Lessu battalion

A battalion of clone stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire was stationed on the planet Ryloth in and around the capital of Lessu City early in the Imperial Era. Following Vice Admiral Rampart's overseeing of Project War-Mantle on Kamino, the admiral was on Ryloth with Clone Commander Crosshair and his Elite Squad. There, Rampart was in overall command of Imperial forces, and his manipulations and strategies to cast Twi'lek General Cham Syndulla as a rebel to Ryloth's security resulted in several skirmishes.
==Description==
The clone stormtrooper battalion was based on the Outer Rim planet Ryloth, the homeworld of the Twi'lek species, around the capital of Lessu City. The battalion utilized multiple vehicles, including at least five HCVw A9 turbo tanks, multiple BARC speeders, All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, various types of Nu-class attack/transport shuttles, and LAAT/i gunships. The battalion was composed of stormtroopers, multiple Imperial officers, and viper probe droids.
==History==
===Keeping peace===
Following the end of the Clone Wars and the Galactic Republic's transition into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas the battalion was stationed on Ryloth in Lessu. The battalion's posting broke the Republic's promise the resident Twi'lek Resistance that its army would withdraw after the Separatist Alliance was usurped, much to the distaste of Twi'lek Resistance members like Gobi Glie. Stormtroopers of the battalion were posted at the Empire's new doonium refinery and at Ryloth's capital of Lessu City.
A public address was held at Lessu's capitol building, with troopers of the Ryloth battalion being posted surrounding the audience. Ryloth's senator, Orn Free Taa, and the Twi'lek Resistance leader, General Cham Syndulla, encouraged their people to give up their weapons and allow the clones to protect them instead. Captain Howzer of the Ryloth battalion flanked Syndulla during his address. Meanwhile, stormtroopers found Cham's daughter, Hera Syndulla, trespassing near the refinery. Howzer and some of his men took the young Twi'lek back to her father, and the captain, choosing not to report the incident, advised Cham to make sure the incident did not reoccur.
===Capturing insurgents===
Later on, Commander Crosshair tracked Glie, Hera, and Serin, who were smuggling weapons to Ryloth on Glie's Rainhawk-class transport. One of the Ryloth battalion's LAAT gunships moved in to pursue Glie's Rainhawk, which Crosshair shot down with his 773 Firepuncher rifle. After the LAAT landed, stormtroopers of the battalion apprehended Glie, Hera, and Serin, backed by Crosshair's elite squad. The troops were soon joined by a HCVw A9 turbo tank carrying Howzer, Senator Taa, and Vice Admiral Rampart and escorted by troopers riding BARC speeders. Seeing Cham's daughter among the arrested, Taa wished to use her involvement against Cham himself.
The three Twi'leks were taken aboard the turbo tank, which traveled back towards Lessu through Sector 3 of the Western outskirts. However, Cham led Twi'lek reinforcements, which included his wife Eleni Syndulla, which took out the BARC speeders and hijacked the tank. With Rampart having his remaining people surrender, the vice admiral, Howzer, Taa, and two remaining stormtroopers were held captive. After Howzer and Eleni talked Cham out of killing Taa, Rampart signaled a distant Crosshair to shoot the senator. Three LAATs then arrived with the battalion's reinforcements, and the Twi'leks were captured and taken away, with the exception of Hera, who escaped on a landspeeder.
===Fighting rogue clones===
Howzer was put in charge of finding Hera, but the young Twi'lek was able to evade being found by Imperial forces. Cham, Eleni and their associates were held in the capitol building's holding cells, and Rampart framed them for Taa's "attempted assassination" in a speech to a gathering of Twi'leks before the capitol, where Howzer and other troops of the battalion were posted on guard. Meanwhile, the rogue clone commando unit known as the "Bad Batch," which had come to help Hera rescue her parents, spied on the public address. A probe droid spotted and reported the rogue clones, but the lead commando Hunter disabled the droid.
Hera, and some of the Bad Batch soon attacked the doonium refinery, destroying its air defenses and fighting the battalion troops stationed there. This forced troops of the battalion to redeploy from the capitol building, leaving on Nu-class shuttles. Crosshair stopped his squad from departing, fearing the redeployments were the intention of the Bad Batch to weaken the defenses of the capitol. Thus the commander set up a trap in front of the building's main exit with his squad and members of Howzer's squad. Two members of the Bad Batch indeed infiltrated the capitol and rescue Cham and his associates.
Howzer, becoming sick of the Empire's power grab on Ryloth, stopped the escapees from falling into Crosshair's trap, leading the fugitives to choose to escape on Taa's shuttle. To distract Crosshair and his trap, the captain went before them and condemned the Empire, asking who from his squad would join him. Six of Howzer's troops laid down their weapons and shields, and Crosshair ordered their arrests by the other troops. Thus Howzer and the other six defying clones were taken away at gunpoint while the Bad Batch and Cham and his fighters escaped Ryloth.
==Behind the scenes==
The battalion 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. The clone troopers of the battalion were all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of every clone in The Bad Batch and other animated series including Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Imperial Army battalions
Category:Stormtrooper units