Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao used visions of Darth Malthael to deepen San Hill’s fear and secure his loyalty before bringing him to the Titan warship Plague. San Hill vowed to resist Darth Sidious and then questioned whether Darth Malthael could be trusted.

• San Hill and Tang Xiao escaped aboard a pod as their communications frigate entered hyperspace, and the Red Comet captured them.
• San Hill experienced terrifying visions of Darth Malthael killing him, while Tang Xiao used his fear to strengthen his hold over him.
• Tang Xiao explained that San Hill’s loyalty grew from his connection to Darth Plagueis and the legacy Plagueis had left behind.
• The Red Comet arrived at the Ragnarok-class Titan warship Plague, which Tang Xiao said had been built from ancient data discovered by Hego Damask II.
• San Hill declared that the InterGalactic Banking Clan, the Muuns, Damask Holdings Group, and Plague would resist Darth Sidious, then asked Tang Xiao whether Darth Malthael could be trusted.

Tang Xiao and San Hill formed an alliance against Darth Sidious and boarded the Titan warship Plague to test its Doomsday Cannon. After the cannon destroyed an asteroid, Dawn Star Planet and the InterGalactic Banking Clan secretly agreed that the Clan would join the Cooperative Alliance.

• Tang Xiao told San Hill that only Darth Malthael or Darth Sidious could survive, and San Hill agreed to follow Malthael's warning while keeping Count Dooku in play.
• Tang Xiao explained that Darth Sidious had used the Eriadu Commerce Summit terrorist attack to bring Nute Gunray under his command, and San Hill gave Tang Xiao data for the Behemoth-class battlecruiser.
• Tang Xiao and San Hill boarded the Plague and ordered its 3,500 crew members to prepare the Titan warship for its first hyperspace jump.
• The Plague jumped to the barren IU-3346199 system, where Tang Xiao ordered the Doomsday Cannon fired at a nearby asteroid.
• The Doomsday Cannon shattered the asteroid and turned its fragments to lava, while Dawn Star Planet and the InterGalactic Banking Clan secretly agreed that the Clan would join the Cooperative Alliance.

In 27BBY, Sheev Palpatine consolidated power by exposing and crushing corrupt political factions, while Francis Underwood adapted by publicly targeting corruption himself. Meanwhile, the Outer Rim Exploration Program set out for the Unknown Regions, and Hutt Gaddula Besadi’s forces overwhelmed Jabba’s defenses around Mos Eisley City, leaving Jabba unable to hold on.

• Sheev Palpatine used Mas Amedda’s weaknesses to force his submission, then exposed political factions and blamed them for the Republic’s worsening problems while presenting himself as a champion against corruption.
• Francis Underwood shifted from opposing Palpatine to denouncing corrupt officials, forcing Palpatine to act against several political puppets he had hoped to protect.
• Jorus C'baoth led six Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers and 50,000 colonists toward the Unknown Regions, unaware that Palpatine had planted agents to sabotage the expedition.
• Hutt Gaddula Besadi’s forces, led by Magtan Scar and equipped with powerful armored vehicles and aircraft, attacked the outskirts of Mos Eisley City.
• Jabba’s T-24 airspeeders and mercenary forces proved unable to stop the Caladanian mercenaries and their combined arms, and Jabba could no longer hold on.

Titan Security and Caladanian forces attacked Jabba’s stronghold after defeating his air support, but Jabba surrendered before Hakimi could reach him. The Grand Hutt Council intervened to protect Jabba, ending the assault.

• Big Boss watched Titan Security’s forces destroy Jabba’s airspeeders and said Yuri Orlov had supplied Jabba with shoddy vehicles.
• Big Boss told Gaddula that the Hutts would not let Jabba die as Hakimi led Caladanian warriors toward Jabba’s palace.
• IG-41 spotted the infiltrators, killed three Caladanian warriors, and pinned the rest down with blaster fire.
• Hakimi sent three volunteers to attack IG-41 with sticky grenades, and their explosions destroyed the robot.
• Caladanian warriors killed the people who fled the palace, but Big Boss ordered Hakimi to withdraw because Jabba had surrendered and the Grand Hutt Council had intervened.

After Jabba lost Tatooine to Gaddula and the Besadi kajidic, Kiliak forced him to accept the Desilijic kajidic’s political defeat. Gaddula celebrated her victory while Darth Malthael secured Alok Besadi’s cooperation and told him to wait five years.

• Kiliak told Jabba that the Desilijic kajidic had to relinquish one of its two Grand Council seats to the Besadi kajidic, and Jabba left the palace vowing to return.
• Jabba smashed his protocol droid in a rage before crawling out of the palace.
• Gaddula celebrated her victory in Jabba’s seat as Magtan Scar watched and considered his ambitions for the Calamity Legion.
• Darth Malthael told Alok Besadi to develop Tatooine and offered him a chance to pursue greater power through cooperation.
• Alok agreed to consider working with Malthael, who told him to wait five years and warned him not to lose Tatooine in the meantime.

Count Dooku expanded the Separatist Movement by winning support from Outer Rim planets and major corporations, while Sheev Palpatine publicly called for peace without taking substantial action. With corporate funding secured, Dooku organized secret shipbuilding projects and other military preparations, leaving the Separatists increasingly ready for war.

• Hundreds of Outer Rim planets rejected Galactic Republic taxes, and Count Dooku drew major corporations into the Separatist cause with promises of profits and privileges.
• Sheev Palpatine publicly urged the Separatists to negotiate but took no substantive action, seeking to preserve his image as a defender of peace and unity.
• Count Dooku secured the Quarren's support on Mon Calamari and arranged for the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps to build Divine-class destroyers on Parmant.
• Count Dooku persuaded the Trade Federation to fund the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser and Shu Mai and Passel Argente to back the Defiant-class light destroyer project.
• The Technological Alliance supplied technical support, the InterGalactic Banking Clan supplied funds, and the Fourth Group worked with the Trade Federation on Hiigaran-class battlecruisers and Wraith fighters.

Ni Yongxiao punished three criminal leaders after learning that the Hutt Kiliak Desilijic had used them to bait the raiders, then sent a woman to kill Ecto. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and their companions arrived on Nashadda to investigate the red Lightsaber wielder responsible for a massacre.

• Ni Yongxiao learned that Kiliak Desilijic and Ecto had manipulated the criminal leaders, but ordered all three killed and had his agents deal with Ecto.
• A hooded woman watched Ecto celebrate in a guarded high-rise, then burst inside with a red Lightsaber.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker arrived on Nashadda with two companions to investigate the red Lightsaber wielder.
• The shortest companion ordered the group to capture the suspected Sith and bring them to the Jedi Temple.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Evan Piel, Anakin Skywalker, and Jax Pavan investigated a massacre on Nal Hutta and found signs of powerful, chaotic Dark Side Force. After Kiliak Desilijic pointed them toward the gang leader Ni Yongxiao, they prepared to meet him cautiously.

• Evan Piel warned Anakin Skywalker that the mission to investigate a killer who had slaughtered seven hundred people was too dangerous for rash action.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi brought Anakin Skywalker, Jax Pavan, and Evan Piel to Nal Hutta, where Anakin paused at advertisements for the Bonta Night Speeder Championship on Dawn Star Planet.
• The Jedi inspected the wrecked venue and identified traces of powerful, disorderly Dark Side Force at the massacre site.
• A protocol droid speaking for Kiliak Desilijic directed the Jedi to investigate Ni Yongxiao.
• Anakin Skywalker described Ni Yongxiao as a gang leader tied to Fourth Group, and Obi-Wan Kenobi told Anakin and Jax not to cause trouble.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Evan Piel confronted Ni Yongxiao over the massacre, but left without learning who was responsible. After Ni Yongxiao’s fugitive escaped to kill Kiliak, Evan and Anakin sensed a powerful Dark Side presence and rushed to pursue it.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Evan Piel accused Ni Yongxiao of involvement in Ecto’s massacre, but Ni denied responsibility and warned them not to probe his mind.
• Ni Yongxiao’s gang members and Destroyer droids surrounded the Jedi, who withdrew without a fight.
• Evan Piel sensed that Ni Yongxiao had encountered the Dark Side, and Obi-Wan concluded that its influence had spread through the Outer Rim Territories.
• Ni Yongxiao learned that the woman in his hideout had escaped to kill Kiliak and ordered his men to withdraw, saying the Governor had arrangements.
• Evan Piel and Anakin Skywalker sensed a powerful Dark Side presence, and Anakin ran after it as Obi-Wan, Evan, and Jax Pavan followed.

Anakin pursued a frightened, powerful woman through Nal Hutta and fought her until Obi-Wan Kenobi and Evan Piel arrived. Evan identified her as Edra Kestis, but an attack on their cargo ship interrupted the fight and left Jax Pavan badly wounded.

• Anakin chased the cloaked woman to the H3 storage district, where she revealed herself as a Twi'lek and attacked him with a red Lightsaber.
• The woman overwhelmed Anakin with Force attacks and Form IV Ataru until Obi-Wan Kenobi and Evan Piel arrived to fight her.
• Evan recognized the woman as Edra Kestis, a Jedi apprentice believed to have died in a pirate attack eight years earlier.
• Edra rejected the name and fought on, but Obi-Wan and Evan forced her to retreat.
• Laser fire struck the cargo ship overhead, and Evan caught the injured Jax Pavan as the ship exploded and fell.
• A voice from the sky accused the Jedi of ganging up on a little girl.

Darth Malthael appeared and fought Obi-Wan Kenobi, Evan Piel, and Edra Kestis, overwhelming the Jedi with his lightsaber skills and Death Force. As Kiliak Desilijic’s men opened fire, Malthael killed Evan Piel but was struck by numerous blaster bolts.

• Darth Malthael arrived aboard a red spacecraft and revealed that Darth Maul had not been worthy of being his apprentice.
• Malthael attacked Evan Piel while Obi-Wan Kenobi faced Edra Kestis, and Malthael used sinister spirits to pressure the Jedi.
• Anakin Skywalker joined the battle, but he and Evan Piel struggled to withstand Malthael’s attacks.
• Kiliak Desilijic ordered his men to fire on everyone in the fight, filling the area with blaster bolts and explosions.
• Malthael exploited Evan Piel’s distraction to sever his head, while more than a dozen blaster bolts struck Malthael.

Darth Malthael killed Master Evan Piel and pursued Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and the wounded Jax Pavan, but they escaped amid chaos among the bounty hunters. Malthael and Edra Kestis fought their way out, while the attack on Kiliak Desilijic sparked a Republic-Hutt crisis that Sheev Palpatine used to deepen the rift between them.

• Darth Malthael killed Master Evan Piel, and Obi-Wan Kenobi fled with Anakin Skywalker and the injured Jax Pavan.
• Kiliak Desilijic's gunmen attacked Malthael and Edra Kestis, but resentful spirits possessed them and threw their forces into chaos.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Jax Pavan escaped on a speeder while Malthael and Edra attacked the bounty hunters' ships.
• Edra Kestis boarded Kiliak Desilijic's ship and nearly killed him before Malthael caught her and ordered their escape.
• Alok Besadi blamed the Jedi Order for the attack, and the Grand Hutt Council protested and closed trade routes through Hutt Space.
• Sheev Palpatine negotiated with the Hutts on the Republic's behalf, easing their anger while leaving the rift between them intact.

After learning that Evan Piel had died, Jax Pavan grieved while Anakin Skywalker went to meet the Jedi Council. Anakin encountered the prank-loving Dream Sisters on the way, and the chapter ended as the Council discussed Jax’s training and the Sith Lord’s return.

• Jax Pavan awoke in the hospital and wept after Anakin told him that Evan Piel had died.
• Anakin gave Jax a color-changing polonium crystal and left to answer Master Yoda’s summons.
• Luna-Illusion startled Anakin with an illusion of a giant python, while Luna-Dream teased him.
• Depa Barris punished the sisters for using their illusion technique and confined them for three days.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi offered to train Jax alongside Anakin, but Master Windu objected and Master Yoda redirected attention to the Sith Lord’s return.
• Anakin and Depa Barris entered the council chamber as Obi-Wan reported to the Jedi High Council.

The Jedi High Council discussed Master Evan Piel’s fall and the growing threat of a newly arisen Sith Lord, focusing suspicion on Dawn Star Planet and the Fourth Group. Shaak Ti proposed investigating through the volatile Kuna Cluster.

• Master Windu reviewed the Jedi Order’s recent losses and warned that the Dark Side was growing stronger.
• Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi described Edra Kestis’s subordination to the Sith Lord and the Lord’s contempt for Darth Maul.
• Master Yoda and Obi-Wan connected the Sith’s possible origins to an eleven-year-old disturbance, Dawn Star Planet, and events involving Ni Yongxiao.
• Coleman Trebor recalled Dawn Star Planet’s cooperation with the Jedi, while Depa Billaba praised the Dream Sisters’ Force potential.
• Shaak Ti argued that Edra Kestis’s strength suggested the new Sith Lord was exceptionally dangerous and proposed infiltrating the Kuna Cluster to investigate Dawn Star Planet.

The Jedi Council assigned Master Shen-Jon to investigate Dawn Star Planet, while Anakin wondered about a robot from his past and Jax Pavan received his father’s wiped robot. Meanwhile, Palpatine and Count Dooku intensified the Separatist crisis, leaving the Republic facing open confrontation by 24BBY.

• Master Windu and Master Yoda approved Shaak Ti’s proposal to send Master Shen-Jon to investigate the possible Sith Lord on Dawn Star Planet, and Windu proposed Kit Fisto for the High Council.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi refused Anakin’s unspoken wish to go to Dawn Star Planet, while Anakin thought about the robot that had protected him on Tatooine and its resemblance to a Fourth Group model.
• Jax Pavan received a robot labeled as his father Lorn Pavan’s, but its memory core had been wiped, prompting him to question the circumstances of his father’s death.
• Sheev Palpatine secretly tracked the growth of the Clone Army and used criminal syndicates, corporate exploitation, and hardship in the Outer Rim to strengthen the Separatist Movement.
• Count Dooku persuaded desperate Outer Rim planets to join the Separatists through corporate aid and harsh treaties, while Palpatine formed the Loyalty Committee to lobby planets to remain with the Republic.

Sheev Palpatine publicly portrayed himself as a defender of peace while Count Dooku ignored his invitation to negotiate, allowing the blame for war to fall on the Separatists and their corporate allies. After declaring peace efforts failed, Palpatine introduced the Military Creation Act, setting the Republic on the road to war.

• Outer Rim crowds attacked Loyalty Committee senators, and Palpatine used media coverage of the violence to turn Mid Rim opinion against the Outer Rim while presenting himself as compassionate.
• Palpatine visited Master Yoda, who warned that the Dark Side obscured the future and that the outcome could not be seen.
• On March 21, 24BBY, Palpatine addressed the galaxy and invited Count Dooku to negotiate on neutral Bota Vay or another neutral planet.
• Count Dooku stayed silent and continued recruiting planets into the Separatist Movement as part of the plan he had arranged with Darth Sidious.
• After waiting a month, Palpatine announced that peace efforts had failed and introduced the Military Creation Act, setting May 16 for its vote and debate.

The Galactic Senate rejected Sheev Palpatine’s Military Creation Act but granted him unlimited additional terms as chancellor. Over the next two years, Count Dooku unified the Outer Rim Territories while Tang Xiao brought Dawn Star Planet’s war preparations to their final stage.

• On May 16, 24BBY, the Galactic Senate rejected Sheev Palpatine’s Military Creation Act, with Francis Underwood and the New Rim Faction opposing it.
• Orn Free Taa proposed allowing Palpatine unlimited additional terms, and the Senate approved the proposal by an overwhelming margin.
• Palpatine recognized that he needed more groundwork to make the senators surrender their power, and he waited two years.
• Count Dooku continued preparing for war by uniting Outer Rim planets and building an independent system to coordinate their resources.
• Claire Underwood accepted Count Dooku’s appointment and restructured the Outer Rim Territories Mutual Aid Fund into the Outer Rim Territories Administrative Headquarters.
• Tang Xiao’s war preparations reached their final stage as Dawn Star Planet’s development drew Count Dooku’s attention.

Jedi Master Yajin and his apprentice Layun investigated an abandoned station linked to Edra Kestis’s capture and fall to the Dark Side, uncovering evidence of the Fourth Group’s involvement. A reactivated battle droid pointed them to the uncharted Sojourn Planet, giving Layun a new lead.

• Yajin and Layun arrived at an abandoned space station while investigating Edra Kestis’s capture and disappearance.
• Layun found a scrap of clothing and a damaged information card connecting the auction to the Fourth Group, while Yajin discovered wreckage from a battle on the moon.
• Layun recovered a disabled B-1 battle droid, which briefly activated and said it had cargo to deliver to Sojourn Planet.
• Yajin learned that a Fourth Group trust fund had secretly transferred money to the Cyrcexis Group around the time of Edra’s auction.
• Layun cracked the droid’s data and found Sojourn Planet, which did not appear on the star charts.

Yajin and Layun investigated a ruined planet and boarded a nearby station, where unfamiliar robots ambushed them. Trapped inside with communications jammed, they fought to escape and suspected someone was controlling the robots.

• Yajin and Layun arrived at Sojourn Planet and found it devastated by nuclear bombardment, with a station drifting toward the planet.
• Yajin warned Layun of danger, but Layun insisted they search the station for clues about Edra, and they boarded it together.
• Yajin and Layun were attacked by agile robots with artificial muscle bodies and discovered that the first robots had been workers.
• Layun found that communications were jammed as automatic doors sealed, lights came on, and armed robots attacked them.
• Yajin held off the robots while Layun cut through a door, and Yajin concluded that someone was controlling the ambush.

Yajin and Layun fought through the robot facility to reach its control center and send a warning, but the robots cut power before they could communicate. The facility’s navigation system later showed the Sith Infiltrator, the Red Comet, arriving with Edra Kestis at the controls.

• Layun burned through a metal hatch, and he and Yajin fought past worker robots toward their hangar, where they discovered their ship had exploded.
• The robot soldiers adapted their weapons, forcing Yajin and Layun to retreat toward the control center while they resolved to expose the threat.
• Layun found a Republic-model hyperspace communicator, but the robots cut power before he could use it.
• The facility’s navigation system restarted and showed the Red Comet emerging from hyperspace; Yajin sensed the Dark Side.
• Edra Kestis piloted the Sith Infiltrator mechanically, her eyes dull and vacant.