Chapter Summaries

Huang Yehao’s company raided a Republic spaceport and destroyed all five PTB-625 bombers, stripping the Republic of its major air-support advantage on Malastare. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli then questioned how the Separatists had such abundant supplies and precise intelligence.

• Huang Yehao led a mobile assault on the spaceport while Tri-fighters engaged the Republic V-19 fighters.
• Cummings and the soldiers attacked the defenders as Huang Yehao’s squad fought Clone Troopers and deployed two Destroyer droids.
• A fast-moving soldier used a shield and rifle to break through several enemy positions, and Gran soldiers began to flee.
• Huang Yehao’s troops fired missiles and Gauss Cannons at the departing bombers, destroying four while Tri-fighters shot down the fifth.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli reviewed the battle and wondered why the Separatists had so many supplies and such accurate intelligence.

Ling Liang used an unconventional approach to direct the defense of Yag'Dhul, anticipating Master Sha-Koon's Republic attack and defeating its assault on Moon 2. Sha-Koon withdrew the battered 20th Army fleet, leaving the Republic's effort to break through the Yag'Dhul system unsuccessful.

• Baher-Banak criticized Ling Liang's incomplete calculation, but she argued that Zero-Modal Probability Theory could help guide battlefield decisions.
• Ling Liang ordered the defense fleet to reposition and prepare missile and fighter forces before Republic fighters emerged from the asteroid belt toward Moon 2.
• The Martha-class cruisers fired Fire Cloud Missiles into the fighters' path, destroying more than 200 Republic fighters and disrupting their attack.
• Sha-Koon sent the Republic warships into battle, but Separatist fighters and Kohl-class Battlecruisers countered the assault as the Agonev-class star base threatened to join the fight.
• Sha-Koon ordered the Republic fleet to retreat, and it withdrew from the Yag'Dhul system after losing five warships.

Ling Liang explained how Baher’s Zero-Modal Probability Theory had guided her successful command at Yag'Dhul, then prepared for the next campaign. At Gerrenthum Planet, Tang Xiao established the Eriadu system Operations Command Center and the Fourth Civilization began assembling forces for the Overlord Plan’s three-pronged attack on Eriadu.

• Ling Liang credited Baher’s theory with giving her a useful direction for command, and Baher argued that a formula without a result was incomplete.
• Tang Xiao arrived at the Gerrenthum Planet front, awarded Ling Liang and Sefrans Tann the Planetary Cross Medal, and appointed them deputy and fleet commanders of the Eriadu system Operations Command Center.
• The Fourth Civilization Supreme Military Command devised the Overlord Plan, with attacks advancing from Terminus Planet, Salust, and Gerrenthum Planet.
• Qi Jian set a four-month timeframe and called for 10 million troops to be mobilized for the campaign.
• Dawn Star Planet, Kaf Bir, the Kuna Cluster, Semirres Planet, and Kinyen began assembling forces, including 500,000 Semirians and 300,000 Gran troops.

The Fourth Civilization opened several fronts against the Galactic Republic, advancing through the Nothoiin Corridor, securing support from Mustafar and nearby planets, and firing its first shots at Eriadu. On the Salust front, 33 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers attacked Agomar, forcing the Republic fleet back to the planet’s outer orbit.

• Beolars Bribbs met Tang Xiao on Gerrenthum Planet to finalize the battle plans, and the Fourth Civilization began destroying Republic outposts between Gerrenthum Planet and Eriadu.
• The Fourth Civilization besieged Dolla Planet while its fleets fought Republic reinforcements and clashed over outposts throughout the Nothoiin Corridor.
• Watto Tambor agreed to supply Fleet A with Mustafar’s energy and droids, while Altavis, Sumavar, and Roge Antar joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
• Matt Hona sent 10 Kohl-class Battlecruisers to fire Hypermatter Railgun rounds at Eriadu, and the planet’s defenses intercepted all 10 projectiles.
• Miim Te'Suub led 33 Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers and Salust forces against Agomar, driving the outnumbered Republic fleet into the planet’s outer orbit.

The Fourth Civilization fleet broke Dolla Planet’s shield and launched an orbital assault on Dolla City. As Ling Liang watched Sefrans Tann command the fleet, 2,000 Indjori Avenger Type 101s descended on the capital and began killing its defenders.

• Ling Liang reported to Sefrans Tann as deputy commander, but Tann dismissed her and belittled the Army; Ling Liang insisted she would fulfill her campaign duties and rebuked the Navy.
• The Fourth Civilization fleet bombarded Dolla Planet’s shield, while 20 Ogrov Torpedo Cruisers joined the attack and Sefrans Tann repelled the Republic 18th Army’s harassment attempts.
• Ling Liang silently observed Tann’s fleet command and completed the tasks assigned to her without giving Tann grounds to obstruct her.
• On April 13, the planetary shield fell, and a Corsev Battlecruiser sent assault craft toward Dolla City under cover from the Fourth Civilization fleet.
• Dolla’s defenders shot down some assault craft, but the damaged Indjori Avenger Type 101s regenerated and attacked them; intact Avengers also landed with B-1 battle droids firing from their backs.
• Two thousand Indjori Avenger Type 101s broke into Dolla City and began a massacre.

Sefrans Tann’s Indjori Vengeance massacred civilians on Dolla Planet, which fell and opened the Nothoiin Corridor for the Fourth Civilization’s advance toward Eriadu. The Republic sent forces toward Ayatu 6 and Tibrin to threaten the Separatist flank, while Count Dooku asked Tang Xiao for help with Tibrin.

• Sefrans Tann mocked Ling Liang’s objections as the Indjori Vengeance slaughtered civilians, and the Supreme Military Command ordered her to confine the weapons to Dolla City.
• Fourth Civilization soldiers landed on Dolla Planet to restore order and clear T-Virus-infected civilians, while over 300 Indjori Avenger Type 101s overran the administrative center and killed more than a thousand people.
• Dolla Planet fell, opening the Nothoiin Corridor and prompting celebrations on Dawn Star Planet.
• The Republic 41st Storm Legion arrived at Ayatu 6, while the Republic planned to protect Tibrin and Ayatu 6 and sent the 501st Legion, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano toward the region.
• Count Dooku contacted Tang Xiao and asked for his assistance with Tibrin.

Tang Xiao learned that Count Dooku wanted Darth Malthael to publicly execute Tibrin’s Dictator, Suribran Tu, and recognized the plan could draw the Jedi’s attention toward him. On Drai II, the Priestess continued teaching young trainees to commune with the Force.

• Count Dooku told Tang Xiao that Suribran Tu had once sought to join the Confederacy but sided with the Republic after receiving a better offer.
• Count Dooku proposed that Darth Malthael publicly execute Suribran Tu to win the Ishi Tib’s loyalty, and Tang Xiao agreed to contact him.
• Tang Xiao reviewed information about Suribran Tu’s brutal rule and realized Count Dooku was using the execution to raise Darth Malthael’s profile and expose him to pursuit by the Jedi.
• On Drai II, the Priestess taught more than twenty children, including Xiao Yan and Zhang Xucheng, to open their minds and commune with the Force.

The Priestess trained the apprentices before Darth Malthael ordered her to publicly execute Tibrin’s Governor, Suribran Tu. After reading evidence of his brutality and the Galactic Republic’s support for him, she accepted the mission and arrived on Tibrin to confront him.

• The Priestess corrected Xiao Yan’s Force training and assigned her extra evening lessons, while Zhang Xucheng was assigned to study with Zerakas.
• Darth Malthael ordered the Priestess to execute Suribran Tu and sent her documents detailing his rule.
• The Priestess condemned the Galactic Republic’s support for Suribran Tu and resolved to pursue justice, then argued with Zerakas about the mission.
• On April 15, the Priestess arrived on Tibrin as an envoy of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and threatened to return with a fleet if Suribran Tu refused to meet her.
• The Priestess rejected Suribran Tu’s banquet invitation and began discussing the Confederacy’s occupation of nearby Dolla Planet.

Count Dooku and Tang Xiao planned to exploit Suribran-Tu’s assassination, but the Priestess killed the dictator before their plans could proceed. As she demanded a global press conference and Tibrin’s people prepared to celebrate, Count Dooku wondered why she looked familiar.

• Tang Xiao told Count Dooku that Archangel of Death had cut off his communication and that his special forces were preparing to assassinate Suribran-Tu.
• Count Dooku decided he might have to act personally if Archangel of Death refused to take the opportunity.
• An informant told Count Dooku that the Priestess had killed Suribran-Tu and escaped the palace carrying his head.
• Count Dooku watched footage of the Priestess and told Tang Xiao that she was connected to Archangel of Death.
• The Priestess announced her name, demanded a global press conference, and left Tibrin’s infiltrated media and guards to prepare while civilians welcomed Suribran-Tu’s death.

Master Windu returned to the Jedi Council with a cybernetic body and requested permission to arrest Depa Barris on Tibrin, but Yoda refused because it risked pushing the planet toward the Separatists. Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed the unrest and arranged for Sora Balk to go to Tibrin as an advisor.

• Master Windu returned to the Jedi Council and vowed to keep fighting the Separatists despite his injuries.
• Master Yoda revealed that Depa Barris had killed Tibrin’s governor, Suri Blan Tu, and Windu demanded permission to bring her to justice.
• Master Shaak Ti noted that Depa Barris had the support of Tibrin’s people, while Yoda refused Windu’s request and told him to recover as Anakin Skywalker went to Ayatu 6 Planet.
• Tang Xiao told Count Dooku that he had sent a Selurite fleet to Tibrin and that Depa Barris planned to leave soon.
• Count Dooku arranged to send Sora Balk to Tibrin as an advisor, saying his swordsmanship could match Depa Barris’s.

After Sulibran-Tu’s death, the Priestess formed a provisional government on Tibrin as Count Dooku sent Sola-Balk to meet her. Sola-Balk challenged her to join him in mastering Dark Side Vaapad, but the Priestess defeated him and left him stunned.

• After Sulibran-Tu’s public execution, riots and power struggles spread across Tibrin, and the Priestess announced a provisional planetary government.
• On April 16, Count Dooku sent Sola-Balk to Tibrin, where he met the Priestess and recalled teaching her swordsmanship with Mace Windu.
• Sola-Balk drew his red Lightsaber and urged the Priestess to join him in using the Dark Side to perfect Vaapad.
• The Priestess drew her Lightsaber and defeated Sola-Balk with Form VII Juyo, breaking his hilt.
• Tang Xiao approved a Selurite general’s plan to use the threat to Ayatu 6 Planet to constrain the Republic fleet while the Confederacy concentrated its forces near Eriadu.

After losing to the Priestess, Sola-Balke reflected on her command of the Force and took over the work of stabilizing Tibrin for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He became provisional governor and brought Tibrin into the Confederacy as the Selurite fleet arrived.

• Sola-Balke realized the Priestess had controlled their duel by turning the surroundings and his own Lightsaber against him, and she warned him that he had barely glimpsed the Dark Side.
• Sola-Balke took over the Priestess's administrative duties and efficiently stabilized Tibrin's government.
• The Priestess publicly executed Sulibran-Tu, while Sola-Balke arrested or killed officials and leaders loyal to him and established a provisional government.
• With the Priestess's endorsement, Sola-Balke became Tibrin's provisional governor, declared the planet's recognition of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and declared war on the Galactic Republic.
• On April 18, the Selurite fleet arrived at Tibrin with three Doomsday Battlefield-class battlecruisers capable of carrying hundreds of droid fighters and absorbing energy from enemy reactors.

The Fourth Civilization launched an assault on Eriadu, whose extensive planetary and orbital defenses made it a formidable target. After a probing bombardment damaged only a small number of guns on one of Talastra’s moon bases, Wilhuff Tarkin reinforced the system’s defenses.

• After Suri Blan-Too’s death, Sola Balk became acting governor of Tibrin, with Tol Skorr and Kadrian Sey as her deputies, and they stabilized the planet within three days.
• On April 18, Jedi Master Roan Shryne arrived at Ayatu 6 and joined Commander Gree and the 41st Storm Legion, but the Fourth Civilization struck before they could begin their operation.
• Sefrans Tann brought sixty Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers into the Eriadu system near Kelliadu, while Matt Hona entered from another direction with ten Kohl-class battlecruisers and ten Martha-class heavy cruisers.
• On April 19, Matt Hona’s Fleet A and Sefrans Tann’s Blade Fleet deployed Interdictors around Eriadu and bombarded a moon base at Talastra, destroying just over fifty heavy turbolaser cannons.
• Wilhuff Tarkin ordered one-quarter of Eriadu’s fleet into Talastra’s gravity well to help defend the moon bases.

Roan Shryne’s Republic fleet fought the Selurite fleet near Tibrin and struggled against its speed, energy-draining weapons, electronic warfare, and resilient armor. As Republic forces began a landing on the planet, the Selurites dismantled the Republic’s Interdictors and turned toward Ayatu 6 Planet behind the fleet.

• Roan Shryne led the Republic fleet from Ayatu 6 Planet to attack the Selurite fleet at Tibrin.
• The Selurite warships drained power from three Hunter Class Battlecruisers, disrupted Republic ships’ speed, and used their armor to withstand attacks.
• After more than two hours of fighting, the Republic rescued the three badly damaged Hunter Class Battlecruisers, and Roan Shryne ordered a landing on Tibrin.
• Two Acclamator-class assault ships entered Tibrin’s atmosphere as Sola Balk organized droids and local Ishi Tib forces to defend the capital.
• The Selurite fleet dismantled the Republic’s Interdictors and headed toward Ayatu 6 Planet behind the Republic fleet.

The Republic fleet struggled to contain the Selurite forces around Ayatu 6 and Tibrin, while Anakin Skywalker’s reinforcements helped stabilize the battered Republic troops on Tibrin. In the Eriadu system, Sefrans Tann began a major assault on Talastra’s moons and the Republic 18th Army.

• Selurite Vulture droid fighters bombed Ayatu 6 Planet, prompting King Antebian-Prawl III to beg Roan Shryne for help.
• Roan Shryne’s fleet repeatedly clashed with the Selurites, whose armored warships drained the energy of Hunter Class battlecruisers before retreating to Tibrin.
• Confederacy forces used concealed J-1 heavy Proton Cannons to damage an Acclamator-class assault ship and drive the other from the skies above Tibrin’s capital.
• Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano landed the 501st Legion on Tibrin, joined the 41st Storm Legion, and began planning to destroy the Proton Cannons.
• Sefrans Tann launched a bombardment of Talastra’s five moons while her Blade Fleet fought the Republic 18th Army in the Eriadu system.

Tang Xiao and Professor Chi Jianjun watched the Fourth Civilization gain the upper hand in the Battle of Eriadu, reflecting on how far the civilization had risen. The chapter ended with the destruction of a Republic battleship and Talastra’s Satellite 4 as the Fourth Civilization pressed its assault.

• Tang Xiao watched Fourth Civilization fighters outmaneuver and defeat the Republic’s larger force near Talastra Planet.
• Professor Chi Jianjun and other veterans and scientists gathered in the command center to witness the fleet’s growing advantage.
• Tang Xiao looked at Igor Zavalov’s portrait and envisioned the Fourth Civilization becoming invincible and dominating the galaxy.
• A Kohl-class Battlecruiser’s Hypermatter Railgun pierced a damaged Republic Invincible-class battleship and split it in two.
• Ogrov Torpedo Cruisers destroyed Talastra’s Satellite 4, whose debris triggered a meteor shower and a massive storm on Talastra.

The Fourth Civilization destroyed Talastra Satellite 3 with a coordinated attack while Sefrans Tann’s fleet continued its methodical campaign against the Republic’s defenses. The chapter ended at Gerrenthum, where repair and rescue crews began tending to a badly damaged Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser that had just arrived from hyperspace.

• Fourth Civilization forces destroyed the crater defenses on Satellite 3 with Big Ivan torpedoes, then used mining rigs and another torpedo to blast the satellite apart.
• Sefrans Tann repeatedly sent Corsev Battlecruisers to attack Talastra’s five satellite bases, while Wilhuff Tarkin countered with fighters and clone counter-landings.
• Sefrans Tann maintained a tightly coordinated fleet formation and complex joint operations, with Ling Liang assisting her command despite their mutual dislike.
• A damaged Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser emerged from hyperspace at Gerrenthum Planet’s spaceport.
• Raloz-class Heavy Constructors and repair drones began repairing the cruiser as medical ships dispatched rescue teams for its crew.

Rescue crews and engineers worked to save the crew and stabilize the badly damaged Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser Kent. At the packed hospital, Tang Xiao honored the wounded and declared that the Fourth Civilization’s attacks were a war of self-defense.

• Rescue crews evacuated Kent’s wounded and dead while workers began stabilizing the ship at the spaceport.
• Engineers traced Kent’s chain explosions to a Concussion Missile that struck Shield Capacitor Compartment Five after a V-19 Torrent crashed through a hull breach.
• Ewok engineers found the engine room largely intact and began reconnecting it to the main system so Kent could return to the dockyard.
• Tang Xiao learned that Kent had suffered more than 1,300 deaths and that Dawn Star Planet’s hospital was treating over 50,000 patients.
• Tang Xiao ordered the hospital to do everything possible to save the wounded and addressed them, promising their sacrifices would be remembered and framing the war as a defense of the Fourth Civilization.

The Fourth Civilization fleet struggled against the Republic’s defenses around Talastra Planet, while Sefrans Tann and Ling Liang clashed over a plan to seize one of the remaining turret moons. Tann forced a landing on Moon 6, where the Republic detonated the Energy Center and devastated the landing force.

• The Fourth Civilization fleet gained an advantage over Tarkin’s larger Republic force, but the turret networks on Talastra Planet’s moons inflicted heavy losses on Sefrans Tann’s fleet.
• After ten days of fighting, Tann proposed landing troops on one of the two remaining turret moons, but Ling Liang argued that the mission was impractical and would waste soldiers’ lives.
• Tann berated Ling Liang at a military conference, and the two ended the meeting in bitter disagreement.
• The next day, Tann had Adi Gallia block Ling Liang and ordered three mechanized infantry regiments to land on Moon 6 under cover of a fleet bombardment.
• On April 34, the landing force captured Moon 6’s Energy Center after two days of fighting, but the Republic detonated it, killing at least a third of the troops and scattering survivors into space.

After the Fourth Civilization won the first phase of the battle for Talastra, setbacks on Agomar and Tibrin threatened Sefrans-Tann’s campaign against Eriadu. Sefrans-Tann remained determined to continue, but the Republic intercepted a metal projectile fired at Eriadu and Tarkin showed no reaction.

• Ling Liang reported Sefrans-Tann’s unauthorized decisions and confinement of her to the Supreme Military Command, then returned to work despite their falling-out.
• The Fourth Civilization fleet destroyed the last turret network on Talastra’s moons, while Wilhuff Tarkin pulled Republic warships back under the protection of Eriadu and its satellite.
• On May 2, news arrived that Sothropp Corporation’s assault on Agomar had failed, while Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano’s nanovirus disabled nearly all Fourth Civilization battle droids on Tibrin.
• Dark Follower Sola Balk defeated Anakin Skywalker on Tibrin and preserved two J-1 proton cannons, though Anakin escaped.
• Sefrans-Tann recognized that her forces could not easily take Eriadu but rejected ending the campaign, while Kohl-class Battlecruisers fired metal projectiles toward the planet.
• Republic defenses and two CR-70 corvettes stopped a projectile and prepared to send it to a factory, while Wilhuff Tarkin watched without reacting.