La Vieille Garde

"*The Garde Neither Dies Nor Surrenders.*"
—Unit Motto

La Vieille Garde, or simply the Garde  is a Deathless unit comprised of elite veterans. Their main task is the close protection of Deathless VIPs, but they have been used in other circumstances to great effect.

## Unit History

Founded by Koschei’s personal bodyguard, former Rakshasa Reticulum Illinois “Blade” Ye-jun, La Vieille garde was first selected out of the surviving members of Scorpio’s 1st platoon, Koschei’s first command and personal close protection during operations. Some of these veterans had served with him ever since the President was a private in the Imperial legions and those who had survived this long were some of the most elite soldiers the sector had seen. As they became mercenaries Ye-jun saw the need for close protections of generals and VIPs, and decided to form La Vieille Garde. These soldiers were to be the elite of The Deathless, just like their predecessors were, Ye-jun, along with the newly appointed Marya Morevna, personally selected the new members and devised a training program. This program would become the basis for The Deathless’ Special Units Department.

## Unit Organisation

The unit itself counts 1000 active members, if the number drops due to retirement or other circumstances, a recruitment drive is called. The unit itself is divided in squads of ten members, each specialized in a certain task but all able to operate down to a member if the need arises. Members of La Vieille Garde have a special rank attributed to them once they join it which identifies their specialization. Commanding the Garde is the Marya Morevna, who selects its members personally and affects them to their posts. It is tradition for any new Marya Morevna to undergo Garde training before they can take their position, as they cannot tolerate a commander which can’t go through what they did. The Garde has also its own command structure, and operates outside of the Deathless Army, Navy, or SUD components, they answer only to the Marya Morevna and President. This is because of their own task of protecting Deathless VIPs and especially when it comes for them to ensure security over board meetings, their loyalty cannot affect their judgement.

## Ranks and Specializations

Each rank in the outfit denotes the member’s experience or specialization, no matter their position in the Garde a member of it can be simply addressed as Gardien (guardian).

### Recrue

Their new name during selection and basic training, they are barely considered human by their evaluators, all part of the selection process.

### Gardien

Once they have passed the selection process the new members receive this new rank as a mark of entry in the Garde, although they are unspecialized at the moment. They are denoted by a single golden skull on their dress uniform’s collar.

### Gardien-Fusilier

The riflemen of the Vieille Garde, these members are the masters of close protection, they make up the bulk of the Garde. During their specialization year they are trained even further in tactical and physical prowess, as well as training in order to achieve near perfect aim.. They are denoted by a golden skull with crossed rifles on their dress uniform’s collar. Traditionally anyone can become a Fusilier, however, Orbital Marines and Infantrymen are the ones who usually make up their members.

### Gardien-Docteur

The medics of the Garde are known to pull off near miracles when it comes to taking care of their charge. As a pre-requirement the Docteurs need to be trained biopsions, and receive additional medical training by Serpens personnel during their specialization year. They are denoted by a golden snake going through a skull on their dress uniform’s collar.

### Gardien-Pilote

Simple enough these pilots are the aces and transporters of the Garde. They spend their specialisation year getting their hands on every car, grav-vehicle, starship and shuttle they can to familiarize themselves with each command pattern and learn to operate them in any situation. They are denoted by a golden winged skull on their dress uniform’s collar. Pilotes come solely from the Deathless’ Navy and Mechanized Divisions, as their experience in combat piloting is usually unequalled in the company.

### Gardien-Psy

Exclusively metapsions, these members are trained mindguards and make sure that any psychic harm does not befall their squad or their charge. They spend their specialization year within MESCOM to further hone their skills as psychic weapons of war. Due to the very limited number of metapsions available to the Deathless, their use is extremely restricted, and if possible the Garde tries to find other mindguards when in urgent need. As an exception, these members are still a part of MESCOM, due to their very specialized nature, as such, they may be called to service by the shared commands. They are denoted by a golden 𝛙 behind the usual skull on their dress uniform’s collar.

### Gardien-Sergent

The Garde’s squad leaders, sergeants are more experienced and qualified members, they are selected based on the needs for replacement in the unit due to promotion, retirement, or other circumstances. As squad leaders they are in charge of managing the security teams in operations and even have the final say on a VIPs location, sometimes they can be sent weeks in advance to scope out an area where their charges are supposed to be, to properly plan escape routes and covering. They can be denoted by their former specialization’s insignia being surrounded by a crown of golden laurels on their dress uniform’s collar.

### Gardien-Capitaine

The most experienced members of the Garde, these soldiers are the cream of the crop in what The Deathless can offer. Their responsibility lies in managing multiple teams of the Garde and oversee the security during Board and War Room meetings. Invested in them is the authority of the President, and they can have final say on any order, even to Deathless generals or VPs, when it comes to their safety. More than one Capitaine has been known to knock out too stubborn of a VIP, for their own safety, of course. They also form the board that selects prospective new members of their unit along with Marya Morevna. The captains of the Garde can be denoted by the Garde’s symbol, a golden skeletal two-headed eagle holding a sword and a rifle in its claws, on their dress uniform.

## Squad Organisation

Each squad in the unit is composed of ten members, 1 Gardien-Sergent to act as the squad leader, 1 of each Gardien-Pilote, Docteur, and Psy, if a psychic threat level is determined to be high enough for worry, and finally 6 Gardiens-Fusiliers. Usually one of the Fusiliers will be outfitted with a long range sniper rifle to provide cover and overwatch for the squad. Each squad is responsible for one VIP and their security planning, which is done in concurrence with the VIPs unit or Department, under the supervision of the sergeant. In the case of the President, a team of 10 squads is present at all teams in their quarters and even more are detached when the President is moving or appearing in public, as well as the mobilization of even more units for greater security.

## Recruitment and Training

In order to even apply for the Garde a Deathless soldier must have at least 15 years of distinguished combat service in their record. Following this the potential candidates are interviewed personally by the Marya Morevna and a board of senior members of the Garde, who test them on their knowledge and personality to see if they would be fit mentally for the unit. After a medical and thorough background check the prospective member is sent to Thorg for a very special month which they will never forget if they make it out alive. This second basic training is probably the harshest test any member of The Deathless will face. It is given all around Thorg and pushes the human mind and body beyond any limit thinkable. The person who comes out of this crucible is undoubtedly changed, and it is not uncommon that some who make it through unhurt are nonetheless removed from the list, due to being unfit for duty. A Deathless operative may only apply for the position in the Garde once in their career, and returns to their original unit or outright retires after attempting to join.

Following the recruitment process a member is initiated as a new member of the Garde, they are given a new name and identity from the Book of Records’ chapter on La Vieille Garde, which reserves names for the unit from the original members. After this they are once again sent to Thorg for a two year training program where a mentor teaches them everything they need to know about their new duties and constantly keeps them on their feet. During the first year the new recruit is thought everything a general Gardien would need, master-level CQC, piloting and operating of most of The Deathless’ vehicle fleet, proficiency in all of the Deathless’ arsenal, from the smallest knife to the biggest rail cannon. In the second year of the training the Gardien trains in their specialization, in order to fit in an autonomous squad, training among some of the best the Deathless can offer. Specialization training is provided either by the Garde itself or other contractors outside of the Deathless’ military, this is to foster a sense of belonging special to only the Vieille Garde and to indoctrinate its members loyalty to the unit above all else.

The training is deemed complete once the new Garde member passes the final battery of aptitude tests, the details of which are so heavily redacted you might as well throw the document away. After this they are ready to take their duty as a full member of La Vieille Garde.

## Equipment

As the most elite unit in the Deathless La Vieille Garde is entitled to the best equipment money can buy. This is shown by the state of the art weaponry, armor, and vehicles provided to them. If the unit ever needs something, they are allowed unlimited expense by the company, as they are entrusted with the security of The Deathless’ most important personnel, including the President.

### Weaponry

Each member is equipped with a mono-edged ceremonial saber with a golden tassel attached to the blade’s pommel. Every gardien is proficient in the wielding of the Blade and is quite deadly with it. For a ranged weapon any gardien is allowed their weapon of choice, but are generally equipped with Distortion Cannons, or a custom-made TL5 S&F Marksman rifle.

### Armor

Each gardien is issued two custom made suits of armour, both designed and made by the Trilliant Ring. The first set is their very own Storm Armor, designed to enhance their physical strength and to be used when in war zones. The armor itself is mainly matte black with golden patterns painted according to the owner’s wishes during manufacture. As such each set of armor is distinctive from each member.

The second set of armor is the guardian’s pride, their dress uniform. Although it looks extravagant, it is designed by the Trilliant Ring after all, its functionality is unparalleled. Working as a vestimentum each uniform is tailor-made to the wearer’s form, with the force fields and hyper-advanced fibers dissimulated within the fabric. The uniform itself is made of self-polishing black cavalry boots, red and gold dress pants, a black dress coat with gold accent and trimming with the guardian’s rank is pinned on the collar. Surrounding the waist is a thick golden sash. Resting on the guardian’s shoulders is a golden accented, black overcoat. And finally on the guardian’s head is the peaked cap with the Garde’s insignia on its front.

### Vehicles

The guard has at its disposal their very own wide array of specially made vehicles for quiet transportation of VIPs. Discreet shuttles, armored gravflyers and even fast corvettes are part of their vehicle fleet. In addition they have their own set of specially designed mechs in case the Garde is assigned to a mechanized force.

## Quirks

The singular difficulty of the Garde’s training and task makes for nearly fanatical combattants. These soldiers are also known to be some of the most savage The Deathless have ever seen, AARs where the Garde is involved are punctuated with gruesome description of bloodshed and professional destruction. They are also known to be noticeably arrogant, and rightfully so, those soldiers wear their uniforms and custom armors with extreme pride as the most skilled unit in The Deathless. This reputation for arrogance is mostly due to members of the Garde often telling generals and VPs what to do with complete confidence and disregard for rank, ruffling a few feathers in the process.