Imperial Intelligence Services

[rancke]

According to FI and GF, the 'Big Three' intelligence services in the Imperium are Army Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, and IISS Detached Duty Office Intelligence Branch (Scout Intelligence). Who else is there? IRIS doesn't exist, but Nobles mentions several other organizations:

* The Ministry of State has an Intelligence Division that coordinates intelligence from various sources, but also have agents of their own.

* The Office of Calendar Compliance is mentioned as having good opportunities to engage in intelligence gathering, although Nobles doesn't come right out and say it does. Maybe the office is the other half of the Imperiallines setup (see below)?

Any other anyone can think of?

Then on to speculation:

* The Ministry of Justice might have a covert intelligence branch.

* The Emperor has his own courier service, run through the Office of Personal Transportation (The Imperiallines setup). But what do the couriers move? Information, of course, and no doubt the occasional Imperial warrant-holder, but perhaps it also has some sort of intelligence-gathering aspect. As suggested above, maybe the Office of Calendar Compliance's covert branch reports directly to the Emperor through his courier network?

* I can't quite come up with anything for the ministries of Colonization, Commerce, Conservation, Information and Communication, or Technology.

* Dukes, sector dukes, and archdukes would have agents of their own in their respective demesnes. How extensive and how organized would vary from duchy to duchy, I think.


Hans

 

[BlackBat242]

3-page discussion on this very subject from a year ago... exactly (last post made 21 July 2008).

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=5194

 

[Trent]

I have an old copy of Challenge magazine (Dammit I miss that mag, it was a great one despite a few thousand typos per issue) and it describes IRIS. When you said it doesn't exist did you mean "officially" or that it's not traveller canon?

 

[aramis]

In Survival Margin, It's made clear that IRIS exists, but is not something with which Strephon was familiar. In short, it's a covert cell of reactionaries without official sanction of the 3I. At least until Lucan comes to power.

There is also ISIS (Imperial Scout Intelligence Service) which is separate from IISS-DDO-IB.

IMOJ has the Special Branch. Which is an internal intelligence, counter intelligence.

The above all appear in canon, but some are just offhand mentions. (IMOJ-SB, ISIS)
The following are all my suppositions:

The two psionics institutes themselves might qualify as well; they are imperial agencies.

IMOTrade probably also has some "Intelligence accountants" who watch the numbers closely.

BuCol probably has an analysis branch as well, looking more for individuals who are yanking BuCol's financial chains...

Most planetary systems will have internal intelligence, either via military or police, often both. (Many police departments have professional intelligence analysts.... Some, like NYPD, have specialized intel units.)

 

[rancke]

In Survival Margin, It's made clear that IRIS exists, but is not something with which Strephon was familiar. In short, it's a covert cell of reactionaries without official sanction of the 3I. At least until Lucan comes to power.

That's not how I interpret the information in Survival Margin at all. I think it's made clear there that the IRIS that shows up in the TNS newsbriefs is a con job invented by a bunch of intelligence wienies. It's a very neat retcons that nicely explains away all those newsbrief references.

There is also ISIS (Imperial Scout Intelligence Service) which is separate from IISS-DDO-IB.

Mentioned where?

IMOJ has the Special Branch. Which is an internal intelligence, counter intelligence.

That does ring a bell. Where is that mentioned?

The following are all my suppositions:

The two psionics institutes themselves might qualify as well; they are imperial agencies.

IMOTrade probably also has some "Intelligence accountants" who watch the numbers closely.

BuCol probably has an analysis branch as well, looking more for individuals who are yanking BuCol's financial chains...

Most planetary systems will have internal intelligence, either via military or police, often both. (Many police departments have professional intelligence analysts.... Some, like NYPD, have specialized intel units.)

Oh sure. And many corproations will have organizations too, but they wouldn't be part of the Imperial intelligence community.


Hans

 

[rancke]

I have an old copy of Challenge magazine (Dammit I miss that mag, it was a great one despite a few thousand typos per issue) and it describes IRIS. When you said it doesn't exist did you mean "officially" or that it's not traveller canon?

I mean that the article you refer to was labeled a variant. Later IRIS showed up in the TNS newsbriefs. Survival Margin makes it clear that Strephon had never heard of them and that he regarded them with scorn. I think the implication is pretty clear, but I must admit that I'd never heard Wil's take (that they were so secret that even the Emperor had never had so much as a whiff of their existence) before.

I don't really feel like getting into one of those interminable discussions where every word of the text is examined over and over again, so let me just say that at the very least SM presents an alternative (and, IMO, much more plausible) explanation for the IRIS references in the TNS.


Hans

 

[aramis]

That's not how I interpret the information in Survival Margin at all. I think it's made clear there that the IRIS that shows up in the TNS newsbriefs is a con job invented by a bunch of intelligence wienies. It's a very neat retcons that nicely explains away all those newsbrief references.


Mentioned where?


That does ring a bell. Where is that mentioned?

Both are from magazine articles.

and Conjob by intell weenies is pretty much the same as a conspiracy cell of reactionaries.

 

[abomination]

I've been thinking about this a lot. As I'm setting up a campaign based loosely on SOE in WW2.

Are these all doing the same performing the same roles for different bosses? Or are they doing different roles?

The main jobs the intelligence community perform are as follows (with their UK agencies):

Foreign intelligence, (MI6)
Counter intelligence, (MI5, assisted by Special branch)
Sabotage (during WW2 - SOE)
Signal intelligence (GCHQ)

All these agencies compete against each other, not only for resources, but there is potential for conflict in carrying out their tasks. For instance the last thing you want if you have carefully placed spies in a foreign country is to have a load of people from another agency running around blowing stuff up. MI6 fought very hard to starve SOE of resources during WW2 and made sure it was wound up ASAP in 1945.
Similarly, you may not want to apprehend a spy / saboteur in doing so reveals the existence of your own agents abroad.

The players will be assisting in most of these roles as part spy ship gathering sig int (better hide that uber sensor package). But also picking up, dropping agents, gathering their reports. Providing arms equipment for saboteurs & "freedom fighters" alongside their usual trading activities.

This wide range of roles is only possible due to a great deal of political dealing, & Duke Norris banging heads together to make the best use of limited resources.

 

[Gadrin]

Milieu Zero book lists these as Intelligence Agencies:

Imperial Naval Intelligence (INI):
Imperial Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
Imperial Interstellar Scout Service Intelligence Branch (IB):
Vilani Bureaus:
Imperial University:
The Loyal Association of Pages:
Bureau for Interstellar Affairs (BIA):

They devote an entire page to BIA seeds.

Also listed is the Office of Calendar Compliance which is part of
the Ministry of Trade and also contains the the Bureau of Standards.

>

 

[flykiller]

All these agencies compete against each other, not only for resources, but there is potential for conflict in carrying out their tasks.

not to mention compete against all the planetary agencies. mora and trin e.g. would have well-funded and highly robust agencies dedicated to advancing their interests and retarding those of their competitors - in defense, in business, and in sports. not to mention extra-imperial agencies - zhodani, darrian, and collace. in fact the ones concerning collace probably be the most active, lots of politics and business and cultural issues at play trying to bring collace into the imperium or keep it out.

 

[nobby-w]

According to FI and GF, the 'Big Three' intelligence services in the Imperium are Army Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, and IISS Detached Duty Office Intelligence Branch (Scout Intelligence). Who else is there? IRIS doesn't exist, but Nobles mentions several other organizations:

IRIS gets a mention in the JTAS. There is a character generation system for IRIS characters, which could be co-opted for any spook service type background if so desired, particularly if you were to punt (or otherwise be circumspect with) the psionics training.

I did a character at one point that started out in the Navy, did Intelligence School and then transferred to IRIS after the second term, more for the hell of it than any particular objective.

 

[Timerover51]

Is it just me, or do other forum members get an odd feeling with respects to these posts?

 

[mike wightman]

IRIS gets a mention in the JTAS. There is a character generation system for IRIS characters, which could be co-opted for any spook service type background if so desired, particularly if you were to punt (or otherwise be circumspect with) the psionics training.

I did a character at one point that started out in the Navy, did Intelligence School and then transferred to IRIS after the second term, more for the hell of it than any particular objective.

IRIS began as fanon, a variant MT intelligence service. Then the author took over the MT line for GDW and IRIS became canonical of sorts.
Many people disliked it for the mary-sue uber-munchkin characters it produced.

In the MT/TNE crossover book Survival Margin IRIS was revealed to have been a hoax of sorts - thus returning the character generation to variant setting status once more.

 

[LeperColony]

Survival Margin also mentions the Imperial Ministry of Justice. If they have something like an FBI/CIA/NSA, that could also be an intelligence agency. And I think it's mentioned that the megacorp Tukera has an intelligence agency of its own. Not strictly Imperial though.

 

[DickNervous]

Survival Margin also mentions the Imperial Ministry of Justice. If they have something like an FBI/CIA/NSA, that could also be an intelligence agency. And I think it's mentioned that the megacorp Tukera has an intelligence agency of its own. Not strictly Imperial though.

While not canon, I am sure that all the megacorps have some sort of "intelligence" group withing them, either stand-alone or part of corporate security, so that wouldn't be a surprise.

I also assume that they all have the equivalent of a small armed forces (army/navy/marines) made up of both permanent and mercenary groups.