CC-6454

"General, the enemy fire is penetrating our shields!"

- CC-0411, to Mace Windu

CC-0411, nicknamed "Ponds," was a clone trooper commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. Around 22 BBY, the Techno Union foreman and Separatist Council member, Emir Wat Tambor, invaded the planet Ryloth, and Ponds assisted High Jedi General Mace Windu in invading the planet to secure its liberation. Ponds was stationed aboard Windu's Acclamator-class assault ship when the forces attempted to land in the city of Nabat, but fire from enemy cannons prevented the transports from landing.

The transports were able to land after High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi eliminated the cannons, and the invasion forces headed to retake Ryloth's capital of Lessu. Ponds led Lightning Squadron, but en route to Lessu, his unit sustained losses during an encounter with several Confederate tanks. In need of reinforcements, Windu convinced Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla to join forces with the Republic. The only access to Lessu was via a plasma bridge, and Windu and the Advanced Recon Force troopers Razor and Stak were able to activate it. Ponds and Syndulla led the charge across the bridge, and engaged the Confederate forces, while Windu captured Wat Tambor, freeing the planet. Ponds later participated in a battle on the planet Malastare, and assisted Mace Windu in capturing the Zillo Beast. He also served on the Endurance at the time of Boba Fett's assassination attempt on Mace Windu, but the assassination failed and Fett fled with the Trandoshan Bossk, and the infamous bounty hunter, Aurra Sing. They kidnapped Ponds along with Kilian and a naval officer, and Sing later executed Ponds.

Biography
"Droids have begun a firebombing campaign. Several villages in our sector have been destroyed, sir."

- Commander Ponds to Mace Windu

"Ponds" was the nickname of a clone trooper commander. Born on Kamino, he was one of the many clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett, grown by the Galactic Republic to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic. After the Battle of Geonosis, Ponds was assigned to High Jedi General Mace Windu.

Battle of Ryloth
Around 22 BBY, the Techno Union foreman and Separatist Council member, Emir Wat Tambor, invaded the planet of Ryloth and enslaved its Twi'lek inhabitants. After Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano eliminated the Confederate blockade surrounding the planet, Ponds accompanied General Windu aboard an Acclamator-class assault ship. Windu's invasion force, consisting of three Acclamator transports, prepared to land in the city of Nabat, but they were attacked by Confederate proton cannons stationed below in the city. Ponds informed Windu that the cannons had penetrated the transports' shields, and as he spoke, one of the transports was destroyed. Windu instructed High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi to destroy the cannons and allow their transports to land in Nabat. Kenobi was able to eliminate the cannons, and the two remaining transports were able to land. The ground forces were deployed, and soon headed to Ryloth's capital of Lessu to retake it and free the planet.

En route to Lessu, Ponds accompanied Windu and led the GAR unit Lightning Squadron, as well as, several AT-TE walkers. Along a cliffside path, the forces were attacked by several Confederate AATs, which sought to trap the Republic forces on the cliff, and incapacitated the front walkers before targeting those at the rear. Windu and Ponds led an attack with Lightning Squadron and several AT-RT walkers on the tanks. Although the tanks were defeated, the ambush had taken the lives of thirty-two of their men, along with three AT-TE command crews. Windu and Ponds needed reinforcements to be able to succeed.

Windu entered a holographic conference with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Jedi Grand Master Yoda; Ryloth's Twi'lek senator, Orn Free Taa, and Admiral Wullf Yularen. Windu discovered that there were no reinforcements available, but decided to enlist the help of Twi'lek Cham Syndulla and his freedom fighters&mdash;a resistance movement that had been fighting the Confederacy since its invasion&mdash;to help the Republic defeat the Confederacy. Windu went with ARF troopers Razor and Stak to meet the rebels, while Ponds continued to Lessu with the remainder of his forces.



After coming across a Twi'lek village, Ponds ordered the troopers to spare some rations for the Twi'lek women and children that were still there. Suddenly, several Confederate Hyena-class bombers appeared and swooped down on the village, dropping fire bombs and destroying the village in a matter of seconds. A shocked Ponds reported this to Windu, and the increasing losses of lives convinced Syndulla to reopen negotiations with his political rival, Senator Taa. Syndulla resolved his issues with Taa, and decided to join Windu and his forces. The group devised a plan to enter Lessu; however, the only solution would be to activate the city's plasma bridge, as it was the only access to Lessu, and the bridge's controls were inside the city itself. To infiltrate the city, Windu decided to sneak onto one of several Confederate MTTs carrying treasures for Emir Tambor. However, they would only have a short amount of time before being discovered, and Ponds and Syndulla needed to give Windu as much time as possible to get across.

Accompanied by Razor and Stak, Windu sneaked onto one of the MTTs. When their presence was revealed, the Jedi and the two clones made a run for the other side of the plasma bridge while Ponds and Syndulla commenced the attack. Windu and the clones were able to get across, and Syndulla led the charge towards the bridge. Razor and Stak managed to activate the bridge, and, after the Republic forces crossed and entered the city, Windu cornered Tambor. Several bombers prepared to destroy the city under orders from Confederacy Head of State and Sith Lord Count Dooku, but the timely intervention of Generals Skywalker and Tano in their fighters halted the attempt. After the battle had ended, Ponds attended a parade on Ryloth with Syndulla, Taa and Windu.

Battle of Juma-9
A short while after Ryloth, the Station Juma 9 fell under attack. Along with Jedi Master Kit Fisto, Mace Windu and Commander Ponds sought to recapture the station. They found Clone Commander Cody and, while the Jedi entered the station, the clones scouted on the station's surface where they encountered some droids. Eventually they destroyed all the droids and found two lightsabers in space. They met up with the two Jedi owners of the lightsabers, who had been separated from their weapons by a ray shield, thus forcing the Jedi to go around the ray shield. Eventually they made it and received their sabers. The Battle of Juma 9 was won.

Battle of Malastare
Ponds helped Mace Windu look for survivors in the Zillo Beast's hole. Mace Windu ordered him, Trapper and Hawkeye to look around. Soon the Zillo Beast found them and chased them. However; Mace, Ponds, and another trooper were able to escape onboard a gunship.

Endurance
"You better evacuate, I'm gonna stay with the admiral"

- Ponds to a clone trooper.

On board the Venator-class Star Destroyer Endurance, Ponds told Mace and Skywalker to go to the bridge. However, a young Boba Fett had infiltrated a contingent of the clone youth brigade who where touring the ship, with the intention of avenging his father's death at the hands of Mace Windu. Fett managed to slip away from the rest of the clone youth brigade and proceeded to destroy the ship's main reactor. Ponds and several other clones were sent to see who or what had destroyed the reactor. Later, Ponds said he would stay on the Endurance with Admiral Kilian and go down with the ship while the rest of clones would evacuate.

Capture and Death
After the crash, Ponds was kidnapped along with Admiral Kilian and another clone officer by Aurra Sing, Boba Fett, Castas, and Bossk. At first, the bounty hunters intended to ransom the three of them off to the separtist. When their booby trap failed, Sing decided to use her hostages as bait to lure Mace Windu into the open so that Boba could kill the Jedi who murdered his father. They decided to send a message trying to convince the Jedi to come, and they ordered Boba to kill Ponds to show they meant business. When Boba hesitated to do it, Aurra got tired of waiting and pushed Boba aside and killed Ponds herself. As the Jedi watched in horror, the bounty hunters then cut off the transmission. Later, the bounty hunters dumped Ponds' body out into space.

Personality and traits
"The enemy's already pulled out, sir. Friendlies are all that's left, mostly women and children.''" "''See if we can spare some rations. They'll be hungry."

- A clone trooper and Commander Ponds

Ponds was obedient and followed orders. He was assertive, and did not hesitate when giving orders himself, as shown when he immediately ordered Lightning Squadron to the front of the Republic line of walkers during the cliffside ambush. Ponds was also compassionate, and when he learned that there were only Twi'lek women and children in a nearby village, he took pity on them and ordered his men to spare rations, and was also shocked when the Confederacy bombed the village.

He had a friendship with fellow officers Captain Rex and Commander Cody. He comforted the latter when he expressed his concern for Generals Plo Koon and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Juma 9 station mission. He additionally complemented Rex's shooting skills during the Behpour mission.

He also stayed behind on the Endurance with Admiral Kilian; unfortunately for Ponds, it was that decision that would ultimately lead to his death.



Armor and equipment
"Missile rounds, General: A clone's best friend."

- Ponds to Mace Windu.

Ponds' armor featured dark-red markings upon his helmet, arms, shoulder plates, towards the back of his torso, and from his knee pads down to the mid-calf. Ponds also wore a kama that bore two DC-17 hand blasters. On the back of Ponds' helmet, "Some guys have all the luck" was written in Aurebesh. He also made use of a DC-15A blaster rifle on Ryloth.

Behind the scenes
Ponds, like all the other clone troopers in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He made his first appearance in the series' first season episode "Innocents of Ryloth," and went on to appear in the next episode, "Liberty on Ryloth."

In the episode "Lethal Trackdown," when Aurra Sing asks Ponds for his name, he gives the number "CT-411," which contradicts the "CC-6454" designation given in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles reference book and repeated in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes video game. This was later revised in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, which gave him the new designation "CC-0411" as somewhat of a compromise of the conflicting number from "Lethal Trackdown."

Appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Battle for Ryloth
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 4: The Colossus of Destiny
 * The Droid Deception
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 4: The Colossus of Destiny
 * The Droid Deception