Dorn: A Star Wars Story

38. Supplicant

When I returned to the Apalis, I found myself greeted by Thesh, who had made a point of coming down to meet me when I sent word ahead with Drellik and the mask. We were going to need to have a bit of a chat about what exactly this new information I had received meant. Things were getting complicated for me, at least, and there were two people who I knew without a doubt needed to be kept in the loop about it.

"Dorn," Thesh gave me a nod and gestured for me to walk with him once I arrived, and as soon as we had entered the lift and away from prying ears turned to me and furrowed his brow, "Despite the severity of your tone, I'm happy to see the retrieval went well."

"How did your father get his hands on something like this?"

"In short? The man feared absolutely nothing when it came to history," Thesh smiled as he spoke. "He reminded me of your Drellik - an impeccable Archaeologist, curator, and historian who was bullied into working as an archaeological expert for the Jedi. It was... what killed him during the Clone Wars." He turned a holoframe around on his desk and revealed a picture of an unsmiling woman, a young Thesh in a military academy uniform, a smiling Brea dressed in her usual modest Alderaanian attire, and a grinning man that could have been Thesh had he ever been taught to be happy from a young age. He clearly wasn't frontlines military and generally trimer than Thes, but well-kept and looked...

Kind, I decided.

Thesh clearly got the sternness of his countenance from his mother, judging from her almost scowl in what seemed to be a graduation picture. Thesh looked devilishly pleased with himself, and I noted how he leaned into his father in the picture, that or his father was pulling him in closer, face glowing with pride and a huge smile that covered his whole face as Thesh met the camera with a content close-lipped smile. He was happy, though. I could tell. With his then-future wife on one side and his beloved father on the other, he seemed like he had a lot going for him.

And he did. he still did in that moment as he finally turned to look at me, that same close-lipped smile on his face, "So, what is this all about? You summoned both me and Admiral Kaine here, so I am to assume that this is something rather important."

"We'll chat when Sevens gets here," I crossed my arms, and as I did, in walked Sevens, dressed to the nines in his perfect uniform and polished boots, pulling off the black long coat that we wore.

"Speak of the devil," Thesh sighed as Sevens chuckled and sat down in one of the chairs, swiveling himself a bit until he got into a position he liked and crossed his legs over one another.

"So! This sounded important!" He grinned up at me, "What is it, Dorn? Do we have a bead on a Resistance base?"

"Not... exactly," I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to figure out how to even begin formulating any kind of explanation that wouldn't sound like word vomit coming up all at once. I took a deep breath and composed myself as I looked out at the faces of two of my oldest and best friends. "Here it goes. Bear with me..."

I spent the next bit going back over everything. What I knew about my parents, the discovery on Moraband, the mask and the visions, and when I was done, both of them were staring at me with two wildly different expressions. Sevens was looking at me like he was stunned and felt bad for me at the same time, while Thesh looked like he was fitting puzzle pieces together and seeing the completed picture for the very first time.

"Dorn... that's..." Sevens stared at me. 

"Heavy. I know."

To my surprise, Thesh stood up and ran a hand back through his hair, "It all makes sense!" He practically shouted, eyes lighting up like he had cracked a code.