Techguard

The Techguard is an investigative subset of Cobalt Knights Specialists tasked with managing the responsible use and dissemination of dangerous technologies throughout the Cobalt Protectorate, particularly as this relates to the sharing of technologies with non-human member states of the Cobalt Protectorate who would otherwise be less technologically developed.
The guardianship of the Techguard is undertaken not out of a desire to stymie the natural development of technology at home or abroad, but to protect from threats that might arise from plunges into technological development at the expense of any moral, legal, social, or safety concerns that might arise out of that development. For example, the Techguard is involved with preventing the developement of new biological weapons, securing nuclear weapons caches on client worlds, preventing the dissemination of artificial intelligence hostile to human life, and more. Whenever an exchange of technology between Evermorn and a periphery state is going to take place, the Techguard is watching to ensure that this transfer will not endanger the Protectorate or, more often, the recipient of that technology. For example, passing the blueprints for nanotechnology-focussed auto-fabricators to an ally would certainly enhance their industrial output, but it could also result in the creation of a planet-consuming 'grey goo' nanite swarm in the wrong hands; it falls to the Techguard to make the assessement of whether the recipient is socially, economically, and politically advanced enough to responsibly make use of their new technological advancement without causing mass extinction events.

Logistics

Auxilia

Techguards must maintain asecret clearance level because they have access to classified intelligence reports related to the efforts of research conglomerates, academic institutions, and client states throughout the Protectorate sphere of influence. Knight-Specialists and Knight-Airmen deployed on intelligence-gathering and electronic warfare details freqently pass along any information to this effect they uncover to Techguards. Civilian scientists, academic institutions, and think tanks advise the Techguards on upcoming developments to enhance preparedness.
Techguards, in turn, help Knight-Specialists involved with diplomacy and public relations to develop plans to utilize soft power to prevent deleterious developments or forestall them until proper safeguards can be installed. If soft power doesn't work, then Techguards might rely on information warfare or even black ops to enforce limits on how the new technology might be used where policy has not kept up. Because this sort of action has the potential to unduely suppress the dissemination of potentially vital developments, such as medicine, Techguards operate under the watchful eye of both Cobalt Knights internal affairs and confidential committees empaneled under the auspices of civilian Clan Lords.

Recruitment

Techguards are more likely than other formations within the Cobalt Knights to seek out authors, sociologists, economists, and other such individuals inclined towards creativity or theorizing for membership alongside the usual scientists and engineers drawn to service among the Knight-Specialist corps. Because the role of the Techguards is to watch for instances where technologies developed too quickly or in the wrong hands might have disasterous outcomes for the rest of the Protectorate, it is important for the formation to seek out individuals who demonstrate a knack for intuiting what these outcomes might be, how they might arise, and how they might be prevented from coming to pass.

Type

Security

Overall training Level

Professional

Assumed Veterancy

Experienced

Used by

• Cobalt Knights

Ranks & Titles

• Rank & Specialization Designation in the Cobalt Knights

Emblem

A stopwatch encircled by three eyes orbiting it along different axes in the manner of an atom