Praetorian Guard

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Praetorian Guard

The Guard

The Praetorian Guard is the elite special operations forces of the Nova Roman Empire.

Originally they were the bodyguards of the Senators and were ordinary soldiers who had received special operations training. After the South Cove Incident, however, the need for a more elite bodyguard was in order.

After the massacre of Roman senators by Lamoni in 2754 AVC, Tyrannvs Tiberivs Siricvs took over the nation of Nova Roma and the reformed Praetorian Guard was reassigned to guard the Imperator first and foremost.

Lacking the numbers of other special operations forces, the Praetorian Guard more than makes up for that downfall in their skill and valor.

Generally the Guard is not assigned on missions outside of Nova Roma and is, instead, used mainly for defensive operations. This was witnessed in the opening conflicts between Nova Roma and Lamoni when thousands of barbarous "gangstas" were attacking Roman military stations and civilians; the Guard was called in and it silenced the uprising with no casualties.

Within the ranks of the Praetorian Guard are the Nine, the nine Praetorians who are assigned to constantly guard the Imperator. They accompany him on diplomatic missions either internally or internationally abroad and are the most elite of the Praetorians.


The Armor

The armor of the Praetorians is not a single suit but two. The inner suit is very similar to a diving suit in that it covers the whole body. However, the inner suit possesses an internal regulator that controls the temperature and other small aspects of the suit as well as protects the Praetorian from bits of shrapnel and fire. It is made of a specially synthesized spider silk and kevlar mesh.

The outer suit is the most visible of the suits and encompasses most of the defense of the Praetorian. It is made solely of an aluminium and titanium alloy that is nearly impervious to small arms fire and it is comprised of several parts. These parts are the cuirass (covering the upper torso), the pauldrons (covering the shoulders down to the elbows), the bracers (covering the forearms), the gauntlets (covering the hands), the greaves (covering the lower torso down to the upper knees), leg bracers (covering the shins and backs of the legs from the knees to upper ankles), and the boots (covering the feet).

The last part of a Praetorian's armor is his helmet. Made of the same material as the rest of the outer suit, the helmet has one potential weakness. That is the visor. The only solution Roman scientists could come up with was to mimic the molecular make-up of a diamond to produce a visor of incredible strength but supreme clarity. Field testing proved, however, that even a visor made of diamond would experience fracturing under bullet fire.

Thus, Roman scientists incorporated a laser detection system into the helmet. Essentially, the system would setup a series of invisible lasers over the area of the visor that would detect any high speed projectiles and signal to the internal regulator to deliver an extremely high voltage electrical charge across the visor, effectively vaporizing any projectile that crossed the laser sensors.

In trials, it proved extremely effective; on the battlefield, the sensors couldn't seem to differentiate between rocks and bullets and battery charge was wasted on countless pieces of otherwise harmless debris. Over a period of five years, Roman scientists worked to update the sensor system to initiate electrical charge only if the projectile was moving within certain velocities, if its angle of approach was within certain parameters, if its was made of certain composition, etc.

Naturally, for a computer to run a check over all these prerequisites before it initiated the charge would take too long; however, advances in computing and processing chips allowed the tests to be run within nanoseconds, allowing the charge to be accurately delivered.

Essentially, the system is an energy shield of the Praetorian's visor; Roman scientists are currently working on developing full-body shields, but the power requirements for such a venture are indeed huge.

Other aspects of the helmet include the actual identification system, visor modes, GPS uplinks, a tactical HUD, and several other important aspects.

Naturally, a theoretical weakness is seen in the area between the pieces of the outer suit, where only the inner suit is there to protect the Praetorian. Fortunately, this was caught by the outer suit designer and fixed relatively easily. Instead of wasting material and creating an inflexible suit, the designer firm added slightly increased edges to the ends of the armor pieces so that when in motion, they would overlap and cover the exposed areas, offering full protection. So far, it has yet to fail.


Praetorian Colors

Suits range in several colors. Those colors are Red, Purple, and Black. Those Praetorians wearing Red suits are Praetorians stationed throughout Nova Roma; they are general purpose Praetorians who are called to duty at any time for nearly any reason. Purple Praetorians guard the eternal city of Nova Roma herself; they are either in the Citadel or stationed at the city gates. The Black-suited Praetorians are the Nine, the guard of the Imperator.

Below is a Red-suited Praetorian with a standard issue BR55 combat rifle.


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Training Method

The new process for training the Guard is extremely lengthy but the results have proven to outweigh the time needed. Each year, the Nova Roman government harvests thousands of eggs and a plethora of sperm to genetically engineer. From here, NovaTech scientists alter the genetic makeup of each egg/sperm pair to rid the cells of any genetic impurities and to insure near perfection. On average only about 100 of the pairs successfully make it through the genetic engineering, the rest either don't fertilize properly or are ruined during engineering. The remaining 100 pairs are the ones that have been successfully engineered and will be grown through means of in vitro fertilization. Nova Roma pays those women handsomely who are willing to go through labor and produce a child that they will never see.

After the final birth of the group, the children are taken to an undisclosed military training facility where they are raised day and night by NovaTech specialists. They are mentally, psychologically, and physically conditioned to be nothing but the smartest, the most loyal, and the strongest soldiers. For 18 years they are subjected to extreme tests of mental and physical ability and at the 18 year mark they are released into the general public: their ultimate test. If they can survive in such a radically different environment, then they have passed. If they cannot, then they have failed and are taken back to NovaTech HQ and executed.

In the end only some 50 Praetorians are left that have passed the tests, but they have passed those tests for good reason, and they are the true elite of the Nova Roman military.


The Praetorian Guard should never be confused with its more offensive brother, the Arcani.