The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2367: The Art of Thrawn

2368: The Art of Thrawn
September 11, 9 BBY, Kam-Ko System. Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Chimera.

The passionate music formed a very sharp contrast with the elegant and heavy-decorated room in the captain's room of the battleship, even making people feel a little uncomfortable.

But the Chiss man sitting at his desk, wearing the white Galactic Empire Navy uniform and a major admiral badge, didn't care about such a conflict. He just closed his eyes and listened to the music, tapping one finger lightly on the armrest to the rhythm of the music.

At this time, a doorbell sounded, which was crisp and pleasant but not loud. General Mis-Ro-Nurudo, who was sitting at the table, opened his eyes, smiled, and pressed a button beside him.

A staff officer came in and asked Thrawn: "General, it has been six days since we defeated Admiral Ziara's fleet. Do we still need to stay here?"

The place where they were was the asteroid belt of the Kam-Ko system where the miraculous battle of the weak over the strong had taken place. And here, there were warship wreckages floating everywhere, most of which had the mark of the Kingdom of Dawn, and about a third of them could be seen at a glance as warships produced by Chis Territory.

"Why not? My capable and smart chief of staff, Colonel Taremi." Thrawn asked back with a smile.

"Since Chiara has suffered a defeat here, the Chiss Territory's fleet will definitely raid this place, General Thrawn. Our situation is very dangerous now!" said Chief of Staff Taremi.

"Oh? How do you judge the situation?" Thrawn changed the subject directly.

"We defeated Chiara's main fleet, which is great, General. Next, we just need to maintain our strength and request more reinforcements from the Empire, and continue to harass and maneuver while preserving ourselves. I think it will take one to two months at most. Yes, by the beginning of next year, the Chiss Territory itself will be in chaos!" Taremi said firmly.

"I agree with your judgment, Colonel Taremi, this is also our plan." Thrawn said lightly: "To overthrow the Chiss Territory, it is not our strength that is needed, but the strength of the Chiss Territory itself. Now, we have done what we can. This victory can make more people in the Chiss Territory turn to us. But..."

He smiled and shook his head. "It's not that simple. The Kingdom of Dawn will definitely fight back, and it will be ten times, a hundred times stronger... because that's their nature."

"In that case, we should leave here!" said Taremi.

Thrawn never answered the question. He suddenly asked, "I asked each of you to read the brief history of the Dawn Planet, or rather, the brief history of the Fourth Civilization as they call themselves. Have you read it?"

"I've read it at least five times, General," Taremi replied, "but I always feel that their so-called history is more like science fiction than history. The Cleansing Protocol and the High Demon, I'm sorry, these things have long been proven to be non-existent."

"The existence of a history is not because of its authenticity, but because of its purpose." Thrawn said seriously: "The history we see now is not necessarily true, but it is definitely what they want everyone to see. Just like the ancestors of you humans from Coruscant - the story of the Thirteen Tribes of Philosophers in the legend of Coruscant, who bravely fought against the brutal Pottery people, is by no means as great and bright as recorded. However, such greatness and brightness are exactly what they want you to think." "Who are the 'they' you are talking about?" Taremi didn't quite understand.

"After defeating the Tao people, the thirteen tribes of the philosophers continued to expand outward, and eventually became the first thirteen colonized planets of the human race. They are also the thirteen most prosperous and developed planets in the core circle of the Milky Way. Moreover, after tens of thousands of years of development, they came together again and became the first thirteen members of the Galactic Republic. So who do you think 'they' are?" Thrawn asked with a smile.

"I... understand." Taremi thought.

"Then let me ask you again, what did you see from this brief history of the Fourth Civilization?" Thrawn asked again.

Taremi began to rack his brains to organize his words, "Hmm...iron-blooded, bellicosity, militarism..."

"Fear, and... hunger!" Thrawn pointed out the essence of the Fourth Civilization without waiting for Taremi to express his superficial understanding. "Fear is because they are afraid of extinction and losing their homes. The three natural disasters have made them extremely afraid of such disasters. And hunger is that in order to survive the natural disasters, they will only crave more living space! How much living space do they want? Until they are no longer afraid."

Thrawn crossed his hands, supported his chin, and continued: "Through this history, they have transferred this fear to the Galactic Empire. I have been checking almost everything about the Fourth Civilization these days... their music, their opera, their advertisements, their books, their history, their fleets. Everything shows that they are afraid of the Galactic Empire..."

"This...Isn't it good that they are afraid of us?" Taremi couldn't understand.

Thrawn's expression turned a little ferocious. "I'm so scared that I wish the Galactic Empire would die and be destroyed! It would be best if it were completely crushed, covered, and pushed into a black hole until it disappears completely!"

Taremi was stunned.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Thrawn stood up, the ferocious expression on his face disappeared, and he said calmly: "This is a civilization that has regarded the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire as its ultimate imaginary enemies since its origin. From the moment they ended their escape and began to establish a colony on the planet Dawn, they regarded the Republic, which had already ruled the entire galaxy at that time, as their only enemy. This civilization... was born to destroy the Galactic Republic! Now the Republic has become an empire, but the purpose of the Fourth Civilization has never changed. The Galactic Empire is what they believe to be the Fourth Scourge!"

"That doesn't make sense! I've read their records. When they first established the colony, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn submitted data to the Galactic Republic authorities that showed that their colony had only a few thousand people, and there were more than 100,000 people in hibernation on the spacecraft." Taremi felt it was ridiculous. "You mean, they wanted to defeat the Galactic Republic from that time on?"

"And they believe they can do it," Thrawn added, his expression now extremely serious.

Suddenly I found that this book has an audio version, which can be read on the homepage of the book. Membership should be free. I occasionally listen to it. Although it is AI dubbing, the effect is unexpectedly very good.