Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Warhammer 40k, Stellaris, Kaiserreich, HoI4, Clannad, Star Wars, Star Trek, or Mass Effect. This is a fanfiction, and I don't have ANY monetary reward for making it. Any political or religious beliefs mentioned in this story do not reflect my own. This is purely for fun.
This story is mainly a Halo/Warhammer 40K/Mass Effect crossover. Other disclaimers are noted because I have a few ideas pulled from their Universes.
WARNING: This is an M-rated fanfiction. Sexual content and graphic depictions will appear from time to time.
AN: We're coming up on a time skip pretty soon. Right now the story is taking place five years before the events of Mass Effect 1. This story arc details the arrival of the Imperials and their plans to deal with an unknown threat. This arc will have Liara interact with one of the Imperials, but it'll be mostly fluff. I'll give a proper warning for the chapters that are mainly fluff. One aspect that will be expanded on is why Erwin modeled his clone army off of Covenant technology; other clone armies would normally use a form of lasers, masers, particle accelerators, or kinetics.
The Empire doesn't have a culture. It's a collection of multiple different cultures unified by the Mantle and the Imperial Constitution. The Germans are basically slightly less extreme versions of people from Warhammer 40k, and the Americans in Erwin's Universe are slightly different versions of people from the UNSC in Halo. You can probably see where I'm going with having the Imperials sent to Mass Effect embrace monarchy and the nobility system. I really want to hammer home just how different the people from Mass Effect and Halo(my modified universe halo) are. By the end of this arc, you'll see the first reactions of the Mass Effect people to the actions taken by the Imperials.
Chapter 5
Klonarmee des Geistes
"The situation is more precarious than we initially expected." Commodore Engel admitted.
The reconnaissance mission completed by Thor squad was an eye-opener. There was always a strong possibility of a powerful force overseeing the Milky Way, but they never expected one this well established.
If what information Ares got from the Citadel was true, then they were facing a Xenos race with upwards of ten thousand Galaxies and multiple unknown megastructures.
The Home Universe had much better technology, but no one was nearly as developed as these unknowns. The United Terran Empire by comparison only had one settled Galaxy and two occupied.
Erwin was confident in Imperial technological superiority, but highly doubted it was enough to overcome such numbers.
The unknown Apex race must have been the ones to make the Mass Relay network. It was a very advanced gate network, capable of interconnecting thousands of Galaxies. Though every gate network was by definition advanced; the Empire had a far superior one connecting the Andromeda, Rivendell, and Milky Way Galaxies.
Erwin had to resist the urge to rub his temples.
He had a feeling there was going to be a lot of similar comparisons. The Empire would have had a much more sophisticated method, but the pure scale of these unknown Xenos made it comparable.
The Citadel confirmed there was a near-peer adversary out there, and one with countless Systems under its belt. However, they still had no idea how advanced they were; Erwin would be surprised if they weren't in tier one on the ICL.
"It seems it is." Erwin agreed with his second in command.
"I'm thinking we lay low for a few years," Ares suggested.
Unlike the first meeting, many of the crew agreed with the idea. However, there was still a sizable minority that wanted to deal with the Batarians.
"Lay low!? We're Germans, a founding member of the Empire! We'd bring dishonor to the Vaterland and Terra if we hide like cowards! We have a Halo Array, purge these Xenos savages!" Ludwig was furious by the idea of cowardice.
Erwin knew where he was coming from.
Laying low meant letting the Batarian question linger for potentially decades, and hiding from Xenos. The three Jaeger teams in particular were very against hiding. They'd sooner purge half the Galaxy with Korn der Ruhe than bring dishonor to the Vaterland.
It was one of the consequences of their training, they were very nationalistic. Though, Erwin did find himself agreeing with them. They couldn't let the Batarians go scot-free, and had the Mantle to uphold.
"Ares, your thoughts on the Citadel Intelligence," Erwin asked with authority, but calmly.
"I was able to handle it without much problem, but it was the other Intelligences that worried me. There were a lot of them, and it took quite a bit for me to keep them out of the Citadel." Ares reported.
"Elaborate." Erwin calmly commanded.
"The Intelligences were clearly AI, but there was something else. They were powerful yet twisted; like a malicious Avatar." Ares seriously explained.
They're going to have to remain hidden for a few weeks at a minimum. Parts of Halo can be repurposed into shipyards, then Astartes supercarriers need to be forged. Once they get the clones born at a constant rate, they'll have more options.
The Batarian question had to be answered soon, but perhaps it could be answered constructively. This Galaxy was turning out to be a civilizational farm, but that in itself had weaknesses to exploit.
What does the farmer do when something eats their crop?
The unknown Xenos could be drawn out into an engagement, whenever and wherever Erwin chooses. Whether it's a win or loss was irrelevant, the battle would provide him with valuable information on the Xenos' capabilities.
In the meantime, the giant will sleep. His men wouldn't be happy, and rightfully so, but Erwin needed the clones.
"We must lay low. At least until we know more about the enemy, and have a constant stream of clones." Erwin declared.
Ludwig didn't look happy, but wouldn't dare question someone he saw as a Voltsengel Royalty.
"Sir, if I may?" Another Jaeger spoke up.
An amused smile graced Erwin's features. He remembers Nicola Buchwald from a decade ago. Erwin liked the boy's psionic presence and his ambitious attitude.
Commander Hettinger was going to give him a tongue lashing later if his virtual facial features said anything.
"Go ahead, Nicola." Erwin casually gave permission to speak.
"If we're going to hide, which I understand. I'm not questioning your decision, Supreme Commander Wolff. But, is it possible for the Jaegers to take action in the background?" Nicola nervously asked.
Well, he seems nervous to Erwin. To everyone else, he seemed confident, and that was to be expected, he was a Jaeger. However, Erwin could easily pick up on the well-hidden emotion.
His proposition was interesting though.
Erwin was going to send a clone force after the Batarians, but that left a bad taste in his mouth. He wanted Batarian blood by the hands of Imperials.
It was the Imperial Humans the Mantle was entrusted to, but this had little to do with the Mantle. These Baselines were a Lost Tribe, and it was the duty of the Imperials to protect them.
When Batarians laugh at the suffering of Baseline Humans and revel in their suffering; they make it personal. The clones are part of Mankind, but they weren't directly related to the Baselines.
Not like the Jaegers and Erwin were. Each slave was a boy emasculated, a girl violated, and a family broken. Humans being harmed by Xenos; it was hard for Erwin and his men not to see themselves in the slaves.
So, Erwin understood the thirst for vengeance. These men helped Erwin crack worlds for merely being Xenos or traitors. The Batarians don't understand the retribution they've brought upon themselves. At this point, cracking their homeworld seems too good for the Xenos.
However, Erwin was starting to think strategically. A few primitives enslaved weren't very important. There was a hostile Apex race, and he was getting a feeling war was inevitable.
Negotiations might be on the table, but Erwin wasn't sure. If peace could be obtained, it'd only be temporary.
Even if there was no possible way to return to their Universe; that didn't mean the Empire was lost.
If this situation was permanent, then the Empire would have to rise in this Universe. It wouldn't be a new Empire; no, that'd be treason. Rather it'd be a continuation of Imperial rule, Erwin would just so happen to be the highest Imperial authority.
The long-term goal of the Empire was the conquering of the entire Universe. That mission did not change just because Erwin and his men found themselves in a different Universe. That goal means any Apex species would need to be brought under Imperial rule. They rarely submit willingly.
A war would best be fought later down the road. His men needed to start popping out little Imperials, and the clones needed an overwhelming force.
Erwin wanted two hundred carriers, three thousand assault carriers, and a million warship navy, for the Klonarmee des Geistes. Along with a weekly supply of fifty billion clones; that'd give Erwin the ability to hold and take millions of worlds.
That was the bare minimum needed to subdue an Apex race, but that was only for a single Galaxy. Erwin shuddered to think what it'd take for an Apex race holding thousands of entrenched Galaxies.
The first step was to catalog the Mass Effect races, that'd give Erwin the ability to use Zorn der Ruhe, and leave the Galaxy if necessary.
If they did leave, they'd have to travel the stars for centuries. Constantly building supercarriers until they could take on the Xenos, but the war could end in a stalemate.
If he could get a sizable Imperial population on Zorn der Ruhe, that would be one way to change the equation. The IHA Zorn der Ruhe was most likely going to decide the war, but that was only if it worked on these Xenos. If they were purely AI, then Erwin was looking at a very long unwinnable war.
Erwin could hope to bring the Xenos to the negotiation table, and have them hand over the Milky Way.
That was the second part of his plan. Total defense of the Milky Way; no planet undefended, no inch given without it being soaked in blood, and asset denial.
Erwin hated thinking in those terms, but he had to, the crown was not light to wear.
This type of war was the type he hated; wars of attrition.
In Erwin's mind, any war that wasn't a curb stomp was a failure. Overwhelming force and quick wars was how it should go down.
While Erwin hid his main force, that didn't mean he couldn't use the Jaegers to enforce his will upon the primitives.
Technically any member of his legion could covertly deal with the Batarians. However, only the Jaegers were masters of stealth.
The Jaeger school made sure of that, and Erwin tested and trained each one of those men. They could hide their very psionic presence, and move undetected without the use of technology.
The other Imperials could become invisible due to their armors. The Jaegers were undetectable regardless of their armor.
A Jaeger could become a demon of the night with nothing more than a knife and their bare bodies.
Plus Erwin only had three prowlers, there was a limit to how many could be deployed stealthily. The Intrepidus does have stealth systems, but there was no way he was going to use a hundred-kilometer plus warship as a method of deploying covert teams.
"You have permission." Erwin granted the Jaegers request.
Many of the crew were happy with the prospect of dead Batarians but still wanted a glassed Batarian homeworld.
"However, one at a time. One Jaeger team will have leave, one for hunting Batarians, and the last will be in reserve. Understood?" Erwin asked in a voice that made it apparent he was expecting only one answer.
"Yes, sir!" All the Jaegers snapped.
"As for the rest of you, regular duties. It'll be slow, so enjoy the downtime. This situation is permanent, so try and find yourself a woman on leave. If you decide to marry, you can bring her to Halo." Erwin announced.
The men didn't seem to have an issue with being forced to find a girl. That was good, they'd need the numbers.
"I'll make sure the primitive militaries don't learn anything and keep the men on leave discreet," Ares assured.
"Thank you, Ares. Try to keep them ignorant, but it's more important to keep a lid on the Apex Xenos. Remember the priorities." Erwin told his brother.
"Of course!" Ares chirped.
"Sir, If I may? Why aren't we deploying the Legion against the savages?" Pankraz Friedrich, the Primus Pilus Centurion of the First Cohort asked. His tone was respectful, as was expected of any man who didn't want to be flogged, but also had an undertone of anger.
Commodore Engel was about to reprimand the Centurion when Erwin raised his right hand; a silent message that it was allowed.
The Primus Pilus was the most experienced Centurion of a Cohort, they were in effect the commanding officer of the entire Cohort. Pankraz just so happened to be the Primus Pilus of the largest and most experienced Cohort in the entire Legion.
"We have zero information about these unknown Xenos, Pankraz. This is their Galaxy, and I don't want to potentially show my trump card against primitives. I understand the Legionaries may be feeling left out, but yall will have plenty of battles in the future." Erwin explained.
"Are the clones going to be the ones dealing with the Batarians, Supreme Commander Wolff?" Pankraz curiously asked.
"Yes."
"Sir, what will be the rules for engagement given to the clones?" The Centurion dug a little deeper.
Erwin was very soft on his men by Imperial Standards, but the Centurion knew not to push too far. Pankraz stood at attention, and keep a very respectful tone.
Commodore Engel seemed to be getting more and more aggravated with the Centurion. Not that Erwin could blame him, Richard Engel was a very old man. He still looked to be in his twenties, but he was a veteran of the First Weltkrieg and every other war the Kaiserreich took part in.
Due to Engel's old age, he had very traditional views on most topics. It was Engel who kept the men in line. Though Erwin rarely agreed to some of Engel's punishments; he never overturned them. If the men broke a rule, then Engel could handle them however he wants.
"None." Erwin firmly answered.
Pankraz, the legionaries, and the Jaegers all seemed to like his answer. Even Commodore Engel had a small but vicious grin.
"Any more questions?" Erwin asked, and gave the men a few moments to think.
"Very well, you're all dismissed."
Clone armies were uniform in only one way. A universal base gene-seed that only endowed the clones with the Gothic language, their basic purpose, the basic genetic makeup of the clones, and loyalty to their Spartan.
The rest of the gene-seed came from the Spartans, and gave a clone army a unique culture, behavior, and a psionic presence.
The clones were a hybrid hive mind. A unique race without equal, and the Sixth child of Anglia.
The clones weren't necessarily individuals, but rather an individual expression of a single larger consciousness. As the clones lived they became more individualist, but have regular updates with the group consciousness; the more individualistic the clone, the more it evolved the group consciousness.
They'll live and die for the Empire, and each life will alter the parent consciousness, adding to the experience of the future-born clones. Each clone born has the memories and experience of the greater clone consciousness.
That was the secret to the clones. They saw that group consciousness as their parent and child; their purpose was the success of that consciousness and their Spartan. The men would have no desire for romantic love, freedom, or personal preservation; they still wanted to live and sought safety, as it wouldn't do to have the clones dying too soon. However, the deep need for an individual to propagate their genes by protecting themselves wasn't there.
Of the dozens of clone armies, there were three that stood out within the Imperium.
Unsurprisingly, they were the clone armies of the three most well-known Spartans.
John, the 'Savior of Mankind' and 'Forerunner's Death Note.' He was a full-blooded Anglian, and had a similar past as Erwin.
John's army was called the 'Ultor Clone Army.' They were the calmest and focused on firepower over Erwin's blitz-based doctrine.
Alex Sanguinius, the 'Great Angel' and 'Brightest One,' was one of the few high-ranking Spartans without Anglian blood in his veins.
He was an Imperial Human that dreamed of power for himself and the Empire. Alex trained constantly achieving a high level of psionic power, but that wasn't the whole story.
During a hunt for an Avatar in a satellite Galaxy, he found a powerful Avatar that resembled an Angel. This Avatar was considered a God class; a being capable of destroying entire worlds. It deemed Alex worthy and merged with him, creating a new being.
At least… that's how the story goes.
Alex was still Human and still had his original consciousness, but it was supposedly combined with the Avatar. The only physical difference was the fact Alex had white wings; like an angel. The wings only heightened his fame; the Latins were some of his biggest fans.
Erwin and Alex were almost at each other's throats but had mutual respect. Their clone armies and legions followed their leaders' lead; they also hated each other.
Alex's clone army was called the 'Clone Army of Sanguinar.' They ironically specialized in well-planned attacks and specialized infantry tactics. However, they tended to sometimes go into a blood rage.
Erwin's clone army was called the 'Klonarmee des Geistes.' They were known for fast-moving infantry attacks combined with space support, and occasionally armor. Erwin's clone army was also known for being the only one to use Covenant plasma weaponry.
The purpose of a clone army was to give the Empire a bottomless manpower pool and to subjugate entire Galaxies. However, only if the inhabitants of the Galaxy were under tier one point four on the ICL.
Eventually, the Spartans would be in charge of the security or occupation of entire Galaxies. Erwin was excited about occupying the Rivendell Galaxy after the war; he would have been far from gentle to the elves.
Now that Erwin found himself in an apparently hostile Galaxy, the Klonarmee des Geistes needed to be revived.
Erwin always had a copy of the group consciousness stored in his dimensional storage. It resembled a perfect black sphere; the device was a storage unit of sorts that held the evolving consciousness in a protected form.
Erwin loved the consciousness and the men it spawned. The first planets assaulted by the clones were left with brutal displays of mangled Xenos bodies. Some clones even came back with Xenos teeth strung together on their armor, or Brute pelts plastered to their necks and upper backs.
Erwin wondered if it said something about himself to have produced such a gene-seed for his clone troopers.
They weren't as blood-thirsty as Alex's clone army, but that made their acts of brutality even scarier. They did it with the purpose of psychological warfare against the Covenant and Elves. There was also the unmistakable pleasure in making the enemies of Mankind suffer, but it was never for the simple purpose of killing; they wanted examples.
Erwin was pleased when they purposely treated the Ilythiiri with more cruelty. The dark elves were the ones responsible for the glassing of Ruhe, Erwin's homeworld.
The dark elves were also needlessly cruel to Humans captured or when they overran a world.
It was a badge of honor when Erwin found out his army was the only one the Ilythiiri feared. The clones were meticulous, organized, and lightning-fast; but when they got their hands on the dark elves…
Well, the thousands of Ilythiiri severed heads stacked into pyramids spoke for themselves.
Six weeks later, Erwin's personal fighter landed in a massive hangar. The light from the System's Star came in through the sticky plasma barrier that held back the vast volume of air from the void.
The Halo Array was moved to a System far away from any Mass Relay. It was named Vindicator and was rich in material resources. It was a very rare Type-O Star; it was a brilliant blue body that could swallow up Sol.
Erwin walked down the passageways of the starship. This particular starship was special, it was the first KG supercarrier constructed. It was christened the Klonarmee des Geistes Starship Fidelis.
The KGS Fidelis was an impressive starship.
That was the only thought running through his mind. It was currently in low orbit around a barren moon. The central part of the body had two large thirty-kilometer doors on opposite sides, and each was wide open.
Stretching a hundred and ten kilometers out of the right door was a long shipyard. The main body of the extended arm was flat and rectangular and designed to allow the supercarrier to quickly retract the shipyard. Multiple construction platforms branched off from the main structure on both sides, maximizing the number of starships under construction.
Each dock had a starship under construction; a total of fifty-two on both sides of the main shipyard. The starships currently being forged would be completed in a week.
The first batch of Astartes warships were already completed, two full battlegroups. The supercarrier could make two battlegroups per week, but only with a clone crew.
The automated systems and harvesting drones weren't smart enough to be fully autonomous. They were grouped in swarms and controlled by clone engineers. Without a clone engineer guiding the drones, their capabilities were severely diminished.
Erwin had Ares control the automated systems, so for the time, they were at full capacity. However, Ares had to focus on guarding the Galaxy against the Apex Xenos. Ares wouldn't have to deal with the mundane task of running the supercarrier for much longer, the first batch of clones were about to be birthed.
Erwin didn't build the cloning chambers on Korn der Ruhe but rather used the Astartes KG supercarriers. The clone supercarriers Erwin designed for his army were massive one hundred and eighty kilometer-long behemoths. Their shape was a rather simplistic cylinder with a frontal shield blooming out in front. The main body had a diameter of twenty kilometers, with the frontal shield being thirty-four kilometers. They looked kinda like long mushrooms with small caps.
Erwin would need many supercarriers for fighting a well-developed Apex Xenos race.
The primary role of a proper carrier was resupplying the fleet, manufacturing, and carrying corvettes and frigates. Erwin's clone carriers had the added role of birthing new clones, and further added upon the manufacturing role.
Portions of the main body extended revealing matter processing plants, shipyards, and resupplying docks. The carriers also carried a small army of harvesters for gathering matter; the dockyards could combine and split atoms at will, so it only needed matter in general. The starships could be more accurately called mobile industrial centers.
Like the first carriers that sailed the waves of Terra, they were not supposed to directly fight. However, that didn't mean they weren't capable of defending themselves.
The carriers had three hyper-heavy plasma lances around the circumference of the frontal shield, giving the lances an almost three sixty-five degrees coverage. Further toward the center of the shield were three more hyper-heavy plasma lances for frontal fire. Along the body and frontal shield were numerous gamma lasers, heavy plasma torpedoes, and plasma cannons.
The Covenant weaponry was a unique form of 'sticky' plasma. Plasma weaponry was a somewhat primitive technology; Mankind first used plasma in the First Weltkrieg in the form of flame throwers. However, Covenant plasma was unique; the San'Shyuum had a form of unique matter that stuck together when added to plasma.
It allowed the Xenos to accelerate lightweight plasma to around 99.75% the speed of light. The sticky aspect of the plasma allowed it to reach out further without blooming out and greatly added to its penetration.
The magnetic containment field still massively improved the performance of plasma weaponry, but it wasn't such a critical aspect anymore.
The Covenant weaponry gave the supercarriers a nasty bite, but it was only to be used for self-defense.
The supercarrier didn't have much armor for its size. Though it was Covenant nanolaminate armor, so it was tough. The armor was only twelve meters thick in critical areas, but the shield did have a thicker measurement of twenty meters.
The weight of the carrier was astounding despite its thin armor. However, the form of gravitic manipulation used for movement gave the large ship impressive maneuverability for its size.
The shield generators were very strong, offsetting the relatively thin armor. They had overlapping coverage and a redundancy system that allowed many of the generators to fully recharge.
The supercarriers were powered by San'Shyuum pattern zero-point reactors. Unlike the Ancient Human and Forerunner 'vacuum energy' reactors, the San'Shyuum ran on a more traditional zero-point principle.
The supercarrier, and Klonarmee des Geistes in general, used around mid to high tier Covenant Technology. The weapons, except for the plasma torpedoes, were mid-tier.
The Klonarmee des Geistes would need the technological edge. They would be massively outnumbered by the Unknown Xenos, and Erwin wasn't sure how big the technological gap was between the clones and Unknown Xenos.
The clones would be slightly outnumbered by the primitives, but that wasn't an issue. It only means more Target practice for the clones.
The primitives' Ezo kinetics were very powerful, but they've never fought a force like the Klonarmee des Geistes.
A normal clone was seven feet tall when not in armor. Their size was appropriate for what they were. Larger clones meant more equipment for transportation and matter for manufacturing. They were still very tall compared to baseline Humans and were about as strong as a Krogan.
Erwin wasn't sure what creature Baseline Humans were crossed with to produce the Krogan, but whatever it was, it's very strong. Krogan could reach up to ten feet tall and were well built; their bones were dense, and their muscles were unusually strong for primitives.
The Krogan being as strong as the seven-foot clones said more about the Krogan than clones. The clones didn't have a large build, they were similar in form to an athletic Baseline. It was their body's composition that made them strong.
The clone muscles were artificial; along with their eyes, bones, and major organs. They could see in the infrared and x-ray wavelengths, think faster, could directly integrate into pieces of technology, breathe underwater and toxic chemicals, digest anything organic, had a heightened immune system, and could survive impacts that'd kill Baselines due to their thick skin and Titanium alloy bones.
Everything about the Baseline Human biology was improved to craft the clones into the perfect soldiers.
The KGS Fidelis was the mother of those perfect soldiers. Within the back half of the main body laid a ten-kilometer tube that was eight kilometers in diameter. It was the Fidelis' cloning chamber.
Erwin made it through the large starship by using the network of gravitic lifts and trams built into the carrier. It was moments when he had to traverse a hundred-plus-kilometer starship, that Erwin realized how much he loved teleporters.
He was now looking down at the cloning chamber through an observation floor.
The deck levels of the Fidelis' was laid down perpendicular to the force generated by the engine's primary gravitic force vector. So, Erwin was on 'top' of the cloning chamber looking 'down.'
Lights near the glass observation floor pierced the dark tube-like room, giving Erwin a small glimpse into the scale of the cloning chamber.
The size of the tube couldn't be understated; Erwin felt like he was standing on top of an ocean of life.
The entire tube was filled with amniotic fluid. A forest of thick reddish-pink vines occupied most of the tube's space, each one spanning the ten-kilometer length of the tube. The vines looked like a cross between seaweed and blood vessels.
Just like seaweed, the vines had thousands of pods running along their length. The pods slightly sagged, and each one was connected by a smaller vine branching off from its larger parent. The pods were amniotic sacs. Erwin could vaguely see human males curled in a fetal position, inside the sacs.
The tube had floodlights along the ceiling, slightly illuminating the otherwise dark room. The clear, viscous, slightly yellow liquid provided his Clone Troopers adequate warmth and protection while they grew. Yet the liquid seemed to swallow the light, as the forest of reddish-pink vines and amniotic sacs faded into darkness.
A squid-like creature swam past the glass floor. It was slightly gray with multiple tentacles. They were synthetic-organic droids designed to be caretakers of the clones and vine forest. They'd also be the ones to pick the amniotic sacs from the vine and carry them to the birthing chambers.
"Magnificent." Erwin praised.
"Each one is a loyal trooper, only answering to their Spartan. They'll make the Empire proud." Ares agreed.
"They're brutal too."
"I almost feel pity for the Batarians. Those Clone Troopers would eat their own guts raw, then ask for more." Ares said in mock sympathy.
"Yeah, they did develop an extreme culture."
"The sixth child is undoubtedly the most zealous," Ares said.
Anglians had created a few new forms of life and even took a primitive Xeno species under their wing. Each created form of life was allowed to develop their own culture, yet Anglians wanted a close relationship with their creations. To the point of them being referred to as "children."
Every "child" was under Anglian authority, one way or another.
The first "child" was Ancilla, a highly advanced AI race that attained consciousness and were fully self-aware. They were modeled after humans and fully trusted Anglia to lead their evolution. They were closest to Anglians in how they acted.
The middle four "children" were Dolphins, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, and Octopuses in that order. All uplifted Terran races, each one gifted a world to develop on.
Erwin thought the Gorillas, then Chimpanzees were most useful of the middle "children."
The last "child" were clones. They were modeled off of humans, but they had characteristics of a hive mind. Created during the war, they were meant to be a warrior cast of sorts. Anglian Warriors led the development, but they weren't supposed to replace natural-born soldiers. Psionics was a bitch like that. These clones would have very weak psionics.
They were developed to be a skillful yet disposable fighting force; to be led specifically by Spartans.
Erwin's army had heavy use during the war. Their culture was extreme even by Sixth Child standards. Each army had its unique name, the clones are traditionally the ones to come up with the Army's name. In a way, each army was its own unique culture.
Klonarmee des Geistes.
'Clone Army of the Ghost' when translated in English. It was odd having a Clone Army's name in German, and only four other Clone Armies were named in a different language other than Gothic.
There were sixty different clone armies, so the majority were named in Gothic. However, that didn't mean the Gothic named armies were more similar.
The clone armies were designed to develop unique cultures based on their Spartans. The one unifying aspect of the clones was the Gothic they were born speaking, plus their undying loyalty to the Imperium and their Spartans.
His men chose the name 'Army of the Ghost,' due to Erwin's nickname.
When Erwin was younger, he took part in the battle of Reach. The battle technicality never ended because Erwin scurried around the tunnels for a hundred years. He survived by eating Xenos and capturing Covenant supplies. The Covenant hunted him with everything they had; xenomorphs, special forces, swarms of Grunts, and even a hostile Avatar possessing an Elite.
The Empire eventually retook Reach and found only one inhabitant. They found a battered Spartan as the sole survivor on a barren planet. The surface was rendered uninhabitable long ago by the first glassing, then later targeted bombardments.
It was the Elite that created the nickname as an insult, but one with respect. They called him the disappearing demon. The word was translated easier to 'ghost.'
From then on Erwin went from being the 'Lone Wolf' to the 'Ghost of Reach.'
Because the Empire always had a military force on Reach in the form of Erwin, the Imperial government declared the battle a Pyrrhic Victory. A costly one, but it was still a morale boost.
The fame and recognition allowed Erwin to easily climb the ranks of the Empire; it helped that he was on a first-name basis with the Emperor and Kaiser. Though he still had to prove himself; Erwin could go toe-to-toe with Alex, but John was still the strongest by a decent margin.
His men were known for hyping Erwin's nickname. Even going as far as using it as proof the Klonarmee des Geistes was superior to all other clone armies.
His clones were not well-liked by the other armies.
Clones were basically cannon fodder, but not nearly as disposable as the Unggoy were. However, they were much more skilled than the Grunts could ever hope to be. The Grunts made up for the difference in combat ability with numbers, they tended to outproduce clones by a factor of ten.
An impressive feat considering how fast clones could be birthed.
Erwin always liked the idea of a mobile army. Instead of massive cloning worlds, he had a few large carriers designated to birthing his men.
Each Astartes carrier he designed could birth two hundred and fifty million clone troopers per month. The large starships were also capable of producing the equipment needed to outfit the clones with their armor and weapons.
The batch Erwin was looking down at was about to be birthed. They would be the first Imperial clone troopers this Universe would see.
If Erwin's dreadnought and Legion weren't enough to utterly decimate an adversary, then the clones would drown them in blood. Either the enemy's or the clones; they'll drown either way.
Two hundred and fifty million a month isn't anything to scoff at, but it wasn't acceptable in the face of a Galactic war. Few understood the scope of a Solar System, much less a Galaxy. Wars on a Galactic scale were hungry for blood, at some point a large disposable force was needed.
A navy didn't require much manpower; and for most of the Covenant-Terran War, the drafts were good enough. However, FTL inhibitors brought back ground combat in a horrifying way.
Fortress Worlds were erected and were not things you could just bombard into submission. Men had to go down and clear all the enemy and destroy the FTL inhibitor. The Fortress Worlds, in particular, seemed to swallow men like Black Holes.
The Imperium wasn't going to use droids; they learned that lesson long ago. Instead, clones were seen as acceptable cannon fodder.
However, these were Imperial clone troopers. They may have been cannon fodder, but they were also glorious demigods of war. Never showing cowardice, elegantly seeking the death of the Xenos, and always faithful.
Erwin could equip his Clones with little more than sticks, and they'd find a way to tear apart the Xenos. Technological inferiority was laughable to the clones.
Their bodies and minds were their weapons. However, Erwin was going to make sure they had swords and shields worthy of his Legacy.
The Clones could be used as shock troops, spacemen, or whatever it was… they could do it.
Their reaction times were better than any droid, and Imperial droids were damn fast.
Their intelligent yet ruthless minds created art on the battlefield. Working together like an orchestra, they could pick apart bigger prey like ants.
Individually, they were terrifying.
Together, they were unstoppable.
Perfection was the Imperial warriors, but the clones came in at a close second. The clones were considered cannon fodder by Imperial standards, but to the primitives, these men would be the elite of the elite. Now, the Klonarmee des Geistes was going to once again enforce their Spartan's will.
These were Erwin's men.
They were brutal, merciless, and effective.
They really would eat their own guts, but mouth off while doing it.
They lived up to being his second legacy.
Ares was the first, and he was personally closer to the Ancilla. However, these beautiful men of war made him feel powerful and filled with pride.
"They're just excitable." Erwin defended.
"Psh… whatever. You're just saying that because it's your army." Ares childishly rebuked.
It honestly warmed his heart when Ares got jealous.
"Maybe." He answered, trying to hide his excitement.
It was uncharacteristic for him to get so worked up. But he couldn't help it; no longer was he and his men alone in this.
He commenced the birthing process.
Organic lights along the vines banished the darkness, and swarms of the squid-like creatures filled the cloning chamber.
Each creature grabs twelve amniotic sacs at a time. Swimming them away into a birthing chamber.
In a day, they'll all be ready for combat. Ready to take on the enemies of the Empire…
Erwin's enemies.
Erwin began walking out of the cloning chamber, hundreds of squids swarmed around in the tube underneath him. A predatory grin formed, as his clone army began to breathe life.
"Now the primitives will learn the true power of Mankind." Erwin viciously sneered.
The Batarian question needed to be answered, and Erwin had a perfect way for the savages to be useful.
However, Erwin couldn't just send the Intrepidus to crack the planet. It'd be foolish to show his ace this early on; the enemy could come up with counters for the zenith of war.
The clones would make an example out of Khar'Shan. They'll rescue every slave, then glass the planet barren. Once everything is dead, he'll have the clones plant the Imperial flag on the surface.
These unknown Xenos will have to take notice, and hopefully, he'd get more information without giving much on his main forces.
The clones will be unrestrained and told to fight Xenos who defiled innocent Humans. The Batarians won't stand a chance. The clones were loyal and could control their blood lust, but they'd take their time when opportunities arrived.
If it didn't have two eyes, it was an enemy combatant.
Erwin could see the rivers of Xeno blood, his second Legacy would dutifully carve into the soil of Khar'Shan.
The God of War would be pleased with his future offerings.
"Now… how much Batarian blood do you think your brothers will thirst for?" Erwin asked.
"After they learn of Xenos slaving and raping Humans? All of it." Ares answered with pride.