Dagon Marek stood at the observation gallery overlooking the immense reactor chamber of the *Terminus*. The heart of the warship pulsed like a captive star beneath layers of transparent shielding and armored conduits. Blue-white light flowed through the reactor core in rhythmic surges, the energy feeding countless weapon systems, engines, and shield arrays across the massive vessel.
Beyond the transparent durasteel, thick conduits ran along the walls like veins in a living creature. Power coursed through them in visible arcs of energy—streams of light racing toward the weapon emplacements that made the *Terminus* the most dangerous ship in the sector.
The blockade around Boz Pity was already in position.
His fleet formed a vast ring around the planet, warships spaced with precise military geometry. The Separatist orbital defenses had been annihilated during the earlier battle, leaving nothing but drifting wreckage and burning fragments of metal slowly decaying in orbit.
In exactly two hours, reinforcements from the Republic's First Sector Fleet would arrive to formally take control of the system.
Or what remained of it.
Dagon folded his arms behind his back and stared down into the reactor glow.
Time.
Time was the most valuable resource in warfare.
And right now, he had far more of it than anyone else realized.
Hyperlane travel across the galaxy obeyed strange rules. Hyperspace routes had been mapped for thousands of years, yet even now the mathematics of navigation remained unpredictable.
A direct jump from **Lantilles to Muunilinst** normally required nearly eight hours of hyperspace travel.
The same fleet traveling from **Lantilles to Boz Pity** would take even longer—nearly twelve hours if using the standard trade routes.
But the **Sanctuary Pipeline** changed everything.
That obscure hyperspace corridor allowed a ship to jump from Lantilles to the Endor system in barely thirty minutes.
Another thirty-minute jump from Endor could reach Boz Pity.
One hour total.
What should have taken half a day could instead be completed in sixty minutes.
A paradox of hyperspace geometry.
And Dagon Marek had built his entire strategy around it.
Most commanders relied on predictable routes.
Dagon preferred exploiting the impossible ones.
Two hours had already passed since the battle over Boz Pity.
Six hours remained before another Jedi was scheduled to arrive at Muunilinst.
The Republic High Command had assigned the Jedi separate operational orders.
Which meant that Jedi would arrive expecting a coordinated Republic assault.
He would never realize the truth until it was too late.
Dagon allowed himself a faint smile.
Manipulating the Republic command structure had been almost insultingly simple.
A few altered reports.
A few delayed transmissions.
A few "misinterpreted" orders.
And suddenly entire fleets were moving according to his design.
The Jedi would never suspect anything.
At least not until the war had already changed.
Behind him, the massive chamber of the **SPHA cannon reactor** roared with growing power.
Engineers and technicians watched nervously from shielded observation platforms while energy readings climbed far beyond their normal operational limits.
Dagon had personally ordered the modifications.
The SPHA weapon mounted within the *Terminus* had been originally designed as a siege artillery platform—capable of firing massive bursts of coherent plasma powerful enough to destroy warships in orbit.
But the version now installed aboard the *Terminus* was something far more dangerous.
Lightning crackled along the conduits feeding the weapon system.
Not ordinary energy.
Force energy.
Dagon extended his hand slightly, feeling the dark side flowing through him like a living storm.
Blue arcs of electricity danced across his fingertips.
Then they surged outward.
The lightning vanished into the reactor conduits.
And the weapon's power output spiked instantly.
Technicians shouted in alarm.
"Energy levels rising!"
"Containment fields holding—barely!"
"Reactor output exceeding design parameters!"
Dagon ignored them.
His attention was focused entirely on the weapon.
Force-powered artillery.
The concept still fascinated him.
The first time he had used the technique was during his earliest engagement with the Separatist fleet.
The results had been… spectacular.
Entire warships had been annihilated in a single shot.
He had used it again during ground combat—turning columns of battle droids into molten slag with arcs of Force lightning that leapt across the battlefield like living storms.
Even at the battle of Jablim he had experimented with it.
Every time the results grew more powerful.
Yet the sensation still felt… strange.
The dark side amplified technology in ways no engineer could properly understand.
Weapons became stronger.
Reactors burned hotter.
Shields became harder to penetrate.
It was as though machines themselves responded to the will of the Force.
Dagon closed his eyes briefly.
Lightning surged through the reactor again.
The weapon charged faster.
Much faster.
Then—
"Commander."
Dagon opened his eyes.
A voice echoed through the chamber.
"Comms signal incoming."
He turned slightly.
One of the bridge officers appeared on the holoprojector.
"Report."
"Sir, an enemy fleet is emerging from hyperspace."
Dagon's expression sharpened instantly.
"Size?"
"Initial scans indicate multiple warships… and one vessel of unknown design."
"Unknown?"
The officer nodded.
"Captain Ragnos has transmitted an image."
The holoprojector flickered.
A three-dimensional tactical display appeared in the air.
Dagon studied it calmly.
A massive warship sat at the center of the formation.
Angular hull.
Forward command tower.
Long carrier wings.
He recognized the design immediately.
"Providence class."
He tilted his head slightly.
"So that's when that ship class enters the war."
The Providence-class dreadnought had only recently begun appearing in Separatist fleets.
Powerful ships.
Well armed.
But nothing he couldn't handle.
Dagon glanced back toward the reactor.
The SPHA cannon had finished charging.
Energy readings were climbing to impossible levels.
He reached out again with the Force.
The dark side gathered around him like a storm cloud.
Then he pushed.
His awareness pierced outward.
Beyond the *Terminus*.
Beyond the blockade.
Beyond the drifting wreckage around Boz Pity.
Into the void itself.
He felt the approaching fleet.
Dozens of warships emerging from hyperspace.
Confident.
Expecting to rescue a besieged ally.
Instead they had flown directly into a trap.
Dagon lowered his hand slowly.
For a brief moment…
The reactor chamber became completely silent.
Even the technicians stopped speaking.
Every sensor across the *Terminus* froze.
Then—
The SPHA cannon fired.
A single beam of blinding blue energy erupted from the prow of the warship.
The blast tore through space like a spear of lightning.
It crossed the distance between the fleets in less than a second.
And then—
The enemy fleet vanished.
A massive blue explosion blossomed across the void.
The blast wave expanded in every direction, vaporizing warships instantly.
Fragments of hull plating and burning reactors scattered across the system like shrapnel.
The explosion was so bright it could be seen from the surface of Boz Pity.
For a moment the entire sky above the planet turned blue.
Then darkness returned.
When the sensors stabilized again, only a few ships remained.
A handful of **Munificent-class frigates** drifted helplessly through the wreckage.
Their engines failing.
Hull plating melted.
Weapons offline.
Barely operational.
Dagon watched the tactical display quietly.
"Captain."
His voice carried across the bridge through the comm channel.
"Yes, Commander," Captain Ragnos replied.
"Open fire."
The Zabrak captain grinned.
"All batteries?"
"Let none escape."
The *Terminus* responded immediately.
Hundreds of turbolaser batteries fired at once.
Green beams streaked through space.
The crippled frigates were destroyed within seconds.
Explosions rippled across the battlefield.
Then silence returned to orbit.
Dagon turned away from the viewport.
"Prepare the jump to Mygeeto."
Ragnos nodded through the hologram.
"Yes, Commander."
Another fleet annihilated.
Another piece of the war falling exactly into place.
Moments later the tactical computer updated the record.
**Terminus Kill Count Updated**
1 **Providence-class Dreadnought**
80 **Munificent-class Frigates**
25 **Recusant-class Destroyers**
15 **Shaboth Light Destroyers**
15 **Lucrehulk-class Battleships**
20 **Hardshell Transports**
Dagon stared at the numbers for a moment.
Then he turned away.
The war was only beginning.
---
**Elsewhere – Shogar Tok**
The bridge of the massive Providence dreadnought trembled slightly as the fleet emerged from hyperspace.
Shogar Tok leaned forward in his command chair.
"Report."
One of the sensor officers frowned at his screen.
"That's strange…"
Shogar scowled.
"What is?"
"The fleet around Boz Pity…"
"What about it?"
"It's small."
Shogar leaned forward.
"How small?"
The officer hesitated.
"Much smaller than expected."
That made no sense.
Boz Pity possessed a strong defensive fleet.
"How could Boz Pity have lost?" Shogar muttered.
Then he noticed something else on the sensor display.
One ship.
At the center of the enemy formation.
Large.
Heavily armed.
And glowing.
Blue light pulsed along its hull like veins of energy.
Shogar's eyes narrowed.
"What ship is that?"
"No match in the database."
The glow intensified.
Shogar leaned forward slowly.
"Wait…"
The ship was beginning to shine brighter.
Its forward cannon charging with terrifying energy.
"Why is it glowing blue?"
Then realization hit him.
"What the—"
The sentence never finished.
A beam of pure energy struck the fleet.
And Shogar Tok ceased to exist.