41st Elite Corps

The 41st Elite Corps, simply known as the Elite Corps, was a military corps of the Grand Army of the Republic. The 41st Elite Corps, which consisted of sub-units such as Green Company, was composed of clone troopers under the leadership of Jedi General Luminara Unduli and Clone Commander Gree during the Clone Wars. Despite being a corps itself, the 41st was organized under the 9th Assault Corps and at times designated as the 41st Elite Legion.
==Characteristics==
===Organization===
The 41st Elite Corps was a corps in the Grand Army of the Republic, and as such consisted of 36,864 troopers divided into sixteen regiments.Star Wars: Complete Locations establishes that a corps in the Grand Army of the Republic contains 36,864 clone troopers divided into sixteen regiments. Since the 41st Elite Corps is a corps within the Grand Army, it must have 36,864 troopers divided into sixteen regiments. One subunit of the 41st was Green Company, which was led by "Green Leader" and a Clone Captain. Another was the 41st Scout Battalion, which participated in the Battle of Kashyyyk. The 41st Ranger Platoon was a strike team within the 41st Elite Corps.
The 41st Elite Corps was led by Jedi General Luminara Unduli, whilst Clone Commander Gree served as the second-in-command. Clone Captain Jek and Unduli's Jedi Padawan, Jedi Commander Barriss Offee, was also part of the corps. The 41st Elite Corps consisted of standard clone troopers, as well as clone scout troopers, Advanced Recon Force Scout Troopers, and clone pilots. One pilot in the corps held the rank of Clone Captain. Jek served in the Ranger Corps with the rank of captain. One battalion in the corps fell under the command of Jedi General Depa Billaba. For command, she was joined by her Padawan, the Jedi Commander Caleb Dume, and two Clone Captains, Grey and Styles, who both helped them as major unit leaders.Kanan 1 Another officer in Billaba's battalion was Clone Lieutenant Remo.
===Equipment===
The 41st Elite Corps had several varying identifying color schemes for the unit. Standard clone troopers of the corps had olive green markings with many different patterns, light green markings, gray markings, and green camouflage on their armor. Standard clone troopers made use of the phase I clone trooper armor and later phase II clone trooper armor. Soldiers of the 41st Elite Corps were typically equipped with DC-15A blaster rifles, DC-15A blaster carbines, RPS-6 rocket launchers, and more.
===Vehicles===
The 41st Elite Corps used a variety of vehicles. The corps' aerial component consisted of LAAT/i gunships and LAAT carriers for transportation. Ground vehicles consisted of walkers such as All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, All Terrain Attack Pods, and All Terrain Reconnaissance Transports. Other ground vehicles in its arsenal included HAVw A6 Juggernauts, Infantry Support Platforms, and BARC speeders. At times, members of the 41st Elite Corps were present aboard Venator-class Star Destroyers such as the Guarlara, where they manned its guns, the Tranquility, and, on at least one occasion, a Consular-class cruiser.
==History==
===The Clone Wars===
====Arresting Nute Gunray====
After the Clone Wars erupted with the First Battle of Geonosis between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance, the 41st Elite Corps was part of the Grand Army of the Republic and was placed under the command of Jedi General Luminara Unduli, her Jedi Padawan Jedi Commander Barriss Offee, and Clone Commander Gree. Early during the Clone Wars, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo was captured during the Mission to Rodia by Viceroy of the Trade Federation Nute Gunray and Separatist forces. After her droid, C-3PO, managed to contact a Republic clone trooper, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tranquility was dispatched and ferried Green Company to Rodia. Green Company, led by Commander Gree, landed in Rodia's Senatorial Palace via LAAT/i gunships and arrested Viceroy Gunray after linking up with Senator Amidala, Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks, C-3PO, and Senator Onaconda Farr. After the arrest, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine thanked the senators and Binks for their help via a hologram set up by clone troopers, and dispatched supplies to Rodia immediately.
====Attack on the Tranquility====
Green Company brought Gunray aboard a Consular-class cruiser from the surface of the planet to the Tranquility. General Unduli and Padawan Ahsoka Tano accompanied Gunray as security, and when the cruiser docked with the Tranquility, Gunray was brought to the ship's brig with the help of Senate Commandos so that he could be interrogated en route to Coruscant. Separatist forces, however, quickly created a strategy to either kill Gunray or rescue him, so that Separatist secrets could not be revealed. Separatist Head of State Count Dooku dispatched his assassin, Asajj Ventress, along with a group of Separatist light starships. After some time of interrogation, three Droch-class boarding ships and Vulture droid starfighters attacked the Tranquility. Commander Gree, who was alongside the Jedi and Senate Commando Captain Faro Argyus when they felt the attack, contacted a clone naval captain in the bridge requesting a status report. Upon hearing of Separatist engagement, Commander Gree deployed Green Company to repel Separatist boarders. The three boarding ships all successfully breached through the Tranquility hull and deployed B2-series super battle droids to the hangar.
At least twelve members of Green Company, including "Green Leader," initially went to the hangar to engage Separatist forces and attempt to stop them from spreading throughout the ship. During the skirmish in the hangar, Separatist forces prevailed and killed many clone troopers, including Green Leader. Republic forces ultimately failed in preventing Separatist forces from spreading, and the battle droids headed to the prison level. In the aftermath of the skirmish in the hangar, Ventress stealthily deployed from a boarding ship and encountered a Green Company survivor, who attempted to alert the rest of Republic forces of Ventress but was beheaded before he could warn them. As Separatist units advanced, the rest of Green Company retreated to the prison level, all while engaging battle droids in the ship's hallways. While 41st Elite Corps forces were engaging Separatist troops, Ventress rigged explosives on the Tranquility reactor. The Republic WED-15 Treadwell droid 327-T conducted a perimeter sweep of the reactor room but Ventress managed to stay hidden. 327-T encountered a Clone Captain and a fellow trooper who arrived to check in with 327-T before Commander Gree called on them to head to the prison level. Eventually, Unduli and Green Company managed to destroy all Separatist battle droids, but sensed that their troubles were not over.
During the attack, Padawan Tano had remained in the ship's brig with Captain Argyus and four Senate Commandos while Green Company, Unduli, and Commander Gree repelled the boarders. Ventress, however, infiltrates the brig and fights against Tano and the Senate Commandos, killing two and rendering Argyus and the remaining two guards unconscious. Unduli sensed the fight, and along with Gree and two other troopers, headed towards the brig and getting there just as Ventress freed Gunray and imprisoned Tano in a prison cell. Unduli ordered Ventress to surrender, but the explosive charges in the Tranquility reactor room exploded, allowing Ventress to escape. Unduli ordered Tano to guard Gunray along with Agryus and Gree, while Unduli would pursue Ventress and the two clone troopers headed to another part of the ship. Unduli eventually managed to track down Ventress and engage her in a lightsaber duel, but was defeated.
Tano, who decided to defy Unduli's orders after speaking with Gree and Argyus, managed to rescue Unduli and continue to fight Ventress. Now having both Jedi occupied, Ventress sent Argyus a signal, which revealed Argyus as a traitor as he killed his fellow guards and engaged Gree. After fighting in hand-to-hand combat, Argyus managed to defeat Gree and free Gunray, fleeing to the Consular-class cruiser that brought Gunray onboard initially, while at the same moment, Ventress managed to evade Tano and Unduli and, after killing two troopers, use a Republic escape pod to rendezvous with the cruiser nearby. After the Republic defeat, Unduli and Ahsoka reported to Yoda and Anakin Skywalker about the loss as Green Company troopers stand guard on the bridge.
====Attack on Geonosis====
The 41st was later sent to Geonosis to retake the planet. There, they assisted Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and the 501st Legion in distracting the Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser at his primary droid foundry while Jedi Commanders Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee infiltrated the foundry. Clone trooper Draa and the others encountered heavy resistance and fell back with the 501st as Poggle unleashed the super tanks. Despite the tanks, the foundry was destroyed. They then took part in cleaning up the remaining forces on Geonosis and searched for Poggle. During the clean up operations, Unduli and clone trooper Buzz used BARC speeders to search for Poggle, eventually tracking him to the Progate Temple. There, Buzz was killed and Unduli was captured, although she managed to contact the other Jedi during her captivity. Eventually, Unduli was rescued by Republic forces and the temple was destroyed.
===Closing stages of the war===
During the war, the 41st Ranger Platoon, a subunit of the 41st Elite Corps, conducted missions behind enemy lines to sabotage supply lines and vulnerable installations. Jedi General Depa Billaba's battalionKanan 9 of the 41st took part in the skirmish on Kardoa, the Third Battle of Mygeeto,Kanan 10 and the Battle of Kaller. Under the leadership of Billaba, Jedi Commander Caleb Dume, and their Clone Captains, Grey and Styles, their battalion engaged with General Kleeve's occupying droid forces on Kaller until Kleeve withdrew.
During the Battle of Coruscant, troopers of the 41st Elite Corps were stationed aboard the Guarlara when it exchanged broadsides with the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand. During the broadside exchange, troopers of the 41st manned the cannons and many were killed when their stations were destroyed by Separatist fire, although the Guarlara was victorious from the broadside. Following the Battle of Coruscant, the 41st Elite Corps assembled at a Coruscant cruiser staging area as equipment and vehicles were loaded unto a Venator-class Star Destroyer and Jedi General Yoda arrived to command a sub-unit of the corps, the 41st Scout Battalion, before they were to be dispatched to Kashyyyk.
The 41st Scout Battalion arrived on Kashyyyk and unloaded vehicles and equipment, preparing themselves alongside the Kachirho Wookiee Militia to defend the city of Kachirho from Separatist forces. While on Kashyyyk the 41st Scout Battalion was led by Jedi Generals Yoda and Luminara Unduli.Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded Eventually, the Battle of Kashyyyk erupted and the battalion defended the beachhead against the Separatists, taking positions on the beach itself as well as the large trees surrounding the city as well as structures.
In the midst of the battle, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, executed Order 66, an initiative that labeled the Jedi as traitors. Commander Gree received the message from Palpatine in the command center, so he and Clone Captain Jek of the Ranger Corps moved into position to execute Yoda. Yoda, however, sensed the deaths of his fellow Jedi across the galaxy, allowing him to decapitate Gree and Jek before they could fire their blasters.
The two Wookiees beside Yoda, Chewbacca and General Tarfful then helped Yoda leave the city. Once the battle was over and day had turned to night, members of the battalion, which included ARF troopers on AT-RTs, hunted for Yoda but failed to stop him from escaping the planet. On the planet Utapau, at least one member of the 41st also took part in the Battle of Utapau alongside the 212th Attack Battalion of the 7th Sky Corps, running beside the orange-clad clones just as Marshal Commander Cody recieved Order 66 from Sidious. Afterward, several members of the 41st Elite Corps were on Utapau alongside the 212th in the post-battle cleanup as Republic forces imprisoned their former Pau'an Warrior allies. Several members of the 41st Elite were near Cody as he requested an update during the search for Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Meanwhile, the 41st battalion operating under Billaba found itself defending Kaller when the world was besieged in General Grievous's post-Coruscant counterattack. Billaba, Dume, Grey and her soldiers were aided by Clone Force 99 before the execution of Order 66. While Billaba was executed by Grey and her other troops, she was able to urge Dume to run. While scared of Clone Force 99, he successfully escaped. Under Grey and Styles's leadership,Kanan 4 the clones then carried out a hunt for Caleb DumeKanan 2 until Grey, regaining his sense of self after Order 66, sacrificed himself to protect his former friendKanan 5 in 18 BBY.Star Wars: Timelines
==Behind the scenes==
The 41st Elite Corps first appeared in the theatrical 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The 41st Elite Corps was first identified in Hasbro Inc.'s Star Wars Rebels toy line. The 41st featured within the non-canon comic "Clash on Kashyyyk," in which Yoda, Gree, and 41st clone troopers Rocket and Ambush take part in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel
*Star Wars Journeys: Beginnings
*Star Wars Battlefront II
* 
* 
*
*
* 
* 
*
*
*
* 
* 
* 
*
* 
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
*
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Grand Army of the Republic corps