Chapter Summaries

Francis watched the Senate descend into a bitter dispute over the Corporate Alliance and the Outer Rim, while Palpatine explained how earlier events had pushed the conflict toward violence. After Francis agreed to intervene, Palpatine silenced the chamber and called on the Mutual Aid Fund’s founder to speak.

• Palpatine told Francis that Senator Tim expected the Republic Judicial Fleet to intervene again, while Francis recognized that Palpatine’s secret plans were helping drive the crisis toward a battle over Malastare.
• Passel Argente challenged Chancellor Valorum’s authority to interfere with commerce, and Senator Onaconda Farr rallied the Rim Faction against the commercial giants.
• Palpatine explained that Valorum was trapped between the commercial interests and the Outer Rim senators, and asked Francis to help him.
• Francis agreed to intervene, calculating that he could gain influence by acting amid Valorum’s political decline.
• Palpatine quieted the Senate and announced that the founder of the Outer Rim Planets Mutual Aid Fund would speak.

Francis Underwood delivered a speech in the Galactic Senate that rallied support for sanctions while urging Chancellor Phineas Valorum to avoid unchecked power. The Senate rejected direct military intervention on Malastare, but the Corporate Alliance escalated the crisis by blockading the planet with a fleet of more than four hundred ships.

• Francis Underwood spoke in the Senate about Claire Underwood's assassination attempt, democracy, and the Malastare dispute, then left with Palpatine's praise.
• Phineas Valorum proposed sending an investigative delegation to mediate the dispute instead of using military force.
• The Senate voted against direct intervention on Malastare, with Inner Rim and Core Worlds senators joining against the Rim Faction.
• Phineas Valorum thanked Sheev Palpatine, unaware that the vote's outcome suited Palpatine.
• News reached the Senate that the Corporate Alliance had blockaded Malastare with a mercenary fleet of more than four hundred ships.

The Corporate Alliance blockaded Malastare with a vast fleet, while Chancellor Valorum struggled to find support after the local defense fleet refused to deploy. The chapter then rewound a day to reveal that the Alliance had assembled a ragtag force of corporate ships, pirates, and criminal syndicates at Agomar.

• Senator Tim asked Chancellor Valorum to defend Malastare, and Valorum promised to seek help without deploying the Republic Judicial Fleet.
• Valorum ordered the Dustig Sector Defense Fleet to aid Malastare, but its Dagg commander claimed every ship was under maintenance.
• Valorum realized the Dustig Sector fleet had been bribed, and Palpatine urged him to contact the Kwymar Sector Forces and Captain Wulff Yularen.
• Palpatine suggested that the Tyus and Var Hagen sectors could also send fleets, though their arrival would take at least three days.
• One day earlier at Agomar, the Corporate Alliance assembled more than three hundred ships, including vessels from pirate and criminal groups and five Fantail-class destroyers.

Tang Xiao's fleet arrived to join the siege of Malastare, shocking Crimson Dawn and the White Worm Gang with its size and military strength. The arrival ended with a 315-meter ship emerging from hyperspace.

• Dryden Vos spoke with Moloch about Madam Proxima's absence and learned that the Republic Judicial Fleet would not deploy.
• Dryden Vos heard that Tang Xiao's fleet had arrived and learned it contained seventy-two ships.
• Six Revenge-class light destroyers, five Cobalt-class heavy frigates, and sixty Hammer-class light frigates emerged from hyperspace.
• A 315-meter ship emerged from hyperspace without warning.

Tang Xiao joined Dryden Vos, Moloch, and the pirate leaders for a briefing with General Trench, who was impressed by Tang Xiao’s fleet and his promise to obey orders. Trench began outlining the operation and warned that breaking the Corporate Alliance contract would bring a heavy penalty.

• Dryden Vos recognized the Hammerhead-class cruiser as Tatooine’s Black Ship and learned that Tang Xiao’s fleet included unfamiliar, independently built ships and more than twenty Wraith fighters.
• Tang Xiao greeted Dryden Vos and Moloch over a holographic communication, then asked where the commander was.
• General Trench joined the conference, and Tang Xiao praised his achievements and pledged to follow his orders.
• Trench welcomed Tang Xiao’s commitment, while Dryden Vos joked that someone might betray him and Tang Xiao replied that he would wait for it.
• Trench began the combat briefing and reminded the assembled pirate and mercenary leaders that violating their Corporate Alliance contracts would incur a hefty penalty.

The Corporate Alliance and its allies blockaded Malastare, killing its patrol officers and demanding that ships choose whether to enter or leave. As the Fourth Civilization fleet moved to destroy Malastare’s orbital defenses, the battle began.

• Hundreds of ships led by the Corporate Alliance arrived in the Malastare Narrows and announced a total blockade.
• Tang Xiao ordered the destroyer Revenge to fire on Malastare’s patrol craft, and Crimson Dawn and the White Worm Gang destroyed the other two.
• Trench gave passing ships five minutes to enter Malastare or leave, then ordered Dryden and Moloch to take their positions and Tang Xiao to attack the planet’s defenses.
• Malastare’s people protested the blockade as Igor Zavalov led the Fourth Civilization fleet toward an orbital defense station.
• Igor ordered the Cobalt-class heavy frigates to fire on the station as Orec-class fighters launched, beginning the Battle of Malastare Canyon.

Igor-Zavalov’s Fourth Civilization fleet destroyed Malastare’s defenses and blockaded the planet, while Tang Xiao declared the battle only the beginning of the Republic’s turmoil. Chancellor Phineas Valorum secretly assembled a relief fleet and appointed Wullf Yularen to lead it, leaving Malastare’s fate in the balance.

• Igor-Zavalov’s fleet intercepted Malastare’s torpedoes, destroyed its fighters, and obliterated its first defensive space station.
• The Fourth Civilization fleet defeated Malastare’s hastily assembled Defense Fleet, and the station Commander died in the bombardment.
• Tang Xiao said the Battle of Malastare Canyon marked the beginning of the Republic’s turmoil as the Fourth Civilization destroyed Malastare’s communications and navigation satellites.
• General Trench completed the blockade at Malastare Narrows and used an Interdictor to cut off the planet’s hyperspace routes.
• Chancellor Phineas Valorum secretly arranged a mercenary relief fleet and placed Captain Wullf Yularen in command to lift the siege.

Wullf Yularen joined the Galactic Republic Navy fleet assembled to confront the Corporate Alliance's hired pirates and mercenaries, and assessed its aging ships and limited fighter strength. Confident in his plan to maintain distance and use the fleet's frontal firepower, he ordered the ships to prepare for departure.

• Captain Wullf Yularen arrived aboard the Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser Lord as the Republic's military observer and learned that the assembled fleet had no other available vessels.
• Yularen inspected the crowded, outdated flagship and confirmed that its twelve Z-95 Headhunter fighters were the fleet's entire starfighter complement.
• Yularen arranged the fleet to keep its distance, use the fighters to protect its battle line, and bring its frontal firepower against the enemy.
• Yularen and the captain discussed the Secudians pirates, the Corporate Alliance's expected ships, and the risks of letting the fight become a chaotic melee.
• Yularen took command of the operation and ordered the captains to receive his plan and prepare to depart.

Wullf Yularen led a Republic fleet to break the Corporate Alliance blockade of Malastare, while Tang Xiao sensed danger and warned his allies to prepare for battle. General Trench sprung a trap that disrupted the Republic fleet’s hyperspace jump, leaving it about to emerge unexpectedly.

• Senator Ainlee Tim pleaded with Wullf Yularen to lift Malastare’s three-day siege, and Yularen promised to help the planet return to negotiations.
• Tang Xiao sensed danger near Malastare Narrows, told Ni Yongxiao that the Republic fleet was coming, and ordered him to alert Igor Zavalov.
• Igor Zavalov readied the warships and informed General Trench, who sent the Fourth Group fleet forward and ordered Blocker Number Two activated.
• Wullf Yularen adjusted the Republic fleet’s hyperspace exit coordinates to avoid the interdiction device at coordinate 57.88.
• Trench activated Blocker Number Two, disrupting the Republic fleet’s hyperspace travel and forcing it to exit early.

Wullf Yularen’s Republic fleet was pulled out of hyperspace by an Interdictor and ambushed at close range by Tang Xiao’s Fourth Civilization-led coalition. The Republic fighters were overwhelmed, and the coalition fleet opened fire as Yularen struggled to control his disorganized ships.

• A Republic navigator detected hyperspace interference, and Yularen learned that an enemy fleet was waiting less than 200 kilometers away.
• Yularen ordered the Republic fleet to form up and launch its Z-95 fighters as Tang Xiao’s fleet accelerated into an attack formation.
• The coalition launched Wraith fighters, and Yularen ordered the Republic ships to conserve their main-gun fire while the fighters engaged.
• Kig-Yar pilots in eighteen Wraith fighters launched Gemini missiles, destroying five Z-95s and then shooting down three more.
• Republic ships opened fire to support their losing fighters, ignoring Yularen’s orders as the enemy fleet closed within range.
• The coalition’s laser beams struck the shields of several Republic shuttles, and the signalman announced that the enemy had opened fire.

General Trench’s Fourth Civilization fleet overwhelmed Wullf Yularen’s Republic fleet with superior firepower, fighter attacks, and an encircling maneuver. With both flanks broken and surrounded, Yularen realized the Republic had lost the battle.

• The Fourth Civilization fleet opened fire at close range, damaging a CSS-1 shuttle and destroying three PB-950 patrol boats as the Republic fleet struggled to respond.
• Trench sent eighteen Wraith fighters against the Republic fleet’s weak left flank, where they scattered its ships and split the formation apart.
• Igor Zavalov led most of the Fourth Group fleet around the Republic’s right flank while Yularen ordered his ships not to follow the enemy turn.
• Trench launched more than a hundred Vulture droid fighters and ordered a pincer attack as the Crimson Dawn fleet thrust into the gap between the Republic’s right flank and main force.
• Moloch moved the White Worm Gang fleet against the Republic’s left flank, while Trench’s main fleet and Sikudian pirates advanced on the Republic flagship and other ships.
• A staff officer reported that both Republic flanks had been disrupted and encircled, and Yularen realized that he had already lost the battle.

General Trench routed Wullf Yularen’s Republic fleet at Malastare Canyon, forcing Yularen to abandon his flanks and request aid from the Republic Senate. Tang Xiao and Baron Helmut Zemo prepared for what came next as Chancellor Phineas Valorum received the disastrous report.

• General Trench’s fleet shattered Wullf Yularen’s formation, and Yularen ordered his ships to regroup defensively around the Lord while requesting Senate aid.
• Yularen learned that General Trench led the Corporate Alliance mercenary fleet and struggled with the scale of his defeat.
• General Trench taunted the Republic fleet over the public channel before cutting the transmission.
• Tang Xiao told Ni Yongxiao that Trench’s cruelty was why he liked him, then told Baron Helmut Zemo that the next stage was about to begin.
• Phineas Valorum received the report of the Republic fleet’s defeat and angrily rejected the news.

Phineas Valorum struggled to contain the Republic’s defeat at Malastare, while Sheev Palpatine maneuvered to shape the political fallout and direct the crisis toward Jedi intervention. Tang Xiao warned Francis Underwood that the battle’s outcome had diverged from what he had foreseen, as Valorum considered Palpatine’s proposal to involve the Jedi Order.

• Phineas Valorum contacted Vice Chancellor Batan in alarm over the Republic fleet’s defeat and the threat it posed to his chancellorship.
• Sheev Palpatine told Mas Amedda about the defeat and urged him to prepare to become Vice Chancellor.
• Tang Xiao told Francis Underwood that Wullf Yularen’s remaining fleet was still resisting on Malastare and that the Jedi Order might intervene soon.
• Francis asked whether Valorum would resign and how the Corporate Alliance would proceed, and Tang Xiao said Valorum would stay while someone else became the scapegoat.
• Phineas Valorum demanded an explanation from Sheev Palpatine, who proposed that the Jedi Order intervene to force the Corporate Alliance to withdraw.

Sheev Palpatine persuaded Phineas Valorum to press the Jedi Order to intervene in the Malastare dispute, and Yoda agreed to send Master Kep-she to reassess it. Palpatine then discussed the looming conflict and the need for a Republic army with Master Dooku and Master Dias, while Dooku condemned the Jedi Order’s delayed response.

• Palpatine criticized the Jedi Order’s inaction, and Valorum resolved to ask Yoda to intervene in Malastare.
• Mace Windu welcomed Valorum to the Jedi Temple and led him to meet Yoda.
• Yoda told Valorum that the Dark Side was behind the unrest and said Master Kep-she was already on her way to reassess the situation.
• Palpatine told Master Dooku and Master Dias that the Republic faced turmoil and argued that it needed a powerful army.
• Dooku denounced the Jedi Order’s handling of the Malastare dispute and recalled losing his apprentice in the Galidrong Campaign.

The Republic fleet's Dreadnought-class cruiser kept the Corporate Alliance mercenary forces from breaking through the blockade of Malastare. Tang Xiao sensed the Jedi's arrival as three Delta-6 fighters entered the battlefield, and Kep Xi demanded that the Corporate Alliance return to negotiations.

• General Trench's mercenary fleet attacked the battered Republic fleet but lost nearly twenty ships to the Dreadnought-class cruiser, forcing both sides into a deadlock.
• Tang Xiao sensed the arrival of an unwelcome presence and suppressed his reaction by hiding his Dark Side Force.
• Three Delta-6 fighters equipped with hyperspace rings emerged from hyperspace, and Tang Xiao recognized that the Jedi Knights had arrived.
• Kep Xi identified herself on the public channel as a representative of the Jedi Order and called for the Corporate Alliance to lift its blockade and resume negotiations.
• General Trench challenged Kep Xi to prove that the Republic had a fleet there or legal authority to intervene.

Master Kep-Shee and Captain Wullf Yularen launched a desperate attack on General Trench’s fleet, with Kep-Shee targeting Trench and Yularen leading the Republic ships in a charge. Trench ordered his destroyers to focus fire on Yularen’s flagship and sent fighters to intercept the Jedi.

• Kep-Shee threatened to use force to break Trench’s blockade, and Trench dismissed her warning.
• Tang Xiao ordered his fleet to symbolically intercept the Jedi before rescuing them, while Trench told his ships to hold formation.
• Kep-Shee asked Yularen to charge Trench’s flagship, and he agreed despite expecting his cruiser to be destroyed.
• Kep-Shee and two Jedi apprentices accelerated their Delta-6 fighters toward the Corporate Alliance fleet as Yularen led the Republic fleet’s charge.
• Trench ordered his ships to concentrate fire on Yularen’s flagship and launched fighters to intercept the Jedi.

Wullf Yularen led the Republic fleet in a desperate charge against Trench as Jedi Master Kapp-Xi and her apprentices arrived and devastated the Corporate Alliance fighters. Tang Xiao prepared for Trench’s likely defeat, while Kapp-Xi sensed a possible presence of the Dark Side behind the enemy fleet.

• Wullf Yularen ordered the Lordship-class heavy cruiser to concentrate its shields forward and lead the Republic fleet’s charge at Trench’s flagship.
• Crimson Dawn and the White Worm Gang retreated, while the Fourth Group fleet stayed back and fired from concealment.
• Kapp-Xi and her two apprentices arrived in Delta-6 fighters, using the Force to evade attacks and destroy Vulture droid fighters.
• Trench ordered the Corporate Alliance fleet to target the Jedi fighters, but the disorganized barrage failed and some ships hit their allies.
• Helmut Zemo, Ni Yongxiao, and Igor Zavalov reacted to the Jedi fighters’ power as Tang Xiao suppressed his response to the Light Side and ordered Bacta tanks prepared for Trench.
• Kapp-Xi sensed what might be the power of the Dark Side behind the Corporate Alliance fleet.

Keppie and the Republic forces attacked General Trench’s flagship, while Wullf Yularen risked the Lord to damage it. Keppie destroyed Trench’s ship, and Tang Xiao’s forces retreated as the Fourth Group fleet moved to block the Republic fleet.

• Keppie led two Jedi fighters in attacking Trench’s flagship while Wullf Yularen ordered the Lord to lower its shields and fire at full strength.
• The Lord suffered severe damage, and Yularen raised its shields and retreated after Keppie told him to fall back.
• Tang Xiao ordered the Corporate Alliance forces to retreat and offered a bounty to get Trench into an escape pod; the Fourth Group fleet advanced and sent its remaining Wraith fighters after the Lord.
• Keppie fired six Proton Torpedoes into Trench’s flagship’s energy bay, destroying the ship and everyone still aboard.
• Tang Xiao told Moloch and Vos to flee while he covered the retreat, and the Fourth Group fleet moved in front of the Republic fleet’s remnants.

Tang Xiao’s fleet forced the Republic and Corporate Alliance ships to withdraw from the Malastare Narrows, then left with the rescued General Trench. Malastare and the Corporate Alliance reached a settlement, while the Republic claimed public victory, and Tang Xiao began his next operation.

• Tang Xiao ordered Igor to hold the line as the Corporate Alliance fleet withdrew, and Kep-Xi and her apprentices rested aboard the damaged cruiser.
• Baron Zemo announced the fleet’s withdrawal, exposed the Republic’s unauthorized intervention, and identified the fleet as the Fourth Group before it entered hyperspace.
• Tang Xiao visited the badly injured General Trench in a Bacta tank, then instructed Super Lotus to begin the next operation after the fleet emerged from hyperspace.
• Passel Argente returned to negotiations, and the Corporate Alliance reduced Malastare’s fuel tax while Malastare’s representatives celebrated the agreement.
• The Galactic Republic’s media portrayed the battle as a victory over the Corporate Alliance, and the Corporate Alliance paid the bounty.

After the Fourth Group fleet suffered heavy losses at Malastare Canyon, Dawn Star Planet recruited mercenaries to defend the Endor system. Vego Kash Garulan learned of the colony’s vulnerability and prepared a Black Sun fleet to seize its supermassive ship.

• Garulan’s subordinate reported that the Fourth Group fleet had been devastated and Dawn Star Planet was hiring mercenaries.
• Garulan watched footage showing three Delta-6 fighters destroy Trench’s flagship and the Corporate Alliance fleet fall into chaos.
• The subordinate told Garulan that Dawn Star Planet had hired Red John’s twenty-ship fleet and that Black Sun could pressure him through his ties on Nal Hutta.
• Garulan ordered his fleet to the Endor system, intending to take Dawn Star Planet’s supermassive ship and threatening Red John if he refused to obey.