A-53 "Gin"

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Alpha-53, known more commonly as Gin, is one of the 100 Alpha-Class Advanced Recon Commandos, an elite unit of Clone Troopers trained by their progenitor, Jango Fett. As an Alpha-Class ARC, Gin and the rest of his brothers were inactive until the first Battle of Kamino during the clone wars, for fears of the Alpha-Class going rogue were held by the Kaminoans. Active throughout the entire initial war, Gin would be one of the founding members of the elite Commando unit the Muunilist 10, led by Alpha-77, Fordo, taking on the role of Second in Command as Task Force Major.

As all Clone Troopers were, Gin was created on Kamino, and would spend the first decade of his accelerated life within the confines of Tipoca City. As he was one of the Troopers personally trained by Fett, Gin would adopt many of the man's mannerisms, as well as being drilled with the numerous contingency codes implemented into the Alpha Class by Fett. Gin would grow to harbour a strong respect for his mentor, and much like his Alpha brothers, respect his legacy by performing their duties to absolute perfection.

Like the other Alpha-Class ARCs, Gin was also aware of Spar's smuggling off Kamino, and of Spar's condition regarding his inheritance of Fett's memories, though he thought little of the matter until Spar's resurgence as a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems later into the war, causing a murderous feud between the two, though it would later be settled with the burying of the hatchet between them.

### Biography

#### Early Life

As with all others of the Alpha-Class, Gin was created and trained on Kamino, and would form tight bonds with the others in his Class, seeing as they were largely kept separate from the other Clone Troopers within Special Forces, only interacting with the likes of the Republic Commandos during large training exercises, and even more scarcely with the rank and file Trooper. As a result of the Kaminoan's fears that the Alpha-Class may prove too effective, especially with their lack of care for their creators, they were kept in suspended animation via stasis until the First Battle of Kamino two months into the War, where in an act of desperation, Shaak Ti would have the entire class released.

Like the other Alpha-Class ARCs, Gin was also aware of Spar's smuggling off Kamino, and of Spar's condition regarding his inheritance of Fett's memories, though he thought little of the matter until Spar's resurgence as a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems later into the war, causing a murderous feud between the two, though it would later be settled with the burying of the hatchet between them.

#### First Battle of Kamino

With a route to the Rishi Maze secured via the Abrion sector, the Separatists launched their assault on Kamino. Separatist forces under the Corporate Alliance Magister Passel Argente and the Mon Calamari Merai assaulted the ocean planet in an attempt to destroy the Republic's cloning facilities. However, the Jedi learned of their plans from a mission conducted by Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura on The Wheel, and sent a defence fleet of Jedi starfighters to defend Kamino. Although the Jedi pilots battled bravely above, they could not stop the droid forces from landing in Tipoca City. With Tipoca soon becoming overridden with Separatist forces, the Kaminoans relented, and with Shaak Ti, released the 99 Alpha-Class Recon Commandos, with Gin being among their ranks.

With Alpha-17, Gin would aide the Clone Cadets from incoming Battle Droids, before splitting, as Gin was to aide the 212th's defensive front against the Separatists, aiding in holding them back from breaching further into the cloning facilities, greatly aided by the reinforcements of Jet-Troopers. Gin, and his fellow Troopers in the 7th Sky Corps were able to hold the line long enough for the Jedi Starfighters to push back the Separatist forces.

#### Muunilinst Campaign

With the Confederacy on the backfoot from the loss at Kamino, the Republic pressed their offensive further. With Kenobi and Skywalker leading the charge, the Battle of Muunilinst was ready to reach its peak, as the plans had initially intended. The planet was acting as the base world for the Banking Clan, and their chairman, San Hill, was a known member of the Separatist Council, so it was a prime target for the Republic. During the battle, the Republic unleashed a fleet of *Acclamator*-class assault ships on the Separatist defences. The Republic forces soon clashed with the enemy forces, both on the ground and in space. Kenobi took the battle on the ground, assisted by Ahsoka Tano and the 332nd, while Anakin and the 501st led the front in space.

On Muunilinst, Kenobi's army quickly took the advantage, with an elite group of Advanced Recon Commandos lead by Alpha-77, better known as Captain Fordo, being tasked to infiltrate the city of Harnaidan and destroy a key defensive artillery emplacement at the heart of Muunilinst. This unit would consist of Alpha-77 "Fordo", Alpha-53 "Gin", Alpha-60 "Stec", Alpha-68 "Hawkeye", Alpha-21 "Mixer", Alpha-06 "Noble", Alpha-17, Alpha-73 "Darin", Alpha-48 "Hellcat", and CT-43/002.

The team would disembark via LAAT/I, and before reaching the city of Harnaidan, Kenobi ordered the ARC troopers to break off, and begin their operation. As they made their way into the city, their transport was struck, crashing into an abandoned street. Gin, alongside the rest of the team were unharmed, however, they soon came under sniper fire, and CT-43/002 was lost in the attack. Taking cover behind what remained of the gunship, Fordo had Darin locate where the snipers were as a spotter, before having Noble use a PLX-1 portable missile launcher to wipe out the sniper droids, and considerably damage or destroy the surrounding architecture.
Once the area was clear, Fordo led the team through the streets, towards Hill's headquarters. Along the way, they encountered an Armored Assault Tank, with Gin being tasked to destroy it, doing so single-handedly by climbing the back of the AAT, bursting into the hatch, and rigging it to explode by blasting its firing systems with his rifle. Using a commando recon droid, Fordo determined the target's location, and spotted a large cannon at the base of Hill's tower. Now proceeding to their target, the team would rappel up the building, with Fordo taking down the droid guards as the rest set strategically placed charges to cause a chain reaction, destroying the artillery, and allowing further Republic forces to land.
The team would then meet up with Kenobi, after his battle with the Gen'dai warrior Durge, and the 332nd at the InterGalactic Banking Clan's Command Centre, and after a brief skirmish, took San Hill and his associates into custody. It was then that, Durge, who had survived his duel with Obi-Wan, appeared and charged into the command centre, where he was met with a volley of fire from the troopers. He was badly damaged, but regenerated due to his Gen'dai physiology, attacking Kenobi and Tano, with the team of ARC Troopers continuing to fire at the nigh immortal bounty hunter, with Fordo being of much help with temporarily holding back the Gen'dai. This team of Troopers, for their actions, would then be christened the Muunilinst 10.

#### Rescue on Hypori

After Muunilinst, the war was about to change, and the Confederacy to show their greatest asset and warrior. As Hypori was where General Grievous made his debut to the galaxy. Jedi Master Daakman Barrek led a force to destroy a droid factory thought to be on the planet. However, the attack was a disaster, with orbital mines shredding much of the force as it emerged from hyperspace, and General Grievous led a massive droid army in the the obliteration of an entire Republic army and the deaths of several Jedi, including Tarr Seirr, Daakman Barrek and Sha'a Gi.

Hot off Muunilinst, the Muunilinst 10 were immediately dispatched to rescue the remaining Jedi of Barrek's Task Force on Hypori, Reaching Hypori in a custom LAAT Gunship, Fordo, Gin and the others approached the downed *Acclamator*-class assault ship in which the surviving Jedi were hiding, and after a brief suit-up, Fordo ordered Hellcat to begin jamming the droid army. Making their way past the army of droids that surrounded the acclamator, the gunship dropped remote mines into the droid hordes, before blasting its way into the Acclamator. As soon as the Troopers debarked, Fordo detected three life signs and had Gin and Mixer check the rubble and rafters for signs of life, as the rest fanned out with Fordo searching for the last signature.

The ARCs would then be met with the sight of a heavily wounded Ki-Adi-Mundi, dueling General Grievous. Fordo wasted no time in opening fire on the cyborg General, with Stec providing heavy weapons fire, Gin providing sniping from the rafters, and the rest firing on with grenades or their Westars, but Grievous was able to evade their shots and began cutting down the troopers. Fordo reacted by having Hellcat blast his way into the area, and open fire on Grievous with the gunship's variety of laser cannons. While the cyborg fled the site, With the Muunilinst 10 recovering the other surviving Jedi: Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti. Ki-Adi-Mundi protested evacuating, insisting that they pursue Grievous, but Fordo pointed out that the survivors would surely perish if they lingered on Hypori. The General relented, and boarded the craft. As they flew away from the crashed Acclamator, Fordo activated the mines, wiping out a large number of enemy troops and clearing a path for the gunship to escape through.