Name: Colonial Guard
Affiliation: Compact of Humanity in Assembly
Function: Local defense, emergency response, and civil order
Headquarters: Varies by colony
Summary:
The Colonial Guard is colony’s primary local defense force—analogous to a planetary National Guard. Independent from the Compact’s formal military branches, the Guard answers to colony’s own civilian and colonial leadership, though it often coordinates with Compact forces like the Navy and the Office of Colonial Development in times of crisis. On Amargosa, the Colonial Guard was run out of Lansdorp and worked in tandem with the Marine Corps presence there.
The Guard is composed of both career soldiers and civilian reservists, many of whom are drawn from the local townships and agricultural communities. Its ranks are bolstered by Youth Corps cadets, who train in peacetime and are pressed into active duty during planetary emergencies.
During the Gelt Incursion of 429 IE, the Colonial Guard was the first organized defense to respond to the surprise invasion. Though caught off-guard by the destruction of the hypergate and the scale of the attack, officers like Straker and Marine Colonel Diana Jovann led key early actions—organizing evacuations, resisting enemy advances, and launching a counterstrike on the Founders’ Mine. Their forces also worked closely with ad-hoc civilian militias, underscoring the Guard’s flexible and improvisational role in planetary defense.
The Guard is known for its local knowledge, grit, and commitment to the people of Amargosa, often operating with limited resources and little expectation of outside reinforcement. In the early hours of the invasion, it was the Colonial Guard that held the line—however briefly—while the rest of the Compact scrambled to respond.
Appearances: Gimme Shelter, The Children of Amargosa