The giant corporations that started in Night City - Chapter 348

c348 The Empire’s financial crisis! The sad current situation of the Stormtroopers!

Although this is an imperial cargo ship, the materials transported in it are all types of military goods, so there are also some imperial stormtroopers on board as guards.

However, facing the sudden paralysis of the ship system, they have no way to deal with it for a while, and can only use the night vision system of the power armor to patrol around to see where the problem is.

At this time, the stormtroopers patrolling in the corridor heard a strange sound coming from a certain passage, and they immediately rushed to the source of the sound.

Soon, a dazzling beam of light flashed in the dark corridor. When the traces of the suspicious person were clearly seen, the captain of the stormtroopers decisively ordered to open fire.

“Enemy attack–!”

In an instant, countless beams of blast energy attacked Paul like a storm, and the shadow of death quickly enveloped Paul.

But Paul dared to appear here so confidently, naturally he had a perfect plan to deal with the enemy, otherwise he would not appear here calmly.

He waved his lightsaber more easily than last time, and bounced back all the blaster beams shot by the stormtroopers like playing badminton!

That’s right, thanks to the urgent research and development of the members of the scientific research department, they imitated the hard lightsaber 2.0, which is more like a lightsaber and can bounce back blaster beams like the Force lightsaber.

In this narrow corridor, the stormtroopers are extremely crowded. Paul only needs to bounce the beam back to hit the enemy on the opposite side.

The stormtroopers also quickly realized this problem. They began to retreat urgently and prepared to organize more people to encircle the damn invader.

“Retreat! Go and call for help!”

Just as the captain of the stormtrooper team was calling on the team members to escape, they were shocked to find that the gate behind them was locked for some reason!

No matter how they swiped their ID cards, they couldn’t unlock the gate. Obviously, it was the AI ​​Red Queen who was interfering. At this moment, the operating system of the entire spacecraft was under its control.

The imperial stormtroopers trapped in the corridor could only watch Paul step by step in despair, his lightsaber dancing like a ghost, outlining the graceful arc of death in the darkness.

More and more soldiers fell under Paul’s lightsaber.

The white power armor on them was not worth mentioning in front of the sharp lightsaber.

Paul only needed to wave his hand and cut off the power armor and human tissue together.

At such a short distance, these soldiers had no defensive weapons to block the lightsaber. No matter what the object was, it would only be cut in half by Paul.

After a while, Paul retracted his lightsaber and walked away leisurely in the corridor full of corpses, with a sense of elegance of killing one person every ten steps.

In this way, with the tacit cooperation of the AI ​​Red Queen and Paul, they attracted the stormtroopers to the corridor while closing the gate to kill the dog.

Paul and Chini were responsible for each side, and it took less than half an hour in the end, and all the stormtroopers on the entire spacecraft were killed by their swords.

After finishing the last batch of crew members, Paul officially took over the control of the cargo ship. As soon as he took the ship, he immediately contacted the headquarters of the Dreadnought.

[What are you going to do next? ]

The person who contacted Paul was the Transformer who was responsible for coordinating this operation – Megatron!

“We have to pretend to be crew members of the cargo ship, sneak into the interior of the planet’s shield force field, and then find a way to steal the Death Star design.”

“However, after getting the Death Star design, it is likely to trigger the alarm system, causing the internal gate to close.”

“If this is the case, you will need to forcefully break the shield outside and help us evacuate Scarif!”

Before carrying out this operation, Paul had already made plans for the worst possible possibility, but no matter how bad the result was, it would not delay his determination to bring out the Death Star design information.

“Therefore, the Dreadnought has only one chance to fire. Before I send a signal, you must not act rashly and follow my instructions to kill with one blow!”

Paul warned again and again.

The firepower system carried by the Sojourner Dreadnought is completely capable of quickly destroying the shield field of Scarif, but the Imperial Army must have a way to restart the shield field.

So this operation requires more internal and external cooperation. If Paul gets the Death Star design but is trapped inside, it will be useless.

[I understand. No matter what the price will be, I will do my best to bring you out. I promise! ]

Megatron responded in a muffled voice.

Although this is the first time he has worked with Paul, he will not let down at a critical moment, and this time is no exception.

“Thank you, Megatron.”

After discussing all subsequent action decisions with Megatron, Paul thought of the ship’s ship-borne intelligent AI and asked it to immediately dispatch a team of clone soldiers from the freezer.

This is to pretend to be the Imperial Stormtroopers with Paul and the crew of the freight ship. Only if the number of people on the ship matches the number will they not be stuck outside.

Moreover, these clone soldiers also need to create some disturbances outside while Paul is stealing the Death Star blueprints, so as to divert the attention of the Imperial Army.

[Yes, 157 clone soldiers are being activated and are expected to be sent to your location in 13 minutes and 19 seconds! ]

While waiting for the clone soldiers to be activated, the Templar Defenders from the Halo universe acted as engineers and quickly repaired the damaged hull of the cargo ship.

Then, all the bodies in the cabin were burned with hard light beams, leaving only the weapons and equipment of the stormtroopers. After the power armor was assembled, it was officially delivered to the clone soldiers who were about to land on the cargo ship.

Thanks to the fact that the Universal Corporation had obtained a lot of technology for free, such convenient clone soldiers and Templar Defender AI are basically equipped on every warship.

Relying on the orderly cooperation of various departments, a group of fully armed clone soldiers, together with Paul, pretended to be the crew of this imperial cargo ship and officially went to the interior of Scarif.

After flying along the established route for several hours, the cargo ship gradually approached Scarif. Through the transparent porthole, Paul could see the blue planet more clearly.

As the intelligence said, the entire Scarif was tightly wrapped by the shield force field, and even the communication would be affected by the force field, resulting in intermittent situations.

Once the shield field is completely closed, the communication signal inside will be completely cut off from the outside world!

Therefore, Paul must send out a distress signal in advance before the garrison here detects danger, otherwise Megatron outside will never wait for Paul’s instructions.

“I hope everything goes well on this trip.”

Paul looked down at the beautiful planet below through the porthole from above the orbit, praying secretly in his heart.

If he can come back alive this time, then the merits he has obtained will be enough for him to raise his head confidently in front of his father, Duke Leto!

Not long after, the cargo ship arrived at the location of the gate of Scarif’s shield field, where even three Imperial-class Star Destroyers were stationed, guarding Scarif in a corner.

Their role is to ensure that in the event of an unexpected accident, time can be gained for the shield force field to be completely closed.

Even if the gate is destroyed, there will be no gap in the overall shield field.

“Okay, let’s get started!”

With Paul’s order, the clone soldiers came to their respective posts and entered the gate smoothly according to the established customs clearance process.

When the cargo ship passed over the sky of Scarif, a majestic tower building appeared in front of Paul.

Judging from the appearance of the building that resembled a military fortress, it is very likely that the design drawings of the Death Star are hidden!

Soon, Paul got more accurate information from the headquarters, that is, the iconic building of Scarif – the Tower Fort.

All the military building information of the Galactic Empire is kept here, and the design drawings of the Death Star are naturally archived in it.

[Lock the landing gear and start landing! ]

As the cargo ship lowered its landing gear and slowly landed on the designated landing platform, a group of imperial stormtroopers came over and asked to board the ship to inspect the cargo.

Long before the official departure, Paul had arranged all the procedures. While the captain of the clones came out to deal with the Imperial Stormtroopers, Paul and Chini took the opportunity to slip out.

The two of them used the nearby cover to rush straight to the core area of ​​the tower fort.

As for the clone soldiers pretending to be Imperial Stormtroopers, they actively cooperated with the inspector’s requirements and carried the goods in the opposite direction of Paul’s departure.

This was to reduce the defensive garrison of the tower fort as much as possible to ensure that Paul could successfully obtain the Death Star design data inside.

But soon, the thorny trouble came.

Just a few steps away from Paul, he found that the security work near the tower fort was quite meticulous. In addition to the regular garrison, there were also soldiers belonging to the elite troops of the Empire!

The most eye-catching of them was the Death Troopers wearing pure black power armor. They were the top version of the Stormtroopers, not only with more sophisticated weapons and equipment.

They were also equipped with electric batons, ray shields, electromagnetic armor and other protective gear to deal with lightsabers. The purpose was to prevent the raid of Jedi Knights.

Among this group of majestic death soldiers, there are even figures of Imperial Judges!

They are Force users recruited by the Galactic Empire and eat government food. Most of them were once apprentices of the Jedi Knights, and now they have become judges with fixed positions.

And these judges hold a red double-edged rotating lightsaber as their own weapons.

Their appearance undoubtedly makes this operation more difficult for Paul.

Obviously, the defecting pilot also made the Empire realize that the Death Star design may be stolen by the rebels, so they strengthened the garrison force on Scarif.

“It’s bad, they actually sent so many Force users. It’s impossible for us to rush through with our strength alone!”

After observing the situation on the tower, Chini frowned and said, it seems that what they did on Jedha has made the Empire more vigilant.

Seeing this scene, Paul thought for a moment. Although he could break in by force, he wondered if he could get the relevant information before the Death Star design was destroyed.

Paul didn’t dare to guarantee it.

“Let’s wait for the clone team first, let them attract the garrison here!”

On the other side, the clone team disguised as the Empire Stormtroopers found an opportunity to disappear from the guards’ sight after transporting the goods to the jungle.

After making sure there was no enemy sight around, they took off their armor and opened the transported goods according to the established plan.

After removing the top layer of items, the things that floated to the bottom were the weapons and equipment they brought, including Gauss rifles, bolt guns, laser particle cannons, hard light sniper cannons, etc.

Of course, the most important thing is the latest MarkX+ anti-Hulk power armor developed by the Universal Giant Enterprise. This is a two-in-one armor developed based on the X series power armor and anti-Hulk armor.

The soldiers only need to wear the energy core on their bodies, and the parts of the armor will be automatically adsorbed through the magnetic levitation force field and quickly assembled.

After being equipped with the excellent armor and weapons of the Giant Enterprise, the clone soldiers looked brand new. Compared with the imperial stormtroopers outside, their equipment is much more advanced and powerful!

Through the first-person perspective of the clone soldiers, Jack Wells, who was far away at the headquarters of the Wanjie Base, nodded thoughtfully.

He found that the treatment gap between the navy and the army of the Galactic Empire was still quite obvious.

The Empire pursues the doctrine of big ships and big guns, and is keen on manufacturing various weapons such as star destroyers, death stars, and spaceships. However, the expenditure on the army is basically saved as much as possible.

Compared with the wealthy navy, the Empire’s army is simply a low-level “deer”, and the budget is used for the research and development and construction of ultimate weapons, as well as the AT series of armored walkers.

The budget left for the army’s individual weapons and equipment is only enough for them to make a bunch of useless white armor.

“Those unlucky guys are really miserable. They are also clones. As soon as they come out of the factory, they wear cheap plastic shells all day long and carry rifles that have been produced for who knows how many years.”

“Unlike our people, we have all kinds of standard and sophisticated equipment, from throwing weapons to main weapons that are too many to hang.”

Johnny Silverhand on the side also noticed this problem. The Empire has invested all its money in weapons such as armored walkers, star destroyers, and death stars.

But they ignored the lives of the soldiers. Whether they were real people or clones, they were all war consumables in the eyes of the Empire. It was not worth spending extra money to maintain them.

“It seems that the boss is right. The Empire’s finances have indeed had big problems. Without the support of the Trade Union, they can only invest most of their funds in the Death Star and Star Destroyer.”

Li De also echoed.

Not long ago, Leon revealed the weakness of the Galactic Empire, that is, the Empire’s financial foundation is unstable!

The reason why Palpatine dared to offend the consortium families in the Milky Way and a bunch of trade civilizations and forcibly nationalized the Trade Union.

In essence, it was because the Empire had no money!

He needed these consortium masters to bleed a little to help the Empire tide over the difficulties and have money to build various Star Destroyers and Death Stars.

But the consequence of full nationalization is that the enthusiasm for commercial trade has declined.

Merchants have no motivation to make money, and the overall capital pool will become more and more stagnant, and money will not circulate.

Therefore, if nationalization is not carried out simultaneously with capitalization, it is equivalent to drinking poison to quench thirst.

The consequence of Palpatine’s forced nationalization of the Trade Union is that the consortiums collectively gave up and waited for the Empire’s capital pool to become smaller and smaller.

The situation reflected in the Imperial Army is that the cheap clone soldiers, wearing plastic-like power armor and holding old blaster rifles, were chopped up like vegetables by the Jedi Knights.

These stormtroopers who no one cares about are the direct manifestation of the gradual weakness and fragility of the Empire!