Black hole generator

The black hole generator is a name used to refer to a Yuuzhan Vong superweapon being developed in the Unknown Regions around 11 BBY. It was essentially a large dovin basal, capable of creating and dissipating large black holes capable of consuming entire planets or stars.

When a large black hole was generated, any matter the black hole took in was converted into raw energy inside the event horizon. The wielder of this superweapon could then choose to dissipate the singularity, and thereby release the energy in a large explosion, or channel the energy at a given point, essentially creating an energy beam with power rivaling the Death Star's.

The black hole generator was mounted on a specially-grown worldship, which was well-defended by plasma ball launchers and smaller dovin basals. The Yuuzhan Vong Supreme Overlord intended to create many of these superweapons, as they could singlehandedly destroy an entire star system, but were more importantly nearly impossible to destroy, as the black hole generator could create singularity shields for an entire fleet.

The Yuuzhan Vong had planned to invade the known regions of the galaxy around 9 BBY, counting on the black hole generator to make their fleets invincible, and to be able to crush star systems and convert them into useful energy. Upon the destruction of the black hole generator during the Battle of Sector 9, the Shapers responsible for the creation of the black hole generator were killed, and the Yuuzhan Vong dovin basal technology was set back significantly, pushing the scheduled invasion back a couple decades as they built up fleets for alternate strategies.

Details
The black hole generator had a 97% genetic similarity with a dovin basal, though it borrowed genes from other Yuuzhan Vong biots. The generator itself was over a kilometer long, and capable of storing 1038 joules of raw energy for a short period of time. The generator was completely circular in shape, and was colored dark gray. Multiple tendrils attached themselves to the worldship it was equipped to. According to a tactical analysis by Captain Thrawn in the Imperial Navy, these tendrils were the weak point, a fact exploited by the 1337 N00B5 and the Galactic Empire during the Battle of Sector 9.

The worldship the generator was attached to did not have spiraling limbs like most of its counterparts. The ship was mostly a housing for the large amounts of dovin basals and plasma ball launchers protecting the generator, and was not meant for transport.

Usage
The weapon, dubbed the "black hole generator" by Thrawn when he first encountered it, was capable of creating gravitational singularities unlike any other the Yuuzhan Vong had produced. The generator could make black holes materialize anywhere within a range of 36 billion miles. These black holes could be made self-sustaining if the generator was to cut off its "hyperlink" to the black hole's singularity, and could therefore continue affecting a system even after the weapon left.

The black hole generator could also generate antigravity rifts, those these were much harder to sustain, as normal gravity singularities could be supplemented by the mass they took in. It could use these rifts to negate the effects of a gravity field or even one of its own black holes for a short time. This allowed it to jump into hyperspace despite proximity to a black hole.

The generator worked by forging a small wormhole in space by opening two tunnels in the space-time continuum, one at the generator, and one at the spawn point of the black hole (it would open the second tunnel using a mysterious beam that converged on a single point, exposing that point to incredible energy), and then create a gravity field through the wormhole to be the singularity of the black hole. It could control the diameter of the event horizon by adding mass to the singularity, which was done by pumping matter through the wormhole. The wormhole in question could only be generated within a finite range because, for reasons unknown to the galaxy, the dovin basal to create the gravity field had to be the same object as the beam emitter that created the second end of the wormhole. As the Shapers, and with them, the knowledge of the physics behind the weapon, were destroyed during the Battle of Sector 9, even the Yuuzhan Vong did not know how the weapon worked, and were therefore unable to recreate it.

The black hole generator could be used to swallow entire planets, or even stars, as well as enemy fleets. The latter proved ineffectual during the Battle of Sector 9, however, as the subspace engines of the Imperial, Chiss, and 1337 N00B5 ships were able to keep them out of the event horizon. The black holes could suck in large amounts of energy, which, upon reaching the singularity, was transported to the black hole generator to be stored. The energy could be sent back through the wormhole along with an antigravity jolt to destroy the black hole and create a devastating explosion, equivalent to the energy of the entire mass taken in by the black hole being disintegrated into pure gamma ray energy. Even more devastating was the generator's capability of channeling the energy either from the black hole itself (with less effectiveness) by wobbling the singularity, or from the generator, by closing the wormhole at the black hole's end and releasing the energy in a specific direction. The latter tactic could create a beam of light with nearly as much destructive potential as the Death Star, though if more energy was taken in than the dovin basal could hold, the generator would overload and be forced into temporary hibernation, where the organism would release the energy gradually to prevent any collateral damage to the generator.

It was revealed by Yuuzhan Vong Shapers decades afterward that the black hole generator was capable of deploying naked singularities, but because of their ambiguous effects, this feature was never used.

Origins
The Yuuzhan Vong, upon establishing their first permanent base in the Unknown Regions, had planned to invade the galaxy when their spies confirmed that the government of the galaxy would be most unstable. The spies recommended to accelerate their plans for war when the Galactic Empire had replaced the Republic, as the shock of a regime change could be exploited. However, the need to quickly prepare was urgent, as the Empire had begun a militarization movement to create a Navy greater than any ever seen, and rumors of superweapons reached the ears of the Supreme Overlord. Concerned that the Empire's continuing rule would make the coming invasion more and more difficult as time passed, a project to create a weapon the Empire could not stand up to was started.

Using already established dovin basal technology and inventing original organisms to extend their gravity-generating functionality, the Shapers in charge of the project, a collection of the most brilliant and dedicated (as well as secretive) Yuuzhan Vong minds in the galaxy, labored over the designs for a gravity generator that could make black holes that could grow and last long enough to swallow planets or stars, as well as absorb enough energy to annihilate an entire fleet. It took nearly four years to create an efficient, non-self-destructive design that would meet the request of the Supreme Overlord. The dovin basal required for the black hole generator took over a year to grow, and it took another year to complete the organic hull it was to be nestled in.

The prototype black hole generator was finished shortly before the 1337 N00B5 and the Imperial Navy arrived in the Unknown Regions, both factions looking for Vergere for their own reasons. Plans were being drawn to create hundreds more of the black hole generators, but the Shapers insisted on testing the black hole generator for various functions first, to make sure the weapon was perfect.

Battle of Sector 9
When Zonama Sekot took the Imperial fleet to Sector 9, where the central Yuuzhan Vong base and the black hole generator resided, the Chiss and the 1337 N00B5 followed, and discovered an immense Yuuzhan Vong fleet with hundreds of worldships. As the Chiss, the Imperials, and the 1337 N00B5 were settling their differences through diplomacy and violence, the Yuuzhan Vong decided the intruders must be destroyed, and deployed the black hole generator for its first use.

The generator created a large black hole between a star and the three fleets, with the intent to absorb large amounts of matter from the star and aim the resultant jets perpendicular to the accretion disk at the intruding fleet, which the Yuuzhan Vong calculated should destroy the fleets entirely. However, there were problems with the equations used to redirect the accretion disk, and the fleets, each led by experienced strategists, were able to maneuver around the jets. The 1337 N00B5 flagship PWNAG3 battled the Imperial flagship Devastator near the black hole, so close that the ships were forced to revolve quickly around the black hole in a dizzying spiral as they fired at one another. The Devastator lost the battle due to the tactical abilities of Ilmar Grmek and the slingshot methods employed by the 1337 starfighters, and the Star Destroyer fell dangerously close to the black hole, which flung the ship at high speed back into the Imperial fleet, disabled and useless. The loss of the flagship led Captain Thrawn, who commanded another of the Empire's Star Destroyers, to assume command while Darth Vader battled the 1337 N00B5 Jedi, who had come to assassinate the Sith Lord.

Thrawn, enlisting the loyalty of the Chiss forces and the Imperials, started approaching the black hole, hoping to use its gravity well to sling at high velocity into the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, wherein lied the destructive superweapon, and sent the Tartan cruisers and TIE fighters after the 1337 N00B5 in overwhelming numbers. The Yuuzhan Vong picked that moment to detonate the black hole in an enormous explosion, fueled by the mass of the nearby star. This explosion nearly incinerated Thrawn's fleet, though the Star Destroyers' shields had been overlapping enough to barely protect the ships. The Imperial fleet fell back, waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to strike again.

Meanwhile, the 1337 N00B5 had built a base on a large asteroid, hoping to use it for tactical advantage. The black hole generator, however, targeted the base next, and the resultant singularity swallowed not only the base, but the entire asteroid and several ships belonging to the 1337 N00B5.

With the 1337 N00B5 and the Empire in disarray, Thrawn instructed the Chiss fleet to condense into a single squadron and slowly advance towards the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, and had the fighters and corvettes attacking the 1337 N00B5 cease fire. Darth Vader returned to the fleet, shaken by his duel with Thracia Cho-Leem, Sa'Madhi Tatthya, and Ian Dermac, and ordered Thrawn to focus on the black hole generator, as it would threaten the Empire if the Yuuzhan Vong were to win the battle. At that moment, the Yuuzhan Vong tested another function of their black hole generator, and dissipated the black hole that had spawned over the 1337 N00B5 asteroid base, channeling its energy into the generator and releasing a destructive beam at the 1337 N00B5. The beam struck the C001N355 and destroyed the capital ship in a single shot.

Horrified by the turn of events, Radar Spectros, who had assumed the de facto leadership position over the 1337 N00B5 following the death of Kaffman, contacted Vader and requested a truce, changing targets to the black hole generator, their common enemy, instead of fighting over who found Vergere first. Vader accepted the terms of the truce after brutal negotiations. Thrawn and Spectros discussed tactics with one another, and with Thrawn and Grmek's tactical abilities and Radar's knowledge of black holes, they concluded that the black hole generator somehow drew energy from the black hole it created through a wormhole, and a high-energy burst from a superlaser might overload it.

Knowing reinforcements were on the way, Darth Vader instructed the Imperial fleet to attack the 1337 N00B5, a faction which would only serve as an annoyance now that they no longer needed the pirates' help. Vader also considered turning on the Chiss, but Thrawn convinced him to keep their trust.

The Yuuzhan Vong fired the black hole generator again, this time on the very surface of the star. The resulting black hole quickly engulfed the entire star. Thrawn, having seen the Yuuzhan Vong try detonating the black hole and firing the entirety of its energy, concluded the Yuuzhan Vong were testing the weapon and would now either do something new or, more likely, use the more effective tactic (firing a large burst of energy from the black hole generator). Thrawn ordered the Chiss fleet to accelerate towards the black hole, calculating that their momentum from the slingshot effect would allow them to dodge the beam. The Yuuzhan Vong partially dissipated the black hole, needing only a small fraction of the energy of the star to fire their weapon, and fired at the Chiss flagship. As Thrawn predicted, the beam curved into the black hole, while the Chiss reversed thrust at the precise moment to allow them to escape the deadly ray.

The Chiss then used the slingshot effect from the black hole to head straight into the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, where the black hole generator lay poised to strike again. However, on the way, the black hole generator unleashed another surprise: it could generate large amounts of smaller singularities to completely shield itself and the rest of the fleet. The singularities drained the Chiss shields, but unlike the larger black holes, they did not significantly alter their course. The Chiss ships unleashed volleys of lasers and Conner nets, but these proved to be ineffectual due to the dovin basal defenses and organic nature of Yuuzhan Vong technology.

The black hole generator fired another energy beam, this one targeting the furthest Star Destroyer from the generator. Thrawn, having underestimated the range of the black hole generator, ordered the Star Destroyers to disengage and spread out, while Grmek had the 1337 N00B5 initiate a two-pronged attack aimed for the black hole generator, with the fighters headed straight for the fleet, and the capital ships headed for the black hole, keeping close together to overlap their shields in the manner that saved the Imperial fleet the first time a black hole was detonated.

Behind the scenes
The black hole generator serves as the ultimate-final boss of Avian Hunt. It was partially created to explain why the Yuuzhan Vong took so long to decide to invade that galaxy, as well as retcon the references in Outbound Flight concerning Palpatine's knowledge of the "Far Outsiders."

The black hole generator was inspired by a sequence in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, where a naval battle in a large maelstrom takes place. The concept was applied to a sci-fi setting, with a Yuuzhan Vong-generated black hole serving as the center of the battlefield.

Appearances

 * Avian Hunt