Recaps

Tang Xiao visited Dryden Vos on Corellia while enjoying a temporary reprieve from the Dark Side’s influence. He warned Dryden that Darth Maul would target Crimson Dawn and told him to watch the Mandalorian system, while hinting at his own larger plans.

• Tang Xiao explained that the Dark Side’s influence had weakened, and that he had come to Corellia to recover and relax.
• Dryden Vos welcomed Tang Xiao, credited his spice supply for Crimson Dawn’s security, and said Madam Proxima had prepared a feast.
• Tang Xiao warned Dryden that Darth Maul was returning and intended to conquer Crimson Dawn.
• Dryden proposed striking first, but Tang Xiao said Maul had destroyed Black Sun and would be too powerful for Dryden to defeat.
• Tang Xiao told Dryden to watch the Mandalorian system for Maul within the next year so Tang Xiao would have time to respond.
• Dryden declined Tang Xiao’s invitation to become a Fleet Commander on Dawn Star Planet, and Tang Xiao hinted that he had a surprise planned.

Tang Xiao and Dryden Vos traveled through Corellia's underworld to meet Madam Proxima, where she welcomed Tang Xiao with a display of enslaved beauties. Tang Xiao showed no interest in the seduction but played along before Madam Proxima emerged from a pool to greet him.

• Tang Xiao and Dryden Vos walked through Corellia's violent harbor district, where Crimson Dawn's emblem kept passersby away.
• Dryden Vos complained about visiting Madam Proxima in the White Worm Gang's filthy territory, while Tang Xiao observed Corellia's underworld.
• Dryden Vos led Tang Xiao through an underground building and several checkpoints into Madam Proxima's chambers.
• Trained human and Tusken slave women surrounded Tang Xiao with a seductive dance, but he calmly surveyed the room.
• Tang Xiao laughed, grabbed the chains of several women, and approached the central pool as Madam Proxima emerged and asked whether he liked her surprise.

Tang Xiao reviewed the criminal businesses Madam Proxima and Dryden Vos ran for the Fourth Civilization, then offered them a major deal tied to Corellia’s future. He began explaining that Corellia was an artificially formed star system, setting up the revelation behind the proposed plan.

• Tang Xiao discussed how Yuri Orlov, Madam Proxima, and Dryden Vos supported the Fourth Civilization through arms dealing, spice smuggling, and slave trading.
• Tang Xiao dismissed the female slaves and had Madam Proxima secure the room against listeners.
• Tang Xiao told Madam Proxima and Dryden Vos that a major deal could let them rise into Corellian politics or become rulers of its underworld.
• Tang Xiao began telling them the origin myth of the Corellian system and revealed that Corellia was artificially formed.

Tang Xiao told Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima that the Kilik Swarm had created the Corellian system and hidden a planet-moving weapon in Midpoint Station. He revealed that the station could destroy planets across much of the galaxy, including Coruscant, and left Dryden and Proxima warning him not to activate it.

• Tang Xiao explained that the Kilik Swarm had artificially created the Corellian system by drawing planets from other systems with gravitational waves.
• Tang Xiao said the device was concealed at the Lagrange point between Talus and Tralus, inside Midpoint Station.
• Madam Proxima described Midpoint Station as an abandoned relic whose central sphere still powered Holo Town's lights and gravity.
• Tang Xiao warned that Midpoint Station could be activated and that its gravitational waves could move or destroy planets across at least half the galaxy.
• Tang Xiao revealed that Coruscant lay within the station's range, prompting Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima to urge him to leave the weapon alone.

Tang Xiao explained that Sacorria was secretly investigating Midpoint Station and suggested it might seek to make the Corellian Sector independent from the Galactic Republic. Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima were left shaken by the possibility.

• Tang Xiao told Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima that he did not expect them to seize Midpoint Station themselves.
• Tang Xiao said Corellia had not abandoned its research and that Sacorria was behind the investigation.
• Madam Proxima described Sacorria as a wealthy, strictly governed planet under the Corellian Sector’s authority.
• Dryden Vos argued that Sacorria’s close ties to Corellia made it unlikely to covet Midpoint Station.
• Tang Xiao proposed that Sacorria might be acting to free the Corellian Sector from the Galactic Republic, startling Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima.

Tang Xiao explained that the Sacorrian Triad planned to use Midpoint Station to overthrow the Corellian Governor’s Office, and he recruited Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima to prepare for the coming turmoil. He outlined a plan to expose the Triad and seize one of the Five Brothers’ control centers, leaving the next step unfinished.

• Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima asked Tang Xiao about Sacorria’s hidden rulers, and he identified the Sacorrian Triad as a secret council representing the planet’s three major races.
• Tang Xiao explained that the Triad sought to overthrow the Corellian Governor’s Office and had made Midpoint Station one of its research targets.
• Madam Proxima warned that her organization could not confront Sacorria alone, and Tang Xiao said he expected sector-wide unrest and wanted to secure an alliance with an independent Corellian Sector.
• Tang Xiao explained that Midpoint Station could be recharged through control centers beneath the Five Brothers, and Dryden Vos realized that occupying one could stop the process.
• Tang Xiao told Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima to put the Sacorrian Triad in the spotlight and find a way to seize one planet’s control center.

Tang Xiao recruited Madam Proxima and Dryden Vos to prepare for taking control of Midpoint Station, revealing that the Galactic Republic had less than two years left. Later, he encountered two young thieves in the Corellian district and recognized one of them as Han Solo.

• Tang Xiao explained that the five planets’ control centers could power Midpoint Station and told Madam Proxima to prepare to secure at least one of them before the Sacorrian Triad could act.
• Tang Xiao told Madam Proxima and Dryden Vos that the Republic would fall within two years, prompting them to celebrate and agree to prepare for the future.
• Alone on the streets, Tang Xiao reflected on his plans to expand the Fourth Civilization’s influence in Corellia and involve Darth Maul in his designs.
• Tang Xiao overheard a girl named Kira and Han Solo plotting to rob him, and recognized Han’s name.
• Han Solo ran into Tang Xiao and handed him a bundle while Kira stole the pocket from Tang Xiao’s waist, after which both young thieves fled.

Kira and Han Solo stole a bag of credits and a Lightsaber from Tang Xiao, then were cornered by Daggis and his men. As Han prepared to hold them off so Kira could escape, the Lightsaber ignited beside them.

• Tang Xiao discovered that Kira and Han Solo had tricked him and stolen his belongings, then followed their trail into the alleys.
• Kira and Han Solo counted 7,200 credits and recognized the stolen metal hilt as a Lightsaber.
• Daggis and his men blocked both ends of the alley and threatened to capture Kira and Han Solo for Madam Proxima.
• Han Solo urged Kira to escape while he held Daggis off, but a blood-red glow ignited beside them.

Kira accidentally activated Tang Xiao’s Lightsaber and slaughtered Daggis and his gang before Tang Xiao arrived. He rewarded Kira and Han Solo with two halves of a marked coin that could be exchanged together for one chance at his help, then left them with a cryptic remark about killing and a suggestion to dye Kira’s hair silver-gold.

• Kira’s Lightsaber activated and, while she panicked, killed Daggis and the other gang members in the alley.
• Tang Xiao arrived and stopped Han Solo from reaching Kira with an invisible barrier.
• Han Solo and Kira returned Tang Xiao’s belongings, and Kira claimed Daggis had forced them to steal.
• Tang Xiao kept the bag of credits and gave each teenager half of an ancient coin, explaining that the complete coin could buy one chance at his help for its holder.
• Tang Xiao left after warning Kira to remember the feeling of killing and suggesting she dye her hair silver-gold.

Tang Xiao finalized a plan with Madam Proxima and Dryden Vos to expand their influence on Corellia, then set off for Korriban. The story shifted to Ord Mantell, a tourist and banking hub renowned throughout the galaxy for its gambling industry.

• Tang Xiao watched the authorities collect the bodies left by his killings the previous night and noted that his Dark Side Force was recovering.
• Dryden Vos and Madam Proxima outlined plans to train children, build ties with Sacorria, and deploy Grindalyn enforcers.
• Tang Xiao arranged for specialists and intelligence personnel to support the Corellia operation, and told his allies to contact Yuri Orlov for weapons and equipment.
• Tang Xiao asked for a secret smuggling ship and announced that he was going to Korriban.
• The story introduced Ord Mantell as a tourism and financial center where strict banking privacy had helped gambling flourish.

The chapter described Planet Ord Mantell and the Republic’s Eighth Army, whose Northern Sector jurisdiction had been thrown into chaos by the Plague Titan and the Geth. It left the Geth as a growing threat attacking Republic and Separatist worlds alike.

• Tang Xiao traveled toward Planet Korriban and was not directly involved in the events on Planet Ord Mantell.
• The chapter explained that Planet Ord Mantell served as the Eighth Army’s command center, though the Republic did not control the planet itself.
• The Eighth Army struggled to manage Ord Mantell, where Republic and Separatist forces coexisted under a publicly neutral regime.
• The Plague Titan warship raided the Core Worlds and caused chaos in the Eighth Army’s jurisdiction.
• The Geth ravaged the Northern Galaxy, turning captured people into Corpse Puppets and targeting both Republic and Separatist planets.

The Galactic Republic struggled to understand the Geth’s origins after losing planets and fleets to them, and scientists developed a detailed theory that the machines were remnants of the extinct Kilik Swarm. The Republic’s confident speculation left the Geth’s true history unresolved.

• The Galactic Republic intercepted communications and learned that its mysterious mechanical enemy called itself the Geth.
• The Geth defeated Sass Tiin, who later became an adviser to the Republic’s Eighth Army.
• Republic investigators traced the Geth’s operations to an uncharted planet in the Northern Galaxy but could not identify its location.
• Scientists theorized that the Geth were a Gestalt-consciousness species with insect-like designs, possibly created by the extinct Kilik Swarm.
• Republic scientists invented a story that the Geth had awakened from an ancient factory and were rebuilding the swarm, with Alderaan as their ultimate target.
• Tang Xiao would have laughed at the theory, since he had not worked out how to explain the Geth’s existence himself.

The Galactic Republic struggled to protect the Northern Territory from the Geth while the Eighth Army faced limited resources, Separatist threats, and deadly Geth ambushes. After helping repel a Geth attack near Mossk, Sass Tiin reported to Governor Fan Ke, who still faced a worsening crisis.

• Residents of the Northern Galaxy bought fake Kilik Swarm charms, hoping the Geth would spare them.
• The Galactic Republic abandoned plans to evacuate threatened planets and told residents to organize their own defenses.
• Governor Fan Ke and Sass Tiin struggled to counter the Geth, whose ambushes and attacks strained the Eighth Army while Separatist forces threatened its territory.
• Eight Hunter Class Battlecruisers returned to Ord Mantell for repairs and resupply, and Sass Tiin arrived separately in an Eta-2 Interceptor.
• Sass Tiin told Fan Ke that Republic forces had repelled the Geth near Mossk, destroyed seven warships, and stopped their landing force after it attacked one remote town.

Fan Ke and Sass-Tiin discussed the Republic’s order for the Eighth Army to attack Makito despite the Geth threat, and considered the political motives behind it. Sass-Tiin suspected the directive came from powerful figures pursuing a larger plan involving the InterGalactic Banking Clan and the Fourth Group.

• Fan Ke chewed refined Thyssel tree bark and told Sass-Tiin that Geth attacks had cost the Northern Territory seven planets and over a hundred million lives.
• Fan Ke said the Supreme Strategic Command had rejected sending the Ninth and Tenth Armies to confront the Geth and instead ordered an attack on Makito to pressure the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
• Sass-Tiin condemned the plan to lure the Geth toward Makito, while Fan Ke suggested the order reflected a political effort to move against the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
• Fan Ke explained that the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s coming co-chairman election and its tensions between Muunilinst and Scipio, along with the Fourth Group’s ties to Grosse Shelbia, were driving the Republic to force both organizations to choose sides.
• Sass-Tiin concluded that the plan to involve the Geth might serve a broader purpose than he and Fan Ke understood.

Sass Tiin set out to find the Geth’s lair, while Fan Ke secretly ordered a deception near Makito. Sass Tiin discovered a Geth-infested spaceport, and a Geth fleet ambushed a convoy approaching Namadii Planet.

• Sass Tiin and Fan Ke agreed that protecting the Northern Territory from the Geth took priority, and Sass Tiin planned to search for their mainframe using Hook Planet as a supply point.
• After Sass Tiin left, Fan Ke secretly ordered the Intelligence Department to stage false signs of major transport operations near Makito.
• Sass Tiin traveled toward Hook Planet, doubting that destroying the Geth mainframe would stop their individual units but resolving to fight for living beings.
• Sass Tiin found a spaceport covered in hive-like structures and saw an insect-shaped Geth vessel docked there.
• A seven-ship convoy arrived near Namadii Planet, where a Geth warship emerged from hyperspace and more insect-shaped ships followed.

The Geth fleet ambushed a Galactic Republic convoy, seized its ships, and invaded Namadii Planet. The captured convoy ships later restarted at minimal power and began broadcasting distress signals.

• A Geth frigate attacked an armed cargo ship, pierced its hull, and boarded it while the CR-70 frigate fled.
• The Geth hunted down the cargo ship’s crew and killed its security team before taking control of the vessel.
• The Geth disabled the other convoy ships, leaving them drifting dark and powerless as the cargo ship’s captain hid on the bridge.
• Dozens of Geth warships descended on Namadii Planet and attacked its surface while Geth fighters pursued targets in the air.
• The captured convoy ships restarted at minimal power and began broadcasting distress signals over the public channel.

Sass-Tiin witnessed the Geth’s genocide of the Yamrii on Hook Planet and found evidence that they were dissecting corpses to develop Yamrii Corpse Puppets. Suspecting the Geth were not created by the Kilik Swarm, he escaped the planet and headed for Caladan Planet to pursue the truth.

• Sass-Tiin learned from intercepted communications that the Geth had nearly conquered Hook Planet and left only its capital resisting.
• Sass-Tiin infiltrated a factory and discovered tens of thousands of Yamrii corpses, with Geth units dissecting bodies and impaling them on metal spikes.
• Sass-Tiin concluded that the Geth were studying Yamrii to improve their Corpse Puppet production and that the Yamrii’s Kilik Swarm ancestry challenged the accepted theory of the Geth’s origins.
• Sass-Tiin decided to uncover the truth about the Geth and find their nest, then secretly launched his masked Eta-2 fighter from Hook Planet.
• Sass-Tiin escaped pursuing Geth fighters by entering hyperspace with a ring, bound for Caladan Planet.

Jedi Master Sass Tiin reached Caladan Planet and discovered that the Geth were living peacefully alongside the Separatists, leading him to conclude that the Separatists had created and unleashed the mechanical lifeforms. After he accused Count Dooku and the other Separatist leaders, a Geth destroyer detected his fighter and turned toward him.

• Sass Tiin traveled from Hook Planet to Caladan Planet in his fighter, troubled by what he might find there.
• He entered Caladan Planet’s orbit and saw Geth ships and other vessels operating alongside the Caladanians.
• Sass Tiin realized the Geth had not attacked Caladan Planet because the Caladanians were Separatists, and he concluded that the Separatists had activated the Geth.
• Sass Tiin denounced Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, San Hill, and Tang Xiao for unleashing an intelligent mechanical lifeform.
• An alarm sounded as Sass Tiin lost contact with the hyperspace ring, and the Geth destroyer turned toward his fighter.

Sass Tiin suspected the Separatists had created the Geth and escaped into Caladan’s jungle to find evidence and a way to report his discovery. Meanwhile, Governor Fan Ke refused to send reinforcements to the Seventh Army and ordered Intelligence to lure the Geth to Makito within a week.

• Sass Tiin concluded that the Geth were allied with the Separatists and might have spared Caladan because they cooperated with its inhabitants.
• Sass Tiin evaded pursuing Geth and Caladanian fighters, crashed his fighter in a jungle, and escaped on foot.
• Sass Tiin decided to search Caladan for the Geth’s home-base location and a powerful hyperspace transmission array so he could report his findings.
• Governor Fan Ke learned that the Geth had destroyed Namadii Planet’s orbital defenses and refused Governor Marcellin Wessel’s request for reinforcements.
• Governor Fan Ke ordered the Intelligence Department to make the Geth appear on Makito within one week.

Researchers at the Thonner experimental base tested powered armor, and a reactor failure killed the prisoner wearing it. Meanwhile, Rory Swann mocked Zhang Jiarui over the rejection of his Thor design, and Zhang punched him.

• A prisoner's CMC-300 powered armor reactor malfunctioned during a test, killing him in a fire.
• Researchers identified a failure in the J-11 laser confinement device and planned to report that the reactor was not ready for battlefield use.
• Researcher B proposed adding an electrode to kill prisoners inside the armor remotely, and Researcher A agreed to build it.
• Rory Swann taunted Zhang Jiarui over the army's rejection of Thor, his turbolaser-equipped machine.
• Zhang Jiarui punched Rory Swann after telling him to stop laughing.

Zhang Jiarui abandoned Doctor Octopus’s pursuit of the Ark Reactor and set out to get the Army Department to approve his Thor project. Meanwhile, the Army Equipment Update Meeting began reviewing transport aircraft, with Halo Weapon Systems Group introducing its Pelican.

• Zhang Jiarui beat Rory Swann, then discovered the Army Department had rejected Thor and decided to appeal the decision.
• Zhang Jiarui argued with Doctor Octopus over whether the Ark Reactor could be built, insisting that the military needed practical equipment during the war.
• Zhang Jiarui defied Doctor Octopus’s attempt to stop him and left for the Army Department; Rory Swann also departed, while Doctor Octopus shut himself inside the laboratory.
• Chief of Staff Qi Jian reviewed transport aircraft proposals at the Army Equipment Update Meeting on Dawn Star Planet.
• A Tyran Heavy Industries representative presented the G-226 Medical transport aircraft, and Qi Jian questioned its ability to survive Galactic Republic V-19 fighters.
• A Halo Weapon Systems Group representative introduced the D77-TC Pelican Transport as a solution focused on maneuverability and survivability.

Qi Jian reviewed proposed upgrades to frontline transports and selected Halo Weapon Systems Group’s D77-TC Pelican over Tyran Heavy Industries’ G-226 medical transport. The meeting then turned to Tyran’s Hercules Dropship and its capacity for rapid, large-scale landings.

• The Halo Weapon Systems Group representative described the upgraded Pelican’s increased payload, shields, engines, and weapons, and compared it with the Republic’s LAAT/I.
• The Tyran Heavy Industries representative defended the G-226 medical transport, but Staff Department officials questioned its battlefield treatment system and its risks.
• Qi Jian designated the Pelican as the next-generation frontline transport, rejected the G-226, and ordered APOD-33 transports gradually withdrawn from frontline units.
• The Tyran Heavy Industries representative presented the Hercules Dropship as a large landing craft capable of carrying a combat battalion or three Thor Mechs and unloading its cargo within two minutes.
• The representative explained that the Hercules combined its cargo compartment with an escape pod system so its troops and vehicles could land safely if the craft was shot down.

Tyran Heavy Industries won conditional approval to add the Hercules Dropship to the procurement list, and Halo Weapon Systems Group presented its M-808 Scorpion tank for military consideration. The chapter ended with Johnson arguing that the Scorpion’s low cost and easy production could let the army field it in large numbers.

• Representative Nolas explained the Hercules Dropship’s unloading system and its role alongside medical transport aircraft, but Qi Jian stopped him from revisiting rejected proposals.
• Qi Jian conditionally approved the Hercules Dropship for the procurement list if it passed live prototype tests, with funding redirected from Diamond-class cruisers and C-9979 landing craft.
• Johnson introduced the M-808 Scorpion tank, describing its two-person crew, armor, mobility, and multifunction cannon.
• Johnson reported the Scorpion’s low simulated win rates against the AT-TE and TX-130, and Qi Jian questioned its battlefield advantage.
• Johnson argued that the Scorpion cost far less, required fewer crew and production hours, and could be manufactured on planets with weak industrial bases.

A military review approved plans to produce Scorpion tanks and criticized Tyran Heavy Industries for failing to submit several promised projects. Zhang Jiarui interrupted the meeting to argue that the Thor Mech had been evaluated against the wrong target, and Qi Jian stopped when he heard it was designed to fight an Acclamator-class assault ship.

• Johnson explained that Scorpion tanks could be manufactured widely by producing their engines and energy systems at core factories, with simplified versions available for blockaded planets.
• Tom Vance and Cheng Shitao discussed how Scorpion tanks and M-9 Wolverine anti-aircraft vehicles could strengthen planetary defenses and support future fleets.
• Qi Jian approved a formal Scorpion tank order after live-unit testing, then demanded answers from Nolas about Tyran Heavy Industries' missing CMC-300 armor and mechs.
• Nolas said Doctor Otto Gunther Octavius had abandoned the projects and could not be reached, prompting Qi Jian to threaten a financial audit of Tyran Heavy Industries.
• Zhang Jiarui burst into the meeting and demanded a review of the Thor Mech, insisting that its intended target was an Acclamator-class assault ship.
• Qi Jian turned back after hearing Zhang Jiarui's claim and asked him to repeat what he had said.

Zhang Jiarui got another chance to present the Thor Mech and argued that equipping it with two J-1 Proton Cannons would let it threaten Republic Acclamator-class assault ships supporting ground invasions. The officers challenged the mech’s cost and vulnerabilities, and the chapter ended with Zhang insisting it could detect and strike transports before they could attack.

• Zhang Jiarui stopped Qi Jian from dismissing him by explaining that the reviewed Thor Mech was an energy model with modified circuits designed for J-1 Proton Cannons, and Qi Jian gave him one more chance.
• Zhang Jiarui resumed the presentation, describing the Thor Mech’s weapons and modular design, but General Cheng Shitao and Major General Tom Vance argued that it was costly, vulnerable, and outperformed by existing weapons in key roles.
• Zhang Jiarui explained that the prototype’s heavy Turbolaser cannons used energy circuits adapted for J-1 Proton Cannons, which Nolas realized explained why the prototype’s barrel had burst during its trial.
• Zhang Jiarui argued that two J-1 Proton Cannons could destroy Acclamator-class ships supporting Republic invasions, citing the Battle of Ombara as an example of the threat such ships posed.
• Qi Jian questioned the Thor Mech’s cost, ability to survive an Acclamator’s attack, and usefulness if the Republic used other transports, while Zhang Jiarui insisted it would detect and strike them first.