Editing Clone (section)

==Clones in 40K==
Cloning tech exists in 40k, but curiously seems to be exclusive to [[Imperium|humanity]] and its, [[Leagues of Votann|for lack of]] [[Chaos Space Marines|a better word]],  "offshoots". The tech ''was'' apparently around in the [[Dark Age of Technology]], but has been largely lost to the modern Imperium. Any forms of cloning tech still around are kept intensely secret (notably used by Cawl’s mentor before he absorbed her intelligence core once she turned traitor). There's no mentions of Xenos-based cloning thus far, and no, the exo-wombs the [[Dark Eldar]] use do not count.

The [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] makes the most use of cloning tech, being the main source of bodies to make [[Servitor]]s out of. Sometimes however, demand outpaces supply, and the cogheads have to start sourcing from more ethically questionable sources, and they aren't above turning tech-heretics (or regular heretics, if the Ministorum's feeling generous) into Servitors as punishment. The [[Death Korps of Krieg]] are widely rumored to use some form of cloning tech to mass-produce their suicidal martyr-soldiers. While the secrets of this tech were kept under strict wraps, it's only nominally approved by the simple fact that they're offering shittons of soldiers to feed the imperial war machine.

The [[Leagues of Votann]] are an entire society made up of clones and [[android]]s working together in harmony, something they know they had better damn well keep out of the knowledge of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]. The Kin themselves were originally cloned from humans, but as time passed, the [[Votann|AI gods]] that the kin revere eventually made a series of genetic changes in order to improve their efficiency and eventually transform them from being just humans into [[Dwarf|dwarves]] with a very faint warp signature, and cloning has since become the main way the kin even reproduce. It's worth noting that the kin actually worked out the "genetic diversity" issue as their "cloneskeins" have a shitton of templates to choose from, so they can tweak new kin as they're growing to nip any vulnerabilities in the bud. This clone editing means that even Kin from the same batch might not even look alike beyond minor cultural markers. [[Grimnyr|Select kin with psychic potential do exist]], mainly because a fair chunk of a Votann's information is only accessible through psychic means. Special cloneskeins were developed to facilitate this need in a controlled manner (rather than letting them pop out "organically" as the Imperium [[Black Ships#Adeptus Astra Telepathica|oh]] [[Psyker#Imperium|so]] [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica|demonstrates]]). 

Meanwhile, on [[Necromunda]], at least a portion of [[House Escher]]’s members are asexually born via chemically induced parthenogenesis if they don’t have fathers who are sickly males (a result of Escher's work in drugs and pharmaceuticals). [[House Goliath]] is similarly dependent on cloning amneo-vats to create new members, seeing that a majority of their members are rendered sterile through the extensive genetic and chemical tampering that turns Goliaths of both genders into roid-raging lunatics (though "Natborn" descendants and “Unborn” adoptees exist). Incidentally, both of them have [[House Van Saar]] to thank, considering their access to technology that might be beyond even the Mechanicus is the reason they even have cloning vats.

Of course, we can't mention cloning in 40k without discussing a certain sick fuck, the "Clone Lord" himself. Aside from extreme body modifications and drug fabrication, [[Fabius Bile]] made a name for himself through his work in cloning, most infamously cloning some late [[Primarch]]s: 
*His first success was [[Ferrus Manus]], in the hopes that [[Fulgrim]] could convince his bestest brother to switch sides after killing him during the [[Drop Site Massacre]]. Time and time again, the clones said no, and Fulgrim demanded Fabius clone Ferrus again after killing the clones over and over, believing that Bile was secretly sabotaging the cloning process every time (incidentally, this is where Fabius got his "surname" from as an enraged Fulgrim declared Fabius to be "full of bile" when Fabius honestly said there was nothing else he could do). At no point did Fulgrim ever consider that Ferrus would have never turned his back on the Imperium and, prideful being he ([[Daemon Prince|literally]]) was, someone else had to take the blame. 
*His second success was none other than [[Horus]] himself, or at least a "good enough" clone of him as [[Emperor|Big E]] vaporized his soul back on the [[Vengeful Spirit]] (amusingly, the Ferrus clones were also imperfect, since his trademark metal-covered arms weren't "natural" and Fabius couldn't replicate that). [[Abbadon|A certain armless failure]] caught wind of this, and [[Battle of Harmony|besieged the Emperor's Children-held stronghold of Harmony]] both to kill the clone and to assert his de facto leadership over the Traitor Legions. Suffice to say, this did little to endear Bill with the surviving members of his Legion (as Harmony happened after [[Kharn]] [[Rape|royally buttfucked]] both the [[Emperor's Children]] and the [[World Eaters]] at [[Battle of Skalathrax|Skalathrax]]), on top of being disowned by Fulgrim for his "failure" with Ferrus and now being on the newly-minted Despoiler's shitlist. Bile was effectively declared persona non grata and [[The Consortium|struck out on his own]]. Not that he minded, as he was more interested in his research and he's still the best biologist the Traitor Legions have, so they begrudgingly let him live in exchange for his latest batch of (non-Primarch) clones for new recruits and whatever drugs he and his cronies have cooked up, presumably paying Bile with whatever slaves and/or cultists the Legions consider expendable for Fabius to work his magic on. 
*A lesser-known success was that of Fulgrim himself, which Bile hoped to use as the template for a new, untainted batch of Astartes to prepare the galaxy for his New Men. However, the clone retained Fulgrim's urge to go on crusades and after a series of disagreements Fabius put him into suspended animation and gave him to [[Trazyn the Infinite]] in exchange for a sample of uncorrupted Emperor's Children gene-seed.  

Of course, Fabius keeps the best stuff for himself, and his cloning processes are no exception. He's made clones of himself both to improve manpower (as few people would want to associate with him lest they become his newest test subjects, and those that ''do'' have trouble keeping up with a guy who has over ten millennia of experience under his belt) and to stave off death from the Blight that once plagued his Legion (hopping bodies every time his current body started to fail). Indeed, his obsession with medical horrors stems from trying to find a cure from said Blight, which was only rectified when the Legion reunited with Fulgrim, so any marines from the old tainted batches were [[Blam|discarded]] instead. Being the Chief Apothecary at the time put Fabius in a position to falsify his medical records, and start utilizing less ethical means of keeping the Blight at bay. [[Grimdark|His path to damnation was indeed paved with good intentions]], and while he did find a way to escape the Blight's clutches through his work in cloning, a proper cure was ultimately never found.