Niner Skirata—formerly designated RC-1309 while serving the Galactic Republic, and subsequently IC-1309 following its transformation into the Galactic Empire—originated as a clone of the renowned bounty hunter Jango Fett. He was created on Kamino with the purpose of fighting for the Grand Army of the Republic. Niner received training as a clone commando under the tutelage of the Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar training sergeant, Kal Skirata, whom he grew to deeply admire and respect as a paternal figure. When hostilities erupted on Geonosis between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Niner commanded his initial squad during the Clone Wars' inaugural battle. After the First Battle of Geonosis, Niner emerged as the sole survivor of his original squad, later uniting with three other lone survivors to establish Omega Squad. He served with them as their Clone trooper sergeant throughout the duration of the conflict.
On the planet Kamino, RC-1309 was secretly developed as a clone of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. This was done to create soldiers for the Grand Army of the Republic. Born in 32 BBY, the year, he was among the one hundred and four clone commandos trained by the Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar training sergeant Kal Skirata. RC-1309 chose the name Niner for himself, taking inspiration from the final digit of his numerical designation. He took on the role of squad sergeant for his first squad, and he developed a strong affection for his fellow clone brothers. During their training, Niner and his squad experienced the loss of Two-Eight, who died due to improperly handled explosives. Although Two-Eight's position in the squad was filled by another commando, Niner continued to reflect on the death of his original brother for a considerable time afterward. By 22 BBY, Niner was in command of a squad consisting of the commandos Sev, DD, and O-Four. When the time arrived for the Grand Army and all of its clones to deploy to Geonosis, the deployment occurred so swiftly that Niner and the other commandos were unable to bid farewell to their training sergeants.
During the First Battle of Geonosis, Niner saw all three of his squadmates fall in the initial conflict of the Clone Wars. Following the Republic's victory in the battle, Niner was transported via Acclamator-class assault ship to Ord Mantell. While stationed at barracks block 5 Epsilon, he remorsefully replayed the events of the battle in his thoughts as he maintained his Katarn armor. He resolved that if given another opportunity, Niner would have kept Sev and DD away from the enemy's advance, and instead dispatched O-Four to the west equipped with the squad's E-Web blaster cannon. It was during this period of introspection that Niner first encountered Fi, the sole survivor of own squad. Despite their initial tense interaction, Niner's attitude toward Fi softened upon recognizing that Fi was experiencing the same grief as himself. Shortly thereafter, both Niner and Fi were placed into stasis, awaiting their next deployment.
His next engagement occurred when his squad was dispatched to Qiilura with the objective of destroying a biohazard facility and capturing the Confederate scientist Ovolot Qail Uthan. As the squad evacuated the planet with their hostage, he personally confronted Ghez Hokan. He devised a plan to feign injury, luring Hokan into approaching him, where Fi, another squad member, would then snipe him in the head. However, the plan deviated, and Etain Tur-Mukan ultimately eliminated Hokan by waiting for Hokan to engage one of the commandos. Hokan deployed an EMP grenade, disabling the commandos' helmets. He advanced to eliminate one of them, but Etain Tur-Mukan decapitated him.
He played a role in leading Omega Squad, assisted by Kal Skirata, in neutralizing terrorist activities on Coruscant. The mission involved "black ops," with Skirata leading Omega and Delta squads, Ordo (ARC N-11), Walon Vau, and generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik. A mole was discovered within the GAR logistics center. Niner's involvement was as a member of the crew. He participated in the regular patrol schedule and was vital in destroying the CoruFresh landing pad, which served as the terrorists' base. Throughout the operation, the two squads experienced moments of both collaboration and conflict. Unlike his counterpart in Delta Squad, Boss, who enjoyed being in command, Niner preferred to lead by "being sure."
Niner, along with Omega Squad, was deployed to Gaftikar, a planet under Separatist control, to support local rebels, a lizard-humanoid species known as the Marits. While Darman and Atin infiltrated a city on Gaftikar, Eyat, disguised as civilians, they encountered the AWOL ARC trooper Sull. They brought him back to the camp, where Niner disagreed with N-12, A'den, regarding the appropriate course of action for the deserted ARC trooper. Ultimately, Niner lost the argument, and Sull was released. When Niner led his squad to a HoloNet station in Eyat, Fi suffered a severe head injury, which resulted in his removal from the team.
During the Skirmish on Shinarcan Bridge Extension, Niner sustained a spinal injury after falling from the bridge due to a Jedi Padawan. Darman Skirata refused to abandon him, even when ordered to do so. After recovering from his injury, he observed a noticeable change in Darman since Etain's death. He also grew paranoid about the Galactic Empire potentially bugging their helmets to eliminate traitors following Order 66.
When he managed to speak to Darman away from the holocams to discuss their future plans, Darman decided to remain a commando, without even acknowledging his son's name. When he and the other squads of the 501st Legion were assembled, he didn't recognize Scorch until he was standing next to him. He and Darman were grouped with Ennen and Bry, from Galaar Squad, to form the newly named Squad 40.
Scorch and RC-1140, also known as Fixer, disliked the new stormtrooper armor, while Boss was indifferent. They assumed that the Jedi Yoda was dead and confirmed that they never located Sev. Their leader, Darth Vader, tasked the entire 501st with hunting down Jedi and deserters. Niner was shocked to discover that Maze was on the list of deserters, as Maze was exceptionally dedicated to the Republic.
The list of individuals they were assigned to hunt also included Yayax Squad, Hyperion Squad, Levet, Corr, and Atin, who had been with Omega Squad until the night of Order 66. He was relieved to find that Fi was not on the list, indicating that the Empire believed Fi was deceased. Upon seeing Etain's face on the list of targets, he placed his hand under Darman's arm to support him. Darman remained unresponsive, concealing his grief.
Niner and the rest of Squad 40 were initially tasked with hunting down and capturing Jilam Kester, a member of the Antarian Rangers, alive, by their commanding officer, Sa Cuis. Kester was accused of assisting Jedi in escaping capture and was last seen on Celen. When Niner inquired if Darman was comfortable with hunting him down, Darman responded that the Jedi had taken everything from him and that he would pursue every last one of them. Ennen and Darman nearly engaged in a physical altercation over the fact that Ennen and Bry were trained by a Corellian instructor, and Ennen believed he was superior to Mandalorians.
During the Mission to Celen, Bry was killed by Jedi Master Iri Camas, who was hiding with Kester following Order 66. After Camas's death, Niner retrieved a chip they found in the house and took it back to Coruscant, hoping to have Jaller Obrim analyze its contents, since Camas had erased its hard drive. Jaller discovered that the data on the chip was crucial to keeping Clan Skirata hidden, and officially informed Niner that the chip was empty, discreetly handing it back to Niner to get it to Jaing who was able to recover all of the data; he placed an empty datachip into evidence and sent Niner and Darman on their way.
A few days later, Niner's helmet underwent an 'inspection' by TK-0, a friend of Jaing's, who installed a secure link enabling Niner to communicate with any member of the family on Mandalore at his discretion. Niner, Darman, Ennen, and the new member Rede met with their new commanding officer, Roly Melusar, who had replaced Sa Cuis after his death at the hands of Darth Vader. After Niner informed Darman about the link in his helmet, Darman finally allowed his emotions to surface, fearing that the Jedi would take Kad away.
After commending them for killing Camas and having Bry cremated, Roly pledged to hunt down and capture all of the Jedi. Niner requested cooldown time from Roly, which he received. Jaing informed him that Roly was from Dromund Kaas, a Sith world. Niner told Darman that they were leaving as soon as they got where the Nulls were instructing him to go; he also told Darman that Etain's ashes were waiting for him to scatter them, and that Kad kept asking where his daddy was. When they were close to extraction and returning home, Darman decided to stay behind and gather information against the Empire.
Ordo decided to take Niner's armor and drag Dar to extraction, but before he could do so, thieves came to Nyreen Vollen's ship Cornucopia and had to be killed. Niner decided to remain behind to protect Darman, passed off the chip to Jaing, and had the Nulls flee, attracting Imperial attention. After successfully covering up the fact that the Nulls were on Coruscant, Roly had Darman and Niner report solely to him from that point on, and decided in time to deal with Palpatine and any other Imperial force-users who got in his way.
During this time Darman also received a secure link in his helmet, but he din't use it for fear of not knowing what to say to his son. He took on the role of becoming Rede's mentor, who only had one year of flash training as he was a Centax-2 clone. Ennen showed his anger at Bry being killed after surviving the Clone Wars and practically begged for a way to desert. Darman decided to tell him about Mandalore in time, making a mental note to ask Ordo how he should do it.
Squad 40 were tasked with finding a Jedi believed to be in Coruscant's undercity, recently renamed to Imperial City. When they located the man Ennen was the one who killed him, in retaliation for Bry being killed. They were shocked to find the 'Jedi' was nothing more than a petty thief who had acquired a lightsaber, most likely on the night of Order 66. Returning to base, Ennen committed suicide in the refresher over the grief of killing a civilian and Bry's death.
In the wake of Ennen's suicide, Niner and the others decided to remain as a three man squad for the time being, not wanting to train two Centax clones at once. The squad was sent to the Coth Fuuras space station to kill Jedi Knight Borik Yelgo; on the way to complete the mission, Darman told Rede that they did like him, and apologized for shutting him out from time to time.
After Rede killed Yelgo, they returned to Coruscant. Niner correctly predicted that Darman would lose control when he learned that the Jedi are on Mandalore being kept safe by Kal within proximity of his son, threatening to come after Jusik if the Jedi took his son away. Later, Darman convinced Roly to allow them to go to Mandalore, using it as both an excuse to desert and to find as many Jedi as possible to keep his son safe. Niner was shocked when Darman told him he intends to capture the Jedi he finds.
Niner often exhibited a more serious demeanor compared to the other clones in his squad. He generally strived to emulate the compassionate nature and language of his training sergeant, Kal Skirata. He behaved in a manner reminiscent of Skirata, notably by demonstrating care for those under his command and attempting to serve as a father figure to the group. He also frequently addressed fellow clones as "son," a term of endearment that Skirata often used with clones.
In Chapter 13 of Republic Commando: Hard Contact, when Etain asks for the clone commandos names, Niner starts to introduce himself as "CC" instead of "RC" which would be his proper designation code. This appears to be a mistake in the novel of the proper usage of clone designations.