Drake Paulsen with Taggert and Coynite Tra'Parr'Sratt.
At the age of fifteen, the Socorran Twi'lek crimelord Abdi-Badawzi forced Drake into accompanying the alcoholic Corellian smuggler Elias Halbert and the honorable Coynite warrior Tra'Parr'Sratt on a gunrun aboard the Seldom Different. They were intercepted by an Imperial customs force led by Lieutenant Taggert. While managing to hide the cargo, Drake was fired upon and injured by one of the stormtroopers that made up the boarding party, as he tried to prevent Taggert from executing Sratt, whom Taggert was intent on making an example out of. As the Seldom Different checked out clear, Taggert decided to let the Corellian, his ship, and his passengers go. This was Drake's first encounter with the Empire. Sratt nursed Drake until they made it back to Socorro, and Drake could finally be reunited with his father.
- The Black Sands of Socorro
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Reader's Companion