Hardcase/Legends

"What&hellip;What happened?''" "''Commando droids took a potshot that would have gone straight through your heart, had it been two inches to the left."

- Rex and Hardcase

"Hardcase" was the nickname of a clone trooper who served the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Around 21 BBY, Hardcase participated in a hunt for the Confederate General Grievous on the planet Saleucami, under the command of High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi. After landing on the planet, the Republic group spotted Grievous' crashed landing ship. Along with troopers Jesse and Kix, Hardcase went with Captain Rex to find the escape pods that had been jettisoned from the crashed vessel. With Rex leading the mission, Hardcase and the clones scoured the planet's wetlands on BARC speeders. However, they were attacked by two commando droids, who fired on Rex with a sniper rifle, wounding him.

Jesse shot and destroyed the two droids, allowing the clones to focus on their injured captain. After Kix told Jesse about Rex's deteriorating health, Hardcase told the troopers they needed to find shelter for Rex. Jesse realized they were on farmland, and the group found a nearby homestead. A female Twi'lek, Suu, allowed the clones to settle Rex inside her barn for the night, before Hardcase and the clones continued to search for the escape pods. As Jesse led the team, Kenobi contacted them and ordered the clones to rendezvous with his group. Grievous, who had made his way toward an escape pod, was situated between Jesse and Kenobi's teams. Following their arrival, Hardcase and Kix stayed with the other clone troopers near Kenobi's AT-TE walker, while the Jedi Master told Jesse and Clone Commander Cody to cover him as he engaged Grievous. However, Grievous escaped after a shuttle arrived for him.

Biography
"Those two snipers might have called for backup. Unless we want to get picked off one-by-one, we should find better cover first."

- Hardcase, to Jesse and Kix

"Hardcase" was the nickname of a clone trooper who served in the Grand Army of the Republic. Like all clone troopers, Hardcase was a clone of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. Around 21 BBY, during the Clone Wars, Hardcase served the Galactic Republic under the command of High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi. After a battle above the planet Saleucami, Confederate General Grievous used an escape pod to jettison from his starship down to Saleucami's surface. Chasing after Grievous, Kenobi gathered a team of clone troopers, including Hardcase, to hunt down the cyborg General on Saleucami. The team found the wreckage of Grievous' crashed landing ship, and Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," told Kenobi that the ship had crashed recently. Kenobi decided to split the group into two teams and ordered Captain CC-7567, nicknamed "Rex," to find the missing escape pods with troopers Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix, while he, Cody, and Crys stayed behind to go through the remains of the crashed ship.

After mounting separate BARC speeders, Hardcase and the team drove through the wetlands of the planet's surface in search of escape pods. Ahead of them, two commando droids were stationed on top of a hill overlooking the clones. Utilizing a blaster rifle, one of the droids shot Rex, knocking the Captain off his speeder. Jesse ordered Hardcase and Kix to turn their BARCs around and protect the Captain, while he drove toward the hill from where the shot had been fired. Jesse destroyed the droids, while the team's medic, Kix, examined Rex's injury. After Kix informed Jesse that Rex's injury was severe, Hardcase told the two troopers that the two droid commandos might have called for backup, and they needed to find shelter for Rex. Noticing domesticated eopies, Jesse concluded that they were on farmland, which meant there was a homestead nearby. Kix attached a flatbed on the side of his BARC speeder and laid Rex on top of it, before the team drove off to find the homestead.

Upon arriving at the nearby homestead, a female Twi'lek, Suu, greeted the clones warily, pointing a rifle at the intruders. Kix and Jesse informed her that they were friends and they needed a place to settle the injured Rex for the night, and Suu gave the clones permission to use her barn. After Kix placed a bacta patch on Rex's wound, he regained consciousness, and Hardcase informed him that if the injury had been about five centimeters to the left, the shot would had gone straight to his heart, resulting in death. The trooper also retrieved one of Rex's blasters and placed it by his side. Before Hardcase, Kix, and Jesse left to continue their search for the escape pods, Rex gave Jesse the responsibility of leading the search party. After the clones boarded their BARC speeders, Kenobi contacted the group via comlink and called for Rex. Jesse responded and informed the Jedi Master that Rex had been injured, and that the Captain had given him the duty of leading the search for the escape pods. Kenobi told Jesse that Grievous was heading for an abandoned escape pod, and ordered the troopers to drive westward, trapping Grievous between the two squads.

Soon, Jesse contacted Kenobi and informed the Jedi that Hardcase and the clone troopers had a visual of the escape pod. Grievous was the first to arrive at the escape pod, and Kenobi had already engaged Grievous' forces by the time Jesse's team arrived on their BARC speeders. As Hardcase, Kix, and Jesse fired their speeder's blaster cannons at Grievous' battle droids, the clones spotted an approaching Confederate shuttle in the sky, and Jesse warned Kenobi via comlink. After a nearby Republic AT-TE's's guns overheated, Kenobi ordered Cody and Jesse to cover him as he raced toward Grievous. The two engaged in a lightsaber duel as the Confederate shuttle approached them, eventually coming to a hovering stop above the escape pod; Grievous fired his tow cable on the hull of the shuttle and fled in the vehicle. While Hardcase and Kix remained near Kenobi's AT-TE with other clone troopers, Jesse and Cody&mdash;aboard their speeders&mdash;returned to Kenobi after dispatching the remaining battle droids. The Jedi Master told both clone troopers to contact the Republic fleet and order them to send a transport to pick them all up.

Personality and traits
Hardcase obeyed the orders that were given to him by his team's leader, Rex. When Rex was injured during their hunt for Grievous, Hardcase took concern for Rex's health and wanted the group to seek shelter, to avoid being caught by droids. The clone trooper informed Rex of how he became injured once he regained consciousness. After Rex gave Jesse the task of leading the group, Hardcase cooperated with Jesse.

On the right side of his head, Hardcase had a tattoo that began under his right eye and ran to the top part of his head. His chin also featured similar markings. Like Jesse and Kix, his clone armor sported light blue markings.

Behind the scenes
Hardcase first appeared in "The Deserter," the tenth episode in the second season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which aired on January 1, 2010. Like all clones in the show, Hardcase was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.