William slowly began to wake up, struggling to open his eyes fully. His surroundings looked familiar, the dull grey and blinding lights of an Imperial med bay. He brought his right hand to scratch at his chin, feeling the faintest of stubble; small prickly hair scratching against his fingertips. They must've shaved him. He strained his eyes, blinking vigorously to get the sleep out of his vision and clear his sight. William then tied moving his left arm, only to feel a heavy weight keep him from moving what he thought was left. He looked down at the remains of his arm and saw that his forearm had been replaced. Where there was nothing was now a crimson red cybernetic limb. William tried moving his fingers, and the cybernetic digits twitching and flexing, then balling into a fist. William lifted the arm and brought it close to his face, studying the metal the arm was made of, seeing that it appeared to be made of the armor Drekar wore, or at least some of it. He shifted on the bed he was laying on, sitting on the edge. He rubbed his face, the cold metal stinging his skin, when the door to this chamber opened. He looked up, seeing Andriana and Draxacon walk in.
"Captain." Andriana calmly said, keeping a calm and cool expression on her face, although William could see the red streaks running down her cheeks. She had her hands clasped together behind her back, and she moved to a side wall, letting Draxacon move to William. The Storm trooper leader walked past Andriana and next to William's bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"William." He said, his usual upbeat and energetic self that William normally saw replaced with a toneless and dull portrayal. William put his face back into his hands, his memory slowly coming back to him. TS-15 said that Drekar spoke of Draxacon to them, and that would mean the two had some sort of connection. William's new arm then shot away from his face and grabbed Draxacon by his shirt, gripping the man he once considered friend. Draxacon did not response, allowing William to slowly stand up. William placed his other hand on Draxacon's shirt and pulled him towards him, Draxacon raising his hand when he noticed Andriana shifting to interfere, telling her to not get int the middle of this. William stood up fully, his green eyes glaring at his friend.
"You will tell me all you know."
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The door to Draxacon's chamber slid open, the owner of the room and William entering. Andriana had left to give out orders to their new crew. Draxacon had began explaining by informing William that it had been a week since Mygeeto. They were currently orbiting Gwori in the Emperor's Conviction. The two replica Star Destroyers had been made already thanks to how efficient Kha Vulpus' shipyard had become over the years. They were currently moving all of the supplies to the copy of the Emperor's Conviction, and the transfer was almost complete. The door slid close as the two entered, leaving the two in the darkness of Draxacon's room. William sat on his bed while Draxacon took a seat at his desk activating the terminals. The screens came to life, revealing a plethora of information: A number of different planets, the file on Drekar, the medical files on William Jaeger and a mission report dated back to 25,043 CSC, nineteen years ago, and a year after the Clone Wars. William focused on that piece of information a long moment as the screens continued to plaster up information Draxacon believed relevant. He began to grow angery once more.
Why was that year causing this growth in rage? The same rage he felt when dealing with that rebel scum? The same he felt when fighting Drekar?
Draxacon turned in his chair and opened his mouth, prepared to explain, when William pointed at the mission report, drawing Draxacon's attention to it. "Tell me about that." William growled through gritting teeth, trying and failing to hold back his rage.
Draxacon sighed, imputing commands and enlarging the file. It revealed a number of images: Troopers wearing white armor similar to Storm troopers patrolling what looked like a burning village, dead bodies, prisoners, and...
A boy being escorted onto a dropship followed by a Mandalorian.
Draxacon swiveled back to look at William. "Now how could you forget your birthday, Jaeger?" he said sarcastically. William glared at Draxacon and was about to jump at him, but the next words that came out of Draxacons mouth stopped him. "Rialla would have been ashamed."
Suddenly, William lost control of his body, and he hell onto Draxacon's bed. He was a passenger in his own mind, images of the past eighteen years flashing past him in this haze. He could hear Draxacon's voice, distant yet clear. "Time for a trip down memory lane, Wil-El."
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25,043 Courusant Standard Calendar
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A young boy jumped up from his bed, running over to the window of his home. He looked outside and grinned, seeing the friendly faces he had grown up with. This village was prosperous and lively due to it being not a strategic planet what so ever. The Separatists never viewed it as viable staging ground to try and assault Corusant, and the planet did not produce any important supplies for the war effort. It was a very peaceful and calm place.
"Wil-El, come over here, please! Your sister is here for a short time!" The boy heard his mother shout. Wil-El's face lit up and he ran away from the window and towards the main hall. His bare feet smacked against the stone floor as he booked it to the living room. He passed the threshold to see his family: His Mother, Father and his big brave sister, Rialla. She had fought in the Clone Wars as a freedom fighter, infiltrating Separatist worlds and helping to start rebellions. She rarely visited home, so when she did, Wil-El was ecstatic. The seven year old's face lit with joy, his lips spreading to make a smile as his big sister chuckled and stood up, shaking her head. Wil-El ran to her and gave her a hug with all of his strength, although it was just a soft hug to his sister who patted his back. He let go and looked up to her as she knelt down to give the boy a proper hug.
"How's my little soldier, huh?" Rialla asked, rubbing Wil-El's back as she hugged him.
"I'm glad you could make it!" He replied, trying to contain himself. She let him go and stood up, looking to their parents. Wil-El turned to look at them as well, but something was off. Usually they had happy natural expressions, but while they smiled at their children, it felt forced, as if something was bothering them. They stood up and slowly moved to the two, his Mother kneeling down and giving Wil-El a kiss on his forehead while his Father gave Rialla a hug. Wil-El watched as Father hugged her, he was holding her tightly. Maybe Father had just missed Rialla.
"Come now, let's go eat. I cooked your favorite." His Mother said to him, forcing a smile as she looked to him. Wil-El could see the tears pooling in his mother's eyes, and was about to ask what was wrong, when the door to their home opened. All four looked up to see a man wearing armor, his face painted shades of green. Rialla focused on this man, Father letting her go.
"Boss, a Star Destroyer just entered the system, and drop ships are approaching fast." the man said, holding a blaster. Wil-El didn't know that the village had any blasters. Rialla nodded and looked to Father, who nodded as well.
"It's as you told us, our little Ria. They had to come out here eventually." He said, slightly defeated. He walked over to a wall and hit it, a panel shifting to reveal a stash of blasters. He grabbed two and walked to the soldier. "Take Wil-El with you. Perhaps you and your husband can raise him with little Verica." He requested, giving Rialla a kiss on the cheek as he walked out and began shouting at the other villagers. His Mother stood up as well, taking a long blaster and heading out.
Rialla knelt down in front of Wil-El once more, but it was not the sister he knew, it was a darker and more serious Rialla. She looked at Wil-El with demanding eyes. "I need you to stay close to me, alright?" She said. Wil-El nodded, unsure of what was going on at all. "Good, now go get your shoes." Wil-El nodded, running back to his room to put on his shoes. He slipped them on, looking outside to see the village that had been lively and happy moments before turn into a dark and somber place, people setting up barricades near their houses and children running with mothers away. He ran back to his sister, seeing her brandishing a blaster pistol. She looked back to Wil-El and grabbed him by the hand.
The two ran out of their home, walking onto the dirt road. She pulled him on, leading him to the nearby forest. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, and Wil-El looked up to see three flying vehicles passing by, turning to see them land at the outskirts of town, blocking the road. Each ship lowered a ramp, and soldiers in white began storming out in lines of two. The drop ship in the middle held one more man, a soldier in red armor holding a blade. He seemed to look directly at them and began moving. The soldiers in white opened fire, while the villagers took cover and fired back. Wil-El shut his eyes as his sister dragged him along, taking him away from the combat.
The siblings left the village and were about to reach the tree line when Rialla stopped. Wil-El opened his eyes to see the red soldier with the sword standing in their way, his cloak waving in the wind. Wil-El could smell smoke coming from behind them, but he dared not look. He did not take his eyes off of this red soldier.
"You've been a thorn in the Emperor's side, Rialla." The man said, tapping his sword against his boot. Both the sword and armor this man wore looked to be made of the same thing, and made a pleasant ringing sound as the two hit.
"And what is a Mandalorian doing with the Empire? Are you one of those traitors that sold your honorable world to them?" She asked, letting go of Wil-El's hand. He looked to his sister. Empire? Did she not mean the Republic?
The man laughed. "If you're referring to Mandalore, I never considered those people my home. My home is my creed, those who saved me. I joined the Empire to try and ensure no child has to deal with the likes of terrorists." He said, the tapping stopping as he raised his blade, pointing at Rialla. "I will avenge those people you killed when you destroyed that space port!"
Rialla did not respond, simply raising her blaster and firing. The bolts harmlessly bounced off as the man began walking towards her. She did not notice how one bolt bounced right past her and grazed Wil-El, sending him falling to the floor. She heard him fall, turning to see his face bloodied, his hands over his right eye. She fully turned, fear flooding her thoughts. "Wil-"Her scream was cut off as she felt something cut through her stomach. She looked down to see the sword had impaled her, her blood running down the edge of the blade. She groaned, and the blade was removed, the motion causing her to fall to her knees. She watched as the Mandalorian sheathed his sword and walked up to the boy who was groaning in pain. He knelt at the boys side, removing the boys hand to reveal the wound the stray bolt had created. If it had hit him directly, he would have been dead. This boy was lucky.
"Look at that, your reckless actions have given this boy a wound that will never heal properly. This is why I stop people like you. Why I hunt rebels." He pulled out a syringe of sorts, stabbing Wil-El in the arm. The substance flowed through his veins and he stopped groaning, the pain fading. He still couldn't open his eye, however. He felt numb. The Mandalorian, looked back to Rialla. "I won't kill him. He looks to be important to you. No, I will raise him as my own and train him to hunt rebels like yourself. He will grow up to kill people just like you." The man watched as the woman fell over, shaking his head. He looked back to the boy. The boy looked back to him, his one good eye being dull.
"Come on, boy." The Mandalorian said, helping the child up. The young one got up, although it was somewhat in a haze. His legs looked weak, and it made sense; he had just survived a blaster bolt to the face, and bacta was flowing through his body. The Mandalorian knelt back in front of the boy, wiping him down. "What is your name, boy?" He asked calmly. The boy seemed to look at the rebel's body for a moment, straining his good eye.
"I...I don't know." The child slowly replied.
The Mandalorian grunted unsatisfied. Perhaps he has suffered some mental trauma due to that injury and fall. He was certain that the bacta numbing was not helping. It seemed that the rebel was about to say the child's name. "I believe your name is William."
The child looked to the man, squinting. It sounded similar, but it felt off. His head was hurting, and this man was friendly enough. "Yeah, that sounds right." William rubbed his head.
The Mandalorian nodded, standing up and taking William's hand. "Come now, boy, let us return home." The child simply nodded, his head fuzzy and unorganized. He followed this man, however, he seemed to be nice, he trusted the man. He held this man's hand as he lead him to one of the drop ships.
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William opened his eyes once more, the dimly lit room filling his vision. He could feel Draxacon looking over him.
"So, now you know how Drekar took you in." He explained, closing the file., imputing commands to bring up some different information. William sat up, looking at Draxacon's screens.
"So why did I not remember any of that? Why did I not remember Drekar as the man who killed my sister, or raised me after burning my home down?" William asked, seeing information regarding him. These specific files were from the ISB.
"Well, once the Imperial Security Bureau noticed that he had taken in a child and was training him, they took you away and conditioned you, put you through vigorous sessions to implant specific memories about your past to help you not question about your past. They altered your memory so you believed you were always an Imperial. You are something of a special project for the Empire, and if you had rebelled it would be unfortunate." Draxacon explained. William shook his head, trying to comprehend.
"So why did Drekar go rogue and activate that Separatist base?"
"Because he realized that the Empire was his true foe. The Jedi may have been bad, but he realized that this Emperor was nothing but pure evil. He would do anything to get his goals, even completely alter his son's memory to make him a pure killing machine. To enslave his creed and turn them into nothing more than subservient soldiers. When he found out you discovered the Centurion plans, he started his plan to make you fight against the Empire."
"Wait, Drekar was the one giving information to the Rebels?" William asked, his voice filled with shock.
"He had the access, so four years ago, he began slowly feeding information to the growing rebellions. He was hoping that they would construct the Centurion class vessel to have a fighting chance against the Empire and their fleets."
William lowered his head, contemplating. This was a lot to take in. The man that gave him his name, who killed his family and destroyed his home, wanted him to rebel against the Empire. He was a pawn, a simple tool to the Emperor to hunt down rebels. He was no son of the Empire.
But he would become its Bane.