Taylitha Basil

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Ensigns Alysha and Taylitha (right)

Taylitha Basil is a military officer in the Alliance Fleet.

Appearance and Personality

Taylitha Basil is a brown-furred Karaka'An with deep red hair,[1] dark blue eyes[2], and an athletic build.[3] Her pelt is sufficiently thick that it makes it difficult for her to swim, as she becomes waterlogged and sinks easily.[4] It also is short and coarse enough to get matted into strange patterns when worn too long under tight-fitting clothes.[5]

Taylitha's voice is a mezzosoprano, usually with a cheerful tone.[6]

Taylitha's bright red hair is unusual on Gledig.[7]

Pre-Service History

Born in 435 BA. Taylitha was raised on Tamberlaine, an Alliance colony, in an area called Burbage Township.[8] She had several younger brothers and sisters; "she had a metric ton of siblings, she knew how to coax."[9] Taylitha didn't grow up near any mountains and was a poor swimmer due to her thick pelt.[10] Due to her distance from Selnor, she attended a satellite campus of Fleet Academe, starting late by transferring in from a local school.[8] She started on sport fencing as a pre-teen, and was good enough that she considered going professional, but Fleet called to her more. [11] She did, however, win Lea Ceau Tournament with variable holoblade in 455 BA; she was twenty years old.[12] Winning the tournament was the turning point for her in terms of deciding what she wanted to do with her life: continue fencing or commit to Fleet. She chose the latter.

Family

  • Siblings: (8): a brother and sister who are older, and four younger brothers and three younger sisters.

Service History

She mentions that her last ships (before the Stardancer) "had fielded places that looked like outdoor cabanas and a nightclub" for their officers' clubs.[13]

Ensign

As an ensign, Taylitha attended the ensign training retreat on Quickwater Reserve[1]; at that point, she had been an ensign for three months[8] and was still unsure what route she wanted to chart through Fleet ranks [14]. There, she met Alysha Forrest, who became a lifelong role model and friend, and first encountered Mike Beringwaite. During a disastrous canoe trip at the end of the retreat, their canoe hit strong rapids and broke up, leaving Alysha badly injured; Taylitha displayed courage and ingenuity in getting to shore and calling for help[15]. Because of this, although the group in general forfeited their mission, Taylitha received a commendation.[16]

Interstitial Assignments

UAV Stardancer Career (First Commander)

Taylitha was assigned to the UAV Stardancer before Alastar Virgil, who in turn was assigned to the Stardancer six months before Alysha Forrest and Laelkii Takara Lifeweave. She served as First Commander, in charge of personnel. Since the Stardancer was commissioned "only a few years ago" as of Faith in the Service.[7]

On Gledig

Six months after Alysha Forrest became captain of the Stardancer, the ship was sent to investigate possible civil war on Gledig, as well as the disappearance of Svetlana Karishenikov. As First Commander, Taylitha provided the general briefing on the planet and its situation.[3] Taylitha also joined the advance party, along with Alysha Forrest, Laelkii Takara Lifeweave, and Alastar Virgil in investigating the planet.[17] She was subsequently present in the Gledig governor's mansion during the bombing by Gledig#Secessionists Secessionist terrorists.[18]

After the advance party was rescued by Svetlana Karishenikov in the wake of the bombing, Taylitha spent the night with her compatriots at Svetlana's family's home, playing cards with Laelkii.[19] When Alysha and Alastar returned to the Stardancer, Taylitha and Laelkii remained on-planet, where they were taken to speak with Maire, the leader of the pro-Accords, at their base. Maire was unhappy with their presence, but allowed them to stay and help; Taylitha was teamed with Svetlana Karishenikov for the make-work job of checking the mine stores.[20]

When taking in the fresh air (and doing some incidental scouting) later, Taylitha and Svetlana encountered Dylan Brushnie, who invited them to lunch at Cafe Oumphorus to discuss things with a semi-neutral party present. The lunch was interrupted by Gavin Medearin's terrorists attacking the restaurant, during which he attempted to hold Taylitha hostage and had to be talked down by Dylan. After, Dylan, Taylitha, and Svetlana split up.[7] Taylitha made it back to the base, but quickly realized that Svetlana had not returned and thus was likely in trouble.[9]

That night, the Secessionists attacked the Pro-Accord base. Taylitha insisted that Laelkii stay with her rather than going to help at the clinic, because she felt responsible for having split with Svetlana earlier, which resulted in her capture. When they reached the base's main cavern, Taylitha volunteered them to be the ones to scout the Secessionist encampments and activity outside the base.[21]

Laelki and Taylitha discovered the Secessionists mining the tracks, and that he had a large number of people near the entrance. Svetlana got in touch with them and they arranged to regroup at the track close to Daleth. They also saw a ship--the pirate shuttle--heading toward Gledig. When they met up with Svetlana, they saw, from a distance, the base collapsing. Its munitions had been deliberately detonated by the pro-Accord faction to kill the Secessionists trapped inside and prevent them from claiming it. Svetlana led them to the warehouse where the pro-Accords who had fled before detonating the base were holed up.[6]

When Alysha Forrest arrived to deal with the pirates, and to deal with Governor Kerenkev and Representative Brad Courtland, Taylitha was among the throng at the courtyard with Laelkii and Svetlana, and witnessed the confessions of Kerenkev and Courtland as to their interference and corruption that had nearly destroyed Gledig."[22] She also witnessed Alysha Forrest's duel with Dylan Brushnie that brought the conflict to an end.[23]

On Cat's Eye Station 40

The UAV Stardancer was sent on a mission to resupply the forty-odd stations around the Cat's Eye Nebula, including CENS-40, a job that Taylitha found straightforward but dull. Meeting the station's admin and commander, Avram Hancock, enlivened it as she soon discovered that he was a swordsman and had won the Le Ceau holoblade tournament. Their mutual interest in swordplay (and well-matched skill levels) led Avram to invite Taylitha to spar with him at the station's gym, an invitation that she accepted.

The two sparred, matching one another in skill for an hour (Taylitha felt that he was more of a challenge than her Le Ceau bout), until Taylitha stumbled and Avram caught her. He then asked her to dinner, and she accepted.

Taylitha realized that she had conflicted feelings about her dinner date with Avram. She was attracted to him, but found the idea of being romantically attached to a human upsetting. Laelkii Takara Lifeweave listened to her concerns; she reassured Taylitha that she wasn't a racist, but questioned why she was so upset by the idea. Taylitha revealed that her hesitation with humans was because "they made us." Nevertheless, with Laelkii's reassurance to rest and calm herself and then attend, she went to dinner.

The meal with Avram led to engaging conversation, and their discussion led to comparisons of fencing styles, including various Harat-Shariin styles. As a result of this discussion, to attempt to prove a point (at least, ostensibly to prove a point), the two dueled in the Jezherel style, a highly sensual style, resulting in a kiss. However, after the kiss Taylitha broke away and told Avram that she wasn't comfortable being intimate with a human in that way. He was disappointed, but assured her that he had had a wonderful evening and bid her a good night.

When Taylitha returned to the Stardancer, distraught, Laelkii comforted her.[12]

On Amity

Everen and Taylitha

After Gledic, Taylitha began training Alysha in swordplay, on the principle that Alysha wasn't going to stop "getting [herself] into trouble" and Taylitha had appointed herself the person to keep an eye on her.[2] She was therefore unsurprised when, while they were reviewing the data about potential alien ruins on the planet that would come to be called Amity, Alysha expressed interest in visiting the planet herself.[24]

When Alastar went missing, Taylitha arranged the search parties, and then joined them, partnered with Chelsey Ferroe. She was in shouting distance when Darya Darteriov and Felsha Rennagan located the caves in which Alastar might have disappeared, and ordered the mapping team down to assist with exploration.[25] Taylitha then reported her findings back to Alysha, before being ordered to bed for sleep (but not before assigning Kethy Skutterby to keep an eye on her).[26]

Taylitha confessed her worries regarding Alastar and the mission generally to Alysha, who suggested sparring, this time with real swords set to the bluntest setting. Taylitha didn't hold back, working out her frustrations in the bout and shortening her blade more and more to reduce the space between them. Alysha herself stopped holding back and switched to street-fighting, and they fought to a standstill. After, Taylitha shared her worries and frustrations, and noted that Personnel had been pressing her to determine whether she wanted to move on or stay put. Ultimately she didn't want to move because of Alysha, and because she loved the Stardancer and its crew, but she had to convince them she was sure of that.[27]

Taylitha returned to the planet, where she and Alysha discussed whether Fleet would be sending a bigger team and moving the Stardancer on, and how and whether they could possibly delay that. After Alysha moved on to the Obelisk site,[28] and night began to fall, Taylitha had Felsha call Rashiveil to take on overseeing the site. On the way back to the Pads, she encountered a dark shape hissing at her, with an intent gaze and spear in one of its hands; it would later be confirmed to be one of the Small Ones.[29] Despite being unsure of her own abilities at first contact, she attempted to communicate with the alien without scaring it off. The alien was too wary, though, and fled. Taylitha called for backup to pursue it, and ultimately cornered it. The attempted to trap it failed and the creature escaped again. When trying to contact Alysha to figure out what to do, Taylitha discovered that the captain was not aboard the Stardancer. The alien then reappeared, attempted to communicate, and collapsed. Taylitha took it to the medplex.[30]

Taylitha delivered the small alien to Laelkii in the medplex, and then sought further to locate Alysha, to no avail.[31] After sending Darya and Julien Steffis to attempt to find the captain, Taylitha was forced to stall the Fleet Central Personnel Office, in the form of Admiral Canby. A medplex security alert sent her to run interference with the Small One, who ultimately calmed the alien.[32]

Taylitha continued to put off inquiries from Fleet about the nature of the planet and the whereabouts of Captain Forrest, this time to Jamais Beson |Admiral Beson, who was fascinated by the idea of sapient aliens.[33] She ultimately decided to visit the Small One[34] in its protective enclosure.[34]

Quotes

  • "And I joined Fleet because I like to meet people."
    "There are definitely easier ways to meet people," Alysha said, brows lifting.
    "As many people? As varied?" Taylitha asked. Her ears drooped. "I don't tell people this often because they make fun of it, but I'm hoping we'll discover a major new alien species in my lifetime. Maybe even during my tour of duty."[35]
  • To Alysha Forrest: "Look, I know how it is with you and getting yourself into trouble, so I’m not going to try to argue you out of it. You obviously need someone to keep an eye on you, and I’ve got no problem being that person. Particularly since I appointed myself."

Trivia

Taylitha's Holoblade
  • Swears: "Bast,"[7], "An,"[12] "Bast and An,"[7], "Bast and An above,"[36] "Thank God and Her Partner,"[37], "Twenty midnight hells"/"why in the midnight hells" [38][32], "gods"[14], "if the Goddess wills it"[32], "An in space"[34], "God in the sunlit heavens"[34],
  • Owns an antique sword as well as a modern holosword.[39]
  • Likes beer[2]
  • Has a regular table at the Cat's Fang Bistro on the Stardancer[2]
  • Eats breakfast sandwiches
  • Reads several publications:
  • Is still friends with one of the people in Personnel and as such, has slight more access to Personnel records than is appropriate. (First Commanders do, after all, run the show.)
  • Has at least one off-duty outfit packed, a rust-red tunic over long-sleeved red shirt and dark brown trousers. [41]
  • Proficient in the variable holoblade,[12] Jezherel's school of Harat-Shariin swordplay,[12] and the exercises of the Donneret school of fencing
  • Won the Le Ceau Tournament in B.A. 455.[12]
  • Activates her telegem with a three-note arpeggio whistle.[12]
  • Likes her coffee very strong[12], black or with sugar[42], but can't have coffee too late it or makes her jittery. Before sleep she prefers herbal tea.[5]
  • Speaks to Naysha through an interpreter, as she's not as up on her sign language as she would like.[2]
  • Has a strong protective streak regarding Alysha.[2]
  • Has wanted to be Alysha's first commander since their time at the ensigns' resort on Quickwater Reserve.[27]
  • Enjoys the detailed logistical work of being a first commander.[30]
  • Good with paperwork[34]

Related Fiction

Dark Lighthouse (Fiction)
Second (Fiction)
Sword of the Alliance (Fiction)

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Second, Chapter 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 1
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 1
  4. ↑ Second, Chapter 7
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 11
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 13
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 9
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Second, Chapter 3
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 10
  10. ↑ Second, Chapter 8
  11. ↑ Faith in the Service
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 " Dark Lighthouse", short fiction
  13. ↑ Faith in the Service, Chapter 8
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Second, Chapter 5
  15. ↑ Second, Chapter 9
  16. ↑ Second, Chapter 11
  17. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 5
  18. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 6
  19. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 7
  20. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 8
  21. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 12
  22. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 16
  23. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 17
  24. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 2
  25. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 3
  26. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 4
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 5
  28. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 6
  29. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, future chapter I need to look up
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 7
  31. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 8
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 9
  33. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 11
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 Either Side of the Strand, Chapter 13
  35. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 14
  36. ↑ Second, Chapter 11
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Second, Chapter 10
  38. ↑ Second, Chapter 2
  39. ↑ Sword of the Alliance, Chapter 4
  40. ↑ Faith in the Service, Chapter 4
  41. ↑ Faith in the Service, Chapter 4
  42. ↑ Either Side of the Strand, Epilogue
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