Hardcase/Legends

"What&hellip;What happened?''" "''Commando droids took a potshot that would have gone straight through your heart, had it been two inches to the left."

- Rex and Hardcase

"Hardcase" was the nickname of a clone trooper who served in the 501st Legion, a unit in the Galactic Republic's Grand Army, during the Clone Wars. Hardcase was present during a hunt for the Confederate General Grievous on the planet Saleucami around 21 BBY. Joining troopers Jesse and Kix, Hardcase went with Clone Captain Rex to search for escape pods that had been jettisoned from Grievous' crashed ship. When two commando droids attacked the clones, Rex was shot in the chest. Hardcase, Kix, and Jesse took the injured Captain to a nearby homestead to recover, while they met up with High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was leading another group of clone troopers on the planet.

After Saleucami, Hardcase continued to serve in the 501st Legion. Under the command of Rex and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Hardcase participated in a battle on the Confederate-aligned world Umbara. After the initial attack on the native Umbarans, another Jedi, General Pong Krell, arrived on Umbara and relieved Skywalker of his duties. Krell took over the leadership of Hardcase and the rest of the 501st troops, and wanted the clones to take over Umbara's capital city by initiating a deadly frontal assault on a highway, which led into the city itself. Despite the fact Hardcase and the troops met heavy resistance from the Umbarans on the highway, Krell wanted the clones to carry out his plan.

Saleucami
"Those two snipers might have called for backup. Unless we want to get picked off one-by-one, we should find better cover first."

- Hardcase, to Jesse and Kix

The clone trooper with the nickname "Hardcase" served in the 501st Legion, a unit in the Galactic Republic's Grand Army. Around 21 BBY, during the Clone Wars, Hardcase served 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 down to Saleucami's surface. Chasing after Grievous, Kenobi gathered a team of clone troopers, including Hardcase, to hunt down the cyborg General on Saleucami. After landing on the surface of the world aboard a Acclamator-class assault ship, the team found the wreckage of Grievous' crashed landing 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 missing escape pods with troopers Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix, while he, Cody, and Crys stayed behind to go through the remains of the crashed ship. Acclamator-class

After mounting separate BARC speeders, Hardcase and the team drove through the wetlands of the planet's surface in search of escape pods. Ahead of them, two commando droids were stationed on top of a hill overlooking the clones. Utilizing a blaster rifle, one of the droids shot Rex, knocking the Captain off his speeder. Jesse ordered Kix to turn his speeder around and protect the Captain, while he and Hardcase 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. After Kix informed Jesse that Rex's injury was severe, Hardcase pointed out that the two droid commandos might have called for backup, and they needed to find shelter for Rex. Noticing domesticated eopies, Jesse concluded that they were on farmland, which meant there was a homestead nearby. Kix attached a flatbed on the side of his BARC speeder and laid Rex on top of it, before the team drove off to find the 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 her barn. After Kix placed a bacta patch on Rex's wound, he regained consciousness, and Hardcase informed him that if the injury had been about 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 his side. Before Hardcase, Kix, and Jesse 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, the clones spotted an approaching Confederate shuttle in the sky, and Jesse warned Kenobi via comlink. After a nearby Republic AT-TE's's guns overheated, Kenobi ordered Cody and Jesse to cover him as he raced toward Grievous. The two 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 and Kix remained near Kenobi's AT-TE with other clone troopers, 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 Republic fleet and order them to send a transport to pick them all up.

Umbara
"It's just a vine, keep moving, Hardcase!''" "''Yeah&hellip;I got it all under control."

- Tup and Hardcase

Later in the war, Hardcase continued to serve in the 501st Legion. Under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Hardcase was dispatched to the Confederate-aligned planet Umbara. The Republic task force sent there initiated an attack to the retake the world that was once part of the Republic, and capture its capital city. Aboard a Acclamator-class assault ship, which broke through the Confederate blockade in orbit of Umbara, Hardcase boarded a space gunship, while the clones' leader, Skywalker, boarded Clone Lieutenant Hawk's gunship with Rex, Jesse, Tup, and several other 501st Legion troops. As the gunships descended through the shadowy world's atmosphere to the surface, the Umbaran militia stationed on ground level fired on the Republic gunships. Although some gunships crashed as a result of the heavy fire, the clone pilot on Hardcase's gunship was able to maneuver the shuttle to avoid being shot down. As the gunship positioned itself over its designated landing site, Hardcase and the troops deployed and readied themselves to engage the attacking Umbarans. Following Skywalker, whose gunship had landed on the surface before Hardcase's shuttle, Hardcase and his teammates began their initial push against the Umbarans.

Skywalker's troops on the ground were supported by AT-RT-mounted troopers, as well as space gunships that carried more clone reinforcements. Soon, Hardcase met up with Skywalker, Jesse, Tup, ARC trooper Fives, and Rex. Rex informed Hardcase and the men that they had to eliminate enemy Umbaran soldiers on a nearby ridge. After helping his troops defeat a Vixus, a sharp-tooth, tentacled creature that lived on Umbara, Hardcase made camp on the trench-filled ridge with the rest of Skywalker's team. Behind Skywalker's camp, several Umbaran soldiers spotted the clones and one released a millicreep probe droid to infiltrate the area. The probe droid, whose purpose was to distract the clones and help the Umbarans prepare for their subsequent attack on the Republic force, caught the attention of Hardcase and various clones. Unaware that the probe was a distraction, Hardcase used his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon to fire on the droid, although soon the hidden Umbarans revealed themselves and began their ambush on Skywalker's forces. Despite the surprise attack from the Umbarans, Rex called in an air strike team, led by Clone Commander pilot "Odd Ball," to suppress enemy fire. To allow Odd Ball's bombers to safely eliminate enemy troops, Skywalker led Hardcase and the rest of the clones off the ridge.

After the bombing, Hardcase and the other clone troopers regrouped with Skywalker. Not long after, a space gunship, flanked by two Z-95 Headhunters, landed by Skywalker's team. The craft carried the stern Besalisk Jedi Master, General Pong Krell, who had been leading another clone battalion on Umbara. Krell told Skywalker that he was ordered back to the planet Coruscant, and he would take over as the leader of his troops on Umbara. After Skywalker's departure, Krell informed Hardcase and the 501st troopers of his strict beliefs on standard protocol. Afterward, he ordered Rex to ready all clone platoons, and the teams began to follow the Besalisk Jedi through Umbara's jungle terrain, heading toward the planet's capital city. When two flying creatures approached Krell's team, Hardcase and the troops fired their weapons at the flying animals. The creatures, however, attacked the troopers, and one of the creatures lifted a clone off the ground. Krell forced the creature to release the trooper, before killing the animal with his twin double-bladed lightsabers.

After the event, Hardcase and the 501st troops walked for nearly twelve hours. To allow his troops to rest, Rex wanted his men to make camp, a decision that was not well received by Krell, who dictated that the platoons of the 501st were crucial to the Republic's success on Umbara. Without resting, Hardcase and the team made their way to the outskirts of Umbara's capital city. While Skywalker had originally planned to deplete the city's defenses first before initiating multiple attacks, Krell wanted an all-out forward assault to the city. To achieve this, Hardcase and the clones would use a highway which led into the city itself. When the clone troopers began to walk on the highway, several of the clones exploded as a result of hidden enemy mines on the ground. As Fives began to scan the surface of the highway to locate the mines, Umbaran troops ambushed Hardcase and the troopers. The Umbarans utilized their hover tanks, equipped with EMP cannons, against the clones and advanced toward their position. Although Hardcase and other clone troopers killed a number of Umbaran troopers, the native specie overran the clones, forcing the clones to fall back.

After positioning themselves away from the Umbaran militia, Hardcase and the clone troopers resumed their firefight with the attacking Umbarans, though the Umbara natives began to retreat. Krell believed that his plan to take over the city was compromised and blamed the setback on Rex and his leadership. After a heated debate between Krell and Rex, the Jedi Master took note of the Rex's words, yet the Jedi Master wanted Hardcase and the 501st to continue carrying out his plan of taking over the city.

Personality and traits
As a clone trooper, Hardcase stood 1.83 meters tall. His head was clean shaven and sported several tattoos; on the right side of his head, Hardcase had a tattoo that began under his right eye and ran to the top part of his head. His chin also featured similar markings. Hardcase favored the adrenaline-rushing battlefield and had the urge to seek action wherever possible. Because of this, the gun-happy Hardcase was described as a hyperactive clone, who devoted himself to fight when a firefight broke out. In particular, during a battle on Umbara, as Hardcase fired his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon on the attacking Umbarans, Hardcase did not seek cover and continued to sweep the Umbarans with rounds of blaster fire. When the Umbarans began to retreat as a result of Hardcase and the clones' blaster fire, Hardcase laughed at the Umbarans and demanded them to return and fight. Because of his less-than-standard behavior, it was said that Hardcase's cloning tank was damaged during his development in the tank. However, during the Battle of Saleucami, Hardcase was levelheaded and 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 once he regained consciousness. After Rex gave Jesse the task of leading the group, Hardcase cooperated with Jesse.

On the field, Hardcase used a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon. Like Jesse and Kix, Hardcase's Phase I clone armor sported light blue markings. Sometime during the Clone Wars, Hardcase switched to the second phase of the clone armor. Much like his Phase I counterpart, the armor set featured blue markings.

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. Hardcase later appeared in the episode "Darkness on Umbara," which aired on October 28, 2011.