Well, Alex considered deeply in her quantum thoughts, I'm becoming a shipyard and a hospital. Her docking rings were full of ships being repaired. Richelieu was testing her new and improved hull as a heavy battleship, and her sick bay was filled with wounded people. Many needed quick stabilization before being sent to the surface on Forge, but some required limb and organ replacements and couldn't be moved.
The news from Sophia about a breaching pod penetrating her hull was particularly disturbing. Hyuga had modified the shield grid to block the radiation pulse that enabled the pod to bypass it. In theory, she should now be immune to this new weapon. The fact that they had managed to expel the submarines from their hiding place was even more worrisome, suggesting the Machines had acquired knowledge of dimensional mechanics, possibly from Archangel.
Thousands of submarines crowded Alex's lower section, undergoing repairs and reloading with missiles and torpedoes to harass the Machines. South Dakota and Hyuga worked for two days to increase their diving "depth," if that term was even applicable.
Alex would soon visit her main conference room, where many admirals, fleet flagships, and Gretel would decide the course of this war. She knew, of course, what issues were being discussed at this very moment. Her mental model opened the conference room doors and walked over to where Admiral Jackson and Chihaya were talking. The three primary flagships were there too, engaged in a heated debate over how to respond to the Machines' rapid adaptation.
Fleet Admiral Chihaya observed the chaos with Iona. He called for attention and stepped onto the small podium. "Esteemed Admirals and Flagships," he began, "we must end this war quickly before the Machines manage to replicate the SGC, or worse. Evidence suggests they've acquired knowledge of dimensional mechanics, having forced the submarines out of the dimensional ocean. I propose two actions. First, we must recover Archangel, which will unfortunately require a costly ground invasion with potentially heavy losses. Second, we need to destroy the Machines' star system, along with their antimatter storage. Galactica has suggested a method to eliminate everything within a star system. You already know it."
Gretel spoke in her usual calm, detached voice, "Admiral Chihaya, are you sure? If humanity and the Fleet begin destroying entire star systems, where do we draw the line?"
Gunzou thought carefully about his reply to the ancient being. It was difficult not to feel intimidated by the Admiralty Code, Gretel's guiding force, which represented an unimaginably powerful, ancient entity called I'kon. Was this war part of its design—a test on a galactic scale?
Finally, a conversation he'd once had with Kongo came to mind. She had said, "Monsters lack both conscience and remorse, my dear."
Gunzou replied firmly, "Gretel, I understand the gravity of this proposal. But it's like when the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Japan. We can win, but the cost will be immense. I'm not willing to sacrifice half the Fleet. I know the consequences of my actions, and this time, we're not trying to impress Earth's other nations. Yes, humanity would become a destroyer of worlds."
Gretel looked at the man before her, nodding slowly. She sensed his inner moral conflict, which seemed to resonate with Yamato and her sisters as well. The Supreme Flagship raised her voice slightly and revealed her thoughts. "As Admiral Chihaya said, I'm afraid we've exhausted all diplomatic avenues. The Nexus are a lost cause. There is no common ground for even civil conversation. Yes, we once thought the same about the Cylons, and now," she looked at a Six commanding a battleship, "we've discovered new brothers and sisters in the stars." She shook her head, "But this time, even if they are Machines, we can't establish a dialogue with them. It pains me that they're so irreparably defective, but I stand with Admiral Chihaya."
Fascinating, Gretel thought. They have absorbed humanity so deeply. How proud I'kon would be of these children. She left them to continue.
"Sometimes, life is just full of crap," Musashi added.
With those words, the decision was made. They would destroy the Nexus's capital star system and annihilate the rest.
Hybrid Supercarrier Galactica
Gal was experiencing a complex mix of emotions. The thought of being remembered as the originator of a star-killing maneuver stirred her emotion plug-in and synaptic modulator. Logically, it made sense, but the emotional impact would stay with her forever. She feared that such remorse, for lack of a better term, might destabilize her. She returned to reality when three new passengers arrived at her port landing bay.
She reformed her mental model to greet them. The passengers were notable scientists in the Federation. One, a well-known brunette, was the mental model of the battleship Hyuga, a brilliant, eccentric mind who had helped design Galactica in just two days. Another was the aging colonial scientist Gaius Baltar, a genius renowned for his unique problem-solving insights.
Finally, Gunzou had asked Haruna if her adoptive daughter, Maki, could assist them. Now a young woman in her thirties, Maki was a genetic engineering prodigy whose design of the resonance torpedo still drew crowds in engineering lectures.
As the three passengers disembarked from the shuttle, Tigh was waiting to greet them.
"Hello, everyone. It's good to see you again. Hyuga, have you stopped tinkering with my old girl?" he teased.
"Admiral Tigh, how are you? Avenger and Avi are better than ever. She wanted to come along, but given the threat to every planet, she had to stay on guard duty," replied the hyperactive brunette. Years ago, the surviving colonial ships had received mental models. Fittingly, Avenger, the old Galactica, was called Avi, Pegasus had Peggy, and Athena kept her ship's name. A new battlestar was under construction, though it would take at least six months to complete.
It was Baltar's turn. He'd matured, leaving behind his reputation as an arrogant womanizer and now married to a Six with two children waiting at home. "Admiral Tigh, a pleasure as always. Though I wish it were under better circumstances," he said. Tigh had never particularly liked Baltar, though he'd come to respect him, thanks to his wife, who could kill him if he didn't behave.
The last to disembark was a young woman looking around expectantly. Tigh caught her gaze and said, "Ms. Maki, Gal will be joining us shortly."
Caught off guard by the old man, she smiled. "I'm sorry, Admiral, I just wanted to say hello to my friend."
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to catch up. Of course, once your work is done, you'll remain on Alex. We're going to war, and nothing is certain out there." He chose not to mention that he'd prefer not to answer to a furious Six or three battleships if something happened to them.
Maki's adoptive mothers, the two Fleet battleships Haruna and Kirishima, were joining their sisters Kongo and Hiei to assault a colony on the Nexus's far side. The Earth's First Fleet was mobilizing and had already reached the Arcadia Fleet Node. Tomorrow, they would fold to Forge, and it would be a sight to behold.
One Day Later
Civilian traffic around Alex was discreetly diverted, leaving a vast expanse of space clear. On Alex's bridge, a countdown signaled the First Fleet's arrival from Earth. When the timer hit zero, a thousand fold spheres appeared in Forge's orbit.
Admiral Jackson watched the fleet with high expectations. Never before had the Fleet amassed so many ships in one place. Battleships, battlecruisers, carriers, cruisers, and destroyers floated near Alex, ready to confront the Machine worlds.
"Alex, send my greetings to the First Fleet," Jackson told the communication officer. The man nodded, and twenty small windows appeared on the main viewer, with faces of Fleet Admiral Chihaya, various captains, and mental models.
"Admirals, Captains, are you just passing through?" Jackson joked.
"We're going to strike at the Nexus's backyard. From there, we'll press forward," Chihaya explained.
"I hope you can draw enough Machine ships away from our worlds," Tigh added.
"That's the goal. The capital system is too well-defended, so we're aiming to lure some of their forces away," Chihaya responded.
Hybrid Supercarrier Galactica. Admiral Tigh's Ready Room.
Tigh was alone in his ready room. The futuristic room had become a true home for him over the last few years, and it was wonderfully obvious that a ship made of nanomaterials didn't age. Everything was as bright and polished as the first day that William Adama and he walked into the room. He really missed his old friend, even though William was happily married and enjoying his first grandchild.
Family. I suppose I miss Ellen, more than I want to admit. His memory of his wife was becoming a bit diffuse with the passing of the years. The feelings were still there, but time was healing the wound. She had died on Caprica during the first Cylon attack. He sighed, and his thoughts came back to the present. Now, I'm going to massacre an entire species.
I'm repeating the old cycle of violence, machines vs. organics. It was true that Earth had changed everything when the new hybrids emerged, and what was more unbelievable, they were accepted. After a second and third sigh, he called his new assistants. Gal, of course, was always nearby since she was the ship, literally.
He waited five minutes before someone asked for permission to come in. The marine on guard duty opened the door respectfully and said, "Admiral, your guests are here." Tigh nodded and granted permission.
Baltar, Maki, and Hyuga were there, and Gal reformed her mental model in the room.
"Well, everyone is here. Ladies, we are going to destroy a star system, according to Gal's idea," explained Tigh, with a joking expression on his old face. Hyuga felt it. She knew what kind of hell they were opening. She only sighed for herself, but she kept her always playful and mischievous expression.
The idea is really good and very innovative. The key is how we can release the photosphere's gravitational anchor around the star's volume. "We need a spherical detonation," Hyuga explained. The magnitude of this operation was hard to accept.
After a few seconds, Maki said, "I know how to do it." Everybody looked at her. Tigh knew she was several steps ahead of any human being in matters of brainpower. Let's see what she thinks.
"Please, explain," he said, encouraging the girl.
"The fact is that the photosphere is not a homogeneous layer. There are many discontinuities produced by changing magnetic fields around the star. I think we only need to produce a cascade reaction using something I was designing last year," she explained.
Continuing her exposition, she said, "Thanatonium can degenerate into two opposite particles, gravitons and antigravitons, in the same way that matter and antimatter are related. Several short pulses of antigravitons will weaken the anchor and destabilize the photosphere."
Baltar exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. "My dear Maki, the idea is truly wonderful, and now I'm really scared."
Hyuga added her own thoughts, "As you said, the photosphere is always changing. We need to reach the star and wait for the right setup. That is a problem because we will be detected on the spot, and Gal will need to store a lot of her power for the shots."
Gal was, of course, making billions of simulations while they spoke. "Maybe we can copy an idea from the Nexus. They have antimatter warheads. At least, this is what they use as planet bombs. Why can't we use an antigravity bomb and place it inside a jumping torpedo?"
Hyuga felt a chill run down her simulated spine. This girl had no limits in her core. She understood the reason, of course. The Zeta core was a quantum leap from the old Epsilon core used by the Yamatos. And now, this girl possessed human imagination, with no limits attached to her core.
It was Maki's turn to finish the idea. "If we weaken the gravity keeping the outer layers of the star together, the internal pressure of the star will be released, and I'm sure it would be... violent."
Tigh was following the discussion, but from his point of view, everything was reduced to the need to jump close to the star, wait who knows how long for the proper star configuration, and release the missiles. My dear, we can't wait too close to the star. We will be... Tigh interrupted himself because he had a very crazy idea. "Gal, can we use the same trick as submarines, dimensional diving?"
Everyone was really impressed, especially Gal, who couldn't hide her pride. She said, "Excellent idea, Admiral. We can jump and wait. We can't be too close because the star mass will surely distort the dimensional ocean, but we don't need to be exposed."
Hyuga recognized the human imagination working fast in Gal. She added, "Gal and I will make the simulations while Dr. Baltar and Maki design the algorithms. We need a working model before we jump."
Baltar suggested something quite logical: "Admiral, can we jump close to the Forge's star? We require data from a real star and compare the simulation with real data."
"If you have reached an agreement, then we will jump. I will warn Chihaya about all this craziness," Tigh replied. "I suggest you take a rest. The next few days are going to be intense." They left him alone again, and he sat down to speak in private with Chihaya.
After a moment, he explained the idea. Chihaya was a bit worried about the magnitude of the catastrophe that would be released on the Nexus. However, they had no choice. "Understood, Admiral Tigh, please do what you need, and your escorts will arrive in two days. Chihaya, out."
Time to work and kill stars, Tigh thought.