The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2812. Salukami's Blood Debt (Part 2)
The battle on Sarukami has completely devastated the Galactic Empire's fleet.

The Imperial warships that were being attacked by Lin Nanyi and Griffiths saw that the other warships were starting to flee, and they also completely lost their will to fight and began to flee as well.

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

Running away is contagious. Once someone starts running away, the trust they've built with everyone around them collapses instantly. Their only thought then shifts from how to fight side by side to how to run faster so they don't fall behind and get caught.

The idea that "as long as you run faster than others, you won't die" is a deadly poison. Once its seal is broken, its spread is inevitable, until...

It will infect everyone!

Fewer and fewer Imperial warships were still putting up resistance, as they began to realize that if they didn't flee soon, they would be left behind as cannon fodder.

Once the two fleets that had not yet been attacked chose to flee, the outcome of the battle was already decided.

Within an hour, all the Imperial warships chose to flee!

escape!escape!escape!
The red glow of the Star Destroyer engines overloaded and stretched across the dark universe. They had completely lost the will to resist, and their only thought was to "run faster than everyone else!"
Now, all Lin Nanyi and General Griffith need to do is to destroy all these Imperial warships that have completely lost their will to fight!
A brutal and protracted hunt began, starting from the planet Sarukami and stretching for hundreds of light-years, with wreckage of Galactic Empire warships visible almost everywhere.

Because General Grievous had deployed Protoss observers in the area beforehand, he was able to track the movements of the scattered Imperial warships.

On one hand, he dispatched small fleets to pursue and kill the imperial warships, keeping them constantly on the run. On the other hand, he ordered that they didn't need to actually destroy the warships; simply damaging their propulsion systems would suffice.

There was no other way; too many imperial warships had escaped, far exceeding expectations. The Dawn Kingdom's fleet currently lacked sufficient firepower and energy to keep all of these warships, and could only try to reduce their numbers as much as possible.

Along the way, the desperate captains of the Imperial warships kept requesting assistance, sending messages to every communication frequency they could find.

The Imperial Center, the Twelfth Army, the Fourth Army, the Logistics Department, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture... even their families, relatives, and relatives...

Although most frequency bands were blocked, they kept asking for help.

However, what they received was not reinforcements, but General Grievous's ruthless pursuit!

At this point, both the fleet of 150 capital ships still assembled on Chalos IV and the fleet of 220 capital ships newly transferred from the rear by Governor Serben on Lantilis, the capital of the Twelfth Army, chose to remain inactive and observe from the sidelines.

They watched coldly as their fleet was relentlessly pursued and destroyed by General Grievous.

In their view, those were not their own warships, but rather adversaries who might return to the political center to fight for power and profit; they were scapegoats and cannon fodder who had already completed their mission.

Whatever it was, their death on the way was the best ending.

What? The Kingdom of Dawn has invaded?

This doesn't matter at all!

The most important thing is to consolidate my new position in the 12th Army!

In fact, many imperial officials already harbored this ambition at this time—they wanted to climb higher so they would have more leverage to sell their country, handing over their power to the Dawn Kingdom for a good price. If they could become planetary governors? That would be fantastic! Selling an entire planet would surely secure them a high-ranking position in the Dawn Kingdom! And to remain in the position of planetary governor would be even better.

……

Ultimately, only about 180 capital ships and more than 400 small and medium-sized warships were able to return to the Imperial-controlled area. Faced with such a rout and the ensuing pursuit, the small and medium-sized warships always suffered the most.

A small warship means its hyperspace engine is not advanced enough, requiring multiple jumps to reach its target. Multiple jumps mean multiple stops to recalculate and reorient itself, which drastically increases the chance of being overtaken.

This achievement was already General Grievous's greatest effort. To save time, about 200 capital ships were abandoned after their propulsion systems were destroyed, and they were only brought back to be dealt with after the pursuit was over.

During this process, more than ten warships managed to repair their propulsion systems and fled in panic.

In fact, if the remaining fleet of the Twelfth Army—150 ships from Chalos IV and 220 capital ships from Lantilis—were willing to send reinforcements and launch a counterattack, then General Grievous and Lin Nanyi would certainly have retreated due to running out of ammunition and supplies.

This way, at least 200 Imperial capital ships can be saved.

But by this time, dirty politics had taken precedence over military matters, and no one cared about the lives of those 200-plus Star Destroyers and nearly 200 million naval officers and men.

General Grievous stood by the porthole, gazing at the dark starry sky outside. Though his body remained motionless, his heart burned as if in flames.

He knew that the vengeful spirits of the more than eight billion innocent people on the planet Salukami had finally paid for their blood debts today!
But... it's not enough! Not enough! Far from enough!
A terrifying, murderous glint flashed in General Griffith's vertical pupils.

……

When news of the disastrous defeat on Sarukami reached Lantilis, Governor Serben's first reaction was to immediately submit the battle report to the Imperial High Command, claiming that the Imperial fleet's defeat was due to Gideon Tarkin's foolish command.

At the same time, a strongly worded impeachment motion was submitted to the Imperial Diet, demanding the immediate expulsion of the Tarkin family from the 12th Army's territory and a thorough investigation into the Tarkin family's responsibility for this disastrous defeat.

Governor Serben immediately replaced almost all the officials who had been placed there by Gideon Tarkin. Whether they were naval officers or domestic officials, they were all stripped of their positions and demoted to commoners if they had no connections.

Then, he began to promote his own cronies to new positions, causing an upheaval in the entire 12th Army and political arena.

Serben certainly wouldn't forget Chalos IV, where 150 capital ships were reinforcements from the Fourth Army by Wilhoff Tarkin, who were considered Tarkin family confidants.

However, Serben directly submitted an application requesting that all 150 capital ships be allocated to the Twelfth Army to strengthen its defenses!

What made him even more ruthless was that he also demanded that the officers and soldiers on these Star Destroyers be kept.

Was he planning to use these experienced officers and soldiers for his own purposes?

Of course not. He will soon find various reasons to transfer all these officers and soldiers to rear departments such as logistics, office, and sanitation, until they die of old age.

That's right! He's trying every possible way to annoy the Tarkin family, to weaken their power, and he'll do anything to do it!
Because the defeat was so devastating, the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command granted Governor Serben's request to formally assign the 150 capital ships of Chalos IV to the Twelfth Army, and authorized Governor Serben to have full authority over the crew composition. (End of Chapter)