| From: | Tzeentch tzeentch666@*********.net |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Intelligence Agencies in Shadowrun |
| Date: | Thu, 25 May 2000 16:31:23 -0700 |
and had some thoughts on how it can apply to Shadowrun. Of course, previous
FASA canon does not exactly make ones job easy, the illogic of the whole
setting starts to seriously impede any logical work in this area. I'll try
to ignore my **EXTREME** reservations about the standard SR setting and try
to present some adaptations and thoughts on the nature of intelligence
collection and organization in the Sixth World. I'll leave separating the
fact from fiction to the reader ;)
INTELLIGENCE
"Intelligence" can be defined simply as the "products resulting from the
collection, evaluation, analysis, integration and interpretation of all
available information which concerns one or more aspects of foreign nations
or of areas of operation which is immediately or potentially significant for
planning."
I won't bore you with a breakdown of the intelligence cycle at this time.
UNITED CANADIAN-AMERICAN STATES (UCAS)
The UCAS "inherited" the majority of the original intelligence apparatus of
both the old United States and Canadian governments. With the reorganization
following the secession of the CAS the UCAS Central Intelligence Agency was
expanded and reorganized. Among the most sweeping changes was the revocation
of its limitation against domestic intelligence collection. The CIA still
lacks any powers of arrest.
Central Intelligence Agency
Date Founded: 1947
Mission When Founded: Coordinate and advise of the NSC (National Security
Council) on intelligence issues and centralize intelligence collection and
analysis.
Mission Today: Essentially unchanged, but has absorbed most of the service
intelligence agencies and functions.
Jurisdiction: Anywhere in the world involving national intelligence efforts,
also has limited jurisdiction within the UCAS in support of other
intelligence operations.
Headquarters: Langley, VA. South of Washington.
Annual Budget: Uknown
History/Profile: The CIA was reorganized in the National Security Act of
2043 and was given additional powers via Presidential Directorate 20-A in
2044 and various Executive Orders between 2050 and 2055. PD 20-A remains
classified to this day and has not been released (many speculate it involves
the formation of the rumored "destabilization" section of the CIA).
The CIA is the primary government agency involved in intelligence analysis,
clandestine human intelligence, and covert action. It remains the primary
policy setter in the research and development of aerospace reconnaissance
platforms (in conjunction with the NRO) and has been heavily involved with
the exploitation of MANINT (Mana-Derived Intelligence) techniques.
The Director of the CIA is also the Director of Central Intelligence, and
thus responsible for the entire intelligence effort of the UCAS. Under the
DCI is the Deputy Director of the CIA, who actually handles most of the
day-to-day operations. Under the Deputy are five additional Deputy
Directors who are in charge of a respective Directorate and five Offices
that are directly subordinate to the Deputy Director of the CIA. The current
DCI is Warren Kibold and his Deputy is Diane Gardner.
The five Directorates of the CIA are: Administration, Development,
Intelligence, Operations, and Thaumaturgy. The Offices are those of
Comptroller, Inspector General, Legal Liaison and Public Affairs.
The actual operations of the CIA are clouded by secrecy, major intelligence
failings during the Ghost Dance War have made the modern CIA very insular
and paranoid. Combined with a much more conservative government the CIA has
remained shielded from public scrutiny.
Although the extent of the CIAs operations may never be known there has been
CIA complicity accused in conjunction with several anti-NAN guerrilla groups
and several high-profile killings of Seattle pro-secession leaders. It is
also rumored to be heavily involved with Ares, and some have gone so far as
to accuse Ares of being a CIA front company. Ares certainly is the
megacorporation most involved with the CIA, notably in research and
development and convenient use of extraterritorial property as staging areas
for covert actions.
Based on sketchy analysis of the CIAs operations, most agree their mission
seems to be the following:
1) Destabilize the Native American Nations by supporting both indigenous
insurgency movements and covert direct action against important assets.
2) Prevent Seattle from seceeding.
3) Penetrate the Aztlan and Tir Tairgire governments in support of
destabilization operations.
The CIA is renowned for their extensive use of psychotropic conditioning and
inventive utilization of magical assets in performance of their missions.
Since the Ghost Dance War the CIA has devoted massive resources to
developing its own magically-active assets and is rumored to work in
cooperation with Ares in various magical research and development projects.
CONFEDERATE AMERICAN STATES (CAS)
Although the secession from the UCAS was relatively peaceful to outside
observers it caused what amounted to a civil war in the intelligence
community. When the dust settled comparitively few intelligence agents
remained in the CAS, and even fewer actual intelligence assets remained in
CAS hands. In particular, in the months preceeding the secession the UCAS
had dismantled and moved most collection stations in what would be CAS
territory and suspected CAS sympathisers were usually reassigned to
less-securty conscious stations.
In fact the greatest blow to the CAS national intelligence program is that
is has no access to orbital assets of its own and the major intelligence
agencies have faced crippling intrusions from Aztlan.
Office of National Intelligence Concerns (ONIC)
Date Founded: Unknown
Mission When Founded: Organize and direct all Confederate intelligence
agencies and provide support to the various internal security organizations.
Mission Today: Essentially unchanged
Jurisdiction: Anywhere outside the borders of the CAS
Headquarters: Laredo, TX
Annual Budget: Uknown
History/Profile: ONIC is the largest intelligence agency in the CAS, but
also the newest. It was formed from the remnants of the various UCAS
intelligence assets that remained in CAS hands. For precisely this reason it
has a reputation of being unpredictable, unreliable, and generally aimless.
When Texas seceeded from the CAS to prosecute its war against Aztlan the
ONIC was directed to withhold support from Texas as part of a move to force
the state back into the CAS. This was only partly successful since over half
the ONIC were sympathisers with Texas. During the Texas-Aztlan war the ONIC
conducted numerous covert actions without the approval of the CAS
government.
The ONIC is on comparitively good relations with the UCAS intelligence
services (many of the agents served together during the old days of the
United States) and it is a "known secret" that the UCAS has agents in the
ONIC. This has led to some embarassment for the CAS government and it is
expected that there will be a purge of the ONIC in the near future.
Without national-level reconnaissance platforms the ONIC has instead
concentrated on covert direct action and human intelligence to fulfill its
mission. However, in practice the ONIC tends to favor direct action to human
or technical intelligence. This has given agents of the ONICs Operations
Division a reputation as "cowboys."
The primary target of ONIC efforts is Aztlan and the Caribbean League. ONIC
agents are actively involved in pirate-hunting and various operations in
support of anti-government forces in Aztlan.
Ken
---------------------------
There's a war out there, old friend, a world war. And it's not about who's
got the most bullets, it's about who controls the information. What we see
and hear, how we work, what we think, it's all about the information!
Cosmo, 'Sneakers'
