Chapter Summaries

Shepard forced Dr. Yako-Vesti to confront the devastation Mongar-Mongar had caused and persuaded him to help use the Mind-harp. As the Mind-harp was installed atop the Plastic Pyramid for a trial, it discharged energy and cut off communications with the Archangel Titan warship.

• Shepard confronted Yako-Vesti about sacrificing the Mind-harp, then took him to a ruined planet to show him what Mongar-Mongar had done.
• After returning to the Archangel Titan warship, Yako-Vesti explained how the Plastic Pyramid and Mind-harp worked and agreed to conduct a trial.
• Shepard decided to bring the Mind-harp into the Plastic Pyramid and use the Infinite Super Carrier to supply its power.
• Scientists installed the Mind-harp at the pyramid's summit, where it immediately released energy and severed communications between the Archangel Titan warship and the ground.

The Mind-harp killed all the Mongar-Mongar on Crakull, revealing that an energy layer had concealed the planet’s true appearance and disrupted electronics. After confirming the weapon worked, Shepard ordered preparations for an attack on Mug-Farlow in three days.

• An energy wave cut communications and made Crakull appear lifeless, so Matt Hona, Shepard, and the others flew down to investigate.
• The Normandy passed through an energy layer that shut down its systems briefly before revealing Crakull’s blue skies and white clouds.
• The group found the Infinity damaged but stable after the Mind-harp’s activation nearly sent it crashing into the ground.
• Vishal told Shepard that the Mongar-Mongar were dead and had become fertile silt.
• Shepard ordered the Mind-harp charged and the Infinity repaired, declaring that the fleet would depart for Mug-Farlow in three days.
• Vishal examined the clean soil and air as the Infinity rose above Crakull.

Shepard and the fleet reached Mugg Fallow to destroy Mongal-Mongal, planning to use Sherry Birkin’s branch consciousness to locate its core and the Mind-harp to weaken it. As Ander Viking organized the fleet’s attack, the black Star Ring around the planet began to writhe.

• Sherry Birkin warned that activating the Mind-harp could sever her branch consciousness from Mongal-Mongal’s core and cause unpredictable changes, so Shepard decided to carry its container aboard the Normandy.
• Shepard assigned Ander Viking to command the Normandy’s approach to Mugg Fallow, while Matt Hona reassured her that the ship’s cloaking device could help it evade detection.
• After seven days of hyperspace transitions, the fleet arrived at Mugg Fallow, and Sherry Birkin’s branch consciousness pointed toward the planet.
• Ander Viking ordered the warships to form up, prepare their fighters, charge their Particle Beam Lances, and fire three volleys as the black Star Ring began to writhe.

Shepard's fleet attacked the Rotten Star Ring around Mugal-Falo Planet, the throne of the God of Decay, Mongar-Mongar. After Ander-Viking discovered the ring contained 83,000 warships, Shepard addressed the fleet as it faced the overwhelming enemy.

• Mongar-Mongar's Rotten Star Ring stirred as its ancient, decaying warships awoke and launched attacks toward the invading fleet.
• The three Endless-class Super Carriers fired nine particle beams, destroying dozens of warships without noticeably weakening the Rotten Star Ring.
• The Rotten Star Ring sent out four sprawling formations of warships toward the fleet.
• Ander-Viking learned from the fleet's scans that 83,000 warships formed the Rotten Star Ring, far more than he had expected.
• Shepard sensed Ander-Viking's fear, opened the fleetwide public channel, and reminded the crews that they had reached Mongar-Mongar after breaking through countless checkpoints.

The Duchy of Dawn fleet fought its way into the Rotten Star Ring under Ander-Viking’s command, destroying thousands of enemy ships while more Rotten warships kept arriving. Shepard’s Normandy remained out of the fight as Ander-Viking repeatedly judged that the enemy force was not yet large enough.

• Shepard rallied the fleet by warning that the Mongal-Mongal would consume their homeworld if they failed to stop it.
• Ander-Viking formed the Steadfast-class Cruisers into an arrowhead and sent more than a thousand fighters toward the battlefield’s outer perimeter.
• The fleets collided, and the Duchy of Dawn’s warships unleashed their weapons while the Endless-class Super Carriers covered the Archangel-class Titan Warship’s lack of point defenses.
• Ander-Viking sent stealth fighters after nearly ten thousand lagging heavy-firepower ships, and they destroyed nearly a hundred within ten minutes.
• After two hours, the Duchy of Dawn had destroyed more than ten thousand Rotten warships but lost three Steadfast-class Cruisers, while more than seventy thousand enemies remained.
• Shepard requested permission for Normandy to engage for the twelfth time, but Ander-Viking refused, saying that not enough Rotten warships had arrived yet.

Shepard and the Normandy entered Mugg-Fallow to locate Mongal-Mongal’s core consciousness while Ander-Viking’s Expedition Fleet fought to hold open a path for the Mind-harp strike. Sherry-Birkin found the core’s location just as Mongal-Mongal taunted the fleet, but the chapter ended before Shepard could send the targeting signal.

• Ander-Viking opened a gap in the encirclement, and Jeff-Moro piloted the Normandy through it toward Mugg-Fallow.
• Shepard’s team entered the planet and used Sherry-Birkin’s research equipment to search for Mongal-Mongal’s core consciousness, but hundreds of Rotten warships pursued the Normandy after detecting it through atmospheric particles.
• The Expedition Fleet’s ammunition and energy dwindled as Rotten warships tightened their encirclement, and Ander-Viking waited for Shepard’s signal to fire the Archangel-class Titan Warship’s Doomsday Weapon.
• Shepard ordered Jeff-Moro to follow the Rotten Star Ring’s projection while Sherry-Birkin continued scanning the unstable sub-consciousness for the core.
• Mongal-Mongal formed an enormous face from the planet’s sludge and taunted the Expedition Fleet, but Sherry-Birkin then announced that she had found the core consciousness.

Sherry Birkin guided the Normandy to Mongal-Mongal’s hidden core, where the crew launched a nuclear missile and activated a navigation beacon. Ander Viking received the signal and directed his battered fleet toward it, firing the Divine-class Titan Warship’s Doomsday Weapon as the Rotten warships tried to stop them.

• Sherry Birkin took control of the Normandy’s navigation and led it through the Rotten warships toward Mongal-Mongal’s concealed pit.
• Jeff Moro launched a nuclear missile into the pit and deployed a navigation beacon while tentacles attacked the Normandy.
• The nuclear blast destroyed the exposed tentacles, and a crimson beam from the beacon marked the target for Ander Viking’s fleet.
• Ander Viking received the beacon signal and ordered his damaged fleet to turn toward it and charge the Doomsday Weapon.
• The Rotten warships swarmed the fleet to block its advance, but the Divine-class Titan Warship reached firing position and fired its Doomsday Weapon.

Ander-Viking’s Doomsday Weapon devastated the Rotten fleet and Muge-Falo Planet, while Dr. Yako-Vesti activated the device that severed Mongar-Mongar’s control over its clones. Just as Shepard hoped the plan had worked, some Rotten warships restarted and attacked the Normandy.

• Ander-Viking fired the Doomsday Weapon, destroying nearly ten thousand Rotten warships and setting a vast region of Muge-Falo Planet ablaze.
• The Infinite Super Carrier advanced toward the planet as the thirteen Steadfast-class Cruisers sacrificed themselves to shield it from the lingering radiation.
• Dr. Yako-Vesti hesitated over the Sarru device, then activated it, causing electronic failures and severing Mongar-Mongar’s control over its clones.
• Shepard and Huang Yehao watched uncontrolled Rotten warships fall, but the expected second bombardment did not arrive.
• Some Rotten warships restarted and charged toward the Normandy.

Sherry-Birkin discovered that Mongar-Mongar had spread its consciousness across the Rotten warships, while Mongar-Mongar revealed it had created one hundred thousand offspring. As the fleet struggled against overwhelming odds, the rebooted Infinite Super Carrier joined the battle and Matt-Hona rallied the defenders to keep fighting.

• Sherry-Birkin identified Mongar-Mongar's consciousness in every Rotten warship and realized its true core was hidden among countless sub-consciousnesses.
• Mongar-Mongar revealed that it had learned to reproduce from the juvenile specimen and created one hundred thousand offspring to control the ships and spread across the galaxy.
• Thousands of Rotten warships attacked the Normandy, but the rebooted Infinite Super Carrier arrived and destroyed several of them with its turbolasers.
• Ander-Viking's isolated fleet struggled to break out of the Rotten Star Ring's encirclement as its ships and fighters faced mounting pressure.
• Matt-Hona urged the defenders not to give up, and He Ru, Brent, and Ander-Viking vowed to fight on.

Shepard tried to strengthen Mongal-Mongal’s weak sub-consciousness and control it by taking an extreme dose of Glitterstim catalyst. As she flew off alone in a shuttle, Sherry Birkin and Huang Yehao prepared to use Nanobots to keep the sub-consciousness from eroding her brain.

• Sherry Birkin despaired that she could not locate Mongal-Mongal’s core consciousness, and Shepard urged her not to give up.
• Shepard reasoned that Mongal-Mongal’s core consciousness had weakened by splitting into many sub-consciousnesses, then took the contained sludge and a large dose of Glitterstim catalyst.
• Shepard charged toward the Normandy’s hangar as Sherry Birkin warned that Mongal-Mongal was controlling her.
• Huang Yehao stopped Sherry Birkin from chasing Shepard and urged her to support Shepard instead of giving up.
• Sherry Birkin ordered the researchers to send Nanobots into Shepard’s brain to stop the sub-consciousness from eroding her.
• Pilot Jeff Moro reported that Shepard had taken a shuttle and flown off alone.

Shepard used her Force talent to seize control of Mongar-Mongar’s sub-consciousnesses and fought it through the Rotten warships, triggering a vast battle among them. The infighting ended with the ships heading into the mountains, and Shepard’s voice ordered everyone to leave Infinity behind and return.

• Huang Yehao and Jeff Moro ordered their forces to protect Shepard’s shuttle as Rotten warships pursued it toward a mountain range.
• Ander Viking and Matt Hona halted their planned bombing run and focused on destroying Rotten warships before they could enter the atmosphere.
• Huang Yehao’s forces were ambushed by thousands of Rotten warships near the mountains, and Shepard’s shuttle disappeared amid the fighting.
• Sherry Birkin revealed that Shepard had consumed catalyst to strengthen her Force and was battling Mongar-Mongar for control of its sub-consciousnesses.
• Rotten warships turned on one another, then stopped fighting and flew into the mountains as Infinity ceased fire and repaired its systems.
• Shepard sent a hoarse public transmission ordering everyone to leave Infinity behind and return.

After Shepard ordered the fleet to leave Mug-Falu, Zhang Rui stayed behind aboard the Infinity to keep fighting Mongal-Mongal and prepare the Mind-harp. The returning fleet reached Levik, where Mongal-Mongal’s duplicates had died, and Huang Yehao and others reported the expedition’s outcome to Tang Xiao while Shepard’s fate remained unknown.

• Shepard told the fleet to leave the Infinity behind, and Zhang Rui decided to remain with the carrier and continue charging the Mind-harp.
• Three days later, Huang Yehao and the other departing crews left the devastated Mug-Falu, while Zhang Rui and the Infinity stayed behind.
• The crew of the Infinity established a settlement on Mug-Falu, where Mongal-Mongal’s sludge had died and the first traces of green appeared.
• One month later, the fleet returned to Levik, where the Planet Governor reported that every Mongal-Mongal duplicate had suddenly died.
• Huang Yehao, Ander Viking, and Sherry Birkin reported the expedition and its findings to Tang Xiao, while Shepard remained missing.

Dawn Star Planet celebrated the Expedition Fleet’s victory over Mongal-Mongal and reopened the Levik planet stargate after investigators confirmed the sludge was lifeless. The Duchy of Dawn discovered that Mongal-Mongal’s abandoned worlds could provide vast farmland and new homes for its population, with surveys indicating thousands of habitable planets.

• Dawn Star Planet promoted the Expedition Fleet’s officers and awarded Nebula Medals, but Matt Hona refused his medal and chose to remain on Levik planet as a farmer.
• A Dawn Star Planet investigation team surveyed Levik planet and nearby worlds for two months, then confirmed the Mongal-Mongal sludge had lost its vitality and reopened the stargate.
• Tang Xiao declared a three-day national holiday, publicized the war’s dangers and sacrifices, and revealed the Archangel-class Titan Warship to the public.
• The investigation team estimated that more than 1,800 planets within the stargate’s range had been destroyed by Mongal-Mongal and were now lifeless, habitable worlds with exceptionally fertile soil.
• The Expedition Fleet estimated that Mongal-Mongal had destroyed more than 5,000 civilizations, potentially leaving the Duchy of Dawn thousands of planets for colonization.

The Duchy of Dawn organized the Developer Sector as a farming-focused settlement and appointed He Ru as its governor. Meanwhile, Palpatine ordered the Imperial Seventh Army to attack Chiss territory, and Dunn Vesex passed the pressure to Gillard Perine.

• The Ministry of the Interior planned to establish Levik planet as the Developer Sector’s capital and settle immigrants across twenty agricultural planets.
• Tang Xiao decided to send the Endless-class Super Carrier to the Mandalore star sector after consulting Sefrans Tann.
• He Ru became Sector Governor, while Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko became Grand Moffs, and Senluo and Reaper stayed on Levik planet to handle intelligence.
• Legion led more than three million Geth on Levik planet, where they continued building factories and living peacefully alongside the local population.
• After learning of the Duchy of Dawn’s victory and new Titan warship, Palpatine ordered Dunn Vesex to begin operations against Chiss territory within a week.
• Dunn Vesex shifted Palpatine’s demand onto Gillard Perine.

The Galactic Empire condemned the Duchy of Dawn’s occupation of Chiss territory, demanded taxes and a withdrawal, and renewed its blockade of the Rendili Trade Route. In Csilla, Shien Morabito and Admiral Qiyala prepared to exploit unrest among Chiss family remnants while the Eternal arrived, as the chapter outlined Chiss territory’s uneasy dominance over neighboring civilizations.

• Crueya Vandron accused the Duchy of Dawn of violating Imperial law and demanded 180 billion in taxes, a troop withdrawal, and new Chiss elections; Francis Underwood rejected the demands and warned that travel in Chiss territory was dangerous.
• The Galactic Empire reimposed its blockade of the Rendili Trade Route, occupied planets along it, and announced an investigation into Chiss territory; Francis Underwood welcomed the investigators while cautioning them to protect themselves.
• Shien Morabito told Admiral Qiyala that Chiss family remnants should be allowed to stir up trouble, while Qiyala warned that their cooperation with the Empire could trigger civil war.
• Qiyala said the Eternal would arrive at Csilla the next day, and Morabito planned to send an Abathur swarm to create a staged threat that would send the ship to the border.
• Chiss territory maintained control over surrounding peoples through the Holy Spirit Sect, while Admiral Qiyala forced the Illumine Kingdom of Kilji to accept the Holy Advent Cult by destroying its cathedral and arresting its religious leaders.

Shien Morabito used a staged Kilik Swarm threat to strengthen Chiss unity and expose clan forces conspiring with the Galactic Empire. The plan went awry when the Eternal Super Carrier was ambushed near Norris and left badly damaged.

• Shien Morabito made the Kilik Swarm the apparent enemy so the Chiss could unite against it, while planning to lure traitorous clans into revealing themselves.
• The Eternal Super Carrier rested on Csilla for three days, then headed toward the Chiss border under the pretext of fighting the swarm.
• On October 18, the Eternal sent an emergency distress signal after an attack near Norris, and Admiral Ziyala rushed there with ten Hell-Angel Class Battlecruisers.
• Admiral Ziyala found the Eternal severely damaged and had Colonel Connally taken for questioning while the carrier was towed to Csilla for repairs.
• Investigators learned that an enemy fleet had ambushed the Eternal near an asteroid belt and outmaneuvered its defenses.
• Colonel Connally ordered the Eternal forward, where bombers struck its engine exhaust ports with Proton Torpedoes and crippled its engines.

The Eternal Super Carrier survived an ambush by a fleet secretly sent by the Galactic Empire, but suffered catastrophic losses, and Colonel Connally was sent to a military tribunal. The Duchy of Dawn’s Supreme Military Command decided not to send reinforcements to Chiss territory and ordered Governor Shien Morabito to eliminate the invading fleet with the forces already there.

• The Eternal used its backup engines and weapons to drive off the ambushing fleet, but lost its propulsion, suffered severe hull damage, and saw its escorts and aircraft destroyed.
• Governor Shien Morabito stripped Colonel Connally of his post, referred him to a military tribunal, and placed Chiss territory on alert.
• The Supreme Military Command concluded that the Galactic Empire and local Chiss family forces had coordinated the attack, raising concerns about a military traitor and an exceptionally skilled enemy commander.
• Chief of Staff Qi Jian and Admiral Carls-Walton discussed the attack, while Defense Minister Cheng Shitao argued that sending reinforcements would appear weak to the Chiss.
• The Supreme Military Command rejected reinforcements and ordered Shien Morabito to destroy the Imperial fleet using existing forces, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a public condemnation.

The Galactic Empire exploited attacks blamed on the Chiss Free Front to undermine the Duchy of Dawn’s control of Chiss territory, while the Duchy prepared to counter the unrest. Dunn Vesex then met Akingano, a Grysk survivor who revealed that the Duchy had built stargates and offered intelligence about Chiss territory and the Mongal-Mongal war.

• The Galactic Empire publicized footage of the damaged Eternal and portrayed the attack as Chiss resistance, prompting the Duchy of Dawn to tighten its news controls and order Shien Morabito to restore stability.
• The Duchy assigned Major General Lin Nanyi to command the Eternal and support Admiral Ziyala as attacks on Chiss territory continued.
• The Chiss Free Front claimed responsibility for attacks on the Eternal and a transport convoy, while the Galactic Empire publicly endorsed its cause; Tang Xiao ordered Shien Morabito to eliminate the group within a month.
• The Duchy increased support for the Trade Federation, which announced that its headquarters had moved to Makito, as tensions between the Duchy and the Galactic Empire escalated.
• Dunn Vesex praised Gillard Perine’s operation against the Duchy’s influence in Chiss territory, then confronted a cloaked visitor suspected of using mind control.
• Akingano identified himself as a Grysk and revealed that the Duchy had built stargates in Chiss territory, offering Dunn intelligence about the region and the Mongal-Mongal war.

Dunn Vesex learned from Akingano that the Duchy of Dawn had Stargates linking its scattered territories, then decided to keep the intelligence secret so he could protect his own military position. Meanwhile, the Empire's assault on Kato Neimoidia began under fierce defenses.

• Akingano told Dunn Vesex that the Duchy of Dawn had secretly built Stargates with help from Chiss families and hinted at hidden events on Levik planet.
• Dunn Vesex had Akingano imprisoned and ordered his agents to extract everything he knew.
• Dunn Vesex realized Stargates could connect the Duchy of Dawn's territories, but chose to withhold the intelligence from Emperor Palpatine to avoid shifting forces away from his front.
• An Acclamator-class assault ship descended through Kato Neimoidia's heavy orbital defenses while fighters covered the descending drop pods.
• A Clone Trooper inside a drop pod ordered Clone Battalion 99 to deploy.

The Galactic Empire crushed the Trade Federation’s resistance on Vulpter and Rosha through brutal bombardment and ground offensives, leaving Rosha devastated and millions dead. After Vulpter surrendered and Rosha’s last city fell, Darth Vader began the war’s second phase by targeting the Trade Federation’s wealthy Core Worlds, starting with plans for a special-operations assault.

• Darth Vader intensified the Imperial assault on Vulpter, and Arakyd Industries surrendered before he arrested and executed more than forty executives and absorbed the company’s remaining assets into the Empire.
• Darth Vader invoked Order 37 during the campaign on Rosha, where Imperial forces captured the capital and continued fighting until the planet’s last resisting city fell on October 24.
• The Galactic Empire’s conquest left more than 170 cities destroyed and reduced Rosha’s population from 14 billion to fewer than 6 billion, while Imperial losses included twenty-seven capital ships and more than 2 million ground troops.
• After Vulpter surrendered, Darth Vader redirected his fleet toward the Trade Federation’s Wealth Worlds, whose defenses made a direct assault prohibitively costly.
• Darth Vader proposed special operations to attack the heavily defended Kato-Neimoidia and other Wealth Worlds.