Black Hole Fleet

## History

### Formation

Established shortly after the reclamation of the Shipyard Sector from late Emperor Nixoth's followers, the Black Hole Fleet was the first fully-constructed fleet the Sector built since the early Exegol Civil War and widely regarded to be the most modernized fleet of all time. While the Xyston-class once served as an effective endgame for the Sith Emperor's plans, all but a few dozen of the class remained salvageable after the long years of the Civil War and the nation's neglect for their warships following it. Thus, most of the Xyston-class was lost to time and building more from scratch was deemed inefficient by High Command, especially due to the rise of a new unforeseen threat. It was to address the threat of those Flickers that the Black Hole Fleet was constructed, kept from the prying eyes of the Exegol public and outside world until it was ready to deploy. The first detachment of this fleet, under High Admiral Garo Rumarch, spearheaded the offensive against the High Empire's capital of Coruscant, as a means of testing the new fleet's weapons as well as probing the Empire's own defenses. The engagement ended in a stalemate; while the Empire's outer shields quickly fell, the sheer numbers combined with their tactical advantage as defenders slowed the Black Hole Fleet's advance to a standstill. Under direct orders from the Emperor, the fleet pulled back from Coruscant and went into a state of comms-silence.

While the Empire itself had learned of several other operations undertaken by the Eternal, other independent groups, and increased pirate activity, the majority of their resources were then dedicated to pinpointing the Event Horizon's location and overtaking it on its supposed return route to Exegol. However, the "malfunction" in the Horizon's cloaking systems were in reality a trap set by Rumarch's men to gather a substantial Imperial fighting force into one location. Using a combined aerial and naval strike, Rumarch's forces ambushed the incoming Imperial fleet from behind and trapped them between the bulk of the main fleet and the division's capital battleship. The Imperials were forced to surrender, but what happened after that remains a mystery to the world. Other divisions of the Black Hole Fleet assisted in the momentary battle for Starsand, the northernmost isle of Mirrorflame, but such forces were observed to have left soon after the battle was over, leaving control to an individual known as the Baron of the Open Cluster.

### Composition

The ship of the line, like most Eternal fleets, remains to be the Xyston-class, though High Command predicts the model will soon become obsolete against the Empire, already familiar with the design of the Imperator-class hull, and the Flickers, whose magic punch through most conventional ship barriers with ease. In the place of the classic Executor or Eclipse-class dreadnoughts is the Finality-class, a lesser dreadnought often classified as a battleship due to its size. However, due to its armament and mass, it has widely been accepted as a form of 'superheavy battleship', a class that theoretically would border between dreadnought and battleship. Forsaking the Imperial-style axial energy weapon carried by the Eclipse and Xyston models, the Finality-class has no visible 'super weapon', in the words of the late Imperial engineer Bevel Lemelisk. Unlike many ironclads, it also has its masts spaced evenly between its steam exhaust pipes, alternating one and the other instead of grouping the steam exhaust pipes in the same location. Logistically, this has made management of the Finality-class far more difficult than any engineer would've liked to admit, however, High Command insisted that a complete change of design was necessary to make this class of ship function. In addition to an impressive armament, the Finality-class boasts powerful shields, but more importantly, heavy iron plating running across the entire length of the hull, as well as most of the decks. In theory, the Finality-class would be able to sustain heavy damage even from an army of Flickers after its shields fell, though this theory has yet to be tested.

Among the smaller ships of the fleet manufactured by the Shipyard Sector are the Hypernova, Collapsar, and Irradiance-class vessels, being heavy cruisers, command cruisers, and light cruisers, respectively. While still sharing the trait of being Exegol-built, the new classes introduced by the Black Hole Fleet are not based on an existing Imperial design as the Xyston-class was. Three Irradiance-class light cruisers were present at the battle for Coruscant, acting as anti-air platforms for their impressive arrays of rapid-firing ballistae and harpoon systems.

The harpoon systems of the Irradiance-class stretch across its main deck horizontally, exchanging the single-wheel design for a newer, modernized compound pulley that supposedly also runs below the upper decks of the vessel. These updated systems require less sheer manpower to operate, though it does come with the downside of taking up far more room than the traditional harpoon turret would. Currently, there seems to be no explanation for why the Eternal chose to arm the bulk of the fleet's harpoons this way, however, another popular theory stands that they may be used to capture and reel in smaller, faster-moving flying Flickers, as well as the magically empowered pegasi and eagles of the elven nation. Not much else is known about the newer classes, other than the fact that they too are equipped with cloaking devices, similar to the one carried by Allegiant General Enric Pryde's Steadfast. In fact, the cloaks of the Black Hole Fleet appear to be based off of a certain design and model manufactured by an independent blacksmith by the name of Ghaul.

With the aid of these cloaking devices, Rumarch's position has remained hidden from all that he doesn't wish finding him, despite the supposed size of the fleet itself. Alongside the Event Horizon, the Finality-class series also hosts three other vessels, those being the Singularity, Powehi, and Finality. Only the last of the three appear to be fully finished and ready for action. The other two remain in the waters of northern Exegol, undergoing final modifications and tests. The captain of the Singularity is known to be Admiral Dennis G. Pellaeon, working closely with subordinate-advisor Jaemus V. Harand.

## Commanding Officers

The Black Hole Fleet is divided into four main divisions, each under command of a High Admiral or Admiral. These four individuals are High Admirals Rumarch and Tonantzintla, and Admirals Zechiel and Pellaeon. The commanding group of each division is stationed aboard the commanding officer's flagship, generally a Finality-class battleship. Other important crew positions include, but are not limited to:

* Wing commander, a position responsible for coordination of aerial offensives as well as aerial defense.
* Intelligence officer, a commander's position. This individual works closely with other members of Eternal Intelligence, and is responsible for coordinating battle plans alongside the Admiral of the fleet.
* Army officer, a lance corporal's position. This individual commands the ground battalions of the division, but ultimately answers to the Admiral of the fleet.
* Aerial coordinator. This position shares its authority and rank with the wing commander, as well as its role. Not all groups have an aerial coordinator, but may have one depending on the squadron assigned to it.

## Engagements

As the new vanguard of the reconstituted Sith Eternal's naval forces, the Black Hole Fleet has spearheaded most of the Emperor's operations following his return to life. These operations, listed chronologically, are as follows:

* **The attack of Coruscant,** a small-scale siege along the eastern fringes of Imperial-held Coruscant. This attack was led by capital ship Event Horizon under command of High Admiral Rumarch in 70 AE.
* **The taking of Starsand,** a unified operation alongside members of the Pirate Guild and Open Cluster Fleet. Tonantzintla's battlefleet was present as the commanding group, with some shared authority given to the Flicker-Baron Riezal.
* **Skirmish against the Eclipse,** an engagement between Tonantzintla's battlefleet shortly after the taking of Starsand. This occurred off the eastern shores of Inferia, against Starsplinter Fleet's commandeered Eclipse.

## Subdivisions

### Squadrons

* **Gamma Squadron,** a flier squadron stationed aboard the Singularity.
* **The 618th Aerial Supremacy Wing,** the unified squadrons stationed aboard the Powehi.
* **Quasistar Squadron,** a flier squadron.

### Battalions

* **The 87th Battalion**, the Sith Army division stationed aboard the Powehi.

### Fleets

* **Coruscant Battlefleet**, a fleet under command of High Admiral Rumarch that sieged Coruscant in 70 AE.
* **Tonantzintla's Battlefleet**, a fleet under command of High Admiral Tonantzintla that led the assault on Starsand in conjunction with the Pirate Guild and Open Cluster Fleet. This fleet later engaged in a short skirmish against the Eclipse, under command of Admiral Soraza Lantorel and Admiral Wulff Yularen of Starsplinter Fleet.

### Other Vessels

This is a list of Black Hole Fleet ships that are currently not known to be bound to a single fleet or battlegroup.

* BHS Finality (BB-01); Finality-class Superheavy Battleship
* BHS Event Horizon (BB-02); Finality-class Superheavy Battleship
* BHS Singularity (BB-04); Finality-class Superheavy Battleship
* SES Dtosazia’s Allegiance (BC-22); Xyston-class Battlecruiser
* SES Verminoth (BC-23); Xyston-class Battlecruiser
* BHS Celestial Storm (BC-51); Blazar-class Battlecruiser
* BHS Flamebreaker (BC-57); Blazar-class Battlecruiser
* BHS Fell Fate (CA-94); Hypernova-class Heavy Cruiser
* BHS Astral Vengeance (CA-95); Hypernova-class Heavy Cruiser
* BHS Black Tempest (CA-97); Hypernova-class Heavy Cruiser

## Ship Classes

The Black Hole Fleet utilizes several older Sith Eternal designs, as well as new classes manufactured in Inshiwizi's Qorit'tsawak Base shipyards or Exegol's northern Shipyard Sector. These classes are as follows:

### Ironclads

* **The Finality-class Superheavy Battleship,** a 221-meter long battleship with high displacement. Only four have been manufactured, those being the Event Horizon, Finality, Singularity, and Powehi.
* **The Xyston-class,** a 100-meter long battlecruiser utilized by the Sith Eternal in wars past. Several have been refurbished for use by the Black Hole Fleet.
* **The Blazar-class,** a 97-meter long battlecruiser with four steam exhaust pipes and two central energy cannons, which rotate to a degree across the ship's upper deck.
* **The Hypernova-class,** an 82-meter long heavy cruiser.
* **The Halcyon-class,** a 76-meter long heavy cruiser.
* **The Accretion-class,** a 75-meter long heavy cruiser.
* **The Collapsar-class,** a 42-meter long command cruiser.
* **The Arquitens-class,** a 31-meter long command cruiser utilized for over a century by the High Republic, and later, the High Empire.

### Sail-only vessels

* **The Irradiance-class,** a 26-meter long light cruiser.
* **The Kugelblitz-class,** a 23-meter long frigate.
* **The Unitarity-class,** a 19-meter long frigate.
* **The Primordial-class,** a 15-meter long strike corvette.