Clone Stormtrooper

**Clone Stormtroopers**, originally known as **Clone Troopers,** were clonesof the Mandalorian bounty hunter, Jango Fett that survived the Clone War and joined the Galactic Empire as the first units of Imperial Stormtrooper.

## **The First Stormtroopers**

The destruction of the Jedi Order allowed the Sith to reclaim control of the galaxy through Sidious, having used the clone troopers as their secret weapon. With the government and the military under his control, Sidious reorganized the Republic into the First Galactic Empire and assumed the mantle of Galactic Emperor. This was followed by sweeping alterations that distinguished the New Order from the old system. The clone troopers who survived the Clone Wars went on to serve the Empire as the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers when the conflict ended. They formed the backbone of the Imperial Army during the early years of the Imperial Era. As elite shock troops, clones were responsible for projecting the Emperor's will over the galaxy and destroying threats to his reign. Without the Jedi who encouraged their soldiers to think as individuals instead of only adhering to protocol, the clone troopers became fully obedient as a result of the programming enforced by their control chips. Changing their armor to its basic, blank white state, the clones became cold and unfriendly, focusing solely on their protocol and orders. While the clones retained a degree of individuality, such as a sense of humor, when off-duty, the troopers by and large adopted uniformity, which was symbolized by the sudden lack of personalization amongst their armor, and were forced to despise their former Jedi friends. Under Imperial orders, clones carried out the Senatorial arrests and were deployed to clear out former Jedi bases. They also enforced order by arresting civilians for actions as small as engaging in fights, which confused the smuggler Has Obitt; according to Obitt, during the war the clones would have been the people that started a bar fight, yet the troops were now breaking them up. Despite the their role in the formation and enforcement of the early Empire, the value of all clone troopers was called into question by officials like Governor Wilhuff Tarkin and Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart, Imperial officers who believed that a service conscription and recruitment force was more affordable and reliable than the cloning operation on Kamino. Furthermore, the clones were originally bred to be soldiers of the Republic and not the Empire. While the activation of their control chips held the clones loyalty firmly in place to the new regime, the founders of War-Mantle knew recruited soldiers would be able to swear loyalty to the new Empire alone and do so of their own free will. Tarkin also disliked the level of individuality the clones had come to develop under the leadership of the Jedi. Tarkin visited Kamino in the aftermath of Order 66 to inspect the clones and determine whether the Empire had any further use of them. Prime Minister Lama Su was surprised to learn the purpose of the admiral's visit, having long counted on the support of Chancellor Palpatine in the past. Tarkin informed the Kaminoan politician that Palpatine's priorities had changed following the end of the Clone Wars and his ascension as the Emperor. Lama Su opposed the shutdown of the cloning facilities, citing the Kaminoans' contracts which stipulated the continued production of clone troopers. The Admiral countered that this agreement had been made between Kamino and the Empire's predecessor, the Republic, which no longer existed. While he agreed with the Prime Minister's point that the newly risen Empire needed more soldiers to maintain order in the galaxy, Tarkin believed that this objective could be achieved through a service conscription force. The Prime Minister dismissed the notion of replacing clone soldiers with recruits which he regarded as inherently inferior to his creations, but Tarkin was concerned that the clone trooper program was too expensive to maintain. He therefore considered conscription and recruitment a cost effective solution to the Empire's need for increased manpower. Although cloning operations would continue for a short while longer, rumors spread across the clone ranks during the early Imperial Era that the Empire had already halted the Kamino operations, making clones such as "Ding" and "Kicker" ponder the Empire's future and the fate of their kind. Knowing that the clone army had only one generation left in its future, older clones dreaded the notion of retirement and, therefore, sought ways to remain on active duty, such as joining the Emperor's Royal Guard. With clones beginning to be dispatched to secure Jedi sites instead of active combat, Ding and Kicker were part of the clone force sent to a Mid Rim way station named the *Brighthome*, which the former trooper feared represented the overall future of their kind; while new soldiers would be able to fight the enemies of the Empire, he feared the clones would be reduced to clean up operations. Nevertheless, the two thought they had a chance to prove themselves when an individual believed to be a surviving Jedi attacked the station. In reality, the intruder was Darth Vader, who had elected to not send out his clearance codes to fight the clones aboard. Vader slaughtered the majority of the troops who came against him, and, although Ding and Kicker briefly gained an advantage over the Sith Lord, Vader killed both with a Force choke, allowing him to leave for the moon of Al'doleem.

With the exception of Crosshair, the defective clones of Clone Force 99, meanwhile, remained largely unaffected by their inhibitor biochips. Sent back to Kamino to listen to Palpatine's proclamation of the Empire, they also met the young female clone Omega, who was still kept on Kamino should the Kaminoans need a backup of Jango Fett's genetic information. While Tarkin was interested in welcoming Clone Force 99 into the Imperial Army for their skills, he was concerned by their individuality and willingness to go against orders. Dispatching on a mission to wipe out supposed Separatist insurgents as a test, Clone Force 99 instead encountered civilians being protected by former Republic fighter Saw Gerrera, convincing most of the squad to abandon the Empire. With the squad returning to Kamino to rescue Omega, Crosshair was welcomed into the Empire after his chip was amplified. Crosshair led the effort to kill his former squadmates as they escaped, failing when Se secretly overrode the hangar door controls to give Omega a chance to escape with Clone Force 99.

As the Empire spread, clone stormtroopers carried out the occupation and subjugation of former Separatist worlds and worlds ravaged by the Clone Wars. Rex, meanwhile, decided he needed to fight in the name of the Republic against the growing Imperial regime. Presumed dead by the Empire, he took to working from the shadows to strike against the Empire and to help any of his clone brothers who were outside the reach of the Imperial Military. First, he traveled to Saleucami and warned clone deserter Cut Lawquane of the rising might of the Empire, leaving a mere day before Force 99 and Omega arrived to meet with Lawquane. Meanwhile, clone stormtroopers enforced the early Empire's introduction of the chain code, which contained the biometric details and criminal history of the Empire's citizens. Force 99 helped Lawquane and his family escape the Imperial-occupied Saleucami before departing themselves.

During the early Imperial period, clone shock troopers continued to patrol the upper levels of Coruscant and even supported Darth Vader in his efforts to capture Jedi Master Jocasta Nu, the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives.

Despite Lama Su's continued insistence that clone troopers were superior to recruited soldiers, possessing superior skills as a result of their training, Tarkin still considered the Kaminoan cloning operation a costly endeavor. While Tarkin was concerned with the cost quality of clones, Rampart's interest lied in the loyalty of recruits who voluntarily joined the Imperial Military. Tarkin sanctioned the formation of a team of Elite Squad Troopers; four non-clone volunteers recruited from across the galaxy, they were placed under the command of Crosshair, who remained loyal to the Empire. Rampart believed that Crosshair's Elite Squad could be trained to be just as effective as the clone troopers who served the Republic if given proper instruction by experienced clones. Their first mission as a unit was against Gerrera's fighters, the same mission Clone Force 99 had refused to carry out, as an opportunity to prove the project's usefulness to Tarkin.

The Elite Squad returned to Kamino after killing the group of insurgents and civilians they found on Onderon. Despite the death of ES-01, who was executed for refusing to comply with the clone's order to kill unarmed prisoners, Tarkin considered the mission a success not only for the Empire, but Project War-Mantle as well. The Imperial officers' determination to replace clones with volunteer and conscripted soldiers caused Lama Su to fear for the future of Kamino and its cloning facilities. Their situation was compounded by the degradation of the last genetic samples of Jango Fett; therefore, Lama Su instructed Nala Se to continue her experiments in the hope of yielding a superior clone. He believed that the Kaminoans' relationship with the Empire hinged on the fate of the clone trooper program. At some point, Crosshair also had his inhibitor chip removed but continued to serve the Empire, having decided it was what he truly believed in.

With Project War-Mantle's effectiveness proven through the victory on Onderon, an Imperial training facility was established on the planet Daro. The facility contained a thousand non-clone "TK stormtroopers," who were recruited from across the galaxy and trained by the elite clone commandos like commando CC-5576 "Gregor." Gregor later commented that, while the TK troopers would not be as skilled as their predecessors, there were many of them, further alleging that the clones were being removed from the Imperial Military because they were created to serve the Republic, not the newly-established Empire. Aware of Tarkin's promise to soon suspend Kamino's cloning contracts, Kaminoans Lama Su and Nala Se hoped to create a superior clone template to secure their business relationship with the Empire. However, the continued deterioration of Jango Fett's remaining DNA samples convinced Su to point their resources at capturing Omega. Se hired the rising bounty hunter Fennec Shand to hunt Omega, secretly ordering her to keep Omega safe from Su instead of returning her to Kamino.

As Project War-Mantle continued, clone stormtroopers and Elite Squad Troopers began to serve alongside each other in certain operations. When Rex reunited with Clone Force 99 and brought them to the scrap world of Bracca so they could remove their behavioral modification biochips once and for all, members of the Scrapper Guild spotted the rogue clones and reported them to the Empire, which had branded Clone Force 99 enemies of the state for their defection. Ignoring Su's suggestion to bring Clone Force 99 in alive due to their skill set, Rampart gave Crosshair permission to hunt down his former squad with a combined force of clone troopers and his Elite Squad. Arriving after Rex's departure, the joint-clone and Elite Trooper force nearly wiped out the so-called Bad Batch, but they ultimately managed to escape. However, still believing Se's hunter was working to return Omega to Kamino, Su grew impatient and hired famed bounty hunter Cad Bane to bring her in. Followed by both Shand and Clone Force 99, Bane lost custody of Omega after arriving at the Kaminoans' abandoned cloning facility in the Lido system.

Escaping Bane and Shand, Omega returned to Clone Force 99. While the group resumed their mercenary work to make their way in the Imperial-controlled galaxy, they began to use stun shots against the clone stormtroopers they encountered after their journey with Rex proved to them that the control chips within their brothers forced them to obey the Empire against their will. Meanwhile, Crosshair and his Elite Squad joined a clone battalion on the former battleground of Ryloth to enforce Imperial control, only for the appearance of Clone Force 99 to destroy an entire Imperial refinery and free political prisoner Cham Syndulla. Convinced that Clone Force 99 was a threat, Rampart once again gave Crosshair permission to hunt down his former squad.

Eventually, commando Gregor decided to desert from the Imperial ranks rather than continuing to serve as an instructor for the clones' replacements on Daro. Pointed to the facility by Rex, Clone Force 99 broke into the base to rescue Gregor. "Hunter," the leader of Clone Force 99, was surprised by the TK soldiers' quality given that their instructors were clone commandos. Gregor admitted to not teaching the TK troopers everything he knew, regarding that it was the smart choice to hold back in their training. While he also affirmed TK troopers would not be as skilled as clones, Gregor further noted that the troopers made up for their shortcomings through their great number; numerous galactic citizens were willing to join with the Empire they believed had saved them from the Clone Wars. However, Hunter declared that their numbers would not be enough in every situation a soldier encountered.

Concurrent to the incident on Daro, the Empire terminated Kamino's contracts. Rampart oversaw the operation to remove of all essential personnel and equipment from Tipoca City, including every viable clone developed by the Kaminoans. Nala Se assured a group of clone cadets that they would still fulfill their purpose by becoming soldiers, despite their removal from the cloning facility. While Nala Se had assumed that the Kaminoan government would secure new clients given their success with the clone army, which was known throughout the galaxy, Lama Su reflected on the differences between the Republic and the Empire. He concluded that the operation on Kamino could not survive under the New Order, convinced that the Empire would destroy the Kaminoans rather than allowing them to continue their work without Imperial supervision. The Prime Minister planned his own evacuation from Kamino along with its most skilled scientists in the hope of ensuring their survival and the continuation of their program, but his plan was discovered by Rampart.

Although the Vice Admiral was not overly impressed by Nala Se's creations, he regarded her as a talented scientist nonetheless, one whose skills made her an asset to the Empire. As such, Se was taken into Imperial custody, while Su was left to the mercy of the Elite Squad Troopers when Rampart declared the Empire did not need the politician. Tipoca City was virtually abandoned by the time Hunter, who was captured on Daro, was taken back to Kamino by Crosshair. Noting the presence of TK troopers carrying out the final stages of the withdrawal instead of clones, Hunter realized that the cloning facility was in the process of being decommissioned, and he warned Crosshair that their brethren would eventually be phased out of service as well. Aware of the Empire's plans, Crosshair was confident that only the "regs" would be replaced, whereas the elite units would continue to serve the Empire as soldiers.

The other members of Clone Force 99 also returned to Kamino in an effort to rescue their commanding officer, leading to their confrontation with Crosshair. During the firefight, Tarkin authorized the bombardment of the Kaminoan capital after Rampart reported that the cloning technology was firmly under Imperial control. His *Venator*-class Star Destroyers, still operated by a clone personnel, opened fire on the abandoned facility, resulting in the destruction of Tipoca City. All other Kaminoan facilities across the planet were targeted as well, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Kaminoan cloning enterprise, just as Su had predicted. A clone stormtrooper aboard Rampart's Venator reported the success of the eradication; despite the control chips within the clones compelling them to obey Imperial orders, the admission that the clones had destroyed their homes audibly hurt for the trooper to admit.

Clone Force 99, meanwhile, escaped the devastation of Kamino alive, but they again parted ways with Crosshair when their brother declared he would stay with the Empire, with or without his control chip. Nala Se was escorted from Kamino by an elite detachment of clone commandos known as the Imperial royal guard, who were distinct from the Emperor's red guard that some clones hoped to join to escape decommissioning. Se was brought to the facility of Mount Tantiss on the planet Weyland, where the Empire hoped to use her cloning expertise for future projects. Despite the destruction of Kamino and the ongoing arrangements within the Empire for their eventual replacement, clone stormtroopers continued to serve the Imperial regime.

Several months after the destruction of the Kaminoan facilities, which had been covered up as being the result of a cataclysmic storm, the Imperial Senate begun a vote on the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill, which would formalize the Imperial Military's transition from a clone army to a volunteer-based force. While many senators such as Gani Riduli of the InterGalactic Banking Clan greatly supported the idea of the bill, there was stiff opposition to it by several others. Senator Riyo Chuchi chiefly led the opposition to the bill, claiming that the clones did not deserve to be cast aside after their years of military service. While Admiral Rampart assured Chuchi that the clones would be compensated and given pensions for their service after retirement, the senator remained skeptical.

Alongside rogue Clone Captain Rex and Clone Force 99, Chuchi would begin working to expose Rampart for his involvement with the destruction of the Kaminoan facilities in an effort the stop the bill from passing. As the Bad Batch infiltrated Rampart's personal *Venator*, which was docked at the Coruscant Imperial Shipyards for maintenance and repairs, to retrieve the vessel's command log, Chuchi attempted to buy the squad time in the Senate Building. After the squad had successfully extracted the command log and delivered it to the Senate Building, Chuchi revealed the footage of Rampart's fleet bombarding Kamino.

As the Senate erupted into chaos, Emperor Palpatine appeared to denounce Rampart's actions and have him publicly arrested. Despite condemning Rampart before the Senate, Palpatine also expressed shock at the actions of the clones under his command, who blindly followed orders without hesitation. Palpatine further exclaimed that the Empire should be led into a new era under the protection of non-clone Imperial stormtroopers. Following a thunderous applause, the Senate then approved the recruitment bill.

The drop in casualties following the end of the war and the passing of the Defense Recruitment Bill allowed the Empire to suspend clone production without a major disruption in manpower as new, non-clone recruits would eventually take up the mantle. Nevertheless, the Empire continued to make use of clones throughout its formative years as they were gradually phased out of service, with some units joining the ranks of the Emperor's bodyguards, just as Ding and Kicker had hoped.

Around a year into the Imperial Era, the Empire had already begun deploying natural-born conscripts and volunteers into the Stormtrooper Corps, but former-Jedi Ahsoka Tano assumed that clones would still be part of its ranks. In 18 BBY, Cassian Jeron Andor witnessed clone stormtroopers occupy his home planet of Ferrix, where the troopers were pelted with rocks by angry civilians. In retaliation, an Imperial officer ordered a rank of clones to aim their weapons in the direction of the protestors. As a result of the incident, Cassian's adoptive father, Clem Andor, was publicly hanged despite his efforts to deescalate the situation. During the same year, a small force of clones stationed on Barton IV were replaced by enlisted stormtroopers after their numbers had been whittled down from insurgent attacks. The Imperial Advanced Science Division continued to make extensive use of clone commandos, who formed the clandestine organization's elite royal guard, and guarded its assets and facilities.

Around 15 BBY, several squads of clone stormtroopers were deployed on an unidentified planet during an operation in Wild Space, far away from the Core. The clones were still donned in their Phase II clone trooper armor, but had come to wield E-11 medium blaster rifles and worked alongside non-clone Imperial Navy Troopers. Nevertheless, as the years passed, the remaining clones were gradually rotated out of military service due to their rapid aging process. In addition, Imperial propaganda created an influx of non-clone recruits in the Imperial Military, accelerating the replacement of clones in the military. The clones, having fulfilled the main purpose for which they were created and trained to complete, were no longer needed by the Emperor. As a result, most clones quietly retired as they aged, but their legacy endured through the soldiers who replaced them. No longer using fresh clones to replenish the army due to the shutdown of the cloning hatcheries on Kamino, the Imperial military transitioned from a clone army to a volunteer and conscription-based force.

The clone stormtrooper known as Sergeant "Crest" was still serving the Empire in 14 BBY, but Darth Vader initially considered the clone too old to remain on active duty due to his accelerated aging. However, Vader later promoted Crest to the rank of lieutenant. Imperial clone shock troopers continued to patrol the streets of Coruscant at least until 14 BBY, where they assisted Vader in hunting down two rogue Inquisitors.

By 4 BBY, most clones had been decommissioned and were regarded as obsolete. A small number of clones remained in Imperial service, acting as training instructors for the next generation of stormtroopers, but such a position did not guarantee the clones would like their cadets; clone trooper "Lassar" resented enlisted recruits despite becoming an instructor. Another clone was TX-828 "Torrent;" as one of the last clones in the Stormtrooper Corps, he was a rare sight by the time of the Battle of Yavin. At that time he was nearing the age of forty due to his accelerated growth process, with strands of gray coloring his black hair. By then the rarity of Torrent's kind was such that ISB Senior Commander Alecia Beck was surprised to encounter a stormtrooper from the original Kaminoan production line.

An Imperial clone stormtrooper known as Crag remained in military service well into the Empire's reign, despite his accelerated age. The old clone had a strong sense of duty, which he believed was maintaining order in the galaxy. However, his personality earned the ire of a fellow trooper, Sardis Ramsin, who regarded Crag as a "relic." Crag was serving as a sandtrooper of Foot Patrol 7 when his team deployed to Mos Eisley on Tatooine, shortly before the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY. They had been sent to capture two droids belonging to the Rebellion, C-3PO and R2-D2, but fell under the influence of a Jedi mind trick performed by an old hermit. Unbeknownst to Crag and his team, the old man with the droids was the Jedi fugitive Obi-Wan Kenobi, who used the Force to dominate the weak-minded troopers in order to move the droids into the city unopposed.