The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2648 The war resumes
2648. War Resumes

Darth Sidious, piloting a TIE/LN light fighter, ran aboard a nearby Imperial-class Star Destroyer, looking utterly disheveled.

For the Emperor of the Galactic Empire to be piloting a fighter jet that had been phased out and was only flown by cannon fodder-level pilots was an utter disgrace.

As soon as he jumped off the fighter jet, Darth Sidious immediately said to the captain who rushed over to greet him, "Seal off the entire area immediately! Shoot down any ship attempting to leave! No matter who it is!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I'll arrange it immediately!" The captain quickly stood at attention, saluted, and responded loudly. Then, he glanced at Darth Sidious and cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask... should we raise the flagship's insignia on this ship?"

"You make the arrangements yourself." Darth Sidious waved his hand impatiently and walked towards the bridge. "Immediately access all the records! Confirm whether any ships have taken off from the Super Star Destroyer."

A robot nearby immediately began accessing the records.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer puffed out his chest and declared proudly, "Raise the flagship marker immediately! Confirm that the entire fleet's movements are under the command of this ship!"

"Yes, sir!" The adjutant immediately stood at attention and saluted, then opened an encrypted button on the warship's control panel and pressed it directly.

The indicator lights around the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, named Sharp Edge, immediately turned red, and the Sharp Edge was identified as the flagship in the fleet's IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system. All commands issued from the Sharp Edge were to be obeyed by the other ships.

The captain, head held high and chest puffed out, continued, "The code is 'Imperial Glory'!"

"Yes! Mark the password, 'Glory of the Empire'!" the adjutant repeated, then typed another command into the console.

The password 'Imperial Glory' signifies His Majesty the Emperor's personal presence on this ship. At this moment, the Sharp Edge's clearance level within the entire fleet's IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) is raised to the highest level. Under this clearance level, if this ship is attacked, other warships will provide unconditional cover, even at their own expense.

For the captain of the Sharp Edge, even serving as His Majesty the Emperor's flagship temporarily was an unparalleled honor. The experience of personally receiving His Majesty the Emperor after this operation would undoubtedly be a significant chapter in his military career, playing a crucial role in his future promotions.

The captain was already dreaming about his upcoming appointment as commander of a small squadron. According to the Galactic Empire Navy's organizational structure, even a small squadron could command at least three to five Star Destroyers!
However, he suddenly felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart.

Looking up, they saw His Majesty the Emperor. He was holding a portable terminal, reviewing the takeoff records the robot had just retrieved for him, and a chilling aura emanated from him.

"A shuttle... took off?" Darth Sidious's voice was distorted and sickening, an indescribable feeling that made one feel physically uncomfortable just by hearing it. It made one want to vomit, to run away, to scream...

“Uh… Your Majesty. There was some chaos inside the Lila super star destroyer just now, and some fighters and shuttles did take off,” the captain replied cautiously. “But please rest assured, from the moment you gave the order, absolutely no ship will be able to leave here.”

“Fool…” Darth Sidious uttered a terrifying sound from the depths of his throat, “Darth Malthael has escaped…”

He raised his head, and beneath the black hood, a pair of eyes gleaming with a golden light sent chills down one's spine. "Now that he has escaped, what's the point of sealing off this place?"

The captain felt his whole body go limp, and his voice trembled as he spoke, "Your...Your Majesty, this...I don't quite know..."

"Not quite sure?" Darth Sidious suddenly raised his voice. "Darth Malthael is at his weakest! He's been completely corrupted by that 'Trinity'! He's almost lost himself! Even if you didn't kill him, just stopping him here would have been enough to kill him! But you let him go!!"

The captain knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, please forgive me... I really don't know where Darth Masail is!"

Darth Sidious stared at him with a sinister gaze and said coldly, "In the combat situation just now, it would be normal for a fighter jet to take off from an Executor-class vessel. But it's absolutely impossible for a shuttle to take off... Moreover, if Darth Malthair wanted to escape this system, he would never choose a fighter jet. Where is your basic judgment as captains?"

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...I...this..." The captain was already incoherent.

“Enough. The Imperial Navy has no need for incompetents.” Darth Sidious waved his hand.

Several Marines immediately came over and pinned down the captain's hands on either side. Another soldier took out a blaster rifle and pressed it against the back of his head, pulling the trigger before he could even say his last words.

At the same time, all the captains of the other warships in the entire fleet were executed on the spot!
"A bunch of useless trash!" Darth Sidious growled, flicking his sleeve as he walked toward the bridge.

"Cough cough cough cough!" After taking a few steps, his anger surged, aggravating the internal injuries he had sustained from the powerful blow from his "son," causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.

……

Even as Darth Sidious was executing the ship captains, the battle around the planet Doku was far from over.

The Lila Executor-class super star destroyer is hurtling toward Doku at high speed, and the battle to save the Lila is far from over.

"Son" destroyed the Lyra's control center, killed everyone on the bridge, and locked the ship's course through the system. However, this super star destroyer also had two other command systems, and the core combat computer would automatically control the ship based on its current status.

However, after the "son" stormed into the warship, he caused widespread destruction. He even fought his way through the buildings on top of the warship, leaving behind equipment and structures that were severely damaged.

Unfortunately for the Lila, one of its two command systems had its power supply cut off, and the other was unable to issue orders due to a damaged communication system. As the Lila super star destroyer was about to crash into Doku, the Imperial Navy officers, under the influence of Darth Sidious's battle meditation, surprisingly became united and displayed astonishing efficiency.

First, the three Imperial-class Star Destroyers closest to the Lyra flew over directly, adjusted their speed, and rammed into the Lyra while minimizing damage, using their own power to slow the Lyra's speed toward Doku.

Inside the Lila, the damage control team went into overdrive, attempting to repair the two backup command systems. They rushed into the burning energy relay station, extinguished the fire, and reconnected the energy supply. Many damage control personnel were engulfed in flames, but they continued their efforts relentlessly.

Meanwhile, in order to reduce the thrust of the Lila, the engine maintenance department was also working hard. They risked their lives to open the engine maintenance compartment and enter while the engine was running, forcibly shutting it down.

Finally, the Lyra's engine thrust began to weaken, and the ship's descent slowed. However, by this time, the warship had already been captured by the gravity of Doku and was still orbiting the planet, its altitude decreasing.

Three Imperial-class Star Destroyers pushed the Lyra relentlessly outwards, finally managing to change its attitude and bring it into a level flight position. However, after shutting down its engines, the Lyra was essentially a gigantic block of iron, 19000 meters long and 100 times the mass of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer! A descent was still unavoidable.

Fortunately, at the last moment, the damage control department of the Lila finally repaired the backup command system, and the thrust reverser and anti-gravity engines were activated in an emergency, finally landing the super star destroyer on the planet's surface.

However, the landing site was not ideal, with a hill several hundred meters high, which caused damage to the Lyra during landing.

Repairing the ship is a minor issue; although the Lyra is in a terrible state, most of the damage isn't particularly severe structural, and it should be repaired in about a month. The real headache, however, is how to get the Lyra airborne again…

Because the Executor-class super star destroyers were never designed to enter the atmosphere. Their enormous size and mass made it impossible for the Lyra to take flight—it lacked any downward thrust system, possessing only a few small, downward-rotating auxiliary nozzles and an anti-gravity system. But these were insufficient to allow the Lyra to escape the planet's atmosphere.

When Dunn Wessex learned that his beloved Super Star Destroyer Lyra had been ravaged by His Majesty the Emperor and then left stranded on Doku, his expression was as if he had truly been cuckolded, with a vast green meadow above his head.

Regardless, although the Lila was ultimately saved, it was temporarily unable to participate in the war.

At that very moment, under the command of Admiral Trench of the Dawn Kingdom, the offensive against the planet Bilbrin was launched once again!

……

During the "G-Day Offensive" on May 10th, Admiral Trench of the Dawn Kingdom commanded his fleet, with the Titan warship Divine Messenger at its core, to launch a surprise attack on the Galactic Empire's fortress planet, Bilbrin.

This meticulously crafted fortified planet is notoriously difficult to attack, as its chaotic hyperspace navigation makes it impossible to send in large numbers of warships at once. Any small fleet that does enter would immediately face the powerful Galactic Empire fleet stationed there, along with a formidable defensive system built upon thousands of armed asteroids.

However, Admiral Trench, with the immense combat power of the Divine Messenger Titan and the unparalleled defensive capabilities of the Taotie Titan, forcibly broke through the defenses of Bilblin. In the assault, he killed the Galactic Empire Admiral Holster Streich, who was hesitant about whether to attack or defend.

However, even if they manage to gain a foothold on the outskirts of Bilblin, their current forces are far from sufficient to face the Galactic Empire fleet, which has retreated into its defensive lines.

Furthermore, the Titan warship "God Messenger" had also suffered considerable damage in the previous assault, so Admiral Trench temporarily suspended the attack. He focused on two tasks: firstly, urgently repairing the damaged parts of the "God Messenger," and secondly, having the "God Messenger" continue to deploy its hyperspace navigation beacon to guide more warships to the scene.

Meanwhile, on the Galactic Empire's side, due to the death of Admiral Holster-Stretch, an emergency personnel reshuffle was also carried out. Dunn-Wessex urgently dispatched Vice Admiral Dagon Niriz to take over and continue commanding the defense fleet of Bilbrin.

Vice Admiral Dagon-Nils was once a fleet commander under Vice Admiral Thrawn. After Thrawn was arrested and sent back to the Imperial heartland, he immediately expressed his continued loyalty to Dunn Wessex and performed well in several battles against the Geth invasions, and was promoted to Rear Admiral.

Then, this time, in order to urgently go to Bilblin to put out a fire, Dagon-Nilz was promoted to lieutenant general on the spot.

Furthermore, Dunn-Wessex made it very clear to Vice Admiral Dagon-Nils that his primary objective was to ensure the integrity of his fleet, and that he should never rashly engage in a fleet battle with the Kingdom of Dawn unless there was truly no other way out.

Under this tactical guidance, Dagon-Nils commanded the fleet to remain on the outskirts of Bilbrin, and used barges to constantly adjust the positions of the armed asteroids, thus constructing a solid defensive line.

At the same time, Dagon-Nils also actively maintained close contact with Admiral Gerard Perein, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Fleet, in preparation for coordinating with his side of the battle.

Admiral Gerard Perrin is currently leading the Northern Fleet in an attack on the planet Od Mantel.

After all, the Galactic Empire currently holds an absolute advantage in military strength.

Although the Imperial Intelligence Agency was unaware that the Kingdom of Dawn had been forced to divert troops to the territory of Qis to deal with the Kylik invasion, Gilard Perein had previously ordered the Seventh Legion to send a small fleet to harass the unknown star system. Therefore, they could deduce that the number of mobile fleets deployed by the Kingdom of Dawn this time was less than they had anticipated.

Since they had superior numbers, they decided to open as many fronts as possible. Admiral Gilard Perein took the initiative and launched an attack on the planet Ode-Mantel, leaving the Dawn Kingdom's limited forces unable to defend both ends.

At the same time, the unique hyperspace navigation system on Bilbrin makes it difficult to enter and exit. In other words, once the Dawn Kingdom's fleet enters to participate in the attack on Bilbrin, withdrawing the fleet will be extremely slow.

This also forces them to further disperse their fleet forces.

Under these circumstances, Admiral Gerard Perein's offensive was not aimed at achieving anything significant, but rather at avoiding mistakes. He believed that as long as the situation continued to drag on, the scales of victory would continue to tip in his favor.

Despite these unfavorable circumstances, General Trench still launched an offensive!