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The Imperial Intergalactic Lifeboat Service, often abbreviated to IILS and called the Imperiale Scapha Servitium in Old Morsian, was a government institution of the Morsian Empire dedicated to helping stranded space farers across the galaxy, regardless of who they were or what they were doing.
History[]
Formation[]
Like the standard lifeboat service operated on planetary surfaces to aid mariners in distress, the idea of a lifeboat service for space travellers in distress was the next logical progression as the Morsians discovered more and more about space travel. Not only was it for Morsian travellers in distress, but also for any and all travellers who found themselves in a problem.
Early work[]
Initially the lifeboat service was based on Mors, with several repurposed ships to act as passenger lifeboats when a problem arose. These lifeboat were capable of short range jumps away from the Mortlekk system, which was the home system of the Morsians, so the service could help stranded people a short distance away. The service proved valuable as in a short space of time the lifeboats performed several successful rescue operations, including the Rescue of the Corellia Hauler, a cargo hulk that encountered difficulty with a meteor strike, whose crew was saved by an IILS lifeboat.
Expansion[]
The IILS service was expanded from Mors after its success as the Morsians themselves branched outwards, starting their protectorate program. With the expansion of the Morsian Empire to their nearest inhabited neighboring star systems, the IILS was also expanded to cover their new territory. With a larger Empire came more interstellar traffic and so more chances of a problem arising. With the expansion of the service, more stations had to be built and manned, which in turn caused more expenditure for the government to keep the service going. To alleviate this, the organisation became a charity, still with regular funding from the government but with a large bulk of its funds coming from donations. The service was also opened for volunteers to work alongside full time regular lifeboat operators, which further helped to reduce cost, as these volunteers would help out when they could.
Becoming a galaxy-wide service[]
As the Morsians became more and more knowledgeable about the galaxy, and in turn, became more well known to the denizens outside their borders, the decision to expand the lifeboat service to outside Morsian space was a risky one, but thought necessary to the Morsians. This was not only a response to more travel too and from the Morsian Empire, but also as a way for the Morsians to get into good standing with the galaxy. By having a rescue service on hand across the galaxy for space farers that was headed quite publicly by the Morsians, it was hoped to raise galactic relations with the Morsians. Also by having the service operate for all stranded travellers, regardless of if they were in a war, enemies of the Morsians or something in between, the service hoped to be a beacon of hope to the galaxy.
Continued galactic service[]
During the Clone Wars, the service rescued both stranded Republic and Separatist ships across the galaxy. Whilst the lifeboat service was usually left alone by all organisations, including pirates, due to being a rescue service and unarmed, the lifeboats occasionally came under fire from Separatist or even trigger-happy Republic ships, which culminated in the Separatist Cause lifeboat disaster, where lifeboats came under fire from the Separatist Cause, a Munificent-class star frigate which fired at and destroyed multiple lifeboats under the false identification of them being Republic craft before the Separatist captain realised their intentions and shut down their weapon systems. The immediate aftermath of this saw a large spike in galactic support for the lifeboat service and a high volunteer count for the service. Both the Separatist and Republic senate passed laws and bills governing the protection of the lifeboats during the remaining duration of the war.
When the Republic fell to the Galactic Empire, the service continued to operate, including rescuing Imperial craft that called for aid and were unable to be rescued by other Imperial fleets. This caused some controversy due to more and more Imperial secrets coming to light about their crimes on planets, but the service defended itself by saying that they were a service for saving all lives, regardless of who they were. This extended to Rebel craft who became stranded and required rescuing. Regardless of who it was they rescued, the lifeboats gave nothing away to any authority positions.
Orbital installations[]
- See also: Imperial Intergalactic Lifeboat Station
Initially the lifeboats operated from the planet's surface, but the ease of having them already in orbit made response times far quicker, with shuttle craft capable of taking those the lifeboats save to the planet's surface. These stations were known as Imperial Intergalactic Lifeboat Stations, though they were commonly abbreviated to IILS again, and interchanged with just the organisation's name. Depending on the size of the planet, and the amount of shipping passing through, the space stations could vary in size and capacity, though they tried to keep multiple sizes of lifeboats on standby for any eventuality.
Operation[]
When the IILS got a call, the base operators would first determine where the ship was and what type, including its crew compliment and size. The operator would then determine how many wounded people were on board the ship, in order to understand what the lifeboat crews may need to undertake when they arrive at the stranded ship. The operators would remain in contact with the crews and ships throughout the entire operation to ensure the safety of their ships, the crews and the people they were rescuing.
The first lifeboats to be dispatched would be smaller, faster, lower capacity lifeboats as a part of the rapid-response force. These lifeboats were not designed to carry a large amount of passengers but were instead intended to arrive at the ship far faster than other, larger, higher capacity lifeboats in order for the crews to tend to the wounded and evacuate them first. These lifeboats had basic medical stations which could treat wounded passengers or crew in order to transport them back to the lifeboat station or to the nearest planet for treatment.
The rapid-response lifeboats would establish contact with the stranded ship, and talk to the crew as they approached, to make sure that no further complications to the rescue has occurred as well as establishing if there were any further casualties that needed to be notified to the lifeboat crew. Upon docking with the ship, the rapid-response lifeboats would take aboard the wounded passengers first, and if there was extra space, the vulnerable passengers such as the elderly, women and children. After the lifeboats were at capacity, they would then undock with the ship and either travel back to the lifeboat station or down to the planetary surface, depending on the severity of the wounded being carried.
At the same time as the rapid-response lifeboats being deployed, the larger but slower high capacity ships would be dispatched to the emergency. These ships were larger and capable of carrying far more people than a rapid-response lifeboat. The trade-off for this was their slower speeds due to the larger size, and often these ships did not have a dedicated medical station aboard to deal with wounded, as the faster rapid-response lifeboats would have ferried them away. These ships could carry hundreds of passengers, depending on the class, and so the speed of the remaining rescue depending on the amount of docking ports the target ship had and the temperament of the passengers it carried.
The final part of the rescue involved taking away the final passengers and sorting out their transport away from the IILS space station. The service always had a policy of not being a wreckers service, so would not actively partake in recovering the stranded ships from where they floated. Instead, they aided the rescued crews in contacting their own people to recover the wrecks. Additionally, they aided passengers and crew in getting transport away from the station to either another orbital facility or a planet surface nearby. The lifeboat service also held a policy of not being a taxi service, and so would not take passengers themselves unless it was a medical emergency where a dedicated hospital was required.
List of lifeboat models in service[]
- Libera-class lifeboat (rapid response)
- L-type lifeboat (rapid response) (IILS Naboo only)
- Superstes-class lifeboat
- Life raft-class lifeboat
- Saviour-class lifeboat
- Salvation-class lifeboat
Lifeboat classes[]
Lifeboat models varied in both design and function, being split into various designation or class types. Whilst they were all designed for the same overall purpose, being saving lives of space travellers in danger, different lifeboats had different ways of operating to complete these goal. Usually the size and internal systems of the lifeboat determined what role it was to play in the overall workings of the lifeboat service.
Rapid-response lifeboats[]
Lifeboats falling under this class were typically very similar in function and carried systems. Rapid-response lifeboats were typically small but mobile spacecraft that had a smaller capacity than larger lifeboats. However, being rapid-response meant that speed and mobility were of a higher priority over seating capacity, as these were first responders to emergencies. These lifeboats typically had a small medbay of some kind, and their primary function was to travel to the stranded ship and take aboard the wounded. Ships typically had both a docking port and standard airtight door, as well as landing legs for in-atmosphere usage, since when wounded were taken aboard, they would either be taken to the space station for treatment or straight down to the surface for urgent medical care.
Crew sizes were typically small for these lifeboats, and their high speed meant quick response to any scenario, where every second counted for saving wounded people. These spacecraft were also capable of operating in atmospheric conditions, with landing legs equipped to allow surface landings. In addition, they had a set of deployable stairs/ramp to allow people to exit from the airtight door when on the surface.
High-Capacity Evacuation lifeboats[]
Often abbreviated to HCE lifeboats, these ships were typically larger but slower lifeboats, boasting a far higher passenger capacity than rapid-response craft, but also forgoing most of the dedicated medbay equipment of the rapid-response craft. HCE lifeboats were also equipped with better, heavier shield generators and had far higher crew numbers than rapid-response craft. After the wounded and high priority passengers had been rescued by the rapid-response craft, HCE lifeboats would take over to take away large amounts of passengers quickly.
HCE lifeboats also lacked the landing legs of rapid-response craft, due to only operating in vacuum conditions, and also lacked the deployable ramp/stairs and airtight door of rapid-response craft. Instead they typically had multiple airlocks and docking ports with which to dock with the larger vessels that they would be called out to.
List of lifeboat stations across the galaxy[]
Below is an incomplete list of IILS space stations across the galaxy:
Note that stations marked with † were either closed or destroyed.
- IILS Coruscant
- IILS Naboo
- IILS Tatooine
- IILS Alderaan †
- IILS Ryloth
- IILS Yavin
- IILS Dantooine
- IILS Mon Calamari
- IILS Saleucami
- IILS Kashyyyk
- IILS Tython
- IILS Mimban
- IILS Onderon
- IILS Christophsis
- IILS Malastare
- IILS Hoth
- IILS Corellia
- IILS Mors
- IILS Sol Infinius
- IILS Undulis
- IILS Toka
- IILS Hosnian Prime †
- IILS Lothal
Notable rescue operations[]
Behind the scenes[]
The service is based off the British Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The flag/emblem of the lifeboat service is also based on the real RNLI flag.
List of appearances[]
Gallery[]
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