Chapter Summaries

Senator Telse and Sulama tried to protect their political and military position as tensions mounted around Christophsis. A surprise fleet appeared near the planet, leaving the Republic command bracing for an attack.

• Senator Telse warned Sulama that battlefield victory mattered more than Senate disputes, then urged her daughter to gather intelligence that could help him retain his office.
• Telse’s daughter praised Major James Bond for obtaining information about a plot to use the defeat on Bespin Planet against Sulama.
• Sergeant Slick told Volm Lotham that he had planted Super Lotus’s Trojan program aboard an Acclamator-class ship and supplied her with recordings of Anakin Skywalker.
• Passel Argente met San Hill and Gross Shelbia on Muunilinst, while a fleet of twenty warships passed Tatooine and Lin Nanyi led Fleet B away from Bespin Planet.
• A Republic radar operator detected twenty ships approaching Christophsis, and Obi-Wan Kenobi feared the enemy was making its move.

Admiral Wullf Yularen’s Republic fleet faced an unknown Separatist force arriving from Tatooine while General Trench’s battered fleet moved to join the fight. The new ships revealed themselves as missile cruisers and launched thousands of missiles that detonated across space as the Republic fighters closed in.

• Wullf Yularen ordered the Republic fleet to regroup, resupply, and investigate the unknown Separatist reinforcements, which sensors traced to Tatooine.
• Twenty unfamiliar warships emerged from hyperspace, and the Republic fleet exchanged fire with them as Trench’s remaining ships advanced to engage.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi handed command to Wullf Yularen and launched in his Delta-7 fighter to join the battle.
• Republic intelligence identified the short ships as Martha-class heavy cruisers from Dawn Star Planet, while the larger ships remained unknown.
• Wullf Yularen learned that the Martha-class ships carried extensive missile launchers just as they fired several thousand missiles, which detonated in space ahead of the approaching Republic fighters.

The Separatist fleet used radiation missiles and powerful energy weapons to devastate the Republic fleet, forcing Wullf Yularen to retreat across Christophsis. As both sides regrouped, Sefrans Tann prepared a ground assault and the Fourth Civilization’s Behemoth-class battlecruisers arrived to reinforce the Separatists.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi ordered the Republic fighters to turn back, but radiation clouds destroyed more than 800 of the first wave’s 1,100 fighters.
• Ten energy beams struck three Hunter Class Battlecruisers, and Wullf Yularen ordered the Republic fleet to retreat to the far side of Christophsis.
• The Separatist fleet attacked with Pulse Lasers and shielded anti-ship missiles, severely damaging the Hunter Class Battlecruisers with radiation clouds.
• The Republic fleet escaped across Christophsis after losing nearly 900 fighters and three battlecruisers, while the Separatists joined General Trench’s fleet and sent APOD-33 transports down to the planet.
• Sefrans Tann told General Trench that the transports carried enough to surprise the Republic ground forces and said they had three hours to prepare before the next assault.
• Thirty Star-class Repair Drone Motherships and supply ships arrived, and the reinforcements included Behemoth-class battlecruisers armed with Yamato Cannons.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems used Wraith fighters to suppress Republic air defenses and secretly sent transport aircraft into Crystal City before launching a ground offensive. Anakin Skywalker prepared a counterattack, unaware of the transports’ purpose, and ordered Republic fighters to destroy them.

• Two hundred and forty Wraith fighters attacked Republic aircraft over Christophsis, forcing the surviving fighters to shelter near the Acclamator-class assault ships.
• Around eighty APOD-33 transports landed in Separatist-controlled territory, then took off at night and scattered across Crystal City as Sefrans Tann ordered Volm Lotham and General Trench to prepare for battle.
• Anakin rejected Obi-Wan Kenobi’s caution and began planning a counterattack with Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex.
• Separatist forces advanced on Crystal City, while Wraith fighters bombarded Republic AV-7 cannon positions and B-1 battle droids pressed toward the defenses.
• After learning that eighty unescorted Separatist transports were dispersing across the city, Anakin ordered Republic fighters to shoot them down and continued preparing his assault.

The Fourth Civilization fleet attacked the Republic fleet while its transports secretly spread canisters across Crystal City. Indjori emerged from the canisters, slaughtered Christophsian soldiers, and triggered a horrifying outbreak as the chapter ended.

• Sefrans Tann ordered the Fourth Civilization fleet to attack the Republic fleet from both poles, and Wullf Yularen committed 5,000 Republic fighters to the battle.
• Anakin Skywalker ordered more than two hundred Republic fighters to pursue eighty transports, which crashed across nearly half of Crystal City.
• Christophsian Guardian troops found empty, ruptured canisters in one transport's wreckage, then discovered an Indjori inside another.
• The Indjori killed a soldier and charged the troops, who shot it until it caught fire and collapsed.
• The Indjori's corpse exploded with foul green fluid, more than sixty Indjori appeared, and soldiers splattered with the fluid attacked their comrades as the Commander was bitten.

Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano fought through an advancing droid force while investigating reports of monsters attacking Republic units at crash sites. Meanwhile, the Fourth Legion deployed into Crystal City in new N-7 combat armor to disrupt the Republic army.

• A clone commander reported that teams investigating scattered transport crash sites had lost contact after apparent monster attacks, and Anakin ordered a retreat toward the nearest site.
• Anakin stayed behind to hold off the droids while Ahsoka joined him, and they collapsed a building to block the droids’ advance.
• Anakin and Ahsoka headed toward the crash site to discover what the Separatists had brought in their transports.
• Colonel Justin Levis introduced an 800-soldier Fourth Legion force to Volm Lotham and announced its infiltration mission.
• The Fourth Legion departed into the night in newly issued second-generation N-7 combat armor.

Anakin Skywalker and his forces discovered that the missing Christophsian victims had become zombies, while a wounded Indjori revealed a poisonous, virus-filled substance behind the outbreak. Anakin ordered the troops back to headquarters to report the threat and investigate its spread.

• Anakin Skywalker, Rex, and Ahsoka Tano found wrecked transport ships, torn-open canisters, blood, and no bodies, but Anakin left the investigation unfinished because the Separatist counterattack endangered Obi-Wan.
• Clone Troopers found Christophsian soldiers repeatedly striking their heads against a wall, and Anakin recognized them as corpses before they attacked.
• Anakin ordered the Clone Troopers to fire on the advancing zombies, and Rex told them to aim for the head.
• Anakin fought a large, blue-green-scaled creature, severed its claws and head, and identified it as an Indjori.
• A Clone Trooper tested the creature's green blood and found a high concentration of viruses that rapidly died in the air.
• Anakin warned that the substance could spread through contact and ordered his forces to return to headquarters immediately.

Anakin organized a response to the Indjori and T-Virus outbreak spreading through Crystal City while the Separatists intensified their attack on the front. As Clone Troopers fought waves of zombies and Indjori, the defense faced threats on both sides.

• Anakin learned that Separatist forces were battering the Commercial Center line and that twelve companies had vanished from the rear, then identified the Indjori as the likely attackers carrying a virus that animated the dead.
• Anakin formed ten task groups, assigning Ahsoka, Rex, and Slick to command units, and ordered a citywide quarantine and urgent virus research.
• The task groups deployed as the Clone commander sent Christophsian local troops to reinforce the strained front, while Acclamator-class ships illuminated Crystal City.
• Clone Troopers opened fire on crowds of zombies along Blue Crystal Avenue, and their armor protected them from the ordinary undead.
• T-Virus-enhanced Indjori ambushed the Clone Troopers, tearing through armor and scattering their formation as more creatures attacked from a building.

Clone Troopers fought undead on Christophsis, but after a Turbolaser strike destroyed a horde, an ambush killed their Commander and forced them into nearby buildings. Justin Levis led the Fourth Legion’s assault with Indjori Avenger Type 101 biological weapons as its vanguard.

• Clone Troopers retreated from undead on Blue Crystal Avenue and called in Turbolaser bombardment that destroyed the horde and half a city block.
• CT-6119 died after exposure to infected green fluid, then reanimated; the Commander ordered that he be taken to a biological laboratory for study.
• A sniper killed the Clone Commander, and gunfire from multiple directions cut down more soldiers and drove the survivors into nearby buildings.
• Justin Levis shot at the Clone Troopers with a modified M-29 Mantis rifle, then left his position as blaster fire struck the building.
• Fourth Legion soldiers advanced in tactical teams and unleashed Indjori Avenger Type 101 biological weapons against the Clone Troopers.

The Fourth Legion fought the Clone Troopers across a building in Christophsis, capturing a Republic artillery position at heavy cost. Justin Reeves then ordered his troops to draw a zombie horde toward the Republic's Commercial Center defense line.

• Fourth Legion soldiers used Personal Shields and Mattock rifles to defeat Clone Troopers inside a building, though two Clone Troopers killed one of their attackers by blasting through the ceiling.
• The Fourth Legion secured the building and planned to establish a sniper position while arranging for robots to recover their fallen comrade's armor.
• Justin Reeves surveyed the captured artillery position, where B-1 battle droids had turned three AV-7 guns against the Republic defenses.
• A Fourth Legion soldier reported that 2,311 Indjori Avengers remained active and that about 20,000 zombies had gathered near the Commercial Center.
• Justin Reeves ordered his troops to lure the zombie horde toward the Commercial Center defense line as the Acclamator's searchlights swept over the area.

Clone commander Slick sabotaged the Republic communications network at Christophsis and framed Dawn Star Planet Fleet A for an attack, prompting Republic Intelligence and Strategic Command to believe the fleet had arrived there. The chapter ended with the Chief of Staff ordering 19th Army Governor Sulama to respond to the apparent threat.

• Slick led his Clone squad to the communications tower, claiming they had orders to secure it and defend against the living dead.
• Slick tricked a Clone Trooper into installing a storage device, activating a Trojan horse that connected to the virus he had planted in the Clone Army command center.
• Slick shot the Clone Troopers, declared he had chosen to live rather than die for the Jedi Knights, and sent a false report claiming Dawn Star Planet Fleet A had arrived at Christophsis.
• The virus spread through the Republic army communications network and repeatedly sent requests for reinforcements based on the false fleet report.
• Sulama received the report and learned that Republic Intelligence had treated his earlier warning about Fleet A as confirmation that it was heading to Christophsis.
• The Chief of Staff blamed Sulama for letting the fleet slip away and demanded that he act against Dawn Star Planet.

Governor Sulama received orders to send his forces to Christophsis and support the battle there, but he and Admiral Magellan planned an offensive against Bespin and a strategy to divide Dawn Star Planet’s territory. The chapter ended with Sulama agreeing to proceed with Magellan’s plan to control the hyperspace route through Annaj Planet.

• Governor Sulama received a dispatch ordering his unit to respond to Dawn Star Planet’s fleet at Christophsis and support the battle there.
• Sulama asked Admiral Magellan how confidently they could attack Bespin, and Magellan requested eighty Hunter Class Battlecruisers for the offensive.
• Magellan proposed gaining support from the Ayrou and controlling the hyperspace route through Annaj Planet to divide Dawn Star Planet’s territory.
• Magellan told Sulama that Master Yah-Yah’s operations on Annaj Planet had made considerable progress.
• Sulama agreed to proceed with Magellan’s plan.

The Fourth Civilization prepared to defend Bespin as Admiral Magellan brought eighty Hunter Class Battlecruisers into the system and launched the Second Battle of Bespin. The chapter ended with Fourth Civilization forces massacring Bespin residents suspected of passing intelligence to the Republic.

• Igor Zavalov led five Kohl-class Battlecruisers and five Martha-class heavy cruisers to Bespin to organize its defense.
• Eighty Hunter Class Battlecruisers and twenty Aquitenes-class light cruisers arrived under Admiral Magellan, beginning the battle.
• Magellan identified the relocated Shefa City as a fortress city and ordered his fleet to attack.
• Selurite agents brought suspected informants to a Cloud City plaza and confirmed they had captured everyone who had contacted the Republic.
• A Fourth Civilization Army officer ordered Goliath Mechs and Selurite agents to kill the assembled people.

Matt Hona’s fleet attacked the Galactic Republic’s defenses at Planet Kaal while the Republic prepared a wider campaign against Dawn Star Planet. On Annaj Planet, Jedi Master Yah-Yah pressured the Ayrou Queen to resist Dawn Star Planet, warning that the Republic would otherwise act against the Ayrou.

• Matt Hona received orders from Qi Jian to take responsibility for Planet Kaal.
• Dawn Star Planet Fleet A emerged at Planet Kaal and attacked the Republic’s prepared defenses with railgun fire and fighters.
• Yah-Yah reported to the Ayrou Queen that Republic forces were assaulting Bespin Planet and preparing to threaten Dawn Star Planet Fleet B near Kinyen.
• The Ayrou Queen rejected Yah-Yah’s suggestion that her people confront Dawn Star Planet militarily.
• Yah-Yah warned the Ayrou Queen that the Republic would take action unless the Ayrou made their position clear.

After the Ayrou Queen’s speech sparked a violent riot on Annaj Planet, Yah-Yah lost faith in the Force and left to fight at Bespin Planet. Tang Xiao ordered Helmut Zemo to stabilize Annaj, and Elder Jacinda offered to send Selurite Special Operations Forces as the crisis threatened the Confederacy’s plans.

• The Ayrou Queen publicly accused Dawn Star Planet of dragging the Ayrou into war and urged her people to seize control of their fate.
• Angry Ayrou rioted across Annaj Planet, attacking human settlements, looting businesses, striking at spaceports, and seizing civilian ships.
• Yah-Yah told Master Windu that she would go to Bespin Planet and fight until she died, then destroyed her communicator.
• Tang Xiao ordered Helmut Zemo to keep Annaj Planet and its hyperspace route stable before the Confederacy defeated the Galactic Republic’s 19th Army.
• Elder Jacinda offered the Selurite Special Operations Forces to resolve the crisis, and Tang Xiao authorized her to act without seeking his approval.

The Galactic Republic attacked Bespin Cloud City and the unfinished Agonev-class Star Fortress, while Fourth Civilization forces fought to hold them back. The fortress survived a heavy torpedo strike, but the Republic’s bombing squadron was wiped out by a Martha-class heavy cruiser’s radiation missiles.

• A Republic squadron of twenty V-19 fighters and five Y-wing bombers flew through Bespin’s atmosphere toward the unfinished Agonev-class Star Fortress.
• The Republic fighters and bombers attacked the fortress, but dense defenses destroyed several fighters and three Y-wings before the remaining bombers launched their Proton Torpedoes.
• More than twenty Proton Torpedoes struck the Agonev-class Star Fortress and rippled its shields, while Wraith fighters engaged the V-19s and forced the Y-wings to retreat.
• A Martha-class heavy cruiser fired hundreds of radiation missiles, destroying at least a hundred Republic fighters, including the Y-wing squadron.
• At Bespin Cloud City’s command center, Igor Zavalov directed the defense as a Vaxian warned that the unfinished fortress, converted from Shefa City, could not withstand a shield breach.

The Fourth Civilization built a defensive line around Bespin Planet, centered on an Agonev-class star base, and prepared for the Galactic Republic’s 19th Army. The chapter ends as Admiral Magellan’s fleet pushes through the defenders’ fire and begins a brutal battle near Cloud City.

• Tang Xiao and the Fourth Civilization used Shefa City as the foundation for a new Agonev-class star base and recruited the Vaxian to build it.
• The Vaxian completed the star base in two months, while the Fourth Civilization added Gauss Fire Platforms, hangar platforms, and minefields around Bespin Planet.
• Igor Zavalov deployed the Fourth Civilization’s smaller warships beneath the star base’s protection against the Republic’s 19th Army.
• Admiral Magellan sent eighty Hunter Class Battlecruisers forward in an all-out assault he called the “Axe Tactic.”
• The Republic fleet lost five warships while forcing its way toward Cloud City, where it began a fierce battle with the Fourth Civilization’s defenders.

The Galactic Republic fleet gained the upper hand at Bespin, but Admiral Magellan realized the battle had gone suspiciously smoothly and ordered his ships to take a defensive formation. Igor Zavalov then revealed the hidden Javelin-class missile frigates in Cloud City and the other Floating Cities, which launched an attack on the Republic fleet.

• The Republic's Hunter Class Battlecruisers and fighter swarms overwhelmed the Fourth Civilization's carefully arranged defenses as the battle turned in the Republic's favor.
• Riots erupted across Annaj Planet, the Ayrou blocked reinforcements, and the Republic fleet attacking Planet Kaal failed to break through its defenses.
• Admiral Magellan grew uneasy about how smoothly the operation had unfolded and reviewed Dawn Star Planet's apparently cooperative actions.
• Magellan noticed there was no intelligence about the Floating Cities inside Bespin and ordered his ships to reduce their gunfire, strengthen their shields, and keep their distance from Cloud City.
• Igor Zavalov ordered the hidden Javelin-class missile frigates to sortie from Cloud City and the other Floating Cities, and they launched missiles at the Republic fleet.

Igor Zavalov’s concealed Javelin-class missile frigates inflicted heavy damage on the Republic fleet, but Admiral Magellan continued his assault on Bespin Planet. Reports then revealed that Dawn Star Planet’s Fleet A had left Planet Kaal and could reinforce Bespin, after the Ayrou riots were swiftly suppressed.

• Igor Zavalov launched five thousand Cross Gun Type I missiles from hidden Javelin-class missile frigates at the approaching Republic fleet.
• Admiral Magellan’s defensive preparations limited the strike, though two Hunter Class Battlecruisers were destroyed, twelve were heavily damaged, and many others were hit.
• Admiral Magellan ordered the Republic fleet to keep attacking Bespin Planet despite the losses.
• A messenger told Admiral Magellan that the Ayrou riots had ended, the hyperspace route had reopened, and Dawn Star Planet’s Fleet A could be heading to Bespin.
• On Annaj Planet, Selurite Special Operations Forces had beheaded the Ayrou Queen and other senior government leaders and captured more than a hundred officials.

Selurite forces seized control of Ayrou territory by killing Queen Winarta and other opponents, then compelled officials to form a provisional republic and end the riots. With Ayrou unrest extinguished and Fleet A returning to Annaj, Tang Xiao ordered a rapid campaign to raise the Fourth Civilization’s flag over Hoth within a month.

• Selurite soldiers forced Ayrou officials to suppress the riots, killing Grand Duke Liston and his family when officials feared his opposition.
• Ayrou officials declared Queen Winarta a traitor, announced a provisional republic, and displayed the executed leaders’ bodies in Annaj’s capital.
• Francis Underwood and Count Dooku publicly supported the new Ayrou government, while fifty Enforcer-class heavy destroyers deterred resistance.
• The engineered Ayrou unrest ended as Matt Hona’s Fleet A returned from Planet Kaal to Annaj, threatening the Galactic Republic 19th Army’s attack on Bespin from the rear.
• Tang Xiao told Helmut Zemo that Bespin and Christophsis needed decisive outcomes and demanded the Fourth Civilization capture Hoth’s capital within a month.