Back to work

[Logan]

Well, the last of the full teams was taken down on 12/21/08. If any of you have seen what hapens when a 12 man team armed for bear (conventional ammo only, supply requisitions were denied, and the OpFor was misidentified - again) walks into a nest of leeches you have an idea of what that particular sewer tunnel looked like. Myself, I wound up first on medical leave while the docs put me back together. Then I was on "unpaid administrative leave" while I got to have a few pleasant conversations with some kindly men in my field of work that had more than just a few questions to "ask" me. Now that I have recovered from my repeated games of 20 questions, I get back to DC to find out that there are no remaining TacResp units in existance here, and my position has been changed to pushing papers around and burying 1313's. When my term of service is up in June I'm considering moving into the private sector so I can keep pushing things that shouldn't see the light of day back into the shadows.

[Grace]

Now you see, this is why I only work for the government on a freelance basis.

[Ron Caliburn]

Not a good plan Nemesis, I hear the retirement plan is murder.

[Grace]

Don't I know it!

[Shadowstalker]

There are other agencies that are not actually part of the goverment that that do such work, and some of them even deal with freelancers.
Some of them actually know what they are doing, and do there best to backup, and support their agents.
Even better some of them really are the Good guys.

[Grace]

Shadowstalker, please don't take anything I'm about to say personally. I've seen you and your team in action and I'll be first to offer praise to your skill and competence. And you did what you did without compensation so I'll even go so far as to say that makes you the 'good guys' in the books of many here.

That disclaimer aside, I can't beleive I'm the one about to point some things out.

Agencies that are not actually part of the government should be taken with even more grains of salt than actual government agencies. Government agencies actually have a few things going for them.

The very first is usually a clearly defined agenda with external oversight. Conspiracy theories aside, if they're with the government, they have to get paid and produce results in their respective field. They also have to answer to someone, somewhere. This makes them fairly predictable. Certainly there are power structures, politics and black ops taking place all the time. But they have recognizable goals and ways of doing things. When you know what those are, then you can operate freely.

Naturally this may not apply to individuals who have infiltrated government agencies with agenda's not consistant with those of the agency in question.

Non-Governmental agencies are a whole other ball of wax.

Take for example, the hypothetical existance of the Mob. Such an organization is definitely not a government organization. It's allegedly family based. It's goals are to protect and promote the interests of the family. Pretty, noble, huh?

Of course, such an organization might not be sanctioned by the government, making it illegal and it's member criminals. Can you... should you... accept criminals as the 'good guys' no matter how well they know what they're doing, work hard at providing back-up and support their members?

And this is critical to keep in mind, parts of this alleged criminal family enterprise would all believe that their way is the right way even if it was illegal. And why shouldn't they? It's based on traditions dating back generations and promotes strong family values and loyalties. It provides order and structure as well as a heirarchy for its members. It has recognizable goals and ways of doing thing. They even provide services such as protection and finicial transactions of all sorts.

But at the end of the day they're still criminals and anyone dealing with them better be willing and able to protect themselves.

Then of course we have the interesting phenomenom of militia's. These guys certainly beleive in what they're doing. They have definite agendas. Heck, many aren't even criminals and conduct themselves in a perfectly legal fashion.

Let's just say I wouldn't want to go back to the old ranch with any of them, though.

So what I'm saying here is that one person's 'good guy' is another's 'criminal' or 'lunatic'.

Sure, my examples are a bit extreme*. And maybe I'm paranoid. But it's kept me alive this long.

*Although really, isn't belonging to any para-military (read: not government sanctioned) group a bit extreme in itself?

Just some food for thought.

[Shadowstalker]

Heh. I won't take anything personal Nemesis. You will note I made no mention of who I work for these days. Nor was I offering anyone a job, I was only making a observation.
Fact is you have some very valid points.
The truth of the matter is there are some groups out there that are just as bad, and sometimes worse than the monsters we fight against. (Not pointing fingers or throwing any names out, but they have been mentioned on these boards.)
There are times when dealing with some groups even if they are well intentioned, is at best a roll of the dice, and sometimes you can roll snakeyes. So your caution is a very good idea, when dealing with unknowen wouldbe allies. But on the otherhand sometimes you have to take that chance, as it may be what saves your hide, and does gain you a ally worthy of trust.
Heh. I for one would like to say I have gained many allies here at Lazlo, and a few friends as well.
But on the subject of finding someone worthy of working with for Logan. I was thinking he could perhaps talk to Willie Long, and look into working for the Lazlo Society.

[Logan]

Not so sure most of the vaunted "Lazlo Society" would be so interested in working with me, since I don't think bringing this war out of the shadows would be advantageous.

[Shadowstalker]

It was just a idea, I have no actual idea if Willie could offer you a job in the first place with the Lazlo Society. But I do think he would be a good person to ask.

[Willie Long]

I was thinking he could perhaps talk to Willie Long, and look into working for the Lazlo Society.

. . . I work for Lazlo, but not the Society site. Some people, like Pendragon, work for both.

***
Logan, check your PMs.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

Wait a minute . . . there’s something beyond the Society? I was always led to believe Victor Lazlo had a loose group of followers, which eventually expanded to create this. Is there more? Are you at liberty to say, Sifu?

[Willie Long]

Sure, none of it is a secret. Lo Fung and RJM were old friends of Victor who put together an organization to continue his research, the "Lazlo Agency" mentioned in the tag line under the "Agency Voices" forum. A. Pendragon, Contact 21, and I work for it.

One of the things the group does is maintain this website. (Contact 21 and I don't have anything to do with that -- we just post here.) The "Society" is just a way to refer to the people who post on the website. So Jay Kishwar isn't a member of the Society, while Nain Rouge is.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

Ah.

[Heather Dawes]

Thats always interesting to know Willie. Whats this second group all about?

[Willie Long]

Paranormal research and public outreach. Much like the "global warming" crazies, the Agency divides its time between figuring out how bad the problem is, searching for solutions, and convincing the public that there is a problem.

RJM and Jay do a lot of interviews with newspapers, magazines, and local radio stations looking for cheap laughs at our expense. Unlike Victor himself, we've rarely had the opportunity to be made fun of on national TV.