| Role | Guerrilla warfare • intelligence gathering • covert operations |
| Type | Military unit |
| Goals | Maintain domestic security • Discreetly influence global conflicts |
| Origin | Authoritarian states |
| Training | Combat • surveillance • subterfuge |
| Recruitment | Citizenry |
In an alternate world dominated by authoritarian states, a party is a term denoting militia-style units of highly trained guerrilla warfare, intelligence gathering, and covert operation specialists.
The concept of parties emerged as a response to various political, military, and social changes that shaped this alternate reality. Faced with the threat of civil unrest, terrorism, and an increasingly interconnected global conflict, governments of various states needed specialized, elite units to maintain order, protect state security, and fulfill national objectives through clandestine means.
Given the sensitivity of their missions and the need for secrecy, parties are intentionally limited in size, consisting of no more than 12-20 members carefully selected and recruited from a pool of trusted citizens with a history of unwavering loyalty to their state. They are further supplemented by support networks in government circles, the intelligence community, and various special interest groups.
A typical party is organized under the direct supervision of a military or intelligence agency, depending on the state involved. Its structure varies based on the party's primary role or strategic purpose. For example, a party tasked with maintaining domestic security may be more hierarchical, similar to special forces units in composition and command structure, with a single commander and tightly integrated rank and file.
On the other hand, a party focused on foreign intervention might be more decentralized, incorporating individual cells equipped to operate independently, often under the cover of civilian occupations in targeted foreign states.
Regardless of the group's structure, members undergo rigorous training and intensive indoctrination programs emphasizing unwavering loyalty, advanced combat techniques, and subterfuge. They are expected to excel at close quarters combat, infiltration, surveillance, espionage, and various forms of warfare designed to destabilize enemy or rival entities.
In terms of domestic security, parties are often mobilized to respond to insurgencies or civil unrest, providing short-term support to police forces or law enforcement agencies in crisis situations such as riots, terrorist attacks, and other crises that may overwhelm the traditional forms of order.
In foreign operations, however, parties aim to ensure the interests of their respective states are maintained through a range of tactics, including influence operations, sabotage, and assassination. Parties tasked with foreign intervention may also act as agents provocateur, aiming to exploit existing social cleavages or conflicts in order to destabilize vulnerable target states. In either case, the secrecy of their activities is critical, as exposure or capture carries grave consequences.
In this alternate universe, the concept of parties has had profound implications for the exercise and maintenance of power among authoritarian states. It raises perennial issues of governance, covert intervention, and statecraft, presenting a world in which the employment of these exceptional units is a key factor in maintaining and expanding their respective regimes' influence.
The use of parties highlights the complex interplay between states, their militaries, and intelligence agencies in this alternate reality, providing a glimpse into a fascinating and perhaps unsettling aspect of the world's political landscape.
