Incoming strong-interaction space probes detected.
Total number: 6.
One is headed toward the L1 Lagrangian point between the Earth and the Sun. The other 5 are headed for the Earth in a 1-2-2 formation.
Speed: 25,000 km/s. Estimated arrival time at the surface: 10 minutes.
At maximum speed, a droplet could cross fifteen million kilometers in ten minutes.
This was all the time the Swordholder would have to make a decision if dark forest deterrence broke down.
The droplets can achieve maximum speeds of 25,000km per second, and are capable of crossing 15,000,000km in 10 minutes.
T = 25000km/1s
= 25000000/299792458 X 100
= 8.33910238% C
Of course, as the droplets primary method of attack is ramming, we can also get the kinetic energy for this. The droplets weigh less than 10 tons...
“What is its mass?” Ding Yi asked.
“We don’t have an exact value right now. A rough value, obtained through high-precision gravitational instruments, is less than ten tons.”
There were various hypotheses about the manner in which the droplet might self-destruct, but the maximum release of energy would come from self-destruction by antimatter annihilation. Since the droplet had a mass of less than ten tons, the largest energy burst that needed to be considered was that produced by the annihilation of five tons each of matter and antimatter.
So we'll go for a low end of 9 tons and a high end of 10 tons. Using
this relativistic kinetic energy calculator, we get a yield of 675.7 megatons for our low end and 750.8 megatons for our high end.
Final Results
Droplets maximum speed = 8.339% C
Droplets maximum kinetic energy (low end) = 675.7 megatons
Droplets maximum kinetic energy (high end) = 750.8 megatons