Although Nova's small battleship squadron had successfully ambushed the "armed merchant ships" orbiting Geonosis and wiped them all out, the Battle of Geonosis had shown that they were merely part of the Trade Federation's transport fleet, which was responsible for shipping B1 battle droids. The Trade Federation still had more warships and an inexhaustible army of cheap droids!
After all, even though the Hero Federation fleet, which belonged to the Galactic Republic, had won a complete victory at Geonosis, more star systems continued to fall as time went by...
The Hero Federation fleet was said to have several thousand battleships. This newly formed "Grand Army of the Republic," built around those fearsome battleships and supplemented by warships and troops from many other races, still seemed somewhat lacking compared with the countless cheap B1 battle droids that could be mass-produced as long as there was money. As a result, it couldn't fully defend the vast, increasingly chaotic territory of the Galactic Republic!
In any case, after suffering a setback, the Confederacy of Independent Systems had grown more cunning. It had begun playing a game of guerrilla warfare with the Republic, using its numerical advantage to launch attacks and seize star systems everywhere. For a while, this left the "Grand Army of the Republic" struggling to keep up. It had no choice but to focus on defending the core systems, leaving the rebels free to ravage and strengthen themselves in the outer systems.
"Everyone..."
"The harsh truth has already shown us that the Confederacy of Independent Systems isn't so easily defeated. The Trade Federation alone is said to have hundreds of thousands of warships, large and small... And we've defeated only a paltry few hundred?"
"..."
After saying this, Senator Palpatine paused thoughtfully in the tower of the Jedi Council, where the