**Chapter 719: Cleansing Flame**
**Scene 1: Aboard the Annihilator – Dagon's POV**
The bridge of the *Annihilator* was a cathedral of war. Eighteen kilometers of quadanium steel and death, the largest mobile weapon in the galaxy, hung in high orbit above Dathomir like the sword of an angry god. Dagon Marek stood at the center of the command dais, his Wrath Shield armor humming with restrained power. The durasteel mask hid the burns on his face, but nothing could conceal the cold resolve in his eyes.
Dathomir. The rancor planet. A remote world steeped in the dark side, where malevolent Force wielders had festered for generations. The Nightsisters — outcasts, renegades, and practitioners of twisted magick — had long operated beyond Republic reach. No longer.
"Status?" Dagon asked, his masked voice echoing metallically across the bridge.
"Orbital position locked, Supreme Commander," the clone officer replied. "All weapon systems green. The *Devastation* and escort fleet are holding position at the outer marker."
Dagon stared at the green-brown orb on the main holoscreen. The dark side pulsed from the planet like an infected wound. The Nightsisters had sheltered Sith remnants, aided Dooku in the past, and practiced rituals that corrupted the Force itself. Today, that ended.
"No more Nightsisters," Dagon declared. "Begin planetary bombardment on marked targets. I will lead the surface assault personally."
He stepped into the turbolift, descending toward the hangar where his personal dropship waited. As the lift hummed downward, he activated his armor's command systems.
"Wrath Shield: Heat mode."
The armor responded instantly. Plates shifted with mechanical precision. Arm-mounted flame cannons unfolded and ignited with dark crimson fire. The Hunter and Strength configurations gave way to the Nova-Flame variant — capable of unleashing massive dark fireballs or sustained multi-stream flamethrower attacks. Energy readings spiked as the solar ionization-linked power core fed the weapon systems.
The dropship screamed through the atmosphere, flanked by LAAT gunships and TIE escorts. Green lightning crackled across the sky — Nightsister defenses. The *Annihilator* answered from orbit. Massive green-tinted turbolaser beams — experimental kyber-modified batteries — lanced downward, carving fiery trenches across the landscape.
Dagon stepped off the ramp into the burning village outskirts, flame cannons roaring to life.
"Open fire."
Twin streams of dark fire erupted from his arms, turning charging Nightsister warriors into screaming torches. Their magick shields shattered against the overwhelming heat. Rancors bellowed in the distance, only to be silenced by precise orbital strikes from the *Annihilator*.
*Pathetic,* Dagon thought as he burned through another wave of defenders. *You played with powers you never understood.*
**Scene 2: Nightsister Village – Talzin's POV**
Mother Talzin stood in the central ritual chamber, her tattoos glowing with dark magick. Before her, on a stone altar, lay Maul — broken, seething with rage. His brother Feral had just landed with him, dragging the damaged Zabrak from his ship.
"You found him," Talzin whispered, satisfaction curling her lips. "I knew you would."
Maul's breathing came in rapid, pained gasps. "Kenobi… It is an obsession…"
"Come," Talzin cooed, her voice like poisoned honey. "Let us fix what has been broken. Come to me. Follow us, son of Dathomir. Follow me, lost one. Come, child of Dathomir. Follow me."
The Nightsisters gathered in a circle, chanting ancient spells. Green energy flowed from their bodies into Maul's ruined form, knitting flesh and soothing madness. Talzin smiled as the ritual took hold. With Maul restored and the Hapan alliance secured, the Sith would—
"Mother! Look!" Selena shouted from the entrance, pointing skyward.
Talzin stepped outside. The sky was on fire.
Massive green turbolaser beams descended like the wrath of the gods. Entire sections of the village erupted in explosions. Ancient trees ignited. Rancors fled in panic only to be vaporized.
"What now?" Talzin hissed. "Evacuate! Take the children and the sacred texts! Move!"
Chaos erupted. Nightsisters grabbed weapons and younglings, scattering into the forests. But the bombardment was relentless. The *Annihilator* did not discriminate. Every clan holding — Singing Mountain, Misty Slope, Red Hills — all felt the Dragon's judgment.
**Scene 3: The Reckoning**
Dagon marched through the burning village like an avatar of destruction. Nightsister warriors hurled green lightning and magick darts at him. His Wrath Shield absorbed most of the attacks, converting the dark side energy into fuel for his flame cannons.
He swept his arms in wide arcs, unleashing multi-stream dark flamethrower blasts that reduced entire groups to ash. One particularly bold Nightsister summoned a rancor to charge him. Dagon answered with a massive dark fireball that exploded against the beast's chest, blowing it apart in a shower of gore and flame.
"Pathetic," he growled.
He pressed deeper into the ancient caverns, following the strongest concentration of dark side energy. The walls pulsed with green ichor — the sacred waters of Dathomir.
At the heart of the cave system, he found her: Old Daka, the ancient spirit witch, surrounded by glowing talismans and the bones of her ancestors.
"You would never stop the Nightsisters!" Daka shrieked, raising her gnarled hands. "The spirits shall have revenge!"
Dagon's masked face tilted slightly. "Oh, I know. But everything is connected by your fancy water, isn't it? Even your ancestors."
Daka's eyes widened in pure terror. "No… No, you can't—"
"Wide spread purification," Dagon commanded.
He slammed both hands into the central pool of glowing green water. Blue Force energy — pure, radiant, and merciless — exploded outward from his palms. It raced through the sacred waters like lightning through a river system, following every underground stream, every ritual basin, every drop that connected the Nightsisters across the planet.
The effect was apocalyptic.
Every Nightsister on Dathomir — from the youngest child to the most powerful witch — suddenly convulsed. Their bodies crumbled to dust as the corrupted Force that sustained them was burned away. Green waters across the entire planet turned brilliant blue. The oppressive dark side cloud that had shrouded Dathomir for millennia lifted slightly. The sky grew brighter. Rancors in the wild howled in confusion as the malignant influence that had twisted them receded.
Old Daka screamed once — a piercing, ancient wail — before her body disintegrated into glowing particles that faded into nothing.
Dagon stood alone in the now-silent cave, breathing heavily. The Wrath Shield's flame cannons powered down with a hiss. He looked at the purified waters and felt… not satisfaction, exactly. But necessity.
The Nightsisters had been a cancer. A breeding ground for Sith and chaos. With them gone, Dathomir could eventually heal. Or at least stop being a threat.
He activated his comm. "Annihilator, this is Marek. Target neutralized. Begin withdrawal. Orbital scans for any surviving dark side signatures."
As he walked back through the burning ruins, Dagon allowed himself one moment of reflection. The girls were still recovering in the Temple. Ari Astra was beginning her new life with Ashla and Cera. The war continued — Umbara next, then the defense against *Spear of Light*.
But today, one of the galaxy's oldest dark side cancers had been cauterized.
He looked up at the massive silhouette of the *Annihilator* visible even from the surface — an 18-kilometer monument to the new Republic's will.
"Sometimes," he whispered through the mask, "a monster is exactly what the galaxy needs."
Dagon boarded his dropship. Behind him, Dathomir burned and healed at the same time. Ahead of him, the war waited.