The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2760, The Protoss's Gift
Ben Tiras-san-Skar, the Slaughterer, the Headhunter, the Last Izvoshra, is now a General in the Army of the Kingdom of Dawn.

In the Kingdom of Dawn, where the rank of general is awarded with particular caution, San-Skar's achievement of becoming an army general, while outstanding, was still not enough.

However, as the supreme military commander of the Kali, he was known among the Kali as the successor of the 'demigod' Griffith, and it was because of this prestige that he became an army general.

This principle is the same as that of the Nemoididian admiral, Mar-Tuk.

However, the Nemoidians, who have now been expelled from the Galactic Empire and are living in the Kingdom of Dawn, have once again taken up their racial talent for business.

Nemoideans are frequently seen in the commercial sphere of various planets, but it's uncertain how many more years we'll have to wait to see a tough, iron-blooded man like Mar-Tuk in the army of the Kingdom of Dawn.

General Bentiras-San-Skar led the first batch of reinforcements this time, and the Supreme Command had a very clear division of responsibilities between General Dai Hongkui and the other two army generals—General San-Skar was responsible for specific tactical command, while General Dai Hongkui was responsible for macro-level deployment. When there was a conflict between the two, General Dai Hongkui's opinion prevailed.

The Kingdom of Dawn is gradually assembling its army on the planet Ord Tarsi in the rear, with the first batch of 100 million troops already arriving. This includes 10 Kali, 15000 Injori, 50000 Ewok, 30 ordinary army soldiers, and over 60 combat droids.

The subsequent transport will primarily consist of combat robots, with an estimated 400 million combat robots arriving within a week. They will then be continuously transported to the planet Dantuin via transit stations.

In the army organization of the Kingdom of Dawn, only the Protoss, Vasari, Kali, Injori, and Ewok are organized into separate armies according to their race, which is determined by their unique combat style.

For example, the Kali are skilled in guerrilla warfare, covert operations, and rapid infiltration; the Inchori are human tanks; and the Ewok are agile and suited for jungle warfare. They have different styles and distinctive characteristics. The key point is that they are very strong in their respective areas of expertise. Mixing them with soldiers from other races would actually reduce their combat effectiveness.

As for soldiers of other races, they were mixed in, with some specific arrangements made based on racial characteristics. For example, the strong and robust Semirs and Vasian were often used as heavy gunners, while the agile Dag were used as scouts.

The Supreme Command has now dispatched General Bentiras-San-Skar, indicating their determination to capture the planet Dantuin. Among the most experienced army generals of the Dawn Kingdom are Xiao Guanghua, Dai Hongkui, and Bentiras-San-Skar. Xiao Guanghua is stationed in the Sesvina Sector and cannot be easily moved, while the other two are traveling to Dantuin, highlighting their importance.

The success or failure of the ground battle on Planet Dantuin is related to the implementation of the Dawn Kingdom's next phase of its war plan. To put it more seriously, it is even related to whether or not they can conquer Planet Scipio as Tang Xiao hopes!
Bentiras-san-Skar approached Dai Hongkui and, out of politeness, squatted down so that he could face Dai Hongkui directly.

Despite his fierce appearance and cruel methods, San-Scal is actually very shrewd. He knows exactly who he should be ruthless to and who he should be polite to.

Most importantly, he respected the strong—although he could crush Dai Hongkui into a lump of minced meat with one hand, in his eyes, Dai Hongkui, who held heavy troops and had risked his life on the battlefield many times, was also a strongman.

"The Galactic Empire is sending reinforcements to Dantuin. Before they arrived, I discovered they had established a landing site north of Kunda. I'm going to burn that place to the ground!" Bentiras-san-Skar grinned menacingly.

Dai Hongkui marked the area on the holographic warfare sand table, frowning as he said, "If you attack that place, you will be subjected to concentrated bombardment from Kongda City and at least two surrounding artillery positions. That will be very dangerous..."

"Hahahaha! Of course, we need your support! General Dai Hongkui!" San-Skar laughed wildly. "Don't forget the gift the Protoss gave you! As soon as that thing appears on the battlefield, those brats of the Galactic Empire will be scared out of their wits! Then, they'll bring everything they can to try and destroy you! Hahahaha!"

"What is that thing the Protoss sent... for? I can't even tell if it's a weapon," General Dai Hongkui said, frowning.

“Don’t worry, I almost blew up a Victory-class ship while testing its power,” Zang-Skar said.

"Blow up a Victory-class destroyer? That thing that's at most 20 meters long?" General Dai Hongkui was finally stunned.

"Please forgive my lateness, General Dai Hongkui." A voice suddenly rang in his mind, very humble and polite, which startled Dai Hongkui.

He quickly turned around and saw a Protoss walking towards him. The Protoss was not wearing golden armor or an elegant robe, but rather a set of highly sophisticated personal instruments and equipment.

Dai Hongkui nodded and said, "I am indeed very puzzled as to why you sent two unmanned transport aircraft and four huge machines, but no corresponding engineers came."

“I am Phase Engineer Kayla Thrall,” the Protoss said. “Because the use of the Reaver requires a vote of more than half of the Twilight Council members, and given the tense situation, we will transport the Reaver here first, and then I will come here on a later transport ship after the council has finished its discussion.”

"So, your Twilight Council has agreed to use this thing? That means it has devastating power," Dai Hongkui asked.

“We are very concerned that you will use the Raiders to attack colonies and cities, because that would indeed have devastating and irreversible consequences,” Kayla Sal said. “But our observers report that you get along well with the local population and have rejected Umbrella Corporation’s suggestion to spread the virus, so we believe you are a person who can use such weapons with caution.”

"So-called 'caution' also includes almost blowing up a Victory-class Star Destroyer?" Seeing that strong reinforcements had arrived, Dai Hongkui was in a much better mood and joked.

Kayla Sal said, "It was a controlled experiment, but the results may have made General San Scal somewhat... frightened."

“I understand…” General Dai Hongkui turned his head and stared at the holographic combat sand table. After a long while, he stabbed hard in one spot.

……

South of Kunda City, the Galactic Empire's defensive line. After the southern highlands were captured and the Imperial army's counterattack was repelled, General Maximilian Wells constructed a second defensive line here.

With reinforcements constantly arriving, this place is less of a defensive line and more of a massive forward base. Supplies and reinforcements are being continuously transported to the front lines, and various heavy weapons and mechs are being deployed in an orderly manner. Once more troops arrive, the forces will launch a full-scale counter-offensive.

The military base was given a very auspicious name by Maximilian Wells – Black Mountain Base. The name comes from a small hill on the northwest side of the base, which is full of obsidian volcanic rock and has an altitude of 1500 meters.

As always, the Imperial Air Force's unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flew overhead, sending back as much information as possible about the situation on the Dawn Kingdom's positions to command.

Because the Dawn Kingdom's fighter jets are so powerful, Imperial Army pilots refuse to take off alone to carry out missions unless they are deployed in groups.

These unmanned reconnaissance aircraft are usually shot down very quickly, so the information they obtain is limited. Satellites in outer space are also shot down, so apart from unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, the Galactic Empire can only rely on radar.

However, the intelligence obtained by radar was not entirely accurate, so the Galactic Empire began to use the most primitive method—observation posts.

They set up retractable observation posts in their own positions—actually, they were just metal poles about 2 meters in diameter with a small hut of about 5 square meters on top, where a high-powered telescope was installed.

The observation post can be raised to a height of 100 meters, and the sentry on it can then observe enemy activity up to 50 kilometers away through binoculars.

However, today, the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was destroyed by Ghost fighter jets that swooped down from the sky as soon as it approached the southern highlands, indicating that these fighter jets were very active today.

Sentinel Lawrence pursed his lips, looking through his binoculars at the wreckage of the descending drone. It seemed there wasn't much to see in this direction, so he turned his binoculars around to look towards the Dawn Kingdom's position in the southern highlands.

Being a sentry is actually a very unpopular and arduous job, because the observation post is truly terrifying. Being propped up 100 meters high by a thin pole no more than two meters in diameter, enduring the biting cold wind, just standing there requires superhuman courage. Even with the deflection shields protecting you in the sky, there's absolutely no sense of security.

Under the magnification of a high-powered telescope, it was clear that the Kingdom of Dawn had already constructed a large number of modular metal buildings there, which had taken shape in just a few days. With the naked eye, one could see no fewer than a hundred heavily armored alloy bunkers, as well as fixed anti-vehicle laser cannons and at least ten anti-aircraft positions.

Not only that, things also fall from the sky from time to time. Some are building parts, and some are even entire bunkers. This is a daily occurrence in the Dawn Kingdom's territory.

The speed of construction sent chills down Lauren's spine. And the thought that this was her enemy intensified her unease.

However... it seems that the situation on that side of the battlefield is quite busy today?
Lawrence looked up at the sky, counting the number of modular structures being airdropped. Indeed, the frequency of transport was nearly double what it usually was, with the roar of retro-rockets echoing everywhere. On average, something was launched every ten minutes.

Moreover, although he could not see very clearly at this distance, Lawrence felt that something was surging in the southern highlands, nearly 80 kilometers away.

Lawrence quickly turned on his communicator and reported to his superior: "Captain Cornell! I suspect there may be troop movements on the separatist positions!"

"Let them mobilize! Don't bother me! We have 100,000 troops here, I'm afraid they won't come! Hahahaha!" His superior's nonchalant voice came through the communicator, and it sounded like Captain Kone had food in his mouth.

Lawrence thought about it and agreed. After all, the Black Mountain base had now been reinforced with 100,000 troops and had deployed incredibly powerful long-range strike capabilities. If the Dawn Kingdom's army dared to leave the deflection shield, they would be met with devastating attacks immediately.

So he continued to aimlessly look around, counting the number of modular buildings he could find being airdropped and recording them in a small notebook. This way, when he went off duty, he would at least have some results to report. His superior, Captain Kone, greatly appreciated this behavior and even had the logistics department give him an extra serving of dried fruit yesterday.

But just then, a flash of gold suddenly streaked across Lawrence's eye. He immediately sensed something was wrong, quickly turned back, and adjusted the focus of his binoculars.

It really is gold!
It was a golden spaceship, its surface smooth and rounded, at least 50 meters long. Clearly, this was not a type of spaceship one would normally encounter!
"What is this? A spaceship from Naboo?" Lawrence thought for a moment, and the only planet that came to mind was Naboo, which was known for its smooth and rounded spaceships.

But how did the Naboo spaceship end up on the Dawn Kingdom's territory?

Just as Lawrence was wondering, the lower hatch of the spaceship suddenly opened, and a beam of light shone down onto the ground. Then, a gigantic figure slowly descended along with the light, landing steadily!
This scene, which was almost something you'd only see in a science fiction movie, left Lawrence speechless!
Moreover, what landed was a huge metal machine, also entirely gold! And this machine looked round and chubby, segmented, like a maggot.

Although its design appeared harmless, this golden mechanical object was truly enormous. Lawrence activated the measuring instruments on his telescope and discovered that the machine was at least 20 meters long and over 10 meters tall!
"What...is this thing?" Lawrence unconsciously uttered the same question as General Dai Hongkui before. He didn't see anything resembling a cannon barrel on this mechanical maggot, so he wasn't sure if the machine was offensive; perhaps it was an excavating machine?

At that moment, the mechanical maggot suddenly opened its front and then spat out a pale blue ball of light.

This ball of light moved at an astonishing speed, skimming the ground as it hurtled straight toward the Black Mountain base! The ball of light seemed to possess intelligence, managing to turn and avoid large obstacles along its path. Moreover, this ball of light was clearly incredibly powerful, crawling at high speed close to the ground, completely annihilating the countless dust and gravel it kicked up!
"Enemy attack! We are under enemy attack!!!" Lawrence shouted at the top of his lungs.

Then, he saw the last thing he saw in his life—a dazzling light. After that, he knew nothing more.

From a distance, a terrifying mushroom cloud exploded inside the deflection shield of the Black Mesa base! (End of Chapter)