T'Laruk

T’Laruk was born on his father’s home planet of Betazed, and lived there with his parents until he was twelve, when his mother returned to Vulcan with him to further his education. He attended the Vulcan Science Academy and made a study of stellar cartography and quantum mechanics. After graduating, he applied to Starfleet Academy. After being admitted, he continued his study of quantum mechanics for three years until he realized something interesting about his mind – he could sense the emotions of people he knew well if they were nearby. He spent a few weeks looking for records of anyone with similar abilities, focusing mostly on half-Betazoids. Finding only one such person who could be contacted, he sent a message to Deanna Troi. To T’Laruk’s surprise, she responded not with a short message, but with a few-thousand lines of text, giving him advice on how to improve and interpret his ability as well as course documentation for classes he could take if he wanted to become a Ship’s Counselor.

T’Laruk saw immediately the benefits such a course of action would have on his future shipmates, and he immediately spoke with an academic advisor about drastically altering the focus of his studies. The new programs were just as challenging as the old ones, but he put all his spare time into catching up. And so, four years after enrolling in Starfleet Academy, T’Laruk Akaigan graduated with honors in three fields: quantum mechanics, psychiatry, and psychology.

His first assignment was as an Engineer on the USS Budapest, where he served until the Battle of Sector 001. The TR-116 rifles were the only reason so many of the crew members survived, and T’Laruk would very much like to never encounter the Borg again. After the incident, he elected to keep a TR-116: it is one of few personal items he carries beyond the uniforms.

His next assignment was the USS Pelican, a Nebula-Class ship, again as an Engineer. He served there until Captain Selma was reassigned to the Soyuz-Class USS Malbolge, and transferred with his Captain to the newly-constructed ship. Two years later, he was offered the position of Ship’s Counselor on his old haunt, the Pelican. He immediately accepted, returning to his former ship and most of his former crewmates. He served aboard the Pelican for five years, at which point he received a request for volunteers to crew a new ship – the USS Diligent. Feeling that he would be a good fit for the position of Ship’s Counselor on a ship going to the Delta Quadrant, he put his name in the hat, with recommendations from both Captain Selma and the new Captain of the Pelican, Captain Renault.