Chapter Summaries

Cassio Tagge led the Republic Expeditionary Force in a surprise assault on Dawn Star Planet, aiming to strike the Separatists at their core. After reaching the Endor system, his fleet came under fire from Dawn Star Planet’s powerful Star Ring as it moved to encircle the planet.

• Cassio Tagge inspected the tortured prisoner Xu Yang’s soldier tag before ordering Battlegroup B to depart for the Endor system.
• After learning the hyperspace route could support another battlegroup, Tagge decided to lead Battlegroup A himself once Battlegroup B confirmed its arrival.
• Battlegroup B reported that it had reached the Endor system and found no large capital ships there, so Tagge sent Battlegroup A after it.
• Tagge’s flagship and Battlegroup A joined Battlegroup B, and the 66 warships advanced toward Dawn Star Planet while their fighters engaged the defenders.
• Tagge ordered the fleet to split toward the planet’s poles, but Dawn Star Planet’s Star Ring targeted the ships and opened fire, forcing the fleet into evasive maneuvers.

Cassio Tagge led the Republic fleet in an attack on Dawn Star Planet, then opened negotiations with Tang Xiao. Tang rejected his offer and declared that the battle’s harvest was about to begin.

• Cassio Tagge ordered his ninety-five Hunter Class Battlecruisers to advance and bombard Dawn Star Planet’s Star Ring and planetary shield.
• Dawn Star Planet’s fighters were destroyed, and the Republic fleet lost a Hunter Class Battlecruiser under the Star Ring’s counterfire.
• Tagge launched fighters to escort Y-wing bombers for an attack on the Star Ring, then contacted Tang Xiao to negotiate.
• Tang Xiao appeared on the hologram and intimidated Tagge with his commanding presence.
• Tagge offered terms to spare Dawn Star Planet, but Tang rejected them and said, “Next comes the harvest.”

Tang Xiao refused Cassio Tagge’s demand for the Hell Angel-class and Calamity-class blueprints, and Tagge discovered that Dawn Star Planet had secretly assembled a vast fleet. As allied criminal and smuggler forces arrived, the Republic fleet found itself surrounded.

• Tang Xiao rejected Cassio Tagge’s demand for the warship blueprints and ended their communication.
• Cassio Tagge ordered an attack on Dawn Star Planet’s facilities, then returned to the bridge and learned that his fleet was surrounded.
• The adjutant reported that over four thousand ships had emerged from stations, the Star Ring, mines, and satellites around Dawn Star Planet.
• Dryden Vos and Moloch announced reinforcements for Crimson Dawn and the White Worm Gang.
• BIG BOSS placed the Calamity Legion in position, while Ni Yongxiao reported that the Smuggler Fleet was ready to attack.
• A pale-skinned Hutt appeared on the communications hologram and declared that he would not miss the battle.

Oruba Goresla and a vast coalition of criminal, commercial, and affiliated fleets joined Tang Xiao’s forces at Endor, and Tang Xiao launched an attack on Cassio Tagge’s Republic fleet. The Glory mothership emerged from Endor, and both sides scrambled their fighters as the battle around Dawn Star Planet began.

• Oruba Goresla laughed aboard his Hiigaran-class battlecruiser as his fleet joined the forces gathering at Endor.
• United Mining Group, Tyran Heavy Industries, and several planetary and pirate fleets arrived to reinforce the motley coalition.
• Tang Xiao ordered the coalition to attack, and Dryden Vos urged its forces to kill the Republic fleet.
• More than 3,000 stealth fighters launched as the heavily armed Glory mothership emerged from Endor’s clouds.
• Cassio Tagge ordered the Republic fleet to fall back and launch every fighter, and the battle around Dawn Star Planet erupted.

Tang Xiao rallied the Fourth Civilization as its forces and Hutt Oruba Goresla’s fleet attacked the Galactic Republic’s ninety-five Hunter Class Battlecruisers. The battle left the Republic formation in disarray as thousands of small ships overwhelmed its defenses and strained its shields.

• Tang Xiao addressed the public channel from the Glory mothership, declaring the Battle of Dawn decisive for the Fourth Civilization’s future.
• Mira Han led her modified Spectre fighters, flown by Kig-Yar pilots, into the Republic fighter formations and began a surprise assault.
• Hutt Oruba Goresla sent his fleet into battle, including more than three hundred Rift Class Corvettes that tore through Republic fighters.
• The Glory mothership entered firing range and fired its five Hypermatter Railguns at the Republic fleet.
• Cassio Tagge ordered the Hunter Class Battlecruisers to launch all their fighters, disrupting their main guns as the ships struggled to fend off attacks from all sides.
• More than four thousand small and medium warships battered the Hunter Class Battlecruisers, pushing their Deflector Shields toward collapse.

Crimson Dawn and its allies overwhelmed the Galactic Republic fleet at Dawn Star Planet, exploiting the Hunter Class Battlecruisers’ vulnerable hangars and trapping Republic fighters in a chaotic melee. The Republic fleet barely stabilized the battle, relying on more than ten thousand fighters whose losses continued to mount.

• Dryden Vos ordered Crimson Dawn’s warships to attack, and gangs, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and smugglers joined the assault on the Republic fleet.
• The Republic’s Hunter Class Battlecruisers scattered under attacks from the Star Ring and small enemy ships, while their mass fighter launches exposed their hangars.
• A Rift Class Corvette destroyed fighters and ground crew inside a Hunter Class hangar before a Hiigaran-class battlecruiser struck the vessel with particle beams and split it apart.
• Rift Class Corvettes attacked the returning first-wave fighters, destroying more than two thousand and the four hundred Y-wing bombers they had been protecting.
• Damaged Republic fighters found their ships retreating, evading, or closing their hangar doors, and the fleet barely held together through the efforts of its remaining fighters.

The Galactic Republic fleet suffered devastating losses as the Fourth Civilization’s massed small warships encircled it near Dawn Star Planet. Tang Xiao’s forces trapped Cassio Tagge’s battle groups A and B, leaving them with no chance of victory.

• The Republic’s Hunter Class Battlecruisers lost seven ships within half an hour as fighters and warships were destroyed across the battlefield.
• The chapter explained that the Fourth Civilization had studied small-warship swarm tactics and prepared to use them against the Republic fleet.
• Volgograd-Kanidi devised a plan to lure the Republic toward Dawn Star Planet, and Tang Xiao approved it and gathered forces from across the sector.
• Tang Xiao recalled nearly all of the Duchy of Dawn’s escort fleets, halting its supply transport to assemble nearly 2,000 warships around Dawn Star Planet.
• Tang Xiao led the Glory mothership into the vanguard while the escort fleets advanced under fire, encouraging Crimson Dawn, the White Worm Gang, and mercenary fleets to join the attack.
• The encirclement closed around Cassio Tagge’s battle groups A and B, eliminating their possibility of victory.

Cassio Tagge’s Republic fleet fell into disarray as the Duchy of Dawn’s frigates overwhelmed the Hunter Class Battlecruisers, but C Battlegroup arrived early and offered a chance to turn the battle. Tang Xiao and Volgograd Kanidi revealed that the reinforcements had been allowed through as part of a plan, just as Tagge ordered his surviving ships to break through toward them.

• The Duchy of Dawn’s frigates and fighters overwhelmed the Republic Hunters, whose launch and recovery problems left their squadrons disorganized and their Hangar Platforms exposed.
• A Hunter Class Battlecruiser lost power under sustained bombardment, and the frigates destroyed its bridge before moving on.
• Cassio Tagge lost command of the battle until thirty Hunter Class Battlecruisers from C Battlegroup arrived ahead of schedule.
• Tagge ordered C Battlegroup to hold position, launch fighters in waves, and fire from long range, while counting on forty-two surviving Hunters to join them.
• Tang Xiao watched C Battlegroup arrive, and Volgograd Kanidi explained that the Republic reinforcements had passed through a deliberately opened gap in the Hyperspace Jammer.
• Tagge ordered all his warships to break through toward C Battlegroup and destroy it.

C Battlegroup arrived to bolster the Republic fleet, but twenty Purification-class Black Stealth Special Operations Ships ambushed it and destroyed nine Hunter Class Battlecruisers. With the Republic fleet’s reinforcements devastated, Cassio Tagge feared the stealth ships would help bring about the expeditionary force’s total annihilation.

• The Republic ships raced toward C Battlegroup, hoping to join forces and escape the battle intact.
• Purification-class Black Stealth Special Operations Ships attacked C Battlegroup from behind, destroying its flagship and then striking more Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• C Battlegroup launched fighters and attacks against the stealth ships, but the attackers destroyed nine Hunter Class Battlecruisers before cloaking and scattering.
• Cassio Tagge realized he had made no preparations against the stealth ships and feared they would help destroy the entire Republic expeditionary fleet.

The Galactic Republic’s invasion of Dawn Star Planet collapsed into a desperate last stand after the Purification-class ships destroyed C Battlegroup’s flagship and scattered its forces. With the Hyperspace Stabilizer sabotaged, Laslo Dorit continued the assault on Annaj Planet while Volgograd Kanidi prepared the Duchy of Dawn’s response with Pentilas San Skar, Shi Aimin, and Black Beast Squad.

• Purification-class ships destroyed nine of C Battlegroup’s warships, including its flagship, and the surviving captains panicked, launched all their fighters, and converged on A and B Battlegroups.
• Cassio Tagge watched C Battlegroup fall into chaos, gathered his remaining ships, and ordered a final stand as a swarm of enemy craft descended on the Republic fleet.
• Laslo Dorit learned that agents had destroyed the Dawn Star System’s Hyperspace Stabilizer, cutting off reinforcements, but ordered his forces to continue their assault on Annaj Planet’s capital.
• The Clone Army pressed into Annaj Planet’s capital amid fierce bombardment, while Laslo Dorit concealed the news of the destroyed stabilizer from his troops.
• Volgograd Kanidi received word that the Republic force was isolated and prepared to act with Pentilas San Skar, Shi Aimin, and the Black Beast Squad.

Volgograd Kanidi gathered his four monstrous trump cards for the battle on Annaj Planet after the Republic's reinforcements were cut off. The group prepared to attack the Clone Troopers, with orbital bombardment remaining a risk.

• Commander and Bentiras San Skar discussed the approaching fight as Chieftain Matlaba entered the command center.
• Volgograd Kanidi reprimanded Matlaba for exposing the Indjori presence after he went out to kill a Clone Trooper squad near a ventilation shaft.
• Matlaba explained that he had dealt with the Clone Troopers in ten seconds and insisted they had not reported him.
• Volgograd Kanidi said the Republic's reinforcements had been cut off and ordered the four monsters to follow their targets and kill.
• Shi Aimin warned that the Galactic Republic could use orbital bombardment, and Kanidi said the fleet would monitor the warships.

Annaj Planet’s defenders endured heavy civilian losses as popular hatred of the Galactic Republic fueled resistance, despite the Modell Sector’s separatist leanings. With the Republic unable to fully encircle the capital district and its fleet weakened, Cassio Tagge ordered a ground offensive, setting the stage for an all-out counteroffensive.

• Republic bombardments killed more than a million civilians on Annaj Planet, and many survivors joined the planet’s defense force.
• The people of the Modell Sector hated the Galactic Republic for its past exploitation and invasions, even as they sought independence from the Fourth Civilization.
• Popular support and supply routes kept the Republic from completing its encirclement of Annaj Planet’s capital district.
• T-Virus attacks and Darth Malthael’s strikes opened breaches in the Republic defensive zone, disrupting its plans for a full assault.
• Cassio Tagge ordered a coordinated ground offensive while Volgograd Kanidi’s battered fleet displayed readiness to attack and forced Laslo Dorit’s Republic fleet to pull back.
• The ground forces began an all-out counteroffensive.

On August 5, the Republic’s advance into Annaj’s capital faced Caladanian guerrilla attacks and a full-scale counteroffensive ordered by Volgograd-Kanidi. Shi Aimin led Duchy of Dawn forces into the assault as Huang Yehao and Cummings joined the main force.

• Caladanian warriors ambushed Clone Troopers in the capital, killing soldiers and destroying a TX-130 Saber tank before disappearing into the city.
• The Caladanians hunted isolated Republic squads, forcing the Clone Troopers to gather toward their main force.
• Volgograd-Kanidi ordered a full-scale counteroffensive against the Republic expeditionary force.
• Shi Aimin led the charge, blocking blaster fire with his shield and disabling an AT-TE walker with a bomb.
• Huang Yehao and Cummings led Assault Company 2 of the 266th Army Division into the Duchy of Dawn’s assault.

Huang Yehao and Assault Company 2 broke through the Republic’s clone trooper defenses after finally joining the battle for Annaj. They continued pursuing the retreating clones despite an air raid that collapsed a building and buried several soldiers.

• Huang Yehao led his companies in a coordinated assault, while Cummings and Shi Aimin helped clear the way and the main force split the Republic positions apart.
• Huang Yehao and his fellow soldiers fought after being held in reserve by Governor Kanidi while Annaj’s Planetary Defense Forces suffered heavy losses.
• Assault Company 2 broke through the clone troopers’ line, then Huang Yehao and his soldiers cut down a disorganized countercharge with N-7 Valkyrie rifles.
• Huang Yehao warned his troops of a V-wing air raid and led them into cover as strafing and rockets struck nearby.
• An explosion collapsed half a building and buried several soldiers, but Huang Yehao ordered their rescue and continued the pursuit with Third Platoon.

Huang Yehao led his troops through Republic airstrikes and pursued the retreating clone army to Samba'eba Port. In a bunker near the spaceport, Shi Aimin prepared the final assault as Huang Yehao explained that destroying the port would cripple Republic supply lines.

• Huang Yehao ordered his troops to keep attacking and pursued the retreating Republic clone troopers through the bombed city.
• Caladanian warriors supported Huang Yehao's assault with sniping and flank ambushes as Republic reinforcements were cut down.
• Huang Yehao's Assault Company 2 killed more than a thousand Clone Troopers and reached the outskirts of the occupied Samba'eba Port.
• After the Republic called in air support, Shi Aimin led Huang Yehao and his men through the enemy positions while the bombing fell behind them.
• Huang Yehao explained that destroying Samba'eba Port would reduce Republic supply efficiency by at least eighty percent, and Cummings asked whether they could capture it intact.
• Cummings told Shi Aimin he had operated a crane at the port and boasted about his strength, delighting Shi Aimin.

Huang Yehao tried to organize the attack on a spaceport, but Shi Aimin rushed ahead before the plan was finished. Zhang Jiarui and General Kalani destroyed the Republic’s Acclamator-class assault ship, while Matlaba launched an Indjori charge.

• Huang Yehao explained that the units had to destroy the spaceport and then help the Thor Mech shoot down the Acclamator-class assault ship.
• Shi Aimin left to attack the spaceport before Huang Yehao could assign the units their combat plans.
• The spaceport’s structures and fuel depot exploded, and the Acclamator-class ship turned toward the attack.
• Zhang Jiarui piloted the Thor Mech into the city, where it fired its Tachyon Lance and split apart the Acclamator-class ship.
• Matlaba ordered the Indjori warriors to charge and leave none alive.

Indjori warriors destroyed a Galactic Republic landing zone, while Duchy of Dawn forces attacked Republic spaceports and airfields, disrupting the Clone Army’s offensive. Laslo Dorit knew his troops could not sustain a defensive counteroffensive without reinforcements.

• Indjori Chieftain Matlaba led more than ten thousand Indjori warriors in a backpack-assisted assault on a Republic landing zone.
• The Indjori overwhelmed the Clone Troopers, destroyed the landing zone, and shot down two fleeing transport ships with anti-aircraft missiles.
• Clone Army commanders pulled back frontline forces and increased fighter patrols after learning that one of their five landing zones had fallen.
• The Duchy of Dawn Army’s 266th and 267th Infantry Divisions attacked nearby Republic spaceports and airfields to limit fighter operations.
• Laslo Dorit recognized that his forces could not sustain a defensive counteroffensive without reinforcements.

Caladanian fighters, Indjori warriors, and Dawn Army divisions stalled the Republic’s offensive on Annaj as the Republic relied on inferior Spaarti clones. Black Beast Squad approached the Republic ground headquarters, and its Commander ordered the twenty soldiers to split up and surround it.

• Caladanians attacked clone units throughout Annaj’s capital district while the 266th and 267th Infantry Divisions pushed toward the spaceports.
• Indjori warriors raided landing grounds, forcing Republic commanders to divert troops and aircraft until the Republic’s offensive stalled.
• The Galactic Republic moved its ground command headquarters from its warships onto Annaj’s surface as its fleet became increasingly unsafe.
• Black Beast Squad approached the headquarters, and A-Sharad Heite warned the Commander that they were nearing terrain where scans could detect them.
• After the squad debated the danger of attacking in the open, the Commander ordered its twenty members to split into groups and surround the headquarters.

A'Sharad Heite and the nineteen other members of the Black Beast Squad attacked the Galactic Republic Army Command Headquarters, each advancing along a different route in CMC-300 power armor. Heite’s Force-guided assault helped the squad reach the hilltop before the Republic airstrike arrived, and he stormed through the defenses as the battle continued.

• The Black Beast Squad split into twenty teams to attack the Galactic Republic Army Command Headquarters from different directions.
• A'Sharad Heite used his Force sensitivity to identify the headquarters and prepared to lead the assault, while Romarimonte equipped himself for battlefield medicine.
• The squad charged from its hiding place under heavy fire, relying on its power armor’s shields and speed to advance.
• Heite foresaw incoming rockets and destroyed them with his C-14 Gauss Rifle before catching up with the squad.
• The Black Beast Squad’s gunfire devastated the headquarters’ defenses, prompting the Army Commander to call for an airstrike.
• The squad reached the hill before the airstrike arrived, and Heite smashed through sandbags and fired on the Republic clone troopers.

Black Beast Squad raided the Republic Army Command, overcoming its defenders before Republic air support and tanks could stop them. After the command center fell and its personnel were captured, Laslo Dorit refused to retreat, choosing instead to fight for the army’s final honor.

• Black Beast Squad used its CMC-300 power armor to break through the Clone Trooper defenses, with Bacheco, Romarimonte, and Al-Sarade Heite leading the attack.
• Republic fighters and TX-130 Saber tanks arrived, but Black Beast Squad shot down several aircraft and continued toward the command center.
• A Black Beast Squad member’s armor detonated after he was killed, preventing the Republic from recovering its technology.
• Black Beast Squad members broke into the Republic Army Command, and “Commander” used an officer’s code key to open a door and confront the terrified personnel inside.
• Laslo Dorit received word that Army Command had been attacked and lost contact, but rejected retreat and declared that his troops could still fight for their final honor.