etotheipi | 19 Oct 2018 8:04 a.m. PST |
Welcome to the rest of your dystopian near-future life, you [expletive deleted] wanna-be! To be of any use to The Conglomerate in the Glorious Army, you will undergo genetic modification to increase your combat lethality. If you survive, you will become part of the most terrifying and effective fighting force in history! For the Good of All!(TM) So … ignoring all the scientific hand-waving, if you could pick one animal trait to give to a person in order to increase their effectiveness as a near-future infantry soldier (ranged weapons, humping lots of gear, austere environments, highly autonomous/loosely controlled operations), what animal/trait would you pick? Feel free to break it down by whatever you think are typical troop types. My faves (mostly standard tropes): Eagle Eyes Catlike Agility Ampullae of Lorenzini And for the logistics troops: Ant Strength! |
Sir Walter Rlyeh | 19 Oct 2018 8:35 a.m. PST |
A sharks immune system – They are immune to cancer, viruses, most infections (handy on a battlefield) |
Moonbeast | 19 Oct 2018 8:42 a.m. PST |
Salamanders ability to re-grow body parts. |
Winston Smith | 19 Oct 2018 9:10 a.m. PST |
Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. |
lloydthegamer | 19 Oct 2018 9:26 a.m. PST |
Faster than a locomotive? |
PrivateSnafu | 19 Oct 2018 10:06 a.m. PST |
Animal strength seems the obvious choice. So i'll take liberty and assume that my new camel back mod comes with equivalent amounts of strength to compensate for all the water i'll be carrying. |
Parzival | 19 Oct 2018 1:42 p.m. PST |
Squirrel! Because apparently a Squirrel Girl can beat up everybody! |
etotheipi | 19 Oct 2018 1:53 p.m. PST |
assume that my new camel back mod comes with equivalent amounts of strength to compensate for Yes, this is part of the standard hand-wave for such discussions. You get to assume that the ability comes with the ability to not be killed by using it. |
javelin98 | 19 Oct 2018 2:50 p.m. PST |
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Gunfreak | 19 Oct 2018 3:46 p.m. PST |
Elephant seal blubber. I can just roll over enemies and see their organs squise out like a toothpaste tube |
Lion in the Stars | 19 Oct 2018 6:39 p.m. PST |
As a bare minimum, I'd want great-ape strength, night vision, thermal vision, and probably UV vision. The shark's immune system would be very useful, as would the Lorenzini organ(s) to sense electromagnetic fields. And finally, the ability to regrow lost limbs. The challenge would be to increase strength without compromising endurance (humans only use 1/10 of our strength at any given time, so that we can keep using that strength 24/7). |
Mooseworks8 | 19 Oct 2018 7:18 p.m. PST |
Sharks with lasers on their heads. No, I like the shark disease resistance. |
Oberlindes Sol LIC | 19 Oct 2018 7:24 p.m. PST |
I think that I would want crocodile DNA, because I love the idea of floating along, basking in sunny tropical waters, waiting for a meal to get close enough to catch. |
Whemever1 | 19 Oct 2018 10:40 p.m. PST |
I keep wondering where I'd be if I had the extra brains a Cro-Magnon had. Anyway, maybe it would equip me for white collar soldiering. |
Legion 4 | 20 Oct 2018 9:00 a.m. PST |
All of Superman's powers would work for me … |
etotheipi | 23 Oct 2018 10:48 a.m. PST |
No love for kitties or puppies? |
jhancock | 23 Oct 2018 7:49 p.m. PST |
Hibernating all winter like a grizzly bear? |
etotheipi | 24 Oct 2018 5:54 a.m. PST |
Hibernating all winter like a grizzly bear? I don't need genetic modification to do that … |
Henry Martini | 24 Oct 2018 7:02 p.m. PST |
You've got it, etotheipi: cuteness… so you can transform your hard-as-nails enemies into dreamy-eyed, cooing, gibbering, defenseless fools totally at your – complete absence of – mercy. |