ORION Foundation

The ORION Foundation is a fictional covert operations agency that plays the protagonist part in the Top Secret/S.I. role-playing game.

Orion Foundation

The Orion Foundation exists for one purpose- to stop WEB and its ultimate goal of world subjugation. Orion is made up of agents from all parts of the world.

History

The WEB increased its activities during the depression like never before. With more criminal action it was only natural that more and more people would discover the secret organization. The authorities proved to be not strong enough to overcome the WEB. Those who stumbled upon the Web and survived the lethal cost of doing so found each other and banded together.

Some of these survivors were wealthy and pooled their resources together into a foundation dedicated to nothing but the opposition of the WEB. The nature of the hunt lead to the naming of the foundation Orion, the hunter.

Bureaus and Support Groups

Bureaus

The Orion Foundation has bureaus all over the world. Organized into 12 sections, each named after a zodiac sign. Once a year the Section Directors (or SD's) meet in a council called the Zodiac. Special meetings may be called to deal with emergencies. Orion Central is where the Foundation's Operations are controlled. The location of Orion Central rotates through the bureaus every five years.

• Capricorn - New York City
  • Jurisdiction: Mainland US, Canada south of the 60th parallel
  • Section Director: Dr. Edward Matheson
• Aquarius - Mexico City
  • Jurisdiction: All mainland nations between Mexico and Colombia including Venezuela and the Caribbean islands.
  • Section Director: Manuel Garcia
• Aries - Rio de Janeiro
  • Jurisdiction: Countries located in South America
  • Section Director: Maria de Lamonica
• Gemini - Paris
  • Jurisdiction: European nations west of Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia and Greece, and all Mediterranean islands.
  • Section Director: Caroline Desjardins
• Cancer - Moscow
  • Jurisdiction: All nations that used to be of the Warsaw Pact- south of the 60th parallel and west of the 60th meridian, and Albania.
• Taurus - Stockholm
• Virgo - Casablanca
• Leo - Nairobi
• Scorpio - Istanbul
• Libra - Singapore
• Sagittarius - Tokyo
• Pisces - Sydney

Support

Support units are named after the moons of the Visible Planets (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn).

• The Ganymede Bureau - Mentex Technologies Laboratory
  • G1 - Administration and Finance
  • G2 - Basic Research and New Technologies Development
  • G3 - Development and Construction
  • G4 - Distribution and Training
• Titan Team - agents trained in commando and counter-terrorist operations. Titan Teams are available to agents who need powerful backup and support.
• Celestial Airlines - small nationwide carrier. The founder of Celestial Airlines was a victim of a Web operation. When Orion came to his assistance, he offered to be an emergency transport service. Agents can use Celestial when they need travel, but have no resources.
• F.R.E.E. Lancers (Fast Reaction Experimental Enforcement)- A group of mercenaries that use paranormal abilities (psionics, super-powers, and super-science technology). They are for hire to the highest bidder, but their cases are limited to those judged worthy of their skills.

Agents

• Sebastian Cord
• Herschel Levy
• Roger Mason
• Carol McKinney
• Algernon "Dusty" McLaren
• Twila Nash
• Raul Rodrigo
• Alan Steinfeld

Appearances

The Orion Foundation appeared in all of the Top Secret/S.I. products.

Box sets

• Top Secret/S.I.. Douglas Niles, Warren Spector (1987). ISBN 0-88038-407-7
• High Stakes Gamble. Douglas Niles, Bob Kern (1988). ISBN 0-88038-545-6

Accessory books

G4 File cover

• TSAC1 - G4 File: Guns, Gadgets & Getaway Gear. Merle M. Rasmussen (1987). ISBN 0-88038-474-3
• TSAC2 - Agent 13 Source Book. Mark Acres (1988). ISBN 0-88038-478-6
• TSAC3 - Covert Operations Sourcebook. John Prados (1988). ISBN 0-88038-479-4
• TSAC4 - F.R.E.E. Lancers. Jeff Grubb (1988). ISBN 0-88038-565-0
• TSAC5 - Commando. David Cook (1988). ISBN 0-88038-594-4
• TSAC6 - Covert Operations Sourcebook Vol. 2. John Prados (1988). ISBN 0-88038-616-9
• TSAC7 - F.R.E.E. America. Scott Bowles (1989). ISBN 0-88038-725-4

Mission modules

• TS1 - Operation: Starfire. Tracy Hickman (1987). ISBN 0-88038-476-X
• TS2 - The Doomsday Drop. Tracy Hickman (1988). ISBN 0-88038-480-8
• TS3 - Orion Rising. (1988). ISBN 0-88038-575-8
• TS4 - Commando Brushfire Wars. ISBN 0-88038-708-4
• TSA1 - The Web. Caroline Spector (1990). ISBN 0-88038-820-X
• TSA2 - The Final Weapon. Ray Winninger (1990). ISBN 0-88038-855-2
• TSE1 - Web of Deceit. Bob Kern (1989). ISBN 0-88038-714-9
• TSE2 - Sting of the Spider. Bob Kern (1989). ISBN 0-88038-732-7
• TSE3 - Web Wars. Bob Kern (1989). ISBN 0-88038-765-3

Solo Operations Casebooks

• The Final Bug. Jean Blashfield (1988). ISBN 0-88038-553-7
• Foul Play at Fool's Summit. Troy Denning (1989). ISBN 0-88038-621-5 (Note: though this module has an ISBN, it was never actually released, as the Catacombs gamebook line was cancelled before its release.)

Novels

Five novels were published by TSR from various campaign settings from Top Secret/S.I. game. The Double Agent series each contained two novellas in each volume.

• Agent 13: The Midnight Avenger #1: The Invisible Empire by Flint Dille and David Marconi. ISBN 0-88038-281-3
• Agent 13: The Midnight Avenger #2: The Serpentine Assassin Flint Dille and David Marconi. ISBN 0-88038-282-1
• Double Agent: Acolytes of Darkness/Web of Danger by Flint Dille and David Marconi/Aaron Allston ISBN 0-88038-550-2
• Double Agent: Royal Pain/The Hollow Earth Affair by Richard Merwin/Warren Spector ISBN 0-88038-551-0
• Double Agent: The Hard Sell/Glitch! by Richard Merwin/David Cook ISBN 0-88038-589-8

Comics

Two graphic novels based on the Pulp-era setting were published.

• Agent 13: The Midnight Avenger by Flint Dille, David Marconi, and Dan Spiegle ISBN 0-88038-581-2
• Agent 13: Acolytes of Darkness (loosely based on the novel)

TSR published eight issues of 13: Assassin comic that featured stories set in the Agent 13 campaign setting bringing the story to a more modern era (1990's). The first six issues had a back-up story set in the Top Secret/S.I. setting (ORION vs. WEB) which seemed to take place at the end of the agency's covert war. Each issue also contained a miniature game and some issues included character stats for the role-playing game.