WARBORN

A collective label for a type of long-obsolete abhuman genetic templates used exclusively in the Rye-Egress system. These templates had the specialized purpose of being used for conflict, most modifications or additions to the human baseline code made in order to adjust to the circumstances of their creation.

Nowadays, a minuscule fraction remain from the original dozens of millions. They are considered to be a subspecies in risk of extinction, given their almost-universal infertility and numerous health issues. It is understood that once the reserves of cryogenically-frozen Warborn deplete, it'll only take a handful of decades for those still alive to perish from natural causes.

History

Since the Great War on Sol, Humanity has strived to colonize the stars and expand itself. These ambitions often exceeded the monitoring capacity of the young space-faring human states, resulting in unprecedented levels of sprawl amongst the stars that simply could not be kept track of at the time. Too many enterprises, too much land.

Rye-Egress

A relatively small system found on the very edge of human space today. At the time, during its colonization in the 2200s, it was very far away from what was considered the bounds of human influence.

The reasons why its founding colony ship came to this system are unknown. Speculations include from generational ambitions to isolationist desires from its crew. Either case, upon arriving at the system, only one planet was found to be compatible enough for long-term Habitation.

Mikoyan

Also known as Rye-Egress 4a, Mikoyan was the name issued to the main rocky planet of the system by its first colonists. A tidally locked eye-ball world, a massive singular ocean covers roughly 3/4ths of the planet's 'hot side' facing its sun, while a band of gradually cooling land extends itself towards the epicenter of the 'cold side', reaching nightmarishly cold temperatures of up to minus eighty degrees regularly.

The planet also sports considerable levels of Phoron, valuable for aerospace-grade fuel systems and energy generation. While by the time of its foundation, this material had not been very-well studied for its fuel properties, its potential in the arms industry was one of the first applications it was given in Mikoyan. Later on, with the passing of the decades and improvements in phoron purification and refinement it'd start to become truly relevant for the local economy. This gave Rye-Egress the advantage of being a valuable fueling depot far in frontier space, growing the planet's wealth and relevance as an independent hub.

At some point, the population in Mikoyan increasingly grew more and more dependant on vat-growing technology to boost its numbers. It isn't known if this was the case since colonization, or it was an eventual development due to a likely lack of workers given the distance from the homeworld. In a similar vein it is hypothesized that their technology was bought or stolen from the nearby Vikaran space given some similarities found afterwards.

In the end, this dependance created an unique subculture and way of thinking, settling the roots for the eventual shape of the government that formed on the planet.

RYE-EGRESS VATBORN COALITION

The governing body over all of Rye-Egress before the war. A corporatist state, headed by principles of class-collaboration between all strata of society, most particularly those of the main and most powerful conglomerates cooperating together. In its core, a civilian government where the upper capitalist members of the planet heeded the directions of Mikoyan's developments and actions.

The main interest of every corporation in Mikoyan from its inception was, of course, unimpeded growth. The frontier provided that, so long as Rye-Egress could brave its dangers, unlimited untapped potential. The rest of the planets and planetoids in Rye-Egress saw larger or lesser establishments further feeding Mikoyan's growth, and towards the late 2300s, probes were being sent to nearby systems in the hopes of expanding the influence of Mikoyan beyond its system borders. This was seen as both an economical necessity with the planet's productive capabilities predicted to reach a ceiling in the next 50 years - and a need to secure their independence with the growing borders of the main human faction approaching.

This last desire would find itself incompatible with the reality that the R-EVC faced once its planet came under direct contact with the Orion Confederation.

THE WAR

Prelude

An existential guarantee that every Mikoyanese statesman was aware of was that of the need to remain independent. Rye-Egress depended on toll-free exportation rights to mostly Vikaran vessels and independents on the frontier, an economic strategy that wouldn't function being part of a broader human polity. The encroachment of foreign influence could slowly sever their economic autarky, and lead to the subjugation of the planet and its wealth to foreign powers.

On the other hand, the Orion Confederation - this main human polity that the R-EVC was wary of, seeked to integrate as many human space-states as it could. Both as a means to protect humanity from the dangers of outer space, and as a way to balance the delicate power structure within its many factions. It was the assumption of Confederate diplomats that, if they did not get to Rye-Egress first, someone else would. And a planet that rich in resources and population with such a strategic position would place human interests on that region of space on a precarious position.

Increasingly, Mikoyan found itself more and more closed off. Reports of fleets sighted in nearby stellar passages only grew the alarmist sentiment in the Coalition council. A non-insignificant side wished to pact with the Confederation, fearing a conflict would be impossible for the small Coalition to win, but unexpectedly a no-confidence vote passed leading to the defense industry warhawks to take heed of the Coalition governance.

A preemptive strike was thought to be the most effective way to retain autonomy. A quick lance into the Confederation's soft underbelly, a show of Mikoyanese teeth - and a peace offer to solidify borders and mutual recognition. It was thought to necessitate little more than a strike team.

In New Year's eve 2416, the green light was given by the Rye-Egress Defense Board with the approval all major conglomerates.

The Strike

Having taken an advantageous position on a nearby hyperlane, R-EVC vessels sprung a surprise attack upon a nearby frontier guard fleet - scoring the first and only naval victory for the Coalition. Most vessels surrendered, and emboldened naval commanders pushed on to the next phase of the plan.

An attempt to invade the nearest populated Confederate world failed after ground forces repelled the orbital landing party. By this point, nearby fleets began to reinforce the frontier space and the Coalition fleet had to retreat back to its homeworld.

As more and more battlegroups concentrated near Rye-Egress, it became obvious that their gander had not paid off - and the Orion Confederation seemed to be building up for an invasion. Attempts at ceasefires would fail to come up with anything- the Confederation had been given an excuse to remove this thorn from their side, and they were going to use it.

By the time the Mikoyanese fleet had enrolled civilian fleets to bolster numbers and emergency retrofitted them - the Confederate invasion force had jumped into Rye-Egress. It would take a day to blockade Mikoyan, and a week to seize all of its colonies and bases beyond its capital planet. The R-EVC was down to its last planet, but it was far from over.

Battle for Mikoyan

An unique situation laid itself for the Confederate forces. Unlike previous experiences folding human states diplomatically or through short skirmishes-- the cold world of Mikoyan had prepared itself for a siege, and worse yet- had the resources to endure it. Phoron-munitions fired from planetary cannons disallowed the approach of any ships big enough to engage in orbital bombardments, and a large population for a frontier world spread doubts amongst high command over the costs of a full scale invasion.

The positive aspects laid in the fact that the Mikoyanese fleet had been forced to remain at planetary dock and as such the control of space around Rye-Egress was total, as well as Mikoyan itself being a highly centralized world. Population hubs held over eighty percent of all Vatborns.

This was enough to assume a posture of a long conflict, there would be no quick victory in this.

With this in mind, the initial landing would not be performed on the heavily defended industrial cities of Mikoyan, but on the snowy plains within the cold side of the planet. Hundreds of kilometers of nothing past phoron mining posts spread about. The first to land were Solarian marines, deploying in HALO pods amongst heavy fire from land batteries towards the transport vessels. Diversionary tactics were employed by attaches from IWL and Eridani complements.

In the year 2420, Mikoyan had been invaded for the first time.

The biggest hurdle for the invasion force was securing a large enough airspace with neutralized defences to keep reinforcements coming consistently, a task that was achieved shortly after landing. It proved hard for the local Mikoyanese forces to punish the attackers this far out into the depth of the planet after focusing their entire efforts on the milder coastal cities.

Once a logistics train was established and Confederate troops began pouring into the planet, more and more desesperation set into Coalition politics. The solidification of a planetary front was a major sign that the stakes had gotten to grave heights and anything but an unconditional surrender would not be allowed. There was still hope that a prolonged fight would wear down popular support of the far-away conflict in the core populations of Orion, a hope that would only be bolstered by the roll-out of the Warborn.

Man-made Conscripts

Forbidden from retreat, reproach, regret

Initially a last-ditch project, that last-ditch situation came with the invasion force on Mikoyan. Extensive modifications were made to the genetic vats where the Mikoyanese population was grown, adapting them for extremely rapid growth alongside extensive modifications to the base human template to augment it for conflict. General reductions in fear responses and self preservation, augments to adrenaline production, muscle mass, and a long list of etceteras.

The expedient nature of these new 'super-soldiers', the Warborn, did bring about several drawbacks however. Rapid gestation often resulted in the loss of function of bodyparts or organs in unexpected ways, unable to cope with the methods used to accelerate growth. These shortcomings were solved with synthetic replacements as a stopgap. Every single unit was tethered to a metal-mesh that served as a skeleton from which the initial cell growth attached to - all Warborn have a alloyed metal skeleton because of this, quality of it reducing as the war went on. Organs, limbs and other replacements were implanted as-needed based on the expected birth defects and shortcomings.

Likewise, the usage and mixture of various genetic templates to squeeze out the ideal 'soldier' for each task, from officers to sappers and airmen, often resulted in side effects. Some benign, most Warborn showing abhuman bodyparts in the form of ears, fur, or even tails - and others more serious. Psychological afflictions were common, and mental instability was an issue that Mikoyanese soldier production struggled with till the end of the war.

The total number of Warborn fluctuated thorough the war, but a general trend lowering the amount of unmodified combatants in favor of Warborn led to the supermajority of R-EVC forces on the ground being composed of made soldiers. By the latter stages of the war, dozens of millions were on the ground.

Another consequence of their creation was that Warborn were intrinsically disenfranchised. Pay was honorary, they couldn't vote nor hold any kind of political capital. They were thought to be tools for the war, and had control chips installed to keep them in line. While a future was promised for them, it is unknown how realistic the promises of the R-EVC Council were.

CASTES

Many types of Warborn were created to be employed in different niches. Some of these were fielded in larger or smaller numbers.

ALALIA: Living mechcores. Designated bio-integrated drivers of heavy machinery and equipment. Often the most dependant on chemical enhancements and additives to maintain combat effectiveness. Known for being highly energetic and a positive-manic behavior. Canids.
APLASIA Hyperefficient pilots. Aplasias often lacked one or more limb, made to integrate to their seats and maximize the ability to sustain high G's without blacking out. Known for being calm yet calculating. Lupines.
AMNESIA: Diminutive field medics. Amnesias were small and with a low profile, made to quickly extract wounded from combat and stabilize them. Known for being skittish and paranoid. Murids.
APATHIA: Fearsome field commanders. Apathias were the apex of the Mikoyanese genetic programme, fielding a completely cold, calculating and logical attitude towards problem-solving -- be these on the battlefield or towards others. Known for being uncaring and thoroughly psychopathic. Lapine.
AGROMANIA: Expert Combat Engineers. Their intrinsic desire for open spaces was useful for creative solutions against enemy fortifications. Known for being highly-motivated and slightly uncaring of their self-integrity. Felinid.
ANEMIA: Cryptic SOF. Forward echelons who fed off the land, and their enemies, to maintain autonomy during deep recce's. Known for being antisocial and generally segregated due to their perceived 'inhumanity'. Vetalan.
AUTA: The common levy. Foot soldiers, cannon fodder, and anything else that required raw numbers. Autas were by far the most common of all other castes -- and naturally had little to show in terms of diversity. Not known for anything in particular, blank vatborn slates meant for reliability in behavior. Any possible genetic makeup.

It is important to note that, while Warborn castes shared a singular genetic 'template' from which to copy production - they were NOT clones. Different gene conglomerates were in charge of different castes, or even different batches within the same caste - leading to some differentiation in production already. Likewise, the ad-hoc industrial methods for fast vat-growth induced a certain instability in the expressed genes. While this led to the aforementioned issues both mental and physical, it also avoided the pitfalls of copy-pasted behaviors and such. This was thought of as an intended consequence, given it'd introduce randomness to the thought patterns of each soldier, leading to more effective and creative tactics.

Many other castes would exist and fizzle out, numbering the dozens - but only these had a stable enough gene-template to be mass produced with little corruption in the subsequent biologial code.

By 2423, Warborn compromised over 85% of Mikoyanese land forces, though by this point the war had turned awry for the defensive side.

Operation Venus

Named after the planetary body where the war-plans had been drafted, Operation Venus was a tactical strike into the phoron batteries within Mikoyan that prevented the usage of orbital battleships in atmosphere.

It was a front-wide infiltration and incursion from Solar Commandos and Leaguer Spetsrazvedka, utilizing the massive frontline that had developed over the past three-four years of conflict to slip between the cracks. Over the next few weeks of that year's autumn, those critical orbital defense batteries would be taken down or sabotaged by these hostile elements -- instantly leading to a level of despair over by the Mikoyanese side.

It wouldn't take more than a few days for the first cruisers to begin landing, augmenting the troop counts by the tens of thousands for the Confederates -- as for the power multiplication? In the dozens. Having vessels in close orbit meant that extremely heavy artillery could be lobbed onto enemy positions almost-constantly, anywhere on the planet. Likewise, with the capacity for large-scale transport came the deployment of the Durand type of mechanized suits, mimicking captured designs from the Mikoyanese army to great effect -- a side-effect of the conflict that led to the current proliferation of mechs as the mainstay for ground warfare.

To the civilian R-EVC government, this was a clear sign of defeat. The situation was untenable, and any further fighting would only draw out an undeniable end. In the following two months - a peace treaty would begin to be drawn out and ratification talks begin to be discussed within the Rye-Egress Council, leading to a brief ceasefire between both factions.

Alas, their own hubris had grown an insidious enemy for the Coalition, from its very own belly.

The Coup

It was, perhaps, no surprise for military analysts of the Confederation that the extremely bloated military within the R-EVC held a shadow influence over its politics. Despite not being formally allowed power within their own troops, the leaders of these -- Apathias, had grown a niche hypermilitaristic subculture of their own - a product of their higher intellect and position over the rest of the soldiery.

The concept of peace, for these officer corps spread over the planet, was tantamous to treason. A vile backstab over everything they had fought for - for what they had been created. If they didn't win, then why did they exist? It was an admission with self-destructive capabilities.

This thinking likewise spread to the troops from the top-down, these officers taking an almost political-comissar esque role. Loyalty became Caesarian to their leaders over the state. Extremism within the ranks roused more and more, an energetic state exhalted by promises of victory and culpability of the Mikoyanese government over the failures of the war.

These reasons all fueled a boiling powderkeg that culminated in what was self-described by the orchestrators as The Glorious Liberation - a bloody transfer of power wherein the main councilors of the Coalition were hung from the main plaza as an armed contingent headed by the most influential Apathia officers took charge of government matters. This coup did not enjoy universal support, even from the officer corps, though the events set in motion happened too fast for sides to solidify.

This new group, henceforth called the Provisional Military Government of Mikoyan, dismissed all peace-talks and so the war continued. Through a series of grueling, horrific losses - the Confederate advance was able to be stalled to an extent. Yet it was an unbalanced approach.

Thorough this fighting, politics within Mikoyan devolved to distopic levels. The provisional government was filled to the brim with backstabbings and plotting amongst its own members, with popular myths such as the designated governors lasting at most some months before being found dead with ten bullets to the back of the head rather common amongst the troops. The curated martial culture of the Apathias that had led the tenacious resistance holding back the massive OriCon war machine was now eating away at its own body, an Ouroboros rotting and degenerating with each passing week.

It'd take another violent year for Confederate forces to near the Mikoyanese capital, and begin its shelling, for the Provisional Government itself to buckle under its own weight.

And so, with that, the Provisional government sued for peace. While the Confederate commanders wished to seize the heads of the Apathia government for crimes against humanity due to the continuation to the war - most were either found dead in their offices, or dissapeared.

Some rogue fractions of the Warborn armed forces continued to fight a protracted war. It'd take around a decade, until the 2430s, for Mikoyan to be fully pacified from rogue bands of slowly-deteriorating and collapsing supersoldiers. The last combative Warborn, a lowly Auta, surrendered to local planetary authorities in 2462 - a pop fact that still surfaces in history Exonet forums.

Over the next decades, the native Warborn population would continue to decrease. With their vats long decomissioned and a poor life expectancy due to their making, they had little in terms of hope for their existance. Often, they worked grueling jobs at the phoron mines for their old civilian government - and over time... they were simply forgotten. The last hundred didn't last until the end of the century, and the current planetary population has little to no connection to the once-mighty struggle of the planet past the often-found relics of the war buried under the snow.

So, then, why do they keep popping up in modern day?

Warborn Today

The reason as to why a Warborn may appear still aren't many, but still enough to enumerate.

The top three reasons, as follows by a NanoTrasen Sapient Resources internal memo, are as follows:

Cryogenic thawing from forgotten, buried army manpower reserves meant for protracted warfare. Source of the majority of Warborn. CAREFUL: If the Warborn in question is part of a post-war guerrilla cryo-cell, extensive psychological care is mandated to gauge fitness to work.
Cryogenic thawing from accidents. Many heavy weaponry had freezing systems in place to save the user in case of critical damage. Minor source.
Voluntary freezing. Rarest, post-war procedure underwent by some hoping for a better future.

As for Mikoyan itself, the fears of the now-extant Council were not far from the truth. With the planet's economic niche displaced by more powerful productive centers within the Confederation and harsh reparations implanted to pay for the war-cost, alongside the large levels of devastation present, its population steadily declined. Advancements in long-distance traveling likewise led to easier and cheaper migration. Eventually, the planet's local authority was leased to Hephaestus Corporation so long as they re-start phoron-fracking operations. Just some tens of thousands still reside on the planet, most being maintenance workers and their families.

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Author: cabbage (cabbageflare)
Revision: seeks (seekssss)

Galactic Species
Common Species	Humans, Synthetics, Skrell, Tajara, Teshari, Unathi
Uncommon Species	Akula, Alraune, Auril, Dremachir, Naramadi, Zaddat, Dnin-Nepids
Whitelisted Species	Adherent, Dionea, Phoronids, Proteans, Shadekin, Vox, Xenochimera, Xenohybrids
Misc Species & Data	Minor Races, Scori, Changelings