S.W.O.R.D.
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| Active: | 1620.5654 AN.ASC – Present | ||
| Motto | The Sword is sharp and swift | ||
| In use by: | Shirerithian Supplies Service | ||
| Allegiance: | Shireroth | ||
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| Type: | Military Counter-Intelligence, Special Operations | ||
| Size: | 27,975 + classified others | ||
| Nickname: | Invisible Swords | ||
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| Current Commander: | Isabella Simrani-Kalirion | ||
| Conflicts & Deployments |
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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.
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 –)
 - Ministry of Military Affairs  - Ministry of the Exterior  Office of Information  - Office of Bounties and Factorage  - Imperial Forces  |
