Posted Nov. 2, 2018, 7:44 p.m. by Ensign Valkris MacLaren (Security Officer) (Janice B.)
Posted by Civilian Michael Conrad (Black Sparrow CO) in Black Sparrow- Mtg in the Mess Hall (Trip to Tyrellia)
Posted by Civilian Halai Cosgrove (Head of Science and Terraforming) in Black Sparrow- Mtg in the Mess Hall (Trip to Tyrellia)
Posted by Ensign Valkris MacLaren (Security Officer) in Black Sparrow- Mtg in the Mess Hall (Trip to Tyrellia)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
[snip]
“Alright, I’ll get us started. But I warn you, it’s a long story, so get comfy,” Halai said, leaning against a wall. “As you all know, I’ve hired the Black Sparrow to carry me and my companions to and from Tyrellia. I’m going to explain why I’m going and the background to it all because it is a complicated situation and I guarantee that without this knowledge, you could potentially be in or create issues on the planet. It is vital that you understand this mission, myself and the people you may interact with.” Pausing for a moment, Halai shifted her gaze around the room to see if there were any issues or questions so far.“So, my people, or rather my mother’s people are not technically members of the Federation but we’ve had close ties for decades now. I am what my people call ushavhia, or ‘one of blended spirit’. My mother was Tyrellian, my father is Human. He is one of the Starfleet officer that Tyrellia first encountered in those earlier years of contact with the Federation. What you have to understand is that Tyrellians are very deeply spiritual, but there’s been no organized religion for centuries. These days, spirituality is blended into the threads of everyday life.”
“Despite first appearances, Tyrellia is technologically advanced, and as you’ll soon find out, that technologically is blended as seamlessly throughout our communities as possible. You’re not going to see obvious signs of it, at first, and for that reason, people tend to see my people as being almost primitive, especially since we tend to focus on cultural development over and above technology . However, science is very important and medicine is a respected field. But you will find few ship designers, though they obviously do exist. But if I was to pick one area that we are the most proud of, it is our various forms of art.”
Halai traced the soft black spirals tattooed on each cheek. “‘Keeper of the old arts’. Our laser art is well known in both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. It can take different forms and I learned to carve rock with them. I’ve been an apprentice for many years and at some point in my life it is expected that I will, as a Master, take on my own apprentice and teach them everything I know in order to preserve what we feel is a sacred connection to the universe.” She inhaled deeply ad exhaled through her nose. “Some day, anyway. But today I still am”-she traced the stylized V on her forehead-“‘a seeker of knowledge’“, and I will do that as long as I am called to. Right now that means living on Oed and overseeing the incredible transformation of a planet that is anyone’s guess if it can actually happen,” she said with a serene smile. If there was anything that could bring the slightest moment of peace to her it was talking about both her work and her art.
“As some of you know, I recently resigned my Starfleet commission. It was the right thing to do under the circumstances, but I won’t lie and say it was easy. Starfleet was where I discovered my deep strength and also opened me up to the possibilities of the Universe I probably would not have found any other way.” For a brief moment she cast her gold-ringed gaze out at the stars. “I had a life changing experience on my last ship assignment. Long story short we encountered some highly advanced being that turned out to be AIs of the Preservers. Essentially, the AIs were doing the work long distance that the Preservers themselves did to keep watch over the species they were responsible for bringing to life. For we confirmed the old hypothesis that they were the same Ancients that seeded our galaxy with the life that is so prevalent in its various forms here.” She couldn’t help that her tone took on a reverent tone. “The one being I dealt with, Celeste, opened my mind up to things I never imagined before. And I couldn’t ignore this strange feeling inside afterwards, that I had somehow been utterly changed by the encounter.”
Michael Conrad could relate to what she had just said. His experience with the Kalidonians was anything but ordinary. It had changed him in ways, he likely hadn’t even seen yet.
“So I took a leave of absence from Starfleet and went home to Tyrellia, the place I had only visited in brief times ever since I left when my mother died when I was ten. I went on a special journey to see if I could find a group of deeply spiritual Tyrellians who moved about the planet at times and devoted themselves to spiritual understanding. And it was where I truly began to understand my near-empathic abilities that most Tyrellians have but long ago lost real awareness and mastery over. Call it a deep intuition if you will, but it can do different things at different times. This group, the Clerics of Ashein, are able to help you tap into whatever your abilities are, and I was able to figure out far more deeply something I had noticed years ago and couldn’t totally understand. It is these clerics that we are looking for since I have every reason to believe that that is where I’ll find my missing sister. My sister is what this is all about and I’ll explain it in just a moment, but any questions so far?” Halai asked.
~Halai Cosgrove
Conrad spoke up. “These Clerics of Ashein. You say they tap into people’s abilities? People strictly on Tyrellia, or people of other races as well?” He was certainly curious. If these clerics could do such things, perhaps he would test it out and see what they came up with for him.
-Michael Conrad, Black Sparrow CO
OOC: It was getting a bit long, so I did some trimming. Hope I didn’t trim too much.
-Janice B.IC:“Even without some details, I have no issues following it,” Valkris stated in an even voice, noting that things were beginning to make sense.
In Starfleet, many officers had tales about their experiences including life-changing ones. What the woman said made sense, but the information about the missing sister was new. It gnawed at her a bit to try to empathize with a loss of a sibling and found herself unable to. That sort of pain wasn’t something she was willing to subject herself to if there was no evidence it might ever happen.
Silently she became thankful that Jeremy chose to be a civilian rather than a Starfleet officer like herself.
When Cosgrove had already stated she would explain, Valkris had no additional questions and allowed the others to come up with them. She merely adjusted her leg to prevent it from falling asleep while she listened.
–Ensign Valkris MacLaren, Sec
OOC: Fixing the split and adding some more.
“I don’t know if they can,” Halai said honestly to Conrad’s question. “I would presume that to date it’s only been with Tyrellians, but since they did so with me and I am mixed-species, it stands to reason that it could be possible with others with no Tyrellian blood.”
Hali exhaled. “Keep in mind that most Tyrellians have never seen the Clerics, let alone interacted with them. For most they exist as some sort of myth. I didn’t even know for sure myself if they existed until I found them. But now that I know them and they consider me…”-she flushed ever so slightly-“blessed, I know how to find them and I have some sway with them.”
“My sister, Kristina is with them,” Halai said. “She’s my half sister and we share the same father. It’s a point of contention in my family because while it was not in contravention of anything in Tyrellian society and my mother knew he was married, as you can imagine, it was not exactly going to be welcome news to his Human wife with whom he was in a monogamous marriage to. In fact, even though I went to live with him on his starship after my mother died, my step-mother ad her children and my father’s parents didn’t even find out about me till I was thirteen, but that’s a whole other messy story. The point to take away here is that things are severely strained between my and my step-mother and it wasn’t until a couple years ago when Kristina came to Oed unexpectedly and stated she wanted to live with me that I’ve even had a chance to get to know her. My parents weren’t happy about Kirstina running away form home and coming to me of all people, but she was already an adult and make her own decisions. Things haven’t been easy between us, but we are sisters and we do love each other. I feel compelled to protect her.”
Halai took a deep breath, trying to steady the uneasy feelings swirling around in her. Just get it over with, she told herself. In a confluence of terrible events for me, someone either working for the Clerics, or wanting me to think they were, attacked me in my villa while they delivered a piece of stone for my carving projects.” She raised her right hand and showed them her palm with the stylized V inked on it, the ‘top’ of the Y towards her. Only those closest to her could see that there was actual scar tissue that indicated it had actually been carved into her hand.
“It’s a message, a special one.” Halai turned her palm to face upwards with her arm extended in front of her. “Two paths converging into one pointing to the source. It’s a deeply spiritual symbol, and the man who attacked me incapacitated me with a paralytic and then used one of my own carving lasers to do this. The ink was a special mix that prevented the cuts from bleeding too much but also from healing over properly. So, I’m currently stuck with this until I decide if it’s worth keeping,” she said, her voice having gone almost flat with no emotion.
“When I woke up in the hospital, I had suffered seizures from a bad reaction to the paralytic and had nearly died. It was then that I realized they didn’t know Kirstina had been in the house with me and was missing. We don’t know a lot about what happened, but we do know she wasn’t taken by choice.” Halai exhaled sharply. “However, after weeks of no news and worrying, Kirstina contacted me herself. She told me she was safe and okay, and that I knew where she was. Which I do. Which is why we’re on our way to Tyrellia right now.”
~Halai Cosgrove
Conrad listened to the whole story, intrigued. “And we who are going down will be meeting these Clerics?” he inquired. “I presume you’ve ruled out the Clerics having done this to you?” Michael Conrad may have been an adventurer, but he knew when not to fly in with your pants almost down.
-Michael Conrad, Black Sparrow CO
IC: Valkris looked at Michael Conrad then Cosgrave, contemplating if she should say something. If she recalled correctly, Cosgrave didn’t hold any ill-will toward the Clerics and possibly linked them to tattoo. At least, someone who knew the traditions. What wasn’t clear was the motivation behind the act. Her heart jerked at the mention of the family’s reaction, but she pushed it away. It was a common scenario among children in mixed families, including herself. Mixing the blood didn’t always go over well.
–Ensign Valkris MacLaren, Sec
OOC: That and I can’t find the thread over the investigation, but I thought I saved it!
-Janice B.
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