ARC-8619/19

ARC-8619/19, once CT-8619, and nicknamed "Jace", was an ARC Trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic during onset of the Clone Wars. A clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, Jace briefly served as a Coruscant Guard in the first weeks of the conflict. He eventually became a member of the unit he would always belong to, the 30th Assault Legion, led by Jedi Generals Callista Konshi and Jaran Kareel. Upon the formation of the 30th after the Battle of Geonosis, Jace joined Ghost Squad in the 30th's Havoc Company. In the climax of fighting, Jace served for a length of time under ARC Commander Alpha-13 of the 3rd Legion. He would go on to fight in many key battles during the course of the war.

During his time with Ghost Squad, Jace grew close to his squad mates in the same way he had with trooper Dragneel during his time with the Coruscant Guard, following them into many fronts across the galaxy. Before the Battle of Ilum, Clone Commander Trigg would have Jace reassigned to Fox Squad because of his heroic deeds upon the battlefield.

During the battle, Jace put himself in harms way to protect his commander. Jace was incapacitated from injuries to his spine for many weeks. After his recovery, Ember heard of Jace's actions and took it upon himself to ask General Jacius if he wanted Jace to join the 3rd Legion. Due to his current discharging, Jacius agreed, and throughout the middle of the war Jace fought alongside the 3rd Legion under Ember's command. He was eventually inducted into the ARC training program, replacing the late Alpha-16 "Blade", and upon graduation he became a part of the Alpha-class ARC Troopers that followed Ember upon the battlefield. He would grow close to his new comrades as he learned what it takes to be an Advanced Recon Commando.

After a series of engagements on many of the Outer Core worlds, Jace and his comrades joined in some of the worst assignments the Republic could throw at them. From hunting down Ree Shaala and the Black Nebula Pirates to the First Battle of Cato Nemoidia, Jace would be put to his limits in order to effectively carry out his missions with what was required of an ARC trooper. Jace became a recognized member of the 3rd Legion, and a much more well known name across many branches of the Grand Army of the Republic. Known for his quick thinking and adaptive nature, Jace was invaluable to his brothers.

Soon, Jace returned to aid the 30th in the intense battles of the Outer Rim Sieges. Jace grew very close to his old commander while they fought in the various conflicts, and helped aid the elite special forces unit Bravo Squad on many special assignments. During the Battle of Quil'ages, however, Jace and members of the 30th would encounter heavy resistance from Separatist forces. Jace took it upon himself to give the locals time to retreat. Along with members of his old Ghost Squad, Jace died buying time for the people of Quil'ages to run to safety.

Cadet Training
CT-8619 was one of the first clones to be produced before the Battle of Geonosis in 32 BBY. As a trooper, 8619 was placed into a cadet training squad devoted to preparing him and his brothers for the coming battles of the highly anticipated Clone Wars. He would always be referred to by his number, "One-Nine" until joining the 30th Assault Legion, where he earned his nickname.

The Coruscant Guard
Jace spent his first weeks of the war in to Coruscant Guard at the heart of the Republic. Due to his actions on Geonosis, Jace became a sort of idol to the clones who had come straight from Kamino, being a veteran of the Battle of Geonosis and having seen war first hand. Jace voiced his displeasure for working with the Guard, mostly due to the fact that he wanted to participate with his brothers on the front. However, he had been transferred to the Guard without much of a say, and had to comply. The only thing that kept Jace from hating his station was the duty he had to protect the people of the Republic, something he could do face-to-face by cleaning up the crime on Coruscant.

During his time with the guard, Jace became close friends with fellow trooper CT-1854, who was named "Dragneel" by his comrades. The two became good friends, listening to each other's problems and commenting very often upon the state of the war. While Dragneel appreciated his station very much, he often found that Jace was too confident in his goal to clones fighting on the front, along with the Jedi. Dragneel, being the more thoughtful of the two, would tell Jace on more than one occasion that joining the front could mean his death. Jace, the stubborn saint he was, didn't care for his own loss of life, but that he would be able to protect the people from an enemy much more dangerous than crime.

Jace put down many anti-war riots with his brothers, and helped the local police force in cracking down on major crime organizations across the planet. While doing so, Jace became an expert shot with the DC-15S in their crackdowns. Before long, Jace received word from his commanding officer that he was to be transferred to the famous 30th Assault Legion, whom were currently stationed on the recently liberated planet of Poluros. Dragneel and Jace's brothers knew of the 30th, a very rigorous and tough legion of clones, and told Jace that he should be careful because not many clones could survive that sort of commitment. Jace assured them that regardless of the 30th being known for its intense warfare tactics and elite status, he would be fine. Dragneel regretted to see his friend go, but he knew that this was what Jace had always wanted; to fight on the front.

Joining the 3rd Legion
Shortly after his physical therapy was concluded, Jace was immediately signed into the support platoons that would be deployed out to the world of Balith. The current station of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, the 501st, and the 3rd Legion, Jace had spent many weeks reading about their campaign on Balith for such a situation as this. For the time being, all anyone on Coruscant knew about the Balith Civil War was that the Republic was tasked with taking down a tyrannical dictator, which actually proved to be very successful. However, the rebel forces that were trained by the Republic troops became uneasy with the Republic's presence there, and turned against them as well. At least, this was all that anyone on Coruscant was told by the HoloNet. Jace could not say whether or not this was true, but he held firm to his belief that the Republic was doing everything it could to help a dissatisfied people.

Jace joined the reserve forces that were being deployed to Balith, constantly being told by his "med-bed" mates to be careful on that planet. They left Coruscant quickly, and before he knew it, they were within orbit of Balith. The world had once been green and lush, but now it was almost like it was decaying from the constant warfare waged on its surface. Jace departed with the rest of the garrison, and was taken by a gunship to the staging area of the 3rd Legion. Upon landing, he was met by CL-4425, named "Water". The commanding officer greeted him and congratulated him on his recovery. Modest as he was, Jace questioned his new commander as to where he would be needed most, and Racer quickly responded by showing him to the legion's barracks. In the meantime, Jace would bunk with his new comrades and be issued new armor from the 3rd Legion, to replace the generic Phase II armor he wore during the trip. The last thing Racer said to Jace was to be on the lookout for any ARC troopers, should he encounter them, and tell them his name. The commander wanted to see him.

Battle of Abrego 3
Only weeks after his promotion to ARC Trooper of the 3rd Legion, crisis struck once again. Within the Senate, the people of Abrego 3 were under risk of a Separatist invasion. Even though they had been constantly asked by the CIS to join them, they declined, and tensions had finally boiled over. A temperate world, Abrego 3 was known for being one of the few planets in the Republic to actively provide relief to war torn planets throughout the galaxy, and had the respect and admiration of many systems. This required immediate action, and the Republic would lose it's honor if it didn't come to their aid. True to their values, the Republic heeded their plea, and the 3rd Legion was sent to protect Abrego 3.

As the legion deployed, Jace accompanied Ember and his other Alpha ARC troopers to a specific area of theirvenator-class star destroyer where Ember had designed rigorous tests and training modules for his troopers in between battles. The only difference this time, was that he selected the same training modules that he and his brothers had went through on Kamino so many years ago.

Jace went through each tests, determined to finish no matter the pain or suffering. It was the most difficult training session Jace had ever faced in his life, being designed for Alpha ARC troopers, and were close to impossible for an natural born trooper. He would slip up often, much to the dismay of Ember, but the thing that set Jace apart from the rest, was that no matter how he was knocked down, he would get back up. On one occasion, Jace was shot multiple times with a stun blast from many of the training droids, but Jace would stagger, yell, and then get back up as if he were unaffected. This sheer will to push on suprised Ember, and at the same time, earned him the respect of Jace as an ARC trooper. Jace completed under record time, but it was a good one nonetheless. Ember congratulated Jace on his perseverance, and all of the Alpha-ARC troopers began to see Jace as one of their own.

When the 3rd exited hyperspace, they found themselves at the face of a large Separatist fleet which had already begun its procedures for land invasion. Taking no caution, Kaja Tallan immediately deployed the mass of V-19 Torrent starfighters and the new ARC-170 starfighters at their disposal. While Tallan led the squadrons into the fray, Ember had his troops prepare the LAAT/I gunships for deployment. Things would not go as planned, however, when the Separatists immediately halted their invasion to engage the Republic forces.

Jace watched as both squads collided in a frenzy of dog fights that covered the entire battlefield. Both fleets were within the atmosphere of Abrego 3, and one could see the surface of the planet below. He and Boltshot were called from the barracks of their cruiser to join Ember and the rest of the Alpha ARC troopers on the bridge. Upon arrival, Jace learned from his commander that Tallan had discovered the identity of the one leading the invasion. He was a nemesis of Ember and his men, who was known all over the galaxy by the name of Sadeet Cradossk.

Ember had ordered a boarding part to land on the flagship and capture or kill Cradossk. A small detachment of the 3rd Legion, headed by ARC troopers Buckler, Niner, Boltshot, and Jace, would land in the hanger bay and make their way to the bridge. Hopefully, the could capture Cradossk before he knew what was going on. In the briefing, Jace did something he normally didn't, and suggested a way for them to get into his ship using tactics he had learned from the 30th Assault Legion. Buckler commented on the unorthodoxy of it, but eventually, everyone agreed that they should jump onto the top of the ship itself, and propel down into the hanger. Ember agreed with the plan, mostly due to the fact that it would lessen casualties, and Cradossk would not expect the 3rd to do something so unorthodox as this.

They loaded into the gunships and Jace gave the troops a run down of how to air drop in unison to that of the 30th. Three gunships had been deployed and were now above Cradossk's Providence-class destroyer.

Battle of Rhen Var
It had been almost six months since the Battle of Ilum, and any sighting of the Separatist acolyte Oron Teithis hadn't surfaced. Recently, the Republic had suffered a defeat at the Kaliida Shoals II Medical Station on Polis Massa by Separatist forces under the command of Cradossk. His personal strike team, the infamous Bysenar 2-9, had been targeting Republic operational stations ever since, causing quite a commotion throughout the Mid-Rim. It wasn't until a week or so into the incidents that a transmission was sent to the Jedi Temple from General Grievous and Sadeet Cradossk themselves. Jace watched in horror as Grievous taunted the group holding a clone in his hand above the ground. He threw him to the ground, and kicked him over to Cradossk. The Trandoshian promptly pulled him off the ground with one hand, and used his claws to slit the clone's throat, allowing blood to flow on his hands and down to the floor. Their message was clear: to force the Republic to chase them through space by necessity, or lest the clones watch their brothers die by the thousands. Jace was briefed with the Alpha-ARCs at the Jedi Temple, along with the Jedi Generals Valena Renn, Sheya Tisa, Pong Krell, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The members of the 3rd Legion, the 88th Recon Corps, the 212th Attack Battalion, and the newly replenished 30th Assault Legion would join in the chase. With a force as massive as this, Generals Yoda and Windu assured it would only be a matter of time before one of the two Separatist leaders would be caught. To ensure full tactical superiority, Skywalker and Ember suggested that the 30th's personal special forces unit, Bravo Squad, join in on the mission. Within minutes of letting them