Military Clones

Military Clones

The Atlantic Federation military has a unique position on the use of clones. In the Federation, clones are considered second class beings and face significant and deliberate barriers to prevent them from being recognized as Citizens. Likewise, the clones in the Federation have very few legal protections, and in some member nations, a clone is considered property, or livestock and can be 'decommissioned' without anything more than a financial fine. This being said, the Federation military depends heavily on clones. While most of the officer corps and high profile jobs liked mecha pilots, and supersoldiers are freeborn humans, the rank and file, logistics, and support corps are composed largely of clones and droids.

Federation military series clones are all designed from former military personnel who donated their genetic code as well as engram copies of their memories and skills. These memories are scanned and coded, implanted with behaviour conditioning to ensure loyalty to the military, and the genome is cleansed of disease and defect. These clones are then put into production where they are filed into military occupations. They are sterile/barren, and preprogrammed lifespans to prevent the clones from becoming military surplus equipment, or becoming a financial liability to the military once they are no longer fit for combat.

The average clone lifespan is designed to be 10 years. In active service this number drops down to 4 years. Clones that demonstrate exceptional ability or accomplishment can undergo genetic therapy that either undoes the genetic termination code, or resets it. Resetting the termination gene typically adds 2-5 more years onto the clone's lifespan, and is much more common that the complete removal of the gene.

Codex Series: Duke

Donor: General Conrad Hauser.

Appearance: Anglo-Germanic heritage, with blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and broad shouldered.

Programming: Duke has an hearty Pro-Federation premade history, growing up in the Arco San Louis, playing in sports, and excelling as a leader and a team player.

Role: Duke is designed to function as a clone leader, in squad, platoon, and company sized organizations. Duke is also valuable and functional in special forces (with minor adjustments to bio-augmentation) drill instructor, military police, and other positions requiring strength, leadership, and personal integrity.

Skillsets: Tactics, Logistics, Leadership, Marksmanship

Color: Duke is a natural artist, and almost all units are involved in some sort of artistic expression, typically retro-media forms like painting.

Flaw: Duke doesn't handle mission failure, or the loss of close comrades well. A bad or botched mission can destroy Duke's confidence, and start a self destructive spiral of self doubt and lead into questioning his purpose, or validity as a clone. Rehabilitation, nerve stapling, or decommissioning recommended.

Codex Series: Flint

Donor: Lt. Cmdr. Dashiel Fairborne

Appearance: Anglo-Dutch, with dark hair, and a slightly smaller than average build.

Programming: Euro-centric Pro-Federation upbringing living in an Arco-City.

Role: Warrant Officer/Pilot. Flint is designed to pilot avatars, power armors, helocraft, and mecha as a situation requires it. Also a functional soldier, with the potential for special forces with basic genetic augmentation.

Skillset: Piloting, vehicle gunnery, marksmanship, demolitions.

Color: Flint is predisposed to becoming a family man, and in combat situations, he will go out of his way to rescue women and children, often as risk to himself. Most Flint units will have 'families' composed of artificial companions, or in some war torn areas, adopt children they have rescued.

Flaw: Emotional disconnect, when following orders, Flint can become as disconnected and dispassionate as the machines they drive. Flint units with active 'family analogs' are much less prone to this behavior pattern.

Codex Series: Gung-Ho

Donor: Colonel Etienne Lafayette

Appearance: Anglo-American/Cajun, with dark hair, medium complexion, and a developed muscular physique. Frequently has facial hair, and tattoos.

Programming: Raised in a war-torn marine arco (Arco/Seacology hybrid) with personal experiences of the cost of terrorism and crime, with views of the military and Federation being very high.

Role: Professional soldier, rank and file infantry, marine ops, environmental specialist (swamp/underwater/jungle) Gung-Ho is designed to be the standard template for a marine soldier.

Skillset: Marksmanship, hand to hand combat

Color: Gung-Ho carries cultural color in the form of culinary experience, and are drawn to cooking. Those that don't cook are musically inclined. While certainly happy to eat F-Rations, Gung-Ho will very readily cook up meals from local foodstuffs ranging from normal local food to animals and plants found.

Flaw: Gung-Ho is fiercely patriotic, which can become very determined and focused hostility if a unit finds reason to distrust, or feel that it has been betrayed by the military or government. As such, Gung-Ho units are not equipped to deal with sensitive missions, deploying to face dimensional fatigue events, and other reality altering events. Units that do should be decommissioned post haste.

Codex Series: Falcon

Donor: Lt. General Vincent St. Jean

Appearance: Anglo-Dutch/American, with medium brown hair and average build. Handsome.

Programming: Raised in a traditional Amero-Centric arcology, with experiences as a cocky, wild womanizer until 'realizing' the importance of earning respect and being a good soldier or leader.

Role: Falcon is designed to be a very good soldier, and in wartime, a natural second in command, or to have the ability to step into a leadership role in case officers are taken out.

Skillset: Marksmanship, tactics, minor Leadership.

Color: Falcon typically keeps a 'girlfriend' though most of the time, these are either companion droids, or female clones typically from sex worker trade.

Flaw: The Falcon unit has an ambitious streak, and can reach above their role and station in field operations. This can resort in insubordination and refusal to follow orders (especially orders that will lead to Operational Decommissioning).

Codex Series: Snake-Eyes

Donor: Master Sergeant Wade Collins

Appearance: Anglo-Asiatic with light blonde hair, and asian facial features. This is rarely known, as most all Snake-Eyes seldom if ever remove their helmets or combat masks.

Programming: Classified, but it is suspected that it is a nightmarish mix of jungle warfare, martial arts training, and living off the land in a violently wartorn ruin of a nation, with heavy psychological conditioning for loyalty.

Role: Snake-Eyes clones are designed to be special forces ops, with greater degrees of skills and training. Inside a larger group of clone soldiers, they are the elite non-officers and are expected to be the ones that go the extra mile.

Skillset: Classified but martial arts, melee weapon training, marksmanship, stealth and tracking, survival, demolitions, and the operation of a variety of different vehicles.

Color: Snake-Eyes clones are predictably drawn to the trappings of Nipponese feudalism, and have interest in the Samurai warrior culture, while some that work in special ops exclusively adopt the shinobi ninja culture.

Flaw: Snake-Eyes clones are aloof and isolated and do not freely mingle and associate with other clones, and they often form intense rivalries with other Snake-Eyes clones, limiting their ability to work together for more than a single mission. They are also prone to CogNet addiction.

Codex Series: Scarlett

Donor: Agent Merida O'Hara

Appearance: Traditional Irish with red hair, green eyes, freckles.

Programming: Raised in Euro-Centric arcology, upper income with hunting, and forest experience. Military training out of patriotism, and to fight the dangers posed by terrorists, insurrectionists, and anarchists who oppose the Federation.

Role: Scarlett is a mission specialist, especially in asymmetrical warfare, urban warfare, and improvised weapons and tactics.

Skillset: unconventional warfare, stealth and tracking, marksmanship, specialist skills (examples such as medic, guerilla warfare, cyberwarfare, counter-intelligence, etc)

Color: Cultural flare: Scarlett is programmed with ethnic/cultural background information, typically ethnic customs and traditions to foster and support an esprit d'corps. Most keep a standard Irish/Welsh/Gaelic tradition, citing magic, dragons, etc as part of ethnic heritage.

Flaw: As a military clone all Scarletts are freemartin (sterile) and this can cause problems as there are maternal instincts that have not been genetically phased out. Also, female clones can be the subject of tension within a unit, a target for enemy hostiles, and sometimes have been turned on by their own squadmates.

Codex Series: Stalker

Donor: Lt. Cmdr. Alonso Washington

Appearance: African-American man of average appearance

Programming: Raised in the favelas of a major city, spending time as a member of a large and ruthless gang, later joining the military as a way to escape the mean streets, drugs, and cyclical violence. A proud soldier who hopes to help others.

Role: One of the problems with clones is a certain predictability, so rather than have one general issue main combat clone, the Federation has several. Stalker is a standard issue soldier, with a preference for rifles, and other heavy weapons, with personal history (implanted) and experience (simulated) with urban warfare and militia building activities.

Skillset: Marksmanship, urban warfare, improvised weapons

Color: Stalker's past and mode of speech is peppered with liberal references back to growing up on the streets, fighting day in and day out for something to eat and safe place to sleep, and general thankfulness towards the military for providing these things.

Flaw: Part of Stalker's background is a preprogrammed distrust for authority figures, and a tendency to adopt gang traditions. rehabbing can adjust this, as a strong squad dynamic can use this for a stronger sense of unit spirit and cohesiveness.

Codex Series: Roadblock/Heavy Duty

Donor: General Marvin H. Hinton

Appearance: A physically imposing African-American

Programming: Roadblock: Afro-centric history, growing up in a Central african Urban Sprawl, living in the average section of average. Decent education, but interest in military, hardware, and serving his country.

Heavy Duty: Euro-centric history, growing up in the industrial working district of an industrial acroplex, joined military to operate heavy machinery, because the bigger the machine, the bigger the rush.

Role: Roadblock is a standard issue heavy infantryman designed and programmed to carry heavy weapons, and operate avatar and heavy power armor suits. He is intended to function in a squad support role, providing cover, firepower, or assistance as otherwise requested.

Heavy Duty is a standard issue variant of Roadblock that is specialized in operating heavy machinery such as armored vehicles, mecha, and other non-aerospace machinery. Where Roadblock is a supporter, Heavy Duty is part of the vanguard and takes point.

Skillset: Roadblock: Marksmanship, Support Weapons, Anti-Armor and Anti-mecha training

Heavy Duty: Piloting (mecha, vehicle or power armor) heavy weapons, marksmanship

Color: Roadblock: Afro-centric cooking and culture, raised in central Africa in the economic heart of the Federation, RB knows about what looks good, what tastes good, and how to get that.

Heavy Duty: Machine repair an upgrades, Heavy Duty is a relentless tinkerer, but thankfully this is restricted to non-military equipment. Heavy Duty's trained as mechanics are very competent at their jobs.

Flaw: Roadblock and Heavy Duty have the same general flaw, as a larger clone, they do tend to be the first targeted, and their respective Afro and Euro centric programming often put them at odds with Amero-Centric programmed clones. Both also have a tendency towards overly sentimental behaviour.

Codex Series: Shipwreck

Donor: Captain Hector Delgado

Appearance: Anglo-Hispanic

Programming: Born and raised in a Federation port city, aspired to be a marine/crewman on a military ship. See the world, shoot big guns, hit the ports.

Role: Shipwreck is a common clone in the Federation Navy, where it serves as a marine soldier, and as a general crew member.

Skillset: Marksmanship, Ship Operations, Gunnery

Color: Often a caricature of a pirate, Shipwreck uses nautical terms freely, likes tattoos, rum, and given the misadventures aboard the Federation warships, many have scars and prosthetic limbs. Shipwrecks also have a habit of collecting odd bits as trophies and things to remember their experiences. (if rehabbed, a Shipwreck's quarters should be searched, cleaned out and sanitized to prevent these memory triggers from being found and used.)

Flaw: As a hard drinking womanizing marine/sailor Shipwrecks can develop substance abuse problems. Also, while Shipwrecks do work well together, they do not work well with other clone series.

Codex Series: Cover Girl

Donor: Model/Actress Courtney Krieger

Appearance: Anglo-Germanic woman with blonde hair, nordic features, and very attractive.

Programming: Raised in a euro-centric industrial arco background, brief stint as entertainer and fashionista before entering military out of a passion to find a career that 'mattered'

Role: Cover Girl is a power suit operator, vehicle pilot, and support vehicle operator. These machines favor the physically smaller pilot, and aside from having a competent skillset, having attractive women in the military makes for good PR, and makes it less intimidating for normal women to join. If a former model can turn a wrench or drive a battlemech, so can Hannah the unhappy Housewife.

Skillset: Marksmanship, Piloting (power armor, mecha, or vehicle) Repair and Maintenance, Strategy (providing artillery and fire support)

Color: as a former model and fashionista, Cover Girl remains up to date on what is in in terms of clothing, make up, music, and other modes of art and entertainment.

Flaw: Like Scarlett, Cover Girl can be the target of sexual discrimination during deployment. While well trained and educated as a potential competent leader, Cover Girl units are routinely disregarded as sources of information, ironically because they are pretty and have a background in arts and entertainment.

Codex Series: Grunt

Donor: Master Sergeant Robert Graves

Appearance: Anglo-American with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes

Programming: Grunt is an older generation clone with a very basic preprogramming. Raised on a farming development, Grunt only wanted to leave the farm and join the military and be the best soldier he can be.

Role: The definition of a rank and file soldier, Grunt does one thing, and he does that one thing very well. Grunt does what he is told to do.

Skillset: Marksmanship. Basic military training

Color: None, Grunt is a Delta type clone and if he isn't doing military things, he is either sleeping, or passively watching entertainment.

Flaw: As a delta type clone and of an older generation Grunt isn't ambitious, doesn't make his own plans, and if he doesn't have a commanding officer, he will either keep at his last command or will not know what to do. While this was originally considered desirable, it has been demonstrated that in the face of shifting threat values, Grunts fare poorly, and when confronted with dimensional fatigue events, Grunt units tend to be vulnerable to daemonic possession, or suffer more from encountering alien toxins or chemicals.

Codex Series: Lady Jaye

Donor: Maj. Alison Hart-Burnett

Appearance: Caucasian/Greek woman with dark curly hair

Programming: mediterranean upbringing, typically Euro-Centric, with an interest to serve in the military after 'seeing' what good the military was able to do, rescuing the area from terrorists and putting down social rebellions.

Role: In an attempt to reduce the instances of sexual violence, more female clone series have been ordered. To this end, Jaye is intended to be a standard issue soldier that happens to be female.

Skillset: Marksmanship, melee weapons, Hand to Hand combat

Color: Fascination with archaic cultures, with petroleum era British, 1950s Americana, and traditional arabic culture and cuisine being common.

Flaw: As with other female clones, Jaye faces sexual misconduct, but is better programmed and prepared to deal with it. Jayes do have an issue with fraternizing with fellow soldiers, which has in some instances lead to more serious confrontations and situations where combat effectiveness was compromised.

Codex Series: Bazooka

Donor: Maj. David Katzenburger

Appearance: Anglo-European man with dark hair and pale complexion, frequently has mustache

Programming: Raised in an industrial background, spend time running power loaders, industrial mecha and hardsuit operations. Joined the military for a chance at bigger better badder toys to drive. Also, knows the innate weaknesses of said machines.

Role: There is a constant need for power armor and expendable mecha operators, as well as anti-armor and anti-mecha infantry. Bazooka can take down a mech just as well as he can drive one, as he is intimately aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of the machine.

Skillset: Mecha Operation and repair, Anti-mech combat, anti-armor combat, Heavy Weapons, gunnery

Color: Bazooka is an avid sports fan and follows a team, often to the point of emblazoning his machine or weapon with his team's logo, colors, or favorite player's jersey number. Bazooka is also fascinated with the concept of fishing.

Flaw: Bazooka is easily distracted by the trials and tribulations of his team, if they lose, he gets down, if they win, he becomes euphoric. He can also be distracted by tapping datafeeds to listen to broadcasts while on patrol or general duty.