The battle for Anaxes!
One of the Republic's largest shipyards is under attack
from Admiral Trench's Separatist Forces.
Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker
lead a two-pronged assault on the ground and in the air.
But after weeks of heated battle and mounting losses,
the Republic's grip on Anaxes begins to slip away.
The droids have overrun our main production facility.
It won't be long before the Separatists take Anaxes,
compromising our entire reserve fleet.
Pardon the interruption, General,
but Rex here has a good theory on why we keep, uh… losing.
Please, Captain.
The droid army uses analytics to predict our strategy.
The first time we use a tactic, it's very effective.
The next, less so.
In fact, the more we use a certain tactic,
the less effective it becomes.
They learn our tendencies and use that data against us.
To counter them,
we're constantly working out ways to vary our attack.
But the losses we are experiencing on Anaxes are not commonplace.
Exactly.
The counterattacks are so specific,
it's my strategy the droids know, my playbook.
My concern is that Rex is one of our best.
If the droids can learn to defeat him, we may all be vulnerable.
What do you propose?
Let Rex and me take a small squad behind enemy lines.
There's a Separatist Cyber Center
which relays all battlefield intel to their command ship.
If we're going to find anything, it will be there.
If you think it will help turn this fight around, get going.
Thank you, General.
Rex, is there anything else?
No, General.
Come on, Rex. Time to move out.
Fives, Echo,
and before that, Hevy.
There's so many troopers gone.
Yeah, regular folk don't understand.
Sometimes in war, it's hard to be the one that survives.
That's what I'm worried about.
Well, what do you mean?
I didn't tell the Generals.
They might think I'm crazy.
In fact, you might think I'm crazy.
What is it?
I think Echo's alive.
That's not possible. He died at the Citadel.
The way the droids are countering us here,
the strategies I'm using,
they're all old battle plans Echo and I drew up together.
Look, Rex, I hear what you're saying. But it's just not possible.
I hope you're right.
But the fact is, Echo's fingerprints are all over these Separatist strategies.
Rex.
You have to admit what you're saying is a long shot at best,
and most likely, misplaced hope.
I need you to be focused on this.
I-I know, I know.
Don't worry.
So, what squad are we taking in?
Clone Force 99.
I've heard mixed things about these guys.
They have a 100% success rate.
It's not that they win, it's how they win that worries me.
Repeat, coming in hot on platform TT-3-9-7.
Clear the airfield!
So why haven't I heard of this squad?
Experimental unit Clone Force 99,
they're defective clones with, uh… desirable mutations.
99, hey? Nice touch.
They call themselves "The Bad Batch."
The cavalry has arrived!
These guys are clones? They don't look like clones to me.
Sergeant, good to see you again.
- You too, sir. - This is Hunter.
Sorry we're late, Commander.
We were putting down an insurrection on Yalbec Prime
when your comm came in.
Had a few unforeseen… complications.
Ever fought a male Yalbec?
Um, no. Can't say I have.
You're lucky.
Only way to kill 'em is with one of these.
That's right.
Wrecker here cut off the Queen's stinger while she was still alive.
That's why all those Yalbec males tried to eat us.
Uh, technically, they were trying to mate with us.
And, for your information,
the stinger of a Yalbec Queen is a delicacy on some planets.
They call him Tech.
Yeah, he can fill your head with useless info for hours.
Crosshair, on the other hand, he's not much of a conversationalist,
but when you have to hit a precise target from ten klicks,
Crosshair's your man.
So, Commander,
what kind of "suicide mission" do you have for us this time?
Let's get going. We'll brief you on the way.
What are you looking at?
We don't usually work with "regs."
"Regs?"
He's talking about regular clones.
But don't take it personal.
We're all on the same team, so cut the attitude and listen up.
Here's the mission. Our target is this Cyber Center.
It's the "brains" of the entire Separatist campaign here on Anaxes.
I could demolish that with one hand! Yeah!
This isn't a demo job, Wrecker.
It's strictly a retrieval operation.
Sector One, alert. Enemy gunship approaching your location.
Come in, Sector One.
Roger, roger.
Fire!
Incoming fire!
We're going down!
We always get shot down when we travel with regs.
Cody! Help!
He's trapped! We have to do something.
I'll get him.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Captain. Wrecker, get him out.
Get back!
This is ridiculous!
He's gonna need help to get Cody out of there.
He's gonna get the gunship out of there. Not Cody.
Boom.
He has internal damage.
I can cut the pain. But he needs help fast.
We all need help.
That blast gave away our position.
I thought getting shot down gave away our position.
Everyone, find cover.
We'll hold this position and let them come to us.
I don't think so, Captain. That's not our style.
We prefer going to them.
Bad Batch! Plan 82, "Shockwave!"
Let's get to work.
Blast them!
45. Mark 151.
75. Mark 357.
What the…
Spider droids. Fan out!
Any more? Come on!
That was some show you put on just now.
Just doing our job, Captain.
Hey, look, Crosshair, this little clanker likes you.
Grow up, Wrecker.
We should move out before reinforcements arrive.
Our position has been compromised.
We wanted to speak to you directly, sir.
This infiltration is irregular.
Were there Jedi with this squad?
Just clones.
But using tactics like we have never seen before.
Interesting.
They're on foot now, in the middle of nowhere.
Sweep the area, locate these clones,
and notify me if the incursion escalates.
So, I get what makes the other Batchers unique,
but what's so special about Hunter?
He can put up with the other three.
He was engineered with heightened senses.
A place like the Cyber Center,
Hunter can feel the electromagnetic frequencies
from anywhere on the planet.
And here I thought we were smart just using a holomap.
Well, maps can be wrong. Hunter never is.
Hang in there, Cody.
Listen up. We have to move out.
Commander Cody's in no position to move.
Already called in Evac.
Kix will stay with Cody until it arrives.
I'm in charge now.
And I've got a plan to get into that Cyber Center.
If your plans are so good,
why did Commander Cody have to call us in?
You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!
Says who?
Whoa!
Put him down!
- Stay out of it. - Hey! Watch it!
Uh, guys, come on.
Wrecker, drop him. Now.
Aw.
Fellas, come on!
We're all fighting for the same thing, right?
All right then.
Let's cut the chatter and finish what we started.
We'll do it your way, Captain. For Commander Cody.
Okay. Let's gear up and move out.
Not our primary target.
It's an outpost. Should we take it?
Probably easier than going around.
All right, what are your orders?
We pick them off from the tree line one-by-one?
Actually, I was thinking we'd take a page from your book.
Rush them head-on.
I like your style.
Clones! Get them!
Hey! You're not authorized…
Is it over already?
Aw, man!
Not bad. For a reg.
All right, there it is. The Cyber Center.
It looks like the Cyber Center itself has minimal guards, about 30 droids.
Wait. Wait!
I got a massive signal coming in.
A whole platoon of droids is headed this way.
Someone's noticed our handiwork back at the crash site.
Yeah.
Make sure you keep an eye on those incoming Separatist forces.
I want to know when they reach this outpost.
- You got it, Cap. - We've gotta move swiftly.
We'll grab some speeder bikes and flank them from the back.
Do you know what's going on?
Maybe it's another drill.
Is everyone in position?
Affirmative.
Cap, you wanted to know when those Separatist forces breached the outpost.
Well, they're getting there just about now.
Sir, we tracked the Clone Strike team here,
they seem to have captured this location and deserted it.
I cannot calculate the logic of this assault.
There is no tactical advantage to taking the outpost.
Their target will be the nearby Cyber Center.
They must know about the algorithm.
Get me in contact with the Cyber Center at once!
Put all droids on alert.
An attack is coming.
An attack is coming? When…
All units to the front door!
Hmm. This is a delicate operation.
Boom!
You take too long.
We're in.
Tech, get to work on these computers.
We'll go get the regs.
What the…
Hey, where did you come from…
What took you so long, Wrecker?
Hey, this is a "delicate operation."
Better get in there, Cap.
Okay, I'm in.
- What am I looking for? - Here's the algorithm.
You're looking for a program using this sequence.
Found it.
This is strange. It's not a program.
It's a live signal from another planet…
Skako Minor.
A live signal?
Crosshair, we're gonna need a lift.
Not gonna be a problem.
Here it is. This is audible.
Patch me in. I want to hear it.
What is that?
That sounds almost… almost human.
It can't be.
Uh-oh.
We gotta go! Now!
Tech, find out who's sending that signal.
Ask who that is.
CT-1409.
- CT-1409. - I… I don't believe it.
CT-1409.
We're gone. Rex, let's go.
- CT-1409. - Rex, now!
CT-1409.
We have chased the clones out of the center, sir.
They are retreating back toward Republic lines.
Did they download anything from the central computer?
There seems to be no intel missing.
But there appears to have been a connection made with Skako Minor.
What?
That number, Cap, what did it mean?
CT-1409…
that was Echo's number.
He's alive.