The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2902, The Drone War
On the planet Chardan, in outer space, hundreds of warships appeared amidst a violent flash of white light.

However, these warships appeared in a very distant location, 15 light-minutes away from the planet Chardan, a distance that clearly indicated they wouldn't engage in a direct firefight.

Wilhuff Tarkin stood on the bridge of the Death Star, his brow furrowed as he watched the approaching warships.

"Are these separatist monkeys insulting me?" He looked at the images on the holographic combat star map.

The attacking warships were indeed numerous; however, apart from the 20 golden, rounded, and ornate aircraft carriers, the rest of the warships were all very rudimentary.

Wilhoff Tarkin was very familiar with these warships; they were among the most numerous warships in the Fourth Reich's fleet—the Grey Horse-class escort carriers!

The Fourth Reich greatly favored using these cost-effective aircraft carriers in its escort fleets, and with the continuous development of military technology, the performance of these carriers was constantly being enhanced.

Of course, the biggest advantage of this type of aircraft carrier is that it is very cheap. On the other hand, with the continuous improvement of fighter jet technology, the combat capability of the Grey Horse-class escort carrier will also be improved after it is equipped with new fighter jets.

This time, a staggering 600 Grey Horse-class escort carriers appeared on the outskirts of Chardan!

Among this fleet, only one warship is unique—the Infinity-class supercarrier, the Eternal.

Wilhoff Tarkin's face was grim. He slowly said, "Immediately enter combat readiness! Launch all fighter formations! Fighters must not leave the Death Star's protective range; all must operate within the deflector shields!"

"Yes!"

An officer from the weapons systems department walked over and asked, "General, shall we begin navigation calculations for a hyperspace jump?"

“Sure.” Wilhoff-Tarkin grinned menacingly. “Let these separatist scum see what unstoppable really means.”

At the same time that the escort fighter squadron took off from the Death Star, a large number of fighters from the Fourth Reich Fleet also took off!

Standing on the bridge of the Eternal, Skrand-Sharpbeak issued orders: "Take off the first wave of fighters immediately! Prioritize attacking the enemy's Imperial-class Star Destroyer formation! Take off the second wave in two hours!"

From the hangar platform of the Grey Horse-class aircraft carrier, one drone after another began to take off.

That's right, these Grey Horse-class escort carriers are all equipped with drones!
This includes the Acolyte II drone, the Infiltrator I drone, the F-99 Wombat drone, and some Vulture robot fighters and Triple robot fighters left over from the Confederation of Independent Systems.

The number of these drones is extremely large; the first wave of takeoffs alone numbered over 8000!

The current location of the Scrant-Sharpbeak fleet was precisely planned. A distance of 15 light-minutes, exactly.

For a heavy turbolaser cannon, 15 light-minutes is too far, so far that the beam diverges to almost no lethality. For a missile, it wouldn't even reach the target area before running out of fuel. But for a drone, this distance is just right to maximize its range, since drones don't need to consider returning to base anyway.

Skarnd Sharpbeak stood on the bridge of the Eternal, watching the more than 8000 points of light on the holographic battle map slowly and irresistibly move toward the Imperial fleet. He stood ramrod straight, like a compass, and no one could see any expression on his bird-like head.

"General! The first wave of drones is expected to arrive in one hour," the adjutant said, turning around.

“Understood.” Skrand-Sharpbeek nodded. “Initiate the attack as planned.”

The 600 Grey Horse-class escort carriers were all crammed with drones. These weren't the Fourth Reich's most advanced drones; some were even old stock from the past, but there were enough of them.

First wave: 8000 aircraft. This will be a probing attack.

The second and third waves... were his true tactical objective. As an expert in carrier warfare, Scrant Sharpbeak had an exceptional understanding of how to maximize the power of fighter formations.

The two fleets are now very far apart, and this wave of drones took most of the day to arrive. Almost the instant they arrived, countless anti-aircraft guns completely surrounded them. 8000 drones accelerated simultaneously.

They rushed toward the Imperial fleet's defenses at top speed. Like a spreading black cloud, they pressed down on the enemy simultaneously from all angles, directions, and heights.

The Imperial fleet's anti-aircraft firepower exploded the moment the drone swarm entered its firing range.

Hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of anti-aircraft guns fired simultaneously, with laser beams, blast beams, shells, and missiles weaving a dense web of death in space.

Currently, the Galactic Empire's small and medium-sized warship fleet has greatly increased the number of specialized air defense warships such as Lancer-class frigates, DP-20 anti-aircraft gunboats, and Defender-class heavy cruisers, resulting in an unleashing of countless anti-aircraft firepower.

Every second, dozens of drones are hit, turning into burning debris or silent explosions.

However, there were too many drones, and the moment they encountered anti-aircraft fire, they scattered like birds and beasts, breaking up into smaller groups and flying around randomly.

These drones have a very clear objective: to disrupt the Imperial fleet's air defense network as much as possible.

After surviving the first wave of the most powerful anti-aircraft fire, the drones swarmed into the Imperial fleet like countless flies.

When a Penetrator I drone fired a small proton torpedo into the engine compartment of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, creating a pale blue cloud of protons, the Imperial fleet's anti-aircraft fire inevitably shifted inwards.

Wilhoff-Tarkin coldly observed the battlefield. He did not order the TIE fighter squadron to join the battle, but instead allowed his escort fleet to rely on anti-aircraft fire to engage the drones.

“How much longer until the hyperspace jump can complete the navigation calculations?” Tarkin asked.

"It will take another two hours, Your Excellency," the navigator said.

“Once the calculations are complete, begin the jump immediately. Do not wait for my instructions. Next target: Parks,” Wilhoff Tarkin said.

"Yes!"

Tarkin stared at the swarm of drones wreaking havoc on the screen, muttering to himself with a cold laugh, "I can guess your plan, Separatist commander. You just want to use these aircraft carriers and drones to harass me and slow my advance. But..."

His smile widened. "The Death Star will not stop."

……

At this moment, the first wave of drones had already suffered heavy losses, but had successfully drawn the air defense fire of the Galactic Empire fleet.

An hour later, the second wave of drones arrived on the battlefield and launched an attack!

This wave of drones was actually launched from those 20 Protoss aircraft carriers—10000 unmanned interceptors!

The interceptors easily penetrated the Galactic Empire's anti-aircraft fire network and continued attacking the Imperial-class Star Destroyers, ignoring the Death Star as well.

However, at this point, the Imperial fleet's anti-aircraft firepower was no longer able to form a crossfire, and many warships broke away from their existing formation after being attacked.

Just then, the Protoss drones suddenly changed direction and rushed straight toward the Death Star!
Countless unmanned interceptors, after slowing down, plunged headlong into the Death Star's deflector shields! At that moment, a formation of 4000 TIE fighters launched from the Death Star was circling around here.

The two sides collided instantly, engaging in a fierce aerial battle in the low skies above the Death Star's surface! (End of Chapter)