The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2853. The Storm Begins (Part 2)
Among the various garrisons of the Dawn Kingdom, the largest is the triangle formed by the planets Fondo, Kira, and Eliyadu.

The planets Fondo and Kira are two salients that threaten the Galactic Empire's Delon planetary defenses from two directions, while Eriadu is located in the rear, providing a solid backing for these two salients.

The planet Fangduo is located deep within the core of the Milky Way galaxy, and the entire planet has been transformed into a unique ecological environment by Alexia Ashford's T-Veronica virus. It boasts an industrial capacity that ranks among the top three in the entire galaxy. However, due to the complete reconstruction of the environment by the T-Veronica virus, humans cannot stay there for long periods and can only rely on highly automated smart factories and remote control systems to maintain operations.

Therefore, the garrison on Fondo is very large, partly to monitor Alexia Ashford, and partly to guard the most dangerous industrial heart of the galaxy, since this place is deep in the core and surrounded by the forces of the Galactic Empire.

Therefore, the garrison on Fangduo Planet can either defend a region or threaten the heartland of the Galactic Empire, making it one of the core threats considered by the Imperial military.

On the other side is the planet Kira.

Kira was built by the Galactic Republic during the later stages of the Clone Wars as a military base to defend against the Kingdom of Dawn. At the time, the Kingdom of Dawn had heavily concentrated its forces on Eriadu, and it was undoubtedly the main target of their attack. Therefore, the Republic developed Kira into one of the largest military bases in the entire galaxy.

It wasn't a fortress, but a base. While Kira wasn't on the front lines at the time, its relatively short distance from the front lines, convenient transportation, stable astronomical environment, and mature industrial system made it a massive military base capable of easily accommodating and maintaining over a thousand Star Destroyers.

Therefore, after the fall of Kira, the Kingdom of Dawn quickly transformed it into its forward operating base. Building upon the foundations laid by the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire, Kira is now one of the Kingdom of Dawn's largest military hubs, second only to Eriadu.

Therefore, no matter how fierce the battles were in the North and East, and even when they threatened the core, the real determinant of the war's outcome was always this triangular core – Fondo, Kira, and Eliadu.

Within this realm, Fondo and Kira are like two powerful punches, poised to strike the heart of the Empire from either flank at any moment, while Eliyadu is the steady heart, continuously powering both fists.

Therefore, no matter how critical the situation was in the North and East, the Galactic Empire never mobilized the fleet defending the Delon planet. Even the Darth Vader Death Fleet stationed on Delon was organized independently from the major star sectors and directly under the Imperial Center.

So now, the entire fleet of this iron triangle has disappeared. What does this mean?
This indicates that the Kingdom of Dawn will be undertaking a major military operation—no, not just a major one, but a nationwide operation!
Last time, the Kingdom of Dawn mobilized its entire fleet and broke through the northern fortress of Bilbrin in one fell swoop. And this time? This time it's even more thorough, with almost all the fleets in the defense zones being completely emptied! So it's foreseeable that this time the Kingdom of Dawn will use all its strength to unleash its most terrifying attack.

But where will this attack be targeted? The Fourth Army's Umbala defenses? The First Army's Palancie defenses? Palin-Minor in the North? Or the Empire's most important defense—Dron?
Everything seems possible! And all of it could potentially succeed!
The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command estimates that if the Kingdom of Dawn were to make such a desperate gamble by assembling its fleet, then, including the fleets assembled on Dawn Planet and in the Mordel Sector and other locations, they would have at least 3000 to 4000 capital ships and heavy cruisers this time!
The entire galaxy seemed to hold its breath, everyone looking towards the Dawn Kingdom, speculating about what kind of trump card, powerful enough to tear apart the foundation of the empire, was hidden behind this unprecedented gathering.

On April 8th, the situation became even more bizarre. Now, even the fleet on the planet Lundiri has disappeared through the stargate.

The fleet stationed on the planet Lundiri consisted of 1200 Victory-class II Star Destroyers, all piloted by B-1 combat droids. While their combat capabilities were mediocre, their sheer number made them formidable. However, in this stage of war where even Imperial-class Star Destroyers were considered mere numbers, the Victory-class was utterly inadequate. Even so, these warships were redeployed.

Keep in mind that the planet Lundli is still surrounded by the Imperial Second Army! Are they abandoning Lundli altogether?

If Lundli is being reassigned like this, what about other places?

After assessment, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau increased its estimate of the Dawn Kingdom's capital ships and heavy cruisers to 5000. If this is accurate, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet is already equivalent to one-third the size of the Empire's!
Then, there is another disturbing fact.

That is, since a month ago, Geth's warp drive harassment operations in the North have ceased. A whole month has passed without a single human-powered version of the Throne of Kings appearing!
Could it be that Geth was also involved? If so, then the size of the Dawn Kingdom's fleet becomes even more difficult to calculate.

……

The Galactic Empire's Supreme Command made a decision: Darth Vader was ordered to immediately lead the Death Fleet to attack the planet Kira!
However, Darth Vader completely ignored them and didn't even utter a word of refusal.

The Supreme Strategic Command then issued three emergency orders—demanding that the 400 Star Destroyers besieging the planet Lundli by the Second Star System immediately launch an attack and land on Lundli as soon as possible.

The Second Star System's military responded that their main fleet was currently refueling and unable to launch a proactive attack. As for why refueling would take several days, they didn't even bother to come up with an excuse.

Wilhoff-Tarkin was instructed to immediately activate the Death Star, regardless of its current state. Even without its main cannon, it could function as a massive combat space station.

Wilhoff-Tarkin also chose to remain silent.

The Third Star System Army was ordered to return to Coruscant, the heart of the Empire. This order was finally carried out. The Third Star System Army's defense zone controlled the Peremian Trade Route and the Corellian Route, which were strategic rear areas, so they had no direct combat missions.

The Third Star System's military dispatched 300 star destroyers back to Coruscant to be incorporated into the reserve force, ready to reinforce the attacked front lines at any time. (End of Chapter)