December 30, 2015

My take on The Force Awakens (Spoilers!)

Okay, having seen the film enough times in the theater I think (3 at the moment), I think I'm as ready as I will be to discuss the film.

First off, I very much enjoyed it.  I'm not sure it's the greatest or best Star Wars film ever, but it's certainly a lot of fun, and the most fun that a cinematic Star Wars film has delivered in a very long time.

I'm not the biggest fan of the prequels, but I don't hate them either.  If anything, I mourn all the potential that was in that story, potential that a capable director would have been able to bring out.  For as amazing of an idea guy that George Lucas is, he really hadn't grown as a director since filming the original Star Wars, and in the prequels it showed.  On top of the problem of not having anybody that would tell him "No George, that's a bad idea" during that time frame.

Now, to The Force Awakens, let's get one particular elephant ushered out of the room right now.  Yes, the basic plot structure was beat-for-beat almost identical to that of Episode 4.  The decorations were different, particularly in terms of the main cast, but the core plot structure was very similar.  In spite of what some internet trolls might tell you, this does NOT constitute a "remake" or a "reboot" of the franchise.  And honestly, I liked that TFA took its nods from the Star Wars films that the fans generally consider to be the better half of the franchise.  You didn't get overburdened with background elements, being given enough basic background info to set the stage, and then into the story we go.

The Force Awakens is ultimately the foundation for Disney's stewardship of the franchise, one that they paid a very princely sum to acquire.  Sure, they could have taken more risks with the film, but for the first outing, especially given the general loathing of the prequels and The Phantom Menace in particular, they opted to hedge their bets and go for what the masses had claimed "felt like Star Wars."

That's not to say Disney and Abrams didn't take risks in the story presented to us.  Killing off the fan-favorite Han Solo was certainly a risk, and it certainly did strike an emotional chord with the adults in the audience that had grown up with this character, even if a lot of them saw it coming.  Like GM Phil of the Order 66 podcast said, the moment Han stepped onto that bridge, you knew he wasn't coming out of that alive.

Another big risk, especially for a multi-million dollar action movie (which truthfully is what The Force Awakens is), was having a female being the lead protagonist for this new trilogy.  It's kind of telling that in spite of the rampant success that Marvel Studios has had with their films we've yet to see a Black Widow movie, and the closest they've got to something headlined by a female lead is the very good Agent Carter series.  It's a sad shame that where action movies are concerned, a female leading character is seen as too big of a risk for major film studios.  So the fact that Rey winds up being the hero, especially after making folks think it was going to be Finn in the various previews, was a pretty big risk... and it paid off big time, as audiences really liked the character, with Daisy Ridley's performance being no slouch.  As I heard it said somewhere on Facebook, we got more actual acting out of Daisy in 10 minutes than we got out of Hayden in the entirety of both AotC and RotS.

That's not to say the rest of the cast was bad, because they weren't.  Harrison Ford was great (as he usually is) in portraying the crusty, worn-down Han Solo, while I likened Carrie Fisher's performance to a Leia that is equally worn-down and simply tired and more than a little frustrated of having to go through all this nonsense that she did when part of the Rebellion; doubtless Leia heard stories from her adopted father about Senators of the Old Republic turning a blind eye towards the dangers of then-Chancellor Palpatine's rise to power, and saw parallels with how the New Republic was turning a blind eye to the dangers of the First Order.  General Leia was someone that had lived a rough 30 years since the Battle of Endor, losing her family and seeing all that she'd fought and struggled for about to go down the drain.

John Boyega I thought did a tremendous job as Finn, and I cheered when he dropped the "cowardly" part of the "cowardly lion" act that had defined him through much of the movie.  Finn proved he could be brave when it called for it, but the moment he took up Anakin's old lightsaber to square off against Kylo Ren, overmatched though he may be, simply to protect the unconscious Rey... even if Finn isn't Force-sensitive, that still took a lot of balls.  Even more so perhaps since as a former member of the First Order, he's probably heard stories about Kylo Ren and just how unhinged the guy can be.  And having one of the principal leads and potential main hero be a black male in a franchise where the main hero has been white was also a risk, one that I also felt was worth it.

Poe was... well, Poe.  As GM Chris said, Poe was the kind of guy that you could go have a beer with, and he'd be glad to do so.  I personally felt Poe was a bit one-dimensional (ace pilot, incredibly loyal while easy to make friends with), but it was a good dimension, and I suspect/hope that he'll get much more character development.

I did like that the essence of Luke's character in the original trilogy was split in to the three leads, with shades of Han and Leia thrown in as well.  Poe as the hotshot ace pilot, but one that's not sensitive to the Force and is steadfastly-loyal to the Resistance, Finn is the idealist, albeit one that's a defector from the bad guys and mostly just wants to avoid the fight until the girl he's crushing on is put into grave peril.  And Rey as the Force-sensitive desert dweller and heir to a great legacy, albeit a female that scraps by on her own and was abandoned by her family at a very young age.  My guess is that Rey is actually the daughter of Luke Skywalker, and that's why Anakin's old lightsaber called out to her in Maz's Palace, and perhaps why it didn't respond to Kylo's attempts to claim it during the film's climax.

As for Kylo Ren, while he's certainly not the greatest villain in cinematic history, I do like that he's simply a pale reflection of Darth Vader.  I saw earlier today on Facebook that Kylo's cross-guard lightsaber was very much a reflection of Kylo's psyche, and I think it's a very apt comparison.  I think having a villain that can grow and develop just as the heroine grows and develops can lead to some wonderful parallels between Kylo and Rey.  One of my favorite animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbende did this as well with the parallels between Aang (the hero) and Zuko (initially the villain before developing into something far more complicated and interesting).  I do have to give props to Kylo for taking as much of a beating as he did, and was still able to keep going; even after Rey had disarmed him and scarred his face, Kylo was still trying to get back up and continue fighting.

I've seen a lot of complaining about how TFA left us with more questions than answers in terms to the state of affairs 30 years after the events of RotJ.  And I'm okay with that, because I knew from the outset, from when the film was announced as part one of a new trilogy of films, that we weren't going to get all the answers right away.  After all, they need stuff for the sequel.  And the only reason that ANH was as self-contained as it was is because Lucas was convinced that it wasn't going to do well enough to merit a sequel, so that was going to be his one shot.  I suspect that if he knew full well that he'd have the chance to make additional movies, he'd have left a few more threads hanging to be handled in ESB and RotJ, such as perhaps introducing a bit more mystery into the nature of Luke's father.

So yeah, while there were a number of similarities between the original films and TFA, I honestly felt that instead of detracting from the new film, it instead enhanced it while getting new members of the fanbase up-to-speed on the basics of "what is Star Wars?"  I'm hopeful that now that the foundation has been laid that further films in the new trilogy will take a few more risks in terms of the story; after all, we've already had the "greatest hits of the original trilogy" film to get everybody on the same page in terms of the Star Wars experience.  But time will tell, and given the monstrous success of TFA it might be that Disney takes this as a sign to not stray to far from the tried and true.  I do expect we'll see more nods and parallels in Episode 8 to ESB, and will be astonished if that film doesn't end with the First Order in a very strong position and the Resistance/Republic in a very rough one by the time the credits roll.

So overall, yes I very much liked The Force Awakens (that I went to see it three times in the theater in the opening week should be testament enough to that).  Was it perfect?  No, but then none of the Star Wars films were without their flaws.  But it was a very enjoyable rider, one where the pacing was quick enough that things kept moving but never so fast that you had no idea what was going on, provided you were willing to pay a modicum of attention to the movie.  I'm very much eager for this to come out on Blu-Ray, if only so that I can watch it meticulously for all the little background elements I did miss.  I did catch the 501st banner at Maz's palace as well as at least two (I think) appearances of R2-KT in the film, but I'm sure there are other tidbits that I missed simply because I was having too good of a time being entertained by a film that well and truly felt like Star Wars.

December 25, 2015

Merry Xmas! And Some Lightsaber Crystal Options!

First off, a very Merry Christmas to my fellow Star Wars fans out there.  While it is true that most of us got our Christmas gift early in the form of The Force Awakens (more on that in a later blog post), today's still a day to be spent in the company of friends and family, even if gifts aren't formerly exchanged.

Well, In time for the holiday season, here is an assortment of lightsaber crystals for use with the Force and Destiny branch of FFG's Star Wars RPG.  Most of these come from the Legends side of the fence, and were things that I'd been working on and revising/tweaking pretty much since the Force and Destiny core rulebook came out earlier this year.

Compressed Synthetic Crystal
On occasion, when attempting to create a synthetic kyber crystal, the crystal's structure is over-compressed.  The end result is a crystal that produces a blade that is thinner and thus more precise than a standard lightsaber blade, which in turn enables the user to better bypass their opponent's defenses.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  When the target uses the Parry talent against an attack made with this lightsaber, reduce the amount of damage negated by 1.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Reduce the damage negated from the Parry talent by 1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 2 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mods.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 12,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)

Flawed Kyber Crystal
Found among both naturally-formed and synthetic crystals, a flawed kyber crystal is less than ideal for usage in a lightsaber, as the minute imperfections tend to create an unstable blade that literally crackles with barely restrained energy.  Extra precautions need to be taken, as a flawed kyber crystal is much more susceptible to cracking than a perfectly formed crystal.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1, Sunder, and Vicious 1 qualities.  The difficulty of all checks to modify or repair a lightsaber using this crystal are upgraded once.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Damage +1 Mods, 3 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mods.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 7 (R)

Rubat Crystal
A type of kyber crystal once used in the construction of lightsabers by the Jedi Order, rubat crystals were most commonly found on the remote world of Phemis in the Corellian Sector.  While not as powerful or receptive to the Force as the crystals of Ilum, rubat crystals gave the blade a much sharper and defined appearance, allowing the wielder to strike at their opponents with greater speed.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 1 Item Quality (Accurate +1) Mod.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)
Note: To be honest, I was disappointed that the rubat crystals offered in the GM Kit adventure "Hidden Depths" was just a re-flavored Ilum crystal.  So this version is presented as an alternative for GMs to make use of in their games.

Synthetic Kyber Crystal
During the time of the Emperor's rule, most of the known sources for kyber crystals were either destroyed or kept under strict Imperial surveillance.  In response to these draconian measures, those students of the Jedi looking to construct their own lightsaber had to rely upon the practice of growing synthetic crystals.  While easier to procure than natural kyber crystals, the difficulties that come in properly forming the synthetic crystal still made them difficult to acquire.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 3 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 3 Item Quality ( +1 Vicious) Mod.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 9 (R)
 
Velmorite Crystal
Found on the planet Velmor in the Halori sector of the Mid Rim Territories, these crystals were prized by Jedi duelists for the fine, thin blade that resulted when attuned for use in a lightsaber.  Such a blade was particularly conducive to the graceful and fluid movements of the Makashi Form of lightsaber combat, although many Ataru adherents found the blades just as useful for their own style of combat.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Accurate 1, Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 3 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Item Quality ( +1 Accurate) Mod, 1 Item Quality (Defensive +1) Mod
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 15,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)

December 18, 2015

Threat Assessment: Imperial Purge Troopers

As I'd noted a while back, I've been playing the mobile app Star Wars: Uprising a fair bit.  Not quite as much recently as the endless grinding has really ground down my enjoyment of the game, but I'm still playing it.

One of the recurring adversaries on the Imperial-themed missions in the game at later levels are the Purge Troopers.  They're a lot tougher than the regular stormtroopers found in the game, and almost qualify as mini-bosses if not outright being a boss in mook's clothing.  I've also not seen any attempts to stat them up using FFG's Star Wars RPG, so I thought I'd take a crack at them.  Fair warning to players, if you're not packing some serious firepower of your own, these guys will be devastating if you try to tackle them head-on.



Imperial Purge Troopers (Rival)
Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 1
Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Coercion 2, Discipline 2, Gunnery 2, Melee 2, Ranged: Heavy 2, Vigilance 1
Talents: Adversary 1, Burly 1, Enduring 1
Soak Value: 6
Defense (Melee/Ranged): 1/1
Wound Threshold: 15
Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 11; Critical 2; Range [Long]; Auto Fire, Cumbersome 4, Pierce 1), 2 heavy frag grenades (Ranged [Light]; Damage 9; Critical 4; Range [Short]; Blast 7, Cumbersome 2, Limited Ammo 1), purge trooper armor (+2 soak, +1 defense, includes helmet comlink and in-helmet scanner), extra reloads, utility belt.

Based upon Star Wars: Uprising, optional weapon load-outs for the Purge Troopers would be to replace a flame cannon (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 8; Critical 2; Range [Medium]; Burn 3, Blast 8) or a missile tube (Gunnery; Damage 20; Critical 2; Range [Extreme]; Blast 10, Cumbersome 3, Guided 3, Breach 1, Prepare 1, Limited Ammo 6) depending on what their role is in an engagement.



October 31, 2015

Threat Assessment: Rakghouls

Another blast from the GSA past, I wrote these up a few years back and given their origins in such classic monsters as the vampire and the zombie, I think All Hallow's Eve is the perfect time to have these nasty creatures rise from the grave to yet again menace unwary groups of player-characters in Fantasy Flight Game's Star Wars RPG system.

Rakghoul (Minion)
Characteristics
Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 1
Skills (Group Only)
Athletics, Brawl, Perception
Abilities
Rakghoul Disease (see below)

Soak Value:4
Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0
Wound Threshold: 6
Equipment: Claws and Teeth (Brawl, Engaged, Damage 5, Crit 3, Pierce 1, Vicious 1)

Rakghoul Fiend (Rival)
Characteristics
Brawn 4, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Presence 2, Willpower 1
Skills
Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Perception 1
Abilities
Adversary 1, Rakghoul Disease (see below)

Soak Value: 6/0
Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0
Wound Threshold: 16
Equipment: Claws and Teeth (Brawl, Engaged, Damage 6, Crit 3, Pierce 1, Vicious 1)

New Ability: Rakghoul Disease
Spend a Triumph generated from a successful Brawl attack that inflicts damage to infect the target with the rakghoul disease, an incredibly virulent contagion that all but dooms most beings into eventually becoming a rakghoul itself.

Every 24 hours after being infected, the target must make a Hard Resilience check.   A failure means the disease still lingers, inflicting a single wound (this bypasses the victim's soak value).  If the check is failed and generates three Threat or a Despair result, the victim is immediately transformed into a rakghoul, which is a permanent condition and cannot be cured.  A successful check means the disease was not able to take hold and the target suffers no lingering after-effects.

Curing this disease requires a Daunting Medicine check, unless the person treating the disease has access to rakghoul serum, in which case the difficulty is reduced to Average.  However, given the rarity of rakghouls in general, getting access to rakghoul serum can be an adventure in and of itself.  A character that has been successfully treated through the use of rakghoul serum is considered to be inoculated against the contagion, and can no longer be affected by rakghoul disease.

Background: The hideous result of a virulent disease that has plagued worlds such as Taris, the rakghoul truly is an abomination and affront to nature.  Created by the deranged Sith Lord Karness Muur, the rakghouls were his means to achieving power over his fellow Lords of the Sith during their time in exile from the Old Republic.   While a resurgence of the monsters occurred during the Mandalorian Wars, by the time of the Galactic Empire the rakghouls had been all but exterminated, a process that was ironically sped up by Darth Malak’s order to conduct an orbital bombardment of the planet Taris in an attempt to kill the Jedi Bastilla Shan and the amnesiac Revan. 

Still, the creatures managed to persist in small pockets of the Outer Rim Territories, with sentient species being their preferred prey.  Those that survived being slain and devoured by the monsters were invariably transformed into rakghouls themselves by the disease inflicted by the creature’s claws and bite.  While a cure for the disease was developed during the Jedi Civil War, knowledge of its existence has become almost as rare as the rakghoul itself, only rarely is the modern medicine of the Clone Wars era or later able to prevent the infection from transforming those poor souls suffering a fate worse than death.

October 16, 2015

The Dark Trooper Project for SWFFG

Had a couple folks ask about the Dark Trooper stat blocks I wrote up for the Gamer Security Agency some time ago, especially as attempts to use the Internet Wayback Machine came up blank.  So, in the interest of having the material available for GMs interested in them, I'm re-posting the old material.  Bear in mind these were written before the Age of Rebellion core rulebook came out with FFG's own take on the Dark Trooper (specifically the Phase II model).  I have tweaked a few things here and there, most notably removing the Cortosis quality from the Phase One and Phase Two models, as that was initially added so that the lightsabers of the time wouldn't just instantly brutalize one of these things. 



Dark Trooper Phase Zero (Rival)
 Characteristics
Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2
 Skills
Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Discipline 2, Perception 1, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Vigilance 1
Talents
Barrage 1, Durable 2, Point Blank 1

Soak Value: 6
Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0
Wound Threshold: 15
Special Abilities: Cyborg Hybrid – this character is considered to be a Droid and follow all the rules for Droid adversaries.
Equipment: Heavy blaster rifle (Ranged [Heavy], Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Cumbersome 3), Phase Zero Dark Trooper Armor (as laminate armor), comlink, jet pack

Background: During the early days of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Stormtrooper regiments found itself in a quandary, as many of its most experienced soldiers were rapidly-aging Clone Troopers.  Rather than accept the loss of these veteran soldiers, the Imperial command gave the green-light to Project Dark Trooper, which was placed under the supervision of Lt. Rom Mohc.  Using extensive cybernetic reconstruction surgeries, the aging Clone Troopers had their bodies forcibly replaced with mechanical parts, giving the Empire a way to continue fielding the battle-hardened veterans of the Clone Wars.  And while the project did accomplish its stated goal, the Phase Zero aspect could hardly be called a success, as many of the converted Clone Troopers attempted suicide in the wake of becoming little better than the “clankers” they had been bred and trained to fight during the Clone Wars.  In spite of this setback, the Empire was able to field an alarming number of these cyborg-hybrid soldiers, being undeniably effective, but as the Empire increased in power and recruiting techniques began to make up for the loss of the Clone Troopers, the decision was made to shut down the project.  However, Lt. Moch would use the effectiveness of this early program and his later influence as a General to reinstate the Dark Trooper project many years later.


Dark Trooper Phase One (Rival)
Characteristics
Brawn 3, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2
Skills
Melee 2, Perception 1, Vigilance 2
Talents
Adversary 1, Lethal Blows 1

Soak Value: 6
Melee/Ranged Defense: 2/1
Wound Threshold: 15
Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being
Equipment: Wrist-mounted vibrosword (Melee, Damage 5, Crit 2, Engaged, Pierce 2, Vicious 1, Defensive 1), wrist-mounted blast shield (provides Defense 1), combat armor (+2 soak) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The initial production model of General Ram Mohc’s reinstated Dark Trooper Project, the Phase 1 Dark Trooper is essentially a phrik alloy skeleton equipped with a vibroblade and blast shield.  Although the Phase 1 Dark Trooper droids were produced in great numbers, they usually see deployment as sentries at remote Imperial installations rather than seeing use on the front-lines.


Dark Trooper Phase Two (Rival)
Characteristics
Brawn 4, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2

Skills
Brawl 1, Gunnery 3, Perception 2, Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2
Talents
Adversary 1, Durable 1, Barrage 1, Lethal Blows 1

Soak Value: 7
Melee/Ranged Defense: 1/1
Wound Threshold: 18
Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being
Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged - Heavy, Damage 11, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Pierce 1, Cumbersome 4), missile launcher (Gunnery, Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Blast 6, Breach 1, Limited Ammo 6), Dark Trooper battle armor (+2 soak, +1 defense) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The second phase of General Ram Mohc’s Dark Trooper Project, the Phase Two model stands much taller than its predecessors, and features more complete armor coverage as well as a devastating weapons package in the form of its assault cannon, enabling it to lay down withering torrents of blaster fire or deliver anti-vehicular ordnance as need.  They first saw deployment on the attack on the Rebel Base on Talay, in which a small number of Phase Two Dark Troopers utterly destroyed the base, proving the effectiveness of General Mohc’s droid warriors to even the most skeptical of Imperial officers. 




Dark Trooper Phase Three (Nemesis)
Characteristics
Brawn 4, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2
Skills
Brawl 2, Gunnery 3, Perception 2, Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2
Talents
Adversary 2, Durable 2, Barrage 1, Lethal Blows 2, Targeted Blow

Soak Value: 8
Melee/Ranged Defense: 1/1
Wound Threshold:20
Strain Threshold: 12
Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being
Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged - Heavy, Damage 11, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Pierce 2, Cumbersome 4), missile launcher (Gunnery, Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Blast 6, Breach 1, Limited Ammo 6), shoulder-mounted missile tubes (Gunnery, Damage 8, Crit 4, Long, Blast 6, Limited Ammo 12) or shoulder-mounted blaster cannons (Ranged – Heavy, Damage 10, Crit 3, Medium, Auto-fire, Pierce 1), phrik alloy battle armor (+2 soak, +1 defense, Cortosis, Superior) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The culmination of General Ram Mohc’s Dark Trooper Project, the Phase Three design is a massive behemoth, standing nearly three meters in height and with a powerful frame to match that was made even more ominous due to its near-black color scheme.  Where the Phase One and Phase Two models were intended to operate solely as battle droids, the Phase Three could also serve as a powered exoskeleton, providing the operator with vastly increased strength and protection.  Additional anti-personnel armament was included by way of a pair of low-yield missile tubes, though the option to replace the missile launchers with a pair of dual blaster cannons was also present.  Thankfully for the Rebel Alliance, only a small number of Phase III Dark Troopers were constructed before the destruction of the Arc Hammer, General Mohc’s personal flagship which served as the primary construction facility for the entire Dark Trooper project.  Still, the Emperor is not known for little a valuable resource go to waste, and while there are no plans to re-initiate the Dark Trooper Project, there are still a number of Phase III Dark Troopers in operation even during the closing years of the Galactic Civil War.