Taylitha Basil

Ensigns Alysha and Taylitha (left)

Taylitha Basil is a military officer in the Alliance Fleet.

Physical Description

Taylitha Basil is a brown-furred Karaka'An with deep red hair and an athletic build. Her pelt is sufficiently thick that it makes it difficult for her to swim, as she becomes waterlogged and sinks easily.

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

Taylitha's bright red hair is unusual on Gledig.

Pre-Service History

Taylitha was raised on an Alliance colony, in an area called Burbage Township. She had several younger brothers and sisters; "she had a metric ton of siblings, she knew how to coax." Taylitha didn't grow up near any mountains and was a poor swimmer due to her thick pelt. She did not attend Fleet Academe due to her colony's distance from Terracentrus, but instead attended a satellite campus. She was good enough with a sword that she considered going professional, but Fleet called to her more. She did, however, win Lea Ceau Tournament with variable holoblade in 455 BA.

Service History

• Ensign, UAV Nightslip
• Lieutenant - ???
• Commander - ???
• First Commander - UAV Stardancer

Ensign

As an ensign, Taylitha attended the ensign training retreat on Quickwater Reserve; at that point, she had been an ensign for three months and was still unsure what route she wanted to chart through Fleet ranks . 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. Because of this, although the group in general forfeited their mission, Taylitha received a commendation.

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.

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. Taylitha also joined the advance party, along with Alysha Forrest, Laelkii Takara Lifeweave, and Alastar Virgil in investigating the planet. She was subsequently present in the Gledig governor's mansion during the bombing by Gledig#Secessionists Secessionist terrorists.

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. 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.

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. Taylitha made it back to the base, but quickly realized that Svetlana had not returned and thus was likely in trouble.

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.

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.

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." She also witnessed Alysha Forrest's duel with Dylan Brushnie that brought the conflict to an end.

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.

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."

Trivia

Taylitha's Holoblade

• Swears: "Bast,", "An," "Bast and An,", "Bast and An above," "Thank God and Her Partner,", "Twenty midnight hells", "gods"
• Owns an antique sword as well as a modern holosword.
• Likes beer
• Eats breakfast sandwiches
• Reads several publications:
  • The Eagle's Flight, an unofficial Fleet news-zine
  • Perspectives on Leadership, a training and development journal
• 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.
• Proficient in the variable holoblade, Jezherel's school of Harat-Shariin swordplay, and the exercises of the Donneret school of fencing
• Won the Le Ceau Tournament in B.A. 455.
• Activates her telegem with a three-note arpeggio.
• Likes her coffee very strong.

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