Chapter Summaries

Lieutenant General Brent and Captain Keth Maxwell traveled to Csilla to meet with the Chiss, where Keth learned about their political system and customs. At the family palace, the Chiss cabinet demanded to know whether the Duchy of Dawn had come to bring peace or war.

• Brent and Keth flew from the Eternal Super Carrier to Admiral Qiyala’s flagship aboard an official Duchy of Dawn shuttle.
• Keth discussed the Chiss government and customs with Qiyala during their journey to Csilla.
• After docking near Csilla, Keth spoke with female soldiers and gathered more information about the Chiss.
• The Chiss cabinet received Brent and his party at the family palace in Csaplar.
• The cabinet asked whether the Duchy of Dawn had brought peace or war.

Lieutenant General Brent negotiated with the Chiss Family Cabinet, offering peaceful exchange while emphasizing the Duchy of Dawn’s ability to enter the Unknown Regions. The Chiss leaders remained wary as they considered whether cooperation would protect them or entangle them in outside conflicts.

• Brent introduced the Duchy of Dawn’s peaceful intentions to the Chiss Family Cabinet, whose nine families identified themselves.
• Nuruodo family and Sabosen family questioned what the Duchy could offer and warned that accepting it could draw the Galactic Empire’s hostility toward Chiss territory.
• Brent argued that Chiss territory was not truly isolated and warned that it could eventually be swallowed by the outside world.
• Brent presented gifts, including seeds, animal embryos, and a Warp Drive blueprint, and said the Duchy used at least three other technologies to enter and leave Chaos.
• The Chiss families privately discussed Brent’s offer, then asked how the Duchy could guarantee it would not invade or drag Chiss territory into its wars.
• Brent proposed trade and cooperation as safeguards and pointed out that the Duchy would not share its access technologies with its enemies.

Lieutenant General Brent proposed joint action against Mongal-Mongal and a relay base to the Chiss Cabinet, revealing that the Duchy of Dawn could move millions of battle droids through a Stargate. The Chiss accepted the offer of friendship and arranged accommodations while agreeing to share intelligence about Mongal-Mongal.

• Brent urged the Chiss Cabinet to cooperate against Mongal-Mongal and proposed a joint operations command staffed by him and He Ru.
• Brent said the Duchy of Dawn would commit forces as the Chiss requested, then proposed building a relay base with Chiss assistance.
• Brent revealed that the relay base could enable Stargate transport of battle droids, including forces from the Duchy's 4.1-million-strong army on Levik planet.
• The Chiss Cabinet reacted with alarm to the Stargate revelation, and the Csapla family acknowledged the Duchy's friendship.
• The Inrokini family offered Brent state-guest accommodations, and Brent requested intelligence about Mongal-Mongal threatening Levik planet.

The Chiss families debated whether to help the Duchy of Dawn build a stargate, weighing the danger of provoking them against the chance to gain an advantage. The discussion ended without a decision, while the Illyz family began a plan to infiltrate the delegation and approach Kace Maxwell.

• The Nuruodo family told Admiral Qiyala to send the Duchy of Dawn intelligence on Mongal-Mongal, and she left after receiving instructions from the cabinet.
• The Chaf family called for an attack, but the Illyz and Nuruodo families argued that keeping the Duchy of Dawn under surveillance was safer than driving it away.
• The Csapla family proposed cutting off supplies, while the Sabosen and Brast families questioned whether that would work or whether the stargate story was a deception.
• The Myss family demanded accountability for Admiral Qiyala, but the Inrokini family reminded her that the cabinet had jointly approved contacting the fleet.
• The Nuruodo family proposed using the Duchy of Dawn against other enemies, and the Illyz family urged limits on the relationship before the cabinet postponed its vote until the next day.
• The Illyz family ordered attendants to send beautiful women to the delegation and place an agent near Kace Maxwell.

Kace Maxwell and Lieutenant General Brent discussed the Chiss ruling families’ infighting as the Duchy of Dawn exploited their divisions to secure an alliance. The Chiss territory agreed to host a forward base and stargate on Masos Planet, and the two sides established joint operations against Mongal-Mongal.

• Kace Maxwell and Lieutenant General Brent discussed how the Chaf family’s political ambition and the ruling families’ rivalries made the Chiss vulnerable to the Duchy of Dawn.
• Brent’s delegation received gifts, bribes, and incriminating information as the Chiss families tried to discredit one another and win the Duchy’s favor.
• The Chiss territory accepted the Duchy of Dawn’s alliance proposal and allowed it to build a forward base and stargate on Masos Planet.
• The Chiss and the Duchy of Dawn established a Joint Operations Command to strike Mongal-Mongal, led by Admiral Ziyala with Lieutenant Generals He Ru and Brent as deputies.
• The two sides formally established diplomatic relations and signed economic and technology agreements, including the transfer of warship designs and Gen 2 synth technology to the Chiss.

Tang Xiao and Helmut Zemo reviewed the Duchy of Dawn’s agreements with Chiss territory and its plans to use a stargate and joint operations to extend its influence into the Unknown Regions. The chapter then shifted to Terminus Planet, where Oruba’s Goresla Family rose amid the escalating feud between the Desilijic and Besadi kajidics.

• Helmut Zemo reported that Chiss territory had agreed to help build a stargate in seven standard months and had selected technology and warships to receive in exchange.
• Tang Xiao approved the arrangements and discussed how Lieutenant General Brent was cultivating Chiss families while the Joint Operations Command pursued Mongar-Mongar.
• Tang Xiao and Zemo concluded that the stargate would let the Duchy of Dawn steadily expand its influence throughout the Unknown Regions.
• The Desilijic kajidic and Besadi kajidic moved toward open conflict as Ziro and Gaddula led increasingly violent attacks amid the Clone Wars.
• Oruba used the turmoil between the two great Hutt families to expand the Goresla Family’s influence from Terminus Planet.

The chapter explained how Republic-backed Desilijic and Separatist-backed Besadi divided the Hutts during the Clone Wars, while Tang Xiao covertly supported figures within both sides. It left the Goresla Family excluded from the Hutt Council, with Oruba’s appearance helping make him an outcast.

• Palpatine secretly backed Jabba, while Tang Xiao helped Ziro reunite with Zorba and challenge Kiliak, splitting the Desilijic kajidic.
• Aruk-Besadi suppressed Gaddula and drove out Tang Xiao’s Calamity Legion, then allied with Marlo-Kunnarac against the growing Desilijic power.
• Aruk made a secret pact with Count Dooku after the Clone Wars began, strengthening the Besadi kajidic as Zorba’s assassination removed Ziro from the Hutt Council.
• The Republic-backed Desilijic and Confederacy-backed Besadi factions gave both sides access to Hutt Space, helping the Confederacy keep its territories connected and prolong the war.
• The Goresla Family lost its Council seat as other kajidics shut it out, while Oruba’s albinism and appearance made him a freak in Hutt society.

The Goresla Family rose to power through smuggling and military strength, allowing Oruba to reclaim a seat on the Hutt council. After the Empire helped the Desilijic kajidic defeat the Besadi kajidic over Saleucami, Palpatine ordered Kiliak to dissolve the Hutt Council, and Kiliak expelled every member outside the Desilijic kajidic.

• The Goresla Family expanded its smuggling network from Terminus and used its powerful fleet to crush rival families that attacked it.
• Oruba forced Marlo of the Kunnarac Family off the Hutt council and reclaimed a seat for the Goresla Family.
• After the Galactic Republic became the Galactic Empire, Palpatine supported the Desilijic kajidic while the Besadi kajidic came under increasing pressure.
• The Desilijic and Besadi kajidics fought for four years around Saleucami Planet until the planet fell and the Confederacy of Independent Systems lost its final fortress.
• After Count Dooku died, Palpatine ordered Jabba and Kiliak to dissolve the Hutt High Council, and Kiliak expelled every member outside the Desilijic kajidic.

Kiliak Desilijic allied with Ziro Desilijic and broke Hutt tradition by attacking the Besadi kajidic, triggering a war after Durga Besadi was killed in a spacecraft crash. Jabba Desilijic and other Hutt leaders rebuilt the Hutt Council to oppose the war, but Hutt Space descended into civil conflict.

• Kiliak Desilijic rejected Jabba Desilijic's opposition to unifying Hutt Space under his rule and allied with Ziro Desilijic, who offered to surrender her claim to the patriarch position.
• Kiliak Desilijic and Ziro Desilijic's forces killed twelve Besadi Hutts, violating Hutt tradition.
• A spacecraft crashed into a tower on Nal Hutta where Durga Besadi was present, and Aruk Besadi blamed the Desilijic kajidic for his son's death.
• Aruk Besadi deployed the Besadi family fleet and bombarded a city with Desilijic holdings, prompting Kiliak Desilijic and Ziro Desilijic to assemble their own fleet.
• Jabba Desilijic, Marlo, Oruba Goresla, Gorga, and Vedo Anjiliac Atirue rebuilt the Hutt Council and proposed forming a council fleet to end the war.

On the Duchy of Dawn’s eighth National Day, Tang Xiao visited Kafe Bir to receive a major gift from the Salarians. The gift was a new Divinity-class battleship capable of jumping into a gravity well, and Tang Xiao welcomed it with bloodlust.

• The Duchy of Dawn celebrated its eighth anniversary as Tang Xiao toured key planets during the National Day holiday.
• Tang Xiao canceled his visit to Yag'Dhul after forecasts predicted an unusual astronomical event and joined its celebration remotely from Lothal Planet.
• Tang Xiao arrived at Kafe Bir, where the Salarians prepared a grand National Day gift for him.
• A massive warship emerged from hyperspace inside the Endor gas giant’s gravity well, demonstrating that the Duchy of Dawn had extended Forerunner jump technology beyond its Endless-class Super Carrier.
• The 3,820-meter-long vessel flew before Tang Xiao’s shuttle and was identified as the Divinity-class battleship (Revelation-class).

Tang Xiao toured the Divinity-class battleship as Arroyo Barlow explained its specialized armor and combat capabilities. The ship was designed to withstand the Galactic Empire’s main weapons, though its armor came at the cost of hangars, Marines, and substantial point defense.

• The chapter explained the Fourth Civilization’s ship classifications and distinguished specialist Titan warships from standard classes.
• Tang Xiao boarded the Divinity-class battleship, where Arroyo Barlow described its laser arrays and adaptive armor instead of Deflector Shields.
• Arroyo Barlow explained that localized armor damage and the ship’s structural design helped it survive attacks and escape encirclement by twenty Imperial-class Star Destroyers.
• Arroyo Barlow said the Divinity-class’s electromagnetic armor would blunt Imperial-class ion cannons, leaving much of their firepower ineffective.
• Arroyo Barlow noted that the Divinity-class and Hell-Angel Class Battlecruiser lacked hangars, carrier-based aircraft, Marines, and more than minimal point defenses.

Tang Xiao watched a Divinity-class battleship demonstrate its Flagship-class laser arrays, which destroyed three Hunter Class Battlecruisers almost instantly. After seeing the weapon shatter an asteroid, he was satisfied and imagined Imperial-class Star Destroyers being destroyed just as easily.

• Tang Xiao and Arroyo Barlow discussed carrier development and the transfer of Protoss interceptor technology as the Divinity-class battleship headed to its testing area.
• Arroyo Barlow ordered the Divinity-class battleship to test its Flagship-class laser arrays against three captured Hunter Class Battlecruisers.
• The laser arrays fired brief flashes that destroyed all three shielded targets within seconds.
• Tang Xiao questioned the weapon’s unimpressive appearance, and a human scientist suggested testing it on an asteroid.
• The Divinity-class laser arrays blasted the asteroid into fragments of lava, prompting Tang Xiao to praise the weapon and envision it destroying Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

Tang Xiao admired the Divinity-class battleship’s destructive power and learned how its battle equipment could make it a nearly immobile fortress. He then welcomed the Chiss delegation with a coercive banquet, ending by toasting Mitth'raw'nuruodo and using the Force to return spilled wine to the Nuruodo family’s cup.

• Tang Xiao praised the Divinity-class battleship after its laser array turned an asteroid into lava and asked whether it could carry a Particle Beam Lance, but Arroyo-Barlow explained why the weapon would not suit the ship.
• Arroyo-Barlow revealed that the battleship’s battle equipment could concentrate its energy to let it contend with twenty Imperial-class Star Destroyers, but would shut down its engines and leave it immobile.
• Tang Xiao approved of the battleship’s capabilities, expressed his desire for total victory in the coming war, and left for Dawn Star Planet after Helmut-Zemo informed him that the Chiss delegation had arrived.
• Tang Xiao greeted the Csapla family and the Nuruodo family, dragged them to a banquet, and forced them to drink to the Chiss territory and Sefrans-Tann.
• Tang Xiao proposed a third toast to Mitth'raw'nuruodo, prompting the Nuruodo family to spray wine across the table, and Tang Xiao used the Force to send the spilled wine back into his cup.

Tang Xiao confronted Chiss representatives over the Borg-Ray Incident, using the Duchy of Dawn’s leverage to press Chiss territory toward closer dependence. The chapter ended with Chiss leaders preparing to sign an agreement as the Grysk Hegemony threat loomed.

• Tang Xiao revealed his authority as Grand Duke and warned the Nuruodo and Csapla representatives that he had received a troubling gift.
• The representatives explained Chiss resistance to military commitments, while Tang Xiao raised the Borg-Ray Incident and the colonists killed there.
• Admiral Ziyala’s joint fleet had bombarded Borg-Ray to eliminate Mongal-Mongal, then discovered that five of seven Grysk Hegemony colonies had been destroyed.
• When Grysk warships fired during a confrontation, Lieutenant General Brent ordered the Duchy of Dawn fleet to destroy them, prompting Ziyala to warn that the incident would start a war.
• The Chiss Supreme Cabinet sent the Nuruodo and Csapla families through the Stargate to meet Tang Xiao and ordered Ziyala to guard the border against the Grysk.

Tang Xiao forced the Nuruodo and Csapla families to submit to the Duchy of Dawn, then questioned them about the Grysk Hegemony. Their evidence suggested the Grysk could control other species and manipulate their memories, leaving Tang Xiao concerned that hidden agents might already be among them.

• Tang Xiao killed several members of the Chiss delegation with the Death Force until the Nuruodo family agreed to bring Chiss territory and its fleets under the Duchy of Dawn.
• The Nuruodo family explained that the Chiss had avoided deploying their crewed fleets against the Grysk because the enemy was powerful and combat droids might be better suited to fighting them.
• The Nuruodo family showed Tang Xiao DNA results from Bog-Ray indicating that the crews of the destroyed Grysk ships came from seventeen species, with no Grysk among them.
• The Nuruodo family presented a recording describing the Grysk as beings who controlled populations, twisted their wills, and altered their memories.
• Tang Xiao asked whether the Grysk used brainwaves to control other species, and the Nuruodo family said they had found no physical evidence of the control and could not tell whether Grysk-controlled people were hiding among them.

Tang Xiao learned that the Chiss were facing infiltration by the Grysk Hegemony, the unintended target of the Duchy of Dawn’s scheme to provoke a war. He committed Dawn’s forces to the conflict, assigned Admiral Ziyala to command the fleet, and awaited Protoss reinforcements.

• The Nuruodo family warned Tang Xiao that the Grysk could infiltrate Chiss society by controlling people’s memories and perceptions, making them difficult to eradicate.
• After the Chiss delegation left, Tang Xiao berated Helmut Zemo and learned that the Duchy of Dawn’s plan to provoke a war had accidentally targeted the Grysk Hegemony instead of The Kilji Illumine.
• Tang Xiao rejected relying on the Geth and ordered the Protoss to handle the Grysk threat while a fleet of battle droids under Chiss command supported them.
• Tang Xiao ordered Zemo to have Admiral Ziyala of the Illyz family command the fleet and told his officials to pursue the Duchy of Dawn’s original goals in the Unknown Regions.
• The Nuruodo family learned that the Duchy of Dawn would commit two squadrons to the war and took Ziyala’s appointment as a sign of sincerity.
• A week later, Helmut Zemo told Tang Xiao that the Akilae Tribe had arrived, led by High Templar Rassidan.

Tang Xiao met with Rassidan, a Protoss High Templar, to coordinate the expedition against the Grysk Hegemony and test the Protoss' views on the dangerous species. Rassidan agreed to cooperate with the robot-led, Chiss-commanded mission, and Tang Xiao prepared to introduce the Chiss delegation to the Protoss.

• Tang Xiao reviewed the Protoss' growing population and the awakening of new figures, including the hostile Fenix and the Akilae High Templar Rassidan.
• Rassidan arrived with Protoss warriors and scholars, greeted Tang Xiao, and promised to use his psionics to find the elusive Grysk.
• Tang Xiao warned that Grysk mental control could threaten the expedition and insisted that Ziyala command the mission, with Rassidan agreeing to consider her views.
• Tang Xiao challenged Rassidan over whether the Grysk should be destroyed, while Rassidan argued that a whole species should not be condemned before direct contact.
• Tang Xiao concluded that most awakened Protoss were open-minded allies and ordered Zemo to bring in the Chiss delegation.

The Chiss delegation accepted the Duchy of Dawn’s offer of Protoss support against the Grysk Hegemony, and Rassidan led a task force toward Csilla. The fleet arrived to find the capital under alert as Chiss ships attacked civilians, leaving the cause of the violence unexplained.

• The Csapla family panicked at Rassidan’s telepathic greeting, but the Nuruodo family agreed to return to Chiss territory with the Protoss’ help.
• A month later, Rassidan and the Chiss delegation departed through the Stargate, and the Csapla family had grown more accepting of him.
• A young Chiss Skywalker offered navigation coordinates, but Rassidan calculated the route to Csilla in seconds and said he could help train Skywalkers.
• The fleet reached Csilla and discovered the capital on alert, with Chiss ships attacking civilian vessels while fleeing pursuing warships.

Rassidan arrived in Chiss territory as the Grysk Hegemony attacked the capital and exposed its mind control through captured civilians. As Admiral Qiyala prepared the joint fleet for war, Grysk forces struck several outer colonies despite Chiss martial law and sealed borders.

• Rassidan and the delegation arrived at the capital during an attack, and the Nuruodo family reported the Duchy of Dawn’s promised reinforcements and introduced the Protoss to the Chiss leadership.
• Lieutenant General Brent, Captain Kace-T-Maxwell, and Admiral Qiyala welcomed Rassidan, who warned that the fleet’s commander should stay near him and that other warships should be operated by robots.
• Rassidan freed the people aboard three captured ships from Grysk control after they delivered the Hegemony’s threats and tried to kill themselves, though one awakened captive panicked over losing his Master.
• Admiral Qiyala declared that the war had begun, while the Nuruodo family demanded victory and Rassidan took the captives away for study.
• Chiss territory declared martial law and sealed its outer-colony borders, but Grysk fleets attacked colonies in several directions, forcing Chiss forces to defend them.

Admiral Ziyala and Lieutenant General Brent debated whether the Grysk Hegemony was a nomadic starship civilization and what that meant for Chiss strategy. The chapter left Ziyala weighing Brent’s suggestion that Chiss territory should abandon its defensive posture and strike first.

• Admiral Ziyala reported that Grysk attacks had spread across Chiss territory despite the Duchy of Dawn’s reinforcements.
• Ziyala argued that the Grysk were a nomadic starship civilization because they had no known homeworld and carried off the populations of conquered worlds.
• Lieutenant General Brent questioned whether the Grysk could house billions of captives and compared their situation with the Quarians and the Vasari.
• Brent said starship civilizations were either weak and vulnerable or overwhelmingly powerful, and suggested the Grysk might still have a homeworld.
• Ziyala worried about taking the initiative against the Grysk, while Brent objected that the Duchy of Dawn’s fleets had not been sent to remain idle on Csilla.