Kyle Katarn

**Kyle Katarn** was a famous Force-sensitive Human male Rebel operative from Sulon and later a Jedi of the New Jedi Order. He was a former Imperial officer who defected to the Rebellion. Often paired with fellow Rebel agent and smuggler Jan Ors, he performed many covert missions for the Rebel Alliance

## Biography

### Early life

"*I want you to remember, son, when you're at the Academy, how very proud I am of you.*"
―Morgan's words to Kyle the day they parted
Kyle Katarn was the son of Morgan and Patricia Katarn, farmers from the Sullust colony moon of Sulon. Born in 23 BBY, the Human boy grew up on the farm. Ηis mother's death, caused by a malfunctioning BT-16 perimeter security droid, was devastating for the Katarns, and the two men, alone, had to struggle without her extra hands. He played with tiny robotic soldiers made by his father[*source?*] and also found a brother of sorts in his father's custom-made labor droid, WeeGee with whom they could communicate in droidspeak. He spent a lot of time with his father in their workshop where they repaired or assembled machines, an occupation that bonded them even closer. He was fascinated with his father's tools and what he could make with them; since he was twelve, he maintained WeeGee himself, and soon after he could disassemble and repair anything in the homestead. His father also taught him a Primitive binary code which he used to send signals to their agrirobots.

As a kid Kyle used to play hide-and-seek in a canyon and cavern; shortly before turning eighteen, the locals had begun surveying that area in order to install a G-Tap. Sometime around 6 BBY,[*source?*] Katarn made his father a present of a multitool with his initials engraved on the handle.

Once he came of age, Kyle enrolled at the Imperial Academy in 5 BBY; he wished to alleviate some financial burden from his father, but also gain enough knowledge so that he would be able to continue his father's trade as an agro-tech mechanic in the future. As a Rimmer, Kyle had few opportunities to obtain an education and the Academy was one of them; his father (whom Kyle knew was a bit too sympathetic to the Rebellion), reluctantly agreed. He left his homeplanet on a Carida-bound freighter. The day before his departure, his father gifted him an antique Bryar pistol; Kyle kept with him a holo-recording of their last meeting, where Morgan expressed how proud he was for him.

During his four-year training as an engineering student in the Academy of Carida, he discovered his natural gift for cybernetics systems theory and information engineering. As all engineers, Kyle was trained in only thirty hours in TIE/LN starfighters, concentrating more to piloting several different kinds of support craft such as T-4s. Other activities included extra-curricular martial arts such as fencing from a moderate instructor who however required obedience, target-shooting classes studying battle tactics with set-pieces and tiring partrols inside an unbearable Stormtrooper armor, a burden that took a toll on their morale and readiness. His roommate was Odom Meck, and he had to cope with the annoying nobleman Nathan Donar III. He often crossed paths with Jan Strange of the Imperial Intell, who was actually a Rebel mole.

His Omega Exercise was a turning point for his life and career; it consisted of a raid on a Rebel asteroid base, which he led as Cadet Leader. It was there when Katarn began to suspect his Force potential, a trait passed to him by his father, when he experienced several premonitions that saved the lives of many of his strike team members. While on the mission, Katarn, showed a concern about the unnecessary deaths of surrendering Rebel agents, claiming they would be more useful as prisoners; something that annoyed Sergeant Major Hong. It was also there when he met again Jan Ors; Katarn and Ors were on opposite sides of the war, but they experienced a strange connection that led Katarn to spare her life as well as the lives of many of the station's inhabitants.

Following this, Katarn was hospitalized back into the Training Base, where he also achieved a heroic status. He exited the hospital only hours before his graduation, during which he would achieve his commission and hoped to make his father proud; unbeknownst to him, Morgan was a supporter of the Rebel Alliance and had been executed by Inquisitor Jerec. Questioning his own performance and strange feelings during his last mission, he shared his concerns to Odom, who had tackled with religion. His connection to Morgan, and his own Force sensitivity, attracted the interest of Jerec, who visited the Academy for the ceremony.

#### Graduation

"*And, in recognition for his valor, and bravery in the face of the enemy, the Emperor hereby presents Second Lieutenant Kyle Katarn with the Medal of Valor, as well as the Empire's heartfelt gratitude.*"
―Rom Mohc
Three months before his graduation, Kyle, like many other cadets, had focused on the lethal tradition of "walking the edge" during their ceremonial parade, and made a research; he found out that thirty six cadets had found their deaths falling from the cliffside, almost half of them marching on the right flank, in which he would eventually be assigned. Nathan Donar was assigned Company Commander who would lead his column, and despite his worries, there were no casualties.

During his decoration with the Imperial Medal of Valor by General Rom Mohc, he was congratulated by a figure dressed in black, whom Kyle supposed to be a government official; he introduced himself as Jerec, and expressed a puzzling invitation to seek him whenever Kyle was ready to join those with power. Katarn felt a chilling cold being near him, and as the medal touched his uniform, he had another strange experience: a power surging through his nerves, giving him views of the area, and others' minds, in great detail; his nerves discharged when the man stepped back. He didn't know that Jerec was the very man who had killed his father, not long before.

After the ceremony, Kyle was approached by his cheering peers who wanted to admire the Medal in close. As, like other rimmers, he had no visitors, he was invited by Meck to join his family for dinner, which he reluctantly accepted, pretending that his motivation was to check out Meck's stunning sister.

Soon after he received an official message announcing that his father had been killed in a suspected Rebel raid on his homeworld of Sulon. Katarn, recalling the lives he spared on the asteroid base, became extremely hateful towards the Rebellion, believing them to be murderers. Immediately he left for the Office of Cadet Affairs and waited for it to open at dawn.

Although the Academy refused to extend funeral leave, Katarn accepted a commission in the special operations division of the Imperial Army. Now a Second Lieutenant, he took a cruise on the *Star of Empire*, his last bit of freedom before officially becoming an officer in the Imperial navy. He hitched a military transport leaving Carida, and on for the orbital transfer station off Dorlon II. There he boarded a shuttle which docked to the liner's hangar.

#### A fateful cruise

It was first time after some years that Kyle was found among non-human beings, and could admire females; resulting in an embarrassing moment when the mother of the twin girls frowned at him, and he tripped. To his surprise he realized that people intentionally bumped him; a businessman he met, Lando Calrissian, told him that the "real galaxy" is not like the settled environment of the Academy, and his uniform would cause some sneering. Right then he was reunited with Nathan, who was also traveling with his parents, and invited him to dinner, eager to introduce to them the heroic "cadet who won the medal"; Kyle was flattered, considering they belonged to the Empire's inner circle. Governor Dol Donar II showed genuine curiosity for Katarn's achievements, and in turn, Kyle pretended to compliment Nathan's leadership during the parade. They dined in the Nebula Room, where Kyle had green salad and candied insects. Asked about his roots he mentioned his father and his death and upon hearing this, Donar started a Rebel-hating rant, ensuring Katarn that his father will be avenged as the Emperor has something in store for the Rebels. Calrissian then approached them and invited the Governor for a game of sabacc.

After the dinner he went to the Corellia Room to reunite with the Donars playing with Calrissian; soon after he ran into a familiar face. Their eyes met and recognized it was the Rebel girl from the asteroid. She turned away and Kyle tried to follow her among the crowd; not only to arrest her, but also to seek revenge, and also some answers. Catching on a moving walkway, he started jogging, and into a lift tube. He realized that the level below was off limits to passengers and he used the emergency ladderway; once he landed, he was immobilized by Rosco Ross, an accomplice of the girl who was waiting for him, and was led into a storeroom. After the brief brawl, Ors pointed out that he had spared their lives earlier; in turn Katarn also felt another connection with Ors, not the hatred he expected. After exchanging names, Ors agreed to let him live, if he promised that they would part ways and not do anything against them. Kyle felt a desperation and along his promise he asked to talk to her.

The two met again in the ship's library while she was practicing her art of dancing in a virtual reality set, causing him to genuinely applauded her talent. They continued to the ship's cafeteria where Katarn wanted to bring up the matter of war and that the people the Rebels were fighting were good men, including the Stormtroopers, and his innocent father. Ors's attention was grabbed when he dropped the name Sulon and she realized that the Imperial was the son of one of their leaders.

#### Change of heart

"*…it is precisely his experience in Imperial service that has turned him solidly against the Empire, and will, I believe, eventually convince him of the necessity of the Alliance.*"
―Jan Ors, to Mon Mothma
Upon her invitation, Katarn came discreetly to her cabin so that informants won't spot him with a Rebel agent. There he was startled as her droid, A-Cee began a self-destruct sequence, which was overridden in time by Ors; it was programmed to detonate in the presence of an Imperial Officer. Ors explained her role in the Alliance Intelligence and showed Katarn footage from the Battle of the G-Tap that had been obtained by the droid and the reporter Candice Ondi it was serving. Katarn started watching the holorecord in skepticism until he saw his father, leading other Sulonese known to him. Then he realized that it was in fact the Imperials who had staged the attack; Rebel insignias were painted on their ships to make it seem as if the Rebels had been the aggressors. Their use of standard Imperial tactics, which Katarn had studied extensively at the Academy, gave them away. Seeing the footage for himself, Katarn became distrustful towards the Empire and defected, symbolically tearing off his decoration representing the Medal of Valor, throwing it in a recycle bin, thanking her for showing him the truth.

Some time later, Kyle sought Ors and found her at the ship's hangar, struggling with a heavy metallic casing, and he helped her lower it to the floor. He said that she should had used a floor jack or called for a maintenance droid, which was exactly what she was thinking, maddening her. He complimented her for her set of tools and offered to help repairing her ship, owing to his technical training at the Academy. He some diagnostics on the hyperspace motivator; an hour passed and Jan admired his knowledge and surety. She was further impressed by the fact that Kyle finished the task so quickly; Katarn explained that whenever he was letting his mind go, the solution was always becoming clear to him. Finally Kyle confessed his desire to join the Alliance, his commitment obvious in his eyes. Ors's team was bound to leave the *Star* two days later, and she invited him to come with them.

The next morning he received an anonymous e-mail, advising him to not waste his career for a Rebel woman, and to be prepared for interrogation; he immediately realized it was sent from Nathan, and his father somehow learned what was going on. Kyle didn't know that their movements were observed by the bounty hunter Slyder, who sold them to the Donars. Feeling guilty for betraying Nathan's confidence, but not forgetting the reason that made him defect, he called Jan and warned her that someone is after them. He wore his Imperial sidearm and loaded his possessions in a carryall and ran to the hangar, leaving his officer uniforms behind.

Rosco and Waller were already at the ship, waiting for Ors. As Kyle claimed to be able to fly it, and remembered the access codes from Jan, he briefly took lead and offered to initialize the ship until Ors arrived, surprising both Rebels. His first problem was that the pressure doors were closed, and Controller didn't cooperate without a previous request. Kyle nonetheless activated the repulsors and had Waller shoot at another ship to force the Controller to open the doors. As the *Sorry* was lurching up and down, he saw Jan entering, followed by a Rodian they met earlier, Nathan, and Imperials; he was happy that Nathan wasn't harmed when they exchanged fire. Jan collapsed because of the loss of oxygen and he moved the ship towards her, able to focus thanks to an oxygen mask. Once Rosco brought Jan on the ramp, and Kyle lifted them up. Men in space suits boarded a ship but he didn't fire; they threw a concussion grenade against the *Sorry*. Ignoring the controller's threats, he thrusted the ship towards the half-opened doors and exited to space. Ors sat next to him and Waller notified them that a ship was after them; Kyle regretted for not thinking to update the navcomp. The enemy ship was gaining, and Kyle was surprised to see Jan making a turn to confront it; when unexpectedly it blew up by itself. They both realized that it was an internal explosion, caused by A-Cee, having being loaded in the ship, self-destructed in the presence of Nathan.

#### Defection

"*Katarn was once an impressive Imperial officer, but he was weak and gave up on the struggle for our New Order.*"
―General Rom Mohc
The *Sorry* made thus a clean escape and they reached the *New Hope*. Kyle was impressed by the size of the stolen and refit ship, and how casually the Rebels behaved. Ors introduced him to Mon Mothma, the leader of the Alliance, where he learned that his father was an esteemed leader, was a friend (and appreciated by) of a Jedi, and explained to Mothma that his reason to become an agent was to avenge him. Mothma showed understanding pointing out that the true and more immediate evil is Palpatine; to find his father's murderers he should first aid the Rebellion. This invitation brought him skepticism, fear and pride. Mothma revealed to him the existence of the Empire's Death Star, a space station with a superlaser capable of destroying an entire planet. Kyle both admired the level of Alliance Intelligence, and also understood Donar's words mentioning the Emperor's plans against the Rebellion. Mothma proposed a mission to him; infiltrate an Imperial facility in the city of Trid on Danuta and retrieve schematics of that lethal station, in the hope that Rebel engineers will identify a weak spot. Mothma thought that his Imperial training, and a man in an all-male facility were assets for what could be a suicide mission. Kyle wondered why a commando raid was not an option, and Mothma explained that they want to avoid collateral damage to Trid, a consideration that separates the Empire from the Alliance.

She also provided him with a video of his main target: the room where the memory matrix with the plans is kept; in the video he spotted a familiar officer, and after replaying it, he realized he was Meck. Mothma inquired whether Kyle knew him, and he lied that he didn't, with sweat visible on his forehead; Mothma however knew the officer's identity and about their friendship, but showed no sign of it. Kyle accepted the mission, only for the sake of his father, and the Sulonese. This started his career as a Rebel-sympathetic mercenary and spy.

Soon after his recruitment into the Alliance, Katarn was responsible for introducing the Twi'lek Rianna Saren to the organization. He first tasked her with infiltrating a Black Sun warehouse on Coruscant to discover how they were involved with the Empire. After Saren successfully completed this mission, Katarn revealed to her that he was a Rebel agent and introduced her to Leia Organa.

#### Mission to Danuta

Before departing, he received a laconic e-mail from Jan wishing him good luck. Delivering his orders to the Deck Master, he was assigned some old ships to choose from, and after a lengthy inspection and comparison of their drives, systems, durability and weapons, he chose the freighter titled *Moldy Crow*. He then spent several days equipping the ship with several parts, tools and facilities (some of which he secretly "borrowed"). Furthermore he was prepared to pose as the pilot **Dan Drexel**, with forged documentation, before taking off to Danuta.

The trip took five days, and Kyle, with the decks' vibrations and sounds from the vents as his only company, passed his time doing maintenance works and sleeping; and trying to make plans and scenarios, but because of the lack of more information, he decided that he would have to improvise. As he entered the planet's orbit, he was flanked by two TIEs and identified himself to the Orbital patrol vessel X-Ray 291. He was given clearance and was sent approach vectors to the Trid spaceport, which was his first ever planetfall. Before disembarking, he preset the emergency start-up sequence, and was prepared to bribe the local Imperial customs agent. The agent pointed out that Kyle's face seemed familiar, seeing it from some debriefing earlier; Kyle claimed that, as he was pulled off hyperspace by an uncharted gravity well, and was off-schedule, he needed to pass the procedure quickly and gave some credits for his trouble.

He spent his first day on Trid in recon work, passing by a square and walking towards the Facility. He briefly considered abducting a scientist and used them to gain access but he discarded it. He had a strange premonition that he was followed; and entered a cafe to rest and scan the environment, and indeed saw a familiar figure distantly; he didn't recognize that it was Jan stalking him. Eventually he reached the security perimeter near the Research Complex and pretended to be exercising, but as he wasn't dressed for it, he took a quiet street and retraced his way back to the spaceport, buying food from a street vendor. He confirmed that it would be impossible to enter without help from inside and he remembered Meck, and his choice between friendship and duty. After some dinner in the *Crow*, he slept and had a nightmare: he was a Rebel on AX-456 shooting Stormtroopers who poured from the hatch, and all bodies had Meck's face under the helmet.

He went to town early in the morning; he knew that Meck was spiritual and sought for a religious place; getting directions from a street vendor, he found and entered a Danuta Temple, but not before looking around. Again, Ors was behind him but he failed to see her. He arranged for a secret meeting with Meck and rested in the *Crow*. Kyle spent a nervous afternoon and evening in the *Blue Moon*, buying drinks, avoiding stares and offers of female companionship; holding his blaster ready in his lap, he hoped that Meck would show up and would not betray him. About an hour later he was ready to give up when Meck arrived. Meck warned him that Kyle has been quite "infamous", and provided him with a wanted poster, with the holo from the Academy's yearbook, and several accusations for crimes. Kyle admitted that he defected, and he explained everything about his mission. Kyle promised to keep Meck's identity secret and that they'd work together for a believable story.

Meck gave Katarn information that assisted him in completing his mission. He also deactivated the perimeter, allowing Katarn entry into the base. Inside, he got communication from Jan that the *Crow* was en route. Major Horst had his men trap Kyle in the south corridor; while covering from fire, Katarn decided to use the same method as when dealing with technical repairs, empty his mind and let himself go. Then he was able to guess his adversaries' positions and where the bolts were being fired, shooting them all accurately while avoiding all fire; the feeling was the same as he had while meeting Jerec in his graduation. Right then he received another message form Jan, saying that the *Crow* was en route, and telling him that he was not insane, but the Force was with him. He made his way to the officer holding the keycard, who was sending a walker to anticipate the incoming *Crow*. Katarn surprised Horst, who wondered how he survived through his men; instead of handing him the keycard, Horst attempted to shoot him, but Kyle shot first. He called Jan to update her, and warn that armed reinforcements were coming her way; he suggested to break off but Jan ignored him. Right then communication was cut; not knowing what happened to Jan, Kyle decided that his only option was to continue the mission.

He reached the secure room hoping that Meck would keep his promise and open the door for him; he did, and expressed his amazement for reaching this far. He took him into the vault where the plans were kept, and Kyle for a minute felt evil emanating from it. He thanked Meck, saying that he was a hero, and the lives they will save will wash out the death of his comrades. Meck demanded that he doesn't want to see him ever again and reminded Kyle to give him a convincing bruise. Kyle thanked him and left.

The partial plans stolen by Katarn were eventually combined with those captured at Toprawa, on the Death Star itself, and by Rianna Saren and Zeeo after their battle against Imperial slave master Zarien Kheev on Danuta, to create a complete outline of the station.

#### Fighting the dark troopers

"*A new stormtrooper that can take out a Rebel base that quickly? I shoulda' kept working for the Empire.*"
―Kyle Katarn, to Mon Mothma — Listen (file info)
Soon after the Battle of Yavin, Mon Mothma asked Katarn to investigate the destruction of Tak Base resulting from the attack on Tak Base. Katarn accepted, and, upon request, took on Jan Ors as his mission officer. Katarn's investigation revealed the Imperial Dark Trooper project, led by Clone Wars veteran General Rom Mohc. Several clues led Katarn to Anoat, where he captured Moff Rebus, an infamous Imperial weapons engineer. After raiding a testing facility for phrik on the planet Fest, Katarn was led to the Gromas system, where the mineral was being mined and the first stage of the Dark Trooper was manufactured. After destroying the facility, Katarn had to rescue Crix Madine from an Imperial detention center on Orinackra and traveled to the Ramsees Hed docking port on Cal-Seti. There, he was able to track a smuggling ship that was making runs to the frozen planet of Anteevy, where the second stage of Dark Trooper construction was being completed. Katarn destroyed the facility on Anteevy and was led to Nar Shaddaa, where he located a nav card describing the activities of all the smugglers involved in the Dark Trooper project. Upon leaving the planet, though, Katarn and Ors were briefly captured by Jabba the Hutt.

After defeating several kell dragons barehanded, Katarn was able to regain the card, rescue Ors, and escape Jabba's space cruiser. Katarn and Ors infiltrated the ISO building on Coruscant, where he was able to decode the nav card. He also fought and defeated Boba Fett. Using the new information from the card, Katarn and Ors tracked one of the smuggler ships to the Refueling Station Ergo. Katarn hijacked this ship and used it to sneak onto the *Executor*, which was the only ship with the information regarding the location of the *Arc Hammer* which was where the third and final stage of the Dark Trooper was being manufactured. Once on board, he stowed away on a cargo transport en route to the *Arc Hammer*. After an intense shootout against a Phase III Dark Trooper clad General Mohc, Katarn proceeded to blow up the *Arc Hammer* and escape, destroying the Dark Trooper Project for good. In gratitude for his bravery, Mon Mothma awarded him the Star of Alderaan.

When Jan took an Imperial identity in an attempt to assassinate the Head of the School of Torturers, her cover was blown, and Kyle saved her.

Katarn was also a member of a SpecForce group assembled by the ex-Jedi Knight Corwin Shelvay, in which he teamed up with Force-sensitives Shira Brie and Erling Tredway to sabotage the superlaser of the second Death Star en route to D'rinba IV.

A few years before 5 ABY a smuggler ran weapons into an Imperial controlled sector and managed to run afoul of both the Rebel Alliance and another individual. The Alliance sent Katarn to handle the smuggler's operation, during which Katarn and a Gran bodyguard crossed paths, and engaged in a firefight that left the Gran with a blaster injury in his leg. Katarn disposed of the smuggler's operation soon after.