Chapter Summaries

James Bond helped Ainlee Tim escape the Ministry of Justice Prison amid a blackout while Cad Bane’s gang held senators hostage at the Republic Senate Building. As both crises remained unresolved, Jedi Master Ross Del Masona confronted an intruder targeting Rush Clovis.

• James Bond directed the guards to free Ainlee Tim and take him to the Senate aboard a medical ship as Gabriel Tosh devastated the prison.
• Cad Bane’s gang kidnapped over a hundred senators and demanded Ainlee Tim’s release and a pardon from Sheev Palpatine.
• Sheev Palpatine rejected Cad Bane’s demands until Cad Bane killed more than ten senators, then learned that Ainlee Tim had vanished from the prison.
• Anakin Skywalker secretly contacted Master Windu but could do little because he had left his Lightsaber behind.
• At Rush Clovis’s residence, Ross Del Masona revealed himself in disguise and announced that he would arrest the mysterious intruder.

Sheev Palpatine used the Coruscant attacks to strengthen his position, pressure Rush Clovis into taking control of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and blame the Separatists. The chapter ended with Count Dooku accusing the Republic of staging the attacks and claiming to have evidence.

• Sheev Palpatine told Rush Clovis that he had been abandoned by his former allies and urged him to seize power in the InterGalactic Banking Clan and oppose the Jedi Order.
• Palpatine pardoned Cad Bane's group, ending the Senate Building kidnapping, while surviving senators and the media blamed Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi Order for failing to stop it.
• The Coruscant attacks led to Ainnle Tim joining the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Jedi Master Ross-Del Masona being killed, and Master Yoda launching an investigation.
• Palpatine blamed the Separatists, secured a high-interest war loan for the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and saw Rush Clovis break with San Hill and Lot Dodd.
• After the Confederacy proposed peace talks, Palpatine accused it of sabotaging peace, and Count Dooku countered that the Republic had staged the attacks and said he had evidence.

Count Dooku released evidence linking the Galactic Republic’s leadership to the Senate attack, while the Jedi investigated Master Ross Del Masona’s death. Senator Tim met Tang Xiao on Dawn Star Planet and explained that he had joined the Confederacy because the Republic’s power was concentrating in the hands of a few.

• Count Dooku presented proof that Republic officials had authorized the droid shipment and that a high-level insider had enabled the attack, forcing Palpatine onto the defensive.
• Master Yoda and other Jedi examined Master Ross Del Masona’s murder and recognized that the power involved was neither ordinary Dark Side Force nor a familiar Lightsaber technique.
• Master Windu arrived and connected the strange Force power to an assassin active in the Outer Rim, while Yoda ordered the Jedi to search their archives for its origin.
• Senator Tim returned to Malastare, spoke with Francis Underwood, and then traveled secretly to Dawn Star Planet to meet Tang Xiao.
• Senator Tim told Tang Xiao that he had joined the Confederacy because the Gran’s situation would worsen in the Republic, whose power was concentrating in the hands of a small group.

Ainlee Tim arrived on Dawn Star Planet and agreed with Tang Xiao that the Confederacy of Independent Systems needed to prolong the war and build a stronger regime. He then entered the Confederacy Parliament, where his opposition to both the Republic and the war united senators and launched debate over the Confederacy’s political future.

• Tang Xiao explained to Ainlee Tim that the Confederacy needed to extend the war and forge a stable, unified regime, and Tim agreed to develop the plan despite its slim odds of success.
• Ainlee Tim made a prominent entrance into the Confederacy Parliament and rallied senators familiar with his political ideas.
• Tim met Mina Bontri and declared that he opposed the Galactic Republic as well as the war, surprising Count Dooku and drawing accusations that he was a Republic spy.
• Mina Bontri and other senators gathered around Tim, forming a temporary political faction.
• Under Tim’s leadership, the faction organized discussions and proposed ways to negotiate with the Republic and shape the Confederacy’s government and society.

Ainlee Tim rebuilt the Rim Faction as a structured political party and used it to force Count Dooku into concessions over peace initiatives. Darth Sidious dismissed Dooku’s concerns and demanded that he prove his loyalty to the coming New Order.

• The Rim Faction, once weakened by defections during Sheev Palpatine’s election, was reborn in the Confederacy of Independent Systems under Ainlee Tim’s leadership.
• Ainlee Tim established a strict charter, membership standards, duties, rights, and defined ranks, turning the Rim Faction into a political party.
• The Rim Faction challenged Count Dooku in the Confederacy Senate and forced him to make concessions on peace initiatives.
• Count Dooku secretly discussed the faction’s growing influence with Tang Xiao and the Archangel of Death before reporting the problem to Darth Sidious.
• Darth Sidious demanded that Dooku have Ainlee Tim killed and mocked his remaining political control.
• Darth Sidious urged Dooku to embrace the New Order and warned that he would be crushed if he stayed with the Outer Rim planets.

Confederacy leaders debated shifting industrial resources from droid production to warships and allowing member planets to recruit armies, as the war strained their forces. Shu Mai threatened to leave after the proposal advanced, while Tang Xiao challenged her loyalty and reminded her of the Confederacy’s uncertain path to peace.

• Tounbark-Tula, Ruute Gunray, and Lo Vaped argued for prioritizing warship construction, while Poggle the Lesser defended Geonosis’s droid production.
• Lo Vaped proposed recruiting soldiers from member planets, prompting Shu Mai to condemn the plan and Otto Stratus to praise Jabiim’s Nimbus commandos.
• Lo Vaped called for replacing older ships with Kohl-class Battlecruisers, Behemoth-class battlecruisers, and Deceiver-class destroyers, while Ruute Gunray proposed closing costly droid factories.
• Shu Mai objected that the changes violated the Confederacy’s agreement, but Count Dooku urged the parliament to pursue victory before seeking peace.
• Ainlee Tim reserved judgment on the proposal, and Tang Xiao argued that the Confederacy could not assume a peace accord would be reached.
• Shu Mai threatened to leave, Lo Vaped demanded repayment of her loans, and Tang Xiao questioned whether she intended to betray the Confederacy for the Galactic Republic.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems Parliament passed proposals to recruit member-world soldiers and reorganize its fleets, leaving Count Dooku to recognize Tang Xiao’s ambition to build a lasting rival regime. The Confederacy also planned to open peace negotiations with the Galactic Republic, a move intended to disrupt Darth Sidious’s plans.

• Shu Mai and Count Dooku watched the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, and other powers gain control over the parliament’s military proposals.
• Gross Shelbia persuaded Mina Bontri of Onderon to support the new shipbuilding plans, while Dooku realized Tang Xiao genuinely wanted to strengthen the Confederacy.
• Count Dooku scheduled a vote, and the proposal to let member worlds provide soldiers in exchange for lower war taxes passed by a narrow margin.
• The Confederacy approved recruiting five hundred million soldiers from one hundred planets, expanding toward two billion recruits and ten billion reserves, while converting a third of its droid factories to warship-component production.
• The Confederacy designated Behemoth-class battlecruisers as its main warships, ordered Sova-class Carriers and Kohl-class Battlecruisers, and backed the Endless-class Super Carrier while cutting or redirecting production of other ships.
• The Confederacy decided to contact the Galactic Republic about peace negotiations, intending to interfere with Darth Sidious’s plans.

The Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems deadlocked over whether the Separatists could be recognized as a sovereign government, stalling peace talks. Meanwhile, the Republic launched a massive assault in the Antar system, where General Grievous inflicted heavy losses and Count Dooku recognized the battle as a warning from Darth Sidious.

• The Confederacy of Independent Systems appointed Mina Bontri as its peace envoy, but the Galactic Republic rejected its proposal while Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala urged negotiations.
• Sheev Palpatine challenged the Senate to decide whether Mina Bontri would be received as an envoy of a sovereign state or as a representative of a Republic sector, creating an impasse over the Confederacy's legitimacy.
• Mina Bontri's delegation waited on Mandalore for Duchess Satine to mediate, while the Galactic Republic refused to admit her as an envoy of an independent state.
• On May 34, 21 BBY, the Republic fleet attacked the Confederacy fleet near Antar V with more than two hundred warships.
• General Grievous led the Confederacy fleet against the Republic and killed two Jedi Masters who boarded his flagship, the Invisible Hand.
• Count Dooku interpreted the brutal battle as Darth Sidious warning him that Sidious controlled the industry, technology, and fleets that determined the war's strength.

As the Western Reaches war intensified, Major General Ling Liang tasked Shen Yuanhao with leading the Indjori infantry at Crystal Sea to hold off the Galactic Republic for three days while he led an AT-PT raid on Karina Crater. The chapter left the Republic’s 30,000-strong mechanized force advancing on the Indjori, poised to attack the Fourth Civilization’s landing forces.

• The Fourth Civilization sent two mass-production Dawn's Radiance-class carriers into the isolated Eriadu system as its army continued fighting on Eriadu satellite.
• Ling Liang told Shen Yuanhao that the Republic was preparing an armored counterattack at Crystal Sea to protect the power generation center in Karina Crater.
• Ling Liang assigned Shen Yuanhao command of the Indjori infantry and ordered him to hold the Republic’s armor for at least three days.
• Ling Liang reserved the AT-PT walkers for a separate raid on Karina Crater, where capturing the power generation center would expose the Planetary Shield generator to attack.
• Four hours later, a 30,000-strong Galactic Republic armored force, including 2,000 Clone Troopers, advanced across Crystal Sea.

Shen Yuanhao led Karina and the Indjori to meet the Galactic Republic forces advancing into Crystal Sea, while the Republic commander prepared artillery to break through their positions. The chapter left both sides poised for battle, with the Republic underestimating the Indjori’s combat power.

• Shen Yuanhao learned that the Republic had entered Crystal Sea with about 1,100 armored vehicles, and he gathered 500 soldiers to accompany him in Warthogs.
• Shen Yuanhao ordered the remaining Fourth Civilization troops to defend in place and provide artillery support.
• Karina told a staff officer that Indjori tactics were to kill, and more than ten thousand Indjori warriors charged toward the Republic forces.
• The Republic commander assumed the Indjori were ineffective in a head-on battle and ordered his self-propelled artillery to take firing positions.

The Galactic Republic opened fire on the charging Indjori at the Crystal Sea front, but Shen Yuanhao’s forces used Wing-Flapping Backpacks to evade artillery and close in. As Republic fighters attacked, Karina led the Indjori into a drug-enhanced assault on the Republic’s armored line.

• The Republic commander ordered artillery to fire and armor to form a U-shaped defensive formation against the Indjori charge.
• Shen Yuanhao ordered Zack, Lambda, and Sathos to send their tribes aloft, and Indjori used Wing-Flapping Backpacks to fly low over the battlefield.
• The Republic commander recalled fighters from the Separatist rear base after learning the Indjori had taken flight.
• Shen Yuanhao called for anti-air cover, and Karina ordered the Indjori to charge as Warthog crews fired at the Republic fighters.
• The Indjori inhaled Umbrella’s concentrated berserk essence, grew stronger, and crashed into the Republic armored forces.

The Indjori devastated the Galactic Republic armored legion at Crystal Sea, overwhelming its troops in a brutal close-range battle while Shen Yuanhao directed their attack. As the Republic force began to rout, Karina spotted the approaching Juggernaut-led armored force and prepared to fight it.

• An Indjori smashed through a Republic transport and attacked soldiers and an AT-TE, while others crippled the walker with sticky bombs.
• Indjori fighters scattered through the Republic formation, destroying armored units and killing soldiers as the Republic troops panicked and fled.
• The Republic commander split his forces to counter the Indjori, but the maneuver worsened the rout, leaving the Republic Air Force to bomb the tangled battlefield.
• Shen Yuanhao coordinated the Indjori and ordered Sathos and Lambda to attack the army's rear command headquarters.
• Shen Yuanhao and Karina prepared to defend their position as the high-speed armored force, led by HAVw A6 Juggernaut tanks, approached.
• Karina grinned and declared that it was finally her turn to fight.

The Indjori overwhelmed the Republic base, but a combined air and armored counterattack put their forces at risk of annihilation. Shen Yuanhao identified the Turbo Tanks as their last chance, and Karina revealed her Force-sensitive power and confidence that she could capture them.

• The Republic commander ordered wounded personnel and civilians to evacuate while he stayed behind to defend the base.
• Indjori warriors descended on the base and attacked the commander’s forces.
• Republic fighters, TX-130 tanks, and HAVw A6 Juggernaut tanks launched a coordinated assault that forced the Indjori to take cover.
• Shen Yuanhao asked Karina about capturing the Turbo Tanks, and Karina declared she could do it as rubble floated around her.

Karina and the Indjori fought a bloody battle against Galactic Republic forces across Crystal Sea, using captured equipment and enhanced black Indjori warriors to seize Juggernaut tanks. After Fourth Civilization reinforcements struck the Republic flank, news that Karina Crater had fallen broke the Republic troops’ fighting spirit.

• The Indjori built a defensive line around more than forty captured AV-7 artillery pieces while Republic TX-130 hover tanks attacked.
• Karina used her Wing-Flapping Backpack to evade Z-95 fighters, crash into a HAVw A6 Juggernaut, and kill its crew.
• More than a hundred enhanced black Indjori warriors broke through Clone Trooper defenses and captured two Juggernaut tanks as other Indjori counterattacked.
• Karina forced the Juggernaut’s surviving drivers to take her back to the Indjori position, where Fourth Civilization soldiers loaded the tank with warriors and sent it back into battle.
• After a day of fighting, more than eight thousand Fourth Civilization Army soldiers attacked the Republic forces from the flank and rear.
• The Republic troops’ morale collapsed when they learned that Karina Crater had fallen.

Ling Liang committed 2,000 AT-PT walkers and three infantry divisions to capture Karina Crater, a key power link in Eriadu satellite’s defenses, and the Fourth Civilization broke through the Republic’s positions. The Republic command center learned that the Separatist fleet had moved out as Karina Crater’s defenders neared defeat.

• Ling Liang sent Indjori to hold the Republic’s armored forces at Crystal Sea while she led 2,000 AT-PTs and three infantry divisions toward Karina Crater.
• Fourth Civilization troops and AT-PTs advanced through heavy fire from more than 50,000 Republic defenders and Republic fighters.
• Fourth Civilization soldiers destroyed Republic firing positions and defensive weapons as the battle raged across the crater rim.
• A communications soldier told the Republic general that the Separatist army had broken through at Karina Crater.
• A staff officer began to raise the Indjori at Crystal Sea, but a report arrived that the Separatist fleet had moved out.

The Republic scrambled to defend the Planetary Shield Generator while Sefrans Tann’s fleet engaged Wilhuff Tarkin near Eriadu. Ling Liang captured the satellite during a one-hour blackout, allowing its orbital defenses to turn on the Republic fleet as Tann launched her attack.

• The Republic commander ordered nearby forces to defend the Planetary Shield Generator after the mountaintop defenses at Karina Crater fell and the geothermal plant shut down.
• The Republic lost contact with the garrison at the Planetary Shield Generator, leaving the commander stunned.
• Sefrans Tann brought a massive Fourth Civilization fleet out of hyperspace near Eriadu and formed a defensive formation against the Republic fleet commanded by Wilhuff Tarkin.
• Tarkin realized Sefrans Tann was drawing the Republic fleet toward the satellite and ordered his ships to retreat.
• The satellite’s orbital defenses opened fire on the Republic fleet, and Sefrans Tann shifted her fleet into an attack formation.
• Ling Liang captured the entire satellite during the hour-long blackout, despite power to the Planetary Shield Generator’s defensive facilities being restored afterward.

Caladanian and Salarian forces exploited a power outage to attack the Republic defenses on Eriadu satellite and seize the command center. The Commander was forced to activate the Planetary Shield at minimum altitude and order the satellite’s fighters into the air as disaster struck.

• After the Republic shut down the generators, backup power began restoring the shield generator’s systems, leaving its outer defenses temporarily without heavy weapons.
• Ling Liang’s thirty thousand Caladanian veterans ambushed the Republic defenders, destroyed their searchlights and sensors, and breached the outer defensive line.
• The Republic defenders retreated toward their inner lines while communications were cut, then received orders to keep contracting the defense.
• Salarian special forces seized the command center and forced the Commander to activate the Planetary Shield at minimum altitude.
• The Salarian operatives compelled the communications officer to order every fighter unit on the satellite to take off and provide reinforcements.
• Fighters began launching from air bases across Eriadu satellite, and disaster struck.

Sefrans Tann’s forces seized the Eriadu satellite’s Planetary Shield Generator, trapping Republic troops and cutting off communications until Admiral Robertson surrendered. Ling Liang took control of the satellite’s military facilities and turned its orbital defenses against the Republic fleet, leaving Eriadu exposed.

• A Salarian special-forces hacker activated the low-altitude Planetary Shield, causing Republic fighters to crash into it and cutting off communications across the Eriadu satellite.
• Sefrans Tann’s fleet arrived in Eriadu’s outer space, and the captured control center demanded that the satellite’s armed forces surrender within half an hour or face Orbital Bombardment.
• Admiral Robertson concluded that his scattered forces could not retake the shield generator or resist the Separatist fleet, and he surrendered.
• Ling Liang’s forces took the satellite’s spaceports, air bases, and orbital defenses, then fired on the Republic fleet fighting Sefrans Tann’s main fleet.

Sefrans Tann’s Fourth Civilization fleet captured Eriadu satellite, drove Wilhuff Tarkin’s 18th Army fleet back, and began bombarding Eriadu’s planetary shield. Tarkin discovered the Separatist ships had unexpectedly strong, externally replenished shields, then learned their engines also appeared to resonate with one another.

• Sefrans Tann pursued Wilhuff Tarkin’s 18th Army fleet after Eriadu satellite fell, destroying seven Hunter Class Battlecruisers and more than thirty smaller warships before the Republic ships retreated to Eriadu’s high orbit.
• Sefrans Tann moved damaged starfighters and wounded personnel to Eriadu satellite and brought two Dawn's Radiance-class motherships into synchronous orbit to support the fleet.
• Twenty hours later, the Fourth Civilization fleet renewed its advance, drove back the 18th Army fleet, and bombarded Eriadu’s Planetary Shield with Ogrov Torpedo Cruisers.
• Wilhuff Tarkin ordered scans of the Separatist ships and learned their shields exceeded expected strength by 41 percent because they were receiving energy wirelessly from an external source.
• An engineer told Wilhuff Tarkin that the Separatist warships’ engines also seemed to share a peculiar resonance.

Wilhuff Tarkin learned that the Separatist Durov-class Battlecruisers could synchronize their engines to boost their shields and firepower. After the Fourth Civilization broke Eriadu’s orbital defenses and forced the Republic fleet into the atmosphere, Republic leaders discussed the planet’s crisis and the wider threat posed by Dawn Star Planet.

• An engineer explained to Wilhuff Tarkin how intermittent resonance among the Durov-class Battlecruisers increased their combined efficiency and combat power.
• On June 4, Fourth Civilization engineers fired repeated nuclear bombs from Eriadu’s modified orbital defense system into the planet’s shield, and the Republic’s 18th Army retreated into the atmosphere.
• Sefrans Tann’s fleet destroyed Eriadu’s exposed space stations, while Ling Liang returned to the flagship and prepared for the planetary landing.
• The Chief of Staff reported Eriadu’s dire situation to Sheev Palpatine, who told him to assure Governor Tarkin that the defeat was not his fault.
• Mace Windu and Yoda warned that Eriadu must not fall because Dawn Star Planet and its forces posed a major threat.
• The Chief of Staff reported that Octavian Grant had made almost no progress against Yag'Dhul, where the Givin used the three-star system and two powerful Agonev-class star bases to hold off the Republic.