Tier 1 Civilization Fleet
If the fleet uses the same method of sailing at a constant speed with the engines off, just like humans, then it means that the fleet is still at the level of Aerospace Civilization.
Although humanity has never seen Interstellar Civilization, we can still guess what kind of travel methods these so-called Interstellar Civilization would use based on the initial description of the 'Silver Mist' and the Warp Engine that remains unsolved to this day.
Warp Engine would require light speed or faster-than-light travel, so there's no need to use this energy-saving Inertial Navigation method.
Then we just need to wait for the results of observations by the Large-Caliber Telescope to know the exact speed of this fleet.
Humans only need to measure the size of the dust cloud and then combine it with the speed at which the channel forms, as observed by a telescope over a certain period of time, to determine the speed of the fleet.
Is it too late to run now?
The data displayed on the big screen had already given Yue Yuan the answer.
The dust cloud is 0.75 light-years away from Aldebaran, meaning there is a nine-month time gap between the fleet entering the dust cloud and humans detecting it.
This indicates that when Yue Yuan arrived at the bridge of the Lyra, the fleet had already been sailing for another nine months, based on the situation shown in this picture.
According to data on the speed of Aerospace Civilization from either the 'Silver Mist' or the Moke Star Civilization, if it is Tier 1 Civilization, the fleet would need four years and three months to reach Aldebaran; if it is Level 2 Civilization, it would need one year and nine months; and if it is Level 3 Civilization, it would only need nine more months.
If it were Tier 1 Civilization, humanity might still be able to escape if they ran away immediately. But the problem is, after this 240-year-long journey, humanity needs a major resupply, and many spaceships need to be overhauled; otherwise, it would be difficult to survive the voyage.
"Why did it have to be at this time!" Yue Yuan, sitting in his chair, pondered a solution while waiting for further observation results.
If it were like those previous voyages, which weren't very long, instead of a long raid, he would never have hesitated to order an immediate departure. But it was precisely at this time.
Humans have only just begun landing on Aldebaran-Kongming Star, infrastructure has not yet been developed, and various resource exploration robots are still in operation. There is no sign of any resources being acquired yet.
"Where is Man Yuemei?" While waiting for the observation results, Yue Yuan noticed that Man Yuemei was not on the bridge and asked.
The staff and Science Officer on the bridge didn't understand either, so 'Tianhe Light' directly connected Yue Yuan with Man Yuemei's communication.
"Commander Yue? Perfect timing, I was just about to report to you, and you've already taken over!" Another split screen appeared on the big screen, with Man Yuemei's portrait on it.
Through the screen, Yue Yuan saw the background behind Man Yuemei, which looked like a corridor. The person was still floating, indicating that they were still on the Lyra.
"Have you received the information about the dust cloud?" Yue Yuan asked first.
"It has been shared to my Personal Terminal through the Armed Forces Department." Man Yuemei nodded to indicate that she was aware of the latest situation, and then continued, "I have given orders to the Kunlun-Class Warship, Mount Hua-Class Warship and other warships located in the Asteroid Belt to hide themselves using the asteroids. However, the Lyra is some distance from the Asteroid Belt, and there is a certain delay in communication, so I plan to go to the Kunlun-Class Warship personally to set up a second command post."
"Right now, our path to the Asteroid Belt is obscured by the Giant Gas Planet. From the direction of the dust cloud, even if they are looking at us with telescopes, they won't be able to detect this thruster exhaust."
That makes a lot of sense, but the problem is that we have absolutely no idea what level of civilization the fleet that passed through the dust cloud represents.
"No rush. First, synchronize the dust cloud data to the fleet command system and let the ship captains find large asteroids to hide on. We can make other plans after we have gathered more intelligence." Yue Yuan rejected Man Yuemei's suggestion.
Immediately afterwards, he called Zhu Pete from the bridge of the Lyra and said directly, "Zhu Pete, order your department to prepare various emergency plans within the civilization. For now, keep the information about the dust cloud confidential from the public and await my next instructions."
"Understood!" Zhu Pete saluted.
After shutting down Zhu Pete's communications, Yue Yuan issued several orders to his various departments, including production and engineering.
The general idea is to increase manpower, accelerate ground exploration, and speed up resource extraction, aiming to have the first batch of mineral resources delivered to the resource ship within half a month.
Furthermore, the resource collection department immediately dispatched idle collection ships to the Giant Gas Planet to capture Hydrogen Element.
Before ground-based exploration has found resources of Protium Deuterium Tritium, helium-3, and helium -Helium-4, the fastest way to obtain energy is to salvage and collect them from the outer reaches of Giant Gas Planet.
Although the situation is not clear at the moment, replenishing energy and supplies as soon as possible is definitely the right thing to do.
When they arrived at Aldebaran, almost all large platforms, Engineering Ship, and mining ships were already docked in the orbit of the Aldebaran-Kongming Star satellite. As warships were designed for combat, they did not have the capacity for large-scale mineral mining.
The same applies to the flagship, the Lyra.
Therefore, energy refueling and material replenishment must be carried over from various Factory Spaceship.
Time passed second by second.
Shortly after Yue Yuan issued orders to the various departments, Gan De's voice rang out again in the bridge of the Lyra: "Chief, we have the results! Based on the size of the dust cloud and the formation of the fleet's tracks, we have determined that the fleet's speed is 14% of the speed of light, with large tracks at 120 and the rest being small tracks."
"The fleet's direction has been determined; it's on Aldebaran, where we are. However, observing the dust cloud trails alone is insufficient to determine the exact size of the ships."
Gan De, seemingly wanting to keep everyone in suspense, directly revealed the results observed by the astronomer team.
Upon hearing this sound, Yue Yuan was startled and looked up at the large screen, where all the information the astronomers had received had been synchronized.
Although they are 0.75 light-years apart, observation is different from sending a spacecraft to explore a destination. As long as the telescope can observe the changes in the dust cloud for a period of time, various relevant data can be calculated by Supercomputer.
Of course, what the telescope sees is a track that has been running for nine months, but that doesn't affect the judgment.
"Based on normal interstellar travel behavior, the distance of 0.75 light-years from the destination should not be the point where the fleet decelerates. In other words, this fleet is still at its maximum speed, which is 14% of the speed of light. Therefore, we can conclude that this fleet belongs to Tier 1 Civilization." Yue Yuan looked at the data on the big screen and fell into deep thought.
There are two possibilities for why it's not 15% of the speed of light: one is that the speed dropped slightly due to Interstellar Dust during the journey, and the other is that the highest speed this civilization can reach is 14% of the speed of light.
Regardless of which one, it belongs to Tier 1 Civilization.