Spoiler alert! This story gallery contains plot details from "The Bad Batch."
12 Images
Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu meet with Captain Rex and Commander Cody, discussing the Republic's recent struggles to protect Anaxes from falling to the Separatists. Rex believes that the Separatists have somehow gained possession of his strategic algorithm -- and the only others who ever knew of the program were Echo and Fives, who are dead.
Windu dispatches Rex and Cody to take a small squad of troopers and infiltrate the Separatist cyber center. If the Separatists are using Rex's algorithm, they'll find evidence there.
Rex and Cody speak in private. The decorated captain feels uneasy, wondering if Echo may still be alive. "I don't have another way to explain how the Separatists got the algorithm," he says. Cody tries to ease his friend's mind, and readies to introduce him to the unit they'll be working with: Clone Force 99, a squad of defective Republic soldiers with desirable mutations. They call themselves...the Bad Batch.
Wearing black-and-red armor, the Bad Batch arrive at Anaxes. Consisting of team lead Hunter, the hulking Wrecker, stats-minded Tech, and the sharpshooter Crosshair, they don't look -- or act -- like normal clones.
En route to the Separatist cyber center, battle droids spot the clones' gunship and blast it out of the sky. Cody suffers a severe abdominal injury in the crash...and a droid battalion closes in on the squad. The Bad Batch decide to handle things their way, and takes the fight to the clankers!
The four clones charge, each using their own particular skills to wipe out the opposition. Following the battle, droids contact Admiral Trench, reporting that the clone attack matches no known strategies.
The clones set up camp. Tech explains that Hunter has heightened senses; he can detect the data center's electromagnetic frequencies. With Cody still suffering from his injuries, Rex calls in evac and takes command. But Crosshair questions the captain's authority, and tempers flare. Finally, things calm down and they move out.
When they arrive at an outpost, the clones storm the entrance, blasting their way into the tower. Tech hacks into the system and detects a whole platoon of droids heading their way, and the Bad Batch decide to grab some speeder bikes and flank them from the back.
The clones finally reach the cyber center, as does the droid platoon. As Rex creates a diversion, the Bad Batch blast their way through the complex and take control of the command center. But the fight isn't over yet, as super battle droids join the attack! The Bad Batch hold off the Separatists as Rex heads to the command center to join Tech.
Tech finds not a program, but a live signal coming from another planet called Skako Minor. He patches Rex in, and they hear something that sounds almost human...and utters the code "CT-1409." Rex stammers back in shock as the clones make their exit.
The droids contact Trench, confirming that a connection was made with Skako Minor -- which alarms the admiral.
Safely away from the cyber center, Tech asks Rex what the number they heard meant. "CT-1409. That was Echo's number," Rex says. "That was Echo."
