Star-Crossed

Tory doesn't want to return to his hometown of Riverview, NB, but when he finds out his grandmother, the woman who raised him while his mother was only somewhat present, is dying, he knows he has to go home. Before she goes, she tells him of the man Tory's mother painted as a villain, knowing his mother would never tell him the truth: his grandfather. But his grandmother has nothing but kind words to say about him; so gentle and sensitive - for a Vulcan. When she goes, she leaves Tory a box of holos and news articles saved from the net. A Starfleet officer turned musician, Tory's grandfather is a fascinating character.

But for Tory, a university dropout who felt unchallenged academically, and who struggles to hold a job because he is either overqualified or "not a good fit", it gives him something to think about. Starfleet Academy would have all sorts of challenges - and not only that, it's very far from home. Soon he's talking to a recruiter, and then he's taking the entry exams, and finally he's taking the mandatory prep courses required for each new student. Could Starfleet Academy be the answer to the things he's always struggled with?

But upon arrival, Tory finds himself contending with challenges he'd rather not: an all-Vulcan student society determined to give him a hard time, fellow new recruit and golden boy Martin, who wants to make his life miserable, and what is with all these protests just off campus? Tory has to find a way to navigate the drama after living a relatively solitary and undramatic life for the past several years. And although some of it may seem silly, there might be more than just drama lurking beneath the surface...

After graduating from Starfleet Academy, T'Ori has been assigned to the USS Rankin for some time, and existence has become routine: from patrols to ferrying diplomats, the Rankin doesn't see much action, but participates in the overall mission of Starfleet and Federation: exploration and the pursuit of knowledge. T'Ori is satisfied with this, and after having become sufficiently acquaintanced with the rest of the crew, she would continue in this manner for as long as Starfleet Command would allow.

However, it seems her days of ideal, routine missions will not continue on forever, as she is summoned to a meeting with some of the higher ups of Starfleet Command, in which they task her with an extremely secretive mission: she is to travel to a colony close to the Romulan Neutral Zone where she will go undercover as the very first Vulcan to join the Sisters of Deliverance, a female monastic order in the widely popular Romulan Church of Hanaj. Why she isn't going undercover as a Romulan to draw less attention to herself, she is not certain; she completed an independent study in Rihannsu at the Academy and speaks it fluently after all. But she has her orders, and she is not one to object to something that comes down from the admiralty.

After mission preparation, she arrives on the colony, where she is received with mixed feelings: the lower clergy seem inconvenienced by her, the higher-level priests seem happy to have her, while her fellow Sisters seem not to think much of her at all. However, after learning the ceremonies and rituals of the sect and listening to bishops orate about morality, honour, and strength every single day for three months, T'Ori begins to wonder what exactly the purpose of her mission may be. And then the Grand Priest Maiek makes an appearance to check on the church plant there, and her mission becomes clear as he seems to become interested in getting to know her. This is the beginning of her introduction to a hidden world, one that Starfleet Command will be very interested in learning all about...

Following her undercover mission, T'Ori resigned from Starfleet to give herself time to recuperate as well as to change her career path. Despite the urging of her father to reconsider the hard sciences, T'Ori is certain she is not interested in doing so. Instead, she takes a job as a research assistant in the Raal municipal government. She believes the proximity to home and the relatively low stress levels of the job in comparison to her Starfleet career will do well for her mental health. Furthermore, her employer offers opportunities to advance her education on a part-time basis, of which she would like to take advantage.

Her return to Vulcan has her cross paths with her former RA from the Academy, Somek, who had not anticipated just how much she has changed since then. He has had his own share of troubles: he lost his wife and oldest child in a shuttle accident. Now a single father of a little girl, Somek struggles to balance his family responsibilities with his job as a consultant for Vulcan Aeronautics Institute. T'Ori knows it is not wise to attempt to heal psychic damage by becoming involved with the two of them, but cannot seem to resist what's right in front of her. And Somek has always been far too lenient of her illogical tendencies.

However, just as soon as they reconnect, T'Ori moves up to the position of a diplomat's aide, and is asked to travel to a summit to assist the prominent Vulcan minister to whom she has been assigned. She will be returning in approximately a month, but illogically, she does not want to go. Despite this, for the sake of her career, she ignores these thoughts - most certainly they are unwanted emotions, after all - and travels with the minister to the summit. Upon their arrival, she finds herself confronted with familiar faces she had hoped never to see again. Furthermore, she is strongly compelled to get closer, for her own very personal reasons. But certain individuals do not want to see the summit attendees make any progress, and whatever T'Ori is battling with must be put aside to fight something much greater.

T'Ori is, as one expects a Vulcan to be, introverted, scholarly, and far too honest. However, she managed to dissatisfy several family members by choosing a Starfleet career path in tactical analysis (with xenolinguistics on the side), and from there, moving into politics. Due to her human upbringing, she tends to have no problem grasping the "illogical" nature of Human emotion... at least, as an observer. Also due to her Human upbringing, she herself has the tendency to take risky decisions - which she calls "diplomacy" - and can be a magnet for chaos at times. She has a strong sense of justice and will not hesitate to be disruptive if she believes it will result in the correction of an injustice. She enjoys music (she sings), learning about different cultures, history, and strategy games. She tolerates the hard sciences. She does not like raccoons. T'Ori partially transitioned to male for several years and then detransitioned.

Maiek is not exactly what we have come to know as a typical Romulan. He is charming and polite and has the special talent of making everyone feel comfortable. However, in typical Romulan fashion, he knows this and uses it to his advantage. He also happens to be quite handsome, and he knows that and uses it to his benefit as well. Maiek comes from a famous military family, so no one knows why he gave up his command and went into the Church of Hanaj. However, he has climbed his way all the way to the top of the clerical hierarchy, and is now the Grand Priest of the Church. He is a wonderful orator, captivating the flock easily with his sermons. He is also incredibly treacherous and Cardinals and Bishops who disagree with him have routinely disappeared in the past. Maiek enjoys music, poetry, and painting. He also paints models of Romulan warships, past and present. He has an affinity for Vulcans. He absolutely despises paperwork. He is very bisexual.

Martin is the younger cousin of T'Ori by four years. Despite the age gap, he still managed to bully her when they were in their teens; he was a jock, and she, of course, was a nerd. Although he never struck her as the intellectual type, he somehow passes the Starfleet Academy entrance exams to begin at the same time as she does, owing to her two years in standard university and her two years out of it. Martin is a golden boy; loved by his parents and grandparents and the oldest of three, he manages to win the hearts of those around him by being a loveable goof. Except to T'Ori, of course, believing her to be their grandmother's favourite, and also envious of her intellect, which is a bit futile. Martin is an athlete and enjoys all kinds of sports, but in smalltown Canada, his favourite is hockey. He's a big fan of the Habs, enjoys fishing, hiking, and camping, and the occasional video game. He dislikes T'Ori, and is not good at being humbled.

Somek is one's ideal Vulcan man: logical, fit, culturally aware, and never with a hair out of place. He is a fourth year when T'Ori begins at the Academy and, unlike T'Ori, enjoys the hard sciences, majoring in astrophysics with a minor in warp technology. Despite being a glowing example of a Vulcan, he has a big soft spot deep down, and T'Ori often says he is "soft like a sehlat"; this comes from being the older brother to three sisters. He is also highly curious about people like T'Ori - Vulcans who do not behave quite like he has come to expect Vulcans should. He tends to treat her as a specimen whom he wishes to study, at first, but gradually comes to see her as a person. Somek partakes in routine physical exercise such as running and stretching and the Vulcan martial art Suus Mahna. He also frequently meditates. Somek plays the Vulcan lute and appreciates music, like T'Ori. He does not tolerate seeing others hurt very well, and unlike T'Ori, avoids confrontation.