The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2748. Gunner Henk

“Cooling system!” Dennis Henk shouted.

"Ready." Operator A looked at the screen in front of him and confirmed that the internal temperature indicator was light blue.

“Energy cycle!” Henk then shouted.

"Ready." Operator B swiped his finger across the screen, completing the energy cycle of one unit.

"Fire control system!"

"Ready." Operator C reconfirmed that the fire control radar had locked onto the target and made minor adjustments based on the target's movement's landing point.

"Main gun charging!"

"Ready." The gunner pressed the green button with his left hand, and the cannon's energy reserves on the screen rose to 100%. At the same time, his right hand opened a flip cover and placed it on another red button.

"Main guns fire five-round bursts, fire!"

"Fire once. Fire twice. Fire three times. Fire four times. Fire five times." The gunner mechanically repeated the command five times, pressing the fire button five times. This was their operational discipline; they had to shout out the number of times to fire to ensure accuracy.

The XX-9 twin-mounted heavy turbine laser cannon fired five times rapidly, one shot every two seconds, and then the process was repeated. Everyone shouted the exact same commands, and this was repeated hundreds or even thousands of times during a battle. Accompanied by the sound of the main gun firing and the roar of the mechanical transmission system, a unique rhythm was formed inside the turret.

This is the interior of turret B-16 of the Imperial-class star destroyer "Punk". This ship belongs to the Galactic Empire's First System Army, Battle Group A, Ninth Fleet.

The Imperial-class Star Destroyer has three gun corps, each consisting of 20 XX-9 twin-mounted heavy turbolaser cannons, one corps at the bow and one corps on each of the port and starboard decks.

Ensign Dennis Henk was the gunnery officer of turret B-16, which was the aft position of gun 16 in the B gun group on the port side of this Empire-class Star Destroyer. He actually quite liked his post, because generally, enemy fire wouldn't land on his turret.

In contrast, the A gun group, located at the front of the warship, was much less fortunate, as enemy fire was mostly directed at them. Becoming the gunner of the A gun group's turret would automatically promote him to lieutenant, but even so, Dennis Henk had no desire to go.

Of course, if you were to ask Dennis Henk where the last job he wanted to be was, it would definitely be the engine damage control department. Since the start of the war with the Kingdom of Dawn, they'd discovered that the Kingdom of Dawn's fighters loved nothing more than circling behind Imperial-class destroyers and blowing up their engines.

He used to work in this department, living in constant fear. The sound he dreaded most during battles was the alarm in the cockpit—it meant the Dawn Kingdom's fighters were coming again. And then he would pray that it was a Ghost fighter, not a Viking.

Because Ghost fighters are generally equipped with Gemini air-to-air missiles, while Viking fighters often carry Proton torpedoes. Once a Proton torpedo hits, the shields around the engine usually won't last more than three rounds, and then the fighter can be added to the Imperial martyrs' list.

Later, Dennis Henk contacted his uncle, who was a lieutenant commander on a frigate in a convoy fleet. He did a lot of favors and even gave him a bribe of over 3000 Imperial Credits, which finally got him transferred from the engine damage control department to the turret as a gunnery officer. The connection he made was quite generous; he also promoted him a rank, from sergeant first class to ensign.

"Five-round burst from the main gun! Fire!" Dennis Henk mechanically shouted the command again, the twentieth time he had done so in this battle. Based on previous combat experience, if he had the chance to shout the command two hundred times, he would most likely make it back alive.

"Main gun fire five rounds in a row! Fire!" Another round of fire.

Dennis Henk adjusted the integrated fire control goggles on his glasses. The goggles, synchronized with the warship's central command computer, clearly marked the target of his turret—a Dawn Kingdom frigate. The frigate's silhouette flashed in the goggles, a red locking frame firmly positioned over its bow—their ideal landing point.

He rarely had the opportunity to fire on a Dawn Kingdom frigate, because most of the time, the enemy frigates were patrolling the perimeter of the battlefield and rarely participated in the gun battles between the capital ships.

He would only hear his comrades serving on transport ships and landing ships complaining about the annoying harassment of the escort ships after battles, saying they were like green bees from Tosmac, impossible to shake off and impossible to defeat.

So when the combat orders were transmitted to his combat system, he specifically checked the combat computer and learned that the frigate he was targeting was a newly emerged model, currently only known as the Incas-class.

Its dimensions are clearly displayed on the fire control radar—82 meters long, 27 meters high, and with three firing points.

That frigate likely belonged to a separate squadron, surrounded by at least 15 other warships of the same type. Currently, Dennis Henk's ship, the USS Punk, was facing that direction from its port side, and the 20 turrets of Group B on the port side were firing relentlessly at the frigates in that squadron.

"Five-round burst from the main gun! Fire!" Dennis Henk gave the order again, then used the fire control eyepiece to observe the impact point of the blast beam. The two sides were more than 80,000 kilometers apart, and the blast beam would take about 10 seconds to travel. On the fire control eyepiece, five red squares marked the blast beams fired from his own turret.

They missed again. The frigate was very fast and very agile, and the flight trajectory predicted by the fire control computer was always avoided.

"That's fucking disgusting," Dennis Henk muttered, then gave the order again, "Main guns, five-round burst! Fire!"

Following his orders, the firing parameters were running smoothly. In fact, below their turret, there was another four-man team responsible for maintaining the turret's power transmission system, and their work was even more tedious.

At that moment, Dennis Henk suddenly noticed a reaction on the fire control computer! He saw one of the blast beams graz the hull of another frigate next to him, and the frigate's deflector shield shattered instantly, with thick smoke billowing from behind its engines.

"It's a near miss! A near miss!" Dennis Henk shouted. "Hahaha! Kill those damn separatist dogs! Guys, we've got our drinks covered this time!"

The other four people inside the turret cheered. Their bonuses for each battle were tied to the results. Now, a near miss severely damaged a frigate, and the nine people in the turret, along with the four maintenance personnel below, would receive a total bonus of 2000 credits.

"Alright! Keep firing! Kill them all!" Dennis Henk shouted, then continued the firing procedure. "Cooling system!"

"All right."

"Energy cycle!"

"All right."

"…Five-round burst from the main gun! Fire!" Dennis Henk roared through gritted teeth.

Like many of his comrades, he deeply hated the Dawn Kingdom, the separatist group that launched the war. His homeland had been divided by these people, invaded, and their forces had even reached his doorstep.

Before the war broke out, Dennis Henk was just an ordinary transportation company employee; his company was a subsidiary of the Trade Federation. However, after the Clone Wars, the Trade Federation betrayed the Galactic Republic and was subsequently purged by the Galactic Empire, leading to the collapse of his company.

He had no choice but to join the army.

As the war escalated, several years later Dennis Henk received news that his aunt's entire family had perished on Kira. The two families had a close relationship, and despite the distance, they used to visit each other at least two or three times a year. However, with the defeat in the Kira campaign, his aunt's family, along with their two daughters, all under four years old, perished in the war.

The Kingdom of Dawn is a divider in this unified empire, and now it is an invader of their homeland. The empire's propaganda machine says this every day, and Dennis Henk believes it too.

It is because of the existence of these separatists that countless ordinary people like him have lost their homes and loved ones, and that the galaxy has been plunged into endless war and sorrow.

Even in peacetime, their insatiable greed and plundering are the root cause of the hardship faced by countless people. They seize resources, manipulate trade, and exploit the common people, concentrating the wealth of the entire galaxy in the hands of a few powerful individuals.

Countless times, Dennis Henk and his friends would drink and dine together, loudly cursing the military's incompetence and the government's weakness. They cursed the high-ranking Imperial councilors as incompetent and ineffective, responsible for repeated defeats on the front lines.

Dennis Henk believed that the Dawn Kingdom's rumored invincible fleet and advanced weaponry were all lies fabricated by incompetent military officers to cover up their own corruption and cowardice.

Therefore, from the moment he enlisted, Dennis Henk vowed to kill all the separatists and avenge his aunt's family!
The unit he served in was the Empire's most elite and powerful First Star System Army! It was incomparable to those country bumpkin legions that lorded it over the outer rings!
If separatists dare to threaten the core of our Galactic Empire, then they can expect to be slaughtered all the way back to the outer ring and utterly crushed!

"Fire five shots from the main gun! Open fire!" Dennis Henk ordered again, his anger blazing.

This time, the fire control radar gave an accurate prediction because the speed of the frigate that was hit by a near miss had slowed down, and its movements would not be able to escape the lock of the fire control system!
Just as Dennis Henk was waiting for the flames that symbolized destruction to explode, he suddenly noticed that the frigate was suddenly covered by a pale green light screen! Of the ten turbine laser beams fired in five volleys from their B-16 turret, four hit directly. Logically speaking, such firepower should have taken a heavy hit not only for the frigate, but even for a light cruiser, but it was blocked by the green light screen!

"What the hell is this thing!" Dennis Henk was furious and ripped off the fire control goggles.

Without the aid of the eyepiece, he could see nothing but the pitch-black universe and flashing lights on the optical observation equipment, so he put the eyepiece back on.

In those few seconds, he saw the damaged frigate begin to retreat, and a warship the size of a cruiser moved closer and fired a beam of light at it, extinguishing the fire on the frigate in a short time!

Remote repair? With Dennis Henk's experience, it felt like he was watching a science fiction movie. What kind of remote repair technology was this? How was it done?
A notification sound came from the computer, and the command system sent a new instruction. Dennis Henk quickly manipulated the fire control radar to lock onto that direction, and saw a large, streamlined warship appear in the target area.

Henk is very familiar with this type of warship; it's a Hells Angel-class battlecruiser! It can be said to be one of the most familiar warships in the Imperial Fleet. The combat manual clearly states that this type of warship is generally not equipped with deflector shields, but its armor protection capabilities are quite incredible.

However, the Hells Angels-class battlecruiser in front of us clearly emanated a pale green halo on its hull surface, the same type as that of the frigate.

"Damn it!" Henk cursed through gritted teeth, then gave the order to begin a new round of main gun firing, "Cooling system!"

"All right."

"Energy cycle!"

"..."

"Energy cycle!" Henk cursed, looking down. "Boss! What the hell are you doing?!"

“Energy cycle…” the operator named Boss said in astonishment, “Energy cycle is very slow… Wait a minute… Ready, ready!”

"Watch out! Don't make any mistakes!" Henk shouted, because he had already seen the Hellsangel-class battlecruiser turn its hull to its side, preparing to fire.

He quickly shouted, "Fire control system!"

"Ready!"

"Five-round burst from the main gun, fire!" Five blazing beams tore through the darkness, hurtling towards the target. But just as they were about to hit, the pale green light barrier suddenly expanded, failing to penetrate not only the Hell Angel-class's signature armor but also the light barrier itself!
However, during the next firing sequence, the energy cycle stalled again. Henk then discovered that the energy circulation system was being interfered with by some unknown energy source, causing it to run extremely slowly. To make matters worse, the main gun's charging system was also malfunctioning, now only able to charge to around 80% before being unable to continue firing, leaving him with only this level of charging capacity.

"Damn it! What on earth happened?!" Henk had no idea about the overall situation on the battlefield from his position; all he could see was the area locked onto by his fire control system.

The Hells Angel-class battleship emitted bursts of multicolored flashes from its sides, followed by a pale blue light curtain that began to flicker above the B-16 turret.

It was obvious that the deflector shields of their Star Destroyer, the Punk, were being targeted by a laser, and right on the port side!

"We're being attacked!" the gunner shouted.

"Then fight back!" Henk roared, it was the only thing they could do. "Cooling system!"

"Ready!"

Before Henk could utter another word as he began the firing sequence, he suddenly felt the scene through his eyepiece spin wildly; their warship was making a sharp turn!
When he re-locked onto the new orientation, he was completely stunned.

Through the fire control eyepiece, an enormous, disc-shaped metal structure appeared, almost completely filling his field of vision! (End of Chapter)