Beginning of Jan Ors, Dissident
Jan was born on Alderaan. Her parents (a choreographer and engineer) were not in agreement with Alderaan’s pacificm after the Clone Wars and helped found the Justice Action Network, named after her. The group was considered to be an anti Empire Terrorist group. Jan joined this group when old enough, but eventually left it for the Rebel Alliance itself.
Her earliest contributions were under the code name Jan Strange. She had infiltrated the Imperial Intelligence. This was a difficult job, she had to be involved in the capture of anti imperial dissidents, “interrogation” (which may well have involved spreading false intel) and then help them plausibly escape. Sometimes the escapes failed.
Rebel Agent Jan Ors
She had during this time left the JAN network and joined the Rebellion. She was on a rebel held asteroid that transmitted news to the galaxy to counter imperial propaganda when it was attacked during an Imperial training mission. The Cadet Leader was Kyle Katarn. The only reason she, or any others survived is that after a tough battle, when the imperials broke through, they surrendered and Katarn ignored senior advice and accepted it. The Alliance sent reinformcements before the Empire, so Jan and her team were able to escape.
Thus led to her fateful encounter with Kyle Katarn. Soon after, on a voyage on a stellar liner, she and her team bumped into Kyle, a freshly minted and medalled Lieutentant Imperial. Initially they clashed but on a name exchange, Jan realized she had information Kyle deserved. One of her team was AC. The holorecording news droid had been there when the moon of Sulon was attacked by the ‘alleged’ Rebel Alliance that killed Morgan Katarn, Kyle’s father. But the holo the droid showed was a very different version of events. Kyle figured out who was really responsible for his fathers death.
Later, Kyle helped Jan repair her ship, docked in the hanger, and asked how to join up. But there was another Imperial officer who had graduated with Kyle on the ship. That officer warned him she had been outed (assuming Kyle was not in the know). Katarn and Jan, along with her team, escaped, though AC was lost.
When Mon Mothma gave Katarn the mission to steal the death star plans it was also a test. She sent Jan to kill him if he betrayed them. As it turned out though, Jan Ors already had feelings for Kyle. In fact, she’d intentionally exaggerated and framed her Alliance reports to give him that extra boost to get the Alliance to accept him.
Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn continued to be a team. She did the dangerous pick up missions for him on Danura when he stole the Death Star plans, as well as during mission to stop General Mohc’s dark troopers. She occasionally covered for him when he went off on his own, searching for clues on who precisely killed his father. Going up against fallen Jedi like Jerec and his followers is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes she rescued Katarn. Sometimes he rescued her.
Rebel Agent to New Republic Intelligence.
While Katarn went on to have a famous career, Jan Ors’s is far more secretive. She carried weapons that would shock the ordinary business as usual passerby. She still went on undercover missions for Alliance intelligence, after the Declaration of a New Republic joining Alpha Blue, the New Republic’s intelligence Agency. It was she who uncovered the Yevetha threat, while also keeping an eye on other potentials. In her position she could assign Katarn’s off record missions against the Empire and even go along. Together they discovered the former Jedi Student Desanne and his ties to the Empire, nearly at the cost of her life.
As close as they were, they never did marry. Jan was reluctant for such a committment given the dangerous lifestyle of both.
Real Life
Jan Ors Actress:
VO in Dark Forces was Julie Eccles
Actor in Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight was Angela Harry
VO in Jedi Outcast was Vanessa Marshall, likeness was still bsased on Angela Harry
Sources
- Dark Forces (game)
- Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight (game)
- Jedi Outcast
- Dark Forces Soldier for the Empire by William Deitz (Novella & audio drama)
- Dark Forces Rebel Agent by William Deitz (Novella & audio drama)
- Dark Forces Jedi Knight by William Deitz (Novella & audio drama)
- Dark Forces game manual
- Craken’s Rebel Field Guide (WEG)
- Star Wars Tales 21: Equals and Opposites
- Wizards of the Coast Unsung Heroes of the Light
- https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/Star-Wars/Jan-Ors/
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366043/
