Zaarin's Downfall
By the end of 9BBY, while Lieutenant General Zear Johnson was still making his final desperate stand, the disastrous news from Dantooine had already reached the Imperial Capital, the Imperial Center—Coruscant.
With the New Year approaching, senior officials, dignitaries, and members of Noble Houses were all preparing celebrations beneath the domes of their magnificent estates. Banquets, fireworks, and grand performances were being rehearsed at a frantic pace.
At countless dinner parties, these powerful figures at the top of the Empire laughed and chatted, discussing the various events unfolding across the Milky Way Galaxy amid clinking glasses. In their mouths, matters that could shape the fate of the galaxy became nothing more than idle after-dinner conversation, spoken of as casually as the weather.
As for Dantooine's defeat, which seemed somewhat abrupt amid the Kingdom of Dawn's withdrawal from the stage, it naturally became another target of their mockery.
Some even laughed that the fall of Dantooine was "a minor cold on the Empire's frontier."
"Have you heard? Governor Dunn lost two million troops on Dantooine."
"Ha ha ha ha, isn't that so? He's going to hemorrhage money now. Two million troops—even if you exclude the droids and clones, he'll still have to pay a fortune in death benefits, won't he?"
"I heard he even brought in Marshal Matteo, and still couldn't turn things around."
"Why should we care? His wife is the Chief Engineer at Kuat Drive Yards. She doesn't lack money. Hehehe."
"He really is stupid, throwing so many troops into such a remote place. This is going to be fun—he must have taken a massive loss!"
All kinds of rumors circulated among the dignitaries and their glamorous companions. In these people's eyes, two million lives were merely a unit for calculating compensation payments.
In 9BBY, the eleventh