So while I think this is a great card, it seems to be that, aside from some rare circumstances, you will only ever be able to prevent one damage to a Scum objective if you discard this card. I have come to this conclusion because my understanding is that the damage from strikes can be resolved in any order, which implies that the damage is dealt one at a time. Is this a correct reading of the rules?

Damage isn't dealt one by one, it's dealt by lot. For example, a unit dealing 3 blast damage would deal all 3 at once, so Corrupt Official could be discarded to cancel 1, 2 or 3 of that damage in this instance.

Your confusion may stem from the fact that you can resolve the three combat icon types in any order - but each combat icon type must be done as a whole. For example, you could do all blast damage, then all unit damage, then all tactics, or in any other order you like, but you can't do a blast icon, then a unit damage icon, then another blast icon say.

I hoped so, but I thought that when resolving a strike you can choose the order the icons resolve. If that's true, doesn't that sort of "break up" the damage? I hope not because it makes this card better for an affiliation that could really use it. Not trying to argue, just trying to clarify where I'm coming from a bit. I just want Scum to be great instead of decent!

I'm a dip. Sleep deprivation made me miss the second half. Thanks for the help! Glad to hear the answer!