Was just reading through the wiki (slow day at work) and read a bit about CPAs that don't really fit with my experience in game. The Wiki states that for CPAs, guard ships across the universe get freed and follow normal attack/retreat logic. However, whenever a CPA timer runs out, many planet instantly spikes from 200 to 500-600 ships (depending on AI progress and difficulty of course), like the ships were actually spawned right there on the planets instead of being freed and travelling across the universe.
So, are the CPA ships already in game and being released, or are the spawned? Because it certainly looks like the latter.