| “ | It's the trooper you don't see that will get you.
— Cassian Andor
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” |
Death troopers are type of soldier from the Star Wars franchise. They are elite stromtroopers that served as bodyguards for important Imperial officers and members of the Tarkin Initiative, as well as being used as special-mission experts.
The earliest known deployment of the death troopers was in 13 BBY when they served Director Orson Krennic on his mission to find and capture Galen Erso. They would continue to protect the director until his death on the planet of Scarif at the start of the Galactic Civil War.
Death troopers were selected from normal stormtroopers who excelled at their training. They were required to exceed traditional stormtrooper standards, including height and weight, and had to meet certain ideological standards. The candidates were subjected to harsh physical training and surgical enhancements. They were also trained to fight on more exotic planets. Death troopers were deployed in small groups where each member served a specialized role.
Death troopers carried armor that was much more advanced than the average stormtrooper armor. The helmet had a number of advanced sensor and targeting systems. Their armor was also covered by a spray polymer called reflec, which warped electromagnetic signals commonly found in sensor arrays. This made death troopers well suited for stealth operations.
Battle vs. Tempestus Scion (by Monkey Doctor 33)[]
Prologue[]
Scarif, Abrion Sector, Outer Rim
It's a still, quiet night on the planet of Scarif. The tropical planet has hidden itself from the rest of the galaxy, for it houses some of the greatest tactical projects the Empire has ever done. From an iniative projected to recreate a type of lightsaber to the infamous Death Star. The plans for the gigantic superweapon itself lies within a large military complex on the island, protected by elite troopers no commoner has ever seen before.
So far, no one except the Imperials themselves know of this world's existence. But this quiet night shall soon be a hellish battle zone...
-
"FC-10984, rendezvous on checkpoint; the coast is clear, over." The shoretrooper captain, TK-32028 speaks on his comms to his underlings patrolling the souterhn hemisphere of Scarif. While the northern hemisphere has more scattered, tropical islands, the southern hemisphere has lush and dense forests perfect for unwanted forces to hide in.
"Copy that, Captain. Returning to checkpoint. Over." FC-10984 obeys his captain after doing a few more quick checks around the bushes. He follows his captain, walking over some shrubberies and incursing into the nearby beach. The rest of his comrades follow too, until a distinct voice of something moving through the woods is heard.
The shoretroopers immediately stop their advance and instinctively turn, aiming their guns at the entrance to the dark forest. Their aims are broken the moment they found out that it's just a strayed member of their company. Annoyed, TK-32028 asks him a question.
"WB-09256, what're you doing there?"
"Nothing, sir. Just seeing what's in there. In case rebel scums are hiding out there." The trooper's response is answered by the Captain delivering a disappointed sigh.
"Don't stray away from the squad, trooper. Understand?"
"Under... huh?" WB's response is cut short when he feels a strange burning sensation up his head. At the same time, he looks up and is left without a reaction as a large, unidentified object crashes itself towards the surface.
Within moments, the trooper is annihilated by the object and the resulting explosion killed most of the squad. The Captain was left alive, but with both his legs severed. Weakened and confused, the Captain tried to comprehend what had happened while slowly making his way to the coast. He endures the pain the sea salt enhanced to his wounds and made it to the beach.
Looking up, he sees that there are still several more debris dropping down upon his location. Drawing his last breathe, he closes his eyes and hope for a quick death out of desperation. Luckily, or unluckily (depends on your perspective), none of the debrises crush him and the Captain lets out a breathe of satisfaction. When he opens his eyes once again, he sees that the planet's Shield Gate has just materialized itself again.
"This... this isn't possible. The Gate should have..." The Captain's words are cut short when he hears the sound of footsteps seemingly exiting the large structure. Apparently, it's a drop pod of some sorts. However, the Captain can't get a clear sight of what the object is.
He struggles to turn his body around, but succeeds nevertheless. With his arms supporting his body, he sees what the structure truly is alongside what can be described as its "sentries".
"By the Emperor, who are you?" The Captain mutters as a group of heavily armored troopers exit what looks to be a light cruiser, bringing out various equipments and some dead bodies. The Captain silently observes them and pretends to be a corpse, his helmet hiding his open eyes.
Some troopers are seen arming themelves with strange weapons complemented by an array of large backpacks, and some are seen muttering some sort of prayer while also laying down the corpses. The Captain keeps on looking and assumes their identity as one of those rebel scumbags.
Problem is, even with his senses recovered and galactic knowledge, he can't figure out what they're saying. If they were from the Rebel Alliance, they wouldn't be this ceremonious. Nevertheless, the Captain stays silent and continues his pretension while the troopers are minding their own business.
-
"The Warp Gate took us farther than we expected, Brother Marius. This planet is not registered within the Imperial database, but it well is an Ocean World." Brother Alden, a Storm Trooper heaving a gatling gun-like weapon, speaks with his fellow trooper who's seen trying to get to Imperial frequencies via his Vox-caster. From foreign comprehension, his language is a strange one indeed. But for one whose life has been attuned to the Imperium of Mankind, it's clear that he spoke in High Gothic.
"Those Chaos wretches. We did not expect such an early ambush in the Calixis Sector, but thank the Emperor we landed not on a Death World. Nevertheless, we still require caution, brothers. Brothers, have you examined our equipment?" Marius sees his surroundings. It's night-time, a dark forest lies behind them, their cruiser is lighting up like a burning Gargant, and most interestingly, men in strange armors lay dead before him.
"Brother Marius, there were... guardsmen here." The Storm Trooper who prayed for his fallen comrades tells the squad leader, holstering his hellpistol and grenades. Marius walks up towards some corpses, standing near the Shoretrooper Captain who remains on guard.
From what he could pick, the Captain hears them mentioning a sector named Calixis and the Imperial database. By simply listening to them and picking up the bits, he can figure out that these men are clearly servants of the Emperor, just like him. But with all their different equipments and intricate language, he can't even begin to know if they're supposed to be the Emperor's Royal Guardsmen. Such thought also invites the question of who these men serve.
In silent words, the Captain quotes in his brain, "They serve the Emperor? There is no more than one Emperor in this galaxy and they don't even look like stormtroopers. Yet... they mention him? Or do they serve another Emperor?"
"Brother Alden, what's the status of our equipment? This damned Vox is not working at all. I'm not even sure we're in the right galaxy." Marius asks while examining the corpses of the shoretroopers. For him, they are somewhat of an oddity. Their armor and equipments tell that they're no guardsmen, but there's something about them that classifies them as one of the Imperial Guard...
"All is good, Brother Marius. Our weapons and equipments are doing well, but the Vox systems malfunction, indeed. If they malfunction, that usually means we're not in the right place. Have you found anything pertaining to these... guardsmen?" Alden approaches Marius who stands up after kneeling near a dead shoretrooper.
"It is their arms that interest me the most. They have quite a resemblance to the mundane lasguns yet somewhat more archaic. Their uniforms however, clearly indicate they're no Imperial Guardsmen." Brother Marius' statement is challenged my Brother Sion, a storm trooper checking his hellgun's ammo count.
"Brother Marius, there are legions of Imperial Guard regiments in the galaxy and some of them are unregistered within the database. Could this be one of them?" Sion's question is immediately shot down.
"If they are Imperial Guardsmen, why can't I see an Uplifting Primer up their backs? Why can't I see the Aquila on their pauldrons? We are deep within enemy territory, and we should move to the forest as fast as we can. From what we've seen here, there's nowhere else to go but the woods behind us." Brother Caen suggests.
After a brief discussion among them, they finally decide to retreat to the forest. But before that, they have to make sure everyone is dead.
"Brothers, let us leave now. Dawn is at..." The unassuming Marius tries to order his men, until one of them informs him of something.
"Brother Marius, come take a look at this one!" In an instance the Storm Troopers' attentions are diverted towards a legless shoretrooper, none other than the Captain himself.
"That soldier has lost his legs and soul, Brother Leo, there's nothing to mind of him."
"Come see again, Marius." Leo immediately stomps on his helmet, prompting him to scream in pain. He grabs the dying shoretrooper by the neck and lifts him up, showing him to the rest of his squadmates.
"Thank the Emperor we still have someone to interrogate." Leo bluntly says so. The Captain struggles to free himself but finds that he's too weak to do that.
"Let... me go!" The Captain demands. Hearing his words, Brother Alden is immediately struck as he recognizes his language as a more archaic variation of Low Gothic. Knowing this, he quickly gets to interact with the trooper.
"Do not be weary, guardsman! What planet are we on?" Alden approaches him with his hotshot volley gun in-tow.
"That, I cannot tell. Are you one of the Rebels?" The Captain questions him. The very thought of them being "rebels" offend a multitude of them but Alden quickly defuses the situation.
"Calm yourselves, brothers! Now, what did you say? Rebels?" The very tone of Alden's voice and how genuinely confused his deliverance is make it clear to the Captain that they're not Rebels. But then, they're neither Rebel nor Imperial.
"Just... do you serve the Emperor?" Now, the Captain begins to gain an audience with the Storm Troopers. Brother Marius responds first.
"Indeed. We are of the 800th Storm Troopers Company, we serve His Highness, the Guardian and God of Humanity, the Emperor of Mankind. We were on our way to Cadia when a Chaos-infested Space Hulk ambushed us on our way. We fell on to this planet, we don't know where. And many of our brothers lay dead. Are you an Imperial Guardsman?" The Captain was briefly relieved when he mentioned their statuses as being stormtroopers, but their references to their Emperor and whether or not if he's an 'Imperial Guardsman' put a strain of weariness to him.
With hesitation he replies, "I, am a coastal defender stormtrooper and the captain of my squad. That, was until that thing crashed here. I know nothing of this 'Chaos' thing, but the Empire has no branches called the 'Imperial Guardsmen'".
"So you're not a guardsman? Then tell me, who is your Emperor?" Brother Leo drops him on his lower body while Brother Sion questions him, hellgun aimed to his head. It's clear that they're wasting their time with this obliviously stupid enemy.
"(*Cough*) Emperor Palpatine, the..." Those words became the Captain's last words as Caen blasts his head off with his hellgun. What he assumed from the get-go was right.
"Brothers, we are still in Chaos territory! This heretic worshipped a false emperor!" Brother Caen yells out in rage as he violently kicks away the headless corpse from Brother Leo's grips.
"Then he shouldn't have received the Emperor's Peace, Brother Caen. You should've left him die to his wounds." Brother Marius berates Brother Caen for his so-called foolishness.
"Hmph. Heretics deserve no gift of life."
"As much as how I agree, it'd be better for us to retreat. By now we should've attracted the local planetary force's attention courtesy of our transport. Let us recompose ourselves in the forest. Perhaps by the next morning, the Vox will be back up-and-running." Brother Alden's words are heeded as they begin to enter the forest, leaving an area of death and destruction behind them.
-
The Scarif Base
Nobody knew what happened. They say the Imperial officers on the Shield Gate were asleep when it happened. They say they didn't expect a ship to outright exit the Hyperspace just meters away from the Gate. Either way, Director Krennic wants all hands on deck to handle this problem.
Entering the command room while quarreling with two other officers, Krennic immediately vents out his frustration as he yells out in anger.
"Can ANYONE tell me why a rogue ship plummeted right through the Shield Gate as if it's nothing?!"
"Director Krennic, the gate officer said a ship came through from the Hyperspace right before his crew can respond. He said the ship appeared more as if it materialized out of nowhere, however. And those who saw the ship could not identify its type. They say it's no Rebel starship, but it doesn't even look like a Star Destroyer." An officer replies.
"Are there any first responders?" Krennic sternly says, his rage replaced by curiosity.
"A squad of shoretroopers were on the crash site, but we lost contact with them. We managed to establish contact with one of them but it was immediately lost. We believe he and his squad weren't alone." Krennic quickly decides of the best course of action. Knowing that the facility's presence and the Death Star's construction must be kept secret until it's ready, he cannot tolerate the presence of another faction on the planet. They are not Rebels, but a new kind of enemy is what the Empire fears the most.
"Send in the death troopers. I want whoever's hiding in there dead. The Emperor will be soundly disappointed if we don't clean this up."
TBC
Expert's Opinion[]
TBW
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Elite (by Pygmy Hippo 2)[]
Unknown Planet
The Covenant Elites were sent to this new jungle planet with a Halo ring to scout for any signs of life and so far the Sangheili had found nothing. The Imperial Death Troopers were stationed there to find and bring an old Republic radar station back online if possible but there was no sign of it amongst the thick foilage. Two members of each force managed to come face-to-face in a clearing and started opening fire on each other with their automatic weapons.
"For the Covenant!" "(Translated:Sergeant, we've encountered alien resistance.)" One Elite's Sangheili combat harness lost power from the E -11D's relentless fire and was sent flying backwards by the red plasma although a Trooper's body-armor failed him at the same time and he toppled over riddled with holes from the blue plasma of the Type-25. The Covenant soldier's rifle overheated and he had to hide behind a rock as he took the Type-50 off his back, the Imperial soldier lay down suppressing fire as he approached the rock and got to the other side. A large beam of hydrogen particles shot through his chest and the Sangheili ran back to his squad to inform them of the new threat with technology similar to theirs.
The Elite found them just as a Sonic Imploder was thrown at their group, the leader and his team managed to survive but were severely disoriented however the newcomer was dead on the jungle floor with blood coming out of his mouth and eyes. The Death Troopers nodded at each other and ran to the ancient temple ruins for a more favorable fighting location until the sergeant noticed a purple grenade stuck to one of his men's legs. He pushed him away just in time as the Type-1 blew him to smithereens in a flash of latent plasma and the Imperial leader gave an order to split up and hide for their unexpected Covenant foes.
One of the Elites walked by the Trooper sergeant's doorway and he threw him down the hole in the staircase but was dragged out by the other alien who knocked his E-11D out of his hands with a swing of his Type-25. The two soldiers wrestled for dominance until the sergeant got the Sangheili's rifle away and managed to knock him over where he delivered two swift punches to his alien foe's face. The Imperial pulled his SE-14R out of its holster and fired at the Covenant soldier's head until the energy shield went away and his shots hit flesh.
The other Death Trooper found a staircase and went up it to get a better look around and saw the Elite leader charging towards him with a energy sword that blocked his rifle shots. The Type-1 pierced his blaster with ease and the alien lifted him up by the throat and choked him as he freed his sword but the human soldier kicked him backwards. The Imperial reached for a grenade but the energy sword of the Covenant leader got him through the chest first and came out his back.
The Elite saw his last man limping towards him and the two cautiously crept through the stone corridors where unbeknownst to them, the Death Trooper sergeant was cooking his C-25 before throwing it at them. The frag grenade blew up right in the Sangheilis' faces and the explosion obscured the Imperial's vision for a couple moments but when it subsided it was clear that the shrapnel-riddled aliens missing some limbs weren't getting back up. The Death Trooper sergeant walked out into the forest and noticed the radar station behind some trees which he noted before he contacted the Star Destroyer. "(Translated:Director, I lost all my men to some new alien species with blaster technology and I found the radar station. Requesting immediate back-up in case there's more.)"
Winner:Imperial Death Troopers
Expert's Opinion[]
The Imperial Death Troopers won this fight mainly due to their superior weapons in almost every category, the SE-14R was more reliable than the Type-25, the E-11D was better for squad combat than the Type-50 and the Type-1 Energy Sword was impractical for a primarily firearms fight unlike the Sonic Imploder. The Covenant Elites/Sangheili did have the better explosive that would usually confirm a kill in the Type-1 Plasma Grenade but the X-Factors were close enough that the Troopers' superior weapons carried them to victory.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Special Assault Squad (by Deathblade 100)[]
TBW.
Expert's Opinion[]
TBD.