Imperial Guard Division

The **Imperial Guard Division**, also know as the **Imperial Guard** or simply **IGD**, is the specialised branch of the Fel Empire's Imperial Army, itself a part of the Triumvirate Military. Stormtrooper guardsmen within the IGD operate as protectors of key Imperial personnel, including Moffs, Senators and Justices. They also defend Imperial government buildings like the Imperial Congress, Imperial Supreme Court and the Palace of Moffs. Imperial Guardsmen also operated as the footsoldiers serving under the Imperial Knights.

After the reestablishment of the Inquisitorious in 1001 ABY, a new specialisation within the Imperial Guard was created to serve as the footsoldiers under the command of the Imperial Inquisition in their mission to hunt down the Sith.

## Structure

Unlike other Imperial Military organisations, the Imperial Guard does not have a central commander and instead operate in independent Garrisons or smaller units that protect specific individuals or locations. The nominal leader of the Imperial Guard Division is the reigning Emperor. Coordination of the Division is handled by Imperial Guard High Command, which reports straight to the Emperor.

### Unit Structure

* Garrison, composed of all cohorts within a single planet (varies depending on the location) led by a High Commander
* Cohort, 4 Companies (320-640) led by a Commander
* Company, 4 Platoons (80-160 soldiers) led by a Captain
* Platoon, 4 Squads (20-40 soldiers) led by a Lieutenant
* Squad, 5-10 soldiers led by a Sergeant

### Rank Structure

* High Commander, garrison leader
* Commander, cohort leader
* Captain, company leader
* Lieutenant, platoon leader
* Sergeant, squad leader
* Guardsman, basic guard stormtrooper

## Recruitment

Candidates for joining the Imperial Guard's ranks are hand-picked from the ranks of the elite stormtroopers of the Imperial Army in terms of loyalty and skill. Afterwards, they were sent to the Imperial Guard Academy on Bastion, where they were trained in various combat techniques, including the unarmed combat art of Echani and Thrysian pike-combat.

## Specialisations

### Palatine Guard

The **Palatine Guard** are the main Guardsmen units of the Imperial Guard. The Palatine Guard was based on Emperor Palpatine's Royal Guard and used similar equipment and tactics. They are trained in Echani martial arts and wield Thrysian Force pikes as their main weaponry. Their armor is modified Stormtrooper armor that is lighter and more mobile, making it more flexible for melee combat that is the Palatines' specialty. The Palatines are also equipped with a heavy blaster pistol as a long-ranged weapon.

The Palatine Guard was reformed by Empress Zuri Lsu Fel in 972 ABY with a new influx of Echani and Thrysian warriors of her home sector. This helped to strengthen the Echani traditions of the old Imperial protectors had weakened since the creation of the Guard. She strengthened the loyalty of the Palatine to the Emperor, rather than the charges they were tasked to protect.

The Palatine also serve as personal soldiers under the command of the Imperial Knights. They are not force-users and are not training in the ways of the Force, but if one is found to be force-sensitive they can be recruited into the Imperial Knights.

### Inquisitorial Guard

The **Inquisitorial Guard**, also known as the **Inquisitorial Hunters**, are the Guardsmen units that were created in 1001 ABY to serve as soldiers for the Imperial Inquisition. Unlike the Palatine, the Inquisitorial Guard are not a defensive organisation and instead are soldiers used primarily for search and destroy type missions.

The main objective of the Inquisition is to hunt Sith, the Inquisitorial Guards are given extra training in order to make them effective combatants against Force-users. They receive this training from the Imperial Knights on Bastion at their training facility. They undertake this training on top of the normal Imperial Guard training at the Academy on Bastion so receive the same martial-arts training as the Palatine.

The Inquisitorial Guard use the same armor as their Palatine counter-part, but do not use a ceremonial cape. Their primary armaments are wrist-mounted blasters and a wrist-mounted kandasian shoto, made of the Nihonite alloy of similar properties to beskar. The wrist-mounted blasters can also be changed out for slugthrowers, making them more effective against lightsaber users. Besides these wrist-mounted weapons they can employ the weapons of the Palatine Guards or any weaponry used by the Imperial Army, including different types of blasters, slugthrowers, and explosives when deployed.

## Personnel

* High Commander Raskta Nis (Female Echani), leader of the Palatine Guard Garrison on Bastion
* High Commander Yusan Jir (Male Thrysian), leader of the Palatine Guard Garrison on Coruscant