Eyes in the Barracks

The bravest, finest, best equiped. Solas Tempus Marines are elite of Solas Tempus forces. Today we invite you to join with us for day of their training. Read about whole day in barracks, learn about experiences you might get, see what those who decide to pursue this carreer endure.

Today one of our reporters was invited to observe day from a training of Solas Tempus Marines. They receive invitation for whole day and clearance to take footage, obviously with restriction that ST has to see material before it will get aired to make sure no classified information get released.

Morning / Breakfast (0600)

Day of training starts early at 0600, recruits are waking up and suiting up into their uniforms then forming line inside their bunk barracks. Their drill instructor commences inspection of their uniforms and service phaser rifles.

After that they leave forming up at parade ground for announcements. They learn that we are here and are to provide us with any assistance we require. They are also informed that we are allowed to record training. After that recruits go to mess hall for breakfast.

One of drill sergeant stopped us and told that this meal will be special showing us apparently a flashbang grenade used to non-lethally subdue hostile forces. We observe as he sneaks up to mess hall door and few minutes into breakfast throws it in yelling about attack. Recruits that are here already for few weeks without thinking reach to their equipment, some flip tables to create barricades, they are shortly followed by more recent ones…

Apart from one.

His battle-buddy tried to pull him behind cover before its too late but poor recruit was noticed standing in the open by DI. We overheard one of other recruits saying

“Oh god, no”
Recruit from the Same Unit

As Sergeant approached recruit he started yelling at him, and telling him that he would be dead if this would be real attack. In end he asked recruit for his unit then announced that, quoting

“[Since] this unit has such stupid dead rookies they need to now clean whole mess hall. Later expect even more fun!”
Drill Sergeant Kerry Adamns

While unit started cleaning rest of marine trainines went to their respective training areas, we followed one one them.

Morning / After Breakfast

Unit we followed arrived at range where they were issued power packs to their rifles. Taking positions they loaded them in and at command started firing at holographic targets. Taking their time they aimed down the sights scoring hits. After that they moved to obstacle course. This too went mainly calm as recruits moved under, over and across obstacles. After that recruits got some time off. We got informed that they will be going on a walk around country side soon, and that if we want we can go with them or go to other team, we decided to take walk with the recruits.

During that march i heard one of funnier exchanges between drill sergeant and recruit:

“Recruit Kowalski, I didn’t saw you at camouflage training yesterday!”
“Thank you sir drill sergeant! I appreciate your compliment!”
Recruit Kawalski and Drill Sergeant Kerry Adams. We must congratulate Recruit Kowalski for his outstanding performance during training in camouflage

Noon

Recruits walked out of base in column and started walking down the road, each one carrying whole kit weighing 50 pounds (this is kit without their Exoskeleton, this team didn’t reach point in training to use them yet). One of sergeant approached us carrying even larger backpack, which for recruits was majority of their gear, imagine our surprise when he showed us that his backpack, which was two times size of recruits one, was filled with pillows. He told us to stay silent about it.

During exercise we saw him approaching multiple recruits asking to swap bags with them, we weren’t surprised that they were refusing, although our cameraman could barely hold laugh at whole situation, so did I to be honest. Finally one of recruites decided to swap, his face was pure shock when his 30 pound backpack got suddenly replaced by maybe 5 pound bag of pillows. He quickly regained his composure and continued on like nothing happened. One of other recruits told us later that some instructors love to pull antics at recruits, we could see that few more times.This walk took majority of day with only break for MREs as team was scheduled to arrive after last meal.Instructor asked if we want to stay for night to see how barracks operate at that time, seeing it as good occasion we obviously agreed. I decided to stay with troopers in barracks while rest of crew went to more comfortable accomodations at DI quarters.

In middle of night I felt slight poke.

Middle of Night

When I woke up I saw teams DI showing me to be silent and pointing to “firewatch” who was asleep.

This occurrence requires some backstory, in old age when firearms were propelled by powder and most common type of explosive was TNT (a very unstable material) Firewatch was officer that was on guard to wake up sleeping soldiers in case of fire, in early 2000 that function became more symbolic, or as some called it “torture”.

Firewatch currently Is sentry that guards barracks from unauthorized personnel (i.e recruits from other teams). This firewatch as I mentioned was asleep.

Next thing I saw I will probably never forget, it was just so out of this world. Drill Sergeant in full camo fatigues and face paint dropped on ground and started crawling under bunks toward firewatch desk, I saw some soldiers on his path waking up, but they swiftly turned to observers, no one even thought to warn poor bastard that stood guard. As the Sergeant approached the recruit he pulled out phaser and put it to his back screaming some gibbering in bad Klingon. It is no wonder to anyone that watch woke up reaching to his service rifle that DI swiftly took.

This recruit probably didn’t had next day easy as his whole unit was so called “smoked”, that is disciplined through intense training (I heard he received “Ridges” as nickname although I wasn’t able to confirm that).

Next day we gave all material we had to ST intelligence to inspect and after receiving green light, we send it to you right here.

Orbital Deployment Exercise

What you’re about to see is really something special. Each trainee must complete some of the most extreme combat and insertion maneuvers we can put them through, so when they are out in the field they can go through whatever is needed and complete their objectives. I don’t personally know of any training programs which do this as a standard training program either.

Recently Vice Admiral Emily Artis allowed reporters from the Soteria News Service to tag along with the latest group of trainees which are nearing graduation from the Solas Tempus Academy and become members of the young but illustrious new group, the Solas Tempus Marine Corps. Our reporter met with their commanding officer to tell him about what this was all about.

What you’re about to see is really something special. Each trainee must complete some of the most extreme combat and insertion maneuvers we can put them through, so when they are out in the field they can go through whatever is needed and complete their objectives. I don’t personally know of any training programs which do this as a standard training program either. The trainees are taken up to around 250 km, with an orbital velocity of right around 180,000 kps. Our drop point is randomly chosen at liftoff to prevent anyone from knowing what they’re going to jump into. Once we’re in the window for the drop point, the trainees are deployed. They must safely deploy from the vehicle and arrive within the target landing zone within a set time from. So what you’re about to see is their final exam of sorts, these people have been training for a long time to do this, all building to execute this drop.
Captain Reginald Armando

Captain Armando is quite proud of his people, he talked further about how the trainees are trained in order to accomplish this. The Orbital Deployment Exercise is just one small part of the overall examination process.

The team loaded up at Serenity Station in a Type 6 Shuttle, giving each other a hard time about who might fail and making jokes about who might throw up in their armor. The armor is of particular interest, as Solas Tempus bagan developing advanced exoskeletons before the incorporation of the Serenity Concord, what the marines are wearing is termed as Class 1Z Advanced Cybernetic Exoskeleton, developed specifically for use by the marines. We spoke to one of the trainees about the armor and what it allowed them to do.

Oh, the 1Z? Yeah, it’s pretty amazing technology, it’s like it lets you do what your mind sets out to do. It’s some powerful stuff, we’re all pretty good soldiers, well trained, and there’s always limits. The body can only handle so much, with the 1Z though it’s like a perfect kind of partner. The 1Z helps you do what’s got to be done.
Trainee Brett Evans

Mr. Evans, soon to be Ensign Evans, went on to talk about how the armor was an extension of who he was, just a hunk of alloys and technology until someone like him straps in. Many of his fellow trainees felt the same way, like they were pretty good but the armor let their body do what needs to be done, beyond what others can do. Of course, the Captain had a slightly different take on things.

The 1Z? Yeah it’s impressive hardware, and these kids really like it. There’s a lot to like about it. They aren’t wrong when they talk about the fact that it becomes an extension of the wearer though, we picked these people for a reason though. Each one of them makes the 1Z look like a toaster in comparison to the possibilities. These kids have the best training without even touching that armor before they even qualify to look at it.
Captain Reginald Armando

Captain Armando went on to talk about the training that each person goes through, in fact one of the qualifying tests is about armorless-operations where for their finals the trainees will go head to head with seasoned veterans who know all the tricks and tools of the trade. The program is really impressive.

The Jump

Once the shuttle lifted off, the trainees were made aware of their drop coordinates and the joking stopped. That’s when the Captain issued orders for the trainees to prepare to drop and each one secured and checked the armor, plugging the drop coordinates into the armor’s on board computer and securing their helmets. The rear hatch opened and the trainees gave the thumbs up, when the shuttle was over the right orbital window, they got the green light and jumped out, two at a time, right out of the protective force field and over Soteria in hard vacuum.

The Captain as well as the Vice Admiral and myself watched from the shuttle cockpit as the trainees descended and hit the atmosphere, according to the Vice Admiral that was the moment where a lot of the pass and fail grades would be decided, being able to go from hard vacuum to atmospheric reentry in a suit of armor is not an easy thing. All the trainees made it to the ground in the end, though their grades are still being decided. On the ground, the group was in good spirits, some expressed wanting to hop back up to orbit and do it again. They would get their chance, this wasn’t the only orbital drop they’d have to do in order to become marines. All of them were eager to get onto the next phase of the process.

Other Side of the Grtul Gate

In the last month, Solas Tempus has stepped up the shipment of supplies across the gate, including a portion of the fleet has been stationed within the star system occupied by the humans native to that reality. While there has been no official statement on the increase of military activity on the other side of the gate, it is known from several public statements that Solas Tempus and the Serenity Concord have signed a treaty with the Terran Space Alliance on the other side of the gate.

So far Solas Tempus has signed a number of treaties with parties in other realities. However, the recent activation of the Janus Gate prompted Solas Tempus to send through a good portion of the battle group assigned to this system. These forces later returned with little damage but rumors began to surface that a large scale engagement had occurred on the other side of the Grtul Gate.

While most everyone has seen the recent influx of tourism to the Schatten Star System and beyond, the gate which has provided that has been largely ignored since it showed up along with the massive space-station-ship called a Fabber, named Vulcan. The gate itself has faded into the background, simply providing a path for ships to come and go from the other side of the Grtul Gate.

It is important to note that the other side of the gate is an entirely different reality. A reality with its own political situation, races, and vastly different technology to our own. While the humans on the other side and similar species that have come to our side of the gate has been largely positive, the recent rumors of a large scale engagement have been troubling to many. Solas Tempus has released a statement in response to recent inquiries regarding the build up of military forces on the other side of the gate.

As per our recent treaty with the TSA, we have began to deploy military assets to their space in order to help secure our interests. This is a standard military move, we have military assets stationed at other locations both in conventional space and in other realities for the same purpose. Due to the high population of friendly and technologically advanced people on other side of the Grtul Gate we are pursuing a stronger agenda with its people, much the same way we signed an expansive trade, peace, and assistance treaty with the Avali. The treaty with the Avali has been a benefit to everyone on multiple occasions. This treaty is no different.
While it is true that their political situation is more complicated than many on our side of the Gate, this is not cause for concern. There is no need to read into the situation more than is actually there. The people on the other side of the Gate has been friendly and generous and we are endeavoring to respond in kind.
Acting Fleet Admiral Sal D’Amico

Background

Some time back the Pegasus realized that no new communication had occurred from the Gate in some time and left to investigate. Since then the ship has been stationed on the other side of the Gate. Previous to that, three Solas Tempus vessels were also stationed there, with the stated purpose of pursuing productive trade and peace agreements as well as exploration. The three ships the Sparrow, Star Opal, and Gladius have also continued to be stationed on the other side of the gate.

After the activation of the Janus Gate it was not more than a few days before the Zealot Star returned with the bulk of Solas Tempus forces. Shortly after traffic through the Gate returned to normal.

Racial Tensions on the Rise

Following the recent attack on the hangar claiming that humans should rule and aliens should be purged, the racial tensions have increased significantly on the station. It appears that an undercurrent of intolerance may spread throughout the station if left unchecked. Complaints about racial slurs being used in civilian settings have increased significantly, though not from humans but instead against them. So far the term xeno has shown to be used most often, though other terms have been used by the Sangheili. Statements from Governor Maddox have attempted to reassure humans that this is a natural extension of where they came from, the investigation into the Spartan’s revealed a world in which the Sangheili were in a brutal war with human-kind. The governor has encouraged citizens to remain peaceful and attempt to be understanding though his statement also asks for non-human races to attempt to do the same, noting that the ship which attacked the station was not from this universe. As a side-effect of this there is a small, yet growing, momentum toward an isolationist philosophy though a movement has yet to form around it there are reports of isolated pockets of such philosophy among civilians who feel threatened.

The unity initially brought by the attack appears to have been short-lived and the prevalence of humans in the highest ranking positions of Solas Tempus has again raised questions about it’s leadership. Sentiment, especially among civilians, is starting to shift toward questioning whether or not it should matter that the leadership of Solas Tempus has a lot more humans in it than not. Humans on the station, especially within Solas Tempus security forces, have reported feeling as if they are under a microscope and that they thought the universe had grown out of such things. As it happens, several other prominent races feel as if they too feel this is society going backwards. In particular the Vulcans and Andorians, once bitter enemies, cite their own coming together to help form the United Federation of Planets as proof of the idea that so many different races can coexist.

As tensions increase on the station officials from Solas Tempus have urged for people to remember that regardless of race or origin, we all have challenges to face and the planet one is from or color of ones skin matters only as much as society says it does.

Human Supremacy Terrorist Attack

On Sunday morning a distress call was received by one of our allies. Shortly after Nimbus Station responded, the call claimed that a shuttle was losing power and requesting landing. Per station protocols the vessel was allowed to land in the auxiliary hangar. After skidding to a stop in an nearly catastrophic crash landing within the hangar, the ship’s doors were opened with the message from the suicide bomber that the aliens should be experimented and the humans shall rule. The detonation of a significant amount of explosives has crippled approximately half of the auxiliary bay.

The shuttle itself came from the Janus Gate from a universe from which the Avali colony also arrived from. Missives has been dispatched to the Protectorate, the authority for that reality which has existing relations with Solas Tempus requesting more information about the shuttle and where it came from. The leaders of Solas Tempus have been unavailable to comment, at least one (Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas) is still in the hospital following the attack on Soteria. The Prime Minister of the Serenity Concord has denounced the attack as a shameful act of cowardice and stated unequivocally that those who planned and executed the horrific plan of terror will be brought to justice. Pledges of assistance have come from the Klingon Empire, Bajoran Government, Romulan Star Empire, and the United Federation of Planets as well as a number of smaller entities. Members of the Senate have also spoken out saying that the in-fighting and ill-timed investigation so publicly made was a sign of weakness with the prevailing feeling that the organization may have been better suited to handle such an impending attack had their focus been on threats outside rather than potential threats inside.

The office of the Prime Minister and the Department of Protection and Investigation have been declined to comment on the state of the investigations that are ongoing. On condition of anonymity a member of the Civilian Oversight board with knowledge of the investigation stated that the investigators have been told to quietly continue their work but that further acts beyond the gathering of information have been suspended. The attack seems to have galvanized the government and citizens, though questions still arise about how Solas Tempus manages its affair. Recent polling indicates that Solas Tempus is enjoying a rather high confidence rating, though most do still think a reorganization of perhaps a change to training procedures may be in order. The thought that criminal charges may need to be brought against members of the organization has diminished significantly in favor of mandating more subtle changes which the organization can apply to itself. Given both the recent attacks, the civilian colony project has also been put on hold while a threat assessment is reworked.