TK stormtrooper

TK stormtroopers, commonly known by the shortened name of TK troopers, were an early generation of non-clone stormtroopers who served the Galactic Empire. While the clone troopers of the former Galactic Republic became the first stormtroopers in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, TK troopers represented the rise of naturally-born human conscripted soldiers in the Imperial Military, which initially was almost entirely comprised of clone personnel during the early Imperial Era. They were trained by clone commandos clandestinely without the Imperial Senate's knowledge before being formally approved by Emperor Palpatine. They wore a prototype armor, with their helmets being repurposed from the canceled Phase III clone trooper armor design, and carried DC-15A blaster carbines, much like their clone predecessors.

History

Origins

In the aftermath of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY,^[11] the fledgling Empire inherited its precursor state's military, the clone troopers of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett, who were officially rechristened as Imperial stormtroopers.^[13] The clone stormtroopers were deployed across the galaxy to enforce Imperial authority, suppress dissent, destroy Separatist holdouts, and enforce the implementation of several new Imperial policies, such as the chain code.^[14] While the clones displayed great loyalty to the Empire, much of this loyalty was enforced by their behavioral modification biochips.^[15] Concerns soon began over the cost of creating new clone troopers, as well as the clones' accelerated aging and limited shelf life.^[15] Furthermore, the clone troopers had been created for the Republic, which the Empire had replaced.^[1]

The continued use of cloned soldiers was called into question by Governor Wilhuff Tarkin and Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart, two Imperial officers who believed that a conscription-based force of non-clone troopers was a cost-effective alternative to the expensive Kaminoan cloning operation. Tarkin would visit Kamino shortly after the conclusion of Order 66 to discuss the future of the clone trooper program with Prime Minister Lama Su, who insisted on the continued production of clone troopers, citing the former Republic's contract which stipulated the further creation of clones. Tarkin dismissed the contract, as it had been created between Kamino and the Republic, which no longer existed. Though the two agreed that the Empire would need more soldiers to maintain order, Tarkin believed that a conscription force could achieve this objective at half the cost.^[15]

Working in conjunction with Vice Admiral Rampart, Tarkin would sanction the formation of a small team of Elite Squad Troopers, four non-clone volunteers that had been recruited from across the galaxy. The troopers were placed under the command of CT-9904 "Crosshair," a clone commando and sharpshooter that had remained loyal to the Empire after his squad, Clone Force 99, had defected. Rampart believed that these recruited troopers could be trained to be just as effective as clone troopers if given proper instruction by experienced clones. The unit's first mission was to wipe out Saw Gerrera's fighters on the planet of Onderon, the same mission that Clone Force 99 had refused to carry out. The squad of troopers would return to Kamino after wiping out Gerrera's fighters and the civilians under their protection, though trooper ES-01 was executed by Crosshair after refusing to execute unarmed prisoners. Tarkin was impressed with the performance of the squad, and put Vice Admiral Rampart in charge of the clandestine Project War-Mantle.^[16]

Clandestine recruitment

Main article: Project War-Mantle

With the non-clone soldiers effectiveness proven through the victory on Onderon, a hidden Imperial training facility was established on the planet Daro that contained the first thousand non-clone stormtroopers in secret,^[1] without the Imperial Senate's knowledge,^[17] who were recruited from across the galaxy^[1] and represented its first wave, and were trained by elite clone commandos like Captain CC-5576 "Gregor."^[18] Six of them were present aboard the Harrow, an Imperial^[19] Victory-class Star Destroyer^[20] over Therezar's orbit, where they received the damaged Theta-class T-4a shuttle of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, ST-295, and the survivors of Shadow Platoon led by Clone Commander Appo after a skirmish on Etti IV led to Colonel Halland Goth of the Emperor's Royal Guard sacrificing himself to save the citizens of Etti IV by piloting the experimental Techno Union transporter away from the planet's cities and Cybot Galactica.^[19] Gregor would eventually attempt to defect and fled the Imperial installation, but was caught and imprisoned. Clone Force 99, employed by another rogue clone, Rex, would later infiltrate the base and extract Gregor from captivity. As the rogue clones ran through the facility's hallways, squads of TK troopers, led by their clone commando instructors, attempted to harry their progress. Gregor would later comment that, while the TK troopers were not as skilled as their predecessors, there would be an endless supply of them.^[1]

With the continued progress of Project-War Mantle, the Empire would eventually terminate its contract with the Kaminoans, officially shutting down the clone trooper program. Just as Lama Su had feared, the Empire would not allow the cloners to continue their operations, and quickly moved to extract their cloning technology. After all clone troopers had been reassigned off-world, squads of TK troopers were deployed to gather and extract the Kaminoan's cloning equipment. Once the facilities had been cleared, a fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers bombarded Tipoca City,^[4] as well as other Kaminoan facilities across the planet.^[21]

Several months after the destruction of Kamino, the numbers of the TK troopers had grown substantially to the point of being able to be deployed in full units. However, the majority of the Imperial military was still composed of clones, and TK troopers were often deployed in conjunction with clone stormtroopers. When a force of Separatists on the planet of Desix refused to submit to Imperial authority, a squad of clone stormtroopers under the command of Cody were deployed to the planet to quash the Separatist holdout. After the Separatist stronghold had been cleared by the clones and Tawni Ames was executed by Crosshair to save Cody the trouble of doing so, an occupation force comprising entirely TK troopers were deployed on the planet while the 6 TK troopers that came with now recognized Governor Grotton were escorted back into the same Nu-class attack/transport shuttle he arrived in earlier by the remaining clone stormtroopers in Cody's squad for medical attention when returning to Coruscant.^[3]

Official formation

Main article: Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill

Around 18 BBY,^[22] more than a year after the rise of the Empire, after having been rejected once before, the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill, the legislation to legalize the recruitment of non-clone soldiers in the Imperial Military, was up for vote once more in the Imperial Senate,^[23] but opposition from Senators Riyo Chuchi, Bail Organa, and Tynnra Pamlo, as well as Emperor Palpatine's absence from the initial hearings, delayed the bill's voting and passing. Organa and Pamlo said as the Clone Wars were over, there was no need for a new army, but support from Senator Gani Riduli and a Senator from the Commerce Guild said that with the rising numbers of insurgents threatening the Empire's peace, a new military would help keep said peace. With Chuchi believing that it was unfair to discuss the replacement of the clones without giving them a say in the matter or offering financial and social support after their decommissioning, resulting in the vote being postponed.^[24]

Despite initially lacking provisions for the decommissioned troopers' living arrangements and pensions,^[24] Rampart eventually included them in the final version of the bill as suggested by Chuchi, who unofficially represented the clones. However, the admiral would reveal to Grand Vizier Mas Amedda that he did not have any actual intention of providing retired clones with these provisions.^[17] Furthermore, without the Senate knowing,^[17] recruited troopers had already began being secretly trained and even seeing limited deployment in the place of clones in certain cases during debates about the bill.^[3]

During the last voting session, Chuchi brought Halle Burtoni, the former Senator of Kamino where she testified of Rampart's mishandling of funds. Organa also presented new evidence in the form of the command log of VZ-114, Rampart's Venator-class Star Destroyer, which proved the Admiral's direct involvement in Tipoca City's destruction. This news resulted in an uproar and the bill being threatened; however, Emperor Palpatine's appearance and subsequent speech in which he twisted Rampart's crimes as being a rogue action, and the clones as being violently obedient to such actions and thus untrustworthy, resulted in its passage.^[17]

Mass deployment

Being fully legalized, TK stormtroopers began a phased but widespread deployment across all sectors,^[7] including putting down a conflict on Abartolom^[25] and arriving in large numbers on Barton IV to retrieve shipments of TK armor for the growing numbers of non-clone recruits in the Stormtrooper Corps. Doing so, they replaced a small contingent of clones stationed at the depot that had succumbed to the elements and attacks from insurgents. When clone commando Crosshair returned to the depot along with a mortally wounded Clone Commander Mayday after a failed attempt to retrieve stolen Imperial equipment despite killing the raiders, which prevented future thefts, a group of TK stormtroopers left their positions to investigate the clones' arrival, but were ordered back to work by Imperial Lieutenant Nolan, though two of them were reluctant to do so. After Nolan was killed by Crosshair when he refused to give Mayday medical aid, TK stormtroopers ran over to disarm the clone as he fell unconscious.^[5]

Ten TK stormtroopers from Squad 131 were transported alongside Major Lessa Banebreak in a Sentinel-class landing craft to aid ISB Agent Sendril Crane and Cellia Moten in apprehending Clone Force 99, Phee Genoa, and Crane's former protege Sohi on Tryth since the agent had lost his team from his Gozanti-class cruiser, the Jurat, when its hyperdrive exploded during its leave from Dallow's spaceport. Five of them led by Banebreak fought Wrecker and Ponder while another five aided Crane in arresting his former spy protege, as well as Jatil, another spy who led him to Sohi by working undercover as a medic in his clinic. However, while one used cuffs in arresting Jatil, four of them were betrayed when Crane told Sohi he did not want to serve the Empire and the Imperial Security Bureau any further, shocking them with Jolt discs he discreetly planted on their armor.^[26]

Sometime after Pabu society was rebuilt^[6] with the money siphoned from Moten's accounts by Phee and Tech,^[26] a small team of TK stormtroopers stationed on an Imperial installation on the planet Balmorra boarded a Gozanti-class cruiser to provide security for the vessel as it delivered three dissident former clone troopers, Captain Howzer and two of his men to the Tantiss Base on Mount Tantiss. As the Gozanti left Balmorra and prepared to jump into hyperspace, it was ambushed and disabled by a ship belonging to the rogue Clone Underground. Using a leech vessel, the rogue clones boarded the Gozanti and engaged in a fierce firefight with the ship's TK stormtrooper crew. Ultimately, the Imperial troops were overwhelmed and the rogue clones briefly captured the vessel, which was subsequently destroyed after a responding Imperial Venator deployed a squadron of Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters, which strafed and destroyed the Gozanti.^[6]

Concurrently, numerous TK stormtroopers had begun to be stationed at the Wayland facility on Mount Tantiss, which was previously garrisoned entirely by Imperial clone commandos of the Imperial royal guard. When Crosshair, who had been imprisoned at the base after the incident on Barton IV, briefly escaped his captivity, he dispatched several squads of TK stormtroopers that were patrolling the facility's corridors before ultimately being recaptured.^[6]

Later, TK stormtroopers stationed on Governor Tarkin's compound on the planet Eriadu engaged the rogue clones of Clone Force 99 after the squad had infiltrated the facility. At the same time, a group of Partisans under the leadership of Saw Gerrera snuck into the facility and disguised themselves as TK stormtroopers. After several intense shootouts with the infiltrators and taking heavy casualties, the compound's TK stormtrooper garrison managed to overwhelm both groups, who attempted to escape. As Gerrera and his surviving partisans fled in a captured Rho-class transport shuttle, Clone Force 99 attempted to escape using the compound's sky rail system.^[27]

The sky rail was temporarily taken out of commission by the explosions Garrera and the Partisans had planted in the misguided hopes of assassinating Governor Tarkin, Director of Advanced Weapons Research Orson Callan Krennic, Chief Scientist of Advanced Science Division Dr. Royce Hemlock, Admiral Barton Coburn, and General Hurst Romodi, which put both Clone Force 99 and a group of TK stormtroopers, who were riding a different rail car at the time of the former group's escape, in danger of falling. The sky rail was strafed several times by V-wing starfighters piloted by TK stormtroopers, eventually causing it to temporarily fall apart and lead to the death of the rogue clone Tech. Shortly after, the Empire would track the remnants of Clone Force 99 to Ord Mantell City, and would deploy numerous TK stormtroopers to occupy the city.^[27]

Twenty-one days after the capture of Omega, three TK stormtroopers, which included TK-343, were coming to Mount Tantiss on Imperial Shuttle 135, when it was hit by lightning just when they were descending into the planet's atmosphere. The group survived the crash, but were killed by the creatures of the Tantiss jungle despite TK-343 trying to contact the base for support. Four months later, the Tantiss Base on Mount Tantiss continued to be staffed by large numbers of TK stormtroopers overseen by clone commandos.^[28] Contingents of troopers greeted Emperor Palpatine upon his visit, and attempted to recapture Omega and Crosshair when they launched an escape from the facility.^[29]

TK stormtroopers were present as part of an Imperial presence on Lau when Omega and Crosshair crashed on the planet after their escape from Wayland. The troopers guarded a spaceport that contained numerous different species of animals abducted by the Empire. In an attempt to seize a shuttle and leave the planet, as well as to reclaim their abducted lurca hound "Batcher", Omega and Crosshair assaulted the spaceport and battled with its stormtrooper garrison. After releasing the animals and causing a stampede, Omega and Crosshair escaped in a shuttle with Batcher as the stormtroopers fled from the rampaging creatures.^[8]

Several TK stormtroopers were part of the Recovery Strike Team led by Clone Commander Wolffe, who were dispatched by Clone Commander Scorch after the Clone X trooper CX-2 killed CX-1, who was being held captive by the Clone Underground in Teth and identified Omega. Alongside Wolffe and Hilo, his Clone Lieutenant, the TK stormtroopers were deployed in conjunction with numerous clone troopers. The Imperial unit was tasked with apprehending the young rogue clone Omega and returning her to Tantiss. After several intense firefights, the Imperials were unable to capture Omega. Wolffe would later allow Omega and the surviving members of the Clone Underground escape as a show of respect to his clone brothers.^[9]

A TK stormtrooper informed Hemlock about Tarkin wanting to speak to him about the funding going to Tantiss Base rather than projects the future Grand Moff deemed important, such as Stardust, while several went with Scorch and Emerie Karr to Imperial Station 003 near Coruscant in order to pick up Bayrn, who was kidnapped from his home in Caraad by bounty hunter Cad Bane and his Techno-service droid sidekick Todo 360.^[30]

After Omega's location was confirmed by the Clone X trooper CX-2, Scorch dispatched a division of the Imperial Army, including TK stormtroopers and several Imperial clone commandos, to the planet Pabu to retrieve her. A Venator-class Star Destroyer arrived above Pabu island and deployed numerous LAAT/i gunships, which began to land Imperial troops to occupy the town. Under orders from CX-2, the gunships strafed Pabu's docks and destroyed the island's boats and skiffs to prevent any escape. Concurrently, CX-2 ordered his troopers to lock down the town and search every domicile until Omega is found. Upon Omega's surrender, CX-2 ordered a TK stormtrooper to scan her for tracking devices. As CX-2 departed the planet with Omega separately, 2 TK stormtroopers intercepted Crosshair, who attempted to put a tracking beacon on the X Trooper's CX Dagger vessel, but failed despite fending them off. Afterwards, the remaining Imperial forces entered their gunships and were recalled back to the Imperial Venator.^[31]

Soon after, multiple TK stormtroopers would be killed in a raid by Clone Force 99 on an Imperial labor camp on the planet Erebus. During the raid, the rogue clones had managed to extract the disgraced Edmon Rampart, who had been imprisoned at the camp following his arrest on Coruscant.^[32]

Several TK stormtroopers patrolled and guarded Imperial Station 003, though two of them that were guarding the control room were ordered by Rampart wearing a captain's uniform during Clone Force 99's infiltration of the station to stand down and report to the barracks for further orders. When one of them protests that they and their fellow trooper just started their shifts, Rampart threatens them with the brig for violating Article 15 of Imperial Standing Order 10, causing the troopers to reluctantly obey and allow them passage. A TK stormtrooper aboard the Science vessel would later be sent by Lieutenant Novitz after the pilot reported unscheduled droid activity in the vessel's cargo hold, though he was stunned by Echo, who took the trooper's armor and impersonated him.^[33]

Following this, at least two full divisions of TK stormtroopers would be wiped out during a raid on Mount Tantiss, in which Clone Force 99 would infiltrate the facility in order to rescue Omega, who in turn had instigated a Zillo Beast containment breach and an uprising among the facility's clone prisoners. In the aftermath of the raid, TK stormtroopers deployed from two Venators and Wilhuff Tarkin's personal Imperial I-class Star Destroyer oversaw the facility's indefinite shuttering and redistribution of its funds.^[34]

Legacy

During the late stages of the Galactic Civil War leading up to the Battle of Jakku, Ubrik Adelhard, the Grand Moff and governor of the Anoat sector, reminisced on the time when he first enlisted in the Galactic Empire as a TK stormtrooper.^[25]

Equipment

Like clone trooper armor, TK stormtrooper armor was comprised of white armor plates worn over a black body glove. Its most contrasting feature was the helmet. Repurposed from the canceled design for Phase III clone trooper armor, it contained a single visor with two lenses, forgoing the Mandalorian-derived T-shaped visors of clone trooper helmets. It also contained a raised ridge that ran from directly above the visor to the back of the helmet. The standard-issue weapon of TK stormtroopers was the DC-15A blaster carbine,^[1] though they also made use of the DC-15A blaster rifle and BT X-42 heavy flame projector.^[31]

Similar to the clone troopers immediately following the formation of the Empire, most TK armor used identical white plating, forgoing custom insignias, colors, and attachments. Some exceptions existed, such as how TK shock troopers were denoted by red markings on their armor, as well as red pauldrons.^[27] Some TK stormtroopers stationed on the planet of Lau utilized brown armored ponchos and black goggles over the visors of their helmets.^[8]

Behind the scenes

TK stormtroopers first appeared in the fourteenth episode of the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The episode was titled "War-Mantle" and was released on July 30, 2021.^[1] The design of the TK stormtrooper armor was heavily inspired by the original concept art of stormtroopers by Ralph McQuarrie.^[35] As shown in voiced storyboards for "Return to Kamino" shared by Justin Bruce Lee, "TK troopers" were originally referred to simply as stormtroopers in the series.^[36] Written and illustrated^[37] before TK armor was established into Star Wars lore,^[1] finalized stormtrooper armor was depicted within the Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space series^[37] set in 18 BBY.^[38]

Furthermore, the introduction of TK troopers in The Bad Batch opens a possible continuity error with stormtrooper armor seen within Star Wars: Darth Vader: Burning Seas, the fourth story arc of Charles Soule's Star Wars: Darth Vader comic series.^[39] According to Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide, the events of Ahsoka occur before those of The Bad Batch episode "Truth and Consequences,"^[17] during which time TK trooper armor was still in use according to subsequent episodes of The Bad Batch.^[5] However, Ahsoka features the death of the Sixth Brother.^[40] As the Sixth Brother appears within the arc,^[39] the events of Burning Seas must occur before those of Ahsoka and, therefore, those of "Truth and Consequences." However, what appears to be finalized stormtrooper armor appears in Burning Seas,^[39] which cannot be the case if it is set during the TK trooper era. Due to some minor artistic licenses taken with the armor,^[39] it can be retconned by future material into another prototype variant, however.

Appearances

• Master of Evil
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "War-Mantle" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Return to Kamino"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Solitary Clone"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Outpost"
• Sanctuary: A Bad Batch Novel
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Tipping Point"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Summit"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Plan 99"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Confined"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Shadows of Tantiss"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "A Different Approach"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Extraction"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Identity Crisis"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Point of No Return"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Juggernaut"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Into the Breach"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Flash Strike"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Cavalry Has Arrived"
• "The Rising" — Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising 1 (In flashback(s))
• "False Histories" — Battle of Jakku — Last Stand 1 (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: Hunters (Armor only)
• Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

Sources

• "War-Mantle" Episode Guide - The Bad Batch on StarWars.com (backup link)
• "Return To Kamino" Episode Guide | The Bad Batch on StarWars.com (backup link) (Picture only)
• 5 Things Star Wars: The Bad Batch Has Revealed About the Rise of the Empire on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
• Daro in the Databank (backup link)
• Governor Grotton in the Databank (backup link) (Picture only)
• Imperial Base on Daro in the Databank (backup link) (First identified as TK stormtrooper)

Notes and references