Disclaimer: I own a movie poster of Star Wars sadly that does not make the characters mine

A/N Tinuviel Undomiel: Sorry this took so long, but my sis and I just moved back to the USA, and for weeks we had no computer. But we're back, and here's a chap. It may seem a little fast paced, but I had to get somewhere past the Death Star. Anyways, enjoy.

A/N Nerwen Aldarion: Well it had to come sometime, a fight scene between Jan and Kyle. And I hope you like it cause it took me a while to get it right.

Chapter 5: The Bloodhound

Darth Vader paced in his private rooms on Coruscant. He was worried, to put it simply. He knew that Jan could handle this assignment on her own, but still he was afraid. Now he knew how his mother felt when he left with Qui Gon to join the Jedi Order. He silently cursed himself for thinking about his mother. Master Sidious had warned him many times to forget the ties he had with his mother, but sometimes his boundaries gave a little.

He turned when his door opened, and his apprentice walked up to him with a triumphant gate. Inwardly he sighed with relief to see her alive and unscathed. With his relief, he chastised himself for his concern.

"I have destroyed the base on Yavin, master," Jan said. She smiled as she remembered how she had set the charges and watched the great base turn into a ball of flame.

"Did you acquire the name of the one who destroyed the Death Star?" Vader asked, although he already knew that she did. She wouldn't be there if she failed.

"Of course, master," Jan said, "His name is Luke Skywalker."

Vader froze when he heard that name, "Say that again."

Jan frowned a little, "Luke Skywalker."

"Skywalker," Vader repeated, his voice sounding as if a thousand miles away.

"My lord?" Jan asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Vader didn't say anything; he was lost in an ocean, in a galaxy of memories. How had he missed this? Had his pain been too great to see?

"Master?" Jan's voice came in from his whirlwind of emotions.

"Everything is fine," Vader assured her. He was calm again, but he saw the unconvincing look in her eyes. She deserved to know.

"There is something I must tell you," Vader said, "but you must promise to tell no one."

"I would rather be torn apart by Rancors than tell a soul," Jan said. She meant every word, and she was thrilled to know he could trust her to with such a secret.

"I was not always Darth Vader, as you may know," Vader began, "I was once a Jedi, specially trained by the Council."

"A Jedi?" Jan repeated.

Vader nodded, "Obi Wan was my master. He held me back from everything I could have, everything I wanted. Eventually, Master Sidious set me free."

"The same way you freed me from the light?" Jan asked.

"Yes, but not in the exact way."

"I understand, but why are you telling me this?"

"I had another name, I cast it away along with the light, what I shall say you must forever keep to yourself," Vader said.

"I swear it, master," Jan vowed.

"My name was Anakin Skywalker."

Jan's eyes went wide as she realized what her master was saying, "Skywalker, as in…"

"Yes, he is my son," Vader said, "I never knew he existed until now."

"Your son? You were married?" Jan asked. Her master had a past that she knew nothing of, what else had he kept hidden; what else would he tell her?

"I was married once, but I was foolish," Vader said, "Love brings mercy, something a Sith should never have. When I joined the Dark Side I renounced my love, and my wife."

"Master," Jan said astonished, "I never knew you had…given up so much for the Empire."

"I did what needed to be done," Vader replied.

"Yes," Jan agreed, "Perhaps your son could be persuaded to join us, my lord."

"Yes," Vader said, "I believe you are right."

Jan nodded when she heard the lilt in his voice, the wistfulness in it, "I take my leave, master."

Vader nodded as she left. A son? I never knew.

The Rebels had situated themselves on Jendar, and they were busy with daily chores and fixing ships. Han Solo who was working on the deflector shields of the Millenium Falcon was trying to figure out what exactly he was doing here. It's for the kid, he told himself, and you know Luke can't take care of himself. The princess is just a bonus.

"Hey Han!" A voice called down from below him.

Han looked down form his high perch on the roof of the Falcon and saw one of Luke's Rogue buddies carrying a large box.

"Wedge, you need anything?" Han asked, "Oh wait let me guess. Princess Perfect wants me to officially sign on." Or maybe she wants me to kiss her goodbye. Hey where did that come from?

"No, just wondering if you knew about Yavin."

"What about it?" Han called down.

"It was destroyed," Wedge said.

"How did that happen?"

"They say it was that apprentice you saw," Wedge told him.

"You're kidding," Han replied.

"Nope, it's broadcasted all over the news nets; she broke into the base and destroyed it."

"Say what she was after?" Han asked.

"No, just that it was gone. Mon Mothma sent some scouts to see if it was true, all that's left of the base is a big pile of rubble."

"Wow, talk about a killer," Han said.

"Yeah," Wedge agreed, "Some of us have started calling her the Bloodhound, cause she's always at Vader's heels, but she has got to be the deadliest thing that Empire has."

"I'll agree to that," Han said, "Thanks for telling me."

"See ya later, Solo," Wedge said as he headed to his X-Wing.

Wow, the whole base gone, Han, thought, glad I got away from her when I saw her on that cursed Death Star.

Alarms were blaring on the Imperial Base on Talay. Jan cursed the troopers who had let the intruder walk in. It had been a week since the Death Star was destroyed, and two days after Jan had destroyed the Yavin Base. Darth Vader had gone to Talay along with a new breed soldiers-Dark Troopers- and had taken over the Rebel Outpost. Now the base belonged to the Empire, but someone had just infiltrated it.

Jan ran over to Vader who was standing with General Stass.

"My Lord, a shuttle is ready for you, if you wish to evacuate," Stass informed him.

"I do not fear one man," Vader said.

"What has happened?" Jan asked coming up to her master's side, "Who has attacked us?"

"It's Kyle Katarn, my lady," Stass said, "He has been identified and has infiltrated the base."

"But he is only one man," Jan said, "How can he do this?"

"We don't know, but he may be heading this way," Stass said.

"I will not retreat like some coward," Jan said, "I will deal with him."

"Go, my apprentice," Vader said.

Jan bowed and pulled her cloak over her hair. She activated the button to the elevator and went deeper into the base. The hunt had begun.

Just a simple blue milk run, right Kyle thought as he began blasting away at another garrison of Stormtroopers, Mon Mothma owes me for this, and I thought going after the Death Star plans was bad! He was able to shoot the last remaining Stormtrooper before running down the hall.

The mission had gone according to plan, stealing the data of where the Empire stood now had been almost too easy, the hard part was getting out alive. He turned left around the corridor and about fell when he skidded to a stop.

There stood a figure cloaked in ebony; the person pulled back their hood revealing a woman whom Kyle had heard much about.

"Sith spit it's the girl!" He gasped. She smiled at him and drew a blaster from her side and fired in his direction. Kyle was able to dodge away from the bolts and fired in her direction as well. Not surprisingly, she easily evaded them as well.

She drew closer to him as they both continued to fire. Her aim was excellent and she hit his blaster causing it to spin from his hand, not good, he thought.

She smiled, revealing perfect white teeth, and raised her weapon. Kyle kicked the weapon from her hand, now both without blasters they stared at each other. But the girl drew out a blood red blade, and Kyle knew that he was in trouble.

Instead of charging him, she walked to a dead guard, "Come now, let's finish this honorably." And she tossed him the corpse's blade. He was surprised by this, but didn't have much time to dwell on it before she attacked.

She was better at sword play than shooting, he realized and the advantage was hers. Her agility made her an impressive opponent as their swords clashed in a dance of skill. Perhaps it was because she knew she was better, perhaps it was because it had never happened before, nevertheless they were both surprised when he a swiped a blow to her arm drawing blood.

She backed away and looked at the wound, it wasn't serious but still she looked at him in awe, "Not bad." She told him and then lunged at him. The fight escalated as the minutes ticked by, neither had gained an edge. But sword play was not Kyle's specialty, and only by a miracle would he win. Her stamina was amazing as she continued to drive at him, tenacious was a word to describe her or perhaps perfect symmetry. That was what her sword play was, perfect, was it even possible to beat her? For some reason Kyle doubted it, and this was only convicted in his mind, when her sword hit his wrist.

Because of this weakness, she grabbed his wrist and forced the sword from his hand. Now she had the blade at his throat, "As you can see, I'm the better assassin." She told him.

Then she released him. She walked away and grabbed her cloak and drew it among her shoulders. She isn't going to kill me? He wondered.

Then she turned around and he saw a blur coming towards him. A dagger imbedded itself into the wall, his head literally rested against it. She had only missed by a hair. Or did she?

He saw her grin at him and then walk away, letting him escape. After struggling a bit, he pulled the dagger from the wall and got the hell out of there.

General Stass waited with Lord Vader by the docked Imperial Shuttle. This apprentice of his was taking an awful while to finish this job she had just been assigned. He knew that Vader had confidence in the girl, but he, like most Imperials, distrusted a woman to complete a man's job.

At that moment she returned with an aura of triumph. Stass was surprised, but said nothing.

"Did you complete the task?" Vader asked, "Is Katarn dead?"

"No, my lord, I let him go."

Exactly why women shouldn't fight, Stass thought, all they feel is mercy.

"Explain yourself," Vader replied a dark anger in his voice.

The woman's eyes turned to Stass, at first he thought she was looking for help, but the look clearly said, 'leave us at once'.

"If you'll excuse me Lord Vader," The general bowed as he left the room. When he returned he full expected to give orders to the men to dispose of the girl's body.

The order never came. Instead, Vader and his female apprentice were both situated in comfort aboard the Avenger after they escaped Talay.

Stass was surprised, and his curiosity peeked. What reason had the girl given that had Vader keeping her alive?

Admiral Ackbar grimaced at the scanners in the control room. The hidden base on Teron was lost to nothing more than a woman and a handful of troopers. The scanners showed that Vader's apprentice was fighting her way to where he stood, and there was nothing he could do. She had already destroyed the hangar bay; there was no escape for him. She was smart, whoever she was.

"Sir," a fellow Calamarian said, "She is nearly here."'

"Is there anything we can do to stop her?" He asked. Looking around the room all he saw were three of his fellow comrades and himself, none of them had been trained to be experts at fighting.

"Then there is no escape for us," He said, bowing his head in sorrow.

The door was locked, but he heard the panel outside smash open. Within minutes she had somehow wired into the controls and the door slid open.

The woman gave them a cold smile. She pulled out her blaster and fired three shots, each of them striking right between the eyes of all three of his companions. None of them even had time to pull out a blaster.

The girl holstered her weapon, and unsheathed her red blade. At the sight of it the Admiral shuddered.

She strode over to her unarmed opponent and jabbed into his ribs. Ackbar groaned in pain as the cold steel slipped out of his abdomen. He sank to his knees, blood flowing between his webbed fingers.

"What… do you want… with me?" He asked her.

She shook her head, "Nothing, you are only a means to an end."

He never understood what she meant. Death came too quickly

Months after his run in with the Bloodhound, Kyle was patiently waiting outside Mon Mothma's office. He generally hated waiting, but today he had something to past the time. In his hands, he meticulously examined the dagger that so narrowly missed his head. Ever since he had completely disbanded the Dark Trooper project, he had been studying the blade, as if it would tell him why he was still alive.

The dagger was nothing special, a thin steel blade with a ruby at its base. But why the most dangerous assassin had chosen not to kill him was what made it so unique.

"Kyle," Mon Mothma called from her open door, making him jump, "You may come in now."

Kyle tucked the dagger into his belt, and walked into the Supreme Commander's office. She wasn't alone, General Madine was also present. Kyle had rescued Madine after the man had been captured by the Empire, but he knew little of him.

"Kyle I'm sure you're wondering why you are here," Mon Mothma stated as she took a seat.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Kyle said.

"There is something I wanted to show you," She said, "but first I must give you some important news. Admiral Ackbar has been killed."

The news was stunning, "What?"

"The news has not been spread to the rest of the Alliance," Madine said.

"It was that apprentice again wasn't it?" Kyle asked.

Madine nodded, "Apparently she infiltrated the base on Teron and killed him."

"I'm glad you're telling me this, but why are you?"

"We received a tape of the attack, and since you survived your own encounter with this woman we thought that you should know first."

"May I see it?" Kyle asked.

"Of course," Mon Mothma said and activated a screen to play the Holovid.

Kyle could see the slumped form of Admiral Ackbar leaning against the wall. In front of him was the assassin who was looking at her victim. She drew out her only remaining dagger and flung it at the wall. It missed the dead admiral's head by a hair's width. Something Kyle was all too familiar with. The apprentice turned to the camera, her gaze cold. "I'm waiting" She said.

Mon Mothma paused the footage, "We don't know what it means."

"She's waiting," Madine stated, "Waiting for what?"

"For me," Kyle said, "She wants me to come to her on Teron."

"What drew you to that conclusion?" Madine asked.

"This," Kyle pulled out the dagger, "After I fought her, she threw this at my head, and then left."

"Perhaps she missed," Mon Mothma said.

"No, she didn't have to miss, she wanted me alive." Kyle said staring at the girl frozen on the screen, "but why?"

He turned back to Mon Mothma, "Permission to go to Teron."

The commander frowned, "No, you can't be serious."

"She won't kill me," Kyle said.

"You don't know that," Mon Mothma said, "She may be waiting to kill you there."

"No, I don't think that's what she wants," Kyle said, "She had every opportunity on Talay to kill me, but she let me go, why?"

"Kyle, I will not…"

"Mon Mothma, she wants me alive," Kyle said, "There has to be a reason. I need to go."

She sighed, "Your permission is granted. If you do not return in 72 hours I will order a squadron to destroy the Teron base. We can't have her killing anyone else."

"Understood," Kyle said, "I'll be back by then, I promise."

On Teron, Kyle could see that the Imperials had fully claimed the base. The air was hot as the piles of fallen Rebels continued to burn. They deserved a better burial. The Moldy Crow was docked on a landing Kyle had prized after firing upon the troopers stationed on it. No doubt she knew he was here.

He entered the base, and after a quick glance tore down the empty hallway.

"Hey!" an angry Stormtrooper yelled as he began firing.

"Great," Kyle groaned, "don't suppose he has directions."

He was about to fire back when someone interrupted him, "Drop your weapons, Rebel, you are surrounded."

Well that was fast; I could use a little help right now.

"Lieutenant, release him, he is here on my account."

It was her.

Hmm, didn't expect that, but I'll take it, Kyle mused.

"At once," The lieutenant withdrew.

Kyle turned to the girl, "Thanks."

"You're late," She said simply before beckoning him to follow.

"I was never one for promptness," He said to himself.

The woman led him to, what was apparently, her quarters. "I expected you to come sooner," She said as she poured liquid into two glasses, "I knew you would decipher my little message."

She handed him one of the glasses. Kyle stared at the red liquid looking uncertain.

"Go ahead," She said with a smile, "I wouldn't dream of poisoning you."

He took a sip; it was normal wine, "Why did you kill Admiral Ackbar?"
"I needed to get your attention."

"Couldn't you have left a note?" Kyle teased.

"Don't you want to know why you are here?" She asked, tired of his games.

"Two things before we get into that," Kyle said, "First of all let me give you this."

He handed her the dagger she had left. She looked at the weapon them back at him before sheathing it, "And what else?"

"I need your word that you won't kill me now," He said.

"And would you trust my word?" She said.

"No, not really, but it'll make me feel a little safer."

""I give my word, Katarn, I won't kill you now."

"Good," Kyle said, "now tell me why I'm not a corpse on Talay."

With a smile she unsheathed her sword making Kyle take a step back. "This sword is sacred to me," She said, "My master gave me this to use against any Sith or the Jedi if they should arise again."

"Uh, it's nice," Kyle said, unsure of what was going on.

She slipped the sword back into its sheath, "I've trained with my master since I was a child. I know his movements well. I can see the grace, and power in every Sith's movements."

"And you're telling me this because?" Kyle waited for her explanation.

"Because you have that power," She said, "You are Force Sensitive. A wielder of the Force."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, I speak the truth," She said.

"So what does this mean?" Kyle asked, "I'm like a Jedi or something?"

"Yes, but there are no Jedi left," She said, "but the Sith, they thrive like never before. You can join us, and my master will see to your training. You'll obtain so much power and glory, more than you've ever dreamed of."

"Power? Glory?" Kyle said, "I suppose that interested me once, but I know the Empire, they're murderers, why would I want to join them?"

"But you did join us," She said, "You were a Stormtrooper."

"Yeah, but I learned the truth, and it wasn't pretty."

"And what of your father,' She asked, "I know who killed him."

That caught Kyle's attention, "Who?"

"A Sith," She said, "If you join us I will help you kill him, and avenge your father's murder."

"Why would I want your help?"

"Don't you remember our duel on Talay?" She asked, "Need I say more?"

Kyle shook his head, "I'm not going to join you. I'm not fighting for murderers and liars again."

The woman looked down in disappointment; "Very well," She pushed a button on her comm., "Lieutenant Forner escort Katarn to his ship."

"Wait, you're not gonna…?" Kyle was about to ask.

"I gave you my word," She said, "I have always been to taught to keep honor."

"Who are you?" Kyle asked the most sought question.

The woman touched her arm, where a fading scar lay. It was the wound he had given her, but it meant little. She seemed to think the question over and over in her mind.

The door behind him opened and several officers walked in.

Finally she gave him a smile, "Jan," She said, "That is all I will give you. Next time we meet, you will die."

"And I look forward to it," Kyle said, flashing her a grin.

For some reason her own smile faded. She paced her hands on her face, and then turned away from him, "Take him away," She said.

After Katarn had left the room, Jan pulled out her crest and clutched it in her fist. No one had smiled at her in years, for some reason she liked it when he did.

A/N Tinuviel: I had to kill off Admiral Ackbar. When I was little he used to scare me, so this is my revenge.

A/N Nerwen: Unlike my sister I am not frightened by a six foot tall fish, I know Ackbar is on the good side but I still hate him. He is a walking talking fish, he belongs in a fish tank, the way he breaths annoys me. Sorry I will stop rambling about Ackbar and sayREVEIW. That is all.