Dark Trooper

Dark Troopers were advanced battle droids used by the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War.
== Overview ==
Dark Troopers featured heavy plating that resembled the armor of a stormtrooper, powerful weapons, and jump packs for increased flexibility and tactical advantage.
Besides the Phase Zero prototypes, they came in three versions: the Phase I dark trooper was a skeletal droid armed simply with a vibroblade and physical shield, primarily a testbed for the later stages; the Phase II dark trooper, which featured, in addition, the external elements; and the Phase III dark trooper, which was the main unit and was never fully developed. Only three Phase III prototypes were on board Arc Hammer. One of these was used by the originator of the project, General Rom Mohc. It was a more powerful variant of the Phase II model and was able to be worn as an exosuit.
== Phases ==
Production of dark troopers began in Gromas 16 where phrikite was extracted. Phrik alloys were tested on a laboratory on Fest and they were refined in Ice Station Beta on Anteevy, where, presumably, the Phase II was produced. The weapons of the dark troopers were manufactured and supplied by Moff Rebus.
Dark troopers stayed on Arc Hammer, whose location was always secret, and were jettisoned to their planetary targets in hyperspace pods.
There were several different phases of these troopers:
=== Phase Zero ===
The original Dark Troopers were not combat droids but ageing clone troopers who had 70% of their original body parts replaced by advanced cybernetics. While the augmentation procedure was 100% effective, able to return the veteran soldiers to peak condition and enhance their physical capabilities far beyond that of an ordinary human, the project suffered from numerous flaws. Due to their being forcibly recruited into the project, many Phase Zero Dark Troopers could not cope with the state of being more machine than man and attempted suicide.
=== Phase I ===
The Phase I dark trooper was the earliest dark trooper and was little more than a lightsaber-resistant phrik skeletal frame equipped with a vibrosword attached to its right arm, and a blast shield on its left. It served primarily as an installation sentry.
The Phase I dark trooper had visible power cords and couplings, which were prime weak points. The prototype of this "super trooper" had a small jump pack for short bursts of speed to increase the velocity of its vibro blades.
=== Phase II ===
The Phase II dark trooper was equipped with the suit, a jump pack, and an assault cannon capable of firing 400 plasma shells and 20 missiles without reloading. They were also armed with the deadly ARC Caster, which shot out powerful bolts of electricity. These advantages made Phase II dark troopers the most common combat units.
=== Phase III ===
The last and most powerful dark trooper was the Phase III dark trooper, which dwarfed even the Phase II model, and was intended to be the armor of the next generation of stormtroopers.