On March 11, 1998, William C. Deitz returned to the Star Wars Expanded Universe to compose the second novella of the Dark Forces trilogy, Star Wars Dark Forces: Rebel Agent, part one of two of a story about the hit Kyle Katarn game Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. Published by Dark Horse Comics and Boulevard. This time, Dietz takes us to the opening of the game to finding the coordinates for a lost planet of the Jedi, in a race against time and several Dark Jedi to determine the fate of the fabled Valley of the Jedi. Synopsis: Secret Rebel Agent Kyle Katarn will do anything to avenge his father's untimely death at the hands of the Empire. When Kyle is threatened by 8t88 in a Nar Shaddaa bar, he tracks down the droid
and secures a mysterious disk that could put him on the path to
learning why his father was killed. Kyle soon finds that the disk
contains information about a map to the Valley of the Jedi,
a place his father had stumbled upon and kept secret. Now it's a race
between Kyle and the Empire to see who can get to the map—and the
Valley—first. Based on the popular Star Wars: DARK FORCES and Star Wars: JEDI KNIGHT interactive games, Rebel Agent is part two of a trilogy written by acclaimed author William C. Dietz (The Final Battle) and illustrated by the award-winning artist Ezra Tucker (the Adventures of Little Nettie Windship children's book series).
The novella opens with Morgan Katarn taking a few citizens and farmers to a smuggler's haven on the remote and forgotten planet of Ruusan, home to telepathic beings called bouncers. Morgan, after helping oversee the settlers settle in "Fort Nowhere", Morgan heads for the badlands, where he encounters a couple of bouncers. They tell him about the Poem of Ages: "A Knight shall come, a battle will be fought, and the Prisoners will go free." Despite his misgivings, the bouncers believe he is the one who will free the trapped Jedi and Sith spirits. Morgan, after seeing the Valley, flees in terror. Back on Sulon, Morgan tells Jedi Master Qu Rahn about the Valley, but Rahn refuses to be told the location and that Morgan should leave the coordinates for Kyle. The book then references Morgan being killed by Jerec a few months later. Five years later, Rahn, pilot Duno Dree, professor Nij Por Ral, technologist Rolanda Gron, and weapons expert Cee Norley are hunted on Dorlo by Dark Jedi Sariss, her son and friend Yun, and Maw--a former Jedi Knight. The Dark Jedi trio manage to kill Norley and Boc Aseca manages to capture the others. On the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance, Gorc and Picaroon C. Boodle--a.k.a. Pic--kill Rolanda, Yun kills Nij Por Ral, Boc kills Duno Dree (this is the part where the games starts, with Bock killing Duno Dree). Rahn, after Jerec pries the location of the coordinates from his mind, slices Maw in half, but Maw survives, and Jerec kills Rahn.
On Nar Shaddaa--the Smuggler's Moon/Vertical City--8t88 attempts to hire Boba Fett to shake information out of Kyle, but Fett, having had a prior experience with Kyle, declines. Kyle meets with 8t88; the droid reveals Morgan's disk, but Kyle refuses to help '88. 8t88 orders his goons to kill Kyle, but he gets the drop on them and chases 8t88 through the streets and finally corners him, blowing off an arm with the disk, but the droid escapes on a shuttle. Meanwhile, Jan, having arrived, blows a TIE/sa bomber about to kill Kyle. Kyle tells Jan that the disk has fallen to the undercity and goes racing off after it. After a fight through the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa, Kyle manages to retrieve the disc before he becomes badly wounded. Jan finishes off the rest of the scum and hauls Kyle back onto the Moldy Crow. On the hospital ship Mercy, Jan steals Kyle's disc and shows the information to Mon Mothma, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker, but Luke, despite Mon Mothma's assurance that Kyle might fall, knows this is part of Kyle's journey. He also states that Yoda related the Seven Battles of Ruusan during the New Sith Wars years ago. Jan puts the disk back, and Kyle, when he wakes up, leaves for the Katarn homestead on Sulon. It turns out that Boc, Sariss, and Yun have already arrived and taken a few stone slabs and left for Barons Hed. Kyle sneaks his way into the house and finds the family droid WeeGee. he reactivates him and plays the disk. Morgan appears and states that he embedded the coordinates for Ruusan in the ceiling of the work room--where WeeGee is and where the stone slabs came from--and left Rahn's lightsaber behind for Kyle to use for good.
Kyle and WeeGee escape the farm, but end up chased by a band of Tusken Raiders; WeeGee pulls Kyle to safety into the Moldy Crow while the Tuskens fall off a cliff. In the Governor's House, in Barons Hed, 8t88 kills a majordomo for being rude, and uploads the coordinates to Jerec. Kyle arrives, and so does Yun; 8t88 escapes with his Hornagaunt pet while Yun and Kyle duel. Kyle defeats Yun and spares him, then escapes as stormtroopers enter the room. Kyle tracks 8t88 to Fuel City and Jan drops him off. Kyle sneaks aboard the Sulon Star and finds 8t88, but the droid is dead, killed by Gorc and Pic. Dimwitted Gorc leaps out at Kyle and the Jedi shoots him in the head (very different from the game), then knocks Pic unconscious. Kyle kills the Hornagaunt--which has eaten 8t88's head--and retrieves the droid's head, figuring out that the coordinates are stored in them, but Pic wakes up. Kyle bashes Pic with 8t88's head, then flees the Star. A firefight ensues and Fuel City is destroyed, but a couple of TIE/LN fighters chase Jan and Kyle through the Nefra Canyons where one impacts with a cliff face, and the other is shot down by Kyle's Bryar blaster pistol. Back at the Katarn estate, Jan hooks 8t88's head into WeeGee, and all three of them see the coordinates for Ruusan. Luke arrives, and Kyle finds out that Jan told Luke, Leia, and Mon Mothma about his trip, but Luke talks him into a temporary apprenticeship. The four of them leave for the Valley.
All in all, a well crafted novella that perfectly captures the first half of the game, but Deitz's changes are great: Boba Fett's appearance, Morgan and the Ruusan scenes, a different trek through Nar Shaddaa than the game, a longer version of the hospital ship scene, faster action getting into and out of the Katarn estate, a different look at Barons Hed, a chase through the Nefra canyons, and Luke teaming up with Kyle and Jan to hunt for the Valley of the Jedi. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.
Next time, Star Wars: Dark Forces: Jedi Knight by William C. Deitz, with art by famed artist Dave Dorman, in the epic conclusion to the novella trilogy and the second half of the game.
The novella opens with Morgan Katarn taking a few citizens and farmers to a smuggler's haven on the remote and forgotten planet of Ruusan, home to telepathic beings called bouncers. Morgan, after helping oversee the settlers settle in "Fort Nowhere", Morgan heads for the badlands, where he encounters a couple of bouncers. They tell him about the Poem of Ages: "A Knight shall come, a battle will be fought, and the Prisoners will go free." Despite his misgivings, the bouncers believe he is the one who will free the trapped Jedi and Sith spirits. Morgan, after seeing the Valley, flees in terror. Back on Sulon, Morgan tells Jedi Master Qu Rahn about the Valley, but Rahn refuses to be told the location and that Morgan should leave the coordinates for Kyle. The book then references Morgan being killed by Jerec a few months later. Five years later, Rahn, pilot Duno Dree, professor Nij Por Ral, technologist Rolanda Gron, and weapons expert Cee Norley are hunted on Dorlo by Dark Jedi Sariss, her son and friend Yun, and Maw--a former Jedi Knight. The Dark Jedi trio manage to kill Norley and Boc Aseca manages to capture the others. On the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance, Gorc and Picaroon C. Boodle--a.k.a. Pic--kill Rolanda, Yun kills Nij Por Ral, Boc kills Duno Dree (this is the part where the games starts, with Bock killing Duno Dree). Rahn, after Jerec pries the location of the coordinates from his mind, slices Maw in half, but Maw survives, and Jerec kills Rahn.
On Nar Shaddaa--the Smuggler's Moon/Vertical City--8t88 attempts to hire Boba Fett to shake information out of Kyle, but Fett, having had a prior experience with Kyle, declines. Kyle meets with 8t88; the droid reveals Morgan's disk, but Kyle refuses to help '88. 8t88 orders his goons to kill Kyle, but he gets the drop on them and chases 8t88 through the streets and finally corners him, blowing off an arm with the disk, but the droid escapes on a shuttle. Meanwhile, Jan, having arrived, blows a TIE/sa bomber about to kill Kyle. Kyle tells Jan that the disk has fallen to the undercity and goes racing off after it. After a fight through the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa, Kyle manages to retrieve the disc before he becomes badly wounded. Jan finishes off the rest of the scum and hauls Kyle back onto the Moldy Crow. On the hospital ship Mercy, Jan steals Kyle's disc and shows the information to Mon Mothma, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker, but Luke, despite Mon Mothma's assurance that Kyle might fall, knows this is part of Kyle's journey. He also states that Yoda related the Seven Battles of Ruusan during the New Sith Wars years ago. Jan puts the disk back, and Kyle, when he wakes up, leaves for the Katarn homestead on Sulon. It turns out that Boc, Sariss, and Yun have already arrived and taken a few stone slabs and left for Barons Hed. Kyle sneaks his way into the house and finds the family droid WeeGee. he reactivates him and plays the disk. Morgan appears and states that he embedded the coordinates for Ruusan in the ceiling of the work room--where WeeGee is and where the stone slabs came from--and left Rahn's lightsaber behind for Kyle to use for good.
Kyle and WeeGee escape the farm, but end up chased by a band of Tusken Raiders; WeeGee pulls Kyle to safety into the Moldy Crow while the Tuskens fall off a cliff. In the Governor's House, in Barons Hed, 8t88 kills a majordomo for being rude, and uploads the coordinates to Jerec. Kyle arrives, and so does Yun; 8t88 escapes with his Hornagaunt pet while Yun and Kyle duel. Kyle defeats Yun and spares him, then escapes as stormtroopers enter the room. Kyle tracks 8t88 to Fuel City and Jan drops him off. Kyle sneaks aboard the Sulon Star and finds 8t88, but the droid is dead, killed by Gorc and Pic. Dimwitted Gorc leaps out at Kyle and the Jedi shoots him in the head (very different from the game), then knocks Pic unconscious. Kyle kills the Hornagaunt--which has eaten 8t88's head--and retrieves the droid's head, figuring out that the coordinates are stored in them, but Pic wakes up. Kyle bashes Pic with 8t88's head, then flees the Star. A firefight ensues and Fuel City is destroyed, but a couple of TIE/LN fighters chase Jan and Kyle through the Nefra Canyons where one impacts with a cliff face, and the other is shot down by Kyle's Bryar blaster pistol. Back at the Katarn estate, Jan hooks 8t88's head into WeeGee, and all three of them see the coordinates for Ruusan. Luke arrives, and Kyle finds out that Jan told Luke, Leia, and Mon Mothma about his trip, but Luke talks him into a temporary apprenticeship. The four of them leave for the Valley.
All in all, a well crafted novella that perfectly captures the first half of the game, but Deitz's changes are great: Boba Fett's appearance, Morgan and the Ruusan scenes, a different trek through Nar Shaddaa than the game, a longer version of the hospital ship scene, faster action getting into and out of the Katarn estate, a different look at Barons Hed, a chase through the Nefra canyons, and Luke teaming up with Kyle and Jan to hunt for the Valley of the Jedi. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.
Next time, Star Wars: Dark Forces: Jedi Knight by William C. Deitz, with art by famed artist Dave Dorman, in the epic conclusion to the novella trilogy and the second half of the game.
