Clone X
Clone X, who was also referred to as Sniper X, was a clone X operative who was a conditioned clone trooper serving the Galactic Empire. Imperial officers used him for top-secret and crucial missions for the newly formed Empire after his identifying number was erased. In 18 BBY, as the early Empire started to phase out its clone trooper army and replace it with a military of drafted recruits, Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart put forward a recruitment bill in the Imperial Senate to finalize this shift. However, Rampart dispatched Clone X to eliminate anyone who knew about his prior secret attack on [Kamino](/article/kamino] cities, as this knowledge could jeopardize the bill's passage.
Despite Clone X successfully killing the trooper Cade, another trooper named Slip managed to escape with information regarding the attack. Beginning a search for Slip on the planet Coruscant, Slip spoke with Pantoran Riyo Chuchi after she made her opposition to Rampart's bill known to him and other troopers, revealing Rampart's destruction of the Kaminoan cities. Clone X continued his pursuit of Slip, but Rampart, after discovering that Chuchi's guards were also looking for the trooper, ordered him to eliminate Chuchi as well. After locating both and killing Slip, the assassin pursued Chuchi until he was stunned by the presumed dead Clone Captain Rex, but during questioning, he killed himself using a suicide shocker.
Biography
In the year 18 BBY, Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart sent Clone X on a mission to conceal information about the attack on Kamino and the genocide of its population, with the goal of securing the passage of the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill. As part of this mission, he hunted down clone trooper Cade, who had threatened to disclose the truth about the fall of Tipoca City to the Imperial Senate if Rampart didn't do it himself. Clone X assassinated Cade outside the cantina called 79's on Coruscant, but he was unsuccessful in killing fellow trooper Slip, who managed to flee on a speeder bike.
Subsequently, Rampart contacted Clone X to inquire whether he had located Slip. While Clone X hadn't found him, he had noticed that Pantoran guards were also searching for Slip. Rampart then instructed Clone X to tail Senator [Riyo Chuchi](/article/riyo_chuchi], hoping she would lead him to Slip. Rampart commanded him to eliminate anyone who might possess information about the conspiracy, including the senator herself.
The assassin successfully tracked Chuchi to a designated meeting place, where Slip was supposed to meet with Rex. He fatally shot Slip and one of the senator's guards. A standoff then occurred, and the remaining guard managed to delay the assassin while the senator attempted to escape. The assassin pursued her into a smoke-filled warehouse, where he killed the remaining guard, but he was then stunned by Rex, who had arrived at the meeting point too late but followed the sound of blaster fire and was able to rescue Chuchi.
Clone X regained consciousness to find that Rex had taken him to Trace Martez's repair shop, situated in level 1313 of the Coruscant Underworld. Rex interrogated him, but Clone X refused to cooperate, surprising Rex by knowing his name and asserting that he was fighting the wrong battle. After identifying himself as "a believer," he committed suicide using a suicide shocker, resulting in his immediate death.
His body was then placed on a hoversled and shown to Clone Force 99, with Rex noting that his identifying number had been erased.
Personality and traits
Being a clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett, Clone X was a male human with tan skin, black hair, and brown eyes. As a clone trooper, he was 1.83 meters in height. The assassin exhibited a cold demeanor, as he was capable of executing fellow clones with ease and without any remorse, as demonstrated by his executions of Cade and Slip. Clone X firmly believed in the Galactic Empire, which fueled his abilities and his desire to execute traitors and those who sympathized with treason.
Skills and abilities
Clone X possessed exceptional sniper skills, as he was able to use a sniper rifle to shoot Cade from a building nearby and to shoot Slip’s blaster out of his hand. He was also proficient in hand-to-hand combat and stealth tactics.
Equipment
Clone X was equipped with specialized armor that was painted black. His helmet was pressurized and included a mechanized visor that could retract and protract as needed. He carried a 773 Firepuncher rifle with a scope and a wooden stock for engaging long-range targets, which also had a grappling line integrated into the bottom barrel. Furthermore, Clone X had a suicide shocker concealed in his mouth, intended for use in the event of capture or interrogation by enemies seeking Imperial secrets.
Behind the scenes
Clone X made his debut in "The Clone Conspiracy," which was the seventh episode of the second season of the Star Wars: The Bad Batch television series, and it aired on February 8, 2023. The character was not identified in the episode itself, but he was given the name "Clone X" in the character's Databank entry. He was also identified as Sniper X in promotional images that were released by The Walt Disney Company on Getty Images. Clone X is described as both a bounty hunter and a mercenary in the online story gallery for "The Clone Conspiracy," but later episodes of Bad Batch established the Clone X trooper division as a mysterious component of the Empire's hierarchy. Therefore, this article assumes that any references to Clone X as a mercenary or bounty hunter are inaccurate. His Databank page was later replaced by a page dedicated to the Clone X trooper division.