Chapter Summaries

Tang Xiao negotiated with Bangjila-Ulan over the Katana’s Navigation Log and uncovered Rendili StarDrive’s struggle against Kuat Drive Yards. Their conversation ended with an understanding that Rendili would delay arms deliveries to give Wilhuff Tarkin time to act and demonstrate Rendili’s warships’ strength.

• Bangjila-Ulan offered free replacement parts for the Blade Fleet’s 178 remaining warships and one billion credits in exchange for the Katana’s Navigation Log and internal footage, and Tang Xiao agreed.
• Bangjila-Ulan said the Katana’s log could not reverse the Blade Fleet disaster but was a necessary move, then recognized that Tang Xiao’s warship designs carried a heritage from elsewhere.
• Bangjila-Ulan recounted Rendili StarDrive’s history and warned that Kuat Drive Yards saw Rendili as its next prey.
• Tang Xiao argued that Rendili’s predicament was political, not a matter of warship performance, and said Rendili and the other major factions were all prey.
• Bangjila-Ulan said Rendili could not join the Separatists or supply them with Victory-class Star Destroyers, and that delivery of Dreadnought-class parts would be delayed by a month.
• Tang Xiao explained the delay would give Wilhuff Tarkin time to deploy and let Rendili demonstrate the Dreadnought-class’s strength; Bangjila-Ulan gave him a private communications frequency.

Tang Xiao reflected on Rendili StarDrive’s decline and explained why it had fallen behind Kuat Drive Yards, despite its long history and the Victory-class Star Destroyer. He left Bangjila Ulan with only a seed of doubt and considered how to obtain Rendili’s accumulated strength before its predicted destruction.

• Tang Xiao reviewed how Rendili StarDrive rose to prominence but lost ground through political indecision, outdated designs, and its failure to compete with Kuat Drive Yards.
• Rendili’s Blade Fleet vanished on its maiden voyage, and the Republic Judicial Fleet halted orders while Kuat secured growing military contracts and political favor.
• Bangjila Ulan’s attempts to sell the Victory-class Star Destroyer failed, leaving Rendili with few orders as Kuat’s shipyards worked at full capacity.
• Tang Xiao judged that Bangjila Ulan still believed Rendili could recover, so he chose to plant a doubt rather than press him further.
• Tang Xiao expected Palpatine to drive Rendili into betraying the Republic and planned to acquire some of its strength before its eventual destruction.

The Galactic Republic opened the Battle of Yag'Dhul, where Ling Liang and the Givin defended the system against Master Sha Koon's fleet. As the Confederacy launched a broad Mid Rim offensive, the Republic concentrated its strength at Eriadu in preparation for Sefrans Tann's approaching Blade Fleet, while fighting also stirred on Haruun Kal.

• On February 33, Master Sha Koon led the Republic's 20th Army fleet into the Yag'Dhul system, and Octavian Grant went to Jizhou planet to oversee the command.
• Ling Liang and Lin Nanyi arrived in Dodecapolis to advise the Givin, whose forces were bolstered by two Agonev-class star bases, Fourth Civilization ships, and Gran troops.
• On February 34, Sha Koon's probing attack met heavy fire from the Agonev-class star bases, forcing her fleet to withdraw and begin a long-range artillery engagement.
• On February 35, Grievous attacked Antar, Trench attacked Kalinda, and fighting broke out on Ryloth, Savara, and Yariel as the Confederacy began a full-scale Mid Rim offensive.
• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command sent newly built ships to Eriadu instead of aiding attacked planets, while Sefrans Tann took command of all 178 Blade Fleet Dreadnoughts at Gerrenthum.
• Rendili StarDrive postponed delivering Dreadnought components to Dawn Star Planet, and the chapter ended with brutal fighting underway on Haruun Kal.

Depa Barris awoke from a recurring nightmare in which she believed she had massacred civilians while trying to protect a baby. In a Korunnai village on Haruun Kal, she learned that Balawai had destroyed a village and saw its sole survivor before Carl Vasto prepared to exact revenge on a captured Balawai.

• Depa Barris woke from a nightmare of killing civilians and discovering a skeleton where the baby she meant to protect should have been.
• Depa Barris went to the village square and found the Akk Guards and villagers gathered around Carl Vasto's house.
• Carl Vasto told Depa Barris that the Balawai had destroyed a village of seventy people, and she found a mutilated survivor still barely alive.
• Carl Vasto declared a blood feud and killed the survivor with his dagger.
• Depa Barris confronted the captured Balawai, who pleaded for her help, as Carl Vasto approached him with his power shield and repeated, "Blood feud."

Depa Barris tracked the Balawai who had raided Korunnai villages and learned that their winter equipment enabled attacks beyond the usual summer fighting season. When she heard that captured women spies were being abused in Pelek Baw City, she feared for Luna Meng and Luna Huan and attacked the camp.

• Carl Vasto maimed a captured Balawai, and Depa Barris ended his suffering by beheading him.
• Depa Barris set off alone to find the Balawai raiders, despite Carl Vasto offering to accompany her.
• Depa Barris found an armed Balawai camp and overheard its members boast that they had destroyed four Korunnai villages and planned to harvest Thyssel tree bark.
• The Balawai discussed captured women spies in Pelek Baw City, and Depa Barris realized Luna Meng and Luna Huan might be among them.
• Depa Barris lost control of her fury, charged the camp with her Lightsaber, and cut down two Balawai.

The Dream Sisters continued their carefree infiltration of Pelek-Baw City while avoiding its administrative center, where a powerful Dark Side user was stationed. At the Spotted Wolf bar, Luna-Illusion used an illusion of Captain Simba to question a drunk soldier about Korunnai spies.

• Pelek-Baw City prospered through organized harvesting and processing of Thyssel tree bark, drawing the Confederacy of Independent Systems' attention.
• Luna-Illusion entertained mercenaries by appearing as Captain Simba while Luna-Dream and Rainbow's group watched.
• Rainbow recalled how the Dream Sisters had entered and roamed the city freely using illusions, though they avoided the administrative center because of its powerful Dark Side user.
• Captain Simba questioned a drunk soldier about female Korunnai spies captured by the Guardian unit.
• The soldier said the Commander had slept with the Korunnai women before having them arrested, and Captain Simba asked whether the official in the administrative center had enjoyed them too.

Luna-Meng and Luna-Huan learned that Colonel Lorz Geptun planned to exterminate the Korunnai before large-scale Thyssel tree bark harvesting began, then encountered the three Dark Jedi overseeing the operation. The sisters stayed undercover as Depa Barris watched from afar and prepared to act.

• A drunken soldier told Luna-Meng and Luna-Huan that Colonel Lorz Geptun intended to wipe out the Korunnai within three months, and Captain Simba put him to sleep.
• Luna-Meng, Luna-Huan, and the Clone Troopers discussed the likely use of a secret weapon, and Luna-Huan decided they should stir up trouble.
• The sisters followed soldiers to a destroyed camp where they recognized Lightsaber wounds and saw Quinlan Vos arrive with Karoc and Vinoc.
• Quinlan Vos concluded that Jedi had organized the Highland Liberation Front and ordered patrols strengthened, while the sisters concealed their Force presence.
• Depa Barris sensed the Dream Sisters' situation from a distant treetop and resolved to act.

Depa Billaba resolved to act, while the Dream Sisters and their companions planned to exploit weakened city patrols to investigate the secret weapon. At the command center, Quinlan Vos learned the Organic Resonator could kill Korunnai and Grassers while leaving Diesel trees and equipment unharmed, and Colonel Loz Gepdon promised to join the Confederacy if it helped exterminate the Korunnai.

• Depa Billaba recognized that the Dream Sisters could handle the danger in Pelek Baw City and decided to proceed with her plan.
• Luna-Dream warned the group that the dreadlocked man had noticed something unusual, and they planned to study the Guardians’ movements before approaching the barracks.
• Quinlan Vos, Karoc, and Vinoc met Colonel Loz Gepdon, who showed them the newly assembled Organic Resonator.
• Loz Gepdon’s test reduced captured Korunnai spies and a Grasser to mangled flesh while leaving nearby Diesel trees, droids, and hover trucks unharmed.
• Quinlan Vos praised the weapon, and Loz Gepdon said he would join the Confederacy of Independent Systems after the Korunnai were exterminated.

Depa Barris organized the Korunnai into the Highland Liberation Front and prepared to strike Balawai outposts, while the Dream Sisters learned of a Separatist weapon intended to exterminate the Korunnai. They identified the weapon’s planned deployment and key enemy targets, then considered attacking Pelek Baw’s spaceport.

• Depa Barris persuaded Carl Vasto to use the Highland Liberation Front name and armed Korunnai warriors with equipment seized from smugglers.
• Depa Barris called on the Korunnai to destroy every Balawai outpost around Pelek Baw City without leaving survivors.
• Luna-Dream and Luna-Illusion found a hidden Jedi Order contact code and followed its clues to a note delivered by a covert agent.
• Luna-Dream deciphered that the Separatists planned to deploy a shockwave weapon from the DOKAW aerospace weapons platform to kill the Korunnai.
• Luna-Dream identified Count Dooku’s Dark Followers and Colonel Loz Gopton as targets, while Luna-Illusion proposed blowing up the spaceport.

The Dream Sisters destroyed Pelek-Baw City's only spaceport with compressed blaster gas, triggering a lockdown that threatens the Jedi plan to destroy the Separatists' secret weapon. Quinlan Vos identified the attackers as Jedi and resolved to use their strength to target the Dark Jedi twins, while Clone Trooper Rainbow confronted the sisters about the disastrous consequences.

• An explosion destroyed Pelek-Baw City's spaceport, and Colonel Loz Geptun sealed the city while ordering a search for the culprit.
• Investigators traced the missing compressed blaster gas to the armory, but surveillance showed no clear theft until later footage revealed the canisters vanishing.
• Karoc and Vinoc detected a disturbance in the Force and concluded that Jedi Knights had infiltrated the city to target the Organic Resonator.
• Quinlan Vos realized the spaceport's destruction was the other Jedi's answer to his contact and considered arranging an opportunity to kill the Dark Jedi twins.
• Clone Trooper Rainbow angrily confronted the Dream Sisters, and Luna-Dream explained that the Separatists could still force a transport ship to land.

After three days hiding under an illusion, the Dream Sisters received intelligence about a chance to ambush Karoc and Vinoc and decided to act. Meanwhile, Quinlan Vos proposed using false information about the Organic Resonator to lure the enemy out.

• The Dream Sisters and Rainbow avoided repeated searches in Pelek-Baw City while dark Jedi Knights came dangerously close to their residence.
• The Dream Sisters decoded a message saying an informant would lure Karoc and Vinoc to a northern warehouse the following day and divert the Guardian forces.
• Ye Zi, Beard, and Rainbow warned that the message might be a trap, but Luna-Illusion and Luna-Dream chose to proceed and asked Rainbow to keep the Guardian forces away from the warehouse.
• Colonel Loz-Gopton berated Karoc over the failed search and attacks on outposts, and Quinlan Vos suggested spreading false information that the Organic Resonator was being transferred.

Quinlan Vos convinced Colonel Loz Gepden to dismantle the Organic Resonator’s casing and use it as bait to lure the Jedi Knight into a trap. As Quinlan entered the warehouse with the disguised weapon, he realized the casing’s weight was wrong.

• Quinlan Vos persuaded Colonel Loz Gepden to expose the Organic Resonator’s core and stage a false deployment to draw out the Jedi Knight.
• Colonel Loz Gepden agreed to lock down Pelek-Baw City, protect the core, and keep troops ready while splitting his forces among those duties.
• Quinlan Vos secretly guided the plans toward a northern warehouse and arranged for rumors about the weapon’s location to spread among mercenaries.
• Quinlan Vos, Karoc, and Vinoc escorted the disguised Organic Resonator casing and more than a hundred soldiers into the warehouse.
• Quinlan Vos sensed something was wrong and realized the casing weighed differently than it should.

Quinlan Vos discovered that the warehouse and its cargo had been unnaturally frozen in the exact state he had observed the day before. He and Karoc and Vinoc confronted the Luna sisters, whose illusions turned their soldiers against them, while the sisters revealed they could stand in midair.

• Quinlan Vos noticed the counterfeit organic resonator was 50 kilograms lighter and realized nothing in the warehouse had changed since his previous visit.
• Karoc and Vinoc sensed something was wrong, and Quinlan Vos prepared for a battle he believed had been anticipated by a Jedi Knight.
• Luna Illusion and Luna Dream emerged and introduced themselves as the two Jedi apprentices who had come to confront the Dark Jedi Knights.
• Karoc ordered his soldiers to attack the sisters, but the soldiers instead aimed their blasters at Karoc, Vinoc, and Quinlan Vos.
• Karoc and Vinoc discovered their Lightsabers passed through the soldiers, while Quinlan Vos realized the illusions' blaster fire felt real to the Force.
• The Luna sisters repelled Karoc's attack and stood in midair, astonishing Quinlan Vos, Karoc, and Vinoc.

The Dream Sisters trapped Karoc, Vinoc, and Quinlan Vos in illusions that fooled both the Force and electronic equipment. Karoc and Vinoc discovered that wrecking their surroundings exposed the illusions’ limits, but Luna-Illusion revealed that Quinlan Vos stood with the sisters beyond the brothers’ perception.

• Vinoc tried to seize the airborne Dream Sisters with the Force, but Karoc recognized the scene as an illusion and deflected a real tiny Lightsaber aimed at Vinoc.
• Luna-Illusion created hundreds of duplicates that attacked with tiny Lightsabers, while Quinlan Vos pretended to struggle and slipped into a shipping container.
• Karoc and Vinoc concluded that the sisters’ illusions hid their lack of Lightsaber skill, and Karoc narrowly saved Vinoc from a real blade emerging from a cargo crate.
• Karoc and Vinoc smashed crates and containers, noticed that the wreckage did not match reality, and inferred that the sisters’ illusions had limits.
• Luna-Illusion spoke with Quinlan Vos in the warehouse while Karoc and Vinoc could neither see nor hear them, and Quinlan stared at the sisters in fear.

The Dream Sisters trapped Quinlan Vos and the Dark Brothers in illusions, then summoned near-perfect copies of the three Jedi to fight for them. Quinlan stayed out of the battle as Karoc and Vinoc were defeated, leaving the sisters in control of the warehouse.

• Luna Dream explained that the sisters could read Quinlan Vos’s thoughts because they were inside his dream, while Luna Illusion mocked him.
• The sisters ended the surrounding illusions and revealed the wrecked warehouse, where the three Dark Jedi Knights had killed one hundred soldiers.
• Luna Dream and Luna Illusion summoned illusions of Karoc, Vinoc, and Quinlan Vos, which wielded their lightsaber forms and attacked the Dark Brothers.
• Quinlan Vos considered attacking the exhausted sisters, but Luna Dream’s glance made him lose his nerve, and he sat down to watch.
• Karoc called Quinlan a traitor before Quinlan’s illusion stabbed him; the other illusions severed Vinoc’s arms, and Luna Illusion killed him with a tiny Lightsaber.

Depa Barris embraced the Dark Side after a dream on Haruun Kal, while the Dream Sisters prepared to kill Colonel Loz Gepden and destroy the Organic Resonator. Tang Xiao learned that the Republic was probing Yag'Dhul and reviewed the Separatists' planned offensive through the Mid Rim.

• Depa Barris declared the Dream Sisters the Jedi Order's perfect Light Side future, then ordered Carl Vasto and the Akk Guards to take food from a burned farm before reinforcements arrived.
• Luna Dream and Luna Phantom told Quinlan Vos that Depa Barris had made her choice in a dream, and that Haruun Kal's powerful dreams were beyond their reach.
• The Dream Sisters agreed to leave after killing Loz Gepden, and Quinlan Vos offered to help them destroy the Organic Resonator while concealing the deaths of Karoc and Vinoc.
• Ling Liang reported that Master Sha Koon and her apprentice had led seven probing attacks on Yag'Dhul, and Tang Xiao warned her to keep the Ankolon Plan secret.
• Tang Xiao studied the Separatists' strategic offensive, which General Grievous and Count Dooku had devised to strike the Republic's Mid Rim Territories.

General Grievous and the Confederacy of Independent Systems launched a coordinated strategy to stretch the Republic across multiple fronts, while Tang Xiao prepared Fourth Civilization’s attack on Eriadu. Darth Malthael ordered Sefrans Tann to begin an operation against Malastare, and she requested Adi Gallia and Shiri Tachi for her plan.

• General Grievous’s strategy targeted Republic forces at Makito, Ord Mantell, Eriadu, Antar, and across the Southern Territory while the Confederacy sought control of Mon Calamari.
• Tang Xiao received orders to attack Eriadu within a month, leaving Fourth Civilization less than eight days to overhaul the Blade Fleet before the assault.
• Luna Phantom and Luna Dream reported that Depa Barris had fallen to the Dark Side but remained loyal to the Jedi Order and Republic, and Darth Malthael told them to leave Haruun Kal and protect Quinlan Vos if needed.
• Darth Malthael summoned Admiral Sefrans Tann, who proposed striking Malastare immediately with thirty-five Dreadnought-class ships to disrupt Eriadu’s supply line.
• Sefrans Tann requested Adi Gallia and Shiri Tachi for her operation, and Darth Malthael threw her against a wall when she speculated about his plans before she flirted with him.

Sefrans Tann used a covert fleet maneuver to ambush Republic forces in the Malastare Narrows, then supported a Fourth Civilization invasion of Malastare. As Republic reinforcements prepared to respond, she secretly met with Gran and Dagg leaders, while resistance on the planet continued.

• Sefrans Tann secretly departed with 35 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers as Dawn Star Planet’s intelligence operations put Wilhuff Tarkin and the 18th Army on alert.
• Gabriel Tosh and the Selurite Special Operations Forces intensified their assassinations, prompting Tarkin to request Jedi aid and the Republic to send 800 Bosa agents under four Jedi Knights.
• Sefrans Tann ambushed and destroyed eight Hunter Class battlecruisers in the Malastare Narrows, then defeated Malastare’s local defense fleet.
• Justin Levis landed Fourth Legion warriors and army soldiers on Malastare and fought local defense forces near the capital, Pixel.
• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command sent Jedi Master Kep-She to lead reinforcements after Malastare appealed for aid.
• Sefrans Tann secretly met with the Gran political leader and later communicated with the Dagg political leader, while Gran resistance on Malastare remained strong.

After Count Dooku abandoned Haruun Kal, Darth Malthael arrived aboard the evacuation ship with hidden masters. Quinlan Vos confronted him after the Dream Sisters joined him for tea and asked what connected them to the Archangel of Death.

• The Highland Liberation Front devastated smuggler facilities across Haruun Kal, while a Jedi Knight killed Colonel Loz Gepton and destroyed the Organic Resonator before Quinlan Vos drove the attacker away.
• Count Dooku judged Haruun Kal lost and ordered Quinlan Vos to cover the evacuation, sending one final shipment of droids and weapons to Pelek-Baw City.
• Darth Malthael and Darth Lilim remained aboard the ship as it landed, while Quinlan Vos sensed deadly danger inside the cabin.
• Luna Illusion and Luna Dream entered the cabin and drank tea with Darth Malthael, then Quinlan Vos joined them.
• Quinlan Vos asked Darth Malthael what relationship he had with the Dream Sisters.

Darth Malthael explained his connection to the Dream Sisters and why he had come to Haruun Kal, then offered Quinlan Vos a role in helping them. After Malthael vanished, Quinlan alerted Master Windu that the Archangel of Death was there.

• Quinlan Vos accused the Dream Sisters of becoming traitors, but Darth Malthael pointed out that they remained aligned with the Light Side.
• Darth Malthael said he had come to save Depa Barris and give her the chance to choose her own fate, and told Quinlan that the Dream Sisters represented the Jedi Order's future.
• Darth Malthael revealed that another Sith Lord was on Coruscant and that Count Dooku knew Quinlan was a Jedi spy, then offered to help Quinlan as he helped the Dream Sisters.
• Darth Malthael disappeared, leaving Quinlan to question what he had learned and send Master Windu an encrypted warning that the Archangel of Death was on Haruun Kal.