The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Bryndar Knrr

"I have always considered our relationship in every decision I’ve made. I have always asked you before every major career choice and I have always done what I could to support you."

- Bryndar Knrr to Jasika Kraen Knrr

Bryndar Knrr was the only son of Jorge and Annita Knrr. Born in 14 BBY and raised on Bespin, he nevertheless spent a lot of time on Yanibar, where his parents had many friends. He became close friends with Akleyn Kraen, particularly when the two attended secondary school together. However, despite his parents' upbringing and background in the Bespin commercial business, Bryndar's sense of adventure led him to Yanibar, where he joined the Yanibar Guard.

After he completed his early education, Bryndar was sent to an offworld school to complete some of his higher education. While there, he befriended Akleyn Kraen, the son of some of his parents' closest friends who lived on Yanibar. The more adventurous Bryndar was a good fit for the insular, thoughtful Akleyn. Bryndar did reasonably well in his academics, but excelled in sports, particularly zone ball.

Bryndar chose to enter a business school to follow his parents' footsteps. He did well, but his heart was not in it. While on vacation from school, he joined his parents and the Kraens on R'alla for a reprieve&mdash;Akleyn and Bryndar from school, and the rest of the Kraens and Knrrs from rebuilding after the Battle of Yanibar a year prior.

While Bryndar had intended to spend as much of the vacation as possible cruising the waves alongside Akleyn, the vacationers stumbled across a mystery on their fourth day there. An evening sabacc game was interrupted by a sighting of someone floating out on the ocean. Akleyn's uncle Selu and aunt Milya Kraen retrieved a badly-injured Wroonian male who perished shortly after being pulled to shore. Akleyn and Bryndar were sent upstairs along with the other children present while the adults investigated. He and Akleyn, at the cusp of adulthood, chafed, but knew better than to protest when they were sent upstairs hurriedly.

They were sitting in the room when Akleyn's younger cousin Jasika summoned him and Akleyn; Akleyn's other cousin Rhiannon had injured her head. The two reluctantly made their way to the girls' room and found it was a minor cut. He went to retrieve a medkit from downstairs, but the tone of the voices from the other adults warned him off so he used a Force-healing technique instead. Akleyn then reported seeing a body in the room downstairs to the other young people. Surmising that most of the other adults had gone to investigate, Akleyn and Bryndar decided to sneak out as well. They were coerced into bringing the much younger Jasika along with them in return for Rhiannon creating a diversion to facilitate their escape.

The three teenagers ventured out into the night, exploring the shoreline. They soon found a hidden entrance to an underground facility and crept inside. Akleyn's mediocre talents with computers were enough to grant them access to a clandestine Imperial genetics laboratory. Akleyn sliced into the computer system and found that the Empire had been experimenting on Wroonians, attempting to alter their DNA. He also found holocam footage of Selu, Milya, and Bryndar's parents fighting their way into the laboratory. Using the terminal at Bryndar's suggestion, Akleyn was able to overload a defensive turret and send them information on the facility.

However, he, Akleyn, and Jasika were captured by stormtroopers. However, Akleyn's parents and his uncle Selu arrived and freed the three teenagers. The adults were understandably angry at them for sneaking out of the house, but their relief at their safety meant that the remonstrations were not too severe. As it turned out, their efforts helped shut down an Imperial genetics lab experimenting on Wroonians. While their vacation was cut short, the Wroonians were rescued, with many of them accepting asylum on Yanibar. On the way back, Bryndar and the others learned the true story of their parents' history and heritage.

The episode stayed with Bryndar and he found himself addicted to the adrenaline that he had felt while sneaking into the lab. Tiring of business school, he reluctantly finished at his parents' wishes, but upon graduation, told them that he was joining the Yanibar Guard, which he did in 8 ABY.

Training in the Yanibar Guard was one of the hardest things Bryndar had ever done, but he found it worthwhile. It was taxing and demanding, to the point where he considered quitting at several points, but his dogged determination kept him in. Once he had secured a place in the Yanibar Guard Army, he gained a lot of confidence. By 13 ABY, he was considered a good enough soldier to be considered for commando training. Despite the inherent challenges, Bryndar was again able to overcome the difficulty and be admitted to the vaunted ranks of the commandos in 16 ABY.

During his commando training, Bryndar grew attracted to Jasika Kraen, but though she reciprocated, their relationship had considerable friction due to his service in the Yanibar Guard. Jasika had lost her father and step-brother in the Battle of Yanibar and wanted nothing to do with the Yanibar Guard. She and Bryndar argued many times about his service, and she told him that he couldn't love her and love the Yanibar Guard, but despite their disagreements, Jasika relented in the end. he accepted his offer to marry her in 16 ABY, although their engagement dragged on until late 17 ABY, when they were married.

By 17 ABY, Bryndar had been assigned to the prestigious Cresh Squad unit, and was part of a mission sent to recover Rhiannon Kraen when she had been stranded outside the refuge due to a storm. Bryndar also aided Jasika in helping Rhiannon meet and eventually date an Outsider farmer named Kavlis Burke whom Rhiannon was interested in.

However, Bryndar's continued service in the Yanibar Guard continued to be a point of contention between him and Jasika, particularly due to his service in Cresh Squad, the elite Yanibar Guard commando unit that her step-brother Nate had also served in. Their relationship cooled, as Jasika was often away flying cargo runs while Bryndar's job also kept him busy.

In 27 ABY, during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Cresh Squad was sent to rescue a pair of captured Yanibar Guard operatives on Leritror. By this point, Bryndar was the leader of Cresh Squad with the rank of colonel. Accompanying them was a linguistics and cultural expert on the Yuuzhan Vong named Ashli Tar-sonis. Bryndar was not thrilled about having an inexperienced soldier along the mission, but he needed her expertise. Using captured Yuuzhan Vong starfighters, they landed and fought their way to the compound where the prisoners were being held.

The number of Yuuzhan Vong at the compound threatened to force an abort of the mission, but Ashli came up with the idea of having Bryndar challenge the Yuuzhan Vong leader to a duel for the life of the prisoner. Thanks to her translation and understanding of Yuuzhan Vong culture, the Yuuzhan Vong were convinced to bring out the prisoner, Master Daara Sherum, and their leader fought Bryndar in hand to hand combat in an open clearing. Though the Yuuzhan Vong nearly defeated him, the Cresh Squad sniper intervened and shot the warrior. A series of explosions and a quick volley of blasterfire cut down the rest of the Yuuzhan Vong, allowing Daara to escape with Cresh Squad. The Guardsmen fled back to their rendezvous point with the Yuuzhan Vong in hot pursuit, but a group of Yanibar-aligned Jalsinnare mercenaries extracted them back to safety.

A year later, Bryndar was still in command of Cresh Squad as Yanibar slowly became more involved in the effort against the Yuuzhan Vong. While boarding a ship belonging to a group of Yuuzhan Vong collaborators, his power armor&mdash;a newer model&mdash;locked up, leaving him helpless as five Yuuzhan Vong approached. Thankfully for Bryndar, their back-up force of Yanibar Guard Marines intervened and rescued them. He was wounded in the incident, but his injuries were minor. Returning to the cruiser-carrier they had been deployed on, he learned that Jasika had joined the Yanibar Guard Fleet following a close brush with the Yuuzhan Vong. He was furious that she had made the decision without asking him, further souring their marriage.

When he returned to Yanibar, the rift between them was not healed, as Bryndar refused to even have a conversation with his wife, even after she received an opportunity to join an elite fighter squadron. They were both called to join a relief expedition to help a refugee camp on Ord Mantell run by a Yanibar charity that had come under Yuuzhan Vong attack. Bryndar's unit along with several other commando squads boarded the lone Yuuzhan Vong frigate there and secured the prisoners that had been captured after intense close-quarters combat fighting.

Following their successful mission over Ord Mantell, the task force was sent to Rishi to extract several other Yanibar Guard operatives. They fought their way through a Yuuzhan Vong task force, but the carrier where Bryndar was stationed, the Vigilant Refuge soon came under attack by Yuuzhan Vong reinforcements and was boarded. Bryndar helped fight the Yuuzhan Vong, along with a Bothan Jedi apprentice named Treysk’atha. They were forced to retreat from the bridge, although Bryndar personally locked blades against the Yuuzhan Vong commander before being knocked out. His squad hauled him back and they holed up in a secure area until Yanibar Guard reinforcements arrived to secure the ship. Bryndar then escorted Master Selu Kraen to the auxiliary bridge where the ship's self-destruct was activated.

With many of his squad wounded or killed, Bryndar nevertheless insisted on being sent to fight as the Battle for Rishi transitioned to the surface while a stalemate developed in orbit. Bryndar and Cresh Squad served as part of the rearguard for an evacuation of the city of Junto after the Yuuzhan Vong threatened it. Bryndar personally rescued a downed Yanibar Guard pilot as well as called in airstrikes against advancing Yuuzhan Vong forces. Hours later, they fell back and defended a pair of bridges with the help of droid armor and a Force-using Elite Guardian, Morgedh clan Kel'nerh. They fought as long as they could until the Yuuzhan Vong advanced too far. They were extracted just in time as artillery support collapsed the canyons housing the bridges.

As the Yuuzhan Vong launched a major assault on the refugee camps and the Yanibar Guard base, Bryndar chafed as he and Cresh Squad were held in reserve. He was consulted by the leader of the Yanibar Guard Army, General Rayven, who had him explain to the civilian leadership that mounting a rescue mission to the refugee camps would be suicide, which was not well-received.

Shortly thereafter, he received word that Paladin Twelve&mdash;Jasika&mdash;had been shot down. Cresh Squad was given permission to investigate and hopefully rescue her. His six other surviving commandos plus a volunteer from Dorn Squad joined him, flying a shuttle into the steep ravines. Thankfully, he found Jasika, but her legs had been broken. They were pursued by the Yuuzhan Vong, but the help of Paladin Squadron and Yanibar Guard Avatar walkers allowed them to be extracted. After coming so close to death, Bryndar and Jasika resolved not to let their differences or careers interfere in their marriage again. Jasika was taken back to a field medcenter to be treated and recover, while the Yanibar Guard and the Yuuzhan Vong negotiated a mutual withdrawal.

Upon their return to Yanibar, both Jasika and Bryndar retired from the Yanibar Guard. As Bryndar's parents had remained on the legendary world of Atlaradis, Jasika and Bryndar took over their business, Bexpress Shipping, as Yanibar was forced into a ten-year evacuation effort due to machinations of the Yuuzhan Vong that slowly devastated Yanibar.

In 31 ABY, following the conclusion of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Bryndar and Jasika had a son, whom they named Nate, raising him on Yanibar. They split their time between Bespin and Yanibar for work to help with the evacuation, and after a rogue Elite Guardian named Ariada attacked Bespin in 38 ABY, they were called back to Cloud City to repair the damage.

Upon their return, they found that Rhiannon, by now married to Kavlis for many years, had come back to the refuge to decide what to do: the Outsider community she lived with had decided not to accompany the rest of the refuge to Atlaradis. Both Bryndar and Jasika told Rhiannon they would be supportive of whatever decision she chose. Following the death of her parents in the fight against Ariada, Rhiannon ultimately decided to stay with her family and adopted community, leaving for Naos. For Jasika and Bryndar, their decision was made: along with the rest of the Yanibar refuge, they departed for Atlaradis along with their son Nate after mourning those who had fallen.

Behind the scenes
Bryndar Knrr was created for the short story Deception on R'alla, although he was previously introduced in Force Exile IV: Guardian. Author Atarumaster88 had wanted to continue the Knrr bloodline, and Bryndar was a means to do so. His portrayal in Deception on R'alla was influenced by certain "young detective" stories, such as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, which was why Jasika, Bryndar, and Akleyn were the ones to explore the Imperial laboratory. Bryndar was written as a foil for Akleyn's academic strength and was characterized appropriately for his more athletic, headstrong tendencies.

At one point, Atarumaster88 considered writing a story featuring teenage Akleyn and Bryndar which would have centered around issues of prejudice and school violence while they were offworld being educated. This story, along with another horror-type story featuring Selu Kraen, was later discarded and elements of the plot were merged into Deception on R'alla.

The decision to pair Jasika with Bryndar Knrr as described in their brief appearance in Through Her Eyes was due to a desire to integrate the Knrrs with the Kraen bloodline. Atarumaster88 also chose to have Bryndar join Cresh Squad so he could continue the unit's legacy in the Force Exile Series while also including a character closely-tied to the main protagonists. For Force Exile V: Warrior, author Atarumaster88 wanted to show the battle at least in part from the perspectives of a Yanibar Guard Army soldier and a Yanibar Guard Fleet pilot. As Bryndar was already half of that pairing, he decided to have the storyline introduce Jasika into the Yanibar Guard to serve as the other perspective, as well as use her decision as a source of dramatic tension that was ultimately resolved.

Jasika and Bryndar had only brief appearances in Force Exile VI: Prodigal, as Atarumaster88 felt that their story arcs had largely been resolved in Warrior. However, Prodigal did establish that they both left the Yanibar Guard to take over Bryndar's parents' business and that they had a son named Nate.

Appearances

 * Force Exile IV: Guardian
 * Deception on R'alla
 * Through Her Eyes
 * Nine Riders
 * Force Exile V: Warrior
 * Force Exile VI: Prodigal