Kepler Initiative / COURAGE

Historical Environment:
During the economic chaos of the synth-world production in 2920 political pressure was rampant. Many people where frustrated with the way the UEE was handling their financial assets, particularly on the background of what seemed to be a lack of reaction to the increasingly frequent Vanduul attacks.

Origin:
The first public recognition of the Kepler Initiative came in the form of a leaked document. Source of the leak traced back to some workplace error at the synth world production but on the spectrum there is a common conspiracy that the documents where in fact leaked intentionally. However, the organization can be traced back to the early days of the world-building planning phases. According to said documents, the organization was a twin formation of information gathering and precise use of force, formed to effectively deal with potential crime on the synth world upon its completion. It was decided that a project like this opened up some opportunities to hardwired supervision systems into the planet itself, allowing for ways of surveilling and handling the population in ways previously unheard of. Ideas like “streets that record footsteps and identify shoe brand” and “synthetic trees that record sound” where thrown around but as the world building project started slowing down in 2920 the organization was stranded with an impressive amount of employees with little to do but wait until the world project was back on track.

In the wake of this the organization took a radical new turn, turning into a freelancing organization working for the most part on UEE contracts but later expanding into affiliating themselves with other organizations and even alien races mostly for financial reasons but also to justify their own continued existence. Although it appears that, the organization affiliated themselves with sometimes-questionable entities it has been cleared out that it always did so under strict supervision and approval from higher ups in the UEE.

In 2936 the organization took another radical turn as the previous leadership was indicted for corruption and quickly terminated from the ranks. The role of directing the organization was turned over to a mysterious business figure that according to rumor had some relation to the bloodline that originally brought forth the plans for the organization in 2860. With this change, the Kepler Initiative became a fundamentally mysterious organization, more so then what it had previously been. Often working in cooperation with the front lines of the UEE specializing in surgical strikes, information gathering from behind enemy lines and political assassinations. More interestingly however is that it appears at this point that though the organization was diverting away from their freelancing they stayed in contact with separate organizations and alien races. Going so far as to provide military and informational aid to fringe worlds and separate entities from the UEE or even humanity.

It is not entirely know what their philosophizes or agendas are, ever since its appearance it has stayed impressively shy. But in a scandal in 2940, Josef Parris: a middle grade member of the organization was outed in the media. In response about their intentions his only statement was “the Kepler Initiative is a scalpel that cuts to preserve sentient life as a whole.” Josef was a well-known executive with deep pockets and an active mining business but after his short appearance on the spectrum he disappeared. Some say he was assassinated, but more credible sources claim he has gone into hiding. His business empire lives on and still, many questions are unanswered regarding this ever-shifting organization. The Kepler Initiative.