The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2782. The Demise of the Scourge (Part 2)

"A 50/50 split? The Fist of Orega? Hahahaha!" Upon seeing this message, Ron burst into wild laughter. "Utterly ridiculous! That rabble dares to covet my spoils?"

He had already accepted Demetrius Zarin's legacy as his own.

"Boss! This is just like someone handing you a pillow when you're sleepy, it's great!" one of the leaders chimed in.

“That’s right, that’s right! Perfect for a double-cross! Let’s take down the Fist of Orega and steal all that data!” another leader said.

“…But boss, isn’t this too much of a coincidence? Logically speaking, the Fist of Orega was just severely damaged by the Imperial Fleet, so there’s no reason for them to come out and say they have something good…” An older leader still frowned and questioned.

“What do you know? It’s precisely because the Fist of Orega has been severely damaged that they desperately need more funds to rebuild!” Ron didn’t need to refute him; his loyal lackeys naturally defended him.

“Yes, yes. Think about it, besides them, only we know the technological data that Zalin has,” another leader said. “As long as Orega isn’t stupid, he’ll naturally understand that the fewer people who know this data, the better. They came to us precisely because they’re smart enough.”

"That's right! They can only come to us! Otherwise, with their few remaining dilapidated warships, would they dare to sell data? Hahaha! They'd probably be robbed the moment they stepped out the door! Hahahaha!"

The leaders chatted amongst themselves, completely oblivious to the fact that they were the ones plotting something sinister, trying to double-cross each other. The few dissenting voices were quickly drowned out by flattery, fanaticism, and greed.

The decision was made quickly, and Ron replied to Orega, telling him that the Scourge was righteous and willing to forgive and forget, and would provide strong protection for the Fist of Orega. Then the two families would work together to find a buyer and sell the technological data left behind by Demeteris-Zarin.

The proceeds from the sale were split 50/50 between the two parties.

The Fist of Orega provides the technological data, the Scourge provides the warships for protection, and then the two sides split the profits equally. Isn't that perfectly reasonable, fair, and just?

The reply arrived quickly, and this time the language in the message was extremely humble, almost to the point of kneeling down and calling him "father."

Ron felt incredibly pleased with this news; he truly felt like the Pirate King. Judging by their size, the Fist of Orega must have once been a powerful pirate crew, yet now they were bowing and scraping before him. What an honor!
Isn't being a pirate all about burning, killing, looting, living a life of freedom and debauchery? Being feared by everyone, even the authorities can't catch you, and you're forced to pay tolls and protection money in an endless cycle of plunder!

Isn't this their ultimate goal as pirates?
Ultimately, Ron and Orega agreed that they would first meet on the planet Sarka, and then, while ensuring the safety of the technological data, send someone secretly to Nasada, the Smuggler's Moon, to find a buyer.

After finding a buyer and agreeing on a price, the Scourge fleet escorted Orega's ship to conduct the data transaction. The deal was done, and the profits were split between the two parties—perfect!
Ron specifically told Orega that, to show his sincerity, he would only take three warships to Sakaar. This would demonstrate trust and avoid an overly tense situation. After all, they were all reasonable pirates; when it came to business, there was no need for a confrontation.

Orega readily agreed, his words filled with gratitude and awe.

Ron hung up the communication, his ecstatic joy becoming uncontrollable. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, the sound echoing throughout the command center.

The next day, Ron led a fleet of three Storm-class light cruisers to Sakaar early in the morning. Ron hummed a little tune the whole way, beaming with pride.

The three warships waited on Sakaar for several hours. The hyperspace sensor emitted an alarm, and after a few more moments, they saw a dilapidated Imperial-class star destroyer emerge from the hyperspace jump and fly over, wobbling.

The Imperial-class Star Destroyer looked incredibly battered. Its main armor belt was riddled with holes and large areas had peeled off. The three turbolaser cannon clusters on the deck originally housed a total of 60 XX-9 heavy turbolaser cannons, but most of them had been destroyed in the previous battle.

As the star destroyer flew, flashes of welding could be seen from time to time from the damaged areas on its hull.

It's unimaginable what kind of desperate battle this Star Destroyer went through to suffer such horrific damage.

This further confirms that the Fist of Orega was indeed dealt a heavy blow by the Galactic Empire fleet and was almost crippled.

Ron was overjoyed; he could almost see billions of credits beckoning to him!
As for why Orega was piloting an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, a warship that would never appear on the black market, Ron simply ignored this anomaly.

This was also Ron's last straw.

"As you can see, Lord Ron, our warship is severely damaged and can barely protect itself." Raven's image appeared in the holographic projection. He said very humbly, "Please allow me and Orega to board your warship and hand over the technological data we have to you for temporary safekeeping."

As he spoke, he took out a small memory device from his hand. Pressing a button, the memory device immediately projected an exploded diagram of a TIE-Defender fighter jet.

Ron nodded in satisfaction; it seemed the technological data was genuine! And they were even willing to bring the data to their warship!

Ron had been worried that they wouldn't hand over the data, or that they would remain holed up on their warships. He feared that if that happened, the data storage would be compromised, making the situation difficult to handle.

result……

My goodness, I never even dreamed that things would go so smoothly!
Could I really be the chosen one?
Ron felt like he was about to fly away.

Soon, a Lambda-class shuttle flew out of the Imperial-class star destroyer. Large warships like the Imperial-class are usually equipped with a Lambda-class shuttle, mainly used for personnel transportation on formal occasions.

The shuttle quickly arrived at Ron's flagship and sent a boarding request.

Even now, Ron could still sense it—because the other party flew directly to his flagship, but he didn't tell him which flagship it was.

Furthermore, in order to conceal their presence in battle, all of Ron's dozen or so Storm-class cruisers looked exactly alike, making them indistinguishable from one another.

But the Lambda-class shuttle actually located him directly!

Ron was blinded by greed. He ordered the hangar platform to be opened and the shuttle to be let in. Then he led dozens of fully armed men to meet it.

In his view, this was already a very safe course of action.

Dozens of incredibly ferocious, fully armed pirates! Anyone who comes near would have to crawl on the ground.

The hatch of the Lambda-class shuttle slowly opened, and in Ron's expectant gaze, a crimson flame seemed to slowly emerge as if it were alive.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Ron's mouth gradually opened wide, completely stunned. As the flames flickered, a terrifying figure appeared. This figure was clearly not human, and seemed to consist only of a head, hands, and an empty suit of armor.

Finally, the figure in the flames flew out of the hatch, reaching a height of almost four meters! If you include the area covered by the scarlet flames, its height even approaches six meters.

“You are… Orega?” Ron stared blankly at the other person, the existence before him completely beyond his comprehension. “What exactly… are you?”

“You’re right, I am Orega!” Orega said slowly.

The voice that rang directly in his mind startled Ron so much that he almost collapsed to the ground. All the plans he had previously devised were now useless.

This huge and eerie figure was enough to shatter all his schemes!
Seeing that he didn't speak, Orega slowly flew to Ron's side, raised his huge claw and placed it on his head, as if he could crush Ron's head with a single squeeze.

With a whoosh, the dozens of fully armed pirates around them simultaneously raised their weapons.

“Welcome, your master… Ron,” Orega said slowly.

Ron's eyes momentarily went blank, but then his expression calmed down, and he stood up and respectfully said to Orega, "At your service, my master."

At this moment, Ron, the incredibly ruthless pirate captain, saw all his past ambitions, desires, and freedom vanish into thin air, never to exist again.

At this moment, the dozens of pirates who were carrying guns also put down their weapons and knelt down on one knee in front of Orega.

“Alright, take me to your headquarters,” Orega said.

“Yes, my master.” Ron also knelt on one knee and bowed his head deeply.

……

Three Storm-class cruisers returned to their home port on Anzart and received a warm welcome.

Behind the crowd at the spaceport, an elderly Bosa man sipped a bottle of light fruit wine and watched the welcoming ceremony with a cold eye.

Magtan Scar – one of the founders of the Scourge.

It was he and his brother Broderick-Stoneshatter who were hired by the Hutt, Gadula Bessadi, to go to Tatooine to cause trouble for Jabba de Siligic.

As a result, they were defeated by bounty hunters sent by Jabba. With nowhere else to turn, they encountered the brothers Yuri Orlov and Vitaly Orlov, who paid them off with two stolen proton torpedoes and gave them a batch of weapons.

This is the origin of the Scourge, and the beginning of their long-standing conflict with the Kingdom of Dawn.

Now, Yuri Orlov is dead, Vitaly Orlov is missing, Broderick Shatter has also died, and the Scourge is no longer what it used to be.

Magtan Scar tilted his head back and drank the fruit wine to the last drop. His cloudy eyes reflected the firelight of the cruiser landing. Perhaps, all of this was about to end.

The hatch of the Storm-class cruiser slowly opened, and Ron, the leader of the Scourge, stepped out. He raised his arm and shouted, "I've done it! Zarin's legacy is now entirely in my hands! We're rich!!"

"Oh!!!" The surrounding pirates cheered loudly.

"And then, I have some more good news to tell you! We've officially merged with the Fist of Orega!!" Ron shouted.

Many people were stunned for a moment, but those who didn't understand continued to cheer.

Only then did Orega's enormous body, enveloped in crimson flames, slowly float out.

The moment he saw him, Magtan Scar's eyes widened in shock, and he felt a surge of intense fear!
“Take me away, Jason!” McGonagall Scar whispered.

At that moment, a bald, burly man quickly walked over, grabbed Magtan Scar's arm, and led him to run quickly out of the crowd.

Jason, the first T-850 Terminator robot Yuri Orlov sold to Magda Scar, can be said to have witnessed the entire development of the Scourge.

Over there, everyone present was intimidated by Orega's imposing appearance, and the cheers gradually stopped, and the scene slowly quieted down.

"I, Orega, am your eternal master!" Orega declared directly, and at the same time, powerful psionic energy silently enveloped the entire area!
“My master…” Some pirates began to kneel down.

More and more pirates knelt down, and soon everyone present was kneeling.

At that moment, Orega suddenly saw a Rift-class frigate burst out of the spaceport and accelerate wildly outwards without saying a word.

"The TIE-Defender fighter's technological data is yours. Now, according to our plan, go find a buyer." Orega looked with satisfaction at the group of people kneeling before him, then turned to Ron and said.

“Yes, my lord,” Ron said, bowing. “I will personally lead men to Nasada, arguably the most chaotic and well-informed place in the entire galaxy. I will find a buyer there. In addition… the Rebel Alliance and the Kingdom of Dawn have both expressed their willingness to pay a high price for the TIE-Defender fighter technology.”

Orega waved his hand casually, "Go do it. Hehehehehe..."

……

Three days later, the Rift-class frigate returned to the Hutt space and headed directly to a spaceport in the center of Mos's Eisley City on Tatooine, where it landed.

The T-850 Terminator robot, carrying Magtan Scar, headed directly to their destination—Ni Yongxiao's mansion.

At the same time, they also brought this bad news—Orega may have already taken control of the Scourge!
Inside the mansion, Ni Yongxiao was smoking while reviewing documents containing information and data about the recent underground spice trade in the Dawn Kingdom. (End of Chapter)