| abstract | - Katarn eventually learned of his Force-sensitivity and became trained as a Jedi, defeating the Dark Jedi Jerec in the process. He went on to become an instructor for the New Jedi Order established by Luke Skywalker after years of roaming, while continuing to occasionally work with Ors on missions. When the Yuuzhan Vong War broke out, Katarn continued to serve in the Jedi Order, carrying out missions against the Yuuzhan Vong invaders. In 28 ABY, after the fall of Coruscant, Katarn and Ors traveled to Rishi, learning that a group of Chalactan refugees had arrived there, escorted by volunteers under Colonel Derek Klivian. Katarn met with the refugee and planetary leadership, warning them that he sensed a threat. Shortly thereafter, the Chalactan viceroy's daughter, Shara, was attacked by disguised Yuuzhan Vong warriors, only to be rescued by the intervention of a young Force-using warrior from Yanibar named Ryion Kraen, who was on Rishi for a covert mission. Ryion was badly injured in the fight and was taken to the governor's mansion for treatment. However, when he awoke, Shara shielded Ryion from inquiry, much to Kyle's frustration. Furthermore, a small force of Yuuzhan Vong ships arrived in the Rishi system, enough to prevent an easy evacuation. Katarn suggested that they prepare for guerrilla warfare, knowing that when a larger Yuuzhan Vong fleet inevitably arrived, they could not win in a straight battle with the forces available. Help arrived in the form of the Yanibar Guard, which sent a small force to extract Ryion. However, the Yuuzhan Vong sent a much larger fleet, smashing through the Yanibar Guard force even with Klivian's volunteers helping, and landed troops. Katarn joined up with Ryion and his other Force-using Elite Guardian companions to help defend the governor's mansion while Jan brought her ship over to evacuate the government officials. Meanwhile, a larger Yanibar Guard fleet arrived to reinforce their position over Rishi. Kyle and the other Force-users were rescued by a Yanibar Guard drop group, though at the cost of a senior Elite Guardian. They were extracted and made their way to a Yanibar Guard field base being established nearby. From there, Kyle continued to contribute to the defense of Rishi as the battle went back and forth between the two sides. He agreed to work with Klivian and the Yanibar Guard, though the alliance was uneasy at first, given the secretive and demanding nature of the Yanibar Guard. When the commander of the Yanibar Guard, Selu Kraen, suspected that Ryion, his son, might attempt a foolhardy attempt to stop the Yuuzhan Vong and rescue Yanibar Guard prisoners being held on the enemy flagship, he confided his suspicion to Katarn, who had a similar suspicion. Katarn agreed to help and Selu taught him the Force camouflage technique, which he used to stow away when Ryion and his cousin Zeyn took a small ship to infiltrate the Yuuzhan Vong flagship. When they ran into a trap, Katarn freed them, helping fight off Yuuzhan Vong warriors and free the prisoners. Shortly thereafter, Ryion was able to negotiate a mutual withdrawal with the Yuuzhan Vong leader, and both sides withdrew from Rishi after a costly battle. Katarn continued as part of the New Jedi Order for years after the Yuuzhan Vong War ended. In 38 ABY, he was recruited by Master Skywalker when Selu Kraen resurfaced and offered to assist them against a Dark Jedi named Ariada Cerulaen, who had once been a part of the Yanibar refuge and had instead turned to galactic terror. Kyle Katarn and Tyria Sarkin Tainer joined their group while the Skywalkers and Solos followed a trail to the Drexel system, thinking it was where Ariada was holding Jaina Solo, though it turned out to be a trap and Solo was held elsewhere. Based on information obtained from Cassi Kraen and the Galactic Alliance, they were able to conclude that Ariada had two types of targets: defensive targets that she hit to protect herself from potential threats, and impact targets designed to sow fear and chaos. The Force exiles, along with the Yanibar Guard commandos and Kyle and Tyria, headed to the Yanibar Guard ship in orbit, the cruiser Daara'sherum. Selu wanted to send Cassi and another one of his Force-users back to Yanibar to protect it while he and the others searched for Ariada, but they were first delayed by an urgent mission to Belsavis, where Ryion and the Jaina Solo had been shot down. Kyle was talked out of accompanying the shuttle down to the icy surface of Belsavis, where they found Ryion and the Jedi alive, but Solo was badly injured. Fleeing from an attack by Ariada's fighters, they returned to the Daara'sherum, which was then attacked by Ariada's cloaked cruiser, the Knightfall. Only the arrival of a Galactic Alliance task force saved them. They effected repairs while most of the Elite Guardians and Jedi were dispatched to various locations to head off Ariada's attacks, with varying success. After Selu and Kyle learned of an assault, they took their ship to Dathomir. They arrived just as Ariada's cruiser departed, having already infected part of the planet. Selu was forced to use the cruiser's turbolasers to burn away the infected portion of the surface. Kyle expressed his concern about this to Selu, who was regretful, but said it was necessary. Shortly thereafter, he was contacted by Ariada, who had defeated the Elite Guardian Morgedh clan Kel'nerh on Bespin and captured Shara, Ryion's wife. She told Selu to break off his pursuit of her, or else she would kill Shara. When her prisoner attempted to scream out additional information to Selu, Ariada cut off her finger as punishment, only to re-attach it later. She also said that she would trade Shara for Ryion. Furthermore, Selu learned that Ariada had sent one of her assassins to Yanibar, where their Ruling Council had perished in a biological attack and his brother Sarth had been badly wounded. Yet in that dark hour, hope remained. Selu's wife Milya and Tyria returned from a mission to Almania with one of Ariada's assassins, whom Milya had managed to turn. Furthermore, though Jaina and Ryion had turned themselves over to Ariada, acceding to her demands, they had attached tiny tracking particles to her ship, allowing Selu to follow the cloaked vessel. Working with Novera and the Jedi, Selu and Milya devised a plan to bring their freighter, the Hawk-bat, up to Ariada's ship, board it, rescue the prisoners, and sabotage both the engines and the weapons of mass destruction that Ariada had planted on both Coruscant and Bespin. Novera asked Milya to come along on the mission, and though Selu initially disagreed, he later reluctantly allowed Novera to accompany the mission after talking with her and learning the extent of Ariada's deception to the young woman. The Force exiles followed Ariada to where she was hiding the Knightfall over Mustafar. They boarded her ship using the Hawk-bat and thanks to Selu's Force camouflage, Ariada did not realize the danger until they had disabled her ship and come aboard. Kyle and Tyria set out for the ship's bridge with a group of four YVH droids borrowed from Tendrando Arms. They fought their way through light security but eventually were opposed by a group of Ariada's own custom-built combat droids. While the two droid forces battled it out, Kyle was about to break out from behind cover when Tyria was shot by one of Ariada's assassins. The Jedi Master turned to fight the assassin as one of the last surviving YVH droids charged into the other droids and activated its self-destruct, taking out the droids as well as most of the bridge. After a short struggle, he slew her, while Tyria saved him from a laser mine. With Tyria badly injured, he was told to break off from attempting to reach Ariada's sanctum to disarm bombs she had placed on Coruscant and Bespin. Instead, he took Tyria back to a triage center for treatment while Selu and Milya went after Ariada. With the bridge destroyed by collateral damage and engines sabotaged by Yanibar Guard commandos, the ship began plummeting towards Mustafar's fiery surface. Ariada raced back to her private sanctum to trigger the bombs and then escape with her DNA samples, to create another child. Selu and Milya followed her and attempted to talk her into surrendering. Ariada defiantly rejected them and armed the bombs. Selu and Milya were undeterred and defeated Ariada in a brutal duel. They ordered the rest of their party to escape the doomed ship and managed to override Ariada's security systems. Just as they were about to disarm the bombs and possibly escape, Ariada rose one last time, hurling Force lightning at them. However, Selu countered with his own Electric Judgment technique and the resulting shockwave sent Ariada flying out of the sanctum to plummet down a deep shaft, where she died. Her last malicious actions were successful in preventing Selu and Milya from escaping. They perished when they disarmed the bombs and Ariada's dark ship, the Knightfall, plunged down to crash into Mustafar. They were memorialized at a ceremony on the Yanibar Guard flagship over Yanibar, which was attended not only by the rest of the Kraen family, but also by Kyle, Tyria, other members of the Jedi Order and Galactic Alliance dignitaries with whom Selu had reconciled. Following the ceremony, the Yanibar refuge left Atlaradis while Kyle returned to Coruscant and continued to serve in the New Jedi Order. Years later, he was involved in both the Second Galactic Civil War and the Sith uprising and the Abeloth incident as part of the re-established Jedi Council.
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