2522, First Battle of Boonta (Part 1)
More than a year ago, the Kingdom of Dawn launched an offensive under Operation Zero. Its primary objective in the Eastern Territory was the Galactic Empire's Twelfth Army.
The original plan had been for Admiral Sefrans Tann to lead the Kingdom of Dawn main fleet in suppressing the Empire main fleet at Fondor Planet, then race thousands of miles to reinforce the Eastern Territory and join in a pincer attack against the Twelfth Army. However, Darth Vader's proactive assault had turned the war into a base-trading situation, forcing Sefrans Tann to lead her forces back to reinforce Yag'Dhul.
Thus, after several attempted attacks, the isolated and unsupported General Grievous had returned empty-handed.
After that, the Galactic Empire pushed its front line back to Boonta, constructing military bases and fortifying defenses there, while Klatooine served as a logistical base.
Ordinarily, General Grievous did not have enough forces to attack Boonta head-on. But over this period, the Twelfth Army's forces had been steadily siphoned away.
Ever since Sefrans Tann had led her troops back to reinforce Yag'Dhul, the Galactic Empire Strategic Command had essentially concluded that the Kingdom of Dawn's strategic focus remained on its homeland. Especially after Fondor Planet fell, the Kingdom of Dawn had massed heavy forces in that direction, clearly intending to fight a decisive battle against the Empire main fleet there.
In response, the Galactic Empire began strengthening its forces in that direction and heavily reinforcing Denon Planet's defenses. It also recalled Darth Vader's Death Squadron, no longer deploying it on the front lines in order to prevent it from suffering devastating losses in a Kingdom of Dawn surprise attack.
At the same time, both sides' fleets in the Northern Galaxy had battered each other badly. But no matter what, that