I had planned to make this chapter a little longer, but couldn't think of anything to expand on. So here you go, another chapter. Leave a review or PM me to tell me what you think.
Kyle moves through the hangar towards the Raven's Claw. There are small scorch marks around the rear from the dogfight in the asteroid field. It had remained in it's position since he and Jan landed inside the station, and hadn't been touched since then. The hangar seemed empty, with everyone scouring the station for anything that could give information on other Imperial Remnant base locations or other information that is required by the New Republic. Only The Raven's Claw, the Imperial shuttle and a couple of TIE fighters hanging from the roof. Alarms are still blaring, lighting the ceiling and the walls near them. After the time spent in the station, the sound is starting to get of the mercenaries nerves. And he is already tense enough, with his back having been scorched by a large explosion some time before. At his side, he holds his blaster. One couldn't to careful, as the station may not be fully clear, and at any time, a squad of stormtroopers could be running through that door behind him. And if the blaster fails, he still has his saber attached to his belt.
Outside of the hangar, he catches sight of several X-Wing and A-Wing fighters fly by in a wedge formation. Once they are gone, Katarn pauses, staring out into the asteroid field. There is wreckage of TIE fighters, floating among the asteroids. Some of the rocks had been blasted apart during the battle. He takes in the view, staring out to the stars past the field of floating rocks. However, his attention is drawn to behind him when he hears the thumping of boots against the metallic flooring.
"Kyle, wait!" He finds Jan standing before him, something in her left hand. Something that surprises him. His gaze moves to his belt, only to find he wasn't seeing things and it was in fact his lightsaber in her hand. He walks up to her outstretched hand and wraps his fingers around it, but ends up having his hand in hers. She pulls both their hands back, her other hand on his lower back, although it still hurts a bit, and surprises him with a deep kiss, even if it is a quick one. He feels all warm and fuzzy inside, a feeling he isn't quite used to yet, but plans on doing so. It ends before he can enjoy the full kiss, and she parts away from him. He is taken aback, face frozen with surprise and lips still perked out. It takes him several seconds to notice the warmth of her lips had disappeared, and opens his eyes to see her wide grin and sly eyes.
"Don't forget next time." He feels the cold metal of the hilt of the saber, the heavy weight of the weapon in his hand. His fingers wrap tightly around it, getting used to the familiar shape of the hilt, then clips it to his belt.
"I will return soon." She steps back as he makes his final approach to the ship.
"You better. I don't like to be kept waiting for too long." She sends a wink his way, then begins to walk away as he reaches the ship. He pushes a button on a device attached to his sleeve around his wrist, calling the ladder down. Kyle climbs the steel rungs into the cockpit and sits himself into the pilot seat, which is commonly referred to as 'Jan's seat'. He knows how to fly, but his skill is nothing likes hers. He considered Jan to be one of the best pilots, and stuck by that.
He begins the start up sequence, flipping several switches and pushing buttons. The ship hums as the console lights up, system readings appearing across screens. He eases the throttle forward, and the roar of the engines fills his ears. It slowly lifts from the ground, shuddering while it does. Then, he eases the ship out. In a matter of seconds, The Raven's Claw is in the expanse of space. He starts up the comms of the ship and contacts the station and he turns to the left:
"This is The Raven's Claw, now leaving the station." There is a whir of static, then a reply is heard.
"Copy, Raven's Claw. Two fighters are being sent to escort you from the asteroid field. Good luck." The transmission cuts off before he can reply, but he does anyway.
"Yeah, you too." He rounds a large asteroid, and as he enters a large clearing the the rocks, two X-Wings appear on his flanks. The fighters are mostly painted a very light grey, with a colored streak along the sides, these ones having blue. Behind the cockpit, there is a small port for an astromech droid. Each X-Wing has four wings, each one being connected to an engine. Two engines were placed on each side."That was fast" he thinks to himself. He maneuvers the freighter around the asteroids, being careful not to hit his escort.
To the ship's portside, Kyle sees the fleet. One of the corvettes had been cleaved in half by one of the Star Destroyers. Some wreckage from The Pursuer floats around it. All the Tartan cruisers have been destroyed during the battle, as well as one of the Victory Star Destroyers. The other Star Destroyer had managed to clear the asteroid field and made the jump while Kyle fought on the station. So many lives had been lost in the battle, but Kyle tries not to think about it.
After much asteroid dodging and careful flying, he clears the field. The fighters pull off and turn back to the field, heading to the station. Kyle makes no attempt to thank them as he prepares to make the jump. He puts in the specified coordinates, pushes the throttle all the way and braces himself. It accelerates, then the ship lurches forward. The white streaks that are stars go by, then the area around the ship becomes a tunnel of blue light.
The jump out of hyperspace makes his stomach feel sick. The ship lurches out, shaking to it's core. The metal hull groans under the sudden change in speed. Ahead is the red gas planet of Yavin Prime. And next to it is his target. Yavin 4, a lush moon with large forests and small oceans. And hidden in the jungles are several temples, on of them being the Jedi Academy.
He aims the ship towards the planet, moving through space at a high enough speed to reach it in a matter of seconds.
"Approaching ship, identify yourself." Kyle pitches into the comm system and begins his reply.
"This is Kyle Katarn, flying The Raven's Claw. Sending authorization codes." He sends the codes, and waits, pulling the ship into a slow drift. The last thing he wants is to be shot down into a jungle infested with a variety of creatures that would love to have a taste of him. The wait is longer than he expects, though the answer finally comes through.
"Kyle Katarn, you are cleared for landing. Master Skywalker will be meeting with you soon." He ends the transmission and increases the speed. Since when is someone not expecting him?
The freighter shudders as it goes through the atmosphere. The shields hold, thankfully, and he levels the ship horizontally, zooming across the sky. Below, he sees the lush jungles of Yavin. He had explored it many times, and had even battled in the swamps near the temple. In fact, that was not too long ago when that happened. Although he has never encountered the creatures that lurked deep within the forests of Yavin 4, and he would rather never do so. Ahead, he spots a structure poking up from the forest. The jungle surrounding begins to become less dense as he nears it. More of the structure becomes visible, and becomes a towering pyramid. Around it are smaller structures. All of these make up the Jedi Academy. All the structures are made by large stone blocks fit together to form the walls.
He guides the freighter to an open area, not wanting to have the trouble of even attempting to land it in one of the landing bays. And as always, someone is expecting him. A small transport speeder waited next to his ship, with a single driver at the back. The driver has a small helmet on the top of his head with a light brown uniform. Kyle opens the side door, the ladder drops to the ground, and he slides down.
"Kyle Katarn?" Kyle nods to the male driver, and the driver nods back. "Good. We'll be going, unless you have something to do with the ship." Kyle climbs onto the side, seating himself on the side. There is a hum from underneath, then it starts to move. At a rather slow pace.
"So you're the savior of the Academy? The Kyle Katarn?" Kyle glances at the driver with a raised brow, then nods. "Wow. Ya know, you're a hero here. Do you know how many people you saved?!" Kyle rolls his eyes as the driver ranted on and on. He didn't need this. Wasn't an injured back enough? The mercenary has heard many things like this before from other people he had saved.
"Hey! Did ya hear me?!" Kyle shakes himself from his train of thought and sends an unsure look at the driver. "I said that Master Skywalker hasn't gotten back yet."
"Oh? Where is he then?" The driver shrugs.
"Not sure. Think he had to visit Coruscant for somethin."
"Great. The one person I come to see, and he isn't here." Kyle crosses his arms, looking away from the driver. He blocked out their voice, and watched the area around them go by. They traveled between two structures part of the Jedi Academy. One of them he knows as a training center, and the other he isn't sure about. The walls are covered by overgrown vines. They are so thick, one could easily use them to climb. Again, he is brought to the driver by their voice.
"Master Katarn?! Are ya even listenin?!" Kyle looks with a nonchalant expression. "I was askin if you want the scenic route. Well, do ya?" Kyle leans his head towards the driver, with a glare that shows his full annoyance rising up, along with some pain from his back.
"First off, I'm not a Master. Not a Jedi. So just call me Kyle. And second, I'd rather head straight there. I'm a patient man, so I can wait for him to come back." The driver has a somewhat sad expression. It seems that Kyle hurt his feelings. But he didn't look long enough to notice that.
"Right'o, Kyle" the driver says as energetic as can, keeping his tone up.
The rest of the trip is full of an awkward silence. Neither speaks to the other. They arrive at one of the hangar bays. The hover transport halts just outside, and Kyle hopped off at his stop. Before leaving, he expresses his gratitude to the driver.
"Thanks." Kyle goes off before the driver can reply, and he hears the transport leave behind him.
Inside the bay, there are several X-Wing fighters, crates of supplies, Jedi Academy staff lingering about as they achieved their tasks, astromech and protocol droids and cargo haulers going around. At the back of the hangar bay is a single lift platform. There are several pillars holding up the ceiling, and doors along the walls. The air is filled with the sound of tools such as welders being used on the fighters, the hums of the haulers, orders and shouts being thrown around. The smell of fuel and burning metal fills his nostrils. The burning smell brings back a shot of pain up his back, a burning sensation.
He struts past the scene to the lift at the end of the bay, and steps up onto the grounded platform. The contact of his hand against the switch lights up the screen above it with two adjacent arrows, and the lift ascends at a slow rate. At the top, a door lies adjacent the lift. But he does not go to that, and instead to another lift on the left. He understands why there are so many lifts, as the temple is a large and tall place. Above, there is a glass floor taking up half the room above, the rest empty air. He ascends to there, where another lift awaits him, this being the last. On his way there, a young male student walks out of a door to the side, and doesn't bother to acknowledge Kyle, almost pushing him off. Kyle holds a cold glare at the student, examining him so that he will remember to take it up with Luke. He was at least fifteen, a Human with a dark tone to his skin and very short brown hair. His attire is made up of a brown training tunic and long pants of a darker shade. When the student disappears, Kyle ascends the last lift to a metal room. Here, the air is still. There are no disturbances, like loud noises or smells that would disrupt the concentration of the mind. The mercenary goes around the lift and down the hall that comes from it, where the walls change to the stone of the temple. He makes his way to a set of large metal doors, which open in his presence.
Past the doors are where Luke spends most of his time. It is a large room, with no furniture of any kind. There is a set of stairs just beyond the doors. Flame-lit torches line the walls on either side, and the width of the room expands halfway in, just before another set of stairs. Not too many, though. At the far end is a higher floor, with a single part raised, large enough for one to meditate on. Beyond that is a large gap in the wall, with several pillars standing in it to make a window of some sort.
Kyle sits himself on the ground, wondering if this was as good of a place to meditate as he had been told, and seen in Luke. He crosses his legs before him, places his hands on his knees and closes his eyes. For the first few seconds, he feels only the pain in his back as the wind touches it. But slowly, it disappears. And he becomes calm. Too calm. It disturbs him, at how he can be so calm after recent events. How can he be at peace, after almost losing his partner? After almost losing Jan. His memories go back to the duel with Jerec, and how close he was to losing Jan. And back to when he was so close to turning to Dark Side.
"You are not at peace?" Kyle opens his eyes and turns his head around enough to the side to catch a glimpse of the black-clothed figure of heroic Jedi Master Skywalker. Kyle Shakes his head, then hears Luke begin to walk around until he stands before Kyle, his hand stretched out. He stands up in the presence of the Jedi and accepts the hand gesture.
"Just a few things on my mind. Nothing to worry about" Kyle lies. Katarn knows that Luke can sense his despair, but he also knows he is not one to pry. The Jedi turns away and walks up the stairs, his hands clasped together behind his back.
"So Skywalker, what have I been called here for? Is it another mission?" Skywalker nods his head. "Okay..but why couldn't Jan come? And couldn't we have talked about this using a hologram?" Skywalker stays silent for a short moment, then stands.
"On the station, we discovered some lists of transports. They held enough resources to resupply an army of Reborn troops. Though, their destinations were not shown."
"Until now?" Luke looks to Kyle, his eyes giving the answer. A sense of worry. This must have been the reason for why he was late on arriving.
"I need you to go to Uvena Prime. A shipment of cortosis was sent there. But be aware, for that may not have been everything on board." Kyle nods and goes to leave, but Luke isn't done. "Kyle, wait. There is more." Kyle stops and faces Luke. "He should be arriving at any moment."
"Who?" On queue, his answer arrives through the large doors. They both look to the newcomer. It was the same student that had almost pushed Kyle some time before.
"Master Skywalker, I have come as you-" he stops short, staring at Kyle with fear. It seemed that somehow, Luke had known about it. At least, that's what Kyle guesses. Although, it was a bit odd since Luke wasn't normally that kind of person.
"Kyle, this is one of my students, Leon. As you may know, we lost many Jedi trainers and Knights in the battle against Desann's forces. I have a favor to ask of you." Kyle looked curiously from one to the other, as did the student. "Kyle...I need you to train him." There is a long silence as both are in sudden shock and surprise. Then, the reaction comes simultaneously.
"What?!"