Spike’s world slowed to a crawl as Tarhal leapt through the air, the crimson blade making its way towards him. Everything became clear as day as his mind fought to comprehend what had happened. His own hands began to move, almost of their own accord, spinning his Lightsabers around and raising his arms just as Tarhal hit him.
Spike remembered how strong Tarhal actually was as their blades clashed, sending him sliding back across the ruined floor of the star port before he finally managed to dig his claws in and stop, Tarhal pressing his face closer to Spike’s as they both fought to gain the upper hand.
“What are you doing?” Spike groaned as Tarhal pushed harder, before he managed to break the gap and leapt backwards, opening up the distance between the pair.
“What does it look like I’m doing,” Tarhal sneered, flourishing his Lightsaber. “You’re standing in my way, and if you taught me one thing in the Mandalorian Wars, it’s to eliminate those who stand in my way.”
With that, Tarhal dived forward again, scything his Lightsaber around in an attack that Spike only just blocked. What followed next was a flurry of attacks that Spike had to focus everything he had just to deflect them away, Tarhal forcing Spike backwards as he went. Somewhere in his mind, Spike knew exactly what Tarhal was doing, every move he was making, even with the anger written across his face, was still done in the Ataru style. If he could focus properly, he could have broken the cycle in a heartbeat, but as it was he was knocked backwards by a vicious kick to his chest, sending him crashing to the floor.
“Why are you fighting for Revan?!” Spike roared as he got back to his feet, staring through the smoke at Tarhal.
“The same reason we fought for him last time,” Tarhal glared back. “He is in the right!”
“He’s a Sith! He’s trying to destroy the Republic!” Spike roared, diving forward and unleashing a barrage of blows, Tarhal blocking them with apparent ease.
“The Republic? That failing beast in the Senate?” Tarhal scoffed. “Oh no, whatever will we do if that is replaced by efficient government?”
“The Sith are evil!” Spike roared, before leaping back, flapping his wings hard and firing a trio of blaster shots at Tarhal, sending him diving for cover.
“General! We can’t hold the lift any longer!” one of the soldiers bellowed through the din of the battle.
“Send it down…” Spike roared back, before he was knocked off of his feet, an explosion blossoming from within the lift.
Spike was dimly aware of some fading screaming as the ringing faded, flames pouring out of the lift shaft.
“Veers,” Spike coughed, staggering to his feet. “Activate the generators.”
“Sir…are you sure?” Veers sounded worried. “There’s still the chance…”
“Activate it!” Spike roared, before Tarhal dived at him again, knocking him from his feet, his Lightsabers forgotten as he brought his paws down again and again into Spike’s face.
“We could have been rulers, Spike! We could have been kings!” Every word was punctuated by a vicious blow. “Why, did you, not come, with us?! Why didn’t you follow Revan?! We could have used you!”
“Revan is weak!” Spike roared, catching one of Tarhal’s paws, before bringing the barrel of his still hot cannon around into the Wookie’s face.
Tarhal let out a scream, staggering back and clutching his face as Spike got to his feet, advancing towards Tarhal, both of his Lightsabers ignited.
“You’re my brother, Tarhal! Don’t make…”
Once again, Spike was pitched from his feet, this time by a huge rumbling sound that drowned out all of the other sounds of battle. For a moment, Spike thought that a bomb had simply dropped near them, before a huge crack opened up opened up in the ground, more opening up across the rest of the space port, Sith Troopers and the few remaining Republic soldiers screaming as the ground they had been fighting over turned against them.
“SPIKE!” Tarhal bellowed, rage in his eyes. “What did you do?!”
“Killed us all,” Spike snarled, raising his Lightsabers as he pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s finish this, brother.”
Tarhal let out a wordless scream as he dived forward, his Lightsaber and Spike’s clashing as they drove each other across the star port, anyone else around them forgotten as the very planet broke apart around them.
“You’re not going to survive this!” Tarhal roared in between strikes.
“That’s the idea,” Spike snarled back, spinning to avoid a blow. “I don’t want to survive past today, not after this.”
“Then I’ll make sure you don’t, by my blade!”
Tarhal suddenly seemed to switch up a gear, delivering a barrage of blows, kicks and punches which Spike struggled to block, before feinting to the right, Spike falling for it, too late realising what he had done as Tarhal brought his Lightsaber down full force on his outstretched left arm.
For a moment, Spike thought the metal would hold, before the blade passed through it, the majority of the arm falling to the ground at Tarhal’s feet, a look of perverse, savage glee on his face as Spike staggered back. Warning lights were going crazy in his eyes as his body tried to grasp the loss of one of its major components
“Who you knew you could lose your arm twice, Spike,” Tarhal sneered as he advanced once more.
“You bastard,” Spike snarled, diving forward with his one remaining arm, but this time, Tarhal was ready for him, spinning and driving his foot into the left side of Spike’s chest with enough force to crack the metal.
Even more warnings flashed across Spike’s vision as his cybernetic lung shattered under the pressure, only his instinctive magic keeping the shards from damaging anything else. Tarhal raised his Lightsaber higher as Spike reeled backwards, preparing to deliver the final blow.
“Goodbye, Spike,” Tarhal growled, before bringing the Lightsaber down.
I’m so sorry, Spike, Moonstone’s voice was clear in Spike’s head as his hand raised and a beam of magic shot out at Tarhal.
Tarhal roared as the magic hit him square in the chest, sending him flying across the space port and out of sight, his roars turning into screams of pain, then silence as ‘Spike’ got back to his feet.
Moonstone? What are you doing?!, Spike roared mentally, but it was no use. After Desolation had gone, Spike never thought he would feel like this again, but now, Moonstone was firmly in the driver’s seat.
“I’m sorry, Spike, but I’m not going to let you throw your life away here.”
Spike’s mouth moved as Moonstone’s voice came out, before Spike felt her spreading his wings, leaping into the sky.
You can’t outrun this, Moonstone! Spike raged. This planet will be nothing but a lifeless rock soon, no one can escape it, and I don’t deserve to!
“Shut up!” Moonstone roared. “For once stop feeling sorry for yourself and let me save you!”
You can’t, Spike insisted. There is no way I survive, no way anyone survives. That’s the fucking point!
“I’m getting us off this planet, and you’re just going to sit there and get used to it,” Moonstone snapped, before folding Spike’s wings and diving towards one of the wrecks of the Republic ships. “Brace yourself.”
Spike flipped and hit one of the weakened plates with his feet, slamming though the hull and creating a sizable hole as he flared his wings, landing gracefully in the hanger bay.
“See? Fighters?” Moonstone pointed out, beginning to look for one that seemed like it might still be flight worthy.
It won’t work you stupid mare, Spike snapped. The Gravity Well Generators will make Hyperspace imposs…
“You know how to override the safety protocols on the Hyperspace engine on an Aurek-class starfighter,” Moonstone snapped back. “I know you do, because you once asked Solaris what would happen if you got trapped in the gravity well of a sun while you were learning to fly. She then showed you how to override safeties and allow you to make short, blind jumps. That’s what we’re going to do, Spike. You can either give me full access to the memory right now, or I swear to whatever is watching over us I will rip it straight from your cortex. We are not dying here today, Spike. So either help, or don’t, one way or the other I’m getting the information.”
Fine, Spike murmured, before dropping his mental barriers, allowing Moonstone access to everything he had ever kept from her.
“You have a lot of memories here, Spike,” she muttered as they finally found a fighter, Moonstone forcing Spike to slide underneath it, the ship groaning and cracking as more of the planet came apart around it. “Here we go though, hyperspace engine safeties.”
Spike watched as his hand became a blur, Moonstone ripping part of the plating off as she worked, reattaching wires and pulling out redundant systems.
“This is far easier than from inside the cockpit,” she mused, before finishing. “I’m giving you control back, Spike. Get us out of here or I swear…”
“Fine,” Spike snapped, wrenching control back from her and rolling his neck. “Don’t make a habit of that, Moonstone.”
I won’t, she assured him. Now would you please get in your ship?
Spike nodded, awkwardly climbing the ladder with his one remaining arm and sliding into the cockpit, crouching down and awkwardly folding his wings to allow the canopy to close.
“This is going to be interesting,” he growled, punching the start-up sequence, ignoring the warnings about the Hyperspace safeties.
Go faster then Moonstone urged, the fighter finally powering up and lifting off the deck.
“Alright, hold on,” Spike grunted, instinctively ducking his head as they flew out of the ship, Spike gasping slightly as he saw the surface of the planet.
Huge chunks of the ground were heaving and pulsating as the gravity with the planet fluctuated. Small bits of magma were already spewing out of some of the cracks, and it wouldn’t be long before the gravity became too great for any ships in the sector to escape from. Spike could already feel the fighter’s engines straining to keep it flying upwards, but soon there would be nothing he could do to stop himself, the fighter, and all the Sith ships in orbit from plummeting to the ground.
Stop thinking like that, Spike. Get us out of here Moonstone pressed.
“Do you want to fly?” Spike snapped.
I can’t, I don’t have your experience,
“Then pipe down,” Spike snarled. “Almost got a free corridor. Sith ships are out of the way, they’re panicking. Half the Captain’s probably worked out what this is down here.”
Stop talking and… Moonstone began.
“Punching it!” Spike whooped, pushing the lever forward and listening to the hyperspace drive warm up.
The whine was louder than it should have been as the engine tried to kick in, before the ship juddered, the engine spluttering as it began to die.
“No, no no no no no,” Spike cursed, his claw darting over the control panel. “Not now you bastard.”
The Sith are going to notice us, Spike, Moonstone muttered.
“I know!” Spike roared back. “I know they’re going to notice us if we don’t move, but it’s the least of our worries and I’m working on it, so shut up!”
With another roar, Spike slammed his claw into the control panel, sparks flying as he broke through the casing and dug his fist deep into the wires.
“Brace yourself, Moonstone,” he muttered, before pumping magic through his fist directly into the ship.
His mind raced as he felt everything the small fighter did, Moonstone wincing and fading from view as he directed his magic elsewhere. Even after all the time he had been using magic, he still barely understood it, and doing something like this was a colossal strain on his mind, but at the moment that didn’t matter, all that mattered was the magic knew to do what it was directed to do. Circuits were rewired, motherboards were energised, and with a loud rumble, the engines flared back into life, catapulting the ship forward into Hyperspace.
Spike groaned as microscopic bits of space debris hit the hull of the ship at light speed, each tiny ping stinging his brain, depleting his magic reserves, before he finally had to relinquish his grip on the cables, pulling his hand free as the ship lurched back into realspace, the engines spluttering once more, before dying, leaving the ship to spin slowly in the void.
Where…where are we? Moonstone asked, panting slightly, her coat and mane slightly less vibrant, and large bags now present under her eyes.
“I don’t know,” Spike sighed, leaning back as best he could into his chair and rubbing his head. “Power on the ship’s all burnt out, means communicators are shot, and I don’t have the energy to power the ship again.”
So we’re stuck here? Moonstone asked.
“For now,” Spike nodded. “But we’re…we’re away from Vasdu. With all that brings with it.”
Spike lapsed into silence as he looked out into the darkness of space, focusing on the twinkling stars and the few rogue asteroids that were between planets, just as Spike and Moonstone now were. There wouldn’t be many ships out here, and next to none of them would be travelling slower than light speed. Add in the fact that Vasdu was now the heart of an unstable gravity well, and there was almost a zero percent chance they would be found, meaning they would have to wait until Spike had recovered.
How much food do you have? Moonstone asked, worry creeping into her voice.
“Two days,” Spike intoned, resting his forehead against the ships canopy, not bothering to actually check the supply, his mind too busy focusing on other things.
I had to do it, Spike, Moonstone pressed, her voice breaking as she looked at Spike with pleading eyes. I couldn’t just let you stay there and die.
“Why?” Spike asked, his voice still not portraying any emotion. “So were still Republic soldiers on that planet, thousands of them. And the civilians? Children?” his voice began to break now as he continued to speak. “I killed millions of children…my own soldiers…my best…my best friend. Why am still alive, Moonstone? The amount I’ve messed up? The amount I’ve done wrong? The people I’ve hurt, the people I’ve killed?! Am I still alive for myself now, or am I just alive just to destroy and kill more and more people?”
I can’t answer that, Spike, Moonstone whispered softly. You know I can’t. I don’t think anyone can.
“You got me off the planet, Moonstone, take responsibility,” Spike deadpanned back. “You think you saved me? Saved my life? What’s left now? I killed a planet, Moonstone. They’re not going to let that go. Meetra activated the same device at the end of the Mandalorian Wars, and she was exiled and stripped of the Force. That’s what awaits me now. And Tarhal…my brother? He’s…he’s dead now. What do I have left, Moonstone? What?! All I want for once is to have something not be ripped away from me! Just, once!”
Spike started beating his claw against the control panel once more, sparks flying with each blow as he quickly destroyed the useless controls, before his shoulders sagged and he let out a sob.
“If I had died down there, it would have been over. No one would have been able to shout me down, or question me about anything, because I would be long dead, but you had to dredge the one memory I tried to keep from you, the one memory that could save my life, because I knew you would use it. You took over my body like he did, like Desolation, to save someone who doesn’t deserve anything anymore.”
Don’t say… Moonstone began.
“It’s true,” Spike cut her off. “You know it is, I know it is. I should have dumped that memory years ago. Only a few of us knew about it, Solaris only taught me, and I only told a few others.”
Who? Moonstone asked, trying to keep the conversation going as Spike seemed to be lightening his own mood.
“Nexu clan,” Spike shrugged. “But there’s only two of us left now, so that doesn’t matter much. I was going to teach Katara, but I doubt they’ll even let me see her again, let alone teach her anything else.”
Spike sighed, before continuing.
“You know, this will be my last few days in the Order. I don’t…I don’t know what I’ll be without it. It’s all I’ve ever had. Maybe…maybe I’ll take Harmony and explore the outer stars. Look for home, for once. If I deserve that.”
You do, Spike, Moonstone assured him as he closed his eyes. Rest up, Spike. You need to recover from that.
Moonstone’s words fell on deaf ears, Spike already having slipped into an uneasy sleep. She looked over Spike for a few minutes, taking in his wounds and his small tosses and turns, before looking back the way they had come, in the direction of Vasdu. The star the planet orbited still burned just as brightly as before, the stars around it hadn’t moved, there was nothing to indicate that anything out of the ordinary had happened, nothing to indicate that an entire planet, over six billion souls, had just been snuffed out.
With a sigh of her own, Moonstone faded away, allowing Spike to get the rest he would need to get them both home.
***
For the next two days Spike and Moonstone talked about everything they could think of, Spike reliving memories of Equestria for her, while she comforted him in his darker moments. To her shame, she had to take control of his body more than once to stop him breaching the canopy, or reaching for his Lightsaber, convincing him to calm down before releasing her hold over him. She hated that she had to do it, but she convinced herself it was for his own good, and slowly they got through the days, Spike quickly making a big dent in the food supply, which was closer to a week’s supply than two days as Spike had guessed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of just waiting in the void, Spike felt he was finally ready, dropping the small barriers he had put up around his mind to make sure he didn’t use any unnecessary energy.
Are we going back to Coruscant then, Spike? Moonstone smiled.
“Yeah, just let me…” Spike began, working his hand into the console, before freezing as something touched his mind.
Spike? Spike, what’s wrong? Moonstone asked, worry heavy in her voice, but Spike didn’t answer, concentrating everything he had on the link in his mind.
You didn’t think it would be over that easily, did you now, brother?
“That’s not possible,” Spike muttered, trying to focus his mind to clear up the message, only to hear the soft rumble of Tarhal’s laughter.
Spike! Tell me what’s wrong! Moonstone roared.
“We need to get back to Coruscant, now,” Spike clenched his fist around the ships cables as he spoke, pumping his magic into them once more. “We’re not going to be exiled or stripped of the force, Moonstone, something bigger came up.”
What are you talking about, Spike? Moonstone asked in confusion, before once again wincing and fading away, Spike activating the ship's Hyperdrive and catapulting them towards Coruscant.