Attack on the prisoner transport ship

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The title of this article is conjectural.

Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

Around 18 BBY, the attack on the prisoner transport ship was led by Echo and members of the Clone Underground to liberate Howzer and two surviving members of Howzer's squad in the Balmorra system.

Prelude

Over a year prior to the attack, in 19 BBY,[5] Clone Captain Howzer, who was stationed on Ryloth in a squad a part of a larger battalion, defied the Galactic Empire and encouraged his fellow troopers to stand with him. Though a portion of his squad stood with him, Howzer and his rebellious squad mates were immediately arrested and taken into Imperial custody.[6] Over the course of more than a year, six of the eight members of Howzer's squad who stood with him would die in Imperial captivity. Eventually, Howzer and his surviving men would be chosen to be sent to an Imperial facility on the planet of Wayland. After being escorted on to a Gozanti-class cruiser by TK stormtroopers and a clone commando, the ship would depart for Wayland.[3]

The attack

Shortly after departing for Wayland, the Imperial ship was ambushed by a ship belonging to rogue Clone Captain Rex's resistance network, who were tipped off about the shipment by a contact from within the Empire. Unable to jump to hyperspace due to damage sustained in the sudden ambush, Captain Pearce ordered the ship's pilots to return fire and notify Imperial command for backup. Realizing that they were short on time, the rogue clones Echo, Fireball, and Nemec quickly boarded the Imperial shuttle using a leech vessel while Gregor docked the Remora to the transport's underbelly airlock.[3]

With his ship immobilized, Pearce ordered his TK stormtrooper to prepare to be boarded. As the stormtroopers scrambled to the forward dock, two of them heard a crashing sound coming from the section where the leech vessel was docked and investigated. As they observed the hull breach, they were quickly stunned by the three clones, who were already in the corridor.[3]

Meanwhile, Gregor readied himself at the airlock and threw an electromagnetic pulse grenade through the hatch, electrocuting two stormtroopers before sealing the opening. Before the stormtroopers could open the hatch to retaliate, they were ambushed by the other clones, resulting in a fierce firefight. As the ship's stormtroopers were quickly overwhelmed by the veteran clones, Pearce ordered an Imperial clone commando to erase the ship's databanks to prevent its information from falling into the rogue clones' possession.[3]

At Echo's order, Fireball split off to rescue the prisoners, single-handedly stunning any stormtrooper in his path. Hearing all the shooting from inside their cell, Howser and his men eyed the door cautiously before it opened for Fireball, who proceeded to escort them back to the Remora. [3]

Meanwhile, Echo and Nemec would quickly reach the bridge and stun all the stormtroopers and the commando. Knowing he was outnumbered, Pearce wisely raised his hands in surrender. As Echo attempted to retrieve what data remained, Nemec demanded Pearce to tell him where the ship's prisoners were being taken. Instead, Pearce bit down on a suicide shocker, killing himself instantly to avoid being captured and interrogated.[3]

Shortly after, an Imperial Venator-class Star Destroyer dropped out of hyperspace in response to the Gozanti's distress signal, and deployed a squadron of Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters. As Echo copied what data he could onto a computer spike, Nemec told him they had to go as the Imperial starfighters strafed and destroyed the Gozanti-class cruiser. At Echo's order, Gregor decoupled the Remora while the other clones quickly made it back to the leech vessel. The Remora then quickly shot down three V-wings targeting the leech vessel, allowing it to dock. Quickly confirming they were secure, Echo ordered Gregor to jump into hyperspace.[3]

Aftermath

The Remora then traveled to the Martez sisters' repair shop on Coruscant, where Senator Riyo Chuchi's bodyguards provided aid to Howzer's men. Howzer spoke with both Chuchi and Echo about his captivity and mentioned that several other clone prisoners were shipped out before him and they never came back. Knowing they needed to discern where the transport ship was headed, Echo left for Pabu to seek Tech's aid in decrypting the stolen data. This enabled the clones to discern the existence of the Advanced Science Division, including the identity of its leader, Dr. Royce Hemlock, a formerly disgraced Republic Science Corps scientist, and that their former squadmate Crosshair was one of his prisoners.[3]

Meanwhile, news of the transport raid had reached Hemlock at his base on Wayland. While Hemlock regarded the attack as unfortunate but inconsequential, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin expressed concern that any of the stolen data might've compromised his location. Hemlock dismissed his concerns, reminding he had security protocols in place to prevent that from happening and shifted the subject to how the transport was attacked. Tarkin relayed his suspicions that the leak came from a group of rogue clones in Imperial ranks and assured him that the Empire was currently decommissioning them. However, Hemlock reminded that decommissioning problematic clones would not solve the threat, instead arguing that sending them all to Tantiss for experimentation would be more effective.[3]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ TBBtemplate Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Truth and Consequences"
  2. ↑ TBBtemplate Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Summit"
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 TBBtemplate Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Tipping Point"
  4. ↑ Per the reasoning here, the seventh and eighth episodes of The Bad Batch Season 2, "The Clone Conspiracy" and "Truth and Consequences," can be placed in 18 BBY. Therefore, all Season 2 episodes proceeding "The Clone Conspiracy" occur between 19 BBY, which features the end of The Bad Batch Season 1 according to Star Wars: Timelines, and 18 BBY. The Galactic Empire, the formation of which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 19 BBY, sent Mayday's squad to Barton IV over a year prior to the events of the twelfth episode, "The Outpost." As it occurs over a year into the Imperial Era and is set shortly after the events of "Truth and Consequences," the events of "The Outpost" occur around 18 BBY. Following that logic, the ninth through eleventh episodes ("The Crossing" through "Metamorphosis") are also set around 18 BBY because they occur between the events of "Truth and Consequences" and "The Outpost." Finally, all season 2 episodes set after "The Outpost" occur shortly after its events, thereby placing those episodes around 18 BBY as well.
  5. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines places the events of The Bad Batch Season 1 in 19 BBY.
  6. ↑ TBBtemplate Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Rescue on Ryloth"