Recaps

The Republic fleet under Wullf Yularen attacked General Trench’s Separatist forces in orbit around Christophsis, using reinforcements to open a gap in the blockade. Six Acclamator-class assault ships then landed Republic troops on the planet, leaving the Confederacy’s ground commander Volm Lothsom facing a dire situation.

• General Trench’s fleet and Wullf Yularen’s twenty Hunter Class Battlecruisers exchanged fire while their Vulture and V-19 fighters battled across Christophsis’s orbit.
• Wullf Yularen sent fifteen Aquitenes-class light cruisers around the Separatist flanks, then exploited the resulting gap by bringing in six Acclamator-class assault ships.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi warned Wullf Yularen that the Separatists seemed too eager to retreat and that he sensed something dark brewing.
• Wullf Yularen told Obi-Wan Kenobi that Anakin was traveling to Christophsis after requisitioning a cargo ship at a Rodian free port.
• The Acclamators bombarded Separatist positions and landed the 327th Star Corps and 501st Legion, along with supplies for Christophsis’s resistance.

The Republic’s reinforcements strengthened the defense of Christophsis, forcing Passel Argente to seek more droids and mercenaries as his fleet fell short. Meanwhile, General Grievous ordered Tang Xiao to attack the Republic 19th Army, and Count Dooku invited him to the secret maiden voyage of a new flagship.

• Eight thousand Clone Troopers landed near Crystal City, reinforced Bail Organa, and deployed artillery and armored units against the droids.
• Volm Lotham requested help from Passel Argente, who could secure only a small number of additional ships and rejected asking the Confederacy High Command for aid.
• General Trench warned Passel Argente that the Republic’s fleet and fighter strength threatened the campaign, while Count Dooku reprimanded him for starting the battle without authorization.
• Tina Ree Kee urged Passel Argente to recruit mercenaries, gather a million droids, and contact arms dealer Yuri Orlov, and Passel Argente agreed.
• General Grievous ordered Tang Xiao to attack the Republic 19th Army within a week, and Tang Xiao agreed while considering how to lure its fleet from its defenses.
• Count Dooku invited Tang Xiao to attend the secret maiden voyage ceremony of the Confederacy’s new flagship.

Tang Xiao received orders to attack Planet Kaal while keeping the Christophsis operation on schedule, then visited Count Dooku’s shipyard on Parmant. There, Dooku revealed Malevolence, a Conqueror-class battleship equipped with a fleet-destroying secret weapon, and introduced its chief designer as the ship prepared to depart.

• Tang Xiao ordered his commanders to plan an offensive against Planet Kaal without delaying the capture of Christophsis, and Helmut Zemo suggested analyzing Governor Sulama’s humiliation at Bespin to anticipate his decisions.
• Tang Xiao arrived at Parmant, where Count Dooku showed him the Confederacy’s vast shipyard and explained that the bound engineers being executed were spies who had discovered a secret warship.
• Count Dooku revealed Malevolence, a massive Conqueror-class battleship hidden beneath the shipyard, and described it as a vessel capable of destroying an entire fleet.
• Tang Xiao boarded Malevolence with Count Dooku and saw its twin disc-shaped weapon systems on a holographic projection.
• Ruggle Schmong, Malevolence’s chief designer, reported that the ship was ready to depart.

Tang Xiao heard Rugel Shimon explain the Malevolence’s energy-recycling weapon system as the battleship left Parmant for Rishi. There, Count Dooku ordered the Malevolence to attack a Republic fleet, and its new weapon prepared to fire.

• Rugel Shimon explained that the Conqueror-class battleship captured energy normally wasted by starship engines and could use it as a weapon.
• The Malevolence rose from the dockyard, left Parmant, and traveled with Tang Xiao and Count Dooku toward Rishi.
• The Malevolence emerged near three Republic Hunter Class battlecruisers and escort ships gathered around a half-built space station.
• Count Dooku ordered electronic jamming and an attack on the Republic fleet.
• After the Republic ships detected the Malevolence’s immense energy output and tried to retreat, Count Dooku ordered the Focused Directed Ion Pulse fired.

The Malevolence used a powerful EMP to disable a Republic fleet and space station, then destroyed the stranded ships and escape pods. General Grievous arrived aboard the Malevolence, and Count Dooku announced that the next act would begin.

• At Count Dooku's command, Rugal Shemon fired the Malevolence's EMP at the Republic fleet and half-built space station, cutting their power and life support.
• Tang Xiao feigned shock at the attack and praised Rugal Shemon's design while Count Dooku secretly probed him with the Force.
• The Republic ships' crews struggled in zero gravity as the Malevolence closed in and fired on their helpless vessels.
• The Malevolence destroyed the Republic ships and hunted down their escape pods, leaving no survivors.
• General Grievous arrived aboard a Belbullab-22 fighter, and Count Dooku said they could begin the next act.

Count Dooku confronted Tang Xiao with his theory that Tang Xiao was the hidden Sith Lord known as the Archangel of Death. The chapter ended with Dooku pointing his crimson Lightsaber at Tang Xiao while General Grievous readied four Lightsabers, and Tang Xiao remained silent.

• Count Dooku sent Rugel away and told Tang Xiao that the Malevolence was a safe place for him.
• Count Dooku and Tang Xiao discussed the Republic's corruption, the Core Worlds' domination, and a possible threat from beyond the galaxy.
• Count Dooku revealed that Darth Pregas, or Hego Damask II, had secretly taken the Archangel of Death as an apprentice.
• Count Dooku concluded that Tang Xiao was the Archangel of Death and drew his Lightsaber on him.
• General Grievous unfolded four arms and aimed a Lightsaber in each while Tang Xiao lowered his head and said nothing.

Count Dooku detained Tang Xiao and accused him of being the Archangel of Death, then tested his blood and discovered that Tang was not Force-sensitive. After apologizing, Dooku asked Tang to contact the Archangel of Death, and the communicator connected.

• Count Dooku and General Grievous cornered Tang Xiao, and Grievous restrained him while Dooku demanded he admit he was the Archangel of Death.
• Tang Xiao claimed he had followed Hego and sought revenge after a supposed disciple told him Hego had been killed by someone in the Galactic Republic.
• Count Dooku cut Tang Xiao’s hand and tested his blood, finding a Chlamydiae density of only 1,000 and concluding Tang was not Force-sensitive.
• Count Dooku released Tang Xiao and apologized, while Tang warned that Dawn Star Planet would not let the offense go unanswered.
• Tang Xiao offered to try contacting the Archangel of Death with his communicator, and the call connected after Dooku ended the communications jamming.

Darth Malthael explained to Count Dooku that he pursued the Sith goal of becoming a One-Man Sith through immortality, then announced he would personally retrieve Tang Xiao. Malthael arrived in a colossal cannon-shaped warship, which charged and fired at the Fang-class battleship.

• Count Dooku questioned Darth Malthael about his purpose, and Malthael said the Sith path culminated in becoming a One-Man Sith through immortality.
• Darth Malthael revealed that Tang Xiao was his chosen bridge and rebuked Count Dooku for kidnapping him.
• Darth Malthael refused Count Dooku's offer of compensation and said he would retrieve Tang Xiao himself.
• A sensor-operating B-1 detected a powerful hyperspace arrival, and Malthael's 14,100-meter cannon-shaped warship emerged.
• Count Dooku ordered shields to full power as Malthael's warship charged and fired at the Fang-class battleship.

Tang Xiao’s staged danger during the Malevolence test convinced Count Dooku that Darth Malthael considered him expendable, while the Plague demonstrated its overwhelming firepower. After the Plague departed, Tang Xiao revealed that he had used Essence Transfer and a clone to survive the meeting, leaving Dooku’s suspicions cleared.

• The Plague’s Hypermatter Railgun struck Malevolence, shattered its shields, and broke off part of its bow.
• Tang Xiao panicked and blamed Count Dooku, while Darth Malthael warned Dooku not to test his patience.
• Ulu-Ulix dragged Tang Xiao onto a shuttle as Count Dooku and General Grievous watched, and Darth Malthael presented the Plague as Dooku’s new partner.
• Darth Malthael ended the transmission, and the Plague left the area by hyperspace with Tang Xiao aboard.
• Tang Xiao met Darth Lilim in the medical laboratory, where she revealed his original body and a cloned body.
• Tang Xiao explained that he had used Essence Transfer to attend the meeting in a clone, and that the Plague’s attack had made Dooku believe he was expendable.

Tang Xiao completed an Essence Transfer into his original body after using a clone to deceive Count Dooku, but he remained deeply bound to the Dark Side. He left the chapter planning to use the Plague Titan warship to provoke Darth Sidious.

• Tang Xiao awoke in his original body after transferring his essence from the clone, and Darth Lilim and Uru Ulic greeted him.
• Tang Xiao reflected that he had inherited Darth Pregas's legacy but had sunk further into the Dark Side, while Pregas's schemes had produced Darth Sidious and Darth Malthael.
• Tang Xiao had the clone corpse removed and considered the limits of the Fourth Civilization's cloning technology and Essence Transfer, which could not preserve Force talent.
• Tang Xiao explained that he had deceived Count Dooku into believing Tang Xiao and Darth Malthael were separate people, despite the clone body dying aboard the Plague Titan.
• Darth Lilim questioned why Tang Xiao had let Count Dooku command Plague, and Tang Xiao said Darth Sidious would react when he learned Pregas had left behind the warship.

Anakin Skywalker arrived at Christophsis, where Obi-Wan Kenobi reprimanded him for commandeering a passenger ship and assigned him command of the 501st Legion. As the Republic fleet battled General Trench in orbit, a vast Separatist droid army landed and Volm Lotham launched an all-out assault on Crystal City.

• Anakin Skywalker arrived aboard a commandeered passenger ship and apologized to its civilians before Obi-Wan Kenobi reprimanded him for bringing them into the battle.
• Anakin admitted that Chancellor Palpatine had arranged the ship, and Obi-Wan ordered him to accept punishment after the fighting.
• Obi-Wan told Anakin that reinforcements were limited after a Republic fleet near Rishi had been destroyed, then appointed him commander of the 501st Legion.
• Anakin flew toward Christophsis in his Delta-7 starfighter with R2-D2, while Obi-Wan and Admiral Yularen prepared to attack General Trench's fleet.
• General Trench attacked the Republic fleet as Republic starfighters and Y-wing bombers damaged Separatist warships, allowing Hardcell-class transports to land millions of droids on Christophsis.
• Volm Lotham committed his forces to a massive assault on Crystal City as the space battle threatened to deprive his army of air support.

Anakin Skywalker arrived at Crystal City and prepared to counter the Separatist assault with newly arrived reinforcements. At the spaceport, he learned that Ahsoka Tano had been assigned as his apprentice, a decision he rejected as the chapter ended.

• Volm Lotham ordered his droid forces to launch a full assault on Crystal City, destroying buildings and shelters as they advanced.
• Anakin Skywalker joined the battle above Crystal City, then met Rex and learned that the defenders had been forced to retreat seven kilometers.
• Anakin decided to attack the Separatists' armored units and headed to the spaceport to meet incoming reinforcements.
• Anakin found that the reinforcements included one thousand Clone Troopers and fifty AZ-7 self-propelled artillery pieces.
• Ahsoka Tano introduced herself as Anakin's apprentice, and Anakin objected while Ahsoka insisted the assignment was settled.

Anakin’s forces drove Volm Lotham’s droids back and secured another Republic victory on Christophsis, while Passel Argente struggled to find help. San Hill offered him experimental warships and other support in exchange for ninety percent of Christophsis’s future revenues, then told Tang Xiao the deal was done and received approval for Sefrans Tann to launch an attack.

• Anakin and Rex led Torrent Company in a raid that destroyed a droid tank unit and disrupted the enemy offensive.
• Republic fighters and artillery overwhelmed the droid forces, forcing Volm Lotham to retreat to the eastern outskirts.
• Passel Argente failed to secure aid from other Separatist leaders, whose forces were committed elsewhere or unwilling to help.
• San Hill offered Passel experimental warships, a commander, and a way to counter Republic fighters in exchange for ninety percent of Christophsis’s future revenues.
• San Hill reported the deal to Tang Xiao, who approved the plan and told Sefrans Tann to launch his attack.

General Trench arranged a false-intelligence operation to mislead the Republic while his forces prepared for an attack. A Republic spy called 007 infiltrated the Intelligence Department and planted a decryption key, leaving Colonel Lott convinced that the Separatists were targeting Christophsis.

• General Trench told Volm Lotham that the Republic could be tricked into believing Tang Xiao's fleet would come to Christophsis, and he sent Sergeant Slick to help carry out the plan.
• Republic intelligence officers intercepted encrypted messages from Bespin, but Colonel Lott could not determine what the repeated word “Christophsis” meant as Separatist forces assembled.
• 007 blackmailed Republic official Jintero into helping him infiltrate the Republic Intelligence Department and threatened his family to secure his cooperation.
• Disguised as Major James Bond, 007 entered the Intelligence Department and inserted a small storage device into its data terminal.
• The storage device enabled the cipher robot on Hoth to decrypt the messages, and Colonel Lott concluded that “Christophsis” meant Planet Christophsis.

Colonel Lott assessed intelligence that the Separatist fleet near Bespin might raid Christophsis, while Governor Sulama learned that senators were blaming him for the Republic’s defeat at Bespin. The chapter ended with Sulama receiving new information that further darkened his expression.

• Colonel Lott traced the Christophsis intelligence to Republic Intelligence Headquarters on Coruscant and ordered his officers to assess the Separatist fleet at Bespin.
• Colonel Lott judged that Admiral Matt Horner’s Fleet A could be preparing to strike Christophsis and reported the possibility to Governor Sulama.
• An elderly woman told Sulama that senators were discussing his responsibility for the Battle of Bespin and that Chancellor Palpatine planned another counteroffensive.
• Sulama received a communication, and his expression grew darker as he read it.

Senator Telse and Sulama tried to protect their political and military position as tensions mounted around Christophsis. A surprise fleet appeared near the planet, leaving the Republic command bracing for an attack.

• Senator Telse warned Sulama that battlefield victory mattered more than Senate disputes, then urged her daughter to gather intelligence that could help him retain his office.
• Telse’s daughter praised Major James Bond for obtaining information about a plot to use the defeat on Bespin Planet against Sulama.
• Sergeant Slick told Volm Lotham that he had planted Super Lotus’s Trojan program aboard an Acclamator-class ship and supplied her with recordings of Anakin Skywalker.
• Passel Argente met San Hill and Gross Shelbia on Muunilinst, while a fleet of twenty warships passed Tatooine and Lin Nanyi led Fleet B away from Bespin Planet.
• A Republic radar operator detected twenty ships approaching Christophsis, and Obi-Wan Kenobi feared the enemy was making its move.

Admiral Wullf Yularen’s Republic fleet faced an unknown Separatist force arriving from Tatooine while General Trench’s battered fleet moved to join the fight. The new ships revealed themselves as missile cruisers and launched thousands of missiles that detonated across space as the Republic fighters closed in.

• Wullf Yularen ordered the Republic fleet to regroup, resupply, and investigate the unknown Separatist reinforcements, which sensors traced to Tatooine.
• Twenty unfamiliar warships emerged from hyperspace, and the Republic fleet exchanged fire with them as Trench’s remaining ships advanced to engage.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi handed command to Wullf Yularen and launched in his Delta-7 fighter to join the battle.
• Republic intelligence identified the short ships as Martha-class heavy cruisers from Dawn Star Planet, while the larger ships remained unknown.
• Wullf Yularen learned that the Martha-class ships carried extensive missile launchers just as they fired several thousand missiles, which detonated in space ahead of the approaching Republic fighters.

The Separatist fleet used radiation missiles and powerful energy weapons to devastate the Republic fleet, forcing Wullf Yularen to retreat across Christophsis. As both sides regrouped, Sefrans Tann prepared a ground assault and the Fourth Civilization’s Behemoth-class battlecruisers arrived to reinforce the Separatists.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi ordered the Republic fighters to turn back, but radiation clouds destroyed more than 800 of the first wave’s 1,100 fighters.
• Ten energy beams struck three Hunter Class Battlecruisers, and Wullf Yularen ordered the Republic fleet to retreat to the far side of Christophsis.
• The Separatist fleet attacked with Pulse Lasers and shielded anti-ship missiles, severely damaging the Hunter Class Battlecruisers with radiation clouds.
• The Republic fleet escaped across Christophsis after losing nearly 900 fighters and three battlecruisers, while the Separatists joined General Trench’s fleet and sent APOD-33 transports down to the planet.
• Sefrans Tann told General Trench that the transports carried enough to surprise the Republic ground forces and said they had three hours to prepare before the next assault.
• Thirty Star-class Repair Drone Motherships and supply ships arrived, and the reinforcements included Behemoth-class battlecruisers armed with Yamato Cannons.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems used Wraith fighters to suppress Republic air defenses and secretly sent transport aircraft into Crystal City before launching a ground offensive. Anakin Skywalker prepared a counterattack, unaware of the transports’ purpose, and ordered Republic fighters to destroy them.

• Two hundred and forty Wraith fighters attacked Republic aircraft over Christophsis, forcing the surviving fighters to shelter near the Acclamator-class assault ships.
• Around eighty APOD-33 transports landed in Separatist-controlled territory, then took off at night and scattered across Crystal City as Sefrans Tann ordered Volm Lotham and General Trench to prepare for battle.
• Anakin rejected Obi-Wan Kenobi’s caution and began planning a counterattack with Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex.
• Separatist forces advanced on Crystal City, while Wraith fighters bombarded Republic AV-7 cannon positions and B-1 battle droids pressed toward the defenses.
• After learning that eighty unescorted Separatist transports were dispersing across the city, Anakin ordered Republic fighters to shoot them down and continued preparing his assault.

The Fourth Civilization fleet attacked the Republic fleet while its transports secretly spread canisters across Crystal City. Indjori emerged from the canisters, slaughtered Christophsian soldiers, and triggered a horrifying outbreak as the chapter ended.

• Sefrans Tann ordered the Fourth Civilization fleet to attack the Republic fleet from both poles, and Wullf Yularen committed 5,000 Republic fighters to the battle.
• Anakin Skywalker ordered more than two hundred Republic fighters to pursue eighty transports, which crashed across nearly half of Crystal City.
• Christophsian Guardian troops found empty, ruptured canisters in one transport's wreckage, then discovered an Indjori inside another.
• The Indjori killed a soldier and charged the troops, who shot it until it caught fire and collapsed.
• The Indjori's corpse exploded with foul green fluid, more than sixty Indjori appeared, and soldiers splattered with the fluid attacked their comrades as the Commander was bitten.

Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano fought through an advancing droid force while investigating reports of monsters attacking Republic units at crash sites. Meanwhile, the Fourth Legion deployed into Crystal City in new N-7 combat armor to disrupt the Republic army.

• A clone commander reported that teams investigating scattered transport crash sites had lost contact after apparent monster attacks, and Anakin ordered a retreat toward the nearest site.
• Anakin stayed behind to hold off the droids while Ahsoka joined him, and they collapsed a building to block the droids’ advance.
• Anakin and Ahsoka headed toward the crash site to discover what the Separatists had brought in their transports.
• Colonel Justin Levis introduced an 800-soldier Fourth Legion force to Volm Lotham and announced its infiltration mission.
• The Fourth Legion departed into the night in newly issued second-generation N-7 combat armor.

Anakin Skywalker and his forces discovered that the missing Christophsian victims had become zombies, while a wounded Indjori revealed a poisonous, virus-filled substance behind the outbreak. Anakin ordered the troops back to headquarters to report the threat and investigate its spread.

• Anakin Skywalker, Rex, and Ahsoka Tano found wrecked transport ships, torn-open canisters, blood, and no bodies, but Anakin left the investigation unfinished because the Separatist counterattack endangered Obi-Wan.
• Clone Troopers found Christophsian soldiers repeatedly striking their heads against a wall, and Anakin recognized them as corpses before they attacked.
• Anakin ordered the Clone Troopers to fire on the advancing zombies, and Rex told them to aim for the head.
• Anakin fought a large, blue-green-scaled creature, severed its claws and head, and identified it as an Indjori.
• A Clone Trooper tested the creature's green blood and found a high concentration of viruses that rapidly died in the air.
• Anakin warned that the substance could spread through contact and ordered his forces to return to headquarters immediately.

Anakin organized a response to the Indjori and T-Virus outbreak spreading through Crystal City while the Separatists intensified their attack on the front. As Clone Troopers fought waves of zombies and Indjori, the defense faced threats on both sides.

• Anakin learned that Separatist forces were battering the Commercial Center line and that twelve companies had vanished from the rear, then identified the Indjori as the likely attackers carrying a virus that animated the dead.
• Anakin formed ten task groups, assigning Ahsoka, Rex, and Slick to command units, and ordered a citywide quarantine and urgent virus research.
• The task groups deployed as the Clone commander sent Christophsian local troops to reinforce the strained front, while Acclamator-class ships illuminated Crystal City.
• Clone Troopers opened fire on crowds of zombies along Blue Crystal Avenue, and their armor protected them from the ordinary undead.
• T-Virus-enhanced Indjori ambushed the Clone Troopers, tearing through armor and scattering their formation as more creatures attacked from a building.

Clone Troopers fought undead on Christophsis, but after a Turbolaser strike destroyed a horde, an ambush killed their Commander and forced them into nearby buildings. Justin Levis led the Fourth Legion’s assault with Indjori Avenger Type 101 biological weapons as its vanguard.

• Clone Troopers retreated from undead on Blue Crystal Avenue and called in Turbolaser bombardment that destroyed the horde and half a city block.
• CT-6119 died after exposure to infected green fluid, then reanimated; the Commander ordered that he be taken to a biological laboratory for study.
• A sniper killed the Clone Commander, and gunfire from multiple directions cut down more soldiers and drove the survivors into nearby buildings.
• Justin Levis shot at the Clone Troopers with a modified M-29 Mantis rifle, then left his position as blaster fire struck the building.
• Fourth Legion soldiers advanced in tactical teams and unleashed Indjori Avenger Type 101 biological weapons against the Clone Troopers.

The Fourth Legion fought the Clone Troopers across a building in Christophsis, capturing a Republic artillery position at heavy cost. Justin Reeves then ordered his troops to draw a zombie horde toward the Republic's Commercial Center defense line.

• Fourth Legion soldiers used Personal Shields and Mattock rifles to defeat Clone Troopers inside a building, though two Clone Troopers killed one of their attackers by blasting through the ceiling.
• The Fourth Legion secured the building and planned to establish a sniper position while arranging for robots to recover their fallen comrade's armor.
• Justin Reeves surveyed the captured artillery position, where B-1 battle droids had turned three AV-7 guns against the Republic defenses.
• A Fourth Legion soldier reported that 2,311 Indjori Avengers remained active and that about 20,000 zombies had gathered near the Commercial Center.
• Justin Reeves ordered his troops to lure the zombie horde toward the Commercial Center defense line as the Acclamator's searchlights swept over the area.