Babel could also be called Babylon.
In ancient Mesopotamian texts, it meant "Gate of the Gods".
In the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by humanity in an attempt to reach heaven. To prevent this, God caused humanity to speak different languages, creating diverse cultures and nations.
The tower was never completed.
But in the year 4819 A.D.
Ayla completed Tower of Babel in 70 years.
The tower set course for Proxima Centauri b. Its hull resembled a seashell, adorned with spiral patterns. The exterior was like silver glass, with countless artificial windows emitting a dazzling, holy, and awe-inspiring light.
The civilization on Proxima Centauri detected the colossal structure as it approached within 30 AU.
The entire civilization erupted in chaos.
They feared the arrival of an extraterrestrial civilization.
The leaders convened and devised a plan of action.
Attack!
They would try everything to destroy this ship.
Almost simultaneously, images of the ship were rapidly circulated, causing some to pause upon seeing its design.
"Powerful hunters don't hide; they make their hunting grounds their own."
"The thing everyone feared has finally arrived—a towering silver structure emitting an intense light."
"Whether their intentions are benevolent or malevolent is unknown. But the lone tower in the cosmos will not attack; it cannot be destroyed. It opens its doors, awaiting entry."
"At its peak lies a treasure of civilization, obtainable only through trials. Is it a gift or a curse? It waits to be claimed."
"Those who claim this treasure will become emissaries of a higher civilization, wielding immense power, capable of propelling their civilization to new heights. They will become heroes, immortalized in history."
This message had circulated within the civilization for decades.
No one had ever taken it seriously.
It was just another prediction, providing fleeting emotional satisfaction.
But when the tower actually appeared, this message spread a thousand times faster than before.
Soon, leaders stepped forward to dismiss it as mere coincidence.
"It's just a coincidence."
"We have millions of such predictions, and regardless of how we encounter an extraterrestrial civilization, there will always be one that matches."
"We have deployed our entire military force to destroy it."
"We will not surrender or retreat; otherwise, our civilization will face annihilation."
"Our traces will vanish from the universe. We have evolved over billions of years, emerging as a civilization over tens of millions of years. We cannot have such an end."
"Now, we shall act as a spear, piercing the throat of the enemy's scout, sowing doubt and fear."
The impassioned speech echoed in their minds.
Days later, a massive fleet was deployed.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Their flagship was a perfect sphere, 10,000 meters in diameter, resembling a miniature planet.
Behind it was an enormous thruster, 2 kilometers in diameter, powered by dark matter kinetic energy.
Dark matter was first theorized on Earth in 1922.
Dark matter likely constitutes 85% of the universe's mass, with only 15% being visible matter.
Its existence was initially hypothesized to account for discrepancies in celestial mechanics, particularly gravitational forces. Even at the time of Earth's destruction in 2037, it remained largely theoretical.
However, in space, Ayla confirmed dark matter's existence. It possesses mass, but its speed cannot reach that of light. It interacts very weakly with light, mainly participating in gravitational interactions, and not electromagnetic or strong interactions.
Dark matter is extremely stable and difficult to detect.
It differs fundamentally from visible matter; its presence in the universe is largely inert.
Dark matter is a weakly interacting particle, interacting primarily through the weak force, and to such a weak degree that it barely interacts even with quarks.
Ayla hypothesized that dark matter only interacts with strings—a hypothesis because Ayla's technology hadn't yet reached the level necessary to detect strings.
Closely related to dark matter are sterile neutrinos, though sterile neutrinos interact slightly more strongly with dark matter.
Despite its weak interaction, dark matter only interacts gravitationally at the macroscopic level.
However, dark matter can release large amounts of energy through decay. Its abundance in the universe makes it a rich energy source, and it can be created through particle decay and fusion, giving it potential as an energy source.
Harnessing dark matter's energy, however, is incredibly difficult, even more so than antimatter. Only highly advanced civilizations can detect and utilize it as an energy source.
The Proxima Centauri civilization was one such example.
However, their utilization of dark matter was still in its early stages.
Proxima Centauri b's ships were exceptionally large.
Their civilization had never needed to engage in interstellar travel, and thus hadn't developed the technology for it.
Theoretical predictions are not always reliable. Civilizations that have undertaken interstellar voyages will naturally have more advanced propulsion systems than those that haven't.
The ships set course for the Tower.
These massive ships only reached 1584 km/s—a speed that dwarfed Luna's earlier electromagnetically propelled ships—but Luna's fleet had long since upgraded to more advanced propulsion systems.
Twenty-one days later, the ships reached a point 10 AU the Tower—within range of the civilization's weapons.
The spherical flagship's front section split into six petal-like segments, separating from the main body and moving to a distance of approximately 50 kilometers.
These segments formed a semicircle, 110 kilometers in diameter, surrounding the central ship.
The central ship began emitting an intense light, and the six outer segments were then enveloped in bolts of lightning, at least 100 meters wide.
These lightning bolts formed a ring in space, resembling a magical array, radiating terrifying power.
Once the energy reached its peak, the ship's captain roared, "Fire!!"
There was no visible projectile.
Similar to Luna's earlier antimatter attack on the Multi-eyed planet, the antimatter weapon's projectile was invisible to a civilization lacking the means to detect antimatter.
Dark matter energy hurtled towards Tower of Babel at 99.28% the speed of light.
"Our sacred civilization is inviolable! Any entity that dares enter our star system will be destroyed!"
The captain waved its chin tentacles, its front two pairs of legs lifting and stomping heavily on the ship's deck.
Over three thousand soldiers aboard the ship roared in unison, performing the same action—a celebratory gesture similar to humans raising their fists.
The 10 AU distance would take 84 minutes to traverse.
The ships lacked screens; information was transmitted directly to their central nervous systems, creating images in their minds without the need for visual input.
They waited.
168 minutes later.
They witnessed the impact of the dark matter weapon on the Tower. The detonation released a massive burst of high-energy photons, which expanded outwards, forming a sphere of light 1000 kilometers in diameter.
This sphere then rapidly contracted, condensing into a particle-sized energy entity, which then detonated again.
This process repeated six times before the attack concluded.
The total energy released over these six detonations was approximately 2700 trillion tons of TNT.
"This is our victory! We have repelled the first attack from an extraterrestrial civilization, defending our home!"
The captain roared again. To this civilization, their ship was like humanity's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the 21st century.
Dark matter energy cannons were their most powerful weapons.
At comparable masses, their destructive power was 1700 times greater than nuclear fission weapons, 2222 times greater than antimatter annihilation, a significant difference, but considering they were only using rudimentary dark matter technology.
This demonstrated the vast potential of high-energy dark matter as a fuel source, surpassing even antimatter annihilation.
The captain turned away.
But the information its received instantly dampened it jubilation.
After the blinding flash—bright enough to be seen across the universe—Tower of Babel remained intact, showing no signs of damage. It was as if the explosion hadn't even happened.
"How is this possible?"