The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2825. The Fall of Chalos IV (Part 2)
Amidst the piercing alarm, the Chalos IV orbital defense platform exploded one after another, and the outer defenses had begun to be bombarded by General Grievous's fleet.

Blinding flames tore through the dark sky, and the wreckage of the orbital platform plummeted into the atmosphere like meteors. The wreckage of many more warships also scattered in all directions with the explosion, and much of the debris fell directly into the atmosphere.

If you were to stand on the surface of Chalos IV now, you would be met with despair as countless fiery rains fall from the sky – a scene of utter devastation.

That's right, the fleet led by Lieutenant General Ramon was no match for General Grievous!

The Imperial fleet here, though consisting of as many as 200 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, was essentially a remnant force! Governor Serben was worried that his home planet, Lantilis, was under threat, so he transferred all 150 Imperial-class Star Destroyers originally stationed on Chalos IV back to Lantilis.

However, these 150 Empire-class Star Destroyers should have been his most powerful force, as they were all reinforcements Wilhoff Tarkin had brought from the Fourth Army. Not only were they all newly commissioned ships, with numerous modifications made to the older Empire-class models, but many were also Empire II-class Star Destroyers.

Furthermore, the officers and soldiers operating these 150 Star Destroyers were all graduates of naval academies in the inner and core circles, possessing extremely high qualifications. The Fourth Army's ample funding also ensured their pay, and continuous training kept their morale high. Most importantly, these officers and soldiers from the inner and core circles, whose families and assets were located there, belonged to a vested interest group, making their loyalty extremely high.

However, in retaliation against the Tarkin family, Governor Serben transferred the entire elite fleet to the planet Lantilis, and reassigned all the well-trained officers and soldiers to the logistics department. The newly arrived officers and soldiers were unfamiliar with these warships that had undergone numerous modifications. Furthermore, given the Twelfth Army's financial resources and educational system, the quality of the recruits was visibly low, with many even being sympathizers of the rebels.

Not only did he transfer away these elite troops, but even with the Dawn Kingdom's obvious ambitions for Chalos IV, Serben concentrated his main forces on Lantilis—for no other reason than that he was afraid of being defeated and needed some security.

What kind of troops remain on Chalos IV? They are remnants from the last battle on Sarukami. Although there are as many as 200 Star Destroyers, they are all damaged and incomplete, requiring repair. Moreover, given Chalos IV's industrial capabilities, it is simply impossible to repair so many Star Destroyers in a short period of time!

The correct approach would be to send these remnants back to the planet Lantilis, relying on its advanced shipbuilding industry to complete repairs as quickly as possible, while leaving the 150 elite warships to defend Chalos IV. Although this would weaken Lantilis's defenses in the short term, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet wouldn't be able to breach it anytime soon, so there was no need to worry.

But when Governor Serben did the opposite for his own sense of security, punishment followed.

Misro Nuruldo Soron’s words have been proven true countless times—when the enemy decides to launch an attack, you won’t have an hour to react!

Especially when the opponent is General Grievous!! Although there are only 120 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, these ships are in much better condition than the remnants of the Chalos IV, and all of them are operated by B-1 combat droids. The main strategy is to fight relentlessly, sinking one ship as a casualty and sinking two as a bonus.

The nine Purifier carriers were the finishing touch—those carriers were also in terrible condition, after all, when they beheaded Gideon Tarkin, they passed through the middle of 150 Imperial Star Destroyers and suffered a brutal barrage of fire.

However, on one hand, the Protoss's technological prowess far surpasses that of the Imperium; on the other hand, as drone motherships, they only need to restore their drone launch and recovery capabilities to regain full combat power, especially with 120 Imperial Star Destroyers acting as human shields in front of them!
General Grievous's strategy was simple: use the 120 Star Destroyers as human shields, even if it meant ramming them, to create a breach in Chalos IV's defenses! Then, the nine Purifier carriers would launch a large swarm of interceptors from behind to unleash a barrage of firepower.

The fighter squadron that took off from the orbital space station on Planet Chalos IV was quickly destroyed. Generally speaking, naval air force is superior to land air force. The elite pilots were all killed in the battle on Planet Sarukami. The remaining personnel stationed on the planet's homeland consisted of second-line pilots and second-line fighters. These were not even enough to fill the gaps of the Purifier's unmanned interceptors.

As it turned out, General Grievous was overly cautious.

Because the garrison on Chalos IV offered no effective resistance whatsoever, three of the 200 dilapidated Imperial-class Star Destroyers were destroyed in a single encounter. Keep in mind that these were not fragile fighter jets that would break at the slightest touch, but massive Star Destroyers that were 1600 meters long!
Lieutenant General Ramon's garrison was almost impossible to organize. He looked at the holographic screen in front of him, which displayed 200 Star Destroyer icons—no, now there were 197—almost every one of them was yellow and red, representing damage. Among these 197 icons, you could hardly see any green, which represented the normal operation of the system.

After determining that the enemy's Star Destroyers were beyond resistance, General Grievous left the Purifier carriers to continue attacking the Imperial fleets whose formations were beginning to crumble, while he personally led 120 droid-piloted Star Destroyers to directly attack the orbital facilities around Chalos IV.

When fire rained down on the surface of Chalos IV, Lieutenant General Ramon almost collapsed. He frantically sent letters to Governor Serben requesting reinforcements, but Serben, after learning of the Dawn Kingdom's fleet movements, simply hid on the planet Lantilis and dared not come out at all!
Because General Grievous has once again divided his forces!

After confirming that the remnants of Chalos IV posed no threat, he moved his flagship to the Purifier carrier and, using Protoss technology’s superior hyperspace jump technology, bypassed Chalos IV and arrived at Baramak, a logistical transit point between Lantilis and Chalos IV!
The fear of being outmaneuvered by those 10 Purifier aircraft carriers resurfaced in Governor Serben's mind, and he immediately ordered that no troops be deployed! He instructed Lieutenant General Ramon to hold the line and await reinforcements!

Where to hold out? — The Chalos IV, riddled with holes.

What kind of aid are we waiting for? — Aid from the heart of the Empire. (End of Chapter)