Echo, formerly designated CT-1409 and known as the Hero of Anaxes, was a defective human male clone veteran Clone Corporal and former Advanced Recon Commando of the elite 501st Legion who served as a clone commando of the elite Clone Force 99 in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Born on Kamino, Echo was originally identified as CT-21-0408, a cadet of the Domino Squad along with his friends Fives, Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait, before he graduated from the clone training center. On his first assignment after graduating, Echo was tasked with guarding the Rishi Station moon base, where he, along with Clone Captain Rex, Clone Commander Cody, Fives, and Hevy, who sacrificed himself during the fight, aided in warning the Republic of an impending Separatist attack on Kamino. Echo was commended for his bravery and absorbed into the 501st Legion.

After the attack on the Rishi Moon, Echo defended his homeworld from Separatist forces as they attacked Tipoca City, where they sought to destroy the Republic's cloning facilities. Once Republic forces successfully repelled the attack, Echo and Fives were both promoted to the elite rank of ARC trooper. Echo was later tasked with a mission to Lola Sayu, where he joined a group of Jedi and experienced clone troopers to retrieve coordinates to the Nexus Route from the Jedi Master Even Piell, who had been imprisoned on Lola Sayu's Citadel led by Commandant Osi Sobeck. After Piell and his surviving subordinates were rescued, the group headed for the landing field to escape on a shuttle. However, when Echo noticed a commando droid target their shuttle with a laser turret, he advanced to secure their ship, ultimately being blown up with the ship in a massive explosion that led his comrades to believe he was killed. Despite the loss of Echo and Piell's death later during the mission, it was ultimately a success.

Unbeknownst to the Republic, Echo actually survived but was gravely injured as he was taken prisoner by Separatist forces, where he was sold to the foreman, Wat Tambor. Echo was kept alive by being turned into a cyborg, albeit at the cost of his consciousness. As a result of the Techno Union's experiments, Echo became a genetically defective clone. He became an unwitting pawn for the Separatists during their campaign on Anaxes, led by Admiral Trench. When Rex found traces of Echo's survival, he, accompanied by the elite Clone Force 99 Special Operations Brigade and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, led a mission to rescue Echo on Skako Minor. They succeeded, and, in turn, Echo used his cybernetic capabilities to turn the tide against the Separatists on Anaxes, leading to the Republic's victory. After the mission, Corporal Echo decided to join Clone Force 99.

When Order 66 was activated, clone commando Echo was unaffected due to his cybernetic enhancements and genetic mutations, witnessed to his dismay the execution of the Jedi Depa Billaba by her own clone troopers on Kaller. Following this event, Echo saw the Republic becoming the Galactic Empire, which he was quickly disgusted with and ultimately deserted it after refusing to execute innocent civilians refusing to submit to the Empire. Joined by the female clone Omega, Echo and the Bad Batch became mercenaries for the Trandoshan Ciddarin Scaleback on Ord Mantell. Having to come back to Kamino to rescue their comrade Hunter, the clones eventually witnessed the Imperial destruction of Tipoca City and were thought to have died during the attack.

After a mission on Coruscant which led the Imperial Senate to find out what had happened to Tipoca City, Echo left the Bad Batch and decided to join Rex and his network to help discarded and in danger clones, notably through hijacking Imperial ships to free prisoners. He later rejoined Clone Force 99 for a mission on Eriadu with the goal of locating their brother Crosshair, who had been captured by the Imperial Advanced Science Division, a clandestine research organization experimenting on clones. The mission failed, leading to every member of Clone Force 99 becoming injured and Omega being captured after they returned to Ord Mantell. Omega was brought to Mount Tantiss.

A few months later, Echo heard from Clone Force 99 that Omega and Crosshair had escaped Mount Tantiss. He joined them as them as they flew to an imperial depot. There, Echo confirmed there were even more prisoners on Tantiss than they had previously thought. The intel Echo gathered made them one step closer to discovering Tantiss' location. Later, Echo infiltrated an imperial science vessel and disabled the proximity checkers in time for the rest of Clone Force 99 to attach their shuttle to the hull.

As the science vessel made its descent on Tantiss Base, Echo disguised himself as a TK stormtrooper and took the hand of an RA-7 protocol droid. Once the science vessel landed in the hangar, he snuck inside and made his way to the central lab. Doctor Emerie Karr noticed Echo had a droid hand and determined it was Echo in disguise. The two planned their rescue of Omega and the other Force-sensitive children that were being held captive in the vault. Karr informed Echo he would have to trust her. After discovering that Omega and the other children had broken out, Karr led Echo up to a hangar. There, Echo instructed Karr to bring the children to the coordinates he gave her. He told her that he and Omega would meet them there after they rescued the rest of the clones. Echo and Omega went back inside Tantiss to free the rest of Clone Force 99 and all the other prisoners. Once they were all freed and Hemlock was killed, the survivors all loaded up a Rho-class shuttle and rendezvoused with Karr and the children on Pabu. On the island, Echo told Karr he planned on resettling some of the clones on Pantora with the help of Senator Riyo Chuchi and he invited her to join him. She agreed, and the two departed Pabu on the Remora.

Biography

The Clone Wars

Graduating Domino Squad

CT-1409 was born on the planet Kamino, as all the clone troopers of the Galactic Republic were.^[11] He sarcastically^[16] received the nickname "Echo" for having a tendency to repeat orders during training exercises. Echo's by-the-book and no-nonsense approach greatly aggravated his fellow troopers. Echo lived in the barracks of Tipoca City, where he endured physical and mental training, and was identified by the designation CT-21-0408 as a cadet. Like all clones, Echo was a genetic copy of the once renowned bounty hunter Jango Fett, although, due to the millions of clones straining what DNA was left of the deceased Fett, it was speculated by the Kaminoan Administrator Lama Su that Echo, along with the other cadets in his unit, was too deficient to be a soldier.^[11]

During one of their final training exercises, Echo and Domino Squad—the cadets Cutup (CT-4040), Droidbait (CT-00-2010), Fives (CT-5555), and Hevy (CT-782)—had failed to work together on the battlefield and began to fight amongst each other during the exercise. Echo insisted that the squad simply follow orders to pass their training, for which he was mocked by Hevy as the squad cast blame for their repeated failures on each other. The string of recent disappointments by Domino Squad caused their trainers—the Togruta Jedi Shaak Ti, the Siniteen Bric, and the Arcona El-Les—to grow concerned about their chances of successfully being inducted into the Grand Army of the Republic. Shaak Ti observed that Echo had issues adapting to the battlefield, as he was too busy trying to impose the rules of the exercise on his squad-mates. Meanwhile, Bric stated his wish to flatly abandon the whole squad.^[11]

Soon after, the ARC trooper Colt visited the cadets with the intention of pitting them against their final test: the Citadel Challenge. On the mock-battlefield, Echo and Domino Squad were expected to face nonlethal battle droids and climb to the top of a citadel. However, the squad was unable to work together yet again, automatically failing the test when they chose to leave an injured Droidbait behind. Colt reprimanded Echo and the others for breaking the most important rule of working together as one. Following their failure, Echo and Fives approached Shaak Ti and requested a transfer to Bravo Squad, a group that had easily passed the Citadel Challenge, as they were unable to cooperate with the rest of their team. The Jedi denied their request, insisting the clones reassess their teamwork before they attempt their last chance at the final challenge.^[11]

The next day, Echo and Domino Squad went into the challenge with a renewed inspiration; Hevy had received encouragement from the malformed clone 99, a member of the maintenance crew, while Cutup had proved resilient when Bric tried to goad him into a fight. Echo and his team coherently made their way through the battle droids on the battlefield, making it to the citadel without trouble. However, they were unable to conventionally scale the tower when they realized their ascension cables were not with them, having been removed by Bric beforehand without their knowledge. In a surprise to Bric, the clone cadets managed to strategize and used the citadel's blaster cannons to scale the tower after neutralizing them, leading to their success. Shaak Ti, in that moment, believed the squad to be one of the best she had ever seen. Echo and the other members of Domino Squad henceforth became clone troopers, and were sent on their first deployment to partake in the Clone Wars.^[11]

Rookie on the Rishi Moon

Echo's rookie post, along with the rest of Domino Squad, was sent to the Rishi Moon in the Outer Rim Territories. Echo served under Clone Sergeant O'Niner and although Hevy disliked their boring assignment, took a liking to the quiet outpost, using the time to catch up on Republic Army regulations. Despite the seeming simplicity of their post, the squad did not realize the importance of the Rishi Station, as it was a listening post to ensure that no attack came to Kamino, their homeworld, by broadcasting a continuous all-clear signal. Unbeknownst to Echo or the rest of the stationed clones, the Separatist Alliance General Grievous planned on invading Kamino with a fleet of Munificent-class star frigates and Droid Control Ships, all of which were in orbit near the Rishi moon. Grievous sent an infiltration squad of BX-series droid commandos, an advanced type of battle droid that the clone troopers had not seen up to that point in the war, to covertly take over the Rishi outpost. After killing CT-327, the clone who was posted as the sentry outside, the commando droids made their way into the outpost and attacked the clones. When the initial wave of defense, including Sergeant O'Niner, were all quickly eliminated, Echo and the others fell back. As more troopers, including Droidbait and a trooper named Nub were killed, Echo—along with Cutup, Fives, and Hevy—escaped through a ventilation shaft as the droids took control of the outpost.^[2]

As the surviving clones made their way outside of the base and onto the barren cliffside, Cutup was killed by a native Rishi eel, which the rookies were unable to stop. Echo and the others then watched as a Republic shuttle, unaware of the situation and on a routine inspection, landed on the Rishi Station's landing platform above. The trio fired a droid attack flare into the sky to warn the unsuspecting Republic forces, and, above, the Clone Commander Cody and Captain Rex saw the warning flare and blasted the disguised droid that had just greeted them. The two experienced clone troopers were then attacked by the droid commandos that had been hiding nearby, and their shuttle was destroyed by a thermal detonator. To escape the blast, Cody and Rex jumped off the landing platform, finding their way to the clone rookies shortly after. Echo and the others were then forced by Rex to remove their helmets to prove they were not droids, just moments before a Rishi eel attacked the clones again before it was killed by the Clone Captain with a single shot to the eye. Once the danger had passed, Rex sized up the three troopers, telling Commander Cody that they had some "shinies" to work with. When Echo asked what that meant, Captain Rex strode over to the eel carcass, explaining that their armor was shiny and new, just like they were in terms of combat experience. He then placed his hand, covered in the blue blood of the eel, onto Echo's chest, leaving his handprint on his armor. Echo and the others then listened as Rex devised a plan to infiltrate the station by disguising his voice as that of a droid commando.^[2]

Once at the blast doors of the Rishi Station, Rex successfully tricked the droids inside to open the entrance, and the group blasted their way through the remaining droids. Echo and the others experienced their first droid kills during the assault. As Echo and Hevy took down the last droid, they had a brief exchange about who got the credit for the kill. However, after Cody checked the all-clear signal, he realized the droids had hard-wired it, making it impossible to deactivate immediately. The clones realized they had little time once a landing craft of battle droids sent by Grievous to reinforce the droid commandos, which had not checked in, arrived on the platform outside. Rex suggested the clones instead destroy the Rishi Station, which would force the all-clear signal to cease, warning any nearby Republic fleets. Echo recommended using the station's liquid tibanna fuel reserve for the job, as the substance was highly explosive and was regularly used to heat the station from the cold Rishi weather. Rex and the others agreed, and they armed themselves to repel the oncoming droid assault.^[2]

While Cody, Fives, and Hevy held the droid forces at bay, Echo and Rex prepared the explosive tibanna by arming it to the station's GNK-series power droids and linking them to a detonator. After it was set, the clone troopers prepared to make their exit from the base, but the remote detonator failed, forcing Hevy to manually detonate it instead as Echo and the others escaped. Once the clones made it outside, Hevy was unable to follow after he was gunned down, but he successfully set off the detonator, completely obliterating the Rishi Station and the battle droids in the explosion. Once the all-clear signal stopped broadcasting, the Republic fleet, realizing that invasion could be imminent, entered the Rishi system and engaged Grievous' fleet, forcing the outnumbered Separatist General to flee. Echo and the others were then discovered and rescued by two Republic gunships.^[2]

The four surviving clones would eventually arrive at Jedi General Anakin Skywalker's Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Resolute, where they were commended by Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi for their bravery as rookies and as the sole survivors of their post. After the Jedi awarded Echo and Fives medals, Captain Rex stepped forward to congratulate them. Echo asserted that they did not deserve the honor since they had failed to defend the outpost, but Cody reminded him that they had saved Kamino from potential invasion. Rex then said that they were the kinds of troopers he wanted serving alongside him in Skywalker's 501st Legion, which Echo and Fives were absorbed into.^[2][3]

Defending Kamino

In 21 BBY,^[18] Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker intercepted a holographic message between Grievous and the Dathomirian assassin Asajj Ventress, which stated they were proceeding with an invasion of Kamino. After arriving at Tipoca City, Echo and Fives were both happy to be home, reuniting with clone 99. They informed 99 of the death of Hevy, who had given 99 his graduation medal before leaving Kamino for the Rishi Station. 99 was eager to help the two clone troopers in preparations for the oncoming Separatist assault and joined with Echo and Fives. Soon after, Grievous' fleet arrived and immediately began its assault on Kamino, with Ventress seeking to steal Jango Fett's DNA from the cloning facilities.^[17]

After the battle started, the ARC trooper Havoc assigned Echo and Fives to take sniper positions above Tipoca City, noting it would be a dangerous assignment, and the two clones obliged. Meanwhile, 99 assisted Havoc's company by supplying DC-15A blaster rifles, but Havoc was killed shortly after demanding the malformed clone take refuge. 99 then met with Echo and Fives as they fired on an onslaught of AQ-series battle droids, and helped the pair by supplying them with grenades, doing what he could to aid the clone troopers in battle and prove his own worth as a soldier. Echo and Fives, desiring a better sniping position, agreed to make their way to the armory with 99 when a group of cadets that had been separated from the others appeared. Echo and Fives both tried to inspire confidence in the clone cadets, reminding them that they were fighting for their home.^[17]

The entourage of clones successfully reached the armory near the barracks, where they were confronted by General Grievous and a group of battle droids. Kenobi showed up and confronted the general himself, dueling Grievous in lightsaber combat and leading him away from the armory. Echo and the others were then cornered in the barracks, where they set a trap for the oncoming battle droids using the bunks as cover for the cadets. The troopers ran out of grenades to use against the droids, so 99 made his way to retrieve more, but he was shot down from behind, much to Echo's dismay. As they defeated the last of the droids, the clones gathered around 99, with Echo holding the old clone in his arms. Soon after, the battle was won as the Separatist Droid Army, including Grievous and Ventress, was routed all throughout Tipoca City, and the clone troopers mourned the death of their clone brothers. Once the battle ended, Cody and Rex commended Echo and Fives for their courage and effort in the battle, officially promoting them to the elite rank of ARC troopers. Both clones accepted the promotion and stated that they did what any clone would have done for their home.^[17] Echo received training through the ARC program^[19] and then served valiantly as an ARC trooper^[20] within the 501st.^[21]

Mission to the Citadel

Some time after the assault on Kamino during the Clone Wars, the Lannik Jedi Master Even Piell was captured by the Separatists for his knowledge of the coordinates to the Nexus Route, a vital hyperspace route for the Republic. The 501st, including Echo and Fives, was tasked with Piell's rescue, led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Piell was being held at a prison known as the Citadel on the planet Lola Sayu, a prison built specifically to hold Jedi. To get to the Citadel covertly the rescue group was frozen in carbonite, which prevented their life signs from being detected aboard their transport. Subsequently, the astromech droid R2-D2 and a group of reprogrammed battle droids piloted the shuttle into Separatist space over Lola Sayu. After the shuttle gained passage to the Citadel once no signs of life were detected aboard, it landed in a remote area where R2 removed Echo and the crew from the carbonite blocks.^[23]

The weather was too violent for the clone troopers to use jetpacks to climb the Citadel prison wall, so they used ascension cables and climbed by hand. Echo and the others witnessed the clone trooper Charger lose his balance and fall down the exterior prison wall, colliding with an electromine, which alerted the Phindian Citadel warden, Osi Sobeck. Despite Sobeck sending his forces after the rescue group, Echo and company were able to fight their way—which included avoiding electrified magnetic walls—to Piell's location, where they freed him from the prison's interrogator droid. Piell informed his rescuers that his crewman, Captain Wilhuff Tarkin, had memorized one half of the Nexus Route coordinates, while he had memorized the other. Echo and company then fought their way to free Tarkin and the rest of Piell's surviving crew, before they split up, with Kenobi and Piell creating a distraction for the others to escape and meet up afterward. Skywalker led Tarkin alongside Echo and Fives into the fortress's tunnels, an advantage Fives noted they had due to old Citadel archive data they possessed.^[23]

As the two groups headed to the rendezvous point to meet with R2-D2 and the shuttle, the astromech fooled the prison's tactical droid into letting him inside the prison, acting as a prisoner of the reprogrammed battle droids. This allowed Sobeck to set a trap around the abandoned shuttle, luring Kenobi and Piell into capture, which R2 used as an opportunity to meet with the Jedi Masters. In the meantime, Echo and Fives held off attacking battle droids as their group made its way through the tunnels, with the Padawan Ahsoka Tano taking point until they reached a fuel pipeline. Unaware that Kenobi and Piell had been captured, Echo and the others used the fuel line to make their way to the rendezvous, where they expected an extraction by R2. When the astromech failed to arrive, Skywalker led Echo and the others on his "Plan B": to board the shuttle by force. They were met with resistance, including numerous crab droids and battle droids on STAP repulsorcraft, as well as the threat of laser turrets positioned around the airfield.^[22]

As the battle continued, Echo witnessed a droid commando making its way for one of the laser turrets, intending to use it to destroy the shuttle that was supposed to pick up the rescue group. Echo attempted to stop the droid, carrying a personal riot shield as he fired his blaster pistol towards it, but ultimately failed. The droid successfully fired upon the crew's escape shuttle, causing a large explosion that caught Echo in the blast. He was thought to have been killed in said blast, as Fives and the others saw only his charred helmet. Without a transport, the crew retreated from the battle scene and called the Jedi Council for aid, requesting an evacuation.^[22] Eventually, the mission was a success after the Kel Dor Jedi Master Plo Koon rescued what remained of the group. As intended, the group delivered the two halves of the Nexus Route coordinates, although Tano had to Piell's half after the Jedi Master was killed-in-action against Sobeck's hunting anoobas.^[24] In truth, Echo survived without the knowledge of the Republic, although he was severely injured, sustaining wounds that cost him his right arm and legs while his neural and respiratory systems were damaged. Echo was subsequently unable to resist the Separatist capture that followed.^[7]

Pawn of the Separatists

Following his capture by the Separatists, Echo was transformed into a cyborg.^[26] The experiments conducted on Echo turned him into a^[27] genetically defective clone.^[8] Echo was outfitted with cybernetic replacements for his legs above the knee,^[7] while his right arm, which he had lost above the elbow was replaced with a socket-arm that allowed him to interface with computer systems.^[12] Sometime following his capture, Echo was sold to the Techno Union, which was led by foreman and Emir Wat Tambor, and experimented on. Tambor had the intention of using the clone for counterintelligence, accessing Echo's knowledge of strategic Republic algorithms, as, despite claiming neutrality in the war, the Techno Union was secretly allied with Separatists. Tambor took Echo to Skako Minor, where the clone trooper was placed in stasis—preventing him from regaining control of his consciousness—and forced to remotely feed information for the Separatists' campaign on the planet Anaxes. Neural and respiratory systems kept Echo both under control and alive during the long time he was in stasis,^[7] and on Anaxes, due to Echo's unwitting part, the Republic efforts to repel the Separatists from their shipyards were failing on over a dozen fronts.^[12]

Faced with major losses, Rex theorized that the droids had learned his personal playbook of strategies, noting that his specific tactics were consistently being countered. To learn how the Separatists were predicting his strategies, Rex and Commander Cody intended to lead a squad into Separatist lines to the Cyber Center. Before the mission, Rex sat in the barracks and looked at a picture of him with Fives, Cody and Echo, telling Cody that the strategies used by the droids were ones he had made with Echo. Rex began to think that his old friend might still be alive, although Cody felt it was impossible. Along with Clone Force 99—the experimentally enhanced clone commandos Crosshair, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker, who called themselves the "Bad Batch"—Rex infiltrated the Cyber Center and discovered the source of Trench's strategic signal. Rex was shocked when the signal, coming from Skako Minor, identified itself as "CT-1409," Echo's clone trooper designation number.^[25] Although the word was that the general staff did not support the mission, the Clone Captain planned on rescuing Echo, taking Skywalker and the "Bad Batch" with him to Skako Minor. Prior to rescuing Echo, both Skywalker and Hunter considered the option that Echo was dead.^[7]

In the Core Worlds of the Skako system.^[28] Once on Skako Minor, the crew was able to infiltrate the Techno Union's headquarters in the city of Purkoll, where they faced numerous D1-series aerial battle droids before making their way to Echo's stasis chamber. Once there, Tech opened Echo's stasis chamber and Rex pulled him free. Echo regained consciousness and remembered only his last moments at the Citadel, but once Rex helped him orient himself, realized what was happening and was happy to see Rex had returned for him.^[7] Immediately afterward, Tambor surrounded the stasis chamber and threatened the crew with the Decimator droid, but Echo, once Tech safely disconnected him from the computer system, was able to aid in their escape, using the knowledge of the base he acquired during his time spent connected to its computers. Echo guided the crew outside through the ventilation shafts; meanwhile, Wrecker destroyed his empty stasis chamber. After making their way out, the crew used the native keeradaks to fly away from the base, evading pursuit by the aerial D-wing droids. Their flight led to the village of the local Poletecs, natives Rex and the others had already encountered beforehand, where Rex used Echo as an example of Separatist cruelty to rally the Poletecs to fight alongside them. In the battle that followed, Echo, despite his weakened body, took part in destroying numerous droids as the Poletecs, Rex, Skywalker, and the Bad Batch destroyed the attacking octuptarra tri-droids. The battle was won, and the rescue crew returned to Anaxes with Echo in tow.^[27]

Hero of Anaxes

Once back in secured Republic territory on Anaxes, Echo underwent refinements and was fashioned with new cybernetics that covered most of his body. Echo's socket-arm remained intact, and he was eager to fight back against the Separatists. When the Jedi Generals were briefing the 501st forces on Anaxes, Echo volunteered to commandeer a covert assault on Admiral Trench's forces. Although Rex was hesitant due to Echo's physical state, Windu was open to Echo's plan of infiltration. Echo proposed using his own Separatist capabilities against the Confederacy army, and planned to board Trench's dreadnought to feed him false information about the Republic's strategies. Echo ensured his allies that Tambor, despite his Separatist allegiance, knew that Trench would have him killed if he found out Echo was no longer in Separatist hands. Thus, Echo justified that sending strategic signals to Admiral Trench would not be suspicious to him, and, as the Anaxes shipyards were vital to the Republic forces for the Clone Wars, Windu agreed to go forward with Echo's plan.^[12]

Echo once again traveled with the Bad Batch, Rex, and Skywalker aboard the Marauder, Clone Force 99's uniquely designed attack shuttle, to infiltrate Trench's dreadnought. Meanwhile, Generals Kenobi and Windu led numerous Republic gunships into the heart of the Separatists' war effort on Anaxes, a droid assembly complex, intending to make one final assault on the base as part of Echo's plan. Once the Marauder reached Separatist space, Echo used his socket-arm to interface with the starship's computer systems and masked the ship's identity, fooling the Separatist blockade into letting the transport dock with Trench's flagship as if it were a Separatist shuttle. Once aboard, Echo and the infiltration crew made their way to a nearby communications vault, where Tech rigged an interface for Echo to use and masked his signal, making it appear as if Echo was still transmitting from Skako Minor. Echo began his ruse just as Trench attempted to contact Skako Minor, intercepting the message and successfully taking over Trench's strategic algorithm.^[12]

Although Kenobi, Windu, and their forces were already under heavy assault at the droid assembly complex, Echo sent the majority of the remaining battle droids to the Jedi Masters' location to gather the droids together, ensuring the two Jedi that it was part of the plan. Once the battle droids surrounded the Jedi, Trench believed himself on the verge of victory until Echo remotely sent a large feedback pulse that overloaded all of the battle droids' circuitry and left the Jedi victorious. As part of his contingency plan, Trench remotely activated a large bomb he had built in the assembly complex's reactor core, which Echo detected just before they were about to depart Trench's dreadnought. He informed Windu, who evacuated all of the Republic forces in the assembly complex before attempting to disarm the bomb with Echo's remote assistance. However, before Echo could give Windu the final disarming sequence for the bomb, Trench—who had discovered the source of Echo's signal—deliberately targeted Echo's neural system and jammed it, knocking the clone trooper unconscious. Skywalker had anticipated the possibility of Echo failing to disarm the bomb and had gone to the dreadnought's bridge to confront Trench himself.^[12]

Skywalker was able to strong-arm Trench into revealing the final sequence of the Anaxes complex bomb, which was relayed to Windu and used to disarm it and secure the facility, before he was forced to kill the Harch in self-defense. In the meantime, Rex slung his unconscious friend over his shoulder and carried Echo as the clones fought their way through the dreadnought's defenses to make their escape. Both Crosshair and Wrecker destroyed a large number of droids that ensured a clear path to the Marauder, where Echo and company regrouped with Skywalker. After boarding the Bad Batch's transport, Echo regained consciousness. Skywalker gave Wrecker the detonator to self-destruct Trench's dreadnought, which he had taken from the bridge, and the clone commando used it to destroy the orbiting Separatist fleet in the ensuing explosion just before the Marauder returned to Anaxes. Due to the mission's success, the Republic forces retook their vital assembly yards on Anaxes.^[12] Echo became known as the Hero of Anaxes and was promoted to be a Clone Corporal.^[29] After he, Rex, and the Bad Batch were informed they would receive medals, Hunter told Echo he would be welcome to join their commando squad. Echo was at first hesitant, but after being encouraged by Rex, who wanted the best for his friend despite no doubt wishing he would return to the 501st Legion,^[12] the former ARC trooper^[30] of the 501st,^[3] made the choice to^[12] become the fifth clone commando of the Bad Batch.^[30][30]

Order 66 and the rise of the Empire

Near the end of the Clone Wars, the Bad Batch was dispatched to the planet Kaller to reinforce Jedi General Depa Billaba and her forces in the ongoing battle there. Billaba had been supposed to get more reinforcements, but they were diverted to Coruscant due to the attack and kidnapping of the Supreme Chancellor. The Batch was met by Billaba's Padawan, Caleb Dume, who led them to the battle site. Echo took out several droids when the Batch began their attack, and they wiped out the droid unit pinning down Billaba and her forces with ease.^[6]

After the attack, Dume introduced the members of Clone Force 99 to Billaba, who complimented their actions. As they were speaking, Tech, who had been listening to the encrypted comm chatter, announced that Obi-Wan Kenobi had engaged General Grievous on Utapau, and Echo commented that the Separatist command structure and droid army would collapse if Grievous were captured or killed. Billaba dismissed his theory as a matter they could not control and urged the clones to focus on the task at hand. Hunter then ordered his squad to get to work, and Dume, with permission from Billaba, accompanied them.^[6]

As Clone Force 99 and Dume were departing, Dume sensed his master in distress and turned back for her:^[6] the Supreme Chancellor, truly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, had issued the secret command Order 66, which forced almost all of the clone army to turn on the Jedi and kill them,^[31] enforced via secretly implanted inhibitor chips which activated upon receipt of the order.^[32] Echo was immune to the command, however, because his experience at the hands of the Techno Union had rendered his chip inoperable. The Bad Batch heard blaster fire and turned around to see Billaba falling at the hands of her own troops. Echo and his squad-mates tried to approach Dume, who had been told to run, but he ignited his lightsaber and warned them to stay away from him. He then vanished into the nearby forest. Echo asked what had happened, and Tech explained that the comm chatter was transmitting a single message, "Execute Order 66," on repeat. Unsure of what was unfolding, Hunter sent Echo and Tech to check with the commander to discern what was going on while he and Crosshair pursued Dume into the forest. Echo and Tech learned from Captain Grey that the "regs" had been ordered to execute the Jedi, and Tech passed the information on to Hunter, who subsequently let Dume escape over a canyon, although without Crosshair's help, as the sniper was the only member of the Batch not immune to his inhibitor chip.^[6]

Later, Echo and his squad-mates returned to Kamino aboard their ship, the Marauder. Wrecker questioned Tech on how long they had been away, and Tech replied that they had been gone for 180 rotations in a standard cycle but that galactic adjusted changes put that figure at 205. Wrecker was confused, and Echo simply reiterated that they had been away a long time. As the ship entered Kamino's atmosphere, two V-wing starfighters approached and requested a clearance code. Echo was surprised, wondering how the starfighters did not know who they were, but Tech speculated that it was just a protocol drill. After Clone Force 99 confirmed their clearance code, the pilot ordered them to land at landing bay one-tac-one, and the Marauder subsequently arrived there.^[6]

Upon exiting their ship, Clone Force 99 realized that it had not been a drill due to the heavy presence of the Coruscant Guard, and Wrecker wondered what they had missed. A nearby shock trooper informed the squad that they had missed the end of the war, as General Grievous was dead and the Separatist leadership had collapsed. Just then, a Jedi's corpse was carried by under a sheet, and their lightsaber fell to the ground near the squad. The shock trooper retrieved it and asked Hunter if there was a problem, but he denied the trooper's accusation. As the squad departed for their barracks, the shock trooper informed them that there would be a mandatory assembly at 1500 hours. On the way there, Hunter noted that all of the regular clones were acting just as strange as the ones on Kaller.^[6]

Entering the barracks, Echo commented on the worsening smell, and Hunter told him he was still new to the squad and that he would get used to it in time. Wrecker added several tally marks to the wall for the successful missions the squad had undertaken since their last visit home, leading Echo to point out that Kaller had not been a win. Sitting at the table in the center of the room as the others largely dispersed to their bunks, Echo vented about what had happened on Kaller, wondering how the clones could have turned on Billaba so abruptly given that some of them had served under her for years, as the claim that the Jedi had all committed treason made no sense. Tech noted that it was well known that the Kaminoans had engineered the clones with behavioral programming which inhibited certain traits in order to make them more obedient, suggesting that this was to blame. He further suggested that the Bad Batch's genetic mutations, which the Kaminoans had enhanced, made them largely immune to the programming, although he could not be certain. When Hunter brought up the fact that Echo was previously a "reg", before joining them, leading Echo to wonder why he had not reacted like the others, Tech theorized that Echo's experiences at the Citadel and being subjected to experimentation afterwards had disrupted whatever programming he had been engineered with, noting that percentage-wise, he was more of a machine than a man. Echo sarcastically responded that he was lucky.^[6]

The clones on Kamino were shortly summoned to a mandatory briefing on the state of the Republic, which Hunter noted he did not want to miss. As the Batch and many regs watched in a large room, Palpatine claimed the Jedi had attempted to assassinate him and their "rebellion" had been crushed, before proclaiming the reorganization of the Republic into the first Galactic Empire. Echo was unnerved, but after Palpatine finished his speech, all of the regular clones in the room began cheering, leading Tech to make an arch remark about their programming. Afterwards, as they walked through the hallways, Echo was uncomfortable with serving an empire, noting the clones were soldiers of the Republic. Crosshair displayed apathy towards the change in government, but Tech noted that the eradication of the Jedi was a fairly big difference. Hunter realized the squad was being followed by a young girl who introduced herself as Omega, before making it clear that she was familiar with the squad and its members. When she was asked why she was on Kamino, Nala Se walked up and said the girl was her medical assistant before leading her away, leaving the Batch confused.^[6]

Later, as the Bad Batch sat down in the mess hall, Wrecker dismissed the notion that he could be programmed, despite Tech's assertions that the facts supported his hypothesis. They were then joined by Hunter, who informed them that he had overheard the regs talking about Imperial had arrived on Kamino to evaluate the clones. However, they were all confused when Omega showed up and decided to sit with them. When Hunter asked her if she had anything else she needed to do Omega replied that she doesn't and that she likes hanging out with them, as they're different like herself. Her presence, however, led to mockery from a passing trooper, and Omega's response to his behavior was to throw food at him, starting a brawl between the Batch and the regs. Echo was exasperated as this was not the first time, briefly facepalming before joining the fight. Crosshair continued eating until his meal was disrupted by Echo being knocked across the table, leading him to join the brawl in irritation. At a disadvantage due to having only one hand, Echo was knocked to the ground by another clone, but before he could get up, he was distracted upon seeing Tarkin and Lama Su observing the brawl from above. A warning shout from Tech came too late for Echo to avoid being knocked out cold with a tray.^[6]

Echo was taken to the medical bay, where he was examined by medical droid AZI-345211896246498721347. Omega also insisted on staying by his bedside until Echo woke up, although AZI-3 attempted to get her to leave. When Echo did wake up, he briefly panicked upon realizing where he was, batting away the medical equipment and yelling to "get them off" before he became more aware of his surroundings. Omega was able to calm him down and told him that she hated being hooked up to their machines as well. AZI-3 introduced himself, but when he addressed Echo by his designation number, Omega corrected him about the clone's name. The rest of the Batch arrived, Wrecker smugly exclaiming to Crosshair that the sniper owed him two credits since Echo was, indeed, alive. AZI-3 told them that Echo's condition was stable, but left after dramatically informing the others that they appeared to be denetically defective and that they must be shocked. Tech remarked about the squad being more deviant then defective, and Echo informed his squad that Tarkin was the Imperial who had been sent to evaluate the clones. When Tech asked if it was indeed the same Tarkin from the Citadel rescue, Echo confirmed it, saying that he had not liked clones back then and that his presence could be dangerous. Hunter said the squad had been summoned by the Prime Minister, so the squad departed, leaving Omega behind.^[6]

However, the group was quickly redirected to the training center at Tarkin's request to verify their worth to the Empire. Beginning at first with a standard combat simulation, the squad quickly realized they were facing live-fire training droids. Behind a block, Echo noticed that practice rifles are useless against real battle droids, so Hunter decided to improvise. The droids were eventually eliminated, with Echo deactivating one by thrusting his mechanical arm into his head.^[6]

Returning to their barracks, Echo shared Wrecker's contemplation of the session unfolding as he recalls his warnings about Tarkin. The admiral himself then arrived, admitting his admiration for the unorthodox but successful methods of Clone Force 99 before giving them a mission to eliminate insurgents on Onderon. Echo inquired about the kind of insurgents in question, to which Tarkin described them as Separatist troops. Later, as the squad prepared for their mission in the hangar, Echo attempted to accept additional insurgent information but was unable to do so due to the Imperial file lockdown, leaving Tech to try in his stead.^[6]

A new era

Becoming a fugitive

Once landed in the jungle of Onderon, the group traveled two kilometers to the Separatist encampment, where they took cover in the jungle to observe the encampment. When Tech revealed the complete absence of any battle droids, Echo began to doubt their targets were insurgents as the group observed a small camp of humans that included women and children. The clones are subsequently discovered by Onderonians and the clones were forced to surrender.^[6]

They were taken to the center of the camp where Echo noted that the insurgents were not Separatists but soldiers of the Republic. The leader of the insurgents, the former resistance fighter Saw Gerrera, explained to them that the Empire did not shy away from any lies to justify the massacres of those refusing to bow to new power. Forced to break camp, Gerrera let the clones go, recalling being aided by the clone troopers during the liberation of his planet during the Onderonian Civil War. He left the squad with words of advice, saying to adapt and survive or die with the past.^[6]

Returning to the Marauder, Crosshair expressed that they had to finish the mission and kill Gerrera and his men, to which Echo told him to wake up and not comply with the Empire since they had been sent to eliminate innocent people, only to make Crosshair coldly doubt their innocence. Echo then watched Hunter and Crosshair argue over Crosshair's strong loyalty to the new Empire until the Clone Sergeant shot down a probe droid spying on them. Knowing that this is Tarkin's work, Hunter decided to return to Kamino for Omega, Tech also recalls that Nala Se spoke of five clones and that Tarkin assumed that he meant them but Echo had previously been a regular clone, after Tech revealed that Omega was an enhanced clone, just like them.^[6]

Back on Kamino, the squad was immediately detained and accused of treason by Tarkin for conspiring with Gerrera before being placed in a cell, stripped of their equipment but nevertheless finding Omega locked up with them. Crosshair began to lash out at Hunter for their predicament, prompting Echo to defend Hunter. Several shock troopers suddenly come to take Crosshair with them on Tarkin's orders. Tech later managed to find a ventilation system that Omega used to pass outside the cell and free them.^[6]

The Bad Batch discreetly moved towards the hangar to retrieve their equipment, planning to then rescue Crosshair. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by other shock troopers led by a Crosshair, who has undergone his chip amplification, making him even more loyal to the Empire. Despite this setback, Hunter, Echo, Tech, Wrecker, and Omega managed to get back into the Marauder and flee Kamino, becoming fugitives of the Empire.^[6]

Stop at Saleucami

In hyperspace, Echo and Hunter were surprised to see that Omega had finally fallen asleep after exploring the ship. Echo expressed worry at the prospect of being able to adequately care for her as they approached Saleucami, where the Batch was going to visit an old friend, although Echo did now know who. Upon landing and exiting the ship, the clones were confused by Omega's fascination with dirt, something that she had never experienced before on Kamino. As they walk through cropland, Echo asked what their mysterious friend was doing on the planet, and Tech simply replied that he was hiding like all deserters do. Even as Hunter was confident, Echo remained skeptical. As they exited the field, Wrecker inadvertently triggered a trap that activated several battle droids. A couple suddenly approached them, Suu Lawquane and her husband Cut Lawquane, a former clone trooper who deserted the army during the war. When they realized it was the Bad Batch, they welcomed them to their home.^[33]

At their homestead, Echo was introduced to Cut and Suu for the first time. Cut quickly noticed the absence of Crosshair and also said that Rex had stopped by recently to warn him that the clones had turned against the Jedi. Echo was intrigued by the whereabouts of his former leader, and Cut explained that Rex had passed through the day before and had mentioned a "behavioral implant." Omega then spoke up, identifying the implant as an inhibitor chip, an implant placed in each clone to alter their behavior.^[33]

Later, the group learned of an Imperial-imposed chain code policy that sought to identify all citizens and denying transportation offworld to those unidentified. They realized that Cut would eventually be discovered as a deserter from the army. They held a meeting, but were interrupted when Shaeeah entered to warn everyone that Omega, having gone outside the fence, was at the mercy of a nexu. Luckily, she was saved in time, though the four clones remained concerned seeing a still-traumatized Omega brought back to safety by Cut. Inside the farmhouse, Hunter swore that the group would help Lawquane and his family leave Saleucami safely.^[33]

In the Marauder, Echo pointed out the irony of the clone troopers assigning numbers to the civilians. Tech posed the idea of having the ship seized with them onboard to infiltrate the compound. There, they could counterfeit chain codes for the family and hand them off inside the spaceport. Echo was initially skeptical but then decided that it could work. As the Marauder was impounded, Hunter notified Echo and Tech via comlink that Omega was inside the ship with them, surprising both troopers.^[33]

After successfully hiding from an inspection, Echo told Omega to stay on the ship before sneaking to the security room. Inside, he infiltrated the network but found no memory cards to copy a chain code onto until Tech pointed him towards the safe. Echo unlocked it and grabbed several memory cards before returning to the ship. Unfortunately, once Tech had successfully forged the chain codes, he spotted more clone troopers gathering outside the impound lot. In response to Tech stating they couldn't risk being caught with the chain codes, Echo corrected they couldn't get caught at all, knowing the port would go into lockdown if they got caught up in a blaster fight. However, the two clones noticed that Omega had left and taken the doctored cards with her. Echo then tried to remove the magnetic clamp impounding the Marauder until he was spotted by a trooper. Echo claimed to be the maintenance technician, but Tech then stunned the trooper. However, the trooper managed to get an alert out beforehand, attracting more clone troopers. As Echo predicted, the Bad Batch soon became caught up in a blaster fight. Echo continued to struggle removing the clamp, so Wrecker busted it with his bare hands. As the Lawquanes successfully made it onto the shuttle, the Bad Batch took off in the Marauder.^[33]

Adventure on the Ordo Moon

Echo reported that the Marauder took a severe hit while fleeing Saleucami and complained that they were the only ones starting repairs since Tech was more focused on making a scanner to check the status of their chips. The ship snapped out of hyperspace and Echo informed Hunter that they needed to land because the main capacitor was failing. The Bad Batch managed to make a bumpy landing on the Ordo Moon. As Omega searched for the only spare capacitor onboard, she discovered Crosshair's weapons chest, leaving the clones saddened. Wrecker admitted that he missed his former comrade, but Echo reminded him that Crosshair had shot him. Tech speculated that Crosshair turned on them because of the chip, which Omega confirmed.^[34]

Echo and Tech then went outside, wearing oxygen masks, to fix the capacitor. Hearing a noise, Echo inspected the surroundings of the Marauder and found traces of scratches on the hull. Returning inside, Echo barely had time to inform Hunter of his discovery as other systems began to fail. Omega spotted something crawling outside with the capacitor in its mouth and screamed as Echo confirmed on screen that the beast had stolen the device. Tech identified the creature as an Ordo Moon Dragon, a voracious creature that fed on raw energy. Hunter ordered Echo and Tech to reactivate the remaining systems while he and Omega searched for the capacitor. The two eventually returned with the capacitor, and with the Marauder fully operational, the group departed the moon.^[34]

Pit stop on Pantora

With fuel and rations critically low, the group needed to resupply. Echo pointed out another problem they had to address, which was that the Marauder's signature was wanted. Tech simply replied that they could scramble it next time they landed, saying that the nearest planet was Pantora. The group decided to land there, which excited Omega, who was anxious to explore more of the galaxy. The squad landed at Ro Station, and Echo, Hunter, and Omega headed into town to restock. When Wrecker complained about not coming, Echo reminded the hulking clone that he stood out, to which Wrecker retorted that the cyborg Echo also did. Echo donned his helmet to be more discreet before joining Hunter and Omega.^[35]

The trio advanced in the market streets and stopped in front of a parade of clone troopers that were being applauded by civilians celebrating the end of the war. Echo noticed the same chain code registration system that they had discovered on Saleucami, telling Hunter that they should complete their resupply as soon as possible. Omega did not see the problem with the people celebrating the end of the war, and Echo pointed out that it depended on which side they were on. Stopping by the store of a Gran trader, Hunter began to bargain with him as Omega showed Echo a clone trooper doll. As Echo examined it, he caught the trader's attention. Mistaking Echo for a droid, the Gran offered to buy him for two thousand credits. Echo was offended that Hunter planned to accept the deal, but Hunter reminded him that they needed the money and that he could sneak away afterwards. Echo relented but also demanded that his price be increased before Hunter completed a deal, selling Echo for three thousand credits. Echo was taken by the Gran inside the store and sent into the back room to oversee the work of the other droids he owned. After the Gran left, Echo lifted his helmet and was approached by the protocol droid CG-67, the self-proclaimed leader, before she realized that he was not a droid.^[35]

Later, Echo, Tech, and Wrecker received a communication from Hunter saying that Omega was being chased by a mysterious woman. Wrecker left to search for her, leaving Echo and his new crew of droids to return to the ship and help Tech re-assemble the Marauder. Echo led the droids away from the shop, telling CG-67 that she would be head droid again when they finished. After removing all their restraining bolts, Echo and the droids exited the storeroom. When Echo returned the bolts to the Gran, the trader was shocked to see that he was not a droid, to which Echo sarcastically retorted that he had acquired him for a bargain price. Back at the Marauder, the group began assembling the ship.^[35]

Once the ship was ready, Echo returned onboard with the rest of the team, who had rescued Omega. Flying away from Pantora, Hunter said that he had to deal with a bounty hunter, a term unknown to Omega until Echo explained what it was. Omega was distressed by the news, but the squad reassured her that they would always protect her.^[35]

Confronting Zygerrians on Ord Mantell

Shortly after, Omega received Crosshair's comlink, and Echo warned her that it was not a toy. As the Bad Batch traveled to the astronomical object Ord Mantell to get intel on the woman who had been hunting Omega on Pantora, Echo revealed that he knew someone on Ord Mantell who was a former Jedi contact, an individual named Cid. Once they arrived on Ord Mantell, the clones went to a cantina where Cid was supposed to be. When asked by Hunter which of the three persons present was Cid, Echo clarified that he had only heard of Cid but had never met them in person, a detail Tech wished he had noted earlier. Omega realized that the female Trandoshan present was Cid while the others argued about who it was. Cid then brought the group to her office and asked them what they wanted, and Echo accessed her terminal to show the image of the assassin there. Cid deduced that she was a bounty hunter but demanded a favor from the Bad Batch in exchange for sharing information, referring to them as mercenaries, much to Echo's disbelief. Cid then explained that the mission she was entrusting to them consisted of saving a child named Muchi from the clutches of a group of Zygerrian slavers posted on the other side of Ord Mantell.^[36]

Back aboard the Marauder, Omega asked what a slaver was, and Echo helped Tech explain slavery. Omega was disgusted and said that she did not think it was fair, and Echo agreed. Arriving at the edge of the Old Ord Mantell City where the Zygerrians were hiding, the team quickly spotted the slavers and their subjects. Omega was ordered to stay aboard the Marauder while the squad rescued them. Echo positioned himself at high ground to provide cover the others. After signaling two speeder patrollers, Echo heard movement before being ambushed by a brezak, which knocked him off the tower he was on. The fall knocked him unconscious, and meanwhile, the rest of the squad were also subdued.^[36]

Captured and handcuffed, Echo dared to stand up to the Zygerrian guard who activated the Wrecker's electric collar only to be electrocuted as well. Hunter started to worry about Omega's safety, to which Echo remarked that their guns and comlinks were out of their reach. Tech decided they would not need them to warn Omega, who was on the way. The Zygerrian leader, Raney, approached the Bad Batch to contemplate his new catch, and Echo protested that the Republic had abolished slavery, only for Raney to point out that the Republic no longer existed. The former Republic clone troopers then discreetly guided Omega by declaring aloud that the Zygerrians had done well to take their materials because they would not have had so much luck otherwise, allowing the young girl to find the place where the armament is found. Omega's rescue attempt resulted in the release of a juvenile rancor, who unleashed on the Zygerrians, giving Wrecker the opportunity to break the massive chain that bound the creature and then free the rest of the Bad Batch. While helping free the three slaves, a confused Echo learned that the rancor was in fact Muchi, the target they had been sent to free. Echo and Omega then escorted the trio to safety, Echo taking down three Zygerrians while Omega retrieved an energy bow from one of them then the two returned on a speeder to see the end of the fight between Wrecker and Muchi.^[36]

The Bad Batch returned to town with Muchi, who was happily reunited with Bib Fortuna, the rancor's owner's right-hand man. After the Twi'lek and Muchi left, Cid expressed having had doubts about their accomplishments and Echo criticized her for not saying earlier that they had to retrieve a rancor, which Cid simply claimed did not just a small oversight on her part.^[36]

Infiltration on Corellia

At Cid's Parlor, Echo trained Omega to use her new weapon by performing target shooting, but the young girl was quickly complained of being bothered by the presence of Bolo and Ketch, something Echo did not excuse because he wanted her to be able to ignore distractions and focus. Cid then ended the shooting session to assign the Bad Batch the mission to go to Corellia to extract an old Separatist tactical droid from a decommissioning facility.^[14]

With the Marauder stealthily clinging to a class four container transport to dodge the planetary sensors, Echo explained to Omega that tactical droids were among the most important droids because they had the ability to learn from their mistakes in battle and improve afterwards. With the target building in sight, Echo suggested landing the ship in the industrial area and continuing on foot.^[14]

The squad then evaded the police droids, entered the facility through a balcony, and knocked out an employee before splitting up on the catwalk. Echo, Hunter, and Tech took control of a control panel, which Echo used to infiltrate the system to find only one still intact tactical droid located at the north conveyor. Meanwhile, the squad soon learned that there were other infiltrators. One of them, Trace Martez, quickly took the droid's still-intact head, only to accidentally come face-to-face with the three clones who immediately pointed their blasters at her. Things got even worse when an unintentional shot from Omega alerted employees who later discovered the intruders and caused a lockdown. The police droids arrived in droves and quickly opened fire. As Trace attempted to flee, Hunter ordered Tech and Echo to break containment while he pursued her. Echo blew the power to the entire system to bypass the loop, but he needed a high-posted Wrecker to reach the main control panel. Once the fire door was unlocked, the clones joined by Trace and her sister Rafa began to be surrounded by more and more droids until by joining forces they reactivated the battle droids destined to be destroyed with the head of the tactical droid and reprogrammed the old separatist droids to only attack police droids. The group managed to reach the Silver Angel, though the tactical droid's head was destroyed in the escape.^[14]

On board, the Martez sisters explained to the clones that they wanted to acquire the head for someone leading a movement against the Empire. The squad then allowed them to take the intel instead of bringing it to Cid. Rafa asked them why they weren't on the side of the Empire like the other clones, to which Hunter replied that they were different. The Bad Batch was then dropped off at the Marauder, parting ways with the sisters.^[14]

Removing behavioral chips

After returning from a mission to retrieve a lizard that resulted in them being chased by three gunships. Echo, Hunter, and Tech received their payment from Cid but protested the low amount of credit Echo received. Cid retorted that they were indebted to her due to their outstanding docking fees, port charges, gear, fuel, and rations, not to mention the amount of Mantell Mix consumed by Omega and Wrecker. A blaster shot in the bar suddenly interrupted the unpleasant conversation and when the foursome went to see what had happened, the hooded individual who had fired to scare away Bolo and Ketch turned out to be Rex, to the amazement of the three clones. Echo was shocked to see his former commanding officer.^[37]

Sitting at the counter, Rex explained to his brothers that he had kept a low profile after the Clone Wars and that the Empire considered him dead. Echo surmised that it must have been hard for Rex to find them, and the former captain said that the Martez sisters had informed him of their implications on Corellia and that he would have a good chance of finding them in Ord Mantell. After meeting Omega, Rex was alarmed to learn that none of the four clones had removed their inhibitor chips due to their deviant natures having seemingly made them immune to their functionality, nearly drawing their blaster due to his fear of the effects of Order 66. Denying the worst, Rex offered a potential solution to his friends for removing the chips.^[37]

Later, the Bad Batch joined Rex at the starship graveyard on Bracca, Rex's plan to remove the chips requiring access to a Venator-class cruiser like the one he had his own chip removed from. As the clones made their way through the wreckage to avoid being spotted by the Scrapper Guild, Rex shared with Echo that Fives tried to warn him about the chips but did not understand at the time, with Echo revealing also that it was Omega who had revealed to them the existence of the chips. Inside the cruiser, Echo asked Rex how he got his chip removed, to which Rex vaguely replied that he had received help. With the exception of Wrecker, the group was able to jump across a chasm using a cable. Wrecker was grabbed by a dianoga when the cable gave way, but Echo repelled the beast by shooting it while the others assisted Wrecker.^[37]

Finally at the medical bay, Echo calibrated the surgical module and activated the operating machine. Unfortunately, Wrecker succumbed to his chip's programming and attack his comrades. Echo, Rex, and Hunter lured Wrecker outside to prevent him from damaging the extraction equipment and Echo used a canister as a melee weapon, only for Wrecker to grab him and throw him at Rex, incapacitating them both. After Rex managed to stun Wrecker, Echo and the others brought their unconscious comrade back to the medical bay and began extracting his chip. Echo grew worried about how long the procedure was taking, and his concern grew when Wrecker did not wake up immediately afterwards. However, Wrecker eventually awoke and made a full recovery.^[37]

Some time later, Hunter sent Echo outside to retrieve Omega and Wrecker, who had been training outside. Echo detected that they were being watched by three scrappers and told Wrecker and Omega to act casual as they approached. They engaged the scrappers, who took off on a hover barge. Echo watched as Wrecker grabbed hold of the fleeing barge and alerted Hunter and Tech over his comm. Hunter ordered him to get a visual on the situation. From his new vantage point, Echo waited for the barge to fly past, before firing a stun-blast at the remaining scrapper.^[38]

Showdown on Bracca

Inside the downed cruiser, Echo aided Hunter in the scavenging of valuable gear and weapons to settle their debt with Cid. Echo challenged Hunter that had they left with Rex to join his fight, they would have no need to settle any debts with Cid. The group's scavenging endeavors were cut short by the arrival of an Imperial force led by none other than Crosshair. Echo and Wrecker were transporting the last of the supplies while Hunter, Tech, and Omega scoped out their enemy from the bridge. While discussing a plan of escape, Echo suggested they alternate corridors as to avoid the Imperial sweep. Crosshair outsmarted them and corned them near the ship's cannons. Tech told Echo to scomp in reroute the ship's power to the cannons. With Echo's help, Tech was able to successfully fire the cannons, causing chaos on the deck. The Batch took advantage of this and opened fire on the clone troopers surrounding them and this allowed them to enter the ion engine section of the ship.^[38]

Upon entering the engine itself, Echo told Tech he did not realize they would actually be escaping through the engine, although Tech told him he could not have been more clear about what the plan was. The squad soon became trapped by Crosshair, who had stationed himself outside the engine with his sniper rifle and a squad of clone troopers. Meanwhile, Crosshair sent troopers to go the bridge and activate the engine. Echo asked Tech how much time they had before the engine would turn on and vaporize them, and Tech calculated they had around two minutes. Wrecker suggested Plan 7, but a frustrated Echo growled that Plan 7 had absolutely nothing to do with their current predicament. They opted to place the explosives they had just stolen around the ring of the engine to cause it to break off and fall away from the danger. As the engines engaged, Echo and the team ducked, simultaneously detonating their explosives. During the fall, the group was split up; Echo landing on the port-side with Wrecker and Tech, while Omega and Hunter landed on the other side. Echo, along with Tech and Wrecker, retrieved the Marauder and lifted off the retrieve Hunter and Omega. However, they found Hunter injured with a blaster wound to the chest and no sign of Omega. Echo helped Hunter aboard the ship and they departed the planet's atmosphere with Imperial ships in hot pursuit. Echo would later find out that Omega had been taken by bounty hunter Cad Bane.^[38]

Being pursued by Crosshair, the squad prepared to enter hyperspace. Hunter told them they could not leave without Omega, but Echo advised him that Bane was already long gone and that they had no chance of tracking him down if their ship was shot down by the Empire. Hunter reluctantly agreed and they escaped into hyperspace.^[39]

Recovering Omega

In hyperspace, the squad discussed the reason Omega had been abducted and Echo listened as Tech explained Omega's value to the Kaminoans. From this, Echo deduced that the Kaminoans must have put the bounty on Omega. After communications with Cid had occurred, Echo entered the cockpit and alerted Hunter that the Trandoshan knew about Bane but had no intel on where to find him. As Echo was sitting down, they overheard Omega's voice through the long-range communications. Echo identified it as long-range and boosted the signal aptly. Due to Omega not knowing her location, Echo attempted to establish a direct-connection trace but found the signal to be too weak. Omega successfully created an energy surge and this allowed Echo to locate her in the Lido system, then attempting to pinpoint her exact coordinates. The crew then managed to successfully pick up Omega on Bora Vio after she escaped Bane in a Kaminoan flight pod. Echo listened in as Omega tearfully asked Hunter why she was being hunted. Echo encouraged Hunter to tell Omega the truth and Hunter obliged.^[39]

Mission to Raxus

After returning to Ord Mantell, Cid offered them another mission to Raxus to extract Senator Avi Singh, who was in danger after he publicly spoke out against the Imperial occupation of his planet. They were provided with clearance codes that would allow them to pass the Imperial ships over Raxus. Echo boarded the Marauder with Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker, while Omega was forced by Hunter to stay behind with Cid. As they readied for launch, Echo expressed his disbelief that they were helping a former Separatist senator. Tech reminded him he had said multiple times already.^[40]

Arriving on Raxus, the Marauder was escorted by two V-wings, whose pilots asked for clearance codes. Echo queried that due to the client being a Separatist, the whole mission could be a trap. Contrary to Echo's skeptical thoughts, the codes checked out and the Bad Batch was cleared to land in Raxulon. Echo continued to grumble about the client being Separatist, but Tech brought up the fact that the codes checking out was a sign that it was not a trap. Hunter encouraged them both to forget the politics of the mission and focus on the job. The Senator's protocol droid, GS-8, soon arrived and began to lead them towards the right location. Echo exchanged a uneasy look with Wrecker before disembarking the ramp of the Marauder and following the droid.^[40]

Upon reaching the Singh residence, Echo listened as Tech analyzed the compound's security. As Tech learned that there were many guards inside, Echo pushed GS-8 aside, questioning whether she had set them up. Howeve,r the squad pressed on. Using the protocol droid as a distraction to draw guards away, they approached a panel in a doorway of the facility. After Tech gained access to their security system, Hunter ordered Echo join Wrecker in clearing the upper levels.^[40]

After clearing the upper levels, Echo and Wrecker rejoined Hunter and Tech, who had successfully extracted Senator Singh. Echo was the second of the crew to swing down from the balcony to a passing AT-TE walker. Echo aided Tech in opening the top hatch of the walker, holding it up while the other clone stunned and incapacitated the troopers inside. As they commandeered the walker, another walker began to fire at them, damaging their vehicle. While Wrecker and Hunter fired at the clones on the attacking walker, Echo aided Tech in manually recalibrating their walker's systems. Three clones discovered Echo and Tech, telling them to freeze. However, Echo and Tech were rescued by Senator Singh, who threw a vase from his hiding place underneath the walker, giving Echo and Tech a chance to surprise attack their would-be captors. After finishing the repairs, Echo accompanied the group on the walker until they reached an alleyway, where the Senator showed them an escape route through a wall. Having been successful in their mission, the Batch returned to Ord Mantell.^[40]

Selling weapons to the Twi'leks

Clone Force 99 traveled to the third moon of Ryloth with weaponry to sell to Gobi Glie and Serin, who were accompanied by a young Hera Syndulla. The transaction was successful and the Bad Batch left, although Gobi, Serin and Hera were imprisoned by the Empire shortly afterwards.^[41]

A new era for Ryloth

Echo was present when Hera Syndulla sent a message for help to the Marauder. He asked Omega whether she had given the Twi'lek girl their comm channel, and Omega confirmed that she had given it to Syndulla in case of emergency. In the message, Syndulla explained that her parents had been framed for an assassination attempt on the life of Senator Orn Free Taa and taken into Imperial custody. After some debate, Clone Force 99 decided to go to Ryloth to help them. Upon their arrival on Ryloth, they met Syndulla and her droid Chopper in a remote canyon. Syndulla led them to the outskirts of Lessu and Echo helped assess the threat through his macrobinoculars. After Hunter discovered an Imperial probe droid watching them, Echo remarked that the Empire was now aware of their presence on the planet. Back at the Marauder, Echo explained to Hera that her father's voice was a threat to the Empire due to his support amongst the Twi'lek population. After more deliberation, the Bad Batch decided to help Hera and rescue her parents.^[42]

The squad formed a plan to free the Syndullas. While Wrecker and Tech attacked the Imperial doonium refinery to distract the Imperial forces, Echo and Hunter scaled the wall to rescue the Syndullas. As they neared the top of the wall, one of the clone trooper guards discovered Echo. Echo sarcastically asked the trooper for assistance with climbing onto the platform, but the trooper was knocked out by Hunter. Inside the capital, Echo and Hunter freed Cham and Eleni Syndulla as well as Gobi. Echo helped lead them towards the doorway of the facility before they were stopped by Captain Howzer who warned them that Crosshair had set up a trap outside. They instead, opted to take Senator Orn Free Taa's vessel, and evade the squads waiting for them. Echo was present when when they dropped the Syndulla family off to a safe location.^[42]

The Durand crime family

On a mission for Cid, the Bad Batch ran into some complications involving swarms of gundarks. Upon their return to Ord Mantell, Echo expressed that he expected Cid to pay them extra for their trouble, considering she had failed to mention the creatures at all during their briefing. Clone Force 99 noticed some unusual mercenaries in Cid's Parlor and discovered that the Devaronian Roland Durand had taken over. After finding Cid, the Trandoshan managed to blackmail them into helping her take back the cantina.^[43]

The plan was to enter the cantina via the old mining tunnels under Ord Mantell and steal crates of spice, sabotaging an upcoming transaction between Durand and a buyer. They entered the tunnels and Echo traveled in a cart with Wrecker and Hunter. Cid warned them to be quiet due to an infestation problem in the tunnels. Echo used a torch to look around the tunnels and he could hear screeching sounds from the depths. After finally reaching the tunnel, they loaded the crates of spice onto the carts. With the final crates loaded, Echo used wall controls to seal the door behind them. They were pursued by Roland's men and defeated them swiftly, their bodies falling into the depths of the mine. They were then swarmed by the now awoken hive of irlings dwelling in the mine. The swarm caused the cart commandeered by Echo, Hunter, and Wrecker to come off the rails and they were forced to jump out onto the nearby platform. The spice shipment was lost in the mines as they reached the doorway. They managed to escape by closing the irlings in.^[43]

Returning to the cantina, the Pyke Syndicate had arrived and Durand had outed them as the theft of his spice. Clone Force 99 was forced into retrieving the spice again. Echo stayed on the Marauder as they hovered above the mines. The irlings attacked Wrecker and Cid in the mines but they managed to escape after Tech used a flash bomb to scare off the creatures. After returning the spice to the Pykes, the matter was resolved and Omega was returned.^[43]

Rescue of Gregor

During another job for Cid, the Bad Batch was traveling through hyperspace when they were contacted by Rex. The captain sent them on a mission to rescue CC-5576 "Gregor," who was imprisoned on the planet Daro. Hunter felt conflicted as to whether to finish the job for Cid or to help Rex. Echo exchanged a knowing look with Hunter and the latter decided to help the clone.^[44]

Upon reaching Daro, Hunter remarked that they were banking a lot on a clone they did not even know. Echo assured Hunter that he trusted Rex and they knew Rex trusted this clone. Upon landing, they found Gregor's distress beacon and discovered that he had already been recaptured. Echo continued on up the nearby mountain with Hunter and Tech while Wrecker and Omega went back to the ship. Upon reaching the top, the trio discovered a military base built into the mountain. Echo used his macrobinoculars to survey and he noticed clone commandos leading squads of TK troopers, which he mistook for updated clone armor. Hunter and Tech began to walk back towards the ship but Echo challenged them to complete the mission. He reminded them that they had infiltrated Skako Minor during the Clone Wars to rescue him and they had similarly gone in blind and without backup.^[44]

After Echo convinced Hunter to infiltrate the base, they leapt on top of a lift which took them down into the base. Echo inserted his hand into a wall-socket, attempting to find the whereabouts of Gregor, but the encryption was new and he warned Hunter that it might take a while. While plugged in, Echo discovered there was fifty clone commandos and a thousand TK troopers, a designation that the trio had not heard of. He finally broke through the encryption and discovered that Gregor was being held at cellblock 25 which was four levels down. They extracted Gregor and moved out from the cellblock, evading the squads of TK troopers as they moved. While Tech attempted to use a clone code to redirect the TKs, Gregor told Echo and Hunter he had been an instructor. An alarm suddenly went off, Tech having unintentionally triggered a security alert. They were engaged by the commandos and TK troopers immediately. They quickly realized that TK troopers were not clones but enlisted soldiers. They ran through the halls of the base, using stun blasts to knock out the troopers and made it to a lift that ascended towards the top of the base. Echo asked Gregor about the purpose of the TK troopers to which Gregor told them that due to their conscription from all over the galaxy, they were an endless supply of soldiers for the Empire. The lift doors opened at the top and they were met by a group of TK troopers led by clone commando Scorch. Scorch and his squad pursued them back onto the lower levels but Echo and his comrades were able to stun the TK troopers with ease. Scorch took multiple stun blasts from Echo and Hunter before being knocked unconscious. Echo found another access port and discovered that all of the access points had been blocked off. Tech devised a plan to escape through the reactor conduits and have Wrecker pick them up in the Marauder.^[44]

Echo helped an injured Gregor to walk through the conduits and asked him how he ended up on Daro. Gregor told Echo he had been assigned to train the new troopers but wanted out and that the Empire didn't take nicely to desertion. They reached the opening on the side of the mountain and the Marauder was on approach but the Empire had caught onto their plan and V-wing fighters were on approach. A squad of commando-led TK troopers arrived in the conduit behind them and opened fire. Tech managed to jump across, leaving Echo with Hunter on the edge of the platform. One of the commandos engaged the pair at the opening and after a short struggle, he was pushed in front of blaster fire from his own troops, his body falling off the cliff-side. When the Marauder returned, Echo jumped across successfully, covered by Hunter. V-wings approached once more, forcing Tech to steer the Marauder away again. On the extended ramp, Echo held onto Omega as Hunter attempted to jump across and failed to grip on, falling onto the side of the mountain. Echo entered the ship and sat in the co-pilot's chair as Hunter ordered them to escape without him over comms.^[44]

Return to Kamino

On Ord Mantell, Echo and Omega worked on fixing the ship while Wrecker went to see Cid and drop off Gregor. Omega expressed frustration that it was taking too long but Echo told her to focus as they couldn't go anywhere until the ship was fixed. After receiving a signal from Hunter's communication device, they discovered Hunter had been transferred from Daro to Kamino, although they were wary of a trap.^[45]

Upon arriving on Kamino, they landed on a secret landing platform that Omega knew of. They entered the hidden Kamino tube system, traveling in a pod that carried them through the underwater tunnels towards Tipoca City. Tech told them that the tube system was not on any schematics, to which Echo remarked that Kaminoans kept a lot of secrets. While in the pod, Echo asked if Omega was alright. Omega responded that rescuing Hunter was more important. The pod transported them to Nala Se's private lab, where Tech attempted to pinpoint Hunter's signal. Echo tried tapping into the system but was unable to locate the signal. They discovered the droid AZI-3, who told them the clone troopers had been relocated off-world except Crosshair. Echo led the group to the central platform, where they narrowly missed being spotted by a squad of TK troopers. They arrived underneath the training area and Echo noted that if Crosshair was waiting for them above they would be picked off easily. They opted to enter through the lift in order to maintain the element of surprise. Echo ordered Omega to stay underneath and told her if things went south they would send her a signal and to go back to the ship and contact Rex.^[45]

Upon ascending, Echo quickly realized that Crosshair had predicted their plan and already positioned his squad of elite troopers surrounding the lift with blasters trained and ready. Forced to surrender, Echo activated the signal, alerting Omega that they were in trouble. Crosshair's elite troopers refused his order to stand down but he shot them down with a mirror system. He offered them an opportunity to join the Empire and find purpose. They were interrupted by the entrance of training droids activated by Omega to cause a distraction. Echo fought the droids alongside Tech and Wrecker while Hunter and Crosshair fought. Due to the sheer number of droids activated, Crosshair was forced to fight with the Bad Batch again to destroy them all. Echo kept his blaster ready when Crosshair revealed that he had already removed his chip and witnessed Hunter stun him. While running back towards the lab, the Empire ordered the orbital bombardment of Tipoca City and the city began to fall apart around them.^[45]

Echo, along with Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech, ended up on one side of a blast door, while Omega and Crosshair were on the other. They managed to get the door open just before the other room filled up with water. They ran through the city but were too late as the city was fully submerged underwater and sank to the bottom. They opted to enter the tubes to get back to the Marauder but were attacked by a kamoradon sea dragon. They managed to reach Nala Se's lab although still trapped at the bottom of the sea. Echo warned the group that long-range comms were jammed and that their oxygen levels would be critical within a few hours. After some deliberation, Echo and Tech figured out that riding in the medical capsules could get them to the surface, although it was a dangerous endeavour. Echo got into a capsule with Tech and AZI-3 sealed all of the capsules shut. Omega detonated explosives creating a hole in the side of the building which caused the capsules to be sucked out. AZI-3 managed to guide the capsules safely to the surface. They finally reached the Marauder and Echo boarded with the rest of the Bad Batch, except for Crosshair, who decided to stay behind.^[46]

Crab heist

Several months after the destruction of Tipoca city, Clone Force 99 was still working for Cid. One such job was a heist on Aynaboni, home to the aggrocrab species. Echo helped secure the package with Wrecker and Hunter but Wrecker accidentally awoke a pod of the aggrocrabs. Echo and his comrades ran along the beach towards the Marauder which was hovering above. Echo expressed his frustration with Wrecker as they had been over the plan five times and he had still messed it up. One of the aggrocrabs attempted to attack Echo from the side but he narrowly avoided it by diving into a roll. The trio finally reached the ship and used the ascension cable to ride up with the cargo while firing at the aggrocrab pod.^[47]

Count Dooku's war chest

Back on Ord Mantell, the Bad Batch entered Cid's office while she was meeting with Phee Genoa. Cid quickly gave them a new mission - go to Serenno and raid the castle for the war chest of the late Count Dooku. Omega had never heard Dooku's name and Echo quickly explained that he was a former Jedi that led the Separatist against the Republic during the Clone Wars. Hunter ultimately decided it was too dangerous of a mission and they left Cid's office.^[47]

Echo, along with Tech and Wrecker, met with Cid in the cantina and discussed going ahead with the mission to Serenno. Hunter overheard them talking and confronted them. They explained to Hunter that they had taken a vote, and Cid told him that even "killjoy" agreed, gesturing to Echo. With Hunter finally convinced, they set out for Serenno.^[47]

On the Marauder, Echo spoke with Hunter, suggesting they could use the fortune from the chest, to acquire weapons and supplies to fight the Empire. Hunter told him that he didn't want Omega to be involved in such a fight but Echo brought up that they were in their current situation because of Omega. He assured Hunter that it was right to take Omega from Kamino but added that there were others that needed their help. He told Hunter that they should be doing more to fight the Empire before walking away.^[47]

Echo was the first clone to walk out of the Marauder after landing on Serenno. The Bad Batch traversed the mountains to reach the castle and surveyed the area from above. The Empire had begun to transport the war chest off-world and Echo led the group down the hillside while Hunter went his own way to cause a distraction. They ran onto one of the cargo ships and found a portion of the war chest. Echo told them to look for anything shiny or heavy to start off with and they began searching. Omega discovered a chest full of valuable gems and jewel-like treasures and called for Echo. Echo deduced that her findings were of high value. When Tech explained that Dooku's wealth came from his corruption during the war, Echo reassured Omega their use of it wasn't corruption if it was for a good purpose. When the Imperial-affiliated Captain Wilco caught on that something was wrong, Echo warned Hunter over his comms. Hunter blew up a group of V-wing starfighters, which caused all of the clone troopers to divert their attention in that direction. Echo quickly ordered the Bad Batch to transport the crates of treasure they had acquired. The cargo ship's doors suddenly closed while they were all still inside, except for Wrecker, who had managed to reach Hunter. Echo attempted to re-open the door, by plugging into the wall-panel but they had been externally sealed. They were stuck on-board as the ship began to take off and they formulated a plan to commandeer an escape pod. Echo assisted Tech in carrying a crate of the treasure as they made their way towards the escape pod but they were intercepted by clones. Echo found a wall-panel and attempted to find an alternate route to the pod but discovered that the clone troopers had already ejected all escape pods to prevent their escape. Echo covered Omega and Tech with stun-blasts while Tech started the release of the cargo containers of the ship. The cargo was released and the trio found themselves in a free-fall back to the surface of the planet.^[47] The re-entry thrusters activated, slowing their descent and they crash-landed in the upper forest regions. Echo grabbed Omega and held onto her as the container crashed and rested on a cliff-side.^[48]

Echo deduced that the Empire would come looking for its containers and Hunter told them to lay low. Having not realised they were on a cliff-side, the trio walked across the floor of the container, causing it to tip and fall off the edge. It landed half-way down the cliff and a crate landed on Tech, injuring him. Echo helped Omega lift the crate off his legs and then helped him to his feet. Echo went to scope out the situation from the top and realised they were on a cliff. He climbed to the top of the cliff and used a rope to pull up an injured Tech. Omega desired to stay and retrieve the war chest but Echo told her they had no time and needed to find cover. After discovering they were being followed by a local named Romar Adell, Echo asked him where they could find shelter. He told the man to take them to his home to which he reluctantly agreed. Upon reaching Romar's home, Omega begged Echo to take her back to get the treasure from the container but Echo didn't oblige, telling her it would be too dangerous. He proceeded to give her the mission of watching Adell. Later, Echo argued with Tech over the purpose of stealing the war chest, as he still believed they should use it to fight the Empire. He put on his helmet and told them he was going to check for patrols.^[48]

Upon his return, Echo realised Omega had gone to recover the war chest herself and departed to follow her with Tech behind him. Upon reaching the cliffside, Echo shone his torch into the container from above and yelled after her. Clone troopers on speeder bikes suddenly arrived and cornered him on the edge of the cliff. He was forced to hastily climb down the rope to avoid them but a blast from one of the speeders broke the rope, causing him to fall onto the container below. He quickly closed the doors at the top to avoid the incoming blaster fire from the clones above and located Omega. On the way back up, the container began to fall and Omega dropped her gathered treasures. Echo encouraged her to leave it in order to escape but she revealed that she had heard him talking to Hunter earlier. She believed that the Bad Batch didn't have normal lives because they were protecting her. Echo told Omega that she needed to let the treasure go and they finally began their ascent again without the chest. Echo hastily opened the door and they managed to jump onto the cliffside as the container fell beneath them. Tech yelled to Echo from above and told them to hang on. Adell threw them a rope and Echo and Omega grabbed onto it. A commotion above caused the speeder that the rope was attached to, to move towards the cliff, meaning Echo and Omega began to descend on the rope. They were saved by Adell, who commandeered the speeder bike and reversed it, pulling them both up. Hunter and Wrecker arrived on the Marauder, allowing them to escape and they said their farewells to Adell.^[48]

In hyperspace, Echo sat next to Omega and assured her that it was a good thing they rescued her. He said that if they had not done so, they might have been in the Empire's ranks or worse. He assured her that they made the right choice and that he personally would do it all again.^[48]

Mission for Cid

Some time later, Echo and Hunter embarked on a mission to transport fifty casings of nerf nuggets for Cid, a mission that Tech considered a waste of their talents.^[49]

Discovery of Skara Nal

The Bad Batch, including Echo, traveled with Phee Genoa to Skara Nal, in the Kaldar Trinary system, in search of an ancient treasure. Upon reaching the doorway, Echo exchanged a look with Hunter before following the others inside. They discovered the temple was actually a massive ancient walker and accidentally activated it. They were also attacked by a hostile creature while trying to shut the walker down and Echo was knocked off his feet. They were able to shut the walker down and prevent anyone from using it in the future.^[50]

Mission to Vanguard Axis

Later, Cid sent the Bad Batch on a mission to Vanguard Axis. Hunter ordered Echo and Omega to stay with the ship while they completed the deal. Omega told Echo that something "felt off" about the space station and he agreed. He told her they weren't staying for long and went inside to prep the ship. Unbeknownst to him, Omega left to investigate more of the ship.^[51]

Echo realised Omega was missing and found her with a Wookiee named Gungi that she had helped escape from the droids. Echo contacted Hunter for backup as they were surrounded by the droids. Echo witnessed Gungi use the force to take his lightsaber from one of the droids and a skirmish broke out. They were joined by Hunter, Wrecker and Tech, boarding their ship with Gungi. Hunter considered taking Gungi to his homeworld of Kashyyyk and Echo notioned that the Empire had outposts there and it wasn't safe for the young Jedi. Hunter told him that it wasn't safe anywhere for a Jedi and they departed for the planet.^[51]

Kashyyyk

Upon arriving above Kashyyyk, Echo locked onto the coordinates of a Wookiee village they knew of. He warned Hunter that he was picking up heavy smoke and deforestation. After trekking through the forest, they discovered Trandoshans with Wookiee prisoners. The Trandoshans had been hired by the Empire to work on Kashyyyk and therefore had Imperial gear. Echo watched as Gungi attacked the Trandoshans and then sprung into action after the Wookiee, along with the rest of the squad. They took out the Trandoshans and freed the Wookiee prisoners. The Wookiees led them to the village where the Bad Batch decided to stay and help the natives fight off the Trandoshans and Imperials when they inevitably arrived.^[51]

Echo kept watch and sighted the Trandoshan convoy on approach. They engaged the convoy with the Wookiees and defeated them, using their natural surroundings and the help of the native netcasters to their advantage. After the battle, Echo tried a Wookiee beverage and told a nearby Wookiee that he enjoyed it.^[51]

Mission to Coruscant

Some time later, the Bad Batch was on the Marauder when Echo noticed Omega meditating. She asked him to try it but he told her he didn't enjoy solitude due to his time on Skako Minor. He told her that if Clone Force 99 didn't rescue him, he would still be there. She asked him if that is why he had joined the squad and he replied that at the time, it had been where he fit and where he had been most needed. They were interrupted by a transmission from Captain Rex who asked for their help. Rex asked them to meet him on Coruscant and Hunter was reluctant due to it being the Imperial capital. Echo reminded them that the Empire thought they were dead and therefore wouldn't be looking for them. Rex told them he would send over safe flight plans to bypass the Imperials and Echo assured the captain that they were on their way.^[13]

They arrived safely at the coordinates and were met by Rex and Senator Riyo Chuchi. Rex brought them inside to see a clone assassin they had captured. Rex explained that the assassin had gotten to one of Rex's men and had almost killed the senator as well to which Echo asked why a clone would be targeting another clone. Chuchi explained that Vice Admiral Rampart was covering up the destruction of Tipoca City and therefore wanted to silence the clone who was named Slip. Slip had witnessed the travesties on Kamino and was willing to testify to the senate which meant that Rampart was forced to send the assassin to kill him. Rex explained that he needed their help to infiltrate Rampart's Venator to access the ship's logs. The ship was docked on Coruscant for a retrofit but would be heavily guarded.^[13]

Rex took Echo, Hunter, Wrecker and Tech to infiltrate the ship and used maintenance tunnels to reach it. While Wrecker worked at opening a hatch, Echo told Rex he found it surprising to find his network on Coruscant of all places. Rex told him it was worth the risk and that more and more of the clones were waking up to the reality of the Empire. Echo asked him how many clones he had reached but Rex told him he hadn't reached enough. He explained that troopers that knew too much were a liability and that he was working with a few contacts undercover. He mentioned that his network was definitely spread pretty thin and that help was hard to come by. Wrecker finally got the door open and they infiltrated the shipyard. They used the repulsorlift maintenance platforms to hitch a ride onto the ship. Upon reaching the bridge, they were forced to reactivate the power to extract the necessary data and therefore triggered a security alert. While under attack from clone troopers, Hunter told Echo to man the cannons and deal with the air support. Echo controlled the turrets on top of the cruiser and shot down the V-wings in the air. As per their plan, Echo activated the thrusters of the cruiser, causing enough chaos for them to escape. They used escape pods to fly over the enemy and landed right near the hatch that they had arrived in. They managed to get the evidence back to the senate in time for Senator Chuchi to use. This proved to be useless as Emperor Palpatine simply had Rampart arrested, claiming he had acted alone.^[13]

On Level 1313, Echo felt his allegiance pulled toward his clone brothers elsewhere in the galaxy. Seeing the destructive power of a rogue clone programmed as an assassin and the voiceless masses of the former clone army, an entire people without representation in the Imperial Senate, Echo knew he had to do something.^[3] He decided to stay with Rex's clone underground network and notified his brothers, although he kept it from Omega until it was time for them to leave. Hunter, Wrecker and Tech said their goodbyes to Echo and walked into the Marauder, leaving Omega with Echo and Rex. Echo explained that the clones needed their help more then ever. He assured her that leaving was something he had and he was going where he was needed. She told him that the squad needed him too and he told her it wouldn't be forever and that he'd be back. She embraced him and he told her to keep an eye on rest of the squad for him. Echo watched in silence as the Bad Batch left Coruscant without him.^[13]

Rescue of Howzer

After some time in the Clone Underground, Echo went on a mission into Balmorra space to rescue three former clone troopers including Captain Howzer. From their starship, Echo and Gregor attacked the Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser under the command of Captain Pearce which was holding the prisoners. Echo quickly disabled the Gozanti's hyperdrive and defenses before he boarded it via a smaller leech ship, which drilled into the hull. A squad of TK troopers was sent to intercept but was quickly overrun by Echo and his boarding party. Echo's crew included dissident clone troopers, Fireball and Nemec. Gregor docked the ship and engaged the TK troopers sent to the forward hatch. He was quickly joined by Echo and the team, who took out the TK troopers in that hallway.^[15]

Echo ordered Fireball to free Howzer while he would go with Nemec and take the bridge. Once on the bridge, Echo and Nemec quickly stunned the TK troopers and the commando before attempting to find out the ship's location objective from the captain. Echo attempted to extract it from the system but the Imperials had already begun erasing the system. Echo told Gregor he was still extracting what files were left as a Star Destroyer exited hyperspace in their vicinity. Echo told Gregor to disembark and they would catch up in the docking ship. With Imperial ships incoming, Echo and Nemec ran back to their ship and managed to get free of the Gozanti just in time. V-wing starfighters opened fire, blowing it up the Imperial cruiser. Echo docked his ship with Gregor's and they escaped into hyperspace to rendezvous on Coruscant.^[15]

On Coruscant, Echo spoke with Hower and Senator Chuchi. Howzer told them that clones had been transported prior to them and had never returned. They agreed that they needed to find where the ship was headed. Echo told them he had extracted what he could of the Imperial ship's files but that he needed to decrypt it. Echo knew Tech could decrypt the files and departed to find his old squad.^[15]

Reuniting with the Bad Batch

Echo arrived on Pabu to meet with the Bad Batch and entered the atmosphere during Omega's flight training with Tech on the Marauder. He challenged her to a race back to the landing zone. Echo greeted Hunter upon landing and expressed his surprise that they were no longer on Ord Mantell with Cid. Omega ran to greet Echo as soon as she exited the Marauder. Tech asked Echo about the encrypted data and they got down to business.^[15]

That night, Echo was walking with Hunter and watching Omega mess around with Wrecker. He asked Hunter if their plan was to stay on Pabu indefinitely to which Hunter told him they hadn't decided but that it would be the best idea for them. Hunter asked Echo what he had been up to and Echo told him that he had helped Rex build up a small network of clones, underground and as contacts within the Empire. Hunter warned Echo that they couldn't win against the might of the Galactic Empire but Echo challenged him that the intentions were specifically to fight for their brothers, the former soldiers of the Republic. Hunter put a hand on Echo's shoulder and reassured him that he understood his intentions and asked him when it would be enough fighting. They were called by Tech who had decrypted the data.^[15]

Tech told them that the transport that Echo hijacked, belonged to the Empire's secret advanced science division, the leader of which was Royce Hemlock. Tech had discovered that Crosshair had also been taken prisoner by Hemlock's division and had also found a message from him in their old comm channels, simply saying plan 88. As this appeared to be a warning, they concluded they were being targeted.^[15]

Echo and Tech scoured through Imperial files to extract information on the advanced science division as well as Hemlock but found limited information. One of Echo's contacts revealed that Hemlock would be attending a meeting on Eriadu and they planned to infiltrate the base in order to track the scientists shuttle and follow it to Crosshair's location. Echo revealed that Rex was on a separate mission and therefore they were on their own.^[52]

The Summit

Echo and the Bad Batch arrived above Eriadu for the mission. He used clearance codes he had acquired from a contact of Rex. This allowed them to bypass the star destroyers in orbit and land on the surface. As they departed the ship, Echo warned them they needed to be quick, before the Imperials were alerted that the ship hadn't landed at the base. To reach the compound, they opted to hitch a ride on one of the railcars. Tech disabled the sensor and they used grappling cables to attach themselves to the side of a railcar. The railcar then carried them right into the facility. To find Hemlock's shuttle, they realised they needed to access the hangar manifest from the control room. Echo accompanied Hunter and Tech to find it. Upon reaching it, Echo told Hunter he would monitor the Imperial security channels. Echo realised that many of the surveillance systems had been deactivated in various corridors. Echo continued to keep an eye over the security channels while Hunter and Tech went to check it out. Noticing that Omega was about to be discovered by TK troopers in the hangar, Echo activated a magnetic crane and caused a commotion with a V-wing. This caught the attention of the troopers and allowed Omega to escape. After some time, Echo overheard Hunter tell them the mission had been compromised. Unbeknownst to Echo, Saw Gerrera and his insurgents had infiltrated the compound and were planting explosives to bring it down. Echo found Wrecker and Omega, before running back towards the railcar. Echo activated the railcar and it started moving along the line. Gerrera's explosives suddenly detonated, causing the railcar to lose power and stop in the middle of the air. Echo and the Bad Batch exchanged blaster fire with the TK troopers that pursed them in a second railcar.^[52]

Unsure of how to proceed, Hunter ordered Echo to get the railcars moving but Echo explained that the explosions must have caused the rail to lose power. Tech told them he could restore the power if he could reach one of the track terminals. Tech climbed up to the terminal while Echo and the rest of the Bad Batch stayed in the railcar. The power was successfully restored but Tech's return was interrupted by the arrival of three V-wing starfighters. One of the railcars was ripped off the track and Tech was left hanging by his grapple underneath the car. Echo witnessed him try to climb back up before deciding to sacrifice himself to allow them to escape. Tech told them plan 99, and shot the connection hinge himself, falling to his death. This caused the one remaining car to take off along the rail again. Omega yelled to go back for Tech but Echo grabbed her, holding her tightly. The railcar sped to the end of the line with too much speed, causing it to crash at the end. Echo, Hunter, Wrecker and Omega managed to escape in the Marauder and opted to go back to Ord Mantell for refuge.^[52]

Cid's betrayal

While on Ord Mantell, Echo waited on the Marauder, while Hunter and Wrecker took an unconscious Omega to the cantina. Imperial forces arrived on the planet and Echo was unable to reach Hunter or Wrecker due to his communications being jammed. Echo told Gonky to stay on the ship and went to find them.^[53]

Later, Echo was found by AZI-3. The droid led him through the city to Hunter and Wrecker who were in Imperial custody. Echo and AZI-3 commandeered an Imperial walker and attacked the Imperials that were escorting his brothers, quickly overpowering them. Realising that Echo was freeing them, Hunter and Wrecker attacked the clone commandos nearby. Another walker attacked Echo's stolen one and forced him to abandon it. After reuniting with Hunter and Wrecker, he asked where Omega was and Hunter told him that Royce Hemlock had taken her and they needed to get to his shuttle. They hastily made their way in the direction of his shuttle but were too late as they witnessed it taking off. They were pursued by commandos all the way back to the Marauder which they used to escape. Echo told them Hemlock’s shuttle was unable to be tracked.^[53] Echo returned to Rex and the Clone Underground soon afterwards.^[54]

Mission to the Imperial depot

After a few months,^[55] Echo heard from Clone Force 99 that Omega and Crosshair had escaped Hemlock's base, Mount Tantiss. He departed for Pabu to see Omega and to question Crosshair on any possible intel about Tantiss. Upon landing, Omega ran to hug Echo. Crosshair sarcastically asked where his hug was and Echo told him it would depend on his intel.^[56]

The sat down at a table and Echo questioned Omega and Crosshair about Tantiss, telling them he needed every piece of intel possible before they could make any moves on Tantiss. Omega gave Nala Se's broken datapad to Echo and he wondered whether it might have important data, even the coordinates to the base. With Tech gone, Echo explained that the Imperial encryption on the datapad would be a problem. Crosshair knew of an imperial depot that was abandoned where they could plug the datapad in and bypass the encryption.^[56]

Approaching the planet, Echo told the squad that there were minimal life forms and brought the Marauder in for a landing at the depot. Outside the ship, Hunter and Crosshair engaged in conflict over Crosshair's trustworthiness and Echo was forced to step in and push them away from each other. He told them to "kill each other later" and deal with the encryption at hand. Due to the depot being abandoned, they were forced to dig their way through snow to open the doors. Echo and Omega realised the power was all diverted to the perimeter beacons and Echo told her to divert it back to the console. This was a success, and Echo decrypted the datapad. He scrolled through the manifest that appeared before him, realising there was even more clone prisoners on Tantiss than they initially thought. Crosshair and Hunter walked outside and Echo stopped Omega from following them, telling her to let them work it out. He began to transfer the data from the datapad. Due to the power being diverted from the perimeter, an ice wyrm attacked the depot. Echo quickly realised they needed to restore power to the beacons and that they would need to get to the reserve power. Wrecker went to reset the grid manually and Wrecker and Hunter led the ice-wyrm outside the perimeter, Echo being their eyes from afar with his macrobinoculars. When the wyrm was outside the perimiter, Omega turned on the sensor beacons, keeping it outside again. Afterwards, Echo watched as Wrecker gave Hunter and Crosshair a group hug. He told Omega that Hunter and Crosshair always worked out their differences and that it was progress as he hadn't seen any blood this time. Omega asked him if the intel they recovered would help the clone resistance find Tantiss. Echo told her that they didn't have the coordinates but the intel they did have got them closer to finding it. Omega was apologetic that she couldn't have done more to help the clones there but Echo assured her that she did the right thing in escaping. After the mission, Echo left for Rex's group once again.^[56]

Infiltrating Imperial Station 003

Echo made a rendezvous with the Bad Batch on Bora Vio on a stolen Rho-class transport shuttle. Rampart questioned him and he explained that he stole the shuttle to reach them and all the required supplies were on board. After takeoff, Rampart told the Batch they had to dock at Imperial Station 003 orbiting Coruscant in order to get the coordinates for Tantiss. Echo confirmed the existence of the station but also stated he did not know if the rest of Rampart's story was the truth. When Crosshair said they needed Imperial clearance codes, Echo told him he got that covered. However, the codes changed every day so they had to arrive promptly. Rampart disguised himself as an Imperial captain, while Echo and his brothers pretended to be his security detail. Rampart objected to his rank and Echo joked that he had been demoted, prompting Rampart to say he hated clones.^[57]

Upon arriving at the Imperial Station, Echo transmitted the clearance code saying they were shuttle Alpha-44. After landing, the lieutenant on deck duty attempted to stop them from entry, but Rampart threatened to report him to Tarkin, prompting the officer to unlock the doors. After making their way to the control room, Echo used his cybernetic scomp link to access the computer. As Wrecker informed the rest of the Batch he knocked out the lieutenant, Echo learned that a science vessel was docked in Bay 8 and was scheduled to depart soon for Tantiss. When Hunter suggested pulling the coordinates from the navicomputer, Echo responded that the vessel was tagged for direct uplink after launch.^[57]

After Hunter proposed boarding the science vessel, Echo volunteered to infiltrate the ship. Hunter told Echo they will attach their shuttle to the hull and hitch a ride to Tantiss. As Echo entered Bay 8, he noticed stormtroopers were boarding the science vessel, while astromech droids entered the ship via a suction tube. He quickly ran towards the suction tube, evading detection from the stormtroopers. After the ship took off, Rampart and the rest of the Batch quietly tailed the vessel in their shuttle. After the vessel's captain was informed about unusual droid activity in the rear of the ship, Echo stunned the trooper sent to investigate. He then disabled the proximity sensors, giving the other clones enough time to attach the shuttle to the science vessel before it jumped to hyperspace.^[57]

Rescuing Omega

In the Outer Rim,^[28] as the science vessel made its descent on Tantiss Base, Echo accessed a computer and copied data. He then hid upon noticing the protocol droid RA-7-81 approach. Echo disguised himself as a stormtrooper, leaving the computer socket as he was confronted by the droid. The droid told him he was not authorized to be there. Echo shot the protocol droid in the chest, stealing its hand before exiting the ship through the astromech droid chute. He then found an opening to form up with the stormtroopers, following them through a corridor. Once inside the main terminal, Echo broke away from the stormtrooper unit he was following and used his cybernetic arm to access the network terminal and locate a secure panel. Echo entered the central lab and accessed a computer with information about Omega's M-count.^[58]

While Echo was at the lab's computer, Emerie Karr entered the room, confronting him. She inspected him as he discreetly placed his stolen droid hand back on his cybernetic scomp link. She reminded him troopers were not permitted in the lab. Echo claimed it was a special security protocol, but Karr noticed his droid hand. Echo started to leave the lab, when Karr addressed him as Echo. She introduced herself and informed him Omega told her about him. Echo told Karr they were not just there to rescue Omega, but to liberate all other prisoners being experimented in Tantiss. Karr told Echo she was just following orders and Echo replied he had heard that before. He asked her how she could participate in Hemlock's experiments if she was a clone. Echo said Omega vouched for Karr and hoped she was right. Karr then informed him Omega was in the vault and he had to trust her to get him inside and free the children. She then explained to a surprised Echo that Omega was not the only child imprisoned in the base.^[58]

Now secure in having a new ally, Echo proceeded to scomp back into the databanks. Karr warned Echo the longer the facility remained on lockdown, the greater the danger of being discovered would become. Ignoring her concerns, he questioned why he couldn't find any record of the vault Omega was being held in and was told that the databanks were heavily encrypted and that the vault was several levels down under heavy guard but Karr could help him infiltrate it. Unplugging from the terminal, Echo asked why she was helping him. Karr told Echo she realized her past actions were wrong and was ready to make amends and do the right thing. She led Echo through the base to the vault. As they entered the vault, she told him the children were kidnapped from different disclosed locations and their genetic material was required for certain medical testing. When Echo asked how Omega fit into the testing, Karr replied she was vital to Project Necromancer, a name which Echo found unsettling. Inside, they found Hemlock and Scorch. Hemlock told them Omega and the other children had incapacitated Scalder and fled using a weak point in the walls. He instructed Karr find Omega and return her to the vault and their fates were now tied to each other. After Hemlock and Scorch left, Echo told Karr that Omega released the Zillo Beast to create a diversion, which is exactly what he would've done. Karr and Echo then ran out of the vault.^[59]

Karr and Echo made their way to the doors to the sublevel containment chamber, only to discover Omega had set the zillo beast free and then used the ladders to climb up to the surface. They opted to take a shortcut to a transport hanger at the top of the shaft. On their way up, they came across the Clone X troopers, who had just captured the rest of Clone Force 99, agreeing to come back and help them after ensuring the children's safety. Shortly afterward, they intercepted and stunned two TK stormtroopers, just as they prepared to report the children's position. Echo shot the troopers, before revealing his identity to the children. Karr and Echo then escorted the children to the hangar. Upon reaching a Nu-class shuttle, Echo gave Karr coordinates, telling her to take the other children there and he and Omega would rendezvous with them after they freed the rest of the clones. Karr gave Omega her datapad, and told her to use it to access all wings of the base. As Echo and Omega headed back inside the base, Karr led the children onto the shuttle, flying away from Tantiss.^[59]

Clone rebellion

When Echo and Omega entered the detention block, several stormtroopers opened fire on them. As Echo returned fire, Omega used the datapad to free all of the prisoners, including clone troopers, Nala Se and Rampart. While Echo spoke with one clone, Omega informed him the rest of Clone Force 99 were not in the detention block. One of the clones informed Echo and Omega that Hemlock most likely brought them to the training room for reconditioning. When Rampart proposed escaping the base, Echo countered reminding him clones did not leave their brothers behind. He then urged the other clones to help them free their friends, to which they eagerly volunteered for one last fight. Echo tasked two clones with evacuating the wounded prisoners, while he triggered an alert in a different wing to divide the Imperial forces. He also told the clones to get weapons.^[59]

On their way to the training room, Echo, Omega and the liberated clones gunned down many stormtroopers. Echo asked Omega if she could use the pneumatic tube system to spy on the training room. After Omega confirmed the rest of their squad was in the training room, she snuck into the room to free them, while Echo and the other clones entered the section of the vault where the Clone X troopers were kept. They engaged the Clone x troopers in combat, shooting a few of them. After Hemlock cornered Omega in the training room, he unleashed gas in the Clone X vault, incapacitating several of the clones. As the gas continued to spread, Echo was wounded in the back by a vibroblade from a Clone X trooper who subsequently captured him. Shortly afterward, Omega damaged the training room computer terminal, dispersing the gas and allowing Echo and his comrades to recuperate.^[59]

After Hemlock took captured Omega and took her away from the training room, Echo alongside Wrecker engaged the Clone X troopers, killing two of them. He then wrestled with a vibroblade wielding CX trooper, who was then killed by Wrecker. After Vik killed the last operative, Echo attended to the wounded Wrecker and asked where Omega went. After Crosshair killed Hemlock, Echo, the rest of Clone Force 99 and the liberated clones all escaped Tantiss in a Rho-class shuttle and fled to hyperspace just before Tarkin's fleet arrived in orbit.^[59]

Once they were back in the safety of Pabu, Echo talked with Karr. He told her he planned to resettle some of the clones on Pantora, with the assistance of Senator Chuchi. Echo invited Karr to accompany him there, as Chuchi would be intrigued to hear her experiences. She accepted Echo's offer and the two of them departed Pabu together on the Remora.^[59]

Legacy

Upon seeing the face of a clone^[60] in 14 BBY,^[61] Anakin Skywalker, who had become the Sith Lord Darth Vader by that point, remembered Cody, Rex, Fives, and Echo. Each name was a trigger for a memory, and Vader saw each clone as a ghost from his past.^[60]

The former member of the Bad Batch,^[3] Echo made the choice to continue his work in the Clone Underground on Coruscant with Senator Riyo Chuchi and Emerie Karr in the mission^[59] to help all of his mistreated clone brothers across the galaxy, for their freedom.^[3] Echo was not on Pabu with his friends Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Omega^[59] at some point between 2 BBY and 4 ABY.^[62]

Personality and traits

All clones were built to be loyal to the Republic, and Echo was no exception.^[12] In his younger days, he was by the book and a stickler for the rules. This often grated on his fellow cadets, who called him a "know-it-all." He showed considerable respect for his trainers during his time as a cadet.^[11] While posted on the Rishi Moon, he enjoyed the downtime that bored and frustrated his squad-mates, using it to read and catch up on military regulations. He frequently quoted said regulations to his teammates to explain or suggest strategies.^[2] From his time as a cadet, his compulsion to repeat orders to his teammates gained him the nickname "Echo," which stuck with him throughout his career.^[3] Although inexperienced at the time of the Rishi Moon incident,^[2] Echo adapted quickly to battle using both his mental and military training.^[2][17] Echo was commended on numerous occasions for showing bravery, courage,^[2] dedication, loyalty,^[63] ingenuity,^[12] and skill in battle or otherwise during his service to the Republic.^[17]

Echo developed a particularly close bond with Fives, which continued after the two were the only members of their squad to survive the Rishi Moon. Conversely, he often clashed with Hevy, who chafed at his obsession with rules and got into physical altercations with him when they were cadets.^[2] Despite the friction in their relationship, Echo trusted Hevy and grieved his death when he sacrificed himself to destroy the Rishi Moon outpost. Echo later honored his sacrifice by adding an illustration of a blaster cannon to his armor with the Aurebesh words "For Hevy" written with it. He felt great sorrow when 99, who had served as a mentor to their squad, was killed during the Battle of Kamino.^[17]

Echo was Wat Tambor's experiment during the Clone Wars.^[27] Echo showed considerable resolve and remained loyal to the Republic even following his Separatist capture. After being left for dead on the Citadel, he had been experimented on and been turned into a cyborg, forced to use his mind to aid the Separatist Alliance's military efforts. Despite the capture he had been through,^[7] Echo remained true to the Republic and was able to turn the tide of the Battle of Anaxes. Even though he felt very close to Rex, he decided to join the Bad Batch in the aftermath of the battle, feeling that he belongs with the unique squad.^[12] He may not have been born different, like the rest of the batch, but after the changes he went through, Echo became a natural addition to their ranks.^[8]

During his years as a soldier, Echo proved to be among the bravest clones in the Grand Army of the Republic.^[3] As a result of becoming a genetically defective clone,^[8] Echo was one of the handful of clones that was not forced into turning on the Jedi when Sidious issued order 66. Like the other members of Clone Force 99, Echo displayed a high level of creativity and deviance from standard protocol, though he was sometimes critical of his squad members' lack of cleanliness and order.^[6] Echo would become protective of the young clone Omega and acted as a mentor for her.^[14] Echo and Rex were longtime old friends.^[8] Echo would give Omega an energy crossbow that he had acquired and modified as a gift for her.^[64] He would work with Senator Riyo Chuchi, who was concerned for Echo's safety.^[15]

Echo, as a genetic clone of Jango Fett,^[11] was a human male with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin,^[2] and weighed roughly eighty kilograms.^[5] Although all normal clones of Jango Fett were physically identical to the bounty hunter,^[25] Echo was slightly skinnier than his fellow former Domino Squad teammates,^[65] but still stood at the same 1.83 meters in height.^[3] Following his Separatist capture, Echo's skin became pale during his time in stasis and his body was outfitted with numerous cybernetic implants^[7]—including a socket-arm in place of his right hand—but he became weak and emaciated, and had also lost his hair.^[10] Following his rescue, Echo's physicality was soon restored to its original physique and upgraded with improved cybernetics.^[12] As a result of being genetically defective,^[8] Echo remained hairless with brown eyebrows, golden eyes and pale skin.^[12] During this stage of Echo's life, he was slightly taller with his improved cybernetic legs, standing at 1.85 meters (6 feet 1 inch).^[1] Sometime later, Echo would became slightly smaller, standing at a height of 1.81 meters.^[3]

Skills and abilities

Echo became a skilled ARC trooper, learning how to solve problems, such as using the commando droid's personal energy shield against them in battle during the Clone Wars.^[22]

As a result of his cybernetics, Echo, along with the Bad Batch, became one of the most skilled soldiers in the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.^[6]

Echo was skilled in hand-to-hand combat and single-handedly held his own against a Clone X trooper with two vibroblades swords, disarming him one-handed with his scomp arm while wounded in the back by the vibroblade knife.^[59]

Equipment

Cadet to ARC trooper

During Echo's time as a cadet, he and the rest of Domino Squad wore a green-colored variation of training armor, which had his cadet designation number—CT-21-0408—written in Aurebesh on his upper left leg's armor plating and on his chest and left shoulder armor, a "3" marking was painted on.^[11] After his induction into the Grand Army of the Republic, Echo bore the standard white armor that all clone troopers were issued. Echo and his teammates at the Rishi Moon were referred to as "shinies" by Captain Rex, due to their new armor being unscathed and for Echo's inexperience with combat. After Rex killed a Rishi eel in defense of Echo and the clone troopers before they took back the Rishi Station, he stamped his hand, covered in the eel's blood, on Echo's armor.^[2]

Decorated for bravery,^[63] Echo carried this stamped handprint on his armor for the rest of his time with the 501st, even after his promotion to the rank of ARC trooper.^[17][23] With his new rank,^[23] Echo, a Valiant ARC trooper,^[20] went on to become a respected ARC trooper in Captain Rex's own squad,^[8] and wore a JT-12 jetpack with macrobinoculars as an ARC trooper.^[8] Echo was issued standard ARC trooper armor and he clad it in blue paint;^[23] this armor, along with his helmet, was destroyed when he was nearly killed on Lola Sayu.^[22] He carried a DC-15A blaster carbine during the Battle of Kamino^[17] and a pair of DC-17 hand blasters during his time as an ARC trooper.^[23] Following his rescue from Separatist capture, Echo was outfitted with new armor on Anaxes that covered the cybernetic enhancements that the Separatists had outfitted him with and was also clad in blue—^[12] the same shade that was once on his ARC trooper armor.^[10]

Clone commando in Clone Force 99

As a clone commando Corporal of the Clone Force 99^[30] which operated under the Special Operations Brigade,^[66] Echo, sometime during the ongoing Outer Rim Sieges,^[12] wore a set of modified Katarn-class Commando Armor as a clone commando,^[44] he was equipped with a special commando backpack and wore a kama,^[6] and was outfitted with an AJ^6 cyborg construct.^[9] The AJ^6 cyborg construct was removable, but when it was removed, he had trouble removing his socket arm from a computer plug, as a result of being a cyborg.^[58] Echo became a natural addition to their ranks,^[8] as the fifth CT-99 member of the Bad Batch.^[44]

Echo continued to use a DC-17 hand blaster, albeit only one due to his cybernetic scomp link.^[1] He used his scomp arm to take down some B1-series battle droids,^[6] he also had a secret button on his scomp arm for emergencies in sticky situations.^[45] As part of Clone Force 99, his cybernetic implants helped him to scope out potential threats and provided valuable insight via his knowledge of proper military tactics and stratagem, while his socket-arm and cybernetic implants give him the unique ability to interact with computer systems.^[3] He would depart from the Bad Batch to join Rex in the mission to help his clone brothers.^[3]

Clone Underground

As a leader of the Clone Underground resistance network, Echo continued to wear his modified commando armor and wield his DC-17, which he augmented with an ascension cable for the mission to Eriadu.^[52] Echo would acquire a ship called the Remora.^[15] He also helped pilot starships like the Remora-one leech vessel, the Remora transport,^[15] and a captured Imperial Rho-class transport shuttle.^[57] In the attack on Tantiss, Echo would also claim the detachable hand of RA-7 droid RA-7-81, using it by placing it over his scomp link, and wear a suit of stolen TK trooper armor, completing the look by wielding that soldier's DC-15.^[58]

Behind the scenes

Development

The character of Echo made his first appearance in the television episode "Rookies," the fifth episode of the premiere season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series in 2008. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, along with all other clone troopers in the series.^[2] Echo later appeared in the episodes "Clone Cadets,"^[11] "ARC Troopers,"^[17] "The Citadel,"^[23] and "Counterattack," the latter in which he was seemingly killed off.^[22] When the series was canceled, numerous concepts and episodes featuring Echo went unfinished, but the series directing supervisor, Dave Filoni, teased that Echo was not dead and is still living.^[67]

In April 2015, at the Celebration Anaheim Star Wars convention, the final unfinished episodes of The Clone Wars Legacy were revealed to feature Echo's return, and—grouped together as "The Bad Batch"—were later featured on StarWars.com.^[68] The concept art of Echo as a cyborg for The Clone Wars Legacy was penned by Kilian Plunkett and Pat Presley.^[10] Despite being unfinished, the episodes, like the rest of The Clone Wars series, are considered part of the official Star Wars canon by the Lucasfilm Story Group.^[69] There were plans for Echo to become the fifth member of the Bad Batch on a mission to Kashyyyk in additional episodes, a clip of the animatics from these episodes were shown at the convention.^[70] Some of the episodes was eventually released as part of the seventh season on Disney+.^[71]

Continuity and contradictions

In one shot of "Rookies," Echo can be seen without any hair behind his head.^[2] In the episode "The Bad Batch," Echo was officially identified by his clone trooper designation, CT-1409.^[25] However, in the Star Wars sourcebook Ultimate Star Wars, released after the premiere of The Clone Wars Legacy episodes, Echo was identified by a different designation number, CT-21-0408.^[72] This number was taken from Echo's designation number seen on his training armor in the episode "Clone Cadets," where it was fashioned on his leg. The number was never spoken aloud in the episode, although other cadets—like Hevy (CT-782), for example—did have their numbers spoken, which matched their training armor.^[11] In the StarWars.com Databank, Echo is also identified as CT-1409,^[3] but this article assumes that CT-21-0408 is also canon.^[72]

Echo is erroneously included on the "Lead from the Front"^[73] and "Leaders of the 501st" cards included within 501st Legion Battle Force Starter Set;^[74] Echo went missing in action before the implementation of phase II clone trooper armor^[22] and joined the Bad Batch after returning to the war,^[12] but the cards depict him as a member of the 501st in phase II armor.^[73][74]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "The Pumpkin Batch"
• LEGO Star Wars: Castaways (Appears as cosmetic)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (DLC)
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Happy Celebration 45th Anniversary A New Hope"
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Bad Batch Vacation"

Sources

Notes and references

External links

• Corporal Echo on Wikipedia