OBT Forum

Thanks Mutt, feel free to take a stab at answering them. Makos write up is already done but now is time for AsRoc!


   The Rim Worlds Secret Service (The Periphery 1st Edition, page 155) is mentioned ever so briefly in the 1988 classic sourcebook. Aside from their Index listing there is the now infamous page 21 which tells of AsRoc’s founding circa 2407 and their participation in Operation Prometheus (February 7, 2455). Their involvement reviled for its continuity issues, such as how could the Rim Republic have Mech design plans and not have a Mech army ready for the Reunfication War, was effectively retconned by TPTB leading to what I believe was AsRoc’s unfortunate black balling in recent canon publications. Rather than bring up this organization forever tied to stealing the BattleMech from Hesperus it was easier to create Krypteia.

   Now this is all my interpretation based on the material presented but there is no need for worry folks. Everything still works just fine for everyone. AsRoc’s relationship to the omnipresent Krypteia society is easy to imagine. The Rim Worlds, and Krypteia I maintain, were established 150 years prior to First Consul Heather Durant’s establishment of AsRoc as the intelligence service of the Republic. Krypteia’s reach by this time extends throughout the Republic and likely right into its new security agency. Hence you can mention AsRoc and its relatively narrow focus on spy games or you can label everything Krypteia for a wider liability. AsRoc is a specific group with given responsibilities while Krypteia general shadows every level of the Republic.

   Now why is there all this fuss about AsRoc involvement in the theft of the BattleMech? The entire reason this clandestine order was founded was “to acquire and profit from the transmission of military secrets to the highest bidder.” Yup that is right folks a mercenary intelligence agency peddling need to know stuff for a price. Pretty cool idea. I’m sure you’ll agree that playing both sides, usually the Draconis Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth to start with, is a common theme for the Republic. House Steiner did exchange several star systems for secret Republican aid to their military during the Age of War. Now it does say that the Hesperus raid netted the Lyrans and the Rimjobs their first Mech blueprints but nothing says you gotta start producing them!

   In fact the Rim Worlds being in the Periphery likely lacked the technological base to undertake such an endeavor. Now the Republic is said to be industrious yes but often the text speaks of a plentiful low wage hard labor work force rather than an advanced industrial colossus capable of cranking out Mechs. Besides this is AsRoc why not just sell what you have for money as your founding doctrine screams to do. What’s that, you weren’t involved?! Says who – we got Mech plans and we are ready to deal baby. Yeah I can see AsRoc playing up their involvement in order to raise cold hard cash for expanded operations. Oh and four years later when the Lyrans used their new Mechs the Republic started offering desolate worlds in its remote territory to the highest bidders for the development of new battle tactics.

   The only other mention of AsRoc in canon or semi-canon sources didn’t come until 2010 when the Battlecorps story The Dark Night of the Soul was published online. Now sadly I haven’t read this account but apparently it has AsRoc operating on Terra in the 2770s. Again this doesn’t create a problem for me because you can call Amaris goons AsRoc or Krypteia with its members spread throughout the Republic’s Secret Service as well as other arms of the Usurper’s empire. They are one in the same. If you want to refer explicitly to an intelligence operation you could say AsRoc but if you just want to generalize Krypteia is a great catch all.

   So what does AsRoc stand for? Anti Submarine Rocket ain’t it. Given its irregular capitalization AsRoc looks like a combination of two words but what could they be? Did AsRoc’s mercenary philosophy equate to close ties with soldiers of fortune throughout the Human Sphere? That would explain how Amaris was so successful in acquiring such private forces for service covertly time and time again. Was Krypteia membership a requirement for AsRoc operatives? Thus all of AsRoc was staffed by Krypteia members. Or is it more likely that command positions in the intel group were Krypteia staffed?

Intelligence services are by their very nature organizations that do not work outside chain of command. They are filled with people most loyal to regime they are in. Those cases where security people have sold out are typically centered in situation where regime itself is in tatters and they are buying themselves favours with new masters. Historical analogue would be selling out secrets of Fremde Heere Ost for ticket out of hangman's noose and a hefty pile of dollars and a status as new golden boys. The idea that security service works as a mercenary force is thus in my my view somewhat far fetched (even if rent-a-thug Murder Incorporated fits well to BattleTech's heroic fantasy setting well).

However, you can achieve this if you assume that RWR is so corrupt that security services moonlight as rent-a-criminals for powerful lords. That would be of course make the RWR so corrupt place that you end up having all kinds of other role-playing opportunities/problems. It is also a big game setting decision so this needs to be carefully considered before you go either way.

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My assumption here is that RWR is stealing the data in order to change its strategic position (orders come from the highest level). In essence this means selling the data for very high (this means political) price. This could include non-aggression pact with Lyrans, perhaps trade routes to Draconis Combine and technological aid from Free Worlds League. Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation could be on board for sale for something as small as considerable political clout and recognition as well as immunity from Terran Hegemony revenge.

The money would naturally also change hands but they are more of a formality and intended to give "gold watches" to everyone involved while real deal were above mentioned political, economic and military concessions. Deals on this level mean everyone involved need some part of the cake as a sweeter (think Lockheed bribery scandals in 1970's in Japan). BTW, the size of this personal sweetener can be sizable...

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As far as attracting scum for war is concerned, it ultimately boils down to amount of money you have (see definition of mercenary). Occupying Terran Hegemony gives you a ton of money and assets to be used in all kinds of shady deals (it must have irritated Kerensky to no end that he could not attract same numbers of scum as he did not have those assets in his hands). So there is no reason to have any kind of "mercenary intelligence agency" for this.

In my view the game breaker here is the ruthlessness and previous experience of intelligence agency. If you buy weapons and specialists secretly before the war you probably already have excellent idea where to find scum on routine basis. SLDF has not done it to the same degree (they kind of work legally and openly) so SLDF naturally starts from the runner up position to RWR people.

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Ultimately the war ends and RWR is put out of commission. So what happened to RWR technological/military/intelligence professionals after war ended? Well, they were immediately hired by all five houses to bolster their ranks for war to come. You know, just like you bribed those SLDF people with brand new brigade names and titles and like. Oh and for giggles you'd probably have many of those RWR people in same units as the ex-SLDF people (talk about awkward staff parties). Aw God the role-playing opportunities are endless here...

Do we have so many leaders/small leaders/factions that can create intelligence agencies?
I know we are talking about paranoiacs and that redundancy is sometimes a good thing for intelligence services but this is by far too much to be efficient.

And to get the former operatives, you need to find a list of them, find them, try to get rid of the most implicated ones (those that committed too many war crimes)... All this while the others are doing the same.

I'll try and tie this altogether after I've taken a look at all the agencies Ice. It is a confusing picture but I think you'll see each body has its place. Ask and you shall receive MechRat!

First appearing in Through a Mirror Darkly by BlackTigerActual (2007) the Makos quickly became the ruthless enemies in many such Star League era fanfics. These special force operatives were referred to as the Rim Worlds equivalent of the Davion Rabid Foxes. BTA also portrayed them as a military organization with ranks ranging from Captain to Sergeant. They also operated in hunter-killer teams and later on adopted the under arm shark tattoo that Master Arminas introduced. The Star League’s 90th Heavy Assault Regiment (the Black Tigers of New Vandenberg) were only their first opponent.
Master Arminas also wrote about the Makos in Book II and III of his Cameron Legacy. In that story a four man Loki team charged with assassinating the First Lord’s wife impersonate Makos. This is where the trademark tattoo of a swirling shark with an ID number and microchip on the interior was introduced. He referred to them as House Amaris secret police and the Special Security Forces of the Rim Worlds. Technically they were a part of the military (Rim Worlds Army) and filled the role that the Gestapo/SS had in Nazi Germany or what the KGB was to the Soviets.
They were an arm of the government not bound to military or civilian laws answering only to the leader of the Rim. The micro-chip implanted underneath the Mako tattoo was described as unsophisticated but effective means of identification and loyalty. Utterly devoted to the Amaris clan the Makos are authorized to deal with any violation of their will. A hybrid organization similar to Kurita's DEST and Liao's Death Commandos (even if the Makos aren’t contemporaries) the Makos are ultra loyal watchdogs for Amaris perhaps created during the Reunification War (2570s).
   Our only piece of contradictory information that might be gleaned from their appearances is in Book III of a Cameron Legacy. DEST commando Hiroyoshi Tanaka describes the hit operation conducted by the 4 man Loki team as being out of character for Makos. When Tanaka sparred with their kind before the war Makos never worked together but this runs in opposition to previous accounts. They preferred to use others as cats-paws pulling the strings from a distance. Makos would get ‘dirty’ if they had to but because of their responsibilities to the Amaris’ tended not to go down in a blaze of glory.
   As a further example of this practice high value terror operations against the Houses are sighted where not a single Mako was present. I’d like to resolve this contrast in styles and methods so that everything fits together into a single story. I’d also like to pin down their foundation date. Is it during the Reunification War when the Republic turns on Amaris? They could be a solution for such a situation. Were they House Amaris bodyguards as well? It seems as this protective task might fall within their purview as well as terrorist strikes and other special operation missions. Does M.A.K.O. stand for anything or is it just a shark name after the crest of the ruling family?
Also I see cawest has used them in his fanfic, Dairy of a Rim Worlder on Terra in 2766. Has anyone else? I’d love to see other appearances and hear your opinion on them.

We start by going back to school since what you wrote is terribad...

All Security services have defensive duties which typically fall alongside VIP protection, "regular" counterespionage and "serious crime" suppression as well as political police which is specifically tasked to deal with regime overthrows. In US the FBI has been traditionally a political police dealing with subversive elements of society (nowadays it is supported by Department of Homeland Security). Soviet union used KGB (which was all around security service and Germany had specialist agency called Gestapo). almost all armies have their own specialist defensive agencies that also have political police duties (for example Gefepo in Germany and old US Army Security Agency) or they have units from general security services (KGB Counterintelligence Units are example of this). Political officers have nothing to do with this issue so they must be dropped from the get go.

Typically political police keeps low profile and it works through a network of informants. The work is essentially same as any serious crime suppression police force would do (think how FBI works on its organized crime task forces). Occasionally you may see someone working undercover but that is it. To understand just how uncommon security police presence is in real world, it is informative to know that just 2% of political dissidents leaving USSR in 1970's had actually interacted with KGB before they started subversive activities and thus targets of police activities. So ODP is nothing what you have described.

Alternative is to have all-pervasive state security service. The famous Stasi had 2.5% of population as its regular informants and it held a relatively high profile (activity at this level just cannot be hidden from population). However, that requires a massive security agency that just goes against what you just described beforehand. Either you have cowboy agencies and chaos that you just embraces or you have Stasi but you cannot have both. I would also like to point out that description of RWR does not support Stasi at all.

You can have KGB at best (bloated, ossified and clumsy) or most probably just Gestapo (just think it as an agency of understaffed and heroically overworking experienced policemen working day and night dealing with political enemies of state). However, there is something that did work for KGB. Despite fact that it was a small kitten compared to old bad wolf NKVD it was similarly universally feared. Despite the fact that no one in USSR ever really saw KGB men it was assumed to be out there and working just about everywhere...

So ODP is actually a group that has purged enemies of state and losers in internal power struggles gaining itself a fearsome reputation alongside its well-known (but probably not massive) network of informants. Actually all you see is a middle-aged policeman (typically a detective in civilian clothes) working overtime for work of two men. He almost never leaves his office (I've heard stories of KGB agents spending just 4 hours per week in real field work and competing who writes longest reports to look good) but he pays dutifully to informants and writes and collates reports. When he gets a good tip he will call regular local police and/or other security services people and they raid the place and arrest suspect for questioning. He also eats way too many donuts and has a dog called Blondie in office. His counterpart in army works pretty much the same way but occasionally he gets to interrogate suspected spies from locals and allies who troops have found out. The high level (politically important) work is more exciting (at least the targets are movers and shakers). Typically such potential subversives are kept under surveillance for very long time (could be years). The civilian side should work as I told above. Use KGB as a model for established systems (effectively RWR area) and Gestapo for newly acquired systems (effectively TH systems)...

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Then we go to subject of political officers. They are one of the most popular aspects in real life armies. Typically political officers do stuff like listen worries of troops (many armies have Political officers called Chaplains just for that). They also handle talking with civilians and foreigners and outsiders in general (some armies call them Public Affairs Officers). They may even substitute themselves for line officers if unit needs to put out official message to look good (Chinese have occasionally put political officer to play role of line officer so they have absolutely politically correct answers to anything foreigners ask). Finally they deal with protocol (while this is also done by Adjutant in some armies). Political officers were so popular in Soviet army that modern Russian army keeps them (they are now politically correctly called Education Officers). So they are just badly understood hardworking administrators who keep wheels of holy bureaucracy oiled in HQ...

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Lets then talk about actual political work. What do these political officers actually do in political front? Mostly they sprout out the official liturgy that needs to be done. Since political officer is underling of commander (just another officer really) and also personally responsible if commander/unit screws up there is tremendous pressure to keep things looking good. You could say that a typical political officer helps commander to hide his mistakes. This is BTW how a typically soviet factory also worked: nominally independent local communist party faction was pretty much under fist of factory manager and did its best to look good and did the bare minimum if it ever got caught doing it...

During wartime the political officers main job is to cheer troops. There is no fear involved (until army is totally collapsing like in 1945 Germany) because troops have guns and they go home when they realize that own side is not good. Only way to keep troops in line then it that the opponent is a rabid foulmouthed anti-Amaris psycopath called Kerensky who screamed on regular intervals how he is going to wipe out RWR and its army. This provides plenty of psychological ammo to keep troops fighting thanks to "unconditional surrender policy" of Kerensky as well as other "bad-ass creeds" of SLDF...

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So where does this fearsome image of political officers screaming about and running with Magnum Macho 3000 Executioner pistols shooting troops and having "thugs" and "enforcers" actually come from? Shitty writing by miserable hacks aside there is small kernel of truth inside. Back in Russian Civil War things were so unorganized that essentially you had a bunch of hard-core revolutionaries with no clue how army functions. They were sent to front to aid shaky and effectively non-existing army to do something with orders to succeed by any means. That often meant very radical (and bloody) decisions. Things went the same way in 1941 when army was falling apart. However, as soon as RKKA got organized commissar powers were severely curtailed and after the war the commissar system was rebuilt to way I've described above. There is no reason why RWR which has had plenty of peace time living should not organize itself into an organized group.

If I'd make RWR political officers in army I'd look a model from Nazi Germany. Wehrmacht also had its own political systems is interesting example how to do it during the war. They effectively asked officers who were fervent National Socialists to become "guiding officers" and when they did they were quite popular. The secret of German way was that the troops already wanted more National Socialism (to aid them to fight Asiatic Hordes(tm) ) to strengthen their ideological commitment. The Guiding officers were thus preaching the choir...

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So what then when war is over? Well, dodging Kerensky's death squads and murderous occupation policies aside the people who are in it for ideological reasons are facing a dilemma. Some simply have seen their entire world collapse and hide or lay low and try to build up a new life. This is more common if they can vanish to a different system to start anew. Those who believe in Amaris dreams of empires and Periphery Independence will be welcomed in Kurita space as they are used to attack Lyrans now occupying RWR systems. At the same time Steiners are more than happy to send back to Kerenskys arms (strangling hands actually) as anyone they suspect would not be a technocratic cog in their LIC/LCAF. This double policy will create plenty of heart-breaking stories and potential of traitors and dissidents in LIC/LCAF ranks for years to come (which SAFE and ISF will naturally exploit to the hilt)...

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