Recaps

Hermit escaped the citywide pursuit and reunited with Jango Fett, then learned that Satine Kryze had been captured again. After discussing the guarded basement and their next move, Hermit concluded that Vitaly Orlov was at the transmission tower.

• Hermit evaded Death Watch, Zann Corporation guards, and controlled Sundari police before reaching the cinema rendezvous.
• Hermit found Jango Fett waiting safely backstage and learned how Jango had escaped the ship's explosion.
• Jango told Hermit that guards had discovered the cargo container hiding Satine Kryze and that the Zann Corporation basement was now likely heavily guarded.
• Hermit told Jango about the imprisoned women and argued that finding Vitaly Orlov was still essential.
• Hermit deduced that Vitaly Orlov was at the transmission tower, where his communications were being sent.

Hermit and Jango Fett attacked the communications transmission tower to find Vitaly Orlov, but their raid was overwhelmed by guards and Destroyer droids. Hermit found Vitaly hiding inside the tower, and as guards closed in, a voice spoke in his mind.

• Hermit and Jango Fett decided to raid the transmission tower, believing Vitaly Orlov might be hiding there.
• Hermit and Jango Fett stormed the tower, where Destroyer droids attacked; Jango destroyed one but was captured by guards.
• Hermit fled upward through the tower as guards and Death Watch warriors pursued him.
• Hermit discovered Vitaly Orlov hiding in a maintenance room and learned that chewing Thyssel tree bark had protected him from the mind-control device.
• As guards searched outside the room, Hermit prepared to fight, then heard a voice in his mind say, "Al'a korr de zhakan".

Sola-A rescued Hermit and Vitaly Orlov from their pursuers, then joined them to investigate the crisis on Mandalore. Hermit warned her that Pre Vizsla was using the launch tower’s cables to brainwash the city and prepare a referendum, and Sola-A went to destroy them.

• A Protoss voice spoke telepathically to Hermit and Vitaly Orlov, and Hermit recognized that their pursuers had been killed by Protoss warriors.
• Hermit and Vitaly found more than a hundred bodies around the launch tower and watched ships flee the area.
• Sola-A appeared, introduced herself as a member of the Sali-Gal tribe, and said she had come at the request of Dawn Star Planet’s Governor to stop events on Mandalore.
• Sola-A told Hermit that Jango Fett had been rescued and that her companion Aura'Khan was below, while warning that more enemies were approaching.
• Hermit asked Sola-A to destroy the launch tower’s cables because Pre Vizsla was using them to control the city and prepare a referendum, and she went to do so.

Hermit, Jango-Fett, Vitaly-Orlov, Oola-Khan, and Sola-A prepared to rescue Duchess Satine-Kryze before the Sundari referendum, after destroying the transmission tower’s wiring. Vitaly-Orlov revealed that Thyssel tree bark had come from a box containing a biological chip, while a broadcast announced that the referendum would begin the next morning.

• Hermit and Vitaly-Orlov left the transmission tower and found Jango-Fett among the dead guards and a severed Destroyer droid.
• Oola-Khan revealed himself and learned that the group needed to destroy the spaceport control device and rescue Duchess Satine-Kryze.
• Sola-A reported that she had destroyed the transmission tower’s wiring, but Hermit said the core device still needed to be destroyed.
• Hermit chose to rescue Satine first, and Jango-Fett armed the group while Vitaly-Orlov explained how he had obtained the Thyssel tree bark.
• Vitaly-Orlov said a Zann Corporation worker had found the bark in a box with a piece of flesh, and Hermit identified the flesh as a biological chip.
• A broadcast announced that the Sundari referendum would begin the next morning.

Vitaly Orlov explained that three conspiracies were unfolding on Mandalore: a referendum being used to justify a takeover, a brainwashing-device experiment, and a secret mission involving a high-ranking Coruscant figure. As the others planned to destroy the device, Obi-Wan Kenobi removed his mask and went alone to rescue Duke Satine.

• Jango Fett warned that the referendum could give the Galactic Republic grounds to occupy Mandalore, and Oola-Khan said they could still stop it.
• Vitaly Orlov argued that the referendum was already impossible to stop and explained that the brainwashing device was being used in an experiment on people from Dathomir, while serving either outcome on Mandalore.
• Vitaly Orlov revealed that a secret figure from Coruscant had brought a biological chip to Mandalore and that he had learned about the figure through a stolen box and an intercepted communication.
• Hermit proposed destroying the brainwashing device, and Oola-Khan agreed that they should avoid the trap at the palace.
• Hermit gave his mask to Vitaly Orlov, identified himself as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and went alone to rescue Duke Satine.

Jango Fett and an invisible attacker assaulted a Zann Corporation facility while Sundari’s referendum descended into chaos as citizens awakened from brainwashing. Sheev Palpatine declared war on Mandalore, and Obi-Wan Kenobi seized Satine Kryze and fled the palace balcony.

• Jango Fett attacked the Zann Corporation warehouse as an invisible lightsaber-wielding assailant killed guards and Death Watch warriors inside.
• Citizens at Sundari’s referendum began recovering their memories and protesting Duke Satine Kryze’s government.
• Sheev Palpatine denounced Mandalore in the Galactic Senate and ordered the Second Systems Army to occupy it, despite Padmé Amidala’s warning.
• An invisible Force-user used an iron chain to disrupt the four Death Watch warriors behind Satine, allowing Obi-Wan Kenobi to grab her and flee.

As Mandalore began a referendum to leave the Galactic Republic and join the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Count Dooku and Tang Xiao recognized the political trap but did not know who had arranged it. The Confederacy publicly disavowed the referendum and blamed the Galactic Republic, while the Republic’s fleet continued toward Mandalore.

• Count Dooku contacted Tang Xiao to ask what was happening on Mandalore, and Tang Xiao claimed he sensed a new darkness there and had sent Jango Fett and other subordinates to intervene.
• Count Dooku ended the call only half convinced, while Tang Xiao kept Darth Tenebrus’s involvement secret.
• The Confederacy of Independent Systems announced that it neither knew of nor supported Mandalore’s referendum and affirmed its respect for the Neutral Systems Alliance.
• Count Dooku urged Duchess Satine Kryze to halt the referendum and accused the Galactic Republic of orchestrating it to justify occupying Mandalore.
• Count Dooku declared that the first fleet to reach Mandalore would expose the referendum’s mastermind, while the Galactic Republic’s Second Systems Army fleet continued on its way.

A bombing destroyed Zann Corporation’s brainwashing device in Sundari, unleashing unrest and a political crisis as Satine Kryze disappeared and Almec formed an interim government. Palpatine planned to pressure Mandalore politically while secretly investigating why the upheaval had unfolded so smoothly.

• Explosions destroyed Zann Corporation’s warehouse and brainwashing device, freeing Sundari’s residents and triggering riots against Satine Kryze.
• With Satine missing, Almec formed an interim government, while Pre Vizsla declared support for him from aboard a starship.
• Almec told the Republic that the referendum remained Satine’s decision and asked it to wait a month before holding an election.
• The Republic’s Second Systems Army fleet gathered at Korriban under Master Windu, while Palpatine ordered it to pressure Mandalore without entering its system.
• Palpatine told Mas Amedda to contact Mandalorian powerholders and secretly investigate the cause of Mandalore’s upheaval.

Darth Tenebrus and Shen Jon planned to let the Galactic Republic and Darth Malthael become entangled in Mandalore while Death Watch quietly prepared to seize power. The chapter then traced Dathomir’s history, ending with the Nightsisters united under Gethzerion and armed with her Book of Shadows.

• Pre Vizsla reported that Mandalore’s referendum had brought Republic troops to Korriban, while Duke Satine Kryze had been taken away and the mind amplifier destroyed.
• Darth Tenebrus ordered Pre Vizsla to leave Mandalore’s turmoil to the Republic and prepare Death Watch on Concordia, with Prime Minister Almec left to manage the immediate chaos.
• Shen Jon explained that Mandalore and Semirres would occupy Darth Malthael, while Tenebrus dismissed the lost biochip and planned to decipher the Endless-class Super Carrier designs.
• Shen Jon agreed to return with Pre Vizsla and protect him from invisible assassins as Tenebrus stayed on Dathomir to work with an old woman and excavate the Kwa Star God Temple.
• The chapter recounted how Allya’s descendants developed Dathomirian magic, how fallen witches bred with Zabraks to create Dathomirians, and how Gethzerion united the witches as the Nightsisters.
• Gethzerion wrote the Book of Shadows, recording many forms of Dark Side magic.

Mother Talzin described how she ruled the Night Sisters and secretly aided Count Dooku before Sola Balk arrived seeking powerful warriors. She offered her finest fighters but asked for help against a dark force that had caused dozens of Night Sisters to disappear.

• Mother Talzin enforced strict laws over the Night Sisters and Night Brothers, secretly supplied assassins to Count Dooku, and kept her tribe officially neutral.
• Sola Balk arrived on Dathomir to ask Mother Talzin for warriors to support Count Dooku.
• Mother Talzin showed Sola Balk her Night Sister elites training in brutal, deadly combat.
• Sola Balk judged the warriors too weak to contend with Jedi Knights, and Mother Talzin said one of her Night Brothers possessed stronger magic.
• Mother Talzin warned that a dark force was devouring the Night Sisters and had made dozens disappear, then asked Sola Balk for help stopping it.

Mother Talzin showed Sola Balk the powerful Zabrak Savage Opress, whose immense Dark Side potential impressed him, while Tang Xiao learned of the turmoil on Mandalore and warned Jango Fett about the hidden mastermind. Jango insisted on fighting for Mandalore, and Tang Xiao told him to return and go to the Endor system for an opportunity.

• Mother Talzin took Sola Balk to watch Zabrak warriors fight and identified Savage Opress as a candidate for Count Dooku.
• Sola Balk sensed Savage Opress's strong Dark Side potential and agreed to observe him for several days.
• Jango Fett reported that Sola and Oola Khan had killed more than fifty Death Watch members in Sundari, while Prime Minister Almec struggled to contain the crisis.
• Tang Xiao said the Hermit and Duke Satine had disappeared and warned that a hidden mastermind intended to use Death Watch to control Mandalore.
• Jango Fett vowed to stop the mastermind and Death Watch, so Tang Xiao ordered him to return and go to the Endor system.

Tang Xiao and the Fourth Civilization’s military leaders analyzed Darth Tenebrus’s strategy across Semirres Planet and Mandalore. They concluded that he was maneuvering the Republic toward a later assault on the Fourth Civilization, especially the Yago-Dul system, while its enemies exhausted one another.

• Qi Jian said Darth Tenebrus had already secured his position in Mandalore and that the Fourth Civilization could not influence events there.
• Ling Liang explained that the Semirres Planet campaign diverted attention, drained both sides’ strength, and drew out the Republic’s Second Systems Army.
• Ling Liang said the Republic’s small and medium warships could overrun many planets but could not easily conquer heavily defended worlds without the trapped Fourth Army Main Fleet.
• Matt Hona and Qi Jian concluded that the Republic would likely send the Second Systems Army toward Mandalore, where Sefrans Tann could target it.
• Tang Xiao predicted that after the Republic’s forces were diverted or weakened, it would concentrate its remaining strength against the Fourth Civilization in the Yago-Dul system.

Tang Xiao and his advisers analyzed Darth Tenebrus’s scheme and planned to protect key systems and financial interests from the coming Republic and Tenebrus actions. Alone, Darth Malthael arranged to send Tenebrus’s corpse to Muunilinst and began preparing to turn it into a weapon.

• Tang Xiao and Helmut Zemo explained that Tenebrus was exploiting the war to draw Jedi Knights into battle and position himself to seize power after the Galactic Republic fell.
• Tang Xiao declared that Tenebrus must be killed and ordered his forces to protect the Yago-Dul and Eriadu systems, the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and Fourth Group.
• After dismissing his advisers, Tang Xiao went to his secret chamber, where Darth Malthael revealed that he planned to make Tenebrus’s corpse hunt its owner.
• Darth Malthael ordered a ship to take Tenebrus’s corpse to Abola Island on Muunilinst and required the Muuns to establish a month-long exclusion zone.
• Darth Malthael decided the corpse needed a vengeful soul and recalled that his master Darth Pregas had prepared one for him.

Darth Malthael returned to Abola Island and transferred his soul and Force talent from his failing clone into his original body. At the Sith altar, he addressed the spirit of Darth Venamis, whom Darth Pregas had once used in experiments and whose torment had tested Malthael.

• Darth Malthael landed on Abola Island and prepared the machinery linking his original body to Draper's stasis pod.
• Darth Malthael used Essence Transfer to awaken in his original body, while his former body became a zombie and then crumbled to dust.
• Darth Malthael descended to the hidden altar, where Darth Tenebrus's corpse remained in a neglected Bacta tank.
• Darth Malthael greeted Darth Venamis's spirit and recalled how Darth Pregas had tortured and revived Venamis for twenty years.
• Darth Malthael remembered enduring Darth Venamis's torment during his final trial under Darth Pregas and ultimately succeeding.

Darth Malthael used Darth Tenebrus's corpse and Death Force to restore Darth Venamis's vengeful spirit's connection to the Force. He sent Venamis into Tenebrus's body as a temporary vessel, and the corpse began convulsing.

• Darth Malthael opened the Bacta tank and revealed Darth Tenebrus's long-dead corpse, still saturated with Dark Side Force.
• Darth Venamis's vengeful spirit reacted to the Force emanating from Tenebrus's corpse.
• Darth Malthael used Death Force to torment Venamis and urged him to hate Darth Tenebrus and seek revenge.
• Venamis's spirit regained its ability to affect reality, but Darth Malthael quickly suppressed it.
• Darth Malthael gave Venamis Tenebrus's corpse as a temporary body, and Venamis entered it as the corpse convulsed.

Darth Malthael subdued Darth Venamis after the spirit possessed Darth Tenebrus's corpse, while Darth Tenebrus continued plotting through a new body and testing Tyber Zann. Obi-Wan Kenobi escaped with the captive Satine Kryze and vowed to bring her back.

• Darth Malthael restrained the resurrected Darth Venamis, destroyed the Proto-Body in the corpse with Crimson Lightning, and ordered him to regain his human wisdom within a month.
• Darth Tenebrus sensed that the Proto-Body in his own body had been destroyed and mused that Darth Malthael's body could become a valuable vessel.
• Tyber Zann reported killing a prisoner without extracting the secret Darth Tenebrus had tasked him with uncovering, and Darth Tenebrus threatened to abandon him and Zann Corporation if he failed.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi stopped the speeder in a white desert with the bound Satine Kryze and swore he would bring her back.

As the war entered its third year, the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems faced mounting casualties, financial collapse, and uprisings, while Fourth Civilization struggled to absorb Rendili StarDrive’s population and industry. With all three governments under growing pressure, they each chose to accelerate the war.

• The Galactic Republic’s offensives drove the Confederacy of Independent Systems out of much of the Mid Rim, while bombardments and the recall of the Clone Army left conquered planets devastated and hostile to the Republic.
• The Republic’s natural-born forces suffered more than sixty million deaths and over a hundred million wounded in one month, worsening the Republic’s financial crisis.
• Rush Clovis issued fifty trillion credits in encrypted paper currency, and protests and armed uprisings erupted as many families found the notes were not accepted.
• Count Dooku tried to secure the Confederacy’s economic independence, but corporate magnates resisted, the Technological Alliance considered returning to the Republic, and exploitation provoked further unrest.
• Daphne Clement struggled to integrate Rendili StarDrive’s sixty billion people and industrial facilities into Fourth Civilization’s strained resource system.
• As war pushed all three powers toward their limits, the Galactic Republic, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Fourth Civilization each decided to accelerate the conflict.

Wilhuff Tarkin prepared a massive Galactic Republic invasion of Onderon, backed by Sheev Palpatine but limited by the Senate’s refusal to provide most of the requested escort fleet. With the operation moved forward, Tarkin set out to win a swift, brutal victory and secure control of the Fourth Army.

• Two months earlier, the Republic approved Tarkin’s plan to deploy seven million soldiers and vast supplies, but cut the escort fleet to five Hunter Class Battlecruisers and several retired Kallak-class light cruisers.
• A staff officer told Tarkin on Alderaan that Supreme Strategic Command had moved the operation forward by 49 standard hours.
• Tarkin told Palpatine he intended to crush the Separatists on Onderon and use fear to deter the Republic’s enemies.
• Palpatine promised to support Tarkin and said a flawless campaign could quiet Senate opposition and earn him the governorship of the Fourth Army.
• Tarkin declared that Onderon and its Behemoth-class battlecruiser production line would be destroyed, then departed for his flagship, Tarkin's Will.

The Galactic Republic Fourth Army’s fleet and ground forces were defeated in the Semirres system, though Admiral Trench’s fleet also suffered heavy losses. As the fighting wound down, the Republic’s Second Systems Army delivered an ultimatum to Mandalore, which Prime Minister Almec rejected, bringing war closer again.

• Dai Hongkui’s Scorpion tanks broke through and surrounded the Republic’s non-clone forces, and more than 700,000 soldiers surrendered to the Semirians.
• Marshal Davis led the Republic fleet’s assault on the Endless-class Super Carrier shipyard, but Trench held the shipyard and preserved its prototype vessel despite heavy damage and losses.
• Davis withdrew his fleet and launched guerrilla raids across the Semirres system, while Trench blocked most hyperspace routes and hunted the Republic ships.
• Republic Light Cruisers sent after the Spear-class Disaster Battlecruiser were destroyed by its Hell-Angel Class escorts.
• Twenty days later, Davis’s flagship was destroyed, and Sheev Palpatine ordered the galaxy’s flags lowered to half-mast in mourning.
• The Republic’s Second Systems Army demanded that Mandalore abandon neutrality and join the war, but Almec rejected the ultimatum.

Anakin Skywalker ordered Rex and the other Clone Troopers to retire after a Separatist genetic weapon made them too vulnerable for battle, then joined Wilhuff Tarkin aboard Tarkin’s flagship to prepare for the assault on Onderon. Their tense confrontation ended when Anakin sensed two unexpected figures nearby.

• Anakin Skywalker told Rex and the 501st Legion’s Torrent Company that they could not return to the battlefield and ordered them to retire on an agricultural planet.
• Anakin used the Force to punish natural-born soldiers who mocked the clones, saluted Rex and the others, and departed for Tarkin’s fleet.
• Echo suggested the clones could act without a plan, and Rex agreed after seeing the natural-born soldiers incapacitated.
• Anakin boarded Wilhuff Tarkin’s Consul-class Star Destroyer, Tarkin’s Will, to take part in Operation Fist of Tarkin, the assault on Onderon.
• Anakin and Tarkin argued over the operation’s scale and responsibility for victory, then Anakin sensed a presence behind him as Tarkin mentioned his companions.

Anakin Skywalker learned that Luna-Dream and Luna-Phantom would join the delayed Republic operation on Onderon, where he was organizing an elite assault team. The chapter ended by describing Onderon’s frightened, Republic-hating population and its hope that the Confederacy could prevent the invasion.

• Anakin Skywalker greeted Luna-Dream and Luna-Phantom and learned Master Windu had assigned them to the Onderon operation.
• Wilhuff Tarkin explained that delays had given the Separatists two and a half months to prepare and assigned the sisters to Anakin’s command.
• Anakin set out with the sisters to select natural-born soldiers for an elite assault team and use an Acclamator-class assault ship as their command center.
• Onderon’s inhabitants feared the Republic’s impending invasion and hoped the Confederacy of Independent Systems could repel it or force a stalemate.

Tang Xiao’s development of Onderon turned it into a wealthy Separatist industrial center that secretly produced Behemoth-class battlecruisers, but the planet now faced a likely Republic invasion. After crushing a rebellion and reshaping Onderon’s government, General Kalani imposed military rule and began preparing for full-scale war.

• Tang Xiao established major factories and space docks on Onderon, and the planet’s population and industrial output grew as Tyran Heavy Industries employed millions.
• Onderon secretly developed and produced dozens of Behemoth-class battlecruiser prototypes, some of which fought at Christophsis.
• Sola Gerrera and Steela Gerrera’s rebellion failed, and its attacks and sabotage turned Onderon’s people against the rebels and the Republic.
• General Kalani executed Mina Bontri and other suspected collaborators, killed Sanji Rush, and announced Ramses Dundup’s release and possible return to the throne.
• Ramses Dundup disappeared rather than respond to Kalani’s invitation, while Kalani declared military rule and ordered full-scale war preparations.

On Onderon, Judgment entered a bar as protests against B-1 battle droids turned violent and General Kalani broadcast warnings about the Galactic Republic. After an explosion blocked the entrance, Seth pulled Judgment toward the back as Izzy City was placed under lockdown.

• Judgment ordered fruit juice at a bar in Izzy City, where Seth tried to flirt with her and she gave him the name Judgment.
• A crowd protested the B-1 battle droids, and after a protester set one on fire, the droids pursued him and chaos erupted outside.
• General Kalani appeared on the bar’s mandatory holographic broadcast and urged Onderon’s people to defend their land and way of life.
• Seth drank Judgment’s juice, and an exploding hovercar crashed outside the bar, blocking its entrance.
• Seth grabbed Judgment and ran toward the back door as General Kalani announced a lockdown and threatened to shoot anyone found in the streets after ten minutes.

A Republic surprise attack on Onderon prompted General Kalani to impose martial law and prepare the planet’s forces for battle, while Judgment and Seth tried to survive the violence in Izzy City. The chapter ended as a rocket struck an AAT assault tank near them.

• Five Republic Hunter Class Battlecruisers arrived in Onderon’s orbit and launched fighters toward the planet.
• General Kalani refused General Tanding’s request to evacuate civilians and ordered him to prepare Onderon’s understrength army for the invasion.
• Battle droids began killing residents in Izzy City, and Judgment and Seth slipped through the streets to find shelter.
• An AAT assault tank passed the apartment building where Judgment and Seth were hiding, and Seth feared they would die.
• Judgment pointed out a rocket that hit the AAT assault tank.

Judgment and Seth fought battle droids in the city, where civilians blamed Judgment for the Republic invasion and refused to shelter one another. Rebel Alliance fighters rescued the civilians, and the convoy took Judgment and Seth to an underground parking garage.

• Judgment destroyed more than thirty B-1 battle droids and disabled an AAT assault tank after Seth's rocket attack failed to penetrate its armor.
• Civilians accused Judgment of bringing the Republic Fleet and supporting the Rebel Alliance, then ran for shelter as reinforcements approached.
• Judgment defended Seth and the fleeing civilians from blaster fire, while Rebel Alliance fighters destroyed an OTT half-track troop carrier and called them to safety.
• The fighters evacuated the civilians in hover trucks, and Seth told Judgment that they were the Rebel Alliance; she denied being their ally and rejected his sudden request for a kiss.
• The convoy entered an underground parking garage.