Chapter Summaries

After the Battle of Scipio, Core World aristocrats and corporate leaders debated whether to keep supporting the financially collapsing Galactic Empire or back the Kingdom of Dawn. They rejected both centralized regimes and rallied around restoring the Republic, leaving Queen Borha Organa denouncing their hypocritical claims of freedom.

• Core World nobles discussed how the Kingdom of Dawn had breached Scipio’s defenses and seized its vaults, while the Empire concealed what had happened aboard the Guardian.
• The aristocrats condemned the Empire’s financial measures and argued over whether to resist it, negotiate with Tang Xiao, or join the Kingdom of Dawn.
• The gathering rejected the Kingdom of Dawn as foreign and feared its nationalization policies, while several speakers also doubted the Empire could defeat it.
• The nobles proposed using the Republic Restoration Alliance, also known as the Rebel Alliance, as their political alternative and offered it money, shipping lanes, shipyards, and media support.
• Queen Borha Organa denounced the aristocrats’ version of freedom as a cover for enslavement and discrimination, but the others laughed and toasted the Republic.

Orman-Tagge tried to persuade Imperial nobles to preserve their forces and rely on the Death Star, while the Tagge family’s decline and his lost influence became increasingly clear. Sanya-Tagge and an unknown young girl haunted and undermined him, and he headed to a family meeting determined to save his rule by issuing Tagge currency before the elevator stopped.

• At a conference with Core Worlds nobles, Orman-Tagge argued that the Empire should preserve its fleet and contain the Kingdom of Dawn, insisting the Death Star would soon change the battlefield.
• Orman-Tagge went to the top of headquarters, where his supposedly dead mother, Sanya-Tagge, appeared to taunt him and declare that she meant to reclaim what was hers and strike at the Emperor.
• Orman-Tagge mistook a security guard for Sanya-Tagge and punched the guard, then learned that a Tagge family meeting had been called without his knowledge.
• Orman-Tagge rushed to the family conference center and planned to use the Death Star project and a new Tagge currency to restore his authority.
• As Orman-Tagge rode the elevator toward the meeting platform, it stopped halfway.

Sanya Tagge took control of the Tagge family conference and exposed how Orman Tagge and the other leaders had been deceived into approving the Kingdom of Dawn’s currency. Orman survived his fall but was captured for treatment and interrogation, while Sanya declared that she had traded the family’s allegiance for her own survival.

• Orman Tagge found the elevator stuck as Sanya Tagge began presiding over the meeting and announced that the family must change course.
• Sanya sealed the conference center, declared the attendees guilty of murdering the patriarch and stealing family assets, and revealed that their successors had already taken over their roles.
• Sanya and the Luna sisters explained that Master Dream’s Force had made the Tagge family’s recent meetings, documents, and resistance part of an illusion.
• Orman climbed to the platform, attacked Sanya, and fell a hundred meters after she immobilized him with the Force.
• Sanya revealed that Orman’s supposed Tagge Coin documents had actually authorized Currency Number Four of the Kingdom of Dawn, bearing Tang Xiao’s portrait.
• Sanya told Orman she had offered the family to the Kingdom of Dawn in exchange for her life, then ordered the medical robots to keep him alive for the information in his head.

Sanya Tagge seized control of the Tagge family and company, then moved to align them with the Kingdom of Dawn and secure the family’s future through Tang Xiao. Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance’s new currency gained ground in the Outer Rim, creating a challenge for the Kingdom of Dawn’s economic expansion.

• Sanya Tagge and Adelaide Tagge’s illusion ended after the Guardians escorted Orman Tagge’s allies from the headquarters, revealing that the executives had unknowingly surrendered their authority over several months.
• The Galactic Empire announced Orman Tagge’s severe illness and Domina Tagge’s succession as family patriarch, while Currency Number Four continued spreading through Imperial territory.
• Sanya Tagge failed to reach Tang Xiao and instead told Daphne Clement she wanted Domina Tagge to marry him; Clement warned that Adele Ulan would oppose the plan.
• Sanya Tagge began secretly integrating Tagge Company with the Kingdom of Dawn, forming militias, bringing in Dawn forces, starting Stargate construction on Tepasi, and importing 12 million tons of Currency Number Four.
• The Rebel Alliance introduced Alliance currency, which could buy goods and services as well as Rebel support, and it became popular across the Outer Rim.
• Kingdom of Dawn officials struggled with whether to ban Alliance currency, since it reached markets that Currency Number Four could not replace.

Darth Sidious reappeared as the Galactic Empire teetered under factional control, economic collapse, and military fragmentation. He launched a loyalty campaign that placed Imperial New Order Maintenance Committee members across the government and armed forces, leaving the Empire under intensified ideological scrutiny.

• The Empire’s five factions pursued their own interests as its economy collapsed and its central command lost control of regional fleets.
• The Northern Territory and Delon Defense District remained the Empire’s main defensive concentrations, while sector governors built independent forces and maintained only superficial loyalty.
• On March 20, 8 BBY, Darth Sidious delivered a public speech declaring that traitors would be crushed and pledging to fight for the Empire.
• Palpatine promoted members of the Imperial New Order Maintenance Committee into senior government and military posts.
• Palpatine established the Imperial Loyalty Inspection Committee, whose inspectors could arrest or execute those judged disloyal.
• The Empire made loyalty ratings and ideological purity checks decisive for promotions and supplies.

Darth Sidious appointed Thrawn as the Galactic Empire’s thirteenth Imperial Marshal and revealed that he expected Tang Xiao to use The Nexus Route to attack Coruscant. As Thrawn left to take command of a fleet at Quat Planet, he studied the Empire’s preparations and wondered whether Tang Xiao would come.

• Darth Sidious told Thrawn that Tang Xiao would attack Coruscant through The Nexus Route, whose navigation data had been split between the Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Thrawn argued that a direct assault on Coruscant would be strategically disastrous, but Darth Sidious expected the threat to unite the Empire’s scattered fleets and nobles.
• Darth Sidious appointed Thrawn the Empire’s thirteenth Imperial Marshal and ordered him to take command of a modified Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer and its fleet at Quat Planet.
• Thrawn departed Coruscant aboard a Lambda-class shuttlecraft and observed the planet’s military preparations, including the deployment of mindless Spaarti clone troopers.
• Thrawn listened to music from the Galactic Republic and raised his glass toward Dawn Star Planet, challenging Tang Xiao to prove himself.

The Kingdom of Dawn’s leaders celebrated the Galactic Empire’s economic collapse and agreed to wait while the Empire weakened further. Tang Xiao abruptly ended their plans when he arrived and ordered an immediate attack on Coruscant.

• Adele Ulan toasted the Kingdom of Dawn’s victory after Scipio fell and the Empire lost its ability to launch strategic offensives.
• Harry Seldon and Semid Tang reported that the Empire’s economy had collapsed, while Salatan Morse revealed the Rebel Alliance had ordered an unknown warship called Star Hawk.
• Qi Jian and Adele Ulan agreed that the Kingdom of Dawn should hold its position and continue its Currency War strategy as the Empire fought the Vasari Army on Scipio.
• Tang Xiao blasted open the conference room doors, entered carrying a black metal sword hilt, and ordered his forces to attack Coruscant immediately.

Darth Malthael’s overwhelming Dark Side power began destroying his body, and he traveled to Korriban seeking an answer in the spirits and tombs of the ancient Sith. After meditating at Marka Ragnos’s ruined tomb, he received the Soul Reaper Sword and declared his intention to attack Coruscant, while Olegar refused to join him.

• Darth Malthael destroyed the Dark Reaper in Dagobah’s Dark Cave, unleashed a burst of power, and began to wither under the strain.
• Darth Malthael traveled to Korriban’s Valley of Golg, where Lucien Draay warned that his lack of training had left him vulnerable to his power’s backlash.
• Darth Malthael told Lucien Draay he had come seeking an answer about the spirits, then flew to the ruined Valley of the Sleeping Kings.
• Darth Malthael meditated for three days before Marka Ragnos’s tomb, and the Soul Reaper Sword descended from the sky.
• Darth Malthael told Olegar he would attack Planet Coruscant, but Olegar refused to join him and departed.

Darth Malthael released the Sith spirits and sacrificed his body to seal forbidden Sith knowledge in the Dark Book, then was reborn in the Son’s body and recognized as Sith Emperor. He left the spirits to guard the Dark Book in the Sith Academy and understood that true Sith inheritance required death and renewal rather than the pursuit of immortality.

• Darth Malthael crossed the Valley of the Sleeping Kings and entered the ruined Sith Academy, where the Daughter said he was becoming the Son, but he insisted he had come to become himself.
• Darth Malthael released the Sith spirits from the Soul Reaper Sword and used a black Kyber Crystal to seal his accumulated Sith knowledge and dark taboos within it.
• Darth Malthael disintegrated as his knowledge entered the crystal, while the Daughter used the Dagger of Mortis on the Son’s corpse, allowing Darth Malthael to reform in the Son’s body.
• Darth Malthael named the pyramid-shaped artifact the Dark Book, and Marka Ragnos recognized him as Sith Emperor and renamed the Soul Reaper Sword the Sword of Kings.
• Darth Malthael empowered the Sith spirits to guard the Dark Book and realized that the Sith pursuit of immortality had severed the inheritance of darkness.

Darth Malthael’s commitment to passing on Sith knowledge earned him recognition from the Dark Side and formal acknowledgment as Sith Emperor by Marka Ragnos. Reborn with greater power, he left Planet Korriban to seize the Galactic Empire’s throne.

• Darth Malthael recognized that Darth Sidious had betrayed Sith inheritance by pursuing immortality and treating his apprentices as disposable tools.
• Darth Malthael contrasted Sidious’s secrecy and suppression of Force knowledge with his own work to preserve Sith teachings and spread Force education in the Kingdom of Dawn.
• The Sith spirits on Planet Korriban recognized Darth Malthael, and Marka Ragnos formally acknowledged him as Sith Emperor.
• With the spirits’ aid, Darth Malthael reconstructed his body and increased his power.
• Darth Malthael boarded a shuttle at the ruins of Planet Korriban to claim the Galactic Empire’s throne.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet abandoned its positions at Rohk, Bilbrin, Fondor, Kira, and Eriadu, while Imperial commanders saw no safe opportunity to attack. The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command was left silent and alarmed as the scale of the fleets’ unexplained movements became clear.

• On April 1, the Kingdom of Dawn fleet left the Rohk System, but Seben refused to attack the abandoned Rohe Planet, convinced it was a trap.
• On April 2, the Kingdom of Dawn Northern Fleet departed Bilbrin, while Oswald Tessik kept his First System Army tied down by the costly battle in the Vault Mountains and the defense of Scipio.
• On April 4 and 5, the Kingdom of Dawn fleets at Fondor Planet and Kira planet assembled and departed through the stargates.
• Imperial intelligence reported that the Kingdom of Dawn fleet stationed on Eriadu had also departed.
• The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command fell silent as its officers realized the fleets from Fondor and Kira had vanished without known destinations.

The Galactic Empire realized that the Kingdom of Dawn had withdrawn fleets from its strategic triangle and other bases, signaling a massive offensive, possibly aided by the Geth. The Supreme Strategic Command’s attempts to mobilize Imperial forces met with silence and delays, though the Third Systems Army sent 300 Star Destroyers to Coruscant.

• The Galactic Empire’s Supreme Strategic Command concluded that fleets had vanished from Fondor, Kira, and Eriadu because the Kingdom of Dawn was preparing a nationwide operation.
• On April 8, fleets began leaving Rendili, prompting Imperial Intelligence to raise its estimate of the Kingdom of Dawn’s strength to 5,000 capital ships and Heavy Cruisers.
• Imperial analysts noted that Geth harassment operations had stopped for a month and feared the Geth might have joined the Kingdom of Dawn.
• The Supreme Strategic Command ordered Darth Vader to attack Kira planet, but Darth Vader ignored the order.
• The Second Systems Army claimed it could not attack Rendili while refueling, and Wilhuff Tarkin remained silent when ordered to activate the Death Star.
• The Third Systems Army obeyed its order and dispatched 300 Star Destroyers to Coruscant as a reserve force.

As a Kingdom of Dawn fleet launched a massive assault on Coruscant, a fleeing noble family witnessed the battle begin. The Supreme Strategic Command scrambled to organize the Empire’s defense, but its command structure was in disarray as reinforcements received orders to return.

• Robert Fritz and his mother fled Coruscant aboard their family vessel, discussing the Empire’s decline and their plans to help rebuild the Republic in the Outer Rim.
• A gigantic ship blocked their view, then unfamiliar fighters and Imperial Star Destroyers exchanged fire as missiles struck Coruscant’s planetary shield.
• General Mabel Carson raised the alarm at Supreme Strategic Command, where officers discovered that Coruscant was under direct attack and thirty-seven orbital defense platforms had gone offline.
• General Fes Peterson learned the Defense Fleet had no commander and that Marshal Miltin Tarkel was hospitalized after a suspected assassination attempt.
• Fes ordered Marshal Danita Pita to take command and summoned fleets across the Empire, while the Kingdom of Dawn deployed its vast fleet and hyperspace beacons near Coruscant.
• Several Imperial forces began returning to defend Coruscant, while Dunn Vesex refused and Governor Wilhuff Tarkin did not respond.

Kohn Vestrala and the Imperial forces faced a massive Separatist assault on Coruscant, led by Titan warships. The attack began with a devastating beam striking the planet’s shield, leaving the surface in panic as more explosions followed.

• The Black Peak alarm sounded, and Captain Sain Kolonos ordered all combat personnel to their stations as ISB troops enforced discipline.
• Kohn Vestrala chose to serve the Empire despite carrying Kingdom of Dawn currency and rushed to his XX-9 Heavy Turbolaser Turret.
• Kohn spotted a huge enemy fleet forming a Claw Formation, including the Archangel Titan warship and the Taowu Titan warship.
• The Imperial gunners opened fire as the Archangel Titan warship charged its Doomsday Weapon and struck Coruscant’s Planetary Shield with a Super Particle Beam.
• Civilians across Coruscant mistook the bombardment for a rising star, then panicked as the beam and further nuclear explosions hit the shield.

Coruscant unleashed its vast network of Orbital Defense Cannons against the Kingdom of Dawn fleet, damaging more than ten warships and disrupting its formation. Marshal Danita Pita took command of the planet’s defenses as Matt Horner ordered his fleet to pull back and target Coruscant’s fixed space defenses.

• Coruscant activated hundreds of concealed Orbital Defense Cannons, whose plasma beams bypassed its one-way Planetary Shield and struck the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.
• Orbital cannon fire overloaded the defenses of more than ten Kingdom of Dawn warships, and the Taowu deployed its Fleet Shield while repair ships moved in.
• Coruscant’s thousands of cannons exploited their dense coverage to keep attacking the fleet despite their limited firing arcs.
• Danita Pita arrived at Coruscant’s Space Combat Command Center and consolidated the planet’s defense fleet.
• Matt Horner ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to pull away, attack Coruscant’s fixed space defenses, and prepare the Phenomenon Generator.

Coruscant rapidly mobilized its vast stockpiles, droid crews, veterans, and residents to defend the planet from the Kingdom of Dawn’s invasion. The planet’s shield stabilized and more than ten million recruits enlisted, turning Coruscant into a formidable war machine as its defense gathered strength.

• Coruscant activated its Sky Dome System, which relayed energy between aircraft to stabilize the Planetary Shield.
• Coruscant launched stored fighters and warships, many crewed by B-1 battle droids, while Imperial Marshal Danita Pita formed the Material Liquidation Bureau to inventory the planet’s supplies.
• Coruscant residents joined the defense out of loyalty to their identity as Coruscanti and contempt for the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Within three hours of the invasion news spreading, Coruscant’s recruitment offices enlisted more than ten million soldiers and began preparing them for deployment.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet used the Archangel Titan’s Phenomenon Generator to overwhelm the Galactic Empire’s defenders around Coruscant, but the planet’s shield, orbital cannons, and growing industrial output kept it from being captured. Imperial reinforcements and supply convoys continued to arrive as the Kingdom of Dawn brought all four of its publicly known Titan warships into the battle.

• The Archangel Titan’s Phenomenon Generator strengthened Kingdom of Dawn weapons and shields while slowing Imperial ships, allowing its fighters and capital ships to cripple more than a dozen Star Destroyers.
• Coruscant’s orbital cannons and stable planetary shield held firm as unmanned fighters and corvettes began emerging from its factories in growing numbers.
• Marshal Danita Pita recalled his scattered fleet to protect supply transports, relying on incoming Imperial reinforcements and Coruscant’s enormous industrial capacity.
• The Kingdom of Dawn began bombarding Coruscant’s planetary shield with two Novalith Cannons, firing two shells every five hours.
• The Xuanwu Titan arrived with 100 capital ships and 80 Heavy Cruisers, followed by the Chaos Titan with 4,000 small and medium warships.
• The Xuanwu, Taowu, and Chaos Titan warships repeatedly used Fleet Shield and Furious Repair to protect the Kingdom of Dawn fleet.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet repelled the Galactic Empire’s counterattack at Coruscant, while the arrival of the First System Army exposed a bitter dispute between Marshal Danita Pita and Marshal Oswald Tessik over command. The Imperial fleet split into two factions as the battle continued.

• Danita Pita concentrated more than 400 Imperial-class Star Destroyers on the Taowu Titan warship, but the Kingdom of Dawn fleet shielded it and held its formation.
• Matt Hona ordered a counterattack, and the Imperial fleet’s Bellator-class Dreadnoughts and Star Destroyers failed to break through the Kingdom of Dawn’s defenses.
• Particle Beam Lances destroyed three Imperial-class Star Destroyers, forcing the Imperial fleet to retreat toward Coruscant as Matt Hona ordered pursuit.
• The Reaper and Guardian arrived with the First System Army, and Oswald Tessik urged Danita Pita to preserve the fleet and attack the Kingdom of Dawn’s supply ships later.
• Danita Pita and Oswald Tessik argued over command, with Danita ordering an assault and Oswald refusing to sacrifice his troops before directing a flanking maneuver.
• Two Assertor-class Command Dreadnoughts arrived, but the Imperial fleet split in two amid the marshals’ conflict.

The Kingdom of Dawn and Galactic Empire fleets fought a vast battle outside Coruscant as both sides poured in reinforcements. After Matt Horner’s drone-led offensive shattered the Imperial formation, the Kingdom of Dawn pressed its attack.

• Oswald Tessik tried to destroy the Kingdom of Dawn’s supply fleet with a flanking attack, but Matt Horner split his forces to protect it and the supply ships arrived under Fleet Shield cover.
• After four hours of fighting and more than 200 capital ships lost on each side, Oswald ordered a retreat, and the Kingdom of Dawn began clearing Coruscant’s surrounding armed stations and spaceports.
• Reinforcements arrived, and Matt launched an offensive at 9:00 p.m. with vast drone and fighter swarms that destroyed the Galactic Empire’s 60,000 fighters in less than an hour.
• Oswald assembled specialized anti-air ships into a layered defensive network, but the drone swarms broke through as the Kingdom of Dawn’s main fleet advanced.
• The Kingdom of Dawn’s coordinated attack tore apart the Galactic Empire fleet’s formation.

Matt Hona ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to launch a desperate all-out assault on the Imperial fleet near Coruscant, and Vasari reinforcements joined the battle. As the Empire’s fleet collapsed and Coruscant’s defenses held, unchecked wartime supply traffic exposed a dangerous weakness in the planet’s oversight.

• Matt Hona overruled General Trench’s caution and ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to charge the Imperial formation, declaring he would resign after the battle.
• The Kingdom of Dawn fleet attacked at close range with all its firepower, and Vasari General Kelslak arrived with a fleet of black warships that began deploying orbital bombardment platforms.
• Fleet Admiral Oswald Tessik ordered the Imperial fleet to retreat toward Coruscant and demanded that Darth Vader bring the Death Fleet, but the communications officer could not locate him.
• The Imperial fleet collapsed under the assault as ships from both sides were destroyed and their burning wreckage struck Coruscant’s Planetary Shield.
• Fleet Admiral Danita Pita’s Wartime Material Coordination Committee accepted most incoming cargo without thorough scans, while ordinary-looking Tagge Company transports arrived among the supplies.