Voice of Freedom
THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE
STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: to detail the Alliance’s military intelligence organization.
- Image Credit:
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links:
- The Alliance(Faction)
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Organization Name: Strategic Intelligence Agency (S.I.A.)
- Classification: Military Intelligence
- Affiliation: The Alliance
- Organization Symbol:
- Description: The SIA is the military intelligence agency of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and the largest of the two branches overseen by Ministry of Intelligence; the governing body which regulates the Alliance’s intelligence efforts. The SIA operates as part of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force to collect, analyze and report on threats to the Alliance’s national security and, when necessary, conduct operations to resolve them.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
- Domain: The SIA operates on a Galactic-scale.
- Notable Assets: N/A
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Hierarchy: The SIA is commanded by a Director; a title which is jointly appointed by the Galactic Alliance’s Minister of Intelligence and Minister of Defense. Once a Director has been selected and approved, they report solely to the Ministry of Intelligence.
Below the Director is the agency’s self-appointed Deputy Director, who acts as their own elected official and 2nd-in-Command. Below them, the SIA is divided into 3 distinct Bureaus that are each further separated into specialized Divisions. Each Bureaus is overseen by a Bureau Chief, and each Division within is supervised by a Chief. Depending on the size of their respective Division, some officials may opt to introduce a Deputy Chief to help mitigate their workload.
The ranking structure of the Strategic Intelligence Agency is as follows:
| S.I.A. Hierarchy |
|---|
Director ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Deputy Director ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Bureau Chief ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Chief ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Deputy Chief ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Special Agent ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Senior Agent ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Agent ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Junior Agent ■ ■ ■ ■ |
Trainee ■ ■ |
Officer Cadet ■ ■ |
- Membership: New recruits of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force can qualify for a career in one of the SIA’s Bureaus if they score high enough on their Vocational Aptitude Test (VAT). Alternatively, members of the GADF may choose to transfer from other branches of the Defense Force should they have relevant and distinguished experience that meet the Agency’s requirements. As the Galactic Alliance’s military intelligence agency, the SIA’s personnel are members of the Defense Force. As such, new recruits of the agency are required to complete the standard regimen of the GADF, such as the basic military qualification (BMQ) course. Afterwards, additional education and training courses at an accredited military academy are required before an Officer Cadet may receive a commissioned rank. Once graduated, a successful Cadet may then enter the SIAs own extensive education programs as a Trainee. On rare occasions exceptions to this rule may be granted for individuals possessing unique/exceptional skills or abilities.
Between its various Bureaus and Divisions, many skill sets can find value within the SIA’s ranks. However, most positions require some degree of technical competence ranging from basic computer literacy to far more advanced proficiencies in computer science and engineering. Applicants who possess specialized skills, such as cryptography or various avenues of the sciences and engineering, are especially desirable since they are in shorter supply and require far less training.
Aside from technical and intellectual skills, qualifying personnel who excel on their physical aptitude tests may be eligible for a limited selection of field positions within the SIAs Operations Bureau, although this is an uncommon placement for trainees.
The SIA’s Bureaus and Divisions are the following:
Internal Security Bureau (IntSec): In essence, IntSec acts as a miniaturized internal intelligence agency and private security force within the Strategic Intelligence Agency. It is responsible for protecting the SIA’s information and assets from internal and external threats.
Counter-Espionage Division (EsCon): One of the most strongly vetted departments of the SIA as a whole. Members of EsCon are tasked with monitoring the SIA itself, rooting out spies and moles from the agency’s own ranks.
Site Security Division (SitSec): The SIA’s own security personnel and policing force, responsible for the protection of the agency’s staff, resources and facilities.
Information Analysis Bureau: The core of the SIA. Members of this bureau handle and analyze various sources of data for information that may be of value or concern to the Galactic Alliance.
Communications & Traffic Division (Comm-Traf): Responsible for analyzing network traffic obtained through accessible public and private sources, such as HoloNet scandocs, newsdocs, and intercepted comlink frequencies and beamcasts. Utilizing highly trained staff and sophisticated A.I. machine learning & pattern recognition techniques, Comm-Traf searches for intel that could prove valuable to other Bureaus of the SIA.
Crypto-Analysis Division (Crypto): Although most of the workload is handled by powerful supercomputers, its limited personnel work alongside these A.I. to decipher encrypted data flagged by Comm-Traf or forwarded to them directly by other Bureaus and Divisions of the SIA.
Engineering Division (EnDiv): The engineers, scientists and technicians of this branch utilize their advanced skill sets to analyze enemy hardware and technology. Their studies are used to determine research priorities for the Alliance, and to better prepare both the SIA and Defense Force against emerging technologies.
Audit Division (A-Div): The SIAs expert interrogators, responsible for the extraction of high value information from the enemies of the Alliance. A-Div is one of the smallest branches within the SIA, as they are only utilized in circumstances deemed urgent by the Ministry of Intelligence. Occasionally, with the express consent of the Minister of Justice, judiciary forces may also request the assistance of A-Div agents. These requests must also be approved by the Minister of Intelligence.
Operations Bureau: Responsible for the handling of urgent, delicate and often discrete matters, the various divisions of this bureau are the SIA’s field agents who complete covert operations within the borders of the Galactic Alliance and abroad.
Surveillance Division (Veil): The eyes and ears of the Operations Bureau and by far it’s largest Division. Responsible for observing, recording and reporting on the activities of the SIA’s objects/groups/people of interest. Through the use of moles, double agents, field reconnaissance and other hands-on methods the agents of Veil establish deep and reliable sources of intelligence within desired organizations and social circles.
Counter-Intelligence Division (CInt): Despite most within the SIA considering SpecDiv or IntSec to be their most clandestine and well-guarded departments, CInt holds the title with the Divisions existence being known only to the Minister of Intelligence, Director and Deputy Director of the SIA. Unlike other Divisions, agents of CInt are tasked with the infiltration of other government departments and organizations of the Alliance to root out enemies from within.
Diplomatic Services Division (DipServ): Another sizable Division within the Operations Bureau and SIA as a whole, DipServ (often simply called Dip) is a broad Division that is responsible for a wide array of tasks. Most notably, Dip agents are tasked with strategically coordinating and covertly overseeing trade, diplomatic and political missions to best ensure the safety of those involved. Additionally, agents of DipServ occasionally coordinate with localized forces to achieve diplomatic objectives; such as establishing, arming or funding rebel cells who promote agreeable ideologies, or providing aid to movements that aim to destabilize organizations or individuals deemed to be undesirable or dangerous to the Galactic Alliance.
Special Operations Division (SpecDiv): The Operation Bureau’s black ops special forces and the SIAs only dedicated combat personnel. SpecDiv is an extremely closed-door Division within the Agency, with some details of their operations being restricted even to the members of EsCon. SpecDiv units are dispatched for high priority offensive operations, such as tactical infiltrations, resource and personnel extraction, and occasionally target extermination.
- Climate: As a branch of the military and government the SIA maintains a strict, regimented and formal working environment. It’s personnel are expected to adhere to the security procedures warranted by their site location, position and the clearance afforded to them. Due to the potential impact it can cause, failure to comply with these regulations and expectations can be met with varying degrees of punishment, ranging from simple written/verbal notices, court marshaling, or in more extreme cases, capital punishment. Of course, these possible outcomes are not kept secret or desirable, and average members of the Agency with no ill intentions should not have any fear of punishment. With few exceptions, the environment of the SIA is no different than that of any respectable government job that requires high security clearance.
- Reputation: As a highly classified intelligence agency the reputation of the SIA can vary wildly depending on the crowd polled. The average citizen of the Galactic Alliance likely holds no strong feelings one way or another, either because they don’t care, see them as a logical necessity for any large government, or - depending on their location and access to information - are simply unaware of their existence. However, it's only natural for such an organization to draw some notoriety. There will always be those who are distrusting or wary of organizations designed to surveil and the SIA is a host to plenty of conspiracies, from the abduction of citizens to the detailed monitoring of everyday HoloNet and commlink traffic. For those outside of the Alliance, concerns over the SIAs actions are far more justified. The Operations Bureau works tirelessly to establish contacts and/or plant agents within feasible positions abroad. Targets of such operations, malicious or not, may include obvious threats to the Alliance, organizations of value or interest, and, to some degree, even allied/friendly nations.
- Curios: Personnel of the SIA are typically required to wear uniforms that distinguish their Bureau and/or Division of employment, along with insignia and ribbons to identify their rank and any notable accomplishments. Personnel are also assigned identification chips and unique code cylinders, which are used to prove their identity and grant personalized access to site locations, systems and other approved assets.
- Rules: The SIA follow strict operating procedures and security practices that are to be expected when working in a high clearance military environment. Some personnel, such as those of EsCon, CInt and certain units within SpecDiv, face tighter restrictions outside of work due to the nature of their jobs. In some cases these personnel and their families are required to live in secured facilities and/or assume false identities and disguises when going about their day-to-day lives.
- Goals: The primary goals of the SIA are to predict, discover and eliminate threats to the Galactic Alliance’s national security. The SIA accomplishes these goals through the collection and analysis of strategically beneficial intelligence and through the conduction of covert and overt operations within the territories of the Alliance and abroad.
MEMBERS
-
Jayne Colacta
: Information Analysis Bureau, Bureau Chief
Jayne Colacta
: Information Analysis Bureau, Bureau Chief-
Serenity
: Counter-Espionage Division (EsCon), Chief
Serenity
: Counter-Espionage Division (EsCon), Chief- Idris Harnell : Counter-Intelligence Division (CInt), Special Agent
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Like many aspects of the Galactic Alliance, the Strategic Intelligence Agency was initially established as a small effort utilizing repurposed resources and infrastructures that had been left over from Sith-Imperial Bloc’s occupation of Coruscant. However, as the government grew in size, power and influence, so too did the resources and funding that were available for the fledgling agency. With the additional personnel and assets of Republic Intelligence as the Core Alliance and High Republic pool their resources, the Galactic Alliance's Strategic Intelligence Agency continues to improve its methods in order to preserve the safety and security of the nation and it's people.
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