Allies: Rebellion?

The participation of the Antarian Rangers to the Rebellion is not established in any way. Wookieepedia hints at the possibility when comparing the Antarian Rangers with the Aquilian Rangers – the latter joining the Rebellion in the Star Wars drafts. However, there are several leads that point to the Rangers eventually joining the Rebellion despite having gone into hiding following Order 66.

Karen Traviss suggests that Jedi will take a proactive part – if not foment – the future Rebellion, therefore leaving open the possibility that Antarian Rangers would follow suit: “Jedi don’t have numbers on their side now (…) and they don’t have the taxpayer bankrolling ships and arms for them. They’ll hide for a while and lick their wounds. But then they have to do two things – contact other Jedi to regroup, and then latch on to mundane beings to latch an insurgency. They need an army to do their dirty work for them. They’ll sniff out dissent wherever they can find it, ferment it, and ride it. Nobody who’s that used to power can ever give it up”;

Hershey et al. compare on various occasions, the Antarian Rangers and the Rebellion in The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide: “Like the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, the Antarian Rangers oppose the Empire at every turn”, “though they do not reach anywhere near the scale [of the] Rebel Alliance”, “like an underground resistance movement”;

Rodney & Thompson in Hero’s Guide indicate that Antarian Rangers’ branches became “sector defense forces”, which can be construed as a further nod to the budding Rebellion as many sector defense forces partook in the Rebellion;

In another passage, Rodney & Thompson indicate that “Solm (…) led a group of Rangers against the Galactic Empire during the period prior to the Battle of Yavin, one of the few branches of that organization to act openly”;

Hershey et al. mention the proximity of a squad of Antarian Rangers to Alliance Founder Rahm Kota, while James Luceno mentions in Millennium Falcon the presence of one Ranger (possibly several “Antarian Rangers”, “allies”) to Senator Fang Zar, Des’sein and Largetto, members of the Delegation of Two Thousands along with Alliance Founders Bail Organa and Mon Mothma;

James Luceno further indicates that: “a few of the Republic Group Senators (…) had survived to see the Alliance to Restore the Republic – the so called Rebel Alliance – defeat the Empire, which means that knowledge of the Antarian Rangers throughout the Galactic Civil War was not lost;

Finally, the expression “Luke Skywalker’s scouts” is mentioned in Star Wars Galaxies (Warn Commander Skywalker), although nothing suggests that those may be Antarian Rangers they would fit the description quite well, although also raising a number of continuity issues.

While none of these leads establish that the Antarian Rangers affiliate themselves with the Rebellion during the Dark Times, a credible hypothesis that they did can be formulated. This hypothesis rests upon the following facts:

Several branches actively opposed the Empire;

Antarian Rangers are close to Alliance Founders if not in direct relation.

However, for clarity’s sake, it must be stressed that Antarian Rangers mostly went into hiding. This is attested by several sources: “survived the Purge going into hiding”, “for the most part the Rangers went into seclusion”, “the rest went underground. My family stayed hidden for decades”, “many Antarian Rangers survived the purge by going into hiding”, and “disbanded entirely in order to avoid capture”. That the Rangers were “on the brink of extinction” or “nearly faded into obscurity” also implies that their impact in the Rebellion would or could have been minimal. Timothy O’Brian’s Rebel SpecForce Handbook, for instance, does not mention them, but mentions Freedom Warriors as a historical SpecForce organization (the Rebel SpecForce Handbook was published in 1997 and X-wing: Wraith Squadron in 1998). It is possible that when Allston wanted to create the Antarian Rangers he misquoted O’Brian (Freedom Warriors and Freedom’s Sons). Furthermore, according to Star Wars Miniatures, Antarian Rangers may not be placed in a Rebel squad (Star Wars Miniatures, Jedi Academy Set; Antarian Rangers belong to the “Republic” faction and have an affinity with the “Old Republic” and “New Republic” factions, i.e. they may be used alongside those).

Sources: Star Wars Miniature, Rebel SpecForce Handbook, The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (p.66, 68, 78, 218), Hero’s Guide, X-Wing: Wraith Squadron (p.185), Star Wars Galaxies (Warn Commandant Skywalker), Millennium Falcon (pp.21, 84, 342), Imperial Commando 501st (p.239), Wookieepedia (Antarian Ranger article)