The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

1857. The fall of Salukami

16BBY, July 4th, is the third year since the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

The outer ring of the Milky Way, the independent galaxy Confederacy fortress planet, Saluecami.

Around this once beautiful planet, there are fragments and wreckage of battleships everywhere. There are so many fragments that they even formed an asteroid belt!

And in the low-Earth orbit of the planet, there are still several extremely huge pieces of metal structure debris floating there. This is a star ring that has been blown up! Moreover, these debris have been captured by the planet's gravity and are in an extremely dangerous orbit. They may be pulled down by gravity at any time and hit the ground heavily, causing a terrible disaster no less than a nuclear bomb explosion.

There is no doubt that the planet Salukami has become a ruins of war...

The culprit who caused this disaster is still wandering around the planet at this moment, and they are hundreds of terrifying warships! Triangular wedge-shaped hull, towering bridge, and dense array of turbolaser turrets-the Imperial-class Star Destroyer!

Glory to the Galactic Empire!

In addition to hundreds of Imperial-class Star Destroyers, there are thousands of small and medium-sized battleships, including Aquitens-class light cruisers, Vindicator-class heavy cruisers, Predator-class frigates, and more.

In addition, more than a hundred 2,200-meter-level Chaser-class aircraft carriers are also behind the fleet formation, and countless fighter jets are rising and landing on the take-off and landing platforms of these aircraft carriers. There are both the classic V-wing fighters of the Galactic Republic and a brand new light fighter.

A kind of light fighter with a spherical cockpit and two solar panels - TIE/LN fighter. These fighters are extremely large in number and are dispatched in swarms. The number of each formation is 24, like locusts.

And in the center of these countless battleships and fighter jets, guarded by stars like a moon, was an extremely huge super battleship!

This super battleship is like a dagger, sharp and flat, shining with silver-gray luster under the light of stars. Next to this super battleship, even the 1,600-meter-long Empire-class Star Destroyer looks as small as a mouse.

Because the length of this super battleship has reached a terrifying 19,000 meters! This has far exceeded the length of the largest warship ever owned by the Principality of Dawn and the Confederation of Independent Systems - the 14,100-meter-long Ragnarov-class Titan battleship.

Why do you say it was once?

Because the second ship of the Ragnarov-class Titan battleship, the Shadow, the wreckage of this Titan battleship is stuck upside down in a desert in the southern hemisphere of the planet Salukami. The high temperature generated by the explosion has crystallized the entire desert, and the debris thrown away by the explosion has even covered hundreds of kilometers around it!

That's right, the Shadow has been destroyed. And what destroyed this terrible Titan battleship was the giant ship floating in the universe, the 19,000-meter-long giant ship——

Executor-class super Star Destroyer, the first ship, the Executor!

Above the huge hull of the Executor is a group of deck buildings. This includes the bridge, barracks, residential area, maintenance area, etc. Because of the huge hull of the Executor, this deck building complex can be called a city!

Such a huge warship is equipped with 2,000 multifunctional turbolaser cannons, 2,000 heavy-duty laser cannons, 250 concussion missile launchers, 250 heavy ion cannons, 500 point defense systems, and 40 million-ton level Tractor beam!

The huge hangar platform can even accommodate close to 2,000 TIE/LN fighter jets!

Such insane firepower is enough to turn any target that dares to appear within its strike range into pieces in an instant.

This was the first gift Little Kuart gave to Emperor Palpatine after he took charge of the Kuart Power Shipyard - the Super Star Destroyer.

Unlike Lila Blissex before, oh no, now she is the official wife of Dunn Wessex, she should be called Lila Wessex, just like the farce she once hosted. Compared to the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer, the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer is more pragmatic and simpler.

Because there are basically no new technologies in the executive class. In short, it is bigger, more, faster and stronger.

Not enough firepower? Then increase the number of turrets; can’t the turrets fit in? Then expand the ship body; not enough energy? Then install a few more sets of reactors!

So if the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer is a super doubled version of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, there is actually no problem. Because the Executor-class super Star Destroyer still has the XX-9 heavy turbolaser cannon that the Imperial Navy has been using since the Galactic Republic.

Well, this is already a veritable ancestral cannon.

But no matter what, big is strong! More is stronger! In the face of such powerful firepower, even the Ragnarov-class Titan battleship can only be defeated.

At this moment, in the center of the bridge of the Executor super Star Destroyer, a tall figure in black clothes, black armor, and a black cloak was standing there quietly, looking through the porthole at the devastated planet Salukami ahead. The cold mask obscured his face and expression, and only the heavy breathing sound from the life-support device reminded that this cold, dark man was still alive.

Darth Vader, the first general under Emperor Palpatine, personally led a huge fleet to crush the resistance of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and turned the planet Salukami into ruins!

His command was ruthless and violent, and he won a great victory in the head-to-head confrontation with General Grievous, the commander of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, so that General Grievous could only abandon the Titan battleship Shadow as a bait, and then himself He fled in a panic in a fighter jet.

Next, Darth Vader's fleet smashed all the defense systems around the Salukami planet, including the armed star ring built by the Federation of Independent Systems! All resistance was crushed under the iron fist of the empire!

In order to capture the planet Salukami, Darth Vader assembled the largest fleet in history since the Galactic Republic to the present Galactic Empire. There are as many as 700 battleships alone! Mainly Imperial-class Star Destroyers, supplemented by Victory II-class Star Destroyers, Chaser-class aircraft carriers, and a small number of Jaeger-class battlecruisers used to transport fighters.

In addition, there are more than 3,000 small and medium-sized warships, and 20 Cheer-class assault landing ships!

In the face of such an offensive, the defense line of the Salukami planet that had stood firm for four years collapsed. In the end, most of the defensive fleet was wiped out, and only a small number had a chance to escape.

In this final battle alone, the Confederation of Independent Systems invested 80 Behemoth-class battlecruisers, 25 Divinity-class destroyers, 40 Defiant-class light destroyers, 20 Hiigaran-class battlecruisers, 10 Lu There are Kerry Hook-class battleships and five Fortress-class battlecruisers that have just been in service.

Even in order to resist the imperial army, they even pulled out more than 60 Generous class frigates that had long been relegated to the second line.

This patchwork of more than 200 capital ships, plus more than 1,000 small and medium-sized warships, together with about half of the fortress-level star rings that have been built on the Salukami planet, and more than 40 armed space stations, constitute their final line of defense.

But it was still completely destroyed in front of the huge fleet led by Darth Vader!

In fact, the original Conqueror-class battleship equipped with the dragon's breath and the even larger Destruction-class battleship were also on the Salukami planet. But after Count Dooku saw the Galactic Empire's army approaching, he moved the two super battleships to the rear and did not participate in the battle.

Count Dooku planned to use the Conqueror-class battleship No. 3 and the Carnage battleship, equipped with a super weapon such as the Dragon's Breath, to launch an attack in the heart of the Galactic Empire. After all, the dragon's breath is a kind of super poisonous gas. It is useless in fleet combat, but it is very sharp in destroying a planet.

In the previous battle, Count Dooku also realized that the Ragnarov-class Titan battleship was no match for the Executor-class super Star Destroyer, so he regarded the Destruction-class battleship as his final trump card. He did not I am willing to lose all my chips in such a battle.

The Destruction-class battleship is based on the Conqueror-class battleship and adds a super pulse laser cannon driven by Kyber crystal as energy. The length of this super pulse laser cannon group reaches more than 3,000 meters, so the overall length of the destruction-class battleship reaches more than 7,600 meters.

Count Dooku took the battleship back to the subplanet of Laxus, where he prepared to mount a final stand.

Because there is no other way now. With the Confederation of Independent Systems losing the planet Salukami, there is no longer any obstacle for the Galactic Empire's fleet to penetrate into the heart of the Confederation of Independent Systems. There used to be no hyperspace traffic hub along this route to resist the Galactic Empire's fleet.

All that's left are those planets fighting on their own. Because after occupying the Salukami planet, the Semires planet, the Felucia planet, the Ossus planet, the Laxus galaxy, and the Jabiem planet are all within the direct attack range of the Galactic Empire fleet!

Even Parment Port, their largest industrial center and interstellar shipyard, is not safe now!

Now the only important planet in the rear of the Confederation of Independent Systems is the ocean planet where the Quarren and Mon Calamari live, the planet Dark.

However, with the fall of the Salucami planet, the Mon Calamari, who were originally opposed to joining the war, are afraid that their power will rise again, bringing tremendous political pressure to the Quarren.

Darth Vader stood on the bridge of the Executor, quietly watching the defenses of the Salucami planet in front of him completely collapse, and then said in a dull voice hidden under the metal mask: "Let the stormtroopers start landing. Drag everyone on the planet Salukami out to me and shoot them together."

"Lord Vader, in fact, we can directly bomb the Salukami planet with orbital bombing. Then we can immediately move into the core area of ​​​​the separatists." The adjutant on the side said.

Darth Vader turned his head and glanced at the adjutant. Although the black helmet covered his entire head, and even the eyes were made of two pieces of dark metal, making it impossible to see any of his expressions, but that cold The breath and the terrible pressure still made the adjutant's legs weak.

"I still have a use for this planet. I will use drones to shoot the video footage of everyone on the planet from all angles and broadcast it continuously on the separatist network." Darth Vader said coldly, " The next time you let me hear these stupid words, you will also be on the execution list."

After saying that, he flicked the cloak behind him, turned around and walked out.

…

One after another, the Cheer-class assault landing ships entered the atmosphere of the Salukami planet, and even more than a dozen Imperial-class Star Destroyers followed the Cheer-class.

In front of these terrifying battleships, the remaining independent system Confederacy soldiers on the Salukami planet, as well as the civilians who did not evacuate, were all silent. Not to mention resisting, they did not even have the courage to vent their anger!

This violent and brutal attack by the Galactic Empire plunged everyone on the planet Salukami into deep fear and endless despair.

They could only huddle among the ruins and tremble, waiting for the doomsday to fall from the sky.

Indeed, many of them believed that the Galactic Empire would end the planet Salukami, which had resisted their army for four years, by completely using orbital bombardment to blow it into a glass ball.

At least in the face of such orbital bombardment, death is only a matter of seconds...

However, the development of things was beyond their expectations!

A large number of LAAT assault transport boats and large transport ships flew out from the battleship's hangar platform, filled with imperial stormtroopers.

These stormtroopers wear white third-generation polymer alloy armor and full-coverage helmets that make them look cold and ruthless. In fact, this is also true. Most of these soldiers are Sparti clone soldiers, and as time goes by, the problem of soldier shortage is gradually solved, so the growth cycle of these Sparti clone soldiers is increased to 2~ Three years have made them relatively more stable.

These clone soldiers are all cold-blooded and ruthless killing machines. After landing, they immediately entered cities and settlements and scanned everywhere with life detectors. As long as someone is found hiding, no matter who they are, they can be dragged out and thrown into a hover truck, and then transported to the open areas of the city ruins.

In the sky, V-wing fighters and TIE/LN fighters flew by in groups, patrolling the air, looking for every fish that slipped through the net.

Then when the number of people captured is almost tens of thousands, these clone soldiers of the Imperial Stormtroopers will immediately set up E-WEB heavy blaster machine guns and shoot directly at these poor people!

Countless people screamed and fell in a pool of blood, and some tried to escape, but it was impossible! The surrounding stormtroopers will kill all these people one by one like target practice!

Then, it’s the next place, the next group of people…

This is a brutal massacre, a cleansing of an entire planet!

It is also the answer given by the Galactic Empire, Palpatine and Darth Vader to the Confederation of Independent Systems!