The Dark Trooper Project, building on the previous L8-L9 and Z-X3 projects, was the brainchild of General Rom Mohc, who strongly advocated the martial virtues of close combat with one's enemy, and thus disagreed with the philosophy that created such superweapons as the Death Star. He operated the dark trooper project from his customized starship, Arc Hammer.

The main goal for the dark trooper project was to create the next evolution of the stormtrooper. It consisted of the armor and the application of weaponry so it was intended for use with the basic stormtrooper but looking forward to whatever internal system that might be developed. The dark troopers were first used against the Rebel Tak Base in the Battle of Talay, in retaliation for the destruction of the first Death Star. They slaughtered all the Rebels in the base. Concerned about the potential threat of the dark troopers, Mon Mothma tasked Kyle Katarn with the program's destruction.

Squads of the dark troopers were characteristically deployed alongside the standard Imperial stormtroopers and the Imperial Army regulars in battles to add their distinctive advantage. They used their advanced combat techniques and jetpacks to drop behind enemy lines or outflank enemy positions, contributing to the overall effectiveness of battle maneuvers by creating havoc amongst their foes.

They were equipped with specialized assault cannons, 1.2 meters long, the wide stock had two barrels with two triggers. The first trigger fired deadly blue-white plasma shot (the cannon came with 200), the second firing dumb-fire missiles (20). Blasts from this weapon were extremely lethal, capable of punching through body armor and killing soldiers in a single shot. These weapons were modifications on the Imperial repeaters, rather than the standard E-11 blaster rifle; the troopers were also issued additional fragmentation grenades, thermal detonators, and concussion grenades. Dark troopers wore dark gray armor made of the nearly indestructible metal phrik, mined on the moon Gromas 16. In addition to providing superior protection against enemy fire including energy weapons such as lightsabers, the armor was equipped with acceleration compensators to allow a soldier inside to endure the extreme maneuvers the unit was designed to perform.

Katarn succeeded in destroying Arc Hammer after killing Mohc. With the death of Mohc and the destruction of Arc Hammer, all official research into the dark trooper project, and all research into other battle droid programs, ended.

However, it is evident that not all of the Dark Troopers were destroyed along with the Arc Hammer; some were seen being stationed on Kessel, Felucia, Coruscant, and other worlds. 

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