As Addick released Spikket from his bindings, he took a long look at his son. Spikket took a deep breath and began.
"I am a Rebel Spy. I have been an officer in the Imperial Starfleet for almost ten years. Along with Admiral Benvole, we have slowly been gaining intelligence for the Alliance to mount an attack on the Empire from within. The situation has become much more complicated since the Empire has been greatly efficient at hunting down Rebel bases and finding their spies within our ranks. Myself and Admiral Benvole, who began as an Ensign almost a year before I did, were transferred to seek and destroy duty on the Star Destroyer Vengeance. We were not part of the destruction of the Rebellion but we could do nothing to stop it. We watched as the very men we commanded hunted down Rebel bases and shot down Rebel fighters with extreme precision and efficiency."
"And you let this happen!?" Donovan interrupted with great despair. Although he was a great young pilot, he did not understand the ways of war.
"We have no choice, we would surely have been executed on the spot if they found out we were Rebels. Sabotage was too difficult, all we could do was wait, and watch. We could not contact our Rebel allies nor make any sort of sign that we knew any of their locations. For ten years, we have served the Empire as a true soldier of evil. Now is the time to strike back."
"I'm all for destroying the Empire, but how does this concern me?" Donovan was curious where he would fit in with this intricate plot that was about to unfurl.
Pikket looked at General Addick as he nodded his head.
"Donovan, you are not actually my son. You were brought to me just over ten years ago, you were injured and burned and had no recollection of any past experiences. You were on the verge of death, but our biomedical engineers rebuilt your body and your mind with precision. Your face was almost completely burned to nothing, they molded you a new one and used myself as the model, did you ever wonder how you look exactly as I did when I was your age? Your body healed with time but you had memories of your life to that point. We implemented a new technology into your brain which could replicate and generate memories and thoughts and feelings as if they were your own. You were given identical memories to the local kids your age, your school work and childhood memories, all false."
"How can that be, I have pictures, and memories so vivid I could paint you a picture. I remember names and events of things that happened long before ten years ago."
"Synthetic. We made they for you based on the experiences of your classmates. When you were released from the hospital, we moved to Sioul from the capitol, your fellow classmates thought nothing of it. They have no idea."
Donovan was shocked by this news. Everything in his life had new meaning as questions filled his head to the point where he could hardly arrange them for asking. His voice began to crack in disbelieve as a small tear clouded his eye.
"So...who..who brought me to you."
"Benvole."
Spikket interrupted. "Shortly after we signed on, we were sent to Namarees for a very specific mission. The orders came straight from Vader himself and although we tried to delay transmitions and confuse the landing, the mission was successful. That day, 3 Jedi were killed by our hands. Benvole's troops raided an underground rail station killing dozens of civilians with blasts from thermal detonators. The 3 Jedi were exterminated with little difficulty, they were ambushed underground and incinerated like rats. However, one young Jedi Padawan, his master already slain, managed to escape. Benvole found him and ordered him to be taken to sick bay rather than destroyed. Then a Lieutenant, the boy was placed in his supervision and Benvole set up a complex series of distractions in which to escape with the boy. He sabotaged several areas of the medical building to explode and loose power simultaneously, looking like a well-planned attack. Under the cover of night, and amid the chaos, he snuck out with the boy and managed to steal a transport. He sent a distress signal saying how he had been kidnapped by Jedi Knights who broke in to steal the boy. He landed near a small smugglers camp on Kessel and stole a civilian freighter. From there he landed here on Orepsorp, the capitol where he met with your father."
General Addick took over where Spikket had left off. "No doubt by now you realize that you were that boy. He brought me to you and explained your importance, unfortunately, Benvole could not stay with us here, he returned to his greater mission and upong arrival back at his command, told the story of how he escaped from the custody of the Jedi and stole a freighter. A half-truth that earned him the Imperial Medal of Bravery."
Donovan was beginning to anger. To him this story made no sense, it all seemed like a fairy tale.
"No way! No way am I a Jedi! And who is this Benvole anyway, how could he pull of something like that?"
Spikket and Addick looked at each other and then Spikket spoke.
"Benvole is a Jedi himself. He lost contact with the Council just before their destruction. After he lost contact with the Rebel Alliance, everyone thought he had been found and been killed. Although he has served the Empire, he is true to the Force, his rogue ways have made him victorious time and time again and he was rapidly promoted to the rank of Admiral."
The General took over where his colleague left off. "When he first brought me to you, he needed to find a way to complete your Jedi training so that one day when called for, you could help him destroy the empire from the inside. It seemed impossible for him to keep his post and still contact you. It was too risky to expose Sioul and the Rebel forces here. We took a chance and used an untested new system of telecommunal remote mind control, long distance teaching. It was still experimental, even now we can only use it across rooms, maybe across town if necessary, but we had to outfit your system to transmit from lightyears away, we never knew where Benvole would be."
"Is this thing in my head?! You saying that someone I have never met has been beaming me messages for the past ten years." Donovan jumped to his feet, we in a frantic fury he now raised his voice at the two veterans as he wiped his sweaty palm on his flight suit.
"Calm down son, and please, listen." Donovan sat down as General Addick continued. "The system work out extremely well with only one known side-effect, those flashes you have from time to time. That's simply your sub conscience trying to release itself. All you have learned and all your instincts are suppressed, its time for you to release them."
"Benvole has all but completed your training. As you grow older your instincts become more powerful and more aggressive, you can't live this lie any longer its time for you to face your true self." Spikket pleaded with the cadet to try and realize the truth but he was still weary.
"This is why you have been getting those flashes more and more as you grow older, we knew it would happen, but we couldn't tell you until you were ready. You are powerful and cunning, you have learned well all that I can teach you about flying and strategies, your time here is done."
A tear dropped from the General's eye as his looked at his son who stood baffled, and speechless before him. Considering the severity of the news, he took it rather well; he slowly sat down and placed his hand over his face as he took a deep breath.
"What do I have to do now?" he asked his father wearily
"All you have to do is go to the Kannto system. Benvole will contact you there. We have a secret depot there, landing should not be difficult."
"Kannto is a big place, how will he find me?"
"He is a Jedi, he will find you easily. Take my shuttle to Kul-Dahn spaceport, you will know what to do from there."
Donovan's mind was clouded with thoughts and emotions. He said nothing but simply sat and contemplated the truth just revealed to him. Something inside him told him he must accept his fate. If he was to be a true Jedi, as his father said he was, he could not hide from this, but must serve his duty to the Force and to the Alliance. He looked up and wiped a tear from his eye.
"When do I leave?"
"I am a Rebel Spy. I have been an officer in the Imperial Starfleet for almost ten years. Along with Admiral Benvole, we have slowly been gaining intelligence for the Alliance to mount an attack on the Empire from within. The situation has become much more complicated since the Empire has been greatly efficient at hunting down Rebel bases and finding their spies within our ranks. Myself and Admiral Benvole, who began as an Ensign almost a year before I did, were transferred to seek and destroy duty on the Star Destroyer Vengeance. We were not part of the destruction of the Rebellion but we could do nothing to stop it. We watched as the very men we commanded hunted down Rebel bases and shot down Rebel fighters with extreme precision and efficiency."
"And you let this happen!?" Donovan interrupted with great despair. Although he was a great young pilot, he did not understand the ways of war.
"We have no choice, we would surely have been executed on the spot if they found out we were Rebels. Sabotage was too difficult, all we could do was wait, and watch. We could not contact our Rebel allies nor make any sort of sign that we knew any of their locations. For ten years, we have served the Empire as a true soldier of evil. Now is the time to strike back."
"I'm all for destroying the Empire, but how does this concern me?" Donovan was curious where he would fit in with this intricate plot that was about to unfurl.
Pikket looked at General Addick as he nodded his head.
"Donovan, you are not actually my son. You were brought to me just over ten years ago, you were injured and burned and had no recollection of any past experiences. You were on the verge of death, but our biomedical engineers rebuilt your body and your mind with precision. Your face was almost completely burned to nothing, they molded you a new one and used myself as the model, did you ever wonder how you look exactly as I did when I was your age? Your body healed with time but you had memories of your life to that point. We implemented a new technology into your brain which could replicate and generate memories and thoughts and feelings as if they were your own. You were given identical memories to the local kids your age, your school work and childhood memories, all false."
"How can that be, I have pictures, and memories so vivid I could paint you a picture. I remember names and events of things that happened long before ten years ago."
"Synthetic. We made they for you based on the experiences of your classmates. When you were released from the hospital, we moved to Sioul from the capitol, your fellow classmates thought nothing of it. They have no idea."
Donovan was shocked by this news. Everything in his life had new meaning as questions filled his head to the point where he could hardly arrange them for asking. His voice began to crack in disbelieve as a small tear clouded his eye.
"So...who..who brought me to you."
"Benvole."
Spikket interrupted. "Shortly after we signed on, we were sent to Namarees for a very specific mission. The orders came straight from Vader himself and although we tried to delay transmitions and confuse the landing, the mission was successful. That day, 3 Jedi were killed by our hands. Benvole's troops raided an underground rail station killing dozens of civilians with blasts from thermal detonators. The 3 Jedi were exterminated with little difficulty, they were ambushed underground and incinerated like rats. However, one young Jedi Padawan, his master already slain, managed to escape. Benvole found him and ordered him to be taken to sick bay rather than destroyed. Then a Lieutenant, the boy was placed in his supervision and Benvole set up a complex series of distractions in which to escape with the boy. He sabotaged several areas of the medical building to explode and loose power simultaneously, looking like a well-planned attack. Under the cover of night, and amid the chaos, he snuck out with the boy and managed to steal a transport. He sent a distress signal saying how he had been kidnapped by Jedi Knights who broke in to steal the boy. He landed near a small smugglers camp on Kessel and stole a civilian freighter. From there he landed here on Orepsorp, the capitol where he met with your father."
General Addick took over where Spikket had left off. "No doubt by now you realize that you were that boy. He brought me to you and explained your importance, unfortunately, Benvole could not stay with us here, he returned to his greater mission and upong arrival back at his command, told the story of how he escaped from the custody of the Jedi and stole a freighter. A half-truth that earned him the Imperial Medal of Bravery."
Donovan was beginning to anger. To him this story made no sense, it all seemed like a fairy tale.
"No way! No way am I a Jedi! And who is this Benvole anyway, how could he pull of something like that?"
Spikket and Addick looked at each other and then Spikket spoke.
"Benvole is a Jedi himself. He lost contact with the Council just before their destruction. After he lost contact with the Rebel Alliance, everyone thought he had been found and been killed. Although he has served the Empire, he is true to the Force, his rogue ways have made him victorious time and time again and he was rapidly promoted to the rank of Admiral."
The General took over where his colleague left off. "When he first brought me to you, he needed to find a way to complete your Jedi training so that one day when called for, you could help him destroy the empire from the inside. It seemed impossible for him to keep his post and still contact you. It was too risky to expose Sioul and the Rebel forces here. We took a chance and used an untested new system of telecommunal remote mind control, long distance teaching. It was still experimental, even now we can only use it across rooms, maybe across town if necessary, but we had to outfit your system to transmit from lightyears away, we never knew where Benvole would be."
"Is this thing in my head?! You saying that someone I have never met has been beaming me messages for the past ten years." Donovan jumped to his feet, we in a frantic fury he now raised his voice at the two veterans as he wiped his sweaty palm on his flight suit.
"Calm down son, and please, listen." Donovan sat down as General Addick continued. "The system work out extremely well with only one known side-effect, those flashes you have from time to time. That's simply your sub conscience trying to release itself. All you have learned and all your instincts are suppressed, its time for you to release them."
"Benvole has all but completed your training. As you grow older your instincts become more powerful and more aggressive, you can't live this lie any longer its time for you to face your true self." Spikket pleaded with the cadet to try and realize the truth but he was still weary.
"This is why you have been getting those flashes more and more as you grow older, we knew it would happen, but we couldn't tell you until you were ready. You are powerful and cunning, you have learned well all that I can teach you about flying and strategies, your time here is done."
A tear dropped from the General's eye as his looked at his son who stood baffled, and speechless before him. Considering the severity of the news, he took it rather well; he slowly sat down and placed his hand over his face as he took a deep breath.
"What do I have to do now?" he asked his father wearily
"All you have to do is go to the Kannto system. Benvole will contact you there. We have a secret depot there, landing should not be difficult."
"Kannto is a big place, how will he find me?"
"He is a Jedi, he will find you easily. Take my shuttle to Kul-Dahn spaceport, you will know what to do from there."
Donovan's mind was clouded with thoughts and emotions. He said nothing but simply sat and contemplated the truth just revealed to him. Something inside him told him he must accept his fate. If he was to be a true Jedi, as his father said he was, he could not hide from this, but must serve his duty to the Force and to the Alliance. He looked up and wiped a tear from his eye.
"When do I leave?"