Scout troopers are a division of the Imperial Stormtroopers in the fictional Star Wars saga, and made their first appearance in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

History

Imperial scout troopers is an elite group of stormtroopers trained to use high speed vehicles (normally speeder bikes ) to scout and survey areas, locating enemy positions and on some occasions, infiltrate enemy lines to perform sabotage missions. Scouts operate in groups of four, called lancers and each is led by a sergeant. They often work in conjunction with other light reconnaissance vehicles, such as Imperial All-Terrain Scout Transports .

Scout troopers were posted to the forest moon of Endor during the construction of the Second Death Star in orbit. The scouts were tasked with defending the surface-based shield generator , and regularly patrolled Endor's forests. However, the combined might of the Rebel Alliance and the native cunning of the Ewoks ensured the generator was destroyed, followed by the Death Star itself.

Appearance

Scout troopers wear lightweight armour that is considerably more flexible than the standard uniform worn by their infantry counterparts. Much like their counterparts though, the armour is colored white. Underneath, like all Imperial Stormtroopers, scouts wear a black body glove , which offers some protection to the unarmored sections of their bodies. Their helmets contain a macro binocular viewplate and a sensor system that allows them to see in a 180-degree arc, which is obviously of great use when traveling at high speeds on Imperial speeder bikes.

Weapons and equipment

Being scouts, these stormtroopers are lightly armed. They carry the standard E-11 blaster rifle and a hold-out blaster, which they carry in a boot-holster. They also carry flares and concussion grenades. Due to their light weapon loadouts, they rarely engage in heavy combat and instead focus more on surveying areas, finding enemy positions and on some occasions, infiltrating enemy lines and performing sabotage missions.

Vehicles

Scouts rely on the Aratech 74-Z military speeder bike. These bikes are armed with a single blaster cannon and equipped with com-link jamming devices. With a top speed of 500 Kilometers per hour, speeders are amongst the fastest ground vehicles in the Imperial inventory.

External link

• More Information on Scout troopers