Kaiser Guard

"Valdec plans to counter-condition the Gray Guards and dissolve them in their old form."
-- Events of 085 - Valdec's Return

The Kaiser Guard (German: Kaisergarde; plural: Kaisergarden / Kaisergardisten) is the reconstituted military force of the Second Reich of Humanity, created by Max von Valdec after his return to power in 2504 by counter-conditioning the former Gray Guards into a personal army of absolute loyalty. Where the Gray Guards had been an independent institution with their own governing council (the Cosmorality), their own hidden homeworld (Shondyke), and their own supreme commander (Chan de Nouille), the Kaiser Guard is the opposite: a state instrument, stripped of institutional autonomy, chemically and psychologically reprogrammed through Lab-21 to serve Valdec and no one else.

The Kaiser Guard represents the final phase of the Gray Guards' evolution across the saga -- from corporate enforcer to public institution to personal army of a self-proclaimed Kaiser. Their creation requires two preconditions: the destruction of the Gray Guards' independent command structure (achieved through the assassination of Chan de Nouille and the capture of the Cosmorals) and the counter-conditioning of the soldiers themselves (overseen by Queen Myra at Lunaport). The result is an elite military force whose members have lost their individual humanity -- a loss that is only reversed in the saga's final booklet, when Cosmic Spores containing "The Jin" restore what the conditioning suppressed.

Overview

The Kaiser Guard is not a new military organization but a transformation of an existing one. The Gray Guards -- the all-female, genetically engineered army founded by Arda and commanded by Chan de Nouille -- had been the dominant military force in the Terran Star Empire for centuries. When Valdec seizes power for the second time (Booklet 085), he does not disband the Guards but repurposes them. Through a process of "counter-conditioning" -- replacing the Guards' institutional loyalty to the Cosmorality with personal loyalty to Valdec -- and the administration of Lab-21, a compliance drug, the Gray Guards are dissolved "in their old form" and reconstituted as the Kaiser Guard.

The transformation is total. The independent Cosmorality is replaced by the Reichscosmoralitat (Reich Cosmorality), a personal instrument of imperial power. The title of Reichscosmoral -- a rank unique to the Second Reich -- is created for Yazmin, who serves as Commander-in-Chief. The Guards' former intelligence apparatus (the Shadows) is destroyed through Queen Lea's systematic hunting campaign. The conditioning system that once ensured loyalty to the Great Gray now ensures loyalty to the Kaiser.

The Kaiser Guard serves Valdec's Second Reich in every capacity: garrison duty on Earth, military operations across the galaxy, attacks on rebel strongholds, enforcement of martial law, and the projection of imperial power. They crew armored Schweber ground vehicles, pilot armored gliders, staff the Dead Spaces prison complex beneath Berlin, guard installations on Pluto, and fight the Mushni on distant worlds like Tonteran. They are the blunt instrument of a totalitarian state.

History

Formation: Counter-Conditioning the Gray Guards (2504)

The Kaiser Guard's creation begins with Valdec's return to power in 085 - Valdec's Return. His clone agents infiltrate Earth, seize Lunaport, and capture key Cosmorals including Ansyn Crow and Oolga. Cosmoral Calinnen, leader of the Shadows, informs Chan de Nouille of the attack but cannot prevent the takeover.

Valdec's plan is explicit: "counter-condition the Gray Guards and dissolve them in their old form." Queen Myra, a Valdec loyalist, oversees the counter-conditioning process at Lunaport. The substance Lab-21 is used to make the Guards compliant, replacing their institutional conditioning with personal loyalty to Valdec. The process suppresses the individual humanity of the soldiers, turning them into emotionless instruments of the state.

Simultaneously, the Gray Guards' independent command structure is dismantled. Chan de Nouille is driven underground and eventually hunted down and killed by Queen Lea on Atlantica (086 - Hunted on Terra). The Shadow network is systematically destroyed -- from Kosmograd to Edinburgh to Kilimanjaro City, where a Shadow cell detonates a nuclear bomb rather than be captured. With the Great Gray dead and the Cosmorality dissolved, the Gray Guards as an independent institution cease to exist.

Consolidation: The Second Reich (2504)

Under the Second Reich, the Kaiser Guard becomes the military pillar of Valdec's three-part imperial government:

The Kaiser Guard enforces martial law across Earth. They garrison Berlin, operate the Dead Spaces prison complex holding political prisoners such as Manuel Lucci, Ignazius Tyll, Asen-Ger, and Christin Dorf, and suppress dissent in cities from Edinburgh to Wolfsburg to Perth. At the Central Plant of the Wolfsburg Glider Workshop, Kaiser Guard teams surround the facility alongside factory security forces (086 - Hunted on Terra). Super-Drivers like Osiris 84 are used to exercise PSI control over civilian populations.

Valdec also uses the Kaiser Guard in his propaganda strategy. Cosmoral Yazmin commands a fleet of container tugs bringing food supplies to Earth, enabling Valdec to lift rationing and position himself as the people's savior through the RMN broadcasting network.

Military Operations (2504)

The Kaiser Guard engages in active military operations across the galaxy during the Second Reich:

• Attack on Adzharis: Valdec orders Kaiser Guard forces to attack Adzharis to disrupt the Terranauts' mistletoe supply and destroy the new Urbaum (Yggdrasil seedling). Morgenstern intervenes to prevent the destruction, sacrificing himself to contain the psionic threat posed by manipulated Drivers (089 - The Emperor of Berlin).

• Tonteran Campaign: Kaiser Guardist Prout, a member of the 238th Legion of the Space Forces of the Second Reich of Humanity, fights the Mushni on the planet Tonteran. During this operation, Prout eliminates a Mushni, inadvertently triggering the spatiotemporal distortion that initiates the Duel of Dreams (098 - Duel of Dreams).

• Attack on Ultima Thule: Kaiser Guard armored gliders attack Ultima Thule after political prisoners are freed from the Dead Spaces by Bolter's Hausfreund via Space-Time Stroboscope. The gliders are destroyed by a protective shield generated by the Cosmic Spores (099 - The Eco-Shock).

• Pluto Garrison: Kaiser Guards are stationed on Pluto, where Kaiserqueen Tian commands the garrison. Lannister Chron, a former Summacum and Kaiser Force expert, is banished there by Tian (099 - The Eco-Shock).

• Distribution Station Defense: Kaiserqueen Rosena serves as a leader of Kaiser Guard forces at a distribution station. She dies when the Executor Tscherta destroys the station near Pluto Orbit (090 - The Ship of Serenity).

The Duel of Dreams (2504)

In the cosmic Duel of Dreams between David terGorden and Max von Valdec, the Kaiser Guard exists in the "Black" reality -- the dystopian timeline of the Second Reich. Yazmin bears the title Reichscosmoral and Mistress of the Kaiser Guards. Frost serves as Reich Security Commissioner. Rovenna, a Queen of the Kaiser Guard, commands a Legion and investigates the spatiotemporal distortion on Tonteran triggered by Prout.

When David terGorden's selfless sacrifice to save the Paracletic Madonna triggers the victory of the "White" reality, the "Black" reality -- and the Second Reich within it -- is negated. The Kaiser Guard of the "Black" timeline ceases to exist along with the reality that created it (098 - Duel of Dreams).

Dissolution: The Eco-Shock (2504)

In the saga's final booklet (099 - The Eco-Shock), the Kaiser Guard on Earth is neutralized not by military force but by biology. Cosmic Spores -- genetically engineered organisms prepared on Shondyke by the Clone-Queens and deployed as part of David terGorden's plan -- blanket Earth. The spores contain "The Jin," tiny organisms that neutralize Lab-21 and restore the suppressed humanity of the conditioned Kaiser Guards.

On Pluto, Lannister Chron learns that the spores will restore the humanity of the Kaiser Guards, including Tian, the cruel Kaiserqueen he loves. Zarkophin and Chelskij attempt to flee Earth in a Ringo, but the spores disable the craft; Chelskij dies, and Zarkophin burns up in the atmosphere.

Structure and Hierarchy

The Kaiser Guard hierarchy mirrors the Gray Guard structure but replaces institutional sovereignty with imperial authority. All power flows from the Kaiser himself.

Rank Structure

The Reichscosmoralitat

The Reichscosmoralitat (Reich Cosmorality) replaces the independent Cosmorality as the governing doctrine and institutional framework of the Kaiser Guard. Where the old Cosmorality derived its authority from Arda's founding and the institutional sovereignty of the Gray Guard civilization, the Reichscosmoralitat derives its authority solely from the Kaiser. The concept is described as "the moral code of the Reich" (Concepts/Reich Cosmoral) -- an ideological framework that justifies the Kaiser Guard's existence as an instrument of imperial power rather than an independent institution.

Organizational Units

The Kaiser Guard is organized into Legions -- military units of the Space Forces of the Second Reich. The 238th Legion is the only named unit, to which Prout belongs. Legions contain smaller units such as Teams (e.g., Team 238/12, led by Hauptmann Zart).

Queens and Kaiserqueens command operational detachments, garrison forces, and ship-based contingents. Rovenna commands a Legion in the "Black" reality (098 - Duel of Dreams).

Key Personnel

Reichscosmoral Yazmin -- Commander-in-Chief

Cosmoral Cant -- Deputy Commander

Prout -- Kaiser Guardist

A "young, strong, intelligent, and emotionless" Kaisergardist and member of the 238th Legion. Prout is described as an instrument of the Reichscosmoralitat -- the embodiment of the conditioning system's success in stripping away individual humanity. On Tonteran, he eliminates a Mushni, inadvertently triggering the spatiotemporal distortion that initiates the Duel of Dreams (098 - Duel of Dreams).

Rovenna -- Queen and Legion Commander

A Queen of the Kaiser Guard who commands a Legion in the "Black" reality of the Duel of Dreams. She investigates the spatiotemporal distortion on Tonteran caused by Prout's engagement with the Mushni (098 - Duel of Dreams).

Tian -- Kaiserqueen on Pluto

The Queen of the Kaisergarden on Pluto. Described as "cruel and possibly insane," Tian commands the Pluto garrison and banishes Lannister Chron to collect detectors she placed to search for imaginary Pluto inhabitants. She is ultimately transformed by the spores, her humanity restored (099 - The Eco-Shock).

Rosena -- Kaiserqueen

A leader of the Kaisergardisten who serves at a distribution station. She dies when the Executor Tscherta destroys the distribution station near Pluto Orbit (090 - The Ship of Serenity).

Elia -- Kaiser-Queen

A Kaiser-Queen found "lying in a metal cube" -- one of the conditioned Guards whose humanity has been suppressed by the regime.

Queen Myra -- Architect of the Counter-Conditioning

Though technically preceding the Kaiser Guard's formation, Queen Myra is instrumental in its creation. She oversees the counter-conditioning process at Lunaport, reprogramming Gray Guards from institutional loyalty to the Cosmorality to personal loyalty to Valdec. She commands the REGENT-Four and assists Zarkophin in Kaiser Force experiments (085 - Valdec's Return, 086 - Hunted on Terra).

Conditioning and Dehumanization

The defining characteristic of the Kaiser Guard is the suppression of individual humanity through conditioning and the drug Lab-21.

The Counter-Conditioning Process

When Valdec returns to power, he does not simply recruit new soldiers -- he reprograms existing ones. The Gray Guards, already subject to psychological conditioning that ensured loyalty to the Cosmorality and the Great Gray, are subjected to a new round of conditioning that redirects their loyalty to Valdec personally. This "counter-conditioning" is overseen by Queen Myra at Lunaport (085 - Valdec's Return, 086 - Hunted on Terra).

Lab-21

The Jin: Restoration of Humanity

The Cosmic Spores deployed in the saga's finale contain "The Jin" -- tiny organisms that neutralize Lab-21 and restore the suppressed humanity of the Kaiser Guards. This biological countermeasure, prepared on Shondyke by the Clone-Queens, represents the antithesis of Valdec's conditioning system: where Lab-21 suppresses humanity, the Jin restores it. The transformation of the Kaiser Guards by the spores is described as "restoring their humanity" -- suggesting that the conditioning did not destroy their inner selves but merely buried them (099 - The Eco-Shock).

Relationship to the Gray Guards

The Kaiser Guard is the Gray Guards' dark mirror -- the same soldiers, the same genetic engineering, the same all-female warrior tradition, but stripped of everything that made the Gray Guards an independent institution.

The Gray Guards' Phase 5 -- "Subversion and Destruction" (Booklets 085-086) -- is simultaneously the Kaiser Guard's origin story. The one institution dies so the other can be born. Valdec's explicit plan is to "counter-condition the Gray Guards and dissolve them in their old form" -- acknowledging that the Kaiser Guard is not a continuation of the Gray Guards but their replacement.

Military Assets

Vehicles and Equipment

• Schweber -- Armored ground vehicles used by the Kaiser Guards for urban operations and troop transport (086 - Hunted on Terra)
• Armored Gliders -- Disc-shaped aircraft used for combat operations, including the attack on Ultima Thule (099 - The Eco-Shock)
• Kaiser Force ships -- The Kaiser Guard operates Kaiser Force-powered vessels including the Ringo shuttles, KAISER-IX couriers, and larger warships produced at the Ziolkowski Shipyards (090 - The Ship of Serenity)
• Potential Amplifier -- A device used to enhance psionic abilities, deployed alongside Kaiser Guard operations (086 - Hunted on Terra)

Bases and Installations

• Berlin / Kaiser Headquarters -- The seat of the Second Reich and the command center for Kaiser Guard operations on Earth. Beneath it lie the Dead Spaces, a high-security prison complex.
• Lunaport -- The former Gray Guard operational headquarters, repurposed as the Kaiser Guard's primary military base and counter-conditioning facility.
• Pluto -- An outpost staffed by Kaiser Guards, including Kaiserqueen Tian's garrison.
• Distribution stations -- Interstellar relay stations defended by Kaiser Guard forces, including the one destroyed by Tscherta near Pluto orbit.
• Central Plant of the Wolfsburg Glider Workshop -- An industrial facility surrounded by Kaiser Guard teams.

Key Events

Appearances

The Kaiser Guard, its members, or its operations appear in the following booklets:

Themes

The Perversion of Institutions. The Kaiser Guard is the saga's most powerful illustration of institutional perversion. The Gray Guards -- an institution founded by Arda with its own laws, civilization, and moral code -- is not destroyed but corrupted, its soldiers chemically reprogrammed and its governing philosophy replaced with personal fealty. Valdec does not need to build a new army; he only needs to reprogram the existing one. The message is clear: the most dangerous form of tyranny is not the one that destroys institutions but the one that hollows them out from within.

Dehumanization and Restoration. The Kaiser Guard's defining feature is the suppression of individual humanity through Lab-21 and counter-conditioning. Prout is "emotionless." Tian is "cruel and possibly insane." The Guards have been turned into instruments. The saga's answer to this dehumanization is not military force but biological transformation -- the Jin spores that restore what was suppressed. The implication is that humanity cannot be destroyed, only buried, and that nature can recover what technology takes away.

The Cost of Loyalty. Valdec's inner circle -- Frost, Zarkophin, Yazmin -- follows him through every defeat and rebuilds his power structure each time, culminating in the Kaiser Guard. The saga never explains their loyalty, leaving it as one of its most provocative questions. The Kaiser Guard is the institutional expression of that loyalty: an entire army conditioned to feel toward Valdec what his inner circle feels voluntarily.

The End of the Military State. The Kaiser Guard's dissolution by the Cosmic Spores is the saga's definitive rejection of the military state. The soldiers are not defeated in battle but liberated from conditioning -- their humanity restored, their weapons made irrelevant by an ecological transformation that makes military power meaningless. David terGorden's announcement at Ultima Thule is not a victory speech but a declaration that the age of armies is over.

See Also

• Gray Guards -- The predecessor institution from which the Kaiser Guard was created
• Cosmorality -- The governing body dissolved and replaced by the Reichscosmoralitat
• Max von Valdec -- The Kaiser who created and commanded the Kaiser Guard
• Queen Yazmin -- Reichscosmoral and Commander-in-Chief
• Kaiser Corporation / Kaiser-Earth Trust -- The corporate/state apparatus of the Second Reich
• Kaiser Force -- The technology that defines the Second Reich's military power
• Lab-21 -- The conditioning drug used on the Kaiser Guards
• Cosmic Spores -- The biological countermeasure that dissolves the Kaiser Guard
• The Jin -- The organisms within the spores that restore the Guards' humanity
• Second Reich of Humanity -- The political entity the Kaiser Guard serves
• Shondyke -- The former Gray Guard homeworld, now under Clone-Queen control