The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2781 The Empire's Victory

2780, The Empire's Victory
Demetrius Zarin led the remaining fleet in a desperate attack on Thrawn!
Eight Imperial-class Star Destroyers charged toward Thrawn's flagship formation with a desperate resolve, facing the enemy head-on without dodging or evading, and unleashing a furious barrage of fire on the Imperial fleet.

Dense artillery fire crisscrossed the space, and the eight star destroyers, like moths drawn to a flame, charged forward without hesitation.

Demetrius Zarin stood at the forefront of the bridge, opened the public channel on his communicator, and declared with his head held high, "I am Demetrius Zarin! Imperial Marshal! I am here, Thrawn! I await you to take my head!"

A moment later, Thrawn's calm voice came through the communicator, "This was a very foolish decision, Zarin. Aren't you aware that you're being controlled?"

“It is my honor!” Zhalin exclaimed.

The relentless assault by eight Imperial-class Star Destroyers put Thrawn under immense pressure, forcing him to mobilize other warships to converge on his flagship.

The overwhelming firepower quickly destroyed the shields of these Star Destroyers, and their armor melted, peeled off, and was even pierced under the continuous bombardment. The warships were instantly engulfed in thick smoke and flames. After the hull armor of one Star Destroyer was penetrated, a turbo-laser cannon shot pierced through its main reactor, followed by a terrifying secondary explosion that pulverized the rear half of the Star Destroyer!
Other warships were also destroyed after a desperate resistance. Not a single warship surrendered. Even when the battle lasted until the very last moment, with their energy systems destroyed and turrets blown off, the close-in weapon systems that were still functioning continued to fire at Thrawn's warships.

Thrawn specifically ordered that Zarin's ship be left behind until the very end. After destroying the other seven Star Destroyers, Thrawn ordered more precise firepower to dismantle the Star Destroyer's resistance and destroy the engine at the rear of the ship.

Five Imperial-class Star Destroyers surrounded Zarin's warship, locking onto the wreckage with their maximum-powered tractor beams. Then, Imperial Marines boarded assault transports and entered the warship.

Even at this point, the officers and soldiers at all levels inside the warship were still fighting desperately, using blast guns, wrenches, welding torches, and even their fists and teeth to engage in a fierce battle with the Imperial soldiers.

Even Demetrius Zarin joined in, brandishing the marshal's scepter bestowed upon him by Palpatine during his investiture, beating the Imperial soldiers wildly like a madman. Finally, he was knocked unconscious and arrested by Imperial Marines using blast rifles in stun mode, even then, he still clutched his scepter, now twisted and mangled, tightly in his hand.

The suppression operation led by Imperial Navy Admiral Thrawn was finally resolved perfectly, and Thrawn immediately sent a messenger to the Imperial Center to report the victory.

Meanwhile, the search team sent by senior referee Antilis Tremaine returned empty-handed—Phoenix, who had been knocked away by Olega, had disappeared without a trace.

Furthermore, Orega wasn't captured. While Thrawn's fleet was entangled with the eight Star Destroyers led by Zarin, another Imperial-class Star Destroyer suddenly activated its hyperspace engine on the battlefield and jumped away. This was the only warship from the Fist of Orega that escaped—and Orega was undoubtedly among them.

The way that warship escaped was simply unbelievable. Logically speaking, in such a complex battlefield environment, and with the battle taking place on the outer edge of a planet, it should have been impossible to activate the hyperspace engine to jump. Yet, it managed to escape right under the noses of the Imperial fleet.

This is definitely Orega's powerful and strange force at work again.

Combined with the immense power and bizarre mind control that Orega had previously displayed, as well as Phoenix's unparalleled swordsmanship, which far surpassed that of most Jedi Masters, Thrawn and Antilis Tremaine were filled with curiosity about this mysterious and unfamiliar race.

They also compiled information on the two individuals and sent it directly to Emperor Palpatine via a secret channel.

Afterwards, Thrawn led his fleet back in triumph.

……

Throron's resounding victory injected a powerful boost into the already decaying and withered Galactic Empire, invigorating its core and seemingly dispelling much of the gloom that had previously haunted the Dawn Kingdom.

However, since Thrallon was ultimately a Qiss and not human, the Empire did not hold a grand triumphal ceremony for him. Instead, it awarded him a brief commendation and a medal of the Empire.

The fleet that Thrawn led to quell the rebellion was officially transferred to his command and newly formed as the Blade Squadron. Like Darth Vader's Death Squadron, this became another squadron directly under the Emperor.

Like the Death Fleet, the Blade Fleet enjoys a high degree of autonomy. No one except His Majesty the Emperor has the authority to command Thrawn. Furthermore, wherever the fleet goes, it automatically assumes all defense responsibilities of the host planet, and that planet must provide the fleet with repair, resupply, and other services free of charge.

Meanwhile, the Blade Squadron also began to expand, with plans to eventually expand into a massive fleet consisting of one Assertor-class sector command ship, one Warrior-class dreadnought, three Tracker-class aircraft carriers, four Blocker-class Star Destroyers, and at least 50 Star Destroyers of various types.

Such a force, apart from the sector-level fleets directly under each legion, is already superior to any other force.

The Blade Fleet will temporarily travel to Quat to receive its new warships and to repair and resupply the warships damaged in this series of battles.

This arrangement actually reflects the views of the empire's core high-ranking officials and those powerful families towards Throron—"Ha, a mere Qis man. Well done, thank you for your hard work. Now you can get out of the empire's center."

If it were a true Imperial Marshal like Rufon Digorinus who had achieved such merit, he would probably be partying every night with the high-ranking officials and nobles who flocked to Coruscant and would have become a prominent figure in the core political arena of the Empire.

Former Imperial Marshal Demetrius Zarin, who betrayed the Empire, was sent to the Imperial Research Institute for research in an attempt to uncover the secrets of Oregana's mind control, but to no avail. He was then publicly tried and publicly executed.

His body was cast into a bronze statue, still retaining the painful expression and contorted posture of his death, and then placed at the main gate of the Imperial Palace so that everyone entering and leaving the palace could see the fate of this traitor.

Because the Imperial Palace now houses more than 90% of the central government's administrative agencies, this also serves as a deterrent to all high-ranking officials of the Empire.

All of Zarin's immediate family members were also executed along with him, without exception. Thus, apart from Arden-Lin's faction, all the key figures involved in the rebellion were captured, and another bloodbath erupted in the heart of the empire.

High Inquisitor Antilis Tremaine, a renowned torture expert within the Imperial Inquisition, was entrusted with the interrogation duties of Zarin and his associates in recognition of his actions. However, Tremaine, who had previously reveled in cruel punishments, suddenly felt weary. He found himself tired of torturing prisoners with various instruments of torture. He then handed over the interrogation duties to his subordinates and left the Imperial heartland under the pretext of continuing the pursuit of Arden-Lin.

The Dark Prophets also conducted systematic research on Orega's mind control. They gathered all the prisoners captured during Thrall's suppression of the rebellion, dissected them alive, and even opened their skulls to conduct experiments directly on their living brains—a cruel and horrific act.

But their research yielded no results—all those controlled by Orega behaved exactly like ordinary people, except for their deep-seated subconscious loyalty to Orega.

There were no physiological differences or changes whatsoever! No abnormalities could be found. The brain structure, neural signals, and gene sequences of those being controlled were exactly the same as those of ordinary people. Orega's methods seemed to transcend the material realm and penetrate directly into the human soul.

Moreover, the Dark Prophet couldn't find any way to free these people from his control. Neither drugs, hypnosis, nor even the Force could forcibly brainwash them; even turning them into idiots didn't change their loyalty to Orega.

In light of this situation, the Galactic Empire secretly listed Orega as one of the Empire's greatest threats. The Imperial Intelligence Bureau established a special team for this purpose, which also included members of the Dark Prophets, to study and deal with Orega's affairs.

The Imperial Intelligence Agency also intensified its operations, trying to find all the information about the mysterious race of Orega and Phoenix, and most importantly—what their relationship was with the Kingdom of Dawn.
……

Meanwhile, in the northeastern region of the Milky Way, in the outer ring sector.

A battered Imperial-class star destroyer broke free of hyperspace and instantly appeared in space.

Colonel Raven stood in the middle of the bridge, looking at Orega standing in front of him, and said calmly, "We have almost lost everything, Master."

“They’re just some pirates. I can build a much stronger fleet whenever I want,” Orega said. “But what Zarin brought me this time is quite interesting. Let’s find a place to settle down first, take control of a spaceport, organize those things, and then make further plans.”

Raven nodded and said, "Yes, Master. Besides the cannonball from the Galaxy Spear, Marshal Zarin's database also contains design blueprints for more than ten types of warships and fighters, including the TIE Defender fighter. I suggest that we should reorganize our fleet around these new warships, rather than this rabble of pirates."

“Your suggestion is excellent, let’s do it.” Orega’s voice gradually turned furious. “Phoenix… the Protoss of Kalai… I will make them pay for this sooner or later!”

He thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "The other group of pirates hired by Demeteris-Zarin before, their warships seem pretty good! Where are they?"

Colonel Raven said, "They are the Scourge, and their current leader is Ron, an extremely ruthless Farin. He was active in the Hutt Space before, but for some reason, he suddenly wandered into the Empire and has not returned. They were probably once supported by the Kingdom of Dawn, but now, it seems that the two sides have severed ties."

"Ah...hehehehe. Contact this Ron again and tell him that I have Zarin's top-secret technical data and want them to help us sell it." Orega chuckled sinisterly.

……

Anzat, the Scourge's temporary secret base.

There used to be an illegal shipyard here, specializing in repair and modification services for smugglers and pirates, and also building some simple escort ships. Such illegal shipyards are extremely common, especially in the outer ring sector, and have become important strongholds for many illegal forces.

However, the shipyard on the planet Anzart is somewhat different.

Thousands of years ago, during the Sith Wars, the Anzat joined Darth Raven's dark forces, and after Darth Raven's eventual death, they severed ties with the mainstream world.

When they joined Darth Raven, with the help of the Star Forge, they built a large spaceport and starship dock, and these facilities were well preserved because the war did not reach the area.

This also enabled the Anzat people to have their own industry, although it was relatively rudimentary, but compared to most other races, it was already a very good foundation.

However, everything changed after the Scourge stumbled upon them.

The Anzarts were utterly powerless against the Scourge and their advanced Minmatar warships, and after their defensive fleet was destroyed, the planet Anzart was conquered.

However, the Scourge had neither the interest nor the ability to manage a planet, so they basically did nothing except occupy the planet, eat and drink, and demand that the Anzarts maintain their warships.

Faced with this group of ferocious pirates, the Anzat people had no choice but to submit and let them take whatever they wanted.

However, the starship docks and spaceports here are extremely outdated and simply cannot meet the Scourge's needs for maintaining advanced warships. In particular, the primitive repair equipment is almost powerless when faced with the complex energy systems and shield circuits of the Minmatar warships.

Those advanced, sophisticated, and powerful missiles are completely inadequate to replenish.

The Scourge lacks the technology to upgrade the shipyards on Anzart, so even with control of the planet, they are merely barely surviving.

Ron originally planned to make a fortune off Demetrius Zarin and then buy spare parts from the black market that Anzat couldn't produce to replenish his fleet.

But to his surprise, that fool Zarin didn't trust him and instead joined another group of pirates. In the end, they were even cornered by the Galactic Empire's fleet!