Purge Trooper

"As I thought. Young. From the very last production line. Which means they were brought online after the purge, as an expendable death squad for the Inquisitorius."

- Ferren Barr, on the Purge Troopers

Purge Troopers, also known as Purge Stormtroopers, were Imperial soldiers led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Trained as expendable death squads, they were activated after the Jedi Purge and subsequent termination of the cloning operation on Kamino, making them the last generation produced from the Jango Fett template. As with their precursors in the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic, Purge Troopers were programmed to obey Order 66, making them hostile against all Jedi.

In 18 BBY, Purge Troopers accompanied Darth Vader as well as the Sixth Brother, Ninth Sister, and Tenth Brother to the planet Mon Cala where they confronted Padawan Ferren Barr and his disciples. At some point, the clones which had made up Purge Trooper ranks were replaced by non-clones. Purge Troopers were also involved in the hunt for Cal Kestis, another Padawan of the fallen Jedi Order, during which they served under the Second Sister and Ninth Sister.

Purge Troopers were also assigned to guard the key locations of the Empire like Kashyyyk which housed a prison, that was later attacked by Cal Krestis with his crew and the unexpected help of Saw Gerrera, which had captured wookies from a resistance movement led by Chief Tarfful.

Description
"I fought alongside the clones once, but now I know they are merely machines. Little better than droids. They must obey their programming. As the Inquisitors were once Jedi themselves, and the clones were built to kill Jedi, well&hellip;you see the result."

- Ferren Barr, on the Purge Troopers

Purge Troopers were specialized Imperial soldiers who served the Inquisitorius, although some engaged their enemies without nearby support. One group of Purge Troopers were clones from the final production line, and as such, were young human males. They served as a death squad for the Inquisitors and had a red tattoo on the right side of their faces and had no hair.

History
"We barely survived the wave ourselves&mdash;lost two clones."

- The Sixth Brother, to Darth Vader

As part of the final production line of clones, the Purge Troopers were activated after the Jedi Purge and served as expendable death squads for the Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius, a group of Jedi hunters under the command of Sith Lord Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

Occupation of Mon Cala
"Kill the Jedi."

- The Purge Troopers turn on the Inquisitors under Ferren Barr's influence

In 18 BBY, the Purge Troopers accompanied the Inquisitors and Vader to Mon Cala in order to hunt down a possible Jedi who was allegedly advising King of Mon Cala Lee-Char. Using the Zeta-class shuttle Infernum, the squad touched down on a landing platform in Dac City. After the death of Ambassador Telvar, the Empire dispatched landing craft to Dac City under the command of Major Rantu, as well as landing craft throughout the world. Eventually, the Battle of Dac City commenced and the squad aided the Inquisitors in securing the platform, and then accompanied Vader and the Inquisitors to Dac City palace to capture King Lee-Char in order to uncover the location of the Jedi.

Two enormous creatures jumped from beneath the ocean's surface and crashed back down, unleashing a tidal wave that destroyed the city. At the palace, Vader and the Inquisitors used Force barrier in an attempt to stop the wave but were ultimately unsuccessful. Vader was separated from the others and the squad lost two members. The Inquisitors were able to regroup and requisition an Imperial submarine and rescued Vader from the Great Ungeness Trench as he defeated a large squid-like creature.

After Vader was rescued, the submarine headed to the cave where the Jedi, Padawan Ferren Barr, and his followers were located, and engaged each other just as Barr and his group were escaping. In the fight, which continued to Bel City, several members of Barr's group were killed and Vader left the group to find the king, while the squad and the Inquisitors continued. Barr, Verla, and Daren became trapped in an enclosed chamber. The Sixth Brother killed Daren with his lightsaber and the Tenth Brother told Barr and Verla that there was no escape. Although Verla was ready to face the Jedi hunters and the clones, Barr revealed he had another idea.

Barr informed the Inquisitors he knew who they were and mentioned their former names, Prosset Dibs, Bil Valen, and Masana Tide, and explained they were once Jedi. After the Ninth Sister retorted that they knew him as well and that their original names were dead, Barr countered, saying that the past didn't die and that he studied how Sidious manipulated the galaxy, including the role clones, had, and unmasked the clones, revealing their faces. Barr continued, as he then knew he was correct when he thought that the clones were from the last production line and were activated after the Jedi Purge. When the Sixth Brother stated that the past did not matter, Barr retorted, saying that once someone was a Jedi, they were always a Jedi, and used the Force to command the squad to execute Order 66.

The young clones, in accordance with their programming opened fire on the three Inquisitors despite their protests. The Tenth Brother was almost immediately gunned down, while Barr and Verla escaped. Ninth Sister and Sixth Brother used the Force to push the clones out of the way so they could pursue Barr. However, Sixth Brother sliced off Ninth sister's leg to buy him time for his escape. He wished her good luck, and slyly remarked that she was always his favorite. Enraged, Ninth Sister told him he was dead and his actions wouldn't stop her. As the battle came to an end, only one Purge Trooper survived the chaos and sat amongst his fallen brothers.

Hunting Cal Kestis
"A Jedi. This is what I've trained for."

- A Purge Trooper confronts Cal Kestis on Kashyyyk

Five years into the Jedi Purge, the Second Sister and Ninth Sister led a squad of Purge Troopers to hunt down a surviving Jedi Padawan named Cal Kestis. At least two of them were based at an Imperial Refinery on Kashyyyk when Kestis infiltrated the compound along with Saw Gerrera and his rebel cell, the Partisans. One of them fought off two rebels before confronting the padawan, but was killed in the fight. Another was later attacked by Kestis while consulting a scout trooper and, despite having backup, was also defeated.

Equipment
"Never seen a trooper like that before."

- Saw Gerrera

Every member was equipped with black armor that included several red or silver designs, kamas, and black helmets similar to that of clone paratroopers, with some sections of red for commanders. Commanders wore red pauldrons and other troopers either wore black pauldrons, grey pauldrons or did not wear one depending on their specialty, which was worn on their right shoulder. Each member had the Imperial crest on both shoulder pads either in red (for commanders) or white (for rank and file members).

For ranged weaponry, they were equipped with DC-15 blaster rifles, DC-15LEs, DC-15A blasters or E-11 blaster rifles. In close quarters combat, they utilized electrostaffs, electrobatons and electrohammers.

Behind the scenes
"Cover here by Giuseppe and Elia Bonetti, and man, it's great. Vader and some Inquisitors and a bunch of Inquisitor Troopers, headed on up to ruin someone’s day."

- Charles Soule on his website

The Purge Troopers debuted, although unnamed, in the 2018 canon comic, Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 13, written by Charles Soule and pencilled by Giuseppe Camuncoli. They were later identified as Purge Troopers at Celebration Chicago on April 13, 2019 during the panel for the upcoming video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that will be released on November 15, 2019.

Appearances

 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 13
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 14
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 15
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 16
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 17
 * Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 1
 * Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 2
 * Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 3
 * Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 4
 * Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order