Character Information

Gender		Female
Species		Half Human / Half El-Aurian
Age		50

Physical Appearance

Height		5'5"
Weight		130 lbs
Hair Color		Black
Eye Color		Green
Physical Description		Rhyalla Ward stands at just under five and a half feet tall. She has a lean but thin build, suggesting that physical prowess isn’t her greatest gift. Her skin is white with a soft rose hue. Her hair is jet black, tightly curled, and falls about to her shoulders—though she generally keeps it pulled back when on duty. She has a round face and a subtly rounded nose, with thin lips and sharp eyebrows. Her eyes are a pale green.

Family

Spouse		N/A
Children		N/A
Father		Alex Ward (Human)
Mother		Keina Sond (El-Aurian)
Brother(s)		N/A
Sister(s)		N/A
Other Family		N/A

Personality & Traits

General Overview		Rhyalla is half Human and half El-Aurian but is extremely proud of her rare and unique El-Aurian heritage and generally identifies that way. Despite this, she lacks most of the unique traits of an El-Aurian. The only thing she seems to have inherited is a long lifespan. She entered Starfleet Academy at the age of 44 and is about to celebrate her 50th birthday. Yet she still has the outward appearance of a human in her mid-20s. She spent her early life learning, some at academic institutions and some in practical settings, including volunteering as an engineer for several civilian Federation components including the Merchant Service.
Strengths & Weaknesses		Strengths: Rhyalla has decades of experience in engineering, science, and medicine. Though engineering has been her focus, she has academic and practical training in all these disciplines. Her knowledge and practical skills are not inherently amazing – but rather would be expected for someone with so many years of experience. That said, her experience is in general systems, like propulsion. She has the least experience with weapons systems – her experience being academic and civilian in nature. Weaknesses: Rhyalla lacks the “listen first” approach of a true El-Aurian. She often believes she knows best, relying too heavily on her own experience and self-belief. This can cause her to struggle in a team environment, especially when she needs to let go of control and trust others. Her age and general attitude also cause her to struggle to form effective social bonds. Though she comes across as temperamental and egotistical, she feels the resulting loneliness deeply and longs for a “community.”
Ambitions		Rhyalla aspires to be in a teaching role, a position she believes (for right or wrong) that she would be better suited for. Within Starfleet, she believes a rise through the command structure before ultimately returning to the Academy is her best career projection. Personally, though she wouldn’t be quick to admit it, Rhyalla just wants to feel a sense of community and belonging.
Hobbies & Interests		Rhyalla has always been fascinated by engineering and hard sciences. She believes they present complex problems that are always capable of being solved and she loves the thrill of trying to solve the most difficult problems possible. She’s an avid reader, preferring technical materials and treatises, but willing to rotate in works of fiction and non-fiction from time-to-time. She’s not a physically gifted person, but loves running – if only because the peace and solitude it brings have felt rare for her.

Personal History		Born to an El-Aurian mother and a Human father, Rhyalla was raised on Earth. Although appearing entirely human, and lacking the most complex and unusual gifts of the El-Aurian people, Rhyalla always felt a pull to identify more as El-Aurian than anything else. It could be attributed to the incredible sadness she witnessed in her mother—a survivor of the Borg incursion to the El-Aurian’s home system. Knowing that so few of her people and their culture remained, Rhyalla may have subconsciously strived to try and be a source of hope for her mother. In any event, Rhyalla learned early that her disposition was actually much more human. Impulsive and a bit egotistical, she always had a strong sense of self and plenty of self-belief. She excelled academically, and when it became apparent that she had in fact inherited at least some measure of the greatly extended El-Aurian lifespan she dedicated many more years than normal to academic study. She earned degrees in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials science, as well as physics, astrophysics, and biology. She interned in Federation civilian science labs and medical labs. But her ultimate love was engineering – so she signed on as an volunteer with the Federation Merchant Service and spent more than a decade working as an engineer on warp-capable civilian vessels. She entered Starfleet Academy expecting to be welcomed as an incredible asset, but quickly learned that her constant belief that she knew better than others – even instructors – was unwelcome in an environment that valued teamwork as much as individual talent. Other cadets viewed her as a “try-hard” and she quickly became a social pariah. For someone who wanted to see herself as El-Aurian, Rhyalla soon found that she entirely lacked the “listen first” approach of her people and was too quick to view herself as a team of one. Rhyalla has a good relationship with her parents, though her father is now elderly, and communicates with them regularly. She has no other family and no close friends. Though she’s quick to tell others that joining Starfleet was the next logical step to continue building her expertise, especially in engineering, she also hopes it will finally bring her a sense of community and belonging.
Service Record		Rhyalla graduated near the top of her academy class. Despite perfect scores in most of her academic exams and practical evaluations, she struggled in teamwork scenarios. She was assigned to the USS Bonchune as an engineering officer. She knew going into the posting that her reputation from the academy would follow her, and vowed to work harder at listening first and acting second and not presenting herself as a know-it-all or challenging superior officers. She had mixed success, but felt that she was becoming a much better officer by the end of her first year on the Bonchune. Her evaluations had improved and she was receiving top marks from superiors. But her reputation had indeed followed her and she was once again a social outcast. She was surprised after only a year-and-a-half to receive orders to transfer to the USS Guardian. She still isn’t sure if the transfer is a for performing excellent work or because the command staff simply didn’t want her presence and saw an opportunity to move her to another ship.