Clone Corporal

This article is about the clone trooper rank. You may be looking for the generic military rank or title of corporal.

Clone Corporal was the corporal-equivalent rank for clone troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic.

Description

Clone Corporal was the corporal-equivalent rank for clone troopers, the soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic. As such, the position saw use within the Grand Army for clone trooper officers who were assigned the rank.^[1] Elite clones, such as Advanced Recon Commandos and clone commandos, could also hold the rank.^[3] Additionally, the Clone Corporal position also saw some form of use within the Republic Navy for some clone navigation officers.^[4] Clone Corporals held authority over lesser ranking clone troopers.^[1]

History

Deployment

Clone Corporals such as Comet were deployed throughout the galaxy to take part in the Clone Wars (Corporal Comet on Felucia, pictured)

All clone troopers, and therefore those who would become Clone Corporals, were created on the planet Kamino as soldiers of the Galactic Republic as part of an order placed by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, who foresaw a coming war and wanted to ensure the Republic had an army at its beck and call. However, the project was secretly taken over by the Sith, who would use the clones as part of their Grand Plan to overthrow the Republic and destroy the Jedi Order.^[3] With the beginning of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY,^[5] the Republic called upon the Kaminoan-produced clone troopers to serve as the basis of its military and to do battle with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Unaware of their role in the Sith plan, clone troopers under the leadership of the Jedi Order spread across the galaxy as soldiers within the Grand Army^[3] or as personnel with the Republic Navy. Clone Corporals saw action as part of the Republic Military throughout the war.^[4]

By the time of the Second Battle of Felucia^[1] in 20 BBY,^[5] the clone trooper Comet of the 104th "Wolfpack" Battalion had risen to the rank of corporal. As a corporal, Comet was deployed with the 104th to the Outer Rim planet Felucia—a strategic world located near the major^[1] Perlemian Trade Route^[6] that was also valuable for its nysillin crops—for its second major battle.^[7] Fighting alongside members of the 501st Legion, Comet was part of the final push against a Separatist entrenchment deep within Confederate-territory and joined a grouping of clones under the 501st's Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, who led Comet and the others as part of a flanking maneuver.^[1] Kaylon, Mixx, and Big-Mouth were corporals in a battalion commanded by Depa Billaba.^[8]

Rise of Echo and an empire

Echo was an elite clone commando who held the rank of corporal during the late Clone Wars.

ARC trooper Echo was a member of the 501st Legion who was presumed dead during the Battle of Lola Sayu but in fact had survived, only to be captured and left in the custody of the Techno Union, which transformed him into a computer-interfacing cyborg.^[3] In 19 BBY,^[5] Echo was discovered to still be alive and rescued by Clone Captain Rex, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and the clone commandos of Clone Force 99, aka the "Bad Batch." Following his rescue, Echo played a vital role in securing Republic victory in the Battle of Anaxes, for which he was promoted to the rank of corporal and became known as the "Hero of Anaxes." Further, Echo decided to join the members of the Bad Batch^[3] and served with them for the rest of the war.^[2]

At the end of the war, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine—who was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious^[3]—issued Order 66 to the Republic Military, resulting in the behavioral modification biochips implanted in each clone trooper forcing each clone to turn on their Jedi leaders. Clone Corporals, like all clone troopers, were expected to go along with the command, but Echo—who was currently on the world of Kaller as part of Clone Force 99—found himself immune to the programming thanks to his cybernetics. When the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire, Clone Corporals were grandfathered into its Imperial Army, but Echo himself would defect from the Empire with most of Clone Force 99.^[2]