Gavyn Sykes

"Lieutenant Sykes, glad you made it. You've been well trained."

- Captain Panaka

Gavyn Sykes was a Human male native of Naboo who served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naboo Security Forces during the Trade Federation's invasion of the planet in 32 BBY. He, alongside his commanding officer, Captain Kael, organized a resistance group against the Federation's battle droid army. Allying themselves with the influential smuggler Borvo the Hutt, Sykes and his comrades performed daring raids on the enemy territory, liberating a number of Naboo citizens from Federation mining camps. Borvo, however, betrayed the resistance, killing Kael and enslaving the Naboo people. Sykes avenged his fallen superior, liberating the Naboo and forcing Borvo to retreat to Nal Hutta. After Kael's death, Sykes briefly assumed a leadership position in his resistance cell and performed a successful raid on the Federation Camp Four, freeing its prisoners.

Sykes later played a crucial role in Queen Padmé Amidala's effort to retake the planet. He participated in the diversionary assault on the occupied capital city of Theed and later joined the space battle over Naboo as a member of Bravo Squadron, single-handedly taking down tractor beam generators and deflector shields protecting one of the hangar arms of the droid control ship. This allowed the young Force-sensitive Anakin Skywalker to fly his starfighter into the ship's inner structure and destroy it from within, thus deactivating the Federation's battle droids on the planet. Sykes continued to serve the Royal Naboo Security Forces for many more years and, by 1 ABY, he had become a captain in the smuggling patrol, serving as a watchman in the city of Keren, while his nemesis, Borvo, returned to Naboo and settled in Moenia. During this time, Sykes employed a spacer to help him take down a Gungan smuggling gang that worked for Borvo and attempted to smuggle animal carcasses infected with a dangerous Berserker Virus to Corellia, where Borvo had hoped to develop a bioweapon.

Early life
Gavyn Sykes was a Human male, native to the planet Naboo. Sykes spent much of his youth flying local transports before joining the Royal Naboo Security Forces, where he eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant. Serving under Captain Kael, Sykes patrolled the secret tunnels and outskirts of the capital city of Theed. The patrolling duties honed Sykes' military skills, and whether he was driving a Flash speeder or piloting an N-1 starfighter, he defended the citizens of Naboo and his fellow officers. At some point prior to 32 BBY, Sykes, Kael, and the RNSF leader, Captain Panaka, escorted a Naboo delegation to the galactic capital of Coruscant. Once they reached the planet, however, the delegation was attacked by a mysterious starship&mdash;in reality, Sith Lord Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator&mdash;forcing Sykes to chase the ship through the streets of the planet. Ultimately, Sykes was able to drive away the attacker.

The invasion
In 32 BBY, the Trade Federation blockaded Naboo, protesting against the Galactic Senate's taxation of trade routes to the outlying star systems. The Federation soon invaded the planet, and their droid army swept into Theed, intent on forcing Queen Padmé Amidala to sign a treaty authorizing the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo. Sykes was on patrol in Theed at the time and was listening on the comlink as Panaka, hoping to prevent an all-out war, ordered all members of the security forces to evacuate from the city and not to engage the enemy except in self-defense. Sykes was then contacted by Kael, who informed him that he was pinned down near the Security Forces headquarters by several droidekas. Kael's Flash speeder had been damaged, and its weapons malfunctioned. Sykes quickly rescued his Captain, and the pair made their way through the city streets in an attempt to escape. They eventually found a pair of Heavy STAPs, but before they were able to utilize them, they were attacked by an Armored Assault Tank. Sykes was able to destroy the tank, however, and joined Kael in using the Heavy STAPs to escape the city. Meanwhile, the Queen and Panaka escaped to Coruscant with the help of two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Sykes and Kael traveled through the countryside, protecting local citizens from the attacking Trade Federation battle droids on STAPs. When faced with heavy resistance from the Federation, however, Kael decided to go to the swamps, hoping to find help from local traders who lived there in a village. Sykes and Kael entered a nearby hangar and obtained two N-X Police Cruisers. They reached the village, only to find it already overwhelmed by Trade Federation forces, as the village leader Rohan Wayside tried to evacuate his people on houseboats. Sykes protected Wayside's boats from attacking Trade Federation gunboats and droid starfighters. Sykes and Kael then rescued one of the village's police officers, Vedd Deviss, who had been pinned down at the far end of the settlement. In gratitude for saving his people, Wayside told the two officers that he had heard rumors of an influential smuggler who had the ability help in their cause. The village leader then sent Deviss to show Sykes and Kael the way to the mountains, where the smuggler was supposedly located.

Sykes, Kael, and Deviss soon reached the mountains, where Sykes' Police Cruiser was shot down by a droid starfighter patrol. Sykes was forced to make an emergency landing in a nearby security hangar and changed his damaged craft to a Flash speeder. As Kael and Deviss proceeded to look for the smuggler in their starfighters in the eastern passage, Sykes took the speeder to the northern passage. On his way, however, he witnessed a homestead under attack by battle droids. Sykes dispatched the attackers, and the thankful homestead owner led Sykes to a piece of technology to upgrade his vehicle. Sykes then returned to his original mission and soon found a freighter being attacked by AATs. Contacting the freighter, he discovered that it belonged to the smuggler that Sykes' resistance cell was looking for, Borvo the Hutt. Sykes rescued him from AATs, and Borvo agreed to enter an alliance with the resistance. At this moment, Kael and Deviss finally arrived and joined Sykes.

Borvo then requested to be escorted to his base deep in the mountains, where he possessed an N-1 assembly site. Sykes suspected that the Hutt might be leading them into a trap, but Kael convinced him that they should take their chances with Borvo. Upon reaching another hangar, Sykes and Deviss changed their vehicles, with Sykes taking a police cruiser, while Deviss took control of a landspeeder. Navigating through the mined passages in the mountains, Sykes, Kael and Deviss escorted Borvo to his base, which was under attack by Trade Federation forces. After one of Borvo's pilots, Kol Kotha, transferred from Borvo's freighter to his own starfighter and joined the battle, Sykes and the others managed to repel the attack. With the assembly site now in their hands, Kael and Borvo planned to strike back at the Federation.

On the offensive
"Sykes, you've just been drafted into the Trade Federation. Head into that hangar and grab the Trade Federation gunboat."

- Kael

Kael and Borvo's plan was to attack one of Trade Federation bases on the planet. The base, however, was controlled by a comm satellite codenamed Comm 4 in orbit of Naboo, and the resistance needed to destroy the satellite in order to disable the base's defenses. Kael, Sykes, Deviss, and Borvo's pilot Adela Tyché boarded N-1 starfighters and took off into space, joined by Kotha in his starfighter. However, upon reaching Comm 4, the group found it protected by a powerful deflector shield, which was powered up by three slave satellites nearby. Moreover, the smaller satellites were protected by droid starfighters as well as a mine field located near each satellite. Nevertheless, Sykes and the others destroyed the slave satellites, lowering Comm 4's shield and taking down Comm 4 itself. Sykes and his comrades then headed for the deactivated Trade Federation base, where they hoped to destroy all enemy weapons and craft and to steal a Trade Federation gunboat for the resistance. Once inside the base, the five started methodically destroying everything that belonged to the Trade Federation. Shortly thereafter, however, the base was reactivated, and Sykes and the others had to fight their way to the main gunboat launch site, where Sykes traded his starfighter for a gunboat. Hoping that the enemy would take Sykes as a Neimoidian escaping from the attacked base, Kael sent the Lieutenant up the Andrevea River on a recon mission.

After carefully navigating through Trade Federation proximity mines laid in the water, Sykes spotted an enemy patrol craft flying overhead. Sykes panicked, but was calmed by Kael and ordered to proceed further. Sykes then reached a mining camp, where the captured Naboo were being used by the Federation as slaves. Sykes destroyed the base's defenses and power generators, liberating the prisoners, who were then picked up by Borvo's transports and evacuated. After witnessing a Trade Federation gunboat sentry blast away to another camp, Sykes feared that it might warn the enemy and chased it, destroying the sentry. Upon reaching the other camp, Sykes received a communication from Deviss, who reported that he had been sent by Kael to provide air support for Sykes. Before he was able to join the fight, however, Deviss requested that Sykes destroy all anti-aircraft turrets in the camp. After Sykes did so, Deviss made an attack run on the camp in his N-1 starfighter, destroying the power generator and liberating the slaves, who boarded several houseboats. At this point, Borvo informed the resistance that he had no more transports to spare, so Sykes and Deviss were forced to escort the prisoners by themselves.

Sykes and Deviss planned to rendezvous with Kael at a safe sanctuary at the ancient ruins near the Devils tower mountain, and they soon reached the town of Ferentina which was located on the way there. However, Ferentina was already under attack by the Trade Federation forces; the enemy collapsed a bridge, sealing the nautical way to the ruins, so the rescued civilians needed to make the rest of the journey on land. While the prisoners switched from houseboats to speeders, Sykes traded his gunboat for a starfighter, destroyed several AATs that were attacking the prisoners, and blocked the way for Trade Federation reinforcements by collapsing the entrance to a tunnel used by enemy troops to reach the town. Flying over Ferentina, Sykes rescued another group of civilians, who had been trapped by a collapsed tower, and who then joined the convoy with the prisoners. Sykes and Deviss escorted the convoy all the way to the ruins and sealed the way behind them by collapsing a rock bed, preventing the Trade Federation from following the escapees there. As Sykes and Deviss regrouped at the ruins, however, one of the resistance pilots, Lutin Hollis, appeared. Hollis said that while he and Kael had been protecting Borvo's transports, they had been ambushed, and Kael had been shot down. Certain that Kael was still alive, Sykes immediately boarded one of the Flash speeders and set off to find his Captain, with Hollis and Deviss flying cover for him.

Betrayed
"Sykes. The Hutt be&hellip;trayed us.''" "And the rescued prisoners?" "''He'll use them&hellip;as slaves. Rescue them. Good luck. Ah."

- Captain Kael's last words to Sykes

Sykes, Deviss, and Hollis went separate ways, proceeding to look for Kael in different directions. Sykes soon stumbled upon Borvo's ship flying away from a mining camp under attack by AATs. Sykes repelled the attack and asked the mining camp operator about Kael's location. The operator, however, panicked and rudely ordered Sykes to leave, stating that he was performing a legal operation. The camp's defensive turrets then opened fire at Sykes, who destroyed the turrets and witnessed that several cargo transports were trying to escape. Sykes realized that Borvo used the camp to illegally mine crystals, stealing them from the Naboo. After Sykes destroyed the transports, he was contacted by Hollis, who had found Kael's downed starfighter. The Federation had located Kael, however, and began bombing the site of his crash. Sykes dispatched the bombers and reached Kael, who was gravely wounded. With his dying breath, the Captain revealed that Borvo had betrayed the resistance and enslaved the Naboo people; Borvo had also attacked Kael to cover his tracks. Angered by Kael's murder, Sykes decided to go after the Hutt, taking an N-1 starfighter. Sykes requested that Deviss locate Borvo, and the latter told him that he had spotted Borvo's ship heading for Porso Hill. On his way there, Sykes was confronted by Borvo's pilots, who attempted to turn him around. Driven by vengeance, Sykes did not comply and dispatched Borvo's men.

As he closed in on Porso Hill, Sykes was stopped by Kotha. The Lieutenant told Kotha not to try to stop him, but Kotha did not intend to. On the contrary, he, not viewing himself as a slaver, decided to join Sykes. Sykes gladly accepted his help and asked Kotha to lead him to Borvo. He then contacted Deviss and Hollis, telling them to meet him at Porso Hill. Sykes and Kotha reached Porso Hill, but Kotha received major damage to his fighter and was forced to retreat, leaving Sykes to confront the Hutt by himself. Borvo was impressed by Sykes' persistence and offered him a place in his organization, but the Lieutenant declined and Borvo ordered his fighters to attack him. Deviss and Hollis soon joined the fight, and Sykes ordered them to harass Borvo's ship with torpedoes while he took care of enemy starfighters and turrets. The two pilots, however, had run out of torpedoes, so Sykes had to take down Borvo by himself. He inflicted enough damage to the Hutt's freighter, but it turned out that the ship's cranial section could be separated, and Borvo escaped on it to Nal Hutta along with Adela Tyché. Still, the mission was a success, and Borvo's prisoners were rescued.

With Kael dead, Sykes was left in charge of his resistance cell, and he decided to return to their fight against the Trade Federation; however, he had no idea where to start. Kotha, who had investigated several Trade Federation slaving camps, offered to attack one of them, Camp Four, and Sykes agreed. Sykes, Kotha and Hollis located the camp in a nearby valley and traveled there. However, Hollis, believing that his family was being kept in the camp, broke formation and flew right into a Federation installation, giving away the resistance's position. Sykes, Hollis, and Kotha evaded heavy fire, only to find local farmsteads attacked by Federation bombers. After Sykes dispatched the bombers, he located a hangar from which automated carriers delivered prisoners to Camp Four. Programming several unoccupied carriers to travel to the camp, Sykes took a Heavy STAP and followed them in. Once inside the camp, the carriers were scanned by battle droids, revealing Sykes' deception. The Lieutenant was attacked by the enemy, but with some help from Hollis and Kotha, he managed to fight off the Federation and rescued the prisoners.

During another mission, Sykes flew cover for a team of Naboo commandos, who had infiltrated a Trade Federation Research Station in order to uncover the Federation's secrets. The Federation had sent an army to destroy the facility to prevent the secret information from falling into the Naboo hands. Sykes defended the commandos from Federation attacks until they had downloaded the data from the facility and boarded a Consular-class cruiser. Sykes escorted the cruiser, helping it to safely escape. The data obtained by the commandos revealed a new type of battle droid in development by the Federation.

Retaking the planet
"Good work. We've crippled their defenses."

- One of Bravo Squadron's pilots, after Sykes destroys the shield generator

Soon thereafter, Queen Amidala returned to Naboo to liberate the planet. Sykes was contacted on a secure RNSF channel by Captain Panaka, who was rallying all resistance cells and told Sykes to meet him at Rasker Hill. After Sykes reached the destination and rescued Panaka from some attacking droids, the Captain ordered Sykes to take his forces and guard the south ridge of Theed while the Queen was preparing for the final battle. However, the south ridge was soon compromised as a large Federation convoy of AATs and Multi-Troop Transports moved through it. The convoy in actuality comprised Trade Federation Army C. It was headed for the Grassy Plains to assist the main Federation army, which the native Gungans&mdash;hoping to draw the majority of Trade Federation forces away from Theed in order to leave it vulnerable for Amidala's attack&mdash;had engaged in a battle there. Sykes soon received a distress call from Palmer &mdash;an RNSF officer whom Sykes had rescued from the Federation &mdash;who told him that the forces on the south ridge were under attack by Trade Federation forces. Sykes helped Palmer fight off the attack and switched to an experimental Naboo bomber, using it to destroy the convoy as it was crossing the Widow's Valley.

Sykes was then chosen by Panaka to participate in a diversionary assault on Theed. Splitting into several groups, the Royal Naboo Security Forces were ordered to distract the Trade Federation forces left in Theed, allowing Amidala and Panaka to sneak into the Theed Royal Palace and capture the Federation's Viceroy, Nute Gunray. Sykes and Kotha, under the callsign Group 1, traveled through Theed, inflicting heavy damage to the Federation forces. They rescued Palmer, who had been pinned down by droids, and his Group 2. Sykes and the rest soon reached Theed's courtyard, rendezvousing there with Group 3, which included some trained commandos; the commandos blew open the gates blocking the way to the Theed Hangar. Meeting Panaka near the hangar, Sykes destroyed enemy AATs that guarded the building, and moving inside, Sykes partnered with the astromech droid R2-C4 and took an N-1 starfighter into space. He joined Bravo Squadron as Bravo Six in an assault on the Federation's droid control ship.

After fighting their way through enemy starfighters, Bravo Squadron reached the control ship. They tried to attack the ship's central bridge, but the primary shield generators proved to be too strong, and the squadron was unable to inflict any damage. Moreover, Palmer was captured by the ship's tractor beam and killed by enemy fire. Sykes then destroyed the deflector shield and tractor beam generators protecting the entrance to one of the ship's hangar arms, allowing one of Bravo Squadron's fighters&mdash;piloted by the young Force-sensitive Anakin Skywalker&mdash;to fly inside the ship's structure and destroy it from within. With the control ship destroyed, all droid forces on Naboo were deactivated, and the planet was liberated. Sykes then attended the victory celebration ceremony, standing beside Queen Amidala and the newly elected Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Shortly thereafter, Sykes explored the Grassy Plains, the site of the battle between the Gungans and the Federation, where he noticed a large amount of blue slime left from the Gungans' boomas.

Galactic Civil War
"I'm Captain Sykes with the RSF's smuggling patrol. This is a long shot, but maybe you could help me. We confiscated animal carcasses from a Gungan smuggling gang that was shipping them offworld. This violates all kinds of regulations. The leader says one smuggler is bringing more carcasses to the drop point. We're short-staffed right now, so I'm desperate. Can you try to stop the smuggler?"

- Captain Gavyn Sykes

Sykes continued to serve in the Royal Naboo Security Forces, and had been promoted to captain by the time of the Galactic Civil War. Borvo also returned to Naboo, settling in the city of Moenia, though Sykes kept a close eye on him and fought him on every front. In 1 ABY, Sykes worked in the RNSF's smuggling patrol as a watchman in the Kwilaan Starport in the city of Keren. During this time, the patrol managed to uncover a Gungan smuggling ring that transported animal carcasses off-world. Sykes' men captured several smugglers and confiscated the carcasses, which revealed that the animals had died of an unusual disease. However, one of the captured smugglers also revealed that the Gungan Zim Zam Blattis would try to ship more carcasses soon. Since the smuggling patrol was understaffed at the time, Sykes hired a spacer to stop Blattis, and the spacer killed the Gungan. Believing that Borvo was behind every criminal activity on Naboo, Sykes began to suspect the Hutt's involvement in the smuggling ring.

Sykes later received reports of attacks by crazed animals. The normally harmless beasts suffered from some kind of a virus that drove them crazy. After learning that the smugglers were trying to capture the crazed beasts, Sykes believed that they were hoping to extract the virus to produce a bioweapon. To prevent them from doing so, Sykes once again requested the aid of the spacer, asking him to kill a berserk ikopi. The spacer completed the task as well, earning Sykes' gratitude. Sykes' suspicions regarding Borvo soon proved true, as it was found out that the Gungans were taking orders from Haf Mandrox, one of Borvo's lieutenants. On Sykes' request, the spacer located Mandrox and brought him in for questioning. Mandrox revealed that the animals had been infected with the Berserker Virus, which had been created by one of Borvo's scientists. The virus rewired the animals' brain to connect sensory input directly to aggression centers, making them attack everything in sight. The Gungan smugglers were planning another attempt to smuggle the carcasses to bioengineers on Corellia in order to turn the virus into a deadly bioweapon. Having come to trust the spacer, Sykes assigned him to stop this from happening. The spacer intercepted the shipment, killed the Gungan in charge of it, and stopped the deadly disease.

Personality and traits
"Borvo likes your spirit, Sykes. He offers you a place by his side.''" "''I don't take bribes. Now set down."

- Adela Tyché and Lt. Gavyn Sykes

Gavyn Sykes was a brave and idealistic man, dedicated to the protection of the people of Naboo and his colleagues in the RNSF. Efficient and resourceful, Sykes was a good pilot, capable of skillfully handling a variety of vehicles, and he developed a particular liking for the Flash speeder, due to its great speed. Overall, Captain Panaka found Sykes to be well trained. Due to his desire to protect the citizens of Naboo, however, Sykes occasionally found himself sidetracked from his original mission in an effort to protect yet another homestead, and he had to be reminded by Captain Kael that they were unable to save everyone. When he witnessed a Federation patrol craft above Andrevea River, Sykes panicked, and Kael had to calm him down.

Sykes did not trust Borvo the Hutt, but agreed to follow him after Kael decided to use the Hutt's help. When Borvo betrayed the resistance and killed Kael, Sykes was driven by vengeance and was determined to oust the Hutt from Naboo. Years later, Sykes still bore a grudge against Borvo, correctly guessing his involvement in the Berserker Virus plot. He had some leadership skills, managing to successfully guide his resistance group in the raid on Camp 4 after Kael's death, and eventually earning a promotion to captain. Sykes was an honest officer and did not accept bribes, refusing Borvo's offer to join him. After the spacer he met in Keren performed several tasks for him, Sykes came to trust the individual, giving him the important task of stopping the virus. Additionally, Sykes was not very well-versed in bioengineering.

Behind the scenes
"I was lucky enough to receive a credit and portray Fighter Pilot Bravo 6&mdash;Lt. Gavyn Sykes in Episode I. There is a wider story to Sykes than may be obvious from the movie, but the backstory was revealed in the game 'Battle for Naboo'."

- Christian J Simpson

Gavyn Sykes first appeared as a background extra in the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The character was originally known only as "Bravo Six" and was portrayed by the British actor Christian J Simpson. Simpson was chosen for the role&mdash;the first in his career&mdash;during a casting session in London. He saw an advertisement in a newspaper that stated that extras were wanted for the film and contacted his acting agent, delivering her his curriculum vitae. The agent managed to secure an audition for Simpson, and he was eventually cast. Several cockpit scenes were filmed with Simpson, but they were cut due to time constraints. Simpson, however, can still be seen briefly in two scenes of the film, first running to his starfighter, and then standing at the celebration ceremony ninth in the line of pilots. Though the actor was uncredited for his portrayal of Bravo Six, Simpson did receive a credit as an "utility stand-in," having personally requested a credit from the film's producer Rick McCallum. Simpson was grateful to be featured in Episode I, having dreamed about being in a Star Wars movie since he was a child. He was left with especially intense memories of the filming of the hangar scene, where mini-explosive pellets were fired at him and even exploded on his hat, and sparks flew across his face.

When LucasArts were looking for a central character for the 2000 video game Star Wars: Battle for Naboo, they decided to use one of the pilots that survived the space battle and eventually settled upon Simpson's "Bravo Six," naming the pilot "Gavyn Sykes." Sykes acted as the protagonist of the game, which covered his exploits during the Federation's occupation of Naboo and culminated with him destroying the droid control ship's shields. In Battle for Naboo, Sykes was voiced by Matt Walters, a more local actor to California's LucasArts than Simpson was back in London. Simpson's likeness was however later used to portray a promoted Captain Sykes in the 2003 MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. Simpson was honored to know that his character had been chosen as the protagonist of Battle for Naboo, and he even played the game himself. Due to his involvement in The Phantom Menace, Simpson was later cast as Hayden Christensen's (Anakin Skywalker) stand-in for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and was given a VIP blog at StarWars.com, where he shared behind-the-scenes information from the movie sets. In his blog, Simpson has expressed an interest in portraying Sykes in the upcoming Star Wars live-action TV series.

Since Skywalker's destruction of the droid control ship can be viewed as the first step in his fall to the dark side, Sykes can be held partially responsible for helping him take that step. This led Simpson to jokingly apologize for the creation of Darth Vader. Since Sykes' role in the battle is not clearly evident in The Phantom Menace, however, this led some fans to question the Lieutenant's involvement in Skywalker's victory. When Simpson was asked about this by a fan, he posted the question in his blog, asking Lucasfilm's Leland Chee, the keeper of their Holocron continuity database, if Sykes' destruction of the deflector shields was canon, to which Chee replied affirmatively. This was later confirmed in the Ask Lobot section of the 112th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine. After the magazine was published, fans asked the toy company Hasbro if a Sykes action figure would be released someday, and in July 2010, Hasbro responded that it was not currently in the works but could possibly make it into the lineup in a few years.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars: Battle for Naboo