Once the Granian Lord understood the science behind the black hole firing mechanism, he and his assistants conducted several more tests to determine whether it would be safe to travel through it.
They also sought to observe firsthand the effects on a Granian body if it were pulled into the hole, and for that, they used the former High Grade’s ship and allowed Gravax to be their "test dummy".
In a few hours, the Granians rebuilt the Ethisian ship and watched as Gravax took it for a test flight.
Inbuilt with a computing navigation system, the Granian flew the ship into space, away from the planet for his and everyone else’s safety.
’Now, let’s understand how this works.’
After spending more time understanding the navigation system, Gravax felt he was ready to fly into a black hole.
[Inter-Dimensional Rift Traveling System: ONLINE]
’Since this is a test run, let’s start simple. Start somewhere not too far from here.’
The ship was now in motion. With the coordinates set, the Granian Lord manned the ship and then fired.
[Firing Opening Gate]
A black hole, dark enough to stand out from the already dark void of space, appeared and stretched apart until it was large enough for the ship to enter.
As the ship drew near, a colossal force yanked it inward, momentarily catching Gravax off guard.
The black hole’s gravitational pull far exceeded that of the Rings, and Gravax’s body endured extreme strain as a result.
His ribs threatened to crush his lungs, and his eyes seemed to sink deeper into their sockets. Breathing became next to impossible for him, and with so little air going to his brain, he staggered on the brink of collapse.
With the little strength he had left, Gravax admired the glorious view within the black hole.
The space he was in was wide, stretching for miles, far beyond what his eyes could see. It was greyish black in color with billions of tiny stars, anomalies, and clusters of dust hovering about. It was desolate and empty, with no way to escape apart from the tunnel Gravax was in.
’A tunneling system,’ he witnessed as the ship continued getting sucked into the tunnel that spun about in the space. ’The black hole stretches into a wormhole. So this is how they achieved rift traveling.’
[Firing Closing Gate]
The ship automatically fired another black hole at the end of the tunnel, exerting an even greater gravitational pull than before. Before Gravax collapsed, he was pulled out of the wormhole and dropped off at the coordinates he set.
Instantly, his body rejuvenated to normal with all forms of pain dissipating. Quickly, he pulled out a checklist, and the first thing he looked at was the clock.
’Just as I theorized,’ a wide smile grew on his face, ’time stops once you’re in the rift. It felt like a minute passed, but according to the clock, he had spent only half a second. ’Time slows down immensely in the rift. Even though I had chosen a short distance to travel, I’ve covered it one thousand times quicker than I anticipated.This explains how the Ethisians were able to get to the Rayan planet that quickly. If we’re to replicate it, though, everyone has to undergo immense physical training to handle the gravitational pull.’ I must return and news.’
[The Bastion Planet] ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍
After testing the Ethisian ship several times and conducting his research, Gravax returned to the Bastion Planet and called for a meeting with the Granian Council Members and Lord Grania.
He had spent days conducting several experiments, doing his level best to understand the black hole firing mechanism and Inter-Dimensional Rift Traveling.
Besides that, he also studied the structure of the Ethisian ship and went as far as duplicating it to the best of his abilities. It wasn’t hard at first, but the material he used to fabricate the original design was tough to come by naturally.
Regardless, Gravax had his heart set on making that type of technology available for his species and bettering it for himself.
Wealthy Granians. Intelligent Granians. Strong Granians. Cultural Granians. Granians in high positions of power. Influential Granians.
All these types and more were gathered at the Council either physically or through various communication tools.
Everyone in that group represented the different Granian groups and tribes, from the Gray Scales to the Winged Ones.
The intellectually gifted cultural leader and representative of the Red Scales made yet another scientific breakthrough that needed to be shared with his people.
They all sat and waited patiently, anticipating whatever news Gravax had to share with them.
As that transpired, however, many were shocked to see Grim no longer sitting among the other Lords and highly ranked Granians. In addition, they wondered where the only highly ranked female Granian was. Rarely would they conduct a meeting without her being present.
"Council Members," Gravax greeted, drawing all the attention to himself and the giant tarp concealing whatever was under it, "I welcome all of you here. I know many of us are not at peace because of the war, but I am here with good news, news that will surely change the course of this war.
"Many days ago, my fleet and Grim’s were attacked by an Ethisian fleet, a fleet that was nearly larger than ours. We all thought that the Gates would be our saving grace, a trump card we’d hold against the Ethisians. A tool we’d use to appear and disappear in minutes.
"However, they had technology far superior to ours. Behold, an Inter-Dimensional Rift Traveling System."
Those who knew what Gravax was talking about gasped. The others marveled, left to wonder what he was talking about.
"Our ships rely on Gates to send us into hyperspace. The Ethisians do not need Gates to catapult them into hyperspace. Their ships are equipped with this," he removed the tarp, showing a stripped apart Ethisian ship with an exposed turret, "a firing mechanism that cuts open rifts that form wormholes, which they use to transport themselves from one place to another at unfathomable speeds.
"Their ships don’t enter hyperspace like ours. They enter a rift through a wormhole that sucks them into said rift and spits them out to their desired location. All of this is powered by this thing...."
He lifted the transparent box with the black hole. Because the box was no larger than a rubix cube, the Council Members didn’t understand what exactly Gravax was showing them.
Was it a new energy source? Or some foreign element that made rift traveling possible?
"...in this box is a black hole." With those words, Gravax struck fear in the hearts of his listeners.