TK stormtroopers, often called TK troopers for short, were an early iteration of stormtroopers, distinct from clones, who fought for the Galactic Empire during its initial rule. The clone troopers of the former Galactic Republic transitioned into the first stormtroopers after the Clone Wars, but TK troopers marked the introduction of recruits born naturally as humans, replacing the total reliance on cloning within the Imperial Military. Clone commandos secretly trained them in secret, unbeknownst to the Imperial Senate, before Emperor Palpatine officially approved them. They were equipped with prototype armor, using helmets derived from the abandoned Phase III clone trooper armor design, and wielded DC-15A blaster carbines.
Following the Clone Wars and the establishment of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the Empire took control of its predecessor's military forces, which included the clone troopers who originated from the legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. These clones were renamed Imperial stormtroopers. These clone stormtroopers were sent throughout the galaxy to uphold Imperial power, put down rebellion, eliminate remaining Separatist holdouts, and enforce new Imperial laws, such as the chain code. While the clones showed strong allegiance to the Empire, this was largely due to their behavioral modification biochips. Concerns soon emerged regarding the cost of producing new clone troopers, along with their rapid aging and short lifespans. Additionally, the clone troopers were initially created for the Republic, which the Empire had since replaced.
Governor Wilhuff Tarkin and Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart, two Imperial officers, questioned the continued employment of cloned soldiers. They suggested that a conscripted force of non-clone troopers would be a more economical substitute for the expensive Kaminoan cloning program. Shortly after Order 66 concluded, Tarkin visited Kamino to discuss the clone trooper program's future with Prime Minister Lama Su, who insisted on continuing clone production, referring to the former Republic's contract that mandated further clone creation. Tarkin dismissed the contract because it was an agreement between Kamino and the Republic, which no longer existed. Although both agreed that the Empire required more soldiers to maintain order, Tarkin believed that a conscripted force could accomplish this goal at half the cost.
Working with Vice Admiral Rampart, Tarkin authorized the creation of a small team of Elite Squad Troopers, consisting of four non-clone volunteers recruited from across the galaxy. These troopers were placed under the command of CT-9904 "Crosshair," a clone commando and sharpshooter who remained loyal to the Empire after his squad, Clone Force 99, defected. Rampart believed that these recruited troopers, with proper training from experienced clones, could be as effective as clone troopers. The unit's first mission was to eliminate Saw Gerrera's fighters on Onderon, the same mission that Clone Force 99 had refused to undertake. The squad returned to Kamino after eliminating Gerrera's fighters and the civilians under their protection, but trooper ES-01 was executed by Crosshair for refusing to execute unarmed prisoners. Impressed by the squad's performance, Tarkin placed Vice Admiral Rampart in charge of the secret Project War-Mantle.
With the effectiveness of non-clone soldiers demonstrated by the victory on Onderon, a secret Imperial training facility was established on the planet Daro. This facility housed the first thousand non-clone stormtroopers, recruited from across the galaxy, in secrecy, without the Imperial Senate's knowledge. They represented the initial wave and were trained by elite clone commandos such as Captain CC-5576 "Gregor." Gregor eventually attempted to defect and fled the Imperial installation, but he was captured and imprisoned. Later, Clone Force 99, hired by another rogue clone named Rex, infiltrated the base and rescued Gregor from captivity. As the rogue clones moved through the facility's hallways, squads of TK troopers, led by their clone commando instructors, tried to hinder their progress. Gregor later remarked that while the TK troopers were less skilled than their predecessors, their numbers were limitless.
As Project War-Mantle progressed, the Empire eventually terminated its contract with the Kaminoans, officially ending the clone trooper program. As Lama Su had feared, the Empire would not allow the cloners to continue their operations and quickly moved to seize their cloning technology. After all clone troopers were reassigned off-world, TK trooper squads were deployed to gather and remove the Kaminoan's cloning equipment. Once the facilities were cleared, a fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers bombarded Tipoca City and other Kaminoan facilities across the planet.
Several months after Kamino's destruction, the number of TK troopers had significantly increased, allowing for deployment in complete units. However, the majority of the Imperial military still consisted of clones, and TK troopers were often deployed alongside clone stormtroopers. When a force of Separatists on Desix refused to submit to Imperial authority, a squad of clone stormtroopers under Cody's command was deployed to the planet to suppress the Separatist holdout. After the clones cleared the Separatist stronghold, an occupation force composed entirely of TK troopers was deployed to the planet.
Around 18 BBY, more than a year after the establishment of the Empire, the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill, which aimed to legalize the recruitment of non-clone soldiers into the Imperial Military, was brought up for another vote in the Imperial Senate after previously being rejected. Opposition from Senators Riyo Chuchi, Bail Organa, and Tynnra Pamlo, along with Emperor Palpatine's absence from the initial hearings, caused delays in the bill's voting and passage. Organa and Pamlo argued that a new army was unnecessary since the Clone Wars were over, but Senator Gani Riduli and a Senator from the Commerce Guild argued that a new military would help maintain peace due to the rising number of insurgents threatening the Empire. Chuchi believed it was unfair to discuss replacing the clones without giving them a voice or offering financial and social support after their decommissioning, leading to the vote being postponed.
Despite the initial lack of provisions for the decommissioned troopers' living arrangements and pensions, Rampart eventually included them in the final version of the bill, as suggested by Chuchi, who unofficially represented the clones. However, the admiral revealed to Grand Vizier Mas Amedda that he had no real intention of providing these provisions to retired clones. Furthermore, without the Senate's knowledge, recruited troopers had already begun secret training and limited deployment in place of clones in certain cases during the bill's debates.
During the final voting session, Chuchi brought Halle Burtoni, the former Senator of Kamino, who testified about Rampart's mishandling of funds. Organa also presented new evidence in the form of the command log of VZ-114, Rampart's Venator-class Star Destroyer, which proved the Admiral's direct involvement in Tipoca City's destruction. This revelation caused an uproar and threatened the bill; however, Emperor Palpatine's appearance and subsequent speech, in which he portrayed Rampart's crimes as rogue actions, resulted in the bill's passage.
With full legalization, TK stormtroopers began a phased but widespread deployment across all sectors, including suppressing a conflict on Abartolom and arriving in large numbers on Barton IV to retrieve shipments of TK armor for the growing number of non-clone recruits in the Stormtrooper Corps. They replaced a small contingent of clones stationed at the depot who had succumbed to the elements and attacks from insurgents. When clone commando Crosshair returned to the depot with a mortally wounded Clone Commander Mayday after a failed attempt to retrieve stolen Imperial equipment, a group of TK troopers welcomed them and attempted to help, but Imperial Lieutenant Nolan ordered them back to work, though two were reluctant. After Crosshair killed Nolan for refusing medical aid to Mayday, TK troopers rushed to disarm the clone as he fell unconscious.
Later, a small team of TK stormtroopers stationed on an Imperial installation on Balmorra boarded a Gozanti-class cruiser to provide security for the vessel as it transported three dissident former clone troopers, Captain Howzer and two of his men, to Tantiss Base on Mount Tantiss. As the Gozanti left Balmorra and prepared to enter hyperspace, it was ambushed and disabled by a ship belonging to the rogue Clone Underground. Using a leech vessel, the rogue clones boarded the Gozanti and engaged in a fierce firefight with the ship's TK stormtrooper crew. The Imperial troops were ultimately overwhelmed, and the rogue clones briefly captured the vessel, which was subsequently destroyed after a responding Imperial Venator deployed a squadron of Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters, which strafed and destroyed the Gozanti.
Simultaneously, numerous TK stormtroopers began to be stationed at the Wayland facility on Mount Tantiss, which was previously garrisoned entirely by Imperial clone commandos of the Imperial royal guard. When Crosshair, imprisoned at the base after the incident on Barton IV, briefly escaped, he dispatched several squads of TK stormtroopers patrolling the facility's corridors before being recaptured.
Later, TK stormtroopers stationed at Governor Tarkin's compound on Eriadu engaged Clone Force 99 after the squad infiltrated the facility. At the same time, a group of Partisans under Saw Gerrera snuck into the facility and disguised themselves as TK stormtroopers. After several intense shootouts with the infiltrators and taking heavy casualties, the compound's TK stormtrooper garrison managed to overwhelm both groups, who attempted to escape. As Gerrera and his surviving partisans fled in a captured Nu-class attack/transport shuttle, Clone Force 99 attempted to escape using the compound's sky rail system.
The sky rail was temporarily disabled by explosions planted by Gerrera and the Partisans in the misguided hope of assassinating Governor Tarkin, Director of Advanced Weapons Research Orson Callan Krennic, Chief Scientist of Advanced Science Division Dr. Royce Hemlock, Admiral Barton Coburn, and General Hurst Romodi, endangering both Clone Force 99 and a group of TK stormtroopers riding a different rail car at the time of the former group's escape. V-wing starfighters piloted by TK stormtroopers strafed the sky rail several times, causing it to temporarily fall apart and leading to the death of the rogue clone Tech. Shortly after, the Empire tracked Clone Force 99 to Ord Mantell City and deployed numerous TK stormtroopers to occupy the city.
Twenty-one days after Omega's capture, 3 TK stormtroopers, including TK-343, were en route to Mount Tantiss on Imperial Shuttle 135 when lightning struck as they descended into the planet's atmosphere. The group survived the crash but were killed by the creatures of the Tantiss jungle, despite TK-343's attempts to contact the base for support. Four months later, the Tantiss Base on Mount Tantiss continued to be staffed by large numbers of TK troopers overseen by clone commandos. Contingents of troopers greeted Emperor Palpatine upon his visit and attempted to recapture Omega and Crosshair when they escaped from the facility.
TK stormtroopers were part of an Imperial presence on Lau when Omega and Crosshair crashed there after escaping Wayland. The troopers guarded a spaceport containing various species of animals abducted by the Empire. In an attempt to seize a shuttle and leave the planet, as well as reclaim their abducted lurca hound "Batcher," Omega and Crosshair assaulted the spaceport and battled its stormtrooper garrison. After releasing the animals and causing a stampede, Omega and Crosshair escaped in a shuttle with Batcher as the stormtroopers fled from the rampaging creatures.
After the Clone X trooper CX-2 confirmed Omega's location, Clone Commander Scorch dispatched a division of the Imperial Army, including TK stormtroopers and several Imperial clone commandos, to Pabu to retrieve her. A Venator-class Star Destroyer arrived above Pabu island and deployed numerous LAAT/i gunships, which landed Imperial troops to occupy the town. Under CX-2's orders, the gunships strafed Pabu's docks, destroying the island's boats and skiffs to prevent escape. Concurrently, CX-2 ordered his troopers to lock down the town and search every domicile until Omega was found. Upon Omega's surrender, CX-2 ordered a TK stormtrooper to scan her for tracking devices. As CX-2 departed the planet with Omega separately, the remaining Imperial forces entered their gunships and were recalled back to the Imperial Venator.
Soon after, multiple TK stormtroopers were killed in a raid by Clone Force 99 on an Imperial labor camp on Erebus. During the raid, the rogue clones managed to extract the disgraced Edmon Rampart, who had been imprisoned at the camp following his arrest on Coruscant.
Following this, at least two full divisions of TK stormtroopers were wiped out during a raid on Mount Tantiss, in which Clone Force 99 infiltrated the facility to rescue Omega, who instigated a Zillo Beast containment breach and an uprising among the facility's clone prisoners. In the aftermath of the raid, TK stormtroopers deployed from two Venators and Wilhuff Tarkin's personal Imperial I-class Star Destroyer oversaw the facility's indefinite closure and redistribution of its funds.
During the late stages of the Galactic Civil War leading up to the Battle of Jakku, Ubrik Adelhard, the Grand Moff and governor of the Anoat sector, reflected on his early days in the Galactic Empire as a TK stormtrooper.
Like clone trooper armor, TK stormtrooper armor featured white armor plates worn over a black body glove. The most distinctive aspect was the helmet. Adapted from the abandoned Phase III clone trooper armor design, it included a single visor with two lenses, replacing the Mandalorian-derived T-shaped visors of clone trooper helmets. It also had a raised ridge running from above the visor to the back of the helmet. The standard weapon for TK stormtroopers was the DC-15A blaster carbine, but they also used the DC-15A blaster rifle and BT X-42 heavy flame projector.
Similar to clone troopers immediately after the Empire's formation, most TK armor used identical white plating, lacking custom insignias, colors, and attachments. Exceptions existed, such as TK shock troopers who were identified by red markings on their armor and red pauldrons.
Some TK stormtroopers stationed on Lau used brown armored ponchos and black goggles over their helmet visors.
TK stormtroopers debuted in the fourteenth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch's first season. The episode, "War-Mantle," was released on July 30, 2021. The design of the TK stormtrooper armor was heavily influenced by Ralph McQuarrie's original stormtrooper concept art. As shown in voiced storyboards for "Return to Kamino" shared by Justin Bruce Lee, "TK troopers" were initially simply referred to as stormtroopers in the series.
The TK troopers introduced in The Bad Batch potentially create a continuity issue with stormtrooper armor seen in Star Wars: Darth Vader: Burning Seas, the fourth story arc of Charles Soule's Star Wars: Darth Vader comic series. According to Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide, the events of Ahsoka occur before The Bad Batch episode "Truth and Consequences," during which TK trooper armor was still in use, according to subsequent episodes of The Bad Batch. However, Ahsoka features the death of the Sixth Brother. As the Sixth Brother appears in the arc, the events of Burning Seas must occur before Ahsoka and, therefore, "Truth and Consequences." However, what appears to be finalized stormtrooper armor appears in Burning Seas, which contradicts its setting during the TK trooper era. Minor artistic liberties with the armor allow future material to retcon it as another prototype variant.