**Chapter 257: Crossguard in the Dark**
The night on Saleucami was thick with the scent of sulfur and dry wind. I moved like a shadow through the jagged rock formations surrounding the main citadel, the Scimitar cloaked and hovering silently several kilometers away. The infiltration had been smoother than anticipated—no major patrols, no unexpected sensor sweeps. The Separatists had grown complacent behind their fortress walls.
But the real threat waited inside.
Naa'leth and Karis, the two strongest warriors of Clan Talzin, had been reassigned here after the failure of their sister Seleana's earlier attempt. Mother Talzin had sent them to guard the dark acolyte Sora Bulq, a "boring" mission by their standards. I had felt their dark presence the moment I stepped onto the planet's surface.
I approached the hidden cave outpost they had claimed as a forward watch post. The sisters were arguing in low voices.
"How much longer must we stay here, sister?" Naa'leth hissed, her voice thick with frustration. "We must avenge our kin that fell to Dagon Marek."
Karis scoffed. "Are you a fool? The ancient Massassi warriors and Durge himself could not kill him. Why would you be any different?"
"Still—this planet is a fortress and we are simply waiting for an attack that will never come."
Suddenly both sisters stiffened.
"Wait… do you feel that?"
"What is that?"
"Cold… the fear…"
"It must be him—Sidious. We should alert—"
Karis never finished the sentence.
I emerged from the shadows, my newly constructed lightsaber igniting with a violent, crackling hiss. The blade was no ordinary Jedi weapon. The bleeding process had damaged the kyber crystal, rendering it dangerously unstable. Lateral vents had been necessary to prevent overload, diverting excess heat and plasma into two quillons that formed a deadly crossguard. The main blade burned a deep, unstable red-yellow, while the quillons flickered with serrated, sputtering energy. The hilt itself carried a blackened, scorched appearance from its first unstable activation. The sound was wrong—crackling and spitting rather than the clean hum of a standard lightsaber. But the power it delivered was immense. The crossguard allowed the blade to extend laterally, cutting far more easily through armor, flesh, or defenses.
The red quillon pierced straight through Naa'leth's chest before she could react. Her eyes widened in shock as the unstable plasma burned through her.
"Sorry," I said quietly. "Was that your sister? A shame she chose the dark side."
Karis whirled, rage twisting her features. "You will never—"
Her words cut off as I reached out with the Force. She rose into the air, choking, her hands clawing uselessly at her throat. I crushed her windpipe with a precise application of telekinesis, then fired three rapid shots from my blaster into her floating body for good measure. Both Nightsister corpses hit the ground.
I planted a thermal detonator on a short timer, then keyed my comm.
"Puck, targets eliminated. Start moving and plant the charges."
"Copy that, sir."
The infiltration continued.
The main problem was the cluster of massive modified J-1 proton cannons mounted at the citadel. These surface-to-orbit weapons were capable of intercepting our incoming fleet from the ground. I had a plan for them—redirect their fire toward the Separatist fleet itself once the battle began.
---
**Sora Bulq's Perspective**
Inside the central command bunker beneath the citadel, Sora Bulq paced restlessly. The dark acolyte's patience had worn thin weeks ago.
"My lord, we have detected a disturbance on several of the core ships," a B1 battle droid reported in its flat monotone. "Scans say negative, but internal sensors are picking up foreign objects."
"Then there is nothing, you idiot droid!" Sora snapped. "We are on a wild planet. It is probably some local creature. Get out of here."
Tor, another dark acolyte, entered the chamber, scowling. "I am bored. I do not trust Dooku sending us here while Vos gets all the praise. We should be out there fighting, not babysitting a rock."
Suddenly a sharp hiss filled the air.
Both acolytes spun toward the entrance.
A dark-armored figure stood there, cloaked in shadow, the unstable red crossguard lightsaber casting flickering, serrated light across the walls.
"Where is the command station?" I demanded, voice calm.
"You will die for this, Jedi!" Sora roared, igniting his own red blade.
I answered with a surge of Sith lightning. The crimson energy slammed into both acolytes, burning through their robes and charring flesh. Parts of their bodies turned to ash where the lightning struck.
"What… are you?" Tor gasped, collapsing to his knees.
I stepped forward, the crossguard humming with unstable power.
"Someone who is ending this war on my terms."
---
**Dagon's Perspective**
The three corvettes had finished deploying the charges around the other three major cities and the main citadel. It was time.
"Puck, status?" I asked over the secure channel.
"Charges are loaded and ready, sir."
"Lucky, targeting acquired on the enemy Lucrehulks?"
"Targeting acquired."
"Devil, firing solution?"
"Locked and ready."
"Fire."
From concealed positions, the modified J-1 proton cannons—now under our control—erupted. Several bright red shells streaked upward, slamming into the closest Separatist Lucrehulk battlecarrier in orbit. The impacts tore through armor plating and detonated internal munitions, sending the massive ship listing violently before it began its fiery descent toward the planet's surface.
"Sir, they seem to have noticed us," Puck reported.
"Ethan, set the cannons for auto-fire. Then hurry aboard the ship."
We sprinted back toward the waiting Scimitar. As the ramp closed behind us, the first wave of planted charges began detonating across the planet.
Explosions bloomed like crimson flowers—first around the secondary cities, then in a rolling cascade toward the main citadel. Shield generators failed in spectacular fashion. Communication towers toppled. Supply depots vanished in fireballs. The fortress world that the Separatists had believed impregnable was tearing itself apart from within.
The Scimitar lifted off, racing low across the broken landscape as more charges erupted behind us. The sky lit up with the descending wreckage of the damaged Lucrehulk and the flashes of secondary explosions.
I keyed the encrypted battle channel.
"All units, this is Marek. The signal is given. Begin the assault. The planet must fall."
The Twelfth Sector's Battle Line answered.
In high orbit, the *Terminus*, the Resurgents, and the Venators began their coordinated push. Ragnos and Cerri's first wave punched forward exactly as planned. Kayla and Flare's flanking force emerged from the system's edge, their Lancers and TIE screens already tearing into Separatist fighter swarms. Dittmar and Grace O'Connor's support carriers launched wave after wave of TIE Punishers, their bombing runs targeting the remaining core ships.
On the surface, Kinaun's ground forces, supported by Ahsoka and Visenya, began their rapid advance toward the breached citadel.
The battle for Saleucami had begun in earnest.
I stood on the Scimitar's bridge, watching the planet burn beneath us. The crossguard lightsaber still hummed at my side, its unstable blade casting flickering red light across the deck.
One planet down.
Many more to go.