**Chapter 634**
**Scene 1**
**Coruscant Orbit**
**Dagon POV**
Space around Coruscant had become a battlefield of fire and radiation.
I rocketed through the void in my Krayt Dragon armor, the Wrath Shield's rocket mode blazing with dark crimson thrusters. My main cannons locked onto another nuclear warhead streaking toward the planet. A concentrated blast of dark energy lanced out, vaporizing the missile in a silent flash — no detonation, just atoms scattered into the vacuum. Lucky it happened in space. One wrong move closer to the atmosphere and millions could die.
*Damn it…* The dark side had been itching at the back of my skull since the day began, a constant, nagging pressure like claws scraping against my mind. The Wrath Shield had warned me earlier — an unknown disturbance was the cause. Something felt deeply wrong. I should have stayed in the Temple with the girls watching the peace talks, but I couldn't. Not when the sky was falling.
"Another wave incoming!" I growled, twisting mid-flight to intercept three more warheads. My cannons roared again, disintegrating them before they could reach low orbit. So far, I had destroyed over 100 nuclear missiles and taken down 5 civilian cargo frigates that had been hijacked or sabotaged to deploy them. Protecting a local fleet of over 1,000 Republic warships was exhausting work, and the radiation was starting to seep through even my armor's defenses. The initial shockwaves from the destroyed warheads had battered my suit repeatedly.
"Dagon! Dagon, you need to report back in for a radiation bath!" Admiral Grace's voice crackled urgently over the comms, nearing a cry. "You can't take much more! Your internal armor shields are reaching critical, and I don't think your rocket armor can protect you from so much exposure!"
*She is right to be worried,* the Demon Dragon's ancient voice rumbled through the Wrath Shield's mind meld. *Even your own healing will take a long time to recover from this level of damage.*
"Just a few more," I replied through gritted teeth, pushing the armor harder. The dark side whispered promises of power, tempting me to draw deeper. I resisted — barely.
**Scene 2**
A Munificent-class frigate suddenly appeared from hyperspace, its engines flaring wildly as it rammed straight through the Republic blockade like a suicidal spear. Turbolaser fire from the *Grey Wolf* and nearby Venators tore into its hull, but the frigate kept accelerating, ignoring the damage.
"Target that ship!" Grace shouted over the fleet comms.
It was too late. The Munificent launched ten nuclear missiles that streaked downward toward Coruscant's atmosphere, glowing like deadly comets.
"Damn it — I'm going for them!" I snarled, twisting my rocket armor into a full-power dive. Crimson thrusters flared as I accelerated after the warheads, the dark side burning hotter in my veins.
**Scene 3**
Dark Force energy surged through me like liquid fire. Crimson lightning crackled across my armor as I supercharged every system, pushing the Wrath Shield to its absolute limit. I burned through the void, closing the distance on the descending missiles.
One. Two. Three. I destroyed them in rapid succession with concentrated dark energy blasts, the explosions blooming silently in space. Four. Five. Six. My body screamed in protest as radiation clawed at my skin beneath the armor.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
The tenth missile slipped past my line of fire, diving deeper into the upper atmosphere.
"No!" I roared.
It exploded.
"Force Bubble!" I screamed, throwing every ounce of power I had into a massive spherical barrier. The nuclear detonation was contained — barely — but the blast pushed against my will like a living thing. Agony ripped through me. My nerves were inflamed, my organs felt like they were on fire. Every cell burned. The bubble kept expanding, threatening to break free.
I held on, teeth clenched so hard I tasted blood. Sweat poured down my face inside the helmet. The dark side howled in triumph and pain, feeding me strength even as it tried to consume me.
**Scene 4**
After what felt like an eternity — but was only a minute — I managed to fling the contained bubble upward into the upper atmosphere. No ground explosion. Instead, a massive EMP wave rippled outward, knocking out power grids across Galactic City. Lights flickered and died across entire districts as emergency systems kicked in.
I floated in space, exhausted beyond measure. My armor was smoking, systems flashing critical warnings. Radiation burns covered my body despite the shielding. The dark side receded slightly, leaving only bone-deep fatigue.
"Dagon!" Grace's voice was frantic. "Get back to the ship now! Medical teams are standing by!"
I weakly activated my thrusters, limping back toward the *Grey Wolf*. Below, Coruscant burned with emergency lights, the peace conference forgotten in the face of sudden terror.
The war had come home.