory glance around failed to turn the missing keys so Tyler switched on his tablet and logged into his GPS tracking account. Tyler scowled at the screen when he saw the GPS locator position. They were on the highway moving. A look outside revealed an empty parking spot.
“Did it get stolen last night?” Tyler racked his brain trying to remember how he had gotten home. Another glance at the tablet screen told him that the keys had left the highway and were moving down Main Street. Tyler decided to watch the keys for a few more minutes before calling a cab. He like getting to work early normally so he still had some time to spare. After a few stoplights the keys finally turned off Main Street and cut through towards Tyler's apartment. He relaxed a little at this but still wondered. Tyler saw that his keys were coming down his street so he got up and moved over by the window. A moment later he saw his blue Acura pull into the parking lot in front of his apartment. Grabbing his stuff again he left the apartment and walked over to his car. A glance told him that the keys he had been tracking were in his best friend's hand.
“You suck.” Tyler slid into the passenger seat. “You should have at least left a note telling me it was you that stole my car.”
“I suck?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “I told you I was going to drive you home when you couldn't hardly walk last night. “
“I should have known that punch was spiked.” Tyler put his seatbelt on and adjusted his glasses.
“I told you that it tasted funny!” Kyle rolled his eyes and pulled out of the parking spot.
“I thought it was. Never mind, I just should have known.” Tyler watched the people as they drove towards work.
“Ready for an exciting day working at SETI?” Tyler almost didn't detect the sarcastic tone in Kyle's voice.
“Oh don't tell me Titan zapped Jupiter again. We always get a spike when that happens.” Tyler became sarcastic himself.
“Well at least you get to actually look at the data. There could be worse jobs.” Kyle sounded a little jealous.
“Being a data analyst is boring. All you look at is readings and background radiation. Boring stuff. At least you get to go around and fix computers.” Tyler had grown tired of his job over the last couple of years.
“Ya, about that. Keep your soda away from you keyboard this week.” Kyle glanced at Tyler with a hint of mirth in his eyes.
“That wasn't even mine!” Tyler scowled at Kyle who burst out laughing. The rest of the trip was filled with friendly banter. They had to show passes at the gate before they found a parking spot. The two friends separated and made their way to their own offices. Tyler settled into his desk and switched on his computer. A brief overview of last night’s reading only showed a few minor spikes. When dealing with less energy than is released by dropping a grain of rice an inch makes most everything show up as a spike. Tyler marked a couple spikes for further analysis. It wasn't long before he had caught up and was looking at new telemetry. Tyler glanced up from his computer station and looked around at the other data analysts in the room. Only the new guy looked like he wasn’t dying from boredom. Another day at the office. Tyler turned back to his computer screens and set about analyzing the previously marked spikes. A couple of them he recognized as Titan's thunderbolts. There were a few smaller ones that he noticed that were consistent with LGMs or pulsars.
Finishing the last one that had been marked he gave the new data a cursory glance. Most of it looked normal but his heart skipped a beat when h
e saw a large spike from about a half hour ago. It was larger than anything he had seen as of yet. It was a radiation spike across a wide spectrum of wavelengths. Tyler used the computer to calculate the origin of the spike and found it came from beyond the moon. It was well above what was normally detected. Tyler switched to the satellites that were monitoring space around earth. Finding the one that had been looking in the right direction Tyler rewound the video to the right timestamp. His mouth dropped open when he saw a bright flash. The camera went out of focus but he saw blurry black spots silhouetted against the light. A second later the light was gone. He let the video continue playing as he tried to comprehend what he had seen. After having looked at the clip again Tyler took the radiation reading and the correlated video and emailed it to his manager. It wasn't but a few minutes before Tyler’s manager stormed over demanding to know what kind of joke the email had been mean to be.
“I swear it is from the readings. I didn’t doctor anything.” Tyler protested his innocence.
“But it looks like an explosion in space with...” The man waved at the black spots silhouette by the splash of light. “Whatever those things are.”
Tyler was about to hypothesize when he was interrupted suddenly. Eight men in black suits filed through the door and began issuing orders.
“What is the meaning of this?” The manager confronted the man who seemed in charge.
“We have just been given authority over this facility by the white house and UN.” The man looked over Tyler's shoulder at the video playing on his screen.