Chapter Summaries

Admiral Ziyala debated whether to abandon a defensive strategy and take the fight to the Grysk Hegemony, while Lieutenant General Brent and Keth Maxwell warned that delay would let the enemy tighten its hold on Chiss territory. As Ziyala weighed the risks of a fleet-wide advance, an unidentified voice endorsed trying it.

• Lieutenant General Brent argued that the Grysk might have their own productive capacity and that the Chiss needed to find their homeworld.
• Admiral Qiyala rejected Brent's conjecture and insisted she needed another month to build a defensive line.
• Keth Maxwell warned that Grysk intelligence might be manipulating the Chiss and that delay would give the enemy more time.
• Brent warned that the defensive line would never be complete and that Grysk infiltration could eventually collapse Chiss society.
• Ziyala raised the problem of Rassidan's condition that only robots command the other fleets, and Maxwell proposed gathering every fleet and charging in a random direction.
• A calm voice appeared in their minds and said the plan could be attempted.

Admiral Qiyala committed the Chiss fleet to a joint offensive with the Duchy of Dawn, choosing to advance toward Crustai despite being unable to confirm the Grysk's location. After border colonies were left exposed and Thrago was attacked, the ruling families condemned her for violating Chiss territory's constitution.

• Rassidan agreed to accompany the fleet and use his research into Grysk psionic fluctuations to detect them, while Admiral Qiyala accepted the plan to deploy the main fleets.
• Admiral Qiyala chose to lead the force toward Crustai after reports of ships from near Crustai appearing at Norris, and ordered all fleets to assemble at Csilla in three days.
• The Chiss fleets withdrew from eleven border colonies, and attackers struck Thrago with a nuclear bomb after its defense fleet departed.
• Representatives of the nine ruling families demanded that Admiral Qiyala return the fleets to the borders, while she defended her decision to attack the Grysk Hegemony.
• The Nuruodo family accused Admiral Qiyala of risking the fleet on a baseless expedition, and the Csapla family accused her of violating the constitution by abandoning the colonies.

Admiral Qiyala ordered the entire Chiss defense fleet to deploy against the Grysk, leaving the Eternal Super Carrier to defend Csilla with Lieutenant General Brent aboard. When the ruling families tried to remove her and accused her of treason, Qiyala warned that the joint fleet would intervene against anyone who sparked internal conflict.

• Admiral Qiyala announced that the Chiss defense fleet would deploy in full while the Eternal Super Carrier defended Csilla.
• Lieutenant General Brent said the Duchy of Dawn would follow Qiyala's command as agreed, and warned the Csapla family to take any challenge to her appointment to Tang Xiao.
• The Nuruodo and Csapla families accused Qiyala of serving the Duchy of Dawn and tried to replace her as Admiral of the Navy.
• Admiral Qiyala said Rassidan had supported her plan, and the Csapla family accused her and the Illyz family of treason.
• Admiral Qiyala warned that the joint fleet would not stand by if anyone provoked internal conflict, silencing the ruling families.

Admiral Qiyala backed the combined fleet’s operation despite the Chiss Cabinet’s threats, then told Kace Maxwell and Lieutenant General Brent how Thrawn had been her student and was driven into exile. Two days later, the Chiss and Duchy of Dawn fleets assembled at Csilla and departed under High Templar Rassidan’s guidance.

• Admiral Qiyala refused to abandon the operation and promised to resign as Grand Commander after the war, while the Illyz, Chaf, Inrokini, and Myss families declared their support.
• Kace Maxwell gave Admiral Qiyala Da Hong Pao, and she recalled defending Thrawn when the academy accused him of cheating on a simulated combat test.
• Admiral Qiyala described Thrawn’s victories and exile, and explained that the Nuruodo family was using his name to attack the Illyz family rather than welcome his return.
• Admiral Qiyala insisted that she served Chiss territory rather than her birth family and would not let family rivalries cause civil war.
• Two days later, twenty Duchy of Dawn capital ships, fifty cruisers, and Chiss warships assembled at Csilla before departing under High Templar Rassidan.

Admiral Qiyala’s fleet arrived at Crustai to investigate the colony’s ships attacking Norris, and High Templar Rassidan uncovered that the Crustai Chief Executive Officer was under Grysk control. Rassidan and Kace Maxwell fought through the controlled Crustai as the Grysk agent fled, while Qiyala sealed the planet and Protoss reinforcements descended.

• Admiral Qiyala confronted the Crustai Chief Executive Officer about Crustai ships attacking Norris, and Rassidan detected that the official was being controlled.
• Rassidan, Kace Maxwell, and their attendants traveled to the colony’s administrative center, where Rassidan located the controlling Grysk agent inside the building.
• Zealots and Maxwell attacked the Crustai as they rushed to stop them, while the colony’s Guardian forces fired on the shuttle and the controlled crowds swarmed the landing platform.
• Rassidan used psionic lightning to clear a path, then pursued the fleeing Grysk agent as Qiyala reported that the fleet had sealed off the planet.
• Qiyala’s forces landed C-9979 craft and Wraith fighters at the capital, and two enormous spherical ships descended through the atmosphere.

The Duchy of Dawn launched a droid-led landing operation on Crustai to capture the fleeing Grysk controlling the planet. Rassidan and Kace Maxwell fought through the Crustai, but the Grysk escaped, while the battle droid advance broke the Guardian forces’ first defenses.

• Admiral Qiyala began the planned landing operation, deploying C-9979 transports and battle droids from two Luukri-Hok-class battleships under Wraith fighter cover.
• Rassidan led Kace Maxwell and the Zealots into the administrative center, where Crustai crowds blocked their way and Rassidan blasted through them with lightning.
• The Grysk used the Crustai as human shields and escaped before Rassidan could capture him, prompting Kace Maxwell to vow that he would not get away.
• More than 10,000 B-1 battle droids advanced on the Crustai Guardian forces, while cloaked Wraith fighters destroyed their heavy artillery before it could fire.
• The Guardian forces faltered against the droid legion, but the Crustai continued counterattacking despite their heavy losses.

The Duchy of Dawn's B-1 battle droid legion overwhelmed the Grysk-controlled capital on Crustai and captured the Grysk leader alive. Kace Maxwell and Rassidan discovered that the captive was an unassuming man with powerful psionic abilities who had been trying to control Kace.

• B-1 battle droids and Wraith fighters broke the Crustai defenses, surrounded the capital, and destroyed the Crustai spacecraft attempting to flee or fight back.
• The Grysk used mind control to send Crustai civilians against the advancing droids, but more than two million people were killed as the capital became isolated.
• Rassidan guided the droid legion to surround the Grysk in a village, where Kace Maxwell and Rassidan ordered the troops to capture him alive.
• Ten Protoss Zealot warriors stormed the village and disabled two Crustai heavy mechs while Rassidan entered unharmed by electromagnetic rifle fire.
• A Zealot subdued the Grysk, and Rassidan told Kace that the captive had powerful psionic abilities and had been trying to control him.

On Crustai, Kace Maxwell, Admiral Qiyala, and Rassidan interrogated Sangare, a Grysk who had helped control the planet and manipulate the war. Sangare revealed the Grysks’ methods and hinted that the Hegemony concealed a Homeworld, leaving the group to question what else it was hiding.

• A Protoss Zealot captured Sangare, removed the electrical weapon hidden in his teeth, and fitted him with a collar that suppressed his psionics.
• Admiral Qiyala questioned Sangare, who said he was the only Grysk on Crustai and described its people as his client species.
• Sangare accused the Duchy of Dawn of causing the war and claimed the Chiss were its pets, while Kace Maxwell stabbed him for his taunts.
• Rassidan used his power to break through Sangare’s mental defenses, and Sangare revealed that seven Grysks jointly controlled Crustai.
• Sangare explained that Grysk emissaries identified species’ weaknesses and used fear, mind control, and wars started by controlled compatriots to subdue them.
• Admiral Qiyala and Rassidan concluded that a hidden mental barrier meant the Grysk Hegemony did have a Homeworld, which it was guarding even from its own members.

Kace Maxwell learned that the Grysk could amplify people’s emotions, then admitted to Admiral Qiyala that the Duchy of Dawn had orchestrated the Borg-Ray Incident with help from the Sabosen family. He explained that the Fourth Civilization’s expansion was driven by fear, leaving Qiyala to confront the motives behind its campaign to conquer Chiss territory.

• Rassidan explained that the Grysk could amplify Kace Maxwell’s emotions, and warned him not to let anger control him.
• Kace Maxwell left Sangare and watched Admiral Qiyala direct the robot army to defeat a Crustai armored formation and destroy more than five hundred tanks.
• Admiral Qiyala rejected Kace Maxwell’s offer to talk, saying he was only a captain and that she was angry she had become an accomplice.
• Kace Maxwell confessed that the Duchy of Dawn had orchestrated the Borg-Ray Incident and that the Sabosen family had altered Chiss territory’s star map data.
• Kace Maxwell said the Duchy of Dawn needed to conquer Chiss territory, and described the Fourth Civilization as a people driven by fear since they had been interstellar refugees.

Kace Maxwell told Admiral Qiyala that the Fourth Civilization had risen from the remnants of a galaxy destroyed by three disasters and aimed to unite the galaxy to ensure survival. He urged Qiyala to accept the Fourth Civilization’s expansion and remain in her post, but she left without agreeing.

• Kace Maxwell explained that the Fourth Civilization began with a refugee ship and grew under Tang Xiao’s leadership.
• Kace Maxwell described three galaxy-wide catastrophes, including a robot uprising caused by the Purification Protocol, and said the survivors became the Fourth Civilization.
• Kace Maxwell told Admiral Qiyala that the refugee ship carried the legacies of many races, including the Protoss.
• Kace Maxwell said Tang Xiao sought to rule the galaxy because uniting its power was essential to the Fourth Civilization’s survival.
• Admiral Qiyala challenged Kace Maxwell’s implication that Chiss territory would be absorbed, and he urged her to choose a dignified surrender.
• Kace Maxwell admitted he had participated in plans concerning Chiss territory, including the Borg-Ray incident, and advised Qiyala to stay in her position as she walked toward the bridge door.

The joint fleet captured or killed all seven Grysks on Crustai, but the campaign cost nearly fifty million lives and left survivors struggling to recover from deep mind control. As Crustai faced mass death and social collapse, Lieutenant General Brent ordered the fleet to keep striking the Grysk Hegemony while awaiting the Duchy of Dawn’s reply.

• Kace Maxwell and the joint fleet hunted the Grysks across Crustai, capturing four and killing three after battles that slaughtered nearly fifty million Crustai.
• Kace Maxwell and Admiral Qiyala saw the battlefield’s devastation and were overcome by its human cost.
• Rassidan began helping the freed Crustai recover their memories and minds, though many remained unable to care for themselves or restore order.
• The joint fleet reported the massacre to the Chiss Cabinet and the Duchy of Dawn.
• Lieutenant General Brent ordered the joint fleet to continue its offensive against the Grysk Hegemony while awaiting the Duchy of Dawn’s response.

After devastating losses in the war against the Grysk, Admiral Qiyala returned to Csilla with Rassidan and confronted the Chiss Cabinet. The Cabinet accused the Duchy of Dawn of provoking the war, ordered the fleet disbanded, and branded Qiyala a traitor, but she refused to surrender the fleet as the Chiss territory faced civil war.

• Admiral Qiyala and the joint fleet destroyed another Grysk-controlled planet, suffering more than twenty-one million civilian deaths while killing two of the three Grysk there.
• Admiral Qiyala left over one million B-1 battle droids on the devastated planets to handle the dead, then returned to Csilla with the fleet and four captured Grysk.
• Admiral Qiyala and Rassidan entered the Chiss Dominion Supreme Cabinet chamber with Protoss Zealots and B-2 super battle droids, and Qiyala demanded to know where the Sabosen family was.
• Admiral Qiyala accused the Sabosen family of being controlled by the Grysk and of plotting the Borg-Ray incident, but the Nuruodo family challenged her over the Duchy of Dawn's role.
• The Csapla family revealed that the Sabosen family had been assassinated and left evidence blaming the Duchy of Dawn, while the Cabinet ordered the joint fleet disbanded and Qiyala removed from command.
• Admiral Qiyala refused to surrender the fleet, warning that doing so would plunge the Chiss territory into civil war, and the Nuruodo family vowed to fight her and the Duchy of Dawn.

Kace Maxwell, Lieutenant General Brent, and Rassidan discussed the Grysk’s likely role in the Sabosen family’s assassination and the worsening rift between the Duchy of Dawn and the Chiss. After the Cabinet’s confrontation with Admiral Qiyala, she sought to resign, while Brent warned that the Cabinet was using the crisis to bargain for power.

• Kace Maxwell told Lieutenant General Brent that the Grysk may have controlled the Sabosen family, and Rassidan sensed traces of Grysk psionic energy on Csilla.
• Rassidan said the Grysk were likely trying to provoke conflict, while Brent admitted the Duchy of Dawn had pursued influence over the divided Chiss through a small-scale war.
• Eight Chiss Cabinet members condemned the Duchy of Dawn and challenged Admiral Qiyala to order the joint fleet to fire on Csilla.
• Admiral Qiyala asked Lieutenant General Brent to let her resign as Grand Commander, but Brent argued that replacing her could trigger a clash.
• Admiral Qiyala realized the Cabinet was exploiting the Sabosen affair to win concessions, using the Chiss civilians as leverage.

Lieutenant General Brent and Kace Maxwell recognized that the Chiss Cabinet was exploiting unrest to force the Duchy of Dawn to grant it benefits. As protests erupted across Chiss territory, a huge blood-red Spherical Core Ship arrived over Csilla and landed in Xipra City, its owner still unknown.

• Lieutenant General Brent explained that the Chiss Cabinet planned to use the Sabosen family scandal and public outrage to pressure the Duchy of Dawn into sharing power and benefits.
• Kace Maxwell asked how the Duchy of Dawn should respond, and an unidentified cold-voiced person proposed turning the Chiss people against the Cabinet in return.
• The eight great Chiss families issued a statement accusing the Duchy of Dawn of interference and conspiracies, triggering protests and riots across Csilla and other planets.
• A vast Firecloud appeared over Xipra City as communications across Csilla were cut and screens showed the descending vessel.
• A blood-red Spherical Core Ship nearly 1,800 meters in diameter landed in Central Square, surprising all of Chiss territory.

Tang Xiao arrived on Csilla with his family and a vast droid army, turning a ceremonial landing into a display of the Duchy of Dawn’s power. After the Chiss Cabinet blamed the unrest on the Sabosen family and Grysk Hegemony, Tang Xiao questioned the ruling families’ usefulness and hinted that he might rule without them.

• Tang Xiao landed his enormous starship in Csilla’s capital and led Adele Ulan, Tang Xing, Tang Yun, and Leia toward the Chiss Cabinet Building as droids surrounded the city.
• Tang Xiao used the arrival to teach the children about power, while Tang Yun called Chiss territory conquered and Leia answered that she saw war.
• The Chiss Cabinet members bowed and received Tang Xiao, who pushed past them and took the Csapla family’s seat in the chamber.
• The Csapla family blamed the Sabosen family for colluding with the Grysk Hegemony, and the Nuruodo family asked Tang Xiao for more time to restore order.
• Tang Xiao accused the ruling families of failing to control riots, demonstrations, and strikes across Chiss territory, then suggested that removing them might be the better shortcut.

Tang Xiao confronted the Chiss ruling families over their belief that the Chiss territory depended on them and threatened to choose between them and its 21.5 billion people. He prepared Adele-Ulan to address the entire Chiss territory live, while the Grysk crisis and his force of three million combat droids remained the reason for his visit.

• Tang Xiao challenged the Nuruodo family’s claim that the Chiss territory could not function without its ruling families.
• Tang Yun questioned the Nuruodo family in fluent Chiss and pressed them to explain their fear of the Duchy of Dawn.
• Tang Xiao proposed a wager about whether he would choose the ruling families or the Chiss people, rejecting their pleas for more time.
• The Csapla family blamed the Grysk Hegemony, but Tang Xiao said the incident had made him no longer want to keep dealing with them.
• Tang Xiao asked Adele-Ulan if she was ready, and she prepared to deliver a live address to the entire Chiss territory.
• Tang Xiao recalled bringing the Red Comet III, loaded with roughly three million combat droids, to address the Grysk crisis.

Tang Xiao addressed the people of Chiss territory, announcing that it had become a province of the Duchy of Dawn and would join the war against the Grysk Hegemony. He blamed the Chiss families for the territory’s weakness and called on the people to overthrow their political privileges.

• The Chiss public grew angry after learning that the Duchy of Dawn and the Sabosen family had conspired with the Grysk Hegemony to draw Chiss territory into war.
• Adele Ulan prepared the broadcast as Tang Xiao stood before a drone camera in the Chiss Cabinet Building.
• Tang Xiao announced that Chiss territory had been a province of the Duchy of Dawn for three years and would join its war against the Grysk Hegemony.
• Tang Xiao said Grysk mind control and Chiss territory’s weakness had enabled the crisis, and accused the ruling families of putting their interests above the nation.
• Tang Xiao declared an end to family political privilege and urged the people to take to the streets and destroy the families’ control.

Tang Xiao dismantled the Chiss ruling families’ political power and ordered the execution of the eight remaining Chiss Cabinet members. The public hangings marked the collapse of the old family-centered order in the Chiss territory.

• Tang Xiao rejected Nuruodo’s claim that the ruling families were essential to Chiss statehood and ordered droids to seize the eight remaining Cabinet members.
• Tang Xiao told the Csapla family woman that the families had outlived their usefulness and refused her pleas for mercy.
• A host announced decrees revoking family privileges, dismissing family members from state industries, establishing labor unions, and opening management elections to non-family members.
• Nearly one hundred thousand civilians gathered as the Chief Executioner announced the Cabinet members’ crimes, and Tang Xiao ordered all eight hanged.

Tang Xiao used the Chiss Cabinet’s uprising to execute its leaders and ignite rebellion against the ruling families, then ordered Admiral Qiyala to suppress the unrest. He left Qiyala facing the choice of firing on the Chiss people or accepting the Duchy of Dawn’s intervention.

• Tang Xiao’s forces executed the eight members of the Chiss Cabinet, completing the destruction of the ruling families’ leadership.
• Tang Xiao encouraged ordinary citizens to rise against the ruling families and their control of the Chiss territory’s resources.
• Tang Xiao went to the joint fleet’s flagship, the Sentinel, and ordered Admiral Qiyala to deploy the fleet to restore stability.
• Admiral Qiyala threatened to attack the Duchy of Dawn’s forces, but realized its robots were maintaining public order while Chiss fought among themselves.
• Tang Xiao told Admiral Qiyala she could fire on anyone, then repeated his order to quell the unrest.

Tang Xiao assigned Adele-Ulan to oversee the political transition in Chiss territory while he prepared to confront the Grysk Hegemony. At the Red Comet III, he consulted Protoss researchers about how to free Grysk-controlled people without killing them.

• Tang Xiao demanded that Admiral Qiyala quell the unrest and end family rule, then made joining the war against the Grysk part of the final condition for the Chiss Dominion.
• Tang Xiao told Qiyala he would leave within a month to resolve the Grysk Hegemony, then departed without giving her a chance to respond.
• Tang Xiao appointed Adele-Ulan to manage the transition in Chiss territory and ordered Lieutenant General Brent and Kess-Maxwell to assist Qiyala and prepare for a later campaign.
• Tang Xiao met Protoss High Templar Rassidan, Sola-A, Oola-Khan, Rosales, and a group of Force-sensitive women in the laboratory aboard the Red Comet III.
• Rassidan explained that the Grysk altered their victims' consciousness directly, and Tang Xiao asked how to deal with the controlled people without slaughtering them.