[NPC Organization] The Survivor's Foundation

[Survivor's Foundation]

The galaxy’s worst brings out our best

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Founded shortly after the infamous Shield Incident of Coruscant, the Survivor’s Foundation is dedicated to assisting worlds rebuild after they have been ravaged by war, terrorism and plague. Originally just one of the many non-governmental organizations that assisted in the rebuilding of Coruscant, the Foundation rapidly outstretched its original mission after a public endorsement by Jedi Master Armiena Draygo, soon obtaining the finances and materiel necessary for the rebuilding of entire worlds almost on its own. This promotion could not have come at a better time for the galaxy, for during the climax of the Galactic Civil War, numerous worlds had experienced terrible ravaging by the war: Coruscant’s cities had been flattened by multiple raids by the Galactic Empire and a pirate gang led by Ronin Wartide, Mon Calamari had experienced an entire ecosystem collapse after its orbital shipyards were blasted into its oceans, and Gateway Station had been afflicted by a virus that transformed its inhabitants into drooling, shambling, flesh-eating drones. After peace broke out, its operations shifted towards the Outer Rim to help those neglected worlds rebuild after decades of resource exploitation and pirate raids that exploited the military struggle in the Core. Its mission has remained constant: to heal the depravations of war, to rescue those in immediate peril, and to combat the creeping forces of decay and pestilence.

 

On paper, the Survivor’s Foundation has jealously guarded its neutrality. In reality, it will inevitably be tied to the activities of the Jedi Order, who supplied it with a number of ships and whose endorsement secured it with a steady supply of liquid capital. This conflict has manifested itself in tragedy on a number of occasions--Foundation craft have, from time to time, been fired upon during planetary invasions. But the Foundation has attempted to at least maintain a status of legal neutrality. Its ships are bear number of universal symbols of neutrality, and the few weapons that are mounted by its ships or present in their arsenals are strictly nonlethal.

 

 

An Armada of Mercy

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The Foundation favors small, light ships--corvettes and frigates, typically--for the initial response to emergencies, though a number of capital ships are kept on stand by for situations that require a prolonged staying power and deployment of planetside hospitals. In truly dire situations, requiring both vast influx of materiel and transport of refugees, the Foundation maintains a number of droid-piloted transport barges. These ships spend most of their time in hyperspace, maintaining an automated patrol until they are diverted to a system-wide crisis that requires their resources. A number of ships have formed the nucleus of its relief fleets, providing both enormous hospital space and command facilities for system-wide crises.

 

Esperanza (flagship)

MC90a Cruiser

Length: 1255 meters

Armaments: 8 tractor beams

Modifications: Heavily upgraded shield generators

The “Cold Labs”--a modified pod on the dorsal surface of the ship that house the most sensitive laboratories in the Foundation. If needed, the entire pod can be jettisoned from the ship and self-destructed.

 

Martyriai and Serendipity

Venator-class Star Destroyer

Length: 1137 meters

Armaments: 6 tractor beams

Modifications: The ship is gutted to make space for more hangar and cargo capacity.

 

Sanare and Organa

Victory I-class Star Destroyer

Length: 900 meters

Armaments: 10 tractor beams

Modifications: Landing struts for in-atmosphere deployment to local landing strips.

The ship is gutted to make space for additional cargo and hospital space.

 

Very few starfighters are present in the Foundation’s fleet, and even those have been equipped strictly with non-lethal weapons such as ion cannons and ion-pulse warheads. The majority of vessels within its hangars are light and medium freighters for cargo transport, and passenger shuttles modified for use as field hospitals. The same attitude applies to the stocks of weapons within the armories. While the Foundation keeps a small stash of blasting agents for the rare occasions when demolition is required, the few small arms that the Foundation keeps on hand for self-defense are almost entirely stun-only. On the rare occasions when brute force is necessary, the Foundation is far more likely to dispatch security personnel equipped with heavily-reinforced combat armor than it is to exercise lethal force.

 

The present commander-in-chief of the fleet of the Survivor’s Foundation is Niklas Vandro. He is an obscure figure to most of the galaxy, but characters who are exceptionally well-versed in the history of the Imperial Navy will be familiar with his background. He was a commander of minor repute who served during the Empire’s expansion into the Outer Rim, operating on a shoestring budget during the Galactic Empire’s attempts to spread law and order into the anarchic territories that had been exploited by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. And this he achieved with aplomb, pulverizing pirate gangs that operated out of CIS battlecruisers with only a handful of Carrack-class Light Cruisers, picket ships, and one obsolete Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser. The atrocities that characterized the Empire’s reign of terror in the Core were wholly unknown to his command--in his territories, the banner of the Empire represented security, stability, and prosperity. It suffices to say that Vandro is nothing but proud of his service to the Empire and views the current regime as a blot on the record of the Imperial Navy.

 

 

Unique Equipment

 

USRD Mk3 “Momma Spider”

The Unmanned Search and Rescue Droid Mark 3, also known as the “Momma Spider”, is a droid deployed by the Survivor’s Foundation in large numbers in the initial response to a mass casualty event. They are squat, eight-legged automatons, equipped with powerful magnetic-spike “cleats” that allow them to traverse rugged terrain, particularly that of a destroyed cityscape.

 

Their primary directive in a mass-casualty event is to infiltrate into wreckage, clearing debris with their magnetized cleats and low-yield tractors if necessary, and to conduct a search for potential survivors. Upon locating organics, they conduct a brief vital-signs scan for triage purposes. If immediate evacuation is not necessary (for example, if the victims are not in immediate danger and their vital signs are close to optimal), they merely alert Foundation personnel to their location before infiltrating deeper into the rubble to continue their search. If necessary, perform evacuation on their own, reversing up to four of their legs to form a makeshift stretcher to immobilize and carry them on their backs. For especially dire cases, the droids are capable of administering basic aid, but their capabilities are limited to administering bacta-infused foam to local injuries and immobilizing critical spinal injuries.

 

The droids are remarkably intelligent in their designated role and are capable of coordinating to clear debris of much greater mass than what a single unit can manage. They’re often deployed beyond the initial search-and-rescue phase of an operation to assist with reconstruction. They are also capable of functioning as scouts, and their multitude of sensors and transmitters has been exploited on numerous occasions when sending an organic being into a hazardous zone would likely be a death sentence.

 

There are also variants designed for underwater rescue and zero-gravity operations, but these are used in very small numbers by the Foundation.

 

Their first appearance was during the Shield Incident of Coruscant (about Summer 2005), where large numbers of the droids were deployed to rescue victims from the devastated cityscape. They were remarkably successful in their deployment, successfully rescuing hundreds of millions. However, as this was their first deployment and very few were aware of their existence, they also triggered more than a few phobias in those that they were rescuing.

 

Aegis Hazardous Environment Suit

The Aegis Hazardous Environmental Suit is a heavily-armored power suit equipped by the Survivor’s Foundation in very small numbers. In the vast majority of scenarios dealing with hazardous environmental conditions, a droid or unmanned drone is dispatched to search for survivors and clear the hazard, if necessary. There have been a number of situations in which the automated routines of a droid cannot be trusted, and the intuition, dexterity, and vaguely-reassuring form of a humanoid is necessary. For these situations, a small number of field personnel are dispatched in these suits.

 

The first impression that one has of these suits is their bulk. They are massive, with enormous pauldrons and a domed breastplate to protect their wearer from all threats. Their sheer bulk protects the user from physical blows, chemical exposure, and radiation. A unique non-conductive plasteel alloy composition protects against thermic and electromagnetic threats. Air filters protect against biological and atmospheric insults. A user protected by one of these suits could be reasonably assured of survival in any condition, even if they were to walk into blaster fire. It is not lightsaber-resistant, however.

 

As this level of protection inevitably hampers mobility and peripheral vision, the suits amplify the user’s strength and a number of sensors provide audio, visual, thermic, electromagnetic and chemical detection capabilities. Because their situational awareness tends to be impaired by all of this bulk and sensory information, the wearers are invariably being guided through a hazardous zone by a team of Foundation handlers watching their every move.

 

In theory, the suits could be deployed to security teams or in reconstruction efforts, but simulated crises revealed that situational awareness in the suits is so poor that the armor was almost a detriment rather than an asset. Fine motor skills were similarly impaired, with their wearers unable to operate any instrument more complicated than a hypospray. As such, the suits are only deployed to evacuate victims in scenarios where a nearby and lethal threat has yet to be resolved.

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by ObliviousKnight