"Again!" Jango Fett commanded.
Looker rolled to his feet. It was Armor Day. All the clones in his unit were in armor for the very first time. The obstacle course he had run flawlessly just the day before had suddenly become insurmountable. This was his third attempt, and the third failure.
Looker and the others went back to the beginning. Every time they failed they had to start over from square one. So far, each time they had run the course they had made more progress than the time before. Clones were nothing if not adaptable.
Jango Fett was overseeing the training of this unit. Known as the First One Hundred they were the lucky ones who got to do everything for the first time, all under the watchful eye of the clone template.
Fully armored, Jango paced in front of the group. "You've got to stop working against your armor. Let it work for you. You're not doing yourself any favors by fighting it."
"Yes, sir." The clones chorused.
"Now tell me, what have you learned so far?"
A number of the men held up their right hand in fist, indicating they wished to speak if called upon. Jango gestured to one of them known as Scooch. "My range of movement is impeded."
Other troopers were called upon in turn, each giving a different observation.
"My peripheral vision is shot." said Ringer.
"I can't feel anything, there's no sense of touch." said Thunder.
"I'm clumsy," said Hype. Some of the other clones chuckled at this. "Well, clumsier than usual." He amended.
"My head is taller with this helmet, and I keep bumping into things." said Mettle, the unit commander. All the clones nodded at this.
Jango passed a hand over the dome of his own helmet. "You learn to manage the, ah, clearance issues. Now, what advantages have you found, and how will you capitalize on them?"
More hands went up. "Better grip." said Tatters.
"No glare from the lights." said SNAFU.
"It didn't hurt as much when I fell." said Cut.
Unexpectedly, Jango seized Looker, who was the nearest to him, and violently headbutted him. Their helmets crashed together with a resounding clank. Jango released the clone; Looker stepped back a little surprised, but unharmed. Raising a finger Jango said emphatically, "Never forget that your armor is also a weapon. Now run the O Course again."
The men went back to the course. This time went better. Not only were they getting used to their armor, but they were beginning to see how they could use it for their advantage. The door to the obstacle course room opened, and Boba slipped in, moving to stand by his dad. Jango glanced down at his son, the child could be hard to read sometimes. Boba stood, watching the clones tackle the course. Jango said, "Everything okay?"
Boba nodded. "I wanted to see Armor Day. The others were just doing target practice again." After a moment of watching he remarked, "They're not very good."
"They're better than they were. They'll get it soon enough."
Another moment passed as Boba observed them. "Will I get armor too?"
Jango eyed his son. "Not like the troopers. One day, soon enough, you'll get your very own Mandalorian armor."
"When?"
Jango lifted Boba's arm to check the length of the sleeve on his wrist. "When you stop growing so fast."
Boba turned to look at his father, a little exasperated. "But Dad, I don't grow fast. I'm the only nine year old who is still a kid. Even the five year old clones are bigger than me."
That was a fact that was hard on Boba. Jango and Boba didn't always stay on Kamino, but when they did Boba would sometimes fall in with a clone unit and participate in the various training. Still, even if Boba was in a unit of clones his size, in just a month or two they would all be noticeably bigger and more advanced than him because of their accelerated growth. "You'll be grown up soon enough."
Seeing that the clones were coming to the end of the course, Jango thought he'd switch things up a bit. "Watch this," he said, handing Boba a pair of night-vision binoculars. He moved to the wall panel and called to the clone troopers, "Again, lights out!" Punching the lights and turning on his infrared heads up display he watched as the clones attempted to run the course in reverse in the dark.
There was a loud thump and some swearing as Hype fell off the first obstacle. Boba giggled at the colourful choice of words Hype picked. Jango watched, amused, yet proud, as the clones retraced their steps towards his position. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, as the troopers made their way back through the course. When they finally reached him, Jango turned and faced Commander Mettle, "Again."