Dunn's Nightmare, Tarkin's Hesitation
Galactic Empire's Northern Territory, core world—Parin-Minor.
Several sternly worded communications lay before Dunn Vesex, respectively from Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik, the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command, and the Imperial Palace Office.
His fingertips tapped lightly against the desk as his gaze swept over the scarlet "Urgent" stamps at the end of each message—Tessik's wording concealed anxiety, the Strategic Command's carried suspicion, while the one from the Imperial Palace Office contained only a single cold sentence: [Ensure the smooth execution of the Scavenger Plan.]
Execute it? With what?
Dunn Vesex handed the communications to Admiral Gillard Perine, who stood beside him.
After reading them, Admiral Perine sighed. "Governor, our battle reports and technical analyses were sent to the Imperial Center a month ago. It seems they have simply turned a blind eye to the problems we raised."
"The Northern Territory's strategic importance is steadily declining," Dunn Vesex said. "When I returned to the Imperial Center last time, I could clearly feel that its political climate was undergoing earth-shaking changes. The only reason those people still greeted me with smiling faces was because they feared I might become too powerful with my army."
"Even so, completely ignoring the specifics of our situation and forcibly ordering us to assault the enemy's defensive lines is highly inappropriate," Gillard Perine said.
"This is the Empire, General Perine. This is the Empire," Dunn Vesex said coldly.
Following the operational orders, he had already dispatched a fleet to attack Ord Mantell, threatening the Kingdom of Dawn's defenses from the flank and supporting Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik's offensive against Bilbrin Planet.
But the mobile force he could send to attack Ord Mantell already accounted for one-third of all the mobile forces he possessed!
That was right. Dunn Vesex, the King of the North, who commanded