On the spinward border
of the Aku Corporation lies the system named Nu Earth. Its' single solid
planet, also called Nu Earth, has been one of the primary battlegrounds in the
ongoing war between the Aku Corporation and the Toranaga Cluster, despite its
position at the far side of the Aku Corporation to the Cluster.
However, its border
position and the fact that ships with jump tanks can jump across the Aku
Corporation to it make it theoretically vulnerable to attack; its almost
perfect terra-normal environment made it a desirable planet for anyone to
control; and most of all, strategically it represents an opportunity to split
the Aku Corporation neatly in two across the thin "neck" of
Corporation systems to rimward of Nu Earth. As a result, the Toranagans have
been trying to acquire Nu Earth for most of the war.
Early in the Nu Earth
campaign, both sides made extensive use of atomic, bacteriological and chemical
weapons. The ecological consequences of this were disastrous; Nu Earth's entire
atmosphere (with the exception of a very few tiny pockets) became one of the
most noxious, corrosive and poisonous gas mixtures in known space. Exposure is
fatal within 30-50 seconds. Normal at mosphere suits are virtually useless
against it, and battledress is even less effective; only at TL 13 does a suit
appear which can ward off Nu Earth's atmosphere for any length of time. Called
a Chem Suit, it costs Cr10,000 and is largely similar to a TL 13 vacc
suit in basic features. Even a chem suit, however, is no protection at all
against the scum seas of Nu Earth; immersion in the sea will eat through any
protective suit in around 50 seconds; death from combined suffocation in the
chem atmosphere and dissolution in the acid seas is very rapid thereafter.
The high levels of
ambient radiation on Nu Earth also make communications much more difficult;
only meson communicators can transmit accurately at greater than Regional
range.
Normally, a planet
within the borders of one state should be easy to rid of an invasion force from
another; however, in the case of Nu Earth, the environment is so hostile that
warfare has necessarily descended to thousands of isolated conflicts of a
basically regional nature. The basic planetary objectives (spaceports, fuel
production plants, cities and air recycling plants) are individually fought
for. In many cases, the ongoing warfare has an effect on the targets
themselves, with spaceports and fuel dumps often being destroyed in the
fighting to control them. In many places, the soldiers of each side fight each
other simply because that's what they are there for.
To
cope with the extreme conditions of Nu Earth, the geneticists of the Aku
Corporation set out to design the perfect warrior, tailored to endure and even
flourish in the hellish environment of the chem-clouds. Aku Corporation genetic
designs are among the best in Foreven, with an effective tech level of around
17 (as of 1109). The scientists tested and studied and finally (after a couple
of failures) came up with the Genetic Infantryman.
Technically an
android, the GI is grown in clone batches of between ten and a thousand,
depending upon projected need; remembering that each GI costs a total of MCr8
to create, train and equip, smaller numbers are more common. All the clones are
initially identical; however, during their early life and training, they tend
to develop individualities and separate personalities. They are similar in
appearance to humans, with a slightly more muscular build, blue skin and yellow
eyes without visible iris or pupil which are impossible to dazzle or confuse
(iris dilation is under conscious control) and provide limited (passive) IR
sensitivity. They have no body hair except for a "mohican" style
crest on their heads. All GIs are ambidextrous. Internally, their make up is a
little more specialised. They have two hearts; a primary heart which
operates in the same manner as a human's heart, and a secondary heart
which accelerates the flow of blood (red blood; the skin pigment is part of the
rad shielding) so as to provide a faster rate of oxygen extraction when the O2
concentration of the air drops. The secondary heart also allows performance
"boosting"; extra air and sugars can be sent to the cells allowing a
greater output of energy at need. The healing processes are much faster in a
GI; especially whilst asleep, the secondary heart may be mobilised and all the
extra energy available concentrated on tissue regrowth. The GI heals at a rate
up to five times that of a normal human; even better in normal
atmospheres. The GI's lungs are designed with a much greater variety of
filters, allowing the straining out of any poison or anaesthetic gas known to
man. The GI is also perfectly at home in normal atmospheres. The skin is not
only proof against the chem-clouds, it can also survive limited periods of
immersion in the scum sea, and, even though the sun almost never penetrates the
chem-clouds, GIs are completely immune to sunburn. GIs are also immune to every
ingested and injected poison known to Aku Corporation science. Psionics have no
effect on GIs in the same way that they don't affect Hivers.
Possibly the most
remarkable (and controversial) feature of the Genetic Infantryman is the biochip.
Each GI has a small (1"x2"x¼") microchip component emplaced in
his skull, cybernetically linked into the frontal brain lobes. If the Genetic
Infantryman is fatally wounded, the biochip senses the approach of brain death
and takes a complete copy of the personality, training, skills and memory of
the GI at that moment, effectively transferring the dying GI's persona
to the biochip. From that moment, there is a time lag of three minutes, during
which the biochip must be surgically removed from the corpse's head and
attached to a specially prepared power source. Each GI is provided with three
of these, built into his rifle, helmet and backpack. From then on, the chip
actually "lives" as the dead Genetic Infantryman. While attached to
the equipment, the chip can operate it in a limited way as if it were a robot
brain.
If a chip is brought
back to the genetic labs on Aku, a new body can be grown for it and the GI can
live again. This renders a GI effectively immortal, although there is wastage
from GIs who die alone (if no one cuts the chip out and powers it up in three
minutes, the pattern is lost and the GI is truly dead), GIs who have their
chips damaged or destroyed in their deaths and so on. In addition, a GI may
only be re-cloned four times; the process does not work after that.
The GI brain has been
specifically geneered with this process in mind. No brain without that design
can operate a biochip; therefore normal humans cannot be fitted with them.
Chipped equipment
provides many benefits. The GI rifle is basically a short gauss rifle with a
few extra circuits; if chipped, the rifle may fire under the control of the
chip without any other intervention at all. The chip may also operate as a
superior rangefinder/analyser; any chipped rifle is at +2 to hit over and above
other DMs.
A GI's commo and
sensor equipment is carried in his pack; normally it is controlled with a hand
held unit, but if the pack is chipped the chip can verbally feed intelligence
to the GI. It can also unpack and pass to the GI equipment stored inside it,
and defend itself to an extent with grenades and mines.