Chapter 140: Pursuit in the Kuiper Belt

However, at this moment in the city of Hezhou, Great Human Empire on Earth, no one knew that when their city of Hezhou entered night once again, an extraterrestrial organism from another world, bearing the name Emba, would personally pay a visit to their city of Hezhou. They continued with their daily routines, completely unaware that the regular patterns of their lives were about to undergo any changes.

At the same time, however, far away in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the Solar System, a pursuit was underway. Karl Wade, a pilot of the Orme Empire of the Saurians, was leading his former wingman—now his current wingman—Dar Kinder in the tracking of an alien spacecraft originating from beyond the heliopause.

At this moment, the wingman Dar Kinder spoke to the flight leader Karl Wade:

"Leader, leader. That ship over there from beyond the heliopause must be another reconnaissance vessel of the Gomarians, shouldn't we report this to headquarters first?"

Flight leader Karl Wade replied:

"There is no need for that, wingman. I am perfectly capable of handling this myself. Using a ship like that for reconnaissance is simply a windfall delivered right to our doorstep. The moment I take it down, I will create a legendary feat of a space fighter destroying a space warship. I have no intention of passing up this opportunity and throwing it to anyone else, though you may share in this legend with me."

Dar Kinder said:

"Leader, I still think this is unwise. The firepower of the enemy warship looks formidable. Although it may not be as powerful as those specialized combat vessels destroyed in the Ulan-Gom region, calling in a few more reinforcements is just the safe bet! Leader, you are still young!"

Suddenly, however, Karl Wade grew extremely impatient and said:

"Enough, Dar Kinder. Never forget that I am the flight leader now. Here on the battlefield, you must obey my every command and instruction without question. Furthermore, since I dared to decide that we should track that Gomarian ship alone, I naturally have absolute certainty. And this will benefit you as well. If we take down this enemy spacecraft by ourselves this time, not only will I achieve great glory and become a legend, but you will also be able to return to being a flight leader..."

Then, Karl Wade paused for a breath and continued:

"Although once you become a flight leader again, we might no longer be able to continue fighting side by side, we will still both be elite pilots of the Orme Empire, won't we? I have not forgotten your kindness to me in the least, my former leader."

Dar Kinder had indeed harbored some misgivings, but hearing Karl Wade put it this way, his blood instantly surged. He had always hoped to earn merit as quickly as possible and return to the position of flight leader, so he immediately declared:

"Very well, my leader. I will follow you forward. By the way, Haumea is right ahead."

Upon hearing this, Karl Wade remarked:

"Indeed. A rugby-ball-shaped planet; it seems they intend to reconnoitre this place."

Haumea is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, officially designated as (136108) Haumea. It is the fourth-largest dwarf planet in the Solar System, with a mass one-third that of Pluto. In 2004, a team led by Michael E. Brown of the California Institute of Technology discovered the object at the Palomar Observatory in the United States; in 2005, a team led by José Luis Ortiz discovered the object at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain, though the latter's claim was contested. On September 17, 2008, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) classified the object as a dwarf planet and named it after Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth.

Haumea is a recently discovered large Kuiper Belt object, originally cataloged as 2003 EL61 and temporarily nicknamed "Santa." Its rotation period is extremely fast, and no other known object with a diameter greater than 100 kilometers possesses such a rapid rotation speed.

Among all known dwarf planets, Haumea possesses a uniquely extreme elongation. Although its shape has not been directly observed, calculations from its light curve indicate that Haumea is an ellipsoid whose major axis is twice the length of its minor axis. Even so, calculations indicate that its own gravity remains sufficient to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium, thus fulfilling the definition of a dwarf planet.

Astronomers believe that Haumea's elongated shape, exceptionally high rotational speed, high density, and high albedo (due to its crystalline water-ice surface) are the results of a hyper-velocity collision, making Haumea the largest member of a collisional family that includes several large trans-Neptunian objects as well as Haumea's two known moons.

According to spectral data obtained from the Gemini Observatory, the object likely harbors water ice, similar to the findings for Charon. Methane ice was also detected on the surface of 2003 EL61, implying that it has never approached the Sun.

The object has been discovered to have two moons, nicknamed by their discoverers as "Rudolph" (after the legendary reindeer pulling Santa Claus's sleigh), with a mass of about 1% of the primary body. This measurement represents only the total mass of the system; assuming the planet and its moons share the same density and albedo, the apparent magnitude difference of 3.3 allows other values to be calculated accurately.

Compared to Pluto, whose moon Charon has a mass 10% that of the planet, this ratio appears relatively large for other planets. Additionally, the orbital period of the moon of 2003 EL61 is 49.12 ± 0.03 days, at a distance of 49,500 ± 400 kilometers from the planet, with an eccentricity of 0.050 ± 0.003.

The moon occulted the planet in 1999, and the next occultation will occur in 2138. Furthermore, the moon has a diameter of approximately 350 kilometers. If placed in the asteroid belt, it would become a major asteroid.

Next, Karl Wade said to Dar Kinder:

"Good, since that is the case, we will catch up to them. I will use the super missiles on our ship to leave them stranded on this rugby-ball-shaped planet."

Dar Kinder immediately replied:

"Understood, leader, let's go..."

However, Dar Kinder suddenly exclaimed in surprise:

"Leader, leader, the target has changed direction again."

Upon hearing this, Karl Wade immediately looked at the radar and said:

"What? Good grief, they've actually changed course and are flying toward Makemake."

Makemake is the third-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and one of the two largest classical Kuiper Belt objects. Makemake's diameter is roughly three-quarters that of Pluto.

The presence of methane and possibly nitrogen implies that a transient atmosphere could exist on Makemake, a phenomenon similar to what occurs when Pluto approaches its perihelion. If nitrogen exists on Makemake, it would become the primary constituent of Makemake's atmosphere.

The existence of an atmosphere also provides a reasonable explanation for the loss of nitrogen: because Makemake's gravity is weaker than that of Pluto, Eris, and Triton, Makemake may have lost a significant amount of nitrogen due to atmospheric escape.

Meanwhile, although lighter than nitrogen, when methane is at normal surface temperatures on Makemake (30–35 K), its vapor pressure is significantly lower than that of nitrogen, which suppresses the escape of methane.

The result of this process is a continuous increase in the relative abundance of methane.

According to foreign media reports, scientists conducting in-depth research discovered that a "dwarf planet" discovered near the edge of the Solar System seven years ago is a frozen world devoid of atmosphere and life.

Scientists discovered "Makemake," named after a Polynesian creator deity, in 2005, but it is only now that detailed studies of the distant planet's size, shape, and surface have been conducted for the first time.

It is two-thirds the size of Pluto, sits farther from the Sun, and is one of five distant worlds orbiting the Sun that are classified as dwarf planets.

However, it is not as distant from the Sun as the largest known dwarf planet, Eris. An opportunity to observe a stellar occultation allowed astronomers at the European Southern Observatory to discover whether Makemake possesses an atmosphere. This question had long puzzled scientists, and they have now discovered that this dwarf planet has no atmosphere.

The Hubble Space Telescope observed Makemake's moon in April 2015, located 20,921 kilometers away from Makemake. On April 26, 2016, American scientists announced the discovery of Makemake's moon, designated MK2.

Makemake is a member of the dwarf planets, located in the cold outer Solar System—the Kuiper Belt, which is filled with countless frozen small bodies that are the debris from the formation of the Solar System. Ever since the discovery of Makemake in 2005, astronomers have repeatedly searched for companion bodies to this frozen world.

Now, utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, a collaborative project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), they have discovered one of its moons.

Following this, Karl Wade continued:

"Since they are flying toward Makemake, we will follow them. But it really is strange, why are they heading to this planet without an atmosphere? Could it be that they intend to use this planet as a base as well?"

Dar Kinder speculated:

"Leader, leader. If I'm not mistaken, they probably know absolutely nothing about the environment of each planet in our Solar System. Therefore, before their main force arrives, they are trying to reconnoiter every small location possible. Only in this way can their invasion proceed flawlessly and successfully. What do you think, leader?"

Hearing this, Karl Wade agreed wholeheartedly and said:

"It would seem so. Forget it! We cannot continue this blind tracking any longer. If we let them fly through any more regions, even if they fail to achieve their original reconnaissance objectives, they will certainly gather more data about our Solar System's environment than they have now. That would be even more detrimental to our resistance against their invasion. What do you think?"

Upon hearing Karl Wade say this, Dar Kinder instantly thought of something and said:

"In that case, leader, let us hesitate no longer. The enemy spacecraft is now within my maximum effective attack range; we can launch missiles to attack!"

Hearing this, Karl Wade said:

"Good. Lock onto the target, prepare long-range missiles for launch!"

Dar Kinder complied immediately. Once completed, he spoke at once to Karl Wade:

"Target locked and missiles prepared!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Karl Wade declared:

"Very well, attack! Launch missiles!"

Subsequently, the two space fighters each launched a long-range attack missile, soaring toward the alien spacecraft from beyond the heliopause.