**Chapter 669: Ashes of the Malice**
**Scene 1**
**Selonia Space**
**Annihilator Bridge**
**Shin POV**
The void burned.
Explosions bloomed across the battlefield like crimson flowers, each one marking the death of another Separatist warship. From the command throne of the *Annihilator*, Shin watched the carnage unfold with a mixture of awe and grim satisfaction. The 2,000-strong CIS fleet that had arrived with such arrogance was now reduced to drifting debris and burning hulls.
The *Annihilator* itself was a monster in motion. Its 18-kilometer length dominated the engagement, every super-heavy turbolaser battery and energy mass driver firing in coordinated salvos that tore through even the newest CIS vessels like they were made of paper. The Liberator-class Star Destroyers flanking it added their own devastating blue fire, their heavy turbolasers and missile banks ripping apart formations that tried to regroup.
Shin's hands rested lightly on the command console, her connection to the Force flowing through the ship's kyber matrix cores. She could feel the pulse of the *Annihilator* — alive, hungry, unstoppable.
"Status of the enemy flagship?" she asked calmly.
Commander Jun Sato checked his readouts. "The *Malice* is heavily damaged. Multiple breaches across its hull. Fires are spreading uncontrollably. Shields are failing."
On the main holodisplay, the massive 7,500-meter Separatist dreadnought listed badly, flames licking along its spine. For a moment it seemed to pause — as if the ship itself refused to die — before a catastrophic secondary explosion ripped through its reactor core. The *Malice* erupted into a brilliant fireball, debris scattering outward in a deadly storm.
A quiet cheer rose from the bridge crew.
"The battle is over," Shin announced. "What is the status of our ships?"
"Shields at eighty percent," Sato reported. "No significant hull damage to the *Annihilator*. Two Liberators sustained minor hull breaches but remain combat-effective. We lost thirty Skelters defending against Vulture swarms."
"Very well," Shin said. "Any more CIS ships?"
"No, ma'am. But scans indicate a single Belbullab fighter escaped the *Malice*. It has now reached the border of our gravity well."
*Selena,* Shin thought. *Dooku's apprentice. The one who nearly killed Dagon with her mutated warriors.* She allowed herself a small, cold smile. *No matter. Dooku might kill her himself for losing the fleet.*
"Dispatch support ships," she ordered. "Make sure we rescue any Corellian or allied forces' escape pods still active. We do not leave our own behind."
The bridge crew moved with purpose. Shin leaned back slightly, exhaling. The weight of command was heavy, but today they had won decisively. The *Annihilator* had proven itself beyond all expectations.
**Scene 2**
**Belbullab Fighter, Escaping Selonia**
**Selena POV**
Pain was her constant companion.
Selena snarled as she applied another layer of bacta gel to the deep burns across her left breast and shoulder. The emergency escape from the *Malice* had been brutal — she had barely made it to the Belbullab fighter before the flagship's reactor went critical. Now, as the small craft streaked away from the battlefield at maximum sublight speed, she could see the last remnants of her once-mighty fleet burning behind her.
*Damn Dooku. Damn Dagon.*
Her fingers trembled slightly as she sealed the bacta patch. The burn on her breast was particularly painful — a long, ugly streak where superheated shrapnel had torn through her robes during the final explosion. She hissed through her teeth, the gel cooling the wound but doing little for the rage boiling inside her.
*There were supposed to be reinforcements,* she thought bitterly. *At least that means I won't suffer Dooku's punishment alone.*
The fighter's sensors showed no pursuit. The Republic fleet — led by that monstrous *Annihilator* — was too busy securing the wreckage and rescuing survivors to chase one lone escape craft. Selena allowed herself a moment of dark amusement. Let them have their victory. She would survive. She always did.
But the cost… nine hundred ships lost in less than an hour. The *Malice* — Dooku's pride and joy — reduced to glowing slag. Her promotion to Supreme Commander had lasted mere days before ending in humiliation.
Selena leaned back in the pilot's seat, wincing as the movement pulled at her burns. The stars streaked past as she set a course for the nearest safe Separatist rendezvous point. She would have to face Dooku eventually. She would have to explain how the Republic had turned a carefully planned assault into a slaughter.
And she would have to find a way to make Dagon Marek pay for every single ship she had lost.
**Scene 3**
**Annihilator Bridge**
**Shin POV**
Shin watched the tactical display as the last CIS stragglers jumped away. The battle was truly over. Selonia was secure, the shipyards intact, and the Corellian defense forces were already moving in to reinforce the planet.
"Casualty report?" she asked quietly.
"Minimal," Commander Sato replied. "A few dozen fighter pilots lost. No capital ship losses. The *Annihilator* performed beyond expectations."
Shin nodded, though her mind was elsewhere. Through the Force bond, she could feel Dagon — distant but alive, pushing himself hard somewhere in the Core. The rest of the girls were spread across their own commands, each contributing to this sudden, overwhelming Republic counteroffensive.
She allowed herself a small, proud smile. Dagon's vision — the *Annihilator*, the rapid-strike doctrine, the alliances — was working. The CIS offensive that had threatened to break the Core was collapsing under its own weight.
"Dispatch medical teams to the surface," she ordered. "And send word to the Corellian government. Selonia is theirs again."
As the crew moved to obey, Shin leaned back in the command chair and closed her eyes for a moment. The war was far from over. But today, at least, they had struck a blow that would echo across the galaxy.