Advanced Recon Commando

ARC troopers, also known as Advanced Recon Commandos, were an elite variant of clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. ARC troopers such as Colt and Fives received special training and often served as leaders or received challenging assignments not suitable for less specialized clones. They were given their own unique armor set, which differed greatly from the standard issue kit given to clone troopers, being equipped with more components. During the early days of the Clone Wars, this kit served as an experimental version of the Phase II clone trooper armor.

History
During the Clone Wars, the ARC troopers trained the first wave of Clone Commanders such as Bly. The Rancor Battalion had three ARC troopers; Commander Colt, Havoc, and Blitz. The three of them were then stationed at Tipoca City on Kamino. There they looked for Clone cadets that could become ARC troopers, such as Bravo Squad.

Colt and the other ARC troopers continued to be stationed on Kamino. There, they defended Tipoca City against Separatist General Grievous' and assassin Asajj Ventress' surprise attack. However, Colt was killed by Ventress and Havoc was killed by the Aqua droids. Only Blitz survived and assisted two ARF troopers in destroying one of the last Trident-class ships. After the battle, 501st Captain Rex and Commander Cody promoted troopers Echo and Fives to ARC troopers.

Echo and Fives were then sent on a mission to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell from the Citadel on Lola Sayu. The two fought their way through the Citadel. However, Echo was then apparently killed when he attempted to reach the shuttle. He was, in reality, captured and experimented on by the Confederacy's Techno Union. Fives, on the other hand, survived the mission.

Fives continued serving in the 501st, from Umbara to Ringo Vinda. He was then killed when he tried reveal Palpatine's role in the bio-chip conspiracy to Skywalker and Rex. Despite, clone troopers such as the 501st trooper Jesse were being accepted and trained to become ARC Troopers.

Equipment

 * ARC trooper armor
 * Double-sided Pauldron
 * Kama
 * DC-17 hand blaster
 * DC-15 blaster rifle
 * Breathmask survival gear

Behind the scenes
According to Genndy Tartakovsky on the DVD commentary for Star Wars: Clone Wars: Volume Two, whose story is now considered part of the continuity of Star Wars Legends and not canon, the design of the ARC troopers came from Hasbro. They first appeared as Advanced Recon Commandos in the Legends story Star Wars: Republic 50: The Defense of Kamino, a comic from the Star Wars: Republic series by Dark Horse Comics. In canon, they appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, first seen in "Clone Cadets."