Ghezo Guard

“Sometimes when you have a job that needs sneaky, underhanded, backstabbing, suicidally irrational violence, there’s no subsitute for a man’s touch to pull it off.”

## Ghezo Guard

 Where First Encountered
 Tribe Size
 Tribe Organization
 Male %
 Male Scouts
 Highest Caste Class
 Technology Level
 Relations With Outsiders
 Relations With Other Shemarrians
 Prefered Mode of Combat
 Prosperity

In a matriarchal society where females are the warriors, all-male combat formations are the exception, not the rule. The Ghezo Guard are an eccentric and rare group within the traditionally female-dominated Shemarrian society in that it is predominately male.

### Origins

The Guard got its start from a gathering of Unattached Male Shemarrians and Eccentrics who collected and organized to prove that they could be as good as any female at combat. It took off from there, becoming an institution (and tribe) unto itself. The use of Progen chambers has allowed the tribe to build its numbers through internal growth as opposed to constant external recruitment. This has earned the Ghezo the nickname of ‘the New Spartans’ from some observers (especially scholarly Wayfinders), which is pretty damn high praise, if you think about it. The Ghezo Guards take it all on stride, however, and soldier on.

One of the other signatures of the Ghezo Guards is the extensive use of Awakened AIs and cyborg brain-installations to run the Guards’ starships. Ghezo Guard vessels are typically named for male badasses of history, and behave accordingly.

### Purpose

The Guard acts as a sort of internal mercenary group, wandering Shemarrian territory and offering their services as auxiliaries and special forces. Most Shemarrian forces so approached are glad for the extra firepower these specialists offer, especially as the Guard gravitates towards areas of high conflict where the opportunity for glory and fame is great, while others are suspicious of the Guard for those very same reasons. These latter groups see the Guard as reckless gloryhounds, Male equivalents of the Blood Riders out for showy martial exhibitionism, rather than integration into existing military planning.

## Statistics

### Icon/Motif

A raised katana-style black blade with gold crossguard and hilt, held in a black and gold armored gauntlet, over a black circle.

### Origins

Splinter of several other Tribes, though many hail from the Wayfinders.

### Where First Encountered

Other universe, but have since transferred most of their operations to the Three Galaxies.

### Tribal Composition

The bulk (95%) of the Ghezo Guard is made up of Male Shemarrians and male NeShemar. There is also a smattering of Male Elites from other Tribes. The Ghezo Guard aren’t ENTIRELY male, however; there is a small number of female Acolites, Warriors, Berserkers, and Tinkers, themselves Eccentrics and Unattached-types who uncharacteristically serve almost entirely in a support role in the tribe.

### Highest Caste Class

Elite; in this case Vatfathers figure prominently as the main wrench- and organization-wranglers.

### Home Environment

Nomadic. The Ghezo Guard lives on their small fleet of starships (two cruisers, three heavy freighters converted into factory ships, and several dozen smaller frigates and corvettes).

### Technology Level

Advanced Space Age; the Ghezo are fully capable of maintaining and operating their own starships and advanced weaponry, including gravitic weaponry.

### Relations with Outsiders

Indifferent; the Ghezo Guard don’t go out of their way to deal with outsiders, and don’t invite them in to deal with the Ghezo. If you’re an enemy, expect to be dealt with accordingly. If you’re not, you’re ignored.

### Relations with Other ‘Shemarrians’

Indifferent. Love us or hate us, just as long as you don’t stab us in the back when you call upon us to do something for you. The Ghezo Guard is well aware that the predominantly matriarchal societies of the Shemarrian Nations don’t regard combat as ‘men’s work’, so they are often looked down upon by the more conservative elements of the SSN. Thus they have to work twice as hard to convince female commanders that the Guard isn’t going to fail in the clutch. However, on several occasions, the Ghezo have failed to check their pride at pulling off a successful campaign where others have failed, and their overt flaunting of their success has antagonized some female Shemarrians.

### Purpose

Glory and Fame; the Ghezo Guard is out to make a name for themselves as the baddest badass males in the Three Galaxies.

### Preferred Mode of Combat

Snipers and Sneak Attacks. The Male Shemarrians put their talents for sneakery to good use in stealth raids and shooting from cover. Which might not seem like a way to garner glory, except that the Guards often afterwards broadcast footage (often taken from concealed cameras, positioned so as not to reveal the exact position of the shooters) of the targets getting blasted, accompanied by the equivalent of fist-pumping on the part of the Ghezo Guards. The Guards don’t always do this, however, as they do like to keep their secrets, especially if they can reuse them in future combats.

### Unique Attributes

#### ’Brain Ships’

Many of the Ghezo Guards’ vessels are directly AI- or cyborg-controlled. The Ghezo like stealthy ‘pocket warships’, often mounting 50% more weaponry on their aerospacecraft, in addition to improved stealth and countermeasures gear. Once in position, or discovered, Ghezo Guard craft typically ‘frenzy’, unleashing massive amounts of firepower in short periods of time, and attempting to escape in the chaotic aftermath.

### Prosperity

Self-Sufficient; the Ghezo Guard makes enough to meet their own needs, with little left over for other projects.

### Origin Tribe

Wayfinders, as evidenced by the many historical references and allusions throughout the organization; ‘Ghezo Guards’ is itself an ironic reference to the ‘Dahomey Amazons’, an all-female combat formation that served the Dahomey tribe of West Africa, in what was the Benin region. King Ghezo expanded what was a ceremonial bodyguard unit into a full-fledged military formation.