Star Wars : New Jedi

( Raven's Claw )

Jan returned from the cockpit, having checked on the status of their fuel. "We're good for a while yet," she said as she found Kyle stripping out of the Jedi's robes and putting on something more comfortable.

Not quite ignoring him, she pulled up a fresh dataslate and cleared up a new file on it. "So, what do we do?"

"First thing's first," Kyle said as he fought to put on his shirt in the tight confines of the ship, "The Valley of the Jedi."

Jan nodded and wrote that down. She wasn't about to argue with that. Actually, she was. "Why that now?"

"It's the right thing to do," Kyle said. "I mean, if we mess things up, the Poem of Ages might not come to fruition. And I don't want to leave that to chance."

"Alright," Jan agreed. "But are you sure you're not in it for the Force Nexus itself?"

Kyle faked thinking hard for a moment. "Nice side effect, but not my goal. If anything, I'll ask the spirits there for some training instead."

"Why? Aren't you already a Battlemaster?"

"Yes, but don't forget Jan, my Order is new. We had to do more with less. If we end up doing things by ourselves, we'll need all the advantages we can get."

"And if we wind up working for the Jedi, you want as much as you can to teach or use."

Kyle flopped down into his bunk. "Now that's a scary though. Them handing me a Padawan because they don't know what else to do with me."

Jan looked around the Claw. "Where would we put them anyways?"

The Jedi's mouth curled up in a grin. "We'll just have to get a bigger ship."

"But do we work for the Republic? Or the Jedi?" Jan worried.

"That's hard. I want to say yes, if only because running running around doing our own thing is liable to get us unfair attention from both sides in this war," Kyle thought out loud. "You know, let's decide what we want to do before coming back to how we're going to do it."

"Sure. What next. Kill Jerec?"

"And Palpatine. I'm still up in the air about Vader though. I don't know if he's fallen yet or not."

Jan set down the dataslate. "Killing Emperor Palpatine won't be easy."

"Well, for starters, he's only a Chancellor now," Kyle pointed out, "but yes. He's still a Sith Lord."

"Can't you just let the Jedi know he's a Sith?"

"He's a major politician," Kyle shook his head, "so he must had a perfect illusion or disguise. I can't go to the Council and say 'Hey, Palpatine is a Sith Lord, you might want to get rid of him' without any proof."

"You could do that yourself," Jan offered. "I mean, I'm willing to lay credits on you beating him in a fight."

Kyle nodded. "That's not a problem. Rather getting to him would be, and getting out. Hate to save the Republic from the Sith and not live to see it. Not suicidal." He announced as he played with his lightsaber. "Disruptor Rifle?"

"Maybe," Jan thought about it. "Would have to get into a position to take the shot, and that would require knowing his schedule." She picked up the dataslate. "Kill Palpatine. But the 'how' can come when it's time to do it."

"We should save that for last then," Kyle said. "Get all the little things out of the way first."

"You call DARTH VADER a little thing?"

"Yes," Kyle replied nonchalantly. "I mean, he falls thanks to Sidious, so we have a couple ways to work with that."

"So Kill or Redeem Vader."

"Anakin Skywalker," Kyle corrected. "I don't think he's full Sith yet. Imperial records showed he first showed up near the end of the Clone Wars, loyal to the Emperor."

"I think we should go with the salvation route," Jan suggested. "Luke and Leia might object if we prevent them from being born."

Kyle snorted. "I can just see that. Luke as a Force Ghost dressing me down for that."

Jan held back a chuckle as well. "What do we do about Jerec?"

"Or Qu Rhan." Kyle added. "When we come back... dammit."

"What?"

"We're backing ourselves into a corner here. Best way to find out about the two of them is to ask the Jedi, and they won't give that information out for free." Kyle bitterly pointed out.

"What else can we do?" Jan could see where Kyle was going with this. Like called to like, and she wasn't going to get int eh way of that for any selfish or petty reasons.

"I bought up a couple weeks," Kyle sighed. "Perhaps we can visit Sulon and Alderaan?"

"You want to visit your father." Jan was accusatory. "Why?"

"Because as far as I know, he's dead." Kyle looked sad. "And I can tell you want to want to see your world again." He glanced at the flowers he talked out of the Senator that were still on her workbench. "I think it will do us both good to take a break like that." He smiled. "We were supposed to go on vacation, remember?"

Jan couldn't argue. Not truthfully. "So how do we do this then?"

"Well, we have some easy goals, and some harder ones," Kyle thought things over. "Drop me off at Baron's Head on Sulon, then go visit Alderaan. That will give us some time to ourselves. Once you're done, come back, pick me up and we go to Ruusan where I deal with the Valley. After that, we come back here and start to sort things out with the Jedi."

"You sure?" Jan asked. "I mean, is there any way we can do what we need to someway else?"

"You... want to join the Seperatists?" Kyle asked, not sure if she was serious or not. "I mean, they are led by a Fallen Jedi, Count Dooku. He thinks he's a Sith. I could sign up, work my way up and deal with them from the inside."

"Is there a connection between him and Palpatine? Rule of Two?"

Kyle's thoughts crashed to a halt. Sidious would have an apprentice before Vader, right? And what better way for Palpatine to use the War to his advantage than to control both sides? "Sithspit, you're right!" He slammed his fist against his bunk. "We kill Palpatine and Dooku, or whoever his apprentice is will just step up!"

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that killing a Sith wasn't the best course of action."

"Oh, it still is," Kyle admitted. "It's just we need to be prepared for the fallout. I mean, Palpatine dies, there goes the head of the Republic. He's a public figure, and even if we could make it look like an accident, there will be investigations. An actual assassination will be blamed on the Separatists, and who knows how they'll respond to that?"

"Not well. Imagine if Mon Mothma got killed by a Remnant assassin while she was still in office."

"They would sic the Jedi on them, and all the gloves come off." Kyle growled as he began to appreciate the difficulties involved in taking out the future Emperor. "Damn him!"

"Relax Kyle!" Jan put out a hand to comfort him. "It's difficult, but not impossible. And as you said, we can leave him for last."

"Whatever happened to chasing down your average, everyday Sith Lord for a final confrontation in some ancient arena where he and I would have a great showdown for the fate of the Galaxy?" Kyle complained as he rolled his shoulders. Just thinking about going saber to saber against Palpatine was enough to get him a little fired up.

"You watch too many vids," Jan retorted.

"I live too many of them."

...

(Jedi High Council Chamber )

"Serious, this is." Yoda meditated as the other Councilors still in the room reflected on their own observations. "Unknown, this Jedi is. Much to learn."

"We should not have let him leave," Plo Koon thought. "What if he doesn't come back?"

Shaak Ti objected. "We have no legal right to do so, Master Koon. Unless you were intending on forcing him?"

"That would not be acceptable," Ki-Adi-Mundi acknowledged. "He is extremely powerful, and he held himself like he knew how to fight."

"I agree. The soft touch was needed," Mace concluded that line of discussion. "Violence is not something we should resort too."

"And yet that still leaves us with more questions than answers. How could we miss an Order that has at least three masters? Tal. Mara Jade. Kyle Katarn. And they have connections in the Senate! Mon Mothma isn't exactly a rank-and-file member of the government!" Ki-Adi-Mundi started listing off issues.

"Not to mention impersonating a Jedi," Shaak Ti said. "Although he did admit it was less impersonation, and letting others think so. Very subtle."

"Sith-like, you mean." Plo said what they were all thinking in some form or another.

"Believe that, I do not. Consider it, I must." Yoda agreed to the point. "Proof in his actions will come."

"I agree with that, though careful observation will be required." Mace said. "But we don't need to make a decision now. If this 'Master' Katarn returns to us, we can decide then. If he doesn't, then he is obviously a rouge Jedi. Something we must deal with to minimize our distractions in this coming war."

"I will inquire with the office of the Senator to see if I can determine what was delivered," Shaak Ti said as she stood up. "That will give us more information to plan with."

"Agreed. Dismissed we are. Reconvene we shall." Yoda pulled himself out of his chair and followed Shaak Ti to the doors, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon following.

Staying behind, Mace Windu waited for them to leave before turning his thoughts inward. Kyle Katarn. A peace with the Dark Side, and all the stronger for it. What did that mean to him, who was at constant war with the Dark Side?

Regardless of the decisions of the rest of the Council, he would need to confront this man. Sooner, or later, it didn't matter.

...

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