Covert Ops clone trooper

Covert Ops clone troopers were elite clone troopers serving with the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. These troopers were mainly assigned to perform "dirty work" that most clones would find questionable and unethical, mainly finding and eliminating clone troopers who have deserted the army.

History

Covert Ops troopers were standard clone troopers, drawn from the rank-and-file formations, who had shown some potential for "dirty work." Director of Special Forces Arligan Zey tasked Null ARCs N-10 and N-5 with training them in commando tactics, along with former Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar Wad'e Tay'haai and Mij Gilamar. However, the "dirty work" they were sent out to do was not always as clear-cut as expected: serving in squads of two, covert ops troopers were occasionally sent to eliminate other clones who had chosen to desert from the Republic and live their own, independent, lives. Their trainers were kept in the dark about the sinister task they were training the Covert Ops clones to carry out and were furious when they found out.^[1]

One of the few known operations of this type was on Gaftikar when Moz and Olun were deployed to eliminate Alpha ARC Sull, an ARC trooper who had deserted his post. This two-man team was KIA by Darman, who was mistaken for Sull when undercover and attacked.^[1]

This type of clone trooper was one of the most secretive in the Grand Army of the Republic as their activities were kept from both public and military records. Contrary to the other elite clone troopers, Covert Ops troopers were not part of the Special Operations Brigade nor did they follow the proper chain of command. The Director of Special Forces even ignored their existence for a long time. They took orders directly from the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.^[1]

Equipment

Most Covert Ops troopers utilized modified DC-15A blaster rifles and DC-15S blasters in combat. They wore prototype armor with a specialized coating of Reflec to better conceal themselves. The armor was purple in color with brown camouflage. It had two purple trident symbols, one on the wrist and one on the chest,^[2] reminiscent of the ones Wad'e Tay'haai wore on his shoulder armor.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The action figure version of the trooper.

This type of trooper made its first appearance as a StarWarsShop.com exclusive action figure.^[2] The backstory of the Covert Ops clone trooper was meant to be developed by fans in Round 6 of the What's The Story? feature of Hyperspace. However, according to Pablo Hidalgo, "A winning entry was selected, but it became apparent that projects in the works tread too closely to the lore being established in the CO troopers, that the call was made to pull it. Better that than introduce an instant-continuity error."^[4] The backstory of the covert ops troopers was established in True Colors.^[1]