Insignia
Overview[]
The High Guard is the military arm of the Systems Commonwealth. The High Guard is not only a military force, it is also is the diplomatic corps which takes care of political and social matters in the Commonwealth, as well as providing mediation services for non-allied planets or warring factions. They are also the dominant power in the known universe, as they have the largest fleet of ships, ranging from civilian transports such as the Leviathan Roused Class, science and exploration vessels such as the To Seek, To Find class, and the massive Glorious Heritage Class heavy cruisers. The Commonwealth also maintains the largest number of bases out of any other government or organization in the tri-galaxies, whether they are on planets, asteroids, or Drifts in deep space. Serving in this elite fighting force, which comprises 2 different yet intertwined branches, is a privilege that many young people of all species compete to join. At the height of its power, the High Guard had over 500,000 ships ranging and billions of soldiers and officers.
The High Guard was extremely important to the Systems Commonwealth, because it was the example of a stable, just military organization. The High Guard was very well trained and equipped, and were seen as a very good, efficient, just fighting force to the rest of the galaxy, on both allied and non-allied planets.
History[]
General Huascar nax Yoweri's campaign of conquest across the six galaxies culminated in the foundation of the Vedran Empire, with Huascar's mate Yoweri I named Vedran Empress. Over the centuries, the Empire, which eventually became the Systems Commonwealth, grew from 2,000 worlds to nearly a million after hundreds of years of expansionism. Eventually, Yoweri I's personal retainers formed the nucleus of the High Guard, which was at first exclusively open to only Vedrans. The High Guard then went on to conquer worlds and their races such as Ugroth, the Perseid home world, and Kalderash, the Kaleran home world. In 4150 C.Y., the High Guard opened its ranks to non-Vedran personnel for the first time. Later, the Vedran High Guard supreme commander negotiated the Systems Commonwealth, after a mutiny within the High Guard ranks.
Before the Magog invasion and the Long Night, the High Guard had not been involved in any major conflicts for over 1,000 years. Thus arose a movement to disband the fleet, or at least reduce its size significantly. A referendum was narrowly defeated, but the Magog invasion halted any further discussion on the matter. After several skirmishes, the Commonwealth signed a treaty with the Magog, ceding them several worlds that became known as the Magog Quarantine Zone. The Nietzscheans regarded this as an act of betrayal for all those who died at the hands of the Magog, and began preparations for a full-scale revolt.
The High Guard was not prepared to meet the Nietzschean surprise attack and the following war of extermination. Much of the Argosy was destroyed while still in dock, and a string of defeats followed. The last stand by the High Guard was at the Battle of Witchhead. Some scattered remnants withdrew to Tarazed and preserved some of the Commonwealth's traditions on this isolated world, while others became the Templars and Knights of Genetic Purity.
303 years later, Captain Dylan Hunt, who was frozen in on the event horizon of a black hole, set out on a mission to restore the Commonwealth. When his mission succeeded, a new High Guard was formed as well, supplemented with High Guard ships rescued from Tartarus, various member worlds and the Sabra-Jaguar Pride.
Tasks of the High Guard[]
The High Guard is strongly involved in representing the Commonwealth in both internal and external affairs, such as first contact, wars, and humanitarian missions. Because of that, the High Guard's entire appearance is designed to express the power and glory of the Systems Commonwealth. Thus, Commonwealth starships are designed to be an awe-inspiring representation of strength, dignity and prosperity.
Being a military force, the main assignment of the High Guard was of course to maintain peace (for example by keeping an eye on the Kalderans), and secure the borders, while also undertaking research expeditions.
For these purposes, the High Guard ships were equipped with highly effective sensor arrays and weapons, the ultimate being the Nova bomb. The fact that actually using the Nova Bomb was not a part of the military doctrine, and that fact not being a secret, made the Nietzschean rebellion much easier.
Argosy[]
Argosy is the specialized space based branch of the High Guard, referred to as Argos or Aggros by the Lancer Corps and by most of the members of the Systems Commonwealth. The Argosy Branch is similar to wet navies and special operations forces used by militaries today. The Argosy Division is often put into use by the Commonwealth across its territories, serving as the manpower behind the High Guard's massive fleet. Due to the high quality of their training, graduates of the Argosy Academy are usually put into high positions, or are used in delicate situations that require special talents like negotiating, espionage, or diplomatic skills. Officers showing a particular talent for these skills may be called to serve in the High Guard's black-ops unit, Argosy Special Operations (Argosy Special Forces). The Argosy is primarily used to handle situations that require force in space, but can also used for missions that involve infiltration in friendly or enemy territory.
Argosy Special Forces[]
Argosy Special Forces is a black operations division within the Systems Commonwealth's High Guard. Knowledge of their activities survived into the Long Night, as Bobby Jensen had read their operation manuals and commented that they had some "great moves". ("Be All My Sins Remembered")
Argosy Special Operations[]
Argosy Special Operations was an elite black operations tactical unit of the Argosy. Dylan Hunt served in Division 5 of ASO as a Lieutenant Commander. In fact it would be ASO that would bring together Hunt and the man who would become his best friend, first officer, and betrayer: Gaheris Rhade. ASO was responsible for dispatching the Andromeda Ascendant to locate the source of the Magog invasion. When Andromeda returned, with her crew massacred by Magog and nearly driven insane by the near endless wandering in slipstream, ASO sealed her memories of the incident for security reasons. It is revealed in "The Fair Unknown" that the Vedran Uxulta held the rank of Vice Admiral, Commander in Chief of Argosy Special Operations. She was certainly referring to the ASO that was located on Tarn-Vedra since Hunt initially refused to acknowledge her authority.
Their motto is una salus victus (nullam sperare salutem) (The only safety for the conquered is to hope for no safety.). ("Una Salus Victus", "The Fair Unknown", "Twilight of the Idols")
Division Five was the most elite of the ASO branches. Created to carry out the most difficult of missions, it worked almost exclusively for Argosy Intelligence. It would be in similar standing with the modern day Special Activities Division (SAD), of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Argosy Corps of Engineers[]
The Argosy Corps of Engineers was a division of the Systems Commonwealth's High Guard that was responsible for civil and military construction under the guidance of the High Guard. They were responsible for the building of the High Guard Station on Acheron. Dylan Hunt used the blueprints of the weapons emplacement from the Argosy Corps of Engineers to plan his assault on the Drago-Kazov Pride, who then resided on the planetary weapons emplacement, and were using it to strategically block any vessels passing through the system and trying to use a crucial slip-point. ("Una Salus Victus")
Argosy Squadron Alpha[]
Argosy Squadron Alpha is the name of a detachment of the High Guard unit of the planet Tarazed, which became the last haven of the Systems Commonwealth, following its Fall during the Nietzschean Uprising. 300 years after the collapse of the Commonwealth, Tarazed's government remained and thrived in its remote location in the Triangulum Galaxy. When Captain Dylan Hunt set about to restore the Systems Commonwealth, he learned of Tarazed when he was contacted by a scout sent to find him and his vessel. The Andromeda Ascendant was then escorted to the planet itself by an honor guard consisting of Argosy Squadron Alpha. (Home Fires")
Lancer Corps[]
The Lancer Corps are the High Guard's ground troops. The Argosy know them as "rock hoppers". Lancers are an elite commando corps that provides soldiers for many other High Guard branches, often used as the primary security detail on High Guard vessels. The Lancer Corps is primarily involved in planetary based assignments, but have been used to storm habitats, drifts, and vessels as well.
Home Guard[]
Home Guard is the name for a planet's planetary armed forces. It is a reserve force and a militia.
The Home Guard made up a large percentage of the Commonwealth's military forces, and were trained as Lancers and Argosy.
Any person wishing to attain an Officer's Commission in the High Guard must serve at least 1 year in a Home Guard Unit, and 1 year as a High Guard enlisted, before they could be accepted into the High Guard Academy. However, only the very best of the Home Guard personnel are even considered for a position in the High Guard.
Heavy Cruiser Battle Group[]
Overview[]
A Heavy Cruiser Battle Group, also known as a HCBG, is the primary instrument of a strong forward presence for the High Guard. Because of their size and multi-mission capability, they are the unit of choice for missions of importance for the Systems Commonwealth, including diplomatic services, first contact missions, intergalactic exploration and sanction enforcement.
Vessels[]
- 1 Heavy Cruiser (XMC)
- 4 Deep Stand-off Attack Ships (DSA) or (DSX)
- 16 Group Defense Frigates (GDF)
- 9 Long-Range Surveillance ships (LRS)
- 4 Supply and Maintenance ships (SAM)
Distribution[]
The standard distribution of assets in a Heavy Cruiser Battle Group is approximately 3-4 Light Seconds, with the Glorious Heritage Class ships and Fingers of Dawn class ships at the core, surrounded by concentric spheres of Deep Stand-off Attack Ships, Pride of Kaldera Class ships, and Eternal Vigilance Class ships. In combat operations, the Glorious Heritage Class serves as the general command and control platform, though latency issues tend to put reliance on individual asset commanders to operate somewhat independently. As a result, Heavy Cruiser Battle Group combat doctrine tends to be rigid with respect to the rules of engagement and general maneuvers.
Planetfall Readiness Group[]
Overview[]
The Planetfall Readiness Group, also known as a PRG, are used as the general first response group for all planetary combat operations by the High Guard. While Planetfall Readiness Groups are rarely deployed for non-combat operations, they have also proven ideal for disaster relief operations and planetary exploration on a large scale, because of their massive capacity to take on refugees and smaller vessels.
Vessels[]
- 1 Atmospheric Attack Craft Carrier (AAC)
- 9 Drop Ship Carriers (DSC)
- 4 Group Defense Frigates (GDF)
- 3 Long-Range Surveillance ships (LRS)
- 2 Supply and Maintenance ships (SAM)
Distribution[]
The standard distribution of a Planetfall Readiness Group during an operation is as follows: during combat operations, the Atmospheric Attack Craft Carrier (AAC) serves as the Group Operational Commander.
The AAC and Drop Ship Carriers (Victory's Crucible Class ships) take position in high orbit at distances warranted by the circumstances.
An inner patrol of GDFs (Pride of Kaldera Class ships) wait approximately 2 Light Seconds from the core, while an outer LRS (Eternal Vigilance Class ships) patrol approximately 5 light-seconds distant.
The SAMs (Fingers of Dawn class ships) usually stay within several thousandths of a GDF escort or the operational core, depending on the threat environment.
High Guard Fleet Organization[]
Overview[]
The High Guard Fleet Organization is the name for the structure of the Systems Commonwealth military fleet. The High Guard has traditionally been charged with the defense and exploration of the entire Local Group, an area of the universe quadrillions of cubic light-years in size.
Because of several factors, such as the sheer number of ships, missions, and distance between ships, the command organization behind the High Guard's fleet organization is rather flexible, but is still a complicated hierarchical system with definite rank roles. Since the distance between fleets and individual ships is vast even when they are close, and couriers traveling in Slipstream can still take days or weeks to relay their message, each regional commander is given discretion to do what he sees fit in the area in every aspect. Because of the obvious potential for abuse, each commander is rigorously trained and monitored by the Commonwealth.
Distribution[]
The High Guard's vessels are divided into 3 fleets, which each have a complex internal organizational structure that allows for the individual vessels and task forces of the fleet to be used with precision for whatever problem arise. Each fleet is charged with local forward presence responsibilities in the Triangulum, Andromeda, and Milky Way galaxies respectively. These fleets are further sub-divided into Heavy Cruiser Battle Groups and Planetfall Readiness Groups.
As of CY 9784, there were just over 360,000 ships in the High Guard, of which nearly 150,000 were dedicated combat/exploration platforms, and performed such roles as treaty enforcement, border patrol, first contact missions, and defense. The remaining 210,000 assets formed the backbone of High Guard long-range logistics support operations, with most of them in replenishment or scientific roles, and the small remainder of them in service as cargo ships, ferrying refugees or delivering cargo to impoverished worlds.
Ranks[]
| Lancer Corps Enlisted Personnel and NCO | Argosy Enlisted Personnel and NCO |
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Ranks[]
| Lancer Corps Officers | Argosy Officers |
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Rank Insignia[]
The rank insignia of the High Guard is indicated by pins on the collar of the duty uniforms. Pins are generally blue with gold rank symbols.
| Lancer Corps Officers | Argosy Officers |
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Mission Designations[]
- AST (Anti-Starship Warfare) -- Destroy, disable or disrupt hostile assets and operations
- BDO (Battlegroup Defense Operations) -- Conduct defensive action for the battlegroup in the theater of operations
- CCC (Command, Control and Communications) -- Provide operational command and control capabilities for battlegroup assets
- C2W (Command and Control Warfare) -- Destroy, disable or disrupt hostile command and control capabilities
- GSO (Guard Support Operations) -- Provide medical, search and other support services for battlegroup assets
- GSW (Guard Special Warfare) -- Destroy, disable or disrupt hostile command and control capabilities
- IEO (Intergalactic Exploration Operations) -- Conduct and support deep space scientific and research operations
- IMW (Interplanetary Mine Warfare) -- Conduct search and destroy anti-mine activities and clearance of navigational hazards in the theater of operations
- INT (Intelligence Operations) -- Conduct surveillance and reconnaissance operations and collect intelligence
- LOG (Logistics Operations) -- Provide logistics support for battlegroup assets in theater of operations
- MOB (Mobility Operations) -- Conduct and support maneuver of assets in theater of operations
- MOC (Missions of Commonwealth) -- Conduct and support military operations other than war
- NCO (Non-Combat Operations) -- Conduct own ship non-combat activities and provide law enforcement support
- PFW (Planet-Fall Warfare) -- Conduct and support space to surface combat operations
- PSW (Planetary Strike Warfare) -- Conduct and support space to surface strike operations
Trivia[]
- Argosy is an English term for a flotilla.
- A lancer refers to a cavalry unit that used lances in combat.
Gallery[]
