Gideon Tarkin's face immediately darkened. He turned and asked, "Why is the Supreme Strategic Command getting involved at a time like this?"
The adjutant said quietly, "It's Governor Seben..."
"That old bastard." Gideon Tarkin cursed and headed for the conference room.
Five high-ranking officers appeared in the holographic projection. One of them said coldly, "This is the Supreme Strategic Command, Military Intelligence Committee. Admiral Gideon Tarkin, explain immediately why you have remained inactive and allowed the sector capital to come under attack."
Gideon Tarkin snorted inwardly and held his head high. "The Separatist fleet has not launched a direct attack on Lantilis Planet, and their fleet only has ten capital ships. A force of that size can hardly be called an offensive. At most, it is harassment."
"Answer the question directly," another officer said.
"The Separatist main fleet has pushed forward to Boonta, directly threatening our military base. The warships they sent to harass Lantilis Planet have been preliminarily identified as high-speed carriers, and they will be difficult to eliminate in the short term. Therefore, I judged that if I split my forces to reinforce Lantilis Planet, the Separatist fleet might threaten our base on Charos IV Planet," Gideon Tarkin replied.
"Your fleet currently outnumbers the Separatist fleet by three or four times, yet you refuse to advance and even allow the sector capital to be attacked. Such conduct does not meet the Empire's expectations of you," one officer said.
"Although the Separatist fleet is not numerous, it still has five Divinity-class battleships and shield-piercing missiles. A rash attack could result in devastating losses to our warships. Based on my assessment of the situation in the Eastern Territory, if we cannot maintain sufficient military deterrence, the rebels in the Eastern Territory may become even more rampant," Gideon Tarkin said.
"We