The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Dex Naresco

"It’ll be up to Captain Beblos whether or not you remain in Cresh Squad, but aside from making an incredibly poor tactical choice, you committed no breach of the Guard’s protocols. And you did get us out of an incredibly bad situation in the ops center. So don’t be too hard on yourself."

- Milya Tayrce Kraen to Dex Naresco

Dex Naresco was born on Dubrillion during the waning years of the Old Republic, in 25 BBY. His parents worked at Dubrillion Aeronautics, a private shipbuilding firm that built civilian craft. The company was understaffed and his parents hardly spent time at home, so his older sister, Erina, was responsible for taking care of him while their parents were away. She took it upon herself to provide for Dex. While Erina finished her schooling or was otherwise unavailable, he would spend time with his paternal grandfather, Mahel.

In his youth, Mahel Naresco had worked in the Republic Judiciary Force’s Electronics and Cyberwarfare Division, and he spent nearly three decades working with military technology. His passion for computers eventually led to Dex’s interest in electronics, and Dex became Mahel’s unofficial apprentice. His earliest tasks would involve rewriting a piece of faulty code developed by a novice programmer, but he learned quickly under Mahel’s guidance. When Dex wasn't in school, he was involved as a scout and a thief for a street gang, where he learned a number of languages and was able to practice slicing into computer systems and security locks. He was in the gang for five years, but eventually, Erina found out about it and forced him to break off all contact with them, or else risk her telling her parents.

After several years of home schooling and tutelage under his grandfather, his parents sent him to a proper school in the capital city when he was thirteen. Dex was mocked and teased for his short stature and red hair at his school. He found it hard to make friends, and he seldom spoke in class. The aftermath of the Clone Wars saw thousands of aliens displaced during the war flee to Dubrillion, which had supported the Separatist cause. The planet was not as xenophobic as others and the planet’s leaders gladly welcomed these new citizens. As young refugees began to attend school, Dex suddenly found himself surrounded by strange aliens he had never seen before, and his appearance didn’t seem to mind the other Human students anymore.

Of all the students he befriended after the Clone Wars, Keralacca was the one he knew the longest. A Wookiee who had emigrated from Alaris Prime during the Clone Wars, Keral was fiery, inquisitive, and a loyal friend to Dex. Keralacca received help understanding instructions from Dex, since the Wookiee did not speak Basic, while Dex could understand Shryiiwook thanks to his time in the Dubrillion street gang. In return, Keralacca made sure that Dex was safe from bullying and threats made by the other students. As the son of Wookiee technician offspring, Keralacca proved to be a skilled computer technician, and Dex invited him to train under his grandfather. The Wookiee happily obliged, and the two learned from Dex’s grandfather until he died in 9 BBY.

Keralacca, two years Dex’s senior, left school early and found work as a miner on Destrillion. He wanted to work for the planet’s military, but the Galactic Empire had increased its influence, reaching the Outer Rim Territories and changing old policies and traditions. The Imperial Army replaced traditional planetary militias and they were notably Humanocentric. Dex didn’t see the appeal in his friend’s desired career choice, and he completed his basic schooling, earning high marks in mathematics and computer science. He applied and was eventually accepted to the Dubrillion Institute of Technology, a prestigious university that specialized in artificial intelligence research, computer science, and robotics. He received his degree from Dubrillion Tech in 5 BBY.

He took a job at Dubrillion Aeronautics, the same company his parents had worked at for several decades, working as a security guard. While his primary role was to monitor the computer systems of the plant, he also underwent standard guard training, including the use of a blaster and other tactical skills. After a year, his performance had impressed the company to the point where he was placed in charge of the computer security team and even managed a shift of his own sometimes.

However, the Empire now owned the company, and it produced TIE fighters and other military-grade starfighters for the Imperial Navy. Employees who had constructed ships for the Confederacy during the Clone Wars were now forced to aid the Empire in its own war effort, and after several ineffective strikes and protests, they could no longer willing assist the Empire. In 3 BBY, a Rebel group, led by a retired Confederate general, attacked the Imperial garrison on the planet and killed hundreds of captured stormtroopers and other Imperial personnel in a show of force. Their attacks were not sanctioned by the burgeoning Corellian, Alderaanian, and Chandrilan resistance groups, while the Empire also had no desire to spread word of rebellion, so it was quickly hushed up and the Dubrillion Insurrection never made the holonet headlines.

Instead, the Empire responded by sending Captain Iostain Tacnell and a sizable force to quell the insurrection. Bombardment destroyed the Dubrillion Aeronautics building, which had been seized by the insurgents, and then began bombing indiscriminately. The few hundred rebel forces, funded by offworld dissidents to Imperial policy, were unable to defend themselves against the attacking stormtroopers and their mechanized support. The rebels were crushed and hundreds of citizens were killed in the streets by stormtroopers, including Dex’s sister Erina and her family. Dex escaped the massacre in the streets by chance, even though many of his friends and neighbors were not so lucky.

Making his way to his parents’ home, he was surprised to see Keralacca, who had returned to Dubrillion for the first time in years, to aid in the rebellion. Keralacca told Dex that he was looking for him, and he was going to help him and his parents get offworld before the Empire could threaten them. Once they had made sure Dex’s parents were safe, Keralacca led them to a transport in the countryside. This transport would take them away from the Imperial attack, but once Keral told them once they stepped on-board the transport, they would likely not be allowed to leave their destination. Dex didn’t care, and he and his parents escaped Captain Tacnell’s pacification of his homeworld and fled to the remote world of Yanibar.

After debarking from the transport, Dex was introduced to Selusda Kraen and General Spectre Kraen, the head of the Yanibar colony and leader of the Yanibar Army, respectively. They told him, and the rest of the refugees, mostly skilled workers and technicians brought by Keralacca, that they would be safe here, but they would have to remain on Yanibar for the foreseeable future. If any of them did not wish to stay, Selu offered to have them escorted offworld, but they would forget about&mdash;and be unlikely to return to&mdash;Yanibar and its hidden colony. Some of the other refugees protested, but Dex and his family agreed to stay on Yanibar and make a new life there.

Driven by feelings of revenge, Dex eagerly joined the Yanibar Guard, the fighting force of the colony, even though he had no former military experience, just his stint as a security guard. His motivation was clear: he wanted to exact revenge on the Empire for their actions during the attack on his homeworld. He became proficient with a blaster and underwent a brutal training regimen, but it became clear that his impressive skills with electronics would not benefit Yanibar as a generic infantryman. His superiors knew he was particularly capable with computer systems, and his combat and other infantry-related skills were above average but not stellar. However, after an opening appeared in Cresh Squad, one of the foremost commando units in the Yanibar Guard, four months after Dex joined the Yanibar Guard, he eagerly applied for it. The commandos were one of the few units who regularly traveled offworld and Dex wanted a shot at the action. He redoubled his efforts and made it into the squad. His guard training and leadership experience as well as his slicing talent quickly made him one of the better commandos, particularly when combined with his tireless work ethic. Corporal Naresco was appointed to Cresh Squad in 1 BBY. Under the leader of Captain Beblos, the Duros commander of Cresh Squad, Dex saw action across the galaxy, but he was still waiting for a chance to have his chance at revenge on the Empire.

He was delighted when Selu Kraen told Cresh Squad that they would be going on a mission to steal the invaluable, top-secret computer core from the Star Destroyer Impenetrable. Dex knew that the Impenetrable had been leading the attack against Dubrillion, and he was sure that Tacnell was still in command of the vessel. Although he was nervous and pensive before the mission, he proved his prowess as a soldier and hacker during the infiltration of the Star Destroyer. He even got a chance to command Cresh Squad when Captain Beblos and the Force-sensitive leaders of the mission were rendered unfit to lead due to injuries and a disturbance in the Force, respectively.

Having extracted the computer core, Dex led the squad to a series of escape pods for their retreat. They were pursued by Imperial stormtroopers and Dex attempted to use his position to rig an escape pod to explode and kill Tacnell. However, their chances of escape lessened with every second wasted. A fellow member of Cresh Squad was severely injured saving Dex from an explosive, and he was pulled out of his rage-induced desire for revenge by that heroic action. Reluctantly, he abandoned his plan and escaped the Impenetrable with his companions, though he was disappointed that Tacnell had survived. Cresh Squad and the others were recovered by a Yanibar Guard Fleet task force, which used data from Dex's datapad to fire a missile strike at the ship's bridge, killing Tacnell. The fallen on Dubrillion were finally given justice and Dex returned to Yanibar a much happier man.

Dex participated in several other missions for Cresh Squad, including stopping an illicit spice-smuggling ring that used Yanibar as a depot for its wares and ending a terrorist plot on Trian. By 3 ABY, he had earned the rank of sergeant and obtained several highly classified medals to show for his time in Cresh Squad. When Cresh Squad was deployed to Nar Shaddaa in covert operations, Naresco took part in numerous raids against Zann Consortium holdings. He suffered some minor injuries during a scuffle in an underworld establishment, but the unit caused significant disruption in Zannist operations. After returning to Yanibar from that mission, Naresco helped defend Yanibar from a subsequent invasion by the Zann Consortium. He and his squadmates were part of an infiltration team that boarded the Zann Consortium flagship and sabotaged its reactor. The ship's destruction signaled the virtual end of hostilities, as the explosion consumed many other vessels as well.

In 8 ABY, Dex was selected as Cresh Leader, a prestigious position within the Yanibar Guard. He continued to lead the squad for three more years, but eventually decided that he had served Yanibar long enough. In 11 ABY, Dex retired from active duty and obtained a job as a security consultant to Kraechar Arms, helping develop computer defenses for their new products. Part of that decision was due to age and injuries&mdash;after twelve years in the commandos, he was no longer as fast as he used to be. Furthermore, Yanibar was at peace, and offworld missions grew less and less frequent. A final factor was his involvement with Tara Heles, a former Yanibar Guardsman herself and his desire to settle down with her. The two married in 11 ABY with many of their military friends attending. Dex and Tara later had a daughter named Erina in 12 ABY.

Behind the scenes
The character of Dex Naresco was created by Atarumaster88 for the short story Hard Code, the third and final story in the Cresh Squad sub-trilogy in the Yanibar Tales. Naresco was unique in that, out of all the protagonists in the story, he survives its conclusion. He was envisioned as a computer slicer and commando with a hidden past, which influenced his role in Hard Code.

The character's backstory was largely created by Jedi Master 76 for the "What's the backstory?" contest. As part of the entry, Jedi Master 76 included the background of how the character came to Yanibar and joined the Yanibar Guard. Some content featured in the entry was removed by Atarumaster88, including a love interest for Naresco earlier in his life. Keralacca was also originally an Aqualish named "Keral," but due to the low proclivity of Aqualish as tech specialists and a dearth of Wookiee characters in Force Exile, Atarumaster88 made him into a Wookiee instead.

Appearances

 * Hard Code
 * Force Exile IV: Guardian