Special Security Service
The IISS Special Security Service (SSS), or S-3, is a Scout Service Special Forces Unit, and is one of the three principal Special Forces groups within the Imperial forces, the others being the Sylean Rangers and the Imperial Marine Commandos.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
The IISS Special Security Service (SSS) is a special forces unit present within the armed forces of the Third Imperium with origins in the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service.
Because Scout personnel often operate in small teams, far from support, they are many ways that they can easily find themselves in less than desirable situations, including unfriendly sapients or bad misunderstandings during first contact situations, criminals introducing technology to an Imperially Interdicted world or opportunistic profiteers after valuable X-mail and incidentals. When things go badly awry, the IISS Security Branch sends in “S-3”.
| IISS Ranks (Security Branch) |
|---|
|
| Officer Rank |
| IS-16 (O7) » Scout Leader |
| IS-15 (O6) » Colonel (Scout Commander) |
| IS-14 (O5) » Lieutenant Colonel |
| IS-13 (O4) » Major |
| IS-12 (O3) » Captain |
| IS-11 (O2) » First Lieutenant |
| IS-10 (O1) » Second Lieutenant |
| Ordinary Rank (Enlisted) |
| IS-9 (E9) » Chief Warrant Officer (Chief MSgt) |
| IS-8 (E8) » Warrant Officer (Master Sgt.) |
| IS-7 (E7) » Technical / Leading Sergeant |
| IS-6 (E6) » Staff Sergeant |
| IS-5 (E5) » Sergeant |
| IS-4 (E4) » Lance Sergeant |
| IS-3 (E3) » Corporal |
| IS-2 (E2) » Lance Corporal |
| IS-1 (E1) » Scout Guardsman (Private) |
| IS-1 (E1) » Scout Recruit |
| Rank List Non-Canonical [1] [2][3] |
Role & Mission[edit]
The primary mission of the Special Security Service is to recover Scout personnel who have fallen into unfriendly hands, and occasionally to go to interdicted worlds to locate and either recover or destroy prohibited technology that has found its way there. Strictly speaking, the IISS is not a military organization; thus, S-3 teams are not on a par with either the Imperial Marine Commandos or Sylean Rangers. Nevertheless, the military services give the Scout commandos a grudging respect. S-3 members are widely known for their resourcefulness and courage at getting the job done quietly and with a minimum of bloodshed.
Table of Rank Grades[edit]
The table of rank grades common to all members of Scout Security Branch is shown at the right.
Organization[edit]
The Security Branch of the Scout Service as a whole is organized along military lines with ranks and a formal chain of command. Special Security Service members are recruited as the elite of Security Branch, trained in commando and covert operations. S-3 operatives also receive training from Contact & Liaison Branch on the sociology of low-tech cultures. Basic S-3 teams are roughly squad-sized, with 5-8 personnel per team depending on the local situation. Teams practice together until they can operate smoothly as a unit. In most sectors, there are four teams formally organized as a platoon or section. In troubled regions such as the Spinward Marches, more than one platoon may be present. The Special Security Service headquarters for a given sector is usually located at an IISS Way Station and staffed by members of the other branches of the Scout bureaucracy. The S-3 teams are constantly out on training assignments or actual operations and actually spend very little time at their headquarters.
History & Background[edit]
"S-3", as the IISS Special Security Service is known was established shortly after the IISS was formed in the earliest days of the Third Imperium. The name arises from the unit’s official designation of “Special Security Service” (SSS).
Formerly Associated Units[edit]
References[edit]
- Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Star Mercs (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 24.
- Jon F. Zeigler. First In (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 26.
- ↑ Conjectural rank-scale by WHULorigan
- ↑ Marc Miller. Scouts (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), 6.
- ↑ Jon F. Zeigler. First In (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 6, 26.