The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2929, A Different Kind of Rebel Army, A Different Kind of Alliance
The Freedom, an Executor-class super star destroyer.

Its original name was Morak—it was Wilhelm Tarkin's flagship.

When Tarkin led the Death Star on its expedition to Dawn, he did not take his entire Fourth Army fleet with him; he only took a convoy consisting of 400 Star Destroyers.

Because the Fourth Army is the foundation he has painstakingly built, he naturally wouldn't give it up so easily. Moreover, Wilhoff Tarkin is also very clear that he is currently not well-regarded within the power structure of the Galactic Empire.

All his power and status came from the Emperor Palpatine. Apart from that, he had neither a distinguished family background nor smooth-talking skills. He was even embroiled in the scandal of his son Garosh Tarkin colluding with the rebel alliance—a scandal unknown to others, but Aisani Isard, who controlled the Imperial Intelligence Service, knew it all too well.

Most importantly, Palpatine handed the Death Star over to Wilhoff Tarkin.

Do you think Orman Targaryen was the only one in the entire Galactic Empire who hated Targaryen for this? Of course not. There were quite a few people who hated Targaryen because of the ownership of the Death Star, but among them, only Orman Targaryen came close to it.

Everyone knows what it means to control the Death Star. When they can't get their hands on what is arguably the most powerful weapon in the entire galaxy, they naturally feel endless jealousy and hatred towards whoever controls it.

Therefore, Wilhoff Tarkin also planned to take the Death Star back to the Fourth Army's territory once he successfully destroyed Dawn, and if Isani Isaad still did not submit, he would then ascend the throne as emperor on his own territory!
Or perhaps he could emulate Tang Xiao and ascend the throne in the capital of an enemy state.

Ascending to the throne as emperor on the ruins of Dawn Planet sounds incredibly exciting.

Therefore, Wilhoff Tarkin left a sufficient fleet force on his territory, including the super star destroyer Morak and more than 300 Imperial-class star destroyers.

The size of the escort fleet is strictly controlled in order to allow for more flexible passage through those branch hyperspace routes.

Of course, everyone knows the result.

Wilhuff Tarkin overestimated himself and the Death Star. The Death Star was actually destroyed not far from its destination; to put it more bluntly—neither Chardan nor Paks were direct territory of the Fourth Empire, with only Kira serving as a forward base.

In other words, the Death Star was destroyed just as it crossed the borders of the Fourth Empire.

With the Death Star destroyed, Wilhoff Tarkin dead, and the Galactic Empire's current government cutting ties with him at lightning speed—they already hated Wilhoff Tarkin to the core, and now they're kicking him while he's down, so of course they're more than happy to do so.

Thus, Wilhoff Tarkin became the most notorious criminal in the history of the entire galaxy.

What followed was a complete cleanup.

The Tarkin family's assets were confiscated, family members were arrested, and all power was nationalized. Even Isani-Isad exposed Garosh Tarkin's collusion with the rebel alliance, as if to add another boulder to the Tarkin family's corpse.

However, what Aysani Isaad and Sat Pestach never expected was that the Galactic Empire's Fourth Army had already been thoroughly infiltrated by the Rebel Alliance!
They didn't even consider why everyone else's children were fine, while Wilhoff Tarkin's son, Galosh Tarkin, was so devoted to liberalism and the rebel alliance?

That's because the capital of the Fourth Army, Planet Audra, has long since become a liberal planet. Queen Burha Organa and her husband, Representative Bel Organa, are both staunch liberals.

Therefore, after Wilhoff-Tarkin's power collapsed, the one who had the last laugh in the Fourth Army's territory was not the Galactic Empire, but the Rebel Alliance!

After Wilhelm Tarkin's death, Queen Burha Organa immediately announced that she would assume the position of acting governor of the Fourth Army's senior sector, and would relinquish the position after the Imperial government elected a new governor.

However, at such a time, especially with the Death Star destroyed and the Galactic Empire's last hope utterly shattered, forcing it to sign a defeat treaty with the Fourth Empire, how could Sat Pestach dare to risk the fallout from the planet Alderaan by sending a high-ranking sector governor there?

Sat Pestach should be thankful that the Fourth Army is still willing to stand on the Galactic Empire's side, at least openly.

not to mention……

……

Inside the super star destroyer USS Freedom, a man dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and sporting a buzz cut walked slowly down the ship's corridor.

Here, many soldiers dressed in rebel uniforms are directing B-1 combat robots to clear the corpses from inside the warship.

Clearly, the warship had only been under control for a short time, and the bodies of the Galactic Empire naval officers and soldiers killed in the previous battle had not yet been completely cleared away.

The B-1 combat robots mixed the corpses and trash together, stuffed them into the warship's waste disposal compartment for compression, and then fired them directly at the general direction of the star using negative pressure air.

In this way, after traveling for several decades, that debris will be captured by the star's gravity and eventually become the energy source for the star's combustion.

As this man with the buzz cut walked by, the soldiers of the rebel alliance would respectfully nod to him, demonstrating his extremely high prestige among the soldiers.

He walked to the bridge, glanced at the conference room on the other side, and his keen Force abilities allowed him to hear the heated argument coming from inside. He pursed his lips, walked straight to the operations staff area, sat down casually, placed his leather boots on the table, picked up a glass of wine, and took a sip.

A combat staff officer from the militia standing next to him looked at him and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you going to the meeting, Mr. Galen Malek?"

“There’s no need.” Galen Malek’s face showed a mocking smile. “Or rather, I’m worried that once I go in, my blood pressure will rise and I’ll do something irrational.”

The operations staff officer shook his head and remained silent.

He knew that enormous divisions now existed within the Rebel Alliance. If before the Galactic Empire, a colossus, had been a constraint, forcing them to set aside their differences, now that mountain that had weighed them down for years had become a huge pie…

At this point, many contradictions and disagreements will be brought to the table.

But for a pure warrior like Garen Malek, he really couldn't tell which side was right.

Inside the conference room, more than a dozen top leaders of the Righteous Army Alliance were present. Some of them were participating remotely, but there was no doubt that this meeting was the highest-level meeting covering all the top leaders of the Righteous Army Alliance.

Mon Mosma, representing Chandrila; Bel Organa, representing Odran; Bel Gab Iblis, representing Corellia; Borsk Feria, representing the intelligence department; Jar Akbar, commanding the Allied Fleet; and Jane Dodena, commanding the fighter force, were among those present.

With the Galactic Empire now defeated, the Rebel Alliance no longer needs to hide. The Galactic Empire no longer poses any threat to them.

Even though the Galactic Empire still possesses thousands of Star Destroyers, and its apparent strength could easily crush the Rebel Alliance into pieces, this disorganized force can never truly touch the Rebel Alliance itself.

This time, the Rebel Alliance, which has secretly taken control of the Galactic Empire's Fourth Army, has begun to possess the power to confront the Galactic Empire head-on.

Moreover, there is the Galactic Empire's Third Army, with Chandella as its capital, and Corellia, the core industrial world of the Galactic Empire's Second Army.

Through these core planets, the Rebel Alliance's potential expansion in the future is virtually limitless!

However, the atmosphere in the conference room was somewhat tense at that moment.

Borsk-Felia, a Bosaian dressed in a formal suit, his hairy face contorted with rage, slammed his fist on the table and roared, “I told you! What we need to do now is strengthen our own power! Even if the Galactic Empire fails, they still possess a massive fleet! Not to mention the Fourth Empire, which is eyeing us covetously! Do you want us to be overwhelmed by countless warships the moment we announce the rebuilding of the Galactic Republic?!”

His anger was directed at the holographic projection at the head of the conference table—a graceful and elegant woman, Padme Amidala, the true leader of the rebel alliance.

Padme Amidala's face showed little emotion; as a veteran who had lived through the Naboo Crisis and the Clone Wars, she had long since learned to conceal her feelings.

She said calmly, "I have repeatedly emphasized that the greatest strength upon which our Rebel Alliance survives is not the number of warships or industries we possess. Our greatest power lies in our unwavering belief. It is because of this belief that we can receive support in every corner of the galaxy."

She looked at Borsk-Felia and said, “Mr. Felia, do you think we have achieved what we have today by conquering the world bit by bit with our fleet? If that were the case, how many planets would have been devastated as a result? How many planets have been reduced to scorched earth by the tug-of-war between the Fourth Reich and the Galactic Empire in the North? It is precisely because the people do not want to see such a war that they support us.”

Borsk-Felia declared loudly, “The situation is different now! We must protect the planets that join us! In the past, we could have allowed those planets to hide and grovel before the Imperial fleet when it came to suppress them! But now? Are you going to make those planets that yearn for freedom kneel before the Imperial fleet again?”

“We have many ways to expand our power. This operation against the Imperial Fourth Army is a prime example of that success,” Padme Amidala said. “What we need are like-minded comrades, not opportunists.”

She paused, then continued, “Everyone knows what kind of person Governor Serben of the Imperial Twelfth Army is. He served as a sector governor for over forty years, and as a senior sector governor for twenty years. His hands are stained with the blood of the people. There are at least nineteen documented instances of him directly ordering massacres and repressions! And yet you bring him before us and tell me he’s a staunch liberal fighter?”

Borsk-Felia stood up, his hands gripping the conference table, and said loudly, "So this is what I'm saying! What we want is his fleet! His industrial system! His resources! As for what kind of person he is, that's completely unimportant! My agents have a thousand ways to frame him with countless crimes and throw him in jail!"

Mon-Mosma chimed in, “Then, Mr. Feria, have you ever really considered that when you began the trial of Serben, he was already a member of our Rebel Alliance? Every charge you fabricated against him was shaking the very foundation of our Rebel Alliance—our beliefs and ideals.”

“But can faith and ideals cope with our current situation?” Bel-Gam-Iblis stood up and said, “Let me show you some data… This is the result calculated by Corellia Engineering’s best team of actuaries.”

He tapped a few times on the terminal, and countless data points immediately appeared on the projector in the middle of the conference room.

“As you can see, the Fourth Empire’s military strength is recovering at an incredible speed. Judging from the logistical data we have at the moment, the Fourth Empire clearly possesses a very large flow of raw materials and resources, which is more than seven times that of the Galactic Empire now.” Bell-Iblis tapped the table.

He continued, "What does seven times mean? Even though the Galactic Empire has now admitted defeat and suffered enormous losses, super-industrial worlds like Quarter, Nubia, and Corellia are still producing massive numbers of war machines for the Galactic Empire—the Galactic Empire also wants to rebuild its military strength as quickly as possible. And under these circumstances, the Galactic Empire's resource flow is only one-seventh of theirs!"

Borsk-Felia added: "My intelligence service also has many informants within the Fourth Reich. Although we lack direct evidence, we judge that the Fourth Reich has mastered a very advanced resource extraction technology, which makes their resource extraction efficiency reach an unbelievable level."

"In other words, all the Fourth Empire lacks before it can fill the entire galaxy with its fleet is the factories to utilize those resources."

Bel-Gamm-Ibris said, "So, the Fourth Reich isn't attacking us head-on now, but what about later? Two years later? Three years later? Are we supposed to compete with them in terms of productivity before their locust-like fleets reach our faces?" (End of Chapter)