The Department of Intelligence and Counter-Espionage

Overview

The Department of Intelligence and Counter-Espionage (DICE) was an international peacekeeping organisation backed by the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) countries, and staffed entirely by men and women drawn from the military and intelligence services of those countries. DICE was primarily concerned with matters of international terrorism, but due its NATO focus, it inevitably became used in operations against Soviet, Chinese, and Middle-Eastern threats to the West in the last years of the Cold War.

DICE is a secret organisation in a similar vein to national organisations such as America's NSA. That is, there is an awareness of an intelligence organisation called "The Department of Intelligence and Counter-Espionage" but few people are aware of its actual activities and methods. DICE bases are not advertised as such, and are generally in concealed locations or "camouflaged" as something else. For example, the DICE base in Los Angeles occupied the basement levels of a museum and was accessed by an innocuous (but highly secure) door in the building's underground car park.

History

In the mid-1970s, several businessmen in America and Europe formed a secret cartel to provide financial backing to certain subversive groups. As the ties between these groups strengthened, they became a major threat to world peace, and later became known as "the Anarchists". Like Black Zero before them, the Anarchists worked with national criminal groups to spread chaos and economic ruin.

As a multi-national movement, the Anarchists were difficult for any single government to suppress. A high-level NATO meeting in 1980 laid the foundation for a concerted response to the threat, and the Department of Intelligence and Counter-Espionage was subsequently formed. The DICE charter included international extra-legal powers specifically to combat the Anarchist threat. DICE and the Anarchists were locked in covert (sometimes overt) combat for the rest of the decade and into the '90s.

DICE had an extensive research budget and its agents were equipped with cutting edge equipment and weapons, often field-testing dangerous prototypes in their efforts to compete with the Anarchists' edge in advanced weapons and super-human operatives.

DICE often liaised with super-hero teams such as the Defense League of America, The Protectors, Strikeforce, and the EC-Men.

In the early 90s, following the break up of the Soviet Union and the final defeat of the Anarchists, DICE was increasingly seen as superfluous and underwent several dramatic budget cuts. When the Event stripped all super-human powers from the Earth, DICE was eventually disbanded.

Organisation

DICE was ratified and funded by the 28 member states of NATO, though in practice the majority of the funding and therefore the greatest degree of control came from the United States.

DICE was organised into three distinct, and largely autonomous, regional divisions: DICE Europe, DICE Atlantic (often called "East Coast DICE") and DICE Pacific (usually called "West Coast DICE"). Of these, DICE Atlantic, based in Washington DC, was the smallest in number of field agents and mainly fulfilled an intelligence gathering function. DICE Europe was based in the United Kingdom and most commonly found itself involved in anti-Soviet operations. DICE Pacific, based out of Los Angeles, was the largest in terms of geographical area covered and in number of agents.

DICE policy is set at NATO summit meetings and translated into strategic objectives by an ad hoc council of senior intelligence figures drawn from the member countries. This council has oversight of all operations, but the three regional commanders are given general autonomy in how objectives are achieved.

Equipment

The uniform of all field agents was a one-piece jumpsuit of bullet-resistant cloth in a dark blue colour. Standard issue sidearm was a plasma energy pistol developed by Green Industries. All agents were issued with personal communicators. Other equipment would be issued to suit specific missions, and many alternative personal side arms and heavier weapons were employed.

DICE missions employed a wide range of ground and air vehicles, often experimental models, in combat or transport roles.

Notable Members

DICE Europe:

• Major Dawson (head of DICE Europe)

DICE Atlantic:

• Colonel Tempest (head of DICE Atlantic)
• Agent Jones (Defense League liaison)
• Drebbin (field intelligence agent, killed in the line of duty)
• Nordberg (field intelligence agent, later transferred to DICE Pacific)

DICE Pacific: See the detailed article DICE Pacific.