Chapter Summaries

Thrawn's fleet gained the upper hand against Zaarin's rebels, while Darth Vader reached the flagship Honor and Palpatine escaped captivity. Zaarin's coup collapsed, Arden Lyn fled with him, and Cassius Olcott faced arrest as his brief claim to power crumbled.

• Thrawn kept his fleet advancing despite the Eclipse-class ship and TIE Defender attacks, then followed coordinates Darth Vader sent to reach Palpatine.
• Arden Lyn recognized Vader's arrival and ordered Zaarin to retreat, but she discovered Palpatine had escaped the laser cage.
• Darth Vader boarded the Honor and fought through the ship as an explosion struck its engine section; Arden Lyn escaped with Jing Fang, Zaarin, and Sok aboard a TIE Defender.
• Darth Sidious met Vader aboard the Honor and ordered him to leave no one alive.
• Cassius Olcott declared Palpatine removed and named himself executive chairman, but the IDA surrounded his hiding place while Capital Defense Fleet commander Herman Traak ignored his demands.

After crushing Zaarin and Cassius Olcott’s rebellion on Coruscant, the Empire hunted the rebels while Zaarin escaped and rebuilt his fleet. As the Empire moved against the secessionist worlds, the Kingdom of Dawn’s forces advanced on Palanci Planet.

• Isanne Isard interrogated Cassius Olcott and showed him the arrests of senators and officials and the assault on his family estate, breaking his resolve and making him confess.
• Palpatine addressed the Empire as clone troopers and Imperial forces occupied Coruscant, while the Planetary Shield rose over the planet.
• Thrawn failed to capture Demetrius Zaarin, who escaped with Arden Lyn and the TIE Defender fighters; the remaining rebel ships surrendered, and Thrawn returned to his cell with new privileges.
• Zaarin and Arden Lyn regrouped with their allies, assembled a much larger fleet, and set course for Omar Planet to seize its TIE fighter production lines.
• More than a hundred planets and dozens of Noble Houses remained in rebellion, Darth Vader’s fleet surrounded Skako, and Watto Tambor asked the Kingdom of Dawn for help.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s warships advanced through the wreckage around Palanci Planet, where the fighting had ended and the planet’s surface burned.

Tang Xiao’s remaining reason guided the Kingdom of Dawn to attack Palanci Planet as rebellion erupted in the Imperial Center. After Palanci fell, he acknowledged that his battlefield was shifting while Daughter threatened to kill him.

• Tang Xiao ordered the Northern Fleet to attack Palanci Planet once unrest began in the Imperial Center, despite Qi Jian’s concerns about its strong defenses.
• The Northern Fleet launched a full assault, and the Archangel destroyed seven Imperial-class Star Destroyers, sending Palanci’s First System Army defenders fleeing.
• The Kingdom of Dawn destroyed more than fifty Star Destroyers and over three hundred smaller ships, then landed ground forces and captured Palanci Planet on September 3.
• News arrived that an uprising in the Imperial Center had endangered Emperor Palpatine and that the First System Army was blamed for leaving Coruscant early.
• Tang Xiao revealed that he had helped spark the Imperial rebellion and had attacked Palanci using the last of his reason against the Dark Side’s corruption.
• Daughter pressed a jade-green dagger to Tang Xiao’s throat and said she awaited the moment she could kill him.

Tang Xiao prepared to confront Darth Sidious while warning that using the Son’s power could overwhelm him with the Dark Side. Across the Empire, rebellions and military losses mounted as Palpatine dissolved the Senate, punished the conspirators, and reorganized his forces.

• Tang Xiao rejected Daughter’s warning, declared that he would kill Darth Sidious, and went to prepare for their decisive battle.
• Demetrius Zaarin raided Omar Planet’s industrial facilities as more than a hundred planets declared independence and the Rebel Alliance intensified its attacks.
• Palpatine dissolved the Imperial Senate, imprisoned the senators who had voted against him, and executed Cassius Olcott and Herman Strack.
• Palpatine promoted Thrawn to Imperial Admiral, gave him the captured Eclipse-class prototype as his future flagship, and ordered him to hunt down Zaarin’s remaining forces.
• Palpatine sent High Inquisitor Antillis Tremayne and the remaining Imperial Inquisitorius after Arden Lyn, then assigned the capital region’s Defense Fleet to Ruffan Digorinus instead of recalling the First System Army.

Oswald Tessik struggled to contain the First System Army’s retreat after Palanci Planet fell, while Palpatine’s distrust left him politically isolated. Before Tessik could submit a plan to contract the defensive line, Coruscant ordered the army to retake Palanci Planet and Bilbrin Planet, leaving him horrified.

• Oswald Tessik learned that three sub-fleets were retreating from Palanci Planet and ordered the commanders arrested and sent to Coruscant for public execution.
• Tessik sent two more sub-fleets to reinforce the front and reviewed a plan to contract defenses, which would require ceding part of the Core Worlds.
• Tessik reflected that Palpatine distrusted him and the First System Army, despite their loyalty, and had barred them from returning to Coruscant during Marshal Zarin’s rebellion.
• Tessik resolved to send Palpatine the plan to contract the defensive line and avoid a disastrous attempt to retake lost territory.
• Coruscant ordered the Goalkeeper Plan carried out on its original date, directing the First System Army’s full main force to retake Palanci Planet and then Bilbrin Planet.

Oswald Tessik ordered the First System Army to carry out the Goalkeeper Plan despite lacking the forces for a safe counteroffensive, while Palpatine sent Darth Vader to Skako and mocked him about his loyalty. Vader ordered an investigation into the Shadow Hand and the Empire’s Fifth Army, as the Kingdom of Dawn’s Northern Fleet received a warning that the Empire might attack Palanci Planet.

• Oswald Tessik ordered his forces to abandon some defenses, regroup on Scipio, and launch a counteroffensive against Palanci Planet under the Goalkeeper Plan.
• Palpatine questioned Darth Vader about his late arrival, approved the Goalkeeper Plan, and ordered him to let the fighting on Skako begin its opening act.
• Darth Vader ordered a black-robed figure to investigate the Shadow Hand and determine the organization and location of the Galactic Empire’s Fifth Army.
• An intelligence officer warned General Trench that the Galactic Empire might soon launch a full-scale offensive against Palanci Planet.

Ander-Viking warned General Trench against a decisive fleet battle at Palanci Planet, while Oswald-Tessik committed the Galactic Empire’s First System Army to the Goalkeeper Plan. The Empire attacked Palanci Planet in overwhelming numbers, and the chapter ended as its forces charged the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.

• General Trench ordered his fleets to prepare for a multi-pronged attack, but Ander-Viking argued that the Kingdom of Dawn should avoid a decisive battle and questioned the plan’s strategic purpose.
• Oswald-Tessik learned that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was withdrawing toward Palanci Planet and ordered the Imperial army to attack in two days rather than cancel the Goalkeeper Plan.
• The Kingdom of Dawn intensified its ground offensive on Dantooine and used Geth raids to strain Dunn-Vesex’s forces, while Dunn refused to join Tessik’s operation.
• On September 11, 9BBY, Oswald-Tessik assembled the First System Army and launched Combat Groups A and B toward Palanci Planet, with the Reaper and Guardian as their flagships.
• After entering the system, Tessik found the Kingdom of Dawn fleet near the fifth planet and ordered Combat Group A to charge while Combat Group B attacked Palanci Planet.

Ensign Dennis Henk led Turret B-16 aboard The Punk as it attacked Kingdom of Dawn frigates, but the enemy ships revealed powerful shields and remote repair while disrupting the Star Destroyer’s systems. As The Punk came under fire and began a sharp turn, Henk saw an enormous disk-shaped structure fill his targeting view.

• Dennis Henk directed his turret through repeated five-shot salvos at a Kingdom of Dawn frigate but initially missed its fast, agile target.
• One of Henk’s beams grazed a nearby frigate, damaging its shield and engines, and the turret crew celebrated their expected battle allowance.
• The damaged frigate slowed, but a pale green shield blocked Henk’s next salvo, while a nearby cruiser repaired the frigate remotely.
• Henk identified the cruiser as a Hell Angel-class Battlecruiser and fired at it, but the same green shield stopped his shots as unknown energy disrupted the turret’s systems.
• The Punk took fire on its port side and began a massive turn, and Henk saw an enormous disk-shaped metal structure through his monocular.

Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik led Combat Group A into an unexpectedly early battle with the Kingdom of Dawn’s main fleet near Palanci Planet. After the Archangel Titan’s Doomsday Weapon and the Dawn fleet’s fighters inflicted heavy damage, Tessik learned that Combat Group B had been trapped and would take at least four hours to arrive, leaving his force to face the enemy alone.

• Oswald Tessik discovered that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet had deployed near Planet Five, forcing Combat Group A to engage it earlier than planned.
• Tessik ordered the Reaper to concentrate its fire on the Archangel Titan while the Dawn fleet used the Taowu’s Fleet Shield and interference field to protect its formation.
• The Archangel Titan fired its Doomsday Weapon, destroying six Imperial capital ships and more than twenty smaller warships, while damaging or destroying several Shield Ship II vessels.
• Kingdom of Dawn drones and fighters attacked the Imperial fleet, and its Divinity-class battleships advanced as Imperial losses mounted.
• Tessik ordered Combat Group B to reinforce him, but his adjutant reported that it was trapped by interference devices near Palanci Planet and would need at least four hours to arrive.

Oswald Tessik realized the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was using a gravitational slingshot around Planet Five to escape after badly damaging Combat Group A. Ander Viking’s fleet reached hyperspace and withdrew to Bilbrin, leaving Palanci Planet behind as part of a larger plan to seize Scipio.

• Oswald Tessik ordered Combat Group A to continue fighting while waiting for Combat Group B to arrive.
• Oswald Tessik discovered that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet was accelerating through a gravitational slingshot maneuver and ordered his ships to pursue and extend their interdiction fields.
• Combat Group B arrived too late to stop the Kingdom of Dawn fleet from escaping the interdiction fields and jumping to hyperspace toward Bilbrin.
• General Trench discussed the withdrawal with Ander Viking, who explained that holding Palanci Planet would spread their forces and undermine their plan to capture Scipio.
• General Trench admired Ander Viking’s tactical planning, which had used advance acceleration and interference devices to damage the Imperial fleet before withdrawing.

Dennis Henk survived the destruction of his turret aboard the damaged Star Destroyer The Punk, only to be sealed inside by a security robot as the ship continued its mission. Meanwhile, Imperial Marshal Oswald Tessik recognized the cost of the battle for Palanci and ordered a probing assault on Bilbrin Planet after the Imperial Center demanded the Reaper’s safety.

• Dennis Henk woke beneath wreckage in turret B-16 and remembered The Punk’s defeat during the battle against the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.
• A K-X security robot sealed Henk inside the turret, explaining that The Punk had orders to attack Bilbrin Planet and that his rescue was outside its mission.
• Oswald Tessik reviewed the Empire’s heavy losses at Palanci and realized that, despite recapturing the planet, his fleet had lost the battle strategically.
• After the Imperial Center remained silent, Tessik announced that he would lead a suicidal assault on Bilbrin Planet.
• The Imperial Center replied, “Please ensure the safety of the Super Star Destroyer,” so Tessik ordered a detached fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers to conduct a probing fire reconnaissance.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet crushed Oswald Tessik’s attack on Bilbrin Planet, while the Empire recast his defeat as a heroic sacrifice and transformed him into a mechanized commander. As Dunn Vesex realized the fleet might next target Parlin Minor, he feared the Northern Territory was in danger.

• Major General Luo Huacheng sent three Divinity-class battleships and other forces to meet Tessik’s thirty Star Destroyers at Bilbrin Planet, where the Imperial fleet was swiftly defeated.
• A mysterious black-robed figure rescued the gravely injured Oswald Tessik from his flagship before it was destroyed.
• The Empire rebuilt Tessik as a partially mechanized being, celebrated him as a war hero, and stripped him of administrative power while keeping him in command of the First System Army fleet.
• Emperor Palpatine ordered the First System Army to secure Palanci Planet, with the Reaper returning to Scipio and the Guardian remaining behind.
• Oswald Tessik understood that Palpatine had used his defeat and public praise to force him into loyal service, and he laughed wildly in his chamber.
• Dunn Vesex watched the Kingdom of Dawn fleet withdraw to Bilbrin Planet and feared that Parlin Minor would become its next target.

Dunn Vesex returned to the Imperial Center to secure reinforcements for the Northern Territory, but the Empire prioritized the Death Star and its campaign against Demetrius Zaarin while fighter production collapsed. With his defense plans shelved, Dunn sought advice from Miltin Tarkel, who told him to request more ground troops by expanding the Dantooine front.

• Dunn Vesex lobbied Imperial departments and Sith Fleet Systems to make Northern Territory defense a priority, but Demetrius Zaarin's theft of the TIE Defender program and raid on Omar Planet crippled fighter production.
• Les Sienar told Dunn that Sith Fleet Systems could not supply advanced fighters to the Northern Territory and that new production would go first to the battered First System Army.
• The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command prioritized Death Star construction, defensive preparations, and the campaign against Zaarin, leaving Dunn's requested defense plan and reinforcement fleet without support.
• Thrawn's fleet failed to stop Zaarin's escape but shot down two TIE Defenders, while Niel Declan was ordered to join the campaign against the rebels.
• Dunn visited Miltin Tarkel and hosted a lavish spice party to seek his advice, and Miltin suggested expanding the Dantooine front to obtain more army forces.

Dunn-Vesex approved a plan to expand the ground war on Dantooine and draw Kingdom of Dawn forces away from Parlin-Minor. After the plan was refined and reinforcements arrived, he began withdrawing from Ord Mantell and pulling back his defensive line.

• Miltin-Tarkel advised Dunn-Vesex to strengthen the army, and Dunn-Vesex had a battle plan drafted overnight.
• Dunn-Vesex submitted a plan for a major Northern Territory Legion ground campaign on Dantooine, and the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command approved it.
• The chapter recounted how the Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire began fighting on Dantooine over Kyber crystal veins and ancient relics, with both sides steadily reinforcing their ground forces.
• Dunn-Vesex held a three-day military conference with the recovering Gillard-Perine, who helped refine the operation.
• After three Acclamator-class assault ships and twenty transport ships arrived at Parlin-Minor, Dunn-Vesex withdrew Imperial troops from Ord Mantell and continued pulling back his defensive line.

Dunn Vesex devastated Ord Mantell before withdrawing, while the Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire remained locked in a costly positional war on Dantooine. Huang Yehao’s forces attacked an Imperial strongpoint but ran into concealed defenses, leaving the assault underway.

• Dunn Vesex stripped Ord Mantell of supplies and equipment, destroyed its infrastructure, laid mines, and withdrew toward deep space to focus on Dantooine.
• The Kingdom of Dawn reoccupied Ord Mantell, struggled to feed and relocate its residents, and eventually handed reconstruction over to the Vasari and the Geth.
• Huang Yehao identified an Imperial artillery position protected by a Mobile Deflector Shield and planned to attack under the 19th Armored Assault Battalion’s cover.
• The Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire exchanged aircraft, artillery, and shield-protected attacks as their forces fought a prolonged positional campaign on Dantooine.
• Huang Yehao’s forces launched an assault with battle droids and Scorpion Annihilators, but hidden Imperial turrets and soldiers emerged and destroyed hundreds of droids.

Huang Yehao led the Fourth Legion’s Eighth Special Reinforced Battalion in a flanking assault on the Galactic Empire’s defenses, using the Imperial long-range cannon’s attack as cover. After his troops destroyed the shield generator mounted on an AT-AT, the Empire’s defensive shield collapsed and the Kingdom of Dawn’s frontline forces surged forward.

• Huang Yehao held back the elite assault until the Galactic Empire revealed its SPMA-T self-propelled turbolaser cannon, then led more than a thousand camouflaged Fourth Legion warriors around the flank.
• Huang Yehao and his troops breached the Imperial shield, scattered through the defensive positions, and used high-speed attacks to tear gaps in the line.
• A Fourth Legion warrior identified the shield generator on an AT-AT before being cut off, and Huang Yehao called for Justin Levis to help him reach it.
• Justin Levis flew Huang Yehao onto the AT-AT, where Huang Yehao planted antimatter bombs beneath its shield generator and escaped with Levis’s help.
• The AT-AT and its generator were destroyed, collapsing the shield over the high ground, and Huang Yehao ordered his troops to disperse and harass the Imperial forces.
• The Scorpion Annihilator combat machines intensified their attack, while fifty Scorpion tanks charged from reserve as Imperial fire weakened.

The Kingdom of Dawn broke through the Galactic Empire’s southern highlands defenses and held off Maximilian Vels’s counterattack with airdropped bunkers and a Fifth Generation Command Center. Vels was left unable to retake the highlands as Dawn forces established a fortified base there.

• Scorpion tanks, Evil Bat mechas, and battle droids tore through the Imperial positions, allowing Kingdom of Dawn troops to overrun the southern highlands.
• Maximilian Vels ordered reserve armor and four infantry Legions to counterattack and told his artillery to bombard the highlands despite Imperial troops still being there.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers took cover from the bombardment while its forces fought the advancing Imperial armor.
• More than a hundred airdropped bunkers landed and helped the Kingdom of Dawn hold its defense line against the Imperial assault.
• A Fifth Generation Command Center landed, deployed a Deflector Shield that blocked Imperial artillery, and sent SCVs to build a military base.
• Maximilian Vels watched the Kingdom of Dawn reinforce the southern highlands and accepted that he could not retake them.

Justin-Levis led Vulture Company in a night raid that destroyed a Galactic Empire Energy Center, while General Maximilian-Vels abandoned plans to counterattack and the Empire began pouring troops and supplies onto Dantooine. Chief of Staff Qi Jian told General Dai Hongkui that the campaign would end in one month, with the outcome depending on the army’s performance.

• Justin-Levis and Vulture Company infiltrated the Galactic Empire’s Energy Center and killed hundreds of Imperial soldiers before planting a Proton Bomb in the reactor’s cooling pipes.
• The Proton Bomb destroyed the Energy Center, and the Kingdom of Dawn Air Force bombed the base as Vulture Company escaped.
• General Maximilian-Vels reported the loss of the southern highlands and the Energy Center, then requested a stronger defensive front as Imperial reinforcements gathered at nearby forward bases.
• Huang Yehao learned that Justin-Levis’s team would attack a spaceport while his own forces held their positions, and he prepared to face the incoming Imperial troops.
• Qi Jian told General Dai Hongkui that the army should expand the campaign for one more month before bringing it to an end.

Army General Dai Hongkui managed the Kingdom of Dawn’s stretched ground campaign on Dantooine, rejecting proposals to use biological weapons or the Geth while preparing new offensives and expanding droid production. As both sides reinforced the planet and fought over supply routes, Dai met the towering Army General Bentrass San Skar, who demanded to know when he could attack the Imperials.

• Dai Hongkui ordered continued attacks on Imperial positions, faster droid-factory construction, and a search for weaknesses in the enemy’s defenses.
• Dai rejected Umbrella Corporation’s offer to use Virus C and ruled out deploying the Geth, insisting the Kingdom of Dawn preserve its support among local residents.
• Two automated Protoss transport ships docked with the industrial mothership, and Dai reacted gravely to the cargo they carried.
• The Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn reinforced Dantooine and raided each other’s supply routes as Gillard-Perine resumed command of the Imperial defensive line.
• Three days later, Bentrass San Skar confronted Dai at the North Pole space station and asked when he could attack the Imperials.

Kingdom of Dawn generals Dai Hongkui and Bentilash-San-Skar prepared to attack the Galactic Empire’s Black Mountain Base with the Protoss Marauders. A Marauder fired a devastating energy sphere into the base, creating a mushroom cloud beneath its Deflector Shield.

• Bentilash-San-Skar told Dai Hongkui he planned to destroy the Galactic Empire’s landing ground near Khoonda City and said he needed support.
• Dai Hongkui learned that the Protoss had sent Marauders, and Phase Engineer Kela-Sar arrived to explain that the Twilight Council had approved their use.
• At Black Mountain Base, Sentinel Lawrence noticed increased activity in the Kingdom of Dawn positions and reported possible troop movements, but Captain Kone dismissed his warning.
• Lawrence spotted a golden spacecraft deploying a huge mechanical Marauder in the southern highlands.
• The Marauder launched a pale blue sphere toward Black Mountain Base, killing Lawrence and triggering a mushroom cloud inside the base’s Deflector Shield.