Clone Veteran

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: Melee, Resilience, Skulduggery and Survival

Cloning, training, mental implants, and programming pale in comparison to field experience. Even the engineers on Kamino and the skeptics in the Republic government can’t deny the skill and talent of a veteran soldier. A training program can’t take into account all the variables of combat, so veterans rely on firsthand knowledge of battle, tactics, and even psychology. Engagement with the enemy means learning about the enemy, and a clone commander or Jedi is wise to ask the counsel of a veteran on any tactical matter.

Thanks to their accelerated training program and genetic design, clones have an amazing flexibility to learn on the field. Veterans have fought in enough urban environments and infiltrated enough bases to know the ins and outs of security systems. Further, they have been thrown into so many different environments that they have prepared some basic survival tactics for all biomes.

Veterans aren’t necessarily officers. The upper echelons of the military quickly realized field experience among the basic troopers aided in survivability, morale, and further training, so the bureaucracy does its best to seed veterans among green squads. For a civilian, this decision seems unfair; some of the most experienced and decorated veterans hold a low rank compared to their commanders in order to avoid breaking the chain of command. Most veterans hold no grudge or resentment, since some don’t have the aptitude or attitude for leadership. They would rather utilize their skills and knowledge directly on the field alongside their brothers. Veterans have many ways to serve the Grand Army and the Republic.

Because of their experience, veterans display a wide range of individualistic behaviors. For example, on one end of the spectrum, some become hardened, by-the-code career soldiers. Gruff and cynical yet dedicated, these veterans see new, fresh troopers as temporary annoyances. They perform their duty to keep them in line and to teach them how to survive. Veterans won’t give the shinies they instruct any respect, though—they must earn it like any trooper. On the other end of the spectrum, some veterans end up with odd quirks and affectations above and beyond the usual clone trooper habits. They adopt a local herb for their medpac, wear a feather from a local bird for each kill, adopt the practices of a local warrior culture, and so on. Veterans know they are different than the other troopers and express this self-awareness in different ways.

Command simply shrugs its shoulders when witnessing these idiosyncrasies. Veterans remain dedicated to the Republic and their brothers, and the military needs their experience and skill. In many ways, veterans have more reason than others to be loyal to the Grand Army. They have lived long enough as a soldier and have no reason to turn back now. Some Senators have spoken on the subject of reinstating some historical medals and rewards to recognize the bravery of these veterans. In an ironic turn, plenty of veterans see this as a meaningless gesture, an award more for a Senator’s public relations opportunity than as an acknowledgement of the sacrifices made for the good of the Republic.

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.