Star Wars : New Jedi

( Halls of Healing )

"Anakin."

Anakin returned, his thoughts turning cloudy and moody as he went over what was revealed to him. The mysterious Master was touched by the Dark Side. There was no way to hide that, so it seemed like he didn't. And he acknowledged fighting Sith. He didn't brag, he didn't make a show or light of it. It was a simple admission of facts that made the truth of the matter so blunt and cutting.

"Anakin?"

The Sith existed as more than just Dooku. Oh, he knew about Maul. It was hard not to when the first major Dark Side user went and killed a man who was capable of being on the Council, and was slain in turn by his own Master. But how many were there? Dooku had to have learned from someone, and he was intelligent enough to be training his own Padawan. Did the Sith even use that system? He would have to do some research, assuming he could access the information on the enemy of the Jedi.

"Anakin!"

But it was good to know that he was not alone in his battles. This Kyle Katarn had fought those who used the Dark Side and won. Obviously, or else he would be dead. But how? And where? And with whom? Had he fought Dooku? No, definitely not. And who trained him? So many questions that he needed to answer. And what could he tell the Council about his encounter? What would he tell his Master?"

"ANAKIN!" Obi-wan yelled. "Pay attention!"

"My apologies, Master." Anakin was brought back to reality by the force of his Master's glare. "I was distracted."

"Enough so that a horde of Krayt Dragons could have walked right past you and you would have missed them!" Obi-wan partly admonished his apprentice with the exaggeration. "What happened?" He tried to her Anakin to open up.

"I found where that Master you took to the Council was," Anakin admitted. "So I went to have a look at his ship, and met him."

"Oh, Anakin." Obi-wan was not surprised at all that he had done something impulsive like that. "I hope you didn't offend him."

"I think he was more worried about me, Master."

"Really? That's odd."

"I agree. But I did sense what you sensed in him, Master. I have trouble imagining how such a state would come about."

"Most likely that is what the Council wished to discuss with him, if I were to hazard a guess now." Obi-wan flexed a bit as he tested how his body was healing. "What came of it?"

Anakin decided then to not mention the encounters with the Sith. "Not much. I covered my presence by asking him about his ship, although he implied that it was more his pilot's ship than his."

"That should have been obvious," Obi-wan pointed out. "We are not supposed to own things like that."

"I agree Master. I should have spoken more carefully."

"As well you should have. Now come on, the Council let me know they want to talk to both of us after supper. It seems we already have our first assignment."

"Already, Master?"

"Well, either that, or they've decided to assign you a Padawan."

"Perish the thought, Master. Please." Anakin really had no idea how to go about teaching a Padawan of his own, and dreaded the idea.

...

( The Office of Senator Mon Mothma )

The case opened with a click, and the blast shield in front of the Senator wasn't needed. "Clear," her security detail announced as the moved to examine the contents. Scanners were brought out, and waved around before the answer was given. "Clean. They're just data slates, Senator."

"Thank you," Mon Mothma said as she was finally allowed to examine the mystery that confounded her for most of the day. A half-dozen dataplates lay neatly stacked in the small case and she picked up the first one. Activating it, she looked at the header of the files on it.

Reports on Infiltration of the Imperial Remnant by the New Jedi Order on behalf of New Republic Intelligence – an addenda written by Grandmaster Luke Skywalker

"What?"

...

( Baron's Head )

"Bye Jan!" Kyle waved as the Raven's Claw lifted off from the spaceport. "See you when you get back!"

The two of them had talked it over, and they decided that it would be easier to deal with their personal trips without the other person hanging around making things worse. Kyle had asked to get dropped off first, as he may have to travel out to his family's homestead and he didn't want to hold up Jan.

The real reason was because he wasn't sure how he was going to act around his father. Morgan Katarn was a great man to him, and the thought of approaching him was more frightening than any Dark Jedi.

Still, Baron's Head was a good place to start as any. He didn't know where his father was at this time, but he did know the usual watering holes. Klye patted himself down, hiding the lightsaber while keeping the pistol at his hip and the repeater over his back. Jan had accused him of being excessive, while Kyle knew better. Baron's Head could get real violent, real fast. He didn't want to seem offencive, but not defenceless either. And that meant carrying guns.

Once the Claw was gone, he started to walk further into the city. The last time he had been here properly, Jerec had levelled the central quarter in order to build his castle, and Kyle was not planning on coming back any time soon given that his family was dead, and WeeGee was safe.

But here he was, for his own sake of mind.

Thankfully, he didn't need the force to know where he was going. The bar his dad visited on occasion was near the edge of the city, with easy access to the rural areas of the moon.

Walking in, he unslung his repeater and laid it with the other weapons by the door. Policy at the place meant you left a weapon behind as a peace bond, even if you had more than one. "Hey barkeep," it was a new (old?) person, whom he didn't recognize. "What's on tap?"

"For you? Nothing much." Kyle laid out some old republic credits on the table to pay for a drink in advance. Even after the formation of the New Republic, there was still enough of the old currency around to justify having a small stock of it on the Claw in case they needed to buy something with it on one of their missions.

"Hit me with something strong then." He looked around for familiar faces, but saw nothing. Memory and time betraying him all at once. "Quick question for you?"

"Sure, ask away."

"My name is Kyle Katarn. Do you know when Morgan'll be around?"

"Morgan? What you want with him, boy?" An eavesdropper said from one of the nearby tables.

"Well," he said, "I heard that he's got a shiny little boy that he named after me. So I was planning on either heading up to the Homestead or waiting for him here to ask him why he thought I needed a namesake." He finished with a knowing grin.

"Does look like 'im." One of the men around the table muttered. "You know where to go if he ain't coming by?"

Kyle gave directions from Baron's Head to his family home, completely confident in them given the number of times he had made the trip in his youth.

The men nodded. "Legit. I'm Chaf, these are my buddies, Falco and Maje." Now Kyle recognized them, placing names to older and more worked faces. "He ain't ever mentioned a brother."

"Cousin, actually." Kyle took a seat at the table. "We talk on occasion."

"Neat. Nice gun you got there. Morgan's got something like that."

"I know," Kyle said, pulling out the Bryar pistol. "Mine's just a bit more used though." He set it down on the table as another piece of proof that he was who he said he was. "I won't be here for too long though. My pilot had to run to Alderaan for a quick thing, then she'll be back in a day or two. "Any of you guys know if Morgan will be in or not?"

"Eh, who knows. Little Kyle – not you – but the son and Patty are still taking up a lot of time. Word is, he could use a good hand on the farm." He looked at Kyle expectantly.

"Oh, not me!" Kyle raised his hands in surrender. "I wouldn't know the first thing about that" he lied. "Besides, two Kyles would be hard to keep track of."

The others laughed. "True enough! Poor Morgan is out of his mind with one. Two would just..!" Kyle joined in the laughter. "So, what do you do, Kyle?"

Putting his weapon away, Kyle already had an answer. "Right now, I'm just running a messenger business between the Rim and the Core. My pilot is finishing a job right now, that's why I'm here."

"A self-made man, eh?"

"Almost." Kyle hadn't really been concerned about finances for a while. Between the Temple and his work for the NRI, he could have retired at pretty much any time. Except him and Jan would have been bored to tears before the day was out. "I work because I love it."

"Got some heavy hardware for that job," Falco commented, leaning back to look at the Imperial Repeater. "You really need that?"

"Seems like it, nowadays." Kyle grumbled as he drank what the bartender had served. It seemed being accepted by the regulars meant that he actually got the good stuff. "Damned war."

That brought conversation down to a sullen level. "Think they'll come here?"

Kyle was too young to remember, so he didn't say. "I couldn't tell you, but who would you rather deal with – people who use droids to do their fighting for them, or clones?"

"Eh, Droids, I think. Easy to wipe their memory, and put'em in storage when all's said and done." Falco made his opinion known.

"Gotta go with the Clones," Maje said. "Yea, they're weird, all looking the same, but still, they're human, you know? Smarter than any droid, and will last longer too."

Chaf shook his head. "If you two ever agree on something, I'll eat my hat."

"How about 'Friends with Chaf'?" Kyle snarked. "That's gotta be worth at least the brim."

Chaf laughed. "You got me there, Kyle!"

...

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