CLONE FORCE 144: MAGMA SQUAD
This is a little intro for some old OCs I've brought back from the dead. Intros under the cut!
Magma Squad was originally founded about six months after the battle of Geonosis. It was made to be composed of purposeless or "useless" clones, who were then sent on suicide missions. However, Magma Squad has yet to lose a single member, even in the final year of the clone wars.
Now, let's start with the clone who caused Magma Squad's creation: CT-8808, Sulf.
Sulf was born alongside the original batch of Null-ARCs, though the Kaminoans planned to decommission him after he began showing signs of schizophrenia in his first two years. Kal Skirata negotiated with the Kaminoans to, instead, make him an instructor, instead of having him join the Null-ARCs. However, this deal didn't include any proper treatment for Sulf's schizophrenia. So, despite him being at a similar rank to his brothers, he always felt distant, and his undiagnosed, unmedicated illness certainly wasn't helping. Once the clone wars started, the Kaminoans began growing impatient with Skirata's excuses to keep Sulf alive, due to his mediocre performance as an instructor. But Skirata proposed an idea to put him in a squad meant for suicide missions, using the loss and displacement of Commandos after geonosis as an example for how this could be useful and resourceful. So, Sulf went through more training, and became an ARC. He acts as the squad's sergeant/leader. As for his personality, Sulf likes to crack jokes and lighten the mood, which also involves pestering his brothers. He's also efficient at strategizing, if somewhat talkative. He tends to frequently joke about his illness, despite how paranoid he gets, especially at night. Magma Squad sleeps together because of this. His name is a reference to sulfur, and it was given to him after an incident that involved vehemently refusing to talk to a commander due to the yellow accents on his armor. He refuses to wear yellow, though his distrust has gotten better over the years.
Now, onto its second member, CC-3570, Mantle.
Mantle is one of many commandos who lost his squad on the first battle of Geonosis, as a consequence of inexperienced Jedi using them as infantry. Mantle was also horrifically wounded during this battle, leading to him having a mechanical jaw, mechanical joints on his legs and elbows, as well as modifications to his respiratory system, all due to damage from explosions and lacerations from shrapnel. He also has various patches of gray, synthetic skin, basically skin grafts due to severe burns. He chose his name himself, since nobody else was there to give him a name, and he didn't receive one before Geonosis. Basically, mantle as in he's putting on the mantle of courage and strength in honor of his fallen brothers. Mantle is a clone of few words, rarely ever speaking, and instead choosing to do hand gestures (mostly derived from his idol, Captain Fordo). His silent, ominous vibe gives the impression that he's uncaring or even cruel, but he's quite the opposite. Out of everyone, he's probably the most protective of the squad, and the best at providing comfort or grounding them. He honed this skill in order to help Sulf whenever he's experiencing hallucinations. Mantle is also the one who paints everyone's armor, since he has a knack for painting/doodling, and he's therefore the creator of Magma squad's color and logo (plus the custom poster of Fordo he keeps in the squad's barracks but shhhhhhh). He also gives great hugs :)
Now onto the third member, CT-1889, Drill.
Drill was originally trained to be a Special Ops trooper, specializing in intercepting fleets and disarming them, which involves lots and lots of slicing. His name comes from the fact that he was always the first to arrive at all his drills, except for the one with The Incident. His consistent accuracy lead to praise from his brothers and higher-ups, which kind of gave him a Smartest Child complex. That all went away after an accident during a simulation that lead to Drill losing his right leg up to the knee alongside his left hand. He waited a day in critical condition, and it was the longest day of his life. He expected to be decommissioned, but was instead assigned to Magma squad as their slicer/tech wiz, though his "true" purpose was long gone. Now he just sits in that bitterness, and sees himself as above the rest of the squad, or that he's overqualified. This means he's rather distant from them. Sure, he's fantastic at communication during missions, but its purely cold and professional. He's also trying to adjust to his armor, and having any sort of distinction among his fellow clones. He's also autistic but heeyyyyyyyy he doesn't know that yet lol. While he's competent at combat, he's more vulnerable compared to everyone else. (He also has a really embarrassing tattoo on his lower back. Nobody knows what it is, no he isn't telling you)
Now for the newest member, CT-2202, 22!
22 was a medic originally meant for the Coroscant guard, but, after his training, he's freshly placed into Magma squad. 22, while somewhat lacking in combat and communications, is incredibly skilled at being a medic. He's quick, efficient, and doesn't let rankings get in the way of helping his brothers. So, shiny medic gets placed into Magma squad without knowing what their purpose is beyond being Special Forces, and he definitely feels intimidated by them. But, they welcome him with open arms, and even prepare his bunk for him. Mantle even paints "22" in Mando'a on his helmet for him :). As for his name, he's never really. Had one. So the squad simply chose 22, based off his designation. Even Drill finds him somewhat endearing.
Clone Maker I used!