Anson Trask

"Bit of advice&mdash;forget what you know and be ready to learn if you want to survive the next few days."

- Anson Trask

Anson Trask was a Human male stormtrooper in the Galactic Empire during the Second Imperial Civil War. Following in his father's footsteps, he joined the 407th Stormtrooper Division where he was assigned to Joker Squad. Shortly after completing his training, he fought in the Battle of Borosk against forces loyal to former Galactic Emperor Roan Fel. After the battle, Darth Maleval executed Joker Squad's commanding officer, Lieutenant Gil Cassel, and Trask killed the Sith Lord to protect his comrades. Trask and Sergeant Harkas were later sent to Ossus to find a group of Jedi hiding on the planet.

Joining Joker Squad
"Learning your name would be a waste&mdash;since noobs don't usually last very long."

- Jes Gistang to Anson Trask

As a child, Anson Trask heard his father, a stormtrooper in the 407th Stormtrooper Division talk about the honor of duty and Trask decided to enlist as a stormtrooper himself. As the son of a stormtrooper, he was given the option to join the same division and so entered service in the 407th following the continuity of service.

Trask completed his training in 137 ABY and, only ten days later, he arrived at Yinchorr where he was to be assigned to Joker Squad. Before being dropped off he was given directions to his new squad but, as the 407th prepared to leave on a mission, his directions failed to correlate with layout of the camp. Finding little help from his fellow stormtroopers, he decided to ask for directions, though he had the misfortune to ask the Sith Lord, Darth Maleval. Maleval was irritated by Trask's apparent lack of discipline but the timely intervention of Sergeant Harkas saved him from the Sith Lord's wrath when he informed Maleval that Trask was a noob, fresh out of training.

Harkas took Trask to meet the rest of the squad, though his reception was somewhat muted. The veteran soldiers of Joker Squad had seen many new recruits arrive and were used to the fact that they rarely lived long&mdash;they even had a pool going as to how long Trask would live and believed that his own estimate of a month was optimistic.

Battle of Borosk
Shortly after Trask's arrival, the squad's commander, Lieutenant Gil Cassel briefed them on their next mission. The 908th Stormtrooper Division had become stranded on Borosk after a failed attempt to defect to deposed Galactic Emperor Roan Fel. Their superiors had decided to send the 407th to confront them in an attempt to defeat the 908th while leaving the base intact.

Joker Squad was among the first units to arrive at Borosk, and their initial orders were to capture and secure gun and shield emplacements. At first Trask found himself overwhelmed by the noise and confusion of a real battle and, finding it hard to tell the enemy stormtroopers from their own, he froze. However, as the day wore on, the realization that he must kill or be killed overcame his earlier indecisiveness and he joined the battle, gaining his first kill. After finally securing the gun platform, Joker Squad were allowed to stand down for the night, though they were soon confronted by Darth Maleval. Lieutenant Cassel had suggested a truce to give the 908th a chance to surrender, but Maleval, believing that this was based on personal concern for Cassel's brother, Jared, who served with the 908th, said there would be no truce. Furthermore, he insisted that Joker Squad lead the charge the next day and, should any of them falter, he would kill the entire squad.

Breaching the main fortress at midday on the second day of the battle, Joker Squad fought on, despite taking heavy casualties, until the 908th were defeated. After the battle, Darth Maleval brought the captured Jared to his brother and ordered Cassel to kill him. When Cassel refused, they were both executed by the Sith Lord. Hondo Karr, furious at the death of his commander, attacked Maleval only to be almost killed himself. At the last moment, Trask shot Maleval in the back, killing the Sith Lord and saving his comrade. The squad's official report listed both Maleval and Karr, who vanished after the battle, as killed in action. Trask and Harkas were the only members of the squad to officially survive.

Trask had earned the respect of Sergeant Harkas in that battle, and was no longer thought of as a "noob". As the wounded sergeant was taken for treatment he left Trask with orders to take care of the replacement troopers and Trask soon took on the role of mentor when a new recruit arrived on Borosk looking for Joker Squad. Referring to the man as a "newbie", Trask took the recruit under his wing as the process of rebuilding the squad began.

Mission to Ossus
Later, the Empire came to suspect that Ossus, abandoned by the Jedi since the attack on the Jedi Academy seven years earlier, was being used as a hiding place by Jedi survivors. Darth Stryfe led an Imperial force to investigate and Trask and Harkas were among the stormtroopers sent to the planet's surface to conduct a search, though their search initially failed to locate any Jedi. Eventually the squad split up and, while Harkas continued to search the surface, Trask led another stormtrooper to investigate the lower levels of the Jedi Academy where they encountered a small group of Jedi and Yuuzhan Vong. Though the Vong warrior Choka Skell advocated killing the intruders, Jedi Master K'Kruhk knew that this would only confirm their presence and bring more Imperials to the planet, along with their Sith masters. Instead, Shado Vao used a mind trick to convince Trask that the Academy was deserted and that it was time to leave. Trask dutifully obeyed and returned to the waiting Star Destroyer. Darth Stryfe, however, was unconvinced by the apparent absence of Jedi and ordered the destruction of the Academy.

Personality and traits
Trask grew up hearing of the honor of serving as a stormtrooper but his early experiences in the 407th, starting with the inhospitable reception he received from Joker Squad, left him disillusioned. He soon found the realities of war to be something which simulations had left him unprepared for, causing him to initially freeze in battle and fighting against other stormtroopers left him wondering what his father would make of what had become of the Stormtrooper Corps. At Borosk, Trask observed Darth Maleval in combat and was shocked at both the number of ways the Sith Lord found to kill his enemies and the joy that it seemed to give him. Despite his misgivings, Trask continued to do his duty and obey his orders, quickly developing into a hardened soldier.

Behind the scenes
Anson Trask was created by John Ostrander for Star Wars Legacy 4: Noob, the fourth issue of the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. Though his first appearance stood largely separate from the wider storyline of the series, he reappeared within the main story in Star Wars Legacy 16: Claws of the Dragon, Part 3.

An Entertainment Earth exclusive figure of Anson Trask was unveiled at Comic Con International 2008 as part of the Joker Squad action figure six-pack.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy 4: Noob
 * Star Wars Legacy 16: Claws of the Dragon, Part 3
 * Star Wars Legacy 17: Claws of the Dragon, Part 4