Imperial shock trooper

Imperial shock troopers, formerly clone guards under the Galactic Republic, were elite stormtroopers who served in the Coruscant Guard of the Galactic Empire. During the Clone Wars, the shock troopers were specialized clone troopers who served as a security police force on the planet Coruscant, capital of the Republic. Noted for their distinctive red and white clone trooper armor, they supplemented the Senate Guard as bodyguards for galactic senators, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and other officials, such as Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. In addition to protecting the government facilities and officials of the Galactic Senate, shock troopers specialized in guarding prisons, maintaining civil order as anti-riot police officers, and escorting diplomats for off-world assignments.

The Coruscant shock troopers served under Clone Commander Fox, the commanding officer of the Coruscant Guard, during the the galaxy-wide Clone War between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Other clone trooper officers who commanded shock troopers included Clone Lieutenant Thire, Clone Commander Stone, and Clone Commander Thorn. Shock troopers participated in a number of events both on Coruscant and elsewhere during the war, from the raid on Ziro's Palace, the hunt for Ahsoka Tano, and the hunt for rogue clone trooper Fives, to the ambush on Rugosa, the mission to Florrum, and the invasion of Scipio. The capital's security was breached on two occasions despite the presence of the clone shock troops; Coruscant's central power distribution grid was bombed by Separatist infiltration droids, and Ziro Desilijic Tiure was released from Republic custody as a result of the Senate hostage crisis in which a group of politicians were held captive by the bounty hunter Cad Bane.

As the war continued clone shock troopers were stationed in the Republic Center for Military Operations, which included a detention area for suspected terrorists and traitors to the state. Shock troopers were also tasked with maintaining order in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center, a facility for prisoners such as Bane, Moralo Eval, Aurra Sing, and Ziro Desilijic Tiure. Though Bane and Eval escaped from the Republic prison, they were recaptured on Naboo by the shock troopers who escorted Chancellor Palpatine to the 847th Festival of Light.

A contingent of shock troopers deployed to the clone army's homeworld of Kamino in the aftermath of Order 66. With the end of the Clone Wars and Palpatine's ascension as Galactic Emperor, Imperial clone shock troopers became the elite forces of the new Galactic Empire. Though they retained their Phase II clone trooper armor during the early days of the Imperial Era, in time the shock troopers upgraded to a customized version of stormtrooper armor. By then, the Empire had chosen to supplant clones with birth-born human soldiers.

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