Arthur Clarke (20 September 2174 - 24 August 2264)
Arthur Clarke (20 September 2174 - 24 August 2264) was a weretiger soldier in the Tech Infantry, a Member of the 2nd Triumvirate from 2222-2224, Commander of the Raptors 2224-2243, and 42nd Grand Council Chairman of the Earth Federation 2244-2264.
Early Life[]
Born as a weretiger in Fairbanks, Alaska, Clarke went on a journey to Siberia in his youth to learn more about his ancestors of the Siberian Bastet clan. During his travels through the Cherskiy Mountains he discovered his trademark weapon, The Sword of Omens. According to the local inhabitants many had searched the mountain range looking for the sword that had been missing for over a century and found nothing.
Tech Infantry Service[]
In 2192 Clarke enlisted in the Tech Infantry. While lacking in magical abilities in comparison to the other troopers Clarke was noted for his toughness. Eventually, he was assigned to the 86th Platoon under the command of Lwan Eddington, as a replacment for Ben Richards, killed by friendly fire on a recent mission. To the best of his abilities Clarke helped the squad on a number of covert missions. Clarke obtained a healthy respect for his commander, but one mission changed that.
On a special mission to a research facility on Asteroid X in 2198, Clarke saw a side of Lwan that he would never forget or forgive. The asteroid was bug infested and an emergency evacuation was needed. There were a number of scientists and the escape shuttle did not have enough room for the squad members and scientists as well. Lwan ordered one of the squad members to execute some of the scientists in order to make room for the squad. Years later Clarke was quoted as saying, "I saw the true side of Eddington. Under the pressure he folded and he didn't have the guts to fulfull the true mission of the TI, which is to protect civilians. He was an (Expletive Deleted) squad commander and a disgrace to the uniform."
During the missions that followed Clarke obtained his share of battle wounds which included losing an arm and eye that were later replaced artificially. He later obtained the notice of some of the high ranking TI commanders and eventually was promoted to colonel in the Raptors, a unit tasked with enforcing the universal conscription of all awakened and other supernatural humans into the Tech Infantry.
The Second Triumvirate[]
In 2222, he became a member of the 2nd Triumvirate along will Richard Fox, an old squad member. This did not last long, and in 2224, the 2nd Triumvirate was toppled and Clarke returned to the Raptors as their overall commander. The Raptors welcomed his leadership with open arms, because he was a leader they knew and respected and they were confident that could bring prestige to their unit.
Leader of the Raptors[]
Clarke's long years in service, from low-ranking grunt to Triumvirate member, had shown him all levels of Federation military-political society from the inside, and he did not like what he saw. In Clarke's view, while werecreatures like him made up the bulk of the Tech Infantry's forces, they were used as mere cannon fodder by a political system dominated by Mages and ordinary human politicians. Those politicians seemed more interested in their petty political power games and horse trading than they were in the many wars which threatened the very existence of the human species, and they seemed unappreciative of the sacrifices werecreature soldiers were making on a daily basis to safeguard the society that the politicians saw as a mere platform for supporting their own lofty social status. Clarke began building the Raptors into a power base where Werecreatures could be the heart of the Raptors, the Raptors could be the heart of the military, and the military could be the heart of society as a whole. His work in this area was helped by the prestige he earned in leading an important assault on Wilke's Star in 2236 which ended Vampiric control of that planet for quite some time and drove the Sabbat back underground.
Grand Council Chairman[]
During the 3rd Civil War in 2243, Clarke was briefly driven into hiding himself by a series of political maneuverings beyond his control, culminating in Arthur Clarke being forced fake his own death by allowing his son Jon to fall to an assassin's blade in his stead. After Rashid King's failed coup attempt, Arthur Clarke emerged from hiding, and managed to pre-empt or take over several other plots to replace the assasinated Abdul Johnson, uniting all the squabbling factions with himself as the new Grand Council Chairman of the Earth Federation. In Clarke's view, the only way that the galaxy could be secure was through having a strong military. Draconian measures such as the Five Acts were instituted, which instituted a command economy geared towards military production. His policies were successful in ending the Civil War with victory for the Grand Council Loyalists faction, but the very traits that made Clarke a great wartime military leader also made him a poor peacetime politician and bureaucrat. By the end of his term, the Federation military was in even worse shape than when it started. Nevertheless, during his term of service of over 20 years, more than one alien invasion that threatened to wipe out humanity was halted. It was on Clarke's watch that the Vin Shriak and Vulthra invasions were stopped, and that the K'Nes Tor and Jurvain were conquered and subjugated to Humanity.
Death of Clarke[]
On August 24, 2264, Clarke's term as Chairman of the Earth Federation came to an abrupt end when he was killed by Vin Dane during a dispute about how to organize the Federation forces to defend Avalon from an invasion by the Caal. Upon Clarke's death, his Sword of Omens took on a black stripe. According to many weretiger shamans the stripe indicates that Clarke's spirit has become fused with the blade joining six other spirits resting in the Sword of Omens, including that of his son, Richard. It is believed that one of the spirits within the sword has enabled it to magically return to the Cherskiy Mountains, as it had done when the possessors prior to Clarke died, and waits for the next werecreature worthy of wielding it.
Clarke's Legacy[]
Clarke has become a figure of both reverence and revulsion. Many werecreatures have a great amount of respect for him, as one of their own who rose from humble origins to the very pinnacle of power in the universe, as well as a lifelong champion of the rights and respect of all werecreatures, not just his own weretiger kin. In addition, his crackdown on the vampires on Wilke's Star certainly added to this sentiment. Furthermore, there are those not of werekin origins in the Tech Infantry that viewed him as a man that rose to powers from the lowest levels of service in the Tech Infantry and earned his rank through his commitment to principles that the military represents. Many historians regard Clarke as a great leader behind some key battles and missions that helped provide security to the federation.
On the other hand, the general public will almost undoubtedly not have such a high opinion of Clarke. During his time as Chairman of the Earth Federation, personal freedoms and liberties were reduced and economic progress was stagnent. Nonetheless, there are those in the general public, including retired military personell, that will not forget that Clarke played a pivotal role on protecting the Federation several times when it was in jeapordy of being destroyed by alien invasions from without and subversive threats from within.
Season Eight Alternate Timeline[]
When the Vin Shriak Invasion of 2251 came right into the heart of the Earth Federation, Clarke was barely able to hold his empire together. At great cost in lives and ships, the Vin Shriak were finally defeated with the use of Dooms Day Devices on their home stars. But before the Federation military could even catch its breath and begin to lick its wounds, they were again invaded, this time by the Eastern Bloc and their alien allies in the Jurvain and K'Nes Tor. With its military shattered and its store of superweapons exhausted, Clarke's Federation fell before the onslaught and was conquered. Clarke himself went into hiding and led the resistance movement that arose in opposition to the openly racist and exploitative policies of the Middle Kingdom.
Behind the Scenes[]
Arthur Clarke was a player character created by Chris. The player chose Arthur for the first name after a cat from his childhood and it seemed appropriate since he was creating a weretiger. The last name Clark was selected in homage to the super spook character Clark who appeared in several Tom Clany books. Almost immediately after, he was informed by the game master and players that Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001. The player then decided to add the "e" to the end of Clark, because it seemed appropriate since the TI game has a science fiction baseline. Beyond adding the "e" at the end of his last name, the similarity in the name created by the character and the actual author was purely coincidental. His Actor Avatar is Jack Nicholson.