Chapter Summaries

The Fourth Civilization’s Ragnarok-class Titan warship Plague arrived at Manaan to salvage ancient wreckage and resupply before moving toward Cato Neimoidia. Darth Lilim warned Sefrans Tann about the danger of using the Force to guide hyperspace travel, while droid-controlled transports joined Plague in hiding among the ruins.

• Plague appeared in orbit around Manaan, where Darth Lilim ordered engineering ships to collect ancient Sith warship wreckage for ammunition and called for the rendezvous party to resupply within three days.
• Darth Lilim praised Sefrans Tann for bringing Plague into the Inner Rim, then warned that connecting to hyperspace through the Force could attract unknown entities.
• Sefrans Tann insulted Darth Lilim, and Plague concealed itself among Manaan’s war ruins near its target, Cato Neimoidia.
• Plague’s engineering crews began hauling wreckage aboard to be processed into shells for its massive main cannon.
• Several hours later, droid-controlled transport ships delivered supplies and hid beside Plague rather than departing.

Qi Jian presented Tang Xiao with a plan to attack Terminus Planet and explained how it could break the Fourth Civilization's deadlock with the Republic 18th Army. Despite his misgivings about the risks, Tang Xiao approved the operation as long as the defensive zone remained secure.

• Qi Jian reported to Tang Xiao with an operational proposal from the General Staff, Supreme Operations Command, and Admiral Horner to attack Terminus Planet.
• Qi Jian said Terminus supplied the Republic 18th Army and that Ni Yongxiao had smuggled prohibited stimulants and spices onto the planet to create a pretext for intervention.
• Tang Xiao questioned the plan's political risks and the difficulty of supplying a campaign along unstable hyperspace routes near the busy Corellian Trade Route.
• Qi Jian argued that General Grievous's attacks had isolated the 18th Army, while Wilhuff Tarkin was unable to command after being wounded in an assassination.
• Tang Xiao weighed his instincts against the strategic opportunity and approved the attack on Terminus Planet, provided the Fourth Civilization's defensive zone remained intact.

Alto Stratus and his allies prepared the Jabiimi National Army to fight the Republic, while Republic forces launched a two-pronged counterattack. Three days into the battle, Clone Troopers came under fire and an AT-TE was hit by an anti-tank missile.

• Alto Stratus vowed to destroy the invading Republic forces, and Ventress and Uru-Ulic joined him at the Jabiimi Nationalist headquarters in Rezaal.
• Alto addressed thousands of Jabiimi National Army soldiers, who cheered and fired their weapons into the rain.
• Oris Gilman and Jedi Master Selius planned a two-pronged attack on Rezaal and Elberta, while the Republic forces deployed from Cobalt Camp.
• On the third day of battle, a Clone Trooper Commander directed his unit under fire, and CO-0817 was wounded.
• An anti-tank missile struck an AT-TE, and the blast covered the Commander and the wounded CO-0817 in mud.

On the tenth day of the battle on Jabiim, Clone Troopers faced a coordinated attack by Kig-Yar snipers and Jabiimi Nimbus commandos. Ulu-Ulix killed the Jedi Knight as Alto Stratus led the assault, and Separatist droids arrived behind the collapsing Clone Army.

• Clone Troopers continued their slow advance through the rain, fighting Jabiimi soldiers who refused to surrender and used grenades to avoid capture.
• Kig-Yar snipers ambushed the Clone Troopers, forcing the Jedi Knight and his troops to charge their positions.
• A green laser destroyed an AT-XT walker and missiles struck the clone positions as Nimbus commandos broke into the formation.
• Ulu-Ulix killed the Jedi Knight with the Lightsaber on his mechanical arm and attacked the Clone Troopers.
• Alto Stratus led the Nimbus commandos into battle as droids marched onto the battlefield behind them.

Jedi Master Selius struggled to coordinate the Republic army in Jabiim’s torrential rain as Separatist forces closed in. Meanwhile, Asajj Ventress ambushed a Jedi patrol, and in Chuka City, Republic troops unknowingly settled above a hidden army of battle droids.

• Selius sent Jedi Knights with soldiers to search for five missing companies, while Master Nokuna’s force prepared to attack Chuka City.
• A pilot reported a Separatist legion with at least ten OG-9 Nest Spider battle mechs nearby, and Selius ordered the army to prepare for battle.
• Asajj Ventress and Kig-Yar snipers ambushed a Jedi Knight and his Clone Troopers, and Ventress killed the Jedi Knight.
• Master Nokuna arranged for the Clone Army to rest in Chuka City while residents hid in basements and Trade Federation Series A battle droids waited in the drainage network.

Series A battle droids attacked the Clone Army from Chuka City’s sewers while a droid legion and Nimbus commandos struck its defenses from outside. Jedi Master Nokuna tried to lead the clones toward safety as Alto Stratus and Ulu Ulix helped devastate the Republic forces.

• Series A battle droids emerged from Chuka City’s sewers and attacked the unprepared Clone Troopers while Hailfire droids bombarded the city from outside.
• Jedi Master Nokuna fought through the sewer droids, was wounded, and directed the Clone Army to retreat toward the northwest side of the city.
• Alto Stratus led the Nimbus commandos in a charge across the swamp, where they used magnetic bombs to destroy AT-TE walkers.
• Ulu Ulix killed a female Jedi Knight, while Alto Stratus struck down another Jedi Knight who denounced the Jabiim rebels.
• The battle killed countless Clone Troopers and civilians, while Jabiim residents sheltered underground and sang their planet’s folk songs.

Jabiimi forces annihilated Master Nokuna’s exhausted army while Master Selius began retreating under attacks from Jabiimi troops, droids, Kig-Yar snipers, and Asajj Ventress. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived to find the Republic army devastated and falling back toward Cobalt Base.

• After days of pursuit through rain and mud, Alto Stratus’s Nimbus commandos attacked Master Nokuna’s dwindling force and killed Nokuna.
• Master Selius ordered a retreat after heavy losses and learned that Asajj Ventress was fighting alongside the Jabiimi forces.
• Jabiimi soldiers, droids, and Kig-Yar attacked Selius’s army as it withdrew toward Cobalt Base.
• Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived and learned that Nokuna’s eight thousand Clone Troopers had been wiped out and Selius’s army had suffered severe losses.

Kato-Neimoidia, the Trade Federation’s wealthy homeworld, was surrounded by Republic forces seeking to capture Newt Gunray during the war. As the Republic fleet maintained the encirclement, an unknown enemy force suddenly emerged from hyperspace and attacked the 2nd Legion for a second time.

• Kato-Neimoidia was described as the oldest and most prestigious Wealth World, where Newt Gunray held the greatest fortune.
• Newt Gunray backed Count Dooku’s Confederacy of Independent Systems with vast funds and production capacity, gambling on control of the galaxy.
• The Republic 2nd Legion and the 4th Army surrounded Kato-Neimoidia and were ordered to capture Newt Gunray without damaging the planet.
• The 2nd Legion’s fleet suffered heavy losses in the wider war and transferred some of its new warships to other legions.
• The 7th Fleet’s Commander-class Dreadnought detected a large, unidentified hyperspace arrival, and its crew confirmed an enemy attack.

The Plague arrived at Cato-Neimoidia and destroyed the Republic 7th Fleet’s flagship, the Golden Light, with a single Hypermatter Railgun shot. As the surviving Republic ships attacked, Sefrans Tann ordered the Plague to raise its shields and prepare a second firing.

• The Republic 7th Fleet identified the arriving Plague and prepared for battle under Admiral Rivers.
• Sefrans Tann diverted the Plague’s power from its shields to overload and charge the Hypermatter Railgun, aiming at the Golden Light.
• The Plague’s cannon destroyed the Golden Light, killing Rivers and all 43,000 people aboard.
• The remaining 7th Fleet ships opened fire and launched starfighters at the unshielded Plague.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the Plague to raise its shields and load scattershot rounds for a second firing.

Darth Malthael visited Nute Gunray aboard his flagship and proposed a surprise attack on Kato Neimoidia to destroy the Republic fleet surrounding it. Gunray feared the plan would provoke the Republic and endanger the Trade Federation’s holdings, so Darth Malthael suggested deactivating every battle droid with Gunray’s shutdown codes.

• The Republic 2nd Legion's 7th Fleet and the Trade Federation fleet surrounded Kato Neimoidia while its wealthy residents evacuated and more than two million battle droids remained to defend the planet.
• Darth Malthael flew through Nute Gunray's escort fleet in a red fighter, transformed outside Gunray's bridge, and entered to speak with him.
• Darth Malthael told Gunray he planned to attack Kato Neimoidia and destroy the Republic fleet, provided Gunray cooperated.
• Gunray objected that the attack could provoke the Republic and jeopardize the Trade Federation's holdings in the Inner Rim and Core Worlds.
• Darth Malthael asked Gunray whether he would use his shutdown codes to deactivate every battle droid.

Darth Malthael revealed how Darth Sidious could use Nute Gunray’s droid shutdown switch to end the war, seize power, and make the Confederacy’s leaders scapegoats. He then revealed his identity to Gunray as Tang Xiao.

• Darth Malthael explained that Nute Gunray had installed an emergency shutdown command in newly manufactured battle droids and that Darth Sidious could use it to end the war abruptly.
• Darth Malthael described how Darth Sidious would exploit the war to centralize power, eliminate the Jedi Order, and become Emperor.
• Darth Malthael threatened Nute Gunray with a Lightsaber and asked whether he should destroy the shutdown switch.
• Darth Malthael explained that after victory, Darth Sidious would blame and dispossess the Confederacy’s leaders to reward the industrial oligarchs.
• Darth Malthael revealed his face, and Nute Gunray recognized him as Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao pressured Newt Gonrey into choosing whether to support his attack on Cato Neimoidia, arguing that the war was Gonrey’s only path to survival. As the Plague charged the Republic fleet, Darth Lilim realized Sefrans Tann might also be gambling on Gonrey’s decision.

• Tang Xiao revealed to Newt Gonrey that he knew Darth Sidious was Sheev Palpatine and warned that the Trade Federation would be discarded if it lost the war.
• Tang Xiao told Gonrey that his fleet’s support was essential to the attack on Cato Neimoidia and left him to choose.
• Gonrey ordered his aide arrested and thrown out, then shut down the droids aboard his warship and transferred to another ship.
• Gonrey ordered the droids aboard his former warship destroyed.
• At Cato Neimoidia, Sefrans Tann ordered the Plague to charge the Republic fleet and hold its main cannon’s fire until he gave the order.
• Darth Lilim questioned Tann’s risky plan, then suggested he was gambling on the Trade Federation fleet’s cooperation.

Sefrans Tann led the Plague in an assault on the Republic’s 7th Fleet near Cato Neimoidia, using its main cannon and new Viking fighters to inflict heavy losses. As the fleet regrouped and attacked the Plague, Nute Gunray received Darth Sidious’s order to destroy it.

• Darth Lilim teased Sefrans Tann about proposing the raid to win their master’s favor, and Tann launched 100 Vulture droid fighters at the Republic fleet.
• After the Republic’s flagship was destroyed, the Plague fired a scattershot that annihilated at least a thousand fighters and badly damaged more than ten small warships.
• The Plague launched Wraith and Viking fighters, which used stealth and Ripwave missiles to destroy three CR-70 corvettes.
• The Republic’s new commander reorganized the 7th Fleet and brought its largest ships to bear, while Sefrans Tann drove the Plague forward and waited to fire its main cannon.
• Darth Lilim took off from the Plague in a purple Elite Class Viking fighter as the Republic fleet encircled the warship.
• Darth Sidious ordered Nute Gunray to destroy the Plague, despite Gunray believing it had come to relieve the siege of Cato Neimoidia.

Nute Gunray reluctantly obeyed Darth Sidious and ordered Tokkuz’s fleet to support the Plague at Kato Neimoidia. The Trade Federation’s surprise attack disrupted the Republic’s 7th Fleet, allowing the Plague to strike its second flagship with its Hypermatter Railgun.

• Darth Sidious ordered Nute Gunray to destroy the Plague, but Gunray feared Darth Malthael and argued that the ship was essential to the Separatist forces.
• Sidious insisted that destroying the Plague would advance his plan and promised Count Dooku would not harm Gunray, so Gunray reluctantly agreed.
• Gunray ordered Tokkuz to send the Kato Neimoidia defenders to support the Plague.
• Tokkuz’s fleet attacked the Republic’s 7th Fleet from behind, destroying five Corellian gunships and damaging an Aquatens-class Light Cruiser.
• As the Republic fleet split its forces to face both attacks, Sefrans Tann ordered the Plague’s main gun to fire at the 7th Fleet’s second flagship.
• The Plague’s Hypermatter Railgun hit the Commander-class Dreadnought while its shields were weakened.

Plague destroyed the Republic 7th Fleet’s command ships and helped the Trade Federation’s Guardian Fleet overwhelm the disorganized Republic forces at Kato-Neimoidia. After the fleet’s defeat, Nute Gunray feared that Lord Sidious would kill him, but Tang Xiao assured him he was still useful.

• Plague’s overloaded main cannon shattered a Commander-class Dreadnought’s shields and blasted a massive hole through its center.
• The Guardian Fleet launched Vulture fighters and Hyena-class droid bombers, overwhelming the 7th Fleet as its command structure collapsed.
• Plague attacked with its other weapons while the Republic fleet failed to damage it, and the crippled Commander-class Dreadnought eventually broke in two.
• Nute Gunray contacted Tang Xiao and panicked over disobeying Lord Sidious’s orders.
• Tang Xiao told Nute Gunray that Lord Sidious would not kill him yet because doing so would bring him no benefit.

After the Plague Titan destroyed most of the Republic’s 7th Fleet at Kato Neimoidia, Nute Gunray sought Tang Xiao’s protection. Tang Xiao pushed him to approach Count Dooku, aiming to turn Dooku against Darth Sidious, while the chapter ended with Dooku watching the Confederacy celebrate the victory.

• Nute Gunray saw that the Plague Titan had devastated the Republic’s 7th Fleet and begged Tang Xiao to save him from Darth Sidious.
• Tang Xiao told Nute to seek out Count Dooku and reveal that Sidious had ordered him to destroy the Plague, but he had refused.
• Tang Xiao explained to Helmut Zemo that he wanted Count Dooku to break free of Sidious and that revealing Palpatine’s identity too soon would leave them facing Sidious alone.
• Tang Xiao boarded the Red Comet and flew toward Hoth Planet as a new storm gathered.
• Nute Gunray went to Serenno and confessed to Count Dooku that he had cooperated with the Plague to destroy the Republic’s 7th Fleet.
• Count Dooku activated a news broadcast celebrating the victory at Kato Neimoidia and showing the wreckage of the Republic fleet.

Count Dooku warned Nute Gunray that destroying Plague would make him a public enemy and urged him to seek Darth Sidious’s forgiveness. Sidious attacked Nute for failing to destroy Plague, but Count Dooku argued that killing him could expose Sidious’s grand plan.

• Count Dooku explained that Plague had become the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ spiritual pillar, so destroying it would turn Nute Gunray into a sinner in both the Confederacy and the Galactic Republic.
• Nute Gunray told Count Dooku that Darth Malthael had ordered him to help win the war and had threatened to kill him, while claiming he had been unprepared when Plague appeared over Cato Neimoidia.
• Count Dooku gave Nute a communicator and persuaded him to ask Darth Sidious for forgiveness.
• Darth Sidious appeared, learned that Plague had destroyed the 7th Fleet, and used the Dark Side Force to choke Nute before throwing him into a table.
• Count Dooku told Darth Sidious that killing Nute could expose his grand plan and suggested that Nute was incapable of carrying it out.

Fourth Civilization assembled a large fleet and mechanized ground force on Hoth Planet to launch a rapid assault on Terminus Planet. As Darth Malthael arrived at the base, he explained to Nute Gunray that his survival depended on the Confederacy and hinted that Count Dooku might not remain its leader.

• Fourth Civilization gathered 50,000 personnel, droids, armored vehicles, and a powerful fleet on Hoth Planet for the attack on Terminus Planet.
• Admiral Matt Horner took overall command of the operation, while Major General Xiao Guanghua commanded the ground forces; Green Beatty and Aiden Ward also joined the campaign.
• Darth Malthael arrived at Hoth Planet in the Red Comet, where Xiao Guanghua came to receive him.
• Nute Gunray complained that Count Dooku had not protected him from Darth Sidious, and Darth Malthael said Gunray had never been in real danger.
• Darth Malthael told Nute Gunray that his fate depended on the Confederacy of Independent Systems, then asked what would happen if Count Dooku were no longer its leader.

Darth Malthael secured Newt Gunray’s cooperation and prepared the Fourth Civilization’s forces to seize Terminus. That evening, a group of cloaked believers arrived at the planet’s capital, where their purpose remained unclear.

• Darth Malthael told Newt Gunray that the Separatists depended on their corporate backers and hinted that Gunray could replace Count Dooku, then spared his life.
• Xiao Guanghua reported that Admiral Matt Horner’s fleet was in position, while the troop transports were detouring after a Republic outpost detected them; Darth Malthael insisted that Terminus must be taken soon.
• Darth Malthael inspected the armed forces and supplies at the base, including a sealed warehouse bearing the Umbrella Biopharmaceutical Group emblem.
• The chapter described Terminus Planet’s neutral status, criminal networks, and covert trade, including Wilhuff Tarkin’s purchases of military supplies with Sheev Palpatine’s support.
• A starship landed near Fermos City, and its cloaked passengers headed into the city after a man warned a spaceport administrator not to interfere with the believers.

Ni Yongxiao’s altered Death Stick scheme provoked chaos on Terminus Planet, giving Dawn Star Planet a pretext to attack. The battle began with airstrikes and a clash between fleets, but hidden Terminus Planet spaceports launched Z-95 Headhunters as Matt Horner faced threats in orbit and on the planet.

• Ni Yongxiao’s Brainless Ones spread violence across Terminus Planet using altered Death Stick, while cheap Death Stick flooded the black market.
• A Dawn Star Planet inspection ship accused Terminus Planet of harboring Bando Gosa and aiding the Galactic Republic, and the riots exposed a warehouse full of Republic blaster rifles.
• Tang Xiao’s Dawn Star Planet fleet blockaded Terminus Planet, but Terminus Planet abandoned neutrality and declared it would fight alongside the Galactic Republic.
• Matt Horner ordered Vulture fighters and Hyena bombers to attack Terminus Planet’s spaceports, destroying twenty-seven before suspending the bombing when Republic warships arrived.
• Matt Horner’s fleet exchanged fire with ten Hunter Class Battlecruisers as he ordered reinforcements and prepared to land troops.
• Terminus Planet’s hidden spaceports launched large numbers of Z-95 Headhunters, leaving Matt Horner’s staff unsure whether to continue the bombing or confront the Republic fleet.