Antarian Rangers
a para-military group based on several planets, the Antarian Rangers were formed by Marus Timpel and Kaskutal on Antar 4, some 600 years before the Battle of Yavin. The mission of the Antarian Rangers was simply to assist and aid the Jedi Knights in any way possible, although they were most often employed as front-line troops in battlezones. They were trained to be masters of any environment, in order to meet the various challenges assigned to them. The Jedi Council refused to comment on their position toward the Antarian Rangers, although they allowed it to continute to grow and expand over the years. Many individual Jedi valued their assistance and dedication, especially in situations where military force was needed. In the coming centuries, as the Jedi Order became more conservative and insular, they began to turn away from the use of separate organizations like the Antarian Rangers. This meant that the amount of work available to the Rangers began to diminish, and the organization was forced to drastically reduce its manpower. During the Clone Wars, the Antarian Rangers were able to briefly expand their efforts in support of the Jedi involvement in the war. Unfortunately, whole groups of Antarian Rangers were killed off, and many of the survivors scattered and went underground. Those that remained loyal to the Jedi found themselves hunted down as part of Emperor Palpatine's Jedi Purge, further reducing the organization's size and scope. Only a few groups managed to survive the Galactic Civil War, but they were openly sought out by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. In the years following the Battle of Endor, the organization grew slowly, but proved to be invaluable during the formation and protection of the Great River during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy.