Crew Biography For Lor, Riosa Shikari

Full Name:	Riosa Shikari Lor
Current Rank	Lieutenant Commander
Position(s) held	Asst. Chief Operations Officer
Species	Betazoid
Gender	Female
Age	25
Height	5'6
Weight	125 lbs
Appearance	Among Betazoids, Riosa's natural blonde hair makes her unique. Most Betazoids are born with dark colored hair. Riosa did have long straight hair that reached the small of her back, she hadn't cut since the accident. She would normally wear it up in a severe bun when working and completely down when off work or in her quarters. After marrying she cut her hair and got her straight hair curled into tight ringlets that come down to the base of her neck after the Kriosian mission. Meeting her wife and going to Krios also revealed her dual-genetic heritage. She realized that she was half-Kriosian or actually full Kriosian and full Betazoid. Faint birthmarks around her hairline deepened, turning into Kriosian markings that were exactly like her wife's confirming her legacy. Riosa maintains her beautifully slim but athletic physique fastidiously as she does her job as an ops officer. Though it might seem mechanical and planned as if she was going by a book. Her eyes (the irises) are black like the rest of her species. Though a beautiful woman, Riosa was never known in the Academy and the other stations and ships she had been on to smile until she met her wife and hasn't stopped smiling yet.
Personality	At the Academy she was called Ice Queen, The Cold-Hearted Bitch & other non-endearing nicknames she accumulated at the Academy. Not because Riosa was mean or evil but because she appeared or came off as standoffish or snobby due to her at the time, denial of her emotions and restriction upon herself to keep everyone at the proverbial arm's length. Meeting Ara, her wife has allowed her to finally accept herself and let her emotions run free from constraint. Riosa never lies or hides things and is completely honest at all times, taking the usual Betazoid openess and honesty to an extreme, no matter the cost. Though if ordered to she would try to lie but would probably bungle it. Riosa Lor is psychologically fit for duty. There was a time when she claimed she had no psionic ability but that was because of the thick shields and utter lack of using her talent even though she had been well-trained on Vulcan. She had believed erroneously that if she let herself use her powers that they would spike and hurt or kill again and rather than taking that chance she denied herself her powers. She still does not touch people unnecessarily as physical contact transfers more psionic information than most realize. With her wife, she has let her powers blossom and has formed the deep telepathic bond of Imzadi with her.
Background	Riosa Lor, Daughter of the Seventh House, Keeper of the Divine Throne of Elim, Scion of the Heavenly Orbix, and Consul of Exalted Shal, blessed be her name was born on Betazed to parents who were eagerly awaiting her birth. Riosa had the potential to be one of their species most capable telepaths. One from the books of legends with abilities only whispered and hinted about. Tragically when other Betazoid youth were beginning to develop their telepathic and empathic talents...for Riosa there was nothing. Despairingly her parents took her to doctor after doctor who told them the same thing, that though she had the genetic potential it had failed to trigger and develop with the onset of adolescence. Till this point, Riosa had grown up just as any other Betazoid child who had two loving parents. She enjoyed family life and with her other siblings. Riosa loved to play with other children and frolic in the outdoors. Riosa was a friendly child and was known for her laughter and bright sunny smiles. Technically not genetic-manipulation her parents made her undergo genetic therapy to awaken the gene that was her birthright. Her parents were both strong telepaths and wished for a child that they could share their gifts with. The genetic therapy wasn't without its cost. It was excruciatingly painful for the young Riosa, but she endured it as best she could. Finally the day arrived of the last treatment. All had been just preparation for this fateful day when she would finally become a true and complete Betazoid. It was a disaster. Not that the gene therapy didn't work. It did work...beyond all expectation. Riosa did gain her genetic heritage but it didn't come without a price. Normal Betazoid children would slowly grew in telepathic strength till they reached their limit. Riosa's was off the chart and all preparations in case their was a catastrophic cascade of telepathic presence were pitiful in comparison. Her parents and the doctors and nurses in the room fell stunned...brain-dead when the last treatment ran its course. It had opened up the floodgates to her telepathic heritage. It was as if someone had exploded a psionic bomb, the initial feeling of finally having her telepathic senses were met with horror and revulsion as she felt more than saw the lifeless husks of her parents and the doctors and nurses who had labored so diligently over her and who she had gotten to know very well. The entire hospital had been mentally stunned senseless, the nearby city suffered accident after accident from people suddenly and without warning overloading their mental shields and stunning them and leaving half of the planet with a headache for a week. Riosa went into a catatonic state from the horrors her awakened telepathic powers had created as her mind tried to deal with it. For weeks she refused to be disloged from her disassociated state. When she did she would endlessly cry and try to find ways to take her own life. She felt like a monster. She was the reason for her parents and the medical staff's deaths. She should be imprisoned or put down like some wild rabid beast. She begged for it, pleaded for a release from her mental anguish and torment. She had become what a few Betazoids were born with, a hyper-sensitivity to other's mental presence. They usually lived a life of a recluse, secluding themselves from others to avoid insanity. A passing itinerant Vulcan monk offered to help. Shikar had journeyed to Betazoid to learn of the Betazoid's telepathic powers as their two species had it in common. When he had heard and telepathically felt Riosa's pain and learned of her loss he felt destined to help. Shikar took her to Vulcan to teach her how to live again. Betazoid society wasn't conducive to her fragile mental state. On Vulcan where every mind was a closed fortress for the most part, she could finally mentally breathe again. Riosa's siblings and extended family didn't want much to deal with her beyond sticking her on some moon far away from anyone else and were glad that the Vulcan monk took her away, though they politely and briefly would check up on her annually via subspace. In the blindingly hot and arid wastes of the Vulcan high desert, the Vulcan monk began her training. Riosa took to the training like a fish to water, though she refused to train her telepathic powers, preferring to block and lock them away so that she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else. Years passed and Riosa grew taller and stronger till she didn't think of suicide anymore and had finally grieved for her parents. Riosa though Betazoid began to act more and more Vulcan with every passing year, hiding her emotions, suppressing them. Shikar taught her in all the learning of his people and her own when he could. Riosa became well-versed in most topics and enjoyed trekking across the Vulcan desert, walking from town to town discussing Vulcan philosophy and other topics. On her 17th birthday, Shikar told her that she was finished training. Riosa knew the day was coming but she didn't think Shikar would be cutting her loose so soon. Shikar patiently explained that he had talked to some associates and that Riosa could take the entrance exams for the Starfleet Academy and if she scored well enough she would be able to become a Starfleet Officer. Under the exacting and thorough tutelage of Shikar she was able to pass the entrance exam and she started a new chapter in her young life. Most Betazoids were friendly and sociable creatures, preferring careers and professions working with or involving many sentients. Riosa though now able to function among many people...preferred to not go that route. She chose Engineering. Working with warp engines and machines seemed better suited to her temperament even though she really had no inherent aptitude with it. But she was gifted with intelligence and a well-ordered mind thanks to Shikar and she quickly became quite proficient in her classes, though lacking the spark or talent for it. Her teachers couldn't dissuade her from her path. Outside her classes was another matter. Because of being raised as a Betazoid and then as a Vulcan she took the Betazoid openness and the Vulcan aloofness to an extreme. That wasn't to say that Riosa didn't have relationships. With her good looks and bright intelligence she captured a lot of hearts, even if she unknowing broke a lot of them. Riosa had never had any sexual relations on Vulcan...such things were taboo and when the urge hit a Vulcan only once in seven years it didn't come up that often in conversation. Riosa felt out of her element but she tried her best and became quite popular for her willingness to experiment and try new things, even with both sexes. She found the physical closeness, something she had missed on Vulcan to be very addictive and even though she was abrasive and annoyingly honest at times she sought after others to fill that void. But the relationships would end badly when she couldn't reciprocate the same feelings she had been taught to suppress or would become interested with many people and pursue many relationships at the same time which some species, notably humans found very irritating. 2377, Riosa graduated from the Academy. Her extended family finally came to visit and celebrate her accomplishment. The young adolescent child they had deemed damaged and a pariah had turned into a beautiful self-possessed woman. And the frigidness they felt they passed off as having nearly abandoned her for almost a decade. Riosa was stationed aboard a Galaxy-class starship, USS Fortitude, one of the few that had made it through the Dominion War in one-piece. Riosa found that working on the warp engines and other more deserted parts of the ship on subsystems were soothing and a time of healing were she could be alone. The mental broadcasts of the crew only a slight hum in the background if she paid attention to it. The new engineering officer formed many relationships aboard the USS Fortitude but like the Academy none of them lasted long. Just like the Academy she had been suggested to get her physical closeness fix from the Holodeck via holograms. She did try once. But it felt so artificial she hasn't gone back since. In 2378 she was transferred to the USS Julius Caesar, a Sovereign-class starship. Here she was acquainted with Starfleet's newest captial ship. The ship was even larger than the USS Fortitude and she loved every inch of it. Her year aboard the ship was largely uneventful though there was an incident when a well-meaning but thoughtless telepathic envoy from a new species tried to 'help' Riosa re-acquire her gift. The Chief Engineer had nothing but positive reports for the young beautiful ensign, though even though she was a teamplayer she always maintained an aloofness. 2379 Riosa was finally promoted to LtJG and transferred to Starbase 7, or as some of the long-term residents refer to it as double-oh-seven as it officialy exists in the Starfleet Registry. Riosa had some misgivings of being assigned to one static locale as flying through the vastness of space was very restful and quiet and she didn't have to deal with a few thousand or more minds all going at once. On the outside Riosa fit right in and made many friends, especially with the traders and visitors as Starbase 7 was space-lane hub. 2380 transferred to Memory Alpha to work on upgrading the computer systems. It was the first place Riosa felt nearly at home. The nearly endless memory banks of the Federation's information respository reminded her of Shakir and she would spend days conversing with Memory Alpha and supping from its intellectual database. When the system upgrades were finished Riosa took a small leave, the first after 3 years and returned to Vulcan, hoping to come across Shakir. She wandered the desert wildernesses of Vulcan for a good month before finally giving up. The Vulcan monk wasn't one for technology when he could avoid it and not being tied down meant he could travel anywhere in the quadrant, nor could she send him a message via subspace. Even though she enjoyed the Starbase and Memory Alpha, Riosa requested to be reassigned to a starship. She got her wish. 2381 Transferred to USS Sun Tzu, a Prometheus-class starship. One of Starfleet's engineering marvels. Though not as adept or talented as other engineers, Riosa possessed a keen mind and razor-sharp intellect and though not gifted with flashes of insight or inspiration she more than made up for it and studied the specs of the MVA spacecraft with relish. Riosa served with distinction and honor aboard the ship...and something more miraculous than getting good marks on her performance was that she actually made a few friends. She finally began to emerge from behind her self-made barricades, walls and defenses. She even managed to find a girlfriend and even more miraculous to open up herself...but before things could get truly serious, her girlfriend abruptly left without any advanced warning, sending her back into her self-enforced solitude. She immediately requested a transfer and went back to her old ways as if it had never happened. 2382 Transferred to Starbase 345 when a position opened for Assistant Chief Engineer, but Riosa wasn't ready...not for the technical or command aspect but dealing with such a large quantity of sentients and quickly put in for a new transfer to any available starship for any position she was qualified for which would help her chances to getting off the starbase as quickly as possible. 2383 Transferred to the USS London, an Excelsior-class starship. It wasn't the newest but it was something she could handle, especially since she was given the Assistant Chief of Operations position. Her first day on the job she actually had to step up and be the Acting Ops Chief since her superior was in the brig under suspicion of murdering a foreign diplomat. She was tossed into the proverbial deep-end and the fire. As with all of her duty positions she organized, organized and organized. Thankfully her superior was cleared of all charges and was able to take over duties. In the mean time she found someone who she couldn't help but keep thinking about. It was Aiya'na'ara. A refugee and a Kriosian Empathic Metamorph. Unlike others who only saw her as a trained sexual slave and perfect companion once imprinted, Riosa saw in her what she saw in herself. Someone trapped by events out of her control. And as much as she tried not to get close to her the more she fell for the woman. They were married on the beaches of Rubicon II of the Edo system before they went to Krios to help out there. And where the newly married couple went to their deaths to fulfill an ancient prophecy in order to free their people. Riosa had learned about her dual heritage and that she was to be the new Kriosian Seeress for her people she had never met. She learned that 500 years ago, M'Lynari the last Kriosian Seeress of the House of Kel had fled Krios and come to Betazed to give birth to a child who was her ancestor and had passed down some of her visions in song that had been corrupted over the centuries. M'Lynari had died soon after childbirth. Her songs and words were passed down from generation to generation to where her parents thought that Riosa was the one spoken of in the ancient words of inheriting great gifts. With freeing the Kriosian people from the Minders who had ruled over them and sold their empathic metamorphs, descendants of royalty to the highest bidder to be sexual slaves and perfect companions gone, her wife renounced her crown and stayed with her on the London. Because of the Kriosian assaults on the London where many had died, including children many blame her wife for it but Riosa has resolutely stood by her side. HOBBIES & INTERESTS Riosa doesn't have many hobbies or interests. She has recently shown an interest in cooking as her superior, Lt Barlo Solo has taught her how to make lasagna and currently she is trying it out on everyone who she meets. LINGUISTICS Vulcan Ancient High Vulcan (taught by Shikar) Betazoid Federation Standard Tellarite (learned from Engineering manuals) PERSONAL NOTES Sometimes called Rio. Her middle name was added after she entered Starfleet Academy to express her honor for the Vulcan who saved her life. She did at one time have a OCD of wearing white when off-duty no matter the occasion or situation. But now with having a wife who was a trained courtesan she is learning about fashion and experimenting with different colors.
Member Since	11 September 2007