| Bayless |
 |
| Gina Carano as Rachael Bayless |
| Name: | Rachael Bayless |
| Callsign: | Scorch |
| AKA: | RB; Scorch |
| Age: | 27 |
| Branch: | Navy |
| Faction: | Military |
| Organization: | {$organization} |
| Department: | Air Wing (Ares Squadron) |
| Position: | Raptor Pilot, Ares Squadron Leader |
| Rank: | Captain |
| Ship: | Genesis |
| Homeworld: | Aerelon |
| Actor: | Gina Carano |
Captain Rachael “Scorch” Bayless is a Raptor pilot attached to the battlestar Genesis and, as of 52 ACH, leader of Genesis' Raptor group, Ares Squadron. New to any form of command, she's an easygoing CO but knows when to tell her pilots and ECOs to cut the crap and stick to business.
Skills
- Raptor Operation
- Leadership
- Small Arms
- Tactics
- Navigation
Music
- In This Moment – Beautiful Tragedy Video.
- Killswitch Engage – The Arms of Sorrow Video.
- Lacuna Coil – Swamped Video.
- Lamb of God – Walk with Me in Hell Video.
Pre-IC History
Early Life on Aerelon
Rachael Bayless was born the only daughter of Timothy and Julianna Bayless, who co-owned a convenience store and garage in the small village of Osiris Falls on the colony of Aerelon. Rachael was a tomboy from the time she could speak, preferring to help her parents around the store than worrying about anything she considered remotely “girly.” When not working at her parents’ store, she would spend most of her adolescence hanging out with friends, roadtripping to pyramid games and other sporting events, and target-shooting in her family’s backyard.
During her final year of high school, Rachael found herself in the unenviable position of having to fend off an overly amorous customer at her parent’s store while closing up for the night by herself. When the boy began to become physically threatening, Rachael was forced to strike him in the knee with a tire iron her parents kept behind the register for protection. Though the boy was hauled off by the local police, Rachael’s problems with him were far from over.
Rachael’s attacker was a star player for her high school’s pyramid team and the son of a powerful family in her hometown. The injury Rachael inflicted on him ruined his chances at a scholarship and brought the scorn of his family down on Rachael and her parents. The boy’s family’s influence got the assault charges dropped and, almost immediately afterwards, Rachael’s family was besieged by harassment, including vandalism of their store and obscene wireless calls. In an effort to distance herself from the abuse while still supporting her family through the nightmare their lives had become, Rachael successfully applied to the Colonial Military Academy on Picon.
Military Service
Rachael graduated as an Ensign in the Colonial Navy with an MOS as a Raptor pilot. Her first posting as a nugget pilot for the air wing of an Aerelon Navy base earned her the callsign “Scorch,” due to her miraculously safe landing of a Raptor whose portside engine had caught fire due to a mechanical malfunction and was seconds away from igniting her reserve tylium tanks. She became a valued pilot and well-regarded comrade of the base’s pilots, and the brass also took notice of her flight prowess and leadership potential. She attained the rank of Junior Lieutenant within a short span of time and eventually rose to the position of the base’s deputy CAG shortly thereafter.
Roughly four months before the Cylon onslaught, Rachael received a call from her mother, who delivered the shocking news that their store had been burned to the ground, undoubtedly the machinations of the family whose son Rachael had fought off as a teen. Rachael arranged for her parents to be moved into base housing until they could get back on their feet, an arrangement that the base commander would continue when her transfer to the battlestar Genesis, which her CO recommended her for and had been approved prior to the tragedy, was finalized.
The newly-promoted Lieutenant Rachael Bayless had served her fourth month aboard Genesis when the Cylons arrived and wiped out everything she ever knew…
IC History
- 66 ACH – Smash and Grab-Marines: Bayless and Jocasta drop a team of Marines on Virgon to loot a Colonial air base for badly needed supplies, and nearly gets her head blown off by a horde of Centurions.
- 65 ACH – Virgon Reconnaissance: Bayless and Novella fly a recon of what's left of the Colonies.
- 59 ACH – Fights and Misunderstandings: Bayless spectates at an Air Wing “dance.”
- 58 ACH – Pimp My Cornbread: Bayless walks in on the beginning of Kalypso and Orion's wager over getting Sloane a date… and takes the opportunity to ask Sloane for a little something-something.
- 55 ACH – Recons and Rescues: Bayless rides shotgun with Jocasta and Kalypso on Kalypso's first non-training flight, which ends with a towed Viper and .
- 52 ACH - Abandoned: Bayless flies a portion of the Genesis crew to the Hera and the ships under her protection… then gets in the middle of a massacre on the Nebula.
- 50 ACH – Dinner Theatre: Bayless witnesses a bit of mess hall drama.
