CT-9099

"The Jedi deserved what they got! All this time, they were plotting to overthrown the very system they had sworn to defend, and use their power over that of lesser humans for their own hideous needs! The Jedi told us all these years they were fighting for peace, and that we were the bravest and most valiant soldiers they had ever seen! And it was all lies! They betrayed the trust of me and all my brothers! Had i known they were already in bed with Dooku and his pawns, i would have shot every Jedi myself the second i had the chance!"

- Marco expressing his anger towards the Jedi

Biography
Marco was the nickname of Clone Captain CT-9099, the leader of the 314th Assault Battalion. Marco was a veteran of the Clone Wars, having been deployed for the first time around a week after the First Battle of Geonosis. Marco lead the 314th for most of the war without Jedi supervision, unlike many other Clone units that ended up with Jedi generals leading them. Although Marco respected the Jedi, and their abilities, he was still concerned about the choice of having peacekeepers such as them lead the war effort. In his opinion, the war should have been left to military-types such as himself who were willing to do whatever it takes to gain victory.

Towards the end of the Clone Wars, Marco and his men were deployed on two more major engagements: the Battle of Okaza, in which he and the 314th quelled a Separatist financed rebellion after a several-month war, and Kulama, where he accompanied Jedi Knight Vreezan Koln to secure ancient Jedi ruins from Count Dooku and his Master. Already skeptical about the battle, Marco was even less pleased when he learned he was to serve under a Jedi, whom he still viewed as too weak and narrow-minded to lead the war effort, and even less pleased again when he got to know that the ruins were utterly empty of anything useful for the Republic. Marco, having lost many of his Troopers in the battle, was infuriated and felt like his men had died for nothing, and placed much of the blame on the Jedi. He was almost driven to complete anger, when he received orders directly from the Senate to stay on Kulama with his battalion to guard the ruins incase the Separatists made another attempt to seize them.

When Order 66 was given to Marco, he more then willingly complied with the order and at once proceeded to execute his Jedi commander. Although coming close to catching him offguard, the Jedi was warned by the rebel Clones of Metal Squad that he was coming for them, and although Marco and his men killed the majority of the rebels, including another insurgent squad of Clones designated as "Poker Squad", Koln still managed to slip away into the sands of Kulama. Worse yet, Metal Squad managed to both trick Marco and his Troopers into thinking that Koln was dead after disguising his death in the aftermath of a strafing run performed by CT-8963, and managed to hijack a supply ship and escape the planet. Although angry that they got away, Marco still got the credit for killing Koln, even though the Jedi Knight was still very much alive, which gave him some pleasure.

Marco continued to hunt for the renegades of Metal Squad with the 314th, at the same time keeping order across the newly formed Empire's borders in the Outer Rim worlds. Marco and the 314th became known as fierce enforcers of Imperial law and were now known across many worlds. Soon Marco's search of Metal Squad lead him to the shadowed world of Umbara, where he and his men shortly engaged again with the rebel Clones, but once more failed to prevent their escape. Although furious of this, again Marco gained a little something out of it, as he successfully crushed a massive Umbaran uprising in their own capital city, and was awarded with high honors for his actions.

Marco would encounter Metal Squad one last time on their mutual home world of Kamino, where he made an attempt to kill them along with a squad of Stormtroopers. However his men were shortly cut down, and Marco himself died when a member of Metal Squad named "Jester" fired a shot from his grenade launcher directly into his chest, obliterating the Clone and putting an end to Marco's loyal service.

Weapons and equipment
As was the tradition of all officers in the 314th Assault Battalion, Marco had a custom paint on his armor, and donned at first a full set of Phase I Clone Trooper armor with a helmet antenna, shoulder pad, kama and was armed with dual DC-17 Blaster Pistols. Marco kept the same set of upgrades and weapons in his Phase II Armor.

Personality and traits
A loyal and utterly no-nonsence soldier, Marco was known for his compliance with any given set of orders and accepting any and all missions that would come in his path, making him the choice officer for many missions that would have perhaps otherwise been deemed as too risky for normal Troopers to handle. Marco also held a grudge against the Jedi for their ineffective tactic in winning the war and dismissed them as "insignificant". Although perhaps surprising considering most Clones at first admired the Jedi, this attitude proved to be useful when Palpatine ordered the execution of Order 66, to which Marco immediately complied. He remained a steadfast and loyal soldier till his death on Kamino.