However, the Galactic Empire still possessed an incomparably deep foundation, and its current strength remained immensely formidable. The situation soon took a turn.
The first development was that Darth Vader blew up the planet Yag'Dhul.
Although this explosion would still take at least fifty-five years to truly destroy Yag'Dhul—by then, the grass over the Galactic Empire's grave would probably be thirty meters tall—it carried enormous significance.
Yag'Dhul could no longer serve as a military base.
With a chunk blown out of it, Yag'Dhul's underground cities had suffered devastating damage. Considering the constant earthquakes wracking the planet, there was barely even time to evacuate personnel and supplies. How could they possibly stockpile resources there?
It was therefore foreseeable that, for some time to come, vast numbers of transport ships would converge on Yag'Dhul and transfer its population through the stargate to Lothal Planet.
This would tie up enormous transport capacity, while the planet's stockpiled supplies would also be heavily depleted. As a result, Yag'Dhul would no longer be able to sustain its massive industrial system.
With fewer supplies and no industrial system, Yag'Dhul would be unable to station a main fleet for the long term. At most, it could serve as a transit station.
The Kingdom of Dawn's headquarters on this front would temporarily be moved back to Kinyen.
Kinyen was the Gran homeworld. It had a certain industrial foundation and a large population, so serving as the headquarters of a main fleet would not be a problem. The issue was that, with headquarters there, it would be difficult to launch further attacks against the Galactic Empire.
Thus, the Kingdom of Dawn's Supreme General Staff Headquarters began discussing two options: first, seize Bestine IV as quickly as possible and establish a forward base there; second, establish the forward base on Fondor