The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2723 Sensitive Area
2723, Sensitive Area

9BBY, August 35th, Galactic Empire capital, the Imperial Central fleet completed its troop rotation.

With the Supremacy Executor-class super star destroyer as its flagship, a force of 240 capital ships, 2700 cruisers, and 4000 escort ships began to advance towards the planet Scipio.

At the same time, the two Executor-class super star destroyers, the Guardian and the Reaper, also moved forward, shifting their base to the planet Palancy.

The Galactic Empire's military secretly devised "Project Goalkeeper," intending to launch a strong attack from Palancy to recapture Bilblin and rebuild the gateway defenses of the core.

To execute this plan, in addition to two Executor-class super star destroyers, a massive force of 1200 capital ships and 8000 cruisers and frigates was planned to be assembled. The First Star System Army was deploying its full strength, displaying an attitude of being ready to fight the Dawn Kingdom to the death.

Such a massive force could not even be deployed to the battlefield all at once. Therefore, the "Goalkeeper Plan" also included a series of detailed logistical mobilization plans, as well as a combat plan to divide the fleet into four attack waves to take turns assaulting the Dawn King's defense line.

In essence, this plan aims to turn Bilblin into a giant meat grinder, simultaneously crushing the vital forces of both the Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn! In this way, the Galactic Empire, with its superior productivity and regenerative capabilities, will undoubtedly achieve a strategic victory.

However, the supreme commander of the First Star System Army, Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik, strongly opposed the plan. He stated that the First Star System Army was the Galactic Empire's trump card, and it would be extremely unwise to use this force for such a reckless offensive.

Because the Dawn Kingdom's fleet assembled on Bilbrin is extremely powerful, with the Titan warships Divine Messenger and Taotie stationed there, the "Goalkeeper Plan," regardless of its success or failure, will cause heavy casualties to the First Star System Army. Once the First Star System Army suffers a major blow, the core of the Empire will no longer have any strategic reserve forces to defend against external enemies. Worse still, those restless forces within the country may immediately seize the opportunity to launch a rebellion, tearing apart the Empire's already fragile ruling order.

Marshal Tesik submitted a secret report to the Emperor overnight, strongly arguing that the "Goalkeeper Plan" would lead the Empire to the brink of strategic collapse. However, Palpatine was no longer willing to see the Imperial Marshal and was turned away.

Palpatine was now incredibly sensitive; to him, even Oswald Tessik, who commanded a large army, was no longer trustworthy. For an Imperial Marshal who was no longer trusted, his greatest value was being sent to the battlefield against the Kingdom of Dawn to fight them to the last drop of blood.

For Palpatine, the presence of the First Star System Army at the heart of the Empire posed the greatest threat to him.

Therefore, under His Majesty the Emperor's personal impetus, the "Goalkeeper Plan" was approved, and the First Star System Army had no choice but to push its defensive line forward and begin preparations for combat according to the plan, with an offensive expected to be launched 40 days later.

As an alternative, the second-line capital region defense fleet took over the defense of the imperial center, and this fleet was temporarily placed under the command of Imperial Marshal Rufán Digorinus. At the same time, a tripartite governance structure was established in the imperial center, with Prime Minister Sat Pestach in charge of administration, Aisani Isard in charge of intelligence and security, and Rufán Digorinus in charge of military affairs.

The new power structure appears stable, but undercurrents are swirling beneath the surface. Pestaci and Isard are both confidants of the emperor, while Digorinus, who comes from the old aristocratic camp, is entrusted with military power only as a temporary measure. This arrangement has not improved the situation; on the contrary, it has already created long-standing rifts.

This directly resulted in the capital region defense fleet led by Rufán-Digorinus being largely blind due to insufficient intelligence support.

However, Oswald Tessik left behind a contingency plan before departing. He secretly placed a group of elite officers in the command structure of the capital region's defense fleet to prevent it from spiraling out of control after the First System forces left. In addition, he left behind another 10 Imperial Class II Star Destroyers, establishing a military exclusion zone in outer space around Coruscant, and declaring that this fleet was there to protect another Imperial Marshal, Demetrius Zarin, for new weapons testing and demonstrations.

The reason was perfectly justified, and the designated military exclusion zone was 120 million kilometers away from Coruscant, so it would not affect the political situation in the center of the Empire. In addition, Marshal Demetrius Zarin was a well-known good man, so the various forces had no suspicion of him. Therefore, the military deployment was implemented.

The flagship of this fleet was the Majestic, and Marshal Zarin moved his command post to this warship.

……

While undercurrents were swirling in the imperial capital, another planet in the inner circle was also at the center of this storm—Scipio.

As the financial center of the Galactic Empire, Scipio has always maintained top-tier defenses. Scipio's vaults store vast quantities of rare metals, providing the greatest guarantee for the Empire's bond issuance. Furthermore, its databases contain numerous financial transaction keys and core secrets of the Empire's finances; a leak of these would shake the very foundations of the Empire's economy.

Therefore, when the planet Scipio began to be harassed by small fleets of Geth, it immediately triggered the fragile nerves of the Galactic Empire.

It can be said that the root of this turmoil in the center of the Empire is the planet Scipio.

After the fall of Bilbrin, the journey from there to Scipio was long and involved numerous hyperspace routes, but no place remained a truly fortified defensive stronghold.

To defend against an enemy attack, the best option is naturally a fortress planet, followed by an industrial planet, and at the very least, a densely populated planet. However, the planets we've been on all the way here are mainly financial institutions, which would be extremely vulnerable to attack.

Therefore, faced with the threat from the Kingdom of Dawn, the First Star System Army had no choice but to press its defenses on the planet Palancy and concentrate its forces on this place with almost no industrial facilities. This was a helpless move.

However, in this most sensitive place in the Galactic Empire, another major event has occurred!
Three days before the First Galaxy Army's troop rotation, on August 32nd.

Datar, a planet in the inner ring of the Milky Way galaxy.

“You’re definitely up to no good by throwing me onto this planet, Lucien,” a young man in his early twenties sighed as he spoke into the communicator from the pilot’s seat of a spaceship.

"Of course... I'm giving you a chance to make a fortune. Mr. Cassian-Ando."