The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2653 A Shameful Victory

2653. A Shameful Victory

The bridge of the Reaper-class super star destroyer, the Galactic Empire.

Imperial Navy Admiral Oswald Tessik stood in front of the holographic star map, one hand behind his back, the other flipping through the screen in front of him.

The screen displayed a news article just released by the Galaxy Holographic Network, titled: "[A Rising Star of the Empire: Major General Moss-Barris Achieves Another Glorious Victory.]"

Marshal Tesik glanced over coldly and saw Major General Moss-Barris standing to the side, clutching his hat to his chest, trembling violently, cold sweat dripping down his face, and even a small puddle of water at his feet.

"This report is quite well-written, Captain Barris," Oswald Tessik said casually. "But why not include the battle that followed?"

"I...I'm sorry...Marshal...I...I..." Major General Barris, oh no, Captain, stammered, not knowing what to say at all.

"So, can I understand that you took some selfies on the battlefield and then deserted?" Marshal Tesik then asked rhetorically.

“No…I am…those warships…I…” Captain Barris stammered.

At that moment, through the warship's porthole, all that could be seen was a cold, stiff corpse floating by, with a camera drone controller hanging around its neck—it was none other than the reporter who had previously filmed war news for Moss-Barris!
“I gave you 50 Star Destroyers, 50.” Marshal Tesik’s tone grew increasingly cold. “Based on your rank and seniority, you have no right to this opportunity. But I gave it to you anyway. I had high hopes for you, Captain Barris. The Barris family behind you also contributed a lot to our Empire during the war, so… this was originally a very good start.”

His cold, dead-fish eyes swept over Moss-Barris from head to toe. "But... you faced an attack from 30 enemy warships, and you actually deserted? You abandoned your fleet, leaving them to fend for themselves, and then you ran back to Planet Scipio. Tell me, why?"

"I...I...Marshal...these warships...are too strange...I have no idea how to deal with them..." Mos-Barris finally managed to utter a complete sentence.

"That's the only reason I haven't sent you to a military court yet," Marshal Tesik said coldly.

He turned to look at the projection on the star map and saw that this was the battlefield where Moss-Barris had been attacked. However, now, 100 Imperial-class star destroyers had surrounded the area, and the Reaper super star destroyer was right in the center of the battlefield.

The battlefield was littered with shattered warship wreckage. Dozens of barges were towing away several Imperial-class Star Destroyers that were completely inoperable, while hundreds of engineering ships were sorting and dismantling the wreckage.

No wonder Marshal Tesik was so angry that he even came here from Anax.

Previously, Mos-Baris encountered an attack from the unfamiliar Geth warships. The enemy's offensive was extremely fierce, and within a short period of time, Baris's fleet suffered losses, and two warships were directly heading towards him.

Because Barris was taking a selfie, his warship was positioned relatively far forward, making it the direct target of the Geth warships' attack. These warships possessed terrifying firepower; Barris's flagship quickly had its deflector shields destroyed, and in a panic, he abandoned the fleet and fled. The ensuing battle was incredibly fierce; the remaining captains were forced to fight individually, and while some warships followed Barris in his escape, many more continued to resist.

Ultimately, all 30 unfamiliar Geth ships were destroyed. Of the 50 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, 7 escaped, 28 were destroyed, 10 were severely damaged, and only 5 remained relatively intact.

Such a casualty ratio is utterly disgraceful!

Even in the current main fleet of the Dawn Kingdom, there are no warships around 1,000 meters long that can truly fight Imperial-class star destroyers to a standstill. In a pure one-on-one duel, the Hellsangel-class battlecruisers are no match for Imperial-class battlecruisers because their firepower is too weak and their turrets are distributed on both sides, meaning only half of the turrets are usable in a one-on-one fight.

After all, with its 1600-meter size, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, relying on its greater total energy output, can always play a very good role.

The Dawn Kingdom's fleet relies more on the cooperation between different ship types to achieve a synergistic effect, which allows them to repeatedly defeat the Imperial fleet, which is mainly composed of Imperial-class star destroyers.

However, now, the enemy's 30 warships, each 1083 meters long, are launching a surprise attack on 50 Imperial-class Star Destroyers that are on high alert. In terms of size, number, and tonnage, the two sides are not on the same level.

However, the result was a one-for-one exchange!
In his post-war report, Mos-Barris's combat log stated that he had charged ahead in the previous battle, reaching the very front of the fleet formation, whereupon he was caught in a concentrated attack by the Geths, suffering heavy damage to his warship and thus being forced to retreat.

However, what truly concerned Marshal Oswald Tesick was the performance of these unfamiliar warships.

According to the combat report, these warships had incredibly high linear acceleration and used warp drive, allowing them to appear next to the Imperial fleet with unparalleled precision! At the same time, they had almost no long-range firepower, but their close-range artillery was extremely powerful, with both its power and rate of fire being unbelievably strong.

Moreover, research on the surviving warships indicates that the deflector shields of the Imperial-class Star Destroyers could not completely block such close-range fire. In other words, the Imperial-class Star Destroyers were actually being attacked by both their shields and armor at the same time!
This is also a major reason why the Imperial-class Star Destroyers suffered such heavy losses.

If this were a Jagdpanzer-class battlecruiser, a warship primarily designed for shield defense, it probably wouldn't last three minutes against these unfamiliar warships!

Amidst the wreckage of the battlefield, many Imperial technicians risked great danger, donning spacesuits to enter the interiors of those unfamiliar warships, to gather as much information as possible.

The Star Destroyers present also cooperated, using tractor beams to drag over some large pieces of wreckage and place them into the Reaper's massive hangar platform.

At this moment, one of the suspected bridge wrecks was dragged in, and dozens of technicians rushed over to investigate.

A technician opened the control center console and saw a strange number written on it—T-34-1?