Rex (SWAU)

## Rex Lawquane

**Rex Lawquane**, born with the identification **CT-7567**, was a Mandalorian bounty hunter and veteran clone trooper captain who led the acclaimed 501st Legion during the Clone Wars. CT-7567 was bred and trained on the planet Kamino for service to the Galactic Republic, entering combat for the first time at the Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY. He gained respect from both Jedi officers and his fellow clone troopers alike, fostering a reputation as being an honourable commander and a tough soldier. He was selected for special training under the ARC trooper Alpha-17, where he took the nickname "**Rex**." Within the 501st, Rex served as second-in-command to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, whose bravery and unorthodoxy in battle he came to share. In addition to fostering a close bond with General Skywalker, Rex was close friends with Commander Cody, with whom he often received joint assignments with to coordinate front-line campaigns against the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

After the Battle of Christophsis, Rex formed a close friendship with Skywalker's newly assigned Padawan, the Togruta Ahsoka Tano. Rex would later find it difficult to rebound from the Battle of Teth, which saw the near-eradication of his 501st unit, Torrent Company. While on a listening post inspection tour with Cody, Rex rallied a small team of rookie soldiers to retake Rishi Station, which they thereafter destroyed to thwart the Confederate General Grievous' planned invasion of Kamino. He was soon deployed on tour aboard Skywalker's flagship, the *Resolute*, and joined Skywalker and Tano in leading the 501st's offensives at Bothawui, JanFathal, and other flashpoints across the galaxy. He took part in countless campaigns in the galactic theatre of war, from the containment of the Blue Shadow Virus on Naboo and the Liberation of Ryloth to other hard-won victories like the Battle of Malastare, the Second Battle of Geonosis, and the Battle of Kamino.

Throughout his career, Rex proved to be an effective leader who truly cared for the men under his command, even as he began to doubt his own future—and those of his clone brethren—in the Republic. The Battle of Saleucami saw him meet the clone deserter Cut Lawquane, whom he came to respect despite their striking differences. His leadership was put to the ultimate test at the Battle of Umbara, when he was forced to unite the 501st Legion under an interim Jedi General, the obstinate and aggressive Pong Krell. Rex did not see eye-to-eye with Krell and found himself having to balance his troops' well-being with Krell's high-casualty plans. When Krell manipulated the 501st into a fatal confrontation with their comrades from the 212th Attack Battalion, Rex realized their general was a traitor to the Republic, and he risked charges of treason to lead his men in arresting Krell. The ordeal refined his hard-line obedience to orders, as he also learned the value of making his own decisions as a soldier. Rex aided Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi in rescuing Togruta colonists from the Zygerrian Slave Empire and later offered his soldier's expertise to help the Jedi train local insurgents on Onderon to emancipate their world. In a stark turn of events, he and Skywalker apprehended Tano on Coruscant after she was framed for a bombing of the Jedi Temple, an incident that culminated in her departure from the Jedi Order.

Following Tano's departure from the Jedi Order, Rex served alongside her during the Siege of Mandalore when Order 66 came down. Rex refused to comply and fled the system with Ahsoka. Finding themselves fugitives in a galaxy dominated by the Empire, Rex and Ahsoka went into hiding in Thabeska and became smugglers. For the next few years, the two took odd-jobs around the planet in order to sustain themselves, during which Rex and Ahsoka began a relationship. In 15 BBY, after finding out about an underground rebellion against Imperial rule on the planet and Ahsoka's role in orchestrating it, an argument erupted between them; Ahsoka wanted them to join in helping them bring the fight to the Empire and Rex wanted to distance himself in order to keep them safe. Knowing that the uprising would most likely be crushed and that the inevitable martial law that followed would end in them being found, Rex adamantly refused to get involved. Afterwards, Ahsoka left their house, ending the relationship on bad terms. Rex would leave Thabeska after the failed uprising led to an Imperial invasion and began a career as a bounty hunter, taking on the name Rex Lawquane, in honour of the man who first instilled the idea of individuality within him. In 8 BBY, Rex tracked down a slaver to Concord Dawn, but was ambushed and left for dead. He was rescued by the Journeyman Protectors under the leadership of Jango Fett, his genetic host and former trainer, and joined them out of gratitude. Rex would become one of Jango's lieutenants alongside Fenn Rau and would remain on Concord Dawn, purchasing a property on the outskirts of Meintor, the region's capital.

Rex continued serving the Protectors, and by proxy, the Empire by keeping the peace and watching for any potential rebels. However, Rex would be dragged into the growing Rebellion when Gar Saxon dealt with the rumors of traitors within the Protectors by leading them into an Ambush outside the Fett homestead. Few men survived the encounter, and the Journeyman Protectors were all but finished, but Rex survived and vowed revenge. Rex, Jango and Rau went to Mandalore to get revenge and hooked up with a Rebel cell located on Krownest led by Clan Wren and House Kryze. With them, the former Journeyman were able to unite dissenting Mandalorians and engage the Imperial Viceroy Gar Saxon and his Imperial Supercommandos. With Jango as the new Mand'alor, Rex and the Mandalorian Resistance were able to kill Saxon and his brother, continuing their campaign in the renewed Mandalorian Civil War. During this time, Rex formed a close bond with Countess Ursa Wren and the two formed a relationship not long prior to the Battle of Norg Bral. Following the civil war and the defeat of the Imperial loyalists, Rex and Ursa married and joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic.