The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

2251. Soldier's Diary

Bolo ball is a very violent sport similar to football but a bit like rugby. This sport encourages body collisions while kicking the ball, and the players even wear protective gear.

This sport is particularly popular in the outer and middle rings of the galaxy, and it also has many fans in the core circle. For example, the planet Alderaan is one of the strongest teams in Boro Ball.

But to say that the planet that is most enthusiastic about Boro Ball is Mandalore.

Like many planets in the Outer Rim Stars, people on Mandalore don't have the money to engage in extremely exciting but expensive competitions such as the Bangta Night Podracing Race, so they can just find a venue to play Boro Ball. It became their favorite. Moreover, Boro Ball advocates the rules of direct physical confrontation, which also fascinates Mandalorians who have martial blood flowing in their bones.

Sikeby City, Municipal Polo Stadium.

This venue, which had hosted countless bolo competitions and brought people a lot of joy and passion, was now half destroyed by the flames of war. However, due to the vast space of the stadium, it became a logistics base for the Vizsla government forces.

Private Darko licked his chapped lips and looked at the three Komrik-class fighter jets that landed outside the stadium. The three fighter jets raised their wings as if they were huge flags 53 meters high.

This reminded him of the Galaxy Cup Boro Competition three years ago. On this court, the Mandalorian team, which lacked funds, equipment, training and food, actually defeated the super giant Oder with a score of 2:1. Team Lang! At the same time, on the planet Fwillsving, the Fwillsving team also defeated the Dawn team sent by the Principality of Dawn 1:0 at home, and finally overtook the Alderaan team and won the Galaxy Cup championship. . This also broke the myth of the Alderaan team winning five consecutive Galaxy Cup titles.

On that day, colorful flags were flying at the Sikebi Municipal Stadium and the shouts were loud. Because although the Mandalorian team has long been a weak team in the middle and lower reaches, at that moment, they defeated the most powerful opponent and dominated the Galaxy Cup championship.

However, as time passed, due to the outbreak of uprisings and wars in various places, the Galactic Empire and the Principality of Dawn also began to have conflicts. The Galaxy Cup was eventually suspended, and the dramatic result was forever fixed.

Although the Galactic Empire once claimed that it would restore peace and tranquility to the Milky Way within a year and then rekindle the Holy Fire of the Galaxy Cup, when they were ultimately unable to do so, they never mentioned the Galaxy Cup again.

But now, what stands in the Sikeby Municipal Stadium is no longer the beautiful colorful flag, but the huge wings of the Komrik-class fighter jet painted in blue and white!

Darko shook his head, randomly found a shady place, sat on the empty ammunition box, took off his helmet and put it on his lap, then took out a small diary from his arms, and gently smoothed the wrinkled cover. , turned over a few pages, and then wrote on the latest page: [In the 9th year of the imperial calendar (the imperial calendar in this book starts from 20BBY, ​​it is now 11BBY), on February 23, I came to Sikebi City again. The last time I came here was three years ago, when I followed my father here to watch the last game of the Galaxy Cup against Alderaan... That was my happiest time. 】

[...But my father died a year later in a terrorist attack launched by those mobs... From that moment on, I swore revenge, joined the army, and fought to maintain the peace and tranquility of the planet Mandalore. . 】

As he wrote this, Darko picked up the kettle and shook it, then raised his head hard, trying to pour a drop of water out of it, but failed. He had no choice but to continue writing in his diary...

[Yesterday, we liberated Sikebi City. Even Jango Fett's demon-like super soldiers could not stop us. Sikebi City surrendered. But... the commander asked us to extract 3,000 of the residents here and execute them publicly to serve as a warning to others. At that time, I was really scared... Even the day before yesterday, when I heard that Jango Fett's super soldiers were killing people just a block away from us, I had never been so scared... because the commander actually wanted to We opened fire on civilians...]

[I told Second Lieutenant Pande that I was a little dizzy because my eardrum was damaged by the shell, so I did not participate in this operation. But even though I was here, I could still hear the gunshots coming from over there for a full hour. Aren’t we supposed to be liberators? Aren't we supposed to be the guardians of peace on Mandalore? Why are those people in Sikebi City willing to die to confront Governor Vizsla? 】

Darko sighed and wrote in his diary frustratedly: [I'm really scared now. I just hope this can end soon. In this attack on Sikebi City, the ammunition we brought from Concordia headquarters has almost been used. It would be great if we could go back. 】

At this time, a loud shout came from not far away, "Company 17, assemble immediately! It's our turn to get water!!"

It was his own company. Darko stood up quickly, took the empty water bottle around his waist in his hand, and quickly ran over to gather.

After many days of bloody battles, his company has been reduced from the standard 300 people to the current 180 people. Among the 120 people who were reduced, more than 40 people have died, and the remaining 70 people are now on the other side of the stadium. field hospital for treatment.

However, Darko knew that although it was called treatment, there were not enough drugs and equipment in those field hospitals to deal with the horrific beds suffered on the battlefield. Since he came here, the screams from the field hospital have never stopped.

Darko licked his dry lips again. Now he couldn't care so much. He just wanted to drink water.

Before setting off, the commander repeatedly told them that as long as they could liberate the rebellious cities, both water and food could be solved. Therefore, they set off with only three days of rations and a standard unit of ammunition. However, it has been a week since the battle, and they have not received any supplies. They can only hope to capture the target city.

In fact, it is precisely because of this that they are so desperate.

Following the team towards the water supply plant, we can see the bodies of civilians lying on the roadside along the way. Their hands and feet are tied and they fall to the ground. Most of their heads have been blown open by blasters, bleeding, and the air is filled with the smell of blood.

When we arrived at the factory, the water extraction equipment here has been damaged a lot, and only one machine is still working. Several wounded rebel prisoners were operating the machines numbly. Their skin was dry and their lips were cracked, and it looked like they hadn't had water for a long time.