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Description
"Toll the bell once, and give praise in your heart to the Father of Mutation."

"Toll the bell twice, and scourge your mind and your flesh of their impurities."

"Toll the bell thrice, and enter in to the straight gate, to accomplish the work of the Lord."

-Brother-Superior Cafka, Order of St. Lejeune.

--------------------

The defining event of the twenty-seventh century were the Genome Wars, a fifty-seven year period of constant, apocalyptic warfare that raged across humanity's fledgling interstellar realm. So terrible was the fighting - and so horrible were the beasts bred during it - that when baseline humanity finally triumphed, the newly-founded Terran Federal Union swore to a singular, inviolable oath: that genetic engineering would be henceforth banned eternally, save for edits made solely to correct or eliminate clear birth defects.

Naturally, the Sacred Republic of Haven thinks itself beyond such "...petty, pagan superstition."

From its inception, the Republic has engaged in heavy genetic modification of its citizens, in four of their five constituent species. To the surprise of some, this was not done in a deluded attempt to create a 'master race,' but - nominally, at least - for purely pragmatic, military reasons. Perfect soldiers, not perfect citizens, has always been Haven's end goal.

Though there have been several 'updates' to the Sacred Republic's citizenry over the course of its existence, the basic package has always remained the same:

Reaction times are greatly enhanced via hypermyelination of the axons to give lightning-fast battlefield reflexes and strategic decision-making. Baseline strength is increased by induced myostatin deficiencies to better support heavy armor and ensure lethality in close combat. Bones are strengthened to make them harder to break. Limbic systems are altered, making it so that high-stress situations are universally met with snarling anger and resolve instead of frightened panic. As fear is useful at lower stress levels, it is allowed to remain. In one of the few non-combat augmentations, the mechanisms responsible for sexual pair-bonding are accelerated and magnified, making both parties practically incapable of cheating on each other - a concession to Haven's obsession with the heterosexual pair-bond. Height variation is reduced, and subjects are shorter overall than their baseline counterparts to ease armor supply lines.

Interestingly for such an authoritarian polity, none of the Republic's gene-mods affect the suggestibility, compliance, or docility of their citizens. This is another decision based on morality rather than pragmatism, as the Sacred Republic believes that salvation must be chosen freely with one's own will - as such, they refuse to alter the 'mechanisms of salvation.' This is also the reason why the alterations include no boosts to the subject's intelligence.

More specific to humans, the Republic's gene-mods cause a restoration of humanity's basal prognathism, along with a lengthening of the canine teeth to gelada-like lengths in males and chimpanzee/baboon-like lengths in females. This mutation is meant to act as a sort of ultimate holdout weapon, forcing captors to either keep a Havenite prisoner muzzled or to tear out those fangs - and either way, to expend more resources doing so. Their hips are made more flexible, to improve locomotion in zero-gravity environments and performance in close-combat. The toes are caused to lengthen significantly and are restored to prehensility, enabling the subject to more easily climb and attain advantageous tactical positions. The rest of the foot, however, remains unchanged to allow the Sacred Republic's humans to retain their baseline counterparts' devastating, ramlike charges at close range; in addition to retaining and improving upon a baseline human's incredible walking endurance compared to other species.

To assist in the assimilation of newly-conquered populations, both sexes have the most recent version of the augmentation retrovirus coded into the mitochondrial DNA of their gametes, to be released upon contact with an unaltered egg or sperm cell. Thus, any child sired or borne by an altered citizen of the Sacred Republic will fully inherit their parent's augmentations.

Finally, maturation has been moderately accelerated in the Republic's citizens to give an edge in wars of attrition. Specifically, Haven's modified humans hit full physiological maturity at age 15, and gestation time has been cut down from nine months to eight.

-----------------------------------------------

A look at what the Sacred Republic does to some of its citizens, a take on the classic "super soldier" concept that I think hits the high points of that trope while retaining originality and (somewhat) plausibility. All credit to the ever-redoubtable AvesAdversary(www.deviantart.com/avesadversa… ) for the art.

Description
"Toll the bell once, and give praise in your heart to the Father of Mutation."

"Toll the bell twice, and scourge your mind and your flesh of their impurities."

"Toll the bell thrice, and enter in to the straight gate, to accomplish the work of the Lord."

-Brother-Superior Cafka, Order of St. Lejeune.

--------------------

The defining event of the twenty-seventh century were the Genome Wars, a fifty-seven year period of constant, apocalyptic warfare that raged across humanity's fledgling interstellar realm. So terrible was the fighting - and so horrible were the beasts bred during it - that when baseline humanity finally triumphed, the newly-founded Terran Federal Union swore to a singular, inviolable oath: that genetic engineering would be henceforth banned eternally, save for edits made solely to correct or eliminate clear birth defects.

Naturally, the Sacred Republic of Haven thinks itself beyond such "...petty, pagan superstition."

From its inception, the Republic has engaged in heavy genetic modification of its citizens, in four of their five constituent species. To the surprise of some, this was not done in a deluded attempt to create a 'master race,' but - nominally, at least - for purely pragmatic, military reasons. Perfect soldiers, not perfect citizens, has always been Haven's end goal.

Though there have been several 'updates' to the Sacred Republic's citizenry over the course of its existence, the basic package has always remained the same:

Reaction times are greatly enhanced via hypermyelination of the axons to give lightning-fast battlefield reflexes and strategic decision-making. Baseline strength is increased by induced myostatin deficiencies to better support heavy armor and ensure lethality in close combat. Bones are strengthened to make them harder to break. Limbic systems are altered, making it so that high-stress situations are universally met with snarling anger and resolve instead of frightened panic. As fear is useful at lower stress levels, it is allowed to remain. In one of the few non-combat augmentations, the mechanisms responsible for sexual pair-bonding are accelerated and magnified, making both parties practically incapable of cheating on each other - a concession to Haven's obsession with the heterosexual pair-bond. Height variation is reduced, and subjects are shorter overall than their baseline counterparts to ease armor supply lines.

Interestingly for such an authoritarian polity, none of the Republic's gene-mods affect the suggestibility, compliance, or docility of their citizens. This is another decision based on morality rather than pragmatism, as the Sacred Republic believes that salvation must be chosen freely with one's own will - as such, they refuse to alter the 'mechanisms of salvation.' This is also the reason why the alterations include no boosts to the subject's intelligence.

More specific to humans, the Republic's gene-mods cause a restoration of humanity's basal prognathism, along with a lengthening of the canine teeth to gelada-like lengths in males and chimpanzee/baboon-like lengths in females. This mutation is meant to act as a sort of ultimate holdout weapon, forcing captors to either keep a Havenite prisoner muzzled or to tear out those fangs - and either way, to expend more resources doing so. Their hips are made more flexible, to improve locomotion in zero-gravity environments and performance in close-combat. The toes are caused to lengthen significantly and are restored to prehensility, enabling the subject to more easily climb and attain advantageous tactical positions. The rest of the foot, however, remains unchanged to allow the Sacred Republic's humans to retain their baseline counterparts' devastating, ramlike charges at close range; in addition to retaining and improving upon a baseline human's incredible walking endurance compared to other species.

To assist in the assimilation of newly-conquered populations, both sexes have the most recent version of the augmentation retrovirus coded into the mitochondrial DNA of their gametes, to be released upon contact with an unaltered egg or sperm cell. Thus, any child sired or borne by an altered citizen of the Sacred Republic will fully inherit their parent's augmentations.

Finally, maturation has been moderately accelerated in the Republic's citizens to give an edge in wars of attrition. Specifically, Haven's modified humans hit full physiological maturity at age 15, and gestation time has been cut down from nine months to eight.

-----------------------------------------------

A look at what the Sacred Republic does to some of its citizens, a take on the classic "super soldier" concept that I think hits the high points of that trope while retaining originality and (somewhat) plausibility. All credit to the ever-redoubtable AvesAdversary(www.deviantart.com/avesadversa… ) for the art.