S.W.O.R.D.

S.W.O.R.D.
Active:	1620.5654 AN.ASC – Present
Motto	The Sword is sharp and swift
In use by:	Shirerithian Supplies Service
Allegiance:	Shireroth
Type:	Military Counter-Intelligence, Special Operations
Size:	27,975 + classified others
Nickname:	Invisible Swords, agents of the divine law
Current Commander:	Isabella Simrani-Kalirion
Conflicts & Deployments	Kildari schism Elwynnese instability Sxiro-Jingdaoese Confrontation River War The Anarchy of Angularis Martial Law in Goldshire / Civil War in Goldshire Dietsland Hammish Civil War

S.W.O.R.D. (Shireroth's Warriors for Observation, Retribution and Deterrence) is a military organisation active on all possible fronts and in all possible ways to secure the hegemony of the Imperial Republic ranging from counter intelligence and personal protection to warfare.

History

S.W.O.R.D. was founded by Jacob Darylion-Verion after his appointment as Minister of Military Affairs. The powers of the organisation greatly expanded under his reign as Kaiser Verion I. The Kaiser also used money from the Imperial Treasury to finance covert operations of S.W.O.R.D.

S.W.O.R.D. along with Rrakanychan Watch was controversially deployed in 1639 as airborne light infantry during the final battles of annihilation along Posada Ridge during the endgame of the anti-Froyalanish insurgency in the Vale of Angularis. The casualties suffered during these battles, which amounted to 3,830 operatives out of a deployed force of approximately 6,000 field agents, proved to be a debilitating blow which limited the involvement of S.W.O.R.D. during the early phases of the Civil War in Goldshire to intelligence gathering and the provision of training and logistical support to the Jaysh al-Sathrati.

The rout, however, of this proxy force in late 1642 and the subsequent advance of rebel forces towards Cabbagefall forced S.W.O.R.D. to mobilise its cadres once more and rejoin the fray as the Battle of Holwinn developed.

In 1643, S.W.O.R.D. was placed under the administrative control of the Shirerithian Supplies Service. Prior to this S.W.O.R.D. had been customarily treated as an agency outside of the Imperial Forces since it derived its origins and mandate from a Ministerial Ordinance rather than the Martial Code of Shireroth. The change however was made to streamline the organisation and budget of the Ministry of Military Affairs and to allow S.W.O.R.D. to operate more effectively alongside the other specialist directorates - Rrakanychan Watch and the Imperial Order of Technomaezji.

The loyalties of S.W.O.R.D. were tested during the turmoil of the Year of the Four Kaisers, but the decision of Isabella Simrani-Kalirion, in her capacity as Natopian Defence Secretary, to sanction airstrikes against her own husband, the usurper Tokaray al-Osman did much to shield the organisation from purges and reprisals following the end of the civil war.

The organisation, its morale and command structure intact, was able to play a full part in the bitterest fighting [1] of the Hammish Civil War, where Shirerithian infiltration tactics, supported by Natopian air strikes, broke the strength of the NPA aligned Army of New Kirrie, and cleared the way for a sweeping eastwards advance by the Shirerithian backed Hammish Republican Army along a broad front.

Organisation

S.W.O.R.D. comprises of twenty-four regiments specialising in covert operations, infiltration attacks, intelligence gathering and unconventional warfare in all guises. The regiments are named for patron deities and cult figures and foster an especial elan and esprit de corps focused especially upon loyalty to the regiment and the cloak of secrecy that shrouds their activities. The martial culture of the regiments is very strongly aligned with and suffused by the doctrines of Holodomatic Eluino-Zurvanism.

Force Security Bureau

Regiment	Status	Station	Assigned Role
Vexillation I	Operational	Goldshire Garrison	Attached to the Field Army.
Vexillation II	Operational	Mishalan Garrison	Attached to the Frontier Army.
Vexillation III	Operational	Novaya Sorensk Garrison	Attached to the Riverine Army.
Vexillation IV	Operational	MoMA Station Akis	Attached to the Army of Arboria.
Vexillation V	Operational	MoMA Station Akis	Attached to the Eastern Armada.
Vexillation XVI	Operational	MoMA Station Sabatini	Attached to the Western Armada.
Vexillation XVII	Operational	Mishalan Garrison	Attached to the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces.
Vexillation XVIII	Operational	Western Benacia Garrison	Attached to the Corps of Auxiliaries.

Intelligence Bureau

Regiment	Status	Station	Assigned Role
Vexillation VI Mithra	Operational	Zy-Rodun	Codes and Communications.
Vexillation VII Daena	Operational	Shirekeep	Panopticon.
Vexillation VIII Mah	Operational	Musica (Brookshire)	Investigations.
Vexillation IX Rashnu	Operational	Tala (Raikoth)	Information and statistics (Archives).
Vexillation X Rapithwin	Operational	Musica (Brookshire)	Maritime Investigations.
Vexillation XIX Zam	Operational	Shirekeep	Inter-service liaison.
Vexillation XX Neriosang	Operational	MoMA Station Talenore	Monitoring Service: Eastern Bureau.
Vexillation XXI Nairyosangha	Operational	Portus Batavi (Batavia)	Monitoring Service: Western Bureau.

Operations Bureau

Regiment	Status	Station	Assigned Role
Vexillation XI	1653: Organising	Sansabury Aerodrome (Lywall)	Special Operations - Benacia.
Vexillation XII Vouruskasha	1653: Organising	Slomxala (Lywall)	Special Operations - Maritime.
Vexillation XIII Ahriman	1653: Operational	MoMA Station Akis	Foreign Operations - Apollonia.
Vexillation XIV Aži Dahāka	1653: Operational	MoMA Station Sagittarius	Foreign Operations - Keltia.
Vexillation XV	1653: Organising	MoMA Station Talenore	Foreign Operations - Corum.
Vexillation XXII	1653: Organising	MoMA Station Talenore	Foreign Operations - Eura.
Vexillation XXIII	1653: Organising	MoMA Station Sabatini	Foreign Operations - Tapfer.
Vexillation XXIV	1653: Organising	MoMA Station Sabatini	Foreign Operations - Cibola.

Director of S.W.O.R.D.

The daily operations of S.W.O.R.D. are run by the Director.

List of S.W.O.R.D. directors

• Jacob Darylion-Verion (1620.5654 – 1625.5785)
• Ivan Verion (1625.5785 – 1628.5867)
• Michael Verion (1628.5867 – 1643.6328) (Removed from post after showing signs of Temporal Haemorrhaging, later discovered to be caused by a rebel psionic attack.)
• Isabella Simrani-Kalirion (1643.6328 –1664)
• Rofolo Nur Pinito Kasha (19.V.1664–)