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Post by spacedaisy on Aug 1, 2018 4:14:28 GMT
Marika Lenali Post: Science Officer, USS Zorya Rank: Ensign Species: Lo’Ami Gender: Female Age: 53 Height: 5’ 2” Weight: 52 kg Eye color: Grey Hair Color: white blonde Distinguishing marks: Gold triangle tattoo in her right palm, scar behind her right ear. Family Father: Ronul Mephir’a (deceased) Mother: Denora Mephir’a (deceased) Adopted Father: Naimon Lenali Description Mari has all the distinctive features of the Lo’Ami. Her skin has a very faint metallic sheen it, which becomes more pronounced when she blushes. Her eyes are a steely grey color and her hair is white blonde. She is on the tall side of average by Lo’Ami standards but fairly short compared to most humanoid species. The Lo’aim facial features tend to be very soft, and paird with their slowed aging it gives them a deceptively youthful appearance. While Mari is 53, she appears closer to her early to mid twenties. History Marika was born in the Relur caste before the revolution on her planet known as the Great Upheaval. She was consecrated to the goddess Mish’pah. Her mother and a baby sister died during childbirth two years after Marika was born. She was seven years old when the old government was overthrown in the Great Upheaval. Her father was killed in the violence against the Chidek and Relur castes during the revolution. She escaped and was hidden by her family’s groundskeeper for many years, raised as his own daughter. As a young child she was kept away from public settings for fear of the backlash if her caste of origin was discovered. Her adopted father passed away of natural causes when she was fifteen, and she spent the next four years staying with various friends as the anger against the Relur began to subside. Once the new government had fully stabilized, she finally felt safe to live her life in a less secluded way. She entered university, majoring in science and specializing in temporal mechanics. Once she graduated, she secured a research job with the government that gave her the funding and freedom to pursue what interested her. Through a series of events and a flaw in her research, Mari ended up jumping from her own universe into the current one we occupy, landing in the year 2379. She abandoned her research, recognizing it as a failure. For many years she simply laid low, staying close to friends she made, afraid that her origins would once again put her in danger. The schism in the UFP and resulting war with the True Federation changed the landscape and led her to join Starfleet. Academy Unsurprisingly, Mari had an aptitude for the sciences while in the Academy. She went out of her way to expand her knowledge of other sciences outside what she was originally worked in. As such she managed to get a firm grip on the basic medical sciences as well and even displayed a good handle in her engineering courses, though it was certainly not her strength. She struggled more with courses in the fields of tactics, piloting and combat. While she received good scores in marksmanship, she struggled more with hand to hand combat and other battle preparation courses. Medical History Tattooed for consecration at 10 days old Severe damage to her retina and optic nerve at age 34 Dislocated shoulder at age 34 Chip implanted behind her right ear at age 34 Psychological Profile Mari has some significant trust issues stemming from her life experiences. Few people stayed in her life for long and many of the ones who did were trying to exploit her. She has a strong sense of right and wrong, perhaps to a fault. Where some people see some grey areas, she has a more difficult time accepting it. She takes time letting people in close, but she is fiercely loyal to and protective of anyone who finally does manage to get into her close circle. Mari also tends to carry a lot of guilt, and is prone to thinking she is the root of other people’s troubles. It feeds into the difficulty she has letting others in. - Sarina Drex, CNS Tales of Brave Ulysses - Mari's backstory References for Lo'Ami Lo'Ami OverviewLo'Ami LanguageLo'Ami Mythology
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Post by Einar on Aug 1, 2018 6:43:29 GMT
this is very exciting, and I am very impressed with the level of detail in your creation of this species.
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Post by spacedaisy on Aug 6, 2018 2:19:25 GMT
Stardate 11808.03
“Transmission coming in for you Ensign,” a voice interrupted Mari as she unpacked her bags.
“Put it through for me please,” she tossed the pile of clothes on her bed and moved over to sit down at her desk.
A woman’s face appeared, her dark hair streaked with gray was tied back with loose wisps framing her face.
“Hello Tessa.”
“Thought I would check in on you.”
“You mean you thought you would try once more to convince me to quit.”
Tessa’s mouth turned up at the corners in a smirk, “I gave up on you years ago.”
“Then why are you calling?”
Her dark eyes dropped for a moment and when she looked back up, Mari could see they were brimmed with tears, “Vik died this morning.”
Mari closed her eyes, listening to her heart pounding in her ears for a moment. She finally gave a sigh and opening her eyes again she asked, “Was he in pain?”
“No, I had him under sedation for the last few days. All his organs were shutting down; there was nothing I could do.” Tessa angrily wiped away the tears that had begun to spill over onto her cheeks. “You should have been here.”
“Tessa, you know I have to do this,” Mari struggled to keep an even tone as frustration built within her. She was weary of this same old argument.
“What do you think you are going to accomplish? You’re wasting the second chance that Zeke gave you! He wouldn’t want you joining Starfleet.”
“Don’t talk to me about what he’d want!” Frustration quickly boiled over into anger, “Thanks to Section 31, I had to watch him die!”
“What do you think you’re going to accomplish by joining Starfleet? You’re special Mari, Zeke always knew that. All you’re going to do is get yourself killed. Is that what he’d want?” Tessa’s face held a look of disappointment.
“I’m going to do my part to put an end to the True Federation,” Mari said fiercely through clenched teeth.
With a disgusted shake of her head Tessa replied tersely, “You used to say it was to help others the way he helped you, now you’re thinking about revenge.” She rubbed her neck where the tension had formed a tight knot in her muscles as she said with some finality, “This is the last time you’ll hear from me. Rigan and I are going to get as far away from this as we can. Take care of yourself Mari, for Zeke’s sake.”
The screen cut to black, and Mari realized that the last ties with her past and the people who had been her family for nearly twenty years had just been cut. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
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Post by spacedaisy on Oct 1, 2018 17:22:09 GMT
Stardate 11809.24
Mari stood, arms crossed, fingers of her right hand tapping nervously on her left arm as she waited for the lift to stop. She was still feeling slightly anxious after Lt. Douglas question. He had accepted her answer at face value and not pressed for more, she was grateful for that. Still, each time it was asked she felt reminded of the fact she would never really belong here.
The doors of the turbolift opened at Deck 11 and she headed off down the corridor. She enjoyed this deck, it was mostly science types here, it reminded her of working with her colleagues at the Research Facility back home. It was a fairly relaxed atmosphere down here. Of course, during their last mission it had been different. There was a lot of excitement over the anomaly down here.
She gave a stiff nod and a forced smile to another scientist leaving the Geology lab. She couldn’t remember his name now, but he was Haliian and seemed quite kind. Most of the science personnel were easy people to get along with, though there were certainly some notable exceptions. It was impossible to find a group of scientists without at least a couple arrogant personalities. Then there was the Vulcan that had transferred down to the labs before Mari had arrived. Vulcans were difficult for her to understand, perhaps because the Lo’Ami were themselves an emotional race. Denying emotions seemed shortsighted to Mari.
She slipped into Multipurpose Lab 4 and thankfully found it empty at the moment. Technically she was off duty now, but the anomaly had been on her mind and she couldn’t focus on other things so instead she found herself here in the labs. Settling down on a seat she pulled up all the scans they had taken during the mission and started going over it all again. There was nothing new, she knew there would be nothing more for her to find, but still she was compelled to look. Temporal mechanics was still her first love, but her history made her anxious whenever dealing with temporal anomalies now. It was a strange dance, a love hate relationship. She tried to focus on other studies since she came here, but the draw was strong. Perhaps she never really shook loose the idea that she could still one day help N’Cara. Perhaps she was afraid she would find herself displaced again. Which drive motivated her more, she was unsure. Even as she studied the same data for what must be the thousandth time, it was difficult to keep her mind from wandering back to other times.
“Oronitlar chi!”
The familiar face of N’Cara peeked in her open door, “Burn yourself again?”
Mari held a finger up woefully. Her friend covered her mouth as she snickered and Mari gave her an irritated glance, “You can laugh because you don’t have a need to build any circuits for your project.”
“It’s not my fault you studied temporal mechanics instead of researching alternative power sources.”
“I’m not even studying power sources, how is it that I am the one burning myself building power circuits?!” Mari bemoaned her luck.
N’Cara gave a shrug and held out a tube of burn medication to Mari. “I develop the power source, someone else gets to decide how to integrate and disperse it.”
Mari took the medicine with a sigh and applied it to her burnt finger. It was the third time this week that she had managed to burn herself. She was beginning to think N’Cara had made the better choice in research focus.
“Dr. Moshal, there’s someone here to see you,” the secretary had come up on them quietly and both women looked down the hall to where a man stood waiting to be allowed into the restricted area.
“Why is he here?” Judging by the look on her face, N’Cara clearly wasn’t expecting anyone.
“He said he’s a journalist, writing for the World Science Journal.”
Mari studied the man and he flashed the two women an easy smile. He was certainly attractive. She asked the secretary, “Did he give a name?”
“Jaren Chiraiz.”
Mari couldn’t have known that this moment would lead eventually to Jaren lying dead and N’cara becoming a fugitive. She gave a sigh and pushed the thoughts aside to try once again to focus on the data on her console.
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Post by aoibheni on Oct 1, 2018 18:43:12 GMT
Oooooooooooooh. Also, I love that you just wandered down to the Science Labs.
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Post by Einar on Oct 2, 2018 9:08:45 GMT
very good log! I love learning more
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Post by spacedaisy on Oct 2, 2018 13:23:59 GMT
Almost Five Years Ago
“You can’t do this!”
Mari stuffed a handful of of clothes into her duffel without looking up at Tessa. She didn’t need to look at her, she could feel her disapproval from across the room. Disapproval might not even be a strong enough word, no she was angry.
“I can Tessa, I need to do this.”
She crossed to the drawers and took out the remainder of her clothes, then she paused as she stared down into the drawer. She set the clothes back down and reached out to pick up the object previously hidden under her clothes. She turned it over in her hand, her fingertips running over its surface. She closed her fingers around the rough, oblong object and picked up her clothes again. As she turned to carry them back to the duffel her eyes met Tessa’s.
“Mari, we’re safer if we stick together.”
“You call what happened to Zeke being safe?”
Tessa dropped her head, the words hurt. Her dark hair covered her face for a moment, but Mari could hear hear her shallow breaths as she cried. The two women were silent for a long moment, Tessa trying to hide her vulnerability and Mari unsure what to say. Finally wiping her eyes angrily and lifting her head to look back at Mari, “We need you here.”
Mari tossed the clothes onto the bed and crossed the room quickly, wrapping the other woman in a firm embrace. She could feel Tessa’s muscles relax as she gave up trying to be stoic. Her tears fell on Mari’s neck as she whispered, “I can’t do this alone. I need you here.”
She could feel the doctor’s racing heartbeat and and she squeezed tightly for a second before she replied, “You don’t need me Tessa. You’re strong, you can do this.” Releasing her hold, she leaned back and brushed a long strand of hair from her friend’s face with a reassuring smile.
With a deep, shaky breath Tessa steadied herself again, “Why do you have to do this?”
Mari bit her lip nervously, remembering Zeke’s last moments. “It’s the only way I can continue what he was doing, helping my people and others like us who can’t help themselves.” She went back to packing her bag.
“Why can’t you keep working with us? Stay here…”
“Zeke was outed, the Romulans won't let this ship anywhere near Shephelah. The Orion Syndicate won’t deal with you either and you can bet any of their contacts know about Zeke’s connection to SFI,” she looked up at Tessa, “And I’m Lo’Ami. The game’s changed and you know it. I can’t do any good from here.”
She zipped her duffel and slung it over her shoulder. Mari patted Tessa’s shoulder as she went out the door of the quarters where she had stayed for the majority of her time with them. Tessa followed her out but stood just outside in the corridor, watching as Mari left. Rigan and Vik stood at the far end of the corridor, near the airlock anxiously looking on as Mari approached.
Vik shuffled from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable. She grinned, “Take care old man.”
She could see his eyes well up and he cleared his throat gruffly before he pulled her into his arms. Her small frame disappeared, enveloped by his arms as he kissed the top of her head affectionately, “Stay in touch kiddo.”
Mari chuckled as she disentangled herself from his bear hug and gave him a punch on his shoulder, “Keep this old girl flying Vik, for Zeke.” He swallowed hard at the mention of their former captain and simply nodded a response.
Turning finally to Rigan, she studied the mechanic as he stood there looking back at her. He held a spanner, twirling it easily as though he was about to fix a sonic shower rather than saying goodbye to an old friend.
“When you get to Starfleet maybe send me some information on the newest engineering tools”
“I’ll do my best Rigan, but you know engineering isn’t my strong suit.”
He shrugged, “Just give it your best shot. Maybe find someone who can keep you in the loop.”
Mari smiled gently, “I’ll try, but I need you to do me a favor too.” She glanced over her shoulder at Tessa standing down the corridor, “Take care of her. I used to think you needed her, but I can see now that she needs you.”
Rigan lifted an eyebrow curiously at this request and replied, “We all take care of each other Mari. You don’t have to go.” He wasn’t saying it out of a desire to see her stay, it was more a statement of fact.
She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek before answering a little sadly, “Yes I do.”
Before she could change her mind, Mari strode resolutely out of the airlock and onto the station docks. She turned back once more to look fondly on the Calamity Jane, before she looked down at the large, pit-like seed she had taken from the drawer that she still clutched in her hand. Then turning, she disappeared into the crowd, off to find her transport to Earth.
Stardate 11810.01
While people hurried around the various labs, still trying to prep their projects on the off chance they might have to present them, Mari slipped a hand in her pocket, her fingers finding the comforting shape of the seed. For a moment she focused her mental energy on it, and then she stood abruptly. No one paid her any mind when she left he multipurpose lab. They didn’t really blink an eye when she entered hydroponics either. She made her way over to get herself a pot and some soil. She could feel it was time to put down new roots. And the Zorya was where she wanted to do it.
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Post by spacedaisy on Dec 3, 2018 19:41:13 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Dec 7, 2018 11:05:16 GMT
Stardate 11812.03
Mari shifted her weight from foot to foot as she watched Stark yell and pound on the door furiously trying to get someone to let him out. She became more aware of the quickly developing fuzz on her skin as she anxiously wrung her hands. This goo was changing them. At first it was like superimposing one photo on top of another. She felt the primal drive of something other than herself. The connection to it; the pain when the engineering team burned it out of the science lab. Now it was something more. She felt like bits of her were being lost. Overwhelmed by those deep rooted drives instilled in her by the goo.
Stark’s shouting was starting to grate on her. It left her feeling even more anxious, all that noise in this tiny room. Such a tiny room. No windows. Doors sealed shut. Her throat felt like it was closing again. Her breath coming in short shallow gasps. "Easy Mari, you’re hyperventilating," she thought to herself as her rational non-goo brain surfaced to assert itself for a moment. She sat on the bed and desperately tried to calm down. Deep breath in, slowly exhale, repeat.
After a few minutes she found she could breathe normally again. Still the feeling of losing herself remained. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus. To hold onto who she was. She grasped at her memories. Searching for the things that mattered to her, for Zeke. Why were they so hard to call up? She felt a deep sense of relief as his image finally formed in her mind. She could see his unshaven face. That crooked smile as if he was planning some grand practical joke. The fine little laugh lines in the corners of his dark brown eyes, with their perpetual mischievous twinkle. She could see him standing in the door of the mess, the day she came back. The look of surprise when he saw her walking down the corridor toward him. She closed her eyes and could almost hear his voice as she remembered their conversation that day.
“You came back.”
Mari nodded silently.
“Why did you come back, weren’t you supposed to be your people’s saving grace or something?”
She winced at the bitter sarcasm dripping from this statement, but drew a deep breath and replied, “I don’t belong there.”
“Oh yeah?” He crossed his arms and studied her, waiting to see what she’d say next.
“Yeah.”
They stood silently for a few seconds, regarding each other. Finally he seemed to accept that answer and simply jerked his chin in the direction of her previous quarters, “You know where your room is.” His gaze lingered on her for a brief moment before he retreated back into the mess.
As she turned to walk away she heard him say, "It's good to have you back."
With a smile at him over her shoulder, she nodded again and headed off to her room.
Stark banging on the door brought her back to the quarantine room and she clenched her jaw as her anxiety levels almost instantly shot up again, all thought of her previous life gone. It wasn't safe here. She didn't belong here. She needed to get out of here, and soon.
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Post by aoibheni on Dec 7, 2018 15:01:28 GMT
Annie, wow. I loved every word of this log. We got insight, we got tension, we got a little foreshadowing... Nicely done.
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Post by Einar on Dec 7, 2018 15:09:27 GMT
agreed, and now I am VERY curious what is going on.
Can we also kill this contaminant with fire?
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Post by Nola on Dec 7, 2018 19:29:47 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Dec 7, 2018 20:30:33 GMT
agreed, and now I am VERY curious what is going on. Can we also kill this contaminant with fire? Please don’t...
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Post by spacedaisy on Dec 7, 2018 20:31:59 GMT
I think this is my favorite feedback I’ve ever received.
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Post by aoibheni on Dec 7, 2018 20:35:12 GMT
agreed, and now I am VERY curious what is going on. Can we also kill this contaminant with fire? Please don’t... What a great idea!
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