A human served the Galactic Empire as a Stormtrooper Commander during the Imperial Era. At some point during the Empire's reign, the commander led a garrison of Imperial stormtroopers on a mission to a in hopes of finding kyber crystals.
The commander ordered prisoners of the Empire to begin digging for the crystals, the prisoners had dug themselves into a pit, where they began unearthing more and more crystals, after the prisoners had reached the bottom of the pit and had found the last crystal, the commander, satisfied with his crystals, ordered the garrison to leave with what they had earned.
Some time later, the commander returned to the planet with the garrison after receiving word that the people of the recently formed Crystal City had become aware of the pit and the people trapped within. He ordered the citizens to return to the city or they would be shot. The people, however, pushed forward, passed the stormtroopers blocking their way. Defeated, the commander ordered the stormtroopers under his command to pull out and retreat.
A human served in the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps as a Stormtrooper Commander during the Imperial Era. The commander led a garrison on a mission to a , suspecting he would find kyber crystals. After arriving on the planet, the commander led a line of shackled Imperial prisoner carrying pickaxes through blowing sand on a barren plain. He watched his datapad closely, studying pings that appeared across it. Eventually, he raised his fist, telling the prisoners to stop walking. He pressed a button on his wrist armor which released the prisoners from their restraints. He then ordered the prisoners to begin digging, to which they complied.
Some time later, another transport unloaded more prisoners to begin digging, after they had walked down into what was now a pit, the commander once again released them from their restraints to join the others in digging for the crystals. He spotted a prisoner that was not complying to his order to dig, he pressed another button on his wrist armor that resulted in the prisoner being electrocuted throughout their body from their cuffs.
The commander holding a kyber crystal
The prisoners continued to dig through the evening, until a young woman struck something with her pickaxe, it was a kyber crystal. The commander sent a small probe droid to retrieve the crystal from the woman. The droid took the crystal and flew back up to the surface where it passed the crystal on to the commander. The commander looked at the crystal for a moment, before ordering the prisoners to continue digging.
Much later, the prisoners continued to dig further and further into the ground finding more crystals for the commander, as a result of the trafficking of crystals, a city formed that came to be known as Crystal City. The commander's operations continued to grow and hundreds of crystals continued to be mined by the prisoners. Later, a man hit the bottom of the now deep pit, striking bedrock. The commander gazed down through his Macrobinoculars into the seemingly endless pit, realizing the crystals had run out, he ordered his men to retreat with what they had earned. Before leaving, he pressed another button on his wrist, which deactivated the cuffs on all of the prisoners. As the people celebrated, the stormtroopers left in their transports, abandoning the people, trapping them within the pit.
A young man named Crux was determined to escape and help the others stuck at the bottom of the pit. He managed to climb all the way to the top edge of the pit, yelling to the others that he would get help. Crux made his way to the city where he began telling the people about the pit and the prisoners the Empire left behind. A pair of stormtrooper heard this and seized the boy, dragging him back to the pit where they threw him back in, killing him.
The commander exiting his transport
The prisoners within the pit had not given up, they called out to the people of the city to which their cries were heard, beginning the cities march towards the pit. As the citizens advanced on the pit, the pair of stormtroopers called for backup, to which the commander answered. A troop transport carrying the commander landed in front of the pit, attempting to block the citizens advance. The commander stepped out behind the now squad of stormtroopers blocking the pit. The people demanded to have answers, to which the commander responded by telling the mob of people that if they would not leave, they would be fired upon by the stormtroopers. The citizens proceeded to advance on the commander, they pushed past the stormtroopers blocking the way, the stormtroopers turned to the commander asking what to do, reluctantly and defeated, the commander ordered the troops under his command to leave the area.
The people surrounded the pit, the prisoners looked up to them, realizing they had been saved. The citizens of Crystal City descended multiple transports into the pit, rescuing the prisoners.
The commander was a powerful leader, interested only in his goal of retrieving the kyber crystals within the planet's surface. He did not care about the prisoners that supplied him with the kyber crystals he sought, as he left them there to die, while still showing little care for the life of others, he could not bring himself to order his soldiers to fire on the crowd of citizens, rather he lowered his head in defeat and ordered his troopers to retreat.
The commander wore standard stormtrooper armor dawned with a black cape with red trim. He also had and a holster just below the utility belt, holding a blaster pistol. The buttons on the wrist of his armor served multiple functions, including communication, as well as controls to restraints worn by prisoners.
The Stormtrooper Commander appeared in the short film "The Pit," as part of Volume 2 of the Disney+ series Star Wars: Visions on May 4, 2023. He was voiced by American voice actor Steve Blum, who also voices characters such as Garazeb Orrelios.