Ursa Warrior

The strongest land animal in North America is an obvious choice for fighting against alien threats.

Basic Information

Anatomy

All Ursa warriors are upright, bipedal and have human-like hands. They retain most of their ursine facial appearance, but their cranium is a bit larger than a full-blooded bear's would be. There are no significant morphs and the ursa warrior gene is stable and proven.
Doctor bradford's team used both Black Bear and Grizzly bear stock for this strain. The teams would have preferred to use only Grizzly bears for their size and temperament, however, the only population of pure grizzlies the Lone Star scientists had access to were an inbred group of descendents of the three that had survived escape from the Houston and Fort Worth Zoos two hundred years before. Most of the bears in Texas were either black bears or hybrids of the two. In honor of Doctor Bradford, the heretofore unnamed hybrid species was named after him.

Genetics and Reproduction

As with all mutant animals, ursa warriors can only reproduce with other ursa warriors.

Growth Rate & Stages

Coalition-bred ursa warriors reach physical maturity in just over three years, with females ready to breed by age four. Mental maturity requires more time and will usually develop by age six. The time between physical and mental maturity is the toughest, since young mutant bears typically must be restrained from acting on their emotional impulses until they develop the wisdom and self-discipline necessary to make correct decisions.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Ursa Warriors are perhaps the least picky eaters in the coalition armed forces. Some unethical commanders take advantage of this.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Ursa warriors do not share any form of the pack loyalty inherent in the dog boys. They are generally anti-social and share a wanderlust that, coupled with their frustratingly omnipresent curiosity makes them more susceptible to desertion than any other mutant animal in wide service to the Coalition.
But Ursa Warriors are not just bears, they have human genes as well. With these human genes, the training and indoctrination they endure while maturing results in a mentally pliable jingoistic soldier willing to trade his or her life for the Coalition. This is aided by their relatively simple intellect.
They take great pride in their accomplishments and some Ursa Warrior units are among the most decorated of all the coalition forces.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

While Ursa Warriors can not match supernatural strength, they are capable of deploying heavy weapons and do so with zeal. Their primary employment, however, is as stormtroopers. They are typically the first units sent for busting through enemy fortifications and strongpoints. Combat cyborgs, power armor and robot vehicles would be more capable in this role, but those choices are significantly more resource-demanding to manufacture, equip and train, making Ursa warriors far easier to replace for such a dangerous employment.
Despite the dangers of their role as stormtroopers, or perhaps because of them, Ursa Warrior storm trooper units have some of the best esprit de corps of any units in the Coalition Armed Forces. They are certainly among the most decorated. Veteran Ursa Warriors develop a confident swagger and stoic indifference that sets them apart from any other coalition soldier.

Facial characteristics

There are few differentiations between the face of a pure bear and the face of an Ursa Warior other than the larger cranium.
The largest determinator of human speech in mutant bears is the shape of their tongues. This is not evident by any examination other than dissection, but the tongue of an Ursa Warrior extends back into the throat, allowing the entire human range of vocalizations pure bears would find impossible.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Nearly all ursa warriors are in service to The Coalition States. And most of them serve as storm troopers.
One of the biggest drawbacks to the Ursa warrior program is they just could not expunge the inherent wanderlust they inherit from their bear source genes. Many of the earliest test subjects just wandered off and never returned from their missions. Because of this, the coalition keeps them in small cohesive groups under constant surveillance and group activities.
It is unknown if there is a self-sustaining population of mutant bears outside the Coalition.

Average Intelligence

On average, Ursa Warriors are noticeably less intelligent than the average human.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Bears have surprisingly good noses and have advantages when making perception roles based upon smell. They even share the mutant dog's ability to sense supernatural beings.
But unlike Mutant Dogs, Mutant Bears have additional psychic capabilities that touch on the physical realm. They are capable of erecting armor-like barriers, altering their phisical size and even disguising their presence, among other abilities.

Names

Ursa Warriors like to take the names of weapons

• Mace
• Stiletto
• Dagger
• Glaive
• Halberd
• Pike
• Khukri
• Cestus
• Tommyhawk
• Scimitar
• Sabre
• Claw Claw
• Stomper
• Cross
• Haymaker
• Duke
• Chamber
• Morningstar
• Rod
• Wand(a)
• Knuckles
• Ravage
• Dutchman
• Maul
• Hammer
• Whip
• Donnybrooke
• Trench(er)
• Quarrel
• Caliber
• Winchester
• Remington
• Glock

Scientific Name

Ursos Bradfordii Sapiens

Average Physique

Ursa Warriors have been bred for size and strength. They are significantly bulkier and stronger than even the strongest humans and taller as well. This was done with the intent of being able to carry the kind of weapons needed to fight larger supernatural threats. At first they were intended to be a match for such threats physically; but supernatural threats being supernatural, these thoughts had to be abandoned. The coalition chose to seek such solutions with combat cyborgs, Power Armor and robot vehicles instead; but that is a topic for another article.

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Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Ursa Warriors are covered in fur that ranges from black to brown. There are even some who possess a more cinnamon hue. Very few mutant bears have inherited the long hair on their faces and heads that comes with their human genes.

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