The Teller of Truths
“Revan?” Herank repeated, snorting as she folded her arms. “Oh joy, so now we have the personal attention of the Lord of the Sith?”
“Just me,” Spike shook his head. “If our entire operation was that big a threat we’d have a fleet breathing down our necks right now. I doubt he even knows where we are, the HK unit has highly advanced tracking software but doesn’t have a long-range transmitter or an uplink system. It was working alone, we’re still secure here.”
“And we’re sure the mind-wipe is secure enough that it won’t come back online and inform Revan where we are?” Seugtai checked. “I don’t want it coming back online and trying to kill you again. Damn near succeeded last time.”
Spike grunted at the comment, his own wounds burning at the recent memories. It had been a few days since the attack, his wounds sealing as quickly as his magic allowed, his reserves depleted from the fight.
“I’m sure, but just in case we’ll implant false memories and forge a record of them. Numerous owners, numerous deaths, make it look like a mindless killing machine rather than an assassin.”
“You realise that will drive any price we could get for it through the floor, right?” Herank asked.
“Yes, and I also know that if Revan is half as smart as we think he is he will have eyes and ears everywhere. If a sophisticated HK assassin unit suddenly appears on the market, he will investigate, and he will get this thing back. Now I don’t know if he’ll be able to recover the memories, but I don’t want to find out either.”
“Then why not just scrap it and be done with it?” Seugtai asked the question that Spike had been sure Herank was thinking as well.
“We need the money,” Spike replied simply. “Weapons and piracy are all well and good, but we can’t sell them quickly. The crew will need some show of good faith that we’re going to pay them, this will help supply the credits, as well as selling small quantities of the surplus inventory we took from the Sith. It will do until we can start moving sales in bulk. On that note, Herank, how are we doing on that front?”
“The Exchange are already interested in some of our equipment, but they are being characteristically cautious. Months potentially, same story with the Hutts.”
“Then we need this,” Spike finished. “There’s a droid salesman on Tatooine in Anchorhead, Yuka Laka. He’ll buy the droid, and the weapons, he owes me a favour from way back, and it’s outside the Republic’s direct control. Czerka rules there, should allow us to move slightly easier.”
“I’ll plot a course for the Harmony. Herank, you stay here and keep working on getting those deals set up. I’ll meet you on your ship, Spike.”
With that, Seugtai turned and left, leaving Spike alone with Herank, the first time the pair had been alone since Spike had pulled her from her cell on Coruscant.
“How’s the arm?” Spike finally asked, the tension having become unbearable.
“It’s fine, thanks for asking,” Herank replied, clenching the bionic she had been fitted with and smiling, the gesture full of sarcasm, not happiness. “We have had an interesting time, haven’t we, Spike? Do you remember when we met?”
“Of course I do,” Spike snapped. “And I wouldn’t change any of it.”
“Are you sure? I know who was leading that fleet we met that got you so tangled up. I even know who led the fleet that you engaged over Vasdu.”
“Don’t say it,” Spike growled.
“Tarhal,” Herank continued, heedless of Spike’s growing anger.
Spike let out a snarl, grabbing Herank and lifting her from the floor. Even with his wounds the woman posed no difficulty for his strength but despite the pain she must have been in she was smiling.
“Little bit of yellow in your eyes there, Spike? Maybe if I’d been faster, none of us would have had to meet again.”
“If you’d been faster, we wouldn’t be able to meet,” Spike snarled back, his blood pounding before he felt a familiar presence by his side.
“Spike. Put her down,” Moonstone spoke softly.
“Listen to the pony,” Herank grinned. “Wouldn’t want to prove the Jedi right. Don’t want to fall after Revan, do you?”
Spike let out another growl, before dropping Herank, letting her collapse to the floor, wheezing hard.
“You are lucky, Herank,” Spike spat, before turning and stalking from the room.
“Oh yeah, regular Pazaak winner right here,” Herank called back, but Spike was already gone.
“You’re an idiot, Herank,” Moonstone looked down at the Crime Lady. “Maybe don’t push the incredibly strong Dragon holding things together on a knife’s edge.”
“He’s unstable, Moonstone,” Herank chuckled. “I know Jedi, I know Sith, I don’t know where the hell he stands.”
“Nowhere,” Moonstone replied firmly. “He’s not Sith, and he’s not a Jedi anymore. He’s Spike, that’s all he wants to be. Don’t push him, Herank. I may not always be there to talk him down.”
***
Spike sat in the command throne of Harmony, lounging back in the chair even as his eyes burnt with anger. Herank’s words had cut deep, deeper than anything he had thought possible, and his anger was still bubbling just below the surface. He was infinitely glad that Seugtai had suggested that it was just the pair of them that went, leaving Herank behind once more. It was strange, they had both tried to kill him in the past, and Seugtai had probably tried to kill Tarhal just like Herank had, but there was something about the Mandalorian. Whether it was the code of honour he held or simply because they had been fighting a war not against a petty crime boss, but Spike didn’t feel anywhere near the hatred he felt for Herank when he looked at Seugtai. All the Mandalorian brought up were bad memories, memories of blood and slaughter on Ranox. Of Desolation.
“Ship’s ready, Spike,” Seugtai’s voice broke Spike from his inner thoughts. “She’s ready to take out when you’re ready.”
Spike didn’t reply, tapping the buttons on the throne and spurring the ship into life, the ship following Seugtai’s planned route precisely and it wasn’t long before they slipped into the Hyperlanes. The route had thirteen different stops to fool tracking, Spike only hope it was enough. All the while the pair barely spoke, Spike shutting himself away for much of the journey, focusing on forcing his appearance to change once more. By the time they were on their final approach, Spike’s green and purple hue had changed, replaced by the yellow and red of the Guardian. His wings had likewise gone, the muscle mass redistributed around his body, giving him a much more muscular appearance.
After what felt like an age they finally broke Hyperspace above a distant, desert world, some shipping leaving and entering the worlds orbit, but for the most part Tatooine was a quiet, backwater world. Even so it barely took any time for the comm to flare into life with a transmission from the surface.
“Unknown vessel, this is Czerka Orbital Control. Please transmit vessel name and reason of visit.”
“Czerka Orbital Control, this is Captain Spine of the Harmony,” Spike replied, his voice changed like his body due to loosening his vocal cords. Spike was taking no chances. “We’re visiting Tatooine for trade and to visit a friend, we won’t be on world for long.”
“Roger that Harmony, transmitting landing clearance to you now. Please follow the attached route and touch down at Anchorhead spaceport. Czerka Orbital Control out.”
“It’s weird seeing you like this,” Seugtai said as Spike keyed in the relevant information to the ships Navi-computer. “Red and yellow I mean. Plus the lack of wings.”
“It’s weird being this way,” Spike admitted. “But it’s worth taking some precautions. I’m a wanted dragon, and the Jedi don’t know about Spine.”
“I don’t know about him,” Seugtai pointed out. “Story behind the name?”
“Something my old master used as a cover for me when the pair of us wanted to go undetected from everyone, the Jedi included. I can’t remember the last time I even used the name.”
Spike sighed as memories of Solaris drifted back into his mind, a wistful smile spreading across his face.
“She must have been something to have trained you,” Seugtai chuckled. “Tell me about her.”
“Where to begin?” Spike sighed, leaning back and choosing his words carefully. “She was…free is the only word to describe her. A great warrior and pilot, a mentor. A poor Jedi though, she enjoyed life more than the council thought was safe, but she never changed, not for them. Not for anyone. She was my mentor, my friend. I miss her, Seugtai.”
“She sounds like a good woman,” Seugtai smiled. “What happened to her?”
“She died,” Spike sighed. “God but she was strong, Seugtai. You would have liked her, a warrior to rival anyone. She fought in the Mandalorian Wars, never to the extent of following Revan and me, but she fought.”
“She died fighting?”
“No, old age caught up with her, she survived a hundred battles, lived by the blade her whole life. It took age to claim her, she went out quiet. She was happy to do it, happy I was there at the end. She told to remember that even the darkest days break, even the blackest nights end, and they give way to the dawn, brighter than any before. I’m trying to believe that, but I’ve never known a night this dark before.”
“We’ll get through it, Spike,” Seugtai laid a hand on Spike’s wrist as he spoke, his genuine smile warming Spike’s heart. “We’ll get through this, and you’ll do Solaris proud. We’ll see that brighter dawn, Spike. Together. I promise.”
Spike smiled, placing his own claw on top of Seugtai’s hand and squeezing gently. The Mandalorian’s presence was comforting, but Spike had to break off the moment as the ship required manual input. In short order the ship landed, Spike and Seugtai heading to the exit, the deactivated form of HK-47 strapped to Spike’s back.
Spikes hopes to get through the spaceport quickly were instantly dashed as the pair stepped off the ramp, a man in the yellow and black uniform of the Czerka Corporation approaching them.
“Welcome to Anchorhead, potential customer,” he said as he approached, his voice laden with the slimily charm of a salesman. “Czerka Corporation stands ready to serve, after some formalities of course.”
He stopped before the pair, looking them over before casting his eyes to the ship.
“First, your ship is not on our list of planned arrivals today. There is a docking fee of one hundred credits because of this, and a further two hundred due to the size of your vessel.”
“Of course there’s a fee,” Spike rolled his eyes, but drew his credit chit from his belt, transferring it to the man after quickly verifying it was an official Czerka account and not a personal one.
“Thank you,” the man smiled insincerely. “Without these fees, Czerka would have been forced to close down this star port years ago after all. The fee will cover future landings in the same ship as well, it’s like a registration so we can better serve you.”
“Uh huh,” Spike nodded, unconvinced. “You said first, what else?”
“Oh no, nothing else,” the man held his hands up. “But as a Customs Officer, I can provide information on services. Is this visit business or pleasure?”
“Not to cut you off, but if you don’t need anything else from us we must be going. I know my way around Anchorhead already, thank you.”
“You are welcome sir. And please, if you need anything at all, Czerka corporation stands ready to serve.”
With that the man walked off, heading through a door to another one of the berths, presumably to repeat the whole exchange with other new arrivals.
“I don’t trust Czerka,” Seugtai muttered as the pair made their way through the streets, the crowds parting before the Mandalorian and the Dragon. “They’re too big, too many fingers in too many pies. They are bound to be involved in more than one illicit dealing on this world alone.”
“You’re probably right, but let’s not draw attention to ourselves,” Spike nodded. “We find Yuka Laka, we shift what we need to, then we leave.”
“Actually, there’s something else I want to do before we return,” Seugtai admitted. “There’s an old contact I have here in Anchorhead, a fortune teller but not some hack, she’s the real deal. I want to stop by and speak to her.”
“We have time, if you want to we can do it after Yuka Laka,” Spike nodded. “Fortune Tellers are usually full of it, but I’ve seen far too much to doubt that someone out there can see the future. Hell, the Jedi can do it with the force, maybe this contact is force sensitive too.”
“Who knows,” Seugtai shrugged, before stopping before a shop declaring itself as Yuka Laka’s Droid Emporium, waiting for Spike to enter before following him.
The shop was dimly lit, a few astromech droids lining the back wall, an Ithorian working on them turning as the pair entered.
“New customers?” he spoke, eagerly approaching. “Here to spend your off-world money perhaps?”
Spike looked at Yuka in confusion, the pair had met before and Spike doubted the Ithorian had forgotten. He was about to point that out before he remembered his new look, switching into Ithorian before he replied.
“Not today, Yuka. We have recently come into possession of an HK unit,” Spike laid HK-47 down before Yuka as he spoke. “A forty-seven model, top of the line, but it’s damaged. My friend and I don’t know much about droids, but we heard that Yuka Laka knows more than a thing or two.”
Yuka stooped down at Spike’s word, his eyes dipping as he carefully examined the droid. Spike let out a long sigh as he did so, Yuka was always thorough. They were going to be here for a while.
Two hours later the pair emerged from the Droid Emporium minus the droid and the weapon shipment, Yuka already having sent a pair of droids to retrieve the shipment. Spike’s credit chit was far fuller than it had been before, but he still felt like Yuka had bent him over a barrel with the deal.
“Let’s go see this fortune teller of yours then,” Spike followed Seugtai as the Mandalorian took the lead, leading the pair towards the outskirts of town. They began to see less and less people, before finally they were alone, standing in the shadow of the perimeter wall that separated Anchorhead from the Great Desert beyond.
“Rally Master Seugtai, it has been too long.”
Spike whirled at the voice, reaching for his glaive before Seugtai still his hand, speaking to the source of the voice, an old woman sitting cross legged within a small hut built into the wall. Spike blinked at the sight, almost certain that there had been nothing there when they had walked past the wall a second earlier.
“Truth teller,” the Mandalorian nodded to the woman before gesturing to Spike. “This is…”
“Former Jedi Master Spike, of Equestria,” the woman nodded, her words hitting Spike like a turbolaser shot.
“You know where I’m from?” Spike asked urgently.
“I know many things about you, Spike,” the woman nodded. “Many more I can tell you, if you but sit and listen.”
Spike couldn’t sit down fast enough, Seugtai chuckling slightly, stepping back from the pair as the woman reached out to Spike, gripping both of his wrists tighter than Spike would have thought possible from such a frail woman.
“What do you see?” Spike pressed, a hint of trepidation creeping into his voice.
The woman didn’t speak for a long time, staring at Spike with her milky eyes in utter silence. The spines down Spike’s back began to tingle as the seconds passed. He opened his mouth to ask again, but before he could speak the woman spoke again.
“Blood.”
Of course it was. What else would it have been?
“Blood of the innocent, blood of the guilty. Blood of your past and your future. Fresh blood, old blood. Soldiers and civilians. Friends and enemies. You world is surrounded by blood Spike, even as you try to escape it. It taint’s your past and strengthens your future. It will tear you down if you fight it and give you strength when you allow it. You will never escape the bloodshed in your wake, Spike. All that blood from all those you’ve killed and will kill until the day you die, it is nothing compared to what you will save. You will save and damn the populations of worlds simply by being you, Spike.”
Spike snatched his hands back, massaging his wrists before glaring at the woman.
“So, I’m what, nothing more than a butcher?” he snapped, standing again. “I didn’t need a fortune teller to tell me I have blood on my hands.”
“Oh, so much more than just your hands, Spike,” the woman shook her head. “There is a toll on your life, one of blood that is written in the stars and in the force itself, even in your own magics. The toll must always be paid, even if it is paid with your own blood.”
“What does that even mean?” Spike snarled, his temper rising again, the woman not even flinching.
“Spike,” Seugtai whispered, placing a hand on Spike’s shoulder.
As soon as he touched Spike the sky darkened, the Mandalorian was thrown backwards as the door to the small hut slammed shut, plunging Spike into impossible darkness, no light emanating from anything.
With a roar Spike pulled his glaive free, stabbing forward to where the woman had been but connecting with nothing. Before he could question anymore the world twisted around him, lines of pure light streaking out before him, forming a path that split and twisted in ways that defied gravity and even basic physics, twisting in on themselves or spiralling upwards. There was no way a place like this could exist, and yet Spike was standing in it.
“Where are you?!” Spike roared, spinning his glaive and watching as stars burst into life around him, dotting the blackness with specks of blazing white.
Spike got no reply to the question, tentatively taking a step forward on the ‘path’ before him. He didn’t fall which was a good sign, and he slowly began to make his way forward, or at least forward to him, Spike had no idea if he was even the right way up in this confusing place.
For five minutes Spike walked, more than once turning to find the path behind him was completely different from the one he had just walked along, but the path before him never changed, never wavered. In the distance two lines rose upwards, forming a triangle that grew closer with every step he took. That was his destination, where he needed to be. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he knew it was the truth.
Spike took another step forward before something moved in the corner of his eye. Whirling round he tried to find the source of the movement, before turning back to face the triangle. As he did so his jaw fell open, his eyes focusing on what now lay before him.
“T…Twilight?” he spoke softly, looking at the purple pony in front of him.
Twilight didn’t reply, spreading a pair of wings from behind her at his words. Her wings.
“Twilight?!” Spike’s voice broke as he ran forward, tears in his eyes as he moved to embrace her, all questions about why she had wings, how or why she was here, or even where ‘here’ was were forgotten. All he cared about was embracing her after so long.
As he ran, Twilight moved away from him. Not walked or ran, but simply moved away from him, standing perfectly still. No matter how fast Spike ran, the distance never closed.
“Twilight!” Spike roared, tears now freely falling down his face as he struggled in vain to simply touch her.
Then she began to change, her fur darkened, her eyes glowed, her wings became shadowy and membranous and an ethereal set of armour began to materialise around her body, shadows spilling from the plate.
“Twilight!” Spike roared, but it was fear that laced his voice this time.
With this last shout, Twilight was engulfed in flames, finally stopping moving as Spike caught up with her, intent on smothering the flames, only for them to die just before he reached them, leaving nothing in their wake.
Spike collapsed to his knees and howled to whatever passed as a sky in this hellish place, the memories of the flame etched into his mind. Spike recognised the colour, the flames were the same ones he breathed on Equestria, and they had consumed the Twilight before his eyes.
“Truth Teller!” Spike roared, his voice broken, and his face drenched in tears. “Where are you?! Why did you show me this?! What do you want from me?!”
“To show you your path,” a soft voice came from behind him.
Spike whirled around, glaive ready, but even as he turned he sensed he would not be able to do anything. As he spun he was greeted with the old lady, but no longer was she tiny, standing the height of Spike. Even as Spike processed the information her hand shot out, gripping his head tightly, her thumb pressed against his forehead.
Spike froze, his body refusing to obey his commands. The glaive slipped from his grasp as his eyes shot open, the image of a star filling his mind as the old woman spoke again.
“The spike is the key, for it shall call upon the power of magic to light the darkest hour.”
The words echoed inside Spike’s mind, the star filling his vision. Spike felt himself falling, unable to move, before he hit the ground heavily, his body becoming his own again, the star disappearing to be replaced by a view of the Tatooine sky.
“Spike?” Seugtai ran over to Spike, helping him up but Spike brushed him off, looking at the wall and trying to find the hut that had been built into it.
Nothing remained, no trace of the woman they had spoken to or the hovel she called home. Spike’s fists clenched, the glaive back on his back as if it had never left.
“Spike, what happened?” Seugtai asked, standing before the dragon and looking him directly in the eye.
“I don’t know,” Spike snarled, looking up and down the wall. “Where is the Truth Teller?”
“I don’t know, we never found her,” Seugtai spoke slowly. “What happened, Spike? We were walking along and then you fell backwards. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Spike shook his head, disgust written across his face. “We’re leaving, Seugtai. Now.”
Spike turned and began to walk, Seugtai making to follow him before a soft voice came from behind him.
Seugtai didn’t turn, he recognised the voice of the Truth Teller in a heartbeat.
“Will you follow him, Seugtai of the Mandalorian’s? Will you follow Spike, he who shall be named Ordo?”
Seugtai didn’t react to the name that she spoke, he had long since learnt not to question the words of the Truth Teller. Instead he returned her question with one of his own.
“Follow him where?”
“Everywhere, anywhere. He will travel across the stars, to the farthest reaches of space and beyond even them. He shall wander, but it remains to be written who will wander with him. Who will remain by his side as he travels through eternity?”
“I’ll stay by his side, as long as he needs me to,” Seugtai responded instantly, her words galvanising thoughts he had already had.
“Then I advise you to be strong, Rally Master Seugtai, once foe, soon family. You will stay by his side and watch him rise, rise higher than he has ever been before. But he will fall just as far, and you shall be there to witness it.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you stay your course and follow him where he will go, as he marches through eternity, the pair of you will accomplish so many wonder, so many mighty deeds that will be spoken and whispered of for years to come. But there are some things even he cannot survive, some things that will push him beyond his breaking point. When he falls, you will be left to pick up his torch, to finish what he starts, and then you too shall follow him.”
The presence behind Seugtai disappeared as she spoke her final words, Seugtai checking over his shoulder once, being greeted by an empty stretch of sand and wall, before he broke into a jog, hurrying to catch up with Spike, the words resonating within his mind.
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Well then... Foreshadowing much?
FIRST! Yay?
9051377
Teeny bit of foreshadowing yeah XD
As soon as he touched Spike the shy darkened
1. Sky.
That Ithorian always does. I can't recall any comment about him being gracious or good or fair. He's so lovable to be hated eh?
...Sith Lord Midnight Sparkle looks badass. It's a shame that she and Spike will reunite on opposite sides.
Great chapter
Star Wars...
Star Wars...?
STAR WARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was featured, and that is how I found it.
9051460
Hope you enjoy it :D
I'm so excited for what's to come.
when i started this chapter i had a clear question on my mind..."what was going on in Equestria" now..now i dont want to know...
edit. that pictures is super badass btw. Badass and heartbreaking
9051475
i will enjoy
this is the LONGEST Star Wars story I have seen on this site
so I know I will enjoy it
because if it is long, that means there is more time for it to get better and better and better
especially since it is 5 years in the making and still going
Ordo?!?!?! Clan ordo?!?! Is spike gonna, is he gonna be THAT ORDO
9051959
ordo?.. *rubs my chin*
Evil Twilight still looks cute as a button.
9051959
Wait and see ;)
9052024
This link always bloody breaks, will sort out today
9051959
All my yes!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent as usual! Some minor errors here and there but otherwise great!
Should be:
And
Should be:
awsome chapter, dude!
Sounds like Spike is going to leave quite a legacy in the galaxy before he makes it back home though, given the Truth Teller's words, it's going to be a bloody one so I can imagine the historical records of him in the distant future are going to be rather divisive.
Author's note image link is busted... Again?
10174032
I’ll go through and find all broken links and replace or remove them all
I always hated prophecy, because it’s always hit or miss. Nine times out of ten, it doesn’t make sense, even in hindsight when it’s already come to pass.
I mean, this is basically saying Spike will continue to get shat on by the story, that nothing will go right, even when things start going his way they’ll suck even worse afterwards. Which I don’t approve of, personally.
Also, I don’t like the implications between Seugtai and Spike.
Welp....we all know the drill.
Place your bets here, ladies and gentlemen. Twilight vs. Spike. Who comes out the victor?