Anti-Terrorism Unit

The Anti-Terrorism Unit, abbreviated as the ATU and also referred to as the Anti-Terrorist Unit, was a specialized police counter-intelligence division of the Coruscant Security Force. It worked closely with the Organized Crime Unit to develop intelligence on criminal and terrorist organizations, with the intent of preventing attacks against the planet Coruscant. The ATU had an expansive jurisdiction and vast legal authority, making it one of the most powerful CSF divisions. The captain in charge of the ATU was subsequently one of the CSF's most influential commanding officers. However, leading the ATU was also a heavy responsibility. It was not uncommon for the commanding captain to spend days at the Coruscant Security Force Headquarters when a major investigation was underway.

The ATU gained more and more authority as the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems intensified. Wiretaps and spying without reasonable evidence and of those who posed no threat became commonplace, and ATU police officers could seize property without a warrant. Though ATU cops had training and experience in tactical operations, the ATU was intentionally designed as a civilian organization, and the division itself did not have the setup of a paramilitary force. While that put the ATU on the defensive more so than on the offensive, it prevented the ATU from gaining a reputation as a brutal, secret police service. When some in the Galactic Alliance government sought to militarize the unit and give it the official duties of a secret police, the suggestions were quickly dismissed.

The Anti-Terrorism Unit was organized before the start of the Clone Wars. Though assassinations and bombings had occurred on Coruscant before, the Clone Wars brought a new and heightened danger to the streets of Galactic City. The first, most disastrous terrorist attack was an explosion in the Administrative Sector in 22 BBY which killed several thousand citizens. The CSF responded by setting up checkpoints and closing down areas around the explosion to begin their investigation. The death toll and incident reconstruction completely overwhelmed the CSF and its anti-terrorism investigators, who struggled to identify and catalog the remains.

Throughout the first year of the war, the Separatists initiated a brutal terrorist campaign on Coruscant with most of the targets belonging to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). By 21 BBY, the death toll resulting from the attacks numbered at approximately three thousand and forty beings. During that year, Captain Jaller Obrim, a twenty-eight year veteran with the Senate Guard, was second to the CSF and placed in command of the Anti-Terrorism Unit. A few days before the anniversary of the start of the war, an explosion of a transport speeder killed fifteen clone troopers, and the ATU began the task of investigating the crime scene in conjunction with the CSF Forensics Unit. To assist them, the ATU requested the help of the GAR's Special Operations Brigade, specifically Sergeant Kal Skirata and Advanced Recon Commando Captain Ordo, along with Jedi Knight Bardan Jusik who was specialized in explosives. Together they investigated the area with the CSF's Scenes of Crimes Officers.

In the aftermath of the Depot Bravo Five attack, Director of Special Forces Arligan Zey unofficially and secretly authorized Skirata to conduct an operation to uncover the terrorists. Along with clone commandos from Omega Squad and Delta Squad, they began tracking the terrorist cells. The CSF's Organized Crime Unit came close to focusing an investigation on the commandos who got into the crossfire of underworld thugs. However, Obrim was able to deflect the investigation away from the commandos, allowing them to continue their mission. The commandos eventually located the terrorists, and in a joint venture with the CSF's ATU and OCU, they conducted raids that brought down the terrorist network.

On a mission to the planet Gaftikar, clone commando RC-8015, or "Fi," sustained a serious brain injury and was taken to Coruscant's Republic Central Medcenter. Kal Skirata asked Republic Treasury Agent Besany Wennen to keep an eye on Fi, and she discovered that the medical droids intended to euthanize Fi since they had declared him brain-dead. Wennen threatened the medical droids with her blaster, forced them out of Fi's hospital room, and shot the lock to seal herself and Fi inside. In the resulting standoff, Skirata called Obrim for a rescue, and Obrim responded with several CSF patrol officers and half of the shift from the ATU. In a large display of weapons and armor, Obrim and the CSF entered the medcenter, stormed the hallway, and escorted Wennen and Fi out of the room. When they reached the lobby, they were stopped by a medical droid who insisted they had no right to remove the unconscious Fi. Threatening that he would release embarrassing information about the droid's boss, Obrim was able to secure Fi's release. Along with Wennen, they left the medical center under heavy guard by the CSF.

In the closing days of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, an invasion of Coruscant by the Separatists left the Republic reeling, and Obrim spent several days at the CSF Headquarters coordinating the response efforts after the battle was over. When Order 66 was issued by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, declaring all Jedi as enemies of the state, the ATU received instructions—along with the rest of the CSF—that their standing order to comply with the Jedi Order had been rescinded. Additionally, if they spotted any Jedi, they were to keep their distance and notify the military. However, due to the close relationship that many CSF and ATU officers had with Skirata and the Jedi who worked with him, several CSF officers, including Obrim, helped Jedi escape the ensuing purge. Obrim assured Skirata that he could also ensure the loyalty of the ATU when Skirata began helping clone troopers desert the GAR.

Soon after the establishment of the Galactic Empire, the ATU was absorbed into the new Imperial Security Bureau. Ironically, few in the CSF, including the former ATU members in the ISB, cared much for the new Empire. Later, Coruscant's law enforcement community would subsequently undergo a thorough investigation for anti-Imperial pockets. From his new ISB post in an old CSF building, Obrim continued to provide support to Skirata as well as to the underground, anti-Imperial organization, Whiplash.

After the end of the galaxy-wide Yuuzhan Vong War in 29 ABY and the formation of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, the CSF reestablished the Anti-Terrorism Unit. In 40 ABY, due to an increase in hostilities between the governments of the planet Corellia and the Galactic Alliance, a series of terrorist attacks by Corellian sympathizers and revenge attacks by Coruscanti plagued the Galactic Alliance capital. The ATU, under CSF Captain Lon Shevu, had initiated response efforts from the Galactic City Strategic Center. As the riots and attacks increased, the Galactic Alliance contemplated the internment of all Corellians and their sympathizers living on Coruscant. To begin the new security responses, Chief of State Cal Omas offered command of the ATU to Jedi Jacen Solo along with a commission of colonel. However, Solo felt it would would be better to have an agency separate from CSF conduct the raids and internment. That would allow the CSF to keep a relative image of neutrality and allow them to focus on general policing. Agreeing, the Alliance government formed the Galactic Alliance Guard.

CSF officers from the ATU accompanied the 967 Commando unit, which was transferred to the new GAG, on the first internment raid in the Jabi Town section of Coruscant. Solo requested that Captain Shevu be transferred to the GAG, and several members of the ATU joined as well, all of whom were trusted and vouched for by Shevu. The tensions between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia quickly erupted into open war. The former ATU officers brought their expertise in counterintelligence to the GAG, and several terrorist networks on Coruscant were quickly shut down. As the war continued, Solo became the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Caedus and, along with Supreme Commander Cha Niathal, staged a coup ousting Cal Omas from office. The methods and tactics of the GAG became more brutal and less professional. Most of the former ATU officers left the GAG in disgust, and its ranks were filled with thug-like soldiers. To undermine Caedus, Shevu remained with the GAG, though he missed his old job with the CSF and was eventually exposed and killed. By the time the war ended and the GAG was dismantled, it resembled little of the ATU's model of a professional intelligence and police service that the GAG had striven to emulate.

Jaller Obrim was a Senate Guard who, during the Clone Wars, was transferred to and placed in command of the CSF's Anti-Terrorism Unit. While there, he formed a close relationship with Kal Skirata and several of the clone commandos. Together, they were able to dismantle a terror network on Coruscant and arrest its members. Although Obrim was a dedicated police officer, he was not above bending or breaking the rules if he felt that it was the right thing to do. Due to his high position in law enforcement, he was capable of helping Skirata's black ops mishaps disappear from official records. On one occasion, he used his authority to escort an injured Fi out of a hospital as a favor for Skirata. Obrim was one of the few non-clones trusted with Skirata's plans to help clone soldiers desert from the Grand Army of the Republic. Although he refused to hear specifics for reasons of deniability, he helped Skirata and his clan escape when Palpatine issued a warrant for the arrest of Skirata. Obrim was also well aware of the dangers of being a police officer on Coruscant, and he had a security system in his house to protect his family from the many enemies he had made during his career.

Captain Lon Shevu was the commander of the Anti-Terrorism Unit before the Second Galactic Civil War and was in charge of the emergency response center for Galactic City until he was transferred to the GAG. He was a dedicated police officer who was known for not shying away from tough situations. He had strong principles on how to treat suspects and how a police force should operate. Shevu thus did not approve of Jacen Solo's methods, including Solo's treatment of his young, fourteen-year-old Jedi apprentice Ben Skywalker as an adult, and Solo's brutal interrogation methods. Eventually, that turned Shevu into a double agent; he used his high position in the GAG to spy on Solo for Cha Niathal and the Jedi. Shevu missed his job with the CSF and wanted to return to it, but he was accidentally killed by the Sith apprentice Tahiri Veila, who released Force lightning at him in an attempt to force Skywalker to reveal information.

The Anti-Terrorism Unit first appeared in the novel Republic Commando: Triple Zero, written by Karen Traviss and published on February 28, 2006. The ATU appeared continually throughout Traviss's Republic Commando series, including the novels Republic Commando: True Colors, published on October 30, 2007; Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel, published on September 16, 2008; and the series spin-off published on October 27, 2009: Imperial Commando: 501st. In 501st, it was revealed that the ATU had been made a part of the Imperial Security Bureau.

The ATU also made a significant appearance in Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, written by Traviss and published on August 29, 2006. The leadership of the ATU incites a pivotal decision in the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. During discussion, the characters choose to form the Galactic Alliance Guard in order to avoid using civilian police as a secret police. The formation of the Guard sets the stage for many of the events leading up to Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side and takeover as the GA Chief of State.

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