Risan Warp Lifesaving Club

The Risan Warp Lifesaving Club originated shortly after local development of the warp drive. It was realised that their early warpships, even while only capable of Warp Factor 1, were capable of rendering aid to any in-system craft in distress in a timely manner. Many of the somewhat recklessly laissez-faire approaches to design rigour and safety that early Risan explorers could have led to great loss of life if it were not for the efforts of the Risan Warp Lifesaving Club. The original RWLC members developed from the culturally prominent Risan Surf Lifesaving Clubs, a collection of groups that help patrol the beaches of Risa and are critical for making sure tourists don't ruin their stay on Risa by inadvertently drowning.

In modern times, the Corvettes and Heavy Corvettes of the RWLC are not used for such on-guard lifesaver duties. These tasks are left to Runabouts that can respond to anywhere within a star system in a matter of minutes, deploying from orbitals and making daring rescues. However, the larger ships can still take time from exploration and diplomatic duties to respond to small colonies or expeditions in distress. Any situation involving the appearance of a hostile starship more capable than an armed freighter is handed off to Starfleet.

Active Ship Classes

 * Risan Corvette
 * Risan Corvette-A - A modernisation of the Corvette design, a small craft capable of high-speed responses.
 * Risan Heavy Corvette
 * Risan Heavy Corvette-A - The updated version of the Heavy Corvette, with even greater speed, but also increased functionality.
 * Kepler - Fast and capable of identifying more potential problems with their prospective colonies

Prospective Classes

 * Comet - Great bird of the galaxy is it fast!
 * Ambassador - The ultimate expression of diplomatic outreach.

Personnel
Risan Lifesavers all pride themselves on their ability to provide rescue and medical care. As a result, every last member has medical training and training in rescues in hazardous environments.

Lifesavers
Risan lifesavers have traditionally been a mix of careerists that love what they do and have taken it on full-time, and volunteers who take on shifts to help pad out numbers. In the modern period, these volunteers are usually junior members of the crew who join for a tour at a time. Those who successfully complete four tours are eligible to attend a course to become a career Lifesaver if they so wish.

The career Lifesavers serve with very little in the way of differentiating ranks, as Risans have very little interest in the Rat Races and pecking orders of other cultures. Instead they keep to a system that recognises only Lifesavers and Senior Lifesavers. Senior Lifesavers are those who are considered ready to take on teaching duties, and other Lifesavers are expected to learn on the job from these respected members.

Surf Captains
The term Surf Captain is a carry-over from pre-space travel days, and provides what would be considered Department Heads on ships of other fleets. They are voted into position by the career Lifesavers aboard the ship. As a result, crew members who are well respected can rise quickly.

Club Executive
Another carry-over, the Executive of the ship is the inner command team, consisting of Ship's Captain, Vice-Captain, and Head Engineer.

Risan Warp Lifesaving Association
The RWLA building on Risa is one of the grand architectural displays of Risa, a low, long crescent moon shape that extends out into a harbour.

Equipment
Risan-Pattern Boarding Equipment

Shipyards

 * Risan Hedony Orbital
 * Second Risa Yard

Infrastructure
All component manufacturing facilities are part of the same orbiting constellation as the orbital yard. These are by and large small-run facilities operated by people dedicated to the art of making things go fast. This is quite the labour of love for the Risan engineers, and one they take a lot of pride in. This results in slow production, but also a quality standard that shocks most non-Risans.