Chapter 2
Tsunean Kran was very surprised. When he landed, he had expected more immediate resistance. Instead, he had made it the whole way to what seemed to be the communications center and destroyed the abominations there. He had then made his way down to the meeting area where his coralskipper had detected all the individuals in the building were. He got there to find the doors open and thirteen of this galaxies inhabitants, most of whom looked like, if not were, the "humans" that seemed to be this galaxies dominant species. All had metal cylinders that had blades of light coming from them. One, clearly the oldest, was standing in front of them all, with another equally tall, though clearly younger one standing next to him. The rest were smaller, and standing behind. It was unclear to Tsunean the significance, if any, to the different colors of the blades, but he didn't care. He had to know what the creatures standing in front of him knew. He had to understand this gift and curse that had been put on him. And if he had to, he was willing to talk to get the information.
Kyle wasn't sure what to do. He knew that there had to be more warriors around somewhere. Even the Yuuzhan Vong couldn't be arrogant enough to send a lone warrior to fight thirteen Jedi. Especially one who, judging from the lack of scaring, was of very low rank. But if they were that arrogant, he was ready to show them the foolishness of their overconfidence.
He sensed Jak right next to and a little behind him. He sensed his students gathered behind him. And he also sensed. something coming from the Yuuzhan Vong warrior standing in front of him. He blinked, and sensed Jak's confusion begin to surface also, along with some of the other older students. They had all heard, from Jedi that had fought the Vong on the front lines, that the Vong were invisible to the Force. They had all heard it. They all knew it. So what was different about this one.
Every moment, Kyle expected the warrior before them to pounce. Yet at the same time, he couldn't help getting the idea that this warrior didn't want to fight. Not really, or, at least, not yet.
He wasn't sure when the infidels were going to pounce. More and more, he was getting the sense that, maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they were just waiting for him to make the first move. Normally, he would have been happy to oblige, as would any Yuuzhan Vong warrior in his place. Yet, those standing before him were the key to his questions. They had the answer. He was tempted to ask them. But that would make him look weak. And no warrior would ever allow himself to look weak. Especially not to an enemy. No. They had to be the first to speak. Or attack.
Finally, after a few more moments, Jak lost his nerve and did something very stupid.
He charged.
"Jak, no!!" Katarn yelled, as he ran forward to try and stop the attack he knew would be coming.
The Vong dodged with a grace that was considered impossible for most except a Jedi, leaving Jak to stumble forward. Katarn quickly brought his saber up and under to catch the blow that he knew was coming at Jak's now open and unprotected back. And hard it came. It was so hard that Katarn nearly lost his grip on his saber. But he managed to hold on for the half a second it took for Jak to get clear. Then he flickered his weapon off, rolled back, and came up with his saber once again blazing and in a fighting crouch.
He noticed a few students moving forward to engage the Vong.
"Stay back!" he ordered loudly.
They all stopped and, keeping their eyes on the Vong, slowly backed away.
"Very wise, old one."
Then his eyes widened, and he swung his staff around behind him, and caught the saber blow that had been intended to kill him, then pivoted away from it, and swung the "head" of the staff and caught Jak in the temple. The young man didn't even have a chance to yelp before he crumpled to the floor, unconscious, or worse, dead.
Katarn felt a surge of anger, from both him and his students, but with a quick mental scan, he determined that the Vong hadn't killed Jak. Not that it was likely to stay that way. And he knew it. He quickly reached out with the Force, and gave Jak a quick push one way, and at the same time, sending a nearby bench flying at the Vong. The warrior was to quick for this, but it did force him to drop to the ground. Katarn knew that he would be back on his feet and charging in a few seconds, but that gave him time to shout a few directions to his students.
"Get yourselves and Jak out of here! Get the transport going and wait for me. If I'm not there or haven't called in five minutes, leave and get to the nearest New Republic base."
He said this as he sprinted toward the Vong, who had gone from his back to his feet with no apparent in-between and was charging Katarn. The Vong swung his staff in a feint with the "head" end at Kyle's head, then the real attack came from the tail end, aimed at Katarns legs. He jumped over this effortlessly, and aimed a counter at the Vong's neck. This the Vong partially deflected up with his staff's "tail" and partially ducked under, and in the same motion, set him self up to swing the head end around in an attempt to catch Kyle in the stomach. Kyle had to push himself back with the Force and double over to dodge the blow. He then did a backward roll and landed on his feet in the classic "on guard" stance.
He was starting to realize that he wasn't doing nearly as well as he should have been. After all, Master Skywalker himself had told him that he was one of the best saber fighters the new Jedi Order had. He had taken on Yuzzhan Vong warriors before, but he usually didn't have this much trouble about it. He decided that he was just getting old. He also guessed that it didn't help that he had had a rough night last night and hadn't finished his morning meditations as well as usual. But, as the warrior charged yet again, he knew he would just have to make due.
Kyle watched the warrior swing the staff in a chopping maneuver that his students had just finished learning that day. And he remembered the drill. "Bring the blade high and down at the top of your opponents head. If they block flat above their head, you can bring your handle in a circle, using your opponent's blade as a pivot point, and slam your handle into your opponents face. This will stun them, allowing you to disarm them by slamming the weapon up and out of their hand." He knew that the maneuver was even easier to do with a staff.
He also knew the counter. He should. He had developed both.
When the Vong swung the staff at the right shoulder, Kyle crouched and slipped to the left and brought his blade up behind the Vongs staff with a force that would have disarmed even a Jedi had they not been ready. However, this Vong was better trained that his scars (or lack thereof) would indicate. The moment Kyle crouched, the Vong immediately abandoned the maneuver and brought the "tail" end of his staff around in a strike that Kyle was betting was supposed to take his head off. He tried to roll out of the way and was only partially successful. The tip of the staff managed to catch him on the head. It didn't quite draw blood, and since it was the tail end there wasn't any poison involved. It hurt a bit, but not much. However, it threw his balance just a little and he had to go through an extra roll back and to his right. He expected the Vong to be right behind him pressing his attack.
Strangely, the Vong picked that moment to stop. He had backed up a few steps and had his staff in front of him a ready position, and seemed to be waiting for Kyle to get up.
This confused Kyle a bit. They both stood facing one another, neither one moving forward or back.
Finally, Kyle spoke. "Are you done?"
The Vong actually raised an eyebrow (an action most Vong can't accomplish, since most seem to pull all hair out of their bodies).
"If you want to keep going." he let the thought trail off.
"No thanks. So, what now? Are you here representing the Vong. Are you going to dictate terms for a surrender of my school?"
"I would say you are already surrendering the complex," he replied. "You ordered your students to retreat, and you yourself stayed behind with the full intention of dieing."
"That's very intuitive of you. But what makes you think I thought I was going to die fighting a low rank warrior like you?"
"And what makes you think the Yuuzhan Vong would send a Shamed One to parlay for surrender?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow of his own. "You're a Shamed One?"
The slight tightening of his jaw was all the answer he needed. He thought about that for a moment
"You fight well."
"For a Shamed One, you mean," the Vong asked, sounding slightly bitter.
"No."
This seemed to catch the Vong by surprise. "You fight well as well," he responded after a slight pause. "For an infidel," he added, almost as an after thought, or a joke. It was hard to tell which.
Kyle, choosing the latter, grinned, shook his head, and extinguished his lightsaber. Then he pulled out his comlink.
"Kyle to Skyhawk."
"Skyhawk here."
It sounded like Michaels voice.
"It's safe to come back now. A few of you should take Jak to the med center."
"Yes, Master." The link died.
"You have foolish students."
Kyle turned to him and cocked and eyebrow of his own.
"Why do you say that?"
"How do they know that I wasn't forcing you to say that so I could kill you all?"
Something hardened in Katarn's grin.
"They know there is nothing you could do to force me to do that. That I would die before letting that happen. They also think I have killed you."
"How are you so sure?"
"The same reason you are here."
They both knew he was talking about the Force, which was actually rolling off the Vong in waves.
Michael S. walked into the room, with his head down ("I thought we talked about that," Kararn thought), looked up, locked eyes with the Vong, and stopped dead. His eyes opened wide and he backed into the door that had just closed behind him.
"Don't worry, Michael," Katarn said. He turned to the Vong, who was returning the young boys stare steadily, then back.
"Say hello to your new classmate."
Michael looked at his master like he thought he had gone crazy, then back to the Vong. Finally, he said, very quietly, "Hello."
Tsunean Kran was very surprised. When he landed, he had expected more immediate resistance. Instead, he had made it the whole way to what seemed to be the communications center and destroyed the abominations there. He had then made his way down to the meeting area where his coralskipper had detected all the individuals in the building were. He got there to find the doors open and thirteen of this galaxies inhabitants, most of whom looked like, if not were, the "humans" that seemed to be this galaxies dominant species. All had metal cylinders that had blades of light coming from them. One, clearly the oldest, was standing in front of them all, with another equally tall, though clearly younger one standing next to him. The rest were smaller, and standing behind. It was unclear to Tsunean the significance, if any, to the different colors of the blades, but he didn't care. He had to know what the creatures standing in front of him knew. He had to understand this gift and curse that had been put on him. And if he had to, he was willing to talk to get the information.
Kyle wasn't sure what to do. He knew that there had to be more warriors around somewhere. Even the Yuuzhan Vong couldn't be arrogant enough to send a lone warrior to fight thirteen Jedi. Especially one who, judging from the lack of scaring, was of very low rank. But if they were that arrogant, he was ready to show them the foolishness of their overconfidence.
He sensed Jak right next to and a little behind him. He sensed his students gathered behind him. And he also sensed. something coming from the Yuuzhan Vong warrior standing in front of him. He blinked, and sensed Jak's confusion begin to surface also, along with some of the other older students. They had all heard, from Jedi that had fought the Vong on the front lines, that the Vong were invisible to the Force. They had all heard it. They all knew it. So what was different about this one.
Every moment, Kyle expected the warrior before them to pounce. Yet at the same time, he couldn't help getting the idea that this warrior didn't want to fight. Not really, or, at least, not yet.
He wasn't sure when the infidels were going to pounce. More and more, he was getting the sense that, maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they were just waiting for him to make the first move. Normally, he would have been happy to oblige, as would any Yuuzhan Vong warrior in his place. Yet, those standing before him were the key to his questions. They had the answer. He was tempted to ask them. But that would make him look weak. And no warrior would ever allow himself to look weak. Especially not to an enemy. No. They had to be the first to speak. Or attack.
Finally, after a few more moments, Jak lost his nerve and did something very stupid.
He charged.
"Jak, no!!" Katarn yelled, as he ran forward to try and stop the attack he knew would be coming.
The Vong dodged with a grace that was considered impossible for most except a Jedi, leaving Jak to stumble forward. Katarn quickly brought his saber up and under to catch the blow that he knew was coming at Jak's now open and unprotected back. And hard it came. It was so hard that Katarn nearly lost his grip on his saber. But he managed to hold on for the half a second it took for Jak to get clear. Then he flickered his weapon off, rolled back, and came up with his saber once again blazing and in a fighting crouch.
He noticed a few students moving forward to engage the Vong.
"Stay back!" he ordered loudly.
They all stopped and, keeping their eyes on the Vong, slowly backed away.
"Very wise, old one."
Then his eyes widened, and he swung his staff around behind him, and caught the saber blow that had been intended to kill him, then pivoted away from it, and swung the "head" of the staff and caught Jak in the temple. The young man didn't even have a chance to yelp before he crumpled to the floor, unconscious, or worse, dead.
Katarn felt a surge of anger, from both him and his students, but with a quick mental scan, he determined that the Vong hadn't killed Jak. Not that it was likely to stay that way. And he knew it. He quickly reached out with the Force, and gave Jak a quick push one way, and at the same time, sending a nearby bench flying at the Vong. The warrior was to quick for this, but it did force him to drop to the ground. Katarn knew that he would be back on his feet and charging in a few seconds, but that gave him time to shout a few directions to his students.
"Get yourselves and Jak out of here! Get the transport going and wait for me. If I'm not there or haven't called in five minutes, leave and get to the nearest New Republic base."
He said this as he sprinted toward the Vong, who had gone from his back to his feet with no apparent in-between and was charging Katarn. The Vong swung his staff in a feint with the "head" end at Kyle's head, then the real attack came from the tail end, aimed at Katarns legs. He jumped over this effortlessly, and aimed a counter at the Vong's neck. This the Vong partially deflected up with his staff's "tail" and partially ducked under, and in the same motion, set him self up to swing the head end around in an attempt to catch Kyle in the stomach. Kyle had to push himself back with the Force and double over to dodge the blow. He then did a backward roll and landed on his feet in the classic "on guard" stance.
He was starting to realize that he wasn't doing nearly as well as he should have been. After all, Master Skywalker himself had told him that he was one of the best saber fighters the new Jedi Order had. He had taken on Yuzzhan Vong warriors before, but he usually didn't have this much trouble about it. He decided that he was just getting old. He also guessed that it didn't help that he had had a rough night last night and hadn't finished his morning meditations as well as usual. But, as the warrior charged yet again, he knew he would just have to make due.
Kyle watched the warrior swing the staff in a chopping maneuver that his students had just finished learning that day. And he remembered the drill. "Bring the blade high and down at the top of your opponents head. If they block flat above their head, you can bring your handle in a circle, using your opponent's blade as a pivot point, and slam your handle into your opponents face. This will stun them, allowing you to disarm them by slamming the weapon up and out of their hand." He knew that the maneuver was even easier to do with a staff.
He also knew the counter. He should. He had developed both.
When the Vong swung the staff at the right shoulder, Kyle crouched and slipped to the left and brought his blade up behind the Vongs staff with a force that would have disarmed even a Jedi had they not been ready. However, this Vong was better trained that his scars (or lack thereof) would indicate. The moment Kyle crouched, the Vong immediately abandoned the maneuver and brought the "tail" end of his staff around in a strike that Kyle was betting was supposed to take his head off. He tried to roll out of the way and was only partially successful. The tip of the staff managed to catch him on the head. It didn't quite draw blood, and since it was the tail end there wasn't any poison involved. It hurt a bit, but not much. However, it threw his balance just a little and he had to go through an extra roll back and to his right. He expected the Vong to be right behind him pressing his attack.
Strangely, the Vong picked that moment to stop. He had backed up a few steps and had his staff in front of him a ready position, and seemed to be waiting for Kyle to get up.
This confused Kyle a bit. They both stood facing one another, neither one moving forward or back.
Finally, Kyle spoke. "Are you done?"
The Vong actually raised an eyebrow (an action most Vong can't accomplish, since most seem to pull all hair out of their bodies).
"If you want to keep going." he let the thought trail off.
"No thanks. So, what now? Are you here representing the Vong. Are you going to dictate terms for a surrender of my school?"
"I would say you are already surrendering the complex," he replied. "You ordered your students to retreat, and you yourself stayed behind with the full intention of dieing."
"That's very intuitive of you. But what makes you think I thought I was going to die fighting a low rank warrior like you?"
"And what makes you think the Yuuzhan Vong would send a Shamed One to parlay for surrender?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow of his own. "You're a Shamed One?"
The slight tightening of his jaw was all the answer he needed. He thought about that for a moment
"You fight well."
"For a Shamed One, you mean," the Vong asked, sounding slightly bitter.
"No."
This seemed to catch the Vong by surprise. "You fight well as well," he responded after a slight pause. "For an infidel," he added, almost as an after thought, or a joke. It was hard to tell which.
Kyle, choosing the latter, grinned, shook his head, and extinguished his lightsaber. Then he pulled out his comlink.
"Kyle to Skyhawk."
"Skyhawk here."
It sounded like Michaels voice.
"It's safe to come back now. A few of you should take Jak to the med center."
"Yes, Master." The link died.
"You have foolish students."
Kyle turned to him and cocked and eyebrow of his own.
"Why do you say that?"
"How do they know that I wasn't forcing you to say that so I could kill you all?"
Something hardened in Katarn's grin.
"They know there is nothing you could do to force me to do that. That I would die before letting that happen. They also think I have killed you."
"How are you so sure?"
"The same reason you are here."
They both knew he was talking about the Force, which was actually rolling off the Vong in waves.
Michael S. walked into the room, with his head down ("I thought we talked about that," Kararn thought), looked up, locked eyes with the Vong, and stopped dead. His eyes opened wide and he backed into the door that had just closed behind him.
"Don't worry, Michael," Katarn said. He turned to the Vong, who was returning the young boys stare steadily, then back.
"Say hello to your new classmate."
Michael looked at his master like he thought he had gone crazy, then back to the Vong. Finally, he said, very quietly, "Hello."
