BL-1707

"Able one seven oh seven, reporting for duty."

- BL-1707

BL-1707, also known as CT-1707 or Able, was a clone trooper who fought during the Clone Wars and who later joined the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War.

Castaway
"We crashed here less than a year after the war began. Droid fighters. They were on top of us before we could react. Most of my unit was killed. The rest of us managed to take out the droids, but at a heavy price. My best guess is that I've been here for at least twenty years."

- BL-1707

BL-1707, also known as CT-1707, Able-1707, or unit A-1707, was one of the many clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett created on the planet Kamino to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic. During the Clone Wars, he served under Jedi General Shaak Ti. Around 21 BBY, Able-1707's LAAT/i gunship was attacked by Confederate droid fighters over an uncharted jungle planet. Before the clone troopers could even react, the gunship was shot down and crashed on the planet. Most of Able-1707's unit was killed, while the remaining troopers managed to take out the droids, but at a heavy price. Ultimately, Able-1707 was left as the only survivor of the crash, and the clone trooper buried his fallen comrades in graves under piles of rock. Stranded on the uninhabited planet without any contact to the outside world, Able-1707 adapted and survived for more than twenty years. In the meantime, many major events occurred. The Clone Wars came to an end in 19 BBY with the defeat of the Confederacy and the transformation of the Galactic Republic that Able-1707 had served into the Galactic Empire. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine proclaimed himself the Galactic Emperor, nearly exterminated the Jedi Order, and subjugated most of the galaxy to his will. In 2 BBY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic was formed, which opposed the Empire's tyranny. Two years later, the Alliance scored a major victory against the Empire during the Battle of Yavin, destroying the newest Imperial superweapon, the Death Star.

Reporting for duty
"Who are you?"

- Able-1707 and Commander Narra, exclaiming simultaneously upon seeing each other

Approximately seven months after the Battle of Yavin, Able-1707 witnessed from the jungle an Imperial strike force attack the Rebel Red Squadron and an Alliance Intelligence shuttle, who were trying to establish a listening post on the planet. Able-1707, assuming that the Imperial stormtroopers were clone troopers wearing a new form of armor, rushed to the ruins of his gunship, shed a piece of cloth he was wearing over his old and battered Phase I clone trooper armor and donned his helmet. Grabbing his DC-15A blaster rifle, Able-1707 rushed back to the Imperial position and reported to the Imperial officer in charge as "Able one seven oh seven." Confused, the officer believed it to be a Rebel trick and ordered his stormtroopers to open fire, forcing Able-1707 to escape into the jungle. He eventually reached the crater left by a recently crashed TIE fighter, where he found two Red Squadron members, Luke Skywalker and Commander Arhul Narra. Still unaware at what was going on, Able-1707 took the two at blaster point, demanding to know who they were, while Narra simultaneously asked him the same question.

Narra, a veteran of the Clone Wars, recognized Able-1707's armor and asked him how long he had been on the planet. The trooper recalled to them the tale of his crash and, recalling that the white-armored soldiers were chasing them, presumed the pair to be members of the Confederacy. Narra explained Able-1707 that they were not Confederates and the soldiers who had chased them were stormtroopers, who served the Empire. Narra then told Able of the events of the past twenty years. Able was overwhelmed by the news of the destruction of the Jedi, whom he remembered as generals in the war. Realizing that Able-1707 would be able to aid them in escaping from the planet, Narra told Skywalker to display his lightsaber. Skywalker did so, introducing himself as a Jedi Knight and saying that he had trained under "Ben Kenobi," who had been known during the Clone Wars as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hoping to secure Able-1707's loyalty, Narra lied that "General" Skywalker was one of the Alliance's most important leaders. Upon hearing this, Able-1707 pledged his loyalty to Skywalker and said that if the Jedi had taken up arms against the Empire, he would serve the Jedi "General". Trusting his superior knowledge of the local terrain, Narra and Skywalker then asked Able-1707's advice on their next course of action, and the trooper told them to gather the Intelligence team, who had scattered into the jungle. Able-1707, Skywalker and Narra then donned stormtrooper armor that they had salvaged from dead stormtroopers lying nearby. Posing as stormtroopers, Able-1707, Skywalker, and Narra escorted the intelligence team to the Rebel landing site, which had been overtaken by the Imperials. Able-1707 then informed the Imperial commander that the Rebels had planned a counterattack and that they had been caught by surprise. Able-1707 "advised" the officer that it would be best to use a Rebel transport at the landing pad as a holding cell for the captives. The officer initially agreed with that suggestion and ordered Able-1707 to proceed with it, but when Able-1707 replied with a single "copy", the commander suspected something. Ordering Able-1707 to remove his helmet, the officer demanded to know who the trooper's last commanding officer had been. Replying that it was General Shaak Ti, Able-1707 removed the helmet and killed the officer with his blaster. Skywalker, Narra, and the Intelligence team also drew their hidden weapons, and a firefight ensued. While the Intelligence team boarded the Rebel shuttle, Narra and Skywalker rushed to their X-wing starfighters to provide escort. However, the Rebels found themselves pinned down by heavy fire from an Imperial Sentinel-class landing craft. Telling the Intelligence team to start up the engines, Able-1707 charged at the the Imperial craft, not paying attention at the barrage of blaster shots that was being fired at him. Quickly dispatching of the stormtroopers that stood near the craft's landing ramp, Able-1707 threw a thermal detonator inside the shuttle, destroying it. The explosion threw Able-1707 away from the shuttle, and he witnessed the Rebel forces escaping. However, he was then surrounded by a large number of stormtroopers, and he had no way to escape. Skywalker, unwilling to leave the trooper behind, returned to the planet's surface, blasted the Imperial soldiers and swept up Able-1707 with his fighter's front landing skid and was then transferred aboard the Rebel transport.

The Rebel forces successfully returned to the main Rebel fleet, and Able-1707 was brought to the Rebel flashship Home One, where he finally had the chance to cut his hair and shave after all these years, and where he learned that Narra and Skywalker had lied to him. Aboard Home One, Lieutenant Camax offered Able-1707 a position in Alliance Intelligence. The former clone trooper agreed and accepted the apologies of Narra and Skywalker for glorifying the latter's role to entice his participation, saying that even though Skywalker was not a General, he was still a Jedi. The trooper entered service with the Alliance Intelligence, adopting the more personalized name of "Able."

Service in the Alliance


His first recorded mission was joining Luke Skywalker and a group of Rebels infiltrating an Imperial prison on Kalist VI, disguised as stormtroopers and officers, to bail out a member of the Alliance named Jorin Sol. At that time, he had still not come off the habit of calling Luke "General", which made him the target of friendly mocking among his teammates.

When Luke and companions extended the plan to freeing the slaves that were held on the base, Able was the only one to express criticism about it&mdash;with good reason; an escape of the Rebel unit would be much more difficult with several hundreds or thousands of slaves in tow. The mission succeeded nonetheless.

Later on, in the Battle of Per Lupelo, he helped to capture four Imperial transports carrying supplies the Alliance desperately needed.

Bannistar Station
After Jorin Sol's Imperial conditioning led to an attack on the Rebel fleet, Able found himself onboard Rebel One when a hyperdrive malfunction landed the ship at Bannistar Station. The Rebels decided to risk everything on this one-time chance to destroy the Station, with Tungo Li devising the plan to blow it up. The chances of survival were slim to none. Li sacrificed himself and a skeleton crew to detonate Rebel One, destroying several TIE fighters and giving an infiltration team cover. While Basso's team would hit the communications array and look for a way to escape and Luke and Deena Shan would disable the coolant and fire-retardant systems, Able would go with Leia Organa to destroy the fuel dump itself. The Rebels' approach had been detected by the Imperials, however, and Leia's group, including Able and another Rebel, discovered the fuel tanks to be empty shortly before being captured by stormtroopers. The captured Rebels were taken to Bannistar Station's control room, where Able had the chance to bide his time and get out of his bindings while Leia spoke with the base's commander D'Vox. When Deena Shan was able to cause catastrophic damage to the station, Able used the distraction to attack, incapacitating the guarding stormtroopers and putting D'Vox at the Rebels' mercy. While he favored executing D'Vox, especially after the base commander tried to kill them, Leia rejected the idea. Able escaped with the surviving Rebels and later helped Luke recover Deena with their stolen shuttle.

Vector
Able was later part of a mission led by Luke Skywalker to investigate a secret Imperial weapon located on an abandoned moon. Unknown to the Rebels, the mission was a trap set up by Darth Vader using captured spy Wyl Tarson to feed them the misleading information. Finding nothing but crashed and abandoned Imperial ships, Able was one of the Rebels who investigated the surrounding area. As a result, he was the first to learn the truth of the Imperial "weapon" when he encountered and was overwhelmed by Celeste Morne's army of rakghouls. However, against all odds he survived and proceeded to attack Celeste, who subsequently mutated him into a rakghoul. Now a mindless monster, he became part of the swarm of Morne's servants. After the rebels' escape from the moon, Luke reflected on Able's passing and his habit of calling him "General", wondering what this would mean for his own future.

Behind the scenes
Able's origin story bears similarity to that of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese second lieutenant who fought World War II for 29 years after the conflict ended. The similar character of Qorl, an Imperial Pilot shot down over Yavin 4, also seems to be based on the stories of the Japanese holdouts.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire: "General" Skywalker
 * Star Wars: Empire 37: The Wrong Side of the War, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Empire 38: The Wrong Side of the War, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Empire 39: The Wrong Side of the War, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Empire 40: The Wrong Side of the War, Part 5
 * Star Wars Rebellion 0: Crossroads
 * Star Wars Rebellion 2: My Brother, My Enemy, Part 2
 * Star Wars Rebellion: Small Victories
 * Star Wars Rebellion: Vector

Notes and references
CT-1707 CT-1707