Imperial Clone Troopers

Fragmented

## History

### Commissioning and the Genetic Template

The origins of the clone troopers date back to the days before the Verronez Civil War in 3164 C.E., when Shadow Zephyr secretly commissioned Eldrachi scientists to create an army. The project fell under the supervision of Bibfion Zephyr, officially a Cev'Kell ambassador to the Eldrachi.

Before the cloners on Eld'Coles were able to begin their task, they required sixteen individuals willing to serve as the army's genetic template.

Before the gestation process began, the Eldrachi tampered with the DNA samples to ensure that the clones were primarily dominated by behavioral genes that emphasized certain qualities such as loyalty, aggression, independence and discipline in order to guarantee that the army would be more docile and less independent than their templates. Additionally, the Eldrachi increased their clones' lung capacity, decreased their reaction times and improved their stamina.

When the Eldrachi first began the cloning procedure, they had produced twelve prototypes, designated as the G-One Primes. Due to the extreme modifications to their physiology, only half of the test subjects survived their gestation process. However, the "enhancements" that were made to the genome left the survivors handicapped with erratic behavior and an inclination toward disobedience. Disappointed with the unsatisfactory results of their wayward creations, the Eldrachi deemed the six prototypes as complete failures and terminated them.

### Training

Clones were decanted into birth cohorts of 72, and they trained, ate and slept alongside their batchers. These birth cohorts became the platoons clone troopers would fight in, having trained with their comrades literally from birth. Through the technological capability to accelerate the speed of a clone's physical growth, the Eldrachi successfully engineered fully-grown clones in only a year. As a result of the genetic modification that enhanced their growth process, the clone troopers aged far faster lasting at most a handful of years.

All clone troopers received basic training in core military skills, such as weapons handling, marksmanship, drill, and other essentials. As part of their education and psychological training, the clone troopers were required to adhere to the Command Code, a set of guidelines that governed a clone's behavior and every action. Hence, every clone was obliged to obey every aspect of the Code without question, doubt or hesitance. Overall, the Eldrachi took a deeply vested interest in the training of the creations, especially the standard clone units and even the clone commandos, as well.

### Aberrations

Despite the Eldrachi dedication to perfection when it came to their work, the cloning process produced a minority of clones with genetic abnormalities. While many clones would have subtly different features to their fellow batchers. In some 3.5 percent of clones in each batch, however, genetic variations were so extreme that reconditioning was required, a euphemism that could include anything from genetic therapy to termination. These procedures would still occasionally miss aberrations.

#### A Face and a Name

Though often viewed as the "flesh and blood" equivalent of androids, clone troopers possessed a limited capacity for individuality. They were bred for no other purpose than combat, but nevertheless they developed as individuals under the guidance of some enlisted officers.

Clone troopers were officially distinguished by sets of letters and numbers. Every soldier's wrist was scannable and contained an identifying code, which displayed information such as designation, rank and battles fought. Less than a year after the delivery of the first batch, many clones adopted nicknames to complement their official designations with the approval of their commanding officer.

Despite the great lengths that the Eldrachi took to ensure that all clone troopers were unconditionally loyal to the Imperial Dominion, there was evidence of flaws within their work. Ordinary, standard-issued clone troopers were programmed to be absolutely subservient, but a few of them developed too much as individuals to the point where said loyalty was overridden.

Smaller signs of individuality were seen in how some clone troopers broke away from the regulation haircut. Even before the mass production of Mark Two Armour, many clones had been allowed to customize their Mark One Armour in various ways, either with color or additional equipment. Aside from armour customization, another indication of individualism was the clone troopers' affinity for Eld'Coles, which they regarded as their homeworld.

## The Eight

**The Eight** are the genetic templates created from the genetic source material donated by sixteen individuals for the specific purpose of growing the clone army.

## Training

### Roles

All clones were trained as Grunts in addition to other training for other roles.

* *Assault*, were equipped with jetpacks and trained for aerial combat.
* *Command*, were trained in multi-squad organization and administration as well as advanced tactical training.
* *Engineer*, were a special group of troopers trained in vehicle maintenance and demolition work.
* *Grunt*, were run of the mill trooper trained in combat and basic tactics.
* *Heavy*, carried heavy weapons (ex Torpedo Launcher) for use against hard targets and specialized in heavier anti-troop weapons.
* *Medic*, were trained to diagnose and treat wounded soldiers in the field.
* *Ordnance*, were troopers trained for the disarmament and disposal of explosive weapons.
* *Scout*, performed reconnaissance and scout missions.

## Generations

A Generation is separated not by time of creation but by overhauls in training regime and advances in the cloning process.

### G-One

*Entered Service:* 3176 Common Era

*Status:* Discontinued

*Total Number Produced:* 60,000

A Generation-One clone is the result of Flash Cloning and had very short lifespans, projected to top out at ten years, as a result they had simple training and little independent tactical knowledge or training.

### G-Two

*Entered Service:* 3178 Common Era

*Status:* Discontinued

*Total Number Produced:* 300,000

Improvements in Flash Cloning techniques lead to the Generation Two clones that had almost three times the life span of their Gen-One ancestors which lead to increased training.

### G-Three

*Entered Service:* 3180 Common Era

*Status:* Discontinued

*Total Number Produced:* 1,800,000

Further improvements in Flash Cloning lead to Generation Three which had roughly half the normal lifespan of the template species, specialized roles training was introduced with this generation as well. This was also the last generation to be Flash Cloned.

### G-Four

*Entered Service:* 3185 Common Era

*Status:* Discontinued

*Total Number Produced:* 5,000,000

Generation Four was the only generation to make use of RGA Cloning and had the normal lifespan of the template species. The Training regime was further refined, intensified, and extended to encompass the first three years of life.

### G-Five

*Entered Service:* 3190 Common Era

*Status:* In Production

Generation Five clones are Hybrid Clones that go through the template species' normal gestation period before being growth accelerated in their first year to adulthood. G-Five spend the first five years of their lives in intense combat training.

## Rank Notation

Rank is noted by a number of yellow stripes on their black shoulder guards.

 1 Stripe
 2 Stripes
 3 Stripes
 4 Stripes
 5 Stripes

## Designations

Clones were given designations that consisted of the variant number, an identification number, and a generation number. (ex. V1-16544-G1 or Variant 1 - ID 16544 - Generation 1) But many clones who commonly dealt with Enlisted personnel chose names for themselves at times based on their designation.