Sorry for the wait. Lot's of stuff came up, disrupting my writing.
A room dimly lit, with a pair of Reborn soldiers. The air is tight and dark around them from their own dark aura. Steel walls holding in everything inside until the doors were to open. The room seems to let out a breath upon the opening of the doors, a sudden hiss like a coiled serpent ready to strike.
The room is emptied upon the Dark Jedi's arrival, and the room is dimmed to his liking, which is until barely anything is visible. Including one's own hand. Perfect for viewing a hologram of his master, as well as leaving nothing to distract him nor to draw him away from the blue light that was soon to arrive. And just like he expects, it turns on with a flicker and a high hum. A life size figure stands before him, face hidden in the darkness of the room the Dark Jedi uses. To conceal their face from any unknown onlookers. He kneels before the figure, stretching a palm across the ground with one of his hands to steady himself. After a few seconds of averting his eyes in respect to his master, he looks up to view his master and speak.
"The plan goes well. We have succeeded with half a dozen of the subjects. They have yet to go with the final tests." The master remains silent. He could feel her intense stare like she is there physically, even if she is many parsecs away. It feels cold. Just as cold as he had been made to be. Colder than any Jedi, which make him feel even more powerful than them. Powerful enough to despise them. Even want to kill them. A killer of Jedi. He likes the sound of that. Yet he did not kill the young one. But he has plans for him, for he had sensed the feelings that the padawan did not hide during the fight. A stupid act on the boy's behalf. He decides before he forgets to mention these opponents of his to his master.
"He was there. Kyle Katarn" he says, growling the name with hate. He notices the tremors in the figure's body. He knows how they despise that name. And he did too, after everything they had told him about that Jedi-pretender. He looks more like a farmer in appearance, and is most definitely disappointing in that fact. Yet the Shistavanen does enjoy the fear he feels in the man, the anger when he had taken the woman from under his very nose. In fact, he relishs those feelings in others.
"Is he dealt with?" the disguised figure asks. With it's voice disguised, the gender of said figure is hidden, although the Dark Jedi can tell when they are quite upset, especially about leaving that man alive. But he has a reason for doing so.
He shakes his head lightly, diverting his gaze quickly to the ground to hide his sneer. "I wished to keep him for you..And there is more. He has a padawan." The figure shifts and quivers. If he could see their face, Wolf-Man would no doubt see their own grin. Big plans for the both of them were already thought up by him. Plans that he and his master thought through well if this Kyle Katarn ever resurfaced. And with a padawan in the picture, the plans will now have to change. In the best of ways.
"Most...unexpected. And pleasing. Go along with your duties. You will be needed soon." He bows his head before standing and turning away as the hologram fizzes and dies out in a flash of light.
The exit door opens with a loud hiss. At the sound of his boots thumping against the metal floor near the door the guards outside stand at attention, pressing their E11 rifles high up against their chests. While he walks down the hall, to his left lies a long line of windows. Outside, the last step of their plan on this planet has begun. Squadrons of TIE fighters fly by in high pitch screeches. AT-ST's patrolling around the abandoned factory's grounds. Platoons of stormtroopers going along with them, moving out into the city at a marching pace. It is now their time to rise and cause as much chaos as possible, for they must. "We will strike fast, and hard" the apprentice murmurs lowly with glimmers of appreciation at the small force in his dark yellow eyes.
He gazes at the scene with a large toothy grin. This has to be a good day for all Empire Reborn. A day of where the growth of their army shall continue. Already, he could envision legion upon legion of Reborn troops, ready to serve. And at their head, him and his master.
Kyle lays distraught on an unmade bed. Not really a bed, but only a metal frame with an old mattress. Still, he has slept on worse. Not nearly enough to take his mind off of what had just happened on the day before. He can feel the strife in the city, yet ignores it all. Only contained by his own emotions. He has remained silent for the past day, and gotten no sleep. Leon had remained silent since then, keeping any opinions or ideas to himself although Kyle could sense feelings much like his own. Kyle glances over at Jan's bed she would have been using. Neat and tidy, untouched by any hands.
Once more, Teevo, the largely-boned Rodian mercenary comes to talk some sense into him. This must have been the fifth time this day. The Rodian places a hand on his shoulder. But Kyle shrugs it off, just like the other times before. This time, however, the green being does not give up right away.
"Now I might not know you very well, but I am sure that girl is yours. Are you going to let them take her away? Just like that?" Kyle clenches his hands. The other times, Teevo had not talked one bit. Now that he has, something changed in his mood.
"This isn't your problem" Katarn grumbles. The Rodian remains at his side, intent on changing the man's side.
"I know. And yet still I help you. Because I know that if I were in her situation, and my captain were in yours he would save me in a heartbeat...Well, after a while of thinking up a plan, of course." Kyle realises now on what he needs to do. He looks over to Leon. This plan of his is not going to work if he didn't teach him some things.
The look Kyle gives Teevo is enough to tell the Rodian that his job is done, and the Rodian wanders off into some other part of the safehouse. The man approaches the padawan with a look of determination, then gives an order.
"Get up." Leon froze, stopping what he had been doing, which was examining his lightsaber hilt. He looks up with a stare that shows a hint of annoyance. "Look kid, I know you don't like me, but I also know you have taken a liking to Jan. You want to help me save her? Then get up" he repeats, this time his voice getting a sense of agitation. Leon rolls his eyes and stands up from his own bed, shouldering Kyle out of the way. And heads out to the back of the shabby house.
Kyle follows to find the padawan waiting with deactivated saber in hand. "Let's get this over with" he grumbles impatiently.
Kyle holds a hard stare locked on him, standing tall and still. Using the Force, he flicks his saber from his belt, activating it and holding the tip downwards. In one swift motion he dashes forth, swinging up. Leon with surprised and alert eyes he quickly rolls to the side. Kyle spins his blue saber around after he withdraws with a quick backstep. "I saw how you fought. Now, I may not be a Jedi, but I'm pretty sure you are supposed to be less susceptible to surprise attacks" he lectures. He may not be a Jedi, but he knows what he's talking about.
Leon straightens up, drawing his own two yellow sabers at the ready. He holds them forward, both at his sides and a slight angle downwards. The dark-skinned boy leaps forth, swinging one of his sabers across in front of him. Kyle steps back, his lightsaber held upwards to deflect the attack. They fizz on contact, a large flash of yellow and blue light born from the strike only to disappear just as quickly, like a sudden explosion with embers of flame going off in many directions. The heat from the sabers contact hit both warriors in waves of heat.
"Don't start patronizing me. I'm not the one who gave up on being a Jedi" the padawan jabs. The master humphs in slight surprise at the remark. Even if it means nothing. Although, somewhere deep inside he did feel something. Kyle pushes that far back in his mind just when his arms push up to force the padawan into a clumsy stumble. Though when the master went in for a swing at the off-balance boy, aiming to only hit with a small fizz against the tunic, Leon had in fact feigned the stumble, doing a flip backwards while throwing a saber Kyle's direction.
Kyle's eyes flickered in surprise. The man certainly finds this action unexpected. The saber only just misses, singes along Kyle's beard and a hot sizzle in the air. It goes flying straight into a wall, cutting into its sandstone before falling to the ground in sparks. The Republic mercenary turns his head back with a grin. That quickly fades when he sees the young boy running at him with his other blade being dragged along the ground. Leon slashes upward, carving another deep cut into the sandstone wall behind Kyle. Kyle evades to the left, quickly jumping to his feet.
He notices something in Connor's expression that clearly says he means no harm, knowing full well that this is strictly a training exercise despite the close calls. But from the way he is fighting, he really wants to show off. Kyle remembers doing that in his younger days, before becoming more responsible and mature...Well, mature enough. He could now see why Luke had picked Leon to be paired with him. In a way, they are quite similar, but also polar opposites. Neither have much patience for things, and both of them are quick to jump into a fight. And one is just as stubborn as the other. Yet Leon has much more pride than Kyle, while Kyle knows when to leave a battle. One other thing similar between the two is they barely have much composure for things.
Leon seems to drift across the ground in one darting motion, his grounded lightsaber flying to his hand through the air. Kyle's own arm darts upwards while holding his blade parallel to the ground, sending a shower of sparks down on both combatants from the contact of all three sabers. Kyle's strength may have exceeded the boys, though the boy has much determination and two weapons instead of one, putting them both at equal standing. The light from the sabers reveals the sneer on Leon's dark-skin face. A sense of pride and determination is easily visible in the expression. Leon starts to push down, overwhelming the man.
Although Leon knows boundaries, taking a step back to give Katarn some breathing room. The Republic mercenary straightens up, his muscles tense from holding the strike back for so long. He reaches with the back of his palm against his face to wipe sweat from the fringe of his hair and forehead. There is enough to fill at least a quarter of a bar glass. Just thinking of a bar reminds Kyle of drinks at a bar. How he wishes to go for one of those. But only after this. 'Perhaps a Corellian Ale would do. Or maybe-'
His thoughts are cut off by a bright slash, the fizz and hiss in the air giving him warning to defend such an attack. He is getting distracted. Not a good thing for a teacher to do. Then again, he never really was much of a teacher. He had to focus his mind on the current situation, not on drinks to calm his nerves.
Yet he is not the only one distracted. Kyle notices something in Leon's form. It is determination. Blind determination and little focus. After a small moment of concentration, he notices that all the swings are becoming almost random. Kyle smirks, knowing how he could turn this around.
"You want to know why we are doing this?" Kyle sees a slight twitch in Leon's face as the boy holds his sabers still, taking a step back in surprise. "You failed against that hairy pointy-tooth monkey. I thought you would be capable, since Luke seemed confident with you." A snarl appears across the padawan's face before he goes for another swing. Though this one is stronger than others before. The hit knocks Katarn back, almost falling over from the unexpected strike. The master does not hold back though, going on with his remarks. "I kind of expected more. I mean, what was Luke thinking pairing you with me? Truly I think you'd be better off with another master."
"I will prove my worth, to you and the other Jedi! I will show you what I am capable of!" Several more strong strikes are dealt before Leon soon stops the attacks and gets a grip on his composure. He holds a defensive stance, a grin across his face. "I will show you that a Jedi is better than a pretender at saving people." That does a strike against Kyle's nerves. It's now Kyle's turn to grit his teeth. He delivers one strike, fiercely knocking the padawan back. Then aims for another, but stops himself. He could see what the boy has been doing doing, and couldn't help but chuckle in surprising amusement at how he failed to see it.
"Smart. Turned my own trick on me." His blue saber deactivates then clips onto Kyle's belt. Leon angles his head to the side in an unsure way, then did the same with his two sabers. "And you are right. Jedi are better." Leon's expression twists into confusion. Not at all did he expect something like that. He never foresaw Kyle giving him a good comment. "But not at everything." Kyle turns away, trailing Leon along back into the building. The mercenary had his doubts at first, but after the fight had finished, he feels certain. There most certainly is some kind of connection between them.
They walk through the door, the atmosphere around them brightening with the dark clouds overhead being replaced by ceiling lights and sandstone above them. The air changes to a more humid state with a small current blowing out through the hallway and out the door.
"If we ever get to train again, I might teach you some things on form. I am supposed to be teaching you." The boy manages a light smile, despite recent feelings towards the man. He could certainly feel that he could learn some things from the man.
"And I will teach you some things about reliance on your saber" Leon quippes slyly in return.
"I can rely on it." Leon shoots Katarn a skeptical look. "Sometimes" Kyle adds quickly. Silence looms over, both turning gazes ahead when a face appears around a corner at the end of the small entry hall. Seriousness replaces the comfort in Kyle's expression. Seeing the Mandalorian is seeking them only could mean two things, one of them being the decider on what to do next in their plan. The face disappears back around the corner. Kyle quickens his pace, rounding the corner into a side room where Connor the Mandalorian and one of his other crew members wait patiently. On the table rest some fist marks, and patches of wet blood along the cold steel. Behind it sits a chair with one of the surviving stormtroopers from the attack. The only surviving trooper.
Connor stands with his back against the doorway, a small toothpick held between his teeth. One side of his mouth turns up in a sharp grin of annoyance, but also relief with the two only people with Force-training in the room.
"Buggar barely talked. Just kept tellin' us about how many they've got and where they're at." Kyle stares long and hard at the trooper, then raises a dismissal hand. Leon reluctantly obeys, only to stand just outside. The two mercenaries stay, holding dumbfounded looks at the bearded man. "He wouldn't orderin' us around, right?" the captain asks his crew member, who nods in turn. Yet Kyle's hard stare focusing on them convinces the underling otherwise. Connor is left unfazed, grumbling under his breath accusingly at his fleeing member that left as somberly as possible. Halfway down, he hears them break into a sprint. Kyle gives one last serious glare at the captain, then just gives up trying. He knows that the captain wouldn't be going anywhere, even with their short time knowing each other.
Connor moves forward, the sliding door hissing shut with a click. The trooper looks back and forth between the two, a panicked expression on their face. Their face betrays their forced courage in their eyes, looking more scared than a womp rat against a rancor.
"I already told you all I know!" the trooper shouts with a sob held back. But from doing a quick search of their feelings and mind, Katarn can see there is more he is holding back.
"Don't disrupt my focus" Katarn says without wasting a single glance at the Mandalorian. The captain shrugs, rolling his eyes before focusing his gaze on the frightened trooper with an amused smile. Katarn rounds the table, now standing just behind the metal chair. The trooper gulps, confusion written all across his features.
"I don't know anything else! I'm just a grunt!" The cries fall upon ignorant ears and an empty mind. All the Republic mercenary focuses on is both his and the troopers mind, reaching out to make a connection. The closest he has gotten to doing something like this was with a Jedi mind trick, and that was only used to make himself disappear in the eyes of others, sometimes to make others do things for him. Getting information like what he wanted to do now had to be the hardest to do. Although, the fear in the troopers mind did help since they didn't make a wall to block off his mental attack.
He reaches out to the force with a lifted open hand. The trooper finally becomes quick to realize, trying their best to wall off their mind from the sudden attack. They gasp at the power of the force in their mind, trying to open locked-off parts of their thoughts. Katarn's face remains calm, and in a short matter of time, the mind is unlocked. kyle is barraged by many images, making him flinch physically and almost losing concentration. Having to keep the mind open is challenging enough, and with all these images his focus begins to deteriorate.
Though he soon has what he needs in the end. His hand drops down to his side, his eyes opening slowly. The trooper gasps aloud, breathing heavily. Shaking all over. Katarn gives said trooper one last look, then turns away to leave the room. The captain with a brow raised follows, very curious about what the force-user has to share.
They exit the room, closing the door behind them. Leon had disappeared somewhere, which doesn't bother Kyle at first for he has no reason to worry. The captain catches up with a couple of quick strafes forth to stride next to Katarn. Connor's look is plenty to suggest he wanted to know.
"There's a jammer at the factory. Just before they launched their forces and locked the city down, the jammer activated. No one outside the city knows." Connor's groan of annoyance and a shake of his head amuses Kyle, lightening his mood up a bit.
"I know ya Republic types. I'll get the others-"
"No. Not everyone. I want you to send two of your men to the council meeting building. We will take the armor we still have and take out the jammer, while the last of your men waits to give us a pickup." Surprisingly enough, Connor nods. "What, no argument?"
"No need. Better plan than what I had." He gives a two finger salute then runs off to gather his little team. Kyle strolls past Leon's room, not wanting to tell him. He doesn't want to endanger the boy, so goes straight to the room where all the gear is instead. Little did he know, Leon has plans of his own.
Once again, Katarn has the same feeling as the last time he had worn the armor. As they left the safehouse, the team saw a few riots going on here and there. One thing the Shistavanens hate more than outsiders is an occupation from outsiders. If at all they are attacked and taken over, they strike out against those that have a hold on them. And with the occupants being Imperials, that makes things a whole lot worse for the occupants. Already fires have sprouted up, a few explosions along the streets. Even some bombers soar the skies. Their previous attempts to lay low seem to be over. TIE bombers flying low, Imperial patrols and raiding squads. Although most of the activity is in the lower tier districts, the higher district are still under threat. But what confuses Kyle is that these strikes have no benefit to the Empire Remnant, except to cripple. By some time soon the other cities will have to eventually find out about these attacks. Then the Imperial Remnant forces would have to be forced off the planet.
The skies are much more empty with few squads of TIE's flying over, so Kyle and Connor have to land far off. The plan is to take out the jammer, send out a signal then part ways. Connor would most likely go and search for his ship while Kyle searched for wherever they kept the prisoners. He has every ambition to find Jan, no matter who or what stands in his way. The patrols force the two to land far away from the factory. Once on the ground they engage their plan.
In no time they come across a stormtrooper patrol. Connor limps along, his damaged armor pulling off the perfect disguise of an attacked trooper.
"Over here!" Kyle calls over through the gleaming white helmet, waving his arm that holds the E-11 blaster. One of the stormtrooper captains points over, and three troopers run to the pair. Two of them take Connor from Kyle's shoulder while the third covers the rear by sweeping his blaster left and right.
"Trooper! Call for a speeder!" Kyle orders to one of the troopers. The trooper nods swiftly and speaks into his comlink, calling in an exfil force through the helmet. The squad commander arrives on scene next.
"Captain! What happened?!" He shouts over everyone else's voices to the disguised man. Kyle looks up with his bent-over posture, making himself look exasperated. Which wasn't too hard to do, considering they had to walk several blocks. He disguises his voice to sound tired from the 'running' he had just experienced.
"Mob..Took out everyone but us in the squad...Headed this way." The captain gives hand signals to prepare the squad in a defense position. Just right on time a speeder flies down to them. A civilian speeder no doubt captured to assist in pickups of injured troops and other necessary pickups. The two troopers handling Connor help him over, with him in their arms and lift him into the speeder. Kyle follows along, sweeping his legs over the side with ease.
Kyle watches behind them, waiting for the scene they just left to disappear, then sends a nod in Connor's direction. With swift speed Connor brings the side of his open hand down hard against the meeting point of the shoulder and the neck of the pilot. Enough force to knock them out before hiding them in the covered back of the speeder. Kyle takes over flying, changing the course to where they need to head to. The heart of Imperial activity. The factory. The speeder stops to land at a landing zone on one of the roofs where oddly enough no troopers wait on patrol.
From there the two men make their way through the factories hallways with weapons out to make them look as much like patrolling troopers as possible. As well as finish a fight as quickly as possible. Everything from the roof to the jammer's location is surprisingly quite anti-climatic with a few salutes here and there. Luck is on their side
They stop just outside when Connor puts a hand out in front of Katarn.
"You sure bout this? I mean, don't ya like to do things all quiet-like?" Kyle gives no answer and pushes past him, opening the door with a security card that he 'collected' on the way here. Inside, five armed troopers guard the room with a high-ranking officer and the console of the jammer. The officer turns away from the jammer console, eyeing them suspiciously.
"I did not ask for more guards. What is your business here?" The two disguised men glance at one another, then close the door behind them.
"To relieve you of duty" Katarn quipps bluntly. "Forcefully." With that, he raises his blaster, and the fight begins with both Connor and Kyle firing a bolt at chosen targets.