The mission known as Crab Heist was executed by Clone Force 99, also known as the "Bad Batch". This occurred in the months following the Fall of Tipoca City, a period when the Galactic Empire believed the Batch to be dead. After the incident, the Bad Batch engaged in smaller jobs, one of which involved the retrieval of a package from Aynaboni for their employer, Ciddarin Scaleback. Despite reviewing their strategy five separate times, Wrecker, a member of the squad, inadvertently stirred up a group of aggrocrabs. Regardless, the Bad Batch successfully extracted the package from the world, delivering it to Cid's Parlor for Phee Genoa, Scaleback's contact, to collect.
Clone Force 99, with the nickname "Bad Batch," started as an unconventional squad of clone commandos. The Kaminoan cloners created them to fight for the Grand Army of the Republic. The team fought in the Clone Wars, a war between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, until the end. At that time, most clone troopers were forced to execute their Jedi commanding officers due to the secret command Order 66. Most of the Bad Batch was resistant to the inhibitor chips that enforced the order. This resistance was due to either genetic alterations or, in the case of Echo, the squad's newest member, cybernetics he received as a Separatist prisoner.
The squad soon disagreed with the Galactic Empire that arose from the Republic and deserted. They took Omega, an unusual female clone who was a special project of Nala Se, the Kaminoan Chief Medical Scientist, but left behind Crosshair, their sniper. He was the only member of the Batch not fully immune to his inhibitor chip. The Bad Batch became fugitives from the Empire, who wanted them captured, and eventually began working as mercenaries for Ciddarin Scaleback, an information broker operating from Cid's Parlor in Ord Mantell City.
The team members had different views on what to do regarding the Empire: Hunter, the leader, was focused on protecting his team, but Echo wanted to actively oppose the new regime. Rex, another rogue clone who had found them, was already fighting the Empire, and he eventually requested the Bad Batch to rescue Gregor, a clone trying to desert from Imperial service. During the mission, Hunter was separated from his team and captured. Crosshair, who was obsessed with hunting down his former squad, brought Hunter back to Kamino to set a trap for the others.
The Empire was conducting an operation on the planet to take all cloning technology and scientists for their own purposes before destroying the Kaminoan facilities and cities. Crosshair lost control of the situation he had created because the Batch declined his offer to rejoin the Empire, and Vice Admiral Rampart ordered an attack on Tipoca City while the clones were still inside. They survived the attack, but the Bad Batch left Crosshair on Kamino after he committed himself to the Empire and refused to rejoin them. Afterwards, the Empire officially declared the Bad Batch dead. For months following, the squad accepted small mercenary jobs that didn't attract the Empire's attention. Scaleback eventually sent them on a heist for Phee Genoa, a pirate she considered trustworthy, to retrieve a package.
The package was located on an island on Aynaboni, near a nest of aggrocrabs. Before starting the job, the Batch developed a plan for the heist, which they reviewed five times. While Omega and Tech stayed with the team's starship, the Marauder, Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker went into the jungle on the island to find the package.
The three clones successfully retrieved the package, but Wrecker woke up a group of the crabs, which were fast, strong, and mostly unaffected by blaster fire. Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker were forced to run back through the jungle, with Wrecker carrying the package. They reached a beach on the island with the crabs chasing them, and Echo, frustrated, snapped at Wrecker about how many times they had reviewed the plan, to which he replied that he had successfully gotten the package.
On the Marauder, Omega was sitting on the ship's ramp, studying starships of the Imperial Navy while watching a line she had dropped into the water to see if they could catch anything. Tech caught her taking a break, disapproving of it, before Hunter interrupted them, calling for a pickup. Tech correctly guessed that Wrecker had woken up the group, as Hunter and Echo started shooting at the crabs chasing them. Omega was distracted by a bite on the line, but Tech's attempt to take off was stopped by three crabs that climbed onto the ship. The bite on the line was from another crab, and Omega fell off the ship, hanging onto the line. Tech couldn't get rid of the crabs on the Marauder and was further distracted by Omega's situation. The girl decided to slide down the line, landing on the beach, before using her energy bow to blast away the crabs on the ship.
Tech flew the Marauder around as Omega ran from more crabs approaching her, before telling her to grab the line. Omega shot one crab, causing it to crouch and shield itself, before using the creature as a ramp to reach the line. As she was lifted away, Omega clipped herself onto the line and continued shooting at the crabs.
On the beach, Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker kept running when they saw another group of crabs coming towards them, causing them to stop and prepare their weapons. The Marauder arrived just in time, and Hunter, surprised to see Omega hanging from the ship, asked Tech why. Reaching the shuttle's ramp, Omega unclipped herself and sent the line back down while continuing to shoot at crabs. When the line reached Wrecker, he clipped it onto the package. He, Hunter, and Echo climbed onto the crate and held on as the crabs closed in and they were pulled upwards and away from the group. Once everyone and the package were onboard, Tech flew the Marauder away. Hunter thanked Omega for her help, but suggested she try to stay inside the ship next time.
The Bad Batch returned to Ord Mantell later than expected, learning from the droid AZI-3 that Scaleback was annoyed, which Echo said was normal. Upon entering Scaleback's office, she greeted the clones with sarcastic remarks about the "space slugs'" return. Genoa was there and said she was interested in finally meeting the "top team" of rogue clones on the run from the Empire. Hunter was annoyed that Scaleback had told Genoa about them, but she dismissed it, explaining that Genoa was the most trustworthy pirate she knew. Echo was very skeptical of the endorsement. Genoa commented on the clones' physical differences and tried to flirt with Tech before ordering Wrecker to carry her package for her. As she left, Genoa mentioned intel she had given Scaleback and said she expected a cut of the next haul if the Bad Batch succeeded.
In response to the squad's questions, Scaleback explained that the pirate was referring to their next mission, before showing a hologram of a building Tech identified as Castle Serenno, the former home of Count Dooku, the late Separatist leader. Scaleback explained that the Empire was moving to secure Dooku's war chest, a large collection of riches, and she wanted the team to steal some of it. Knowing that Serenno was an Imperial hotspot, Hunter refused. However, Scaleback convinced the other adult clones to go along with the job, pointing out that even a small amount of Dooku's wealth would be enough to give them financial security and freedom. When Hunter rejoined the conversation and heard of the vote the others had taken, he was initially skeptical, responding to Scaleback's comments about freedom by saying that his team was already free. Scaleback replied that he had not been paying attention to what the Empire was doing to the galaxy and that her operation would be shut down if the Empire moved in. Hunter was swayed to agree to the job when Scaleback pointed out that they could use the money to buy themselves a future, thinking of Omega.
The mission was ultimately a failure; because of the actions of Clone Captain Wilco and his company, the Bad Batch was forced to flee Serenno with nothing. The failed raid also caused the Batch's survival to come to the attention of Vice Admiral Rampart, the officer who had led the Empire's wrap-up operation on Tipoca City. Rampart's career had improved since then, and he feared if his superior, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, learned of the Batch's survival, he would be punished. Traveling to Serenno, Rampart tried to order Wilco to falsify his report to leave out the rogue clones; when Wilco refused, Rampart murdered him and promised to write a new report himself.