Gnai: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 06:15, 19 November 2024

“All you ever were was a little bit of the universe, thinking to itself. Very specific; this bit, here, right now.”

Iain M. Banks

Lieutenant JG Gnai (/ɡnaɪː/) is a Galadoran currently serving as a Science Officer aboard the USS Artemis-A.

Appearance

Height (outside of suit): Indeterminate blob
Height (inside suit): 5'0" / 153 cm
Hair: None
Eyes: None
Build: Stocky mechanical suit
Voice (suit): Mechanical and monotonous, from speakers
Voice (projected): Quiet and soft

Suit Specs

Designers: Gnai, and its mentor, Gnai ^[1]
Arm Weight Limit: 558 lbs / 253 kg ^[2]
Power Unit: Galadoran light-cell technology ^[1]

Early Life

Gnai budded off of another Gnaijan Galadoran, like every one of its identical peers, in the clonal domed city of Anan on the northern continent of Galador 2. As a young Galadoran, it had spent time floating about with peers, fascinated by everything that it came upon. It sought out a mentorship with an older Galadoran, an engineer by trade and amateur scientist, and focused its energy more into understanding the universe around it. This Galadoran, who had also gone by the name Gnai when outside the hive city and amongst humanoids, had told it stories of the wider universe, flashing wonder and excitement that Gnai mirrored in its own tendrils.

Pushed on to apply to Starfleet Academy by its mentor, Gnai soon found itself in need of a travel device - a containment suit to propel it outside of the water and interact with the world. It worked under the guidance of its mentor, creating a suit of their joint design.

At the Academy, Gnai studied primarily in the sciences, specializing in astronomy, what had fascinated it initially as a youth. It also obtained a secondary major, specializing in nanotechnology, after its mentor. Sure, it had the same dreams as a lot of Galadorans had, of ever more efficient sources of energy, but it was also practical. Having a better understanding of engineering would mean that it could update and upkeep its suit far better.

After its graduation, it was gifted an African violet from Cmdr. Alora DeVeau upon successful completion of its final exam at the Academy.

Service

			Alternate History ⮟

Further information on the mission can be found on the Artemis' mission page.

Fresh out of the Academy, the newly minted Ensign Gnai was assigned to the USS Artemis-A... but instead of ending up on the ship, it soon found itself trapped on Romulus with the rest of the main Science staff of the ship (Commander Genkos Adea, Lieutenant Jovenan, and Lieutenant JG. Gila Sadar), abandoned there by the ever-chaotic CloQ ^[3]. One final wrench in its plans of a normal first assignment - they were trapped on Romulus in 2374. Unbeknownst to them, Captain Benjamin Sisko and Garak's plot for dragging the Romulan Star Empire into the Dominion War had somehow failed to go off. All that they knew was that Senator Vreenak was still unassassinated, and headed back to the Hall of State, the building that housed the Romulan Senate. For the Romulans to join the Dominion War, the team assumed that he would have to die ^[4].

One of the first steps that the team took, after Gnai joined it, was to determine how to properly disguise themselves. A Betazoid, an Edo, a Mizarian, and a Galadoran would raise eyebrows - and likely alarms - if spotted milling about the capital city of Ki Baratan. As soon as it had proposed disguising itself as some sort of robot, the group was interrupted by a Romulan civilian, who promptly fled as soon as he had laid eyes upon the gathered officers ^[3]. The team gave chase, and Lt. JG. Sadar managed to block the Romulan's escape long enough for Cmdr. Adea to knock him out with his cane. Now burdened with an unconscious Romulan, Lt. Jovenan and Gnai hid the body back in a very convenient locker in the room they had first met in. It was during this trip that Gnai learned the reason why they were back in 2374 - the others had just come from an alternate timeline in which Betazed had remained occupied by the Dominion far longer than it should have ^[5]. Confused, it continued to try and work at accessing the PADD that the Romulan had dropped, before asking what their mission was exactly - a tall order, given that it was unable to read the Romulan language that the PADD was written in ^[6].

The next bombshell dropped when Gnai was informed of the true mission - the assassination of Senator Vreenak. It had missed the discussion before, in which the team had decided upon that course of action, and it was only during that brief moment of calm that it thought to ask why they were really there in the first place. Stunned into silence, Gnai pondered the mission, clearly as apprehensive about the whole thing as the rest of the team. It was a lot to ask of an officer fresh out of the Academy. Soon enough, the team of blueshirts found themselves sneaking after a disguised Jovenan - the unconscious Romulan civilian had turned out to be quite a blessing in disguise - as they made their way through the administrative building towards a workshop that Lt. JG. Sadar had found through the PADD. When there, Gnai offered up a suggestion: perhaps they could use some of the tools stored away in this workshop as part of the disguise? It reasoned that civilian engineers might be able to get into military installations, such as the defensive turret that Cmdr. Adea had spotted en route ^[7].

As they discussed the strategy for overtaking the turret and using it to shoot down the Senator's shuttle, Gnai focused its efforts on its own disguise. With the help of the replicators in the lab, Gnai created rolls of mirrored foil and paint ^[8]. Best not to leave any part of it showing. The science blue of its chassis was painted over with a drab Romulan grey by Lt. Jovenan, as it affixed the foil to the tank, turning it into a one-way mirrored surface. To finish off the robotic façade, Gnai attached a few scrounged up metal plates from the lab to the frame holding its tank.

Now fully disguised as two Romulan engineers, followed by a Mizarian and her robot companion, they made their way to the turret. At the entrance to the base of the artillery, a group of Romulan soldiers acted as security, and stopped the officers, demanding to know why they were here and why they had brought an alien to such a sensitive location. Gnai remained silent, trying to emulate some ideal of a robot that it had in its head ^[9]. Thankfully, some quick thinking from the others rescued this attempt, and they found themselves in the base of a large Romulan turret. Cmdr. Adea ordered Gnai and Lt. JG. Sadar to work on framing the Dominion for this attack - discarding various replicated ketracel white tubes and a strange prosthetic face mask of the Commander himself - as he and Lt. Jovenan worked on the firing controls. Frazzled, they tried their best ^[10].

Soon after they had finished their haphazard frame job, the Senator's shuttle entered targeting range. With seconds to go, Gnai expressed its regrets about the mission to Lt. JG. Sadar, who echoed them. The shuttle was hit, and it careened into the turret, crumpling the building into a mess of metal and fire, killing the team instantly ^[11]. Unbeknownst to the team, this had been all a massive mistake - by trying to recreate Sisko's plans, they had inadvertently started a war with the Romulans, forcing the Federation to fight on two fronts during one of its most dire moments. And like dominoes, one act lead to another, eventually ending with a Betazoid coup and the subjugation of the Federation under the heel of Empress Tevet Elain. CloQ rewound time just a fraction of a second before they all perished, and dropped Gnai into yet another stressful circumstance - the courtyard of a Betazoid prison colony ^[12].

In a flash of white light, Gnai found itself unadorned with mirrors and staring up at the snow falling from an open sky onto the austere grey walls of some sort of prison complex. Much to its delight, Captain Addison MacKenzie of the USS Artemis-A was nearby - it had recognized her from the PADD that had displayed its deployment orders as it left the Academy - as well as the two Vulcans: Ensign Savel and Lieutenant Commander Salkath. Trying to get ahead of any future questions, it announced itself to the captain, and rattled off the details of the mission that it had just abruptly departed. This was met with the first of what would likely be many eyebrow-raises from Ens. Savel ^[13]. Introductions were short, if they happened at all, and the group of Starfleet officers shortly found out that they were in fact personae non gratae at the complex. A Betazoid woman reacted negatively to any attempts at contact, and soon they found themselves staring down a brutish jailer and his four guards. Gnai was absolutely terrified, and found itself clamming up once again ^[14].

The guards restrained the officers, dragging them away for an unclear 'further processing', into the drab and monotonous interior of the prison. When they finally stopped, the jailer informed them that they were being charged with "High Crimes against the Dominion" - terrorism and conspiracy - which would be punished with hard labor. Gnai was worried, immensely so, that it was being charged for its connection to the assassination of the Romulan Senator in 2374... somehow ^[15]. After further inquiry - followed then by a sharp blow to Ens. Savel's gut - the jailer revealed to the team that their crime was attempting a coup d'état on a Dominion-controlled colony. And that Starfleet and the Federation had declared such an act to be unsanctioned. Gnai instantly began to worry for real now about the assassination and the consequences that it might face for such an act, pontificating on it while they were escorted from the processing to their cells. Locked away next to Lt. Cmdr. Salkath and across from Cpt. MacKenzie and Ens. Savel, Gnai's worries only grew as it realized the magnitude of what they had all done prior to arriving at the prison. It didn't help that the other prisoners of the cell block they were in were vocally displeased about their chatter ^[16]. The team planned for the following day: splitting up to talk with the others and hoping that this would prove less adverse reactions from the general populace. While stuck in their cells overnight, Gnai and Lt. Cmdr. Salkath chatted briefly, with the Lt. Cmdr. offering to inspect Gnai's containment suit for damage the following day, which it appreciated. Gnai also suspected that the walls were made of a composite of duranium after closer inspection, passing this along to Lt. Cmdr. Salkath ^[17].

The next morning, after brief conversation with Lt. Cmdr. Salkath and the other officers, Overseer Drox woke the rest of the cell block up and announced that they were all behind schedule. Somehow, she was worse than the previous jailer (as promised). After informing the other prisoners that their mealtime was being cancelled due to the presence of the Starfleet officers - a clear attempt to foster division between the prisoners - they were marched outside to begin the work for the day. The officers were tasked, alongside a few of the other prisoners, with extraction and sent down deep into a cave nearby to the prison, watched from above by guards and the sadistic overseer ^[18]. Deep inside the cave, the officers were confronted with the harsh reality of the prison's labor force, watching as another group of exhausted and grimy prisoners made their way back up the same tunnel they were descending, after having worked through the night. As they reached where they would be working, the other prisoners started immediately, giving the occasional glare back to the Starfleet officers who were decidedly not. Gnai wanted to push ahead on the plans to interact with the others, offering to go as a representative of a non-Federation species, but this was quickly overshadowed by Ens. Savel's plan to start a fight and get sent to the Overseer. This sounded like a horrible plan to Gnai, the proud coward that it was, and instead Gnai looked to the captain for some semblance of reason ^[19]. As soon as it set off to meet with the Caitian that the captain pointed out for it to make contact with, everything vanished again. Much to Gnai's delight though, the crew was back on the ship, and set to dock at Deep Space 9 for shore leave, with CloQ vanishing into thin air before their very eyes. Everyone was back in one piece and it could finally get started with its time on the USS Artemis-A ^[20].

			Shore Leave: DS9 ⮟

Further information on the shore leave can be found on the Artemis' shore leave page.

			A Trip To Sickbay ⮟

Finally, the stress of the mission was over, and the Artemis was on shore leave. Gnai's first point of order, however, was to check in with the CMO in sickbay. Starfleet wanted new officers to get a check up on their first assignment, it seemed, and Gnai could not find a way to get out of it, no matter how much it tried. It wasn't scared of going to the doctor, no, it just found having to explain what it knew of its anatomy got tedious after the first few times, and it expected to have to do the same. Again. Ugh ^[21].

It ran into Crewman Kafkazet while trying to find Cmdr. Adea in the sickbay, who helpfully directed it to the CMO office. The commander commanded more than just a modicum of fear within Gnai, as it had seen his acting ^[10] (and his cane-whacking ^[22]) in full force on Romulus, and it had no desire to be on the receiving end of any of that ^[21].

Surprisingly to Gnai, Cmdr. Adea was exceptionally warm to the young Galadoran. He began by offering to get Gnai something from his replicator (presumably another beverage as he had made tea, but Galadorans don't drink), which Gnai used to ask for roe. It had found the human delicacy to be quite analagous to some of the foods it ate back on Galador II, and it was a good snack for such a tense meeting ^[23].

It wasn't surprising that Cmdr. Adea wasn't going to let Gnai get out of this check-up easily, but what did surprise Gnai was that he had already studied up on Galadoran physiology. This was of great relief to Gnai, as was the suggestion that it reach out to someone to act as a "medical" engineer for its suit, as Cmdr. Adea wasn't confident in his own abilities. Gnai knew that Salkath had volunteered before to check out the suit, but hadn't had the chance to follow up. Perhaps now would be the perfect time ^[24].

Ever conscious of the needs of his patients, Cmdr. Adea suggested that the rest of the meeting be conducted telepathically, as both could project their thoughts into the other's mind. Gnai appreciated the gesture, as it allowed it to better express itself outside of the limitations of its suit's speakers. Proceeding with the check in, Gnai reassured Cmdr. Adea that the only repercussions that it had suffered during the mission were just stress-related, nothing harmful had happened on Romulus or in prison. Sure, sleeping in its tank was uncomfortable, but the quarters on the ship were exceeding its expectations ^[24].

Cmdr. Adea then proceeded to scan Gnai with a tricorder. It continued to reiterate that it felt fine ^[25], even with his prescription of "rest and relaxation" ^[26]. It was an order, then. Gnai was to do something that relaxed it - the next question was what that might entail. It liked to wander, to see new things (and "seeing" music)... which is why it was pleased to hear the commander's suggestion of the station ^[27].

A plan was made to meet at the Arboretum the very next day, at Cmdr. Adea's suggestion. Gnai had been to the botanical gardens at the Academy, and was delighted by the idea of seeing another similar place. There was a twist, though. Cmdr. Adea was going to bring his dog, Toto. Gnai knew of pets, but it really never understood the desire to keep them. With that all settled, Gnai excused itself from sickbay, pleasantly surprised with how the check in had gone ^[28].

			Relaxation: Doctor's Orders ⮟

The following day, Gnai found its way to the Arboretum on DS9 at the behest of Cmdr. Adea. It wasn't certain that this would be the cure to its stress, as he had proposed it might be, but it was willing to make an effort to get to know one of the senior officers on the ship better. Plus, the mission had been a rollercoaster of emotions and action, a quiet stroll through some trees would be a lovely change of pace ^[29]. As much as Gnai had been worried about Toto (though, it seemed that Cmdr. Adea still had all his fingers, so that was a point in the "doesn't bite" column), almost as soon as they arrived, Cmdr. Adea sent Toto off to roam amongst the trees. Gnai continued to press though, curious about where Cmdr. Adea had acquired Toto, as clearly he was an Earth dog ^[30].

It turned out that Cmdr. Adea had found Toto while serving on the USS Gorkon, trapped in a science lab ^[31]^[32]. Gnai was curious about the strange nebula that apparently had reversed gravity, but it seemed more polite to continue to ask about the dog. The grim realization of the veritable torture that Toto had been through on the other ship caused a brief silence as the two walked uneasily through the trees - broken only by Gnai inquiring further about all the ships that Cmdr. Adea had served upon and the other stories he could tell. Gnai was a bit surprised by the number of ships that he had served upon ^[33]. Some of the stories he had boggled Gnai's mind - time travel many times over (once was just enough for it) and body-swapping in particular. What would it be like to be a humanoid, rather than a Galadoran? Those questions went unasked ^[34].

Instead, Cmdr. Adea turned the topic to Gnai's future and its ambitions. Not that Gnai had many, certainly it had no desire to climb the rungs of command. Being an ensign was nice for the time being - no need to get bogged down in administration, it could focus on science like it had always dreamed of doing ^[34]. What surpised Gnai was that Cmdr. Adea - no, Genkos - insisted that Gnai refer to him by his first name ^[35].

It was hard not to think of him just as 'Adea', but Gnai tried its best. Continuing on, it poked at Genkos' complaint about not getting to "doctor" as much as he wanted - Galadorans didn't really have doctors on Galador II, so it knew only a bit about what that job entailed. There wasn't any sort of predatory threat (and most sources of danger in general had been removed or reduced) to their species on the planet, nor was there any sort of genetic disease; Galadorans were all for the most part genetically identical. It knew that this was an oddity, and it hoped that Genkos would understand ^[36].

As expected, Genkos was confused and pressed on with a few questions. Injury was rare and deaths from old age were necessary for new Galadorans to come into being. Gnai would die when its time came, back on Galador II. If it was lucky, that was. And no, it really didn't like to study 'any' biology, even the relevant Galadoran facts. But that didn't mean they didn't exist back on Galador II. Gnai preferred to be able to explore, not just be stuck in a lab, laboring away over a bench. Still, it recognized the uniqueness of this position ^[37]. Somewhat awkwardly, Gnai tried to turn the conversation back to Betazed - Genkos had been curious about its home, so it thought it only fair to turn the question back on him. The concept of a matriarchy was weird to it - granted, so was a patriarchy, or any other gendered system of governance. Gender was weird. Gnai much preferred to leave that to the realm of the humanoids ^[38].

That was when Toto chose to appear again, covered in some sort of sticky substance. The mystery was short-lived, as he was followed up by a remarkably ornery Vedek. Apparently, while Toto was frolicking around the arboretum, he had happened upon the man painting and decided to take a bit of artistic liberty. Artistic liberty that was very much not appreciated. With a shake of his ruined painting, the Vedek threatened to call the constables on them if they didn't leave immediately ^[38]. Gnai, Genkos, and Toto made their escape, hustling away from the Vedek but still in reasonably good spirits. This had been a success. Before they parted ways, Gnai proposed that they have another sort of wander together the next shore leave, which Genkos agreed to ^[39] ^[40].

			Interrogation ⮟

Captain MacKenzie invites Gnai into her ready room to invite it to the ship - and grill it a little on why it's here.

			Setting A Baseline ⮟

Gnai meets up with Lt. Cmdr. Salkath to establish a baseline for its suit.

			It's Just Tricorder Training, What Could Go Wrong? ⮟

Lt. Jovenan had offered up a tricorder training-and-refresher course to the lower deckers, and Gnai had leapt at the chance to get its hands on the newer tricorder models that the starships had. Back at the Academy, it only really got to mess around with the older TR-590s, not the newer TR-600s that the fleet had given to the ships. Gnai was excited for something decidedly normal as well, no Romulan assassinations here, just clean and simple tricorder training. They were set to take the Kerynitis down to Rakantha Province, piloted by Ens. Savel ^[41].

Once aboard the shuttle, Gnai found the perfect seat to watch as they entered the atmosphere - something it found thrilling to watch. Next to it sat Ens. Chevalier, who Gnai shared introductions with. It hadn't had the chance to meet the other ensign it was sharing a berth with until now, what with the chaos of joining a new ship ^[41]. But here he was, claiming that he even had a welcoming gift for Gnai. Curious, to consider what a humanoid might give to a Galadoran ^[42].

The exercise was simple, as Lt. Jovenan explained. The Cardassians had poisoned the ground of Rakantha Province during the Occupation of Bajor. They were going to assist in detoxification, by analyzing the soil and water around where they landed ^[43]. During the briefing, Gnai was introduced to the last of their tricorder training party - a certain Crewman Renirs. She immediately managed to paint herself as someone strikingly odd, suggesting that they eat the dirt that they were going to be scanning. Much to its chagrin, Lt. Jovenan paired it up with Renirs, working to investigate the water quality of the river. At least it seemed more interesting than the task given to Ens. Chevalier and Ens. Savel ^[42].

On Bajor, Renirs tried to make light conversation with Gnai, asking it a question it had never been posed before - if its suit had guns. It was much more interested in the task at hand than thinking about arming itself (unlike Cmdr. Adea, apparently ^[44]), and it tried to steer her towards the river ^[42]. Renirs' general demeanor, as well as her stories about beating up the Security Chief ^[45] worried Gnai. But it tried its best to offer a metaphorical olive branch, and helped her recalibrate the tricorder, fending off more questions about why it got stuck with her for this training ^[46].

Having ticked off Renirs, Gnai watched as she waved her tricorder around aimlessly, with little regard for how much noise she was adding to the data. It tried to keep working, but her erratic movements turned out to reveal a hidden cave nearby to the river. That piqued Gnai's curiosity, and it scrambled to come up with a reasonable excuse to go investigate - going off on a tangent during a training session might be frowned upon, but following up a potential lead on the toxins... that could be something. Gnai called Lt. Jovenan, reporting that they were going to explore a cave and not to worry if they disappeared ^[47].

The cave was dark and naturally formed, but with evidence of potential humanoid (or non-humanoid, but given the planet, Gnai assumed it was likely the former) tampering with the stalagmites. But nearly as soon as they had started to explore the cave, Renirs stepped on something that went click, and an explosion illuminated the extent of tampering. Gnai quickly rushed over, trying to stay upright and avoid whatever had caused the flash ^[48]. She swore a blue streak, being thrown by the mine onto her back, unable to move much of her lower body without pain ^[49]. Lt. Jovenan decided to maker her appearance now, much to Gnai's relief - any curiosity over the cave was put aside to deal with the fact that Renirs was injured and none of them knew how many more explosives were in the cave ^[48].

Gnai offered the hand of its suit to Renirs, and she accepted it, pulling herself up and leaning on its tank. It tried to be careful, standing up slowly so that neither of them were knocked off balance. There was no chance it could carry her out safely, not without potentially running afoul of some unseen mine. Lt. Jovenan called the other two ensigns to the cave, and they collectively tried to reason out a way to save them. The prevailing idea seemed to be transporting them to the shuttle, using pattern enhancers to boost their signal ^[50].

Unfortunately, and in keeping with the horrible luck Gnai was starting to suspect was a result of assassinating the Romulan Senator in the previous mission, Ens. Chevalier managed to step on a mine while bringing in the enhancers. This sent Gnai into further worry, as that meant another potential injury on what was supposed to be a routine and simple training mission. And all because it had decided to give the command to Crewman Renirs to check out the cave, just for curiosity's sake! Stuck in the cave, standing motionless while supporting Renirs' weight, Gnai could do little but try and scan the floor nearby to it, sending the data to Lt. Jovenan in the hopes that she could find a way to utilize it in their rescue ^[50].

Lt. Jovenan confirmed that it was being useful, pointing Ens. Savel more clearly towards them so that he could avoid the mines. As soon as he arrived and set the enhancers into place, Lt. Jovenan transported Gnai, Ens. Savel, and Crewman Renirs back to the Kerynitis. Once there, the extent of Renirs' injuries were far more apparent, her legs burned and torn up by shrapnel. As the only blueshirt on the shuttle, medical duties rested upon Gnai's mechanical shoulders, and it was forced to roll up its metaphorical sleeves (it couldn't wear a uniform, so it was more of a "bluechassis", if one wanted to be silly) and tend to her wounds. Ens. Savel left the two of them to contact the Bajoran authorities, and Gnai started to work on diagnosis. It thanked whatever geniuses at Starfleet R&D had given it medical tricorder functionality, and had seemingly idiot-proofed it for those unaccustomed to triage. Even with its minimal medical knowledge, it soon gathered that the cuts and burns (second-degree) needed to be treated to prevent infection, and that she shouldn't be allowed to fall asleep, as she likely had developed a concussion. With that in mind, Gnai tried to keep her talking, so that she would focus on that and not slip into unconsciousness ^[51].

Just as Ens. Savel came back to check on them, the transporter in the shuttle activated and Gnai, being a sensible science officer and certainly not a coward, sent the resident security officer to go investigate. As Renirs continued to fade, Lt. Jovenan called in over combadge, requesting to be transported aboard. That panicked Gnai, who had assumed that the transporter had been them. It left Renirs, with its tricorder set to wake her if she fell asleep, and rushed to see who had transported aboard. Beside Ens. Savel stood two officers from the Bajoran Milita, ready to assist. And their help was sorely needed, as Lt. Jovenan and Ens. Chevalier beamed aboard the ship. They appeared, covered in blood, and with the ensign's severed leg carried upon his lap. With the Militia's help, they stabilized the now three casualties, and flew to a nearby hospital ^[52].

A short while later, Gnai found itself in the recovery ward of Rakantha Central Hospital, unwilling to leave the others until it was certain that they had survived. It felt guilty, being uninjured, especially since it had been the one to officially suggest investigating the cave to Lt. Jovenan. Its first taste of command, and it was already a failure. It soon spotted Lt. Jovenan, recovered, and followed her to check on Ens. Chevalier - after confirming with her that Renirs was going to make it ^[52].

Captain MacKenzie, with little fanfare except the stomping of her boots, arrived at the hospital, and berated them all for the debacle. It tried not to be noticed, instead focusing on Ens. Chevalier as he rested in bed, mostly unconscious ^[53]. After the captain left, Gnai felt the tension still in the air, and decided to leave Lt. Jovenan and Ens. Chevalier to have a moment to themselves. This had been a rough first shore leave ^[54].

			A Brief Respite on DS9 ⮟

Gnai struggles with what happened on Bajor.

			Pirates of the Gamma Quadrant ⮟

Lt. Cmdr. Dakora invites Gnai, Ens. Savel, and Lt. JG. Sadar on a tour to the Gamma Quadrant.

			Home (JP) ⮟

Gnai finally meets its roommate, Ens. Chevalier and his partner, Damien Black.

			A Moment of Recognition (Awards) ⮟

Gnai experiences its first awards ceremony - and picks up a few ribbons for its collection.

			Frontier Day ⮟

Further information on the mission can be found on Artemis' mission page for Phase 1 and on Amity Outpost's mission page for Phase 2.

			Phase 1 ⮟

Gnai wakes up early, learns about the Borg, and fights off a changeling trying to space it.

			Phase 2 ⮟

Gnai is temporarily posted to the USS Kitty Hawk with Lt. JG. Sadar, and ends up trapped in its own suit, as the Borg assimilate the fleet.

			Shore Leave: Earth ⮟

Further information on the shore leave can be found on the Artemis' shore leave page.

			We Are On a Shuttle Home, Thank GOD (JP) ⮟

Lt. JG. Sadar and Gnai return home on a shuttle from the damaged USS Kitty Hawk.

			New Suit, Who Dis? ⮟

Gnai meets up with Lt. Cmdr. Salkath to create a new suit from the wreckage of the USS Artemis-A.

			Ex-Borg Check-In ⮟

Gnai visits its Academy friend Niev on Earth, with Lt. JG. Yirah, to talk about their experiences.

			An Unexpected Promotion (Awards) ⮟

To Gnai's surprise, it recieves a few new ribbons for its collection - and a promotion to Lt. JG.

			Interrogation, Round 2? ⮟

The captain has called Gnai back to her ready room - and it expects the worst.

			Wolf in Sheep's Clothing ⮟

Further information on the mission can be found on the Artemis' mission page WIP

Relationships

			On Galador II ⮟

Gnai
Mentor

Back on Galador II, Gnai was apprenticed to another Galadoran, an aging engineer who had once traveled the stars. It was awestruck with the stories that its mentor - named Gnai - told it, and eventually ended up taking on its name when it left Galador II to join Starfleet. The design of Gnai's suit was a joint effort between mentor and apprentice, based on the suit that Gnai had worn when it had traveled the galaxy.

			On the USS Artemis-A ⮟

Jovenan
Department Head

Gnai first met Lt. Jovenan on Romulus in 2374, after being snapped there alone. It took a liking to the Lieutenant, after her cheerful introduction. She seemed to be of a similar demeanor to Gnai, it thought. Hopefully she didn't hold its unquestioning involvement in the assassination plot against it in the future.

Gila Sadar
The Lieutenant (JG)

Gnai also met Lt. JG. Gila Sadar on Romulus. For an extended period of time, it wasn't certain what her name was exactly - names were a foreign concept to Gnai, coming from a species that didn't really have them. So it just kept referring to her as Lieutenant.

During the mission, it ended up paired off with Lt. JG. Sadar, mostly as the two least-disguisable in the team. They both were stationed at the bottom of the Romulan turret as everything went wrong...

Genkos Adea
The Mildly Terrifying Commander

The final individual from the USS Artemis-A that Gnai met on Romulus was Cmdr. Genkos Adea. It doesn't know what to make of him, nor of his strange gestures (winks are not standard practice in species without apparent eyes, or eyelids). Humanoids really are strange, aren't they? Gnai's impression of Cmdr. Adea was that he was decidedly a man of action, cracking skulls with his cane and cussing out Romulan guards.

Cmdr. Adea was quite kind when Gnai went in for a physical, and let the whole thing be conducted telepathically. Gnai appreciated that, as it finds expressing itself somewhat better through telepathy, rather than through its speakers. After the physical, at the Commander's suggestion, Gnai met with him and his dog Toto in the Arboretum on DS9.

Addison MacKenzie
The Captain

Gnai's Captain aboard the USS Artemis-A. Gnai wants to do its very best to stay on her good side, lest it get kicked off of the ship or out of Starfleet and lose access to the various scientific resources that were aboard. Unfortunately, it has already informed her of the failure that was the blueshirts' attempt to bring the Romulans into the war and right history... the exact thing that landed a third of the Artemis's crew in prison.

During shore leave, she welcomed Gnai to the ship formally. What started as a very standard welcome soon turned into a bit of an interrogation, as Gnai was properly introduced to the Captain. It's not certain how to feel about any of this.

Savel
Bad Luck

Gnai first met Ens. Savel at the Betazoid Prison Colony when they were all snapped there by CloQ. Ens. Savel raised his eyebrow at Gnai, which it took note of. It clearly wasn't making a good first impression. This impression was further soured by Ens. Savel's idea to start a fight in the prison. Why??? Gnai thought that was a profoundly stupid idea, and it was just going to get them in trouble and hurt... Thankfully, CloQ pulled them all back to the Artemis before anything bad could happen.

Gnai's luck around Ens. Savel only continued to get worse as they went on shore leave. Not only did it end up trapped on a cruise ship in the Gamma Quadrant with him, trying to outfox pirates who had taken it over, but Ens. Savel was also in attendance at the disastrous tricorder training session on Bajor. Both Gnai and Ens. Savel made it out unharmed, but the same could not be said for their crewmates. Gnai hates to be superstitious... but the facts don't lie. Whenever it's on a team with Ens. Savel, someone is getting hurt. Or captured. Or both.

It's a shame, because Gnai has found him to be very pleasant to be around. If it ignores all the chaos, that is.

Salkath
The Mechanical Counselor

Much like Ens. Savel, Gnai met Lt. Cmdr. Salkath in prison. He didn't raise an eyebrow at it. Perhaps Gnai had made a better first impression on him. It hoped that much, at least. Having such a massive moral dilemma as a first mission was bound to lead to some strange impressions. When imprisoned in adjoining cells, he offered to inspect Gnai's containment suit for damages. Gnai was very appreciative of this offer, as while it had a modicum of engineering experience, having an actual engineer to help would be far better.

When the mission was over, and the crew was set loose on DS9 for their shore leave, Gnai reached out to Lt. Cmdr. Salkath to see if he would make good on his promise to look over Gnai's suit. He was interested, and the two of them got to work. After Gnai had ensured that its suit was in good condition still, it asked him a very personal question - if he could take a baseline, and be what Lt. Cmdr. Salkath later dubbed its "mechanical counselor". The Vulcan agreed, and Gnai considers him a confidante - someone who knows all the details about its suit that it was wary to share widely. And perhaps, someday: a friend.

Jaseb Chevalier
The Roommate

Gnai has now met its roommate/bunkmate. They both partook in Lt. Jovenan's tricorder training session on Bajor, and met on the shuttle over. Ens. Chevalier informed Gnai of some sort of welcoming gift that he had for it, as well as proposing some sort of system as their schedules had not overlapped for a meeting yet.

Then everything went horribly wrong. Gnai was not anticipating seeing its roommate's severed leg across his lap the same day that it met him, but their tricorder training session on Bajor went even worse than it could have imagined. Who expects mines on a training mission?

Jozial Renirs
???????

Gnai first met Crewman Renirs on the tricorder training mission arranged by Lt. Jovenan in Bajor's Rakantha Province. She seemed exceptionally flippant, and like she was trying to be annoying on purpose. It worked at first, but Gnai tried to be patient, and push her towards being a better crewman. It even helped her with her tricorder! But as soon as she mentioned a mysterious cave, Gnai's curiosity overrode any semblance of caution.

That was a mistake, and Gnai feels now like it was the reason why Renirs got so injured when stepping on a mine. It tried its best to act as a medic for her, staying by her side and assisting the tense beam-out process. On the shuttle Kerynitis, it was able to diagnose her with multiple burns and a concussion, so it tried to keep her talking while they made haste to the province's hospital. It still feels horrid for what happened to her, even though she made a full recovery.

Lyara.png.a74aa194814329054780237adc48ffdd.png

Lyara Alroyo
Academy Friend

Gnai and Lyara became friends during their time at the Academy, and much to both of their surprises, they ended up on the same posting!

			Other Starfleet ⮟

Niev Galanis
Academy Friend

Gnai and Niev go back - way back. They were one of the first friends that Gnai made at the Academy, and it was delighted to get to reunite with them aboard the Kitty Hawk for Frontier Day... until it got to watch as they became assimilated by the Borg.

Service History

Starfleet Service Record

Rank	Dates	Posting	Assignment
Cadet	2397 - 2401	Starfleet Academy	Cadet
Ensign	SD 240102.27 - 240107.13	USS Artemis-A	Science Officer
Ensign	SD 240107.13 - 240108.19	USS Kitty Hawk	Temporary Assignment Science Officer
Ensign	SD 240108.19 - 240109.08	USS Artemis-A	Science Officer
Lieutenant JG	SD 240109.08 - Present	USS Artemis-A	Science Officer

Awards and Service Ribbons

For award descriptions, see: Awards and Service Ribbons

Awards and Service Ribbons

Award	Name	Date/Assignment	Citation
	Laudean Commendation	240106.25 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to those who have shown great creativity in many facets of species creation or expansion, including physiological, psychological, cultural, social, and more, and their creativity will inspire their fellow simmers. The Laudean Commendation can cover many aspects of species development, such as expansion of the species on the wiki and documenting their history, but should primarily be based in In Character simming. "When Gnai was first assigned to the Artemis, that was pretty much the only thing I could fixate on. I had limited knowledge of the Galadorans from a canon perspective, and could find very little reason why anyone might one to write for one (or how they might work as a member of Starfleet). And yet, Gnai’s contributions not only in their writing with us, but their development of the species has been absolutely masterful to witness."
	Sarpeidon Award	240107.02 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to a simmer who has made outstanding contributions to the 118Wiki. Sarpeidon was the planet in TOS's "All Our Yesterdays" where the inhabitants built a library collecting their whole world's history. This is essentially what our wiki aspires to be: a repository of our group's history and a simming database. "Ensign Gnai (Lich) has only been a member of the 118 community for a few short months, but their impact, particularly on our wiki, already runs deep. Wiki work, particularly the menial tasks of categorizing pages and images, is often thankless work that few people are eager to dig into. In their short time in our community, Lich has already single-handedly categorized over 3,500 files to assist Wiki Ops in reducing the number of uncategorized images on the wiki, and has made an impression on their colleagues for doing so with positivity and initiative worthy of recognition! Thanks for your work, Ensign!"
Service Ribbon	Name	Date/Assignment	Citation
	Starfleet Academy Graduate Ribbon	2401 Starfleet Academy	Awarded to those who have graduated from Starfleet Academy. "Though you’ve technically already earned this ribbon, as your commanding officer, I get the pleasure of officially presenting you with the Starfleet Academy Graduate Ribbon. Welcome aboard the Artemis!" ^[55]
	Defense of Temporal Flow Ribbon	240105.24 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to an individual who has defended the temporal timeline against incursion and disruption. "For your efforts in combating CloQ and all of [their] temporal misgivings." ^[55]
	Prisoner of War Ribbon	240105.24 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to an individual who has been taken prisoner. "While we weren’t incarcerated long, the experience is one that I hope none of you ever has to experience. Or experience again." ^[55]
	Galactic War with the Borg Service Medal	240109.08 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to an individual who participates in a conflict against the Borg. "For your heroic actions repelling the Borg efforts at assimilating and/or destroying Earth, Starfleet has awarded everyone the Galactic War with the Borg Service Medal." ^[56]
	Frontier Day Ribbon	240109.08 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to an individual who participated in the defense of Earth and the Federation during the Frontier Day crisis of 2401. "::clearing her throat:: …and the Frontier Day ribbon… ::flatly:: for participating in the celebration." ^[56]
	Purple Heart	240109.08 USS Artemis-A	Awarded to an individual who sustains injury in the line of duty. "...because of your assimilation, you and the other surviving and deceased members of the crew will be awarded the Purple Heart." ^[56]
	Medical Science Ribbon	240110.06 USS Kitty Hawk	Awarded to an individual who participates in, and successfully finds a cure to a deadly, infectious disease that threatens to infect an entire planet or crew. This ribbon will serve as recognition for a job well done in saving the lives of others through scientific research, determination, and personal risk. "Next, we saw even during the chaos of that day, the use of science and medical technology to counteract the Borg's assimilation techniques. For their efforts, the following officers are recognized with the Medical Science Ribbon." ^[57]
	UFP Medal of Freedom	240110.06 USS Kitty Hawk	Awarded to an individual who shows conspicuous heroism in the defense of a UFP member world. "Mister Parker, Mister Wong, through your actions and that of your bridge crew, you helped prevent massive death and devastation to Luna. You both along with Gila Sadar, Gnai, and Rebecca Iko are hereby presented with the UFP Medal of Freedom for your defense of a Federation member world." ^[57]
	Captain's Commendation	240110.06 USS Kitty Hawk	Awarded to an individual for exemplary service and/or honorable actions performed in the course of their duties, when that service is deemed worthy of formal recognition by their commanding officer. "The following officers are hereby recognized with the Captain's Commendation for serving temporarily under my command: Alora DeVeau of Denali Station, Gila Sadar and Gnai of USS Artemis, and Indrid Yirah of USS Constitution." ^[57]
	Frontier Day Ribbon	240110.06 USS Kitty Hawk	Awarded to an individual who participated in the defense of Earth and the Federation during the Frontier Day crisis of 2401. "Given your extensive actions, those on the crew of Amity Outpost and Artemis are further recognized with two bronze stars of the Frontier Day Ribbon." ^[57]
	Changeling Campaign Ribbon	240110.06 USS Kitty Hawk	Awarded to any individual who participates in a conflict against Changelings. "TBD" ^[57]