The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

559. Pain and Hope (End of this article, ask for a monthly ticket)

The Battle of Bespin and the Battle of Geonosis ended almost at the same time. On the two different battlefields where the Republic took the initiative to attack, the Republic's army suffered two tragic defeats at the same time.

In addition, the Confederation of Independent Galaxies has now launched an all-out attack. The planet Atraken, the planet Alaris, the Bogden satellite, the planet Xiwei, the planet Thule... The borders of the Republic are raging everywhere. These two failures are even more serious. It was the demoralization of the whole republic. Less than a week after the start of the war, defeatist sentiment appeared in the parliament.

What is even worse is the depravity and surrender of the two Jedi masters Green Betty, Aiden Ward and their apprentices during the Bespin Star Wars.

Although in the subsequent combat report, Admiral McGlenn explained very fairly that the main factors for the failure of this battle were the separatist's unexpectedly powerful fleet, stealth fighters and well-trained army, and also pointed out that Green and The two masters of Aiden should have just been captured, and only Ulu Ulix was really betrayed.

However, those members of the Galactic Council still pointed the finger at the Jedi Knights. They openly questioned the capabilities of the Jedi Knights and believed that the Jedi Knights should be fully responsible for the failure of the two battles.

At this time, Schiff Palpatine once again stood on the side of the Jedi Knights. He pressed down all doubts about the Jedi Knights with his strong wrist, and announced under pressure that the Jedi Knights would still fight in the war. It plays the most central role, and one or two failures is by no means a reason to question the Jedi Order.

But the more he was like this, some voices behind the scenes intensified, and some even thought that Speaker Palpatine was controlled by the Jedi Order.

In fact, both the attack on the Jedi Order and its support were all directed by Schiff Palpatine. The more he supports the Jedi Order now, the more credibility he will have when he conspires later to declare the Jedi Order treasonous.

But the blame belongs to the blame. Facing the fierce offensive of the Federation of Independent Galaxies, the Republic must come up with a way to deal with it. Schiff-Palpatine used the power of emergency ruling to directly promulgate the Conscription Act, enlisting 1 billion soldiers in the entire Galactic Republic and strengthening training.

At the same time, more orders were placed for the Kuat Power Shipyard for more warships.

However, Rendili Interstellar Power Company has not received any orders. The Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers they are currently focusing on have proved in battle that they are definitely not opponents of the main battleships of the Confederation of Independent Galaxy-including the Higra-class battlecruisers, Cole Battlecruiser-class battlecruiser, destroyer-class Divine Will, light destroyer-class Disobedience, these warships can easily defeat the Dreadnought-class.

In order to avoid being lost in the countless opportunities brought about by this war, Rendili Interstellar Power Company asked the master of warship design who had just switched to them, Willix Blissex, to immediately start designing a new generation of large warships, This project is named: Victory Project.

Moreover, the Council of the Republic also allocated funds to the Kaminoans to order more clone army orders, and required that all clones be completed within one year. The answer given by the Kaminoans is that it will cost more to speed up the clones originally designed to grow in 10 years, and it will take at least 2 years.

22BBY, on May 29, the incomplete 12 Jaeger-class battlecruisers of the 19th Legion returned to the headquarters planet Harvin. The governor of the 19th Legion, Suramar, looked at the dejected General McGlenn in a daze. He didn't know what to say for a while, so he could only walk up and give the old man who had been in the army for decades a big hug.

On May 30, the battle damage statistics in the Battle of Bespin were completed and the capital Coruscant was notified.

In the Battle of Bespin, the Grand Republic Army Navy of the Galactic Republic invested 60 Jaeger-class battlecruisers with a crew of 444,000, 48 ships were lost, 358,196 crew members were killed, and more than 19,000 people were captured.

15,600 fighter jets of various types, 2,500 transport planes, and 21,000 pilots were invested. In the end, more than 9,100 fighter jets were lost, 510 transport planes were lost, and 11,422 pilots were killed.

The army invested a total of 200,000 people and 1,200 heavy equipment such as AT-TE tactical walkers. In the end, the army killed more than 24,000 people, seriously injured more than 79,000 people, lost 670 people, captured more than 2,200 people, and lost all heavy equipment.

The Jedi Order, put in 2 Jedi Masters and 2 Apprentices, all killed.

When the news came, the whole country was shocked. Less than 10 days after the start of the war, such disastrous failures came one after another, which almost cast a shadow on everyone's heart.

The Speaker of the Republic, Schiff Palpatine, ordered the flag of the Galactic Parliament to be lowered at half-mast for a day to express his condolences. At the same time, he made a public speech, expressing his determination to firmly maintain the unity of the Republic. He called on everyone to unite around the Jedi Order, respond to the leadership of the Jedi Order, implement the purpose of democracy and freedom, safeguard the unity of the motherland, oppose power, oppose division, and fight to the end to safeguard the unity of the country and the interests of the people.

In order to strengthen the effect of the speech, he also launched an activity named "Today, I am with the soldiers". Assaulting the landing ship, he touched the armor torn by the powerful artillery fire with his own hands, and burst into tears.

And there were more people gathered in front of the huge screen, looking at the scrolling list of the dead, and there were wailing wailings from the crowd.

The wife lost her husband, the father lost his son... The tragedies of each family continue to be staged, and... this is just the beginning.

"Padmé!!!" Anakin Skywalker slammed open the door of the hospital ward, and the guards at the door couldn't stop him at all.

On the white hospital bed, Padmé Amidala lay quietly, her beautiful face looked a little pale, her long eyelashes trembled slightly from time to time, and a soft light shone from the top of the hospital bed, constantly monitoring her body Bodily functions, but also to maintain her life.

"Padmé...no...no..." Anakin held Padmé's cold catkin tightly, tears streaming down his face, "Why you? Why! Why you! Why!!"

But Padmé didn't respond.

"Anakin! What are you doing? You shouldn't be doing this!" Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice came from the door of the ward.

"No! Why her!? Why!" Anakin couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, jumped up suddenly and roared loudly at Obi-Wan.

"Anakin!!" Obi-Wan grabbed his arm, and a soft force of force was transmitted to Anakin immediately, "I don't know what kind of relationship you have with Senator Amidala, but whatever it is , none of this should happen! Now, you need to calm down!"

Anakin also recovered his composure, knowing that his gaffe might lead to serious consequences, he lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, master, I was blinded by anger. Because I was always protecting Senator Amidala before, and now She was assassinated and left seriously wounded, and that is all my responsibility."

Obi-Wan sighed, patted him on the shoulder and said, "I hope you're really okay, Anakin. We received a new mission just now, and we need to go to the Tyon star cluster to garrison. According to investigations, the separation There has been some movement in that direction."

Anakin Skywalker nodded. He turned his head and took a deep look at the unconscious Padmé Amidala. His fists were clenched tightly and his fingers were bruised, but he finally controlled himself. Emotions.

But at this time, he didn't know why, but a strange name suddenly popped up in his mind—dead angel.

Back at the residence of the Jedi Temple, Anakin Skywalker couldn't fall asleep, at this moment, an apprentice came over and said: "Anakin, the chairman of the Galactic Council, Palpatine would like to invite you over. "

"Mr. Speaker? Why is he looking for me?" Anakin-Skywalker only felt full of doubts.

"Maybe I want to hear your report on the previous Geonosis planet, or some other things." Obi-Wan Kenobi said, "You know, maintaining contact with the council is also one of our tasks .So, let's go."

When Anakin, who was full of doubts, came to the empty parliament building, he saw Schiff Palpatine standing on the balcony, overlooking the scenery of Coruscant.

"Ah, here you come, young Skywalker." Palpatine didn't look back.

"Do you have anything to do with me? Your Excellency the Speaker." Anakin asked.

"It's nothing, it's just an old man who has been under a lot of pressure recently, and he just wants to find someone to talk to him." Palpatine turned his head, with a warm smile on his face, "Since our encounter on Coruscant 10 years ago, It's been so long...the cute little boy at that time has finally grown up."

Hearing his words, Anakin Skywalker couldn't help feeling warm in his heart, he also relaxed, smiled and said: "Yes, it was the time of the crisis on the planet Naboo, indeed, it has been 10 years."

"Haha, in fact, I was very anxious at that time, even a little panicked! I was worried..." Palpatine didn't mention the failure of the previous battle, just reminiscing about the past.

The two chatted on the balcony for a long time.

When the sky turned pale for a while, Palpatine patted Anakin on the shoulder with a smile, and said, "I accidentally delayed you for a long time, and you should go back to rest. It is our old men's dereliction of duty that the burden is on your young shoulders."

"No, this is my duty," Anakin said.

"However, I believe you can. Your potential is unique. As long as you want, you can do anything. Anything!" Palpatine said, "Follow your thoughts and go forward boldly! Don't be fooled by others You are bound!"