**Chapter 688: Betrayal in the Void**
**Scene 1**
**Sullust Orbit**
**TIE Silencer**
**Clone Pilot ARC-7782 "Arc" POV**
*Damn, this fighter is giving me some trouble,* Arc thought as he yanked the stick hard, rolling his TIE Silencer through a storm of crimson laser fire.
The Separatist Ginivex on his tail was relentless — piloted by someone with real skill and Force sensitivity. But Arc had been trained by the best. General Marek didn't just teach tactics. He taught survival.
*Hmm. That dreadnought looks like a good place for the General's trick.*
Arc accelerated hard, pushing the experimental fighter's engines to their limit. He dove straight toward the massive Providence-class Dreadnought, skimming dangerously close along its armored hull. Turbolaser batteries tried to track him, but he was too fast, too close.
As he approached the main hangar bay, Arc spun his Silencer in a tight corkscrew while firing both heavy laser cannons and a spread of concussion missiles. The barrage tore through the hangar entrance, shredding droid fighters and triggering emergency blast doors. Several CIS ships were trapped inside as the heavy doors slammed shut.
"Got you," Arc muttered with a grin.
He broke away at the last second, racing back toward the *Chimera* under covering fire from friendly Skelters.
"One more for the General," he whispered.
**Scene 2**
**Sullust Orbit**
**Ginivex-class Starfighter**
**Selena POV**
Selena's blood boiled as she pursued the elusive TIE Silencer. This pilot fought like he had learned directly from Dagon Marek — precise, unpredictable, and infuriatingly effective.
"Communications, Commander Dua requests you pull back," a tactical droid said over comms. "The enemy fleet is reforming for a push on the main force. If it falls, it will compromise the reserve fleet."
Selena ignored the message. Her focus was locked on the Silencer.
Suddenly, a piece of floating debris — wreckage from a destroyed Munificent — slammed into her port wing. Alarms screamed as her Ginivex spun out of control. She fought the controls, barely managing to crash-land inside the *Morgan's* hangar bay in a shower of sparks and twisted metal.
The impact rattled her bones, but she was alive.
*Master,* she reached out desperately through the Force. *I need your help. Quickly. I'm surrounded.*
Dooku's cold presence answered almost immediately.
*You have already lost the battle, child. I've ordered your reinforcements to return.*
*No!* Selena snarled back. *I will destroy the Jedi. I'll show you!*
Dooku's voice was ice. *You have failed me for the last time. You are no longer my apprentice. And now… you shall die.*
Selena's eyes widened in horror as she felt the shift in the Force. On the bridge of a nearby Recusant-class heavy destroyer, a tactical droid received new orders.
"Yes, my lord. Ventress is battling the Jedi on board the command ship," the droid reported.
*Turn your guns on our command ship and open fire,* Dooku commanded.
*But, my lord, I calculate that will destroy Ventress, the Jedi, and all our forces on board,* the droid protested.
*Precisely.*
Hyena-class bombers and the destroyer's own cannons opened fire on the *Morgan*. The Providence's shields collapsed under friendly fire. One damaged bomber spiraled out of control and smashed into the hangar bay, exploding in a fireball.
Selena barely survived by piloting the smoking wreckage of her Ginivex out of the collapsing hangar, smashing through battle droids as she desperately tried to escape the dying ship.
**Scene 3**
**Liberator-class Star Destroyer, Chimera**
**Admiral Thrawn POV**
Thrawn watched the unfolding chaos with narrowed eyes.
"Attack your own ships… Interesting," he murmured. "But targeting the Providence at the center was an error. It will cause unnecessary collateral damage."
He turned to his officers. "All fighters return to their respective ships. Gather the fleet back into Sword formation."
As the Republic ships reformed, the Separatist fleet — except for one damaged dreadnought — opened fire on their own command ship. Brilliant explosions lit up the void as the *Morgan* was torn apart. A nearby Munificent-class frigate was struck by flying debris and detonated as well.
Thrawn allowed himself a small, cold smile. "A rather poetic end for their commander."
**Scene 4**
**Sullust Orbit**
**Separatist Fleet**
"The command ship has been destroyed," a droid reported across the remaining fleet. "Our scans indicate there are no survivors. Your work here is finished. Recall the fleet."
The surviving Separatist ships began jumping into hyperspace, abandoning the battlefield and the burning ruins of their own vessels.
Thrawn watched them go from the bridge of the *Chimera*.
"Another victory," he said quietly. "But the war is far from over."