Poderia ser A Trilogia Thrawn , por Timothy Zahn? Composto de Herdeiro do Império , Dark Force Rising , e O Último Comando , um ponto central do enredo para o romance Dark Force Rising , e para toda a trilogia até certo ponto, é a busca pela frota Katana .
Na verdade, ele lançou alguns anos antes das guerras clônicas, e a frota estava em um ponto cheio de tropas, mas eles morreram antes de serem encontrados, mas carregavam andadores experimentais:
Highly advanced for its time and equipped with state of the art automation systems, it was lost in its first hyperspace voyage. The fleet consisted of 200 modified Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers, all carrying experimental AT-PT walkers. The ships' controls could be slaved to the controls of Katana [the name of the flagship]
Além disso, o Grande Almirante Thrawn tinha um plano para usar clones que ele fez novos como tripulantes:
Initially, the New Republic believed Thrawn would not be able to take advantage of his new vessels, since he would require over three hundred thousand crewers for the Katana fleet—2,000 for each of the 178 ships. However, Thrawn proved to be more resourceful, using clones produced in days (instead of the years) from Spaarti cloning cylinders in the Emperor's storehouse on Wayland to crew his ships.
Havia grande tensão sobre quem iria encontrá-lo primeiro, pois mudaria o poder na galáxia:
By 6 ABY, the balance of power between the New Republic, Imperial Remnant, and warlord forces was so precarious that, despite their age, it was believed that any faction that recovered the fleet would immediately become the dominant force in the galaxy.
Os três romances foram lançados em 1991, 1992 e 1993.
Todas as citações do artigo do Katana vinculado acima