Galactic Histories: Heroes of the Clone Wars – Pilots

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 latest 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

Heroes of the Clone Wars

We are now approaching the end of this series, and so now we come to the clones whose units are either not known, or who would be the only clone noted for their unit. However, as there are still a number of heroes to cover, today we will focus on the pilots of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Blackout

A clone commander aboard the Negotiator, Blackout was assigned to lead the crew of the Republic’s experimental IPV-2C Stealth Corvette. Blackout served under General Anakin Skywalker on what was meant to be a routine supply drop during the Battle of Christophsis, utilising the corvette’s stealth technology to sneak through the Separatist blockade. However when Skywalker improvised, Blackout had the crew quickly adapt to assist in the destruction of Admiral Trench’s flagship, which helped break the blockade around the planet.

Spark

CT-1284, nicknamed “Spark” was a rookie serving aboard the Negotiator. At the Battle of Christophsis, Spark was called up as a replacement to the crew of the Republic’s experimental IPV-2C Stealth Corvette for what was meant to be a routine supply drop during the Battle of Christophsis, utilising the corvette’s stealth technology to sneak through the Separatist blockade. However when Skywalker improvised, Spark and the rest of the crew quickly adapted to assist in the destruction of Admiral Trench’s flagship, which helped break the blockade around the planet. For his success in the field, Spark was made part of the corvette’s permanent line-up.

Swoop

A pilot assigned to the Resolute‘s Blue Squadron, Swoop flew under the command of Ahsoka Tano during the battle of Ryloth. He flew as Blue Six in the first (unsuccessful) attempt to break the Separatist blockade, a battle that led to significant Republic losses. Due to the losses sustained, he was promoted to Group Two Leader for the second attack on the blockade, which was a success.

Axe

A pilot who served as Blue Leader under Jedi General Anakin Skywalker aboard the Resolute, Axe flew under the command of Ahsoka Tano during the Battle of Ryloth. During the first attempt to break through the Separatist blockade, Tano, Axe and the rest of Blue Squadron were caught in an ambush by Separatist reinforcements and were forced to retreat back to the Resolute after suffering heavy losses. During the retreat, the power converters on his V-19 Torrent starfighter began to fail, and he was killed by chasing vulture droids.

Broadside

A clone pilot assigned to Shadow Squadron under Anakin Skywalker, Broadside was part of the task force assigned with the destruction of General Grievous’ new flagship, the Malevolence. Later in the war, he again flew under Skywalker’s command in the Battle of Kamino.

Odd Ball

CC-2237 “Odd Ball” was a clone commander and leader of Clone Flight Squad Seven, under the command of General Obi-Wan Kenobi. A skilled pilot whose assistance and reliability was appreciated even by ground forces, Odd Ball fought in the Battle of Teth and Battle of Cato Neimoidia. Odd ball also saw action during the Umbara campaign. In the final days of the Clone Wars, Odd Ball fought in the Battle of Coruscant, where he led a unit of clones in support of Generals Skywalker and Kenobi to help them break through to the Invisible Hand to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. He was also present at the Battle of Utapau, where the Clone War was ended with the death of General Grievous and the issuing of Order 66.

Contrail

A pilot assigned to Anakin Skywalker’s Shadow Squadron, CT-4981 served throughout the Clone Wars, most notably as a Shadow 11 in the task force sent after the Malevolence and then later in the Battle of Coruscant.

Jag

CT-55/11-9009, known as Jag, was a pilot who fought in the Battle of Cato Neimoidia. Flying as General Plo Koon’s wingman in the final hours of the Clone Wars, Jag was responsible for shooting down the Jedi after receiving Order 66.

Engle

A clone pilot assigned to the Negotiator, Engle was present when General Kenobi’s fleet was ambushed by General Grievous’ Separatist fleet. During the battle, Engle served with distinction making bombing runs against the Separatist warships. Outnumbered and outgunned, his Y-wing was eventually shot down but managed to crash land in the Negotiator‘s hangar and was pulled to safety.

Goji

A clone pilot who fought in the Battle of Malastare, Goji was responsible for carrying and dropping the experimental electro-proton bomb, which shut down the vast majority of the Separatist Army present at the battle.

Hawk

A clone pilot who often worked alongside the 501ˢᵗ. Often found piloting an LAAT/i gunship, Hawk was responsible for rescuing the survivors of an attempted ambush (which failed as a traitor had informed the Separatist, who in turn ambushed the ambushers), which included Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, Captain Rex and Commander Cody during the Battle of Christophsis. He later served during the Onderon campaign, and was also given the responsibility of the covert infiltration of Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, Commander Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex onto Onderon to train a group of rebels. Towards the end of the war, He fought in the Invasion of Scipio, flying a Z-95 Headhunter to break through the Separatist blockade and then provide air support in atmosphere.

Hound

A clone pilot, Hound served at the Battle of Mon Cala, where he delivered clone reinforcements in his LAAT/i gunship as the campaign began to escalate.

Kickback

A clone pilot within General Skywalker’s Blue Squadron, Kickback flew as Blue 4 during the Battle of Ryloth, where he took part in both of the attempts to break through the Separatist Blockade.

Killer

A clone pilot assigned to the Negotiator, Killer was present when General Kenobi’s fleet was ambushed by General Grievous’ Separatist fleet. During the battle, Killer flew his Z-95 Headhunter to provide cover fire for Engle, until he was shot down by the overwhelming droid forces.

Mack

A clone pilot who worked alongside the Coruscant Guard and Diplomatic Service, Mack was responsible for Senator Kharrus and Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks on a diplomatic mission to Florrum to retrieve Count Dooku from the Ohnaka Gang. However when some of the gang mutineed in secret and attacked the shuttle, Mack was killed during the crash landing.

Matchstick

A member of General Skywalker’s Shadow Squadron, Matchstick flew as Shadow 2 in the task force sent after the Malevolence. While the squadron made its way through the Balmorra Run, Matchstick’s Y-wing took a glancing blow from a neebray manta. This would later prove fatal, as it caused damage to the ship’s left stabiliser, which later gave out during the battle, causing him to spin out of control while in formation and collide with fellow pilot Tag, killing both pilots and their gunners.

Rod

A clone who served as Goji’s gunner, Rod served in the Battle of Malastare, where he provided cover for Goji as he got in position to drop the electro-proton bomb.

Slammer

A pilot within General Skywalker’s Blue Squadron. During the Battle of Ryloth, he flew as Blue 3 and followed Ahsoka Tano in an attempt to break the Separatist Blockade. When the squadron was ambushed by Separatist reinforcements, Slammer was killed as Commander Tano refused to order a retreat to the Resolute.

Tag

A member of General Skywalker’s Shadow Squadron, Tag flew in the task force sent after the Malevolence. During the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula, his fellow pilot Matchstick lost control of his damaged Y-wing as they flew in formation, leading to the 2 bombers colliding, killing both pilots and their gunners.

Tucker

A pilot within General Skywalker’s Blue Squadron. During the Battle of Ryloth, he flew as Blue 5 and followed Ahsoka Tano in an attempt to break the Separatist Blockade. When the squadron was ambushed by Separatist reinforcements, Tucker was killed during the retreat to the Resolute.

Thanks for reading. Good soldiers follow orders….

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