Internal Security Force

Internal Security Force
Organization Profile
Type	Intelligence Agency
Parent Organization	Draconis Combine
Headquarters	Luthien
Leadership	Director

Overview

The Internal Security Force (ISF) is the Draconis Combine's official secret service agency and secret police force. Though it has existed since the Combine's founding, only in the years after 3025 did its internal organization come to light.

The ISF is reputed as the most brutal and ruthless of the intelligence services active in the Inner Sphere. They follow the traditions of Shiro Kurita, the Combine's founder, who unhesitatingly used brute force and espionage to expand his realm. In emulation of the first Coordinator's uncompromising belief in the supremacy of the Draconis Combine, the members of the ISF believe that the Dragon will at some point rule over all of humanity. They are single-mindedly devoted to this goal, to the extent that they have even betrayed past Coordinators that they have deemed unfit for the responsiblity of expanding the glory of the Combine.

In its personnel, the ISF prizes loyalty unto death and the ability to dispassionately execute orders. Every ISF agent is indoctrinated into willingness to sacrifice his life for the higher good of the Combine. Their fanaticism and proficiency in covert operations ranks the ISF among the most successful and dangerous intelligence agencies in the Inner Sphere.

History

Beginnings

The roots of the agency can be tracked back to the reign of Shiro Kurita. During the early expansion of his interstellar territory, Shiro established a covert operations group with the goals to gather intelligence on his enemies and undertake certain missions his military forces could not accomplish. This group was able to give Shiro reliable information on a target world's defences before he attacked. The rapid early expansion of Shiro's realm can be credited in large part to the effective operations of his intelligence corps.

After the formal creation of the Draconis Combine in 2330, Shiro expanded and reorganized his intelligence group, dubbing it the Internal Security Force. With the conquest of the Principality of Rasalhague, the ISF was put to test. The ISF supplied the Coordinator's brother and chief general Urizen Kurita for over 48 months with valuable information, but the ISF also made catastrophic mistakes during the subjugation of Rasalhague. The agency failed to detect an anti-Combine insurgency on New Bergen, allowing the insurgents to capture a large supply depot. With this matériel the underground movement were able to harass the Combine occupiers repeatedly for the next four years. The ISF also failed to stop an attempt by Rasalhague rebel forces to kill members of the Kurita clan. As a result, the Coordinator at the time, Tenno Kurita, committed seppuku in shame in 2376.

Von Rohrs Dynasty

By the early twenty-fifth century the ISF had begun to regard themselves as the keepers of their founder's heritage, seeing their loyalty as being to the Draconis Combine itself rather than to any particular Coordinator. They discovered a plot to assassinate Coordinator Parker Kurita by Nihongi Von Rorhs, an illegitimate son of past Coordinator Nihongi Kurita, but took no action against it. Nihongi von Rorhs became Coordinator in the late Parker's stead - this would quickly backfire for the ISF, as Nihongi immediately began a series of bloody purges against any high-ranking Combine officials not personally loyal to him, including much of the ISF. Enduring the confusing and exceptionally tyrannical rain of the Von Rorhs dynasty for as long as possible, the ISF eventually reached the limits of their tolerance. ISF elements identified Martin McAllister, a descendent of Shiro Kurita himsef, and with the assistance of the ISF and the rebellious Lord of Rasalhague, McAllister overthrew the Von Rorhs dynasty. Incidentally, this episode also brought about the formal unification of the Draconis Combine and the Principality of Rasalhague.]

Meanwhile, the Terran Hegemony had created a new weapon which would change modern warfare forever: the BattleMech. All other states in the Inner Sphere had tried everything to obtain the new technology, but only the Lyran Commonwealth was initially able to obtain it after a successful raid at the Hesperus II facility. The ISF, lacking in manpower after Nihongi's purges, nevertheless tried to acquire BattleMech technology for the Combine. To this end, the elite Draconis Elite Strike Teams were created by seconding the most skilled individual soldiers in the the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery to the command of the ISF. The DEST raided the Lyran world of Coventry in 2461 and captured the technology required to build BattleMechs for the Draconis Combine.

Star League Era

Coordinator Martin McAllister had no male heir, and so the ISF arranged the marriage of McAllister's daughter Siriwan McAllister with one Warren Kurita, a Kurita of the original line. Siriwan soon gave birth to Hehiro Kurita - not long after his birth, Coordinator Martin passed away, and soon after that the ISF took the drastic step of arranging Warren Kurita's death. Hehiro became Heir-Designate with Siriwan as his regent, and when Hehiro eventually became the new Coordinator he led the Combine into joining the Star League. Hehiro was able to convince the ISF, as well as the other institutions, that the natural superiority of the Combine would lead to him becoming First Lord, a presumption that seemed to be borne out by the Combine's excellent performance in the Reunification War.

Unfortunately, Hehiro died by accident in 2591, allowing the ill-disposed Leonard Kurita to become Coordinator. After Leonard's disastrous reign had led the Combine to the brink of war with the Star League, the ISF took matters into their own hands and had him killed.

The reign of Urizen Kurita II, also called 'Urizen the Passive', saw a signifiant increase in the ISF's strength. He quadrupled their budget and greatly expanded their mandate. In turn, they ruthlessly enacted his policy of imposing the culture of pre-nineteenth-century Terran Japan on the worlds and peoples of the Combine. The ISF, adopting the nickname of metsuke ('all-seeing eyes'), conducted extreme purges to ensure the cultural conformity that Urizen desired. They earnt much of their reputation for brutality during this time, which endured even after Urizen's death.

Fall of the Star League

In the late twenty-eighth century, Urizen stepped down as Coordinator. His successor, the moderate Takiro Kurita, performed another purge of the ISF, but also doubled the expansive budget they had enjoyed under Urizen and further expanded their remit, for the first time empowering them to scrutinise the DCMS. Takiro's reorganised ISF would prove itself in quickly crushing an outbreak of riots on Benjamin.

Meanwhile, the once peaceful Inner Sphere was at the brink of war. The ISF was unable to prevent Stefan Amaris from taking Takiro's nephew Drago Kurita and his family hostage, with which the usurper forced Takiro to cooperate with his coup. Unfortunately, Amaris had Drago and his family killed as a final spiteful act before his own defeat and death at the hands of Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky during his liberation of Terra from Amaris' reign of terror.

Following the liberation of Terra and the 2780 Star League Council's vote to strip Kerensky of his station of Commanding General, the ISF noted a flurry of activity around SLDF bases in Kurita space. They reported a mass gathering of Star League Defense Force ships and supplies at New Samarkand to Coordinator Minoru Kurita, who stayed his hand against them - his caution paid off, as rather than attacking the Combine as many had feared, the fleet departed Kurita space and the Inner Sphere as a whole on their Exodus 5 November 2784. After the disappearance of the SLDF, the era of the Succession Wars began.

Succession Years

The Combine's success during the early years of the First Succession War can be in part explained by the ISF's monitoring of the Federated Suns border. The AFFS relocated massive troop strength to their border with the Capellan Confederation. The son of the Coordinator, Jinjiro Kurita, used the circumstances to concentrate a large portion of troops in the Galedon Military District. The DCMS captured several planets during the subsequent invasion of the Federated Suns. The Combine's involvement in the First Succession War ended soon afterwards, partly as a result of exhaustion and depleted morale after the Kentares Massacre.

After the First Succession War had ended, the ISF were mainly employed in sabotaging the other Great Houses' recovery efforts and trying to gather information on the mysterious band of raiders known as the Minnesota Tribe which had been striking Combine worlds in 2825. The increasingly unstable Jinjiro Kurita slipped deeper into madness, and began to completely lose control of himself for periods of time. ISF agents loyal to him provided the Coordinator with recordings that they had covertly taken of his manic episodes, from which Jinjiro deduced that even in the depths of his madness, he retained his impressive military acumen. His talent for command was the reason he was so loved by the DCMS, and so rather than abdicate in favor of his heir, the unmilitary Zabu Kurita, Jinjiro commenced the Second Succession War by attacking the Lyran Commonwealth in 2830.

The ISF continued to ply their trade during the Second Succession War, gathering intelligence on the Federated Suns in preparation for Operations AKAI KAZE, TANTO and MOONLIGHT SONATA (although in many places this information was inaccurate). The ISF and the Ministry of Information, Intelligence, and Operations (MIIO), the Davion intelligence agency, duelled over communications ciphers and misinformation. On the Lyran Commonwealth front, the ISF successfully infiltrated the staff of the Duke of Tamar, feeding information regarding the LCAF's movements to the DCMS until the ISF operatives were killed by an agent of SAFE, the intelligence agency of the Free Worlds League.

Jinjiro Kurita came to a bad end during the Second Succession War, falling irretrievably into the depths of madness in 2837 after recieving the strange gift of a doll wearing a SLDF dress uniform. The origins of the gift are unknown, although the package was screened by the ISF before being presented to the Coordinator, and rumours abounded that the ISF somehow foreknew the effect it would have on Jinjiro and wished for him to 'step aside' in favour of a younger and more focused military leader.

In Jinjiro's place, Yoguchi Kurita became the new Coordinator, and immediately dealt the ISF a mortal insult by putting them under the control of the DCMS, a decision that would eventually cost him his life. Before long Yoguchi was assassinated by Snow Fire, an agent of the Lyran Intelligence Corps (LIC), who became Yoguchi's favored concubine before killing him in his sleep in 2850. Although there was no proof, it was suspected that ISF Director Malcolm Katsuyori knew the truth of Snow Fire's identity but allowed her to assassinate Yoguchi in revenge for his subordination of the ISF to the DCMS. The surviving siblings of Yoguchi, Miyogi Kurita and Roweena Kurita fought against each other for control of the Draconis Combine. That era is known as the Shadow Wars.

Shadow War

Roweena Kurita used her influence of the ISF director Malcom Katsuyori to increase the power of the agency when they allowed the Internal Security Force entrance into her PRE (People's Reconstruction Effort). She used the PRE as cover to increase their influence within the society. Thus started a shadow war where Roweena secretly jousted with Coordinator Miyogi for influence and support of the generals of High Command. When the Third Succession War ended, Coordinator Miyogi Kurita started a secret investigation of the ISF to see how far his sister Roweena had corrupted the agency. Miyogi came out on top when nephew Taragi Kurita supported him instead of Roweena. Neither knew Taragi had his own plans. A purge of ISF was started to rid of agents sympathetic to Roweena, and several hundred agents lost their lives. The PRE was eradicated, but the surviving supporter of Roweena Kurita went underground, and spread rumors that the Coordinator Miyogi had betrayed the Combine to the Federated Suns. In reality, Taragi was manipulating the situation to benefit himself, with advice from Roweena. When Miyogi appointed his son Jon Kurita to command the Davion front even though Taragi made himself seem the obvious choice, Miyogi's fate was sealed. After several losses to the Federated Suns, a fanatical soldier killed Coordinator Miyogi Kurita with a suicide bomb. Jon Kurita was imprisoned and executed after a mock trial, leaving Taragi as the surviving senior Kurita to ascend to the position of Coordinator. However, Taragi suddenly died in 2907, leaving his son Shinjiro to succeed him as Coordinator.

The Shadow War ended with the signing of Davarapala Accords in 2921 which included stipulations that the ISF Director become a member of High Command and the agency was granted more autonomy. The Accords was signed by the new Coordinator Shinjiro Kurita and ISF Director Clarissa Indrahar and approved by her Council of Five.

Conflict with ComStar

Necess Kurita is the first born child of Coordinator Shinjiro Kurita. However, she chose a path of healing and medicine, rather than a path of martial arts, leaving that to her younger brother Hugai Kurita. She frequently traveled to the other Great Houses, causing her father great displeasure. Things did not change when her father died and her brother Hugai became Coordinator. Then Necess chose to join ComStar to further hear learning as a medical archaeologist. Coordinator Hugai consider this "recruiting" as meddling in Combine's internal affairs, but ComStar did not back down. Necess passed the tests and became an acolyte, and received special dispensation to serve her appointment on Luthien. ComStar assigned two ROM agents to watch over her, and ISF responded with 6 of their own agents. In November 2931, the two sides exchanged fire. The two surviving ISF agents kidnapped Necess and took her back to the palace. At Coordinator Hugai's orders, ISF imprisoned her in a heavily guarded remote palace wing. ComStar responded by recruiting several regiments worth of Mercenary Units and authorized Precentor Hendriks to negotiate backed up by threat of full interdiction and threat of force. Eventually Necess Kurita and Precentor Hendriks were allowed to leave peacefully. This became known as the Necess Kurita Affair.

Takashi and Theodore

Takashi Kurita used the agency as his tool to fortify his power base. The new director Subhash Indrahar was a close friend to the Coordinator. He was also the negotiator for the Concord of Kapteyn. The alliance was weakened by the fanatical hate for mercenaries of the Coordinator. The rift expanded in the following two decades further. They were neutral and supported the efforts of Theodore to strength the Dragon. Operatives of the ISF played a vital part in the creation of the Ghost regiments and the agreement with ComStar to grant the Rasalhagian people independence in exchange for downgraded ComStar matériel to rebuild the DCMS.

Status in 3050

Until the arrival of the Clans, the agency had only one task: to break the alliance between House Steiner and House Davion by any means. Should that happen the next logical step was to destroy both realms. With their invasion, the Clans became an enemy to all Inner Sphere powers. That changed the entire situation and a temporary ceasefire with the other agencies took place. After the epic campaign on Tukayyid, the situation changed once more. Some members of the ISF tried to convince the new Coordinator to take the chance for another invasion into the Federated Commonwealth, but Theodore Kurita had other priorities. He had the intention to know the route of the invaders with the goal to devastate their homeworlds. The Combine faced three equal, strong, new enemies: Clan Smoke Jaguar, Clan Nova Cat, and Clan Ghost Bear, which seemed to be unstoppable. ISF operatives gathered all available information and sent it back into the Combine. With that knowledge it became possible to beat Clan Smoke Jaguar at Wolcott. The successful defense of Luthien against the Clans was another outstanding example; it showed the leaders of the ISF and Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery that cooperation with former enemies could lead to unexpected results. The nonaggression pact (signed on Outreach) with House Steiner-Davion holds at the moment. But the assassination of the FedCom leader (Melissa Steiner-Davion) increased the alert level of the ISF once more.

Missions of the ISF

• Gather all available information about the Clans and understand how to counter them effectively
• Capture Clan warriors to get information, with the use of brutal questioning techniques if needed
• Supply resistance movements on Clan held worlds, gather information about valuable targets, and sow chaos whenever possible among occupation forces
• Maintain their established spy networks quietly, only with the permission of the Coordinator are actions allowed
• Examine all messages transmitted by ComStar for possible information about Clan activities

The agency prepared itself for the renewal of hostilities with the Clans. For that operation several plans would be activated:

• The ISF college would increase its output of operatives
• Important ISF installations would be relocated from Luthien to New Samarkand
• The entire ruling family and important members of the government would be transported to New Samarkand on JumpShips hidden in the Luthien System

The ISF changed their field of work with the arrival of the Clans. They were informed of the attempt to invade Luthien by the Clans and prevent the ROM operatives during Operation Scorpion to seize the vital HPGs. The concentration of the Clan threat in combination of the reforms at many levels led to the growth of the Black Dragon Society. The members regard themselves as the true elite of the Combine.

After Theodore Kurita succeeded his father in 3054, he enacted a number of reforms that concerned very conservative elements of Draconis society. In an attempt to appease these factions, Theodore applied Japanese names to many organizations that never had them before, including the branches of the ISF. Prior to Coordinator Theodore, the ISF was sometimes known as Metsuke, or All-Seeing Eyes. This name was later assigned to one specific ISF branch.

Kokuryu-kai

The first overt move of this group was an assault on Towne, a Federated Suns planet. The ISF then purged the DCMS, believing they had put an end to the Society. Instead, they tried to get back their lost honor with the failed assassination attempt on the Coordinator during a parade at Luthien. This time the involvement of the high-ranking DEST member was critical, because the agents used the machines of mercenaries for the task. The following purge of the ranks was brutal.

The Dragons used their resources to hire mercenaries for a covert assault of Lyons, the attack on Robinson during the FedCom Civil War, and also the failed invasion attempt of Alshain which was followed by the Dominion War as a result. The agency was in bad shape, due to restricted resources and low manpower.

Subhash Indrahar was the Director of the ISF for several decades during the time of Takashi Kurita. He is eventually succeeded by his adopted son, Ninyu Kerai Indrahar. He would die in first year of the Jihad and would be succeeded by 3068 by Shakir Jerrar.

Serving in the ISF requires attending the Internal Security College.

Command Structure

Officially the Coordinator is the head of the ISF but in reality the Director of the agency is the second influential single person throughout the Combine. Within the command structure are five individuals who are the aides for the director. Each of the agents have the capabilities to lead the ISF for an interim term until a new Director is selected by the Coordinator. The common operative is unknown to the society of the Combine and also to the enemy. That circumstances led to a better information base because no one knows if he speaks to an ISF operative. On Clan-held worlds the agents act on their own capabilities to disrupt the operation of the enemy.

Branches

Keeping with the Combine's fascination with the number five, the Internal Security Force is divided into five branches. The sixth branch of the ISF is an unofficial group created by the ISF Director.

• Mononokete (Ghost Hands): Formerly known as the Covert Operations Division this is the "active intelligence" branch. Agents are trained over two years in a manner similar to DEST team members before they get active mission assignments. They typically operate in smaller groups and in deep cover assignments. Their focus is directed at external threats, be it a sabotage mission, assassination, or monitoring foreign visitors as a liaison officer. These agents are not used to resolve internal matters.

• Mokonete (Guiding Hands): This is the branch most people think of when they think "ISF". Formerly known as the Internal Security Division, Mokonete agents are responsible for identifying foreign intelligence agents and eliminating them. Their other focus is finding and reeducating dissident citizens.

• Koe No Ryu (Voice of the Dragon): Previously called the Propaganda Division. With an agent on the board of directors of every Combine media concern, the Voice of the Dragon is the most benign branch of the ISF. The agents of this branch limit their activities to reporting Inner Sphere and Combine events in a manner consistent with the wishes of the Kurita family. The branch also has the task of creating resistance movements on occupied Combine worlds.

• Metsuke (All Seeing Eyes): Previously known as Intelligence Gathering and Analysis Division. The agents of this branch are the passive observers, infiltrators, and sleeper agents who see everything. They do not act themselves, but provide information to the analysis section, which may activate agents of other branches, or DEST commandos to eliminate a threat. The Metsuke owns a small fleet of JumpShips with the best surveillance equipment available on board. These vessels have the capability to gather information even from jump points.

• Draconis Elite Strike Team: Though technically not a branch of the ISF, the DCMS MechWarriors assigned to this branch frequently provide the "muscle" needed to eliminate ISF-identified threats. Members of these teams are the equal of the LIC Loki teams or the DMI's Rabid Foxes. Before becoming a member of the DEST every apprentice must survive the initial test. Then after 48 months of training and indoctrination. The estimated numbers were during the 3050s between 5000 and 6000. They were not given a Japanese name because their branch has such a fearsome reputation across the Inner Sphere. Some of these operatives were seduced by the arguments of the Kokuryu-kai, leading several of them to revolt against the Coordinator.

• Musukosan No Ryu (Sons of the Dragon): Not an official branch of the ISF, this group of agents was formed by Subhash Indrahar during his tenure as the head of the ISF. They were fanatically loyal to the Director, carrying out secret missions that no one knew about. At one point, Theodore Kurita was offered membership in the organization. Ninyu Kerai Indrahar, Subhash's adopted son and friend of Theodore Kurita, later controlled the group. In 3028, Jerry Akuma was under consideration for membership before his mishandling of Wolf's Dragoons compelled the Director to order his death.

The ISF has a complex relationship with the Combine's unofficial intelligence service, the Order of Five Pillars (O5P) headed by the Keeper of the House Honor. At times the two agencies respect and complement each other well, but at other times in the Combine's history the two agencies have engaged in a series of covert wars.

Headquarters

Among the many secret bases within the Draconis Combine two are regarded as HQ to the organization. One on New Samarkand and the other on Luthien. The complex on New Samarkand can hold a maximum of 20,000 people and in an event of an attack with atomic, biological or chemical weapons the base could be sealed within 120 seconds. The complex is defended by 6 'Mech companies. The only access point to the HQ is by a system of shuttle cars which also connect the ISF college with a spaceport.

The security measures are tight. On the ground the complex is surrounded with a chemical which destroys all material immediately. Should an aircraft enter air space within 200 km of the HQ the aircraft will be destroyed without warning.

Luthien houses also an HQ the near the Imperial City. The structure could withstand all possible attacks and is also heavily guarded. The Tactical Command Center on Pesht was built to mimic the SLDF Brian Cache but was soon abandoned by the military. The DEST acquired it for the training of new members. The defenses of the Center are equal if the other bases. It has no direct road to it. A network of sensors and automated weapons guard it against all hostile forces. The center's air space is guarded by weapons platforms in low orbit above the Command Center. The training for the candidates is brutal. Five trainees make up a team. When they graduate successfully they stay together.

ISF Uniforms and Insignia

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  A member of the DEST in a sneak suit.

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  ISF insignia.

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  Ghost Hands insignia.

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  Guiding Hands insignia.

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  Voice of the Dragon insignia.

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  All Seeing Eyes insignia.

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  DEST insignia.

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  Sons of the Dragon insignia.

Bibliography

• Black Dragon
• First Succession War
• A Guide to Covert Ops
• Handbook: House Kurita
• Heir to the Dragon
• House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)
• Intelligence Operations Handbook
• Second Succession War
• Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade
• Wolf Pack
• Wolves on the Border