Samira Neathler

@Genkos Adea Oh, we're judging 😆

Congratulations everyone.

@Quinn Reynolds Just because this is an awesome read. ((Holodeck, USS Gorkon)) A ribbon of crystal water weaved through rolling hills which stretched toward the horizon, finally flowing into sea waters which glittered in the sun like liquid sapphire. Ancient trees reached for the sky, their lush boughs swaying in a summer breeze. Flowers bloomed among the long grasses, their colourful faces turned toward the light. Their fragrance drifted through the air, sweet and perfumed, mixing with the rich scent of warm soil and wood. A paradise. Lost. A Romulan walked among the wildflowers and long grasses she played among as a child. Her short hair framed a face with high cheekbones and striking green eyes, pale skin which probably hadn’t bathed in the rays of a real sun in quite some time. She moved with the feline grace of a predator, a sinuous mix of lethality and artistry, the figure of a martial artist who fell in love with dance. In her arms, she carried a baby nearing the celebration of her first year. Hazel green eyes, a subtle echo of her mother’s forehead ridges, and her father’s luxurious mahogany hair. Sienelis: This, Rybka, is where Mama was born. ch’Rihan, although the Federation called it Romulus. Isn't it—::she paused, correcting herself::—wasn’t it beautiful? Llaira looked around with a curious gaze, drinking in this new experience with the innocent wonder only children had. Valesha smiled, but the expression wavered at the corners, unable to quite shake the hot coal which had burned in at the bottom of her ribs since waking from the Skarbek. Sienelis: This is where our people settled at the end of our long journey through the stars, after the Vulcans forced us from our home. Two thousand years later, they preach Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations—but only if you’re not Romulan. Then you can only be a liar, a spy, or happy to murder your own family for reasons they cannot explain. Her dark, straight brows pulled into a frown, and Valesha took a deep breath. The ship’s new counsellor had cast herself into the role of Romulan spy in Skarbek, and it cut the scientist to the quick. Another Vulcan who looked at her people and saw only deception and menace. The meal at the tea room in Japan with Alieth still ricocheted through her mind, every humiliation engraved in her memories. Vorin’s accusations, and the accompanying investigation, still hung over Valesha’s head. Now T’Lar, whose Skarbek persona—the worst version of herself she could imagine—had been a Romulan spy. Because a Vulcan simply couldn’t imagine being deceiving everyone around her without being Romulan. Sienelis: Pay no mind to Mama. Things will change. It will be better for you. She grimaced, trying to ignore the barbs twisted deep in her heart. Was that hope, or foolishness? Her greatest fear was that her daughter was going to suffer through the same sort of prejudice as she did. It was exhausting, fighting every day for what so many others took for granted. To have her integrity assessed on the basis of her actions, not her genes or birthplace. To have her work judged on its merits, and not the author. Sienelis: That isn’t why I brought you here. ::Valesha took a deep breath, trying to push away the hurt, and gestured ahead of her.::This is the Jhianhre province. Do you see that cottage and the building next to it? That’s where Mama grew up. A solitary cottage in white stone stood not far from the treeline, windows sparkling in the bright sunlight. A garden bloomed behind it, filled with brilliant colour and life, clearly the result of a dedicated steward. Smoke rose from the tall chimney beside it, and light glowed inside. Sienelis: That was your uncle’s garden. ::She smiled, melancholy threading through.:: Taeval had such a way with plants and flowers. Now he cares for people the same way he tended to his garden. If you ever have a problem and Mama and Papa can’t be there, you go to your dinam-ri'ranai.¹ He’ll take care of you. Few moments in Valesha’s life compared to the rare joy of finding her twin again. Thought dead in the supernova, discovered alive via a chance meeting during the Warp XV tests, and finally reunited on Ketar V. It had been like finding the lost piece of her soul, though she still wasn’t sure how he felt about having to leave his home shortly thereafter. They had both changed in the intervening years, and he was no longer a teenager too easy for his sister to read. Sienelis: That, ::she gestured to the building with the smoking chimney,:: was our forge. The House-Clan of t’Sienelis is very old, one of artists and craftsmen. Your grandmama, your hru'nanov, she was one of the finest smiths on Romulus. She made dathe'anofv-sen² for the high houses, and tan qalanq³ for the Qowat Milat. People used to travel from across the Empire to beg for her work. It’s how she met your grandpapa, your hru'diranov. She paused at the mention of her father. Valesha had no idea what he thought of her current situation, though she didn’t doubt he knew of it. Things had been quiet of late, no more attempts to cajole, push, or physically drag her home. Maybe he had accepted she was where she wanted to be. More likely he was simply being patient. What were a few years, or even decades, to a Romulan? Sienelis: That’s a... complicated story. ::She smiled ruefully, and shook her head.:: Not one for today. Today, we are going swimming. Perhaps in response to the smile and the shift in her mother’s tone, Llaira excitedly babbled, clapping her tiny hands together. Her mother’s heart grew several sizes, still finding ways to be amazed at how her daughter could both wrench her heart and soothe her soul simultaneously. Sienelis: My little fish likes the sound of that, hmm? ::She laughed.:: Swimming in the same river Mama learned to swim in? Maybe we’ll teach you to dive when you’re older, too. There’s magic in the sea, Rybka, and don’t let anyone tell you different. The happy chattering from her babe in arms confirmed that Llaira would, indeed, refuse to stand for any contrary opinions on the matter. If she had even a gram of her parents’ stubbornness, that would be a battle she wouldn’t lose. Feeling a little lighter, with the grass and wildflowers tickling bare dancer’s legs beneath her skirt, Valesha picked up the pace. Sienelis: Come on then. Papa will be here soon. ::She shared an impish grin with her daughter, mischief reflected back toward her.:: Let’s see if we can get in the water and splash him first. ¹ Romulan: Uncle, maternal. ² Romulan: A traditional weapon which translates as “honour blade”, passed down through Romulan families and ritually sharpened. ³ Romulan: A straight, singled edged sword preferred by the Qowat Milat. -- Lieutenant Valesha Sienelis Assistant Chief Science Officer USS Gorkon simmed by Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds Commanding Officer USS Gorkon T238401QR0

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Congratulations all, wel deserved everyone.

Congrats everyone, well deserved indeed.

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Well done Enzo, welcome to the fleet.

Our new Ensign @Torvi Ylvor already knows Samira all too well. 😁

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Oh, I remember our Brikar. Loved reading this. Well done, Sill-con. 😄

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

We've had some amazing sims written at the end of our mission. @Doz Finch you already had me with the suspense of who the stranger was but honestly those pyjamas..., imagine the looks Doz will receive when wandering outside her quarters like that. 😁 ((Niu Hotel, Borrel District, Witherington Indre III)) The three of them—Finch, Lark and Seva—had awkwardly began an escape route through the vents of the Niu Hotel, as the communications centre succumbed to fiery oblivion behind them, the guards that had entered it now undoubtedly a melting pot of flesh, metal and incomprehension. Incomprehension for a situation that they had likely believed impossible. That somehow, through some unexpected twist of fate, their deaths had been sealed by three women whose appearance did not resemble anything like that they were taught to worship; grandeur in height, in muscle. Wide shoulders, and even wider necks, painted by mother nature with solid strokes of greyish-white, clad in armour. Instead they had been masterfully hoodwinked by two women and their old grandmother, and left behind to simmer and stew, like a crucible of etiolated losers. Tahna: Just…crawl faster. Finch: Don't you think I am!? ::she barked:: They moved as would a caterpillar, the differing sections of its long body undulating with each movement, connected by a common purpose, to keep on going until the head had reached its target location. In this case, Lark was their head, blocking the view in front, as if she could see much at all anyway through the thickening smoke that threatened to fill and turn their lungs to bags of ash. Then, as they turned a corner, a familiar cold wetness greeted them. It was the end of the vents; Seva: Kick the vent open, Tahna! Now! The woman tried with all her might to do it, but like a mole in foreign tunnels, their “hill” simply would not budge. The idea of this being the way she died sat inside her throat, like a clump of hair, difficult to swallow, teasing at the inner lining of her esophagus. Of all the ways to go out, it had to be through suffocation inside a vent, didn't it? after everything they had gone through. Finch: Use your hands, Lark, ::she choked:: unscrew the— ::coughing:: Moments later, it was opened, and the three of them climbed out of there, the icy breath of the storm reaching down into her throat like an angel sent from heaven, and with a heave, dislodging that which had caused her to nearly suffocate. She tumbled forwards, her eyes bloodshot, everything blurry, her muscles squeezing themselves desperate to inhale the oxygen that her mouth now syphoned with vigour. She could feel Lark beside her also spinning in her own typhoon of pain, the sounds of her feet splashing tempestuously against the floor of the rooftop. Or was it Seva's footsteps? She couldn't make it out in the frenzy. In that moment they had no organised movement, no clarity, just sharp inhales and exhales, as the hammering rain that they had grown to detest fed them with everything that the hotel had tried to steal. Forgiving them for their bitterness towards its plight, bearing no resentment, no judgement, just simply doing what it had been artificially forced to do. And what an irony it was that in her emergence onto that rooftop, away from the fiery pits of the Niu Hotel, she would come to finally appreciate the rain for what good it could do. Tahna: Clear. Let’s get out of here. Finch: Get in the shuttle— As her senses regained themselves, she pointed with a croak to the shuttle that had marvellously gone untouched, ready for them to climb into and soar off, just as she had pictured she would. Only now the picture had two more people in it, who despite her best intentions, she now felt a great deal of care for. But then a figure appeared on her periphery, clad in black, face cold but eyes malefic… his appearance marked by the shooting of his phaser, that soared past Seva’s body and missed her own by a few inches. Seva: Time to go! ::Shouted as she ducks under a phaser blast:: Finch: Get inside! As the other two disappeared behind her, she stopped, her stature small, and her posture weakened by her knees, but her spirit fighting with defiance to be just the opposite. Her beady eyes, the shape of almonds, and the colour of cedar, squinted hard together to get a clearer look at him. He wasn’t firing at her, despite her stillness, yet watched her from his position, the rain crashing hard against the lapels of his coat, and a breeze flicking at its tails. Finch: Who… who is that? Her heart banged violently at the inner walls of her ribs, as if wishing to leave and never come back, made uncomfortable by the space taken up by her heaving lungs, that pulled more air inside of them than they could really hold. Her legs started to tremble first, and then her arms down through to her hands, followed so very quickly by her jaw, clattering the tombstones within them. Everything inside of her screamed, from the tiniest cells to the goosebumps that lifted the pinprick hairs of her skin, along which droplets of rain swerved like miniature racers. Everything except her mouth—whether stubbornness, or shock, or exhaustion, or all of it mixed into one, no scream left her body. And yet everything in her told her she should. Finch: Touch that shuttle and condemn those women and I will kill you— The figure: Oh, Doz. Is that how you greet an old friend? She stumbled. As if she had been putting all of her weight in her tiptoes. A breath fell out of her mouth, its release accompanied by a short sound, like a punctured tire. All of the colour drained from her face, its bumpy surface now a cordillera of distempered white. The voice from the figure in front of her pierced her soul like a rose, its tone tender like its petals, but its arrival sharp like its thorny stem. The only voice in the universe that could turn her own upside down in an instant. But it couldn’t have been… not there. Not now... when she had just started to find purpose again. Finch: No… no it can’t be… She whipped her head around to the shuttle, and through the misty, swirling air, the image of it began to stutter, with harsh thumps. Her breath catching on something, her body now difficult to move, and her clarity tapering away. Like being punched in the face, each head movement felt like a jolt, the vision in front of her snapping between moments like a video tape out of sync, three seconds forwards, three seconds backwards, repeating the man's words back to her. Doz...Old friend... His face flashing before her, zipping forwards and backwards with each blink, revealing more and more of it with each static welt, until she was sure of it. The eyes a shade of stone blue, the hair a wispy cotton. It was him. Finch: M…Mu… Her eyes filled with water, the vision before her zipping in and out of sequence, and then… ((Personal Quarters, USS Gorkon)) …Ensign Doz Finch woke up with a sharp gasp, body flung upwards with a start. Finch: Murphy. She swallowed, her mouth as dry as sandpaper, her lips chapped and split in places. Her hand instinctively reached for her throat, feeling its tough exterior, hard as if it was full of sediments of rock. A bit of sweat dripped down off of her chin and landed on her slightly leathery hand, slowly returning to her that sense of reality, while still stirring within her a bit of disorientation about whether or not she was still on that rooftop, fresh from the sweltering vents that nearly took her life. Finch: Computer ::she said through a gravelly voice:: What time is it, love? The computer’s familiar and factual voice gave her the time, as the lights in her quarters began to slowly increase the visibility of everything around her. Her pyjamas, thick and soft and with the pattern of hundreds of ducks on them, were saturated through to the skin, which explained the dryness of her mouth. She heaved herself to the side, legs dangling below her, and waited just a moment before stepping down and into her slippers. With small and awkward movements, she found her way into her bathroom, eyes squinting, and leaned in to get a look at herself, instantly recoiling at the sight. Her hair wasn’t long, but short and strewn, as if she had been mercilessly beat up through the night. Her eyes were also wet, as if tears had filled them, or sweat. Smacking her dry lips together for a moment, the realisation began to dawn on her that she had been dreaming… and that it wasn’t just any old dream, but a bloody nightmare of epic proportions. Faces and names drifted in her mind like swirls of dust. The girl, Lark… no, Tahna…And Seva… and Mister…Imul? Doz stared at herself in the mirror… in disbelief. Finch: Computer…what date is it? When the computer returned the information, all Doz could do was stand there in shock, looking around at the objects in the bathroom, glancing up at her face in the mirror again, her hands now clasped over half of it. Finch: Computer, love…is this real? Am I alive? Computer: Please restate question. A relieved smile lifted the corners of her mouth, bringing with it a small chortle, and a shake of her head. Finch: Oh, I’m definitely alive. Suppose I should get ready and find out what’s gone on here… but first things first…I need a bloody good cup of tea. fin -- Doz "Gramma" Finch Associate Skarbek Fixer The Maquis & Ensign Doz Finch Engineering Officer USS Gorkon

How @Vylaa let us go through a train of emotions with her latest sim is amazing. ((Stolen Hideki Ship, Indre III High Orbit)) It was all over. The Cardassian ships had been thoroughly smacked down, ripped to shreds by their own exploding ships. For the first time, the Bridge of the stolen Spoon ship was still. Quinn huffed a breath and leaned back into the pilots seat. Vylaa’s sharp eye caught a ghost of a wince pass across the humans face. The pain from her leg must be terrible, and a tiny whiff of necrosis reached her nose and antennae. She stepped back over to the Engineering station as Quinn turned to look at the Vulcan and Andorian. Reynolds: I’ll call that a win. ::She smiled faintly.:: Let’s hope the rest of our lot can say the same about their corner of the liberation. zh’Tisav: I’m restoring full life support to the rest of the ship. Then, I’m going to find the transporter room and beam these dead bodies into space before they really stink up the place. Then I’m going to see if this crate has a med bay. ::She turned to Quinn.:: And see if they have any good painkillers and antibiotics onboard. The zhen turned and walked toward the door they had so recently burst through with guns blazing. Her bruised tuchus made her limp a bit, but she kept her back straight. There would be time to rest and release all of the stress of this mission later, with the aid of lots of alcohol. She raised a hand to wave to the other two. zh’Tisav: ::She raised her hand.:: Failing finding a med bay, I’ll be in the cargo bay having a smoke. T’Lar waved back at her, and… smiled. Vylaa’s eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. Something felt… wrong. Reynolds: ::Quietly,:: There isn’t a med bay. There’s no room for it with all the modifications they did. T'Lar: Where is the music coming from? Vylaa stopped at the door. The most nagging feeling tugged at her gut, like a heavy weight had been dropped into it. Had T’Lar really just said that? And that smile… The only time she’d smiled was when she’d had the concussion, and was ogling Caeden like an animal in heat. Reynolds: ::Quieter still.:: There’s no music. zh’Tisav: T’Lar? Then the strangest thing happened. The Vulcan began to sing. Vylaa shared a glance with Quinn, who pushed herself up. The zhen approached T’Lar cautiously, not wanting to get too close lest she make the wrong move. T'Lar: Street lights... People oh oh ahhhhhhhh... zh’Tisav: Hey, T’Lar. Tell us what’s wrong. Now that she was closer, she could see a dab of green under the Vulcan’s nose. The nagging feeling turned into a vice grip on her soul. T'Lar: Don't— And then, she just dropped. Like a scarf dropped onto the floor, the Vulcan crumpled up into a pile. A very still pile. Too still. The zhen dropped to the floor at almost the same time as Quinn and knelt across from her, T’Lar lying still between them. While the human fished out a tricorder and started a scan, the Andorian grabbed T’Lar’s hand and squeezed, hard. Hard enough to draw a response. But there was none. Reynolds: She’s dead. ::She shook her head.:: Looks like a massive brain bleed. Vylaa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It couldn’t be true. They had been through too much together, and now, at the very end? They had won. Winners weren’t supposed to die... zh’Tisav: How the hell did that happen?! She was fine! Reynolds: The doctors cleared her back at the clinic, so it must have happened some time after we left. ::She sighed, message sent, and put away the PADD.:: I don’t know. Could have been anything. We’ve had explosions, firefights, space combat... The Andorian waited. That wasn’t a good enough explanation for her. It was half-a**ed at best. They’d all been through the same hell. There was no reason why a Vulcan, even an injured one, would have succumbed and they didn’t. Reynolds: My guess is whatever the Romulans did to her brain made it particularly susceptible to injury. Or—::she frowned, darkly:: —or they’d built in a kill switch. zh’Tisav: What the **** are you talking about? Reynolds: She was a spy for the Romulans, Vylaa. ::Quinn looked up at the Andorian.:: Valesha had reason to be suspicious, and then... well. There were so many things which pointed to it. The V'Kor are police officers on a planet free of violent crime. The V’Shar is Vulcan intelligence, but they’re primarily analysts, and they prefer to leave fieldwork to Starfleet. ::Her gaze fell back onto the fallen woman.:: Her skills didn’t match her background. Parts of her story kept changing. Vylaa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had Quinn hit her head? A Romulan spy, here? Vylaa was about to tell the human exactly what she thought of the idea, when she continued. Reynolds: And I’m a touch telepath. I picked up some... things when I was dragging her around in the council building. Suppressed memories, where her handlers talked about a constructed personality to hide the spy, and why she was being sent to the Maquis. That mistake with the shields; my guess is the Vulcan and the Romulan were getting mixed up in her head, and she briefly confused shields with cloaks. Vylaa frowned, tears beginning to drift down her face, a feeling of betrayal creeping across her soul. Not just at T’Lar, or whatever her real name was. Someone she had, reluctantly, begun to consider a friend. But Quinn as well. She hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her that she was working side by side with a potentially dangerous individual. Hell, she’d even been alone with her a couple of times, she could have been killed. She suddenly no longer regretted the words she’d said back in the tunnel. zh’Tisav: Gee, thanks for letting me know… She sat back and scooted away, away from living and dead. Reynolds: She has a daughter. They’re grooming her to infiltrate Starfleet. ::Quinn heaved out a deep sigh.:: I’ve still got some contacts there. I’ll reach out to them, make sure she doesn’t suffer the same fate as her mother. If T'Lar was ever real, I imagine she'd want that more than anything else. zh’Tisav: I suppose… And when we get back, I think I need to take a break. I don’t like being lied to, and I like being kept in the dark even less. I need to figure out where I belong. She stood, and dug the crumpled cigarette pack out of her pocket. Her last smoke in the pack was slightly bowed, but still intact. She lit it as she made for the bridge door, not caring who the smoke bothered. zh’Tisav: Don’t follow me. Reynolds: We should— ((Vylaa’s Quarters, USS Gorkon)) Vylaa’s eyes snapped open. Cobalt irises darted about, trying to sus out her surroundings in the dark. She was in her bed, the air of her quarters refreshing and cool, not the stifling heat of a Cardassian bridge. Cardassian bridge…? The blanket slid off her bare shoulder as she bolted upright, her bare feet landing on soft carpet, not booted feet on hard deck plates. zh’Tisav: oO Was that a dream? Oo It had felt so real. She rose, confusion ruling her mind, and cast a foot about the floor to find where she’d dropped her robe when going to bed. Upon finding it, she slid into it, and shivered when the soft fabric touched her bare neck. Hadn’t her hair just been long? She wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. Was this the dream? She shuffled across the floor, trying to remember more of the dream. She seemed to remember a tunnel, and being terrified to be underground. She’d never felt that way before… The deep dark had always been a friend. She stopped at the bathroom door and turned on the light. She stared at her face in the mirror. zh’Tisav: oO Has my hair always been this short? Oo And black. She could have sworn it had just been her natural white, and much longer, down to her shoulder blades. She leaned closer, trying to see beyond the edges of the mirrored glass, half expecting another version of herself to peek around the edge. The motion sent her shapla swinging out the open front of her robe. She reached for the lucite pendant, glanced at the four twisted hairs buried in the acrylic. She smiled at the soft warmth radiating from the material.. It was as if a knife suddenly cut through the confusion. Her mates were her anchor, the dream feeling less real now. And her… She spun and ran across the dark bedroom, to the front room, stopped at her sofa and grabbed at two photo frames on the end table. There they were, her mates. And in the other, her children. She sighed in relief, feeling guilty for not remembering them. And her sisters... She grabbed a third frame, one of the three of them together at her bonding ceremony. Sataa was alive. Alive and well on Andoria. Happy at her forge, turning Tharan blade steel into weapons. The tall Andorian collapsed into a chair, the relief washing over her like a wave, the pictures clutched close. It hadn’t been a dream. It had been a nightmare. Vylaa "Cable" zh'Tisav Computer Specialist Skarbek Simmed By Lt JG Vylaa zh'Tisav Engineering Officer USS Gorkon

@Cory Stoyer, @Ayiana Sevo and @Piravao sh'Qynallahr You guys had me laughing here. 😁

YaY, congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Don't know why, but you had me laughing out loud with this one, @Jo Marshall

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

@Piravao sh'Qynallahr You know us too well. 😁 All she needed to do now was find her companions. That should be simple enough, look for the chaos, and they would be right in the middle.

Well done you two and welcome to the fleet.

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Congrats and welcome to the fleet.

Great job all, well done and welcome to the fleet.