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Imperial Stormtroopers are highly trained shock troops in the fictional Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers are used as strike units against enemies of the Galactic Empire.

These highly-disciplined soldiers answer directly to Emperor Palpatine. Stormtroopers are independent of the Imperial Navy or the Imperial Army chains of command, as they have their own command structure, ranking system and support facilities. However, a Company Commander can give command to any regular officer over any given squad or platoon. Their organizational manners are similar to those of the Imperial Army. The basic unit of organization is the squad.

Each Stormtrooper is assigned a number for tactical purposes and to reinforce the Imperial ethic of uniformity. (For instance, TIE Fighter pilots are not attached to any particular craft, as opposed to the contemporary practice of pilots adorning their ships with personalized markings.)

The Stormtrooper effect, a common cliché in action movies, was named after these fictional soldiers.

History

The first Stormtroopers were introduced in 22 BBY. Then called Republic Clone troopers, they were clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett, who was killed at the Battle of Geonosis. The armor that they wore was later improved for use by future Imperial Stormtroopers. They turned on their Jedi Generals, by Order 66 of Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious when the Galactic Empire was formed at the end of the Clone Wars.

In the original trilogy, some troopers appear to have vocal and height differences (notwithstanding Princess Leia's "a little short for a storm trooper" comment to Luke Skywalker in Episode IV). This is because the clone stormtroopers of this era are grown using the DNA of multiple hosts. The Star Wars Expanded Universe also shows the Stormtrooper Corps is a mixture of clones and recruits, the latter of which are trained on the planet Carida.

During the Galactic Civil War, there was only one clone trooper that took sides with the Rebel Alliance. When the New Republic defeated the Empire years after the end of the Galactic Civil War and took over the machinery of galactic government, they terminated the Stormtrooper program, though the Imperial Remnant continued to use Stormtroopers in battle until a peace treaty was signed some years after. Following the treaty, Stormtroopers became little more than guards and police officers on Remnant worlds, though they fought along with their New Republic/Galactic Alliance comrades against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Officers

In non-combat situations, a Stormtrooper officer wears a black officer uniform, insignia, and a garrison cap. All Stormtrooper officers wear the characteristic white armor during action. In some situations, they wear standard Rank Insignia of the Galactic Empire (rank squares) over the armor so their rank is apparent to non-Stormtroopers. Flag grade stormtroopers do not wear the traditional white armour (General Veers wore a modified, faceplate-less stormtrooper uniform during the battle of Hoth)- but they are nonetheless expected to be engaged in combat alongside thier men. Stormtroopers that are outfitted for the desert wear a rank-denoting pauldron.

At the Imperial Academy at Carida, troopers learn an old game called Quadrant, which is a tactical visualization game. Troopers on duty are allowed to play this game (they usually do) to pass off time when not endangered or in a tense situation. After months at Carida, a Stormtrooper cadet is paired with a veteran trooper for quicker learning in action.

Equipment

The troopers' most distinctive equipment is the white battle armour they normally wear. The complete 18-piece armor set completely encases the body and typically has no individually distinguishing marking outside of rank. In fact, the casual first-time observer sometimes mistakes the Stormtroopers as a form of battle droid. In certain situations however, Stormtroopers will sometimes wear camouflage armor to help them blend in with different environments. The Stormtrooper corps instituted this reform after the embarrassing defeat at the Battle of Endor where they were defeated by a combined Rebel / Ewok attack force.

The very reinforced helmet contains Advanced Breathing Filters (which acts as protection against chemical and biological attacks, as well as toxins), Comlink for instant communication with other units, which also has options to change the frequency. The comlink uses linked encoding sequences to rotate frequencies every few seconds while keeping all troopers in the unit synchronized. If a trooper's helmet is removed without the trooper first hitting the comlink's control stud(most likely found on the under-rim of the helmet), the frequency coding routine is automatically deleted from that helmet.

The automatic polarizing lenses protect the trooper against intense glare and provide them with enhanced combat vision or "Holographic Vision Processors" (which allows vision through many barriers such as smoke, darkness and fire). Multi-Frequency Targeting and Acquisition System (MFTAS) helps with the stormtroopers' perception in darkness as well as smoke and other visibility obscuring conditions.

The helmet also assists in aiming at moving targets. The Comtech Series IV helmet speaker uses three-phase sonic filtering for clear sound (For troopers, it is connected to the audio pickup). It also has a vocoder for talking to non-Stormtroopers.The backplate contains an emergency 20 minutes of oxygen if the trooper should be so unlucky to be exposed to vacuum or be trapped underwater. It also contains a power pack. The stomach armour contains Manual Suit Seal and environmental controls. The thigh armour has a reinforced alloy plate ridge and the lower right side, near the knee contains the suits system power cells. The left upper side of the shin armour has a sniper position knee protector plate. The utility belt has two Blast Energy Sinks to protect the trooper's hips. The stormtroopers boots are not armoured, but they are treaded. The armour is equipped with IFF circuitry for identification and command purposes for identifying each other.

It also protects the troopers from very harsh environments as well as projectiles and impact weapons. The armour might be penetrated by a direct blaster bolt, but it will reduce damage from the bolts absorbed significantly. The body glove allows for operation in warm or cold climates, however it can protect the trooper from almost any environment -- from total vacuum conditions to the very extremes in cold and heat for a very limited period of time.

Firearms

The E-11 blaster rifle can be found almost anywhere. It is the standard issue weapon of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps and one of the most common issued rifles in the Galactic Empire. They are also in high demand (although heavily regulated) for civilian and corporate sales, along with a brisk trade in them on the underground market.

It has proven to be a highly versatile design, spawning a wide number of variations. To make up for the high demand for these weapons, BlasTech Industries has authorized SoroSuub and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc to manufacture them under licence. These three manufacturers are found mixed indiscriminately across the Galactic Empire in Imperial stocks. In addition to these, several specialized designs have been spawned.

The basic E-11 blaster rifle is 43.8cm long (folded), and weighs 2.6 kilograms. The powercell housing opens on the left side of the action housing, above the trigger, giving the E11 a very low profile (useful when shooting prone or from a barricade), with a standard powercell providing 100 shots. The blaster gas chamber contains sufficient supplies for thirty powercells. All moving and/or metal parts are fitted with a corrosion-proof, vacuum-rated, dry lubricant. The top of the receiver has a universal, quick detach sight rail, which comes from the factory mounted with a light, ring recticle, 2x optical scope. The basic, three piece folding stock rides along the left side, under the powercell. When ordering from the factory, one may specify that they wish a fixed stock or a one-piece, right-folding stock at no extra cost.

Some special features include a wrist comlink, a tiny battle Holocam built into the helmet, a Resonator (To open secure doors) built into their armour, or an external helmet light. They can also have a Glow Rod attached to their blaster rifle, or using a Glow Rod Staff to provide the extra light. Power Gloves help in hand to hand combat.

Specialized Stormtroopers

There are also many kinds of specialized Stormtroopers that perform hazardous duties.

Snowtroopers of Blizzard Force storm through icy corridors and are protected against the chilly surface of such places as the ice planet Hoth. They have standard blasters and also use repeating blasters mounted on tripods, wearing a ghost-like mask instead of the standard helmet. Blackhole troopers were assigned to the Imperial Intelligence agent Blackhole. They featured black stygian-polymer coated armor that would "baffle" sensor readings. Minetroopers (guard miners on mining worlds) were encased in a tan coloured suit that protected them from the toxic mine atmosphere of the spice mining world Sevacos. The Storm Commandos and Coruscant Guards were the elite branches of the Imperial Stormtroopers.

Other types include Seatroopers, Scout troopers, Sandtroopers, Radtroopers (Radiation troopers), Airtroopers, Spacetroopers, Dark Troopers, Hazard Troopers, Swamp troopers, Underminers and Magma troopers.

The best stormtroopers are recruited into the Emperor's Royal Guard. Briefly seen in Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, Royal Guards wear red helmets of a different style and flowing red robes concealing body armor. Their most visible weapons are the force pikes they carry on duty.

See Also

Clone commandos Clone troopers Star Wars: Republic Commando

Notable Stormtroopers

• Davin Felth
• Flint
• Kyle Katarn
• TK-421 and TK-422

External Links

• More Information on Imperial Stormtroopers at StarWars.com
• 501st Legion - The World's Definitive Imperial Costuming Organization

• Star Wars soldiers