Table of Contents
Vanguard Intelligence Agency
 In the Service of Necessity. |
|
| Vanguard Intelligence Agency | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Seer Station, Grand Mazerin |
| Established | AR 710 |
| Recruitment | From Astral Vanguard |
| Total Personnel | ± 120 000 Iromakuanhe |
| Active Duty | ± 30 000 |
| Reserve | ± 90 000 |
Overview
| The Vanguard represents the wealth and power of the central worlds of Iruotl. It is perhaps appropriate that we, the VIA, represent its ruthlessness and hubris. - Administrator Bahid Akassian, VOC |
The Vanguard Intelligence Agency, more often known as VIA, is an elite intelligence division within the Astral Vanguard that operates separately from their main corps under a deep shroud of secrecy and misinformation. They are tasked with rooting out corruption in the military, removing internal and external threats to security, and are responsible for both public and private investigations of ongoing events in the world. In the case of a civil war or conflict with another nation, their duties would also extend to gathering information on them.
Established in AR 710, VIA is a black operations unit incorporating thousands of agents operating in 'dummy sectors,' secondary agencies that operate as fronts for VIA, and creating an effective public face for the Astral Vanguard's internal security. Little of their organization is known by the public, save for their penchant for secrecy, elaborate masquerades and ruthless and surgical applications of force.
Ranks
| VIA Ranks by Division | Other Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISA | ESA | SOF | VOC | Rank1) | Paygrade | Classification Level |
| Senior Chief | Izelhin | Administrator | +6 | x2.5 | Highest (9+) | |
| Chief | Senzelhin | Coordinator | +4 | x2 | High (6+) | |
| Special Agent | Lanzelhin | Handler | +2 | x1.5 | High (6+) | |
| Senior Agent | Marzelhin | Negotiator | +1 | x1.25 | Low (2-4) | |
| Agent | Vayzelhin | Proxy | 0 | x1.125 | Standard2) (0-2) | |
| SOF are treated three classifications lower than standard VIA Operatives | Priority of SOF is a minimum A9 | |||||
Divisions
Internal Security Affairs [ISA]
Internal Security Affairs is the division of the VIA that handles threats to national security and sovereignty of a distinctly military nature, such as coup d'états, armed insurgency and terrorists using military technology. The ISA is not directly responsible for operations on such threats, but is primarily geared to keep track of militant factions, engage in espionage and counter espionage and to infiltrate all agencies that might enable an uprising, such as arms dealers, salvage companies and private military companies. Because their goals often overlap, the ISA often clashes with the civilian CCIS, as the distinctions between their goals is often the difference between terrorists with conventional weapons and those with military hardware.
ISA agents tend to be trained in intelligence analysis and gathering, as well as espionage and counter-espionage theory. In the field, they rarely engage in combat or infiltrate enemy nations, instead ferreting out enemy intelligence operatives and pin-pointing threats for raids by the SOF.
Internal Security also observes and polices the Astral Vanguard, acting as the investigative element for the VOC division.
External Security Affairs [ESA]
External Security Affairs is the division of the ESA that handles threats to national security and sovereignty from external sources, that are not recognized by the state as being sovereign nations. The ESA is an organization that exists solely because the Commonwealth is unable to recognize the independence of nations formed by Iromakuanhe colonist who attempted to escape the rule of the central worlds, and acts as the commanding body for operations staged on rogue nations. The External Security Affairs division is composed primarily of experienced commanders, military advisers from the highest echelons of the government, intelligence analysts, and agents-provocateurs who are responsible for the infiltration of rogue nations and pirate militias.
Like the ISA, the ESA does not undertake in military operations itself, but directs the forces of the SOF and maintains an effective intelligence framework to keep Special Operations Forces units effective and informed.
Special Operations Forces [SOF]
The Special Operations Forces, or SOF, are considered the premier fighting units of the Astral Vanguard, second to none and rivals with the zealous Temple Guard. They function primarily in grey operations under the mandate of the ESA, and are also responsible for ISA interventions in Commonwealth territories. The SOF is organized into regiment-sized units known as 'shoulders'
Vanguard Oversight Committee [VOC]
The Vanguard Oversight Committee is an oversight committee established by the Astral Vanguard brass for the purposes of controlling media coverage of the military and falsifying information to prevent restrictive mandates from being placed on the Vanguard, that might otherwise undermine its ability to protect the Commonwealth. The newest of the four divisions, the VOC was originally formed in AR 898 under the a law secretly passed by then-Makuzhar Sarum Gellian and the Iromakuanhe Conclave to protect it from reactionary movements that might arise during emerging military crises.
Because of the conspiratorial nature of the VOC and its manipulation of military documentation and the media, it is highly classified, acting through proxies and negotiators in the main of the Astral Vanguard when it is unable to do so electronically.