Jan Ors was a Human female Alderaanian intelligence operative who began her work as an agent for the terrorist organization Justice Action Network. As the undercover agent Jan Strange, she then shifted to helping the Alliance to Restore the Republic, becoming one of their trusted operatives.

Ors was instrumental in recruiting Kyle Katarn to the Alliance and together they worked on many missions for the Alliance and later the New Republic. The two would later become romantically involved. Ors continued her work for the New Republic by joining Alpha Blue, a secret intelligence organization, that she eventually took over from Hiram Drayson. There she worked for the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Biography[]

Youth[]

Jan Ors' mother was a choreographer for Alderaan's premier ballet company, and her father was an aerospace engineer; Ors learned both of these arts, although her mother could be with her only when she wasn't rehearsing. She learned from her mother, one of the few remaining believers in the Force, that the Force worked in mysterious ways. Since when she was four years old, her mother noticed that she preferred doing things alone and never asked for help.^[3]

Her parents shared a close relationship with Mon Mothma, and as the New Order was spreading across the galaxy, they were among the few Alderaanians who disagreed with their culture's pacifistic stance. Instead, they participated in Earnst Kamiel's establishing of the Justice Action Network, an anti-Imperial terrorist organization; indeed, its initials (JAN) were partly chosen to honor the Ors' daughter, who eventually joined them in a very early age. However, she did not stay with the JAN for long, instead striking out on her own path.^[1]

Alias and espionage[]

She began her career by infiltrating Imperial Intelligence under the pseudonym Jan Strange.^[1] Once she was well placed in the Surveillance section of Intell, she contacted the Alliance Intelligence, providing them with invaluable counterintelligence and performing sabotage and covert extractions.^[1][7] She first encountered the Imperial cadet Kyle Katarn while working in Intell, though neither left an impression on the other at the time.^[1]

She maintained a very delicate balance of providing intelligence to the Alliance while simultaneously performing her duties as an Imperial Intelligence officer. Surveillance section came to value her ability to pinpoint the right subjects for observation, and often sent her to the Core Worlds where corruption was rampant. This "talent" was the result of Ors arranging to have targets planted by the Alliance, whom she would then observe, capture, and interrogate; they would then be set free, and she would fake a "termination during interrogation" to cover their escape.^[7]

Unfortunately for the Alliance, her cover required her to sometimes act against them, even sometimes going so far as to sacrifice clumsy and careless agents. Despite having never worn the uniform of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, her difficult assignment earned her a Captain's rank and a Nebula for Bravery in absentia, along with an almost legendary stature among other Rebels.^[7]

Rebel Alliance[]

Ors did not remain in her Jan Strange guise for long and was soon performing missions as part of the Rebel Alliance itself. In 1 BBY, she participated in a mission to steal prime-grade fuel slugs from Imperial forces in the jungles of Oulanne. In the course of the mission, her leg was injured, and it became infected. Her teammates fled with her to Pellezara station in the Duro system, where they hid her beneath the deckplates of their freighter while they all disembarked in search of medical supplies. Tarrin Datch, a seventeen-year old son of the owners of the station, found her while replacing the ship's gravity disks during routine restocking. In a delirium brought on by the strange alien infection, Ors told the boy her name and the cargo the ship was carrying.^[8]

Sometime between her service as Jan Strange and 1 BBY, Ors lost the use of her right hand and had it replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis.^[9]

When Imperial forces entered the Duro system, Datch, an accomplished pilot, took action to save the strikingly beautiful woman, undocking the ship, and proceeding to fly it in a manner more befitting a starfighter than a freighter, outmaneuvering the Gamma-class assault shuttle that was pursuing them. When he made it to open space, he hypered to an outer-system station that was equipped with a well-equipped medicenter, where he stabilized Ors. Unable to return to Pellezara station and knowing the fuel slugs needed to be delivered to the Alliance, Ors disclosed the location of the Dantooine base to Datch, who took them both there. There, Datch joined the Rebellion and began training to become a fighter pilot,^[10] while Ors went on to other missions.^[8]

Meeting with Katarn[]

One of her missions was at a Rebel relay station on the asteroid AX-456.^[3]

It was not long before the Empire located the AX-456 base and invaded; coincidentally, Kyle Katarn was the cadet commander in charge of the mission. At one point, Ors and Katarn saw each other, and though neither remembered their brief past encounters, both felt a spark of distant recognition. Katarn spared the lives of the Rebel group she was in, which fled the asteroid. It would not be their last encounter.^[3]

After her experience in the battle of AX-456, Ors desired to take revenge and fight the Imperials in the tranches; however orders came right from "the top" for a simple recruiting trip onboard the luxury liner Star of Empire with Rosco Ross; Ors complained to Ross that she didn't need a "vacation on a space cruiser" but Ross persuaded her that after her trauma, she would need to cool down with such a mission. She was assigned the Truly Sorry and boarded the Star with Ross, Ris Waller and the droid A-Cee, who brought documentation from the Subjugation of Sulon. As the Haj family were sympathetic to the Alliance, Ors and A-Cee were given a quite comfortable cabin.^[4]

Mission on the Star of Empire[]

Ors operated with Waller and Ross in an off-limits section of the ship; then Ors again encountered Katarn in the Corellia Room and exchanged looks. Seeing him, she coordinated on the fly his capture with the others: he fell into the hands of Rosco and was shoved into their storeroom. Ors told her comrades that in their previous encounter he had let them live, and despite their scepticism, she decided to repay that debt, for the moment. Katarn however wanted some answers and she agreed to meet again.^[3]

Jan waited for Katarn at the library and used the virtual reality service that put her in a ballet, practicing the art she learned from her mother, and Katarn who showed up then, was genuinely impressed. Exchanging some words about their past and upbringing in the cafeteria, Katarn asked why the Rebels killed his father, and gained her interest mentioning the name Sulon, and his surname. Ors brought him to her cabin where A-Cee was; at that moment she had to override A-Cee's mechanism, who was programmed to self-destruct in the presence of an Imperial Officer. She revealed to him that the Empire that he is serving, is actually doing atrocities, and her job as a Rebel agent has to divulge them to the citizens; showing footage from A-Cee's memory, it was revealed to him that his father was actually a Rebel proving that the Empire was lying about him. Katarn demanded to know what happened to him and how she died, and she allowed A-Cee to show him the footage of his severed head. Katarn thanked her for showing him the painful truth and before walking away, he removed his decoration; a gesture that Jan never forgot.^[3]

Two days before their scheduled departure, Jan moved to the liner's hangar to do some maintenance on the Truly Sorry, as its hyperspace motivator displayed false readings. Two hours of a long and boring job of removing a plate, disconnecting and removing the lower motivator housing, the 100-kilos casing dropped into her hands. She realised her mistake for not using a floor jack; for some moments she was unable to move or let it drop, when Katarn showed up, and helped her with gently lowering it to the floor. He then offered to help with her work; Jan already nervous, wanted to chase him away but accepted out of pity; she would work on the wiring harness while Kyle ran the diagnostic checks. Jan couldn't but admire Kyle's knowledge and instinct, quickly determining the problem while she would need hours to determine. She was entering the ship to find a replacement for the damaged sensor package when Kyle finally expressed his desire to join the Alliance, proved by the commitment that Jan read in his eyes. She offered to take him to people who had the authority to recruit him.^[3]

Jan never realised that her movements and actions, including her meeting with Katarn, were followed and recorded by a bounty hunter who was making his living on that very ship, and sold this information to an Imperial official. Indeed, soon her sleep was interrupted by a call from Katarn, telling her that someone, perhaps even Governor Dol Donar II himself, who was onboard, knew about them, and they would be caught at any moment. Jan buried her surprise and told him to meet on the hangar deck, as did Ross and Waller. She took A-Cee with her and exited the hatch to a hallway when they were apprehended by the bounty hunter Slyder, Nathan Donar III and Imperial military personnel. Jan returned fire and started running, but A-Cee stayed behind and was shot. Jan managed to reach the airlock; her pursuers opened fire, but Rosco covered her, as did Waller from the Sorry's turret, while Kyle, handled the ship. The deck was losing oxygen, as Kyle had forced the Hangar Controller to open the pressure doors, and Jan collapsed. She was picked up by Rosco who managed to move into the ramp, and both were lifted up into the Sorry.

Soon Jan, still pale, came and sat at the copilot's position. Waller notified her that one ship was after them. She maxed the thrust and started updating the navcomp with the beacons, as Kyle failed to do so, as the ship was gaining. Although the Sorry was lightly armed, Jan made a tight turn to confront their pursuers, and right when her laser shot hit the larger vessel, it unexpectedly blew up. It was however clearly an internal explosion; they realised that A-Cee was loaded in that ship, and his self-destruct mechanism was activated, killing himself and the Imperials. The Sorry thus made it safely to the New Hope.^[3]

Jan Ors met with Mon Mothma and persuaded her to hire Kyle Katarn as a mercenary and commando, going so far as to lie in her reports to give credence to her faith in Katarn's trustworthiness.^[1] Jan introduced Kyle to their impressive flagship and led him to their leader, Mon Mothma; Kyle sensed that Jan mentioned her name with filial affection. While Kyle was being interviewed, Jan was spying him through small vid cams; she was surprised that Kyle admitted that his motivation was pure revenge, and that Mothma didn't dismiss him. Needing his assistance, Mothma revealed to him the existence of a massive Imperial battle station whose schematics were located in an Imperial facility on Danuta. During the briefing Kyle recognized an Imperial officer, Meck Odom, on a video, serving on the Facility, but he denied knowing him. After the meeting, she entered Mothma's cabin through a secret hatch and was asked about her opinion; she expressed her worry that the mission seemed like a suicide, and admitted she cared about him, although she refused that they had a relationship; Jan reassured that she would kill him if he betrayed them. Mothma revealed that Katarn lied about Meck, who had been his friend. Jan supported Kyle's honesty mentioned his good deeds, but Mothma pointed out that everything might had been orchestrated by the Empire to put a spy among them. Mothma explained why she chose Kyle instead of Ors: he knew Imperial tactics and would be unnoticeable in an all-male facility; and she admitted that he was expendable, like everyone else.^[3]

The next day, Katarn was preparing for his mission, and Jan had sent him an e-mail with her wishes for good luck, as she claimed to be in another mission. While Kyle equipped his ship, the Moldy Crow, he "borrowed" some parts from storerooms and other ships; he thought he went undetected, but Jan monitored him and asked the Deck Master to tolerate his movements.^[3]

Mission to Danuta[]

When Kyle departed for Danuta, Jan took a courier ship piloted by the sassy young pilot Jes; equipped with a bag of energy cells, grenades, knives, plitex, a garrote, a lock pick, electrobinoculars, and a couple of commlinks (which Jes thought was her make-up) they left with the mission to spy on him and kill him in case he was a double agent. Jes reached the planet within four days, a day before Katarn. Jan immediately hired an apartment facing the Trid spaceport in a lodging facility owned by a seedy-looking Kubazian landlord and waited for Kyle's arrival. She monitored the passage of at least fifty ships before spotting the Crow, interrupting her half-sleep. She spied on Katarn with her electrobinoculars, recognizing her liking of him and considering the objective of her mission and the possibility to execute him if needed.^[3] Spying on his check by the local Imperial customs agent, she was impressed by how he improvised and bribed him so as to "forget" his face, claiming a hasty schedule, and she decided he would be a great Rebel.^[4] Armed with her bags and a wanted portrait of Katarn she stalked him during his recon walk around Trid up to the security zone of the Danuta research facility; Kyle had felt that he was being shadowed and sat in a cafe, and Jan just in time hid her face behind a paper, wondering if he recognized her. After the recon, Kyle returned to the Crow.^[3]

She had an uneasy sleep in her miserable apartment but once Kyle emerged from the Crow, Jan was forced to follow; she entered an eatery whence Kyle exited and bought a tea for breakfast. Kyle searched and reached a building with a dilapidated door and a strange carving over it, while Jan pretended to be staring into a shop window. She was puzzled about the familiar symbol and the nature of the building, while she bought a sweet roll. Kyle then exited and left, and rather than following him, Jan preferred to enter the building and see what it was; she was surprised and puzzled to find out that it was a temple, and was greeted by an Ortolan monk. She wondered whether Kyle knew he was stalked and tried to disorient her. She started running after him but lost him. Eventually he found him returning to the Crow.^[3]

Despite her hopes, it seemed that Mothma's suspicions were justified, and she followed Katarn into the Blue Moon club where he met Meck Odom, the Imperial Officer Mothma warned her about. She entered the back door, shoving a drunk who lurched towards her, and entered from the restroom. She saw Kyle and Meck sitting in a booth and made for the adjoining one, lying to the hostess that she was expecting a larger company. Trying to spy on their conversation she understood they were setting up something and was convinced that Kyle was up to something suspicious. Jan was ready to assassinate him, but she took too long, and Katarn noticed her. He persuaded her that he was not conspiring with Meck, but he was trying to protect him from Mothma, and that was going to help their cause. Regretting her doubts for him, she offered to buy him dinner.^[3]

They planned to cause an explosion to create a diversion for Kyle while he was inside; for this she made a makeshift bomb with the objects she brought with her and planted it on the northern fence. Kyle let Jan to pilot the Moldy Crow and land it on the top of the Danuta research facility and pick him up after retrieving the plans for the first Death Star. However, when Jan was entering the Crow, she saw the official, holding a paper, shouting at her, and several Stormtroopers running at her. She retracted the ramp before they reached her and started shooting against the ship while it was starting up. Jan eliminated the soldiers with the ship's belly gun, and then, gaining some height, she shot at the TIE pilots who were running towards the TIE fighters, including one TIE who managed to take off, and the other pursuit ships^[3] including X-Ray 291.^[4]

Right then Ors contacted Kyle to notify that she was coming and wished him to get out safely. Soon after she contacted him again, when Kyle related a strange feeling that guided his movements and helped him kill his adversaries unharmed; Jan said he wasn't a madman, but that the Force was with him, and said that she should be there in three minutes. However, Kyle called her, right after his encounter with Keycard, informing that he had the code key; Jan remarked that should Kyle be dead, he should tell her to save her the trouble. He also warned her that they sent armored reinforcements her way. Right then Jan evaded fire from an Imperial walker;^[11] Jan ignored Kyle, who warned her that the Crows blasters were not much for its armor, and she should break off; she insisted that she should take the beast out before it destroyed her. During the skirmish the contact was cut.^[4]

Around 22:00 she reached the location of the facility where her bomb had detonated, attracting several forces to investigate; the Crow made short work of the AT-ST and the armored car with Major Horst. She then moved to the roof and picked Kyle up who completed his mission successfully.^[3]

Dark Trooper campaign[]

By that time she became one of the few people Katarn trusted, and also one of the few people he could count on to help him get out of sticky situations; hearing about the massacre on Talay, Katarn requested to Mon Mothma that Ors accompany him for the mission. Ors provided briefings from Alliance Command to Katarn and served as pilot of their ship, in their pivotal missions to thwart the Dark Trooper Project.^[12]

Ors, providing the intelligence for Katarn and guiding him during his missions, traced Moff Rebus based on an Imperial repeater rifle found by Katarn on Talay. She later found out that phrik that Katarn found on Fest originated from the Gromas Mines. Ors flew Katarn to Gromas 16 where he managed to destroy the facility.^[12]

After a brief delay, having to drop Katarn to Orinackra in order to free Crix Madine from the prison, Ors was informed that the Dark Trooper project was financed by smugglers and an unidentified kingpin who was no other than Jabba the Hutt. Ors suggested to Katarn that he should put a tracking device on a smuggler ship on Cal-Seti, which led them to Anteevy. There Katarn destroyed the robotics facility.^[12]

Ors investigated flights to and from Gromas 16 and Anteevy and found that they were all led to Nar Shaddaa. Ors thought that there would be found some Imperial Navigational devices or charts that the smugglers hired by the Empire used, which would help Katarn and her find the location of the Arc Hammer.

During his adventures on Nar Shaddaa, Katarn snatched a nava card; but upon leaving the moon, the Crow was captured. Both Rebels were brought onto the Star Jewel, with Ors held in a cell as a bargaining chip against the Alliance by Jabba. Katarn was put for execution, but went through many extremes, including defeating a Kell dragon with his bare hands, before rescuing her.^[12]

Once back to the Crow, Jan Ors realized that only the Imperial Security Operations building in Imperial City hosted a reader that could interpret the nava card Katarn obtained. Jan Ors approached with the Crow in a plaza where she left Katarn. While Katarn managed to reach the ISO building Jan Ors was spotted and attacked by TIE Fighters. A distress call reached Katarn's commlink on his way back and ran to see what happened. Ors was gone when Katarn returned to the place he was landed, instead finding Boba Fett waiting for him. After both Katarn and Ors were finished with their, encounters, Ors approached Katarn and the two left Coruscant.^[12]

Based on the output of the nava card, Ors understood that the Arc Hammer's made leaps to hyperspace to keep its status secret, and only Executor knew its location every given time. The only way to reach the factory was via the Executor which was supplied from Ergo. Ors's final part on the campaign was to leave Katarn on Ergo, and from that point, Katarn single-handedly finished his mission, boarding Executor, the Arc Hammer and putting an end to the Dark Trooper threat.^[12]

Although Katarn often continued to work independently as a mercenary, they often partnered for the Allied cause. Ors couldn't cope with Katarn's inability to work as part of a team, usually trying to save him whenever he got himself into trouble; she often found him in the midst of disaster, only to hear, instead of thanks, that she shouldn't worry about him in the first place.^[13] However it was not always the case; Jan took an Imperial identity in an attempt to assassinate the Head of the School of Torturers, but when he cover was blown, it was Kyle who saved her.^[1]

New Republic[]

Return to Nar Shaddaa[]

In 5 ABY Katarn was invited for some obscure business on Nar Shaddaa; Ors tried to persuade him off, but when Kyle seemed he would mind his own business, he left the Rebel headquarters^[14] and went alone without any notice. Ors took the Crow and felt again obliged to follow his trail to the Smuggler's Moon and rescue him if needed, as usual.^[13]

Indeed, following traces and TIEs gathering somewhere, she struggled her way among the Vertical City's narrow "canyons" of building spires, and was harassed by a trio of TIEs for flying too slow; Ors defiantly refused to say her registration, reminding the TIE pilot that they had no jurisdiction on the moon; ignoring his threats, she followed LG3-18 to a public landing platform. Right then she found Kyle nearby, with a TIE Bomber aiming at him, but Jan shot the Crow's cannons, striking it from behind. Kyle refused to be rescued, as he needed to retrieve some "disk" and asked instead to meet later at the top deck.^[13][14]

Jan complied and moved away to intercept more coming ships. After a long pursuit by a pair of TIEs among the city's spires, she used a building still in construction to hide the Crow to lose them, but when they returned, she took advantage of her hideout to ambush and surprise the TIEs. Jan reached a platform waiting for Kyle but because of the high fees, and the arrival of other ships, she had to leave; for the following three hours she returned attempting to spot Kyle and in vain to contact him over the radio. When she was again approaching the platform, she spotted lights; Jan used the scanners to determine that several beings, some dead, around a human. Seeing a concussion grenade exploding she moved on, activating the Crow's weapons. The Crow evaded the shots from the bounty hunters and returned fire, killing them. Armed with two blasters, Ors exited and approached Kyle, determining that he was still alive. She dragged him from the armpits up the ramp and secured him in one of the ship's bunks.^[13]

Jan had to consult the ship's limited medical references to stabilize Katarn's wound, and deal with him vomiting and lapsing between consciousness and unconsciousness. The references flagged them as "serious", and three days later Ors brought Katarn to the Mercy in the Alliance fleet. Then she spent twelve hours sleeping on a cot, before being able to continue her business.^[13]

An encrypted message from the past[]

Curious about why the holodisk was so important for Kyle, and (being the senior one of the pair) wanting something to report to their superiors, she asked an orderly and found her way to the Ward 114 where Kyle was, a place reserved for high-priority SpecOps casualties.^[13] The doctor, checking her identicard, said that Kyle would make it, thanks to her bringing him just in time; he also expressed his concerns, pointing out that the patient didn't deserve high priority treatment, and the fact that he was not on assignment when injured; Jan ensured him that Kyle had did more for the Alliance than she ever could, and lied that he was on an unofficial assignment explaining the lack of mission statement.^[14] Jan found Kyle in Tank 23 and searched his personal belongings; she confiscated the disk, but not before finding a 3-D snapshot of herself that Kyle secretly kept in his wallet. She apologised to unconscious Kyle, saying that she loved him, something she would never say in person.^[13][14]

Although she struggled for almost two hours, she was unable to decrypt the disk. She took a shuttle to the New Hope nearby, to find her old friend Xiong Wong, who invited her for lunch. With the help of Wires they managed to partially decrypt the holodisc, where Morgan Katarn mentioned a "Valley of the Jedi". Thinking it was important enough she immediately ran to notify Mon Mothma. She found her discussing with the heroes of the Civil War, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and blushed being among them; even more when they credited her for what she did on Danuta, resulting to the victory at Yavin. Jan played the holodisk (partial and in bad quality) before them, they heard about the Valley, a map, and Qu Rahn's lightsaber, names Luke recognized. Leia didn't think that this legend would justify the New Republic to allocate its resources there, but Jan said that it should be important enough for the Imperial Remnant to want the disk. Luke agreed, exposing the history of the forces that created the Valley, and the danger of its power being used for evil. Jan admitted that she used the disk without Kyle knowing, therefore could not mention it to him, and suggested to let Kyle decode the whole disk himself and eventually find that map. Mothma didn't like the idea of letting Kyle continue, and Jan understood it was a matter of trust, and argued against her. Luke and Leia were surprised to hear that Kyle had been an Imperial, but Leia backed Jan, comparing Katarn with Han Solo, whom Mothma trusted. Luke suggested that they should trust Kyle, as Rahn did, and let him follow his path, albeit how dangerous a self-taught Jedi would be. Hearing all opinions, Mothma decided that Jan should let Kyle continue what he was doing, without telling him about this meeting, and stop him should he attempt seek this power for himself by killing him, as she tried to do on Danuta. Leia realised that Ors was in love with Katarn by the way she supported him with her words, and that she would put her heart above her duty to the Alliance.^[13][14]

Ors returned to the Mercy and the ward Kyle was recuperating, and seeing that Kyle was sleeping, she stealthily returned the disk into Kyle's trousers in his locker, kissed his forehead, and left. She didn't know that Kyle was already awake and witnessed her puzzling movements.^[13]

Sulon: Kyle's homeworld[]

Katarn left while Jan had to stay behind while the Crow was undergoing repairs; Kyle couldn't give a reason for going back to Sulon instead of going after Jerec, but instructed her to bring the Crow there and meet him, once repairs were complete.^[5] Without ever telling him what she did with the disk and the meeting with Mothma, Ors and Katarn eventually set off to the Katarn homestead on Sulon, but they saw Imperial movements and waited on a hill while Kyle spied on them with his macrobinoculars. Pushing him about the business, Kyle only said that it was something that his father had left for him and promised to say more once he found out. Then, when he saw a shuttle leaving, he started sneaking towards his old home, telling Jan to ready the Crow to pick him up. As Kyle was approaching the house, Jan secretly contacted Mon Mothma and reported that Kyle still didn't suspect her knowing about the Valley and felt bad for Kyle trusting her. Mothma repeated her objective, to find the Valley before the Imperials, and make sure Kyle remained loyal.^[14]

Jan kept track of Kyle's movements, trying not to be spotted by the Imperials, until she saw him on the way to Barons Hed, riding a a vehicle on a bridge, pursued by a swoop gang. She contacted him and lowered the Crow, while extending the ramp. The time was limited as the vehicle was going straight towards an Imperial barricade set on the bridge. After an explosion that marked the destruction of the vehicle, it turned out that Kyle was onboard, thanks to a droid's repulsorlift that shoved them up.^[13] Kyle introduced his family droid, WeeGee to her, and said that he only found what he was looking for, only to be stolen by the Imperials. Jan also noticed that Kyle had a lightsaber attached to his utility belt. Upon the approaching of some TIEs, Kyle instructed her to move the Crow towards a location where they could hide.^[14]

Ors and Katarn's relationship continued to deepen, but Ors feared allowing Katarn to get too close.^[1] But this started to change during their quest; Jan felt Katarn's concern when he refused bringing him to the Government House as it would be dangerous for her. Kyle managed to sneak into the Tower alone, and the pair contacted during his escape, with Jan circling the Crow above the Tower. She landed on the pad of the Tower's roof, evaded some battery shots, and once Kyle was safe, it flew after 8t88's shuttle, towards Fuel City.^[13] Once more, Jan expressed her frustration about Kyle not explaining what was all about, what he was after and how he came up with a lightsaber, repeating her questions.^[14]

Jan flew Kyle there, and made a stop to station six, where 8t88's shuttle boarded a certain freighter, dropping Kyle. The curious movement alerted Captain Zyak who harshly questioned her. Jan apologized several times, claiming that she came off Tatooine and lost her way to Barons Hed; asked about her movements, she explained that once she realised it was a fuel station, she went to a full stop so as not to cause any accident. Jan ignored Zyak's compliments about her nice-sounding voice, and invitation for a "personal conference" to reduce her penalty, explaining she was off-schedule, and according to his orders, she throttled away from the station. WeeGee seemed worried that they had to leave after dropping Kyle there alone and wondered if it was too dangerous to him; Jan advised him to get used to it.^[14]

As she was waiting for Kyle's news, she hid the Crow in a hollow. While looking for her multitool, she found a cylinder that Kyle had brought from his house, which contained the 3-D print of a beautiful woman; initially she felt jealousy, when she realized it was his mother. Right then Kyle contacted her, requesting her help, and flew the Crow low back to the Fuel City. She successfully extracted him, in the process causing explosions and evading missiles and TIEs, even along a ravine of the Nefra Canyons, per Kyle's suggestion. Finally, Kyle advised to retreat to his farm, as he correctly guessed the occupying Imperial forces would be concentrated on other places. After some hours of sleep, Jan tended Kyle's wounds, and ate dinner that Kyle prepared, in the ruins of a nearby factory.^[13]

The next day making sure no Imperial forces had remained, they entered the Katarn homestead; it was the first time Jan was seeing the place she often heard about and tried to imagine young Kyle doing stuff with his father. They successfully hooked up WeeGee with 8t88's head Kyle had salvaged the other day and played a holomap of the Map to Ruusan. In celebration, the two jumped and danced; Jan was about to fall when Kyle held her, they embraced and shared a long kiss. Jan comforted Kyle who tried to apologise. The mood was cut when they heard a ship coming, it was an X-wing, and Jan introduced Luke Skywalker to Kyle. Skywalker inquired about the Map, and it was then when Kyle realised that Jan knew his quest all along, and that she had taken the holodisc while injured. Kyle expressed his anger to Jan, who countered it by criticizing his secrecy and wanting to work alone, disregarding others and the chain of command, making Kyle to apologise. The couple agreed in front of Luke that they will follow Jerec to Ruusan. Luke then uttered a sentence; Jan asked, and Luke revealed he heard it from Morgan himself.^[13][14] Not long after, the couple left Sulon after Skywalker to regroup with the New Hope.^[15]

Stop at Milagro[]

Jan at Luke piloted their ships back to the New Hope, stationed over Milagro, however as they exited hyperspace in the system, it was near a damaged Imperial Star Destroyer, her escort, and TIEs which were launched against the dreadnaught.^[15] Luke suggested to engage them in order to give to the New Hope some time until reinforcements would arrive, to which Jan objected, believing they would not survive more than a couple of minutes. Kyle, who was her co-pilot, encouraged her to trust Luke, being a Jedi,^[16] and also suggested to enter the defensive sphere around the Star Destroyer, as the craft would avoid firing and hitting each other.^[15] They eventually were joined by the Millennium Falcon leading three squadrons of fighters, resulting to the surrender of the Destroyer.^[15][16]

Back to the Hope, and on their way to Mon Mothma's cabin, Jan couldn't help but notice the Imperial fighter that had penetrated the hull, with the body of the teenaged pilot still in the cockpit. Jan thought about the deaths she caused during the War, which she wished to end soon, and the lives and descendants her victims would not have. She was brought down to reality by the cynical laugh of a technician, boasting how well he sealed the hole. Before meeting Mothma, Jan read Kyle's surprise when he was not asked, for first time, to surrender his weapons, indicating a different level of trust for him, and held his hand.^[15] Inside, she met with the Heroes of Yavin, including General Han Solo who flew the Falcon next to them. They discussed the developments about Jerec and the Valley of the Jedi, and Kyle's insistence to continue the race for Ruusan. Jan supported the idea of using a captured Imperial transport to reach Ruusan, ensuring Mothma that the Imperials would not care for its credentials, once it brought supplies for them; specifically, being sabotaged torpedoes. Despite Mothma's consent, and Solo's initial interest, Solo was not allowed to pilot for the mission, and Jan proposed to find other volunteers.^[15][16]

With Kyle they descended to Milagro and asked audience with inmates of the Military Correction Facility 63. A Sergeant led them to an office, where prisoner Alfonso Luiz Obota waited for them. Ors had a datapad with his background and questioned him about a SpecOps operation; Obota was serving for incapacitating his Captain in an attempt to extract Rebel Commandoes against orders. Reading from the datapad, Ors pointed out that while he managed to extract three commandos, the resulting delay caused five deaths. She asked if, knowing the consequences of his actions, he would have made the same decision again. Without a second thought, Obota answered that he would, and his direct answer satisfied Ors.^[15] She proceeded to offer Obota a pardon and a reinstatement as a lieutenant, in exchange for his services as a deck officer during a secret Rebel mission. Believing that the mission could not be worse than his imprisonment on Milagro, Obota accepted the offer.^[16]

For the mission to Ruusan a captured Imperial transport was chosen, named High Hauler, and several male human Rebels were recruited to impersonate Imperial officers under Obota. The Crow was parked in the High Hauler's launch bay. Following 8t88's map, the ship made it to the Hoth's Brand system.^[15] She tried to calm Obota seeing the Vengeance Battle Group, saying it was what they expected.^[16] While Obota was communicating with them, Ors remained hidden, and then congratulated him for his performance; as she suggested earlier, the Imperials would forget about security verification codes and formalities once they heard that the ship was bringing much-needed torpedoes. An inspecting party boarded the transport, while Jan remained hidden in the Crow and tried to monitor the Imperial communications with a rigged comm set. She was alerted when the Imperial Lieutenant showed interest about the Crow and summoned Kyle, disguised as a Warrant Officer, to interrupt the discussion.^[15]

Hiding on Ruusan[]

Jan kept a low profile during the Hauler's mission; the Crow performed some supply runs and other boring service missions in order to gather intelligence and so as to seem unnoticeable among the Imperial fleet. She ordered Obota to head for hyperspace once his mission was completed, and discreetly released the Moldy Crow above Ruusan's atmosphere.^[15][16] She piloted the ship towards Fort Nowhere, a settlement that was attacked recently, mentioned by the Imperials, hoping to find a guide there. On their way, Kyle picked up a voice, whom Jan understood was the Jedi he was talking about, but he did not say more. She was about to schedule some days off with him on a silent planet, when the computer picked a signal;^[16] it was pointing to a certain location. They flew above the ruins of the Fort, and failing to detect any life, Kyle ensured her to follow the signal.^[15]

With he weapon systems online, set for a hot start, Jan exited, holding a remote connected to the ship's sensors.^[15] Not seeing anyone, she shouted calling for anyone, a move much derided by Kyle; she claimed her voice was not louder than the Crow's engines.^[16] Kyle ensured her that they were observed, but could not say who they were; he unearthed an ancient dagger blade from the gravel, and Jan also found a helmet, indicating the site of an ancient battlefield.^[15] The sound of a drone interrupted their thoughts, and Kyle prevented her from unholstering her blaster.^[15][16] The flyer inspected them and beckoned them to the west. They followed it with the Crow and Jan found it difficult to keep the flier's low speed, until they reached a valley with an ancient temple. Kyle ensured her that it was not the Valley they were looking for.^[16]

Outside, Kyle met Grif Grawley the leader of the colonists and an old acquaintance of Kyle from Sulon. Initially refusing to surrender her weapons, Kyle told her to comply^[16] and they entered the temple where they exchanged news. Kyle narrated what brought them there and persuaded even the more doubtful ones by displaying his Force abilities and reclaiming his lightsaber, promising to help them.^[15][16]

Grif agreed to help them and decided to contact the Bouncers, the native species of the planet who roam the desert at night and went out to the desert with a team of six.^[15] Jan felt uneasy hearing from Grif about their random and volatile nature, questioning if they should trust them; she also was worried that their team was large enough to be detected by Imperial sensors.^[16] They did spot a group of bouncers, but right then Kyle detected an Imperial patrol who were after them for sport. Jan demanded to warn them somehow, but it was too late: the Imperials opened fire and the bouncers, in an inexplicable reaction, grouped closer together waiting the inevitable. Jan stood up with her blaster rifle and aimed at one of the speeder bikes; with a well-calculated shot, so as to not lose the advantage of surprise, the bike exploded. However, this meant that she gave out their location and a skimmer and the remaining bike rounded them, shooting and the rocks, causing exploding shrapnel to fly against them. Kyle and the settlers left to sneak at the troops, while Ors stayed behind with young Portia to watch her back. Ors had a plan and had to trust Portia's marksmanship for this: while Portia remained hidden sniping, Ors climbed a rock and lit a flare to lure the bike and cause it to stop to acquire a target. Right that moment, Portia shot seven bolts and the biker fell dead. The Rebels eradicated the patrol and by dawn they had buried the dead and appropriated the equipment.^[15] Jan pointed out that the bike could as well be repaired.^[16] Then the surviving Bouncers negotiated with Katarn and offered Floater to go with them as a guide.^[15] Jan felt their interpretation of the Poem of Ages was not very reassuring for their quest.^[16]

The Valley of the Jedi[]

The pair went out and Jan was puzzled as to why Kyle delayed going to Valley and decided to return to the Temple. Jan pointed out they had the captured skimmer and Floater and did not understand Kyle's action. and the only thing Kyle could explain was that the time was not right for it; they should wait in the Temple because something was about to change.^[16] It was first after a long time the couple had time to sleep, but in the afternoon, Kyle had to wake her up--and showed some lust as she put on her pants. An Imperial force was approaching and Grif had prepared the skimmer in order to lead the patrol away from their base and have the leisure to spy on them.^[15][16] Jan expressed concern that the Crow should be hidden, and objected with the idea that they should take the skimmer to a mesa as it would be visible to the Imperials.^[16] After some time the skimmer brought them to a mesa. On their way Jan feared that the Imperials indeed targeted the Temple and doubted whether they would indeed be able to lure them to another direction. They hid the skimmer at the base and took them half an hour to reach the top.^[15] From the top of the mesa they spied to the Imperials through electrobinoculars, as they approached the rocky area where the skirmish occurred and they buried the bodies, and worried that their presence would be discovered. Not only that, but Kyle reported that among them was a Dark Jedi. Jan wondered why the Jedi, knowing they are there, hadn't yet summoned TIEs to destroy them. Kyle could not explain but ensured her that they would be safe for the remainder of the night and should proceed with their mission.^[15][16]

That night, Jan employed her flying skills to pilot the Crow into a canyon, five kilometers away from the Valley which was as close as possible without be seen by Jerec's patrols. With the help of night goggles, they followed Floater's guidance among the mazelike canyons. They had to rappel down or ascend vertical cliffs and slopes. Not far from their destination, they were climbing a rope below Grif, who, one he reached a flat shelf, he was spotted by attack droid AD-43. They could only watch as the older man jumped on the droid wrestling with his strength and damaging it with his hunting knife. Jan, still attached to the rope, wished she could shoot the droid, but hesitated due to its rotation, until it crashed on a rocky wall and fell into the canyon with Grif. They found some space to rest at the ledge, considering their next move in case the droid alerted the Imperials, and what they could think finding Grif's body; Jan hoped that they'd think he was an unlucky loner, but it was more possible that they'd guess he was part of a Rebel group approaching the Valley. She decided to continue their mission and followed Floater high above them. They managed to remain unseen by shuttles and speeder bike patrols that passed nearby. Floater led them to an ancient, enclosed aqueduct which followed the land contour, and led directly to the Valley. Equipped with glow rods, they followed Floater and emerged crawling to the other side.^[15][16]

With their electrobinoculars, they spotted Jerec standing on a platform of the tall central tower with a woman, Sariss. Kyle then decided to make his way to the tower, insisting that Jan should remain behind and not leave Floater alone.^[16][15] Jan tried to remain awake observing the base and waiting for a sign from Kyle. She fought drowziness and heat after a long night, while didn't follow Floater back inside the shadowy aqueduct. She didn't know that Jerec was aware of them, and she had become his target in order to exploit Kyle's anger. Because of her fatigue she noticed very late a combat skimmer that came after her with a half-dozen troops; she was alerted by the yelling of the officer, whom she shot with her blaster thanks to her peak reflexes and speed; she dodged a shot from its cannon, but the skimmer came against her, and she fell backward. Within the next few minutes, the troops surrounded and secured her and loaded her on the vehicle. As they searched the area, she only hoped that Floater could have enough time to hide in the tunnels, and wondered how she and Kyle could help each other.^[15]

Jan was taken to Jerec on his tower, while Kyle tried to sneak his way there, oblivious of what had transpired. Kyle was confronted by one of the Dark Jedi, Maw, who managed to provoke him to kill him defenseless, bringing him very close to the dark side of the Force. Right then Jerec, with Sariss and Boc Aseca, who were observing all this, emerged from the turbolift with Jan. Boc shoved her violently forward, but Jan didn't fall down. She bitterly joked on the fact that this time it was she who got into trouble and for once could not save Kyle. Jerec threw him down and urged Kyle to satisfy his hunger for power by killing her and join them.^[15][5] Even Jan noticed the temptation for ambition in Kyle's eyes making her doubt if Kyle was the man she knew.^[15] However he refused to obey Jerec, and as a response, the Dark Warlord attacked Katarn with his Force powers.^[15][5] She shouted Kyle to run away.^[16] Kyle ended up to the Sulon Star and Jan tried to reach him, but Boc slammed her down and put his foot on her chest laughing.^[15] It was too late, as the ship was destabilized and fell with Kyle inside, and the three Dark Jedi were sent after him.^[15][5]

Jan then was taken away. Boc returned to Jerec reporting that they found the Rebel and Sariss was executing him. Jan was held tied on an ancient column in the core of the Valley of the Jedi, ready to witness Jerec harnessing the Force nexus, when Kyle arrived, sneaked towards her and released her using a new lightsaber. Right then Boc, who was hiding motionless among the funerary statues, revealed himself and attacked Katarn. They were pressing their sabers against each other, when the Twi'lek ignited his second one. It was to Jan's warning that Kyle had the time to retreat and avoid the strike. Kyle retreated as Boc was flurrying his two sabers, and Jan tried to support Kyle by throwing rocks at the Dark Jedi. The stones were no match for his lightsabers, who reflected their splinters, and Boc neutralized her with a mental attack; but the distraction gave enough time to Katarn who struck his opponent with his own Force attack, killing him.^[15]

She later continued to turn down Katarn's proposals of marriage, however, not wanting to get married simply because of the fear that each day could be their last.^[17]

Alpha Blue[]

On Mon Mothma's recommendation, Ors joined Admiral Hiram Drayson's secret Alpha Blue organization. There, she helped expose the Yevethans and kept tabs on the Order of the Canted Circle, the Azurite Society of Lords, and Grand Admiral Octavian Grant,^[1] who was allegedly retired on Rathalay.^[18] She also accompanied Katarn, who had returned to his mercenary ways after slipping to the dark side on Dromund Kaas,^[19] on a number of off-the-record missions against the Imperial Remnant^[1] in their new ship, the Raven's Claw.^[20]

Desann and the reborn[]

While following up a lead on the Reborn, a deadly Dark Jedi force of the Empire Reborn faction, Ors was captured by a failed student of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, Desann, and his apprentice Tavion Axmis. They pretended to kill her, and Katarn heard the lightsaber sound without being able to help her. Grieved by her apparent loss, he returned to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his Jedi powers, allowing Desann to find the Valley's location and use its powers to fuel the Reborn. It was only much later that Axmis confessed to Katarn that they only feigned Ors' execution, and the couple was ultimately reunited before Desann met his doom.^[20]

Yuuzhan Vong War and beyond[]

Eventually, Admiral Drayson retired, and Ors took over Alpha Blue just before the Yuuzhan Vong War. In the desperate circumstances the invasion engendered, Ors looked back to her terrorist roots and, with the help of the Chiss, Lurrian genetic engineers, and others, concocted the genocidal bioagent Alpha Red.^[1] Fortunately, the invasion was halted before Alpha Red had to be put to widespread use.^[21]

In addition to her work with intelligence, Ors still performed some field missions during the war. On one such occasion on Ord Sedra, Ors and Katarn teamed up with a local Imperial stormtrooper unit under the command of Lieutenant Pallin. A force of Yuuzhan Vong warriors and Peace Brigadiers had captured an entire village and taken them as slaves. While being transported, Katarn infiltrated them, while Ors and Pallin orchestrated an ambush of the patrol. The ambush was successful and resulted in the freeing of the slaves and the capture of the enemy forces which were left under the guard of the Imperial troops. They proved unable to contain them, however, and in her rush to aid them, Ors was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. Only the timely arrival of Katarn saved her life. After that, Katarn asked her to marry him, but she refused.^[17]

Following the end of the invasion, Katarn disappeared while investigating rumors of Sith activity. Ors, along with Katarn's former apprentice Jaden Korr, used every free moment to track him down. Eventually, she teamed up with Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker in forming an elite team of Alpha Blue agents and Jedi Knights to find him.^[22] The trail led to the Cloak of the Sith, where the cyborg Jedi Daye Azur-Jamin held Katarn captive. Katarn was freed and Azur-Jamin, redeemed from the dark side of the Force, revealed the existence of a Force-strong female Yuuzhan Vong.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

Jan Ors is a skilled dancer, and a competent and experienced small spacecraft engineer as a pilot, navigator, gunner and flight engineer. Ors also has considerable combat experience. Her skills set also includes shadowing, and demolitions. One of the first traits of her personality displayed, was her tendency to do things by herself, without asking others for help, something that her mother noticed when Jan was already four. Growing up within the two separate arts of her parents, engineering and dance, she practiced both; for her both principles expressed the same impulse or need for her: to generate motion. The process of working on (mostly mobile, almost never stationary) machines was for her a kinesthetic experience.^[3]

Ors was a brave woman. Even from a young age she would not let the Empire intimidate her into submission.^[1] As an Intelligence officer she was thorough and had a plan every step of the way for her double agent operations.^[7] Indeed, when Katarn saw her eyes, obviously connected through the Force, was calmness and determination, having experienced fear, responsibilities and also disasters. At the same time, her pure artistic talent as inherited by her mother, was an essential part of her nature.^[3]

She was extremely dedicated to both the Rebellion and the New Republic being one of their first members and continuing to serve for over thirty years.^[23] Although she had caused deaths in the trenches, she never had to assassinate an unarmed person from behind, especially someone she knew, and her loyalty came to test when she thought that Katarn was a double agent, back on Trid; the thought made her wonder whether she was really a patriot or a fanatic, but nonetheless her hesitation allowed for Kyle to notice and stop her.^[3]

It was when she saw the body of a teen Imperial pilot leaning on the cockpit of his derelict ship, when she imagined all young people she had to fight and kill in her career, she hoped for the War to end.^[15]

Ors sometimes functioned according to her conscience above all. In the sight of some helpless bouncers, ready to be slaughtered by sporting Imperials, she did not hesitate to take action in order to save the helpless prey, even though she never knew them; and even though she would reveal the presence and location of her peers. It was a trait that Katarn admired.^[15]

Relationships[]

Mon Mothma[]

On board the New Hope, Mon Mothma was respected as was seen like a mother-figure.^[3] Between 4 and 5 ABY Jan had matured enough and had the courage to challenge Mon Mothma's authority, especially Mothma's mistrust towards Katarn.^[13]

Mon Mothma would not approve her over the top idealism, which sometimes jeopardised the success or secrecy of a mission.^[15]

Kyle Katarn[]

When she worked with Katarn, Ors' detailed oriented nature and ability to gather intelligence greatly aided Katarn on his missions, although they came into conflict on occasion due to Katarn's more chaotic, straightforward approach. Despite their differences, they maintained a friendly and playful relationship, and Ors was quick to crack a joke or sarcastic remark at Katarn's expense.^[13][5]

Ors feared of letting anyone get too close to her, and when she developed romantic feelings for Katarn, she kept them hidden; although she would never admit them in person, she expressed her love as loyalty on the field, willing to face extreme danger in order to help Katarn, and defending him before those who were still suspicious to him. Leia Organa had sensed her feelings, and knew that if Ors had to choose between Katarn and her duty to the Alliance, she would follow her heart.^[13][14] This had happened already on Danuta, when Ors struggled between her feelings, and Mothma's orders to kill Katarn should she suspect him as a double agent; this hesitation gave Kyle time to notice her, and persuade her that he didn't work for the Empire.^[3] It was not until the quest for the Valley of the Jedi, in Kyle's abandoned home on Sulon, when finally the pair declared their love.^[13] Eventually she accepted that she had to deal with her feelings, with him, and with his special Force abilities.^[15]

Their relationship had to pass through turbulent phases, not only through danger and death, but also coping with Kyle's temperament, and his close bond with his fellow Jedi, Mara Jade.^[1]

Equipment[]

Sometime between her service as Jan Strange and 1 BBY, Ors lost the use of her right hand and had it replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis.^[9]

She usually used blaster pistols, grenades and knives – and was conversant with concealable weapons.^[3] Ors typically used a DH-17 blaster pistol.

Behind the scenes[]

Continuity[]

Jan Ors was created as a supporting character for the game Star Wars: Dark Forces, and reappeared in its sequels, excluding Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (beyond a brief mention). Jedi Knight comes with an alternate ending where Kyle Katarn fell to the dark side and, when prompted by Jerec, killed Ors. The light side ending has been deemed by Lucasfilm Ltd. to be the canonical ending and is reflected in later products.

The Dark Forces Saga, Part 2: Unsung Heroes of the Light retconned her into the same character as Cracken's Rebel Operatives mysterious Jan Strange, who was created four years before Dark Forces.

Portrayal[]

In Star Wars: Dark Forces, Jan Ors is voiced by Julie Eccles, who also plays Ru Murleen in Star Wars: Rebel Assault II. She appears only in stills, although she is seen as an inanimate sprite when Katarn rescues her from the Star Jewel. In Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, she is played by model Angela Harry, whose likeness has been used in subsequent portrayals of Ors. In Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, she is voiced by Vanessa Marshall. In the Dark Forces audio dramatizations she is portrayed by actress and comedian Mo Collins, best known for her work on MADtv.

Gameplay[]

Jan Ors is also a playable character in the multi-player modes of all of the games in the Jedi Knight series. It is interesting to note that the unused female Jedi model in Jedi Outcast is just a jacketless Ors with a lightsaber and Force powers. Though it does not appear in the main game, it is accessible using the cheat "npc spawn jedif". In addition, Jan, like almost every non-Force user in the Jedi Knight series, can utilize the lightsaber as a primary melee weapon if she is called to a multiplayer game as CPU-controlled bot.

Appearances[]

• Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
• Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire audio drama
• Star Wars: Dark Forces
• Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
• "Coded Transmission: Jan Ors to Mon Mothma" — Dark Forces Manual: Coded Transmissions (First appearance, simultaneous with Star Wars: Dark Forces)
• Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
• Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
• Dark Forces: Rebel Agent audio drama
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
• Dark Forces: Jedi Knight
• Dark Forces: Jedi Knight audio drama
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast demo
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (Mentioned only)
• "Equals & Opposites" — Star Wars Tales 21

Sources[]

Notes and references[]