What resistance the aliens face from Earth's combined international defense forces is quickly obliterated by the aliens' powerful beam weapons. Earth's scientists study the molecules that power the alien weaponry, which have started to litter the Earth, and the molecule is given the name 'Newalone'. With Newalone in their hands, scientists quickly begin Project Metal Black, focused on developing at least twenty-thousand human spacecraft capable of wielding the same beam weaponry as the aliens. The spacecraft is known as the CF-345 Black Fly, named for its method of Newalone energy use.