“ | A real stormtrooper has no room for sympathy. A real stormtrooper is the extension of the First Order, of Supreme Leader Snoke's will, nothing less. | „ |
~ Captain Phasma |
The First Order Stormtroopers are the infantry units of the First Order, and are supporting antagonists in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, first appearing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With their stark white armor and armed with powerful weapons, they serve as the enforcers of the First Order much like their predecessors had done under the fallen Empire. They are, however, trained to be much more formidable than their predecessors, and trained extensively from childhood to be efficient and loyal soldiers of the First Order. Despite this however they are still killed in large numbers by the protagonists of the Star Wars Sequel trliogy. Nevertheless, General Hux insists that his troopers are the best, and a superior choice to the Clone Armies employed by the old Empire and the Old Republic before them.
History
Origins and Foundation
First Order Stormtroopers have their origins dated back to the days of the Galactic Empire which suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Endor. The empire would later suffer horrific defeats at the hands of the New Republic and they would later go and sign the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic and the empire would later collapse along with the Imperial Military. Furious with the result of the Galactic Civil War, large numbers of former Imperial officers, nobles, generals and other officials left and escaped into the Unknown Regions where they would estabish the First Order as a means of restoring the Galactic Empire and began to rapidly grow their military.
As a result, many treaties were violated and the First Order began a vast rearmament program which eventually lead to the establishment of the First Order Military. New and vast fleets of ships and armies were created and with it came a brand new generation of stormtroopers inspired by their original imperial counterparts. In an effort to create this new army, children were taken away by their parents at birth and were raised to have absolute loyalty to the First Order and went under immediate military training to fight for the new cause of restoring the old empire. Around thirty years after the Battle of Endor, the First Order had managed to create a strong and powerful army of stormtroops with countless legions to fight for the new state. Around 34 ABY, First Order stormtroopers were under the control of the High Command and by officials such as General Hux and Kylo Ren along with other field commanders and officers like Captain Phasma.
War with the Resistance
Attack on Tuanal
Around this time, the First Order had entered into a conflict with the Resistance, an organization dedicated to stopping the First Order and to protect the New Republic which had succeeded the empire as the dominate government in the entire galaxy. The First Order also had its sights set on killing Luke Skywalker, the last surviving Jedi Knight along with destroying both the Resistance and the New Republic. In order to do this, the First Order went on a quest to locate the map to Skywalker and this resulted in Phasma leading a small strike force to assault the village of Tuanal on the desert planet of Jakku and the villagers was slaughtered. The battle resulted in the capture of Resistance Commander Poe Dameron and was taken away but was later freed by FN-218 who was horrified by the actions of the First Order.
Battle of Takodana
After Poe Dameron was broken out, he was shot down over Jakky in a stolen TIE Fighter assumed dead and along with FN-218 (now known as Finn) and the First Order continued their search for the map. The search eventually took them to the Mid Rim world of Takodana where BB-8, the droid that the First Order was searching for, was found and a large task force was deployed to the planet. The force arrived and eventually began attacking the castle belonging to Maz Kanata in search of BB-8 which they tracked to a nearby forest with Rey and stormtroopers were sent after them. Rey managed to kill a few stormtroopers before Kylo Ren came in and captured her. Meanwhile, ex-trooper Finn along with Han Solo and Chewbacca were defending the castle when they found themselves surrounded by stormtroopers moments before a resistance strike force came in and saved them. Rey was eventually taken away and the remaining troops withdrew and fled from the planet.
Starkiller Base Attack
After Takodana, Rey was taken back to Starkiller Base in the Unknown Regions and was interrogated by Kylo Ren for the location of BB-8 and the map to Luke Skywalker. When Ren walked away after having suffered the effects of Rey's force powers that she was still discovering, a stromtrooper was left to guard her and she managed to use mind tricks to convince him to release her restraints and let her go. The Resistance, knowing that the First Order knew where their base was at, decided to launch an attack against the First Order by attempting to destroy Starkiller Base before it could attack first and had Han Solo, Chewie, and Fin sent in to lower the shields while Poe Dameron lead the strike force. Resistance X-Wings eventually came in and began bombing Starkiller Base while Solo and the others will still inside and TIE Fighters were soon deployed.
Battle of Krayt
Several battalions of Stormtroopers were present at the battle of Krayt, transported inside First Order AT-M6 Heavy Assault walkers, where the First Order had surrounded the remnants of the Resistance in a long abandoned Alliance Rebel base. However they saw no combat in this battle because the Resistance successfully fled by the time their base was breached.
Powers and abilities
Expedience and corruption in the old Empire led to inconsistent academy standards and stormtroopers of varying quality. Given their reduced stormtrooper ranks the First Order was compelled by circumstances to adopt higher, more consistent levels of training to increase the quality of the troops under their command.
Based on the training regimen proposed and pioneered by the former Commandant of the Imperial Academy at Arkanis, Brendol Hux (later a general in the First Order), stormtrooper recruits are taken as children from worlds controlled and conquered by the First Order. They are trained from childhood in marksmanship with various weapons, vehicle piloting, anti-insurgency training and guerrilla tactics to ensure adaptability and battlefield improvisation.
Stormtrooper armor, while similar visually to that of the Galactic Empire, is more flexible allowing greater movement. The standard armament used is the SonnBlas F-11D Blaster rifle, an improvement of the E-11 used by the Empire.
In addition to standard stormtroopers the following specialized variants are also trained
Riot Control Stormtrooper
Specialized troopers trained to suppress unruly civilians on worlds ruled by the First Order. They are equipped with Z6 Riot control batons and Betablast riot shields. They also carry standard F-11D blasters to use lethal force in the event riots escalate.
Flametrooper
Specialized antipersonnel infantry armed with D93 Incinerator Flame throwers and equipped with specialized helmets with narrow slits to reduce glare from their weapons, as well as special temperature control body gloves under their armor. Their role is to deprive enemy infantry of cover by torching it, as well as providing cover for friendly infantry with the infernos created by their weapons (which regular stormtrooper armor can withstand).
Megablaster Heavy Trooper
Armed with SonnBlas FWMB-10 Repeating Blasters ("Megablasters") which can be unfolded on tripods to create a man portable turret for support fire against enemy troops. They can be considered as the heavy weapons specialists of the First Order.
Snowtrooper
Equipped with special temperature control armor and heating systems for use on frozen worlds, such as Starkiller Base. Also deployed on temperate worlds that share some characteristics of cold temperature planets (such as excessive glare and lack of traction), most notably Crait.
Stormtrooper Executioner
Stormtroopers tasked with carrying out public executions of those guilty of treason against the First Order. They are equipped with Laser Axes for decapitating their victims and wear helmets with black flashes, stripped of serial numbers or rank insignia to disguise their identities. They are not a dedicated branch and any stormtrooper could potentially be called to execution duty. The willingness to carry out capital punishment without hesitation is seen as a hallmark of stormtrooper training.
Notable Members
- FN-2187 - "Finn" (defected)
- FN-2199 - "Nines" (deceased)
- FN-2003 (deceased)
- FN-417 (deceased)
- FN-9330 (deceased)