A GeNode represented a form of genetically engineered organism, created through the alteration of Arkanian cloning technology. These beings were derived from a minimum of three genetically different templates, with the intention of forming a new generation of stormtroopers for the Galactic Empire during its initial rule. Although they possessed individual personalities, they were defined by a deliberately instilled ignorance of their artificial origins and an inability to discuss genetic engineering with other GeNodes, differentiating them from the clone stormtroopers.
Following the establishment of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the Stormtrooper Corps initiated the GeNode program during its early years. However, the practice of genetic engineering diminished due to the unstable nature of their conditioning and the risk of inciting the artificial soldiers to violent rage, potentially targeting their clone brethren.
In contrast to the clone troopers based on the prime clone Jango Fett and utilized by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, the soldiers known as GeNodes were unaware of their artificial nature. Characterized by an inability to discuss their genetic enhancement, exceptional resilience, and unwavering obedience, GeNodes developed distinct personalities and varying degrees of combat effectiveness, yet remained in service.
The conditioning that prevented GeNodes from recognizing their bio-engineered status, even when observing and interacting with others of identical design, sometimes failed, leading to catastrophic consequences. Soldiers would suddenly perceive themselves as surrounded by identical duplicates and violently attack their fellow clones in fits of fear-induced rage.
One of the initial GeNode clone lines, belonging to the first generation of genetically enhanced marines, exhibited harsh features and temperaments, along with black hair. Subsequent templates included a robust group with deep blue eyes and thick blonde hair, as well as a set of clones with slender builds and small bones, ideally suited for service as speeder bike-mounted scouts.
GeNode bioengineering emerged as an advanced form of cloning techniques used by the Arkanians, renowned for their work in genetic science. During the Clone Wars, the terrorist and geneticist Zeta Magnus, himself a product of Arkanian experimentation, controlled a rapid GeNode production facility on the planet Dantooine in 22 BBY. The Galactic Empire deployed GeNode soldiers after its creation in 19 BBY.
Prior to 0 BBY, production of the dark-haired, first-generation template had ceased long ago, although some of these GeNodes continued to serve, including three sergeants—Tak Bazierre, Dalia, and Oswald Strepp—within Captain [Janzor]'s platoon. By this time, the light-haired template, exemplified by Corporal Milo Strander and Private Sterns Yennich, comprised forty percent of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. Strander, unknowingly a GeNode, held the clones in contempt.
However, GeNode genetically enhanced life forms lost favor with the Imperial Military because the instability resulting from their failed conditioning. Recruited humans then became the dominant force in the stormtroopers' ranks.
GeNodes were initially introduced in "Pax Empirica—The Wookiee Annihilation," a short story penned by Steven L. Kent and featured in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Prima's Official Strategy Guide in 2001. This predated the release of the 2002 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. "Pax Empirica" made reference to the presence of clones, specifically GeNodes, within the Empire's stormtrooper ranks, which was unusual for a story published before the introduction of that film's clone army. The film subsequently portrayed them as sharing a singular genetic template and being aware of their shared origins. Jason Fry, a co-author of 2012's The Essential Guide to Warfare, perceived the story's portrayal of clones as being inconsistent with later revelations. Therefore, he worked to minimize the presence of GeNodes in the Stormtrooper Corps in the Essential Guide.
A footnote submitted to Lucasfilm by Abel G. Peña with his novella SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story identifies the GeNode chamber mentioned in that work as the cloning facility depicted in Galaxy of Fear: Clones, a 1998 juvenile novel written by John Whitman, but the connection is not apparent in the text as published in 2015.