**Chapter 174 – Arrival Over a Broken World**
Master Buck Sirrus stood with his arms folded tightly across his chest, the subtle tension in his posture betraying what his calm expression tried to conceal. Beside him stood his Padawan, Aubrie Win, her gaze fixed forward as the stars stretched into luminous streaks.
Twelve hours in hyperspace.
Twelve hours to think.
Too much time.
Muunilinst awaited them.
And so did **Dagon Marek**.
Buck didn't like him.
Not from experience—he barely knew the man—but from everything he had seen and heard. The first record of Dagon had spread like wildfire through the Jedi archives and the Holonet: a Knight facing **Asajj Ventress**, defeating her, then being consumed by unnatural green fire… only to drive it away with a wave of pure light.
That alone had unsettled the Council.
Then came Jablim.
What had been planned as a coordinated Jedi operation turned into something else entirely—Dagon taking the planet with a handful of troops, executing maneuvers that felt less like Jedi strategy and more like cold, calculated warfare.
Efficient.
Brutal.
Uncompromising.
Not the way of the Jedi.
And yet…
He had purified kyber crystals.
Three of them.
Aubrie had been quick to point that out.
"Sith corrupt," she had said once. "They don't purify."
Buck had dismissed it at the time, though not entirely convincingly.
He glanced sideways at her now.
She was focused.
But he wasn't blind.
Dagon Marek had become something of a figure on Coruscant—spoken of in military circles, whispered about in the Temple, and, to Buck's quiet irritation, elevated by the media into something closer to a war hero than a Jedi.
Top ranks.
Top lists.
Top attention.
He exhaled slowly.
Now wasn't the time.
"Reversion in five," the navigator called.
Buck straightened slightly.
"Prepare for arrival."
The ship shuddered as hyperspace released them.
Stars snapped back into existence—
And Muunilinst appeared.
But not as expected.
There was no battle.
No active fleet engagement.
No exchange of fire.
Instead—
Silence.
The Republic fleet was already there.
Massive.
Ordered.
Dominant.
Acclamators bearing unfamiliar dark green and blue banners held formation, forming a tightening blockade around the planet. And among them—eight warships Buck did not recognize. Larger. Heavier. More aggressive in design.
At the center of it all—
One ship stood above the rest.
Even at a distance, it was unmistakable.
The *Terminus*.
Buck narrowed his eyes.
"What… happened here?"
Below them, the atmosphere of Muunilinst glowed an unnatural orange.
At first, it looked like sunset.
Then he realized—
It wasn't light.
It was fire.
Debris.
Endless debris.
Fragments of ships burned as they fell through the atmosphere, streaking across the sky like meteor showers, crashing into the surface below.
Aubrie stepped forward slightly, her voice quiet but uneasy.
"That's not allowed…"
Buck's jaw tightened.
"It's against the Code."
Before he could say more, a voice came from behind.
"Sir."
Admiral Arkani approached, datapad in hand.
Buck didn't turn. "Report."
Arkani hesitated only briefly.
"According to battlefield regulations, the uncontrolled descent of enemy debris onto a planetary surface is not prohibited."
Buck's expression hardened.
"That's a technicality."
"Yes, sir," Arkani replied carefully. "But it is within operational parameters."
A pause.
Then—
"Additionally… the majority of the enemy forces were droid-based."
Buck exhaled slowly, tension building beneath the surface.
Convenient.
Too convenient.
"Contact the flagship," he said.
Aubrie glanced back toward the tactical display.
"Which one?" she asked quietly.
It was a fair question.
Between the modified Acclamators and the unfamiliar warships, the fleet didn't resemble standard Republic structure.
Arkani looked down at his console.
"We are receiving a signal now, sir."
The main holoprojector flickered to life.
A Zabrak officer appeared.
"Captain Ragnos," Buck said, recognizing the rank immediately.
Ragnos inclined his head slightly.
"Master Jedi."
Buck didn't waste time.
"Report."
Ragnos' tone was calm.
Controlled.
"Orbit has been secured."
Buck's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Already?"
"Yes."
A brief pause.
Then—
"General Marek has deployed to the surface to complete planetary pacification."
Silence followed.
Aubrie's eyes widened slightly.
Buck said nothing.
But his thoughts sharpened.
Too fast.
Too efficient.
Too… deliberate.
Below them, Muunilinst burned under falling wreckage.
Above it—
Dagon Marek had already moved on to the next phase.
Buck stared at the image of Ragnos.
Then past it.
Toward the planet.
Something about this war was changing.
And he wasn't sure the Jedi were still in control of it.