A time honored way of confusing, misdirecting, or avoiding enemy awareness is that of hiding things in plain sight.
When you set up your new, super-talented, highest-secret level covert unit with funding, obscure labels, and all sorts of other accouterments, it tends to attract as much attention, especially from the professionals, as if you'd openly announced it in news feeds.
Conversely, no one pays attention to another administrative subdivision amongst yet another support element.
Enter the "3P3s", or "Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron". A catch-all amongst Imperial (or your local flavor) units that "get things done".
Maybe it's regime overthrow. Maybe it's covert action. Maybe it's advance reconnaissance. Sometimes, maybe it's a place to put the troublemakers til they retire.
The real power of the "3P3s" is that there isn't one label. It's a generic unit designation for a subsector (or sector) level tool of deniable policy. In fact, most "Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron" designations rarely last more than a couple of years on an organization chart. Even the unit naming structure is a mix of Imperial service doctrines. Some "Platoons" have been as few as three individuals. Others had upwards of a hundred. But, the label doesn't change.
3P3s don't have a set uniform. No standard background. No overarching agenda (beyond Imperial needs). Heck, they don't even have a standard mission set - all of which confuse the heck out of observers and intelligence collectors.
It plays out in other ways, too. Stories in spaceport bars. Challenge coins. A tattoo or patch or blazon from some subsector. A pair of sophonts sharing a smile and a drink at their adventures parsecs apart.
Of course, it's equally frustrating on the side of the Imperium. You're an Admiral. A General. A Baron. And, all of a sudden the latest x-boat drop includes orders from Capital (or equivalent in your universe) stating "Such and such unit is established and conducting operations at my will. You will provide them the fullest support and ask no questions."
And, it's the military. Words trickle out. Things get shared.
Those 3P3s? They ask for it, Supply finds it. They get in a bar fight? Things get brushed over. Who are they? What is their mission? All that leads to stories, conjecture, rumor, and all the other things. Which work to add more concealment.
Because. Be it a week. A month. Maybe, on rare occasions, over a year. The last sophont from "those guys" will drop off a package of paperwork at the admin desk, or with the Embassy Naval Attache. "We're done here. Thanks for the help."
And , all of a sudden. It's like the Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron was never there. . .
When you set up your new, super-talented, highest-secret level covert unit with funding, obscure labels, and all sorts of other accouterments, it tends to attract as much attention, especially from the professionals, as if you'd openly announced it in news feeds.
Conversely, no one pays attention to another administrative subdivision amongst yet another support element.
Enter the "3P3s", or "Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron". A catch-all amongst Imperial (or your local flavor) units that "get things done".
Maybe it's regime overthrow. Maybe it's covert action. Maybe it's advance reconnaissance. Sometimes, maybe it's a place to put the troublemakers til they retire.
The real power of the "3P3s" is that there isn't one label. It's a generic unit designation for a subsector (or sector) level tool of deniable policy. In fact, most "Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron" designations rarely last more than a couple of years on an organization chart. Even the unit naming structure is a mix of Imperial service doctrines. Some "Platoons" have been as few as three individuals. Others had upwards of a hundred. But, the label doesn't change.
3P3s don't have a set uniform. No standard background. No overarching agenda (beyond Imperial needs). Heck, they don't even have a standard mission set - all of which confuse the heck out of observers and intelligence collectors.
It plays out in other ways, too. Stories in spaceport bars. Challenge coins. A tattoo or patch or blazon from some subsector. A pair of sophonts sharing a smile and a drink at their adventures parsecs apart.
Of course, it's equally frustrating on the side of the Imperium. You're an Admiral. A General. A Baron. And, all of a sudden the latest x-boat drop includes orders from Capital (or equivalent in your universe) stating "Such and such unit is established and conducting operations at my will. You will provide them the fullest support and ask no questions."
And, it's the military. Words trickle out. Things get shared.
Those 3P3s? They ask for it, Supply finds it. They get in a bar fight? Things get brushed over. Who are they? What is their mission? All that leads to stories, conjecture, rumor, and all the other things. Which work to add more concealment.
Because. Be it a week. A month. Maybe, on rare occasions, over a year. The last sophont from "those guys" will drop off a package of paperwork at the admin desk, or with the Embassy Naval Attache. "We're done here. Thanks for the help."
And , all of a sudden. It's like the Third Platoon, Third Support Squadron was never there. . .
