The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

2368. Thrawn’s Art

11BBY, September 22, Kam-Co galaxy. Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Chimera.

The impassioned music in the captain's cabin of the battleship formed a very sharp contrast with the elegant and heavy room, which even made people feel a little uncomfortable.

But sitting at the desk, wearing a white Galactic Empire navy uniform and a major general badge, the Chiss didn't care about such conflicts. He just closed his eyes and listened to the music, gently following the rhythm of the music with one finger. Tapping on the armrest.

At this time, a doorbell that was clear and sweet but not loud rang. General Mis-Ro-Nuru, who was sitting at the table, opened his eyes, smiled, and pressed the button on the side.

A staff officer walked in and asked Thrawn: "General, it has been six days since we defeated Admiral Chiara's fleet. Do we still want to stay here?"

The place where they were was surprisingly the asteroid belt of the Kam-Co system where the miraculous battle between the weak and the strong had erupted. And here, there are still the remains of battleships floating everywhere, most of them have the mark of Kingdom of Dawn, and about one third of them can be seen at a glance as battleships produced by Qisi Territory.

"Why not? My capable chief of staff, Colonel Taremi." Thrawn asked with a smile.

"Since Chiara has been defeated here, the fleet led by Chis will definitely sweep this place, General Thrawn. Our current situation is very dangerous!" Chief of Staff Taremi said.

"Oh? How did you judge the situation?" Thrawn changed the topic directly.

"We defeated Chiara's main fleet. This is really great, General. Next, we only need to maintain our strength, request more reinforcements from the empire, and continue to harass while preserving ourselves. Continue to deal with it. I think it will take one to two months at most. Yes, by the beginning of next year, the Qisi leader will be in chaos!" Taremi said firmly.

"I agree with your judgment, Colonel Taremi, this is also our plan." Thrawn said calmly: "To subvert the Chiss Land, what is needed is not our power, but the Chiss Land's own power. Now , We have done what we can, this victory can make Chisi lead more people to fall to us, but..."

But he smiled and shook his head, "It's not that simple. The Kingdom of Dawn will definitely fight back, and it will be ten times or a hundred times... because this is their nature."

"In this case, we should leave here!" Taremi said.

Thrawn never answered this question. He suddenly turned to ask: "I ask each of you to read the brief history of Dawn Planet, or in other words, the brief history of the fourth civilization they call themselves. Have you read it? ”

"I've read it at least five times, General." Taremi replied, "But I always feel that what they call history is more like a science fiction novel than history. The Solemn Agreement, the High Demon, I'm sorry, these It has long been proven that there is no such thing.”

"The existence of a history is not because of its authenticity, but because of its purpose." Thrawn said seriously: "The history we see now may not be true, but it must be what they want everyone to know. You can see it. Just like the story of the thirteen tribes of philosophers in the legend of Coruscant, the ancestors of mankind, who bravely fought against the extremely cruel Tao people, it is by no means as great and bright as recorded, but such greatness And light is exactly what they want you to think.”

"Who are the 'they' you're talking about?" Taremi didn't quite understand.

"The Thirteen Tribes of the Philosopher, after defeating the Tao people, continued to expand outwards, and finally became the original thirteen human race colonial planets. At the same time, they were also the thirteen most prosperous and developed planets in the core circle of the Milky Way. Moreover, they After tens of thousands of years of development, they came together again and became the original thirteen members of the Galactic Republic. So who do you think 'they' will be?" Thrawn asked with a smile.

"I... understand." Taremi said thoughtfully.

"Then let me ask you again, have you seen anything from the brief history of this fourth civilization?" Thrawn asked again.

Taremi began to rack his brains to organize his vocabulary, "Well...iron-blooded, militant, military doctrine..."

"Fear, and...hunger!" Thrawn pointed out the essence of the fourth civilization without waiting for Taremi to express his simple understanding. "Fear is because they are afraid of destruction and loss. Home. The ravages of three natural disasters have made them extremely afraid of such disasters. In order to survive in the face of natural disasters, they will only crave more living space! How big should their living space be? Until I’m not afraid anymore.”

Thrawn crossed his hands, supported his chin, and continued: "Through this period of history, they have transferred this fear to the Galactic Empire. I have been checking almost everything about the Fourth Civilization these days... Their music, their operas, their advertisements, their books, their history, their fleets all show that they are afraid of the Galactic Empire..."

"Isn't it...that they are afraid of us?" Taremi couldn't understand.

Thrawn's expression became a little ferocious, "I'm so scared that I wish the Galactic Empire would die and be destroyed! It's best to crush it completely, put a lid on it, push it into a black hole, and disappear completely!"

Taremi was stunned.

Thrawn stood up, the ferocious expression on his face disappeared, and said calmly: "This is a civilization that has regarded the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire as its ultimate imaginary enemies from its origin. They ended their escape and began to set up on the Dawn Planet. From the moment of colonization, the The Republic, which has ruled the entire galaxy, has become the only enemy. This civilization... was born to destroy the Galactic Republic! Now the Republic has become an empire, but the purpose of the fourth civilization has never changed. What they think is the fourth natural disaster!”

"There is no reason! I have read their records. When they first established the colony, through the data submitted by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn to the authorities of the Galactic Republic, their colony only had a population of several thousand, and there were more than ten people on the spaceship. "It's just a population of 10,000 people in hibernation." Taremi felt extremely ridiculous, "You mean, from that time on, they wanted to defeat the Galactic Republic?"

"And they believe they can do it." Thrawn added, his expression becoming extremely serious.

Suddenly I discovered that this book has an audio version. You can read it on the homepage of the book. Membership should be free, and I occasionally listen to it. Although it is AI dubbing, the effect is surprisingly good.