The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2674. The Establishment of the Righteous Army Alliance (Part 2)

At this moment, a loud voice said: "Our troop deployment and military command lack unified planning. At present, we basically attack wherever we find a weakness, without specific strategic objectives."

The speaker was a man whose hair was starting to turn gray, but who was imposing and had piercing eyes.

General Jane Dodner, a former Vice Admiral of the Galactic Empire, was defeated at the Battle of Rendelli and captured by the Kingdom of Dawn. After the Clone Wars, he returned to the Galactic Empire as part of a prisoner exchange.

However, being of commoner origin, he began to be ostracized. Not only was there no hope for promotion, but he was also frequently ostracized by his superiors and colleagues. Therefore, he left in anger and originally planned to retire. However, he was inspired by the 'leader' Padme Amidala and eventually joined the rebel army.

Currently, General Jan Dodner is in charge of commanding the rebel army's combat fleet, but in reality, he doesn't have many warships under his command. However, he still enjoys the 'leader's' deep trust, so he naturally appeared at this meeting.

“My suggestion is to establish a separate military council, not only to command our own fleet, but more importantly, to coordinate the other planets participating in the resistance, ensuring their forces are not defeated piecemeal by the Galactic Empire,” Jane Dodener said gravely. “Moreover, we have an even more important matter at hand—rescuing General Jarl Akbar! We absolutely cannot lose that Deep Sea Fleet!”

"Only you still can't forget about those hundred or so capital ships." A sarcastic voice came from a short Bosaian. "Open your eyes and look at this galaxy. Look at the battlefield between the Northern Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn. Throw the Deep Sea Fleet into that battlefield, and it won't even make a ripple. Our strength is still too weak. We must find more allies."

He was only about 1.5 meters tall, covered in brown fur, and had very developed ears and nose, just like a hunting dog.

The Bosa man before us is named Borsk Fey'lya. He is the leader of the Bosa people and the chairman of the Bosa Council, the highest administrative body of the Bosa people.

The Bosas are one of the most active races in the resistance against the Galactic Empire. They are intelligent, agile, and natural intelligence agents, thus playing an important role in intelligence agencies.

Now, Borsk-Felia manages the rebels' intelligence department. He has established a vast intelligence network that gathers information from all over the galaxy, making him, in essence, the rebels' eyes and ears.

Borsk-Felia stood up and said, “Small skirmishes like this won’t defeat the Galactic Empire. Just like this battle, the Galactic Empire was fighting the Dawn Kingdom in the North while simultaneously deploying defenses on Delon. Then, they sent a small fleet that almost completely destroyed our main force. I want to ask you, General Dordenar, what makes you think you can defeat the Galactic Empire?”

“I never intended to fight them head-on, Mr. Feria. We lack advanced industrial capabilities, so what we need to do is break up our forces into smaller units, disperse them, and harass the Galactic Empire's flanks and rear from multiple directions, attacking their logistics and strengthening our own forces,” Jane Dodener said earnestly. “Although we failed in the battle on Ugio this time, the initial stages have proven that we can completely overthrow an Imperial army through methods other than direct combat.”

“Nonsense.” Borsk-Felia waved his hand, then turned to Padme-Amidala and said, “'Leader's wife, in my opinion, we need more reinforcements. Both Imperial officers and separatists are forces we can win over. We can even rely on the Kingdom of Dawn…”

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang came from Bell Organa, who was participating remotely with only audio input. Bell slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Nonsense! First, you need to understand why we've gathered here! Our goal is to benefit the people of the galaxy, to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn! To free the people from their exploitation and enslavement! You've got it backwards! Defeating the Galactic Empire isn't our end, it's our beginning!"

"You can't even reach this starting point, so what makes you think you can talk about the end?" Borsk-Felia scoffed. "So-called beliefs won't bring us warships or funds. Instead, let's be more pragmatic. I think we can start with Felucia. I'll go visit them."

“Felucia was once one of the core worlds of separatism! Their hands are stained with the blood of their people!” Bel-Ogana said angrily. “Not to mention the Pikes have long been entrenched there, and they’ve been involved in spice smuggling for ages! Do you really want to ally yourself with a bunch of spice dealers?!”

“At least they will help us defeat the Galactic Empire,” Borsk-Felia said coldly.

Mon-Mosma frowned and said, “I also oppose contacting Felucia. Those separatists are utterly wicked, and letting them in will only make us lose public support. However, I also believe that we can bring in a limited number of allies, after careful screening, to strengthen our forces.”

"How do you intend to bring them in, Congressman Mosma?" Gam-Bel-Iblis said. "Do you want those who were wearing Imperial uniforms yesterday, wielding swords against the people, to suddenly become our comrades today, and then we're expected to accept them as one of us?"

“I said it would be a thorough screening,” Mon-Mosma said.

Iblis raised his voice and said, “How do you screen them? Like with that Galen Malek guy? I know his father, but I don’t know him! I only know that a super assassin called ‘Starkiller’ has killed many of our comrades over the years! What happened at the base on Tarank? You don’t know, but I do! It was this Starkiller who killed 720 workers there! And burned 20 precious X-wing fighters to the ground!”

He grew increasingly angry, slamming his fist on the table and saying, "But he also saved us! So now I ask you, are you going to accept him?"

Seeing the argument escalating, General Jan Dodener sighed, stood up, and said to Padme Amidala, "Leader, I'll go prepare the plan to rescue General Akbar. That's all I wanted to say. Just let me know the results of the meeting."

Padme-Amidala nodded. “Alright. General Akbar and the Deep Sea Fleet must be rescued. We must use every available resource. This task is entrusted to you.”

“Yes.” Jane Dodenar said as he stood up and walked toward the door. After a few steps, he turned to Padmé and bowed deeply, saying sincerely, “It is a pleasure to fight alongside you again, Senator Amidala.”

Padmé nodded and smiled, saying, "Me too, General Dordenar." During the Clone Wars, one was in the Republic's Parliament, the other on the front lines, both fighting against separatism and upholding the unity of the Galactic Republic. Now, they stood together once more.

Jane Dodener clearly didn't want to get too involved in these matters. His meaning was very clear: the rebels needed to have independent and clearly defined departments, with military and political affairs completely separated, in order to ensure their fighting capacity.

Padme Amidala is also having a headache. The rebels are indeed facing a variety of problems, and there is no consensus among them, so they are constantly arguing.

Borsk-Felia was quick-witted and cunning, embodying the cunning and treachery characteristic of the Bosa people. He sought every means to fight for his rights, and such people were not uncommon among the rebels.

Yet, there's no way to criticize him. After all, Borsk-Feria genuinely wanted to overthrow the Galactic Empire and establish a democratic and free republic, and he also represented the Bosaans—a large, industrially advanced race that played a crucial role in intelligence gathering.

Padmé raised his hand and said in a higher voice, "Enough! We're here today to share our opinions, not to argue."

Upon hearing her words, the group of people who were arguing immediately stopped and turned to look at her.

Padmé continued, “I am aware of your thoughts. I am also thinking about where our future should lead. But first, we should be clear about one thing—our goal.”

Her tone was very firm, and even Borsk-Felia sat down again to listen attentively to her words.

"Our goal is indeed to rebuild a free, equal, and democratic nation in the galaxy. But how? Until then, we have always clung to the illusion that we can still fight for democracy and freedom in the Galactic Empire's parliament. But we were wrong about that."

"I also thought about occupying a corner of the galaxy, developing our own industry and military power, and standing up to the Galactic Empire, just as the Dawn Kingdom did. But we were wrong about that too."

"We also led those exploited planets to rise up and help them against tyranny and exploitation. But the result was that these planets were slaughtered by the Galactic Empire. In this respect, we were wrong too."

"I wanted to use my power to unite everyone and build an organization to resist the Galactic Empire. But I didn't really establish an effective administrative system; all I had was a network of relationships and tacit understanding among ourselves. I was wrong about that."

Padme Amidala readily admitted her mistake. She shook her head and sighed, "So, the reason I've gathered everyone here today is to discuss with you where our future should lead. We want to save the people of the galaxy, that's true, but how? Now there's only one path left—to overthrow the Galactic Empire by force!"

“But our strength is still insufficient…” Borsk-Felia said worriedly. In front of Padme, he too put aside his sharp edges and seriously considered the problem.

“No! Our power is immense!” Padmé said. “Someone once told me—a single spark can start a prairie fire. I didn’t understand the true meaning of that back then, but now I do. Even the smallest spark of resistance is enough to ignite a raging fire that engulfs the entire galaxy, utterly burning away its darkness and tyranny! Everyone who yearns for freedom, everyone who wants to control their own destiny, is our strength!”

“But no matter how many unarmed civilians there are, they cannot defeat a Star Destroyer,” Feria said.

“So this responsibility needs to be borne by us,” Padme Amidala said. “First and foremost, we must become independent and autonomous, and not hide among those rebellious planets as we have before. No! Because doing so will only invite the Empire to slaughter civilians, and in the long run, we will lose the support of the people.”

"Therefore, we need to leave these planets and go to a remote and uninhabited place like the Yawen system to establish our base. We not only want to establish ourselves here to resist the Empire, but also to tell every civilian that we will never hide behind them! From now on, we, the rebels, will be their solid shield!"

“We will no longer launch uprisings. We will only move out from our own bases, strike the Empire, and then return here. As for all those who want to resist the Empire’s tyranny, we will bring them back to the base. Here, we will live and die together.”

"From this day forward, we will no longer be a mob of rebels. We are a military organization dedicated to overthrowing the Galactic Empire by force and rebuilding the Galactic Republic on the ruins of their sins! From this day forward, we are—the Alliance to Restore the Republic!"

“In that case, our chances of victory are even slimmer,” Feria said. “This will make the Galactic Empire’s attack on us even more direct.”

Mon-Mosma stood up excitedly and said, “You’re right, Leader! We can’t stand behind the people! Every time we launch an uprising, we only invite a terrible massacre and retaliation from the Galactic Empire! And the Galactic Empire doesn’t care whether those they slaughter are ordinary civilians or rebels. Every time we launch an uprising, the result is a massacre, and in the end, we will lose all support!”

“Then we need effective ways to contain the Galactic Empire’s fleet and prevent them from directly attacking our bases,” Gam-Bel-Iblis said.

Padme Amidala stated, "Therefore, we will establish two major departments—the Alliance Advisory Committee and the Alliance Military Committee." (End of Chapter)