Second Sphere Covert Rules

Fundamental Concepts

Intelligence

This is the methodology of gathering information (mostly) passively. It can range from human intelligence to signals intercepts to carefully studying what is and isn't being said to detailed analysis. It is generally effective at finding things out about other powers - stealing their secrets, but provides little to no ability to perform any significant direct action. That is the domain of Infiltration (see below).

Secrecy

Secrecy, by contrast, is the art of keeping unknown information from others. In essence, it directly counters Intelligence, making it critical for those who like to keep their cards close. Unfortunately while Secrecy is effective at keeping anyone from knowing about a critical object or location, it does little to actually protect them once they are revealed. That is the domain of Security (see below). Secrecy ties in with Societal Closure

Infiltration

Infiltration is the active act of sending agents in to a hostile (or sometimes friendly!) power in order to carry out relatively short term missions - assassination, stealing a copy of research data, Gundamjacking. While the rewards can be far larger than Intelligence, the risks are also commensurately greater. A lifetime of intelligence-gathering wouldn't match the windfall of stealing ZOCU's latest orbital frame . . .

Security

You won't stop a well-armed terrorist group with a building full of overstressed analysts. In cases like that nations roll out their apparatuses of Security. Tough customers who multiclassed out of intelligence officer into soldier, they (along with Infiltration) are the Wet Work group. However, security forces are out of their depths trying to put a stop to quiet intelligence-gathering; while they can do so, it will take the form of oppressive and unsubtle crackdowns with all the political ramifications of such.

Covert Routes

The bonuses below are the particular strengths of your secret service; all nations are assumed to have a competent if uninspired intelligence apparatus.

X1) Covert abilities

Rent-a-Cops (+2 Security, +30 SP, -2 Societal Closure)

Some people don't have anything to hide and few enemies who'd look for secrets anyhow. All they need is a night watchman.

Participatory Pancopticon (+5 Security, +50 wealth, only available to Multiparty Democracies or Future Governments, Societal Closure must be 0)

When everyone can observe anyone else, keeping a truly low profile becomes nigh-impossible and privacy the most valued treasure of all.

In His Majesty's Secret Service (+2 Intelligence, +1 Secrecy, +1 Infiltration, +2 Security)

In an age of terrorism and nonstate actors, an effective intelligence arm has more than just analysts.

Licensed to Kill (+3 Infiltration, +2 Security, +1 Secrecy)

Shaken, not stirred.

Hard. TEMPEST Hard (+3 Secrecy, +2 Intelligence, +1 Security)

"Is your computer behind an inch of lead with no connection to the outside world?"

The ECHELONs of Power (+1 Secrecy, +5 Intelligence)

The most powerful information-handling system in the galaxy. Powerful enough to spawn a new Singularity. And it's in your intelligence headquarters.

Ubiquitous Surveillance State (+3 Security, +3 Societal Closure)

The Bureau sees all. Knows all. Punishes all.

The Greatest Firewall (+4 Secrecy, +2 Security, +1 Societal Closure, -1 Global Tech Level)

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unlocked.

Ninja Vanish (+5 Infiltration, +1 Intelligence)

"Is it true then that you kill whichever man sleeps with you, by poisoning him?"

Skunkworks (+3 Secrecy, +1 Societal Closure, +10 Tech Indices, max 5 per field)

Lockheed-Martin-NorthropSukhoi has nothing on you.

Military Intelligence (+2 Intelligence, +1 Infiltration, +1 Military Discipline, +20 Doctrines)

No jokes, please.

State Secrets

State secrets are measures the state has taken to keep immense and often critical amounts of information secret from others. It can range from not announcing weapon specifications at the low end to hiding entire asteroid bases full of warships and industry at the high.

In essence every nation has a pool of State Secrets which can be expended to to remove various entities and pieces of information from public orders of battle. The different choices have varying costs, as summarized by the list below.

Every quarter a nation gets 25x its Societal Closure rating and 10x its Secrecy rating in secret points per quarter. In addition, nations may buy to 50x their Secrecy rating every quarter at a cost of 10 Wealth per. No more than one quarter's allocation of secret points may be carried over from quarter to quarter - no stockpiling!

All of the following costs are to keep the object in question off of the public OOB. These must be paid when any resources are spent on the unit/event in question for one-offs and quarterly expenditures must be paid every quarter. A failure to pay results in the object(s) in question becoming public knowledge. Spending secrecy retroactively to 're-secret' something is only allowable in certain exceptional situations. "I forgot" or "I didn't have enough" is not an acceptable excuse.

One-off expenditures:

Performance specifications (ie, unit stats for a newly developed unit): 10

Research and Development effort: 10

Research and Development effort, bleeding edge: 5

Expedition: 1 per hull coefficient of public ships. 1 per secret ship.

Black Marketeering: 5

Other costs may be levied as appropriate.

Quarterly expenditures:

Warship, per: Hull Coefficient x5

Stealth warship, per: Hull Coefficient x3

Tactical air, batch: 2

Stealth tactical air, batch: 1

Heavy air, batch: 4

Stealth heavy air, batch: 2

Super air, per: 10

Stealth super air, per: 5

Armored battalion: 10

Infantry battalion: 3

100 PIP/CIP/Wealth, per: 10

100 Fabers, per: 2

100 Dust (any form) or Drexler, per: 2