Inside the command center of the BS-Lawson.
"Pardon me, sir? We're retreating?" High Commander Lockhart replied feeling stupefied.
"That's right, Commander. The Alliance has decided to pull back the front lines. We will abandon these borders and set up a new defensive around the Middle-Rim." The light-silhouette of a man wearing a suit answered.
"I object, sir! We will be giving up dozens of resource-heavy planets to those bastards! Who knows how much they will improve once they get their hands of it?" Lockhart objected.
Retreat? They simply can't do so!
The reason Mankind had heavily invested in the Outer-Rim planets and was currently defending the majority of the territory was due to the exotic resources present in these planets.
Much of their technology including warp drive, the advanced mechs, and droids, the Planetary-Class weaponry were dependent on these resources for their manufacture and maintenance.