Shymel sh'Insynaph

Shymel sh’Insynaph is a space baby. Hailing from the old freighter SS Virtuoso, Shy spent most of her childhood bouncing between the ship, owned by two of her parents, and the other half of her family’s home in Laikan, Andor. Shy’s family were… traditional to a degree, but not conservative- after all, coming from an Imperial Guard family on one side and a Federation merchant family on the other meant for some culture clashes she was taught to embrace wholeheartedly, and such she did.

It was, perhaps, the perfect blend for a Starfleet security officer. Shymel had an interest in old Andorians warrior customs from a young age and even learned the ways of Ushaan, while also being exposed to a wide variety of different cultures and species to teach her, very early on, that not everyone was the same, and observing local customs was just as important as your own. But, growing up in the immediate post-Dominion War period, with the chaos of the Romulan supernova, the Attack on Mars, and widespread chaos as the backdrop to her teenage years, also gave Shymel an intense urge to protect others. She was of a warrior culture, knew their customary ways- what good was that warrior if not put to use helping others?

And so, off to Starfleet Academy she went, passing with flying colors in the Class of 2393. Her first assignment wasn’t exactly a place she took pride in, at first- USS Alameda was a California-class, far from a prestigious assignment, and she made her dislike of the posting well-known for her first year or so. This didn’t really lend her to make any friends alongside the security detachment, or much of anyone else, and eventually she clammed up and kept it to herself.

And the more she kept quiet… the more she came to appreciate Alameda and realize she was helping others. Alameda wasn’t a glorious ship, but what she was doing was making differences- building new starbases to strengthen trade routes, delivering supplies to colonies in need, backing up larger science ships looking for groundbreaking discoveries. By the time she was rotated off to Alameda‘s sister ship, Oakland, in 2398, with a lieutenant commission and an at first temporary, then permanent posting as the ship’s assistant security chief, she’d gained a new appreciation of the class’s role, and her role within it, and had largely contented herself with it- ignoring the bit of her brain that still craved a more action-packed posting.

She became the new chief of security aboard Oakland in early 2401, taking to her new role with gusto, making up for the quiet service life of the old cruiser with sheer dedication. But life has picked up some in the latter half of 2401, with a hotshot new XO and crises finally reaching their distant little corner of Starfleet, and Shymel might be getting her fill of action yet…