CT - 4981 CT - 4981 , nicknamed " Contrail , " was an experienced clone trooper pilot whose service to the Galactic Republic and its successor state , the Galactic Empire , lasted for over two decades . Born and trained as a soldier for the Republic , Contrail became a member of the Republic Navy ' s Shadow Squadron and flew under the call sign " Shadow Eleven " during the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY . During that battle , Shadow Squadron aimed to take out the Confederate battleship " Malevolence " , commanded by General Grievous , before it could destroy the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center . Despite heavy losses , the squadron successfully crippled the warship , allowing the Republic fleet to destroy it . At the end of the battle , Contrail was among the surviving members of Shadow Squadron . After the Clone Wars ended in 19 BBY and the Republic transformed into the Empire , Contrail became a pilot in the Imperial Navy , although two years later , he was demoted to the rank of stormtrooper for disobeying and attacking a superior officer . Stationed on the planet Hockaleg in 3 ABY , Contrail bore witness to the destruction of the Imperial " Tarkin " superweapon , which had been under construction in the planet ' s orbit and was sabotaged by Rebel infiltrators . Taking a shuttle in search of survivors , Contrail located and rescued the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader in his damaged TIE Advanced x1 starfighter and brought him to Hockaleg , only to find that the local population had rebelled against the Imperial rule in the aftermath of the superweapon ' s destruction . As they tried to retreat to their shuttle , Contrail saved Vader ' s life by shielding him from enemy blaster fire with his body . Before Contrail died , Vader — who had been known during the Clone Wars as Jedi General Anakin Skywalker , Contrail ' s commanding officer — comforted the clone trooper , commending his piloting skills . Biography . Clone Wars . A clone of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett , the clone trooper designated CT - 4981 was bred on the planet Kamino to serve alongside his clone brethren in the Grand Army of the Republic . During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems , CT - 4981 — nicknamed " Contrail " — served as a pilot in Shadow Squadron , a Republic starfighter unit led by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker . In 22 BBY , the Confederacy constructed a new warship , the " Subjugator " - class heavy cruiser " Malevolence " . Commanded by the Confederate General Grievous and armed with twin powerful ion pulse cannon s , the " Malevolence " inflicted heavy casualties upon Republic forces . Determined to stop Grievous , Skywalker formed a battle plan and gathered Contrail and the rest of Shadow Squadron aboard his flagship , the " Venator " - class Star Destroyer " Resolute " , for a briefing . Realizing that capital ships were no match for the " Malevolence " , Skywalker planned to use recently acquired BTL - B Y - wing starfighter s to slip through the Confederate warship ' s defenses , strike at its bridge , and kill Grievous . Deducing that Grievous ' s next target was the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center , a space station where a large number of wounded clone troopers were being treated , Skywalker decided to go through the Balmorra Run , a shortcut that ran through the Kaliida Nebula , in order to arrive there before the " Malevolence " . Meanwhile , a Republic fleet led by Admiral Wullf Yularen and Jedi General Obi - Wan Kenobi would take a hyperspace route around the nebula and would join the battle later . Contrail , assuming the call sign " Shadow Eleven " and paired with the astromech droid R2 - J8 , then boarded his Y - wing along with his gunner and followed the rest of Shadow Squadron as they left the " Resolute " . After checking in with Skywalker , the clone pilots followed him — as well as Skywalker ' s Padawan , Ahsoka Tano , and Jedi Master Plo Koon — to hyperspace . When Contrail and his companions emerged from hyperspace and entered the nebula , they found themselves amidst a flock of giant neebray mantas native to that region . In order to avoid colliding with them , Skywalker ordered Shadow Squadron to assume single - file Bantha formation and follow his lead . The squadron successfully navigated the nebula , although pilot Matchstick ' s fighter was damaged in a brush with a manta . As a result of another brush , Contrail ' s astromech was destroyed when his dome was cut off . As soon as Contrail and the rest of the pilots emerged from the nebula and reached the medical station , the " Malevolence " emerged from hyperspace and approached the station , whose patients were being evacuated by " Pelta " - class frigates . After Grievous disabled the retreating evacuation frigates , Skywalker led Shadow Squadron in an attack on the " Malevolence " bridge . However , the warship fired its massive ion cannons , disabling almost half of Skywalker ' s forces , while more clone troopers fell to fire from weapon emplacements protecting the bridge . Convinced by Tano and Koon that the direct assault on the bridge would not succeed , Skywalker changed his plans and led Contrail and the surviving members of Shadow Squadron in an attack on the warship ' s starboard ion cannon , inflicting heavy damage to it . The attack resulted in both weapons exploding when Grievous tried to fire the damaged cannon ; the resulting explosion also damaged the " Malevolence " hyperdrive . Kenobi ' s and Yularen ' s fleet then arrived and chased the crippled warship away from the medical station , allowing the three Jedi , Contrail , and the remainder of the squadron to land aboard the station to regroup and refuel . Eventually , the " Malevolence " was destroyed , although Grievous escaped . Contrail continued to serve with Shadow Squadron throughout the remainder of the war and witnessed the transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY . He was subsequently absorbed into the Stormtrooper Corps and continued his piloting career in the Imperial Navy . Imperial service . Two years later , in 17 BBY , Shadow Squadron was disbanded , but Contrail continued his service as an Imperial pilot , serving under a non - clone officer . On one occasion , Contrail ' s clone gunner was severely — but not fatally — wounded . The officer ordered Contrail to kill the gunner , but Contrail refused to do so , since the gunner was his friend . The officer then attempted to shoot Contrail for insubordination , but the clone fought back and broke the commander ' s jaw . Contrail was taken into custody and sentenced to a year - long imprisonment in a solitary cell . After he had served his term , Contrail was demoted to the rank of a common stormtrooper . The clone gunner whose life Contrail had saved survived his wound but was killed months later during a bombing run . For the next nineteen years , Contrail loyally served the Empire . In 3 ABY , he was stationed on the planet Hockaleg , where the " Tarkin " superweapon was being constructed in orbit of the planet . Placed in charge of the local Imperial garrison , Contrail ' s task was to maintain order among Hockaleg ' s population , which had been forcefully conscripted to work at Hockaleg ' s spaceport . During one shift at the spaceport , shortly after he had cleared a transport for the " Tarkin " , Contrail was approached by a young trooper designated TK - 813 , who informed the clone trooper that the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader was aboard the " Tarkin " at the moment . Ensuring that none of the workers were listening to them , Contrail asked TK - 813 how he had discovered that , and the young trooper replied that trooper TK - 529 had heard that information at the troopers ' headquarters . Contrail believed that the laborers were not fond of the Empire and suspected that there could even be Rebel spies among them , who could exploit the information regarding Vader ' s presence . As such , Contrail promised the young trooper to take him and TK - 529 to the headquarters at the next rotation in order to remind them about maintaining protocol and distributing information on a need - to - know basis . At that moment , however , Contrail witnessed an explosion in the sky ; the " Tarkin " had been destroyed by a Rebel Alliance strike team . Without any hesitation , Contrail rushed to a nearby shuttle and set off into space to search for survivors of the explosion . He soon came upon a damaged TIE Advanced x1 , the personal starfighter of Darth Vader , who had survived the superweapon ' s destruction and was drifting in space . Vader signaled Contrail with his fighter ' s running lights ; when the pilot approached the fighter , he saw Vader pointing at his craft ' s egress hatch . Understanding Vader ' s intent , Contrail positioned his shuttle as close to the hatch as possible and opened the shuttle ' s starboard airlock . Vader then opened the TIE ' s hatch and drifted through space into the shuttle . After Vader — who had been known as Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars — entered the shuttle ' s cockpit , he recognized the pilot as a former clone trooper and demanded to know why the craft was being piloted by a stormtrooper instead of an Imperial pilot . Contrail told Vader about his service after the Clone Wars and offered to take the Sith Lord to his personal Super Star Destroyer , the " Executor " , stationed nearby , but the latter declined . Instead , he ordered Contrail to take him to Hockaleg and leave a distress strobe at his fighter so that it could be picked up by the " Executor " crew . When they approached the planet , and Contrail tried to receive clearance to land from the spaceport authorities , no one responded on the comlink . Vader ordered him to proceed with the landing anyway , and the two soon emerged from the shuttle at the Hockaleg spaceport . They then heard blaster fire and witnessed a stormtrooper running toward them from an alleyway , shooting back at someone . When the trooper , fatally wounded , collapsed at Contrail ' s feet , the latter recognized him as TK - 813 . Before dying , TK - 813 told Contrail that the laborers had rebelled after the destruction of the " Tarkin " and attacked the Imperial headquarters . Vader decided to return to the shuttle , advising Contrail to keep close . As they approached the shuttle , however , the two were attacked by a group of laborers . Ordering Contrail to prepare the shuttle for takeoff , Vader disarmed one group of attackers with the help of the Force , but he did not notice another group that approached him from behind . Determined to protect his superior , Contrail disobeyed the order and shielded Vader from enemy blaster fire with his own body . As Contrail fell on the ground with mortal wounds , Vader approached him and comforted him in his final moments , commending his piloting skill at the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula . Acknowledging Anakin Skywalker as a good mentor , Contrail passed away . Vader , stirred by his death , proceeded to slaughter the laborers who had attacked them with his lightsaber , not paying attention to their pleas for mercy . Personality and traits . Like all clone troopers , Contrail stood 1 . 83 meters tall , and , like his progenitor , Jango Fett , he had brown eyes . Due to the clone troopers ' accelerated aging , Contrail was fairly old by the time of his death . His hair had become mostly white , and his face was heavily lined with age and covered in scars , although he retained Fett ' s distinctive gravelly voice and the clone troopers ' clipped manner of speech . As the commander of the Hockaleg garrison , Contrail was very strict regarding maintaining proper protocol , and he wanted to rebuke TK - 813 and TK - 529 for recklessly discussing classified information . He addressed his fellow stormtroopers by their designations and was confused when TK - 813 called TK - 529 by his nickname , " Grimes . " The clone trooper was cautious , believing that the laborers on Hockaleg did not like the Empire and that there were Rebel spies among them . The former observation proved true when the people rebelled after the destruction of the " Tarkin " . Contrail was decisive and quick - thinking , embarking on the search for survivors immediately after the superweapon ' s explosion . A veteran soldier who spent his entire life in service to the Republic and the Empire , Contrail still displayed a streak of independence . He was unwilling to kill a fellow clone and attacked the officer who ordered him to do so . Although the clone gunner whom Contrail had saved died shortly thereafter , essentially rendering Contrail ' s rebellion meaningless , the clone trooper did not regret his decision , feeling glad that it had helped the gunner live a little longer and realizing that everyone was destined to die someday . Although Vader was used to instilling fear in his subordinates , he did not sense any fear in Contrail , nor did he feel the need to try to make the clone trooper afraid of him . On the contrary , the Dark Lord was impressed by Contrail ' s strong composure and felt reliability and loyalty exuding from the clone through the Force . When Vader asked Contrail if he would ever disobey his orders , the clone admitted that he would if it helped save Vader ' s life . Contrail later did exactly that when he found himself feeling unable to leave Vader alone near the shuttle and ended up saving his life . When Vader commended his flying at the Kaliida Nebula , calling him by nickname despite the fact that the clone had only used his numerical designation in Vader ' s presence , Contrail was not surprised . With his last words , he said that he considered Anakin Skywalker a good teacher . Skills and abilities . Contrail was an expert pilot , capable of handling different vehicles , from the Y - wing starfighter to a boxy Imperial shuttle . His skill allowed him to survive the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula and was noted by Darth Vader , who was an adept pilot himself . When Contrail maneuvered the shuttle in position to take Vader aboard , the Sith Lord took notice of his expertly handled moves . Equipment . During the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula , Contrail wore a pilot ' s variant of Phase I clone trooper armor , with the Galactic Republic ' s crest printed on his helmet . When he was stationed on Hockaleg , he was clad in standard stormtrooper armor , complete with a backpack and a pauldron , and was armed with a blaster rifle . Behind the scenes . CT - 4981 first appeared in " Shadow of " Malevolence " , " the third episode of the , which first aired on October 10 , 2008 , although an image of him from the episode was featured prior to that in " " . Identified only as " Shadow Eleven , " he , like all clone troopers in the show , was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker . In August of 2011 , " Shadow Eleven " was identified as " Contrail " in " " . Shortly thereafter , he appeared as a main character in " Vader Adrift " , a short story written by Ryder Windham and illustrated by Joe Corroney . Published in " Star Wars Insider " Special Edition 2012 in November of 2011 , the short story provided Contrail with his clone designation and featured his death on Hockaleg .