A New Jedi in an Old Republic

 Kyle Vents some Frustrations

"You're serious." Jan said.

"Yep," Kyle responded as he made sure his Saber and Pistol were secure. "If this ship is being boarded, knowing who is doing it will help."

"I guess..." Jan wasn't too sure, but wasn't willing to object more. "At least take something else with you?"

"No arguments there. I figure I'll grab the Concussion Rifle."

Jan shook her head, exasperated. "Why not grab the rocket launcher instead?"

Kyle looked hurt. "I don't want to damage this ship too much!"

"Concussion Rifle!"

"Won't damage bulkheads! Much."

Jan flopped back in her seat. "Fine. I'll get us ready to leave." She waved him away. "Go have fun."

"I will Jan! Be right back!" Kyle grabbed the gun, his shield belt and a few extra power cells out of the armory locker and closed it behind him. "Could you lower the ramp for me?" The Astute shook again, but it seems with the boarding pod in place, the other side wasn't willing to damage their prize more than necessary.

Once he had enough room to duck out, Kyle jumped off the ramp and landed on the deck, rifle over his back. Vaguely remembering that D deck was up from the Flight deck, he trotted to the nearest exit, only to be intercepted by Chief Saew.

"Captain Katarn! What are you doing?" The man said, holding out one hand to stop Kyle. "It's dangerous!"

"I heard," Kyle said. "So I'm going to help the defending marines."

"You can't! Please, return to your ship!" Saew was obviously concerned for his safety, so Kyle reached out with the Force to convince him otherwise.

"You can let me go, I'm on your side." He said hypnotically, trying to beguile the weaker mind.

"You're on our side..." Saew replied, knowing that Kyle wasn't going to hurt him. "But you still need to be safe."

"I'll be careful," Kyle emphasized the point gently. "You helped me out, so I'll help you."

"You'll help us," Saew could see that was true. He had to help! "What are you going to do?"

"Could you unlock the door to let me out, then lock it behind me to keep your flight deck safe?" Kyle could feel his resistance at putting anyone in danger, and felt that it was a refreshing change of pace from the usual people he had to mind trick into agreeing with him.

"Yes, sir." Saew ran for the door and started to punch in the commands to unlock it, Kyle right behind him. "Good luck, sir."

"Thanks. Force be with you." Kyle slipped through the door and waited for it to close behind him. "Jan?" He said into his comlink. "Can you splice into the local network, and tell me where the boarders are?"

"Not yet," she replied. "I'm still getting the Claw warmed up."

"Right. So," he started to question himself as he unslung his pistol. Without knowing what he was actually facing, it was the best option. "If I were invading boarding parties, where would I be?"

The answer was obvious. Bridge or Engine Room. As he was closer to the back of the ship, he decided to head for the latter, then work his way forward. Making a left he jogged down the empty corridor. Through the force, he could feel all the people around him on the ship, worry and fear mostly with a bit of excitement thrown in.

Focusing on the largest knot of emotion, he felt out the small section of Marines that seemed to be neat the engine room. If he didn't miss his guess, they were barricading themselves around the vital compartment, ready to repel attackers.

They would make a nice anvil to his hammer. He spotted an emergency ladder that would allow him to go up and down the decks, and after clearing it with his pistol ready, he ascended to D deck. "Jan," he communicated back to his ship, "I'm headed for the Engine Room to help defend there, then I'll sweep forward."

That he was implying that he could single-handedly defend the entire ship from all attackers wasn't lost on either of them. "Don't go overboard Kyle. Maybe let the marines do some work too?"

"What? And share the glory? Come on Jan, by the time I get there, they will probably be all done and sipping caf."

Jan laughed. "I mean it Kyle. Be careful."

"You too." He closed the channel, then popped his head up out the access hatch. Trusting in all his senses, he saw that the area was clear. Then the Force warned him, and he ducked back down, just as a half-dozen droids ran past the next intersection, blasters in hand.

"Um.... Jan?"

"Kyle?"

"You're not going to believe this, but apparently we're being attacked by old Trade Federation Droidekas."

"You're right. I don't believe you."

"Let me slag the lot of them, and I'll grab one's head for you to slice into it's memory."

"You do that, Kyle. I'm almost done here."

Kyle hopped out of the hatch and closed it silently behind him. Droidekas rarely came in small groups, so he readied his concussion rifle. He would have gone for his lightsaber, but he felt that was inviting trouble if he had a long distance to cover.

Quickly reaching the corner, he felt the ship shudder again. "All hand, we have a second boarding pod, Starboard side, Deck B! All hands to primary defensive positions!" The voice over the intercom was calm and collected in the face of such an assault. He met Kyle's approval, sight unseen.

He quickly glanced around the corner, and saw that a small-ish group of about a dozen Droidekas were gathered around, discussion their plans.

"Frontal Assault!" one with a radio antenna suggested. "Overcome the barricades! The rest agreed. Kyle shook his head. The stupidity of the Trade Federation driods was legendary, even decades later. They were only a threat because there were so damned many of them that even stupidity could be overcome.

He swung out from the corner, aimed for the center of the droideka group and fired off a shot from his rifle.

A Concussion Rifle was considered a 'sonic' weapon, and was one of scant few that couldn't be blocked by a lightsaber, or deflected by the force. It could either fire a single drilling shot of concentrated sound, enough to punch through heavy armor or shields with little problem or could be set to detonate in a concussive explosion on contact with anything denser than air. Using the later firing option, Kyle aimed to do as much damage as he could, and he wasn't disappointed as their primitive electronic brains barely had time to register that they were under attack before they were blow apart by the blast.

"Alert!" One of them transmitted vocally and by radio. It had been protected from the blast by distance and the bodies of its fellows, though not enough that it had avoided being knocked down. Surrounded by the damaged thin limbs and shattered torsos of the rest of its squad, the Droideka tried to raise itself up to examine who or what had attacked them.

It saw a lightsaber. "JEDI!" It screeched just before Kyle chopped its head off, killing its power and falling down lifelessly.

"Wow," Kyle said as he attached the head to a belt loop for Jan to look at later. "Dark Troopers you are not." With the force, he couldn't locate any droids, but he could sense people's reactions to them. "Jan, dealt with the first group, headed for the next."

"Alright Kyle."

Engine Room

Lieutenant Harjko was the head of the Marines on the Astute and when the reports of boarding pods came in, he was stuck near the rear of the ship. This wasn't something they had drilled for, instead focusing on boarding actions against disable pirates, or freighters. Or defending the airlocks or flight deck from intruders. Not fall back positions such as this. He had ordered the majority of his hundred plus men to defend the Bridge and Engine room, with smaller groups securing major weapons from roving foes.

And now here he was, fighting damned droids! Most of them were the standard ones employed by the Trade Federation, thin and spindly in nature, but each with a Blaster as powerful as his own. Scattered amongst them were the larger, heavier versions whose name escaped him, armored and mounting a Blaster cannon in the right arm. And behind them was two of the heavy mobile platforms, the ones with shields of their own and twin repeaters in each arm.

While they were about evenly matched in terms of numbers, the weight of weapons was on the attacker, while defenders held fortified positions. "Keep firing!" he commanded, spraying down the corridor blindly. He may have hit something, he may not have. It didn't matter.

One of his Privates was hit by return fire, falling over dead as the blaster bolt clipped the side of his head, the helmet offering no protection. He pulled the body away from the barricade, and called up for a medic. Maybe he was wrong, and his man wasn't dead, just seriously wounded.

"Surrender and you will be spared!" An electronic voice spoke out through a lull in the fighting. "Surrender!"

"Never!" He yelled out and popped his head up just long enough to squeeze off a shot in the direction of the voice before the return fire caused him to duck again.

"Are we going to hold, sir?" Sergeant Morow asked as he took a spot beside the officer. "We're pinned down!"

"They have to come through here to get to the engine, so yes. We will hold!" Harjko replied, courage in his voice that wasn't in his heart. "The Captain will make sure we don't get any more pods, then we can concentrate our forces."

"If you say so, sir." The Sergeant didn't seem to agree, but what else was there to do?

Just then, an explosion came from the direction of the assaulting droids. "See?" Harjko said. "Reinforcements!" He popped up for a quick look and any thoughts of ducking back down were thrown away by what he saw.

A blade of blue light carved through the smoke and debris of damaged and destroyed droids. He watched as the man holding it ducked under a blaster shot from one brave droid, only to cut it down with a blaster shot of his own. One of the heavy droideka thought to simply bullrush the man, only to be cut in twain.

In less than a blink, the two walking tanks had reoriented on the blade, shining impossibly bright in his eyes, and set to unleash a storm of bolts no one could dodge.

They were met by a hail of lightning, their shields dying quickly under the energies that cascaded over them, and the two droids shaking before dropping down to the ground, powerless and lifeless.

It was over in seconds.

"Hey, you guys alright?" The jedi with the lightsaber said as he casually walked to the barricade. "Guys?"

"It's a Jedi!" One of the men shouted in joy. "We're saved!"

A righteous roar washed over the defenders as Kyle looked them over with annoyance. Lieutenant Harjko stood up, surveying the scene. "Master Jedi?"

"I keep telling people, my name's Kyle. The word 'Master' just gives me creeps." Kyle put away his lightsaber and looked as the men swarmed over the defensive position to stand in awe of him.

"Master Kyle," Harjko was too well trained to not refer to a superior by anything other than their title. "This spot is now secure, but the bridge is under attack and there may be more droids around the ship."

"Great. Just the usual then." Kyle glared at the soldiers around him, who looked like they were about to worship the deck he walked on. "What's your name?"

"Lieutenant Harjko," he replied. "Head of the Marines on this ship, Master Kyle. Thank you again for your help. Can you aid us in securing the ship?"

Kyle grinned. "Skip the Master, please. Just point me in the right direction."

"Sergeant Morow! Get your platoon in shape and follow Master Kyle! The rest of you, stay with me to keep the engines secure!" He snapped out the orders quickly. "Morow, guide the Master to wherever the enemy is reported, and support him."

"Yes sir!" Any lingering doubts had long vanished. With a Jedi in their midst, nothing could go wrong now!"

Bridge

Captain Corvell watched as the guns on his ship pummelled into the shields of a Trade Federation Dreadnought. Despite the two boarding pods stuck in his sides, the Astute was still in fine fighting trim, and was currently duelling the ship that launched the pods in the first place while a larger battle took place only a light-second out. He just wished he had some fighter cover, or at least an anti-fighter variant of his own beloved ship to aid them.

"Captain," Grigh announced. "Lieutenant Harjko has reported in. The Engine Room is secure, and he's deploying forces to sweep the ship and relieve our own defenders."

"Good." Something was going right. "Tell him to get those pods off my ship first, we can hold out here." It was truthful, the bridge of this ship was well defended and the droids couldn't really advance without far larger numbers than they had. The element of surprise was gone, and the margin of victory was shifting in his favour.

"Sir, one more thing," his XO sounded like he didn't believe what he was hearing, but had to say it anyways. "The Lieutenant reports that our guest from the shuttle deck... he's a Jedi sir, and is helping secure the ship."

"A Jedi?" Corvell was confused. He was talking about Captain Katarn? But he had talked to the man! Why would he lie? No, the reasons didn't matter here and now. The actions of the Jedi were not his to question. "What is the Jedi doing now?"

"The Lieutenant reports that he sent a squad with him, with orders to sweep the ship going forward, and responding to enemy incursions." Grigh said. "There's still a pod full of droids unaccounted for."

"Get in contact with the Jedi, and let him know that." As much as he wanted to beg for the Jedi's help, this was still his ship. He still had to have some pride in her and her crew! "And tell the men that help is on the way."

"Yes sir!"

Deck B

Kyle would have just rushed the group of droids arranging themselves around the boarding pod, but he had a squad with him this time to help. "Master Jedi?" The Sergeant said, disregarding Kyle's repeated requests be called by his proper name, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Droids know there's a Jedi on the ship, so they should be focusing on me like that last group," Kyle recalled the short lived 'fight' where a squad of droideka had been cut down in seconds, but not before Kyle was forced to defend himself with his saber as they had been focused on him.

"You would be bait sir, draw them away?" That the Jedi was so sacrificing was no surprise. "But there are so many of them!"

"Who said anything about bait?" Kyle replied. "I need one of your men to follow me."

"Sir?"

"He and I are going to circle around the other side. I'll draw their fire, your man will borrow my concussion rifle to attack them while I defend the both of us, and once the droids are distracted, you hit them from behind."

The tactics were simple, but they should be effective. "I understand, Master Jedi." He looked around for a volunteer, but any of his squad would gladly follow the Jedi into battle. They already had.

"You," he said, pointing to the man second from the back. "Kro, aid him in his plan."

Private Kro could not contain his joy at being assigned to work with the Jedi. "Yes sir! It's a pleasure sir!"

"Don't say it's a pleasure until we're all done here," Kyle admonished the marine. "There are still plenty of droids to scrap before you can thank me."

Morow approved of the Jedi's humility, focused on the goal, not the successes along the way. "We'll wait for your signal sir."

"Got it," Kyle said as he unslung his heavy weapon weapon and handed it over to the Private. "Take care of this, she's seen me through thick and thin."

"Yes sir! Master Jedi Sir!"

Kyle groaned, but started running to flank the droid defenders. A minute or so later, the two of them were on the opposite corner as the rest of the squad. Kyle looked back at Kro. "Repeat the plan" he commanded. "No mistakes."

"You and I step out as one," Kro said, checking the trigger on the rifle again. "You use your skills to defend us from the droids while I fire around you to break up their formation. The Sergeant will then attack from the other side, and the force of the flanking will crush the droids!"

"Good, and if I say fall back, I mean it. No heroics. Got that?"

"I understand, Master Jedi."

Kyle had given up on correcting people. "Right. On three?"

"Three."

"One. Two. THREE!" Kyle stepped out, lightsaber in the best guard he could muster, not concerned one bit with the attack, but rather in blocking or reflecting every blaster bolt he could. His shield was still good, so he could let a couple hit him if it meant defending the guy behind him, so he just let himself go with the Force. Feet planted he barely heard the scream of a Concussion bolt slamming past him and into the concentrated droids.

A dozen were shattered earlier. Three dozen were pulverized now, the corridor serving to prevent the blast from dissipating, instead echoing off the walls and back into the droids. More metal bent, electronics disrupted and so much chaos was sown that the droids were unable to react in time.

The smarter ones turned on Kyle, firing blindly until they could aim better, but he was able to deal with those bolts easy.

Then the other half of the ambush hit, a half dozen blasters on full auto rippled into the near defensive line as they turned to face the new threat, more droids dropping.

Then the second concussion bolt sang out, focused on one of the shielded mini-walkers. It hit the shields, which absorbed the blow, but the explosion of force that resulted from the impact disrupted the formations of droids even further. Then a dozen blaster bolts hit the walker from behind, finishing in dropping the shield as Kyle deflected its bolts right back at it.

It exploded, it's power core rupturing, scattering even more shards of metal everywhere, causing more mayhem and destruction.

"Retreat!" one of the droids shouted, only to be cut down by a blaster shot. With that, there was no one left to command the droids, and they were reduced to nothing within a minute.

The whole fight was short, intense and brutal, Kyle coming out of his Force battle Meditation slowly. "We good?"

"I think we won, sir. I thought the Droids would be tougher than that."

"They're not tough. Or smart," Kyle said as he kept his saber up in case one of the droids was still active and wanted to shoot him. "But where there's one, there a dozen more."

"I understand sir."

"Thank you, Master Jedi!" Sergeant Morow called out from the other end of the corridor as he and his men advanced. "Only one injury, else it would have been a perfect victory!"

"Can we get him to the medaby?" Kyle asked, concerned for the life of the marine.

"I'll be fine," the wounded man said as he limped along, helped by another. "It was just a glancing blow."

"Sergeant, I think your man should get medical attention." Kyle didn't want to use the Force to persuade him on this, hoping for the better. And he got it.

"You're right, Master Jedi. All that's left is the group attacking the bridge." He gestured ahead. "Come on, we'll go to the lift and advance!"

"I'll take the man to the medbay," Kyle offered, putting his saber away and recovering his rifle. "You don't need me to deal with the last of the droids."

"Master Jedi, it would be an honour for you to assist in taking out the last of the enemy!" Morow objected, hoping that Kyle would see them through to total victory. "The men approve of your presence."

It wasn't a lie, the Force told Kyle. Where he went, the spirits of everyone was buoyed up. All they knew was that he was a Jedi, and that he was helping, and that meant the galaxy to them. He didn't like being depended on so much, but what choice did he have. "Jan, I'm headed to take out the last group at the bridge. I think we're good."

"I hear you Kyle," Jan replied over the comlink. "No trouble down here."

Bridge

"Captain," Grigh reported, "The Marines report they are in position to destroy the last attackers. Jedi Katarn is still with them."

"Good," Corvell said as he focused on the battles outside his ship rather than on the ones inside. The Dreadnought they were fighting appeared to be a C3I version, and as such didn't mount the same weapons or fighter compliment as a normal version would. And most of its fighters were participating in other battles as reserve. He was damned lucky, or the Force was with him that things hadn't turned out worse. "Order the assault when the Marines are ready, and once this battle is over, I would like to speak to the Jedi at his convenience."

"Understood Captain," and the word was given.

Out the front viewscreen, the Captain smiled as the first lasers started to punch through the weakened shields. "Focus on the Shield generators. Once they're down, they will be ours for the taking!" It was nice to win the first battle in the war, that was for sure.

Deck A Corridor

Kyle hung back, giving the Marines morale by being there and not getting in their way. The Lieutenant had caught up with them just outside the defensive cordon, and thanked Kyle for his hard work.

"Wasn't anything," Kyle said honestly. "Stormtroopers would have been a challenge. Droids are just pathetic."

"What are those?" Harjko asked, confused.

"Never mind," Kyle dismissed the concern. Never heard of Stormtroopers? Another point of evidence in favour of Jan's 'Time Travel' theory, as much as he hated to admit it. It wasn't like this was all an illusion either. Too much was just real to him and his senses. "Where do you want me?"

"Behind, Master Kyle. With your heavy gun to help break up the enemy formations, we can exploit the weaknesses without putting you in the line of fire." The plan was simple again, although by now they had secured the armory and bandoleers of thermal detonators in addition to other heavy weapons had been handed out to the men so that Kyle wasn't the only one with that burden.

"I understand," Kyle said. "Just give the signal."

"We're waiting on reply from the other side." That was the danger of catching the enemy in a crossfire, for even entrenched, there was the possibility of friendly fire passing over the droidekas and hitting the ship's marines.

"Alright," Kyle looked around, giving a casual smile to the marines who looked to him for support and guidance, even with their lieutenant right there. He played the part they wanted - of invincible Savior.

"We have confirmation," the Lieutenant announced to his men and Kyle. "On my mark. Three. Two.. One!"

A dozen thermal detonators were thrown down the hall, and the battle was on.

Raven's Claw

Jan wasn't worried. Not at all. It wasn't like Kyle was in any danger at all.

"Jan?"

"KYLE!" She didn't quite shout into the com unit. "What's happening?"

"We've busted the last of the droids. I still have that head for you." Kyle sounded relaxed, which meant he probably was.

"What now?"

"Well, the Captain wants to see me, and I think there's still a battle outside. I'll let you know."

"Alright. Bye Kyle."

"Bye Jan."

Jan swore and kicked the chair under her. She didn't like being cooped up like this, and she would be certain to give Kyle a piece of her mind later.

Bridge

The air was charged with the presence of the Jedi, even as Captain Corvell continued to issue orders to his crew. The Droid Control dreadnought slid out of view of the front window as the Astute turned to bring more broadside weapons into arc, and rotate damaged shield sections away.

With the manoeuvrer in place, he turned back to Kyle. "Master Jedi."

"Please, call me Kyle. If someone on this ship can, please let it be you." Katarn stood at the back of the bridge, away from anyone with something to do.

But Corvell shook his head. "I cannot. You are a Jedi, and with the war, we must all be aware of our positions." Kyle grimaced, but understood where the Captain was coming from. "Thank you for securing our ship."

"I don't suppose you can quietly let me and my ship go, and we can both forget I was ever here?"

"Not with that Trade Federation Dreadnought still active," the Captain apologized. "It seems that the Separatists thought to ambush the fleet at the rally point, however, our delay in picking you up caused us to arrive a little later than expected. We have you to thank for being out of position to attack the command and control dreadnought here."

"Force moves in mysterious ways," Kyle mulled. "What's happening now?"

"Our presence has distracted the enemy forces enough that the Admiral has organized the fleet and is working their way to us to help in destroying the ship."

"Captain!" A man in the navigator's seat yelled out as alarms started calling for attention. "The enemy ship just jumped to Hyperspace! They're retreating!"

"Guess they heard I was here," Kyle quipped.