Chapter Summaries

Orman Tagge interrupted Sanya Tagge’s tutors and tried to keep Domina Tagge away from their mother. The tutors revealed themselves as Jedi Knights from the Duchy of Dawn, leaving Domina eager to learn the Force.

• Yurick Tagge told Orman Tagge that Sanya Tagge had hired two tutors for Domina Tagge.
• Orman Tagge stormed into Domina’s study and tried to drive the tutors away, offering them twenty million credits to leave.
• Domina Tagge defended the tutors, but Orman continued warning her against trusting Sanya and the Duchy of Dawn.
• Luna Phantom and Luna Dream used the Force to make themselves invisible to Orman, who left without realizing they were there.
• Domina asked whether she could learn the Force and whether Sanya had betrayed the Empire, and the women identified themselves as Jedi Knights.

Sanya Tagge’s attempt to rally the family against Orman Tagge failed, leaving her isolated and fearing that he would kill her. After Luna Dream and Luna Phantom revealed their powerful illusions, Sanya asked them to make her die.

• Sanya Tagge argued with the Tagge family elders, who urged her to step aside and sided increasingly with Orman Tagge.
• The elders told Sanya that her tutors for Domina Tagge had been driven away, and the meeting ended without her support.
• Sanya considered killing Orman Tagge, then encountered him as he left Domina Tagge’s residence and accused her of plotting against him.
• Luna Dream and Luna Phantom revealed themselves to Sanya and explained how they had used an illusion to hide from Orman.
• Sanya learned that the sisters’ illusions could deceive even warship radar, then asked them to make her die.

Orman Tagge seized control of the Tagge family by killing his mother, Sanya Tagge, and then pledged the family’s wealth and cooperation to Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine praised Orman but rejected his attempt to gain influence over Darth Vader, leaving Orman eager to prove his loyalty.

• Sanya Tagge led armed soldiers to confront Orman Tagge at Tagge Company headquarters and ordered them to seize him.
• Orman revealed that the Guardians’ weapons had been disabled, then used battle droids and Lightsabers to kill Sanya’s guards.
• Orman defeated Sanya and killed her, declaring that he was inheriting her title.
• Orman knelt before Emperor Palpatine and promised the Tagge family would expand its military cooperation and help fund the DS-1 project.
• Orman asked Palpatine for greater access and criticized Darth Vader, but Palpatine said it was too soon to change the Empire’s balance of power.

Tang Xiao and Helmut Zemo discussed the Tagge family’s new Industrial Alliance and the resources Orman Tagge was committing to the Empire. Meanwhile, Prince Xizor received a recording of Orman insulting Darth Vader and laughed at the danger it could bring him.

• Tang Xiao dismissed the Tagge family’s Industrial Alliance as foolish, while Helmut Zemo warned that Sanya Tagge’s death had undone their influence over the family.
• Zemo explained that Tagge Company had likely secured leadership of the alliance by funding the other corporations, and Tang Xiao concluded that the Tagge family would not surrender its fortune for empty promises.
• Tang Xiao told Zemo that they did not need to respond because others would have to react to the alliance.
• Prince Xizor received an intelligence recording in his palace on Imperial Center.
• Prince Xizor recognized Orman Tagge’s voice insulting Darth Vader and laughed at the prospect of Orman having said it to Emperor Palpatine.

Prince Xizor learned that Orman Tagge had sent a treasonous message and ordered Guri to kill everyone who had heard it. Three days later, Darth Vader arrived at Tepasi and confronted Orman Tagge, who openly denounced him as a fraud.

• Prince Xizor laughed at Orman Tagge's message, then ordered Guri to kill the witnesses.
• Guri killed the messenger and the female slaves, while Prince Xizor replayed the message and planned to deliver it to the right person.
• Darth Vader arrived at Tepasi aboard the Executor and ignored the planet's praise-filled communications.
• Darth Vader threw people from Tagge Company's landing platform and forced his way through the headquarters.
• Darth Vader sensed something familiar in a garden, then confronted Orman Tagge in his office.
• Orman Tagge called Darth Vader a charlatan and claimed his Force tricks had stopped working.

Darth Vader defeated Orman Tagge and left after warning that he would kill him if they met again. He then led Death Squadron to Kato Neimoidia, where Imperial forces struggled to capture the heavily defended Bridge City Zarra without destroying its wealth.

• Darth Vader disarmed Orman Tagge, burned his eyes with a Lightsaber, and threw him to the floor.
• Domina Tagge rushed to help Orman, and Darth Vader warned that he would take Orman’s life next time.
• Darth Vader returned to the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer and led Death Squadron from Imperial Center to Kato Neimoidia.
• Death Squadron arrived as Imperial forces bombarded the planet and battled over Bridge City Zarra.
• The Imperial Army relied on Stormtroopers and supply transports because heavy units risked damaging the Bridge Cities, while anti-air fire caused severe losses.

The Galactic Empire struggled to capture Zarra City without destroying its suspended structure, while the Trade Federation committed its battle droids to the defense. A Scorpion Annihilator appeared and devastated Imperial forces, leaving Stormtroopers, walkers, and battle droids locked in a desperate fight against it.

• The Trade Federation yielded to Imperial pressure and promised to protect the wealth entrusted to it, but Emperor Palpatine forbade the destruction of any more Bridge Cities after several collapsed during the fighting.
• Stormtroopers fighting in Zarra City encountered a Scorpion Annihilator, which advanced behind its Deflector Shield and destroyed buildings full of Imperial troops.
• The Stormtroopers' weapons, rockets, and mortar shells failed to penetrate the Scorpion Annihilator's shield, and the droid intercepted incoming fire before blasting the attackers' positions.
• V-wing Alpha Holy Light fighters attacked the Scorpion Annihilator, but it shot down one fighter and drove the other away.
• LAAT/C transports deployed two AT-TEs and ten AT-STs, but the Scorpion Annihilator destroyed an AT-TE as Stormtroopers and battle droids launched a desperate assault.

The 501st Legion arrived on Kato Neimoidia in powerful armor and destroyed the last Scorpion Annihilator. Darth Vader then ordered his forces to finish the battle that day as he headed toward city hall.

• CR-25 transports brought hundreds of 501st Legion soldiers to the battlefield, where they assembled and joined the fighting.
• A 501st Legion squad advanced on a Scorpion Annihilator and used drones to observe its attacks and updated combat tactics.
• The soldiers drew the droid’s fire, then one trooper slipped through its shield and destroyed it with sticky bombs.
• Darth Vader landed beside the wreckage, ignited his Lightsaber, and ordered the attack to continue until the battle was over.

Tang Xiao pressured Nute Gunray to keep Balmorra resisting the Galactic Empire in exchange for habitable planets and help protecting the Neimoidians. After Kato Neimoidia fell, the Trade Federation exposed the Empire's theft and destruction of Zarra City, prompting Palpatine to order Darth Vader to destroy the Federation.

• Tang Xiao rejected Nute Gunray's pleas to surrender Balmorra and offered him two habitable planets and help changing any Neimoidian extermination order into an expulsion order if the Trade Federation resisted for two more months.
• Nute Gunray agreed to keep Balmorra fighting and entrusted the Neimoidians' future to Tang Xiao.
• On March 24, 11 BBY, the 501st Legion captured Kato Neimoidia, and the Galactic Empire blamed the Trade Federation for Zarra City's collapse while claiming to protect the city's vault assets.
• The Galactic Empire gave Balmorra and Neimoidia twenty-four hours to surrender, but the Trade Federation refused and released recordings showing that Zarra City had fallen before the Empire's announced time and had been destroyed after its vaults were emptied.
• Palpatine grew furious at Nute Gunray's accusation and ordered Darth Vader to raze the Trade Federation.

Tang Xiao negotiated with the Rebel Alliance's Leader to secure help for the Neimoidians after ordering the Trade Federation to resist the Empire. Leader agreed to press for an expulsion order in exchange for prisoner releases, credits, and warships, while warning that not every Neimoidian would resettle in the Duchy of Dawn.

• The Empire bombarded Neimoidia, then Darth Vader led an assault on Balmorra after discovering Neimoidian sabotage of its factories.
• The Imperial fleet breached Balmorra's planetary shield, bombarded its agricultural regions, and launched a ground assault against its activated battle droids.
• Tang Xiao contacted Leader and asked him to persuade the Empire to expel the Neimoidians instead of exterminating them.
• Leader demanded the release of political prisoners, one billion Imperial credits, and warships in exchange for helping the Neimoidians.
• Tang Xiao agreed to release eligible prisoners, provide the credits and twenty inactive Light Cruisers, and accept that some Neimoidians might refuse resettlement.

Tang Xiao gave the Leader intelligence about Darth Maul and urged him to monitor the Sith Lord. On Saleucami, Tiber Zayne met a controlled man offering Cortosis-mining expertise, and Shen-Jon confirmed the deposit was on Bal'demnic, where Darth Tenebrus had died.

• Tang Xiao told the Leader that Darth Maul had resurfaced, killed Black Sun's leader, taken control of Crimson Dawn, and was building a criminal empire tied to the Zann Consortium.
• The Leader ended the call after saying he knew how to handle Darth Maul.
• A thin man offered Tiber Zayne cooperation in mining Cortosis and explained its ability to shut down Lightsabers and the dangers of extracting it.
• Shen-Jon seized the man with the Force and forced him to reveal that the Cortosis deposit was on Bal'demnic.
• Shen-Jon confirmed that Bal'demnic produced Cortosis and ordered Tiber Zayne to find out what the man could offer.

Tiber Zayne negotiated with the Grysk Coordinator Scaptius for access to Cortosis mining and armor-making techniques on Bal Demonic. Meanwhile, the Grysk plotted to use Tiber to trigger a war, while Darth Tenebrus studied the Grysk’s revealed strengths and weaknesses.

• Scaptius told Tiber Zayne that the Grysk controlled Bal Demonic, a distant Cortosis-rich planet, and explained why Dawn Star Planet would struggle to control it during a war.
• Scaptius offered mining methods and a Cortosis armor technique, demanding exclusive control of mining and a 10% commission on manufactured products.
• Tiber Zayne accepted Scaptius’s terms and demanded that all Cortosis produced be supplied exclusively to him.
• On Bal Demonic, a Grysk concluded that Tiber Zayne could help ignite a war and anticipated that a surviving Grysk fleet would arrive to devour the galaxy.
• Darth Tenebrus, also known as Shen-Jon, realized that the Grysk had revealed their strengths and weaknesses to him.

After the Trade Federation surrendered, the Galactic Empire seized a ruined Balmorra and dissolved the corporation, while Tang Xiao arranged new homes for the displaced Neimoidians. As the Empire tried to recover and restore order, a photograph of a Stargate in the Unknown Regions landed on Palpatine’s desk.

• After two months of siege and a month of Orbital Bombardment, Darth Vader’s forces occupied Balmorra, finding its factories destroyed and almost no life remaining.
• Palpatine changed his order to exterminate the Neimoidians into an Expulsion Order after Imperial Senate members warned of the consequences.
• The Trade Federation was dissolved and reorganized as the Neimoidia Logistics Company, while Nute Gunray resigned and Tang Xiao arranged two habitable planets for the Neimoidians.
• The Galactic Empire confiscated the Trade Federation’s holdings and froze its plundered wealth as it tried to recover from the Trade War.
• The Empire issued another wanted order against the Zann Consortium and launched anti-corruption campaigns across the Outer Rim Territories.
• A photograph of a ring-shaped structure near Levik planet reached Palpatine, and Imperial experts identified it as a Stargate.

Duchy of Dawn intelligence officials reported a dramatic surge in Galactic Empire espionage, prompting a highest military conference to assess the threat. The leaders concluded the Empire likely suspected the stargate, and Qi Jian warned that this could leave war as its only option.

• Peggy Carter reviewed reports of widespread Imperial espionage, database intrusions, arrests, and Twilight Covenant deployments with General Kalani.
• The three intelligence departments met and submitted a request to convene the Duchy of Dawn's highest military conference.
• Salatan Morse told the conference that Imperial spies were targeting military and civilian departments, and that the Empire likely suspected the stargate.
• Ling Liang noted the Empire had established more than fifty thousand hyperspace listening posts, while Tang Xiao challenged Morse to provide direct evidence of a stargate leak.
• Qi Jian concluded that if the Empire had set its sights on the stargate, its contingency plan left war as the Empire's only choice.

After concluding that the Galactic Empire might be secretly preparing to attack, Tang Xiao ordered the Duchy of Dawn to begin a full national mobilization. The Duchy shifted its economy and society to wartime footing as both sides’ propaganda avoided openly discussing the approaching war.

• Qi Jian warned that the Galactic Empire would likely choose war once the Duchy of Dawn obtained a stargate, prompting debate over whether to strike first or wait.
• Salatan Morse reported no visible Imperial troop movements, while Kars Walton and Qi Jian questioned whether the Empire could start a war without mobilizing.
• Sefrans Tann departed to return to Dawn Star Planet, and Helmut Zemo argued that the Empire was secretly preparing for war.
• Tang Xiao ended the debate by declaring that the Duchy would fight if the Empire wanted war.
• On June 5, 11 BBY, Tang Xiao issued a general mobilization order that activated reservists, introduced universal conscription, and redirected industry toward military production.
• The Duchy’s propaganda praised Tang Xiao while the Galactic Empire promoted peace and stability, and neither side’s media openly discussed war.

Dunn Vesex learned that the Empire had received the Stargate intelligence and that Palpatine had ordered war against the Duchy of Dawn, disrupting Dunn's plans to gain military command. The chapter then charted rising tensions between the Empire and the Duchy, ending with Rendili Planet detaining an Imperial-backed investigative team.

• Dunn Vesex confronted Akingano about the Stargate leak, then ordered Dark Jedi Knights to kill him.
• Dunn Vesex discovered that Armand Isard had reported the Stargate intelligence directly to Palpatine, who ordered an attack and gave the war's first stage to Darth Vader.
• Dunn Vesex ordered an investigation into who had supplied Palpatine with the intelligence and contacted several people before leaving his office.
• Tang Xiao received an Imperial delegation on Dawn Star Planet and claimed the Duchy's military mobilization was not aimed at the Empire.
• The Empire moved fleets and reduced border garrisons while the Duchy changed prime ministers and Harry Seldon announced a five-year construction plan.
• The Empire-backed InterGalactic Banking Clan (S) sent investigators to Rendili over alleged accounting fraud, and Rendili Planet detained them.

Dawn of Dawn officials struggled to locate the Galactic Empire's missing warships as Rendili Planet strengthened its defenses. General Trench realized the Imperial fleet was avoiding hyperspace routes, while a 700-ship fleet led by Darth Vader's Executor-class Super Star Destroyer advanced through unknown space.

• Salatan-Morse reported that at least 1,000 Imperial main warships were unaccounted for, and Sefrans-Tann warned that Darth Vader would attack rather than wait.
• Cheng Shitao said General Trench had prepared Rendili Planet for combat, and Sefrans-Tann ordered the search extended to nearby uninhabited systems.
• General Trench reviewed Rendili's layered defenses and realized the Imperial fleet was not approaching through hyperspace routes, so he ordered Dawn Star Planet to be notified.
• A 700-ship Imperial fleet, including an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, traveled silently through an unknown region of space.

Dawn Star’s commanders suspected the Galactic Empire might use warp travel to strike Rendili and ordered General Trench to hold his position. Trench redirected Vulture droid fighters toward planetary bases to harass Imperial logistics, while the Empire publicly accused Rendili StarDrive of corruption and threatened sanctions.

• Qi Jian convened a military conference after Rendili reported that the Empire might be attacking without using hyperspace routes.
• Ling Liang argued that warp travel was the likely explanation, and the commanders decided to wait for the Imperial fleet to appear before acting.
• Trench’s simulations predicted that the Imperial fleet would bypass the outer defenses and attack Rendili’s orbital fortifications.
• Trench ordered the Vulture droid fighters to disperse among nearby planetary bases and harass Imperial logistical transports.
• Koruya-Van D'ron accused Rendili StarDrive of embezzling Galactic Republic assets and announced that the Empire would impose harsh sanctions.

The Duchy of Dawn condemned the Galactic Empire’s planned seizure of Rendili StarDrive, and the two powers formally declared war on each other. As the Second Galactic Civil War began, General Trench ordered Rendili’s defenses to fire on an anomalous gravitational source, revealing an enemy fleet emerging from hyperspace.

• Rendili StarDrive rejected Koruya-Vanderlon’s ultimatum, and Daphne-Clement publicly denounced the Galactic Empire and vowed to oppose its seizure of the company.
• The Duchy of Dawn and the Galactic Empire declared war on each other, while Dawn’s task forces departed Eriadu and Yag'Dhul and a fleet attacked the Imperial garrison on Rattatou.
• A messenger alerted General Trench that an anomalous gravitational source had appeared near Planet Five in the Rendili system.
• General Trench ordered twenty Calamity-class battlecruisers to fire three salvos of Particle Beam Lances at the anomaly.
• The beams distorted space, and a fleet of warships appeared in Planet Five’s orbit.

General Trench led Rendili’s defense fleet as the Imperial fleet approached and bombarded the planet’s defenses. With enemy reinforcements destroying the system’s Interdictors, Trench finally ordered his ships to open fire, leaving the fleets exchanging volleys at long range.

• The Imperial fleet arrived with 719 capital ships, including four super battleships and 420 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, outmatching Rendili’s mostly second-line defenders.
• General Trench ordered the reserve fleet behind the star bases and arranged the remaining ships in a pocket formation around Star Base No. 3.
• As the fleets maneuvered, Trench launched Wraith fighters with a scientific survey vessel, and they destroyed two Imperial reconnaissance drones.
• Imperial reinforcements of more than 3,000 light cruisers and frigates arrived at the system’s outskirts and began destroying the Interdictors while the main fleet bombarded Rendili’s planetary shield.
• When the Imperial fleet came within eleven light-seconds, Trench ordered the Rendili Defense Fleet to fire, and its warships exchanged their first volleys with the Imperial ships.