Operatives are high-level agents of the Alliance government. They report directly to the ruling Parliament, and are called in to deal with particularly threatening situations where absolute secrecy and swift action is vital. Their training has instilled in them a belief that upholding the principles of the Alliance(and protecting its secrets, no matter how unsavory)is paramount, and they will ruthlessly attempt to fulfill their mission no matter what the cost, even if that means wholesale mass-murder.

The operative in the movie Serenity epitomized his kind; a self-proclaimed monster who 'believed hard, and killed without asking why.'