Hardcase/Legends

"What&hellip;What, happened?''" "''Commando droids took a potshot that would have gone straight to 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 22 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 a crashed ship. Along with troopers Jesse and Kix, Hardcase went with Clone Captain Rex to find the escape pods that had been jettisoned from the crashed ship. With Rex leading the mission, Hardcase and the clones scoured through 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. Hardcase listened to Kix, who told Jesse about Rex's deteriorating health. Jesse realized they were on farmland, which led the group to 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 stayed with Hardcase, while the Jedi Master told Jesse and Clone Commander Cody to cover him as he engaged Grievous. However, the cyborg General escaped after a shuttle arrived for him.

Biography
"Those two snipers might have called for back up. Unless we're going 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 22 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 and landed on 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' 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 other missing escape pods with troopers Kix, Jesse, and Hardcase, 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. Ahead of them, two commando droids were stationed on top of a hill overlooking the clones. Utilizing a blaster sniper rifle, one of the droids shot Rex, knocking the clone 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. Hardcase listened to Kix, while he informed Jesse that Rex's injury was severe. Hardcase told Jesse and Kix that the two droid commandos might have called for backup, and they needed to find shelter for Rex. After noticing domesticated eopies, Jesse concluded that they were on farmland, which meant there was a homestead nearby. Kix attached a flatbed on a side of his BARC speeder and laid Rex on top of it before the team drove off to find the farmer's 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 the barn. After Kix placed a bacta patch on Rex's wound, he regained consciousness, and Hardcase informed him that if the injury had been 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 side side, before he and the team 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, Jesse spotted an approaching Confederate shuttle in the sky and warned Kenobi via comlink. After a clone trooper onboard an AT-TE walker told Kenobi that the walker's guns were overheated, Kenobi ordered Cody and Jesse to cover him as he raced toward Grievous. Kenobi and Grievous 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 remained with Kix, 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 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 when the clone captain regained consciousness. After Rex gave Jesse the task of leading the group, Hardcase cooperated with Jesse.

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.

Notes and references
Kix Kix Kix Kix