Welcome to the latest instalment of my Galactic Histories series, a series of articles that looks at events and characters throughout the Star Wars canon. Generally speaking, this will often focus largely on characters or events that go beyond the movies, to help people get to know the wider canon a little better and see if there is anything that catches their interest.
Within this series, this will be first of a miniseries subtitled Heroes of the Clone Wars. In the live action movies, we only get to see the beginning and the end of the conflict, and yet the war raged over 3 years. Now when you hear about heroes of the Clone Wars, I imagine that your mind automatically goes to the Jedi, who are the focus of the movies, but I will instead be focusing on the clones of Jango Fett, who were born to fight and die for the Republic. In this miniseries, I will be looking at many of these clones and their histories, breaking things down by looking at a specific unit per article. Of course, some clones I will be covering will have featured in more than 1 of these units, so I will be specifically focusing on their exploits in the unit I am covering at that time.
This will contain spoilers for The Clone Wars as well as one moment from Revenge of the Sith
Heroes of the Clone Wars
For this article, I am looking at the 41ˢᵗ Elite Corps. The 41ˢᵗ Elite Corps were a legion of clone troopers under the command of the Jedi Knight Luminara Unduli (their general) and her padawan Barriss Offee, (their commander). During the Clone Wars, the 41ˢᵗ were involved in the capture of Nute Gunray—though he later escaped their custody as they took him to Coruscant—and the second Battle of Geonosis. In the closing days of the Clone Wars the 41ˢᵗ saw action on Kashyyyk, helping the Wookiees to defend against the Separatist invasion with Yoda joining Unduli as a second general. With Order 66 being given during the battle, Yoda escaped but Unduli was taken into custody and later executed.
Green Leader
Green Leader was a clone in direct command of Green Company, an infantry unit within the 41ˢᵗ. They were present on board the Tranquility as the 41ˢᵗ escorted the captured Nute Gunray to Coruscant. When Separatist forces attacked the Tranquility as part of a diversion to help Asajj Ventress, Green Leader led his unit in the defence of the main hangar. As his unit was gunned down, he himself was killed while attempting to report that they were being overrun.
Draa
A member of the 41ˢᵗ who was discernible by the stylised asteroid marking on his helmet, Draa served during the second Battle of Geonosis. As part of the mission to destroy a Separatist droid factory, Draa was part of the main force, made up of the 41ˢᵗ and the 501ˢᵗ Legion, which drew out the Separatist forces in a diversion, allowing the padawans Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee to infiltrate and destroy the factory.
Buzz
One of the squad leaders within the 41ˢᵗ, took part in the second Battle of Geonosis. Following the destruction of the droid factory, Buzz accompanied Luminara Unduli in an attempt to track down and capture Poggle the Lesser. Though they successfully tracked him to the Progate Temple, Buzz was killed by Geonosian “zombies” who were infected with a parasitic brain worm that could control them even when dead.
Gree
CC-1004 “Gree” was a clone commander and Luminara Unduli’s second-in-command. Gree was present for the arrest of Nute Gunray and his transport to Coruscant aboard the Tranquility. When Separatist forces attacked the ship, Gree commanded the defence from the brig, where he and a few clones remained alongside the Senate Commandos, however they were betrayed by the Senate Commandos’ Captain Argyus, which allowed Gunray to escape. Grey was later present during the second Battle of Geonosis and the defence of Kashyyyk. Once battle began on Kashyyyk, Gree was oversaw the battle beside Yoda from an elevated command post. After receiving Order 66, Gree attempted to execut Yoda, but was killed by the Jedi Master.
Interestingly, Gree’s Phase II helmet would later become a part of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s art collection aboard the Chimaera.
Thanks for reading. Good soldiers follow orders….
The Canon Padawan 