Hearing Palpatine's words, Padmé Amidala felt a rush of blood surge to her head. She shouted angrily, "This isn't a question of whether we should or shouldn't! The Galactic Republic has no contingency plan whatsoever for a situation like this! If all planetary Defense Fleets are directly brought under the Republic's central control, then all our local defenses will effectively become useless!"
"But you must understand! During the battle in the Rendili system, the local defense fleet became an accomplice of the Separatists instead!" Orn Free Taa said loudly.
"This is Rendili StarDrive's problem! And if you intend to extend this problem to the entire Milky Way Galaxy, then I want to ask: what right do you have to make those planets surrender Defense Fleets built with local funds to the state, and then provide them with no security guarantees afterward?" Padmé demanded sharply.
"And what we are facing now is the fact that a series of provisions in the Rusan Reforms can no longer adapt to this war." Palpatine smiled. "The Rusan Reforms were a great resolution of the Galactic Republic. I have no intention of criticizing the decisions behind them. However, in this entirely different environment, we need to reconsider whether decisions made a thousand years ago can meet the conditions we face today."
"But what you intend to do is nationalize and directly withdraw the last line of defense for countless planets, then make them place all their hopes in the Galactic Republic's response!" Padmé shouted. "If you already had a complete contingency plan, I would not raise any objections! But with the war having reached this stage, how can you guarantee the security of those planets?"
"That is precisely the direction in which we must work, isn't it?" Palpatine countered with a smile.
Yet he had