After the formation of the Galactic Empire, a select group of top soldiers from across the galaxy are conscripted to serve in the Elite Squad. First introduced by Vice Admiral Rampart, the troopers are envisioned as a way to generate loyal soldiers for the Empire without relying solely on clone soldiers, a small sampling of highly skilled, enlisted recruits tasked with neutralizing anti-Imperial insurgents throughout the galaxy. Trading in their names for numbers, ES-01, ES-02, ES-03, and ES-04 herald a new Stormtrooper program and pose a threat to the old guard, now seen as a cost-prohibitive relic of a bygone era.