Squawk

"Squawk" was the nickname of a clone trooper who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. While stationed on the planet Devaron, Squawk served under Clone Commander Ganch and Jedi Master Bolla Ropal. Working with Ganch and Ropal's Padawan learner, Tyzen Xebec, Squawk was given the duty of raising a dam wall at Ropal's behest. The work interested Squawk little, as he felt his talents were better put to use in a combat situation. His constant quips earned him Ganch's ire, and a reprimand. While working, the Republic troops were attacked, and Ropal was killed shortly afterward.

Squawk remained assigned to Padawan Xebec when he himself was given a new master, Jedi General Keelyvine Reus. Squawk joined Xebec and Ganch as part of a team dispatched to the surface of the agriworld Ukio, in order to properly assess the worlds defenses against a potential Confederate attack. During Project Instinction, an enemy initiative that attacked the neural processes of living beings, Squawk fell into a violent stupor, and started attacking harmless gigauns, which brought him into direct and open conflict with Commander Ganch. Project Instinction was later foiled by Xebec.

Attack on Devaron
"Watch that lip, Squawk."

- Commander Ganch

Squawk was the nickname of a clone trooper, cloned from the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. With the onset of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he served in the Grand Army of the Republic.

He was assigned to Clone Commander Ganch's group, who in turn served under Jedi Master Bolla Ropal and his Padawan, Tyzen Xebec. Ropal's unit was dispatched to Devaron to establish a Republic presence, and the Jedi Master wished to aid the Devaronians with good-will projects during the occupation. To that end, he issued that dam be built, in an attempt to restore the ecological system of a once-barren valley. Squawk was one of the clones assigned to the task of damming the river, and had to go through the grueling task of erecting the dam wall. Commander Ganch oversaw the process, and as he instructed Squawk and his use their honed muscles to raise the dam, Squawk quipped that he would rather use them to crush enemy battle droids. Ganch heard the remark, and reprimanded Squawk for his transgression.

Soon, Devaron endured a Confederate attack, and enemy forces swept towards Squawk's position. The Low Altitude Assault Transport parked atop the dam wall was swiftly destroyed by the enemy, and through Xebec, the clone troopers were ordered to hold their position by Ropal. Although the Jedi Master was eventually slain, Squawk survived the engagement. He, along with Commander Ganch and Xebec, were transferred to the command of Jedi General Keelyvine Reus.

Mission to Ukio
"Ready for dirtside, boys. Hope you all brought something interesting to read."

- Squawk

When Reus's fleet was dispatched to Ukio to prevent a possible Confederate takeover, Squawk joined Ganch and Xebec as part of a team dispatched to the planet surface to inspect defense systems. While aboard an LAAT gunship in a journey to the planet's surface, Squawk quipped that they would likely be spending more time reading than anything, prompting another reprimand from Ganch. Xebec, however, agreed with Squawk, as Ukio's defenses were understood to be generally sound. Ganch, however, was sure that the thorough inspection of the Ukian defenses requested by General Reus would take up most of their time. While on Ukio, they accompanied Commander Ganch to the Ukian shield generator, outside which Squawk and his fellow clones waited. Eventually, the sky was blacked out by agents of the Confederacy, but the issue was alleviated by a brief opening of the shield by the Ukian liege.

Shortly after the cloud was skies were cleared, the gargantuan gigauns began breaking off from their usual tracks, and began trampling crops. A herd of them began moving dangerously close to the deflector shield complex, prompting Squawk to open fire on the defenseless creatures, hoping to dissuade them. When Commander Ganch discovered this, he ordered Squawk to hold his fire, but the trooper disobeyed, dryly asking if he could expect a triplicate-signed order once the gigauns had flattened he and his fellow clones. When Ganch reprimanded Squawk again, he remarked that his Commander had a soft spot for unintelligent non-sentients. This angered Ganch, and he drew his weapon on Squawk as a response. The trooper dropped his weapon, and asked the Commander to do likewise, but Ganch by this point was uninterested. Suddenly, Xebec intervened, using his lightsaber to destroy Ganch's pistol, before demanding an explanation from the two clone troopers.

Instead, Squawk and Ganch turned on Xebec. The Commander, struggling against his new found violent stupor, was unable to stop himself from violently striking and pursuing the Padawan, with intent to kill. Ganch was eventually subdued, and Xebec was able to locate the devices causing the irregular behavior in those on Ukio, which were part of a Confederate initiative named Project Instinction, spearheaded by the enemy tactician "Doctor." The Republic won the day, averting total disaster on Ukio initially, but the tumultuous proceeding had resulted in a massive crash in stock value for Ukio itself. Magistrate Passel Argente of the Corporate Alliance was able to purchase a controlling interest in the planet, rendering the Republican defensive efforts moot.

Personality and traits
"One with a soft spot for dumb animals."

- Squawk teases Ganch in spite of the latter telling him to cease fire.

Squawk spoke his mind while raising the dam on Devaron, earning reprimand from his Commander, Ganch. He felt that he would rather be utilizing his skills and strength to combat Confederate battle droids, rather than "block rivers." He also suspected that his assignment on Ukio would be a boring one, and quipped to his fellow clone troopers that they would likely be spending more time reading than seeing any action. While under the influence of the Confederate Doctor's Project Instinction devices, Squawk resorted to attacking defenseless animals, and became outright insubordinate to his superior officer, Commander Ganch, even going so far as to insult his fellow clone.

Equipment
Squawk sported standard Phase I clone trooper armor. His customizations were featured on his helmet, on which he had painted a set of eyes and a jagged row of sharp teeth. He also donned painted spaulders. His weapon of choice was the DC-15S blaster.

Behind the scenes
Squawk first appeared in the webcomic The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct, published in 2009, which was written by Pablo Hidalgo. He was introduced in the first installment of the comic, where he was rendered by Thomas Hodges.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct