Shadow Troopers

[[Image:Shadowtrooper.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Shadow Trooper]]

The brainchild of Armand Isard, Director of Republic Intelligence and Director-General of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, the shadow trooper division was created mainly as a reconnaissance tool. Designed to augment the dwindling number of ARC troopers, shadow troopers operate singly or in pairs. They operate covertly, yet still in armor, posing as mercenaries of bounty hunters to slip quietly in and out of locations while quietly gathering intelligence.

Shadow trooper armor is based on standard Phase II clone armor. Strategically placed magseals allow the attachment of deceptive plating that alters the appearance of a shadow trooper. Different styles allow the shadow trooper to appear to be Hutt-hired mercenaries, Black Sun operatives, or independent bounty hunters. The plating is primarily cosmetic; it does disguise a clone trooper's sensor signature, confusing life form indicators to read presences other than human if desired. The plating also alters regular movement, preventing observers from recognizing the characteristic "clone gait." If discovered, a single jaw switch within the helmet disengages the magseals, allowing the shadow trooper to regain full use of their armor.

The armor has a special sensor reflective coating that absorbs active scans. Thermal dampers and EM hardening prevent passive sensor from picking up the telltale signatures of standard armor. A high powered omni-directional jammer further adds to the shadow trooper's shroud of invisibility, ensuring they remain undetectable. Such costly jamming systems affect the helmet systems of standard clone troopers also, ensuring that most shadow troopers do not operate with the regular infantry.

The standard DC-15 carbine has been replaced by the DC-19 "Stealth" carbine. This weapon is equipped with a sound suppressor for silent operation, and has an optional mode that uses an expensively refined tibanna gas mixture that makes a bolt invisible to the regular visual spectrum. This mode comes at a high cost, though; the mixture must be reloaded after 10 shots, and the weapon must cool down after each blast to prevent damage to the dampeners. Shadow trooper snipers use the invisible beam to great effect.

When the Confederacy of Independent Systems stronghold was discovered on Utapau as General Grievous' hideout, a platoon of shadow troopers was assigned to infiltrate six sinkhole cities and place jammers that would allow the Republic army to invade without notice.

Success of the shadow trooper division led to the creation of the Storm Commandos, as well as Blackhole's elite stormtrooper forces.