Torrent

Biography

Early service and Taanab

In 33 BBY, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas gave Kaminoan scientists the order to generate clone troopers with the intention of creating the Grand Army of the Republic. TX-828 was one of the final clones to be created on Kamino, the planet, and at some point during his service in the clone army, he was given the name "Torrent." In 19 BBY, the Galactic Republic underwent a reorganization and became the Galactic Empire; despite the fact that many clones remained with the Empire, TX-828 was one of the last to serve, his late production allowing him to remain in service despite the accelerated aging of clone troopers.

During the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, TX-828 continued to serve the Empire. By 0 BBY, TX-828 had been promoted to the rank of sergeant and was serving under Imperial Security Bureau Senior Commander Alecia Beck, who was stationed aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vehement. During this time, Beck had been tracking the Shrikes, Rebel Alliance operatives, and had traced the rebel cell to the planet Taanab, where she hoped to observe their actions and gather information about Alliance High Command.

On the morning following the Battle of Yavin, in 0 ABY, ISB officials received a message from Coruscant containing an order from Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine to apprehend all suspected members and sympathizers of the Rebel Alliance. Following the new order, TX-828, under Beck's direction, led a troop of eight stormtroopers in an ambush against the Shrikes as they attempted to escape on an EE-730 transport. TX-828 and his fellow soldiers engaged the rebels in a brief firefight, lasting less than ten seconds, using their E-11 medium blaster rifles set to stun. TX-828 and his squad managed to capture four rebel troopers, but a Rodian rebel evaded capture and shot the unconscious men and women before committing suicide. Beck, convinced that the action was taken to protect rebel secrets, had TX-828 search the five rebel bodies. TX-828 and his troop conducted the search but found nothing. Beck, however, used her cybernetic eye in the ultraviolet spectrum and found the symbol of the Shrikes. On Beck's orders, TX-828 boarded the rebels' starship with his troop and commanded them to begin a thorough search. TX-828 believed that all of the rebels were accounted for, but when he and Beck entered the ship's sleeping quarters, they discovered evidence that a sixth Shrike, Caluan Ematt, had escaped.

Following Beck's order, TX-828 had an additional ten squads from the Vehement search the hangars and local cantinas, before sending a scanning crew to deliver the data to the ISB officer. When Beck received the data, she noted that the logs from the ship's navigation computer were absent. Beck subsequently contacted TX-828, who affirmed that both the ship's computer and hyperspace logs had been wiped. After the update, Beck was notified that three ships had slipped through the planet's Imperial blockade. Deducing that Ematt was aboard one, a MK I bulk transport, Beck contacted the Vehement's captain, Hove, and a course was set for the transport's destination: Cyrkon, a crime-ridden planet in Hutt Space.

Investigation on Cyrkon

Promenade firefight

Upon arriving at Cyrkon, Beck led TX-828 and a squad to Motok, the capital of the planet. Once in the city, the group began their search for Ematt, eventually arriving at a cantina. At Beck's command, TX-828 ordered the stormtroopers to line the bar patrons against the wall and to shoot if they resisted. While two of the stormtroopers began searching the patrons for weapons, Beck explained that she was looking for Ematt. When a Twi'lek claimed that none of them had seen Ematt, Beck called the man on his lie, and she had TX-828 take the alien out of the bar.

Continuing the interrogation, Beck threatened the Twi'lek, who began to comply. When Beck asked the alien if he knew Ematt was a rebel, the Twi'lek said that he had suspected so. Beck stated that all rebel sympathizers were to be shot on sight, and TX-828 fired upon the Twi'lek. As TX-828 moved the body, Beck learned from Captain Hove that a marked YT-1300 light freighter under the alias "Lost and Found" had landed in Motok. Inferring that the ship was attempting to rescue Ematt, Beck informed the sergeant, and the squad raced to the suspect hangar.

On the way to the hangar, TX-828, Beck, and the squad encountered a firefight in the spaceport's promenade. When a passerby yelled that the shooters were rebels, the squad advanced, and Beck ordered the assailants to put their weapons down. However, unknown to the Imperials, the passerby was the smuggler Han Solo, owner of the suspect freighter, who was accompanied by the Wookiee Chewbacca, and the shooters were not rebels, but bounty hunters sent after Solo by Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Without hesitation, TX-828 ordered his troops to execute plan Sigma Four, with two stormtroopers flanking either side of the promenade, advancing, firing, and advancing again. One of the stormtrooper pairs quickly stunned a Kubaz fighter, as the other pair brought down a Gran. Only a human and assassin droid remained; the human tried to run, but he was shot. As the droid attempted to surrender, the sergeant lifted his short-barreled DEMP gun and fired, disabling the droid.

Beck praised TX-828 for his efficiency, and the sergeant thanked his commander. TX-828 then directed the squad to disarm and bind the suspects. Meanwhile, Beck approached the unconscious human, whom she expected was Ematt, but after finding an Imperial Peace-Keeping Certificate, she realized the four attackers had been bounty hunters and not rebels. Piecing together the situation, Beck asked TX-828 where the human and Wookiee had gone, and the sergeant noted that the two likely had ran when the fight began. Behind them, the droid restarted, identifying itself as "Captivator" and stating that the Imperials had interfered with its mission. The droid elaborated, explaining that the man and Wookiee were the smugglers Solo and Chewbacca, and that there was a significant bounty for their capture.

Seeing an opportunity, Beck asked Captivator if it could identify Solo's ship. The droid hesitated, before claiming that Solo flew a KLT-Kuat light freighter named Roundabout Right. Once given the information, Beck allowed Captivator's crew to leave. Believing that the droid had been lying, TX-828 voiced his concerns to the commander. Beck confirmed his suspicions, and she explained they were searching for a YT-1300 light freighter.

Directing her attention to the owner of a nearby café, Beck told the man to remove his clothing; Beck then ordered the sergeant to remove his stormtrooper armor, don the proprietor's tunic, follow the bounty hunters, and report on their progress while she advanced toward Solo's ship. As TX-828 removed his armor, Beck realized that he was a clone, one of the last still in service. Beck asked TX-828 what he was referred to in the barracks, and the sergeant replied that he was called Torrent. The clone finished dressing, and Beck told him to use "Torrent" as his callsign, handing him her blaster pistol. The sergeant then departed, tracking the bounty hunters through the crowded spaceport.

Springing the trap

TX-828 followed the four bounty hunters to a cantina aboard the yacht Miss Fortune. As the group departed the cantina on a landspeeder, TX-828 acquired a swoop, tracking the bounty hunters to a low-rent hotel in the city's south side. While the bounty hunters entered the building, TX-828 remained outside, taking cover and waiting. Roughly three minutes later, Solo, Chewbacca, and another human emerged, pursued by the hunters. Although unable to identify the third, TX-828 presumed the man to be Ematt.

TX-828 subtly intervened to allow the trio to escape and enter the Imperial ambush, shooting the Gran and human bounty hunters. The three rebels fled aboard a landspeeder back toward the spaceport, and TX-828 began to follow. At this time, the sergeant was contacted via comlink by Beck, who informed him that the ship had been found, requesting a report. TX-828 retold the events, and Beck complimented his work. When the rebels were an estimated five minutes from the trap, TX-828 contacted Beck, keeping her updated.

Beck informed the sergeant that upon his arrival, he would take command of the forty stormtroopers stationed on the promenade outside the docking bay. TX-828 arrived at his position less than four minutes later, informing Beck that the trio of rebels was twenty seconds away. On cue, Ematt, Solo, and Chewbacca entered the docking bay, and TX-828, wielding his E-11 blaster rifle, covered their exit as Beck sprung the trap. The three rebels surrendered due to being outnumbered, and once they were disarmed, TX-828 approached Beck and remained at her side. Beck then ordered the trio to be searched, bound, and transported to the Vehement, so TX-828 began with Ematt, thoroughly searching the human.

The search was interrupted when a scuffle started between Solo and Chewbacca, resulting in several stormtroopers being knocked to the ground. Solo grabbed a rifle from one of the troopers, revealing that the fight had been a ruse, and he fired upon the generators that formed the hangar's magnetic field, the only separation from Cyrkon's hazardous atmosphere. As the toxic heat rushed into the building, TX-828 began grappling with Ematt before being tackled by Solo. The starship Miss Fortune then appeared above the hangar, firing upon the stormtroopers. As the three rebels ran for the Millennium Falcon's boarding ramp, TX-828 got up and quickly escorted Beck to cover just as the Miss Fortune's ventral turret fired on her previous location.

Flight of the Falcon

The Millennium Falcon and Miss Fortune fled from the port, leaving behind the defeated Imperial forces. As Beck contacted the Vehement, TX-828 knelt beside one of the fallen stormtroopers, before ordering his remaining troops to follow Beck into the safety of their transport. Once TX-828, Beck, and the other survivors had boarded, the transport departed for the Vehement. As they approached the Star Destroyer, the rebel ships came into view, and TX-828 identified the Miss Fortune to Beck. The commander still hoped to catch the fugitives, and when their transport landed in the Vehement, she and TX-828 ran for the bridge.

Beck ordered the Vehement to target the Millennium Falcon with its tractor beams, and a chase ensued. The Millennium Falcon fled into Cyrkon's atmosphere and approached the domed city of Motok. As the Vehement followed, Captain Hove informed Beck that continued use of the tractor beam would cause collateral damage to the planet and destroy the city. When Beck stuttered in response, TX-828 addressed her. She then grabbed him and explained that she knew the rebels' plan: if the Vehement captured the Millennium Falcon, there would be millions of witnesses to the destruction caused by the Empire, and the city would be martyred. TX-828 stood with Hove as Beck stormed from the bridge. Hove called off the pursuit, and the Vehement returned to space. Soon after, the Millennium Falcon escaped into hyperspace. Ultimately, TX-828 found himself on the wrong side of the fighting; the Empire surrendered to the successor state of the Rebellion, the New Republic, in the aftermath of the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY.

Personality and traits

TX-828, who was bred from the clone template of the human bounty hunter Jango Fett, had tan skin, dark eyes, and black hair. He stood at a height of 1.83 meters (6 ft). TX-828 became one of the last clones in service because of the accelerated aging of the clone troopers, and by 0 ABY, he had the outward appearance of a forty-year-old with graying hair, a smooth voice, and a likeness that Han Solo vaguely recognized. TX-828 followed orders efficiently and without hesitation under the leadership of Commander Alecia Beck, and he almost always responded with enthusiasm. During Caluan Ematt's escape from the Motok spaceport, TX-828 knelt beside a stormtrooper who had been killed, and Beck speculated that the soldier had been a friend of his, also noting that the sergeant was able to distinguish the stormtrooper despite the armor.

Skills and abilities

TX-828 was a skilled leader, and his squads were able to defeat enemies in a matter of seconds. He brought the efficiency and focused mindset from the clone army into the Empire despite mainly working with non-clone conscripts and recruits. The clone had strategic insight, calling out plan Sigma Four during the firefight with the bounty hunters in the Motok spaceport, resulting in a quick victory. Following the exchange, TX-828 successfully acquired a swoop bike and piloted it through the city. While observing his rebel targets exchange fire with a group bounty hunters, TX-828 discreetly killed two of the mercenaries, allowing the rebels to believe they had eluded capture.

Equipment

Like the other clone troopers, TX-828 was implanted by the Kaminoan scientists at birth with a behavioral modification biochip to ensure that the trooper would not resist certain orders. As a stormtrooper sergeant, TX-828 wore stormtrooper armor with a pauldron, and he was trained to use E-11 blaster rifles, DEMP guns, and blaster pistols. Additionally, TX-828 carried a comlink, which he used while following the bounty hunters through Motok.

Behind the scenes

Torrent first appeared in Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure, a junior novel from 2015 written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Phil Noto. Torrent is pictured in Noto's illustrations for the novel, and the character's design was based on art by Dave Seeley that embodies the likeness of Temuera Morrison.

Torrent and other Smuggler's Run characters later appeared in Rucka's pitch for the comic book miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Empire, but the story was abandoned after the cover of issue 1 was revealed.