The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2838. The Battle of Scipio (Part 3)

The blinding orange beam from the Star Destroyer Beam Platform struck the planetary shield, instantly creating ripples of energy that caused the shield to visibly vibrate violently.

Major General Carrick was completely out of options. He considered countless possibilities and even used the combat computer to conduct simulations, but the result was still despairing—the forces at his disposal were simply not enough to defend Planet Scipio!
The problem doesn't lie with the Guardian Executor-class super star destroyer; rather, the problem lies with it. These massive warships, known as Keltu Destroyers, were specifically designed to counter super battleships!
These warships can directly reduce the amount of supermatter produced per unit time in their reactors by annihilating supermatter, thereby reducing the warship's energy output. This effect is more pronounced the larger the opposing warship.

Reducing the firepower of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer by half is not a big problem, but reducing the firepower of an Executor-class super Star Destroyer by half is equivalent to the entire fleet losing a large chunk of its firepower!

Even a behemoth like the Executor-class super star destroyer, now besieged by five Keltu Destroyers, is essentially exhausted, with its speed, defense, and firepower all reduced. Although the Keltu Destroyers are temporarily unable to breach the Guardian super star destroyer's deflector shields, this tactic itself is tantamount to forcing the Guardian out of the battle.

If this continues, although it may take longer, Major General Carrick seriously suspects that the Guardian might also be sunk by those five Keltu Destroyers!
Therefore, Major General Carrick now has no usable warships at all, and the planet Scipio is already being bombarded by the Star Destroyer Beam Platform. He feels that whatever he does is wrong.

The only solution he could think of was to triple, no, five times, his forces. Only then could he offset the Keltu Destroyer's attack through a tactical exchange, allowing the other warships to deal with the Vakonos Destroyer's orbital bombardment.

However, even though the Supreme Strategic Command had previously sent Marshal Rufon-Digorinus with troops, they had clearly stated that the force was limited. This was because the Galactic Empire's military strength was also stretched thin, and the defeat in the East had further stretched their defensive lines, exacerbating the troop shortages in various regions. To make matters worse, one of the least likely planets to be attacked had now been targeted.

Marshal Rufán Digorinus's visit this time is probably more about legitimately commanding the Guardian in combat.

In fact, Marshal Oswald Tessik already valued the planet Scipio highly by leaving the Guardian Star Destroyer there for defense, but who knew that the Kingdom of Dawn would send these things specifically designed to deal with super warships!

"SOS! We must call for more help!" Major General Carrick immediately picked up the communicator, but his lips moved and he couldn't say anything.

Requesting reinforcements? They already did, and the Supreme Strategic Command sent reinforcements, even the Marshal himself. What more do they want? Now, before the reinforcements have even arrived, they're asking for more. What are they planning? Are they trying to slap Rufán-Digorinus in the face, or the Supreme Strategic Command of the Empire?

Major General Carrick's Adam's apple bobbed, and his fingertips turned white. He had a rough idea of ​​how many troops the Galactic Empire still had in the core area. In fact, the largest reinforcement they could currently mobilize was the Hegemony super star destroyer, which was still on Anax.

But what? He, a mere major general, sent a message to the Supreme Strategic Command ordering the Hegemon to be transferred over? This super star destroyer is the Emperor's flagship! Even though Field Marshal Oswald Tesick was able to mobilize it before, it was only temporary, granted by the Emperor's special permission!
Since Oswald Tesick lost the Emperor's trust, it remains to be seen whether he can even mobilize the Hegemony!
Major General Carrick made the only decision he could make at that moment: "Retreat! Retreat to the edge of the star system! All warships cease fire, channel all energy into the thrusters! Leave the outer reaches of Scipio! Await Marshal Rufon-Digorinus's reinforcements!"

Even though he ordered the fleet to retreat, the 20 Keltu Destroyers still pursued him relentlessly. To make matters worse, 10 Vakonos Destroyers followed!

One hundred planet-destroying beam launch platforms are automatically launching, so the Vakunos Destroyers have also joined the battle.

Phased missiles rained down on the Guardian Star Destroyer supership. Under relentless fire from the Kelto Destroyers, the Guardian was powerless to intercept them, forced to allow the phased missiles to penetrate its deflector shields and land on its deck. And those missiles had a clear objective—to destroy the Guardian's main gun emplacements!

Although the Executor-class super star destroyer has proven to be extremely difficult to destroy, once its main gun array is destroyed and its energy supply is cut off, this super star destroyer is nothing more than an iron coffin!

Major General Carrick just wanted to cry, because he had no other options left.

About an hour later, the 15 Imperial-class Star Destroyers targeted by the Keltu Destroyers erupted in a violent explosion. Crescent-shaped ion wave cannons completely shattered the deformed main armor belts and fired directly into the warships, triggering even more violent secondary explosions.

Carrick's order to flee did have some effect, allowing these Imperial-class Star Destroyers to survive for another half hour.

He could only order 600 small and medium-sized warships to charge forward recklessly as human shields, and then have the Guardian Star Destroyer start its hyperspace engine and begin calculating hyperspace navigation.

The only way is to leave here!

He still reported the situation here to Field Marshal Oswald Tesick, without even having the courage to report to the Supreme Strategic Command.

At this moment, Marshal Rufon Digorinus was leading 40 Imperial-class Star Destroyers on his way. He was in the hyperspace channel and could not receive any communications. He was still full of confidence that once he arrived on Scipio, he could immediately take over the Guardian Super Star Destroyer, and after this battle, he could find an excuse to seize the Super Star Destroyer and make it his flagship.

……

When Marshal Oswald Tesick received Carrick's battle report, even his semi-mechanical mind couldn't process it for a moment.

His order for Rear Admiral Carrick to hold out for at least six days was still echoing on his bridge when, less than two hours later, Carrick told him he was going to run away.

“Kertu Destroyer? Vakonos Destroyer?” Oswald-Tesik repeated the two names, his cyborg brain frantically calculating countermeasures.

What should we do? Should we immediately abandon the nearly captured planet Bilborin and return to reinforce it? Or should we continue the attack? (End of Chapter)