BX-series droid commando

Characteristics

As part of a sophisticated droid evolution, BX-series droids demonstrated greater flexibility, superior intelligence, and enhanced durability compared to their B1-series counterparts. Their programming incorporated advanced combat strategies and heightened battlefield awareness, complemented by distinctive glowing white photoreceptors. Commando droid captains and other high-ranking commandos were distinguished by white markings on their heads and chests. This unit was conceived for both infiltration and intense combat scenarios, with its programming tailored for engagements, assassinations, and covert infiltration missions. The BX unit ND-5 later reflected that his programming as a battle droid prioritized obedience and eliminating targets, overriding any concern for the rationale behind his actions. ND-5 harbored fears that he would be forever limited to hunting and destroying, but his companion Kay Vess reassured him that he was capable of more than simply being a war machine. The construction of a BX unit included a titanium-reinforced steel body, providing robust armor resistant to blaster fire. BX units assigned to security duties at the Spire prison were additionally fortified with cortosis plating.

Due to their more streamlined head design compared to B1 droids, commando droids could effectively utilize Phase I clone trooper armor for infiltration purposes. Their robust armor enhanced their resilience, enabling them to endure multiple direct hits from a DC-15A blaster carbine, although a close-range headshot with an ELG-3A blaster pistol could instantly neutralize them. Furthermore, commando droids exhibited exceptional agility and acrobatic prowess, displaying superior speed and reaction times compared to standard battle droids, often executing multiple flips in quick succession. They could even persist in combat after sustaining severe injuries, such as having their legs severed by a lightsaber, a stark contrast to the vulnerability of standard B1 battle droids, which could be easily incapacitated by simply knocking them over.

To enhance their infiltration capabilities, commando droids possessed the ability to modify their vocabulators to mimic the voices of clone troopers. However, their stilted movements within the armor and atypical responses to orders (typically "roger, roger," a common battle-droid phrase) often betrayed their disguise to observant individuals. Commando droids also possessed considerable strength, as demonstrated by one instance where a unit lifted Clone Captain Rex by his neck. These droids excelled in melee combat, employing vibroswords in close-quarters engagements and demonstrating remarkable agility, allowing them to evade blaster fire and surprise adversaries. Despite their numerous advancements over standard B1 battle droids, their elevated production costs restricted their widespread deployment, leading to the continued reliance on the B1 as the primary infantry unit for the Confederacy.

History

Clone Wars

Elite troops of the Droid Army

One commando droid asserted that it had been constructed five "cycles" before the advent of the Clone Wars, suggesting that particular commando predated its battle droid counterparts. Nevertheless, the BX-series was regarded as "new" in 22 BBY, during the early stages of the Clone Wars. Indeed, the BX was in the midst of preliminary evaluations early in the conflict. During that evaluation phase, General Grievous's forces observed the favorable results of the BX tests. Acting on Grievous's behalf, the droid C-5DS placed an advance order with the Akiva production plant for twelve thousand BX commandos to be integrated into Grievous's forces. At least one commando droid participated in the Battle of Antar 4, where the BX unit performed admirably.

In 22 BBY, at a point when commando droids were still a relatively new asset in the Clone Wars, General Grievous deployed them to infiltrate and seize control of the Republic's Rishi Moon Station. Initially, the droids arrived aboard a Droch-class boarding ship and, after ambushing the deck officer, CT-327, they breached the base, eliminating Clone Sergeant O'Niner and all but four of his men, who managed to escape through a ventilation shaft. They maintained control of the station until Clone Commander Cody and Clone Captain Rex arrived to conduct an inspection. Working alongside the survivors of the Rishi Station unit, Cody and Rex successfully reclaimed the listening post from the commando droids and neutralized them.

However, droid reinforcements arrived at the station, prompting one of the station's clone troopers, Hevy, to sacrifice himself to destroy the base. The commando droids had tampered with the base's all-clear signal, necessitating the destruction of the station to alert the Republic of an impending Separatist assault on Kamino. However, the detonator failed to connect with the tibanna intended to destroy the station. This forced Hevy to manually activate it, resulting in his sacrifice for what he considered home. The destruction of the base and the cessation of the all-clear signal alerted the Republic to the situation. A Republic fleet arrived at the Rishi moon, compelling Grievous and his outnumbered fleet to retreat.

At least a pair of commando droids were stationed in Lessu during the Battle of Ryloth. Their mission was to prevent the ARF troopers Stak and Razor from activating the plasma bridge, but they were ultimately defeated. The two ARF troopers successfully activated the bridge, leading to the Republic's capture of Lessu, aided by the Twi'lek Resistance. The capture of Separatist leader Wat Tambor marked the end of the Separatist occupation of Ryloth.

General Grievous utilized commando droids during his boarding of Jedi Council member Eeth Koth's flagship, the Steadfast, resulting in Koth's capture. Subsequently, in the Saleucami system, Grievous and his tactical droid, TV-94, deployed them against fellow Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Adi Gallia, and Anakin Skywalker during their rescue of Koth from Grievous. Later, a pair of commando droids served as snipers after Grievous crash-landed on Saleucami's surface. One of the droids shot Captain Rex as he approached, leading a speeder patrol. The shot penetrated the clone captain's armor and narrowly missed his heart by a mere two inches. Rex's companions swiftly retaliated, running down and eliminating both droids.

While Rex recuperated at a farmstead, he discovered that it was owned by a clone deserter named Cut Lawquane, whose adopted children stumbled upon a Separatist escape pod that had crashed in one of their fields. Their exploration of the pod led to the accidental activation of its complement of commando droids, which proceeded to attack the homestead as Rex and Cut defended it. Despite sustaining heavy damage, the droids put up a fierce fight and inflicted significant damage to the homestead before being destroyed.

The war continues

The bounty hunter Cad Bane employed a pair of commando droids during his hostage situation involving several members of the Galactic Senate. They successfully impersonated the Senate Commandos stationed at the entrance. Later, they escaped alongside Bane, Ziro, and the other bounty hunters. These commando droids were adorned with the Black Sun symbol and exhibited a dark blue coloration.

Commando droids also served as guards at the Citadel under Warden Osi Sobeck, distinguished by special yellow markings on their torsos. They were responsible for guarding prisoners, maintaining security, and operating the laser cannons.

The Confederate minister Rish Loo deployed commando droids against Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala when his scheme was uncovered. Although the droids were swiftly destroyed, they provided a sufficient distraction for Loo to escape.

On Kiros, commando droids operated Flitknot Speeder Bikes and AATs when the Republic forces arrived. The Confederate commander Darts D'Nar had two commando droids as his personal guards during negotiations with Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi for his surrender. Kenobi engaged D'Nar in hand-to-hand combat, diverting his attention while Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano disarmed all of D'Nar's bombs in the city. Upon learning of this, Kenobi swiftly destroyed both droids by levitating them and crushing them with the Force. D'Nar evaded capture by Kenobi by detonating a bomb hidden in his T-series tactical droid, much to the tactical droid's dismay, but Skywalker and Tano apprehended D'Nar, leading to his capture by Tano.

During the Confederate–Republic peace conference at Sundari on Mandalore, commando droids served as security for the Confederate delegation. Several forcibly removed Onderon's Senator, Lux Bonteri, when he publicly denounced Count Dooku for his involvement in the murder of Lux's mother. After Padawan Ahsoka Tano rescued Bonteri from his execution, the commando droids engaged in combat with the Senate Commandos under Captain Taggart when the peace conference dissolved.

Grievous deployed commando droids when Dooku ordered the annihilation of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. During the Battle of Dathomir, commando droids were deployed by Grievous to engage the Nightsisters. They accompanied Grievous when he and his droids located Mother Talzin and Old Daka within a concealed cave in the Nightsister lair. A commando droid employed a rocket launcher to breach the cave wall, enabling Grievous and several droids to enter and eliminate the Nightsisters inside. Around that time, several commando droids fought a group of Nightsisters while Grievous fought Selena before killing the future Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth's mother. Three commando droids later chased Morgan, but she hid in a tree, fooling two of the droids, though the last one stayed back to find and fight Morgan, though the Nightsister triumphed, despite the droid's tough design. Her victory would be a small pyrrhic win however, since the Separatist Droid Army continued the massacre of the people with Grievous's laugh echoing throughout the burning land.

Several commando droids were deployed to the Onderonian capital city Iziz. They spearheaded the assault on the Onderon rebels' base in the highlands, resulting in the deaths of numerous rebels alongside the new Separatist HMP droid gunship.

The final year

Several commando droids participated in Grievous's invasion of Hondo Ohnaka's Gang's base on Florrum, leaving the pirate captain's base in ruins.

Admiral Trench employed commando droids in his defense of Ringo Vinda space station. Several commando droids were also aboard the Maxillipede shuttle under the command of Commander Kraken used to transport clone trooper Tup from Ringo Vinda, as the trooper had mysteriously killed Jedi General Tiplar in what had been an early execution of Order 66 due to a failure in the clone's behavioral modification biochip. The droids on the shuttle were destroyed by Anakin Skywalker, Clone Captain Rex, and ARC trooper Fives, and Tup was rescued, but Kraken was eventually rebuilt. Dooku deployed commando droids during his invasion of Scipio. There, they fought Commander Thorn's detachment of the Coruscant Guard and left no survivors. A lone commando droid then apprehended Republic Senator Amidala alongside a battle droid and brought her before Count Dooku, with both droids being destroyed when Anakin Skywalker impaled them with his lightsaber.

Commando droids also participated in the Battle of Anaxes during the Outer Rim Sieges. A team of commandos arrived at the remains of a fight between battle droids and Clone Force 99, and one unit reported the unusual tactics used by this clone squad to Admiral Trench. Commando droids also arrived at a Separatist Security Outpost after it was attacked by Clone Force 99, Advanced Recon Commando Jesse, and Captain Rex. Later during the battle, General Skywalker defeated the two commando droids Trench sent against him while aboard the admiral's flagship, the Invulnerable

As with all other battle droids, the commando droids were deactivated alongside the entire droid army with the rise of the Galactic Empire.

Age of the Empire

During the early years of the Galactic Empire, a platoon of commando droids served under the command of governor Tawni Ames of Desix. The commando droid Eighty-One was active during the Imperial Era but was destroyed during the hunt on Chandar's Folly. On the planet Koboh, commando droids and other former Separatist forces were reprogrammed and used as soldiers by the Bedlam Raiders.

Following the destruction of the first Death Star, Darth Vader's position was jeopardized, as his master, Darth Sidious, intended to replace him with the aid of a rogue cybernetics doctor named Cylo. To solidify his position and reassure his master, Vader enlisted Doctor Aphra and forcibly seized a droid factory from Karina, using it to create an army of commando droids to confront Cylo, losing half of them in the process.

Subsequently, Vader deployed his commando droids during the final battle of the War on Shu-Torun. One of Vader's assassin droids, 0-0-0, had also modified the droids to have cyber syringes in order to drain the blood of the enemy troops. Horrified at the commando units suddenly proclaiming that they would bring death to their organic foes, the enemy army surrendered. Afterward, Vader sent his droids to help 0-0-0, BT-1, and Krrsantan capture Aphra. The Tech Masters used commando droids as guards.

Later, Aphra was pursued by a monster droid bounty hunter, which was made from BX-series and B2 battle droid parts. The bounty hunter was destroyed during the skirmish on Arbiflux. The Commando droid ND-5, owned by the crime lord Jaylen Vrax, worked with Kay Vess in pulling off a heist on Sliro's Mansion. In 5 ABY, the Siniteen prison builder Golas Aram used several commando droids to guard his private compound on the planet Irudiru. The New Republic operatives Sinjir Rath Velus and Jas Emari fought and defeated several of Aram's droids with the help of the New Republic Special Forces soldier Jom Barell.

Rise of the First Order

Before the tragic Hosnian Cataclysm in 34 ABY, the commando droid N1-ZX, nicknamed "Nunzix," served within the Resistance's network of spy droids. This particular droid, Nunzix, was uniquely programmed with self-preservation software, leading to an intense focus on his own survival. Possessing a disposition marked by grumpiness and selfishness, Nunzix was unwilling to put himself in harm's way. While stationed on the planet Kaddak, he managed to gather intelligence concerning the First Order and the whereabouts of Supreme Leader Snoke. Subsequently, Poe Dameron, along with his commander C-3PO, and BB-8, embarked on a mission with the objective of rescuing him. Displaying a notable lack of gratitude towards his saviors, the spy droid insisted on withholding the information he possessed until their safe return to the Resistance base situated on D'Qar.

Poe began to suspect that the information was a deception crafted by Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau, intended to ensnare the Resistance in a carefully laid trap. Terex, accompanied by the Ranc Gang, relentlessly pursued Poe and the droids. After crash-landing on an unidentified desert planet, N1-ZX and his rescuers sought refuge within a cave. Given N1-ZX's reluctance to engage in combat, Poe made the decision to override his existing programming, replacing it with a droid personality template provided by his associate, Temmin Wexley. Nunzix then adopted the persona of the B1 battle droid Mister Bones and decimated a significant number of Terex's gangsters before Terex fatally shot him, resulting in his disintegration.

Equipment

Throughout battles, droid commandos employed a diverse range of weaponry. A common choice was the Droid Army's standard blaster, specifically the E-5 blaster rifle. Additionally, they were known to utilize vibroswords for close-quarters combat. For ground assaults, they made use of thermal detonators, and for long-range engagements, they employed sniper rifles. Stun batons were also frequently carried by these droids. During the Battle of Dathomir, one of General Grievous's commando droids was observed wielding a missile launcher. At the Citadel, a droid commando utilized an electrostaff for torture purposes. Other droid commandos present at the Citadel were equipped with specialized shields and operated the cannons stationed there, although these cannons were typically manned by B1 battle droids. Furthermore, the droids possessed the capability to mimic the voices of others and would impersonate clone troopers and Senate Commandos by donning their respective armor.

Behind the scenes

The BX-series droid commandos, first introduced in the episode "Rookies," were conceived for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as a more advanced iteration of the B1 battle droid. BX units appeared as adversaries in the video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, where one BX claimed creation five "cycles" prior to the Clone Wars. However, other instances suggest the BX unit's emergence during the war itself.