The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2640 The Rise of the Black Nest (Part 1)
2640. The Rise of the Black Nest (Part 1)

"No? Heh... Never mind, I shouldn't have had any expectations for the tricks you wizards play anyway." Marshal Orman-Tagg's status was different now, and he showed no mercy to the Dark Prophet Cardan.

“No. I think your company is very safe, Marshal.” With “company” and “Marshal” mentioned repeatedly, Cardan’s tone was almost full of sarcasm. “So, you just need to send out your capable agents and have them pluck out the traitors hiding inside.”

"So, you were of no use at all?" Orman-Tagg said with a sneer. "In that case, I won't see you off."

After saying that, he abandoned Cardang and turned to leave. Even as he left, he deliberately kept the communication on while turning off the lights, leaving the Dark Prophet in the darkness.

However, Cardan was not angry about this; instead, he simply cut off the communication himself.

“My Lord…we clearly…” another member of the Dark Prophet group beside him said, frowning.

“The fall of the Galactic Empire is imminent. At this time, we have no need to offend the victors.” Cardan waved his hand and said calmly, “Besides, if we really take action against the people who were here, Mace Windu will not let me off the hook.”

He smiled and led his apprentice out.

The apprentice then asked, "So, are we planning to go to the Kingdom of Dawn?"

"The future of the Milky Way is uncertain, and where our future lies requires further thought and contemplation..." Cardan looked up at the vast starry sky and said softly.

After Cardan left, Orman Tag began to seek assistance from the Imperial Intelligence Service, and the Director of the Service, Aisani Isard, was very cooperative. She assigned the experienced and steady Wolf-Ularen, who had just been promoted to Deputy Director, to take charge of Tag Company's affairs.

The arrival of Woolf-Ularen will also temporarily bring the remaining court personnel at the Tagg Corporation headquarters under his command.

Because of the sudden retirement of Black Hole, followed by the successive deaths of two High Inquisitors—Hydra and Radinar Tobin—the Imperial Inquisition has fallen into chaos and is almost incapable of carrying out any action.

The court currently has two chief judges—Malorum and Ja'ce Yiaso—who are vying for control of the court and will certainly not take any action until a decision is reached.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the individual abilities of those referees are undeniable. Woolf Ulaan, as an admiral during the Clone Wars, had extensive collaborations with Jedi Knights such as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, so his understanding of the Force was much deeper than that of others.

Woolf-Ulaan immediately concluded that Cardan was lying, and that the Force must have been involved in the split of Targaryen!

However, as the leader of the Dark Prophets, Kadan made it clear that he was unwilling to get involved, so Woolf-Ulaanen had no choice. Therefore, Ulaanen had no choice but to take two Inquisitors with him and prepare to go to Drukenville to request an investigation into Silas Targ.

……

Meanwhile, in the southeastern region of the Milky Way, within the territory of the Thirteenth Army of the Galactic Empire in the Hut Space, the uprising that broke out on the agricultural planet Ugio has become uncontrollable.

When the 13th Army Governor-General Biruel led his fleet to Ugio to quell the rebellion, he was ambushed by the rebel general Jal-Akbar, his entire army was wiped out, and Biruel was captured by the rebels.

Afterwards, the rebels occupied the capital of the Thirteenth Army, Ode-Pardoran, and the Thirteenth Army of the Empire was destroyed.

Although the Thirteenth Army was far away in the Hut space, and as the Hutts gradually integrated into a centralized regime under the leadership of Oruba-Gorensla, the leader of the Gorensla family, the Thirteenth Army was already struggling to survive. Its annihilation by the rebels this time merely accelerated the process.

But after all, the Thirteenth Army was one of the twenty major legions of the Galactic Empire. Its annihilation was a resounding slap in the face to the Galactic Empire. And the one who delivered this slap was a rebel army that the Galactic Empire had always looked down upon! This was absolutely intolerable.

Therefore, after reporting to Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command proposed an immediate response, dispatching troops to encircle and annihilate General Jal-Akbar's Deep Sea Fleet. And the one who executed this plan was none other than Darth Vader!

The Imperial military's plan is that Darth Vader currently has two missions: one is to find Wilhoff Tarkin's eldest son, Garosh Tarkin, and the other is to prepare to launch an attack on the Fondo planet.

It is now almost certain that Garosh Tarkin was kidnapped by the rebels. Meanwhile, due to the initial defeat in the Battle of Bilblin in the Northern Front and the death of Admiral Holst Streich, the Galactic Empire desperately needs a victory to boost morale.

Should they seek victory on Fangduo, one of the largest industrial planets in the Milky Way, despite its insufficient defensive forces? Clearly, they lacked confidence and could not achieve it in a short time.

A short-term victory, or the suppression of the rebellion, would obviously be the best outcome.

Therefore, after receiving Emperor Palpatine's personal decree, Darth Vader began to assemble his fleet on the planet Delon, preparing to launch an attack and recapture the XIII Army's capital, Ode Paldoran, which was controlled by the rebels.

Darth Vader's frontal assault was only in the open; another battle against the rebels had already quietly begun.

Under the personal supervision of Aisani Isaad, the head of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, and with the support of several judges from the Imperial Tribunal led by the Second Sister, a secret investigation was launched into the insurgents within the Empire.

...While the Galactic Empire was dealing with its internal problems, a great fire broke out in the rear of the Dawn Kingdom.

Kilik swarm!
Severance Tann led a squadron to Celwis, where Abathur was leading the Torgate swarm to rebuild their hive.

The Toggart Swarm's hive was destroyed in the previous war with the Griskians. After that, Abathur re-bred a hive and then rebuilt the heavily damaged Toggart Swarm.

As a master of genetic manipulation and evolution, Abathur has made the most of the limited Kilik swarm genes at his disposal, hatching a large number of swarms with different functions. After receiving a large amount of supplies from the Kingdom of Dawn through clandestine channels, the number of Torghut swarms has rapidly expanded to about 6 million within a year.

Afterwards, Abathur evolved a type of broodworm capable of basic hyperspace travel. According to the plan, he began to harass the borders of the Chis territory and put on a show with General Ziara to create a false enemy for the Chis people in order to maintain the cohesion of the Chis territory.

In other words, the need for an external enemy to maintain cohesion indirectly demonstrates that the Dawn Kingdom's rule in the Qis territory is not firmly established.

However, as the Holy Advent Church began to take root and spread in Qis Territory, Tang Xiao's plan to rule Qis Territory through religion was being realized.

Perhaps in a few years, the Holy Advent Order will become the largest religion in the Kingdom of Chis. At that time, Abathur's swarm will no longer be needed as an enemy; it will continue to expand outwards, becoming another secret force within the Kingdom of Dawn.

In order to further enhance the strength of the Torggart swarm, Abathur also needed to obtain more Kilik swarm essence. To this end, he led the Torggart swarm to continuously attack the surrounding Kilik swarm.

During this year, Abathur destroyed and devoured seven Zerg swarms, obtaining a vast amount of evolutionary essence. However, this was far from enough!

The Torgate swarm is still very weak, and the swarms they can devour are naturally also weak. The valuable parts obtained from these swarms are not many.

However, Abathur was very patient. He kept adjusting and modifying the existing essences while exploring more Kilik swarms in preparation for obtaining more essences.

The Kilik swarm lies in a star sector located east of the Chis's territory on the planar star map, a region inaccessible even by hyperspace routes. Within this sector, the Kilik swarm is widely distributed, with conservative estimates suggesting at least several hundred swarm tribes.

Furthermore, by analyzing the devoured mother hives, Abathur also learned that the genes of these Kilik swarm mother hives all pointed to a mysterious place—the Colony!
Abathur deduced that the essence of the ancient Kilik swarm likely resided within its core lair. If he could obtain this essence, he might very well be able to recreate the Kilik swarm's former glory!

That's right, the Swarm Empire that dominated the Milky Way 100,000 years ago and had the capability to build superweapons like Midpoint Station, capable of destroying the entire galaxy!
However, as Abathur continued his exploration of the surrounding star systems, he discovered that the Kylik swarm was growing increasingly powerful, and the current Torgate swarm was no match for it. Therefore, he needed more supplies and more time.

But at that moment, the planet on the edge of the Qis territory was suddenly attacked by a swarm of insects!
The attacks were not large-scale. A large creature, about 40 meters long, carried hundreds of various types of Kilik soldier insects to the edge of the Qis territory, dropped the Kilik soldier insects, and then quickly disappeared.

Meanwhile, the Kilik soldier insects wreaked havoc on the planets of the Chis territory until they were all killed by the defense forces.

The number of planets attacked as a result has reached five.

That's not all. The real problem lies in the fact that the Kilik swarm possesses a trait that can be considered a racial innate. Because the Kilik swarm exhibits a hive consciousness, its individuals communicate through a unique form of bio-sensory communication. This bio-sensory communication manifests as a bio-wave with a frequency remarkably similar to brainwaves.

Furthermore, the biowaves of the Kilik swarm are so powerful that ordinary people are quickly and subtly assimilated after coming into contact with an individual Kilik swarm member.

This assimilation is not biological assimilation, but rather, imperceptibly, the brainwaves of these individuals are altered to the same frequency as the biological waves of the Kilik swarm. This allows them to receive information from the Kilik brood hive, thus becoming subject to its control.

This process is entirely gradual and uncontrollable, even beyond the control of the Kilik hive. The end result is that anyone who comes into contact with the Kilik swarm is slowly assimilated. And this assimilation is irreversible, even more thorough than the control exerted by the Grisk!
The reason Tang Xiao wanted to use the Kilik swarm to deal with the Grisk was because the Kilik swarm's transformation mechanism was far more thorough and deadly than the Grisk's mind control!
The assimilated person is the one who rides on the ride—the participant (Joiner).

Because of this characteristic, it's highly likely that some people on the five attacked planets have already been converted into participants. Moreover, these participants are extremely secretive; they look exactly like normal people, even with the most advanced instruments. The only difference is that they can receive commands from the Hive and act solely in its interests.

At the same time, these participants are constantly transmitting all intelligence and information from this place to the Mother Nest, allowing the Mother Nest to gain a better understanding of the society of the Qis Territory.

Knowing full well the dangers posed by the Kilik swarm, Ziara immediately ordered the entire border of the Qis territory sealed off. At the same time, she sent envoys to the Kingdom of Dawn for assistance.

Even though the Kilik swarm has gradually degenerated into an ordinary insect race after the upheaval that may have involved the gods 100,000 years ago, as a super civilization that once dominated the galaxy, even if they only have a little bit of racial talent, they are still an incredibly terrifying existence!

It could even be said that, compared to its peak period
Compared to the Kilik swarm, the Grisk, a race known as the legendary race, are nothing but trash!
What puzzled Abathur, however, was that the Kilik swarm, after its complete degeneration, had almost entirely lost its offensive capabilities. The degenerated Kilik swarm was simply content to survive.

Just like when Abathur first encountered the Torghut swarm, this swarm was content with hunting small animals and gathering fruits from plants to survive. With their food supply sufficient, these insects would even lie down and bask in the sun!
Furthermore, the intelligence of the Kilik swarm has completely degenerated; even their mother brood is at most equivalent to the intellectual level of a 7 or 8-year-old human.

Bio-wave intensity and intelligence are two different things and cannot be equated.

You simply cannot imagine that such a race would launch an attack on others!
Abathur also brought another message—a month earlier, there had been signs of a Galactic Empire fleet operating in the vicinity, but they quickly disappeared. Immediately afterward, the Kilik swarm launched its attack!

(End of this chapter)