The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2719 Rufang-Digorinus

2719, Rufão Digorinus

Rufán Digorinus, Imperial Marshal.

He came from an inner circle of wealthy and powerful families, and like many powerful and influential families, his family used their vast connections and networks to get him into the military.

Since the outbreak of the Clone Wars until the reorganization of the Empire, those insightful Inner Circle families have recognized the changing situation—the military has become the new master of this galaxy.

Unlike the previous thousand years of peace, in that Galactic Republic, monopolies, commerce, colonization, and capital were the true darlings. The military? That was a place even dogs wouldn't want to enter.

Today, with war becoming the dominant theme in the galaxy, the status of the military is constantly rising. Therefore, expanding one's influence within the military has become the primary choice for major wealthy families.

However, expanding influence within the military is easier said than done.

At the start of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic's military was established by Chancellor Shiv Palpatine through the Military Creation Act. When this Great Republic Army was established, only a very few companies, such as the Interstellar Banking Association and Quarter Power Shipyard, obtained contracting rights and equipment orders, while the vast majority of traditional powerful families were excluded.

Even so, these families still attempted to infiltrate the military by sending their children to military academies, marrying into the ranks of officers, or secretly funding frontline commanders.

It was under these circumstances that Rufán Digorinus was sent to the army by his family.

It should be said that compared to many other mediocre and fearless scions of wealthy families, Rufon Digorinus was outstanding in both character and talent. He rose through the ranks to become an admiral and was given the opportunity to command a fleet independently.

However, Rufán-Digorinus's heart was not in the army. He still missed the life he had in the inner circle of nobles and preferred politics to the military.

This very contrast limited his achievements in the military. Therefore, although he independently commanded a fleet, he never appeared on the front lines, neither against separatism nor against the Kingdom of Dawn. Rufon-Digorinus was consistently stationed in the Outer Rim sector, tasked with suppressing space pirates.

Although he had a track record of wiping out several powerful pirate groups, he was never able to gain the true recognition of the military.

Perhaps this is why he caught the eye of Emperor Palpatine, who ultimately decided to appoint him as one of the twelve marshals of the empire. From Palpatine's perspective, this appointment was actually a way to use Rufon-Digorinus to sow discord within the military.

After all, Rufán-Digorinus possessed certain military talent and had accumulated some connections within the military, but his true network remained within the core aristocratic class. Appointing such a person as Imperial Marshal was undoubtedly like driving a thorn into the military.

In fact, upon closer examination, most of the twelve imperial marshals were considered within a similar framework of checks and balances.

Therefore, after being appointed as Imperial Marshal, Rufán-Digorinus began to move more between the military and the elite, and his status as Imperial Marshal became his reliance for penetrating higher levels of the elite class.

He frequently attended aristocratic dinners in Coruscant, exchanging toasts with the Speaker's advisors and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Meanwhile, leveraging his family's business in online media, along with his own handsome appearance and elegant demeanor, he had become a rising star in the imperial political arena.

However, things haven't been going well for Rufão Digolinus lately.

Palpatine's relentless push for the nationalization of major corporations infringed upon the fundamental interests of the core aristocratic circles, leading to conflict between them. Furthermore, following the assassination attempt, Palpatine tightened his control over the inner ring and core star sectors, significantly increasing the power of the Imperial Intelligence Service and creating a climate of fear throughout the entire Imperial power center.

Furthermore, the most serious event occurred within the Targ family. The internal strife that erupted in what is currently arguably the most powerful family in the Empire had extremely severe consequences. A very sharp conflict broke out between the current patriarch, Orman Targ, and his third brother, Silas Targ. Silas Targ fled to Drukenville to raise a rebellion against his brother.

This civil war within the Targ family is shrouded in mystery, and even Orman Targ, one of the parties involved, cannot explain why he and Silas Targ suddenly became irreconcilably hostile. The outcome, however, was extremely dire.

After the initial defeat on Drukenville, Orman Tag surprisingly rallied another Imperial Marshal, Neil Decklane, and launched an attack using the Imperial regular fleet! In the end, Silas Tag was killed by Neil Decklane.

It's important to understand that while Niall Deklan was an Imperial Marshal, he was of commoner origin. This dual identity—commoner and Imperial Marshal—immediately provoked widespread outrage within the inner circle of nobles after he killed Silas Targ, one of the top nobles. The nobles viewed this as a blatant trampling of traditional power by the imperial authority, and undercurrents quickly gathered beneath Coruscant.

Moreover, Orman Tag himself was a Reich Marshal!

Neil de Crane clearly realized the enormity of his mistake, and after the battle, he disappeared, hiding in the Outer Ring Sector, too afraid to return.

This incident directly led to a near-irreconcilable conflict between the inner circle of nobles and the military. Rufán-Digorinus was caught in the middle, feeling extremely awkward. He began to feel alienated from the nobles and could no longer mediate between them.

In recent times, Rufán-Digorinus has clearly sensed that undercurrents are swirling in the heart of the Empire, and that something is happening that he is unaware of.

At this point, his advisors suggested that he strengthen the defenses. Rufon-Digorinus then decided to reinforce the defenses of the Imperial center and dispatch 20 Imperial Class II Star Destroyers into Coruscant's atmosphere.

Meanwhile, to avoid causing panic among the core aristocratic class, he assigned this task to the capital region defense fleet. This fleet was a second-line fleet, usually stationed near the Coruscant system when not in use; those with connections who wanted to join the military were often assigned here.

Therefore, many officers in this fleet are sons of the inner circle of nobles, and having them lead the warships into the planet's atmosphere will not arouse the dissatisfaction of the nobles.

However, Oswald Tessick, the First Star System Commander who had been in charge of military affairs for the entire sector and was also an Imperial Marshal, opposed the decision. He agreed with Rufon Digorinus's idea of ​​strengthening defenses, but did not believe that this task should be assigned to the capital region's defense fleet.

His reasoning was that the capital region defense fleet was mostly composed of incompetent and corrupt officials with connections who were more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything, and were not suitable for such a sensitive mission.

But Rufán Digorinus insisted, and Tesick, not wanting a major conflict, agreed.

However, Rufán-Digorinus's staff went further, suggesting that using the Victory-class Star Destroyers already equipped by the capital region's defense fleet for this mission would be ineffective, as these outdated warships would offer no deterrent power. Therefore, they proposed that the military allocate 20 of the most advanced Imperial II-class Star Destroyers.

Rufán-Digorinus also agreed to the suggestion, but he considered that after such an operation, these new warships would become his own.

It was impossible to approach Oswald Tessik about this matter, so he reported directly to Palpatine. At that time, Palpatine was still very lenient towards these imperial marshals, and the request was approved immediately.

As for Oswald Tessick's opposition? As a fellow Imperial Marshal, Tessick, who combined military and political power as the governor and supreme military commander of the First Army, wielded immense real power. Palpatine's favorite pastime was to use checks and balances to suppress the strong and support the weak.

After twenty Imperial Class II Star Destroyers entered Coruscant's atmosphere, the planet's security improved significantly. Rufon Digorinus also felt the deterrent effect, and the nobles who had initially distanced themselves from him began to become enthusiastic again.

This shows that it is still effective, Lu Fang thought to himself.

However, at this time, someone began to make a very dangerous suggestion to him—why not take this opportunity to clear the First Star System Army's forces out of Coruscant and let him take full responsibility for the defense of Coruscant?
In this way, wouldn't Rufán-Digorinus rightfully become the guardian deity of the empire's center?
Rufang-Digorinus, who had never had his own sphere of influence, was intrigued... He began to seriously consider the feasibility of this matter.

The more Lu Fang thought about it, the more tempting it seemed. But he also understood that the implications were far too great, and he absolutely could not act rashly. He needed a suitable opportunity to legitimately push this matter forward.