Nusien

Nusien was born 8th of nine brothers and eleven sisters, a relatively small family by Edosian standards. Father Tobulx was a navigator aboard a dilithium freighter and was hardly seen by the family for months at a time. When he did return, it was to a great fanfare and family celebration organized by his bond-partner Bidaln.

Young Nusien remembers being puzzled by his father’s withdrawn nature and wondered why he took himself out of the family gatherings to be alone when he had spent so long away from them. Mother Bidaln was a gregarious and generous career of the family, the grandchildren, the nephews and various relations in and out of the homestead. She focused on the farm, ensuring her children received a good education and learned the value of hard work. She was a stern and often dismissive parent, usually demanding the children sort out their own squabbles rather than waste her time with petty disputes. When it came to what she deemed real issues though, Mom was a rock that any of her family could anchor to.

Nusien spent a very typical Edosian childhood, climbing trees, surfing ion storms and generally enjoying the outdoor life. His closest friend was Piret, hatched the same day as Nusien and lived in the same hex-zone. She would call on him on the way to school and they would roam together in their free time, often egging each other into greater deeds and daring exploits. If Nusien was in trouble, it was often because he was covering for Piret and vice-versa. When Nusien won a place at the Edo Engineering Annex, Piret was applying for Starfleet Academy and the two parted ways, dismayed but promising to stay in touch.

After graduating from the Edo Engineering Annex where Nusien specialized in plasma distribution and advanced molecular fabrication theory, he signed on with a merchant ship, Captained by an acquaintance of his father. he served aboard for nearly ten years until at the age of twenty-seven when the Freighter Captain, a Tellerite by the name of Gisolv, found Nusien apparently dead in his quarters. Nusien was returned to Edo and solemnly handed over to Bidaln who happily removed the shroud and placed Tivel in his old bedroom. Some days later, to yet another celebratory family get-together, Tivel Nusien emerged from a natural coma and sloughed off his first skin on his first “Day of Rebirth”. Ma Bidaln admonished him for being “fashionably late” as most Edosians experience their first Rebirth by 25.

Aboard the freighter, Nusien experienced firsthand the horror and violence of the Dominion War, their freighter being the target of first Klingon inspection, ostensibly “searching for Changelings” and later running the gauntlet of Dominion/Cardassian expansion. More than once Nusien came up with inventive solutions to conceal the freighter, or evade Jem’Hadar patrols.. He became somewhat obsessed with protecting the freighter, putting in continual requests to improve defensive and offensive capability. Gisolv refused most requests on the basis of costs, but allowed Nusien as First Mate to revise the crew rota and improve emergency drills.

On his return to Edo, his family noticed he was a changed man. Still chatty and sociable, but his eyes were always checking the room and his talk was always full of admonitions to be careful and alert. The only time, they noticed Nusien relax was in the presence of Piret. She returned to Edo during Nusien’s leave, on leave herself after losing her ship to the Dominion at Deep Space 9. Together they shared an understanding of the dangers and threat to the Federation that few other Edosians comprehended. They were married that summer and their first hatchlings were born the next spring. Piret felt she had seen enough combat, but Nusien could not leave things in the state they were in. He promised to protect Piret and their brood and signed up for Starfleet. He seemed intent on putting a shield of duranium around the Federation and nothing Piret could say would convince him otherwise.

Starfleet life was hard for Nusien, the training grounds and unrelenting drills, exercise and assessments were, to an Edosian, highly biped-biased. Every vehicle he operated, every uniform he needed to adapt, just reminded him how rare the Edosian physiognomy is in the galaxy. Every time he fumbled something, or tripped on something it made him more determined to push through it. Though he was last in almost every physical exercise he developed a tendency to talk and chatter to keep his fellow cadets on side and keep good humour in even the most demanding of scenarios.

Nusien was surprised when his career took him through the Combat Engineer role, but it seemed a good fit for his skills. He had expected to become somewhat heavy-handed, to lay down appropriate use of force and remind the galaxy of the might the combined forces of the Federation could bring to bear. Instead he found himself assigned to the aftermath of the Dominion War, assisting the provisional democratic Cardassian government in the repair and rebuilding of colony worlds affected by the war.

The Edosian found that here, where the locals were distrustful of anyone with a phaser in hand, that he quickly had to develop new skills. You can’t set off a tri-cobalt explosive any old how in a colonist’s backyard, so he had to learn how to talk them down, assure them of their good intentions and demonstrate that by quickly re-establishing the necessities like power and water.

Still it didn’t always work out. More than once he and his team were pinned down behind a newly constructed corn silo or aquifer, trying to work out whether it was a True Way battalion or just a group of over enthusiastic youngsters with ancient phasers, defending their homes.

Piret noticed the changes, the need to joke and deflect true feelings when she talked to him on subspace comms. On leave he would throw himself into family life, playing, helping with homework and the like, but his stories were always about other people and not himself. Sometimes, Piret would find her bond-partner alone in a small room, staring out the window. Then he’d put on a smile and rejoin the family.

His decision to apply for the Academy came as a shock to Piret and the children, the eldest five of which have just signed up for the Engineering Annex. Without guarantee of ship size, his family would have to remain behind on Edos and his assignment could take him far from Edo for a long time. All Nusien would say is: “this is something I have to do”.