Chapter Summaries

Blackhole took command of the Hegemony and questioned Hydra about the God of Destruction’s temple after Jerec rescued her. After studying her strange coordinates for three days, Blackhole set the Super Star Destroyer on a course into the Valtaullu Maelstrom.

• Jerec welcomed Blackhole aboard the Hegemony and reported that Hydra had been captured and had revealed information about Coleman-Lao.
• Blackhole visited the wounded Hydra, who explained that Darth Lilim tortured her and the Priestess, formerly Depa Billaba, searched her soul before Hydra escaped with the temple’s coordinates.
• Jerec handed Blackhole Hydra’s data storage device, which projected a shifting purple light instead of ordinary coordinates.
• Hydra explained that the temple lay inside the Valtaullu Rift, between their dimension and hyperspace.
• After three days of studying the device, Blackhole ordered the Hegemony to enter hyperspace toward the Valtaullu Maelstrom.

Blackhole guided the Dominion Super Star Destroyer through the Valtaullu Rift and revealed the ruined temple of the God of Destruction, Korman Lao. He sent Jerec to investigate the ruins, leaving the shuttle descending toward the temple despite the planet having no atmosphere.

• The Dominion Super Star Destroyer entered the Valtaullu Maelstrom, and Blackhole insisted that Hydra’s information about the hidden temple was true.
• Blackhole used the Dark Side Force to reveal a planet inside the Valtaullu Rift and explained that Korman Lao had hidden his temple there.
• The crew saw the immense ruins covering one side of the planet and the fragments of structures floating around it.
• Blackhole ordered Jerec to bring Hydra along, have her dressed, and investigate the ruins; Fa-Zol emerged from the medical bay while Jerec ignored him.
• Jerec piloted a Lambda-class shuttle to the triangular wreckage and found nothing before steering toward the temple, where sensors detected breathable air despite the lack of an atmosphere.

Jerec, Blackhole, and the others entered the ruined temple and followed a procession of phantom monsters underground, where Blackhole sought the inheritance of the God of Destruction. When Sariss attacked a human statue at Blackhole’s command, it came to life and struck at her.

• Blackhole forced the weakened Hydra to scout ahead, while Sariss dragged her by a barbed collar and Yun kept Fa-Zor away from her.
• Blackhole led the group toward an underground opening as enormous phantom monsters appeared and moved into the passage.
• The group entered a hall whose walls bore reliefs of the monsters, and Blackhole declared that he would claim Coleman-Lau’s power to create them.
• The phantoms vanished in a vast hall containing a human warrior statue, and Blackhole ordered Sariss to destroy it.
• The statue animated, kicked at Sariss, and pursued her as the monster reliefs began to glow.

Blackhole’s Inquisitors fought their way through the temple ruins and confronted the Priestess and Judgment at the altar of Korriban Lao. As the battle began, Sariss realized the two defenders might have prepared another trap.

• Sariss escaped the giant statue while Jerec’s group destroyed the glowing reliefs to stop the rebounding Alchemical Beast phantoms.
• The Priestess revealed that Hydra had been sacrificed to Korriban Lao and opened a hidden passage beneath the altar, then she and Judgment descended into it.
• Jerec’s group smashed Lucien Draay’s statue with temple debris and followed the Force traces to the temple’s deepest chamber.
• Blackhole’s group found the Priestess and Judgment beside Korriban Lao’s statue, and both sides ignited their Lightsabers for battle.
• The Priestess fought Jerec, Mao, and Bokas Ecka while Judgment faced Sariss and Yun, and Sariss grew wary when Judgment appeared to smile.

Judgment unleashed the Moor amulet’s power, transforming under the influence of the ancient Sith Karness Muur and overwhelming her opponents. As the battle continued, Priestess engaged Fa-Zol while Judgment focused on Blackhole’s spreading shadow.

• Judgment switched to Ataru and attacked Blackhole, but Fa-Zol blocked her strike while possessed by Blackhole.
• Judgment’s Moor amulet released a powerful influence that made Yun convulse and forced Sariss to pull him back, while Jerec struggled against its effects.
• Judgment’s Force turned dark as Karness Muur’s power took hold, and Jerec retreated while Priestess killed Mao.
• Bokas-Aika charged Judgment, who killed him and used the amulet to dissolve his head into dust.
• Priestess intercepted Fa-Zol and fought him with Form VII Juyo while Judgment watched Blackhole’s shadow spread outward.

Blackhole engulfed the battlefield in darkness, trapping Priestess and Judgment in a desperate fight against his shadowy attacks and Fa-Zor. While Jerec and Sariss watched from hiding, Jerec discovered that Hydra had gone unnoticed beneath Korrman Lao’s statue and was writing strange words on it with her own blood.

• Blackhole spread an impenetrable darkness that blocked sight and Force perception, then attacked Priestess and Judgment through shifting shadows and Fa-Zor.
• Priestess used the True Seer to detect the dark figures, while Judgment relied on Force precognition to block Fa-Zor’s attacks.
• Jerec fled to cover as Sariss helped Yun approach, and Sariss realized that Jan Drouga and Hydra had disappeared.
• Jerec used his Force Vision to locate Hydra beneath Korrman Lao’s statue, where she was hidden from everyone else, including Blackhole.
• Hydra stabbed herself in the chest and used her blood to write incomprehensible words on the statue.

Hydra transformed into a Dark Alchemical Beast and fought Blackhole while Judgment and the Priestess turned against Jerec’s forces. Judgment confronted Sariss with the truth about her past and her feelings for Yun, but Darth Sidious appeared in Jan Drogen’s body and killed them both with Force lightning.

• Hydra survived her wounds as the statue of Kolman-Lau awakened, freezing Blackhole’s attackers and transforming her into a Dark Alchemical Beast.
• Hydra battled Blackhole while the Priestess engaged Jerec and Judgment confronted Sariss and Yun.
• Judgment revealed that Blackhole was Sariss’s father and had abused her, urging her to resist her past and accept Yun’s care.
• Blackhole struck Yun with Force lightning and shattered his heart as Sariss hesitated.
• Darth Sidious revealed himself inside Jan Drogen’s body, then shattered Sariss’s heart with another lightning strike.

Darth Sidious overwhelmed Judgment and the Priestess as the battle in the temple turned in his favor. Jerec’s warning about an attack on the Hegemony distracted Sidious long enough for Darth Malthael to ambush him, but Sidious retaliated by engulfing Malthael in lightning.

• Blackhole froze when Darth Sidious killed Sariss, allowing Hydra to tear his shadow apart, while Jerec fled the hall in terror and heard a mysterious voice offer him revenge, life, and power in exchange for submission.
• Judgment and the Priestess attacked Darth Sidious, but he countered their blows, broke the Priestess’s attacks with Shatterpoint, and drained Karness Muur’s power from Judgment.
• Jerec returned to the hall with an alarm reporting that a Separatist Envoy-class Titan Battleship had appeared and the Hegemony was under attack.
• Darth Malthael ambushed Sidious with Crimson Lightning and a strike toward his heart, but Sidious escaped into the shadows; Hydra continued mauling Fa-Zol as Blackhole joined the fight again.
• Darth Malthael confronted Sidious, who killed Jerec from a distance and claimed the Kingdom of Dawn was about to lose its leader before engulfing Malthael in lightning.

Darth Malthael and Darth Sidious fought in the collapsing temple, escalating from reflected lightning to a battle of destructive Force powers. Darth Sidious unleashed Force Storms, but Darth Malthael evaded them through the void; with Blackhole enabling Sidious to move through shadows, Judgment and the Priestess attacked Blackhole to disrupt the advantage.

• Darth Malthael and Darth Sidious repeatedly reflected and strengthened lightning until it formed a sphere that exploded, destroying the temple structures.
• Darth Malthael used Death Force and yellow sand against Darth Sidious’s black-hole-like Force before Sidious unleashed a Force Storm that annihilated everything around him.
• Darth Malthael escaped into the void with his Dark Archon power, then emerged to attack Sidious with Crimson Lightning, but another Force Storm destroyed the attack.
• Darth Malthael used his perception of the Force to evade Sidious’s expanding Force Storms and found that Sidious struggled to counter void travel.
• Blackhole appeared and helped Darth Sidious move through shadows, so Judgment and the Priestess charged at Blackhole from opposite sides.

Darth Malthael, Judgment, and Priestess battled Darth Sidious and Blackhole until the Son arrived and overwhelmed them. As Blackhole helped Darth Sidious flee, he saw his daughter Sariss walking out alive, leaving him shaken.

• Blackhole used his shadows to help Darth Sidious evade Darth Malthael while Judgment and Priestess pursued him.
• Hydra attacked Blackhole, disrupting his shadow travel and giving Darth Malthael an opening to strike Darth Sidious with Energy Feedback and Crimson Lightning.
• Darth Sidious unleashed Force Storm around himself, forcing Darth Malthael to escape with Judgment and Priestess while sacrificing his arm and Kresh's Gauntlet.
• The Son appeared, severed Jan Droga's hands, tore apart Darth Sidious's Force Storm, and drove Darth Sidious and Blackhole into retreat.
• Blackhole saw Sariss, whom he believed had been killed, emerge unharmed and stare around in confusion.

Koronar fled after the bald corpse shattered his faith and injured his soul, while the corpse of the “Son” returned to its stasis pod. Tang Xiao awoke overwhelmed by the Son’s lingering power and destroyed part of the temple before regaining control.

• Koronar watched the temple collapse around Darth Sidious’s desperate battle and recalled how the bald corpse had torn apart his shadow projection and wounded his soul.
• Koronar found that he had lost control of his shadows and ordered the Hegemony to return to the Imperial Center.
• Koronar later left the Galactic Empire and went into seclusion; Armand Isard took control of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, and the Inquisitorius was dissolved.
• The corpse of the “Son” examined its hands, asked who and where it was, then entered a black stasis pod and lost consciousness.
• Tang Xiao awoke screaming, struck his head against the wall, and manifested crimson flames and black Protoss armor.
• Tang Xiao smashed the ground with overwhelming force, then calmed down and collapsed as Judgment and the Priestess watched.

Darth Malthael explained how he used the Son’s corpse to defeat Darth Sidious and devised a plan to exploit Blackhole’s hidden attachment to Sariss. He arranged for information about Coleman Kcaj’s temple to reach Jerec, bringing Blackhole and Sariss together on an expedition.

• Tang Xiao controlled the Son’s corpse and crushed Darth Sidious, while Blackhole’s shadow powers made him difficult to catch.
• Darth Malthael revived Sariss because he knew Blackhole’s buried attachment to his daughter could be used against him.
• Darth Malthael revised Darth Lilim’s plan and chose Coleman Kcaj’s Relics as a lure, since Blackhole was searching for them.
• Darth Malthael learned from the Son’s sealed memories that Coleman Kcaj had created Dark Alchemical Beasts after surviving an ancient cataclysm.
• Darth Malthael shared the information with Darth Lilim, Judgment, and the others, then placed the temple’s location in Hydra’s Force storage device.
• Hydra passed the location to Jerec’s team, bringing Blackhole and Sariss together on the mission.

Tang Xiao’s plan to draw out Blackhole and Darth Sidious escalated into a deadly battle, leaving Blackhole’s shadow power shattered and Sidious’s proxy destroyed. After recovering, Tang Xiao prepared to launch a final offensive against the Galactic Empire and found an unexpected opportunity in Jerec’s preserved corpse.

• Darth Malthael resurrected Sariss to break Blackhole’s faith in his power, then used the Son’s corpse to destroy Blackhole’s shadow projection and kill Jan Drodga, severely injuring Darth Sidious and nearly suffering a backlash himself.
• Tang Xiao regained consciousness and learned that the Hegemony had departed with Blackhole aboard, while Blackhole and Sidious had both been badly damaged.
• Tang Xiao ordered the final offensive against the Galactic Empire after returning to Dawn Star Planet, and the Priestess knelt in acceptance.
• Tang Xiao rejected Sariss’s request to become his disciple, assigned her to teach at the Twilight Covenant, and implanted a black Kyber Crystal in her chest to strengthen her.
• Judgment showed Tang Xiao the corpses of Yun and Jerec, and Tang Xiao realized Jerec could be useful if resurrected.

Tang Xiao resurrected Jerec and learned how his hunger for knowledge had led him to betray Palpatine. He appointed Jerec to lead the Twilight Covenant and renamed him Temperance, leaving him bound to study the ancient catastrophe without a Lightsaber.

• Tang Xiao revived Jerec with a black Kyber Crystal, and Jerec pledged himself to his new master.
• Jerec explained that he had betrayed Palpatine after the Emperor restricted his access to knowledge and killed his subordinates.
• Tang Xiao offered Jerec a chance to investigate the catastrophe from a hundred thousand years ago and appointed him headmaster of the Twilight Covenant.
• Tang Xiao destroyed Jerec's Lightsaber and declared that Jerec had died, naming him Temperance.

Tang Xiao revived Yun, remade Jerec as Temperance, and appointed him headmaster of the Twilight Covenant and chief advisor. He sent the others to explore the temple while Judgment pursued the surviving Hydra.

• Tang Xiao destroyed Jerec’s blood-red Kyber Crystal, stripped him of his Lightsaber and combat role, and named him Temperance, charging him to pursue knowledge in balance.
• Tang Xiao revived Yun with a black Kyber Crystal and assigned him and Sariss to serve as teachers alongside Temperance.
• Tang Xiao appointed Temperance headmaster of the Twilight Covenant and chief advisor, freeing the Priestess to join him on the front lines.
• Tang Xiao told the Priestess and Temperance to continue exploring the temple and ordered Judgment to capture Hydra, who had survived the battle.
• The Priestess, Temperance, Sariss, and Yun split up to explore, while Judgment pursued Hydra as she raced along the temple walls and ceiling.

The chapter described the Fourth Civilization’s frigate designs, their weapons, roles, and changing status in service. It ended with Vasari warships awaiting wider deployment until improved stargate technology eased their logistical constraints.

• The Fourth Civilization produced Hammer-class and Knight-class frigates early on, using the Hammer in service and selling the Knight for foreign currency.
• The standardized Pulsar-class frigate served in the navy and escort fleets before most were dismantled to keep its pulse cannon off the black market.
• Cobalt Alloy, Stilat, Shriken, Javelin, Valkyrie, Executioner, and Sentinel frigates served in varied fleet roles, with several retired, stored, or replaced as military needs changed.
• The navy used costly Purification-class stealth ships for suicidal torpedo attacks and required their operators to join the Rebirth Plan.
• The Ravasa Dou Practitioner Heavy Frigate emerged as the Fourth Civilization’s most advanced frigate, while Vasari warships awaited deployment pending improved stargate logistics.

Tang Xiao captured Hydra after completing her transformation into a Dark Alchemical Beast and tried to redirect her desire for revenge toward Darth Sidious and Blackhole. Hydra accepted the power Tang Xiao gave her, but the chapter ended as he urged her to resist the fate that had destroyed her.

• Judgment and Tang Xiao cornered and captured the fleeing Hydra.
• Tang Xiao examined Hydra’s incomplete transformation and recalled how Darth Lilim and Alexia Ashford had tortured her for half a year.
• Tang Xiao used Coleman Kcaj’s research and Hydra’s anger to transform her and prepare her as bait for Sariss and Blackhole.
• Tang Xiao asked Hydra whether she wanted revenge, and she agreed.
• Tang Xiao blamed Darth Sidious and Blackhole for abandoning Hydra on Fondor and asked whether she would submit to fate or break its cycle.

Tang Xiao claimed Hydra after unlocking the means to control her and prepared to leave the Valtaullu Rift for a final strike against the Galactic Empire. Meanwhile, Lin Nanyi led the Kingdom of Dawn fleet toward Lothal to destroy the Empire’s new super warship, the Eye.

• Tang Xiao led Hydra to Korman-Lau’s statue and studied its data for a way to control the Dark Alchemical Beasts.
• Tang Xiao activated the statue with Kanzal Exile words, obtained a mark on his hand, and removed Hydra’s crystalline shell as she submitted to him.
• Priestess, Temperance, and the others returned with records and Relics, and Tang Xiao ordered the group to depart and prepare to attack the Galactic Empire.
• About half a month earlier, Lin Nanyi led the Eastern Territory Expeditionary Force from Dawn Star Planet toward Lothal to destroy the Eye.
• Lin Nanyi hoped the victory would earn him promotion to become the Kingdom of Dawn’s fifth admiral.

General Grievous brought the damaged Destruction battleship to Kubindi planet for repairs, only to discover that The Eye of Palpatine had tracked down the hidden industrial base. The Destruction opened fire to defend the planet, but its attack failed to penetrate the enemy’s shields, leaving Grievous facing a battle he expected to lose.

• After fleeing the battle near Kashyyyk planet, General Grievous sent the damaged Destruction battleship to Kubindi planet for repairs.
• The chapter described how the Kingdom of Dawn developed Kubindi planet with stellar energy facilities, protective umbrellas, and shipyards, earning the Kubaz people's support.
• Less than a week after the Destruction entered the shipyard, Kubindi planet's hyperspace outpost detected massive jump fluctuations.
• General Grievous deployed his forces, pulled the Destruction from the shipyard, and retracted the five umbrellas as The Eye of Palpatine arrived with civilian vessels and smaller escorts.
• General Grievous sent the Destruction to confront The Eye of Palpatine, but its super Star Destroyer cannon missed twice and its single hit failed to break the enemy's Deflector Shield.

General Grievous led the damaged Destruction battleship to remote Malagarr Planet, where it prepared a final ambush for The Eye of Palpatine before he fled. Meanwhile, Lin Nanyi's enormous fleet arrived at Lothal Planet, terrifying Governor Kael Marr as the Kingdom of Dawn’s military presence overwhelmed the planet.

• General Grievous noticed The Eye of Palpatine and its accompanying ships were targeting the Destruction, so he fled rather than let them attack the Kubindi industrial zone.
• The Eye of Palpatine pursued the Destruction relentlessly, ignored its EMP cannons, and destroyed the fast cruisers General Grievous sent to attack it.
• After learning that Admiral Gideon Tarkin’s fleet had reopened a front in Hutt Space, General Grievous led the Destruction toward remote Malagarr Planet to keep The Eye of Palpatine away from Kubindi.
• Four days before Lin Nanyi’s fleet arrived, General Grievous prepared the Destruction’s final ambush at Malagarr Planet, then escaped aboard his fighter before The Eye of Palpatine arrived.
• Lin Nanyi’s fleet of 150 capital ships, 200 Heavy Cruisers, and 1,000 smaller warships arrived at Lothal Planet, and Governor Kael Marr hurried to meet him, terrified by the fleet’s arrival.