Chapter 301 - Worthy Of 99

Dageer designed a training course for Bad Batch to run. He put the four of them against sixty B1 units, twenty B2 super battle droids, and three Droidekas. Two of the clanckers were even manning an E-Web Turret.

Bad Batch cleared it easily. Even though they hadn't seen where Dageer programmed the droids to be, Hunter could easily detect them, and warn his squad. Wrecker would pick up droids, including Droidekas, and throw them away. Their cohesion was impressive, almost comparable to veterans. Just almost though. They still lacked experience, and made too many unnecessary moves, which would get them killed in a real battle. But they certainly could back up a little of their arrogance.

"So? What do you think, sir?"

Bad Batch stood proudly before Dageer, only to find out he didn't seem impressed. In fact, none of the men behind him looked like they were impressed either.

"It's quite good for some shinies."

"We are not shinies! We are soldiers! Err... Sir."

Wrecker complained before realizing he was being disrespectful. Dageer didn't pay him any heed, because he knew this brother of his might be strong, but it was also more... emotional.

"Until you go through your first battle, you are little more than cadets. Dab and Sev, you take Crosshair. Show him some tricks. Metal and Scorch, Wrecker. Tech, you get our Tech, Fixer, and Cell. Boss, you and I will train Hunter. Brain and Three-four, you sit out for this one."

Both Hell Squad and Delta Squad members nodded. Even the clone commandos had no qualms following Dageer's arrangement. But Bad Batch had.

"Sir, commander, err... Commander Dageer?"

For the first time, Bad Batch's Tech spoke, so fast that it was almost difficult to understand what he was saying.

"Yes?"

"We showed you what we can do... But you haven't shown us. I mean... Like, don't want to... I'm not saying you aren't good... It's just that you only rated us good enough. And we are a lot better than the normies."

Dageer looked at Bad Batch, and saw they all had the same feelings as their brother. They were hard to convince.

"You may be better than cadets, but you are nowhere near the level of skill a special unit needs. Besides, you think too highly of yourselves. That will get you killed in your first battle. Hell Squad and Delta Squad have been through thousands of battles. After a month, we will see how prepared you are."

"But..."

Wrecker and Bad Batch's Tech were about to complain again when their sergeant put his hands on their shoulders, and forced them to stand down.

"We understand that, sir. But could you show us a little of what you can do? We heard a lot about your two units during training, but never had the chance to see them in action."

"Haha!"

Before Dageer could answer, he heard Boss laughing. The commando didn't even try to hide it. The others also had grins on their faces, while Clone Force 99 was looking at them confused. They didn't know why their brothers had found Hunter's words so funny.

"I don't think they will be convinced until you show them, sir."

"Metal is right. Do you need help?"

"Stand down, Brain. The commander can handle them on his own."

Dageer looked at his men, and sighed, before turning around to face Bad Batch. In the same movement, he kicked Hunter, pulled out his DC-17, and his vibroblade.

To the sergeant's credit, he noticed Dageer's sudden move, and put his hands in from of his stomach to block, but still had to take a few steps back. He tried to reach for his own pistols, but found that the vibroblade was resting on his neck, threatening to kill him if he moved.

Meanwhile, Dageer held his blaster in his left hand, and aimed it at Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker.

"Dead, dead, dead, and dead. Clone Force 99 is gone, Sergeant Hunter."

It all was over in a second. Bad Batch barely had any time to react, and had startled expressions on their faces. The other clones weren't surprised at all.

Putting his weapons away, Dageer just stared at Hunter, waiting to see what he was going to say. The sergeant stood quiet. He finally seemed to have understood why Hell Squad and Delta Squad looked down on his unit's confidence. The one to speak first was obviously Wrecker.

"Hey! That wasn't fair! You caught us by surprise!"

The one to answer him was Boss, as he stepped forward, to stand by Dageer's side.

"Who told you the seppies are going to play fair? They are very similar to us in this. We will do everything it takes to win, and so will they. Their droid factories build dozens of thousands of clanckers every day. No matter where you fight, you will be outnumbered and outgunned. You are good, I won't deny that, but I could pick any trooper at random, and he could deal with you as easily as Dageer did."

"Still! If we..."

"Shut up, Wrecker. Commander Boss is right."

Hunter stepped forward, without taking his eyes off Dageer and Boss. Wrecker mumbled a little, but obeyed. Crosshair and Bad Batch's Tech had yet to say a word. It appeared they had understood the same as their sergeant. That they were nowhere near ready.

"Yes, he is. Some reflexes and instincts will only come from experience. After you fight your first battle, you will understand. For now, we will teach you all the tricks a special unit needs to know. The tricks they don't show you when you are cadets. First lesson, never underestimate your enemy. Too many of our brothers fell because of that. Second lesson: you won't only be fighting against normal tin cans. What I did to you, sergeant, is a standard move used by commando droids. But they won't stop their blades."

Dageer stopped to see if his speech was having the desired effect. He had been a commander for long enough to know that even amongst clones, it was necessary to earn their full trust, otherwise they might falter during a key moment. And mistakes led to death.

"You were named at 99. Maybe you think it is because you are... defective like he was, or because you were a mistake. The real reason only the higher-ups know. What any clone knows is that 99 was a soldier just like the rest of us. He died to save his home and his brothers. We were here when that happened. So, we will make sure you are worthy of his name. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. We will follow what I said before. You will have a month of training before receiving your first mission, whether you are prepared or not. Boss?"

"Got it. All right, start moving! You were showing off before, now I want to see what you can really do! Let's go!"

The clones started moving. Dageer and Boss had been training Hunter for about an hour - the clone showed a lot of interest in Dageer's vibroblade - when Brain called his commander. By the look on his face, he had bad news.

When Dageer heard what he had to say, his expression turned grave, and his eyes flicked with worry. Telling Boss to keep training Hunter, Dageer left the room, and rushed to meet General Shaak Ti.