The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2626 An Empire Beset by Internal and External Troubles

2626, An Empire Beset by Internal and External Troubles
The fact that King Tang Xiao of Dawn personally appeared on the northern battlefield of the Milky Way makes his meaning very clear. Coupled with the recent intelligence about the large-scale mobilization of the fleet, all of this points to one fact—the Kingdom of Dawn is about to launch a large-scale attack!
At this critical juncture, Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire, for unknown reasons, never attended any meetings of the Imperial Council. Furthermore, even his closest confidants couldn't track him; almost all documents sent to him seemed to disappear without a trace.

The Galactic Empire is now leaderless.

As Dunn Wessex understood, the Galactic Empire could not exist without Palpatine. There were too many powerful figures and interest groups within the Empire who, before, had submitted to Palpatine's authority. But if Palpatine were no longer there, these people would immediately divide the entire Galactic Empire apart.

The Dawn Kingdom may continue in this way in the future, but its super-enterprises only emerged around the time of the kingdom's founding, and their power and foundation are far from being deeply entrenched. At least for now, even without Tang Xiao, the powerful figures within the Dawn Kingdom cannot cause any trouble—for the time being.

Now, the Galactic Empire faces invasion from powerful external enemies and internal strife. Even the Grand Inquisitor of the Imperial Court, Radinal Tobin, has perished on the planet Tepaci!

Ironically, under these circumstances, Emperor Palpatine simply disappeared.

Under the leadership of Kruya van der Lon, the Council for the Maintenance of the New Imperial Order, including core members such as Sat Pestach and Isin Il Raz, began to step forward in an attempt to stabilize the political situation in the Empire, but the situation remained dire. Even they themselves were preoccupied with securing more political resources.

During Palpatine's absence, the liberal members of the Imperial Council became increasingly active. They began attempting to overturn some previously enacted imperial decrees and weaken the Emperor's power. Several decrees, including the complete abolition of slavery and a ban on levying additional taxes on planets under any pretext, were proposed for discussion in the Imperial Council.

Moreover, the activities of the rebel forces have also become more frequent. Uprisings have broken out on multiple planets again, and even military bases of the Galactic Empire have been attacked!

In the past month, a total of 11 border military bases of the Galactic Empire have been attacked. The rebel forces attacking these bases are different from those of the past; they have begun to equip themselves with advanced fighter jets—T-65 X-wing fighters!
This fighter jet boasts exceptional performance and formidable firepower, making it almost a perfect aircraft. Piloted by the highly trained Rebel Army pilots, even a single squadron could pose a deadly threat to Imperial-class Star Destroyers!

In fact, of the 11 military bases attacked, 7 Star Destroyers were sunk by the rebel fighter squadrons! Three of them were Victory II-class Star Destroyers, and the other four were Empire-class Star Destroyers!

The rebel X-wing fighter squadrons often operated in two-plane formations, with six to eight squadrons participating in each attack. Some of these squadrons were specifically tasked with shooting down the escorting Galactic Empire TIE fighters, while others were responsible for drawing the close-in weaponry of the Star Destroyer. Afterward, two more squadrons would follow, one of which was equipped with pulse missiles and specifically designed to flank the Star Destroyer and attack its engine area from behind.

Once the vulnerable deflector shields at the engine location are breached by pulse missiles, another squadron immediately follows, unleashing a barrage of proton torpedoes upon the Star Destroyer's engines.

This tactic is invincible!

What angered the Imperial military even more was that these X-wing fighters were all equipped with hyperspace engines! In other words, they could launch surprise attacks from long distances via hyperspace jumps.

Coupled with the rebels' intelligence capabilities, which had virtually infiltrated the Imperial military, they could monitor the Imperial fleet's movements in almost real time. When launching attacks, they would often be near the Imperial fleet as soon as their X-wing fighters left hyperspace, giving the fleet no time to react.

As X-wing fighters were deployed in large numbers to the rebels, their attacks on the Imperial frontier planets intensified. Especially now, with the Imperial Intelligence Service severely damaged, Black Hole retired, the Inquisition nearly destroyed, and Armand Isard overthrown and killed by his own daughter, Isani Isard.

Under such circumstances, the Galactic Empire is virtually unable to respond effectively to the rebels' actions. Essentially, when a rebellion occurs, the only hope is that the local sector governor will send troops to suppress it.

However, even His Majesty the Emperor has now disappeared. The sector governors are too busy preserving their strength to confront the rebels head-on at this time. Unless the rebels are truly on their heels, the sector governors are all holding back.

Under constant attacks from the rebels, the Galactic Empire is now unable to even maintain stable control over the Middle Ring Sector. And the Outer Ring Sector? The Galactic Empire has almost completely lost all of its territory except for the Outer Ring Sector in the North and Northeast.

……

The capital of the Galactic Empire, the center of the Empire, the Imperial Parliament Building.

"I have reiterated this many times! Commercial Act 079 must be passed! It is related to our Empire's next military expansion plan! If we cannot build as many industrial planets as possible, our industrial output will continue to decline!" Gam-Bell-Iblis, the representative of the Corellia sector, roared like a lion in the parliament hall.

Standing opposite him was Senator Mon Mosma from Planet Chandrila, who countered sharply, saying, "Business Act 079 is absolutely impossible! It means we'd have to redistribute a portion of the core's industrial resources to the inner and even middle ring sectors! Do you know what that means? It means we'd be virtually unable to protect those so-called emerging industrial worlds!"

The two argued fiercely, their words so heated that the other members of parliament present thought they might come to blows at any moment.

Ultimately, the meeting ended on a sour note. But Mon-Mosma and Gam-Ibris seemed unsatisfied; when they bumped into each other at the entrance of the parliament building, they couldn't help but start arguing again.

Passing councilors quickly moved away, fearing that the argument between the two would affect them.

The conflict between MP Mon-Mosma and MP Gam-Iblis is well-known; they argue almost every time they meet. These arguments started with differing stances and later escalated into personal feuds, with them almost instinctively opposing any issue raised by the other, regardless of its content.

Moreover, one of these two represents the Corellia Sector, which is arguably the most developed industrial region in the Galactic Empire, while the other represents the old-fashioned, powerful clans of Chandella. Neither of them can afford to offend the other.

The two argued for a while, then seemed to tire themselves out, and their voices began to lower. However, by then, there was no one around them.

Watching people argue is entertaining once or twice, but it gets tiresome after ten or eight times. After dozens or hundreds of times, people will find it annoying and want to avoid it at all costs.

“I think it’s time now,” Mon-Mosma said softly, letting out a long sigh.

“That’s impossible. We don’t have the strength to challenge an Imperial Legion right now. Even if that Legion is the now defunct Thirteenth Army,” Gam-Iblis said in a deep voice.

“No, we have the strength. We've basically digested the resources of the former Fourteenth Army, and we're fully capable of contending with the Thirteenth Army. Besides, the Thirteenth Army is already struggling to deal with the Hutts; they can't possibly resist us,” Mon-Mosma said. Gam-Iblis shook his head repeatedly. “Too dangerous. We can attack some military bases or resource planets within the Thirteenth Army's territory, but attack Ord-Pardron? I think you're crazy.”

“Luthen Rael is ready. If his plan goes according to plan, the defenses of Od Padom will be easily breached,” Mon Mosma said.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to remind you of, Mosma,” Gam-Iblis said seriously. “Lusen claims he turned the commander of the defense fleet on Ukio, but can these Imperial officers really be trusted? They betrayed the Galactic Empire for profit, and for the same profit, they would not hesitate to betray us.”

“In order to defeat the Empire, we need to unite all forces that can be united,” Mon-Mosma said.

"So what happens after we defeat the Empire? What will these powers become?" Gam-Iblis asked rhetorically.

Mon-Mosma shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Iblis, this plan must be carried out. The K Fleet, in particular, will be transferred to the planet Od Padom."

Gam-Ibris jumped up almost immediately. "K Fleet! You actually attacked K Fleet! This fleet hasn't been 'cleaned up' yet! The Imperial Intelligence Bureau will trace it back to us through this fleet's serial number and information!"

“As long as we act quickly enough, there won’t be any problems!” Mon-Mosma said.

Gam Ibrahim sighed, as if resigned, and said, "What about Bell Organa? What does he think?"

“A banquet is being held at the royal palace on Planet Auderang, and Lusen happens to have a set of valuable relics to sell to him,” Mon-Mosma said meaningfully. “A carapace of a Kilik from 100,000 years ago, and from a species never seen before. You know, as the origin of the Kilik, Planet Auderang has an almost fanatical interest in them.”

……

Meanwhile, at the Royal Palace on Planet Auderang.

Queen Borja Organa of the planet was excitedly showing the imperial nobles who had come to the banquet the relic she had just acquired—a Kyrik carapace.

As you can see, the carapace is very intact, clearly showing the general shape of this terrifying insect. The thick, tortoise-shell-like shell is like armor. Although it lacks claws, a large indentation on its back indicates that there was once another major functional organ on its back.

Although some parts are missing, a Kilik swarm carapace in such complete condition is almost impossible to find anywhere else in the Milky Way. After all, the Kilik swarm has been extinct for over 35,000 years, and it was during their constant war with the Rakata.

While Borja Organa had everyone's attention focused on him, Bel Organa casually leaned against a pillar, sipping his wine and saying in a low voice, "I'm ready. A mercenary force will cooperate with our operation, and the funding issue has been resolved under the guise of a private equity fund."

In the shadows on the other side stood a limping but remarkably upright figure. He spoke calmly: “From now on, do not focus too much on other places. We must downplay the situation on the Imperial border. The Empire has too many headaches right now, and this is a good opportunity for us. As for you, you need to proceed with the proposal to disband the Thirteenth Army according to plan—in order to concentrate our forces against the Kingdom of Dawn.”

His voice was a little hoarse, but full of power.

“I understand, Mosma and I will handle this,” Bel-Ogana nodded.

"Don't meet again anytime soon, it's too dangerous. Your names are on the Imperial Intelligence Agency's list," the figure said.

Bell-Ogana nodded again, but then frowned and said, "I'm still very worried about the defense forces on Planet Ugio... what if they..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he realized there was no one there anymore.

In the direction of the banquet hall exit, a limping figure was slowly walking out. Although he was not moving fast and one of his legs was not nimble, he cleverly used the shadows of the environment with each step. Unless you were deliberately looking for him, you would not notice that another person was leaving.

Bell-Ogana took a deep breath, moved the corners of his mouth, and relaxed his serious expression.

A cheer erupted from the Queen's side. It turned out that a daring guest had climbed inside the Kyrik's carapace, causing everyone to burst into laughter. Some even joked that once inside that carapace, one wouldn't be afraid of even a turbo laser cannon.

Bell-Ogana took another glass of wine from the service robot and returned to the crowd with a smile.

……

9BBY, August 9th.

Before the Dawn Kingdom even began its operation, a change occurred in the southwestern border region of the Galactic Empire.

A mutiny suddenly broke out on Ugio, the empire's most important grain-producing planet! The planet's defense forces rebelled, seized the planet's capital, executed the empire's planetary governor, and then the commander of the defense fleet declared himself king, breaking away from the Galactic Empire's control.

Unlike the rebel army, this time it was the empire's own officials who rebelled, which was absolutely intolerable.

The Empire's Thirteenth Army reacted immediately, beginning to gather forces in the capital planet Od Padom in preparation for suppressing the rebellion.