Hunting the Malevolence (V)

Hunting the Malevolence (V)

...The Conqueror-class battleship, measuring 4,825 meters in length, was the most powerful of the new warships currently in service, utterly incomparable to the Galactic Republic's outdated Command-class and Prosecutor-class vessels. The first Conqueror-class ship, the Fang-class battleship Malevolence, had already proven that it could single-handedly destroy an entire Republic battle formation!...

This was the power of freedom! This was the power of the people! This was the power of us, the Confederacy of Independent Systems! It also represented our determination to resist the Republic's tyranny! Every credit we invested in war today would become a weight on freedom's scales in the future!

On the holographic screen, the host spoke passionately and excitedly, explaining the Conqueror-class battleship's formidable capabilities to the audience. Then, he repeatedly played combat footage of the Malevolence unleashing its full firepower and slaughtering Hunter Class Battlecruisers that had lost all ability to resist.

The death-filled images stimulated the viewers' nerves. The television station had even broadcast the original footage without editing or censorship. As they watched the densely packed corpses of Republic crewmen floating through space, the audience's violent instincts were stirred.

Excited civilians took to the streets in droves, raising signs and marching to express their support for the Confederacy authorities. They held holographic projections and enormous portraits of Count Dooku and several other major business magnates, chanting slogans.

Meanwhile, the capitalists generously opened their purses and invested their funds in the war bonds specially issued by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. These bonds were essentially shares in the war—if the war was won, dividends would be paid according to one's investment.

Of course, if the war was lost, that money would vanish down the drain.

For a time, Count Dooku's prestige reached its peak. His approval rating in polls surpassed 90%,