What do scouts do?

[DFW]

However a third version of explorer-spies was quite common in the back-of-beyond parts of the world, back when governments sometimes needed to know what and whom was in a given area as much as figuring out what they were up to.

Way back the English were keen to get a hold of Dutch sea charts and routes for sailing to the East Indies. MAJOR national "Scout" intel.

 

[jatay3]

Way back the English were keen to get a hold of Dutch sea charts and routes for sailing to the East Indies. MAJOR national "Scout" intel.

I remember reading about stuff like that. I also remember that many sixteenth century explorers were mercenary "have sextant will travel" types. Which makes one wonder how they managed to keep information from getting about.

 

[Sanjuro]

On a more mundane level, a lot of scout activity could be in keeping track of any significant sized objects in the vicinity of planets; surveying along the commonly travelled jump routes between systems for objects large enough to trigger misjumps... all very dull, and always worth keeping as punishments for Scout characters...
"I'm sorry, you're being recalled from Detached Duty- we need an experienced scout to update the charts for the Regina-Efate route. It shouldn't take more than a year or so."

 

[jatay3]

On a more mundane level, a lot of scout activity could be in keeping track of any significant sized objects in the vicinity of planets; surveying along the commonly travelled jump routes between systems for objects large enough to trigger misjumps... all very dull, and always worth keeping as punishments for Scout characters...

And by coincidence that could be used to cover up something more interesting every once in a while.

 

[ThunderChilde]

Who really pays attention to the grubby crew of a 100 ton Scout Ship that obviously pissed somone of and complaining about thier Asteriod Counting and charting duty when they port. Qietly loitering in the system and sucking up all the elint. Who us? Nah, just a dead enders crew serving out a punishment duty.

 

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

Whether they're scouting outside or inside the Imperium, it's a given that the IISS is a perfect cover for spooks of all varieties. At any given moment, the IISS is everywhere doing anything making the hoary Purloined Letter ruse all the easier to pull off.

I'm rather surprised that no one's mentioned the Contact & Liaison Office yet.

Here's a group specifically tasked with monitoring planetary cultures and societies in order to facilitate their integration with the Imperium as a whole. C&L is there to spy on and manipulate member planets and the Imperium freely admits it!

Adding to fun, C&L legally operates on worlds that are illegal for Imperial subjects to visit: Red Zones. Depending on the situation, C&L teams may be overt, covert, or a mixture of both. Whatever their status, however, they're still inside Red Zones carrying on the Imperium's business.


Regards,
Bill