//------------------------------// // Breaking Dawn // Story: The Dragon and the Force // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// Spike awoke to the sound of voices shouting back and forth across the room, the cold floor of the bunker making him instantly aware. Soldiers were running back and forth, a Corporal shouting orders and direction soldiers towards the entranceway. Instantly, Spike was on his feet, a sharp lance of pain causing him to grunt, but he pushed it away, knowing that this level of movement would probably only mean one thing. “Corporal! Status!” He yelled across the din of pounding feet, his wings making a creaking noise as they moved on their own volition, the dried blood that had stuck on them as he slept cracking apart. “Someone cutting through the doors!” The Corporal replied. “Jedi Padawan Corinna has ordered us to stand ready, Padawans Zule and Tarhal are with her. They ordered you were to be left sleeping until absolutely necessary.” “Thank you Corporal, carry on.” Spike nodded, before making his way towards the entranceway, wincing as he moved quicker than he would have liked, but determined to make it to the door. In short order, Spike moved into the hallway which over looked the blast door, marvelling at the speed with which an ad-hoc defence had been constructed. Rows of small barricades had been erected in front of the door, soldiers hunkered down behind them to provide them with some semblance of cover. Any enemy wishing to take this breech would be met by heavy resistance. Moving past the barricades, Spike moved up beside the other three Jedi, towering above the two humans, and even stretching above the Wookies impressive height. “What’s happening?” Spike asked. “Someone’s cutting through the door, started about half an hour ago.” Corinna replied. “Ray shields?” Spike asked. “Shorted out.” Zule replied. “Time until they’re in?” “Five minutes? Maybe ten?” Tarhal growled. “No time to lose then.” Spike smiled, although with his the pain perforating his body, it came off more like a grimace. “The men are ready.” Tarhal replied as he watched the last few soldiers hurry into position and take cover behind the corner of the wall at the far end, their weapons pointing menacingly down towards the door. Tarhal slowly drew his Lightsaber from his back, holding the hilt nervously in two hands, not yet thumbing the activation stud. Following his lead, the other Jedi also drew their hilts, refraining from igniting the blades just yet. As Spike watched, the little flame that was cutting through the doors neared the floor, indicating that they were nearly in, before turning to the men. “The Mandalorians are coming, the Krath dogs snapping at their heels for attention and position. They will pour through this door, into this breach, our enemies, to be met by hellfire and death at our hands! I stand tall with you brave thirty at my back, and if I must, I will die proud because I have fallen for a cause greater than myself! You have enemies? Good! That means that you’ve stood up for something in your life! So let them come! This is our capital! This is our world! And they will have to drown us in blood, before they can have it!” Igniting his Lightsabers, Spike let out a deafening roar, a cry that was taken up by the other members of the bunker as the remaining Jedi ignited their own Lightsabers. Whatever happened now, Spike could honestly say that he was proud to serve with these men. He get the roar going as the tiny cutting flame finally receded, the door slowly being pulled open as multiple sets of hands became visible in the breech, straining to pull the breech open and allow the slaughter to commence anew. Spike was not going to wait for that to happen. With a grunt of effort, Spike channelled the force into his hands, forcing the doors apart before sprinting forward, using the force to increase his speed beyond what he should have been capable of, and sending him barrelling into his enemy, or so he thought. In a split second, Spike took in the surroundings as he burst from the bunker complex. The dead were thick around the complex, but that was not what caught his eyes, no, the living did that, and more importantly, the uniform they wore, and the Jedi leading them. “STOP!” Spike yelled urgently, turning around to face the troopers in the bunker. “Stop, now! Don’t fire!” He really didn’t want a case of blue on blue action. “Republic?” Tarhal asked slowly, walking out of the bunker, squinting slightly as the early morning sun streamed into his eyes, a far cry from the dim artificial light they had been in for the past night. “Spike? Tarhal?” A Muun said, moving past the Republic troops. “Master Plagun?” Corinna said in surprise, walking out of the bunker with her brother. “Is all of Nexu clan here?” Plagun asked. For a long time, none of the Jedi spoke, all looking around and thinking what to say, before looking at Spike, tears forming in the dragons eyes. “I’m sorry.” Plagun said, picking up on the message that they were all reluctant to speak. “She will not be forgotten.” He paused, scrutinising Spike for a moment. “What is on your back?” “Wings.” Spike said plainly. “What’s going on?” “The Mandalorians retreated, the army is moving to re-secure any areas taken by the enemy and clear out any stragglers. To be honest, we didn’t expect to find anyone alive, especially here. By all accounts, this area had one of the largest assaults.” “I don’t doubt it.” Zule muttered, before leaning against the wall and sliding down it, sitting on the floor with a weary look in his eye. “You all look shattered.” Plagun observed. “No one slept with the exception of Spike, and only then because of injuries.” Corinna said softly, sitting down beside her brother. “Let’s get you all back to the temple.” Plagun said with a smile as he looked at the tired Padawans and the soldiers that were beginning to exit the bunker, most dragging their weapons behind them as fatigue finally set in. “Commander. Get these men some transport to somewhere they can rest. It’s the least we can do.” “Thank you master.” Spike smiled, looking down at the other Padawans. Compared to the others, he was not nearly as tired, but he was still weary, the fatigue setting into his very bones. *** “I thought I said I didn’t want to see you here again Spike.” Franoline said with a smirk as she walked into the room Spike was in, looking at the dragon as he floated in a large tank full of a clear viscous fluid. Spike tried to laugh slightly, but all that came out was a few bubbles as he released air into the Kolto that surrounded him, knocking the air mask off slightly, a fact that went unnoticed by both Franoline and Spike. He had been in the Kolto solution for a day now, the healing sludge already doing wonders and healing his back. It was long work, and it wasn’t exactly the most stimulating thing he could be doing, in fact it was possibly one of the most boring things he had ever done, but at least his back had stopped hurting. In a few hours, he would be done, as opposed to a few weeks, stretching towards months if he had tried to heal himself with his own natural healing ability. “Well as you are here, I thought I would allow some guests in. Don’t worry, they know you can’t speak back to them, but nodding should do fine.” She said, before whistling sharply. As she did, the door slid open, and Spike caught sight of someone who made his heart leap. “Mas…pher” He said happily, coughing as he inhaled some of the liquid around him, his eyes fixing upon Solaris. “Thank you Franoline.” She nodded to the healer. “I am sure your other patients need your assistance.” “Thank you Master Solaris, I will leave you with your Padawan.” She said, bowing deeply before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. “Oh Spike.” She said softly, walking around the dragon as he floated in the Kolto. “You get out of the healing wing the day I leave, and when I come back you're right back in here, with a pair of wings to boot.” Spike didn’t reply, nodding his agreement at his master’s words. “What did you do?” She asked exasperatedly. “Scratch that, I can ask you when you get out. Should be some time later today, wouldn’t you think.” “Uh huh.” Spike nodded. “Well then, I’ll see you when you get out. I’ll be in the east wing primary meditation chamber when you come to seek me.” She said, before turning and walking out of the room. Sighing to himself, Spike closed his eyes, allowing his mind to wander. *** “Careful Padawan Spike.” A medical droid said as it helped Spike out of the tank, steadying him as he dropped down to the floor, dropping to his knees and hacking up a pile of flem and Kolto onto the ground. “That’s right. Get it out of your system.” “Thank you.” Spike nodded, pushing himself back up to his feet. Was it just him, or were his wings larger than they had been when they had first sprouted. At least his back was no longer bleeding heavily. After a few checks from the medical droid, Spike was signed off as fit to move about again, being dismissed from the healing wing. Stretching his arms, and trying to keep his wings from fluttering of the own free will, Spike began to make his way out towards the meditation chamber that Solaris had mentioned that she would be in. As Spike walked through the temple, getting a few looks from the other Jedi that walked around the temple, most of whom were shorter than he was, he suddenly realised that his wings were actually quite heavy, the extra weight seemingly pulling him back. Eventually however, Spike reached the meditation chamber, sliding the door back and slipping inside, laying his eyes on his master. Solaris was sitting cross legged on a stool, her eyes rolled back in her head and exposing the whites of her eyes as she looked upwards vacantly. Spike knew this to be her meditative stance, and although it had once freaked him out when he had first seen her do it, now he had gotten used to it. Sensing the arrival of her Padawan, Solaris’s eyes rolled forward in her head again, her pupils contracting as she focused on Spike. Uncrossing her legs, Solaris got to her feet, walking over to her Padawan and looking up at him. “You’ve grown.” She noted. “You haven’t.” Spike replied simply. For a few moments, Spike and Solaris looked at each other, their faces unreadable, before they both burst out laughing, Solaris embracing Spike in a tight hug. For a moment, Spike didn’t know quite what to do, Solaris never having hugged him before, before shrugging and returning the hug, lifting his master of her feet. “Spike…can’t…breathe.” She muttered with a chuckle, the dragon quickly setting her down. “It’s good to see you again master.” Spike smiled. “As it is you, even if you look quite a bit different from the last time I saw you. Can you believe it was only a week ago?” She asked, clapping him on the lower arm. “No, I can’t.” Spike smiled. “So what happened at Kemplex IX? Can’t have been much of a fleet there.” “No, it was all here wasn’t it.” She said exasperatedly. “And to think, I left you here because I wanted to keep you safe. That really worked out didn’t it?” “Not for anyone.” Spike agreed sullenly. “I heard what happened with your friend. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” She said softly. “There is going to be a funeral in a few days for all the Jedi that fell.” “That will make me feel great I’m sure.” Spike muttered. “What happened with the invasion force? I don’t really know much about the attack as a whole.” “Well, the fleet that was supposed to be at Kemplex IX came here obviously, but we beat them off, you, beat them off. They were swarming over everything and they suddenly retreated. One good thing came from this though.” She said, smiling at the final sentence. “What good could have possibly come from this?” Spike asked sullenly. “Ulic Qel-Droma. We got him.” She smiled. “Got him?” Spike asked quizzically. “He was left behind. His trial is in a week or so.” She said with a grin. “Now come on, I was speaking to Tarhal earlier. He said that before the invasion, you’d never been out to Coruscant itself. I’m going to show you some of the wonders of the capital world.” “Wonders?” Spike asked, cocking his eyebrow. “Alright, not quite wonders.” She admitted. “There’s a little place down on level one thousand two hundred and sixteen. I’ve been there a few times, they still don’t know I’m a Jedi.” She finished with a slight chuckle. “Why don’t they know you’re a Jedi?” Spike asked in confusion. “Because I wear normal clothes and don’t take my Lightsaber with me.” She smiled. “Let’s get to my speeder. You can leave your weapons in there.” “Lead on.” Spike said, trying in vain to put Asho out of his mind. *** “Well then, here we are.” Solaris smiled, stepping out of her speeder and looking up at a neon lit building. “The Ultra Ray?” Spike asked, walking up next to Solaris. “Why are we here mas…” “Solaris.” She corrected, before lowering her voice. “I’m not a Jedi here, remember.” “But why?” Spike asked in a similarly hushed voice. “It’s nice to let my hair down and act normally for a while. When you get to my age, you’ll want to do the same thing.” She smiled, before pushing the door open. “Oh, and it’s not Solaris here, it’s Artemis.” “Artemis?” Spike asked. “Why do I feel like these names should mean something to me?” He shook his head, before following ‘Artemis’ into the bar. The bar was large and noisy, a group of musicians on a stage in the back of the bar busy playing music with a heavy beat, something that Spike would have associated with Vinyl Scratch back home. The patrons of the establishment were as diverse as the drinks they were consuming, ranging from humans and Twileks to Gamorreans and Bith. “Hey Artemis!” A male Togruta called from behind the bar. “Where the hell have you been you lousy git?! I haven’t seen you for months!” “Sorry, you know what it’s like.” She smiled, sitting down at the bar, and beckoning for Spike to sit next to her. “Who’s your friend?” The Togruta asked. “More importantly, what can I get you?” “Ray’nal, meet Spine. Spine, meet Ray’nal.” Solaris said by way of introduction. So, obviously Spike was to be known as Spine for the evening. He definitely thought that he should know these names from somewhere. “Spine eh?” Ray’nal said, putting his hand across the bar and shaking Spikes hand. “Well, any friend of Artemis’s is welcome here. You in the merc business as well?” “Ugh…yeah, mercenary, sure.” Spike nodded. “Artemis is my mentor.” “Well, you’re learning from the best. Artemis has been coming here for years. But back to my original question, what your poison?” “Poison?” Spike asked in a confused tone. “Just, bring us a couple of beers to start with. You know what I like.” Solaris grinned as the barkeeper walked off. “Smooth.” She chuckled. “I’ve never been in a bar before.” He hissed back. “This ain’t just a bar.” Solaris chuckled. “You know, sometimes I forget just how young you are. You’ve been with me for what, three years, coming on four?” “Five last week.” Spike corrected her. “Yeah. First time to a bar then I guess.” She smiled, leaning back against the bar and sighing contentedly. “The planet was just invaded, and they’re sitting here like nothing happened.” Spike said disbelievingly, looking around at the patrons. “Welcome to the Undercity love.” She laughed. “The battle didn’t get down this deep, so it’s business as usual. Scratch that, it’s better than usual, ‘cause all the people who survived it are celebrating that they won.” “Artemis, Spine. Drinks up.” Ray’nal said, sliding the drinks across the bar, Solaris catching hers as it was still sliding and raising it to her lips, taking a long draught and gesturing for Spike to do the same. Tentatively, Spike picked up the mug, raising it to his lips and taking a small sip of the liquid inside. “Hmm. Not bad.” He smiled, taking another gulp. “Just wait till, it gets better.” Solaris grinned. *** Many Hours later *** “Blood rages down from an angry sky! My cock rages on! My cock rages on!” Spike bellowed, joining in with the countless other voices that were all drunkenly shouting the song. Grabbing his glass from where he had left it, Spike downed the clear liquid within, the vodka tingling his throat as it slipped down. According to Solaris the drink burnt like a bitch, which was the main reason she preferred other stuff, but to someone who routinely breathed fire, this was nothing. For the first time since they had sprouted, Spikes wings were still, drooping as if they were tired, or in this case drunk. Spike saw this as a good excuse to keep drinking. Beside him, Solaris was also drunkenly singing, sloshing her drink out of the mug as she swayed with a man who was equally drunk as her. Slamming his glass down a bit too hard on one of the tables, Spike accidently created a dent in it, spilling the drinks of a group of muscular men, none of whom looked particularly happy that they were now wearing their alcohol rather than ingesting it. “The fuck you think you’re doing?” One shouted, getting to his feet and moving over towards the slouching figure of Spike. “Accident. Sorry.” Spike smiled. “Yeah, you’ll be sorry when we break your face.” A second human jeered, pushing Spike back onto a bar stool. “How could we tell? The bastards so ugly anyway. We’d probably be doing everyone a favour.” A third man said. “You don’t want to be doing this lads.” Solaris said, staggering over and looking at the men. “Oh no, we do.” The fourth and final man smiled, putting an arm around Solaris’s shoulders. “What do you care anyway? You’re not with him are you?” “As a matter of fact I am.” Solaris nodded. “You lose a bet or something.” The man laughed. “Why don’t you and I leave and I can show you a real man." “You know, I’m going to have to pass.” Solaris said with a lopsided smile, the sarcasm still dripping from her voice. “Suit yourself love.” The man laughed, releasing Solaris. “Play nicely now Spine.” Solaris grinned, before turning and staggering back to her drink, her conscience clear. She had warned them after all. “Hey babe.” The man said, slapping Solaris on the arse and causing her to stop dead in her tracks. “Something to remember me by.” “Oh, how sweet.” She smiled, turning back around. “Allow me to return the favour.” Lashing out, she caught the man in the stomach, sending him reeling to the floor as he gasped for breath. “Spine, I think we should…” Solaris began, before a fist impacted with her face, knocking her back. “Mistake.” Spike roared with a laugh, getting to his feet and standing at his full height, towering over the three men and glaring down at them, the men backing away a step. Bringing his hand up, Spike backhanded the man across the face, making sure to pull his blow so he didn’t permanently damage the attacker. He was still thrown across the room however, smashing through a series of tables and spilling more drinks. “BARFIGHT!” A Rodian roared, getting up from his chair with a laugh. In an instant, the demeanour in the bar changed, the patrons changing from pleasant, if highly intoxicated, people, into those who were out for some good natured blood-letting. It was like a switch had been flipped as fists began flying. This clearly wasn’t that rare an occurrence, as the band barely even broke stride, switching to a much more upbeat song. Spike roared as a large Gamorrean jumped at him, the massive boar slamming into his chest and wrapping his arms around Spikes torso as he forced the dragon back. Bringing his fists down on the pigs back, Spike sent him sprawling before diving forward. Unfortunately, in his current state he did not have the best focus when it came to his vision, and he ended up sprawling on the ground, feeling feet slam down on him, but hardly registering the pain. Forcing himself to his feet, Spike saw Solaris fending of an attack from one of the men from earlier, all the while punching the face of a man she had in a head lock. Deciding that his master could deal with him, Spike turned, only to find a pair of female Twileks bringing their fists towards him, both impacting with his chest and head at the same time, the combined force driving him backwards. Spike was driven back towards the door as he tried to fend off attacks from the two faster opponents, his inebriated state making it even harder to intercept their attacks. He wasn’t just a normal dragon however, he was a Jedi, and even if he was refraining from using the force for Solaris’s sake, he could still use it passively. Lashing out, Spike used the force to subtly draw one of the Twileks feet to his outstretched hand as she spun for a kick, hoisting her off her feet and swinging her at the second and catching her in the stomach, sending them both sprawling across the floor. Still savouring his small victory, Spike watched with interest as one of the men from before ran towards him, not realising until too late that he probably didn’t want a hug. The man collided with Spike, forcing him backwards as the pair crashed to the floor just in front of the door, and at the feet of a trio of droids who had entered the building, a human female following them. “You’re in a whole heap of trouble boys.” She smiled sweetly as she bent down, grabbing Spikes wrists and slapping a pair of heavy stun-cuffs on Spikes wrist as another droid did the same to the man beside him. Neither of them could put up much of a struggle as they were led from the bar, more droids rushing into the bar to restore order. *** Spike rested his head against the bars of the holding cell he had been thrown into and sighed. His head was throbbing as the alcohol wore off, but he shrugged it off. He had gone through worse than a little headache in the past few weeks. “I’m going, I’m going.” A voice sounded through the police centre as a man was moved towards the holding cell, a CSF officer following behind him. “Good, nice and easy, just how I like it.” The officer said, unlocking the door and allowing the man to walk in, removing the stun-cuffs as he entered. “So, what you in for?” The man asked as he sat down on a bench opposite from Spike. “Drunken brawl.” Spike chuckled, looking up at the man. “No shit. I got done for a bit of possession. It was only a bit of Spice, nothing big.” The man replied. “I guess we all were out celebrating weren’t we?” “I guess.” Spike nodded. “What did you do?” “Home with my wife. Someone had to protect the family. Came down to me and my blaster. Luckily none of them came into my house.” He said thankfully. “Where were you in it all? Big guy like you, I reckon you were right on the front of it all.” “No, no I was way at the back.” Spike said softly, not wanting to think about it. “Get in there.” The CSF officer grunted, pushing another large man into the cell, locking the door behind him. “Hey! I’m a soldier and I demand a lawyer!” the man shouted, kicking the bars. “Settle down man.” The first man said, not getting up from the bench. “Settle down?” The man asked, turning around quickly. “I am a…” he raged, before his eyes fell on Spike, the dragon fixing him with a similar gaze. “Padawan Spike?” He asked in amazement. “Wait, you’re a Jedi?” The first man asked, looking at Spike in amazement. “A Jedi? This guy led the defence of the cannons in the invasion.” The soldier said, walking over towards Spike and saluting him sharply. “Sir, it was an honour to serve with you.” “Don’t be honoured.” Spike said softly. “I’m no hero. I just did what I had to, and a lot of men didn’t make it out.” “Don’t say that, you did everything you could, you even gave a rousing speech.” The soldier smiled. “You, big guy, your bails been posted.” The CSF officer said, unlocking the holding cell and allowing Spike out. “It was an honour to see you again Spike.” The soldier said. “You too.” Spike nodded, before following the officer down the corridor, emerging into a room where Solaris was already waiting for him. “Spike.” She muttered, holding her head, clearly suffering more from a hangover than he was. “Solaris, or is it still Artemis?” Spike smiled sweetly, relishing this opportunity to have some fun. “Ha ha Spike.” She shot back. “Come on, we’re need to get back to the temple, we’ll swing by and pick up my speeder.” “Let’s go then.” Spike smiled, following his hungover master from the building.