"The empire was aware of Earth for quite some time but by the time we did anything about it it was far too late." - Harrison Klatson

Chapter: Growing Danger

Imperial Center, Coruscant

The highest levels of Imperial Intelligence had been in flux after the distraction of the Death Star. Admiral Yularin had been aboard apparently and his absence had really not compensated for. A vestige of the clone wars, Yularan was a steadying presence that had ensured superior intelligence when compared with whatever the nicest rebellion was able to cook up.

That was in the eyes of Colonel Harrian Klatson, an analyst in Imperial Intelligence. And he felt that the Empire was too focused on the growing threat of the Rebellion to focus on something that was more subtle but emerging.

Earth. A unique threat to the empire that was being ignored. Despite that, it had destroyed or captured thousands of starships and taken many systems from the empire. A number of sectors were in their grasp, and he was endeavoring to find out how to defeat them.

Additionally, he was trying to figure out how they were so powerful. Little was known about that fact but it was clear that they were becoming a force to be reckoned with. Give them a few decades and they would be marching through the seats of Coruscant.

He was attempting to comb through the limited information the empire had on them. The planet seemed to be filled with untapped potential that had advanced rapidly in the past few centuries.

But he still didn't have a definitive explanation for how the planet had been able to suddenly deploy a fleet of 50 starships from when the empire first attacked. It had obviously been kept secret for quite some time from the public of the world. His best guess was that a ship of some sort had crashed on the planet and Earth had been able to replicate the technology over a period of time. Perhaps multiple had. If they had been able to get access to the holonet they would be able to find out how to design a starship, even though it might be hopelessly out of date. But technology could be improved upon and the force that had greeted the empire had been formidable.

A second strike had been sent after the first one www defeated with total losses. This had also ended in total defeat, and any reconnaissance probes sent to the general area never reported back. And then a bit over a year later everything collapsed as they had pushed through the entire Zoloch Sector Force. Now several sectors were under their control along with that of their allies and from the limited intel they had no plans for stopping.

Mind you they were still deep in the imperial frontier fighting poorly trained and equipped sectors that almost had entirely corrupt governments and local sector forces. Well, the rest of the empire was still quite corrupt but they at least managed to be somewhat competent on their end. Under other circumstances, Earth may have been forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, with that sector either being too weakened to attempt another attack with its resources diverted to other sectors or crushed with significant but ultimately futile.

But Earth took a gamble.

A bit over a year after the second task force disappeared several hundred ships from Earth emerged from hyperspace across worlds in the sector, along with another few hundred from the Free Confederacy. The Free Confederacy was one of the many Separatist holdouts that launched guerilla attacks and raids both on the ground and in space in a few sectors all deep in the outer rim. Unlike many other Separatist Holdouts that had thrown in with the Rebel Alliance they had remained independent and this had been reasoned because they supposedly were not very large at all, with only a few dozen ships. However they had done an effective job of hiding many of their assets and the estimated few dozen were, in fact, a few hundred, which by now we're perhaps a few thousand. Combined with local rebellions and special forces raids these two powers had surged through the imperial lines. The sector force had been weakened by the failed expedition to Earth and the previous actions of the free confederacy with only half of its Star Destroyers operational and few reinforcements provided. It was the best time to strike, and the effects were devastating. Both in space and on the ground imperial forces were routed and the sector was under the control of Earth in mere weeks, with the few survivors of the sector forces retreating to other sectors.

To be fair the rebellion had run over many such sectors in the outer rim with a frightening pace, but even the greatest estimates of Earth and its allies' strength put them at only a few thousand ships while the alliance had had a few tens of thousands.

Not long after the surrounding sectors began preparing to counterattack, and asked the biggest nearby sector, the Tibannas Sector, to help them. The Tibannas Sector was far more wealthy when compared to its neighbors due to superior economic management of its natural resources and a strong anti-corruption stance. They had not wanted to become involved in the war as it was not under direct threat yet, even though its sector force was larger and more well-equipped than that of the other ones surrounding it.

In response, the surrounding sectors had gotten many of Tibannas's trading partners to pull out and relocate to other sectors. This left the Tibannas sector with a few options. It could give in to demands and step aside, and fight against Earth or diplomatically challenge the offer thanks to their hero of a leader, Moff Karla Illustrious. She was a hero of the clone wars and the early imperial era who had taken control of the sector close to two decades ago and transformed it from a poor backwater to a thriving center of business, commerce, and innovation. It was believed by some reformists within the empire that peaceful economic development would not only reduce the threat of rebellion but also put more money in the pockets of the empire which could be more useful as it would compound among itself.

However, in a surprising turn of events she decided to throw her weight behind Earth instead of accepting the deal that the other sectors made her.

The result was devastating, with her better-trained and more professional sector force striking the flanks of the attacking Imperial Sectors who had reduced their strength behind their front lines in an effort to bring as many ships to bear against Earth as possible. Earth and the Free Confederacy despite some losses were still holding on to most of the systems that they had occupied before the imperial counterattack and inflicting far greater casualties on the imperials. Coordinated with Illustrious, a counterattack commenced which devastated the empire in those few sectors, and in just a little bit more time than before all of the sectors were occupied.

Since then, which had only really been a few months ago, Earth and its two newfound allies had taken a dozen sectors in total and were on the verge of taking four more. Now it and its allies had several hundred systems under their control with thousands of ships and millions of ground troops. One might expect that their vessels would be primitive and have many flaws but they were surprisingly well designed from the little information that was known about them.

In his mind at least there was absolutely no doubt that Earth was a threat.

Perhaps more resources should be dedicated to stopping Earth as it tore deeper into imperial space but the biggest issue was the lack of coordination between the sector governors. Or the assignment of an over-sector fleet to be more effective in fighting back. It was the issue with controlling such a vast amount of territory like the empire did, as it dwarfed the size of every other major power in history. Controlling such territory was difficult to the point where it had allowed the rebellion to gain a significant foothold throughout the galaxy.

And prevented responses to smaller threats like this rogue planet, earth. As an analyst, he would have to recommend more forces be allocated to destroying the threat. They had to snuff this out before it burned far enough to destroy the Empire.

Give these people time and they would be far more powerful than he could even imagine right now. That would be necessary to stop before it rose to take on the empire within the full force.

Hopefully, director Issard would listen to him. She had Palpetine's ears and according to some rumors that he distrusted other parts of him.