Tolk le Trene

As a nurse in the military of the Galactic Republic, Tolk le Trene, a female Lorrdian, participated in the Clone Wars. This war was a galaxy-spanning event between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Le Trene was a scrub nurse for a Corellian surgeon named Jos Vondar at Republic Mobile Surgical Unit 7 in 20 BBY, which was two years after the war began. RMSU-7 was situated in the Jasserak Lowlands of Tanlassa, which was close to the Kondrus Sea on the planet Drongar. Le Trene served under Vondar, who was a Captain and Chief Surgeon, and a Human colonel named D'Arc Vaetes, who was in command of the medical facility. The Republic forces located there found Drongar to be an unpleasant world, due to the powerful electrical storms, high temperatures, and high humidity.

During the time le Trene was stationed on Drongar, the planet was the site of an intense conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy, both of whom sought to control the planet's bota fields. Bota was a rare plant that could be turned into a drug with a variety of medicinal and other uses. Le Trene worked at RMSU-7 with Vondar, as well as Klo Merit, an Equani minder, and Zan Yant, a Zabrak surgeon who became friends with Vondar. Le Trene developed feelings for Vondar while at RMSU-7, but she didn't immediately express them. Le Trene and Vondar were required to operate on a large number of genetically identical clone troopers due to the fighting on Drongar. The clones were transported from the battlefield to the medcenter via medlifter transports, where le Trene helped Vondar during surgeries. The surgeons frequently had very little time between the arrival of newly injured troopers due to the intense fighting.

During surgery, Tolk le Trene and Vondar frequently had to contend with malfunctioning medical equipment, which forced them to employ less technologically advanced methods, as they did when operating on troopers injured in a battle in Poptree Forest. Shortly after the battle, Barriss Offee, a Mirialan Jedi Padawan and healer, arrived at RMSU-7 to join the staff, just before more wounded clone troopers arrived for le Trene and the other surgeons and nurses to treat. Soon after, le Trene, Vondar, and Yant gave the new arrival a tour of the base, including the facility's cantina, a popular spot for surgeons and nurses to relax when they were off duty. The four met Den Dhur, a Sullustan reporter who approached their table because of the Jedi's presence. Following the Jedi's arrival, the facility continued to receive numerous seriously wounded troops from the battle, forcing le Trene and the others to work long shifts, though Offee was able to assist them by using the Force to heal some of the injured.

Klo Merit, who was secretly working for the Confederacy, sabotaged a transport carrying bota to be taken off the planet as the battle continued. Tolk le Trene was among those who saw the bright flash when the transport exploded in midair. Around the time of the sabotage, le Trene and Vondar's surgical ward was able to keep eighty-seven percent of their patients alive. Vondar also developed feelings for le Trene, but he was hesitant to pursue them because of his Ensterite background, which forbade him from marrying anyone not born in the Corellian system. Around that time, instead of providing the surgical staff with medical droids, the Republic sent them a protocol droid designated I-5YQ, which Vondar assigned to data storage and secretarial duties. During a particularly intense period of fighting, le Trene and the rest of the medical staff at RMSU-7 were overwhelmed with severely wounded clone troopers, many of whom died. At that time, I-5YQ assisted le Trene and Offee in determining the treatment priority for troopers by attaching a priority label to each one. Several days later, while drinking with Vondar and Yant with Offee present, le Trene witnessed Den Dhur's revelation of a holorecording that showed Phow Ji, a Republic combat instructor, killing three separatist mercenaries with his bare hands, an act that Yant and Offee considered murder.

Around that time, Tolk le Trene began hinting at her attraction to Jos Vondar by doing things like leaving the "in use" diode off on the surgery's dressing room, hoping Vondar would accidentally walk in on her while she was changing clothes. However, Vondar believed she had simply noticed his own attraction to her and was enjoying embarrassing him. While stationed at RMSU-7, le Trene occasionally played sabacc, a card game, with Den Dhur, I-5YQ, Klo Merit, Barriss Offee, Jos Vondar, and Zan Yant. In addition to the usual surgical work, another important event occurred at RMSU-7 around the same time. Klo Merit, who was working for the Black Sun criminal organization instead of the Confederacy, used poison to kill the base's quartermaster, a Hutt named Filba, because of the Hutt's greed in smuggling bota for the organization. The murder caused quite a commotion in the camp, and le Trene's friend, Jos Vondar, had to perform an autopsy to determine how the Hutt died.

During her time there, she developed feelings for Jos Vondar, a Corellian Republic surgeon. Barriss Offee, a Jedi Padawan, briefly suspected le Trene of being a saboteur because she was on board the MedStar frigate at Drongar when an explosion occurred, and her attitude toward Vondar became more distant afterward. However, le Trene's coldness stemmed from the fact that she had learned Vondar would lose his position if she continued their relationship. She needed time to think, which Offee perceived when le Trene opened her mind to the Jedi.

Despite his people's traditions forbidding marriage to offworlders, Vondar took her to his homeworld after the fighting on Drongar ended. Erel Kersos, Vondar's great-uncle and an Admiral, accompanied them on their journey.

Although Lorrdian, le Trene was essentially a standard Human in terms of genetics and physical appearance. She had fair skin and shoulder-length brown hair that she often kept pulled back with a scarf. Jos Vondar considered le Trene to be attractive. She sometimes wore a musky, fresh scent that Vondar found pleasant during her time on Drongar. Le Trene was sometimes emotionally affected by the suffering and loss of life when the surgical ward was overwhelmed with severely wounded troopers. Tolk le Trene enjoyed drinking alcohol with Vondar, Den Dhur, and Zan Yant from time to time.

Despite her attraction to Jos Vondar, Tolk le Trene found it amusing to watch the Corellian looking at Barriss Offee, the new Jedi at RMSU-7. Although Vondar found her attractive, he initially didn't want a relationship with her due to his Ensterite upbringing, which prohibited him from marrying someone not born in his home system. Using her ability to read body language, she could tell that something was bothering Jos Vondar, but he initially refused to admit that he was lonely or attracted to her. Eventually, le Trene took the initiative and made her attraction known by leaving the "in use" diode off on the surgery's changing room, hoping Vondar would see her partially undressed. She also did her best to cheer him up when he was depressed by his work and the war.

Tolk le Trene, as a Lorrdian, could easily sense the mood of nearby sentient individuals through their expressions and body language. As a scrub nurse, le Trene was trained to diagnose injuries and operate various pieces of equipment. During the battle on Drongar, she could sometimes determine which trooper's injuries were too severe to survive and prioritize treatment for those who could still be saved.

She was trained to use both pressor generators and the more primitive hemostats to stop bleeding in surgical patients. She could also pump vascolution into a patient, use a hemosponge to clear an antisepsis field, and use a handheld bioscanner.

She scored a "master" rating in basic weapons tests with pulse rifles and a "sharpshooter" rating with sidearm blasters. While playing sabacc, le Trene could maintain a calm face to conceal the type of hand she held. Den Dhur believed her ability to read people would give her an advantage in the game, though not as significant as the advantage gained by Offee or Merit.

Tolk le Trene was created as a main character in MedStar I: Battle Surgeons, a 2004 novel by Steve Perry and Michael Reaves as part of the Clone Wars multimedia project and the first part of the MedStar Duology. Le Trene played a major role in MedStar II: Jedi Healer, the duology's concluding novel, also written by Perry and Reaves, later that year. In 2005, Tolk le Trene appeared in "MedStar: Intermezzo", a short story by Perry and Reaves that took place between the two MedStar novels. Randy Martinez created her first pictorial depiction for the story. "MedStar: Intermezzo" was initially published in Star Wars Insider 83 but was later released on Hyperspace in 2008, before its closure in 2011. In 2012, she was featured in the MedStar entry in The Essential Reader's Companion, a reference book by Pablo Hidalgo detailing Star Wars novels and short fiction in chronological order. Chris Trevas created an image of le Trene with the rest of the MedStar Duology cast for the book.