Secret Weapons

"A group of Republic droids, including R2-D2, are selected for a critical assignment. Under the command of Colonel Gascon, they must infiltrate a Separatist dreadnought to retrieve a vital encryption module. The droids face many difficult challenges as they strive to complete this important task."

The Jedi High Council has come up with a strategy to seize a Separatist decryption device from the heavily guarded area of an enemy battleship. Given the need for specialized infiltration skills, the Council has opted to utilize a carefully chosen team of droids for this dangerous operation. Consequently, several Republican droids are gathered within the Jedi Temple war room: the astromech droids R2-D2, QT-KT, M5-BZ, and U9-C4, alongside WAC-47, an overly enthusiastic and clumsy pit droid who is tardy to the mission briefing given by Master Windu because he misheard something. This does little to inspire confidence in his teammates.

Leading the mission is the small Colonel Meebur Gascon, a highly regarded tactical mind within the Grand Army of the Republic. Gascon's stern and serious demeanor immediately clashes with WAC's lightheartedness. He quickly delves into the mission's specifics and escorts the droids to Dr. Gubacher, a technician who equips most of them with specialized tools for the mission. WAC, however, is excluded from this as he will be the team's pilot, while M5-BZ has his memory core removed so Gascon can utilize him as a disguised, mobile command center.

As the mission gets underway, WAC boldly decides to seize control by setting their transport shuttle on a path to collide with their target ship to attract attention. This action results in more attention than intended, as the shuttle is captured by a tractor beam, and the dreadnought's droid crew begins to escort the astromechs away for questioning. The droids, however, are able to overwhelm their captors and stealthily move to the next phase of their plan: C4 causes a temporary power disruption to bypass the security measures at the decryption module vault, and WAC successfully deceives the droid guards guarding the vault's exterior.

However, when Gascon attempts to unlock the vault door, he mistakenly inserts M5's tools into a power socket, causing the astromech to experience a massive electrical surge. Gascon then seems unsure of what to do next, and under questioning from WAC, he hesitantly admits that although he is known as a tactical analyst, he lacks actual field experience and views this mission as a chance for advancement. After WAC challenges him to treat his team with greater respect, Gascon and the droids finally find common ground and agree to work together to ensure the mission's success.

The droids are successful in deactivating the security protocols inside the vault and gaining access to the module storage area. However, their actions have drawn the attention of the ship's droid commander, Aut-O, who arrives with a squad of battle droids to investigate. But R2, who happens to be near a control panel for the chamber's artificial gravity, promptly switches it off, causing all the droids to float uncontrollably. This allows the droid team to eliminate the battle droids. Aut-O remains operational and tries to stop them, but through cooperation, Gascon, WAC, and R2 manage to disable him as well. Aut-O still manages to trigger the general alarm before shutting down, forcing the team to evacuate immediately. Initially eager to leave to avoid capture, Gascon agrees to his team's desire to take the damaged M5 with them. Amidst the chaos created by the alarm, Gascon and his droid team successfully escape with the decryption module and a newfound respect for one another.

Star Wars Insider 137 initially reported "Secret Weapons" as the ninth episode within Season Five, but that information was later changed to "A Necessary Bond."

The episode's opening logo, usually yellow, was colored blue to honor R2-D2. The subsequent three episodes—"A Sunny Day in the Void," "Missing in Action," and "Point of No Return," which compose a single story arc—also use this blue opening logo. This isn't the first instance of the logo's color being altered: In Season 4's final two episodes ("Brothers" and "Revenge"), the logo was red to signify the return of Darth Maul.