Stormtrooper Squad
Members of the Galactic Empire's Trooper Corps branch operating under the Imperial Army. In the Stormtrooper Corps, a squad was made up of ten stormtroopers. These fanatical warriors were devoted to the Emporer and would never turn traitor, and according to Imperial Record, none ever have.
The average stormtrooper is better armed, armored, and trained than any Planetary Defense Force was or the Imperial Army is; and that is the starting point from which Troopers advance into specializations and divisions.
In the Imperial Army all troops, whether conscripted or enlisted, begin at the Enlisted ranks - denoted by the Basic letter Esk in their dossier - and move upward through them during their careers. The Stormtrooper Corps maintains its own officer ranks, identical to the Imperial Army's, denoted by Osk and a number. During Academy training, those who excel can be promoted from Rating Esk-1 to Esk-2 and become either Squad Leaders, System Operators, or Heavy Troopers.
Composition
Manpower
The average Stormtrooper Squad is ten inexperienced soldiers, with only academy training. Consisting of four Esk-2 Troopers and six Esk-1 Troopers. Esk-1 Troopers were called Privates, while Private First Class. Informally, both ranks could be addressed as Private and the Trooper by referenced by a nickname earned during their deployment. Formally, each Trooper was issued an Ident-Number unique to them that they memorized during training and would be addressed by that rather than rank, as Stormtroopers wore no identifying marks in the field save for their rank pauldrons.
Equipment
Each squad was a functional unit that utilized multiple weapons and highly valuable equipment and armor. Stormtroopers were entrusted with highly valuable armor, the Stormtrooper Laminate Armor. A carapace of white plastoid armor plates over a bodyglove. The carapace itself was made up of 18 individual, overlapping plastoid-composite plates designed to stop heat and shrapnel. The interior was a skin-tight bodyglove with a built-in mesh that dispersed energy attacks over the entirety of its surface which allowed for mobility, while also protecting the wearer from glancing blaster bolts. Separate from these two portions are the synth-leather boots that are worn below the carapace armor and outside the bodyglove. As added features of the Stormtrooper laminate armor, there was a reinforced alloy plate ridge which protected the user's upper thigh, and a sniper position knee protector plate over a wearer's left knee helped improve accuracy when crouching. While most armor was fitted for humans, other forms were manufactured to fit other body types. A soft click would inform the wearer of whether or not they had correctly attached the armor.
The laminate armor's helmet included many items integrated into its functionality, including: vision magnification, air filtration, climate control, integrated communications links and audio pick-up, rangefinder, and a visual HUD. Thus, very little actual gear was needed - Troopers carried a Utility Belt and it held the required survival gear for the average Trooper's deployment as a peace-keeping force.
Weaponry
BlasTech was contracted to create the majority of the Stormtrooper Corps weaponry, as it had been their designs used during the Clone Wars by the Stormtrooper Corps' predecessors. The E-11 Blaster was a carbine designed to be functional at mid-range combat, as Stormtroopers are deployed on naval vessels and in urban areas most often.
In addition to the E-11, every squad carried three additional weapons - the Heavy carried a DLT-19 Light Repeating Blaster, and the Fireteam Leaders carried an HH-12 Rocket Launcher. The Troopers all carried grenades.
Vehicles
The Stormtrooper Corps uses the TX-225 GAVW Occupier Tank for urban pacification, the K79-S80 Imperial Troop Transport for prisoner and troop transport, and the LAAT/LE Patrol Gunship for rapid-insertion.
Structure
Esk-2 Privates First Class opt into trained specializations after receiving their promotions. Those in the leadership track become Squad Leaders. Those in the weapons track become "Heavies" - specialists with the DLT-19 Light Repeating Blaster. Those in the technology track become Systems Operations Specialist and utilize the more technologically advanced equipment used by the squad.
Esk-1 Privates have graduated their Academy Training Programs but have not yet shown an aptitude towards any specific specialization yet. It is the priority of the Esk-2 troopers in their squad to shepherd the Esk-1 troopers and improve their skills prior to the yearly review.
Tactics
A stormtrooper squad uses its numbers to advantage, splitting into three teams. Fireteam One and Fireteam Two split into separate flanks while Command uses a smoke grenade and goes for central cover. From there the team coordinates fire on close to midrange targets first then reforms and advances to the next cover point. Next they eliminate targets at close and midrange before reforming and advancing upfield and repeating the attack pattern.
Logistics
Logistical Support
The Imperial Navy is used to ferry Stormtrooper Legions from place to place. The Imperial Army shares the vehicles, though Stormtrooper Command is given priority requisition. The weapons and armor used are standardized from BlasTech and purchased by Stormtrooper Command within their share of the budget allotted to the Imperial Military.
History
Built from the remnants of the Grand Army of the Repubic, the intensely well-trained troopers were none the less an inexperienced peacekeeping force in the Empire's beginning years. While the Clones had been trained for war from their creation, Stormtroopers were trained in the Imperial Academy System and taught combat doctrine by Clone Veterans. While most Clones thought the new Stormtroopers were ill-trained and poorly equipped, this was more a factor of the time spent in training and the purpose they were training for.
Originally conceived as a military branch to supplement the Navy while simultaneously act as a uniform peacekeeping force, Stormtroopers became a reminder to the average citizen of the Empire's might. However, their function as space-faring marines still stands, and there is a Legion aboard every Star Destroyer.
Historical loyalties
The Galactic Empire. And only the Empire.
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