Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 814

Chapter 808, Safe Zone Policy

Twelve years of continuous, top-down degeneration of the Safe Zone policy has left the area controlled by the Magrey Space Government arguably the most deeply corrupted by Chaos.

Yet, it still couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the Dark Side Expedition.

By the time the Dark Side Expedition’s assembled main fleet arrived on Miting, the Magrey Space Government’s rule had essentially collapsed. Over a hundred worlds had been liberated, and while the fighting on the surface was certainly far from complete, communication between planets had essentially been severed.

The corruption on the surface was more problematic, and based on the expedition’s experience, it would likely require decades of persistent work to reverse it.

Honestly, this wasn’t a particularly cost-effective deal. But the Alliance had its own strategy.

In the worst-case scenario, outright extermination was issued. Few could force the Alliance to make this choice, and each one was, to be honest, hopelessly hopeless.

In many cases, the cost of salvaging a planet is extremely high, so high that Alliance accounting officials believe that the cost of capturing the planet and then collecting taxes from it after the capture would take a hundred years to recoup.

Even so, salvage is still possible. The Alliance often deploys a portion of its combat forces to the planet’s surface to prepare for long-term operations. More importantly, it trains local forces.

This isn’t an expectation that these trained local forces can resolve the planet’s problems on their own. If they were capable, or if the crisis were limited, Alliance officials wouldn’t conclude that a planet wouldn’t be able to recoup its costs in a hundred years.

The local forces’ role is simply to establish clear, Chaos-free zones on the planet, creating safe zones, and then continuously attract uncorrupted individuals from outside.

These zones will restore some production and become as self-sustaining as possible.

Alliance ships will regularly visit to collect taxes and trade. The Alliance collects 10% of their output, equivalent to an Imperial tax.

But in reality, they profit greatly,

as the Alliance offers fair trade with them.

It was precisely this support from outside the planet that gave them hope of persevering on a world ravaged by Chaos corruption.

If they had any hope, ideally, they could rely on trade and the assistance of Alliance instructors to restore production as much as possible and quickly absorb more people. This would allow the safe zone to not only protect itself but also expand, uniting with other safe zones and ultimately purifying the entire planet.

This would be the best scenario, the Alliance’s ultimate hope.

Secondly, they would ideally also possess the ability to protect themselves. Managing their safe zone and preventing corruption from entering meant building a robust church and anti-corruption review system. Surviving in a world riven by danger was no easy task.

If all established safe zones were destroyed, the Alliance would deem the world no longer worth saving, and extermination would be imminent.

This would undoubtedly be a harsh situation for these worlds, sparking countless heartbreaking stories.

However, for the Alliance, this was also the most cost-effective option, a desperate choice, one that could only abandon their emotions.

We can’t exterminate every world; that would be too costly, and the cost of extermination weapons would be exorbitant.

We can’t leave it alone, or the Chaos corruption will grow uncontrollably, opening Warp rifts and pulling out Chaos ships to attack other areas.

We can’t take over completely, or the Dark Side Crusade’s progress won’t be guaranteed, and it will be stuck in this area for years, increasing the probability of trouble elsewhere…

So what can we do?

This is the only way.

Doing so at least gives them hope for self-salvation and genuinely provides necessary assistance.

To put it more bluntly, this also provides the Alliance with a significant benefit: identification.

The establishment of these safe zones serves as a valuable tool for identification. Those that can resolve their own problems are, of course, the best; those that can sustain themselves are also excellent, proving at least that the Chaos encroachment on that world is controllable. In other words, the very purpose of numerous safe zones on a planet is to curb Chaos encroachment.

If all safe zones are destroyed, it helps the Dark Side Expeditionary Command confirm that the Chaos encroachment on that world is uncontrollable and must be dealt with forcefully, without further leniency.

That’s when the Extermination Order is issued, as it’s considered ‘incurable.’

However, this is currently just a direction and hasn’t yet been implemented.

The next meeting Yan Fangxu will attend will discuss how this direction will be implemented.

There are many details to be worked out.

How will a world be defined as a “safe zone”? What characteristics and indicators must be met to forgo direct military liberation in favor of establishing a safe zone?

These safe zones resembled armed bases behind enemy lines. What would the initial support from the expeditionary force headquarters include?

Since they were bases, liaison specialists would need to remain. Who would be responsible for this? How would they rotate?

There were countless operational details that required a general direction.

And these, as the expeditionary force’s commander-in-chief, fell under his purview.

Direct command of the battlefront required less involvement from him. These macro-strategies were his primary responsibility.

Of course, war remained the most crucial aspect of the expedition.

Before leaving for the meeting, he received several more reports.

“Marshal, the frontline command on Mi Ting has sent a contingency plan. They believe the planet itself is not worth saving and recommend executing the extermination order before disintegrating it.”

In addition to this immediate message, another alarm rang through Yan Fangxu’s miniature headset. Twelve more star systems simultaneously lit up with distress signals at the edge of the 3D star map.

“Marshal?” The adjutant, who arrived with the report, noticed Yan Fangxu’s lack of response and urged him.

“For now, we won’t execute the extermination order. We’ll focus on dismantling the Chaos rebels. When the Phoenix Fifth Company went down, wasn’t it thanks to the son of General Hawke, that ‘normal man’ executed by Archavon, that they were able to contact the ministers of their pseudo-royal court? That’s how convenient it was. It proves that there are still some loyalists on the planet of Miding.”

“Wait a minute, wait until I finish the meeting and finalize the safe zone policy, then we’ll see how to handle it.”

“By the way, forward the distress signals from the twelve star systems to the General Staff and handle them as usual.”

(End of this chapter)