Justice Special Branch

[BackworldTraveller]

As this is red-linked in the wiki, whoever set this up intended to detail whatever this is.

How does this differ from the Imperial Inquisitorial Branch?

I'm not sure what the "High Passage 1" article that this references described. Does anyone have a copy that could be summarised for me to add?

 

[GypsyComet]

I'm not sure what the "High Passage 1" article that this references described. Does anyone have a copy that could be summarised for me to add?

The article is a bit terse, but "Justice Special Branch" or JSB, is slightly shortened from the full name, which is Ministry of Justice, Special Branch. The article is a bit at odds with later written history, but the JSB could be interpreted in much the same way MI6 or other elite intelligence organizations that were not openly acknowledged as existing for years have been. The implication is that they started by drawing extensively from Naval Intelligence but subsequently recruited from all walks.

The larger Ministry doesn't get much definition in the article, but it is implied that the Ministry of Justice is both a coordination body for multi-system law enforcement efforts, and an investigative and low level enforcement body for Imperial crimes. The Special Branch is its covert arm, was formed after the Civil War, and was not a publicly acknowledged entity until early in Strephon's reign, when he chose to make the Branch's existence public.

The article includes Prior Career tables, but the whole concept is hampered by the Classic Traveller approach of ONE AND ONLY ONE prior career. The career tables are also radically unbalanced for Classic, producing super spies routinely.

High Passage #1 was essentially a fanzine, going by the credits page. The High Passage Group teamed with FASA for later issues, and the production values show that.

 

[whulorigan]

Ministry of Justice Special Branch, by Craig Johnson (High Passage #1)

Ministry of Justice Special Branch, by Craig Johnson (High Passage #1, p.32).

JSB was only a rumor until officially confirmed by Emperor Strephon in year 1080 (and simultaneously announcing the appointment of its new director, Commodore Torrence Beem), and that it had been operating in its present form since year 850 (when the investigative Office was added).

The JSB has had many forerunners throughout the history of the Imperium, which usually dealt exclusively in counter-terrorism operations. The JSB's direct parent organization was the old Imperial Naval Intelligence Department, which was transformed into the JSB in response to the Imperial Civil War and 2nd Frontier War by the Emperor under the advice of Col. Daranth En La, who became its first director. The JSB was further reorganized between the Psionics Suppressions and the 3rd Frontier War.

JSB headquarters is located on Capital/Core in the Ministry of Justice Building. Each of its 3 offices (Investigative/Intelligence/Security) has a distinct command post set up in each sector of the Imperium.

Structure:

Investigative Office (Apprehension of persons who violate Imperial Law)

• Field Enforcement Division
• Investigative Research Division

Intelligence Office (Present at all Imperial Way Stations and most large Imperial Naval Bases)

• Counter Insurgency Division (Infiltration)
• Elite Strike Force Division (Direct Firepower)
• Intelligence Recon Division (Operates large and small starships of all types with advanced electronics)

Security Office

• Imperial Security Division (Provides protection for the Imperial Family)
• Special Security Division (Provides protection for Imperial Officials and visiting Dignitaries)

 

[BackworldTraveller]

I see what you mean.

The Investigative Office duplicating the MoJ Inquisitorial Branch
The Security Office is duplicating the Imperial Bureau of Internal Security (IBIS) within the Emperor's Office of Security
The Intelligence Office is duplicating the IISS and IN intelligence offices, the MoJ inquisitorial branch, etc.

And if it is only run by a commodore its toothless and budgetless anyway given the way the palace is described.

Can we just magic this away? Or transform it to a sub-unit of the Inquisitorial Branch that is used for Internal Investigations?

 

[GypsyComet]

Overlapping agencies are not uncommon, and the article even says the function has been covered by various agencies over time. A cynic might decide that since we now know about the JSB, they've really been replaced by another agency that is super duper secret...

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Yes and no.

You tend not to get overlaps within the same management structure unless the department manager is losing control to his subordinates...and never for centuries. The inquisitorial branch has its role and the powers it needs - just not the people. Having a separate branch with less powers reporting to the same manager is nuts and in the 600 years this is supposed to have been going on it would have morphed into something else or gone away.

You don't get two sets of bodyguards at the same time. The guy getting protection gets cheesed off, or someone gets through the gap. In this case he's the guy paying. There is no indication that there is a territorial restriction to either group. So if they exist in parallel one is going to be doing something that the other can't do without or duplicate. What that is isn't clear.

Now competing intelligence agencies is such a common feature of history, that does seem plausible...but what is it's mandate and how come the IN and IISS and uncle tom cobbley haven't managed to bureaucratically kill it?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

After much deliberation, the Wiki is now updated...

https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Justice_Special_Branch