Trey Callum was a Human male sergeant major of the Rebel Alliance Special Forces during the height of the Galactic Civil War. Formerly a member of the Imperial officer corps, Callum defected to the Alliance to fight the Galactic Empire. Under the overall leadership of Colonel Ledick Firest, Callum commanded a squad of Special Forces soldiers at Outpost Beta on the Echo Base defensive perimeter during the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY. Callum was the first to report to Echo Base the presence of Imperial All Terrain Armored Transport walkers advancing toward the base during the opening stages of the battle, and he was killed during the first barrage of AT-AT blaster fire.

Biography

Trey Callum, a Human male, was originally a member of the Imperial officer corps, but he defected from the Empire to join the Alliance to Restore the Republic.^[2] By early 3 ABY, Callum served as a sergeant major with Alliance Special Forces at Echo Base, the Alliance High Command headquarters, on the remote ice planet Hoth.^[1][3]

During the Battle of Hoth, Callum was one of the battle-hardened field officers under the command of Colonel Ledick Firest,^[1] tasked with delaying the advance of the Imperial invasion force long enough to buy sufficient time for the base's personnel and equipment to evacuate the planet.^[3] He was in charge of a squad of Special Forces soldiers at Outpost Beta,^[2] the outermost sentry post of Echo Base's external defensive perimeter.^[3] While entrenched near Echo Station 5-T-7,^[1] where he was preparing his squad for in-close fighting,^[4][5] Callum received a comlink call from Echo Station 3-T-8 notifying him that forward scout^[1] Maren Kelsome^[3] had spotted Imperial walkers and was asked to verify. Although the thundering footfalls of the walkers was enough to tell Callum that the Imperial invasion force was close,^[1] with a shock of recognition he confirmed the presence of around a dozen approaching All Terrain Armored Transports^[4] through his TD2.3 electrobinoculars.^[6][7]

Callum reported back to Station 3-T-8 to verify his visual confirmation of the AT-ATs, which also broadcast throughout Echo Base, first announcing the extent of the Imperial ground force.^[1] Callum also issued a comlink warning to Rogue Leader Luke Skywalker, in command of Echo Base's snowspeeders, of the approaching walkers.^[4] Soon after reporting his sighting, however, Callum was killed in the opening barrage of AT-AT laser cannon fire.^[1]

Personality and traits

Trey Callum, like many Rebel specialists, defected from the Imperial Military. He was an expert at stretching the Alliance's meager resources,^[8] particularly at rationing supplies and making the most of the Alliance's small weapons stockpile.^[2] During the Battle of Hoth, Callum armed himself with a DH-17 blaster pistol.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Notable appearances

Trey Callum appears in the 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back as the Rebel trench officer who first reports the sighting of AT-ATs to Echo Base during the opening stages of the Battle of Hoth.^[6] Although uncredited, stuntman and sword-master Bob Anderson portrayed the character in the film.^[10][11][12] Anderson is most well-known for his role as the Darth Vader fight double for actor David Prowse in lightsaber duels in both The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.^[13]

The character was first identified by name on the "Echo Base Trooper Officer" card from the November 1996 Hoth Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.^[8] The February 2004 article Who's Who in Echo Base, appearing in Star Wars Insider 74, expanded on Callum's brief role at the Battle of Hoth, explaining the specifics of his inclusion in a chain of Rebel comlink calls that confirms the presence of Imperial walkers. The article was also the first source to confirm Callum's death in the battle.^[1]

Character confusion

Trey Callum should not be confused with the character of Maren Kelsome, whom the 1996 second edition of the West End Games sourcebook Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back identifies as the forward Rebel scout who reports the first sighting of AT-ATs to Echo Station 3-T-8, which is then reported to Callum.^[1][3][14]

Further confusion may arise over Callum's possible appearance in The Empire Strikes Back radio drama and the radio drama script, published in The Empire Strikes Back: The National Public Radio Dramatization. During the film scene in which the Rebels first spot the AT-ATs on Hoth, the radio drama is alternatively set within the Echo Base command center, and the reports are heard over comlink. The command center receives a call directly from Echo Station 3-T-8, and General Carlist Rieekan subsequently opens up communication with a young soldier, identified only as "Outpost Beta," who nervously describes the giant size of the walkers, which Rieekan in turn confirms are AT-ATs.^[15][16] This young soldier is in fact Maren Kelsome, as confirmed by Galaxy Guide 3,^[3] and, again, should not be confused with Callum, who is the third link in the chain of comlink calls from Kelsome and Echo Station 3-T-8.^[1]

Likewise, Callum should not be confused with a character narrative appearing in "Chapter Six: Ground Combat" from the 1990 first edition and 1994 second edition of the West End Games Rebel Alliance Sourcebook. The chapter introduction describes how "the advance scout on Echo Base's North Ridge [who was] the first to see the walkers" goes on to rescue a downed snowspeeder pilot once the last AT-AT passes his position.^[17][18] This description may also seem to correspond to Maren Kelsome; however, any connection to either character represents a stark continuity inconsistency, since both Callum and Kelsome are dead by this point in the battle.^[1][3]

Inconsistencies

The Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back PhotoComic, a 2008 comic book adaptation using still images from the film, includes Trey Callum's scene announcing the approaching AT-AT walkers. However, the comic attributes the line "Imperial walkers on the north ridge" to Callum,^[19] which is actually spoken in the film by a public address voice in response to Callum's report.^[6] Similarly, the "Walker Sighting" card from the Hoth Limited SWCCG expansion set includes the quote "Echo station, 3TA. We have spotted Imperial walkers," a corruption of Callum's actual spoken line from the film.^[20]

While Who's Who in Echo Base,^[1] the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back,^[4] and The Empire Strikes Back film script, as presented in both Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays^[21] and the PC program Star Wars: Behind the Magic, identify Callum as using electrobinoculars to visually confirm the approaching line of AT-AT walkers^[22]—specifically, Model TD2.3 electrobinoculars, as identified by the 2004 sourcebook The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology^[7]—the junior novelization of The Empire Strikes Back claims Callum uses macrobinoculars,^[23] a less expensive and more resilient visual-enhancement device.^[7]

The 2001 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader explains, among several other significant contradictions to canon, that Outpost Beta troops are in command of the Echo Base v-150 anti-orbital ion cannon,^[24] which would seem to imply that Callum, who is in charge of a squad of soldiers at Outpost Beta, is therefore in charge of the ion cannon in some form.^[2] However, a detailed Battle of Hoth field map illustration in Galaxy Guide 3 shows that Outpost Beta is quite literally the most distant Echo Base perimeter station from the ion cannon.^[3]

Non-canon biography

The Trey Callum character inspired non-canon appearances of the corresponding film scene in the 2006 video game LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and its accompanying subsequent release, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. The games, which offer a humorous retelling of the Star Wars saga, feature a lead-in cutscene to the Battle of Hoth levels depicting a mustachioed Rebel officer, corresponding to Callum's role in the film, who keeps a lookout on the Echo Base defensive perimeter for approaching Imperial forces. After spotting AT-AT walkers through his electrobinoculars, the character pulls out a heavy blaster rifle and opens fire on the Imperial machines. The AT-ATs return fire and promptly blow the character away.^[25][26]

Appearances

•  Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Appeared in comm window)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization (First appearance)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back PhotoComic
• The Empire Strikes Back: A Storybook (Voice only)
• Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground Hoth
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (Appears in cutscene(s))
• Star Wars: Battlefront (Video clip only)

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Appears in cutscene(s))
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Appears in cutscene(s))

Sources

• Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Technical Journal, Volume Three (Picture only)
• Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back, Second Edition (Indirect mention only) (as Unidentified Rebel trooper)
• Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Hoth Limited (Card: Echo Base Trooper Officer) (First identified as Trey Callum)
• Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Hoth Limited (Card: Walker Sighting) (Quote only)
• Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays
• Star Wars: Behind the Magic
• "Who's Who in Echo Base"—Star Wars Insider 74
• Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
•  "Star Wars PocketModel TCG - Ground Assault" (Card: Hoth Drop Zone)
• Star Wars Annual 2009
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 10 (Welcome On Board - Rebel infantry on Hoth; valiant protectors of Echo Base) (Picture only)

Notes and references