The Jedi Tower
Spike scowled as yet another drop of water poured onto his head as he trudged through the sewers. It was just his luck that as he was leading his forces into the storm drain, the heavens had opened. Now the drain was slick with water as it sought to cope with the rain from outside, and it was starting to wear on Spike's patience.
“Cortez. How much further until we get to the Jedi Tower overflow pump?” Spike called behind him, keeping his voice to a whisper as he supported himself against the wall, not wanting to waste his magic by allowing Desolation to form the magi-tail once more. He was also slightly pissed off at the fact that he couldn’t replicate the feat himself, and he had spent hours trying, before he finally had to give in to the fact that Desolation seemed to have a greater grasp over his magic than he did.
“Should be about another two and a half miles to the sump valves, then another mile up the overflow pipe to the tower,” Cortez called back after checking his datapad, his voice slightly muffled by the respirator most of the men were wearing to combat the smell of the sewage that was sure to come in the final leg of their journey.
Spike let out a soft growl, before nodding and trudging forwards again, the water lapping around his knees as he lead the way. The rest of the soldiers followed behind him, most of them keeping the same grim silence as Spike was, or complaining about the temperature of the water.
“Spike?” Tarhal asked softly, moving up behind him and taking his respirator off so he could be understood better. “Can we talk?”
***
“So, we’re moving out after Spike then?” Malak asked, watching as the army marched past, heading out of the camp.
Most of the men were already in the front lines, but if they were going to break through the Mandalorian lines towards the Jedi Tower, they would need every able bodied man to make sure that enough got through to actually be of use. The type of battle that they would be bogged down in would be costly, but there were a few silver linings.
Firstly, the Jedi Tower was not publically known as the Mandalorians command complex, that was fifty miles to the north east. The defences between the Republic staging ground and the tower were not that much heavier than anywhere else in the Mandalorian lines, at least from what the scouts had reported, and two, up until till now there had only been probing attacks on the Mandalorian lines to test the strength and gather intelligence. The last thing the enemy would expect would be a full scale attack on a bit of the line that had yet to be scouted out. To be fair, it was the last thing any sane commander would do, but this was being pushed through by Spike, and he wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind at the moment.
“For better or for worse, Spike has already moved out,” Revan sighed. “Every soldier in the Special Forces has moved with him, and if they attack the tower on their own, we’ll lose them all. Even if they take the tower, they’ll be surrounded, and they can’t hold forever. I won’t lose the Special Forces Malak. As much as it pains me to admit it, they’re the only men we have that can match the Mandalorian troops man for man.”
“And the jedi,” Malak pointed out.
“And some of the jedi,” Revan corrected him with a nod. “But our soldiers? The Mandalorians are better armed, better armoured, better trained, and better motivated. For the most part they're better led and better organised. Sometimes I envy the Mandalore.”
“You’re wrong,” Malak shook his head. “He’s losing, you’re winning.”
“But how many is it costing us? How many men do we lose trying to push back to take back what is ours?” Revan asked. “The neo-crusaders are better than our troopers by and large, and the only men that can match their Shock Troopers are…”
“The Special Forces, led by Spike,” Malak replied with a heavy sigh.
“Which is why we’re going in,” Revan shrugged. “Not for Spike.”
“Damn right not for him,” Malak agreed. “You still haven’t told me what plans you have for him.”
“None at the moment,” Revan sighed, before beginning to move with the troops towards the frontline. “Ensure that all the men leave promptly, then get your own men together and form a rear guard.”
“If you say so,” Malak nodded, before turning and heading towards the far end of the camp.
***
“Talk about what?” Spike asked, not breaking stride.
“Last night,” Tarhal clarified. “I don’t remember too much, but you just kind of appeared from nowhere.”
“I woke up,” Spike shrugged, pushing a grate out of the way, clearing the way for the others. “It does happen Tarhal.”
“So the blood was…” Tarhal chuckled weakly.
“Mandalorian,” Spike admitted. “How do you think I know where to go?”
“So you do know where we’re going then,” Tarhal smirked. “I assumed you had gotten used to hanging around in sewers and shit holes. But seriously Spike…I sobered up and spoke to Revan and Malak. What the hell’s wrong with you.”
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Spike snapped back. “I am perfectly fine, and I will handle things as they come. Once my new tail’s ready, I’ll get it attached, but before that I am not letting others fight and die while I’m lying in hospital.”
“But…”
“Case, closed,” Spike growled, striding away from Tarhal.
“Good conversation?” Cortez asked.
“Just do your job,” Tarhal huffed. “I’m checking on the rear guard.”
***
The Jedi Tower
***
Cassus Fett, clad from head to toe in his gleaming yellow armour, stood at the edge of his command room, staring out of the huge plexi-glass window that stretched all the way around the circular room. He cocked his head to the side as yet another explosion blossomed within his lines as the Republic shelling intensified. This was their biggest attack yet, and even without checking the battle-feed, Cassus could already tell that they were throwing everything behind this single attack, and it was aiming right at the heart of his operations. Him.
Moving back towards the holo-projector of the battlefield, Cassus surveyed the battle as it unfolded in real-time, all his troops and the Republic soldiers they knew about represented on its surface. The only thing he didn’t know was where their commanders were.
“Firaxa, report,” Cassus ordered as he heard the lift doors slide open.
“The Jedi are spread along the entire one mile attack front, either leading individual units or in big squads of their own. They’re causing a lot of damage to our lines, we need your men sir,” Firaxa saluted as he walked over to Cassus.
“Who’s leading the attack?” Cassus continued, not looking round.
“Revan and Malak are in the forward units, a few other commanders are scattered around,” Firaxa highlighted the two forward units on the map. “Now deploy your shock troopers or they’re going to break through.”
“And him?” Cassus whispered
“Your shock troopers,” Firaxa insisted.
“Rally Master Firaxa,” Cassus hissed, turning to face the crimson armoured man. “Tell me if you saw him, and maybe you can retain your current command.”
“Yes sir, sorry sir,” Firaxa nodded, taking a step back. “I didn’t see him. You did cut his tail off sir, maybe he bled out?”
“He’s still alive,” Cassus shook his head. “The two squads we found yesterday that were torn apart was his work. Now, get back to the front line and hold.”
“And the shock troopers?” Firaxa asked.
“I’ll deploy some in support for where the line is weakest. Now, outside and fight,” Cassus ordered, staring at Firaxa as he quickly got back in the lift, disappearing from sight.
Moving back towards the holo-projector table, Cassus brought up an image of the Jedi Tower, inspecting it closely, before putting a finger to his helmets ear cap.
“Field Marshal Cariid, come in.”
“Yes sir. Orders?” came the reply over the radio.
“Are your shock troopers ready?”
“My honour guard is still with me sir, standing by for your orders. Give the word and we’ll give the Republic hell.”
“Good,” Cassus nodded. “You and your men are to deploy into the main sewer overflow pipe. Eliminate any resistance you find and report back to me.”
“Yes sir. Any word on what we’ll find down there?”
“With luck, the Special Forces and their commander,” Cassus smiled beneath his helmet. “Cariid, eliminate him. Extreme prejudice.”
“Yes sir,” Cariid let the radio link go dead as Cassus returned to looking out of the window, standing next to a small table. Looking down at the chess set that lay atop it, Cassus moved one of the black bishops towards the white rook that was pushing towards the black lines.
“Your move Spike.”
***
Spike grunted as he strained to open a rusted hatch, before growling and lashing out with a foot, denting the metal, before grabbing it again and pushing it forward, the heavy metal plate falling backwards into the water with a loud echoing splash. Taking a step forward, Spike peered into the new tunnel, trying to make out anything in the near pitch darkness, before his ear fins picked up, standing straight.
“Direct approach as always sir,” Cortez chuckled, moving up beside Spike and lifting his rifle to his shoulder. “Last leg right?”
“Shh,” Spike whispered, waving a hand in front of Cortez to silence him.
“What is…”
“Shush,” Spike hissed, before taking a small step forward.
Spike kept silent for what felt like an eternity, trying to hear what it was that he had heard before, before he grabbed his Lightsabers and ignited the blades, casting light down the tunnel and on the scores of Mandalorians in pitch black armour arrayed before them. A split second later, the Mandalorians opened fire, filling the space between with deadly crimson bolts.
“Contact!” Cortez roared, staggering from a shot that had grazed his shoulder, before returning fire.
“Push forward! We can’t stop now!” Spike roared, diving forward as he swung his Lightsabers, meeting the sword and pistol wielding warriors head on.
In the confines of the old tunnel, the Special Forces would have been hard pushed to get a shot in edgeways around Spikes bulk, which would have made him the only target for the Mandalorians, but in the slightly larger pipe they were in now, Mandalorians were swarming around Spike on all sides, tearing into the front ranks of his Special Forces.
Before this day, Spike had thought that the Special Forces were a cut above the Mandalorians in every way, but now, he saw how wrong he had been. The screams of his men echoed around the sewer pipe as the Mandalorian blades became slick with Republic blood, unequipped to deal with the close combat skills of these new men.
Letting out a roar of anger, Spike unleashed a gout of flame in front of him, incinerating the front lines of Mandalorians, while a few of his men fell to the floor, coughing as they tried to breathe in oxygen that had just been stolen by his flames. He knew that some might die if he tried it, which was why he didn’t do it in the first place, but it now had the effect of opening the gaps between the lines up again.
“Cortez! Get the wounded back now and pull back to the old tunnels! Hold them there!”
“And you sir?” Cortez panted, nursing a deep cut on his arm.
“Just do it!”Spike roared. “Tarhal! With me!”
Not waiting to see what effects his orders would have, Spike once again moved forward, flaring his wings to make himself bigger while surrounding them in the baleful green light of his shields. They wouldn’t stand up to much, but it would give his forces time to set up in a better place.
Clashing with the Mandalorians again, Spike suddenly found Tarhal beside him, the Wookie sneaking under his wing and letting out a wave of the Force, pushing back yet more Mandalorians.
“Just like old times eh?” Spike laughed, lashing out and putting his saber through the helmet of a Mandalorian, before spinning and bisecting another.
“That it is,” Tarhal grunted, fending off strikes from a pair of his own adversaries, before pushing them back and kicking out with a foot, catching the Mandalorian in the chest, his armour shattering under the power of the force-imbued kick.
“And here I thought Jedi were supposed to abhor violence,” a Mandalorian clad in yellow armour crowed, clashing blades with Spike's Lightsabers with his own two handed sword.
“Wouldn’t be here if we did,” Spike snarled, pushing the man back, before spinning and aiming a kick at his head, one the yellow armoured man narrowly avoided, only for Tarhal to lash out while he was unbalanced, cutting one of the man’s legs off, the splash he made when he hit the water being drowned out by his screams.
Letting out a dark chuckle, Spike stepped over the screaming man towards the few remaining Mandalorians who already seemed to be wavering.
“Take a deep breath Tarhal,” Spike muttered, before roaring, unleashing a wall of fire before him, forcing the Mandalorians to retreat or face immolation.
Grinning, Spike watched as the last Mandalorians that were left alive scrambled to run back down the pipeline, the patches of fire that were still burning casting shadows after them as Spike turned back to face Tarhal, the Wookie panting now that air was available again.
“Tarhal, go get Cortez and the other combat ready Special Forces,” Spike ordered. “Send a guard back with the wounded and make sure they get back for medical treatment.”
“And the dead?” Tarhal asked.
“Count ‘em up, retrieve their tags, send them back with the wounded,” Spike shrugged. “We’ll come back for them if we can once we win.”
“Be quick with him,” Tarhal nodded, glancing down at the yellow armoured man who was currently crawling towards a pistol.
“Ha, you know me so well Tarhal,” Spike chuckled. “Five minutes.”
Tarhal nodded, turning and walking back the way they came, sighing as he looked over the dead bodies, while Spike walked back towards the sole survivor, stepping on his hand and drawing another grunt of pain from him as the armour shattered and cut into the broken bones beneath.
“Ah ah ah, let’s not be reaching for your weapon,” Spike chuckled, grabbing the man by the neck of his armour and hoisting him off the floor so he was at Spikes eye level. “Now, name and rank.”
“Cariid, Field Marshal of the Shock Troopers,” Cariid spat beneath his helmet. “I know who you are…Spike, leader of the so called ‘Special Forces’. I’m not impressed.”
“Well I don’t really give shit if you’re impressed or not,” Spike snarled. “Cassus? Where is he?!”
“I’ll not betray my commander for you!” Cariid roared back.
“Fine then,” Spike snarled, before taking hold of Cariid’s one remaining leg and pulling. “Where did you deploy from?!”
“Nev…er!” Cariid roared in defiance.
“Then you’ve told me everything I need to know,” Spike laughed mercilessly, before pulling harder.
Cariid let out a single gut-wrenching scream, before a loud crack heralded his armour and bones snapping, before his body came apart at the waist. The man writhed weakly on the floor, the bloody water washing over him as his top half slowly floundered, reaching for his leg, before he went limp and moved no more.
“Did you learn anything?” Tarhal asked as he approached Spike again, gingerly stepping over the bodies.
“Enough,” Spike nodded.
“You know, Jedi are…” Tarhal began.
“…supposed to show restraint and compassion,” Spike finished for him. “Yes Tarhal I know. Let’s be honest though, when have you actually known me to a perfect Jedi?”
“Alright fine. Bloody hell though Spike, you’ll have to answer for this at some point,” Tarhal sighed. “You and I both know that when the day comes, you’ve done more than I have in this war.”
“A lot more,” Spike nodded with a slight scowl. “But enough of that. Cortez? How many dead and wounded?”
“Twenty four injured, seven won’t fight again, and fifty nine dead,” Cortez walked up beside Spike and Tarhal, looking over the dead Mandalorians. “And looks like twenty three dead Mandalorians and a Field Marshal.”
“Two escaped,” Spike added. “Who the hell were these guys?”
“Shock Troopers,” Cortez answered quickly. “The elite, the best of the best. We encountered them at the battle of Serroco. They cut through our troops like nothing I’ve ever seen. The Special Forces were made to try and combat them.”
“That didn’t seem to work out too well for us then did it?” Spike asked. “Less than five minutes of combat between us and they killed double their own number. But enough about that, I don’t want Revan getting to the tower before me. Now, fall in behind Tarhal and me. If we come up against any more of these Shock Troopers before the tower then form a defensive line, try and hold them back while we bog them down in close combat. This siege ends today, one way or another. Let’s go.”
Taking off at a brisk pace, Spike deactivated his Lightsabers, keeping hold of them and reversing his grip into a reverse one, preparing himself for what was to come.
***
“My lord, Mandalorian advances are pushing against the right flank in sector thirteen,” a soldier panted, his armour stained with blood, oil and grime from the intense street fighting. “Jedi Commander Barbarous requests aid.”
“Tell him to pull back to defensive positions in sector twelve, draw the Mandalorians forward,” Revan ordered calmly, quickly consulting a datapad. “Malak, take your battalion and engage when they expose their flank, the Mandalorians cannot break through.”
“At once Revan,” Malak nodded, setting off at a run with the runner, placing a hand to his ear piece. “Major Sparrow, disengage and form up on my signal, prepare to engage the enemy on the right flank.”
As Malak disappeared from sight, Revan looked back at the datapad, before nodding and looking up at the looming Jedi Tower. He knew that Spike was on his way there already, and that if he got to Cassus first, he would most likely kill the man. Revan sympathised with Spike and his cause, but Cassus was far too important to simply be killed off, better to take him alive and interrogate him. Spike wouldn’t stand for that, which is why Revan had to punch through and get to the tower first.
“Colonel Myras, bring your reserve forces in on my position,” Revan ordered, drawing his Lightsaber and putting the datapad away. “One way or another the siege ends today.”
***
Cassus poured over the holoprojector, his hands balling into loose fists as he saw his lines beginning to show the tell-tale signs of those that were about to break. The only place they had been making any gains had been on the left flank, but with reinforcements pouring into the breaking sector, as well as his own lines being hammered by artillery and orbital strikes, he knew that without reinforcements of his own, he wouldn’t be able to stand for much longer.
As if on que, the lift door slid open once more, allowing a single shock trooper to enter the command centre, his black armour stained with blood and brownish oil, as well as emitting a smell that even the filters on Cassus’s helmet couldn’t completely block.
“You were in the sewers?” Cassus clarified.
“Yes sir,” the Mandalorian nodded. “We came upon the Republic Special Forces, led by General Spike. Field Marshal Cariid and twenty three of his honour guard fell before we were forced to retreat.” The Mandalorian sighed, bowing his head and dropping to a knee. “My life is forfeit for you, Cassus Fett.”
“I’m not wasting the life of a Shock Trooper,” Cassus shook his head. “Especially not a Rally Master.”
“But I’m…” the Mandalorian began, before rising, keeping his head bowed. “Thank you sir.”
“This siege has turned against us, the Republic forces are moving faster than I anticipated,” Cassus continued. “Spread my words to those left in the tower, all hands are to withdraw to Duxn and await further instructions. Do not fail me Rally Master.”
“Aye sir, I won’t let you down,” the Mandalorian saluted, before turning and entering the lift once more, disappearing from sight.
Cassus returned to the holo-projector, pressing a few buttons and dismissing the map of the battlefield, before bringing up a projection of a helmetless Mandalorian, his armour bearing the insignia of the engineering corps.
“Rally Master, the siege has turned against us,” Cassus began. “Ready immolation protocol, activate on my command. The Republic must pay for this victory.”
“Yes sir, immolation protocol takes some time to set up, once it is ready, direct control will be slaved to your control pad,” the engineer saluted.
“Good,” Cassus nodded, allowing the holo-projector to go dark as he once again moved towards the window and the chess set, the blacks now being far out-numbered and out-maneuvered by the whites, having been reduced to nothing but a king and a queen.
Slowly moving the black queen, Cassus placed it in between the black king and the advancing white forces. It was a final gamble, but the whites would have to eliminate the queen before they could check the king. Cassus was not going to make that easy on them.
“Come and get me,” he whispered softly, staring down at the battlelines. “I’m ending this today.”
***
Spike’s fist punched up through the grate of the sewer pipe, smashing the lock out of place, before he leapt upwards, propelling himself through the thin metal with the force and landing on the hard stone floor of the tower's sub-basement. His Lightsabers were instantly ablaze, Tarhal following his lead as he stood beside him, ready to fight off the horde of Mandalorians that would surely be in the base waiting for them.
“So…this is it, or do you think that they’re just waiting for us somewhere else?” Cortez asked as he climbed the ladder, looking around the room.
“I don’t know, but something’s not quite right here,” Spike shook his head. “Cortez, begin searching the tower floor by floor, eliminate any resistance and try to find as much intel as possible. Tarhal and Wolf Squad will come with me.”
“And you’re going where?” Cortez asked.
“To find Cassus,” Spike shot back. “Tarhal, Loup, with me.”
As Wolf squad and Tarhal formed up beside him, Spike began to make his way further into the tower, his Lightsabers deactivated as they crept forward. It was one thing to be blasé and loud when he was expecting a squad or two, or even in the tunnels and sewers, but preserving the element of surprise in the enemy base was a much smarter move. However, five minutes later, Spike was beginning to feel his temper rising, the only sound being that of his own foot falls, and that of the rest of the squad. Five minutes and not a single enemy in sight.
“Where the hell are they?” Spike snapped as they came across yet another room that should have been packed, but was instead completely empty.
“General, I think you should take a look at this,” one of the members of Wolf squad called out, drawing Spikes attention to a computer terminal.
“What am I looking at here private?” Spike asked, bending down to look at the screen.
“Two priority orders were issued recently,” the private explained, tapping on a few keys. “The first was an evac order, coordinates to an off world rally point enclosed, that was a general order. The second one was only sent to a few places, and it’s just two words. Immolation protocol.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Tarhal commented, moving up beside Spike. “Send the data to Republic high command, we still have a job to…”
“General Spike,” a voice echoed around the room, emanating from the speakers. “I must commend you for your recovery time, I must confess I didn’t expect you to be up and about so soon after our little sparring session.”
Spike snarled as he flicked the magic tail, his hands clenching tightly into fists. “Cassus! Maybe you shouldn’t underestimate your opponents.”
“Can you trace the signal?” Tarhal whispered to the private, who gave a silent nod, pulling a hacking tool and a datapad from his belt and jacking into the terminals dataport.
“A valuable lesson Spike, one I assumed you may have picked up on after the cannons, but alas, you’re allowing revenge to cloud your judgement. Such a pity,” Cassus sighed.
“Come out and we’ll have a little rematch!” Spike roared at the room.
“My my, such aggression,” Cassus chuckled. “By now I assume you’ve found a terminal, seen the evacuation order, so now allow me to make a suggestion, from one warrior to another. Leave the tower, order Revan to pull back. Listen to your brain Spike, not to your anger.”
“I’m coming for your Cassus!” Spike roared back. “Don’t think you can weasel your way out of this!”
“So be it,” Cassus agreed, before the speakers crackled and went silent.
“Did you trace it?” Tarhal asked, looking at the private.
“Yes sir,” the man nodded. “The signal came from the top floor, I’ve managed to extrapolate codes and download a map with the fastest route to…”
The man hadn’t finished, and already Spike was sprinting out of the room, only pausing to grab the man’s datapad and looking at the map as he disappeared. Tarhal instantly followed him, the rest of the squad struggling to keep up with the two Jedi. Spike quickly found his way to the lift that was indicated on the map, its heavy blast doors presenting a problem to anyone without the proper access. Allowing a small smile to work its way onto his face, Spike tapped in the long sting of digits, before stepping into the lift with the rest of the squad and pressing the top button.
“Spike…maybe we should play this calmly, you know, bring Cassus in for questioning?” Tarhal suggested.
“Oh no, no questioning, no deals,” Spike snarled. “Don’t get in my way Tarhal.”
“Was that a threat?” Tarhal shot back.
“Would you like it to be?” Spike snarled, before the doors slid open and Spike surged out of the lift, his weapons raised. “Cassus?!” he roared into the room.
It was empty, the holo-projector in the centre dark and dead, while a table held a chess board, most of the black pieces having already been removed, leaving only a king and queen behind. Spike began to snarl as he paced around the room, pushing anything in his way aside as he searched for his target, before rounding on the private who had spoken before.
“Where is he?!”
“I don’t know sir,” the private responded, taking a step back. “The signal came from here, he should be here.”
“Spike spike spike,” came Cassus’s voice, and Spike whirled around to look at the holoprojector, its surface now active and showing a seated Cassus Fett. “Did you really think I would talk to you if there was the slightest chance of you finding me? You’re a fool Spike.”
“Where are you?” Spike snarled, approaching the table.
“You should be less worried about me, and more worried about yourself,” Cassus replied, before pressing a few buttons on his wrist computer. Instantly, the holoprojector’s scree split in half, sliding back to reveal a large rectangular case within, a digital readout on the top showing the figures 00:00:01:00.
“Immolation protocol,” Cassus began explaining, his voice drifting over the timer. “One bomb, ten kilometre blast radius. I did try to warn you Spike, I may have even let you escape a a worthy adversary. You deserved to die in glorious battle, but now…”
The timer suddenly activated, slowly counting down towards zero.
“Now it seems you’ve doomed yourself, the army, your friends and Revan. Oh, and you didn’t even find me,” Cassus began to laugh. “Such a shame Spike, such a waste of good poten…”
Spike let out a roar, before bringing his fist down on the outside of the holoprojector, smashing through the thin outer layer and ripping out wires, silencing Cassus, before turning to Tarhal and Wolf Squad.
“Are any of you demolition experts?” he asked urgently.
“We had one, but he was injured in the tunnel,” Loup replied. “We need to go now Spike, maybe…”
“Get in the lift now,” Spike ordered, turning back to face the bomb.
“Not without you,” Tarhal shook his head.
“That was an order,” Spike said firmly. “This is my responsibility."
“I’m not leaving you,” Tarhal insisted.
“Tarhal, go. Now,” Spike whispered, turning to face his friend, slowly moving towards him, forcing him to back into the lift, before pressing the button for the ground floor. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
“You bloody well better,” Tarhal nodded, before the lift doors slid shut, leaving Spike alone.
Walking around the bomb, Spike looked on the timer, showing him that he only had thirty two seconds left. Even if he took it and flew away, the blast would still wipe out Revan and the army. Without them, the Republic wouldn’t be able to continue the war, and Cassus would have his victory. Spike was not going to let that happen.
Closing his eyes, Spike lay his hands on the bomb, feeling the inner workings with his mind. It was complicated, and he didn’t even want to begin to try to disarm it, but if he couldn’t stop it all together, he could contain it.
Allowing power to flow through his hands, Spike willed a shield into existence, the surface flickering slightly as he struggled to find power, before a surge of energy sped into his hands as his tail disappeared. The sudden loss of the appendage almost made Spike lose his balance, but he managed to stay upright, forcing the shield around the bomb, pouring everything he had into it.
“Three, two, one,” he whispered, bracing himself for the explosion.
The bomb erupted into a glorious fireball, hitting the shield and bouncing back on itself, hitting Spikes mind like a sledgehammer as the raw power sought to overwhelm him and break free. Letting out a grunt, Spike staggered back, still holding the bomb and the shield in place. His vision was already beginning to go dark around the edges, and he could already feel his magic reserves depleting, and yet, at the same time, he knew the bomb had to be losing power as well, each second he stopped the explosion spreading decreasing the range and power it would have if it broke free.
“Why does this always happen to me?” Spike muttered weakly, before allowing his hands to fall, the shield dropping, and the explosion ripping through the room.
Spike was only dimly aware of the glass as he smashed through it, his wings snapping open of their own accord, before he blacked out.
Again.
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F
king boss! Shielded and contain a F
king nuke. He will make through this. He is a dragon that can dive into lava and use it as emergency bandage, a weaken nuke won't do anything to him. I guess after this, his magic will become stronger too...
Spike just seems to be magnetically attracted to kolto tanks and hospital beds. Almost every time he walks out the door he gets blasted, gutted, crashed, or blown up.
Spike you are a Dragon the master of the Arcane and the force you can win you can survive you are Spike The Dragon of Desolation
Spike has once again proven his badassness, though this will teach him to have a cooler head about things hopefully.
Great chapter as usual. My sole fear is that people will start accusing Spike of being a Sith once this is over. :
5054712 Or he suffered magic exhaustion, and will be out for some time.
Intense!
Damn son! Spike the badass just severely weakened for all intents and purposes, a Star Wars version of a nuke. Very excellent. However, I don't think this is going to be sitting very well with Revan and Malak. Intense chapter and I look forward to the next one.
~ Super-Brony12
5055510 Eh...the magiz and dez body will adapt and increase the effeciecy of his magicz
5058040 Isn't equestrian magic literally in the air and shiz? So if what I said is true, and he did go exhaustion, he will be in a coma, his body will be fine, but his mind (actually soul) will be fucked up until it can generate enough magic that his dragon fire isn't extinguished. That's the main problem with magic using dragons, exhaustion can literally kill you.
5059664 thatz az headz cannonz matez
:D kee adding the z for no reason
5059763 I know. I keep putting headcanons (and widely accepted ones at that) on stories, hoping the author would see and comment. Apparently, he or she doesn't care.
Spike was channeling Shining Armor here.
5059985
Oh I care and have been watching to see where it goes. Your head canon about being drained of magic being fatal is 99% identical to my own in fact.
Oh, and 'He' for future reference.
5060205 Alright, bruh.
4980303 Does he have a tail? I forget. I mean he's flying, so he has to have a tail to help with stability. Like the back wings of an airplane or helicopter.
I'm getting this from httyd btw.
5059664 MY head cannonz is a bit different....but we're not here discussing about headz cannonz, we're here to discuss about dragon, the force, nuke...
5061238
Well, it would be more prudent to say Spike had a tail, you know, thanks to Cassus Fett. Desolation did help him make a magi-tail, which helped with Stability, but that's only temporary.
5062942 Could Spike regenerate his tail without medical treatment? If you think about it an incredibly long-lived apex predator species would need to have the ability to heal from just about ANY injury as long as they survive it.
5063174
I have a few ideas for the future, thats for sure, but I'm not sure when best to implement them. I have a pretty good idea when though.
5062313 The force is a bacteria.
Anyways, the force mixed with equestrian magic, while nice, wouldn't be able to contain a nuke. There's more radiation than force, which is why I now say there was no nuke, just a star fox smart bomb dressed all fancy.
5063174 Immortality is basically reneneration or no organs. And he has organs.
5064492 Eh, what kind of smart bomb have the blast radius of "f
k you army"?
5065773 The super mega ultra f*ck you smart bomb.
5066181 eh....this one?
5066243 Possibly. I'm not looking at the video.. If its a large smart bomb, then ya got it.
5067328 Ya have issue with smart bomb............
5063272 A few ideas huh? How many? Immortality would require an entire list of required secondary powers in order to actually work. Do you want my list and my reasoning for why they're needed?
5067579
Well when i say a few ideas, I mean ones which I think are plausible enough to work and that I'm going to use later on in the story, but by all means, send your list. It will be i teresting to see what you think.
5067705 Okay get prepared for a long rant about immortality, I'm going to explain each problem, why it's a problem, something an immortal being would need to overcome that problem, and other secondary effects provided by that solution.
No 1. Healing.
- I already mentioned this earlier, and here's why. Immortality does not mean invincibility, and let's face it, a lot of stories would be boring if it did. Immortality does not guarantee what condition you'll be alive in. If we took a look at a large number of people now alive, a fair amount would probably have scars, and many would be missing limbs, a relatively small percentage, but it would be there. If that many scars can be piled up over the relatively short decades of life, imagine how much damage your body would sustain if you were a mere 1000 years old. It's not going to mean much to have such a long life if you're gonna eventually lose all your limbs and be a wheelchair bound vegetable. I actually haven't read that far into your story yet to know how tough Spike is gonna be, but I imagine he isn't invincible.
So to overcome the problem of scaring eventually to the point of deterioration, the simplest solution would be the ability to heal from virtually any injury as long as you survive it. Salamanders in many waterways today already do this. Constant danger results in them losing arms and legs frequently, and to counter this they simply regrow the lost limb. Keep in mind that the word 'scar' means ANY injury, it doesn't matter if it's just a little cut or losing your entire eyeball. The injury will heal.
Tying in to already being immortal, this would mean that any immortal will never suffer from age-related illnesses. No blindness, no arthritis no need for dental care. The condition of this kind of body can only increase with time.
No 2. Evolution.
An important thing about life is that it is in a state of constant change. The environment is always changing and so every living in it must be too.
The problem for an immortal is that the most active force in nature evolves through constant breeding and passing down the most successful genes to their offspring. Humans for example are now widely accepted to have descended from primates, and so have not always looked the same. We are now far taller and smarter due to seeking out mates with the best of those qualities and breeding with them over many generations. If a person was somehow sent a few hundred generations into the future, it's unlikely that they would even be recognized, and far more likely that these futurists would simply call animal control. So in summary, a single individual would remain the same while the rest of their species kept evolving generation after generation.
Overcoming this problem is a bit trickier, after all an immortal could still breed, but then they themselves wouldn't benefit from this. It's ultimately a more selfish goal, but still a valid one. One solution is for the immortal themself to be an environment within their own body, or more simply, one that doesn't need to breed to evolve. It might be just because I was playing it a lot recently, but a good example of this would be the Zerg from the Strategy game 'Starcraft'. Despite dying in huge amounts due to their massive numbers, the research on their cells from the 'Wings of Liberty' campaign note that their body is constantly throwing off random mutations that all simultaneously hunt down and destroy each other, and the one that wins in the end is the most beneficial. This ability has seemingly allowed them to adapt to situations in time periods as little as hours.
A system like this would have a lot of benefits, the first one being that if your body has a recurring problem, the fact that the body is having to fight and overcome it constantly means that it actually could adapt a body to challenging situation in relatively short periods of time. If you're bones are constantly being broken, then eventually they're gonna get stronger and stronger to the point that they're going to be nearly impossible to break. Problem solved.
Personally, I think I'd like a body like that. Immortal or not.
It's getting late where I am, so I'll give you the problem off the top of my head and finish this comment.
No 3. Memory
As you age, you're perspective of the life you've already lived gets shorter and shorter. For example, to a ten year old, one year is only 10% of their life, to a forty year one year is now only 2.5% of their life. So this means that the same amount of time feels VERY differently between different people. By the time someone is 30000 years old an entire year could feel like only a single day. Does anyone honestly think that their emotions could sustain the boredom of living for millions of years? And even if it could, a brain can only hold so much information, just like a computer has a memory card to store information. I'm pretty sure nobody remembers what they were like when they were less than a year old. Expand that to a 10000 year old and now that translates to not being able to remember decades of life or possibly even centuries, we simply cannot remember every single detail of our lives.
Solving this problem is a lot trickier, but at the same time it's one you could handwave a lot easier due to the fact that we know comparatively little about how brains work in comparison to the rest of our organs. Our brains aren't built to live forever, but others 'might' be. How? I have no clue. Dragons could be inherently magical creatures, and a magical brain just might have the ability to filter time perfectly no matter how long it's been running. Likewise a magical brain could possibly have unlimited memory storage, that would also mean they'd be able to possess eidetic memory without any drawbacks.
Tying into the healing mentioned earlier, this would mean no brain-related illnesses.
Wow, looking at all this, it you could have all these abilities solved, it sounds like it would pretty awesome to have a body like this.
Okay, that's all I have off the top of my head. Getting late, going to bed. Sorry for ranting for so long.
5068295
No, not at all. I enjoyed reading it. Like I said, I have ideas of how to make Spike seem more like an immortal (or near as damn it) and boosting his healing factor. That will come later, and all I will say about it is this: Spike isn't an adult dragon yet.
Just a simple question... are there going to be some points of vievs from equestria or something?
Well i know that there is not much to write and you probably allready know what you want to write but it is your story so you decide what happens.
5071727
I'm away for a couple of weeks, so I'll see if I can think of at least some small bits to add in every now and again. I think as it happens the next chapter may be able to have some added in.
5071237
Spike walks as a biped, although he occasionally runs as a quadruped. Desolation on the other hand moves around primarily on four legs, and only occasionally on two, as he's more of an animal than Spike is.
And I'll see if I can fix the link
5068765 Thanks, I put of lot or thought into that rant. And honestly I could probably do a few more on other abilities.
Did I forget anything in my list though? That was done off the top of my head. You said you had your own ideas, so did I forget any?
Do you want me to do a rant on just the Healing next? I could probably write an article just as long for that.
5072735
Rant away, I won't stop you.
Ok couple of questions
1. How tall are you planing on making him?
2. When will we hear from Twilight and will spike at least try to look for his home after the war? I mean they could be on a unregistered planet or a unregistered sector all together.
5076541
1 - I'm not aure exactly, but Spike will be getting taller in the next act.
2 - I'm going to add in a bit about Twilight and the others in the next chapter. As for when Soike searches for it and/or returns home, that's not until act 5.
5073294 I think I've done enough ranting for now. It's time I actually read your story from the beginning. I'll try to read a chapter every one or two days.
5077891
5077868
I agree. And I didn't think it was bad writing but it merely could have been on purpose to show that character had a darker side to be revealed later. As for where I stand on the jedi... I see why so many mercenaries and guns for hire have no love for them. That may be a biased opinion, especially since I didn't really get as into the star wars universe as many others, but what I mean is this. The jedi, as you said, act as if they don't care so long as they get more to their cause. While the sith wish to control everything with an iron fist, the jedi claim to wish freedom yet turn right around and make conflict with their own beliefs. Not to mention they put younger jedi in a guilded cage. I guess what I'm getting as is I'm happy with what spike does throughout this story (and anyone who has read far enough will know of the moments I'm talking about).
5088468
Someone got the reference? Yay.
Yes, it's a reference to what still has to be one of my all time favourite ga,e series, right behind Jak and Daxter.
5080460 I think I can guess what he does by the title of some of the chapters. He joins Revan and Malak (and possibly Meetra) in the wars. I just hope Spike doesn't end up falling to the Dark Side, though that mostly because I always think it's stupid how often that happens.
5088468 What's so nice about Pokitaru? The last ad I saw for that place showed a tourist getting eaten by the local wildlife.
5090924
I whole heartedly agree with you there. Though... [WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER] I get the feeling Twilight is probably going to, or at least gain an additional personality much like spikes hateful one (forget his name).
[ Note: I do not know how to hide lines with black coverup as is customary with a spoiler on this site. X3 ]
Well, well, well, another great chapter, I can't wait to see whats next.
5142749
The only one I will say is that Yoda will not be in this story, as much as I wish I could include him. Unfortunately the story is planned to be long enough, without trying to bring in the modern era, or even the Republics Dark Age. Sorry.
5143514 That's a shame, it means Spike will never become a relative Time Abyss within the events of this story. I suppose I can't complain if it gets to be a good and interesting story.
5154690
Oops, that may have been a bit of an accident with the unit changing. It was meant to be feet, as that is one hell of a big mountain if you can shave that much off it and still call it a mountain.
Also, Anakin fell for two reasons. One because he lost his mother, two because he wanted to save Padme. With all the global threats Twilight has faced, she never once lost anyone, and just look how mad she got when Tirek blew up the tree-brary. If she get's that angry over losing a building...well, losing her adoptive brother is a much bigger step.
And yes, the force and magic aren't quite the same thing, although they do have very similar attributes. Force corruption is done in the form of magical coruption and the Alicorn Amulet, Sith Lightning can be shot from horns, teleportation (which is a force power), Zecora stealing one of Yoda's lines etc. The only thing the force can't do that magic can is make stuff literally materialise out of thin air. Other than that, they are quite comparible.
5154741 True, but as far as she knows, losing Spike was a horrible accident that she can't blame on anyone. Unlike the library Twilight has no one to be angry at, so it's a stretch that Twilight has already gone far enough to get the eyes.
Huh, Force teleportation. I never heard of that one before, but a quick wiki search changed that. Still it seems to be a very difficult thing to do with the Force, and it was rarely displayed in most Star Wars works.
5163391
Oh I know, but it just seemed like a good time to do it. Plus Equestria is built on enotions having a stronger than normal effect (see changlings), but I do see your point.
And yes, I,ve never seen anyone actually use force teleport, I just found it ages ago when searching for another force power.
5203072
So should have bastadised that in the story.