Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao tried to reassure Professor Chi Jianjun after dangerous creatures frightened him out of his new villa, but Chi moved into Tang’s room and refused to leave. The next day, Chi watched footage of a brutal aerial battle and angrily condemned Tang before locking himself in his room.

• Chi Jianjun mistook the monster hide Tang had put on his bed for a living creature, and Tang explained it was a hide before arranging a cotton quilt.
• Chi Jianjun was frightened by a large bird outside his window and insisted on sleeping in Tang Xiao’s dormitory.
• Chi Jianjun slept on Tang’s sofa, and Tang stayed awake through the night because of his loud snoring.
• Chi Jianjun announced that he would live in Tang’s room and dismissed Tang’s concerns about the civilization’s dangers.
• Tang Xiao showed Chi footage of a battle with three bounty hunters, and Chi called Tang a murderer before locking himself in his room.

Tang Xiao returned to the mothership and found the Research Department struggling to adapt advanced technologies without Professor Chi Jianjun’s guidance. Chi agreed to work for five years and began teaching the researchers a new way to analyze the Wraith fighter’s technology, but a message from the Mainframe abruptly turned Tang Xiao’s expression cold.

• Tang Xiao told Guan Yan, Feng Yongwang, Qu Xuewen, and the other experts that Professor Chi could not help them and urged them to solve their research problems themselves.
• Tang Xiao accompanied the researchers to see the Gemini missile test preparations and unexpectedly found Professor Chi Jianjun studying their research logs.
• Professor Chi agreed to work for five years, then revealed that his wife was dead and criticized the researchers for applying Fourth Civilization methods to the Wraith fighter’s different technological system.
• Professor Chi showed Feng Yongwang how to transform the Wraith’s equations into rules the researchers could use, and the group eagerly began taking notes.
• The Mainframe sent Tang Xiao a message through his brain chip, and his expression turned ice-cold.

On Tatooine, Yuri Orlov and Vitaly Orlov sought to sell heavy weapons to Broderick Shatterstone’s ostracized Bosa allies. Vitaly led the armed Bosa to Yuri’s weapons cache, where Scar threatened Yuri and left the deal hanging in danger.

• Yuri Orlov explained that he planned to sell weapons to both sides, and he persuaded Vitaly Orlov to approach the Bosa on his own.
• Vitaly found the Bosa drinking in a shantytown and convinced Scar that he had heavy guns for sale.
• Scar forced Vitaly to lead the Bosa to Yuri’s hidden weapons cache, while Yuri deployed T-850s to cover the meeting.
• Yuri offered to negotiate over the guns and asked Scar to release Vitaly.
• Scar threatened to kill Yuri, putting the arms deal in immediate jeopardy.

Yuri Orlov used a demonstration of the Type 21 assault rifle and a threat from hidden snipers to negotiate a weapons sale with Scar’s gang. After the gang left with guns, ammunition, and grenades on credit, Yuri and Vitaly celebrated their return to the dangerous life of business and their ambition to make the Milky Way Galaxy their domain.

• Yuri offered Scar a Type 21 assault rifle and demonstrated its rapid fire, convincing Scar that it outmatched the gang’s DL-18 blaster pistols.
• Scar aimed the rifle at Yuri, but Yuri warned him that snipers had him covered, and Scar agreed to buy ten guns and ammunition.
• When Scar lacked enough credits and proposed paying after a spaceport robbery, Yuri offered grenades and extended credit in exchange for eight thousand credits if Scar returned alive.
• Scar handed Yuri a bag of credit ingots and ordered his gang to move the weapons and supplies.
• After Scar’s gang departed, Yuri collapsed, and Vitaly helped him up as the brothers reminisced and Yuri declared that the galaxy would one day be theirs.

Tang Xiao learned that Black Sun was linked to a coming Hammerhead-class cruiser attack and prepared the Kushan Mothership’s defenses. He questioned Semir, who revealed that the information he obtained concerned the Tonneth family’s accounts and the struggle for leadership of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.

• Cun Te told Tang Xiao that Kunto and the others had sold information about the mothership to Iron Tooth Kuken, who was connected to Black Sun, and Tang Xiao ordered him to return from Tatooine.
• Tang Xiao identified the approaching Hammerhead as an ancient but dangerous cruiser and told Qi Jian to prepare an attack plan while the Blade fighters continued development.
• Tang Xiao declined to pressure the Research Department to accelerate the Wraith fighter and agreed that Gemini air-to-air missiles were the Blade’s minimum necessary armament.
• After learning Semir had awakened, Tang Xiao met him privately in a guarded reception room and asked what he had obtained on Makito.
• Semir said he had obtained the Tonneth family’s import and export accounts and explained the rivalry between Ford Tonneth and San Hill for the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s co-chairmanship.

Tang Xiao recruited Semir, a former senior actuary and sector financial director of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, as the Fourth Group’s financial advisor. Semir warned that the unregistered organization lacked Republic protection and explained the permits and funding needed to establish a colony, leaving him to recover before preparing a business plan.

• Semir revealed that his accounts contained evidence of Ford Tonneth misusing InterGalactic Banking Clan funds to support Black Sun and Bando Gora and to meddle in Hutt conflicts.
• Tang Xiao learned Semir had been a senior actuary and sector financial director, then appointed him financial advisor to the Fourth Group and decided to keep his evidence as leverage in the Banking Clan’s leadership struggle.
• Semir pointed out that the Fourth Group was unregistered and that its illegal status would prevent Republic protection, recognition, and colonial subsidies.
• Semir explained that the group needed a colonization permit and several agreements, and offered to develop a business plan after learning more about its resources.
• Semir requested a droid attendant, so Tang Xiao assigned a T-850 to assist him, and Semir left to recuperate before formally beginning work.

Tang Xiao inspected the Fourth Civilization’s expanding space facilities and learned that research on the Hammer-class frigate had finished and production had begun. He visited the Engineering Research Institute to see the frigate and its weapons work, then continued on with Qu Xuewen toward Professor Chi.

• Tang Xiao observed the growing mining, research, and shipbuilding facilities around the mothership and reviewed the Fourth Civilization’s warship size classifications.
• Tang Xiao contacted Qu Xuewen, who told him the Hammer-class frigate research had been completed and production had started.
• Qu Xuewen explained that the first Hammer-class frigate had been fitted with salvaged Turbolaser Turrets under Professor Chi’s direction.
• Tang Xiao visited the Engineering Research Institute and watched a Blue-UV Laser prototype test fail when its equipment overheated.
• Qu Xuewen ordered the prototype’s feedback sent to Dr. Guan Yan with instructions to lower the energy conversion relay parameters, then escorted Tang Xiao toward Professor Chi.

Tang Xiao inspected the Hammer-class frigate as Chi Jianjun explained its design and limitations. Chi recommended developing technology from the Emergency Traders Alliance, and Tang Xiao recognized its tech tree as belonging to Sins of a Solar Empire.

• Qu Xuewen led Tang Xiao to the frigate refitting area, where Chi Jianjun and the experts were modifying the Hammer-class frigate's turbolaser turrets.
• Chi Jianjun described how the frigate's turrets had been upgraded from electromagnetic cannons to infrared lasers, improving its combat efficiency by around thirty percent.
• Chi Jianjun explained that the frigate still lacked effective avionics, fire control, and flight control, and that Kushan Civilization ships were generally inefficient.
• Chi Jianjun recommended technology from the Emergency Traders Alliance, and Tang Xiao recognized the faction as the Trader Emergency Coalition from Sins of a Solar Empire.

Tang Xiao reviewed Professor Chi Jianjun’s plans to advance Fourth Civilization’s military technology and remove its construction bottleneck. Meanwhile, a battle began at a spaceport in Mos Eisley on Tatooine.

• Chi Jianjun explained that the Trader Emergency Coalition’s technology was especially compatible with their research and outlined plans for upgraded Blade fighters, modified Hammer-class frigates, and plasma bombs.
• Chi Jianjun proposed developing SCVs and Trader Emergency Coalition engineering ships to speed up colony construction, and using Kushan stealth-fighter technology to improve the Wraith fighter.
• Tang Xiao considered how construction capacity limited the colony’s growth and praised Chi Jianjun’s research priorities before Chi Jianjun and the other researchers returned to work.
• An explosion struck a Mos Eisley spaceport concealing a smuggling elevator, and Bosa gang members stormed inside as Nikto mercenaries rushed to defend it.

Scar’s Bosa raiders attacked Jabba’s spaceport, killed its guards, and stole valuable goods, including two long cylindrical containers. In Mos Eisley, Cun Te tricked Suya into helping him access Kuken’s cruiser so he could obtain its specifications for a supposed Muun business deal.

• Scar led the Bosa in overrunning the Nikto guards at Jabba’s spaceport and ordered his men to loot the warehouses.
• Scar revealed that the raid targeted Jabba’s property, killed a wounded mercenary with a grenade, and led his men underground past the blast doors.
• Scar told his accomplices to take two long cylindrical containers to settle a debt.
• Cun Te learned from Suya that her former lover was connected to Boss Kuken and his Hammerhead-class cruiser.
• Cun Te claimed a Muun would pay fifty thousand credits for large starship specifications and persuaded Suya to help him board Kuken’s cruiser.

Yuri Orlov and Vitaly Orlov escaped a firefight after Scarface delivered payment for their weapons, while Cun Te sabotaged Iron Fang Kuken's cruiser ahead of its planned attack on the Fourth Civilization's mothership.

• Yuri Orlov spotted Scarface's hover trucks fleeing pursuers on speeder bikes and prepared to escape with Vitaly Orlov and their T-850s.
• Scarface dropped off two large crates as payment, and the pursuers fired at Yuri Orlov, mistaking him for an accomplice.
• Vitaly Orlov drove away with the crates as the T-850s used machine guns to scatter the pursuing speeder bikes.
• Cun Te used the cruiser's specifications to identify its vulnerabilities and secretly severed the wiring of six point-defense turrets.

Cun Te sabotaged the pirates’ cruiser, but Boss Kuken arrived earlier than expected and prepared to attack a civilian ship in the Endor system. Kuken killed Suya and ordered Taya to sing as he rallied the pirates for the raid.

• Cun Te disabled the cruiser’s point-defense turrets and put yellow sand into its engine oil tanks.
• Kuken arrived with Kunto and Feraci bound, announced that the pirates would leave that afternoon, and rejected Kunto’s warning about attacking the giant ship.
• Kuken grabbed Suya and questioned her about the job; Suya revealed that a Muun from the InterGalactic Banking Clan wanted to do business.
• Kuken ripped off Suya’s head-tendril and shot her dead, then ordered Taya to sing.
• Kuken told the pirates their target was an unarmed civilian ship over forty thousand meters long in the Endor system, and they celebrated.

Kuken captured Cun Te and the other outsiders and prepared to attack the mothership, while Cun Te secretly contacted Yuri and Vitaly. Yuri and Vitaly learned that Cun Te was trapped aboard Kuken's cruiser and that the attack would begin that afternoon, as searchers closed in on them.

• Kuken ordered his pirates to capture the outsiders and load weapons and ammunition for an afternoon attack on the mothership.
• Cun Te freed himself in the cargo hold and used coded taps on his communicator to contact Yuri and Vitaly.
• Yuri and Vitaly discovered that the Bosas had given them two Proton Torpedoes, which Yuri believed could make them rich.
• The T-850 decoded Cun Te's message and helped Yuri and Vitaly send a reply using taps.
• Cun Te told them he was trapped aboard Kuken's cruiser, and Vitaly warned that people were searching nearby.

Yuri raced to escape Mos Eisley with Vitaly, Truda, and the sabotaged YT-1000 before mercenaries could capture them. After a costly accidental Proton Torpedo launch, Vitaly activated the hyperdrive without setting a route, and the ship vanished into hyperspace.

• Yuri learned that Cun Te had sabotaged the cruiser and sent its specifications, while Kunto and Feraci had been captured.
• Yuri forced Truda to install two Proton Torpedoes on the YT-1000 and ordered a T-850 to hold off the searching mercenaries.
• Yuri made Vitaly study the ship’s manual and learn to fly while Truda and engineering robots worked on the torpedo mounts.
• The T-850 fought the mercenaries at the spaceport and self-destructed as the YT-1000 took off.
• Vitaly accidentally fired a Proton Torpedo, destroying a passing ship, then activated the hyperdrive before Truda could set the route coordinates.

Tang Xiao prepared the colony to fight Iron Tooth after learning that Kuken’s cruiser was coming to attack and that Cun Te had sabotaged its defenses. As Iron Tooth arrived in the Endor system, Kuken and his pirates saw the enormous Kushan Mothership.

• Qi Jian told Tang Xiao that Iron Tooth would arrive in three standard hours, while Cun Te, Kunto, and others were trapped aboard it and had sent its specifications after sabotaging it.
• Qi Jian reported that Yuri Orlov had obtained one Proton Torpedo for the Lancer, but the colony had lost contact with the ship.
• Carl Walton described the colony’s fighter and ship forces, assessed Iron Tooth’s weakened defenses and slow speed, and submitted a battle plan to Qi Jian.
• Tang Xiao said he intended to fight personally and demonstrated his telekinesis and strong simulated flight record to reassure Walton.
• Iron Tooth arrived in the Endor system, and Kuken and his pirate leaders stared in shock at the enormous Kushan Mothership.

Pirate captain Kuken attacked the Kushan Mothership with the Ironfang, believing its size hid weak defenses. The mothership’s shields repelled the assault as Kuken escalated the attack and launched his fighters.

• Kuken ordered the Ironfang to attack the Kushan Mothership with Proton Torpedoes, which exploded harmlessly against its shields.
• The mothership moved out of Dawn Star Planet’s synchronous orbit and advanced on the Ironfang, while its Mass Driver shots missed the nimble cruiser.
• Kuken maneuvered around the mothership and fired the Ironfang’s turbolasers, but the mothership’s shields blocked every strike.
• Kuken threatened the mothership over the public channel, then ordered every fighter and Proton Torpedo launched when it did not respond.
• The Ironfang fired its full arsenal and launched twelve Orec-class fighters toward the mothership.

Tang Xiao led the Mothership’s first fighter squadron against Kuken’s Hammerhead-class cruiser, then lured the Aurek fighters into the Mothership’s point-defense fire. As the second squadron launched, the battle shifted toward the Blade fighters’ next move.

• Tang Xiao ordered the first fighter wave launched and took command of a Blade fighter as the First Squadron prepared for takeoff.
• Tang Xiao led twelve Blade fighters toward the Hammerhead-class cruiser and fired a missile salvo, but its shields blocked the attack.
• Tang Xiao withdrew toward the Mothership’s flank, drawing Kuken’s twelve Aurek fighters after him.
• Qi Jian activated the Mothership’s point-defense guns and launched the Second Squadron, scattering the pursuing Aurek fighters with a barrage.

Tang Xiao’s fighters destroyed the Kuken Pirates’ Aurek-class fighters, then attacked the Ironfang-class cruiser as Kuken’s extra point-defense turrets were sabotaged. With the cruiser in chaos, Cun Te prepared to free the imprisoned civilians and find escape pods.

• Tang Xiao led three squadrons of Blade-class fighters against the pirates’ twelve Aurek-class fighters under the mothership’s point-defense cover, and the Fourth Civilization lost three fighters while destroying all twelve enemies.
• Tang Xiao used the Force to evade fire and destroy an Aurek fighter before the Fourth Civilization launched its remaining seventy Blade fighters and three Hammer-class frigates toward the cruiser.
• Kuken ordered the pirates to fire every Proton Torpedo and man the cruiser’s point-defense cannons, boasting that he had installed extra turrets to counter fighters.
• The Fourth Civilization’s fighters struck the Ironfang-class cruiser with Gemini missiles and laser fire, but the pirates discovered that their point-defense turrets could not turn because their wiring had been cut.
• Cun Te told the imprisoned civilians to stay quiet while he went to create a diversion and search for escape pods.

Cun Te set off an explosion aboard Kuken’s cruiser and used the chaos to evacuate Taya and the civilians while the battle outside intensified. Kuken tried to retreat, but the Kushan Mothership’s gravity well prevented the cruiser from making a hyperspace jump.

• Cun Te learned the armory was nearby, detonated its stored blaster gas, and drew the pirates away from the lifeboats.
• Cun Te sent Taya, Kunto, Feraci, and the other civilians away in lifeboats, then stayed behind to see whether he could capture the cruiser.
• Tang Xiao ordered the lifeboats recovered as the Blade fighters and three Hammer-class frigates attacked the Ironfang-class cruiser.
• Kuken ordered a retreat after the cruiser’s shields weakened, but his crew discovered the Mothership’s gravity well blocked their hyperspace jump.

Kuken's Ironfang-class cruiser was trapped by the Kushan Mothership's gravity and electronic interference, but he rejected surrender and tried to flee while attacking the Hammer-class frigates. Tang Xiao ordered a boarding assault and more missiles, but new ships began emerging from hyperspace before the battle was settled.

• Kuken realized the mothership's mass was preventing a hyperspace jump and suspected the earlier strange transmission had exposed his plans.
• Kuken failed to send intelligence to Black Sun, shot the communications officer, and threatened his crew before rejecting the first mate's call to surrender.
• Kuken ordered the Ironfang to flee toward the Endor system's outskirts and concentrate its fire on the Hammer-class frigates, destroying one of them.
• Tang Xiao learned the Ironfang's shields were below ten percent and ordered the Marines to prepare a boarding assault, with a nuclear bomb as a fallback.
• Tang Xiao ordered First Squadron to reload every remaining Gemini missile, but the radar operator reported that more ships were arriving through hyperspace.