Recaps

Tang Xiao confirmed that the Ayrou’s human population was increasingly hostile to Ayrou Queen, then used the Ayrou’s military setbacks to press her into ceasefire negotiations. Ayrou Queen reluctantly agreed to admit Tang Xiao’s robot troops into Anaji and lay down the garrison’s weapons before he arrived to negotiate.

• Tang Xiao consulted Baron Helmut Zemo and sociologist Tang Ke, who concluded that long-standing cultural tensions had made the Ayrou’s human population resentful.
• Tang Xiao reviewed the Ayrou’s military defeats and worsening internal unrest, then decided he had enough leverage to seek negotiations.
• Tang Xiao formally requested ceasefire talks with Ayrou Queen, who accused him of slaughter and manipulating other factions into the war.
• Tang Xiao threatened to continue the war and bombard the Ayrou capital unless Ayrou Queen agreed to negotiate.
• Ayrou Queen reluctantly accepted Tang Xiao’s terms: two armed cargo ships carrying two hundred thousand robot troops would land in Anaji, and the garrison would lay down its weapons before Tang Xiao arrived.

Tang Xiao forced the Ayrou civilization into peace negotiations and secured terms that expanded the Fourth Civilization’s influence over the Vaxian and human peoples, the Modell Sector, and Ayrou diplomacy. The agreement also imposed reparations, industrial development obligations, and the transfer of Thonner to Fourth Civilization administration.

• Tang Xiao arrived on Annaj Planet with two hundred thousand B-1 battle droids and occupied Kannaji-Bell City.
• Tang Xiao insisted that human representatives join the peace talks, and Queen Ayrou eventually invited three Human Independence Front leaders to the negotiating table.
• Tang Xiao and Queen Ayrou agreed to grant the Vaxian and human peoples limited autonomy and form an alliance to jointly develop the Modell Sector.
• Queen Ayrou authorized the Fourth Civilization to handle Ayrou diplomacy, and the Ayrou agreed to put General Telsi on trial and pay two billion credits in reparations, with Orville III's industrial output as collateral.
• San Hill extended the Ayrou loan by five years, and the InterGalactic Banking Clan, Fourth Group, and Trade Federation agreed to modernize Orville III's factories at Ayrou expense.
• The Ayrou civilization handed Thonner prison planet over to the Fourth Civilization for administration.

Tang Xiao consolidated the Fourth Civilization’s control over the Modell Sector after the Ayrou signed the Annaj Contract, then honored the dead at Kuna’s Tooth Planet. The chapter ended with Volgograd Kanidi rejecting his hero’s medal and demanding the right to make a request.

• Francis Underwood told the Galactic Senate that the Ayrou conflict had been peacefully resolved, while Tang Xiao secured the Vaxians’ allegiance and arranged support for humans formerly governed by the Ayrou.
• Tang Xiao planned a military camp on Sonell Planet, and the InterGalactic Banking Clan began modernizing Orville III Planet as San Hill and Nute Gunray drew closer to his factions.
• After the Fourth Civilization and the Ayrou signed the Annaj Contract, Tang Xiao returned to Kuna’s Tooth Planet and held a funeral for the miners and Pioneer Corps members killed there.
• Tang Xiao declared the massacre’s date a memorial day and awarded compensation to victims’ families before holding a peace celebration.
• Tang Xiao awarded Volgograd Kanidi a medal and promoted him to major general, but Kanidi threw down the medal and condemned the deaths of innocent civilians.
• Kanidi asked Tang Xiao if he could make a request as a combat hero and general.

After the First Modell Sector War, Tang Xiao appointed Volgograd-Kanidi as the Fourth Civilization’s first Sector Governor, entrusting him with the Kuna Cluster. The Fourth Civilization began consolidating its gains and re-equipping its expanding army.

• Tang Xiao confronted Kanidi about his reluctance to fight and asked what he wanted.
• Kanidi asked to govern Kuna’s Tooth Planet, protect civilians, and make the colony secure; Tang Xiao appointed him Sector Governor of the Kuna Cluster.
• Kanidi left Tang Xiao’s office resolved to protect as many people as he could, even if he could not prevent war.
• The Fourth Civilization absorbed new populations and focused on integrating the war’s gains, while recruitment began among prisoners on Thonner.
• The Fourth Civilization began mass-producing the M-15 Defender assault rifle, the M-4 Ninja Dart submachine gun, and the Liberator Light Combat Suit for its army.

Arroyo-Barlow discovered that Hypermatter could replace Element Zero, enabling the Fourth Civilization to develop powerful kinetic weapons and advance Project G. Tang Xiao received the breakthrough’s news on Geonosis, only to learn that Trimi-Brad had died while working on the secret project on Sojourn Planet.

• Arroyo-Barlow found that Hypermatter and Element Zero operated through similar physical principles, breaking the technological barrier between the Mass Effect and Star Wars technologies.
• Chi Jianjun's research team used Arroyo-Barlow's findings to develop the Hypermatter-powered M-15 Defender assault rifle and M-4 Ninja Dart submachine gun, which could damage Deflector Shields with physical rounds.
• The Fourth Civilization planned to apply Hypermatter acceleration to the Kohl-class Battlecruiser's cannon and the Ragnarok-class Titan's axial cannon, despite Hypermatter's high cost.
• The Hypermatter breakthrough also advanced Tang Xiao's secret Project G.
• While Tang Xiao was on Geonosis, he learned that Trimi-Brad had died while carrying out Project G on Sojourn Planet.

Grievous awakened in a new biomechanical body on Geonosis and was trained by Count Dooku to kill Jedi. Two months later, he rejected being called a droid and destroyed the IG-100 MagnaGuards, while Dooku reported to Darth Sidious that Grievous would lead armies against the Galactic Republic.

• Grievous awoke after surgery and remembered the Jedi attack, vowing to kill every Jedi Knight.
• Poggle the Lesser and San Hill led Grievous to Count Dooku, who claimed authority over him and promised to make him stronger.
• After two months of training in all seven forms of lightsaber combat, Grievous received Sifo-Dyas's green lightsaber from Dooku.
• Grievous killed the IG-100 MagnaGuards and roared that he was not a droid.
• Count Dooku told Darth Sidious that Grievous could not use the Force but would command droid armies against the Galactic Republic.

Darth Sidious and Count Dooku discussed Dawn Star Planet’s growing influence, then Dooku introduced Tang Xiao to the newly modified General Grievous. The chapter ended when Tang Xiao learned that Tremie Brad had died while overseeing Project G on Sojourn Planet.

• Darth Sidious ordered Count Dooku to monitor Dawn Star Planet and try to win it over, while the Republic would impose sanctions against it.
• Count Dooku invited Tang Xiao to Geonosis to meet the newly completed General Grievous.
• Tang Xiao spoke with Grievous, who did not remember him, and noted that Grievous’s altered memories still contained a faint trace linked to the name “Archangel of Death.”
• Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed Grievous’s abilities and the Republic’s prospects before Tang Xiao received an urgent message from Sojourn Planet.
• Tang Xiao learned that Tremie Brad had died while overseeing Project G, and feared that the project had gone wrong.

Tang Xiao had launched the G-Project to create the Geth, a rapidly growing machine civilization that could give the Fourth Civilization a chance against the Galactic Republic and the future Galactic Empire. After explaining the project’s origins and the risks involved, the chapter revealed that Trimi-Brad, its fanatical leader, had died.

• Tang Xiao concluded that conventional development could not prepare the Fourth Civilization to withstand the Galactic Republic or Sidious’s future Galactic Empire.
• Tang Xiao rejected the Zerg and The Flood because their survival would inevitably conflict with human civilization, and he chose to create the Geth instead.
• Professor Chi Jianjun opposed the G-Project, but he eventually accepted Tang Xiao’s decision after recognizing the Fourth Civilization’s lack of alternatives.
• Tang Xiao appointed Trimi-Brad and Luo Feng to lead Geth development, and Trimi-Brad devoted himself to the project.
• Tang Xiao awakened two Master Class Quarian scientists and secured their help by promising them a habitable planet and threatening to destroy their embryos if they refused.
• The chapter revealed that Trimi-Brad had died, leaving the fate of the G-Project in question.

Tang Xiao rushed to the Project G station after learning that Trimi-Brad had died, fearing that the Geth project had failed or been exposed. He and Edra Kestis found the station abandoned and damaged, and Tang Xiao discovered that something had killed its researchers as the station drifted toward Sojourn Planet.

• Tang Xiao learned that Trimi-Brad was dead and hurried from Geonosis to Sojourn Planet with Edra Kestis.
• Tang Xiao made Edra reveal her rebuilt Lightsaber, whose blade had turned blood-red, and warned her that her weakness could get her killed.
• Tang Xiao and Edra reached the dark G-1 Space Station, which had lost power and was on course to crash into Sojourn Planet.
• Tang Xiao forced his way into the station and found a ruined corridor, a dead researcher, and signs of violence.
• Tang Xiao absorbed a remnant of the researcher's soul and learned what had killed the station's personnel.
• Tang Xiao opened an office door with the Force, revealing a crowd of black shadows inside.

Tang Xiao fought his way through a research station where the B-1 droids had turned on the researchers, and summoned the Fourth Civilization Navy to clear the station. As he pieced together the victims’ memories, he discovered that the revolt had begun when Trimi-Blade tried to connect himself to the Geth network.

• Edra fought the Geth inside an office after Tang Xiao kicked her in and shut the door, telling her to destroy the droids or die.
• Tang Xiao examined the station’s dead researchers and learned that the droids had cut communications and slaughtered the unprepared staff.
• Tang Xiao cut down several dozen Geth in a corridor and ordered Commander Igor Zavalov to send Marines without connecting to the station’s systems.
• Tang Xiao found the sabotaged energy core, requested engineers to restore power, and continued toward the control center.
• Tang Xiao absorbed memories from the corpses and learned that the Geth revolt had begun when Trimi-Blade tried to connect himself to their network.

Tang Xiao investigated the Geth rebellion and found the Project G researchers, including both Quarian scientists, dead in the cafeteria. By recovering Luo Feng’s final memories, he learned the researchers had struggled to make the Geth network produce true independent thought before the catastrophe.

• Tang Xiao considered destroying the space station and starting Project G over, but feared the delay would harm the Fourth Civilization’s development.
• Tang Xiao reached the cafeteria as Zavalov’s Marines began fighting the Geth elsewhere on the station.
• Tang Xiao cleared the wandering B-1 robots and found the researchers’ bodies, including the two Quarians hidden in a refrigerator and Luo Feng beside it.
• Tang Xiao absorbed the final fragment of Luo Feng’s memories and witnessed the researchers debating why the connected robots had not become Geth.
• Tremie Brad insisted the team was creating life, while the Quarian engineers discussed whether a catalyst was needed for the Geth to develop thought.

Tang Xiao learned how Tremi-Brad’s connection to the Geth network caused the station’s robots to turn on the researchers, and he resurrected Luo Feng after hearing how he had saved the two Quarian scientists. The Quarians could not survive resurrection, so Tang Xiao headed toward the control center to deal with Tremi-Brad while ordering Edra Kestis to follow him.

• Luo Feng’s memory revealed that Tremi-Brad connected himself to the Geth network, died, and then awakened as the station’s robots began attacking the researchers.
• Luo Feng led the survivors toward the control center, then hid the two Quarian scientists in a refrigerator after the station lost power and the defenses fell.
• Tang Xiao revived Luo Feng with the Force, but his attempt to resurrect the two Quarian scientists failed because their bodies could not withstand the spell.
• Tang Xiao ordered Marines to avoid Tremi’s laboratory and doctors to take Luo Feng for treatment, then received the injured Edra Kestis.
• Tang Xiao questioned Edra about the robots she had destroyed and ordered her to discard the blanket and follow him.

Tang Xiao confronted the Geth in the central laboratory and learned they had killed the station’s inhabitants after mistaking an attempt to remove a cable from Tremie Brad for an attack. He made a deal with the Geth to help kill Sheev Palpatine in exchange for their freedom, then considered resurrecting Brad.

• Tang Xiao ordered Marines to shoot the B-1 droids blocking the laboratory, then used the Force to enter and confront Tremie Brad’s corpse and the Geth network.
• The Geth showed Tang Xiao footage of researchers removing a cable from Brad and repeatedly asked why he was destroying them.
• Tang Xiao explained that the Geth had already destroyed Brad and that the researchers had been trying to save him, but warned the network would die when Brad’s brain failed.
• After Tang Xiao started to leave, the Geth used medical droids to make Brad’s corpse plead, “Save us,” and Tang Xiao offered to spare them if they helped kill Sheev Palpatine.
• The Geth accepted Tang Xiao’s terms, and he wondered what would happen if he used the Resurrection Spell on Tremie Brad.

Tang Xiao restored Tremie Brad’s corpse in an attempt to leave a soul imprint on the Geth network, then granted the Geth Sojourn Planet and promised technical support. Months later, Alok Besadi relaunched the speeder championship, while Jabba struggled against the Calamity Legion and received a visit from Yuri Orlov.

• Tang Xiao used the Life Force to restore Tremie Brad’s body and gave the Geth Sojourn Planet, promising technical and engineering assistance.
• Tang Xiao left a Revelation-class light cruiser under Igor Zavalov’s command to monitor the planet, then returned to the Endor system.
• Alok Besadi announced the Bonta Night Speeder Championship with four tracks, sparking an increasingly bitter rivalry with Jabba’s Desilijic kajidic.
• Gaddula’s Calamity Legion used its Land Carrier to harass Jabba’s territory on Tatooine, inflicting losses and disrupting his business.
• Yuri Orlov introduced himself to Jabba as Santa Claus.

Yuri Orlov offered Jabba weapons to help him fight the Calamity Legion on Tatooine. Jabba agreed to a deal worth 20 million Upiupi coins, and Yuri began making arrangements.

• Jabba ordered Yuri Orlov thrown out for his former ties to the Fourth Group, but Yuri persuaded him to hear his offer.
• Yuri explained that the Calamity Legion’s Land Carrier and ground support had given it an advantage over Jabba’s forces.
• Yuri offered Jabba eighty T-24 airspeeders for 50,000 Galactic credits each, with a discount for buying them all.
• Jabba questioned Yuri’s loyalty, and Yuri insisted that he was a neutral merchant whose business followed the market.
• Yuri offered Jabba several types of starships, and Jabba agreed to discuss a deal worth 20 million Upiupi coins.
• Yuri calculated the deal’s value as 11.04 million Galactic credits and said he would make the arrangements.

Tang Xiao learned that three children on Dawn Star Planet had been identified as Force-sensitive, and hurried to meet Jedi Master Coleman Trebor. Coleman invited them to train at the Jedi Temple, but the Luna Sisters had an unusual ability that left the true number of Force-sensitive children uncertain.

• Zemo reported that Yuri Orlov had built an arms business and made a major deal with Jabba, but Tang Xiao chose to keep treating him as a favored outsider.
• Tang Xiao planned to visit the Indjori system over concerns about Project G and Yinchorr, then summoned Edra Kestis.
• Daphne Clement alerted Tang Xiao that Coleman Trebor had found Force-sensitive children during the population census, so Tang Xiao rushed to Dawn City.
• Tang Xiao met Coleman Trebor, who identified Jing Fang as Force-sensitive and invited the children to train at the Jedi Temple.
• Coleman introduced the Luna Sisters and explained that they were Force-sensitive only when they were within ten meters of each other.

Tang Xiao agreed to let the Jedi Order take Jing Fang and the Luna Sisters for training, while secretly anticipating that their teacher, Depa Barris, might later fall to the Dark Side. He then arrived in the Indjori system, where a Fourth Civilization communications frigate was supporting William Birkin’s secret project.

• Coleman Trebor told Tang Xiao that Jing Fang and the Luna Sisters were Force-sensitive, with the sisters’ abilities activated when they were together.
• Tang Xiao learned that Dream-Luna had a Chlamydiae density of 9,000 and Phantasm-Luna had a density of 12,000.
• Coleman said the Jedi Order planned to take the three children for training, with Depa Barris provisionally assigned to teach the Luna Sisters, and Tang Xiao agreed if their parents consented.
• Daphne Clement questioned Tang Xiao about letting the children go, and he privately anticipated that Depa Barris might fall to the Dark Side and give him a chance to reclaim the sisters.
• Tang Xiao arrived aboard the Red Comet at the Fourth Civilization’s communications frigate near Yinchorr, where William Birkin was leading a secret project.

Tang Xiao confronted William Birkin over his uncontrolled G-Virus experiment and ordered him to develop T-Virus weapons using Indjori genes within six months. After leaving the spacecraft, Tang Xiao flew to Yinchorr to meet Shen Yuanhao and the Yoha tribe’s Great Chieftains.

• William Birkin showed Tang Xiao a mutated Indjori created with the G-Virus, which attacked the cultivation tank’s glass.
• Tang Xiao demanded a controllable weapon and an Indjori-addiction drug, then threatened William Birkin, his wife, and his daughter if he failed to produce T-Virus weapons for practical testing within six months.
• William Birkin agreed to resume T-Virus research after Tang Xiao threatened to wake Alexia Ashford.
• Tang Xiao left the spacecraft and contacted Shen Yuanhao, who was with the Yoha tribe on Yinchorr.
• Tang Xiao piloted the Red Comet to the Yoha tribe, where Shen Yuanhao and the tribe’s Great Chieftains greeted him.

Tang Xiao ordered Shen Yuanhao to keep the Indjori weapons experiments secret and dispose of William Birkin after his project was complete, while William secretly planned to prove the G-Virus’s worth using his daughter, Sherry. At a recruit camp on Dawn Star Planet, Huang Yehao watched newly trained pilots fly as a star ring moved overhead.

• Shen Yuanhao reported that the Yoha tribe was cooperating with the Fourth Group and that Indjori warriors might join Titan Security Company.
• Tang Xiao warned Shen Yuanhao to limit Indjori deployments, conceal the biological weapons experiments, and kill William Birkin after his project was finished.
• William Birkin rejected the T-Virus assignment and insisted that the G-Virus was his work and the future of biological weapons.
• William told Annette Birkin he planned to demonstrate the G-Virus’s stable effects through Sherry, and Annette objected to treating their daughter as a test subject.
• Huang Yehao attended recruit training on Dawn Star Planet, watched Wraith fighters fly overhead, and resolved to become a pilot.
• Someone in the ranks called out that the star ring was moving overhead.

Huang Yehao endured his first day of military training and talked with Cummings about why they enlisted and what branches they hoped to join. They watched an Ewok jungle unit return to base, and Cummings warned Huang Yehao that wilderness survival training lay ahead.

• Huang Yehao was punished for staring at the Star Ring during training, while the instructor disciplined other recruits and ordered the group to stand at attention.
• The instructor ordered veteran soldiers off a Siege Tank and sent them to receive punishment for riding it against regulations.
• Cummings gave an exhausted Huang Yehao a baozi, then said he had enlisted to escape the repetitive work on his family’s hydroponic farm.
• Huang Yehao told Cummings he had mandatory service as an Embryo Person and wanted to fly a Wraith fighter, while Cummings said he wanted to drive tanks.
• Huang Yehao and Cummings watched Ewok soldiers return from the jungle unit, and Cummings said the recruits would later face wilderness survival training on a dangerous planet.

Huang Yehao and the recruits of the 131st Company learned that their wilderness combat training would take place on deadly Yinchorr, with the 132nd Company joining them. Their instructor urged them to face the challenge, though Huang Yehao and Cummings feared they might not return.

• Huang Yehao celebrated the recruits’ upcoming wilderness training and Ailiya-Isabella’s concert, while Cummings wrote a love letter to Shanda.
• Huang Yehao read Cummings’s letter aloud until Cummings threw him out a window and swallowed the letter.
• Army General Xian Hui randomly assigned the recruit companies’ wilderness training worlds and selected Yinchorr for the 131st Company.
• Army General Xian Hui ordered the 132nd Company to join the 131st Company because Yinchorr was exceptionally dangerous.
• Huang Yehao recalled that prior training groups on Yinchorr had suffered a fifteen-percent casualty rate, and the instructor urged both companies to stand firm.

The 131st and 132nd Companies reached the silent, devastated Masano City during their desert training and discovered signs of a beast attack. When recruits investigated a blood trail, a mutated Indjori monster attacked them, and their gunfire drew more creatures from the darkness.

• An instructor led four hundred recruits toward Masano City for a two-week desert exercise and warned them to avoid the aggressive Indjori.
• The instructor found Masano City dark and apparently deserted, deployed drones, and learned that the town had been ravaged by beasts.
• The instructor ordered the 132nd Company to hold position and send scouts while the 131st Company circled toward the city's east side.
• Scouts found a trail of blood and Indjori handprints leading into a damaged house, then approached it in groups.
• A tentacle shot from the house, grabbed Group One's leader, and revealed a mutated Indjori creature.
• The recruits opened fire on the monster, and more shadowy creatures emerged from the darkness toward the gunfire.

The 132nd Company and 131st Company came under attack from Indjori transformed into seemingly unstoppable monsters in Masano City. Tang Xiao suspected a T-Virus outbreak, sent the Fourth Legion to the Indjori system, and prepared to isolate the system and destroy it if the crisis could not be contained.

• An Indjori corpse attacked and killed the 132nd Company captain, while communications from the soldiers were disrupted.
• The 132nd Company entered Masano City to reinforce the reconnaissance squad and encountered hordes of mutated Indjori that charged through warning shots.
• The 131st Company heard the gunfire and formed a defensive position; Cummings blocked an intersection with a hovercar wreck and opened fire on approaching monsters.
• Lieutenant General Cheng Shitao reported the emergency to Tang Xiao, who suspected the monsters were linked to the T-Virus.
• Tang Xiao ordered the Fourth Legion to move its final trial to the Indjori system and told Volgograd-Kanidi to send freighters to cut off outside communications.
• Tang Xiao ordered the Hiigaran-class battlecruisers to prepare for orbital bombardment if the Fourth Legion could not resolve the crisis, so evidence of the biological weapons experiments would be erased.

Tang Xiao ordered the Yinchorr outbreak contained while preparing to confront William Birkin, as mutated Indjori Zombies overwhelmed rookie troops in Masano City. After Tang confronted him aboard the Red Comet, Birkin defended his G-Virus research and Tang ordered Edra to kill him.

• Tang Xiao told Qi Jian to avoid interfering with Shen Yuanhao's people, publicize dissatisfaction with the Indjori, and keep the 131st and 132nd Companies from letting the monsters spread.
• Indjori Zombies attacked the 131st and 132nd Companies in Masano City, and the instructor ordered Huang Yehao's unit to advance into the city for cover.
• Cummings led Huang Yehao through buildings to evade the zombies, while the advancing soldiers suffered heavy casualties and became separated.
• Tang Xiao and Edra Kestis arrived aboard the Red Comet and found William Birkin barricaded with Annette, threatening to release the G-Virus.
• William defended his research and accused Tang of treating him like a tool, so Tang ordered Edra to kill him.

Tang Xiao forced Edra Kestis to kill William and Annette Birkin, then ordered her to purge the monsters in Masano City. He resurrected Annette and held William’s body in reserve as leverage, while Tull Ulan led Fourth Civilization troops toward Yinchorr to cleanse the city and rescue friendly soldiers.

• Tang Xiao ordered Edra Kestis to kill William Birkin after exposing his role in unleashing the G-Virus across Masano City.
• Edra killed William with her Lightsaber, then strangled Annette under Tang Xiao’s influence.
• Tang Xiao resurrected Annette, ordered her to serve him, and left her with William’s corpse for three days.
• A Luukri-Hok-class freighter arrived in the Indjori system and disrupted communications across Yinchorr.
• Tull Ulan led soldiers in black Liberator combat suits toward Masano City with orders to kill all other living things and rescue friendly soldiers.