The Demon Moon
Spike looked down at the planet below him with a mixture of dread and anticipation. The entire planet was covered with a single, unending jungle, the dense trees preventing prying eyes from seeing what was happening beneath the canopy of leaves. If rumours were to be believed, the planet was also infested by beasts of all shapes and sizes, ones that if encountered could be more than a match for even a seasoned Jedi, or the old Mandalore.
Looking over, Spikes let his eyes fall on the planet of Onderon just beyond the moon, although to be honest the two planetoids were almost identical in size, making Dxun more of a sister planet rather than a satellite moon. Spike could almost feel the history that had been made here, and he took a deep breathe in, almost as if he could smell it, regardless of the impossibility of the action.
This was where the beast Wares had taken place, and where Ulic Qel-Droma had made his name, where those who had aligned themselves with the ancient Sith Lord Freedon Nadd had attacked the Onderonian royal family, and where the Mandalorians allied with Exar Kun and Mandalore the Indomitable had finally seen their end.
“Have you ever been here?” Revan asked, looking over to Spike from the pilot’s chair.
“No.” Spike shook his head. “I’ve heard rumours of the place of course, how it was the sight of some of the fiercest battles outside of the core worlds, but I’ve never been here.”
“Me neither.” Revan admitted. “But I was guided here by the force, to the resting place of the last Mandalore. If we are going to find anything to help us with the Mandalorian threat, then it will be here.”
“Take us down then.” Spike said, grasping a handle above his head.
Nodding, Revan pushed forward on the control stick in front of him, sending the ship into a steep dive, streaking through the air like a bolt of lightning. Spike knew that it wasn’t just to show off, but the fact that if they were to avoid detection, they would have to break the surface detection net that was sure to be in place and land in under a minute to avoid tripping anyone monitoring it. He mused that it was probably a good thing that he didn’t have his ship at the moment, otherwise they would have been alerted as soon as he had entered the system.
Crashing down through the trees branches, Revan brought the ship into land heavily on the jungle floor. The area was wracked by heavy winds, picking up small pieces of dust and dirt and hurling it against the ship as if the planet itself was trying to protect itself from the interlopers breeching its surface. As Revan touched down, the very ship began to hum, before the sound rose in pitch until it was a painful screech, resonating in Spikes head, and causing the Dragon to wrinkle his face up in discomfort.
“What in the name of the force is that?” Revan asked, placing his hands over his ears.
“The shields are scouring heavy, Revan.” Spike said darkly.
“What does that mean?” He asked back, his voice taking on a terse edge.
“It means we’re in a high-static environment,” Spike explain. “It charges dust on the shield auras and makes them squeal.”
“It’s horrible.” Revan grumbled.
The noise was indeed dismaying. It sounded as if numberless lost souls were clinging like limpets to their ships frame and bemoaning their plight, while their cold, numb fingernails furtively scratched at the hull to get in.
“It’s always a bad sign when a ships shields sing so.” Spike grinned darkly.
“Stop it.” Revan snapped, but it was light hearted, and he reached across and flicked a few switches.
Instantly, the sound stopped, replaced by the faint pattering of the small pieces of dirt and dust impacting against the now unprotected hull. Flicking a few more switches, Revan lowered the ramp, following Spike out onto the surface of the planet.
As soon as he stepped out of the ship, Spike decided that he didn’t like this world. The weather was hot and clammy, and that wasn’t to mention the insects that were flying around. Within seconds, the tiny creatures were already crawling over Spikes scales, causing him to inch discomfortingly. He could only imagine what Revan was going through right now, and the Dragon turned to face the smaller human.
Sure enough, the man was swatting at his face, trying to dislodge some of the gnats and flies that were buzzing around him with varying degrees of success.
“So what are we looking for?” Spike asked, slapping the back of his neck.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll know it when I see it.” Revan assured him, before raising his hood in an attempt to dissuade his tiny attackers.
“Let’s go then.” Spike said, setting off towards a section of the deep forest and readying his claws.
“We should probably stay on the path.” Revan pointed out. “No telling how we’ll find our way back if we go deeper into the jungle.”
“And be easily spotted?” Spike asked. “No, we can stay near the path but out of sight.”
“Lead on then.” Revan said, following Spike into the undergrowth.
The pair trekked for hours through the dense walls of vines and massive tree trunks. More than once the pair had to use their Lightsabers to cut through vines so thick that even Spikes claws had trouble cutting into them, Spike even deigning to unleash fire at some of the wetter parts of the forest. He had seen what happened when a fire started on a jungle world at Yarvin IV, and he had no desire to see that again.
Still, they had so far progressed undetected by anything larger than the insects on the planet, and had managed to avoid the pack of Cannoks they had seen. It was not that they thought the small beasts were a danger to them, but Lightsabers made a distinctive mark on the corpses they created, and any patrols that may be on the planet would instantly know they were there.
After another hour, Revan finally held up a hand, signalling for Spike to stop beside him. Moving beside the man, Spike looked out at what Revan was pointing at.
Five Mandalorians were standing in a clearing, looking over the corpses of a pair of massive creatures, as well as a dead Mandalorian. They were talking, but Spike couldn’t make out their conversation over the sounds of the jungle.
“What do you want to do?” Spike asked in a hushed whisper.
“You take the two on the left, I’ll take the two on the right.” He said after a second.
“And the last one?”
“We need someone to tell us what’s happening here.” Revan replied. “On three. One…two…”
Spike burst from the undergrowth, his Lightsabers flaring as he landed heavily on one of the Mandalorians. His armour may have been good, but the effect of Spike landing on it crumpled it, and made the warrior within cry out in pain, before two Lightsabers silenced him forever. Turning, Spike reached out for the second Mandalorian with the force, dragging him closer before neatly decapitating him. Beside him, Revan was finishing off the two he was charged with, before turning to face the final Mandalorian. The warrior tried to raise a weapon, but Spike was quicker, slashing down through the rifle before lashing out with his tail, slamming the Mandalorian into a tree. The whole process had taken less than five seconds.
“Not bad Spike.” Revan nodded, sheathing his Lightsaber, before walking over to the Mandalorian. “Hello in there?” he asked, knocking against the helmet.
The Mandalorian tried to lash out, but once again Spike was on him, digging his claws into the front of his armour and lifting him off the ground. A small trickle of blood ran down his arm, but it was superficial at best, and Spike knew the wounds couldn’t be fatal.
“What are you doing on this planet?” Revan asked, looking up at the Mandalorian.
“Mir'osik Jetii hut'uun.” The Mandalorian snarled.
“Basic.” Spike snarled back, tightening his grip.
“Easy Spike.” Revan warned.
“Eat shit Jedi coward.” The Mandalorian spat, this time in basic.
“You will tell me what I want to know.” Revan insisted, his voice heavy with the force.
“I…won’t…tell you…anything.” The man managed.
“Tell me, or I’ll castrate you with your own knife.” Spike snarled.
“Easy.” Revan snapped, but it had the desired effect.
“Information for my life.” The Mandalorian said, looking between the two.
“If the information is worth it.” Spike nodded.
“The Mandalore has set up a training facility here on Duxn, half our army has been trained here.” The Mandalorian began.
“How many?” Spike pressed.
“Hundreds of thousands.” The Mandalorian continued. “You’ll never beat us here.”
“Thank you.” Revan said, before drawing his Lightsaber and neatly decapitating the Mandalorian.
“What the hell?” Spike said, dropping the corpse.
“If we let him go he would have just run back to his base and told them about us.”
“Good point.” Spike nodded. “So, are we going to check out this base?”
“That’s why we came isn’t it?” Revan smiled coyly. “May take us some time to find it but…”
“Give me a moment.” Spike cut in.
“What for?” Revan asked.
“I need to speak to the devil.” Spike smiled, before turning and walking back towards the treeline, leaving Revan looking confused.
“Are you sure?” Moonstone asked, appearing beside Spike. “I’m not sure how other Jedi will react to, him.”
“I don’t have a choice.” Spike replied. “Plus the fact that Revan’s not like other Jedi. He’ll understand.”
“If you’re sure.” Moonstone said, before disappearing.
“Spike.” Desolation commented, his voice rattling inside his head. “Is it time?”
“There are conditions.” Spike said forcefully. “One, Revan has the lead on this mission, two, I don’t want a repeat of Ranox, no mutilations, and finally, once you’ve tracked down the base, you will relinquish control back to me. Understand?”
“I want to feel blood on my claws.” Desolation snarled.
“If we fight, you can stay.” Spike shot back, extending his hand to the air in front of him. “Do we have a deal?”
“Deal.” Desolation nodded, and Spike closed his eyes, only to have the beast open them, slowly changing from green and white to pure, glowing yellow.
Turning around slowly, Desolation growled softly as his eyes settled on Revan, the human looking at the Dragon in concern. Flicking his tongue out quickly, Desolation tasted the air, distilling the scents that were permeating the air around him. There was the obvious smell of death from around him, adding to the taste of the creatures around him in the jungle, but it was the final smell that Desolation was looking for. The smell of Revan.
Desolation had expected fear, horror at what was in front of him, hell, anything, but there was nothing. Revan was giving off nothing, no fear, no pride, simply interest. Slowly, revan approached Desolation, the Dragon glaring down at the human, licking his lips, but remembering Spikes words.
“Spike?” Revan asked, looking up at Desolation.
“No.” Desolation shook his head. “Not entirely.”
“So who am I speaking to?” Revan asked again.
“I am the beast within Spike, I am Desolation.” Desolation said, a hint of pride creeping into his voice.
“Desolation?” Revan confirmed. “Not Spike?”
“I am the animal he once hide from.” Desolation growled.
“An animal that can track?” Revan asked, arching his eyebrow.
“And sense emotions.” Desolation smiled, before bending down and grabbing hold of a Mandalorian corpse, crushing the armour and splintering it, revealing flesh beneath. Sticking his tongue out, Desolation tasted the flesh, before lunging forward and latching onto a chunk of flesh, chewing thoughtfully as he savoured the taste and the subtle pointers that the meat gave to him.
“I can see why you don’t want the council to know.” Revan remarked.
“He doesn’t, I don’t care.” Desolation laughed, before dropping to all fours and bounding forward, Revan sprinting after him.
For a long time, the pair moved through the jungle in silence, Revans footfalls being muffled by the force, and Desolation shrouding the sounds from his own paws in the way only a predator could. Eventually however, Desolation slowed to a crawl, dropping his body so his belly was touching the ground as he crested a hill, snaking up until he was overlooking the canyon below. Revan crawled next to him, and gasped as he looked at the camp beneath the pair.
“Desolation.” Spike said inside his own mind.
“For now.” Desolation muttered, before closing his eyes. When they opened again, the yellow faded, turning back to the green and white of Spike.
“Revan?” Spike asked, looking at the Jedi.
“Is that you Spike?”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Spike muttered. “It’s not something I’m overly proud of, but he’s as much a part of me as Moonstone.”
“Moonstone?” Revan asked in confusion.
“It’s a long story, maybe some other time.” Spike said, before looking back at the camp. “Now, what do you make of this?”
The camp was huge, spanning the entire canyon floor and spreading out across the surrounding hills and down the only path that lead into the canyon. The entire complex was an ugly mass of darkened metal, the only bits of colour being the tiny figures in blue, red or gold armour.
“Looks like we found the Mandalorian base.” Revan breathed softly.
“Hundreds of thousands.” Spike said in disbelief. “Hundreds…of…thousands.”
“There were barely ten thousand when they attacked Suurja, the Republic thinks that that’s the extent of their force.” Revan shook his head.
“I told you, the fleet I saw was massive.” Spike pointed out.
“We need to get this back to the republic.” Revan declared, before getting distracted by the beeping of a com-link.
“Is that yours or mine?” Spike asked, fumbling around his belt to find his com-link activation unit.
“It’s mine.” Revan said, before holding out a small holodisk.
Instantly, a tiny image of Alek appeared, the Jedi was holding his own holo-communicator in one hand while holding his Lightsaber in his other hand. As Spike watched, he deflected a laser bolt, before ducking as an explosion erupted beside him.
“Revan?!” Alek shouted, looking at Revan and Spike.
“Alek?” Revan asked, looking at the image of Alek. “Report now!”
“qqzzzchhhee…came out of nowhere….need evac…qqzzzchhhee” Alek said, another explosion blossoming near him and cutting off some of what Alek was trying to say.
“Is it the Mandalorians?!” Spike roared.
“Ye…” He began, before another explosion knocked him from his feet, the holo-communicator skidding away from his hands, and revealing more about the battlefield.
The battlefield was filled with Jedi and Mandalorians, the former being far outnumbered by the latter, and already many Jedi were on the floor, Mandalorians removing their weapons and securing the Jedi. As Revan and Spike watched, Alek stood back up, clutching his side as a Mandalorian in red armour and a white helmet approached.
“Jedi? I expected more.” The Mandalorian laughed.
“You wait till my friends get back.” Alek growled.
“I’m counting on it.” He said, before turning to another Mandalorian. “Prepare the ships to leave for Flashpoint station. Demagol wants all Jedi for experiments.”
“Sir?” Another Mandalorian called, before picking up the holo-communicator.
“Is it transmitting?” The leader said urgently.
“I don’t think so.”
“Give it here.” The leader said, catching the thrown holo-communicator, before crushing it under-foot, cutting out the image of the battlefield.
“We have to go back.” Spike said instantly, turning to Revan.
“We have to go.” Revan agreed. “But not back. He said something about Flashpoint, that’s our port of call.”
“We’ll need allies, soldiers.” Spike said. “Even with the two of us, I don’t trust our ability to get through a space station filled with enemies alone.”
“We can sort that out on the ship.” Revan replied. “Right now we need to move.2
“Hold on.” Spike said, grabbing hold of Revan.
The Jedi struggled quickly, before watching as Spike flared his wings and got the idea, holding onto the Dragon tightly as Spike took to the skies. On foot, the journey had taken over four hours, in the skies, it took less than one, and Spike was quickly in sight of the ship, landing heavily beside it.
“Let’s go!” Revan shouted, running into the ship, but Spike stopped, something telling him to…
Spike dived to the floor, narrowly avoiding an armoured fist. Rolling across the floor, Spike got back to his feet, looking at his opponent in shock.
The creature was huge, easily Spikes size, with muscles rippling beneath the surface of his skin and rivalling Spikes own muscular structure. The creature was reptilian, a distinctive aspect of its appearance was the fact that it were covered in green scales, although they were much lighter in colour than Spikes. Its heads were dominated by large, pointed fin-like ears with its face being protected by a long tusk-like bony plate. Its mouth was filled with serrated teeth as well as a pair of needle-sharp fangs which hung down from its massive upper jaw.
“Mandallian Giant!” Revan roared from the ramp of the ship, readying his Lightsaber.
“Go! Ready the ship, I’ve got this!” Spike roared, before fixing his gaze with the Mandallian Giant.
“The fight is mine!” Desolation roared within Spikes head.
“Fine!” Spike roared back, before clutching his eyes shut. When he opened them, they were already a bright yellow.
Desolation roared, unleashing a gout of flame at the Mandallian Giant, only just missing it, before diving forward, bringing a fist down on the giant’s chest. Instead of killing it outright however, all Desolation managed to do was wind the creature, and not for long. Before Desolation could even register what was happening, he found himself being thrown across the clearing, smashing into a tree and causing it to crash to the ground as he broke through the trunk.
Getting to his feet, Desolation grinned savagely, before bounding forward, jumping into the air and delivering a ferocious kick to the Mandallian Giant’s face. Teeth went flying as Desolations blow powered through, covering his hand and arm in blood as the Mandallian Giant screamed in pain. It wasn’t a deterrent to Desolation however, even though Spike was roaring inside his head that it should be. Instead, it was like a red flag to a bull, and Desolation let out another roar.
Still roaring, Desolation leaped at the Mandallian Giant, knocking him to the floor and standing over him. Raising his arm, Desolation rained blow after blow down onto the howling creature, reducing its face to pulp, but not enough to silence it completely. Still moaning, the creature couldn’t do anything as Desolation grabbed hold of both sides of his head.
Growling, Desolation began squeezing, putting as much pressure as he could on the delicate piece of the body. Even with its ruined mouth, it still screamed as blood began to leak from its ears, the feeling of the skull cracking beneath Desolations claws sending waves of pleasure through Desolations body, before finally, the skull gave in.
With a sickening crack, the skull disintegrated, blood and brain matter splattering across Desolation as he roared in victory, raising his head to the sky as he let out his victory cry. It was only one kill, but the sheer size of the creature made this more satisfying than all the kills on Ranox. Reaching down, Desolation grabbed hold of what was left of the brain and cerebral column and heaved, ripping it from the body and holding it above his head. Here was a trophy worth keeping,
“That’s enough!” Spike roared with such force that it physically knocked Desolation to his knees.
“It was glorious!” Desolation replied.
“Stand. Down. Now!” Spike bellowed.
“So little fun.” Desolation shot back, before brandishing the spinal column. “We’re keeping this. My first real kill.”
“Fine.” Spike snapped. “Just give me back my body.”
Desolation didn’t reply, instead simply closing his eyes. As he reopened them, Spike found himself back in control of his own body, and looked down at the gory trophy in his hand. He briefly debated dropping it, denying Desolation of his prize, but thought better of it. For better or for worse, Desolation was part of him, and as this mission proved, he needed Desolation, and he needed to keep him on side. Grimacing, Spike attached the the macabre trophy to his belt, before entering the ship.
“Was that you or Desolation?” Revan asked, not looking around as he frantically prepared the ship for launch.
“Desolation.” Spike grunted.
“So who are you planning on contacting for help?” Revan grunted. “We’re not officially part of the war effort yet.”
“I was working with the republic before you were born.” Spike chuckled. “I made a few friends, let’s just hope they’re still alive.”
Calibrating his communicator, Spike tuned in to a frequency that had become second nature to him. He didn’t know if he was alive or not, if he had still been on Thresh when the Mandalorians had returned, but he had to try.
“Attention Republic 59th recovery Force Command, this is Jedi Knight Spike, requesting to talk to your commander.” Spike said into the communicator.
“Spike?” Came a familiar voice.
“Damn it’s good to hear your voice Cortez.” Spike grinned.
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Nice chapter. For some reason, I like Desolation, but I'm kinda suspicious of this Revan.
Looks like Desolation is getting some free time. And looks like the threat is even bigger than they thought.
3981956
Someone's not familiar with the Old Republic era.
You have no idea as to the extent of why you should be suspicious of Revan.
3982300 I REALLY need to read the comics then...
HE LIVES!!! :D
I one point I must have heard the name Revan in negative context because I don't trust him.
3982361 Not just the comics, The Games!!
3983143 which ones. I'm a bit embarassed to say that all my star wars gaming experience has been limited to very few games.
3983164
Well, the best in my opinion are KOTOR and Republic Commando if that helps.
3981956 Might be that the more Desolation is allowed out in a controlled manner. The less of a tendency he will have to try to take control of spike by force.
3981956 I agree. There's something that doesn't seem right with Revan.
3983164 If you play Kotor 1 and 2 you will understand this arc and the coming 2
Can we see more of Equestria soon?
Ah cortez lives :D good to see him back!
3988901
I'm not planning on having Equestria be seen again until act 5.
3989049
Yeh, ge was originally going to die, but I decided Parn was enough.
3989643
Whhaaaaaaaa
3989719
Sorry.
3989646 Yeah parn was a great character sad to see her go.
Least we still have cortez
3989643 awww. so it'll probably be when Spike is a few centuries old and he sees twilight as an alicorn princess?
Man, this ought to be painful for both of them.
3992887
There are no more huge time ships, so don't worry, it will not be centuries later.
3995989
No need to apologise for it.
4002835
4002755
Thanks, both are changed now.
and he took a deep breathe in
This was where the beast Wares had taken place
at Yarvin IV
I am the animal he once hide from
“Right now we need to move.2
1. Breath.
2. Beast Wars. Awesome show too.
3. Yavin.
4. Hid.
5. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
Alright, looks like Cortez is a distant relative of Sergeant Johnson.
Beware of toy merchandising!!
The beast wars? Clearly not, I didn't see a gorilla fighting a t-rex at all!
Goin 3 for three on gettin ur friends killed there spike?
8288872
Naw its tje ones where a giant lizard fights SPOOKY MOTH