Notable Individuals -- Humans
From SOTS
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Solomon Blasky
Solomon Blasky, the first Director of SolForce, was an appointed official who held a simple bureaucratic post. This was a span of over three decades, from three years before the physicist Blasky Yao Shiang conceived of his famous solar probe to the destruction of the Nova Maria. SolForce prior to Hiver First Contact was essentially a minor protection agency assigned to keep watch on possible threats to Terra (potential asteroids, etc.), which was administered and funded by the U.C.A. (United Consortia Administration). He was killed aboard the Nova Maria during first contact with the Hivers. Questions persist about the apparent coincidence of the launch of the Nova Maria and the arrival of the Hivers. Solomon Blasky had control over the building and launch schedule of the Nova Maria and it is speculated that he may have had some inside information about when the Hivers would appear that wasn't made public. According to Arinn, "He did not feel that he had the right to live if his faith in the universe should prove to be disastrously wrong."
Ashilde Falke
Ashilde Falke, the Second Director of SolForce, took control after Solomon Blasky was killed aboard the Nova Maria. She was the highest ranking surviving member of SolForce and she was instrumental in shaping the Directorate as a position of absolute power within the forming human empire--indeed, without her leadership and determination it is very possible that there would have been no such thing as a human empire, or indeed a human race. Many of her own troops called her The Iron Maiden. Among the Tarka she was called Va'ala, which roughly translates as the Lady of Stone.
The Hivers remember her as "the Mad Queen".
This period is notable for the rise of SolForce, a massive military, industrial and colonial enterprise, which accompanied the first contacts with three alien species--two of which were engaged immediately in hostilities vis-a-vis the Hiver and Tarka wars.
This said, the Second Director eventually overstepped and overstressed her authority, and eventually she was removed by force by a coalition of her highest ranking officers, the Legators. One of the leaders of this coup became the Third Director after submitting to a vote by his fellow legates.
Edward MacKenzie
Edward MacKenzie, the Third Director of SolForce, took control after Ashilde Falke was killed in a coup instigated in part by MacKenzie. He was elected to the position after submitting to a vote by his fellow legates. The MacKenzie Era of SolForce is also known as the third Directorate. It compromises the period from the death of the second Director to the end of MacKenzie's term. It is notable for the brokering of the famous "Pax Quarto", the Peace of the Four, the emergence of the Zuul threat, a massive restructuring and consolidation of the Human Empire in general and of the internal institutions of SolForce itself, the building of the new capitol and the starport on Mons Olympus, etc.. However, for all his reforms, Edward MacKenzie is still the Director. And Terran officials who try to put any kind of pressure on him have a tendency to regret it.
By the time MacKenzie took the reigns, SolForce had grown to a massive military, industrial, economic and scientific powerhouse, employing millions directly and billions indirectly, and controlling nearly 40% of the total gross production of the human race.
At some point in his early career with SolForce, MacKenzie was a Tarka political prisoner in a famous concentration camp. Conditions in that camp were beyond deplorable and the idle sadism of the Tarka guards eventually inspired the prisoners to overcome their own racial prejudices and overthrow their tormentors. He was the leader of that rebellion.
Conrad Vance
Conrad Vance was one of the first scientific and technological leaders in the early days of SolForce. A signals and intelligence genius, he was a member of the SolForce Research and Development Corps and was responsible for most of the early breakthroughs in deepscan and ftl communications technology.
As the SolForce bureaucracy grew, Vance was detached from R & D to form a new branch of SolForce Intelligence Corps, the infamous "Green Section", and became a Commander responsible for all deep scan operations and the encryption and decryption of FTL communications. His son, William Conrad Vance, rose to a rank of Lieutenant in Green Section and was attached to an exploratory mission aboard a deepscan vessel called the SFS Copernicus.
During the infamous "Second Contact" incident in which SolForce ships encountered the Tarkasian fleet for the first time, most of the human battlegroup was killed. Although the Copernicus managed to make the jump to Nodespace and escaped complete destruction, its engine section was so badly damaged that radiation had flooded all compartments. Lieutenant William Conrad Vance was the last survivor, and recorded a warning beacon to prevent survivors from boarding the ship.
His father had already been concerned when his son's fleet dropped out of communications, however, and had detached a complement of ships to search for the battlegroup. He was first on the scene and heedless of his son's recorded warning, he broke into the ship to recover the young man's body.
The resulting barrage of radiation did horrific damage to his body. Dying, he was rushed back to SIC headquarters. In spite of his firmly stated wishes, his life was saved as both legs and substantial portions of his torso were replaced with cybernetic systems.
Thereafter, Conrad Vance spent the rest of his life in a mechanical chair apparatus, and became a notoriously bitter and difficult man. He disappeared from SIC headquarters soon after the events of The Deacon's Tale, and escaped both investigation and reprisal for his suspected sabotage of SolForce communications and his collaboration with the Zuul.
