Howzer

Howzer was a human male clone who served as a clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic and eventually as a stormtrooper in a battalion of the Imperial Army with the military rank of Clone Captain, shortly after the Galactic Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY. Stationed on the planet Ryloth with his squad, Howzer worked with Ryloth's senator, Orn Free Taa, and the former Twi'lek Resistance leader, General Cham Syndulla, to help maintain peace on the planet. One day, the captain returned Cham's daughter, Hera Syndulla, to him after she was caught trespassing, choosing not to report the incident. After Hera and two Twi'lek Resistance fighters were caught smuggling weapons, Howzer arrived after their arrest and helped oversee their transportation. However, Cham and some other Twi'lek militants intercepted their HCVw A9 turbo tank to rescue their comrades. They defeated Howzer's forces and held the captain and his colleagues, Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart and Senator Taa, captive. Howzer advised against Cham killing Taa before Imperial reinforcements arrived and captured the Twi'leks excluding Hera. 
With Hera having not been found, Howzer joined Rampart at Cham's prison cell, where the admiral exchanged barbs with the general and his wife. Rampart then ordered the captain to round up the Syndullas' supporters, although Howzer believed the arrests were unnecessary. Howzer soon joined the admiral for an address to the people of Ryloth. Not long after, the pair argued about the necessity of the arrests, as the captain feared an uprising. Howzer soon approached Cham's cell and requested Hera's location in order to protect her, only to be denied by Cham, who did not trust him. Not long after, the rogue elite clone unit known as the Bad Batch attacked Ryloth's Imperial doonium refinery, and Rampart left Howzer to guard Ryloth's Capitol building. Members of the Bad Batch broke out Cham and his fighters, and Crosshair set a trap outside the Capitol after suspecting their breakout. Howzer stopped Cham's group from falling into the trap and confronted Crosshair's troops instead, openly defying the Imperial occupation of Ryloth and inspiring six other clones to join him. Crosshair had the rebellious clones arrested as a result.
While in custody on the factory planet Balmorra, Howzer saw clones being transferred offworld. When it came time for the captain's turn to be transferred, however, the Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser transporting him was attacked by astarship containing members of the clone underground resistance movement. Howzer and the three remaining members of his squad were rescued and taken to one of the Underground's bases on the Imperial capital of Coruscant, where Howzer recounted his experiences to Echo and Pantora's senator, Riyo Chuchi. The captain joined the movement, eventually being based at the B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth, the Clone Underground's headquarters. 
==Biography==
===Fighting for Ryloth===
Howzer was created on the planet Kamino as a clone of the human male bounty hunter Jango Fett to serve in the Galactic Republic's clone army during the Clone Wars against the Separatist Alliance. Holding the rank of Clone Captain, Howzer was deployed to the Outer Rim planet Ryloth, the homeworld of the Twi'lek species, to free the world from a Separatist occupation. The Republic and the native Twi'lek Resistance, led by General Cham Syndulla, eventually joined forces against the Separatists under the agreement that the Republic would withdraw from Ryloth after their common enemy was usurped. The coalition succeeded in overthrowing the Separatists on the world. Having taken part in the battle and then being stationed on world for many months, Howzer eventually befriended Syndulla.
Over the course of his time on Ryloth, Howzer helped defend the world from Separatist attacks, with Republic forces at one time experiencing a setback on RylothCatalyst: A Rogue One Novel but ultimately managing to hold onto the planet for the rest of the war.Star Wars: On the Front Lines In 19 BBY, the Clone Wars came to an end with the fall of the Separatists and the reorganization of the Republic into the Galactic Empire.Star Wars: Galactic Atlas Howzer then continued to serve as a stormtrooper officer in the new Imperial Army, retaining his rank of Captain. He led a squad of clones, all of whom had fought with him during the battle for Ryloth, within a battalion stationed around the desert world's capital city, Lessu. The Empire failed to leave Ryloth as the Republic had promised, and established its own doonium refinery on the world. Many Twi'leks became skeptical of Empire's military presence, including several of Syndulla's fighters, led by his lieutenant, Gobi Glie.
===Political unrest===
In Lessu, many of the people gathered before the Capitol building, where Howzer was present at a balcony area. The captain spoke with Cham Syndulla while Ryloth's Senator, Orn Free Taa, conversed with Cham's wife Eleni. Vice Admiral Rampart, who had been viewing the crowd, questioned the loyalty of Ryloth to Taa, Eleni, and Cham, who each cooperated with the Empire's presence. As Taa went over with Rampart and Eleni to begin his speech, Howzer asked if Cham was okay, to which the general expressed worry about his people not embracing peace.
Howzer assured Cham that Ryloth was safe as the Twi'lek fought for, and the pair joined their cohorts for the speech. Taa implored his people to step down from their military posts and allow the Empire's clones to protect them. With the crowd resenting Taa's request, Cham stepped in, expressing his trust for the clones who had helped the people of Ryloth during the Clone Wars. Cham waved Howzer up to join him during his speech, which was applauded by most of the audience.
Not long after, Cham and Eleni's daughter, Hera, and her droid, C1-10P "Chopper," were found in a restricted area near the Imperial refinery by some clones. Howzer and his troops returned the young Twi'lek and her droid to Cham, explaining what the general's daughter had done. After Hera dismissed the incident as "exploring," the captain took Cham aside. Howzer explained that he was in a tough spot and promised not to report the incident, but said it could not happen again. Cham told Howzer that it would not and thanked him, who departed with his soldiers.
===Insurgents attack===
Meanwhile, Rampart had his Elite Squad Trooper unit, led by Commander CT-9904 "Crosshair," investigate Glie's operations. The unit soon intercepted the Twi'lek militant, who was accompanied by Hera and the Twi'lek Serin, when he returned to Ryloth with purchased weapons. Howzer joined Rampart and Taa aboard a HCVw A9 turbo tank which traveled to Crosshair's position with BARC speeder escorts. Disembarking, the captain flanked the admiral and senator, who inspected Hera and discussed what involvement her father Cham might have. When Rampart implied punishment for Hera, Howzer interjected, adding that she was only a child. Taa declared the girl an insurgent and ordered that the three captured Twi'leks be taken away.
While hesitant, Howzer had Glie, Hera, and Serin taken into the Juggernaut, followed by the captain, Rampart, and Taa. The group sat inside as the transport traveled through Sector 3 of Ryloth's western outskirts, which was when Twi'lek reinforcements led by Cham and Eleni arrived. Cham began assaulting the escorting clones on speeder bikes, and Howzer was informed of the attack through his comlink. Knowing that Cham was behind the attack, Taa ordered Howzer's forces to fight back, and the captain complied after a moment of hesitation.
Howzer listened over his comlink as his speeders outside were defeated in their attempts to fend off the Twi'lek militants. The comms were then jammed by the militant Lenk, who had hijacked the juggernaut's cockpit, and the transport came to a halt as the last of the speeder pilots were taken down, leading Howzer to put on his helmet. After the transport's power was cut, Howzer raised his DC-17 hand blaster to defend his colleagues, but Rampart advised him to stand down, and the juggernaut passengers watched as Cham and Eleni broke into their compartment.
===Framing of the Syndullas===
Howzer, Taa, Rampart and their remaining clones were held captive by the Twi'leks. Cham and Taa accused each other of treason, the general pointing his blaster at the senator. Howzer told Cham to think about what he was doing before Eleni talked the general out of killing Taa. Rampart then thanked the senator before nodding at a distant Crosshair, who shot Taa in the head. Several Low Altitude Assault Transports then flew in, forcing Hera to flee with Chopper in a landspeeder. The LAATs deployed additional clones alongside Crosshair's elite squad, who arrested the Twi'leks and loaded them onto the transports.
As Taa was carried away on a hoverlift, injured but alive, Howzer walked to the side of Rampart, who handed the clone a DC-15A blaster carbine and ordered him to find Hera. The captain then watched as Rampart joined Crosshair's Elite Squad Troopers and the captured Twi'leks aboard an LAAT, which took off with the other gunships. With the efforts to locate Hera being unsuccessful, Howzer returned to Rampart at the Capitol building, where the pair visited Cham and Eleni Syndulla in their prison cell. The admiral and the Syndullas exchanged taunts before the former walked away, leaving Howzer to look somberly at his old Twi'lek friends before departing as well.
Howzer and Rampart went towards the landing area outside the Capitol, and the admiral ordered the clone captain to arrest the Syndullas' supporters across the planet. The captain insisted that the people he was to arrest were not insurgents, but Rampart said that they supported one, recalling the attack on the juggernaut and the shooting of Taa. Stating that he had been there, Howzer argued that Taa had not been shot by the Twi'leks, but when the admiral asked who the clone thought had fired, Howzer said he did not know. Rampart reminded him of his orders, and Howzer offered to find Hera himself, but Rampart denied his request, saying that another squad was looking for her.
===Torn loyalties===
Numerous Twi'leks at Lessu gathered for another public address at the Capitol building, where Rampart, flanked by Howzer, updated the crowd on the supposed assassination attempt on Taa by the Syndullas and their allies. After, the pair traversed the hallways of the building, with Howzer suggesting only some of Cham's allies be arrested. Rampart insisted that all were to be rounded up, and the captain expressed worry that it could incite an uprising. The admiral, though, offered the solution that more would therefore be arrested to quell a rebellion. The two entered Rampart's office to join Crosshair, who reported the presence of the rogue clone commando squad Clone Force 99, or the "Bad Batch," on Ryloth.
Rampart and Crosshair debated about the Bad Batch's capabilities until the former suggested Crosshair's squad continue to search for Hera or the admiral would put Howzer on the task instead, leading the commander to leave the room to carry out his orders. Howzer went back to Cham and Eleni's cell in secret. Cham claimed the captain had sided against the general and his people, but Howzer brought up Cham's attack on the juggernaut. When Eleni stated that she and her husband had to protect Hera, the clone captain asserted that he wanted to as well, asking for their daughter's location and promising to help the girl. However, Cham did not trust Howzer, and turned his offer down.
===Defying the Empire===
Not long after, the Imperial refinery was attacked by the Bad Batch with the help of Hera. Learning of the events, Howzer rushed to Rampart's office to report it to the vice admiral, who ordered the captain to guard Lessu. Imperial forces deployed from the Capitol building's landing area, but Crosshair stopped his elite squad in suspicion that the Capitol was the real target. Howzer observed their shuttle from one of the building's balconies and learned of a trap that Crosshair had set in front of one of the exits with his elite squad and members of Howzer's squad. The captain then went down towards the exit and intercepted Cham and his allies, who had been rescued by two Bad Batch commandos.
Howzer warned the group of Crosshair's trap and condemned the Empire's actions on Ryloth. After the captain added that all the Capitol's exits were blocked, Eleni decided the group would steal Taa's shuttle from the senator's private tower hangar. Howzer apologised to Cham for not going against the Empire sooner, and the general promised to return to Ryloth eventually as their fight for Ryloth's freedom was not over. Although Eleni added that the clone's actions would be discovered, Howzer wished to not abandon his squad.
Howzer exited the capitol building before Crosshair's trap and openly defied the Empire's occupation of Ryloth, imploring his clone brothers to stand with him and do the same as he threw down his blaster carbine. Six other clones were persuaded by Howzer's reasoning and dropped their blasters and riot shields, prompting Crosshair to order their arrests by his Elite Squad and the clones who were not convinced. Being handcuffed, Howzer watched as Cham and his fighters escaped with the Bad Batch on Taa's shuttle. The clone was then escorted into the Capitol building.
===Rescue===
Howzer and eight of his troopers were on the factory world of Balmorra for dissidence at a prison for clones who had questioned and disobeyed orders. Over time, Howzer saw other groups of clones get transferred offworld. Of he and his men, only three ended up surviving, and were taken to an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser to be shuttled off of Balmorra as well around 18 BBY. This establishes that the events of "Tipping Point," including Howzer's appearances, took place around that year. Howzer and his two remaining dissident soldiers were escorted to the cruiser by a clone commando and a squad of TK stormtroopers. When the imprisoned clone looked around him, one stormtrooper nudged him and ordered him to keep his eyes down. The three inmates were loaded onto the Gozanti-class cruiser under the eyes of Captain Pearce, who was oversaw the transfer.
As the Gozanti cruiser left Balmorra's orbit, however, it was attacked by the starship of a clone resistance group. The insurgent ship crippled the Gozanti-class cruiser before sending a boarding party of rogue clones to free Howzer and his comrades and extract information. One of the insurgent clones, Fireball, fought his way to Howzer's cell. Having been alerted to an attack, Howzer and his two fellow inmates watched their cell door, ready to ambush any aggressor and when Fireball entered, the imprisoned captain immediately recognizing his liberator. The clone insurgent led the three prisoners back to Echo’s ship, which made a swift escape from the Balmorra system.
The insurgent ship returned to the Clone Underground's base of operations on the capital world Coruscant. There, Howzer spoke with Echo, a veteran of the Bad Batch who had led the rescue mission, and the Pantoran Senator Riyo Chuchi about his time on Balmorra, explaining the reason they were all detained and how other groups of clones had been transferred somewhere unknown. Echo added that he had recovered a portion of data from the bridge of the Gozanti, which Pearce had ordered to be purged before he took his own life. The ex-Bad Batch clone left shortly afterwards to find his former unit and get the data decrypted.
===Joining the fight===
During the same year sometime after his rescue, Howzer officially joined the Clone Underground resistance network. He was deployed to the planet Pantora alongside his clone brothers Rex, Samson, Nemec, and Greer on a mission to protect senators Avi Singh and Riyo Chuchi while they held a clandestine meeting, where he was stationed on sentry duty outside the building for where the meeting was held. Rex, who was escorting Avi Singh and his droid GS-8 to the building, asked Howzer for a status report. They eventually captured the operative CX-1. While travelling through hyperspace with their prisoner, Howzer and Rex discussed a datapuck they acquired from CX-1. Rex told Howzer to make arrangements for Fireball to examine the object on their base at the ruined B'omarr Order Monastery on the planet Teth. At their base, the operative remained silent during Rex's interrogation, leading to Howzer requesting him to push harder. After Fireball told them CX-1's data puck was a target register including Omega and Senator Singh, Rex ordered Fireball to contact Echo and Hunter. Howzer thought the Bad Batch could help, but Rex was hesitant to get them involved. Howzer believed Crosshair could help them and CX-1 could in turn help them acquire the location of Mount Tantiss.
When the Bad Batch arrived outside the Monastery, Howzer and Rex awaited them. Despite wanting to question Crosshair, Howzer was still displeased to see him as they had unfinished business from Ryloth. Rex reassured an angry Howzer Crosshair was on now their side. Once inside the base, Rex told the Bad Batch their plan to rescue their clone brothers from Tantiss Base and told them Omega was on the operative's list. Howzer questioned Crosshair why he was not on the list, to which he responded he was not important to them. Howzer accused Crosshair of being a traitor, prompting Hunter to warn him to back down. He questioned if Crosshair was a captive and why Crosshair did not know the location of Tantiss Base, prompting Crosshair to reiterate he did not know the location. Crosshair told him he was done with the Empire, but Howzer still did not believe him.
After Rex revealed to Clone Force 99 that they captured a clone assassin, Howzer told the Bad Batch they scanned the prisoner. Crosshair warned the Empire was using a special tracker that evaded scanners. Shortly afterwards, CX-2 sent a series of explosives through the base, disabling the comms. He then attacked the Clone Underground in the mess hall, where the operative cornered a few members of the Underground, killing them and causing the room to cave in. Howzer survived the explosion, alongside Omega, the Bad Batch, Rex, and Batcher. They exited the bunker through an underground passage with the intention of contacting Echo through the Remora-one. CX-2 pursued Howzer and the surviving clones. They managed to reach the Remora-one; however, CX-2 fired a long-range blaster at the vessel, damaging its engines. Rex crashed the leech vessel, contacting Echo, before they departed the destroyed ship. Commander Wolffe, CX-2, and Imperial forces pursued Howzer and the other surviving clones through the jungle. On their way to their rendezvous, Howzer noticed Crosshair cared about Omega and asked him what changed since their first encounter on Ryloth. Crosshair told him he was motivated by loyalty, but realized the Empire regarded him and the other clones as disposable, to which Howzer expressed agreement.
As they neared the extraction point the rogue clones once again came under attack by CX-2, eventually leading to Crosshair engaging him in hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, Howzer and the other clones followed their path as the two clashed up down a waterfall. In a pool, CX-2 attacked Crosshair again, but Howzer stunned him in the back and he was swept away over the waterfall. He and Hunter then pulled Crosshair to safety. Shortly afterwards, Howzer, Rex, and the rest of the rogue clones had a standoff with Wolffe. Rex told Wolffe that he, Howzer, and Clone Force 99 were fighting against the Empire and offered Wolffe the opportunity to join them. When Echo arrived, Wolffe ordered his forces to stand down, allowing Howzer, Rex, and the Bad Batch to safely escape on the Remora.
==Personality and traits==
As a clone of the human male bounty hunter Jango Fett, Howzer was 1.83 meters tall and had tan-colored skin and dark gray hair which was shaven short at the sides. He also had a scar on his left cheek and the right side of his chin.
Although most clones were blindly compliant to orders following the activation of their behavioral modification biochips, Howzer retained his individuality despite having a chip, remaining friendly with Cham Syndulla. With the effects of his chip wearing off, and therefore allowing him to question his purpose, he upheld his oath to protect Ryloth, and was skeptical when the Empire undermined its predecessor's promise to leave Ryloth after the Separatists' defeat. Howzer found Vice Admiral Rampart's undermining of Cham and his people deplorable, and was hesitant to carry out orders which pitted him against Ryloth's people, including not reporting Hera Syndulla's trespassing incident.
When Rampart ordered punishment for Hera, Howzer argued that she was just a child, noticeably hesitating when his men were ordered to arrest her and her companions. He also chose to try and talk Cham out of shooting Orn Free Taa to help the general. The captain was skeptical of Rampart's decision to arrest all of Cham's allies, believing it to be excessive and fearing a resulting uprising. Howzer felt guilty about having to turn against Cham, but tried to make amends with him by pledging to protect Hera Syndulla. After assisting the Twi'lek fighters in escaping, Howzer decided to stay with his fellow clone brothers whom he respected, not wishing to abandon them and well aware that he would be detained for treason.
==Equipment==
Having been out in the field when other clones removed the color from their armor, and then simply never doing so himself, Howzer wore white Phase II clone trooper armor with teal blue markings and a teal blue pauldron. He also used a comlink built into his armor and wielded a DC-17 hand blaster and DC-15A blaster carbine. Following Howzer's liberation from Imperial custody, he regained his Phase II clone trooper. While his armor remained mostly the same, the teal markings on his legs and a large portion on his helmet were absent, alongside his pauldron. Additionally, he adorned a large pouch satchel slung over his chest, a rifle holder on his back, and a blaster holster on both of his legs. During this time, he wielded two DC-17 hand blasters, and a DC-15A blaster carbine whilst on Pantora.
==Behind the scenes==
Howzer first appeared in "Devil's Deal," the eleventh episode of the Disney+ animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch which was directed by Steward Lee and aired on July 9, 2021. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of every clone trooper in The Bad Batch and other animated series including Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Prior to the release of "Devil's Deal," a figure for Howzer was displayed for pre-order as part of "The Bad Batch Special 4-pack" in Hasbro's Star Wars: The Vintage Collection. The pack identified him as "Ballast."
Molly Denmark's lighting concept art for Howzer's speech at the Capitol depicted the captain with navy blue helmet markings and pauldron, instead of teal blue, as well as a visor resembling that from Imperial stormtrooper armor. Howzer's chest and leg armor also lacked any color markings.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers
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*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:Clone stormtrooper officers of the Galactic Empire
Category:Clone trooper captains
Category:Clone Underground members
Category:Galactic Empire deserters
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Males