Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment

“With Honor, Pride and Loyalty shall We serve the Dynasty, and when the final hour comes, with Glory shall We meet it, and We shall not run or flee, but We shall stand Victorious, and should We ever fall before and enemy, than We shall not fall in vain and Our sacrifice will safe the Dynasty! And the Glorious Duke shall rule safe and unhindered while One of Us remains!” - Excerpt from the "Oath of Loyalty"

The Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment (Alexander Guard) is the personal guard unit of Grand Duke of Tarasovka and of his family, also charged with defending and protecting the lives of other members of the Dynasty.

Brief History

The first “roots” of this elite unit go back to the rule of the Grand Duke Alexander the Ist, who took several most valiant warriors from his army and made them his personal bodyguards. The Grand Duke ruled for a good 95 years, before dying in a mysterious hunting incident. During his rule, the Guard got richer by new warriors, to reach a total of 30 Guards. Under the Grand Duke Namellar Shakhovskoy , the Guard received its official name of the “Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment” and was made the official ceremonial and personal guard of the Ducal family. Grand Duke Namellar decided to complement the Guard with the sons of the highest Taraskovyan nobles, and decided that the color of the uniform will be deep blue – the color of Honor and Nobility.

As centuries went by and new technology became available, the Honourary Regiment constantly changed and adapted to the new times. The Alexander Guards always received first every new technological weapon and armor and were always battle ready to defend the Ducal family to the last. Up to the fall of the Grand Duchy, the Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment comprised a total of around 2.000 Guards. It consisted of the finest sons of the highest Taraskovyan nobility – the pride and future of the Grand Duchy. Serving in the Regiment is the greatest honour of a young Taraskovyan noble, and to get demoted from it is worse than death by execution.

Requierements for admission

Due to the particularly delicate position of an Alexander Guard and his closeness to the Grand Duke, all candidates were first screened by the TDI and the TNSD, to avoid any “dangerous” elements of getting into the unit. Once the candidates received the approval of the two Intelligence Departments, they underwent a long, harsh and very exhaustive physical and mental training, which turned months of their lives into a terrible living nightmare. Few usually make it through the entire course, many fail and resign. The few that succeeded and proved their worth, received special “enhancements”, kept to a possible minimum, and followed a full year of “further” education – lectures in various domains mixed with repeated trainings.

Moreover, all candidates were to be at least of the age of 23 and had to already have a Higher Education. Moreover, they had to speak several languages, have knowledge in tact and ethics, culture, sciences. The Guards were trained to use all sort of weaponry and all sorts of possible equipment. Each Guard was responsible fully for his equipment and had to cater for his equipment without any outside help. Of course, the Guard featured a number of skilled armourers and specialists to assist the Guards in case of extreme difficulties.

Situation of the Regiment nowadays.

After the fall of the Grand Duchy, the Alexander Guard, quite diminished by its direct participation in the Aphyr Conflict refused to bow to the Ruling Council and enter their service. They also refused to abandon the Vigvar Winter Palace, the official residence of the Grand Dukes, and swore to fight to the last in case of an assault by Federal forces.

As of now, the Winter Palace has been sealed off, nobody allowed to get in or out. The Guard, as well as some loyal Palace staff, have been branded of out-laws. Today, the Palace and its occupants survive from the food they produce themselves in the Great Gardens of the Palace.

Composition

Until the fall of the Grand Duchy, the Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment comprised four distinct battalions, each having its own function and specialisation.

1st "Silence and Death" Battalion

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A 1st Battalion Guard scaring off pesky reporters.

The "Silence and Death" battalion is believed to be the first ever appearance of the Alexander Guard, created by the Grand Duke Alexander the Ist himself. The story tells that the 30 Bodyguards of the Grand Duke were trained to be deadly and stealthy assassins. The story also tells a slight paradox - these assassins were to never kill anyone but to guard the Grand Duke from any attempts. It is unknown what was it that the Grand Duke Alexander the Ist feared so much, but the single fact that he died during a hunting incident in very 'shady' circumstances suggests that the Grand Duke had powerful enemies.

The members of this battalion often serve as guards inside of the Palace Complexes and accompany the Grand Duke on most of his ceremonial visits. Although it is believed that their 'assassin' training has stopped long ago, these guards tend to show extreme prowess in 'certain skills' when it is needed.

2nd "Pride and Honour" Battalion

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A 2nd Battalion Guard posing while on foot duty.

The "Pride and Honour" is also known as the "Cavalry" force. Indeed, members of this unit usually serve on horsebacks and guard the exterior of the Palace Complex as well as serve as ceremonial mounted escort for the Grand Duke during various events (such as horse promenades, greeting of foreign leaders during their state visits to the Grand Duchy, et cetera). The 2nd Battalion is believed to have been created by Grand Duke Nikolay, who was a very skilled horseman and wanted his bodyguards to be as skilled as him. He took several of the already existing Alexander Guards and told them to sharpen their riding skills to a perfect level. And that’s where the story begins. Indeed, Taraskovyans, due to certain specifics of the Taraskovyan landscape, usually preferred to move on foot and not on horse back. Grand Duke Nikolay entirely changed the mentality of most of his subjects and was the one to have created the first separate cavalry regiments (the latter being integrated into standard infantry regiments before the reforms). Although being the Cavalry battalion, this unit also does guard duties on foot if it is required.

3rd "Glory and Courage" Battalion

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The armor of a 3rd Battalion Guard.

The "Glory and Courage" battalion is composed of the so called "Heavy Assault Guards". This unit is maybe one of the most recent and was especially created to accompany the Grand Duke into battle. Even if all of the Guards are to accompany the Grand Duke into combat and defend him to their last drop of blood, the 3rd Battalion members are the ones the most 'fit' for a total battle. Equipped with power armors and enough weaponry to face a tank squadron, these guards are an 'echo' of the NGF SODAT unit.

These guards accompany the Grand Duke to certain of his ceremonial trips but most of the time they keep guard outside of the Vigvar Winter Palace.

4th "Duty and Valiance" Battalion

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Anastasya’s guards on duty.

The "Duty and Valiance" batalion was only symbolically part of the Alexander Guard, for it was created by Archduchess Anastasya on the grounds of ancient traditions (which allowed each member of the Ruling Family to create a small personal guard unit) and was at her personal service. Handpicked by the former High Commander of the TNDF, Leib-Marshal Valery Berilov, this unit consisted of veterans of the Alexander Guard, extremely loyal to the Archduchess.

The entire unit was dislocated in the private palace of the Archduchess in Tin-Vilena at the time of the Aphyr Conflict and was completely decimated during the war.

Ranks

The ranks of the Alexander Guard compared to those in the other branches of the armed forces.