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Originally Posted by tsofian
Would the Snake Eaters accept that the 1st cavalry is a United States Army unit and a legitimate part of the Government of the Unites States of America? Will they accept the authority of its commissioned and non-commissioned officers?
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Well, the Snake Eaters (like most of TMP) was never really considered in much detail in canon. We don't know much about them other than that (a) they are SF, (b) their mission was specified for a post-apocalyptic scenario, and that (c) they had some knowledge of the existence of the Project. They were presumably briefed for the possibility that they would awake to no "official" US government, and prepared for that possibility... but I don't want to guess what their official position would be. I suspect that, given the time elapsed and probable deviations of the 1st Cav from 20th century US policy and law, they would probably consider them to be like a very friendly but still unofficial/foreign group - they would ally themselves with them and try to steer them towards being more "American", but would probably not accept them as official or as superiors. Their orders presumably specified some criteria for whom they could consider as such, and even outside those orders they would probably refuse.
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Originally Posted by tsofian
An additional issue becomes the massive amount of classified materials found in the cache. The players found a large amount of classified materials from the FBI, CIA, DIA and various other organization. I intend upon using this material for a number of plot hooks. It includes a large number of FBI files on Morrow, so it might have clues to the location of Prime Base.
The other files might have information on things like Damocles. The location of other strategic reserves and such.
How would the Special Forces guys feel about this HUGE amount of classified material. Yes, a lot of it is outdated, but a lot of the material is still relevant. Can they "read in" the Morrow Teams and the soldiers of the 1st?
What other plot hooks can this enormous cache of classified information lead to?
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There are a few issues here.
First, under the normal TMP timeline, I don't think any of that would still be classified under law. To the best of my knowledge (and I have handled classified data routinely) the maximum time that material can be kept classified past the last order is 75 years, so even material classified as the bombs dropped would be unclassified 150 years later. These dates are marked on the material. I am not aware of any statute that allows for indefinite or longer classification, and indeed there are specific laws that prevent it.
Second, ignoring legality, what info is really going to be valuable 150 years later? Everyone named is dead, most if not all of the material resources are gone... other than pointing out other possible (equally irrelevant) caches, what is of value here?
Third, (wow, there are more than I thought when I started) why is all this in a FEMA cache to begin with? Why does FEMA have CIA classified documents? That seems a stretch.
Fourth, how do the Snake Eaters even know the Team has this data? If they knew about it and cared about it, presumably they would have already acted to secure it. Does the team send out announcements? Do the Snake Eaters have 150 year old alarms transmitting to their radios?
Fifth, and last, even if the Snake Eaters DO care about it, are they really going to go to the mattresses over all this? SF is trained to be pragmatic and to accept that there are rarely "good" options, going to war over this material seems unlikely.
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Originally Posted by tsofian
In the Campaign the players have been able to link the Special Forces, the Texans-both civilian and military and several local areas of organized and the materials would be of tremendous value, as they include seeds and medical equipment.
Would the Special Forces guys claim "dibs" on everything, which is a lot, in the cache?
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Possibly, but again, they're pragmatic. Are they going to risk their overall mission (presumably restoration of the US) in a battle with minimal support, against an unknown but presumably large and technologically advanced foe, over seeds and first aid kits? I think they would start with negotiations to feel out the Team and their positions, evaluate the risks and rewards, and try to find a strategy that accomplishes their mission.
Attacking the Team would almost certainly wait until they had intelligence that indicated the ramifications of doing so, SF doesn't rush in. They don't know much about the Project, but they know it is big, and advanced, and (especially for the post-apocalypse) well equipped. They won't want to instigate war with an enemy that might be able to just drop bombs on them until they are paste.
All that having been said, if they DO attack, @ArmySGT is right, they'll tear through the Morrow Team like tissue paper.
If you WANT a confrontation, I think you need to create one. Or perhaps the Team will do so!