Jaden backflipped high into the air to avoid the intruder's reverse backslash and landed on the other side of the corridor, three meters away, trapping the intruder between Jaden on the one side and Khedryn on the other.
Jaden could not quite place the man's fighting style. He had seen nothing like it before.
Khedryn, now with another clear shot, leveled his blaster to fire but the intruder, his eyes on Jaden all the while, gestured with the stump of his left arm and the weapon flew from Khedryn's hand and skittered along the floor until it reached the man's feet.
Jaden and the man stared at each other, eyes narrow, blades held before them. The intruder's breath came hard, and his hunched posture indicated that Jaden's kick had done lasting damage to his ribs. His eyes moved alternately between Jaden's face and his blade.
Surprisingly, Jaden felt no additional pressure against his mind from the dark side. He would have expected a more acute thrust in the presence of a Sith.
Khedryn smashed the glass on an emergency tool bin and removed a hand sledge and ax. Jaden gave him credit for courage if not sense.
The intruder held his ground, breathing heavily, favoring his side. Seconds passed and no one moved to attack.
"How's this going to go, then?" Khedryn said, hefting hammer and ax.
The rhythm of the alarm kept time with Jaden's heartbeat, his breath. He felt the man testing his Force presence, as Jaden did the same to him.
Instead of the bitter tang of a Sith, he felt the kindred nature of an advanced light-side user, perhaps polluted a bit by anger, but definitely a light-side user. No doubt the intruder felt something similar from Jaden, though Jaden knew it was doubt and not anger that infected him.
"Who are you?" Jaden and the man asked simultaneously.
Both lowered their blades, puzzled looks in their eyes. The man touched a button on the control pad on his chest and threw back his helmet. Long black hair streaked with gray contrasted markedly with pallid skin. Dark circles under his eyes tried to bridge the hues of hair and skin.
"You are a Jedi," Jaden said, the words only half question.
"As are you," the man said, his voice a thickly accented dialect.
"Now it's a party," Khedryn said, lowering the hammer and ax.
Jaden deactivated his saber. "Did Grand Master Skywalker send you?"
Perhaps R6 had contacted the Order without Jaden's orders- "I know no Grand Master Skywalker." The man glanced around the ship. "Where am I? What system? I do not know this make of ship and you both speak oddly."
"We speak oddly?" Khedryn said.
"You do not know the name of Grand Master Skywalker?" Jaden asked, incredulous.
"I have been away from Coruscant and the Order for some time, on a mission for Master Nadill."
"Master who?" The name bounced around in Jaden's mind, seeking purchase in his memory. He felt as if he should have known it.
"There is no time for this," the man said. "My name is Relin Druur. I need to get back aboard Harbinger."
Khedryn stepped forward. "Back aboard? That damaged cruiser, you mean?"
"Sith dreadnought," Relin said, nodding. "I tried to bring it down with my Padawan and managed only to damage its hyperdrive. I was caught in its draft when it misjumped. We ended up here."
"Your Padawan?" Jaden asked, and wished he had not.
Relin's jaw tightened. Pain stained his eyes. "He's dead."
"Sorry," Khedryn said awkwardly. "And sorry about shooting at you, but you did ram my ship and-"
"What are your names?" Relin asked.
"Jaden Korr. This is Khedryn Faal and this is his vessel."
Relin took a deep breath, wincing with pain as he did so. "Listen to me, Jaden and Khedryn. Harbinger cannot be allowed to jump away. The cargo it bears, a special ore, enhances the power of those who use the dark side and could turn the battle for Kirrek into a rout. Unless you wish the galaxy to fall under Sith dominion, you will assist me."
"Ore? What are you talking about?" Khedryn said. "You need medical attention, man. Look at you."
Relin's eyes flared and he advanced a step on Khedryn. "There is no time! If Naga Sadow is victorious on Kirrek, we may not be able to stop the Sith at all."
Jaden's mind tried to make sense of Relin's words. Some kind of ore on the cruiser enhanced the power of a dark side user. The presence of the ore explained the free-floating dark side energy that had caused Jaden such unease as the cruiser had approached.
"I need to commandeer this ship," Relin said. "I am sorry but-"
"You aren't commandeering so much as a caf pot, Jedi," Khedryn said, his fists bloodless around hammer and ax. "This is my ship."
More of Relin's words registered with Jaden, but he could not shape them into anything coherent.
"Did you say Naga Sadow?" he asked distantly.
Sadow's name triggered memories of ancient history lessons from Jaden's time in the Jedi academy.
"Yes, Sadow," Relin said. "His forces marshal at Primus Goluud even now while we debate trivialities. Hear me, Jaden. I need your help and I need it now."
The pieces of Relin's story started to fall into place-Kirrek, Nadill, Sadow, his ignorance of Grand Master Skywalker, his obsolete lightsaber, the oddly made blaster he bore.
Jaden's suspicion hit him like an unexpected punch in the stomach. How could this be? How?
"This is not possible," he whispered.
Relin mistook his meaning. "It is not only possible, it is essential. I need to get back onto Harbinger." He looked at Khedryn. "Unless this ship can bring it down?"
Khedryn scoffed, put the hammer and ax back into their wall mounts. "This is a freighter, not a warship. I don't have ship-to-ship weapons. Jaden, are you all right?"
"Nothing at all?" Relin asked.
"Nothing," Khedryn said to Relin. "Jaden? Are you all right?"
Jaden swallowed through a throat gone dry. When he spoke, his voice sounded as mechanical as that of a protocol droid. "The Battle of Kirrek was fought more than five thousand years ago. Naga Sadow has been dead for centuries. If what you've told us is correct, your misjump didn't just move you through space." He let the moment hang there for a moment, allowing Relin to brace himself, before he said, "It moved you through time."
"You are mad," Relin said, but he took half a step back. His eyes flicked to Jaden's lightsaber, his blaster, the ship, to Khedryn, his blaster.
"Seconded," Khedryn said to Jaden, his lazy eye and good eye seemingly split between Relin and Jaden. "That cannot be right. Can it?"
"Look at my lightsaber," Jaden said, and held up the hilt of his blade. "Lightsaber technology left the power pack behind long ago."
Relin took another step back, resisting the evidence before his eyes. "You have a more advanced lightsaber, but it means noth-"
"Look at this ship, Relin," Jaden said. "His blaster. Mine." He held up his own DL-44.
Relin's eyes widened, his pale skin growing a shade more pallid. "This is… a mistake. I… "
He visibly concentrated, once more testing Jaden's Force presence.
"I am a Jedi," Jaden said, understanding his purpose. "You are not being misled."
Relin sagged and Khedryn stepped forward as if to help Relin keep his feet, but the Jedi waved him off.
Jaden continued: "The galaxy just endured a civil war caused by a Sith Lord named Caedus, but he was defeated by the Order and its allies. My Jedi Order. Before that, the Jedi were instrumental in overthrowing a galaxywide Empire ruled by a Sith Lord named Palpatine."