Chapter Summaries

Anakin Skywalker killed Shmi Skywalker during his fight with Darth Malthael, then fell fully into the Dark Side. Darth Malthael prepared to face his transformed power, while Anakin demanded that he resurrect his mother.

• Anakin Skywalker evaded Darth Malthael’s attack and struck Shmi Skywalker with his Lightsaber, killing her.
• Anakin mourned Shmi, and his grief and rage caused his Dark Side power to surge as Darth Malthael secretly tampered with the Soul Reaper Sword.
• Anakin’s Lightsaber turned blood-red as his growing power shattered the house around him.
• On Coruscant, Sheev Palpatine sensed the disturbance, wrecked his office with the Force, and summoned Blackhole through a secret channel.
• On Naboo, Darth Malthael shielded himself with the Death Force as Anakin demanded that he resurrect Shmi, and Darth Malthael declared that he had chosen for Darth Vader to appear.

Anakin Skywalker fought Darth Malthael with overwhelming Dark Side power, but Malthael defeated him and burned him nearly beyond recognition with Crimson Lightning. Darth Sidious arrived and ordered Anakin taken back, leaving his fate in the Sith’s hands.

• Anakin Skywalker charged Darth Malthael, and their Force powers and Lightsabers clashed on nearly equal terms.
• Darth Malthael urged Anakin to embrace darkness and unleashed Crimson Lightning against him.
• Darth Malthael severed both of Anakin Skywalker’s arms and subjected him to Crimson Lightning until he was almost a charred lump of flesh.
• Kresh's Gauntlet questioned what Darth Malthael had lost after he made Anakin lose everything.
• Darth Sidious arrived with two people identified as Blackhole, found Anakin still alive, and ordered him taken back.

Anakin Skywalker endured agonizing surgery and was rebuilt in black mechanical armor, then pledged himself to Darth Sidious as his apprentice. Renamed Darth Vader, he realized that Darth Malthael had seemed to know the name before it was given to him.

• Anakin woke during a painful operation and heard an order to keep him alive without anesthetic or blood transfusions.
• After an unknown amount of time, Anakin emerged from the Bacta chamber and endured having mechanical armor fused to his mutilated body.
• Robots fitted Anakin with a helmet and life-support systems, restoring his breathing, heartbeat, and ability to move with mechanical limbs.
• Darth Sidious asked Anakin what had happened, and Anakin explained that Darth Malthael had killed his mother after trying to make him an apprentice.
• Anakin pledged to obey Darth Sidious, who declared that his new name was Darth Vader.
• Darth Vader recalled that Darth Malthael had mentioned the name before and wondered how he had known it.

Padmé Amidala learned that Anakin Skywalker had died on Naboo and accused Chancellor Palpatine of murdering him. Palpatine blamed the Archangel of Death and offered Padmé Anakin’s mother’s body and the damaged droids’ memory cores for her investigation, while Anakin’s body remained unrecovered.

• Dormé told Padmé that Anakin had died after the Archangel of Death attacked him on Naboo and showed her Palpatine’s public announcement.
• Padmé demanded firsthand intelligence about the attack on the secret estate, then went to confront Palpatine in his office.
• Padmé accused Palpatine of using Anakin to destroy the Jedi Order and then silencing him, but Palpatine denied killing him.
• Palpatine said he had rushed to Naboo after sensing Anakin’s pain and found the Archangel of Death beside the dying Anakin, holding his mother hostage.
• Palpatine claimed the Archangel of Death killed Anakin’s mother before fleeing and offered Padmé her body and the damaged droids’ recordings, while explaining that Anakin’s body had been almost completely destroyed.

After learning that Anakin had died, Padmé discovered she was two months pregnant and resolved to hide the pregnancy while continuing the work Anakin and Master Yoda had left unfinished. Meanwhile, Bail Organa challenged Palpatine’s Order 66 in the Senate as Palpatine used Anakin’s funeral to influence Padmé.

• Padmé broke down in grief, believing her carelessness had led the Archangel of Death to Anakin and caused his death.
• Dormé told Padmé she was two months pregnant, and Padmé insisted that the pregnancy remain secret.
• Padmé told Dormé they had to finish Anakin and Master Yoda’s work and chose Luke or Leia as the child’s name.
• Bail Organa began impeachment proceedings against Palpatine and questioned the legality of Order 66 in the Senate.
• Palpatine attended Anakin’s funeral and spoke of regarding him as a son, while Mas Amedda said the funeral had been arranged to stir Padmé’s emotions.

Sheev Palpatine used Anakin Skywalker's funeral to deepen Padmé Amidala's grief and self-blame while advancing his political plans. As the Republic paused its offensives to hunt the Jedi, the Confederacy and the Fourth Civilization gained time to regroup.

• Mas Amedda told Sheev Palpatine that the funeral had been arranged to exploit Padmé Amidala's grief and weaken Bail Organa's opposition.
• Padmé Amidala watched the funeral footage, remembered her final argument and secret wedding with Anakin Skywalker, and blamed herself before fainting as his supposed remains were burned.
• Sheev Palpatine publicly changed the order to kill Jedi into an arrest warrant, but the warrants often became kill orders when Jedi resisted.
• The Republic halted its advances while its armies reorganized, giving General Grievous time to rebuild the fleet and plan the war around Saleucami Planet.
• Sha Koon escaped Order 66 after killing soldiers and fleeing in a fighter, forcing the Twentieth Army to shelve its offensive against the Yag'Dhul system.

The Galactic Republic grew alarmed when Xuanwu moved from Eriadu to Enarc, raising fears of an assault on Naboo. While Republic forces gathered at Naboo, a fleet of Calamity-class battlecruisers attacked the orbital port outside Kira.

• Xuanwu left its anchorage outside Eriadu, passed through several systems, and arrived at Enarc, prompting nearby planets to surrender.
• The Galactic Republic Supreme Strategic Command considered several responses to Xuanwu’s arrival but rejected them and gathered forces at Naboo.
• A small Fourth Civilization fleet appeared at the edge of the Kira system, including five Calamity-class battlecruisers and eight bird-shaped warships.
• The Calamity-class battlecruisers took firing positions while the accompanying warships deployed Interdictors to block Republic reinforcements from making short-range hyperspace jumps.
• The five battlecruisers fired destructive beams at the orbital port outside Kira planet, battering its Deflector Shield.

The Republic fleet pursued the Fourth Civilization detachment to the Pax System, where Hell-Angel Class Battlecruisers devastated its fighter waves and Particle Beam Lances crippled its warships. As the Republic commander ordered an all-out charge, sensors revealed five black warships mixed into the enemy formation.

• The Republic fleet sent five Knight-class Star Destroyers and twenty Hunter Class Battlecruisers to pursue the Fourth Civilization ships in the Pax System.
• The Fourth Civilization's Particle Beam Lances destroyed a Kira spaceport after its shields failed, killing many people and ships that could not escape.
• Eight Hell-Angel Class Battlecruisers slowed the Republic's first wave of 2,000 fighters and destroyed most of them with laser fire.
• The Republic launched another fighter wave, but the Hell-Angel Class ships held it back while the Calamity-class ships attacked the fleet.
• The Republic fleet lost six Hunter Class Battlecruisers and, with its commander facing the danger of retreat, charged the enemy formation.
• Republic sensors detected five black warships among the Fourth Civilization ships.

The Republic investigated the destruction of its fleet at Kira and concluded that new Separatist weapons had overwhelmed its forces. As Admiral Kurny sought reinforcements and leverage over Kuat Drive Yards, Ling Liang reviewed the victory’s heavy cost to the Fourth Civilization’s stealth ships.

• Admiral Kurny ordered Alan to explain the fleet’s defeat within a day while Republic investigators questioned survivors and examined the wreckage.
• Republic intelligence reconstructed the battle: fighter engines had slowed near the enemy, Hell Angel-class ships had destroyed fighters, and concealed small ships had used powerful torpedoes to destroy the Knight-class Star Destroyers.
• Alan told Kurny that the attackers had likely launched super torpedoes at close range, and they identified four unresolved questions about the enemy ships, torpedoes, stealth vessels, and fighter-slowing effect.
• Kurny judged that the 17th Army could not rely on Naboo’s defenses against the Separatist fleet, ordered a request for reinforcements, and told Alan to pressure Kuat Drive Yards for compensation and political help.
• Ling Liang told a Salarian engineer that only five of the twelve Purification-class stealth special operations ships had returned and warned that continued losses would threaten the war effort and future orders.

Ling Liang pressed a Salarian scientist to improve the Purification-class Stealth Special Operations Ship while planning attacks to keep the Galactic Republic fleet on the defensive. After the raiding fleet’s earlier successes, Malcolm Granger led another strike force to encircle Ze-Heth Planet.

• Ling Liang argued that the Purification-class needed to be adapted for the Fourth Civilization’s new war and urged the Salarian scientist to develop a more survivable design.
• Malcolm Granger reported that the Republic fleet was constrained by the Jedi Order, allowing the Fourth Civilization’s raiding fleet to attack enemy forces.
• Ling Liang tasked Granger with attacking Ze-Heth Planet and explained that the campaign aimed to disable the Republic fleet at Kira planet and prevent a two-front war.
• The Xuanwu moved to Enarc, tying down the Republic’s main fleet while the raiders attacked Kira planet and destroyed a spaceport.
• The raiding fleet trapped and annihilated a Republic fleet at Paks Planet, leaving the Republic on the defensive.
• Two days later, Granger led another modest raiding fleet to encircle Ze-Heth Planet.

Major General Malcolm Granger’s fleet forced Zeh-Hes Planet to surrender after the Republic 17th Army ignored its plea for aid, giving the Fourth Civilization a vital route between Malastare and Eriadu. Meanwhile, Francis Underwood and Count Dooku welcomed fleeing Jedi to the Confederacy, provoking Palpatine to order retaliation.

• Lynch Hauser and Admiral Kurny ignored Zeh-Hes Planet’s request for reinforcements while covering up the Republic 17th Army’s defeat and profiting from corruption.
• Malcolm Granger blockaded Zeh-Hes Planet and demanded its surrender, and the ZeHethbra capitulated in less than a day.
• Zeh-Hes Planet’s surrender established a stable connection between the Fourth Civilization’s territories around Malastare and Eriadu, enabling Malcolm Granger’s fleet to attack nearby planets.
• Francis Underwood publicly offered refuge to Jedi Knights at the Holy Advent Academy, and Count Dooku issued a similar invitation to the Confederacy.
• Palpatine grew furious at Dooku’s welcome to the Jedi and ordered the Separatists to be shown the Republic’s strength.

Admiral Kurny and Governor Lynch Howzer struggled to obey Palpatine’s counterattack order while the Fourth Civilization’s Xuanwu Titan warship kept the 17th Army trapped near Naboo. They decided to seek the Trade Federation’s help, but Kurny’s proposed payment—Vanderheim Planet—would mean surrendering Republic territory.

• Palpatine ordered the 17th Army to launch a counteroffensive, while Octavian Grant secured permission to delay his own attack in the Yago-Dul system.
• Kurny explained to Lynch Howzer that Xuanwu and its raiding fleet had pinned the 17th Army’s main fleet near Naboo, making an attack on the fortified Enarc system extremely dangerous.
• Howzer blamed Kurny for the trap, and Kurny argued back before they agreed to ask Vice Chancellor Mas Amedda for help overturning Palpatine’s order.
• Kurny proposed bribing the Trade Federation to weaken Enarc’s defenses and force Xuanwu to retreat, and Howzer considered approaching Lott Dod or Nute Gunray.
• Kurny suggested giving the Trade Federation control of Vanderheim Planet, and Howzer angrily objected that the planet belonged to the Republic and that surrendering it would be treason.

Admiral Kurny persuaded Linc Howzer to approach Lott Dod with a proposal to trade Republic territory for the Trade Federation’s help. On Raxus Prime, Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed the aftermath of Order 66, their plans to recruit surviving Jedi, and the Book of Sith.

• Admiral Kurny convinced Linc Howzer to contact Lott Dod and offer him a mining planet to prevent a major fleet battle in the Enarc system.
• Tang Xiao and Count Dooku agreed that surviving Jedi could become useful allies, though they remained wary of Jedi who had fallen to the Dark Side.
• Tang Xiao judged that more than one-third of the Jedi Knights had survived Order 66 and said the Fourth Civilization’s Intelligence Departments were preparing to help those fleeing the Republic.
• Count Dooku asked Tang Xiao about the Book of Sith, and Tang Xiao explained that it connected its acknowledged bearer to the Sith path without directly granting power.

Tang Xiao revealed to Count Dooku that the souls of the dead belonged to him, then learned that the Republic’s 17th Army wanted the Xuanwu Titan warship to leave Enarc. He backed Lott Dod’s plan to lure the fleet into an attack and destroy it.

• Count Dooku questioned Tang Xiao about the Book of Sith, and Tang Xiao claimed that since returning from Planet Korriban, the souls of the dead belonged to him.
• Tang Xiao ended his conversation with Count Dooku and received a communication from Lott Dod aboard his shuttle to Raxus Prime.
• Lott Dod reported that the Republic’s 17th Army offered to let the Trade Federation acquire Vanderheim Planet if the Xuanwu Titan warship withdrew from the Enarc system.
• Tang Xiao learned that Chancellor Palpatine had ordered the 17th Army to attack and that Lynch Howzer and Admiral Kurny hoped to present the warship’s retreat as a success.
• Tang Xiao approved Lott Dod’s proposal to lure the 17th Army’s main fleet into an attack, promising him Vanderheim if the plan succeeded.

Ling Liang predicted that the Republic 17th Army would attack the Enarc system and redirected Fourth Civilization forces to prepare for it. As the Republic’s leaders argued over a proposed deal involving Vanderheim Planet, the feasibility of their plan remained uncertain.

• Ling Liang used Zero-Modal Probability Theory and the Republic’s movements to predict an imminent attack and ordered reinforcements sent to Enarc.
• An urgent dispatch confirmed that the Republic 17th Army was preparing to attack Enarc, and Ling Liang joined a conference with Qi Jian and Matt Hona.
• Ling Liang ordered Malcolm Granger to abandon his planned operations and move his guerrilla fleet to Enarc.
• Granger reviewed Ling Liang’s battle plan, accepted the assignment, and learned that the Republic fleet’s dreadnoughts posed a serious threat.
• Admiral Kurny complained that Lott Dod wanted Vanderheim Planet handed over first, while Lynch Hauser questioned whether Lott Dod’s plan would work.

Admiral Kurny and Lynch Hauser approved a risky plan to attack Enarc and use the ensuing disruption to cut off Xuanwu’s supplies. The 17th Army’s First Task Force reached Enarc and opened fire on the Trade Federation spaceport, provoking the Xuanwu Titan warship to charge toward it.

• Admiral Kurny argued that attacking Enarc could let the Trade Federation disrupt supplies to Xuanwu, and Lynch Hauser agreed to proceed despite the risks.
• Trade Federation ships secretly completed a handover with the 17th Army at Vanderheim Planet, and the First Task Force departed Naboo for Enarc.
• The First Task Force arrived at Enarc and found Xuanwu guarding the Trade Federation spaceport with a powerful fleet.
• Kabayo ordered his task force to avoid Xuanwu and attack the spaceport, and its heavy Turbolasers destroyed part of a loading zone.
• Xuanwu accelerated toward the attacking Republic fleet.

The Galactic Republic fleet attacked Enarc, using Kabayo’s task force to pin down the Xuanwu while other ships devastated Trade Federation spaceports. As Kurny’s fleet turned its guns on Enarc to force a surrender, the planet’s administrator revealed his defiance just as short-range hyperspace jumps were detected.

• Kabayo ordered five Knight-class Star Destroyers to bombard the Xuanwu, but its defenses absorbed the attack and its Destruction Matrix disrupted Republic ships and corroded fighters.
• Kabayo sent fast warships and fighters around the Xuanwu to attack Trade Federation spaceports, destroying facilities while the Xuanwu battle group inflicted heavy losses on his task force.
• A Trade Federation executive agreed to deactivate orbital defenses but refused to lower Enarc’s Planetary Shield, and two Commander II-class Dreadnoughts arrived to reinforce the Republic fleet.
• Kurny ordered the Republic to keep attacking the Xuanwu and spaceports, then directed the two Dreadnoughts to bombard Enarc’s Planetary Shield to pressure its administrators into surrendering.
• Enarc’s administrator mocked the Republic’s demand for neutrality, and the radar division detected short-range hyperspace jumps within the system.

The Fourth Civilization’s thirty capital ships engaged Admiral Kurny’s 17th Army, whose reinforcements and numerical advantage could not prevent the layered assault from disrupting its formation. The chapter ended as Calamity-class Particle Beam Lances struck a Commander II-class Dreadnought, revealing the Separatist fleet’s next threat.

• The Fourth Civilization deployed Hell-Angel, Durov, Kohl, and Calamity-class battlecruisers at staggered distances from the Republic fleet.
• Admiral Kurny accused Lott Dod of deceiving the Republic, then ordered agents to target him and commanded the 17th Army to fight the Separatists.
• Five Hunter Class Battlecruisers and twenty DP-20 gunboats arrived from Naboo as the 17th Army reorganized around two Commander II-class Dreadnoughts.
• Fifteen Hell-Angel Class Battlecruisers charged the Republic fleet and unleashed varied laser fire that battered shields and disrupted its formation.
• A Commander II-class Dreadnought pierced the Xuanwu’s group shield and a Hell Angel-class vessel’s Deflector Shield, but the vessel’s armor endured its main-gun attack before the Xuanwu and supporting ships pulled it back for repairs.
• Calamity-class Particle Beam Lances struck one of the Commander II-class Dreadnoughts, leaving a red ray and a spiraling ray on its shield.

The Fourth Civilization fleet used its layered defenses and upgraded fighters to hold off the Republic 17th Army at Enarc, while Valkyrie missile frigates joined the offensive. Ling Liang also ordered Malcolm Granger to launch a risky raid through Republic assembly points, aiming to sever the 17th Army’s supply line.

• The Fourth Civilization’s ships and fighters made it difficult for Republic forces to strike the Xuanwu Titan warship or break through to the fleet’s rear.
• Valkyrie missile frigates appeared at Enarc, where the Fourth Civilization could support their heavy ammunition needs.
• Admiral Kurny continued sending reinforcements because the Republic fleet could not quickly break the Xuanwu’s defenses.
• Malcolm Granger cursed Ling Liang after she ordered his raider fleet to return to Enarc by way of Republic assembly points.
• Granger studied Ling Liang’s plan to exploit hyperspace disturbances by attacking Republic transports and escaping through the congested Enarc hyperspace lane.
• The plan aimed to cut the Republic 17th Army’s main fleet off from its supplies, leaving Granger responsible for carrying out the raid.

Malcolm Granger’s guerrilla fleet raided Paks, Kira, and Kalinda, disrupting the Enarc hyperspace lane and cutting off the Republic 17th Army’s supply route. With Admiral Kurny’s fleet trapped and short on supplies, Ling Liang ordered Xuanwu and the Fourth Civilization fleet to launch their offensive.

• Malcolm Granger attacked Republic salvage ships at Paks, then planted and detonated explosives among the wreckage to make it appear that the guerrillas were destroying evidence.
• Granger lured the Republic fleet toward Kira, struck a transport convoy, and escaped through Kalinda while hyperspace turbulence delayed pursuit.
• The guerrilla fleet attacked Kalinda’s unprotected cargo ships, worsening congestion in the Enarc hyperspace lane and forcing the Republic to suspend traffic through it.
• As the Republic 17th Army and Fourth Civilization fleets fought at Enarc, both sides reinforced and Admiral Kurny relied on growing numbers and supplies from Kira.
• Admiral Kurny learned that the route was closed and his fleet was trapped at Enarc with dwindling supplies.
• Ling Liang ordered the Fourth Civilization fleet, led by Xuanwu, to begin its offensive.