Chapter Summaries

Peter Anderson survived the destruction of his warship and crashed onto Semirres Planet with a group of Republic soldiers. After they repelled B-1 droids and regrouped, three heavily armed Semirians attacked, and one charged straight at Peter.

• Kato rescued Peter Anderson from the stricken transport, and they watched a Behemoth-class battlecruiser attack the fleeing Republic forces.
• Peter’s LAAT/I transport descended through heavy anti-air fire, lost a wing, and crashed near a city.
• Peter and the surviving soldiers destroyed attacking B-1 battle droids and established a temporary defensive position.
• The soldiers contacted nearby Company Seven and spotted an incoming LAAT/C carrying an AT-TE walker.
• Three armored Semirians burst from a ruined building and pinned down the Republic soldiers with heavy blaster fire.
• One Semirian charged through the soldiers’ cover and reached for Peter as his shots failed to penetrate its energy shield.

Peter-Anderson and Kato’s battered survivors joined an AT-TE crew and set out to find the Republic forces. From a hill, they saw the Republic Army retreating in disarray as Separatist droids, Semirians, and unfamiliar tanks advanced.

• A Republic soldier killed the Semirian attacking Peter-Anderson, and the surviving troops killed the other two after losing most of their companions.
• Peter-Anderson shot the last fleeing Semirian, then vomited as he realized how many soldiers had died.
• Kato learned that the AT-TE’s navigation and radar systems were damaged, leaving the group unable to determine their bearings.
• Peter-Anderson spotted fighters heading toward a battlefield, and Kato led the group in that direction to look for the main force.
• Kato’s group climbed a hill and saw the Republic Army retreating before a Separatist advance supported by B-1 battle droids, Semirians, and fast tanks.

Peter Anderson and Kato’s squad was ambushed by Scorpion tanks, and the AT-TE Little Bean was destroyed as they fled. A day later, Jedi Master Wilhuff Monn surveyed the wreckage and collected Peter’s dog tag while the Republic fleet withdrew, but he remained confident that victory was possible.

• Kato spotted three Separatist Scorpion tanks advancing on the squad, and they took cover as the tanks opened fire.
• The AT-TE hit one Scorpion tank, while Peter Anderson and Kato attacked it with a grenade and anti-tank rockets without destroying it.
• Two Scorpion tanks flanked and destroyed Little Bean, and Peter Anderson fled as they turned their guns toward the survivors.
• A day later, Jedi Master Wilhuff Monn surveyed the battlefield, found Peter Anderson’s dog tag, and kept it.
• Lieutenant General Alfonso told Monn that the fleet was withdrawing after heavy losses, while Clone Army commanders warned that their forces and morale were failing.
• Monn said there was still a chance of victory.

Hermit and Jango Fett investigated the citywide brainwashing in Sundari and planned to rescue Duke Satine Kryze. Meanwhile, Republic forces pressed their attack on Semirres Planet as its commanders argued over whether to defend or counterattack.

• Hermit explained that Sundari’s residents repeated the same day and became unable to act when taken far from their routines, leading him to suspect Duke Satine Kryze had been controlled and the city sealed off.
• Hermit and Jango Fett agreed that Jango would infiltrate Death Watch while Hermit entered the Sundari Royal Palace to find Satine, keeping their suspicions from Tang Xiao for now.
• General Trench reported that the Republic was attacking across the Eastern Outer Rim and that Semirres Planet could not count on reinforcements.
• Ulu Ulix, Asajj Ventress, and General Trench discussed the Republic landings around the Capital District while Dai Hongkui reported his forces’ numbers and urged caution because of Republic air superiority.
• Ulu Ulix demanded an offensive, Dai Hongkui argued that the Republic had greater room to maneuver and was inflicting heavy losses, and Toonbuck Tula called for the commanders to account for the destruction of Semirres Planet.

General Trench ordered a counterattack at New Dalan City and Tortok City as the Separatists launched a massive assault on Republic positions across Semirres. The Republic lines buckled under the attack, and Master Pawoish Radul announced that their operation would begin.

• General Trench sent Asajj Ventress and Ulu-Ulix to counterattack at New Dalan City and Tortok City, while Lieutenant General Dai Hongkui was assigned mobile armor support.
• Separatist forces and Republic troops fought across the ground and air as bombardments and anti-air missiles targeted both armies and their ships.
• Republic fighters and a Hunter Class battlecruiser destroyed a Hiigaran-class battlecruiser, which crashed into a town and obliterated it.
• Scorpion tanks broke through Republic lines as hundreds of thousands of droids and Semirian soldiers advanced across a forty-kilometer front.
• General Davis told Pawoish Radul and Wilhuff Monn that Separatist forces had breached the Republic defenses by more than ten kilometers.
• Pawoish Radul called the Separatist assault their final madness and said the Republic operation would begin.

Gabriel Tosh awoke among the Protoss, learned that Sola had saved him from the Dark Side Force, and told Zekrath that false intelligence had drawn him into danger on Cona Planet. As Zekrath began investigating the captured Force, Asajj Ventress led a fierce assault on Republic positions on Semirres Planet.

• Gabriel Tosh woke in a Protoss room without his psionic power and confronted Zekrath, who explained that Sola had saved him after the Dark Side Force attacked.
• Zekrath told Tosh that four hundred Protoss had awakened and that the Protoss had rescued him because they shared a goal against the Galactic Republic.
• Tosh described how false intelligence about the Republic fleet’s arrival on Semirres Planet had misled his operation, and warned that the Dark Side Force had influenced an informant.
• Zekrath said he would send Tosh’s intelligence to the Dawn Star Planet Intelligence Department and showed him a strand of captured Dark Side Force.
• Asajj Ventress cut apart a Republic AT-XT and led B-1 battle droids and Semirians in an assault on Republic positions.

The Galactic Republic’s overwhelming air power and mobile strike fleet pressed General Trench’s forces while Ulu-Ulix led a major ground offensive toward Tortok City. Ulu-Ulix confirmed reinforcements were coming, but warned Toonbuck-Tura that the Republic Clone Army had yet to reappear.

• Republic artillery and more than 4,000 fighters bombarded Semirres Planet’s defenses, focusing on its large battle mechs and superheavy tanks.
• Admiral Davis used a fast mobile fleet of more than seventy light cruisers to threaten Trench’s five Behemoth-class battlecruisers, while Republic reinforcements continued arriving despite heavy losses.
• Ulu-Ulix directed hundreds of thousands of troops toward Tortok City from his command center as Toonbuck-Tura urged him to secure more aid.
• Ulu-Ulix told Toonbuck-Tura that Count Dooku and Governor Tang had each sent reinforcements, but said their impact depended on the offensive’s results.
• Ulu-Ulix warned Toonbuck-Tura to commit every available force because the Galactic Republic Clone Army had not appeared since the initial landing battle.

Lieutenant General Dai Hongkui led a fast Scorpion tank assault that broke through Republic defenses near New Dalan City while Asajj Ventress fought Republic soldiers. The Republic’s main counterattack remained hidden near Manka City, and its clone troops launched toward Semirren City.

• Dai Hongkui ordered hundreds of Scorpion tanks to charge through Republic positions under cover of smoke and graphene dust.
• The Republic’s defensive lines failed to stop the tanks, while Asajj Ventress attacked soldiers and called for Jedi Knights to face her.
• Jedi Masters Ladur and Monn avoided Ventress as the Republic relied on its frontline forces to distract the Confederacy.
• At Manka City, Jedi Master Wilhuff Monn and nearly twenty thousand clone troopers prepared a surprise counterattack.
• Republic aircraft regrouped and bombed Manka City before the clone troopers departed aboard LAAT/I transports for Semirren City.

The Galactic Republic launched a massive bombardment of Semirren City and used Clone Troopers to attack the underground command center holding Semirres Planet’s High Command. Separatist commanders divided their forces to respond as Jedi Masters Pawoish Ladur and Wilhuff Monn led the assault toward the planet’s leadership.

• Republic fighters devastated military targets and parts of Semirren City while fresh waves replaced those that had expended their ammunition.
• Hundreds of LAAT/I transports deployed Clone Troopers, who slipped through the city and targeted Semirres Planet’s High Command.
• Dai Hongkui, General Trench, Asajj Ventress, and Ulu-Ulix agreed on separate actions to attack the Republic, await a secret weapon, and reinforce the Capital District.
• The Clone Army encircled the underground command center and attacked its fortified defenses.
• Pawoish Ladur and Wilhuff Monn cut through Semirian defenders as they advanced toward the Governor and the rest of the planet’s leadership.

As the Republic and Separatists fought over Semirres, General Trench received a modified shuttle carrying Durge and Count Dooku’s secret weapon. Durge arrived on the surface battlefield and told Asajj Ventress the weapon was intact and ready, while expressing distrust of the people from Dawn Star Planet.

• General Davis initially dismissed reports of an unusual hyperspace arrival, then ordered a light cruiser and fighter squadron to investigate.
• Three unfamiliar warships appeared at the edge of the Semirres system and remained motionless.
• A Behemoth-class battlecruiser and a heavily modified CSS-1 shuttle entered the system, prompting Trench to receive them and Davis to send Lieutenant General Alfonso’s Third Sub-fleet to intercept.
• Dai Hongkui’s forces broke through the Republic defenses near Tortok City as Ventress’s troops pressed the attack under heavy anti-aircraft fire.
• The damaged modified shuttle descended near Ventress’s command post, and Durge jumped from it in weapon-covered mechanical armor.
• Durge told Ventress that Count Dooku’s secret weapon was intact and ready, and said he did not trust the people from Dawn Star Planet.

Master Ladur and Wilhuff-Monn captured Semirres Planet’s leadership and seized Endless-class test data, then sent Clone Troopers to intercept Ulu-Ulix and Toonbuck-Tula’s approaching reinforcements. As Wilhuff-Monn confronted Ulu-Ulix in an ambush, Durge prepared to activate the secret weapon while Asajj-Ventress protected his shuttle.

• Master Ladur forced Semirres Planet’s Governor to surrender and order the transmission of the Endless-class blueprints, while Wilhuff-Monn stopped the deletion of test data and killed a Semirian engineer.
• Master Ladur ordered the Governor to command Semirres forces to surrender and identified Ulu-Ulix and Toonbuck-Tula as approaching reinforcements; Wilhuff-Monn sent Clone Troopers to attack them.
• Ulu-Ulix and Toonbuck-Tula learned that the High Command had fallen, but Ulu-Ulix refused to surrender and claimed Ventress had obtained a secret weapon.
• Clone Troopers ambushed the Semirian convoy, and Wilhuff-Monn confronted Ulu-Ulix atop his command vehicle as Toonbuck-Tula contacted Ventress.
• Durge piloted an armored shuttle carrying the secret weapon and said it needed five minutes to activate, while Asajj-Ventress promised to defend him from Republic fighters.

Durge used the Gene Resonator to kill every Clone Trooper in Semirren City and destroy the transmission of the Endless-class Super Carrier blueprints. Asajj Ventress confronted Jedi Master Pawoish Ladur, who warned Master Monn to retreat as Durge arrived.

• Asajj Ventress fought off Republic fighters while escorting Durge's modified CSS-1 heavy shuttle over Semirres Planet's Capital District.
• Durge activated the Gene Resonator from above Semirren City, and its beam killed the Clone Troopers across the Capital District.
• Pawoish Ladur watched the Clone Troopers disintegrate and found the blueprint transmission mainframe and its storage device destroyed.
• Semirres Ironclad Legion soldiers fired on Pawoish Ladur, who fought his way out and saw that no Clone Troopers had survived.
• Asajj Ventress landed before Pawoish Ladur and revealed that the Gene Resonator had left him alone in the Capital District.
• Pawoish Ladur told Master Monn to retreat as Durge descended behind him.

Three unidentified warships attacked the Galactic Republic Fourth Army Main Fleet near Semirres Planet with an ultra-long-range, light-speed weapon. General Davis ordered a formation to destroy them, but the fleet had no way to counter the weapon before its strikes arrived.

• A radar operator reported three capital ships at the edge of the system, and the Fleet Adjutant examined their images while General Davis focused on reports of lost contact with the Clone Army and Master Radul.
• The adjutant realized that delayed data showed the central warship had charged its weapon sixteen hours earlier and warned Davis that the fleet was under attack.
• The central warship's first beam struck a Hunter Class Battlecruiser, destroying its shield and damaging its armor.
• A second beam destroyed the damaged battlecruiser, and two more shots hit its wreckage as the Republic fleet moved away from its positions.
• Davis ordered a combat formation to charge and destroy the three warships.

Arroyo Barlow oversaw the Tachyon Lance’s first live-combat test and ordered inspections that exposed faults in the weapon’s systems. The chapter explained how Kyber Crystals and technology recovered from the Republic’s Extractor enabled the Fourth Civilization to develop the Particle Beam Lance.

• Arroyo Barlow halted firing after the fifth shot destroyed the target and ordered a full self-inspection of the Tachyon Lance.
• Arroyo demoted an engineer for relying only on system data, then ordered technicians to inspect Nodes Seven, Nine, and Sixteen.
• Engineers found transmission problems, control-system bugs, and abnormal temperatures while confirming that the Kyber Crystal emitter and cooling system worked.
• Arroyo’s team gathered the test data and assessed the Calamity-class battlecruiser as a suitable carrier for the 1,100-meter Particle Beam Lance.
• The chapter explained that Arroyo began the Particle Beam Lance project after the Fourth Civilization studied the Republic’s Kyber Crystal-powered Extractor and secured a crystal supply from Christophsis.

The Particle Beam Lance gave the Fourth Civilization the ability to strike across planetary systems, forcing fleets to rely on hyperspace communications while leaving few ways to evade attacks. After the weapon’s first strike, General Davis weighed an assault and retreat before deciding to abandon the army on Semirres Planet.

• The chapter explained how the Particle Beam Lance focused lightspeed particles and how its extreme range changed the scale and tactics of space warfare.
• General Davis ordered his fleet to maneuver evasively, search for hidden observation posts, and assess short-range hyperspace jumps.
• A navigation engineer warned that planetary mass shadows would hinder jumps and said an assault would take one to three days.
• Davis canceled the assault and ordered a retreat, but his adjutant warned the fleet could not evacuate the army before the enemy struck again.
• Davis ordered the army abandoned, noting that Master Wilhuff Monn had confirmed all Clone Troopers had died for unknown reasons.

General Davis ordered the Republic fleet to retreat from Semirres Planet after the Clone Army was destroyed and the Republic ground forces faced defeat. Wilhuff Monn escaped the weapon that killed his Clone Troopers and returned to the city, where he found his former master dead and continued his hunt for vengeance.

• General Davis accepted responsibility for the defeat and ordered the Republic forces to retreat, while suspecting someone had manipulated the battle.
• Wilhuff Monn killed traitor Uru Ulexis and moved to seize Toonbuck Tura before Master Pawoish Ladur warned him to flee.
• A pale green weapon killed the Clone Troopers around Monn, and he escaped the encircling Semirian soldiers without killing Tura.
• Monn ignored the retreat order and found Pawoish Ladur's corpse near an underground shelter, while Asajj Ventress was nowhere to be seen.
• Monn howled and charged into the unsuspecting Semirian soldiers holding his former master's Lightsaber.

A mysterious Sith-trained figure named Shen-Jon prepared to take revenge as the Republic fleet withdrew from Semirres, while General Davis bargained with an unknown contact over Endless-class Super Carrier data. The hyperspace route destabilized before the fleet could escape, leaving its return uncertain.

• A cloaked master praised Shen-Jon’s growing Dark Side power and sent him to pursue revenge against the Republic, Dawn Star Planet, and the Separatists.
• General Davis ordered the Republic fleet to withdraw from Semirres while it continued evading Separatist Particle Beam Lances.
• A mysterious contact demanded Endless-class Super Carrier blueprint data, and Davis agreed to transmit the portion the fleet had obtained in exchange for information about the Separatists’ weapons and the Clone Troopers’ deaths.
• The mysterious contact warned that the seasonal hyperspace route might disappear early, and Davis dismissed Lieutenant General Alfonso’s objections and began transmitting the data.
• The fleet navigator reported that the hyperspace route had become unstable despite having been expected to last eleven days, and the fleet might be unable to return.

After the Republic lost its fleet on Semirres, Praji resigned, while Palpatine promoted the doomed Davis and learned of two Separatist superweapons. As the Senate fought over the Fourth Army governorship, Palpatine backed Tarkin, who pledged to prove himself by capturing Onderon.

• Praji learned that the disrupted hyperspace route left Davis and the Fourth Army fleet stranded on Semirres, then resigned to take responsibility for their impending destruction.
• Palpatine overrode opposition to promote Davis to Fleet Admiral and promised the stranded soldiers’ families support so the fleet would keep fighting.
• Davis reported that the Separatists had upgraded the Gene Resonator to target clones and possessed a precise laser weapon with a range of at least sixteen light-hours.
• Senators competed through bribery, kidnapping, threats, and assassination for the vacant Fourth Army governorship, which controlled access to Kuat Drive Yards.
• Palpatine chose Tarkin for the post, prepared a narrative to excuse the loss of the 18th Army, and heard Tarkin promise that Onderon would prove his worth.

Hermit and Jango Fett infiltrated Sundari Royal Palace to find and rescue Duke Satine, who had been imprisoned by Death Watch. Hermit escaped the underground prison with Satine while Pre Vizsla and Death Watch pursued him.

• Hermit searched Satine's empty chambers while Jango Fett checked the palace surveillance and discovered that she was in the underground prison.
• An explosion exposed the infiltration, and Hermit fought his way toward the prison as Death Watch warriors attacked him.
• Jango Fett arrived to cover Hermit, using precise shots to hold off the Death Watch warriors.
• Hermit found Satine strapped to a chair among imprisoned New Mandalorian officials, with Pre Vizsla leading the Death Watch guards.
• Satine recognized Hermit and began to say his name, but he silenced her with the Force, dodged Pre Vizsla, and carried her out of the prison.

Hermit and Jango Fett rescued Satine Kryze from Death Watch and hid with her in Sundari. Satine explained that Pre-Vizsla and Almec had betrayed her and planned to use a brainwashing device to force a referendum on joining the Separatists.

• Hermit and Jango Fett escaped the palace with Satine after Jango detonated a bomb and they smashed through a wall.
• Pre-Vizsla ordered Death Watch to search the sealed city and identify the traitor who had helped rescue Satine.
• Hermit told Satine that Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead and that he served the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
• Satine explained that Pre-Vizsla and Almec had installed a device that controlled Sundari’s residents and kept her imprisoned.
• Satine revealed that Death Watch intended to use a referendum to make Mandalore join the Separatists.