I got to thinking about AOTC the other day and was wondering about all of the great new military hardware that the Republic suddenly had in its possession and where it came from? We all know about the Clones, of course, but who built all of the cruisers, gunships, walkers, etc. that they suddenly had at their disposal to use during that opening battle on Geonosis and why did nobody ever question where all THAT came from? The clones were an incredibly well-kept secret until Obi-Wan showed up (for reasons that we learn as the movie progresses) but who in the world also managed to equip them immediately with such a massive military force and how did they keep THAT a secret from the Republic for years, if not decades? Was Palpatine already building all of this military hardware secretly for last 10 years? The Senate hadn't even voted to approve the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic until AOTC but there's obviously no way that Palpatine would have been able to build fleets of cruisers and everything else immediately to fight the Separatists on Geonosis. Any explanation provided by sources- EU or otherwise? I'm confused.
