The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2836. The Battle of Scipio (Part Two)

Major General Carrick immediately sent an urgent message to the rear requesting reinforcements. However, at that moment, the military commander of the First Star System Army, Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessick, was attacking Bilbrin.

Even more critically, the campaign on Bilbrin was progressing smoothly, and Marshal Oswald Tesick believed he could completely conquer the fortress planet within a week.

Upon receiving the urgent plea for help from Scipio, Marshal Oswald Tessick was also considering the situation. He believed that although Scipio's forces were insufficient, consisting of only 50 Star Destroyers and over 600 medium and small warships, the presence of the Guardian Executor-class super Star Destroyer was enough to deter any conventional fleet. He waved his hand: "Have Rear Admiral Carrick hold the line until the Battle of Bilbrin is over. I will personally lead the main force back to reinforce—at most six days!"

Major General Carrick clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. He had absolutely no confidence in his heart, staring at the vast expanse of lost communication signals on the screen, all of which indicated that this Dawn Kingdom offensive was unusual.

The sheer speed and scale of the destruction of the hyperspace barrier can only mean one thing—the Dawn Kingdom fleet is launching a brutal and powerful attack. They're tearing apart the hyperspace barrier and forcing a jump!
Whatever comes is definitely something extraordinary!

Rear Admiral Carrick had no choice but to deploy the defenses according to the textbook examples and doctrines as much as possible. In fact, even he himself had never commanded a fleet or fought a real battle except for suppressing pirates.

Fifty Star Destroyers and over six hundred medium and small warships—perhaps in Oswald Tessik's eyes, this was a small fleet too small to complete a campaign—but for most Imperial naval officers, it was a force that only an Imperial Admiral was qualified to command!
Asking Carrick to immediately command a potential battle is simply asking the impossible.

Following textbook instructions, Carrick deployed a defensive formation spearheaded by the Guardian Executor-class super Star Destroyer. He was quite responsible; despite being a first-timer, he didn't cower in the back but decided to fully utilize the fleet's only strength, the Guardian, for defense.

The idea was indeed correct, except for a lack of flexibility.

The Supreme Strategic Command responded quickly, saying they were organizing a rapid response reinforcement force, but it was not very large. More reinforcements would be sent later after the size of the invading enemy ships was confirmed.

Meanwhile, Imperial Marshal Rufon Digorinus is on his way to take over the defense of Scipio and resist the invasion.

Major General Carrick finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the past few hours, he, a mere major general, had endured far too much that was not worthy of his rank. Now, he could finally see the end of it all.

However, things didn't turn out exactly as he had imagined!
Nine hours later, before Marshal Rufon-Digorinus's flagship had even entered orbit in the Scipio system, an alarm ripped through the silence of the command module—the Dawn Kingdom fleet had broken through the hyperspace blockade and arrived at the outer perimeter of the planet Scipio!
"Quickly! Prepare for battle!" Carrick roared. "Immediately scan the enemy fleet's size and type! Project the optical images over here!"

However, when the optical images were projected onto the enormous holographic projection, Carrick swallowed back the curses and roars that had been brewing in his throat. What he saw was a completely unfamiliar, pitch-black, terrifying fleet whose very appearance exuded a chilling aura of menace!
Thirty warships and one hundred transport ships. The thirty warships were all over 2000 meters long! And their massive size indicated they were at least two to three times the size of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer!
These are all warships that are almost at the battleship level! And they are models that have never been seen before!
"Open...open...open..." Major General Carrick murmured.

"Should we open fire, General?" the adjutant asked.

"Are you...are you kidding me!" Carrick took a few steps back, distancing himself from the holographic projection as if even taking a few steps closer would result in being stabbed by the terrifying fleet. "What is this? What is this? Is this the fleet of the Kingdom of Dawn? I've never known they had warships like this! And so many of them! Where's the data? Where's the intelligence? Where's their origin? You expect a major general like me to fight these things?"

The adjutant, however, was fearless. He said directly, "General, no matter what, it's definitely an enemy ship. Let's open fire first!"

Carrick reconfirmed Marshal Rufão Digorinus's arrival time—three hours from now.

"Fire! Open fire! Shoot those things down!" Carrick roared. "The main ship advances, unleash full firepower! I don't believe they can do anything to the Executor-class!"

The battle commenced immediately, with the Guardian unleashing its full firepower. The barrage from its 5000 turbo laser cannons was utterly insane. The ancestral heavy turbo laser cannon XX-9, supported by the Executor-class's super reactor, achieved a firing rate of 40 rounds per minute. This meant that within a minute, the Guardian could unleash 200000 turbo lasers upon the enemy.

However, this time the opponent is completely different!
All that could be seen were the 20 Keltu Destroyer battlecruisers, each 2000 meters long, with sleek, black designs resembling obsidian statues, already deploying their shields. These shields were unusually powerful, dispersing, neutralizing, and then completely neutralizing the power of the turbine laser cannons. Then, the warships opened fire!
Beams of light shone precisely on the Guardian, and phase missiles and wave cannons were launched!

Hundreds of phased-array missiles activated their phased-array engines instantly as they approached the Guardian's deflector shields, flashed briefly in space, passed through the shield's range, and exploded directly on the armor! Not only the armor, but many of the Guardian's main gun turrets were also destroyed!

Missiles capable of penetrating shields are truly terrifying! Because, according to the Galactic Empire's typical warship design philosophy, they generally place turrets based on two criteria—first, convenient energy transfer; second, convenient turret firing. They never consider turret safety. Because of the deflector shields, no matter how the turrets are installed, they can always deliver sufficient firepower before the shield breaks.

However, the situation changed completely when faced with phased missiles! The powerful deflector shields of the Executor-class super star destroyer, powered by its terrifying energy output, were completely ineffective and were directly penetrated! Then, the main gun turrets, which were carelessly deployed on the deck for the sake of convenient firing and energy transfer, suffered devastating damage!

But this is just the beginning.

When the Keltu Destroyer's laser beam struck the Guardian, the ship's internal energy department erupted in hysterical screams! (End of Chapter)