Clone Pilot

Of the 8 Career Skills, choose 4 to get a free rank. Of the 4 Specialization Skills, choose 2 to get a free rank.

Clone Soldier Career Skills: Athletics, Brawl, Cool, Discipline, Medicine, Ranged (Heavy), Ranged (Light) and Vigilance

Clone Specialization Skills: Gunnery, Mechanics, Piloting (Planetary) and Piloting (Space)

Interplanetary conflict inevitably brings battles to the upper atmosphere and the void of space. Capital ships play a prominent role in these battles, but large wings of starfighters are a vital part of every conflict. These specialized ships exploit their smaller profile and variations in armament to avoid detection while occupying a variety of roles. Military transports deploy from capital ships—often through active war zones in the company of starfighter screens—to deliver troops and equipment to a planet’s surface, where clones can engage the enemy.

Every Clone Soldier has the rudimentary knowledge required to pilot repulsorlift vehicles, walkers, and starfighters. However, basic skills alone are inadequate for success in a combat environment. To address this, some Clone Soldiers receive additional training in the Clone Pilot specialization and are inducted into the Republic Navy branch of the Grand Army of the Republic.

A degree of familiarity with these skills is vital for any Clone Soldier to survive as a starfighter pilot. While any battlefield is profoundly dangerous, the vacuum of space adds significant risks that are not present during typical planetary conflicts. Additional training mitigates some of those dangers but can never completely eliminate them.

Clone Pilots serve as members of a squadron under the command of a Clone Officer, who has also mastered the skills of a pilot. A squadron is typically assigned a particular type of craft, although this can change based on mission requirements. Clone Pilots are sometimes reassigned to other squadrons in which they are expected to fly other craft. Consequently, their training includes exposure to a range of starfighters, speeders, and walkers.

Typical starfighter assignments include the Republic Z-95 Headhunter starfighter, the V-19 Torrent starfighter, and the ARC-170 starfighter. Those Clone Pilots assigned to transport duty typically fly Low Altitude Assault Transports (LAATs) or A/tz-class attack shuttles. Collectively, these spacecraft represent the core of the Republic Navy’s smaller craft.

Some Clone Pilots are assigned to operate vehicles that work more closely with ground units. These include AT-RT and AT-TE walkers, and BARC speeders, among others. Notably, these craft are not normally under the oversight of the Republic Navy branch of the GAR. As such, Clone Pilots assigned to them do not fall under the oversight of the naval chain of command, leaving them far less likely to pilot starfighters.

Potential Stories

  • Individuality: Clone Soldiers continually see themselves in their comrades. As they are strong-willed individuals, this challenges them to forge distinct identities. Unique acts of heroism, unusual interests, or novel insights and discoveries all offer ways to set a particular clone apart from his peers. Finding and seizing such opportunities is a vital part of each Clone Soldier’s life.
  • Dedication: Conditioned loyalty to the Republic is integral to Clone Soldier training. At many times throughout their careers, Clone Soldiers may face the temptation to turn away from their duty. They might face overwhelming odds, encounter a generous bribe, or even have to turn their back on a friend in order to fulfill a responsibility.
  • Self-Sacrifice: Even though Clone Soldiers are each a distinct sentient being, they recognize that their sacrifice may be necessary to secure a victory for the Republic. These soldiers are willing to pay any cost in order to complete their assigned tasks—even though the cost may be grievous personal injury or even death.
  • Superiority: Programmed with a sense of pride, all clones strive to be their best, but some try to take it further: to be the first to the objective, destroy the most droids in a skirmish, or always be the one to rescue a fellow soldier from the field. Sometimes reckless, always dangerous, these actions may reveal a soldier’s pride in their work or a darker egoism.
  • Martyrdom: Clone Soldiers are ready to die for the Republic, but after several sorties, a few might begin to think their death is the reason for their existence. These soldiers volunteer for even the most dangerous missions, the ones offering no hope of survival. These soldiers believe their death must be meaningful, so they seek the assignments that allow them to go out in a blaze of glory.
  • Purity: The Republic has enemies everywhere, including within. Traitors and spies threaten it, but sometimes the Republic threatens itself. The Clone Wars may push certain soldiers toward an unbending sense of purity, making them self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong. These soldiers would never question the orders of a superior, but might also feel their peers never push themselves to go that extra kilometer. Perhaps they don’t love the Republic enough.