FACTION
THE GENETICISTS

In the fortified monasteries that rise like concrete fangs from the irradiated mud fields of old Europe, the Geneticist Order pursues humanity's salvation through the rigid doctrine of genetic purity. Where the Beast Clan sees evolution as embracing transformation, the Geneticists view it as returning to perfection - a fundamental philosophical divide that has made these two factions the most bitter enemies in the Desolation.

The Sacred Science of Purity

The Geneticists arose from the chaos of the Great Collapse as both scientific institute and religious order, devoted to the pseudo-scientific theology of parthenogenesis. Their doctrine revolves around Pre-Collapse scientist Alya Vos, whom they revere as a prophet whose early experiments with parthenogenesis - enabling females to reproduce asexually without male fertilization - pointed toward humanity's true destiny.

To the Geneticists, Vos's writings represent more than scientific texts; they are sacred scripture promising transcendence through genetic perfection. Her research speaks of parthenogenesis allowing humanity to abandon reliance on imperfect clones and dangerous sexual reproduction, creating instead a pure lineage unmarred by the random chaos of genetic combination or the taint of mutation.

This scientific doctrine has evolved into religious fervor over the decades, transforming laboratories into temples and researchers into priests of a new genetic faith. The Geneticists believe that only through absolute genetic purity can humanity reclaim its rightful dominance over the mutated wasteland.

Fortress Monasteries of Faith

Geneticist monasteries stand as imposing concrete fortifications, deliberately built atop the ruins of Pre-Collapse research facilities to symbolically claim the mantle of true science. These fortress-temples merge scientific purpose with religious architecture - their main chapels house chromosome sequencing machines alongside pews, while automated gene-therapy chambers serve as confessionals where initiates purify their genetic heritage.

The head of each monastery, known as a High Helix, emphasizes the sacred nature of the DNA double helix to all Geneticists. During sermons led by red-robed Helix Priests, initiates recite genome analysis results like scripture, their voices echoing through halls lined with portraits of Alya Vos and displays showing the "perfect" human genetic sequence.

Deep beneath each monastery lie the most sacred chambers - heavily guarded bunkers where pregnant Geneticists and their offspring live in absolute secrecy. These children, products of generations of selective parthenogenesis research and all female to avoid any risk of Y-chromosome mutation, represent the future the Geneticists wish to impose upon the clone-dominated world. The fanatical Scarlet Watch warriors defend these nurseries with their lives, viewing each child as a living relic of humanity's destined evolution.

The Heresy of Mutation

Nothing embodies the Geneticists' worldview more clearly than their absolute hatred of the Beast Clan. Where other factions might dismiss the Beast Clan as primitive savages, the Geneticists see them as something far worse: active agents of humanity's corruption. The Beast Clan's philosophy of embracing mutation and birthing hybrid offspring represents the complete antithesis of everything the Geneticists hold sacred.

To the Geneticists, the Beast Clan's Demi-Mutant children are not evolution but abomination - living blasphemies against the pure human form that Alya Vos died trying to perfect. Their very existence mocks the Geneticists' doctrine that humanity's salvation lies in genetic purity, not genetic chaos. The sight of Beast Clan "Life-Bearers" voluntarily mating with mutants fills Geneticists with religious horror, viewing it as the ultimate perversion of the sacred act of reproduction.

The Geneticists have declared the Beast Clan's territories a "Genetic Contamination Zone" that must be cleansed at all costs. Their red-robed priests preach that allowing the Demi-Mutants to spread represents nothing less than the extinction of true humanity, replaced by mongrel creatures that carry the taint of the Reaper Agent in their very cells.

The Scarlet Watch

The Scarlet Watch serves as the sacred guardians of each monastery's inner sanctum, where the Order's parthenogenetic children are born and raised in absolute secrecy. These elite warriors undergo genetic screening more rigorous than any clone production facility, with only those showing the "purest" human genetics allowed to join their ranks. Their crimson armor bears the double helix symbol, and their weapons are blessed in ceremonies that invoke Alya Vos's name alongside prayers for genetic salvation.

Within the monastery walls, the Scarlet Watch maintains constant vigilance over the nursery chambers, their lives dedicated to protecting the genetically perfected children who represent humanity's future. They view their role not as mere guards but as sacred sentinels protecting living relics of human perfection. No outsider has ever penetrated a monastery's inner sanctum while the Scarlet Watch stands guard.

Only during declared crusades do the Scarlet Watch venture beyond the monastery walls into the contaminated Desolation. They emerge either as small elite units conducting precision strikes against high-value genetic threats, or as commanders leading armies of rank-and-file Geneticist warriors. These common soldiers are predominantly clones who have joined the Order seeking absolution for the "sin" of being artificially created rather than naturally born. The clones fight with desperate fervour, knowing that only through death in service to genetic purity can they achieve redemption in the eyes of Alya Vos.

The Scarlet Watch views combat against the Beast Clan in particular not as mere warfare but as a holy crusade. They refer to Beast Clan warriors as "corruptors," believing that killing them purifies the gene pool by removing vectors of mutation. Their battle-cries invoke the "Sacred Sequence" - recitations of pure human DNA patterns - while they cut downDemi-Mutants and other human hybrid creatures in the name of genetic purity.

The Doctrine of Selective Breeding

Recruitment into the Geneticists involves extensive genetic and intelligence testing designed to identify those worthy of carrying forward Alya Vos's legacy. Natural-born humans undergo the most rigorous screening, with only those showing exceptional genetic "purity" allowed to join the inner circles where parthenogenesis research continues.

Clones may join the order, but only as expendable labor and warriors in the outer ranks. The Geneticists view clones as superior to natural-born humans infected with mutation, but still inferior to their parthenogenetically-produced offspring. A clone can achieve redemption in Geneticist eyes only through death in service to the order, their sacrifice helping to protect the pure genetic lineages being cultivated in the monastery depths.

Those natural-born initiates deemed genetically worthy take a sacred "Vow of Fertility" - pledging their reproductive capacity to the order's breeding programs. These chosen ones undergo years of genetic conditioning, hormone treatments, and spiritual preparation before they're allowed to attempt parthenogenesis under the careful guidance of the Helix Priests.

The Great Work

The Geneticists' ultimate goal extends far beyond mere survival - they seek to transform the power dynamics of the post-Collapse world entirely through genetic supremacy. Their vision imagines vast armies of parthenogenetically-produced daughters sweeping across the Desolation, their genetic perfection allowing them to reclaim territories that mutation has rendered uninhabitable to lesser humans.

In their most sacred texts, the Geneticists describe the coming "Genetic Utopia" - a future where pure humans, freed from the constraints of sexual reproduction and the chaos of genetic combination, will establish perfect societies governed by scientific wisdom. Mutations will be eliminated, clones will become obsolete, and the anarchic diversity of human genetics will give way to optimized perfection.

Recent successes in their reproductive experiments have convinced Geneticist leadership that this vision may be achievable within their lifetimes. Secret chambers beneath their monasteries buzz with renewed energy as scientists work around the clock to expand parthenogenesis beyond laboratory conditions. 

The Purification Campaigns

This approaching breakthrough has fueled a new militancy among the Geneticists, transforming them from isolated researchers into active crusaders. They've begun launching "Purification Campaigns" - coordinated military operations designed to eliminate sources of genetic contamination before their perfected offspring inherit the world.

The Beast Clan territories top their target list, but the Geneticists also view certain clone populations as threats requiring elimination. Any clones showing signs of mutation, hybrid characteristics, or "genetic drift" from their template patterns face extermination under Geneticist doctrine. They've even begun targeting Cybernetic clans, viewing technological augmentation as another form of human corruption that must be cleansed.

These campaigns follow rigid protocols established by the Helix Priests. Captured enemies undergo genetic scanning to determine their "corruption level" - pure humans face re-education and possible recruitment, while mutants and hybrids face immediate execution. The Scarlet Watch carries specialized incendiary weapons designed to completely destroy genetic material, ensuring that no trace of "impure" DNA can contaminate the surrounding environment.

The Philosophical War

The conflict between Geneticists and the Beast Clan transcends mere territorial disputes or resource competition. It represents a fundamental war over humanity's future - purity versus adaptation, control versus evolution, preservation versus transformation.

The Geneticists view the Beast Clan's philosophy as not just wrong but apocalyptic. In their eyes, embracing mutation leads inevitably to the extinction of true humanity, replaced by creatures that may be intelligent but are no longer human in any meaningful sense. They point to the Demi-Mutants' alien appearances and enhanced capabilities as proof that hybridization destroys rather than preserves human essence.

Conversely, they see their own path as restoration rather than evolution. The Geneticists believe that Alya Vos's parthenogenesis research revealed humanity's true form - not the chaotic, sexually-reproducing species that fell to the Reaper Agent, but a perfected lineage capable of directed evolution through scientific manipulation rather than random chance.

The Coming Genetic War

The Geneticists believe their time to remake the world has finally arrived. Their fortresses echo with prayers to Alya Vos and the sounds of weapons being blessed for holy war. In hidden chambers, their perfected daughters train for the day when they'll march forth to claim their inheritance - a world cleansed of mutation and chaos, where genetic purity reigns supreme.

Yet they remain blind to the irony of their position. In their obsession with preserving an idealized past, they've become as rigid and ultimately doomed as the very mutations they seek to destroy. The Beast Clan's philosophy of adaptation may be horrifying to Geneticist sensibilities, but it reflects the fundamental truth that survival requires change, not preservation.

The coming war between these factions will determine not just territorial control, but the very definition of humanity's future. On one side stand the Geneticists with their vision of perfected purity, on the other the Beast Clan with their embrace of evolutionary transformation. Neither side will accept compromise, for their philosophies are mutually exclusive.

History will remember this conflict as more than warfare - it will be evolution itself, played out with weapons and will, determining whether humanity's future lies in the preservation of genetic perfection or the courageous acceptance of change. The Desolation itself may be the ultimate judge, as the harsh realities of the post-Collapse world test which philosophy can actually survive the truth of what humanity has become.