Samantha Hyland

Samantha Hyland was born amongst the stars of the Gamma Quadrant, one of the numerous progeny born to Starfleet Officers serving aboard the venerable Galaxy – class vessel USS Venture. Sam grew up terrorizing the decks along with a cohort of unruly children from a kaleidoscope of different races as the great ship roamed the cosmos on its mission of peacekeeping & exploration.

Sam’s Father, Lieutenant Jonas Hyland, imparted a fascination for comparative history and culture – in keeping with his profession as a Xenoarcheologist. From Jonas – Sam developed an inquisitive mind and an analytical approach to all but the most self – evident of mysteries. Her Dad used to say that “Every answer to the future lays in the past – a story waiting to be spoken again.”

Dad was annoyingly cryptic sometimes, but always presiding with a warm and wry smile – waiting, gnomically, like Prometheus for the thaw of realization to uncrease his daughter’s determinedly – furrowed brow.

What better prize was there in the realm of creation?

Samantha’s relation with her mother was more straightforward and distinctly complicated at the same time. Ensign Freya Hyland was an Operations Officer, and her manner and outlook was all business. Mom could not abide wasted time or effort and (whilst loving) often seemed exasperated by Sam’s disorganized and headstrong nature.

As Sam grew to early tweenhood these tensions would often lead to conflict and it was during one of these disagreements that Ensign Freya Hyland perished in a shuttle crash during a freak ion storm – leaving Sam as a star unable to reach critical mass.

This loss impacted Samantha profoundly. With so many things to say unsaid and unsayable, Sam withdrew within herself for a while and when she emerged it was as a young woman no longer disorganized, and her uneven temper now tempered. She began to apply herself to her studies assiduously. Her quarters began to be maintained meticulously, and she began to run the halls and decks that she had once played in – haunted by the recent past & driven towards a determined goal.

On her 16th Birthday – Samantha Hyland enrolled into Starfleet Academy, departing the USS Venture aboard the shuttle that would begin the first leg of her long journey to San Francisco – there to pit her determination against one of the most demanding training regimens in Federated Space – in the hopes of becoming a Starfleet Officer.

As a Red Squadron Cadet, Sam elected to Major in Communications Studies at the Academy – with a Science Minor in Applied Sociology & is driven by an abiding conviction of the importance of ensuring connection and understanding between disparate parties – primarily through the conduct of diplomacy & the deft application of linguistics.

When Sam graduated the Academy as a newly minted Ensign, she visited the memorial to those that had fallen in the line of duty and left her hard – won rank pip in front of the eternal flame in mute tribute to her mother (and in some ways a bitter-sweet “See? I TOLD you….”)  and set out to join her graduating classmates as they began to describe their own arc amongst the stars.

For the majority of her Career Lt (Jg) Hyland was glad to distance herself from her life aboard the USS Venture (lingering phantoms of residual guilt not cleared for departure from Shuttle bay 2) & has served as a Command Liaison/Comms Officer aboard Starbase 72 and has been content in her work – but has recently yearned to realize her potential as Command Officer & return to a life in transit amongst the stars, so she put in a transfer request for Shipboard duty and was accepted as a Bridge Officer aboard the California Class Utility Cruiser USS Sacramento (NCC-75580) – gaining promotion to the rank of Lieutenant (Sg) shortly afterwards.

During a seemingly routine mission in the Primarion system, the crew of the USS Sacramento unwittingly awoke a long – dormant Crystaline Entity, that had slumbered for eons beneath the fabulous Reliquary of Ost on Primar Majoris #7, with the activation of a Subspace Communications array that Starfleet had been tasked to emplace throughout the Primarion system.

The resultant psionic – outfall that resulted from the Entity seeking to signal its parent (an ancient Gigalithene Crystal Entity) deep beyond the Gamma Quadrant – caused the deaths of the Federation Science Mission that the USS Sacramento had transported to study the Reliquary and threatened the lives of countless Primarion citizens as it was amplified via the array – leading to open conflict with the ruling B’Queth Gerontocracy and forcing the crew of the USS Sacramento to destroy the array.

Samantha lost her father, Jonas Hyland, when the noted Xenoarcheologist was merged physically and in consciousness with the Entity – becoming as one and leaving Sam effectively orphaned.

In the aftermath of the Primarion Incident, the truth of the progeny of both the ruling B’Queth & servile V’Saal was revealed by the entity to be the product of a century’s old subterfuge by the B’Queth – triggering a brief (but bloody) coup – leading to the downfall of the Gerontocracy and the deterioration of diplomatic relations with the Federation.

After taking a period of leave to grieve her loss in private, Sam put in for a duty transfer (wishing to put the painful associations with the USS Sacramento behind her) and after a brief spell aboard Starbase 72, she was surprised to be awarded her first opportunity to command – assigned as the CO of the newly – reactivated New Orleans Class frigate USS Savannah (NCC – 57297).

With the decimation of 4th Fleet ranks in the aftermath of the disastrous events following Frontier Day, Starfleet is forced more and more to reactivate its mothball fleet assets or delay the retirement of more venerable classes of starship as they struggle to fill the gaps and maintain fleet operations – the demand on experienced Officers to fill more Prestigeous and priority commands and backfill lesser commands with “green” crews – hands Samantha Allen the opportunity of a lifetime.

Thrust into the midst of a Machiavellian plot by True Way commander, Gul Yomat Ghallir, and with a New Marquis saboteur secretly working to destroy the USS Savannah from within, Sam is forced to seek refuge in the Multicausal Anomaly of Underspace, as portals to the Subspace network – known as the Labyrinth – tear into being throughout known space, setting the Quadrants ablaze as the Major Powers vie for their control. Forced to strike a ‘Faustian’- bargain with the True Way terrorist – the crew of the USS Savannah escape Underspace together and Gul Ghallir surrenders himself to the custody of the Obsidian Order.

But all is not as it seems.

Whist marooned in Underspace, Gul Ghallir made contact with the Kazon ‘Nistrim’ faction and in return for the supply of embargoed replicator technology to the sect, the Kazon launch a vast invading force, via the Labyrinth, ignoring Federation space and launch an attack on Cardassian Union territory – with the intended effect of destabilizing the Detapa Council and restoring the High Command to a position of provenance.

Whilst that nefarious plan, and the involvement of the True Way, is ultimately exposed by the brave actions of the crew of the USS Savannah, overall Gul Ghallir’ scheme succeeds in part – as the Obsidian Order is near – decimated in the attack (and inevitable destruction of the Kazon fleet by superior Cardassian forces) and the Council is forced to rely upon Federation assistance, in the aftermath – weakening their position domestically.

In recognition of their actions in uncovering the True Way plot and providing the Detapa Council with the means to thwart Gul Yomat Ghallir’s attempt to influence a coup by the High Command, Sam is promoted to the rank of Commander and the crew of the USS Savannah are awarded a Unit Citation.

With the USS Savannah being returned to the moth-ball fleet – Sam is faced with a fork in her career pathway. Presented with the choice to continue as the Commanding Officer of another Frigate – sized vessel or relinquish command and accept a posting as an Executive Officer aboard a more prestigious vessel, Samantha opts for the latter and secures a berth aboard the Inquiry – Class Cruiser USS Albion – serving under the TFXO’s old CO – Captain Robert Carrington.

Settling into her new position, Sam was challenged by a mysterious Hologram of the Orion Syndicate criminal known as D’Taani Varada – to steal for her a copy of the dangerous Genesis Particle data from the Daystrom Institute in Okinawa – the price to pay for exonerating her former crewmate from the USS Savannah, Kennedy Zhao, who Varada had framed for murder. Out of options, with the blessing of Captain Carrington and the assistance of Hazard Team “Albion”, a desperate plot is born to steal the unstealable from their own – to save one of their own.

Having stolen the data for the Genesis Particle from the Daystrom Institute for D’Taani Varada, Commander Samantha Hyland arrived at the Former Starliner “Tonino Delli Colli”, residing at its last destination – the Cattivo Industries Recycling Facility at Vannis – Ursus #3. There, a rogue’s gallery of the Galaxy’s worst criminals gathered to bid for Genesis, but all was not as it seemed, and the auction proved to be a pretense for Varada to gather her enemies in one place for a murderous decapitation. All present perished in the black hole triggered by Varada – but (for reasons known only to herself) she allowed Sam to escape at the 11th hour.

Unbeknownst to anyone, D’Taani Varda proved to be the Changeling Agent, Bora – transpiring that she was never interested in Genesis – her true mission was to steal a lethally destructive Machine Intelligence called “Chimera” from Daystrom – with which she covertly infects the systems of the USS Albion with and continues to secret herself amongst the crew – where she had been hiding all along.

Eager to distance themselves from several trouble irregularities, but thankful for the removal of several dangerous terrorist, militant and criminal elements from the board, Starfleet Command promotes Samantha to the rank of Captain (making her one of the youngest CO’s in the fleet) and promptly tucks her out of the way (where it presumed that she could cause no further upset) aboard the USS Valley Forge – patrolling the Federation side of the Former DMZ.