Gold Sappers

The Venopor (Fedecenoayan porits, lit. Police of the Parliament) are Vekllei’s special police branch. They occupy a function somewhere between special policing and the paramilitary, linking Vekllei’s treasured infrastructure with its civilian police (“Cosmopor”), armed forces, and shadowy intelligence networks. Though they fulfil police functions today, their history is with the Royal Guards and Federal Police of yesteryear, which in turn has produced unusual units like the Gold Sappers, which are unique in modern policing.

Gold Sappers are the official police/security detachment of the National Mint of Vekllei. Contrary to popular belief, Vekllei does in fact mint coinage, but the Mint is also responsible for the production of paper “Government Crowns” (i.e. labour-backed government bonds) and Vekllei’s gold bullion reserve.

Though Vekllei may not use money domestically, it spends and receives huge quantities of cash through the International Market in trade with other countries. In many cases, trade is made via gold bullion, which still backs the Vekllei Crown (not the Government Crown — click here if you’re confused). Although this gold is often simply moved around a vault in foreign reserves, like the Euro Bullion Exchange or Fort Knox, there are many cases where gold is moved into, out of, and around Vekllei.

This is what the Gold Sappers are deployed to protect — Vekllei’s national wealth, in and out of transit. Their name and appearance date back to the colonial Atlantic Junta, when their historical units were deployed to pillage and steal from vulnerable infrastructure amidst war. In Vekllei’s convoluted military history, these unceremonious and criminal units were at some point folded into the Junta’s Royal Guards, then Federal Police, and now exist within the postwar Floral Period Venopor. In typical fashion for Vekllei, the Gold Sappers are no longer sappers, nor are they a part of the military. Remember, we are discussing a country in which the postal service is a military organ.

Still, the Venopor Gold Sappers retain the beards of their ancestral units, and preserve parts of their heritage through their ceremonial parade dress and traditional songs. In this image we can see illustrated two Sappers in both civilian and paramilitary dress. The redhead holds a submachine gun equipped with drum magazines, which are unusual but commonly used in security units to achieve initial fire superiority and suppress, which allows for repositioning and backup in convoy environments.

Their vehicle is a R.V. Z-type (a military 4WD chassis used in all sorts of configurations) powered by a high-torque electric motor and charged by supercapacitors. That snorkel is for cooling, not exhaust. The Mint Z-type (called a ZMi-1 or -2) are used as escort cars in ground convoys, with bullion protected in armoured trucks. The Mint also has a train, and, in more common use, armoured helijets and jet planes. Gold Sappers accompany their gold and coins every step of the way. Otherwise, its navy livery is indicative of its authority as a Venopor police wagon.

Gold Sappers stand out — beards are prohibited across every other armed branch except the spooks and sappers. If you see a Mint convoy coming, stand well back and let it pass — for a country without money, they take their coins seriously.