Chapter Thirty-Two: The Black String

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Within the thick atmosphere of the planet Celt, ships of every kind darted back and forth, weaving a tapestry of busy traffic. A great fleet of military starships hovered in the clouds, awaiting orders—these were the reinforcements Queen Celt had dispatched to aid the Tar army. Moving at a measured pace, the Celt fleet pierced the planet’s atmosphere, and once they had fully escaped their homeworld’s gravity, they accelerated to superluminal speed, bound for the Walter Cloud at the edge of the Solar System. There, they planned to rendezvous with the Tar forces and prepare for a decisive battle against the approaching Quartpa army.

Upon learning that the Celt reinforcements were already en route and having obtained intelligence on the Tar army’s military deployments on Ganymede II, Quartpa's Supreme Military Commander, Sade, gave orders for the Quartpa’s massive carrier fleet stationed near Proxima Centauri to proceed immediately to the Solar System. Their intent was to annihilate the Tar remnant forces and destroy the pyramid central system on Ganymede II before the Tar-Celt coalition could arrive. Before launching their assault on the Solar System, the Quartpa resolved to first obliterate the M Planet, the one most feared by the Quartpa, to gauge the response of the Tar forces stationed nearby.

The Tar forces at the fringes of the Solar System were thinly spread—a patchwork of units withdrawn from Ganymede II and the battered survivors of the recent defeat at Proxima Centauri. These troops anxiously awaited reinforcements, ever wary of enemy ambushes. Yet their strength was soon to be multiplied, for both the Tar home fleet and Queen Celt’s reinforcements were racing at full speed toward the Solar System.

After the disastrous defeat at Proxima Centauri, the newly appointed Tar military chief, Mr. E, had learned from the failures of his predecessor, Mr. M. He identified two principal causes for the previous defeat: first, the pyramid built on Proxima b was a rudimentary version, with limited core functionality and range; second, in critical moments, excessive caution and hesitation had prevailed. Determined to avoid these pitfalls, Mr. E ordered the construction of a more powerful and advanced pyramid defense system on Ganymede II, deep within the inner Solar System. From Tar’s homeworld, Mr. E could now communicate seamlessly with the new pyramid on Ganymede II, enabling direct interaction not just among the front-line soldiers and ship captains, but between them and Mr. E himself. Shielded by the pyramid’s special functions, the Quartpa fleet would find it nearly impossible to breach the Solar System’s defenses.

The nerve center of the Tar forces in the Solar System lay within the subterranean pyramid on Ganymede II. The chief commander at the pyramid, once a deputy to Mr. M, was an expert in its operation and a seasoned battlefield veteran.

Through long-distance quantum communication, Mr. E pressed his front-line commander: “The enemy draws near. Prepare the troops for battle. Though our reinforcements and those of our Celt allies have circumnavigated the Quartpa fleet at Centauri and are rushing here at top speed, our intelligence indicates the Quartpa fleet has also set out and may even arrive before our coalition. This time, we must seize the initiative—catch them off guard.”

Upon receiving the order, the surviving Tar battleships shifted immediately to combat readiness and advanced toward the enemy, careful never to stray beyond the physical influence of the Ganymede II pyramid. They halted at the edge of the Oort Cloud, for the pyramid’s protective effect extended only so far, though its communicative reach allowed interaction with the pyramid on Tar’s homeworld. The Tar forces had no choice but to lie in ambush at the Solar System’s edge, awaiting the Quartpa carrier fleet within their pyramid’s protective range.

Although the Quartpa ships were notoriously swift, the distance from Proxima Centauri to the Solar System spanned more than four light-years, so travel would still take time.

As expected, the Quartpa fleet lived up to its reputation, swiftly arriving at the Solar System’s periphery while the Tar-Celt reinforcements were still en route. The Quartpa commander ordered the fleet to halt and regroup, intending first to destroy the M Planet at the Solar System’s edge—a planet containing the mysterious M liquid—to provoke a response from the Tar forces and glean intelligence on their deployments.

A Quartpa major piloted a light, single-seater craft from his carrier’s hangar, tasked with the mission of destroying the M Planet. According to previously gathered parameters, the major’s ship reached a position just one light-second from the M Planet—well within weapons range. The Tar special forces had tracked his every move. At this critical moment, Earth, the M Planet, and the Quartpa major’s ship aligned in a straight line. Both the Tar commandos on-site and Mr. E on Tar’s homeworld immediately deduced that the Quartpa intended to attack Earth’s magnetic field again—a tactic they had attempted before, though Tar’s scientists had swiftly repaired the damage.

Without hesitation, the Tar commando contacted the operators inside the Ganymede II pyramid, requesting a targeted spatiotemporal disturbance at the designated coordinates.

Just as the Quartpa major prepared to fire upon the M Planet, he found his ship’s fire-control, launch, and navigation systems inexplicably failing, his sensors clouded and data unreadable.

Seizing the opportunity, the Tar commando’s small craft hovered just two meters above the Quartpa major’s ship. Standing nearly three meters tall, the Tar commando easily set foot on the enemy vessel, crawled inside, and found the major still dazed. With practiced swiftness, the commando dragged the stupefied major out, shot him with a laser pistol, and vaporized his body into the Walter Cloud. Thus, the Quartpa’s single-seater ship was effortlessly captured, and the high-level Quartpa plan to destroy the M Planet was foiled.

Thanks to the pyramid’s physical effects, the Quartpa fleet was blind to the nearby Tar ambush, while the Tar observed their every move. According to reconnaissance, the two lead Quartpa ships were the fleet’s primary warships, loaded with weapons, energy sources, advanced tanks, and elite pilots.

Using the pyramid’s cloaking, the Tar lay in wait, scrutinizing every Quartpa maneuver. A Tar major noticed a batch of small ships being deployed from one of the Quartpa battleships and arrayed neatly on its northern deck—clearly a reconnaissance squadron. Before they could launch, the Tar commander gave the order to fire. Tar special forces in triangular micro-ships closed in and unleashed a barrage of plasma beams, annihilating one Quartpa battleship instantly. The second ship quickly shared the same fate. The surprise attack shattered the Quartpa’s former confidence and dealt a heavy blow to their strength, for these were their two main warships.

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Far away on Quartpa, Arnan and Commander Sade watched the front lines through their advanced quantum communication system, monitoring every development in real time. Reacting swiftly, Sade ordered the entire fleet to retreat fifty million kilometers.

Sade muttered, “This is bad. The Tar have built a new pyramid inside the Solar System, and its range extends beyond the Oort Cloud. It’s far more powerful than the one on Proxima b.”

Chief Abbott asked, “Why did our reconnaissance systems fail to detect them?”

Sade replied, “It’s the pyramid’s spatiotemporal disturbance function—it weaves dimensions together, causing time to fracture or overlap. Under these physical effects, many of our ships’ functions fail. The pyramid also grants perfect cloaking for their own fleet.”

Chief Abbott mused, “So the Tar pyramid is no mere mirage, nor a paper tiger—it’s a truly fearsome military system.”

Sade admitted, “We greatly underestimated the Tar. The Proxima b pyramid was only a prototype.”

Arnan, the intelligence chief, interjected, “The situation is now dire for us. Our intelligence confirms that Queen Celt has agreed to an alliance with the Tar, and her fleet is en route to the Solar System to join the home fleet. Together, they’ll form a formidable united force.”

Sade countered, “Even though the Tar and Celt fleets are closer to the Solar System and have the geographical advantage, our ships are much faster. I’m confident our reinforcements will arrive at our current position before they do.”

Arnan pressed, “If our marching fleet merges with the front-line group, we’ll have Tar forces blocking us in the Solar System and the Celt-Tar coalition at our rear. Won’t we risk being crushed between them?”

Sade reassured him, “I have better strategies to deal with our enemies. Trust me.”

Across the vast darkness of interstellar space, a new Quartpa fleet sped toward the battlefield, aiming to join the front lines quickly and wipe out the entire Tar-Celt alliance.

The Quartpa’s legendary speed enabled them to reach their target before the coalition and merge with the previous carrier group, boosting their might. For the Quartpa, who had just lost two main warships and a small attack craft on the Solar System’s edge, the arrival of reinforcements was an immense morale boost. The Quartpa commander knew that as long as they avoided the range of the Ganymede II pyramid, the Tar fleet would be powerless to confront them directly.

Quartpa dispatched small ships to harass the Tar’s larger vessels, then quickly withdrew. The Tar commander, recognizing the ploy, refused to give chase—he knew that leaving the pyramid’s protection would be suicidal.

After repeated failed attempts to lure the Tar into pursuit, and with the immense coalition fleet nearing, Commander Sade ordered all front-line forces to abandon the assault on the Tar remnants shielded by the Ganymede II pyramid and instead turn to confront the incoming coalition. The coalition, for the moment, would not benefit from the pyramid’s protection.

Though the Tar and Celt systems were closer to the Solar System than Quartpa, their ships were much slower. The coalition did not anticipate that the Quartpa reinforcements had already arrived and were lying in wait. Soon, the coalition fleet entered Quartpa’s attack range. Their vanguard ships swept the path clear of asteroids and debris. The Quartpa commander released a swarm of ultrafast, cloaked, unmanned micro-drones for reconnaissance.

From the Quartpa flagship’s command center, the commander analyzed data from these drones and identified two large ships at the rear of the coalition fleet as supply vessels. Since the Tar and Celt were biologically similar, they shared food and required oxygen. The two supply ships were loaded with weapons, food, medical supplies, and air. Quartpa acted quickly, sending a light attack ship around to the rear and firing positron bombs at both supply ships. In an instant, both erupted in flames. Before the crews could respond, their hulls ruptured, spilling food, medicine, and weapons into space. Each ship carried about 1,500 Tar soldiers; most abandoned ship, floating in the void. Though their suits could keep them alive for a time, without rescue they would soon succumb to cold and hunger.

The coalition’s emergency systems were advanced. The Celt commander dispatched an unmanned ship to tangle with the enemy at the rear, successfully intercepting several positron bombs and, remarkably, destroying the Quartpa attack ship. This small-scale clash greatly enhanced the Celt’s standing in the coalition.

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As the coalition fleet weathered the Quartpa ambush, an awkward problem emerged—the Tar and Celt commanders could not agree on a unified command structure. Who would lead whom? With no satisfactory arrangement, the issue was finally resolved by Mr. E, far away on Tar itself. Given the incompatibility of their weapons and differences in tactics, Mr. E ordered the coalition fleet to split: the Tar would block the Quartpa head-on, while the Celt would attack from the rear.

Regrettably, this internal discord gave the Quartpa precious time. At a critical moment, they destroyed two more Tar battleships. Facing a repeat of their Proxima Centauri disaster, the Tar commander pressed the Celt leader to deploy their secret weapon—the “Black String.”

The battle raged fiercely. All three sides—Tar, Celt, and Quartpa—suffered losses. As the deadlock continued, the Tar sent unmanned ships to lure the Quartpa closer to the Solar System’s edge. But the Quartpa, wary of the pyramid’s power, refused to pursue, avoiding the Tar’s trap.

In this tense standoff, the Celt revealed their trump card—the “Black String.”

Celt warriors retrieved from their armory small, matte spheres, the size of ping-pong balls, somewhere between dark grey and black, devoid of any reflection. These “ping-pong balls” were attached to micro-drones and released from the ships’ holds. As the drones pulled them into the void, the balls stretched into thin lines, extending into deep space...

A Quartpa major, detecting an enemy ship ahead—a Celt light attack vessel—moved in for the kill. As he activated his weapons, strange anomalies arose: the inertia and mechanical force of his ship fluctuated wildly, the systems rebooted again and again, and the crew slipped in and out of consciousness. The vessel, ensnared like a fly in a spider’s web, could neither advance nor retreat. Even positron missiles, once launched, reversed course. In this helpless state, the Quartpa ship was left at the mercy of the Celt’s firepower. The ship was destroyed; some crew were incinerated, others cast into the void, awaiting rescue.

In this round of combat, a third of the Quartpa fleet was caught and destroyed by the Celt’s “Black String”—the heaviest losses Quartpa had ever suffered. Their fleet was routed. To preserve their strength, the Quartpa commander ordered a retreat in all directions—up, down, left, and right—escaping the battlefield thanks only to their superior speed, while the slower coalition ships could not give chase. Thus, two-thirds of Quartpa’s fleet survived.

On Quartpa itself, Chief Abbott, Commander Sade, and Director Arnan watched the battle unfold on the conical screen before them. When they saw their fleet’s fate, they could only stamp their feet in frustration.

“This is disastrous. That must be the Celt’s ‘Black String’ weapon. We have underestimated their strength,” said Sade.

Chief Abbott asked, “What exactly is the Black String?”

Sade explained, “The Black String is an artificial black hole composed mainly of dark matter, stretched into a filament thinner than a lightwave. Its gravitational force is confined to the microscale, creating a powerful short-range gravity. This, in turn, wreaks havoc on local time—under the resonance of the Black String, all machines, physics, and signals can have their sequence on the micro-time axis inverted or scrambled. The Black String is also known as the ‘time cutter.’”

Director Arnan, looking guilt-ridden, broke in: “This defeat is largely my fault. My intelligence work failed. I did learn that Celt and Tar scientists were researching Black String technology—ours were, too—but I never expected the Celts to have succeeded and deployed it in battle.”

Chief Abbott consoled him, “You are not to blame. No one is perfect. Now is not the time for guilt or despair but for turning our grief into resolve.”

Sade reassured him, “Rest assured, Director Arnan; our fleet has escaped the danger zone. The enemy’s slower ships can’t threaten us for now. I’ll coordinate with our front line for next steps. For now, I need you to gather more intelligence on developments within Celt’s home system.”

Why was Supreme Commander Sade now so intent on the situation in Celt’s homeland? Read on to find out.