[@Sigma] That's definitely an interesting idea. The main thing I was looking at with this concept was an organization descended from a pre-war Imperial service of some kind that was too important to let fall in the collapse, and maintains political power and independence through the importance of said service. The Communications grid was just an example that came to mind.

Keeping with the Comms Grid idea, one idea that comes to mind is a non-Venusian remnant of the pre-war grid attempting to contact extra-solar fringes for support, while struggling to maintain their portion of the grid as an independent means of communication.

Of course, if you have any other ideas that fit this general vein of "independent organization holding onto the remnants of vital pre-war infrastructure" I'd love to hear it.