Suu Lawquane

Suu Lawquane was a female Twi'lek refugee who lived on the arid planet Saleucami during the final years of the Galactic Republic, where she raised her two children, Shaeeah and Jek. Early into the Clone Wars, a pan-galactic conflict between the Republic and its splinter state, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, she fell in love with and married army deserter Cut Lawquane, who became the stepfather of her children. Together, the family was known as the Lawquanes and maintained a homestead on Saleucami.
When the war reached Saleucami, Suu and Cut allowed a wounded soldier, Captain Rex, to stay with them while he recovered. Rex helped Suu and Cut defend their farm from a group of commando droids and chose not to turn Cut in, allowing the family to live in peace. The Lawquanes also became acquainted with the Bad Batch, a special forces squad. Following the end of the war and the reorganization of the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Suu and Cut worried that they would have to leave Saleucami to evade the new authorities. With the help of the now-fugitive Clone Force 99, the Lawquanes managed to leave Saleucami and search for a new planet to start over.
==Biography==
===Raising a family===
Suu Lawquane was a female Twi'lek refugee who lived on the temperate world of Saleucami during the waning years of the Galactic Republic, a democratic union that governed much of the galaxy from its capital planet of Coruscant.Queen's Shadow At some point, Suu married, though she was eventually widowed. By the time of the Clone Wars, a pan-galactic conflict between the Republic and its splinter state, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Suu had given birth to two children, Shaeeah in 26 BBY states that Shaeeah was five years old during the events of "The Deserter." Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Landing at Point Rain" to 21 BBY, and dates the episode "Lethal Trackdown," to the same year. Since places "The Deserter" between "Landing at Point Rain" and "Lethal Trackdown," its events must take place in the same year. Because Shaeeah was five years old in 21 BBY, she must have been born in 26 BBY. and Jek in 25 BBY. states that Jek was four years old during the events of "The Deserter." Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Landing at Point Rain" to 21 BBY, and dates the episode "Lethal Trackdown," to the same year. Since places "The Deserter" between "Landing at Point Rain" and "Lethal Trackdown," its events must take place in the same year. Because Jek was four years old in 21 BBY, he must have been born in 25 BBY. Early into the war, Suu met a clone trooper from the Grand Army of the Republic, Cut. Cut had deserted his post after becoming the sole survivor of an attack on his unit's troop transport shortly after the First Battle of Geonosis. Suu and Cut got to know each other and eventually fell in love. They married, and he became the adoptive father of her children. The family made their home on a farm in the desert of Saleucami, where they grew crops and raised livestock such as eopies.
===War on Saleucami===
In 21 BBY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Landing at Point Rain" to 21 BBY, and dates the death of Ponds, as seen in the episode "Lethal Trackdown," to the same year. Since places "The Deserter" between "Landing at Point Rain" and "Lethal Trackdown," its events must take place in the same year. shortly after the Lawquanes' first harvest, the war made its way to Saleucami. Confederate General Grievous had brought his fleet to Saleucami, and the Republic launched a daring counterattack to capture him. When the Republic won the space battle, Grievous attempted to flee to the planet's surface in a landing craft. His ship was shot down as it made its escape, however, and the general and his droids were forced to flee to the surface in escape pods. The Republic quickly began a search effort, and squads of clone troopers combed the planet on speeder bikes. Cut was away from home at the time, delivering their harvest. At home with her children, the discerning Suu observed one group of clones as they made their way to the Lawquane homestead. Suu emerged from her house with her antique hunting rifle, wary of the clones' intentions.
Suu aimed her blaster at the clones as they pulled up near her and told them that she did not want any trouble. The clones explained to Suu that their captain, CT-7567, nicknamed "Rex," had been injured, though she was quick to point out that she was not a doctor and continued to urge them along. Shaeeah and Jek ran outside as Suu attempted to ward off the soldiers, and she softened her stance and told them to go back inside. Suu had a quick change of heart and told the clones that there were benches in their barn where Rex could stay overnight. While the clones set the captain up for the night, Suu prepared some fruit and offered it to them in the barn. As she handed the bowl over to the clones, a ball Shaeeah and Jek were playing with bounced in, followed closely by her daughter. Shaeeah noticed Rex and remarked that he looked like her father, but Suu remarked to her that Cut was not a soldier and had her daughter return to the house. Suu told the clones that her husband was away delivering the harvest and left after assuring they would not need anything else from her.
After the clones had left to resume their search and left Rex with Suu, Cut returned home from delivering the first harvest. He discovered Rex, and the two had a brief standoff before they recognized each other as clones. Noticing the commotion, Suu and her children went to the barn to greet Cut. Suu explained why Rex was with them, and Cut told the kids that they should never turn away someone in need. Cut invited Rex to dinner, though the captain was reluctant until Jek and Shaeeah begged him to join them. Over a meal of a cooked nuna, Suu and her children listened as Cut and Rex talked about their service and the former's choice to leave. Rex insisted that, in accordance with protocol, he would have to turn Cut in for deserting his post.
After dinner, Suu read to her children while Cut and Rex played a game of dejarik and continued their conversation. With their parent's permission, Shaeeah and Jek went outside to play. While playing in the fields, they discovered one of the escape pods from General Grievous' crashed landing ship. The two accidentally activated the pod, powering up a group of commando droids inside. Hearing the children's screams, Suu ran outside to find them and make sure they were safe. Shaeeah told Suu and Cut that they were being chased by "monsters." Suu tried to comfort them, but as she backed into the house, she, Cut, and Rex noticed the commando droids lurking in the fields. Cut told Suu to take the children upstairs while he and Rex locked up the house and turned off the lights. Using Suu's ancient rifle, Cut fought against the droids. During the skirmish, a wooden beam fell onto Cut, trapping him temporarily. The droids came close to finding Suu, Rex, and the kids, but Cut managed to regain his bearings and help Rex destroy the last units.
The next morning, Suu and Cut helped prepare Rex for his return to Republic forces. They gave Rex an eopie for transport and watched as he loaded his gear onto the mount. Suu was concerned that Rex still planned on turning Cut in for his desertion, but Rex admitted that he would not, saying that although Cut was a deserter, he was no coward. Overjoyed, Suu embraced Cut and thanked Rex for his discretion. Happy, Suu stood with Cut and their children and watched as Rex left their farm. At some point following their encounter with Rex, the Lawquanes installed a new fence around their property, as well as a series of booby traps. They also became acquainted with the genetically modified special forces group Clone Force 99, nicknamed the "Bad Batch." The members of the group, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair, were treated as family by Shaeeah and Jek. Suu had a good rapport with Hunter, who marveled at her sharpshooting skills.
===Age of the Empire===
In 19 BBY, the Clone Wars came to a quick and tumultuous end when the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine, ordered the systematic genocide of the Jedi Order by the clone armies, reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire, and declared himself Galactic Emperor.Star Wars: Galactic Atlas Under the new regime, Saleucami faced hardened security as clones arrived on the planet, ships were impounded, and chain codes were enforced. Rex, having defied Order 66 and escaped Imperial capture, arrived on Saleucami to speak with Cut and Suu. He warned them about the Empire and told them about the inhibitor chips the Kaminoans placed in the clones that forced them to carry out Order 66 and kill the Jedi. Suu and Cut feared that they would have to leave Saleucami and find a safer home, and, after Rex left, they began preparations to leave the planet on a transport. The day after Rex left the Lawquanes, the Bad Batch arrived on Saleucami to meet with Cut as well. The clones had become fugitives after defying Imperial orders and escaping Kamino with a young female clone, Omega.
As they approached the Lawquane house, Wrecker accidentally tripped Cut and Suu's traps, and the couple found them on their property. With her rifle out, Suu teasingly referred to them as more clones who had lost their way, and Cut greeted their old friends. The Lawquanes brought the squad to their house, where Cut gave them drinks and Suu prepared some fruit. Suu noticed the new members of the squad, and Hunter introduced Echo and Omega to the Lawquanes. Cut noticed that Crosshair was no longer with them, but Hunter only replied that things had become complicated. Realizing that Crosshair likely adhered to the inhibitor chips, Cut told the Batch about Rex's visit and his talk of the chips, and the Batch expressed confusion until Omega cleared things up. As she finished talking, Shaeeah and Jek ran inside and told their parents that there was a ship outside. Wrecker excitedly greeted the kids, who noticed Omega and brought her to play with them outside. As the three ran outside, Cut and Suu observed Hunter and Omega's interaction. Hunter looked at them with incomprehension, but she smiled at him and nodded that it would be alright.
Later, Cut and Hunter went to a nearby spaceport to book passage on a shuttle for the Lawquanes off-world. The two discovered, however, that the Empire was only allowing travel for citizens with chain codes. The two returned home, where they sat down with Suu and the rest of the Batch. Outside, Omega was playing with Shaeeah and Jek when the ball they were throwing went beyond the fence. Shaeeah and Jek, knowing not to go past the gates, told Omega that they would retrieve it later and instead went back to the house to continue packing. Omega, however, decided to get the ball. While getting the ball, she was stalked by a nexu. Inside, the group discussed the chain code situation. Suu pointed out that she and Cut could not arrange to get chain codes, for Cut would be apprehended for being a deserter, but Cut nevertheless asserted that he and his family would need to be on the next shuttle out of Saleucami, regardless of whether they had chain codes or not. Just then, Shaeeah and Jek ran inside and told Suu that Omega had gone past the fence, and she quickly jumped into action and grabbed her rifle. Suu ran outside and climbed up the side of the house to the roof, where she had an unobstructed view of Omega and the nexu. She fired a shot just as the creature prepared to pounce on Omega, forcing it back. Hunter ran past the gate to the girl, where he slashed the nexu with his knife while Suu continued firing on it, eventually sending it running away.
While Suu returned from the roof and helped Cut care for Omega, whom he brought to the Batch's Omicron-class attack shuttle, the Marauder, Hunter instructed Tech to forge chain codes to help the Lawquanes get off-world. Later, as Hunter stood watch outside the house, Suu greeted him and asked if he wanted her to take over. Hunter complimented her shooting skills, which he had forgotten were as good as they were, then added that he owed her one for saving Omega, and Suu replied that children always had ways of getting into trouble but explained that it was their guardian's job to protect them. Cut then arrived and told Hunter that Omega was on the Marauder. The incident had convinced Hunter that he was not able to care for her, and he asked Suu and Cut if they could take her in when they left Saleucami, as they could give her a life that the Batch could not. Suu asked him if that was what he wanted, and he told her that it was what Omega needed.
Echo and Tech, meanwhile, arranged for their ship to be impounded by the Empire so they could sneak inside the facility and steal and forge the chain codes for the Lawquanes and Omega. They informed Hunter of their plan, but he was incensed that not only that the Marauder was being impounded but that Omega was still on board. While Tech and Echo worked on their plan, Wrecker and Hunter helped Suu and her family finish packing up their belongings. Later that evening, the Lawquanes and clones arrived at the spaceport. Jek was scared and walked closely to Suu, who assured him that everything would be okay. Meanwhile, Tech and Echo finished forging the chain codes, but they could not get them to the Lawquanes on the other side of the spaceport. As a result, Omega took the chain codes when they were not looking and snuck out of the impound lot, bringing them to the other group. Tech informed Hunter of this, and when he reacted angrily, Suu calmed him and again told him that children could always find trouble. Wrecker then set out to assist Omega in reaching the Lawquanes.
Meanwhile, the clones were altered to Tech and Echo's presence, but with help from Wrecker, Omega managed to make her way to the spaceport, despite it taking longer than Cut would have wanted. When she arrived, Omega remarked that Tech had made a fifth one by accident, and Cut and Suu realized that Hunter had not told her about his plan. While Hunter told Omega about his decision, the Lawquanes approached the security station. After parting ways with Hunter, Omega reluctantly joined the Lawquanes, who were in the process of getting their codes checked. The chain codes worked, and as Cut unloaded their luggage, Suu approached a sad Omega and asked if she was was ready to go. Omega, however, decided to return to Hunter and ran to the impound lot to return to the Batch. While the Lawquanes boarded their transport, Cut was stopped by security clones, who thought he looked familiar. Before they could confirm their suspicions that he was a clone, however, they were called to the other side of the spaceport, where the Batch had started a firefight to free their ship. Cut then boarded the shuttle with Suu, Shaeeah, and Jek, and the family left Saleucami to find a new place to call home.
===Legacy===
In 4 ABY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Aftermath to 4 ABY. Glen Taffral, a man to lived on Saleucami with his sons, Dav and Webb Taffral, who each served opposing sides in the Galactic Civil War, mentioned the Lawquane family in a lesson for his bickering children. Using Cut Lawquane and his family as examples, Glen instructed his sons to put aside their ideological differences and choose to stick by family over government, as Cut did during the Clone Wars.
==Personality and traits==
Suu Lawquane was a female Twi'lek, who was 1.85 meters, or 6 feet, 1 inch tall, with blue eyes, pink skin, and a slender but built frame. She had patterned tattoos adorning her arms and lekku. Suu was a devoted mother and wife and was willing to do anything to protect her family. She cared deeply for the well-being of children. Suu wanted to make a peaceful and humble living with her family on their farm, and preferred to stay out of galactic affairs. She dreamed and hoped that the war would remain far away from her family, though she was ready and prepared to take up arms to keep them from danger. Being a parent, Suu was comfortable with giving her children range to grow up, a lesson she passed on to Hunter as he became nervous about both his and Omega's naivete.
Suu was cautious of outsiders, though, like her husband, her compassion kept her from refusing aid to those in need. Despite her initial wariness around strangers, Suu was a welcoming and gracious host to those who came to her and her family for help, such as Rex and Clone Force 99. She was friends with both Rex and the clones of the Bad Batch. Suu was concerned for her husband's safety, first when Rex intended to report him for desertion, and especially when the Empire began enforcing its influence on Saleucami. She trusted the Bad Batch to help her family escape the planet, though even when facing such a difficult task, she remained calm and assuring for the sake of her children.
==Skills and abilities==
Trained in combat, Suu was a skilled sharpshooter and sniper, a skill she used to protect her home. She was additionally very athletic and fit; when Omega became threatened by a nexu outside the homestead's gates, Suu readily ran outside and climbed to the roof of her house, where she aimed at the creature and shot it multiple times, sending it running away.
==Equipment==
Near the beginning of the Clone Wars, Suu Lawquane wore a pair of worn grey pants and brown boots, along with baggy light brown chaps that covered most of her pant legs and immodestly, her torso. She kept her head and the top of her lekku under a wrap. Later in the Clone Wars and after the rise of the Empire, she began to wear a wide-brimmed hat that allowed her lekku to hang out the back and swapped her chaps for a more modest grey shirt and brown jumpsuit. Suu was also the owner of an antique slugthrower 6-2Aug2 hunting rifle, which she used to protect her family and farm from strangers and Saleucami's predators.
==Behind the scenes==
Suu Lawquane was created for the season two episode "The Deserter" of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which was directed by Robert Dalva, written by Carl Ellsworth, and released on Cartoon Network on January 1, 2010. Over eleven years after her first appearance in The Clone Wars, Lawquane was featured in "Cut and Run," an episode of the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which aired on Disney+ on May 7, 2021. In both of Lawquane's appearances, she is voiced by Canadian actress Cara Pifko, who also lent her voice to several other characters in The Clone Wars.
After Pifko was contracted to portray Suu in "The Deserter," she was shown concept art to help her develop what voice she would give the character. For Suu, Pifko utilized a French-Canadian accent she had developed in theater school in Montreal. Despite the limited focus on Suu in the episode and only a handful of lines in the script, Pifko was intrigued by the character's background despite not being familiar with Star Wars lore. She approached her performance by considering Suu as someone who had a complicated life leading up to where the character was in the story depicted in "The Deserter."
==Appearances==
* 
*
*Aftermath 
==Sources==
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition 
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
*
*
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
*
*
* 
*
==Notes and references==
Category:Farmers
Category:Females
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Refugees
Category:Saleucamians
Category:Sharpshooters and snipers
Category:Twi'leks