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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Saga - Legends The Dark Forces Saga - 2023 Fanfiction Summer Olympics Entries (Kyle Katarn/Jan Ors)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by whiskers, Jun 1, 2023.

  1. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    Hello, all. This thread will contain my entries for the 2023 Fanfic Summer Olympics Pentathlon. These fics will star Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors from the Dark Forces Saga. I picked both Saga and Beyond because I'm sure some of these entries will be before and after ROTJ.

    I'm going to try and update this every Thursday.

    Now, on to my first entry, using the Tennis Match event: "Inevitable Conversation" (5 ABY)

    ***

    “You crashed the Crow?!”

    “I didn’t crash the Crow. The Crow got caught up in an explosion.”

    “With you behind the controls...”

    “Well…”

    “I mean, I’m glad you made it out, especially with our so-gracious hosts, but you still crashed the Crow.

    “All right… All right… I crashed the Crow. Are you happy?”

    “No. Because now how are we gonna get off this rock? Most of the Empire seems to have taken off after you killed Jerec.”

    “I hope Obota made it out.”

    “I think he did, but he and the others weren’t expecting someone to crash our ship...”

    “Well, let’s look around. Hopefully the Empire left something that we can use.”

    ***

    “Jan, there’s an abandoned shuttle half a kilometer out from your position. Did you find anything better?”

    “Just a few abandoned TIEs, an atmospheric skimmer that looks like it’d barely get a meter off of the ground, and one very, very rusty old shipwreck that’s probably been here since the Sith War...”

    “I’m sending you the coordinates, then. See you soon.”

    “Don’t get too comfortable, I’m flying it.”

    “I found it, though.”

    “And who crashed the Crow?”

    “Ha ha, I’ll start the preflight for you, then.”
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2023
  2. Seldes_Katne

    Seldes_Katne Force Ghost star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2002
    @whiskers, I don't know anything about the Dark Forces saga (apparently it's a game?), but I didn't really need any background, as your story was perfectly understandable on its own. This was a fun read, and I'll stick around for the rest of this thread. Nice job! :)
     
  3. UltramassiveUbersue

    UltramassiveUbersue Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2022
    &
    I'm not very familiar with these characters and the source material they're from, but I can tell I'm really going to enjoy reading them. :) I love their banter, and I'm looking forward to seeing what shenanigans they get up to. Great start to the challenge!
     
  4. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    This is Jan and Kyle as I remember them from the books and the game. Great first entry and wanting more
     
  5. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I love these two, and one reason I'm so glad that you're back on the boards is that you write them so perfectly, with the snark and the sarcasm and Jan coming to save Kyle's sorry behind every time [face_laugh] Yeah, he's better off letting her pilot the ship if they're going to get off Ruusan in a single piece.
     
  6. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    I can tell this portends fun, fun and more fun. Excellent start! :)
     
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  7. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    Yeah, it's a game series, and one of my favorites. Glad that I was able to make it accessible to non-fans of the game series. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy the ones to come.

    I say it a lot, but these two are an absolute ball to write, especially with the banter. Thanks for reading!

    I'm glad that I was able to give these two voices that others would recognize, especially fellow fans of the game. Thanks for reading!

    There were two questions that I had after the end of Dark Forces II: A: how in the hell did they get off the planet when the Crow was destroyed and B: how much crap was Jan going to give Kyle for crashing their ship? Thanks for reading!

    There's gonna be a lot of fun, but also some seriousness, too. Thanks for reading!

    ***

    For my next entry, I chose 200 Freestyle, and it kinda goes with what Chyntuck said about Jan coming to bail Kyle out all the time. What happens when that's not possible at all?

    Taking place in between missions 12 and 13 from the original Dark Forces, here's Mission Control. (1 ABY)

    ***

    Jan sat in the cockpit of the Moldy Crow, calmly and patiently waiting. The blasterfire outside of the ship had faded and had been replaced with silence. This fuel station was where they were going to part, Jan thought. Hopefully not for the last time.

    Her comm crackled to life. “Smuggler ship secured,” Kyle said over it.

    She would have smiled if the situation wasn’t desperate and congratulated him.

    The ship that Kyle had hijacked sped out of the fueling station as he commed a quick farewell to her.

    “May the Force be with you,” she said. “You’re going to need it,” she added after flicking the comlink off.

    She didn’t dare fly the Moldy Crow off of the launch pad yet. She just sat in the pilot’s chair, eyes glued to the sensor screen in front of her and doing her best to ignore the empty copilot’s station in front of her. The ship he’d stolen was headed towards the large blip that was the Executor now.

    Jan held her breath as the craft docked with the Super Star Destroyer and didn’t let it out until the ship leaped into hyperspace, and hoped that she would see him again.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2023
  8. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    Now she has to wait. Will she see him back?
     
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  9. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Love the name of the ship!:*

    ... oh gads ... oh no ...:eek:
     
  10. Seldes_Katne

    Seldes_Katne Force Ghost star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2002
    And away he goes! Good set-up for the next part.

    Just out of curiosity,

    Did you choose the ship's name, or was it already called that? Someone's got an interesting sense of humor.

    Fingers crossed. Ready for the next event!
     
  11. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    You know, now that I think of it, this must have been a particularly hard mission to accept for Jan, because she was essentially kept out of it and could only worry and chew her nails until Kyle gave a sign of life. We're used to seeing them work in perfect sync, but this is really different, and it was wonderfully written too [:D]
     
  12. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    If my first playthrough is any indication: no. He'll get to the last boss several times and then the computer will self destruct on itself, LOL.

    Seriously, though, I did want to capture what had to be going through her mind at this specific moment: the last mission in the game where they are together.

    :vader::vader::vader:

    Thanks for reading!

    A lot of these are in random order throughout the whole game series' timeline, mainly focusing on the original Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. And they skip around a bit, so I've gone ahead and added the year each segment takes place. This is especially helpful for my next entry, which is the drabble one.

    The name is from the games. I don't know who exactly came up with it, but I'm assuming it's likely Justin Chin or someone else on the team.

    I really wanted to get the idea across that she was pretty sure that she was sending him to his likely death. The mission is insane, even for a mid-90s FPS character. She probably was worried until he finally showed up. Thanks for reading.

    Now, onto the next part. Four drabbles, each about a different form of love. Enjoy.

    ***

    4x100 Relay

    Affection “Campsite” 6 ABY

    “Caf?”

    Kyle nearly jumped from his seat at hearing Jan’s voice.

    She laughed. “Startled a Jedi. That’s something to cross off my bucket list.”

    He shook his head and accepted the cup as she sat down next to him. “Thanks,” he said. He shrugged. “At least it was you instead of a Tof.”

    She laid her head on his shoulder. “If I found you sleeping on watch, you’d WISH I was a Tof,” she said.

    He took a sip. “We should reach the first gun tomorrow afternoon.” He gestured to two other tents nearby. “Think we can trust them?”

    “Yes.”

    Intimacy “What the Dark Side Says” 5 ABY

    “At that moment, all that was going through my head was every bad thing you’d done to me: spy on me, go through my things, not trusting me.” His voice was filled with shame and sorrow. “Everything was screaming at me to go through with it, but then every good thing replaced those thoughts: you telling me the truth about my father’s death, saving my life too many times that I can count, the night before we left for Rusaan, and then I couldn’t go through with it.”

    Jan looked at him, with understanding. “I still trust you,” she said.


    Friendship “Downtime” (2 ABY)

    The cramped living quarters of the Moldy Crow echoed with laughter. They were sitting on the edges of their bunks, plates of food in their hands.

    She was sharing one of the few hilarious stories she had of being undercover as an Imperial intelligence agent; going through the halls of an installation and nearly running right over Armand Isard.

    He countered with another story of his: when he had nearly drowned as a child and the family’s droid pulled him out of the irrigation ditch by the seat of his trousers.

    This was the best part of their missions together.

    Charity “A Load of Credits You Don’t Have.” 5 ABY

    “This isn’t Alliance property,” the dockmaster gruffly said. The aged ship was covered in blaster scoring from pirate and Imperial blasters.

    “Not anymore and that trip you took wasn’t approved, I know it.”

    She looked at the ship and back at the surly dockmaster. Kyle had saved her life more times than she could count and even though they were probably even, she felt like she owed him.

    Even if he had just took off for Nar Shaddaa for something he seemed reluctant to tell her about.

    “Put it on my tab,” she finally said.

    “S’your money,” the dockmaster shrugged.
     
  13. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    They show wisdom in savoring their togetherness ... and now he's off to Nar Shaddaa, why, I wonder? *ponders*
     
  14. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    Kyle and Jan are truly a pair. Bantering and loving. And now a new mission?
     
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  15. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    These four drabbles were a great way to show the complexity of the relationship between Kyle and Jan. You spell it out (from Kyle's perspective) in “What the Dark Side Says”, but you also give us a bit of Jan POV in “A Load of Credits You Don’t Have”, especially with this line:
    Even at this point when they've known each other for a while, he's still very much a loose cannon and doing his own thing – sometimes.

    But what I liked best was Jan sassing him (“If I found you sleeping on watch, you’d WISH I was a Tof” [face_laugh] ) and of course their shared moment of carefreeness in “Downtime”, when they get to be people, not agents on a mission [face_love]
     
  16. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    That part is a reference to the opening mission of Dark Forces II, where Kyle is on Nar Shaddaa looking for information on his father's death.

    It's based off of a really quick line in an RPG article series where they were sent to the Tof world before the events of Marvel Star Wars 107 with... well, actually, I'm gonna keep that part close to my chest. Just in case... :p

    To be honest, I actually thought that What The Dark Side Says may have originally been too dark, as in between funny and some serious moments, I'm starting to talk about, yes, the time that the Dark Side was actually trying to get Kyle to murder Jan to lead to the Dark Side ending of Dark Forces II. At the same time, though, I kinda thought that I HAD to write that.

    Downtime was written after I had written that last one, as even I needed some bit of levity after tackling it. Glad you all enjoyed these.

    ***

    Now, the next event is 110 Hurdles. Please enjoy Rebirth (4 ABY)

    If Shira Brie hadn’t already been killed, she swore that she would rip the schutta to shreds. She decided to treat the Imperial shuttle in front of her as a proxy. The new ion turret ripped through shields and raced over the hull.

    “That rumor better be true...” She suited herself in armor and grabbed one of his favorite repeaters from the armory. At this point, she didn’t care if Vader was on the shuttle.

    The smell of ozone and burned flesh filled the ship minutes later. He was there behind a red forcefield, A smile crossed his bearded face as he saw her. “I was starting to get worried.”
     
  17. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    She sure can fight and save him
     
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  18. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Good immersive text here.
     
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  19. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    And once more, Jan saves Kyle's sorry behind [face_laugh] It's amazing how much you packed in so few words – her tension, her military skill, her sass, and of course Kyle's trademark deadpan humour. Great stuff!
     
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  20. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Host: Finish the story, Anagrams & Scattegories. star 8 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    I enjoyed the banter about crashing the ship ;) The other entries are full of exciting action and great moments of caring and friendship.

    =D=
     
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  21. Kahara

    Kahara Chosen One star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    This has been such a blast from the past and I enjoyed all of it! :D Never played the games, but I did check out and read those illustrated novelizations that came out with it, because it was the 90's/early 2000's and pretty much anything Star Wars was going in my library bag. (Those library bags, so heavy!)

    Anyway, I really like how you've grounded this in the action/adventure that makes up their day-to-day in the events of the series/game while making the depth and strength of their partnership really shine. =D= And I think the mood whiplash in the set with “What the Dark Side Says” really worked, because they both are put through the ringer in the course of those events. But the good is shown too, and I really like that they are open enough to be silly around each other even though Kyle is Mr. Jedi Commando and Jan is Ms. Secret Agent for the Rebellion. [face_love]
     
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  22. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    Yes she can, and vice-versa, too.

    Thank you. It was a challenge to get that one line in, but I wanted it in really badly.

    As I said in the main Olympics thread, these limited word challenges can be EXTREMELY tough. Thanks for enjoying it!

    Yeah, you know that Jan wouldn't let Kyle live that down for a while. Thanks for reading.

    I loved those novellas, too, and the audio dramas, although I wasn't that big a fan on who they casted as Kyle in them. And yeah, I certainly wanted to have that mood whiplash of WTDSS in between the humor and action.

    Thanks for reading!

    Now, here we are at the end. I was pondering what exactly to do for Prime Time Action, but I settled on this one bit:

    Last Stand (1 ABY)

    Jan Ors fought with the controls of the Moldy Crow, adjusting the throttle and tossing the control yoke from side to side.

    “I’m adjusting power to the engines,” Kyle said. With a few flips of switches, the shields indicator greyed out on the console in front of him and the engines glowed a vibrant blue. “That’s all I have,” he cried out.

    The engines groaned in response, the once dull humming that permeated through the ship replaced by a grinding whine.

    “It’s no use,” Jan replied, throwing her pilot’s goggles to the floor of the ship. “They’ve got us.”

    Kyle glanced up through the viewports of the Crow’s upper bulkhood. The Hutt yacht loomed larger and larger. “This is not good,” he said. He unstrapped himself from his crash webbing and stood up.

    “Can’t believe I let that slimy Hutt sneak up on us,” Jan cursed.

    “Do you think he wants us dead?” Kyle asked. Jan’s words just hours before about the price on his head coming back to him.

    “No,” she said. “At least not immediately. If he wanted us dead quickly, he’d have hit us with cannons instead of the tractor beam.”

    “So, that means slow and painful or being turned in to the Empire,” Kyle said. “Neither of which are all that preferable. So, that leaves us with one option,” he smiled slightly.

    “Blow our brains out?” Jan chuckled.

    He looked at her and chuckled, somewhat amazed that she had remembered that conversation from a year ago. He repeated what she had said back then, on his first day leaving the Empire. “Right idea; wrong people.”

    Jan nodded. “At least we take out as many of the murgloks as we can.”

    Kyle stopped outside of the small airlock room and pulled his bryar pistol out from its holster. Jan held her DH-17 out. “I’ve got the docking tube, you have the ramp?”

    He nodded and trained his pistol slightly down and wished once again that the HWK-290 wasn’t so damned cramped. Other than the doors as cover, there was nothing to shield them.

    The ship shuddered as it came to a rest in the yacht’s docking bay.

    “Here they come,” Jan said.

    The two were close together, on either side of the door. Kyle looked into Jan’s eyes and wished that he had the courage to tell her, to even admit to himself, how he felt about her. Long minutes passed before the ramp slowly opened. They steeled themselves for what was to come.

    The first member of Jabba’s crew to try and enter the ship was an armored Twi’lek. He just managed to set his foot onto the ramp before two blaster bolts struck him in the chest. A Weequay and a Rodian were next, brandishing blaster rifles and firing indiscriminately. Kyle recognized the blue rings of stun shots and returned them with lethal blasterfire.

    He heard cursing in Huttese as more of the thugs gathered around. A Gammorean was next, followed by several others. The orcine guard’s body was cushioned by tough hide and layers of muscle and fat. The guard charged up the ramp, a stunblade held in both of his hands, and soaked in the blaster fire.

    The Gammorean finally fell at the top of the ramp, followed closely by his companions. The pirates continued to pour in.

    “Shavit!” Jan cursed as part of a stun bolt hit her in her arm. The blaster pistol in her hand fell to the ground as the hit arm hanged limply to her side. “Cover me!” she yelled as she kneeled and tried to pick up the firearm with her off hand.

    Kyle felt his blood begin to boil and the anger rise up to his throat. Time seemed to slow down, the many pirates beginning to head up the ramp moving as if they were a holovid playing at half speed. He aimed at each and fired and watched baffled as time sped back up and each blaster shot hit home.

    Jan recovered quickly and fired several off-target shots at the pirates outside of the ship.

    “How many are there?” Kyle wondered aloud as another wave retreated.

    “Knowing Jabba, more than enough,” Jan replied.

    There was silence outside of the Moldy Crow as no new wave replaced the one that had just fallen back. There were uncountable bodies of numerous alien species outside of the entrance ramp, a few groaning survivors crawled their way to safety.

    “This isn’t good,” Jan said.

    A small cylinder answered her, bouncing off of the ramp as it landed on it and headed towards the pair. Kyle tried to kick it away and missed and was rewarded by a blinding light and deafening noise. He fought to stay conscious but his vision blackened and he fell to the floor.

    [[I told you we should have done this at the start,]] a Gran spoke as he and an armored Twi’lek surveyed the interior of the ship minutes later.

    The Twi’lek shrugged his lekku and shook his head. [[You’re lucky that concussion grenade didn’t kill them, in this close quarters…]]

    The Gran looked at the two unconscious agents and then back to his dead allies being carted away. [[If only Jabba didn’t want them alive,]] he said. He pointed to Kyle. [[The bounty on him says ‘dead’]]

    [[Well, he does, for some reason,]] the Twi’lek says. He motioned to another member of Jabba’s retinue. [[Take to woman into the cells, he says he has something very special planned for Katarn...]]
     
  23. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    WOW a cliffie at the end. What will happen with Kyle and Jan?
     
  24. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Host: Finish the story, Anagrams & Scattegories. star 8 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    A riveting end! Will there be a sequel of sorts?
     
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  25. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Excellent depiction of teamwork ...

    ... and adding the auditory touches, great story! :)
     
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