Lute understood that his old friend wasn’t afraid of the potentially powerful beast. Instead, it was the impact on his perception that had shaken him. Once he noticed Reggie calming down, Lute continued, “This is our opportunity. Compared to a lower civilization, perhaps this beast could be of greater help to us. It could elevate our biotechnology system significantly, potentially even extending our species’ life expectancy once more.”
Hearing this, not only did Captain Reggie start to breathe heavily, but even Major Camis, who had previously been playing the role of a background figure, showed signs of a physical reaction.
If Lute’s words were true, they would be heroes among the Riken people. Not only would their nas be etched in history, but they would also enjoy imnse wealth and prestige upon their return. Whether in comrce, politics, or the military, they would have endless capital and credentials to back them.
“So, do you have any suggestions for the next steps?” Captain Reggie asked.
“The equipnt we brought isn’t sufficient to survey all the ocean areas. If we do nothing, we’ll likely have to wait for the beast to appear on its own again. And who knows how long that could take? Considering the decades-long interval between the two fusion reactions we detected, none of us wants to wait that long,” Lute replied.
“Is there any way to quickly verify your hypothesis?” Major Camis suddenly interjected, clearly deeply moved by Lute’s words. This was no surprise, as no one would volunteer for a mission spanning over a hundred years without a good reason.
“Not for now. I need ti to think. What you need to do now is gather more information. Start by surveying the land, then see if there are any underground caverns. If there’s a beast hidden underground, that would be ideal. If not, we can consider how to lure it out of the ocean,” Lute explained.
Captain Reggie and Major Camis exchanged glances and nodded.
“Major Camis, the next phase will be tough on you and your team,” Captain Reggie said.
“It’s part of the job!” Major Camis saluted sharply before turning to leave.
Lute shrugged at Reggie, pulling a humorous face, and left the captain’s quarters as well.
After establishing a concealed base on Great Ursa Planet in the Neighboring Star System, the Swarm faced a dilemma on how to infiltrate Great Dawn Planet. The alien spaceship hovered in orbit around Great Dawn Planet, accompanied by a dense array of satellites. The Swarm found it challenging to approach the planet without alarming the aliens.
“Overlord, they only have one spaceship, and their technological level is limited. They shouldn’t be able to monitor the entire Neighboring Star System comprehensively. Perhaps we can create a teor shower as a distraction to infiltrate Great Dawn Planet,” an Intelligent Entity suggested.
Great Ursa Planet played a role in the Neighboring Star System comparable to that of a gas giant like A7 in the Origin Star System. Although not a gas giant, Great Ursa Planet had the largest mass among the planets in the Neighboring Star System.
As a result, its gravity captured nurous asteroids and teors from beyond the system. While so crashed directly onto its surface, the rest beca trapped in its orbit, forming a ring of debris over ti.
The Intelligent Entity’s suggestion had rit, but the orbital debris wouldn’t leave their trajectories without external influence. Implenting this plan would require careful planning.
Six months later, a Swarm teor, traveling at nearly one percent of the speed of light, crashed into Great Ursa Planet.
The incredible velocity caused the teor to vaporize upon impact. However, the collision still inflicted massive damage on the planet. A crater over a hundred kiloters wide ford on the surface, and the shockwave kicked up towering waves of dust and debris.
The impact caused a brief disruption in Great Ursa Planet’s gravitational balance. This interference extended to its many moons and the countless teoroids in its orbital ring, altering their gravitational interactions.
As a result, over 300 teoroids of varying sizes were ejected from their original orbits and began hurtling toward Great Dawn Planet.
“Beep… Beep…”
Flashing red lights and a piercing alarm suddenly rang out aboard the Cat’s Ear Spaceship. Crew mbers, previously resting, rushed back to their stations.
“Celia, what’s going on? Did Major Camis and his team find the beast?” Captain Reggie asked as he hurriedly donned his uniform and erged from the lounge.
“Captain, a teor collision just occurred on T855 Planet. Three hundred twelve teors have been dislodged from the orbital debris ring and are projected to reach T853 Planet in 1,472 hours,” Celia’s chanical voice reported.
Realizing it wasn’t a beast-related discovery, Reggie’s anxious excitent imdiately waned. After a quick calculation, he roared, “Damn it, there are still over two months left! Why the hell are you triggering an ergency alert now?”
“According to the Federation Aerospace Safety morandum, I am obligated to sound the alarm and alert all personnel on the ship under such circumstances,” Celia replied with unwavering precision, unaffected by Reggie’s outburst.
“Have Dr. Lute’s research team prepare a response report. And turn off that infernal noise!” Reggie barked.
“Authorization verified. Complying with your instructions.”
The red light and alarm ceased imdiately. Reggie took a deep breath, shed his uniform, and returned to the lounge.
Hours later, in the captain’s quarters of the Cat’s Ear Spaceship.
“Lute, what’s the situation? Celia’s report claims that while the gravitational disruption caused by the teor collision on T855 was brief, it shouldn’t result in a teor shower,” Reggie asked.
“Calm down, Reggie. This is perfectly normal. We don’t know T855’s exact mass or geological structure, so we can’t accurately simulate the outcos. The impact might have hit a geological cavity, causing effects far greater than we anticipated,” Lute replied casually as he reviewed the data.
“Have you prepared a response plan?”
“There’s too much data. Our ship’s main computer is already overloaded with other tasks and can’t spare the computational power to simulate the trajectories of over 300 teors,” Lute explained. Noticing Reggie’s frustration, he quickly added, “Don’t worry. When the teor shower arrives, we’ll hide the ship behind the planet. At most, we’ll lose a few insignificant small satellites.”
“Those satellites are irreplaceable while we’re so far from ho,” Reggie countered. He understood the ship would be safe—the planetary shield and two months of preparation ti ensured that. If the ship were damaged in the teor shower, he might as well jump off the bridge himself. What concerned him were the satellites, as their loss would an no chance of repair or replacent.
Lute, sensing his friend’s concern, thought for a mont and said, “Even if the ship’s computer could handle it, calculating the trajectories of over 300 teors would be incredibly complex. The lack of data about the gravitational interactions between the planets and moons further complicates matters.”
“So, if you want to save the satellites, the only solution is to temporarily retrieve them using transport shuttles. We might lose so satellite monitoring range, but communication won’t be affected. However, this will increase Major Camis’s workload.”
“Those soldiers are always brimming with energy; they’ll enjoy a bit of fresh air. Don’t we need to monitor the teor shower?” Reggie asked.
“If you’re willing to sacrifice the satellites, I’d be happy to collect so data.”
“In that case, forget it. You shouldn’t waste your ti on such things.”
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