The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

375. The Last Thing of This Year (Part 1)

In fact, during the speaker election speech, facing the betrayal of Aoun Free Tower, the ring faction members fell apart, and at that time Francis Underwood stood up and had a wonderful battle with Palpatine He also promptly signaled Congressman Tim to withdraw from the election as soon as possible, avoiding the exposure of his corruption scandals and causing a bigger scandal.

Coupled with Francis' wife, the Outer Rim Planet Mutual Aid Fund founded by Claire Underwood has been operating continuously, and it is getting bigger and bigger, helping many backward planets in the outer ring to solve the most urgent problems.

This layout that they have made since the very beginning is now finally beginning to reap great rewards. Some councilors from the outer ring star region and the original ring faction began to move closer to Francis, and began to initially form a political group.

Among the MPs who turned to Francis, Ainle-Tim was the head.

Although Tim was at a loss because of Aoun Free-Ta's defection in the previous speaker election, and he was also found out about corruption and bribery, but in general he is still a veteran with a high reputation A famous politician, his statement also won the support of many congressmen for Francis.

In a subsequent meeting, Francis Underwood publicly challenged Speaker Palpatine, asking where the policy policy he promised before being elected is now? Why is the current policy of the Republic not benefiting the Outer Rim sector? Since no benefits have been obtained, why insist on the policy of the previous speaker, Finnis-Valoren, to collect taxes in the Outer Ring Free Trade Zone?

Francis Underwood has established a predetermined plot direction from the beginning-Palpatine will gradually push the outer ring star region away from the policy, so as to make enough space for the survival of the separatist movement .

With this premise, Francis took advantage of this to attack Palpatine continuously, and because he knew the result, every reason he attacked Palpatine was well-founded, and it seemed that it was really court Go in the direction he judges.

This makes Palpatine very embarrassed. Although he also wants to split the Galactic Republic, this matter must not be done by himself, but if he wants to stop Francis, he will indirectly prevent his future course of action .

Therefore, he gritted his teeth with hatred for Francis, but Francis seemed to be willing to go all out, appearing in public frequently, and even publicly declared that he did not bring bodyguards. If you want to assassinate, please hurry up!

For a politician, this is basically fighting for life.

Francis is indeed fighting for his life, but he knows that only in this way can he get enough benefits, and he also understands that his behavior is only temporary, and the one that attracts firepower will come soon.

...

"Stupid guy! You almost destroyed everything!! I paved everything for you, but you were defeated by a mere planet Naboo!! Is this the answer you gave me? Useless stuff!" Darth- Sidious scolded in the communication.

Newt Gunley shrank into a ball, trembling and cowering all over his body. It took him a long time before he said cautiously: "Master Sidious, this is the first time we have used a robot army on such a large scale... Facts have proved that the way robots control ships Not good. I will immediately arrange to upgrade the program of the subordinate B-1 combat robot."

"Is this a problem with the robot control ship? The real problem is that you don't have the guts! Every time you need to take a step forward to solve a problem, you always take two steps back! You better tell me, What value will a coward like you have to me in the future?" Sidious growled.

Newt Gunley fell to his knees with a thud, and begged: "Please give me another chance to prove myself, my lord. I, I will definitely prove my worth! Also... the trade union is struggling now , please help me, my lord, if this continues, I will not be able to be the governor..."

The face under Sidious's cloak showed a distorted expression, "Yes, save you, of course I will save you. Because you only have the advantage of being obedient..."

He paused, and then said: "The current situation is indeed serious. It would be fine if you could end the Battle of Naboo as a victor, but you failed. The Speaker of the Republic, Palpatine, will naturally not miss this opportunity , he wants to prove that he is better than Phoenix-Valoren, and your trade alliance naturally hit the gun. So... there is only one way to survive..."

"Wh...how?" Newt Gunley asked quickly.

"Hehehehe...hehehehe..." Darth Sidious grinned and cut off the communication, but did not answer anything.

Newt Gunley sat slumped on the ground, and it took a long time before he picked up the communicator with trembling hands, and searched for a long time on the list above, before he settled on a person.

Director of Group Four, Gross Shelbya.

After the communication was connected, Gross quietly listened to the worries in Newt Gunley's heart, and said lightly: "Do you think the Republic has the ability to threaten you?"

"Why not! The Congress of the Republic wants to revoke our trade privileges! This will cost us a lot!" Newt Gunley said loudly.

Gross sneered, "The Republic can't even take care of themselves. Does it make a difference whether you cancel your trade privileges? Think about the fate of the Republic in the dispute over the planet Marathal."

Newt Gunray shut up, cold sweat streaming down his face. Because he remembered that in the Battle of Malastal Fjord, the Republic's local defense fleet was hoisted up and attacked by the joint fleet organized by the Enterprise Alliance, and in the end it was the Jedi Knights who took direct action to reverse the situation.

At this time, when Gross told him about it, the meaning was already obvious.

"You mean..." Newt Gunley remembered that the fourth group also participated in that battle.

"Hmph! Anyway, I won't pay the fine, and the defense fleet can't be disbanded, and I can still sell the warships. What can the Republic do to me? Anyway, I never thought of going through official channels for my warships, and the Republic's orders are all Being monopolized by Kuat Power Dockyard, Rendili Interstellar Power Company, and Corellia Engineering Company, I am a black marketer, and I still need to see the face of his Republic?" Gross snorted coldly.

"But..." Newt Gunley really wanted to say that our trade union is different from your start-up company, but after thinking about it, it seems that their situation is really the same, so he choked back the second half of the sentence .

"If there is anything else, you can go to Francis Underwood, a member of Dawn Planet. In addition, tomorrow the Apocalypse-class light cruiser of the Higra Aerospace Group, a subsidiary of our group, will officially start its first flight. What do you want to do about the first flight ceremony?" Participate?" Gross looked very relaxed, as if she didn't pay attention to the punishment of the Republic at all, she immediately turned the topic elsewhere.

"Apocalypse-class? Is it the kind of light cruiser with a length of more than 300 meters? Yes, yes... I will definitely go, I will definitely go. Please help us reserve the production capacity of 50 Apocalypse-class ships. I will place an order tomorrow, thank you. "Newt Gunley is still a little confused, but he still understands many things. For example, after the Battle of Naboo, he also understands the importance of escort warships.

And he also understands better that at the current stall, the fourth group, which has complete warship design and construction capabilities, even though it is smaller than their trade alliance by many grades, it still has mastered the most core technology Powerful group!

Facing the punishment and suppression of the Republic, the fourth group has turned into a thigh that the trade union needs to hug!

"Chancellor Francis Underwood..." Newt Gunley repeated the name. He knows the direction of the wind in the parliament recently, and he also understands the meaning behind the name Francis Underwood.

However, the matter has come to this point, and he has no way out.