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Covert Ops clone trooper

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This article details a subject that falls under the Legends continuity.

Covert Ops clone trooper

General information

Organization type

Special Forces^[1]

Founder(s)

Arligan Zey^[1]

Location(s)

Historical information

Formed from

c.21 BBY^[1]

Other information

Affiliation

Galactic Republic^[1]
- Grand Army of the Republic^[1]

Covert Ops clone troopers were eliteclone troopers serving with theGrand Army of the Republic during theClone Wars. These troopers were mainly assigned to perform "dirty work" that most clones would find questionable and unethical, mainly finding and eliminating clone troopers who have deserted the army.

History[]

Covert Ops troopers were standardclone troopers, drawn from the rank-and-file formations, who had shown some potential for "dirty work."Director of Special Forces Arligan Zey taskedNull ARCs N-10 andN-5 with training them incommando tactics, along with formerMandalorian Cuy'val Dar Wad'e Tay'haai andMij Gilamar. However, the "dirty work" they were sent out to do was not always as clear-cut as expected: serving insquads of two, covert ops troopers were occasionally sent to eliminate otherclones who had chosen todesert from theRepublic and live their own, independent, lives. Their trainers were kept in the dark about the sinister task they were training the Covert Ops clones to carry out and were furious when they found out.^[1]

One of the few known operations of this type was onGaftikar whenMoz andOlun were deployed to eliminateAlpha ARC Sull, an ARC trooper who had deserted his post. This two-man team wasKIA byDarman, who was mistaken for Sull when undercover and attacked.^[1]

This type of clone trooper was one of the most secretive in theGrand Army of the Republic as their activities were kept from both public and military records. Contrary to the other elite clone troopers, Covert Ops troopers were not part of theSpecial Operations Brigade nor did they follow the proper chain of command. TheDirector of Special Forces even ignored their existence for a long time. They took orders directly from theOffice of the Supreme Chancellor.^[1]

Equipment[]

Most Covert Ops troopers utilized modifiedDC-15A blaster rifles andDC-15S blasters in combat. They wore prototype armor with a specialized coating ofReflec to better conceal themselves. The armor was purple incolor with brown camouflage. It had two purple trident symbols, one on the wrist and one on the chest,^[2] reminiscent of the ones Wad'e Tay'haai wore on his shoulder armor.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

The action figure version of the trooper.

This type of trooper made its first appearance as aStarWarsShop.com exclusive action figure.^[2] The backstory of the Covert Ops clone trooper was meant to be developed by fans in Round 6 of theWhat's The Story? feature ofHyperspace. However, according toPablo Hidalgo, "A winning entry was selected, but it became apparent that projects in the works tread too closely to the lore being established in the CO troopers, that the call was made to pull it. Better that than introduce an instant-continuity error."^[4] The backstory of the covert ops troopers was established inTrue Colors.^[1]