Chapter IV
Escen Cliffs, Oscura. Many years in the past…
"Commander, I think I've figured out your ulterior motives."
"What is it, Neville?" Rays asked, breaking away from his fifth review of the outpost's layout.
"You and Kali'sto always pick battles that bring us to exotic locations and new worlds. You're running a safari!"
"Really?" Rays said with sarcastic intrigue.
"Join the Scorchers!" Neville spoke with the clearly faked enthusiasm of a narrator in a holonet vacation ad, "Explore the galaxy! Spelunk in the caves of Doan, run through the streets of Kaikielius, go rock-climbing on Oscura! Go out there and see the galaxy! Note: tourists may come into contact with Battle Droids, Seppies, angry animals, and more."
The laughter that issued from many of the soldiers in comm range – clone, human, alien – echoed in Rays' helmet. Only a handful of soldiers – mostly either newer recruits, troopers who had seen too much, or Captain Splinter – chastised Neville for making light of something this serious or being unfocused on his task.
Rays couldn't help but grin. They needed something to distract from the howl of the wind, the falling pebbles, and the ever-present anticipation that permeated through the company.
"Check your rappel, soldier," Rays responded light-heartedly, shaking his head.
He was leading a company of troopers from his elite rapid-response battalion, the Scorchers, gathered below Oscura's communication and relay station. By capturing the array, they would pave the way for the Thirteenth Fleet to sweep into the sector.
They had landed at the base of the mountain, just two nights before, in stealth transports. From there, they had split into their respective platoons and climbed the mountain from several different angles for the past twelve hours. As GAR intelligence had correctly assessed, these routes had allowed them to sneak past the outpost's sensors and patrols so they could ambush its droid garrison at close range.
Flicker Company: one-hundred-forty-six soldiers; eighty-three clones, sixty-two recruits of various species, and one Jedi Knight. Plus, an AT-TE that took up position five kilometers away, hidden by Oscura's natural dark rock formations. Right now, Tinder Platoon was waiting just sixteen meters below the edge of the platform, at optimal position. A few were resting on a wide ledge. Many others were secured to the mountain by rappel lines and their own grip, including Rays.
They had been waiting here for almost an hour, passing the time in different ways. Some bantered, some reexamined their gear. All of them were in some way preparing for what was to come.
Rays was reviewing the plan, preparing again and again for the battle. He knew that he wouldn't get everything right and people were going to die. He just had to make sure as many of them as possible made it through. He worried for Neville, Splinter, Nav, Gala...Kallie, especially Kallie.
A tactical map of the battlefield took up the northwest corner of Rays' HUD, showing the outpost in blue, the droids clustered around it red, the cannons yellow, and his own troops, scattered around the cliff's edge, marked in orange.
Everything was straightforward: wait for Kali'sto to finish placing the blinders, have the walker open fire and lure the vulture droids away, and deploy unto the outpost.
The advance squads of the Trailblazers, all equipped with jetpacks, were ready. The remaining troopers in Tinder Platoon were standing by.
Rays reopened his comms, "Smoke Platoon ready?"
"We are on standby," Captain Splinter reported.
"Trailblazers?"
"All set, sir," Lieutenant Navelleen Ojan-Maxiiin – a Mandalorian nicknamed Nav – responded. Above Rays and Tinder Platoon, her Trailblazers stirred with excitement and dread.
"Hellfire platoon?"
"Ergh, aaarrrgghhh!" Major Vaargalou explained.
"Good work, Gala," Rays responded.
"You okay, sir?" Splinter asked.
"What?" Rays replied.
"Rugh."
"I'm fine, guys," Rays insisted, "I'm fine."
"Argh, Raarrrrrr."
Gala was both authoritative and persistent. Those qualities made her a near-perfect commanding officer, particularly since a small number of troublesome people – both clones and recruits, sadly – didn't take the idea of a Wookiee Officer seriously. They grossly underestimated the intelligence of Wookiees, particularly in her case.
"Okay," Rays explained, "I've just been thinking about Troxar."
"They died fulfilling their duty, Commander. Remember that," Splinter responded.
"Rgh, guuaaaarrrgh."
"Please don't tarnish their deaths, Major," Splinter sternly retorted, "They died for what they believed in."
Rays didn't respond to Splinter or Gala directly, instead electing to send a groupwide text to the rest of the troops on the cliff.
The months-long slog on Troxar had proven to be his worst battle since any of his encounters with Grievous. Faulty intel, a lack of contact with Command, the intense stubbornness of the planet's residents as they fought and died––waiting for reinforcements that never came…a full half of the troops deployed to that aquatic hellhole––including more than a third of the Scorchers–had died, sometimes needlessly.
Rays looked both above and below him at the troops gathered on the cliff.
Until three months ago, most of the clone troopers in this platoon were green. Two-thirds of them hadn't even taken names yet, lacking the unique sigils and scars each individual added to the base orange-red color scheme that evoked the image of a conflagration.
None of them were new now. There had been no time to replenish their ranks after Troxar; they had all tasted battle now. All of them had names, sigils, scars, scuff, and stories. Both the clones and their naturally-born comrades.
It was because of that battle that Rays had assembled this unit out of volunteers. This was why the rest of whatever remained of the Scorchers were aboard Conflagration—their cruiser—just outside the outpost's sensor range.
Rays blinked five times, setting his HUD to record messages and send them to his troops' HUDs, instead of just speaking into their helmets. He blinked again twice, beginning the recording.
"Don't go out in a blaze of glory, boys," Rays began, "It's the attempt that counts. We all have too much life left, let's make sure we can come back to it."
Rays was immediately dissatisfied, and began making revisions here and there, tweaking each word, but it never came out right. He eventually gave up and decided to continue reviewing the battle plan and reissue instructions to his squads.
As he prepared to do so, a new message appeared on Rays' HUD.
Blinders in place, the message read, Stand by, two minutes. A timer appeared on Rays's HUD and began counting down.
Kali'sto had come through! Rays immediately began recording a new message to be sent to all troopers.
"We're ready! Stand by, one minute, fifty seconds!"
Rays sent the message. All around him, his troops began reporting in.
"Xhalleen Bhorsi, standing by…"
"Madclaw, standing by…"
"Tractor, standing by…"
"Tripo, standing by…"
"Malli Rikks, standing by…"
"Xal Xarc, standing by…"
"Arrrgh, Rugharrrugh…"
"Neville, standing by…"
Rays listened as each Scorcher responded with their name. He was relieved that they were identifying themselves by their names, instead of their numbers.
The counter moved down to 0:25. Rays braced himself for what was to come.
0:20...
"Everyone's reported in," Splinter reported.
"We're all set," Nav declared.
"Irrgh Rargh, Raaaaaaagggghhh!"
Once the counter hit 0:00, the blinders (specially designed by Ember and Plugs) would complete their job and jam the outpost's communication frequencies, preventing them from signaling any other Separatist forces for help. Immediately afterward, Kali'sto's team would fire a flare, signaling the AT-TE to open fire on the platform.
Rays' grip tightened on the ledge.
0:10…
0:09…
"Oya, vode an!" Rays declared. The words echoed across his comm channel as his troopers repeated the battle cry.
Oya could mean any number of terms in Mando'a, but to the Scorchers, the meaning was clear: Stay alive, my siblings.
0:03…
0:02…
0:01…
0:00.
"Hold on!" Rays ordered.
The cliffs rumbled and fire began to wrack the structure above as AT-TE SCCW2003 unleashed hell upon the outpost's parked fighter squadrons. The mountain shook with the echo of the blasts, with pebbles, dust, and ice shaking and falling. Around Rays, the troopers held fast to the cliff.
"My rapple!" This was Cypher, Trailblazer Squad-Aurek's Corporal.
"He's slipping!" Xal Xarc, a recruit from Maanan.
Rays couldn't see Cypher from his current position, his heart only hammered as he heard Cypher's heavy breathing and grunts and yelps.
"Aaagh!" Cypher slipped.
"Your jetpack, Cypher!" Rays reminded him.
Through the comms, Rays could hear Cypher's yelling and panic, and heavy panting.
"I'm okay," Cypher reported to Rays' relief, "I'm okay sir, I have a landing spot!"
"We'll pick you up when the battle's over, hold tight!" Rays responded.
As the cliffs continued to shake, Rays soon heard the sound of engines roaring to life. He looked up and saw a squadron of Vulture Droids fly away from the outpost.
"Commander! They've deployed their fighters, you're clear!"
"Ascend!" Nav ordered.
Across the cliffs, Nav and the Trailblazers engaged their jetpacks and flew upward while the rest of the Scorchers fired a second round of grappling cables onto the base of the platform. As Rays and the others began to pull themselves upward, the Jet Trooper squads moved to land on a long, thin landing pad, atop which lay cargo crates, parked shuttles, everything needed to provide decent cover.
On that battlefield stood several patrol squads made up of spindly, cheap B1 battle droids, looking upward at their attackers. The advancing squads, anticipating this, threw their EMPs.
"Uh oh," one of the B1s responded as the EMPs detonated upon impact and disabled the patrol units, giving the troopers a beachhead to secure the landing pad.
Rays pulled himself onto the platform's edge and quickly took cover behind a Sheathipede shuttle. He drew his WESTAR-M5 rifle and fired a round of suppressing fire as the rest of his platoon climbed onto the platform.
"One-fifty skinny tinnies, two micro-spiders!" Nav reported.
"Jenth-Red!" Rays commanded. Around him, the troopers divided into individual half-squads and spread around, some attempting to catch the droids in a crossfire, others sneaking through all the chaos to catch them from behind with EMPs. Rays himself moved to find a better advance position.
"You there Splinter?" Rays asked as he and Neville took cover behind a stack of crates.
"Blaze Platoon has deployed!" Splinter responded.
"Nav?" Rays asked.
"We're here, Rays!" Nav responded.
"Gala?"
"Argh Errgh Raaarggghhh!"
"Keep it up!" Rays ordered. He turned his attention to his own men. Approaching the outpost from four different angles, the Scorchers kept the droids' attention divided, preventing them from marshalling their full strength towards a single weak point. Ideally, the Scorchers should make quick work of their enemies.
Simple enough, by Rays' standards. A decent battle plan.
They pushed forward, quickly decimating the first wave of droids. The Scorchers had a foothold, and advanced.
As the doors opened and additional reinforcements came to supplement the droids, Rays once again remembered that battle plans rarely worked to perfection.
Super Battle Droids. The hulking behemoths marched into the scene, deploying their wrist-mounted cannons and verbally assessing the situation in their shared unnaturally deep voice:
"Enemy designation found."
"Enemy units pinpointed."
"Engaging enemies."
The SBDs opened a torrent of blasterfire on Tinder Platoon.
"Pattern Trill-Green!" Rays ordered as he rolled behind a stack of crates, attempting to catch the SBDs from behind.
Rays overheard the chatter as the troops moved to deal with this new threat.
"Watch your flank Madclaw!"
"Come on, Yoke! Hurry!"
"Watch those wrist rocke…augh!"
"Men down! Repeat, Vibro and Stag are down!"
"Stag's still breathing!"
"Mosaic, where are you? Mosaic!"
All the chatter, every trooper's breathing, every word they said, every grunt of pain, Rays could hear it all. Years of training and experience were the only way he could tune it out. He focused on his own immediate surroundings.
Some of the SBDs were beginning to fall, their momentum was being blunted, if not stopped. Rays charged up his rifle, hoping to divide their attention.
Suddenly, a green blade ignited, and a robed figure charged into the SBDs, slicing and hacking away.
"Aagh!"
"Eliminate target…"
"Ugh!"
"No!"
"Baagh!"
Within minutes, the entire squad lay in pieces at Kali'sto's feet. The young Jedi himself was panting, but still focused.
Kali'sto quickly spotted Rays and ducked to join him behind his cover. There were scorch marks on his armor, his outer robe featured fresh tatters and holes, and his helmet had a slight gash in the plastoid casing, as if someone had tried to cut it open with a vibroblade and spectacularly failed. Despite this, he seemed okay, he was still alert, and appeared to be ready for action.
Rays could only say, "Thanks, Kallie."
Kali'sto nodded.
"Your squad?"
"Helping out the other platoons," Kali'sto assured him.
"The blinders?"
"They're secured."
"Agh!" Mere meters away, a fuel canister exploded, throwing two troopers into the air.
"Allik and Bishop are down!"
"Allik is still alive," Kali'sto declared. Rays nodded.
As Rays fired a round of suppressive fire, the young Knight raised his hands and floated Specialist Allik out of the line of fire. Shielded behind one of the parked shuttles, Xhalleen, Mosaic, or one of their subordinate medics could tend to him in safety.
That task accomplished, Kali'sto grabbed a blaster carbine from his belt. He took careful shots at the remaining B1 battle droids, guided by the Force. Save for his robe and long, exposed fingers, he almost looked like another clone trooper.
Rays commed the other platoon leaders.
"Status?"
"Our corner's finished," Nav reported, "Squad Aurek and I are coming to you."
"Pressing forward," Splinter reported, "We're still encountering resistance with a wave of super battle droids."
"RaaaarAaargghhh!"
"Divide their attention! Hold them there. We're almost inside," Rays ordered. Nav joined him and Kali'sto as Tinder Platoon and the Trailblazers moved to surround the tower's entrance. They had their beachhead, and now they had the outpost's doors surrounded. They just had to deal with whatever droids the outpost had left.
Suddenly, the tower's doors opened. With a distinctive vibration and click-lock, out rolled the deadliest enemy to any infantry unit.
Destroyer Droids. A small number of them were taken down by blaster bolts as they unfurled, but the rest were able to finish deployment, engaging their personal shields, rendering them invulnerable to blasterfire.
"Take cover!" Rays ordered as they opened fire.
The droidekas' fire covered a wide arc, attempting to cast a 180º net around the comms tower. Troopers, crates, walls, even their own fellow droids were hit by their pattern. It didn't matter: the destroyers were shielded and their arc of fire was too much for any of the Scorchers to break through with weapons that might actually hurt them.
"Twin prongs!" Rays ordered.
"Sir, you can't! You'll lose your momentum...!" Splinter countered.
"We'll lose more troopers if we don't, Splinter! Pull back!" Rays interrupted.
The troops moved back, ducking behind cover. This forced the droidekas to leave their position to catch the retreating troopers. Still, they weren't moving in the direction Rays needed them to move in.
"We need bait," Xal Xarc suggested over comms.
"I'll handle it," Kali'sto declared.
"No!" Rays begged, grabbed his arm.
"Rays," Kali'sto said softly.
A battle briefly raged between Rays' tactical instincts and his emotional ones. The former won out; Kali'sto was right. A Jedi would prove a better distraction...and have a better chance of surviving as the bait for a squad of droidekas.
They weren't Kallie and Rays right now; they had to be General Kali'sto and Commander CC-4242.
"May the Force be with you, Kallie," Rays whispered.
Kali'sto charged into the fray, igniting his lightsaber and facing down the droid phalanx.
The droidekas moved away from their clone targets and trained their guns on the Jedi in their midst.
Rays took advantage of the enemy's diverted attention and signaled Nav and the troopers of Tinder Platoon with a series of distinct hand gestures. The troopers followed his direction, moving into position.
Kali'sto slowly retreated, frantically deflecting bolt after bolt from the destroyers' blasters. The droidekas were idiotic enough to follow him into an alley bordered by parked shuttles and stacks of crates on the edge of the landing pad. Behind both sides of the trench were Scorchers who were arming EMP grenades, ready to gently toss them into the droideka's shields and disable them. Holding his breath with anticipation, Rays waited for them to march into position.
The droidekas stepped on the X. Rays armed his EMP, placed it on the ground and gently tossed it with just the precise amount of force needed to move it past the rear destroyer's shield. Around him, the other troopers did the same.
They succeeded, the grenades released their electromagnetic pulses, frying the droids' circuits. The insectoid constructs all collapsed to the ground.
Rays signaled his men to advance.
Kali'sto looked at Rays. Rays nodded. Kali'sto joined Nav at the head of the advance squad. The Scorchers rushed back towards the outpost's entrance and charged in, blasting down the few remaining droids.
Trusting Kali'sto and Nav, Rays turned his attention to the overall battlefield, and quickly moved to help Splinter and Gala, who were mopping up the remaining droids on the platform. Drawing his pistols, Rays rushed in to join them as Gala tore droids apart with her bare hands and Splinter hacked through droid after droid with a blue-bladed lightsaber clutched in his mechanical left hand, both souvenirs of their last battle with General Grievous. Within minutes, every remaining droid fell to the ground.
Rays glanced up at the communications tower, lowering his helmet binoculars to get a closer look at the command center…
"The outpost is ours!" Nav reported, "We're signaling the fleet now!"
"The Vultures are gone," the comms specialist, Next, reported, "Trylls was quite innovative."
Several of the Scorchers, including Kali'sto, walked out of the outpost, their helmets off.
"Raaaauuuaaaagghhhh!" Gala yelled, raising her blaster rifle in the air.
While Kali'sto smiled wearily, the rest of the Scorchers shouted with elation.
"Victory!"
"We did it!"
"Wooo!"
Rays checked his HUD. Fifteen deaths, one-hundred-thirty-one still alive. There were plenty of injuries, but keeping the fatalities this low…Rays was amazed. It wasn't just his strategy. His troops had all performed to their best.
Rays grabbed Kallie and embraced him. This was a victory.
While many of the planets the Scorchers visited had joined the Separatists willingly, the large moon of Oscura had been seized in battle by the Separatists during the war's early stages, thus the people in the nearby city welcomed the Republic troops as heroes, which made Kali'sto – and by extension, Rays – nothing but happy and relieved.
"The fleet's already launched attacks on eight worlds. We should be able to secure them with minimal casualties," a holo of Tarc Iskin, the commanding officer of Conflagration, reported.
Rays spoke with Captain Iskin in the outpost's cramped, circular command center. Around him were various consoles, now manned by Scorchers. With Rays stood Splinter, Gala, Nav, Captain Cobalt, Kali'sto, and an official from the parliamentary government that managed the sparse population on the mountainous world.
"I hope so, Captain," Kali'sto commented.
"You should be entrenched enough to ward off any attempts to retake this base," Iskin reported, "We've been ordered to join the assault on Ciutric, so we'll be out of touch for a little while."
"What are our orders?" Splinter inquired.
"You'll stay here and oversee the establishment of a permanent Republic outpost," Iskin explained, "Once you're finished, the Assimilator will arrive with a permanent garrison."
"Rugh arr earrrrruugh?" Gala inquired.
"Brass doesn't have anyone else to spare," Iskin explained, "We'll stay in orbit until everyone's offloaded."
In complete contrast to Splinter and Gala's confusion, Rays was happy to hear they'd get some unofficial leave. Whenever his troops had an opportunity for rest and relaxation, they always took it.
Iskin still stood at attention, but was smiling warmly.
"Good luck, Captain."
"Have fun, Commander."
The holo deactivated.
"I'll handle things here," Kali'sto declared, "Rays, you can check on your men."
Rays nodded, smiling.
As Rays and the captains moved towards the elevator, he glanced over to Kali'sto as he was bowing in respect to the planet's ambassador and began conversing with her. Even as the doors closed, Rays couldn't take his eyes off him.
"You look happy," Cobalt remarked.
"I'm just in a good mood, Cobalt," Rays commented, even as he lowered his head and sighed. There was no word in Basic that he detested more than "classified" or "secret."
The doors opened to reveal a busy landing deck as the Scorchers piled up the scattered remains of droids and established patrol schedules.
Rays turned to the temporary deck officer, Lieutenant Miiille Veran.
"Status?" Rays asked.
"We're on track, sir," the Nautolan woman reported, "Almost all the dead clankers have been cleaned up. The gunships will start landing soon. I'd estimate two, maybe three hours until the tent's pitched."
"Excellent work, Miiille," Rays complemented, saluting her, a gesture that the lieutenant returned.
As Miiille continued to direct the operation, Rays looked out at the landing deck. The air was filled with the roar of engines and the whoosh of wind as Separatist craft were removed from the outpost, clearing space for Republic Gunships and shuttles that were beginning to descend upon the landing ramp. Looking upward, Rays saw Conflagration looming overhead, casting the shadow of the Republic upon yet another world.
Another two hours later, out in the plateaus, all three-hundred-ninety-two of the Scorchers held an impromptu funeral for Lieutenant Quasar, Second Lieutenant Rem Illi, Sargeants Xixx Tyl and Viscount, Corporals Akar Ele and Ilam Tye, and Troopers Bishop, Ym Ye, Vibro, Stag, Elar Wix, Exocriss, Trovel, Bells, and Match. During this, Nav and Rays had said the old Mandalorian vow, "I am still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal." Others chimed in with their own mourning rituals, such as Xhalleen praying, "May your memories guide us through the hardships to come." Gala gave a speech for Vibro and Stag, saying how they had died defending their honor-family… There were others. Rays and Kali'sto encouraged them all.
Afterwards, once they had finished clearing up the outpost's landing pad, stocking the barracks, and the other needed duties, those who hadn't volunteered to stay on duty started...celebrating. Kali'sto made a stew, Gala brewed some of her notoriously bad ale, instruments were brought out, a fire was lit…It was a party.
Although Rays himself was always aggrieved when he lost troopers – clone or nonclone – the fact was...they always lost people in battle. They had to celebrate victories like this, or else they would lose their sanity. Gala and Neville had thought up this tradition on Kaikelius, and it had saved the mental faculties of many – including Rays – during the siege of Troxar. Plus, it helped them bond as a community. Kali'sto had encouraged this, and sometimes provided food, even if he wasn't attending this time around.
"Don't feel like joining the party, Kallie?" Rays asked.
"I just need to meditate," Kali'sto responded, "I'm tired. Why aren't you back there?"
"I wanted to be with you," Rays explained.
Kali'sto smiled. His helmet lay on the ground next to him, his youthful face – with its smooth, pale, green-brown skin, short green hair, and multicolored eyes – displayed. He had the elegance of a young tree.
Rays sat down and took his hand, looking outward at the vast expanse. Oscura's sunset was beautiful, characterized in this late stage by streaks of pink and magenta, contrasting wonderfully with the dark mountains, hills, and cliffs beneath it, giving them a purple and dark blue hue.
"I wish every day could be just this," Rays admitted.
"Maybe, after the war ends," Kallie replied. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Any ideas?"
"There has to be a nice, uninhabited planet out there," Rays envisioned, raising his arm towards the sky as if to illustrate the galactic expanse, "Somewhere we could settle when this is all over."
"Well," Kallie began, "There's Weik, which has a scattered populace. There's also Fhost, M'Gonnna…"
"Pick one," Rays suggested.
Kallie smiled, "Okay…M'Gonnna's an arboreal world. But it has patches that might be farmable. And," he added, gesturing at the sunset, "It's part of a binary star system."
"Sounds perfect," Rays imagined, "We could grow kajaka roots, plant some meilooruns, maybe build some tree-cities. Gala would love it."
"I'm thinking about teaching," Kali'sto commented, smiling, "Maybe history or debate. Or holo-theater."
"You'd be great," Rays replied, "You could make a trip to the store sound exciting."
"That reminds me. Are you sure they enjoy my dish?" Kali'sto asked, the conversation returning to reality.
"You can do no wrong with stews. Was it Vel leaf this time around?"
"Punctil."
"Right, this is your best one yet. Very spicy. I can't even taste the field rations you mixed in."
"I ventured deep into the uncharted regions of this mountainous world on a quest to harvest rare spices from the chaos of the local market!'' Kali'sto declared with exaggerated theatricality.
Rays laughed. It felt good to feel mirth in these dark times. He lived for these quiet, joyful moments between all the fighting, when he could put CC-4242 aside and continue to learn what it meant to just be Rays.
"So, we have shore leave until Assimilator arrives," Rays said, "Want to visit the town together?"
"I'd love to go tomorrow. But tonight...I need to rest."
"Can't even join the party?"
Kali'sto was silent for a moment, only staring at Rays. Rays shrugged.
"Give me an hour to meditate. I'll meet you there."
"Great!" Rays leaned in and laid a quick kiss on Kallie's lips. Kallie smiled as Rays moved to his feet.
"I'll see you soon," Kallie promised.
"That's what you said on Ossus," Rays said with a smile.
"Will you ever let that go?"
"Never."
As he walked back towards the outpost, Rays couldn't help but grin. He didn't care how many regulations – Jedi or GAR – he and Kallie were breaking, they loved each other, and their relationship was one of the happiest parts of his life.
No matter what hell the Republic and the war forced Rays through, he had a partner in Kallie, a home and family with the Scorchers, and a purpose: protecting them – the only family he would ever be allowed to have.
Author's Commentary:
Commander Rays was my very first Star Wars OC. His name came from when I misinterpreted clone trooper Rhys' name as a kid, but I really liked the resulting name and used it for my very own clone commander. Using Captain Fordo as a template for Rays' original appearance, I customized him using a LEGO phase 1 clone commander minifigure that came from a 2009 Clone Wars clone trooper battle pack and gave him a red paint scheme with sharpies. Over the years, I developed his personality and his red paint scheme evolved into a unique orange-red blend to represent flame, a color scheme shared by all of his brothers. I have fond childhood memories of shooting crude stop-motion videos of Rays leading an army of Lego clones into battle against battalion upon battalion of battle droids, from Phase 1 to Phase 2. These clones would one day become the Scorchers, my own personal clone battalion.
When I started writing the Illumination trilogy, I realized I had an opportunity to bring Rays back. He is a really special character for me, and I'm happy to share him with you here.
As for why I made Rays and Kali'sto a couple...this was an idea I've been planning for years: I wanted to give Rays and Kali'sto a more unique dynamic. We've already had the "brothers-in-arms" and "General-commander," why not this? Considering the fact that there are millions of clones, all with distinct personalities, (and some of whom have subtle genetic differences) why can't one be gay or bisexual?
So, with my explanation out of the way, what did you think of this chapter? I had a ton of fun writing this and bringing my childhood creation into the spotlight.