User:CC7567/Workbench



Current project: CT-7567

"One, orders. You follow orders. They keep you alive. Two, you're part of a team. We look out for our buddies&mdash;I cover your back, you cover mine. And three, an officer rank doesn't give you automatic respect. You earn it. It's not just Skywalker's rank that makes us give him one hundred percent. It's because he treats us with respect, and he puts himself on the line with us."

- CT-7567, to Ahsoka Tano

CT-7567 was a veteran clone trooper captain who led the Grand Army of the Republic's famed 501st Legion during the Clone Wars. After the Kaminoan cloners recognized his natural abilities, 7567 received extensive training on Kamino and adopted the nickname "Rex" as a mark of individuality. Entering into Republic service on Geonosis in the opening battle of the Clone Wars, Rex became respected by clone troopers and Jedi officers alike as an honorable military leader, and his loyalty and fearlessness earned him a reputation as one of the best and toughest clones in the galaxy. As the captain of the 501st Legion, Rex served as second-in-command to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, whose bravery and unorthodoxy in battle he came to share. Among his clone brethren, he befriended Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," often working alongside him and his Jedi General, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to coordinate front-line campaigns against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In 21 BBY, Rex became a mentor to Skywalker's newly-assigned Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, during the lengthy Battle of Christophsis. He also led the 501st's Torrent Company in the following Battle of Teth, an engagement that he would never forget due to his unit's near-eradication.

Rex was soon redeployed with Skywalker and Tano to the galactic war theater, and he joined them in leading a string of 501st offensives at Bothawui, JanFathal, and other flashpoints. He and Cody also played a key role in defending their homeworld of Kamino from the Separatist Droid Army: they personally led the interception of a Kamino-bound invasion fleet at Rishi Station, and they valiantly repelled an incursion of Tipoca City as part of the later defense of Kamino. Besides aiding in the containment of the Blue Shadow Virus on Naboo and the liberation of Ryloth from the Confederacy, Rex took part in other crucial campaigns like the Battle of Malastare, for which he oversaw defenses against a massive Separatist army; the Second Battle of Geonosis, in which the Republic eliminated a series of key Geonosian battle droid foundries; and the Battle of Saleucami, during which he met and came to respect the clone deserter Cut Lawquane despite their striking differences. One of his most difficult assignments was helping to rescue a group of Republic hostages from the Citadel of Lola Sayu, the most feared prison in the galaxy.

Throughout his career, Rex proved to be an effective and compassionate commander who truly cared for his troops' well-being. Yet as the war raged on, he began to question his clone brethren's place in a Republic that appeared to regard them with expendability. His capabilities were put to the ultimate test at the Battle of Umbara, when he was forced to unite the 501st Legion under an interim Jedi General, the reckless and aggressive Pong Krell. Rex did not see eye-to-eye with Krell and constantly found himself having to balance the well-being of his men with Krell's high-casualty plans for retaking Umbara. When Krell manipulated the 501st and the 212th Attack Battalion into attacking each other on the battlefield, Rex realized that their General had betrayed the Republic, and he risked charges of treason to lead his men in arresting Krell.

Biography

 * NEW STUFF: DAY ONE, LEGO STAR WARS III

Training and early career
"He's wound tight, but he's loyal.''" "He kind of reminds me of you." "''Maybe&hellip; back in the day."

- Rex and Anakin Skywalker, on rookie trooper Dogma

A Human male clone of the acclaimed bounty hunter Jango Fett, the clone trooper who received the designation "CT-7567" was born around the year 31 BBY on the planet Kamino for service in the Grand Army of the Republic. Granted advanced growth by the Kaminoan cloners, 7567's early life largely comprised Kaminoan flash training, as was the case with his clone brethren. Like many other clone officers, 7567's natural leadership abilities were spotted early by the Kaminoans, and he was put through additional command training and intensive programmed learning to develop his skills. After the completion of his training, 7567 took the nickname "Rex," the origins of which he elected to keep to himself. In 22 BBY, Rex served on the planet Geonosis in the opening battle of what became known as the Clone Wars, fighting on the side of the Galactic Republic against the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Surviving the First Battle of Geonosis, Rex continued his service to the Republic in the resultant galactic war, swearing to defend all Republic citizens from harm. His aggression on the battlefield earned him a reputation as one of the Republic's best soldiers as well as a standing as one of the toughest clone troopers in the galaxy. He served with Jedi Generals on multiple occasions during the war, and he learned to respect their abilities. In turn, he came to be relied upon by Jedi officers on the war front.

By 21 BBY, the second year of the war, Rex, having become well-respected by clones and Jedi officers alike, earned the rank of clone trooper captain in the Republic Grand Army. In addition, the Mandalorian veterans who trained clone officers on Kamino bestowed upon him the battle honor of Mandalorian Jaig eyes, and he had the adornments emblazoned on his clone trooper armor's helmet. In the same year, a new elite unit was formed within the Grand Army: the 501st Legion, whose members' training far surpassed that of the Republic's already acclaimed Advanced Recon Commandos. Rex was given command of the core group of the 501st Legion, with which he was tasked with patrolling the galaxy's feared Outer Rim Territories. Within his designated 501st detachment, Rex received his own unit&mdash;Torrent Company, which became based out of the GAR clone barracks on the galactic capital of Coruscant. Rex and his men were eventually placed under the overall command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and Rex became the General's second-in-command.

Learning much from Skywalker and developing a certain friendship with him, Rex operated with Skywalker on the war's front lines, frequently turning unconventional tactics into Republic victories. As Skywalker later recalled, Rex, as a rookie trooper, was initially eager to follow every order to the letter, though he became less wound tight as time went on. The 501st Legion garnered fame and veteran status under their leadership, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself took note of how Skywalker's unorthodox strategies were adopted by Rex and his men with increasing success. Under Palpatine's direction, the 501st grew into an amalgamation of clone units whose members were given secret training and moved across the galaxy's battlefields as required by the war effort. Amidst the fighting in the galactic theater, Rex established bonds with his comrades on the battlefield. He formed a working relationship with Denal, a fellow 501st member, and became close friends with Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," with whom he served in several dangerous campaigns. Similarly, Rex befriended Advanced Recon Force Sergeant CS-2207, nicknamed "Boomer," following their close service in the war. Rex also became acquainted with Cody's own Jedi General, Obi-Wan Kenobi. At one point, Rex participated in a battle on the planet Tibrin alongside Cody and several Jedi, a dire campaign that the two clones survived. On another mission, Rex and his battalion teamed up with a squad of elite Advanced Recon Commandos to attack a battle droid army that had captured a strategic city.

Battle of Christophsis
"Not good. We've got an energy shield. It's gonna make things damn near impossible. If you want experience, little one, it looks like you're about to get plenty."

- Rex, to Ahsoka Tano

In 21 BBY, Rex and Cody were dispatched with a Republic battle group under the command of Skywalker and Kenobi to liberate the planet Christophsis, which had been seized by the Confederacy and its Retail Caucus conglomerate. Prior to arriving at Christophsis aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer, Rex witnessed a broadcast holotransmission alongside Kenobi, Skywalker, and Cody in which the Confederate General Whorm Loathsom, the leader of the invasion of Christophsis, ordered the planet's Christophsian populace to submit to Separatist rule. After reaching the Christoph system aboard a fleet of three Star Destroyers from the Republic Navy, the Republic forces defeated the Confederate Admiral Trench's naval blockade of Christophsis and established a base on the world. Skywalker and Kenobi then took a clone contingent led by Rex and Cody into the planet's capital city, Chaleydonia, more commonly known as Crystal City. Preparing an ambush that would offset the Confederacy's advantage in troop numbers, the Jedi and clones moved into a business complex with two north and south-facing towers, from where they intended to intercept a group of Separatist battle droids when they reached the major plaza below the two towers. Skywalker and Rex stationed their men in the North tower's forty-sixth level, while that of the South tower housed a detachment led by Kenobi, Cody, and Clone Sergeant Slick.

As the Separatist droid battalion commanded by the T-series tactical droid TJ-55 marched through the business complex's plaza, the enemy troop column unexpectedly split in half. The Republic's assault strategy was subsequently compromised when numerous squads of B1 battle droids ambushed Kenobi's men in the South tower. After signaling clone pilot Hawk for an evacuation from the South tower, Skywalker, Rex, and their men used their DC-15A blaster rifles' grappling hooks to rappel across the gap between the two towers. Avoiding laser fire from the droids below, Rex and his comrades arrived to reinforce Kenobi and Cody, who were holding out against the overwhelming enemy numbers. Once Kenobi temporarily impeded the droids' advance by Force-pushing a blaster cannon at them, the entire detachment took a turbolift to the roof of the tower for their evacuation. Pursued by TJ-55 and more Separatist troops, Skywalker and Kenobi battled the droids while Rex, Cody, and the clones provided covering fire. Hawk's LAAT/i gunship soon arrived and hovered near the edge of the roof, and the Jedi and clones escaped with TJ-55's cranial unit, which trooper Gus had pilfered.

Back at the Republic base's command center that night, Rex and Cody analyzed TJ-55's cranial unit, but it only confirmed that the Confederacy had been aware of the Republic's plan before it stopped processing. Upon being apprised of the clone officers' findings, Skywalker suggested that a security breach had allowed the Separatists to access their plan, but Kenobi went so far as to suspect that there was a spy among their men. Skywalker and Kenobi thus decided to investigate behind enemy lines, ordering Rex and Cody to keep their mission confidential and remain behind to apprehend the traitor. Shortly after the Jedi had departed, Cody was alarmed to find that a Hush-98 comlink had been left activated on a nearby table with the troops' other equipment, indicating that someone had remotely eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Rex then noticed a figure in the hallway too far away to be identified&mdash;Sergeant Slick, who had become a spy for the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress and the Confederacy out of a grudge against the Jedi. Slick immediately broke into a run and ignored Rex's commands to stop, forcing Cody and Rex to pursue him through the base. Despite losing their target, the two officers were able to follow his trail through the complex's hallways to the mess hall. Entering the mess hall, Rex and Cody discovered that the only people there were their fellow clones, and they realized that one of their brethren was the traitor.

Returning to the command center to continue their investigations, Rex and Cody attempted to contact Skywalker and Kenobi, but they found that communications were being blocked, likely by the spy in their camp. Rex resolved to use Skywalker's astromech droid, R2-D2, to check the station's outgoing transmission logs. Musing through R2-D2's findings with a datapad, Rex was able to trace an odd spike in wavelength interference to a computer terminal in the barracks of Slick's platoon, and the evidence led Rex and Cody to infer that one of Slick's men was the spy. To that end, the two officers decided to individually interrogate the platoon's members at their barracks despite protest from Slick. Though troopers Jester, Punch, Sketch, and Gus all passed the interrogations with credible alibis, trooper Chopper was forced to reveal that he had broken war protocols by stealing battle droid fingers from the battlefield and making a necklace out of them. While attempting to put Chopper's credibility into question, Slick inadvertently revealed his knowledge of the Jedi's mission in the process&mdash;information that he would have only obtained if he had been listening on Rex's and Cody's earlier conversation with the Jedi through the open comlink that Cody had found. When put on the spot by Cody, Slick attacked him and Chopper and promptly fled from the barracks, leaving his platoon charges shocked with the revelation of their Sergeant's true allegiances.

Giving chase to the exposed Slick, Rex and Cody traced a signal from Slick's utility belt to the gunship landing platform, and they proceeded there with the intention of detaining the clone traitor. Instead of the spy, they found his utility belt attached to a primed thermal detonator, and the two officers took cover just before the explosive detonated a series of others. The landing platform and the weapons supply depot were compromised in the result explosion, as was the base's power. Learning from Gus and Chopper that Slick had been spotted running into the command center, Rex and Cody headed there to apprehend the rampant saboteur, leaving Slick's platoon and the other troops to seal the perimeter to prevent the spy from escaping. Entering the command center, Rex and Cody noticed that Slick was hiding in the above ventilation shaft and engaged in a ploy to bait him out of his hiding place. While Cody secretly removed the ammunition from his DC-15S blaster and left the weapon on the holotable console, Rex appeared to leave for the south exit to restart the base's generators.

Once the blast doors had closed behind him, Rex re-entered the room and assisted Cody in confronting Slick, who had risen to the bait and forsook his cover to steal Cody's empty blaster. Although held at gunpoint by his commanding officers, Slick refused to surrender and grabbed Rex's DC-15S blaster, bowling him over and aiming the weapon at him. As a brawl began, Cody and Slick disarmed and engaged each other in close quarters combat. Rex joined Cody in fighting Slick but only received a blow to the head when he pulled the traitorous Sergeant away from Cody. After Slick knocked Rex to the ground and used the "groin popper" maneuver to dislocate his leg, Cody swiftly knocked Slick unconscious, and the clone spy was detained and locked in handcuffs. When Skywalker and Kenobi returned to the base, Rex and Cody presented them with the apprehended Slick. Having regained consciousness, Slick attempted to justify his actions with his hatred for the Jedi, but he only received sharp retorts from his clone officers on his conflicting loyalty to his brothers and his role as a Separatist agent, the latter of which had put his brethren at risk. Once Slick had been taken away to lock-up, Rex and Cody reported Slick's sabotage of the weapons depot to Skywalker and Kenobi, who replied that they had discovered the full strength of the Separatists' deployed droid forces on Christophsis, numbering close to a thousand.

It was not long before Whorm Loathsom launched his first assault on the Republic forces, which became based out of Crystal City. After several days of battle there, the Jedi and clones were able to beat back the Separatists, and the droids retreated. Rex took advantage of the lapse in fighting to shave his hair and review casualty reports on his datapad near the Republic's temporary forward aid station. There, he conferred and joked with the medic on duty, Clone Sergeant Coric, and trooper Ged, who was being treated for a shoulder injury. The moment the Confederate forces launched another assault, Rex immediately grabbed his rifle and joined Skywalker and Kenobi in the streets to defend the Republic's position. While Cody assisted Kenobi in marshaling a defense of the Republic's base, Skywalker, Rex, and a clone platoon proceeded through a route parallel to the city's main street and made their way behind the battle droid lines. Along the way, Rex recalled how just days before, Crystal City had been a landscape of glittering beauty before being crippled by the fighting. Rex, Coric, a patched-up Ged, and the rest of the men accompanied Skywalker to an energy sphere tower, where they divided their troops. While most of the platoon was left at ground level to ambush the street-level droids, Rex and Skywalker took several clones to the roof to surprise a trio of advancing octuptarra magna tri-droids from above.

Rex and his men used JT-12 jetpacks to safely descend to the street below, while Skywalker landed on one of the tri-droids himself. Their combined efforts brought down the three droids, and Rex and his comrades proceeded to attack the advancing droids' rear flank. Once Loathsom and his army had been forced to make another retreat, a Republic Nu-class attack shuttle landed in Crystal City's Central Plaza. Although Kenobi believed that his new Padawan learner was on board the ship, he and Skywalker soon found that the shuttle had not brought reinforcements as they had believed&mdash;in place of the expected troops was the young Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who had been apprenticed to Skywalker. Rex was introduced to Tano at the observation post and was surprised to meet Skywalker's Padawan, as his Jedi General had previously stated that he would never take an apprentice. Rex could not help but chuckle when Tano nicknamed her new Master "Skyguy," but Skywalker, annoyed with Tano's arrogance and lack of respect for him, told his Captain to give her an "acquaint of the position" while taking her his rounds to inspect all of the Republic's lookout points throughout Central Plaza.

Complying with Skywalker's request, Rex ushered Tano away to confer with her privately at the Republic's defensive positions. Harnessing various elements of his training, Rex helped Tano to better understand her role in the Grand Army, and he and Tano were eventually able to reach an understanding of each other&mdash;although Tano was still eager to prove that she was ready to be an apprentice, she learned to be less arrogant and more respectful to her superiors. While near the Republic's AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons with Rex, Tano noticed that the Confederacy was deploying a deflector shield, a development that alarmed Rex, who knew that such a shield would render the Republic's artillery useless. Returning to the Republic's comm station, Rex and Tano joined Skywalker and Kenobi in planning a defense of their foothold in Crystal City. It was decided that Skywalker would take his Padawan to infiltrate the droid lines and eliminate the shield generator, while Kenobi and Rex would draw the droids into the buildings to stall for time. After Skywalker and Tano had departed for the generator site, Rex and Kenobi attempted to use the heavy cannons in defense of the base but only confirmed that the artillery was indeed useless against the droids' shield. Using an unencrypted comlink channel to make the command appear more convincing to the Separatists, Rex ordered the clone forces to fall back before switching back to a secure channel.

With Loathsom privy to their apparent retreat, Rex eavesdropped on the Confederacy's voice traffic and learned that Loathsom had ordered his forces to target the Republic's heavy cannons, which had prevented his troops from advancing earlier in the battle. As soon as the deflector shield had passed over them, Kenobi led a charge on the battle droids' front lines, and Rex and his men lured the Separatists into the buildings along the main street. When the droids fired a missile at the comm post that Rex was using as cover, he was winded and knocked to the ground by the explosion. Forced to order his men to retreat, he met with Kenobi at the command center. Although Rex volunteered to fire the cannon at the droids inside of the shield, a risky action that would cause fatal overpressure, Kenobi instead ordered him to mobilize his troops in a defense of the heavy cannons while the Jedi Master himself delayed the droids. Despite his reluctance to leave Kenobi to fend for himself, Rex obeyed his orders and retreated while Kenobi fought the approaching droids. As the shield approached the heavy cannons, Rex, Coric, and their men countered the advancing droids' fire from some rubble near Crystal City's main street. Upon learning that Kenobi had surrendered to Loathsom, Rex deduced that the Jedi General was simply stalling for time and rallied his men to continue fighting in the face of the overwhelming Separatist numbers.

As Rex and his men continued to hold the line, Skywalker and Tano eliminated the shield generator. Catching sight of the receding shield, Rex killed the Kerkoiden tank commander he was aiming at out of sheer relief. With the battle droids now exposed to long-range fire, Rex ordered the heavy cannons to commence firing on the Separatists and their Armored Assault Tanks, and the Republic employed its renewed artillery usage to eradicate the droids. With reinforcements led by Admiral Wullf Yularen arriving to finish securing Christophsis, Rex allowed himself to feel the deaths of his comrades personally. Although LAAT/i gunships arrived and began to bombard the nearby droid lines, Rex helped Coric search through the debris for surviving troopers regardless of the risk from the incoming fire. Rex later took a gunship to pick up Skywalker and Tano from the shield generator station, retrieving them and then returning to the command base. During the flight back, Rex congratulated Skywalker and Tano on their successful mission, particularly the young Tano, who was slowly earning his respect.

Battle of Teth
"If we can't stop them, then we delay them as long as we can, and after that we make sure they have to crawl over our bodies. It's been an honor, gentlemen."

- Rex, to Torrent Company

Following the liberation of Christophsis, Skywalker and Commander Tano were assigned to rescue Rotta, the son of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, from enemy kidnappers in order to win Jabba's favor to allow the Grand Army access to Hutt-controlled hyperspace lanes. Rex and Torrent Company accompanied the two Jedi to the planet Teth&mdash;to where Republic Advanced Recon Force trooper scouts had tracked the Huttlet&mdash;in an Acclamator-class transport. Because the monastery where Rotta was being held was atop a cliff a half-mile high and was being guarded by a number of battle droids, Skywalker elected to launch a vertical assault up the cliff face to reach the monastery. The Republic forces were ferried to the surface in LAAT/i gunships, and LAAT carriers brought a pair of AT-TE walkers along as extra support. When the monastery's droid defenders opened fire on the approaching craft, Clone Lieutenant Hawk&mdash;the pilot of the gunship carrying Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and some of Torrent Company&mdash;closed the gunship's blast shields to deflect the incoming fire. The gunships landed in the forest below the cliff, and the AT-TEs returned fire at the droids, providing cover for the Jedi and clones to take refuge in an overhang. Rex soon sighted an object falling from the cliff, and though he initially believed it to be an explosive device, it was discovered to be a fallen battle droid, which he confirmed to not be booby-trapped.

Employing both vines and their blasters' ascension cables, Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and Torrent Company climbed up the cliff, and Rex himself fired his rappel line to ascend the face. As a vertical crossfire began, the battle droids' laser fire caused one of the AT-TE walkers to lose its grip on the cliff, and Rex watched in horror as the AT-TE plummeted to the ground, eradicating all of the troops beneath it. When B1 battle droids on Single Trooper Aerial Platforms flew in to attack the clones, Rex targeted his blaster fire at the flying droids before Skywalker eliminated the droid-piloted craft. Torrent Company was eventually able to defeat the droids and reach the monastery, albeit at the loss of half of its men. Upon arrival at the summit of the cliff, Rex called in a gunship to casevac the fifteen troopers who had been wounded in the fight, and he and Skywalker deduced from the monastery's heavy droid presence that the Huttlet was being held by the Separatists. Leaving most of the men outside in case of another assault and assigning several men to look after their injured troops, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex took troopers Coric, Lunn, Vaize, and Ayar to retrieve the Huttlet from the monastery.

Entering the dimly lit castle, Rex and the clone troopers activated their helmets' headlights for better vision. The group was greeted by the protocol droid 4A-7, who claimed to be the monastery's caretaker and thanked them for liberating him from the battle droids. Learning from the protocol droid that the Separatists had kept their prisoners on the detention level, Skywalker and Tano proceeded to the lower levels to rescue the Huttlet while Rex and his men stayed to guard the entrance. However, Rex suspected that something was amiss about the droid, and though he was unable to confirm his suspicions, he was correct &mdash;the droid was working for the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress as part of a plot to frame the Jedi and the Republic for the kidnapping of Rotta the Huttlet. Rex later returned to the monastery courtyard and effectively secured the castle with his troops. As midday approached, Rex learned from Skywalker that he and Tano had found the Huttlet, and Rex sent Sergeant Coric to help transport Rotta with a backpack. After Skywalker and Tano had returned with Rotta, they prepared to leave the planet with the Huttlet on a gunship that Rex was had on standby for them. However, Tano's discovery that the Huttlet was sick halted their preparations for an evacuation.

While Skywalker and Tano were delivering a status report to Kenobi through R2-D2's hololink, two Confederate C-9979 landing craft approached the monastery and deployed Vulture droid starfighters and ground troops. With the droids invading the monastery's courtyard, Tano returned to the stronghold with the Huttlet while Rex and Skywalker organized their forces to counter the incoming droids. After briefly conferring with Skywalker on the weak chances of getting Tano and Rotta safely off-planet, Rex dispatched Sergeants Coric and Hez and their squads to provide covering fire for the rest of the force. The Republic's only remaining AT-TE walker was shot down, and Torrent Company began to take heavy losses. Rex eventually entered the monastery, and with the clones inside the stronghold, Skywalker ordered his Captain to shut the monastery door. Rex initially refused, as Skywalker would be left outside and forced to face the droids on his own, but at the Jedi General's continued orders, Rex complied and fired a blaster round at the controls. Skywalker used the Force to propel himself through the closing gap and into the entrance chamber, sealing himself inside the monastery with the rest of his men and preventing the battle droids from advancing any further.

With three-quarters of their men dead, several wounded, and only three medic-trained troopers remaining, Tano convinced her Master that it was best to find medical attention for the sick Rotta. The two Jedi left with R2-D2 to escape the castle while Rex remained with Torrent Company to defend their position. The Separatist forces&mdash;under the command of Asajj Ventress&mdash;were soon able to break through the door's lock, allowing B1, B2, and DSD1 dwarf spider droids to enter the building. Due to the battle droids' sheer numbers, Torrent Company began to be overwhelmed and gradually took heavy losses to enemy fire. Rex watched as his men were eliminated one by one before being knocked to the ground himself. Feigning death, Rex secretly contacted his surviving comrades through his troops' private frequency and discovered that only five of his men, including Sergeant Coric, remained. As Ventress entered the monastery antechamber and gave orders to an OOM command battle droid, Rex destroyed the droid with one of his blaster pistols and then targeted the Dark Acolyte herself. Ventress, however, immediately drew her double-bladed lightsabers and deflected the Captain's laser shots.

Ventress telekinetically pulled Rex's blaster out of his hand and Force-choked him, interrogating him on Skywalker's whereabouts. Trained in mental resistance, Rex kept repeating his name, rank, clone designation, and battle group to avoid succumbing to the Dark Acolyte's influence. Ventress finally gave up her interrogation, and after dropping the defiant Rex to the floor, she performed a mind trick on him, ordering him to contact Skywalker and ask for the Jedi's location. Resisting Ventress's mind influence, Rex commed Skywalker of his own accord, using a false voice and addressing him as "Anakin" instead of his usual "General Skywalker" to allude to the Dark Acolyte's presence. Unaware of Rex's exploit, Ventress threw him aside and departed to personally confront Skywalker, leaving her battle droids to guard the remaining survivors of Torrent Company. Maintaining an unconscious, unmoving position to avoid attracting the droids' attention, Rex suspected that his ribs had been broken but nevertheless checked in with his men over the clones' private frequency, keeping them prepared to mount a last stand on the Separatists. Skywalker soon contacted Rex via comlink, and because Rex had forgotten to divert the device to his helmet, the battle droids overheard the device's beeping. As the droids converged on him, Rex destroyed several of the droids closest to him and stole a blaster from one of them.

Moving as one, the other Torrent Company survivors&mdash;Coric, Nax, Zeer, CT-9932, Del, and Attie&mdash;sprang to their feet and attacked the Separatist droids as well, pilfering blasters for themselves. Engaging the droids in a crossfire, Rex and his men used the fallen AT-TE walker as cover from the incoming fire. Rex took a painkiller from his utility belt medpac before briefly reporting the situation to Skywalker. Zeer eventually chose to plant explosives in an eviscerated super battle droid and detonated it once it had been sent back into the Confederate lines. The trap droid destroyed many of its comrades, but after a brief lull in the fighting that lasted only for a few minutes, the battle droids soon returned and continued to fight Rex and his men. The six troopers were able to bring down an advancing Vulture droid starfighter, using it as cover to engage the droids at a closer proximity. As the battle droids demanded the clones' surrender, Obi-Wan Kenobi&mdash;who had arrived at Teth with reinforcements in the form of Commander Cody, the 212th Attack Battalion, and an armada led by Wullf Yularen&mdash;commenced an air assault on the droids. Kenobi jumped out of his Delta-7B starfighter to assist Rex and the few survivors of Torrent Company while several LAAT/i gunships deployed Cody and his men. Learning from Rex that Skywalker was most likely still inside the castle, Kenobi went into the monastery to find the Jedi General.

Eventually, Skywalker&mdash;having found and commandeered the Twilight, an old spice freighter, with Tano and Rotta&mdash;contacted Rex, reluctantly telling him that they would be unable to give support, as returning Rotta to his father on the planet Tatooine was still their priority. Rex understood the Jedi's position and replied that he and his men would be able to hold out on their own thanks to Kenobi's arrival before the connection was severed. With his comrades providing covering fire, Rex ran toward an approaching dwarf spider droid and planted a primed thermal detonator on it, jumping away in time to avoid the explosion that engulfed it. As they continued to force the battle droids back, Rex and the clones were joined once again by Kenobi, who had returned after dueling Ventress inside the monastery and forcing her to flee. Rex voiced his doubt to Kenobi that Skywalker and Tano would be able to make it to Tatooine in their dilapidated freighter, but Kenobi was confident that Skywalker's abilities would enable him to travel through hyperspace to Tatooine.

The Republic was finally able to defeat the Confederate forces and secured a victory on Teth. Amidst the settling dust, Rex expressed his frustration with the poorly handled operation to Cody. Although Rex was still devastated with the loss of Torrent Company, Cody stated that the battle had not been in vain, as Skywalker and Tano had reached Tatooine with the Huttlet. Rex and Cody later accompanied Jedi Masters Yoda and Kenobi to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine to retrieve Skywalker and Tano, who had returned Rotta to his father and established a treaty with the Hutts to allow the Republic Grand Army safe passage through Hutt Space. Upon meeting with Rex, Skywalker and Tano wanted to hear all the details of the rest of the battle in terms of the clones that had won and paid the price for it. Despite his distress from the clones' losses, Rex agreed to recount the battle to them. Though Torrent Company was replenished with new troops, the defeat of the original unit stayed with Rex for a long time.

Redeployment
"Your troops are settled, Captain? And ready for the fray?''" "''Yes, sir. They've adjusted well, and will do you proud."

- Anakin Skywalker and Rex

Following the Battles of Christophsis and Teth, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex returned to Coruscant, where Rex manned a blaster training range to maintain his troops' marksmanship skills. Just over a week after their return to Coruscant, word reached the Jedi High Council that the Confederate General Grievous was targeting the planet Bothawui, the home to the key Republic-affiliated Bothan Spynet. Skywalker was subsequently given command of his own battle group to defend the strategic world from the Confederacy. Kenobi, who was unable to participate in the mission due to injuries sustained from a recent terrorist bombing, knew that Skywalker would want Rex and the 501st Legion for his strike force and had them put on standby. As the Venator-class Star Destroyers Resolute, Pioneer, and Dauntless were being prepared for Skywalker's fleet, Rex got his men settled on the Resolute, which Skywalker had taken as his flagship. There, he enjoyed a brief reunion with Skywalker and Tano, who were both pleased that the Captain had been assigned to their task force. Once all was ready, Skywalker's fleet set off to secure the Both system against Grievous's impending assault.

It was not long before Grievous and an armada of four Munificent-class star frigates began to pursue Skywalker's fleet to Bothawui. Although they managed to beat Grievous to the Both system, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex soon learned from Kenobi that Grievous had not abandoned his pursuit of them; he had simply stopped to take on two extra frigates to overwhelm Republic forces on the planet Falleen. Despite being outnumbered two-to-one in vessels, Skywalker was intent on protecting Bothawui and was unwilling to let it fall to the Separatists. Skywalker deployed a detachment of AT-TE walkers under Rex's command to the asteroid belt surrounding the gas giant Bothawui Prime, from where they would be able to outflank Grievous once his fleet had passed through the asteroids. After Grievous's six-frigate fleet arrived in the system, passed through the asteroid belt&mdash;as well as the AT-TEs hidden there&mdash;and opened fire on the Republic Star Destroyers, Rex and his men changed the tide of the battle by attacking the frigates and targeting their aft sections. The ambush was all the more successful because the unsuspecting Grievous had previously diverted all of his frigates' power to their forward shields instead of their rear ones. The Resolute, Pioneer, and Dauntless attacked the Separatist armada, but not before Grievous was able to flee his crumbling fleet in his personal starfighter, Soulless One.

Skywalker was hampered in his pursuit of Grievous by damage to his Delta-7B starfighter, and the Jedi veered off-course toward the asteroid belt. Rex was able to rescue Skywalker from his crippled ship but could not save R2-D2, who had accompanied the Jedi General on his starfighter. Rex and Tano met with Skywalker in the Resolute medbay once he had regained consciousness and brought him up to date with the battle's success, albeit with the loss of R2-D2. After conducting an unsuccessful search for his astromech droid, Skywalker was forced to declare R2-D2 officially missing in action. Believing that the Resolute, Dauntless, and Pioneer could use modifications, Skywalker took his fleet back to the Allanteen Six shipyards where they had been manufactured. Eventually, Kenobi contacted Skywalker and Tano and tasked them with finding a new Confederate listening post &mdash;which, as Republic intelligence had just confirmed, had been intercepting the Grand Army's transmissions&mdash;before it could continue to pose a threat to the Republic's war effort. Departing from the shipyards on this new assignment, Skywalker elected to personally undertake the sweeps of space suspected of Confederate activity while the rest of his forces concentrated on a more central path.

When informed by Skywalker of his reconnaissance plan, Rex questioned whether he was sure he wanted to scout ahead alone, but the General was certain that more than one fighter would attract too much attention from the Separatists. Taking the replacement astromech droid R3-S6 with him, Skywalker departed from the Resolute in his retrieved Delta-7B fighter, unaware that R3-S6 was a spy working for Grievous. Not long after Skywalker had left, Tano received a signal from the homing beacon of her Master's fighter&mdash;her Master's position had been compromised. Tano quickly had Rex gather as many men as he could to rescue Skywalker. Tano, Rex, and a squad of troopers arrived aboard the Twilight to reinforce Skywalker against Grievous, who was cornering the Jedi General with a pair of Munificent-class frigates and a squadron of Vulture droids. As his hyperspace docking ring had been hit by enemy fire, Skywalker piloted his fighter into the Twilight cargo bay to retreat with the Republic squad. With Rex and his men providing covering fire as gunners, Tano maneuvered the Twilight right between the wings of the two enemy frigates. As soon as they were clear, Rex engaged the Twilight hyperdrive, executing a successful escape from Grievous.

A short while later, R2-D2, who had been captured by the scavenger Gha Nachkt, was able to get a message on his plight through to the Twilight. Rex tracked the astromech droid to Ruusan 2, a moon of the planet Ruusan, where the group subsequently found Skytop Station, the Separatist listening post that the Republic had been looking for. Despite orders from Kenobi to sabotage the station without retrieving R2-D2, Skywalker resolved to mount a dual operation to save his captured astromech droid and destroy the base. Once the Twilight had entered the gassy atmosphere of the moon, Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and four other troopers used the Force and JT-12 jetpacks, respectively, to safely land on the station many meters below. On Tano's orders, Rex carried R3-S6 to the station, a job he was not particularly enthusiastic about undertaking because of the droid's substantial weight. Upon landing with the heavy R3-S6 in his arms, Rex insisted that he would never lug an astromech droid around again. After entering the station with the others, Rex and another trooper quickly shot down two B1 battle droid guards in their path. At a nearby computer terminal, R3-S6 accessed the station's building schematics, which Rex used to brief the squad on the location of the station's reactors, which, if destruction, would effect Skytop Station's disintegration by plummeting the station through Ruusan 2's atmosphere.

While Skywalker went to rescue R2-D2, Tano, Rex, and the clones were tasked with planting the explosives at the reactor room. Upon arrival at the reactor room thirty levels below, Rex and Tano found that an alarm had triggered the door's ray shield. R3-S6 plugged into a nearby terminal and tried to bypass the shield, but as battle droids began to approach their position, Rex became doubtful of R3-S6's abilities and questioned them. Although Tano admonished Rex, telling him to be patient, R3-S6 was actually stalling to give the approaching battle droids time to ambush the Republic squad. He was successful in this delay when a squad of B1 battle droids arrived and attacked the Jedi and clones. While Tano deflected laser shots with her lightsaber, Rex and his men used the hallway's supports as cover and opened fire on the battle droids. As a firefight ensued, R3-S6 activated the reactor room's secondary door, sealing the Jedi and clones off from the reactors. When the Padawan and the clones were caught in a crossfire with the arrival of B2 super battle droids, Tano had Rex utilize electro magnetic pulse grenades&mdash;nicknamed "droid poppers"&mdash;against their adversaries, and a grenade tossed in both directions effected the deactivation of the battle droids. However, the Republic squad's troubles were not over. Grievous himself arrived and confronted the squad, batting Tano aside and attacking Rex and the clone troopers.

Rex and his men targeted their blaster fire at Grievous, but the troopers were knocked aside, and all except Rex and trooper Denal were killed. As Grievous prepared to cut down the unconscious Rex, Tano intervened in time to stop the cyborg's death blow with her own lightsaber. Tano continued to distract Grievous by drawing him into a storage room, and after regaining consciousness, Rex and Denal learned of Tano's exploits. Although Rex protested to her course of action over a comlink transmission, he complied with her orders to complete the mission. Rex and Denal were able to enter the reactor room and plant the explosives there, and the two then proceeded to the station's landing bay to rendezvous with the Twilight and Skywalker, who was alarmed to learn that Tano had engaged Grievous in single combat. As Rex and Denal headed for the hangar's exit to take Skywalker and the Twilight clone pilot back to assist Tano, R3-S6 closed the blast doors and sealed all of the hangar's exits, both to the rest of the station and out of the listening post. The astromech droid also activated several Vulture droids hanging from the roof, revealing his loyalties to Grievous and the Separatists.

Surrounded by Vulture droids on one side and super battle droids on the other, Skywalker and the clones ran for cover behind several nearby crates while returning the droids' fire. As the firefight progressed, Skywalker ordered Rex to activate the explosives planted at the station's reactors, despite the fact that the entire squad was still in the station. Rex dutifully detonated the charges, crippling Skytop Station's reactors and beginning its gravity-pulled descent into Ruusan 2's atmosphere. After Skywalker sent R2-D2 to open the main hangar door from a terminal on the station's exterior, Tano joined the hangar fight, eliminating two of the Vulture droids. When Rex noticed several fuel cells next to the crates, Skywalker used the Force to hurtle one of them at the droids, and Rex placed a well-aimed shot on the cell. All of the battle droids were eliminated in the resulting explosion. Once R2-D2 opened the hangar door, the Jedi and clones had escaped from the station aboard the Twilight, and Skywalker completed the successful operation by retrieving his astromech droid. While Rex, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano were serving aboard the flagship of the Republic Navy, Tano intercepted a Rebel SOS signal from Tatooine. Determined to prove herself as a Jedi, she secretly took a Nu-class attack shuttle to investigate the transmission's source on her own. Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex soon discovered the Padawan's absence and also learned that the signal had been a fake&mdash;Tano had been drawn into a Separatist trap. Skywalker and Kenobi quickly took the Twilight to Tatooine, where they rescued Tano from a Separatist battle droid detachment.

Mission to JanFathal
"You don't mean to go on the mission, do you, Captain? It's not really your job. It's mine, in the absence of any embarked troops. And I've done extractions before. Except we'll do this one my way, and with any luck it won't turn out like Teth."

- Rex, to Gilad Pellaeon

Several months into the war, Rex agreed to relieve Skywalker of his Padawan for a few days by taking her along on a three-day shakedown cruise aboard Republic Navy Captain Gilad Pellaeon's newly refitted assault ship, Leveler, in the Dantus sector. After Pellaeon, with whom he was acquainted, permitted him to join Leveler testing session, Rex departed to join the cruise with Tano, Sergeant Coric, and six clone troopers new to Torrent Company&mdash;Ross, Boro, Joc, Hil, Vere, and Ince, who had completed their training just days earlier. En route to Leveler aboard a shuttle, Tano questioned if her Master had decided to take a respite from training just to take a break from her, but Rex abstained from directly answering the question to avoid speculating about Skywalker's actions. The Clone Captain was more concerned with his new 501st troopers, worrying that he would have to make use of the inconsiderate tally sensor to tell the six rookies apart because they had so far failed to display unique personalities. After arriving aboard Leveler, Rex exchanged a few warming, casual words with Pellaeon in a brief reunion with him. Once Tano had put on a uniform that Pellaeon had deemed more appropriate than her rather revealing choice of clothing, Rex and his men got settled on the ship. At Tano's request, Rex took her to examine Leveler experimental concussion missiles. Pellaeon found the two at one of the missile bays and discovered that Rex was sporting a new blue-striped hairstyle to support the Sullustan Bylluran Athletic team in the Bolo-ball final.

Rex and Pellaeon were cut off from a discussion on Leveler new weapons by an alert that a flotilla of Confederate ships had exited hyperspace in the nearby Fath sector. While Rex and Pellaeon monitored the scans and logs of the suspicious Separatist activity, Tano sensed a disturbance in the Force, which, at Rex's advice, Pellaeon took to heart. Despite the fact that the enemy activity could result in nothing, Rex took precautions and departed to round up his men in case they would be needed. Returning to Torrent Company's barracks, Rex came to regret his own novelty, undignified haircut at the sight of his men's normal black haircuts and resolved to shave his hair as soon as the opportunity presented itself. After Rex relayed the situation to Tano and the troopers, Job's inquiries into Pellaeon's private life sparked a debate between Tano and the rookie clones about the Jedi Code's forbidding of attachment, which Rex ended by putting his men on standby for enemy contact. Once Tano had departed to check out the ops room at his suggestion, Rex reproved his men for putting Tano on the spot but was nevertheless pleased that the six clones were settling in even better than he had expected.

In an effort to keep himself and his men occupied, Rex took them down to the hangar deck to undertake some deck circuits and familiarize themselves with the planets of the Fath system, where Leveler was headed to keep a closer watch on the Separatist armada there. In addition, Rex contacted Skywalker and informed him of Leveler diversion to the Fath system. Despite Rex's belief that the Jedi General's involvement in the matter was unnecessary, Skywalker set off to rendezvous with Leveler. After shaving his hair back to its normal baldness, Rex joined Tano and Pellaeon on the assault ship's bridge just as the warship became host to the Altisian Jedi sect. Jedi Master Djinn Altis, who spoke for the group of Jedi, requested permission to dock his freighter, Wookiee Gunner, to Leveler on the grounds of receiving a distress signal from a Republic agent on the nearby planet JanFathal. Republic Intelligence confirmed Altis's story and detailed the agent's capture during a Separatist-allied rebel uprising against the world's Regent leader. Pellaeon approved the rendezvous with Altis, and Rex promised his men for the imminent hostage extraction mission alongside the Altisian Jedi in the absence of embarked troops. The mission was complicated, however, with Intelligence's identification of Hallena Devis to be the captive operative, a close acquaintance of Pellaeon.

While Rex and his men were familiarizing themselves with JanFathal's capital city, Athar&mdash;where Devis was being held&mdash;via a holochart in Leveler meeting room, Master Altis, Callista Masana, and Geith Eris of the Jedi sect boarded Leveler and convened with Pellaeon, Tano, and the clones to formulate a plan for the operation. As Pellaeon briefed everyone on the mission at hand, Rex objected when Pellaeon implied that he intended to personally participate in the mission; the Clone Captain cited that it was his own responsibility and that of his men in the absence of embarked troops. While a plan to rescue Devis was formed, Rex noted that all they could hope for was a successful rescue and not a full-scale fight against the Separatists. Meanwhile, Eris and Masana expressed their desire to undertake the reconnaissance of Athar themselves, as the very production of clones for the Grand Army went against their beliefs. Despite the two Jedi's intentions to prevent the clones from participating in the mission, Masana and Eris complied with the clones' wishes when Rex and his comrades insisted that it was their job. With the plan in place, Pellaeon, Rex, the clones, and the four Jedi made their way down to the assault ship's hangar bay, where the replenishment shuttle that the team would be taking to JanFathal was being prepared. Conferring with Pellaeon, Rex refused to use civilian clothing for the mission, stating that he preferred armor advantages over stealth. He also comforted Pellaeon and was confident that his squad would be able to rescue Devis from her quandary.

Once the Sullustan sensor technician Benb had finished with outfitting the shuttle, the clones and four Jedi boarded the craft. Before embarking with the others, Rex told Pellaeon to keep a lookout for Skywalker, who was tracking the Clone Captain's secure link. When Leveler was in position to deploy the shuttle, Sergeant Coric piloted the craft out of the assault ship's hangar and headed for Athar. During the flight, Rex attempted to mediate Tano's reservations with the Altisian Jedi, whose controversial beliefs directly conflicted with the orthodox Jedi principles upon which she had been raised, but encountered trouble with diverting her attention away from them. Rex also checked in with his rookie troopers over their private circuit and took pity on the new 501st inductees, as nothing in their training on Kamino could have prepared them to face Jedi of this incongruity. After bypassing a Separatist landing craft, Coric took the shuttle to enter JanFathal's atmosphere and immediately headed for the south district of Athar. At Altis's direction, Coric dropped the shuttle to such a low range that Rex became concerned that the craft was going to have a head-on collision with a ground transport, but Coric was nevertheless able to safely land the shuttle. The group immediately disembarked and headed for a nearby building, where Altis and Ross worked with a recording remote to observe the surrounding Separatist deployments.

Rex, Tano, and Masana then reconnoitered the vicinity of the building where Devis was being held by the Separatist-backed rebels. Rex formed a plan for a standard hostage extraction, electing to first secure the building's exit and then deploy teams to the roof and entrance to simultaneously infiltrate the Republic Intelligence agent's prison. After the rest of the squad had joined them there, Rex sent Altis with Joc, Ince, and Ross to cover the exit while he himself led the others to scale the building's wall and enter the structure via the roof. Once Altis had distracted Devis's captors, the JanFathal rebels Merish Hath, Shil Kaval, and Varti, Rex and his men used explosives to open a hole in the roof and joined the Jedi in confronting the rebels. With Hath incapacitated, Rex aimed his blaster at Varti, who in turn held his own gun to the still-captive Devis's temple. Though Varti attempted to stall and bargain with him, Rex surprised everyone by unhesitatingly firing his own blaster, killing the man and freeing Devis. Ignoring his near-mindless kill, Rex used a vibroblade from his gauntlet to sever Devis's handcuffs and ushered her toward the exit, despite her attempt to retrieve her comlink from the badly wounded Kaval. After Devis had been moved to safety, the building began to crumble, and Altis, Rex, Vere, and Boro charged out of the structure. While Ince took Devis to Coric's shuttle, Rex joined the fight against the approaching army of battle droids.

In the ensuing battle, Vere was wounded beyond help, leaving Rex pained with the loss of a trooper whose active service had only lasted eight days. Although Boro attempted to revive the fallen Vere, Rex told him to continue fighting, as the rookie trooper's life was put in danger the more he spent trying to help Vere. Boro briefly objected, but he eventually complied and began to return the droids' fire. Launching grenades at the droid ranks with his rifle, Rex prepared to lay charges and sacrifice himself so that the others could escape, despite protests from both Tano and Boro. Before Rex could execute his plan, Altis, Masana, and Tano focused through the Force, toppling a nearby building onto the droids and blocking their adversaries' path with rubble. With the battle droids' advance temporarily halted, Rex contacted Coric and unexpectedly found that the Sergeant and his shuttle were landing nearby to extract his companions. Although Coric had disobeyed his orders to wait only for the agent and the Jedi, Rex was nevertheless grateful that he had instead decided to come back for the rest of the squad. Once all of the Jedi and clones were on board, Coric piloted the shuttle out of the area, just in time to escape the pursuing battle droids. En route to Leveler, Devis thanked Rex for his men's efforts, and although Rex accepted her gratitude, he avoided starting a conversation with her in order to reflect on the loss of Vere.

When Rex noticed that Ross, Boro, Joc, Hil, and Ince had opened up a private comlink frequency, he respected their privacy and avoided intruding on it, knowing that they had to have some time to discuss matters&mdash;including the painful loss of Vere&mdash;without his interference. Rex instead conveyed his congratulations to his men on the successful rescue, though he noted that JanFathal was lost to the Republic. Leveler, meanwhile, was attacked by the Separatist destroyer Reaper and was forced to flee to hyperspace before Coric's shuttle could dock to it, leaving the Jedi and clones to fend for themselves. With their main source of life support gone, Rex ordered Coric to deactivate all of the craft's nonessential systems, but the limited supply of oxygen could not be improved. Boro's calculation that they would only be able to make it halfway to the Kemla Yard shipyard, the closest Republic-allied location, before they ran out of oxygen did nothing to better the situation. Instead, the squad elected to return to Athar and mount a last stand against the Separatist army there. Shortly thereafter, Skywalker arrived in the system aboard the V-19 Torrent starfighter Echo-97, and Rex updated his Jedi General on the situation. The mixed squad of Altisian Jedi and Torrent Company rendezvoused with Skywalker in JanFathal's occupied capital, where Skywalker was introduced to the rookie clones and the Altisian Jedi. Skywalker's report that he had seen several of the Separatists' hyperdrive-equipped CR-20 troop carriers, which could be used to escape JanFathal, did much to lift the clones' spirits.

While Ince kept watch on the Separatist lines, Altis received word from his comrade Ash Jarvee that Leveler was returning to the system from a miscalculated hyperspace jump and relayed this information to the others. Skywalker then sent Masana, Rex, and the clone troopers to a road bridge along Athar's Cadaman Royal Highway, above a nearby sports field, while he and the other Jedi seized a CR-20. At that point, the clones would provide covering fire until the ship lifted off, and they would then embark the troop carrier. Once Masana, Rex, and the clones were in position, Skywalker, Tano, Altis, Eris, and Devis commandeered the enemy craft and proceeded to rescue the troopers. However, Ince was injured in battle with the droids and was treated by Hil. A Vulture droid soon approached and fired at some paving behind the group, but Masana diverted the falling debris with the Force and edged over to attend to Ince. Rex and Ross stayed to keep the droid starfighter occupied, buying time for Masana and the others to carry the injured Ince onto the hovering troop carrier. The Vulture droid landed and advanced upon the two clones in walking mode, and Ross got the droid's attention while Rex himself tangled its legs with his rappel line, pulling himself toward the droid. He hung on despite the droids' attempts to throw him off, and the droid subsequently became more and more entangled in the line.

Rex's and Ross's combined blaster fire took down the droid, and the two troopers escaped to the CR-20, which promptly made for Leveler. While Ince was stabilized, the battle-weary Rex manned the troop carrier's blaster cannons with Tano, and both of them defended the shuttle from the attacking Separatist armada. Once the CR-20 landed in one of Leveler hangars, Ince was immediately taken to the warship's medbay. With all evacuees aboard, Leveler escaped to hyperspace, heading to rendezvous with Wookiee Gunner at Kemla Yard and drop the Altisian Jedi off. During the flight, Rex, his men, and Devis joined Ince in the medbay, where Rex attempted to busy himself through the aggravating wait for developments in Ince's case. Ince's kidneys began to fail, and when the trooper finally died from blood loss, the furious, ashen-faced Rex stormed out of the medbay and took refuge in the mess hall. Tano found the upset Rex there and discussed the Altisian Jedi's views of the clone army with him, which came to challenge Rex's own beliefs as well as Tano's. Accepting that he and the rest of his clone brethren were making the best of a situation they had not chosen, Rex was finally able to find stability with his beliefs, though Tano herself found it difficult to solidify her own principles.

Shipyards of Gwori
"Still no word. We have to assume they're in trouble. I think it's time to alter Master Skywalker's orders.''" "Are you sure, sir?" "Rex, just like Master Skywalker, you will'' have to learn to trust me."

- Ahsoka Tano and Rex

Following several defeats at the hands of the massive Confederate Navy, the Jedi High Council decided to target the InterGalactic Banking Clan's Gwori shipyards, which manufactured ships for the Confederacy. Because the shipyards' exact location on the planet had not yet been determined, the mission to infiltrate Gwori and pinpoint the shipyards fell to Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex. To counter the planet's defenses&mdash;namely, a Separatist droid-operated blockade and a radiation beam that eradicated all life forms entering the world&mdash;Skywalker devised a plan for a small strike force to be frozen in carbonite and infiltrate the planet. R2-D2, whose presence would not cause much suspicion, would then pilot a ship carrying the squad to Gwori before releasing the team from the carbonite, and after locating the shipyards, the squad would report back to Generals Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin, allowing them to eliminate the facility with a Republic squadron. After gathering at carbonite freezing plant CT-642 with the others, Rex expressed his concern that the squad might be susceptible to hibernation sickness, but Skywalker assured him that they would not be frozen long enough for it to take effect. The squad was encased in carbonite with the addition of Tano, who had been ordered by Skywalker not to participate in the mission but nevertheless manipulated Admiral Yularen to receive clearance to go to Gwori as well.

With all preparations complete, the strike team proceeded to Gwori aboard the freighter VX-391 with R2-D2 at the controls. When the blockade's battle droids discovered that the freighter was unregistered, R2-D2 was forced to release the task force and escape from the ship just before it was shot down. The astromech droid freed Tano from her carbonite slab, and she in turn released the rest of the squad. Once they had found the starship construction facility, Skywalker and Kenobi dispatched Tano, Rex, R2-D2, and two other clone troopers to contact Masters Koon and Tiin from a nearby communication tower. After breaking into the station with the others, Tano contacted Koon, Tiin, and Yularen, who were waiting in the Moskk system, with the shipyards' coordinates. Before the infiltration team's evacuation from the planet could be arranged, however, the transmission was cut off when the shipyards' Overseer, Juhm, contacted the station and discovered that the Jedi and clones were still alive despite the elimination of their freighter. Tano, Rex, R2-D2, and their squad managed to flee from the station just before Juhm remotely destroyed it, and Tano relayed the developments to Skywalker and Kenobi. While their superiors infiltrated the shipyards, Tano, Rex, and their team went to find cover on Gwori's plains, where they were attacked by a squad of jetpack-equipped B2-RP battle droids.

After escaping from the droids, the group took refuge in a cave that they soon found to be the current residence of a large lizard-like creature, which killed one of the clones before Tano could eliminate it. As time went by, the extended lack of communication from Skywalker and Kenobi led Tano to deduce that the pair was in trouble. Tano decided that it was time to "alter" Skywalker's orders of staying concealed, and though Rex voiced his doubt with disobeying their mandate, he left the cave with Tano and the other trooper. However, Juhm was waiting for them with a squad of B2 super battle droids and ambushed them, killing Rex's and Tano's clone companion. Presented with the choice of either surrendering or being immediately shot down, Tano and Rex decided to comply with Juhm's demands. The two were taken captive and ushered away, leaving R2-D2 back in the cave. As night fell, Juhm had Tano and Rex attached to electrically charged frames alongside Skywalker and Kenobi, who had been captured at the shipyards. Before departing, Juhm left a trio of IG-100 MagnaGuards to guard Rex and the Jedi from spiders as a means of ensuring that they survived as a reminder to the shipyards' slaves of his absolute superiority. Although the four were tortured and electrocuted in turn, Rex grudgingly expressed his gratitude for the MagnaGuards' protection from the spiders.

In an attempt to free themselves, the three Jedi used the Force to destroy the droids, and R2-D2 arrived and cut the Jedi and Rex from their frames before the spiders could attack them. Proceeding to the shipyards, the group convinced Juhm's slaves to liberate themselves from their servitude. At dawn, Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, and Rex stole one of the shipyards' near-completed Munificent-class star frigates and escaped from the facility with the slaves just as Koon and Tiin arrived with a number of bombers from Hunter Squadron and began their attack on the site, dropping their munitions on the construction facility. Using the ship's tractor beam, Skywalker retrieved trooper Toomer, who was still encased in carbonite and had been left behind when his slab's controls had malfunctioned. The Jedi attempted to pilot the frigate through the Separatist blockade, but after the battle droids picked up the mass of life forms on the ship, they activated the radiation beam. The ship's passengers were saved when Koon and Tiin intervened and destroyed the scan gate projecting the beam. The two Jedi Masters hitched a ride on the vessel, as their hyperdrive booster rings had been destroyed, and the frigate left the Gwori system for Coruscant. Back on the galactic capital, the ex-slaves of the shipyards found employment with the Republic. Once Toomer had been freed from his carbonite, Rex reassured the disappointed trooper that there would be more fighting to come.

Outpost inspections
"All right, listen up. There's only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It's the closest thing we clones have to a home. Today, we fight for more than the Republic. Today, we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?''" "''Sir, yes, sir!"

- Rex, to Echo, Fives, and Hevy

Later in the war's second year, Rex was once again stationed with Skywalker, Tano, and Admiral Yularen on board the Resolute when it was deployed to the Bith system during the emerging threat of a new Separatist superweapon. Following the Separatist weapon's assault on General Plo Koon's forces in the nearby Abregado system, the Resolute was reassigned to protect the Republic's supply convoys alongside Kenobi; his flagship, the Negotiator; and the rest of their fleet. After Skywalker divided the fleet to increase its defensive perimeter and went with Tano to scout ahead for enemy activity, Rex was present on the Resolute bridge with Yularen when Kenobi contacted them to check on their progress as well as Skywalker's whereabouts. Yularen reported that the convoys were on schedule and also informed Kenobi of Skywalker's orders. Skywalker and Tano eventually discovered that the Separatist superweapon was the Malevolence, a powerful ion cannon–equipped warship, and the Resolute was again reassigned, this time to join the Republic's attack on the Malevolence near the Kaliida Nebula, which succeeded in eradicating the battleship and ending its threat to the Republic. Rex and Commander Cody were soon assigned to inspect several small Republic bases and listening posts and took Rex's Nu-class attack shuttle, the Obex, to a tracking station in the Pastil system.

Arriving on Pastil, Rex and Cody began inspections of the outpost, and the former commented on the station's strange cleanliness. Trooper Stripe told the two clone officers that the station was maintained by an MSE-series droid nicknamed "Rodent," commenting that the droid had a glitch and spent hours cleaning the outpost. Recognizing the droid's characteristics as those of a spy droid, Rex called out a Code Aurek alert and ordered the base's troopers to track down Rodent. The rookie clones were unaware of Rex's suspicions and initially believed him to be crazy, but when Rex found the droid and blasted its body, the droid's wheels activated of their own accord and fled, a feature uncommon in regular MSE droids. The troopers eliminated three of the wheels, and though the fourth made for a grate, Stripe destroyed the last wheel with a thermal detonator; the resulting explosion caused a significant amount of damage to the hallway. Amused, Rex told the troops to clean the mess up before leaving with Cody. After Cody reported their successful inspection to Skywalker and Kenobi, who were aboard the Resolute, he and Rex proceeded to Rishi Station, a Republic outpost in the Outer Rim's Rishi system.

The two clone officers were unaware that the base had just been overrun by a force of Confederate BX-series droid commandos. When Cody contacted the station to inform the clones there of the incoming inspection team, a droid commando posing as a clone trooper answered the transmission. Hearing the "clone's" droid-like responses, Rex sensed that something was amiss, but he and Cody nevertheless continued to the moon where the outpost was located, with Cody placing Rex in charge of the inspection. Upon landing at the station, Rex took note of the base's absence of an on-duty deck officer, believing such an error to be sloppy. The two clones were greeted by a droid commando disguised in clone armor. When Rex caught sight of a droid attack flare launched by the survivors of the initial droid assault, he promptly shot the "trooper" who had greeted them in the head. At first, Cody was shocked with Rex's brazen behavior, but after Rex removed his victim's helmet, the disabled droid commando was revealed. More droid commandos then appeared from behind several surrounding crates and ambushed Rex and Cody, who exchanged fire with their opponents while using other crates as cover.

The droids tossed a series of thermal detonators at the Obex, and the two clones jumped off the platform to avoid the explosion, firing their blaster cables at the underside of the platform to control their descent. Believed to be dead by the droid commandos, Rex and Cody descended to the ground below, musing over the elimination of their only means of escape from the Rishi moon and recalling their similar situation on Tibrin. Rex and Cody then came across the three survivors of the droid assault&mdash;rookie troopers CT-782, CT-27-5555, and CT-21-0408, nicknamed "Hevy," "Fives," and "Echo" respectively&mdash;and Rex ordered them to take their sunbonnets off to verify that they were clones. After the three clones had done so, a Rishi eel appeared from one of the nearby crevices, and Rex impressed the rookies with his marksmanship by killing the eel with a single blaster shot to its eye. Once the clones had introduced themselves, Rex and Cody learned from Echo that their Sergeant had been killed in the initial attack. Dubbing Echo, Hevy, and Fives "shinies," a derogatory term for the troopers' spotless armor that had not yet seen action in battle, Rex placed a handprint of blood from the eel's carcass on Echo's armor to commemorate his valor. When Hevy expressed the rookies' desire to recover their post regardless of their inexperience, Rex stated that there was hope for them yet. Climbing up the canyon wall to Rishi Station, Rex and Cody offered the carbines of their own DC-15S blasters to the rookie troopers, and Rex devised a plan to gain access to the station.

With Cody, Hevy, Fives, and Echo waiting on the sides of the main entrance as backup, Rex posed as Commando Unit 26 in clone armor and mechanically walked toward the blast doors' surveillance systems, through which he conferred with Droid Units 07, 08, and 09, who were guarding the entrance. Rex maintained his cover by pretending to adjust his "vocabulator" and using an inert droid head as visual verification for the guards. Although Cody doubted that the tactic would work, the droids admitted Rex entry to the station, and he and the others immediately gunned down the guards. Taking point despite Hevy's request for permission to do so himself, Rex led the squad to attack the droids in the command center. He shot at several droid commandos manning the central computer before he was targeted by the commando droid captain himself from atop his perch on a higher level. Rex's elimination of the droid's blaster only caused the droid to instead draw a vibroblade and jump down to slash at him, but he quickly snapped the droid's neck with his bare hands. Though the clones were able to defeat all of the droid commandos, their victory was short-lived. The group of five discovered that a Separatist fleet&mdash;led by General Grievous&mdash;was passing over the moon and deduced that the droids had hot-wired the station's "all-clear" signal to prevent the Republic from learning of the Confederacy's impending invasion. A C-9979 troopship was then dispatched from the fleet, deploying battle droid reinforcements at the base to investigate the lack of response from the droid commandos.

As Cody noted the clones' slim chances of success against the incoming droids, Rex formulated a plan to destroy Rishi Station; despite the plan's lack of convention, the subsequent ceasing of the all-clear signal would alert the Republic to the imminent invasion. Echo contributed to the plan, offering that the base's supply of highly explosive liquid tibanna gas could be used to help eliminate the outpost. Before setting the operation into motion, Rex and Cody spoke with Echo, Fives, and Hevy to prepare them for the forthcoming battle in which they would be taking part. Stating that the Confederacy's target of interest could only be Kamino and citing its importance as the closest thing that the clones had to a home, Rex rallied the rookie troopers with the knowledge that they were fighting for more than the Republic&mdash;they were fighting to defend their home and all of their brethren back there. While Cody, Hevy, and Fives went to gain time by confronting the advance droid forces at the entrance, Rex and Echo ushered several PLNK-series power droids, more commonly known as "plunk droids," containing the liquid tibanna into the command center.

As the three plunk droids were wired together, Rex encountered problems with the detonator's remote handset. Hevy stayed to repair the remote, allowing Rex, Cody, Echo, and Fives to escape from the station through a grate that opened to an external maintenance pipe. Once outside with the others, Rex assumed that Hevy had fixed the remote and was right behind them, but when he told Hevy to detonate the explosives, he discovered that the trooper had not yet joined them. Rex contacted Hevy and ordered him to vacate the base, but Hevy stated that because of the remote's defectiveness, he would have to detonate the charges manually, ignoring Rex's protests. Although the four clones backtracked to help Hevy, the trooper sacrificed himself to destroy the base and warn the Republic of the Separatist invasion. Picking up the absence of the all-clear signal, the Republic fleet arrived and forced Grievous's ships out of the system. LAAT/i gunships were additionally deployed to the moon, and Rex, Cody, Fives, and Echo flagged them down and were taken to the Resolute to meet with Skywalker and Kenobi. In the Star Destroyer's hangar, the two Jedi Generals commended Echo and Fives for their service in the battle by awarding them medals, and also honored Hevy's sacrifice. Stating that they were no longer shinies, Rex, impressed by the troopers' efforts, inducted Hevy and Echo into the 501st Legion.

Further campaigns
"Try and keep them out of trouble, Captain.''" "''Sorry, sir. I can't make any promises where those two are concerned."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Rex, on Skywalker and Tano

As the war continued, Rex participated in a battle on a world against anti-Republic forces with Skywalker and Tano. During the fighting, Rex oversaw the operation of the Republic's AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons and had them return bombardment to the enemy artillery. Eventually, word reached Skywalker that Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, a member of the Separatist Council, had been arrested on the planet Rodia. While Tano departed to assist Jedi Master Luminara Unduli in transporting Gunray to Coruscant for trial, Skywalker and Rex remained to maintain the Republic's position on the embattled world. When the Republic launched a campaign to capture Count Dooku, Rex served with Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano aboard the Resolute, searching for traces of the Sith Lord in the hopes that removing him from the Confederate leadership would bring the war to a quicker end. Locating Dooku's Munificent-class star frigate in the Vanqor system, Skywalker and Kenobi infiltrated the frigate to detain the Count while Rex, remaining behind with Tano, took Wullf Yularen's place of commanding the Resolute, as the Admiral was recovering from the previous run-in with the Malevolence.

Once Skywalker and Kenobi were aboard Dooku's frigate, Rex had the Resolute move into position and open fire on the Separatist vessel, which was crippled under their heavy fire. However, Dooku managed to escape from his cornered frigate aboard his solar sailer, and Skywalker and Kenobi gave pursuit in a stolen Sheathipede-class transport shuttle, ordering Rex and Tano to follow them in whatever ships were available. Although Skywalker and Kenobi crash-landed on the planet Vanqor alongside Dooku, it was a band of pirates that took the Sith Lord to their base on Florrum and imprisoned him there for ransom. After Tano rescued Skywalker and Kenobi and brought them back to the Resolute, Rex was present on the Star Destroyer's bridge when they were contacted by Masters Yoda and Mace Windu of the Jedi Council with new orders. Hondo Ohnaka, the leader of the pirate gang that had captured Dooku, had put out a ransom of one million credits for the Count, and Skywalker and Kenobi were to verify that Dooku was in the pirates' custody so that the Republic could pay the ransom and detain him. However, Skywalker and Kenobi themselves were captured by Ohnaka and his pirates, and they were unable to prevent Dooku from escaping from Florrum.

While liberating the planet Queel from the Confederacy alongside Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano, Rex accompanied the latter to eliminate the enemy's artillery encampment. Rex used a jetpack to cross the swamp to the artillery base, while Tano used a large dragon-like creature. Attacking the battle droids guarding the blaster cannons, Tano threw a blaster battery at the cannons with the Force, and Rex shot the flying target, detonating it and destroying the cannons. He then accompanied the Jedi back to the Republic's forward command post to take an incoming message from the Jedi Temple. In a conference with Jedi Masters Yoda and Ki-Adi-Mundi, Skywalker and Tano were assigned to intercept the Separatist agent Messo&mdash;who had stolen a Republic data file&mdash;in the Mon Gazza system, while Kenobi was to finish the battle on Queel. Rex and the two Jedi embarked on their new assignment aboard the Twilight, and upon arriving on Mon Gazza, Skywalker left to find Messo while Tano and Rex stayed to secure the freighter. Changing out of his usual armor, Rex donned a heavily covered-up disguise and accompanied Tano to find her Master, who had meanwhile located Messo. When Skywalker confronted Messo in a podracing arena, he discovered that the enemy agent had already transferred the data file. To further complicate matters, Messo was killed in a collision with a podracer before he could reveal any more information.

Tano and Rex joined Skywalker in the stands to watch the race, where they learned that Skywalker had entered Tano into the race to get closer to the other racers, as he believed that Messo's contact belonged to one of the racing circuit's teams. The group proceeded to the podracing stalls to begin outfitting Tano's podracer, with Skywalker, Rex, and R2-D2 posing as the Padawan's pit crew. Tano's report that Jedi intelligence had confirmed several espionage incidents to have coincided with the racing circuit's presence in the same system&mdash;and that the skilled podracer Kidd Kareen and his crew had been present for each of the events&mdash;placed Kareen as the prime suspect for being Messo's correspondent. Once Kareen's crew had left, Tano kept Kareen occupied while Skywalker went to take a look around his stall, with Rex and R2-D2 on lookout. However, Maxus&mdash;a close friend of Kareen and one of his crew&mdash;caught Skywalker snooping around, and a fistfight began between the Jedi and Kareen's crew. Shortly after Rex joined the fray, Tano and Kareen returned, halting the fight, and Tano was forced to apologize for her crew's actions.

Tano, Skywalker, Rex, and R2-D2 hurriedly left to prepare when they learned that the Padawan's debut race was coming up. The race soon began, and Rex and Skywalker tracked Tano's progress through the course via R2-D2's hololink. As Tano approached the finish line, however, another podracer rammed her from behind, and Skywalker and Rex rushed to her aid. Although Tano's podracer had been demolished, Kareen offered to loan one of his spare podracers to Tano, who accepted the offer. Following the race, Skywalker and Rex trailed Maxus into a pub, and the two used R2-D2 to eavesdrop on the racer. Maxus's job as a Separatist spy was revealed when he contacted the Confederate Head of State Count Dooku, and the group also overheard Dooku's arrangements to have an agent collect the stolen Republic datachip from Maxus the following day. During Tano's second race alongside Kareen and Maxus that day, Skywalker and Rex took notice and immediately gave pursuit when Maxus stopped to pick up the datachip from the podracing pits. Though Maxus escaped in his podracer, he left the rest of Kareen's crew to engage Skywalker and Rex in blaster combat. While Rex and R2-D2 fought off the podracers, Skywalker departed to help his Padawan, and the Jedi were able to prevent Asajj Ventress from collecting the datachip from Maxus thanks to assistance from Kareen. With their mission a success, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex bid farewell to Kareen before leaving Mon Gazza aboard the Twilight. The trio then reported their operation's completion to Kenobi, who was still on Queel.

When a new Separatist threat emerged, Rex became involved with sending Denal on various missions to counter the menace. While Denal was undertaking investigations on Rodia concerning a Confederate project in the Outer Rim, Rex contacted him and ordered him to make way for Republic reinforcements to land by purging a nearby jungle clearing of battle droids. Once Denal had done so, Rex next sent him to destroy an enemy transport factory on Rodia by activating the facility's self-destruct mechanism, a task that Denal also completed. On Rex's orders, Denal proceeded to Tatooine to scout out an allegedly deserted Separatist base, which he soon discovered was teeming with droid forces. After Denal cleared the outpost of hostiles, Rex relayed the news that another enemy base had been discovered on Tatooine, this time a research station. As the enemy facility was reportedly connected to the new Separatist project and was currently being evacuated, Rex ordered Denal to act quickly before the Confederacy could eliminate the evidence of the project. Infiltrating the station, Denal uncovered plans for a Confederate superweapon that could conceal entire armies from the Republic, and he later destroyed the superweapon at its construction site on the ice world Orto Plutonia. Shortly after Denal returned to the Republic fleet and was commended by Obi-Wan Kenobi for his success, Rex sent Denal on yet another assignment.

Rex was dispatched with Skywalker and Tano to the planet Taronda to secure raw materials desperately needed by the Republic, but the Separatists were also interested in Taronda's resources and attacked a mining settlement on the world to divert the Republic's attention. With Vulture droid starfighters attacking them from above, Skywalker had Rex gather the settlement's miners and prepare the encampment's deflector shield. Though Tano accidentally fell down a crevice leading to a mineshaft, Rex brought to Skywalker's attention a bigger problem: the arrival of a major Separatist assault force composed of a C-9979 troopship, Multi-Troop Transports, and multiple Armored Assault Tanks. After bringing the wounded civilians to safety, Rex triggered the shield as a defense against the advancing droids and also requested Republic reinforcements. When Asajj Ventress appeared just beyond the shield and baited Skywalker to confront her by revealing that she had sent spider droids after Tano, Rex told Skywalker to focus and have faith in his Padawan, restraining him in spite of Ventress's taunts. Ventress relented when she discovered that a Republic Star Destroyer was inbound to Taronda, and she retreated from the planet with her droid forces. Rex deemed it safe to disable the deflector shield, and he and Skywalker were soon rejoined by Tano, who had defeated Ventress's spider droids on her own.

When the malfunctioning merchant starship Deyvus sent out a distress call to the Galactic Republic Ninth Fleet that it was locked on course toward an unstable nebula, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex were sent aboard the Twilight to rescue the craft, as their ship was the nearest and fastest one available. Approaching the Deyvus on the Twilight, Rex noted that the damage to the merchant vessel appeared to be severe, with its ion drive apparently gone critical and its stabilizers offline. As the Twilight prepared to dispatch R2-D2 to access the Deyvus maintenance systems, the merchant craft suddenly revealed several heavy laser cannons being manned by B1 battle droids, leading Rex, Skywalker, and Tano to realize that they had been drawn into a Separatist trap. Before they could maneuver away, the Twilight was hit by the droids' fire and received engine damage, and Rex immediately used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames in the ship's cockpit. He informed Skywalker that another impact would cripple the Twilight, as its hull would not last against further enemy fire. While the Twilight began to be pulled toward the collapsing nebula, General Grievous holographically contacted Skywalker, Tano, and Rex and lured them aboard the Deyvus, from where he claimed to be preparing to watch them die. Rising to the bait, Skywalker had R2-D2 begin repairing the Twilight engines and took Rex with him to the Deyvus to confront and capture Grievous.

Using a pair of grappling hooks, Skywalker and Rex pulled themselves toward the Deyvus through the void of space. Along the way, Rex questioned the boldness of their plan, to which Skywalker replied that it was boldness that distinguished them from the Separatists. Sneaking past the battle droids' heavy laser cannons, Skywalker and Rex boarded the Deyvus gun deck and proceeded into the vessel's system of hallways. Before they could get far, they were surrounded by B1 battle droids and shielded droidekas, though Skywalker saved them from being overwhelmed by slicing a hole in an adjacent wall with his lightsaber and opening up a detour to the bridge, where they assumed Grievous was sequestered. Rex and Skywalker passed through three floors and eliminating all of the battle droids in their path. Upon arrival on the bridge, they discovered that Grievous was not aboard the Deyvus, being greeted instead by a large number of primed thermal detonators nearing activation. From the safety of a Separatist cruiser, Grievous contacted Skywalker and Rex and taunted their predictability before severing the connection. Skywalker quickly cut intersecting slices in the cockpit's roof with his lightsaber, and Rex blasted a hole through the weakened metal, allowing them to return to the Twilight moments before the Deyvus exploded. Though Rex and Skywalker did not capture Grievous, they had foiled his trap for them.

Eventually, the Jedi Order learned&mdash;via a datachip provided by the Nightsister Ros Lai, who had betrayed her fellow Nightsister clan members&mdash;that the Confederacy had established an alliance with the Nightsisters. Rex subsequently returned to Christophsis with Republic Senator Padmé Amidala; her protocol droid, C-3PO; and R2-D2 to investigate Lai's intelligence leads concerning the new joint enemy partnership. During their investigations, Amidala discovered that the Separatist Droid Army was mining for something on Christophsis, though she was unable to determine what it was. Before they could leave the planet, Amidala's ship was shot down by enemy forces, and Rex was injured in the subsequent crash. He, Amidala, and C-3PO and R2-D2 were imprisoned in the Separatist base, where the battle droids were conducting their mining operation. While there, Rex and his comrades overheard their guards saying that the Confederacy was harvesting crystals from the planet core, which were to be used to power the newly constructed Separatist warship Devastation.

Rex and his friends were soon freed from their prison cell by a Jedi team of two who had been sent to Christophsis with Clone Commander CC-1004, nicknamed "Gree," to rescue Amidala. While R2-D2 and C-3PO remained to assist the Jedi in their continuing investigation, Amidala helped Rex to Gree's LAAT/i gunship, which had a medical console on standby for him. The Jedi were later able to destroy the Devastation before it could assault Coruscant, killing the Nightsister leader, Sai Sircu, and ending her alliance with Dooku and the Confederacy.

From Quell to Maridun
"You know, I can't figure those villagers not wanting to fight. No pride, I guess."

- Rex, on the Lurmen pacifists of Maridun

While stationed aboard the Resolute, Rex accompanied Skywalker, Tano, and Yularen to aid Jedi General Aayla Secura, whose fleet was being ambushed in the Quell system by Confederate forces. By the time the Resolute arrived over Quell, two of Secura's Star Destroyers had been decimated by several Munificent-class frigates, with only Secura's command ship, the Liberty, maintaining altitude. As jetpack-equipped B2-RP battle droids were launched from the Separatist fleet to board Secura's cruiser, the Resolute moved into position, and Skywalker, Tano, and Rex took several LAAT/i gunships with clones from the 501st Legion to cut through the droids and evacuate the troops aboard the Liberty. After Skywalker went ahead of the others to the crippled cruiser, a B2-RP battle droid attacked the gunship carrying Rex and Tano, who pulled the craft's clone pilot to safety in the gunship's troop bay after he was forced out of the cockpit by the battle droid. With its controls sabotaged by the droid, the LAAT/i gunship plummeted uncontrollably toward Secura's Star Destroyer. As soon as their vessel crashed into the Liberty hull, Tano, Rex, and their squad jumped out of the burning transport without pause and ran through the ship's corridors, destroying all of the droids in their path.

Rex and Tano caught up with Skywalker, Secura, and Clone Commander CC-5052, nicknamed "Bly," in the cruiser's hallways and joined them in continuing to cut through the opposing droids. The group headed to escape the crippled Liberty from a Consular-class cruiser that Skywalker had called in and was docking in the lower hangar. As the gangway to the frigate was extended, however, the Confederate fleet's increasing fire caused an inferno to rage through the Liberty. Sacrificing himself, Skywalker Force-pushed the others into the airlock, sealing the blast doors shut in both directions, and used the Force to hold back the approaching flames. Despite his efforts, the inferno finally blasted through the adjacent doors, and he was thrown against the airlock. Once Tano and Secura had saved Skywalker and brought him onto the Consular-class frigate, the Republic cruiser detached from the Liberty and headed for the Resolute. As the frigate began to dock to the Resolute, a Vulture droid attack inadvertently activated the frigate's hyperdrive. Although the Resolute was able to maneuver away in time, the Republic frigate jumped to hyperspace with the Jedi, clone officers, and other troop evacuees aboard. While Skywalker was treated in the frigate's medbay, more unpleasant news took the form of Bly's discover that the navigation computer's incorrectly inputted coordinates were heading the craft straight for a star.

Meeting on the bridge with Rex and Bly, Secura and Tano decided to shut down all primary power units to disengage the ship's hyperdrive so that their unintended destination could be avoided. With Tano at the controls, the frigate's power was deactivated, and the ship was brought out of hyperspace. Because of the vessel's uncontrollable speed and the lack of artificial gravity, Rex lost his grip on the back of Tano's seat and was smashed against Secura, causing her to lose her hold on the power switch. Secura telekinetically reactivated the switch, and with artificial gravity back on, she and Rex landed on the floor. Although Tano was able to maneuver the craft in time to avoid the star, she could not stop the ship from heading straight for the nearby planet Maridun. The frigate suffered damage while entering the planet's atmosphere before finally crash-landing on the planet. Rex, Bly, and the clones escaped the frigate first, and Rex helped another trooper out of the craft while Tano and Secura jumped out with Skywalker just before the ship exploded. After a makeshift shelter had been erected for Skywalker from the frigate's wreckage, Secura, Tano, and Bly took their only troopers&mdash;Cameron, Lucky, and Flash&mdash;to find help for the injured Skywalker while Rex stayed to watch over him. Before Tano left with the others, Rex assured her that he would take good care of her wounded Master and also wished her luck on her mission.

As night fell, Rex diligently guarded Skywalker. When Skywalker finally awoke and attempted to get up, Rex quickly ran over to his Jedi General and checked on his condition. However, a carnivorous mastiff phalone predator that had been watching the two for hours attacked Rex, pinning him down and trapping his blaster hand under one of its claws. Rex managed to fire a shot, startling the creature and scaring it away, and he aimed several final laser shots at its retreating form. Skywalker went back to sleep and did not reawaken until the next day. When he did, Rex insisted that Skywalker maintain his rest, but Skywalker told him that he could hear the sound of returning mastiff phalones. The two drew their weapons in time to greet the arrival of two more of the creatures. Rex gunned one of them down, but the other charged at the makeshift shelter and ripped it apart, knocking both him and Skywalker aside. At that moment, Tano and Bly returned with Wag Too, a healer from the planet's Lurmen colony. Too wrapped a rope around the feet of the remaining mastiff phalone, and Tano assisted Too in tugging at the rope to pull the creature to the ground. Despite an injured arm, Rex used his other arm to help the two. Once the mastiff phalone had fallen to the ground, Too secured the rope around the beast's legs.

With the mastiff phalone defeated, Rex followed Tano, Bly, and Too back to the Lurmen village, with Skywalker in tow on a stretcher that had been made from the remains of his shelter, While Skywalker was being treated by the Lurmen, Rex kept watch on the settlement's outskirts. During his tenure, he noticed the arrival of a Confederate troopship and reported this development to Bly, who was back at the colony with the Jedi. Bly told Rex to return to the village, and Rex joined the others in the seedpod hut where Skywalker was being administered to. To ensure that the Lurmen did not suffer as a consequence of their presence, the Jedi and clones decided to hide from the Separatists and leave the village on its own. Accompanying Tano and Secura, Rex and Bly assisted Skywalker to a nearby field of tall grasses behind the settlement. While there, Rex and Tano discussed the Lurmen's pacifism and denounced the colonists as shameful and cowardly until Secura intervened and asserted that it took courage to follow one's beliefs. When Skywalker suggested that they pilfer a shuttle from the Confederacy to escape from the planet, Rex agreed with his Jedi General, eager to steal from the Separatists. However, Tano suddenly noticed that a Separatist recon droid was spying on them. Though she and the two clones pursued the droid, it was Secura who destroyed it by working her way in front of it and surprising it.

From a nearby tree, the Jedi and clones discovered the Separatists' base and watched as General Lok Durd deployed his forces outside the base for a test run of his Defoliator cannon, a weapon that was capable of specifically destroying living, not mechanical, targets. As Bly and Rex went to get a closer look at the new weapon, Durd sent two B1 battle droids&mdash;inadvertently, in the direction of the approaching clones&mdash;to serve as the weapon's test subjects. When a Defoliator capsule was fired from the Defoliator Deployment Tank and birthed an expanding wave of fire that began to decimate all life in the area, Rex and Bly immediately fled for higher ground and fired their blasters' grappling hooks at the tree. Rex made it to safety, and though Bly tripped and misfired his cable, he was saved by Secura, who swung down on a vine and pulled him to refuge. The carnage that remained of the foliage in the vicinity was augmented by the fact that the two droid testees had not been damaged by the weapon. The Jedi and clones watched as Durd departed with an armament of troops, and Skywalker deduced that Durd intended to test the Defoliator on the Lurmen village. Resolving to return and save the Lurmen, the Jedi and clones waited until night had fallen to ambush the droids guarding the Separatist base. Once Skywalker and the clones had cut down the droid guards stationed outside the facility, Tano and Secura opened the door, enabling the others to infiltrate the base. Using various crates as cover, Skywalker, Rex, and Bly eventually made it to the base's communication center and eliminated the droids manning the base.

Noticing a pair of shield generators, Rex and Bly brought them onto the Jedi's stolen Sheathipede-class shuttle and accompanied the Jedi back to the Lurmen colony. After daybreak, the Jedi and clones arrived at the village to be greeted by the village's chieftain, Tee Watt Kaa, who did not appreciate the return of the people whom he viewed had brought the war to Maridun. Rex soon caught sight of the inbound droids from the village's perimeter, and despite Kaa's protests, Skywalker, Secura, Tano, Bly, and Rex formed a seedpod barrier to protect the colony from the imminent battle by working in teams to move several pods in front of the village. Once Bly and Tano had moved the shield generators into place, Rex noted that Durd's battle droids were holding position, and Skywalker stated his belief that the droids would attempt to hit the village with their long-range artillery before mounting a charge. Sure enough, the Separatists fired a Defoliator shell, and Rex jumped off the seedpod barrier to stand with the others. Despite the extensive range that the Defoliator covered, the pilfered shield proved successful in blocking the cannon's wave of destruction.

Unable to attack the village from afar with the shield intact, Durd dispatched his first squad toward the village. The Jedi and clones walked through the shield and took up positions on the other side to repel the oncoming droids. While Skywalker, Tano, and Secura charged at the droids, Rex and Bly provided covering fire with their DC-15A blaster rifles. Although the group was able to defeat the first wave of battle droids, the second droid wave&mdash;comprised of Durd's second and third squads&mdash;soon launched an assault of their own. With an advantage in numbers, some of the droids slipped past the Jedi, forcing Bly and Rex back behind the pod barrier. Despite the clones' efforts, the droids breached both the deflector shield and the pod wall and marched into the village, destroying the shield generators. Secura and Tano joined the clones in defending the colony, while Skywalker disabled the Defoliator Deployment Tank and captured Durd. Aided by Too and several other Lurmen who sacrificed their pacifist upbringings to defend their colony, the Jedi and clones were able to save the village from being eradicated by the droids. With the battle over, Rex and Bly ushered the captured Durd and his Aqualish aide, Pune Zignat, into the Sheathipede-class shuttle. As the Jedi and clones prepared to leave Maridun with the thanks of the Lurmen, Admiral Yularen arrived with a fleet of Star Destroyers over the planet, having finally found the Jedi.

Bloodshed and rescues
"It's no use. Whatever bright idea they cooked up to fix the comm problem doesn't seem to be working. At least not yet. We're on our own, Ahsoka.''" "I'm going to find Master Kenobi. And another gunship. I'm getting you out of here Rex. Do you hear me?" "''Yes, ma'am."

- Rex and Ahsoka Tano, shortly before the former looses his balance as a result of his injuries

At some point following the Defense of Maridun earlier that year, Rex and Torrent Company were transferred with Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and Yularen to the recently christened Star Destroyer Indomitable so that the Resolute could undergo a refit. Presently, the Jedi and their fleet&mdash;comprised of the cruisers Indomitable, Pioneer, and Coruscant Sky&mdash;received intelligence from the Grand Army's Special Operations Brigade that General Grievous was planning on seizing the planet Kothlis and its Bothan spynet facility. While in Indomitable mess hall, Rex, Sergeant Coric, and trooper Checkers were joined by Tano, who reported that the Special Operations Brigade's findings had been confirmed and that the fleet was heading to mount a defense of Kothlis. Rex learned from Tano that a ground assault on the planet was highly possible; if the Separatists had already begun to invade Kothlis, the counterattack on the surface would be led by herself and Kenobi while Skywalker commanded the space battle. The Captain then put his men on standby and had them begin preparations for the imminent battle. When Indomitable, Pioneer, and Coruscant Sky arrived at Kothlis, however, they found that Grievous had already arrived and had begun to beleaguer the undefended planet. The Jedi additionally discovered that Grievous was employing a computer virus to jam all of the Republic's comm channels.

Skywalker met with Rex, Tano, and their waiting men in their barracks and relayed the news of the Separatists' comm jammer to his Padawan and Captain. Although the unsettled Rex reacted to this development with concern, Skywalker asserted the possibility that regular comms would be restored in time and that reinforcements could be requested if necessary. Before proceeding to the gunship hangar to await their launch from the fleet with Tano and Torrent Company, Rex wished his General good hunting. Once Skywalker and his Gold Squadron pilots had begun the space battle against Grievous, Rex and Tano were joined by Kenobi in their gunship and led the assault force's launch from the fleet. Along the way to the planet's surface, Rex spared his men a few last-minute words to prepare them for the battle. After landing on the planet, Kenobi ordered Rex and Tano into the fray while he himself led the attack on the Separatist-claimed spynet facility. Rex, Tano, and Torrent Company engaged the entrenched Separatist forces in the central plaza of Kothlis's capital, Tal'cara, fighting furiously against super battle droids, droidekas, and STAP-mounted droids. With only one gunship for air support, however, the clones began to take heavy losses; not since the Battle of Teth had Torrent Company been so crippled. Rex was among those to be grievously injured and took wounds to his right arm and chest. Checkers, who was wounded less severely, stood with his Captain, ready to support him at the instant he needed it, and it was in this state that Tano, piloting a commandeered STAP, found him.

With the fight against the droids in the plaza at a temporary standstill, Tano ordered Rex and his men to fall back and tried to contact Yularen for assistance, but her attempt failed thanks to the Separatists' still-active comm jammer. Seeing no other options, Tano left to find and get help from Kenobi while the barely conscious Rex stayed to watch over his men. Tano was able to rendezvous with Kenobi and assisted him in reclaiming Kothlis's spynet facility from the Confederacy. Aided by the Star Destroyer Coryx Moth, the Republic fleet was able to drive Grievous and his remaining forces away from Kothlis, though at a high cost. Thanks to the efforts&mdash;and sacrifices&mdash;of Torrent Company and other clone forces, the Republic was able to retain control of the planet's spynet facility. Rex, Coric, and the other clones who had been wounded in the engagement were sent to undergo treatment at the Republic's Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, one of the Republic Sector Armies' twenty Haven-class medical stations. Tano chose to be treated with them at the Outer Rim medcenter so that she could provide moral support for them. Although Tano's injuries were quickly fixed by the Kaminoan doctors, Rex, Coric, and several others had to undergo bacta treatment and were given their own bacta tanks. Rex and Coric were among those who made full recoveries, though the Kaminoans did not have as much success with some of the other wounded troopers.

Eventually, Rex, Coric, Checkers, and the rest of the healed troops were discharged from the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, and they returned to Coruscant's GAR clone barracks on furlough to rest up before their next assignment. Tano was there at Torrent Company's barracks to welcome Rex and his comrades back home an hour after their return. However, Tano revealed to Rex and Coric that she was concerned for her Master, whose life had been put into grave danger while on a confidential mission with Kenobi. Unable to rescue their Generals for the time being, Rex and Coric tried to cheer up Tano with a game of turbo-darts to take her mind off the war's troubles. As they had not received new orders yet, Rex only intended to take a few days of recuperation with Torrent Company before returning to training. The unit's next deployment came within a few days, a day after the Separatists launched a devastating bioweapon attack on the planet Chandrila. Although GAR command did not inform him of his unit's destination, Rex learned their full assignment from Tano, who joined them at the 501st's barracks to accompany them on their mission. Tano explained that Torrent Company was joining a battle group bound for the Separatist-occupied planet Lanteeb to rescue Skywalker and Kenobi, who had been trapped there by forces under the command of General Lok Durd &mdash;a recent escapee from Republic incarceration.

Durd was manufacturing a damotite-based bioweapon on Lanteeb, which had been responsible for the decmiation on Chandrila, and the Republic intended to cripple the weapon at its source before it could be used again. Admiral Yularen was given command of the battle group bound for Lanteeb, and Rex, Tano, and Torrent Company joined him aboard Indomitable, which had undergone repairs following the recapture of Kothlis. The three-cruiser battle group&mdash;consisting of Indomitable, Pioneer, and Coruscant Sky&mdash;departed for Lanteeb, and at the fleet's pre-approach coordinates, they received the addition of the Republic warship Dagger and Mace Windu, who had come from safeguarding Kothlis in the wake of the Separatists' assault. Upon reaching Lanteeb in the Malor-77 system, the Republic forces discovered that not only was Lanteeb being heavily blockaded by more than twenty-five Confederate Navy warships, but General Grievous was leading the blockade. Among the scant good news for the Republic fleet was that they had temporarily overcome Grievous's communications jammer virus. After executing three starfighter assaults against Grievous's flotilla, Yularen's battle group received reinforcements in the form of a large volunteer civilian fleet, which had been organized by Senators Padmé Amidala and Bail Prestor Organa.

Rex and the 501st, who had been mourning the casualties from the three skirmishes, prepared to aid in rescuing Skywalker, Kenobi, and Jedi Master Taria Damsin, who had slipped through the Separatist blockade to help the trapped Generals. Supplemented by the civilian ships, Yularen's fleet was able to break through Grievous's blockade, forcing Grievous to retreat from Lanteeb. While Yularen's enhanced battle group took care of liberating the planet, Tano, Windu, Rex, and the 501st and 95th units moved in on the Lanteeban city Torbel, where Skywalker, Kenobi, and Damsin were desperately defending the village populace from Durd's battle droid army. The 501st and 95th took a squadron of thirty gunships to Torbel, with Rex and Tano being piloted to the settlement by clone pilot Jinx. Once they arrived in Torbel, Rex, Coric, and Checkers joined their comrades in cutting through the battle droids, and the Separatist droid detachment at Torbel was defeated in under an hour. As Windu coordinated the various mopping-up phases of the mission, the sun began to set on Lanteeb, so Rex arranged the floodlighted gunships to be positioned around the village square for additional light. Since the battle had reduced Torbel to little more than ruins, the now-homeless villagers were granted refugee status by the Republic, and Senator Amidala and Queen Jamillia of Naboo offered to give the villagers homes on their world. While Windu stayed behind to discuss the civilians' future with the village speaker, Rikkard, Rex and a clone medic escort shuttled Tano and the heavily injured Skywalker, Kenobi, and Damsin to Indomitable for proper medical treatment. Windu then took Skywalker, Kenobi, and Damsin back to Coruscant aboard Dagger, with Rex and Tano being entrusted with overseeing the remainder of the Republic's cleanup efforts on Lanteeb with the 501st Legion.

War on Orto Plutonia
"Sir, the gunships can't take off in this storm. We don't have enough bikes for the entire platoon.''" "''Have the rest of the men standby here. No matter what the Chairman thinks, we're not going to war."

- Rex and Anakin Skywalker

When the Republic lost contact with Glid Station, a base on Orto Plutonia, Rex was dispatched with Skywalker, Kenobi, and a group of cold assault troops to investigate the base's lack of response. The Jedi and clones were accompanied to Orto Plutonia by Chairman Chi Cho and Senator Riyo Chuchi from the orbiting moon of Pantora, which claimed the barren ice world as a protectorate. Upon arrival over Orto Plutonia aboard the Resolute, Rex, Skywalker, Kenobi, and the Pantoran dignitaries proceeded to Glid Station with a landing force of LAAT/i gunships. Rex and his men were forced to use cold assault armor that, while necessary for protection from the planet's icy environment, dangerously restricted their movements in battle. After landing at the base and placing sensor beacons to survey the area with his men, Rex accompanied Kenobi into the station and discovered that the clone troopers there had been slaughtered, though there was no evidence to suggest a battle with Separatist droids. Following their scouts' discovery of a nearby Confederate base, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex took several troopers to scout out the facility aboard Freeco bikes.

Arriving at the Separatist base, which was composed of two combined XT Beetle Transports, Rex assisted Skywalker in placing sensors around the building before entering the complex with his General. Sorting through the communication records in the base's control center, Kenobi uncovered a holorecording of a large creature attacking a B1 battle droid. While Skywalker and Kenobi speculated as to what had attacked the droid, Rex reported that the droids' log indicated they had last been investigating the planet's southern canyon. While Skywalker and Kenobi departed to follow this lead, Rex and the other troopers returned to Glid Station. As a storm began to brew outside, Skywalker and Kenobi arrived with news of their discovery&mdash;contrary to the findings of previous scouting parties, Orto Plutonia was inhabited by a colony of the Talz species. Upon learning of the Talz, Cho sought to protect Pantora's protectorate claim to Orto Plutonia and immediately ordered Rex to prepare his troops for battle, but both Skywalker and Kenobi intervened and told him that a meeting had been arranged with the Talz to negotiate peace, much to Cho's chagrin. As the Republic forces prepared to depart for the meeting with the Talz, Rex reported to Skywalker that the gunships would not be able to take off in the storm, and Skywalker ordered the rest of the clone platoon to remain at Glid Station&mdash;despite Cho's beliefs, the Jedi did not intend to go to war with the Talz.

Rex set off with Cho, Chuchi, Skywalker, Kenobi, and a clone squad for the Confederate base, which had been arranged as the neutral meeting ground with the Talz. Upon arrival, Cho told Rex to position his troopers on an adjacent ridge from which to ambush the Talz, but Kenobi countermanded the order, as the Talz had already arrived. Leaving Rex and the clones outside with orders to avoid provoking the Talz, the Jedi and Pantorans entered into negotiations with the natives' Chieftain, Thi-Sen. Despite the efforts of all other parties to prevent armed conflict, Cho declared war on the Talz in an effort to expunge them from Orto Plutonia, with no one holding the authority to neutralize his proclamation. While Skywalker, Kenobi, and Chuchi returned to Glid Station to find a solution for the conflict, Rex and his men took Freeco bikes and BARC speeders to accompany and protect Cho. When they encountered several Narglatch-mounted Talz scouts while approaching an ice ridge, Cho immediately ordered the clones to open fire. Although Rex reminded Cho that the clones were only there for his protection, not to fight his war with the Talz, the Captain and his troops were forced into battle when more Talz appeared and ambushed them. After being forced out of his Freeco swoop by a Talz warrior and his Narglatch, Rex retaliated by gunning down his attackers. He then kicked his bike over for cover, telling his men to do the same to form a defensive perimeter.

As the Talz flung spears at the Republic detachment, Rex ordered his men to retreat, and though Cho refused to pull back, he was soon hit and incapacitated through the back with a spear. Rex quickly slammed a BARC speeder into an approaching Talz and defended the wounded Chairman from more of the warriors, doing his best to fend off Cho's attackers. Carrying Cho onto a spare speeder, Rex joined the rest of his men in their retreat, but further on, the collapse of an ice bridge across a gorge compromised their only path to safety. Despite now being trapped between the ravine and the advancing Talz warriors, Rex was ready to fight to the last man. As spears began to fly, he signaled his few remaining men to use their vehicles as cover from the charging Talz, and the clones began to counter the Talz's spears with blaster fire. They were soon saved by the arrival of Skywalker, Kenobi, and Chuchi, who landed at their position with several LAAT/i gunships and clone reinforcements. Though the Talz were forced to halt their attack, both they and the clones had suffered from heavy casualties.

After Cho, who was still adamant on eliminating the Talz, succumbed to his injuries and passed on, Chuchi&mdash;having received sufficient jurisdiction in the matter from the Pantoran Assembly&mdash;negotiated with Thi-Sen and was able to end Cho's bloody campaign. She peaceably turned over control of Orto Plutonia to the Talz, whose sovereign status was recognized. With the debacle over, Rex, Chuchi, Skywalker, Kenobi, and their men departed from the battlefield aboard the gunships.

Virus outbreak on Naboo
"We may be dead men, but we could still stop those droids."

- Rex, after discovering that he and his men are infected with the Blue Shadow Virus

As the war's second year dragged on, the Separatist-allied Doctor Nuvo Vindi was discovered to be using a laboratory on Naboo to resurrect the deadly Blue Shadow Virus. Rex was thus dispatched with Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and the clone units Snow Wolves, Calm Tree, and Wildfire to shut down Vindi's facility. Once Tano had breached the underground lab with explosives, Rex and his men joined her in drawing the attention of the lab's battle droid defenses so that Skywalker and Kenobi could infiltrate the lab from other points without opposition. Rex and his men rappled down from an LAAT/i gunship into one of the lab's ruptured tunnels and followed Tano in cutting through a group of opposing B1 and B2 battle droids. The Republic squad's charge was cut short with the appearance of two droidekas, and Tano, Rex, and the clones began to retreat from their droid adversaries while rebounding and returning their fire. As their men began to fall to droid fire, Tano, Rex, and the remaining clones were saved by Kenobi and the clone bomb squad, who entered the passage by collapsing part of the roof on the droidekas.

Rex and Tano followed Kenobi to a junction, where the group encountered more battle droids and decided to split up: Kenobi and his troopers headed to find and deactivate Vindi's virus bombs&mdash;which had been manufactured to spread the Blue Shadow Virus throughout the galaxy&mdash;while Tano, Rex, and their squad fought the droids and kept them occupied. However, the situation worsened when Vindi remotely activated the virus bombs. Once Rex and Tano had defeated their droid adversaries, they met Skywalker, Senator Padmé Amidala, and Representative Jar Jar Binks&mdash;the latter two of whom had been captured by Vindi before being rescued by Skywalker&mdash;at one of the lab's junctions. Skywalker informed the group that one of the active virus bombs was missing and ordered Tano and Rex to split up and find Vindi's LEP servant droid, LEP-86C8, whom Amidala recalled had taken the bomb. While Tano and Rex continued the search for the bomb, Skywalker and Kenobi went to apprehend Vindi, who was attempting to flee Naboo. Amidala and Binks eventually found LEP-86C8 in the lab's arboretum and recovered the bomb from the droid, and upon being informed by Amidala of her success with finding the missing explosive, Rex and Tano quickly took the clone bomb squad to the arboretum to deactivate the bomb. The clones of the bomb squad finished disabling the bombs with only seconds to spare, much to everyone's relief. With all of the virus bombs neutralized, the threat of the Blue Shadow Virus had ended, and Skywalker and Kenobi were additionally able to capture Vindi.

While the two Jedi Generals escorted Vindi to Naboo's capital, Theed, for trial, LEP-86C8&mdash;who, unbeknownst to the Republic forces, had removed the vial containing the virus from the last bomb before escaping&mdash;used a spare explosive in the bomb room to release the virus to the laboratory. Rex, Tano, and several clones rushed to take refuge in one of the facility's safe rooms, to where they were pursued by the rapidly spreading airborne virus. The squad was nearly sealed out of the safe room when its blast doors were triggered, but Tano held the entrance open with the Force, allowing Rex and his men to jump through the crack between the doors. The clones in turn held the doors open for Tano, who cleared the jump just in time. Tano, Rex, and their squad, however, soon discovered that the doors had not been closed fast enough; some of the virus had entered the room and infected them. Despite being contaminated, Rex believed that he and his men could still stop the lab's remaining battle droids from breaking out of the compound and releasing the virus to Naboo, even if it was his last act. Soon, Amidala and Binks, clad in enviro-suits, let the group out of the safe room, dismayed that they could not do anything to help their comrades. To prevent the droids from breaching the compound, Tano, Rex, and the clones agreed to split up and eliminate the droids. After offering a DC-15S blaster to Amidala, Rex joined Tano and another trooper in cutting off the droids from the bunker's north corridor, while Amidala, Binks, and the others took the south passage.

Regrouping with Amidala, Binks, and the other clones, Rex helped Amidala to bring down the last battle droid that was attempting to cut through the exit hatch. When the squad was confronted by two droidekas elsewhere in the compound, Rex and the rest of the squad provided covering fire for Tano as she charged and destroyed the droids. However, Amidala's suit was compromised in the ambush, infecting her with the virus as well. As the last of the droids were defeated, Rex assisted Amidala in treating four of the other infected clones, even as the virus took its toll on him. When Amidala lamented on the dying clones' wasted lives, Rex replied that it was what the troopers had been "born to do." Tano, however, fainted from the effects of the virus, and Rex caught her as she collapsed. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Kenobi collected a sample of Reeksa root&mdash;a cure for the Blue Shadow Virus&mdash;from the planet Iego and returned to Naboo, successfully neutralizing the virus with the antidote and arriving just in time to save their friends.

Slated to make a full recovery from the virus, Rex and the other afflicted Republic personnel were brought out of Vindi's compound to the complex's landing pad, where they were placed on mobile stretchers and ushered onto waiting LAAT/i gunships by several 2-1B medical droids. Before departing, the ailing Rex made it clear that he did not intend to help train Binks, who had been recommended by Amidala and Kenobi for marksmanship training. Once he had recovered from the virus, Rex returned to fighting shape for the war's next campaigns. Following the containment of the virus, Rex received a set of specially chromium-plated blaster pistols&mdash;dubbed the "Vigilance" and "Negotiator"&mdash;from Naboo's Theed Arms for his part in preventing the release of the virus to the Naboo people.

Liberation of Ryloth
"I wish General Skywalker had discussed this plan with us. The odds are very much against us."

- Rex, on the impending task of breaking the Separatist blockade

After the planet Ryloth was seized by the Confederacy, Rex was deployed with Skywalker, Tano, Yularen, and a Republic fleet to eliminate the Separatist blockade surrounding the planet and allow the main body of Republic troops to land on Ryloth. However, the arrival of Separatist reinforcements caused the Republic's offensive to backfire. The Republic Star Destroyers Resolute and Defender came under heavy fire and were forced to retreat, while the cruiser Redeemer was ripped apart by enemy fire. As the two remaining Star Destroyers reached their staging area, Jedi Master Mace Windu contacted the Resolute and requested an update on the strike force's progress. Rex found Skywalker in the hangar attempting to bolster the spirits of Tano, who, in her first command position, had lost a squadron of fighters in the initial battle. Rex informed Skywalker of the incoming transmission and was told to put together a damage report, and the Captain later joined Skywalker on the Resolute bridge when Skywalker delivered his report to Windu and Kenobi, informing them of his battle group's losses. Despite the fact that only half his original forces remained, Skywalker was given one planetary rotation to eliminate the blockade. Skywalker sent Rex to locate Tano, and Rex found her in the Resolute medbay with an unconscious Yularen, who had been wounded in the earlier battle against the Separatists.

Rex informed Tano that her Master was looking for her, and she left with Rex to seek Skywalker out. When Skywalker later ordered the Defender to be evacuated, Rex assisted the Jedi General in supervising the transfer of the Defender supplies to the Resolute in the latter's hangar bay. After Tano arrived in the hangar, Rex, at Skywalker's direction, moved in to oversee the operations while Skywalker explained the plan to his Padawan. Skywalker intended to pilot the damaged Defender alone and take out the Separatist blockade's lead ship, leaving the blockade in disarray and allowing Tano, in charge of the Resolute, to eliminate the remaining enemy ships. Despite Tano's protests to her central role in the plan, Skywalker continued on and gathered Rex and the other clones together, informing them of the plan and entrusting Tano with overall command of the Resolute. Rex asked his General to leave some droids for him and the clones to take care of, though Skywalker made no promises. After Skywalker left for the Defender, Rex and the Resolute naval officer met with Tano on the bridge of the Resolute to coordinate their next move.

Rex, Tano, and the clone naval officer were contacted by Skywalker, who gave Tano a few words of support before heading back to the Ryloth system in the Defender. Upon learning the details of Skywalker's plan, Rex and the navigation officer expressed their hesitancy with the strategy&mdash;Rex believed that the odds were not in their favor, and the naval officer also voiced his doubts. To protect the Resolute from the firepower of the six remaining Separatist frigates, Tano presented a plan to angle the hull of the Resolute toward the blockade, drawing the Confederate ships in with a classic Marg Sabl maneuver, at which point the Republic starfighters would be launched, trapping the Separatists in a pincer movement. Both Rex and the naval officer were concerned about the plan's chances of success, but a revived Yularen arrived on the bridge and came to Tano's support. Upon the Resolute return to the Ryloth system, Tano departed for the Star Destroyer's hangar bay to lead the fighters in the assault on the enemy ships. Once the Defender had rammed the lead Separatist ship and the Resolute had moved into place, the Confederate frigates did not immediately converge on the Resolute as Tano had believed. Though Yularen and Rex relayed their beliefs that the droid-manned ships were not going to attack and that the Resolute would have to retreat, Tano told the two officers to be patient, as the droids tended to be rather slow.

Sure enough, the Munificent-class frigates of the blockade converged on and began to attack the Resolute just a few moments later. With their enemies in place, Tano led the Republic starfighters in the flanking assault on the Separatists. The battle continued with success, and Kenobi and Windu soon arrived with the invasion troops aboard several transports. Rex referred the Jedi Masters through to Tano, and after conferring with Kenobi, Tano had Rex dispatch a shuttle to retrieve Skywalker's escape pod. With the Separatist blockade eliminated, the Republic ground forces were able to land and eventually recapture Ryloth's capital, Lessu. Following the Battle of Lessu, Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and the 501st Legion were tasked with clearing out the remaining Confederate holdouts, which &mdash;despite their defeat in the battle &mdash;were continuing to resist surrendering to the Republic. Rex led an assault on the droid forces in the wastes close to the city Resdin, which the Separatist holdouts were based out of. After the Captain charged the battle droid lines there and defeated several droids single-handedly, Skywalker and Tano arrived, taking out more droids themselves. The two Jedi then left Rex in command of the rest of their clone detachment while they infiltrated the Separatist lines. Rex rejoined the pair after they had defeated an octuptarra magna tri-droid, reporting that Republic scouts had confirmed the large droid to have been the last of their enemies in the sector. Skywalker ordered Rex to prepare his men to move into Resdin, where large pockets of Separatist resistance were still located.

Rex joined Skywalker, Tano, Clone Sergeant CS-1004, nicknamed "Kano," and trooper CT-3899, nicknamed "Rookie," on an LAAT/i gunship that took them into the ruined Resdin. Once the troops had disembarked, Rex reported that the Republic scouts had not yet been able to reconnoiter the city and that the power was out to the holo-bridges in the outer sectors. Rex cautioned Skywalker and Tano before they left to reactivate the bridges, reporting that their patrols had been encountering stubborn resistance. Skywalker and Tano were able to restore power to the bridges' three generators, and with the bridges back online, the main forces were able to move into Resdin. Eventually, Kano and his clone platoon discovered a string of droid outposts in the area and received assistance from the Jedi to defeat the stations. Though the outposts were nearly cleared out, Ryloth was still under occupation by Separatist forces. As night fell on Ryloth, Rex and Sergeant Boomer, an acquaintance and trusted ally of his, went on a patrol of Resdin using All Terrain Recon Transports, and making their way through the city's streets, the two fought off the battle droids they encountered. After exiting a narrow alley and arriving at a large area below, Rex and Boomer were ambushed by groups of B1, B2, and DSD1 battle droids. Employing their AT-RT walkers' guns to defeat the droids, the two troopers went along a cliff-side path to continue on to another street.

Kul Teska's superweapon
"I failed you, General. He's gone.''" "''But we're still here, thanks to you."

- Rex and Anakin Skywalker, on the escaped Kul Teska

Completing their patrol and noticing a figure running out from behind a building, Rex and Boomer dismounted from their walkers. While reporting back to Skywalker and Tano and transmitting their coordinates to them, the two clones came under attack, and the connection was severed. Waking up inside an underground hangar in binders, Rex and Boomer discovered that they had been taken hostage by the bounty hunter Cad Bane, who recruited their services for protecting a crate that he had stolen. As Separatist battle droids broke into the facility, Bane showed a detonator to Rex and Boomer, and the former deduced that it was for explosive charges in their binders. Under the threat of being blown to pieces, the two clones decided to comply with Bane's demands and protect him and his crate. Once Bane unlinked their binders and allowed them to make use of their weapons, Rex and Boomer launched an assault on the droids, using several crates as cover. Bane and the clones continued to battle the droids until Rex stopped their advance by closing the main hangar door and several auxiliary hatches from the terminals controlling them. When a Vulture droid broke through the main entrance and attacked the clones, Rex used artillery provided by Bane to make short work of the droid fighter, and the clones took advantage of the brief lull in fighting. Rex and Boomer joined Bane on the upper platform, and although Boomer believed that they could defeat Bane, Rex kept him focused on the situation at hand when Separatist reinforcements arrived in the form of B1, B2, and sabotage droids.

Skywalker and Tano eventually found Rex, Boomer, and Bane in the hangar continuing to battle waves of Separatists droids. With the battle in high gear, the two Jedi grudgingly decided to assist Bane and helped to stop the Separatists' advance. Shortly thereafter, Bane opened fire on the Jedi and clones, but Skywalker rebounded Bane's blaster fire at him, causing the bounty hunter to lose his balance and fall from his perch atop a platform. Upon learning of Bane's "arrangement" with the cuffed Rex and Boomer, Skywalker severed the clones' binders, neutralizing Bane's bargaining chips, and the clones then disarmed Bane. As explosions began to shake the hangar, Bane offered his Telgorn dropship, the Sleight of Hand, as an escape craft, and the Jedi took him up on his offer. Skywalker sent Rex and Boomer to find an elevated position from where to provide covering fire, planning to follow with Tano, Bane, and the latter's crate, which Skywalker intended to have the Republic investigate. Rex and Boomer left the hangar and took a path overlooking Ryloth's wastes, fighting their way through starship wreckage and battling Separatists droids along the way, including a number of large tri-droids. Rex then signaled to Skywalker that they were in position, and once Skywalker, Tano, and Bane had left the hangar, the Captain reported that droids were converging on them from all directions. While Rex and Boomer battled the droids above a canyon, the others cut through waves of droids below. When the Jedi's path was blocked by starship wreckage, Rex fired a rocket at the rubble with a rocket launcher, allowing them to climb over the debris. As Skywalker, Tano, and Bane continued along a cliff-side path, Rex reported that they were moving out of range and that he and Boomer would be unable to provide any more covering fire. Skywalker thanked Rex for the assistance, and the two clones took their own route to rendezvous with their comrades at the Sleight of Hand.

Rex and Boomer arrived at the dropship to find Skywalker and Tano battling the Separatist scientist Kul Teska, whom Bane had stolen the crate from. Although Teska encased Skywalker and Tano inside an energy bubble, Skywalker told the clones to focus on Teska instead of rescuing himself and Tano. Rex and Boomer complied and fought Teska, who was forced to issue an ultimatum to them: save their Jedi commanders or kill him. At that, Teska programmed the energy bubble to close in on Skywalker and Tano. Rex and Boomer decided to rescue the Jedi, and while the clones deactivated the sphere, Teska boarded the Sleight of Hand with his retrieved crate. Once Skywalker and Tano had been freed, they and the clones headed for the dropship but were unable to prevent Teska from escaping Ryloth; the Jedi were nevertheless thankful for the clones' efforts. Tano then found that Bane had fled, and she and Skywalker reported these developments to the Jedi Council. Following the discovery of Teska's underground base on the planet Behpour&mdash;from which Teska intended to collapse the Naboo sun with his gravitic polarization beam, a superweapon that he had recently completed&mdash;Rex and Cody accompanied Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, and Windu to destroy the facility. Staging a diversionary assault on the Separatists so that Skywalker and Kenobi could infiltrate the base and disable its deflector shields, Rex and Cody marched through a canyon on AT-RT walkers, demolishing all the droids and Separatist equipment in their path. With the droids distracted, Skywalker and Kenobi were able to sneak into the base and deactivate its shields, allowing Windu and Tano in turn to enter the underground facility with the main clone detachment and secure the base's entrance.

Inside the Separatist facility, Rex and Cody met with Clone Commander CC-6454, nicknamed "Ponds," who had been sent by Windu to help set up an evacuation zone for the Republic forces. The group of clones fought their way through the base and secured a landing pad, where Rex destroyed a Vulture droid with a series of rockets. From a computer terminal, Cody used the base's emergency beacon to signal R2-D2, who piloted the Twilight to the platform to serve as an escape vessel. However, Count Dooku himself soon arrived to confront the clone troopers, and though Rex, Cody, and Ponds fired at him, Dooku simply Force-pushed them into the Twilight cargo bay and sealed its hatch shut. Dooku then used the Force to topple a large beam onto the Twilight, plunging the clones and their ship into the abyss below, but the clones and their craft survived the fall and returned to rescue Kenobi and Windu&mdash;who had begun to duel Dooku&mdash;just as the platform's supports were damaged by falling debris. While Dooku fell with the platform, Windu and Kenobi boarded the Twilight, which was unable to wait for Skywalker and Tano and promptly fled from the collapsing base. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Tano were able to defeat Teska, rescue Padmé Amidala&mdash;who had been held captive by Teska&mdash;and disable the gravity weapon. Using STAPs, Skywalker, Tano, and Amidala escaped the facility and jumped onto the Twilight, where Rex congratulated them on their victory. The Twilight left Behpour shortly before the Separatist base was destroyed by the malfunctioning superweapon.

Felucia and Devaron
"Check your fire! Hit one of those shells and this fight is over for all of us!"

- Rex, to his clone squad, during the firefight aboard Cad Bane's frigate

Later in 21 BBY, Rex was among the troops to be dispatched to defend the contested planet Felucia alongside Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, and Cody from the Confederacy. After the Republic forces engaged the Separatists in battle, however, they began to be overwhelmed. Once LAAT/i gunship reinforcements had broken through the Separatists' space defenses and had landed in a clearing on Felucia's surface where the main force was based, Rex and Cody immediately led their troops onto the escape craft, backing into one of the vessels while returning blaster fire at the approaching waves of battle droids. Once Skywalker and Kenobi had joined Rex and Cody on their gunship, the troopships went to retrieve Tano, who had led a patrol of the dense jungle. Although Tano initially refused to retreat, the gunships landed between her forces and the droid army, forcing her to abandon the fight and join her commanders on their gunship. Lifting off in the gunships, the Republic forces escaped shortly before the ground vehicles that Tano had left behind were blown to pieces by droid reinforcements.

Although the Republic was ultimately unable to hold Felucia, it was not long before Rex returned to the war zone. Rex joined Skywalker, Tano, and Admiral Yularen aboard the Resolute on their assignment to intercept the bounty hunter Cad Bane&mdash;who had stolen a holocron from the Jedi Temple's Archives&mdash;in the Devaron system, where Bane's supposed next target, Jedi Master Bolla Ropal, had last been heard from. The Resolute arrived at Devaron just as Bane was rendezvousing with a Trade Federation fleet of Munificent-class frigates over the planet, where he had captured Ropal to access the Kyber memory crystal, a device that Ropal safeguarded. Skywalker's flagship opened fire on the Trade Federation ships, gradually decimating Bane's escort. As Bane's command ship fled from the battlefield, the Resolute targeted the frigate's hyperdrive, preventing Bane from escaping to hyperspace. Assembling their forces in the Resolute hangar, Rex rounded up three brigades of troops for the impending mission. When Rex learned from Skywalker that they were to be boarding the enemy frigate to rescue Ropal and the stolen holocron, he expressed hesitancy, as their only available assault craft were a few starfighters and the Twilight. After Yularen arrived in the hangar and met with Rex and the Jedi, Skywalker developed a plan to transport his forces to the frigate via several available AT-TE walkers. Although Yularen was appalled at the plan, both Tano and Rex found the walkers to be suitable for space and complimented Skywalker on his resourcefulness.

Despite Yularen's protests that the walkers had been designed for terrain, not space, Skywalker ordered his forces to prepare to depart the Resolute. Rex had Execute Battalion take walker ATAT300, while Carnivore Battalion was to make use of Walker 773. Once the clones' boarding party were ready, the Resolute moved into position and dropped ATAT300, 773, and another walker with the detachment of Jedi and clones aboard onto Bane's crippled frigate. While the AT-TEs exchanged blaster fire with several Vulture droid starfighters and battle droid–piloted STAPs that were deployed from the vessel, Rex and the clones provided covering fire so that Skywalker and Tano could move in and cut down the Vulture droids. Once Bane's initial defenses had been repelled, R2-D2 opened a hatch on the ship's roof, allowing the Jedi and clones to enter the vessel. Arriving on the frigate's bridge, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex stormed into the room and led a charge on the battle droids that were manning the ship's controls&mdash;however, Bane was not there. After the frigate's droid crew had been defeated, R2-D2 uncovered a record of a holographic conversation between Bane and Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray from the frigate's computer. Replaying some of the transmission, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex learned that Bane now had both the holocron and the memory crystal in his possession, as he had stolen the latter from Ropal.

As Skywalker sent Rex with a squad of troopers to secure the hangar bay and disable all of the frigate's escape pods, the ship was rocked by explosions caused by the self-destruct sequence that Bane had activated. Rex then joined Skywalker and Tano in searching for the captive Ropal. When Tano found the dead Ropal in one of the ship's holding cells, Skywalker ordered Rex to have some men take the late Jedi Master back to the Resolute. The frigate's deck lights suddenly deactivated, and R2-D2 used his headlamps to lead the Jedi and their battle group through the ship's dark hallways in search of Bane. Upon blindly colliding with a protruding pipe, Rex told the rest of his men to switch their helmets' visors to night vision, pulling down his own scope to see through the darkness. Catching sight of a fleeing Bane, the Jedi and clones immediately gave pursuit of the bounty hunter. The group followed Bane to the frigate's darkened gunnery deck, where Bane revealed his amassed battle droid forces by switching on the lights. Bane and his B1 and B2 battle droids opened fire on Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and their men, who immediately returned the enemy fire.

Bane soon decided to make the fight a bit more interesting by switching off the ship's artificial gravity. Rising off the ground, Rex and the other clones used their magnetic gripsoles to latch onto various footholds and continue firing at the similarly magnetized droids. Rex secured himself onto one of the artillery guns with his magnetic boots before returning his attention to the battle droids and blasting several of them to pieces. When a blaster cannon–wielding clone hit a disabled droid and accidentally released an ammunition canister from a gun, Rex warned his men to check their aim, as the fight would come to a very quick end if one of the shells was detonated. After R2-D2 reactivated the gravity generators, Rex, the clones, and the Jedi dropped back down to the floor. As the firefight continued to rage on, Bane lured Tano into a trap, drawing her into a dead-end hallway and sealing the blast doors behind her. Skywalker rushed over to the blast doors and began to cut through them to rescue his trapped Padawan. Presently, a battle droid tripped over the head of one of its fallen comrades and misfired at an ammunition canister, and the blast from the exploding shell caused falling debris to separate Rex and the rest of his men from Skywalker. Unable to cut through the heavy mounds of rubble, Rex called out to his Jedi General and finally got a reply from him, confirming that he was alive. On Skywalker's orders, Rex headed for the hangar bay with the remaining clones to secure a transport for escaping from the doomed frigate.

Arriving in the hangar with R2-D2, Rex found that the rest of the clones were battling B1 and DSD1 dwarf spider droids that were guarding a Sheathipede-class shuttle. He and his men joined the fight for control of the shuttle, using crates as cover to return the advancing droids' fire. Soon, Rex received word from Yularen that the frigate's main reactor was exposed and would implode at any moment. Splitting his forces, Rex sent troopers Denal and Koho to find and assist Skywalker and Tano in whatever way necessary. In the meantime, the Captain and his men managed to cut a path through the droids and secured the shuttle. Beginning to herd his troops onto the escape craft, Rex finally received word from Skywalker, who had rescued Tano and was heading to the hangar with her. Rex informed the Jedi that with the reactor about to explode at any moment, the clones had to leave soon and would not be able to wait much longer for them. While the clones continued to defend the shuttle from more battle droids, the last of Rex's men finally embarked the craft. As the shuttle's engines were engaged and the ship began to lift off the ground, Skywalker and Tano arrived, and Rex waved the two Jedi onto the shuttle with the rest of the troopers. Before escaping from frigate, the shuttle picked up Denal, whom the rest of the squad had witnessed shoot Bane on an overhang above the hangar. However, the armor-clad individual was in fact Bane, who had killed both Denal and Koho and had stolen the former's armor.

Learning of "Denal's" inability to retrieve the holocron, Skywalker ordered Rex to get the squad out of the frigate, and the Jedi and their remaining forces escaped moments before the frigate's supply of ammunition exploded, ripping the ship apart. After returning to the Resolute aboard the shuttle, Rex and another trooper discovered that someone had left behind green blood on the shuttle's deck. Rex called Skywalker back into the craft and showed him their discovery, stating that the blood definitely was not from any of the clones. Skywalker and Tano simultaneously realized Bane's exploits, but when Tano confronted the bounty hunter, he incapacitated her and promptly fled for the nearby starfighters in the hangar. As Bane powered up a V-19 Torrent starfighter, Skywalker jumped onto the fighter and attempted to confront Bane, but Rex, a recovered Tano, and the rest of the clones could only watch as Bane forced Skywalker off his stolen ship and piloted it out of the Resolute hangar. Despite being alerted by Skywalker, Yularen was unable to lock down the hyperspace booster rings in time, and Bane was able to pilfer one and escape.

Following the Battle of Devaron, Rex returned to Coruscant with Skywalker and Tano. At one point, he was sent to take a priority message from the Jedi High Council to Jedi General Keelyvine Reus; her Padawan, Tyzen Xebec; Clone Commander Ganch; and the Agricultural Corps worker Sanya, who had just arrived on Coruscant aboard the Star Destroyer Selfless following a campaign on the planet Ukio. Rex informed Reus that she and Xebec were to report to Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple immediately, and he also offered to take Ganch, who had been excused from duty by his General, to spend some downtime at the Republic Service Organization center while the Commander waited for Reus to complete her debriefing. Ganch accepted the offer, bringing Sanya along with him. Upon their arrival at the Service Organization's headquarters, Rex, Ganch, and Sanya were greeted by several Service Organization personnel, and though Sanya was barred from entering the facility because the AgriCorps was not officially recognized as an element of the Republic Military, Ganch granted her clearance as a worker who had been assigned to his oversight. Presently, Ganch received word from Reus that their debriefing was over and that he would not be required for Reus's and Xebec's next operation, and he chose to spend his time off from duty with Rex and Sanya at the Service Organization center.

Rex found Cody at one of the tables in the center's mess hall, and after introducing Ganch and Sanya to Cody, the Captain settled down to have a drink with his comrades. However, the clones' relaxation was cut short when Sanya discovered that someone had wired all of their chairs with remotely activated detonite charges. Further investigation on Sanya's part revealed that it was the clones' chairs that had been targeted and that the detonators were all linked in series. Because the charges would have to be diffused simultaneously if they were to be properly deactivated, the present Service Organization personnel volunteered their services for the job. Despite Rex's concern for the amount of coordination that such a maneuver would take, the workers were able to disable the detonators under Cody's close supervision, rendering the explosives inert. When one of the Service Organization personnel hastily made to exit, revealing herself as the double agent, Ganch and Sanya quickly went in pursuit of the traitor. They were unable to capture the saboteur, however, and Ganch received orders to return to the war front shortly thereafter.

The Zillo Beast of Malastare
"Stay with General Kenobi. I'm on my way.''" "''Better hurry, sir. You're missing all the fun."

- Anakin Skywalker and Rex

Rex and Commander Ponds were among the Republic troops to be dispatched with Generals Skywalker and Mace Windu to defend the planet Malastare from the Separatists and secure the world's vital fuel resources for the Grand Army. However, as the several-thousand-strong droid army began to overwhelm the Republic forces, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine authorized the use of the Republic's recently developed electro-proton bomb to defeat the Separatists. After being tasked with leading the clones' defense of Doge Nakha Urus's Imperial palace until the bomb was detonated, Rex proceeded to the front of the palace's defense lines to command the Republic troops and monitored the massive battle droid army's approach with a set of electrobinoculars. Once the droids launched their attack on the clones, Rex held the line with his men and led them in returning the incoming barrages of fire. The clones were assisted by squads of Insectomorph-mounted Dug cavaliers, who also fought to repel the droids.

Presently, a starfighter squadron was deployed with the electro-proton bomb and dropped the bomb in the middle of the droid army, creating an explosion that transformed into an electromagnetic pulse. The expanding wave deactivated the droids and additionally disrupted the clones' helmet systems for a short time. As Rex and his men were recovering from the blast, the ground began to sink from the effects of the bomb, and the clones immediately made a run for it as a sinkhole opened up. Rex almost fell into the sinkhole when he passed over an unstable plateau, but he managed to jump to and reach higher ground with his troops' help. While search parties were dispatched to rescue the troops that had been engulfed in the sinkhole, Rex joined Skywalker, Windu, Urus, R2-D2, and Doctor Sionver Boll at the Imperial palace, where communications were re-established with Palpatine. After Windu and Urus conferred with Palpatine on the status of the fuel treaty that the Dugs' council would have to ratify for the Republic to gain access to Malastare's fuel reserves, Rex relayed the news to the Jedi that contact had been lost with the rescue team in the sinkhole. Skywalker and Windu subsequently departed to, respectively, attend to the Dug leaders and aid the rescue team in the crater, and they soon found that the electro-proton bomb had awakened a gigantic and uncontrollable Zillo Beast in the crater.

As night fell, Rex met with Skywalker, Windu, Boll, and R2-D2 at Urus's palace to contact Palpatine and discuss the problem of the Zillo Beast&mdash;while the Dugs wanted to kill the creature off, the Jedi wanted to preserve it, as it was one of the last of its kind. To appease the Dugs and get the fuel treaty ratified while also saving the beast, Skywalker devised a plan to knock out the beast with the Republic's RX-200 Falchion-class assault tanks and then transport the creature off-world, thereby keeping the beast's survival a secret from the Dugs. The following morning, Rex served with the unit sent to subdue the beast under Skywalker's and Windu's leadership. Once the Zillo Beast had been rendered unconscious using the Jedi's strategy, Rex returned with Skywalker and Windu to the Imperial palace, where Urus and the other Dug leaders finally signed the fuel treaty. Yet despite the Republic's hard-won success with gaining access to Malastare's fuel resources, the matter of the Zillo Beast still remained. Although the Jedi had planned to transport the Zillo Beast to an uninhabited Outer Rim world so that it could live in peace, Palpatine ordered that the creature be initially taken to Coruscant for study before being released into the wild.

Rex, Skywalker, Windu, and Boll returned to Coruscant aboard an Acclamator-class transport, and the Zillo Beast was transferred to the Republic Science and Technical Center so that Boll could study its unusually durable scales. Despite Boll's containment measures, however, the Zillo Beast broke out of its heavily guarded facility and began to rampage across Coruscant, heading for the Republic Executive Building. After joining an LAAT/i gunship force led by Kenobi and Windu that had been sent to contain the beast, Rex contacted Skywalker through R2-D2, both of whom were with Palpatine and Senator Padmé Amidala in the Chancellor's Suite at the Executive Building, and confirmed that he was to serve with Kenobi for the time being. However, when Rex, Windu, and Kenobi arrived with their detachment of clones and Falchion-class stun tanks at the Executive Building, they found that the Zillo Beast had taken hold of the H-2 executive shuttle that Palpatine, Skywalker, Amidala, R2-D2, and C-3PO had been using to leave the building.

As Yoda and Aayla Secura arrived, Rex, monitoring the situation through a pair of electrobinoculars, noticed that Skywalker was cutting the shuttle in half with his lightsaber and notified Windu of this development. Kenobi realized that Skywalker intended to free himself and his trapped comrades by severing the ship in two, and the Jedi moved to protect the group. While Yoda and Secura distracted the beast, Skywalker managed to completely slice the shuttle in half, freeing it and its passengers from the Zillo Beast's grip. Windu and Kenobi quickly used the Force to catch the half of the ship that was carrying Palpatine and a Senate Commando, securing the pair's safety. While the stun tanks targeted the Zillo Beast, the LAAT/i gunships launched with Rex, Windu, Kenobi, and their men aboard and fired upon the beast as well. Left with no other options to suppress the rampant beast, Palpatine ordered the gunships to release some toxic gas bombs that Boll had developed to kill the creature. Though the Republic forces succeeded in subduing the creature, the victory came at a price, as one of the last of the Zillo Beasts had now been wiped out. As morning broke on Coruscant, the slain Zillo Beast was transported back to the Science and Technical Center on an X-Alpha heavy cargo sled, and Rex, the five Jedi, Amidala, and R2-D2 and C-3PO met with Palpatine at the Senate Plaza, debriefing the disaster and mourning the loss of the creature. While Rex and the others departed from the Executive Building, Palpatine secretly gave Boll orders to clone the Zillo Beast.

Return to Geonosis
"Rex, tell the men to fall back!''" "But&mdash;sir, you can't be asking us to turn tail and run!" "''I'm not asking you to run, Rex. I want to draw those tanks out onto the bridge."

- Anakin Skywalker and Rex

Following the Republic's discovery of a series of Separatist droid foundries on Geonosis that had been recently rebuilt by Archduke Poggle the Lesser, Rex was sent with a 501st detachment to reconnoiter the planet in preparation for a Republic assault. Upon arrival in orbit of Geonosis, Rex's task force was unable to make contact with the clone troopers on the planet's surface but nevertheless confirmed from preliminary scans that there were a large number of operational and nearly completed droid foundries on the world. In his report back to the Jedi High Council, Rex stated that the native Separatist-allied Geonosians were mounting a major revolt against the Republic and asserted that a full-scale planetary invasion would be necessary to retake Geonosis. Rex promised to provide a further breakdown of the planet's defenses before ending his transmission. Based on Rex's findings, the Jedi Council sent a massive invasion force under the command of Generals Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara Unduli, Kenobi, and Skywalker, along with Tano and Admiral Yularen, to recapture the planet and shut down its droid factories. After arriving in orbit of Geonosis, Rex, Cody, and Clone Commander CC-1993, nicknamed "Jet," joined their commanders aboard one of the fleet's cruisers to establish the plan of attack.

Cody led the briefing in the ship's war room, explaining the Republic's plan to execute a three-pronged assault on the Geonosian defenses and establish a staging area before launching an attack on the ray-shielded factories' shield generator. While Mundi and Jet would lead the northern advance, Kenobi and Cody would execute the central push, and Skywalker, Tano, and Rex would undertake the southward assault with their troops. With the plan set, the Jedi and their clone officers split up to begin preparations for the invasion. Once the Republic fleet was in position to deploy the assault force, Skywalker's forces of LAAT/i gunships and LAAT carriers, hauling multiple AT-TE walkers, launched from the fleet, following Kenobi's deployment and preceding Mundi's troops. All of the landing craft encountered heavy resistance from Geonosian Nantex-class starfighters and the Separatist artillery below, and the gunship carrying Skywalker, Tano, and Rex was among the first to be shot down over the planet. After the ship made a rough landing, Skywalker heaved the wreckage of the gunship away, freeing himself and his men from the fallen craft. The detachment was immediately greeted by some nearby Geonosian warriors, who targeted them with blaster cannons. While Rex and the clones returned the Geonosians' blaster fire, Skywalker charged at the enemy insurgents. Tano, Rex, and the troopers soon joined Skywalker in attacking the Geonosians at a closer range, but during the fighting, Skywalker's AT-TE walkers were destroyed, depriving the group of their remaining assault craft.

Rex reported the situation to Jet and attempted to hail Kenobi for reinforcements, but he learned from Cody that Kenobi had not reached the landing site, as Kenobi's gunship had been shot down. Ducking behind some cover with Skywalker, Rex conveyed to him and Tano the news that Kenobi would be unable to provide support. With his forces left to fend for themselves, Skywalker ordered Rex to mobilize their men in preparation to charge the enemy gunners while he and his Padawan provided cover for them. Rex assembled the troops and led them in rushing the blaster cannons alongside Skywalker and Tano, running at and cutting through the Geonosians' artillery. The assault force continued on toward the rendezvous point, but their trek led them to a canyon blocked by a massive Separatist barricade, one that was riddled with numerous gun emplacements and battle droids. Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and their men were forced to take cover from the incoming waves of fire, and several men were shot down before they could reach safety. Faced with the task of taking down the wall to clear the path to the staging area, Skywalker and Tano each took a backpack filled with thermal detonators and left Rex in charge of the troops to provide cover for them. While Skywalker and Tano ascended the barrier and began to fight their way through the thick droid defenses, Rex released a barrage of fire at a gun emplacement on the wall, eliminating it single-handedly. He then ordered his men to concentrate their fire on the droids at the top of the wall before heading to ascend the barrier himself.

Rex arrived to assist Skywalker and Tano in their fight against a pair of droidekas, sneaking up on the droid attacking Tano and walking right through its laser deflector shield. At his close range, Rex shot the droid's head, causing the reeling droid to release unfocused fire at its comrade before being deactivated; the distraction allowed Skywalker to cut through the remaining droid. With the droid defenses on the top of the barricade temporarily beaten back, Skywalker and Tano tossed their primed detonator–laden backpacks into a nearby hatch and then used the Force to levitate Rex off the wall and into the air. The Jedi jumped off the barricade with Rex falling close behind just as the barrier exploded. Skywalker and Tano used the Force to slow their descent and landed on the ground, employing the Force to safely halt Rex's fall centimeters from the ground before the wall came toppling down around them. The Jedi and clones continued on to the landing site, and after leaving the canyon, they noticed some smoldering Geonosians falling out of a nearby cliff-top cave. Skywalker recognized Mundi atop the cliff and contacted him, learning that Mundi's group had taken a detour through the cave. The two Generals joined forces and proceeded to the rendezvous point to assist Cody and Kenobi, who were in bad need of help.

Shortly after a Y-wing starfighter squadron forced the Geonosians to halt their assault on the Republic forces at the staging area, Mundi, Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and Jet arrived and met with Cody and the injured Kenobi to formulate the plan for their final task: destroying the shield generator that was protecting the droid facilities. Once Skywalker, Tano, and a small squad of clones had disabled the Geonosians' blaster cannons with EMP grenades, Cody moved in with the AT-TE walkers and eliminated both the shield generator and its artillery stations. With the shield disabled, Mundi, Jet, and Rex were able to land with the rest of the troops in the gunships and forced the outnumbered Geonosians to surrender. Both wounded from the battle, Kenobi and Mundi were transported back to the fleet for treatment, leaving Skywalker, Tano, and Rex with the task of eliminating Poggle the Lesser's near-completed primary droid foundry. The three moved their troops to the cliff adjacent to the droid factory, which was isolated on the other side of an immense canyon that could only be crossed via a bridge. Jedi Master Luminara Unduli; her Padawan, Barriss Offee; and Commander Gree soon arrived with reinforcements, and after they had landed, Rex greeted Unduli and Offee and directed them to Skywalker and Tano. Together, the four Jedi devised a plan to cripple the droid foundry: Skywalker and Unduli would launch an assault on the factory and its defenses, acting as decoys for Tano and Offee to infiltrate the facility from the catacombs beneath it and destroy it with explosives from the inside.

After the two Padawans had departed, Rex joined Skywalker, Unduli, and Gree in leading the assault on the droid foundry's defenses. Although the tactic was risky because of the Republic forces' lack of cover, the Jedi intended to tempt the Geonosians into fighting them in open warfare. Deployed factions of B1 and B2 battle droids intercepted the Jedi and clones on the bridge leading to the factory and opened fire on them, and Rex, Gree, Skywalker, and Unduli spearheaded their forces' charge on the Separatists. They soon received more than they had bargained for, however, when Geonosian fighters emerged from several spires behind the assault force, surrounding the troops. Nevertheless, the Jedi and their men continued to cut through the opposing droids and headed for the factory. With the appearance of several droidekas, Rex ordered a RPS-6 rocket launcher–armed trooper forward to assist the Jedi. The clone blasted the droids to pieces in one shot, and the heavy firepower of the Republic's AT-TE walkers disabled the rest of the advance droid forces. The Jedi and their troops were then faced with several droid-manned super tanks, which had been recently manufactured by the foundry. On Skywalker's order, Rex mobilized four AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons and prepared them to attack the tanks. Rex monitored the super tanks' progress with a pair of electrobinoculars, waiting for the right moment to fire on them.

Once the tanks had almost reached the other side of the bridge, Rex ordered the heavy cannons to open fire on the vehicles. The ray-shielded tanks, however, were able to withstand the thick barrages of fire from the cannons and continued to approach the Republic's position. Skywalker, Unduli, Rex, Gree, and their men were forced to take cover when the super tanks released a multitude of rockets at the Republic troops. In the ensuing bombardment, the Republic's heavy cannons and AT-TE walkers were destroyed, and the clone troopers sustained heavy casualties. Taking cover from the ongoing fire, Skywalker ordered Rex, Gree, and their men to fall back. Although Rex was adamant against retreating, he complied when Skywalker revealed that he intended to draw the tanks onto the bridge, which the two Jedi Generals would destroy to send the well-protected tanks into the chasm below. Once Rex's retreat had lured the still-firing tanks almost all the way across the bridge, Skywalker and Unduli swung under the pass hand by hand and planted explosives on the bridge's underside, heading for the droid factory on the other side of the canyon.

When the detonators were in place, Skywalker activated the charges, collapsing the span and plunging the super tanks into the abyss below. As Skywalker and Unduli waited for their Padawans outside the droid factory, Skywalker contacted Rex via comlink and questioned whether he had spotted Tano or Offee from his side of the canyon. Rex replied that he had not seen either of them but also urged Skywalker to get on one of the evacuation ships, which had just arrived, though Skywalker refused to leave without Tano. Meanwhile, Tano and Offee were intercepted by Poggle the Lesser himself and a squad of Geonosian warriors at the reactor, and with their explosives stolen by the insurgents, they were forced to use a super tank to destroy the facility's power generator, sacrificing themselves to blow up the factory. Once the dust spawned by the factory's destruction had settled, Rex and Gree found Skywalker and Unduli amidst the field of debris aboard an LAAT/i gunship, and Rex reported that the Republic's LAAT carriers were beginning to move the debris in search of the Padawans, who had been buried with the remains of the factory. Although Rex and his men did what they could to locate the trapped Padawans in the mounds of rubble, it was Tano who signaled Skywalker, Unduli, Rex, and Gree to her and Offee's location by boosting her comlink's reception with a power cell from the super tank. The four immediately proceeded to the indicated area, and though Rex offered to have the gunships move the heavy rubble, Skywalker refused; he and Unduli instead elected to lift the debris with the Force.

Once their super tank had been freed, Tano and Offee emerged from the remains of the tank, coughing and grimy but otherwise safe. After the two Padawans had been reunited with their Masters, Rex convened with Tano and Offee at one of the Republic's staging areas, where he sent the two Padawans back to the fleet for a much-deserved rest. Promising to return after recuperating, Tano and Offee departed with a medical convoy of gunships. Skywalker, Kenobi, and Unduli eventually managed to capture Poggle the Lesser and took him into custody, completing the Republic's objectives. Following the recapture of Geonosis, Tano and Offee were assigned to take the Republic Pelta-class frigate TB-73 on a supply run to a medical station near the planet Ord Cestus while Skywalker, Unduli, Kenobi, and Mundi escorted Poggle to Coruscant for trial. Rex accompanied the four Jedi Generals on a Venator-class Star Destroyer to deliver Poggle to the Republic capital under heavy guard. En route to Coruscant, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex joined Mundi and Unduli on the cruiser's bridge, where Unduli reported that the Padawans' cargo ship had failed to check in on schedule and was not responding to her attempts to contact it. While Skywalker concluded that something was wrong, Mundi turned their attention back to interrogating Poggle, who was proving "most uncooperative" in response to their questioning.

Before leaving with the other Jedi Generals to continue interrogating Poggle, Skywalker privately told Rex to keep a lookout for any calls from Tano, which Rex agreed to do. Rex eventually contacted the Padawans' freighter himself, and the transmission was answered by Tano, who expressed her relief to hear from him. Once Rex put Skywalker through to Tano, she reported that her convoy had been overrun by Geonosian brain worms that were capable of controlling the minds of their hosts and had already infected most of the clone troopers aboard the ship. After resolving to interrogate Poggle and wheedle from him any potential information on halting the threat, Skywalker severed the connection and headed to the Star Destroyer's detention level to confront the Geonosian Archduke. Skywalker soon joined Rex, Unduli, Mundi, and Kenobi back on the bridge, reporting Tano's predicament and continuing with the news that he had discovered how to stop the worms from Poggle. However, Skywalker evaded the other Jedi Generals' inquiries as to how he had extracted the information from the so-far unresponsive Archduke. With Skywalker's discovery that the brain worms were affected by the cold, Tano was able to neutralize the worms before they could escape from TB-73 and spread to the rest of the galaxy.

Escapades at Saleucami
"You're welcome to stay, Rex.''" "''This is your home, Cut. My family is elsewhere."

- Cut Lawquane and Rex, shortly before the latter leaves to rendezvous with Kenobi and the rest of the Republic forces

After the Jedi Order learned that General Grievous had captured Jedi Master Eeth Koth, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Master Adi Gallia mounted a rescue mission to save Koth from Grievous's clutches and also attempt to capture the cunning Separatist General. Rex joined Skywalker and Gallia aboard an Eta-class ambassadorial shuttle and met with the rest of the assembled Republic fleet in orbit of Coruscant in preparation for the assault. From his Arquitens-class light cruiser, Kenobi contacted Skywalker, Gallia, Rex, and the other clones aboard their shuttle and conveyed the plan: Kenobi himself would head to the Saleucami system with the Republic fleet, distract Grievous's forces there, and transmit the coordinates of Grievous's command ship, which the Jedi presumed was where Koth was being held captive by the Separatists. The shuttle and its embarked force would then be able to jump into the system undetected, infiltrate the command ship, and rescue Koth. The Republic forces would also make an effort to capture Grievous. While Kenobi and the Republic fleet departed for Saleucami, the shuttle continued to wait in Coruscant's orbit.

Once Kenobi and Cody had gathered and transmitted the exact coordinates of Grievous's Recusant-class light destroyer, Skywalker took the ambassadorial shuttle to join the battle over Saleucami. With Kenobi, Yularen, the Resolute, and the rest of the Republic fleet keeping the Separatist armada occupied, the Eta-class shuttle emerged from hyperspace and sped unopposed through the ongoing battle, quickly rotating upside down to dock to Grievous's destroyer. After securing the shuttle, Skywalker cut a hole in one of the command ship's hatches and boarded the destroyer with Gallia, Rex, and the rest of the clones. On Skywalker's orders, Rex and his men stayed to guard the hatch, as it was their only escape off the ship. While Skywalker and Gallia rescued Koth from captivity on the ship's bridge, Grievous broke off from his ongoing duel with Kenobi aboard the latter's light cruiser and headed back to his own ship. Gallia subsequently went to prevent Grievous from escaping while Skywalker helped the weakened Koth back to the escape hatch, where Rex and the clones helped him into the escape shuttle before joining the Jedi on the craft. The shuttle was then contacted by Kenobi, who had pursued Grievous back to his command ship with Gallia, Cody, and several other clones; Kenobi requested transport off the ship before they became trapped there. Skywalker complied and took the shuttle to a large hangar in the Separatist cruiser, where they rescued Kenobi, Gallia, Cody, and another surviving clone before the enemy destroyer was damaged by debris from the battle.

Although the Republic forces had completed their primary objective of rescuing Koth, they had not met with success in their secondary objective of capturing Grievous. However, Grievous's attempted escape from the battle with a complement of battle droids aboard a C-9979 troopship was foiled when the craft was hit by debris and was forced to crash-land on Saleucami. Kenobi resolved to head to the planet's surface with Rex and Cody to apprehend Grievous while Skywalker and Yularen continued the space battle. Skywalker piloted the shuttle into one of the Republic cruiser's hangars, where Rex disembarked, helping Koth out of the shuttle until he was escorted to a medical frigate by Gallia and a 2-1B medical droid. Rex and a contingent from the 501st Legion then joined Kenobi and Cody on an Acclamator-class assault ship for the voyage to Saleucami's surface. Once the transport had landed and unloaded its troops and assault vehicles, Rex was briefed by Kenobi on their plan: instead of scattering the men to locate all of the Separatist craft's escape pods, the Republic forces would first investigate the wreckage of the enemy ship. Deploying biker scouts and AT-TE walkers, Rex and Kenobi began the search for the downed transport, with Rex himself traveling on a BARC speeder. Upon arrival at the troopship's crash site, the clone troopers began to examine the transport for potential leads as to where the craft's escape pods had landed.

Finding that the troop compartments were significantly damaged, Rex joined Kenobi and Cody on the top of the craft with 501st trooper CT-5597, nicknamed "Jesse," and relayed his findings. Kenobi subsequently assigned teams to search for the escape pods, with Rex leading a patrol of Saleucami's wetlands. Before Rex departed with a 501st Legion squad comprising troopers Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase, Kenobi instructed the Captain to send back word before engaging Grievous if they happened to encounter the elusive General. Leading his men through the lush wetlands aboard BARC speeders, Rex became the target of a two-member droid commando sniper team. One of the droids fired at Rex with a sniper rifle, knocking him backward off his speeder with a shot through the chest. Rendered unconscious, Rex could only lie sprawled where he had fallen as his speeder crashed into some nearby brush. While Kix, the squad's medic, circled around to protect Rex, Jesse and Hardcase eliminated the droid commandos. Lifting off Rex's helmet, Kix did a cursory examination of his Captain but would need to remove his armor to discern the full extent of the damage.

Realizing that they were on farmland, Jesse, Hardcase, and Kix decided to head for the grounds' homestead to find a safe place to tend to their fallen officer. Assembling a makeshift litter to carry Rex and affixing it to his own BARC speeder, Jesse led the team to the homestead, transporting Rex along the way. After receiving permission from Suu, the grounds' Twi'lek farmer, to use an eopie barn to temporarily house Rex, the three clones set up camp in the building and moved Rex onto a bench. Rex's armor and the top half of his black body glove were removed and piled on the ground so that Kix could tend to his injuries. Once Kix had dressed Rex's chest wound with a pair of bacta patches, Rex finally recovered consciousness, waking up to discover from Hardcase that, had the potshot been two inches to the left, it would have otherwise gone straight through his heart and caused instantaneous death. Rex also found that he was unable to move his left arm due to nerve damage. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, Rex told Kix to patch him up so that they could continue the search. However, Kix opposed Rex's desire to continue the mission with a wound that would take time and rest to heal; Kix cited his own authority as the team medic to countermand the Captain's orders. Rex's and Jesse's argument was cut short when Suu arrived at the barn with some food for the clones. Suu's daughter, Shaeeah, then entered the room chasing a ball and, upon catching sight of Rex, blurted out that he resembled her own father, a comment that intrigued the clones.

While Suu conferred with Jesse and gave him the plate of food, Kix dressed Rex in an arm sling. Hardcase retrieved one of Rex's blaster pistols for him from the pile of his armor on the ground, placing the blaster next to Rex on the wooden bench for easy accessibility. Although Suu was kind to him, Rex sensed that something was bothering her, though he could not fathom what it was. After Suu had left with Shaeeah, Rex &mdash;recognizing that he needed to rest if he wanted his injuries to heal &mdash;reluctantly ordered his men to continue the search for Grievous without him. With Jesse in command, the three clones departed from the homestead, leaving Rex to heal his injuries. As night began to fall Rex eventually fell asleep on his bench, but his slumber was interrupted by a nosy eopie that sniffed him and then began to lick his face. Rex forced the animal away from him, sighing and wiping his face with the back of his hand before returning to sleep. Later, Rex was awoken a second time, this time by the furtive sounds of an approaching figure&mdash;the farmer, Suu's husband. Rex's eyes snapped open, but he quickly closed them again, feigning continued slumber, and slowly reached for the pistol next to him on the bench with his non-crippled arm. Once the farmer was close enough, Rex struck out at his assailant with his blaster but was disarmed by the farmer, who used a staff to knock Rex's weapon out of his hand. The unarmed Rex looked up at his greeter and was shocked to find that he was staring into a face that greatly resembled his own&mdash;the farmer was also a clone trooper.

Recognizing this as the cause of Suu's earlier unsettledness, Rex demanded to know the trooper's number and rank, but the clone instead introduced himself as Cut Lawquane and stated that he was a simple farmer. Realizing that Lawquane was a deserter, Rex called him out on his sworn oath to the Republic, but Lawquane replied that he did have a duty, only that it was to his family, not to killing for a living. The pair's heated argument was interrupted when Suu arrived with her and Lawquane's children, Shaeeah and Jek, at the barn so that the children could welcome their adoptive father home. After greeting his children, Lawquane invited Rex to dinner with his family. Although Rex initially refused, he accepted the invitation when Shaeeah and Jek begged for his attendance. Putting the top half of his body glove back on, Rex joined the Lawquanes at their home for dinner, and the two clones continued to debate their very different ideologies over a meal of roast nuna. Though Lawquane argued that the clones deserved more individuality, Rex countered that he himself was making an individual choice to serve the Republic, a decision that he did not regret.

Despite disagreeing with the Captain, Lawquane respected Rex's opinion, believing that everyone possessed a right to his or her own beliefs. After dinner, Rex and Lawquane continued their discussion of their principles over a game of dejarik holochess. Following Rex's inquiries into the cause of his desertion from the Republic corps, Lawquane recounted his service in an engagement shortly after the Battle of Geonosis. An ambush by enemy battle droids had caused him to flee the carnage-laden battlefield, and he had then begun to question his apparent expendability in the war. A survivor of the Battle of Geonosis himself, Rex sympathized with Lawquane and stated that he, too, had lost many brothers&mdash;whom he had come to regard as his family and home&mdash;during the course of his service in the war. In the meantime, Shaeeah and Jek received permission from Lawquane to play outside, prompting Rex to express his admiration of the Lawquane children to their father. In response, Lawquane promised to fight to his last breath to keep his children safe, contrary to Rex's belief that he was a coward. Rex, Lawquane, and Suu were roused from their household activities when Jek and Shaeeah returned to the homestead in screams. Learning from Shaeeah that the two were being followed by monsters, Lawquane grabbed a pair of electrobinoculars to verify her claim. Training his binoculars through the dark fields, Lawquane spotted some twenty droid commandos had been deployed from a crashed Separatist escape pod and were beginning to surround the homestead.

Preparing for a confrontation with the battle droids, Lawquane locked the building's front door and sent Suu upstairs with their children. As Lawquane opened up his supply of weapons and handed Rex a blaster pistol not unlike the ones that he normally carried, Rex volunteered a plan to catch the droids in a crossfire, but Lawquane cited his injuries as a weakness against the droids and refused. Although Rex was taken aback by this assertion, he grasped the intentions behind Lawquane's refusal when the clone farmer clarified them: Lawquane was asking Rex to serve as a last line of defense for his family while he himself took point against the droids. Telling Lawquane that he would take care of them, Rex joined Suu, Shaeeah, and Jek in the upper level's bedroom. Presently, the droids launched their attack on the homestead and eventually made it past Lawquane, who warned his fellow clone about the approaching droids. While Suu hid with Jek and Shaeeah by the room's bunks, Rex took up position, waiting at the end of the hallway adjacent to the stairwell doorway. Once the droid commandos had entered the hallway, Rex forsook his hiding spot and opened fire on them, gunning down a pair of the droids. While rolling away from and exchanging fire with another of the droids, Rex managed to hit his foe in the head, but not before the droid released a barrage of fire at the platform that Rex was crouching on.

Rex fell through the floor and landed beside Lawquane, losing his grip on his blaster in the process. One of the droid commandos seized Rex by the throat, but Lawquane immediately grabbed Rex's fallen blaster and shot the droid's head cleanly off. Despite the injuries that the two clones had received, the droid commandos had been repelled. The next morning, Rex prepared to rendezvous with the rest of the Republic forces. Abandoning his arm cast, Rex re-donned his armor and also borrowed one of Lawquane's eopies, onto which he loaded the remainder of his gear. When questioned by Suu if he was going to turn Lawquane in for his desertion from the Grand Army, Rex stated that doing so was his duty. However, he also mused that in his condition, he might not "remember" his meeting with them, and his discretion earned him a relieved thanks from Suu. Rex was soon contacted by Kenobi and reported his physical recovery to the General, who had been unable to capture Grievous. Although Lawquane offered Rex a place at his home, Rex politely refused, not intending to impose on the clone farmer's family, and stated that his own family was elsewhere. With that, Rex bade goodbye to the Lawquane family and set off on his eopie mount to rejoin Kenobi's forces, leaving with a broader view of a clone's loyalties and duties.

Mission to Taloraan
"You'd rather be fighting?''" "Well, I don't like it. But it's more interesting to me than diplomacy. That's all just talk! " "Seems just a different kind of fighting to me. A kind I'm not trained for." "Do you like fighting, Rex?" "''It's what I know. That's all."

- Rex and Ahsoka Tano, on the subject of diplomacy

Later in the war, as part of a plot to force the Pantoran people to join the Confederacy, the Trade Federation blockaded Pantora, suspending all commerce with the system to pressure it into an alliance with the Separatists. While with Skywalker on Coruscant, Rex saw Senator Padmé Amidala off from a landing pad, though the three of them soon received news from Tano that Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe&mdash;the daughters of Baron N. Papanoida, who had been elected to suceed Chi Cho as the Chairman of Pantora following the Battle of Orto Plutonia &mdash;had been kidnapped. Skywalker sent his Padawan to aid Senator Riyo Chuchi in investigating the matter, and Tano and Chuchi were able to help Papanoida rescue his daughters from the Separatists. Good relations were subsequently restored between Pantora and the Trade Federation, which lifted its blockade of the world.

During an attack on Trade Federation forces over the Bothan colony world of Kothlis, Rex served as the gunner of Tano's BTL-B Y-wing starfighter. Each in their own starfighter, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano led the Republic fighters' attack on the Vulture droids that were deployed from a Federation Lucrehulk-class battleship. Tano was able to reach the Droid Control Ship, which she assaulted with torpedoes, and Rex regarded the vessel's subsequent destruction as a beautiful sight. The Trade Federation Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers were forced to flee, securing the Republic's victory over Kothlis. Shortly thereafter, Rex accompanied Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano to the planet Taloraan, where the Jedi were to undertake negotiations for tibanna gas with the world's Denfrandi tribe. En route to Taloraan aboard the Resolute, Rex conferred with Tano on the prospect of the diplomacy that she would be engaging in within the next few days. Although Tano found diplomatic negotiations boring, Rex respected them as a different method of fighting. While the three Jedi left for the world's capital, Taloraan City, in a Nu-class shuttle, Rex remained on board the Resolute with Admiral Wullf Yularen to regularly check in with the Jedi.

Unbeknownst to the Republic, Denfrandi Magister Orlin Denache had secretly allied himself with the Confederacy and was housing Separatist battle droids on Taloraan. To contact the Jedi, the Resolute had to routinely leave orbit into a closer signal range. Eventually, during one of the regular trips into range, Yularen was warned by the Jedi, who had discovered the Separatist presence in Taloraan City, that the Resolute was heading into a trap&mdash;a Confederate Munificent-class frigate commanded by Captain Canteval was preparing to attack the cruiser. The Resolute activated its deflector shields just in time to deflect fire from the enemy frigate, and while the Resolute battled Canteval's ship, Yularen sent Rex and a clone detachment to rescue the Jedi, whose shuttle had been destroyed. After landing with several LAAT/i gunships at a platform in Taloraan City, Rex and his men fell under fire from the Separatist-allied Denfrandi, who had taken up positions behind some cargo boxes. The brief firefight was stopped when Denache's Republic-loyal emissary, Sech Govlinder, led the rest of the Denfrandi people to defeat the Separatists. The Jedi were able to establish a treaty with the Denfrandi and their rival tribe, the Wind Raiders, thanks to Tano's personal involvement in the matter&mdash;which had improved her views on diplomacy.

Defense of Kamino
"With all due respect, General, if someone comes to our home, they'd better be carrying a big blaster.''" "I concur with Captain Rex, sir. This is personal to us clones." "''We'll make sure Kamino is secure. Tell your troopers in the 501st they're going home."

- Rex, Cody, and Anakin Skywalker

A number of months after the battle at Rishi Station, the Republic intercepted a transmission between General Grievous and Asajj Ventress. It was thus discovered that Grievous was planning another invasion of Kamino, just a short time after his last attempt. Examining the message aboard the Resolute, where the 501st had been stationed, Skywalker, Kenobi, Rex, and Cody learned of Grievous's plan to cripple Kamino, a prospect that both Rex and Cody found to be quite personal. To notify Kamino of the impending threat and provide extra protection for a defense of the planet, Skywalker and Kenobi set course for Kamino, and Rex met with his troops from the 501st Legion in the Resolute hangar bay to inform them of their new mission. Finding Echo and Fives in the process of unloading supplies from a gunship, Rex conferred with the new recruits and discovered that given their recent service, they had expected to have been made illustrious Advanced Recon Commandos by Cody, an ARC trooper himself&mdash;to which Rex replied that they would earn the promotion when they did not have to ask for it.

After being transferred to an Acclamator-class transport, the Jedi and the 501st landed at the Military Complex of Kamino's capital, Tipoca City, where Skywalker, Kenobi, Rex, and Cody met with Jedi General Shaak Ti and Prime Minister Lama Su and relayed the news of the Separatists' plan. It was not long before Grievous arrived at Kamino with a large fleet to challenge the Republic's heavily fortified blockade of the planet. While Skywalker and Admiral Yularen oversaw the space battle against Grievous's flotilla, Rex joined Cody, Kenobi, Ti, and Su in Tipoca City's command center to monitor the Republic's defenses. As debris from some Separatist cruisers fell into Kamino's oceans, however, the space engagement proved to only be a diversionary assault when the remains of the ships turned out to be several disguised Trident-class assault ships. Grievous and Ventress used the craft to land hundreds of droid troops in Tipoca City and proceeded to beleaguer the city's vital cloning facilities. While the droids began to overrun the Military Complex, Skywalker returned to the war room to help plan the defense of the city. As Rex and the others agreed that the Separatists' primary target would be Kamino's DNA archive&mdash;which was vital to the production of future clones &mdash;Skywalker and Kenobi headed off to lead the clone troopers to protect the city. Rex and Cody, meanwhile, found Echo, Fives, and the maintenance clone 99 with several young clone cadets at the facility's barracks; the cadets had been separated from their group and had required the troopers' assistance to return to the barracks.

Although the cadets did not believe that they could help to repel the Separatists, as their training had not yet been completed, Fives and Echo underlined the fact that it was their home that they were defending. With the droids about to reach the barracks, 99 took Rex and Cody to the nearby armory to retrieve weapons for the rest of the clones so that they could mount a defense of the barracks. The cadets hid in the raised retractable sleeping chambers along the wall of the barracks' main corridor to provide extra firepower at the right moment. When a battle droid squad led by Grievous broke into the barracks, Rex, Cody, Echo, and Fives immediately gunned down the advance forces at the entrance. They were unable to repulse all of the droids, however, and the clones were forced to retreat into the barracks, stampeding back along the main corridor with the droids in close pursuit. Rex, Cody, Fives, and Echo quickly took up cover positions behind several crates to return the approaching droids' fire. As the B1 battle droid squad pushed Echo, Fives, and Cody back toward Rex's position, 99 tossed Rex a thermal detonator, which the Captain launched at the advancing droids. He missed, however, and instead hit an adjacent crate. Just after the droids had passed by the cadets' hiding places, Rex commed the young trainees to open fire on the droids, which they did to great effect.

While the clones continued to gun down the surrounded droids, Cody used up the last of the thermal detonators. Although 99 opted to get more explosives from the armory, his decision to forsake his cover&mdash;despite Rex's and the others' protests&mdash;cost him his life, as he fell to droid fire. Cody shortly thereafter received word from Ti that the droids had been pushed back to the Military Complex's main hangar, and the Republic forces were eventually able to defeat the remaining droids, forcing Grievous and Ventress to retreat. However, the damage had been done, and Rex, Cody, Fives, and Echo all lamented the loss of 99, whom they believed, despite his debilitative cloning malformations, had been a true soldier. Rex and Cody later found Fives and Echo in the Military Complex's hangar and commended them on the true valor that they had shown in the battle. Once again impressed with their efforts, the two clone officers officially promoted the pair of 501st troopers, who had only been cadets not too long ago, to the prestigious rank of Advanced Recon Commando to serve on Kamino in the event of future Separatist attacks; Rex and Cody conveyed their sincere congratulations to the Grand Army's newest ARC troopers.

Mandalorian affairs
"Assassin droid. How did that monster end up in the hold?''" "''Question is, who smuggled him on board?"

- Rex and Anakin Skywalker, upon defeating an assassin probe aboard Duchess Satine Kryze's Coronet

Following the emergence of the Mandalorian Death Watch, a terrorist group that had come to staunchly oppose the Republic-allied Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore and her pacifistic government, Skywalker, Kenobi, Rex, and Cody were assigned to escort Kryze to Coruscant, where she intended to reaffirm her people's neutrality in the war before the Galactic Senate. Skywalker, Rex, Cody, and their clone squad met with Kenobi&mdash;who had been conducting an investigation into rumors that Kryze had joined the Confederacy &mdash;at a spaceport in Mandalore's capital city, Sundari, where Kryze's starship, the Coronet, was preparing to depart. After checking in with Kenobi, Skywalker and the clones joined Kryze and her entourage on the Coronet, which promptly left for Coruscant. En route to the Republic capital, Skywalker and Kenobi briefed their troops in the Coronet cargo hold and told them to stay vigilant for the Death Watch, which would stop at nothing to assassinate Kryze before she reached Coruscant. Rex and Cody then sent their men to begin their rounds of the cargo bay while Skywalker and Kenobi went to meet with Kryze.

During their patrol, Rex and Cody bumped into the astromech droid R2-D2, who appeared to have been frightened by something. The two clone officers also found that they were unable to make contact with two of their men, Mixer and Redeye. Rex promptly contacted the Jedi, and once Skywalker returned to the cargo hold to assist in investigating the disturbance, the clones followed him and R2-D2 with headlamps ablaze through the labyrinth of containers in search of the missing Mixer and Redeye. However, the group's focus shifted when they discovered an open and overturned crate, and Skywalker ordered Rex, Cody, and their men to find the box's missing contents. The disappeared cargo soon manifested itself in the form of a large assassin probe droid, which began to attack Skywalker. Rex, Cody, and their men intercepted the droid during its fight with Skywalker, firing at the droid and deactivating it before it could crush the Jedi General with its large legs. However, a second assassin probe took advantage of the clones' distraction to head for the turbolift shaft that led to the Coronet dining room, where Kryze, Kenobi, and the former's senator associates were eating. Skywalker, Rex, Cody, and their men ran for the lift but were unable to prevent the droid from prying the shaft open and climbing up to the dining hall. As Skywalker speculated the possibility that more assassin droids were aboard the ship, the fallen assassin probe dispatched an army of tiny but deadly probe killer droids that surrounded and began to overwhelm the Jedi and clones with their numbers.

Rex, Cody, and their men opened fire on the small droids, and despite some casualties, they were eventually able to repel the majority of the nuisances. Although Rex mused how the monstrous assassin probe had managed to get on board the Coronet, Skywalker instead focused on a more specific question: who had smuggled it aboard to eliminate Kryze. After finding the protocol droid that was in charge of the Coronet cargo manifest, Skywalker checked the droid's records and determined that someone had used a Senate stamp to approve the shipment of the crates that had contained the assassin droids. Acting on this lead, Kenobi launched into an interrogation of the four senators aboard the Coronet to determine which one of them had smuggled the assassin droids aboard, while Skywalker and the clones searched the cargo hold for the third and final assassin probe aboard the ship. While patrolling the cargo bay with Rex, Cody stopped to examine a fallen clone helmet and unwittingly became the victim of the probe killer that was hiding in it. Cody fell to the floor as he tried to fight off the droid, and when Rex attempted to grab the droid off his comrade, two more probe killers jumped onto the Captain and attacked him as well. Both clone officers were saved by the timely arrival of Skywalker and R2-D2, who deactivated the clones' tiny assailants with lightsaber and electric shocker, respectively. However, right after Rex reported to Skywalker that he had not seen the remaining assassin probe, the droid jumped out from behind several crates as if on cue and bowled the Captain over.

The assassin probe climbed on top of Rex and prepared to impale him with its front pincers, but the unfazed Rex caught the droids' legs and kicked his attacker off him before it could do any damage. Rex and Cody fired at the droid as it escaped up a nearby wall, and though both clones landed shots on the droid, it was not until Skywalker threw his lightsaber at the droid and severed most of its legs that it toppled back to the floor. Running over, Rex slammed his foot down on the incapacitated droid and rained down blaster fire on its cranial unit, preventing the monstrosity from hatching its probe killer spawn. A triad of Separatist Droch-class boarding ships then attacked the Coronet and penetrated its hull to deploy squads of super battle droids. Rex and Cody joined Skywalker in one of the ship's hallways, where they and their men returned the droids' fire. With Skywalker's assistance, the clones were able to bring about the droids' defeat and left the hallway littered with enemy carcasses. After the Coronet finally reached Coruscant and docked at a landing pad, Rex, Cody, and their men disembarked with the Jedi, their assignment to protect Kryze a success.

Wartime assignments
"Target's dead ahead, General. But I don't think we brought nearly enough troopers&hellip;''" "Not like you to be so dramatic, Rex. You're leading a battle-hardened unit, supported by Juggernauts, commandos and two Jedi!''"

- Rex and Anakin Skywalker, on the threat of the Bogg Behemoth on Makem Te

While on their way to rendezvous with Jedi General Kit Fisto, Rex and Skywalker made a stop on Mandalore to drop off Tano, who was to teach cadet classes at Mandalore's Royal Academy of Government. After arriving at the Sundari docks aboard an Eta-class shuttle, Rex and another trooper stood by while Skywalker and Tano were received by Duchess Satine Kryze and her Prime Minister, Almec. With Fisto expecting them, Rex reminded Skywalker of their orders, and they soon left Mandalore to meet up with Fisto. Tano and her students, meanwhile, found that Almec was behind an ongoing black market crisis on Mandalore and played a crucial role in bringing him to justice. After returning to Coruscant, Rex and Skywalker were soon given command of the Grand Army's Third Legion for another assignment: they were to intervene, on behalf of the Republic, in a large-scale civil war on the planet Balith. While Tano remained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to focus on her Padawan studies, Rex and troops from Torrent Company picked up Skywalker at the Temple with a Nu-class attack shuttle, and they were then transferred to a Venator-class Star Destroyer for the voyage to Balith.

When a Republic escape pod&mdash;whose clone trooper crew had just pilfered the coordinates for the strategic Separatist hypermatter generators&mdash;crashed on the Hutt Space world Asuin, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex were dispatched to rescue the clone squad before the Confederacy could recover the vital intelligence. After Rex scanned the planet and located the clones' escape pod, Skywalker and Kenobi moved in to secure the craft. While battling the Separatists, Rex made contact with his Jedi Generals, who had just found the escape pod, and reported that enemy battle droid reinforcements led by Asajj Ventress were heading for the Jedi's position. Skywalker and Kenobi managed to rescue the only clone trooper who had survived the crash, but they were then confronted by Ventress. Although the Dark Acolyte destroyed J-3PO, the Republic droid containing the hypermatter generator coordinates, Skywalker and Kenobi were able to escape from the battlefield. Shortly after the planet Makem Te rejoined the Republic after an alliance with the Confederacy, the Separatists deployed an advanced Bogg Behemoth tank on the world, and the Jedi Council dispatched Rex, Skywalker, and Kenobi to combat the new threat. Taking a battle group of Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut tanks and a legion of clones to Makem Te, Rex and his Jedi Generals found the Bogg Behemoth on the desert just outside of the city Thousand Thousand.

As they had been assigned to capture the massive Bogg Behemoth, Rex voiced his skepticism that they would be able to do so, even with their elite detachment. Because intelligence had reported that the tank was undergoing final testing and was not yet operable, Kenobi mobilized their forces to strike before the tank came online. When Rex led his men against the Bogg Behemoth, the Republic's intelligence proved to be faulty&mdash;the tank, already functional, began to launch scores of missiles at the clones. Although Rex had the Republic's AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons open fire on the monstrosity, the tank's shield and heavy armor prevented them from doing any damage. With their troops taking losses, Skywalker and Kenobi elected to instead assault the Bogg Behemoth from above. Rex and the Jedi landed their forces on the tank via LAAT/i gunships, but they were confronted by hundreds of DSD1 dwarf spider droids before they could secure the deck. As Rex and the clones held their position against the Bogg Behemoth's droid defenders, Skywalker and Kenobi infiltrated the tank and forced its Geonosian operator, Bogg, to shut down the tank and its defenses. Though the clones captured the Bogg Behemoth, Kenobi chose to destroy it, as he simply did not believe that such destructive weapons could be put to ethical use by the Republic.

On another occasion, Rex joined Kenobi, Cody, and a company from the 212th Attack Battalion to claim Bogoa, a world whose durable coral was coveted by the Confederacy for use as ship-building material. After battling the Separatist forces on the world for three days, the Republic forces managed to compromise the Separatist stronghold on Bogoa. During the subsequent interlude in fighting, Rex remained at the Republic's staging area with Kenobi and the 212th troops while Cody embarked on roundup duty, searching for survivors among the clones who had fallen on the battlefield. Cody eventually found the B1 battle droid Coppertop, whose battle protocols had been peculiarly overridden and had deserted the Separatist Droid Army to aid the wounded from both sides of the conflict. When Asajj Ventress and the bounty hunter Cyreltov attempted to reclaim Coppertop for Count Dooku, who had issued the experimental Order 99 directive that had modified Coppertop's objectives, Coppertop sacrificed himself to prevent Kenobi and Ventress from fighting over him, using Cyreltov's deactivator hold-out pistol to short out his own circuits. Ventress and Cyreltov retreated from Bogoa shortly thereafter, having failed to retrieve Coppertop, while Kenobi and the clones recovered from the battle on Bogoa.

Rex joined Skywalker and Tano in combating the Confederacy on the jungle planet Zeenada, where they were summarily outgunned and outnumbered by a large Separatist invasion force. In response to the battle droids' advantage in numbers, Skywalker had Rex and Tano take a squad around the enemy lines and launch a diversionary assault on the droids' rear position. Doing so would cause the Separatists to believe that the Republic's main force was behind them, allowing Skywalker to advance on the droids from the front and capture them in a pincer maneuver. While circling around the battle droids, however, Rex and Tano were ambushed by a droid patrol, which cost them heavy casualties to defeat. By the time the droids had been eliminated, only Tano, Rex, and two other troopers&mdash;Gunner and Sarge&mdash;remained of their squad. Although Rex advised that they abort the mission and return to Skywalker for reinforcements, Tano held that despite their losses, Skywalker was depending on them to see their assignment through. When they encountered a wild feline predator, Tano ordered Rex, Gunner, and Sarge to avoid firing at it unless absolutely necessary while she distracted the creature. She was unable to defeat the predator, and when she felt the ground shaking underneath them, she quickly Force-pushed Rex and the other clones aside. The threat turned out to be an incoming pack of wild animals, but the Republic squad was able to avoid the stampede.

Although Sarge and Gunner were skeptical with Tano's experience on the battlefield, Rex, having served alongside her numerous times, ordered them to respect her command, as she was in charge of the squad. The group proceeded toward the Separatists' rear lines through the Zeenada jungle, and they eventually arrived at a swamp that was right behind the droids' rear flank. Rex was not enthusiastic about having to trudge through the swamp, but Tano believed that they could cross the swamp via several rocks that ran through the marsh. However, the rocks&mdash;which were actually reptilian eggs&mdash;turned out to be yet another example of Zeenada's native wildlife, as they hatched into large swamp beasts, whose mother proceeded to attack Tano. While Tano ordered Rex and his men to safety, she had the idea to lure the beast onto the battlefield to attack the battle droids. Her plan worked, and while Skywalker ordered his forces to assault the droids' frontal flank, Rex, Gunner, and Sarge crossed the swamp and jumped into battle alongside Tano. When Republic Admiral Tenant and his Star Destroyer's crew intercepted a message containing a 2,000-year-old Jedi distress code, the Jedi High Council sent Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi to investigate the location where Tenant had discovered the beacon: the remote Chrelythiumn system, a site far beyond the Outer Rim Territories in the relatively unexplored region of the galaxy known as Wild Space.

As the transmission was suspected to be a Separatist trap, Rex was dispatched aboard a heavily armed Venator-class Star Destroyer to meet up with Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi at the signal's source. Although both Rex and Skywalker's Eta-class shuttle arrived at the rendezvous point and established holographic contact there, a strange situation arose: neither Rex's cruiser nor the Jedi's shuttle were able to locate each other with their scanners. The peculiarity of the situation increased when an outside source cut off Skywalker's connection to the warship. While the concerned Rex continued his attempts to locate them, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano were transported to the planet Mortis by the Father, a powerful Force wielder who maintained the world. The Father wished to test Skywalker, who was believed to be the Chosen One of an old Jedi prophecy. After Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi underwent a series of tribulations on the non-temporal Mortis, they awoke aboard their shuttle. Their craft subsequently reappeared on the Star Destroyer's scanners, and Rex re-established contact with them. Unable to explain their ordeal on Mortis to him, Skywalker brought their shuttle in to join Rex aboard his cruiser.

Infiltration of the Citadel
"I am concerned that the Jedi have elected this&hellip;child to lead the group.''" "''I've served with her many times, and I trust her, Captain."

- Wilhuff Tarkin and Rex, on Ahsoka Tano

Following the Confederacy's capture of Jedi Master Even Piell, the Jedi Order sanctioned a mission to free the High Council member from incarceration in the Citadel, the most feared prison installation in the galaxy. Because Piell had just discovered the coordinates of the strategic Nexus Route, a secret hyperspace lane that spanned from Coruscant to the heart of Separatist space, his findings were of great value to both sides of the war. Rex was assigned to Skywalker's and Kenobi's elite team to rescue Piell alongside Cody, Fives, Echo, and several other clone troopers. When Plo Koon headed a briefing on the mission at the Jedi Temple's communication center, Rex was present at the meeting via hologram. The task ahead would be one of Rex's most difficult ones since the outset of the war: because the Citadel had originally been designed to hold rogue Jedi who had fallen to the dark side of the Force, no team had ever been able to infiltrate the highly guarded prison. Although Rex was skeptical if Piell was still alive, the Jedi firmly believed that the Separatists would not kill Piell until they had extracted from him the Nexus Route coordinates, which were too vital to waste. Once the Jedi had established a plan for infiltrating the Citadel on the planet Lola Sayu, Rex joined the others at a carbon-freezing chamber in the Jedi Temple Hangar, where they were to be encased in carbonite to elude the Citadel's lifeform scanners.

After being frozen in carbonite by the Republic engineer Erk Zallis, Rex and his comrades were placed aboard Shuttle 81572, a captured Separatist Class Type B escort shuttle, which would be piloted to Lola Sayu by R2-D2 and a squad of reprogrammed B1 battle droids. The infiltration team&mdash;supplemented by the unauthorized addition of Ahsoka Tano&mdash;was transported to Lola Sayu, bypassing Citadel Command and safely reaching the prison. At a site amidst the Citadel's maintenance pipes, Rex and the team were unfrozen from the carbonite, taking some time to recover from the process before proceeding to the facility. In the meantime, R2-D2 and his battle droids remained to guard the shuttle. Separated from the cliff-side entry point to the Citadel by a river of sulfurous lava, the squad was forced to ascend the cliff to the lookout balcony. However, they were unable to use any equipment to ease the ascent, as strong winds hampered the use of jetpacks and sensitive electro-mines thwarted ascension cables, so they resolved to free-climb the cliff face. Braving the dangerous conditions, Rex and his companions made it to the lookout balcony, with Tano disabling the door's ray shield from the inside by slipping through a ventilation shaft.

Just as Rex and the clones were joining Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano on the balcony, trooper Charger lost his footing and fell down the cliff, activating an electro-mine and being shocked to death. With alarms blaring and the Citadel's warden, Osi Sobeck, alerted to the Republic team's presence due to the tripped electro-mine, the Jedi and clones crept into the facility on the lookout for battle droid patrols. Avoiding droid guards and eliminating surveillance cameras along one of the prison's hallways, the team cut through laser emplacements lining the passage's walls. They soon discovered, however, that the hallway was electrified when Sobeck remotely activated this trap. While Rex and the others reached a safe passageway, trooper Longshot was killed before he could make it to safety. After locating and breaking into Piell's holding cell with the others, Rex gunned down the EV-series interrogator droid that had been on the verge of gouging out Piell's sole remaining eye. Once Skywalker and Kenobi had freed him from his containment field, Piell revealed that he only possessed half of the Nexus Routes coordinates&mdash;his Republic Navy captain, Wilhuff Tarkin, had committed the rest to memory and would also require rescuing. En route to free Tarkin and Piell's other officers, Rex and his comrades were intercepted and surrounded from both directions by a squad of the Citadel's elite BX-series droid commandos.

Though Rex assisted Skywalker and Tano in eliminating the droids at their end, the Jedi and clones fell prey to a powerfully magnetized ceiling, which pilfered their weapons and held them out of reach some meters away. As Kenobi, Tano, and Piell used the Force to hold droid commando reinforcements at bay, Skywalker, who had been pulled up to the ceiling because of his prosthetic arm, managed to reclaim his lightsaber and deactivated the magnet. The Jedi and clones quickly re-armed themselves and cut through the droids. Before continuing on with the others, Rex disabled the surveillance cameras in the area, through which Sobeck had been watching them. Once Tarkin and the clone officers had been liberated from their cell, the Jedi decided on a new plan to escape from the Citadel: while Kenobi and Piell took one group to create a diversion, another team led by Skywalker, Rex, Tano, and Tarkin would find an escape route from the fortress. With this tactic, Piell's and Tarkin's halves of the Nexus Route intelligence would remain separated should one of them be recaptured by Sobeck and subjected to interrogation. Using old data from the Jedi Archives, Skywalker located a hallway adjacent to one of the Citadel's original fortress tunnels. Skywalker cut a hole through the wall with his lightsaber, and the group entered the tunnels, with Rex having Fives and Echo replace the severed hole behind them to avoid being detected by Sobeck's pursuant forces.

Heading for the entrance to a pipeline network on the other side of the tunnel caverns, Skywalker assumed a position at the team's rear to guard their flank from the droids sent to recapture them, while Tano led the group onward. Although Rex defended Tano's abilities as a leader from Tarkin, who was skeptical that the young Padawan was capable of guiding them to safety, they eventually found themselves at a dead end. B2 super battle droids and droid commandos soon caught up with them, with the commandos sporting personal energy shields to counter the clones' blasters. While Rex, Skywalker, and their men fought against the battle droids, Tano used thermal detonators that Rex had been carrying in a supply backpack to rupture the obstructive wall, saving two of the explosives to use on the shield-wielding droid commandos. Both the wall and the droids were blasted apart, allowing Rex and his comrades to travel on toward the pipeline. The group entered the large fuel line to ascend to the top of a ridge, where they were to meet R2-D2 and their escape shuttle. Under risk of igniting the pipe's flammable fuel, Rex and the clones deactivated their lights and kept their weapons locked.

Upon exiting the fuel line at the top of the cliff, the Jedi and clones were confronted by a squad of B1 battle droids and LM-432 crab droids. While Skywalker and Tano deflected the battle droids' fire, Rex and Tarkin headed for cover with their men behind some adjacent hills. After joining them, Skywalker used a thermal detonator from Rex to explode the section of the fuel line that they had just exited, leaving the droids in pieces. As Kenobi and the shuttle had not yet reached the pipeline, Skywalker's group turned to their backup plan&mdash;meeting Kenobi at his position instead. Rex helped one of Piell's injured clone officers to the Citadel's rear landing platform, where Kenobi, Piell, and their men were battling Sobeck's forces to reclaim their shuttle, from which they had been separated by the droids. Rex, Skywalker, Tarkin, Tano, and their group joined Kenobi's squad at their cover behind several crates, but their refuge was compromised with the arrival of battle droids aboard STAPs. When Echo attempted to commandeer the shuttle, the craft was blown apart by one of the platform's droid-manned blaster turrets, taking Echo's life along with it. Their only option of escaping off-world now gone with their comrade-in-arms, the Republic team was forced to retreat. Once Kenobi and Skywalker had requested retrieval from Koon and the High Council, the squad proceeded away from the Citadel, across the perilous and difficult-to-navigate landscape of Lola Sayu.

Rex, Cody, and Fives scouted ahead for the group as they traveled through a series of caves flowing with sulfur rivers. Taking advantage of the brief lack of pursuant droids, Piell contacted Mace Windu and Yoda at the Jedi Temple. With Koon's rescue fleet of cruisers already en route to Lola Sayu, Yoda and Windu informed Piell and the others that their rendezvous point with Koon's evacuation ships would be a small island in the middle of a boiling lake of lava. When a trio of droid commandos caught up with the Jedi and clones, Fives tossed a thermal detonator at them, making quick work of their pursuers. The droids did not relent in their pursuit, however, and next tried to surround the Republic team at a cliff, with battle droids approaching along their path and a crab droid attacking from an adjacent cliff face. While R2-D2's reprogrammed battle droids sacrificed themselves to delay Sobeck's forces, the rest of the team used ascension cables to descend to the bottom of the cliff many meters below, and Rex helped a clone officer down the ridge. Despite losing two clones, the group pressed on along the river of lava leading to the rendezvous island. The group soon heard a distant howling and realized that Sobeck had released a pack of hunters to lead his battle droids to them&mdash;specifically, the hunters were dangerous anooba trackers. As the anoobas were not far behind, the Jedi decided to use a nearby cave to their advantage: once Skywalker and Kenobi had led the creatures past the cave, Piell, Tano, Rex, and their men would surprise the creatures and the following battle droids from behind.

After the pack of anoobas passed, Rex and his group rushed to join Skywalker and Kenobi, but they were intercepted by several crab droids. While Piell and Tano faced off with the crab droids, Rex, Tarkin, Cody, and the clones pushed on to Skywalker's position, where they found him and Kenobi in battle with the anoobas and a squad of STAPs. While the Jedi and clones defeated the anooba hunters and droids, it came at a high cost, with Piell dying in combat with one of the anoobas. Tano, to whom Piell had designated his half of the Nexus Route intelligence with his final breath, brought Piell's body back to the others, who were saddened to learn of the High Council member's sacrifice. Even with Sobeck's forces pursuing them, the group paused to honor the fallen Piell, cremating his body in the lava of Lola Sayu. Once Piell had joined with the landscape, the Republic team continued on to the island, with several meters of sulfurous lava between them and the rendezvous point. Skywalker and Cody each connected a cable from the shore to the island, and Rex and Tarkin were the first to make their way across the intense magma. As the others traversed the line, Sobeck personally arrived with a squad of droid commandos aboard STAPs to reclaim his prisoners. A fierce lightfight ensued, and the Jedi and clones battled Sobeck in a final stand against the brutal warden.

Unwilling to let the Nexus Route information fall into the Republic's possession, Sobeck attempted to kill Tarkin but was cut down by Tano. Just as Koon and Clone Commander CC-3636, nicknamed "Wolffe," arrived to rescue the Republic team with a gunship, hordes of crab droids reached the island and surrounded the Jedi and clones. After providing cover fire for the Jedi, Rex and his men boarded Koon's space gunship with their comrades and lifted off from Lola Sayu, leaving the fearsome Citadel and the attacking crab droids far behind. Once the gunship and its starfighter escort&mdash;provided by Masters Adi Gallia, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto&mdash;had returned to Koon's fleet of Star Destroyers, the Republic cruisers escaped to hyperspace, returning the survivors of the Citadel mission to Coruscant. There, the Jedi High Council encountered problems with debriefing the Nexus Route intelligence from Tarkin and Tano: Tarkin had been instructed to take his half of the information directly to the Supreme Chancellor, while Tano, obeying Piell's dying wishes, intended to see that it reached the High Council. To resolve the matter, Yoda personally entered into discussions with Palpatine to determine the best way to debrief the information for the Republic's use in the war.

On the front lines of battle
"Profiteers&hellip; I hate these guys almost as much as I hate ''clankers!" "Leave that attitude on the LAAT, Coric. The Biituians aren't running some Tatooine-style black-market. They're commissioned by the Senate. We're here to review security, not to pass judgment." "Whatever you say, Captain. All I know is that the bread-and-butter business of this planet caused the death of plenty of clones, plenty of Torrent Company boys&hellip; plenty of friends''&hellip;"

- Rex and Coric

Having become a foothold of Separatist strength since the war began, the planet Felucia was caught in a prolonged battle for its position near the valuable hyperlane known as the Perlemian Trade Route. Rex was dispatched alongside Skywalker and Tano to repel the Confederacy from the strategic world, leading a clone division of AT-TE walkers into the heart of Separatist-held territory while Plo Koon coordinated Republic starfighter forces overhead. Rex and his men were opposed by squads of battle droids as they went, but they continued to gain ground alongside Skywalker and Tano. They soon joined forces with Koon and Commander Wolffe to capture a Confederate outpost on the world, to which General Grievous was sending reinforcements to fortify his hold on the system. The Jedi and clones moved their forces into position on a ridge adjacent to the outpost just as a C-9979 landing craft arrived with the droid reinforcements by night. Koon decided on a three-pronged assault plan to secure the outpost: while Koon and Wolffe attacked the base's left flank, Tano would breach the rear entrance with troops from Wolffe's Wolfpack squad. Skywalker, and Rex, meanwhile, would spearhead the frontal assault on the station.

Once Skywalker's Felucian scouts had found a safe route to the path leading to the outpost, Rex positioned half of their men amidst the dense foliage on one side of the passage, while Skywalker did the same along the other flank. With all of their forces in place, Koon had their AT-TE walkers deliver some long-range fire at the outpost from the ridge. The blasts baited the base's droid defenders out of the outpost's front entrance, and Skywalker and Rex began their attack once the Separatists' DSD1 dwarf spider droids had been lured some distance away from the base. Rex and Skywalker cut through the battle droids and joined Koon in capturing the base's command center, eliminating the outpost's tactical droid commander, TZ-33. Although the enemy station had been secured, Tano was nowhere to be found&mdash;unbeknownst to her comrades, she had been captured by Trandoshan hunters and taken to the moon Wasskah for a ritualistic hunt. Their mission on Felucia completed, Koon prepared their forces to return to Coruscant the next morning. Skywalker, meanwhile, had Rex and his men search the outpost and the surrounding area for Tano several times, to no avail. With gunships ready for their departure, Skywalker was forced to call off the search, hoping that his Padawan would eventually be located by Republic forces or spies in the Confederacy. Tano was later rescued from Wasskah and returned to the Jedi Temple safe and sound.

Following the Battle of Felucia, Grievous led a Separatist invasion of the Calamari system, home to the Mon Calamari shipbuilders who were vital to the Republic war effort. After King Yos Kolina of Dac was assassinated by Confederate Commander Riff Tamson, Skywalker and Padmé Amidala were sent to quell the subsequent Mon Calamari–Quarren tensions in the wake of his death, hoping to avoid the impending threat of civil war on the world. Despite their best efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict, Skywalker and Amidala were unable to stop the Quarren from withdrawing from the Republic in favor of an alliance with Tamson and the Confederacy. Learning that civil war on Dac now inevitable and imminent, the Jedi High Council dispatched on the same day a company of clone troopers outfitted for underwater combat to prevent Dac from falling to Separatist control. Rex, Tano, and Kit Fisto were appointed to oversee the reinforcements for the Mon Calamari. However, the battle began before they could arrive when Tamson and Quarren chieftain Nossor Ri led an assault on Dac's undersea capital of Mon Calamari City, where Skywalker and Amidala were being hosted by Captain Gial Ackbar of the Mon Calamari Guard. After arriving in the Calamari system aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer, Rex remained on the command ship's bridge to supervise the clone detachment's deployment into the Calamari Sea.

Outfitted in submersible gear, Tano, Fisto, Clone Commander Monnk, and their clone SCUBA troopers were taken to ocean level by LAAT/i gunships, from which they dove into the waters of Dac. Using OMS Devilfish subs to reach Mon Calamari City, Tano, Fisto, and their men joined Skywalker, Amidala, Ackbar, and Kolina's son, Prince Lee-Char, in the ongoing defense of the city against the allied forces of the Separatists and Quarrens. Thanks to further reinforcements from Naboo's Gungan Grand Army, the Jedi and clones were able to best Tamson's forces, with Nossor Ri and the Quarrens re-allying with the Mon Calamari and the Republic. As the war progressed, Rex made the jump from the old Phase I clone trooper armor to the more advanced Phase II equipment. Despite not particularly caring for the new gear, he developed a unique suit of Phase II armor for himself. Rex and Sergeant Coric were later dispatched to review security on the agriworld Biitu, where the Biituian population was re-purposing Separatist battle droid scrap as raw materials to be sold to the Galactic Senate. Rex and Coric took a detachment of Torrent Company troops aboard an LAAT/i gunship to the Pitor Processing Plantworks, where a disturbance had been reported, though GAR command did not provide specifics.

Upon arrival at the Plantworks, Rex, Coric, and their men were greeted by Foreman Pitor, who was in charge of operations at the plant. Pitor brushed off the report of a "disturbance" and took the opportunity to give Rex and his squad a tour of the facility, which, being the largest of its kind in the Outer Rim, received huge quantities of destroyed battle droids by the day. When Rex questioned Pitor as to why his men's presence had been requested, Pitor revealed that a battle droid calling itself the Reanimator, having forged himself from the bodies of his fallen comrades, had begun to bring the scrap droids back to life. Although Rex and Coric initially had trouble believing Pitor's tale, the Reanimator himself&mdash;an IG-100 MagnaGuard with a faulty neural processor&mdash;attacked Torrent Company at that moment, forcing the clones to take cover. While Pitor barricaded himself in his control center, Rex's men began to fall one by one to the Reanimator and his droid army, until only Rex, Coric, and a third wounded trooper remained. Rex and Coric helped their injured comrade to Pitor's office, where Coric forced Pitor to let them inside. As the Reanimator and his forces closed in on their position, Rex devised a plan to defeat the Reanimator that would put to use Pitor's skills as well as Coric's suicidal sense of duty. Proceeding to the roof of the command center, Rex and Pitor went to operate magnetic grapples that would allow Coric to pose as a clone with Force powers.

When the Reanimator arrived with his battle droids on the roof, Rex's ruse caused the Reanimator to stop operating long enough for Coric to plant a blaster shot through the droid's head. With the Reanimator destroyed, Torrent Company remained at the Pitor Processing Plantworks for another day to eliminate the remainder of the Reanimator's reactivated battle droids. In addition, the report of the incident on Biitu resulted in the Senate agreeing to implement stringent checks on all Biitu-bound salvage shipments to ensure that another Reanimator was not spawned, as the incident had been caused by deliveries of battle droids that had not been fully destroyed. Rex, Coric, and their men received Pitor's thanks and gratitude before departing from Biitu. As they departed, Coric admitted that his rather critical perception of profiteers like Pitor had been adjusted during the incident on Biitu.

The shadows of Umbara
"Sir, if I may address your accusation, I followed your orders, even in the face of a plan that was, in my opinion, severely flawed&mdash;a plan that cost us men, not clones! Men! As sure as it is my duty to remain loyal to your command, I also have another duty: to protect those men.''" "You have a spark of tenacity, Captain&mdash;I'll give you that. I know that I don't command like the Jedi you're used to serving&mdash;certainly not like General Skywalker&mdash;but I have my way. It may be difficult, but these are difficult times, and it's proven'' effective. I suppose your loyalty to your men is to be commended. They seem to admire this. That's important to an effective commander."

- Rex stands up to Pong Krell, defending the well-being of his troops, during the Battle of Umbara

As the Confederacy strengthened its control of vital but isolated supply routes throughout the galaxy, a major point of contention became the planet Umbara, whose Umbaran people had recently seceded from the Republic and were arming the Confederacy with their extremely advanced military weaponry. The Republic responded to Umbara's defection by sending a full invasion force from the Grand Army to secure the strategic Umbara system, which was located in the Expansion Region's remote Ghost Nebula. As part of the numerous clone trooper units dispatched to Umbara, Rex and the 501st Legion joined Skywalker and Kenobi aboard one of the Republic fleet's lead Acclamator-class transports. After Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee breached the Separatists' heavily fortified blockade of Umbara by destroying one of the Munificent-class frigates in the blockade, Skywalker's and Kenobi's assault ship moved in on the Shadow World, so named because it was eternally shrouded in night by the Ghost Nebula. While their troops prepared to land on Umbara, Skywalker and Kenobi held a briefing in their transport's hangar bay with Rex, Commander Cody, and other clones to outline the plan for capturing the world's capital city. Jedi Generals Saesee Tiin and Pong Krell would be supporting Kenobi's and Cody's battle group in their southward attack on the Umbaran capital, while Skywalker, Rex, and the 501st Legion were tasked with intercepting enemy reinforcements to the north of the city. Opposing the Republic forces would be the heavily armed Umbaran Soldiers of the Umbaran militia.

Rex was pleased to learn that he and Skywalker would be joined in their assault by an old friend, Advanced Recon Commando Fives, who was on special assignment for the campaign to retake Umbara. Once all of the Republic forces were ready, the Jedi and clones began their landing on the Shadow World, taking space gunships to the planet's surface. Lieutenant Hawk piloted Skywalker, Rex, Fives, and some of the 501st troops&mdash;including veterans Hardcase and Jesse and new generation recruits Tup and Dogma&mdash;through the planet's thick and obscuring fog, with clone Z-95 starfighters providing supporting escort against attacking Umbaran starfighters. The landing force's complications increased when the gunships were met with dense surface cannon-fire from the Umbaran militia, and Hawk struggled to reach the predetermined landing site despite the difficult conditions. After All Terrain Recon Transports and 501st AT-RT drivers were deployed from the gunships to secure the landing zone against the defending Umbaran Soldiers and Umbaran hover tanks, Hawk brought Rex's and Skywalker's men to the drop site, where they joined the battle and led the 501st Legion's charge on the Umbarans.

During their advance on the Umbaran lines, Rex noticed a nearby ridge, which Skywalker elected to claim so that they could use it as a staging area. The powerful Umbaran hover tanks and heavily entrenched enemy soldiers were relentless in defending their position, and Umbaran starfighters proved an even greater danger, executing strafing runs on the 501st troops. Even with the added threat of a hungry vixus creature, Rex and his men prevailed, taking the ridge and converting it into a temporary post. While monitoring the ongoing battle's progress from the trenches along the ridge, Skywalker noted that Kenobi's battalion was moving toward the capital, followed by a report from Dogma that all of their platoons had reported in. However, the lull in fighting did not last long, as Umbaran Soldiers had moved in from the thick foliage behind the 501st lines to catch the clones off-guard. One of the enemy soldiers released a small but lethal millicreep droid upon the clones, and the Umbarans took advantage of the clones' distraction to ambush them. Rex, Skywalker, and Fives joined the defense of their position from the Umbaran agents, and while Skywalker cut through the millicreep droid, Rex called in an airstrike on the enemy insurgents' positions. Noting that there was an opening to the south of the ridge, Rex recommended that they move their men off the ridge in case of an overshoot with the airstrike, and Skywalker heeded his Captain's advice.

While Skywalker defended their flank, Rex led the 501st platoons out of the ridge trenches to take cover amidst the scattered vegetation just below the hill. They were glad that they had done so, for a pair of BTL-B Y-wing starfighters arrived just moments later to bomb the Umbaran positions. Led by clone pilot Odd Ball, who had been spared from General Krell's assault, the Y-wing bombers dropped munitions on the ridge, eliminating all of the Umbaran Soldiers there. Shortly thereafter, Krell himself landed at Skywalker's position aboard a gunship to deliver new orders to the Jedi General: in response to a request from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the Jedi High Council had ordered Skywalker back to Coruscant without delay. In the interim, Krell would assume temporary command of the 501st Legion. Skywalker was concerned about leaving his troops in the middle of a battle, but Rex assured him that they would have the Umbaran capital under Republic control by the time that he returned. Before departing from Umbara aboard the gunship that had dropped off Krell, Skywalker introduced Rex to Krell, speaking highly of the Captain. Although Rex told Krell that it was an honor to serve with him, as the Jedi Master had amassed an impressive record of key victories throughout the war, Krell&mdash;a hard leader who strictly observed protocol&mdash;dismissed his words as mere flattery and made it clear that his command style was of a much different temperament than that of Skywalker. Despite recognizing that Krell would be difficult to work with, Rex readied his men to move out with their new General for the Umbaran capital.

While following Krell on an overland march through the Umbara hills to the capital, Rex and his men were attacked by a trio of flying banshees and defensively raised their blasters against the predators. They were unable to kill the banshees, which each grabbed a trooper and carried them into the air, and only Krell's intervention stopped the creatures' rampage. After killing the banshees and saving their clone victims, Krell did not sympathize with the troops' plight and briskly led them onward to the capital. Navigating the rough and hostile terrain, Rex and the 501st trekked across the Umbara hills for twelve hours straight, and Kix, the unit medic, voiced concerns for the troops' increasing fatigue. Although Rex suggested to Krell that they make camp on a nearby ridge, Krell maintained that they needed to take the capital as swiftly as possible&mdash;to him, the clones' comfort was not as important as completing their mission, as the other Republic battalions were relying on their success. Upon reaching the main road leading to the Umbaran capital, Rex and Krell met to resolve their plan to secure the city. Rather than utilizing Skywalker's original plan for capturing the city through numerous surgical strikes, Krell opted to pit the entirety of the 501st platoons against the capital's defenses in a full frontal assault, a plan that Rex saw as misguided.

Despite Rex's concerns that they did not know the extent of the capital's defenses, Krell refused to have his orders questioned and commanded the Captain to lead the 501st in a relentless march to the capital city, with explicit orders to continue marching regardless of Umbaran resistance. Rex reluctantly obeyed Krell's directives and led the 501st platoons and AT-RT walkers on the route to the city, while Krell remained behind to command them from a distance. Tup and Fives regarded the plan as reckless, but although Rex acknowledged that he, too, disagreed with Krell's strategy, he focused his men on staying alert on the battlefield. Shortly thereafter, the clones encountered mines that had been planted along the road, and troopers Ringo and Oz died from the detonations. While everyone else laid low, Rex had Fives execute a sensor sweep of the road ahead to root out any more mines. There were indeed more explosives planted along the route, and the 501st troops were subsequently careful to avoid setting off more of the booby traps. However, an even greater danger emerged when they were ambushed by Umbaran Soldiers from the surrounding jungle. In spite of lacking cover from the Umbarans, Rex ordered his men to maintain their position on the road, though the Umbarans soon began to advance on them. Though Rex took out several Umbaran Soldiers himself, the 501st's casualties mounted as the enemy insurgents attacked them from all sides.

With the 501st surrounded by Umbaran Soldiers, Rex ordered a retreat back along the road so that they could draw the Umbarans out of the darkened jungle surroundings. Although the clones' rear flank endured heavy casualties from the pursuing Umbarans, Rex's plan worked, and the 501st platoons were able to return many of the casualties to the Umbarans, who were forced to abandon their pursuit of the clones. Immediately thereafter, Rex was confronted by a greatly displeased Krell, who was outraged that the Captain's retreat had ceded control of the road to the Umbarans. Fives protested to Krell's accusations of Rex, only to have his defiance silenced when Krell ignited one of his lightsabers toward him. Rex nevertheless stood his ground against Krell, stating that he had followed the General's orders and had subsequently lost many men, whose well-being it was his duty to defend. Noting Rex's opinion, Krell dismissed him and departed, though Rex and Fives were unable to ascertain if Krell's words had been meant as a compliment to the Captain. The Umbarans soon returned to continue their assault on the 501st, and Rex mobilized his men to defend their position from the insurgents. As the 501st Legion entered the jungle to combat the Umbarans, the clones were further assaulted by Umbaran starfighters, whose ray shields proved effective in repelling their blaster fire. One of the starfighters moved in low to barrage them with heavy fire, and Rex and his men were unable to shoot it down before it pulled out of the jungle vegetation. Rex elected to press toward the Umbaran lines before more starfighters returned to assail them.

When Kix called for support to save some of the wounded clones who had been shot down near the Umbarans' front lines, Rex led his men forward to cover Kix's position from the Umbarans, having Jesse man their right flank and Dogma their left. Kix was able to rescue several of the fallen troopers and administered temporary stimulants to them until they could receive proper treatment for their injuries. In the midst of the chaotic fighting, Krell received word that Kenobi was unable to secure the capital city because of its unyielding defenses, which were being resupplied by an Umbaran airbase to the west of the city. Before his troops could advance on the capital, Kenobi required the 501st to capture the airbase so that the city's supply lines would be severed. Krell obliged and had Rex map out the coordinates to the airbase, while their platoons immediately prepared to move out. Proceeding to the airbase, Rex, Krell, and the 501st stopped at a steep cliff that overlooked a ravine leading to the Umbaran base. Examining the Umbaran defenses with a set of electrobinoculars, Rex observed that the base was being heavily guarded, with at least three tank divisions and numerous cannon installments contributing to its defenses.

Krell decided that they would advance through the central gorge and besiege the airbase in another full forward assault, as they had against the capital's defenses without success. As Rex pointed out, the narrow ravine would force them to advance only in single squads and would thus make them easy targets. Although Rex recommended that they perform a reconnaissance of the area to find an alternative, more secure route to the airbase, Krell decreed that they did not have time for such reconnoitering because Kenobi was depending on them to eliminate the enemy base as soon as possible. Despite disagreeing with Krell's strategy, Rex obeyed his orders. While 501st Sergeant CC-1119, nicknamed "Appo," remained with Krell, Rex gathered his men together at the bottom of the cliff and organized them into two divisions, one that he would personally lead and another to be overseen by Fives and Hardcase. Many of the troops&mdash;including Jesse, Kix, Tup, and Fives&mdash;opposed Krell's tactics, and though Rex attempted to defend Krell's recklessness by comparing him to Skywalker, Fives continued to oppose their interim General's misguided plan. Taking Fives aside, Rex reminded his veteran comrade that their duty as soldiers was to follow orders, even if that meant sacrificing their lives for victory. Rex led his men forward through the canyon, and after stopping to observe the airbase's defenses one last time with Hardcase and Fives, he split the 501st squads into the two groups. While Rex and his team proceeded around the ravine bottleneck's left outskirts, Fives took his division through the other side of the gorge.

Fives's group was the first to meet Umbaran resistance in the form of an Impeding Assault Tank, a deadly crawler tank that burrowed out of the ground to ambush them. As several of the ray shielded tanks surrounded them, Fives requested rocket launcher support from Rex, and the Captain sent one of his men forward with an RPS-6 launcher. When that clone was injured by an Impeding Assault Tank, Kix tended to the fallen trooper while Hardcase took up the rocket launcher. By firing a missile directly into the cockpit of one of the tanks, Hardcase set off a chain reaction that blew the vehicle apart. There were still four more Impending Assault Tanks to deal with, however, and Rex quickly ordered his men to regroup and take cover from the mechanical monstrosities. With only a few seconds' lead over the relentless tanks, Rex had his troops plant thermal detonators along the ravine corridor through which the tanks were advancing, and the clones then lured the crawlers into the booby-trapped passage. Once the tanks had fallen into their trap, Rex detonated the explosives, and he was blown forward from the resulting explosion that consumed all four of the tanks. Continuing on toward the airbase in a single group, Rex and his men made their way through the seared wreckage of the tanks, one of which was still active. On Rex's word, Hardcase blasted the tank's cockpit apart with a missile, and Rex made quick work of the Umbaran Soldier who had been piloting the vehicle. The clones also cut through several banshees that had been picking at some of the slain troops, though Rex had to order Kix to abandon the fallen clones and move on.

As they neared the airbase, Rex and his men stopped when they felt the ground shudder from doubtlessly more Umbaran forces. Sure enough, when Rex surveyed the area ahead with electrobinoculars, he discovered that a far more deadly threat had been unleashed upon them: Umbaran mobile heavy cannons, titanic six-legged juggernauts that were each fitted with a powerful electromagnetic plasma cannon. Rex immediately ordered his men to fall back as the mobile heavy cannons opened fire on their position, but the 501st platoons suffered severe casualties at the hands of the juggernauts. Despite requesting reinforcements from Krell to battle the mobile heavy cannons, Rex was told that the rest of the 501st was guarding the entrance to the gorge so that the Captain's troops could press forward to the airbase. Forced to obey a direct order from Krell to stand his ground against the cannons, Rex mobilized his men to move out, telling Kix to keep the wounded as quiet as possible. Although Fives and Jesse objected to Krell's head-on assault plan, neither of them had any ideas for an alternative strategy, so they fell in line with Rex despite their misgivings about his command.

The clones' RPS-6 launchers proved ineffective against the mobile cannons' heavy armor, and the troops continued to endure overwhelming losses from the Umbarans. In the tumult of the assault, Kix called out for help with getting the wounded to safety, and Rex assisted him in carrying one of the wounded troopers to cover in the Umbara vegetation. When Kix made to rescue more of the wounded and expressed his resentment with Rex's orders for the contrary, Rex stated that it was more important for him to survive the current crisis so that he could tend to the injured later. Although Tup was losing hope that they would be able to hold out against the mobile heavy cannons, Rex, surveying the airbase once more, had an idea about how to destroy the armored juggernauts. He sent Fives and Hardcase on a mission to infiltrate the airbase and commandeer two of the Umbaran starfighters, which would provide them with some much-needed air support against the tanks. Krell was not happy when he learned of Rex's plan and ordered him to continue his frontal strike under threat of being relieved of duty. Rex did so with the intention of distracting the Umbarans long enough for Fives and Hardcase to pull through with their stealth incursion, trusting that they would be able to do so. Leading his men against the juggernauts, Rex took up an RPS-6 rocket launcher and used it against one of the tanks, to no avail. He narrowly avoided being crushed by one of the juggernauts and managed to disable its electromagnetic plasma cannon with a rocket, which prompted the tank's Umbaran pilot to advance his vehicle on Rex's position.

At that moment, Hardcase and Fives returned to the gorge aboard their pilfered starfighters, and their artillery succeeded where the clones' rocket launchers had failed, penetrating the tanks' armor and laying waste to the juggernauts. Rex and his comrades on the ground were saved, and they commended Hardcase's and Fives's actions. With the mobile heavy cannons compromised, Krell sent Sergeant Appo and the rest of the 501st Legion forward to capture the airbase, where the Umbarans were using four more mobile heavy cannons to assault the Republic fleet in orbit of the world. After establishing an outpost staging area directly south of the airfield, Rex had the 501st troops move in, and they captured the base from the Umbarans with the assistance of a Jedi Knight. The airfield's mobile heavy cannons were eliminated, and its supply lines to the capital city were also severed. The Umbaran Soldiers at the base were taken prisoner and were locked in the outpost's prison levels, while Rex and his men took a moment to recover from their hard-won victory. While reporting the successful capture of the airbase to Krell, Rex recalled the fact that many troops had died to take the base, to which Krell simply replied that the Captain had yet to understand the price of victory. None of the clones approved of Krell's sentiment, and Rex agreed with Fives that it was Krell who would never realize the clones' sacrifices.

Against General Krell
"We all know who's responsible for what happened out there. What we don't know is why. Something has to be done. What I'm proposing is highly treasonous. If any man chooses to opt out, do it now. This point forward, we are entering uncharted territory. My orders are we arrest General Krell for treason against the Republic."

- Rex mobilizes his men to arrest Pong Krell

The 501st Legion established a staging area at the Umbaran airbase, making use of its barracks and attempting to crack the Umbaran starfighters' access codes so that the ships could be converted for Republic use. However, the capture of the base had come at high casualties, further spawning mistrust with Krell's leadership among the clone troopers. Furthermore, Krell and Rex soon discovered from Kenobi that the seizure of the airbase had not fully severed the capital city's supply lines as they had hoped. Speaking with Kenobi through a connection established at the airbase's command center, Krell and Rex learned that the Umbarans were instead receiving arms shipments from a Separatist supply ship in orbit of Umbara. With that new source of weaponry, the Umbarans were continuing to execute long-range missile attacks on Kenobi's position, preventing him from securing the capital. When Rex inquired after the possibility of destroying the orbital supply ship, Kenobi stated that they had been unable to do so thus far due to the Separatist fleet's greater strength, leading Krell to resolve to take the capital regardless of the threat of the enemy missiles. Before Kenobi could respond, the connection was severed due to enemy interference. Proceeding to ground level, Krell ordered that the 501st Legion be ready to move out in twelve hours for an assault on the capital, ignoring Rex's concerns that they should coordinate their attack with Kenobi's battalion.

After witnessing a nearby missile strike that annihilated an area adjacent to the airbase, Rex joined his men in Hangar 9-4, where the clones were working to break the starfighters' access codes. Upon learning of Krell's intention to continue with their assault on the capital in spite of the long-range missiles, Fives, Jesse, and Tup were disgusted with their General's head-on tactics. Rex did not agree with Krell's plan either, but he did not have a better option to suggest to Krell. Fives solved this dilemma when he revealed that Jesse had cracked the starfighters' access codes&mdash;they now had the ability to infiltrate the Separatist blockade and eliminate the supply ship. Rex took Fives's proposal to Krell, who dismissed the plan out of a lack of faith in the clones' ability to pilot the alien-designed starfighters, in spite of Rex's admissions for his men's faculty for adaptivity. When Rex broke the news of Krell's decision to Hardcase, Tup, Jesse, and Fives in the barracks, Fives proposed that they continue with their plan and accept the consequences, which would at the very least involve being court-martialed. Rex stated that he would have given the strategy his support if the clones had more time and proper training, but he resolved that none of them were pilots.

Arguing with Fives outside of the barracks, Rex did not approve of his comrade's intention to disobey Krell's orders, believing that such conduct was without honor. Unable to convince Rex that Krell's orders were not worth following, Fives stubbornly left to round up some clones for the mission. Fives recruited Jesse and Hardcase as pilots for the Umbaran starfighters, but they drew Krell's attention when Hardcase accidentally liquidated the door of Hangar 9-4 while test-piloting one of the starfighters. Although Fives and Hardcase managed to convince Krell that the damage to the hangar had been the result of an enemy booby trap encoded in the starfighter, Krell only used the incident as further evidence to Rex and Fives that the starfighters were too dangerous for conversion into Republic craft. Krell consequently grounded the starfighters, leaving Rex exasperated with Fives's and Hardcase's actions. That night, while leading a full perimeter sweep around the airbase to patrol for enemy activity, Rex was sought out by Fives, Hardcase, and Jesse, who revealed that they were going to attack the supply ship in spite of the consequences for disobedience. When asked by Fives if he intended to stop them, Rex resignedly replied that he would not be able to help them when they got caught. After returning to the airbase, Rex witnessed the three clones' launch from the hangar bay, and he was shortly thereafter confronted by Krell about the illegal launch. Covering for his men, Rex claimed that he had authorized their launch so that they could reconnoiter the delta in preparation for the 501st's march on the capital, promising a full report to Krell.

Having concealed Fives's plan from Krell, Rex was next challenged by Dogma and Tup, who were aware of their comrades' departure and sought to report them to Krell to avoid being found complicit in their insubordination. Rex intercepted the two young clones and managed to turn them away before they could speak with Krell, forcing them to go through him if they wished for an audience with Krell. Eventually, Rex and Tup witnessed a massive explosion through the clouds over Umbara, and he realized that Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase had succeeded in destroying the Separatist supply ship. When only Fives and Jesse returned, Rex discovered that Hardcase had sacrificed himself to eliminate the orbital craft. They were then interrupted by Sergeant Appo, who reported that Krell had called for their presence in the command tower. While meeting with Krell, Rex attempted to claim responsibility for his men's actions, stating that he had ordered them to carry out their disobedient plan. Fives insisted that he be punished instead, for he had committed the offense against orders, but Krell cared little for the Advanced Recon Commando's display of honor. Krell proclaimed that Fives and Jesse would be court-martialed, for he tolerated no insubordination among his troops. While Fives and Jesse were stripped of their weaponry and locked in the airbase's brig, Rex tried to convince Krell against court-martialing the two troopers. Krell came to agree with him, but not for the same reasons: believing that the insubordinate Fives and Jesse were defective, and convinced of the need to set an example for the rest of the men, Krell decided that the pair's punishment would instead be execution. Krell ordered Rex to immediately prepare a squad for the execution, leaving Rex shocked with his orders.

Rex, Sergeant Appo, and several other clones reluctantly went to retrieve Fives and Jesse from the prison levels for their execution. Although the two troopers were disgusted when they learned of their punishment, they resigned to their fates and did not bear Rex any blame for the debacle. Locked in binders, Fives and Jesse were brought outside for the execution, to be delivered by a squad that included Kix and Tup. When Dogma gave the order to fire upon the convicts, however, Kix, Tup, and their colleagues could not bring themselves to shoot at their own brothers and misfired, instead hitting the wall behind them. Although Dogma insisted that they follow Krell's orders, Rex overrode him, having realized that Fives and Jesse did not deserve to be executed for their insubordinate yet heroic actions over Umbara, regardless of Krell's decision. While everyone save for Dogma stood with him, Rex had Fives and Jesse freed from their binders, telling Dogma that he would have little success with finding others to carry out the execution. Rex and Dogma were soon called to report to Krell in the command tower, where they faced the General's extreme displeasure at their disobedience. Nevertheless, Rex stood up to Krell a second time, meeting Krell's threats for retribution with stoic determination of his own.

Rex's standoff with Krell was interrupted by a transmission from trooper Waxer of Cody's 212th Attack Battalion, who, like Rex, was a veteran of the Battle of Ryloth and the Second Battle of Geonosis. Rex was unaware, however, that the message had been forged. Waxer alleged that during the 212th's ongoing battle with the Umbarans, some enemy soldiers had ambushed one of the clone platoons and pilfered weapons and armor. Ordering that Jesse and Fives be locked back up in the brig to await their postponed punishment, Krell had Rex mobilize his men to preempt the Umbarans, intending to strike their enemies before they could do the same to them. Deploying the 501st Legion for the capital city, Krell made a point to warn Rex not to be confused by the enemies' clone trooper armor, and Rex repeated the warning to his troops. Leading Tup, Dogma, and their forward platoon into the briar fens of the forest, Rex had his men bring along mortar launchers as longer-range artillery for use against the Umbarans. The 501st platoon was soon assaulted by enemy forces, though the shrouded environment prevented them from identifying their attackers. Rex sent his troopers forward with the mortar launchers, and they bombarded the enemy lines with mortar rounds. When their opponents approached them through the foliage, Kix, using his night vision filters, saw that they were wearing clone armor and concluded that they were disguised Umbarans, just as Krell had warned. The 501st attacked the enemy soldiers, who sported the armor of the 212th Attack Battalion, and sustained heavy casualties in their offensive.

As Rex was to soon discover, the attacking soldiers were not Umbarans. While heading through the battlefield, Rex noticed a fallen enemy soldier in a nearby grove and removed the trooper's helmet to verify his identity. To Rex's abject horror, the face underneath was not Umbaran, but one of a clone trooper. Distraught at his discovery, Rex immediately ran out onto the battlefield, frantically ordering his men to cease their fire&mdash;their enemies were not Umbarans, but fellow clones. Rex yelled out at his troops to take off their helmets to show the attacking clones that they were not enemies, taking the risk of doing so himself to halt their opponents' assault. Rex even tackled one of the enemy soldiers and removed the trooper's helmet, showing both sides that all of them were clones, none of them enemy Umbarans. The 212th-marked troopers took off their helmets as well, equally aghast that they had attacked their brethren from the 501st. As the tension of the battle abated, replaced only by shock about the unintentional massacre, the 501st and the 212th tended to the wounded and the fallen, who were many in number. While a distressed Tup and Dogma questioned why the 212th had attacked them, Kix sought out Rex and reported that he had found Waxer, who had served as the platoon leader from the 212th. Kix led Rex and Dogma to Waxer, who was on the verge of death, being tended to amidst the vegetation by another 212th trooper. Removing his fellow veteran's helmet, Rex spoke face-to-face with the ailing Waxer and asked him who had ordered the 212th to attack the 501st.

With his final breaths, Waxer revealed that it was Krell who had ordered the attack. Krell had supplied the 212th with coordinates to assault enemy forces, who, they had been told, were wearing clone armor. Krell had thus deceived the 501st and 212th platoons into attacking each other. While Waxer passed on, Rex, who had long suspected that Krell's recklessness was rooted in darkness, realized that Krell was in fact a traitor to the Republic. Rex resolved to arrest Krell on charges of treason, and he mobilized the 501st and 212th survivors to bring Krell to justice. Knowing that his proposed move against Krell was highly treasonous, he gave his troops the option to opt out, though all of them stood by him and heeded his orders. Returning to the Umbaran airbase with his men, Rex first stopped by the prison block with Kix and Tup to free and re-arm Fives and Jesse, who fell in line with the other troops. They all proceeded to the top of the command tower, where they stormed into the control room and surrounded Krell, directing their blasters at their General. Rex relieved Krell of duty and demanded his surrender, though Krell responded by proclaiming the clones' inferiority and releasing a massive Force pulse against his would-be captors.

Activating his double-bladed lightsabers, Krell used his weapons to great effect, cutting through many of the clones in a matter of moments. Rex narrowly avoided being hit by a trooper whom Krell killed and summarily kicked in his direction. Refusing to be undermined by the clones, Krell broke out of the command tower, smashing through the viewing window and forcing his way through the troops who confronted him below. By the time Rex, Jesse, Fives, and the others made it to ground level, Krell had escaped from the airbase into the surrounding forest, leaving a long trail of carnage in his wake. Before they could pursue Krell, Rex and his comrades were challenged by Dogma, who tried to remain loyal to his General and proclaimed that all of the clones were traitors for turning against the disillusioned Jedi Master. Dogma raised his blaster at his fellow clones, who did the same, but Dogma's uncertainty with his actions grew when Rex told him that the clones were not mindless, obedient soldiers&mdash;they were more than droids, and they had a duty to make their own decisions when it came to ill-natured orders. After hesitating, Dogma lowered his blaster, and he was subdued by several other troopers. Ordering that Dogma be taken to the prison block, Rex led the remainder of his men after Krell into the forested surroundings of the Umbaran base. The 501st troopers split up into groups to search for Krell, and after a while, Rex checked with the other squads to see if anyone had found any sign of the deposed General. One of the groups had encountered him, and Fives spotted them up ahead, all of them falling to Krell's blades.

Approaching Rex and his squad, Krell jumped into the trees and used the Force to magnify his voice, taunting the clone troopers and their loyalty to him. After distracting the clones with his Force-magnified taunts, Krell revealed himself and attacked the troopers, dealing a great number of casualties. While Rex, Fives, and their diminishing troops held the line against Krell, who savored his power and went so far as to battle the clones without his lightsabers, Rex was contacted via comlink by Tup, who had a plan to defeat Krell that required that the General be lured toward him. Tup simply asked Rex to trust him, and the Captain observed his request, ordering all of the troopers to circle around Krell and lead him in Tup's direction. Rex and his comrades soon saw why Tup was luring Krell toward him: Tup sought to trick the General into being captured by a nearby vixus. Tup succeeded, and although Krell was not eaten by the hungry creature, he was left winded upon breaking free of the predator's tentacles. Tup killed the vixus and stunned Krell at point-blank range, and Rex congratulated the rookie trooper for cannily subduing the General. The four-armed Krell was locked in a set of binders, and Rex and his men brought him back to the Umbaran airbase, where they installed him in the detention block in a cell opposite that of Dogma. Confronting the shacked Krell, Rex discovered that the Jedi Master had fallen to the dark side. Krell had foreseen that the Jedi were going to lose the Clone Wars and strove to become Count Dooku's apprentice, intending to curry favor with the Sith Lord by driving the Republic from Umbara.

Although Rex refused to let Krell's ambitious plans come to fruition, the Jedi Master believed that the Umbarans would soon retake the airbase, at which point he would be set free by the Separatists. Troubled by their deposed General's resolve and seeking a solution to the problem, Rex, Fives, Jesse, and Tup returned to ground level, where they witnessed bombings overhead from the Umbarans' long-range missiles. Appo reported to Rex that the command center's transmitter had been repaired, as it had been offline not due to enemy interference, but because of sabotage. Appo went on to convey that Kenobi's forces had conquered the Umbaran capital city, though the remaining Umbarans were now coming to recapture the airbase. Rex ordered Appo to mobilize all of their men on the base's perimeter in preparation for what looked to be a full-scale enemy assault. Rex realized that Krell had sabotaged the transmitter and had been against the clones from the beginning, leading Fives to conclude that if Krell was captured by the Umbarans, he would betray all of the Republic intelligence in his possession to the enemy. Jesse and Tup agreed that something had to be done to prevent Krell from striking a crippling blow to the Republic, and Rex reluctantly conceded that they would have to execute him in order to silence him.

Rex returned to the prison block with Fives and Jesse, and they brought Dogma out of his cell while Rex told Krell to turn around and step toward the back wall. Ordering the shackled Krell onto his knees, Rex drew one of his blaster pistols and had Jesse deactivate the shielded door of the General's cell. Although he knew that he had to execute Krell to avoid allowing his information to fall into Separatist hands, Rex hesitated with killing an unarmed Jedi, even in spite of Krell's crimes against the clones. Krell sensed Rex's hesitation and savored his fear, calling him out on his inability to deliver the killing shot. In the end, Krell was executed by Dogma, who lifted one of Fives's blaster pistols for the effort. Having been one of Krell's most fervent and loyal supports, Dogma had been one of the most shaken about Krell's betrayal, and he believed that he had to kill Krell. Their General permanently removed from duty, Rex and his comrades, Dogma included, exited from the detention level. Presently, Republic LAAT/i gunships landed at the airbase, and Dogma was taken away on one of them, exchanging a nod with Rex before leaving. Fives informed Rex that Kenobi's battalions had routed the last holdouts of Umbarans&mdash;the Republic was now in complete control of Umbara, with the Shadow World entirely secured. With the Battle of Umbara over, Rex wondered aloud why they were fighting the war and what would happen to the clone troopers when it ended. Fives, Jesse, Tup, and the others did not have an answer to Rex's queries, and they simply watched as Dogma's gunship lifted off into the darkened Umbara sky. Following the campaign, Rex reported to his superiors on Krell's treason against the Republic and his betrayal of the Jedi Order, though responsibility for Krell's execution remained with the arrested Dogma.

The Zygerrian Slave Empire
"Come now, Master Kenobi. I know a Jedi won't kill an unarmed man.''" "''I'm no Jedi."

- Keeper Agruss is killed by Rex

Following the Confederacy's invasion of the Togrutan colony of Kiros&mdash;a peaceful, artisan society that had, up until that point, maintained isolation from the war&mdash;the Jedi High Council responded by dispatching a Grand Army detachment led by Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi to liberate the world. Troops from Rex's 501st Legion and Cody's 212th Attack Battalion were assigned to the joint task force, which arrived at Kiros aboard a Republic Navy fleet ten rotations after the Separatists' arrival. Serving as one of the officers aboard the flotilla's lead Venator-class Star Destroyer, Rex discovered that there were no Separatist craft in the system from the earlier invasion force, and he moved their Star Destroyer into position for deployment on Kenobi's order. The Republic troops transferred to an Acclamator-class transport, whereupon they departed for the planet's surface with AT-TE and AT-RT walkers aboard LAAT/i gunships. Upon landing in Kiros's capital city, Skywalker and Kenobi elected to patrol the city for Separatist activity on BARC speeders. Rex manned the sidecar of Kenobi's speeder while Tano rode with Skywalker, with other speeder-mounted 501st troopers falling into line behind them as they proceeded through the city streets. Moving through the city, Rex and his comrades were surprised to encounter a complete lack of Togruta colonists, whom Skywalker and Kenobi assumed were hiding to wait out the fighting on their world.

Kenobi believed that they would have an easier time driving the Confederacy from Kiros without having to worry about the risk of civilian casualties, but Rex was apprehensive about the situation, noting that the Separatists had never hesitated in the past to exploit civilians as living shields. As the Jedi and clones headed for the city center, the silence from the absent colonists was broken by the appearance of Separatist forces ahead, taking the form of BX-series droid commandos riding Flitknot speeders. Rex and his men quickly returned the approaching biker droids' fire with their BARC speeders' repeating blasters, and they cut through a number of the droid commandos before passing by them. When the battle droids caught up with them again from behind, Rex and Tano revolved their sidecars and focused their blaster fire on the enemy units, eliminating the remainder of the droids among the two of them. Approaching the Governor's tower at the center of the city, the Jedi and clones encountered more Separatist defenses, this time including two Armored Assault Tanks.

While his comrades took care of the battle droids, Rex made quick work of one of the tanks, blowing it to pieces with a rocket from his RPS-6 rocket launcher before it could fire at his men. Tano destroyed the other tank with a pair of thermal detonators, and the last of the battle droids in the area were eradicated. On Kenobi's order, Rex dispatched his 501st troops to secure the vicinity around the city center. AT-TE walkers were brought in as the Republic forces established a perimeter around the Governor's tower, wherein the Separatist commander, a Zygerrian known as Darts D'Nar, had barricaded himself. When Kenobi went to negotiate terms for surrender with D'Nar, he discovered that D'Nar had set up thermal annihilator bombs all over the city, to be used as last-resort leverage against the Republic forces. Skywalker and Tano deactivated all nine of the annihilator bombs before D'Nar could use them to destroy the capital city, and they also managed to prevent D'Nar from escaping aboard his Zygerrian slave ship, the Tecora. Although the Republic succeeded in securing Kiros, it was revealed through a planetary bioscan conducted by Admiral Yularen that the Togruta colonists, all 50,000 of them, had completely vanished from Kiros.

Being interrogated by Skywalker and Tano, D'Nar revealed that the Zygerrian Queen was reviving the Zygerrian Slave Empire of old, a slave-trading government that had prospered for centuries before being previously dismantled by the Jedi Order and its slave trade forced into the criminal underworld. The Togrutas were to be auctioned off into slavery on Zygerria, but the Jedi were determined to prevent the colonists from becoming slaves. To that end, Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, and Rex took the Tecora to Zygerria, where they intended to infiltrate the Slave Empire and locate the missing Togrutas. En route to the Zygerria system, Rex, Skywalker, and Kenobi assumed uniforms to pose as Zygerrian slave traders, while Tano masqueraded as a Togruta slave. After landing at a Zygerrian slave market, Rex and his comrades set off on their mission. While Skywalker distracted the Zygerrian Queen, Miraj Scintel, Rex and Kenobi were to find the Togruta colonists. Splitting up from Skywalker and Tano, who were taken to the Zygerrian Royal Palace by Prime Minister Atai Molec, Rex and Kenobi proceeded to the Royal Palace's outdoor slave cells, where they discovered only one Togruta prisoner, an ailing Governor Roshti of Kiros. With royal Zygerrian guards patrolling the compound, Rex kept watch for Kenobi to retrieve Roshti, who was took weak to reveal anything about the whereabouts of the other Togruta colonists.

Recognizing the need to get Roshti away from the Royal Palace, Kenobi commandeered a brezak lizard mount from a Zygerrian guard and helped Rex bring Roshti onto the creature's back. As other Zygerrian guards noticed them and ordered them to stop, Rex took up the brezak's reins and steered their mount for the other end of the slave compound. However, Kenobi was shot in the shoulder by a Zygerrian guard, and both he and Roshti fell off the brezak. Rex was forced to leave them behind and escaped on the brezak while Kenobi and Roshti were captured. That evening, Rex proceeded to the royal auction house to provide support for Skywalker and Tano at Queen Scintel's Royal Slave Auction, in which the Togruta colonists were to be sold into slavery. While a Zygerrian auctioneer introduced the recaptured Roshti as a sample of the Togrutas, Rex caught the eye of Skywalker, who was with Tano and Scintel in the Queen's private viewing box, and showed him his acquired Zygerrian blaster rifle as a gesture of being ready for action. Rex and his comrades were met with a grim surprise, however, when Kenobi was brought out onto the auction block as a special guest of the Queen.

Scintel denounced the Jedi as slaves to a corrupt Republic, and she ordered Skywalker to whip Kenobi to teach the Jedi Master his "place." Just as he activated his shock whip, Skywalker verified that both Rex and Tano were prepared for action, then attacked the Zygerrian guards on the auction block with Kenobi. As the guards in the stands opened fire on his comrades below, Rex disarmed one of the Zygerrians and shot at another group of them, exploding that part of the floor. With two blaster rifles in hand, Rex was stopped by a trio of royal guards, and he was then attacked from behind by another guard. Both Rex and his assailant fell out of the stands, landing on the ground several stories below. Before Rex had much time to recover, Scintel brought in reinforcements to subdue the infiltrators. Rex was electrified and knocked out by the shock whip of one of the Zygerrian guards, and Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano were also defeated. While Skywalker was forced to become Scintel's personal bodyguard, Rex and the others became the Queen's leverage to keep Skywalker in his place. Tano was imprisoned outside the Royal Palace, and Rex and Kenobi, fitted with shock collars, were meanwhile sent to be processed as slaves with a similarly constrained Roshti. The Zygerrian slave ship Spartan transported them to the volcanic world Kadavo, where the Zygerrians maintained a mining complex over a volcanic crater. There, Rex, Kenobi, and Roshti discovered the population of Kiros, whom the Zygerrian Keeper Agruss was subjugating into slavery to be processed by the Zygerrian Slave Empire.

As part of his welcome for Kenobi, Rex, and Roshti, Agruss dropped seven of the Togruta colonists into the crater below before their eyes, making it clear that the Togrutas would suffer for any trace of defiance from Kenobi. Rex and Kenobi were quickly forced into work alongside the Torguta slaves in mining materials at the facility. On one occasion, while Kenobi was commenting to Rex on the state of the despairing Togrutas, he was interrupted by one of the Zygerrian slave maters, who whipped Kenobi as punishment for speaking. The Zygerrian then turned his shock whip on a nearby Togruta slave, forcing Kenobi to submit to save the colonist's life. Rex and Kenobi thus realized the Zygerrians' strategy: they intended to break Kenobi's spirit by punishing the Togrutas instead of him. As Rex's and Kenobi's days in slavery continued, they were brought before Agruss in handcuffs in the facility's command center to speak with none other than Count Dooku. Having learned of the Zygerrians' capture of the Jedi, Dooku had forced an uncooperative Queen Scintel from power and had subsequently ordered the execution of Agruss's Republic prisoners, effective immediately. Just then, the slave ship Tecora made an unscheduled landing at the Kadavo mining complex. Aboard were Skywalker, Tano, and R2-D2, who had escaped from Scintel's custody on Zygerria and were launching a rescue mission to free Kenobi, Rex, and the Togruta slaves.

The Zygerrians destroyed the Tecora, though an unfazed Skywalker and Tano began to cut through the facility's blast door with their lightsabers. Meanwhile, the Zygerrians rounded up all of the Togruta colonists in a holding cell and prepared to dump them into the volcanic crater below if Skywalker did not cease his rescue attempt. Nevertheless, Skywalker continued his efforts when reinforcements arrived at Kadavo in the form of Plo Koon and a Republic Star Destroyer. With the complex under attack by Koon's starfighter forces, Kenobi used the Force to sever his and Rex's shock collars, and the two attacked their Zygerrian captors. In the ensuing struggle, Rex was able to disable his handcuffs with a Zygerrian's electrostaff and took down several of the slavers on his own, pilfering an electrostaff from one and head-butting another. However, Agruss activated the mechanism that would open the Togruta slaves' holding cell onto the crater below, jamming the controls so that Kenobi and Rex could not deactivate it. As Rex and Kenobi finished off the remainder of the Zygerrian guards, the cornered Agruss attempted to barter for his life, taunting Kenobi that a Jedi would not kill an unarmed man such as the Keeper.

Though Kenobi was unable to pass judgment on him, Agruss failed to account for Rex, who did not share Kenobi's reservations and threw an electrostaff at the Keeper. The staff plunged straight through Agruss and through the back of his hoverchair, killing him and causing his chair to crash him into an adjacent wall. Their work done, Rex and Kenobi left the command center and rejoined Skywalker on the facility's landing pad, where Koon's Wolfpack landed an LAAT/i gunship to retrieve them. In the meantime, Admiral Coburn took an Arquitens-class light cruiser to assist Tano in rescuing the Togruta slaves from their holding cell. Once the Togrutas were safe, the Republic's LAAT/i gunships moved in and compromised the facility's supports, destroying the Zygerrians' slave processing complex and plunging it into the crater below. Following the successful rescue, Rex, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano were taken to Koon's Star Destroyer with the Togruta colonists, who began to receive treatment to recover from their ordeal in enslavement. Receiving Governor Roshti's thanks for the rescue of his people, Rex and Commander Wolffe debriefed the operation with their Jedi commanders in the Star Destroyer's hangar.

Protecting Chancellor Palpatine
"Captain Rex, I need to speak with General Skywalker. He's not responding to my calls.''" "Sir, General Skywalker is&hellip;unavailable." "Where is he, Captain?" "I&hellip;can't say, sir." "You can't, or you won't''?"

- Mace Windu questions Rex as to Anakin Skywalker's whereabouts

When Supreme Chancellor Palpatine became the target of a Separatist kidnapping plot, Rex and some men from the 501st were assigned to be bodyguards for Palpatine, serving as extra security at the Chancellor's Suite in the Republic Executive Building. The Jedi High Council meanwhile authorized an undercover operation to infiltrate the kidnapping plot, necessitating that Obi-Wan Kenobi be presumed dead to go undercover as the sniper Rako Hardeen. After learning from Palpatine that Hardeen, who had apparently killed Kenobi but was actually Kenobi in disguise, was on the planet Nal Hutta with bounty hunters Cad Bane and Moralo Eval, Skywalker went to hunt down the man who had killed his former Master, while Rex and two of his men remained with Palpatine on Coruscant. That night, Mace Windu contacted Rex via holoconnection and asked after Skywalker, who had failed to respond to his calls. Although Rex attempted to hide his General's unsanctioned departure from Coruscant, Palpatine revealed that he had sent Skywalker to Nal Hutta, as the Chancellor believed that the High Council should have more faith in Skywalker and his abilities. Palpatine ended the conversation with Windu by telling Rex that he was going home for the night, and Rex and his men escorted him home. Two days later, the Jedi Order was able to prevent Palpatine from being kidnapped at the Festival of Light on Naboo, thanks in part to Kenobi's undercover efforts.

Leader from the front
"Permission to take point, sir?''" "I'm'' always first, kid."

- Hevy and Rex

Gruff, no-nonsense, and tough as carbonite nails, the elite Clone Captain CT-7567 was an aggressive and battle-scarred veteran of the Clone Wars. Hardened by countless engagements with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Rex, as he chose to be named, retained a reputation as one of the best and toughest clone troopers in the galaxy. Freethinking, fearless, steadfast, and resilient, he preferred to be more diplomatic than the headstrong Advanced Recon Commandos when it came to operating with his superiors, though in some cases he did not hesitate to give higher-ranking Jedi officers his blunt opinion. The brave and selfless Rex regarded his assignments with the utmost priority, and true to his genetic engineering, he often put them before his own safety. A cunning warrior who was versed in military strategy, Rex led from the front and, in some cases, would have fought ahead of his Jedi General, Anakin Skywalker. Far from being recklessness, his courage and willingness to jump into the fray helped the Republic win numerous victories. His outspokenness and aggression notwithstanding, he held that it was a soldier's duty to follow orders and faithfully executed them &mdash;even when he disagreed with them &mdash;with little concern for his own well-being. Although he was willing to lay down his life for victory if need be, he eventually overcame his hardwired obedience to orders and realized that in some cases, soldiers had to make their own decisions.

Loyal to the Galactic Republic and his fellow troopers on the battlefield, Rex was resolute in his dedication to his comrades. He recognized the need for galactic order and believed that the war was crucial to preserve the civilization safeguarded by the Republic. In spite of sometimes disagreeing with the management of the Republic's war effort by the Jedi High Council and the Galactic Senate, he remained committed in his service to the Republic. While on the war's front lines, he often become concerned for the safety of his Jedi officers, particularly for Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, with whom he served during the war. As such, Rex was hesitant to follow orders that put the Jedi in danger, especially those that came from the Jedi themselves,  and was willing to sacrifice his life for the Jedi. He came to regard his clone brethren as his home and family, and he never forgot the many brothers whom he had lost to the war. His first loss of a unit, Torrent Company, at the Battle of Teth hardened him even further, and the fact that he had been beaten to a standstill, stared death in the face, and lived to tell such a tale was visible in his character from then on. When overwhelmed by battle droids during that campaign, Rex did not waver in his commitment to the mission, in spite of the possibility that the battle could be his last. While leading a rookie clone squad against a full Separatist detachment for control of Rishi Station, he disregarded the odds against him, focusing only on his objective to retake the Republic base.

Despite witnessing enough of his comrades die to know that there was nothing glorious about war, Rex was unafraid to do his duty as a soldier of the Republic, even if it meant placing his own life and the lives of his troops in jeopardy. He was willing to fight to the last man if necessary, and during the Second Battle of Geonosis, he even denounced a retreat as a cowardly tactic. Toughness aside, he viewed military service as an honor and greatly cared for the troops under his command, refusing to leave anyone behind if possible. He held the Separatist battle droids in contempt for all the damage that they had wrought on both him and his clone brethren, and cutting through droids became a frequent way to avenge his fallen brothers. Whenever the decimation of his men took its toll on him, he channeled his rage toward leveling the score with his droid adversaries, putting his strong feelings to use. Despite his enmity with the Separatists, he lived by rules of engagement that transcended unwarranted behavior, regardless of provocation. Rex was both angered and saddened by the near-eradication of Torrent Company at Teth and the loss of troopers Vere and Ince during a later rescue mission. After Vere's death, Rex pushed his anger to one side so that it would serve as fuel for the job at hand, intending to surrender to his feelings when in private. Sometimes, he even saw death as a method to assuage his belief that he had failed his men and to stop wondering how many more of them he would lose the next day. Yet he never gave up, watching over his troops throughout the pan-galactic conflict. Rex's care for his rookie 501st troopers on JanFathal was so substantial that he was surprised that his primary instinct was not to look after Tano, whom he usually guided, but to take care of his men.

Individualism and beliefs
"So if you're a Captain, and I'm a Jedi, then technically I outrank you, right?''" "In my book, experience'' outranks everything."

- Ahsoka Tano and Rex, upon becoming acquainted with each other for the first time

A seasoned soldier born to fight for the Republic, Rex was not often given to softness or sentimentality of any kind. According to Skywalker, he was very wound tight as a rookie, eager to carry out orders to the letter, but he became less stiff as time progressed. He did not allow himself to be intimidated by his enemies, from battle droids to Dark Jedi like Asajj Ventress. He even expressed humor in the direst situations, such as during the Battles of Christophsis and Teth, as he believed that humor had many uses. He allowed himself to feel fear at rare moments, as he recognized that such anxiety was necessary to understand the severity of a situation, though he refused to let such feelings stop him from doing his job. He possessed an unusual individualism as a clone trooper, and though he took on a unique nickname, he opted to keep its origins to himself. Relying on instinct, he sometimes preferred to shoot first without bothering to ask questions, as was the case when a droid commando tried to pass itself off as a clone trooper at Rishi Station. Like many other clone troopers, Rex regarded Kamino with a degree of personal importance, as it was the closest place that he had to a proper home. As such, when it was discovered that the Confederacy was planning an invasion of his homeworld, he immediately requested to be part of Kamino's defenders against the impending threat. He fought proudly alongside Commander Cody and their brethren to repel the invading battle droids from Kamino, even rallying a group of young clone cadets to join the fight for their homeworld.

Rex did not always look to a soldier's rank for information and instead judged by experience, particularly battlefield experience, which outranked everything in his system of beliefs,  even the seniority of his superiors. When addressing the rookie troopers of Rishi Station, he used the derogatory "shinie" slang to underline their inexperience in combat. He was pleased when the rookies rose to the challenge and acquitted themselves well in their first battle; he placed a handprint of Rishi eel blood on Echo's armor to recognize the trooper's valor and his transition to a seasoned warrior, and he also honored Hevy's ultimate sacrifice in ensuring the destruction of Rishi Station. He and Cody succeeded in sharpening the rookie clones into an effective fighting force. Rex subsequently inducted both Echo and Fives into the 501st Legion for their valiant service, and he later promoted them to Advanced Recon Commandos for their courage and determination during the defense of Kamino. Rex even saw a bit of himself in the two troopers.

A disciplined captain, Rex had honor as a soldier, respecting and executing orders even when he disagreed with them. He was good at maintaining a stoical front around his troops when facing setbacks. Even when deeply unsettled about the comm jammer situation at Kothlis, he was careful to maintain a focused outward attitude, to the point that his unease could only be sensed by Skywalker through the Force. Although Rex was not easy to rattle, he was visibly startled when he overheard trooper Checkers complimenting his skills as an officer, and he snapped at Tano and Checkers to "stow the chatter" after that comment. As a commanding officer, Rex was efficient and thoughtful, and his actions and choices reflected his proficiency. He often stayed focused on the current situation by keeping himself busy, which he found easy to do with his numerous day-to-day tasks as a soldier. He knew that over-preparation never hurt and kept his men ready for battle at all times. Opting for maximum situational awareness on the battlefield, Rex was not partial to the Republic's spacegoing navy. He preferred to have ground under his boots whenever possible, where he could use his natural senses to take in the environment around him, unbounded by the restrictive panes of a starship's viewports. Even so, he learned to respect the willingness of civilian starship contractors to live or die by their workmanship's quality, as such workers often went space-side with assault craft on the war's front lines. He fell back on old-fashioned soldering whenever necessary, using hand signals to convey orders depending on the situation.

Rex learned what he could from the Republic's HoloNet News information bulletins and was used to absorbing information in this manner from his early Kaminoan flash training. He sometimes made judgments based on the contents of his training, and he respected diplomatic negotiations as a kind of fighting that he had not been trained for. On the other hand, he saw fighting simply as a skill in which he was versed, and he did not claim to absolutely like it when around Tano. Unlike some other officers in the Grand Army, he did not look down upon malformed clones like 99, whose strong spirit earned his admiration, and was greatly saddened when the maintenance clone lost his life during the Battle of Kamino. Some of Rex's views were less open-minded, as he initially could not understand the pacifist Lurmen's choice to avoid fighting, attributing such behavior to a lack of pride. Rex was extremely passionate about certain matters and had several manners of etiquette that he strictly observed. He despised using the inconsiderate tally sensor to remember his troopers' names because it was an admission that he did not personally know his men. Additionally, he valued his troops' privacy while not on the front lines. After the five rookie clones under his command opened up their own comlink channel, Rex avoided intruding on their conversation, even if they were cursing him for the recent loss of trooper Vere, and would have only overrode the frequency in an emergency. Outside of life-or-death situations, he abstained from barking out orders to his subordinates or superiors, believing that such conduct was improper.

A Human male clone, Rex was tan-skinned and stood 1.83 meters tall. He was versed in Galactic Basic Standard, the primary language of the Republic. Because his natural growth was genetically accelerated by the Kaminoan cloners, he was ten years old by the time of the Battle of Christophsis in 21 BBY, though his physical development was that of an older man. Rex paid considerable attention to his hairstyle, as he found hair under a helmet to be bothersome and annoying. As such, he regularly kept his naturally black hair shaved to a fine polish to prevent it from interfering with his concentration on the battlefield. Even so, he dyed his hair a light blond, his most obvious unique trait, and let it grow out to a certain extent on various occasions. He experimented with other hairstyles as well. After choosing to support the Bylluran Athletic bolo-ball team when it reached the finals&mdash;despite his Kaminoan upbringing, isolated from the usual sense of "tribalism" that most sports fans harbored&mdash;Rex briefly dyed his hair blue as an expression of his support. However, he eventually deemed his new hair style to be undignified and inappropriate for a commanding officer, and he shaved it to better fit in with his black-haired troops. Rex had a small scar beneath his lower lip, and he sometimes bared his allegedly perfect teeth in a feral smile when adrenalized for a coming engagement with the Separatists.

Effective commander
"I used to believe that being a good soldier meant doing everything they told you. That's how they engineered us. But we're not droids. We're not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions."

- Rex, in response to Dogma's attempt to stop him from arresting Pong Krell

A well-respected clone trooper captain, Rex viewed military service as an honor and acquitted himself as the leader of the 501st Legion. He projected an air of authority to his troops and earned their respect and obedience in this fashion. Leading by example, he saw the importance of being confident on the battlefield and motivating his troops to fight for victory. To him, honor and service were the most important parts of being a clone trooper, and he encouraged his men to put such conduct into practice. As was the case during the battle to retake Rishi Station, he inspired his rookie troops to execute their objective in the face of opposition from a large detachment of the Separatist Droid Army. He trusted the men under his command and was a role model to them, and he remained determined to achieve success in the face of danger, from frequently overwhelming enemy numbers to the life-threatening Blue Shadow Virus. Staking his life by the chain of command, he honored and followed superiors' orders regardless of whether he agreed with them, as he saw honor in doing so. Still, he came to recognize the value of making one's own decisions as a soldier, questioning orders instead of mindlessly obeying them.

In the absence of orders from superiors, Rex took matters into his own hands, doing his best to ensure the survival of himself and his men. Although he was willing to place his own life and the lives of his troops in danger if it meant accomplishing his duty as a soldier, he was loyal to his men and greatly cared for their well-being, for which he earned their admiration. All of Rex's traits in leadership were a testament to his effectiveness as a military leader, which was noticed by many of his colleagues, from troopers Checkers and Tup to Jedi General Pong Krell. Rex was well aware of his own talents as a leader and therefore did his best to put them to good use, for the betterment of his men. Honoring his own code, he believed that as soldiers, the clone troopers had a duty to follow orders and, if necessary, lay down their lives for victory. Rex's leadership skills were put to the ultimate test during the Battle of Umbara, where he was forced to balance the well-being of his troops with his commanding officers' strict orders. During that campaign, Rex found difficulty with uniting the 501st Legion under the leadership of Krell, an interim Jedi General with whom he did not see eye-to-eye. Krell was focused on completing his mandates regardless of the cost, and he frequently employed strategies that the 501st perceived as reckless and costly. Nevertheless, Rex kept his men focused on their military objectives and set an example for the troops under his command, doing his best to respectfully cooperate with Krell despite the Jedi General's disagreeable behavior toward the clones.

Although Rex acknowledged to Fives that he did not agree with Krell's frontal assault plan to take the Umbaran capital, the Captain concentrated on being alert on the battlefield. While executing Krell's often reckless orders, Rex was tenacious in safeguarding his men's lives, even if that meant deviating slightly from Krell's intended plans. Under Krell's strategy to mount a head-on assault on the Umbaran airbase, Rex encountered difficulties with carrying out the orders with the 501st Legion, as many of his men were appalled at the plan's potential for high casualties and viewed it as a suicide mission. When Fives, who was becoming more and more opposed to Krell's apparent recklessness, continually criticized their orders, Rex took his fellow veteran aside and attempted to have him support Krell so that the others would accept the plan and follow suit, though he was not successful in convincing Fives to do so. In the absence of alternative methods to defeat the Umbaran mobile heavy cannons, Rex heeded Krell's command to mount a full head-on attack on the juggernauts, though doing so caused even Kix to begin to resent the Captain's orders. Looking for alternative methods to defeat the juggernauts, Rex devised on his own a plan to have Fives and Hardcase commandeer Umbaran starfighters from the nearby airbase, and he trusted the two troopers to see their mission through even when Krell did not have faith in such an operation.

Rex supported Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase when they developed a plan to assault the Separatist supply ship in orbit of Umbara, though he abandoned the idea after it was summarily shot down by Krell. Rex did not agree with Fives's intentions to carry out the plan against Krell's orders, but he realized that he would not be able to talk Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase out of doing so, as he recognized their belief in the impropriety of Krell's orders. Instead of forcing them to stand down, Rex made it known that he would not be able to save them from Krell's wrath once they were caught. Yet in spite of his word to Fives, Rex covered for them from Krell, and he also prevented Dogma and Tup from reporting to Krell their insubordination. When Fives and Jesse returned and were brought before Krell, Rex attempted to assume responsibility for their disobedience, claiming that he had ordered them to disobey Krell and sought to have their full punishment placed upon himself. Nevertheless, Fives returned the gesture by honorably reporting the truth of their disobedience. Rex outright disobeyed Krell's subsequent orders to execute Fives and Jesse. He knew that if such punishment was rendered even once, then all of the 501st Legion could eventually receive a similar demise, and he refused to let his men be subjected to fear of execution.

Rex was horrified when Krell deceived the 501st into attacking fellow clone troopers from the 212th Attack Battalion. The incident left him distraught with having killed his own brethren, but it also instilled in him the need for justice, to prevent similar disasters from befalling his troops. He thus resolved to lead his men into the "uncharted territory" of arresting Krell for treason against the Republic. Given the treasonous nature of his proposal, Rex knew that he could not force his men into participating in the move and gave them the option to opt out, though all of them except for Dogma supported his decision. Rex subsequently assumed overall command of the 501st Legion from Krell, whom he set out to detain. When Dogma tried to stop them from arresting Krell, claiming that they were all traitors for doing so, Rex was willing to have him locked up in the brig, though he still retained some respect for Dogma despite disagreeing with his staunch loyalty to orders. For the entirety of the episode, Rex did not waver in his commitment to his men, for whose safety he sought to remove Krell from action.

War of loyalties
"What if I am choosing the life I want? What if I'm staying in the army because it's meaningful to me?''" "And how is it meaningful?" "Because I'm part of the most pivotal moment in the history of the Republic. If we fail, then our children and their children could be forced to live under an evil I can't well imagine." "If you were to have children, of course, but&hellip;that would be against the rules, wouldn't it? Isn't that what somebody programmed you to believe, Captain?" "''No, Cut, it's simply what I believe. It doesn't matter if it's my children or other people's children."

- Rex maintains his ideologies during a discussion with Cut Lawquane

During the war, Rex swore to protect all Republic citizens from harm, and his promise extended even to the disagreeable Chairman Chi Cho. At the Battle of Orto Plutonia, Rex knew that his men were outnumbered and were risking their lives because of Cho's foolishness, but he nevertheless respected Cho's ill-advised but lawful commands, as Cho had Senatorial authority. For all his wartime service, however, Rex's challenges were not only posed by his enemies. His commitment to fight for the Republic was tested multiple times simply from his service in the war. While he was aware that he and his clone brothers had been bred to fight for the Republic and had been forced into the war without a choice, Rex made the best of the situation. He knew that the politics and ideology of fighting were beyond his influence and instead focused on the day-to-day activities of looking out for his brothers in arms, operating with a steely determination. When it came down to the essence of his commitment, it was not his relentless Kaminoan training or his loyalty to the Republic, but his dedication to his men and Jedi officers that kept him in service. His compassion and selflessness as a commander was evidenced at Kothlis when, despite being severely injured, his first concern was for the welfare of his troops and comrades, not his own. His loyalty was so potent that even if he had not been born to serve, he found the prospect of abandoning his brothers and friends to be unimaginable.

From experience, Rex learned to cope with his doubts about his origins as a clone trooper. Whenever the morality behind his manufactured birth was tested and his indoctrinated loyalty to the Jedi and the Republic challenged, he instead recalled the fact that the men under his command depended on him to lead them&mdash;and that he would never be able to fight for the Republic if he questioned or scrutinized his birth's ethics. In this way, Rex put aside his insecurity with his obedience for the greater good of the Republic so that he would be able to support his Jedi officers. Rex's strong loyalty to the Republic and the Jedi came into stark contrast with Sergeant Slick's hatred of the Jedi and betrayal of his comrades during the Battle of Christophsis. After Slick was revealed to be a Separatist spy, Rex displayed contempt toward him but was visibly unsettled with his comrade's view that the clone troopers of the Republic were slaves to their Jedi commanders. Despite Slick's claim that he had been striking a blow for all clones, Rex drew the conclusion that the Sergeant's actions&mdash;particularly the fact that he had put his brothers' lives at risk by helping the Separatists&mdash;showed that the clone spy did not love and care for them as he so believed.

Rex's commitment to fighting for the Republic remained undeterred during his later discussions with the clone deserter Cut Lawquane, who had left the Grand Army relatively early on in the war. After first meeting Lawquane, Rex's lack of patience for those who would abandon their duty came into play, and he made his contempt for the deserter known. Once he had assumed a more respectful attitude toward Lawquane, Rex maintained that his beliefs had not been programmed into him, as Lawquane suggested, but that they were simply his own. Rex believed that his continued service made him a part of the most pivotal moment in the Republic's history and that the Grand Army's failure to defeat the Confederacy would mean the insurrection of an evil that he could not well imagine. Despite disagreeing with Lawquane's objections to and outlook on the war, Rex came to respect Lawquane, who viewed their service as more expendable to the Republic, as possessing a different type of loyalty&mdash;not to the Republic, but to his adopted family. Adding to his grudging but sincere regard for Lawquane was the deserter's brave effort to repel invading droid commandos from his family's home. When the time came to end his stay with Lawquane's family, Rex forwent his initial adamancy on turning in the fugitive Lawquane and instead returned Lawquane's hospitality by choosing not to report him as a deserter. In spite of Lawquane's actions, Rex concluded that he was certainly not a coward. Before departing, Rex politely refused Lawquane's offer of a place at the farm in order to avoid encroaching on Lawquane and his family.

As the Clone Wars continued, Rex feared that the Republic was beginning to view the clone troopers as a disposable army that lacked importance. He nevertheless upheld the mindset that the clone troopers' responsibility was to carry out and die for their missions when necessary. As he argued with Fives during the Battle of Umbara, this belief stemmed from his own code, not from being engineered to think as such by the Kaminoans. In spite of his doubts about the clones' place in the Republic, he preserved his belief in the system for which he and his men were fighting, which required them to obey orders regardless of whether they agreed with them. He held that the clone troopers were not independent of one another: they were part of something larger than themselves, and it was thus not up to them to disobey orders in favor of strategies that they deemed more effective. Yet he was forced to draw the line when his loyalty to orders required that he see out General Pong Krell's command to execute troopers Fives and Jesse for insubordination. Despite knowing that he and his brethren had been engineered for obedience to superiors, Rex thus discovered that in some cases, it was necessary to make one's own decisions instead of blindly following orders like battle droids. Although he retained his loyalty to the Republic despite the incident with Krell, the Battle of Umbara left a lasting impression on his outlook as a clone trooper. In the face of so many casualties, he questioned the point of the war and wondered what would happen to the clones when the conflict ended, when they would no longer be needed as soldiers.

Steadfast soldier
"Master Krell, this is Rex, my first-in-command. You won't find a finer or more loyal trooper anywhere."

- Anakin Skywalker, introducing Pong Krell to Rex

During the war, Rex became acquainted with a number of his brethren. He was good friends with Commander Cody, with whom he worked in several missions, and their close relationship mirrored that of Skywalker and Kenobi&mdash;Rex's impulsiveness and superb instincts in battle won Cody's admiration, although Cody often worried that he put too much faith in them. Nevertheless, Cody's penchant for procedure tempered Rex's impulsiveness, making them a good fit. After Rex fought alongside Sergeant Boomer countless times, Boomer became one of his most trusted allies and a close friend, as did Sergeant Coric of Torrent Company and Advanced Recon Commando Fives. Rex also shared an acquaintance with Commander Ponds and came to rely on fellow 501st trooper Denal for his instincts and expertise in combat. Aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon's Leveler, Rex found that he was comfortable with others who understood him as a fellow soldier, as opposed to Coruscant civilians who never would. Pellaeon described Rex as a solid, sensible chap who allegedly told very good jokes when not being the obedient solider around Skywalker. Cody admired Rex as a smart man, and Kenobi believed that he always thought on his feet. Tup held his leadership in high regard, and Checkers saw him as one of the Republic's best commanding officers. Callista Ming interpreted Rex as a hands-on commander who, on account of his duty as a soldier, did not want to look like he was letting others do the dirty work by sitting back while his comrades reconnoitered JanFathal's capital of Athar.

Serving closely with Skywalker throughout the Clone Wars, Rex learned much from the Jedi General's style of leadership and daring improvisation, learning to always think on his feet and to never let seemingly overwhelming odds dissuade him on the battlefield. He adopted Skywalker's inclination for unconventional and unorthodox combat tactics, which often yielded spectacular results against the enemy. Rex was as headstrong and as brave as Skywalker, and it was the duo's similar lack of "by the book" methods that allowed them to get along so well and become such an excellent team. From his service with Jedi officers on the war front, Rex witnessed them in action, and he learned to both respect and never doubt their resolve or abilities. He saw them as figures of authority from his first encounters with them, and he could not remember ever regarding them in a different manner. In turn, the Republic's Jedi Generals came to rely on him during battles, and his performance as an honorable military leader effected his being well-respected by Jedi officers and clones alike. However, he sometimes disapproved of the preference to debating over fighting that some of the Jedi possessed. On the other hand, Skywalker matched Rex in bravery, aggression, and decisiveness, and the General's "soldiery" traits helped Rex to form something of a friendship with him. He worked closely with Skywalker on the battlefield, offering thought-out suggestions about strategy as he saw fit, and respected Skywalker because he put himself on the line with his troops. Even though Skywalker maintained an authoritative demeanor of command at times, Rex did not hold such behavior against his General, knowing that respecting the chain of command was necessary in a good officer.

Rex shared Skywalker's aggression, free thought, and occasional recklessness &mdash;a combination that that got them both in and out of trouble. Like the rest of the 501st's Torrent Company, he was truly devoted to Skywalker, and he was proud of the trust that his General invested in him. Skywalker in turn thought highly of Rex, believing him to be the finest and most loyal trooper with whom he had worked, and introduced him to General Pong Krell as such. As a soldier, Rex was loyal to Skywalker both on the battlefield and at a personal level, as was the case with other members of the 501st Legion. When Skywalker was away from his troops, Rex kept him regularly apprised with the situation to prevent his General from facing the consequences of being caught out of the loop. He was not upset when Skywalker was unable to aid Torrent Company during the Battle of Teth: true to his belief that the mission always came first, he understood the Jedi's mandate to return Rotta the Huttlet to Tatooine. The time that Rex spent with Skywalker was such that he even became aware that his General had feelings for Senator Padmé Amidala, though he was unaware of the full extent of their attachment. On some occasions, he pitied Skywalker, who was often prone to guilt and regret when forced to prioritize assignments over serving alongside his Captain. He became used to Skywalker's personal style of command and worked well with his Jedi General. Besides his friendship with Skywalker, Rex was acquainted with Kenobi, Skywalker's own former Master. Rex made it a goal to procure a laugh from Kenobi on the battlefield with his sarcastic jokes, though he did not have much success. In spite of his respect for his Jedi officers, Rex did not share all of their beliefs, particularly regarding the Jedi Code. Whereas Kenobi hesitated to kill the unarmed Keeper Agruss despite the Zygerrian's crimes as a slaver, Rex had no such reservations and acted decisively, killing the Keeper.

After meeting Tano on Christophsis, Rex admired her spirit, though he was concerned with her initial naivety and arrogance toward her commanders, particularly Skywalker. Once the Padawan and Captain reached an understanding of each other, they began to form a strong bond and supported each other as the galaxy-shaking war progressed. Rex often addressed Tano as "kid" instead of a more formal title. Rex and Tano came to respect each other, and the Captain earned her trust with her life. He defended her proficiency against others who expressed hesitancy with her competence, including fellow officers like Gilad Pellaeon and Wilhuff Tarkin. In addition, Rex encouraged Skywalker himself to maintain his faith in his Padawan during a confrontation with Asajj Ventress on Taronda. Rex's attitude toward Tano was such that Skywalker came to trust him with her, and Skywalker additionally recognized that some of the Padawan's lessons were better learned from the Captain instead of himself.

Rex helped Tano through several tough situations, including on Maridun, where their group was forced to find medical attention for a grievously wounded Skywalker, and at JanFathal when her beliefs in the Jedi Code were challenged. Rex also guided Tano in her first command position at Ryloth and assisted her by covering for her with the troops when she unintentionally demonstrated her insecurity with the role. Although he was skilled in strategy and carefully identified the obstacles that hindered Tano's plan to break the Separatist blockade of Ryloth, he remained respectful toward her and did not outright criticize her tactic, instead supporting her through her command. On occasions when Tano was unable to voice her full concerns to Rex because of security reasons surrounding certain assignments, Rex fully understood the reasons behind her withholding of confidential information, and he did not take it personally. As Tano's teacher in military matters when Skywalker was not present, Rex preferred to train by example, and it was in this manner that he often instructed Tano on the front lines of the war. Among his lessons for Tano was that smart remarks were unhelpful and disruptive in times of protocol, especially when they were directed at her Master. He also mentored her in leadership, instilling in her the importance of inspiring one's troops and leading by example on the battlefield, no matter the situation. Although in some cases he knew when she was concealing her fears from him, including those about her Master's life, he did not criticize her for being afraid; instead, he supported her in what ways he could.

The trouble with Krell
"That's because you were the biggest fool of them all, Dogma! I counted on blind loyalty like yours to make my plans succeed!''" "That will never happen. You're a traitor, General. And you will be dealt'' with as one."

- Pong Krell, arrested and subdued, is confronted by Rex

By the time of the Battle of Umbara, Rex had become used to Skywalker's more personal style of command. He thus came into conflict with the 501st Legion's interim Jedi General on Umbara, Pong Krell, a hard leader who strictly adhered to the chain of command. Rex initially respected Krell for his impressive military record, but he found that Krell was difficult to work with because of his apparent lack of regard for clones&mdash;Krell often addressed them by their official designations instead of their personally chosen names, with which Rex took issue. Still, Rex nurtured the belief amongst his troops that as long as they treated Krell with respect, they would all cooperate well. While directly serving under Krell, Rex attempted to voice suggestions about strategy to him as he did with Skywalker, only to have his advice spurned by the Jedi Master, who was obdurately confident in his own methods and refused to tolerate any hint of doubt or insubordination. Rex frequently saw Krell's assault plans as flawed and reckless, as they often involved head-on attacks that cost them many men, but still did his best to see Krell's orders through. Yet he did take some liberties to preserve the lives of the troops under his command. After being accused by Krell of failing to claim the road leading to the Umbaran capital, and even after Krell further forced an uncooperative Fives to stand down by igniting his lightsaber, Rex firmly stood his ground against the Jedi General. He defended his troops' well-being and removed his helmet to speak Krell face-to-face, asserting that the clones were men rather than faceless, rank-and-file soldiers as Krell implied.

Rex's tenacity and loyalty to his troops won Krell's respect, but he still failed to see eye-to-eye with Krell as time went on. As Rex soon discovered, Krell did not lead his troops from the front like Skywalker, who inspired confidence in his men, Rex included, by putting himself on the line with them in the dangers of the battlefield. While confronting Umbaran mobile heavy cannons in the battle to take the Umbaran airbase, Rex disagreed with and protested to Krell's plan for a head-on assault, though he was forced to obey Krell's orders. At the first chance for an alternative, less costly strategy, Rex authorized two of his men, Fives and Hardcase, to secure two Umbaran starfighters from the nearby airbase to use against the juggernauts. Although Krell did not approve of his plan and even threatened to relieve him of duty for insubordination, Rex allowed Fives and Hardcase to carry out their stealth incursion, which proved successful in eliminating the Umbaran tanks. When Krell later stated that he had yet to understand that high casualties were the price of victory, Rex's respect for Krell waned, and he agreed with Fives that it was Krell who would never understand the clones' sacrifices.

Rex continually disagreed with Krell's self-justifications that they were on their own without support from the other Republic forces, especially as Krell's plans indicated the possibility for greater casualties. Yet though he did not agree with Krell's tactics, Rex had a duty to follow orders and intended to see them through with honor. Even so, he allowed Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase to carry out their plan to assault a Separatist supply ship in orbit of Umbara, against Krell's decree, and went so far as to cover for them during their absence. Rex remained calm while lying that he had sent the troopers on a reconnaissance assignment, claiming that he had taken it under his own authority to authorize their use of the locked-down Umbaran starfighters, and he was thus able to convince Krell of this cover story. When Krell ordered that Jesse and Fives be executed for their disobedience, Rex disobeyed the General's decree, maintaining that if such punishment was delivered for heroic actions, then one day every member of the 501st Legion could be faced with a similar fate. After the incident, his respect for Krell eroded as he continually refused to be intimidated by the General's threats for retribution, leaving Krell frustrated with his refusal to carry out the execution. Beginning to question Krell's authority as well as his sanity, Rex went so far as to suspect that Krell had betrayed the Republic, and his suspicions were proven correct when the General turned the clones against one another on the battlefield.

Rex was appalled with Krell's crimes against his men, especially since Krell was a Jedi Master. From that point onward, he resolved to treat him as a traitor, risking charges of mutiny to arrest Krell for treason against the Republic. Rex deplored Krell's fall from the Republic ideals and his quest for power with Count Dooku, and he refused to be intimidated by Krell's confidence in his own actions. With the imminent danger of the Umbaran militia advancing on the airfield, Rex reluctantly agreed with Fives, Jesse, and Tup that it would be necessary to execute Krell to prevent the deposed General from turning over his Republic intelligence to the Separatists. When about to execute Krell, Rex remained undeterred by Krell's taunts about being in a position of power. Yet for all the casualties that Krell had caused, and in spite of recognizing the necessity of executing Krell, Rex found it difficult to kill an unarmed Jedi. His hesitation further heightened and exploited by Krell's derision, Rex was unable to go through with executing Krell, who was instead shot by Dogma.

Skills and abilities
"That wasn't so tough.''" "Still sharp as ever, Rex." "''It's all in the wrist."

- Rex and Ponds, after the former defeats a Vulture droid

Rex's natural abilities reached the attention of the Kaminoan cloners and led him to be recommended for command training and intensive programmed learning on Kamino. He emerged on the battlefield as a skilled and cunning warrior, one who sported expertise in a variety of strategies and fighting styles. As an expert in multiple forms of combat, he was skilled in armed and unarmed fighting. He was knowledgeable in the use of a jetpack, taking squads through the most difficult of flight paths. He was additionally well-versed in reconnaissance and military tactics, and he was capable of leading specialty clone units when the need arose. His abilities were such that he came to be considered one of the best soldiers in the Grand Army. Rex greatly valued being an accurate shot with a blaster and thus honed a proficiency in marksmanship. He was able to hit both fast-moving targets&mdash;such as a flying fuel cell on Skytop Station or a Single Trooper Aerial Platform on Lola Sayu &mdash;and distanced marks alike, eliminating a gun emplacement on Geonosis from a point several hundred meters away. Rex knew his weapons like any good soldier and placed his life by his armor and gear, but he also knew that equipment alone could not win a battle&mdash;a soldier's mind was his greatest tool. Relying on intelligence rather than weaponry, he combined a commando's gift of improvisation with the toughness of an infantryman.

Having been trained to resist interrogation as a prisoner of war, Rex was adept in mental resistance and was able to shield himself from a Force mind trick performed by the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress. Thanks to his strong will and focus, he managed to resist her potent influence in the Force. He had an ingrained fast reaction time, even when away from the battlefront, and responded instantly with his blaster to the appearance of a Rishi eel on the Rishi moon, killing the predator with a single shot to the eye. Rex recognized the danger of hesitating in battle, even for a split second, as such actions would give the Confederacy's battle droids an opportunity to gain the upper hand over him. He therefore resolved to eliminate all of the enemies in his path, doing so without pause or even having to think about his maneuvers. He was quite smooth and casual in combat against the battle droids, as noted by Skywalker during the Battle of Christophsis. He was relentless in using his abilities and equipment against his adversaries, whether they were Separatist droids on Ryloth or aggressive Talz warriors on Orto Plutonia, the latter of whom he battled with a steely determination.

Rex was able to hold his own against the larger units within the Separatist Droid Army, including octuptarra magna tri-droids and heavily armed Vulture droid starfighters. Though he learned to dread the latter the most of all of the Separatists' combat droid models, he stood his ground against them. He was quite strong and was able to lift the injured Chairman Chi Cho without assistance. Additionally, he was able to escape defeat at the hands of a menacing assassin probe on the Coronet by employing his strength to grab and prevent the attacking droid's pincers from impaling him; he then managed to kick the large droid off himself. Against ruthless winds and menacing electro-mines on Lola Sayu, he was able to free-climb the cliff to an entry point to the Citadel at extremely high elevations, regardless of the hazardous lack of secure handholds along the rock face. Despite having a temporarily paralyzed arm during the Battle of Saleucami, Rex was able to roll and fight in blaster combat against several droid commandos as if he did not have the physical impediment.

Phase I armor and weaponry
"You sure you don't need civilian clothing? You're rather visible.''" "''I'd rather trade armor advantages against stealth. And we're not going to be hanging around long."

- Gilad Pellaeon and Rex, on the mission at hand to JanFathal

During the first months of the war, Rex used a suit of plastoid Phase I clone trooper armor that was customized with the white and blue of the 501st Legion. His polarized T-visor helmet sported Mandalorian Jaig eyes as battle honors and was equipped with a fold-down rangefinder scope that included a night vision filter. For supplemental head gear, he used a visor with an inbuilt telemetry system, and a pair of removable spot lamps that boasted a viewing range of forty feet. His helmet systems included infrared vision, an array of sensors, an internal comlink, visual and auditory buffers, and a heads-up display with thermal imaging and biosign indicators. To complement his body armor, he sported a traditional kama half kilt, constructed out of leather and thick anti-blast armor, to repel low-flying shrapnel and debris. He also wore over his left shoulder a semi-blue pauldron armor plate, which was reserved for clone officers. It was punctured through the chest plate by an enemy droid sniper during the Battle of Saleucami. Besides boots with magnetic gripsoles, Rex used a variety of other tools: a vibroblade in one of his gauntlets, a wrist comlink for his left gauntlet, a medpac and high-calorie dry rations in his utility belt, and a rappel line with a winch control motor for climbing during combat.

For some operations, Rex wore generic white clone trooper armor instead of his trademark blue-marked 501st armor. While on Orto Plutonia, he was forced to employ cold-weather armor &mdash;including a thermal suit and rebreather hood and decorated with his Jaig eyes &mdash;so that he could maintain protection from the cold. Although it was necessary for surviving Orto Plutonia's hazardous conditions, the extra gear dangerously limited his movements in battle. Being skilled in marksmanship, Rex never underestimated the capabilities of a good old-fashioned blaster and made use of a variety of weapons in combat. He preferred to wield a pair of DC-17 hand blasters for their speed, a trait that he shared with the dual pistol–wielding Jango Fett, the bounty hunter from whom he had been cloned. Rex cut his blaster pistols' holsters at his waist to be able to draw them more quickly. He sometimes used a DC-15S blaster and a DC-15A blaster rifle instead of his signature DC-17 blaster pistols. On JanFathal, he used a DC-15 with a detonite grenade launcher attachment that had not originally been built for the blaster. As thanks for his assistance in preventing the outbreak of the Blue Shadow Virus on Naboo, Rex received a set of modified DC-17 blaster pistols from Theed Arms. The pistols, dubbed the "Vigilance" and "Negotiator," were specially plated with metallic chromium, a prerogative that was reserved for Naboo royalty. When it came to heavy weaponry, Rex was capable in the use of missile launchers like the RPS-6 rocket launcher, which he used against enemy ground vehicles like Armored Assault Tanks and Umbaran MHC juggernauts.

Rex carried with him as necessary a set of electrobinoculars for increasing his viewing range on the battlefield. When the situation called for it, he used a JT-12 jetpack and flight equipment, as he possessed expertise with the gear. He used a space combat propulsion pack to boost his jetpack's range for high elevations, for as far reaches as realspace. While away from the front lines, Rex made himself comfortable with black fatigues instead of his usual hefty armor.

Transition to Phase II
When the Republic began to have its clone troopers transition to the Phase II set of clone trooper armor, Rex did not particularly care for the new equipment, as he believed that it was prefabricated and too disposable. He did not immediately switch over to Phase II, but when he did, he developed for himself his own unique version of Phase II armor, combining elements of his old Phase I suit and the latest Phase II technology into a hybrid of both armor sets. Salvaging the middle portion of his old Phase I helmet, including his rangefinder scope and original T-visor, he welded them together with the new Phase II helmet's upgraded breath filters and voice output annunciator. He did the same for portions of his chest plates, and the resulting weld marks became another one of his armor suit's distinctions. Although he installed a new top segment for his helmet, he still retained his Jaig eyes battle honors from his Phase I suit. Aside from a redesigned pauldron with an ammunition pack and an updated wrist comlink that he transferred to his right arm, Rex continued to use the rest of his previous Phase I equipment, including his kama, utility belt, removable spot lamps, and quick-draw blaster holsters.

Though he still carried a set of electrobinoculars, Rex began to use a polarized macrobinoculars attachment with his helmet. He even began to engrave tally marks into his helmet, gauntlet, and forearm and leg plates to record his growing number of kills. He maintained his choices for weaponry, continuing to employ his signature DC-17 blaster pistols, and utilized an RPS-6 rocket launcher as required. Whenever necessary, he made use of a SCUBA trooper mask, decorated with his Jaig eyes and blue 501st markings, for underwater combat.

Leading clone of The Clone Wars
"It must be gratifying to see how Rex has resonated. People love this character.''" "''Rex is a rock, man. He is dependable, he's smart, he's flexible, and in a way, he's kind of the heart in the tragic change and tragic switch that has to happen with the demise of the Jedi and the Order 66 and everything that has to happen. I mean, he's been there from the beginning when this was a pure mission. And it slowly starts to fall apart or there's a misstep here or a misstep there&hellip; And you know things are starting to change for Anakin. You know that that's going to happen. But how does that happen for Rex?"

- IGN's Eric Goldman and voice actor Dee Bradley Baker, in an August 2011 interview prior to the television series' fourth season

The character of Captain Rex was created for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and television series, which enabled him to become a fan favorite among Star Wars enthusiasts of all ages. Prior to being introduced in the television series, he was featured in February 2008 as a promotional mail-order figure that kicked off Hasbro's Star Wars: The Clone Wars toy line. After his "CC-7567" designation was attributed in his Databank entry on StarWars.com in May 2008, Rex made his first appearance in Star Wars canon in The Clone Wars film's July 2008 novelization and junior novelization. As the television series' primary clone character, Rex continued to play a part throughout the series' first, second, third, and fourth seasons, which were released from 2008 to 2011.

A heroic character from the television series, Rex has achieved considerable popularity with the Star Wars fanbase regardless of age, though particularly with younger fans of Star Wars. In August 2010, he was voted the thirty-six most popular character in Star Wars canon on IGN.com, beating Ahsoka Tano, who was voted the forty-third most popular character. Rex's popularity and character development throughout the series have been such that Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni has made an effort to continue exploring his story and to keep him at the center of plot lines and story arcs within the series. As of April 2011, Filoni has stated that the fates of Rex and Tano within the television series have been the two story lines that he has been hoping to pursue the most in future episodes, given both characters' inseparability and their absence from the chronologically later film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Voice actor Dee Bradley Baker provided Rex's voice throughout the television series, as well as the voices of all other clone troopers. To make the distinction between the multiple identical clone characters, Baker has portrayed Rex with a somewhat deeper voice than the series' other clone troopers based on his confidence and aggression. Baker considers Rex the central personality type of all clone characters, whom they all aspire to embody, while other clones experience an excess of various traits. Baker's intended distinction for Rex has been more prominent during clone-centric episodes such as "Rookies" and "The Hidden Enemy" from the series' first season and "The Deserter" from the second season, all of which featured Rex as a leading character and expanded his personality. The latter two episodes in particular contrasted him with Sergeant Slick and Cut Lawquane, two clone characters who were established to have abandoned their service to the Republic for different reasons. He was featured in his very own four-part story arc within the series' fourth season, which focused on the Battle of Umbara in the episodes "Darkness on Umbara," "The General," "Plan of Dissent," and "Carnage of Krell."

At first, the creators of The Clone Wars series decided to use Alpha-17, the Advanced Recon Commando featured throughout the Star Wars: Republic comic book series, as the television series' primary clone character. However, Series Producer George Lucas objected to this development because Alpha's name would make too much of an alliteration between several of the main characters&mdash;"Anakin," "Ahsoka," "Artoo/R2-D2," and now "Alpha"&mdash;so a different clone character was created. It was Lucas himself who provided the name "Rex," securing this new character's role in Star Wars canon.

Rex's chin scar was based on the blemish that actor Harrison Ford&mdash;who portrayed the smuggler Han Solo in the original trilogy of Star Wars films&mdash;made famous in the Indiana Jones saga. Additionally, the Mandalorian Jaig eyes on Rex's armor helmet were drawn from concept art for the 1980 original trilogy film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, as later released in The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook. As part of his prevalence in the fourth season's 2011 "Battle of Umbara" story arc, his animated character model was redesigned for the series, incorporating the new Phase II clone trooper armor that had begun to be gradually introduced at the advent of the fourth season.

Several scenes featuring Rex in different first season episodes&mdash;including "Rising Malevolence" and "Storm Over Ryloth"&mdash;were cut from the final versions of the episodes, but they were included in the "Director's Cut" editions of the episodes in The Complete Season One DVD collection. In the original script of the fourth season episode "Carnage of Krell," Rex was to execute General Pong Krell for his crimes against the Republic, but it was eventually decided that such a move would not be appropriate for his character. Subsequently, the role of Krell's executioner was given to rookie trooper Dogma. A cut storyline from the fourth season episode "The Box" involved Anakin Skywalker searching for the bounty hunter Rako Hardeen, whom Obi-Wan Kenobi was posing as for an undercover operation. The Jedi High Council attempts to prevent Skywalker from discovering the real Hardeen, who is in their custody, but when Skywalker discovers Rex transporting Hardeen off-world, the Council is forced to reveal the truth. The storyline was scrapped for time and clarity, as well as the unlikelihood of Rex keeping something that important from his Jedi General.

Other material
"Rex is a strong, courageous character who is clearly one of the heroes of The Clone Wars. However, we were reluctant to use Rex because a very powerful attribute to our initial concept was the ability to look into the character's eyes, and Rex's helmet took away the emotional connection of eye contact. Recognizing this void and understanding the need to bring emotion and intensity back into the artwork, PILOT co-founder Chris Ford digitally painted an incredibly strong visual element with the ominous 'blue sky', giving the effect that you are on the frontlines in the Clone Wars."

- Bill Concannon, head of the packaging design firm PILOT that produced the 2010 "Clone and Sky" design

Apart from his predominant role in the television series, Rex appeared extensively throughout supplementary material to the series, including the series' tie-in webcomics;  the Slaves of the Republic story arc of The Clone Wars comic series; the first three installments of the graphic novella series;   the novels The Clone Wars: Wild Space, The Clone Wars: No Prisoners, Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth, and Clone Wars Gambit: Siege by authors Karen Traviss and Karen Miller; and several young readers books. He was also featured in the video games Jedi Alliance and Republic Heroes and was given a role in the non-canonical video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.

Rex was featured in the 2008 Clone Wars and Clone Wars Tactics expansions of the Topps Comany's Star Wars PocketModel Trading Card Game. From 2008 on, Rex was featured in several sets of Hasbro's Star Wars: The Clone Wars toy line, and in 2008 he was also made into a LEGO mini-figurine. Despite the fact that he was a clone, his LEGO minifigure was given a uniquely designed head piece from other clone characters. He was additionally included in packs for the 2008 The Clone Wars and 2009 Galaxy at War expansion sets of Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Miniatures series. August 2009 saw Gentle Giant Studios release a life-size monument for Captain Rex, which stood approximately six feet tall.

In 2010, Rex became the face of Star Wars merchandise packaging as part of the new "Clone and Sky" design. PILOT, the design firm that developed the artwork, was initially reluctant to use Rex because the original intention had been to look into the eyes of the character featured on the design, and Rex's helmet took away from this emotional connection. To address this void, the element of the "ominous" blue sky was added to portray the effect of being on the front lines of the Clone Wars. The Rex "Clone and Sky" packaging lasted two years, with the Sith Lord Darth Maul became the featured face on Star Wars merchandise packaging in 2012. 2011 marked the year that Rex became immortalized as part of Sideshow Collectibles' Militaries of Star Wars deluxe figure line.

The Essential Guide to Warfare, released by author Jason Fry in April 2012, referenced Rex's role in the 501st Legion, though Fry revealed in an interview that a story more prominently featuring Rex had to be cut from the final version of the book due to length constraints. Rex appears in the Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures online video game, in which he is featured in several purchasable sets  as well as in the game itself. He encourages the player character to play mini-games such as "Blaster Training" and "Galactic Forces" and to enter combat battle zones such as Ryloth and the "Battle of Umbara." He is also featured in the tutorial levels for the "Card Assault" mini-game.

Inconsistencies
"CT-7567, are you reading me?"

- Pong Krell addresses Rex by his revised clone designation in "Darkness on Umbara"

In Summer 2008, initial merchandising promotional material for the television series indicated that Rex was an Advanced Recon Commando, but this information was never repeated anywhere else and is therefore assumed to be an error. Furthermore, Star Wars Insider 103's The Clone Wars: A Who's Who Guide, the Jedi Alliance Prima Official Game Guide, the Wizards of the Coast sourcebook The Clone Wars Campaign Guide, The Clone Wars Activity Annual: Summer Edition 2009, and the Encyclopedia entry for Saleucami, among other media, claimed that Rex was a clone commander. However, in the majority of sources directly affiliated with the television series&mdash;including the film and episodes themselves, various sourcebooks and novels,   and official material released through StarWars.com, including the Databank and Encyclopedia &mdash;Rex is portrayed as a clone trooper captain. This article recognizes his confirmed rank as a captain.

There has also been a discrepancy regarding the extent of Rex's mental resistance abilities. The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide suggested that Rex was not able to resist the mind trick performed by Asajj Ventress during the Battle of Teth, but the novelization of The Clone Wars film maintained that he was indeed able to avoid succumbing to the Dark Acolyte's mind influence. This article assumes that the latter's interpretation is correct. In the junior novelization of The Clone Wars film, Rex is incorrectly portrayed to have the brown hair customary of clone troopers. In Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 6: Escape from Kadavo, Obi-Wan Kenobi addresses a clone trooper who is wearing Rex's customized blue-and-white armor as "Cody." The Decoded re-airing of the first season episode "Jedi Crash" mistakenly referred to Commander Bly as Rex on one occasion. Also, the children's activity section of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.25 incorrectly identified the Advanced Recon Commando Havoc from the third season episode "ARC Troopers" as Rex.

In The Clone Wars Activity Annual: Summer Edition 2010 young reader adaptation of the second season episode "The Zillo Beast," Rex initially stays with Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Dr. Sionver Boll at Doge Nahka Urus's castle on Malastare to oversee the Battle of Malastare, instead of leading the clone troopers on the battlefield as he does in the episode. Also, during the adaptation of "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back," Rex orders the LAAT/i gunships to fire their Malastarian fuel bombs at the Zillo Beast during the battle at the Republic Executive Building, whereas a clone trooper pilot delivers the order during the episode. In both cases, this article follows the episodes' interpretation of events.

The 2011 Battle of Umbara story arc of the television series' fourth season utilized "CT-7567" as Rex's clone designation instead of CC-7567, as established from earlier sources that had introduced him into Star Wars canon in 2008. A November 11, 2011 update to Rex's Encyclopedia entry verified that this change was intentional and canonized the new CT-7567 designation. In The Essential Reader's Companion, published in October 2012, an image depicting a scene from No Prisoners depicts Rex in his trademark blue-marked armor, despite him being portrayed in the novel in plain white clone trooper armor. As a further complication, the image also depicts Ahsoka Tano in her post–Season Three older outfit, despite the novel taking place relatively early in the chronology of The Clone Wars.

Republic Heroes Nintendo DS edition
The Nintendo DS version of Republic Heroes presented very different portrayals of Rex's roles in several episodes of the television series' first season. In the game's interpretation of the Mission to Skytop Station, General Grievous is not present, and the Republic squad is divided into two groups: the first is led by Skywalker and Tano, while the second is comprised of Rex and Denal. The two groups approach the station's reactor from different directions, and Skywalker eventually has the two clones find a control panel and use it to reactivate all systems in Sector AA-23. After successfully destroying the station's reactor, Rex and Denal are then ordered to rendezvous with the Jedi at the hangar so that they can escape aboard the Twilight. The destruction of the reactor, however, triggers a failsafe lockdown, which seals the hangar's doors. R2-D2 discovers that there are two terminals controlling the lockdown; both of them need to be deactivated in order for the hangar doors to be opened. Arriving in the hangar bay, Rex and Denal defeat a number of battle droids there and prepare the Twilight for takeoff. Tano and R2 then join them in the hangar, and the astromech droid deactivates the first terminal. Traversing through the outer hull of Skytop Station, Skywalker reaches the second terminal and deactivates it as well, thus shutting down the lockdown.

As several IG-86 sentinel droids pin down Tano, Rex, and Denal inside the Twilight, Skywalker defeats them and opens the hangar doors before escaping the station with the group. This portrayal of events opposes the one featured in the episode "Duel of the Droids," in which the mission was first depicted. Rex is also featured in a different mission that conflicts with the episode "Lair of Grievous." Rex and two other clone troopers assist Jedi Master Kit Fisto in infiltrating General Grievous's castle on the third moon of Vassek, while in the episode, it is Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb, Clone Commander CC-3714, nicknamed "Fil," and several other clones who accompany Fisto. Leaving the two clones outside, Fisto and Rex navigate through the lair's mazes and fight numerous B1 and B2 battle droids, eventually confronting Grievous himself. After a brief duel with Fisto, Grievous retreats further into the castle, and Rex tells the troopers outside to contact the Republic fleet at the planet Bestine and ask for reinforcements &mdash;an action that Fil does during the episode. The troopers, however, fail to complete their orders, as their only means to contact Bestine&mdash;their Nu-class attack shuttle&mdash;is destroyed by a Vulture droid. Fisto and Rex continue their pursuit of Grievous but are forced to split up. The Jedi Master eventually faces Grievous for a second time before retreating on his Delta-7B fighter.

Rex later participates in a mission to the space station Juma 9, which is a strategic Confederate outpost instead of a Republic mining facility like in the other editions of Republic Heroes. Using Separatist clearance codes that were previously stolen from Grievous's lair on the Vassek moon, Rex and another trooper accompany Luminara Unduli and Plo Koon to infiltrate the station. While Unduli and Koon set off to capture the station's bridge, Rex and the other clone get into position and prepare to breach the station's hull if needed. The two Jedi Masters eventually get trapped by droids between two force fields, and Rex is called in to assist them. He and the trooper move through the station and rescue the two Jedi. After doing so, the clones are ordered by Koon to secure the nearby vicinity while the Jedi Masters continue to make their way to Juma 9's bridge. Unduli and Koon are ultimately successful in completing their mission and taking over the bridge. Besides the Juma 9 mission, Rex is also featured in a bonus level that sees him racing through a battle zone to a checkpoint on Christophsis. Because of these story lines' contradictions of the television series that would require too much fan-based speculation to be implemented in the existing canonical biography, this article assumes that the Nintendo DS missions are non-canonical.

Slaves of the Republic
"Always figured I'd catch a blaster bolt in some combat zone, not live out my years on the end of a whip.''" "We'll get out of here eventually, Captain. My concern is what will be left of these people when we finally do. Anakin was right, you cannot truly know slavery until you've experienced it." "I guess it does change one forever. These poor souls have'' lost everything."

- Rex and Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the original Slaves of the Republic comic story arc

In 2011, the 2008 Slaves of the Republic comic book story arc that had featured Rex was adapted by the television series into the fourth season episodes "Kidnapped," "Slaves of the Republic," and "Escape from Kadavo," with Henry Gilroy&mdash;previous Head Writer for the television series and the author of the original comics&mdash;writing the episodes. Aside from the notable difference of incorporating the new character models for Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi from its third season and Rex's Phase II model from previous fourth season episodes, the fourth season Slaves of the Republic arc incorporated many of the same plot elements as the six-part comic arc. They are therefore treated as the same story, with precedence being given to the television series in cases of inconsistencies.

In Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 1: The Mystery of Kiros, Rex, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano respond to the Confederate invasion of Kiros by launching a counterattack against the droid forces on the world as they do in the episode "Kidnapped." In the comic story, the Separatist leader is Commander Xerius Ugg, while the role was given to the Zygerrian Darts D'Nar in "Kidnapped." In the comic, when Skywalker and Tano go to defuse the thermal bombs around the capital city, Rex assists them when they come under fire from a sniper droideka at one of the bomb sites, using a sniper rifle to eliminate the droid. This scene is absent from "Kidnapped," in which Skywalker and Tano face off against two sniper droidekas on their own. In addition, the reason for the disappearance of the Togruta colonists is revealed by D'Nar during the episode's events on Kiros, instead of from the Zygerrian Captain Onyx as depicted in Chapter 2: Slave Traders of Zygerria.

In Chapter 2: Slave Traders of Zygerria, Rex accompanies Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, and a squad of troopers aboard the Twilight to the black market haven known as the Shi'kar Straits, where they hoped to gather more information about the missing Togrutas. Amidst the asteroids of the Shi'kar Straits, the Republic group encounters the Zygerrian slaver vessel Fate's Hand, captained by Onyx. Pretending to be slavers themselves, Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi board the Fate's Hand to acquire what information they can, while Rex and his troops hide behind several crates as backup. When the Jedi give up the ruse and draw their lightsabers, Rex and the clones forsake their cover and begin a firefight with the Zygerrians. As Skywalker leads Tano, Rex, and several other clones to commandeer the Fate's Hand, more Zygerrians intercept them and catch them in a crossfire. When a Zygerrian fires a rocket that damages the seal between the Twilight and the Fate's Hand, Tano intentionally seals herself on board the enemy ship, while Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex are stuck on the Twilight with several trapped Zygerrians, who surrender. A dismayed Rex reports Tano's actions to Skywalker and Kenobi, who deduce that she is attempting to infiltrate the ship by acting as a hostage.

Rex secures the docking clamps of the Twilight to ensure that they will not be further separated from the Fate's Hand. Attempting to force the Twilight away, Onyx takes his ship through the asteroid belt, and the Twilight bottom stabilizer is compromised from a collision with an asteroid. After Skywalker fires at and disables the engines of the Fate's Hand, Tano contacts the Twilight, and at Kenobi's direction, she is able to unlock the Zygerrian ship's rear airlock before being discovered by Onyx. Rex and another trooper then accompany Skywalker and Kenobi into space to board the Fate's Hand and rescue Tano, but they are soon stopped by a Blixus creature that Onyx has released. The blaster-impervious creature quickly kills the other clone and captures the two Jedi in its tentacles before Skywalker kills it, halting its rampage. Rex boards the Fate's Hand with Skywalker and Kenobi, and they surprise and confront Onyx, who is forced to turn over his intelligence regarding the people of Kiros. Onyx reveals what Darts D'Nar does in "Kidnapped" &mdash;that the Royal Slave Auction is being revived on Zygerria, and the people of Kiros are to be sold into slavery. On Kenobi's orders, Rex takes Onyx to imprison him on the Twilight with the rest of his crew. None of the events of Slave Traders from Zygerria were used for the television series' adaptation of Slaves of the Republic, so they are excluded until their canonicity, if any, is clarified.

The episode "Slaves of the Republic" adapts events depicted in the third and fourth issues of the comic story arc, The Depths of Zygerria and Auction of a Million Souls. In the episode, Skywalker, Kenobi, Rex, and Tano take a Zygerrian vessel to Zygerria to investigate the Royal Slave Auction, though it is D'Nar's Tecora instead of Onyx's Fate's Hand from the comic. Although The Depths of Zygerria depicts Skywalker initially considering having Rex masquerade as the group's slave on Zygerria, only to be convinced otherwise by Tano, this detail is not present in "Slaves of the Republic," in which Tano is disguised as the slave from the beginning. Furthermore, after being sent back to the ship by Skywalker in the comic, Tano joins Rex and Kenobi in trailing Skywalker and his Zygerrian guard escorts to the Zygerrian Royal Palace. She is thus present when Rex and Kenobi discover the captured Governor Roshti in the catacomb cells beneath the palace. After freeing Roshti, Rex and his comrades escape from Zygerrian guards aboard two reptile-like creatures, with Rex accompanying Tano on her mount.

Skywalker eventually contacts Tano and orders her to come to the palace, as he requires slave merchandise to prove to Queen Miraj Scintel his cover story as a slave hunter. While Roshti and Kenobi are captured by the Zygerrians, Rex and Tano proceed to the palace as slavemaster and slave, respectively, helping Skywalker win Scintel's trust as well as a place at the Royal Slave Auction. The events of "Slaves of the Republic" proceed much differently, with Tano remaining with Skywalker to distract Scintel while Rex and Kenobi search for the Togruta colonists. Rex and Kenobi discover Roshti in the Royal Palace's outdoor slave cells instead of in the catacomb cells, and all three of them attempt to escape on a brezak mount, with only Rex succeeding. Rex does not return to the Royal Palace to pose as Tano's slavemaster as he does in the comic; this scene is absent entirely from the episode, which goes on to depict the Royal Slave Auction. In the comic, when Skywalker launches their attack on the Zygerrians at the auction house, Rex ambushes the royal guards by swining from a cable and is eventually knocked unconscious by a rocket from one of the guards. In the episode, he fights alongside the Jedi in the same fashion, though he is instead subdued by a Zygerrian guard's shock whip.

For the entirety of "Slaves of the Republic," Rex retains a Zygerrian slave trader suit, whereas in the comics he sports equipment to pose as a member of Skywalker's security detail, and then the bulky armor of a Zygerrian guard for the Royal Slave Auction. He thus retains his slave trader uniform when he arrives on Kadavo in the episode, instead of donning a plain robe as he does in Auction of a Million Souls. Although the Keeper of the Kadavo facility goes unnamed in the comics, he is given the name "Agruss" for the television series' adaptation. In Chapter 5: A Slave now, a Slave forever, the Togrutas are punished for Kenobi's defiance as they are in "Escape from Kadavo." However, absent from the episode but present in Chapter 6: Escape from Kadavo is the fact that the Togruta colonists believe that the Confederacy has destroyed their homeworld, a loss that heightens their despair. While working at an atmosphere-filtration turbine station alongside the Togrutas, Rex and Kenobi subsequently rally the Kiros population with the news that their homeworld has been liberated from the Confederacy, giving the colonists a reason to survive the ordeal and live on. The Togrutas' response to this news, perceived as hope, is what leads the Keeper to call Rex and Kenobi to the command center for execution, instead of being ordered to do so by Count Dooku, as is the case in the episode.

The manner in which Skywalker and Tano rescue Rex, Kenobi, and the Togruta slaves on Kadavo differs greatly between the comic and the episode. In the comic, Skywalker and Tano arrive on Kadavo with a clone strike force led by Commander Cody. The Confederacy responds by dispatching a fleet commanded by General Grievous and Asajj Ventress, the latter of whom leads a Vulture droid attack on the facility, as Dooku aims to hide his involvement in the slavery affair by eliminating the Togrutas. Rex and Kenobi take advantage of the distracted Zygerrians by attacking them and joining Skywalker and Tano in rescuing the Togrutas from falling into the lava. While Grievous recalls his assault fleet, the Jedi use the Force to pull the Togrutas onto a freighter. When Ventress assaults the freighter with her personal starship, the Trident, Rex fires a rocket at the craft, and the arrival of Plo Koon and a squadron of V-19 Torrent starfighters forces Ventress to retreat. Also, the Keeper is not killed, simply taken into Republic custody. In the episode, no enemy forces save for the Zygerrians oppose the Republic's rescue attempt. Cody is not present; instead, Commander Wolffe and Admiral Coburn arrive alongside Plo Koon to help coordinate the rescue effort. Rex and Kenobi are not involved with helping to rescue the Togrutas; they kill Keeper Agruss and defeat his guards before departing from the facility, while Tano, Wolffe, and Coburn rescue the colonists.

The aftermath of the rescue on Kadavo was also modified from the comic's version for the episode. In the comic, the Jedi and clones spend four more rotations evacuating the Togrutas, after which they prepare to destroy the processing hub. As Rex is about to detonate charges placed in the facility, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine contacts them and orders that the facility be left intact for future Republic use. The Jedi disagree with this order, and Rex proceeds with eradicating the complex. Upon being returned to Kiros, the Togrutas forsake their pacifist ways to learn how to defend themselves, and Rex is among the clone troopers who educate them in blaster combat. In the episode's portrayal of the events, the Kadavo complex is destroyed during the battle by Koon's starfighter forces. The Jedi and clones debrief aboard Koon's Star Destroyer, but the Togrutas' return to Kiros is not depicted.

Non-canon history
The following lists scenarios that have not been recognized as having canonical status for their contradictions to and disregard for established continuity.

Star Wars Miniatures advertisement
"What are we up to now, 64? 65?''" "Who knows'' what'll happen next?"

- Rex and Ahsoka Tano, after defeating Grievous

In an advertisement for the Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars set, Rex and Ahsoka Tano defeat the bounty hunter Durge with a squad of several clone troopers and a Wookiee. General Grievous soon appears, but the clone troopers quickly incapacitate the cyborg, severing several of his limbs with blaster shots. Walking away from their victory, Rex questions how many orders they had been given.

LEGO Star Wars online comics
"This is Captain Rex reporting in. We've encountered heavy resistance, but the mission is proceeding as planned. &hellip;Or not."

- Rex, as an OG-9 spider droid appears

In the LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars online comic series, Rex and a squad of clone troopers are assigned to undertake a mission, but their LAAT/i gunship is shot down on a desert planet by battle droids. Just as Rex reports that the mission is proceeding as planned, several B1 battle droids and an OG-9 homing spider droid appear. The spider droid knocks Rex over, and he and his troops open fire on the droids. While the other troopers attack the droid menace, Rex finds a clone from Batch 82-4 that is avoiding the battle out of his arachnophobia, a trait shared amongst the rest of the batch. The spider droid returns and charges at Rex and the trooper, and the two take refuge in the remains of the gunship. Rex explains to the scared trooper that it is a droid, not an actual spider, and he then watches as the clone takes up arms and defeats the spider droid single-handed. As Rex congratulates his men on their victory, however, three more spider droids appear.

Rex joins Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and Rotta the Huttlet in a search for Asajj Ventress. The group's AT-TE walker comes across a squad of IG-100 MagnaGuards and their Rogue-class starfighter, but a B2 super battle droid and several IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks appear and blast the walker off its feet. Emerging from their damaged vehicle, Kenobi, Tano, and Rex fight the new arrivals while Skywalker battles the MagnaGuards at the landing platform. However, Ventress appears with the Death Brick weapon and throws it at the three Jedi before escaping with the battle droids. Rex jumps into the line of fire and blocks the brick, which simply bounces off of his head harmlessly. Commander Cody then arrives with an LAAT/i gunship and transports Rex, Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi away from the planet.

Rex is later sent with Kenobi, Cody, and a detachment of clones to rescue Skywalker and Tano in a space battle, but the group is pulled to the surface of a nearby planet by a Separatist tractor beam. R2-D2 is able to open the door of Rex's gunship&mdash;which had been jammed from the crash&mdash;in time, and Rex arrives with Plo Koon to save Skywalker, Tano, Kenobi, Cody, and a squad of troops from Ventress and an army of battle droids. The Separatists are repelled, and Rex reports R2-D2's actions to Kenobi. Rex is also present when Koon is given an award for his valiant efforts in the battle. Later, aboard Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Venator-class Star Destroyer, Rex and Cody are present when Palpatine fires a clone scout squad in person for their incompetence and failure to find a missing R2-D2. Rex additionally accompanies Skywalker to Orto Plutonia when it is attacked by the Separatists. Traveling to the surface with Skywalker and several other clones in containers carrying Freeco bikes, Rex and his comrades defeat the droids on the planet.

In The Quest for R2-D2 short film, Rex and Cody are personally dispatched by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself to find R2-D2, who has gone missing in action. On an ice planet, the two clone officers lead a patrol and encounter a squad of B1 and B2 battle droids along with an OG-9 spider droid and an All Terrain Armored Transport. Skidding across the ice, Cody drops a projectile, and Rex swings at the piece with his blaster. The projectile cuts through the droids and hits the AT-AT walker, collapsing it onto the spider droid and overturning a nearby NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer. With their enemies neutralized, the two clones build a Nu-class attack shuttle from the rubble. Rex and Cody then join Skywalker and Tano in raiding a Separatist Lucrehulk-class battleship and rescue R2-D2 from Grievous, Count Dooku, and Asajj Ventress. As the Jedi and clones prepare to face off against the Separatists, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive. Yoda uses the Force to collapse the floor beneath the Republic's three adversaries, forcing Dooku, Ventress, and Grievous into space, and additionally forms a CR90 corvette. The group uses the craft to escape the Droid Control Ship shortly before it explodes. Following the victory, Rex and Cody accompany the Jedi to the "Skywalker World" theme park. Rex is also featured in the film's tie-in online game.

Cartoon Network online games
"Rex ol' buddy, I've found your droid poppers.''" "''Nice work, sir. We'll take it from here."

- Anakin Skywalker and Rex in Path of the Jedi

Rex is featured as a non-playable character in the Path of the Jedi online game on CartoonNetwork.com, in which the player can choose to play as either Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, or Master Yoda. In the "Assassin's Snare" campaign, which adapts the first season episode "Cloak of Darkness," Rex and his men are battling Separatist battle droids aboard a Republic cruiser when the clones are cut off from their heavy weapons storage. If the player is playing as Tano, Skywalker sends her to retrieve the clone troopers' electromagnetic pulse grenades from behind the enemy lines. If the player chooses Yoda, it is a clone trooper who sends Yoda on the mission; if Skywalker is chosen, then Kenobi dispatches him to regain the Captain's weaponry. Re-armed with their supply of droid poppers, Rex and his men make short work of the opposing battle droids. In the "Shadow of Grievous" campaign, which adapts the events of the episode "Duel of the Droids," Rex and a squad of his troops are defending a Republic medical station from the Separatists but are gradually outnumbered by the enemy forces. Depending on the chosen player character, Tano, Skywalker, or Yoda cuts through the battle droids and rescues Rex and his men.

In Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars Game Creator, Rex is one of five characters whom players can use while designing their own online games. The game system allows players to both create their own games and play those developed by others. His "Power Attack" in the game is launching landmines. In the Galaxy of Heroes game, Rex is one of the playable characters in various shooting-style missions. Armed with only his blaster pistols, Rex must first defeat all opposing forces at a battle droid compound. He is then given an AT-TE walker to pilot and is tasked destroying an enemy base, cutting through missile turrets, droid-manned STAPs, and laser emplacements to achieve his objective.

Clone Wars Infinities
In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Magazine 2 Infinities version of the second season episode "Brain Invaders," brain worms infect both trooper CT-9544, nicknamed "Scythe," and Commander Cody in the wake of the Second Battle of Geonosis. While Ahsoka Tano and Kit Fisto contain Scythe and his infected clone comrades, Cody spreads the infection among the Republic fleet. Rex, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all fall victim to the worms, which then spread to the Jedi Order and the Republic government on Coruscant. Only Tano, Fisto, and Barriss Offee have the knowledge to contain the worms, but with the whole of the Republic at the worms' mercy, time begins to run out for the uninfected Jedi.

In the Infinities version of the third season episode "The Citadel," as presented in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.20, Rex, Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and their men are frozen in carbonite as planned to rescue Even Piell from the Citadel. When R2-D2 transports the elite team to the prison, a rogue hyperspace shadow collides with their shuttle, sending them completely off-course and shorting out R2-D2's circuits. While Rex and his comrades drift in space, locked in perfect hibernation, the Republic is transformed into the first Galactic Empire under the leadership of Emperor-for-life Palpatine, who is secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith. Almost twenty years after their unintentional detour, Rex and the team are found by Bail Organa and other members of the fledgling Alliance to Restore the Republic and are taken to the planet Dantooine to be unfrozen. Although initially shocked to learn of the developments that have taken place over the last two decades, including the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi join the Rebel Alliance to resist the Empire's regime.

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

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Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Shadowed
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars junior novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Galactic Photobook
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The New Padawan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Operation: Huttlet
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Anakin in Action!
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Battle at Teth
 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: Tethan Battle Adventure
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Watch Out for Jabba the Hutt!
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Prepare for Battle
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Movie Storybook
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Grievous Attacks!
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: R2-D2's Adventure
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Rescue in the Sky
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Downfall of a Droid
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Journey Through Hyperspace
 * The Clone Wars: No Prisoners
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom
 * The Clone Wars: Mouse Hunt
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Defenders of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Transfer
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars mobile game
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Planets in Peril
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Siege
 * The Clone Wars: Cold Snap
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Battle for Ryloth
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Hunt for Grievous
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Siege
 * The Clone Wars: Cold Snap
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Battle for Ryloth
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Hunt for Grievous
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Hunt for Grievous
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Hunt for Grievous
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Day One
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Warriors of the Deep
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five
 * The Clone Wars: Season Five

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars advertisement
 * Giant spiders are awesome
 * Sith make the best pancakes
 * That's no Space Station
 * Every brick has a beginning
 * A clone by any other name
 * All good clones must come to an end
 * Day 38: The Frozen Planet of Orto Plutonia
 * Jedi Journal: Today started out with a most unusual event...
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
 * Path of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars Game Creator
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * Galaxy of Heroes