Chapter Summaries

Sefrans Tann destroyed the Iron Moon to terrorize Dunn Vesex and draw Thrawn into a battle near Ithor Planet. When the Archangel arrived with the Second Sub-fleet, however, the Ithor System was empty and Thrawn’s fleet was gone.

• The Archangel Titan warship’s Doomsday Weapon turned the Iron Moon into a fireball, killing nearly all its inhabitants and horrifying Parlin-Minor Planet.
• Sefrans Tann explained to General Trench that she had attacked the Iron Moon to pressure Dunn Vesex, knowing Thrawn would see through the ploy.
• After Thrawn’s fleet entered the Ithor System, Tann ordered the First Fleet to return there and deploy a Hyperspace Jammer to hold it in place.
• Once the Archangel finished cooling, Tann led the Second Sub-fleet to Ithor Planet to join the battle.
• Tann arrived in the Ithor System and found it empty, with neither Thrawn nor the First Fleet in sight.

Sefrans Tann and General Trench investigated the disappearance of the First Fleet and discovered an unexplained gravity source along its hyperspace route. They realized the Third Sub-fleet had also departed into danger, leaving the remaining sub-fleets to defend their positions.

• Sefrans Tann found that neither the First Fleet nor Thrawn's fleet had arrived at the Ithor System, and General Trench concluded the First Fleet had been intercepted in hyperspace.
• General Trench ordered the navigator to compare routes calculated for different fleet sizes, revealing an uncharted gravity source that affected larger fleets.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the fleet to push toward the gravity source and use navigation beacons to guide the other warships through.
• Sefrans Tann and General Trench ordered the Third and Fourth Sub-fleets to halt, but learned the Third Sub-fleet had already entered hyperspace half an hour earlier.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the remaining Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Sub-fleets to form defensive positions.

Sefrans Tann and General Trench realized Thrawn had used precise calculations and knowledge of their forces to trap the First Fleet, then the Third Sub-fleet jumped to a fierce battle where two Divinity-class battleships fought an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer. The chapter ended as the newly arrived Archangel Titan entered the battlefield.

• The Third Sub-fleet arrived in the silent Ithor System, and Sefrans Tann called the First Fleet's interception a trap laid by Thrawn.
• General Trench and the navigator determined that orbital movement had shifted the hyperspace lane, explaining why the First Fleet struck the trap while the Third Sub-fleet avoided it.
• After the navigators completed their calculations, General Trench ordered the Archangel Titan to jump to the battlefield.
• Sefrans Tann concluded that Thrawn had predicted her troop deployments and the Emissary's Doomsday Weapon cooldown, then vowed to rely on force rather than strategy.
• The Archangel Titan emerged amid a battle between over a thousand warships, where two Divinity-class battleships exchanged fire with an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer.

Sefrans Tann’s First Fleet was nearly destroyed in Thrawn’s ambush before the Emissary arrived as reinforcements. Tann ordered her battered ships to form a defensive screen while the Emissary deployed a hyperspace interdiction device, setting the decisive battle to begin again.

• Thrawn’s Northern Fleet trapped Sefrans Tann’s First Fleet and destroyed three of its five Oracle-class battleships, leaving only a fraction of its ships intact.
• The Emissary Titan warship arrived, restoring communications and giving the First Fleet hope that the Kingdom of Dawn had not abandoned them.
• General Trench proposed a decapitation strike against the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer.
• Sefrans Tann ordered the First Fleet to stop fighting independently and form a defensive formation around the Emissary.
• Tann directed the fleet to cover the Emissary as it deployed the hyperspace interdiction device and activated the fleet beacon.

Thrawn ordered the Imperial fleet to regroup against Sefrans Tann’s Emissary Titan warship after it devastated an Imperial Star Destroyer and began opening a hyperspace passage. With the battle turning against him, he contacted Dunn Vesex to request reinforcements from Parlin Minor.

• Thrawn ordered the Lila to strengthen its shields and the Imperial fleet to fall back rather than risk the Titan warship’s unknown Doomsday Weapon.
• The Emissary destroyed an Imperial-class Star Destroyer with its laser arrays and began opening a hyperspace passage using a Hyperspace Stabilizer.
• Thrawn ordered the fleet and the Lila to attack before the Separatists could bring in more warships.
• Thrawn contacted Dunn Vesex and requested the remaining defense fleet from Parlin Minor to help sink the Titan warship.

Thrawn apologized to Dunn-Vesex for using Parlin Minor and Iron Moon as part of his strategy against Sefrans-Tann, then urged the governor to send his newly arrived reinforcements. The battle hinged on whose reinforcements arrived first, and Dunn-Vesex prepared to confront Tann’s weaker fleet near Parlin Minor.

• Dunn-Vesex accused Thrawn of risking Parlin Minor and causing six million deaths on Iron Moon, and threatened to send him before the Imperial Military Tribunal.
• Thrawn admitted his command was wrong, offered to resign, and explained that he had used the strategy to counter the Emissary Titan warship.
• Thrawn told Dunn-Vesex that Sefrans-Tann was trying to open a hyperspace passage while his forces attacked the Titan and delayed her reinforcements.
• Thrawn said the battle’s outcome depended on whose reinforcements arrived first and asked Dunn-Vesex to engage the older ships Tann had left near Parlin Minor.
• Dunn-Vesex said his fleet could defeat Tann’s remaining warships and agreed to act.

Dunn-Vesex attacked the understrength forces at Parlin-Minor while Thrawn’s fleet struggled to prevent the Archangel Titan warship from opening a hyperspace route. The battle left Sefrans-Tann’s Northern Fleet scattered across five fronts and Thrawn’s exhausted fleet fighting desperately to keep the Titan and its reinforcements at bay.

• Dunn-Vesex ordered his final Defense Fleet to attack the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Sub-fleets at Parlin-Minor, and three Commander II-class Dreadnoughts opened fire.
• Sefrans-Tann ordered the Second Sub-fleet to wait for a hyperspace route and the Third Sub-fleet to return to Parlin-Minor, but unstable lanes delayed its arrival by two or three hours.
• The battered First Fleet continued to lose ships around the Archangel Titan warship despite the Titan’s reinforcements.
• Thrawn recognized that his strategy had split Sefrans-Tann’s Northern Fleet across five separate forces, leaving each battlefield short of ships.
• Thrawn committed his fleet to stopping the Archangel Titan warship, activating every Interdictor and pushing four Stalker-class Star Destroyers’ gravity well projectors to maximum output.
• The Archangel Titan warship fought Thrawn’s fleet in direct combat and electronic and hyperspace warfare as its navigation system tried to establish a stable route.

Sefrans Tann led the Archangel Titan warship against Thrawn’s fleet while planning a strike on the Imperial ships maintaining the artificial gravity wells. Thrawn prepared to counterattack, but the Archangel activated a Phenomenon Generator that weakened Imperial shields and strengthened its lasers.

• The Archangel destroyed Imperial ships while Thrawn used the Lila and rotating Star Destroyers to absorb its attacks, bringing his losses to more than fifty Imperial-class Star Destroyers and over four hundred smaller vessels.
• General Trench identified four special Imperial Star Destroyers as the sources of the gravity wells, and Sefrans Tann ordered a surprise attack on one while the remaining First Fleet ships prepared to withdraw.
• Sefrans Tann advanced toward the heavily defended left flank with two Oracle-class battleships and activated the Phenomenon Generator instead of attacking the weakly guarded right flank.
• Thrawn read Tann’s maneuver as a cautious attempt to destroy a Stalker-class Star Destroyer, ordered his fleet to encircle her, and expected Dunn Vesex’s reinforcements to arrive soon.
• The Lila reported rising cosmic radiation and increased shield energy consumption, then the Archangel fired distinct yellow lasers that destroyed a Victory II-class Star Destroyer.

Sefrans-Tann’s Archangel Titan warship tore through Thrawn’s fleet but could not hold out until the Kingdom of Dawn’s reinforcements arrived, leaving the battle a costly draw that amounted to a crushing defeat for her. Afterward, General Trench took command, confined Sefrans-Tann for her safety, and began reorganizing the Northern Territory’s defenses.

• Sefrans-Tann used the Archangel Titan warship’s Phenomenon Generator to destroy two Stalker-class Star Destroyers and inflict severe losses on Thrawn’s fleet, but the generator shut down before her reinforcements arrived.
• Thrawn’s fleet withdrew as the Second Sub-fleet reached the battlefield, while the heavily damaged Emissary was escorted back into formation and Dunn-Vesex’s fleet departed.
• Both sides suffered enormous casualties and lost many warships, and the Archangel Titan warship and Lila Super Star Destroyer required lengthy repairs.
• General Trench took command, had B-1 battle droids confine Sefrans-Tann to prevent her from harming herself, and returned to Makito to reorganize the Northern Territory’s defenses.

Thrawn returned to Parin-Minor Planet after fighting Sefrans Tann’s forces to a draw, but the Empire treated his victory as a crime. Governor Dunn Vesex’s officers stripped Thrawn of his rank and ordered him to stand trial.

• Thrawn’s battered fleet arrived at Parin-Minor Planet after its successive campaigns and its costly battle against Sefrans Tann’s superior forces.
• Rael Bentin celebrated the victory, but Thrawn warned him that trouble was coming.
• Dunn Vesex’s fleet and the Lila Super Star Destroyer met Thrawn’s returning ships in silence.
• The Lila locked its fire-control radar onto the Chimaera, and Thrawn ordered his crew to lower shields and power down their weapons and engines.
• Thrawn left the bridge, straightened his uniform in the hangar, and waited as Clone Troopers took control.
• An Imperial Navy colonel stripped Thrawn of his admiral’s rank and ordered him sent to the Northern Territory Military Court on seventeen charges.

Dunn-Vesex was celebrated for defeating Sefrans-Tann’s fleet, while Thrawn was stripped of his rank and arrested over the losses of Iron Moon and Bilbrin Planet. The chapter ended with Dunn hailed across the Empire as the Northern Territory God of War.

• An Imperial officer blamed Thrawn for Iron Moon’s destruction and Bilbrin Planet’s peril, and Thrawn urged the Empire to suppress the resistance on Bilbrin.
• Rael-Benting defended Thrawn’s authority and challenged Dunn-Vesex’s right to arrest him, but Clone Troopers beat Rael and seized Thrawn.
• The Battle of the Twin Heroes was remembered as Dunn-Vesex’s victory over Sefrans-Tann and her Titan warship.
• Imperial Center celebrated Dunn-Vesex as a hero and called him the Northern Territory God of War.

Dunn Vesex secured Imperial approval for Thrawn’s trial and Gillard Perine’s return to the Northern Territory, while the Empire celebrated Dunn as a hero. The Kingdom of Dawn also hailed Sefrans Tann’s campaign as a victory, and she returned to Dawn Star Planet to receive the baton of Fleet Admiral.

• Dunn Vesex submitted a battle report crediting himself with the victory and requested Gillard Perine’s transfer back to the Northern Territory, and the Imperial Center and Wilhuff Tarkin approved.
• Palpatine accepted Dunn’s report and ordered Thrawn transferred to the Supreme Military Court, where he would face the Northern Territory’s seventeen charges.
• The Galactic Empire publicly praised and rewarded Dunn Vesex, making him famous as the Northern Territory God of War.
• The Kingdom of Dawn reported that Sefrans Tann had captured Fondor and Bilbrin, bombarded Iron Moon, and fought Imperial fleets before withdrawing from Parlin Minor.
• Sefrans Tann returned from the Northern Territory as Trench took over command, and she was set to receive the baton of Fleet Admiral on Dawn Star Planet.

The Kingdom of Dawn and the Galactic Empire halted their major offensives after exhausting years of military reserves, while both sides used propaganda to claim success. The chapter leaves their forces preparing for another campaign as a tense standoff develops around Bilbrin Planet.

• The Kingdom of Dawn and the Galactic Empire traded propaganda claims about their victories and blamed each other for civilian deaths and military defeats.
• Gillard Perine returned to the Northern Territory, held Parin-Minor and Bilbrin Planet, and committed more ground troops to suppress Bentiras San-Skar's guerrillas.
• The Kingdom of Dawn retook Ord Mantell Planet, abandoned Ithor Planet, and began building a Stargate near Ord Mantell.
• The Chiss territory sent its first fleet to Ansion Planet and began supplying commanders and advisers to the Malarian Alliance.
• The Malarian Alliance began constructing a Stargate between Ansion Planet and the Chiss territory, while its fleet prepared to station on Dorin Planet.
• General Trench sent part of his fleet to Bilbrin Planet, where both sides fought to supply their ground forces and harass enemy transports.

Both the Kingdom of Dawn and the Galactic Empire halted their offensives across several fronts as they consolidated their positions and weighed their resources. The chapter leaves the Eastern Territory locked in a stalemate, with General Grievous relying on guerrilla warfare until more planets join the fight.

• Major General Bentilas San Skar dispersed his 2.4 million troops among underground bases on Bilbrin Planet and planned to wear down Major General Vos Parker's Imperial forces through guerrilla attacks.
• General Trench kept the Northern Territory in a defensive posture while the Kingdom of Dawn waited for the Archangel Titan to finish repairs.
• Army General Ling Liang held Fondor Planet as Darth Vader stabilized his defenses, while The Givin and the Vaxians prepared to reinforce and move Yag'Dhul Planet.
• Sefrans Tann drove Imperial forces from the Southern Territory, and the Kingdom of Dawn made Tatooine a permanently free port while General C continued fighting the Thirteenth Army.
• General Grievous fought the larger Imperial Twelfth Army in the Eastern Territory and waited for The Givin and former Confederacy planets to commit to war.

The chapter explained why General Grievous could only wage guerrilla war against the Galactic Empire, as Oruba-Goresla’s support for the conflict was opposed by the other powerful Hutt families. It then described the chaos in the Mandalore star sector, where autonomous systems, pirates, and Mandalore’s declaration of autonomy destabilized the region.

• General Grievous avoided aggressive moves after the fighting on the Northern Territory and Fondor Planet fronts subsided, while he served as a military advisor on the Eastern Territory front.
• Oruba-Goresla rebuilt the Hutt Grand Council as an advisory Elder Council, but the Goresla Family retained decision-making power as the Besadi and Desilijic families dwindled.
• Marlo-Kunnarac and Zieta-Anjiliac opposed war with the Galactic Empire and warned Oruba-Goresla against forcing the proposal through the Elder Council.
• Oruba-Goresla assembled a volunteer fleet under the banner of protecting Hutt commercial interests and handed it to General Grievous, leaving the Goresla Family as his campaign’s only backer.
• The Mandalore star sector remained chaotic, with thousands of systems demanding autonomy while still seeking aid from the Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Mandalore ended its former division and declared autonomy as pirates operated across the sector’s complicated hyperspace routes.

Gal Saxon unified Mandalore and won recognition from both the Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn, while each power tried to secure influence over his government. Bo-Katan Kryze and Jango Fett refused to oppose him, and Mandalore’s growing cooperation with the Empire left the sector appearing to drift closer to it.

• Gal Saxon united Mandalore, proclaimed himself Grand Duke, and reignited Mandalorian national consciousness.
• The Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn recognized Gal Saxon and funded Mandalore’s reconstruction because neither could rule the sector directly.
• The Galactic Empire cultivated warlords under Gal Saxon, while the Kingdom of Dawn continued trying to enlist Bo-Katan Kryze against him.
• Bo-Katan Kryze rejected the Kingdom of Dawn’s proposal, and Jango Fett supported her refusal to undermine Gal Saxon.
• Gal Saxon signed mutual aid and commercial agreements with both powers, but the Empire offered deeper cooperation than the Kingdom of Dawn.

Matt Horner returned to command the Kingdom of Dawn’s Navy and confronted the kingdom’s military and economic crisis after Operation Zero failed. He visited the defeated Sefrans Tann in prison and ordered her to write a detailed battle report if she wanted a chance to see Tang Xiao.

• On Sui Planet, Matt Horner told Mira Han he had accepted a return to service because he wanted to understand war and prevent deaths, and he departed for the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Sefrans Tann returned to Dawn Star Planet and was appointed Fleet Admiral, then disappeared from public view.
• The Kingdom of Dawn announced Matt Horner’s reinstatement as Commander of the Navy while the war with the Galactic Empire raged across several fronts.
• Matt Horner assessed the damaged fleet, the failed Operation Zero, and worsening domestic tensions, then met with Daphne Clement and Harry Seldon to discuss new economic and war policies.
• Matt Horner visited Sefrans Tann in the palace dungeon and gave her a month to prepare a detailed battle report, threatening to deny her a chance to see Tang Xiao if she failed.
• Sefrans Tann hesitated, then took the holographic projector Matt Horner had thrown into her cell.

Matt Hona and Qi Jian discussed Sefrans Tann’s defeat by Thrawn and considered a new strategy against the Galactic Empire. At Fondor Planet, the Kingdom of Dawn struggled to control the world after Alexia Ashford claimed it and transformed it with the T-Veronica Virus, while Tang Xiao remained missing.

• Matt Hona and Qi Jian discussed how Tang Xiao had driven Sefrans Tann to challenge Thrawn, and how Thrawn defeated her with an improvised hyperspace ambush called Thrawn’s Pincer.
• Matt Hona said Operation Zero had failed and hinted that he and Hari Seldon were developing a new plan for a swift campaign against the Galactic Empire.
• Qi Jian and Matt Hona discussed Ander Viking’s exceptional talent, while Matt Hona objected that he was still too young to take part in the war.
• Alexia Ashford occupied Fondor Planet with her T-Veronica brood nest, infecting most of its population and producing billions of mutant creatures that overwhelmed the planet’s battle droids.
• Daphne Clement asked Alexia Ashford to stop the virus from destroying Fondor Planet’s industrial capacity, but Alexia refused to discuss a solution without Tang Xiao.
• The Kingdom of Dawn failed to locate Tang Xiao, and Alexia Ashford said Fondor Planet would remain as it was while he was absent.

The Kingdom of Dawn accepted Alexia Ashford’s control of Fondor Planet and reorganized its forces around the captured industrial world. As Darth Lilim closed in on the starving Hydra, Alexia ambushed Hydra and claimed her as a test subject.

• The Kingdom of Dawn High Command decided to preserve Alexia Ashford’s position on Fondor Planet and use its robots and transformed engineers for industrial production.
• Fondor Planet began manufacturing Stargate components, while the core was secretly built on Planet Kaal and the Stargate was scheduled for completion in January 9BBY.
• On April 7, 10BBY, Matt Horner reorganized the military into Northern and Southern Theaters, placed Ling Liang over the Southern Theater and Trench over the Northern Theater, and ordered the Malarian Alliance into the war effort.
• Darth Lilim pursued the exhausted Hydra through Fondor Planet’s metal storage area, where Hydra made a desperate attack but was impaled by a mutated vine.
• Alexia Ashford captured the unconscious Hydra as a test subject, prompting Darth Lilim to claim that Hydra belonged to her.

Tang Xiao returned to Mortis and persuaded the dying Father to give him a key to the Son’s resting place, intending to become the Son and kill Darth Sidious. The Daughter agreed to accompany him as they flew toward the Land of the Everlasting Sleep.

• Tang Xiao found Mortis collapsing and learned from the Daughter that Father was nearing death.
• The Daughter brought Tang Xiao to the monastery, where Father’s weakened power barred their entrance.
• Tang Xiao told Father that killing Darth Sidious and becoming the Son was the only way to restore balance to the Force.
• Father warned that the Dark Side would corrupt Tang Xiao, but gave him a heavy stone key after Tang Xiao said the Daughter could stop him if he lost control.
• Tang Xiao convinced the Daughter to accompany him, and they flew toward the Land of the Everlasting Sleep.