( Jedi Temple, Yavin 4 )
"I said: 'Let's take a Vacation, Jan'." Kyle Katarn complained to no one in particular as he walked down to the docking bay where the Raven's Claw was docked. "I did not say 'Hey, why don't we do some errands for Luke'." He turned a corner, the Force allowing him to side step a rushing mechanic with no issues.
"You know that you would have agreed anyways," the Jedi Master said from behind Kyle, causing the former mercenary to jump, startled.
"Dammit Luke! Stop sneaking up on me!" Kyle yelled as he faced his instructor and friend. Standing there in the black robes of his preferred style, Luke Skywalker grinned at the surprise he inflicted on the normally wary Katarn.
"I think it's good for you, to relax, here, where it's safe." The Jedi Master indicated the repurposed temple, here on Yavin IV, where he had chosen to slowly rebuild the Jedi Order.
"Relax. Right." Kyle shook his head. "Not with you sneaking around like some Force something or other."
"I think your allegory fell a bit flat there, Kyle." Luke gently teased the older man. "Besides, it's not like I'm asking you to smuggle anything for me."
"No, you just want me and Jan to take some stuff to Mon Mothma," Kyle pointed out. "Coruscant isn't in the same direction as we were planning on going."
"That is true. And that's why I asked Jan first, and not you." Luke was almost smug, in a friendly fashion at his run-around of Katarn. "Besides, think of it as a quick way to get some spending money for when you do run off to whatever pleasure planet you were headed off too."
"Well, thanks for the concern, Luke. But a gift basket would have sufficed." Katarn snarked right back. "Anything else? I still got to meet up with Jan, you know?"
"Actually yes." Luke reached inside his robes and produced a lightsaber and a small pouch. He held them out to Kyle. "Your saber."
"Luke, I'm going on vacation. I don't need my lightsaber." Kyle tried to ignore it, but he just couldn't. Too much training and experience told him to keep an eye on a weapon, especially one as lethal as a lightsaber. "I'll collect it when we come back."
"You're a Jedi, Kyle." Luke pointed out. "Even if you don't use it, it's still appropriate to have it with you."
"Don't want it, Luke."
"Kyle, take it." Luke became more firm, but resisted the impulse to use the Force to help press the issue. Kyle was far to strong for that, and it would just make things worse. "You still carry your blaster, so why not a saber?"
Kyle reflexively tapped his hand against the handle of his modified Bryar Pistol, a gift from his father. "Ain't like that."
"Yes, it is." Luke countered. "I'm not asking you to use it. Just to keep it with you."
"Come on Luke. Va-Ca-Tion!" Kyle spelled out the words slowly. "I'm not going on official business, or anything where I need it!"
"Kyle, take it, or I hand it off to Jan."
"She won't accept it either."
"I'm pretty sure I can convince her." Luke said. "Besides, aren't you curious about this?" He jostled the small bag, causing its contents to clink.
"You'd know I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Kyle complained. "What is it? Credit Chips?"
"Yes. And a little something else."
"Luke, I swear, if you're giving me something to help with Jan that isn't cash, I'm going to hurt you." Kyle was far to sure of himself to need anything like that where his pilot and friend were concerned. "Or maybe I'll tell Mara Jade that you have a supply of that stuff."
"No, nothing like that." Luke openly grinned. "Consider it something to do when Jan inevitably goes off by herself to shop or something and leaves you by yourself."
"Luke, that sentence could go bad in so many ways, I'm pretty sure you'd need a droid to count them all." Kyle looked down at the saber and bag. "I'm really not getting out of this, am I?"
"Nope."
Reaching out, Kyle snatched the two objects from Skywalker. "Fine! Fine. I'll take them. But I promise you nothing!" He slid the lightsaber into the empty holster on the other side of his hip from the Bryar pistol and pocketed the small cloth bag, contents unseen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to lock myself into the Raven before anyone else gets any bright ideas."
"You do that," Luke agreed. "I'll see you when you get back."
"Yea, Yea. I'll see you later, Skywalker." Kyle rolled his shoulders and left the Jedi Master behind.
...
( Docking Bay )
"Jan?" Kyle called out as he circled the small 'freighter' that was the Raven's Claw. "JAN!"
"I'm here!" Jan Ors replied as she pulled herself out of the top of the engine housing. "What took you?"
"Luke ambushed me." That was all that needed to be said. "How's the ship?"
"As good as ever!" Jan was proud of her work, and Kyle was proud of her for it. "Just a quick trip to the Core for Master Skywalker, then we can hit up some remote planet for some private time!"
"Just what I wanted to hear!" Kyle agreed enthusiastically. "I'll start securing the ship."
"You do that," Jan agreed. "I'll just finish up here, then meet you in the cockpit."
...
( Low Orbit, Yavin 4 )
Kyle and Jan sat side by side in the small flight deck of the Claw as she played around with the navigational computer. "So, any idea what we're dropping off?"
"No clue," Jan said. "You didn't open it up, did you?" She cast a concerned look at Kyle, who only shook his head in the negative.
"Nope. I figured you took the job, so you'd know what's up."
"Come on Kyle, you know better than that!"
Kyle raised his hands in surrender. "I was just curious!"
"So, what did Master Skywalker want to talk to you about?" Jan pulled the ship out of orbit, angling away from the moon and the Gas Giant it orbited.
"You know you can call him Luke, right? He did tell you that."
"It's unprofessional." Jan reiterated her next part in their long standing difference of opinion. "Well?"
"He wanted to make sure I had my lightsaber," Kyle was uncomfortable saying that, and it showed as he shrunk down into his seat. "I told him I didn't want it, but he was insistent."
"If you kept saying no, he would have just given it to me. I would have put it in the armory." Jan pointed out as she double checked the Hyperspace Jump calculations.
"I know that. And he knew that too. I just saved him a trip, that's all." Kyle grumbled, though he relaxed a little. "He also gave me this bag," he said as he pulled it out of his pocket. "Said it was credits and little something else." He tipped it open into the palm of his hand, and as expected, a small pile of credits fell out. What wasn't expected was a small slip of paper and a single orange crystal. "What the..?"
Kyle handed the credits to Jan, who pocketed them without a word. He examined the crystal with a keen eye, feeling it out with the force. It was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"What does the note say?" Jan asked.
"What? This? Let's see..." Kyle unfolded the paper and read it. "Oh, sithspit! Luke!" He wanted to vent his anger at the Jedi Master, but it was far too late. "It's a Lightsaber crystal. Luke wants me to practice switching crystals when I'm bored."
"Really?" Jan was equally incredulous. "He thinks you're going to be bored?"
"Well, it tells me what his relationship with Mara Jade is if he thinks I'm going to be bored." Kyle held the crystal up to the light of the distant sun. "Wait a minute...!" He recognized the crystal, and his anger at Luke increased. "Dammit Luke!"
"You want me to turn around?" Jan offered, knowing it could be important.
"No. No. Don't worry about that. It's just he gave me Yun's crsytal."
Yun? The Dark Jedi?" Jan wasn't there when he duelled Sariss, but he had told her as much as he could in the years since the Valley of the Jedi incident. "Wait, didn't you give that back to the Academy when you decided to make your own?"
"I did! Luke's note says that maybe I can change them out if I don't feel a connection with my blade. He figures that reusing a crystal that I had for a few years might help."
"I have no idea what to say to that. Two minutes until we're far enough away from Yavin to jump to Hyperspace." Jan wasn't a Jedi. She wasn't even Force sensitive, so she had no reference for what Luke was offering. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Kyle fought to figure out a way to describe it in words she could understand. "It means that he's offering me to switch out the Raven engine for the one from the Moldy Crow if you don't like the way it handles."
"Seriously?" Jan couldn't believe that. "They are two completely different ships! You can't just mix-and match components like that! What does he think my ship is? The Falcon?"
"Don't let Solo hear you say that!" Kyle laughed as he agreed with her sentiment. "I'll just stick them in a drawer somewhere, and forget about them until we get back. Then you can throw them at Luke."
"You'd let me?"
"Well, why not?" Kyle offered honestly. "I'd just shoot him."
"You shoot way too many of your problems, Kyle."
"I haven't found a problem that couldn't be solved through the application of more firepower yet."
Jan laughed. "Fine, fine. I might take you up on that. Going to hyperspace right about... now!"
...
Somewhere else
An ancient star ended it's natural life in a spectacular explosion, the supernova burning bright.
...
( Hyperspace )
"JAN! Get up here!" Kyle yelled back to the sleeping compartments as the ship shook. Ships weren't supposed to shake in Hyperspace. Shaking was bad. Real bad. 'I've got a Bad Feeling about this' bad.
"What did you DO, Kyle?" Jan rushed up, still in her sleep wear, though any bleariness was gone from her eyes in an instant as she hopped into her chair. "You didn't touch anything, did you?"
"Of course not!" Kyle defended himself. He knew better than to mess with a ship while it was in Hyperspace. He was only up here to enjoy the view while Jan caught some shut-eye. "The ship started shaking a little, and a couple warning lights came on, and that's when I called you!"
"Well, it's not bad..." Jan said as she looked over the controls in front of her.
Kyle knew that a major shake was about to hit, the Force warning him even as he reached over and slapped both his and Jan's emergency restraint buttons. "Hold on!"
Jan was about to complain about his action when the Raven jolted hard, going sideways and down. If she hadn't been strapped in, she was certain to have been thrown from her seat and injured. "Thanks. Alright, I'm going to have to make an emergency return to real space." She looked around the cabin, checking for any warnings that would prevent her from stopping the engine. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be!" Kyle braced himself, closing his eyes.
"Emergency shut down in three!" Jan reached out and opened a secure switch housing. "Two!" She put her fingers on the switch. "One!" She flicked it just as another shockwave hit the ship. "Hold on!