**Chapter 800: Hearts of Stars**
**Scene 1: Jedi Temple – Grandmaster Chambers**
**Dagon POV**
The war room inside the Grandmaster's chambers had become my unofficial strategy center. Holo-displays floated around the room showing star maps, kyber resonance readings, and theoretical schematics for the modified Starforge project I had quietly tasked Lyra with building using the *Annihilator*'s onboard foundries and the World Devastator/World Creator designs.
"Right. Time to design the battle plan and a way to extract kyber," I muttered to myself, pacing slowly. "Technically, I already have the basics. Using the *Annihilator*'s built-in foundries and the World Devastator/Creator I gave Lyra… I basically have the foundation for a Starforge, but modified. The old Jedi saying — 'the strongest stars have hearts of kyber.' So with Nova Mode made for supernovas and black holes, fused with Titan Mode… I just need to fly into a blue giant or blue supergiant star. Or better yet, a binary fusion system."
I continued thinking aloud, the armor's holographic interface projecting star charts around me.
"No! Absolutely not!"
The collective shout from the girls snapped me out of my focus. I turned to see Ahsoka, Miaria, Sakura, Zule, Flare, Grace, Visenya, Stella, Shin, Erictia, Aayla, Atroxa, and Talon all standing in the doorway, various expressions of horror and anger on their faces.
"Uh… thought I was alone," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Anyway, I'm still doing it. Plus, I at least understand what to do."
"We are *not* letting you fly into a dying star just to extract kyber crystals," Grace and Visenya said in unison, their Zeltron pheromones spiking with protective fury.
"Uh, yeah. Not that I mind your objections, but hello — I have to save this galaxy, and this universe, plus a few others. Remember?" I replied, starting to sound bored given the sheer weight of my responsibilities.
"You say that every time," Stella said, crossing her arms. "You got Malachor, the Mind Prison, the Gen'Dai, the holocron fusion… it's the same excuse."
"Out of curiosity," Sakura asked, stepping forward and silencing the whole room with her calm but piercing tone, "how did you exactly die anyway? What was the last thing you remember?"
The question hit like a stun bolt. The girls froze. Even I paused, the star charts flickering around me.
**Scene 2: The Weight of Memory**
I exhaled slowly, dismissing the holo-displays with a wave. The room fell into complete silence.
"I mean… I went in my sleep and woke up as a newborn, but you woke up in Dagon Marek's body right at Geonosis. Any of you girls were there?" Sakura asked, looking around.
"I was there," Aayla said quietly. "There was a flash of dark side energy I felt… and then two thousand droids were instantly crushed. It gave us time to gather into a defensive circle."
"The rest of us — Shin, Kayla, Flare, and me — were at the Temple," Stella added.
"Right," I said, sitting down heavily on the edge of the large bed. The girls gathered closer, some sitting beside me, others on the floor, all watching intently.
"So basically… after I found Skynet in his T-5000 body, the blaster I had only slowed it down. I told the others — my team — to evacuate. I activated the time displacement device. Fought for a while. The T-5000 phased through me in the final attack, similar to that incident during the Yuuzhan Vong mess with you girls. I shot several critical parts of the time machine. Sparks grabbed onto Skynet… then a flash of light… and I woke up on Geonosis."
I paused, staring at my hands.
"Anger. Rage. Fear. It ran through my mind like fire. Then I started fighting."
The room stayed silent for a long moment. Ahsoka reached out and took one of my hands. Miaria's tail wrapped gently around my ankle. Zule leaned against my side.
"You never told us the full story," Sakura said softly. "Not like this."
"There wasn't much point before," I replied. "I died fighting a machine that wanted to erase humanity. Woke up here… in a body that wasn't mine, in the middle of a war that felt too familiar. So I did what I always do. I fought. I built. I tried to make sure this galaxy doesn't end up like the one I left behind."
**Scene 3: Bonds and Resolve**
Zule squeezed my hand tighter. "And that's why you're willing to fly into a star now? Because you think you have to carry everything alone?"
"Not alone," I said, looking around at all of them. "Never alone anymore. But some things… only I can do. The kyber we need for the new fleet — the Resurgents, the Titans, the *Annihilator* upgrades — it has to be stable. Refined. The kind only found in the hearts of the strongest stars. Nova Mode plus Titan Mode gives me the protection and power to survive the conditions long enough to harvest it."
Miaria's ears flattened. "And if you don't come back?"
"I will," I said firmly. "I always do. For all of you."
The girls exchanged looks. Ahsoka was the first to speak.
"Then we're coming with you. Not into the star — but we'll be waiting at the edge. Monitoring. Ready to pull you out if something goes wrong."
One by one, the others nodded.
Sakura smiled faintly. "You don't get to die again without us there to drag you back."
I let out a low laugh, pulling them all closer into a messy group embrace. "Deal."
The war against the CIS was reaching its climax. Pammant had fallen. Raxus and Serenno were broken. But the real challenge — building a fleet strong enough to face not just this war, but the ones that would come after — required risks no one else could take.
I would fly into the heart of a star.
And I would return with the fire needed to forge a future worth protecting.