CT-21-0408

"Aw, leave him alone. They kept him in his growth jar too long."

- Cutup

CT-21-0408, nicknamed "Echo," as he was known for "echoing" the standard rules and procedures established for clones, was a clone trooper who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Around 22 BBY, Echo stood guard at Rishi Station, a listening post located on the moon of Rishi, where he and other rookie clone troopers were stationed. Under the command of Sergeant O'Niner, the group of clones maintained the listening post to warn the Galactic Republic fleet of any attacks on Kamino by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The troops were present during a surprise Confederate attack on the station, when BX-series droid commandos took over the base and fortified themselves inside. After three droid commandos shot and killed O'Niner, Echo and the other rookie troopers evacuated the listening post through a ventilation shaft.

Outside, the clones witnessed two clone officers, Commander Cody and Captain Rex, arrive at the base shortly after the attack for a routine inspection. The two met up with Echo and the remaining clone troopers and organized a plan to attack the droids. Upon regaining control of the base with the other clones, Rex ordered the station's destruction to turn of its all-clear beacon and alert a nearby Republic fleet to the imminent Separatist attack. Echo suggested the use of using liquid tibanna, which was being stored in several plunk droids, to destroy the base. However, when the remote detonator to the liquid tibanna was unable to be connected to the explosives, trooper Hevy decided to stay behind and fix the problem before joining the others, while the other clones left the base through a ventilation shaft. Soon after Echo and the others evacuated the base, it exploded, resulting in the destruction of the droid forces and the death of Hevy, who had been unable to make it out. A LAAT/i gunship soon arrived and picked up the surviving clone troopers. On board the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute, Echo and fellow trooper Fives were rewarded with medals for their service and were inducted into the 501st Legion.

Training with Domino squad
"Well, you want to be the best, then you need to think like it. And I'm thinking like an ARC trooper" "ARC troopers follow orders." "Care to repeat that, Echo?" -Echo to Hevy Echo trained on the planet Kamino as a Clone cadet and hoped to someday become an ARC trooper. After failing battle field exams one after the other, Echo,Hevy,Fives,DroidBait and Cutup failed their final test because of leaving wounded, Droidbait behind. They were allowed to retake their test and under the leadership of Hevy, they finished the test in record time. Domino squad shipped out a day later.

Rishi moon battle
"Uh&hellip;shouldn't you be watching your scope, Hevy?"'' ''"Yeah, let's take a look. Hmm, what ya know? All clear. Just like the last hundred times I looked at it."

- Echo and Hevy

During the Clone Wars, he was stationed at a listening post located on a moon of the planet Rishi. Under the command of Sergeant O'Niner, CT-21-0408&mdash;along with clone troopers Cutup, Droidbait, Nub, CT-327, Hevy, and Fives&mdash;maintained the listening post to warn the Galactic Republic of any impending Separatist attacks on the nearby Kamino. During his time at the station, CT-21-0408 earned the nickname "Echo," due to his habit of "echoing" the standard rules and procedures for clones.

At one point, when Echo joined the other stationed rookie troopers in the control room of the listening post, Sergeant O'Niner entered the room and alerted the clone troopers of a routine inspection that would soon commence. Unbeknownst to the group of clone troopers, however, the Confederate General Grievous planned to attack Kamino in order to end the Republic's production of clone troopers. Grievous knew that if he attacked Kamino, the Rishi moon listening post would detect the attack, and the stationed clone troopers in the listening post would turn off the base's "all-clear" signal, which would alert the nearby Republic fleet. Grievous therefore deployed BX-series droid commandos in Droch-class boarding ships to take over the listening post.

Meanwhile, a clone trooper raised the listening post's shield to protect the base against what appeared to be an approaching meteor shower, which was actually a group of Droch-class boarding ships. The droids soon left their transports and began their attack on the Republic base. After three commando droids shot and killed O'Niner and three other clones, the remaining clone troopers&mdash;Echo, Hevy, Fives, and Cutup&mdash;evacuated the command center by exiting through a ventilation shaft, which led them outside the listening post.

Leaving the ventilation shaft, the four troopers were disheartened when a Rishi eel attacked and devoured Cutup, leaving only Echo, Hevy, and Fives to defend themselves. Eventually, the remaining rookie clone troopers sighted the Obex, a Nu-class attack shuttle flown by Commander Cody and Captain Rex. The clone officers had arrived for the inspection of the listening post and were unaware of the droid attack. After the two clone officers were attacked by the invading droids, they escaped and met with Echo and the other rookie troops. Having encountered a droid commando disguised in clone armor during their skirmish with the droids, Rex demanded that the rookies remove their helmets to verify that they were indeed clones. After the three rookie troopers obeyed and removed their protective headgear, another Rishi moon eel attacked them. This time, Rex used his DC-17 hand blaster to kill it with one shot to the eye, a feat that impressed the rookies. When talking with the rookie troopers, Rex dubbed them "shinies," a derogatory term referring to the troopers' spotless armor that had not yet seen action in battle.

Rex and Cody gave Echo and the other rookie troops their DC-15S blaster carbines, and Rex suggested a plan to retake the listening post. The group of clone troopers hid near the entrance of the base while Rex impersonated commando droid unit 26 by using the droid's decapitated head. The Clone Captain successfully tricked Units 07, 08, and 09 to open the listening post's main door, allowing Echo and the clone troopers to ambush the remainder of the commando droids inside the base. Upon entering the command center, the clones defeated the droid units, including their vibroblade-wielding leader.

Retaking the base
"We could use the LT. When this moon freezes for half the year, we use liquid tibanna as fuel to heat the base."

- Echo, suggesting the use of liquid tibanna to destroy the listening post

However, their victory was cut short when the clone troopers noticed that General Grievous's fleet had arrived above the moon. Due to the lack of response from the commando droids, Grievous sent more battle droids to the listening post. The clones, inside the command center of the listening post, were unable to turn off the "all clear" signal because the droids had hot-wired it. Soon, a droid landing craft descended through the moon's atmosphere and landed at the listening post. With the battle droid reinforcements outnumbering the clone troopers, Rex&mdash;to the surprise of the rookie troops&mdash;ordered the complete destruction of the base.

When a confused Echo told the Clone Captain that the clones' duty was to protect the base, Rex dismissed him, stating that if the base was destroyed, it would turn off the all-clear signal and alert the nearby Republic fleet of the impending Separatist invasion. To destroy the base, Echo offered the use of highly explosive liquid tibanna, which was used as a fuel source at the station when the Rishi moon entered its freezing cycle. While Rex and Echo went to retrieve the plunk droids that stored the liquid tibanna, Cody, Hevy, and Fives grabbed weaponry from the listening post's supply room. With their new supply of weaponry, the clones attacked the invading battle droid forces, buying time for Rex and Echo to wire the three plunk droids together. Unexpectedly to the clones, however, the remote activator to detonate the tibanna inside the plunk droids did not function properly.

Hevy offered to stay behind and correct the problem before joining the other clones as they fled the listening post through a nearby ventilation shaft. Once outside, Rex found&mdash;to his surprise&mdash;that Hevy hadn't yet evacuated the listening post. The Clone Captain contacted Hevy via comlink, but Hevy refused to evacuate the listening post until he was able to repair the detonator. Unwilling to accept Hevy's decision, the clones ran to rescue the rookie trooper. Before they could reenter the facility, however, Hevy manually detonated the explosives. The listening post exploded, killing Hevy and all of the droid forces inside. Shortly thereafter, Rex, Cody, Echo, and Fives were picked up by an LAAT/i gunship that carried them off the moon. On board the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute, Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker awarded Echo and Fives medals for their service. Following the presentation of the medals, Rex inducted the two clones into the 501st Legion for their part in helping the Republic to thwart the Separatist attack.

Personality and traits
"Personally, I like that it's so quiet out here. I can catch up on the reg manuals."'' ''"Echo, what is wrong with you? We should be on the front lines, blasting droids."

- Echo and Hevy

As a rookie clone trooper, Echo had an eye for detail. While stationed at the listening post, the trooper was not troubled by the lack of excitement. He told the other stationed rookie clones that he enjoyed quiet situations, which gave him time to catch up on the regulatory manuals. The clone often "echoed" the guidelines and procedures that were established for the clone troopers. His actions thus earned him to be nicknamed as such. Instead of fighting, Echo preferred to be away from the front lines. Despite this, Echo often read manuals to improve his skills he would need as a soldier fighting for the Republic. After evacuating the listening post when it was taken over by Confederate battle droids, Echo was able to inform the other clone troopers on what the the manual dictated for situations without a commanding officer.

Echo's service to the Republic earned him a spot within the Republic's 501st Legion. Like all rookie clone troopers, Echo's armor was sleek white and had no dust or damage from fighting because of his lack of combat prior to the Rishi moon battle. After Rex killed the attacking Rishi eel, the Clone Captain used his hand to stamp some of the eel's blood onto Echo's chest armor. Echo's helmet featured red macrobinoculars.

Behind the scenes
"I got one!"'' "Sorry Echo, I junked that one." ''"Like hell you did."

- Echo said the word "hell" to Hevy in the first broadcasting of "Rookies"

Echo was first featured in "Rookies," the fifth episode in the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which aired on October 24, 2008. Like all clone troopers throughout the series, he was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. In the premiere of "Rookies," Echo exclaimed the word "hell" once; however, this word was removed in later broadcasts of the episode. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia later gave Echo a short entry, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles gave Echo the clone designation "CT-26-1409." However, Echo was later identified as "CT-21-0408" in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Grievous Attacks!
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Grievous Attacks!