• Published 9th Oct 2013
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The Dragon and the Force - FenrisianBrony



Spike disappears from Equestria, and ends up surrounded by Jedi

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The Weight of Your Sins

“All hands, all hands, prepare to intercept the incoming craft,” the Officer of the Watch of the Orion called out, stopping in the middle of the bridge of the Foray-class Blockade Runner and watching as the tiny blip on the edge of his vision continued to get closer. The Orion had been stationed on the edge of the Home Fleet for three weeks now, to act as their deep space eyes and ears, and up until now they hadn’t found anything. That had all changed half an hour ago when they had detected a single fighter sized signature jump into the system.

“Sir, are we sure this isn’t one of ours?” a crew member called out. “The Sith Fighters have never been reported to have jump capabilities.”

“And until months ago they had never been seen in Republic space, now they swarm over half of our space,” the Officer countered. “Open a comm-channel to the rest of the fleet, and hail the incoming ship. I will give it one chance to respond or we blow it back to wherever it came from.”

“Aye, commander, hailing the ship now,” the bridge went quiet as the comm-channel buzzed into life, before the Commander cleared his throat.

“Attention unidentified craft, this is the Foray Blockade Runner Orion of the Republic Home Fleet. You have entered restricted space without proper clearance and are now on intercept course with this vessel. You are ordered to power down your engines and await our away teams. If You are unable to comply due to mechanical failure, eject from your vessel within two minutes and we will pick you up. If you are unwilling to comply, you will be destroyed. Attempt to turn around or bypass this vessel and you will be fired upon. If possible signal your compliance.”

“Do you think he got the message, sir?” another crew member asked as the comms went dark once more.

“We’ll find out soon enough. Keep all weapons locked on that ship, I don’t like it when lone fighters appear in our space, the Mandalorians tried this trick during the last war. If any signs of nuclear radiation are picked up, you are to destroy it without hesitation, am I understood?”

“Aye, Commander,” came the unanimous reply.

The next minute seemed to pass agonisingly slowly as the target didn’t slow down, continuing to approach the Orion at the same speed.

“Sir, that’s two minutes,” one of the bridge crew sighed. “Shall I…”

“Attention Orion, this is general Spike of the Jedi Order. Move your ship out of the way, my own vessel isn’t in the best state for fancy flying.”

Spike’s voice was garbled as it crackled through the speakers, the crew looking towards the Commander for guidance.

“General Spike,” the Commander quickly regained his composure and began to talk once more. “My orders are clear, if you are indeed friendly you are to power down or eject, in precisely twenty three seconds I will fire…”

“Yeah, you’ll fire on me, I heard you the first time,” Spike cut in. “I’m not going to tell you again, move out of my way, or I’ll make you move.”

“By your own word you are in a severely damaged ship, you are in no place to be giving demands,” the Commander folded his arms. “I do not wish to destroy you, Spike, but my orders are clear.”

“Destroy it, it’s useless. It’s got me where I need to be.” Spike replied, before the lights of the bridge switched to a dull red.

“Status report! Now!” the commander roared. “Who brought us to alert status!”

“That would be me, Commander,” Spike’s voice came through the speakers again. “My fighter was never going to make it to Coruscant in its condition, but I hate space flying, so I just waited a little longer to bail on it, thank you for being here by the way, it’s very useful.”

“What are you talking about, Spike,” the Commander growled, before whirling around as the door to the bridge slid open, drawing his blaster pistol instinctively.

“It means I’m taking command,” Spike replied simply as he walked onto the bridge and approached the Commander, gesturing lazily with his claw and sending the pistol flying.

Every member of the bridge was stunned for a few moments as they took in the newest arrival. All of them had heard the rumours of General Spike, the Jedi who had helped lead them to victory in the last war, but only a few of them had ever seen him in person. The Spike that now stood before them was like a completely different person.

His body was covered in enough dirt, blood and grime to cover an entire battlefield, almost obscuring the harsh lines where scales and flesh met metal. One arm had been ripped clean off, the remains of the cybernetic occasionally sparking as the thin layer of ice that covered bit of his body melted off. His eye was what caught most people’s attention however, the single orb burning with fiery determination even as the green within it glowed a bright green.

“T-Taking command?” the Commander stammered, before remembering who he was addressing and snapping to attention. “Taking command, sir?”

“I need to get to Coruscant, your ship will get me there. Tell the Home Fleet they’ll need to assign another ship to guard the jump point, I’d suggest the Fortuitous, she always had a good captain. Helmsman, set a course for the Jedi temple.”

“Just wait a minute general,” the Commander moved forward as Spike turned to leave the bridge. “You can’t just take command of this ship like that, you don’t have the authority. How did you even get on board?”

“I told you, Commander Sataauo,” Spike turned slightly, fixing the man with his Cybernetic eye. “I took a walk through the void.”

With that, Spike left the bridge, leaving Sataauo stunned and in shock, before he finally turned around, clearing his throat.

“Set course for the Temple, and signal the fleet that we are moving out of position under General’s Spike’s command. And for god’s sake, destroy that fighter, whatever is left of it.”

***

“Never thought I’d see this place again,” Spike muttered to himself as the Orion finally touched down. “Why do I always come back here covered in blood?”

“Why indeed,” an unfortunately familiar voice came from one of the doors to the main temple as Zule walked towards him, a squad of Temple Security Force Soldiers following behind him, their rifles held tightly against their chest, while two Temple Guards stood to either side, their Lightsaber Pikes held tightly, but inactive.

“Zule, I wish I could say it was nice to see you, but Twilight always taught me lying was rude,” Spike growled back, walking towards the welcoming group, before stopping as the soldiers raised their rifles, pointing them at Spike directly. “Well that’s one hell of a welcoming committee you’ve brought out. I guess it’s too much to hope this is a ‘we’re glad you’re back’ kind of deal?”

“Your grasp of the obvious never ceases to astound me, Spike,” Zule scorned. “By order of the Grand Council, you are to surrender yourself to my custody and accompany me to their chambers.”

“So what exactly has the White Bitch charged me with?” Spike smirked.

“I think we both know the answer to that, murderer,” Zule growled, reaching for his own Lightsaber.

“Is that a hint of anger I detect there, Zule? Rage? Hate even? That’s not very Jedi like of you,” Spike chuckled, taking a step forward, Zule instinctively drawing his Lightsaber, the blue blade flaring into life.

“Stay back, monster,” he growled.

“No no no no, there it is,” Spike chuckled darkly, lowering his head slightly to be closer to Zule’s. “Not anger. Fear, terror. You’re afraid of me, Master Thanos.”

Before Zule could respond, Spike pushed past him, the soldiers scattering out of his way as he past, while the Guards rushed to get ahead of him, igniting their own Lightsabers and holding them out before them, barring Spike’s path.

“There’s no need to fight, I’m going to the council chambers anyway,” Spike grunted, looking at the with annoyance. “You couldn’t beat me anyway, and you don’t need to. Do I look like I want to start a fight?”

“You return to the temple, fresh from battle, without having your wounds tended to, and seek and audience with the council,” one of the masked guards pointed out. “Many a soldier has gone mad from seeing war, is it so much to expect that you could have?”

“I fought in the Exar Kun War and Mandalorian War,” Spike growled, anger rising in his chest. “I have seen more than a coward like you hiding in the temple ever will, so do not question my sanity, I lost it long ago.”

“Spike…” the second Guard began.

“Master, I have a rank in this order, you will use it, and you will stand aside,” Spike snapped.

The Guards looked at each other for a moment, before nodding, deactivating their Lightsabers and moving to stand either side of Spike.

“Very well then, Master Spike, we’ll escort you to their chamber.”

“Good,” Spike nodded, before setting off at a slow loping pace, the Guards easily keeping pace with him.

The walk across the temple was uneventful, but Spike could feel the stares of every Jedi they passed boring into him. Spike couldn’t even say he blamed them, if they even knew a quarter of what he had done then they would already mistrust him, and if any of them knew the truth, even a Jedi might start to hate him.

Soon they reached the lift to the chambers, Zule stepping in behind Spike and the Guards and thumbing the button to close the doors, still staying silent after Spike had brushed him off. In an awkward silence, the four of them quickly rose above the bustling city of Coruscant, the lift shooting upwards, before the doors slid open once more, Spike striding out into the centre of the council chamber. Over half of the seats were occupied by holograms, and two were empty even of those. Spike hoped it was because they were unable to get to a holo-projector to be here, but in this day and age, that was most likely wishful thinking.

“By the force, Spike, you look like you’ve been through hell,” Kavar spoke as he walked in, his hologram leaning forward slightly.

“I have been,” Spike nodded. “How’s the fighting on Alderaan?”

“There will be time for small talk later,” Kavar sighed, before turning to look at Atris.

“Spike,” she began, a small smirk on her face. “You have been summoned before this council to answer for your actions at the defence of Vasdu. Here is what we know, before you start talking. You were given command of the Fireshot Fleet, and given orders to defend Vasdu, which you failed. We also know that you managed to get some of your troops onto Vasdu to stall the Sith for longer. We do not know what else transpired, and many gave you up for dead. Until we heard word that Vasdu is no more. The entire planet gone. All reports show that few Sith escaped, and you were the only Republic soldier to escape. You can see that there is a gap in our knowledge here, please, fill us in.”

Spike went to fold his arms, ending up just placing a single limb across his chest as he contemplated his answer. He could lie, but Atris would see through it, it was one of the qualities she had which even Spike couldn’t refute. And if they caught him lying on one part of the story, everything would be brought into disrepute, and the Council needed to know about Tarhal.

“Captain Leroy was placed in charge of the surface guns, he betrayed us and decimated our fleet before the battle even began. We lost over half of our ships so I landed my remaining forces and dug in. We managed to capture a Sith Interdictor ship and turn on the generators, forcing the Sith to come to us if they wanted to move on at more than sub-light speeds. The battle was costly, because it was being led by someone with just as much experience as I have.”

Spike took in a deep breath as he prepared his next sentence, fully realising he was damming his onetime friend.

“Former Jedi…Tarhal, led the Sith forces. I fought with him, and killed his Padawan...”

“I thought Stratmum died during the Mandalorian Wars,” Loona Vash muttered.

“He was presumed lost at the battle of Malacore V, evidently we were wrong,” Spike sighed. “Maybe…maybe he helped pull Tarhal into the darkness…maybe Tarhal fell for another reason, but I know Stratmum is dead now, he’s got no head.”

“His loss is a sadness, but it seems to be an unavoidable one,” Loona sighed. “Please, go on, Spike.”

“I killed Stratmum, but we were pushed back. We made to retreat to the mines, but…Tarhal was waiting for us. He destroyed the lift, killed what I knew was left of my men, took my arm. I managed to escape by…”

“The planet, Spike,” Atris snapped. “Get to the point where Vasdu is destroyed, I want to hear what happened.”

“You want it to be me who’s responsible for this, don’t you,” Spike snarled. “You’re loving the fact that it’s me who’s answering for this, don’t you?”

“I want to know what happened, Spike,” Atris snapped back. “If the Sith have a weapon capable of destroying a planet, then we need to know. I…”

“It was me!” Spike roared, Atris and the other masters were instantly silent as Spike roared, even Zule and the Guards taking a few steps back as Spike seethed, clenching his remaining claw into a fist so tight that he drew blood, dripping a few crimson drops onto the floor. “The Sith didn’t destroy the planet. I did.”

“Spike, tell me that isn’t true.”

Spike was actually surprised at the person who spoke, turning to look at Zule, his onetime friend looking as if the world had fallen on his shoulders.

“It’s true, Zule,” Spike nodded, looking around the room. “It’s all true. I used the ideas of the engineer Bao-Dur and his mass-shadow generator, and I rigged the stolen Sith Interdictor ship to implode and create such a massive gravity well that nothing could escape it. Not the Sith ships in orbit, not the soldiers on the ground.”

“And not the civilians,” Kavar rasped hoarsely. “They didn’t escape…did they?”

“No, they didn’t,” Spike shook his head, his voice wavering for a moment, before he regained his resolve. “Five billion, seven hundred and eighteen million. That’s just a rough estimate, there could be more, but that’s over five and a half billion innocents who died by my claw.”

“You’re a monster,” Atris whispered.

“And you’re weak!” Spike bellowed back, pointing a claw directly at Atris, taking a step forward. “How well is our fleet holding back the main Sith thrust? All our ships are in service, and we were about to have one just as large break through our back door, and believe me, they were planning on going in dry. Imagine hundreds of ships pouring down on Arcadia. Could the Ninth Fleet hold them? Or suppose they just decided to come here and knock on our front door on Coruscant, the Home Fleet wouldn’t have stood a chance, and right now, this temple would lie in ruins, and the Sith would be dictating terms of our surrender to the Senate.”

Spike paused to take a breath before continuing.

“What I did was monstrous, no doubt about it. I was against what Revan did at the end of the Mandalorian War, against Malacore, but now I see things clearly. I killed billions, to save trillions. This war, it isn’t about morals, it’s about arithmetic. A soldier is abandoned to save a platoon. A regiment is sacrificed to save an army. I sacrificed a planet, but I saved a galaxy. I saved the Republic, the Core Worlds, our way of life. I will never forget those who I sacrificed, but I will not be sorry. Last war, we needed Revan to lead us to victory, a leader who would do what had to be done. We need strong leaders now, and looking around this room, I can’t see a single one of you who fits the bill, so I guess it has to be me.”

Spike spat on the floor as he finished talking, the glob landing just in front of Atris’s chair as he turned to leave, the Guard’s closing rank before the lift.

“Monster,” Atris growled. “I told you all he was unstable. He’s mad, guard’s cease him.”

“Don’t touch me,” Spike warned, turning back to face Atris. “You got what you wanted then, what you always wanted. Exile me, that’s all you can do. I will continue to fight the Sith without the Jedi. If you can’t see the value of what I did, then I don’t need you.”

“Spike!” Atris began again.

“Oh right, my Lightsaber,” Spike snarled, Dusk flying into his hand and igniting in an instant. “Exiles can’t keep theirs, can they? I always wondered what Meetra felt like when you exiled her.”

Spike reared back, before stabbing his Lightsaber at the standing stone in the centre of the room, perfectly hitting hole that had been made by Meetra’s Lightsaber all those years ago. With a loud crack, the stone gave way, the top falling to the floor with a loud crash as Spike released his Lightsaber.

“Now I know,” he finished. “I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with one of my weapons, I lost Elusive on Vasdu. Now if there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”

Spike gave an overly elaborate and fake bow, before turning towards the door again, the Guard’s still wavering in the entranceway.

“You are a Jedi no longer, Spike,” Atris spat, rising from her chair, none of the other Jedi in the room voicing any objection. “But to kill that many, even mercy must have limits.”

“What are you going to do? Kill me?” Spike laughed sharply. “That’s not the Jedi way.”

“By the powers invested in me by the Republic, I, Atris, do sentence you to death,” Atris snapped back. “You will release yourself to our custody, to await execution.”

“This is bollocks, and you know it,” Spike sneered, turning to face her. “All of you together couldn’t take me with one claw tied behind my back, and since I only have one claw…”

Spike never got to finish as Atris suddenly punched her hand forward, Spike barely having time to recognise the telekinetic shove before it hit him. With a grunt, he was thrown backwards, crashing through the window and plummeting towards the main body of the temple. He didn’t even have time to extend his wings before he slammed into the roof of the temple, crashing through and landing hard on the marble floor, leaving a huge crater as the marble cracked and splintered.

Spike let out a few strained coughs as he tried to get up, grasping at the floor with his remaining claw as he flapped his wings a few times, wincing in pain as bones scrapped against bones in a way they were never meant to. One of his legs was likewise damaged, almost crushed beyond recognition from the heavy fall.

“Ow,” he muttered, the word coming out far more surprised than he meant it to, as he suddenly found himself chuckling to himself. “Ow, that really hurt. You hear that, Atris?! That fucking hurt you bitch!”

Spike staggered to his feet, beginning to limp slowly towards one of the many exits to the building, his world spinning as he started to laugh, almost uncontrollably. He could already see Jedi stopping what they were doing and approaching him, many drawing their Lightsabers as more Temple Guard’s rushed forward, their distinctive yellow bladed weapons clear to Spike even in his current state.

Before any could reach him, Spike made his way outside onto one of the smaller landing pads, staggering into the dying sunlight of Coruscant and letting out a whooping howl of laughter, before turning back to the entrance. Scores of Jedi and Guard’s had followed him out, many of their weapons drawn and ignited, while others simply watched in fascination.

“Come to see Atris finish me off, eh?” Spike laughed, licking his lips as his world span, threatening to pitch him into the darkness. He could feel something welling within him, but he ignored it as he began to laugh again, harder than before.

“What? You waiting for her? She’s got to take the slow way down; I took the express route. Bill her for the clean-up, it’s not…”

“Be silent!” Atris roared, pushing her way to the front of the group, her own Lightsaber ignited as she stood out from the crowd. “You are an enemy of the Republic and the Jedi, and have been sentenced to death. Will you surrender peacefully, or will you choose to fight and die now?”

“You couldn’t win this fight, Atris,” Spike pointed out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But you’re welcome to try.”

“Then prepare to face the justice of the Jedi,” Atris murmured, before she raised her Lightsaber, many of the other Jedi doing the same and slowly advancing forward.

Spike started laughing again as the Jedi approached him, backing up slightly until he was right at the edge of the landing platform. Taking a glance back, he saw the long drop, and knew instantly that without his wings, he wouldn’t survive the fall. The screaming within him was growing ever louder, and just as the Jedi were almost on top of him, he gave into it.

In an instant, his laughter turned into a roar, the sound laced with power as the Jedi around him were flung back, Lightsabers slipping from the grasp of their owners as Spike released the power he had been holding back. He now knew where he had felt this before, calling back memories of Coruscant decades ago, when he defended the cannons of this world.

Where he grew his wings.

This time however, he was larger, and the screaming roar was louder than ever before. He could feel his bones straining and cracking under the pressure as something forced its way out of the stump of his left arm. His cybernetics began to warp and melt, the surface of the metal glowing white hot as something instantly super-heated them from within, before they shattered, exploding outwards and driving the remaining Jedi scurrying for cover, heading back inside the temple and leaving Spike alone on the landing pad.

Spike thrashed about, his roar ceasing for a split second, before returning as green light erupted from his eyes and now open mouth, both his arms outstretched as the last of his cybernetics melted away, brand new scales growing and maturing at an impossibly fast rate, before Spike started to grow.

His talons sharpened and grew in an instant, gouging out huge furloughs in the landing platform, even as the scales on his chest began to warp and ripple, fusing together to form a thick, chitinous armour. Soon, Spike could no longer balance on his hind legs, falling forward and landing heavily on all fours, the landing pad crumbling further as he stretched his massive wings, softly flapping them and creating huge wings, as the energy flooding from his eyes finally started to fade.

“This…this…” Spike panted, his voice now far deeper boomed around the temple. “This is…”

“Spike?” Spike recognised the voice, and looked down to see Katara, his onetime Padawan now looking tiny beneath him. “M-Master?”

“Get back,” Atris snapped, regaining her senses and leaping in front of Katara, brandishing her Lightsaber at Spike. “Keep back, monster.”

“Have you seen me, Atris? Have you got a good look?” Spike began looking over himself, his smile widening by the second.

“I can see you,” Atris growled, before raising her Lightsaber to strike.

With barely a thought, Spike flicked a talon, hitting the blade of the Lightsaber and instantly knocking it out of Atris’s grip, her weapon falling off the edge of the Temple as she took a step back.

“Then you know what this means,” he grinned, drawing himself up to his full height.

“Do it, prove me right,” Atris panted.

“It means I can finally scratch my balls again!” Spike hooted in glee, another fit of laughter bursting forth from his lips, before he flapped his wings once more, and rocketed into the sky.

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