Hawk/Legends

"Welcome to paradise, rockjumpers."

- Hawk, upon touching down on Teth

"Hawk" was the call sign of a clone trooper lieutenant and pilot who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. An expert pilot, the trooper was named for his eyes that had the precision of a hawk bird. He saw action on many worlds during the war, including on Christophsis. During a battle there in 21 BBY, he extracted High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi's and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker's clone trooper forces after a thwarted Republic attempt to ambush Confederate battle droids from a tower. Later, during an attempt to rescue Rotta the Huttlet, the son of crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, Hawk ferried Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, along with Clone Captain CC-7567 and a squad of troops, to the surface of Teth.

Biography
"Gunship, come in. Hawk, we need an evac on the South tower.''" "''Roger that, sir. We're coming."

- Anakin Skywalker calls Hawk for an evacuation

The clone trooper with the call sign "Hawk" was a clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, decanted on the planet Kamino to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic. Named for his hawk-like eyes, the trooper was trained in piloting, and he became well-noted for his piloting abilities. He additionally served as a lieutenant in the Grand Army of the Republic, and he participated in many campaigns during the Clone Wars on an array of different worlds. In 21 BBY, Hawk was dispatched with a contingent of clone troopers to liberate the planet Christophsis from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Republic troops planned to attack the Confederate battle droids from towers situated to the north and south of their route, but the droids ambushed High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi's forces in the South tower. From the parallel North tower, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker alerted Hawk and his LAAT/i gunship for an evacuation from the South tower, and while the clone pilot headed for the tower, the Jedi General proceeded with his men to the adjacent tower to reinforce Kenobi.

The Republic battle group made its way to the roof of the South tower, and as B1 battle droids attacked the Republic forces, Hawk's gunship touched down near the edge of the roof. The Republic troops piled into the vessel, taking the cranial unit of Confederate T-series tactical droid TJ-55 with them so as to uncover more information about the ambush. After Skywalker and Kenobi had defeated the Confederate forces, Skywalker was dispatched with his recently assigned Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, to the planet Teth in order to retrieve Rotta the Huttlet, son of crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, and win Jabba's favor for safe passage through Hutt-controlled space. The Huttlet was being held at an abandoned monastery, but with two battalions of battle droids guarding the clifftop stronghold, the Jedi's forces were unable to land there. Skywalker elected to deploy his troops in the jungle and commence a vertical assault up the cliff, and several gunships were deployed from Skywalker's assault ship. Aware of the drop-off and extraction sites' dangerous lack of cover, Hawk, piloting the battle group's lead gunship, ferried Skywalker, Tano, Clone Captain CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Rex"&mdash;and a squad of Torrent Company troops to the jungle; once the droids opened fire on the gunship, Hawk closed the craft's blast shields. The Lieutenant managed to land the gunship in the dense jungle, and the Jedi and clones began to climb the cliff to the monastery. Despite heavy casualties, Skywalker and Tano were able to rescue Rotta and return him to his father.

Personality and traits
"Long range shows a heavily defended target, sir. Laser-cannon emplacements, at the very least. We won't be undetected now, you do know that, don't you, sir? I'll drop below the tree canopy as soon as I get a clear run.''" "Good, then bang out as soon as we're down. I need you standing by for extraction." "''Will do, sir."

- Hawk and Anakin Skywalker

Hawk was a skilled and expert pilot, and both Skywalker and Rex noted his abilities during their planning for an escape from the Teth monastery. Hawk was thorough in his duties and kept Skywalker updated with comprehensive reports en route to the surface of Teth. His experience in the war caused him to see the danger posed in his troop landings during the Battle of Teth, as both the drop-off and extraction sites lacked proper cover from the Separatists entrenched there. He had eyes like a hawk bird, which earned him his nickname. He additionally received combat training and had a knowledge of military tactics.

Equipment
During the Battle of Christophsis, Hawk wore Phase I clone trooper armor, and his scarred helmet was customized with blue markings and two hawk insignia. However, the clone trooper pilot armor he later wore at the Battle of Teth was standard issue with the normal Galactic Republic insignia displayed on his helmet. He wielded a DC-15 blaster pistol in combat.

Behind the scenes
The character of Hawk was created for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film, which served as an introduction to the television series of the same name. Hawk first appeared in the film's novelization, written by Karen Traviss, and later appeared in "The Hidden Enemy," an episode in the television series' first season that served as a prequel to the 2008 film.

The scene of a gunship being shot down at the Teth monastery initially appeared in the film's novelization and junior novelization, and the pilot of the gunship was not identified by name. Hawk was originally intended to be the pilot of the gunship in the film, but the scene was removed from the final version, thus maintaining that Hawk did not die at Teth. To date, Hawk's "death" has not been verified as canonical. Additionally, a 2010 video published on the official Star Wars website showed Series Director Dave Filoni describing Hawk as a clone trooper commander, but this has yet to be officially confirmed by a source.

Hawk's card in Star Wars PocketModel TCG: Clone Wars Tactics shows him in normal Phase I clone trooper armor at Teth instead of his standard-issue pilot armor, as seen in the film. A clone pilot whose role corresponds to that of Hawk in "The Hidden Enemy" also appears in the non-canonical video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. In the game, the pilot does not initially hear Skywalker's call because he is listening to music.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novel
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars junior novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Movie Storybook
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars