Cherreads

Chapter 344 - Chapter 344: Splitting Up! V’s Major Discovery! A Terrifying Realization!

Chapter 344: Splitting Up! V's Major Discovery! A Terrifying Realization!

"This scene is truly tragic."

Having narrowly escaped the destruction of Jedha, Paul turned to look at the shattered planet behind him and let out a sigh.

It wasn't the Death Star's destructive power that he was in awe of—but rather the fact that, for the first time, he had witnessed the complete annihilation of a planet from such close range.

Back in the Megacorp, planetary annihilation was usually achieved by deploying a neutron annihilation beam or an MD-500 "Little Doctor" bomb, both capable of wiping out a planet from a distance within five minutes. But because these methods were so swift and efficient, most people never truly grasped the visceral horror of planetary destruction.

This time, however, Paul had watched Jedha's crust fracture and its core collapse over the course of several hours. Seeing the process unfold up close left a searing impression—one that made the destructive power all the more real.

There was no denying that even the first-generation Death Star was terrifying in its own right. While it wasn't the fastest method, it boasted a remarkably thorough completion rate. One focused blast from its superlaser was enough to utterly obliterate a planet from the inside out—a capability powerful enough to earn it a spot among the Tier-1 weapons of even the Megacorp's vast arsenal.

Had Paul hesitated even slightly or failed to foresee the impending danger, he likely would've perished in the Death Star's opening strike.

Beside him, Jyn Erso looked sorrowfully toward the ruined world of Jedha.

This is the true power of the Galactic Empire.

This is how the Empire enforces its rule and swiftly crushes uprisings across the galaxy—by wielding weapons of overwhelming force that allow it to dictate terms to the weak.

Any planet considering open support for the Rebel Alliance had to weigh a critical question: Can we survive a single blast from the Death Star?

If not, their fate would be the same as Jedha's—reduced to nothing but ash.

With no external aid, the Rebel Alliance's fight against the Empire now seemed more hopeless than ever.

Yet, from the perspective of the Megacorp fleet observing from afar, the Death Star wasn't particularly impressive—just another planet-killer. Hardly worth getting excited over.

But an upgraded version of the Death Star? That would definitely draw some attention.

After all, the Megacorp's entire history had been a constant cycle of weapon development and iteration: from early starship bombardments that could barely break a planet's surface, to today's cutting-edge particle beam strikes capable of one-shot planetary annihilation.

This technological evolution reflected the Megacorp's steady ascent in power.

Now, however, single-target planetary weapons were no longer enough. The company had set its sights on system-level devastation—the construction of superweapons capable of annihilating entire star systems.

Destroying a system's sun could eventually kill all its planets, yes—but that was a slow, lingering death.

And Li Ang didn't want slow.

He wanted a clean sweep. One shot. Instant eradication.

That's why the construction of the Falling Star Spear megastructure and the acquisition of Star-killer Base technology had become the Megacorp's top priorities.

Rather than wasting time and resources developing a Death Star upgrade from scratch, it was far more efficient to steal someone else's finished product. That's how Li Ang had always operated—building an empire by "freeloading" off others' breakthroughs.

Research and development? Only if there were no other options. As long as someone else had already done the work, Li Ang saw no reason to reinvent the wheel.

"Jedha's Holy City… is gone."

Inside the Rebel Alliance ship that had narrowly escaped the blast, the survivors looked in a daze at the space where their base—where their home—once stood, now reduced to cosmic dust.

Unlike the Megacorp's crew, who felt nothing, the Rebels were drowning in despair and terror.

The Empire's military advantage was staggering. Could they ever hope to overcome it?

Forget something like the Death Star—even a single Imperial Star Destroyer was more than they could match. Their weapons, resources, and industrial capacity were a joke in comparison.

A head-on fight against the Death Star would be suicide. They'd be crushed, just like Jedha.

Their only hope now lay in the data left behind by Galen Erso—if they could retrieve the Death Star's blueprints and find a weakness, they might just have a chance.

But within the Rebel ranks, despair was spreading. Some had already lost hope, convinced that defeating the Empire was impossible.

Arguments broke out over where to go next and what to do.

Then, the ship's communications system picked up an unexpected signal.

It was from Paul Atreides.

> ["Everyone, I'm glad to see you made it out safely. It looks like the spark of hope still lives on."]

As his message came through, a hologram of Paul appeared before the Rebels.

Captain Cassian Andor narrowed his eyes. Something didn't sit right with him.

"How do you know our comm frequency?" he asked sharply.

From the moment he first saw Paul, Cassian had sensed something off about him—though he couldn't say exactly what. His instincts told him Paul wasn't from around here.

"Apologies," Paul replied calmly. "Before we got separated, I slipped a small tracker on you. It was the fastest way to reestablish contact."

He wasn't about to let go of his hard-won place in the Rebel ranks—not when he needed access to the Star-Slayer Base's schematics.

"Who are you, really?" Cassian pressed. "Something tells me you're more than just a Jedi."

After seeing Paul in action, Cassian's curiosity had only grown. The man had appeared out of nowhere, wielded a lightsaber like a master, and yet seemed to be hiding much more.

"There are others resisting the Empire beyond just your Alliance," Paul said vaguely. "You're not alone in this fight."

Jyn blinked. "You mean… there are other resistance forces?"

Paul nodded, smoothly going along with her assumption. "Exactly. But we operate in the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity."

"Wait… are you with the Jedi Order?"

His skills, his youth, his strength—everything pointed to him being a high-ranking Jedi, maybe even one of the lost leaders of the old Order. Could it be that the Jedi were returning?

"The Jedi Order is gone," Paul said quietly. "But those of us who remain still fight—doing everything we can to stand against the Empire."

Then, steering the conversation toward the next step, Paul said firmly, "Now that we have the exact coordinates, we need to move out immediately. If the Empire catches wind of this, it'll be too late."

His conviction swayed the Rebels, who began readying themselves for the mission ahead.

"Also," Paul added, "I suggest we split up. You go to the Imperial Research Center and rescue Galen Erso. I'll head to Scarif and retrieve the Death Star plans."

The Imperial Engineering Institute and Scarif were two completely different locations. And without a doubt, Scarif—where the Death Star plans were stored—was far more dangerous.

It was a heavily fortified key fortress of the Empire, garrisoned with a massive number of stormtroopers. Even more troubling was the planetary shield that enveloped the entire world, making it nearly impossible to find a weakness.

But for the Megacorp, with its current arsenal of superweapons, overloading and disabling a shield array like that was hardly a challenge.

Under Paul's carefully laid plan, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and the other Rebels were assigned to rescue Galen Erso—leaving Paul to undertake the real Rogue One mission alone.

Captain Cassian had no objections to the division of tasks. It was obvious to everyone that stealing the Death Star schematics was far riskier than the rescue op.

If even a Jedi couldn't accomplish that mission, then they certainly stood no chance.

In contrast, extracting Galen Erso—Jyn's father—was comparatively straightforward. At least his facility wasn't protected by a full planetary shield, so there was no danger of being permanently trapped inside.

"I understand. I'll immediately report this to the other Alliance cells and have them begin mobilizing." Cassian gave a nod of agreement.

Paul nodded back. With consensus reached, the next steps would be far easier to execute.

From that moment, the teams officially went their separate ways.

Cassian, Jyn, and the others set out for the Imperial Engineering Institute to rescue Galen Erso, while Paul began preparing for the far more perilous mission of stealing the Death Star plans.

A mission like this would require careful planning. Paul returned to the Hyperion alongside Chani to report everything to Megacorp's main base.

Just as Paul landed his transforming starship back aboard the Hyperion, he immediately addressed Panam Wells, who had already returned from the frontlines.

"Panam, I want you to take an Iron Hand squad and go with the Rebels on their rescue mission. That scientist is of critical value."

"If we can recruit him, we'll be able to complete construction on the Star-Slayer Base even faster!"

As the lead architect behind the Death Star, Galen Erso's value was self-evident. If they could win him over, then even if they failed to acquire the Death Star plans, the Megacorp could still recreate the Star-Slayer Base using his knowledge.

Most importantly, regardless of whether the Rebel rescue succeeded or not, the Megacorp had to take control of this rising faction. Otherwise, knowing Li Ang 's temperament, he'd rather wipe them out than leave an unstable element unchecked.

"Understood."

Panam nodded without hesitation. Even though he'd barely escaped death on Jedha, he didn't flinch for a second as he accepted the assignment.

As the son of Marshal Jack Wells, Parnie wasn't about to bring shame to his family name.

Meanwhile, back at Megacorp's multiverse base headquarters, Li Ang had just received a full report on the frontlines.

After reviewing Paul's strategic decisions, Li Ang paused, deep in thought. If he remembered correctly, any significant threat to Scarif would trigger a powerful countermeasure from the Star Wars universe…

The legendary dark lord, Darth Vader, would personally lead his flagship—the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer—to reinforce the system!

Darth Vader, formerly known as Anakin Skywalker, was once a brilliant Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side under Palpatine's manipulation and became the enforcer of the Empire.

He was a genuine Force-wielding Jedi.

And Li Ang wasn't entirely confident Paul could win in a one-on-one against someone like him.

If Paul failed, they would need a contingency plan in place.

After all, Vader's Executor was more than ten times the size of a standard Imperial Star Destroyer—stretching a staggering 19 kilometers in length.

Even among Megacorp's fleet, that was a true super-capital-class warship.

To fight a behemoth like that, they'd need to field something equally massive—perhaps the Covenant's Long Night of Solace or the Wanderer-class Dreadnought.

Fortunately, the Megacorp's deployment in the Star Wars universe was already nearing completion. If it came down to flipping the table on the Empire, they were ready.

If a titanic space battle was inevitable, they'd make sure to position their fleets perfectly in advance.

"Tell David to prepare for combat—it'll be their turn soon."

Li Ang issued the order to Jack Wills.

David's strike group included the Megacorp's most advanced warships: the Inheritor and the Transforming War Moon megastructure.

With firepower like that, dealing with Vader's fleet shouldn't be a problem.

"Yes, sir."

Jack nodded and relayed Li Ang 's top-priority directive to David, instructing him to begin preparations for follow-up operations.

While the headquarters was mobilizing for all-out war with the Galactic Empire, a new message came through from the distant edge of the galaxy.

"Boss, it's a message from Marshal V," Lucy, the Chief of Staff, alerted him.

"Patch it through."

As Li Ang spoke, a new hologram appeared on the command center's main screen. V's expression was unusually grave—he'd clearly uncovered something extraordinary.

> [Boss, we've made a new discovery.]

Ever since Li Ang had dispatched V and the Megacorp's most elite expeditionary force to the edge of the galaxy, they'd wasted no time.

V had immediately deployed swarms of AI drones and various recon devices. It didn't take long before they unearthed something truly disturbing.

The Yuuzhan Vong—a savage extragalactic species—had already begun launching a large number of bio-scouts into the galaxy.

At first glance, these devices resembled ordinary rocks. But on the inside, they were complex constructs combining electronic systems and unknown organic material.

This was typical of the Vong's bio-technological style: grotesque, wild, and terrifying.

Their weapons and armor included nightmarish living organisms—like exploding bugs that shredded armor, Voxyn bred specifically to hunt Force-sensitives, Vonduun crab armor that could withstand artillery fire, and even coral skippers, their bizarre living spacecraft.

All of them were bioengineered tools of war from an alien, brutal civilization.

> [Based on the data from these scouts, the Yuuzhan Vong may have had their eyes on the galaxy as far back as the Clone Wars.]

> [It's even possible they've already embedded political spies within galactic factions—watching everything from the shadows.]

V's revelation sent chills down the spines of everyone in the control room.

Just imagine: a fractured, infighting Empire, already stretched thin battling Rebels and uprisings.

And lurking just beyond the rim… a monstrous, alien civilization—patiently waiting for the Empire to bleed itself dry, so they could pounce and devour the weakened prey.

If the Rebels and the Empire kept dragging each other down… the real winners might not be either of them.

It would be the extraterrestrial invaders from beyond the stars.

The situation was eerily reminiscent of a dark chapter in Earth's own history—the Five Barbarians' invasion of China during the fall of the Jin Dynasty, when internal chaos left the nation wide open to foreign conquest.

(Show your support and read more chapters on my Patreon: [email protected]/psychopet. Thank you for your support!)

More Chapters