Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 789

Chapter 784, Is the Empire willing?

The Battle of Li Guang Star began.

The Battle of Li Guang Star ended.

The entire battle lasted less than a month, or to be more precise, 26 standard Terran days.

The actual fighting during this period was only 14 days. The rest of the time was spent on the march by the assembled forces.

Participating in the operation were the two Chapters designated by Gu Hang, plus a portion of the Alliance Navy. They were hired by the Eastern Space Domain Provisional Government to carry out an extermination strike against the “traitorous Chapter” Li Guang Sword.

The two Chapters’ fleets, plus the Alliance Navy, comprised a total of eleven large warships above the Battlecruiser level, including an Emperor-class battleship.

This crushing naval force swiftly destroyed Li Guang Star’s outer defenses in just five days.

The combined forces of Huang Quan Gull and Blood Shark then descended upon the exposed starport, engaging the Li Guang Sword in a decisive battle.

The Li Guang Sword’s erroneous decision to refuse to abandon the starport cost them dearly. Four companies defended the starport with all their might, but after two days of fighting, over three hundred of the Sword of the Dawn’s warriors were decimated within the starport.

The Blood Sharks and Yellow Springs Gulls, with over six hundred men deployed, not only outnumbered and outmatched, but also boasted close-range fire support from aircraft carriers and smaller warships. The Blood Sharks and Yellow Springs Gulls slaughtered these three hundred, with only a combined casualty of over thirty, a near ten-to-one exchange.

After this loss of life, the Sword of the Dawn learned their lesson, adopting a dispersed, guerrilla-style approach on the planet’s surface.

However, the Alliance’s Stormcasters and the newly formed Order of the Psionic Order, the Spellweavers, launched a massive psychic prophecy. The Sword of the Dawn’s think tanks were completely overwhelmed.

Taking advantage of the enemy’s dwindling forces, the psykers teleported over a thousand Space Marines onto the planet.

Aircraft carriers deployed fighters to assist; battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers, braving ground-based anti-orbital fire, temporarily entered the planet’s orbital zone, carrying out a blanket bombardment of the surface.

Caught off guard, the Sword of Li Guang’s final five hundred warriors were swiftly eliminated before they could implement their dispersed guerrilla strategy under this all-encompassing assault from land, air, and space.

The two Alliance chapters lost only a little over sixty soldiers.

Combined, with fewer than a hundred casualties, the entire Sword of Li Guang Chapter was annihilated.

Perhaps thirty or fifty “traitorous” Space Marines still clung to Li Guang’s surface, relying on the support of their home planet’s people. However, their monasteries, their home planetary governments, their major hives and cities, their industrial bases, their food production areas… were practically all overrun by mercenaries from the Eastern Realm.

These guerrilla forces, operating in the mountains, swamps, and islands, no longer posed any threat to the overall situation.

Blood Shark retained a company to mop up the remnants, while the remaining main force of the Space Marines withdrew.

The impact of this battle was immense.

Let’s not even begin to consider how it would spread. At the very least, within the Eastern Space Domain, the shockwaves were immense.

Planets that had reluctantly signed letters of confirmation, acknowledging the Space Domain’s acting government, were dumbfounded. The most formidable of these forces had been annihilated so swiftly and so utterly devastatingly. If

even a Space Marine Chapter, fully defending its home planet, with its entire force recovered, was utterly defeated, what chance did the more common planets have?

The Alliance wouldn’t need to mobilize a single force; they could easily destroy them head-on.

Not to mention, their planets held countless Alliance supporters. They

could simply surrender and be done with.

The three other Chapters within the Eastern Space Domain were most shaken.

These were the Coronet of Light, a Successor Chapter of the Saints; the Gnawers, a Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels; and the Unforgotten Oath, a Successor Chapter of the Death Angels.

Although these four Chapters belonged to different parent Chapters and were often separated by two or three star regions, they were still all in the same cosmic region, so communication was frequent. This was especially true when the cosmic government faced a major issue and would often seek assistance from all four Chapters simultaneously. They even fought side by side.

They understood the combat effectiveness of the Sword of the Dawning Light; it was not a fragile Chapter. In fact, as a descendant of the Infinity Chapter, inheriting its traditions, the Sword of the Dawning Light was the best-managed of the four Chapters, consistently maintaining peak strength and a fully staffed regiment. With the exception of the loss of a company of one hundred men on the Infinite Star, the remaining men returned to defend the garrison, still totaling over eight hundred men.

Even this was quickly annihilated.

And what about them?

While the Radiant Corona Chapter didn’t worry much about scions and had relatively ample manpower, the Gnawers and the Unforgotten Oath, two angel Chapters whose gene-seed stemmed from different angelic Chapters, were less stable. The Gnawers,

in particular

, consistently hovered around five or six hundred men.

While they considered themselves capable individuals, they lacked the meticulous tactical organization of the Sword of Li Guang. In a real fight, they would likely be outmatched.

Furthermore, their fleet construction and homeworld development couldn’t compare to those of Li Guang Star.

What if the Alliance targeted them?

There would be no chance of a fight!

So far, they were deeply grateful that during the previous conflict between Yinbashim and the Alliance, they had either maintained friendly relations with the Alliance or remained neutral, thus avoiding any further conflict.

Otherwise, since the Alliance was determined to destroy the Sword of Li Guang, destroying them as well would have been a simple matter.

It would simply be a matter of dispatching their chapters and fleets, stopping by their homeworld.

It wouldn’t be a big deal.

The three chapters retreated like quails.

No one dared to breathe under the Alliance’s fierce power, let alone stand up for the Sword of Li Guang.

Never mind, they weren’t familiar with them.

The Gnawers have even strengthened their cooperation with the Alliance.

They are one of the chapters with the best relations with the Alliance. Fifteen years ago, their situation was dire, with numbers falling below 300. Their gene-seed was severely flawed, suffering from the genetic diseases traditional to the Blood Angels’ successor chapters. While these two conditions, ‘Blood Rage’ and ‘Black Rage’, gave them extraordinary combat effectiveness when they went berserk, they also incurred greater casualties and irreversible genetic changes that reduced their numbers.

The Alliance provided significant financial support, so much so that in recent years, they have even broken with chapter tradition and accepted recruits from the Alliance’s New Blood Base.

Thanks to these measures, their numbers gradually recovered from less than three hundred to around six hundred over the course of fifteen years.

Now, with the alliance demonstrating greater strength and resolve, they simultaneously made a decision. Not only did they intensify their cooperation, but they also boldly signed the Eastern Universe Provisional Government’s declaration and dispatched personnel to observe Cui Ru’s inauguration.

This was a significant statement; if things went wrong, they would face consequences in the future.

In return, the Alliance offered to send them more recruits, including specialized Mechanicus Archbishops to help them control the genetic disease.

A win-win!

Everyone was in raptures.

…

Gu Hang’s deep bond with his daughter was constantly interrupted.

Even with a well-established Alliance government to work for him, many important matters ultimately had to come to his desk.

Reports soon arrived.

Business was still important, so he left his daughter to his wife and medical staff.

This time, the report was about the notification letter the Eastern Space Region’s interim government was sending to Holy Terra.

The Alliance supported the Eastern Space Region’s uprising to flex its muscles, demonstrate its resolve, and create a sense of intimidation. The Alliance wasn’t afraid of an actual war with the Empire, even though it was certain that such a war would be painful for the Alliance. However, without such resolve, how could they possibly intimidate the Imperial Center?

Moreover, according to the Alliance’s assessment, the probability of war was actually quite low. The Imperial Center’s bottom line was that it would not tolerate any further open expansion of the Alliance. If this red line was crossed, war would be inevitable.

But the Alliance is treading on the edge of this red line, so isn’t it enough not to cross it?

The Alliance has never considered simply taking over the Eastern Space Region and bringing it under the Alliance’s system for unified management. The Eastern Space Region will remain an independent political entity, retaining the imperial system. From the Space President to the Planetary Governor, nothing will change.

Taxes owed by the Eastern Space Region to the Imperial Center will follow the traditional method, at a rate of 10% of gross output—of course, the Alliance will cover any normal losses.

The Imperial Center can even continue to send officials to the Eastern Space Region.

All of this is fine.

However, what the Imperial Center cannot do is interfere with the Alliance’s trade with other regions, impose blockades, or engage in hostile actions. Those planets that do business with the Alliance, introduce Alliance industries and management models, or even entrust their planets to officials hired from the Alliance while they themselves reside within the Alliance and enjoy a better life—these are their own choices, earned through the spillover of the Alliance’s economic and cultural strength.

To put it bluntly, economic and cultural measures are acceptable; harsh administrative directives, or even military threats, are not.

The Alliance hasn’t used force to coerce the governments of the Eastern Universe, so why should the Empire resort to harsh policies and murder to prevent this?

The letter from the acting government to the central government is quite lengthy and extensive. However, the general message is clear.

The first few paragraphs discuss Yin Bashim’s misdeeds, but they’re only briefly touched upon; a brief mention is sufficient. After all, this article isn’t meant to provoke the Empire.

However, as the cause of the events, a villain is always necessary.

Then, through the voice of Cui Ru, the interim chairperson of the acting government, the article explains their goals: “the well-being of all citizens of the Eastern Universe Empire,” “loyalty to the Empire,” and “shouldering the responsibilities of being a citizen of the Empire.”

This section touches on taxation and official appointments.

Finally, the relationship between the Eastern Universe and the Alliance is discussed, emphasizing their distinct nature and stating that the Imperial Central Government need not worry about the Eastern Universe infiltrating the Alliance system.

But they also emphasized that trade and investment with the Alliance was the lifeline and key to the future development of the Eastern Cosmic Domain, and that this must be maintained.

Ultimately, Cui Ru petitioned the Imperial Center to recognize her as acting chairperson, officially transitioning her to the position of chairperson of the Cosmic Domain. “

You killed my direct subordinates, and then you tell me you want to take power and ask for my approval?”

This would be absolutely unacceptable in any unified dynasty. Even if powerless to suppress a rebellion, it’s difficult to simply sit back and let it go.

But the Empire… it’s true that its own national conditions apply.

The Empire is different, and it can’t be considered a nation with a unified will.

All sorts of strange things have happened throughout the Empire’s ten thousand years of history.

Situations like this are common.

From a young age, rebellions have broken out on many planets. Planetary governors have reported and requested reinforcements. Higher authorities, after much deliberation, realized the cost of suppressing the rebellion was too high, and organizing the troops took a considerable amount of time. Then, upon arrival, they discovered the original governor had been overthrown. “

Destroy the rebels completely,” they thought, “but that’s expensive and too costly.” Then, after hearing the rebel leader claim they were still paying taxes, the higher-level government considered it and decided, “Let’s just leave it at that: collect the tax and go home.”

This process is quite standard, and it’s happened in many places.

A similar situation also occurs at the star region level. The star region head already has the power to retain a portion of the local imperial tax revenue. While their autonomy within the star region isn’t as high as that of a planetary governor, it’s much higher than that of a sector, like a vassal. If internal political strife and struggle intensify, the star region head could be overthrown.

This situation depends on how the space region government and the Imperial Center handle it, but the chances of suppressing the rebellion are higher than the chances of just letting it go.

This is because the position of star region head is a powerful and lucrative position that many people are eyeing. Who wouldn’t want to be a local vassal? With an excuse to suppress the rebellion, those who contributed, coordinated, and issued orders can reap the benefits.

However, there are also cases of rebellion, initiated by those already in positions of power. Some rebellions are even instigated by high-ranking external officials, the Cosmic Domain President, or even Holy Terra. As long as the cost of overthrowing the head of state is lower than the cost of conventional political methods

, the Empire is likely to accept such a situation.

However, if the situation becomes even higher, reaching the level of the Cosmic Domain President, the likelihood of the Empire yielding becomes even lower. While it’s not impossible, each case is complex and requires specific analysis.

Specifically regarding the Eastern Cosmic Domain, no matter how Acting President Cui Ru’s declaration letter attempts to exclude the Alliance, everyone knows that this matter cannot be without the Alliance. Without the Alliance

‘s support, Cui Ru could not muster the military power to overthrow Yinbarshim; and without the Alliance’s support, it would be even more impossible to swiftly and ruthlessly exterminate a warband.

The approach taken here is essentially that the Alliance is dissatisfied, has eliminated Yinbarshim, and promoted a new leader. But at the same time, they are willing to maintain the status quo. As long as the Imperial Central Government does not cause trouble, we will not push any further.

Imperial Central Government, are you willing to do so?

————

Wish you all a Happy New Year 2025!

Hongxinbu is here to wish you all a happy new year!

(End of this chapter)