Denal/Legends

"I'm taking charge."

- Denal

"Denal" was the nickname of a clone trooper commander in the elite 501st Legion. Considered one of the most experienced members of that unit, he survived many Clone Wars campaigns alongside Captain CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Rex"&mdash;and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. At the start of the war, Denal accompanied Rex, Skywalker, and Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, on a mission to destroy Skytop Station, a Separatist listening post located on one of the three moons of the planet Ruusan. The group successfully completed their mission, blowing up the station with several explosive charges. Of the five-man squad of clones that was sent there along with the Jedi, only Denal and Rex survived the mission.

Denal also saw action on Rodia, Tatooine and Orto Plutonia, conducting many missions on those planets. He rescued a battalion of clone troopers from a Separatist ambush, recovered a lost Republic cargo, and helped a Jedi in distress defeat a force of battle droids. On one occasion, he even saved Tano from a Separatist prison on Tatooine. Denal was also involved in the discovery and destruction of a new Confederate superweapon&mdash;one that could prevent Republic radar from detecting enemy armies.

Clone Wars
A clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett, the clone trooper nicknamed "Denal" was born on the planet of Kamino to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic. During the Clone Wars, Denal was a member of the 501st Legion's Torrent Company. He was one of the most experienced troopers in the 501st, having served on the planet Geonosis alongside Captain CC-7567 &mdash;nicknamed "Rex"&mdash;and later surviving many campaigns beside him and the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. Denal was assigned to patrol the feared Outer Rim region, a lawless and dangerous region of the galaxy that put his skills to the test.

Mission to Skytop Station
Under the command of Captain Rex, Denal participated in a mission to neutralize the Skytop Station, a Separatist listening post floating in the sky of the Ruusan moon. The secondary objective was to rescue Anakin Skywalker's astromech droid R2-D2, who had fallen into the possession of the Trandoshan scavenger Gha Nachkt and was later transported to the Skytop Station. There, Nachkt hoped to sell the droid to the Separatist General Grievous. Infiltrating the station with JT-12 jetpacks, Denal, Rex, Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, astromech droid R3-S6, and three clones soon separated from Skywalker, who ordered them to plant charges while he went in search of R2-D2. Denal and the others soon reached a door that was ray-shielded. Tano instructed R3-S6 to disable the shield, but the droid, who was in fact a Separatist spy, instead stalled them until battle droids arrived. Denal was first to hear them coming and warned his teammates. He suggested hot-wiring the door, but R3's seeming ineptitude blocked it. The group was outnumbered, yet were able to use EMP grenades to disable the battle droids. At this point, Grievous arrived and engaged them, quickly knocking Jedi Tano unconscious. He then killed three clones and stunned Rex and Denal.

As the droid general was about to finish off the two clones, Tano recovered in time to block the attack. She then ran off, drawing Grievous after her and allowing Rex and Denal to set charges on the repulsorlift generator for the station. Later, in the landing hangar, the clones met with Skywalker, who managed to rescue R2 and call his ship, the Twilight. When they informed Skywalker of Ahsoka's actions, he ordered them to accompany him to assist his Padawan. But as they set off on a rescue, R3 appeared and sealed the hangar, revealing itself to them as a Separatist spy by activating several Vulture droids. A moment later, several B2 super battle droids arrived. Rex, Denal, Skywalker and the Twilight pilot hid behind several shipping crates and fired at the droids. Skywalker then ordered Rex to trigger the explosives just as Tano rejoined the group. Together, they destroyed all enemies, and with the help of R2, who opened hangar doors and destroyed R3, they escaped the doomed battlesphere aboard the Twilight.

Superweapon
"This is where the fun begins."

- Denal

At one point during the war, rumors about a new Confederacy secret project in development somewhere in the Outer Rim led the Galactic Republic to send entire legions of clone troopers to the region in order to investigate. As part of a battalion of clones &mdash;576 troops &mdash;Denal was dispatched to the planet Rodia. While on Rodia, his battalion was ambushed and surrounded by overwhelming droid forces, after enemy artillery took out most of the Republic transports. Denal took charge of the battalion and ordered his men to call for reinforcements. However, they soon discovered that the droids had been jamming their signals, so Denal and his men sought to capture a comm relay station in order to contact the fleet. After successfully capturing it and defending against droid counter-attacks, Denal and his battalion managed to contact the fleet and escape to safety on a LAAT/i gunship. For his actions during that mission, Denal was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Soon, Denal was contacted by Captain Rex, who ordered him to make way for reinforcements by destroying all droids in a nearby jungle clearing. Denal quickly completed his objective, allowing the Republic to land additional forces on Rodia. He was then once again contacted by Rex with the order to destroy a transport factory. The factory could only be destroyed by hacking the console that triggered the self-destruct mechanism. Instead of using the shortest way to the console, Denal chose to go through the hidden path in the swamp, destroying an MTT with a grenade along the way. He then triggered the base's self-destruction mechanism and left with his squad on a LAAT/i. Denal received a promotion to lieutenant soon thereafter.

Following the completion of that mission, Denal was called to assist a lone Jedi in distress on the frozen world of Orto Plutonia. His squad helped the Jedi to defeat the droids and then evacuated him from the planet. Near the evacuation LAAT/i, they met Ahsoka Tano, who was sent by her Master to help the Jedi. Denal then participated in two subsequent missions on Orto Plutonia, involving the recovery of a lost Republic weapons shipment and the search for a missing LAAT/i and its crew. During these missions Denal grew suspicious of a large Separatist presence on Orto Plutonia and of droids that could somehow evade being detected by Republic radar.

Denal's squad was next dispatched by Rex to Tatooine, to investigate a seemingly deserted Separatist base, which was in fact swarming with droids. After clearing the base of the hostiles, Denal grew suspicious, as he was informed by the scout team about the droid presence in the desert. After completing yet another mission there, Denal was told by Rex that the Republic had discovered another base deep in the desert, a hidden Confederacy research station, that was suspected to be related to the rumored new Confederacy project.

Since the station was already in the process of evacuation, Denal was ordered to act quickly, before the enemy could destroy all evidence of the project. His suspicions finally proved true, Denal led his clones into the station, only to find a message from General Grievous, who claimed that the Republic would soon be finished, and to be attacked by a complement of droids, including a DSD1 dwarf spider droid. After downloading the secret plans hidden there, Denal and his men escaped the installation by calling a gunship with the enemy console, but not before disarming a bomb planted on it. As a reward for his resourcefulness and courage, Denal received yet another promotion, this time to the rank of captain.

The data retrieved from Tatooine revealed a new Separatist superweapon, capable of clouding entire armies from Republic radar. Denal was sent to investigate further on Rodia. He infiltrated the local Trade Federation base and stole another set of data. Returning to Tatooine to investigate a small droid encampment, Denal received intelligence from High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi about Tano being held in a Separatist prison. Once inside, Denal's troops again encountered the same Jedi they had rescued earlier on Orto Plutonia. The Jedi joined them in a quest to free Skywalker's Padawan. With his help, Denal was able to rescue Tano.

It was decided to steal the superweapon plans and then attack the main Separatist headquarters. Denal was ordered by Rex to destroy several Confederacy bases that supplied the main base in order to weaken its defenses. Once again reuniting with the Jedi on Tatooine, Denal destroyed a construction yard that produced droid fighters, then infiltrated the research station on Orto Plutonia and stole the superweapon plans. Later, he destroyed a weapons factory on Rodia. In recognition of his outstanding performance in the battlefield, Denal was promoted to the rank of commander.

Dropped behind enemy lines, Denal then entered the main Separatist base on Orto Plutonia. After receiving some help from Tano inside the base, Denal created a massive short-circuit in the base's mainframe. A chain reaction began and the base was destroyed, bringing an end to the construction of the weapon. After he returned to the fleet, Denal was congratulated by General Kenobi, only to be sent by Rex to another mission soon thereafter.

Personality and traits
Denal was an experienced trooper and a gifted leader, as indicated by the many successful missions his squad completed. He usually did not question any orders from those of superior rank. Denal wore a custom helmet marked with the blue color scheme of the 501st Legion. During the Mission to Skytop Station, he utilized a DC-15S blaster. Denal also showed proficiency with a jetpack during the infiltration of the station. He was known for being able to "hot-wire" a control panel.

Behind the scenes
Denal was created for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars project. He appeared in the seventh episode of the series, titled "Duel of the Droids." Like all clones in the show, Denal was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He later appeared as a main character in the wireless telephone game The Clone Wars. While most of the missions shown in the game can be completed in different order than presented here, this article represents the best possible way of completing them, a way that allows the player to use all mission bonuses, such as reinforcement points and air strikes.

Throughout the wireless game, instead of his own trademark armor seen in "Duel of the Droids," Denal wears what seems to be the standard blue-colored lieutenant variant of the Phase I armor. In the episode he appeared in, the markings on Denal's armor tend to disappear from time to time, most notably in a scene after one of the droids gets his head torn off.

Aside from his appearances in "Duel of the Droids" and the wireless game, Denal was referenced in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia written by Steve Sansweet and Pablo Hidalgo. A bobblehead of Denal was also released by Funko in 2008, exclusively in Wal-Mart. Denal will later be released as an action figure in September 2009 by Hasbro.

Curiously, in the wireless game, Denal continues to take orders from Captain Rex even after being promoted to commander, even though commanders out-rank captains in the Galactic Republic Army.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars mobile game
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars mobile game