note: Name written as Given Name, -Personal Name-, Lineage Name based on local custom
TALA -KATJA- AKAELA
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RANK
Commander  POST Executive Officer, U.S.S. Shackleton SERVICE NUMBER RVL-436-2337 YWL |
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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS SPECIES
Saytisjadian (Stellarmerian)
GENDER
Female
HEIGHT
1.71 m
WEIGHT
68.4 kg
EYE COLOR
Gold (w/ black cornea)
HAIR COLOR
Black
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DEMOGRAPHICS DATE OF BIRTH
-51407.1 modern Stardate (August 5th, 2271)
PLACE OF BIRTH
Sesjvet, Saytisjin (New Dawn, Stellarmere)
MARITAL STATUS
Fluid non-marital
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
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AWARDS
             
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Starfleet Bronze Star | Starfleet Medal of Commendation x5 | Starfleet Citation for Gallantry x2 | Prentares Ribbon of Commendation
Andorian Battle Star | Grankite Order of Tactics | Starfleet Silver Star | Legion of Honor Starfleet Distinguished Marksmanship Award | Academy Graduation Award | Klingon War Service Medal | Solanae Sphere Service Medal Iconian War Service Medal | Hur'q Conflict Campaign Medal |
SERVICE RECORD
- 2403 | Accepted into Starfleet Academy as part of a cultural trade agreement to train as a full officer in Operations and Command.
- 2404 | Overtakes basic classwork due to prior experience/education and completes basic Operations qualifications.
- 2405 | Begins Command training courses, but stays Operations main track. Is also given supplementary tactical training as Klingon War breaks out.
- 2406 | Undertakes Kobyashi Maru scenario. Her records are not made public but Academy board admits she showed surprising tactical acumen. Rumors imply she tricked the enemy ships in the scenario into giving up the freighter, but it is unclear what the inevitable consequence was.
- 2406 | Graduates and is promoted to Ensign and selected for the U.S.S. Ulysses along the Klingon front.
- 2408 | After keeping the Ulysses, deemed an unlucky ship by now, running through a couple battles, she is promoted to LtJG and aids in a painless evacuation of the ship as it finally goes down in the Battle of Cestus III.
- 2409 | Is assigned to the U.S.S. Königs Tiger in the Schwarz Lanzenreiter Task Force. She submits a number of battle plan suggestions to her command. One of them leads to the uncovering of plans to attack Starbase 24, though they would not arrive before the battle commenced.
- 2409 | After the beginning of the Battle of Starbase 24, Tala submits a battle plan for the Task Force top occupy the Klingon flank enclosing the escape corridor. It's seen as too passive and passed on from an Operations lieutenant but after serious damage she takes temporary command while the command staff are in sickbay and traps the Klingon flank in an attrition engagement while evacuees escape as the main battle rages on closer to the station. The Klingon flank recognizes they can't quickly win and retreats to the main force until the battle concludes.
- 2409 | Later in the year, she is moved to Lieutenant as other commanders imply she would be better suited to a Command position. She is unwilling to take full command at her level but does shift to red and serves in a Tactical position on the Königs Tiger.
- 2410 | The Schwarz Lanzenreiter is formally acknowledged as a battle fleet with the Königs Tiger at the head and takes part in the Laurentian IV campaign.
- 2411 | As the Klingon Front settles into a lull, Tala is reassigned to aid in burgeoning issues with the True Way in the Alpha Quadrant, partly at her own request as her home world is in the area. She is assigned to the U.S.S. Tiamat which is at DS9 for the Borg conference that quickly turns into a time-displaced Dominion invasion.
- 2412 | Is present for the Breen skirmishes while on the Tiamat, but doesn't make a major impact. Privately she is fascinated by the Preserver archive and what they may known of her Stellarian ancestors.. but the info is lacking as is typical of the way Stellarians erased their footprints in history. Later in the year Tiamat is instructed to be part of the Solanae expedition.
- 2413 | After taking part in the Battle of Solanae amidst a few minor Voth conflicts, the Tiamat is damaged enough to be directed back to the Beta Quadrant for refit and repairs. Shortly after official cessation of hostilities with the Klingons is announced and Tala meets the General (Karig, son of Ronsig) she fought against at Starbase 24, who buys her a drink as they admit to mutual respect and become subspace pen pals shortly afterward.
- 2414 | Having missed the entire Delta/Vaadwuar campaign, the Tiamat is brought back into service just in time for the opening assaults by the Iconian Heralds. It barely escapes the opening battle on New Romulus.
- 2414 | When news of Iconians pressing Qo'noS, Tala volunteers to be moved a task force in the area and is reassigned to the U.S.S. Barbados to assist. She links up with General Karig and the two develop a pincer move that catches Herald ships by surprise. Enough to cause them to gate out quicker than usual. It's a minor element of the battle but it earns Tala a promotion to Lieutenant Commander with Karig's recommendation.
- 2414 | Returns to Tiamat to engage in the Battle of Sol. The seemingly futile defense battle however ends suddenly, with little official explanation.
- 2415 | Is assigned as first officer of a small ship called U.S.S. Astarte that goes about making recovery and rebuild efforts after the war.
- 2416 | Astarte takes part in the Hypermass conflict with the Tzenkethi. Tala creates a trap for several Tzenkethi frigates that tricks them into falling into the hypermass while the Astarte punches a hole in their defensive line.
- 2417 | Astarte deployed to Gamma Quadrant as part of Dominion relief. Is present at the Battle of Empersa when the Hur'q ceasefire is called.
- 2418 | After a lot of shuffling and commands catching up to many changing situations, Tala is sent to the recently rebuilt Starbase DS13, with some thoughts she may be useful if the Azedi situation worsens. To this end they authorize her promotion to Commander but leave her assignment (expected to be another executive officer posting on a ship) to the local Command.
- 2418 | After some basic duties and leave with the fleet at Risa, Tala accepts the job of First Officer on the U.S.S. Shackleton under Captain Alyx Derenzis.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Tala has a storied life, though whether it is long is a matter of viewpoints. Born on Stellarmere in the late 23rd century, she was raised in the societies closed borders. They were only vaguely aware of their stellar neighbors as they slowly reached into space in the early 2300s with a crude FTL that was like a poor man's warp drive. Once Tala began to mature by the turn of the century she learned her slightly younger half-sister Seliya was being considered as the successor to the People's King Rael Visin, currently undergoing advanced aging due to star shading syndrome. This put spotlights on all the family members of Seliya's, and motivated Tala to try to achieve a respectable lifestyle following in her father's expeditionary footsteps. She would give this up for manufacturing work a few years later however while also playing semi-professional sports. Some in her family implied Tala was indecisive and wanted for too much too quickly since she couldn't decide on one path for her current life segment.
After Stellarmere made contact with the Federation and the door to the galaxy was opened with better warp abilities and being given protectorate status, Tala made the rash move of applying for a reservist role in the Royal Forces.. curious about their new Starfleet friends. She actually liked them and their stories and would spend off days talking to some officers on the garrison base established. Some rumors indicated she did more than talk however, which wouldn't be a problem except for her close relation to the soon to be Queen.
Though known now to be a misunderstanding due to political maneuvering by the current Chancellor at the time, the tensions with Starfleet resulting in the short term conflict and removal of all Federation presence from Stellarmere during the midst of the Dominion War brought a bit of annoyance and sadness to Tala. She is said to have torn up her Royal Forces contract after having been ordered to attack the garrison. Though she was penalized for this, Seliya made that atypical choice to reduce her would be sentence with the goal of having Tala serve the Royal family for a while as a spokesperson to try and dampen the bad impression of the Federation the former Chancellor had wrought on their people, something Seliya never agreed with but could not counter as there was an attempted coup at the time as well.
Tala took to her role as it really was, a form of service and punishment. Her sister could not be entirely lenient and Tala has started to learn the Queen was plotting some long term goals. Seeing this Seliya in a closed meeting with Tala would later admit some parts of her plan for long term restoration of relations with the Federation, though neither of them could have predicted the galactic events that would transpire as the 24th century came to a close.
Seliya eventually instructed Tala to take part in a cultural appointment for the people of Stellarmere that would see her move to and take of the full vestiges of a Federation citizen's life. In return the Federation sent a number of people to Stellarmere to learn more about them in a much more limited capacity than the old Starfleet garrison. Tala wished to make amends for her military desertion in the past and was still interested in Starfleet and requested to be able to join as part of her new life. Seliya agreed to this as part of their last in person meeting.
Tala has thus spent the last 15 years in service of Starfleet throughout the Klingon and Iconian wars, as well as a multitude of events. Due to Stellarmerian's inconsistent longevity and their habit of compartmentalizing life events, Tala heavily re-imagined herself and took to Federation life while trying to represent as good an image of her people as possible. Unsurprisingly, Stellarmere was a small world and most of the Federation has never heard of it, making her task both easier and more difficult. She has striven to be the best in both cultures as she can as such.
Tala is unafraid to rise to new challenges, and is fond of complex thoughts. She proved she can apply her knowledge to clever tactical prowess, though she prefers to leave overt strategy to better minds. This makes her a boon to in progress conflicts where quick ideas are needed. After a few battles she cultivated a nickname of "The Magician" after a few tricks that gave a lead on enemies in both major wars. Tala herself is incessantly modest about this though, and claims she only has an interest in doing a good enough job to represent herself as a member of Stellarmere's best. Though very formal and stern in the heat of command situations and conflicts, once those events of duty ends, Tala has been seen to calm considerably.. often noted as 'remarkably relaxed.' She seems to find joy in company but has been shown to be annoyed by obstructionist Commanders who remind her of the bad eggs from her own society way back. She is not afraid to confront what she sees as injustice or offer her own opinion on things even when commanders think she is out of her lane. One curious Captain asked her once what she'd do if she were wrong about something she was suggesting to him, which led her to simply reply that she'd be 'very embarrassed.' Supposedly this endeared that officer to her somewhat. When asked once what her goal is in Starfleet, she joked it was to retire and travel with a few partners and a collection of books.
Those that get to know her especially well, typically people she finds a specific kinship with, will get the right to refer to her by her personal name of Katja. This is a Stellarmerian cultural tradition, and although it doesn't seem specific limited to romantic partners it is known to be a common thread there. Tala for her purposes has extended it to close friends as well. She has said that the number of non-romantic friends she allows to call her Katja is countable on one hand. If someone tries to use this name that has not be given permission, she takes it as an extreme insult akin to a violation of personal space.
MEDICAL HISTORY
PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT
UP TO DATE: Y
STATUS: OK for active duty
EVALUATOR: LCDR Stanton (Earth Spacedock physician)
MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT
UP TO DATE: Y
STATUS: OK for active duty
EVALUATOR: LT Jian (Counselor, ESD)