Vidril Vesal

Vidril Vesal was a Human Jedi Knight of the Old Republic. An esteemed member of the Jedi Order following the end of the Great Galactic War, Vidril emerged from the aftermath of the war as one of the Jedi's finest warriors and assets. Alongside his once-lost siblings, Ciniriel and Salovan Vesal, he acted as an often-covert operative for the Republic as a new war emerged against the Sith Empire.

Biography[]

Early life (3670-3653 BBY)[]

Early childhood[]

Vidril Vesal was born on Alderaan in 3670 BBY to parents he never met, and the twin brother of a sister, Ciniriel. While the pair were still infants, their parents travelled to Balmorra to join the planet's resistance against the invading Sith Empire. To protect their children from the war, their parents left them in the care of an orphanage in the town of Narhanis. Soon after, Ciniriel was adopted by two Imperial diplomats, leaving Vidril alone in the orphanage, until his younger brother, Salovan, was born two years later, and also brought to Narhanis for safety.

Shortly before Salovan's birth, Vidril was identified as being Force-sensitive by a Jedi Master who had travelled to Balmorra in search of such children. With permission from the orphanage's founder, Vidril was taken by the Jedi to an off-world sanctuary. Without meeting his siblings or his parents, Vidril was now a part of the Jedi Order.

Youngling[]

As the war raged on, Vidril's training as a youngling was sporadic and often interrupted. Shuttled between various sanctuaries and planets to be protected from possible SIth attacks, Vidril and his fellow younglings had a chaotic education and upbringing. Nonetheless, Vidril quickly stood out as an exemplary student, who took to early combat training with ease. At the age of 9, Vidril begun training at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he would remain until the end of the War.

Despite his growing esteem among the Order's recruits, Vidril was a reclusive child, and made few friends among his peers. Instead, he committed to his studies, becoming an adept sparring combatant, and took a keen interest in speeders and starships. He earned notable acclaim and notoriety when he disarmed Jedi Master Haltek during a spar, aged just fifteen. Even as a young teenager, he became increasingly eager to join the War, but was held back by his age, and by the fact that no Jedi had chosen him as a Padawan, a consequence of the need for most senior Jedi to instead focus their attention towards fighting the Sith Empire.

The Sacking of Coruscant[]

By the time he was seventeen, Vidril had become an exemplary youngling, and was rumoured to become the Padawan of none other than Ven Zallow, one of the Jedi's most famous warriors, now that he had trained his own Padawan to the level of Jedi Knight. But this wasn't to be. In 3653 BBY, the Great Galactic War came to a bloody end when the Sith launched a surprise attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Zallow, along with hundreds of other Jedi, were outnumbered and slaughtered, and the Empire laid siege to Coruscant, killing millions and ransacking the Galactic City.

During the chaos of the sacking, Vidril helped lead a small group of younglings to safety, and soon found the aid of Jedi Master Yulic Namex, who was evacuating younglings with the help of a small band of mercenaries. In the chaos of the sacking, Vidril duelled a Sith Apprentice armed with a lightsaber, while Vidril only had a vibroblade at hand. Despite this, he won the duel and knocked the Sith unconscious, before fleeing with the help of Namex. Loaded onto a disguised freighter along with dozens of other young Jedi, Vidril escaped the Sacking alive.

End of the Great Galactic War and becoming a Padawan[]

The surviving Jedi gathered on a hidden Jedi research station in the Deep Core. There, news spread of the attack on Coruscant, and the subsequent stranglehold the Empire gained over peace negotiations on the planet of Alderaan. With little choice, the Republic signed the Treaty of Coruscant, ending the war and giving numerous concessions to the Sith Empire. While the War had ended, it had come at a great cost to both the Republic and the Jedi.

On the station, Vidril first met and befriended two other young Jedi who would become his best friends: Jarn Walon, a powerful but peaceful Miraluka, and Erana Ryess, a strong-willed and outspoken Twi'lek. More notably, Vidril was made the Padawan of Yulic Namex. Namex, who hadn't chosen a Padawan since becoming a Jedi Master over a decade earlier, was impressed by Vidril's tenacity and skill during the Sacking, and decided to dedicate himself back to the Order after spending many years fighting the War. Vidril was now a Jedi Padawan, at the age of seventeen.

Padawan (3653-3648 BBY)[]

Early studies[]

Despite the War's end, the Order found itself in disarray: the final years of the War had decimated the Jedi ranks, with the Sacking alone killing hundreds of Jedi, ranging from Council members to Younglings. In addition, the Jedi Temple had been completely destroyed, sinking into the lower levels of Coruscant as a result of the Sacking. With no permanent home, Jedi strung out across the galaxy, and morale at an all-time low, the Order moved to act. Yulic, now with Vidril alongside him, was tasked with returning to Coruscant and assessing whether the Temple could be rebuilt.

During this time, Vidril immediately took a liking to his new Jedi Master. He learned that Namex, a seasoned veteran of the war, had subverted Republic laws by allying with mercenaries and privateers, an act that had alienated him from the Jedi Council despite his high regard among his fellow Jedi. Namex, a skilled lightsaber duellist, trained Vidril whenever possible. Soon, the Republic deemed the Jedi Temple to be too dangerous and expensive to rebuild, and so the Jedi began searching for a new haven.

An early candidate was Tython, the ancient homeworld of the Jedi. Rediscovered by Jedi Master Satele Shan after milennia off the grid, Vidril and Yulic were some of many Jedi tasked by Shan with scouting Tython and assessing its viability as a new home for the Jedi. During this mission, Vidril and Yulic became the first to encounter the Flesh Raiders, a species of primitive but violent aliens who lived in the planet's wilderness. On one trip, Vidril was captured by the Flesh Raiders, who planned to sacrifice him, before Yulic came to the rescue, managing to secure Vidril's release after killing the tribe's chieftain in ritual combat.

Tython and trip to Ilum[]

Soon, the Order deemed Tython to be the new home of the Jedi, and work began to build a new Jedi Temple and infrastructure. Yulic and Vidril worked to scout the lands surrounding the new Temple and training grounds, warding off the more invasing Flesh Raiders and tracking the movement of tribes and the local wildlife. They also helped with the efforts of Jedi researchers to investigate the ancient Je'daii ruins scattered across Tython.

Three years after the Treaty of Coruscant, Yulic and Vidril travelled to the arctic world of Ilum, where Vidril would construct his first lightsaber. During the trip, they became sidetracked when they encountered a crashed Republic freighter, and discovered the crew had gone insane. Investigating what had happened, they learned that the crew had launched an emergency hyperspace jump to escape a group of pirates, crashing on Ilum accidentally. While searching for safety amidst the freezing cold of the planet, they found a long-abandoned Jedi holocron and absorbed its information, sending them insane and believing to be a group of ancient Sith.

Yulic left Vidril to complete his trials and gather a suitable lightsaber crystal while he investigated the deranged crew, but was soon found out and trapped in a large cave network. Vidril, unknowing of this, pressed on with his trials and used an ancient forge deep underground to build his first lightsaber, ater a fighting a Jedi spirit claiming to be the Forge's Architect. Emerging with his new weapon, he discovered Yulic's predicament and fought his way through the increasingly violent crew, rescuing Yulic just before the freighter captain executed him. In the process, Vidril took his first life, but Yulic reassured him of the success of his rescue.

Returning to Tython, Yulic and Namex returned the missing holocron to the Jedi archives, before continuing to assist the Order as the new Jedi Temple began construction. Vidril joined Jarn in his journeys across Tython seeking more Je'daii ruins, and helped the Jedi in leading sparring sessions for younglings despite his young age. Already, there were signs that Vidril was growing into a skillful, if willful, Jedi.

Final trials and Knighthood[]

By 3648 BBY (five years after the Treaty of Coruscant), Vidril was twenty-two-years-old, a highly-regarded combatant, and one of the most experienced Padawans of the Order. It seemed that, in no time, he would become a Jedi Knight, and this was the case.

Earlier that year, a colony of Twi'lek refugees arrived on Tython by accident, setting up Kalikori Village. Shortly after, many refugees began to grow sick from a native Tythonian disease that affected non-Force users, designed by ancient Dark Jedi to cleanse non-Force-sensitives from living on Tython. Vidril was given his final trial by Yulic and the Jedi Council: to travel into the caverns underneath the ancient Tythonian city of Hal'strath, and retrieve an ancient Je'daii manuscript that claimed to contain knowledge of a powerful Force ability that could cleanse Tython of the disease.

Trekking through a mountain range for many days, Vidril found the ruined city, still populated with the rusted droids built by the Je'daii milennia before. Fighting his way through the now-violent machines, he travelled through a crumbling palace and into the cavernous tunnels below the city. There, he found an enormous chamber full of decorative weapons and trophies, and an antiquated, yet fully-functional holocommunicator. As he activated the holocom, the chamber sealed behind him, and he spoke to the sentient computer that controlled the chamber. Calling itself the Sage, it revealed that no living being could access the manuscript, so long as they were alive. Alternatively, Vidril could destroy the computer, releasing himself from the chamber, but destroying the manuscript in the process. He now had to make the choice: kill himself, and leave the next Jedi to come to the ruins to discover the manuscript and save the Twi'leks, or abandon his mission to save himself.

Vidril became distraught at the thought of losing his life, not knowing if his sacrifice would succeed or even work. As he paced about the hall, he read the archives of the ancient computer, revealing the messages of the Je'daii who had created the disease. They had first done so to protect Tython from invasion, but the computer rebelled against them after the disease began to kill innocent travellers to Tython. As such, it forced the Je'daii to sacrifice themselves to repay the debt, or else leave Tython to wither away. Vidril debated with the computer, asking why he had to make the sacrifice despite not being one of those who created the disease, but the computer revealed that it no longer had any power over its previous functions, and admitted that it did not want to see Vidril die, telling him instead to abandon the mission to save himself.

After days of meditation and caution, Vidril accepted that it was worth his sacrifice to save the innocents afflicted by the disease, and entered a state of contentment and meditation. Accepting the possibility of death, he asked the chamber to end his life, thus revealing the manuscript and allowing future Jedi to cure the disease. Upon this acceptance, the chamber doors opened. The computer revealed that he had been testing Vidril to see if the new Force users on Tython were selfless enough to make such a sacrifice. Appeased by his willingness to save the Twi'leks, the computer shut down, and the palace of Hal'strath soon shot out a powerful beam of energy into the sky, before the city grew dark.

Vidril, weakened by his imprisonment, made the arduous journey back to the Jedi Temple. Arriving, he found the Jedi in celebration: the affliction had abruptly ended, saving the lives of the Kalikori villagers. Vidril suspected that nobody would believe it was his sacrifice that ended the disease, until he met with the Jedi Council who were fully aware. The computer, using the energy beam as a transmitter, sent a holorecording documenting Vidril's decision to the Jedi Temple. Vidril was welcomed back, exhausted and unkempt, as a hero. As part of a midnight ceremony within the Jedi Temple, Vidril Vesal became a Knight of the Jedi Order.

Early missions as Jedi Knight (3648-3645 BBY)[]

Mission to Balosar (3648 BBY)[]

Prelude[]

Soon after becoming a Jedi Knight, now recovered from what he endured on his final trial, Vidril was given his first mission as a Jedi Knight. The Order had been asked by the Republic with helping to protect Senator Asatanus, the Senator of Balosar, who had recently been the target of numerous assassination attempts. Evidence pointed to the assassin potentially being a Mandalorian, and the Republic believed a Jedi was best equipped to face such a task. Vidril, having been on Tython since the Order first rediscovered the planet, was keen to venture into the galaxy and accepted the posting.

Before leaving, Vidril met with his former Master. Yulic gifted Vidril a set of Jedi battle-armour and a new Jedi robe, fit for his new rank. Vidril also met with Jarn and Erana, who were close to finishing their own trials as Padawans. Erana warned Vidril of the Mandalorians, who ranked the Jedi as their most prestigious and infamous rivals, and often sought out combat with them as a chance for glory within their culture. With this, Vidril departed, rendezvouzing with the Senator and his delegation en route to his home planet.

Investigation and first encounter[]

Arriving on Balosar, Vidril was immediately critical of the Senator. Despite his cheery demeanour, his homeworld was poverty-stricken, polluted, and still suffering from the wartime raids that had decimated its industry. It also quickly emerged that Asatanus was deeply unpopular among the people of Balosar, and Vidril quickly recognised that corruption, not democracy, was keeping Asatanus in his position. Nonetheless, he stuck to his mission, and investigated the repeated attacker. While Asatanus downplayed the attempts, his head of security, Officer Margell, insisted that the attacker was indeed a Mandalorian, and believed a political opponent could be behind the attacks.

While Asatanus toured a Balosarian droid factory, Vidril noticed some of the demonstration droids acting strangely. Investigating a control console, he found the console's controllers dead in a nearby room. He managed to turn off their protocols before they could attack, only to follow a trail of muddy boot-prints along the scaffolds running over the ceiling of the factory. Pursuing the perpetrator, he found a cloaked figure with a sniper rifle aiming at the Senator. He quickly tackled the attacker, falling from the scaffolds as the crowd below scattered. The attacker then cast off the cloak and activated a jetpack that Vidril clung onto, before the pair landed on the ground. The attacker was indeed a Mandalorian, who challenged Vidril in a short duel before revealing his name - Mykur the Brazen - and warning Vidril that he would become Mykur's finest kill, before the Mandalorian fled the scene.

As Asatanus panicked, now realising a Mandalorian was hunting him, Vidril contacted Erana, asking her if she knew anything about Mykur. She revealed he was an older Mandalorian, and had fought during the entirety of the War, making a habit of killing Jedi Padawans who he knew would be easier targets. She warned Vidril that, since he was a Jedi Knight, he would be an enticing target for Mykur. Vidril realised, however, that this would take the attention away from Asatanus.

Confronting Mykur the Brazen[]

Vidril commanded the Senator and his guard to remain hidden, before transmitting a faked message where Vidril ordered his "Padawan" to meet him at a local spaceport hangar, hoping to goad Mykur into a confrontation. Sure enough, the confident Mandalorian saw an opportunity to claim another Jedi life and arrived at the spaceport, only to be encountered solely by Vidril and Margell. Vidril revealed that he had no such Padawan, and that the spaceport had been sealed so as to prevent Mykur's retreat. Mykur searched for an out, before Vidril revealed that the confrontation was being broadcast across Balosar. He then called Mykur a coward. Enraged, the Mandalorian attacked, quickly knocking Margell unconscious with an electro-dart.

The Mandalorian was a vicious fighter, using vibroblades and a powerful energy shield to repel Vidril's lightsaber. The duel was a hard-fought battle, and saw Mykur destroy a starfighter with a wrist rocket, and Vidril attempt to collapse a heating pipe on the head of the Mandalorian. Eventually, Vidril posited that the energy shield would fail if put under too much stress, and was able to fire the shot off from a parked starfighter, sending Mykur flying back and disabling the shield. After a final vibroblade duel, Vidril disarmed Mykur and crippled him with a lightsaber swing to the thigh.

Defeated but resilient, Mykur cursed Vidril and asked him to finish the job. Vidril, not wishing to take a life unnecessarily, spared Mykur. Mykur used this as a chance to lunge at Vidril with a vibroknife, but Vidril sensed this move, and lunged his lightsaber into the Mandalorian's stomach, killing him. Unsealing the hangar, Vidril and Margell were swarmed by Balosarian security forces. The threat was ended, and a holojournal found on Mykur's body revealed nobody had ordered any job on Asatanus: Mykur had deliberately targeted a Senator with the assumption that the Republic would send a Jedi to investigate.

Return to Tython[]

In the aftermath, the relieved Asatanus celebrated Vidril's achievement, and went so far as to offer him an immense salary if he agreed to leave the Jedi Order and sign on full-time as a bodyguard for him, an offer which Vidril publicly and vocally rebuked. Vidril also commended Margell, telling her to find a better employer. Before leaving Balosar, Vidril also learned that when Margell had been knocked unconscious, the holorecorder had unknowingly reactivated, and so Vidril's defeat of Mykur had been widely broadcasted. Fortunately for Vidril, his face wasn't seen, so nobody knew the identity of the Jedi that had defeated Mykur.

Upon his return to Tython, Vidril met with Erana and Jarn, who had both recently elevated to Jedi. Erana revealed that Mykur's death had been widely celebrated in Mandalorian circles, as many of his peers deemed him to be a coward and a showboat, but that many Mandalorians were now eager to identify Mykur's killer and challenge him themselves. While comforted by his anonymity, Vidril wondered how long it would take for the Mandalorians to track him down.

Mission to Hutta (3647-3645 BBY)[]

Prelude[]

Following his success on Balosar, the Jedi Council acknowledged that Vidril may need a more discreet role so as to avoid the prying Mandalorians. As such, they chose to assign Vidril to an extended, covert role on the planet of Hutta, the capital of the Hutt Cartel and a centrepoint of the Outer Rim. The Republic and Jedi were both growing increasingly concerned that the Sith and the Empire were extending their influence into the Outer Rim and enticing many of the previously neutral parties there, including the Hutts and other criminal elements. The Jedi Council tasked Vidril with going undercover to Hutta in order to investigate any Sith presence on the planet without arousing suspicion.

To train for the mission, Vidril began learning some entry-level Huttese, and took advice from Yulic, who had previously dealt with the galaxy's underworld. Namex warned him to trust his intuition, and to remember that remaining distant does not mean inconspicuous, insisting that he must become assimilated into his environment to keep his cover intact. After saying farewell to his friends and the Council, Vidril boarded a series of shuttles across the galaxy, en route to Nal Hutta.

Arrival and meeting Hereson[]

Vidril arrived in Ragaal, a town on Hutta famous for its nightlife, high crime rate and the relaxed laws of its ruler, Bryga the Hutt. Renting a small apartment on the city's outskirts, he quickly met and befriended a Twi'lek speeder mechanic called Hereson. Hereson, quickly recognising Vidril as an outsider to Hutt Space, invited him to stay with him rather than in the nearby apartment, which Hereson told him was immensely overpriced.

Just a week after meeting him, Hereson confronted Vidril, deducing that Vidril was a Jedi, but that he was a friend. Trusting his intuition, Vidril revealed the nature of his presence on Hutta, and Hereson agreed to help the Jedi wherever possible. Hereson helped to teach Vidril more Huttese (including the local slang unknown to the Jedi), as well as help with engineering. Hiring Vidril in his repair shop to add to his cover, the pair soon began making note of happenings across Ragaal that attracted their suspicion. This soon turned to occasional vigilante work, as the pair helped to apprehend thieves and send evidence to the authorities on notorious criminals.

Helping the Hutts[]

While working a job in a spaceport, Hereson and Vidril quickly identified a suspicious man arriving on a shuttle from Nar Shaddaa. After overhearing him speak in an Imperial accent, they trailed the man to a house in the swamp outside of town. There, they learned that he was an Imperial Intelligence operative, sent by the Empire to abduct Bryga the Hutt's young son as a blackmail attempt, after which the Empire would assassinate Bryga and install his son as an Imperial puppet on Hutta. Realising the damage that could do, the pair tasked themselves with eliminating or uncovering the spy.

Finding a local contact working for the operative, they ambushed him in his home and interrogated him, revealing that the operative planned to ambush and kill one of Bryga's personal guard who frequented a local cantina, using his outfit as a disguise. Before he could identify which guard, the informant was killed by a suicidal probe droid that flew through the window of the man's apartment and shot him with a blaster, before self-destructing. While the pair managed to avoid the explosion, they realised they now had very little time to identify the guard.

Hereson and Vidril frequented the cantina, and soon spotted their target: a cyborg who was getting incredibly intoxicated. While Vidril planned to confront the agent in the cantina, Hereson cautioned him, and they instead waited for the agent to ambush the guard down a back-alley. Here, they found the agent, who quickly produced a thermal detonator. The unarmed Vidril prepared to use the Force to disarm the agent, until Hereson quickly drew a blaster and fired two rounds: one in the agent's hand, the other into his chest. He died immediately, and Vidril was stunned to realise his ally was a talented and deadly gunslinger. With the crisis averted and the guard drunk and unconscious, they left him to sleep off his drink and left the scene.

Bonding with Hereson[]

Following their success, Vidril and Hereson spoke about Hereson's past. Hereson revealed that during the War, he had been part of a coalition of pirates, mercenaries and bounty hunters that worked with the Republic to undermine the Imperial military across the Outer Rim. Named the Freelancer Corps, they were a covert unit that officially never existed on the Republic's books, but were in fact led and organised by a Jedi. This Jedi was none other than Yulic Namex, Vidril's master.

Hereson then revealed that he knew Vidril was a Jedi because he recognised him: Hereson had been one of the mercenaries helping Yulic to rescue Vidril and the other younglings from the Jedi Temple during the Sacking of Coruscant. The two men embraced, Vidril appreciate that Hereson had saved his life. Their alliance now set in stone, the two men began to focus more avidly on their work in Ragaal and across Hutta. For the rest of the year, the two continued their efforts. This ranged from disrupting Imperial propaganda, to sabotaging Imperial probe droids, to even using Huttese channels to transmit anti-Sith broadcasts. By keeping the shop running, they avoided any suspicion, despite growing notoriety about the mysterious saboteurs.

Joforas and the Shifters[]

Thanks to a friend of Hereson, the pair learned that a Sith Apprentice, going by the name Joforas, had arrived in Ragaal with little fanfare. The contact, a droid mechanic, had been tasked by the apprentice with repairing a fault on his personal protocol droid, and had noticed his lightsaber under a cloak. Realising a Sith's presence on Hutta could be far-reaching, the pair immediately investigating. Paying the mechanic a handsome fee, they were able to get access to the droid during a check-up, and learned from the droid that Joforas had been tasked by his Sith master with infiltrating a notorious criminal gang, the Shifters, and recruiting them to the Empire's cause.

Acting too late to eliminate Joforas before he joined the Shifters, the pair realised they couldn't kill Joforas outright without attracting their attention, so instead, they chose to infiltrate the gang themselves and disrupt Joforas' plans from the inside. After earning membership (during which Hereson was forced to kill an innocent factory worker during an induction task), the pair became covert members of the gang.

For nearly a year, they worked to gain ground with the Shifters, befriending their many members and learning more about Joforas' activities. Eventually, realising Joforas was climbing the ranks quickly, they enacted their plan. Hereson faked his death in a speeder bike crash, and Vidril then used a part stolen from Joforas' droid to frame him for murder via sabotage. Inducing Joforas into a confrontation, Vidril provoked Joforas enough to oust himself as a Sith, immediately getting him overwhelmed and killed by the gang. Despite this success, the gang then ousted Vidril, suspecting him to also not be who he seems.

Unbeknownst to Vidril and Hereson, the Sith Lord commanding Joforas had sent another of his apprentices to assist. This apprentice then ambushed Vidril and Hereson in the apartment they were planning to leave. During a lightsaber duel, the rusty and out-of-practice Vidril was wounded, before Hereson gunned down the Sith. With the Sith aware of their presence, and Hereson having faked his death, the pair realised they cannot stay on Hutta, and so Hereson contacted a smuggler captain he knew to rescue them and get them off Hutta.

Reuniting with family (3645 BBY)[]

Meeting Salovan[]

At the spaceport, Vidril was introduced to Salovan (commonly known as Sal), a smuggler and privateer Hereson had previously mentored. While the trio tried to board Salovan's freighter and escape, a Sith acolyte closed in on them. Thanks to the quick thinking of Salovan (who distracted the acolyte in the main concourse), Vidril and Hereson were able to board the ship unseen, and the trio escaped into orbit over Hutta.

Aboard the ship, Hereson piloted the ship towards Republic space while Sal administered medical aid to Vidril. While planning to give Vidril a small blood transfusion, Sal conveniently discovered that he and Vidril shared a matching blood type. T4-O7, Sal's astromech droid and co-pilot, then discovered something even more remarkable after performing a medical scan: Vidril and Sal were brothers. Hereson, noticing that the brothers shared the same dark blue eyes, and remembering that both are orphans, confirms that this is probably true.

Arrival on Coruscant and new discovery[]

The group arrived on Coruscant, where Vidril reunited with Jarn, now working as a diplomat in the Galactic Senate, and Erana, who was helping the Strategic Information Service on Coruscant. Vidril learned that Sal and Erana had already met, Erana having been rescued by Sal from an Imperial space station after a Sith Lord had abducted her. Jarn administered a more thorough medical scan of Vidril and Sal, confirming that they were in fact long-lost brothers, to their amazement and bewilderment. Curious about their parentage, the brothers decided to investigate.

Pulling some strings with Jarn, Vidril was able to access the Jedi's records, revealing that he was found by the Jedi in an orphanage on Balmorra, where Sal grew up. Travelling to Balmorra, the brothers find the orphanage abandoned due to the civil war now gripping the planet. The records there reveal that they have an older sister, Vidril's twin, who was adopted by Imperial citizens while the twins were still infants. The citizens, the Fenarans, were diplomats from Dromund Kaas. Realising that they now need to venture into Imperial space, the pair formulate a plan to infiltrate the Empire's capital world.

Infiltration of Dromund Kaas[]

On Balmorra, the pair ambush two Mandalorians in a spaceport, stealing their armour and using the disguises to board a shuttle travelling to Kaas City, the Empire's capital. Fortunately, Sal spent some of his childhood as a street urchin in Kaas City, giving them some knowledge of how to get around. Tracking down the Fenaran residence, they find the apartment abandoned and ransacked, but are able to locate a holojournal hidden in the wall. The holojournal confirms the adoption of a girl from Balmorra, called Ciniriel. Unfortunately, the journal reveals she is a part of Imperial Intelligence.

Finding a well-guarded datacenter in the city's depths, the pair bluff and fight their way through the security, and learn that Ciniriel is a field agent currently on assignment on Tatooine. By this time, their covers are blown, and Imperial security droids soon attack them in the datacenter. Escaping the scene alive, they rush back to the spaceport and are able to board a ship travelling to Tatooine, but a Mandalorian on-board sees their damaged armour and recognises them as the thieves, starting a mid-flight skirmish. Sal cripples the Mandalorian with a flash grenade, and the pair commandeer the ship to Mos Eisley, abandoning it in an old starship hangar with the passengers tied up on-board.

Tatooine and rescuing Ciniriel[]

Arriving in Mos Eisley, the brothers knew that Ciniriel was on Tatooine to assassinate Jo'ofro the Hutt, a wealthy Hutt lord who was notable for being the only Hutt to be openly supportive of the Republic. Knowing they needed to prevent the assassination, they travelled directly to the Hutt's palace in the Dune Sea and gained an audience with him. Fortunately, no attempt had been made on Jo'ofro's life, and the Hutt gave them permission to search his palace for signs of Ciniriel or other Imperial infiltration. The search came up empty, except for an Imperial-issue blaster pistol. Sal, scanning for energy residue from the pistol, is able to follow a trail back to a desert campsite. At the campsite, the brothers find a holorecording left for them from Ciniriel, stating that she knows they are looking for her, and asking them to meet her at a cantina in the town of Mos Espa.

Arriving in Mos Espa, the brothers found no sign of Ciniriel in the designated cantina. While searching a backroom, the pair were suddenly attacked by a Sith Inquisitor: the imposing Lord Jurus. As the cantina patrons fled in panic, a duel began between the Sith Lord and the Vesal brothers. Despite Jurus' impressive Force abilities, the brothers were able to overmatch the Sith Lord, and the duel ended with Vidril killing him with a lightsaber strike to the chest. Erana then arrived alongside a detachment of SIS agents, who had been made aware of the brothers' adventures since they arrived in Mos Eisley. In a backroom of the cantina, they found Ciniriel bruised and unconscious, but alive.

Bringing her back to Coruscant, the brothers interrogated her alongside SIS Agent Bagran, who reveals that the three are all siblings. Ciniriel, stunned by this news, stated that her parents were Imperials, but then learned she was adopted. She also revealed that she planned to defect to the Republic, hence why she never completed the job on Jo'ofro, and was hoping to be joined by Marsa, a Chiss Imperial officer who was equally disillusioned with the Empire. When the SIS reveal they were tipped off about Ciniriel's possible defection, the siblings realise it was likely Marsa who sent them this tip-off, and decide to search for her, despite the objections of the Republic authorities. In spite of these objections, the SIS give them the go ahead, understanding the value of a possible Imperial defector.

Task Force Aspirant (3645 BBY-)[]

Mission to Arboron[]

Arrival on Corellia[]

The siblings, joined by T4-O6 once again, followed the signal to the Corellian city of Arboron, and more specifically a refugee camp in the city for citizens fleeing from the war on Balmorra. Believing that another Imperial agent named Leeo may have been sent by the Empire to find and capture Marsa, Vidril was tasked with investigating the refugee camp, which had recently been cleared by Corellian authorities, and was where Marsa and Leeo were last seen by eye-witnesses.

Arriving at the camp, Vidril was quickly attacked by Leeo, also a Chiss, engaging Vidril with a sniper rifle and various reconnaisance droids. In the midst of the confrontation, Vidril witnessed Leeo injecting himself with a strange purple serum. After fighting off the droids, Vidril was unable to catch Leeo before he fled into the wilderness on a speeder bike. Returning to Arboron to report the situation, Vidril instead arrived at the aftermath of another skirmish, where Sal had been ambushed by Imperial operatives while meeting with the city administrator, Governor Wol. The skirmish had ended when Ciniriel intervened, killing a Sith Apprentice who led the ambush.

Investigating leads[]

Thanks to a spontaneous recon mission undertaken by T4, the group learned that Watcher Five, a key Intelligence officer, was overseeing the operation to find Marsa. While Ciniriel and Sal investigated, Vidril returned to the wilderness (now accompanied by T4) to track down Leeo. Following energy readings from Leeo's speeder, Vidril and T4 found Leeo in a catatonic state in a remote shack, where he had seemingly run out of the serum Vidril had seen him injecting.

Bringing Leeo back to Arboron, the Corellians were able to save his life. A medical droid revealed that the serum appeared to be a mind control agent, which forced the user to keep injecting it, or it would become toxic. Ciniriel suspected the serum was used to enforce loyalty in Intelligence's agents since she and Marsa had defected. The group were joined by Jarn, who had journeyed to Corellia to offer his assistance. Using his powerful Force abilities, Jarn was able (at Vidril's suggestion) to tap into the unconscious Leeo's recent memories. These revealed that Marsa had been successfully captured, and was being held in Arboron's industrial district by Imperial operatives. Now joined by Jarn, the group planned to infiltrate the Imperial safehouse and rescue Marsa before she could be administered the serum.

The rescue[]

The plan was set: Vidril and Jarn would lead the way, ahead of a team of Corellian security led by Sal and T4. All of this would distract the Imperials, while Ciniriel would infiltrate the building separately to search for Marsa. Upon arrival however, the two Jedi were immediately ambushed by two Sith Lords: Darth Mortan, a powerful ally of Imperial Intelligence, and his former apprentice, Lord Balg. It later emerged that Ciniriel knew the two Sith, having been forced to work with them a few years before.

The two Sith goaded the Jedi into a duel in a nearby factory. When this diversion revealed Ciniriel's attempt to infiltrate the outpost unseen, the two Jedi entered in combat to give Ciniriel cover. What followed was an intense lightsaber duel, as Vidril fought the aggressive Balg and Jarn engaged the lightning-wielding Mortan. Vidril, recognising that the Sith were failing to coordinate their attacks, decided to focus his and Jarn's attacks against one target at a time. After knocking down Balg, the two Jedi focused the now out-matched Mortan, who was eventually killed when he unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning, only to have it deflected back at him by Jarn.

Balg, defeated and remorseful, yielded to the Jedi, revealing that he had long despised his master, and wished to be killed by the victorious Jedi. Jarn, sensing the light in Balg, offered for Balg to surrender to the Jedi Order, where he could redeem himself from the dark side, an offer which Balg accepted. Meanwhile, Sal and his team cleared the safehouse, and Ciniriel was able to rescue Marsa before the serum could be administered. It emerged then that Ciniriel and Marsa were lovers, hence Marsa's reason for risking her life to tell the SIS about Ciniriel.

Aftermath[]

Returning once more to Coruscant, the team were both commended and admonished by the Republic and the Jedi, as while they had acted outside of the bounds by forcing such a confrontation, they had succeeded in defeating the Sith on Corellia, and had secured a defector, captured a live Imperial agent, and forced the surrender of a Sith Lord. The SIS, sensing that the team had potential thanks to their strong convictions and diverse skillset, organised them into a new task force, codenamed Aspirant, named after Sal's ship. Consisting of the Vesal siblings, Jarn, Marsa, and T4-O6, they would act covertly and across the galaxy, serving any role the Republic deemed necessary.

Mission to Dentaal[]

Prelude[]

Personality and characteristics[]

A willful, outspoken, and confident Jedi, Vidril was unafraid of speaking truth to power and espousing his morals against those he disagreed with. His mind formed by the hardships he endured in his youth, Vidril had little patience for the darker elements of the galaxy, be they Sith, bounty hunters, or petty criminals who caused people harm. This hard and tough exterior did occasionally gave way to a more compassionate centre, with Vidril capable of great empathy and self-sacrifice to do the right thing, or to protect those he cared about. Hard-working and dutiful, Vidril was a reliable ally and confidant at any time or place, a trait that earned him many friends despite his occasional harshness.

As he grew and matured, Vidril began to appreciate life outside of the Jedi Order, and to better understand the lives of the common people of the galaxy. This was especially true after his stay on Hutta, where his previous self-righteousness and confidence was often checked by the more world-weary Hereson. What also emerged was Vidril's natural leadership, something which had emerged often before - such as when he led his fellow younglings out of the Jedi Temple during the Sacking of Coruscant - but which was never allowed to flourish until he became a Jedi Knight. This commanding presence and confidence was what made him become the de facto leader of Aspirant,

Vidril was a tall man, standing at about 6ft 2in (1.88m). Posessing wide shoulders and a strong, muscular build, he was easily distinguishable from the other Jedo on Tython. Vidril had dark blue eyes, a trait that also ran with Sal and Ciniriel. Vidril also had dark brown hair, which ran down to his neck, and a thick, scruffy beard that surrounded his mouth.

Relationships[]

Siblings[]

Salovan[]

Vidril and Sal at first held an uneasy relationship. Vidril's pessimistic, serious nature clashed with Sal's more relaxed attitude to life, causing the Jedi to berate his half-brother on more than many occasions. However, once Vidril realized that Sal did have a serious side to him and was devoted to good, he began to go easy on him, and even started to pick up the smuggler's dry sense of humour.

This was not to say that conflict vanished completely. There were still instances where Sal irritated Vidril, though often in trivial situations, and it is left to guess whether Sal purposely annoyed his sibling at times, or if he was simply acting normally, and the annoyance was accidental.

Ciniriel[]

Vidril's relationship with Ciniriel was surprisingly good. Vidril held no doubts when Ciniriel defected, believing that she did truly intend to defect and that she was willing to aid the Republic in any way. The pair often spoke to one another about more personal issues, and sometimes made quiet jokes at Sal's expense. Vidril later admitted that, had he been in the situation of Ciniriel's defection before meeting Sal, his skepticism would have likely made him doubt her story, drastically changing future events for the Vesal siblings.

If Vidril and Ciniriel did clash on anything, it was decisions on missions. While Vidril often wanted to get on with a mission, Ciniriel, to Vidril's surprise, insisted on doing other things. For instance, when the siblings went to Corellia to search for Marsa, Ciniriel delayed her side of the mission to help an impoverished man in the city of Arboron, something Vidril was less than happy about. Nevertheless, the pair put their differences aside.

Jarn Walon[]

Jarn was possibly Jeden's first and closest friend, as Vidril didn't make friends with any students at the Jedi Temple as a Youngling. Remaining by each other's sides in the turbulent years that followed the Treaty of Coruscant, Jarn and Vidril were more than willing to stick their necks out for each other, even in the face of the Jedi Council on some occasions. Vidril had a great respect for Jarn due to his devotion to the Order, and later admitted to Sal and Ciniriel that he viewed Jarn as his 'only brother', at least before meeting Sal.

When Vidril left for Hutta, he remained for three straight years, and Jarn took a job as a Jedi emissary to the Galactic Senate. It was not until Vidril returned to Coruscant with Sal and Hereson that the friends finally met again, both of them admittedly happier than they should have been. However, Vidril noted that the once cheerful Jarn he had known had grown more stern over the passage of time, and the friends eventually met their differences during the Vesal mission to Corellia, where Jarn berated Vidril for angering General Elin Garza, the woman who had at first ordered the arrests of Ciniriel, Sal and Hereson.

Hereson[]

While Sal viewed Hereson as a bigger brother, Vidril viewed the Twi'lek more as a mentor, teaching the Jedi about life in the Outer Rim and the galaxy as a whole. Vidril was not afraid to speak his mind in front of Hereson, though no matter how many times the pair argued, they still respected each other greatly, and relied on each other in more desperate situations. Hereson opened up to Vidril about his memories of the Great Galactic War, and Vidril's acceptance of killing certain people, despite his Jedi teachings, went a long way to show that the pair may have disagreed at times, but held similar views, and similar mindsets.

The friendship got healthier over time, and by the time of the Joforas' emergence, Vidril and Hereson shared laughs and casual conversation as though they had known each other since birth. Despite Hereson's often-blunt cynicism, Vidril found himself becoming more of an optimist following his time with Hereson, seeing the Twi'lek's eagerness to get things done, and giving the Jedi hope about changing the galaxy in a better way.

Quotes[]

The Vesal family
Vidril Vesal - Salovan Vesal Ciniriel Vesal