Recaps

Laslo Dorit ordered the remaining Republic forces to abandon their objectives, evacuate natural-born personnel, and bombard Annaj Planet after realizing the invasion could not be salvaged. As the battered warships prepared to fire, a planetary shield appeared around Annaj Planet.

• Laslo Dorit concluded that the Duchy of Dawn had prepared its counterattack well in advance and that the Republic defeat could not be reversed.
• Laslo Dorit ordered the Republic fleet to abandon its combat objectives, bombard Annaj Planet, and evacuate as many natural-born personnel as possible.
• The remaining Republic warships turned toward Annaj Planet while shuttles carried officers and staff to transport ships, which dumped their supplies to make room.
• A pale blue planetary shield suddenly enveloped Annaj Planet as the Republic ships prepared to bombard it.

Annaj Planet's defenders secretly reactivated the Planetary Shield, forcing Laslo-Dorit to launch a desperate orbital bombardment while the battered fleets fought at close range. The Republic fleet's last hope collapsed when Dryden Vos revealed that Cassio-Tagge had been captured, and his dreadnought attacked the Republic ships.

• Volgograd-Kanidi revealed that Annaj Planet's defenders had shut down the Planetary Shield themselves and could keep it active for about a day.
• Laslo-Dorit ordered the Republic fleet to bombard the shield and sent half his warships to intercept thirty Duchy of Dawn capital ships.
• The battered Duchy of Dawn and Republic fleets clashed at point-blank range, suffering heavy losses on both sides.
• A Commander-class Dreadnought emerged from hyperspace carrying the captured Cassio-Tagge, and Dryden Vos urged Laslo-Dorit to surrender.
• Laslo-Dorit refused, and the dreadnought advanced under T-series tactical robot command and opened fire on the Republic fleet.

Duchy of Dawn forces overwhelmed the Republic fleet at Annaj, capturing Cassio Tagge and turning seized warships against their former allies. Meanwhile, chaos among the Kuat defenders left the Dawn Star System vulnerable after their commanders fled and the Hyperspace Stabilizer was destroyed.

• Duchy of Dawn reinforcements, including thousands of small and medium ships, arrived at Annaj and crushed the Republic Expeditionary Fleet.
• Salvage ships captured the Tagge and several Hunter Class Battlecruisers, and B-2 super battle droids took Cassio Tagge prisoner.
• Dryden Vos tied Cassio Tagge to the bridge as a meat shield, while Laslo Dorit ordered the Republic fleet to bomb Annaj and Volgograd Kanidi urged defenders to ram enemy ships.
• Dryden Vos ordered his forces to kill those who refused to surrender as both sides fought in a final frenzy.
• Kuat commanders Onana Kuat and Lila Blythex fled after the Hyperspace Stabilizer was destroyed, leaving the Dawn Star System base in disarray under an improperly appointed commander.
• The Kuat troops followed false orders without verification because of their rigid corporate hierarchy.

James Bond, Nova, Gabriel Tosh, Oola-Khan, Sola-A, and Super Lotus destroyed the Hyperspace Stabilizer and escaped the Dawn Star System before the Republic fleet took control. Onana Kuat, isolated and fearing the loss of the Modell Sector fleet, faced the possibility that she alone would bear responsibility for the disastrous raid.

• James Bond infiltrated the core departments with Nova, Gabriel Tosh, Oola-Khan, and Sola-A, while Nova took a senior officer hostage and helped Super Lotus hack the mainframe.
• Super Lotus overloaded the Hyperspace Stabilizer until it exploded, then sent a false evacuation warning that sparked chaos across the Dawn Star System.
• The six-person team escaped aboard a Kuat Drive Yards vessel before Dunn Vesex arrived with the Republic fleet and seized control of the system.
• Dunn Vesex failed to find the invaders, cursed Kuat Drive Yards' executives, and then reassured Lila Blythex while discussing how to profit from the incident.
• Onana Kuat received no news from the Modell Sector and struggled to find someone else to blame for the raid's failure as she feared she would bear the consequences.

Onana Kuat’s attendants abandoned her, while Little Kuat secretly negotiated with Dunn Vesex to secure Kuat Drive Yards’ future. After the Republic’s defeat in the Modell Sector, Gideon Tarkin weighed whether to continue the Yago-Dur campaign, where the Swarm Drones had already routed his fleet.

• Onana Kuat’s attendants shared information, left her in darkness, and drove away in her shuttle.
• Little Kuat, Gideon Danu, and Kuat Drive Yards executives delivered data storage devices to Dunn Vesex and held a secret discussion with him and Lila Blythex.
• Gideon Tarkin learned that the Republic had lost more than three hundred capital ships, over 1.5 million Clone Troopers, and vast supplies in the Modell Sector.
• Gideon Tarkin considered the risks of withdrawing from Yago-Dur, where Swarm Drones had forced his fleet to retreat to its forward base.
• Gideon Tarkin awaited ten prototype Vindicator-class heavy cruisers, which were expected to arrive in three to five days and help counter the Swarm Drones.

The chapter contrasts the Republic’s reckless Modell Sector offensive with Gideon Tarkin’s methodical campaign in the Yago-Dur System. With Starbase B badly damaged, Gideon and Matt Hona prepare for the next battle as they wait to see whether Republic heavy cruisers or Duchy of Dawn reinforcements will arrive first.

• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command backed Kuat Drive Yards’ risky Modell Sector plan because the company would pay for it and take the blame if it failed.
• Cassio Tagge repeatedly attacked the enemy fleet and planetary targets, driven by Kuat Drive Yards’ gamble and losing the ability to judge the campaign calmly.
• Gideon Tarkin built forward bases and used a mixed fleet, creating a greater threat despite commanding fewer forces than the Republic had sent to Modell.
• Gideon’s fleet was surprised when Force-controlled Swarm Drones operated through an electromagnetic storm and struck it hard, but Republic attacks heavily damaged Starbase B.
• Gideon awaited Vindicator-class heavy cruisers while Matt Hona prepared a plan at Starbase Alpha, with both sides uncertain which reinforcements would arrive first.

The Duchy of Dawn faced overwhelming odds against Gideon Tarkin’s Republic offensive and had little chance of holding Yago-Dur by conventional means. Matt Hona had to gamble on the Three-Body system and win decisively before the Republic could secure the system.

• Dawn Star’s leaders weighed Kinyen as a fallback but feared the Gran might abandon the war, weakening the Duchy economically, militarily, and politically.
• Tang Xiao transferred the Duchy’s only Consul-class aircraft carrier from Annaj to Yago-Dur because its defenders had few remaining options.
• Gideon Tarkin advanced with strong military and political backing, while the Republic’s superior resources made the war’s cumulative losses especially damaging to Fourth Civilization.
• Matt Hona was left with one choice: use the Three-Body system to gamble on a decisive victory in Yago-Dur.

Five Vindicator-class heavy cruisers reached Yago-Dur and joined Gideon Tarkin’s fleet, giving him a new counter to the Separatists’ Swarm Drones. Though eager to attack, Gideon Tarkin chose to wait two or three days for the remaining five ships, a decision the chapter said he would regret.

• Five Vindicator-class heavy cruisers escorted transports into the Yago-Dur system, delivered their supplies, and joined Gideon Tarkin’s fleet.
• A Republic Sienar Systems supervisor told Gideon Tarkin that the other five Vindicators had suffered hyperspace engine damage and needed two or three days of repairs.
• Gideon Tarkin considered whether to attack immediately or wait as the Separatist fleet held a defensive position near Yago-Dur.
• Remembering how the Swarm Drones had crushed his previous offensive, Gideon Tarkin decided to wait until all ten Vindicator-class heavy cruisers were ready.

Admiral Gideon Tarkin prepared a major offensive on Yago-Dur, relying on predictions that the system’s stars would remain stable. Communications collapsed when an electromagnetic storm accompanied Star Two’s unexpected orbital shift, which sent the Astronomy Department scrambling as the star accelerated and turned toward Yago-Dur.

• Gideon Tarkin ordered supply plans and checked the Astronomy Department’s forecast that Stars Two and Three would form a stable binary system, increasing Yago-Dur’s rotation and gravity.
• Gideon Tarkin struggled to communicate with his forces during an electromagnetic storm and learned that five Vindicator-class heavy cruisers would soon arrive.
• The Communications Department failed to identify the source of the interference until its staff saw Star Two violently change course.
• The Astronomy Department calculated that Star Two could pass within 21 million kilometers of Yago-Dur, then discovered that the star was accelerating and turning.

The Astronomy Department discovered that gravitational waves and Yago-Dur’s rotation had turned the planet into a slingshot, sending it racing toward the Galactic Republic fleet. As the Duchy of Dawn’s forces struggled to follow, Starbase B and several warships were flung away, while the Republic prepared to retreat.

• The astronomers determined that a gravitational wave resonating with Yago-Dur had redirected and accelerated Star Two, but warned that Yago-Dur was being flung toward the Republic fleet.
• The Astronomy Department Minister ordered a retreat and rushed to find General Tarkin after learning Yago-Dur was accelerating toward them.
• Yago-Dur hurtled past the Republic fleet, while Starbase B was flung beyond the planet’s gravitational range and sent into space.
• Admiral Matt Hona’s fleet used calculations from Baher Banak and the Givin teams to adjust their thrust and stay with Yago-Dur.
• A Kohl-class Battlecruiser and a Martha-class missile heavy cruiser were flung away, and Matt Hona resolved to make the sacrifices count through victory.

As Yag'Dhul was hurled through its unstable three-star system toward the Republic fleet, the chapter described how the Givin had endured their hostile homeworld and developed their mastery of mathematics. Baher Banak stayed calm beside Matt Horner, while the Republic fleet fled and the Givin looked toward their promised colony on Lothal.

• Yag'Dhul's violent movements terrified the Duchy of Dawn as its planets and stars were thrown into chaos.
• Baher Banak remained composed beside Matt Horner, holding Scepter 0 amid the upheaval.
• The chapter recounted how the Givin survived Yag'Dhul's extreme conditions, calculated its three-star system, and built resilient spacecraft and retractable surface cities.
• Tang Xiao had promised the Givin a permanent colony on Lothal, where they planned to settle after the battle.
• Yag'Dhul sped toward the Republic fleet, whose warships and four Shield Ships scattered to escape.

Yago-Dur’s rapid passage scattered the Republic fleet and let the Duchy of Dawn fleet use the planet’s gravity to strike at close range. As the fleets became entangled, the Duchy of Dawn launched a boarding assault against the disorganized Republic ships.

• Admiral Gideon Tarkin ordered the Republic fleet to scatter as Yago-Dur accelerated toward its position.
• Baher Banak and Admiral Matt Horner ordered the Duchy of Dawn fleet to break away from Yago-Dur along its rotation and attack the Republic fleet.
• The Duchy of Dawn warships used the planet’s gravity to surge into the scattered Republic fleet and unleash their weapons.
• Gideon Tarkin regrouped the Republic ships into four temporary battle groups and ordered them to return fire.
• The Duchy of Dawn launched assault landing craft, while Corsev Battlecruisers sent landing pods toward the Republic fleet.

The Duchy of Dawn fleet exploited the Republic formation’s chaos to launch assault craft and board its warships. Indjori Avengers broke into a Hunter Class Battlecruiser and began a massacre, leaving its crew unable to stop them.

• Admiral Gideon Tarkin ordered the Republic ships to regroup and destroy the Separatist landing craft as they descended into the disordered fleet.
• The Duchy of Dawn assault craft targeted Hunter Class Battlecruisers whose hangars had opened to launch fighters, and several craft struck one ship.
• Three landing craft smashed into the Hunter’s Hangar Platform, where Indjori Avengers and battle droids emerged and attacked the crew.
• The Indjori Avengers slaughtered pilots and Spaarti clone troopers while technicians sealed the hangar’s inner blast doors.
• The landing craft cut through the hangar floor, and the Indjori Avengers jumped through the opening to continue their attack inside the warship.

Admiral Gideon Tarkin struggled to control the Republic fleet as the Duchy of Dawn launched boarding assaults amid the chaotic battle. Fourth Legion troops breached a Knight-class Star Destroyer and began moving through its corridors, leaving the outcome of the attack unresolved.

• Gideon Tarkin ordered ships to stop launching fighters unless their hangars were already open, and told those ships to launch all fighters while retreating toward the rear of the formation.
• The Republic fleet remained scattered and disorganized as assault craft targeted vulnerable warships, while Aquitenes-class light cruisers gathered for flanking attacks.
• Dozens of assault landing craft breached a damaged Knight-class Star Destroyer and deployed Fourth Legion soldiers in black N-7 combat suits.
• Clone Troopers attacked the Fourth Legion soldiers, but Omni-tool shields and fighters hidden on the ceiling let the boarding squad defeat them.
• The Fourth Legion squad leader sent drones to scout, while a female squad member hacked the ship's systems and downloaded an area map.
• After locating a magrail route beneath the bridge, the squad leader directed the Fourth Legion soldiers to split up and advance through the warship.

Separatist boarding forces overwhelmed a damaged Knight-class Star Destroyer, as Fourth Legion warriors fought their way through the Clone Troopers toward the bridge. The captain waited for reinforcements as the invaders advanced up the ship, led by a warrior carrying a pink rabbit plush toy.

• The captain learned that forty-four boarding craft had attached to the Knight-class Star Destroyer and ordered the Marines to defend the bridge and engine systems.
• Fourth Legion warriors and Destroyer droids overran Clone Trooper positions in the ship’s barracks, despite the Republic soldiers’ numerical advantage.
• Clone Troopers used EMP grenades to disable many Destroyer droids and charged, but an explosion destroyed the armory.
• The captain waited in vain for reinforcements as one deck after another beneath the bridge lost contact.
• A squad of Fourth Legion warriors advanced through a corridor toward the bridge, led by a warrior with a pink rabbit plush toy hanging from his waist.

Justin Reeves led the Fourth Legion in capturing a Republic Knight-class Star Destroyer, while Matt Horner’s boarding strategy shattered Admiral Gideon Tarkin’s fleet during the Yago-Dur battle. The Fourth Legion began moving from captured ships to attack more Republic warships as the fleet lost control of the battlefield.

• Justin Reeves led the Fourth Legion through a sealed Star Destroyer, breached the bridge, and slaughtered its defenders without suffering casualties.
• Justin Reeves ordered his warriors to search the captured ship for transports and other craft to continue their assault.
• After Yago-Dur’s gravitational slingshot scattered the Republic fleet, Matt Horner launched boarding operations against the disorganized ships.
• Duchy of Dawn forces captured two Knight-class Star Destroyers and fourteen Hunter Class Battlecruisers, turning them into wrecked strongholds.
• The Fourth Legion boarded captured Republic ships and flew toward other warships, leaving the Republic command unable to distinguish friendly vessels from enemy ones.

Admiral Gideon Tarkin ordered the defeated Galactic Republic fleet to retreat from the Yag'Dhul system while his flagship covered the escape. He discovered a second Xuanwu Titan under construction and withdrew to a forward base, as the Republic’s defeats at Yag'Dhul and Saleucami further weakened its military position.

• Admiral Gideon Tarkin abandoned the battle and ordered the fleet to retreat, sending his Commander II-class Dreadnought to cover the escape.
• Duchy of Dawn warships and Swarm Drones destroyed Republic ships while the surviving vessels tried to regroup around Gideon Tarkin’s flagship.
• Gideon Tarkin’s adjutant spotted a hidden shipyard containing a second Xuanwu Titan that was more than forty percent complete.
• Gideon Tarkin ordered the survivors to regroup at a forward base, then planned to destroy its facilities and withdraw after one day.
• The Galactic Republic lost nearly 400 capital ships and more than 200 smaller warships across the Modell Sector and Yag'Dhul battles.
• At Saleucami, General Grievous’s forces deployed the Tenebrous Titan, which destroyed a Hunter Class Battlecruiser and forced the Republic fleet to retreat.

The Duchy of Dawn celebrated driving the Republic fleets from its territory, while Tang Xiao recognized that the Republic’s disastrous offensive had bought the Duchy at least ten years of stable development. The chapter detailed how the Battle of Enarc, the Modell Sector Raid, and the Yag'Dhul campaign combined to destroy the Republic’s plans and forces.

• Yag'Dhul began settling into a new orbit, and the Givin celebrated the Republic fleet’s surrender by solving mathematical puzzles.
• Tang Xiao declared August 7 Victory Day and granted the Duchy of Dawn three days of holiday after its citizens learned that Republic warships had been driven from the Duchy.
• General Ling’s Battle of Enarc had disrupted the Republic’s planned offensive against Eriadu and helped force the Republic to entrust the Modell Sector campaign to Kuat Drive Yards.
• The Modell Sector Raid destroyed all 310 warships sent there, while the destruction of the Dawn Star System’s hyperspace stabilizer and further losses brought the Republic’s capital-ship losses to 324.
• Admiral Matt Horner exploited the Three-Body system’s orbital changes to defeat Admiral Gideon Tarkin at Yag'Dhul, where only some Republic ships escaped and all five deployed Vindicator-class heavy cruisers were destroyed.

The Galactic Republic tried to conceal its defeats in the Yago-Dur System and Modell Sector through propaganda and scapegoating. After Onana Kuat’s suicide and a purge of officials, Cassio Tagge was finally blamed and posthumously promoted to general.

• Republic media portrayed the Yago-Dur defeat as the result of a freak planetary shift and held an award ceremony in which surviving officers received medals while Gideon Tarkin and Octavian Grant were praised in absentia.
• News of the Modell Sector disaster spread across the galaxy after Kuat Drive Yards workers and returning personnel leaked details of the lost fleet.
• The Republic blamed deputy commander Laslo Dorit for the failed campaign, claiming he had misled Cassio Tagge and held back much of the fleet during Tagge’s raid on Dawn Star Planet.
• Little Kuat’s people found Onana Kuat dead by suicide after she had been abandoned in her residence, and the Republic made her a scapegoat while arresting people linked to her.
• After the purge produced numerous scapegoats, the Republic blamed Cassio Tagge for his mistakes, criticized his conduct, and posthumously promoted him to general.

After the Republic's defeats at Modell and Yag'Dhul, Bail Organa and Mothma rallied senators to resume negotiations as Sheev Palpatine's authority and public support grew. The chapter left the Republic increasingly dominated by the Core and Inner Rim, with human-led organizations mobilizing society and marginalizing the Mid Rim and Outer Rim.

• The Republic blamed the Battle of Yag'Dhul on an astronomical phenomenon and Kuat Drive Yards for the Modell Sector Raid, but both defeats fueled Senate fears that the war could not be won.
• Bail Organa and Mothma urged the Republic to de-escalate the war and return to negotiations, attracting senators concerned about Palpatine's expanding power.
• Palpatine's policies strengthened Core and Inner Rim representation while weakening the political influence of Mid Rim and Outer Rim senators.
• The Loyalists Committee, COMPOR, and the Sub-Adult Group expanded Palpatine's influence through Senate activity, public campaigns, and youth indoctrination.
• The chapter described growing support for Palpatine in the Core and Inner Rim and concern that the organizations were overwhelmingly human, worsening divisions with non-human populations in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim.

Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and other senators opposed Palpatine’s growing power and chose to submit a joint petition rather than risk another failed impeachment. The Petition of 2000 reached Palpatine, who reacted with fury.

• Krueya Vandron defended the Sub-Adult Group against accusations of anti-non-Human bias, while senators Chi Eekway Papanoida, Bana Breemu, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa worried about Palpatine’s growing power.
• Bail Organa persuaded the senators to petition Palpatine instead of launching another impeachment, arguing they had to put their constituents’ safety ahead of their anger.
• On August 15, 20 BBY, more than 2,000 senators led by Bail Organa and Mon Mothma delivered the Petition of 2000 to Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.
• The petition called for an end to the war’s escalation, the return of emergency powers to the Senate, and reforms informed by the Republic’s wartime failures.
• Palpatine read the petition and became furious.

After the Petition of 2,000 prompted Sheev Palpatine to summon an emergency Senate session, Phineas Valorum warned Bail Organa that Palpatine would crush his opponents and secretly removed Bail’s signature from the petition. The next day, Bail joined Mon Mothma and the other senators before the session, urging them to prepare for Palpatine’s response.

• Sheev Palpatine called an emergency Senate session after reading the Petition of 2,000.
• Phineas Valorum secretly visited Bail Organa and warned that Palpatine would never surrender power and was implicated in the war.
• Valorum revealed that he had removed Bail’s signature from the petition, but Bail objected to being separated from his fellow senators.
• Valorum left after warning Bail that Palpatine would destroy everyone who stood in his way.
• At the Senate Building, Bail warned Mon Mothma, Bana Breemu, and the others to prepare, and they contacted their supporters.

Sheev Palpatine used a Senate speech to blame the Republic’s weakness on its lack of unity and defend his seizure of authority, while attacking the Two-Thousand Declaration. He ended by announcing that Dawn Star Planet had returned to the Republic, as the Senate listened to his increasingly forceful address.

• Sheev Palpatine argued that the Republic was weak because its citizens and institutions lacked unity and commitment.
• Palpatine tore up the Two-Thousand Declaration and accused its signers of demanding that he surrender power during the war.
• When Fang Zar tried to interrupt, Palpatine used the Force to choke him until he collapsed.
• Palpatine condemned the Senate, the Jedi Order, and the Republic’s past failures, citing the invasion of Naboo and the Separatists’ secession.
• Palpatine declared that he had unified the Republic by taking responsibility into his own hands and announced that Dawn Star Planet had returned to the Republic.

Palpatine announced that Dawn Star Planet had left the Separatists and then declared the Galactic Republic reorganized into the First Galactic Empire. Bail Organa and Mon Mothma applauded under pressure as the Republic ended, while Tang Xiao watched the speech from the Duchy of Dawn and mocked its promises.

• Palpatine projected a document bearing Tang Xiao’s seal that said Dawn Star Planet would leave the Confederacy of Independent Systems and accept the Coruscant government’s leadership.
• Bail Organa and Mon Mothma recognized that the document addressed Palpatine’s government rather than the Galactic Republic and exchanged grave looks.
• Palpatine accused the Jedi Order and its Senate allies of treason, proclaimed the Republic reorganized into the First Galactic Empire, and promised a New Order.
• Bail Organa and Mon Mothma joined the Senate’s applause despite their despair as Palpatine’s proclamation ended the Galactic Republic.
• Tang Xiao watched Palpatine’s speech with Francis Underwood and Helmut Zemo, called it a perfect speech, and said Palpatine never intended to keep its promises.

Tang Xiao and his advisers weighed the Duchy of Dawn’s decision to accept a ceasefire and agreement with the Galactic Empire, concluding that their battered forces and strained industry could not sustain another war. The chapter left the Duchy preparing to rebuild and stabilize its devastated territories while studying Palpatine’s speech for hidden meaning.

• Tang Xiao dismissed Palpatine’s speech as a political lie, while Francis Underwood explained how Palpatine had used a humble image to gain support as Chancellor.
• Qi Jian lamented that the Duchy could not strike while the Galactic Empire was vulnerable, and Helmut Zemo and Francis Underwood argued that the Duchy was in even worse shape and had gained what it could through diplomacy.
• Tang Xiao watched clerks transcribe Palpatine’s speech for experts to analyze, noting that his senior officials had supported the ceasefire despite his expectation of opposition.
• The Battle of Yag'Dhul had cost the Duchy twenty-seven capital ships, more than eighty smaller warships, and the Agonev-class star base, while Yag'Dhul Planet’s production capacity had fallen sharply.
• The Modell Sector campaign had cost the Duchy twenty-nine capital ships and more than sixty smaller warships, left its surviving fleet badly damaged, and devastated Annaj Planet.