ARC-77

"Three life signs. One in the rubble. Another in the rafters. Everyone else, with me. Move out!"

- Fordo during the Battle of Hypori

ARC-77, known as Fordo, was an Advanced Recon Commando captain in the Grand Army of the Republic. In 22 BBY, he was assigned to a task force led by the Jedi Knight General Obi-Wan Kenobi, to take the Confederate-held world of Muunilinst. Together with a group of clone troopers that would later come to be known as The Muunilinst 10, Fordo proved instrumental in the Battle of Muunilinst, leading his troops to destroy an enemy artillery emplacement, and then helping Kenobi capture the enemy leader, San Hill.

Immediately after the battle was over, Fordo was dispatched to Hypori, where a group of Jedi Knights had been trapped by the Confederate general, Grievous. Making their way to the Jedi's location, Fordo and his men battled Grievous, but were unable to kill him. They were, however, able to recover three survivors: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, and Shaak Ti. Several years later, Fordo was on Coruscant when the planet was attacked by the Confederacy. Despite facing overwhelming numbers, Fordo and his men were able to beat back a portion of the attackers with the help of the Jedi Knights Mace Windu and Yoda.

Muunilinst
An Advanced Recon Commando, ARC-77 was a clone of Jango Fett, and was trained by Fett personally. Becoming a captain, he was given the name of "Fordo." In 22 BBY, in the opening stages of the Clone Wars, General Obi-Wan Kenobi led an army to Muunilinst, where the InterGalactic Banking Clan was manufacturing substantial droid armies for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Fordo was among the troops sent, and he was to lead a team of two ARC lieutenants and seven infantry clone troopers, making up the group that would come to be known as The Muunilinst 10. Their objective was to make their way to the headquarters of Banking Clan leader San Hill independently, where they would rendezvous with Kenobi. Before entering the system, Kenobi personally assured Fordo and his men, reminding them that their mission was of the utmost importance in the greater context of the upcoming Battle of Muunilinst. For the engagement, Fordo was given the title of Task Force Commander.

Fordo and his men made their way to the planet surface in a Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry, as did most of Kenobi's forces, while Commander Anakin Skywalker and his pilots engaged the Banking Clan's starfighters. Before reaching the city of Harnaidan, Kenobi ordered the ARC troopers to break off, and begin their operation. As they made their way into the city separately, their ship was shot down, and crashed in an abandoned street. Fordo and his men were unharmed, however, and he ordered them to debark, with caution. They soon came under sniper fire, however, and one of the troopers was lost to the attack. Taking refuge behind what remained of the gunship, the captain had a spotter locate the snipers were. Once their locations were determined, Fordo had one of his lieutenants use a PLX-1 portable missile launcher to wipe them out utterly, causing considerable damage to the surrounding architecture.

Once the area was clear, Fordo led his men through the city streets, towards Hill's headquarters. Along the way, they encountered an Armored Assault Tank, but one of the lieutenants was able to dispatch it single-handedly. Using a commando recon droid, Fordo determined the target's location, and spotted a large cannon at the base of Hill's tower. Reporting to Kenobi, the captain was given permission to proceed. Fordo led his troops to the base of the tower, and then, along with them, rappelled up to the position of the cannon. The clone troopers quickly dispatched the droid guard stationed there, and one of the lieutenants destroyed the visible command booth at the top of the tower with his PLX-1. The captain's men then placed a large amount of explosives, rappelling to the top of the tower as the cannon exploded below. At the top of the tower, they waited for the arrival of General Kenobi.

Sure enough, Kenobi rendezvoused with them at the top of Hill's tower. Blowing their way through the roof, Fordo and his men barged into Hill's war room, summarily destroying his droids with the help of the general. When the fighting was over, the captain grabbed Hill, and brought him before Kenobi. As the general requested an unconditional surrender from Hill, the bounty hunter Durge entered the room on a jetpack. Fordo and his men quickly concentrated their fire on the newcomer, and were able to down him, before bombarding him with even more blaster fire. When one of the lieutenants used his PLX-1 on Durge, Fordo was convinced that the newcomer had been neutralized. Kenobi was not so sure, however, and his caution was proved wise: Durge recovered from the attack, and began dispatching Fordo's troops.

The hulking Gen'dai then "swallowed" Kenobi, trapping the general. Fordo, in response, fired his wrist cord at Durge's helmet, and electrified it, angering the bounty hunter. Durge was able to break the connection, knocking Fordo back and leaving him vulnerable to attack. Before the Gen'dai could kill the captain, however, Kenobi, from within Durge's form, pushed outwards with the Force, seemingly destroying the attacker and freeing himself. The skirmish over, Fordo and his men rounded up Hill and his aides. When the battle was finally over, the captain joined Kenobi in overseeing the aftermath, when an unidentified ship approached their position. The ship had, during the space battle over Muunilinst, fled to hyperspace and had subsequently been chased by Commander Skywalker. As it came down to land, Kenobi, sensing Skywalker aboard, ordered his men to hold their fire. As the general berated the commander for following the ship, he received a transmission from General Daakman Barrek, who, along with other Jedi, required evacuation from Hypori, where they had been outflanked by Confederate General Grievous.

Hypori
Fordo was sent to Hypori, to rescue the survivors of Barrek's task force. He and ten lieutenants were tasked with recovering them, and, favoring a more aggressive approach, Fordo brought along an Advanced Recon Commando heavy gunner, and a Reciprocating quad blaster. Reaching Hypori in a gunship, Fordo and his men approached the downed Acclamator I-class assault ship in which the surviving Jedi were hiding, and the captain, after preparing his gear, ordered his pilot to begin jamming the enemy. Making its way past the army of droids that surrounded the assault ship, the gunship dropped remote bombs amongst the enemy, before blasting its way into the Acclamator. As soon as he debarked, Fordo detected life three life signs and had one of his troops check in some nearby rubble, while another checked in the rafters. Making his way towards the life signs with all due haste, Fordo progressively ordered his troops to fan out.

They were met with the sight of a wounded Jedi Master, General Ki-Adi-Mundi, dueling General Grievous. Fordo and his men wasted no time in opening fire on the cyborg general, but Grievous was able to evade their shots and began cutting down the ARC troopers. The captain reacted by having his gunship pilot blast his way into the area, and open fire on Grievous with the ship's weapons. While the cyborg fled the site, Fordo's men recovered the surviving Jedi: Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti. When the captain ordered his men back on board the gunship, Ki-Adi-Mundi protested, insisting that they pursue Grievous, but Fordo pointed out that the survivors would surely perish if they lingered on Hypori. The general relented, and boarded the craft. As they flew away from the Acclamator, Fordo activated the remote bombs, wiping out a large number of enemy troops and clearing a path for the gunship to escape through.

The survivors, though in a critical condition, survived, and were able to return to the galactic capital of Coruscant. Due to his efforts, Fordo was awarded the Chancellor's Service Medal, but he refused, and had the honor bestowed upon the late CT-43/002, one of his men who had perished during the Battle of Muunilist. Fordo later adopted Phase II clone trooper armor, wearing a helmet that sported Jaig eyes, and a pauldron.

Coruscant
"Sector Four needs reinforcements. We are being overrun. Repeat, we are&mdash;"

- Fordo during the Battle of Coruscant

In 19 BBY, Fordo was on Coruscant when it was attacked by the Confederacy. Defending the Sector Four district, Fordo was hard pressed to beat back the attackers, and he realized that his position was being overrun. Calling for reinforcements, he took his DC-15A blaster rifle to the approaching B2 super battle droids, until it was out of ammunition. Drawing his blaster and picking up a fallen comrade's DC-15A, Fordo continued to hold his ground, but eventually gave the order to retreat. At that moment, Jedi Master General Yoda arrived astride a kybuck, and countermanded the captain's earlier order. Shortly afterwards, General Mace Windu arrived astride a commandeered vulture droid. The battle continued on, and Fordo's men gained the advantage, allowing the captain to have his right flank advance into the enemy lines. He did not have to worry about his left flank, however, as that was being watched over by Windu and Yoda. The Battle of Coruscant was eventually won by the Galactic Republic.

Personality and traits
Far from being a subtle man, Fordo preferred straightforward tactics, employing overwhelming firepower as opposed to complicated strategies. He eventually became famous for his bombastic approach to any given situation, which continually awarded him success. He was also modest, refusing to take credit for his actions, and instead valuing the contributions of those who fell on the field of battle more.

Behind the scenes
The character of Fordo made his first appearance in the second episode of the series "Star Wars: Clone Wars." He would later appear in the second and third seasons of the show, and was voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo. He was later named in the article "Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic," which was published in Star Wars Insider 84.

Notes and references
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