When Fang Zheng met Darth Vader again, even through the mask, he could feel the low pressure radiating from the latter.
"Lord Vader, I'm very sorry about your defeat..."
Fang Zheng helplessly spread his hands, while Darth Vader nodded gloomily.
Honestly, if it had merely been the destruction of a planet, neither of them would have been so surprised. Fang Zheng had plenty of Star Destroyers under his command; after blowing one up, he could chop it up and send it to Ishimura for mineral harvesting. The Galactic Empire's Death Star possessed the same capability.
But using Gravitational Force to pull a moon into a collision... How should he put it? It felt like watching primitive humans fire a ballistic missile from a catapult. The whole thing was bizarre no matter how he looked at it.
As a result, with the destruction of the planet Cimpidal, the Empire's counterattack collapsed as well. Left with no choice, Darth Vader ordered a retreat. Their original objective had been to retake Cimpidal, so they had dispatched a considerable number of ground forces there. Those forces were now effectively all dead. Under such circumstances, continuing the fight would only end in defeat.
Thus, aside from withdrawing his troops and redeploying the defensive line, there was really nothing Darth Vader could do. That move had dealt a severe blow to Imperial morale as well. Stubbornly pressing on would only lead to death. Moreover, this force before them was merely a vanguard, not the main army, and Darth Vader was currently the Galactic Empire's de facto ruler. If anything happened to him in a battle against a vanguard force, it would be utterly ridiculous.
So, to be safe, Darth Vader chose to retreat and immediately contacted Fang Zheng.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, we need your assistance."
"In