EXD-9's infiltration of Chopper Base

|prev=Mission to investigate Geonosis
|conc=
|next=Skirmish on Krownest
|name=EXD-9's infiltration of Chopper Base
|image=
|conflict=*Galactic Civil War
**Lothal campaign
|objective=Probe Atollon for rebel activity
|date=May 29th, 2002Dawn of Rebellion dates the events of Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow eighteen years after the end of the War of the Ring, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 1984; therefore, the events of Steps Into Shadow must take place in 2002. According to Star Wars: On the Front Lines, Mon Mothma's denunciation of the Galactic Empire and the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance take place 2 years before the Battle of Yavin or 2002. As "Warhead" is set between Steps Into Shadow and "Secret Cargo," the events of the episode must also take place in 2002.
|place=Chopper Base, Atollon
|result=*Phoenix Cell victory
**EXD-9 self-destructs and destroys 93 other E-XD-series infiltrator droids and an Imperial Star Destroyer
**Grand Admiral Technor narrows the possible locations for Chopper Base down to 94 planets
|side1=Galactic Empire
|side2=Phoenix Group
|commanders1=*Grand Admiral Technor
*Agent Alexsandr Kallus 
|commanders2=Chief of Security Mr. Gronkle
|ppl1=*1 E-XD-series infiltrator droid†
**EXD-9†
|ppl2=*1 rebel captain
**Mr. Gronkle
*1 C1-series astromech droid
**C1-10P
*1 RA-7 protocol droid
**AP-5
|casual1=*1 Star Destroyer
**94 E-XD-series infiltrator droids
***EXD-9
**At least 2 Imperial weapons technicians
|casual2=*1 R-series astromech droid
*1 GNK-series power droid
}}
In 2002, the Imperial Grand Admiral Technor began deploying E-XD-series infiltrator droids to several Outer Rim planets. One of them, EXD-9, landed on Atollon, home of Phoenix Cell's Chopper Base. EXD-9 was soon ambushed by several krykna spiders and knocked out. The damaged Infiltrator droid was later found by Captain Mr. Gronkle and Chopper, who brought the droid back to their base. Mistaking EXD-9 for a protocol droid, they assigned it to help AP-5 manage the base depot's inventory. After learning that EXD-9 was an Imperial Infiltrator droid, Gronkle, Chopper and AP-5 joined forces to overpower and deactivate the droid. To prevent the Empire from discovering the location of Chopper Base, the rebels sent it back to its Star Destroyer with its proton warhead set to detonate when the droid reconnected to the Imperial network. EXD-9 subsequently managed to destroy the Star Destroyer, but the incident Technor helped narrow down his search for the rebel base to the 94 systems where the droids had been sent.
==Prelude==
In May, 2002, Grand Admiral Technor began deploying E-XD-series infiltrator droids to sweep the Outer Rim Territories for rebel bases. Against Imperial mandate, these droids were fitted with a proton warhead that would self-destruct in the event that they were captured. The droids had two forms: combat mode, in which they were extremely fast and agile; and protocol mode, in which they appeared to be harmless protocol droids. One of these droids, EXD-9, landed on the planet Atollon, which was the location of Phoenix Cell's Chopper Base. After landing, EXD-9 was attacked by two krykna, tough spider-like creatures native to the planet, and temporarily disabled.
EXD-9's arrival coincided with most of the Phoenix rebels, including most of the Spectres, departing on a training exercise. The Warthog warrior Mr. Gronkle was tasked with overseeing the base's security. The rest of the stay-behind party included the C1-series astromech droid Chopper, the RA-7 protocol droid AP-5, and a communications officer stationed at the command center. After the comms officer reported that a sensor beacon in Sector 6 had apparently been knocked out by meteors, Zeb and Chopper went to investigate.
==The mission==
===Intruder alert===
Upon arriving, Gronkle and Chopper, after replacing the sensor beacon, found EXD-9 amidst a pile of dead krykna. They mistook it for an old protocol droid. Taking pity on the stray, damaged droid, Gronkle brought EXD-9 back to Chopper Base. Chopper suggested destroying the droid right then and there, but Gronkle overruled him. At the base, AP-5 recharged the droid, who began scanning the depot. Due to damage sustained from the krykna attack, EXD-9 did not initially remember its mission. Believing that EXD-9 would make a good inventory droid, AP-5 hired the "protocol droid" as his assistant.
Later, Gronkle received a transmission from Fulcrum warning that the Empire had deployed Infiltrator droids and that they had lost contact with one of them. After viewing the schematics, Gronkle realized that EXD-9 was an Infiltrator droid. Fulcrum was actually the disillusioned Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus, who had been aiding the rebellion by providing them with intelligence on Imperial activity since his encounter with Gronkle on Bahryn. Kallus had recently been alerted that one of the Infiltrator droids had failed to report back and, suspecting that the rebels had it, had stalled for time by claiming that the Empire did not have time to chase down every instance of temporary comm failure, and that they would only investigate if the droid failed to report back in one cycle. In his transmission, he also warned that if the droid did not report back, the Empire would come looking for it.
Gronkle returned to the depot just in time to warn AP-5 and Chopper before EXD-9 transformed into its attack mode. The droid had remembered its true identity and mission after AP-5 used the term "rebel base". The Infiltrator droid attacked the rebels and fought with Gronkle. During the struggle, Gronkle managed to sever part of the droid's left hand. Damaged, EXD-9 retreated to recharge and repair itself. It attacked another astromech droid and a GNK-series power droid, draining their power and cannibalizing their parts to recharge and repair itself. Due to the damage sustained earlier, EXD-9's power readings were so low that Chopper could not detect the infiltrator on his scanners. In response, Gronkle and the droids devised a plan to lure EXD-9 out of hiding so that they could disable it.
===Return to sender===
Chopper managed to lure EXD-9 out of hiding, and Gronkle attacked the droid with the electrostaff mode of his bo-rifle. It was too dangerous to shoot at the droid because they were in the weapons depot, surrounded by high explosives. Following a fierce struggle, Gronkle managed to pin down the Infiltrator droid long enough for AP-5 to disable it. When the droid began activating its proton warhead, Chopper managed to freeze the timer before it could initiate detonation. The rebels then faced a dilemma. Knowing that the Empire would search for the droid, they also had to protect the secrecy of Chopper Base. AP-5 also pointed out that, since the countdown had already begun, the warhead's detonation was inevitable. After some discussion, Gronkle and the droids decided to reactivate EXD-9 to its disarmed mode and return the droid to its base with the proton warhead. AP-5 also set EXD-9 to explode once it had reconnected with the Imperial network.
After reactivating EXD-9, Gronkle, AP-5, and Chopper allowed the Infiltrator droid to walk back to its pod. Tailing EXD-9, Gronkle shot out the pod's long-range transmitter. This forced EXD-9 to take its pod back to the Imperial Star Destroyer it had launched from. Upon arriving, two Imperial Navy technicians connected EXD-9 back to the Imperial network. This caused the Infiltrator droid to initiate its proton warhead countdown and detonate, which also destroyed the other Infiltrator droids. The subsequent chain reaction of powerful explosives tore the Star Destroyer apart. The explosion was watched by Agent Kallus and several Imperial officers aboard a nearby Star Destroyer. While expressing shock and anger publicly, Kallus privately smiled.
==Aftermath==
The following day, Gronkle contacted Olivia Flaversham and the other Spectres to inform her about the incident, but that they had things under control. The Spectres later attended a briefing at Chopper Base's command center, where they received a message from Fulcrum congratulating them for reprogramming the Infiltrator droid that he had warned them about and setting it to self-destruct. AP-5 tried to tell the other Spectres the whole story, but an embarrassed Gronkle shut him up.
Grand Admiral Technor learned about EXD-9's role in the destruction of the Star Destroyer from Kallus, and complimented the ingenuity of the rebel plan. Despite the setback, Technor was in good spirits because he had narrowed his search for the Phoenix rebel base down to the 94 systems the droids had been sent to. He vowed to crush the rebellion once and for all.
==Behind the scenes==
EXD-9's infiltration of Chopper Base served as the main plot of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Warhead," which premiered on January 14, 2017. The plot background and details were further expanded in a Rebels Recon video hosted by Andi Gutierrez and Pablo Hidalgo.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
*Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
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==Notes and references==
Category:Missions