The Fourth issue of the Clone Wars battle tale comic has finally been released, and
with it, we were introduced to 6 new Clones Troopers, including 2 new members of the 501st!
The story follows a squad of Clones who deserted the Grand Army of the Republic very early
on in the War, but were caught and captured by the Republic, dragging them back to face
punishment on Kamino.
Fortunately, Commander Wolffe gives these Clone Deserters a final chance to redeem their
actions by going on a mission together to break into a separatists weapon storage warehouse.
So, I’m going to break down exactly how this Clone Deserter Squad infiltrated a separatists
weapon depot and were able to overcome their fear of war.
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So just like all the other issues of this comic, we are thrown right into the tropical
world of Hisseen, this time right on the front line of the battle with Captain Rex and Hardcase.
Rex, Hardcase and the 501st are staring down a fierce horde of Separatist battle droids,
but Rex warns his men that they must hold their position until backup arrives.
Hardcase acts in his typical way, begging for more Clankas to come at him because he
loves having more targets to hit.
One of the other troopers of the 501st, named Twitch, then voices his concern about the
strategy, saying that there is absolutely no way they can hold this position with the
amount of Separatist droids coming towards them.
Twitch continues to urge Captain Rex to retreat from the front lines of the battle, but this
sends the Clone trooper Heater, who we also haven’t seen before, into a deep rage.
Heater grabs Twitch by the neck and furiously questions why he was asking to retreat and
abandon the mission.
Captain Rex quickly moves in to break up the fight, telling his men to save their anger
for the separatist enemies that are quickly approaching.
Unfortunately though, Heater just can’t let this point go, and is absolutely disgusted
that this low ranking Clone Trooper wants to run away.
And now we’re about to find exactly why Heater is getting so angry about this trooper
wanting to retreat from the battlefield.
Heater is actually a former deserter himself, and knows what it is like to betray his brothers,
and now that he has redeemed himself, he is deeply offended at the suggestion of abandoning
their mission.
We now cut straight into a flashback, where heater tells the story of his desertion and
his capture on Kamino.
The newest batch of fresh Clone Troopers are eating in the Cafeteria of the Kamino training
facility, when a Clone Trooper named Slim calls out Heater and his group for being a
lousy bunch of deserters.
Heater hears the remark and asks Slim to repeat what he just said.
In response, Slim goes even further, calling the Clone Deserters cowards and disgraces
to the Clone Army.
This sends the heater into a strong rage, leading him to coldy punch Slim in the face,
knocking him to the hard shiny floor of the cafeteria.
In the background, you can see the other Clones Cheering on the fight, which is just hilarious.
Heater then pins the injured Slim up against the wall and says “call me a deserter all
you want, but you will not call me a coward”.
He goes on to say that he never asked to fight in this war, and shouldn’t be forced to.
Slim then manages to get back on his feet, firmly pushing Heater back, angrily telling
him that he abandoned his brothers but is unable to finish his sentence before the fight
is broken up by Commander Wolffe, wearing his original red wolfpack armour.
It’s honestly so cool to see Wolffe back in action with his red painted helmet and
armor.
All Clones in the room quickly move their hand to their head to salute the higher ranking
officer, before Wolffe calls heater to come into his office to discuss the situation.
As the two enter Commander Wolffe’s plain office, he tells him that the other Clones
around the Galaxy look down on deserters with disgust because of their actions.
Heater tells Commander Wolffe that he doesn’t fully understand why he actually deserted,
because he knows that the Clones were specifically created for war, but can’t stop wondering
whether he would actually choose to fight if he had a choice.
Commander Wolffe then quizzically responds with, “and?
What would you do?”
Heater is deeply conflicted, and doesn’t know how to respond to Wolffe’s question.
He doesn’t know whether or not his decision to desert the Clone Army earlier in the war
was a smart decision or a terrible mistake.
Because Commander Wolffe can clearly see that Heater is not a bad man and is simply conflicted,
he puts an offer on the table.
Wolffe tells heater that he will have the opportunity to go on a mission with his fellow
deserters to clear his name and redeem himself in the eyes of his brothers.
Wolffe then asks him if he is ready to take on this massive responsibility to which he
enthusiastically says yes!
We then cut straight onto a Republic gunship carrying the group of Clone Deserters, called
Heater’s squad, because he was assigned to be the leader of the group.
Heater’s squad is made up of 4 Clones.
Heater himself, trooper sync, trooper charlie and trooper Racetrack.
We haven’t seen any of these clones appear before, so that’s really awesome.
After you finish the story, let me know which one is your favourite!
Heater begins to give a briefing to his squad, telling them that the large separatist weapons
depot below has a direct supply line to a nearby planet which the Republic is trying
to liberate.
He tells his men that if they cut off the supply of weapons to the droid army, their
Clone Brothers on the other planet might have a chance.
Racetrack then speaks up, telling Heater that he can continue living this fantasy all he
wants, but he knows the truth.
He thinks The Republic only sent these troopers out on a mission as a way to wash their hands
of the deserters.
They will either desert once again or be killed on the mission, removing the troubled troopers
from the Republic either way.
As they continue their conversation, their gunship is abruptly shaken as a super heated
blaster bolt from a separatist tank below, blows a smoking hole in its side.
The Clones are plunging towards the ground incredibly quickly, causing sync to panic.
Fortunately, all four brothers manage to land on city streets below and begin to move out.
Heater urges his men to move quickly because it’s only a matter of time before the separatists
realize they have arrives and send Vulture droids out to kill them.
As they continue to sneak towards the Separatist base, Racetrack continues to voice his doubts
and tells his squad members that he is going to desert the grand army once more.
This severely disappoints his brothers, because they gave their word to Commander Wolffe that
they would see the mission through to the end.
Sync and the other two vow to fight for their brothers until their deaths, but Racetrack
is still not buying it and plans to desert once again.
As the Squad moves in an ST-Series super tactical droid begins to perform calculations on whether
or not the Clones will be successful in moving in.
He dismisses the threat, but does alert all of his droid units to be on high alert in
case the Clones try an unexpected tactic, which of course they do.
Racetrack then walks up to the two b1-battle droids guarding the door of the weapons depot,
holding two of his Brother’s helmets, in his hands, telling them he has a present for
them.
He quickly hands the white helmets to the droids, before revealing that inside each
one is a high power blast charge, which is primed and ready to blow at any moment.
Racetrack rushes out of the area, before a monstrous orange fireball bursts from the
area, alerting all other droid forces.
At this point, Racetrack has abandoned the group and doesn’t plan to return.
The other three Clones then jump over the nearby wall, before making their way inside
of a large, open lower level room in the facility.
They attach their magnetic blast charges to the main power supply unit of the facility,
preparing to crumble the entire area to millions of pieces once they set it off.
The Clones don’t have time to think however, as the Super Tactical droid quickly arrives,
surrounding the brothers with his droid forces.
Heater refuses to surrender, threatening the tactical droid with the possibility of blowing
the whole place to pieces with the press of a button.
Before either can react to the situation however, Racetrack has a change of heart, returning
and blasting the heads off the surrounding battle droids.
Heater then holds his blaster to the head of the Tactical droid, telling him that Clone
will always stick together.
Heater then blasts the tactical droid through the head, before the whole squad rush out
of the large metal building, and press the button on their detonator.
The entire area is engulfed with a tremendous blast of fire and pressure, sending pieces
of the droid factory flying rapidly through the air.
The others then ask Racetrack why he decided to come back and save their lives, to which
he tells them initially that he realized that they were his only ride off of the planet,
but the quickly changes tone and admits that he felt he had to protect his brothers.
Commander Wolffe then arrives on the planet, telling the men that they did a fantastic
job and are now free from any further punishment on Kamino.
He also them that they can choose to either live their lives how they want, or join back
up with the Grand army of the Republic.
The brothers are inspired by their brave actions on the redemption mission and choose to return
home to Kamino, to re-enlist in the Grand Army of the Republic.
We then cut straight back to the Battle on Hisseen, but obviously, only a few moments
have passed in real time, because the story was a flashback.
Unfortunately, Heater then takes a droid blaster bolt to the chest and is horribly injured.
Twitch, who he was just arguing with moments earlier, comes to his aid and tries to help
him, but three b1 battle droids surround them, ready to fire.
Luckily, Commander Cody and Commander Wolffe appear from bushes, killing the droids.
Wolffe remarks that it's good to see Heater again, many months after sending him on that
harsh mission with his deserter brothers.
The story then ends with another incredibly massive blast, throwing thick dirt all around
and burying captain Rex alive under the ground.
We'll have to wait until the next issue, which is also the final issue to see how Rex escapes.
Thanks so much for watching, I really hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one!