The Falcon drifted through space like a phantom.
After an initial acceleration to 482 km/s, its tail section, like a spent rocket booster, detached. It then used compressed gas thrusters for maneuvering.
Its target coordinates were 417 AU from the Hope, a distance of 62.4 billion kilometers.
At the Falcon's speed, it would take four years to arrive.
This was the reality of interstellar travel.
Every war, even every reconnaissance mission, was stretched across vast distances and durations.
In the Solar System, the furthest distance, from Earth to Pluto in the Kuiper Belt, was only 60 AU.
Four years later.
The Falcon's cameras, peering through the inky blackness, detected a celestial body against the backdrop of the cosmos.
The signal, after a 2.4-day delay, reached the Hope.
Looking at the massive celestial body on the screen, Luna gasped.
While the transmitted images didn't reveal the object's exact size, its shape and roundness suggested it was enormous.
Ayla performed calculations.
"Calculations indicate this celestial body has a radius of 8426 kilometers, a surface area of approximately 892.18 billion square kilometers, a volume of approximately 2.5058 x 10^12 cubic kilometers, and based on data from the Falcon, a gravitational acceleration of 11.0547 m/s²."
This planet was huge.
Its surface area was roughly 380 billion square kilometers larger than Earth's.
Clearly, this was a rogue planet, not bound to any star system.
It was likely once a planet orbiting a star, but some event had caused it to be ejected from its system.
"The temperature in this void is -261.8 degrees Celsius. How could a civilization arise in such an environment?"
On Earth, many scientists believed that life could only emerge within the habitable zone of a star system.
Not just Luna, but even the most brilliant astrophysicists would be astonished by this.
That temperature was colder than inside a cryogenic hibernation pod. At such temperatures, even atoms were affected, with electron activity slowing drastically. It wasn't simply a matter of carbon-based or silicon-based life; no known life could exist at that temperature.
Ayla conducted urgent scans.
"The temperature outside the planet is higher than expected, at -198.33 degrees Celsius."
"It is hypothesized that this planet possesses a hot core."
Half a month later.
The Hope received another transmission.
"Confirmed. Numerous active volcanoes are present on the planet's surface, indicating abundant geothermal resources."
Ayla displayed a somewhat blurry image.
"Luna, look here, here, and here. These are relatively large volcanic craters."
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"Traces of structures are present around these areas, suggesting this civilization relies on geothermal energy."
A geothermal civilization.
Earth also had many volcanoes, but its geothermal resources were far from sufficient to support a geothermal civilization.
However, this celestial body was much larger than Earth, and its core was far more active, resulting in numerous volcanoes on its surface, providing warmth against the extreme cold.
Luna noticed something new in the transmitted images, compared to the ones from half a month earlier.
"Zoom in on these points."
She pointed to the smaller objects, asking Ayla to magnify them.
As they zoomed in, the objects became clearer.
Ships!
A swarm of them, at least a thousand strong.
"They must be preparing a sweep of the area, trying to find us."
This was the only logical explanation.
There was no other reason to assemble so many ships, especially at this juncture.
Seven days later, Ayla received a final transmission from the Falcon, sent just before it was destroyed.
The first Falcon had successfully completed its mission.
A wealth of information could be gleaned from this data.
"The Falcon was destroyed by lasers, originating from these areas, which correspond to the major volcanic craters on the planet."
"This further confirms that this civilization is heavily reliant on volcanic geothermal energy. With most of the planet's surface temperature below -100 degrees Celsius, their population must be quite small, likely around 1.5 billion."
"Their small population limits the benefits of economies of scale, hindering technological breakthroughs. This is the primary reason for their slow development."
"Geothermal energy also severely restricts their overall energy output and technological avenues. Based on the analysis of their ship speeds, this civilization likely hasn't achieved controllable nuclear fusion. Their electromagnetic technology is underdeveloped, and they still rely on geothermal energy and potentially nuclear fission for power."
"This civilization's level should be Type 1 or Type 1.1."
A newly emerged Type 1 geothermal civilization.
The planet's surface was perpetually dark, so this civilization sought light, leading them to develop lasers.
Luna pondered.
"To attack a civilization, one must first suppress its development."
"Two approaches come to mind: restrict their energy sources and hinder their technological advancement."
"Ayla, any suggestions?"
Ayla could access a vast amount of information on military applications.
"Ayla recommends disrupting their energy production first."
"Hindering technological development is a complex process. We need to understand their technological focus, their level of advancement, and whether their progress is top-down or bottom-up."
"Physics, chemistry, macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in the universe all adhere to a single set of principles—the so-called Theory of Everything."
"But we cannot assume they are pursuing a Theory of Everything. Their civilization may not have unified gravity, electromagnetism, the weak and strong forces theoretically, but instead focused on one of the four fundamental forces."
"In short, without understanding the direction of their scientific endeavors, we cannot effectively sabotage their progress through theoretical means."
"The simplest and most effective method is brute force."
In terms of civilization level, Luna didn't have an absolute advantage over this geothermal civilization.
Those sci-fi tropes wouldn't work here.
Ayla generated a solution.
"Since this is a geothermal civilization, we can disrupt their energy production by cooling the planet's core, effectively halting their progress."
Luna reviewed the plan on the screen.
This plan was far beyond any war humanity had ever known.
This was an apocalyptic war waged against an entire planet, an entire civilization.
The weapon listed was—an Absolute Zero weapon.
A planet's core generated immense energy through nuclear fission. Absolute zero could freeze the atoms' nuclei, neutrons, and electrons, halting all motion.
Of course, achieving true absolute zero was currently impossible in the universe; it would require energy exceeding that of the universe itself.
However, creating a weapon that approached absolute zero was feasible. While it couldn't completely freeze nuclei, neutrons, and electrons, it could drastically slow their movement.
By slowing fission to a near standstill, the planet's core would cool down.
"Proceed with this plan."
"How long will production take?"
Ayla had parked the Hope beside a drifting asteroid, over 80 kilometers long and nearly 45 kilometers wide.
Hundreds of robots were repairing the Hope's damaged hull.
"Estimated time is 25 years."
25 years wasn't long in a war, especially an interstellar one.
"Not enough!"
"One Absolute Zero weapon can only cool the planet's core for 40 years. That's insufficient. We need ten."
Having decided on war, she needed to be thorough.
She had to ensure ample time for development.
After issuing the command, Luna returned to the hibernation pod. She couldn't afford to waste time; she was already 41 years old.
Her next awakening would mark the beginning of the war.