Spade, a member of the Advanced Recon Commandos, was among the clone troopers stranded on Pengalan IV. Their LAAT/i had been downed during a large-scale Republic retreat.
Alongside his fellow troopers and a Republic accountant, Joram Kithe, Spade found himself abandoned and needing to find a way off the desert planet. Upon Kithe's awakening and revelation that he was a commissioned lieutenant in Republic Intelligence, Spade was among the first to engage with him.
Kithe, bothered by the troopers' adherence to protocol, sought to encourage their individuality, giving them nicknames. Spade received his name because Kithe first spoke to him as he was digging graves for the fallen from the gunship, leaning on his shovel.
After reaching Tur Lorkin, the closest village, and infiltrating a starship bay, Tooth and Kithe discovered that the village was actually the location of the diamond boron missile manufacturing facility, not the factory where the earlier ambush had occurred.
Resolved to destroy the facility, Tooth confronted Kithe, ready to disobey orders to complete his mission. Impressed by this, Kithe conceded. With Kithe's help, the troopers sabotaged the factory, while Tooth commandeered a Corellian ship to divert CIS fighters from the starship bay, enabling Kithe and the remaining troopers to flee. Spade spearheaded the attack on the factory, but was killed during their escape.