Darth Vader wasn’t known for handing out gifts—especially not something as sacred as a lightsaber. But then came Sergeant Kreel, a trooper so loyal and unshakable that Vader decided to test him in a way no one else would ever experience.
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A Different Kind of Stormtrooper
Most stormtroopers were faceless and forgettable, but Sergeant Kreel wasn’t like that. He grew up on Chagar IX, a brutal world where survival often meant fighting in pits and seeing people die young. When the Empire arrived, everything changed for him. He saw stormtroopers as something powerful and pure compared to the chaos of his home. Joining their ranks gave him purpose, and he carried that pride with him for the rest of his life.
By the time Vader took notice of him, Kreel was already a seasoned soldier, leading the special forces unit known as SCAR Squadron. He was battle-hardened, loyal, and absolutely dedicated to the Empire, which set him apart and caught Vader’s eye.
Vader decided to test Kreel in a way most stormtroopers could never imagine—through lightsaber combat. The room filled with training droids cranked up to the highest difficulty, every safety turned off, and Kreel lit up a green saber. It must have looked incredible, but once the fight started, the reality was brutal.
Kreel held his own for a while, even deflecting blaster bolts back at the droids, but he was too slow and clumsy. One shot hit him hard, and that’s when Vader stepped in. With a flick of his hand, he crushed all the droids against the wall, then turned his attention to Kreel.
Vader told him flat-out he was too much of a stormtrooper and would never become a Sith. Kreel didn’t even argue. He just said, calm as ever, that he never wanted to be a Sith anyway. What mattered to him was the 501st Legion, the stormtroopers who had saved his life back on Chagar IX.
The Test of Loyalty
That answer didn’t stop Vader from nearly ending him. Using the Force, Vader yanked the saber from Kreel’s hands and pressed the blade to his throat. Kreel had already failed him once aboard the Harbinger, and this was his chance to prove he deserved another shot.
Kreel didn’t beg. He stood there and told Vader that if his squad failed again, he would personally drive that saber into his own chest before he let Vader down.
Vader lowered the blade. Instead of killing him, he gave Kreel the lightsaber back and sent him on a mission. Find the rebels. If Skywalker appeared, bring him to Vader. And most importantly, take care of that weapon—it belonged to a Jedi who had fallen with it in hand, and now it was Kreel’s responsibility to be worthy of carrying it.
Face-to-Face With the Emperor
Right then, Emperor Palpatine himself walked in. Kreel had never been in the same room as him before, and the shock was overwhelming. He dropped to his knees, stunned into silence. Later, when he described it, he said being in Palpatine’s presence felt like his teeth ached and his body buzzed as if he were standing in a storm.
The Emperor praised him, saying the Empire needed more soldiers like him. But here’s the thing—Palpatine didn’t even know who Kreel was. To him, Kreel was just another stormtrooper in the sea of millions. Still, Kreel chose to focus only on the recognition, no matter how hollow it really was.
SCAR Squadron on the Hunt
After that meeting, Kreel and his squad were sent to crush a rebel outpost in the Horox system. On the way, they even freed a village from a tyrant, gaining the locals’ trust before wiping out the rebels hidden nearby. The battle was quick and brutal, showing how effective SCAR Squadron really was under Kreel’s command.
When Kreel later talked about why he fought, the difference between him and the average trooper was clear. One of his men admitted he fought just because he didn’t want to get shot. Kreel, on the other hand, said he fought because he had stood before the Emperor himself. That moment gave him a kind of unshakable conviction.
Kreel never tried to become a Sith, and Vader never expected him to. The lightsaber was just a test of loyalty, discipline, and whether his dedication to the Empire could make him worthy of carrying such a weapon.
For a while, it did. Kreel wielded that saber on multiple missions and even faced Luke Skywalker with it. He wasn’t a Jedi, but he was still a stormtrooper who could go toe-to-toe with one—and that alone made him stand out in the history of the Empire.
