The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2734 The Rebellion in the Capital (Part 3)

2734. The Rebellion in the Capital (Part 3)
Demetrius Zarin wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly explained, “Your Majesty, The Galaxy Gun is not yet capable of actual combat. We have mastered the key technologies, but so far we can only build one missile. It was a concept proposed by Umak Leth, a brilliant scientist on our team.”

Palpatine clearly didn't expect this superweapon, which he had only heard the name of, to actually be launched. He waved his hand and said, "If it's a weapon that can directly strike separatists, then it will naturally receive sufficient investment. Marshal Zarin, I believe you won't let me down."

Zalin took a half step back and waved to the team beside him, saying, "Dr. Rice, it's your turn."

A portly scientist with a mustache quickly stepped forward and said urgently, “Your Majesty… Your Majesty, to create this kind of intergalactic strike weapon, we must solve two problems: first, how to reach the target, and second, how to destroy the target. The Death Star cannon on Dawn Planet only solved the first problem, but although the shells they fired were very cheap, they were not enough to destroy a planet. So our approach is to do the opposite; we need to create a shell that can both travel through hyperspace and destroy planets. This is… the particle disintegration bomb.”

He seemed extremely excited in front of His Majesty the Emperor, his entire body trembling as he spoke, his words flowing fluently: "After the particle disintegration bomb contacts its target and detonates, the negatively charged particles within it will continuously undergo a chain reaction with all surrounding matter. That's right, this chain reaction will pulverize all matter into its most basic molecular form! Depending on the number of negatively charged particles hit by the particle disintegration bomb, as long as a threshold is reached, causing the matter of a planet to be continuously disintegrated, when it can no longer maintain its basic form, a large-scale gravitational collapse will occur, thus destroying the planet. This process can take anywhere from 10 hours to seven days."

Palpatine was clearly very satisfied. He nodded and said, "Excellent! I can already imagine the people of Dawn screaming in agony under these particle-disintegrating bombs. So, how will this thing be launched to Dawn?"

"Hyperspace jump, Your Majesty. We've installed powerful hyperspace engines on the missiles launched by the Galactic Spear. Using the hyperspace route, we can reach the target planet within ten days, and then activate the sub-light speed engine to launch the attack," Umak-Rice quickly said.

Palpatine's face immediately darkened, and he slowly asked, "So, this thing is an unmanned spaceship, and therefore, it can be intercepted?"

“Uh…yes, Your Majesty. So, we installed heavy armor, high-strength deflector shields, and 20 close-in weapon systems on this missile…” Umak-Leys, sensing that His Majesty’s tone was off, kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

He had to admit that compared to the ingenious idea of ​​the particle splitting cannon, designing this missile as an unmanned spacecraft was a clumsy, piecemeal solution that couldn't address the real problem at all.

Imagine, no matter how heavily armed an unmanned spaceship carrying particle disintegration bombs is, it would be difficult to penetrate the Dawn planet's layered interstellar defenses. After all, the enemy possesses the most advanced hyperspace detection arrays and automatic interception systems. Any spacecraft entering its star system will be locked on within three seconds, and a ten-day journey means the enemy has ample time to deploy a counterattack.

Not to mention the hyperspace jammers scattered along the border hyperspace routes, which are all obstacles preventing it from reaching its target.

In addition, the obviously high cost makes the Galactic Gun an expensive toy that cannot attack high-value, high-defense planets, while low-value, low-defense planets are not worth selling.

Compared to the Death Star cannons that the Dawn Kingdom has been bombing various planets on the Empire's borders for the past year, causing endless annoyance, the Galactic Spear is far less practical. Palpatine waved his hand, blowing the lump of fat several meters away, where it smashed into a mountain of flesh. He then turned to Demeteris-Zarin and said, "If you find the most suitable way to launch this missile at Dawn Planet, you will receive the highest reward."

His tone betrayed his disappointment; if he hadn't acknowledged that the particle disintegration cannon design was indeed excellent, Dr. Ummark-Rice would probably already be a corpse.

Marshal Demetrius Zarin appeared somewhat nervous. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, compared to the particle disintegration cannon technology, how to deliver missiles is actually a minor issue that we will solve. As for the Eclipse-class super star destroyer, we have reconstructed the basic framework of the warship and, with the help of Governor Wilhoff Tarkin, further improved the weapon systems. Currently, the Eclipse-class super star destroyer has been confirmed to be able to carry a scaled-down version of the Death Star weapon, and after being fully charged, it will have the firepower to destroy a planet. The prototype ship is now ready."

Palpatine nodded and said, “Very good. What I need is a super star destroyer that can guarantee victory over the Dawn Kingdom’s Titan warships. You’d better not disappoint me.”

“Your Majesty, please allow me to escort you to the test site. We have also prepared an asteroid as a target. However, for safety reasons, I suggest that you do not board the prototype ship, but observe from this warship.” Demetrius-Zarin requested very respectfully.

"Hehehe...Okay." Palpatine granted his request.

“We can set off now,” Demetrius Zarin said in his characteristically amiable tone to the operator sitting at the control panel.

The Star Destroyer, Majesty, activated its sublight-speed engines and flew deeper into the test no-fly zone. At that moment, the two Star Destroyers that had accompanied Palpatine earlier also wanted to follow, but their captains immediately received clear instructions from Marshal Demetrius Zarin—to remain in place and not to enter the no-fly zone without authorization.

Moreover, the various warships on guard around the area also turned their guns and locked onto the two Star Destroyers.

Left with no other choice, the two Star Destroyers had to shut down their engines and hover silently in place.

The Solemn slowly approached the designated observation position. About three thousand kilometers ahead, the bronze-colored Eclipse-class super star destroyer lay dormant in the dark void like a giant beast.

Palpatine's eyes gleamed with fanaticism as he gazed at the massive warship.

Meanwhile, on the hangar platform of the Solemn, Jing Fang, dressed as a ground crew member, walked toward the Lambda-class shuttle that Palpatine was riding in.