| abstract | - The Imperial Security, better known as ImpSec, is a branch of the Barrayaran Imperial Service devoted to protecting the Empire from threats within and without. Officers publicly assigned to Imperial Security wear silver departmental insignia in the shape of an Eye of Horus. ImpSec, alongside with Military Intelligence Service and Ministry of Protection of Imperial Loyalty, is part of Barrayaran intelligence system, but differently from both colleague services is in charge of both foreign intelligence, concerned with broad issues such as economics, political assessments, military capabilities and intentions of foreign nations, and internal security. This means that ImpSec is the sole general intelligence service, responsible for performing foreign and military intelligence, alongside with some internal security duties, in support of Ministry for Protection of Imperial Loyalty, while anti-crime intelligence is performed by civilian counterparts, mainly the Ministry of Interior. However, the Ministry and the Imperial Security are into a close working relationship, ImpSec serving primarily as the information-gathering agency and the Ministry as the executive agency of the system established for the purpose of combating the political and ideological enemies. This relationship between the Ministry and ImpSec is accomplished by the systematic co-ordination work among chiefs of the individual agencies and departments, as overseen and directed by the Emperor or the Prime Minister; operationally, this consultation is carried out by the Political and Security Committee. The Imperial Security is responsible for supplying the Emperor and His Government with internal and foreign intelligence. Alongside the Ministry of Protection of Imperial Loyalty and Military Intelligence Service, it operates under the functional direction of the sole Emperor and Prime Minister. The Imperial Security also performs functions of political police: it cooperates with the local law enforcement agencies when the repression of offences has to be considered alongside safeguarding national security. ImpSec, since Captain Simon Illyan's long leadership, is organized with internal accountability criteria, in opposition to the internal secrecy of Captain Negri's command, which had little, secret compartments shared only with Emperor Ezar. On the other hand, the membership of the Imperial Security largely remained unchanged: most officers are assigned to ImpSec as first assignment, and likely remain there for the whole career, or move from (or to) both Service Security and Military Intelligence Service: under ordinary circumstances no ship-duty officer is assigned to ImpSec, in order to avoid officers which simply do not have the necessary experience about dealing with state security matters. Due to the harsh methods used, ImpSec gained through the decades a very sinister fame: any average Barrayaran on the street feels at least fear and anxiety if confronted with ImpSec. In recent decades, however, alongside the secret spying and policing, ImpSec has taken on another level, more public and more "friendly": official Detachments often interact with the press and are integrated with local society in new "prevention police" and somewhat bland "political surveillance" roles. The "New ImpSec" is therefore in charge of various activities, ranging from close protection of Emperor and imperial top leaders and policy-makers to surveillance duties, being a sort of "advanced security" force and intelligence agency. However, ImpSec is still in charge of defence of the Empire from any threat which could be identified, and therefore it is capable of the harshest reactions. It is keen to underline that ImpSec is a fully military body, and in many cases is just another assignment, slightly different from the major part of other branches, but still under the broad umbrella of the Imperial Service. The Imperial Service primary mission is to serve the Emperor, and ImpSec is a full part of that mission. Although the Imperial Security is a military corps, it is hierarchically submitted to the Chief of General Staff for disciplinary matters only. The Imperial Security is therefore among the "military forces" of the Empire but is not strictly part of the Imperial Service: as a military force, it depends on the Chief of the General Staff, but the Chief of the Imperial Security is not part of the High Command and as chief of a state security service is directly related to the Emperor and, if present, the Prime Minister. In its capacity of state security service, ImpSec reports directly to the Emperor, and co-operates with other intelligence-gathering and security military and civilian bodies. Other Imperial Service departments and branches are required to cooperate with ImpSec. The general provisions of the military regulations and laws are applicable to the members of the Imperial Security, subject to the modifications which have been established for them. ImpSec employs many operatives who work undercover in the field. Some are military specialists, whilst others are civilian hires, including famous professors and scholars, who are recruited for their specialities and access. Local non-military operatives are graded from IS-1 to IS-9, IS-9 representing the highest level of security accessible to an operative agent. The Preventive Internment Plan is the mass detention strategy to be enforced in case of a major war or of general security emergence: it involves widespread detentions of thousands of people and the reinforcement of the surveillance measures over other thousands of people. Every local section of ImpSec has to have dedicated lists and to perform local arrests, by groups of three men. Often times, operatives and agents may not even know their head. When all else fails, it is upon the Agent to assume that they are being watched by a superior, and act accordingly. Most of the time, this paranoia is very justified, at least at home. The Imperial Security was formed as early as in 2845 by Emperor Dorca under the command of his trusted adviser Pierre Le Sanguinaire Vorrutyer; at first, ImpSec operated as a bodyguard corps to protect the Imperial Person from all threats, being understated that the main threat were his relatives. This feature maintained its place through the decades and centuries. In 2846 the personal protection services were formally separated, and the Imperial Security was formally established. The first Commander of Imperial Security after the foundation years was Major Lucas Vordrozda, a close Dorca's protégé. During these years, the head-quarters were based within the Imperial Residence, with a secondary seat in a villa in down-towns, where interrogations were performed and heavy assets housed. The personal protection role (alongside the related information-gathering duties) was maintained intact for the brief Yuri's reign. During the so-called "Reign of the Mad Emperor", ImpSec gained the responsibility for personal security of all the Imperial Family, as well as some forms of control over military and Vor families. Generally speaking, the Imperial Security was a somewhat minor security agency, corned by the powerful and influential Ministry of Political Education. During Yuri's years, Chiefs of the Imperial Security rotated frequently, and ranked Captain (Naval) or Colonel; under Yuri's reign the main see of the Imperial Security moved out of the Imperial Residence, moving to the Imperial Security Head Quarters building, a technologically advanced building designed by Lord Dono Vorrutyer, the Mad Architect, and completed in 2861. During Ezar Vorbarra's reign, the Imperial Security gradually shifted from a personal security and Residence protection agency to a secret police force, partly capable to rival the then-Ministry of Political Education, and become to establish its own spy network abroad. The growth was reflected by the ever-rising rank of the Chief of Imperial Security; although the last Ezarian Chief was a Captain (Naval), the post formally needed a Major General or a Rear Admiral and, in the late years of Ezar's reign, a Lieutenant General. However, the real boom came for ImpSec with the disastrous Escobar Campaign and its aftermaths, when the Ministry of Political Education was ripped apart and physically destroyed. Since the beginning of the Regency of Aral Vorkosigan, the Imperial Security has been the main national security agency, its own tasks progressively encompassing all national security and foreign intelligence matters.
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