Chapter Summaries

The Galactic Empire invaded Felucia, where the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ Scorpion Annihilator Droids halted its advance and inflicted heavy losses before Imperial reinforcements and air strikes broke through to the capital. As Imperial forces passed through the jungle after taking the city, a mysterious dark figure attacked them with a blood-red Lightsaber.

• The Empire deployed more than 300,000 Stormtroopers to invade Felucia, but dense jungles and Confederate droid defenses slowed their advance.
• Scorpion Annihilator Droids destroyed AT-AT walkers and killed Stormtroopers, forcing the Imperial forces to halt until Y-wing bombers and heavy tanks arrived.
• Imperial tanks and air strikes countered the Scorpion Annihilators, and the Empire broke through Felucia’s outer defenses and captured its capital after more than a week.
• A dark figure watched Imperial troops passing through the jungle, ignited a blood-red Lightsaber, and cut through the Stormtrooper formation.

Darth Vader arrived on Felucia after the Reaper killed four Dark Jedi Knights and the Imperial command staff, then confronted the black-mist attacker. The Reaper revealed that she was Adi Gallia, but their fight began before either could claim victory.

• A shadowy Night Demon absorbed mist from her victims as she annihilated Imperial forces on Felucia, forcing the Empire to halt its attack on Kovietto.
• Darth Vader sent four Dark Jedi Knights to hunt the Night Demon, but she killed all four after they ambushed her in the jungle.
• The Imperial Commander ordered an Orbital Bombardment, then stopped it when the fire threatened a nearby base.
• Darth Vader arrived on Felucia and suffocated the Imperial Commander and the officers who had failed to stop the Night Demon.
• Darth Vader leaped into the burning jungle and confronted the Reaper, who identified herself as Adi Gallia; he engulfed her in flames before she cut through the inferno and he attacked from behind.

Darth Vader fought Reaper, the resurrected Adi Gallia, and nearly killed her before she escaped into the jungle. Sola Balk intervened to let her flee, leaving him to face Vader alone.

• Darth Vader used Shatterpoint and his adapted lightsaber forms to fight Reaper, while she absorbed nearby life force and grew stronger.
• Darth Vader struck Reaper through her core, but she scattered into black mist and fled as he pursued her through the jungle.
• Darth Vader ordered the Imperial army to launch an all-out assault on Kovietto while continuing to chase Reaper.
• A Belbullab-22 fighter crashed near Darth Vader, and Sola Balk emerged to confront him, giving Reaper time to escape.
• Sola Balk told Darth Vader that Adi Gallia was better suited to destroy the Galactic Empire and kill Darth Sidious, then raised his lightsaber to fight.

Sola Balk fought Darth Vader on Felucia while the Imperial army attacked Kovietto City, but the arrival of the Separatist battleship Slaughter changed the battle by unleashing the Trihexalon bioweapon Dragon's breath. As the virus spread across the planet and Sola Balk realized Count Dooku had betrayed his ideals, Vader killed him, and the Imperial fleet destroyed Slaughter.

• Sola Balk prepared to die fighting Darth Vader, whom he knew was Anakin Skywalker, to protect Adi Gallia and stop Vader.
• Sola Balk used his Lightsaber and blaster shotgun to suppress Darth Vader with the Juyo form while the Imperial army resumed its attack on Kovietto City.
• Slaughter emerged from hyperspace and fired Dragon's breath, spreading the Trihexalon virus across Felucia and striking Kovietto City first.
• Sola Balk realized Count Dooku had ordered the attack despite the millions of civilians on Felucia and had abandoned his ideals, then Darth Vader pierced his heart with his Lightsaber.
• After more than two hours of battle in orbit, the Imperial fleet destroyed Slaughter, which exploded and plunged toward Felucia.

With the Galactic Empire attacking the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ core planets, Count Dooku faced a Congress on Raxus Prime whose members were divided between surrender and one last counterattack. He proposed using a Slaughter-class battleship and Devastation-class battleships to deploy Dragon’s breath against Imperial ground forces.

• The Imperial fleet launched simultaneous invasions of Felucia, Osus Planet, Beldron Planet, Tula Planet, Mulcana planet, and Drallert Planet after breaking through the defenses at Saleucami Planet.
• Count Dooku saw that most of the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ core members had abandoned Congress, surrendered, or been defeated.
• Passel Argente warned that Imperial forces had landed on Mulcana planet, while Ainlee-Tim urged the Congress to consider surrender.
• Count Dooku proposed sending Devastation-class battleships alongside a Slaughter-class battleship to use Dragon’s breath against Imperial troops on the invaded planets.

Count Dooku ordered the use of Dragon's breath on Felucia to slow the Galactic Empire, while Ainlee-Tim condemned the plan. General Grievous returned, killed Ainlee-Tim, and then attacked Dooku in revenge for the Caladanians.

• Count Dooku told Passel Argente and Ainlee-Tim that the Separatists would use Dragon's breath on Felucia to wipe out Imperial ground forces.
• Ainlee-Tim accused Dooku of betraying his convictions and sacrificing civilians, while Dooku denounced him as a coward who wanted to surrender.
• General Grievous entered the Senate Chamber and killed Ainlee-Tim with a green Lightsaber.
• Dooku reprimanded Grievous for killing the senator, then said he would command the Devastation-class battleship stationed above Raxus Prime.
• Grievous attacked Dooku with four Lightsabers and accused him of exploiting the Caladanians and Sheelal.

General Grievous led a coordinated mutiny against Count Dooku, surrounding him on Raxus Prime and exposing the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ collapse. After a long battle, a sniper wounded Dooku, and Grievous impaled him through the abdomen.

• General Grievous confronted Count Dooku over Kyman Jai Sheelal’s murder and attacked him, revealing a force of IG-100 MagnaGuards hidden above the Senate Chamber.
• Grievous’s droids overwhelmed Dooku and cut communications, while General Trench’s fleet sealed Raxus Prime’s space against incoming ships.
• Claire Underwood and Passel Argente left the surrounded senators, and Dooku realized Nute Gunray controlled the battle droids driving the mutiny.
• Dooku fought through more than a hundred thousand battle droids until exhaustion forced him into a renewed clash with Grievous and the MagnaGuards.
• A B-X commando droid shot Dooku in the shoulder, and Grievous took advantage of his lost balance to stab him through the abdomen.

General Grievous killed Count Dooku and fled with a fleet as the Confederacy of Independent Systems collapsed. At Dawn Star Planet, Tang Xiao convened the Duchy of Dawn’s leaders to discuss the event that ended the Confederacy.

• Count Dooku severed one of General Grievous's arms before dying, and Grievous honored him with an ancient Caladanian ballad.
• General Grievous escaped aboard the Soulless One, while the mutinous battle droids shut down and collapsed.
• The Slaughter-class battleship attacked Felucia with Dragon's breath before ten Imperial-class Star Destroyers destroyed it, killing around six hundred thousand people.
• The Galactic Empire began clearing the virus on Felucia after occupying the planet.
• Tang Xiao gathered the Duchy of Dawn’s leaders at Dawn Star Planet after General Grievous killed Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems dissolved.

After Count Dooku’s death and General Grievous’ escape, the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ government collapsed, leaving its member planets clinging to the idea that it still existed. Tang Xiao and his allies prepared for the Galactic Empire to turn its attention toward the Duchy of Dawn and planned to preserve resistance without provoking an immediate attack.

• General Grievous fled with the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ last super warship after killing Count Dooku and Ainlee-Tim, while its remaining leaders fled or refused to take charge.
• Po Nudo withdrew Super Com Group from the war, and Spar became head of state before he was assassinated in a riot two days later.
• The Confederacy of Independent Systems’ administration stopped issuing orders, and its government effectively collapsed as loyal planets continued to act as if it remained in existence.
• Tang Xiao warned that the Galactic Empire would now focus on the Duchy of Dawn, and Peggy Carter and Salatan Morse discussed intelligence threats and supporting resistance movements.
• Nute Gunray proposed exposing Count Dooku’s crimes, but Qi Jian said the Confederacy would blame General Grievous and preserve Dooku’s image as a hero.
• Claire Underwood said she would organize a public memorial for Count Dooku while Raxus Prime remained silent rather than surrender or resist, a plan Helmut Zemo supported.

At a meeting in 1933, Tang Xiao reflected on how the Fourth Civilization had grown into a major power and declared that it would pursue hegemony and confront the Galactic Empire. The chapter left the assembled leaders united in fervent cries to destroy the Empire and conquer the galaxy.

• Tang Xiao surveyed the powerful leaders at the meeting and considered how the Fourth Civilization had grown over twenty years from a small crew into a vast civilization.
• Tang Xiao recognized that the Galactic Empire had become the Fourth Civilization’s sole great rival, and that a covert war between them was already underway.
• Tang Xiao declared that he would never accept mediocrity and intended to become emperor and rule the Milky Way Galaxy.
• Qi Jian rose and called for the Fourth Civilization and Tang Xiao to live long, and Matt Hona, General Ling, Helmut Zemo, Glosse Shelbia, and others joined him.
• Nute Gunray and San Hill trembled as the meeting erupted in fervent support for Tang Xiao’s hegemonic ambitions.
• Tang Xiao called for the destruction of the Galactic Empire and the conquest of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Bail Organa and Breha Organa discussed the Imperial exploitation of Raada and planned to seek relief for its people. Their young adopted daughter Leia Organa arrived with news from the garden, unaware of her true parentage as Leia Skywalker.

• Bail Organa told Breha Organa that Imperial crop production was exhausting Raada’s soil and resistance had escalated into armed conflict.
• Bail Organa said he and Senator Mothma would petition the Emperor for a more moderate response and blame Raada’s agricultural officials for the crisis.
• Breha Organa offered to prepare Alderaan to take in refugees if the situation on Raada could not be eased.
• Leia Organa showed Bail Organa and Breha Organa the fish in the west garden and agreed to raise them for a promised meal.
• Bail Organa reminded Leia Organa to keep up with her studies, and she left with her robot.

Nova reconnoitered Alderaan's Royal Palace while explaining how Alderaan's historic privileges let it benefit from the Galactic Republic's exploitation of other planets. She postponed the scan when a suitor approached and rudely rejected him.

• Nova told Super Lotus that Alderaan's low taxes, political influence, and industrial investment came from privileges granted for its early service to the Galactic Republic.
• Nova explained that the Galactic Empire retained the Republic's foundations and that Palpatine might eventually use overwhelming military power, including the DS-1, to seize control from entrenched elites.
• Super Lotus blocked nearby guard-drone signals, and Nova used her tactical visor to scan part of the palace grounds and map the guards.
• Nova spotted a man approaching and put away the visor, deciding to continue the reconnaissance from another angle that afternoon.
• The man offered Nova flowers and praised her beauty, and Nova raised her middle finger and told him to fuck off.

Nova and Super Lotus prepared to infiltrate Alderaan’s royal palace, where they planned to kidnap Leia, and Nova retrieved her stealth combat suit from a frozen fish. The chapter left Nova invisible and ready to begin the operation.

• Nova and Super Lotus finished surveying the palace and mapped several infiltration routes while avoiding Alderaan’s extensive security systems.
• Nova followed Super Lotus to a restaurant’s cold storage room, where her equipment had been hidden inside a frozen deep-sea fish.
• Nova complained about Super Lotus’s hiding place, then changed into her combat suit in the freezing cold.
• Nova installed the suit’s psionic reactor and turned invisible.

Nova secretly targeted Princess Leia’s security and stole control of her pet robot, Lo-LA59, intending to use it to get closer to Leia. She and Super Lotus discussed using the robot to abduct Leia for Tang Xiao, while Leia remained unaware of the threat.

• Leia fed the fish with help from WA-2V and sent Lo-LA59 to scatter food on the other side of the pond.
• Nova watched from concealment and told Super Lotus to hack Lo-LA59 so she could get past Leia’s sensitive humanoid guard robot.
• Nova used telepathy to cause a plainclothes guard severe head pain, making him fall into the pond and drawing everyone’s attention.
• While the security team responded to the drowning guard, Nova grabbed Lo-LA59 and swung back to shore on a cable.
• Super Lotus hacked Lo-LA59, and Nova returned the robot to Leia, who hugged it without suspecting it had become their spy.
• Nova and Super Lotus discussed using Lo-LA59 to carry Leia away and joked about Tang Xiao’s intention to make her his future wife.

Nova and Super Lotus carried out their plan to kidnap Leia Organa, escaping the Alderaan royal palace aboard a disguised starship after Super Lotus disrupted the security drones. They left the planet in hyperspace with Leia unconscious.

• Super Lotus used LO-LA59 to locate WA-2V’s data port, and Nova prepared to extract its data.
• LO-LA59’s attempt to connect a storage device triggered WA-2V, which rampaged through Princess Leia’s bedroom and attacked the guards.
• Nova entered the room, knocked Leia Organa unconscious with a pulse of psionic power, and fled with her as alarms and security forces responded.
• Nova used holographic decoys to distract the guard drones while Super Lotus fed contradictory commands to others, allowing Nova to escape the palace.
• Super Lotus directed Nova to the restaurant where they had changed clothes, and Nova carried Leia into its cold storage as the disguised starship took off.
• Nova’s ship escaped Alderaan’s defenses and entered hyperspace.

Bail Organa and Borha Organa learned that Leia had been kidnapped and chose to search for her discreetly to protect her parentage. Aboard the kidnappers’ ship, Super Lotus comforted the frightened Leia and told her they were taking her to meet her biological parents.

• Bail Organa ordered security personnel to destroy WA-2V and search Leia’s room for clues.
• A security officer reported that the kidnappers had escaped in a ship hidden inside the restaurant, and Borha Organa proposed a secret investigation through normal channels and mercenaries.
• Leia woke aboard the ship, asked Nova why she had taken her, and wept when Nova said she would never return to Alderaan.
• Leia reunited with her pet droid LO-LA59, and Super Lotus comforted her with a handkerchief and reassurance.
• Super Lotus told Leia that she and Nova had taken her to meet her biological parents, and Leia eagerly asked whether Super Lotus knew them.

Super Lotus comforted Leia and brought her to Dawn Star Planet, where Leia saw its immense industrial and military infrastructure. Tang Xiao greeted her in his office and told her that she was only Leia now, with the name Organa removed from her life.

• Leia asked Super Lotus about her biological parents, and Super Lotus praised her mother while refusing to tell her about her father.
• Super Lotus introduced herself as Sister Lotus and explained that her military codename replaced her real name because names could be weaknesses.
• Leia arrived at Dawn Star Planet and saw its gas giant, vast fleets, space facilities, and Star Ring.
• Super Lotus brought Leia to Tang Xiao's office, where Leia introduced herself and Tang Xiao told her that she was only Leia, not Leia Organa.

Princess Leia met Tang Xiao, who told her he would protect her in the Duchy of Dawn. On Naboo, Padmé Amidala awoke after four years and seven months in a coma and learned from Bail Organa that Leia had been kidnapped.

• Tang Xiao told Leia that she was no longer an Organa and promised to protect her from dangers tied to her father and the Galactic Empire.
• Leia asked Tang Xiao why he had brought her to the Duchy of Dawn, and he said he would help her adjust and visit her when he had time.
• Padmé Amidala awoke from her coma after hearing Leia crying in a dream, and medical droids and C-3PO summoned help.
• Dormé told Padmé that Leia had been adopted by the Organa couple and confirmed that Padmé had been unconscious for four years and seven months.
• Bail Organa arrived on Naboo, greeted Padmé, and confessed that Leia had been kidnapped.

Padmé Amidala learned from Bail Organa how Palpatine destroyed the Galactic Republic and heard the evidence pointing to the Duchy of Dawn as the kidnapper of Leia. She chose to remain officially dead and raise a resistance against the Galactic Empire, while Bail prepared to contact Tang Xiao about Leia.

• Bail Organa told Padmé Amidala about the fall of the Jedi Order, Palpatine's rise, and the Galactic Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire.
• Bail Organa explained that Leia had been kidnapped by a cloaked woman and that sabotaged droids and computer systems pointed to the Duchy of Dawn.
• Padmé Amidala and Dormé recalled signs that Leia had been targeted for years, and Padmé urged Bail to contact Tang Xiao rather than send bounty hunters.
• Bail Organa agreed to arrange a secure contact with Tang Xiao to learn whether the Duchy of Dawn had taken Leia.
• Padmé Amidala told Bail Organa and Dormé that she would remain presumed dead and lead a resistance to rebuild the Galactic Republic.

Tang Xiao confronted Bail Organa about Leia and argued that Dawn Star Planet could give her the power and freedom to choose that Alderaan could not. Bail could not publicly bring Leia home, leaving her confused and tearful as he hesitated.

• Bail Organa contacted Tang Xiao and demanded to know where Leia was, while Nova threatened Super Lotus for helping keep Leia's location secret.
• Tang Xiao confirmed Leia was with him, and Bail revealed that Leia was Anakin Skywalker's daughter and feared the Empire would kill her if it learned the truth.
• Tang Xiao argued that Bail could not protect Leia or Alderaan and said he could offer Leia an elite education and the power to make choices.
• Leia appeared on the call and asked Bail if he had come to take her home.
• Tang Xiao offered to return Leia if Alderaan publicly welcomed her with a diplomatic delegation, but Bail hesitated because Alderaan lacked the courage and strength to do so.
• Leia saw Bail hesitate, asked whether he would take her home, and began to cry.