Drel sat in his humble little tower just on outskirts of a small prospering town on Far Pando.
He had come here many years ago once, but since he had returned recently as a Silver Warden. He had traveled to many worlds within Wild Space and unoccupied territories within pockets of the Outer Rim. Almost on each of these many worlds, the local populace couldn't always protect themselves. It also seemed to Drel that there weren't many Wardens as he once thought. He took it upon himself to travel to all of these worlds. He would uphold peace and provide any aid he could, because it was what Silver Wardens did, and also because, It was just the right thing to do. It became even more important to him, when vagrant families of Alliance/Concord Soldiers arrived on the planet seeking refugee. Most of their husbands, mothers, daughters, and sons had served in the first wave and some of them were from worlds that had been conquered by the Drael menace.
He had been on Far Pando for over 2 weeks at the time, and was preparing to leave for a short trip to Daluuj, to check on with his friends, the Barabels. However, he decided to stay a few more days, after a complication happened with some of the townsfolk and their mayor. Drel resolved it easily enough, but he stayed to monitor the rest of the situation and tend to care for anyone else he could.
It was then, after he stood by the U-shaped pond, in the tall high grass, and had begun to meditate under the Gazebo at the edge of the pond, his quaint and humble tower placed only 60 meters away behind him now.
Drel felt something. Through the force. A presence?
He searched. Yes. It was a presence. Another Jedi?
Yes it was a Jedi or at least a good soul with force sensitivity. It wasn't extremely powerful, but he could sense kindness, care, strength, and hope.
He searched deeper and that is when he could see a young man, helping a group of workers unload supplies from a civilian transport. That was the Jedi. Drel could sense that is was. With his eyes still closed, Drel could see the young man as if his eyes were open. That meant the boy was on Far Pando and better yet was close by as he must of been at the makeshift spaceport platform that the locals had hastily made a few years ago to accommodate for the increasing number of civilian and refugee ships that delivered more and more displaced peoples.
Drel kept his eyes closed, but reached over and grabbed the commlink lying on the floor next to him. His Besalisk arms made it easier to maintain his meditation form and still pick up a small object without any worry at all.
He brought it to his mouth, to speak into.
"Creshic, my friend, are you there?"
The Barabel replied,
"Yess Jedi".
The Barabel was named Creshic Thakruul, a former tracker and bounty hunter.
He had fought with Drel when the Bryn had invaded Barab I, the Barabel homeworld. Drel arrived just in time before the Bryn closed off the planet with their forces. He joined with the Barabel Home Army, which consisted of 95% of the planet's population that were able to fight. The Barabel forces numbered at least 400,000, with support from 20 Jedi including Drel and his second Padawan, 2,000 Silver Jedi Defense Force Troops, and 75 Antarian Rangers. The Battle of Barab I was bloody and atrocious. The SJC and allies took heavy losses, however, so did the Bryn. A week into the Battle, Drel led his Padawan, 4 Jedi Knights, and 40 of the best Barabel warriors he could find and attacked the HQ of the Drael commander. They came out victorious, but not without cost. Drel slew the Commander and his personal guard himself, but was wounded. Unfortunately, his Padawan was mortally wounded and died in Drel's arms as they were evacuated by gunship. Nearly all of the Barabel that had gone with them had died, except for one, Creshic Thakruul. A month later, the Bryn wiped out the last large force of the allied forces when the capital,
Alater-ka was taken. The Silver Jedi had lost 1,840 Defense Force Troops and all but 6 Antarian Rangers. Now, with defeat inevitable, their only chance to escape was to be evacuated with the civilians offworld. As Drel and the few remaining Jedi helped get everyone onto GR-75 Transports, 200 brave Barabel held off the entire Bryn invasion force in a desperate rear guard action to allow the Jedi as much time as possible. It worked and over 530,000 were evacuated. The entire Barabel rear guard was annihilated. Drel remained for another day, going with the surviving Barabels into hiding on the planet, however they convinced him to depart and Drel promised to one day return and free their world. He escaped and returned his late Padawan's body to the young man's brother.
Creshic had joined up back with Drel after the Bryn invasion subsided. Since then he has traveled around Wild Space along Drel's side, protecting others and doing some bounty work here and there. He worships Drel as almost a living deity, especially more so, as Drel fought side by side with the Barabels to defend their homeworld
"Alright Creshic, go to the landing platform in town". "There you will find a young man, a young Jedi".
"Bring him to me if you could". "I wish to greet him".
"Yes Hasharuush, it will be donez", that word, Hasharuush, means "Strong Protector" in Barabel. A way for them to symbolize their worship of the Jedi. Barabels also put "z" at the end of some of their words in basic.
Drel put down the commlink and went back to meditating, awaiting the arrival of the young Padawan.
Creshic crept through the sprawling town, filled with small homes and bustling markets. He reached the platform, where a civilian transport had just landed. As he got closer, he could see a young man, probably a Jedi. He could tell by the Lightsaber at his side and the clothes he wore. Creshic walked to the boy's front and bowed slightly before him. He matched the description that Drel had given him and he was the only one on the platform that looked anything like a Jedi.
"Welcomez Young Jedi". "I am Creshic, at your servicez".
He lifted his head up to glare at the Padawan,
"Follow me, Jedi Natrik wishes to greet youz". He turned and looked back at the Jedi, ready to answer any questions and lead him towards Drel Natrik, Jedi Master.
Dagos Terrek
Drel Natrik
