Lieutenant Commander T'Bela
Name T'Bela
Position Chief Medical Officer
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Cardassian | |
| Age | 33 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5’9” / 1.75m | |
| Weight | 197lbs / 89.35kg | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Dark brown | |
| Physical Description | T’Bela is tall and almost lithe, with just enough curves to remind you that she is female. She has the dense muscle mass and jet black hair common to her species. She has a heart shaped face with full lips and cunning eyes. |
Family
| Father | Suvek- ADOPTIVE | |
| Mother | T’perin- ADOPTIVE | |
| Brother(s) | Sirek, age 36, teacher | |
| Sister(s) | T’para, age 30, pediatrician T’pel, age 25, medical student |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | T’Bela is quiet, yet not shy. While she is mostly extrovert, she prefers letting everyone else do most of the talking. Introspective and philosophical, she has learned the art of careful speaking. She will ignore verbal abuse directed at herself, but will not allow a single word spoken against her friends to go unanswered. Beware the sleeping tiger. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | +Good listener +Patient +Protective of family and friends -Has trouble admitting when she’s in over her head. -Cheeky -Feels the need to prove herself |
| Personal History | T’Bela was born on Cardassia Prime as Ishia Belat, daughter of Gul Ikon Belat. When she was seven years old, her father was assigned to Bajor and opted to take her with him so she could start learning about Cardassian superiority. This seemed to work for a couple of years, but then something happened to change her mind. She has never told anybody what it was, but soon after it, she made contact with the Bajoran resistance and offered assistance. As the daughter of a Gul, it was easy to get a lot of information and at the age of ten, proved her worth to the resistance by being instrumental in the escape of 27 prisoners in a work camp. For the next three years, she continued to help smuggle weapons and release prisoners, becoming well known among the resistance. Then came the day she and the Bajorans had worked towards for so long- the end of the occupation. News out of Cardassia named her as a traitor, which solidified her as a hero among the Bajorans. Her father left her at a Bajoran orphanage, promising to smooth things over and return for her when it was safe. However, less than two weeks later, a news report from Cardassia showed him promoted to some high office- she neither remembers nor cares which- and during his speech, he claimed that the hardest thing he had ever done was to execute his own daughter for treason. It was at that moment that she realized he had never intended to return for her. She spent nearly a full year in the orphanage and many Bajorans offered to take her in, but she declined. Instead, she asked to be sent to a different planet in an attempt to have a normal life. She was eventually adopted by a Vulcan couple and left for Vulcan. Her first day in a Vulcan school was full of anonymity. Of course they noticed that she was new, but Vulcan teenagers are well trained enough to not ask any questions. And best of all, nobody recognized her. For the first time in almost a year, she was beginning to feel hopeful again. Not long after settling on Vulcan, she opted to take a Vulcan name. To do so, she modified her surname- Belat- to become T’Bela. She quickly adapted to her new life by embracing Vulcan culture, including meditation and controlling her emotions. Her Vulcan mother insisted that she not fully suppress her emotions as she was not Vulcan but Cardassian and as a Cardassian, must express her emotions. Control them, but express them. It became her mantra. She became friends with her foster siblings, T’para, Sirek, and T’pel and has remained in casual contact with them to this day. While she loves her Vulcan family, she never gained a strong bond with them. And of course, being Vulcan, they understood. After secondary school, she opted to join Starfleet. At the academy, she had less anonymity than she had enjoyed on Vulcan; after all, there aren’t many Cardassians in Starfleet. There was some trouble with a few students- because Cardassia had joined the Dominion forces- but it was short lived as her friends- who were aware of a few vague details of her childhood- pointed out that she hadn’t even had anything to do with Cardassia since she was a child. She had enough defenders that any bullies were shut down quickly. After the war, T’Bela felt a great deal of relief and was surprised to find that she had been experiencing stress without realizing it. On the advice of her advisor, she had taken pre-med classes and after graduation, continued on to medical school. Her studies kept her too busy for much of anything else, but she did have a small group of friends who jokingly called themselves The Misfits as none of them were even the same species, nor did they really have anything in common other than medical school. But they stuck together throughout their studies, though they did not keep in touch long after graduation. She completed both her internship and residency aboard the USS Amazon, where she made only one single friend. She preferred a small friends group, so this was not an issue. Upon completion of her residency, she was kept on as a medical officer and eventually assistant Chief of Medical. Then an opportunity came along with even more anonymity as well as the promise of adventure and even a chance to study some of the weirder bits of her trade and she couldn’t say no. |