We're brothers, all of us. Always have been."
"Always will be.
—Wraith and Twenty comforting the anxious Fen in the aftermath of Order 66
CC-1452, previously known as CL-1452 and most often called by the nickname Twenty was a Clone trooper and a member of Nightingale Squad, an elite four-Clone unit that fought during the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War. The squad's field medic and also an incredibly strong man and heavy lifter, Twenty was a vital member of the Squad, and became a notable fighter during the Clone Wars.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Twenty was raised, like the rest of the Clones, on Kamino, and was assigned from birth to be part of the 44th Special Forces Division, as well as Nightingale Squad, an elite squad of four Clone troopers who would be assigned to help a single Jedi at a given time. In childhood, Twenty was shy, and didn't often socialize with other cadets, though was an incredibly hard-worker. The other members of Nightingale Squad were: Phoenix, the squad's leader; Wraith, the tech master with a personal cloaking device; and Sting, a melee specialist who used two vibroblades in combat.
Twenty earned his nickname through a remarkable state of affairs. When he was nearing the end of what were technically his teenage years, Twenty was approached by cadets from the 327th Star Corps, who soon realized how nervous Twenty was and began picking on him. Soon, the bullying turned violent, with the 44th Cadets afraid to get involved, though many told Twenty to fight back. Just as it seemed Twenty would get pummeled, he launched into a fury of punches and slams, and ended up knocking down twenty 327th cadets in the span of a minute. After the incident, Twenty met Wraith for the first time, and it was Wraith who gave him his nickname, and also became a close friend of Twenty.
Clone Wars[]
Battle of Geonosis[]
In 22 BBY, the reason for the Clone's existence happened: the Galactic Republic went to war against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, with the first battle starting on the desert world of Geonosis. The 44th, like many Clone units, attacked Geonosis to support a Jedi task force who travelled there to rescue two Jedi and a Senator captured by the infamous Count Dooku. Nightingale Squad was detached to the arena where the Jedi were held, and witnessed the scene when the Clones rescued the Jedi from the arena. Whilst in the arena, Phoenix came across a Jedi Knight named Jeden Vesal, who offered to aid the Squad in the coming battle.
The Squad and their new Jedi General were tasked by Jedi Master Yoda with destroying a flock of Techno Union Ships stocked with supplies from escaping Geonosis by any means. Arriving on a hill overlooking the landing zone, Wraith hacked a nearby turret so it would attack the ships, whilst the rest of the squad covered him, each showing their skills - including Jeden. However, a rocket then zoomed towards the group. Twenty tackled Phoenix and Sting to the ground, and the shrapnel from the rocket littered the Clone's body, piercing his armour. A gunship arrived to evacuate the squad, who successfully destroyed the ships, though Twenty was quite badly wounded.
Twenty recuperated on a Venator-class cruiser orbiting Geonosis inside a bacta tank, and on the same ship, Jeden met with Master Yoda once more, learning that not only would he become a Jedi Master, but he would also become the overall leader of Nightingale Squad, with Phoenix as a second-in-command. The squad now returned to the Republic homeworld, Coruscant, to await further commands and ship out with the rest of the GAR (the Grand Army of the Republic) into the new war. However, the squad wouldn't see any larger battles for a while, as their first mission would be slightly more covert.
The Rescue of Liko Eil[]
Liko's Capture[]
Liko Eil, a Jedi Archivist and a close friend of Jeden, was on Mygeeto at the time of the Battle of Geonosis, and was unaware of what had occured at the other end of the galaxy. Mygeeto, an industrial mining world, was controlled by the Banking Clan, an organization that merged with the CIS years before. Liko watched as the Banking Clan began rounding up locals and terrorizing the planet, and to save a family of Mygeetan citizens, gave himself up to droid authourities, allowing the locals to escape, though the Jedi was then imprisoned and tortured by anonymous cyborg, who was obsessed with gaining the security codes to the Jedi Temple.
Jeden realized that had happened to Liko on his return, finding out that Liko was on Mygeeto, only to find that Liko's tracking signal (assigned to all off-world Jedi) was dead, and that Mygeeto was a CIS world. Only minutes later, the Jedi received a transmission from a CIS protocol droid, giving demands for Liko's release. The primary demand was to pull all Republic forces out of the Outer Rim entirely, and also to abandon any current engagements that had alreayd started in the galaxy. The Republic Senate and the Jedi agreed that the demands were ridiculous, but they were divided on how to handle the situation: the Order debated tirelessly on whether it was worth risking more lives to rescue Liko; the Senate, meawhile, were obsessed with launching an invasion of Mygeeto, uncaring of whether or not Liko died in the crossfire. Jeden proposed that Nightingale Squad stage a rescue, a movement approved by the Jedi Council and the Senate.
The Mission[]
The Squad were transported to Mygeeto in an LAAT/s gunship (a normal LAAT/i with weaker engine performance and enhanced cloaking technology). Managing to bypass the CIS blockade, the squad dropped onto the roof of the Banking Clan stronghold Liko was being held in and carved through the roof into the security room. Wraith remained there to monitor droid activity and to make the droid patrols go in circles, whilst Jeden led the other three deep into the stronghold to find Liko. Wraith pinpointed the Zabrak's location to one of many cell blocks, and the squad bust their way in.
Inside one of the cells, Jeden found Liko, bruised and tortured and on the edge of conciousness, though he was alive. Just as the squad were about to escape, they were confronted by the mysterious cyborg: a hulking, Kaleesh-droid hybrid who called himself General Grievous, wielding a Jedi-made lightsaber. The Clones retreated with Liko back to the entry point, whilst Jeden dueled Grievous. While the cyborg was formidable and strong, he was far from trained to the point of a Jedi Master, and Jeden managed to amputate three of his cyborg limbs before escaping to the roof of the stronghold, where the squad and Liko were extracted back to Coruscant, after which the Republic invaded Mygeeto.
Liko made it back to Coruscant safely, and managed not to give up any secrets of the Order despite Grievous' torture. Nightingale Squad had completed the first of many missions, and with Jeden now a Jedi High General and the overall commander of the 44th, the Squad prepared for a long and brutal war. Before leaving Coruscant, the Clones of Nightingale Squad sat down in their quarters on the flagship of the three-cruiser fleet dedicated to the 44th, the Phantom, each sharing their feelings surrounding the war. Twenty was the only one who wished it had never happened, and soon found himself feeling alienated.
Mission to Sullust[]
Arrival on Sullust[]
Over a year after the war's start, Nightingale Squad received their first squad-only mission after weeks of full-scale battles across the Mid Rim. Sent to the mining world of Sullust, Jeden and the Squad were tasked with searching for a Dark Jedi rumoured to be lurking on the world after assassinating two Jedi Padawans on the planet of Fondor, apparently tasked to kill the Padawans by the Separatists. Upon arrival on Sullust, however, the Squad quickly came into contact with the 13th Republic Infantry Regiment, one of the last non-Clone military units left for the Republic, commanded by the aggressive Colonel Rutoo, who along with his soldiers, felt that the Clones had robbed the old Republic soldiers of their jobs, and it didn't take long for some of the Regiment's COs to begin arguing with the Squad.
However, the feuds of the soldiers were interrupted when Twenty (who decided not to get bogged down by the arguments) went searching through Sullust's capital city, and spotted the Dark Jedi trying to destroy a Republic cargo ship. As Twenty gave chase, the Squad were called in, with Jeden and Sting taking over due to them being the two most agile members of the Squad. After a heated pursuit through the city streets, the Dark Jedi and Sting faced off, and due to superior agility, it was Sting who won, beheading the Dark Jedi rather gruesomely with his vibroblades. On his person, the Squad discovered the key to the Force-user's residence on Sullust, where they discovered an old message sent to the Dark Jedi by Count Dooku, commanding the assassin to weaken Republic logistics in preparation for an invasion by the Trade Federation and the Techno Union.
The Battle for Sullust[]
Whilst Nightingale Squad were on Sullust, the 44th were stationed on Dantooine, where the 20,000-strong Clone force had been trapped by 80,000 Trade Federation droids, meaning that Nightingale Squad and the 13 Infantry Regiment - which numbered just over 8,000 men - were Sullust's only defence against the coming invasion. In preparation, the forces split up: Jeden and the Squad would pull away the forces of the Trade Federation into the continent-wide mining tunnels of Sullust, which they planned to collapse and decimate the droid forces inside. The 13th, meanwhile, would set up defensive positions around the capital city and fend off the Techno Union.
Nightingale Squad's plan worked just as planned, though Twenty was again injured, this time by a stray blaster shot from a Droideka as the tunnel collapsed, though the blaster only skimmed over his shoulder, burning the skin. The 13th didn't have as much luck, and took heavy losses, though the fleet of the 44th soon arrived, and an orbital bombardment destroyed the Techno Union forces on the ground. However, the Separatist fleet was still orbiting Sullust, and Viceroy Nute Gunray had captured thousands of Sullustan citizens for ransom. In a daring rescue mission, Nightingale Squad rushed to Gunray's cruiser.
Fighting their way through hundreds of battle droids to the bridge, the Squad confronted Gunray on the bridge. Gunray revealed that he had sent the hostages on an array of droid ships, which he would remotely destroy with explosives if the Squad tried to attack him or any more of his droids. In a rare show of aggression, Twenty insisted that the Squad try to take Gunray down and rescue the hostages, though Jeden knew that it was too late to save the hostages, and agreed to leave Gunray and let him escape with his hostages if the Viceroy pulled his forces from Sullust and the surrounding sectors. Despite a protest from Twenty, the deal was kept, and Gunray escaped with his hostages alive, though he was forced to let the Republic keep Sullust.
Division in the Squad[]
Jeden's decision wasn't taken lightly by Twenty. Against all usual character, the Clone quite verbally argued with Jeden about the decision, before storming off to the Squad quarters, stunning the other members of the Squad who had often seen Twenty as a shy and quiet soldier. Following a bloody but well-earned victory on Dantooine, the 44th travelled with the fleet back to Coruscant for R&R, during which time Twenty secluded himself from the rest of the Division, even refusing to speak to Wraith. By that point, everyone knew that Twenty was beginning to take the stress of war badly.
Of all people, it was the often-silent Sting who coaxed Twenty out of his seclusiveness, opening up for the first time and reminding Twenty that if he didn't fight, then those hostages would never be rescued. Inspired by Sting's surprising statement, Twenty came back out of his seclusiveness, apologizing to Jeden for being so verbal in his argument. Jeden, in return, apologized to Twenty, respecting Twenty's motives behind disagreeing with him and even acknowleding that he knew where Twenty was coming from. With some renewed hope in why he was fighting, Twenty regained his confidence, and became a common sight amongst the 44th once more.
Coruscant[]
Recuperation[]
The 44th arrived on Coruscant to some praise, with the battle on Dantooine having made heroes out of the 44th, specifically the highest-ranked Clone of the unit, Commander Lion, who had led the 44th to victory despite being outnumbered 4 to 1. However, the unit didn't stay together at first on arrival. Jeden returned to the Jedi Temple, reuniting with many of his friends in the Jedi Order; Phoenix met with some of his friends in the 501st Battalion, who were also stationed on Coruscant at the time; Wraith decided not to rest, instead helping out Coruscant security just for the sake of it; Sting went back to his seclusive nature and remained on the Phantom in orbit; and Twenty at first tried to socialize with the 501st as well, though instead joined Jeden in the Jedi Temple.
During his time in the Temple, Twenty met with the Clone security personel (who were few in number, as most guards of the Temple were the masked Jedi Sentinels) and also met and conversed with Jedi of all ranks, from Initiates to High Council members. The Clone discovered many Jedi customs, and began naming Jedi as "Masters" instead of their military ranks, at least when not in a military situation, something that earned him great respect from the Jedi of the Temple, who were surprised that a Clone had taken the time to research the Jedi traditions. However, this period of calm was short-lived for Nightingale Squad.
Wraith's Discovery[]
Wraith, whilst assisting Coruscant security, had begun investigating a number of missing Senate Commandos in the maintainance areas far underground beneath the Galactic Senate. Eventually, the Clone decided to investigate himself, and reached the lower levels to find them swarming with CIS 'buzz droids', which had murdered the dozen or so Senate Commandos sent down there on patrols. Wraith managed to fight his way out of there and survive, making it back to the Senate and contacting Jeden and the rest of the Squad. Jeden suspected something more than a simple incursion, and so the Squad was joined by Kit Fisto, a Nautolan Jedi Master and Jeden's best friend.
The Squad descended back into the lower levels, and with more numbers, managed to fight their way through the buzz droids, reaching an enormous structure miles beneath the Senate, which was none other than a factory, producing battle droids for an invasion of Coruscant, which would be started from on Coruscant itself. Following some snooping around the factory, Wraith learnt that General Grievous, the cyborg from Mygeeto and now an infamous Jedi hunter for the CIS, had built the factory, and had snook onto Coruscant to inspect his creation. The Squad then split up: Jeden and Kit would take down Grievous, whilst the Clones would destroy the factory, as well as the potentially thousands of constructed battle droids.
Finding a central control chamber amidst swarms of B1 battle droids, the Squad learned that for a self-destruct sequence to occur, they would need to also activate a switch on the other side of the factory. Wraith and Twenty held the line by the central chamber, whilst Phoenix and Sting fought their way through to the other switch. Before the sequence started, Twenty warned Jeden and Kit, who were struggling to take down the now-lethally trained Grievous, that the factory would explode in any second. Jeden managed to slam Grievous into a ventilation shaft with a Force blast, before the Squad escaped, just as the factory exploded. Whilst they assumed Grievous was killed, they later saw the cyborg flee from Coruscant in his starfighter, though the factory was at least destroyed.
The 44th remained for a few more days following the destruction of the factory, before shipping out once more towards the border between the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim around the planet of Ithor. Just like over a year before, the Clone members of Nightingale Squad talked once more about their feelings, all of which had changed: Twenty was now determined to win the war; Phoenix was becoming more paranoid that one of the Squad members could die; Sting was growing cynical about the Republic's chances after Grievous managed to build a factory on Coruscant of all places; and Wraith stated his desire to keep fighting for the Republic should they win the war.
The Korriban Saga[]
Interception[]
A week after departing Coruscant, the fleet of the 44th intercepted a smuggler frigate roaming the Colony Worlds, which Jeden believed to be an illegal vessal that could potentially be working for the CIS, which would make sense considering the amount of smugglers and bounty hunters being hired by the Separatists. Jeden inspected the vessel himself alongside Twenty, Wraith and a detachment of standard troopers, finding that the smugglers were actually carrying relief supplies for war refugees, though weren't working for the Republic nor the CIS. However, Jeden sensed a dark presence on the ship, which he discovered to be a Sith artifact, being carried by an anonymous Twi'lek woman.
The Twi'lek escaped the frigate in her own starfighter, though not before setting the frigate into a self-destruct sequence. Jeden, Twenty, Wraith and the Clones managed to escape the frigate in time, along with some of the smugglers, though most of the ship's crew, as well as the aid supplies, were destroyed, all whilst the Twi'lek escaped with the artifact. Deeming the situation an emergency, Jeden sent the fleet after the frigate after informing the Jedi Council, who stated that Jeden keep the purpose of the chase secret from his Division. The fleet began it's pursuit, still not knowing why the mission was even happening.
The Twi'lek[]
After a night's rest, the 44th awoke to discover from Jeden what was going on, learning of the threat the Twi'lek posed. Admiral Anhal dug up some research on the Twi'lek, discovering she was a thief once imprisoned for stealing from a Jedi bunker on Alderaan, though she had managed to escape. Her name was Nara Sa-el, and she had finally settled on Ord Mantell, where she was hiding for now. On command of the Jedi Council, Jeden led Nightingale Squad and a large group of Clones to Avalilatan Island, a rural area of Ord Mantell and the location of an inactive volcano that Nara was hiding in.
Upon arrival, the Squad learned that Nara had attacked a nearby village not long before, abducting three children and demanding that the Republic let her leave. Jeden was having none of it, and after securing the abandoned outpost of Fort Garnik, preceded to head out with Nightingale Squad towards the volcano to rescue the children, capture Nara and retrieve the crystal. Along the way, Twenty remarked that Nara was likely more dangerous than the group first suspected, seeing as how she had taken on a village alone and had escaped a Republic prison without any exterior help.
Twenty's suspicions were correct, and several pieces of the puzzle were put together. Upon arrival at the volcano, the group split up, with the Clones taking the main entrance and Jeden sneaking through a side door. Both Jeden and the Squad learned that the children Nara abducted were Force-sensitive, and had been corrupted to the dark side. Fortunately, two of the children were knocked out before they could cause any harm, and Jeden then found Nara in the centre of the volcano alongside the third child, discovering that Nara was in fact a red-skinned Dark Force user, who called herself Darth Nelox, the Empress of the so-called Grand Sith Order. After a short duel, Jeden was caught in a powerful Force chokehold, though Phoenix then shot Nelox from afar, killing the Twi'lek instantly and knocking out the third child. Sting and Wraith successfully retrieved the crystal in a metal crate, whilst Twenty attended to the children, who soon returned from their corrupted state.
Jeden contacted the Jedi Council once more, who all agreed that the situation had grown worse. Mace Windu pointed out that if another group of Sith were indeed at large, then the Republic was in great danger, and that they had to be stopped. The Council sent Kit Fisto to help Jeden, as well as Master Obi-wan Kenobi, hoping that three Jedi Masters would be a good temporary task force for dealing with the threat. In the mean time, the crystal and the Force-sensitive children were taken back to the Jedi Temple for security measures. On the bridge of the Phantom, Jeden deduced that Korriban, the ancient and mysterious homeworld of the Sith, would likely be the headquarters of the Grand Sith Order. Despite protests from Phoenix and Kenobi, the others agreed, and the three Jedi set off alongside Nightingale Squad to travel in secret to Korriban, to see whether the Grand Sith Order even existed.
Incursion on Korriban[]
During the trip, Jeden slipped into a coma-like dream, which was noticed by Kit when Jeden was taking a nap. Twenty managed to revive the Jedi Master, pointing out that if his sleep was only slightly deeper, he may have slipped into a coma, which Kit revealed was likely induced by the Force, though it was not of any concern. Later, the group landed on the harsh sands of Korriban, a few miles from the infamous Valley of the Dark Lords. Jeden, Kit and Wraith investigated a nearby shipwreck, finding a still-functional corvette from the Old Republic, whilst Phoenix gathered the Clones around a campfire, where they talked about the prospect of fighting Sith, Twenty being the most nervous. Fortunately, it was Phoenix who managed to motivate the Squad, pointing out that they had gone through much worse than young Force-users and lightsabers.
The team split up in seperate tasks: Wraith remained with the shipwreck, which he hoped to repair, and also to guard the group's ship they had arrived in; Kenobi and Phoenix went to spy on the Valley itself; Kit and Sting were to cut off the power supply of the Valley if it happened to be populated; and Twenty and Jeden went to investigate a radio antenna that was giving off signs of activity. At the antenna, Twenty and Jeden confronted a young acolyte, around the age of nineteen, armed with a red lightsaber. Jeden told Twenty to deal with the antenna whilst he subdued the acolyte, who seemed to stammer a lot and was very unconfident for a proposed Sith. Twenty returned to find the acolyte in handcuffs, and the trio returned to the camp.
The other teams had varied success: Kit and Sting managed to cut off power, though only temporarily, to the Valley; meanwhile, Kenobi and Phoenix were jumped by three Sith scouts, killing two but accidentally leaving a third to escape. At that point, the Sith knew the group were here, and they had to leave. On the cruiser they arrived on, Jeden interrogated the acolyte he captured, who was called Koses Lik-Har. Koses agreed to help Jeden, professing that Nelox forced him to join the Sith, though she had not hypnotized him like the other acolytes. Koses warned the Squad that Darth Krasor, Nelox's successor, was building an army from old Sith Imperial battle droids, and was planning to attack the Republic. Regrouping on the fleet (which was now orbiting Korriban), the Squad passed on Koses' intel to Windu, who decided that an invasion was needed to eliminate the Sith threat. Backed up by Kenobi's 212th Attack Battalion, the 44th would invade the Valley and neutralize the Sith before they grew any more powerful.
Invasion of the Valley of the Dark Lords[]
The next morning, the 44th prepared for a nightime incursion of Korriban, planning to sneak up on the Valley of the Dark Lords along the plateaus surrounding it. Because Lion, who usually commanded the Clones during ground assaults, was ill, the task of commanding the invasion force of Clones fell to shared responsibility between Nightingale Squad, with Twenty volunteering to lead the combat medics into the Valley. Arriving on Korriban, the 44th were only confronted by a few dozen scout droids, which they quickly eliminated, before beginning the march northward towards the Valley. Nightingale Squad spent the time inside an AT-TE, with Twenty and Wraith debating who had killed more battle droids. However, they were interrupted when they reached the Valley, which the 44th hoped to rapel into. Against Jeden's plans, the 44th and the 212th were met with a hail of blaster fire from the Valley below. Despite the risk, Jeden and Kenobi leapt down into the Valley, and were followed by Nightingale Squad and the 44th, whilst the 212th gave supporting fire from above.
The fighting in the opening stages of the Valley was brutal. Despite the skill of the Clones, they were still going up against lightsaber-armed Force-users, and Clone casualties were high. However, Jeden and Kenobi saw much better success, being extremely better trained than practically all of the enemies they were going up against. Twenty was fighting near the front, often using his brute strength and thick armour to beat back the Sith squads sent out to support the battle droids, who were being annihilated due to their faulty technology. But it came to a point where the Sith onslaught was simply too much, so much so that even Jeden and Kenobi couldn't hold them back, and the Clones began retreating towards the back of the Valley.
It was then that the droid bunkers and trenches were completely destroyed from a bombing raid, and Mace Windu emerged from the chaos alongside a task force of Jedi, including fellow Council member Agen Kolar, as well as Kit, and now with the backup of the 187th Scout Legion, who the 44th had fought with on Dantooine. Nightingale Squad met with Commander Cody and the leading members of the Jedi task force to learn of the attack on the Sith Academy: the 187th would take the flanks and ambush the Sith; the 212th would continue giving fire support from the cliffs above and would attack droid sniping positions; and the 44th, together with the Jedi, would take on what remained of the Sith and droid forces.
Personality and characteristics[]
Twenty was a pacifist, despite his strength and expertise in combat. He was also very nervous, and tended to doubt himself very often, forcing Wraith to boost his confidence. Despite his timid personality, Twenty was very loyal to his allies, whether they were Clones, Jedi or innocent civilians. Twenty was also very popular with other Clones outside of Nightingale Squad for his courage in battle, a courage he didn't have before the battle ever began.
Twenty was incredibly muscular, with broad shoulders and thick armour. He was often the heaviest of the group, as he would often carry supplies for the squad along with his weapons and thick armour. Like Wraith and Sting, he upgraded to Phase II armour, and both of his armour sets were painted crimson, although he admitted he painted it that because 'It was his favourite colour'.
Posessing a special love for medical science, Twenty was a skilled medic, and while he originally only knew basic first aid, he was one of the Clone army's best combat medics by the time of the end of the Clone Wars. Twenty also had a special hatred for cruelty on any level, even against CIS citizens.
As the war started to look more and more as though it would soon end, Twenty realized that the Clones would most likely become useless after the war, knowing that they were only created for war, not peacetime. In this front, he became increasingly pessimistic, an attitude he frequently showed to Wraith. However, following Order 66, Twenty dropped this attitude completely for two reasons. The first was that his predictions were slightly incorrect, as the 44th completely split away from the newly-formed Galactic Empire. Secondly, the morale of the 44th was incredibly low, and Twenty soon became popular for his optimism, which was praised by Jeden, Koses and multiple other Clones.
Quotes[]
Now, we sit and wait."
"For what?"
"For Jabba the Hutt's birthday! What do you think?
—Phoenix, Wraith and Twenty conversing, with Twenty showing his sarcastic side.