Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 229-231 - Operation Starlight
"This is very inefficient!"

Chom finally spoke, his tone heavy, “Disassembling the pressure hull is relatively straightforward, but what about the internal compartments? A warship isn’t just made of alloys and bulkheads; it also contains various complex mechanical systems and critical components. I can’t guarantee that the engineers won’t cause a lot of waste when disassembling Republic technology. What’s truly dangerous are those trace elements. They are used in extremely small quantities, but none can be omitted. If we are not careful, we could destroy or contaminate these resources.”

“Can’t we just extract the design blueprints directly from the database of captured Republic ships?” Vinok asked, scratching his beard.

“All military ships are completely wiped from their databases before being captured, according to standard procedure,” Diedrich pointed out, adding that he was right. “The republican ships that surrendered to us did the same under their own conditions, and those blueprints likely no longer exist.”

“Okay,” Ryan leaned back, “we have to figure out a way to break the problem down and solve it separately…”

Kret, you are responsible for gathering all available Republic ships and compiling a detailed list.

Chom, you are responsible for compiling a list of the Separatist ships that need repair and maintenance, and creating a complete inventory of all required supplies, prioritizing components for the hyperspace drive.

"Vinock, gather all the Republic engineers we've captured and find a way to get them to cooperate."

Ryan let out a long sigh of relief, his gaze sweeping over every officer present.

No one raised any objections; they understood their mission and were ready to carry it out.

They may have discovered more problems than expected, but they also devised solutions on-site and developed a framework for implementation.

Everyone present has their own strengths and weaknesses, but Ryan is fortunate that, in any case, they are all reliable executors.

Many people in his position wouldn't dare say that with such certainty.

"Meanwhile," Raine rubbed his eyes, a strong drowsiness washing over him, but he knew it was far from time to rest.

He forced himself to show a confident expression and looked at the people around the table. "Diedrich, Hogo, and I will focus on finding a way to break through and enter the core world. Let's get started."

……

“Operation Starburst is divided into two main operational areas,” Rein explained, pointing to the Hal holographic star map, which was far more advanced than the paper maps they had used before. “Our 28th Fleet is designated to operate in the southern core area, while the 19th Fleet is responsible for the arrowhead area.”

The central region of the Milky Way is divided into four different quadrants.

The first three are centered around Coruscant, namely the negative zone, the northern territory, and the arrow zone, located in the west, north, and east directions of Coruscant respectively.

The last quadrant is the southern core area, which spans the deep core region.

Therefore, the southern core region has always maintained a certain political distance from Coruscant and is home to many autonomous entities.

Examples include the Atria Federation, the Dofim States, the Boto Enclave, the Heglik Space, and the Tapani Federation.

Of these five major powers, just as Coruscant dominates the north, the Tapani Federation dominates the entire southern core region.

“My original plan was to use Fondo as a safe haven,” Ryan explained, “but that’s no longer possible. Fondo’s attitude toward the Confederation has been wavering, but it seems that the liberation of Ilyadu has completely swayed them to the other side. In any case, we are now facing a situation of being shut out.”

“We can’t afford to get involved in another large-scale battle,” Diedrich said, pursing his lips. “We especially can’t afford to go head-to-head with the Tapani. We must first find a system that is rich in resources and either poorly defended due to its remote location or has sufficient security to establish a temporary base there until Chom finishes his repairs.”

“We have a backup base in Kif,” Raine pointed out some options, “located slightly west of the Rima trade route. Alternatively, we could try to go to Kuriva, the Enterprise Alliance’s homeworld. From there, it’s about a day’s journey east along the Corellian trade ridge. However, the last time I heard that Kuriva had been occupied by the 20th Military District of the Galactic Republic Army.”

“Bypassing Octavian Grant’s blockade…are these our only two options?” the Kolumezi officer seemed to be talking to himself.

"Looks like it is."

Hogo Schiff, who had been silent until now, suddenly raised his head, his tone filled with disbelief: "This is absurd."

"What do you mean?"

“We’re currently orbiting the homeworld of the most gifted mapmakers and navigators in this galaxy,” the Muon said, a hint of annoyance in his voice, “and we’re not even asking them for advice? Not to mention they’re top shipbuilders and engineers! They might even be able to help us solve the technical problems of dismantling Republic ships!”

"You mean...ask the Givens for help?" Raine raised an eyebrow skeptically. "It took them a lot of effort to get help to protect their own star system before, what makes you think they'll offer any real help now?"

"The Givens ultimately intervened in our affairs, which means that unless an extreme catastrophe occurred, the Givens had already calculated that the 28th Fleet would win at Yagdul," Hogo calmly analyzed. "They just wanted to ensure that we won in a way that best served their interests. They watched us lose half of our fleet because, according to their predictions, it would be more beneficial for them to control the development of the situation if we were weakened and forced to rely on their support. They never made any demands, yet they completely guided the direction of our progress."

“We defeated three fleets in Aghdul because we ensured that every battle was fought on our terms, not the Republic’s… Similarly, the Givens defeated us and four Republic fleets through cunning.”

Ryan nodded slowly, gradually convinced by his arguments.

Clearly, the real considerations behind this decision by the ruling class of mathematics are far more complex, but for some reason, Hogo Schiff's theory makes sense to him.

In other words, this means that as long as they can prove to the Given that the probability of success of "Operation Starburst" is greater than failure, the Given are likely to be convinced by their own formulas and calculations and thus provide assistance in this operation.

Givenman is by no means an altruist.

They initially refused to help and demanded a retreat, not to save their lives.

They simply followed the calculations, weighing the probabilities of victory and defeat.

If they want the Givens to join "Operation Starburst," things become simple; they just need to make the situation look favorable to them.

Fortunately, they have just been dealt a brand new "good hand".

“In that case,” Raine stood up, “we need to have a serious talk with someone.”

Contacting Senator Dagibus Scoritoules of Given was not difficult.

Sure enough, when the other party greeted them with a standard, dizzyingly complex mathematical formula, his exoskeleton head, which seemed to be screaming eternally, even tilted with a hint of expectation.

This formula is related to vectors and is likely designed specifically to test officers like them, making it impossible for them to mentally calculate the answer in a short time.

Raine almost wanted to find a piece of paper to do the calculations, otherwise he would have looked like a fool in front of the Givens... Luckily, they had a Muen.

In less than three minutes, Hogo Schiff gave a reasonable answer with points, and Senator Skritows nodded in approval.

Diedrich and Renn both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Astronomical Computing Institute has deduced your fleet's intentions, Rear Admiral Bontri," the senator began with a condescending tone, "and expressed serious disappointment with such a...reckless plan of action."

“This is a sacrifice that must be made for the continued survival of the Confederation,” Diedrich argued coldly. “The Astronomical Institute surely understands this, doesn’t it? We have our own orders and intend to carry them out resolutely. What the Astronomical Institute needs to decide now is whether to sacrifice only our time and energy, or to sacrifice our lives as well.”

“We need a hyperspace route to the Core World,” Raine said earnestly. “A route that can bypass the main shipping lanes controlled by the Tapani fleet. We also need a way to safely traverse the Core World and evacuate from it. These are things that the Astronomical Computing Institute can provide us.”

“It’s not that I don’t understand,” Dagibus Skrittors raised a thin, bony hand, stopping their argument. “Leaving aside the theories of fractal heresy, not everyone in the Institute of Astronomical Computation is so stubborn. Many of us sympathize with your cause, especially after witnessing that magnificent maneuvering battle in this galaxy.”

The seventy ships that came to your aid are all willing and able to permanently reinforce the 28th Mobile Fleet.

And you should know that while the Institute of Astrophysics was disappointed by the haste of this attack plan, it was not against the operation itself.

Ryan's heart leaped into his throat, but he tried his best not to show it.

"Does this mean..."

"When I personally submitted the terms of secession from the Federation to the Senate of the Republic, the Astronomical Institute made that decision based on the increasingly serious failure of the Republic's bureaucracy."

The Astronomical Computing Institute has calculated that sooner or later, the Republic will collapse, and even if not due to separatist movements, it will disintegrate on its own. The risks of remaining in the Republic outweigh the risks of secession.

"The Institute of Astronomical Computing has changed its mind?" Hogo narrowed his eyes.

“No, that assessment is absolutely correct. However, the calculations, independent of the Confederate armed forces, conclude that the existing separatist regime will collapse before the Galactic Republic,” Senator Given stated bluntly. “And it is too late to avoid such an outcome now.”

The three exchanged wary glances.

Diedrich stood even straighter, adopting a defensive posture, as if offended by the prediction. "So... both regimes will collapse?"

“That’s right, what matters now is not when it collapses, but why it collapses and how it collapses,” the senator continued coldly, “This operation…”

“Operation Starburst,” Ryan added.

“Operation Starburst is a means to change the way the Republic is collapsing,” Skrytors continued, unconcerned by Raine’s interruption. “The aim is to steer it in a direction that will ultimately benefit the separatist regime that may survive, which is why the Astronomical Institute is currently conducting an evaluation vote to determine how best to proceed with this.”

Ryan swallowed hard, temporarily setting aside the unsettling implications of the senator's words and focusing on the immediate question: "How can we get the vote through?"

"The question is wrong. The vote will eventually pass. The correct question is, how long will it take to pass?"

For a moment, a bewildered silence filled the air.

Ryan was quite certain that the voting system did not work that way, at least not any contemporary system he knew of.

It was Hogo again who provided them with valuable insights into what the Givens were actually doing.

Perhaps it's because both the Muyn and Given people have very long and narrow skulls.

“I think this means that the Astronomical Institute is less about ‘voting’ and more about calculating how to make Operation Starburst a success,” the Muen whispered to them. “So that, according to their probability model, they ‘have no choice’ but to pass this resolution.”

“That’s right,” Skrittors acknowledged, “Currently, Given-Paigan probability calculations indicate that, measured by the goal of collapsing the Republic’s regime in relation to Operation Stormgate, Operation Starburst has a 46 percent chance of success. Therefore, you can assume that there is a 46 percent probability that this ‘vote’ will be approved by the Astronomical Computing Institute.”

"...The Institute of Astronomical Computing is conducting war games," Ryan concluded, then realized, "They will only decide to support us when they simulate a victorious outcome through these games."

Dagibus Skrittors blinked, and at that moment, Ryan could sense that the Given man really wanted to say "no."

“…That’s right,” Renn almost laughed out loud, because the senator’s whole body seemed to be straining when he said the word. “However, things are not as simple as you think. In order to achieve the conditions for victory, the Astronomical Calculation Institute must not only predict the actions and reactions of the Galactic Republic’s Army, but also the reactions of the Republic’s political institutions.”

Since the Republic is primarily ruled by emotionally driven, irrational beings, the Astronomical Computation Institute has no choice but to design a completely new probabilistic model to predict all possible outcomes.

Renn paused for a moment, then a thought flashed through his mind, "I think I happen to have something that can greatly speed up this process."

"I highly doubt that some human invention could have affected the Givans' calculations."

Raine didn't speak, but silently sent an authorization to the senator's terminal to access the Priestess network.

This network monitors every encrypted transmission in and out of Coruscant.

It is a self-replicating, quasi-intelligent virus that spreads via radio waves and the S-Thread to every communications satellite it can reach, managed by the Galactic Republic Army.

PRIESTESS follows only three core rules: propagate, report, and minimize disruption.

In essence, PRIESTESS is a "sky eye" they planted over the Republic.

This is a spy virus designed by the Tech Alliance at the request of the Supreme Command. In theory, it will absolutely not trigger any danger alerts regarding artificial intelligence, and it will absolutely not cause trouble for the entire galaxy in the near future... because the Tech Alliance is certainly smart enough to have set up protective measures inside, right?
Regardless, PRIESTESS acquires massive amounts of data every second.

If astronomical computation requires a massive, real-world dataset to build their probabilistic models... then there is no larger, more real-time, or more realistic data source than that.

"How about this?" Renn asked with a hint of smugness. "With this, how long do you think the Institute of Astronomy's 'vote' will take?"

Dagibbs Skrytors glanced at his data panel, then at Ryan, and somehow, the shape of the eternal scream on his exoskeleton seemed to transform into a satisfied smile.

“You can depart thirty galactic standard times later,” the senator replied confidently. “I assure you that the Astronomical Computing Institute will provide seventy peak-class corvettes, an auxiliary engineering team, and a safe hyperspace route through the deep core region.”

(End of this chapter)