The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Rali Tsouros

"“There’s no danger from the security here. It’s adequate, but not even close to military grade. I could convince it that Face here was a Batravian gumplucker without even breaking a sweat."

- Rali Tsouros

Rali Tsouros was a Human male from Serroco. Trained as a slicer and programmer, he joined the New Republic military in 5 ABY in the intelligence division. His exploits were considerable&mdash;both on enemy and allied networks. Rali's idiosyncratic philosophy led him to crack files where he wasn't intended to be, including in New Republic databases.

His superiors were ill-pleased when records of their misdeeds started being submitted anonymously. This was only intensified in 9 ABY when Rali's slicing efforts revealed the complicity of a high-ranking New Republic official in a scheme to clone and subsequently brainwash Lethan Twi'leks solely for slavery. For that disclosure, he was forced to testify in court. His superiors eventually found out, and the political fallout made him persona non grata for promotion or any significant assignment. Despite his good performance in helping New Republic Intelligence during the Thrawn Campaign, Rali had become a pariah among his peers.

However, Rali was noticed by the eccentric leader of Wraith Squadron, Garik Loran, who offered him a transfer into the Wraiths, a hybrid intelligence-pilot-commando organization. Rali readily accepted.

On one of his first missions, Rali and the Wraiths were sent to Hosk Station in 10 ABY to help secure the defection of a prominent Imperial scientist named Dmelte Volyken. For the mission, Rali was sent in as a security guard, monitoring the station's security and subverting it discreetly so the Wraiths could move about freely. When they met with Volyken and began their escape, Rali was in the security room, monitoring the station's response. However, he was found out and forced to flee, sustaining a blaster graze in the process.

He met up with several other Wraiths, who had retrieved Volyken but station security had been heightened. They ducked into a hotel room, not realizing that it contained two Force exiles from Yanibar, Sarth and Cassi Kraen. After a tense but brief standoff, Sarth and Cassi agreed to help the Wraiths escape, even treating Rali's wound.

Rali and the Wraiths were able to escape Hosk Station with Volyken and Rali continued to serve in the Wraiths for many years. When the Yuuzhan Vong invaded, Rali was part of a Wraith Squadron mission to infiltrate an enemy installation to study their data transmission creatures&mdash;their biotechnology was something he felt he needed to understand, as his slicing techniques were no use against the Yuuzhan Vong. Their mission to Aargonar in 26 ABY was bold, and an unexpected ambush by Yuuzhan Vong warriors caught the Wraiths by surprise. Rali was mortally wounded in the process and died onboard the evacuation ship after being poisoned. His death was the first of several that the Wraiths sustained during the war.

Behind the scenes
Rali Tsouros was created for Cloak and Datapad as the only fan-created member of Wraith Squadron, as canonically the Wraiths' slicer at the time was unknown. Atarumaster88 originally wanted him to be more idiosyncratic and slightly off-kilter mentally, but scaled back his quirkiness in response to beta-reader feedback. His name was inspired by the characters of Ralina Venli and Jhosua Weros from the Days of Dissidence fan-fiction series written by fellow author Jedi Master 76.

Appearances

 * Cloak and Datapad