Allies: Old Republic & New Republic

Although information is extremely scant, Antarian Rangers may be allied to the Old Republic and the New Republic. Star Wars Miniatures, Jedi Academy Set, establishes the Antarian Rangers’ “affinity” with these two factions. However, aside from their relations to the Jedi Order during the Old Republic, little is known of their relations at large. Hero’s Guide mentions in a somehow contradictory fashion “that many are wary of any independent organization that goes about so heavily armed during the relative peace of the Old Republic”.

Regarding the relation with the New Republic, more details are available, though through deduction. Primary sources indicate that:

“Until a New Republic Intelligence reconnaissance mission had brought her and a few other rescuees offworld”;

“She is a member of the Antarian Rangers”;

“I got into the New Republic Academy pretty much for one reason: because I demonstrated I had a little control over the Force” (…) “They were hoping you’d train up to be a new Luke Skywalker”;

“Immediately the offer to try out for this squadron came in – and I later learned that it was just because of my Ranger experience”;
With Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Order rising after the defeat of the Empire, a small group of Antarian Rangers from the old days has tried to revitalize the organization with limited success”;

Primarily assisting with Luke Skywalker's “Great River” [25 – 29 ABY] and helping combat the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, this new group of Rangers numbers at no more than 50 or 60 beings;

The following events can be dated in order to give a sense of the status of the Antarian Rangers during the New Republic era:

4 ABY: Declaration of New Republic;
7.5 ABY: Events depicted in X-Wing: Wraith Squadron;
9 ABY: Toprawa still under Imperial rule;
10ABY: Final death of the Emperor;
11 ABY: Foundation of Luke Skywalker’s Praxeum;
19 ABY: The signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty ends the Galactic Civil War;
25-29ABY: Yuuzhan Vong conflict and “Great River”;

Events depicted in X-wing: Wraith Squadron inform that the New Republic, sometimes between 4 ABY and 7.5ABY, had knowledge of the Antarian Rangers (more accurately, 7.5ABY minus Sarkin’s stint at the New Republic Academy and her subsequent passage in Repness’ remedial squadron) and that Luke Skywalker had rebuked Sarkin as a Jedi trainee between 4ABY and the novel’s timeframe. While there is no evidence indicating that Sarkin had made her Ranger allegiance known to Skywalker, obviously, the New Republic knew of it (Wedge Antilles casually states that “she is a member of the Antarian Rangers”) and also knew of her Force sensitivity (the reason why she was recruited in the Academy in the first place). Therefore, it seems unlikely that Skywalker didn’t have access to this information.

Therefore, it is possible to interpret Hero’s Guide events “Jedi Order rising” and “defeat of the Empire” with the earliest dates (10-11ABY) – noting that on New Republic controlled worlds, Antarian Rangers would not need to keep on hiding as early as 4ABY.

A conservative estimate would put the resurgence of the Antarian Rangers organization around 10-11ABY, around which time, they likely established some relationship with the New Republic (and were viewed favourably – based on the treatment for Sarkin) and with Luke’s rising Jedi Order. The latter relationship is implied in The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide: “in preparation for the day when the Jedi Order is rebuilt and new Padawans are needed”. However, despite their resurgence, Antarian Rangers kept their numbers low.

Obviously, this presupposes that Antarian Rangers were unheard of during the Rebellion or did not take part to it, otherwise, they would have been known much earlier. If the Rangers were known during the Rebellion era, then, there is little choice but to interpret the documentation in the following way: Antarian Rangers were part of the Rebellion, by 10-11ABY, they decided to give their institution its pre-Clone Wars legal status as an independent organization and emerged distinctly from the New Republic, albeit on good terms.

Sources: Hero’s Guide, The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (p.66), X-wing: Wraith Squadron (pp.67, 87, 183, 184), Star Wars Miniature