Fourth Scourge of Star Wars

Chapter 467: Separatism

Chapter 467: Separatism

As time went by, the Separatist Movement started by Count Dooku also continued to grow and develop.

The Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Sheev Palpatine, devoted all his energy to fighting dissidents and expanding his own power, and completely let the corrupt Senators of the Republic do perverse things in the Outer Rim.

Under such circumstances, coupled with Count Dooku's unparalleled reputation and eloquence, a large number of Planets in the Outer Rim joined the Separatist Movement and began to resist a series of policies of the Republic.

Since the 500 Planets including the Dawn publicly announced their refusal to pay taxes for the Republic, more and more Planets have also joined in. The Galactic Republic has painstakingly implemented the Free Trade Zone since the former Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum's Tax Policy has become a dead letter.

Next, Count Dooku secretly reached a preliminary agreement with the Cross-Galactic Super Corporations headed by the Trade Federation, the Techno Union, the Interstellar Banking Clan, the Corporate Alliance, the Commerce Guild, and the Fourth Group, allowing them to join his cause against the Republic.

The promise he gave was that once the Republic was successfully forced to submit, these companies would have astronomical amounts of capital gains, and they could legally occupy a large number of Systems, and at the same time, they would also receive unimaginable privileges.

That's right, what he said was never about launching a life-and-death war with the Republic, but telling these Corporate Giants that war is just a means, the purpose is to let the Republic sit on the negotiating table, and even overthrow the current Government of the Galactic Republic and they take their place.

Each of these Corporate Giants has ulterior motives, such as the Trade Federation because Viceroy Nute Gunray was coerced and recruited by Darth Sidious, the Interstellar Banking Clan was an arrangement left by Darth Plagueis before his death, and the Techno Union and Corporate Alliance, which the base of the Union and the Alliance was originally in the Outer Rim, and the ambitious Commerce Guild wanted to seize this opportunity to take it to the next level.

As for the Fourth Group, they hope that this war will be fought, and the bigger the better, it is best to fight all the brains.

But no matter what, Count Dooku finally got funding from these Giant Companies, and his activities became bigger and bigger, and more and more blatant. In the Outer Rim Sector, many Planets have stopped broadcasting the Galactic Republic media and instead broadcast Count Dooku's speech in large quantities.

This not only intensified the conflict between the Planets in the Outer Rim and the Planets in the Inner Rim and Core Circle but also made the atmosphere of the Galactic Republic more tense.

Sheev Palpatine has made public speeches more than once, stating that he cannot accept the act of splitting the Republic in any case, and called on the Separatists to return to the negotiating table and not to be aggressive.

But having said that, he didn't take any substantial actions, he just kept persuading the Outer Rim through the media.

The slogan that the upper and lower lips touch the empty white teeth is naturally impossible to be accepted by the Outer Rim, but Palpatine also hopes so. The reason why he said this is just to create an image of himself still loving peace, longing for the unified setting of the Galactic Republic.

As for Count Dooku, because he already had enough support, he also quickly started preparations for the battle.

First and foremost is the industrial aspect. According to the report of the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, the Trade Federation was previously jointly developing the upgraded version of the Dreadnought-class Heavy Cruiser with the Rendili StarDrive, the Providence-class Carrier/Destroyer[Note 1].

The Providence-class Destroyer is a Multi-Functional Warship, equipped with an Advanced Command System and Heavy Armor, and adopts a Modular Design, which can easily replace the functional cabin. According to different configurations, the Providence-class Destroyer can be used as a Command Ship, a Carrier and a Battleship.

But in fact, in order to avoid suspicion, Rendili StarDrive outsourced this project to the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, which is a large engineering company established by the Quarren for Rendili StarDrive, mainly for outsourcing and processing operations.

As the Separatist Movement intensified, Rendili StarDrive could not sit still, and they were preparing to withdraw from this project. At the same time, Count Dooku intervened in the dispute between the Mon Calamari and the Quarren on Planet Mon Calamari, got the support of the Quarren, and let the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps separate from Rendili StarDrive to come out and build Warships specifically for the Separatists.

The project of the Providence-class Destroyer was also brought over by the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, and the Trade Federation continued to contribute funds to prepare for the completion of this powerful Warship.

The Freedak Volunteer Engineering Corps secretly built a Huge Shipyard on Planet Pammant, the Colonial World of the Quarren, dedicated to the construction of the Providence-class Destroyer.

After he decided to go to war, the ambitious Count Dooku even persuaded the Trade Federation to spend huge sums of money to design a more powerful invincible Battleship on the basis of the Providence-class Destroyer, the Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser!

These are not enough, Count Dooku asked Shu Mai, the Presidente of the Commerce Guild, and Passel Argente, the Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance, to jointly fund and design a powerful Fire Support Ship, this project was named the Recusant-class Light Destroyer.

Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc. is one of the oldest spacecraft design and construction companies in the Galaxy, with a history of more than 4,000 years. However, in the later competition, it was defeated by emerging Super Industrial Enterprises such as Kuat Drive Yards and became a subsidiary of the Trade Federation, which was successively transferred to the Zann Consortium and the Nimban Consortium in Hutt Space.

But anyway, this is a company with a deep heritage, so it's okay to do some design and construction work. But after all, the company's scale is limited, and it is currently mainly engaged in the construction and reconstruction of Lucrehulk-class Cargo Freighters into Battleships, so the construction work of the Recusant-class Light Destroyer is also scheduled to be handed over to the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps.

Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc. would also form an alliance with Gwori Revolutionary Industries, a ship manufacturer based on the Outer Rim Planet Gwori, to build Munificent-class Star Frigates.

Additionally, they are also responsible for the construction of the DH-Omni Support Vessels, also known as Separatist Support Ships responsible as a massive transport ship.

In addition, the Techno Union mainly provides Technical Support in various aspects, including the Research and Development of Army Equipment, various Droids, and Fighters. Naturally, the Interstellar Banking Clan pays for it.

Finally, the main job of the Fourth Group is to cooperate with the Trade Federation to build Hiigaran-class Battlecruisers and Wraith Fighters. This is the only thing that Count Dooku has seen in the product line announced by the Fourth Group.

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[Note 1: As always, the classification of Warships in "Star Wars" is particularly fascinating. The Providence-class alone has several names such as Command Ship, Capital Ship, Dreadnought, Cruiser, Carrier, and Destroyer...here is still based on the setting. The official name is defined as a Destroyer. ]