The Disappearing Fleet
August 3, 11 BBY. Dawn Star Planet, capital of the Duchy of Dawn. Supreme Operations Command, Conference Room 03.
"Rendili Planet! It's Rendili Planet!!" Minister of Defense Cheng Shitao jabbed fiercely at the holographic star map and said gravely, "We haven't been able to detect the Galactic Empire's military movements because their fleets have all assembled at the Imperial Center!!"
"That has basically been confirmed. But the question is, how do they intend to fight? And exactly how many warships have they deployed?" Acting Commander of the Navy Carls-Walton frowned deeply. "Any response from the hyperspace outposts?"
"Monitoring hyperspace fluctuations around the Imperial Center is extremely difficult. Fortunately, with its population of one trillion, we still have quite a few informants there," said Head of Military Intelligence Salatan-Morse. "Based on the intelligence currently in our hands, there are no signs of a large-scale fleet assembly around the Imperial Center."
"Where did the fleets withdrawn from the Trade Federation go?" Governor of Modell Sector Volgograd-Kanidi asked.
"After completing repairs at the shipyards of the Imperial Center, they left immediately. The heavily damaged warships also went to Quat Planet for repairs, and left as soon as those were completed. There were no signs of any assembly whatsoever." Salatan-Morse's expression was extremely grim. As Head of Military Intelligence, losing track of the Empire main fleet's position was a serious dereliction of duty.
"Then where did their fleets go? The Empire has recently reduced the strength of its border garrisons, so where are the warships pulled back from those regions?" Army General Xian Hui rubbed the bridge of his nose and crushed his cigarette butt into the ashtray.
The ashtray was already piled full of cigarette butts.
"They could be anywhere. But... they are indeed not in any of the military