Perpetrator
“Make a hole!” Spike shouted, pushing his way down the ships corridors as he made his way towards the medical bay, the small, still form of Katara clutched in his arms.
The girl was in a bad shape. Her breaths, when they could be heard at all, were short and ragged, interspersed with splutters as she coughed weakly, splattering mucus across her face. Spike didn’t know much about snot, nor did he really want to, but he was fairly sure that it wasn’t mean to be black with flecks of crimson in it.
A thought crossed his mind that there could have been other survivors somewhere in the city, he had hardly checked any of it after all, and that if there were, he had left them to die, as well as reducing the number of witnesses who would be able to tell him what happened on Thresh. Right now though, he didn’t care about who did it, he just wanted to make sure that Katara lived to see the moons of Roxon.
Bursting into the medical ward, Spike lay her down on one of the tables as a pair of medics and a droid rushed over. As Spike watched, the droid placed an oxygen mask over the girl’s face, before passing a scanner over her, the image being rendered in a semi-transparent 3-D image behind the group. The two medics moved over to it, but Spike had his own brand of healing, one that could at least keep her stabilised.
Closing his eyes, Spike reached out with the force. He was not a great healer, not in the way Corinna was, but he could keep her alive until the doctors could figure out what was the best course of action. He could feel her suffering as he delved into her mind, pushing away anything that was not needed for this task, it was difficult enough without excess getting in the way. Her lungs were in a bad shape, the delicate organs coated in a thick coating of soot mixed with something else, creating a tar like substance that impeded the ability of the bronchioles to oxygenate the blood stream properly. She was suffocating to death with her mouth wide open, and it made Spike sick.
“Spike?” One of the doctors said softly, drawing his attention away from the girl, much to his annoyance.
“What?” He snapped.
“She’s stabilised, but we don’t have enough supplies to rectify the damage, only mitigate it.” He said softly.
“What? We have a fully equipped medical lab, we have the best medical care this side of Pentarious, and you’re saying we cannot save a single girl?” Spike asked in annoyance.
“We are a military medical lab, we are equipped to deal with injuries on the battlefield, not smoke damage to the lungs.” The second doctor pointed out.
“Don’t let her die.” Spike said softly, with just a hint of malice in his voice, before he turned and swept out of the room. He had enough death resting on his head, but they had been soldiers. Katara was an innocent, and he did not want her death resting on his conscience either.
“Parn?” he asked wearily as he walked onto the Bridge.
“Yes sir.” She answered, getting up from the command chair and looking at him. “Stop, now.”
“Stop what?” Spike asked irritably.
“That look in your eyes.” She said simply. “Every time you lose someone, you get that same look in your eyes, happened every time we lost someone on the Ranoxian hunts, and every time before that as well.”
“I don’t like losing people.” Spike pointed out.
“No one does, but it’s the downside of being in command.” Parn said knowingly. “I know she’s a civilian, and I know that you don’t want her to die, but don’t let it rest on your conscious. You did everything you could.”
“Everything wasn’t good enough.” Spike muttered, before sitting down. “How long till we get to Ranox?”
“We’re burning the engines at 110% capacity. Not something I’d recommend making a habit of, but we should be there in ten minutes.” Parn replied.
“Good. Land as close to the main town as you can. They’ve got decent medical facilities as well, and I need to speak to the Silent Council.”
“Very good sir.”
***
“Transfer her to hospital in the town. Be careful.” Spike ordered as he watched a pair of soldiers carrying a stretcher off the ship, Katara lying motionless atop it.
“She will be looked after, I guarantee it.” One of the doctors said as they followed after the stretcher, a datapad held tightly in one of his hands.
“She better be.” Spike nodded, before heading for the ladder that lead to the Silent Council chambers.
Reaching the top quickly, Spike walked in, making sure the doors crashed against the walls to announce his presence is the room, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
“My lord Spike?” One of the Ranoxians bowed. “I am assuming you found something on your foray to Thresh?”
“I found a lot of nothing, and that’s what worries me.” Spike admitted. “The planet is gone, no signs of life anywhere. The fleet that stood vigil over it is either destroyed or missing, and there are a lot of civilian hulks up there as well. Normally I’d hope that the absence of the ships meant that some got away, but with the damage done, it looks like they were dead before they knew it.”
“And what of the planet itself?” One of the Council members asked, finally finding his voice and wiping the shocked look off his face.
“Burnt or burning.” Spike said in an annoyed tone. “The first village we landed at was burnt to a cinder, nothing but husks of buildings and burnt skeletons. The city was on fire, but I found a survivor.”
“Did she say who did this?”
“She is in critical condition at the moment.” Spike muttered. “She inhaled vast quantities of smoke from where I pulled her from the fire. If, no, when, she wakes up, I’m sure she will be able to tell us a thing or two, but until that time, I have no leads, which is why I’ve come here.”
“What are you implying?” One of the Ranoxians asked slowly.
“Nothing.” Spike held his hands up peacefully. “As the Silent Council, you have more knowledge than me about what is happening in the Outer Rim. I need to know if there is anything that could have laid waste to a planets defences in the time it took for the crew to raise the shields on their ships.”
“Not that we know of.” One of the councillors shook his head.
“You’re sure?” Spike pressed.
“Spike, we are a backwater planet, the little contact we have with the rest of the galaxy is for trade, not gossip. If there was an army moving around out there, you would know more than us thanks to your travels.”
“I feared as much.” Spike nodded solemnly. “One last thing then. I am going to put out a call to the republic, I want her taken for proper medical care, but for that I need a long range transmitter and somewhere for her to rest if I have to go somewhere.”
“You may make use of our hospital, and we shall show you to the transmission station.” One of the Ranoxians nodded. “You have done us a favour, so we shall in turn repay.”
“Thank you.” Spike said, following the creature out of the room, and watching as he clambered down the ladder, before gliding down himself, landing next to the councillor as the pair walked through the town.
As they walked, Spike saw a number of large shipping containers being unloaded by a swarm of Ranoxians, the black skinned creatures hurrying to unpack the contents and store it in the warehouses dotted around the town.
“They look busy.” Spike noted.
“Ah yes, we managed to strike up a trade agreement some weeks ago, gas for food like with Thresh.” The Ranoxian said dismissively.
“Who with?” Spike asked out of interest.
“Someone who can provide us with food. We are even more reliant upon them now Thresh is gone.” He said hurriedly, before stopping in front of a large spire like building, the patchwork metal structure protecting the antenna that Spike assumed lay within. “If you will excuse me.”
Spike watched as the man hurried away, before pushing the door open, being greeted by a small room, a holo-communicator in the middle of it, allowing for instantaneous communication across the huge distances of the galaxy. Pressing a few buttons, Spike inputted his own personal communiqué code, before transmitting a call request. He would wait here until his request was granted, hopefully that would not take…
The projectors burst into life, and Spike was instantly greeted by a full sized projection of Master Zez-Kai Ell, the bald moustached member of the High Council looking up at Spike with his usual impassive look on his face.
“Master Ell.” Spike said, bowing to the Jedi Master.
“Jedi Knight Spike.” Ell nodded back. “You should have returned to resupply by now. Have you encountered a problem?”
“You could say that.” Spike nodded. “The planet of Thresh has been razed to the ground, there’s nothing left. The fleets gone and there’s only one survivor.”
“Only one?” The Jedi asked in astonishment. “Who did this?”
“I don’t know, but I plan on returning to do a more thorough sweep of the planet.” Spike said simply. “That brings me onto the survivor though. She’s called Katara, and she’s not in a good way. She inhaled a lot of smoke when I found her, and the medical staff on my ship can’t do anything for her.”
“And you want a Republic ship to come and pick her up?” Ell asked, raising an eyebrow. “We cannot waste resources picking one girl up to save her, not with the Republic already stretched thin. I am sorry.”
“There’s something else.” Spike said quickly. “I tried to heal her, and it was like there was a mental block around her mind. Nothing major, but it was there.”
“Her planet could breed slightly psychic variations in brain waves.” Ell reasoned.
“True, they could. I could be wrong, but if I’m not. I don’t have the equipment for a blood scan, but it could be worth a look.” Spike pointed out.
“I’ll see what I can do. You say you are leaving her on Ranox?”
“With a small contingent of my men to look out for her.” Spike nodded.
“Fine. I’ll send a ship out when I can. Meanwhile, I want you to look into Thresh, but then come back. You haven’t been to the temple in far too long.”
“I haven’t seen a Jedi in the flesh for far too long.” Spike corrected him. “I will. As soon as we’ve looked over Thresh, we’ll come back.”
“Good. I look forward to debriefing you personally Spike.” Ell said, before switching the communicator off.
Shaking his head, Spike walked out of the transmission station, walking back past the shipping containers as he headed towards the hospital. It had at one point been a Cal Class Battleship, one that had been given to them during the Great Hyperspace War one thousand years ago, but now it was serving on the front lines of a different war.
Walking into the ship, Spike was pointed in the direction he assumed Katara had been taken, walking down through the tiny corridors until he finally reached a room that widened out, containing the forms of five soldiers, one of the doctors, and more importantly, the prone form of Katara, the oxygen mask still securely on her face, and her chest rising and falling in the same weak manner. Along with the Republic soldiers, a pair of Ranoxians were moving about the room, helping the doctor as they administered what little treatment they could.
“Anything?” Spike asked, walking over to the girl.
“She’s stabilised, but she’s in a coma.” One of the Ranoxians said sympathetically. “It pains me to see one so young suffer so much.”
“What’s the extent of the damage?” Spike asked.
“Well, her lungs have taken a beating, that’s the main thing. I’m not sure if the Republic will be able to save them or if she’ll need to have replacements grafter into her. Other than that, she had a few scrapes, cuts and burns, but nothing major. Personally, I think they worst thing is in her mind.” The republic doctor replied. “Whatever happened on Thresh, she saw it, and she survived it alone. That’s going to cause some scars.”
“Do we at least know how old she is” Spike asked, looking down at the girl.
“By our best guesses, five or six galactic standard years.” The doctor replied.
“I have something that needs to be attended to.” Spike nodded, before looking at the soldiers. “I want two of you to stay by her side at all times. When we leave the planet, you are to stay with her. A Republic ship is coming to pick her up and take her for proper medical care. Is that understood?”
“Sir.” The soldiers nodded, holding their rifles tightly. Spike didn’t expect any trouble, but someone had gone to a lot of trouble to kill an entire planet and leave no witnesses. He wouldn’t put it past a truly determined foe to try and eliminate her. He really hoped that he was wrong.
Sweeping out of the hospital, Spike stretched his wings, taking flight and headed away from the town. He wanted to try something, but as this was an experiment, he wanted to be as far away from civilisation as he could be without being ridiculous.
***
“What are you doing out here?” Moonstone asked, looking at Spike as he landed in the tundra ten miles away from the town. His communicator was on, as was his tracker, and if need be, the members of the Vipers would be able to find him.
“I’ve got experiments to run.” Spike said simply, turning and looking at the mare.
It was funny, at one point he had assumed the mare would age like a normal pony, one that would grow old and die. He had dreaded for that to happen, as she was the only thing that had made a lot of his time in this galaxy bearable, and no matter the arguments they had, or the accusations he threw at her, she always stood by him. His fears had been misguided however, the mare looked as young and spry as she had when he had first seen her new appearance all those years ago on his first hunt.
She had been there afterwards as well, praising him as he dragged the two dead Terentateks behind him to burn their corrupted bodies. She had always been there for him in those times, when he had moved from planet to planet, cleansing world after world of Terentateks and other creatures warped by the Sith, until finally the Great Hunt had ended, and the 59th had been formed. She had still accompanied him then of course, but she hadn’t needed to appear to him as much, not when he had other living people to talk to, but he had never opened up to anyone like her, even Parn, who saw herself as a confidant of the entire crew. It wasn’t even because of the fact that she was in his head that made her easy to speak to, it was simply her race. One speck of his home that followed him wherever he went, reminding him who he was, and stopping himself from losing his heritage in the maelstrom of cultures he saw on his travels around the galaxy.
“Ooh, experiments. That sounds fun.” Moonstone smiled. “Something to do with your escape on Thresh I take it?”
“Got it in one.” Spike grinned back. “You know my brain on first name basis, what happened in the fire. What did I do?”
“Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t the force. Your brainwave activity went off the charts for a moment, something that doesn’t happen when you use the force.” She said smugly. “And yes, I do know your brain. I think I’ll call it Larry.”
“You want to call my brain Larry?” Spike asked with a smirk.
“Of course not, why would a brain me called Larry. Besides, a brain shouldn’t have a name unless it’s in a jar, or a robot.”
“And what would you call it if it was in a jar?” Spike asked in interest.
“Oh, I don’t know. Mobius, Klein, maybe even Silver Stripe.” She laughed.
“We’re getting off topic.” Spike said exasperatedly. “And if my brain is ever put into a Jar, I call Mobius.”
“Fine. Party pooper.” She pouted. “Now, what did you want me to do.”
“I want you to help recreate the brainwave activity I had during the fire, replicate the results and see if we can get a better idea on what we are dealing with.”
“You’re sure? That could be dangerous.”
“That’s why we came out here. I’m not talking about doing it on a massive scale, just a test run.”
“Ok, you’re the boss.”
“You’re damn right I am, it’s my head you live in. Rent free as well.”
Shaking her head, Moonstone vanished from sight, but Spike knew she was still there, working away in his mind and giving him subconscious pointers. She didn’t need to tell him what to do anymore, he knew what she wanted. He could resist of course, but so far, she had never steered him wrong.
Raising his hands, he brought them together, focusing his mind on recreating the act he had performed in the fire. Rubbing them slightly, he felt an odd form of energy building up inside of him, being directed into his hands. Slowly, knowing what Moonstone wanted him to do, he brought his hands apart, being greeted by a soft green light. This instantly grabbed Spikes attention, as he had only seen that particular glow in one other place, whenever he looked in the mirror.
Continuing to open his hands, Spike was greeted by a small green ball of colour, semi-transparent and floating in mid-air. The more he focused on it, the bigger it grew, until it covered his body completely, penning him in in a sphere of the energy. Spike knew he had seen this before, but only on one other planet, and not for decades. There was only one other way to be sure.
Breathing in deeply, Spike exhaled flames at the shield around him. As soon as the fire hit the flames, a lance of pain slashed into Spikes mind, causing him to lose focus and fall to the ground. His eye lids grew heavy as he lay there, one thought on his mind.
Magic.
He didn’t lie there for long, and eventually got to his feet, the form of Moonstone greeting him as he shakily got to his feet. The mare looked like he felt, massive bags now being present underneath her eyes as she swayed back and forth slightly.
“Did you think magic?” She asked slowly.
“I…” Spike began, before he was cut off by a ringing in his ear as the communicator screwed into it began to bleep. “Sorry, going to have to take this.” He said apologetically, barely stifling a yawn, before placing a finger against his ear. “Go for Spike.”
“Katara’s awake.” Came the voice of one of the soldiers.
“I’m on my way.” Spike said, suddenly feeling much more awake. He looked around for Moonstone, but the mare had already vanished, taking up her place in Spikes head again.
***
“Coming through.” Spike grunted, pushing his way into the hospital room.
He instantly set his eyes upon the small figure of Katara, the girl lying on the bed, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Spike supposed now that the adrenalin that must have been coursing through her during the fire had worn off, she was thinking about what she had seen, which worked for Spike.
“Hey, Katara.” He said softly, kneeling down and forcing himself to be on her eye level, not an easy feat. “Remember me?”
The girl nodded slowly.
“You’re safe now, you’re with people who will protect you.” He smiled reassuringly. “My friends are going to come and see you soon, and they’ll help you get better so you don’t have to wear this.” He pointed to the mask on her face. “But we need your help now. Can you do that?”
She nodded again.
“That a girl. Now, can you tell me what happened?”
She shook her head violently.
“Ok ok, I’m sorry. Can you tell me who did it?”
Again, she shook her head, although this time a lot less violently.
“Can you say something to me, please?” He asked softly.
She shook her head once.
“She hasn’t spoken since she woke up.” One of the soldiers chimed in.
“Ok, let me think.” Spike said quietly, before he had an idea. “You there, soldier, fetch me something to draw on.” He ordered, before getting down to eye level with Katara again. “Hey, Katara, can you draw?”
She nodded.
“Can you help me draw the people who hurt you?” He asked.
Again she nodded.
“Thank you.” Spike nodded, taking a data-slate and stylus off the soldier and handing it over to Katara.
The girl took the data-slate, her hands trembling as she did so, but she managed to hold the stylus with enough precision to start her drawing. As she worked, Spikes happy mood quickly drained from his face as he looked at what the girl was drawing. When she had finished, she proffered the slate to him, and he gingerly took it, smiling at the girl before rising to his feet and looking at the data-slate. His face was like thunder as he turned to the soldiers.
“Thank you Katara.” He nodded, before turning to the soldier. “Stay with the girl.” He growled, before dropping the data-slate and walking out of the room.
“What do you suppose that was all about?” One of them asked, picking up the data-slate. “What’s this symbol?”
“Trouble.” Another one said simply.
“Why, what is it?”
“Mandalorian.”
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Man at this rate we will be done with act 2 within a week! Keep up the good work, it's interesting. In wondering if spike can finally send a letter home.
I just read the entirety of act one overnight and I really am enjoying it. I've never been a huge fan of star wars but this is definitely drawing me in. :twilight smile:
The only thing that concerns me isn't so much the time skips, which I actually think are the right thing to do, but more whether or not he'll ever get home before the rest of the mane 6 die. Assuming its been 30-40 years since he left they should all be over 50 now. I guess you could have ponies living a real long life span, and I assume you plan to make Twilight as an alicorn immortal, but I'd just hate to see him get home to find Rarity already dead. :rarity despair:
3921657
Don't worry about that.
The main six will be alive when we get around to that point in the story (Act 5)
Oh, the Fallout references... I caught it the second I saw it.
3921702
Well done. You get a free series of mustaches from the protagonist
Looks like trouble is a brewing. And Spike is still a knight? You'd think after all the hard work he has done he would be master by now.
3921812
To be fair, it takes a long time to become a Knight, plus he hasn't been back to the Capital for years
3921719 iv'e never seen this mandalorian symbol before what is it
So Spike can use magic now? Awesome! :D
I wonder if he can send letters now...
FUCKIN MANDOS HATE EM. WHY IF JANGO FETT CAME OVER HERE HEFJFUDDTCHDydsyusirzUrcFdhxt4;&$5tdkvyl,.......
3921844
That's the symbol of the old Mandalorian crusaders, not the neo-crusaders though.
3923430
Thank you. I try.
3923826
That's because I designed them with pimp my gun. Actually very easy to make something look like a Lightsaber. As for time zones, I haven't planned anything, but I'm thinking that they will be the same. The mane six will be alive when he returns though.
Awwwww shit!!
Holy damn and this kicks off the mandalorian wars time for spike to burn some bitches!
Now about moonstone I love her developed personality. :)
Over the 20+ years theres no doubt spike and moonstone became very close.
Woo Spike now knows magic! I wonder what he could do?
:P thanks for the three chapters.
or if she’ll need to have replacements grafter into her
He didn’t lie there for long, and eventually got to his feet, the form of Moonstone greeting him as he shakily got to his feet. The mare looked like he felt, massive bags now being present underneath her eyes as she swayed back and forth slightly
1. Grafted.
2. The mare looked like how he felt. At least that's what I think you're trying to say.
3921702
yeah and he even wants MOEBIUs....lol
SO. MANY. REFERENCES! ok, back to the story
And Spike is headed towards joining the Revanchists, I believe. Though they don't exist yet.
3924119
You know, you could always do what they did in my little Dashie, say that a day in Equestria is over a year in the Star Wars universe, then maybe the portal that will soon connect the two world’s would end up eventually eliminating the time difference once and for all. That way it’ll be as if Spike never truly left and it could give you a chance to dip some of the shows episodes into the mix every once and a while. All in all though it’s just a suggestion. But you gotta admit it could work, right?