Blackstar Squad, a commando squad belonging to the Republic Army's Special Forces Division, was established sometime before 3645 BBY. In that year, amidst the Cold War that raged between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, the Blackstars were dispatched to Hutta, a planet that served as the homeworld of the neutral criminal organization, the Hutt Cartel, for a covert mission. On another mission, the squad became embroiled in an urban guerrilla conflict that deteriorated due to an intelligence leak, resulting in the capture of four squad members, including a Kiffar named Larin Moxla, in a trap. Despite sustaining minor injuries, they managed to escape the battle, and bacta treatments restored them to full health. Ultimately, in 3643 BBY, Moxla chose to report the corruption of her commanding officer, Sergeant Donbar, leading to Donbar's dismissal. However, Moxla, who had earned the nickname "Toxic Moxla," was also soon discharged from the army.

In that same year, General Var Suthra of the Republic Military faced a military crisis involving stolen superweapons by the Sith Lord Darth Angral. Upon discovering that Angral's apprentice, Sadic, had wiped out the Republic Strategic Information Service branch stationed on Nar Shaddaa, a moon, Suthra sought assistance from General Elin Garza, the head of the Special Forces. To repay a favor to the Mon Calamari general, Garza sent the Blackstars to the moon to support the young Jedi Knight who was pursuing Sadic and the stolen Power Guard supersoldier project. Under the command of SIS Special Agent Korol Tander, the Blackstars shadowed the Jedi Knight to Sadic's laboratory, where they reinforced the Jedi.

Upon arriving and finding that Sadic had already been defeated, the squad complied with the Knight's instructions, using explosives to destroy the facility, thus permanently eliminating the Power Guard project and preventing its future revival.

As a Special Forces squad, Blackstar Squad members donned light combat armor in a dark grey color adorned with orange and white markings. They also wore helmets equipped with black visors and integrated breath masks, and they carried blaster rifles during engagements. The squad received extensive training in covert operations, extractions, slicing, and demolitions.

Blackstar Squad made its debut in Sean Williams' 2008 novel, The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, the first in a series of tie-in novels for the BioWare video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. The squad's appearance in the Jedi Knight class mission "Showdown with Lord Sadic" was a significant moment, marking one of the initial instances of content from Fatal Alliance being referenced within the broader The Old Republic metaseries, as the novel's characters and events had largely been overlooked in the game and other materials. Agent Tander identifies the commandos as Blackstar Squad, although the commando NPCs are labeled as "Black Star Commandos". Players can direct the squad to either destroy the Power Guard project, earning light side alignment points, copy the files for dark side points, or sabotage it for dark side points. Given that the Jedi Knight is a Republic class and is generally assumed to make moral light side choices, this article operates under the assumption that the Power Guard project was destroyed.