**Chapter 535**
**Scene 1**
**Shin POV**
The *Grey Wolf*'s docking clamps locked onto the enemy shipyard with a resonant thud that echoed through the boarding tube. Shin Wren adjusted her purple beskar armor, the Mandalorian sword at her hip humming faintly in resonance with her focus. What should have been a fortified CIS installation greeted them with open hatches and raised hands.
The crew—mostly human technicians and engineers in oil-stained overalls—had turned on their droid overseers the moment the Republic fleet shredded the orbital blockade. An elderly man, clearly the station's former administrator and, from the circlet on his brow, the displaced king of Jaminere, stepped forward. His knees buckled as he tried to kneel.
Dagon moved faster than Shin expected, catching the old man's shoulders with gentle strength. "Easy, sir. I don't really do bowing, and from the looks of you and your people, you've done enough of that already."
The king's voice cracked with exhaustion and relief. "Please… rescue my daughter. The princess is held hostage in the capital. She is our weakness—they used her to enslave my people after the CIS coup a year ago. We had no choice but to comply while they held her."
Shin stepped beside Dagon, her white hair catching the harsh station lighting. Through the Force bond she felt his calm resolve mixed with that ever-present undercurrent of guarded caution. "You have the word of the Jedi," she said clearly. "We will rescue your daughter and liberate your world. Commander Sato, deploy the Peltas for medical aid and emergency supplies. Lotus Battalion, secure the station and assist the civilians."
Her clones moved with crisp efficiency, white-and-purple armor gleaming as they escorted medical teams forward. The old king's eyes filled with tears he refused to shed in front of his people.
**Scene 2**
**Shin POV**
Later, in a hastily cleared command alcove overlooking the shipyard's main hangar, Shin turned to Dagon. The rest of the girls were coordinating with ground forces, giving them a rare moment of relative privacy.
"Why did you offer to help them liberate their world and rescue their daughter?" dagon asked, arms crossed. "You know we're on a tight timeline for the Hydian Way campaign."
Dagon leaned against the console, red-and-black starburst eyes distant. "It's only been an hour since we started this push, and we've already taken two systems. We're making excellent time." she offered a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Besides, when did you suddenly start thinking I wouldn't worry about gaining allies?"
Shin studied him. Through their bond she caught fragments—images of burning worlds, the weight of fifty years of war, the constant equation of sacrifice. "It's more than that. You've been… uneasy since we entered the system."
Dagon exhaled slowly. "Nothing concrete. Just a strange feeling. Like the Shield of Wrath is trying to warn me about an unknown problem ahead. It's been… louder lately."
Shin reached out, squeezing his armored hand. The black, wrath-forged limb felt warm beneath her fingers. "Then we face it together. All of us."
**Scene 3**
**Dagon POV**
Tie Defenders screamed through the atmosphere in tight formation, their missiles streaking down to annihilate droid columns with surgical precision. Ravens and MAAT gunships followed, tearing into mixed droid and Jaminere loyalist forces that still clung to the old regime. I rode in the lead skelter, the cyan-and-white fighter cutting through flak like a blade.
The royal palace rose ahead—a bizarre fusion of elegant spires and heavy defensive emplacements that somehow managed to look like a child's idea of a fairy-tale castle crossed with a military fortress. Capable of withstanding starship fire, apparently.
I leapt from the skelter before it even fully landed, Sun Breathing flowing through me.
**Burning Bones, Summer Sun.**
A spiraling slash extended in front of me, carving through over three hundred battle droids and two hundred palace guards in a blazing arc of solar flame and Force energy. The red crossguard lightsaber and beskar sword sang in harmony as I carved a path straight to the throne room.
Inside, the fat puppet ruler—a local collaborator—cowered behind a Neimoidian advisor. Hostages, including the princess, were chained nearby. I didn't waste words. A controlled burst of Force lightning arced out, frying the droid guards and the Neimoidian while leaving the hostages unharmed. The collaborator screamed once before my blade ended him.
I extended the Shield of Wrath and channeled purification through it. Golden light washed over the hostages, healing bruises, old wounds, and the psychic scars of captivity. When I reached the princess—young, with striking long purple hair that reminded me oddly of Zule's hybrid hues—she suddenly surged forward.
Her arms wrapped around my neck and she pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss right there in the ruined throne room. The taste of relief and something fiercer lingered on her lips.
"I finally found you, my hero," she whispered against my mouth, eyes shining with tears and something deeper. "Dagon Blood."
Behind me I felt the collective shock ripple through the bond before the girls even spoke.
**Ahsoka:** *What—?*
**Zule:** *She just—*
**Shin:** *Dagon…*
**Kayla & Visenya:** *Again?*
I stood frozen, the purple-haired princess still clinging to my chest plate, while the rest of my life—already complicated enough with nine Force-bonded women who loved me—suddenly became even more tangled.
*Well,* I thought, tasting the unfamiliar name she'd called me, *this is new.*