Recaps

Dennis Henk survived the destruction of his turret aboard the damaged Star Destroyer The Punk, only to be sealed inside by a security robot as the ship continued its mission. Meanwhile, Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik recognized the cost of the battle for Palanci and ordered a probing assault on Bilbrin Planet after the Imperial Center demanded the Reaper’s safety.

• Dennis Henk woke beneath wreckage in turret B-16 and remembered The Punk’s defeat during the battle against the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.
• A K-X security robot sealed Henk inside the turret, explaining that The Punk had orders to attack Bilbrin Planet and that his rescue was outside its mission.
• Oswald Tessik reviewed the Empire’s heavy losses at Palanci and realized that, despite recapturing the planet, his fleet had lost the battle strategically.
• After the Imperial Center remained silent, Tessik announced that he would lead a suicidal assault on Bilbrin Planet.
• The Imperial Center replied, “Please ensure the safety of the Super Star Destroyer,” so Tessik ordered a detached fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers to conduct a probing fire reconnaissance.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet crushed Oswald Tessik’s attack on Bilbrin Planet, while the Empire recast his defeat as a heroic sacrifice and transformed him into a mechanized commander. As Dunn Vesex realized the fleet might next target Parlin Minor, he feared the Northern Territory was in danger.

• Major General Luo Huacheng sent three Divinity-class battleships and other forces to meet Tessik’s thirty Star Destroyers at Bilbrin Planet, where the Imperial fleet was swiftly defeated.
• A mysterious black-robed figure rescued the gravely injured Oswald Tessik from his flagship before it was destroyed.
• The Empire rebuilt Tessik as a partially mechanized being, celebrated him as a war hero, and stripped him of administrative power while keeping him in command of the First System Army fleet.
• Emperor Palpatine ordered the First System Army to secure Palanci Planet, with the Reaper returning to Scipio and the Guardian remaining behind.
• Oswald Tessik understood that Palpatine had used his defeat and public praise to force him into loyal service, and he laughed wildly in his chamber.
• Dunn Vesex watched the Kingdom of Dawn fleet withdraw to Bilbrin Planet and feared that Parlin Minor would become its next target.

Dunn Vesex returned to the Imperial Center to secure reinforcements for the Northern Territory, but the Empire prioritized the Death Star and its campaign against Demetrius Zaarin while fighter production collapsed. With his defense plans shelved, Dunn sought advice from Miltin Tarkel, who told him to request more ground troops by expanding the Dantooine front.

• Dunn Vesex lobbied Imperial departments and Sith Fleet Systems to make Northern Territory defense a priority, but Demetrius Zaarin's theft of the TIE Defender program and raid on Omar Planet crippled fighter production.
• Les Sienar told Dunn that Sith Fleet Systems could not supply advanced fighters to the Northern Territory and that new production would go first to the battered First System Army.
• The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command prioritized Death Star construction, defensive preparations, and the campaign against Zaarin, leaving Dunn's requested defense plan and reinforcement fleet without support.
• Thrawn's fleet failed to stop Zaarin's escape but shot down two TIE Defenders, while Niel Declan was ordered to join the campaign against the rebels.
• Dunn visited Miltin Tarkel and hosted a lavish spice party to seek his advice, and Miltin suggested expanding the Dantooine front to obtain more army forces.

Dunn-Vesex approved a plan to expand the ground war on Dantooine and draw Kingdom of Dawn forces away from Parlin-Minor. After the plan was refined and reinforcements arrived, he began withdrawing from Ord Mantell and pulling back his defensive line.

• Miltin-Tarkel advised Dunn-Vesex to strengthen the army, and Dunn-Vesex had a battle plan drafted overnight.
• Dunn-Vesex submitted a plan for a major Northern Territory Legion ground campaign on Dantooine, and the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command approved it.
• The chapter recounted how the Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire began fighting on Dantooine over Kyber crystal veins and ancient relics, with both sides steadily reinforcing their ground forces.
• Dunn-Vesex held a three-day military conference with the recovering Gillard-Perine, who helped refine the operation.
• After three Acclamator-class assault ships and twenty transport ships arrived at Parlin-Minor, Dunn-Vesex withdrew Imperial troops from Ord Mantell and continued pulling back his defensive line.

Dunn Vesex devastated Ord Mantell before withdrawing, while the Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire remained locked in a costly positional war on Dantooine. Huang Yehao’s forces attacked an Imperial strongpoint but ran into concealed defenses, leaving the assault underway.

• Dunn Vesex stripped Ord Mantell of supplies and equipment, destroyed its infrastructure, laid mines, and withdrew toward deep space to focus on Dantooine.
• The Kingdom of Dawn reoccupied Ord Mantell, struggled to feed and relocate its residents, and eventually handed reconstruction over to the Vasari and the Geth.
• Huang Yehao identified an Imperial artillery position protected by a Mobile Deflector Shield and planned to attack under the 19th Armored Assault Battalion’s cover.
• The Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire exchanged aircraft, artillery, and shield-protected attacks as their forces fought a prolonged positional campaign on Dantooine.
• Huang Yehao’s forces launched an assault with battle droids and Scorpion Annihilators, but hidden Imperial turrets and soldiers emerged and destroyed hundreds of droids.

Huang Yehao led the Fourth Legion’s Eighth Special Reinforced Battalion in a flanking assault on the Galactic Empire’s defenses, using the Imperial long-range cannon’s attack as cover. After his troops destroyed the shield generator mounted on an AT-AT, the Empire’s defensive shield collapsed and the Kingdom of Dawn’s frontline forces surged forward.

• Huang Yehao held back the elite assault until the Galactic Empire revealed its SPMA-T self-propelled turbolaser cannon, then led more than a thousand camouflaged Fourth Legion warriors around the flank.
• Huang Yehao and his troops breached the Imperial shield, scattered through the defensive positions, and used high-speed attacks to tear gaps in the line.
• A Fourth Legion warrior identified the shield generator on an AT-AT before being cut off, and Huang Yehao called for Justin Levis to help him reach it.
• Justin Levis flew Huang Yehao onto the AT-AT, where Huang Yehao planted antimatter bombs beneath its shield generator and escaped with Levis’s help.
• The AT-AT and its generator were destroyed, collapsing the shield over the high ground, and Huang Yehao ordered his troops to disperse and harass the Imperial forces.
• The Scorpion Annihilator combat machines intensified their attack, while fifty Scorpion tanks charged from reserve as Imperial fire weakened.

The Kingdom of Dawn broke through the Galactic Empire’s southern highlands defenses and held off Maximilian Vels’s counterattack with airdropped bunkers and a Fifth Generation Command Center. Vels was left unable to retake the highlands as Dawn forces established a fortified base there.

• Scorpion tanks, Evil Bat mechas, and battle droids tore through the Imperial positions, allowing Kingdom of Dawn troops to overrun the southern highlands.
• Maximilian Vels ordered reserve armor and four infantry Legions to counterattack and told his artillery to bombard the highlands despite Imperial troops still being there.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers took cover from the bombardment while its forces fought the advancing Imperial armor.
• More than a hundred airdropped bunkers landed and helped the Kingdom of Dawn hold its defense line against the Imperial assault.
• A Fifth Generation Command Center landed, deployed a Deflector Shield that blocked Imperial artillery, and sent SCVs to build a military base.
• Maximilian Vels watched the Kingdom of Dawn reinforce the southern highlands and accepted that he could not retake them.

Justin-Levis led Vulture Company in a night raid that destroyed a Galactic Empire Energy Center, while General Maximilian-Vels abandoned plans to counterattack and the Empire began pouring troops and supplies onto Dantooine. Chief of Staff Qi Jian told General Dai Hongkui that the campaign would end in one month, with the outcome depending on the army’s performance.

• Justin-Levis and Vulture Company infiltrated the Galactic Empire’s Energy Center and killed hundreds of Imperial soldiers before planting a Proton Bomb in the reactor’s cooling pipes.
• The Proton Bomb destroyed the Energy Center, and the Kingdom of Dawn Air Force bombed the base as Vulture Company escaped.
• General Maximilian-Vels reported the loss of the southern highlands and the Energy Center, then requested a stronger defensive front as Imperial reinforcements gathered at nearby forward bases.
• Huang Yehao learned that Justin-Levis’s team would attack a spaceport while his own forces held their positions, and he prepared to face the incoming Imperial troops.
• Qi Jian told General Dai Hongkui that the army should expand the campaign for one more month before bringing it to an end.

Army General Dai Hongkui managed the Kingdom of Dawn’s stretched ground campaign on Dantooine, rejecting proposals to use biological weapons or the Geth while preparing new offensives and expanding droid production. As both sides reinforced the planet and fought over supply routes, Dai met the towering Army General Bentrass San Skar, who demanded to know when he could attack the Imperials.

• Dai Hongkui ordered continued attacks on Imperial positions, faster droid-factory construction, and a search for weaknesses in the enemy’s defenses.
• Dai rejected Umbrella Corporation’s offer to use Virus C and ruled out deploying the Geth, insisting the Kingdom of Dawn preserve its support among local residents.
• Two automated Protoss transport ships docked with the industrial mothership, and Dai reacted gravely to the cargo they carried.
• The Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn reinforced Dantooine and raided each other’s supply routes as Gillard-Perine resumed command of the Imperial defensive line.
• Three days later, Bentrass San Skar confronted Dai at the North Pole space station and asked when he could attack the Imperials.

Kingdom of Dawn generals Dai Hongkui and Bentilash-San-Skar prepared to attack the Galactic Empire’s Black Mountain Base with the Protoss Marauders. A Marauder fired a devastating energy sphere into the base, creating a mushroom cloud beneath its Deflector Shield.

• Bentilash-San-Skar told Dai Hongkui he planned to destroy the Galactic Empire’s landing ground near Khoonda City and said he needed support.
• Dai Hongkui learned that the Protoss had sent Marauders, and Phase Engineer Kela-Sar arrived to explain that the Twilight Council had approved their use.
• At Black Mountain Base, Sentinel Lawrence noticed increased activity in the Kingdom of Dawn positions and reported possible troop movements, but Captain Kone dismissed his warning.
• Lawrence spotted a golden spacecraft deploying a huge mechanical Marauder in the southern highlands.
• The Marauder launched a pale blue sphere toward Black Mountain Base, killing Lawrence and triggering a mushroom cloud inside the base’s Deflector Shield.

The Imperial army at Black Mountain Base struggled to counter the Kingdom of Dawn’s Golden Mechanical Maggot, whose guided pale-blue projectiles destroyed fortifications and armored forces despite concentrated interception fire. General Maximilian Vels ordered a full-scale offensive, but as the battle escalated, the Maggot turned its weapon toward the AT-AT walkers.

• The Golden Mechanical Maggot fired pale-blue projectiles that bypassed Black Mountain Base’s Deflector Shields and annihilated Imperial positions.
• General Maximilian Vels identified the projectiles as Kamikaze Drones and ordered artillery and assault battalions to destroy the machine.
• The Imperial assault stalled under the Kingdom of Dawn’s artillery and air defenses, while the Maggot destroyed twelve 2-M Hover Assault Tanks on one flank.
• Imperial artillery weakened another projectile but failed to stop it from destroying nine more 2-M Hover Assault Tanks.
• After learning a second Golden Maggot had appeared, Vels mobilized Black Mountain Base’s hundred thousand troops for a full-scale offensive.
• As AT-AT walkers bombarded the Kingdom of Dawn’s positions, the Golden Maggot turned its weapon toward them, leaving Vels horrified.

General Maximilian Vels led the Galactic Empire’s assault against the Kingdom of Dawn, but the Marauders’ devastating attacks and rapid extraction frustrated his advance. Imperial forces eventually took the southern highlands at dawn, though Self-Destructing Spiders and newly deployed bunkers had badly disrupted their offensive.

• A Marauder’s Kamikaze Drone crippled an AT-AT, and General Vels ordered the Imperial forces to spread out and attack.
• The Galactic Empire and Kingdom of Dawn escalated the battle as Imperial troops stretched the defenders’ lines and began breaking through.
• A transport aircraft retrieved a Marauder in under five minutes, enraging Vels and prompting him to intensify the assault.
• Imperial 1-H Heavy Hover Tanks advanced onto the southern highlands, but Self-Destructing Spiders disabled several vehicles and threw the vanguard into disarray.
• Kingdom of Dawn bunkers descended and attacked, slowing the Imperial advance until the Galactic Empire reoccupied the southern highlands at dawn.

The Galactic Empire struggled to contain the Kingdom of Dawn’s attacks in the southern highlands as General Maximilian Veers ordered a desperate pursuit of its flying structures and Golden Beetles. Meanwhile, Bentilas San Skar led more than forty thousand Caladanians in a surprise assault on an Imperial landing ground, where they seized equipment and slaughtered its unprepared defenders.

• Imperial forces struggled to advance through the southern highlands, while flying Kingdom of Dawn structures began retreating toward friendly positions.
• General Maximilian Veers ordered his troops to destroy the flying structures and then to charge the Golden Beetles, despite the dangers posed by Self-Destructing Spiders and enemy fire.
• Bentilas San Skar led four Caladanian divisions through the wilderness and into position around the Imperial landing ground before dawn.
• San Skar gave the signal, and Caladanian teams silenced the watchtowers, destroyed the base’s defenses, and launched attacks across the landing ground.
• Caladanians seized dozens of armored vehicles, destroyed Imperial command and supply facilities, and overwhelmed the unprepared troops and security robots.

The Kingdom of Dawn and Caladanian forces destroyed the Galactic Empire’s landing field base on Dantooine, while local laborers joined the assault and Imperial General Maximilian Vels abandoned the southern highlands to respond. The Empire halted its counteroffensive and crowded reinforcements into orbit, where Kingdom of Dawn fighters attacked the space station as the Kingdom’s transports arrived.

• More than forty thousand Caladanian warriors and rebelling laborers overwhelmed the Imperial landing field base, capturing and turning its armored vehicles against Imperial troops as a transport pilot crashed into a fuel depot.
• Ten Saber-class fighters intercepted Imperial air reinforcements, forcing General Maximilian Vels to return to the base and leaving the southern highlands open for the Kingdom of Dawn to retake.
• After a day of slaughter, the Caladanians withdrew with their fallen, and Vels returned to find the base in ruins and fewer than a quarter of its roughly five hundred thousand soldiers escaped.
• The Galactic Empire suspected the Kingdom of Dawn had used a large stealth force, abandoned plans for an immediate counteroffensive, and kept arriving reinforcements aboard crowded orbital transport ships.
• Kingdom of Dawn fighter squadrons, including the Saber-class fighters, attacked the congested space station and hunted Imperial transports while Kingdom of Dawn transports began arriving in an unending stream.

The Kingdom of Dawn exploited the Empire’s strained defenses on Dantooine while General Dai Hongkui prepared a counteroffensive. On September 20, the Empire’s divided commanders argued over strategy before General Maximilian Vels’s shuttle was shot down, leaving the battle’s command situation in crisis.

• The Kingdom of Dawn reinforced its ground forces and sent a second industrial mothership to an asteroid belt, while General Dai Hongkui continued his plans without its support.
• General Maximilian Vels and Lieutenant General Zell Johnson argued in Garang over supplies, defenses, and who should lead a counteroffensive.
• A report of Separatist troop movements near Khoonda City prompted Vels to rush back to the front, while Johnson prepared to return as well.
• An engineer secretly signaled two Sabre-class fighters, which attacked Vels’s shuttle after it left Garang’s air-defense circle.
• The Dantooine command center received confirmation that Vels’s shuttle had crashed 300 kilometers south of Garang.

Zell Johnson took command of Dantooine’s ground forces and ordered reinforcements to defend Khoonda City and Black Mountain Base as the Kingdom of Dawn launched a prepared assault. Orbital-drop troops and attacking forces overwhelmed Black Mountain Base’s defenses, while a Kingdom of Dawn armored formation confronted Imperial tanks on the flank.

• Zell Johnson assumed command after General Maximilian Vels was attacked, appointed the Chief Operations Advisor as his Operations Adjutant, and ordered reserves to Khoonda City and Black Mountain Base.
• As General Dai Hongkui’s offensive began, Grey Horse-class escort carriers dropped six hundred Indjori Vengeance T-104s onto Black Mountain Base.
• Thousands of A-130 Predator Mechanical Wolves and battle droids attacked the base, while Indjori forces caused chaos inside its defenses.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s artillery, including Thor Mechs, bombarded Imperial gun positions as its soldiers and Vulture Company units pressed the assault.
• Imperial armored forces advancing toward the flank encountered an opposing formation of super-heavy tanks.

Second Lieutenant Bynum’s 1-H super-heavy tank was destroyed by the Kingdom of Dawn’s M-850 Grizzly heavy tanks as the Galactic Empire’s armored forces were defeated. General Dai Hongkui reviewed the battle and the new weapons that helped his army break through the Imperial defenses.

• Second Lieutenant Bynum’s 1-H tank took turbolaser fire, forcing him and its crew to abandon it as armored forces clashed.
• Bynum watched a Grizzly tank withstand a 1-H heavy laser cannon and destroy Imperial vehicles, then received a booklet titled Quotations of Tang Xiao from a crewman.
• Bynum walked past wrecked Imperial tanks and burning AT-AT walkers, realizing the Imperial Army had been defeated.
• General Dai Hongkui reviewed the battle and noted that mechanical wolves and battle droids suffered heavy losses while powered armor, Thor Mechs, and Crucio II Siege Tanks supported the assault.
• Dai Hongkui praised the M-850 Grizzly, whose Neutron Steel armor, Voltage-Based Thermal Coating, and powerful turbolaser cannons had countered the Imperial 1-H tanks.

The Kingdom of Dawn captured Black Mountain Base after its Grizzly Tanks overwhelmed the Galactic Empire’s defenses, leaving the Imperial force on Dantooine in collapse. Dunn Vesex’s attempt to reinforce Dantooine and use the conflict to advance his position was upended when the Empire’s outer-space base there was devastated, cutting off ground reinforcements.

• The Kingdom of Dawn’s Grizzly Tanks broke through the Imperial flank and entered Black Mountain Base as infantry, the Fourth Legion, and Vulture Company completed the assault.
• Kingdom of Dawn troops captured Black Mountain Base, killed resisting Imperial soldiers, and seized its supplies.
• Zear Johnson requested reinforcements after the base’s fall threatened Khoonda City and its industrial zone.
• Dunn Vesex ordered another five hundred thousand troops, including two hundred thousand K-X series security robots, sent to Dantooine, then traveled to the Imperial Center.
• Thrawn defeated Demetrius Zaarin’s rebel fleet, destroyed his unfinished production lines, and recovered engineers from the TIE Defender project.
• On October 19, Dunn Vesex learned that the Dantooine outer-space base and escort fleet had been devastated, cutting off reinforcements for the ground war.

The Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn remained locked in a stalemate on Dantooine until two Kingdom of Dawn King of Kings-class Battlecruisers arrived and attacked the Imperial orbital space station and escort fleet. The battle left the Imperial transports and warships in chaos as the battlecruisers tore through their defenses.

• Lieutenant General Zel-Johnson sought stronger fighters and reinforcements but could not launch a counterattack against the Kingdom of Dawn on Dantooine.
• On October 18, the Galactic Empire's orbital space station detected two capital ships approaching and scrambled fighters, evacuated transports, and deployed its escort fleet.
• The station's commander identified the incoming vessels as two Separatist King of Kings-class Battlecruisers, which charged through the Imperial formation despite concentrated fire.
• The King of Kings-class Battlecruisers unleashed their Neutron Rapid-Fire Cannons, while Kingdom of Dawn fighters and frigates joined the attack.
• Imperial anti-aircraft fire struck fleeing transports, and the battlecruisers continued attacking as Imperial ships and transports suffered heavy damage.

Separatist Throne-class warships shattered the Galactic Empire’s fleet around Dantooine and trapped its ground forces without reinforcements. As Imperial leaders scrambled to respond, Matteo Bach revealed that the Emperor’s secret base, The Warren, was on the planet, while Alexander Kjar and Dai Hongkui prepared to press the attack.

• Three Aquatens-class cruisers and much of the Imperial transport fleet were destroyed or stranded in chaotic hyperspace fluctuations, leaving Zell Johnson without reinforcements or supplies.
• Gillard Perine ordered transport ships to stop jumping and clear the hyperspace route, then began planning a possible offensive through Ord Mantell toward Bilbrin Planet.
• At the Imperial Center, Matteo Bach told Dunn Vesex that The Warren, an Emperor-backed secret research base, was on Dantooine and offered to join him with twenty prototype TIE Phantom fighters.
• Dai Hongkui learned from Alexander Kjar that two stripped-down Throne-class warships had been assembled aboard an industrial mothership and would need its support until the Geth fleet arrived.

The Kingdom of Dawn defeated the Imperial forces on Dantooine, capturing about one million soldiers and forcing Zell Johnson to surrender. Dunn Vesex, Matteo Bacci, and Gillard Perine made separate preparations as the Empire treated the planet’s fall as insignificant.

• The Kingdom of Dawn used its two locally assembled King of Kings-class Battlecruisers to cut Dantooine off from Imperial support, while its fighters pursued transports and disrupted hyperspace routes.
• Gillard Perine executed fleeing transport captains, but Imperial morale collapsed as transports surrendered and local rebels rose up across Dantooine.
• Admiral Dai Hongkui landed ten Incasas-class frigates, and the Kingdom of Dawn launched a full-scale ground offensive that shattered the Imperial defenses.
• Zell Johnson surrendered with roughly two hundred thousand remaining Imperial soldiers after more than six hundred thousand died in the fighting and about one million were captured.
• Dunn Vesex, Matteo Bacci, and Gillard Perine held a secret meeting; Matteo Bacci went to Agamar Planet, while Gillard Perine fortified his defensive line and Dunn Vesex remained on Palin-Minor amid visits from mysterious black-robed figures.
• Imperial Center received news of Dantooine’s fall without significant reaction, viewing the planet as a remote border world.

As Imperial officials mocked Dantooine’s defeat, Dunn Vesex and Marshal Matteo Bacci planned to abandon the planet and secretly protect the hidden Warren from Tang Xiao. Meanwhile, besieged former Imperial Marshal Demetrius Zaarin sought mercenary support and arranged to contact Olegar’s Fist.

• Imperial dignitaries joked about Dantooine’s losses while Dunn Vesex, Gillard Perine, and Matteo Bacci discussed the danger of the Separatists discovering The Warren.
• Matteo Bacci said they should bury everything inside The Warren and secretly return to Dantooine after the fighting ended; Dunn Vesex agreed.
• Admiral Thrawn defeated Demetrius Zaarin’s fleet, captured his new base, and forced Zaarin to flee after Arden Lyn abandoned him.
• Zaarin rejected the Rebel Alliance’s limited offer and resisted the Kingdom of Dawn’s terms, then ordered his fleet toward the Mandalore star sector.
• Zaarin asked an intelligence broker about mercenaries and offered a share of the proceeds from TIE Defender technology to hire Olegar’s Fist.

Demetrius Zaarin hired Olegar's Fist to help him escape the Galactic Empire and reach the Outer Rim with the TIE Defender data. At Azure Planet, Roan surrounded Zaarin's battered fleet to demand payment, but Olegar arrived with a powerful fleet as the confrontation escalated.

• Demetrius Zaarin contacted Olegar and offered two billion Imperial credits for help escaping, promising payment from the sale of the TIE Defender data.
• Olegar accepted Zaarin's request to assemble at Azure Planet and attack Thrawn's defensive line on Pengalan IV.
• Zaarin's depleted fleet reached Azure Planet, where Roan's Calamity Legion surrounded it with a much larger force.
• Roan demanded compensation for his lost fighters and insisted that Professor Vasquez inspect Zaarin's TIE Defender data.
• Massive hyperspace fluctuations interrupted Roan and Zaarin's confrontation, and Olegar appeared on the screen as a Deceiver-class destroyer led the arriving fleet.

Olegar's Fist escorted Demetrius Zaarin through the Imperial blockade at Pengalan IV, then Olegar tracked Zaarin to Metalorn after he fled. There, Olegar offered Zaarin another chance to prove his sincerity as Thrawn's fleet closed in.

• Olegar arrived with a massive fleet, refused Roan's offer to betray Zaarin, and forced Roan to honor the agreement by setting course for the Pengalan System.
• Olegar's Fist held off the Imperial fleet at Pengalan IV while Zaarin escaped through hyperspace, and Olegar's forces withdrew before Thrawn's main fleet arrived.
• Marka Ragnos urged Olegar to attack the Imperial traitor and build the power of the Sword of Kings, but Olegar silenced him and said he would keep the weapon from the Galactic Empire.
• Thrawn pursued Zaarin across the sector as Zaarin fled from planet to planet without trusting anyone else.
• Olegar's Fist intercepted Zaarin at Metalorn, where Olegar offered help against the approaching Imperial fleet and told Zaarin to open his mind and look into his eyes.

Olegar used his psychic power to bind Demetrius Zaarin, Raven, and their fleet to his service, then learned Zaarin possessed a planet-destroying Star Killer shell. Thrawn attacked the combined forces at Metalon Planet, but as the battle began, someone grabbed him and urged him to flee.

• Olegar’s psychic influence calmed Zaarin and Kronda, and Zaarin placed Raven in command of the combined fleet.
• Raven reorganized the fleet and, under Olegar’s influence, pledged his loyalty to his new master.
• Zaarin reported that his fleet carried prototype warship designs and a single Star Killer shell capable of destroying a planet.
• Thrawn assessed the Calamity Legion as no threat and ordered his fleet to jump to Metalon Planet and attack.
• The Imperial fleet emerged from hyperspace and opened fire, and an unidentified person grabbed Thrawn and told him to leave immediately.