Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao and Baron Zemo used the fleet’s disappearance to convince Black Sun that the Fourth Group rearguard had been destroyed, while preparing an ambush for Vego Kash Garulan. Garulan arrived at the Endor system with a powerful fleet and demanded Dawn Star Planet surrender its giant colony ship.

• Baron Zemo told Tang Xiao that Vego Kash Garulan had taken the bait and was assembling a fleet after bounty hunters scouted the Endor system.
• Tang Xiao and Baron Zemo explained how the fifteen-day disappearance and hidden supply ships had helped them conceal the rearguard’s survival and mislead Black Sun.
• Baron Zemo reported that Qi Jian had positioned Red John's hired fleet and Professor Chi had completed his preparations.
• Vego Kash Garulan arrived at the edge of the Endor system with more than a hundred warships, including seven CR-70 corvettes and the Captor-class cruiser Twin Daggers.
• Garulan ordered a public ultimatum demanding that Dawn Star Planet hand over its giant colony ship, promising Black Sun would protect the planet afterward.

Vego-Kash-Garulan’s Black Sun fleet attacked Dawn Star Planet, while Qi Jian tried to delay the assault and evacuate the ships near Dorr satellite. The chapter left the Fourth Group’s fighters charging Black Sun’s advance fleet as the Glory mothership opened fire with its Mass Drivers.

• Vego-Kash-Garulan dismissed Qi Jian’s threats and ordered Black Sun’s ships to advance on the Glory mothership.
• Red John withdrew after Garulan revealed that Black Sun had captured Jielin, Kairu, and Moras, though Red John apologized to Qi Jian and offered to return his payment.
• Black Sun ships rushed toward the mining zone, scattering the transport and mining vessels and causing collisions.
• Qi Jian ordered the Fourth Group to defend the evacuation, and more than forty modified Blade-class fighters charged Black Sun’s advance detachment.
• The Black Sun detachment destroyed several Blade-class fighters with a heavy barrage, while the remaining fighters pressed forward and the Glory mothership fired its five Mass Drivers.

The Black Sun fleet attacked the Glory mothership and destroyed fleeing mining and transport ships, only for Tang Xiao’s Fourth Group to emerge from hyperspace behind them. Tang Xiao revealed that he had taken Red John’s associates and used their execution to threaten Vego Kash Garulan.

• Kash Garulan ordered the Black Sun fleet to advance and fire on the fleeing ships after the forty Blade-class fighters were destroyed.
• Black Sun warships blasted the mining ships and transports, unaware that the wreckage contained no corpses and that probes were exposed beneath a cracked asteroid.
• A radar operator detected seventy-two approaching ships, and Tang Xiao’s Fourth Group dropped out of hyperspace behind Garulan’s fleet.
• Tang Xiao introduced himself to Garulan and brought Red John onto the public channel, showing him his released mistress and business associates.
• Tang Xiao showed masked gunmen executing several kneeling Black Sun bandits, then told Red John to keep watching.

Tang Xiao lured Kash Garulan’s Black Sun fleets into a minefield hidden among the mining debris near Dor Planet, devastating their forces. With Garulan’s ships crippled, Tang Xiao launched seventy Wraith fighters into close combat, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Garulan revealed that fifty Black Sun reinforcements, including three CR-70 corvettes, had arrived and demanded that Tang Xiao surrender the Glory mothership.
• Tang Xiao revealed that space mines were hidden in the mining slag and rocks surrounding the fleets.
• The mines detonated across the mining zone, destroying most of Black Sun’s hundred ships and damaging the mining station and the Glory mothership’s shields.
• Garulan survived the explosions but was injured, and Tang Xiao challenged him to produce another trump card.
• The Glory launched fifty Wraith fighters as twenty more fighters joined them, sending seventy Wraith fighters into Black Sun’s disrupted formation.

The Fourth Civilization fleet devastated Black Sun’s forces, leaving Kash Garulan trapped aboard his damaged Captor-class cruiser while eight ships cut through its armor. As Garulan’s reinforcements charged the Glory, Tang Xiao launched his personal Wraith fighter, Red Comet, into the battle.

• The Wraith fighters destroyed thirty Vulture droid fighters and fired 1,400 Gemini missiles, crippling Black Sun’s fleet and leaving Garulan’s cruiser and five CR-70 corvettes barely functional.
• Eight weaponless Hammer-class vessels attached to Garulan’s cruiser and began cutting through its thick armor while Garulan discovered his hyperdrive was damaged and his escape-pod section was under attack.
• Garulan’s fifty-ship backup force charged toward the Glory, and Igor Zavarov ordered the Fourth Civilization fleet to intercept them.
• Tang Xiao climbed into his personal Wraith fighter, Red Comet, completed its systems check, and launched at extreme acceleration.
• The eight attached ships continued cutting into the Captor-class cruiser for nearly twenty minutes as Garulan and his crew waited helplessly aboard.

Kash-Garulan’s flagship was seized by the Fourth Civilization’s Porter MK.II rescue boats, which hacked its systems and forced it toward the Glory mothership. Qi Jian watched the capture succeed as the boats delivered the chapter’s decisive blow.

• Kash-Garulan offered a million credits to destroy the eight ships attached to his flagship, but his crew had no way to fight them.
• Kash-Garulan ordered his crew to prepare for a boarding attack and activate their usable droids.
• An operator discovered that the eight ships were hacking the flagship through its internal lines and towing it.
• The rescue boats restored the engines but took control of the flagship, steering it toward the Glory mothership’s hangar.
• Qi Jian watched the flagship approach and explained that the Porter MK.II rescue boats used cutters, data relays, and an AI virus to seize enemy ships.

Tang Xiao and the Fourth Civilization fleet destroyed the Black Sun support fleet while Rescue Boats dragged Kash Garulan’s cruiser into the Glory mothership. Garulan watched soldiers clear the other captured ships as welding began outside his own vessel.

• Eight Rescue Boats towed Kash Garulan’s cruiser into the Glory mothership’s hangar while Garulan panicked and begged for help.
• Tang Xiao piloted the Red Comet, destroyed Black Sun ships, and helped the Fourth Civilization fleet overwhelm the support fleet.
• The remaining Black Sun ships fled, but Tang Xiao pursued them and destroyed several as they tried to escape into hyperspace.
• Rescue Boats towed five disabled CR-70 frigates into the hangar, where soldiers and B-1 battle droids recovered the dead crews.
• Garulan watched the captured frigates being cleared, pounded on his viewport, and heard welding torches start outside his ship’s hatch.

Tang Xiao led the assault on the Captor-class cruiser and used his Lightsaber and the Force to overwhelm the Black Sun defenders. He advanced through the ship as Xiao Guanghua and the soldiers followed.

• Kash Garulan watched as Tang Xiao arrived aboard the Red Comet and the soldiers assembled to greet him.
• Xiao Guanghua prepared to join the assault, and Tang Xiao revealed his Lightsaber before approaching the hatch.
• Tang Xiao used the Force to smash open the hatch, crushing defenders waiting inside.
• Tang Xiao deflected the Black Sun members’ Blaster Beams and cut down those he sent flying with a Force blast.
• Tang Xiao’s Lightsaber absorbed smoke rising from the dead, while frightened Black Sun members fled from him.

Tang Xiao stormed Vego-Kash-Garulan’s flagship and slaughtered the Black Sun crew before killing Garulan, whose head he ordered preserved in a Bacta tank. The chapter revealed how Baron Helmut Zemo lured Garulan into the Endor system, where the Fourth Civilization’s prepared traps destroyed his forces.

• Tang Xiao cut through the bridge door and caused the Black Sun crew to surrender, but he killed them when they took up arms again.
• Tang Xiao killed Vego-Kash-Garulan, took his head, and ordered a soldier to preserve it in a Bacta tank.
• The Fourth Civilization destroyed Garulan after greed led him to gather 150 ships and attack the Endor system.
• Baron Helmut Zemo had used false reports of the Fourth Group fleet’s destruction to lure Garulan into the system.
• Professor Chi Jianjun had prepared mines from Sins of a Solar Empire and a Porter MK.II rescue boat from Homeworld for the trap.

Tang Xiao used the captured flagship of Vego Kash Garulan to pursue intelligence that could help the Fourth Civilization launch a war against Black Sun. As Fleet A departed after repairs and reinforcements, Super Lotus began using Garulan’s access to infiltrate Black Sun’s network.

• Tang Xiao planned to exploit the plot and Black Sun’s eventual destruction, using Garulan’s death and intelligence to open a war against the syndicate.
• The Fourth Civilization repaired and resupplied its fleet, replacing losses and adding new frigates before Igor Zavalov led Fleet A away from the Glory mothership.
• Super Lotus arrived at the mothership and joined Tang Xiao and Tremi Brad aboard Garulan’s damaged Captor-class cruiser.
• Brad found a secret plan in the cruiser’s database, and Tang Xiao asked Super Lotus to use Garulan’s access privileges to monitor Black Sun.
• An engineer asked Tang Xiao when the Captor-class cruiser would be turned over for conversion into the Fourth Civilization’s first aircraft carrier.

Darth Maul retrieved Iram Radik’s nuclear device for Darth Sidious and delivered it to a mysterious contact on Nashadda. Meanwhile, Tang Xiao learned that Black Sun planned to use the bomb against Hego Damask II’s secret base on Sojourn Planet and suspected Hego’s apprentice was involved.

• On Cyrillia, armed attackers raided a refinery for rare elements, and authorities found that the captured attackers were brain-damaged missing persons.
• Darth Maul used the Force to make Iram Radik reveal where he had hidden his nuclear device, then escaped from Cog Hive Seven with it.
• Darth Sidious ordered Darth Maul to deliver the device to a contact on Nashadda, while Maul reported that InterGalactic Banking Clan agents were investigating the matter.
• On Nashadda, Darth Maul handed the nuclear device to a gray-skinned figure in a beast-bone helmet.
• Luo Feng and Super Lotus told Tang Xiao that Black Sun’s Bando Gosa operatives were seeking materials for a concealed super nuclear bomb.
• Tang Xiao identified G as Hutt Gaddula and S as Hego Damask II’s base on Sojourn Planet, then asked Super Lotus to track the suspects’ movements.

Tang Xiao prepared to use Gaddula’s capture to draw out Hego Damask II’s enemies, while Fourth Civilization Fleet A invaded Mulcana planet to strike a Black Sun stronghold. The Corporate Alliance first resisted, then agreed to support the operation after Passel Argente spoke with Hego.

• Tang Xiao said an unseen enemy would likely use Gaddula to alert Black Sun and its allies, and he ordered Ni Yongxiao brought in.
• Igor Zavalov led Fleet A out of hyperspace near Mulcana planet and ordered landing forces to begin operations despite the planet security chief’s objections.
• The Corporate Alliance initially refused to cooperate, but Igor invoked Hego Damask II and the InterGalactic Banking Clan when speaking with its representative.
• Wraith fighters bombarded a seaside villa, and bounty hunters and Black Sun ships joined the ensuing aerial battle.
• Passel Argente contacted Igor, apologized for resisting, and promised that the Corporate Alliance would send fighters to support the operation.

After the Fourth Civilization captured Kash Garulan’s villa on Mulcana, Xiao Guanghua recovered Garulan’s records of Black Sun’s operations and corrupt contacts. Tang Xiao used the intelligence to prepare a larger operation, but Super Lotus then detected a remote data upload to the ship piloted by the Brainless One.

• Xiao Guanghua’s Fourth Civilization troops overwhelmed Black Sun’s defenders and seized Garulan’s villa while the Corporate Alliance moved to claim Black Sun’s assets.
• Xiao Guanghua’s men opened a secure safe using Garulan’s identity information and found his accounts, detailing his criminal operations and bribed officials.
• Tang Xiao reviewed the records and told Ni Yongxiao that they could begin their plan.
• Super Lotus told Tang Xiao that the super nuclear bomb was assembled and the Brainless One’s ship was waiting for a message from G.
• Tang Xiao instructed Super Lotus not to trace G’s information source and to leave Black Sun alone until G sent definite information.
• As Tang Xiao left, Super Lotus discovered that data had been remotely uploaded to the Brainless One’s ship.

Tang Xiao warned Hego Damask II that Black Sun planned to assassinate him with a nuclear bomb, and Hego escaped Sojourn Planet for his stronghold on Muunilinst. There, Hego showed Tang Xiao footage of a bomb destroying at least half of a planet’s surface.

• Tang Xiao stopped Super Lotus from decrypting the intercepted message, sent her on leave, and rushed to meet Hego Damask II.
• Tang Xiao warned Hego through a secret channel to leave Sojourn Planet, and Hego fled to Muunilinst with his medical droid, 11-4D.
• Jabba warned Hego that Sojourn Planet was about to be attacked, citing Black Sun and Gaddula as his sources.
• Tang Xiao reached Abola Island and told Hego that Black Sun and Bando Gora had assembled a nuclear bomb to assassinate him.
• Hego showed Tang Xiao satellite footage of an explosion that devastated at least half of a planet’s surface.

After learning that Tang Xiao knew about the assassination attempt on Sojourn Planet, Hego Damask took him to a hidden laboratory and revealed his Sith identity as Darth Pregas. He declared Tang Xiao his apprentice and ordered him to meditate on a torture victim’s altar, where the victim’s hatred and pain overwhelmed him.

• Hego confronted Tang Xiao about how he had learned of the assassination attempt, and Tang Xiao suggested that Jabba had warned him too.
• Tang Xiao presented Kash Garulan’s preserved head, and Hego led him to a concealed laboratory beneath Abola Island.
• Hego revealed that he was Darth Pregas, explained his pursuit of immortality, and declared Tang Xiao his Sith apprentice under the title Darth.
• Darth Pregas ordered Tang Xiao to meditate on an altar bearing the skeleton of a former apprentice he had tortured for over twenty years.
• Tang Xiao heard the victim’s anguished voice and was engulfed by the powerful Dark Side Force within the victim’s rage and suffering.

Tang Xiao absorbed Darth Venamis's remaining Dark Side Force and fought Darth Pregas, but Pregas overwhelmed him and pinned him with a Lightsaber. Pregas revealed that he knew Tang Xiao's name was Darth Malthael.

• Darth Venamis tried to invade Tang Xiao's mind, but Tang Xiao devoured his lingering consciousness and Dark Side Force.
• Tang Xiao awoke amid the wreckage and told Darth Pregas that Darth Honduras sounded better than Darth Venamis.
• Darth Pregas attacked Tang Xiao, and their Lightsabers and Force clashed in the ruined laboratory.
• Darth Pregas used his superior swordsmanship and Force control to overpower Tang Xiao, pinning him in place with his Lightsaber between Tang Xiao's eyes.
• Darth Pregas told Tang Xiao that he had already heard his name: Darth Malthael.

Tang Xiao learned that Darth Pregas had heard the name Malthael when Tang Xiao devoured Darth Venamis's power, then watched Pregas use the Force to make Kash Garulan's dead head speak. Garulan named Naboo's King Veruna, while on Naboo, Ars Veruna unveiled the N-1 Starfighter at a lavish celebration.

• Tang Xiao questioned Darth Pregas about the name Malthael, and Pregas said he had heard it in the void when Tang Xiao devoured Darth Venamis's power.
• Darth Pregas demonstrated how he used the Force to revive the cells in Kash Garulan's preserved head and make it speak.
• Kash Garulan's head repeated the words "Naboo" and "King Veruna," prompting Darth Pregas to react with interest.
• On Naboo, King Ars Veruna led a grand procession celebrating the unveiling of the N-1 Starfighter.
• Ars Veruna praised the fighter as protection for Naboo and declared that the planet had risen.

King Ars Veruna celebrated the N-1 starfighter’s successful maiden flight and planned to use its power, along with Black Sun and Hutt Gaddula’s support, to renegotiate Naboo’s trade agreement with the Trade Federation. As Veruna discussed the Galactic Senate’s troubles with his adviser, the man revealed himself to be senator Sheev Palpatine.

• Ars Veruna’s corrupt trade agreement with the Trade Federation damaged Naboo, while his approval rating fell and tensions between humans and Gungans grew.
• Veruna invested in the N-1 starfighter project and arranged for Black Sun and Hutt Gaddula to help Naboo sell its plasma ore, while secretly agreeing to assassinate Hego Damask II.
• The assassination failed without Veruna’s knowledge, and the hidden force behind it disappeared, leaving others to face Hego Damask II’s wrath.
• Veruna watched the N-1 starfighters’ maiden flight and boasted that he would soon force the Trade Federation to renegotiate the agreement, preventing the Naberrie girl from claiming Naboo’s throne.
• Veruna’s adviser warned that Chancellor Phineas Valorum was losing support after the Malastare dispute and was counting on an Outer Rim tax agreement.
• The adviser raised his head, revealing himself as senator Sheev Palpatine.

Palpatine watched Ars Veruna unravel after learning that Hego Damask II was on Muunilinst and the Republic Judicial Fleet was investigating an energy burst. A week later, Tang Xiao returned to the Endor system after completing his studies with Darth Pregas and rested with Ailiya Isabel.

• Palpatine told Ars Veruna that Hego Damask II would accompany Newt Gunray to Coruscant to negotiate with Phineas Valorum, leaving Veruna stunned as he worried about the nuclear bomb and Sojourn Planet.
• Palpatine reported that a Republic border outpost had detected an anomalous energy burst and that the Republic Judicial Fleet had sent investigators.
• Palpatine left to support Princess Amidala, Padmé Naberrie, at a refugee-relief gathering, while Ars Veruna remained collapsed on the balcony.
• Tang Xiao finished his studies with Darth Pregas, returned to the Endor system, and fell asleep in his office.
• Ailiya Isabel massaged Tang Xiao as he slept, then fell asleep across his lap after he woke and saw how tired she was.

Tang Xiao and Ailiya resumed their intimate encounter after Lord Jing ordered the set lights turned off, and Ailiya woke the next morning to find that Tang Xiao had arranged servants to care for her. Tang Xiao then inspected the Fourth Civilization’s expanding settlements and industries on Dawn Star Planet.

• Lord Jing stopped Tang Xiao and Ailiya’s bedroom scene, then told them to continue in darkness.
• Ailiya woke alone, exhausted but happy, and learned that Tang Xiao had assigned maids to attend to her while he inspected Dawn Star Planet.
• Tang Xiao surveyed Dawn City, whose population had reached 100,000, and noted that development had expanded into four new towns and two mining industrial zones.
• Graham’s plan gave Truth City an educational focus, Early Dew City an agricultural focus, Winter City a military focus, and Gumi City a home for Ewoks.
• Currency Number Four began circulating as the Fourth Civilization’s market opened further, while companies formed and more Ewoks settled in Gumi City and joined the workforce.