I've made a couple of changes and additions... If there are no objections to this by the 15th, I'll add it to the Gazetteer sticky and the wiki.
[size=larger]Space Patrol[/size]
History
It started with a back-room discussion in a bar. (story link: Spider Symposium Briefing)
The people having the discussion included three of Fenspace's most important unaffiliated Fen: Mal Fnord, Katz Schrödinger, and Noah Scott. Mal's chief engineer Kali was the other person in attendance. Kali and Katz were there to talk about the progress of Operation Great Justice; Noah had other ideas, and had convinced Mal to let him present his proposal ahead of time.
Once the OGJ discussion was completed, Noah proposed forming a Space Patrol to handle the everyday, run-of-the-mill criminal activities; this would let OGJ go after the heavy hitters behind the Boskonians of the day. This was greeted with enthusiasm by the heavy hitters in attendance, who were tired of mopping up the everyday, run-of-the-mill criminal activities. The only matter of contention was the proposed group's name, but it didn't take very long for the four people in attendance to agree on "Space Patrol".
Then came the Interdimensional Incursion Incident. (story link: Legend of Galactic Girls) During the fallout from that event, less than a week after *WHITENOISEWHITENOISEWHITENOISE*, Noah leveraged public opinion to his own advantage, hiring Oliver Towne to chair the *WHITENOISE* Foundation. Towne's first order was to set up the Patrol.
Towne staffed the Patrol with as many professionals as he could find. He supplemented this skeleton organization with whichever battle-blooded amateurs he could find, as long as they were very good at the job.
Facilities
The White Tower started out as the asteroid rendezvous point for forces participating in the last operation against Boskone Prime. At that point it was just another carbonaceous asteroid about the size of the Superdome with a transponder beacon attached. After Boskone the Patrol found itself in need of an operating base with room, and the Tower's location made it useful. The Patrol Academy is located in the White Tower.
Eventually, the Patrol plans to have station houses throughout Fenspace, and faction liaison offices in all major Fen settlements. As of the end of OGJ, however, they only have minimal "point of presence" offices, at Crystal Tokyo, Port Luna, Helium, Hogwarts, and Serenity Valley. All major operations and most day-to-day activities are still based out of the White Tower.
Organization
Section leaders get code names to protect their identities, in sections where it makes the job easier.
Section 1: Administration
The necessary-but-often-despised paper-pushers.
Section 1a: Office of the Chief Officer
The smallest group in the Space Patrol, but in some ways the most important, this is where the orders and policies come from. The office is located in a secure facility under the White Tower.
Section 1b: Inter-Force Liaison
These people deal with inter-jurisdictional matters. They work with the ICPO, the CIA, the RCMP, the OGJ's MPs, the Sammies, the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement, and other such groups.
Inter-Force has more Blue Blazers per capita than any other group in the Patrol.
Section 1c: Logistics
These are the people who make sure each station and office have what they need to do the job. Logistics is also responsible for supplying the White Tower and the Academy.
Section 1d: Training
This group runs the Academy, and also ensures current officers' skills don't becomy rusty.
Section 2: Uniformed Units
Somebody has to direct traffic around the White Tower, the ISS, and other busy non-factional locations... Section 2 is the uniformed police, who handle all the jobs that uniformed police in "free" societies usually handle.
Section 3: Major Crimes Units
These people are the patrol's detectives, assigned to the "glamorous" cases. Murder, grand theft, abduction; if it's high-profile, Section 3 investigates it.
Section 4: Organized Crime Unit
The anti-Boskone unit, OCU is lead by an agent code-named "Kinnison". Section 4's operational details are classified.
Section 5: Hate Crimes Unit
These people aren't just the anti-Turnerite (story link: FTL Newsfeed #235) squad. "Hate crimes" cuts both ways - Fen who libel 'Danes are as much Section 5's problem as 'Danes who libel Fen are, although they spend most of their time investigating Fen who libel other factions.
The HCU is a separate Section because they're important to the smooth running of Fenspace. If they do their work properly, they can shut down an interfactional feud before it becomes a shooting match.
Section 6: Fen Extra-vehicular, Special Weapons, and Tactics Unit
Lead by an agent code-named "Nanoha" (whoever that person may be; have pity on any males who get the job), FESWAT handles the really difficult jobs. Section 6 is proud of being the group that gets the dirty end of the stick - they're tough enough, and good enough, and stubborn enough to get in there and get the job done. Bulletproof biomods and androids who join the Patrol often get assigned to FESWAT.
Section 6's biggest job during the Boskone War was their participation in the cleaning-out of the Hell-Hole in Space.
Section 7: Support Units
The folks who aren't police or paper-pushers, but are still needed by a modern police force.
Section 7a: Forensics Unit
This is where one can find the Patrol's "lab techs". They've been nicknamed "CSI:Fenspace" by more than a few entertainment writers.
Section 7b: Technical Unit
These folks are responsible for maintaining the Patrol's physical assets. Scottish accents (real or affected) are optional, but widespread among Section 7b's Trekkies.
This is also the home of the Patrol's computer specialists, including the codemakers and codebreakers. For some reason that nobody talks about, the codebreaker group is called "SETEC Astronomy" even in official documents.
Section 8: Internal Affairs
"Who watches the watchers? We do."
IA is authorized and required to investigate all reports of wrongdoing in Sections 1-7. (Section 3 investigates reports of wrongdoing within Section 8.)
Section 9: Deniable Operations Unit
Section 9 does not exist. It is not lead by someone code-named "Kusanagi". You should ignore any rumours you may have heard to the contrary. You should also ignore the Tachikoma removing the drive unit from your ship, because the Tachikoma doesn't exist either. (And the half-dozen Tachikomas that don't exist weren't built in the same limited-order AI production run that Noah didn't convince A.C. to fill for the Patrol, because that production run also doesn't exist.) Move along, nothing to see here.
Section 9 definitely does not appear in the Space Patrol table of operations or budget in any form. (A line for "miscellaneous expenses" appears in the MARS section of the VVS budget, but the VVS is not the Patrol.)
Some Important Patrol Members
* The Commissioner of the Space Patrol: The person in charge. Answers to the *WHITENOISE* Foundation and the Factions. Usually just called "the Commissioner". (The current Commissioner, a battle-weary but still capable Trekkie named Kirk Russell, discourages "Commissioner Gordon" jokes; he isn't a Batman fan.)
* The Chief Officer of the Space Patrol: The person in charge of Section 2. Usually just called "Chief". The Chief Officer answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* The Chief Detective of the Space Patrol: The person in charge of Section 3. The Chief Detective answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* "Kinnison": The person in charge of Section 4. "Kinnison" answers to the Chief Detective.
* "Nanoha": The person in charge of Section 6. "Nanoha" answers to the Chief Officer. Must be sufficiently skilled and fit to take part in FESWAT operations.
* The Chief Internal Investigator: The person in charge of Section 8. The Chief Internal Investigator answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* "Kusanagi": The person in charge of Section 9. "Kusanagi" answers to and advises the Commissioner, and advises the *WHITENOISE* Foundation directly. ("Kusanagi" might or might not be known as "Okkane-chan" by close friends.)
Sidebar: Things the Patrol Doesn't Do
The patrol is a civilian police force. There are some jobs that the police traditionally does not do, and those traditions have carried over into Fenspace.
Military policing is handled by Operation Great Justice.
The judiciary is handled by the Erisians.
Disaster relief, aside from maintaining order, is what the Blue Blazers do best.
Incarceration and other punishment is a complex matter. Due to the nature of major crimes, nearly all those convicted have committed crimes both in Fenspace and in the 'Danelaw. Once the Fen have metered out their punishment (usually complete stripping of assets to pay reperations), the criminal is extradited to Earth for the 'Dane authorities to do their thing. For those rare times where the criminal hasn't upset the 'Danes, community service to the terraforming groups isn't enough, and the death penalty is either too extreme or not practiced by the affected Faction, there's Azkaban Prison, somewhere in the Kuiper Belt.
Sidebar: Section 9
It's unusual but not unknown for a police force to have a "secret agent" section - real-world examples are rumoured to include the RCMP-SS, the CIA, and (historically) the Kempai Tai. Section 9 is Fenspace's equivalent to these organizations.
They were originally (and officially still are) a MARS squad working for the VVS. Okkane-chan and her squadmates handle deep-cover operations for the Patrol... and for its ultimate major backers: Stellvia Corp., the Soviet Air Force, and Operation Great Justice. This can cause problems when Stellvia and OGJ each want Section 9 to spy on the other at the same time. By necessity, Section 9 lives by the concept of "compartmentalization of information;" Okkane-chan is the only member of the section whose name or appearance is known to the Foundation.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
[size=larger]Space Patrol[/size]
History
It started with a back-room discussion in a bar. (story link: Spider Symposium Briefing)
The people having the discussion included three of Fenspace's most important unaffiliated Fen: Mal Fnord, Katz Schrödinger, and Noah Scott. Mal's chief engineer Kali was the other person in attendance. Kali and Katz were there to talk about the progress of Operation Great Justice; Noah had other ideas, and had convinced Mal to let him present his proposal ahead of time.
Once the OGJ discussion was completed, Noah proposed forming a Space Patrol to handle the everyday, run-of-the-mill criminal activities; this would let OGJ go after the heavy hitters behind the Boskonians of the day. This was greeted with enthusiasm by the heavy hitters in attendance, who were tired of mopping up the everyday, run-of-the-mill criminal activities. The only matter of contention was the proposed group's name, but it didn't take very long for the four people in attendance to agree on "Space Patrol".
Then came the Interdimensional Incursion Incident. (story link: Legend of Galactic Girls) During the fallout from that event, less than a week after *WHITENOISEWHITENOISEWHITENOISE*, Noah leveraged public opinion to his own advantage, hiring Oliver Towne to chair the *WHITENOISE* Foundation. Towne's first order was to set up the Patrol.
Towne staffed the Patrol with as many professionals as he could find. He supplemented this skeleton organization with whichever battle-blooded amateurs he could find, as long as they were very good at the job.
Facilities
The White Tower started out as the asteroid rendezvous point for forces participating in the last operation against Boskone Prime. At that point it was just another carbonaceous asteroid about the size of the Superdome with a transponder beacon attached. After Boskone the Patrol found itself in need of an operating base with room, and the Tower's location made it useful. The Patrol Academy is located in the White Tower.
Eventually, the Patrol plans to have station houses throughout Fenspace, and faction liaison offices in all major Fen settlements. As of the end of OGJ, however, they only have minimal "point of presence" offices, at Crystal Tokyo, Port Luna, Helium, Hogwarts, and Serenity Valley. All major operations and most day-to-day activities are still based out of the White Tower.
Organization
Section leaders get code names to protect their identities, in sections where it makes the job easier.
Section 1: Administration
The necessary-but-often-despised paper-pushers.
Section 1a: Office of the Chief Officer
The smallest group in the Space Patrol, but in some ways the most important, this is where the orders and policies come from. The office is located in a secure facility under the White Tower.
Section 1b: Inter-Force Liaison
These people deal with inter-jurisdictional matters. They work with the ICPO, the CIA, the RCMP, the OGJ's MPs, the Sammies, the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement, and other such groups.
Inter-Force has more Blue Blazers per capita than any other group in the Patrol.
Section 1c: Logistics
These are the people who make sure each station and office have what they need to do the job. Logistics is also responsible for supplying the White Tower and the Academy.
Section 1d: Training
This group runs the Academy, and also ensures current officers' skills don't becomy rusty.
Section 2: Uniformed Units
Somebody has to direct traffic around the White Tower, the ISS, and other busy non-factional locations... Section 2 is the uniformed police, who handle all the jobs that uniformed police in "free" societies usually handle.
Section 3: Major Crimes Units
These people are the patrol's detectives, assigned to the "glamorous" cases. Murder, grand theft, abduction; if it's high-profile, Section 3 investigates it.
Section 4: Organized Crime Unit
The anti-Boskone unit, OCU is lead by an agent code-named "Kinnison". Section 4's operational details are classified.
Section 5: Hate Crimes Unit
These people aren't just the anti-Turnerite (story link: FTL Newsfeed #235) squad. "Hate crimes" cuts both ways - Fen who libel 'Danes are as much Section 5's problem as 'Danes who libel Fen are, although they spend most of their time investigating Fen who libel other factions.
The HCU is a separate Section because they're important to the smooth running of Fenspace. If they do their work properly, they can shut down an interfactional feud before it becomes a shooting match.
Section 6: Fen Extra-vehicular, Special Weapons, and Tactics Unit
Lead by an agent code-named "Nanoha" (whoever that person may be; have pity on any males who get the job), FESWAT handles the really difficult jobs. Section 6 is proud of being the group that gets the dirty end of the stick - they're tough enough, and good enough, and stubborn enough to get in there and get the job done. Bulletproof biomods and androids who join the Patrol often get assigned to FESWAT.
Section 6's biggest job during the Boskone War was their participation in the cleaning-out of the Hell-Hole in Space.
Section 7: Support Units
The folks who aren't police or paper-pushers, but are still needed by a modern police force.
Section 7a: Forensics Unit
This is where one can find the Patrol's "lab techs". They've been nicknamed "CSI:Fenspace" by more than a few entertainment writers.
Section 7b: Technical Unit
These folks are responsible for maintaining the Patrol's physical assets. Scottish accents (real or affected) are optional, but widespread among Section 7b's Trekkies.
This is also the home of the Patrol's computer specialists, including the codemakers and codebreakers. For some reason that nobody talks about, the codebreaker group is called "SETEC Astronomy" even in official documents.
Section 8: Internal Affairs
"Who watches the watchers? We do."
IA is authorized and required to investigate all reports of wrongdoing in Sections 1-7. (Section 3 investigates reports of wrongdoing within Section 8.)
Section 9: Deniable Operations Unit
Section 9 does not exist. It is not lead by someone code-named "Kusanagi". You should ignore any rumours you may have heard to the contrary. You should also ignore the Tachikoma removing the drive unit from your ship, because the Tachikoma doesn't exist either. (And the half-dozen Tachikomas that don't exist weren't built in the same limited-order AI production run that Noah didn't convince A.C. to fill for the Patrol, because that production run also doesn't exist.) Move along, nothing to see here.
Section 9 definitely does not appear in the Space Patrol table of operations or budget in any form. (A line for "miscellaneous expenses" appears in the MARS section of the VVS budget, but the VVS is not the Patrol.)
Some Important Patrol Members
* The Commissioner of the Space Patrol: The person in charge. Answers to the *WHITENOISE* Foundation and the Factions. Usually just called "the Commissioner". (The current Commissioner, a battle-weary but still capable Trekkie named Kirk Russell, discourages "Commissioner Gordon" jokes; he isn't a Batman fan.)
* The Chief Officer of the Space Patrol: The person in charge of Section 2. Usually just called "Chief". The Chief Officer answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* The Chief Detective of the Space Patrol: The person in charge of Section 3. The Chief Detective answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* "Kinnison": The person in charge of Section 4. "Kinnison" answers to the Chief Detective.
* "Nanoha": The person in charge of Section 6. "Nanoha" answers to the Chief Officer. Must be sufficiently skilled and fit to take part in FESWAT operations.
* The Chief Internal Investigator: The person in charge of Section 8. The Chief Internal Investigator answers to, and advises, the Commissioner.
* "Kusanagi": The person in charge of Section 9. "Kusanagi" answers to and advises the Commissioner, and advises the *WHITENOISE* Foundation directly. ("Kusanagi" might or might not be known as "Okkane-chan" by close friends.)
Sidebar: Things the Patrol Doesn't Do
The patrol is a civilian police force. There are some jobs that the police traditionally does not do, and those traditions have carried over into Fenspace.
Military policing is handled by Operation Great Justice.
The judiciary is handled by the Erisians.
Disaster relief, aside from maintaining order, is what the Blue Blazers do best.
Incarceration and other punishment is a complex matter. Due to the nature of major crimes, nearly all those convicted have committed crimes both in Fenspace and in the 'Danelaw. Once the Fen have metered out their punishment (usually complete stripping of assets to pay reperations), the criminal is extradited to Earth for the 'Dane authorities to do their thing. For those rare times where the criminal hasn't upset the 'Danes, community service to the terraforming groups isn't enough, and the death penalty is either too extreme or not practiced by the affected Faction, there's Azkaban Prison, somewhere in the Kuiper Belt.
Sidebar: Section 9
It's unusual but not unknown for a police force to have a "secret agent" section - real-world examples are rumoured to include the RCMP-SS, the CIA, and (historically) the Kempai Tai. Section 9 is Fenspace's equivalent to these organizations.
They were originally (and officially still are) a MARS squad working for the VVS. Okkane-chan and her squadmates handle deep-cover operations for the Patrol... and for its ultimate major backers: Stellvia Corp., the Soviet Air Force, and Operation Great Justice. This can cause problems when Stellvia and OGJ each want Section 9 to spy on the other at the same time. By necessity, Section 9 lives by the concept of "compartmentalization of information;" Okkane-chan is the only member of the section whose name or appearance is known to the Foundation.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012