| abstract | - Sarth was born on Commenor in 41 BBY as the firstborn son of Samtel and Lena Kraen. His journals show that his parents loved him and tried to give their son what they considered a proper upbringing. They did, however, allow their younger son, Selusda Kraen, to be taken by the Jedi Order when it was discovered he was Force-sensitive. Sarth, barely three years old, resented this, but was powerless to do anything about it. His parents recognized his natural aptitude for learning, though, and encouraged him to further his interests. By age five, Sarth was reading and was handling algebra problems by age eleven. His parents enrolled him in a nearby Munto school, where he again excelled in academics, but had few friends due to his focus on his schooling. Sarth later suggested that his youth and scholastic prowess might have intimidated others from including him in various childhood activities. However, he largely had a happy childhood and excelled in school. His eidetic memory allowed him to get high marks almost effortless and combined with his drive to succeed, established him at the top of his class. His journals indicate that he spent a lot of time with his father, learning about mechanical systems and devices. In his secondary education, Sarth noticed that one of his classmates, Annita Daowot, didn’t return to her home often; usually going to stay with one of her friends. On an impulse, Sarth followed her home from one of her friends’ houses on one occasion, but something about her body language told him that she would not welcome his company. He remained out of sight until she entered her house and then stayed in the vicinity for a few minutes. After hearing screams and angry shouting, he moved in for a closer look and saw Annita’s father, drunk, beating his daughter with a glass bottle. Sarth was horrified and immediately returned to his home to inform his father, a prominent lawyer in Munto. Samtel Kraen made his own observations and filed suit against the elder Daowot for child abuse. The court agreed and after a brief hearing, where thirteen-year-old Sarth testified to the abuse he saw, Annita was moved to her mother’s custody. He gradually developed a casual friendship with Annita, helping her in math after he caught her cheating on a test. Annita was somewhat reluctant to accept his aid, but with no other option, she allowed him to help her so she could finish secondary school. Annita eventually developed some feelings for Sarth, but he never reciprocated them-outwardly. In his journal, Sarth stated that he was attracted to Annita, but his feelings of social ineptitude and insecurity kept him from making those public. For the same reason, he avoided most social engagements at his secondary school. They graduated the same year, though Annita was two years older than him. Sarth then attended the Mrlsst Academy, where he earned a degree in droid programming. Thanks to advance HoloNet courses he had taken in secondary school, he also earned a degree in power systems in less than a year. At age seventeen, that made him the fifth-youngest Human ever to achieve such an accomplishment at that university. By age eighteen, he had completed his droid programming degree, but longed for something more challenging in that field. Upon hearing of the prestigious Magrody Institute of Programmable Intelligence, he applied and was accepted into its ranks. Shortly before his twentieth birthday, he earned an advanced degree in droid programming and the personal respect of Nasdra Magrody. However well educated Sarth was, finding a job did not come easily to him—few people believed his credentials or capability. However, as the Clone Wars dragged on, Sarth was recruited by a Republic military laboratory on Coruscant to help examine new Republic designs as well as captured Separatist technology. For several months, he was assigned to study warships, from starfighters to cruisers, but one of his supervisors, behind schedule, took the time to read over his resume. Realizing Sarth’s expertise in droid programming, he brought young Kraen over to the droid analysis division and assigned him to the droideka program. The scientists and engineers at the lab had been trying to decipher the control algorithms for the vaunted destroyer droid for some time without success. Sarth took their research and within two months had combined and added to their works in a complete control program that would allow him to take over any droideka. However, word of the impending breakthrough reached the ears of the Mistryl Shadow Guard, an expansionistic warrior society that had been embroiled in a series of conquests in their sector. Selusda Kraen later speculated that Darth Sidious may have had some hand in the Mistryl involvement, seeking to prolong the Clone Wars and deny the Republic a military advantage which would rapidly bring about the end of the conflict. At any rate, a Mistryl agent drugged Sarth with a mind-altering drug to make him forget much of his research and then wiped all his computer records. Unable to provide evidence of his breakthrough, he was summarily fired by the laboratory. Alone and unemployed on Coruscant, Sarth found himself looking for a way home. He bought passage back to Commenor on a freighter known as the Hawk-bat, but the ship experienced mechanical failure in flight. Sarth was able to help re-route power back to the hyperdrive and the impressed captain, R’hask Sei’lar, offered him a job as the ship’s engineer on the spot. Sarth accepted and spent the next several months on the Hawk-bat. He spent nearly a year on the ship and served his position well, helping engineer several upgrades for the Hawk-bat. The adventurous lifestyle, one once lived by his father, had some appeal to the typically reserved Sarth, and as Sei’lar was an old acquaintance of Samtel Kraen’s, the elder Kraens had no objection to his employment. In 19 BBY, Sarth was temporarily on Coruscant again while Sei’lar and Knrr were on a business trip to the lower levels of Coruscant. Knowing how dangerous the under city was, they left Sarth at a hotel for about a week, an arrangement he was fine with, as it allowed him to keep an eye on the Hawk-bat and plan his next few tweaks to the ship. One rainy day, on his way back to the hotel from spaceport, Sarth came across a man lying prone on the duracrete slab, and thinking he was drunk, tried to get him up. He was shocked to find that, from the obvious physical resemblance, that the man was his brother, Selusda Kraen, a Jedi Knight and a fugitive now that the Empire had declared the Jedi to be enemies of the state. Taking his battered and emotionally devastated brother back to his hotel, Sarth did his best to take care of him, knowing he had been through a hard time. However, a few days later, when Selu wanted to intervene in a lightsaber duel occurring in the Senate Hall, Sarth flatly told Selu it was pointless and furthermore, the Jedi weren’t all that beloved in the eyes of the populace anyway. Selu was initially surprised to hear that blunt news from Sarth, but realized his brother was correct-he would have to live his life in exile. Sarth offered to help him though, saying he could ask Sei’lar if he needed a skilled pilot for the Hawk-bat and Selu agreed to the idea. However, before that could happen, Sarth was abruptly kidnapped by a pair of Mistryl Shadow Guards, who were trying to forcibly recruit him into their war effort. Selu gave chase and managed to defeat and kill both of them; his cold willingness to shed blood scared Sarth, but he was glad his brother was there to protect him. Shortly afterward, Sei’lar returned, and after Selu informed the captain of his credentials, Sarth saw his brother hired as the ship’s pilot, though under the alias of “Micor Kraen.” Sarth then returned to the Hawk-bat, along with Sei’lar and Selu, where he met up with Jorge and the ship’s new cargomaster, Cassi Trealus of Bakura. He was immediately taken with Cassi and impressed with her linguistics skills, but was nervous around her at first. After a profitable reward to Bespin with a load of textiles, Captain Sei’lar took his crew to an upscale restaurant. That evening, the restaurant had a live band in to play music, and while Sarth was initially reluctant to ask Cassi to dance with him, citing inexperience, Selu set him up. His younger brother maneuvered him so that he was dancing with Cassi in the midst of the other couples and he managed to enjoy himself, even if he wasn’t that confident in his dancing skills. A subsequent cargo run to Corellia was more harrowing, as pirates attacked the Hawk-bat when it emerged from hyperspace, but Selu, aided by the rest of the crew, was able to fend off the attackers. Sarth spent the next several months on the Hawk-bat as the ship’s engineer, finding more unique ways to upgrade the freighter. He also began a casual relationship with Cassi, and found himself increasingly attracted to her. About a year later, Sarth had the opportunity to return to Commenor when Captain Sei’lar decided to make a cargo run to his homeworld. When they arrived, Sarth and Selu took the opportunity to visit their parents’ house outside the city of Munto, where Selu was reunited with his parents. However, the evening of their arrival, a pair of Mistryl Shadow Guards attempted once more to kidnap Sarth. Selu again fended them off, but was severely injured in the process. Local medical and law enforcement personnel arrived, and while Selu was attended to, Sarth encountered an old friend of his: Annita Daowot, who is now a detective in the Commenor Investigators. Sarth was initially reluctant to share information on his brother or the attack with her, as he was unsure if he could trust her, but agreed to meet her the next day in Munto to discuss the incident with more privacy. Captain Sei’lar was also alerted to the attack and brought the Hawk-bat over to the Kraen residence. After the Investigators left, Cassi talked with Sarth privately, although Sarth was somewhat unwilling to tell her everything for fear of her safety. She convinced him to tell her the truth though, and he explained the Mistryl threat to her, but kept Selu’s identity secret. Cassi said that she wanted to help him through this trial and the two shared their first kiss. The next day, Captain Sei’lar departed from Commenor with Jorge and Selu in the Hawk-bat, heading to the world of New Holstice, where he planned on taking Selu to its famous medcenter. Sarth was left behind on Commenor to aid with the investigation and for his own safety and Cassi volunteered to remain behind with him. To help protect them, Captain Sei’lar arranged with a friend of his, Bwilor of Durashield Securities, to leave a security team to watch over the Kraens. Sarth was initially suspicious when he saw that the time included two ex-clone troopers, including one whom Selu had known in the wars, but the Selu and the ex-trooper, Spectre, managed to settle their differences before Selu left. Later, Sarth went to lunch with Annita, who was able to pry the truth about the Mistryl out of him. However, they were interrupted by another Mistryl attack, this one by a lone swoop rider. Annita and Sarth fended off the Mistryl attacker with the aid of a bodyguard, but in the process, Sarth was exposed to the reality of Annita’s harsh childhood when he saw the scars on her back left by her abusive father. With the increasing boldness shown by the Mistryl, Annita decided to move Sarth, Cassi, and the elder Kraens to a remote safehouse in rural Commenor. Though the quarters are cramped, Sarth tried to make the best of the accommodations, hoping that Annita would either track down the Mistryl or Selu would return from New Holstice. Little did he know that Annita had some attraction for him and was jealous of his relationship with Cassi. In the mean time, he spent as much time as possible with Cassi, though usually with little privacy. Even when he took her on a picnic in the woods, he was accompanied by bodyguards. After Sarth had spent about two weeks at the safehouse, though, the Mistryl discovered its location and attacked at night. Though the bodyguards from Durashield Securities fended off the assault, Sarth and Cassi sustained minor injuries and while Spectre was badly wounded, another guard, Twone, ended up succumbing to his wounds. The entire group was evacuated back to a Munto medcenter, but while there, Sarth received a message from Selu, who was en route back to Commenor. Selu informed him of the death of Captain Sei’lar at the hands of the Empire, saddening Sarth and Cassi, but they were interrupted by a transmission from the Mistryl. After the failed assault on the safehouse, the Mistryl had kidnapped Annita Daowot and told Sarth that she would be killed if he didn’t surrender. Sarth realized that his surrender was the only way to save Annita and decided to comply, worrying Cassi. However, before he could do so, Selu landed and, posing as Sarth, surrendered to the Mistryl in his stead. Sarth was reunited with Jorge and a new member of the Hawk-bat’s crew, Echani runaway Milya Tayrce, but was shocked to hear that Selu had gone in his place. During this time, he also let slip Selu’s true identity, but Cassi promised him she would keep it secret. While they were contemplating their next move, Selu was able to relay Annita’s location, and Sarth, Cassi, and Spectre were able to rescue her, though most of the actual work fell to Spectre. Upon returning to the medcenter, Sarth and the other crewmembers were convinced by Milya into taking the Hawk-bat and journeying to the Mistryl homeworld of Emberlene in an attempt to rescue Selu. Though they managed to reach Emberlene without incident, they were attacked by patrol fighters. The arrival of a sizable hostile fleet changed that, though, and the Hawk-bat was able to slip down to the surface and obtain Selu’s location in the confusion of the pending battle. Landing near a large Mistryl command center, Sarth, Spectre, and Milya battled their way inside and determined from a telekinetically thrown chair that Selu was up several levels. However, en route, Sarth noticed a pair of droidekas in a storage unit. Using his freshly reconstructed code, which he had stored on his datapad, Sarth was able to take control of the droids. Taking them with him, Sarth, Milya, and Spectre ascended to Selu’s level to find a Dark Jedi, Asajj Ventress, preparing to kill Selu. Sarth’s droidekas chased her off, though, but Sarth was alerted to the presence of a computer core that Selu had obtained through the Car’das Syndicate to help disable Emberlene’s planetary defenses. Investigating it, Sarth soon found it was a timed fission bomb, not a computer core, and he, Spectre, and Milya frantically hailed Jorge and Cassi on the Hawk-bat for immediately pickup. The ship escaped just as the bomb detonated, opening the way for the subsequent devastation of Emberlene by the hostile fleet. The Hawk-bat escaped, and Sarth, along with Milya and other crew, was able to convince an injured and despondent Selu to regain the will to live, even after the destruction on Emberlene. Returning to Commenor, Sarth was pleased to find that Annita and Cassi had made up, and eventually Selu made a full recovery. At a crew meeting, Jorge announced that he no longer had any desire to be the captain of the Hawk-bat, leaving the others to decide their new captain, though Milya and Spectre officially joined the crew at this point. They selected Selu as captain and Sarth’s brother accepted, but warned them that they might venture towards less legal ventures in his tenure. Over the next year, Sarth continued to serve as an engineer on the Hawk-bat as the ship’s voyages began nearing the line between cargo carrier and smuggler vessel. He also grew closer to Cassi, to point where he felt he was ready to ask for her hand in marriage. However, though he planned to do it on a cargo run to Zhar, the ship’s crew was called to action before he could do so. On a routine cargo run to Zhar, the Hawk-bat was boarded by an Imperial Star Destroyer. Cassi was told to remain onboard by Selu and wait for his signal to jettison an escape pod loaded with explosives as a drastic last-ditch effort. Sarth could do little but watch as the Imperials began interrogating Selu. When an Imperial Inquisitor began savagely beating Selu and threatened Milya, Selu signaled her to launch the pod. The ensuing explosion bought time for the ship to escape and flee, but Selu was forced to make a blind jump into hyperspace to escape the Star Destroyer. The damaged freighter set down on a desolate world to make repairs, but they discovered a strange glowing emanating from a fissure in the ground. Cassi and Sarth fell in and Selu jumped after them, rescuing them both. The full crew of the Hawk-bat descended into the rocks of the airless crevice to help get the three of them out. Selu sensed a disturbance in the Force, but having rejected his Jedi heritage was intent on leaving. However, dislodged boulders nearly proved disastrous for the crew, as they just barely managed to tuck into a previously-hidden side passage. Now cut off from the Hawk-bat, they were forced to head down the tunnel. The crew followed the subterranean passages, which led them to a sizable tower constructed on the floor of a previously concealed crater. As they approached, the spirits of eleven Jedi appeared and bade them enter the tower. Sarth was at first apprehensive, but the spirits explained that destiny had brought the five of them there to fulfill a prophecy. The Jedi spirits told them that the prophecy had spoken of five who would unite Force-users, and that they had been waiting for them for years. Sarth was initially skeptical, but was able to reason through the likelihood of their arrival being a coincidence and conclude that the prophecy was real. Selu needed additional persuasion, but eventually came around. The spirits showed them how to unlock Force potential that had been stored inside of an ancient artifact, and told Sarth that he would take on the role of a thinker with his new power. Bestowed with new Force potential, Sarth began training under some of the ancient Jedi spirits and Selu as he began working towards becoming the thinker that the prophecy spoke of. For her part, Cassi exhibited a natural talent towards diplomacy and healing, and often trained with Sarth, as neither of them were skilled in combat like Milya or Spectre. Sarth also proposed to her during their training, and she accepted. Sarth and the rest of the crew spent several months on the remote planet, learning the ways of the Force. Eventually, Cassi had a vision that the Jedi would need lightsabers and began scavenging parts from the Hawk-bat to help provide the material to do so, with Sarth’s help. When the time came, he constructed a brilliant blue lightsaber, the same color as Cassi's. However, their remote refuge was threatened by the arrival of an Imperial scout ship. Sarth joined with the others in taking the Hawk-bat and boarding the scout ship and they quickly captured the crew. Upon learning of instructions from the Jedi ghosts and combining that information with the ship’s itinerary, they soon learned that the Empire was on the hunt for three other groups of Force-users. The crew decided to split up and journey to each of the groups, in hopes of persuading them to unify, as the Jedi spirits had claimed that was their only chance for survival. Sarth and Cassi took the Hawk-bat to the chilly world of Tokmia, where the Jal Shey, a meditative and philosophical group of Force adepts were located. Arriving on Tokmia, Sarth and Cassi made their way to the remote Jal Shey refuge and were welcomed. After a few days, they addressed the entire adult Jal Shey populace and presented their warning of impending Imperial attack, as well as the danger. The Jal Shey were somewhat distrustful of them and were unpersuaded, frustrating Sarth. He headed back to the Hawk-bat to inform Selu. Upon his return, Cassi was deliberately kept from him while the Jal Shey tested his sincerity, though she was unaware of the nature of the test. Sarth passed their test and, combined with the news from Selu that they had found a refuge world, was able to persuade the Jal Shey to unite with them. Delivering the answer to the Jal Shey, they succeeded in their mission as the Jal Shey then agreed to journey with them to the new refuge of Force users that Selu was planning on establishing. They met with Selu, Spectre, and Milya in the Mataou remote system, where the others had seized an Imperial ship and brought two more groups of Force-users, the Matukai and Zeison Sha, into the fold. Sarth was able to explore some of their ship's technology and learn of the experimental systems onboard, as well as meet a collective of Xi Charrian engineers who had been taken prisoner by the Empire and liberated by Selu. The combined group headed to Yanibar, home of their new refuge. After destroying an Imperial garrison there, the refuge was established. However, Sarth soon realized that the Hawk-bat had received a message reminding them of the impending marriage of Annita Daowot and Jorgesoll Knrr back on Commenor. The five members of the Hawk-bat’s crew returned to Commenor for the celebration, but learned from Annita and Jorge that the Empire had been quietly observing them. As suspected, the Empire disrupted the wedding, but Sarth and his fellow crewmembers were ready for them. Igniting his lightsaber, he sprang to the defense of the wedding party as the guests fled. Holding off the Imperials for long enough, the crew, Annita, Jorge, and Selu’s parents then boarded the Hawk-bat, which Sarth had retrieved and flown over to their location, and left Commenor permanently. Sarth and Cassi were married on Yanibar shortly afterward in a double wedding with Annita and Jorge. Sarth consulted with the leader of the Xi Charrians and decided to establish a new defense supply company with their aid, working with old Separatist weapons caches that Selu had obtained the location of to help create new designs. Dubbed Kraechar Arms, it was to be his primary occupation for the next year as he worked on establishing production facilities and setting up designs. He was aided by the fact that the Griffin was not just a transport, but a prototype factory ship equipped with molecular furnaces that could produce any kind of material. Still, setting up Kraechar Arms took up much of Sarth’s time over the next year. It wasn’t until 14.5 BBY that the company even released its first products, and even those were limited in scale. He and Cassi also helped construct a large house, which was shared by all of the Hawk-bat crewmembers. It had been more economical to simply build one large dwelling rather than several smaller ones, and the building was roomy enough for Sarth and Cassi to have space to themselves. The crew was used to living together anyway, so the arrangement suited them. It also gave them a chance to practice their Jedi training when they had time, which for Sarth was admittedly not very often. In 14 BBY, Sarth found out that that he was to be a father, and late in that year, Cassi gave birth to a son, Akleyn Kraen, to the joy of the proud father. He redoubled his efforts on making Kraechar Arms profitable in order to support his new family, even while trying to spend time with Cassi and Akleyn, though that meant that he mostly neglected his Jedi training. He did, however, leave Yanibar in 12 BBY on a mission with Selu and Spectre to recruit the Freedom’s Sons organization into coming to Yanibar. As Kraechar Arms continued to grow, Sarth supervised both its exports of old Separatist hardware to help fund the company and the Yanibar refuge, while it developed its own indigenous designs. His work with droidekas paid off, as the colony was able to employ them as part of its defense force, which was led by Selu, Milya, and Spectre. One of his proudest moments came in 11 BBY, when the newly founded Kraechar Arms shipyard produced its first ship, an Ataru-class gunship, along with two squadrons of Shoto starfighters, for delivery to the Yanibar Guard. Previously, a few squadrons of old droid starfighters and even older ships from Freedom’s Sons had been the colony’s primary space defense, but Sarth was glad to see that Kraechar Arms had taken the lead in providing the Yanibar Guard with modernized ships. Later that year, he and Cassi also attended the wedding of Selu Kraen and Milya Tayrce, serving as the best man for Selu. Sarth and Cassi continued their lives on Yanibar, and Sarth spearheaded new efforts to develop high-quality systems for use by the Yanibar Guard even while he helped raise Akleyn. One such system was the Battlesuit52, the signature powered armor employed by Yanibar Guard infantry. Sarth also worked on some projects for himself and his family, building a droid for Selu and Milya and customizing a small yacht for himself and Cassi, the Silent Surprise. In 0 BBY, he undertook a rare offworld mission alongside Selu, Milya, Spectre, and the elite commandos of Cresh Squad. Boarding an Imperial Star Destroyer incognito, Sarth's assignment for the mission was to retrieve a full Imperial computer core from the depths of the Star Destroyer, plundering the valuable data and secrets. The infiltration team was able to reach the computer control center successfully, but Sarth's slicing soon set off an alarm, prompting waves of Imperials to advance on their position. As he was finishing the extraction protocol, a massive disturbance in the Force, generated by the Empire's destruction of Alderaan light-years away, rendered Sarth, Milya, Selu, and Spectre virtually catatonic. The Cresh Squad slicer, Dex Naresco, took over the operation and finished removing the core. Sarth and the others recovered in time to make a frantic getaway through the corridors of the Star Destroyer and they fled in an escape pod amidst several diversions. Their pod was retrieved by a Yanibar Guard gunship and they returned to Yanibar with their prize intact. Shortly thereafter, Sarth and Cassi bid Akleyn farewell as their son headed off to university. Though Yanibar's educational system had improved drastically, it was not of the elite caliber that Sarth and Cassi felt would be best for Akleyn, who was academically gifted and had an interest in becoming a doctor. However, even while Akleyn was away at school, the galaxy became increasingly engulfed in the Galactic Civil War. For the most part, Yanibar stayed out of the conflict, participating in minor raids against the Empire and its allies, as well as funneling small amounts of supplies to the Rebel Alliance. In late 3 ABY, Sarth learned from Spectre that the ex-ARC's ability to use the Force had been inexplicably diminishing at certain crucial times. Concerned for their friend, Sarth and Cassi resolved to look up Sarth's old mentor, Nasdra Magrody, who had conducted research into understanding how the Force worked years earlier. Sarth attempted to contact him, but was unable to reach the scientist. Concerned for Magrody's safety, he and Cassi journeyed to Corulag, where Magrody worked at a university there, to try and locate him in person. At the Magrody Institute, Sarth and Cassi met a student named Alris, as well as his professor, an Alderaanian, Dr. Benzep-Naes. Both of them seemed to have information about Magrody, leading to Sarth and Cassi meeting them in Benzep-Naes's office. The student and professor were leery of Sarth and Cassi at first, particularly after Sarth deduced they were agents for the Rebel Alliance. However, the two were able to convince the doctor of their sincerity in wanting to help Nasdra Magrody, so Benzep-Naes gave them Magrody's address. Sarth and Cassi journeyed to the residence, but found it empty. They did find evidence of a kidnapping, though, and they took the few clues that were left there with them. Though Cassi's patience was beginning to wear thin, she agreed to stop by Bespin to visit Jorge and Annita Knrr. They arrived in the middle of a Rebel attack on the Imperial-held Cloud City, but an undercover Yanibar Guard agent named Hasla Almani helped shoot off some Imperial pursuit. They landed safely and Annita was able to help them with their search by tracing the piece of evidence to Mandalore. Before they left, though, Sarth and Cassi met with Hasla, who'd been shot down and had made her way to Jorge's business. Hasla was insistent that she should return to the Rebellion, that the Force was telling her to do so against her orders, and Sarth and Cassi helped convince Jorge and Annita to let Hasla follow her heart. They were reluctant, but acceded. However, this suborning of their authority, as well as certain business deals with the underworld Zann Consortium, displeased Selu considerably, who made sure to voice his disapproval to Sarth. On Mandalore, Sarth and Cassi made quiet inquiries about the location of the Magrody's, whom they'd learned had been kidnapped by Imperial Intelligence and were probably being held on Mandalore. They were met by a Dug named Zloskiba and several thugs in the employ of the Zann Consortium, who offered their assistance. Sarth and Cassi reluctantly accepted their aid, but Zloskiba and his crew soon passed on the location of the Imperial safehouse. Sarth and Cassi assaulted it in a daring raid and found that Shenna and Elizie Magrody, the wife and daughter of Nasdra, were being held there. They freed them, but were pursued. Sarth and Cassi sent the two freed prisoners to meet up with their ship, Silent Surprise, while they drew off pursuit. They were surrounded by the Imperials, but the quick intervention of Zloskiba's crew turned the tables. The Imperials were all slain and the two Magrody's made an escape thanks to the sophisticated automation on the Silent Surprise. However, the Zannists betrayed and captured them shortly thereafter, as they'd learned Sarth's and Cassi's true identities. At first, the Zannists intended to extort them into giving up control of Kraechar Arms and Zloskiba tortured both of them in an attempt to make them capitulate. They resisted, though, and thanks to Cassi's Force healing, were able to endure it. At one point, Cassi made an attempt to blast free, using the Force to seize a weapon and inflict considerable damage, but they were halted and restrained. Furthermore, word was sent from Tyber Zann, the head of the Zann Consortium, to bring Sarth and Cassi to his flagship, the Merciless. Zann had learned that the Yanibar Guard had been sabotaging his facilities and arms, as well as luring his fleet into a trap at Kuat. He intended to use Sarth and Cassi as hostages, as well as extract any information he could from them. Sarth attempted to stall Zann, but the crime lord's use of Force-blocking ysalamiri rendered many of their advantages useless. When Zann ran out of patience and angrily threatened to molest Cassi, Sarth capitulated and gave the crime lord information about Yanibar and its defenses. He didn't reveal the true Force-based nature of the refuge, but he nevertheless divulged valuable secrets to Zann. As Zann's war fleet arrived over Yanibar, Sarth was able to steal a comlink and send a covert message to the Yanibar Guard, informing them of their location and giving them the location of a set of computer codes that would allow the Guard to temporarily seize control of Zann's Droideka Mk. IIs. Both parts of his message were put to use, as the Yanibar Guard was able to repulse Zann's forces in ground and in space, while Spectre led Cresh Squad on a risky boarding maneuver to rescue Sarth and Cassi. While the commandos sabotaged the Merciless, Spectre, his step-son Nate, and the Cresh Squad medic, Jabri C'esta rescued Sarth and Cassi. En route to the Hawk-bat for exfiltration, they were attacked by Tyber Zann and his hulking henchman, Urai Fen. Spectre and the others defeated them, but a last-second grenade by Zann mortally wounded Spectre and Nate. Sarth and Cassi were semi-conscious from the blast, so Jabri carried both of them back to the Hawk-bat. They escaped just in time before the Merciless exploded, taking most of Zann's fleet, as well as Spectre, Nate, and Zann himself with it. Sarth and Cassi awoke in a Yanibar medcenter, where Milya soon informed them of Spectre's and Nate's sacrifice, which both shocked and saddened them. The next year was one of rebuilding. Sarth poured his efforts into replacing what had been destroyed in the Battle of Yanibar, working at a frenetic pace as an outlet for his grief. In 5 ABY, though, Sarth and the other Kraens, as well as Jorge, Annita, and their son Bryndar, took a break and journeyed to the neutral Corporate Sector world of R'alla for a much-needed vacation. They were able to relax at a comfortable beach house—until a dead, tortured alien washed up in the middle of the storm. A fake patrol confirmed their fears that something suspicious was occurring on R'alla. Tracing his path, Selu, Milya, Jorge, and Annita soon located an Imperial lab, while Sarth, Cassi, and Nate's widow, Ana Vondar Kraen, enlisted the aid of a Corporate Sector Authority official named Fiolla of Lorrd. Together, and with some unexpected aid from Akleyn, Bryndar, and Spectre's daughter Jasika, they were able to clear the Imperial lab, where experiments had been performed on a group of Wroonians. The younger Kraens and Knrrs were endangered by a group of stormtroopers, but Sarth, Cassi, and Selu were able to save them. Once the lab's personnel were defeated and the Wroonians freed, the ersatz vacationers returned to their beach house and prepared to leave. While the Wroonians were evacuated back to Yanibar, their intervention meant that Fiolla had cut their vacation short. Before they left, though, the true legacy of the older Kraens and Knrrs was revealed to the younger generation for the first time. In 10 ABY, Sarth went to a technical convention on Hosk Station, accompanied by Cassi. Though Sarth was preoccupied with the technical aspects of the material and seminars, he promised to spend time with her. They shared a pleasant dinner and evening in the station's hotel lounge, although the following day, Sarth spent most of the day attending meetings and engrossed in reading presentations. Cassi eventually coaxed him into taking a walk with her along the hotel's artificial seaside. They also used the trip as an opportunity to practice their Force skills, and while they were meditating inside a Force camouflage bubble, their hotel room was broken into by a group of New Republic intelligence agents who were assisting the defection of an Imperial scientist, Dmelte Volyken. Suspecting that they were witnessing a kidnapping, Sarth and Cassi retrieved their lightsabers while still invisible and then emerged to confront them. Once the New Republic agents, all members of Wraith Squadron, explained their mission, Sarth and Cassi agreed to help them by guiding one of their members, a Force-sensitive named Tyria, who had been separated back to the apartment, as well as keeping quiet about the Wraiths' presence. In return, they asked for a copy of Volyken's research and an unspecified favor to be repaid later. Before they parted ways, Sarth and Cassi gave Tyria a token that would help her find her way to Yanibar where she could be trained as a Jedi. In 14 ABY, Cassi, Sarth, and their adult son Akleyn went to visit her parents Larik and Astara on Bakura. While there, they were invited to a gala in the city of Salis D'aar. During the event, a group of ruffians intruded on the grounds and disrupted the party. Akleyn became caught up with a young woman named Callie who saw him use the Force to heal an injured man—she asked him if he would help treat an injured refugee. Akleyn agreed to follow her, leaving only a note which Cassi was able to retrieve. Both Sarth and Cassi were worried about their son, but that evening Akleyn contacted them, asking for their help in treating a sick Sephi child who was living incognito in a refugee camp. Sarth and Cassi agreed to help and brought the Silent Surprise over to assist. They treated the child and then invited the Sephi, who were not popular on Bakura, to live on Yanibar. Callie accompanied them, revealing that her name was actually Callista Ming, a former Jedi Knight who had lost her connection to the Force. When Selu and Milya's daughter, Rhiannon, fell in love with an Outsider, Sarth and Cassi were invited to weigh in on the matter, and were apprised of the situation by J7-A0, the droid who had been programmed to look after Rhiannon by Sarth. Ultimately, Selu and Milya agreed to bless the relationship, and Sarth happily attended her niece's wedding in 18 ABY. Sadly for Sarth, though, Callista left Akleyn after he and several other of Yanibar's best healers were able to restore her connection to the Force. Her inexplicable and sudden departure crushed Akleyn emotionally, and he became a surly performance-driven alcoholic, despite the best efforts of his family to console him. He became a bitter man, an acerbic surgeon, and wanted nothing to do with people, leaving him isolated from his family. In 22 ABY, Sarth accompanied Cassi, Selu, and Milya to Coruscant incognito to observe the newly re-established Galactic Games. Sarth's nephews Ryion and Zeyn, along with two other young Force-sensitive Elite Guardians, Qedai and Ariada, were competing on behalf of Yanibar. While Sarth and Cassi were largely there to watch the events, Selu and Milya also appropriated Sarth's help in some of their intelligence-gathering missions on Coruscant. One of the events they made sure to attend was Zeyn's turbo-skiing competition, as they wanted to encourage him since his mother had been estranged from him after he joined the Elite Guardians and his father had died years ago saving their lives. Ryion ended up thwarting an assassination attempt on Leia Organa Solo , the New Republic's chief of state, but was injured in the process. Sarth and Cassi made their way to the infirmary where he was being treated and unsuccessfully arguing to leave before security locked down the premises. They were surprised as anyone when Leia Organa Solo and her entourage appeared to thank him. Selu was able to negotiate the Yanibar party's immediate departure from Coruscant, as well as a non-interference agreement from a grateful Organa Solo, and they returned home. Cassi helped treat Ryion's injuries en route, though he ended up losing a finger on his left hand from a blaster wound. Sarth helped him by devising a detachable cybernetic gauntlet to replace the fingers and strengthen that weakened hand when attached. Sarth remained on Yanibar when the Yuuzhan Vong War broke out, while his wife was increasingly occupied with running a relief organization called Open Hands. He became engulfed with a flood of new Yanibar Guard projects to help combat the alien invaders. The most elaborate of these new projects was the highly-advanced Avatar walker, which Sarth dubbed his most terrifying and complex war machine after participating in its extensive redesign. When Ryion and his team brought back a cache of information retrieved from the home of a Dark Jedi, Sarth and Kraechar Arms were enlisted to help study the material, which included descriptions of Sith bio-weapons. Meanwhile, he and his scientists were also finishing work on an experimental weapon that could potentially trap entire Yuuzhan Vong fleets. Based off the ancient Mass Shadow Generator, the dark mass shadow mines employed dark matter to befoul hyperspace in a wide area. Ryion and Ariada helped him with this, but Ariada fell to the dark side due to her anger with the Yuuzhan Vong and broke into a secure data storage area to investigate the files retrieved from the Dark Jedi. She was captured and convicted of multiple offenses. However, not long afterward, she managed to escape her prison just as the Yanibar Guard was contemplating an intervention at Rishi, a world threatened by Yuuzhan Vong attack. Knowing that Ariada could compromise the DMS mine technology, the Yanibar Guard opted to send an expeditionary force that hoped to employ Sarth's mines to inflict serious damage on the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, one of Cassi's refugee camps had come under attack and she herself had been wounded. Cassi was rescued by J7-A0 and a Shaper of Kro Var named Mithunir, who asked for her help in finding a legendary planet called Atlaradis. She consulted Sarth, who was reluctant for her to go, but acquiesced. Milya, Jorge, and Annita also accompanied Cassi and Mithunir in their search. For his part, Sarth was able to convince Akleyn to join a relief expedition to Rishi, serving as a doctor to the many refugees on the world. Sarth also helped repair damage that J7-A0 had incurred protecting Cassi and manumitted the droid in gratitude for his years of faithful service. However, his primary responsibility was laying mines around Yanibar and other worlds valuable to the refuge, including Revan's tower. J7 offered to assist him and Sarth was grateful for the company. While they were laying a belt of mines to defend Revan's tower, they were encroached upon by a frigate belonging to a group of Dark Jedi that Ariada had allied herself with. J7 volunteered to stay on the surface and set off the mines while Sarth made his escape, and Sarth reluctantly agreed. The resulting intervention allowed Sarth to escape on the Yanibar Guard gunship that had been laying the mines, while Ariada and her allies likewise fled before the detonation with considerable damage to their ship. However, the mines as well as additional explosives laid by the Dark Jedi cut off the planetoid from the rest of the galaxy. In response, the Dark Jedi forced Ariada to lead them to Yanibar and conceal their ship using the Force, which she did under duress. The result was an attack on Yanibar that also allowed a group of Yuuzhan Vong to plant a gravity-altering dovin basal on Yanibar. Though they covered their tracks, Ariada revealed the treachery to the Yanibar Guard, and they were able to destroy the dovin basal. However, its effects on one of Yanibar's moons, Yorbinal, were still devastating. Sarth realized that the moon's adjusted orbit, though not terminal, would wreak havoc on Yanibar within several years due to tidal and tectonic disturbances. It was this bad news he presented to Yanibar Guard forces returning from Rishi, where they had fought the Yuuzhan Vong to a bloody standstill. In the midst of the darkness, Cassi brought hope: she and Milya had found the legendary planet of Atlaradis, which promised to be a new safe haven for the people of Yanibar once the hyperroute that led there re-opened in ten years. Thus, Sarth's new assignment besides helping defend Yanibar became finding a way to stall or avert the effects of Yorbinal's altered orbit and producing ships to help evacuate Yanibar's populace to Atlaradis in a single trip due to the temporary nature of the hyperroute. In 38 ABY, as the time for evacuation to Atlaradis drew near, Qedai, Cassi, and many other members of the Kraen family left Yanibar covertly to deal with Ariada, who had launched a campaign of galactic terror. Akleyn and Sarth were left behind, as Sarth was heading up the evacuation effort. The lack of Council approval for the mission meant that both Akleyn and Sarth were discreetly placed under observation. Akleyn visited Sarth at work one day and both lamented their wives' absence in the midst of the trying times they faced. Eventually, Cassi and Qedai returned to Yanibar after Selu was able to straighten out their authority issues with the Council. However, while Sarth was heading to a Council meeting to report on the status of the evacuation, he found them being held hostage by one of Ariada's assassins. He intervened, but was severely wounded. Qedai, Akleyn, and Cassi arrived in time to stop the assassin and save his life, but just barely. Unfortunately, the Council perished due to a biological attack unleashed by the assassin. Akleyn helped supervise his father's convalescence even as Sarth was pressured to do more to assist in the troubled evacuation effort. When Rhiannon and her son Tavin arrived for a visit, Akleyn helped his parents host them, showing them around. Although the replacement Council wanted to appoint Sarth as the new chairman until the exodus was complete, Cassi instead volunteered, based on her experience running a refugee movement. Sarth supported her, knowing that she would be good at the job, and would also relieve him from the additional tasking. However, despite Sarth's best efforts, the evacuation ships were still underpowered and unable to lift off from Yanibar when fully loaded. Help arrived from an unexpected direction when Zeyn returned from a mission to Zonama Sekot accompanied by a prominent scientist named Danni Quee as well as a group of Yuuzhan Vong, who offered to use the same dovin basal technology that had doomed Yanibar to help lift their ships as a goodwill gesture. Sarth was initially skeptical, but Zeyn and Danni were able to persuade him of the Yuuzhan Vong's sincerity. After a prolonged Council debate, the Yanibar refuge agreed to accept the Yuuzhan Vong's work, and Sarth asked Danni to supervise their efforts. Working together, they were able to modify the evacuation ships such that they were able to lift off fully loaded. Elsewhere, casualties began to mount as the search for Ariada continued. Morgedh clan Kel'nerh fell on Bespin, while Ryion and the Jedi Knight Jaina Solo were captured. Akleyn and Qedai left to join the final mission to stop Ariada, but while they were successful and freed Jaina and Ryion, Selu and Milya sacrificed themselves to stop Ariada from killing millions on Coruscant and Bespin. They were memorialized at a ceremony on the Yanibar Guard flagship over Yanibar, which was attended not only by Sarth and the rest of the Kraen family, but also by Jedi and Galactic Alliance dignitaries with whom Selu had reconciled. Following the ceremony, the Yanibar refuge prepared to leave for Atlaradis. The Yuuzhan Vong departed in peace, while Rhiannon and her family opted to go with the rest of the Outsiders to a different world. As for Sarth and the rest of the Force exiles, they departed for Atlaradis.
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