| “ | THRAWN! THRAWN! THRAWN! | „ |
| ~ Night Troopers chanting the Grand Admiral's name. |
Night Troopers are major antagonists in the 2023 Disney+ limited series Ahsoka. They serve Thrawn's confederation as basic foot soldiers.
History[]
Night Troopers were part of Grand Admiral Thrawn's forces, who were left stranded on the planet Peridea after the Battle of Lothal in 1 BBY. This happened when Thrawn's Star Destroyer was taken away by purrgils, intergalactic whales, due to the intervention of the Jedi Ezra Bridger. They were taken to a distance galaxy far from the known one. The Night Troopers' distinct armor was characterized by gold-filled cracks, grey accents, and red fabric strips due to lacking the resources to repair and replace their armor.
In 9 ABY, Night Troopers accompanied Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Chimaera 's main hangar as it docked above the coven's fortress to welcome his ally, the Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth, along with her mercenaries, the former Jedi Baylan Skoll and his dark apprentice Shin Hati.
Thrawn, in accordance with his pact with the Great Mothers, instructs his Night Troopers to load cargo crates from the Nightsister Fortress' catacombs onto his Star Destroyer the Chimaera. When Sabine Wren, a recently freed prisoner, sets off to locate Ezra Bridger, Thrawn sent two squads of Night Troopers with the intent to eliminate both of them.
After receiving information from Shin Hati about the location of Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, two squads of Night Troopers were sent to eliminate them. In the hangar of the Chimaera, two squads of Nightroopers board two LAAT/le patrol gunships, which fly towards the coordinates. The two gunships land near the convoy and dispatch several armed Night troopers. They arrived in gunships and surrounded Bridger and Wren who were traveling with the Noti's caravan pods.
However, their mission was disrupted by the sudden appearance of Ahsoka Tano. Night Troopers encircle Bridger and Wren while the Noti watch with fear and panic. Wren fights several Night troopers, taking down several with both physical combat and her blaster. Bridger also battles with the Imperials, using both his Force powers and a stolen blaster. Wren hurls a grenade at three Night troopers, scattering them. With her intervention and the absence of Baylan Skoll, the Night Troopers were easily defeated and were eventually ordered by Thrawn to retreat. As the Imperial drone circles away, the surviving Imperials retreat the skirmish. Wren shoots a retreating Night Trooper but the others board their gunships.
Enoch later told Thrawn that com-scan believes they have a fix on Ahsoka Jedi shuttle's location. The Grand Admiral ordered two TIE fighters be dispatched because the fighters can engage if they find their mark. The two Imperial TIE fighters later approach the Jedi shuttle and strafe the ship's hull, causing damage to the ship's stabilizers. The TIE fighters return for a second round and blast a Noti caravan. The Jedi shuttle rams into the TIE fighters, causing the starfighters to crash onto the grassy prairies.
In the command center, Thrawn orders that the Night Troopers be deployed while he informs the Great Mothers. The Night Troopers descend down the stairs and converge on the intruders. Sabine and Bridger deflect their blasts with their lightsabers while Wren switches from her lightsaber to her blaster.
Some of the Night Troopers managed to flee Peridea on the Chimaera by using the Eye of Sion. However, a unit of the Night Troopers chose to stay behind and pursue Bridger, Tano, and Wren. Working together, they draw out the Night Troopers and cut them down. The Jedi quickly defeated the Night Troopers, but were surprised when the Great Mothers used their magicks to resurrect the fallen troopers. Tano, Wren and Bridger battle the undead Night Troopers while advancing upstairs.
Despite shooting the Night Troopers, they were not able to stop the undead Imperials. A Night Trooper grabs Bridger and Wren frees Bridger by impaling the undead Imperial with her lightsaber. The undead troopers managed to overwhelm the Jedi but were blocked by blast doors. They kept fighting even after being fatally injured.
The undead Night Troopers became more intelligent and broke through the blast doors and rush upstairs. Bridger and Wren encounter two Death Troopers at the top of the fortress, who gain the upper hand. Wren struggles with the undead Death Trooper, who, despite blasting off part of its helmet and revealing its rotting jaw, removes her helmet and forces her against a pillar with runes. The second Death Trooper, after being stabbed in the chest by Bridger to no effect, threw him against the floor. While Bridger fought back with his fists, Wren struggles to use the Force to levitate her lightsaber.
She manages to grab it and uses her lightsaber to skewer the Death Trooper's head, incapacitating it. Sabine then distracts the second Death Trooper long enough for Bridger to behead it with his lightsaber. The undead troopers later went to the top of the fortress and joined Elsbeth in her battle against Ahsoka. As the Chimera was leaving, two Night Troopers in the hangar aim their blasters at Bridger and Wren. Bridger managed to Force jump aboard the Star Destroyer with help from Sabine and drags one of the Night troopers down while Wren shoots the second sentry.
Before Sabine could join Ezra, she is distracted by the sight of her master Tano under attack from the undead Night Troopers. After Elsbeth destroyed one of Ahsoka's white lightsabers, the Night Troopers converge around them. Sabine came to help and attacks the Night Troopers with her lightsaber. Meanwhile, Bridger impersonates the fallen Night Trooper LS-757 using his comlink and armor.
As the Eye was departing from Peridea, Thrawn issued a command to bombard the Nightsister Fortress in an attempt to destroy the Jedi, but eliminated all the remaining Night Troopers inside. The undead Night Troopers pursue Tano and Wren to the edge of a cliff but the two escape on Tano's Jedi shuttle while the troopers fell as the floor beneath them crumbled. The rest of the Night Trooper legion returned to the known galaxy and went to the planet Dathomir with Thrawn, Enoch and the Great Mothers.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Night Troopers on the Star Wars Wiki.
