...............Palpatine became more fanatical than ever with the destruction of the Jedi order, after an assassination attempt by a Jedi Master was foiled in his own private chambers on Corusacant.
A call was sent out to the far reaches of the galaxy to a wide variety of experts and technicians to outfit the self proclaimed Emperor’s troops; to create an ultimate fighting force the likes of which the galaxy has never seen.
Selecting the “best of the best” from his grand army of clones; these selected individuals began a vigorous training. Those who survived the training in the beginning were then schooled in various forms of hand to hand combat.
No expense was spared to outfit these Special Ops units; later to be dubbed “Death Squads”, with advanced weaponry.
Metallurgists from all corners of the galaxy worked vigorously to create the most durable clone armor ever conceived. The problem that most vexed the scientists was how to thwart the effects of a lightsaber.
One late arrival, from the outer fringe planet of Concord Dawn; brought to the table the workings of a rare metal called Phrik, similar to that of Mandalorian iron; and would later be used to armor the Empire’s Darktroopers; was proven to withstand a lightsaber strike and also gave the armor a grayish color.
The plasi-steel armor of the clone troopers was reinforced with the metal Phrik; it proved to be very flexible, and did not hamper the trooper’s movements what so ever. Another component of Phrik, which was discovered quite accidentally; was that if the metal received a small current of power, the metal would produce a natural “force” bubble around the armor. Further study showed that the “force” barrier could be maintained with a constant power source.
The “force” barrier could deflect a lightsaber blade; so from then on the chosen clones were also instructed with the use a lightsaber.
Not to actually wield one, although none were expected to wield or even match a Jedi’s skill with the lightsaber; only the fundamentals of Feint and Parry were included in their training.
The production of this armor proved to be VERY costly, even for Palpatine; so only 2 units of 2 troopers’ each were given the enhanced armor.
The commander of one of these Death Squads, Arc Commander Fal’cone; excelled in his training of the Jedi arts hand to hand combat and an expert marksman; proved invaluable in outfitting his unit. Fal’cone had a fascination with predatory animals; a love of lost lore and technology and also a master technician and mechanic.
Each trooper was outfitted with a small jetpack, macro-binoculars mounted to the helmet; which was enhanced with lenses able to see in any spectrum. The Phrik enhanced armor also incorporated a built in anti-gravity unit; close range missiles and grappling/electo-stun cables mounted in the gauntlets.
The thrusters, basically supped up fans mounted to the troopers’ legs; worked in concert with the anti-grav systems.
When the jetpacks either expended their power source or the heat from the propulsion would give the troops away in covert operations; the anti-grav units were enabled. The leg thrusters gave the troops the power to move around in zero-g. Although not nearly as powerful as the jetpack, these thrusters were essential in the trooper’s movements. The thrusters themselves, once rotation was started, only required a small power boost; the power source; which is built into the armor; to keep them in rotation and can rotate 360 degrees.
While reacting to a rumor of a Jedi master on a remote outer-rim world, Fal’cones unit established a base of operations on the black moon of Ater Atra Atrum. Fal’cone and his 2nd, Lagartija whom also shared Fal’cone’s fascination of predatory animals, and especially a large interest in lizards which is where his name originated, set out to do reconnaissance of the region.
While exploring, they came across a Mandalorian warrior being attacked by a small group of red and black, one meter long lizards. Although small, these ferocious creatures soon surrounded the seriously injured warrior. So fascinated by the lizards predatory skills, Fal’cone and Lagartija watched as the inevitable happened; the death of the warrior. Both troopers approached cautiously as the carnivores finished their meal. As the pack started away, one last creature was still feasting when fal’cone used his stun cable to render the creature unconscious for later study. They also took the warriors weapons and armor.
The troop ships employed by the Death Squad are outfitted with everything they would need on and off of the field; being on campaigns for months at a time, they are a self contained unit.
They can conduct a wide range of analyses with the scanners and scientific equipment on board. There are also tools for armor and weapons repair, Phrik laced paint, medical supplies, rations, and a slew of other essential equipment.
After returning to camp, fal’cone and Lagartija soon discovered the name of the lizard, Gekkonidae.
They also found that the excreted slime covering the Gekkonidae’s skin was a very powerful poison.
While tinkering with the dead warrior’s armor, Lagartija retired for the night. Fal’cone soon tired and went to the quarters he and Lagartija shared. To his horror, he found the Gekkonidae on Lagartija’s chest, tearing open his throat and feasting on his cooling flesh. Blasting the lizard and carrying Lagartija’s body to the med unit, he soon found that he could do nothing for his friend.
That night he burned Lagartija body. He returned to the ship never again be known as Fal’cone. He changed his name to Lagartija Volando, when translated; roughly means “Flying Lizard”.
The armor he now wore bore the colors and the emblem of the Gekkonidae, for remembrance of his friend and also for the fierce creature that took his friends life. He also modified the knee dart launcher from the mandaloiran warrior’s armor onto his own armor, which would spit out darts filled with the Gekkonidae’s poisonous mucus. Further modifications were made to the gauntlets to house more projectile weapons; sensor pads were added to the fingers of the body glove to activate the weapons.
