Chapter 9 - Kyle Katarn
The Grand Inquisitor side stepped Marek's back-hand cut and distanced himself as the Jedi transitioned into an advancing series of spinning slashes. Seeing a gap, the Pau'un launched forward into a precise thrust, one Kento barely dodged, leaving the edge of his robe singed. As they moved back and forth, ranging across the hanger, neither gained enough advantage for a decisive victory.
The Imperial officers who'd originally been observing the fight quickly retreated when the Inquisitor gave the order, leaving the Force users to their duel.
"It seems we are quite evenly matched, Jedi," the Grand Inquisitor said with a sharp-toothed smile. "Kenobi might be too much for me, so I'll have to thank you for sending him away."
"Don't be too overconfident," Marek answered, his blue blade flashing back and forth as the Dark Sider fended him off. "I'm more than enough to deal with you."
"Ha! Perhaps if you weren't so out of practice!" The Inquisitor parried Marek and sent him backwards with a snap kick to the chest. "But as you are now? No, Jedi, you know nothing of the true power of the Force. You remind me of my students, in a way."
"I'm no student of the Dark Side!"
"No?" he answered and blocked another flurry of blows. "You share their foolhardy nature. They thought they could handle Lord Vader all alone, even after I warned them. Although smart enough to fear Palapatine, they thought the new Emperor was conquerable if they worked together. I'm rather short on helping hands because of it. Once I've dealt with you, Kenobi will be as well. And if you weren't so woefully lacking, you might see the trap coming," he said with a smile.
The hairs on Kento's neck stood on end, and at the last moment, his head snapped to the right. Mace Windu dived out of the shadows, purple lightsaber raised high and coming down right on Marek's head. His right hand, palm open, shot out and Force pushed Windu, slamming the Jedi Master into a metal crate. In that one moment of hesitation and distraction, the Grand Inquisitor leaped forward. Caught off balance, Marek barely managed to fend off the first strike, but the Inquisitor's twirled his weapon, knocking the blue blade aside and with a quick twist and spin, the red saber snaked past and severed Marek's left hand.
"Well played, well played, Jedi. But victory is mine."
"Gggghhh!" Marek choked out holding the stump of his left arm. He smelled the tang of vaporized blood and burned flesh in the air. Nerves seared, he still felt his hand, as if it remained, but cold as ice. Instinctively calling on the Force, he brought himself past the pain and back to the here and now. Glancing in confusion, he saw the body of Windu distort and the hologram faded away, leaving behind only a training droid, its optical camouflage of the deceased Jedi Master fading like a dream.
"Give in, Jedi," The Inquisitor said in a friendly tone. "Your order is dead, but it doesn't have to be the end. True strength awaits you, join us. You can become more than you ever imagined."
Kento Marek's eyes darted back and forth, looking for an out. His thoughts turned to his wife and son.
###
Slowly, painfully, Obi-Wan opened his eyes. His ears were ringing and he could taste smoke on the air. He looked down to see his robes were burnt, but he was more or less whole. Sitting up, he felt the ache in his muscles and pushed past, rising to his feet.
Directly in front of him, the twisted remains of the Katarn's front door stuck awkwardly out of the ground at an angle.
Putting everything together, the memories rushed back to Obi-Wan. Those faulty servos that caused the door to stick might be the only reason he was still in one piece. Using the Force to hold the heavy metal door in front of him, it shielded the Jedi from the worst of the concussive blast and fireball. All around him, the ground still burned with smoldering embers. The house was a ruin of charred wood and bent metal.
Shaking his head clear, Kenobi found his feet and got moving. Reaching out with the Force, he cleared a path into the house'
"Morgan, Patricia, Kyle!" he screamed. He felt nothing, no signs of life. However, if they were inside and survived, even a Jedi might have trouble finding them. As long as some spark of life remained, there was hope, and Obi-Wan held onto that dying ember. Moving through the remains of the living room and workshop, he lifted sections of collapsed wall and roof out of the way, both with the Force and his own strength. "Please, at least the boy…" Kenobi pleaded, his thoughts drifting back to Luke and Leia.
Making his way further, he arrived at the kitchen. Carefully moving bits of roof aside, he found them.
"Force, no." He said in a whisper. The burnt remains of Morgan and his wife clutched each other, embracing in their final moments.
Centering himself, Obi-Wan looked closer, searching for the body of Kyle in between them. That was when he saw it. A wound in Patricia's abdomen. A particular type of wound made only by the thrust of a lightsaber. The same injury that took Master Qui-Gon Jinn all those years ago.
The horror of the truth hit Kenobi all at once.
"This was never about a resistance! They took Kyle Katarn!"
Racing out of the house, he found the speeder Morgan lent him engulfed in flames, the inevitable result of pushing it so far past its limits. Turning to the equipment shed, his eyes fell on the body of Morgan's friend.
"I'm sorry you found yourselves caught up in this," he apologized and pulled open the wide double doors. Inside, it was mostly storage for heavier farm equipment, but in one corner, covered with a tarp, Obi-Wan saw what he was looking for. He yanked the cover off, coughing and waving dust away. He'd seen plenty of teenagers riding air bikes since he arrived on Sulon. No surprise that Morgan kept one, though it looked like it'd been awhile since anyone used it. Turning on the power, he found it still functioned and watched it slowly lift off the ground. Guiding it outside, Kenobi took one last look at the wreckage of the Katarn family stead.
Then he gunned the engine and took off for Barons Hed.
###
Marek stared into the Inquisitor's eyes for one long moment.
"What will it be, Jedi?"
"Tell your master the Order persists," and he swept his remaining hand, pulling the disabled combat droid along with the crate he'd thrown it into across the hanger towards his enemy. Red blade flashing, the Grand Inquisitor split the crate and droid in two and pushed them apart with the Force. When the debris settled, Marek was charging out the door and through the more populated sections of the star port.
"The Jedi is on the run," he said into his communicator. "Send the boy ahead and hunt him down. I've injured him, so you should have no trouble."
"Understood, Grand Inquisitor," Tenth Brother replied.
"Tenth? Vader already killed the others without mercy. Do not think your status as my only remaining Inquisitor insulates or immunizes you. You've performed well so far, continue to do so."
"Yes, sir."
Cutting the comm link, the Grand Inquisitor walked over to examine the wreckage of the combat droid. Twisted and rent as it was, there would be little point in bringing it back, but data couldn't be leaked, so he crushed both it and the crate with the Force. Once done, he picked up the lightsaber his opponent was forced to leave behind.
"Ugh," he said, shaking the severed hand from it. "Ah well, it will do as a trophy if nothing else."
###
Tenth Brother, once a Jedi known as Prosset Dibs, grew disillusioned during the Clone Wars. After turning to the Dark Side, he joined the nascent Inquisitorius and avoided the Purge of Order 66. When the rest of the Brothers and Sisters tried to ambush and Kill Emperor Vader, he was off world on an assignment. Now it was only him and his superior, the Grand Inquisitor himself. The young Katarn boy lay in the seat beside him, unconscious still. The very reason they were here, after Vader unlocked one of the Jedi Holocron, which revealed the location of many families with child candidates for the Jedi Order. Tenth finished off the Katarn family and brought the Force sensitive son, Kyle, per his leader's orders.
Despite being completely blind, Tenth's connection to the Force more than made up for his lack of sight. If anything, the disability required a far deeper level of mastery than he might otherwise gain. As such, even controlling vehicles was no trouble.
Approaching the star port, Tenth set the auto-pilot, knowing the boy would arrive without trouble. He had his orders. With a Force assisted leap, he was out of his seat and up onto the roof of the nearest building. Here in the industrial sector, the narrow alleys and smaller roads meant the inquisitor could easily hunt from up high. Lowering himself into a low crouch, Tenth allowed the Dark Side to guide him, to pull at him, prod his intuition and set him on the path towards his quarry.
Judging by the information, the unknown Jedi wouldn't make it far. Not injured and without a lightsaber.
Tenth tilted his head to the east. He sensed it, a presence. A ripple in the Force. A sign of disquiet. Of pain. Of fear. Tenth shot forward, launching himself across the gap between buildings and heading for the source, less than a click beyond the star port's outer perimeter.
"I know it's you, Jedi," he called out, dropping into an alley with his hands on the hilts of his sabers. Once a Jedi Knight, Tenth now specialized in assassination. He long since abandoned his green saber for a pair of crimson shoto blades. Ideal for close quarters.
Leaning against a wall, the human in hooded robes was pale and sweating. He held the stump of his left forearm.
"Should of known there'd be more than one," he said and cursed his luck. "Whatever that Dark Lord of yours is offering, it isn't worth it."
"I lived through the Clone Wars! We were supposed to be guardians of justice, and peace! Not generals in a political confrontation!" Tenth spat angrily. "But don't lecture me, Jedi. I sense it. You ran, didn't you? Are we so different?"
"I don't serve the Sith!"
Tenth activated his short blades and walked forward with a grim determination. He sensed that, perhaps once, they might have been allies. Might have both been disillusioned with the war, perhaps even the Order itself. But such a time was long passed. Now, they were on opposite sides of a great rift. And nothing would bridge the gap.
"I will morn your death, unknown Jedi," Tenth said as he stepped closer.
Marek tried to use the Force, but injured and exhausted from his earlier fight, Tenth was easily able to handle it. A few bits of debris and one anemic Force push were nothing to the inquisitor who was fresh and uninjured.
"Are you so certain of your loyalties?"
"Yes. I've seen the fruits of the Republic and its Senate. Far better to be under the guidance of Vader. I wont be a pawn of the politicians or the Council. Never again."
Marek wanted to countermand him, but after he and Mallie left the Order? After holding his son for the first time, the words wouldn't come. Kento Marek knew Tenth was wrong, but it was hard to say it when he too turned his back on that old life. In those first days, he and Mallie felt their connection to the Force wither.
But, they'd found their way. He had his wife and son waiting for him.
"When I was a kid, Master Yoda would come down every now and then to spar with us. Even when we all went after him at once, no one came close. He didn't even use his lightsaber," Marek said.
Marek allowed his eyes to slowly close and felt the world around him through the Force, rather than his limited physical senses.
Tenth moved closer, the ominous hum of his blades growing louder with every step.
There! Directly overhead, Marek could feel it. A bit of scaffolding, where someone was kind enough to leave behind a full box of tools.
He raised his hand in the air and grasped it.
Rather than the tools alone, Marek pulled his hand down quickly, bringing the entire edifice crashing around him. Tenth dashed backwards quickly, avoiding the debris, but it was enough. A second of distraction was all he needed. Using the Force to buoy him onward, he pushed himself further and harder than at any time during the Clone Wars. He felt a power in the pit of his very being giving him an extra push at every stride. Deep inside, he knew it was the thought of his family giving him the power he needed.
"You're good, but it wasn't enough," Tenth called from behind. "You could be so much stronger if you stopped being afraid." His blades sliced the air with a static buzz as Marek dived backwards and hit the ground with a roll. Popping up, he sent more debris flying at the inquisitor.
Without releasing his grip on either saber, Tenth deflected the trash. "You're running on empty. You've lost a hand and you don't have the strength to keep it up."
Stumbling out the mouth of the alley, Marek glanced down the road and grinned. "Maybe I won't have to," he said as the whine of an engine grew closer.
###
Kyle struggled to open his tired eyes, but after a few flutters, managed to wrench them open and levered himself upright. His vision swam for a heartbeat and he almost keeled over, but a hand caught him and kept him stable.
"Are you alright, young Master Katarn?" the voice asked.
Kyle flinched. It was a stranger, not his mother or father. Sitting next to him was a humanoid with nearly pure white skin and dark eyes. He smiled kindly, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
"I'm sorry you woke up like this. I was barely able to get you out of the fire," the stranger said, apologetically.
"You did what? What fire? What about-" then he doubled over in pain as the headache and memories flooded back. The figure in robes, his mother, and then suddenly seeing stars when he was hit in the side of the head.
The stranger held him upright again and offered a glass of water. "Drink it, the medicine should be taking effect soon."
"What happened?"
"We found you too late," he said, bowing his head. "The enemy arrived, found your family first. The best we could do is get you out before they took you. I'm sorry, but your parents were murdered."
Kyle broke down and cried until he was exhausted. Too tired to even hold himself up anymore, he collapsed back into the bed.
The stranger laid a pale hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Worry not, young Kyle Katarn. I will take you to the Emperor himself. Someday, you will have your revenge against the Jedi."
###
Kenobi brought the speed bike to a stop right in front of Kento Marek and jumped off. His saber ignited and he placed himself squarely between Tenth and the wounded Jedi.
"Where is Kyle?" he asked, keeping his anger under tight control.
"So, you figured out our true intentions?" Tenth asked. "No matter, he's with the Grand Inquisitor by now."
"Then I'll take him back." Obi-Wan stepped forward and slowed his breathing, taking a long, steady lungful of air. He felt the world around him through the Force. The bike, Marek, the scattered trash, collapsed scaffolding, Tenth, and everything else, right down to screws rolling on the cement.
Unlike his partner, who'd been at peace for several years, Kenobi survived the Clone Wars. He was there right at the beginning and every day all the way to the end. Some times it seemed he could barely go a few hours before a new threat was trying to kill him. But all those life or death moments honed Master Kenobi. The galaxy threw everything at him, but he made it out alive.
And Tenth knew it. Before him stood Obi-Wan Kenobi. As a mere padawan, he became the first to defeat a Sith in over one thousand years. Since that dual on Naboo, the Jedi fought against numerous Dark Side users, and he came out alive after every encounter. The Force was strong with him. Tenth didn't need eyes to see it. To his reckoning, most life forms were like small candles. Those strong in the Force appeared as torches. Vader was a great, dark void.
Kenobi was akin to the burn of an engine entering hyperspace. A steady, white-blue glow.
Obi-Wan's lightsaber flashed, faster than Marek could follow, and suddenly the Jedi was pushing Tenth back down the alley. It was all the inquisitor could do to fend off the assault, even with two blades. Barely had he blocked one strike when Kenobi's blade spun around to cut from a new angle. Transitioning from attack to defensive forms smoothly and easily, Tenth could barely hold on and it wouldn't be long before he was overwhelmed.
That was when the shuttle came overhead.
The ramp was open and several Stormtroopers were standing there with the Grand Inquisitor.
"A shame we can't stay longer, Jedi. But the Emperor wishes to meet the young Katarn," the Pau'un mocked. At a wave of his hand, the troopers opened fire and Obi-Wan was forced to retreat and defend himself and Marek.
Taking advantage of the reprieve, Tenth leapt aboard. The shuttle slowly pulled back and soon the ramp closed and it shot off into the upper atmosphere.
The Jedi watched as their enemies escaped with Kyle Katarn.