The Giant Corporations that Started in Night City

Chapter 345: Avoiding War! The Bizarre Endor! A Hidden Threat to the Galactic Empire!

All the senior executives of the Megacorp present had some understanding of Chinese history. They also knew all too well what it would mean for the Megacorp if a civilization of war-mad lunatics emerged at such a critical juncture.

If the Megacorp were to formally go to war with the Galactic Empire over the Death Star schematics, it would only accelerate the invasion timeline of this extragalactic war-crazed species.

In the end, it would merely hand a convenient advantage to this alien civilization from beyond the galaxy.

"Boss, should we go on the offensive—take the fight directly to their home galaxy? If we hit them hard enough, maybe they'll give up the idea of invasion altogether,"

Jack Wells proposed. In his view, since the war-mad species only dared strike when the galaxy was vulnerable, it meant they lacked the confidence to face a fully mobilized Galactic Empire.

But the Megacorp did have that kind of power!

If this war-mad civilization wasn't significantly stronger than the Empire, then a preemptive strike to intimidate and break their spirit might be the wisest course of action.

"No. Don't make any rash moves for now. Keep collecting intel. But if any war-mad alien dares set foot in the galaxy—even half a step—wipe them out on the spot!"

Li Ang laid down the strategic policy regarding the extragalactic civilization: take a defensive stance and wait for them to act first.

The key reason was that the war-mad species were the desperate ones here. After countless civil wars, they had ravaged their own star systems into a chaotic mess.

Resources were exhausted, their environment devastated—even their homeworld, Warspire, had been obliterated by their own kind.

Right now, the war-mad civilization was frantically launching probe drones across space, hoping to find a new home, somewhere they could survive.

For the Megacorp, all it needed to do was guard the borders of the Milky Way, rely on its powerful fleets for deterrence, and stabilize and unify the galaxy from within. Once that was done, everything else would fall into place.

"Understood!"

V replied through the hard-light screen.

Li Ang nodded. He didn't say much more—just gave a couple of simple orders before ending the communication.

In truth, the reason he didn't want V to take offensive action wasn't just to avoid the danger of fighting on two fronts—but more importantly, it was to avoid drawing the attention of the mysterious forces lurking beyond the galaxy!

And that force originated from a bizarre region on the galactic rim—Endor, in the Modell sector.

Endor was an area tied to multi-dimensional rift planes, a deeply strange and dangerous location. If one were to name the most terrifying place in the entire Star Wars universe, there would be no contest—it had to be Endor.

Because Endor was a balance point for multidimensional rift space. It was home to witches, ancient dragons, and all kinds of bizarre lifeforms.

Even the native species—the Endor teddy bears—were profoundly anomalous. Calling them aliens was a stretch; they were essentially magical creatures that completely ignored the rules of the physical universe.

Honestly, they belonged more in the Harry Potter universe, perhaps at Hogwarts, rather than in a sci-fi setting grounded in physics.

Having such a physically law-breaking species show up in a science fiction world was as absurd as Megacorp going head-to-head in a tech war against Tom the Cat or Grey Wolf.

When it came to 2D cartoon creatures—be it Tom or Grey Wolf—any random invention they whipped up would be a conceptual, dimension-breaking weapon. Li Ang didn't stand a chance.

In short, everything about Endor—the terrain, the lifeforms, even the plants—was among the top-tier forces in the Star Wars universe.

The reason it had become so was because Endor was once the battlefield of gods, where ancient deities and the Old Ones clashed beyond the constraints of time.

To simplify it: two cosmic gods fought and ripped open a gateway to infinite dimensional space, creating one of the rare realms where the Force did not apply.

No matter how powerful a Force-wielder was, their abilities were nullified there. The entire "land of divine remains" was marked by the footprints of god-tier beings—no one could rule that place.

Moreover, Endor held something even more terrifying than the Starkiller Base—a supreme artifact capable of slaying gods: the Sunstar.

In the mythic age of Star Wars, the Old One T'ai once used the Sunstar as a weapon to kill the god Wuzek.

This artifact could effortlessly destroy and reshape entire universes. Even with all of Li ang's ambition, he had no desire to go near something like that.

Which is why, until the Megacorp could completely unify and stabilize the galaxy's internal affairs, Li Ang decision was to avoid provoking any extragalactic civilizations.

Especially the "immortals" of Endor.

"Boss, even if we avoid a full-scale war with the Empire, those war-mad aliens will still take advantage of the chaos. We'll end up facing a two-front war anyway."

"Since we can't avoid that outcome, wouldn't it be better to take the initiative now? Catch them off guard, so we don't have to lose even more troops later."

Jack Wells, commander of the Iron Hands Legion, had always favored preemptive strikes. To him, it didn't matter how strong the enemy was—you fought them first and figured the rest out later.

If you won, great—you'd crushed their main force. If you lost, then at least you'd tested their capabilities and could plan accordingly.

In Jack's mind, doing nothing was a worse mistake than acting prematurely.

His opinion was echoed by senior generals like David and Johnny Silverhand. In most real-world cases, being the aggressor often led to greater strategic success.

Defensive counterattacks rarely led to victory.

"No. We're not going to war with the Empire. But some small-scale skirmishes are acceptable."

Li Ang shook his head at Jack's suggestion. In truth, he had never intended to go into all-out war with the Galactic Empire. The reason he told David to prepare for battle—

Was to use war as leverage for negotiation. War had always been a continuation of politics by other means, and Li Ang had already found the perfect entry point to force the Empire to the bargaining table.

Maybe even bring them under his control.

As for the battle? It was merely a show of strength—a demonstration of the Megacorp's capabilities to the Galactic Empire.

According to the original Star Wars plotline, even during the Clone Wars, the Empire had already noticed threats from extragalactic civilizations.

At the time, Palpatine believed only a strong, unified galaxy could stand against such unknown dangers from beyond and maintain internal prosperity.

To accelerate the galaxy's unification, he made a number of controversial and politically dangerous moves.

For instance, he exposed his own identity, publicly declaring himself the Dark Lord of the Sith. His goal was to force a merger between the Republic and the Sith Empire—to achieve a historical reconciliation between the two long-warring factions.

But given that the Republic and Sith Empire had been fighting for thousands of years, often from the very moment each side was founded...

Palpatine suddenly stepping out and declaring a truce left the Republic's long-standing supporters feeling utterly betrayed.

No one expected that bastard Palpatine to turn out to be the very leader of the Sith Empire.

That level of betrayal felt like the historical moment when Cao Cao looked on as the deeds to his entire Cao Wei dynasty were casually handed to the Sima family.

Frustration, fury, and helplessness— all at once.

Beyond that, the Trade Federation, which had once helped launch the Clone Wars, ended up in even worse shape.

When Palpatine first rose to power, he allowed the Trade Federation to cook up the Confederacy of Independent Systems, granting them even more trade freedom and letting them rake in profits hand over fist.

But right after he established the Galactic Empire, that shameless bastard Palpatine pulled a fast one—forcibly nationalizing the Trade Federation and absorbing the entire Confederacy into the Empire.

This backstabbing move left the corporate overlords of the Trade Federation completely dumbfounded. Palpatine's ability to be so utterly brazen had to be one for the history books.

Put simply, the Galactic Empire managed to alienate both its political foundation and its financial backers from the very beginning.

That's why the Rebel Alliance—this ragtag group of outlaws—was able to overthrow the Galactic Empire. It wasn't because they were all that powerful.

It was because Palpatine had laid down way too many hidden dangers and landmines within his own regime.

And the number of financial backers supporting the Rebellion behind the scenes? Too many to count.

That's the real reason why the Rebels grew so quickly and the New Republic came into being.

It was essentially the result of the galaxy's other major powers reallocating their bets.

So now, the Galactic Empire is hollow on the inside, especially under Palpatine. His political foundation is extremely unstable and could be replaced by a new power at any time.

Li Ang current plan is to replicate Palpatine's own rise to power—unite the old senators, the Trade Federation, and other major powers across civilizations, and force the Empire to redistribute its interests.

Just like Palpatine once did: using a series of conspiracies to coerce the old Republic senators into supporting him as the de facto ruler.

"The Galactic Empire may appear powerful on the surface, with millions of Star Destroyers under its command, but Palpatine has made too many enemies. We can actively unite all usable forces and pressure him into concessions."

Facing the Megacorp's top brass, Li Ang calmly laid out his strategic vision.

This war must be fought—and it must be a decisive, overwhelming victory!

A victory so impactful it would shake the foundations of the Empire, and convince the old senators and the Trade Federation to reinvest their trust and support in the Megacorp, instead of placing their bets on those useless Rebels.

As the Megacorp's supreme leader, Li Ang understood exactly why Palpatine had made what appeared to be a series of blunders.

At their core, those so-called "mistakes" were deliberate power grabs to reshape the political landscape and centralize resource control.

Revealing himself as the Dark Lord of the Sith wasn't a moment of madness—it was a calculated move to legitimately unify the Republic and Sith forces, to rebuild the Galactic Empire under a single banner.

Forcibly nationalizing the Trade Federation? That too was a tactical decision to seize control of their vast financial resources and rapidly fund the construction of the Imperial military and research programs.

After all, if he had to negotiate every step with the corporate tycoons, nothing would ever get done. For the sake of efficiency, he had to cut through the bureaucracy and consolidate the budget under one ruler.

But not every leader could do what Li Ang was doing—to seize both power and money in one clean sweep.

Li Ang commanded the Megacorp as its sole and absolute boss. No matter how high-ranking his executives might be, they were ultimately just employees—replaceable at any time.

Even someone like Quintessa, a high-profile partner, could be kicked to the curb if Li Ang woke up in a bad mood. That partnership could end the very same day.

Palpatine, on the other hand, had likely tried to negotiate with the Trade Federation—but when those talks went nowhere, he had no choice but to drop the hammer and force nationalization.

Now, the dilemma Palpatine faces is this:

He's alienated the galaxy's wealthiest financial powers, meaning no one will willingly bankroll his army-building efforts again.

He's also offended the old senators who once helped him rise to power—so they've all cut ties.

Sure, the title of "Dark Lord of the Sith" sounds grand and glorious. But to the Republic's old guard, it's nothing more than a shameful disgrace.

"Boss, I still don't quite understand,"

Lucius spoke up, clearly puzzled. "Why would the old senators of the Republic be so repulsed by Palpatine being the Dark Lord of the Sith?"

"Logically speaking, isn't it a plus for your leader to also be the ruler of your enemy? Doesn't that mean he's conquered both sides?"

As a seasoned political operator himself, Lucius had plenty of experience. He wasn't inferior to Li Ang when it came to analyzing power plays.

And yet… this part just didn't click for him.

If Palpatine had enraged the Trade Federation by messing with their profits and slicing up their revenue streams, it made sense that the corporations would turn on him.

But why would the Republic senators hate the idea of Palpatine being the Sith Lord? Shouldn't they be celebrating the fact that their leader had managed to unify the galaxy?

The other executives nodded in agreement—they didn't get it either.

That's when Li Ang finally spoke, calmly shedding light on the true heart of the matter.

"The deep-rooted conflict between the Sith Empire and the Republic has always revolved around one pivotal group—the Jedi Order."

In reality, the early Jedi were nothing like the celibate, selfless monks we know today.

Back then, the Jedi were wildly unrestrained. Every one of them was practically living like royalty.

These Force-wielding Jedi had lordship rights throughout the Republic. They could seal off entire regions and rule them like feudal landlords.

They also had the Jedi High Council, which wielded executive, legislative, and military power all at once. Their lives were even more lavish than emperors.

Imagine that—a militarized group within the Republic holding more power than the government itself. Naturally, that triggered huge waves of resentment.

Especially among the Republic's senators—they were the direct victims. The Jedi had essentially stolen their political authority.

This led to years of conflict and civil war between the senators and the Jedi.

And every time a civil war broke out, there'd be a few Jedi who "fell to the dark side," ran off to the Sith territories, and started their own mini-empires.

These former Jedi would then conquer local Sith populations and be worshipped as gods, eventually earning the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.

Put in simpler terms: they were playing on the Sith "server" like it was a private modded game—enjoying full god-mode while lording over the masses.

And that's why the Republic's old senators couldn't accept Palpatine's identity as the Dark Lord.

To them, it was like watching the guy they helped elect suddenly log into the enemy's private server and take over the whole damn game.

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