Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao staged a brutal coronation on Coruscant, using the Republic’s former center of power to proclaim the Fourth Empire’s absolute rule. As the ceremony continued, the Galactic Empire launched a counterattack, and Thrawn appeared to take command under an order bearing Palpatine’s signature.

• Tang Xiao climbed the obsidian steps while the Fourth Empire’s iron laws were recited and a coerced crowd shouted its praises.
• Daphne Clement called the ceremony insane, while Hari Seldon explained how its setting in the Republic Senate Building symbolically attacked the legacy of freedom and democracy.
• The Archangel arrived with a vast Vasari escort, strengthening the Fourth Empire’s fleet and enabling it to bombard Galactic Empire forces approaching the ceremony.
• The Galactic Empire launched its counterattack with the Annihilator, the Aggressor, and the Eclipse, renewing its soldiers’ hope of defeating the Fourth Empire’s fleet.
• Niel Declan received an order bearing Emperor Palpatine’s signature and learned that Thrawn would lead the counterattack while continuing to use Battle Meditation.

Thrawn took command of the Empire’s remaining fleet and gathered it in Satellite 1’s orbit for a final confrontation with the Fourth Empire. He ordered Coruscant’s Planetary Shield removed, angering Sate Pestage, who planned to replace Niel Declan with Peccati Syn.

• Niel Declan questioned Thrawn’s appointment and Palpatine’s orders, then agreed to assemble the Imperial fleet near Satellite 1 after Thrawn explained the Fourth Empire was unlikely to attack.
• Niel Declan used Battle Meditation to steady the Imperial fleet’s morale as it moved into Satellite 1’s orbit without pursuit.
• Thrawn assessed his fleet’s strength, including three Super Star Destroyers and hundreds of additional ships supplied with Little Kuat’s help, and judged it insufficient to easily defeat the Fourth Empire’s Titan warships.
• By April 27, both sides had gathered their remaining forces for a final confrontation expected when Satellite 1 passed over Coruscant again in about eighteen hours.
• Thrawn ordered his adjutant to notify Sate Pestage to remove Coruscant’s Planetary Shield, and Sate Pestage erupted in anger when he received the message.
• Sate Pestage and Koru Van D'ron rejected Thrawn’s demand and planned to replace Niel Declan with Peccati Syn when he arrived at Coruscant.

Sate Pestage ordered Coruscant’s Planetary Shield shut down, allowing Matt Horner’s landing forces to move in, but Thrawn sent the Galactic Empire fleet plunging into the atmosphere to force a deadly battle. Ander Viking warned Horner that the apparent all-out attack concealed traps and urged him to prioritize the Galactic Empire’s navy over Tang Xiao’s coronation.

• Isanne Isard compelled Sate Pestage to obey Thrawn’s order and shut down Coruscant’s Planetary Shield, while Dark Prophet Kadan watched.
• Matt Horner ordered the Fourth Empire’s transports to begin full-scale landings after the shield went down.
• Thrawn sent nearly the entire Galactic Empire fleet into Coruscant’s atmosphere, accepting a desperate close-range fight against the Fourth Empire.
• Horner ordered cruisers and frigates into the atmosphere, carriers into the stratosphere, and capital ships to provide fire from orbit.
• Ander Viking countermanded Horner’s orders and warned that Imperial ambushes, the Planetary Shield, and the Death Fleet could trap the Fourth Empire’s forces.
• Horner objected that Tang Xiao’s coronation could be attacked, but Ander told him to focus on destroying the Galactic Empire’s navy.

Ander Viking helped Matt Hona break free of Thrawn’s strategy of using the coronation as a hostage, and the Fourth Empire launched an assault on the Death Fleet while threatening to bombard Coruscant. Thrawn redirected his forces toward the coronation, where Tang Xiao sensed his fear.

• Ander Viking convinced Matt Hona to stop organizing the fleet around protecting the coronation and instead target the Imperial fleet.
• Matt Hona ordered General Grievous to lead the 3rd, 5th, and 7th formations, including the Archangel Titan warship and the Taowu Titan warship, against the Death Fleet.
• The Fourth Empire bombarded Imperial warships in Coruscant’s atmosphere, and Matt Hona announced that indiscriminate orbital bombardment of the planet would begin in one hour.
• Thrawn recognized that he could not bomb the coronation without damaging the Galactic Empire’s political standing, so he ordered the Planetary Shield reactivated and conventional attacks against the coronation defenses.
• General Grievous and Mojo led the assault on the isolated Death Fleet while Matt Hona’s remaining forces attacked Coruscant’s Planetary Shield.
• Thrawn ordered his fleets to attack the Imperial Palace District and target the coronation platform, and Tang Xiao stopped on the six hundred and sixty-sixth step and said he could hear Thrawn’s fear.

Tang Xiao's coronation descended into a massacre as Darth Malthael's Death Force ravaged Coruscant and the Imperial fleet, forcing Thrawn to withdraw while leaving him politically isolated. Tang Xiao resumed the ceremony despite the devastation, as General Grievous led the Death Fleet into an attack on the Empire's forces.

• Tang Xiao threatened Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Ping, who ordered his Hell-Angel Class Battlecruiser to charge the Imperial fleet and die fighting.
• Darth Malthael spread Death Force through Imperial warships and Coruscant, turning people into puppets and zombies while destroying vessels and causing civilian casualties.
• Thrawn ordered the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer's main cannon to fire, but Isanne Isard then ordered him to withdraw the fleet from Coruscant's atmosphere.
• Thrawn recognized that his failed battle plan had cost him ships, caused mass civilian deaths, and damaged his prospects with Isanne Isard.
• Tang Xiao returned to the coronation platform, declared himself Emperor, and ordered officials to bring another million people so the ceremony could continue.
• General Grievous led the Death Fleet toward the Imperial fleet, and the Archangel fired its Doomsday Weapon, vaporizing four Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

As the Death Star arrived in the Coruscant system, Matt Horner ordered the Fourth Empire fleet to regroup and unleash a full barrage, but its attacks failed to visibly damage the battle station. Tang Xiao completed his coronation, declared himself Emperor, and began evacuating elite forces from Coruscant while leaving other troops to resist or wage guerrilla warfare.

• Matt Horner learned that massive hyperspace fluctuations signaled the Death Star's arrival and ordered the Fourth Empire fleet to regroup near Coruscant.
• The Death Star emerged after the fleet fired on its arrival point for thirteen minutes, and it endured the barrage without visible damage as its fighters and point-defense guns intercepted missiles.
• Tang Xiao hurried through his coronation ceremony and broadcast a declaration that he was Emperor and that freedom was a sin.
• Tang Xiao crushed the camera drones with the Force as transports evacuated senior officers, elite units, and advanced weapons from Coruscant.
• The Fourth Legion chose to remain and fight, while other abandoned forces prepared to disperse across Coruscant as the threat of 280 million Spaarti clone troopers loomed.

The Fourth Empire’s fleet fought the Death Star and Thrawn’s Imperial forces near Coruscant while Matt Horner and Ander Viking tried to keep the fleet intact and evacuate their ground troops. Thrawn and Tarkin committed to the attack, and as the Death Star began firing its superlaser in anti-ship mode, Ander ordered the Doomsday Weapon to fire.

• Matt Horner ordered the Fourth Empire’s fleet to withdraw from the advancing Death Star, but Thrawn’s Eclipse Super Star Destroyer struck two Heavy Cruisers from below.
• Thrawn refused Isanne Isard’s order to retreat and Tarkin’s demand for command, then launched a counterattack against the Fourth Empire’s fleet.
• Matt Horner realized the fleet was surrounded by the Death Star and Imperial warships, and Ander Viking took command and ordered the fleet to fight the Imperial forces.
• Ander maneuvered the Fourth Empire’s fleet around Coruscant while Thrawn adjusted his formations and the Death Star closed to one light-minute.
• Tarkin switched the Death Star’s main cannon to anti-ship mode, and its first shot destroyed a Hell-Angel Class Battlecruiser.
• Ander ordered the Fourth Empire’s fleet to ignore the Death Star and commanded, “Doomsday Weapon, fire!”

Ander Viking maneuvered the Fourth Empire fleet around the Death Star’s poles, drawing its fire and then attacking the Galactic Empire fleet while it was deprived of superweapon support. As Thrawn’s fleet faltered, the Second Sister arrived aboard the Eclipse.

• Thrawn and Ander Viking committed their fleets to a direct battle, while Ander identified the lack of coordination between Thrawn’s fleet and the Death Star as an opportunity.
• Ander ordered the Kultorask-class dictator to draw multiple Death Star shots, using its Nanoleeches to repair damage and replenish itself with materials from nearby warships.
• Ander split the Fourth Empire fleet and sent it around the Death Star’s north and south poles, where the superweapon lacked defenses against a large-scale assault.
• With the Death Star unable to support Thrawn, the Fourth Empire fleet focused its fire on the Iron Fist and pushed the Galactic Empire fleet toward defeat.
• Galactic Empire officers secretly admitted a Lambda-class shuttlecraft to the Eclipse, and the Second Sister arrived before Thrawn.

After Thrawn was arrested, Niel Declan’s corrupted Battle Meditation drove Iron Fist and more than a hundred Imperial warships into a suicidal attack, and the Fourth Empire and Galactic Empire fleets withdrew from Coruscant after catastrophic losses. The battle left Coruscant devastated and both empires struggling with military, civilian, and administrative crises, while Darth Vader’s fate in the Shrine in the Depths remained unknown.

• Second Sister arrested Thrawn, and the remaining Imperial warships began withdrawing from the battle.
• Niel Declan’s madness sent Iron Fist and more than a hundred Imperial warships charging the Fourth Empire fleet, and the Titan warships destroyed Iron Fist and its accompanying vessels.
• The Fourth Empire fleet withdrew under the Death Star’s fire, and the last Fourth Empire warship jumped to hyperspace on April 27, 8 BBY.
• The battle’s aftermath revealed enormous fleet, troop, and civilian casualties, severe damage to Coruscant, and ongoing Fourth Empire insurgent activity on the planet.
• The destruction of the Imperial Palace crippled Galactic Empire administration and exposed the Shrine in the Depths, where Darth Vader’s fate remained unknown.
• The Galactic Empire began restoring the Republic Senate Building after Tang Xiao had transformed it into the site of his coronation as Emperor of the Fourth Empire.

After Palpatine’s death, rival officials and commanders fractured the Galactic Empire, while Isanne Isard seized a powerful fleet and the Church of the Dark Side gained influence. Wilhuff Tarkin then announced an expedition against Dawn Star Planet, ordering the Death Star to demand submission from worlds along its route or destroy them.

• Sate Pestage claimed the throne, but Dunn Vesex, Governor Seben, and other commanders withheld their support or pursued their own interests.
• Isanne Isard used her influence over the Imperial Intelligence Bureau and the Church of the Dark Side to arrest Thrawn and take control of three Super Star Destroyers and more than 700 Star Destroyers.
• Isanne Isard left Coruscant with her fleet, while Wilhuff Tarkin ordered Sate Pestage to supply the Death Star and rejected his offer of the title of Imperial Marshal.
• On May 20, Wilhuff Tarkin announced an expedition against Dawn Star Planet and ordered the Death Star to depart with an ultimatum for every world along its route: submit or be destroyed.

On May 1 of the first year of the Fourth Empire Calendar, Tang Xiao crowned the Fourth Empire on Dawn Star Planet and announced a marriage alliance with Domina-Tagge, while the Tagge family began joining the Empire. The celebrations concealed the Empire’s badly damaged fleet and mounting political strain, leaving Tang Xiao with an empire that still faced urgent threats to its stability.

• The Fourth Empire began its new calendar, and Tang Xiao held a second coronation ceremony on Dawn Star Planet amid five days of celebration.
• Tang Xiao named Adele-Ulan the First Empress and announced that Domina-Tagge would become the Second Empress, angering Adele-Ulan.
• Sanya-Tagge’s marriage alliance with Tang Xiao bound the Tagge family, its company, Tepasi, and the Tagg Star Sector to the Fourth Empire.
• Tang Xiao took Adelaide-Tagge to bed after the coronation banquet, while his engagement to Domina-Tagge remained in place until she was older.
• The Fourth Empire began integrating the Tagge family and Tagge Company, while Arroyo-Barlow struggled to reorganize and repair the fleet left devastated by the Battle of Coruscant.
• With fewer than three hundred usable capital ships remaining and liberal movements spreading across the galaxy, the Fourth Empire struggled to maintain internal stability.

After the Battle of Coruscant, both empires struggled with weakened control as liberal movements and corporate interests gained ground. At a Fourth Empire High Command meeting, officials debated restricting Tang Xiao’s authority and rebuilding the fleet, while Matt Hona’s unexplained departure deepened uncertainty.

• Liberals took advantage of the Galactic Empire’s collapse to establish autonomous planets, where they drove out imperial forces and attacked Mega-corporations.
• The Fourth Empire shifted to concentrated defense, redeploying its Titans and garrisons while liberals quietly organized and called for a constitutional monarchy.
• Fourth Empire Mega-corporations began testing restrictions on technology exports and seeking ways to increase their profits.
• Daphne Clement, Marvin Hitz, and Carls Walton raised concerns about Tang Xiao’s conduct, his demand to double military spending, and the influence of the Dark Side; Ling Liang defended the spending as a temporary measure.
• Matt Hona relocated with his family, left his uniform and medals behind, and disappeared, leaving Carls Walton to handle naval affairs again.

Harry Seldon defended Tang Xiao at a Fourth Empire meeting, arguing that the Emperor’s past sacrifices and imperial authority outweighed criticism of the Battle of Coruscant. After Daphne Clement ordered him taken away, Helmut Zemo released him and took control of the guards.

• Harry Seldon challenged the ministers’ accusations that Tang Xiao had caused the Fourth Empire’s devastating losses on Coruscant.
• Harry Seldon recalled Tang Xiao’s past risks and achievements, including his attack on a Hammerhead-class cruiser and his wager against Damask Holdings Group.
• Harry Seldon declared that citizens of an empire shared their Emperor’s glory and disgrace, then threatened to bring down Bruce Tovan over his support for limiting Tang Xiao’s actions.
• Daphne Clement ordered the IG-100 guard droids to remove Harry Seldon after he urged the cabinet to resign if it could not handle the empire’s problems.
• Helmut Zemo issued Imperial Garrison Directive 329, causing the droids to release Harry Seldon and revealing his intent to take control.

Hari Seldon proposed Nuwa, a civilization-level self-repair mechanism, as a way to preserve the Fourth Empire while accommodating Tang Xiao’s rule. The cabinet resigned and Hari formed a new government, while Wilhuff Tarkin prepared an expedition.

• Helmut Zemo threatened opponents of Tang Xiao’s authority, and Hari Seldon argued against both challenging the Emperor and blindly submitting to his actions.
• Hari proposed Nuwa to guide Tang Xiao’s actions toward the benefit of civilization, prompting objections from Bruce Tovan and Daphne Clement.
• Xian Hui and Ling Liang declared support for Tang Xiao, and Daphne Clement announced the cabinet’s collective resignation.
• On May 5, the Fourth Empire cabinet resigned, and Hari Seldon became Imperial Chancellor of a newly formed cabinet.
• Tang Xiao ordered Qi Jian to remain, while Skrand Sharp-Bick and Dai Hongkui received new military appointments; Bruce Tovan withdrew from government meetings.
• The Fourth Empire Military Intelligence Department reported that Wilhuff Tarkin was planning an expedition.

The Fourth Empire learned that Wilhuff Tarkin was leading the Death Star toward Dawn Star Planet and debated how to stop it before it destroyed their territory. With Scarif’s location still unknown and calculations expected to take five days, Skrand Sharp-Bick objected to abandoning Kira planet.

• An Intelligence Department official reported that Wilhuff Tarkin would lead the Death Star against Dawn Star Planet, and Cheng Shitao reviewed its fleet and projected route.
• Cheng Shitao convened the Supreme Military Council, where Qi Jian warned that losing Dawn Star Planet could destroy the Fourth Empire.
• Ling Liang and Salatan Morse explained that they needed to locate Scarif to contact Galen Erso, but calculating its coordinates would take at least five days.
• Qi Jian warned that the Fourth Empire could not hold off the Death Star for five days, while Hari Seldon proposed evacuating Kira planet.
• Skrand Sharp-Bick objected to abandoning Kira planet and its billions of residents, calling the defense of their territory the duty of their generation.

The Fourth Empire planned a mission to destroy the Death Star, combining carrier operations, intelligence, and Darth Malthael’s intervention. As the Claw Fleet prepared to depart, Qi Jian pledged to purge those who questioned Tang Xiao’s authority.

• Ling Liang presented evidence that attacks near the Death Star’s main cannon had forced it to turn, identifying a weakness, while Cheng Shitao warned that a direct assault would cost more than five hundred capital ships.
• Skrand Sharp-Bick proposed a carrier-centered tactic and said he needed five to seven days, while the leaders concluded that Darth Malthael would have to attempt the mission to destroy the Death Star.
• The Fourth Empire deployed tens of millions of Interdictors along hyperspace routes between Coruscant and Kira planet and formed the Claw Fleet under Skrand Sharp-Bick’s command.
• Skrand Sharp-Bick assembled a fleet made entirely of carriers, with And Viking assigned as Staff Colonel, and requisitioned one thousand Grey Horse-class escort carriers.
• Chief Engineer Arroyo Barlow promised to try to finish the Vanguard II-class Flagship Carrier in time for the battle at Kira planet.
• Qi Jian knelt outside Tang Xiao’s office and vowed to personally lead a purge of everyone who questioned Tang Xiao’s authority.

Sate Pestage and Pekkati Syn discussed Wilhuff Tarkin’s bid for the throne as the Death Star traveled toward Kira, while the Fourth Empire’s intelligence service uncovered a shipment that could conceal the station’s movements. The chapter ended with Salatan Morse requesting Protoss support at Mandalore, and a hidden voice answering that it would act.

• Sate Pestage studied the Death Star’s route toward Kira and worried that Wilhuff Tarkin would use its destruction of Dawn Star Planet to claim the throne.
• Pekkati Syn told Sate Pestage that Tarkin’s expedition was his last chance and that Isanne Isard had tacitly approved it.
• A Salarian intelligence officer reported that an ore shipment’s weight and shipping records matched the Fourth Empire’s estimates for the Death Star.
• Salatan Morse traced the shipment to Mandalore and ordered the Protoss to send two Dark Templar.
• A concealed speaker answered Salatan Morse, saying, “Ik ku dar anai!”

Wilhuff-Tarkin brought the Death Star to the Delon system, where he sought supplies while preparing to strike Dawn Star Planet and avenge his son. Meanwhile, the Fourth Empire assembled a fleet at Kira planet to intercept him, expecting that Tarkin’s political ambitions would draw him there.

• Salatan-Morse learned the Rebel Alliance denied knowing anything about the Death Star and ordered increased surveillance to track its plans against Coruscant.
• The Death Star arrived in the Delon system, where Wilhuff-Tarkin refused to seek the Death Fleet’s help and resolved to defeat the Fourth Empire before its forces recovered.
• Wilhuff-Tarkin requested Coaxium from Lieutenant General Firmus-Piett and accepted only a third of the amount he needed, promising to punish the Delon system after his victory.
• Admiral Skrand-Sharp-Bick began assembling carriers at Kira planet and planned to send a task force to Chardaan Planet to intercept the Death Star.
• Ander-Viking doubted Tarkin would divert to Kira planet, but Skrand-Sharp-Bick predicted that Tarkin’s political motives would bring him there.

The Galactic Empire forced Chardaan Planet to return to its allegiance under threat of destruction by the Death Star. After Governor Tahir complied, the Fourth Empire's fleet arrived, leaving Chardaan caught between the two powers.

• The Death Star and a massive Imperial fleet arrived at Chardaan, and Tarkin summoned Governor Tahir aboard the station.
• Tarkin ordered Tahir to restore Chardaan's allegiance to the Galactic Empire, arrest Fourth Empire personnel, seize their assets, and submit the planet's finances to auditors, threatening to destroy Chardaan if he refused.
• Tahir returned to Chardaan and declared complete allegiance to the Galactic Empire, then staged arrests of a few Fourth Empire personnel and handed over assets.
• Chardaan's military commander reported that the Fourth Empire's fleet had arrived, and Tahir ordered his forces to abandon resistance and notify Tarkin.

Wilhuff Tarkin’s fleet faced waves of drones launched by Skrand Sharp-Bick’s Fourth Empire force outside Chardaan Planet. The first wave disrupted Imperial defenses, and the second turned toward the Death Star, where it clashed with TIE fighters above the surface.

• Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the Death Star’s fighters to remain within its Deflector Shield and prepared to jump toward Paks Planet.
• Skrand Sharp-Bick launched more than eight thousand drones from the Grey Horse-class carriers to probe the Imperial fleet’s defenses.
• The first drone wave reached the Imperial fleet, scattered through its anti-aircraft fire, and damaged an Imperial-class Star Destroyer.
• Wilhuff Tarkin withheld the TIE fighters while his fleet’s anti-aircraft guns engaged the drones and the Death Star’s jump calculations continued.
• Ten thousand Interceptor drones launched from the Protoss Carriers, bypassed the disrupted escort defenses, and attacked the Death Star.
• The Interceptor drones collided with the Death Star’s Deflector Shield and engaged its four thousand TIE fighters in a low-altitude battle.