Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 81- Kyle Katarn

"So, where have you been all this time, Kyle?" Ben asks Kyle as they take a seat at a table in the passenger bay. Chewie is currently flying the ship, which is on its way back to Naboo, allowing Ben and Rey to chat with their new friend.

"Well, to explain that, I should give a little backstory," Kyle says. He leans back in his seat before he begins to explain, "Your uncle wasn't the only one who ended up looking for Ochi. I was looking for him too, and I ended up finding him on Pasana. We ended up in a fight, and I killed him. However, he didn't really give up anything of real importance at the time, or so I thought then. So I told your father that I had killed Ochi, and we never really talked about him again, thinking he was just another Sith acolyte we had dealt with."

"It wasn't until after what happened with Jacen that I realized there was more to him than I thought. After Jacen destroyed the Temple and slaughtered our students, I disappeared into the Outer Rim, and I decided to take up a life of smuggling to hide myself from Jacen and Snoke. Soon after this, I had a dream where I saw my fight with Ochi again. And in that dream, I saw something that I'd forgotten about. When I was pressing Ochi for information, he let slip he'd been looking for someone. That caught my attention, and I decided to go back to Pasana."

"I returned to the cave where we dueled, but I didn't find anything. So, I returned to Ochi's ship. There, I found something: a droid. A small droid that had been owned by Ochi, who seriously mistreated the droid. I was able to befriend the droid, called D-O, and access his memory files. And it turned out that Ochi used the droid's memory as a journal of sorts. And from there, I learned about you, Rey."

"Wait. You knew about me?" Rey asks in shock.

"Yes. Ochi had documented that he received orders to hunt you down, because his master, who I now realize was Palpatine, had learned that you were a descendant of Revan and Bastila Shan. He feared that you would become a threat he could not contain, and ordered Ochi to find you and kill you. So your parents hid you away on Jakku, and tricked Ochi into thinking you were hidden on Pasana instead. And that led him here, where I killed him," Kyle says.

"So, Rey is really a descendant of Revan and Bastila?" Ben asks, still not entirely believing it.

"Yes. According to Ochi's journal, the Force sensitivity of their bloodline did not manifest in Satele Shan's son Theron, and thereafter lay dormant. It wasn't until your father, Rey, met and married a woman who had some latent power in the Force. That seems to have awakened the power of your bloodline, which returned in full force, manifesting within you as one of the strongest Force potentials this galaxy has seen outside the Skywalker bloodline," Kyle explains.

"How did he find this out?" Ben asks in surprise.

"I'm not sure. But Palpatine is a Dark lord of the Sith unlike any other, so I'm not surprised he was able to learn such information, however he may have learned it," Kyle responds.

Kyle pauses for a moment, then says, "I made it a mission to find you, Rey. And I used my smuggling career to try and find you. It took me 2 years before I found you during a smuggling trip to Jakku. Ever since then, I kept smuggling, but I returned to Jakku every so often to keep an eye on you and ensure you remained safe."

Rey then gets an "aha" look on her face. "Wait, I remember you. You'd show up at least twice a year," she says in shock.

"Yeah. And I kept that up until you finally left with your friend Finn. After that, and what happened to the Hosnian System, I started using my life as a smuggler to gather intel on the First Order. I've tried to discreetly feed it to the Resistance through my contacts in Boba Fett's crime family when I could, but I mostly used it to help keep myself hidden. But after the broadcast, I knew I couldn't hide any longer. So, I came here, figuring that Luke would send you here, and just waited for you to arrive. I didn't expect Ren to show up with his lackeys though," Kyle says.

Rey smiles slightly as she says, "Well, thank you for watching out for me in your own way. And thank you for avenging my parents."

"I'm glad that it may bring you some closure," Kyle says. He then smiles a bit as he looks between them and says, "So, you two are married?"

"Yes. We got married after a journey across the galaxy we took together to learn the secrets of the Force together. We also have a daughter together. Vestara. She's about a year and a half," Ben says with a proud smile.

"Well, well. You've definitely grown up, Ben," Kyle says with a chuckle.

"So, Master Katarn, we came here looking for ways to find Exegol. Do you know anything about how to find it?" Rey asks.

Now, Kyle's face falls a bit. "Sadly, no. I know that Ochi knew where to find a wayfinder, but I presume that wayfinder is the one that Kylo Ren used to travel to Exegol. The only other one I know belonged to the Emperor himself, and that one was destroyed on the second Death Star when it blew up. I don't know of any other wayfinders in existence, and in the time it could take us to find one, the Emperor would've already launched his attacks," Kyle responds.

"However, I may still have some ideas about how to find Exegol. I hear whispers in my line of work as a smuggler, and I have heard some whispers in the last few days about movements of the First Order's fleet into the Unknown Regions. I may not have exactly an idea of where Exegol is, but I may have some ideas of how we could start to narrow down its location," Kyle responds.

"That's good to hear. At least this trip wasn't a total loss," Ben says with a smile.

"Master Katarn, you are going to come back with us, right? The Resistance needs someone like you, with the connections you've built, and your skills as a Jedi," Rey says with a pleading tone in her voice.

"Of course I'm returning. My time as a smuggler is done, and I'm ready to be done with hiding," Kyle says with a big grin.

Ben and Rey feel a surge of hope. Even though they lost a huge possible lead on finding Exegol, finding a lost Jedi Master in the process kind of makes up for it and gives them a little hope for the future.

And, I'll end there. I know it was a short chapter, but I hope you liked it.

So, I hope my explanation of where Kyle has been, and my extra background on Rey's heritage, makes sense and was acceptable. We'll definitely see Kyle quite a few more times in this story, now that he's officially returning from hiding.

Alright. Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!