Jan Ors

"Oh, as if I haven't saved you from the bad guys a few dozen times."

- Jan Ors

Jan Ors was an Alderaanian intelligence operative for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the counterpart (and love interest) of Kyle Katarn and later for the New Republic and Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Biography
Jan's mother was a choreographer for Alderaan's premier ballet company, and her father was an aerospace engineer; Jan learned both of these arts. Her parents also were instrumental in Ernst Kamiel's establishing of the Justice Action Network, an anti-Imperial terrorist organization whose initials (JAN) were partly chosen to honor the Ors's daughter. However, Jan did not stay with the JAN, instead striking out on her own path.



She began her career by infiltrating Imperial Intelligence under the pseudonym Jan Strange. 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. She first encountered the Imperial cadet Kyle Katarn while working in Intell, though neither left an impression on one another at the time. 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 Jan 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. 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. Though she had never worn an Alliance uniform at this point, she nonetheless became something of a legend among the Rebels, gaining a Captain's rank and a Nebula for Bravery in absentia.

Jan did not remain in her Jan Strange guise for long, and was soon working at a Rebel base on the asteroid AX-456. It was not long before the Empire located this base and invaded; coincidentally, Kyle Katarn was the cadet commander in charge of the mission. At one point, Jan and Kyle 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. During a mission aboard the Star of Empire, Jan again encountered Kyle, to whom she revealed that it was the Empire, not Rebels, who killed his father Morgan Katarn. She established a relationship with the already ambivalent Kyle, and when spies uncovered the presence of Rebels aboard the Star, Kyle defected with Ors.

Jan Ors met with Mon Mothma and persuaded her to hire Kyle Katarn as a mercenary and commando. Jan accompanied Kyle, flying their ship, the Moldy Crow, in their pivotal missions capturing the plans for Death Star I on Danuta and thwarting the Dark Trooper project. She became one of the few people Kyle trusted, and was also one of the few people he could count on to help him get out of sticky situations. During their adventures while on Nar Shadda, Jan and Kyle were captured and brought onto one of Jabba the Hutt's ships. Jan was held as a bargaining chip against the Alliance until she was again rescued by Katarn, who had to go through many extremes to save her including defeating a Kell dragon with his bare hands.

Jan and Kyle's relationship continued to deepen, but Jan feared allowing Kyle to get too close. This changed as she accompanied Kyle on their quest for the Valley of the Jedi on Ruusan, where she was captured by the Dark Jedi Jerec. Jerec asked Kyle (who came very close to the Dark Side) to execute her. Kyle refused, and Katarn defeated Jerec and sealed the Valley. Jan and Kyle declared their love for one another.

On Mon Mothma's recommendation, Jan joined 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 Grant, who was allegedly retired on Rathalay. She also accompanied Kyle, who had returned to his mercenary ways after slipping to the Dark Side on Dromund Kaas, on a number of off-the-record missions against the Imperial Remnant in their new ship, the Raven's Claw.



While following up a lead on the Reborn, Jan was captured by a failed student of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy, Desann, and his apprentice Tavion. They pretended to kill her, and Kyle 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 when Tavion confessed to Kyle that they only feigned Jan's execution, and the couple were ultimately reunited before Desann met his doom.

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

Following the end of the invasion, Kyle disappeared trying to locate Daye Azur-Jamin. Jan and Kyle's former apprentice, Jaden Korr, spent every spare moment seeking leads to Kyle's location.

Jan's right hand was cybernetic but the story behind this accident is not known.

Behind the scenes
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II comes with an alternate ending where Kyle fell to the Dark Side and, when prompted by Jerec, killed Jan. The light side ending has been deemed by Lucasfilm to be the canonical ending, and is reflected in later products.

In Dark Forces, Jan Ors is voiced by Julie Eccles, who also played as Ru Murleen in Rebel Assault II. She appears only in stills and her appearance is featureless. In Jedi Knight, she is played by Asian model Angela Harry. In Jedi Outcast, she is voiced by Vanessa Marshall. She was portrayed by actress and comedienne Mo Collins, best known for her work on MADtv, in the Dark Forces audio dramatization.

Jan Ors is also a playable character in the Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy multi-player mode.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Star Wars: Dark Forces
 * Star Wars: Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
 * Star Wars: Dark Forces: Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Equals and Opposites