Kyle Katarn: The Rise & Fall
Book 1: Rise of a Hero
Chapter 14: The Rescue Part 2
Author's Note: I promise to provide an ending to mission in this chapter. But things aren't going to calm down just yet! Get read for a rocky ride!
In the Crow's cockpit, Jan powered up the engines and repulsorlifts. As they came on and the Crow rose into the air, the sand swirling under the ship was blasted away. She held the ship in place just off the ground waiting for the signal.
She had expected to see a light come on or maybe a radio signal. But she was not prepared for the massive clamshell doors of the hangar opening directly over her head. Gasping in surprise, she watched as the massive doors descended and locked into place.
Well, Kyle was right, it is quite a signal. Feeding more power to the repulsors, she started to rise towards the opening.
"Uh-oh" said Madine.
"What?" Kyle asked.
"I just realized this panel opens the spacedoors, but it doesn't engage the force field surrounding the doors."
"But that means…"
The hangar doors locked into their open position and instantly, wind and sand blasted into the chamber, swirling about. The two men ducked down, trying to use the two shuttles as cover.
"This is not good!" Kyle yelled above the scream of the wind.
"And it's about to get worse," Madine said, "Look!"
Kyle followed his pointing finger to one of the parked TIE fighters. The wind had grabbed it and was now tossing it about like a toy. The wind shifted, dropping the fighter. It struck the deck, its ion engine exploding from the impact. Shrapnel was added to sand and wind and soon the walls and the remaining spacecraft resembled oversize pincushions.
Another explosion brought their attention to the entrance door. The Imperials had finally broken through. But now they stood, mesmerized as the wind picked up another TIE fighter and threw it about.
"Get back!" Kyle screamed at them. "Get back inside before..!"
But it was too late. With a cry, one of the stormtroopers was lifted into the air and smashed against the far wall. He fell to the ground, unmoving. The remaining Imperials, their paralysis now broken, wisely retreated to the safety of the corridor.
The men's attention was turned back to the spacedoors as they heard the roar of a ship approaching. The nose of the Moldy Crow was just visible as it ascended into the bay. Just then, the wind tossing the other TIE fighter about shifted. The small ship was now headed directly for the Crow.
Kyle wanted to call out, to warn Jan, but before he could even reach for the communicator, it happened.
In the Crow's cockpit, Jan struggled to hold the ship steady as she entered the hangar bay. The swirling wind was making her task difficult. Suddenly, she saw a TIE fighter being thrown about by the wind heading directly for her. She knew there was no way she could back out of the hangar in time. This left only one option.
The roar in the hangar intensified as Jan fired the Crow's engines. The ship leapt forward, barely missing the tumbling TIE, which struck one of the Crow's horizontal stabilizers before plummeting out of the hangar and exploding as it struck the ground.
Seeing Kyle and Madine crouched by a pair of shuttles, Jan guided the ship in close, waiting to open the canopy until the very last second. As it came open, she raised an arm and signaled for the men to come.
They did, coming at a run. Reaching the ship, Kyle had Madine get in first and quickly followed him. Scrunching in as best they could, the men had barely time to secure their harnesses before Jan closed the canopy, spinning the ship around and heading towards the opened spacedoors.
"Um, Jan?"
"What, Katarn?"
"I think you might want to hurry."
Jan turned to throw a look at Kyle, her eyes going wide as she saw what he meant. The wind had picked up the two Lambda class shuttles and they were hurtling towards the Moldy Crow.
"Hang on," Jan said, firing the engines again. They blasted ahead, shooting out of the hangar just as the two shuttles smashed into the opening. As they rocketed away from the Imperial base, the trio looked back, seeing flames shoot out of the hangar.
"They'd better the fire under control," said Madine, "or the whole base will go up."
"That isn't our most immediate problem," Jan said.
"What's wrong," Kyle asked, leaning forward to peer into the forward cockpit.
Jan gave them the news. "Our shields took a beating back there. We're at 50."
The display changed.
"Make that 48. Now 45. Now 39.
Kyle understood. "If the shields keeping dropping at rate, we won't be able to make orbit before they fail."
"And if the shields fail…" Jan said, trailing off. They both knew the consequences of losing the shields.
"Wait!" Kyle exclaimed, "what about transferring power from the weapons?"
Jan thought for a moment. "It could work, but if the base radioed for reinforcements, we could find ourselves facing a Star Destroyer with no means of defense."
"Jan, if we lose the shields now, we're just as dead."
She realized he was right.
Accessing the ship's power settings with a program borrowed from an Incom engineer, Jan accessed the weapons and fed their power into the shields.
She and Kyle watched the shield display intensely.
At first, it didn't change. But then, the display went to 40, then 46, 52 and kept climbing, topping out at 90.
"Looks like that's as good as we're going to get," said Kyle.
"Then hang on back there," said Jan, resetting her grip on the controls, "'cause here we go!"
Jamming the throttles to the stops, she pointed the nose upwards. The Crow responded, leaping into the sky trailing a column of blue fire.
The sand and wind began to buffet the ship, shaking the cockpit. Jan maintained her death grip on the controls. One slip and… well, it was better not to think about that.
They climbed higher. Another couple minutes, she estimated, and they'd be out of the atmosphere. The shield warning sounded. Jan glanced at the display. Shield strength had dropped to 88, then 84, again to 79.
"We're losing shield power!" she cried.
She heard no reply from Kyle or Madine. But it wouldn't have mattered if they had replied. There was no other choice but to keep going. The shaking and buffeting grew more intense. It's like this blasted planet doesn't want to let us go, she thought. The shields dipped again, to 69. An idea flashed in Jan's mind. Taking one hand off the controls, she accessed the power transfer program again. This time, she re-directed the weapons energy away from the shields and into the engines.
The Crow's engines bellowed, their normal blue flame turning white. Engines creaked and groaned as the ship pushed itself faster and higher. Shields had fallen to 20, 15, 9.
But with one final, jarring shake, the Moldy Crow rocketed out of the atmosphere of Orinackra and into space.
"We're clear," Jan said, pulling back on the throttle. The Crow began to slow as Jan re-directed the weapons to boost the shield back to a more comfortable level.
From the back, she heard, "Y'know Kyle, I know we're close friends, but this is ridiculous."
The laughter from the two men was infectious and Jan soon joined in. Some time later, when she was able to control herself enough, she set course for the New Hope and the exhausted occupants of the Moldy Crow allowed themselves to relax as the ship accelerated into hyperspace.
Five Hours Later
As the Moldy Crow cleared the security cordon and approached the New Hope's hangar bay, Jan sighed again. A short time after they had entered hyperspace, Madine and Kyle had begun talking, catching up on old times. That part Jan didn't mind, but the General proved to be a fount of bad jokes, really bad jokes. And yet, Kyle laughed uproariously at each one.
Even now, she heard him crack up at Madine's latest pun. For a moment, she considered if she could have just left them on Orinackra, but Mon Mothma wouldn't have appreciated it. The Crow slid smoothly through the hangar bay and settled to the deck. Popping the canopy, Jan waited until Kyle and Madine had exited before stepping out and down to the deck.
"Listen Jan," Kyle began, stepping up to her, "I'm sorry about…" But that was as far as he got as Jan's fist slammed into his cheek. He fell back, crashing to the deck. Without another word, Jan turned away and left the hangar bay.
The two men stared after her until she passed through the hangar bay doors, a satisfied grin all but invisible on her face.
"You all right?" Madine asked, reaching a hand down.
"Yeah," Kyle said, grasping the proffered hand. He rubbed his cheek, which was turning a brilliant shade of red. "I just had no idea she could hit that hard."
"You said you were in trouble."
"True," Kyle said, managing a smile despite the pain. "Well, let's go. Mon Mothma will be waiting."
Together, the two men passed through the bay doors and into the hallway beyond.
Minutes later, the briefing room doors parted as they walked inside. Jan was already there.
"General," Mon Mothma said warmly, stepping forward to greet Madine, "it's good to see you."
"And you," he replied.
With a wave of her hand, she indicated for the two men to sit. As they did, Kyle saw Jan saw take a chair as far from him as possible. She's still mad, he realized.
Mon Mothma opened the debriefing by asking for a mission account from Kyle and Jan. Each, in turn, told her what happened. Jan cut Kyle no slack at all, explaining in precise terms his cutting off communication with her.
"While the mission was a success," she said, concluding, "Kyle disobeyed orders, endangered himself and it cost him his life and that of the General's. I consider us very lucky to be alive right now. By all odds, we shouldn't be."
"I see," Mon Mothma replied, surprised that Jan was so vehement. "Kyle, your report please."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, and began with his infiltration of the base. "I misjudged the level of security and managed to get myself in pretty bad shape. But that's when it happened."
"When what happened?" Mon Mothma said, intrigued.
"It's hard to explain," said Kyle, and went on, with some difficulty, to describe the voices he heard in his head, how the one had healed him and the other had helped decimate the stormtroopers and rescue Madine.
"I still don't know what those voices are, but the evidence of their existence is clear. And one other thing I've noticed about them is that they either cannot or will not force me to obey. I have to choose to listen and follow what each tells me. The one voice said, 'No, I won't force you.'
As Kyle talked, Jan had been half-listening but gave him her full attention when he began speaking of the voices. It had happened before, on the Danuta mission. And now…? Had he said the voice 'healed' him? It explained his lacks of wounds upon returning to the ship. But he still disobeyed orders, she reminded herself. And yet, she was forced to respond, had it been someone she had cared for, would she have done any differently?
When Kyle finished, everyone was staring at him. His report was to say the least, fascinating.
"Kyle," Mon Mothma said, "I can't pretend to understand what's going on in your head. But, be watchful. The voices, while beneficent now, could change."
He nodded.
"And," she said, her voice firm now, "I am very disappointed in your choice to disobey orders. We are not the Empire here, but order must be maintained. And any soldier who violates that, whatever the reason, must be punished."
Kyle hung his head. He had known this was coming. But he hadn't counted on the look on Mon Mothma's face. It hurt worse than her words.
"Kyle Katarn," she began, "for disobeying orders from a superior officer, you shall be confined to the ship's brig for a period of no less than seven days."
Madine was on his feet in an instant. "Mon Mothma, I protest! Kyle saved my life! To punish him now is…"
She held up a hand.
"General, I understand your gratitude and loyalty to your former student. But I cannot ignore his actions, no matter the result. The ends do not justify the means."
Kyle heard another voice speak, one he had not expected to.
"If I may?" Jan said quietly.
Mon Mothma's looked over at her. She noticed a change in Jan's expression.
"Yes, Jan?"
"Kyle did disobey my orders," she said matter-of-factly, "but when I examine the situation, I cannot say with certainty that given the same circumstances, that I would not have done the same thing. Therefore, as his superior officer, I request leniency."
Thunderstruck, Kyle turned his head to gaze at Jan, but her gaze was on Mon Mothma.
A moment passed, two.
As if seeing something in Jan's eyes, Mon Mothma nodded then turned to look at Kyle again.
"Very well then. Given the request and the extraordinary circumstances of the situation, I will reduce your sentence to two days."
"Thank you, Mon Mothma," said Madine, sitting down.
"Do you have anything to say?" she said, gazing at Kyle."
"No."
"Then, I shall consider this debriefing closed and summon…"
She paused for a moment.
"Actually," Mon Mothma said, indicating Jan and Madine, "would the two of you care to escort Kyle to the brig?"
"Definitely," Madine said quickly.
"Yes, I will," Jan said.
"Very good. Kyle, I will see in two days then."
"Yes, ma'am," Kyle said, standing as Mon Mothma and the others did.
She nodded and exited the room.
Holding out a hand, Madine indicated the door.
"Shall we go?"
"What?" Kyle said, smiling, "no cuffs?"
"Don't push it, Katarn," Jan said from behind him, "we can still call Security."
"Ah," Kyle said, "well then, let's go."
And together, they left the briefing room. As they walked, Kyle looked over at Jan, eyebrows raised. Her answering nod was all he needed. Their breach was healed, the actions forgiven, their friendship still there.
Two Days LaterThe insistent beeping invaded his mind, shredding the last images of the dream he was having. The fragrant, grassy fields of Sulon with the sound of the wind whispering through them were replaced by the beeping and a voice.
"The time is now 0600, prisoner Katarn. Your rest period is over."
The placid face roiled, becoming an expression of extreme frustration. His eyes fluttered open, the closed just as quickly as the bright light jabbed into them.
"Do you have to put the lights on so brightly?"
"Your rest period is over, prisoner Katarn."
The computer's implacable voice only added to his frustration. Shading his eyes, he called again.
"All right, all right. I'm up already. Now, could you please lower the lights a little?"
"Of course, prisoner Katarn."
The bright white light dimmed somewhat, making it possible for his eyes to adjust.
"That's better," he said, more to himself than the computer.
Able to see now, Kyle saw the ceiling hadn't changed since he gone to sleep. It was the same faceless gray tile there that was on the walls and the floor. The only break in the all the gray was the single control panel where a camera eye glanced out, watching his every move.
Sitting up, Kyle yawned and stretched, hearing the satisfying crackling of his joints. As he came to full wakefulness, Kyle remembered today was the day. In just a few more hours, his sentence would be served and he could say goodbye to the brig with hopes never to return. The last two days while not burdensome, had been truly boring. Unable to do little more than sleep, eat and talk to the computer, he appreciated his freedom more than ever. He now knew why the Rebellion had to fight the Empire, no matter the odds, the inequalities of equipment and people.
True, the Empire brought order to the galaxy. But at what cost? When simply questioning the rules brought charges of treason, where was the concept of mercy? No, the Empire had to be fought, and defeated. But, at the same time, the Rebellion could not do so by making the ends justify the means. He now knew why his actions against Rebus had been met with horror and disdain rather than congratulations. There had be law and justice in the galaxy. But, he decided, justice needed to be tempered with mercy.
He was musing over this again when the computer spoke.
"Prisoner Katarn, you have a visitor."
"A visitor?" he said, not sure he had heard the computer correctly.
"Yes," the computer answered, "a Jan Ors is requesting to see you."
Kyle's eyes went wide with surprise. He assumed that he wouldn't see Jan until this afternoon when he would be released.
"Do you wish to see the visitor, prisoner Katarn?"
That brought Kyle out of his moment of shock. "Yes! Please!"
A moment later, the room's single door slid open.
Having not seen another living soul in the past two days, Kyle took a moment to look at her.
Jan's outfit never seemed to vary much. She wore tight fitting trousers, desert brown in color. At the waist, a number of gadgets hung, including her blaster pistol. She wore a long sleeve shirt that had once likely been white. Her round face was smudged with dirt and soot, but it didn't hide those bright blue eyes.
Her brown hair cascaded all about her head. The goggles she wore held some of it back, but not by much. But despite all that…
She is kind of pretty, Kyle thought, wondering how he hadn't noticed before.
"Hi, Jan, "he said, honestly glad to see her.
"Hi," she returned, placing her hands on the doorframe, "I'd come in, but it looks like you're a bit cramped for space."
"Yeah, you could say that," he answered, looking around him.
The brig, while non-descript in color was interesting in that Kyle could touch two walls from the middle of the room. The bed dominated most of the space, leaving room for a small lavatory and the computer screen. From where he sat to Jan could be covered in two steps.
"Still," she said, "if you don't mind..?"
"If I don't..?" It suddenly struck him. "Oh! Sure, sure, have a seat." Kyle slid down to the head of the bed.
"Thanks," Jan said gratefully, stepping inside; and not so much sitting as plopping down on the bed. It was then that Kyle saw the dark circles under her eyes and the expression of tiredness on her face.
"You okay?"
Jan nodded. "Just tired. Things have been busy."
"When aren't they?"
She smiled at that, despite her tiredness. "Very true. But, it was even more so yesterday." She looked over at him for a moment, as if considering whether or not to proceed.
Deciding, she said, "We've learned some more information about that thing that attacked you and Bastro on the Blood Moon."
"Oh yeah?" Kyle said, intrigued now. He remembered the "thing" all too well.
"Yes," Jan replied," according to intelligence General Madine received before being arrested, what you encountered is the latest Imperial Project, the Dark Trooper."
He ran the name over and over again in his mind. Dark Trooper. It was a fitting name, he decided. "So what is it?" he asked.
"You may not believe it," she said, "I'm still not sure I do. Do you know the name Rom Mohc?"
Kyle's eyebrows shot up. "General Mohc?" he asked.
"The same," Jan answered.
"I remember he was commandant of the Imperial Academy when I attended there. He presided over my graduation."
"Well, he's gone beyond that. Evidently, the Dark Trooper is his project."
Kyle didn't know what to say. During his time at the Academy, he had grown to like and respect General Mohc. The man was a no-nonsense soldier who didn't tolerate much. But for cadets who demonstrated excellence, respect and above all else, loyalty, they found him approachable and even friendly.
But now…
"So what is the Dark Trooper?" he asked.
"It's…oh!" Jan blew out a breath. "Listen, it's a long story and it's been twelve hours since I've eaten and eighteen hours since I last slept. And since there's no time to sleep, I've got to eat something. C'mon."
With that, she stood up and walked out the door. Kyle, however, remained where he was, gazing after her. Turning at the doorway, she stared at him."
"You coming?" she asked sarcastically.
"Jan," he said, "in case you don't remember, I don't get released till this afternoon."
"Oh, that," she said dismissively, "I talked with Mon Mothma last night. She's agreed to release you early."
"Early?" Kyle said, not believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah, early," Jan echoed, "like about five minutes ago. So, as I said, you coming? Or would you rather stay here?"
"Well," Kyle said, smiling at her now, "I have gotten used to the place, but I suppose…"
"Oh, shut up and let's go, Katarn," Jan said, cutting him off.
She stepped out of the brig, and headed out into the corridor. Looking back only once, she saw a grateful Kyle Katarn keeping pace with her. She didn't smile back, however. The corridors of the New Hope seemed almost huge to him after being in the cell. I'll have to remember to thank Mon Mothma.
Doors swished open as Jan entered the mess hall. A cacophony of noise washed over Kyle as he followed. Rebel soldiers, fighter pilots and support staff sat at tables, engrossed in conversation. The smell of cooked food was heavenly and he breathed it in deeply.
Grabbing a tray, Kyle grabbed two or three of everything being offered.
"Hungry?" one of the servers said jokingly.
"You have no idea," Kyle answered.
He followed Jan to one of the unoccupied tables and sat opposite her. She dug in, and Kyle followed suit. Minutes passed as the two attacked the food before them. When their trays were nearly cleaned of the last morsel, Jan sat back and sighed contentedly.
"Me too," Kyle said, swallowing the remaining contents of his glass.
"What?" Jan said with mock innocence, "prison food didn't agree with you?"
"Let's just say what it lacks in taste, it does even more so in appearance."
Jan laughed at that.
"I see being in the brig hasn't changed you much, Katarn."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Kyle replied, "It definitely gave me an appreciation for open spaces."
Jan laughed harder. He realized he liked the sound of her laugh.
"And it gave me a lot of time to think, and to consider who and what I am."
Her laughter cut off as if a switch had been flipped. Jan stared at him, her face serious. "And what did you discover?"
Kyle lowered his head, unable to meet her eyes. "That the ends don't always justify the means," he said quietly
Jan's eyes went wide and she smiled at him. It was the answer to more than one question.
"You were right about Rebus, Jan. I just…"
Reaching across the table, Jan took his hand, cutting him off. "It's done, Kyle. And while I didn't say this before, I can now. Had our roles been reversed, I can't say that I wouldn't have spaced the little creep myself."
He looked up, a smile coming to his face.
They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment. Kyle felt the touch of her skin on his. It was an oddly comfortable feeling. Suddenly, as if a spell had been broken, two operatives looked at each other with surprise as they realized they were holding hands.
Jan yanked hers away just as Kyle pulled his back, both embarrassed, looking anywhere but at each other.
"So…." Kyle said.
"Yeah, I…" Jan replied
"Anyway," he said, searching for a topic, "you were going to tell me more about the Dark Trooper project?"
"Right," Jan said, "I almost forgot. We learned that the Phirk metal we discovered on Talay is being used in Dark Trooper armor and weapons. And while we destroyed one of the mines and processing plants, we've found out there are others."
"How many?" Kyle asked.
"We're not sure," Jan said, shrugging, "intelligence has been unable to any more information other than confirming the existence of at least one other Dark Trooper assembly plant."
"Where?" Kyle inquired.
"A planet called Anteevy."
"Anteevy?" Kyle said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "I've never heard of such a planet."
"Neither had the Rebellion," Jan admitted, "This information is only a few days old."
"So how did you find out about the planet?"
"Our spies learned of a possible smuggling operation at the Ramsees Hed docking facility on Cal-Seti. We investigated and discovered that the Empire has employed a group of pirates to transport Phirk metal from there to Anteevy."
"Wait," Kyle said, "wait a minute. How did you discover the Empire was using smugglers and how did you track them to Anteevy?"
Jan looked away for a moment, then said,
"Well, with you on the inactive list, we were short of operatives. Then, our spies learned early yesterday a large cargo vessel was scheduled to depart from Ramsees Hed in a few hours. Because of the time constraint, Mon Mothma and I decided the only course of action was for me to go in alone."
Kyle's eyes went wide as he heard this. He seemed to be seeing Jan with new eyes. She had flown the Crow, gone on the mission and returned without any backup. He realized one of the dark circles under her eyes was actually a black eye. A bruise was just visible on one cheek. And her gloves likely covered other wounds.
"Are you all right?" he asked forcefully
She nodded.
"Jan," he said, "if I'd known…"
"I know," she replied, "that's why I asked Mon Mothma to let me be the one to tell you when I returned or… to tell you when you were released what happened."
Kyle leaned back in his chair, taking all this in. Then, as the gravity of what she had done came to him, he found himself smiling at her.
"Well, if you can handle things so well by yourself, how about I wait in the ship next time?"
Jan laughed, throwing her head back. Kyle chuckled at his joke.
"Oh!" she said, wiping away tears, "I haven't laughed like that in a while."
"First one's free," Kyle said, "now tell me what happened."
Jan laughed again, then getting herself under control began to speak.
"I was able to land right outside the Imperial on Cal-Seti without being detected. But that didn't last long."