Star Army Intelligence Operative is a career occupation in the Star Army of Yamatai. Operatives are primarily tasked with information collection, most often clandestinely, with many of these secret soldiers holding further specializations from prior or ongoing training. Despite their vastly diverse backgrounds within other occupational specialities, all operatives are trained foremost to be self-sufficient in their pursuit of intelligence gathering as the Star Army and Empire's eyes, ears, and oftentimes shadowed blades. None can be expected to have trained in every role they may have to fulfill, but every one of them must be willing to devote themselves entirely to the success of their latest assignment.

Intelligence Operatives can be immediately recognized by their iconic black occupational uniform color, only shared with Intelligence Analysts. The MOS code for this occupation is 03.

Operatives have been a Star Army of Yamatai occupation since the Grand Star Army's creation in YE 21. Prior to that, many operatives were employed by the Pagoda No Uesu Intel and Security Division¹⁾, whose personnel were integral to SAINT's creation.

In the quarter century since then, SAINT's operatives have distinguished themselves as some of the Star Army's most effective agents whether their postings are as overt black paneled soldiers aboard warships and star fortresses or shrouded spies whose exploits will never be fully appreciated. Because of this reputation for brutal efficiency in the pursuit of their tasks, the black paneled uniforms of SAINT operatives (and the analysts who wear the same) is commonly viewed with a mystique that conjures up respect, derision, or fear depending on those stories — both truthful and completely fictitious — one chooses to believe about them.

Intelligence Operatives must be enlisted in the Star Army under a current Star Army Enlistment Contract and must have completed their basic training. A seven month course on the principles of intelligence gathering and analysis similar to and co-mingled with Intelligence Analyst trainees is required in addition to further requirements described below.

A significant number of operatives do not enter the occupation directly after basic training, and are very often pulled from soldiers with prior service within another occupation. Soldiers must first be recommended by their commanding officer (such as a Star Army Starship Captain, Rikugun Centurion, or Star Army Training Administration instructor during basic training). Following such recommendation and acceptance after SAINT administrative screening, prospective operatives are assigned to the SAINT Training Activity for Operative Selection. Once passed through SELECT, prospective operatives are subsequently enrolled in Operative Indoctrination training where they learn the basics of practical intelligence collection and self-sufficiency in the field. Upon completion of INDOC, every operative must submit to the SAINT Standard Conditioning Package.

All told, an operative will have gone through ten months to just over a year of training by the time they receive their first assignment. And that is only the beginning of their skills development, with each operative being required to maintain further in-service training schedules while gaining real world experience on assignment in the fleets, Rikugun Legions, or to a clandestine post somewhere in the Kagami Galaxy.

The minimum rank for this occupation is Santô Hei and the maximum rank is Taisa. Beyond that, all command-level officers serving directly with SAINT's directorates must have been an Intelligence Operative or Intelligence Analyst first.

Intelligence Operative is an exciting and divergent occupation, and the details of their work are varied depending on each individual soldier's background. Operatives can be most commonly assigned to starships and Rikugun units of any size, and serve in a similar role to Intelligence Analysts where they provide valuable information and insights for their fellow soldiers. In addition to being trained in data mining, information gathering, research, critical thinking, and analysis like their analyst cousins, all operatives will additionally be capable in survival techniques, fieldcraft, and close quarters personal combat. Unlike intelligence analysts, operatives are trained and expected to perform in diverse environs far beyond the confines of starships.

Intelligence Operatives have all the Star Army Common Skills, as well as the skills required to be an Intelligence Analyst.

They should also be skilled in:

• Military Survival and Evasion.
• Fieldcraft.
• The use of personal or (when applicable) biologically inherent stealth systems²⁾.
• Espionage Tradecraft.
• Social and physical disguise techniques.
• Reading, writing, and speaking foreign languages.

They might also be skilled in:

• Any skill associated with a prior occupation.
• Sabotage.
• Ambush Tactics.
• Power Armor Combat.
• Depredation.
• Biological Warfare.
• Chemical Warfare.
• Combat Medicine and Surgery.
• Search-and-Rescue.
• Tracking.
• Electronic Warfare.
• Air or Spacecraft Piloting.
• Demolitions.
• Tailoring.
• Hazardous Materials Handling.
• Anything required to conduct their mission.

Everyone roleplays their operative differently, but when serving on a ship the character should be expected to, at a minimum, function in the same way as an analyst. Operatives are additionally required to be able to collect intelligence in a clandestine fashion, which could be fully undercover and necessitate an alias among hostile entities, or under the guise of stealth during military operations.

When detached from a standard plotship, operatives serve in a wide array of specializations such as:

• Clandestine operatives are assigned to watch a specific location or person, or to infiltrate corporations and organizations of interest.
  • Such operatives might escalate to assassination or sabotage if ordered to do so.
• Special Intelligence Fire Team Commandos.
  • The Special Deployment Force is made up of soldiers counted among the Star Army's most elite. They are used to collect the most vital intelligence, often using power armor during harsh combat conditions, in the Kikyo Sector and beyond.
  • AEGIS soldiers are used to secure vital persons and materiel, whether those objectives are fellow operatives trapped behind enemy lines or some sort of volatile technology in the hands of Yamatai's enemies.
• Operatives who were trained as Star Army Science Officers or Engineers might serve in the Hera Group doing research and developing secret technologies for use by SAINT and the wider Star Army.
• An operative previously trained as a Star Army Unit Supply Specialist now working in the Logistics Liaison's Office could be assigned to organize blockade runs and stealth resupply missions for undercover operatives.
• Pilots serving as operatives often fly sensor sweep sorties to collect signals, geographical, and spatial intelligence in pursuit of maintaining the most up to date system charts and planetary maps.

The previous Intelligence Operative occupation page serves as an enduring source of inspiration for operative characters. An operative's prospective duties are only truly limited by how their player's Game Master utilizes them.

This article was first created no later than 2012/08/27. raz created this update to match current standards on 2023/04/18 15:18.

Update was approved by andrew on 2023/04/18³⁾.