The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Lena Quee Kraen

Lena Quee Kraen was born on Commenor as the middle of three daughters to a middle-class family. Her father was often away from home, as he was a Senate Guard, and Lena grew up withdrawn and alone. She could often be found reading about exploring other worlds. While she was smart and hard-working, there was no denying that she was a dreamer. It therefore came as no surprise when she decided to become a hyperspace mapper upon graduating from the University of Commenor. Her mind was able to fathom the complex dimensions of hyperspace, and at age 22, she joined the crew of a Barloz-class ship which went on long expeditions to the Outer Rim and Wild Space, mapping new systems and hyperroutes, with funding from the Obroan Institute. The Barloz ship, the Sunflash, was also accompanied by a secondary vessel, a small YT-1210 freighter, the Quick Step that was supposed to serve as an escape vehicle or secondary transport. The work was somewhat dangerous, as hyperspace jumping into unknown space could be dangerous, but though there were often mishaps, serious danger was usually avoided. As such, the crew grew complacent and relaxed, particularly with the use of the ''Quick Step, which they increasingly sent on detached missions in order to reap more profit, as they were paid for the systems and routes they surveyed and mapped.

On one such mission, Lena, along with a pilot, engineer, and a planetary mapper, was sent to survey an isolated system in the Quick Step. Upon reversion from hyperspace, the ship suffered a reactor overload, which killed the pilot and engineer. She and the remaining crewmember, Samtel Kraen, were able to crash the ship onto the unknown world, which went by the designation J7-AM88311. Together, they survived for the next five weeks, scavenging to find food supplies and fend off hostile predators. The time they spent together allowed them to get to know each other quite well, and they both realized they were lonely. Samtel asked Lena for her hand in marriage, and she agreed, even though she didn't know if they would be rescued or not. Thankfully, shortly thereafter, they were rescued.

Following their marriage, they agreed to move to Lena's homeworld, Commenor, and take up professions that would allow them to raise a family. Samtel took up law, as he had known a decent amount of surveying law in his previous occupation, while Lena became a mathematics professor at the University of Commenor. It was difficult for them at first, trading their wild exploration days for classes and holotexts, but they persevered. In time, Samtel gained his own practice, while Lena became a tenured member of the faculty. In the mean time, they were able to acquire some land of their own on the outskirts of the city of Munto. They had their first son, Sarth, in 41 BBY, and a second son, Selusda, three years later. Both sons would inherit Samtel's excellent memory.

However, Selusda was taken from the Kraens shortly after he was born, after he was found to be Force-sensitive. Samtel and Lena unhappily relinquished their son, but did not protest overmuch, knowing that Selusda would be better off with the Jedi. Throughout the years, they followed Selusda's career from a distance, all the while doing their best to raise Sarth and maintain their own careers. Sarth displayed an early aptitude for both academics and mechanical devices, and both Lena and Samtel tried to instill as much knowledge into their son as they could. When Sarth befriended a girl named Annita Daowot and helped her escape her abusive father, Lena reached out to Annita, feeling sorry for the girl.

Lena continued to lecture at the University of Commenor for years, gaining a reputation for being a hard but fair teacher and a skilled lecturer. She did some research into hyperspace mechanics, but her work was overshadowed by a team of Givin and Bith mathematicians. Unable to compete with their natural understanding of mathematics, Lena rededicated her focus to the classroom, though she missed the challenge of exploring new things. She did her best to support her husband, though she tried to avoid the media spotlight that some of his higher-profile cases garnered.

Several months after the end of the Clone Wars, Lena was still teaching at the university. One day, upon returning home from work with Samtel to their estate outside of Munto, they were surprised to see Sarth, who had become an engineer on a freighter after his university studies and a brief internship, returned to visit, accompanied by their long-lost son, Selusda Kraen, who had escaped the Jedi Purge with the help of Sarth. Selusda was now also a freighter crewman on the same ship as Sarth's, the Hawk-bat, whose captain, the Bothan R'hask Sei'lar, Samtel had known years earlier. Selusda was in hiding from the Empire and technically a criminal, but the Kraens didn't care and welcomed their son back with open arms.

However, Sarth had brought danger of his own, as a group of Mistryl Shadow Guards, a group of expansionist warrior women, made an attempt to kidnap him after learning of the war-related research Sarth had done during his internship. Selusda, or Selu as he was often called, defeated the Mistryl in a bloody brawl, but was severely injured. Lena and Samtel helped cover up Selu's identity before the Investigators arrived. The Hawk-bat also arrived to lend assistance, and Selu was taken away for medical treatment, while R'hask Sei'lar arranged for a security team from Durashield Securities to protect the Kraens. During this time, Sarth admitted his attraction to the pretty young cargomaster on the Hawk-bat, Cassi Trealus, to Lena and Samtel, who were glad for him. Shortly thereafter, the Investigators arrived.

The investigative team was led by none other than Detective Annita Daowot, who was concerned for their safety. After she and Sarth were attacked during a casual interview the next day, she decided to move all the Kraens, as well Cassi Trealus, who had remained behind while Selu went with the rest of the Hawk-bat ' s crew to New Holstice for medical treatment, to a remote safehouse. They remained in isolation for several weeks, trying to endure the tight quarters and security restrictions. However, the Mistryl eventually found their location and attacked again. While the security team fended them off, their location had been compromised. Lena, Samtel, and the others were taken back to Munto for medical treatment for their minor injuries, and were able to talk to Selu, who was returning to Commenor. Selu reported to them the death of R'hask Sei'lar at the hands of the Empire, but was interrupted by the Mistryl, who had kidnapped Annita Daowot and held for ransom. Selu disguised himself as Sarth and went in his stead, while Sarth and some others freed Annita after learning her location. Though Lena and Samtel were heartbroken, they allowed Sarth to go with the rest of his crew to try and save Selu.

To their great relief, both their sons returned from peril, arriving safely back on Commenor&mdash;though Selu had been injured during the ordeal. After he recovered, they were both present at a party that saw Selu formally take command of the Hawk-bat, as well as introduce several new members to the crew. The ship then departed to ply the spacelanes once more, leaving Lena and Samtel behind to return to their peaceful lives on Commenor.

They had about two more years of this peaceful existence, enjoying their comfortable home and careers on Commenor. Lena and Samtel were also a large part of Annita Daowot's wedding; the detective had fallen in love with a former spacer and member of the Hawk-bat ' s crew, Jorgesoll Knrr. Samtel served as the father of the bride, while Lena provided a massive cake for the celebration afterward. However, the wedding was interrupted by a group of Imperials come to arrest Annita for sedition&mdash;she had helped cover the identity of Selu Kraen years earlier. However, Selu, Sarth, and the rest of the Hawk-bat crew, who had been imbued with the Force and trained in the ways of the Jedi, were there, as were friendly spacers. The wedding degenerated into a skirmish, and Samtel, Lena, and the rest of the wedding party. After the Hawk-bat escaped with its crew, they reunited with Lena and Samtel, taking them to a new refuge for Force exiles that Selu had established on the Outer Rim world of Yanibar. There, Lena had the joy of experiencing a double wedding between Annita and Jorge, and also her own son Sarth and Cassi Trealus.

While Samtel went on to become one of the leading pillars of early Yanibar society, Lena was less involved. For her part, she was content to help with construction, but, with a taste of her own wanderlust rebounding, she would often accompany expeditions to map and plant sensor beacons in the space around Yanibar, as well as chart hyperspace routes to and from the world. She and Samtel lived in a comfortable house of their own on the same streets as Sarth and Cassi, as well as Selu and his wife, Milya Tayrce Kraen, whose wedding Lena and Samtel also attended in 11 BBY. Eventually, Samtel retired from public life on Yanibar in 2 ABY, allowing himself and Lena to live out a quiet retirement with their children and loved ones.

Behind the scenes
Lena Kraen's character and teaching profession were modeled off of a friend of Force Exile author Atarumaster88. She was first mentioned in Force Exile I: Fugitive, though she and her husband Samtel were not identified by name until Force Exile II: Smuggler, where they played the part of supportive parents. Despite their roles, Lena and Samtel are largely passive, out of their league in the face of the imminent danger posed by the Mistryl. She was characterized as being quietly wise, and while caring, she was intended to be somewhat aloof. Lena and Samtel returned to have a small role in Force Exile III: Liberator, which saw them transplanted to a new life on Yanibar and witnessed the marriage of her first son, Sarth Kraen. Following that, she later had a cameo in the second Yanibar Tale, Hand in Hand, where she participated in the wedding of her second son, Selusda Kraen.

Appearances

 * Force Exile I: Fugitive
 * Force Exile II: Smuggler
 * Force Exile III: Liberator
 * Hand in Hand