Loss Shakes Foundations of Solas Tempus

“Yesterday one of our greatest leaders has been taken from us by the hands of fate. Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas was pronounced dead on arrival after a tragic shuttle crash took his life.” – Prime Minister Ethir Th’chaaveq

The loss of Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas has shaken the organization Solas Tempus to it’s very core foundations. The original founding member of the group had become something of a living legend throughout known space. Known for his tenacity and steel backbone as well as his lavishly foul temper he was a force to be reckoned with. Still, to this day, the true origins of the man remain a mystery. Questions have often been asked about where the man came from and how he came to power; those questions may now never be answered.

On October 27th Admiral Thomas’s personal ship, the Sleipnir, was forcibly dropped out of warp by the barrier which surrounds the Schatten Star System. The vessel was still going at nearly light-speed and headed for Soteria when a distress call was received and ships were dispatched. The Admiral had lost control of the vessel and it entered a flat spin after on of the impulse engines exploded. A further rescue attempt by the Irvyn failed to bring the ship under control but did divert it away from Soteria and instead toward Schatten II. The attempt further sent the ship spinning on all axis, further research indicates that by that point in time, the ships inertial dampening field had become inoperative. The vessel crashed into Schatten II shortly after, though it is likely the extreme G forces acting upon the vessel prior to the crash caused the death of the Admiral before the ship crashed.

The body itself has been transported back to Trocara where an autopsy was performed and burial preparations are being made. While the body is still secured and not available for viewing, the autopsy report had been released to the public, at least in part, and specifies the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death has been ruled accidental. Investigators are still combing over the evidence to piece together the exact chain of events, however the DPI and Solas Tempus have both remained close lipped about the investigation. Neither the DPI nor Solas Tempus have responded to requests for comments.

Official Statements

A brief official statement by the Prime Minister of the Serenity Concord was released the following day on the 28th.

Yesterday one of our greatest leaders has been taken from us by the hands of fate. Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas was pronounced dead on arrival after a tragic shuttle crash took his life. Efforts are underway to piece together the exact nature and sequence of events that have resulted in his death, everyone deserves answers. We will work methodically through the evidence at hand to determine exactly what occurred, Admiral Thomas deserves no less of us. Our hearts go out to his family and those closest to him at their loss and his wife, Drem, should know that the entire Concord mourns with her. We ask that everyone respect her privacy and the privacy of Admiral Thomas, this will be a difficult time for everyone but we will get through it, together.
Prime Minister Ethir Th’chaaveq

The Prime Minister has been unavailable for direct comment, however, sources close to him have expressed that he is deeply saddened by the loss.

While no official statements have come from Admiral Thomas’s widow, Drem Thomas, multiple sources within the organization have reported that she has left Nimbus Station and that no one has seen her since. The official word from within Solas Tempus is that she has been placed on administrative leave, details on of Ms. Thomas requested that leave or not are not available. Her ship, the USS Drakon, was placed on lock-down for a brief period of time and rumors say that the USS Lilith was ordered to pursue the Drakon that same day, though the Executive Officer of the Drakon (Emily Damion) and the Commanding Officer of the Lilith (Neo Akazuli) could not be reached for comment. The assistant to Captain Akazuli did respond to our requests for information stating that many vessels undergo readiness exercises as part of routine training and that no further information should be read into such events. However, the assistant was unwilling to confirm or deny that the Lilith and Drakon were involved in any such exercises.

Memorial Services

Memorial services for Admiral Thomas have been scheduled for late in November on Trocara, the Prime Minister and his cabinet have confirmed they will be in attendance and several prominent members of other governments and agencies throughout known space have also communicated they will be in attendance as well. Sources within the United Federation of Planets have reported that there is some discussion over presenting the Ms. Thomas with a posthumously awarded Medal of Valor for her late-husband, commemorating his achievements. The Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire as well as the Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire as well as several members of the Romulan Senate have also confirmed they will both be in attendance; if that is the case it will be the first time the leaders of both worlds have been at such a ceremony together in decades and could be an historic meeting should the two choose to speak to each other. The Federation President is confirmed to be in attendance and rumors have surfaced that even Admiral Jean Luc Picard will be attending as well as Admiral Katherine Janeway though aids for both officers have said that such decisions have yet to be made and that both have many duties to attend to which could prevent them from attending. The aid to Admiral Picard did add that “Admiral Picard sends his most sincerest condolences to Ms. Thomas for her loss and that he hopes she knows how many in the universe respected and honored her husband.”

Lilith’s Mission Act II Signup

Since we’re moving the mission of the Lilith into Act II, we need participants for the mission.

https://goo.gl/forms/rp2PweXJ1FK0dY1E3

Brief Summary of the Story Thus far

In a brief summary the Lilith was sent to stop the Infinity Wave which trapped everyone in 1520 for several months. During this time they discovered that the wave was caused by an ALR-X Missile hitting Earth’s moon and causing severe damage to it in the mid 22nd century. This caused such a massive alteration to the timeline that an Infinity Wave was produced.

The Lilith subsequently corrects the problem bit finds clues as to where Onyx obtained the missile designs or where they were constructed. After the vessel was repaired from its battle damage following their safe return home, the information they gathered was analyzed and the ship is about to depart again on a mission to investigate where the missile came from and how Onyx obtained it.

Previously Team Sigma was sent on this mission. However, since this is not a Temporal Operation anyone is free to join. Those players who want their characters to join but are not sure of how to get the characters in, leave a comment or see me on Discord and we’ll find a way to get you into the play.

Mode of Play

Due to scheduling concerns most of the play is going to take place on the forum. However, since the majority of people enjoy play on Discord more I am open to seeing where we can schedule different parts of the play on Discord. I’m not sure what form this might take yet, however, I am confident we can find a solution to make everyone happy.

Lilith Returns Home

After months away the victorious USS Lilith returns home. Nimbus Station quickly launched low-yeild torpedoes into space around the vessel to create an effective light show as 9th Gemini Wing launched an honor guard for the vessel to escort it to the Umbral Shipyards for repair. Reporters were on hand for the docking of the vessel at the ship yards where her command crew disembarked. Everyone was in high spirits and responded stoically when asked about the mission and how it felt to have completed such an important mission.

The crew of the Lilith was also treated to a banquette in their honor, where Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas personally congratulated each member of the command crew and the team of Operatives which lead to the resolution of the Infinity Wave. In the following days the command crew is slated to obtain Distinguished Service Medal while the actual infiltration team that boarded the enemy vessel and cleared the anomaly will receive the Solas Tempus Cross. Other awards to the vessel’s crew will be handled by the Commanding Officer, Neo Akazuli.

Lance Thomas, when reporters spoke to him briefly during the reception had this to say;

They went into an unknown situation and knew they could not fail, that we were all counting on them and they didn’t let anyone down. It is gratifying to know that the faith we put into them was not misplaced. It isn’t an easy thing to repair the timeline and keep the fabric of what we know from unraveling, but that is what my Operatives do. It’s like running into a burning building with a war zone inside, you have no idea what you’ll find inside, you know the longer you’re in there the closer you come to catastrophe, but you don’t have much of a choice. Someone has to deal with it. They did exceedingly well and I’m very proud of them.

The Commanding Officer, Captain Akazuli, commented;

To put it simply, failure was not an option. When failure isn’t an option, there is only one option that remains, period. We had our orders and we saw it through.

Vladimir Zima, who served not only on board the vessel but on the actual team who boarded the enemy ship, is quoted as saying;

Not bad for a coal miner, I’d say. I need a drink.

Tal Ravis, who also served on the actual team that went aboard the enemy vessel had something far more colorful to say;

These fuckers need to learn that im a lot scarier than they are.

One thing is abundantly clear, whatever can be said about Solas Tempus and the leadership of Admiral Thomas, he picked a team that came through from a very difficult and unpredictable situation.