CHAPTER TWO: RAISING AN ARMY
A clone's early life was a comprised of rigorous training, a controlled diet, and frequent performance tests. Failure to perform at the exceptional level resulted in their termination. It was in this high pressure environment that clones learned weapons handling, first aid, communications, hand to hand combat, armor maintenance, the use of their helmet systems, and other tasks benefitting a soldier. Specializations such as sniping, leadership, piloting, and so on were also taught. This trial forged the unbreakable bond they shared with each other, a bond that would survive the horrors of war.
Initial Failures
The process of creating an elite soldier is not an easy one. While Jango was a superb genetic template, he was not perfect. Cuy'val Dar trainer Kal Skirata said it best: "[It] was his solitary nature; he'd make a rotten infantry soldier. Jango wasn't a team player." With this in mind and ever pursuing perfection, the Kaminoans altered Fett's genome, boosting their loyalty, speed, memory, and stamina. Something went wrong however, and this test batch of twelve clones was considered defective. Six did not survive incubation and the survivors were unstable and dangerously insubordinate. Designated the Null-class, they were saved from termination by Skirata who personally trained them into elite black ops soldiers. The Kaminoans, embarrassed, remedied their mistakes in the Alpha-class and all following production runs.
Legion: Clone Troopers
Despite the apparently disastrous tinkering, the Fett genome was still enhanced in the class following the Nulls. These changes focused on their aggression, loyalty, obedience, and discipline as well as increasing their lung capacity, stamina, and decreasing reaction times. The clones also aged twice as fast and would reach combat maturity in ten years. They were dubbed a success and began their training.
For the average clone soldier, they were arranged into birth cohorts of 32 and would remain with them for the extent of their training. There was never a moment when they were apart and once they were ready for combat the cohort would become their platoon. This group established the trainees then learned weapons handling, drill, and other essentials through both flash training and physical exercises. As they aged their training would become more intense, preparing them mentally and physically for the rigors of combat. Deaths did occur during training, but not to the extent of the more elite soldiers. Fett controlled every aspect of their training, choosing their weapons, meals, and the design of their armor (which was meant to match that of traditional Mandalorian suits). This cultivated into a exercise held in what would be called The Crucible. Cohorts would be pitched against an opposing force comprised of their trainers and other clones on simulated battlefields that portrayed all types of environments. Exercises could last days, forcing the clones to combat boredom, sleep deprivation, starvation, dehydration, and the elements in addition to their ruthless enemy. Successful completion meant graduation and more drills to keep their skills sharp. Specialists received additional training. Snipers were taught the art of camouflage, scouting, and were required to have a shot too miss ratio of 99.9%. Pilots spent hundreds of hours in simulators and flying in the constantly stormy skies of Kamino, honing their abilities. Bomb disposal teams faced the perilous instruction that came with defusing live ordnance. Officers were taught leadership and would lead their cohorts on exercises. Days were long, nights spent sore, and a sense of fear permeated the ranks. They had to get it right. They had to be perfect.
Such hardships made down time a much anticipated event and young clones took as much as they could get. It was here they griped, bickered, joked, and talked with their comrades. They grew into themselves, giving each other nicknames to avoid referring to themselves as a string of numbers. To the Kaminoans, they were product and nothing more, but to each other, they were brothers. Clones, beings they were, quickly found ways to avoid the gaze of their Kaminoan overlords. Sealed helmets gave them a private world, bunks provided blind spots to cameras, and the serving droids could be manipulated to grant extra helpings. A clone knew that his safety was with his brothers. Besides their officers and their sergeants, there were no other beings they could trust. For the cohorts, camaraderie was a defense and an identity. For the Commandos, it was a weapon.
Hunting Packs: Republic Commandos
Clone Troopers lived their lives enforce, surrounded by dozens of brothers at all times. Commandos experienced a different reality. Raised in squads of four, Commandos were a tightly knit group of deadly professionals. Unlike their infantry fellows, Commandos benefited from hands on training overseen by the Cuy'val Dar. Training was brutal, with Commandos to be forced to crawl through pipes full of guts and blood, perform endless house clearing drills with live rounds, run and march for miles on end, and meet the exacting standards set by program director Lama Su. Each squad was commanded by a sergeant with his subordinates receiving specialized training (in addition to universal advanced combat skills) in demolitions, electronic warfare, and sniping respectively. They were a team, expected to act independently to carry out their orders, often inserted behind enemy lines without support. The Republic Commandos formed the core of Special Operations and would soon achieve an outstanding record of combat effectiveness. Yet they were still outclassed.
One Man Armies: Advanced Recon Commandos
The Advanced Recon Commandos or ARCs operated alone. Trained by Jango Fett himself they were the elite of the elite. Independent, creative, and hyper lethal, they terrorized the Confederacy in a way that no armed body of men had nor will ever be able to match. They were soldiers without equal, men who faced armies alone and came out victorious. If it was too dangerous of the Commandos, you would call in the ARCs. Training was sadistic. Very little is really known, as Fett never shared his methods and the ARCs declined comment. but the results were unquestionable. Tough, stubborn, and ruthless men, they never backed down and never surrendered. Their exploits are the stuff of legend and the aspirations of troopers everywhere. This also caused a disconnect. Despite an unwavering unity by the army as a whole, clones still had divisions amongst themselves. Commandos, ARCs, and Troopers rarely met each other during training if ever. The difference in training created a sense of superiority amongst the Commandos and ARCs between each other and especially the regular infantry. This division would soon come to pass with the army's activation, and a universal brotherhood would be forged on the sandy plains and rocky spires of Geonosis.