Watchman

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

 **Key Features** | »Radioactive *"Qiang"* Spear»Built-In disruptor carbine»Planar shield belt»Aluminium armour w/ Atomic Kingdom symbol»Rank sash w/ insignia

*"We are **always** on the watch!"*

- Watchman
### Tactical Analysis

* **Cloning blues, jazz, and rock:** Watchmen are easily made clones of Chinese men, they tend to come in large numbers, charging at enemies with their atomic spears. These spears are superior as their beamsword cousin, killing enemies in one blow, if they come so far.

* **My shield will protect me!:** While he has his spears out, Watchmen benefit from planar shielding, which makes up for his lack of resilience and slow movement speed.

* **Set Disruptor To Kill:** In emergencies, the Watchmen can raise his spear and can fire their disruptor carbine, which has proven to be highly effective at vaporizing groups of infantry and light vehicles, even though they need a few seconds for it to charge up and can only fire one shot before needing to recharge. The Watchmen automatically use these carbine when garrisoned. However, they can't use their shields while aiming, meaning Watchmen are particularly vulnerable as they take aim.

* **No tanks, I'm fine:** A big spear, and it’s radiation, tends to work against armour too, which means that Watchmen can take on vehicles to some extent. But a big spear doesn't save you from several tons of metal rolling over you, so watch out.

### Background

*"- But sir, just how many clone lives is a human life worth?*

*- Seven. Or fourteen. Or more. They're just not the same; it's like comparing humans and dogs."*

- Conversation between Chinese officers.
Making up the bulk of the Chinese Royal Guard, the Watchmen Corps provides the numbers and military muscle that gives the Atomic Kingdom of China an overwhelming edge over its enemies. Colloquially referred to as the *"knife ears"*, the endless ranks of the Watchmen at first seem anachronistic despite their otherworldly weapons and equipment. Armed with long spears, and armoured with what look like suits of armour made by haphazardly welding on giant plates of aluminium (though its theorised to be plastic since the amount of armour on it would make it impossible for a human to move in), the massed formations of Watchmen invoke images of medieval warfare, and more than one agent embedded in China has concluded that a simple machine gun post would defeat the vast bulk of the Kingdoms army.

This is, however, a carefully calculated illusion, staged parades disguised as combat maneuvers intended to highlight the massive numbers and unstoppable power of the Royal Guard. Once combat begins, Watchmen form into massive battle lines and attack waves, taking advantage of their planar shielding and massive numbers to ignore the casualties and close with enemies and engage them in close combat, using their planar shield belt to protect themselves from enemy fire. Their weapons, though backward in appearance, tear through enemy infantry with an effectiveness unmatched by the firearms of comparable infantry, giving Watchmen a unique edge in close quarters.

However, it is obvious that no modern army, no matter how well supported, can defeat an enemy with spears, so Watchmen are also equipped with disruptor carbines, stubby energy weapons that fire beams of crackling energy. Disruptor carbines hit with impressive force; a single shot can transfer enough thermal energy to turn multiple human targets to completely vaporise them in a sudden rush of blood and mist, regardless of personal armour.

This can be a nasty surprise to an unsuspecting enemy; more than one formation of Red Guard, having gunned down a charging squad of Watchmen, have strayed from cover under the impression that they were safe at range, only to be obliterated by verdant beams of energy. However, these weapons have very limited energy stores, so their use is carefully rationed.

It has been noted that, with a simple adapter, Watchmen can plug their carbines into the power sockets in buildings that still have functioning power, giving the Watchmen a formidable defensive asset (even though the owner of the structure would get a nasty surprise on his electricity bill if the structure stays intact).

### Behind the Scenes

Their armour and mask are based on the one worn by House Harkonnen light infantry in *Emperor: Battle for Dune*.

Their previous armour design, and sashes, are based on the combat armour of Klingons from Star Trek's Original Series era.

### Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry/Shield

 **DPS** | 150/15

 **DPS** | N/A

## Watchmaster

 **Dev. Status** | Conceptual

 **Key Features** | »*"Qiang"* Spear (made of wood)»Built-In radio gun»Aluminium powered armour and reinforced hazmat suits»Planar shield generator (reinforced)»Flip-out communicator

*"..."*

- ...
### Tactical Analysis

* **Who Watches the Watchmen**: Non-clone survivors who had became sterile from the nukes, and thus useless in the Kingdoms main goal in repopulating, making them a burden in the long run. Trained to lead the Watchmen, Watchmaster leads the cloned Watchmen into battle. Their personal, reinforced shield generators and steel power armour make them more survivable.

* **Subliminal messaging**: The Watchmaster can raise their (fake) spear to fire radio pulses that stuns enemies hit. The Watchmaster automatically uses these radio gun when garrisoned too.

* **Protect me clone**: Due to their importance, Watchmasters are equipped with special equipment that will sap the Planar Shielding of surrounding clones to power theirs whenever their shielding reaches 25%, ensuring that they survive no matter what (even if the clones around them die without their shield).

* **Officer down**: However the Watchmaster's numbers are small and meant to support other infantry who are completely incapable of combat, since their “spears” are fakes made of wood. And in the event they die the clones around them, if there are no other officers, will be struck in a daze, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.

### Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Shield/Battlesuit

 **DPS** | N/A

## Starfleet Marine

 **Dev. Status** | Conceptual

 **Key Features** | »*"Guandao"* Jade halberd»Built-in disruptor rifle w/ upgraded power pack»Powered exoskeleton with titanium armour, arm/leg guards, and helmet»Planar shield generator»Flip-out communicator (waterproof)

*"Ever Invincible!"*

- Motto of the Starfleet Marines
### Tactical Analysis

* **Marine Elite**: Starfleet Marines are the elite of the Watchmen formed from survivors who volunteered to fight and taking the role of maintaining the Kingdoms arks and their people within in the coming exodus. Trained to a higher standard and equipped with superior equipment, Starfleet Marines use a stronger "Guandao" compared to the spears all Watchmen use, strong enough to cut through light vehicles and the flank and rear of tanks. Their heavy-duty shield generators and power armour make them much more survivable.

* **Molecular annihilation**: Starfleet Marines, however, can engage at range far more reliably than regular Watchmen. Thanks to improved power packs, Starfleet Marines halberds hold a built-in disruptor carbine, often to suppress their enemies as before they close in. And for vehicles, they can fire a powerful disruptor blast, which has proven to instantly vaporize multiple enemy infantry and tanks in a single shot, even though they need a few seconds for it to charge up and can only fire one shot before needing to recharge.

* **Marines can swim**: Starfleet Marines also have another advantage over standard Watchmen, in that their training and waterproofed equipment allow them to swim and, like all marines, don't require an officer since they are humans who lack the clone's disability. This is most useful since it allows them to cross bodies of water without the need for transport.

* **The Price to Pay**: All this added training and equipment, and being one of the survivors who can reproduce on top of that, makes the Starfleet Marine a more costly investment than your regular Watchmen. With their persisting vulnerability to anti-infantry weaponry and only tougher by regular infantry standards, they are not always worth the added cost.

### Background

*"Clones can't learn.*

*It's a fact. I'm not saying that we can't train them. But they won't be able to develop skills of their own - in other words, they can't gain experience. Our experiments show that brain flexibility decreases 81% after six months. This level of incapacity to gain new skills is comparable to people with mental deficiency or very old people. I regret it, but the way we developed them made them efficient subordinates and crewmen, but poor warriors. Our enemies have an advantage; their men can learn, improve, realise where they made mistakes, and take efforts to correct that. Our troops just can't.*

*There is also the fact that once we do leave this planet we’ll be throwing ourselves into the unknown. We might know our destination but we have no idea what’s between it and us, for all we know we’ll be sending the last remnants of China into the maw of aliens. Yes we have discussed using clones but to reiterate, they can’t learn, and in space we have countless unknown variables that we can’t possibly account on, and if something unexpected happens the clones would be unable to solve it and doom us all. We must accept the fact that once we leave we need a few volunteers to help maintain our sleeper ships and handle sudden problems. And with how cramped our ships will be taking a eunuch will be a waste of space since they can’t do much once we land.*

*Thus it is with great regret that we must accept that we need real humans on the frontlines since there is only so much clones can do. So I urge you to train our people into elite forces that are better trained and equipped than the clones so that they return home, and do it quickly before our enemies get their veterans on the line."*

- Internal report, 21/06/1969
While most Watchmen are made of clones, there are a rare few humans who has volunteered and trained in order to protect their people from the unknown dangers of space once their ships take off, since eunuches would be a waste of space with their inability to repopulate and the clones inability to adapt and learn makes them a liability. Trained to a much higher standard, equipped with far superior weapons, and given the best powered armour and medicine the Kingdom has made, these special soldiers are referred to as **Starfleet Marines**, though they are closer to special forces units than field infantry.

Compared to their clone counterparts the Marines spear have built-in disruptor carbines, stubby energy weapons that fire beams of crackling energy. But the small generators means these beams don’t hit that hard; a single shot can transfer enough thermal energy to a human target to completely vaporise them in a sudden rush of blood and mist, regardless of personal armour.

### Behind the Scenes

The appearance of the Marines are based on the Harkonnen infantry uniform worn in Dune 2021.

The previous appearance and abilities of the Marines are based on the MACO special forces unit in Star Trek Enterprise.

### Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Shield/Battlesuit

 **DPS** | 400

 **DPS** | 300