CT-21-0408

"Leave him alone. They kept him in his growth jar too long."

- Cutup, talking about Echo.

CT-26-1409 was a clone trooper who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars, the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. CT-26-1409 earned the nickname of "Echo," due to him "echoing" the standard rules and procedures established for clones. Around 22 BBY, Echo was stood guard in the 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 Confederate attacks in the Outer Rim and were present during a surprise Confederate attack on the station. BX-series droid commandos took over the Rishi moon base and fortified themselves inside.

Echo noticed that Commander Cody and Captain Rex soon arrived at the base for a routine inspection. The clone officers met up with Echo and the remaining clone troopers and organized a plan to attack the droids. Upon taking over the base, Rex ordered the destruction of the listening post, and the latter, along with Echo, collected liquid tibanna and explosives. Noticing that the remote detonator would not respond, fellow trooper Hevy offered to stay behind and fix the problem, while the other clones left the base through the ventilation shaft. Echo and the others evacuated the base and noticed that Hevy had not left the listening post. Soon, however, the base exploded, which resulted in the death of Hevy. A LAAT/i gunship arrived and picked up the clone troopers. Onboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer, Resolute, Echo and trooper Fives were rewarded medals for their service, and were inducted into the 501st Legion.

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 few times I've looked at it."

- Echo and Hevy

A clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, CT-26-1409 was born on the planet Kamino to fight in the Grand Army of the Republic. Around 22 BBY, 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-26-1409&mdash;along with Cutup, Hevy, and Fives&mdash;maintained the listening post to warn the Galactic Republic of any impending Separatist attacks on Kamino. During his time at the station, CT-26-1409 earned the nickname of "Echo," due to him "echoing" the standard rules and procedures established for clones.

Soon after Echo entered the control room of the listening post, where he joined the other stationed rookie troopers, Sergeant O'Niner entered the room and alerted the clone troopers of an inspection that would soon begin. Unbeknownst to the group of clone troopers, however, Confederate General Grievous had sent BX-series droid commandos in Droch-class boarding ships to attack the listening post. Grievous, along with the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, intended to invade Kamino to end the production of the Republic's clone troopers. The Republic listening post on the moon of Rishi had an "all clear signal," which, if turned off, would alert a nearby Republic fleet, so Grievous planned to order his droids to leave the signal untouched.

Meanwhile, a clone trooper alerted O'Niner that a meteor shower was approaching. To protect the base, the clone raised the listening post's shield. Outside the listening post, the meteor shower&mdash;which was actually the Droch-class boarding ships used by the commando droids&mdash;crashed everywhere around the listening post. The droids soon left their transports and began their attack on the Republic base. In the command center, O'Niner tried to contact clone trooper CT-327&mdash;who, unbeknownst to O'Niner, had already been killed by the commando droids&mdash;but was not able to reach him. The clone sergeant ordered troopers Droidbait and Nub to search for him; however, the two soon encountered a group of droids near the base's entrance. The battle droids began to fire at the two clone troopers, alerting the nearby O'Niner. After three commando droids shot and killed O'Niner, the remaining clone troopers&mdash;Echo, Hevy, Fives, and Cutup&mdash;evacuated the command center by going through a ventilation shaft, which led them outside the listening post.

Exiting the ventilation shaft, the four troops, who already felt helpless without their commanding sergeant, were further disheartened when a Rishi eel attacked and devoured Cutup, leaving only Echo, Hevy, and Fives to defend themselves. Eventually, the remaining rookie clone troopers noticed 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 but were unaware of the droid attack. After meeting the clones for the first time, Rex demanded that the rookies remove their helmets to verify that they were clones. After the three rookie troopers obeyed and removed their protective headgear, a Rishi moon eel appeared and began to attack 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. Confronting the rookie troopers, Rex referred to them as "shinies," a derogatory term referring to the troopers' spotless armor that had not yet seen action in battle.

Both Rex and Cody gave the rookie troops their DC-15S blaster carbines before 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 commando droid Units 07, 08, and 09 to open the listening post's main door, allowing 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
"Now that was an eel. That's why we have the regulation not to go outside."

- Echo, to his fellow rookie clone troopers

Their minor victory was cut short, however, when the clone troopers noticed that General Grievous' fleet had arrived above the moon. Due to the lack of communication 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 atmosphere and landed near the listening post. With the battle droid reinforcements outnumbering the clone troopers, Rex ordered the complete destruction of the base, to the surprise of the rookie troops. After the rookie clone troopers told the Clone Captain that their instruction was to protect the base, Rex dismissed them and ordered them to find anything explosive. Echo offered the use of highly explosive liquid tibanna, stored in plunk droids. While Rex and Echo went to retrieve the specific droids, Cody, Hevy, and Fives grabbed weaponry from the listening post's supply room. With their new supply of weaponry, they opened fire on the invading battle droid forces, buying time for Rex to wire three plunk droids together. Unexpectedly, the remote activator to detonate the tibanna inside the plunk droids did not function properly.

Hevy offered to stay behind and correct the problem, enabling the others to exit the listening post through the ventilation shaft. Outside, Cody, Rex, Echo, and Fives noticed that Hevy was still inside the listening post. Rex tried to contact Hevy via comlink, although the trooper denied to comply. Unwilling to accept Hevy's decision, Rex and the clones ran to rescue the rookie trooper. Soon, however, the remaining clone troopers witnessed the destruction of the listening post. While they were unsuccessful in rescuing Hevy, the clones soon departed the moon of Rishi, after being picked by a LAAT/i gunship that just arrived. Onboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute, Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker awarded Echo and Fives a medal for their service, and were inducted into the 501st Legion.

Personality and traits
As a rookie clone trooper, Echo often "echoed" the guidelines and procedures that were established for the clone troopers. Instead of fighting, Echo preferred to be away from the front lines. While stationed at the listening post, the trooper revealed this by claiming he enjoyed quiet situations, which would give him time to catch up on the reg manuals. After evacuating the listening post, due to it being taken over by Confederate battle droids, Echo told the other clone troopers about what the reg manual said about situations without a leading officer.

The clone trooper, however, was determined to protect the Rishi moon listening post from the invading Confederate forces. After Rex issued the destruction of the listening post, Echo gave the Clone Captain information about the stored liquid tibanna in the base. Echo's service to the Republic had earned him a spot within the famed 501st Legion. Echo's armor, like all rookie clone troopers, was sleek white, and had no collected dust from fighting. After Rex killed the attacking Rishi eel, the Clone Captain used his hand to stamp some blood of the eel onto Echo's chest armor. Echo's helmet featured red macrobinoculars.

Behind the scenes
Echo received a Rishi eel blood-stained hand print on his chest armor from Captain Rex.

Echo is the only trooper aside from the watch officer that wore a binocular visor, signifying that he was the second watch officer. The other continuity error in this episode is when Echo is receiving his reward. The binocular visors disappear in the middle of dialogue, leaving just a plain helmet. The binoculars do reappear after.

In the first premiere of "Rookies", Echo says the word "hell" once. This would be censored in its second airing due to complaints from parents.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Grievous Attacks!

Notes and references
CT-26-1409 CT 26-1409 Echo CT-26-1409 Echo