Ghome chai Tsaal

Ghome chai Tsaal is a conn officer in the Operations department of the starship Independence.

History
Ghome chai Tsaal was born on Earth, the son of a Federation Councillor's aide. He therefore grew up with more than the usual exposure to the political and diplomatic side of the Federation, an arena that he throughly enjoyed as a youth. Having become used to watching such distinguished persons in action, however, skewed his perception of people and Tsaal grew up spoilt, to say the least.

Against his father's advice and hopes, Tsaal chose to abandon a potential career in politics and enlist with Starfleet as he felt there would be greater and more diverse challenges outside of Earth. At the Academy, Tsaal excelled in almost all his classes, with the exception of any course that required physical exertion. This prevented him from earning a place in the Red Squad, but he brushed off that affront with typical nonchalance.

Instead, he found company with roommates, a human, Anthony Danker and Khandit, a Klingon. The latter introduced him to the operas of Keedera, and Tsaal has found great pleasure in listening to Kul'Tuk Kuv'Bey ("The Honor of the House of Fire") in his free time.

An extremely competent orator, he was twice part of the Academy's intervarsity debating team, though in his junior year, they lost the semifinals to the ShiKhar team from Vulcan. (Starship Independence: "War's Embers")

His appointment to the Independence' comes as no surprise to him. Having excelled in the fields of Warp Mechanics and Stellar Cartography, as well as Interspecies Ethics and Tactical Analysis at the Academy, he feels his diverse talents could only be served onboard one of the best ships in Starfleet.

Physical attributes
For a Tellarite, Tsaal is tall. Being young, he retains a full shock of thick black hair, neatly bound according to Starfleet standards, but a relatively short beard that belie his age. He sports a typical Tellarite belly that admittedly causes him some discomfort when he is behind an ops station or conn station - further enhancing his seemingly-permanent irritability.

Personality & traits
Tsaal scoffed as his fellow Academy cadets struggled in one way or another with the courses, while he breezed through each and every one. As a Tellarite, he didn't, and wouldn't expect any less from himself. Tsaal is laconic (rare for a Tellarite) when responding to most queries made of him, mostly grunting and huffing to get his point across. In the most inappropriate moments, however, Tsaal has a knack for using a lot of words to communicate the simplest of ideas, often when his opinion was not invited.

Another quirk of Tsaal is his insistence on not using contractions in his speech (i.e. it's, I've, he'd, etc.). The only times you'd catch him would be if he's on the losing side of an argument (especially one with Chisato!)

Strengths & weaknesses
Tsaal perpetuates the Tellarite stereotype of being arrogant and argumentative. Tsaal's impatience with those he feels are beneath him was renowned throughout his Academy days. Nonetheless, he is a stickler for the rules and has been known to be rather sycophantic with his immediate superiors.

Tsaal's physical limitations often makes him a liability on an Away Team mission, and he is acutely aware of this. That being said, Tsaal's weakness in physical fitness and personal combat are matched only by his prowess in verbal sparring.

Hobbies & interests
Holodeck mud baths. Klingon opera.

Summary record
Ghome chai Tsaal served onboard USS Intrepid and USS Nova as part of his cadet training. This has given him an appreciation of both larger cruisers and smaller science vessels. He distinctly prefers the cruisers. He was assigned to Starbase 84 due to his senior thesis on Warp Core Efficiency, but after half a year there felt it was a waste of his skills and requested a transfer. The Independence is his first ship-based assignment as an Ensign.

On Stardate 60672.5, he was promoted by Captain Breawyn Lem to the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) for his service to the starship as well as for his actions in the Borg incursion at Risa. (Starship Independence: "All's Well That Ends Well")