Chapter Summaries

Wilhuff Tarkin struggled to stop Sefrans Tann from dismantling his fleet during the ten-day Battle of Talastra, while reinforcements kept Eriadu supplied. After ordering her ships to cease fire, Sefrans Tann considered how to cut off Eriadu's supply lines, and Ling Liang offered a plan.

• Wilhuff Tarkin prepared to defeat Sefrans Tann at Eriadu and assembled more than three hundred warships near Talastra Planet.
• Sefrans Tann used mobility and carefully coordinated attacks to break apart Tarkin's fleet and destroy its faster warships during the ten-day battle.
• Sefrans Tann shifted her focus to the five satellites, while Tarkin received another shipment of reinforcements and supplies at Eriadu satellite.
• Sefrans Tann ordered her fleet to cease fire and studied the star map as Ling Liang said Eriadu's supply lines had to be cut.
• Ling Liang told Sefrans Tann that he had a plan worth trying.

Ling Liang proposed using a precisely amplified stellar flare to disrupt Republic defenses and hyperspace traffic, then lead a dangerous landing on the Eriadu satellite. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Republic forces struggled to advance through Pixel on Malastare despite the Separatist fleet’s departure.

• Ling Liang explained to Sefrans Tann that a timed stellar flare, intensified with fifteen hundred tons of Hypermatter, could shut down the Eriadu satellite’s Planetary Shield and cripple system traffic for three months.
• Ling Liang proposed landing one hundred thousand troops on the satellite to destroy its shield generators and orbital defenses, despite the severe risks and the Fourth Legion’s absence.
• Ling Liang told Sefrans Tann that she would personally lead the landing and challenged her to decide whether she was part of the Fourth Civilization.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Clone Army struggled to gain ground in Pixel as Separatist forces repeatedly attacked and destroyed Republic aircraft and artillery positions.

Obi-Wan Kenobi struggled to coordinate the Gran and Dagg resistance while Separatist forces used Malastare’s underground tunnels to harass the city. After learning that reinforcements would be diverted to Eriadu, he announced an attack on the tunnels might be the Republic’s final action there, leaving the local commanders eyeing one another warily.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi learned that the Separatists were using Malastare’s drainage tunnels and sourcing supplies from a residential district.
• Captain Dalisi reported that his thousand Dagg troops had captured only a building’s living room, prompting the Dagg Grand Commander to relieve him and Cody to condemn the local commanders.
• Cody proposed bombing the underground tunnels, but the Gran and Dagg Grand Commanders objected that it would endanger civilians and the city.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi asked Master Windu about the Senate’s response and learned that reinforcements were planned, but the Eriadu system faced an attack by Sev'rance Tann and the Blade Fleet.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi ordered preparations to attack the tunnels and told the local commanders that no reinforcements were coming and the Republic might soon withdraw; the commanders exchanged wary glances.

Xiao Guanghua prepared for a Republic assault on Malastare while the Fourth Civilization launched a massive attack on the Republic’s Eriadu defenses during a powerful stellar flare. The battle was underway when an unnoticed transport ship carrying 1,617.98 tons of hypermatter remained behind the Separatist fleet.

• Xiao Guanghua learned that the Republic planned to attack Malastare’s residential district and Supermarket No. 9, and he assured the Gran that the Confederacy would rebuild the planet and compensate its losses.
• Xiao Guanghua and Justin Levis planned to use Glin Betty and Aiden Ward to outflank the Republic, while also preparing for the possibility that the Republic might anticipate their strategy.
• On 5 May, 21 BBY, Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the Republic 18th Army fleet to remain alert during an expected X-10-class flare in the Eriadu system.
• Two hours before the flare, Sefrans Tann led the Blade Fleet and part of Fleet A in a full-scale assault on the Republic defenses around Eriadu and its satellite.
• The Fourth Civilization and Republic fleets exchanged heavy fire, suffering warship losses within minutes as both sides deployed fighters and orbital defenses.
• An unnoticed A-99 transport ship behind the Fourth Civilization fleet carried 1,617.98 tons of hypermatter.

As the Fourth Civilization fleet struggled against Eriadu’s defenses, Baher Banak and his Givin team calculated how to trigger a controlled stellar flare and hyperspace storm using an A-99 transport loaded with Hypermatter. With the calculations complete, the transport’s crew prepared to carry out the dangerous maneuver as the battle continued.

• Baher Banak’s team calculated the precise Hypermatter amount, detonation distance, and timing needed to intensify Eriadu star’s flare and create a hyperspace storm.
• Sefrans Tann directed the assault while the Fourth Civilization fleet suffered heavy losses against Eriadu’s Planetary Shield and orbital defenses.
• Sefrans Tann silently resolved to behead Ling Liang and the Givin mathematicians if their operation failed.
• Baher Banak completed the calculations and ordered the A-99 transport to enter hyperspace, approach Eriadu star at specified shield power and acceleration, and trigger the Hypermatter reaction at the twenty-first second.
• Ten human crew members, navigation droids, and B-1 battle droids prepared the A-99 transport for its mission, with the humans wrapped in Fourth Civilization flags.

Ling Liang and Sefrans Tann prepared a suicide mission to destroy the Eriadu star, and ten navy crewmen volunteered to pilot an A-99 transport ship carrying Hypermatter. As the Fourth Civilization fleet attacked Eriadu’s defenses, the ship emerged from hyperspace beside the star and sped toward it despite severe radiation damage.

• Ling Liang outlined the plan to use a Hypermatter-loaded transport ship to strike the Eriadu star while the fleet covered the assault and troop landing.
• Sefrans Tann questioned the expected naval losses, then gathered experienced crewmen and told them their mission would be a suicide attack.
• Ling Liang explained the mission and its purpose, and every crewman volunteered before ten were selected for the A-99 transport ship.
• During the battle, the A-99’s navigation robots activated its modified hyperdrive and carried it from near Tarastra to the Eriadu star.
• The A-99 activated its shields, suffered severe damage from the star’s radiation, and continued hurtling toward the star at a precisely calculated velocity.

The Fourth Civilization sacrificed ten crew members to detonate Hypermatter inside the Eriadu star, triggering a growing cluster of sunspots. As the fleet watched from orbit above Talastra, a brilliant flash erupted from the star.

• A Givin-calculated A-99 transport ship emerged from hyperspace inside the Eriadu star’s radiation zone, evading the Republic’s sensors.
• The ten crew members set the timer, clasped hands around the Fourth Civilization flag, and died when the ship’s shields failed.
• The wreckage carried 1,617.98 tons of Hypermatter to its target, where a high-energy laser triggered an explosion.
• Baher-Banak and Sefrans Tann monitored the star from the Chaos while Admiral Matt Horner oversaw fleet operations.
• Ling Liang recognized the rising number of sunspots as a concentrated stellar reaction, and Baher-Banak warned that the flare could become dangerous.
• A brilliant flash burst from the direction of the Eriadu star.

The Eriadu star’s flare surged from X-10 to X-20.3, creating an electromagnetic storm that would soon hit the battlefield. Wilhuff-Tarkin ordered the satellite’s Planetary Shield shut down and the fleet to protect it, while Ling Liang prepared to lead a landing operation.

• The Eriadu star’s flare intensified to X-20.3 after being further energized by Hypermatter, forming an electromagnetic storm expected to affect the battlefield in twenty-eight minutes.
• Baher-Banak celebrated the success of the plan, while Ling Liang went to prepare to command the satellite landing operation.
• Sefrans-Tann ordered the fleet to recover fighters, lower shields, protect electronic equipment, and prepare for the storm.
• Eriadu’s observatory director warned Wilhuff-Tarkin that the satellite’s Planetary Shield capacitors would be destroyed by the storm and that the shield needed to be shut down.
• Wilhuff-Tarkin ordered the satellite’s Planetary Shield shut down and the fleet to concentrate on protecting the satellite.

As a magnetic storm disabled shields and electronic systems across the battlefield, Sefrans Tann exploited the chaos to drive the Fourth Civilization fleet toward the Eriadu satellite and launch an invasion. The Fourth Civilization’s Indjori troops spearheaded the landing, while later waves established forward bases and began organized attacks.

• An X-20.3 stellar flare triggered a magnetic storm that forced both fleets to lower their shields and shut down sensitive electronics as they continued firing blindly.
• The Republic fleet rushed toward the Eriadu satellite under its last order, while Sefrans Tann maneuvered the Fourth Civilization fleet into position to attack the satellite and intercept Republic warships.
• The Fourth Civilization launched assault landing craft and transport ships toward the Eriadu satellite through its largely unaimed anti-air fire.
• Heavily armored Indjori armed with oversized Striker Assault Rifles charged out of their landing craft and attacked as the invasion’s first wave.
• A second wave of Fourth Civilization transports delivered troops who established forward bases and began systematic attacks on designated targets.

The Fourth Civilization Army landed 150,000 troops on the Eriadu satellite during a stellar flare and began overrunning Republic defenses. Indjori shock troops and Caladanian veterans exploited the Republic’s isolation, leaving its defenders slaughtered and communications cut off.

• Fourth Civilization soldiers systematically cleared Republic air-defense positions after establishing more than a dozen landing zones.
• Indjori soldiers used Wing-Flapping Backpacks to attack Republic defenders and destroy a rooftop anti-air position, despite being shot down from the air.
• An Indjori soldier killed the remaining defenders and turned the captured anti-air cannon on another Republic position.
• Ling Liang’s force included 10,000 Indjori soldiers and 30,000 Caladanians, who hunted Republic troops across the satellite.
• The stellar flare cut off communications for two hours, leaving Republic defenders isolated against the Fourth Civilization landing force.

The Fourth Civilization landed a large force on Eriadu satellite while a stellar flare crippled Republic communications and defenses, then Sefrans Tann drove the Republic fleet from the satellite’s orbit. Ling Liang established a temporary command center as the Republic defenders began using their conventional advantages against the isolated landing force.

• With Republic forces disorganized and unable to coordinate, the Fourth Civilization established more than a dozen landing zones while Indjori and Caladanian troops broke through the defenses.
• Ling Liang committed 2,000 captured AT-PT walkers, and the Fourth Civilization landed 130,000 soldiers and additional supplies during the two-hour stellar flare.
• After the Planetary Shield rose, Sefrans Tann pursued the Republic fleet while Wilhuff Tarkin tried to regroup it, eventually abandoning Eriadu satellite’s high orbit.
• When Republic fighters became operational, Sefrans Tann withdrew her fleet by 0.5 light-minutes and continued bombarding the satellite’s Planetary Shield.
• Ling Liang entered a temporary command center more than 500 kilometers from the Planetary Shield Generator as Republic defenders began exploiting their conventional warfare advantage.

The Republic struggled to defend Eriadu's moon as Separatist forces outflanked its troops with AT-PT walkers, while a deliberately induced hyperspace storm stranded reinforcements and severed travel through the system. The chapter ended with a Republic soldier dying after disabling a walker as Separatist troops advanced.

• Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the moon's defenders to concentrate their forces and protect the Planetary Shield generators after Separatist troops captured a town and routed three Republic units.
• Tarkin learned that a hyperspace storm had stranded ten transport fleets and could disrupt travel through the Eriadu system for up to 410 days.
• Tarkin dismissed the staff officer who suggested the storm also cut off Separatist logistics.
• Separatist AT-PT walkers battered Republic positions and destroyed several TX-130 Saber-class hover tanks.
• A Republic soldier found a rocket launcher and knocked down an AT-PT walker, but Separatist soldiers shot him as they called for an engineering team.

Ling Liang maneuvered the Fourth Civilization Army toward Eriadu satellite’s shield generators while the Republic planned new fronts and fought a Separatist counterattack on Malastare. Obi-Wan Kenobi encountered Captain Dawn, who blocked his advance with a shield.

• Ling Liang encircled Republic reinforcements on Eriadu satellite, then attacked an industrial district to distract the Republic from her true target: the Planetary Shield generators.
• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command opened a new Western Reaches front and ordered the 20th Army to attack The Givin in the Yag'Dhul system.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli sent the 212th Attack Battalion into Malastare’s underground pipelines, where Republic troops battled concealed droid forces.
• The Separatists launched simultaneous counterattacks above and below ground, led on the surface by Green Beatty and Aiden Ward, and committed fresh Fourth Legion and Fourth Civilization troops underground.
• Obi-Wan left Cody to hold the underground position and led a squad forward, where Captain Dawn—Shi Aimin—intercepted him with a shield.

Obi-Wan fought Shi Aimin on Malastare, while their forces battled across the ground. After Republic reinforcements arrived, Xiao Guanghua urged the Gran and Dagg commanders to follow the plan and keep fighting.

• Obi-Wan recognized Shi Aimin as the super-soldier who had rescued Hutt Gaddula and accused him of joining the Separatists.
• Shi Aimin used his shield and exceptional strength to injure Obi-Wan, while his soldiers pinned down the Clone Troopers.
• Obi-Wan used the Force to try to control Shi Aimin’s shield, but Shi Aimin resisted, and the two continued fighting without either gaining the upper hand.
• Two Acclamator-class assault ships and three Hunter Class Battlecruisers arrived at Malastare to reinforce the Republic forces.
• The Gran and Dagg commanders panicked, but Xiao Guanghua told them to destroy Republic artillery positions and harass supply lines rather than surrender.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli exposed Malastare’s supposed military commanders as actors working with the Separatists, after Republic forces captured them. The prisoners revealed how they had aided the Separatists, and Barriss Offee challenged their reasons for joining them.

• Galactic Republic reinforcements arrived on Malastare and attacked the Fourth Civilization Army around Pixel City.
• The Gran and Dagg Grand Commanders lured Luminara Unduli toward the supply depots, but Republic forces attacked and destroyed the ambush at the command center.
• Barriss Offee led Clone Troopers through the encirclement and captured the two Grand Commanders.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi recognized the commanders as actors, and they admitted that they had passed the Separatists Republic military information and supplied their forces.
• The Gran and Dagg prisoners said the Separatists had promised to settle their disputes, grant them economic independence, and build them a colony and industrial system.
• Barriss Offee asked why the Galactic Republic had not offered them those benefits.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli learned that Malastare's pro-Republic forces had been weakened in battle and that the Separatists might have more strength than expected. Meanwhile, Malastare's Council Representative Ainlee Tim secretly left Coruscant after deciding to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

• Gran and Dagg actors told Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli that Separatist commanders included Xiao Guanghua and Shi Aimin, but they did not know their location.
• The Dagg actor explained that pro-Republic factions had supplied the forces defeated near the commercial district, while armies from Modata Industrial Province and Fuel Energy Province had stayed out of the fighting.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi decided to report Malastare's military situation to the Jedi Temple, and Luminara Unduli planned to have Ainlee Tim arrested.
• Ainlee Tim left a Coruscant hotel under guard while the Galactic Senate debated military funding and the counteroffensive.
• Ainlee Tim had decided to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems after Kinyen entered the war and Francis Underwood secretly visited him.

Einle Tim fled Republic agents on Coruscant while Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed the Confederacy’s need for his political support. Newly promoted Jedi Knights Jing Fang and Jax Pavan began their mission to find him, but Luna Phantom’s prank delayed them.

• Einle Tim escaped the Senate’s search and headed for Coruscant’s lower levels after Republic forces sealed the routes out of the city.
• James Bond contacted Einle Tim’s guards on Level 51 and proposed that they travel to a garbage ship at Level 1002 to escape.
• Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed Einle Tim’s importance to the Confederacy and complained about member worlds resisting war taxes.
• Jing Fang and Jax Pavan set out to find Einle Tim, then encountered Luna Phantom and Luna Dream at the Jedi Temple.
• Luna Phantom tricked Jing Fang and Jax Pavan into running into a wall, laughing as they realized the exit had been an illusion.

James Bond and Aynor-Tim fled through Coruscant with help from Fourth Civilization agents and Gran bodyguards, reaching a garbage ship meant to carry them away. Two Jedi Knights discovered them there, and Bond and the agents opened fire as the chapter ended.

• Gran bodyguards sniped Galactic Republic Security Bureau soldiers while James Bond escorted Aynor-Tim toward Coruscant's lower levels.
• James Bond said Security Bureau allies and Aynor-Tim's contacts would keep them safe, and they passed patrols without being stopped.
• At the garbage station, James Bond confirmed they could escape aboard a garbage ship, and Aynor-Tim agreed to endure anything to leave Coruscant.
• Jedi Knights Jing Fang and his companion emerged near the ship and confronted the group.
• James Bond surrendered, then drew another pistol and fired as Fourth Civilization agents joined the attack.

Onderon representative Mina Bontri denounced the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ war taxes and industrial exploitation, prompting heated calls for peace and lower taxes in Congress. Tang Xiao reflected on how the corporate interests behind the war were alienating member planets, then watched Count Dooku as these contradictions came to a head.

• Mina Bontri accused the Fourth Group and InterGalactic Banking Clan of exploiting Onderon by forcing it to build costly Behemoth-class battlecruisers.
• San Hill defended the investments, while Glosse Shelbia argued that war bonds would be repaid and that stopping production would invite a Republic attack.
• Mina Bontri called for negotiations with the Galactic Republic, and representatives rallied around demands for peace and reduced war taxes.
• Representatives and corporate supporters clashed in the Confederate Congress as bodyguards prepared for a possible fight.
• Tang Xiao considered how corporate interest groups controlled the Confederacy’s economy and left member planets bearing the costs of a war that offered them little benefit.
• Tang Xiao’s expression grew grave as he turned his attention to Count Dooku.

Mina Bonteri proposed peace negotiations with the Galactic Republic before the Confederate Congress, while Tang Xiao opposed her and warned the Confederacy’s leaders that defeat would cost them their power and wealth. In a private meeting, Tang Xiao exposed Dooku’s plan to assassinate Bonteri and stage a terrorist attack on Coruscant, then demanded that Dooku reveal Darth Sidious’s identity.

• Mina Bonteri proposed a ceasefire and peace talks with the Galactic Republic, but Tang Xiao challenged her proposal and she failed to win his support.
• Count Dooku adjourned Congress and privately asked the Confederacy’s leaders how they viewed the peace initiative from Onderon and more than 300 planets.
• Tang Xiao warned the leaders that defeat would leave their corporations and property to be seized, and told Dooku that Darth Sidious would train the Chosen One instead of him.
• Nute Gunray and other leaders questioned Dooku about Sidious’s promises and the Confederacy’s worsening warship production, while Passel Argente agreed that Tang Xiao’s warning might be true.
• Tang Xiao revealed Dooku’s plan to assassinate Mina Bonteri and stage a terrorist attack on Coruscant, then demanded that Dooku identify Darth Sidious.