Recaps

Nova explained how corruption and convoluted supply chains had created exploitable gaps in the Death Star project, allowing Kingdom of Dawn agents to infiltrate its construction site on Tarassia. The infiltration succeeded because Wilhuff Tarkin was absent and Orson Krennic had weakened security to accelerate construction.

• Nova explained how shell companies and fabricated transport routes concealed Death Star materials while creating many openings for bribery and fraud.
• With help from a Rebel Alliance informant, Kingdom of Dawn agents posed as trusted Imperial associates and traced supply routes to Tarassia.
• Salatan Morse and Nova learned that Wilhuff Tarkin had been sent away to oversee a civilian space station project.
• Orson Krennic loosened reviews and sped up material deliveries under pressure from Emperor Palpatine to meet the Death Star schedule.
• Gant Doso and Nova appeared before Poggle the Lesser after infiltrating the project.

Emperor Karina revealed that she had secretly built up Geonosian forces and tunnels, then forced Poggle the Lesser to bring Orson Krennic to her. Poggle left her underground nest in fear and encountered approaching Imperial Stormtroopers.

• Poggle the Lesser accused Nova and Ganzo-Dorso of colluding with the Separatists, while Ganzo-Dorso blamed him for kidnapping Emperor Karina.
• Ganzo-Dorso's warriors dragged Poggle through secret tunnels to Emperor Karina's underground chamber, where he realized she had built up forces beyond his knowledge.
• Poggle warned Emperor Karina that the Death Star would doom the Geonosians, but she rejected his argument and ordered him to bring Orson Krennic to her.
• Emperor Karina had parasites crawl into Poggle's ears and sent him away to carry out her order.
• Poggle left the nest in a daze and saw a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers approaching.

Emperor Karina explained why she had allied with the Empire and revealed her plan to control Orson Krennic and seize the Death Star as a bargaining chip for Geonosian survival. Meanwhile, Poggle the Lowborn reported her offer to Krennic, who demanded that she produce more laborers and was asked to promise her safety.

• Emperor Karina told Nova that she had accepted Poggle the Lowborn's plan because the Geonosians feared Imperial retribution and revealed she intended to make Orson Krennic her puppet and take control of the Death Star.
• Nova warned Emperor Karina that the Death Star's weapons systems were at Scarif and that the Empire would eventually destroy the Geonosians, but Emperor Karina remained silent as Geonosian warriors separated them.
• Poggle the Lowborn traveled to the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Ravager, where Orson Krennic watched Geonosian laborers suffer from reduced oxygen and ordered the concentration lowered further.
• Poggle the Lowborn explained that Emperor Karina's hive mind had faltered because she was unwell, and Krennic threatened the Geonosians if they caused problems for the project.
• Poggle the Lowborn offered to have Emperor Karina hatch more laborers through consciousness transfer, and Krennic agreed on the condition that she do it; Poggle then said she wanted Krennic's personal promise of safety.

Orson Krennic agreed to meet Emperor Karina and temporarily pardon the Geonosian rioters, but the Dark Prophets warned him that the meeting was a trap. The chapter ended with Krennic confronting Poggle the Lesser about the two mysterious figures.

• Orson Krennic weighed Poggle the Lesser's offer of Geonosian laborers against the risks to the DS-1 schedule and his rivalry with Wilhuff Tarkin.
• Orson Krennic agreed to meet Emperor Karina in person and temporarily pardoned the rioting laborers, then ordered their workload doubled for a month.
• Imperial Stormtroopers arrested the Geonosian laborers after restoring their oxygen, while Orson Krennic prepared to leave with his Death Guard.
• Two Dark Prophets blocked Orson Krennic and warned him that meeting Emperor Karina was an obvious trap.
• Poggle the Lesser denied that Emperor Karina intended harm, and Orson Krennic asked him whether he knew who the Dark Prophets were.

Poggle the Lesser refused to betray Emperor Karina and was tortured as Orson Krennic ordered a crackdown on the Geonosians. With the Death Star’s control systems failing and Nova’s plan underway, more than ten thousand Geonosian laborers launched a full-scale uprising inside the station.

• Poggle the Lesser attempted to kill Orson Krennic with a hidden grenade, but a Dark Prophet stopped it and redirected the explosion toward the communications station.
• Poggle the Lesser refused to betray Emperor Karina, so Orson Krennic had one of his wings torn off and ordered the Geonosians arrested and killed.
• Orson Krennic tried to lower oxygen levels in the residential areas, but his control personnel reported that the DS-1 battle station’s systems had failed.
• Nova activated her stealth system and ordered the operation to proceed, while Ganzo Doso told Emperor Karina that the Geonosians had to fight for their own future.
• More than ten thousand Geonosian laborers attacked the Imperial Stormtroopers inside the Death Star, overwhelming them as communications remained cut off.

Geonosians launched a coordinated uprising across Tarassia, overwhelming Imperial forces and seizing the spaceport, factories, and ground command center. As Black Lotus hackers infiltrated the Imperial systems, Ganzo-Daoso delivered code to compromise the Empire’s robots before leaving for the battlefield.

• Several million Geonosians armed themselves and attacked Imperial bases and factories across Tarassia.
• Geonosians seized the spaceport, shot down Imperial fighters, and captured TIE fighters to join the dogfights.
• The Geonosians prepared to attack the ground shield generator protecting the Death Star.
• Black Lotus hackers infiltrated Tarassia’s ground command center and worked to breach the Imperial military system.
• Ganzo-Daoso gave Lotus A04 code to compromise the Empire’s robot control system, and a hacker uploaded it.
• Ganzo-Daoso left the command center to join the fighting.

Ganzo Dauso’s code triggered a droid uprising at the Tarassia and Death Star construction sites, leaving Orson Krennic scrambling to restore communications. The Dark Prophets warned him that a Jedi had infiltrated the Death Star, and Krennic proposed using its energy core to overpower the interference.

• Black Lotus hackers implanted Ganzo Dauso’s code in the Imperial command system, causing millions of droids at Tarassia and the Death Star to rebel.
• Orson Krennic panicked aboard the Devastator Star Destroyer as distress signals arrived and communications with Tarassia and the Death Star faltered.
• Prophetess Dara and Prophetess Tana explained that Krennic’s survival depended on the news they would bring back to the Imperial Center and warned that a Jedi Knight had infiltrated the Death Star.
• Orson Krennic deduced that interference from signal towers was disrupting communications and proposed creating stronger interference to restore the link.
• Prophetess Dara approved Krennic’s plan, and Prophetess Tana agreed to begin using the Death Star’s energy core.

Orson Krennic’s forces fought their way through the Geonosian uprising and restored Imperial communications from the Death Star, while Prophetess Tana repelled an assassination attempt by Nova. Krennic learned the rebellion had overwhelmed key Imperial positions just as a massive, unregistered hyperspace jump was detected.

• Orson Krennic led Death Guard, Stormtroopers, and Clone Troopers into the Death Star, where Prophetesses Dara and Tana used their foresight and combat skills to break through Geonosian laborers.
• Krennic’s Engineering Corps reached the energy control room and used the Death Star’s power supply to create an interference wave that cut communications across the construction zone and Tarassia.
• Prophetess Tana detected Nova, who fired an exploding needle round at Krennic, but Tana blocked the attack and pursued the assassin; Nova escaped after revealing her psionic ability.
• Krennic restored Imperial communications by adding Imperial nodes to a whitelist and received reports that the Geonosians had seized the spaceport and armories, taken fighters and engineering droids, and attacked the shield projector.
• Prophetess Dara ordered an assault on the Geonosian Queen’s nest, but the Devastator Star Destroyer detected a massive unregistered hyperspace jump.

The Kingdom of Dawn launched a surprise assault on the Death Star at Tarassia, overwhelming Imperial command with a chaotic attack by robot-controlled warships, transports carrying Geonosians, and stealth fighters. As the battle spread across the station and toward the planet, Imperial Star Destroyers began exploding, and sensors identified a Purifier-class Separatist stealth ship.

• Orson Krennic learned that an unregistered fleet had arrived and handed the Imperial defense fleet’s command to a Staff Colonel.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s robot-controlled warships attacked the Imperial fleet, drawing its ships into a disorganized battle near the Death Star.
• Transport ships carrying Geonosians pushed toward Tarassia while Wraith fighters launched from the carriers and engaged Imperial TIE fighters.
• Lieutenant Colonel Li Yifei led Wraith Squadron into the unfinished Death Star, where they outmaneuvered the TIE fighters and fought among the station’s exposed framework.
• An unseen attacker destroyed two Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and the sensor operator identified it as a Purifier-class Separatist stealth operative ship.

Millions of armed Geonosians joined the battle on Tarassia and inside the Death Star, destroying the shield generator as the Imperial defenses faltered. With the Imperial Navy recovering control of space, Orson Krennic and Prophetess Dara headed for the Geonosian nest to capture Emperor Karina, while Nova and Voradul continued their attack on the Death Star.

• More than five million Geonosians from Geonosis landed on Tarassia and inside the Death Star, overwhelming Imperial defenders and destroying the shield generator.
• The Kingdom of Dawn warships fired on the now-unshielded Death Star, but the Imperial Navy retaliated heavily and destroyed the Purification-class stealth special operations ships.
• Prophetess Dara persuaded Orson Krennic to join an assault on the Geonosian Queen's nest, arguing that capturing Emperor Karina could save him from the Emperor's wrath.
• Prophetess Tana pursued Nova through the Death Star construction site, but Voradul emerged from hiding and killed Tana before she could interrogate Nova.
• Nova and Voradul resolved to damage the Death Star and seek its energy core after failing to find Galen Erso.
• Orson Krennic and Prophetess Dara landed near the Geonosian nest under Aquitenes-class light cruiser fire and led the Death Guard inside.

Prophetess Dara and Orson Krennic led Imperial forces into Emperor Karina’s nest while Geonosian reinforcements fought to reach her. Inside the Death Star, the Geonosians maintained their assault as Nova and Voradul advanced toward its energy core, while Karina refused to abandon her plan to seize the station.

• Geonosian warriors attacked Prophetess Dara and Orson Krennic, and the Aquitenes-class light cruisers bombarded the nest while Stormtroopers entered its tunnels.
• Orson Krennic discovered the nest’s hidden passages, and Prophetess Dara sent Death Troopers inside to find Emperor Karina.
• The Aquitenes-class light cruisers slaughtered Geonosian reinforcements as they tried to approach the nest, forcing others to use underground routes.
• Ganzo Dosso urged Emperor Karina to flee through Passage Seven, but she insisted the Geonosians could still capture the unshielded Death Star.
• Geonosians overwhelmed Imperial defenders inside the Death Star while Kingdom of Dawn pilots shot down Imperial fighters, and Nova and Voradul advanced toward the energy core.

Emperor Karina secretly built up Geonosian forces and prepared the Death Star’s hyperspace engine while pretending to obey the Galactic Empire. After Ganso Doso revealed the station’s location to the Kingdom of Dawn, she launched her plan to seize the Death Star and escape Imperial reinforcements.

• Emperor Karina secretly hatched Geonosians, expanded their hive, and stockpiled supplies and weapons from the Galactic Empire.
• Emperor Karina helped Orson Krennic undermine Wilhuff Tarkin by arranging a riot that damaged three months of DS-1 construction, and Tarkin was reassigned.
• Emperor Karina concealed delays and secretly installed the hyperspace engine while Orson Krennic struggled to manage the project.
• Ganso Doso discovered the Death Star’s location and gave the information to the Kingdom of Dawn, exposing the project’s vulnerabilities.
• Emperor Karina began her uprising to seize the Death Star, destroy its ground-based shield generators, finish installing the hyperspace engine, and escape.

The Geonosians fought to finish installing the Death Star’s hyperdrive while Emperor Karina fled the Queen’s nest and the Kingdom of Dawn’s fleet battered the unfinished station. The Empire’s reinforcements arrived as the space battle turned in the Empire’s favor.

• The Geonosians used laborers and engineering droids to rush the installation of the Death Star’s remaining hyperdrive components.
• Ganzo Daoso persuaded Emperor Karina to flee, and Geonosian laborers carried her toward a secret nest exit while warriors stayed behind to defend her.
• Geonosians launched futile attacks on the Aquitenes-class light cruisers as captured TIE fighters escorted a cargo ship carrying Emperor Karina away.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s warships bombarded the Death Star’s unfinished outer quarter, damaging the station and killing Geonosians inside, while the Imperial fleet destroyed many Dawn ships.
• The two Sova-class Carriers prepared to retreat as other Dawn warships fought on, and Imperial reinforcements arrived at Tarassia.

Forty Imperial Star Destroyers led by Admiral Afshin Makati arrived to reinforce the Death Star, bringing TIE Interceptors that overwhelmed the Kingdom of Dawn’s Wraith fighters. Li Yifei ordered the remaining pilots to scatter and gather combat data while Makati’s fleet began bombarding Tarassia.

• Admiral Afshin Makati ordered his fleet to bombard Tarassia and attack every enemy near the Death Star.
• The Star Destroyers launched more than a thousand fighters, including three hundred new TIE Interceptors equipped for anti-stealth combat.
• Li Yifei regrouped the remaining Kingdom of Dawn fighters and led them against the Imperial fighters.
• The TIE Interceptors destroyed seven Wraith fighters in the first exchange and outmatched the Wraiths in speed, agility, and firepower.
• Li Yifei ordered his pilots to split into two-fighter formations, scatter through the Death Star, and send back combat data.
• Admiral Makati’s fleet began an orbital bombardment of Tarassia.

Admiral Afshin Makati arrived at Tarassia and ordered a full orbital bombardment, turning the battle into a massacre and trapping Emperor Karina. As Karina’s escape route vanished, a Kingdom of Dawn transport appeared and offered her a chance to survive, but she refused to board.

• Afshin Makati dismissed Orson Krennic’s plan to capture Emperor Karina and ordered the Imperial fleet to bombard every target on Tarassia.
• Imperial Star Destroyers unleashed a devastating orbital bombardment, killing hundreds of thousands of Geonosians and striking two Aquitenes-class light cruisers.
• Emperor Karina and Ganzo Daos reached the escape passage, but found their cargo ship destroyed, the sky ablaze, and Orson Krennic’s forces pursuing them.
• Ganzo Daos urged Karina to escape aboard a transport that appeared overhead and identified itself as the only ship on the planet still able to fly.
• Karina’s guards lowered her to the ground, and she coldly refused to board the Kingdom of Dawn ship.

Emperor Karina refused Nova’s offer to evacuate to Dawn Star Planet and chose to fight for control of the Death Star, while Ganzo-Dosso accepted responsibility for the Geonosian Queen’s egg. As Imperial forces attacked the command center, Karina raised the dead Geonosians to buy time for the hyperdrive installation and led her people into their final defense.

• Karina refused to leave with the Kingdom of Dawn unless she could go to the Death Star, so Nova’s transport carried her and Ganzo-Dosso there through Imperial patrols.
• On the Death Star, Karina entrusted Ganzo-Dosso with her glowing egg, which could hatch a new queen, and then rejected Nova’s offer of a planet to lead her guards into battle.
• Ganzo-Dosso agreed to cooperate with the Kingdom of Dawn while protecting the egg, and Nova departed with him as Karina joined the Geonosians in the residential sector.
• As Imperial forces destroyed the Kingdom of Dawn’s remaining ships and bombarded Tarassia, Karina’s arrival rallied the millions of Geonosians still fighting inside the Death Star.
• Karina used her psychic power to resurrect fallen Geonosians as undead warriors, then sacrificed her egg sacs and headed for the command center to defend it until the hyperdrive was installed.

Imperial forces overwhelmed the Geonosian defenders as Emperor Karina attempted to escape by activating the Death Star’s hastily installed hyperdrive engines. After Galen Erso helped Admiral Afshin-Makati sabotage the energy network and Nova triggered widespread explosions, a mysterious voice announced that the Death Star’s fate was settled.

• Imperial troops and Occupier tanks advanced through the Death Star, forcing Emperor Karina to order the hyperdrive engines activated before their installation was complete.
• Aboard the Steadfast, Galen Erso explained to Admiral Afshin-Makati that the Geonosians’ hyperspace jump could not work and showed him how to cut power to critical energy-network nodes.
• Emperor Karina personally pressed the activation button, but severed energy channels prevented the Coaxium from forming a large enough hyperspace rift.
• Nova triggered explosions throughout the Death Star while Ganzo-Doso and Geonosian warriors confronted her, and a voice from behind him declared that it was over.

Nova explained that she had not killed Queen Karina and warned Ganzo-Dosso that the Geonosians needed protection from the Empire. Ganzo-Dosso chose to rebuild his people on Hypori and offered to make them vassals of the Kingdom of Dawn.

• A hidden Lenassa Protoss revealed himself beside Nova after cutting the Geonosian warriors’ Sonic Blasters in half.
• Nova denied planting a bomb in the Death Star control center and said Queen Karina had no way out.
• Ganzo-Dosso said he would take the surviving Geonosians to Hypori to rebuild their holy land and hatch the Queen’s eggs.
• Nova warned that the Empire threatened Geonosis and asked whether Ganzo-Dosso would visit Dawn Star Planet.
• Ganzo-Dosso declined to visit Dawn Star Planet but offered for the Geonosians to become vassals of the Kingdom of Dawn and rebuild Hypori as an industrial center.

Orman Tagge, now head of the Cutting-Edge Technology Alliance, saw the damaged Death Star project as a chance to expand his power and challenge Darth Vader’s influence. He told his brother Silas that they could seize command of the project while it was left in a power vacuum.

• Orman Tagge hurried through Tagge Company headquarters, using specialized sunglasses to see after Darth Vader had blinded him.
• Orman Tagge’s authority over the Cutting-Edge Technology Alliance grew as he gathered support from the Empire’s industrial conglomerates and noble families.
• Orman Tagge interrupted Silas Tagge’s experiment and told him the Geonosians had betrayed the Empire and severely damaged the Death Star.
• Silas Tagge questioned why the attack was good news, since Tagge Company had developed key Death Star systems.
• Orman Tagge argued that Governor Tarkin had been pushed out and Orson Krennic had failed, leaving an opening for the Tagges to take control of the Death Star.

Orman Tagge planned to devote the family company’s resources to building the Death Star, convinced the project would secure him power, while Sanya Tagge and her allies prepared to stop him. Adelaide Tagge rejected his proposal and blocked its funding, leaving Orman’s plans in conflict with the company’s independent finance authority.

• Orman Tagge told Silas Tagge that Palpatine had encouraged the Death Star plan, and ordered the company’s resources committed to its construction.
• Sanya Tagge explained that Orman’s supporters could not oppose him without risking their own exposure, and decided to act after the company meeting.
• Orman Tagge and Silas Tagge discussed getting rid of Adelaide Tagge, then Orman went to persuade her to approve the project.
• Adelaide Tagge rejected Orman’s proposal, challenged his assumptions about funding and control of the Death Star, and refused to approve the project.
• After Orman left, Adelaide’s son complained that Domina would not give him a valuable set of crystal decorations.

Domina Tagge trained in the Force under Luna-Dream’s impersonation of Tang Xiao while Sanya prepared her to lead the Tagge family. Adelaide confronted Sanya over the family’s crisis, and Sanya declared she would marry Domina to Tang Xiao.

• Domina Tagge struggled to control a fifty-kilogram barbell for ten minutes while resisting Luna-Dream’s Force, and Luna-Dream revealed the drill had been a lesson disguised as Tang Xiao.
• Sanya Tagge told Domina she had to accept Tang Xiao’s guidance because the Tagge family faced a grave threat and Domina would eventually take charge of its operations.
• Ronen Tagge attacked Domina with a stolen electroshock dagger, but Luna-Dream hurled him away before he could hurt her.
• Adelaide Tagge brought Ronen back to apologize to Domina, then froze when Sanya revealed she was alive.
• Adelaide refused to support Sanya against Orman Tagge, arguing that the Finance Department had to remain neutral.
• Sanya argued that Orman and the Elder Council threatened the family, then announced she would marry Domina to Tang Xiao.

Sanya Tagge told Adelaide Tagge she intended to arrange Domina’s marriage to Tang Xiao and turn Tagge Company toward the Kingdom of Dawn, but Adelaide rejected the plan and stormed out. Meanwhile, Silas Tagge met with Adelaide’s husband, Felix, and praised his help to the family.

• Sanya Tagge said she planned to engage Domina Tagge to Tang Xiao and hand Tagge Company over to the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Adelaide Tagge accused Sanya of betraying the family and refused to let her decide Domina’s future.
• Sanya argued that choosing a side was the family’s only way to survive, while Luna Huan questioned what she would do about Orman Tagge.
• Adelaide left, and Sanya considered that joining the Kingdom of Dawn was the family’s best chance despite the costs.
• Silas Tagge met Felix Tagge at a private club and praised his contributions to the company’s Finance Department.

Silas Tagge tried to persuade Felix Tagge to undermine Adelaide by promising him authority and a place in the family if he helped build the Death Star. At the Tagge summit, Orman Tagge’s plan to take on the project met fierce opposition, but Adelaide noticed that key officials and elders remained silent.

• Silas Tagge insulted Felix and urged him to take responsibility for the Death Star project in Adelaide’s place, promising him control of Finance and recognition as a Tagge.
• Felix objected that building the Death Star could bankrupt Tagge Company, but he began to consider Silas’s offer.
• Three days later, Orman Tagge proposed that Tagge Company lead the Death Star’s remaining construction under the Cutting-Edge Technology Alliance.
• Adelaide and other family members challenged the plan, warning that it would drain the company’s resources and expose the family to ruin.
• As the elders argued, Adelaide noticed that the most critical department heads and senior Elder Council members stayed silent, and her heart skipped a beat.

At the Tagge family summit, Adelaide Tagge tried to stop Orman Tagge’s plan to build the Death Star, but Orman’s allies sabotaged her presentation and Felix Tagge seized control of the Finance Department. Sanya Tagge decided she had to seek Tang Xiao’s help to prevent Orman from ruining Tagge Company.

• Orman Tagge won the support of the family’s senior figures by promising that the Death Star would bring the Tagge family power across the Empire.
• Adelaide Tagge objected to the plan and warned that the family lacked the resources to build the Death Star and risked being exploited by its industrial partners.
• Adelaide’s data chip unexpectedly played an erotic film, and Orman Tagge used the embarrassment to turn the summit against her.
• Felix Tagge accused Adelaide of falsifying the company’s finances, displayed figures supporting the Death Star project, and declared himself Finance Minister with the department’s backing.
• Sanya Tagge rejected Luna Illusion’s suggestion to act at the summit and decided to seek Tang Xiao’s help, asking Luna Dream to assist her.

Sanya-Tagge sought the Faulken family's support and asked the Kingdom of Dawn to help bring Cassio-Tagge back and pressure the Empire at the border. Orman-Tagge brought in a High Inquisitor to purge the family, while Felix imprisoned Adelaide and declared his intent to make her his slave.

• Sanya-Tagge explained that Layla Tagge-Faulken and Brace Tagge-Faulken supported her, and asked the Kingdom of Dawn to help bring Cassio-Tagge back and apply military pressure along the border.
• Felix-Tagge took Adelaide-Tagge from the stage after his apparent victory over her, while Sanya-Tagge worried about Orman-Tagge gaining control of the Finance Department.
• Orman-Tagge introduced Mal Sikander, a High Inquisitor of the Imperial Inquisitorius, as the company's new advisor and announced an internal disciplinary purge.
• Luna-Dream and Luna-Phantom decided to leave rather than confront the High Inquisitor, and Luna-Dream promised to send Sanya-Tagge's request.
• Adelaide-Tagge woke handcuffed to a bed and accused Felix-Tagge of betraying her, while he blamed her for his actions and threatened to make her his slave.