The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

1913. Spark (9)

[I will definitely be able to overcome all obstacles and pay attention to the glory in the storm all the time. Use those injured hands to create a better future and infinite brilliance...] Impassioned music continued to echo in the office.

"Colonel, there is a military order from the Navy Department. A new combat order will be issued this afternoon." Adjutant Sandas came over and said.

"This is a song sung by Alia Isabella, the superstar of the Dawn Planet, called "Glory in the Storm."" Colonel Thrawn seemed to be a little confused and said, "This song is very early. It was composed before and is no longer popular. But as a star in the official background of Dawn Planet, Alia Isabella will sing this song in almost every concert..."

Adjutant Sandas scratched his head and turned to look at the screen in front of Colonel Thrawn. "Are you looking at the intelligence of Dawn Planet again? We shouldn't be fighting Dawn Planet anymore, right? After all, they have surrendered."

"I think this is a very interesting planet." Thrawn said lightly, "Planet Dawn, they are remote and have a developed economy. The Galactic Empire is beyond their reach. At the same time, it is also a planet dominated by humans. So even if they To maintain the status quo, given time, they can become the top wealthy family in the Galactic Empire. But judging from their culture, it is full of a sense of crisis... Why?"

Colonel Thrawn asked in confusion.

"This may be because of Tang Xiao's ambition." The adjutant said, "Look at Dawn Planet before the war and after the war. They have expanded a large area. Now they can be said to be a very powerful warlord."

"You are half right, Sandas." Colonel Thrawn said, "Tang Xiao has ambitions, but this ambition goes far beyond expansion. His imaginary enemy, from the beginning, has been the Galactic Republic, and until now, he has also The target is the Galactic Empire. Where does their sense of crisis come from? It comes from the strength gap between them and us. In other words, they have already planned to go to war with the Galactic Republic."

"Why should they? There is at least a thousand times the strength gap between Planet Dawn and the Galactic Empire." Sandas frowned.

"I haven't figured this out yet, so I'm trying to read more about their literature and art. Even...myths and legends." Colonel Thrawn said, looking back at the book.

He read it very carefully and almost didn't miss a word. After more than ten minutes, a sneer gradually appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Interesting."

He closed the intelligence window in front of him, stood up and said: "Inform the fleet's mid-level and above officers to stop taking leave and return to the battleship within an hour to prepare for a combat meeting."

"yes!"

"In addition, ask the General Staff and Logistics Department to immediately prepare a plan to complete the maintenance and supply work within three days based on the minimum requirements." Colonel Thrawn added.

"Sir, do you want to leave early?" Adjutant Sandas asked.

"Our application for maintenance supplies has been sent to the Imperial Navy. They naturally know our status. So requesting a combat order at this time should allow us to leave early." Colonel Thrawn smiled lightly and added. , “The worst case scenario.”

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away." Sandas immediately gave a military salute.

In the conference room, Colonel Thrawn stood meticulously in front of the screen, standing straight with his feet apart like compasses.

A middle-aged man wearing the white uniform of a Galactic Empire naval general appeared on the screen. He was the commander of the sector where Thrawn's fleet was located, Vice Admiral Chenault.

"According to the battle plan of the Imperial Navy, the commander of the Sixth Patrol Fleet... Thrawn." Vice Admiral Chenor looked at the blue-skinned Chiss in front of him coldly, with no concealment of contempt in his tone, " Order you to set off immediately to reinforce the planet Akuria!"

Thrawn said calmly: "General, my fleet just fought with the geth battle group, and now it still needs time to repair. According to the approved documents, we need to repair for seven days."

"The people of the empire on the planet Akurea are being attacked by the geth, and you actually have to wait seven days?" Lieutenant General Chenor sneered, "Sure enough, as a Chiss, you have no sympathy for humans. of."

"There is no basis for your judgment. As the commander of the Sixth Patrol Fleet, my first obligation is to ensure the defeat of my enemy. If I cannot do this, then anything else is meaningless. ." Thrawn said.

"Hmph! Defeat the enemy, yes. You performed very well in the last battle, defeating the Geth battle group, and your fleet did not suffer any damage. So in that case, why do you keep pushing back? Do you want to Do you want to disobey me?" Lieutenant General Chenault slapped a big hat on his head.

Colonel Thrawn's tone remained unchanged. He said calmly: "Your Majesty General, 'damage' and 'loss' are two completely different words. Although my fleet did not suffer any losses, it was seriously damaged during the battle. . Therefore, based on the report I submitted, the seven-day rest period is an accurate and reasonable amount of time."

"Let me confirm again, Colonel Thrawn." Lieutenant General Chenault's tone became extremely cold, "My order is to set off immediately. And you, do you want to disobey the order?"

"Three days. This is the minimum time that my fleet can enter combat status as soon as possible, and it is also the only promise I can make, General. If you insist on setting off immediately, then I can only ask the Imperial Navy Department to make a new request. It’s decided,” Thrawn said.

"You are lucky, Chiss, so you'd better stay so lucky. For aliens like you who don't take human beings seriously, farming in the outer ring is the best outcome for you. Lieutenant General Chenault no longer insisted, and the fat on his face trembled slightly, "Then, three days. If I don't see your actions by then, I will send you to the Imperial Tribunal immediately!"

"As you wish, General." Colonel Thrawn stood at attention and saluted.

The image on the screen gradually disappeared, and when it was completely dark, the young and handsome face of Colonel Thrawn was reflected, as well as the calm smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Sir! He is totally making things difficult for us!" Adjutant Sandas said loudly and angrily, "With the current state of our battleship, three days is simply not enough time to completely repair it!!"

"Rather, we are lucky that we still have three days." Colonel Thrawn said.

…

Three days later, the planet Akurea, outer orbit.

A burst of white light flashed, and the huge figure of the Fire Breathing Empire-class Star Destroyer appeared in the universe, followed closely by the Vindicator-class heavy cruiser and 10 Night Watch-class frigates.

The outer armor of these battleships seems to be damaged in many places, and it seems that they have just been repaired urgently.

Looking at the large piece of debris in the outer orbit of the planet, Adjutant Sandas frowned, "The spaceport has been destroyed. But... where are the Geth battleships? Didn't the previous information from the Intelligence Department say that the Geth had a small battle?" Is the group doing damage here?"

"They are hiding in another unmanned galaxy nearby. When we launch operations, they will use warp speed to quickly appear and then raid us." Colonel Thrawn said calmly.

"You...how do you know?" Sandas couldn't keep up with Thrawn's rhythm.

"The Geth don't like frontal combat. Before every conflict, they will try to use other methods to create their own advantages." Thrawn said, "But at the same time, they will not give up any goal. According to calculations, the Geth To come to the planet Akurea and use warp speed navigation, it will take between 7 months and a year. The geth will not give up such a time cost."

Sandas nodded repeatedly.

"And now their fleet is nowhere to be seen. The only explanation is that they hid it in some way and then waited for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on us. Their biggest reliance at present is warp speed, so this is easy to judge." Thrawn said , "As for what actions we are required to take, I think the Planet Administration Center will give us the answer soon."

Sure enough, a moment later, the communication rang, and the planet's administrator's horrified expression appeared on the bridge screen, "General! General, you are finally here!! Save us! Save us!!"

Sandas was shocked. He looked at Colonel Thrawn, who was still sitting in his seat with a calm expression. He turned to the chief executive and said, "Anyway, calm down first! What happened? Where is the Geth?!"

"Geth! The Geth are on our planet! They have occupied the city of D'Soma! Since yesterday, we have been unable to receive any news from the city of D'Soma! They must be carrying out a massacre! Turning the residents into corpses Puppet!!" The chief executive said in horror, "General! General! You must save us!!"

Sandas looked back at Thrawn and said, "Sir, the geth have indeed landed! Should we let the marines set off as soon as possible?"

Each Imperial-class Star Destroyer carries a legion of 9,700 soldiers. The troops carried on one Imperial-class ship alone are enough to meet most combat needs.

However, Thrawn raised his hand and interrupted him. He said to the administrator: "Let the armies on the planet begin to gather, and I will reinforce you."

After saying that, he closed the communication directly.

"General, are you asking the Marines to get ready? We can also have the Y-wing bomber squadron conduct a round of bombing on Dathoma City," Sandas said.

Their fleet is still equipped with Y-wing bombers, antiques from the Clone Wars era.

"Take off all fighters and bombers and let them hide on the planet satellite and be on standby. All fleets immediately enter the planet's synchronous orbit and mine according to my plan." Colonel Thrawn said.

"Is it entering synchronous orbit and not entering the atmosphere?" Adjutant Sandas asked.

"Execute the order." Thrawn said calmly.

"Yes!" Sandas quickly made arrangements.

"This is what Geth wants us to do...immediately start landing and reinforce the planet's surface." Thrawn said, "So, for such a thing, we can only do half of it-entering synchronous orbit, but not landing. Then it’s up to us to choose the battlefield.”

The landing of 9,700 soldiers, plus those heavy ground vehicles, was a complicated process. The entire landing process would last a full day, and at this time, their fleet was vulnerable and vulnerable to attack.

Adjutant Sandas also figured this out, and he said in a deep voice: "The Geth are planning to attack us when we land! They are really cunning, just like intelligent creatures!"

Colonel Thrawn smiled, "The Geth are still robots. It's just that they are robots that think they are intelligent creatures. They think they have learned the methods of intelligent creatures, so they try to do everything they can. Do it in the way of intelligent creatures. For example, they will disguise themselves as merchant ships under attack and ask for help. For example, they will lay an ambush. For example, they will create corpse puppets to undermine the morale of the defenders... But what is the premise of all this? "

Sandas shook his head blankly.

"The premise of all this is that they believe that this is how intelligent creatures do things." Thrawn said, "But in fact, as an intelligent creature, how would you attack a planet?"

Sandas didn't know what Thrawn wanted to express, but he still shook his head, looking confused.

"Yes, that's what you said." Thrawn smiled slightly, "There is no fixed method. Maybe if you are in a bad mood, just attack with the whole army. So you see, the behavior of intelligent creatures is different from what Geth thinks. , in fact, there are still differences, and the performance is that sometimes they will do some redundant things. But when they actually deal with changes outside the program, their choice method is still that of robots."

Colonel Thrawn came to the other side of the bridge. On a platform here, there was the remains of a geth individual. The central computer of this wreckage has been destroyed, but the body is relatively intact.

He studied the wreckage very carefully. In fact, after receiving the order to come to the North, what Thrawn did most often was to constantly observe everything they could find related to geth.

"They have never given up the appearance given to them by their creators. Even heavy units like the Geth Colossus still maintain the same appearance characteristics - even if this appearance feature is not so efficient for combat." Thrawn Gazing at every inch of the wreckage, "Because this appearance is the part of them that is closest to 'wisdom'. It is the appearance of their creator..."

At this time, the battleships of Thrawn's fleet had entered the planet's synchronous orbit and formed a battle formation. At the same time, tens of thousands of air mines were deployed around them!

Although these air mines will soon be pulled into the atmosphere by the planet's gravity, before that, it is enough for Thrawn to complete his plan! !

Less than two hours had passed when suddenly more than a dozen geth insect-shaped warships suddenly appeared outside the planet! Their location is even directly within the planet's gravitational circle! Less than 1,000 kilometers away from Thrawn's fleet! !