As with all clone troopers from the extragalactic planet Kamino, Bacara was cloned from the genetic template of the human bounty hunter Jango Fett and trained as a soldier in an army for the Galactic Republic. During the final months of the Clone Wars, Bacara's Galactic Marines served under the command of Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi, while Republic forces laid siege to the Separatist strongholds in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy.
Bacara and his troops were in the midst of battle on Mygeeto when they received word from Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine informing them that Order 66 was in effect. As clones, they were bound by their programming to follow the protocol without question and, therefore, executed General Mundi as an enemy of the state. By the war's end, the Republic that Bacara served had been supplanted by a new regime—the Galactic Empire, ruled by the self-anointed Emperor Palpatine.
CC-1138, was a clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett created and trained on the planet Kamino. There, he trained with an ex-Journeyman Protector and eventually was given the rank of Clone Marshal Commander. After his training, he then received training from Advanced Recon Commandos and chose the name "Bacara."
Bacara attends a briefing with other Jedi and Republic officers.
With the eruption of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance, Bacara served as the Clone Marshal Commander of the 21st Nova Corps, also known as the Galactic Marines, and served as Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi's second-in-command. Together, they fought in many battles, though he was always at odds with Mundi. Eventually, Supreme Commander of the Droid Army General Grievous initiated a large-scale offensive, instigating the Outer Rim Sieges. Bacara and Mundi were later present in a briefing attended by Clone Marshal Commander Bly, Jedi Commander Caleb Dume, and Jedi Generals Depa Billaba, Aayla Secura, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, and Yoda.
During the late portion of the Clone Wars, Bacara was depicted on a propaganda poster Buy Republic War Bonds that was used by the Grand Army of the Republic and created by Janyor of Bith.
Several months after the Third Battle of Mygeeto as part of the Mygeeto Campaign and during the Outer Rim Sieges, Mundi, Bacara, and the 21st Nova Corps were dispatched to confront the Separatists once again and participated in the Fourth Battle of Mygeeto. Bacara and his clone troopers, with the support of UT-ATs, battled against Separatist Octuptarra tri-droids and B2-series super battle droids on the bridges of the planet with Mundi and Bacara leading in the vanguard.
Bacara and his men open fire on Ki-Adi-Mundi, executing Order 66 without hesitation.
During the fighting, Bacara and his troops received Order 66 from Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, declaring the Jedi traitors to the Republic. Though Bacara hesitated with a moment's disbelief, he did not question its legitimacy and ordered his men to attack their General. He and his troopers opened fire on Mundi, killing him.
Reflecting on the action afterwards, Bacara was satisfied with having carried out the command, and would gladly have done the same to anyone he believed would compromise the Republic. Following the death of his Jedi General, Bacara and his forces continued fighting against the last Separatist positions on the planet in order to destroy their presence there.
Following his training with the Journeyman Protectors, Bacara was seen as a loner. Under the leadership of Ki-Adi-Mundi, Bacara's extremely strict and militant philosophies were often at odds with Mundi's Jedi training. After many battles together, however, Mundi earned the grudging respect of his subordinates, with Bacara and the General forming a close professional relationship. Though Bacara experienced momentary disbelief at the order to kill Mundi, he carried out the command and was satisfied with his action afterwards, glad to have brought down a threat to the Republic. As a Clone Marshal Commander, Bacara was in command of the entire 21st Nova Corps.
It was generally recommended that high-ranking clone trooper officers should not lead their troops from the front, and if they did, that they should remain inconspicuous as they were a prime target. Despite this, Bacara chose to ignore the practice and led his unit from the front and center of any combat they were involved in, and also had distinct armor. Bacara was trained in the use of weapons, including the standard DC-17 hand blaster that Clone Commanders usually equipped themselves with. Bacara was considered to be a stern clone trooper officer, and made it a personal habit to reassign clone troopers who did not meet his expectations for excellence, often without the consent of his Jedi General.
By the end of the Clone Wars, Bacara was equipped with modified Phase II clone trooper armor, with his particular armor set being considered very distinct. His armor included additional heated pads over the air filtration units on his helmet in order to prevent excessive loss of heat through his helmet's air filtration systems when used in low temperatures and high winds. His helmet was also equipped with a compact and powerful communications antenna on the left side, which allowed him to remain in contact with his superiors even when in heated combat and keep them fully informed of his unit's status. Bacara's Phase II helmet contained a polarized visor, and as with other Phase II helmets, allowed for a better field of view and additional display information on the HUD. Although very similar, the rear of Bacara's helmet featured sloping backside armor.
Bacara also donned a kama that was held up by his standard utility belt. The belt usually carried emergency rations, spare parts and ammunition, and grenades. Bacara also added a pauldron on his right shoulder that was customized in the maroon coloring of the 21st Nova Corps and held by a cross-strap that went across his chest. A heating system was located on the back of his armor, which augmented the temperature controlled body glove that Bacara wore under his armor.
Bacara utilized a DC-15A blaster rifle, the standard weapon of clone troopers which he fully trusted. Bacara also occasionally wore a DC-17 hand blaster, although unlike his fellow Clone Commanders he did not usually equip himself with one as part of his combat gear. Bacara also utilized a DC-15A blaster carbine during combat.
Concept art by Alex Jaeger
CC-1138 "Bacara" made his first canonical appearance in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Though Bacara's numerical designation goes unmentioned in the film, it was annotated in the screenplay of Episode III, where Bacara is identified as Commander 1138, a reference to George Lucas' first feature film THX 1138.
When Bacara first appeared in Revenge of the Sith, some fans noticed that both his helmet and armor closely resembled that of the snowtroopers from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. The armor that CC-1138 and the other Galactic Marines wore in Episode III was inspired by the snowtrooper designs of Episode V. Building off of this inspiration, Bacara's helmet's open-facemask design was originally developed for clone tank drivers who were meant to have been operating in rough environments. Some concept art seen in Jonathan W. Rinzler's The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith identified CC-1138 as a "Clone Tank Driver." It's possible that CC-1138 was first intended to command a HAVw A6 Juggernaut during the Order 66 sequence. During the shooting scripts, a HAVw A6 Juggernaut was meant to open fire under Yoda's command post on Kashyyyk.
While Bacara's appearance in the final cut is silent, there were two lines attributed to him in the illustrated screenplay. These were "Yes, sir" and "It will be done, My Lord," and the commander's actions were even slightly expanded as well: he was to be given the command to execute the order by Darth Sidious via comlink and then snap the comlink close as he looked on the city's main plaza before killing Ki-Adi-Mundi.