Recaps

Tang Xiao reacted furiously to the disappearance of the Plague and Sefrans Tann, then turned to the growing crisis on Mon Calamari. Meanwhile, the Plague drifted through a starless region of space at sublight speed, with its crew fearing they would never be rescued.

• Qi Jian and Helmut Zemo discussed Tang Xiao's anger over the Plague's disappearance and Sefrans Tann's fate.
• Tang Xiao argued with Zemo about the loss, then vented his fury before asking Qi Jian for his report.
• Qi Jian reported that the Quarren and Mon Calamari had reached armed confrontation and that General Grievous might attack the planet.
• Tang Xiao ordered Qi Jian to contact Rosana Goodes and Muira about approaching the Quarren, leaving the matter to the Selurites.
• The Plague traveled through a desolate region at sublight speed as its crew faced the prospect of drifting indefinitely without rescue.

Sefrans Tann led the Plague warship to a silent fleet of 200 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers and sent boarding parties to investigate. After cutting through a bulkhead, she and the Marines discovered a mass of grotesquely killed Republic Judicial Fleet crew, with no signs of gunfire.

• Sefrans Tann announced the Plague warship’s surrender to the silent fleet, but received no reply.
• Sefrans Tann sent exploration craft to board three cruisers, and the crews entered through hangar doors opened by a maintenance request.
• The boarding Marines found parked fighters and sealed interior bulkheads, leading Sefrans Tann to suspect someone had wanted outsiders to enter while trapping those inside.
• Sefrans Tann boarded a cruiser and cut through a bulkhead with her yellow Lightsaber.
• Sefrans Tann and the Marines found a doorway blocked by heaps of Republic Judicial Fleet corpses, and she observed that the bodies showed no signs of gunfire.

Sefrans Tann’s team explored three abandoned Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers and found crews dead after a violent outbreak, while the ships remained largely intact. After discovering one cruiser was mostly operational, she ordered the fleet secured and communications established with Governor Tang, hoping to claim two hundred warships.

• Sefrans Tann confirmed that the dead aboard the first cruiser had starved, killed one another, or died by suicide, and ordered everyone to keep their protective suits on.
• Exploration teams reported similar scenes aboard the other two cruisers, with sealed hangar decks and escape-pod areas trapping the crews.
• Sefrans Tann concluded that a virus-like outbreak had prompted someone to seal the ships, then ordered her crew to secure all three cruisers and contact Dawn Star Planet.
• Sefrans Tann cut through the bridge hatch and led the team inside, where an engineer found that eighty-seven percent of the cruiser’s systems were operational.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the communications equipment activated so she could report the coordinates to Governor Tang.

Tang Xiao learned that Sefrans-Tann had discovered 200 abandoned Dreadnought-class cruisers near the Halm system and identified them as the long-lost Blade Fleet. He ordered a secret relief mission toward Cerea while explaining the fleet’s history and disappearance.

• Sefrans-Tann reported that 200 cruisers lay crewless near Halm and that her remaining forces could activate only five ships.
• Tang Xiao realized Halm was close to Cerea and ordered Cun Te back, then sent a transport convoy toward the Cerean system without entering Republic-controlled Halm.
• Tang Xiao named the vessels the Blade Fleet, and Sefrans-Tann asked how he knew their history.
• Tang Xiao explained that the Republic had formed the fleet in 46 BBY from 200 upgraded Dreadnought-class cruisers, but it vanished during its maiden voyage.
• Tang Xiao described the political fallout from the fleet’s disappearance and said Republic orders shifted from Rendili StarDrive to Kuat Drive Yards.

Sefrans Tann learned how the Brain Plague doomed the Blade Fleet, whose 440,000 crew vanished after an uncontrolled hyperspace jump. She located the fleet’s flagship and began securing the ships for Tang Xiao, while worrying about the time needed to crack their systems.

• Tang Xiao told Sefrans Tann that the SBI had traced the Blade Fleet’s disappearance to Brain Plague carriers but had never discovered what happened aboard the fleet.
• Tang Xiao warned Sefrans Tann that her actions had nearly ruined his plan, then ended their communication as she acknowledged his warning.
• Sefrans Tann’s engineers traced the final jump order to the flagship Blade, and she led a squad aboard it to clear the ship and crack its controls.
• Records from the Blade revealed that the Brain Plague spread among the crew after their pre-voyage party, and the commander ordered the fleet to jump to prevent the virus reaching Coruscant.
• The infected commander failed to specify a destination, and the infected navigator entered no coordinates, sending the fleet on an uncontrolled hyperspace jump that left everyone dead near the Halm system.

Eeth Koth searched for the Plague until Shen-Jon arrived and offered to track Sefrans Tann through dangerous Force-guided hyperspace navigation. Eeth Koth agreed to join him, and Shen-Jon found the Plague’s location, setting the fleet on course for a final confrontation.

• Eeth Koth’s fleet searched for the Plague as reports of possible hyperspace disturbances arrived from several outposts.
• Shen-Jon arrived in a modified Hunter Class Battlecruiser and revealed that he had fallen to the Dark Side while pursuing Sefrans Tann.
• Shen-Jon asked Eeth Koth to use forbidden Force-guided hyperspace navigation, warning that this was their last chance to destroy the Plague.
• Eeth Koth agreed, and he assembled five Hunter Class Battlecruisers, eight Aquitenes-class light cruisers, and another Jedi Master to join the search.
• Shen-Jon used his hatred of Sefrans Tann to guide the fleet through hyperspace and pinpointed her location.

Shen-Jon and Hunter Squad emerged from hyperspace to find the Plague Titan warship, a Separatist fleet, and the long-missing Blade Fleet locked in a struggle over control of the Republic cruisers. As Eeth Koth ordered an attack on the Separatist transports, Shen-Jon turned his ships toward Plague.

• Shen-Jon told Hunter Squad that his mission would end once Plague was destroyed and Sefrans Tann was killed, then prepared to exit hyperspace.
• Shen-Jon’s ship emerged beside the battered Plague Titan warship and more than 230 other ships, including the Blade Fleet, missing for twenty-five years.
• Separatist Rescue Boats began infiltrating the Blade Fleet’s Dreadnought-class cruisers, and several Republic cruisers joined the Separatist battle line after being seized.
• Eeth Koth ordered the Republic fleet to attack the Separatist transports and called for reinforcements as more Dreadnoughts fell under Separatist control.
• Shen-Jon turned his Hunter Class Battlecruiser and the ships under his command toward the Plague Titan warship.

Shen-Jon warned Eeth Koth that pursuing Sefrans Tann’s retreating fleet was a trap, but Eeth Koth ordered the Republic ships to attack. Sefrans Tann recognized Shen-Jon as the Jedi who had severed her arm and prepared to confront him as her fleet withdrew toward the Blade Fleet.

• Shen-Jon urged Eeth Koth to attack the Plague Titan warship first, but Eeth Koth rejected his advice and ordered the ships to sever their navigation links with Shen-Jon’s warship.
• Shen-Jon returned his ship to formation rather than face the Plague Titan alone.
• Sefrans Tann identified the presence watching her as the Jedi Knight who had cut off her arm and resolved to kill him.
• Sefrans Tann ordered her fleet to withdraw and slip into the Blade Fleet’s formation while the Plague Titan circled around it.
• Eeth Koth ordered the Republic ships to pursue the retreating fleet, but Shen-Jon shouted that they should fall back because it was a trap.

Is- Koth ignored Shen-Jon's warning and led the Republic fleet into Sefrans Tann's trap. The Blade Fleet launched a surprise fighter attack at point-blank range, leaving the battle's outcome unresolved.

• Is- Koth dismissed the danger posed by the Blade Fleet and pressed the attack on the fleeing transports, while Shen-Jon fell back cautiously.
• Sefrans Tann's staged engine restart helped convince Is- Koth that the Dreadnought-class cruisers were helpless and worth pursuing.
• A sudden warning from the Force made Is- Koth and Shen-Jon realize the danger, and Is- Koth ordered the fleet to retreat.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the Blade Fleet to charge, and 120 Dreadnought-class cruisers launched 1,440 Z-95 Headhunter fighters.
• The Z-95 fighters fired Proton Torpedoes at close range, while 300 cloaked Wraith fighters revealed themselves and attacked the Republic fleet.

The Fourth Civilization ambushed the Republic fleet with Z-95 fighters and concentrated its attack on Hunter Class Battlecruisers as the battle raged near the Blade Fleet. Meanwhile, the factions mobilized to claim the lost fleet, and Octavian’s route through Yag'Dhul revealed that the Givin were secretly mass-producing warships.

• The Fourth Civilization launched 1,440 Z-95 fighters and thousands of Proton Torpedoes against the Republic fleet, while Wraith fighters intercepted the Republic fighters with Gemini missiles.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the Fourth Civilization warships to turn and concentrate their fire on the Republic’s Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• Tang Xiao sent General Trench and Fleet C toward Cerea, while the Gran of Kinyen dispatched 300,000 troops aboard three Luukri-Hok-class battleships.
• Count Dooku ordered General Grievous to gather a fleet at Antar to threaten the Republic’s Mid Rim defenses.
• Octavian led the Republic fleet toward the Halm system, destroying Givin Interdictors despite their protests.
• Octavian’s fleet detected a powerful reaction near a moon in the Yag'Dhul system, revealing that the Givin were mass-producing warships.

The Galactic Republic challenged the Givin over their warship production while the Fourth Civilization occupied Halm and fought Octavian’s fleet to a stalemate. Near the Blade Fleet, Shen-Jon convinced Eeth Koth to board its ships, then concluded that killing Sefrans Tann was their only remaining chance.

• Speaker Sheev Palpatine demanded an investigation into the Givin’s shipbuilding, but the Givin denounced the Republic and refused to cooperate.
• General Trench’s Fleet C seized Halm, fortified its spaceport, and prepared to face Octavian Grant’s fleet, which withdrew after an inconclusive battle on January 14, 21 BBY.
• Tang Xiao arrived in Halm on January 15 and searched for a way to reach the Blade Fleet through the region’s unstable hyperspace connections.
• As the battle near the Blade Fleet turned against Eeth Koth, Shen-Jon urged him to board the Blade Fleet’s ships using their access codes and bring their turrets online.
• Eeth Koth sent Clone Troopers to board the Dreadnought-class cruisers while Sefrans Tann kept attacking the Republic’s Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• Shen-Jon told Eeth Koth that their only remaining option was to kill Sefrans Tann.

Eeth Koth and Shen-Jon launched a desperate assault on the Plague, aiming to board the unshielded Titan warship and kill its commander, Sefrans Tann. Shen-Jon led Clone Troopers and crew toward the Plague as the Republic fleet fought to cover their approach.

• Eeth Koth accepted Shen-Jon's plan and ordered the Republic fleet to charge the Plague while fighters continued supporting the boarding of a Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser.
• Sefrans Tann concentrated the Fourth Civilization fleet's fire on the advancing Republic ships and targeted Eeth Koth's flagship.
• Shen-Jon's Hunter Class Battlecruiser endured heavy fire and flipped over to protect its Hangar Platform, buying the boarding force ten minutes.
• Shen-Jon told the assembled Clone Troopers and crew that killing Sefrans Tann was their only chance to survive.
• Shen-Jon took off in his Delta-7 fighter as shuttles and remaining fighters flew toward the Plague under fire.

Jedi-led Republic forces breached the Plague warship and pushed through its corridors toward Sefrans Tann. As the defenses collapsed, Sefrans Tann left the bridge with a squad and charged toward the Jedi Knights.

• Eeth Koth, Shen-Jon, Nat Reath, and an unknown Jedi Master escorted Republic shuttles through the Fourth Civilization fighters to the Plague warship.
• Clone Troopers landed through a damaged compartment and cut through a sealed bulkhead while Sefrans Tann ordered defenses assembled and Marines recalled.
• Clone Troopers and Shen-Jon broke through a corridor defense, destroying two Destroyer droids with rocket launchers.
• The four Jedi Knights led separate teams deeper into the Plague warship, breaching Fourth Civilization defensive lines as they advanced toward the bridge.
• Sefrans Tann gathered soldiers and robots, left the bridge, and charged toward the Jedi Knights.

Sefrans Tann tried to escape the Plague after her forces were pushed back, but Shen-Jon and Nat Rees trapped her in the storage area. The warship suddenly capsized after colliding with a Luukri-Hok-class battleship, leaving Tann’s fate uncertain.

• Sefrans Tann ambushed and killed the nameless Jedi Master leading the Clone Troopers, then fled toward the Plague’s storage area.
• Eeth Koth found the fallen Jedi and learned from Shen-Jon that he knew where Tann was.
• Shen-Jon confronted Tann at the storage-area entrance, while Nat Rees blocked her escape and attacked her over her brother’s death on Sarapin.
• Tann used the Force to throw wreckage at Shen-Jon and ran when a Marine briefly slowed him down.
• The Plague capsized after colliding with another enormous ship, which Sefrans Tann identified as a Luukri-Hok-class battleship.

A Luukri-Hok-class battleship collided with Plague, throwing the battle into chaos and trapping Sefrans Tann. Kresh’s Gauntlet saved her from Shen-Jon and Nat-Rees, while Darth Malthael watched as the Luukri-Hok-class battleship launched its aircraft.

• A Luukri-Hok-class battleship emerged from hyperspace and collided with Plague, damaging both ships and further disrupting the battle.
• Shen-Jon and Nat-Rees pursued Sefrans Tann through Plague until debris blocked her escape route.
• Shen-Jon knocked Sefrans Tann into the debris and raised his Lightsaber to kill her, but an ornate black gauntlet blocked the strike.
• Sefrans Tann put on Kresh’s Gauntlet, gained immense Dark Side power, and began attacking Shen-Jon and Nat-Rees.
• Darth Malthael watched Sefrans Tann fight, and the Luukri-Hok-class battleship launched swarms of transport aircraft and fighters.

As Fourth Civilization Fleet C and the Republic fleet fought over access to Blade Fleet, Tang Xiao and Cun Te attempted a dangerous early hyperspace jump aboard a Luukri-Hok-class battleship. The ship entered hyperspace, and Darth Malthael took the helm and veered sharply to the right.

• General Trench and Octavian-Grant held their evenly matched fleets in a standoff while their crews searched for a navigable hyperspace link.
• Tang Xiao and Cun Te learned that a hyperspace route would open in about an hour, and Cun Te proposed entering hyperspace early using his experience with abnormal hyperspace.
• Tang Xiao persuaded Cun Te to attempt the maneuver aboard a Luukri-Hok-class battleship, and Cun Te reluctantly agreed.
• Cun Te ordered the ship's hyperspace engines pushed to maximum output within twenty seconds as the fleet battle intensified nearby.
• The Luukri-Hok-class battleship entered hyperspace, and Darth Malthael seized the helm and cranked it hard to the right.

Darth Malthael steered the damaged Luukri-Hok-class battleship into a collision with Plague, saving his crew while wrecking part of the ship and killing thousands. As Gran Marines launched to seize the Blade Fleet, Hunter and the surviving clones continued toward Plague’s bridge to complete their mission.

• Darth Malthael took control of the Luukri-Hok-class battleship during its unstable hyperspace jump and rotated it to avoid a direct collision with Plague.
• The Luukri-Hok-class battleship collided with Plague, losing at least a quarter of its ring-shaped hull as Darth Malthael rescued Cun Te and disappeared.
• Cun Te ordered the surviving Gran Marines to deploy and seize ships from the Blade Fleet.
• Hunter, Crosshair, Clearance King, Tech, Iron Box, and other surviving clones regrouped amid the wreckage and continued their mission to destroy Plague’s bridge.

Hunter Squad fought through the Gran Marines aboard the Plague while Darth Malthael’s forces seized Blade Fleet warships. Sefrans Tann killed Nute Rith with Kresh’s Gauntlet protecting her, and Darth Malthael defeated Shen-Jon by severing his right hand.

• Hunter Squad fought through Gran Marines aboard the Plague, and Tech found a route toward the bridge through a damaged elevator shaft.
• Darth Malthael heard reports that Gran Marines had boarded more than 120 Blade Fleet warships, leaving over half the fleet nearly under their control.
• Protected by Kresh’s Gauntlet, Sefrans Tann killed Nute Rith, driving Shen-Jon further into the Dark Side.
• Darth Malthael confronted Shen-Jon and offered to teach him the Dark Side and place the galaxy in his hands, but Shen-Jon attacked him.
• Darth Malthael fought Shen-Jon with Soresu and severed his right hand.

Darth Malthael defeated Shen-Jon and forced Sefrans Tann to submit, then brutalized her while raging over the destruction of the Plague. Shen-Jon was swept into space, and the warship remained under attack.

• Darth Malthael overpowered Shen-Jon’s Force lightning and gave Sefrans Tann the chance to act, but she removed Kresh's Gauntlet and offered it to him in submission.
• Darth Malthael mocked Shen-Jon and demanded that he submit, but Shen-Jon refused, so Malthael burned his face and engulfed him in Force lightning.
• The floor collapsed beneath Shen-Jon, and the breach sucked him and debris out into space before Darth Malthael sealed it with the Force.
• Darth Malthael learned that Clone Troopers had destroyed the Plague’s bridge, blamed Sefrans Tann, and beat her with a lightning-charged belt.
• Darth Malthael assaulted the badly wounded Sefrans Tann and declared that she would serve him and help him conquer the galaxy.

Octavian Grant and General Trench sent their fleets into the hyperspace tide, bringing both Republic and Separatist reinforcements to the Blade Fleet. Hunter Squad escaped the Plague and seized a Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser, but Hunter saw that more than half the fleet was likely to fall to the Separatists.

• Octavian Grant ordered the Republic fleet to jump as General Trench gave the same order for the Separatist fleet.
• Aboard the Plague, Eeth Koth treated Hunter Squad as the last Republic force and ordered the clones to take a shuttle and seize a Dreadnought-class cruiser.
• Eeth Koth drew Gran soldiers away while Hunter led the clones to the shuttle and left without him.
• Both fleets arrived as the shuttle crossed the battlefield, and Tech guided it into a Dreadnought-class cruiser whose engines were already warming up.
• Tech unleashed three AT-PT walkers, allowing Hunter Squad to break through the Gran defenders and reach the cruiser’s bridge.

The Fourth Civilization and the Galactic Republic fought a chaotic battle for the Blade Fleet, with the Separatists capturing most of its warships while Republic forces retreated. Darth Malthael captured Ith Koth, and Tang Xiao ordered his fleets to regroup and repair the crippled Plague.

• Cun Te's early arrival allowed Gran Marines to seize more than 150 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers as the fleets of General Trench and Octavian Grant fought around the Blade Fleet.
• Darth Malthael disarmed Ith Koth, and Gran soldiers shackled the exhausted Jedi Master and took him prisoner.
• Octavian Grant ordered Republic Marines to disengage and retreat after learning they could not compete with the Separatists' superior troop numbers.
• General Trench ordered attacks on Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers that could not be retaken, while Octavian Grant ordered a full retreat.
• The Republic withdrew with fifteen Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers; the Fourth Civilization took 178, and seven were destroyed.
• Tang Xiao ordered the fleets to regroup and arrange repairs for the captured ships and the crippled Plague.

Tang Xiao oversaw repairs to the captured Blade Fleet and assessed the damage to Plague, then counted the enormous military gains from the 178 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers. The discovery restored the Fourth Civilization’s fleet strength and raised the prospect of threatening Eriadu, while Tang Xiao began considering who else might covet the spoils.

• Tang Xiao ordered the 178 captured Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers repaired, disinfected, and fitted with new operating systems in the Halm system.
• Fourth Civilization scientists determined that Plague needed at least five years of overhaul after sustaining catastrophic damage.
• Tang Xiao blamed Sefrans Tann’s political misjudgment for Plague’s condition, though he recognized that her raid on Neimoidia had been an enormous gamble and credited her with finding the Blade Fleet.
• Tang Xiao saw the captured fleet as a chance to resume the offensive against the Galactic Republic 18th Army and threaten Eriadu.
• Tang Xiao counted the Blade Fleet’s additional spoils, including equipment for 320,000 Marines, more than 1,700 usable Z-95 Headhunters, and 5,340 AT-PT walker mechs.
• Tang Xiao began considering the other forces that might covet the Fourth Civilization’s newly acquired wealth.

Tang Xiao arranged for the damaged Plague to be repaired at Port Pament and prepared to deliver the captured Eeth Koth to Count Dooku. He then ordered another search for Shen-Jon's body and wondered who had taken it.

• Helmut Zemo told Tang Xiao that repairing the Plague required a shipyard, and Tang Xiao chose Port Pament while keeping the Givin's role separate.
• Tang Xiao reported to Count Dooku that the Confederacy had defeated the Blade Fleet, captured 178 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers, and taken Jedi Master Eeth Koth prisoner.
• Tang Xiao told Count Dooku that the Plague needed repairs and offered to deliver its blueprints and Eeth Koth to Laxus Sub-planet.
• A Gran General told Tang Xiao that Shen-Jon's body had not been found, and Tang Xiao gave him three more days to search.
• Tang Xiao wondered who had taken Shen-Jon's body.

Darth Tenebrus secretly took the barely living Shen-Jon to a hidden Zann space station, while Tang Xiao prepared the captured Blade Fleet for battle and anticipated a move by Rendili. The chapter ended with Tang Xiao recognizing the identity of someone repeatedly trying to contact him.

• After the battle near Halm, Gran workers collected the dead and wreckage while Tang Xiao ordered Shen-Jon's corpse examined and identified.
• Darth Tenebrus revealed that Shen-Jon was still alive and took him aboard a garbage hauler, intending to cultivate him as a Sith Lord.
• Darth Tenebrus brought Shen-Jon to a concealed asteroid station marked with the ZANN emblem.
• Tovan told Tang Xiao that the 178 captured Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers needed extensive repairs, but Tang Xiao refused to dismantle any of them and said he would obtain parts from Rendili.
• Tang Xiao called the Blade Fleet bait and recognized the identity of the encrypted caller repeatedly trying to reach him.

Tang Xiao rejected Gali Urlan’s offer to buy the Katana’s navigation records and ended their call. He welcomed the Force-sensitive Ling Liang as a new general, while the man who had accompanied her to the medical examination remained in the Engineering Science Department.

• Tang Xiao activated an electromagnetic barrier before speaking with Gali Urlan, then mocked the aristocrat’s appearance and manners.
• Gali Urlan introduced himself and offered Tang Xiao one billion credits for the Katana’s navigation records and captain’s log.
• Tang Xiao refused, told Gali Urlan to stop dreaming, and terminated the communication.
• Ling Liang reported that the man who had gone with her to the medical examination had run off and was lingering in the Engineering Science Department.
• Tang Xiao recognized Ling Liang as Force-sensitive and welcomed her as General Ling Liang.