Tristam Core
| The Shoals |
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| Tristam Core |
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Lieutenant Commander Tristam Core (pronounced /traɪstɛm/), a Rodulan of mixed Attraxan and Krzexxi descent, is currently a components expert working for the Starfleet Corps of Engineers on Outpost 3 to strengthen communication within the Shoals.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
As a Rodulan, Tristam is highly telepathic, though others aren't normally capable of reading his thoughts or emotions. On top of this, while he slips and may occasionally catch other thoughts from those around him, he deliberately avoids actively seeking thoughts of another, for fear of causing harm. He despises violence, regularly citing that it gets a situation nowhere, and actively avoids ground combat when possible. Though he has spent over a decade away from the home and safety of Rodul, he still considers those around him as aliens, and often finds himself curious or confused about the confines of their culture or identity.
Tristam enjoys working with technology, and proves to be quite happy to get his hands dirty and fix something, going so far as to call it therapeutic. Often he will use a process of elimination when problem solving, coming up with courses of action or when attempting to explain abnormal things - his head will tilt slightly in a different direction when he considers a different possibility. It has been noted on numerous occasion that Tristam thinks more than he speaks, sometimes to a fault. Important decisions often trip the Rodulan up, though he has proven himself quite capable in emergencies.
He tends to be highly dramatic about the smallest of things, meaning he often has a lengthy list of things he doesn't like. He is mortally afraid of spiders and dislikes having to work on propulsion systems due to prejudices from home - though he does possess the skill and know-how to do this, he may delegate these tasks to others of an Engineering staff.
Appearance
Aside from a slight height difference, Tristam is identical to his brother Taywor. With brown hair and trademark rings of tiredness under his eyes due to not getting enough sleep, the Rodulan often sports a scruffy beard, rarely completely shaved (claiming he'd rather not look like a five year old). His eyes are a typical Rodulan black - which often cause alarm among Terrans whom have never seen a Rodulan before. Because of this, he will use "regular eyes" (contacts) when in large crowds of Terrans on a rare occasion, to avoid causing alarm - these are brown in colour.
Tristam prefers a smart-casual dress sense, often leaning towards a simple pair of pants, shirt and vest. He has a favoured pair of maroon canvas shoes for when he is off duty, wearing them with just about anything (he also claims he only owns three pairs of shoes - the canvas, brown dress shoes and his work boots). His hair is what he likes to call "stylishly messy", both on and off duty (though commanding officers have asked him to 'clean up' on few occasions). On duty, he is always wearing his Engineering cargo pants, for pockets to carry various tools and small pieces of equipment. When working on ship or station repairs, he may often be found without his uniform jacket.
After a severe knee injury, when Tristam stands for long periods of time, he rests most of his weight onto his right leg out of habit. He will also cross his arms when listening to instructions or important information. When his hands and feet are busy, engineering tools may be held between his teeth whilst Tristam works - much to the distaste of engineering tool owners.
- Height: 5'8
- Hair Color: Light brown
- Length of Hair: Short
- Eye Color: Black
- Birthmarks, Scars, Tattoos: None - any previous scars caused by injuries have been removed.
- Build: Lean
- Taste in clothing (Off Duty): Simple shirt and jeans.
- Taste in clothing (On Duty): Starfleet uniform, usually with Engineering cargo pants for extra pockets.
Areas
Quarters
Due to his messy nature, it is rare occurrence that Tristam's quarters be completely clean. Normally, the only real time this occurs is when he moves into new quarters or he plans to have guests (in which case, everything will be temporarily thrown into his bedroom). There is a three dimensional chess board on his coffee table, but is rarely used to due his inability to find someone to play against. Hanging on a wall somewhere in his quarters in a modern yellow frame is his "expert qualification" in components, having been obtained during his time on Deep Space 17.
Tristam's bedroom is normally cluttered with piles of PADDs, and his bed is never usually made. This is the only area of his quarters that actually features images of family and friends - his bedside table features a group photo of Tristam, Taywor and their father Gamighan from 2380 (Gamighan's birthday).
Office
Currently, his office on Outpost 3 is comprised of pieces of wreckage that have yet to be removed or repurposed. At this time, his office remains little more then a storage cupboard as he works to rebuild the small space station.
Family
Father
Gamighan Core, Tristam's father is a retired man residing on Rodul. Some sixty years ago, he exchanged basotile with Meredyn Tjaent, and after careful preparation, decided to have a child - though neither expected to have twins. He is described by Tristam as somewhat eccentric and cheeky, though is usually hung on Rodulan beliefs of the last Era. He is skilled at making Rodulan swuit sticks, of both the regular and frozen variety. Tristam is extremely close to Gamighan and regularly seeks his father's advice, and not three days goes by without Tristam calling home.
Tristam knows much about telepathy due to his father's continued study on the subject. He'll often quote, or will compare new information on the subject with, something Gamighan has told him over the years. Though he is many lightyears away, his father's words will occasionally influence Tristam's own beliefs on the matter (such as avoiding a telepathic inhibitor, and how quickly Tristam is frustrated or angered at telepaths being discriminated against), and Tristam often gauges what Gamighan's reaction would be to certain situations. His early life includes a lot of time traveling around the quadrant for his work, and Tristam notes he has interesting, yet favourable stories regarding species such as the Betazoids. Gamighan believes that the Federation "can't keep themselves together", and that it requires every individual in it's presence to keep it from crumbling apart - though Tristam is not entirely sure why his father is of this opinion.
Early in his life, Tristam was not independent, struggling to make his own decisions and relying on his brother to do so for him. When Taywor leaves home to pursue studies in a medical area, Tristam spends three weeks at home without a purpose, causing Gamighan to drag him to the university he was teaching classes and introduced him to Guan Medledore (an expert in Rodulan medical technology, on top of other fields of tech). As a personal favour to Gamighan, she tutored Tristam in the basics of everyday technology. Years later, after Tristam has a "significant failure" to get a higher degree in propulsion technology, Gamighan encourages Tristam to study and apply for Starfleet Academy, acknowledging that his own beliefs about life in Rodulan society did not suit Tristam.
Gamighan was deeply affected by the accident that impaired his son's telepathy, and struggled to come to terms with Tristam's lack there-of. Though he encourages his son to remain in Starfleet after the incident on the USS Pioneer, he becomes increasingly concerned about the activities Tristam is involved with. Because of this, it takes Tristam almost two weeks to explain to Gamighan that he'd spent over two weeks in a jungle thousands of years in the past - which may have been detrimental to his health.
Though he is "strictly professional" when working, Tristam gets much of his dramatic tendencies and sarcasm from Gamighan. He has been known to brag to others about his length of lives compared to their own in a joking fashion, which has led to various results - including one scenario where he actually made someone cry. Tristam recalls that Gamighan had "the most epic grin" on his face when it occurred.
He becomes ill on stardate 239303.10, though blames his daughter-in-baso Yanata for keeping the thermostat low as the cause when Tristam catches him coughing during a comcall. Later, during his shore leave home on Rodul, Tristam would find that Gamighan had been keeping a respitory disease from him, and was refusing treatment. Unable to stand by and watch his father crumble away in a medical centre, and angry that his father and brother kept this from him for years without end, Tristam left his home and spent the rest of his leave on his best friend's couch, essentially estranged from his family.
Twin brother
Taywor Taniel Core is Tristam's identical twin, younger by a mere minute. He is a budding psychologist, interested in the workings of a Rodulan's brain. Despite he and his brother believing themselves to be of equal intelligence, neither can truly understand what the other is saying when speaking their study's jargon, Tristam often likening it to speaking two separate languages. Taywor apparently struggles with working technology from cultures within the Federation. He is incredibly important to Tristam, the two having been extremely close to one another prior to Tristam's leaving for Starfleet, and they still keep in regular contact.
As younger kids, the two experimented with their own telepathic abilities. It resulted in bloody noses and severe headaches, though weren't seriously harmed due to their telepathic lobes not being fully developed.
When Taywor's son, Samual, was born, Tristam would babysit for him. Due to being so far away, however, Tristam has not seen Samual in person since he left Rodul - regardless, he and his nephew are still close, both participating in regular calls.
He is often spoken of as the "cute one", despite their identical appearances. He's described as rather restrained when speaking with others, quiet and well reserved. He is more mindful of his actions, typically more responsible, and takes things a little more seriously than his twin. Despite the large distance between them, he often has to remind Tristam of various events - at one stage, this also included their own birthday. Taywor also becomes increasingly worried about Tristam's health the more time he spends away from home - when Tristam spends time on a small moon for shore leave, Taywor cites to him that there had been times that a person was so ill from home sickness on a trip away from their home on Rodul, that they ended up in a medical facility. Tristam tends to ignore these warnings.
Upon returning home to Rodul, Taywor and Yanata continued a facade for Tristam until Roshanara Rahman returned to her vessel, at which he found that all was not as well as it seemed. Unable to watch his family fall apart, Tristam left home. Though he no longer has contact with his brother, Tristam keeps in regular contact with Samual, worried for the youngster's wellbeing.
PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
Education
Tristam received general schooling until the age of twelve, where he began to focus his subjects more on technology and engineering. He graduated his secondary college with high achievement in his electronics class. He moved on to study Everyday Technologies at Bromivitch University of Rodul, and received a Master of Engineering. It should be noted that he also studied Healthcare and Biotechnology of the 24th century, though it is not necessarily one of his strong points.
Including a majority of his core classes at Starfleet Academy, Tristam excelled in most of his classes in the Components Engineering course, the exception being Weapons Systems. He also received low grades in Impulse Systems, one of only two propulsion classes he took. However, time working as an officer in Starfleet has given him time to gain a further expertise in many Engineering systems, a capable components expert.
After taking on the position of Chief Engineer, Tristam was required to study additional warp mechanics. Despite this, he still claims to have a limited knowledge of his ship's propulsion assembly and requires the assistance of others of his staff to work with him to solve any problems of which may arise.
Reassigned to Outpost 3, Tristam had to quickly learn the ins and outs of the fused technology that made most of the Shoals equipment. With few resources available, locals instead re-purposed old technology from various ships and equipment.
History in Starfleet
See also: Academy Transcript After graduating Starfleet Academy, Tristam was placed aboard the USS Pioneer as an Engineering Officer. He was promoted a year later to Lieutenant JG, and he began attempting to broaden his Engineering knowledge by learning more about the Pioneer's propulsion systems. During 2387, Lieutenant Roshanara Rahman was assigned to the Pioneer as a Research and Development Engineer, and the two supposedly became friends. As a Lieutenant JG, the power to Tristam's quarters were cut as a prank played by an Engineer of whom has not yet confessed - locking him in his quarters. In panic, Tristam (with a PADD and a tricorder) used the computer systems in Engineering to draw as much attention to himself as possible, flashing lights, taking over the ships speakers, and changing the language display of the Engineering consoles to Rodulan. He didn't think to just manually open the door. Seven months after Rahman was posted, an R&D experiment involving her and Tristam supposedly caused multiple explosions in the Pioneer's Engineering department. Tristam was severely injured, losing his natural telepathic abilities and almost his left leg at the same time. He was placed on a medical leave of absence for 11 months to recover. In mid-2388, Tristam was taken off leave, and requested a transfer into an Operations department. Despite this, he was stationed aboard Deep Space 17 as an Operations Officer, but claims that the work is almost exactly the same as it would have been if he was assigned as an Engineer. Within his first week aboard the station, Tristam was involved in a 'scuffle' regarding misaligned circuits with a superior officer. The matter was resolved quickly and maturely under the watchful eye of the station's Chief of Security, Lieutenant Msafiri Bakari. Three weeks later, Tristam almost blew out an entire deck of the station whilst working with plasma conduits. Tristam was promoted to full Lieutenant in 2389. During this period, he was asked to look after and mentor two cadets as he worked around the station; Cadets Vian Nova and Ukaramesh Blanufic (it should be noted, however, that Nova left the Academy during her time with Tristam). Blanufic remains in contact with Tristam, and is currently the Assistant Chief Engineer aboard the USS Evantair. Whilst serving aboard the station, Tristam became involved in a hostage situation. Using his experience aboard the Pioneer, he alerted the station's Chief of Security to the situation by flashing the lights and taking over the speakers, using his tricorder. His time aboard DS17 began to draw to a close when Tristam was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in late 2390. After three years of working aboard a station, Tristam was transferred to the USS Vigilant-A as Chief of Operations in 239104, where he was required to take a crash course on the Vigilant's slipstream drive. He was reassigned again after barely three weeks to the USS Garuda as an Engineer at the request of the Garuda's Chief Engineer. Tristam, along with the Garuda's First Officer, Chief of Intelligence, Commander Tan, ex-Captain Kells and Lieutenant DeVeau, were assigned to assess a mud dome threatening the Eth people of Bocasa. Left stranded for an unknown reason on the planet of Pleethion with a jamming field that was blocking their communications (and any communication signal), Tristam was able to rig a sort of remote control for the Galaxy class ship using his communicator, a PADD and two tricorders. He was able to successfully gain the attention of the unsuspecting Garuda by blasting "I'm a little tea pot" through the speakers around the ship and flashing the lights. Having been used for a third time, Tristam plans on calling it "The Tea Pot maneuver" - Tristam later found a source for part of the field in Commander Tan's tricorder. Commander Rahman was able to successfully bounce back (and create a working communications link) with Tristam via his crudely made engineering concoction. Unfortunately, seconds beforehand, Tristam set foot onto a mine. Having explained to Rahman that beaming up the rest of the away team may set off the mine he was standing on (and beaming engineers down may end up with the same result), he was told he needed to walk Lieutenant DeVeau through disarming the mine. DeVeau found that the mine could actually make the situation with the mud dome much worse, while Kells believed it may assist with the situation. Despite either of these things, and regardless of DeVeau's steady hands, the mine was set off. It was a rush to beam back to the ship (unfortunately with a mine hooked into Commander Tan's leg, of which Tristam was able to successfully transport away, much to Rahman's distaste). Tristam seems to have some sense of distrust towards the missing Captain Reynolds, believing that, as she is an Intelligence officer, she may have had the means to sabotage the away teams mission. Three jamming signals had been found in the teams tricorders prior to beaming back aboard the Garuda, of which Kells and Tan found to be Cardassian - confirming the worst, Rahman explained that the crew met Reynolds at a Cardassian facility. On top of this, Reynolds also simply "showed up" to join the shuttle team after a disagreement with Captain Egan Manno, of which gave her access to a shuttle (of which Tristam realized she wouldn't have had, had she stayed aboard the Garuda). She also spent several minutes of "quality time" with Tan, ensuring that if a wrong word was spoken against her, Tan would stick up for her no matter what. He found a perfectly intact surveillance camera in a Jefferies Tubes junction, of which had access to some of the major security systems, and watched with the Garuda's Chief Security/Tactical Officer as Rahman deactivated the systems. Because of the suspicious behaviour, and because Rahman may have been a vital part of the sabotage aboard the Garuda, Lieutenant T'Leia wished to question her. Unable to trust the new Security officer, Tristam sought out Lieutenant Commander Bakari, and the three questioned Rahman in her office, DeVeau also present. Rahman turned herself in. On stardate 239107.27, Captain Egan Manno gave Tristam the position of Acting Chief Engineer. He was also awarded the Diplomacy ribbon on stardate 239108.03 with the rest of his crew for their efforts on Pleethion. Tristam was a part of the two teams sent aboard the presumed rogue vessel USS Mercury. As the Mercury wasn't completely powered, he, DeVeau, Trel'lis, Douglas and Delano made their way to the ships primary computer core in an attempt to correct power flow. Once there, he realized that the ship's power problems were due to its being redirected to a part of the ship of which was no longer attached (the Mercury's sensor module), but was unable to relay this when an explosion occurred near the team's position. There were some serious injuries, including almost all of the team incurring some form of head trauma, and Tristam with a scapula fracture was unable to use his left arm from that point onwards. The team presumably made their way to the Mercury's Strategic Operations due to a lack of safe areas aboard. Once there, they found that internal sensors were no longer functioning. Tristam blacked out, regaining consciousness with no recollection of how he'd managed to get aboard the Mercury, and was unaware of Lieutenant Delano's name. Finding himself more involved in the situation (Delano having discovered that Leo Handley-Page was not, in fact, alive), he split Delano and DeVeau off from the rest of the group in Strategic Operations with the new goal of shutting down the holographic projections. A com call from the Garuda explaining the dire situation of the Mercury changed his plans, and the reduced team of three made their way to Main Engineering instead, where they were to meet Rahman and at least two others to reboot the computer system and reapply antimatter containment. They were disrupted by a holographic version of Rahman, taking DeVeau hostage, and Rahman was then thwarted by a holographic version of Mei'konda. Throughout the entire exchange, Tristam was somehow forced into a state of shock, his ability to function as an Engineer compromised. In the remaining minutes, Rahman sent him to a lower deck to manually restart a main sequencer segment. The holographic version of Rahman had unfortunately followed him, physically intervening with his input and causing him more injury. With only a little amount of time left, Tristam resorted to using a phaser as means to distract the hologram and get her away from the console - in doing this, he also ensured the holograms "death". With only seconds left, Tristam was able to restart the sequencer. In pain, shock and mentally worn down, he was finally beamed directly to the Garuda's Sick Bay with the real Roshanara Rahman. Tristam awoke in Sick Bay on stardate 239109.23. He was promoted to Chief Engineer on stardate 239109.24. He was also awarded a Good Conduct Ribbon, a Purple Heart, and a Captain's Commendation on stardate 239110.09 for his efforts on the Mercury. On stardate 239203.08, Tristam was caught in a time fracture on the Peppalexa homeworld, sending him and Lieutenant Ki Shandres far into Peppalexa's past - meeting Saveron in the same area and time. There, the group spent 15 days in a Peppalexan jungle with no word from the Garuda's crew. They were found by Lt.Commander Mei'konda's away team, and despite the three being separated, the Garuda's crew were able to beam them back to the current timeline. Tristam was part of a small team of the Garuda's officers to find evidence to prove misconduct against the Va Wreth. When infiltrating a social gathering hosted by the race, the team once again butted heads against Harrison Ross, who they'd believed to have planned to harm those in the gathering. After escaping from a locked maintenance shaft with Hanar Tuk, the team tried to capture Ross to no avail - and, as a consequence, Rahman accidentally beamed an innocent civilian into the Garuda's Brig. The team was split yet again. For a currently unknown reason, Shandres, Mei'konda, DeVeau and himself were kidnapped by another group of Va Wreth and held against their will. An attempt to escape ended with their group being found by Va Wreth allies, and they were escorted to Astrofori 1's medical facility for treatment. On stardate 239206.20, Tristam was transferred to the USS Invicta. After a handful of years creating the concept, Starfleet's Corps of Engineers green-lit Tristam's MST development on stardate 239212.14, a project to transport whole starships from one section of space to another. He enlists the assistance of Angeline Loupaz and Coalem Garry. With Commander Rahman's departure from her position for the Corps of Engineers, Tristam was offered to take the role. Instead of taking the position on top of his workload as Chief Engineer, Tristam is now solely stationed aboard the Invicta as the SCE's project manager. As Kinan Venroe departs for reassignment, Tristam is placed as the Invicta's First Officer on stardate 239305.13. For his efforts in an alternate reality (where the Dominion were the major power) and encountering the USS Ronin-A, as well as participating in efforts to reclaim the Charles Lindbergh, Tristam was awarded the Quantum Reality Service Ribbon and the War of Shadows Ribbon respectively on stardate 239306.08.
ETP involvementIt's believed Tristam became one of the numerous contacts for the Engineer's Trading Post during his time on Deep Space 17. When repairs after the Vaadwaur occupation of the station were complete, the Operations department had a surplus of spare parts. With permission from command, Tristam and a few other officers of the department traded these parts with other Starfleet or Federation vessels when docked at the station. More often than not, he received several favours or "gifts" for the parts he traded himself and is apparently still owed these favours today. Though he is not nearly as involved with the community, he still has many contacts within it, and uses these contacts with the Invicta's Bridge briefing table goes mysteriously missing. He also uses his contacts to obtain Mark V PRP generator, implying that he had duplicated it for use with holographic systems on Invicta, and later the USS Syracuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Professional History
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NOTABLE SIMS
USS Vigilant-A
- Ship and Shirt (JP with Bakari)
USS Garuda
- Spiders and panic go hand in hand.
- The Running Plan part 2 (JP with Rahman)
- Metamorphosis (JP with Rahman)
NPC Listing · USS Veritas Crew Manifest · Crew History
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