Team Signal
Team Signal is a media-savvy Lillifuture resistance movement whose operatives, known as the Signaljammers, hijack propaganda broadcasts made by the dictatorial Interpol Authority with their own live or pre-recorded feeds. They are dedicated to exposing the tyranny of Interpol and its flagrant abuses of power in the Lillifuture and are heavily influenced by the J-Team, which have disbanded in this alternate timeline.
Contents
Background
In the Lillifuture, the Interpol have taken over as an authoritarian regime that has seized power over the major cities of various regions in the putative pretext of keeping the peace. They enforce their version of order through ruthless dictatorial means. Institutions like the Geographic Society managed to retain some degree of technical freedom and criticize Interpol's egregious abuses of power. However, with the Interpol focused more and more on quashing dissent, they are losing steam and have turned away from direct criticisms in favor to barbed backhanded shades and malicious compliance. Already, Interpol's departments are devising plans to permanently muzzle Geo Soc and similar watchog organizations in favor of a widespread persecution of potential sources of dissent.
Organizational History
While the Geographic Society and various other media channels with some modicum of freedom are forced to use subtlety to voice out their opinions and report contrary to government bias, the Signaljammers do so openly. The fledgling resistance group now known as Team Signal had been operating for some time in the shadows, often operating as a minor annoyance for the dictatorial Interpol that is usually not worth reprisal. They typically sharing dangerous inflammatory messages over the airwaves they hijack, which focused on barbed criticisms of the continued governance of Interpol. Recently, Signaljammers such as the popular Goober and Grip, have begun broadcasting footage of the J-Team's past exploits. The IDPD have taken an interest in capturing them as they suspect them of using time and interdimensional travel to capture footage--especially since these Signaljammers have started showing the J-Team's actions in what were clearly other alternate universes.
Content
Much of the content broadcast by Signaljammers are counterpropaganda based on authentic footage not approved by the censors of Interpol, which often show the extent of the tyranny of Interpol's reign and its consequences on the general populace. Not a few of their own signal jams even leak out the rough drafts of the deepfake videos used by Interpol's own propaganda machines.
Resources
It is unknown how well-funded Team Signal is compared with the historical J-Team. Rumors hold that a few former PEFE affiliates have contributed monetarily or materially to the organization in secret, but this is of course, hearsay. What is known is that they have access to technology available only to elite organizations, indicating that their Benefactor or their suppliers are heavily affiliated with those on the upper echelons.
Despite this, they are only capable of rescues reliant on misdirection. They are not capable of taking on military installations.
Technology available to Team Signal include the following:
- Shunters, which allow them to travel within several decades of the Lillifuture’s present. The shunters are reconfigured from an IDPD model. So far, only a few shunters are available to the Signaljammers, and only a handful of them have clearance to use them.
- The Widget. Short for “Signal Jammer Widget," this is a portable device used to hijack a signal and communicate over it. It is often configured to resemble an early 21st Century Smartphone or Pokédex.
- A motley of unique cameras and camera drones, many of which can be surreptitiously mounted on a Pokémon with ease. Tellingly, these broadcast a quality once reserved for the Geo Soc.
- Holoprojectors, which allow an operative to project an opaque hologram disguise a la The Zeta Project.
- Aura Jammers
- Drones geared for Rotom and Porygon
- Hard Light Projectors, which are usually used by Signaljammer drones to let Rotom and Porygon mimic the appearance of humans.
The similarity between the Geo Soc's camera work and Signaljammers', however, seems to indicate that Team Signal may have connections with the former, something that agents in Interpol are hungry to capitalize on if it weren’t for rumors of the IDPD Director's alleged fondness of that organization (or at least its current Editor in Chief, Andrew Petersen).
Ideology
Team Signal represents a step up from the randomness of the J-Team, with a formal recruitment process that's kept deliberately under wraps. They have been known to resort to violent action to rescue fugitives and those caught in entrapment operations. Team Signal is secretive, at times brutally pragmatic, yet still heavily driven by the ideals of the J-Team and PEFE.
Organization
All Team Signal operatives besides the upper leadership adopt funny-sounding (usually media- or device-related) codenames. This is on purpose—besides hiding the agent’s identity, the silliness of the name is meant to be deliberately misleading so they wouldn’t be taken seriously until they suddenly should be.
The head of Team Signal is an enigmatic figure known only as “The Benefactor.” Orders are usually distributed through Dolly. Their communications are sporadic and are distributed in much the same way as spy agencies.
Many Signaljammers join other groups as sleeper agents, including a reported few who work for the IDPD and Interpol itself. Of course, people are wary of an infiltrator entering their ranks as well. A few specialist Signaljammer groups exist; one group, known as the Keen Eyes, acts as a deep cover spy network
Known Members
Trivia
- Signaljammers frequently command their Pokémon through hand gestures partially derived from [American Sign Language].
- To date, no Signaljammer has successfully been caught alive.
