Storm commandos were the special forces of the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps and trained to deal with extreme combat situations. They were equipped with black armor and carried E-11 medium blaster rifles. The specialized stormtroopers utilized any weapons they liked if permitted to do so by their commander; the commander would decide this according to their mission's nature. Some storm commandos were members of the elite 501st Legion, the Sith Lord Darth Vader's personal stormtrooper legion.^[1] Storm commandos could be organized into a company.^[2]

General Weir wore storm commando armor.^[3] At one point, the Imperial Security Bureau's Colonel Sadao Emtri deployed an Imperial-class Star Destroyer and storm commandos during a fake combat tournament in the Nouane sector—it was actually a trap laid by the Empire to capture suspected Force-sensitives.^[4] Another time, a Storm Commando followed orders to engage an Imperial enemy in a forested environment. In a moment of shock and awe, the Storm Commando detonated an explosive, destroying the target behind them.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

In the current Star Wars canon, storm commandos first appeared in Star Wars: Galactic Defense, a tower defense game developed by DeNA Co., Ltd.^[1] which was released in 2014^[6] and shut down in 2016.^[7] In Galactic Defense, storm commandos were a type of enemy unit in the "Light Side" missions, appearing in original trilogy–themed^[8] levels recreating the Galactic Civil War Battle of Tatooine,^[9] which took place in 0 BBY.^[10] In these levels, players utilized defense towers and rebel forces to defend against waves of Imperial units;^[9] successfully destroying a storm commando awarded the player with "Scrap," a point standard used to upgrade or purchase towers.^[1] While Galactic Defense was canon, its actual gameplay was not; consequently, the presence of storm commandos on^[11] the planet^[10] Tatooine is considered non-canon.^[11]

In the Star Wars Legends continuity, storm commandos were first introduced in Galaxy Guide 5: Return of the Jedi, a 1990 Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement written by Michael Stern and released by West End Games.^[12] Storm commandos then made their first full appearance in the 1996 novel X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, written by Michael A. Stackpole.^[13] The 2003 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike established that the character Captain Sarkli was a storm commando.^[14] Sarkli first appeared in the 1983 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, thus retroactively making it the commandos' first appearance in Legends.^[15]

Appearances[]

• Star Wars: Galactic Defense (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Starfighter Missions

Sources[]

• Lead by Example
• Forged in Battle
• Knights of Fate
• Gadgets and Gear
• Starships and Speeders

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Star Wars: Legion Special Operations (PDF) on Atomic Mass Games (content now obsolete; archived from the original on August 26, 2024) (Picture only)
• Star Wars: Legion Special Operations (PDF) on Atomic Mass Games (archived from the original on January 2, 2025) (Picture only)