**Chapter 368: The Fall of Zygerria**
**Scene 1**
Queen Mirage Scintel was lounging on her throne when the first frantic reports arrived.
The orbiting fleet had been obliterated within minutes — missile salvos and turbolaser fire turning Lucrehulks and Munificents into expanding clouds of plasma and debris. The first Republic fighters and shuttles were already roaring through the atmosphere above the capital, their engines screaming like angry predators.
"Who dared attack us?" Mirage demanded irritably, sitting upright.
"These are Republicans, my Queen," one advisor stammered, bowing low. "My people managed to convey the message — the ships are designated Mern-13. The army and navy are under the command of Jedi General Dagon Marek."
"Dag…on…" Mirage rolled the name on her tongue, a dangerous smile forming. "He's the dark Jedi, right?"
"Yes, my Queen. We recommend you evacuate immediately — the Republicans will be here any minute."
Mirage laughed, a cold, crystalline sound that echoed through the throne room. "No! I will not run! A Jedi will always be a Jedi. Bring the slaves we selected for the private auction to the throne room." She turned to her male guards. "You — bring the rest."
"My lady?" the advisors looked shocked.
"The Jedi would never endanger the lives of innocents," Scintel explained with smug confidence. "As soon as they arrive here, they will be trapped. They will have a choice — submit, or the slaves will die. And they will submit. The Jedi will have no other choice. Once we capture them, we can dictate our terms. Go and carry out my orders." She waved her hand majestically. "You'll see — it is not defeat that awaits us, but victory, and nothing but victory! No one dares attack us!"
**Scene 2**
Zule jumped down from the TIE Defender onto the duracrete landing pad, lightsaber already in hand. She took a few quick steps toward Puck and the Sith-modified armored clones waiting beside the shuttle. In the distance, several clones guarded a group of captured Zygerrian royal guards — ornate armor and electrowhips lying discarded beside them.
The Falleen caught the glances the prisoners gave her — pure fear mixed with hatred.
"Commander Zule. Decided to join?" Puck asked, removing his helmet.
"Yes. There was no actual combat — all the Lucrehulks were destroyed by missile salvo, so the enemy didn't have time to deploy meaningful air power. How's the landing going?"
"Everything's according to plan," Puck replied. "We've already taken the city. Some units are controlling the perimeter, others are freeing the slaves. Some of them… are in bad shape."
"Understood." Zule pointed toward the towering Royal Palace. "Are you ready to move?"
"Yes. Ready."
"Then let's go."
They encountered almost no resistance inside the palace. The Zygerrians, faced with a professional army and overwhelming firepower, had already realized they had no chance.
"That's the throne room," one of the clones pointed to the large double doors at the end of the wide corridor. "According to the prisoners, the Queen is in there."
"On the count of three, we're in," Zule commanded.
She counted with her fingers and stepped forward as the clones surged ahead and slammed the doors open.
The sight that greeted them filled Zule with pure rage.
Her mother and two younger sisters were chained in a line before the throne — broken, hollow-eyed, dressed in humiliating slave harnesses. They looked exactly like the figures from her nightmare.
"Surrender, Jedi, or your rescued will die!" Queen Mirage Scintel shouted, holding up a detonator with a glowing red button.
Puck felt the same uneasy ripple in the Force that Dagon had described from Jabiim.
"Everyone get down!"
**Scene 3**
**Dagon's POV**
The slaves were being rescued across the planet. Any Zygerrians who resisted were killed on the spot. Even those who carried Republic passes were executed — law was law. Their clients suffered the same fate.
As I approached the Royal Palace, I found Puck and his team waiting outside.
"Puck, is Zule in there?"
"Yes, General."
"Very well. Ready the med transports."
I pushed open the massive doors to the throne room.
The chamber was partially burnt, with several piles of ash scattered across the floor. Zule stood in the center, breathing hard, her lightsaber still ignited. Her two younger sisters were still alive, huddled together and crying. Her mother, however, had not survived — she lay motionless among the ashes, killed during the chaos or by the Queen's final spiteful act.
"Zule… time to go," I said softly.
She looked at me, eyes filled with grief and exhaustion, then deactivated her blade and walked straight into my arms. I scooped her up gently, along with her two surviving sisters, and carried all three out of the ruined throne room.
**Scene 4**
All the officers on the bridge of the *Sovereign* were shocked by Dagon Marek's sudden disappearance from the command post. A few minutes later, word spread that something had happened to Commander Zule. The agonizing wait left everyone nervous.
Soon, Puck reported that the General was taking his apprentice and two others to the flagship and that she was alive. Chewbacca, whom Blam had summoned, said nothing — only "He'll tell you himself."
When Dagon finally arrived on board, he looked ill. He carried the unconscious Falleen woman and her two young sisters in his arms. He gave quiet orders to continue the rescue operation, load the freed captives onto the ships, and contact him when the operation was nearing completion.
Seven hours later, Tarkin called him back to the bridge.
When Dagon entered, Tarkin involuntarily shuddered. The General looked exhausted, dark shadows under his eyes making him appear even more terrifying.
"Sir. We've completed the operation. The last shuttles are leaving the planet, and the gradual withdrawal of troops and equipment from the cities has begun. Approximately four hundred and twenty-two thousand sentient beings have been rescued."
"Good… Excellent work, ladies and gentlemen," Dagon said, voice tired but firm. "The final chord remains. Calculate the parameters for an orbital strike on the capital. The strike will take thirty minutes. Move the ships into position. After the strike is complete, calculate a course to Coruscant. I'll be in my office."
"All ships, fire when ready," Tarkin ordered once the calculations were locked.
Brilliant green and blue turbolaser fire rained down on the Zygerrian capital. The once-glittering palace complex and surrounding slave markets vanished in massive explosions. The heart of the Zygerrian Slave Empire burned.
Dagon watched the orbital strike from his private office, Zule still unconscious in the medical bay with her sisters under heavy guard and care. The price of this victory had been high — but the Slave Empire's backbone was broken.
The fleet turned toward Coruscant, carrying hundreds of thousands of freed slaves and one very broken Padawan who had finally found part of her family… only to lose her mother again.
The war continued.
But for the Zygerrians, this day would be remembered as the beginning of the end.