Chapter Summaries

Sanya-Tagge used the Dream Sisters’ illusions to disguise Kingdom of Dawn forces and sabotaged supplies as Tagge Company shipments bound for Coruscant. The convoy entered the planet, leaving two hidden Corsev Battlecruisers and an elite force poised inside the Empire’s defenses.

• Sanya-Tagge deceived an Imperial official at Tagge Company headquarters and agreed to provide the Empire with supplies while secretly preparing a trap.
• Sanya-Tagge brought two Corsev Battlecruisers and Kingdom of Dawn forces to the Tepasi spaceport, where the Dream Sisters disguised them as cargo ships and goods.
• Talia and Sky Squad joined the convoy, and Sanya-Tagge declared the Tagge family’s loyalty to King of Dawn Tang Xiao.
• On April 22, 8 BBY, the convoy used genuine Imperial IFF codes and the Dream Sisters’ illusions to pass through Coruscant’s Planetary Shield.
• Sanya-Tagge’s transport ships dispersed sabotaged cargo across Coruscant while the two Corsev Battlecruisers headed toward the Imperial Palace.
• Sanya-Tagge told Domina-Tagge that she had prepared the foundation for her to become the Kingdom of Dawn’s queen.

Kalad-Li and his allies launched a coordinated uprising across Coruscant as the Imperial fleet retreated toward the planet. The chapter ended with the Tagge family’s gene-targeting weapon killing Kaminoan Gray Uniforms, exposing the fatal weakness in Coruscant’s defenses.

• Kalad-Li revealed a hidden warehouse containing more than ten thousand B-1 battle droids and rallied his gang to seize a nearby weapons depot.
• The Guardian was crippled by concentrated attacks from the Vasari fleet and Kingdom of Dawn forces, then struck by the Archangel Titan’s Doomsday Weapon.
• At four in the afternoon, spherical droids from the Tagge family’s transports sabotaged Coruscant’s networks as uprisings erupted at more than 1,700 locations.
• Marshal Danita Pita ordered Coruscant’s forces to suppress the unrest, sending Gray Uniforms to fight the droids and secure the weapons warehouse on Level 1409.
• Kalad-Li’s gang used a gene-targeting weapon brought by the Tagge family to kill the Kaminoan Gray Uniforms en masse.

Kingdom of Dawn forces and their allies attacked Coruscant from within, destroying a Sky Dome control center and weakening the planet’s defenses. Nova assassinated Lio Partagaz as the Guardian crashed through the planetary shield, leaving Coruscant exposed to direct attack.

• Kalder-Lee’s droids and allied fighters seized a warehouse on Level 1409, armed themselves with stored weapons and tanks, and spread violence through the area.
• B-1 droids dropped more than one hundred Indjori Vengeance outside the Zone G-77 Sky Dome control center, then detonated their transport ship to clear the way for the assault.
• The Indjori Vengeance slaughtered the control center’s defenders and destroyed its equipment with proton bombs, causing the region’s Sky Dome installations to fall and its planetary shield to fail.
• Nova used a stolen identity and a cyberattack to enter Safehouse 73-C, killed Lio Partagaz and his guards, and left without being detected.
• Guardian struck Coruscant’s planetary shield and crashed through it, while Imperial personnel reported that the shield and Sky Dome defenses had failed and Coruscant was under direct attack.

The Kingdom of Dawn destroyed the Guardian by driving it into Coruscant’s Planetary Shield, breaching the defenses and opening a route for an invasion of the planet. Depa Barris returned to Coruscant with Kingdom of Dawn forces, then confronted the Imperial Inquisitors Fifth Brother and Thirteenth Sister.

• Matt Horner ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to destroy the Guardian while Oswald Tessik tried and failed to protect it, and Danita Pitta focused on the fighting and unrest on Coruscant.
• A Divinity-class battleship crippled the Guardian, and Matt Horner’s battlecruisers pushed it into Coruscant’s Planetary Shield, breaching it and crashing alongside it.
• Kingdom of Dawn transports and fighters descended through the breach into G-77 District amid heavy anti-aircraft fire and falling wreckage from the Guardian.
• Depa Barris emerged from the Planetary Shield Core Hub with Salarian special forces, mourned her return to Coruscant, then put on her mask and faced Fifth Brother and Thirteenth Sister.
• Fifth Brother activated his spinning Lightsaber, and Depa Barris took a Juyo stance as they prepared to fight.

Priestess, Death, and the Dream Sisters launched separate attacks on Coruscant Imperial Palace as the Empire’s defenses collapsed. Darth Sidious struck back at the Dream Sisters, but they unleashed nightmares and illusions across the palace, leaving the assault in chaos.

• Priestess destroyed Fifth Brother’s spinning weapon, killed Thirteenth Sister, and crushed Fifth Brother’s brain with the Force before advancing toward the Imperial Palace.
• Death removed her mask and rushed toward the Hypermatter reactor that powered the palace’s defenses.
• Luna Illusion and Luna Dream brought two disguised Corsev Battlecruisers over the palace, where Darth Sidious exposed them and overwhelmed the sisters and Domina Tagge with the Force.
• Luna Dream filled the palace with the Dark Prophet’s deepest fears, and Luna Illusion made his nightmares real until they tore him apart.
• The Dream Sisters spread nightmares and reality-altering illusions through the palace, surrounding it with a tide of twisted phantoms.

The Dream Sisters ravaged the Imperial Palace before Darth Sidious overwhelmed them with his Force Storm, drawing Priestess and Judgment into battle against him. As the palace collapsed around them, a thousand Imperial-class Star Destroyers arrived outside Coruscant under Marshal Niel Declan.

• Luna Dream and Luna Illusion unleashed nightmares across the Imperial Palace, killing its occupants and driving Ninth Sister to die by suicide.
• Darth Sidious summoned a Force Storm, forcing Cassio Tagge to withdraw the Corsev Battlecruisers and deploy the Fourth Legion while the Dream Sisters confronted the Emperor.
• Darth Sidious trapped Luna Dream and battered Luna Illusion, but Priestess arrived and blocked his Force Storm.
• Priestess and Judgment attacked Darth Sidious from opposite directions, while the wounded Dream Sisters watched the battle.
• Niel Declan arrived outside Coruscant aboard an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer leading a formation of one thousand Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet tried to exploit the breach in Coruscant’s planetary shield to land its forces, but Marshal Niel Declan arrived with reinforcements and rallied the Imperial fleet through Battle Meditation. Darth Sidious joined Niel’s power, turning it into Double Battle Meditation as the Imperial counterattack began above the burning wreckage of the Guardian.

• The Guardian broke apart in orbit, scattering the Imperial fleet, while Matt Horner ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to stop pursuing and cover the landing operation.
• Niel Declan arrived with the Iron Fist and 1,000 Star Destroyers, took command under Emperor Palpatine’s decree, and used Battle Meditation to reorganize the Imperial fleet.
• Danita Pitta resisted Niel’s command, but his own guard killed him after Niel’s Battle Meditation influenced those around him.
• Darth Sidious combined his Battle Meditation with Niel’s, greatly strengthening the Imperial fleet’s coordination and combat efficiency.
• Niel ordered the Imperial fleet to attack the Kingdom of Dawn’s transport ships, and the fighting shifted into the blazing debris field as the Emissary struck the Iron Fist with its Doomsday Weapon.

The Kingdom of Dawn fleet fought to push transports through a temporary breach in Coruscant’s planetary shield, but mounting losses and dwindling supplies left Matt Horner’s forces close to collapse. As Darth Sidious battled Judgment and the Priestess on the planet, Tang Xiao’s Red Comet II struck him, and a massive Kultorask-class dictator Titan emerged from The Nexus Route.

• Matt Horner ordered the Kingdom of Dawn fleet to hold the shield breach open and send transports through before Coruscant’s defenses repaired it.
• The Imperial fleet, reinforced by Niel-Declan’s forces and supported by Battle Meditation, attacked the exhausted Kingdom of Dawn ships as their supplies and energy ran low.
• Darth Sidious overpowered Judgment and the Priestess with Force Storms while maintaining Battle Meditation, and he gloated that their fleet was collapsing.
• Tang Xiao’s molten Red Comet II slipped through the closing planetary shield and its wreckage, guided by the Force, struck Darth Sidious.
• The Nexus Route reopened after six hours and delivered a single 10,200-meter Kultorask-class dictator Titan warship into space around Coruscant.

The Kultorask-class Dictator charged alone into the Imperial fleet while the Kingdom of Dawn fleet withdrew to a supporting position. Though Imperial fire broke its shields and tore holes in its hull, the Titan unleashed a gravitational wave that disrupted nearby Imperial ships, then rapidly regenerated under renewed bombardment.

• Niel Declan ordered a fleet to attack the unfamiliar Kultorask-class Dictator as it advanced alone toward the Imperial fleet.
• Trillions of Nanobots swarmed around the Dictator and began stripping small amounts of mass and shield energy from Imperial warships.
• The Imperial fleet concentrated its fire on the Dictator, breaking its shields and blasting holes in its hull despite protection from three Ankilon-class Titan warships.
• The Dictator's central energy node flared and sent out a gravitational wave that disrupted Imperial ships' electronics, shields, and reactors.
• Phase missiles and Wave cannon blasts damaged two Imperial-class Star Destroyers while the Dictator appeared completely restored.
• The Imperial fleet resumed firing, and observers saw the Dictator's shields recover quickly and its damaged structure begin regenerating during the bombardment.

The Kultorask-class dictator used Nanoleeches to regenerate itself, drain Imperial ships, and drive Niel Declan’s fleet into retreat. On Coruscant, Darth Malthael appeared before Darth Sidious, revealed his long-awaited vendetta, and faced him as their confrontation began.

• The Kultorask-class dictator restored damage by stripping matter and energy from nearby Imperial ships while its allies reinforced its defenses.
• Niel Declan learned the Nanoleeches were destroying thousands of Imperial frigates and ordered the fleet to withdraw, but the Titan pursued it and repaired nearby Kingdom of Dawn ships.
• Darth Malthael piloted Red Comet II through Coruscant’s shield and crashed it toward Darth Sidious, who destroyed the frigate with a Force Storm.
• Darth Malthael seized Luna-Illusion and threw her into Luna-Dream, while the Priestess submitted to him and Karness Muur’s phantom vanished.
• Darth Malthael confronted Darth Sidious over the death of Darth Pregas, and Sidious revealed that he kept their former master’s corpse sealed in a statue.

Darth Malthael endured Darth Sidious's Force Storm, discovered how it drew power from the Force River, and severed its source before launching a counterattack. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Dawn fought its way onto Coruscant, where a sudden EMP disabled part of the Planetary Shield.

• Darth Malthael confronted Darth Sidious as the Priestess evacuated the Dream Sisters and Judgment from the Imperial Palace battlefield.
• Darth Malthael perceived the Force Storm as information flowing from the Force River, while Karness Muur explained that fully understanding it could reveal everything in the galaxy.
• Darth Malthael pierced and closed the passage feeding Darth Sidious's Force Storm, causing it to vanish in a devastating shockwave, then raised his Sword of Kings for a strike.
• The Kingdom of Dawn's three Sova-class Carriers helped its fighters seize air superiority over Coruscant and supported the landing of more than seven hundred thousand troops.
• Coruscant's 380 million defenders overwhelmed many landing forces, while Spaarti clone troopers charged through the cities and killed civilians and soldiers alike.
• An EMP erupted in Coruscant's H-23 sector, overloading the Planetary Shield capacitors and damaging the sector's shield generators.

Sky Squad escaped the ruined H-23 Defense Zone as the Kingdom of Dawn began its ground invasion of Coruscant. In the Imperial Palace, Darth Sidious revealed that he had turned the Jedi Temple into a Dark Altar and unleashed a Force singularity against Darth Malthael.

• Shen Yuanhao, Talia, Zhang Xucheng, Karina, and Xiao Yan fought through Imperial defenders and escaped into a maintenance passage while the Nebulos bombarded their pursuers.
• Sky Squad killed three Dark Jedi Knights, boarded a modified DC-9 cargo ship, and fled as the Kingdom of Dawn fleet began bombing H-23.
• The Kingdom of Dawn fleet destroyed the region's remaining defenses and sent landing forces to Coruscant, where a Protoss Marauder began the ground offensive.
• Darth Sidious revealed that he had spent twelve years transforming the Jedi Temple beneath the Imperial Palace into a Dark Altar that amplified his power.
• Darth Sidious formed a Dark Side singularity and declared himself the end before it exploded toward Darth Malthael.

Darth Malthael escaped Darth Sidious’s Force singularity and struck him with Crimson Lightning, leaving both badly wounded as the Imperial Palace and Shrine in the Depths began to collapse. Meanwhile, Kingdom of Dawn forces advanced through District H-23, where Marauders and Sentinels overwhelmed the Imperial Spartan clones.

• Darth Malthael recognized the Force singularity’s resemblance to the phenomenon that had brought Tang Xiao into this world before he reversed its pull and reappeared.
• Darth Malthael’s Crimson Lightning pierced Darth Sidious, while their clash tore apart the Imperial Palace, the Jedi Temple, and the Shrine in the Depths.
• Darth Sidious’s soul and body were left helpless under the Crimson Lightning, and Darth Malthael threatened to keep him alive in a tomb he would build.
• Marka Ragnos emerged from the Sword of Kings as Darth Sidious retrieved a Lightsaber, and he and Darth Malthael resumed their fight with black and red blades.
• Kingdom of Dawn Marauders destroyed most of the Spartan clones in District H-23, and twelve Sentinel robots slaughtered the survivors as thousands more Sentinels advanced.

The Kingdom of Dawn seized District H-23 on Coruscant, and Bentilas San Skar deployed Caladanian forces to push toward the Empire’s defensive energy core. As the Kingdom of Dawn fleet resumed its assault and Lord Marshal Niel Declan struggled to counter it, a massive Imperial reinforcement fleet arrived near Planet Five, including Darth Vader’s Death Fleet and the Dominion Super Star Destroyer.

• The Kingdom of Dawn landing force took District H-23, captured its Planetary Shield Generator, and joined up with Sky Squad.
• Bentilas San Skar assigned Sky Squad to destroy the Empire’s long-range artillery and ordered Caladanian battalions to attack Imperial positions.
• Imperial reinforcements let Niel Declan withdraw battered ships, but the Kultorask-class Dictator and the Kingdom of Dawn fleet kept the Imperial counterattack at bay.
• Niel Declan learned that 2,500 Star Destroyers, Darth Vader’s Death Fleet, and two Executor-class ships had arrived near Planet Five.

Darth Vader brought the Death Fleet into the battle around Coruscant and attacked the Kingdom of Dawn’s space base, turning the Imperial fleet’s desperate fight into a massive, seemingly suicidal assault. As the fleets clashed, Vader’s TIE Avenger slipped past the fighting and entered Coruscant while five Imperial Star Destroyers tried to descend.

• Niel Declan realized Darth Vader had hidden the Death Fleet near Coruscant and intercepted Imperial reinforcements, while the fleet ignored all communications.
• After Niel demanded help, Darth Vader jumped the Death Fleet into the battlefield and ordered its ships to fire on the Kingdom of Dawn’s transports and space base.
• Matt Hona counterattacked with drones and warships, targeting the Imperial Star Destroyers while the Emissary-class Titan charged its Doomsday Weapon at the Executor.
• Niel ordered his trapped forces to charge the Kingdom of Dawn fleet and destroy the Titan, believing it was their final chance.
• Five Imperial Star Destroyers tried to descend toward Coruscant as Vader’s TIE Avenger evaded the fighting and entered the planet.

Darth Vader shot down Li Yifei and reached the Imperial Palace, where Darth Malthael and Darth Sidious continued their brutal duel. Vader then confronted Death, the transformed Adi Gallia, as she attacked him in revenge for Order 66.

• Darth Vader baited Li Yifei into closing the distance, then destroyed his Sabre-class fighter and flew toward the Imperial Palace as three Imperial-class Star Destroyers fell.
• Darth Malthael and Darth Sidious continued fighting while exchanging claims about victory and the Sith; Marka Ragnos struck Sidious's Lightsaber with the Sword of Kings and shattered it.
• Darth Vader's TIE Avenger dove toward Malthael and Sidious, but a powerful Force dragged it down, and Vader emerged from the wreckage.
• Darth Vader recognized his approaching opponent as Master Adi Gallia, whom she declared dead as she claimed the name Death.
• Death charged Vader repeatedly with two crimson Lightsabers, but Vader's steady attacks kept knocking her back despite her refusal to stop.

Adi Gallia, now called Death, fought Darth Vader while Darth Malthael and Darth Sidious battled for control of the galaxy. Darth Vader killed Darth Malthael and stabbed Sidious, declaring himself Emperor, as Sidious struck back with lightning.

• Death attacked Darth Vader relentlessly, but he tore apart her body and pinned her beneath wreckage before heading to the Imperial Palace.
• Darth Malthael blocked Darth Sidious's Force attacks with the Sword of Kings while Marka Ragnos insulted Sidious from the sword.
• Darth Vader surprised Darth Malthael from behind and pierced his chest, killing him.
• Darth Sidious celebrated his apprentice's victory, but Darth Vader stabbed him through the chest and declared that he was the Emperor of the Milky Way Galaxy.
• Darth Sidious unleashed lightning against Darth Vader, who continued driving his blade into him.

Darth Vader killed Darth Sidious but was hurled into the Abyss by Darth Malthael, who then defeated Marka Ragnos’s betrayal. Darth Malthael declared himself Emperor of the Fourth Empire and ordered his coronation in Palpatine’s palace.

• Darth Vader killed Darth Sidious and proclaimed that he would become the Empire’s new Emperor.
• Darth Malthael used the Sword of Kings and the Death Force to hurl Darth Vader into the Abyss.
• Marka Ragnos betrayed Darth Malthael, but Darth Malthael revealed that he had been using an illusion and destroyed Marka Ragnos’s phantom.
• Luna Dream, Luna Illusion, the Priestess, and Death knelt before Darth Malthael as he declared that the Galactic Empire would end and a new order would begin.
• Darth Malthael announced the founding of the Fourth Empire, declared himself its Emperor, and ordered an immediate coronation in Palpatine’s palace.

After Palpatine’s death, Sate Pestage declared himself emperor and gathered support from Imperial officials and corporations, but he lacked a loyal fleet. The Death Fleet refused to serve him and withdrew, leaving Oswald Tessik’s battered Reaper isolated as the Archangel prepared to destroy it.

• The Kingdom of Dawn announced Palpatine’s death, and the interruption of Battle Meditation sent much of the Imperial fleet into chaos.
• Sate Pestage invoked the Imperial Constitution and declared himself emperor, while Isanne Isard, Koru Van D’ron, Kuat Drive Yards, Sith Fleet Systems, and Dunn Vesex pledged support.
• Kuat Drive Yards and Sith Fleet Systems demanded payment in rare alloys, while Corellia Engineering Company remained silent and the Corellian system’s position grew uncertain.
• The Death Fleet withdrew from the battle and refused to obey Pestage, exposing Oswald Tessik’s fleet to the Kingdom of Dawn’s concentrated attack.
• The Reaper Super Star Destroyer suffered crippling damage, and Tessik ordered his crew to fight to the last man before the Archangel locked on and charged its Doomsday Weapon.

After Palpatine's death, Spaarti clone troopers massacred civilians across Coruscant while the Kingdom of Dawn advanced. Tang Xiao ordered the army to defend a seven-day coronation at the Republic Senate Building and proclaimed the new state the Fourth Empire, leaving Matt Horner ready to resign as the fleet faced devastating losses.

• After Palpatine died, Imperial soldiers lost morale, and 280 million Spaarti clone troopers mistook civilians for enemies and slaughtered them across Coruscant.
• The Kingdom of Dawn destroyed the shield generator in Sector G-77 and prepared to open fronts in several more sectors, but Tang Xiao ordered every unit to converge on the Republic Senate Building for his coronation.
• Three transport ships landed at Imperial Plaza, where engineers began rebuilding the Senate Building as a coronation site and replaced Imperial banners with the Four-Arm Flag of the Fourth Empire.
• Tang Xiao chose the name Fourth Empire after Helmut Zemo argued that it represented the Fourth Civilization's ideology, and he ordered the military to hold Coruscant through the seven-day preparations.
• Matt Horner decided to resign and leave the Kingdom of Dawn, while continuing to try to limit casualties as its fleet faced fire from Coruscant's surviving orbital defenses.