Chapter Summaries

Darth Malthael considered Darth Pregas’s influence and defended his decision to lead Dawn Star Planet into war, while Qui-Gon accused him of acting for his own ambition. Determined to find the answer hidden in the cave, Malthael entered and was attacked by a swarm of decaying Darth Pregases.

• Darth Malthael said Darth Sidious had likely tampered with his Power of Eternal Life and Life Force, and wondered what Darth Pregas had sensed when giving him his Sith title.
• Darth Malthael roasted a jungle beast and told Qui-Gon he respected him, while Qui-Gon challenged Malthael’s claim that destroying the Jedi Order would restore balance to the Force.
• Darth Malthael explained that, as ruler of Dawn Star Planet, he could not surrender without losing everything, so he had made his people gamble on war for his sake.
• Darth Malthael declared that he would not remain a slave to power and entered the cave to seek his answer.
• Decaying Darth Pregases emerged from the cave walls and ground and swarmed Darth Malthael, who cut several apart with his Lightsaber.

Darth Malthael fought through Darth Pregas’s endless corpses and discovered a skeleton that the wraiths transformed into Darth Pregas. As the two Sith clashed, Malthael struggled to understand the essence of power and began to glow with golden light.

• Darth Malthael cut and blasted his way through thousands of Darth Pregas’s corpses while his wraiths devoured them.
• Darth Malthael found a patterned skeleton, and his wraiths gathered around it and restored Darth Pregas’s body.
• Darth Pregas challenged Malthael’s understanding of power, and the two ignited their Lightsabers and fought through the cave.
• Darth Pregas pressed his attack and threatened to be reborn within Malthael’s body if Malthael failed to grasp the essence of power.
• Darth Malthael searched for what Darth Pregas had seen, felt, and taught him as golden light appeared in his eyes.

Darth Malthael overcame the vision of Darth Pregas in the cave, then confronted a sinister version of his former self and emerged battered but alive. He left with new questions about what he had seen and gained, and began repairing his crashed ship’s communications equipment with Qui-Gon Jinn.

• Darth Malthael realized that understanding the Force, rather than overpowering the vision, was the key to surviving the cave.
• Darth Malthael unleashed a dark whirlwind that melted the vision of Darth Pregas into bones.
• Darth Malthael seized the sinister vision of Tang Xiao, who called him a dead puppet and a pebble washed ashore from space and time.
• Darth Malthael emerged from the cave wounded and drained, and Qui-Gon Jinn teased him about fighting himself inside.
• Darth Malthael admitted he had found new questions, then followed Qui-Gon Jinn’s instructions to assemble the crashed ship’s communications device.

Tang Xiao returned from his expedition and went to Nal Hutta, where Francis Underwood reported on the Fourth Civilization’s military situation and the attack on the secret Extractor Project. Tang Xiao learned that Lieutenant General Cheng Shitao had been severely wounded and demanded to know how Republic forces had found the project.

• Tang Xiao said goodbye to Qui-Gon, boarded the Astro-class frigate, and asked Cun Te to take him to Nal Hutta.
• Tang Xiao landed on Nal Hutta and contacted Francis Underwood to ask what had happened during his eleven-day absence.
• Francis Underwood reported that the Fourth Civilization’s borders had remained mostly quiet, the Republic had increased its offensive against Suluust, and Count Dooku had requested reinforcements.
• Tang Xiao asked about Krant Planet, and Francis Underwood explained that the Extractor Project there had fallen behind schedule because Aereen Planet could not provide enough energy.
• Francis Underwood said an unmarked, battered Republic Hunter Class Battlecruiser carrying Clone Troopers had attacked Aereen Planet, destroyed the defenses, and left Lieutenant General Cheng Shitao severely wounded.
• Tang Xiao demanded to know how the Republic had discovered the secret Extractor Project and why its warship had appeared in Hutt Space.

Darth Malthael punished Francis Underwood for a prisoner leak and ordered plans against the Hutts, including a mission to Kessel. Francis returned home bruised, where Claire Underwood noticed his injuries and questioned him.

• Darth Malthael learned that Prur Baren's hired Kessel prisoners had leaked information and choked Francis Underwood through the Force before ordering him to sign a punishment order.
• Darth Malthael met with Mira Han, Wang Bin, Big Boss, and Ni Yongxiao to discuss the Hutts' planned alliance between the Besadi and Desilijic kajidics.
• Darth Malthael assigned Mira Han to rescue Zorba Desilijic Tiur from Kip planet with fleet support from Matt Hona.
• Darth Malthael said he would speak with Hutt Ziro and ordered Big Boss to accompany him and the Caladanians to Kessel.
• Francis Underwood returned to his estate with bruises on his neck, and Claire Underwood took his drink and asked about the fighting on Dawn Star Planet.

Francis Underwood told Claire that Tang Xiao had ordered a brutal search for the person who leaked intelligence from Aereen Planet and Krant Planet, and he believed Tang could become Emperor. At Kessel, Tang's forces launched a devastating assault and demanded that the culprit be surrendered.

• Claire Underwood told Francis that she had returned from leave after a Senate brawl over the Merchant Guilds refusing to reinforce Suluust.
• Francis explained that Tang Xiao had ordered Kessel to use any necessary means to uncover the intelligence leaker, and Claire condemned the order as an extermination order.
• Francis said he had signed the order willingly and toasted Tang as the future Emperor of the Empire.
• A black Hammerhead-class cruiser and four Grey Horse-class escort carriers arrived near Kessel, and their fighters attacked ships in orbit and settlements on the planet.
• Tang's forces broadcast a demand that Kessel surrender the leaker, then landed Caladanian troops at several major settlements.

Two thousand Caladanian mercenaries and Darth Malthael captured Kessel in under an hour, overwhelming its defenders. Malthael demanded to know who had leaked the information, killed one hundred prisoners as a warning, and heard someone confess.

• Two thousand Caladanian mercenaries attacked Kessel and used their marksmanship, swordsmanship, and stealth to defeat the defenders despite being outnumbered.
• Big Boss watched from the Ironfang as Titan Security's Caladanians routed the prisoners' forces with fewer than thirty casualties.
• Darth Malthael joined the battle, turned the defenders' attacks back on them, and used black wraiths to kill enemies and raise their corpses.
• Kessel surrendered, and Darth Malthael gathered its people in the prison yard and demanded to know who had leaked the information.
• The Caladanians executed one hundred people, and Darth Malthael began a countdown before someone stood up and confessed to leaking the information.

Darth Malthael forced Casal Fogg to identify the Jedi Master who received his intelligence, then made him choose which half of Kessel’s population would die. Near Velmor, Pruul Baren was being taken aboard a Republic cruiser when an unidentified red fighter appeared and triggered an alarm.

• Darth Malthael interrogated Casal Fogg, executed people from the crowd, and learned that Fogg had given information to Echu Shen-Jon.
• Darth Malthael forced Casal Fogg to choose between his family dying with everyone on Kessel or selecting half the population to be killed, and Fogg chose the latter.
• Darth Malthael ordered the mercenaries to supervise Fogg’s selections, keep his family alive as leverage, and place a blood-red Kyber Crystal on him.
• Clone Troopers escorted the handcuffed Trade Federation viceroy Pruul Baren toward a Galactic Republic cruiser near Velmor Planet.
• An unidentified red fighter approached the cruiser at extreme speed, and the commander ordered the anti-aircraft batteries to fire.

Darth Malthael attacked a spaceport, killed Prul Barron after forcing her to confess embezzling funds, and confronted Nute Gunray. He identified himself as the Archangel of Death and demanded victory in the war, threatening to kill Gunray if he failed again.

• A red transforming fighter destroyed the spaceport’s anti-air defenses, landed as a giant robot, and attacked the people inside.
• Darth Malthael emerged from the robot, deflected the Clone Troopers’ fire, killed them, and cornered Prul Barron.
• Darth Malthael made Prul Barron confess to embezzling more than 140 million credits from the Extractor Project on Aereen Planet.
• Darth Malthael killed Prul Barron during a call with Nute Gunray, who recognized him as the terrifying figure he knew as Darth Sidious.
• Darth Malthael identified himself as the Archangel of Death and warned Nute Gunray to secure victory in the war or die.

Darth Malthael warned Nute Gunray to win the war before fleeing as Republic reinforcements arrived. Hutt Ziro, desperate to reclaim influence from her family, accepted an offer of help and secretly traveled to war-torn Mimban.

• Darth Malthael warned Nute Gunray that he had to win the war, then escaped when Republic reinforcements arrived.
• Ziro’s history showed how she rose to become a Black Sun Vigo but was left isolated as the syndicate was devastated.
• Ziro resented Jabba and Giliac for excluding her from the Desilijic kajidic and sought a way to regain power.
• Ziro sought help from Count Dooku, but he dismissed her and offered no meaningful support.
• An unknown benefactor paid Ziro’s debts and promised a chance to return to Nar Shaddaa and challenge for control of the Desilijic kajidic.
• Ziro accepted the offer and secretly traveled from Coruscant to Mimban.

Darth Malthael intimidated Ziro on Mimban and stirred his hatred of Jabba and Giliac, urging him to return to Nal Hutta and reclaim his place in the Desilijic kajidic. Ziro agreed to act, with Zorba’s release and the proposed Desilijic-Besadi alliance looming over the family.

• Ziro arrived on Mimban with four B-2 super battle droids, but Darth Malthael destroyed them for disobeying his order to come alone.
• Darth Malthael showed Ziro the severed heads of the men who had forced him into debt and convinced him that he should have used his authority to resist them.
• Ziro declared that he would do whatever it took to claim his rightful position in the Desilijic kajidic.
• Darth Malthael proposed that Ziro join forces with his brother Zorba, who was soon to be released from Kip planet.
• Darth Malthael warned that Jabba and Gaddula planned to unite the Desilijic and Besadi kajidics, provoking Ziro to vow that the Besadi would die.
• Darth Malthael sent Ziro to Nal Hutta to reclaim what belonged to him.

After Zorba Desilijic Tiur was imprisoned on Kip planet for illegally mining Ulikuo gemstones, Governor Tang Xiao ordered a disguised Fourth Civilization fleet to raid the planet and capture him. The force took Zorba aboard the Grey Horse-class carrier, where Matt Hona was left enduring Mira Han’s teasing.

• Zorba Desilijic Tiur was arrested on Kip planet for stealing gemstones and sentenced to forty-five years in prison while the Hutt leadership left him there.
• Matt Hona commanded a disguised Fourth Civilization fleet’s raid on Kip planet, while Mira Han pressured him into giving her a kiss before her pilots launched.
• Kip planet surrendered after a brief bombardment and handed Zorba over to the raiders.
• Zorba tried to flee when he saw the human soldiers, but Kip planet’s soldiers stopped him and the raiders dragged him aboard their ship.
• Mira Han told Matt Hona that her lipstick would leave its mark for two days, while Zorba threatened them with a bounty hunter pursuit.

Matt Horner and Mira Han delivered Zorba Desilijic Tiure to Nal Hutta, where he reunited with Ziro Desilijic Tiure. After Ziro revealed that Jabba was set to marry Gaddula Besadi and that Giliac Desilijic had accepted the arrangement, Zorba decided to confront his brother while hiding that he had escaped prison.

• Matt Horner and Mira Han brought Zorba Desilijic Tiure to a secret spaceport on Nal Hutta and left with their pirate fleet.
• Zorba met Ziro Desilijic Tiure and angrily demanded to know why his younger brother had returned.
• Ziro told Zorba that Jabba was about to marry Gaddula Besadi, a match arranged by Alok Besadi and Giliac Desilijic.
• Zorba insisted Jabba must have been coerced and decided to contact Giliac.
• Ziro warned Zorba that Giliac might kill him and showed him a hidden room with a hyperspace signal relay that made it seem as if he were still imprisoned on Kip planet.

Zorba and Ziro joined forces against Giliac and Alok, using Titan Security to launch a massacre against Besadi properties across Hutt Space. Boorka and Ziro publicly protected Titan Security, sparking a wider conflict that soon brought the Besadi kajidic's retaliation against the Desilijic kajidic.

• Zorba failed to convince Giliac to abandon his alliance with Alok and vowed to rally his old subordinates against him.
• Ziro revealed that she had recruited Titan Security and the Calamity Legion with a payment of seventy million credits, and showed Zorba Titan Security's attack plan.
• Titan Security bombed more than a hundred Besadi kajidic properties across multiple planets, killing over four thousand people.
• Alok placed a bounty on Titan Security and called for its expulsion from Hutt Space, but Boorka declared that Titan Security worked for him.
• Ziro admitted that she had hired Titan Security, prompting fierce disputes in The Grand Hutt Council as the Besadi kajidic launched attacks on Titan Security offices.
• The Besadi kajidic directed its revenge at the Desilijic kajidic.

The Besadi and Desilijic kajidics escalated their conflict, while Giliac and Alok discovered that hidden allies were manipulating events. Tang Xiao confronted Alok and revealed that Gaddula had once dared to attempt the assassination of Hego Damask II.

• The Besadi kajidic hired pirates to attack Desilijic strongholds, and the Grand Hutt Council failed to mediate the conflict.
• Giliac-Desilijic confronted Ziro, then discovered Pazda had vanished and suspected members of the Desilijic kajidic were backing her.
• Alok failed to contact Zorba and left to seek Jabba's help.
• Alok accused Tang Xiao of interfering in Hutt affairs, and Tang Xiao accused Alok of conspiring with Jabba and betraying him.
• Tang Xiao warned Alok that Gaddula had once dared to assassinate Hego Damask II.

Tang Xiao and Gabriel Tosh arranged Alok Besadi’s poisoning, and Aruk Besadi Aora took temporary control of the Besadi kajidic. Meanwhile, Zorba Desilijic Tiur returned to Nal Hutta with a hologram of Alok’s corpse, deepening tensions within the Desilijic kajidic.

• Tang Xiao explained that Gaddula had ambitions of her own and that others in the Besadi kajidic wanted Alok dead.
• Gabriel Tosh poisoned Alok with food mixed with Roon acid, and Alok died after naming Aruk.
• Tang Xiao ordered Tosh to leave clues pointing toward Gaddula while preserving evidence about Aruk.
• Aruk Besadi Aora took over the Besadi kajidic, fought its external attackers, investigated its members, and ordered Gaddula to cut ties with Dawn Star Planet, the Fourth Group, and the Calamity Legion.
• Zorba Desilijic Tiur returned to the Desilijic headquarters on Nal Hutta and showed Giliac a hologram of Alok’s corpse.

Zorba reclaimed leadership of the Desilijic kajidic after killing Alok, dismissing Giliac and Jabba’s warnings about Sith influence and the danger posed by Aruk. On Tatooine, Darth Malthael instructed Gaddula to sever ties with the Calamity Legion and wage war against it, setting the stage for Aruk to fulfill a promise.

• Zorba forced Giliac aside and reclaimed the central seat as patriarch of the Desilijic kajidic.
• Giliac warned Zorba that Sith Lords had infiltrated Hutt affairs and that killing Alok would let Aruk take control of the Besadi kajidic.
• Jabba warned Zorba about the Calamity Legion’s ties to a Sith Lord, then left with Giliac and many senior members.
• Zorba remained in control with Pazda and Ziro’s forces supporting him, though Jabba’s departure displeased him.
• Darth Malthael told Gaddula to obey Aruk’s demand to cut outside support, then revealed that she must also wage full-scale war against the Calamity Legion.

Darth Malthael’s scheme plunged Hutt Space into conflict between the Desilijic and Besadi kajidics while General Grievous launched a sweeping offensive against the Galactic Republic. After Grievous forced Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to retreat from Bakura, the Jedi were sent to Jabiim, where another ordeal awaited them.

• Darth Malthael directed Gaddula to have Aruk send money and supplies while the Calamity Legion occupied Mos Espa Port.
• Zorba led the Desilijic kajidic in attacks on Besadi holdings, while Gaddula broke with the Calamity Legion on Tatooine.
• General Grievous diverted Republic reinforcements with a false attack on Ord Mantell, then struck Anoth and Bakura.
• A rebellion in Bakura joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker withdrew after suffering heavy losses.
• General Grievous won six battles in a month and opened a route from Kessel Planet to Mon Calamari before halting his offensive.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker received orders to end the civil war on Jabiim planet.

The Republic struggled to recover from the Festival Offensive while borrowing heavily and accelerating its warship production. The discovery of valuable Durasteel-making minerals on Jabiim drew eager Republic officials to the remote planet, where they hoped to secure the deposits cheaply.

• The Festival Offensive crippled the 12th Legion, the 4th Army, the 16th Legion, and the 13th Army, while the 14th Legion remained under siege.
• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command reinforced Lantillies and prepared to withdraw the 14th Legion, but Orn Free Taa's Senate influence obstructed the plan.
• Sheev Palpatine borrowed 100 billion credits from the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and Kuat Drive Yards began building more than a thousand Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• Rendili StarDrive fell behind after misjudging demand for Dreadnought-class cruisers, and the Republic rejected its delayed 900-meter Victory-class Star Destroyer.
• The Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems turned their attention to Jabiim after valuable Durasteel-making mineral veins were discovered beneath its swamps.
• Republic officials arrived on Jabiim with an agreement, hoping to trade cheap grain and surplus goods for the planet's mineral deposits.

Alto Stratus led the Jabiimi Nationalists in a rebellion against the Republic, backed by Count Dooku and the Fourth Group, while the Republic sent Jedi and clone forces to defend the collapsing Jabiim government. As the conflict intensified, both sides brought in powerful reinforcements, including Asajj Ventress, Selurite troops, and the Dark Jedi Ulu Ulic.

• Alto Stratus condemned the Republic’s failures and seized power in a coup, founding the Jabiimi Nationalists and starting a civil war.
• Count Dooku and the Fourth Group supported Alto, supplying the Nationalists with battle droids, combat suits, and M-15 Defender assault rifles.
• The Republic’s government forces collapsed, prompting Orliss Gillmunn to request aid and the Republic to send Jedi Master Selius, Nokuna, Laiska, and thousands of clone troops.
• The Jedi’s strikes against Alto failed, and brutal fighting spread across Jabiim’s swamps as the Nationalists inflicted heavy losses on the Republic forces.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were sent to Jabiim after their defeat on Bakura, while Asajj Ventress arrived with 10,000 Series-A Amphibious Battle Droids.
• Dawn Star Planet sent Selurite and Kig-Yar troops and advisers to support Alto, and the Dark Jedi Ulu Ulic joined the battle.