Recaps

Major General Rocco Komona’s convoy lost contact with Scipio and suffered a suspicious cruiser explosion, while Cassian Ando’s disguised Rebel fighters infiltrated the Star Destroyer. The Rebels prepared to trap its Marines and create an opening for Nova to seize the ship’s computer and take control of its commander.

• After the K-7 convoy lost contact with Scipio near the black hole UX-8993920, Komona ordered three Aquitenes-class light cruisers to return and investigate.
• One cruiser exploded, but investigating Marines found no apparent damage, and its crew reported that the ship was operational after repairs.
• Unnoticed by Komona, Rebel fighters replaced more than a dozen Marines during the investigation, and a transparent figure hid aboard their shuttle.
• Cassian Ando revealed himself to the disguised Rebels and ordered them to seal off sections of the Star Destroyer to contain its 7,500 Marines.
• Cassian’s team planned to infiltrate the warship’s main computer and create an opportunity for Nova to take control of the commander.

Cassian Ando and the Rebel Alliance disrupted Major General Rocco Komona’s flagship, the Black, while Nova captured Komona and helped seize control of the warship. The Black’s systems came back online under Rebel control.

• Cassian Ando sealed several routes to the barracks and received a Password Cylinder from an Imperial engineer to access the weapons depot.
• An explosion and a crashed AT-AT blocked passages, trapping more than 7,000 Fourth Civilization Marines in the barracks as Reaper killed Imperial officers.
• Cassian Ando and Rebel fighters seized the main engine control room and shut down the Black’s power.
• Nova appeared on the bridge, held Major General Rocco Komona at gunpoint, and forced him to connect a data storage device to the ship’s central control system.
• Cassian Ando and Rebel technicians took over the warship’s systems, restarted its engines, and gained control of the Black.

Nova and Cassian Ando seized an Imperial Star Destroyer carrying rare alloys, but faced an Escort Officer who was a Dark Jedi Knight. After Nova killed him, the Rebel Alliance controlled the ship and its cargo, and Scipio’s rare-metal shipments were disrupted.

• Nova revealed that an Escort Officer could activate the transport ship’s self-destruct system, so she and Cassian Ando avoided warning the barracks.
• Nova cut off life support to the barracks, killing more than seven thousand Imperial soldiers, despite Cassian Ando’s objections.
• The Escort Officer confronted the rebels on the bridge, deflected Cassian Ando’s blaster fire, and hunted Nova through her cloaking and hologram tricks.
• A Rebel Alliance fighter charged the Escort Officer in an engineering machine and bought Nova time to fire three bullets that killed him.
• Nova, Cassian Ando, and the surviving rebels took control of the Star Destroyer, secured its rare-alloy cargo, and cut communications with Scipio.

White Lotus’s heist on the hyperspace route near Scipio prompted the Empire to rush the First System Army toward the region, advancing the Kingdom of Dawn’s plan to draw Imperial forces away from Coruscant. After discussing the stolen ore with Luthen Rael, she returned to her public identity as Sola Koen and went to meet her uncle, the incoming Deputy Minister of Finance.

• The Empire halted precious-metal shipments and sent thousands of warships toward Scipio as the Senate pressed for the Goalkeeper Plan and the retaking of Bilbrin.
• White Lotus watched the fleet mobilization from her balcony and recognized that the heist had accelerated the Kingdom of Dawn’s plan to draw the First System Army away from Coruscant.
• White Lotus asked Luthen Rael about the haul, and he reported that his side had seized eight thousand tons of rare alloy ore.
• White Lotus explained that the Banking Clan exaggerated its reserves and had internally reported ten thousand tons stolen to demand an Imperial recovery operation.
• White Lotus ended the call, then answered to her real name, Sola Koen, and followed her father to meet Uncle Dren, who had been chosen as the next Deputy Minister of Finance.

Sola Kohn recalled how she joined the Kingdom of Dawn’s Military Intelligence Department and built an intelligence network inside the Galactic Empire. As a White Lotus Group agent at a banquet, she reaffirmed her resolve to help overthrow the Core Worlds’ corrupt noble class.

• Sola Kohn trained with the Twilight Covenant on Drai II and fell in love with life on Dawn Star Planet.
• After learning she had become the Kohn family’s first heir, Sola chose to join the Kingdom of Dawn’s Military Intelligence Department.
• Sola returned to her family under an assumed backstory and took the codename White Lotus after befriending Super Lotus.
• Sola established an intelligence network beneath Coruscant and recruited overage Twilight Covenant trainees into the White Lotus Group.
• Lena Halder, Cassandra, and other White Lotus Group agents infiltrated Imperial society, using their charms to ensnare officials.
• At a banquet, Sola mingled with Imperial nobles and vowed to help the Kingdom of Dawn destroy the ruling class, declaring, “I am the Calamity!”

Tang Xiao traded cloaking technology to Borsk Feliya for intelligence on Scipio, while Helmut Zemo worried that the Dark Side was consuming Tang Xiao’s sanity. In Imperial Center, the Scipio heist intensified fear among the Empire’s elite, and Marshal Demetrius Zaarin reported breakthroughs on several advanced weapons and fighters.

• Tang Xiao confirmed to Helmut Zemo that the Galactic Empire’s First System Army was being redeployed to Scipio, but refused to explain his plan.
• Borsk Feliya asked Tang Xiao for cloaking technology, and Tang Xiao demanded Scipio’s defenses, fleet schedules, energy-core data, and financial-data-center location in exchange.
• Feliya accepted Tang Xiao’s deal, while Tang Xiao urged him to consider taking the Rebel Alliance’s leadership from Mon Mothma.
• The Scipio heist’s true significance spread among Imperial leaders and Core Worlds aristocrats, who feared the Empire could no longer protect them.
• Demetrius Zaarin reported breakthroughs in the TIE Defender, Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer weapon systems, and the Star Killer superweapon.

Emperor Palpatine emerged from seclusion and left the Imperial Palace amid growing unrest among Imperial officials. He traveled to Marshal Demetrius Zaarin’s secret weapons testing ground, where he encountered Inquisitor Arden Lyn.

• Palpatine’s return to public view brought Imperial officials, advisers, and Emperor’s Guards to the palace, where they watched him depart under escort.
• As Palpatine’s shuttle left Coruscant, officials exchanged unreadable smiles while political tensions within the Imperial Center neared an eruption.
• Palpatine’s shuttle entered the no-fly zone around Zaarin’s secret weapons testing ground and landed aboard the Star Destroyer Majestic.
• Demetrius Zaarin welcomed Palpatine and offered to show him his team’s recent achievements.
• Palpatine recognized Arden Lyn, the new head of the Imperial Inquisitorius, among Zaarin’s technical team.

Arden Lyn and Demetrius Zaarin lured Palpatine into a trap while forces secretly mobilized across Coruscant. As Zaarin presented the Star Killer aboard the Majestic, Palpatine ordered it fired at Dawn Star Planet, while Thrawn escaped his cell to investigate the gathering crisis.

• Arden Lyn pledged loyalty to Palpatine in exchange for his promise to summon her dead husband, Xendor, and Jing Fang agreed to confront the Emperor’s Guard while she and Hora handled Palpatine.
• Palpatine followed Demetrius Zaarin to the Majestic’s bridge, unaware that public security forces, Star Destroyers, Noble Houses, mercenaries, and gangs were preparing for unrest across Coruscant.
• Thrawn noticed unusual security deployments and Star Destroyers near the Imperial Palace, shot the guard outside his cell, and escaped using a Password Cylinder Palpatine had given him.
• Demetrius Zaarin presented the Star Killer, a superweapon capable of striking targets across ten thousand light-years and destroying a planet’s crust.
• Palpatine ordered Zaarin to fire the Star Killer at Dawn Star Planet immediately.

Demetrius-Zaarin and Umak Leth presented Palpatine with the Star Killer’s planet-destroying Particle Disintegration Bomb, but its delivery system remained vulnerable to interception. Zaarin then showed Palpatine an Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer prototype as Jing Fang approached Palpatine’s shuttle aboard the Majestic.

• Umak Leth explained how the Particle Disintegration Bomb could destroy a planet, and Palpatine praised its potential against Dawn Star Planet.
• Umak Leth admitted the Star Killer missile could be intercepted, prompting Palpatine to blast him aside and order Demetrius-Zaarin to find a way to deliver it.
• Demetrius-Zaarin reported that the Eclipse-class prototype could carry a scaled-down Death Star weapon and invited Palpatine to observe its test.
• The Majestic entered the restricted test zone while Palpatine’s two accompanying Star Destroyers were ordered to stay behind.
• Palpatine gazed at the Eclipse-class prototype as Jing Fang, disguised as ground crew, approached Palpatine’s shuttle.

Jing Fang and Arden Lyn launched an assault on Darth Sidious aboard the Majestic, while Demetrius Zaarin’s forces turned against the Emperor. The chapter ended as Arden Lyn struck from behind with her glowing mechanical arm.

• Jing Fang plunged the Emperor’s Guards into darkness, then attacked them with Teräs Käsi as a heavily armored Gamorrean burst from a container.
• Darth Sidious tried to seize Demetrius Zaarin, but Zaarin’s energy barrier blocked the Force attack.
• Arden Lyn revealed that she had betrayed Darth Sidious over his deception and the loss of her right hand, then charged through his Force lightning and punched his barrier.
• Demetrius Zaarin escaped the bridge while his loyal soldiers fought Darth Sidious’s guards outside.
• Arden Lyn pressed Darth Sidious with powerful attacks, resisted his Force black hole, and unleashed a roar that killed officers and soldiers on the bridge.
• Arden Lyn appeared behind Darth Sidious with her mechanical arm glowing with energy.

Arden Lyn wounded Darth Sidious with her Kyber-powered mechanical arm, but his Force Storm nearly overwhelmed her. Her disciple Hora ambushed Sidious and knocked him into a control console, leaving Arden Lyn to declare the fight over.

• Arden Lyn broke through Darth Sidious's Force barrier with her mechanical-arm punch and injured him.
• Darth Sidious unleashed a Force Storm that began erasing the bridge, and Arden Lyn barely survived by countering it with her arm and the Kace-Mer Talisman.
• Darth Sidious prepared to strike again as Arden Lyn's strength waned.
• Hora burst out of the holographic star map projector and struck Darth Sidious from behind with his Gaderffii stick.
• Darth Sidious crashed into a control console, and Arden Lyn told him the fight was over.

Arden Lyn captured Darth Sidious and brought him to Demetrius Zaarin aboard the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Honor as Zaarin moved to seize control of the Empire. When communications were jammed and the two Star Destroyers resisting him refused to surrender, Zaarin launched TIE Defenders, which overwhelmed the opposing fighters.

• Arden Lyn defeated Darth Sidious, took him prisoner, and agreed to deliver him to Demetrius Zaarin.
• Arden Lyn flew Darth Sidious to the Star Destroyer Honor instead of the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer and contacted Zaarin.
• Zaarin ordered Palpatine to announce his abdication, but communications with Coruscant were cut off by jamming from two Star Destroyers.
• After confirming the source of the interference, Zaarin ordered the TIE Defender formation to attack and demanded the opposing ships surrender.
• TIE Defenders slaughtered the TIE Advanced X-1 fighters launched by the two Star Destroyers.

Wullf Yularen and Thrawn recognized that Imperial Center was on the brink of rebellion and prepared to counter it without alerting the conspirators. As coordinated attacks erupted after Palpatine left the Imperial Palace, Thrawn persuaded Imperial Marshal Ruffan Digorinus to assemble a fleet and crush the rebels.

• Thrawn warned Wullf Yularen that a rebellion was imminent, and Yularen agreed to secure the situation while concealing their response.
• Thrawn proposed seizing military command, identifying allies, and dividing Coruscant’s communications zones, then went to seek Ruffan Digorinus and assemble a fleet.
• After Palpatine left the Imperial Palace, gangsters rioted, mercenaries ambushed security forces, communications centers and spaceports were attacked, and officials forced the Imperial Senate to convene.
• Thrawn was brought in restraints before Ruffan Digorinus, who admitted he was tempted by the Emperor’s throne but agreed to act against the rebels and provide a fleet.

Isanne Isard and Marshal Ruffan Digorinus mobilized the Imperial Homeland Defense Bureau and Thrawn to crush the Coruscant rebellion while cutting off communications from Palpatine’s capture site. Thrawn identified a rebel organizer in the financial district and left to rescue Palpatine, while the rebels’ forced Senate session stalled because the Emperor never appeared.

• Isanne Isard mobilized the Imperial Homeland Defense Bureau, and Ruffan Digorinus sent its clone soldiers to suppress the riots across Coruscant.
• Ruffan placed eighteen Imperial II-class Star Destroyers under Thrawn’s command, while Thrawn ordered the two ships guarding Palpatine to jam communications with Coruscant.
• Demetrius Zaarin discovered that he could not report Palpatine’s capture and sent TIE Defenders to attack the two Star Destroyers blocking his communications.
• Thrawn used the communications blackout and battlefield reports to identify the financial district as the location of a rebel organizer, then departed to rescue Palpatine.
• Rebel senators and nobles forced Mas Amedda to convene an emergency Senate session, but Palpatine did not appear to make the promised announcement.

Cassius Alcott announced Palpatine’s deposition and tried to force the Senate to approve it while Thrawn led a fleet to rescue the Emperor from Zaarin’s forces. Thrawn’s attack began to disrupt Zaarin’s formation, but an Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer appeared and opened fire.

• Cassius Alcott declared Palpatine deposed, announced a Provisional Governing Council, and ordered rebel soldiers to force senators to sign the resolution.
• Thrawn assembled the Star Destroyers and Light Cruisers available to him and rushed toward Zaarin’s weapons testing zone to rescue Palpatine.
• Thrawn used a spread-out, rotating attack to exploit gaps in Zaarin’s formation and sent twenty Light Cruisers toward Zaarin’s flagship, the Star Destroyer Honor.
• An Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer appeared as Thrawn’s Light Cruisers entered the inner battlefield and opened fire.

Thrawn's fleet gained the upper hand against Zaarin's rebels, while Darth Vader reached the flagship Honor and Palpatine escaped captivity. Zaarin's coup collapsed, Arden Lyn fled with him, and Cassius Olcott faced arrest as his brief claim to power crumbled.

• Thrawn kept his fleet advancing despite the Eclipse-class ship and TIE Defender attacks, then followed coordinates Darth Vader sent to reach Palpatine.
• Arden Lyn recognized Vader's arrival and ordered Zaarin to retreat, but she discovered Palpatine had escaped the laser cage.
• Darth Vader boarded the Honor and fought through the ship as an explosion struck its engine section; Arden Lyn escaped with Jing Fang, Zaarin, and Sok aboard a TIE Defender.
• Darth Sidious met Vader aboard the Honor and ordered him to leave no one alive.
• Cassius Olcott declared Palpatine removed and named himself executive chairman, but the IDA surrounded his hiding place while Capital Defense Fleet commander Herman Traak ignored his demands.

After crushing Zaarin and Cassius Olcott’s rebellion on Coruscant, the Empire hunted the rebels while Zaarin escaped and rebuilt his fleet. As the Empire moved against the secessionist worlds, the Kingdom of Dawn’s forces advanced on Palanci Planet.

• Isanne Isard interrogated Cassius Olcott and showed him the arrests of senators and officials and the assault on his family estate, breaking his resolve and making him confess.
• Palpatine addressed the Empire as clone troopers and Imperial forces occupied Coruscant, while the Planetary Shield rose over the planet.
• Thrawn failed to capture Demetrius Zaarin, who escaped with Arden Lyn and the TIE Defender fighters; the remaining rebel ships surrendered, and Thrawn returned to his cell with new privileges.
• Zaarin and Arden Lyn regrouped with their allies, assembled a much larger fleet, and set course for Omar Planet to seize its TIE fighter production lines.
• More than a hundred planets and dozens of Noble Houses remained in rebellion, Darth Vader’s fleet surrounded Skako, and Watto Tambor asked the Kingdom of Dawn for help.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s warships advanced through the wreckage around Palanci Planet, where the fighting had ended and the planet’s surface burned.

Tang Xiao’s remaining reason guided the Kingdom of Dawn to attack Palanci Planet as rebellion erupted in the Imperial Center. After Palanci fell, he acknowledged that his battlefield was shifting while Daughter threatened to kill him.

• Tang Xiao ordered the Northern Fleet to attack Palanci Planet once unrest began in the Imperial Center, despite Qi Jian’s concerns about its strong defenses.
• The Northern Fleet launched a full assault, and the Archangel destroyed seven Imperial-class Star Destroyers, sending Palanci’s First System Army defenders fleeing.
• The Kingdom of Dawn destroyed more than fifty Star Destroyers and over three hundred smaller ships, then landed ground forces and captured Palanci Planet on September 3.
• News arrived that an uprising in the Imperial Center had endangered Emperor Palpatine and that the First System Army was blamed for leaving Coruscant early.
• Tang Xiao revealed that he had helped spark the Imperial rebellion and had attacked Palanci using the last of his reason against the Dark Side’s corruption.
• Daughter pressed a jade-green dagger to Tang Xiao’s throat and said she awaited the moment she could kill him.

Tang Xiao prepared to confront Darth Sidious while warning that using the Son’s power could overwhelm him with the Dark Side. Across the Empire, rebellions and military losses mounted as Palpatine dissolved the Senate, punished the conspirators, and reorganized his forces.

• Tang Xiao rejected Daughter’s warning, declared that he would kill Darth Sidious, and went to prepare for their decisive battle.
• Demetrius Zaarin raided Omar Planet’s industrial facilities as more than a hundred planets declared independence and the Rebel Alliance intensified its attacks.
• Palpatine dissolved the Imperial Senate, imprisoned the senators who had voted against him, and executed Cassius Olcott and Herman Strack.
• Palpatine promoted Thrawn to Imperial Admiral, gave him the captured Eclipse-class prototype as his future flagship, and ordered him to hunt down Zaarin’s remaining forces.
• Palpatine sent High Inquisitor Antillis Tremayne and the remaining Imperial Inquisitorius after Arden Lyn, then assigned the capital region’s Defense Fleet to Ruffan Digorinus instead of recalling the First System Army.

Oswald Tessik struggled to contain the First System Army’s retreat after Palanci Planet fell, while Palpatine’s distrust left him politically isolated. Before Tessik could submit a plan to contract the defensive line, Coruscant ordered the army to retake Palanci Planet and Bilbrin Planet, leaving him horrified.

• Oswald Tessik learned that three sub-fleets were retreating from Palanci Planet and ordered the commanders arrested and sent to Coruscant for public execution.
• Tessik sent two more sub-fleets to reinforce the front and reviewed a plan to contract defenses, which would require ceding part of the Core Worlds.
• Tessik reflected that Palpatine distrusted him and the First System Army, despite their loyalty, and had barred them from returning to Coruscant during Marshal Zarin’s rebellion.
• Tessik resolved to send Palpatine the plan to contract the defensive line and avoid a disastrous attempt to retake lost territory.
• Coruscant ordered the Goalkeeper Plan carried out on its original date, directing the First System Army’s full main force to retake Palanci Planet and then Bilbrin Planet.

Oswald Tessik ordered the First System Army to carry out the Goalkeeper Plan despite lacking the forces for a safe counteroffensive, while Palpatine sent Darth Vader to Skako and mocked him about his loyalty. Vader ordered an investigation into the Shadow Hand and the Empire’s Fifth Army, as the Kingdom of Dawn’s Northern Fleet received a warning that the Empire might attack Palanci Planet.

• Oswald Tessik ordered his forces to abandon some defenses, regroup on Scipio, and launch a counteroffensive against Palanci Planet under the Goalkeeper Plan.
• Palpatine questioned Darth Vader about his late arrival, approved the Goalkeeper Plan, and ordered him to let the fighting on Skako begin its opening act.
• Darth Vader ordered a black-robed figure to investigate the Shadow Hand and determine the organization and location of the Galactic Empire’s Fifth Army.
• An intelligence officer warned General Trench that the Galactic Empire might soon launch a full-scale offensive against Palanci Planet.

Ander-Viking warned General Trench against a decisive fleet battle at Palanci Planet, while Oswald-Tessik committed the Galactic Empire’s First System Army to the Goalkeeper Plan. The Empire attacked Palanci Planet in overwhelming numbers, and the chapter ended as its forces charged the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.

• General Trench ordered his fleets to prepare for a multi-pronged attack, but Ander-Viking argued that the Kingdom of Dawn should avoid a decisive battle and questioned the plan’s strategic purpose.
• Oswald-Tessik learned that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was withdrawing toward Palanci Planet and ordered the Imperial army to attack in two days rather than cancel the Goalkeeper Plan.
• The Kingdom of Dawn intensified its ground offensive on Dantooine and used Geth raids to strain Dunn-Vesex’s forces, while Dunn refused to join Tessik’s operation.
• On September 11, 9BBY, Oswald-Tessik assembled the First System Army and launched Combat Groups A and B toward Palanci Planet, with the Reaper and Guardian as their flagships.
• After entering the system, Tessik found the Kingdom of Dawn fleet near the fifth planet and ordered Combat Group A to charge while Combat Group B attacked Palanci Planet.

Ensign Dennis Henk led Turret B-16 aboard The Punk as it attacked Kingdom of Dawn frigates, but the enemy ships revealed powerful shields and remote repair while disrupting the Star Destroyer’s systems. As The Punk came under fire and began a sharp turn, Henk saw an enormous disk-shaped structure fill his targeting view.

• Dennis Henk directed his turret through repeated five-shot salvos at a Kingdom of Dawn frigate but initially missed its fast, agile target.
• One of Henk’s beams grazed a nearby frigate, damaging its shield and engines, and the turret crew celebrated their expected battle allowance.
• The damaged frigate slowed, but a pale green shield blocked Henk’s next salvo, while a nearby cruiser repaired the frigate remotely.
• Henk identified the cruiser as a Hell Angel-class Battlecruiser and fired at it, but the same green shield stopped his shots as unknown energy disrupted the turret’s systems.
• The Punk took fire on its port side and began a massive turn, and Henk saw an enormous disk-shaped metal structure through his monocular.

Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik led Combat Group A into an unexpectedly early battle with the Kingdom of Dawn’s main fleet near Palanci Planet. After the Archangel Titan’s Doomsday Weapon and the Dawn fleet’s fighters inflicted heavy damage, Tessik learned that Combat Group B had been trapped and would take at least four hours to arrive, leaving his force to face the enemy alone.

• Oswald Tessik discovered that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet had deployed near Planet Five, forcing Combat Group A to engage it earlier than planned.
• Tessik ordered the Reaper to concentrate its fire on the Archangel Titan while the Dawn fleet used the Taowu’s Fleet Shield and interference field to protect its formation.
• The Archangel Titan fired its Doomsday Weapon, destroying six Imperial capital ships and more than twenty smaller warships, while damaging or destroying several Shield Ship II vessels.
• Kingdom of Dawn drones and fighters attacked the Imperial fleet, and its Divinity-class battleships advanced as Imperial losses mounted.
• Tessik ordered Combat Group B to reinforce him, but his adjutant reported that it was trapped by interference devices near Palanci Planet and would need at least four hours to arrive.

Oswald Tessik realized the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was using a gravitational slingshot around Planet Five to escape after badly damaging Combat Group A. Ander Viking’s fleet reached hyperspace and withdrew to Bilbrin, leaving Palanci Planet behind as part of a larger plan to seize Scipio.

• Oswald Tessik ordered Combat Group A to continue fighting while waiting for Combat Group B to arrive.
• Oswald Tessik discovered that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was accelerating through a gravitational slingshot maneuver and ordered his ships to pursue and extend their interdiction fields.
• Combat Group B arrived too late to stop the Kingdom of Dawn fleet from escaping the interdiction fields and jumping to hyperspace toward Bilbrin.
• General Trench discussed the withdrawal with Ander Viking, who explained that holding Palanci Planet would spread their forces and undermine their plan to capture Scipio.
• General Trench admired Ander Viking’s tactical planning, which had used advance acceleration and interference devices to damage the Imperial fleet before withdrawing.