Chapter Summaries

Sa-Kuis and Zhan-Droga led twenty Dark Jedi Knights into a wasteland transformed by the Archangel of Death’s power, seeking to confront him and protect the Republic forces. After bombardment failed to weaken the Death Force, Zhan-Droga advanced casually through the risen corpses as the Jedi fought them.

• Sa-Kuis explained that the Archangel of Death had turned the battlefield into a death-filled wasteland and that their forces could not survive unless they tied him down.
• Sa-Kuis and Zhan-Droga encountered damaged Clone Troopers staggering toward them and prepared for battle with the twenty Dark Jedi Knights.
• An Acclamator-class assault ship bombarded the ruins, but the Archangel of Death’s Death Force remained undiminished and the fallen Clone Troopers rose again.
• Sa-Kuis ordered the group to kill the Archangel of Death, while Zhan-Droga deactivated his Lightsabers and walked forward through the horde.
• Zhan-Droga and the Dark Jedi Knights cut down the walking corpses as they advanced.

Jan-Droga, a giant carrying Darth Sidious’s power, survived Darth Malthael’s Death Force while it killed the Dark Jedi Knights. Darth Malthael realized the giant was Sidious’s puppet and confronted him.

• Darth Malthael unleashed a Death Sandstorm that killed all twenty Dark Jedi Knights and nearly overwhelmed Sa-Kuis.
• Jan-Droga stood unharmed and dispelled the sandstorm with a blast of dark power.
• Jan-Droga praised Sa-Kuis, told him to run, and revealed his powerful physique beneath his cloak.
• Darth Malthael appeared and recognized that the giant carried Darth Sidious’s aura.
• Darth Malthael understood that Darth Sidious had sent the giant in his place to confront him.

Darth Malthael realized Darth Sidious was remotely controlling Jang Droga, a puppet powerful enough to challenge him. Their battle began, but Darth Malthael discovered Sidious had learned how to resist the Death Force.

• Darth Malthael recognized that Jang Droga was being controlled remotely by Darth Sidious and feared the implications of Sidious's power.
• Darth Malthael summoned the Soul Reaper Sword and prepared to destroy the puppet and uncover how it worked.
• Jang Droga revealed Darth Sidious's identity, and he and Darth Malthael exchanged threats.
• Darth Malthael attacked with the Soul Reaper Sword, but Darth Sidious blocked it with powerful Force lightning.
• Darth Malthael confirmed that Darth Sidious's fighting style was unchanged and found that his Death Force could not penetrate Sidious's Force barrier.

Darth Malthael and Jan Drolga, acting as Darth Sidious's puppet, fought across the Modell Sector, and Jan Drolga wounded Malthael before escaping. Malthael healed and realized Sidious had grown stronger, then left as their next contest loomed.

• Darth Malthael and Jan Drolga clashed with Death Force, Dark Side Force, and lightning as they accused each other of exploiting the Jedi Order's archives.
• Jan Drolga unleashed a Crimson Lightning strike that destroyed his Lightsaber but forced him back.
• Jan Drolga attacked with a second Lightsaber and wounded Darth Malthael, who also seriously injured him, but the puppet escaped.
• Darth Malthael used Death Force to purge the lingering Dark Side Force and heal his wound.
• Darth Malthael concluded that Darth Sidious had grown stronger through the Jedi archives, then departed as their next contest approached.

Jan Drouga survived his confrontation with Archangel of Death and ordered Sa-Kuis to exploit Archangel of Death’s injuries to crush Dawn Star Planet’s resistance. As Master Yoda departed for Planet Dagobah, Sa-Kuis ordered the Republic fleet to attack, and Cassio Tagge considered changing strategy as the fighting stalled.

• Sa-Kuis carried the critically injured Jan Drouga to an Acclamator-class assault ship, where medical droids placed him in a Bacta tank.
• Jan Drouga told Sa-Kuis that Archangel of Death was wounded and ordered him to seize the chance to crush Dawn Star Planet’s resistance.
• Darth Sidious left the Jedi Temple meditation chamber and, as Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, dismissed Mas Amedda’s warning about Senate opposition and a possible impeachment attempt.
• Master Yoda decided to leave the Jedi Order behind and travel to Planet Dagobah, where Archangel of Death’s dark power remained.
• Sa-Kuis told Cassio Tagge to launch an attack because Archangel of Death had been wounded, while Laslo Dorit recommended prioritizing the space battle and consolidating the ground forces.
• An Intelligence Department director approached Cassio Tagge with intercepted encrypted Separatist messages.

Cassio Tagge reviewed intelligence warning that the Separatists planned to smuggle T-Virus weapons and a mysterious T-Veronica virus into Annaj through Codename H. He ordered a fleet patrol and a search for the route while requiring the ground offensive to continue.

• Cassio Tagge read a report describing the Separatists’ plans to reinforce Annaj and unleash biological weapons, including T-Veronica.
• An Intelligence Department official reported that Republic forces had intercepted five ships carrying biological weapons and were examining them aboard the Tokaga-class Hunter Battlecruiser.
• Laslo Dorit argued that concentrated Clone forces could defeat the biological weapons, but Cassio Tagge insisted the threat could force the Republic to destroy Annaj.
• Cassio Tagge ordered part of the fleet to patrol the Annaj system and locate Codename H while ground forces continued their offensive.
• Laslo Dorit silently accepted the orders despite believing the ground forces should be reorganized.

Cassio-Tagge persisted with his costly assault on Annaj Planet rather than risk changing plans. At a secret Republic forward base, James-Bond discovered Kuat Drive Yards had built and organized a huge fleet and asked whether his visit had been unauthorized.

• Cassio-Tagge rejected Laslo-Dorit's proposal to regroup and ordered the ground forces to keep attacking Annaj Planet despite heavy losses.
• Cassio-Tagge also dispatched warships to guard against biological weapons being smuggled in.
• Disguised as a maintenance engineer, James-Bond watched transport fleets pass through the Hyperspace Stabilizer toward the Modell Sector.
• A supervisor warned James-Bond to stop staring at the fleet and explained that Kuat Drive Yards wanted to buy his tractor beam generators.
• James-Bond learned Kuat Drive Yards had built the base and organized the fleet, then asked the supervisor whether he had been brought there off the list.

James Bond infiltrated the Dawn Star System disguised as supervisor Thomas Wicken and learned how Kuat Drive Yards’ military base was being supplied through a corrupt deal. He began looking for a way to send the system’s location to Nova and the others, but first needed to obtain its coordinates.

• James Bond used his surgically altered appearance and Thomas Wicken’s uniform to pass as the supervisor inside the Dawn Star System.
• James Bond learned that Thomas Wicken and the dark broker had arranged a deal to sell Kuat refurbished tractor beam generators, with Yuri Orlov introducing the broker to Duchy of Dawn intelligence agents.
• James Bond discovered that the system’s outer perimeter had strict Republic surveillance, while Kuat Drive Yards’ internal security was lax.
• James Bond identified the external liaison specialist as a possible way to communicate beyond the system, but realized he first needed its exact coordinates.
• James Bond considered searching the ships docked at the spaceport for a source of the system’s coordinates.

James Bond pressured Thomas Wicken into revealing that Navigator Bourne knew the star system’s coordinates, then used Sabacc to win Bourne’s money and provoke him into wagering his DC-9 freighter. The chapter ended as Bond and Bourne began a head-to-head game with all their stakes in the pot.

• James Bond threatened to leave Thomas Wicken trapped without food until Thomas revealed that Navigator Bourne knew the coordinates and gambled heavily.
• James Bond approached Bourne under the pretext of repaying Thomas’s debt and spent several nights gambling with him.
• James Bond won more than forty thousand credits from Bourne and the other workers by playing Sabacc.
• James Bond tried to leave, but Bourne challenged him to one more round and offered his DC-9 freighter as a wager.
• James Bond returned to the table, secretly switched a card, and placed his winnings in the pot as Bourne staked his ship’s ignition key.

James Bond won Bourne’s Sabacc pot, stole hyperspace route data, and persuaded Thomas Wicken’s liaison to help him transmit it. With the Dawn Star System’s location in hand, Bond headed back to the starving Thomas Wicken to negotiate a way to destroy the system’s ring-shaped device.

• James Bond beat Bourne at Sabacc, scattered the winnings to distract the bar crowd, and fled toward Bourne’s ship.
• James Bond fought off Bourne’s men, recorded the ship’s hyperspace route data, and returned Bourne’s starter while claiming he could not fly.
• James Bond gave Bourne credit ingots as repayment for Thomas Wicken’s debt and left him and his men bewildered.
• James Bond converted the route data into coordinates and persuaded Thomas Wicken’s liaison to transmit a chip containing the information in exchange for a share of the profits.
• James Bond avoided the surveillance cameras and headed to the warehouse to negotiate with the starving Thomas Wicken about destroying the ring-shaped device.

Super Lotus, Nova, Gabriel Tosh, and the Dark Templar used forged Kuat Drive Yards cargo codes to enter the Dawn Star System with a tractor beam generator. James Bond outlined a plan to trigger a brief power outage at the ring-shaped device and exploit the commanders’ tension, while Oola-Khan declared that the system would lose power.

• Super Lotus decoded 007’s data, discovered Kuat Drive Yards’ cargo codes, and forged codes to disguise their operation.
• The group passed the Dawn Star System checkpoint aboard an Auro class freighter and entered the system.
• James Bond told Nova and Tosh that he planned to cause a power outage to learn how the ring-shaped device responded to emergencies.
• James Bond said he would use the commanders’ extreme tension to push them into unreasonable decisions after the outage.
• Oola-Khan declared that the Dawn Star System would lose power.

Onana Kuat’s fleet remained stalled outside Annaj Planet after half a month, leaving her furious that the campaign had made no progress toward Dawn Star Planet. Lila Blythex challenged Onana’s attempts to shift the blame and insisted that Cassio Tagge receive support.

• Onana Kuat berated her advisers because the surprise attack had failed to capture Annaj Planet after half a month.
• Lila Blythex considered how the stalled campaign threatened her ambitions, while Onana demanded to know how the fleet could reach Dawn Star Planet.
• Onana threatened to fire everyone, but Lila urged her to focus on advancing the campaign and support frontline commander Cassio Tagge.
• Onana blamed Cassio Tagge, and Lila reminded her that the Republic Supreme Strategic Command and others had helped formulate the plan.
• Lila told Onana to go to the front herself when the Hyperspace Stabilizer launched again, and Onana called her a traitor.

Onana Kuat and Lila Blythex set aside their argument long enough to send reinforcements to Cassio Tagge, while a catastrophic power failure struck during the fleet’s hyperspace preparations. The Acclamator-class assault ship disintegrated before their eyes, leaving Onana devastated.

• Lila Blythex rebuked Onana Kuat, then urged her to focus on capturing Annaj Planet.
• Onana Kuat ordered an Acclamator-class assault ship, 50,000 Clone Troopers, and more armored units sent to Cassio Tagge.
• The reinforcement fleet began preparing for a hyperspace jump using the Hyperspace Stabilizer.
• An energy storage unit exploded, triggering an emergency shutdown that plunged the command center into darkness and stopped the jump.
• After power returned, the Acclamator-class assault ship silently broke apart into countless fragments, and Onana Kuat felt her last string of composure snap.

After sabotage destroyed an Acclamator-class assault ship, Onana Kuat and Lila Blythex blamed each other before the base launched a lockdown and search for the intruder. The search uncovered a warehouse full of corpses, while a mysterious voice warned that no one could escape death.

• Onana Kuat and Lila Blythex traded accusations over the Hyperspace Stabilizer and the destruction of the Acclamator-class assault ship.
• The Security Supervisor demanded that the base hunt down the saboteur, and Onana Kuat promoted him three ranks and assigned him 10,000 Clone Troopers.
• Kuat Drive Yards raised the base to its highest alert, shut down the Hyperspace Stabilizer, and confirmed that an energy transfer station had been sabotaged.
• Onana Kuat entered a secure zone as soldiers searched the vast base for the intruder.
• A Kuat security squad found at least a hundred dismembered bodies in a warehouse, including staff, Clone Troopers, and security soldiers.
• A deep voice sounded in the searchers' minds, saying, “Dum adu'nala. (No one can escape death...)”

A series of massacres and a transport explosion threw the Dawn Star System military base into panic as James Bond and his allies continued their covert operation. Nova destroyed a transport near the Hyperspace Stabilizer and shot down a pursuing fighter, while the transports scattered in fear.

• Four massacres across the Dawn Star System base revealed that a Force-sensitive infiltrator had entered, prompting the base to raise its alert level and deploy its soldiers and Dark Jedi.
• After a blurry sensor image identified the infiltrator as the man who had abducted Ainlee Tim, Kuat Drive Yards sealed travel between stations and Coruscant sent two Hand of the Chancellor experts to assist.
• James Bond blended into a Kuat security patrol while he, Nova, Gabriel Tosh, and Super Lotus discussed their progress and the difficulty of reaching the Hyperspace Stabilizer.
• James Bond noticed Kuat Drive Yards preparing another transport fleet, and Nova revealed that she had secretly boarded an engineering ship and placed a device on a transport.
• Nova detonated the device on a transport near the Hyperspace Stabilizer, causing the fleet to scatter, then shot down a V-19 fighter pursuing her.

Amid mounting panic at Kuat Drive Yards, James Bond infiltrated the computational core while Nova and her allies drew Republic forces into a fight. Nova and Oola-Khan killed a Dark Jedi Knight, then set out to provoke a larger pursuit.

• Nova’s attack and two explosions spread panic through Kuat Drive Yards, and workers and pilots refused to continue working.
• James Bond disguised himself as a technician, obtained an officer’s password pen, and entered the encrypted door to the computational core.
• Nova warned Tosh that fleet-grade Anti-Stealth radar could expose their cloaks, prompting him to relocate.
• Nova used a holographic decoy to evade soldiers and an AT-XT, then fought a Dark Jedi Knight.
• Oola-Khan struck down the wounded Dark Jedi Knight, and Nova left to make the Republic pursue them.

James Bond and Super Lotus sabotaged the Dawn Star System military base, triggering widespread emergencies while Bond infiltrated its command center. Super Lotus breached the Republic fleet system, and Bond prepared to turn warships against the station housing the base’s highest-level command center.

• Commander Quart ordered Space Station UT-14 sealed and sent Hunter Class Battlecruisers and Clone Troopers to search it.
• James Bond implanted Super Lotus’s virus into the base mainframe, then escaped after Sola-A killed a Clone Trooper and Bond disguised himself as a senior officer.
• Super Lotus activated alarms, fire suppression systems, and other disruptions across the base, while more than a thousand escape pods launched from UT-14.
• James Bond and Sola-A entered a station command center, where Bond killed its personnel and inserted the virus-laden drive into the mainframe.
• Super Lotus broke through the Republic military system, and Bond marked the station containing the highest-level command center as his target.
• Super Lotus manipulated warships’ fire-control systems so they would mistake a target near the command station for an enemy ship.

Onana Kuat’s command center descended into chaos as a virus crippled the Dawn Star System and friendly warships fired on the station. After Onana ordered an attack on Dawn Star Planet, Cassio Tagge learned of a hyperspace route there and halted reinforcements to Annaj Planet.

• Onana Kuat watched the virus paralyze the Dawn Star System while the commander and security staff failed to contain it.
• The Elkan and Mountain Wind warships fired on the station after their systems misidentified a nonexistent enemy ship, and Lila Blythex fled.
• Onana Kuat ordered her officers to catch the intruders, then told Cassio Tagge to attack Dawn Star Planet when he reported a newly discovered hyperspace route.
• Cassio Tagge examined a captured Separatist pilot’s verified intelligence about the route connecting Annaj Planet to Dawn Star Planet.
• Laslo Dorit urged Cassio Tagge to keep pressing the campaign on Annaj Planet, but Tagge stopped the order to send more reinforcements.

Cassio-Tagge and Laslo-Dorit argued over whether to abandon the stalled campaign on Annaj Planet and attack Dawn Star Planet, but left the decision to Onana-Kuat. She ordered Dawn Star Planet razed, and Dorit resigned from the expeditionary force.

• Cassio-Tagge demanded plans to attack Dawn Star Planet, while Laslo-Dorit argued that splitting their forces would endanger the Annaj Planet campaign.
• Cassio-Tagge explained that Kuat wanted Dawn Star Planet's warship database and insisted its defenses would be vulnerable without its fleet.
• Laslo-Dorit refused to allow the forces to attack Dawn Star Planet, so Cassio-Tagge sent the dispute to Onana-Kuat.
• Onana-Kuat ordered the expeditionary force to attack Dawn Star Planet and raze it to the ground.
• Laslo-Dorit removed his military cap and insignia and walked away, while Cassio-Tagge watched in silence.

After the attack on Annaj Planet stalled, Cassio Tagge decided the campaign was already doomed and chose to launch a surprise attack on Dawn Star Planet instead. He planned to use the threat of bombardment to bargain with Tang Xiao for warship design data and salvage his military career.

• Cassio Tagge concluded that the raid on the Modell Sector had failed after the Republic forces were slowed by Separatist defenses and biological weapons at Annaj Planet.
• Cassio Tagge feared Dunn Vesex would blame him for the failure and end his military career.
• Cassio Tagge reasoned that political survival mattered more than following military doctrine and decided to attack Dawn Star Planet.
• Cassio Tagge noted that Dawn Star Planet had no mobile warships available and that its Star Ring was the main threat to his fleet.
• Cassio Tagge planned to lead 95 serviceable warships and his flagship, the Commander-class Dreadnought Tagge, in a surprise attack while the remaining 102 ships held Annaj Planet.