A clone commando, also known as a Republic commando and later an Imperial commando, was an elite soldier of the Grand

Army of the Republic and later the Stormtrooper Corps. Often working in groups of four, clone commandos were assigned to carry out covert operations too delicate for regular clone troopers. Covert infiltration, sabotage, demolition and assassination were standard tasks for the clone commandos. When Order 66 was issued by Chancellor Palpatine near the conclusion of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order became targeted for extermination while Palpatine brought a swift end to the Old Republic by declaring himself emperor of the first Galactic Empire. The remaining Republic commandos were rechristened as Imperial commandos and incorporated into a special forces unit attached to the 501st Legion, under the command of theSith Lord Darth Vader. However, a minority of commandos refused to comply with Order 66, either out of sympathy for the Jedi or due to other personal reasons. For instance, Ion Team did not carry out the command to kill their Jedi officers, viewing it as an invalid order and not believing that the Jedi would betray the Republic, and instead opted to ensure the survival ofGeneral Roan Shryne. Other commandos fled to Mandalore, choosing to go into hiding rather than serve as the enforcers of the Emperor's New Order. Soon after the Kaminoans began developing the Galactic Republic'ssecret clone army on their homeworld of Kamino, a special forces unit was conceived as a necessary addition to the overall operational effectiveness of the new military force. Jango Fett, aMandalorian bounty hunter and the genetic template for the entire clone army, was confident that progeny would be engineered into the best soldiers in the galaxy, but also knew that there were situations that regular infantry was not suited for. As a result, he requested for a special batch of clones that he would personally train as Advanced Recon Commandos. The Kaminoans reluctantly agreed, but due to their disappointment in the failed prototypes, they felt little confidence that the second generation of ARC troopers would meet their expectations. Thus, they compromised with Fett; the bounty hunter would be allowed to train his ARC troopers while the Kaminoans proceeded with their plan to create the clone commandos, otherwise known as Republic commandos.[1] Unlike the ARC troopers, the Republic commandos would be more loyal and susceptible to following orders without question, yet they would still retain greater ability for independent thought than the standard clone troopers. Thus, they were to be the perfect balance between two extremes. With a greater capacity for independent thinking, the commandos would be better suited to handling delicate missions with complicated objectives. If necessary, they would also be capable of devising their own way for completing missions. By being indoctrinated with absolute loyalty to the Republic, the commandos would not be difficult to control as the notorious Null-class ARC troopers were.[2] The first batches of clone commandos were separated into squads, also known as "pods", of four clones each, in reflection of the native aiwha hunting pods from Kamino.[2][3] In addition to being subjected to the computerized flash-training program, the commando squads were divided amongst the Cuy'val Dar, a group of professional mercenaries covertly brought to Kamino and hired to train the commandos in a variety of ways, such as teamwork, infiltration methods, demolition techniques, assassination and much

more. The majority of the trainers were Mandalorians, such as Kal Skirata and Walon Vau; the rest were mercenaries of different backgrounds.[1][4]Although Fett's Cuy'val Dar were primarily responsible for the commandos' training, Kaminoan scientists personally oversaw the development of their creations as well. Taun We took a vested interest in the training of Delta Squad's leader, RC-1138, and helped to guide him throughout the first ten years of his life. Clone commandos were trained by a group of one hundred elite training sergeants chosen by Jango Fett, of which seventy-five were Mandalorian mercenaries. These men and women, known as the Cuy'val Dar trained the commandos in a variety of tactics ad fighting techniques, but the impressionable commandos also developed a few behavioral traits similar to their instructors.[1] The first generation of clone commandos were selected from the regular clone batches and then segregated into "pods" of four, effectively forcing them to depend on each other and work together in order to survive. During their training, commando squads were often pitted against each other during combat sessions.[3] Clone commandos were trained in live-fire exercises, giving them a sense of the reality of combat long before the regular clones. Anti-terrorist training was conducted in a building nicknamed the Killing House. Though many commandos failed to survive their exercises, the rest learned rapidly, allowing them to become better soldiers. However, the the loss of fellow squadmates was felt by any commando who lost avoda brother. The commandos also experienced near-death torture to train them in resisting interrogation, and many clones were left mentally scarred from the experience.[1] By the end of the commandos' training, the Kaminoans were very pleased with the results. Although unfit to fight on the battlefield as infantry soldiers, nor capable of performing complete solo operations like the ARC troopers, the clone commandos nevertheless demonstrated themselves as a new breed of warriors that few could challenge. Neither the regular clone troopers nor even the elite ARC troopers could match the clone commandos in organization and team-work. Despite the fact that many commandos were indoctrinated in Mandalorian culture and regarded each other as brothers, the Kaminoans were impressed enough to dub their experiment a complete success.[3] Specialized training "Try to keep them from blowing the place up until Vau gets here, ok?" Niner, to Darman[src] Each clone commando was trained to handle a specialized task, varying from commando to commando. Some, likeSev, specialized in sniping and assassination. Others, like Fi, specialized as medics and received more advanced training than their other brethren in that field. Others, like Boss or Niner, showed more leadership potential and acted as squad leaders. Some, like Scorch and Darman, showed a natural skill with demolitions ordinance and acted as demo specs. Others, like Fixer or Atin, were trained to be able to handle a variety of technology-based tasks, such as slicing computers.[2] Integration into trooper training regime

"Not quite ARCs, sir. Not like clone troopers, either. We don't work alone and we don't work in formations. We just look the same." RC-8015[src] It appears that the clone commando program was so successful that some clone troopers were trained in commando skills and tactics. Some commando-trained troopers were CT-19/39, a recon trooper killed onPraesitlyn;[12] RC-5108/8843, a former bomb disposal expert taken under Kal Skirata's wing; the clone trooper squad that accompanied Mace Windu and Valiant during the hunt for Darth Sidious;[13] and the non-ARC members of The Muunilinst 10.[14]

DC-17m Interchangeable Weapon Systems Katarn-class commando armor E-Web heavy repeating blasters Accelerated Charged Particle Repeater Guns Accelerated Charged Particle Array Guns Improvised explosive devices Bore bangs Flash-bang grenades EMP grenades Shotguns Geonosian force pikes LJ-50 concussion rifles Knuckle plate vibro blades Night Ops Armor TIVs DC-17 hand blasters (Seen used by RC-1138) WESTAR-20 blaster pistols Kamino saberdarts Garrotes

Commando recon droids Remotes Ribbon charges Hydraulic shearing machine DC-15s side arm blasters Bowcasters Wookiee Guided Rocket Launchers EMP disruptors Detonation packs Thermal detonators EWHB-12 heavy repeating blasters Wookiee rocket turrets Geonosian Elite Beam Weapons Kamas Miniature bacta tanks Thermal detonator tape Bacta sprays Heads-up displays Dampener aerosols

"You're the best in your fieldthe best soldiers, tacticians, sappers, communicators, survival experts. I picked you personally because I want you to train the best commandos in the galaxy. You'll have everything you need, whatever you want, except one thinghome. This is a top-secret project. You'll not tell anyone where you're going and you'll not leave Kamino, ever. As far as your friends and family are concerned, you're already dead." Jango Fett, recruiting the Cuy'val Dar[src]

Cuy'val Dar was a group of one hundred individuals summoned byMandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett, to come to the watery world ofKamino to train clone troopers for the Galactic Republic. Of these one hundred males and females, seventy-five were Mandalorians like Fett, and in the Mandalorian language Cuy'val Dar translated as "Those Who No Longer Exist"a name stemming from the need for these individuals to disappear to Kamino without contact with the outsidegalaxy due to the secrecy surrounding the developing Grand Army of the Republic. For close to ten years, these one hundred trainingsergeants trained the Grand Army's ten thousand clone commandos up until their deployment at the Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY, which sparked the galactic Clone Wars. With their contract up, many of theCuy'val Dar trainers went back to their lives, but a small number would continue professional relations with the Republic, returning to train further generations of clones on Kamino, and later crosstraining standard clone soldiers with commando skills. Nearly fifty years later, in 25 ABY, New Republic Intelligence agent andJedi Knight Kubariet, met with Mand'alor Boba Fett on Vorpa'ya in the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War. There, Kubariet requested that Fett form a new Cuy'val Dar group made up of experienced Mandalorian commandos, who could take on the task of training planetary militias to combat the Yuuzhan Vong. "I think it's significant that the casualty rate among commando squads trained by Mandalorians is lower than those trained by other races. Somehow, Mandalorians imbue their charges with a sense of purpose, self-confidence, and almost obsessive sense of clanof familythat gives them a genuine survival advantage. Let us be thankful they're on our side this time." Jedi Master Arligan Zey, on the effectiveness of MandalorianCuy'val Dar trainers[src] In the year 32 BBY, Count Dooku of Serennoa former Jedi Master who left the Jedi Order only to fall to the dark side of the Force, becoming the Sith Lord "Darth Tyranus"[7]convinced the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fettto become the progenitor of an army of clones to be grown on the planet Kamino.[8] Fett, an accomplished soldierhimself,[9] knew that an effective army would require variety, and troops that could handle more dangerous and complex missions.[10] With this in mind, Fett reached out to individuals throughout the galaxy to train elite clone commandos, beings with special skill sets ranging from military and survival skills, to tracking and communication experts.[1] Numbering one hundred in total, seventy-five of these trainers were Mandalorians like Fett, and these unique, hand-picked individuals would form the group known as the Cuy'val Dar, which in the Mandalorian languageof Mando'a meant "Those Who No-Longer Exist".[6][1] The origins of the name stems from the necessity of theCuy'val Dar to leave their lives behind and vanish to Kamino for an indeterminate amount of time, where they would have no contact with the galaxy beyond. Most were thought dead or missing in action, having left any family and friends they had without explanation. A large number of the Cuy'val Dar came from professional backgrounds that would likely be seen as borderline criminal by the standards of Galactic Republic society, with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and assassins among their ranks. Yet upon answering Fett's summons to Kamino, this eclectic assortment of beings took upon the role of training sergeants for thecommandos that would make up the Grand Army of the Republic's special forces. With the exception of Fett himselfwho would

personally oversee the training of the one hundred Alpha-class Advanced Recon Commandoscirca30 BBY, each Cuy'val Dar sergeant was given a company of one hundred and four clone cadets to turn into commandos.[6] The commandos-in-training were not limited to their assigned sergeants in the course of their education, and there were several members of the Cuy'val Dar who had unique skills to be passed on. Sergeant Mij Gilamar was a trained doctor in addition to being a Mandalorian soldier,[2] and he instructed the clones in the techniques of a combat medic.[3] Kal Skirata, another Mandalorian and one reputed as a dirty fighter, taught the clones counterterrorist tactics.[6] The Cuy'val Dar trainers would come to have a substantial impact on the clones they trained, stretching beyond teaching skills and moving into influencing their personalities. Mandalorian sergeant Walon Vau believed in training his men hard so that they would be able to face whatever actual combat had to offer, making them into survivors on an animal level. His theory would be given credence by the fact that squads trained by Vau had the highest survival rating following the devastating Battle of Geonosis. The commandos of Delta Squad would look upon Vau with genuine gratitude for his training, while RC3222or "Atin"resented and came to hate Vau for his brutality. Sergeant Kal Skirata took a different approach: though no less dutiful in his training, Skirata encouraged his men, and treated them as he would his sons. Fellow Mandalorian sergeant Rav Bralor had a similar approach with her own squads, and both Skirata and Bralor were looked upon with familial feelings by their clone trainees in return. Nearly all of the Mandalorian training sergeants, regardless of their training styles, imbued a sense of being Mandalorian upon their charges, teaching the clones of Jango Fett about their Mandalorian heritage, and in response quite a number of the clones took to that heritage enthusiastically.[6] This was not a trait unique to the Mandalorian trainers and their clones, however, as commandos trained by a Corellian took on certain Corellian traits and elements of the culture as well,[11] and the same could be said of clones trained by sergeants from Concord Dawn, such as the former Journeyman Protector Cort Davin.[4] The Grand Army would finally be mobilized in 22 BBY, approximately ten years after it was first created. However, because of the rapid nature of the army's deployment, manyif not allof the Cuy'val Dar sergeants were unable to say their farewells to the commandos they had trained, some of whom never returned from Geonosis. With the Kamino contract now over now that the Clone Wars had broken out, nearly all of the Cuy'val Dar went their separate ways, returning to the lives they left almost a decade prior, and doing so with a significant sum of credits for their rendered services.[6] Kal Skirata, though, would manage to secure himself a role as military advisor to the Grand Army's Special Operations Brigade as part of a deal with Jedi Master Iri Camas, and later Director of Special Forces Jedi General Arligan Zey, that kept the incredibly elite and equally unruly Null-class ARC troopersfrom wreaking havoc on Arca Company Barracks following the return toCoruscant after the Battle of Geonosis. By the second year of the war, Walon Vau had also returned to the employ of the Republic, even taking part in a strike against Jabiimi terrorists operating on Coruscant.[6] As time went on, Vau would also take part in the cross-training of standard clone troopers with commando skills, along with former Cuy'val Dar sergeants Mij Gilamar and Wad'e Tay'haai.[2] Members of the Cuy'val Dar would also take part in training clones on Kamino as part of the ARC training program instituted by ARC trooperAlpha-17, during which Cort Davin would be responsible for imbuing Clone

Commander Bacara of the Galactic Marines with the traditions and culture of the Journeyman Protectors. A number of members of the Cuy'val Dar, notably all of them Mandalorian, would continue to work together in the years after the Kamino contract was finished in a secret and personal mission aimed at aiding the clones they trained. Under the unofficial leadership of Kal Skirata, former Cuy'val Dartrainers Walon Vau and Rav Bralor attempted to obtain a means of halting the accelerated aging that plagued the clones by kidnapping Kaminoanscientist Ko Sai. Kamino's former Chief Scientist would defiantly take her own life at Skirata's Mandalore home, Kyrimoruta location Bralor had secured for Skirata as a hideaway, and as a refuge for any clone who wished to desert the Grand Army in favor of freedom.[3] Fellow Cuy'val Dar sergeant and doctor Mij Gilamar would attempt to continue what research they had gained from Ko Sai prior to her death, in addition to acquiring further research from other sources such as Arkanian Microtechnologies with the Null ARCs, before the group abducted the Separatist geneticist, Ovolot Qail Uthan, and convinced her to help them in their quest.[2] Skirata, Gilarmar, Vau, and Bralor, along with their formerCuy'val Dar comrade Wad'e Tay'haai, would spend a good deal of time at Kyrimorut in the weeks and months following the transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire, under the newly crowned Emperor Palpatine. While they would attempt to distance themselves from the Empire and its presence on Mandalore, former Cuy'val Dartrainers and now Death Watch members Dred Priest and Isabet Reau allied themselves with the Empire as part of Death Watch leader Lorka Gedyc's plan to strengthen the Mandalorians. Gilamar would kill Priest in the Mandaloriancapital city of Keldabe after his Death Watch ties became known.[11] Many years later, during the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the New Republic Intellegence agent and JediKnight Kubariet met with Mand'alor Boba Fett on the planet Vorpa'ya in the Mandalore sector. There, Kubariet reminded Fett of the Cuy'val Dar formed by his father, Jango, and suggested he form a new group of Cuy'val Darfrom his most experienced commandos in order to train planetary militias to resist the Yuuzhan Vong.[12] Wade Tayhaai was one of seventy-five Mandalorian warriors who comprised the Cuy'val Dar. He was a member of the group who were a cadre of battle-hardened training sergeants hand-picked by Jango Fett to train elite clone commandos and Covert Ops clone troopers for the Grand Army of the Republic. Although most of the Cuy'val Dar disappeared after completing the terms of their contract following the Battle of Geonosis,Jedi Master Arligan Zey later requested that several return to instructclone troopers selected for commando cross-training. A reluctant Tayhaai eventually joined Mij Gilamar in accepting the offer, but they did so with ulterior motives, agreeing to assist Kal Skirata in his efforts to investigate the Republics shifting strategies in the waning days of the Clone Wars. Near the end of the clone wars, mere days after Order 66, Tay'haai left the GAR with liberated clones, a party led by Kal Skirata. Armor and equipment Edit

Tay'haai was known to wield a traditional Mandalorian hunting spear known as a beviiragir, as well as a Bes'bev in addition to his purple Mandalorian armor. Vhonte Tervho (pronounced Fon'tee Ter'Fo) was a femaleMandalorian huntress. Tervho was one of seventy-five Mandalorians hand-picked and personally recruited by Jango Fett to train clone commandos onKamino. Upon accepting, she joined the ranks of the Cuy'val Dar"Those Who No Longer Exist" in the Mandalorian tongueas a training sergeants for the Grand Army of the Republic during the ten years it was formed in secret. The CR25 troop carrier, more commonly known as the Republic dropship, was a multipurpose dropship used to deploy units of clone troopers and gunships in battlefronts where the use of an Acclamator I-class assault ship was deemed too impractical. The clone commandos and Galactic Marines favored the CR25 over the CR20, because it had more cargo space, could hold four to eightLAAT/i gunships, twelve 74-Z speeder bikes, four All Terrain Personal Transports and had ports for null gravity space debarking. CR25 troop carrier Production information Corellian Engineering Corporation CR25 troop carrier Dropship

Manufacturer

Model Class

Technical specifications Length Hyperdrive rating Shielding 60 meters

Equipped

Equipped Twin turbolaser cannons (2)

Armament

Complement

4-

8 LAAT/i gunship s

12 74-Z speeder bikes 4 AT-PTs

Passengers Cargo capacity

40 clone troopers Appropriate supplies for complement and troops

Throughout Mandalorian history, three major features remained constant in Mandalorian armor design: 1. The wearer was protected from the majority of all blaster fire. Armor made of actual Mandalorian iron, which could also deflect blaster bolts, made it lightsaber-resistant. 2. The helmets almost always possessed a T-shaped visor and a sophisticated heads-up display (HUD). 3. Mandalorian warriors decorated their armor to reflect personal accomplishments, clan affiliation, or simply personal preference. They often repainted their armor to reflect rank, clan, and possibly the current terrain. They were also known to paint their armor in the traditional colors that represented specific causes the individual might currently be undertaking. The colors, however, did not always have a specific meaning. Sometimes they were just colors that the particular Mandalorian liked. Some Mandalorians wore pieces of armor to honor relatives, both dead and alive.[1] As of the Clone Wars, these colors were known to have significance: 1. Gray=Mourning a Lost Love[11] 2. Red=Honoring a Father[11] 3. Black=Justice[1] 4. Gold=Vengeance[1] 5. Green=Duty[11] 6. Blue=Reliability[11] 7. Orange=A Lust for Life[

Mandalorian Shock Trooper Armor was a catch all term for the various armor styles worn by the Mandaloriansthroughout the years, including the Neo-Crusader armor used during the Old Sith Wars, and the supercommando armor worn by the True Mandalorians, the Protectors and the Death Watch during the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. Boba Fett, Jango Fett, and Jodo Kast were three noted individuals who wore Mandalorian Shock Trooper armor. The careful layering of segmented armor plates ensured mobility, which further increased by wearing a jetpack . The Mandalorians began to see the value of extra weapons mounted on the suit, so simple dart shooters, grappling wires, wrist-mounted rocket launchers, wrist blades, and flamethrowers were added to the overall design. All known Mandalorian helmets were the same in the inclusion of a Tvisor. There are 5 variants of shock trooper armor that is seen, the most common variant of the armor is the variant worn by Boba Fett. Another variant of the armor is commonly seen in Star Wars Galaxies. A variant of the armor is worn by Fenn Shysa which has no visible armor plates. The last two variants are similar but with only the upper armor plates of the armor and one is with the Star Wars Galaxies chest plate and the other one is with the most common variant, also worn by Fenn Shysa. This type of Mandalorian armor was seen as early as the Mandalorian Wars at the Battle of Jebble. The armor worn by clone troopers in the early battles of the Clone Wars was loosely based on the armor of the Mandalorians, because Jango Fett was the template for the clones. It is also possible that Boba Fett colored his armor after the shock troopers.