Chapter Summaries

Lux Bontri clashed with his mother, Mina Bontri, over Onderon’s droid rule and secretly hacked into her computer to find information about THOR. He discovered a message about a weapons test in three days, convinced it was his chance to strike.

• Sola Gerrera urged Lux to prove himself by destroying THOR, while Stila challenged Sola for pressuring a child to betray his mother.
• Lux returned home and argued with Mina Bontri about whether droids protected Onderon or enslaved it.
• Mina reflected on her efforts in the Rim Faction to improve conditions on Onderon and on her son’s failure to understand her position.
• That night, Lux used a hacking program to access Mina’s computer and search for intelligence about THOR.
• Lux found a message from Kalani instructing Mina to handle a weapons test in a nearby valley three days later, and he decided the test involved THOR.

Lux Bontri uncovered evidence of a secret Separatist weapon called THOR and brought it to the Rebel Alliance, prompting Sola Gerrera to launch an aggressive plan to destroy it. As Anakin Skywalker decided the Jedi would intervene, Mina Bontri discovered that General Kalani had summoned her to a meeting under false pretenses.

• Lux Bontri searched Mina Bontri’s computer and found clues linking J-1 Proton Cannons, Hellfire missiles, and Tyran Heavy Industries engineers to a huge secret war machine.
• Lux Bontri escaped his home and delivered the intelligence to Sola Gerrera, Stila Gerrera, and the Rebel Alliance.
• Sola Gerrera ordered nearby Rebel Alliance branches to reinforce an attack on THOR, while Stila Gerrera objected to his unilateral decision.
• Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano discussed the danger, and Anakin decided the Jedi would directly help the rebels.
• Mina Bontri arrived at the Unifar Temple and learned from General Kalani that his earlier message had not been sent to the wrong person.

General Kalani revealed that he had used staged intelligence leaks to identify possible Rebel Alliance collaborators, and accused Mina Bontri after the trail pointed to her and her son, Lux. He revealed that Lux had slipped away to deliver intelligence to the rebels as part of a plan connected to the experimental Thor mech beneath the Unifar Temple.

• General Kalani explained how he had tracked leaks through staged intelligence, while B-2 super battle droids restrained Mina Bontri and the ministers.
• Mina realized the intelligence trail implicated her and feared that her rebellious son, Lux Bontri, had become involved with the Rebel Alliance.
• Sanji Rush called Mina's suspected betrayal a crisis for Onderon, and General Kalani revealed that Lux had left the mansion and evaded surveillance.
• Mina struggled to go after Lux, but General Kalani said Lux had to deliver intelligence to the rebels to fulfill his mission.
• General Kalani identified the plan's connection to Thor, an experimental prototype mech from Dawn Star Planet hidden in the testing grounds beneath the temple.

General Kalani revealed to Mina Bonteri that THOR would be tested against the captured Rebel Alliance fighters, including her son, Lux Bontri. Meanwhile, the Rebels prepared to attack the weapon during its test, and Lux insisted on joining them.

• General Kalani brought Mina Bonteri and two ministers to the underground laboratory, where they saw the massive Thor Mech being equipped with two J-1 Proton Cannons.
• General Kalani admitted that he had used partly false intelligence to lure Rebel fighters into the Thor Mech's weapons test, and Mina collapsed upon learning that Lux was among them.
• Lux's intelligence helped the Rebel Alliance understand THOR's anti-air role, and Sola Gerrera and Anakin Skywalker joined the plan to destroy the prototype during testing.
• Stila Gerrera urged Lux to stay with the Rebels overnight and return home in the morning, but Lux demanded to fight alongside them.

Stila Gerrera discovered that Lux Bontri’s home had been surrounded by battle droids and feared the THOR intelligence was a trap, while Sola Gerrera and Anakin Skywalker prepared their attack. The chapter ended with their forces set to lure Sanji Rush into a valley ambush.

• Stila Gerrera brought Lux Bontri back near his home and worried that Sola Gerrera was exploiting him.
• Stila spotted battle droids surrounding Lux’s home and suspected the rebels’ intelligence about THOR had been compromised or planted.
• Stila turned Lux away from the mansion and set out to warn Sola Gerrera that the THOR operation might be a trap.
• Anakin Skywalker dismissed Ahsoka Tano’s concerns and assigned her team to destroy Iziz’s power station.
• Sola Gerrera joined Anakin with more than three hundred fighters, and they planned diversions and an ambush in a valley.

Zhang Jiarui piloted the Thor Mech as its heavily guarded convoy left Iziz for a weapons test, while Rebel Alliance forces harassed it along the route. As the convoy came under attack in the forest, Ahsoka Tano’s team sabotaged Iziz’s Energy Center and headed for the communications center.

• General Kalani escorted Zhang Jiarui to the Thor Mech and withheld the identity of its test targets.
• The Thor convoy left the Unifar Temple, and Rebel Alliance scouts tracked its route while Anakin Skywalker ordered a probing attack.
• Rebel fighters launched repeated ambushes against the convoy in Iziz and later attacked its escorts with Swoop-G speeder bikes in the forest.
• Ahsoka Tano’s team seized an AAT tank, destroyed Iziz’s Energy Center, and cut power to half the city.
• Ahsoka Tano’s team continued toward the communications center.

Rebel forces attacked Iziz and ambushed the convoy carrying the Thor Mech, while Anakin Skywalker prepared to intervene when droid gunships threatened the Rebel fighters. The chapter ended with Anakin piloting an Eta-2 Interceptor straight toward the gunships.

• Ahsoka Tano's squad disabled Iziz's communications towers, while another Rebel squad damaged the Unifar Temple and prompted Sanji Rush to order droids to guard its underground command center.
• General Kalani kept Iziz's other forces in position and relied on the Thor Mech, despite General Akhenaten Tandin's concern for Zhang Jiarui's safety.
• Rebel Alliance fighters on Swoop-G speeders attacked the Thor Mech convoy, but deployed B-1 battle droids forced them to retreat.
• Anakin Skywalker and Sola Gerrera shifted their plan to target the Thor Mech after the Valley Research Base's defenders stayed in place.
• Six HMP droid gunships attacked the retreating Rebels until Anakin Skywalker arrived in an Eta-2 Interceptor, destroyed one gunship, and charged the others.

Anakin Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance fought battle droids while Sola-Gerrera led an attack on the container holding the Thor Mech. Stila-Gerrera warned Sola that the intelligence was likely a trap, but the mech emerged before the rebels could retreat.

• Anakin Skywalker shot down an HMP droid gunship and several Vulture droid fighters as Rebel Alliance warriors attacked the battle droids on the ground.
• Sola-Gerrera and Rebel Alliance reinforcements struck an AAT assault tank with rockets, while Stila-Gerrera warned Lux-Bontri that the intelligence about THOR could be a trap.
• A rocket hit the container carrying the Thor Mech, and Zhang Jiarui activated the mech after discovering his communications were cut off.
• Stila-Gerrera urged Sola-Gerrera to retreat and inform General Skywalker, but Sola rejected her warning and shoved her aside.
• The container broke apart, and the Rebel Alliance warriors saw the enormous Thor Mech rise into view.

Zhang Jiarui piloted the Thor Mech into battle and devastated the Rebel Alliance forces, while Sola Gerrera, Anakin Skywalker, and others failed to stop it. As Stila Gerrera tried to evacuate survivors and Lux Bontri confronted his guilt, Zhang pressed a red button and the mech’s shoulder launch ports opened and fired.

• The Thor Mech appeared on the battlefield, and Sola Gerrera ordered the Rebel Alliance warriors to attack it.
• Zhang Jiarui recovered from his shock and used the Thor Mech’s particle cannons and Punisher Cannons to destroy charging Rebel Alliance forces.
• Sola Gerrera’s EMP grenades failed to affect the mech, and Anakin Skywalker’s fighter was hit by a missile barrage and forced into an emergency landing.
• Stila Gerrera called for a retreat while Lux Bontri watched the slaughter and blamed himself for giving the intelligence that led the warriors into the trap.
• Zhang Jiarui pressed the red button, and the Thor Mech opened its shoulder launch ports and fired.

The Thor Mech unleashed white phosphorus bombs on the Rebel Alliance, devastating the warriors around it and leaving Doctor Zhang Jiarui horrified by the aftermath. Stila Gerrera rescued her brother Sola, while Anakin Skywalker confronted Zhang but stopped before killing him after sensing his fear and regret.

• The Thor Mech fired white phosphorus bombs that set Rebel Alliance warriors and the ground around it ablaze.
• Stila Gerrera searched for Sola Gerrera, helped wounded soldiers escape, and found her brother badly burned and unconscious.
• Zhang Jiarui stopped controlling the Thor Mech after witnessing the suffering caused by the attack.
• Stila shot Sola's burning leg to stop the phosphorus fire, then carried him away from the battlefield.
• Anakin Skywalker reached the Thor Mech and pierced its cockpit armor with his Lightsaber, but sensed Zhang Jiarui's emotions and withdrew without killing him.

After the Thor Mech’s devastating attack on the Rebel Alliance, Lux Bontri was blamed for the massacre and Anakin Skywalker refused to rescue his mother. General Kalani’s crackdown decimated the rebels, while Anakin reported Onderon’s situation to the Republic, which delayed deciding whether to occupy the planet.

• Anakin Skywalker organized rescue efforts as Rebel Alliance survivors emerged from the smoke and saw Saw Gerrera badly burned and missing a leg.
• Lux Bontri apologized to Stila Gerrera and tried to explain himself to Pinar, but the rebels blamed and rejected him.
• Anakin refused Lux’s plea to rescue Mina Bontri, citing her uncertain loyalties and possible role in the conspiracy.
• Doctor Zhang Jiarui drove the Thor Mech more than thirty kilometers before General Kalani’s transport collected him, then returned to Unifar Temple and shut himself away.
• General Kalani sealed off cities around Iziz and arrested thousands during searches for people with white phosphorus burns or missing adult men.
• Anakin Skywalker told the Republic that resistance remained and warned that occupying Onderon could jeopardize control of the battlecruiser production lines on Dxun; the Republic planned to send supplies and reassess within a month.

Stila Gerrera tried to enlist her brother Sola’s help after the rebels’ defeat, but he blamed her and Lux and walked away. Meanwhile, Tang Xiao considered his plans on Korriban before discussing Mina Bontri’s arrest and its political impact with Count Dooku and senator Ainlee Tim.

• Stila Gerrera visited the recovering Sola Gerrera and asked him to help the Rebel Alliance, but he blamed her for their defeat and left the hospital.
• Stila watched Regent Sanji Rush announce a public trial and execution for captured rebels, including Mina Bontri, three days later.
• Stila argued that Lux Bontri had not betrayed the rebels, but Sola rejected her explanation and stormed out.
• Tang Xiao waited near the ruins of a space station on Korriban, where he planned to draw on Sith inheritance to increase his power.
• Tang Xiao considered how Darth Sidious was growing stronger and recognized that he would eventually have to confront him openly.
• Tang Xiao discussed Mina Bontri’s arrest with Count Dooku and received a transmission from senator Ainlee Tim, as the scandal threatened the Rim Faction’s political standing.

Tang Xiao ordered Mina Bontri dealt with for nearly enabling a coup on Onderon, then directed General Kalani to release and surveil former King Ramses Dundup. He planned to use Dundup to expose Rebel Alliance contacts and prepared for Darth Malthael to enter the conflict.

• Tang Xiao rejected Ainlee Tim's request to protect Mina Bontri and declared that she must be dealt with for her role in the attempted regime change on Onderon.
• Tang Xiao told General Kalani not to execute Ramses Dundup and instead to release him after placing Onderon under military control for a week.
• Tang Xiao explained that Dundup would refuse to support the rebels, while their leaders' attempts to contact him would let Kalani identify and arrest them.
• Tang Xiao ordered Kalani to keep Dundup under surveillance and warned that Sanji Rush must not obstruct the plan.
• Tang Xiao looked toward Onderon and announced that Darth Malthael would take the stage.

Darth Malthael traveled to Korriban as the chapter recounted the planet’s history and the origins of its Sith inhabitants. After Dark Jedi Knights conquered the Sith, they began interbreeding with them, setting the stage for the Sith Empire.

• Darth Malthael piloted a shuttle toward the planet known to the Republic as Moraband and to the Sith as Korriban.
• The chapter described how Korriban’s harsh environment and pervasive Dark Side shaped the Sith, their society, and their traditions of Sith magic and alchemy.
• The Sith endured repeated conquests by the Killiks, the Rakatan Infinite Empire, and the Xim Empire, while internal warfare and rigid social divisions held back their civilization.
• Dark Jedi Knights fleeing a Jedi civil war arrived on Korriban, including Karness Muur, and swiftly conquered the Sith.
• The Dark Jedi recognized the planet’s powerful Dark Side and the Sith’s innate talent, then began interbreeding with them to produce descendants with strong Force abilities.

The chapter traced the rise of the Sith from the Dark Jedi Knights’ arrival on Planet Korriban through the creation and collapse of the Old Sith Empire. It ended with Darth Revan killing Darth Malak and a Sith civil war devastating Korriban.

• The Dark Jedi Knights defeated the Sith tribes, learned their techniques, and combined Sith Alchemy with interbreeding to pass Sith Force talent into their descendants.
• The descendants of the Dark Jedi Knights called themselves Sith Lords and built an empire that expanded across the Outer Rim over two thousand years.
• The Sith Empire developed the Red Sith ruling family and Massassi warrior caste, becoming known as the Old Sith Empire.
• Five thousand years ago, Emperor Naga Sadow attacked Coruscant in the Hyperspace War but was defeated by the Jedi Order.
• Naga Sadow returned to Korriban and faced betrayal, while the Old Sith Empire collapsed amid internal conflict and Republic conquest.
• Darth Revan killed Darth Malak, setting off a Sith civil war that destroyed Planet Korriban.

Darth Malthael landed on Korriban and encountered the Sith spirit Marka Ragnos, whom he deliberately provoked. He mocked Ragnos for the fall of the Sith Empire and left the spirit raging helplessly.

• Darth Malthael approached Korriban’s Sith Academy ruins while avoiding the Valley of the Dark Lords.
• Marka Ragnos appeared in Darth Malthael’s shuttle and questioned how someone so weak had become a Sith Lord.
• Darth Malthael calmly brushed his teeth and spat mouthwash at Marka Ragnos, provoking the spirit.
• Darth Malthael mocked Marka Ragnos as a loser whose Sith Empire fell soon after his death.
• Darth Malthael revealed he had come to Korriban to provoke Marka Ragnos and settle a score for Darth Pregas.

Darth Malthael recalled how Marka Ragnos had judged Sith Lords after death, including cursing Darth Pregas so thoroughly that Pregas dismissed the encounter as a hallucination. Expecting the ancient Emperor to condemn Bane’s Sith lineage when they met on Korriban, Malthael resolved to argue back.

• Marka Ragnos ruled the Sith Empire for a century, earning a reputation as its greatest emperor and ushering in its Golden Age.
• After Ragnos died, he demanded that Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh fight more viciously before recognizing Sadow as his successor.
• Naga Sadow’s attack on Coruscant failed, and Ludo Kressh’s rebellion plunged the Sith Empire into civil war.
• Marka Ragnos appeared aboard Darth Pregas’s ship and viciously berated him when Pregas asked for the title of Dark Lord.
• Darth Pregas concluded that Ragnos had been a hallucination and recorded the encounter as a clash between his own thoughts.
• Darth Malthael anticipated that Ragnos would condemn Bane’s Sith lineage and prepared to curse him back.

Darth Malthael traded insults with Marka Ragnos while secretly trying to mark and absorb the ancient Sith’s power, but Ragnos detected the attempt and vanished. Malthael then landed on Korriban and headed toward the Valley of the Dark Lords, while Sheev Palpatine abruptly postponed an important meeting after sensing an urgent disturbance.

• Darth Malthael and Marka Ragnos argued over the Sith Empire’s history, with Malthael taunting Ragnos about the Empire’s defeat in the Hyperspace War.
• Darth Malthael secretly used the Death Force to try to absorb and mark the power in Marka Ragnos’s soul, but Ragnos noticed and vanished through the Death Force barrier.
• Darth Malthael prepared for the dangers ahead, landed his shuttle on Planet Korriban, and walked through the sandstorm toward a valley.
• Mas Amedda presented Sheev Palpatine with the 8th Army’s request for reinforcements against the Geth, and Palpatine discussed Governor Fan Ke’s motives.
• Sheev Palpatine sensed a disturbance, ordered Mas Amedda to postpone the next day’s meeting, and left to attend to matters elsewhere.

Darth Malthael crossed Korriban’s sandstorm and reached the ruined Sith Academy, where his presence drew the dead from the sand and called forth spirits inside. He entered the academy as thousands of skeletons followed in seven columns, while more phantoms appeared around him.

• Darth Malthael walked through the sandstorm toward the ancient Sith Academy, sensing the spirits and Dark Side Force surrounding him.
• Darth Malthael approached the academy entrance as skeletons rose from his footprints and the sand, gathering behind him in the thousands.
• Darth Malthael entered the academy, and the skeletons followed in seven orderly columns.
• Darth Malthael walked through the academy’s ruined interior as blue spirits appeared around him.
• Darth Malthael reached the main entrance hall, where a collapsed stele bore the carved faces of Sith Lords.

Darth Malthael entered the abandoned Sith Academy to perform a ritual, using his Death Force to awaken and command the souls of the dead. As the dead swarmed after him and the Academy became a Land of the Dead, he continued climbing under immense pressure, at risk of being swallowed himself.

• Darth Malthael climbed the Academy’s stairs, leaving the skeletons and spirits below as he entered the main hall.
• Darth Malthael gathered Dark Side Force and Death Force, then called on the dead to awaken and seek power and knowledge through him.
• Darth Malthael unleashed his power, driving the skeletons and spirits into a frenzy and raising the dead throughout the valley.
• Darth Malthael continued upward as the dead piled onto the stairs and the Academy became a world of the dead.
• Darth Malthael’s Death Force merged with the Academy’s Dark Side Force, while the growing pressure threatened to swallow him.