( The Valley )
He was surrounded by light. So many voices echoed around him, for now that he was directly connected to the results of the Mind Bomb detonated so many years ago, they could inspect him freely.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" the voices said in their own way. "Have you come to free us?"
Kyle focused on the one dead Jedi that he knew more than all the others. Slowly, the blue image of Tal formed before him. "I," he said, "Not Hoth. Not Kaan. But I, you summon."
"Sorry," Kyle said as he worked in the Force to undo the last bindings that held these people in place, to return them to the Force after so long. "But you're familiar to me."
"Yes, so I see." The ghost spoke up, "You are from the future, which is why you know what you must do."
"Pretty much," Kyle said as the Nexus moved around him. To think he had done most of this while still barely capable of using the Force the first time!
"Others wish to speak to you now."
"Can it wait?"
"It can, but in this place, time does not matter." Tal saw the world through Kyle's senses. Saw his memories. "I cannot say how or why I spoke to you then, but I am glad to see my teachings have served you well."
"Thanks," Kyle said. "You really helped against Sariss."
"I did." The ghost accepted the compliment. "Lords Hoth and Kaan wish to speak to you."
"The Jedi and the Sith?"
"Yes, they know they did not, the first, the last time you did this."
"Fine, I'll hear them out." Kyle meditated on what he had to do in the world of the living as Tal's Force Ghost slowly floated behind him to make room for the tow heads of the forces that battled to destruction so long ago.
"Greetings." Two more ghosts coalesced before Kyle. "I am Lord Kaan. This person is Hoth." The dead Sith Lord spoke, disdain for the Jedi beside him in his voice. "You have my thanks, Knight."
"I too greet you, Katarn." Lord Hoth spoke. You have done us a great service in coming here in this moment."
"So, you guys just gonna thank me?" Kyle knotted his brow. "Because that could be done, you know, after I'm done."
Hoth laughed. "Jedi of a distant time, no, such things are best done now."
"What my foolish opponent wishes to say, but cannot," Kaan spoke, in a calm voice, smooth as silk – even more so – is that we wish to reward you. For your work, you see."
Kyle could see where this was going. "Really? You didn't do this last time."
"It seems, from your memories, that this Jerec's actions prevented us from directly helping you before we were freed," Tal said from behind. "Forgive my intrusion."
"What the weakling says is true," Kaan dismissed Tal with a wave of his hand. "But now, I can guide you properly. I see your utter hatred for this Palpatine!" He laughed. "Oh, it would be easy for you to displace that wretched old fool, who has to hide behind words and better Sith than he for power!"
"Kyle needs your skill not!" Hoth objected. "There is an army of Jedi that need to be built! Of what use is slaying a single Sith when the rest of the Galaxy is in turmoil!"
Kyle was getting a headache. They were so predictable. "SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" He snarled at the Jedi and Sith. "I don't need power. I don't need anything. Sure, you can offer help if you want, but I know you're going to try and force me to choose one or the other. One last attempt to spit in the face of your enemy before you return to the Force!"
Few people could get away with talking to the two ancients like that. And they all needed Kyle, so they did not hinder him.
"What do you want, Kyle?" Tal asked gently. "I seem to have taught you enough already that I can not call myself your Master."
"I want to go home," Kyle said. "But I can't turn my back on so much pain and bloodshed." Hoth appeared pleased at this. "But to do that, I need to fight. And fight like nothing else." This time it was Kaan who approved of the sentiment. Kyle noticed. "Don't even think about it."
"I said nothing, Knight." The Sith Lord spoke.
"You didn't have to," the Jedi responded.
"Look, you can both stuff it. You're dead and gone. Palpatine needs to be dealt with, and whoever his apprentice is as well."
"Reach out with the Force," Kaan commanded. "Feel for the Dark Side. You will know your enemies. It would please me to see you destroy them, and I would gift you power merely for the intent."
Kyle was tempted, but was too busy working on the Valley itself.
"He doesn't need power," Hoth retorted. "He needs the wisdom of the Light to discern what needs to be done."
"If you two are going to stand there and argue against each other, using me as a pawn, could you at least do it while I'm not busy?" Kyle shot down both of them. He could feel the energy of the Valley flow into him.
He tried to release it all, but no matter how much he tried, some of it stayed with him. It looked like he would be more powerful no matter what happened. "Light Side. Dark Side. It's just the Force!" He snapped at the two ghosts. "Argue all you want, I'm not going to choose one or the other. I'm past that!"
"Still, it would reflect badly on myself-" "Us." "-us to let you perform this duty without reward."
"Indeed," Kaan said again. "As much as it pains me to admit it, letting you do this because you choose too smacks too much of the Jedi way. Even though you have the Dark Side in you, I cannot let this go unanswered."
"And a Jedi cannot turn their back on another Jedi." Hoth pointed out, glad that Kyle was working with the Light, even though he refused to remove the Dark from him.
The two Lords rummaged through Kyle's mind without asking permission. While they did nothing to distract him from his task, the two had been at each other's throats for so long that they couldn't see past finding one last way to best the other.
They stopped. Kyle grimaced. "I hate you both," he groaned as he fought back the headache. "What did you do?
"We gave you gifts, equitable to each other. It will be up to you to decide whose is better."
Then they were free.
...
( Raven's Claw )
Kyle leaned back in his seat, the cold pack Jan had pulled out of the medical supplies pressed to his forehead. "I hate that place. I really do."
He had relayed what had happened in the Nexus as soon as he was able to. Jan had helped carry him back to their ship where he needed to relax. "What did they give you?" she asked in concern. As much as she didn't like some of his decisions, she still supported him.
"Don't know yet," Kyle said as he flipped the cold pack over. "I'll need to meditate to figure that out."
Behind them, unnoticed, the spirit of Tal watched and waited. Loyal as he was to Lord Hoth, there had to be a reason why he had connected to the younger Kyle Katarn in that forgotten future. There was no coincidence in the Force, and for now, he refused to return to the Force until he had his answer.
...
( Katarn Homestead )
Looking down at his sleeping child, Morgan smiled blissfully. Seeing his son all grown up, thanks to a freak of Hyperspace – or maybe the Force? "Don't worry, my son. No matter what you choose, I will be proud of who you are, and who you will become."
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