Chapter Summaries

Wilhuff Tarkin fortified his position against Dawn Star Planet while the Republic and Fourth Civilization waged an escalating intelligence war. Meanwhile, Gabriel Tosh captured and tortured network technician Lugus, binding him to a bloodied voodoo doll.

• Wilhuff Tarkin requested reinforcements, strengthened defensive lines and pressure on Terminus, and intensified the assault on Suluust.
• Tarkin sought help from Octavian Grant, who focused on the Separatist threat at Bestine and could not advance through neutral Yag'Dhul.
• The Fourth Civilization and the 18th Army infiltrated each other, while Tarkin used Colonel Lott's interrogation and Palpatine's cooperation to purge Republic informants on Coruscant.
• With Ni Yongxiao's criminal organization helping him, 007 escaped from Coruscant.
• Gabriel Tosh tortured Lugus for personal information, then used Lugus's hair and blood to enchant a straw doll, causing a matching wound to appear on Lugus.

Tosh coerced Lugus into installing a device on the administrative center's mainframe by threatening his family, then joined Super Lotus and a Salarian scout as they assessed Wilhuff Tarkin's formidable defenses. The group hoped Lugus could give them access to the center's systems while Tosh searched for an entrance.

• Tosh threatened Lugus with dolls representing his wife and children until Lugus agreed to install a storage device on the mainframe he maintained.
• Tosh freed Lugus, told him to complete the installation, and promised to help him escape to the Kuna Cluster.
• Super Lotus watched Wilhuff Tarkin's heavily fortified administrative center and discussed its defenses with Tosh.
• A Salarian special forces scout reported that underwater laser grids and robots blocked access within five hundred meters of the complex.
• Super Lotus said she hoped Lugus could help her break into the center's mainframe or communications system, while Tosh went to check the entrance.

Lugus helped Tosh infiltrate Eriadu's administrative center, while Super Lotus used a transformed storage device to establish access to its communications network. Tosh positioned himself to assassinate Wilhuff Tarkin, but sensed danger just as his connection to the robot was cut.

• A Guardian inspected Lugus's terminal but only warned him to clean a stain, while Jedi Knights searched for a dangerous presence and heard that several workers had been drinking.
• Lugus inserted Tosh's storage device into the mainframe, but soldiers interrupted him at seventy percent and took him away; the device transformed into a tiny mechanical spider and escaped.
• Super Lotus told Tosh the network upload had actually finished at thirty-five percent and explained that the spider was his communications node.
• Tosh entered the administrative center through its communications channels during a shift change and used his psionic power and network intelligence to evade the Guardians.
• Tosh set up his AGR-28 sniper rifle overlooking the fourth-floor conference room entrance and aimed at Wilhuff Tarkin as he arrived, then sensed something was wrong when his connection to the robot was severed.

Gabriel Tosh tried to assassinate Wilhuff Tarkin, but a Jedi Master stopped his shot and forced him to flee. Salarian special forces rescued Super Lotus from a Jedi Knight and escaped after destroying the apartment building’s floor.

• Gabriel Tosh killed the soldiers searching for him, used an officer’s thoughts to locate Tarkin’s likely escape route, and learned that the Governor he had encountered was a decoy.
• Tosh planted a bomb beside a hidden elevator and fired through the breach when Wilhuff Tarkin appeared inside, but a Jedi Master deflected the shot and attacked him.
• Tosh blocked the Jedi Master’s strike with his rifle, unleashed a psychic shock, and fled when the Jedi faltered.
• A Salarian special forces soldier grabbed Super Lotus’s personal terminal, attached a bomb, and threw it outside as a Jedi Knight charged into her apartment.
• Salarian special forces carried Super Lotus into an alley, killed the guards pursuing them, and withdrew.

Gabriel Tosh escaped after killing Lugus and setting fire to the apartment, while Jedi Master Ovarle investigated the strange Force techniques used in the attack. Governor Tarkin survived and ordered his injury kept secret while demanding the execution of everyone suspected of involvement.

• Salarian special forces took Super Lotus away underwater, while Gabriel Tosh treated his wounds and discovered Lugus among the prisoners on the beach.
• Tosh cut up Lugus’s hair doll, causing Lugus to be sliced apart, then burned two other dolls and escaped the city on a speeder bike amid the confusion.
• Master Ovarle examined the dead soldiers and fire victims with his apprentice Armando, and concluded that the attacker used unfamiliar Force abilities and advanced cloaking equipment.
• Ovarle went to the medical center after learning that Tarkin had awakened, and discussed the assassination attempt with the governor.
• Tarkin ordered Ovarle to announce that he was too severely injured to govern and to arrange a successor, then demanded that all suspected conspirators be tortured and executed.

Tang Xiao learned that Tarkin was too badly injured to govern the 18th Army and ordered surveillance and limited probing operations. Meanwhile, Darth Malthael completed Essence Transfer, giving Darth Tenebrus a new Bith body and leaving the Sith with another lord.

• Tang Xiao ordered Madam M to watch the 18th Army and authorized Matt Hona to probe its deployments after learning Admiral Alvarado had succeeded Tarkin.
• Darth Malthael began transferring Darth Tenebrus's spirit into a Bith body, with Tenebrus guiding him through the delicate procedure.
• Darth Malthael completed Essence Transfer, and the Bith awoke as Darth Tenebrus, able to breathe and move again.
• Darth Tenebrus took the name Ssegur Emon and accepted his old Lightsaber from Darth Malthael.
• Darth Tenebrus left to experience his new life, while Darth Malthael reflected that the Republic now faced another Sith Lord.

Darth Malthael traveled to Dagobah to explore his identity, but his meditation ended with the Red Comet crashing into the planet. Meanwhile, the Republic planned new campaigns as Mace Windu revealed that Sola Balk had fallen to the Dark Side, leaving the war and the Fourth Civilization’s future uncertain.

• Darth Malthael sensed that Darth Tenebrus’s resurrection had disturbed the Force and prepared to seek answers on Dagobah.
• Darth Malthael meditated aboard the Red Comet, questioned his identities and origins, and heard Darth Pregas challenge his understanding of the name Malthael.
• The Red Comet plunged into Dagobah’s jungle and exploded after Darth Malthael screamed in pain.
• Master Windu assigned himself to investigate Ord Mantell, Depa Barris to lead the campaign on Haruun Kal, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to defend Bakura.
• Master Windu told Depa Barris that Sola Balk had fallen to the Dark Side after Asajj Ventress attacked a gathering of Jedi Masters.
• Depa Barris rejected Windu’s warning about Vaapad as she prepared to lead the Haruun Kal campaign.

In 22 BBY, Jedi Knight Shen-Jon and his apprentice Nat-Rys went to Kessel seeking supplies for an unauthorized revenge mission against Separatist general Sefrans Tann. Kassar Forge warned them that Kessel’s currency was Upiupi and suggested they investigate a defeated Republic army on Mimban, while Shen-Jon asked him to look into a defected engineer named Yap.

• Shen-Jon explained to Nat-Rys that Kessel’s prisoners had taken over the planet and that he hoped his former acquaintance Kassar Forge could help them obtain supplies.
• Shen-Jon and Nat-Rys landed at Kessendra, used the Force to make a Falin woman lead them to Kassar Forge, and met him in his office.
• Shen-Jon told Kassar Forge that Sefrans Tann had killed his apprentice Stam-Rys and that he was pursuing revenge without Republic authorization because the Hutts might be involved.
• Kassar Forge said fifty thousand Republic credits would not suffice in Hutt Space, where people used Upiupi coins, and suggested Shen-Jon investigate the defeated Republic army on Mimban for valuable supplies.
• Shen-Jon gave Kassar Forge a data storage device and asked him to investigate Yap, a Republic energy engineer who had defected to the Separatists and was developing a secret weapon.

Shen-Jon traveled to Mimban to investigate a Separatist secret weapon and landed to recover supplies from crashed Republic warships. There he found four stranded Clone Troopers, including Hunter, and welcomed them back into his unit.

• Casal-Fog agreed to look for Yap as Shen-Jon explained that tracking Yap might lead him to the secret weapon and Sefrans Tann.
• Shen-Jon brought his warship down onto Mimban, where the crew found two crashed Hunter Class Battlecruisers and began recovering supplies.
• Shen-Jon and Nat-Riss followed signs of recent fighting to a Clone Trooper stronghold amid wrecked droids.
• Shen-Jon met four surviving Clone Troopers who had been stranded on Mimban for two months.
• Hunter, Crosshair, Clearance King, and Tech introduced themselves, and Shen-Jon welcomed them back into his unit.

Shen-Jon’s unit rescued more than two hundred Republic survivors on Mimban and escaped before Separatist reinforcements arrived. A week later, Cheng Shitao confronted Sector Viceroy Plure Barron over Aereen’s limited resources, learning that the Trade Federation was diverting funds to the DS-1 Project.

• Hunter recounted how the Republic forces were trapped on Mimban, overwhelmed by droids, and scattered after their warships were destroyed or forced to retreat.
• Shen-Jon incorporated Hunter’s survivors into his unit and stopped a confrontation between Hunter and a Clone Trooper.
• The Clone Trooper introduced himself as AE-1149, Iron Box, while Clearance King identified himself as CT-7751 and joined the unit’s mission to pursue Sefrans Tann and the Extractor.
• Shen-Jon’s unit rescued more than two hundred survivors, gathered supplies, and escaped Mimban as five Separatist communications frigates arrived.
• Kasaal-Fogg reported that the Separatists had secretly restarted a base on Aereen Planet two months earlier, with an unusually abundant energy supply.
• Plure Barron told Cheng Shitao that Aereen could not support larger experiments on Krant Planet because funds were going to the DS-1 Project.

Cheng Shitao's secret base on Aereen Planet came under attack from a Hunter Class battlecruiser and Jedi fighters while the rear could not be reached. After uncovering Pruul Barron's corruption and negligence, Cheng ordered the base to prepare for an enemy landing.

• Cheng Shitao argued with Pruul Barron over funding for the Extractor Project and the addition of reactors on Aereen Planet.
• A command-center alert reported an attack, and Cheng learned that a Hunter Class battlecruiser had appeared without warning.
• Cheng discovered that Pruul Barron had hired smugglers to escort energy shipments and ordered her arrested for mishandling funds and security.
• Aereen Planet launched Vulture droid fighters and fired its orbital cannon, but the Hunter Class evaded most attacks while V-19 Torrent fighters and two Jedi-piloted Delta-7 fighters struck back.
• Communications interference prevented the base from confirming whether the rear received its distress signal, and a turbolaser strike hit the planet.
• Cheng ordered an emergency move to the underground command center, anti-landing preparations, and the destruction of sensitive documents.

Shen-Jon's forces launched an assault on Aereen Planet, destroying its orbital supercannon and pushing toward the administrative center. Hunter Squad advanced through fierce resistance and found damaged Separatist vehicles retreating toward what might be a repair station or temporary base.

• Shen-Jon's Hunter Class Battlecruiser bombarded Aereen Planet, destroyed its orbital supercannon, and deployed troops under fighter cover.
• Shen-Jon led Clone Troopers toward the administrative control center while Nate Reath provided air cover and the Republic Air Force attacked enemy forces.
• Hunter Squad fought Fourth Civilization soldiers and B-1 battle droids, but Tech learned that no artillery support was available.
• Clearance King used timed grenades to cover Hunter's assault on a machine-gun position, while Crosshair shot two concealed soldiers.
• Crosshair spotted damaged Separatist armored vehicles retreating toward a possible repair station or temporary base, and Hunter decided to pursue them.
• Hunter Squad received orders to capture another position, but Hunter switched off his communicator.

The Galactic Republic captured Aereen Planet, forcing the Fourth Civilization to abandon its command center and raising alarm over the Extractor Project. Francis Underwood ordered Krant Planet reinforced, but the Republic attacked it as well; the chapter then introduced Haruun Kal, Mace Windu’s homeworld.

• General Cheng Shitao ordered the Fourth Civilization forces to destroy their equipment and withdraw from Aereen Planet as Clone Troopers overran Thorn Station.
• Jedi Master Shen-Jon rejected a pursuit and ordered his troops to capture Aereen’s command center and investigate its energy supply hub.
• Helmut Zemo reported Aereen’s fall and Cheng Shitao’s disappearance to Francis Underwood, who ordered an investigation into the intelligence leak and sought the Hutts’ position.
• Francis Underwood ordered a backup of the Extractor research data and additional defenses for Krant Planet despite warnings from Matt Hona about the risks.
• Francis Underwood received an urgent report that the Galactic Republic had launched a surprise attack on Krant Planet and crushed his wineglass in anger.
• The chapter described Haruun Kal’s poisonous seas, mountain-dwelling Korunnai, and its connection to Jedi Master Mace Windu.

Haruun Kal’s long civil war between the Korunnai and the Balawai drew in the Confederacy and the Republic. Jedi Master Depa Barris arrived at a Korunnai settlement with her apprentices and Clone Troopers.

• The Balawai’s Thyssel tree harvesting and slaughter of Grassers sparked a war with the Korunnai in 52BBY.
• The Republic Senate classified the conflict as a civil war and refused to intervene, while Mace Windu tried and failed to mediate.
• The Balawai used superior weapons to attack Korunnai settlements, but Korunnai guerrillas and metal-eating fungi devastated them in the jungle.
• The Balawai joined the Confederacy and received aid, while the Korunnai sought Republic assistance after repeated defeats.
• Depa Barris landed at a Korunnai settlement with Luna-Meng, Luna-Huan, and a squad of Clone Troopers.

Depa Barris and her apprentices arrived on Haruun Kal to deliver supplies to the Korunnai and defend them from Separatist attacks. They met the Korunnai leader, Ror Pelek, who reacted fearfully after seeing the Dream Sisters.

• Lesh warned Depa Barris that Balawai fighters were approaching, but Luna Dream and Luna Illusion destroyed one Vulture droid fighter with the Force while Depa Barris deflected the other fighters' blaster fire and destroyed them.
• Lesh introduced himself as captain of the Akk Guard, explained that his brother Besh had been captured and mutilated by the Balawai, and led Depa Barris toward Ror Pelek.
• The Korunnai carried the supplies to their treehouse settlement, where Lesh advised the Clone Troopers to hand over their weapons so the Korunnai women could protect them from the corrosive fungi.
• Depa Barris agreed to let the Korunnai take the Clone Troopers' weapons, then introduced herself and the Dream Sisters to Ror Pelek.
• Ror Pelek approached the Dream Sisters and said he liked them, but then abruptly grew frightened and ordered them to leave.

Depa Barris joined Carl Vasto and his Korunnai fighters as they prepared to attack a Balawai camp, while the Dream Sisters explored the jungle. The assault began with heavy fire and casualties, and Depa stepped in to destroy the defending droids.

• Carl Vasto told Depa Barris that the Republic fleet could not reach them and invited her to join the next day's attack after an orbital projectile struck nearby.
• The Dream Sisters slipped past the camp's sentries and played in the jungle, using the Force to fill it with illusions.
• Carl Vasto led Depa Barris, the Dream Sisters, the Akk Guards, and ten Clone Troopers toward a heavily fortified Balawai camp.
• Carl Vasto and the Akk Guards charged behind energy-shielded shields, suppressing the defenders with slugthrower fire, though two guards fell and more droids arrived.
• Depa Barris charged into the battle, deflected blaster fire, hurled a rocket back at the droids, and destroyed nearly half of them.

Depa Barris and Carl Vasto’s forces destroyed a Balawai camp, then abandoned its prisoners in the jungle under the rule of jungle justice. The next day, they found another settlement burned and its people dead, while Depa Barris was left with a disturbing dream.

• Depa Barris, Luna Dream, Luna Phantom, and Carl Vasto helped defeat the Balawai and seize their camp, where Carl’s men executed wounded survivors.
• Carl Vasto’s group drove deep into the jungle and abandoned dozens of prisoners with a chance to survive under jungle justice.
• Lesh told Depa Barris that Ror Pelek had once survived jungle justice as a child after the Balawai massacred his tribe.
• Depa Barris spotted Vulture droid fighters heading toward another settlement and persuaded Carl Vasto to go help.
• Depa Barris and her group arrived to find the settlement burned and more than a hundred corpses in a bonfire; that night, Depa had a dream of slaughter, fighting, fear, and rage.

Depa-Barris planned to send the Dream Sisters and three Clone Troopers into Pelek Baw to destroy the Separatists’ aerospace weapons control center and hinder their reinforcements. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Shen-Jon stood among the ruins of the destroyed Extractor Project base on Krant, staring at the bodies he had killed.

• Luna-Dream told Depa-Barris that she had dreamed, but Depa-Barris brushed off her concern.
• Depa-Barris learned from Liane Trevval that Pelek Baw was the Balawai capital, a plateau city of four hundred thousand people.
• Clone Troopers maintained weapons with Pokta amber and distributed them to the Korunnai while teaching them to shoot.
• Depa-Barris decided to lead the Korunnai to victory and assigned the Dream Sisters, Rainbow, Beard, and Ye Zi to infiltrate Pelek Baw and sabotage its aerospace weapons control center and, if possible, its spaceport.
• On Krant, Shen-Jon stood in the ruined Extractor Project base as Clone Troopers searched for data and he stared at the bodies he had killed.

Shen-Jon and Nat-Reese continued their fall to the Dark Side as they destroyed an Extractor Project base and pursued Sefrans-Tann. On Dagobah, Darth Malthael spoke with Qui-Gon Jinn, who warned that Malthael’s path would darken the galaxy even if he won the war.

• Shen-Jon’s forces destroyed the Extractor Project base and killed its civilian personnel, while Nat-Reese reported that she had killed the fleeing technicians.
• Shen-Jon left the ruined base with Nat-Reese and Hunter Squad before Separatist reinforcements arrived.
• Shen-Jon questioned Prul-Barron about Sefrans-Tann and Cheng Shitao, then ordered her and the other prisoners delivered to a Republic outpost.
• Shen-Jon told Nat-Reese that he needed to explain himself to Master Windu and that their mission would end once they killed Sefrans-Tann.
• On Dagobah, Qui-Gon Jinn appeared to Darth Malthael and warned that Malthael’s existence would make the galaxy darker, even if he won the war.

Darth Malthael declared that he could become the Emperor after the Republic fell, then suffered another violent episode caused by Darth Pregas’s lingering influence. After Qui-Gon Jinn warned that power controlled him, Malthael recognized that Pregas had left a hidden measure against him and wondered what his master had seen, felt, and taught.

• Darth Malthael said he might become Emperor after the Republic’s fall, and Qui-Gon Jinn questioned how he differed from Darth Sidious.
• Darth Malthael offered to burn Dawn Star Planet’s black tea for Qui-Gon Jinn, who doubted the custom could truly reach the dead.
• Darth Malthael hallucinated that countless decaying Darth Pregases attacked him, then collapsed and nearly strangled himself.
• Qui-Gon Jinn told Darth Malthael that the Dark Side Force controlled him and said he had no reason to save a Sith Lord.
• Darth Malthael explained that Darth Pregas had tampered with him and concluded that Planet Dagobah had revealed his master’s hidden measure.