Spys like us?

[Project_Sardonicus]

From ancient times one of the oldest professions has been the spy and the end of times is no different. In a world where any sense of law and order tends to come from the barrel of a gun and who has the most guns, then knowing what your enemy is up to is paramount.

This means that Teams may bump into agents of various powers in the world of the future, checking out potential threats, targets or just wear there's a big load of copper wire in some ancient ruins that could be valuable.

A few thoughts.

1 The KFS,

The KFS conversely have the greatest need and greatest problem spying on their neighbours. Their technology is around 1960s or so, so most of their citizens are well fed. Not having any smallpox scars, a loose or just bad teeth is a dead give away (of course the same rules apply to the Project).

The solution is to three-fold. First of all is to have no pretense of secrecy, the KFS has several "Aid caravans" part of their "Project Restart." This is a scheme deliberately designed to resemble the project.

4 or 5 trucks and maybe one small armored vehicle rock up into some first community. Then the smiling, clean, well dressed "aid workers" go about doing good deeds. They've got a doctor (more of a combat medic with antibiotics and morphine), a dentist (looking for suspiciously 20th-century teeth). They also help maybe dig an irrigation ditch or put up a barn. And there's food and fertilizer to go around. They're all ever so friendly, and they ask lots of questions. Apparently, they're part of some bigger project, but they don't talk too much about that.
Of course they tend to be a little to free with the morphine and those they help, may be willing to do pretty much anything to help them, for another dose.
One other thing they like to give out is radios. Some with hand cranked generators or if they're feeling really generous solar powered ones. The KFS has a radio service it broadcasts a few times a week over Shortwave transmitters. Music, news, maybe a little bit of propaganda. The main thing is if you break one of those radios open you'll find they also have batteries, transmitters and microphones and they never turn off. Of course who are they broadcasting to with such weak transmitters?
The people who tend to make up the members of Project Restart are an eclectic mix. Some are the KFS are the aristocratic version of peace core volunteers, some are medical students and engineers doing a work placement. Then there are the older guys, the ones with leathery skin and scars who's eyes see all. They're ex members of the military, too old for front line service. They're very much the equivalent of the CIA special action division experienced soldiers working for the intelligence side of things. They're there for security and "problem solving."

The second part of the solution is "technological reconnaissance bureau" very much the KFS's own NSA. They have radios receivers and even some based on Zepellins of which they have 3 circling a wide track of thousands of miles at all times. Some of these transmitters include captured Morrow models with which they can sometimes crack codes. They even sometimes get transmissions from the few surviving satellites. And as for those zepellins they're listening out for the radio transmitters the caravans have scattered around.

The final one is they just flat out buy intelligence. Slavers, Badges all want some fancy hi tech gegaws. Be it new shotgun shells, or drugs to keep your slaves quiet and anxiety free on the way to market, rubber tyres and batteries (and of course radios, lots of radios). Then the KFS department for trade and external affairs can always do a deal. And the Badge that brings in a real living and breathing Morrow team member, can get a brand new motorcycle with a full tank and the chrome nicely polished.

Of course there is a fourth side to this square, deep within the territory of the KFS exists a small summer camp. A camp with high fences a long way from prying eyes, where those with knowledge of interest to the KFS are perusaded to give it up.

[ArmySGT.]

2) The Lonestar Republic.

Know your enemy and know yourself then be victorious in 1000 battles. Sun Tzu.

The Lonestar Republic is in a perpetual state of war with the Brotherhood, breakaway elements internally, and cross border raids from other groups.

A) Interview traders to the area. The Brotherhood must still engage in trade if for nothing other than luxuries like tobacco, coffee, etc. Traders probably see little of the Brotherhood territory and operate only on the periphery. Even then valuable intelligence can be gained from local interactions. A large purchase of coffee or demands for large imports of coffee could signal a raid. Brotherhood leadership could be named and facts made known that can be pieced together to make a personality profile. The time taken for a messenger to make a round trip can help estimate distance a Leader is from a trade post.

B)ELINT. The Brotherhood is operating various pieces of Soviet equipment most with one, two, or three FM and even AM radios. It is unlikely that the Brotherhood is aware of radio discipline or communications security. This can be exploited in two ways, triangulation and spoofing. First is well known, making directional fixes from two or more points to locate an unknown point. Backtracing the signals to determine their direction and distance from friendly occupied territory. The second, spoofing, happens when an operator enters a radionet impersonating an enemy station. This can be requests for identification or location; even giving orders to retreat or relocate, thus causing disruption and confusion.

C) Snatch raids..... The mounted Cavalry of the Republic are ideal for this. A leader or important member of the Brotherhood is targeted for capture, to be returned to the Republic for a long and extensize interrogation.

D)Deliberate misdeeds....... The Republic, who does understand COMSEC (communications security) sometimes uses radio to confuse the Brotherhood as to the size and location of Republic Cavalry units. Using a corpse dressed in a Cavalry or Mexican army uniform false clues have been left for Brotherhood warriors to find, indicating a raid by Cavalry forces is going to happen, often causing a lot of disruption and shifting of forces by Brotherhood warriors. Sacks of grain with anthrax, sabotaged ammunition, and infected water have been left in Cavalry "Patrol Caches" deliberately to make Brotherhood warriors lives more "interesting". Occasionally, sabotage ammunition for rifle or pistol is left in Brotherhood territory to be "found".

E) Deep penetration long range patrols are sent into Mexico periodically either on horse or mule, sometimes by insertion from a ship to have observation on Brotherhood roads and infrastructure like farms, oil fields, water reservoirs, and camps.

F) Humint. The Republic has been unsuccessful in placing a spy within the Brotherhood itself. No spy has ever returned.

[Project_Sardonicus]

Krell

One of the things about Krell people notice after a while is they're all dudes, no ladies in there at all. This may not surprise any Morrow members who ever did a tour as UN peacekeepers. Their aim is to create a pure warrior society and shatter all normal familial relations. Once a year they collect what they consider to be the pick of the male children. An experienced Morrow team finding several villages with mostly girls may well want to get out of the neighborhood.

These children are brutalized into becoming child soldiers maybe half survive the experience, to become teens and of those maybe half survive becoming cannon fodder in Krell's endless wars.

Of those a tiny number still manage to seemingly function as normal human beings. In essence the Krell recruitment process has become a sociopath factory. They may look human, they may sound human but the Krell spy is dead all the way on the inside. And after having been part of the horror of Krell from early childhood they are utterly loyal, as no one else will accept them.

They don't need any fancy gadgets or networks they can enter any village or town, see the lie of the land fit in and walk out, having charmed the natives. A few weeks later a surprisingly well informed and devastatingly effective raid can be expected to take place. Sometimes these agents can stay in place for years, build a life. They tend to leave coded hand written reports sealed in prearranged locations for reconnaissance patrols to pick up.

Krell backs this up with some surprisingly sophisticated comms interception using captured Project radios. And deep reconnaissance patrols maybe half a dozen men on horses or mountain bikes. Or sometimes just one man.

Two especially nasty tricks Krell enjoy are

"the rejected son" sometimes one of the children they sweep up takes to the Krell life especially swiftly. They're then allowed to return to their home village, having been rejected. Their parents weep and are joyful, unbenknownst they've take a viper back into their nest.

The false refugee.

Sometimes after a particularly brutal series of raids, Krell will seed the fleeing columns of refugees with agents. Sometimes to lead the columns to "places of safety" which are no such thing.

[ArmySGT.]

Gypsy Truckers......

A scourge and a blessing to communities 150 years after WarDay. Gypsy Truckers move with the seasons north in summer and south in winter, then east or west as they please. Operating out of 18 wheel tractor trailers on the remains of the once great interstate highway system, Gypsy truckers are loyal to their clan and no one else.

Gypsy Truckers carry goods and people sometimes great distances from their source. Bringing luxuries or hard to get items to communities far from coasts or riverways anywhere in North America. A trucker clan may travel an established route with communities aiding in keeping roads passable or meander with no real destination in mind.

The easiest thing to carry is information.

HumInt. Gypsy Truckers arriving is like a County Fair, flea market, block party, and sound riot..... Easy to move about and asses the value of a place. Plying the Mayor, Chief, Head Honcho and his council with raw corn whiskey and 20th Century music (CDs or Tapes!) opens doors and loosens lips.

Gypsy Truckers use this information for themselves..... Maybe a raid on a village, planning a route, or areas and people to avoid.

This information is also for sale to anyone that can raise the capital. Anyone.

SigInt Gypsy Truckers love their CB radios! They are also very aware anyone can be listening.
Trucks may also have cobbled together mounts and power for American, Canadian, Mexican, and Soviet military radios together with civilian short wave or AM/FM sets. The trucker clan can tiangulate positions of anyone carelessly transmitting easily, as the convoy moves down the road.

Gypsy Truckers don't always pay or trade for everything that can be found on their trucks. Boys and girls can be sold and livestock consumed.

Gypsy Truckers are probably the most current and knowledgable persons to date on the situation of roads, highways, bridges, dams, and other means to travel by wheeled vehicle across the country. Sometimes painstakingly drawing maps complete with accurate measurements of elevation and distance using surveyors transit and tape.

[Matt W]

A "spy" gathers information, and (with few exceptions) nobody wears a uniform, or carries ID. That "friendly merchant" you're chatting to could be selling information to anybody...

There are several groups that would be expected to gather intelligence. In fact, it would be more difficult to think of groups that won't be trying to get information about their neighbours/rivals/enemies

Badges (looking for criminals and potential criminals)

Ballooners/Merchants/Shipmen/Wanderers (trying to get information on markets and safe areas)

EmDees (new and interesting diseases/cures. Information on "Public Health")

Frozen Chosen and Inquisitors (Are you a convert? If not, why not?)

Overlords (Tax-gatherers need to know about their population)

Universities (the remnant/traditions of Academic interest? The usual needs of government)


All of the above might provide "cover" for the KFS Secret Police, or whoever the PD is using as primary antagonists

[Project_Sardonicus]

A couple of examples of spys.

Patrol Baker

These guys are members of the 1st Cavalry Division spying out the military camp at Riverton. Yup they're thousands of miles away from their home base, what are they doing there?

Well, the intelligence team in the 1st Cavalry started following rumours of, "iron beasts" and carts with neither tyres nor horses. They urgently needed to replace their worn out vehicles and no ones building MBTs these days. Stories and rumours kept circulating on the location of Riverton. And it was felt sufficiently urgent to send out a patrol.

This was made up of lieutenant Roach, Sergeant Cooper and eight cavalrymen. A highly experienced team with years of experience and a certain degree of savvy having been caught behind the lines a few times. All on horse back and in mufti it took them two months and three casualties to reach the Imp base.

And now they're like a little sparrow hawk looking at a Turkey all that gear, could reequip half the 1st Cavalry. If they could just work out how to get it home. They even prefer the idea of M60s to M1s (simpler design, lighter more receptive to engineering compromises). And as these units have been used for little more than frightening farmers or obliterating bandits armed with muskets they're as close to factory fresh as possible these days.
And a couple of hundred working automatic weapons would turn most any brotherhood charge.

So what are they doing?

1 The LT sent 2 troopers straight home, with a rough description of the situation and a request for 3 trucks, 30 men and a dozen armour crew to come and collect the booty in what will most likely be 6 months. That's how long he's got to defeat maybe a 100 or more heavily armoured and well organised bandits.

2 He has infiltrated another 2 team members into the nearby village. To get the lie of the land.

3 He and the rest of the team about 2 more men have set up hides and are observing and recording everything the Imps do. They have some old working cameras and reams and reams of notes.

4 He has imposed total radio silence and even considered smashing up his set.

5 For now his plan is to wait till the Imps take out a tank on patrol. Ambush it and kill the crew before driving hell for leather for Texas, he acknowledges this is a pretty hopeless plan. The team was given a couple of days induction in tank driving before leaving, in preparation for just this scenario.

6 His alternative is to turn up at the Imp base and claim to be a wondering mercernary and win their trust. He has a pretty good idea this will either get him killed or lead to him having to kill or torture civilians to prove his loyalty. He's stuck though the booty in the base maybe the only chance his homeland has of survival.

The clock is ticking and that collection convoy from Texas maybe only be a couple of months away.

What he does when the team wake up remains to be seen. He may try and recruit them, if they're hopeless ignore them. Or if they seem to have the right idea and not need help wait for them to win. Then sneak into the liberated camp and drive off with a couple of tanks and all the booty they can find.

[ArmySGT.]

Frozen Chosen

Come Brother, Don't dwell on their fate. We are about God's plan.

Typically disguised as travellers willing to pay for food and overnight shelter with silver coin or reloaded shotgun shells. These true believers in the pre-apocalypse cult (10% chance it is a cryosleep awakened believer) are moving about the area. These men (always men) are assessing the "faith" of surrounding locations and their strength. Besides making judgements on surviving structures or mechanical elements, these men are passing judgement on the children of these survivor settlements. The Brethren see it as their duty to save these "lost sheep" and intend to seize children below the age of five to be raised in "The last faithful Church of God".

Members frozen before the calamity have a big picture knowledge of The Morrow Project and knowldege of Cryofreezing and some other tech level A developments. Their fusion power is to bulky to fit into anything smaller than a locomotive and hasn't been noticed outside of being the powerplant for a facility.

Their faith doesn't shun Tech level A medical practices like vaccines, or surgeries, even cosmetic plastic surgeries are apparent among senior members of the Faith, or more obviously among their multiple wives.