Recaps

Admiral Longo brought the Galactic Republic's Eighth Army to Makito, where he discovered that the Geth and the Separatist fleet had joined forces and prepared an ambush. As Longo tried to escape and warn the Republic, enemy electronic warfare disrupted his ships and the first hits struck his flagship.

• Admiral Longo ordered the Eighth Army to emerge from hyperspace near Makito and prepare for battle.
• Longo discovered that the Geth and Makito's defensive fleet were allied and had turned toward the Republic fleet in a prepared formation.
• Longo ordered evasive maneuvers, hyperspace engines restarted, and a distress signal sent to the rear.
• The enemy jammed communications and disrupted the Republic ships' electronic systems with eighty electronic warfare craft.
• Turbolaser blasts struck Longo's flagship as his crew tried to respond to the attack.

Admiral Longo's Republic fleet suffered heavy losses at Makito as Separatist fire and electronic warfare prevented it from raising shields or reliably activating its hyperdrive. Tang Xiao and San Hill discussed how easily their plan had drawn the Republic into the battle, while the Republic fleet prepared to withdraw.

• The Separatist fleet and its fighters attacked the unshielded Republic fleet, and Yamato Cannons tore into two Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• Admiral Longo learned that Sentinel-class frigates were disrupting Republic communications and ship systems, while a Hyperspace Inhibitor or hyperspace turbulence delayed the fleet's escape.
• Longo ordered the Republic ships to raise their Deflector Shields and hold position while his flagship kept its shields down to activate its hyperdrive and withdraw.
• Tang Xiao told a Geth unit and San Hill that Sass-Tiin's death and the Republic's unguarded advance had helped their plan succeed.

Tang Xiao and San Hill set out to capture or destroy a trapped Galactic Republic fleet, with Tang Xiao threatening San Hill if his plan to seize half the InterGalactic Banking Clan's assets failed. San Hill committed Makito's ships and fighters to the battle as the Geth and the Banking Clan's forces overwhelmed the Republic fleet.

• Tang Xiao concluded that Sass Tiin had gone to Caladan Planet for another purpose and warned that the Republic might discover his connection to the Geth.
• Tang Xiao ordered the Geth to capture at least ten Republic warships and threatened San Hill with eternal torture if he failed to secure half the InterGalactic Banking Clan's assets.
• After Tang Xiao ended the communication, San Hill ordered the Geth to commit their full fleet and demanded that every available ship and fighter launch from Makito.
• More than 10,000 Vulture droid fighters and over 200 other ships joined the Fourth Group and Banking Clan fleet in attacking the Republic forces.
• Behemoth-class battlecruisers fired Yamato Cannons while Sentinel-class frigates disrupted the Republic ships' weapons, energy, and targeting systems.
• The Geth fleet charged into the battle and tore through the Republic formation, blasting Hunter Class Battlecruisers into wreckage.

The Separatists destroyed or captured the Galactic Republic’s Eighth Army fleet at Makito, and Sang-Hill prepared to begin the next stage of Tang Xiao’s plan. On Scipio, Rush Clovis seized control of a debt-ridden planet before receiving a message that goods from Makito were being sent his way.

• The Geth fleet annihilated Admiral Longo’s Republic fleet, killing Longo and leaving forty-two Hunter Class Battlecruisers destroyed and eighteen captured.
• Sang-Hill brought twelve captured warships to Makito’s spaceport to begin the next stage of Tang Xiao’s plan.
• The InterGalactic Banking Clan’s Scipio and Aargau branches drew closer to the Republic, while Muunilinst and Makito remained aligned with the Separatists.
• Rush Clovis rejected the representatives’ appeal and ordered their planet placed under Banking Clan administration the following month.
• Rush Clovis received a message from Makito stating that the goods had been secured and were being sent to Scipio by a secret route.

Rush Clovis prepared Scipio to receive the fleet carrying Makito’s valuable cargo and the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s leaders. When the battered ships arrived, Scipio’s Defense Fleet moved in to inspect them, just as a sudden change began.

• Rush Clovis ordered Scipio’s planetary shield raised and its Defense Fleet and ground forces readied after hearing Fan Ke had succeeded on Makito.
• A fleet of damaged Republic warships, transports, and cargo vessels appeared near Scipio.
• Prinz, commanding in place of the wounded Admiral Longo, demanded medical facilities and refused to answer Rush Clovis’s questions about the cargo.
• Rush Clovis ordered the ships to lower their shields and submit to scans, and Prinz cut off the transmission.
• Scipio’s relaxed Defense Fleet approached the battered ships to inspect them, when a sudden change erupted.

Twelve Hunter Class Battlecruisers ambushed the Scipio Defense Fleet, then began bombarding and invading Scipio with Geth forces. On Coruscant, Sheev Palpatine ordered Republic Intelligence to treat the Geth as Separatist allies, while Rush Clovis watched the assault begin.

• The Scipio Defense Fleet Commander ignored the alarms until twelve Hunter Class Battlecruisers fired on his ships, destroying or crippling much of the fleet.
• Rush Clovis ordered Scipio’s orbital defenses activated and a distress call sent to Coruscant as the battlecruisers continued firing.
• Sheev Palpatine learned that the Geth came from Sojourn Satellite, the former Hunter’s Moon retreat of his master, Darth Pregas.
• Palpatine ordered Republic Intelligence and Supreme Strategic Command to treat the Geth as Separatist allies and keep the order secret.
• Rush Clovis received an order to stop all operations against the Geth just as Scipio’s planetary shield went down and orbital bombardment began.
• Hunter Class Battlecruisers and transports descended on Scipio as the Geth launched fighters and joined the assault.

Geth forces attacked Scipio, overwhelmed its defenses, and began advancing on the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s vault. Rush Clovis took refuge underground, but fainted when he learned the Core Five had activated their emergency evacuation procedure.

• Twelve Hunter Class Battlecruisers bombarded Scipio and deployed Geth fighters and troops, crushing the planet’s mercenary air defenses.
• Rush Clovis was refused entry to the vault by the Core Five and fled to an underground base, where he berated the planetary defense chief over the attack and the disabled shield.
• Rush Clovis ordered the defense chief to gather forces from across Scipio, while the chief reported that the Geth had inflicted devastating losses and reinforcements would take time to assemble.
• The Hunter Class Battlecruisers landed, each carrying tens of thousands of Geth units, which poured out and charged toward the capital and the vault.
• The planetary defense chief told Rush Clovis that the Core Five had activated the emergency evacuation procedure, and Rush Clovis fainted.

As the Geth attacked Scipio, the Core Five activated the vault’s Emergency Evacuation Procedure and escaped with its most valuable assets. Their celebration aboard a transport ship was interrupted by a seductive voice.

• The Core Five ordered droids to load client data, jewelry, and bonds while destroying records of their dealings with Count Dooku and their hidden subsidies.
• With the Geth nearing the capital, the Core Five jointly activated the Emergency Evacuation Procedure, opening the hidden vault entrance.
• The Geth overwhelmed the Banking Clan’s B-1 droids, while mercenaries fled the battlefield.
• Transport ships carried the vault’s assets into space, and the vault exploded shortly after they departed.
• The Core Five celebrated their escape, then heard an alluring female voice address them.

Darth Lilim and Maris Brood confronted the Core Five aboard their ship, where Maris killed them after the vault had been evacuated. On Scipio, Rush Clovis learned that the Geth invasion had devastated the planet and the Core Five had escaped with the vault; conflicting public accounts followed, but the InterGalactic Banking Clan lost its accumulated wealth and the Core Five perished.

• Darth Lilim revealed that her master, Darth Malthael, had sent her to grant the Core Five “Immortality,” and Maris Brood ignited her lightsaber to kill them.
• Rush Clovis woke to learn that an explosion had destroyed the vault, the Core Five had left with its contents, and the Geth were advancing toward Scipio’s capital.
• Rush Clovis demanded that Master Windu stop the Core Five, but the security chief told him the defense fleet was destroyed and resigned, taking an artifact with him.
• The Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems blamed each other for the Geth invasion of Scipio and disputed the Geth’s origins and the Orbital Bombardment.
• The Core Five’s evacuation of the vault to Makito sparked conflicting accounts of whether they defected with its wealth or died defending it, while the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s savings were lost and the Core Five were confirmed dead.

The InterGalactic Banking Clan split into rival Human and Muun factions as Rush Clovis and San Hill fought over the Clan’s leadership, stolen assets, and financial records. San Hill established Ord Mantell as the Muun faction’s service center and sent a fleet to seize the planet from the Republic.

• San Hill re-formed the Core Five on Makito and secured a new five-year term as Co-Chairman, while Rush Clovis rejected Makito’s authority and established a rival administration on Scipio.
• Rush Clovis became Executive Officer of the new InterGalactic Banking Clan (S), accused San Hill of embezzlement and aiding the Separatists, and called for a boycott of Muun banks.
• San Hill countered by claiming Scipio’s vaults had held five trillion credits’ worth of property and challenged Clovis to account for the missing funds.
• The Human and Muun factions took the names InterGalactic Banking Clan (S) and InterGalactic Banking Clan (M); the Republic-backed S faction issued new currency and voided data from the missing customer databases.
• San Hill published the customer records and bonds, offered to validate them through the M faction, and named Ord Mantell its new service center.
• San Hill announced that the M faction’s fleet and the Fourth Group were heading to Ord Mantell to remove the Republic 8th Army.

The InterGalactic Banking Clan’s new Core Five was revealed to be divided by Tang Xiao’s secret maneuvering, while San Hill and the Tonneth family each mistakenly believed they had gained control. With the Republic’s 8th Army fleet destroyed at Makito, the Clan and Fourth Group fleet advanced toward undefended Ord Mantell under Darth Lilim’s command.

• The Muuns reshaped the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s Core Five, and Semir Tang joined it with San Hill’s backing as Dawn Star Planet’s former Minister of Economics.
• Semir Tang was revealed to be Semir Tonneth, secretly working with Tang Xiao and the Tonneth family to influence the Clan and keep San Hill in check.
• Tang Xiao’s hidden ties to the Damask family and the other Core Five members left San Hill and the Tonneth family unaware that they were also being manipulated.
• The InterGalactic Banking Clan and Fourth Group sent a combined fleet toward Ord Mantell after the Republic 8th Army’s sixty Hunter Class Battlecruisers were destroyed at Makito.
• Darth Lilim led the fleet aboard its Deceiver-class destroyer flagship and declared that the Republic’s Eighth Army would be erased.

Darth Lilim’s fleet seized Ord Mantell after Governor Fan Ke fled and the Republic Eighth Army surrendered, then forced the planet to accept a major Separatist and InterGalactic Banking Clan (M) presence. The Republic declared the Eighth Army destroyed and struggled to contain the Separatist advance, leaving the Northern Territory effectively out of its control.

• Fan Ke saw the battered Republic Hunter Class Battlecruiser bombard Scipio, fainted, then ordered his remaining forces to flee.
• Darth Lilim arrived at Ord Mantell, and the leaderless Eighth Army garrison surrendered as ships unable to escape became spoils for her fleet.
• Darth Lilim threatened Ord Mantell’s Central Administrative Bureau with bombardment, destroyed a village with a nuclear missile, and forced it to accept the InterGalactic Banking Clan (M).
• Darth Lilim demanded three million battle droids, a fleet of warships, a new operations city, and an Agonev-class star base on Ord Mantell.
• The Republic declared the Eighth Army destroyed and ordered the Seventh and Ninth Armies to take over some of its planets.
• The Republic’s counteroffensive made limited progress, and the Northern Territory slipped beyond its control.

The Geth’s advance drove the Malareen Alliance out of the Galactic Republic, while Tang Xiao’s scheme split the InterGalactic Banking Clan and devastated the Republic’s Northern Territory. Palpatine’s plans shifted toward the Republic’s eventual collapse, and the chapter ended by introducing Rendili StarDrive as a new concern.

• In March of 20 BBY, the Malareen Alliance left the Galactic Republic and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems after suffering Geth attacks.
• The Fourth Group and InterGalactic Banking Clan staged skirmishes near Ansion Planet, then claimed they had driven the Geth back; Musur praised the Confederacy and condemned the Republic.
• Republic Intelligence agents arrested Fan Ke after he returned to Coruscant, and Sheev Palpatine presided over his secret trial.
• The military tribunal sentenced Fan Ke to death and ordered the confiscation of his and Longo’s family assets.
• Tang Xiao’s hidden Geth plan helped secure the Northern Territory for the Caladanians, the Geth, the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the Fourth Group, while Marcellin Wessel later consolidated part of the region’s strength.
• Sheev Palpatine accepted that the Republic’s collapse would erase its ten trillion in credit currency, but a new matter involving Rendili StarDrive soon demanded his attention.

Tang Xiao confronted Celeste Morne about serving him and challenged her to face her past choices. He gave her the Judgment mask and sent her to Onderon to make a choice of her own.

• Tang Xiao told Celeste Morne that he would hunt her down and take Muur Talisman if she left, and she said she would not let him use it to harm people.
• Tang Xiao challenged Morne’s claims about being controlled when she slaughtered the Mandalorian army on Jubal planet and reminded her that the Galactic Republic threatened his Homeworld.
• Morne admitted she stayed because Tang Xiao freed her from Karness Muur’s four-thousand-year nightmare and said her life belonged to him.
• Tang Xiao placed the Judgment mask on his desk, and Morne recognized its name and understood its meaning through the Force.
• Tang Xiao told Morne to wear the mask, go to Onderon as Judgment, and make her own choice.

Tang Xiao sent Judgment to Onderon and secured her pledge to protect Dawn Star Planet, while Lucien Draay accused him of manipulating her. He agreed to marry Adele Ulan and learned that Rendili’s crisis was entangled with the Galactic Republic’s plans.

• Tang Xiao told Judgment to choose what to do on Onderon and asked her to bring Zhang Jiarui back; she pledged her power to protect Dawn Star Planet but warned she would kill him if he disappointed her.
• Lucien Draay accused Tang Xiao of exploiting Judgment’s past and drawing her toward him, and Tang Xiao silenced Draay’s spirit.
• Supervisor Yarno, a former Dawn Star Planet intelligence operative, told Tang Xiao that Gali Ulan had again asked whether he would marry Adele Ulan.
• Tang Xiao agreed to the marriage, and Yarno advised him to reply personally to strengthen Gali Ulan’s confidence amid Rendili’s dangerous situation.
• Yarno explained that the Galactic Republic had helped create Rendili’s predicament, and Tang Xiao said the resulting events were under his control as well.

Tang Xiao confronted Gali-Ulan about Rendili StarDrive’s worsening position and demanded that he face the risks of leaving the Galactic Republic without guarantees. Gali-Ulan revealed that Republic control and internal divisions were eroding Rendili, leaving its vast industrial foundation vulnerable to Kuat Drive Yards.

• Tang Xiao told Gali-Ulan that Palpatine had deliberately maneuvered Rendili into its predicament and challenged him to decide whether he could act without guarantees.
• When Gali-Ulan tried to invoke the Archangel of Death, Tang Xiao used the Force to choke and throw him, then warned him not to approach or discuss that identity.
• Tang Xiao cruelly demanded that Gali-Ulan kill his daughter Adele if he wanted the Archangel of Death's personal help, and Gali-Ulan pleaded with him to stop.
• Gali-Ulan reported that a Jedi Master and apprentice had taken over Rendili's defense fleet, Republic Intelligence activity had increased, and many shipyard directors opposed him.
• Gali-Ulan explained that Rendili's contracts and production had declined despite Willix Blythex designing the Victory-class Star Destroyer, while its leadership mistook the crisis for a temporary slump.
• Tang Xiao recognized that Palpatine was slowly weakening Rendili until Kuat Drive Yards could absorb its industrial base.

Cun Te bribed a Republic patrol pilot to let his Gozanti-class transport carry medical equipment and 120 unconscious clones into the tightly controlled Rendili system. Tang Xiao revealed that his impending marriage to Rendili’s sixteen-year-old daughter was tied to the brewing crisis.

• A Republic fighter intercepted Cun Te’s Gozanti-class transport near Corellia and demanded identification, scans, and an explanation for its destination.
• Cun Te bribed the pilot and claimed the ship carried medical equipment and clones for a Rendili StarDrive medical escort ship project.
• The pilot reported the shipment to his superior, and the transport was cleared to proceed toward Rendili.
• Tang Xiao appeared beside Cun Te and remarked on the cost of the bribe and his upcoming marriage to Rendili’s daughter.

Tang Xiao and Cun Te joked about Tang Xiao’s arranged marriage as their ship approached Rendili, where Tang Xiao planned to confront the Republic’s control. He revealed that he would rather turn the planet into a world of the undead than let Palpatine hand its industrial power to Kuat.

• Tang Xiao and Cun Te joked about Tang Xiao marrying Adele Ulan, while Yarno realized they were both accommodating each other to preserve their friendship.
• Cun Te asked why Tang Xiao had brought so many medical pods, and Tang Xiao said they were for turning the situation around on Rendili.
• Tang Xiao explained that he had brought his real body in case he needed to destroy Rendili and turn it into a world of the undead rather than let Palpatine strengthen Kuat.
• Tang Xiao, Cun Te, and Yarno watched as their ship exited hyperspace and approached Rendili Planet.
• The chapter described Rendili StarDrive’s flexible network of spherical shipyards and contrasted its loose alliance structure with Kuat Drive Yards’ centralized organization.

Tang Xiao secretly arrived on Rendili to exploit the planet’s political turmoil and expose the decay behind its proud legacy. He brought Darth Malthael’s true body in a stasis pod and refused Gali Ulan’s invitation to meet Adele.

• Tang Xiao and Cun Te discussed Rendili StarDrive’s decline and Bangjila Ulan’s failure to control the planet.
• Cun Te used a Republic patrol’s clearance code to guide their disguised medical transport past Rendili’s defense fleet.
• Tang Xiao landed at a hidden estate and watched medical pods, including Darth Malthael’s stasis pod, being moved into an underground base.
• Gali Ulan greeted Tang Xiao and explained that Adele Ulan was waiting in the reception hall, but Tang Xiao refused to see her.

Tang Xiao met with Bangjila Ulan at the Urlan estate and learned how Palpatine had infiltrated Rendili StarDrive and its Planet Defense Fleet. Bangjila revealed that a bounty hunter he had hired to purge Republic sympathizers had betrayed him, leaving his own allies dead and Rendili’s leadership in crisis.

• Gali Ulan led Tang Xiao to the estate’s reception hall, where Adele Urlan said she had been named the Urlan family’s first-in-line heir.
• Tang Xiao asked Bangjila Ulan about Rendili’s situation and who controlled the Planet Defense Fleet.
• Bangjila said the Galactic Republic’s infiltration had left his life at Palpatine’s mercy.
• Bangjila explained that he had hired a bounty hunter to assassinate fleet commanders and help him replace Republic sympathizers with his own allies.
• Bangjila said the planned mutiny had erupted, but all the dead were his confidants, and he accused the bounty hunter of being Palpatine’s spy.

Bangjila Ulan explained how betrayal, lost support, and the rejection of the Victory II-class Star Destroyer had left Rendili on the brink, then entrusted the Ulan family's succession and Rendili StarDrive to Adele Ulan and asked Tang Xiao to take Rendili out of the Galactic Republic. Tang Xiao refused to abandon Rendili, while Cun Te left with a quiet farewell that suggested it might be their last time together.

• Bangjila Ulan told Tang Xiao that leaked intelligence and shifting loyalties had undermined his plans to rebel, while Rendili's investors, shipyard owners, and employees fled after the Victory II-class order was rejected.
• Bangjila Ulan revealed that Adele Ulan had received the Ulan family's first right of succession and become Rendili StarDrive's Chief Executive Officer.
• Bangjila Ulan urged Tang Xiao to take Rendili out of the Galactic Republic, promising Adele and Rendili if he succeeded, while Adele broke down in tears and Gali Ulan comforted her.
• Cun Te and Yarno warned Tang Xiao that Rendili StarDrive and the planet's population were deeply tied to the Republic, and that the Ulan family had little control over the company.
• Tang Xiao rejected Cun Te's suggestion to kidnap Adele and leave, explaining that he wanted Rendili and feared the Republic's full wartime potential.
• Cun Te agreed to leave Tang Xiao to his plans, then murmured a desolate farewell as he exited; Tang Xiao drank from the bottle Cun Te had left behind.

Tang Xiao revealed his plan to break Rendili’s deadlock by using the Rebirth Plan to replace or alter the memories of influential Republic loyalists. He left Yarno and Cun Te weighing the risks of the operation and the limits of the available clone bodies.

• Tang Xiao told Yarno and Cun Te that Rendili’s ties to the Republic made conventional solutions impossible, so he planned to flip the table.
• Tang Xiao explained that Republic loyalists were easier to identify than people whose support for the Separatists had changed.
• Tang Xiao revealed that the Rebirth Plan could restore people in new bodies while he replaced their memories and consciousness.
• Tang Xiao said the prepared clones were intended for Republic-loyal shipyard owners and senior Rendili StarDrive executives, whose DNA had been collected in a secret operation.
• Yarno worried that the little more than a hundred clones could not influence Rendili overall, and Tang Xiao said other targets could undergo less complete memory alteration in medical pods, though it risked exposure.

Tang Xiao planned to recruit Jorgen City mayor Daman Lopez to help establish safe houses, while Daman secretly conspired against the Ulan family in exchange for a governorship. After returning home, Daman was confronted by what appeared to be reanimated corpses, including his own bodyguards.

• Tang Xiao proposed sending out the Rebirth Plan medical pods and creating safe houses to alter people's memories, then named Daman Lopez as a potential helper.
• Daman Lopez agreed to help an associate undermine the Ulan family by inciting factory strikes and demonstrations and investigating their taxes.
• Daman returned to his estate drunk and ordered his two gate guards to take paid leave because they smelled of sweat.
• His bodyguards recognized the smell as that of corpses and rushed Daman inside, but they suddenly dropped their weapons and shields.
• Three corpse-like figures entered the estate, and Daman saw that the bodyguards beside him had also become dead, rotting faces.

Darth Malthael abducted Jorgen City Mayor Daman Lopez and brought him to Cun Te’s apartment for an experiment with a regeneration medical pod. Daman woke to find an exact duplicate of himself standing before him.

• Darth Malthael used walking corpses to capture Daman Lopez and take him from his mansion in his luxury speeder.
• Darth Malthael brought Daman to Cun Te’s apartment, where Spade had prepared the regeneration medical pod.
• Darth Malthael used the Force to knock Daman unconscious for the procedure.
• Daman woke in a hospital gown and saw another Daman Lopez greeting him with his familiar official smile.

Darth Malthael replaced Mayor Daman with a clone carrying a new, loyal personality and kept the original alive as a backup. A week later, Jedi Master Ploo Koon arrived at Rendili StarDrive’s headquarters with Jedi Knights Jax Pavan and Jing Fang to investigate a possible rebellion.

• Darth Malthael’s clone taunted Mayor Daman with plans to exploit his office and family, prompting the real Daman to attack before Malthael restrained him.
• Darth Malthael declared the clone to be the real Daman and left the original alive as a backup for the Rebirth Plan.
• Darth Malthael explained how Death Force mastery let him split off part of a person’s soul and implant a loyal personality in a cloned body.
• One week later, Jedi Master Ploo Koon arrived at Rendili StarDrive’s headquarters with Jedi Knights Jax Pavan and Jing Fang to address a possible rebellion.