Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao's crew arrived at Makito to meet Semir, but the Muun's escape from a pipeline brought a large force of battle droids down on them. They rescued Semir aboard the YT-1000, only to discover that even more pursuers were closing in.

• Cun Te brought the YT-1000 through Makito's defenses and landed near the coordinates Hego Damask II had provided while Tang Xiao considered the risks and possibilities of dealing with Hego.
• A speeder burst through an exploding pipeline, and Semir called for help as B-1 battle droids on STAPs pursued him.
• Kunto shot down two STAPs from the turret while Cun Te flew dangerously low, smashed the pursuing vehicles, and ordered Semir to board.
• Semir drove his speeder through the YT-1000's open hatch, and T-850 stopped it from crashing into the ship's interior.
• More than a hundred STAPs and distant fighters appeared, revealing that Semir had drawn the surrounding garrison into the chase.

Tang Xiao used his newly awakened Force abilities to destroy the Vulture fighters attacking the Lancer and help the crew break through the blockade. The Lancer entered hyperspace and escaped the three Generous-class frigates.

• Cun Te piloted the Lancer through Makito's defenses as Vulture fighters and Generous-class frigates attacked.
• Tang Xiao took over the turret, but initially failed to hit the nimble fighters.
• Tang Xiao calmed himself and used the Force to predict the fighters' movements, destroying thirteen of them in under a minute.
• Spade warned that the shields were close to overloading, so Cun Te ordered Kunto to activate the hyperspace engine.
• Kunto activated the engine, and the Lancer escaped into hyperspace under the frigates' noses.

Tang Xiao and the others escaped Makito with Semir and delivered the Tonis family's transaction records to Hego Damask II. After Hego ordered Semir killed, Tang Xiao shot him nonlethally, and the crew sealed him in carbonite before setting course for Roon.

• Tang Xiao, Cun Te, Kunto, and the others escaped Makito aboard the Lancer and recovered the frightened Muun Semir.
• Hego Damask II received the Tonis family's transaction records from Semir and ordered Cun Te to kill him.
• Cun Te hesitated, so Tang Xiao shot Semir with the Force, aiming to wound rather than kill him.
• Cun Te treated Semir, and Kunto suggested preserving him in carbonite until they could get him medical care.
• Tang Xiao went to sleep while Cun Te and Kunto prepared to travel to Roon and collect their payment.

Three armed freighters arrived in the Endor system while Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi questioned Daphne Clement about the Fourth Group’s colony. The newcomers demanded a million credits in fake taxes and advanced toward the mining station, prompting Qi Jian to ready the mothership for battle.

• Three modified freighters entered the Endor system and detected signals from the Fourth Group’s colony.
• Daphne Clement told Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi that the Fourth Group was developing industry, cooperating with the Ewoks, and trying to contact Tang Xiao.
• A man claiming to be a Galactic Republic tax collector demanded one million credits from the colony.
• Qui-Gon Jinn assured Clement that the Republic’s tax collectors did not behave that way, while Obi-Wan recognized the newcomers as pirates.
• Qi Jian ordered the mothership to combat status after the three ships advanced toward the orbital extraction station.

Three bounty hunter ships attacked the Fourth Civilization’s mining station near Endor, exposing the Blade-class fighters’ severe disadvantage against better-armed, shielded ships. Qi Jian ordered the fighters to draw the attackers toward the mothership while the Research Department returned to work, determined to prevent another humiliating defeat.

• The bounty hunter leader directed his three ships to attack the mining station, and they destroyed a returning mining ship.
• The mothership launched forty-eight Blade-class fighters, but the bounty hunters’ turrets and Deflector Shields let them shoot down fighters while suffering little damage.
• Qi Jian ordered the surviving pilots to lure the attackers within the mothership’s close-defense range and told Clement to have the fighters’ weapons replaced with infrared lasers.
• Feng Yongwang and the other Research Department members left the bridge and returned to their posts, vowing to develop stronger ships and technologies.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan agreed to help the Fourth Civilization defend its mining station from pirates, then joined the battle in a civilian Z-10 Explorer-class ship. After destroying the bounty hunter ships, they jumped to hyperspace, leaving the Fourth Civilization to face its future without them.

• Daphne Clement asked Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to help the Fourth Civilization fight the pirates, and Qui-Gon agreed while warning that the Jedi would not always be there.
• Qui-Gon sent Obi-Wan to pilot the Z-10 toward the battle near the Endor gas giant mining station.
• Qi Jian coordinated his Blade-class fighters around the Z-10 as Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon joined the fight.
• Obi-Wan used the Force to evade the bounty hunters' fire and destroy their ships.
• Obi-Wan celebrated the victory, and Qui-Gon activated the hyperspace engine as they departed.

Tang Xiao and Cun Te lured the Falin woman’s mercenaries into a trap after they tried to seize the storage device on Roon. The docking bay filled with sterilizing mist, and speeder wreckage crashed down on the mercenaries as the attack began.

• Tang Xiao demonstrated that he had regained some powers, while Cun Te suspected the Falin woman’s offer was a trap.
• Two modified freighters approached, and Cun Te and Tang Xiao concluded the Falin woman intended to kill them after taking the storage device.
• Kunto warned that their ship lacked fuel, ammunition, and upgrades, but Tang Xiao and Cun Te pretended to surrender and prepared to fight.
• Tang Xiao gave Kunto a solid-ammunition rifle, and the YT-1000 docked with the Auro freighter after Cun Te lowered its shields and powered down its weapons.
• The Falin woman positioned armed mercenaries outside the hatch and ordered them to kill the crew and take the device.
• Sterilizing mist obscured the docking passage, and speeder wreckage crashed down on the mercenaries as the hatch opened.

Tang Xiao and his companions fought their way through the mercenaries aboard the freighter, but a Banking Clan frigate arrived and destroyed the fleeing ship. They boarded the frigate to deliver the storage device, while Tang Xiao sensed a hidden darkness aboard it.

• T-850 led Tang Xiao, Cun Te, Kunto, and Spade in a gunfight that overwhelmed the mercenaries.
• Tang Xiao killed the Falin woman after she tried to flee, then ordered Cun Te to stop the other freighter from escaping.
• A Munificent-class frigate bearing the InterGalactic Banking Clan emblem appeared and destroyed the fleeing freighter with one shot.
• Tang Xiao sensed a deep darkness aboard the frigate and ordered his crew to prepare to make the delivery.
• Tang Xiao and his companions landed the Lancer and the Auro class freighter in the frigate's hangar, where B-1 battle droids surrounded them.

Hego Damask II rewarded Cun Te’s crew for retrieving the data device, then took an unexpected interest in Tang Xiao. After escaping the frigate, Tang Xiao offered Kunto his freedom, but Kunto chose to stay with him and return to Dawn Star Planet.

• Hego Damask II accepted the data device and gave Cun Te one hundred thousand Republic credits as a reward.
• Hego noticed Tang Xiao, locked eyes with him, and left laughing after calling the crew interesting.
• Tang Xiao and the others left the Generous-class frigate, and Tang Xiao realized Hego had taken an interest in him.
• Cun Te found Jamide still hidden in carbonite in the cargo hold.
• Tang Xiao offered Kunto his freedom, but Kunto chose to join his crew and follow him back to Dawn Star Planet.

Mars Feraci and Kenneth plotted to help a contact seize the Fourth Group’s mothership, while Tang Xiao returned from Tatooine with Cun Te and learned the cost of the bounty hunters’ attack. The chapter ended with Tang Xiao ordering the battle footage shown to him.

• Kenneth told Feraci that three bounty hunters had overwhelmed the Fourth Group’s fighters and proposed sending a message to his Black Sun-connected contact, who owned a powerful old Hammerhead-class cruiser.
• Feraci questioned Kenneth’s plan to take over the mothership, but her gaze turned cold as he urged her to join the conspiracy.
• Tang Xiao and Cun Te returned to the mothership with a YVX-865 Auro class freighter, giving the Fourth Civilization a second ship capable of hyperspace travel.
• Qi Jian reported that the bounty hunters had destroyed thirty-one Blade-class fighters, three Arrow-class Scouts, and four transport ships, killing forty-two pilots.
• Tang Xiao ordered the mainframe to show him the battle footage.

After the bounty hunters devastated the Fourth Civilization’s fighters and transports, Tang Xiao ordered the colony to strengthen its weapons, ships, and crews while consoling Qi Jian. He awakened Glory Judith to pilot the captured freighter as the colony prepared for the challenges ahead.

• Clement showed Tang Xiao footage of the bounty hunters destroying thirty-four Blade fighters and four transports before Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi shot down the attackers.
• Tang Xiao asked Feng Yongwang and Guan Yan about development progress, then ordered them to finish the Wraith fighter, improve Blade fighters, and prepare a light frigate for production.
• Feng Yongwang and Guan Yan described plans to equip Blade fighters with Gemini missiles, energy shields, and stronger engines, while Guan Yan warned that the teams lacked staff and facilities.
• Tang Xiao chose the Hammer-class frigate for analysis, and Qi Jian arranged for a crew to train on the captured YV-865 Auro class freighter and proposed refitting a transport with recovered turbolasers.
• Tang Xiao reassured the guilt-stricken Qi Jian that the losses were their first lesson, then awakened Glory Judith to pilot the freighter.

Tang Xiao assigned Cun Te to assess Kunto and search Tatooine’s black market while Judith began training to defend the mothership. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan reported the Fourth Group Company’s suspicious military capabilities to the Jedi Council, which decided to leave further investigation to the Republic Commerce Guild and Senate.

• Tang Xiao ordered psychological counseling for everyone involved in the battle and discussed whether Kunto and the smugglers could be trusted with Cun Te.
• Tang Xiao assigned Cun Te to oversee Kunto and gave him one hundred thousand credits to seek useful equipment on Tatooine’s black market.
• Tang Xiao said Judith would train with the Auro class freighter and defend the mothership, while Cun Te remained on standby.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi told Qui-Gon Jinn that the Fourth Group Company’s well-trained pilots suggested it operated a regular military force.
• Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan reported to the Jedi High Council that the Fourth Group had an enormous, lightly armed civilian spacecraft and weak defenses.
• Master Windu recommended investigating the Fourth Group through the Republic Commerce Guild and leaving the matter to the Senate.

Qui-Gon Jinn decided to investigate Endor himself while Master Dooku and Senator Palpatine discussed the Republic’s future. Palpatine secretly arranged a mineral hijacking and a payment to Chancellor Phineas Valorum, while Tang Xiao honored the Fourth Civilization’s first dead soldiers above Dawn Star Planet.

• Qui-Gon Jinn told Obi-Wan Kenobi that they would investigate Endor themselves, despite the High Council’s decision.
• Master Dooku warned Senator Palpatine that the Republic’s decaying state put reformers like him in danger, and Palpatine vowed to keep working toward a stronger Republic.
• Palpatine secretly contacted a tattooed woman in the Nebula Front and ordered her to hijack a Trade Federation convoy’s minerals and arrange a payment to Phineas Valorum.
• Tang Xiao and the Fourth Civilization’s officials and Marines held a memorial for forty-two crew members and pilots killed in the bounty hunter attack.
• Tang Xiao praised the fallen soldiers for defending the Fourth Civilization despite their outdated fighters and the enemy’s superior weapons.

Tang Xiao honored the forty-two martyrs and vowed that the Fourth Civilization would never yield to fate. As Dawn City continued to grow on Dawn Star Planet, he resolved to climb to the pinnacle of the Milky Way Galaxy.

• Tang Xiao delivered a speech at the martyrs' cremation, declaring that the Fourth Civilization would fight on and rise again.
• Tang Xiao lifted an urn of ashes as the soldiers saluted the forty-two martyrs with rifle fire.
• Tang Xiao visited the graves on a hillside and accepted that he was one of the people of this world, not merely an observer.
• Tang Xiao surveyed Dawn City's expanding industries, farms, public services, and population of more than five thousand.
• Tang Xiao entered the city, greeted its working residents, and decided to climb to the pinnacle of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Tang Xiao visited Graham to find out why the luxurious residence required to awaken a Master Class aerospace scientist was still unfinished. He devised a nature-themed mansion using local plants, wood, and animal pelts, leaving the city staff to complete it.

• Tang Xiao learned that the testing site and equipment were underway, but Graham's team could not find furnishings and decorations for the scientist's mansion.
• Tang Xiao inspected an empty villa by a lake and farm on the outskirts of Dawn City.
• Tang Xiao ordered the staff to surround the villa with wildflowers and vines and to decorate its pool with water plants and colorful fish.
• Tang Xiao instructed the staff to make furniture from local trees and rugs from Ewok fur.
• Tang Xiao proposed grass and wheat-stalk bedding covered with whole animal pelts, then declined the offer to prepare a similar mansion for him.

Tang Xiao focused on controlling his growing connection to the Force before learning that another Legendary figure was ready to awaken. He discovered the candidate was a morally conflicted man whose transactions had caused mass deaths, and the chapter ended with Tang Xiao recognizing the danger of bringing him into the Fourth Civilization.

• Tang Xiao instructed Graham to turn the old masters’ mansions into lush, nature-filled luxury residences and asked about the city’s planned firearms factory.
• Graham explained that the Fourth Civilization could mass-produce assault rifles but lacked the technology and ammunition supply needed to produce laser guns and blasters.
• Tang Xiao meditated in nature for four hours, felt his Force recover, and used it to pull a stone into his hand.
• The Mainframe informed Tang Xiao that another Legendary figure could be awakened, and Tang Xiao hurried back to the mothership.
• Tang Xiao opened the awakening list and recognized the candidate as a morally gray figure whose transactions had caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Tang Xiao met Yuri Orlov and agreed to work with him to arm the Fourth Civilization. After Yuri left, Tang Xiao saw that Vitaly Orlov had appeared among the Legendary figures and inferred that the rank was based on characters’ origins, not their abilities.

• Tang Xiao welcomed Yuri Orlov, the Lord of War, and discussed the galaxy’s demand for weapons.
• Yuri examined a Type 21 assault rifle, then offered to help Tang Xiao arm an army.
• Tang Xiao asked Yuri to supply everything in the galaxy that could kill, so he could establish a living space for the Fourth Civilization.
• Yuri asked Tang Xiao to awaken his brother, Vitaly Orlov, and Tang Xiao agreed to enroll both brothers in an accelerated Galactic Standard course.
• After Yuri left, Tang Xiao found Vitaly Orlov on the awakening list and concluded that Legendary figures were characters from film, television, and games.

Tang Xiao received reports on the Fourth Civilization’s growing industrial bottlenecks and welcomed the Master Class aerospace scientist Professor Chi Jianjun to Dawn Star. Chi’s arrival left Tang Xiao hopeful that he could help advance the Wraith fighter and the colony’s future aircraft.

• Tang Xiao learned that Cun Te had taken Yuri Orlov, Vitaly Orlov, Feraci, and Kunto to Tatooine, with T-850 bodyguards accompanying them.
• Dr. Guan Yan reported progress on fighter upgrades and the Hammer-class light frigate, while warning that limited shipyard capacity and construction equipment were slowing development.
• Tang Xiao recognized that the Fourth Civilization needed an independent industrial system as the mothership’s factories and supplies struggled to meet demand.
• Graham reported that Dawn Star’s aviation testing base was complete and that Feng Yongwang’s team needed a Master Class expert to overcome Wraith fighter development bottlenecks.
• Tang Xiao and Dawn City officials welcomed Professor Chi Jianjun as he stepped off the transport ship.

Tang Xiao awakened Professor Chi Jianjun, who wanted a comfortable place to retire rather than immediate work. On Tatooine, Cun Te’s group arrived with Yuri and Vitaly Orlov, and Yuri learned that Broderick Shale’s Bosa had attacked a Quarren repair yard as the brothers considered selling cigarettes amid a looming galactic war.

• Tang Xiao met Chi Jianjun, who complained that he had been awakened too early and asked where his retirement mansion was.
• Tang Xiao sent Graham to take Chi Jianjun to his residence and told his staff that Chi was a Master Class expert.
• Yuri Orlov vomited after the Lancer landed on Tatooine, triggering a messy collision between service robots and an oil spill.
• Cun Te welcomed Kunto and Feraci, teased them, and secretly attached a listening device beneath Kunto’s collar.
• Yuri gave Truda cigarettes and learned that Broderick Shale’s Bosa had recently wrecked a Quarren-run starship repair yard in Mos Eisley.
• Vitaly suggested selling cigarettes to aliens, but Yuri warned that an impending galaxy-wide war would make cigarettes insignificant.

Cun Te learned that Feraci had alerted Kuken’s men, then secretly sent Tang Xiao a recording about the dangerous crime lord. Tang Xiao’s night on Dawn Star Planet was interrupted when Professor Chi Jianjun fled from a monster.

• Cun Te left Kunto and Feraci at a Mos Eisley bar while he went off with a Twi’lek woman.
• Kunto confronted Feraci after learning she had contacted Kuken’s men, and a group of armed men surrounded them as Cun Te disappeared.
• Cun Te questioned the Twi’lek woman about Iron Tooth—Kuken and secretly sent Tang Xiao a recording.
• Tang Xiao went to sleep on Dawn Star Planet after receiving Professor Chi Jianjun, but he rushed outside when he heard a scream.
• Chi Jianjun ran toward Tang Xiao in his underwear, shouting that a monster was after him.