Stripe
Stripe was the designation of a clone trooper who fought for the Grand Army of the Republic during the era of the Clone Wars. What set him apart from his fellow soldiers was a white stripe in his naturally dark hair. Back in 22 BBY, he found himself stationed at a Republic tracking station within the Pastil system, and their mission was to give the Republic early warning of any incoming Separatist incursions. During an inspection of the base conducted by Clone Commander Cody along with Clone Captain Rex, it came to light that an MSE-series droid known as "Rodent" – a droid that was supposed to be helping the clones maintain the station – was actually a spy in disguise. Stripe helped the officers in locating the droid, and when it was revealed that the droid's body was merely a shell concealing several individual wheel-droids, he assisted in the pursuit and destruction of them all, effectively eliminating the threat to the station's security.
Biography
Early life
The clone trooper who would become known as Stripe first came into existence on the Wild Space planet of Kamino. Just like all his clone brothers, he was a direct clone of the well-known bounty hunter Jango Fett, created and trained to serve the Grand Army of the Republic. As the Clone Wars intensified, the demand for troopers within the Republic army grew relentlessly, forcing many younger clones, Stripe included, to be deployed before they could complete their full training. Stripe's initial assignment was at a distant tracking station located on the Outer Rim planet of Pastil, whose primary function was to alert the Republic Navy if the Confederacy of Independent Systems were to launch an attack.
Service at the Pastil station
Besides a small group of at least five clone troopers, the Pastil tracking station was also staffed by an MSE-series droid that the clones had nicknamed "Rodent". In 22 BBY, Clone Commander Cody and Clone Captain Rex conducted an inspection of the Pastil station. Cody took the time to remind the "rookies" about the importance of their seemingly dull assignment, while Rex commented on how unusually clean the station appeared. Stripe explained to the visiting officers that Rodent dedicated a significant amount of its time to polishing the station, leading the clones to believe that the droid had a programming malfunction. However, the inspecting officers immediately recognized the droid's behavior as indicative of a spy and initiated a Code Aurek alert at the station. Captain Rex ordered the clone troopers to thoroughly search the station and locate the droid by any means necessary. During the search operation, a fellow clone trooper named "Bouncer" questioned whether the officers performed such an inspection at every station, but Stripe quickly told Bouncer to avoid asking unnecessary questions.
When the droid was finally located, Rex fired at it with his blaster. After the droid's main body was destroyed, four "wheels" detached and began moving in different directions, which greatly surprised the rookie troopers. The clone troopers managed to destroy two of the four wheels, and Stripe successfully disabled the third one by channeling electrical energy from a loose wire towards it. Stripe then noticed that the fourth wheel droid was heading towards a grate, realizing that if it were to escape, it would be impossible to recapture. Determined to prevent the spy from escaping, Stripe threw a V-1 thermal detonator at the grate, which destroyed both the droid and a significant section of the station's interior. When Captain Rex questioned Stripe about the necessity of such a drastic action, Stripe proudly declared that clones never did anything by halves. Rex then instructed the troopers to clean up the mess caused by the thermal detonator's explosion before he and Cody departed. After the spy had been neutralized, Cody reported to High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi that the Pastil station was fully operational once again.
Personality and traits
Stripe was known for having a white dyed stripe in his naturally dark hair. He was deeply loyal to the Republic, and even though he initially didn't suspect Rodent of being a spy, he took Rex's Code Aurek alert very seriously, quickly silencing Bouncer when the latter wondered if the alert was just a simple drill. Later on, Stripe came up with a quick plan to disable one of the wheel droids by using electrical energy from a loose wire. When he saw that another wheel droid was about to escape, Stripe made the decision to stop it by using a thermal detonator, even if it meant damaging the station's interior. When a superior officer questioned whether his actions were excessive, Stripe proudly responded that as a clone, he never left anything unfinished.
Behind the scenes
Stripe made an appearance in Mouse Hunt, which was a comic featured in The Clone Wars web comic series. This webcomic was penned by Pablo Hidalgo, illustrated by Tom Hodges, and made available on StarWars.com on October 23, 2008.