An Infidel among the Believers
A large ship silently edged toward the moon called Nar Shadda, the smuggler's moon. Composed of yorik coral, the massive Yuuzhan Vong warship stopped in place, just out of reach of the moon's sensors. Deep within the bowels of the ship, in a room set aside for the hired mercenaries of the group known as the Peace Brigade, a lone man sat down at a table and sipped from the cup in his hand. As the alcohol in the drink began to stimulate his mind, he began to think about his predicament. How'd I get myself into this? He thought to himself, taking a long swallow from the cup. He glanced around the room at the other men and creatures of his trade, all mercenaries. Every one of them had been hired by the invading Yuuzhan Vong to help understand the humans and other species in this galaxy, as well as to do inside work requiring more than just an ooglith masquer to protect a Yuuzhan Vong's identity. All the beings were armed to the teeth, and despite this, they wouldn't dare attack their current employers, for fear of losing their credits, and their lives. However, this particular man was different from the other hired scum on board. He was armed with the Force. The energy that binds all and protects all things good and righteous, and the weapon of the Jedi Knights, the protectors of the New Republic.
The man tapped the weapon hidden in the deep pocket on his thigh. The cylindrical object hidden there was not a weapon of ordinary capabilities. It was the weapon of a more civilized time, or so the man had been told. A weapon used by the knights of old, and the knights of new. A lightsaber. This man was no ordinary mercenary, and this was no ordinary mission. This mercenary is a Jedi Knight, working his old job once again to benefit the New Republic. This man is Kyle Katarn. Having come back from the Dark Side of the Force, Katarn had been in seclusion for a while, briefly coming back into the public's eye when he attended the wedding of his friends, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. Since then, he had been hanging around tapcafes and bars, still unsure of his connection to the Force. He didn't want to fall into the death grip of the Dark Side again, and hadn't used his abilities in months. He had been offered this assignment by New Republic Intelligence, unbeknownst to any of the key players, namely the Solos and Skywalkers. Truth be told, he and two other NRI agents were the only ones who knew of this mission, convincing Katarn of its importance. It also convinced him of its lethalness, mainly concerning his part.
Katarn glanced across the room, to the hallway that led to the hanger, more importantly, he tried to catch a glimpse of his ship, the Moldy Crow. It's my only chance at getting away if things go awry he thought. Katarn had been on this mission for several weeks now, maybe even a couple of months, he couldn't quite recall which. He would have to leave soon, at his own decision. No pickup ship, this was a reconnaissance mission, and Katarn is on his own until he reaches Coruscant. Suddenly, two Yuuzhan Vong warriors entered the room, sending several mercenaries into a flutter. They were armed with amphistaffs, each having one coiled around their arm.
"Which of you is the one known as Katarn?" One of them announced in rough sounding basic. Kyle's eyes widened and he pulled the collar of his trench coat up to partially conceal his face. He edged into the crowd and made his way toward the middle.
"That's him!" Kyle shouted, pointing at some poor mercenary. Other's joined in, and the two Vong quickly seized the man, who struggled to break free. One Vong chopped him on the back of the neck, causing him to become unconscious. The other removed his weapons and tossed them to the ground.
"This one has been found out to be a spy," the first Vong said. "He will be made an example of, you should remind yourselves not to anger us, as you will surely experience the full force of invincible Yuuzhan Vong." With that, the two warriors dragged the limp man out of the room. The group let out a collective sigh and went back to their own business. Kyle's mind was racing, he knew the Vong would find out that they had an imposter before the day was through, and he had to get as far away from this ship as he could. How did they find out I was a spy? Katarn thought to himself. He calmly walked pass a group of mercenaries, slowly making his way to the door leading to the hangar. He turned the corner non-chalantly, attempting to not draw attention to himself, and bumped right into a Yuuzhan Vong soldier, who was taller than he was by a good foot.
"Where are you going?" The Vong growled as it pushed Kyle back.
"Just to get something from my ship." Kyle replied quickly.
"You are not authorized to do that now, besides, what is it you require?" The Vong said with a sneer. Kyle's hand drifted to his thigh pocket and reach in. The Vong peered downward. Katarn pulled out the metal cylinder and ignited the yellow-orange blade with a snap hiss.
"This!" Kyle shouted, beheading the Vong with a swift side slash. The being's arms shot out to grab him, even as its head landed on the ground with a thump. Kyle ducked and dashed down the hall to the hangar bay. Hearing his footsteps thumping on the floor, two Yuuzhan Vong appeared, and were armed with amphistaffs. They extended their arms and the creatures became rigid like spears, their sharp tails gleaming in the low light. Kyle parried one amphistaff and kicked the other Vong in the chest. The Vong caught his foot, much to the surprise of Kyle. Katarn twisted his body, continuing to parry the other amphistaff, and dropped kicked the Vong in the chest, who slammed into the wall. Several more Vong came running down the hall, and Kyle drew his blaster and fired into the pack. He hit one in the face, dropping him like a ton of bricks, a gaping hole through his head where his mouth and nose were. He continued to fire into the oncoming group, and he managed to hit another two Vong, killing one with a shot through the neck, the other had been hit on the side, but continued running. The other Vong reached Kyle and joined the melee. Katarn was overwhelmed by the mass of Yuuzhan Vong warriors. He got in a crouching position, firing upwards and swinging his lightsaber around at their feet. He severed one Vong's legs at the knee and it fell onto its back. He grabbed one of the stump legs and dragged the squirming Vong into the frenzy. Katarn quickly slid underneath the legs of one Vong, rolled on the floor, landing in a crouch position. He quickly got up and ran down the hall.
The Yuuzhan Vong quickly realized they were beating on one of their comrades and left the injured Vong as they chased after Kyle. Despite his use of the Force to propel himself down the hall, the Vong quickly caught up with him. One lunged at him and he dodged to the side, but the amphistaff cut a gaping hole in his coat, through his shirt, leaving a gash on his side. He put his left hand, which was holding his blaster on his side and kicked one Vong in the face. Twisting around, Kyle was behind the Vong, on the side of the hall he didn't want to be on. Kyle turned to look down the other end of the hall, and saw more Yuuzhan Vong warriors rushing at him. As the two groups of Vong converged on him, Kyle disengaged his lightsaber and put both blaster and saber into his thigh pocket, he stretched both arms to the side, palms open and pointing at both groups. With a cry, he let go of the energy he had been collecting, sending the Vong flying in both directions. Katarn pulled out his lightsaber and blaster, and commenced to race past the disorganized Vong. He continued down the hallway, and made a mad dash towards the open door to the hangar. Out of nowhere, three very large and muscular Vong blocked the doorway. Kyle increased his speed and flipped over the Vong, shooting one in the head, beheading another, and slicing off the third one's arm in the process. He whirled around and ran backward into the hangar, finishing off the wounded soldier with several blaster bolts to the back.
Kyle Katarn ran up the boarding ramp to the Moldy Crow and quickly shut it when he reached the cockpit. Flipping several switches and pressing a couple buttons, the Crow roared to life. He retracted the landing gear and hovered around on the jets, blasting nearby ships and coral skips. Satisfied with his job, he shot a seeker missile into the emerging group of Yuuzhan Vong, blowing them up and filling the expanded doorway with rubble. Kyle turned the control stick and whipped the Crow around, bursting out of the hangar, into space. As he was setting the coordinates for a short hyperspace jump away from the smuggler's moon, coral skips began to pour out of a second hangar, which Kyle did not know about. Swearing in several languages, Katarn powered up the shields and flew towards Nar Shadda, leading the skips on a merry chase through the many ships entering and leaving the moon. Kyle lost the skips for a moment and fired a proton torpedo at a pirate cruiser. The skips caught up to him and Kyle got the Crow out of view from the pirates. In response to being 'attacked' by the oncoming coral skips, dozens of starfighters shot out of the cruiser, a multitude of uglies, mixed matched parts put together to form a ship. The uglies engaged the coral skips, giving Kyle the brief moment he needed to calculate the coordinates for a short hyperspace jump, which he activated with a pull of a lever.
A large ship silently edged toward the moon called Nar Shadda, the smuggler's moon. Composed of yorik coral, the massive Yuuzhan Vong warship stopped in place, just out of reach of the moon's sensors. Deep within the bowels of the ship, in a room set aside for the hired mercenaries of the group known as the Peace Brigade, a lone man sat down at a table and sipped from the cup in his hand. As the alcohol in the drink began to stimulate his mind, he began to think about his predicament. How'd I get myself into this? He thought to himself, taking a long swallow from the cup. He glanced around the room at the other men and creatures of his trade, all mercenaries. Every one of them had been hired by the invading Yuuzhan Vong to help understand the humans and other species in this galaxy, as well as to do inside work requiring more than just an ooglith masquer to protect a Yuuzhan Vong's identity. All the beings were armed to the teeth, and despite this, they wouldn't dare attack their current employers, for fear of losing their credits, and their lives. However, this particular man was different from the other hired scum on board. He was armed with the Force. The energy that binds all and protects all things good and righteous, and the weapon of the Jedi Knights, the protectors of the New Republic.
The man tapped the weapon hidden in the deep pocket on his thigh. The cylindrical object hidden there was not a weapon of ordinary capabilities. It was the weapon of a more civilized time, or so the man had been told. A weapon used by the knights of old, and the knights of new. A lightsaber. This man was no ordinary mercenary, and this was no ordinary mission. This mercenary is a Jedi Knight, working his old job once again to benefit the New Republic. This man is Kyle Katarn. Having come back from the Dark Side of the Force, Katarn had been in seclusion for a while, briefly coming back into the public's eye when he attended the wedding of his friends, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. Since then, he had been hanging around tapcafes and bars, still unsure of his connection to the Force. He didn't want to fall into the death grip of the Dark Side again, and hadn't used his abilities in months. He had been offered this assignment by New Republic Intelligence, unbeknownst to any of the key players, namely the Solos and Skywalkers. Truth be told, he and two other NRI agents were the only ones who knew of this mission, convincing Katarn of its importance. It also convinced him of its lethalness, mainly concerning his part.
Katarn glanced across the room, to the hallway that led to the hanger, more importantly, he tried to catch a glimpse of his ship, the Moldy Crow. It's my only chance at getting away if things go awry he thought. Katarn had been on this mission for several weeks now, maybe even a couple of months, he couldn't quite recall which. He would have to leave soon, at his own decision. No pickup ship, this was a reconnaissance mission, and Katarn is on his own until he reaches Coruscant. Suddenly, two Yuuzhan Vong warriors entered the room, sending several mercenaries into a flutter. They were armed with amphistaffs, each having one coiled around their arm.
"Which of you is the one known as Katarn?" One of them announced in rough sounding basic. Kyle's eyes widened and he pulled the collar of his trench coat up to partially conceal his face. He edged into the crowd and made his way toward the middle.
"That's him!" Kyle shouted, pointing at some poor mercenary. Other's joined in, and the two Vong quickly seized the man, who struggled to break free. One Vong chopped him on the back of the neck, causing him to become unconscious. The other removed his weapons and tossed them to the ground.
"This one has been found out to be a spy," the first Vong said. "He will be made an example of, you should remind yourselves not to anger us, as you will surely experience the full force of invincible Yuuzhan Vong." With that, the two warriors dragged the limp man out of the room. The group let out a collective sigh and went back to their own business. Kyle's mind was racing, he knew the Vong would find out that they had an imposter before the day was through, and he had to get as far away from this ship as he could. How did they find out I was a spy? Katarn thought to himself. He calmly walked pass a group of mercenaries, slowly making his way to the door leading to the hangar. He turned the corner non-chalantly, attempting to not draw attention to himself, and bumped right into a Yuuzhan Vong soldier, who was taller than he was by a good foot.
"Where are you going?" The Vong growled as it pushed Kyle back.
"Just to get something from my ship." Kyle replied quickly.
"You are not authorized to do that now, besides, what is it you require?" The Vong said with a sneer. Kyle's hand drifted to his thigh pocket and reach in. The Vong peered downward. Katarn pulled out the metal cylinder and ignited the yellow-orange blade with a snap hiss.
"This!" Kyle shouted, beheading the Vong with a swift side slash. The being's arms shot out to grab him, even as its head landed on the ground with a thump. Kyle ducked and dashed down the hall to the hangar bay. Hearing his footsteps thumping on the floor, two Yuuzhan Vong appeared, and were armed with amphistaffs. They extended their arms and the creatures became rigid like spears, their sharp tails gleaming in the low light. Kyle parried one amphistaff and kicked the other Vong in the chest. The Vong caught his foot, much to the surprise of Kyle. Katarn twisted his body, continuing to parry the other amphistaff, and dropped kicked the Vong in the chest, who slammed into the wall. Several more Vong came running down the hall, and Kyle drew his blaster and fired into the pack. He hit one in the face, dropping him like a ton of bricks, a gaping hole through his head where his mouth and nose were. He continued to fire into the oncoming group, and he managed to hit another two Vong, killing one with a shot through the neck, the other had been hit on the side, but continued running. The other Vong reached Kyle and joined the melee. Katarn was overwhelmed by the mass of Yuuzhan Vong warriors. He got in a crouching position, firing upwards and swinging his lightsaber around at their feet. He severed one Vong's legs at the knee and it fell onto its back. He grabbed one of the stump legs and dragged the squirming Vong into the frenzy. Katarn quickly slid underneath the legs of one Vong, rolled on the floor, landing in a crouch position. He quickly got up and ran down the hall.
The Yuuzhan Vong quickly realized they were beating on one of their comrades and left the injured Vong as they chased after Kyle. Despite his use of the Force to propel himself down the hall, the Vong quickly caught up with him. One lunged at him and he dodged to the side, but the amphistaff cut a gaping hole in his coat, through his shirt, leaving a gash on his side. He put his left hand, which was holding his blaster on his side and kicked one Vong in the face. Twisting around, Kyle was behind the Vong, on the side of the hall he didn't want to be on. Kyle turned to look down the other end of the hall, and saw more Yuuzhan Vong warriors rushing at him. As the two groups of Vong converged on him, Kyle disengaged his lightsaber and put both blaster and saber into his thigh pocket, he stretched both arms to the side, palms open and pointing at both groups. With a cry, he let go of the energy he had been collecting, sending the Vong flying in both directions. Katarn pulled out his lightsaber and blaster, and commenced to race past the disorganized Vong. He continued down the hallway, and made a mad dash towards the open door to the hangar. Out of nowhere, three very large and muscular Vong blocked the doorway. Kyle increased his speed and flipped over the Vong, shooting one in the head, beheading another, and slicing off the third one's arm in the process. He whirled around and ran backward into the hangar, finishing off the wounded soldier with several blaster bolts to the back.
Kyle Katarn ran up the boarding ramp to the Moldy Crow and quickly shut it when he reached the cockpit. Flipping several switches and pressing a couple buttons, the Crow roared to life. He retracted the landing gear and hovered around on the jets, blasting nearby ships and coral skips. Satisfied with his job, he shot a seeker missile into the emerging group of Yuuzhan Vong, blowing them up and filling the expanded doorway with rubble. Kyle turned the control stick and whipped the Crow around, bursting out of the hangar, into space. As he was setting the coordinates for a short hyperspace jump away from the smuggler's moon, coral skips began to pour out of a second hangar, which Kyle did not know about. Swearing in several languages, Katarn powered up the shields and flew towards Nar Shadda, leading the skips on a merry chase through the many ships entering and leaving the moon. Kyle lost the skips for a moment and fired a proton torpedo at a pirate cruiser. The skips caught up to him and Kyle got the Crow out of view from the pirates. In response to being 'attacked' by the oncoming coral skips, dozens of starfighters shot out of the cruiser, a multitude of uglies, mixed matched parts put together to form a ship. The uglies engaged the coral skips, giving Kyle the brief moment he needed to calculate the coordinates for a short hyperspace jump, which he activated with a pull of a lever.