Republic of Kaedwen Secret and Intelligence ServicesTOP SECRET: The following, unless explicitly stated, is taken to be controlled information - NOT public knowledge!The Republic's secret intelligence-gathering apparatus has its origins in the Bush Wars of the mid 20th Century, where a monstrous game of cat-and-mouse was played between the Republic's forces and the Nativist insurgents and their foreign suppliers. Two main agencies emerged during this conflict: first, the Strategic Intelligence Service, which, as the name suggests, dealt primarily in high-level intelligence operations, and, second, the Defence Intelligence Agency, which operated a significant humint network, in addition to running a semi-legal programme of targeted assassinations against Natavist leaders, becoming embroiled in significant controversy after the war.
Both organisations were wound up after the end of the Bush Wars, as part of the 'peace dividend' savings. As a replacement, an office was established under the Ministry of Defence with a wide-ranging mandate, but limited budget. This was the Office of Defence Intelligence (ODI), the organisation which now forms the Republic's principal secret intelligence service. While the ODI has subsequently seen fairly significant expansion in size and capability from those early days, and moved to its own headquarters at Woolworth House, near Mount Lowe, in 2003, the name rather stuck.
In its modern form, the ODI functions in much the same way as any other secret intelligence agency on Mundus, though does retain a special penchant for murder inherited from the old Defence Intelligence Agency.
Unusually, the ODI maintains its own special operations units - known officially as Special Operations Groups - which enjoy a kind of semi-detached relationship with the Kaedweni Army's own special forces, the Long Range Reconnaissance Group (LRDG). These SOGs essentially function as small companies in the military sense, each with three sub-unit detachments, each bearing a randomized two-digit identifier. Generally, each group specializes in undertaking a certain kind of operation, and a large degree of freedom exists for group commanders to tailor their units to suit their needs, so they are generally not interchangeable.
Group 'S' Suvla - the counter-terrorism group, Group S undertakes the kind of activities one might picture when one hears the phrase 'Special Forces', largely of the
sneaky beeky variety, and operating almost exclusively on home soil. S-11 is the original ODI SOG, setting something of a template for those which were to follow - though H-22, arguably, maintains a greater link with the DIA's euphemistically named "Direct Action Teams" - along with S-15 and S-73.
Group 'H' Helles - the "direct action" group, Group H are something of the inverse of Group S, with a long tradition of marginally legal killing and sedition, either at home, against the remaining Natavists whenever trouble does flair up, or, on occasion, abroad. Group H could be said to be something of a 'fight fire with fire' approach to countering terrorist groups, and have the strongest ties with the LRDG, whom most often provide the support group for Group H operations. Helles' troops are H-22, H-42 and H-96.
Group 'B' Beersheba - the close-protection group, Group B oversees the protection of the Kaedweni government and key officials, as well as visiting VIPs, in concert with the Belmont Police Force's Close Protection Group. Sub-units are: B-19, B-52 and B-87.
Group 'K' Krithia - the "subversive activities" group, Group K are an offshoot of Group H established during the Kaedwen Emergency of early 2018. Their remit is the formation and support of friendly irregular forces, outside of the official Commando militia system. Though not specifically
intended for action abroad, per se, there exists a certain pool of opinion within the Kaedweni intelligence community that Group K has, in effect, been geared towards this kind of operation. Krithia's troops are K-66, K-84 and K-99, with each of these being rather larger than any other group's establishment, each almost a lightly-armed platoon.
Publicly, the Office of Defence Intelligence's activities are mostly classified, though some of the counter-terrorism activities of Group S are fairly well known, at least on a superficial level. Groups H and K are almost entirely unknown, outside of those 'in the know' and a select group of conspiracy theorists, and, if their activities were to come to light, they the Kaedweni government would almost certainly deny any knowledge or involvement.