Clone troopers
From Open Encyclopedia
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The Grand Army of the Republic's clone troopers | |
|---|---|
| Class: | Infantry |
| Type: | Shock troops |
| Affiliation: | Galactic Republic |
| Standard weapon: | DC-15 blaster rifle |
Contents |
History
The clone troopers were created by the cloners on Kamino, as part of the secret Army of the Republic commissioned by the mysterious Sifo-Dyas. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was the one who secretly sent Sifo-Dyas to commission the order for the Galactic Republic. The clone troopers were cloned from, and trained by, Jango Fett, outfitted with armour styled on Fett's Mandalorian battle armour, and armed with weapons and vehicles from Kuat Drive Yards.
The Battle of Geonosis marked the first engagement of the Clone Wars, and the first battle for the clone troopers. Working with precise coordination to rescue the remnants of Mace Windu's Jedi strike team, the clone army fought the Separatist forces on the rocky surface of Geonosis. Downing countless Confederate transports, the clones earned their first victory.
Following that battle, the clone troopers were spread throughout the galaxy to engage the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Also, some clone troopers with exceptional skill were placed in special commando groups and carried out special tasks for the Republic such as sabotaging Separatist equipment, spying and information gathering, as seen in Republic Commando. After three years, the Confederacy was defeated, but the clone troopers had one more mission to fufill. When the Galactic Empire was formed, by Order 66 of Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious - who held supreme control over the clones - the soldiers of the Republic turned on the Jedi Knights. (The clone troopers in Revenge of the Sith have armor which resembles a cross between the armor worn by stormtroopers in the original films and that worn by the first clone troopers in Attack of the Clones, incorporating elements from both designs.)
By the time of the Battle of Geonosis, about 1.2 million clones were ready for duty. When the Republic took the ready batches from the complimentary Kaminoan clone stations of Baran Wu and Su Des, that army swelled to 3 million - still woefully inadequate to fight a galactic war against a massively industrial enemy with the ability to mass-produce large armies in amounts of time not seen since the Star Forge saw service during the Jedi Civil War. However, the Kaminoans had been constantly producing clones for ten years. Millions more clones were shipped out each day. As the war dragged on, the Republic grew increasingly desperate for troops. At their clients' demands, the Kaminoans began to accelerate the training of their clones and even forgo their last classes altogether to get them out more quickly (However, the Republic may have started an enlistment program, though this is unconfirmed). The rate of millions per day quickened to millions per hour. When combined with the Republic's additional military personnel - soldiers, starship crewers, commanders, special forces, and more - from other sources that became increasingly prominent during the war's second year and critical by the third, as well as expert raids by clone commando squads, ARC troopers, and Null-ARC troopers, the advanced Clone Intelligence department reporting directly to the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Galactic Senate, generally superior tactical management and strategizing, better performance from soldiers and vehicles alike, more efficient use of resources, higher technology by and large, the Jedi, and some careful manipulation from Darth Sidious of both sides, the Republic was able to contest the Confederacy hotly in a vicious neck-and-neck conflict for three bloody years. Even as, by the end of the war, General Grievous pushed unstoppably towards the heart of the Republic, the Outer Rim Sieges raged on and the Confederacy worlds were under attack behind Grievous's advance. As the Confederacy's fleets doggedly pushed towards Coruscant, they were losing territory to the persistent onslaught of Republic forces and losing the defensive war in general. It became a war of offense before the resounding Republic victory in the Battle of Coruscant with the destruction of the flagship Invisible Hand and the death of Count Dooku. Image:Clone Phase II.jpg
During the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Empire still continued to use Jango Fett clones for its stormtrooper units, but an uprising on Kamino in which the cloners themselves bred an army of private clone troopers to repel Imperial servitude (as well as to support the Rebel Alliance), only to have Vader's personal regiment, the 501st Legion beat them back. After the failed insurrection, the Emperor decided that relying on Jango Fett clones was too risky, and clones made from various templates would be used as officers including enlisted units. The 501st legion was the only stormtrooper regiment to consist entirely of Jango Fett clones. In the words of a 501st trooper: "We never did get used to the new guys."
According to the Star Wars Empire #27 comic, only one survived to fight for the Rebel Alliance in the Galactic Civil War: Able-1707, formerly under the command of Shaak Ti who was stranded on a planet for 20 years after his unit was decimated in an attempt to destroy Confederate Separatist forces attacking them. He later became a Rebel Alliance intelligence agent and his fate is unknown. It is also rumored that many other clone troopers also survive in remote places. Due to the field and growing experiences and battle scars,Each clone has an individual personality. Other than ARC troopers,the rest undergo genetic modifications to make them more docile,so as not to question direct orders.
Ranks
Image:Clone troopers cw.jpg Initially, the rank of the troopers was determined by color worn on their helmet, arm and shoulder armor. Although the rank of each trooper was determined in the cloning process by the Kaminoans, battlefield promotions also sometimes took place.
- None - Trooper
- Light green - Sergeant; command squads, made of 9 troops
- Blue - Lieutenant; command platoons, made of 36 troops (4 squads)
- Red - Captain; command companies, made of 144 troops (4 platoons)
- Yellow - Commander, tasked with leading regiments of clones (2,304 in total, 16 companies) into battle. Many of these commanders were grown with more capacity for independent thought than their troops, and were sometimes known by names rather than numbers. Notable clone commanders included Cody, Bly, Gree, Bacara, Appo, Keller, Neyo, and Thire.
Clone commanders were broken up by rank, similar to real-world generals on Earth. Among these ranks were the Senior Clone Commanders - such as A'den - and the Clone Marshal Commanders, such as Bly. Clone Marshal Commanders typically served under Jedi Knights or Masters serving as Generals in the field.
Clone Commandos typically did not have any rank among themselves, and many cases eschewed the idea, concentrating insetead on teamwork and often a leader of the squad was borne out through squad interaction and organsization, making the Clone Commandos and unconventional yet extremely lethal unit, as the Confederacy found out to its cost
Clone pilots, such as Captain Odd Ball, also gained some notoriety for their audacious maneuvers in many Clone Wars battles, including the Battle of Muunilist and the Battle of Haruun Kal.
Toward the end of the Clone Wars, armor markings designated legion affiliation and position rather than rank. Some officers wore Rank Insignia (rank squares) on their white armor, with color schemes resembling those of the later Imperial Navy and Imperial Stormtroopers, to indicate their commanding position. Additionally, many commanders and commandos chose to distinguish themselves physically with custom additions to their armor.
Divisions
- Advanced Recon Commandos (ARC Troopers)
- Null-ARC troopers
- BARC Troopers
See also
- Imperial Stormtroopers
- Star Wars: Republic Commando
- List of Star Wars clone trooper legions
- 501st Legion (Star Wars)
