Mission types: Information gathering: Covert Operations

Antarian Rangers conduct “covert operations to make the work of the Jedi easier”; unfortunately no additional details are given regarding the nature or scope of these operations. Outside of the scope of making the work of Jedi easier, it may be possible to include as a covert operation the mission that was assigned to retrieve an important Republic symbol in 19BBY. Indeed, however scantly described, the mission involved using a special transponder and a mnemonic sentence for the Ranger. Another example of covert operation may have taken place when a squad of Antarian Rangers, notified of Order 66, whisked Master Kota and “many (…) soldiers” to safety.

Extending from the notion of “covert operations” is the notion of doing the “dirty work”. Several authors specifically use the expression, Karen Traviss in Imperial Commando 501st on page 68 “do the dirty jobs nobody else wants”, and Hero’s Guide “often tasked with doing what some would consider the ‘dirty work’”. Again, no additional details are given on the matter. The notion of “dirty work” is usually associated with shady and illegal businesses, however, given the usual interlocutors of the Antarian Rangers, it is difficult to imagine the Jedi using mob-style tactics – yet in order to be comprehensive this hypothesis ought not to be discarded off-hand.

However, it seems that as far counter-intelligence is concerned, the Antarian Rangers may have suffered lapses, unable to mole out the Roshu Sune “undercover agents that had infiltrated” the Chapter Houses on Antar 4.

Sources: Hero’s Guide, Millennium Falcon, The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (p.78), Imperial Commando 501st (p.68), The New Essential Chronology (p.50)