Kyle Katarn: The Rise & Fall

Book 1: Rise of a Hero

Chapter 21: The Smuggler's Moon (continued)

A/N: I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who's reading my story and especially those of you who take the time to review it. I feel encouraged every time I read the reviews and it drives me to write well in order to please you.

A/N: Kyle, Jan and Blaze have successfully infiltrated Nar Shaddaa in pursuit of the Nav Card. But not all is well in the ranks. Come and see what happens next!

"I'm going with the two of you," Jan said, matter-of-factly.

Blaze and Kyle looked at each other, sharing expression of surprise and confusion.

"That's not the plan," Blaze said, "you're supposed to stay with the ships."

"That was before I saw where you're going."

"And…?" Kyle said.

"Look, Katarn," Jan said tightly, "You're not taking a stroll through the Corellian sector here. You're headed right into a major enemy stronghold. And I'm going along to make sure you come out in one piece."

"I thought that was my job," Blaze said.

Jan shifted her focus to the other woman.

"Look Blaze, you may have the armor and weapons, but I've got more field experience with Kyle here than you do. I know how he reacts, how he thinks."

"Since when?" Kyle interjected.

"Besides, having another pair of eyes could be crucial to the mission."

"Maybe," Blaze admitted, "but if we leave the ship unguarded, we're more likely to come back to find it stripped or gone."

"She's right, Jan." Kyle added, "You need to stay here."

"No, I don't. The ship is locked down and I activated a force field that will give any scavengers or other troublemakers quite a shock if they lay on finger on the Crow."

"Okay," Blaze said, "but what about armor? I imagine you can shoot, but what if you get hit? That outfit you're wearing sure doesn't offer much protection."

Jan looked down at herself, realizing she hadn't considered that. The gray pants and tan shirt she wore were simple items, not designed for combat. The sleeveless green jacket she had on was equally unarmored.

"No armor makes you a liability, Jan," Kyle said.

"I still think I should go with you."

"It's a bad idea, Jan."

"I could make it an order."

"Like I haven't disobeyed one of those before."

"Besides," Blaze added, "given the situation, Kyle would be well within his rights to disobey."

"What?" Jan exclaimed.

"Under Alliance regulations, in order for you to accompany us, you have to be properly equipped. And you're not. Therefore, any order you issue in regards to this would be an illegal one, and as such, Kyle could disobey it."

Kyle stared at Blaze while she spoke.

"Wow," he said, "not bad."

"Thank you," Blaze said, smiling at him.

"I still think I ought to go."

"Jan…." Kyle began

"Wait," Blaze interrupted, "I might have an answer."

The two operatives looked at her.

"Kyle, activate your locator signal. I'll do the same. That will enable you to track us from start to finish, Jan. If anything happens to us, you'll know exactly where we are. Acceptable?

"Not really," Jan said.

Blaze shrugged "It's the best solution you're going to get. If you try to follow us, even at low altitude, the Imperial detection grid will pick up the Crow's energy emissions."

Wow, Kyle thought, she is sharp.

Jan thought about it for a long moment, glancing to Kyle for a moment.

"I still don't like not being with you, but it seems I have no choice."

"Okay, then," Kyle said. "Thanks Blaze. Let's go."

With that, the two operatives strode away.

Thanks Blaze? Jan thought, as she walked toward the Crow. It's not like I had to agree to this. He could have at least…

Jan stopped herself. Since when did she care what Kyle Katarn's opinion of her was? Besides, Blaze's plan would put her in more advantageous position to assist the two of them.

Still, there was something about Blaze. Something she couldn't put her finger on. But, it bothered her just the same. She could tell the other woman was trying, and Jan wanted to respond in kind, but that niggling feeling wouldn't leave her alone.

Stepping into the cockpit, she closed the canopy and activated the tracking system. The display came on and two blips appeared, representing Blaze and Kyle. They were moving deeper into the Duros spaceport area.

As they penetrated deeper into the confines of Nar Shaddaa, Kyle wondered how in the name of the pit they were supposed to find this Nav Card. Walls, hallways, open areas and doorways combined to form such a maze, he was sure they were going to get lost. It was at these times, he placed a hand on his mapper. It was keeping track of their progress and would lead them back without fail. Let's just hope it doesn't get blasted again, he thought, reminded of the battle on Danuta when his mapper had taken a direct hit from a blaster.

His own blaster was out and ready. Blaze likewise was armed, carrying a nasty-looking rifle. The dull metal flashed in the uneven light, the muzzle waiting only for the opportunity to speak. All around them was the smell of disuse and age. Garbage was piled in places and what color there was came from graffiti, both human and alien.

"Hold it!" Blaze said, holding up a hand.

They were proceeding down a narrow hallway, ending in a T-intersection.

"What is it?" Kyle said, moving close to her so his whisper would be heard.

"I'm not sure," Blaze said, eyes fixed on the intersection, "I thought I heard voices."

Silently agreeing, the operatives took a few more steps, stopping at the edge of the intersection.

Blaze had been right. There were voices, many voices. They listened for a moment, then stepped away, turning to look at each other.

"I think there's three," Kyle said, gazing into her eyes.

Blaze nodded, "I agree."

"Everything's been so quiet," he said, "too quiet. I should have known it wouldn't be this easy. Any chance we can go around?"

Blaze consulted her mapper, then shook her head.

"Not without backtracking for over three miles."

Kyle responded by bringing his blaster up. "Well, I guess that settles that. You ready?"

Blaze hefted her own weapon. "Ready."

"On three," Kyle said, "Three!"

Moving as one person, the two operatives launched themselves around the corner. Ahead of them stood two Rodians and a Gamorrean.

Red lances leapt from the weapons, scoring solid hits on the Rodians. The Gamorrean was hit as well, but it only grunted loudly and began walking towards the pair, its axe held at the ready.

The two operatives looked at each other, fired again. And again, the Gamorrean staggered, but kept coming.

"Stay here," Blaze, dropping her rifle.

"What are you..?" Kyle began, stopping in mid-sentence as Blaze pulled a vibrosword from her belt. She activated it, a low hum emanating from the blade.

The Gamorrean stopped for a moment, catching sight of the gleaming blade. The human woman holding it smiled at him, a predator's smile. The large alien started to back away just as the woman ran at him, blade held high.

Kyle watched in amazement as Blaze launched herself at the Gamorrean. She brought the vibrosword down in a diagonal slash, then reversed it and slashed sideways. Up came the blade, then down it went, straight down this time. The Gamorrean let out a scream, cut short as the blade penetrated its head.

Green blood exploded from all three wounds as the large pig-like alien toppled. Blaze leapt back, narrowly avoiding the blood. She reversed the blade again, sliding it into its scabbard in one smooth motion. Turning round, she walked back towards Kyle and retrieved her rifle.

"You can close your mouth now."

"How did…. Where…. I…."

"A gift from an old friend," Blaze said, "sometimes a hand-to-hand weapon works a lot better than any blaster."

"Okay, then," Kyle said, recovering his voice, "Remind me to never make you mad."

"You'd better not," Blaze said, giving him a wicked smile.

They rounded the corner, the mapper guiding them onto the right hand fork. The enclosed tunnel ended and they emerged onto a flat plain studded with buildings of various sizes. Just ahead and to the left sat a low one-story affair.

Suddenly from above and ahead of them, blaster fired rained down.

Here we go again, Kyle thought, bracing himself for the impact.

A heartbeat later, Blaze was in front, activating the shield gauntlets.

Kyle heard the low hum of the energy field activating. Another heartbeat and the lances of red fire reached them.

He watched in surprise as first one, then another and another lanced into the shield, making it flare blue-white. But it held.

"You can join in any time you want," Blaze said.

Realizing that he was standing there staring while more blaster fire poured down, Kyle reached for his blaster rifle. He cast his gaze skyward and spotted the attackers. Nearly six stories above them were a Rodian and a Gran. The Rodian had a laser pistol pointing down at them.

He angled the blaster upward, closing one eye as he looked into the sight. He squeezed off two shots, but they were too low.

He adjusted the weapon and fired again.

This time, one of the Rodians was caught by his shots and dropped out of sight. Kyle shifted his aim, but the second alien was gone.

"Kyle, look out!"

Even as the sound of the explosion registered in his ears, he realized he should have been expecting detonators. Grans were famous for using them.

The shock wave hit and he was thrown back, shrapnel from the exploding deck shooting past him. A chip of permacrete sliced into his cheek. A moment later, Kyle crashed to the deck, sliding a bit as the momentum of the explosion spent itself.

Opening his eyes, Kyle was surprised to not hurt more than he did. His chest ached a bit, as did his back. But as he sat up, the tingle of warm blood against skin reminded him of the cut. He started to reach for it just another explosion sounded. He looked ahead and saw Blaze standing there, holding a missile launcher. Looking up, Kyle's eyes widened as he saw the smoking crater where the Rodian and Gran had been.

As she turned to look at him, Kyle saw a smile on her face, but not the kind of smile she favored him with. This was a mean smile, a killer's smile. Even as his mind registered it, Blaze's expression changed to one of fear and concern. Returning the launcher to her belt, she ran towards him.

"Kyle!" she called.

He raised a hand to let her know he was okay.

She knelt in front of him, her eyes searching his. "Are you okay?"

"Better than I expected," he said.

She spotted the cut. "You're hurt."

"Oh yeah," Kyle said dismissively, "that."

Blaze pulled out a medpack, reached for his cheek.

"It's nothing," he said, "I've had a lot worse."

"It's a wound," she said forcefully, "and it needs to be treated."

He started to protest again, but with a quick move, Blaze's left hand reached out, gripping his chin. With her free hand, she pulled a cloth from the medpack.

"We can do this hard or easy," she said, eyes looking directly at him," but I am going to fix that wound before we continue."

Although he knew he was stronger, Kyle realized Blaze did have a point. There was a chance, especially here on Nar Shaddaa that the cut, if left untreated, could become infected.

"Okay," he said, holding his hands up in surrender, "you win."

She smiled. "Good, now hold still."

She relaxed the grip on his chin, but didn't let go. He flinched when she touched the wound, gritting his teeth.

Her grip tightened. "Hold still."

She cleaned away the blood, then sprayed the area with a disinfectant. Another spray contained synthflesh, which would cover the wound, allowing it to heal.

"There," she said, releasing his chin, "all done."

Kyle worked his jaw. Where that had been a burning in his cheek was little more than a dull ache now.

"You're a doctor too?"

"Far from it," Blaze replied, "but I've been in enough scrapes to learn how to treat most battlefield injuries. I'm surprised you haven't learned how."

"Never thought about it," Kyle said, rising to his feet, "but when we get back, maybe I'll talk to Berth about adding some medpacks to my gear."

She nodded.

"Ready to go?"

"Definitely."

As they moved ahead, Kyle couldn't stop thinking about how it felt when Blaze had touched him. Her skin was surprisingly soft. Given that she was an agent like him, he expected that he skin would be rough like his. But it was anything but. He had enjoyed the sensation as her hands had moved across his face.

Where was this coming from? He shook his head. Okay, Blaze is attractive, that's for certain. But we're in the middle of a mission! And I'm thinking about how her skin feels. Get a grip, Kyle. He forced himself to refocus on the mission, but not without a last, quick thought about her.

They continued, reaching the one-story building a short time later. As they passed by it, Kyle noticed a small landing.

"Hang on a second," he said to Blaze.

Crouching, Kyle pushed off, jumping towards the landing. He got both hands on the lip and was able to pull himself up. He looked down at Blaze, who was gazing at him in silent inquiry.

"Look, following the mapper is all well and good, but why don't we see if we can get on top of this building and scout the area ahead."

She mulled this over for a moment, then nodded.

Kyle reached a hand down to help her. But Blaze, backing up a few steps, took a running leap at the landing. She caught the lip in her hands, using her momentum to push up and onto the landing. A moment, she was on her feet next to him.

He shrugged. "Let's go."

Kyle was thinking to use the grapnel, but to their collective surprise, there was a door right off the landing. Weapons drawn and ready, they edged into building, wary for any attackers. But none appeared as they moved into the building. They gazed about.

It was Kyle who spotted the chest high shelf ahead of them. It ended in an open spot that lead to another door.

"Might as well check it out," he said.

She agreed, and together, they pushed through the second door.

Again, no enemies. They stood in a large room with several pieces of broken furniture. Ahead of them was a low platform bordered by columns and walls to either side.

They turned to each other, each realizing it at the same time. "It's some kind of theater," Blaze said.

"Sure," Kyle added, pointing. "There's the stage. Curtains must have been right there and where we just were must have been where the tickets were sold."

They stared at the old theater for a moment more.

"I wonder what happened to it," Kyle said.

"Probably abandoned like everything else when people began leaving the Duros sector."

There was a creak from above. Moving as one, the pair trained the weapons skyward, eyes casting out, ears listening for the noise again, trying to determine where it had come from, what had made it.

The creak came again.

"The roof," Blaze whispered.

Kyle nodded. "How do we get up there?"

"I don't know," she answered.

Neither one said it; it wasn't necessary. Separating and moving as silently as they could, the two agents began to search the theater.

It took nearly ten minutes to find it. With a motion of her blaster, Blaze signaled Kyle.

He approached her position over by one side of the stage.

"Right here," she whispered, pointing with her weapon at a ladder leading upwards.

"I'll go first."

"Who says?" Kyle asked.

"I do," Blaze answered, "Look if the bad guys are up there and get the drop on us, there's no way I'm going to be able to catch you should you fall."

He considered that for a moment, then nodded.

As Blaze mounted the ladder, Kyle found his eyes drawn to her once again.

Concentrate on the mission, Kyle, he said to himself. Now's no time to get distracted.

Re-refocusing himself, he followed her up the ladder.

As she climbed, Blaze couldn't help but smile to herself. While saying nothing, she had noticed every one of Kyle's looks at her. She should have told him to knock it off, with the mission and all. But part of her, she had to admit, enjoyed his watching of her.

But the Ors woman, she thought, is a concern. Though unspoken, she had a connection with Kyle. Maybe just friends; maybe something more. But it was clear that Jan didn't care for her or her being around Kyle.

Maybe this was a bad idea, Blaze thought. Maybe I should talk to Jan, explain I'm no threat to her or Kyle. She felt for the next rung and instead encountered a flat metal surface.

"Hold it, " she called softly, "we've reached the top."

"Can you get it open?" he asked.

Raising her hands, Blaze pushed against the metal plate. It resisted her, not moving. She pushed harder. Suddenly, with a loud screech, the plate flew upwards, banging against the roof.

She barely had time to register the presence of two people on the roof before a flurry of blaster shots blazed past her, two hitting her squarely in the back. Her breath exploded out as the bolts impacted her. With no time to activate shields, her armor took the brunt of the blow.

The impact drove her forward, her feet sliding free of the ladder.

Below, Kyle winced at the screech of the metal plate coming free, then watched in horror as Blaze was hit. He started to call to her just as she fell. She wanted to speak, to warn him somehow, but the pain was so great. The armor had deadened the blows somewhat, but it still hurt.

There was no time to react. He dodged just in time to keep Blaze's feet from hitting him full in the face. But the impact of her body was too great and Kyle felt his hands torn free of the ladder. Blaze heard him cry out as her body impacted his. Her fall was arrested for a moment, then continued.

Kyle didn't know what to do. There was enough distance for him to turn, twist, and somehow minimize the impact of the fall. But if he did that, what would happen to Blaze? A desperate thought made him curl his back as much as he could and reach to pull her close to him, so she wouldn't hit him after he hit the floor.

His brain seemed to explode as he struck the floor, his back screaming with pain like none he had known before. The added force of Blaze's weight only added to the agony. His vision grayed, tunneled, began to go black. He looked at Blaze. She lay atop him, not moving.

My communicator, he thought. Jan.

Even as his consciousness faded, Kyle focused everything he had left into one last effort. He reached down, hand brushing the square surface of the communicator.

A finger stabbed, activating the emergency signal.

Fumbling at first, he managed to bring the device to his lips.

Jan's voice called through the speaker.

"Kyle, I'm receiving your beacon. What's going on?

"Jan," he croaked, voice fading, "help."

To Be Continued

In Part 2

of Kyle Katarn: The Rise & Fall