Worlds Apart Chapter 1: Beginning of the End, a star wars fanfic

Worlds Apart

You know the drill. I don't own Jan, Kyle, DF, or any other SW reference you see. I do however own the anonymous mercenary. ;) My luck. Yippee. I have author's notes at the bottom, as usual. And as usual, I cannot make money off this. ::sob!::

Alone again.

For the third time in my life, someone important, someone I loved, is gone.

She didn't really leave me; it's more like she was taken from me. I loved her. I never said it, but I did. Jan Ors, the partner/agent operative of me, Kyle Katarn, has been gone less than a week, and it's killing me. Curse my stubbornness! It got her killed. Her voice is haunting me even as I speak. 'Kyle,' she told me, 'please don't go to Nar Shaddaa again. It'll be the death of us this time around.' I had smiled an arrogant smile and flipped the thrusters to the Crow. 'Ah, Jan. How sweet of you to worry about me. I'll be fine, and so will you. I'll go in, collect those drivers for the New Republic, and we'll come back, and then I'll ask you a question, and then…'

'What are you saying, you moron?'

'Never mind. You'll see.' She rolled her eyes and hailed the New Hope. We went to Nar Shaddaa then and it was a standard search-and-recover. I found the disk that would possibly save our agents a lot of time on recovery acts like these. When I returned to the Crow, a human mercenary I didn't know was waiting for me. He looked slightly worse for the ware. Jan's handiwork on people who come too close the Crow without her permission. But where was Jan and why was this guy waiting for me by my ship?

The answer was obvious. He has a blaster trained on Jan, who was pinned in a chokehold by his left arm. 'Drop the blaster, Rebel.'

I did. 'Let her go.'

'Give me the disk, Katarn, or your girl dies.'

'What do you want with the disk?'

'Business for the Empire. Hand it over or she's dead.' I pulled the disk out of my pocket. Holding up my hands, I stepped closer. 'Just let Jan go as soon as I give it to you. Don't try any heroics, Jan.' Jan took one shuddery breath and affirmed the order. I handed over the recovery disk and he shoved Jan toward me. 'Don't say anything,' I whispered in her ear, 'but we'll get him with the Crow's blasters when we're aboard.' She nodded and grabbed me around my neck with an arm to steady herself. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered. I shook my head. 'Don't be. I can get that disk back someday. I can never get you back.' When I look back, it seems so prophetic that I said that when I did. For just as we turned, that mercenary shouted. 'Hey! This isn't the disk, Katarn. This is a music file!' I pushed Jan toward the ship. 'Hurry and shoot him down.' She ran and he noticed. 'Oh no you don't, lady!' To cover for her, I charged toward him, using the Force to avoid the blaster bolts. I slid into him and gave Jan time to get in the ship and cover me. I heard her over the com a few seconds later. 'Kyle! Stop horsing around, grab your blaster and get onboard!' I did all of the above. After the mercenary was no longer a problem, we went into hyperspace. Barely five minutes after the fight, she shook her head and groaned. 'My head sure does hurt.'

'Are you wounded?'

'I don't think so. I heard a few bolts go over my ear and felt some pops, but that was just the air ionizing. It's happened before.'

'If you think you're alright…'

'I am. It's just a headache from the rapid ionization. I'm going to go take something.' I nodded and took her place piloting. A few minutes later, I heard a sharp 'Ow!' from her stateroom. Setting the ship on autopilot, I ran in to see what was wrong. She was holding her eyes in her hands and cringing. 'What's wrong, Jan?'

'That light hurts my eyes!' This set off warning bells in my head. I dimmed them for her and looked over her head. When I got to the area over her left ear, I found a clump of her hair sticking together. 'Huh. That's weird,' I had commented.

'What?'

'Did you put a lot of hair gel in this morning?'

'No. Why?'

'Your hair is sticking together. Big patch of it too. Let's just see what this is.' I pulled a strand of it away and wet it down. 'It's blood, Jan. You've been shot.' She turned to me and did something I'd never seen her do before. She began to cry. 'I don't want to die, Kyle.' I picked her up and carried her to a bed. When I was hooking up her support system, she stopped crying and looked at me strangely. 'When I get off the hospital ship, let's get married.' I blinked. She came on so strongly. I had to look down. 'I was going to ask you. I don't have a proper ring.' I pulled my father's ring off my finger and put it on hers. "Dad's ring will have to do until I can buy you a wedding band.' I smiled at her and put my hand next to her head. 'Have I fixed you up until we can get to the Fleet?'

'You've done everything right so far.'

'Good. Call if you need me. Don't fall asleep, Jan. I'm serious.' When we returned to the Fleet, I made sure she got to a medical ship. They told me the prognosis wasn't good. She fell unconscious a few days later. They made some excuse why she couldn't be put in bacta, no available tanks or something of the sort. So they slapped a bacta patch to her head. An entire army- excuse the accidental pun, but I'm in no mood for jokes- of her acquaintances showed up to check on her. Mon Mothma, Leia, some guy named Wires, even her friend Chief Wong from Electronic Countermeasures. He seemed rather curious about me and my relation to Jan. 'Who're you again?'

'I'm Kyle Katarn, Jan's agent and fiancé.' That part was unfamiliar and seemed to agitate the officer. 'Since when?'

'Since we were ambushed.' A medic interrupted me, shouting in the observation room 'She's going into shock! We're losing her!' I could only stare morbidly as they tried to save her. A few minutes later, she was still alive. I breathed a sigh of relief. 'That was close. I'm not going to lose her.' The chief director of that particular ward advised me to get some sleep and told Chiefy they'd be in touch if anything happened. I was offered a cot and slept for 18 hours. When I woke up later, she seemed to be improving. I went to my kept room on board the New Hope and grabbed a ring I'd bought several years ago, a rather simple affair made of gold. I walked quickly back to Jan. I slipped my father's ring off her finger and slid the band on. 'I told you I'd buy you a wedding band.' Jan was sleeping rather soundly so I decided to return to my room. I tried to busy myself with not thinking about Jan. Every time I did something on the Crow, I thought about Jan and how she'd kill me if I dented the hull even though the hull was carbon scored. Every time I tried to eat something, I was reminded that I hadn't eaten lunch alone for at least four years. Every time I went to my room, I saw the picture of her I'd framed. It was getting so bad so I simply slept. About six days after the fight, I got The Call. I had been asleep, my new pastime. I was half asleep but I was brought to consciousness soon enough. 'Commander Katarn?'

'This is he. Who is this?'

'This is Doctor Ward of the Mercy. Are you the closest relation to a Lieutenant Janali Ors?'

'Yes. Why? Has she woken up?'

'No sir. She's gone, Commander.' The room spun around me and I mumbled something like a 'Thank you, good-bye.' I lurched into the refresher and threw up what I'd managed to force down. I didn't go over, but people migrated to my room with things for me. I promised myself that Jan's death wouldn't go unavenged. I can't ever forgive the Empire for what they've taken from me. I swear it. I never told her I loved her. I can't forgive myself for that one.

Author's Notes-

I won't leave you hanging. There is a sequel called "Ends Justifying the Means." Before you start weeping and clutching you Dark Forces and Jedi Knight CD-ROMS, audiotapes, books, and collectable Kyle-and-Jan action figures, you should know that I wrote this as a fan-fic. I personally think that Jan and Kyle are simply the best ROM game characters in Star Wars. I wrote this when I was inspired by a playable add-on level to DF where Kyle has been assassinated and Jan tracks his killers down. So I reversed the scenario. Also, there is a line from JK in which Kyle and Jan go through a bit of friendly banter. This line is as follows.

Jan: What would you do without me, Kyle?

Kyle: I'd be a content old man.

Jan: Somehow I don't see content or an old man.

Too true.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^