Chapter Summaries

Lieutenant General Trinald Skarrid misread the Rendili Defense Fleet’s formation changes and was caught off guard when Destruction fired its ion pulse cannon early. The attack split the Republic fleet and left its ships exposed to a concentrated assault, where the chapter ended with two Hunter Class Battlecruisers colliding amid heavy damage.

• Trinald Skarrid ordered the Republic fleet to maneuver right, believing the Rendili Defense Fleet was preparing to concentrate fire on its flanks.
• Destruction fired its ion pulse cannon before fully charging, surprising Skarrid and disrupting the Republic fleet’s electronics.
• The Rendili Defense Fleet’s four Victory I-class Star Destroyers and captured Knight-class Star Destroyer plunged into the Republic formation as Destruction’s pulse cannon restricted the flagship’s movement.
• The Republic fleet split, leaving about one-third of its ships cut off while the rest maneuvered away from the battlefield.
• Destruction and the five attacking Star Destroyers concentrated fire on isolated Republic warships, shattering a Hunter Class Battlecruiser’s shields and damaging its hull.
• A damaged Hunter Class Battlecruiser tried to flee and collided with another Hunter Class Battlecruiser.

Sefrans Tann used the Destruction's ion pulse cannon to disrupt Lieutenant General Skarrid's Republic fleet, then exploited its broken formation to overwhelm it with Rendili's warships. As Skarrid's fleet neared defeat, Lieutenant General Jan Dodonna arrived with the other half of the seized Rendili Defense Fleet.

• Lieutenant General Skarrid tried to restore his fleet's formation while the Destruction's bombardment continued and the Knight-class Star Destroyer's systems came back online.
• Skarrid discovered that the Republic fleet had been split and thrown into disarray, while Rendili's ships carried out coordinated independent attacks.
• Sefrans Tann sent the Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers charging toward Skarrid's rear fleet, worsening the Republic's chaos and losses.
• Skarrid realized Tann had used the Destruction to disrupt his deployment while preparing a newly reorganized Rendili fleet to exploit the confusion.
• Skarrid tried to regroup his ships, but Tann's maneuvers and traps drove the Republic fleet toward defeat.
• Lieutenant General Jan Dodonna entered the battlefield with the other half of the Rendili Defense Fleet seized by the Republic.

Sefrans Tann used precise tactics and psychological misdirection to devastate both Republic fleets at Rendili, while Bangjila Urlan struggled to stabilize the planet and prepare its defenses. Rendili’s shipyards began expanding, but Urlan discovered that Rendili StarDrive lacked the range of warship designs needed to build a complete fleet.

• Sefrans Tann anticipated Jan Dodonna’s arrival, redirected the Dreadnought formations against Skarrid’s flagship, and disabled eleven of Dodonna’s cruisers with Destruction’s ion cannon.
• Jan Dodonna split his scattered fleet to try to rescue the disabled ships, while Tann mocked him for falling into her trap.
• Bangjila Urlan imposed rationing and arranged for transports to evacuate more than fifty million civilians, many of whom were sent to Eriadu.
• Urlan faced widespread riots and uprisings, sought more B-1 battle droids, and worked to expand Rendili’s defenses and shipbuilding capacity.
• After four more defense platforms joined Rendili’s system and hundreds of docks began construction, Urlan found that Rendili StarDrive had too few suitable warship designs to build a complete fleet.

Bangjila Ulan secured Fourth Group blueprints for Rendili StarDrive to build a balanced fleet, but Adele Ulan confronted him over using her marriage for political gain. After Rendili received the cooperation it wanted, Adele left for Dawn Star Planet to join Tang Xiao, and Bangjila let her go.

• Adele Ulan accused Bangjila Ulan of treating her as a bargaining tool, but he urged her to seek benefits from Tang Xiao.
• Glosse Shelbia finalized an agreement providing Rendili StarDrive with blueprints for five supporting warship types.
• Bangjila Ulan ordered engineers to modify Rendili's orbital shipyards and begin producing the new vessels.
• Adele told Bangjila she was leaving for Dawn Star Planet to fulfill her duties as Tang Xiao's wife.
• Bangjila ordered his security officer to let Adele go and acknowledged that he was losing something in exchange for what he had gained.

Sefrans Tann routed the Republic fleets at Rendili, while Jan Dodonna and Skarrid learned they had been ordered to keep her occupied despite their losses. At Cona Planet, staff officer Sehas arranged to bring an unseen accomplice into the Republic fleet command center for double payment.

• Sefrans Tann crushed Jan Dodonna and Skarrid's fleets at Rendili, destroying twelve Hunter Class Battlecruisers and seventeen Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers as the survivors fled.
• Jan Dodonna and Skarrid discussed withdrawing from Rendili, but Supreme Strategic Command ordered them to keep Sefrans Tann tied down until reinforcements arrived.
• Jan Dodonna concluded that the Republic had abandoned them as expendable pawns, while Skarrid struggled to accept their situation.
• On Cona Planet, Sehas arranged for an unseen accomplice to board a shuttle to the spaceport and enter the fleet command center in exchange for double payment.

Sehas helped the invisible Gabriel Tosh access a Republic fleet database, where Tosh discovered that the attack on Semirres Planet was scheduled for the next day. Tosh tried to send a warning, but his invisibility failed and he realized the database visit was a trap.

• Sehas traveled to the spaceport and saw Clone Troopers boarding assault transports as the Republic fleet prepared for war.
• Sehas entered the command center under the pretense of correcting a combat record and let Gabriel Tosh use his identity ID to access the database.
• Tosh discovered that the Republic planned to raid Semirres Planet the next day, despite the intelligence Sehas had received.
• When Sehas tried to call for help, Tosh stopped him, but electrical currents exposed Tosh's invisibility and made blood seep from his eyes.
• Tosh accused Sehas of setting him up, while Sehas stood stunned and denied nothing.

An alarm in the Republic Fourth Army's Third Sub-fleet led to the discovery that Sehas had been killed after accessing the secret Plan I, putting Lieutenant Colonel Gualin under suspicion. Commander Alfonso discussed the breach and a possible Dark Side influence with Jedi Master Voolvif Monn, who left him to investigate how Sehas learned about the plan.

• Clone Troopers stormed the data center and found Sehas dead from a sharp object driven through his eye into his brain.
• Intelligence officers discovered that Sehas had accessed Plan I and that Gualin had granted him authorization, so they listed Gualin as a suspect and ordered him to remain in his office.
• Alfonso told a hidden Jedi that Master Radul had verified the secret hyperspace route and the Fourth Army Main Fleet had already departed.
• Alfonso wondered who had told Sehas about Plan I, and Jedi Master Voolvif Monn said that was Alfonso's problem.

Wilhuff Monn attacked Gabriel Tosh as Tosh tried to send a warning about the planned assault on Semirres Planet, while Fourth Civilization command received Tosh’s interrupted transmission. The chapter left the Fourth Civilization scrambling to confirm the attack and prepare a response.

• Alfonso ordered communications jamming and a communications blackout at the Third Sub-fleet base after Monn said he would stop Tosh from sending a message.
• Gabriel Tosh hacked a signal generator to transmit a warning, but Wilhuff Monn ambushed him and destroyed the generator during their fight.
• Monn’s Force-powered attacks wounded Tosh, who used a psionic shockwave and cloaking device before firing at Monn, but Monn dodged the shot by tracking Tosh’s scent.
• At the Supreme Military Command, Qi Jian received an interrupted intelligence transmission from Tosh warning that Semirres Planet was about to be attacked.
• Qi Jian ordered the intelligence sent to the Governor and Count Dooku and directed officials to confirm the attack and assess available fleets.

Tang Xiao and Helmut Zemo suspected that the intelligence about a Republic attack on Semirres Planet had been leaked by a third party seeking to tie down both sides’ mobile fleets. The Republic fleet then appeared in the system and launched an assault, with General Trench taking command of the planet’s defenses.

• Tang Xiao ordered Count Dooku to send reinforcements to Semirres Planet and appointed General Trench to command its defense.
• Tang Xiao and Zemo reasoned that a third party had likely leaked the intelligence to draw Republic and Confederacy forces into a battle and constrain their mobile fleets.
• More than a hundred Republic ships, including over sixty Hunter Class Battlecruisers, arrived at Semirres Planet, where Confederacy forces had prepared to meet them.
• Semirres Planet nationalized its defenses and established a High Command as the Confederacy dispatched Trench to take control.
• Trench arrived on Semirres Planet, and the Republic fleet grew to more than one hundred and fifty warships before launching its first all-out offensive.

The Republic Fourth Army attacked Semirres Planet, where General Trench organized the planet’s defenses and the two fleets began a fierce battle. At Cona Planet, Gabriel Tosh escaped Master Wilhuff Monn aboard a concealed shuttle, but Monn sent V-19 fighters after him.

• General Trench raised Semirres Planet’s shield, deployed its fleet around the Agonev-class star base, and requested reinforcements from Count Dooku and Governor Tang.
• Praji ordered the Republic Fourth Army to seize Semirres Planet, and General Davis advanced the fleet into battle.
• The Republic fleet launched fighters and fired on Semirres’s defenders, whose shields absorbed the attack as they returned fire.
• Master Wilhuff Monn pursued the injured Gabriel Tosh at the Third Sub-fleet base on Cona Planet.
• Tosh escaped aboard a concealed shuttle after firing at Monn, who ordered V-19 fighters to pursue him.

Gabriel Tosh struggled to survive on a moon after crashing, while General Trench fought Admiral Davis’s Republic fleet at Semirres Planet. Asajj Ventress and Ulu Ulix arrived with reinforcements, and Trench prepared for a possible Republic landing.

• Gabriel Tosh injected himself with an Umbrella healing serum and hid from Wilhuff Monn while trying to send a message, but eventually lost consciousness.
• General Trench used his Hiigaran-class battlecruisers to attack the Republic flank as Admiral Davis spread his forces into small formations and pressed forward.
• Trench sent fighters, including five hundred Wraith fighters, to stop the Republic advance in the U-8 area, forcing Davis to retreat after heavy fighting.
• A Separatist reinforcement fleet arrived at Semirres Planet, bringing Asajj Ventress and Ulu Ulix to join Trench.
• Trench warned Ventress and Ulix that he expected the Republic fleet to attempt a landing and urged them to prepare.

Confederacy of Independent Systems reinforcements strengthened General Trench’s defense of Semirres Planet as General Davis’s Republic fleet encircled the planet and bombarded its shield. When Republic assault ships and transports appeared in a nearby system, both sides recognized that a forced landing was imminent.

• Five Behemoth-class battlecruisers and five Luukri-Hok-class battleships arrived, and the battleships delivered M-808 Scorpion tanks and other ground reinforcements to Semirres Planet.
• General Davis completed the Republic fleet’s encirclement, while General Trench’s attacks failed to break through and Republic warships began bombarding the Planetary Shield.
• General Trench established six orbital Fulcrums around the Agonev-class star base and the Luukri-Hok-class battleships to support a protracted defense.
• A Republic Third Sub-fleet attacked and destroyed a Confederacy reconnaissance fleet in the Ultaar system, but the reconnaissance fleet reported Republic assault ships and transports.
• Semirres Planet’s government mobilized 50 million reserve soldiers as the Republic prepared to force a landing.

Hermit visited Sundari in disguise and observed the New Mandalorian capital’s peaceful, prosperous life, which depended on the Galactic Republic’s support. A server claimed that no one had died from criminal activity in Sundari during the previous year, but Hermit said he had heard of a recent exception.

• The chapter described how the New Mandalorian rebuilt Mandalore with the Galactic Republic’s help and established Sundari as its largest new city.
• Hermit watched a live broadcast of a Mon Calamari dance performance in a Sundari bar, using a Force mask to conceal his identity.
• Hermit ordered Moonlight Wine and tipped the server generously, then said he had visited Sundari twenty-four years earlier during the Mandalorian Civil War.
• The server said Sundari was now the safest place in the galaxy and had recorded no deaths from criminal activity last year.
• Hermit replied that he had heard someone had recently died that way.

Hermit discovered that Death Watch had returned and was operating openly in Sundari, leaving him worried that Satine was in danger and searching for help. Meanwhile, the Republic fleet’s last major ship in the Rendili system was nearing destruction.

• Hermit questioned a waiter about Vitaly Orlov and used his powers to expose the waiter’s lie, then learned that Degado had supposedly quit.
• Death Watch warriors arrived in Sundari, searched the bar while remaining invisible to the public, and left after reporting to their leader.
• Hermit recognized Death Watch and recalled helping Satine defeat them twenty-four years earlier, then feared Satine was in danger and decided he needed reinforcements.
• In the Rendili system, the Separatist battleship Destruction battered the Republic’s Commander-class Dreadnought after its shields failed, while Separatist ships hunted the fleeing Republic fleet.

Sefrans Tann defeated the Republic fleet and captured Lieutenant Generals Trinald Skarrid and Jan Dodonna. She spared Skarrid temporarily after he pledged loyalty to Dawn Star Planet, giving him one night to persuade Dodonna to surrender before she contacted Tang Xiao.

• Sefrans Tann’s fleet routed the Republic forces and surrounded the disabled Commander-class Dreadnought.
• B-2 super battle droids brought the captured Trinald Skarrid and Jan Dodonna to Tann’s bridge.
• Tann mocked the two prisoners and ordered their heads preserved for delivery to Dawn Star Planet.
• Tann shot Dodonna in the knee when he cursed at her, while Skarrid begged to serve Dawn Star Planet and Tang Xiao.
• Tann ordered Skarrid to convince Dodonna to surrender by the next night or both would die.
• Tann straightened her appearance and contacted Tang Xiao, hoping he would praise her victory.

Tang Xiao rejected Sefrans Tann’s request to return to his side and demanded that she defeat an unnamed rival, while Tann pledged to destroy the Republic’s Second Systems Army. In Coruscant, Palpatine used the loss of Rendili to argue for abolishing local defense fleets, drawing opposition from Padmé Amidala.

• Tang Xiao rebuked Sefrans Tann, attacked her with the Force, and told her she had to defeat an unnamed opponent before she could earn the right to stand at his feet.
• Sefrans Tann warned Tang Xiao that the Republic was preparing operations across the Eastern Outer Rim and targeting the Raxus system, then offered to destroy Mace Windu’s Second Systems Army as a gift to her master.
• After Tang Xiao cut the communication, Sefrans Tann ordered Bangjila Ulan that she would withdraw her fleets from the Rendili system despite his warning that it would be left undefended.
• Chancellor Sheev Palpatine told the Galactic Senate that the Republic had lost Rendili and blamed its local defense fleet for aiding Sefrans Tann.
• Aun Free Taa called for abolishing local defense fleets, while Padmé Amidala argued that doing so would leave planets vulnerable and that the Republic could not defend every member world.

Padmé Amidala opposed Sheev Palpatine’s proposal to place every planet’s Defense Fleet under Republic control, warning that it would leave worlds defenseless and concentrate more power in the Chancellor’s hands. Bail Organa told her the proposal was unstoppable, leaving Padmé and Bail unable to prevent Palpatine’s growing authority.

• Padmé Amidala challenged Palpatine’s proposal, while Orn Free Taa cited Rendili’s defense fleet joining the Separatists as justification.
• Palpatine argued that the Rusan Reforms no longer suited the war, but he did not answer Padmé’s concerns about how planets would be protected.
• Bail Organa messaged Padmé that the proposal’s momentum could not be stopped and advised her to support it for now, build political capital, and strike at Palpatine later.
• Padmé recognized that the proposal would make planets depend on the Republic fleet and leave their survival in Palpatine’s hands.
• After the meeting, Padmé and Bail met and acknowledged that they could not stop Palpatine from concentrating more power during the war.

The Republic’s abolition of local defense fleets left many planets exposed to pirates while strengthening its offensives against the Separatists and Palpatine’s authority. After Jedi Master Daceylan ordered an orbital bombardment that killed tens of millions of civilians, the Jedi recalled and confined him, but the precedent had already been set.

• The Galactic Senate passed the Act for the Complete Abolition of Local Defense Fleets, and the Republic transferred the fleets to its Navy.
• The Republic used the newly acquired warships to launch offensives against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, while pirates attacked planets left without protection.
• Republic media praised Sheev Palpatine’s policies as the Republic captured hundreds of planets, and his decrees included one framing Sith and Jedi beliefs as differing approaches to the Force.
• During the battle for Sev Tok, Jedi Master Daceylan ordered an orbital bombardment that killed tens of millions of civilians.
• The Jedi Order recalled Daceylan, investigated him, and confined him, but the precedent for orbital bombardment had been set.

Hermit and Jango Fett planned to investigate Death Watch’s control of Sundari, with Hermit warning that Darth Maul might be involved. Meanwhile, Republic forces launched an invasion of Semirres Planet and met a fierce counterattack from heavily armed Semirian troops.

• Hermit met Jango Fett in Keldabe and said Death Watch had taken control of Sundari.
• Jango said he opposed Death Watch but had no interest in Duke Satine’s affairs, while Hermit explained that outside help was limited and Darth Maul might be behind the takeover.
• Hermit proposed kidnapping a Sundari resident to learn how Death Watch controlled the city and suggested Jango change his armor color.
• An Acclamator-class assault ship, fighters, bombers, and LAAT transports began a Republic attack on Semirres Planet.
• Clone Troopers and AT-TE walkers landed under heavy fire, but heavily armed Semirian soldiers counterattacked and forced the Republic advance to halt and call for air support.

Peter-Anderson and Company Three came under Separatist bombardment aboard their warship at Semirres Planet and rushed to the hangars to escape. As Platform Four was struck and the ship’s artificial gravity failed, an unseen person pulled Anderson into a departing transport.

• Company One assembled to board while Peter-Anderson waited in Company Three’s cramped quarters aboard the warship near Semirres Planet.
• The company commander briefed Company Three on their mission and the planet’s atmosphere, but enemy bombardment struck before medical droids could vaccinate them.
• Peter-Anderson and the soldiers ran toward the hangars as the warship was hit repeatedly, and a blast breached the corridor, killing their company commander and sweeping away others.
• Company Three reached the hangar, where Peter-Anderson sprinted toward Platform Four amid the battle outside.
• A blue projectile struck Platform Four, and the explosion caused the artificial gravity to fail as Peter-Anderson ran toward a transport.
• An unknown person grabbed Peter-Anderson and pulled him into a sweltering space as it seemed to take off.