Stormtrooper Corps (First Order)

The armored infantry units known as stormtroopers formed the backbone of the First Order's Stormtrooper Corps. The Order primarily filled its legions of ruthlessly loyal troopers by abducting infants and subjecting them to lifelong training. However, the corps also accepted older citizens, even releasing a propaganda poster encouraging enlistment.

The corps included a wide range of specialized troopers, providing commanding officers with diverse deployment options. These specialists encompassed electroprod troopers, troops wielding electroprods; elite stormtroopers trained to operate elite speeder bikes; and First Order jet troopers, who were trained and equipped for aerial combat.

Executioner troopers served as the embodiment of First Order justice, tasked with publicly executing troopers found guilty of treason. Unlike other specialized units, any standard trooper could be assigned the role of executioner depending on the day's orders. They used a BL-155 Laser ax to carry out decapitations.

A new class of elite stormtroopers, known as First Order Raiders, specialized in locating and retrieving Sith artifacts for Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

Troopers equipped for underwater operations were known as First Order SCUBA troopers, while First Order stormtrooper gunners received training in operating vehicle-mounted weaponry. Flametroopers were strategically deployed to use fire to clear out entrenched enemies. Megablaster heavy assault troopers specialized in heavy weapons, specifically the FWMB-10 repeating blaster.

Mountain troopers were trained to fight in mountainous regions like Batuu. Riot control stormtroopers received training in riot control techniques and were equipped with non-lethal gear, such as shields and batons. Snowtroopers wore specialized armor that allowed them to operate in arctic conditions.

As a component of the First Order Army, the Stormtrooper Corps was organized into legions of eight thousand troopers, stationed aboard First Order Resurgent-class Star Destroyers such as the Finalizer and the Steadfast. The 709th Legion, whose members were handpicked by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, was one such unit.

The Corps was further divided into divisions and companies. Captain Phasma led her own division, as did Ren before becoming Supreme Leader. Company 77 was a rebellious unit that deserted after refusing to execute civilians.

Additional unit levels included the FL group and the FO group. The FN Corps comprised stormtroopers whose training was overseen by Phasma, who considered them her best cadets. The First Order established military garrisons throughout the galaxy to consolidate its control. Occupation forces were stationed on the Colossus as well as on the occupied world of Kijimi.

The standard operational unit of the Corps was a ten-soldier stormtrooper squad, consisting of nine regular troopers and one weapons specialist. The type of specialist depended on the mission. The troops of CS-Squad served under Commander Pyre and Sergeant CS-812.

The Stormtrooper Corps had a hierarchy of officers who commanded the rank and file. The color of the pauldron worn with their armor indicated an officer's military rank. Squad leaders wore white pauldrons, while black pauldrons denoted stormtrooper sergeants. Officers such as Lieutenant KM-8713, Captain Bray, and Captain Ruthford wore red pauldrons. Exceptions included CS-812, who wore a red pauldron despite being a sergeant, and Commander Pyre, whose gold armor featured a black pauldron.

Another exception was Lieutenant Gauge, who wore standard white stormtrooper armor with a red visor and double-sided red pauldron. Advancement in military rank was at the discretion of the commanding officer. Captain Phasma promoted KM-8713 to lieutenant after the trooper expressed her ambition to become an officer.

The First Order Stormtrooper Corps originated with the Commandant's Cadets, a secret society of Imperial cadets established by Commandant Brendol Hux within the Arkanis Academy. Hux, a former junior officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, admired the combat skills and dedication of the clone troopers and Jedi Knights who fought for the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, finding the Imperial stormtroopers lacking in comparison. Hux aimed to reform the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps to create an army of super-soldiers on par with its Republic predecessor.

Hux proposed training stormtrooper recruits from birth, drawing inspiration from the young age at which both the clone army and the Jedi Order trained their members. He believed that combining Republic and Imperial training methods would produce exceptional soldiers and loyal servants of the Empire. Potential members were identified based on their strong performance at the Imperial Academy on Arkanis and further tested before joining the Commandant's Cadets.

As the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and New Republic neared its end in 5 ABY, Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax utilized Hux's training methods to transform a group of Jakku orphans into child soldiers. Rax then placed Brendol's illegitimate son, Armitage Hux, in command of this group, who shared his father's vision of an army trained from birth. The soldiers, the Huxes, and other Imperial officers were dispatched to the Unknown Regions to establish a new Empire under Rax's leadership, but he was killed by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, who then assumed control of the Contingency.

Following the Battle of Jakku, the Empire capitulated through the Galactic Concordance, a peace treaty signed by Grand Vizier Mas Amedda and Chancellor Mon Mothma. The treaty forbade the mobilization and training of stormtrooper forces and mandated the closure of the Empire's academy network. While remnants of the Empire persisted in the Outer Rim Territories, most of the remaining Stormtrooper Corps became mercenaries employed by rogue warlords. Despite these restrictions, a clandestine stormtrooper training program began within the First Order by at least 14 ABY.

Brendol Hux's vision of a Stormtrooper Corps trained according to his methods was realized through a secret initiative known as Project Resurrection. In its early years, the First Order was primarily composed of former Imperial personnel, such as Gideon Hask. They were progressively joined by a new generation of zealous officers and soldiers, including the highly-trained First Order stormtroopers. The First Order, aided by local contacts such as Jinata Security, scoured outlying star systems like the Jinata system for human infants from their homeworlds. These children were raised to fight in the Supreme Leader's name, programmed from birth to be absolutely loyal and obedient, and indoctrinated with the First Order's core values.

Brendol Hux, who rose to the rank of general, played a key role in the First Order's efforts to build its army through recruitment and conscription. One such mission nearly cost him his life on Parnassos, a world devastated by nuclear war. Around 24 ABY, Parnassos' automated defense system shot down General Hux's shuttle. He survived the crash and was rescued by three stormtroopers serving as his bodyguards. They enlisted the help of Phasma and her Scyre warriors to return to the First Order.

During this time, the troopers adopted nicknames—LE-2003 "Elli," PT-2445 "Pete," and HF-0518 "Huff"—because their allies struggled to remember their alphanumeric designations. Elli and Pete did not survive; Phasma salvaged Elli's armor and eventually accompanied Hux back to the First Order. Impressed by her skills, he inducted her into the stormtrooper training program and instructed that she be trained by CD-0922 Captain "Cardinal," one of his first recruits.

Brendol Hux did not live to see his stormtroopers conquer the galaxy. After his death, Armitage took over the Corps and continued his father's practice of molding children into soldiers. Captain Phasma, who had risen to a high rank in the First Order military, gained command over the First Order's stormtrooper legions, personally overseeing their training as head of the Stormtrooper Corps. The result was an army dedicated to serving the First Order and its ruler, Supreme Leader Snoke.

By 29 ABY, the New Republic was aware of the Corps' existence. The First Order circumvented its treaty obligations by claiming that the Corps was a territorial defense force.

During the Cold War, the Stormtrooper Corps played an active role in the First Order's conquest of the Unknown Regions. Under Supreme Leader Snoke's direction, the Corps launched a major offensive against various hermit kingdoms, seizing their worlds and resources to fuel the First Order's rise to power through conquest and colonization.

Fueled by an unknown number of powerful war machines and legions of stormtroopers indoctrinated with First Order dogma, the First Order moved closer to its goal of galactic domination. By this time, Captain Phasma, a ruthless stormtrooper determined to lead the First Order's forces to total victory, commanded the Corps. During the First Order's attack on Demir, KM-8713 attempted to rescue DB-7197, who was injured while fighting the native Demirians. Phasma ordered KM-8713 to abandon the injured trooper, but KM-8713 used DB-7197 as a shield against an enemy's thermal detonator.

Phasma rebuked KM-8713 for attempting to save a wounded soldier while acknowledging her competence. Although Phasma viewed compassion as a weakness, she recognized KM-8713's ambition to emulate her leadership. She promoted the trooper to lieutenant, warning her to suppress her compassionate nature.

Phasma placed the newly appointed Lieutenant KM-8713 in charge of leading a military strike against a strategically important Demirian stronghold on the iron planet of Demir. Determined to prove her worth, KM-8713 led a direct assault on the enemy position, disregarding the casualties around her. However, Phasma did not participate in the fighting, prompting KM-8713 to abandon the battle moments before a squadron of TIE/fo space superiority fighters bombed the area, killing Demirians and stormtroopers alike. Realizing that Phasma had intentionally sacrificed her soldiers to save herself, KM-8713 tried to execute the captain, denouncing her as a coward and traitor. KM-8713 was killed in the ensuing struggle.

The Benathy, a warrior species originating from the Wild Space region of the galaxy, embraced a policy of expansionism in the years following their defeat at the hands of the Galactic Empire. By the time the First Order dispatched the Stormtrooper Corps to the planet Benath, they had already eradicated all life on four different worlds. The First Order's aim was to halt the Benathy's territorial gains, hoping to achieve this through diplomatic channels. However, the Stormtrooper Corps stood ready to compel the Benathy's surrender should negotiations prove unsuccessful. Leading this mission was Kylo Ren, the grandson of the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Aware of his grandfather's history with the Benathy, Ren viewed this as an opportunity to distinguish himself by completing what Vader had begun – the subjugation of the Benathy people. He chose Captain Ruthford as his advisor, recognizing the Imperial veteran's prior service under Vader during the Empire's campaign on the Benathy's home planet.

As negotiations began between Ren and King [Kristoff](/article/kristoff], the Stormtrooper Corps, supported by a complement of ground vehicle walkers, remained on standby. Ren discovered the king to be resistant to his demands. While Ren reminded Kristoff of the Sith Lord who had killed one of his predecessors, the Benathy ruler was unimpressed by the young Knight of Ren. Despite Vader's victory over the Benathy, he had not destroyed their deity. Kristoff dismissed Ren's attempts to influence him through the Force and proceeded to taunt the former Jedi Padawan, prompting Ruthford to caution the king against provoking Ren's anger. The negotiations ended abruptly when Kylo Ren's lightsaber was activated, piercing Kristoff's [brain](/article/brain], resulting in his death. Ruthford then advised ordering a retreat. Despite this, he fought alongside Ren and his younger troopers as they clashed with the Benathy, who sought vengeance for their slain king.

Wielding his crossguard lightsaber, Ren fought alongside his troops during the First Order's battle against the Benathy. They mirrored the actions of Vader and the Imperial soldiers who had previously fought the Benathy. As before, a Zillo Beast made an appearance. It was the same creature that Ruthford had first encountered during his service with Ren's grandfather. Although Zillo Beasts were immune to blaster fire, Ren instructed his forces to continue fighting while he formulated a plan to eliminate the creature. Despite Ruthford's skepticism, who considered the mission futile, Ren successfully infiltrated the beast to kill it from within, where it was most vulnerable. After Ren emerged from the Zillo Beast's lifeless body, the Benathy surrendered to the warrior who had defeated the creature they worshipped as their god. Ren earned not only their loyalty but also Ruthford's respect.

The First Order's highly structured and standardized military training program produced exceptionally skilled stormtroopers; FN-2187 was one of these troopers. Despite excelling in training simulations and demonstrating agility, endurance, coordination, and accuracy, FN-2187 lacked the unwavering commitment to the First Order that was prevalent within the Stormtrooper Corps. For a time, he successfully concealed his doubts about the First Order, maintaining an impeccable record until his first mission. Assigned to a division under Captain Phasma, FN-2187 and his squadmates accompanied Kylo Ren to the desert world of Jakku, where the dark warrior was seeking a clue to the location of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

During the assault on Tuanul, FN-2187 was immediately confronted with the harsh realities of war when one of his squadmates, FN-2003, was fatally shot. Following the First Order's victory, Ren personally executed Lor San Tekka, a member of the Church of the Force, and captured Resistance commander Poe Dameron, who had arrived to retrieve the map. He then ordered the mass execution of the village's remaining inhabitants, to be carried out by the stormtroopers under Phasma's command. None of FN-2187's combat simulations had prepared him for the ensuing massacre, and he became disillusioned upon witnessing the First Order's willingness to engage in the indiscriminate slaughter of unarmed civilians.

Phasma had been closely monitoring FN-2187's performance and decided to have the trooper evaluated and ultimately reconditioned upon their return to the Finalizer. However, FN-2187 resolved to abandon his service to the First Order, freeing the imprisoned Resistance pilot in order to steal a TIE/sf space superiority fighter. Despite the feelings of camaraderie FN-2187 harbored for his fellow troopers, whom he relied on and sought to protect, he killed many soldiers while attempting to escape from the First Order command ship.

The stolen TIE fighter was shot down by the Finalizer's weapon systems, but FN-2187 survived by ejecting and parachuting to safety on Jakku. Following this incident, Captain Phasma, General Hux, and Kylo Ren sought to understand why one of their soldiers had betrayed the First Order, despite a lifetime of psychological conditioning. FN-2187's actions led Ren to condemn the entire Stormtrooper Corps as an army with the potential for treason, questioning whether the Supreme Leader would be better served by cloned soldiers. Hux refuted Ren's claim that all First Order stormtroopers were compromised.

Nevertheless, Finn was not the only stormtrooper to desert the regime; the troopers of Company 77 refused to obey orders to fire on civilians during the Battle of Ansett Island. The company eventually went into hiding on the moon of Kef Bir. Finn would later attribute their desertions to the will of the Force.

The Cold War ultimately escalated into the First Order-Resistance War, which the young soldiers of the Stormtrooper Corps regarded as their defining moment in galactic history. Following the Hosnian Cataclysm of 34 ABY, the stormtroopers abandoned any pretense of serving as a defensive force and fully embraced their role as an invading army. The era of the New Republic had ended, and the First Order no longer felt obligated to adhere to the treaties of a defunct government. With ten thousand soldiers ready for combat and at the First Order's disposal, the Stormtrooper Corps and other military branches helped establish the First Order as the dominant power in the galaxy, conquering vast territories after the collapse of the New Republic, despite facing continued resistance from the Resistance.

Having narrowly avoided destruction in the Battle of Crait, the Resistance reassembled on Ajan Kloss, where they gradually rebuilt their forces. Consequently, its members engaged the Stormtrooper Corps on numerous worlds, including Bracca, Corellia, Batuu, and the planet housing Horizon Base.

Around the same time, Agent Tierny and Commander Pyre spearheaded the hunt for the Colossus supertanker fuel depot. In 35 ABY, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious announced his return to the galaxy, triggering a series of events in which the Stormtrooper Corps fought the Resistance during the mission to Pasaana and aboard the Steadfast. Following the Battle of Exegol, during which stormtroopers served aboard the Steadfast while the Sith troopers of the Sith Eternal participated in the fighting, the First Order collapsed in the face of a widespread galactic uprising. Finn and other stormtrooper deserters, including the soldiers of Company 77, led the Resistance ground team during the invasion of Exegol.

While many stormtroopers were taken at birth and rigorously trained, the First Order also incorporated recruits who underwent the same training as those "conscripted-from-birth" soldiers. In contrast to the original stormtroopers, who were trained at Imperial academies, the new generation of white-armored soldiers received their military instruction aboard the First Order's Star Destroyers. Moreover, the First Order implemented a more standardized and superior training program compared to that of the Empire.

Stormtrooper conscripts were organized into large groups referred to as batches. Upon completing their training, stormtroopers were typically assigned to the same squads as their batchmates. Batch Eight was one such class, and its graduates included troopers FN-2187 and 926, both of whom were recognized for their exceptional marksmanship. KM-8713 and DB-7917 also began basic training together.

Unlike the Empire, the First Order's training simulations and live-fire exercises emphasized combat improvisation, making their iteration of the Stormtrooper Corps more formidable than its Imperial predecessor. Members of the Stormtrooper Corps received training in counter-insurgency, guerrilla warfare, and commando raids. They also received training in non-tactical areas such as combat medicine.

Captain Phasma sought to instill unwavering obedience and ruthlessness in the stormtroopers under her command. She believed that their loyalty should be directed towards the First Order rather than their comrades, a stark contrast to Captain Cardinal, who fostered camaraderie among his trainees. While FN-2187's act of treason caused Kylo Ren to question the loyalty of the entire Stormtrooper Corps, General Armitage Hux firmly believed that his methods were exceptional due to his emphasis on training stormtroopers from birth.

First Order stormtroopers fully embraced the purpose for which they had trained their entire lives: to transform chaos into order through military might. Captain Phasma viewed them as "patriotic idiots" and expendable resources for their leaders. Stormtroopers were informed by their officers, such as Captains Bray and Phasma, that their lives were considered expendable. Tactics employed by the Stormtrooper Corps included the Omicron Formation, which was used to locate and eliminate threats.

Most units within the Corps were identified solely by serial numbers, as First Order protocol prohibited stormtroopers from having individual names. This rule did not apply to stormtrooper officers, such as Pyre, Ruthford, and Bray. Phasma retained her own name upon joining the Corps. CD-0922 was given the name "Cardinal" by Brendol Hux, who promoted the once nameless trooper to the rank of captain. KM-8713's desire to be known by a name rather than a designation motivated her to climb the ranks of command.

The Stormtrooper Corps' troop transports, specifically the AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transports, were developed by Sienar-Jaemus Army Systems. Each transport had the capacity to carry two squads, or a maximum of twenty stormtroopers. To withstand anti-ship fire long enough to deploy its forces, the AAL-1971/9.1 was designed for the precise and rapid deployment of troops from an orbital carrier to a combat zone for ground operations. It was guided by a single pilot from the vehicle's elevated cockpit, while a gunner protected the troop transport during its final approach to the drop zone.

Serving as part of the First Order army, the Stormtrooper Corps was augmented by various types of military walkers, including the First Order All Terrain Armored Transports and the First Order All Terrain Scout Transports. In addition, the Corps received support from the All Terrain Heavy Hauler, the All Terrain MegaCaliber Six, and the All Terrain Mobile Artillery.

Sonn-Blas Corporation, a subsidiary of both BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc., operated within First Order Space and was responsible for producing the majority of First Order weaponry. The company was established in response to the Galactic Concordance, effectively circumventing the treaty's restrictions on selling arms to the First Order. By improving upon classic designs that originated during the Clone Wars, Sonn-Blas provided the Stormtrooper Corps with state-of-the-art weapons that featured precision manufacturing and efficient energy cells, which improved their accuracy, ammunition capacity, and operational lifespans.

The Stormtrooper Corps adopted the Sonn-Blas F-11D blaster rifle as their standard-issue blaster rifle. The F-11D incorporated an adjustable J19 electroscope, a removable stock assembly, a magnatomic adhesion grip with an integrated power feed indicator, a power cell, and a collapsible steadying grip. Furthermore, members of the Corps carried the Sonn-Blas SE-44C blaster pistol as their sidearm. The SE-44C featured a heat-dissipating barrel head, an integrated sight and mounting bracket, and a vibrating pulser that activated when the pistol's ammunition was low.

Various specialists employed weapons tailored to their specific roles. For example, a heavy weapons specialist was equipped with the Sonn-Blas FWMB-10 repeating blaster, also known as a "megablaster," which included additional ammunition packs worn on the trooper's web gear. The D-93 Incinerator flamethrower was the signature weapon of the First Order flametrooper. The flamethrower featured a peizoelectrical ignition system and was connected to a backpack containing twin outer conflagrine-14 fuel tanks and a central pressurized propellant tank via a double-chambered reinforced hose.

As soldiers of an authoritarian regime, First Order stormtroopers were trained to use non-lethal weapons and equipment for riot control. The Z6 riot control baton featured collapsible conductor contact vanes and an adhesion grip that magnatomically paired with a trooper's glove. It was designed to subdue unruly civilians by battering them into submission. The lightweight riot shield used in conjunction with the riot control baton provided additional protection for the trooper. Riot control troopers also carried F-11D blaster rifles, as they were authorized to use lethal force if riot situations escalated beyond their ability to control using non-lethal methods.

The First Order Stormtrooper Corps was built upon a foundation of armored infantry units that traced back to the final years of the Republic Era. Consequently, First Order stormtrooper armor was designed based on the earlier Imperial stormtrooper armor and the Republic clone trooper armor. The clone armor represented the first generation in the lineage of stark white armor. During the Clone Wars, it symbolized honor and defense. This perception shifted with the introduction of stormtrooper armor in the early Imperial Era, which saw the image of endless legions of white-armored troopers transform from a symbol of galactic salvation into a "faceless icon" of fascism.

Having adopted the legacy that the Republic initiated and the Empire inherited, the First Order's armored soldiers represented the latest evolution of the stormtrooper, one of the most recognizable symbols of military power in the galaxy. The First Order armor consisted of a suit of composite betaplast armor, divided into multiple white armor plates worn over a black temperature-controlled body glove. The body glove was constructed from a self-sealing combat mesh fabric. Standard troopers wore flexible, weatherproof underboots, as exemplified by FN-2187.

The standard infantry helmet was specifically designed to protect the head during combat, and it was also equipped with communications and targeting systems. The helmet's aesthetic design was intended to promote uniformity and conformity within the ranks of the First Order, which sought to suppress any sense of individuality among its troopers. The armor had a psychological effect on the stormtroopers who wore it. Captain Cardinal recalled his experience wearing stormtrooper armor and how it reinforced his sense of purpose as a soldier of the First Order. Additionally, the armor provided its wearer with a sense of belonging and identity.

The majority of stormtrooper helmets lacked advanced imaging equipment in order to minimize their weight. As a result, stormtroopers had to rely on separate quadnoculars in the field. These devices were oversized image enhancers that provided enhanced multispectral imaging through a quartet of precision lenses.